The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
OOC: I took the liberty to start this, Thelize =P I figured if I didn’t, I would never get you hooked.
In the *rambling* style of RJ, though there will be no chilled wine or sea folk porcelain…
IC:
There was a tailors shop towards the end of Manetheren’s main road, a small stone building with a freshly painted sign and clean windows. It was the only dress shop in the city with a good reputation, so this would be the place. Alaren had been left with only one dress since Tear, a rather tired one, and now that she was to stay here in the palace with Saker, she would need to build up a wardrobe to match. Since she was to be Queen, of course.
A bell rang as she entered the shop, and within moments the stout tailor was upon her.
“Lady Alaren!” she cried with delight, unwittingly omitting her true title. In most cases, Alaren would have been irritated by this mistake, yet the woman had likely never seen an Aes Sedai before in her life, let alone addressed one. Besides, it was impossible to be irritated at the woman’s pleasant demeanor; she was a plump woman in her middle years, with a friendly smile and round eyes.
“Lady Alaren, we have been expecting you! Lord Saker sent along the word that you might be coming. Well, not Lord Saker, per say; one of the army men, or perhaps it was one of his servants, delivering the news. I suppose it doesn’t matter, you understand? Of course you do… news of your arrival at the palace has spread like wildfire around here! And it’s no wonder! Of course, anything to do with Lord Saker is fuel for gossip, you know, of course. He’s a lovely man! Oh! But why am I telling you? Of course you know him. Of course you do! Well, the women at the square always talk about how their husbands say Lord Saker always seems like such a lonely fellow. It’s so lovely that he has finally found a lady! And what a pretty thing you are, too! Such a fair complexion! You’ll be an absolute doll in red! I hope you don’t mind that we’ve prepared some gowns for you…”
Alaren’s head was spinning. How had news of her arrival spread so quickly? And the rumors… Alaren flushed with embarrassment at the woman’s assumptions. She was his Aes Sedai, not his lady, not some whore he picked up at a tavern! If this woman thought that she and Saker were… she shuddered to think what other rumors must be floating about.
At this point, three of the tailor’s apprentices emerged from their workroom, dresses of all colors piled high in each of their arms. Alaren thought her head might burst. Just three or four, she imagined herself saying, yellow wool with a high neckline, but before she could speak she was in front of the mirror, her dress pulled over her head and the tailor taking measurements of her waist.
“Oh! Look at you, now! Much thinner than I had heard, and shorter too! No matter, my girls can take them in. Yes, you’ll do very well….
This is ridiculous, she groaned inwardly, but she knew it would be pointless to protest. The woman was clearly a nervous talker; once she began, it would impossible to stop her. So Alaren submitted herself patiently to the whims of the dressmaker, glancing now and again out the window to gauge the passing time. Dress after dress was pulled over her head, all silk, all quite lovely, and all with lower necks than she would have liked; a pale blue one with an empire waist, a white one that dipped scandalously low in the back, a yellow one that would have been acceptably modest had it not clung to her hips so tightly. She knew better than to protest; they were all beautiful dresses, and there was not a better tailor in the city.
Finally, one of the quiet apprentices handed the tailor the final dress, and Alaren sighed with relief. She put her arms of her head one last time for her dressed to be lowered upon her. The tailor tied up the laces in the back and stood back to admire her craftsmanship.
“Well,” said the tailor, “what do you think?”
For the first time, Alaren had the opportunity to speak, and yet she could say nothing. The dress was bright crimson, cut low around her neck. White pearls adorned the bodice and a thin white ribbons tied across her waist. Chiffon sleeves hung from her bare shoulders like wings. The dress was stunning.
The tailor smiled. “Of course. I knew red would be your color… Girls, a little tighter around her waist. Mind the ribbons!”
The apprentices quickly obeyed, carefully adjusting the waist and occasionally sticking Alaren with pins. The door opened, and the tailor flounced over to the front desk to greet the woman who entered.
The woman who entered was about Alaren’s age, with thick brown hair tied back casually and divided riding skirts. She smelled like horses and had the darkest eyes Alaren had ever seen, but that was not what caught her attention. Around her glowed the aura of a channeler. Not of a potential novice; of a woman who had dabbled in the Source and had built strength. She was not an Aes Sedai; absent from the Tower often as she was, Alaren still knew the face of every Aes Sedai in the Tower, and most of the Accepted. A wilder, perhaps. A very strong wilder.
“Miss Shwinn,” the tailor cooed from her post. “How may I help you?”
The woman with dark eyes motioned towards a tear in her skirts, explaining how she had caught it in the stable door. The tailor chuckled and herded her towards the mirrors beside Alaren.
Alaren watched the other channeler, who stood beside her in her shift and dirty riding boots. Who was this woman? She ignored the murmured apologies of the apprentice who had just jabbed her, and waited until she caught the other woman’s eye.
Curlan slid down the edges of the main street, keeping his eyes low, hiding the golden color from other people who tried to stare at him. His fine uniform had been traded in for a simple leather suit, but his leaf blade still sat in the sheath on his waist.
Alaren Sedai seemed rather cold and stand offish, especially at the more formal dinner that Saker held for his top aides last night, to introduce her to them. Maybe it was the fact that Curlan didn't trust her ties with the tower, or maybe it was because he was apranoid about keeping his eyes a secret, but he had been ill at ease around her. However, Saker was much safer alone then she was, and Curlan knew how important she was to Saker, especially after their reunion yesterday.
And so he found himself sitting across the street from the tailor's shop, watching Alaren put on dress after dress. He averted his eyes, trying to keep from being overly intrusive, even if she didn't know he was there.
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
“What?” Thelize asked flatly, looking the woman that stood next to her up and down briefly. “You are the one they are all talking about, are you not?” She did not wait for a reply. “Fancy myself in your presence,” she said with a smirk.
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)“What? You are the one they are all talking about, are you not? Fancy myself in your presence,” she said with a smirk.
Alaren felt her face heat. Who in the Light did this woman thing she was, talking to her so? To be mocked and ridiculed so openly by... whatever this child was... it was unthinkable. Whoever this woman was, Alaren decided, she most certainly did not like her.
She returned her attention to her own face in the mirror, avoiding the clumsy hands of the apprentices and the gaze of the woman beside her. She had no intention of talking to the other woman, but eventually curiosity got the better of her. She felt ridiculous. Everyone had heard rumors, it had seemed. And she wanted to know what they were.
"Talking about me, are they?" she murmured serenely, an image of Aes Sedai grace. "A wise woman knows the differences between rumor and truth. Tell me, child, what exactly have you heard? Perhaps I will grace you with the truth."
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)"Perhaps I will grace you with the truth." Thelize smiled to herself. Obviously the woman was Aes Sedai; calling her "child" was a dead giveaway, besides her appearance and the aura around her.
"I try not to further spread what rumors or truth I have heard. I find often the truth is stranger than the rumor that hides it," she said finally.
Thelize sat, folding her legs under her, wishing the tailor would hurry. She did not like to be in the presence of Aes Sedai for long, if at all. It was too risky. "A wise woman does not need to hear rumors; she knows them for false and that is all that matters."
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
Alaren did the best she could to conceal the anger from her voice.
"And yet you, who seems so wise, have heard these rumors, and have passed judgement based upon them." She glanced at the other woman; the tailor had returned and, miraculously, was silently repairing the tear in the other woman's skirt. Perhaps she had not done as well hiding the tension from her voice as she had thought. "After all," she said, this time more calmly, "what other reason would you have to address a stranger so disrespectfully? How wise are you, if you cannot control your speech?" She glanced into the eyes of the other woman. The ring of light shone around her still. "What you're playing at," she said dangerously, "requires a great deal more control than that which you have exuded thus far." The woman's expression changed; she understood what Alaren was talking about.
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
"It is strange, I do not recall saying that I myself was wise," Thelize said, watching her words carefully as she recovered from the Aes Sedai's comment. This was why she stayed away from the White Tower and from everything Aes Sedai. They only caused trouble.
"I am, however, wise enough to know when I should remove myself from a certain situation." Thelize snatched her half-repaired dress from the tailor and pulled it on. "My horse could sew faster than you, woman. If you expect me to pay for this, you are very, very misguided."
Thelize strode to the door, the heels of her boots clicking noisily in the silence. "Good day."
Raekal RP Admin Band OL King of Manetheren
Posts: 186
(5/25/06 6:27 pm) Reply
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
Saker threw the saddle over the back of his horse easily, adjusting the way it fit before cinching the straps down, double checking everything, and swinging up onto it's back. He had another new horse, a white mare. She was easy to ride and gentle . . . definitely not one to ride into battle, but a good horse to ride around the town with, catch up with his people, make sure nothing was disastorously wrong.
For a moment, as he rode out of the shade of the stables, ducking his head to avoid the doorframe, he let his mind sharpen and focus on the part of himself that was Alaren. It was so . . . right to have her back in his mind, so natural that it seemed like she had merely been a missing piece of the puzzle. Everything before that had been missing was back . . . everything before that had been gone was no longer. He was . . . Saker Mandell once more.
Smiling, he road down the newly cobblestoned streets of his city. His people's city. The proud nation of Manetheren, reborn again to fight against the Shadow in every way possible.
He was honing in on her feel, the location sense that he had. It was nice, to be able to see her again, to feel her touch once more, to feel her emotions running warm through his mind. His horse trotted easily along the busy streets, with people calling out to him occassionally. He was dressed casually, with brown breeches and brown flop-over boots, a white shirt that was loose, with the laces at the neck loosely done. He reached the tailor shop and swung down out of the saddle, moving around to head inside, reaching up to scratch at an itch on his ear. His horse nickered softly as he walked away, and he turned back to smile at it when someone extremely hard bowled into him, knocking him backwards a step. He grunted, catching the object by her forearms. So it was a woman. A mean one, by the look that she shot him.
"Apologies. I suppose I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going," Saker said with a smile. He moved to step around her and head inside, towards Alaren, not another thought hardly spared for the woman.
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Seia Vron) -- Asha'man (Tristan Du'saa) -- Gaidin in Training (Kerin Lizaile) -- Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
Curlan hung in the shadows even more as Saker rode up on his white mare. A small smile came across his face, knowing that Saker was happier now then Curlan had ever seen him. And now that he was here, Curlan would allow them some time alone.
The sour expression of the lady was something that bother Curlan though, having seen something close to an altercation between the Queen and this lady. Curlan started slinking up the street, following the lady, hoping to learn more about her without causing a problem.
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
Thelize pushed the door open violently and stepped into the sunlight, where she collided with and nearly knocked over a figure in her path. The figure was in fact a man. Upon closer examination, the man was in fact the king. She glared at him, less than overjoyed with these brushes with royalty.
"Apologies. I suppose I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going.”
“You would not, would you?” Thelize muttered as she continued past him to where her black stallion stood patiently waiting. “Give anyone an ounce of power and they believe they can walk over everyone—quite literally.”
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
The apprentices pulled one of Alaren's newly prepared dresses- the yellow one, actually- over her head, and as she pulled her head through the neck, she saw Saker strolling through the door. The bond beat strongly in her mind with his closeness. It then thudded as Saker crashed into the woman and sent them both stumbling backwards.
"Apologies. I suppose I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going.”
"You would not, would you?” She heard the woman mutter as she continued out the door. “Give anyone an ounce of power and they believe they can walk over everyone—quite literally.” Saker heard her too; he turned and glared after her, his eyes dangerous. The bond bubbled over with irritation. Alaren, finally able now to step down from her place before her mirror, walked over to him and touched him lightly on the arm. "Calm, Gaidin... she is not worth your anger." But Alaren felt the heat in her own eyes as she stared after the girl. Something about her made her uneasy. Perhaps it was her demeanor. Perhaps it was her surprising strength. Or perhaps the girl was just as insolent as she seemed.
"This fine tailor told me that you were kind enough to send for these ahead of me," Alaren said with a smirk, referring to the dresses that were now stacked in boxes from floor to ceiling. Saker looked baffled at the sheer magnitude of the dress pile. It was pretty impressive, actually. Alaren smiled serenely. "I'm sure, then, you will be kind enough to arrange their delivery?" With a wink, she sashayed out of the shop and directed herself towards the white horse, where she waited for Saker to return. The other woman was untying her bay, and Alaren gave her best effort at ignoring her, pretending to be engrossed in petting the white steed's nose and scratching under its forelock.
Curlan frowned, listening to the lady give Saker the harsh side of her tongue. He kept his eyes on her as she moved over towards the black horse, suprised at the near growl that had nearly escaped his throat.
He glance back over at Alaren, making sure she was still fine. The hunt would soon be on. Even if Saker never knew what came of this, Curlan was going to learn about the odd lady who treated royalty with spite.
Raekal RP Admin Band OL King of Manetheren
Posts: 191
(5/27/06 4:56 pm) Reply
Re: The Tailor's Shop (ATTN: Enter, Thelize)
Saker turned to look after the woman. Anger blazed inside of him. Who was she, anyway, to come here and then insult him? Nothing but a foolish woman. He could feel Alaren's own misgivings about the woman despite the words she spoke, and he turned away from her. He would most surely see her later. Unless she rode of the city, never to return. He wasn't too sure if he'd be sad to see her go, or have a relaxing dinner somewhere.
He looked at the boxes Alaren motioned to and resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. "Only a few" he had told the woman, but . . . this was more than "a few." This was more like "we could clothe the army with this much cloth and still have a bit left over to make banners with."
He nodded dumbly at her request and turned to the woman. "Do you have delivery boys?" he asked, and fell to negotiating the price to have the boxes ran to the palace for them rather than having to cart them back themselves. Walking back out a few moments later with a considerably lighter purse, he turned to Alaren with a shake of his head. "I forgot how expensive you are," he said, with a small smile, looking up past her to see the strange woman still there, readying her own mount. His eyes narrowed a bit at the sight of her. "Who is she, anyway?" he asked, his voice low, only for Alaren's ears.
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Seia Vron) -- Asha'man (Tristan Du'saa) -- Gaidin in Training (Kerin Lizaile) -- Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
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