Illumin0sity

Journey to the East

Isabella hummed thoughtfully. “It’s nice you had a driver like that,” she said, gazing into the kettle to see the rising water level. “I apologize for leaving the three of you behind. I wanted to get things set up for your party. You gave me two-hundred gold to work with after all, that can buy quite a bit. It wasn’t like we needed the money either, like I told you,” Isabella smiled to show she was joking. “I managed to get a decent sized get-together made up. My apologies if a few strangers are there but I figured some of Noah’s old friends and some of our family’s friends would want to congratulate you two. It might not be a Benshiran wedding party but you’ll see how us Zeltivans get together, yeah?”

She pushed the lever up, cutting off the spout as she switched containers to the small spouted pot. She reran the water, setting the kettle off onto the counter.

“The city is quite large. It’s easy to get lost here, but I’m sure you’ll find your way around soon enough, especially once Noah remembers everything. Isn’t that right, Dove?” She looked to Noah as he approached her, picking up the kettle to set on the grate of the oven. He hummed to her in confirmation, setting the kettle down before resuming his quiet residence in the kitchen. He didn’t really budge when Elann brought up their trip, nor was there any sense of nervousness or anxiety in their bond.

The cellar door was heard opening and closing again from the back of the house and, soon after, Ryon came through the archway into the kitchen with a cask of ale hoisted up onto his shoulder.

“I return,” he announced, moving off to the side in order to put the cask down onto the counter before. He dusted off his hands then turned to face the whole of the kitchen. “What time is father supposed to be home?”

Isabella shrugged, not entirely sure. “I don’t recall what bell last rang, my mind’s all scrambled.”

Ryon nodded and crossed his arms, leaning against the counter. He watched Noah move to sit down at the dining table, resting his head in his hands.

Journey to the East

"I appreciate that, Elann," Isabella replied kindly, looking over her shoulder to show the Benshira a smile. It sent warmth through the Kelvic to have both of her children home safe and sound, and to have Elann with them as well. She was the kind to enjoy having her family around, so this was nearest to a heaven for her.

"His room is nice," she continued on. "Though, no one's been in there for a while. I think Jocelyn goes up every now and then just to look around or go out of the window when she wants to fly around." Isabella withdrew the spoon from the pot and tapped it on the edge before setting it on the counter, a rag underneath the back so broth wouldn't dirty her counter. She turned to face the whole of the kitchen, looking at Elann in the Benshira's newly chosen position before scanning the rest of the room with a calculated gaze. Next, she reached out to Ryon, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Could you go grab a barrel of ale out the cellar and bring it up before your father gets home? I'm pretty sure he bought one a few days ago and you all drank the last of it this morning."

"Yes, momma," Ryon said quietly, shrugging off towards the archway into the main hall. Eventually a heavy door sounded, opening and shutting coming from the back of the house.

"Aimee's taking a bath right now, said she would beat the two of you to it before you came from upstairs," Isabella said with mirth, moving down the counter to a closed pantry. She started preparations for tea and coffee, getting jars of loose leaves and beans down to sit on the counter before finding her kettle and a small pot. Noah looked into the burning oven's opening, spying the pie and aforementioned bread.

"I hope everything will be and is to your liking, Elann," Isabella said to the Benshira. "I really didn't expect you lot in until either tomorrow or the day after. I figured with all the rain you all got slowed down, that and you never know what you'll run into on the road." She spoke without looking up from what she was doing, her hands just as meticulous as her gaze to perform her acts without making a mess. She moved again along the counters, a hollowed and smoothed stone basin coming in front of her. She positioned the kettle under what was a spout then pulled a lever lightly. After a small moment water streamed out of the tap and into the kettle. It was then that she looked at Elann, readily awaiting whatever the Benshira had to say in reply.

Journey to the East

“You see well,” Ryon return to Elann in jest. He turned his attention to Isabella as she nudged him with the spice she finished using, silently asking for him to put it where he found it. He took it in hand. The spice was simple cinnamon, discernable enough by Elann. Ryon closed the cupboard door and returned to lean on the counter beside his mother, propped up by the balls of his hands gripping the counter’s edge.

“Not long,” he answered, his head tilting to look at Noah, focusing on the gold donning the eagle’s hands and ears. “Momma already had the stew boiling when you two walked in. She was waiting to fry the fish though and put the pie and bread in.”

On Ryon’s own hands were rings and in his ears were simple hooped earrings as well, both decorations golden in color and made warm by the firelight of the kitchen’s small hearth, candles, and a lantern hanging off one of the support pillars in the kitchen. Elann would’ve seen jewelry adorning Isabella’s ears as well, stuff she didn’t see while the she-eagle was in Syliras.

Isabella looked over her shoulder to Elann and Noah, raising her spoon up to wave at them slightly. She too focused on Noah’s adornments before speaking up. “You went to your room, Dove?”

Noah nodded, passing from behind Elann gently to walk over to his brother and mother at the kitchen’s gallery hearth. A window was open, the breezes filtering in as the Stormwarden moved across the room. To the Kelvics it was getting rather bothersome with how hot it was so a window had been opened as the fires from the hearth and oven started to grow. Noah looked over his mother’s head to look into the pot she was stirring.

Journey to the East

Noah’s gaze on her lingered after her answer. He searched her eyes and features for a moment before turning back to the spread of gold before him. “It would have looked nice on you,” he commented simply before putting the earrings on and tugging on them. He felt Elann drift away from him to what he thought was the door, her voice chirping up to say the smells wafting up from downstairs smelled good. He hummed in agreement.

Feeling as if she wanted to go back downstairs Noah started to gather up the jewelry and put it back into the case, closing it and then rubbing his hand over the translucent top to rid it of any accumulated dust, of which was little. With the rings on his hands and the earrings in his ears he rose from the desk a second time and went to put the case away, setting it in the drawer and piling old clothes on top of it. He looked on top of the dresser and adjusted a few of the boxes and small chests there so they were relatively straight in his opinion before then walking towards the window. He undrew the curtains and straightened them out as they draped to the floor before turning to face the candelabra, blowing it out and letting darkness retake the room. He took the candle from the desk into his hand and went towards the door, nodding for Elann to go out if she hadn’t already. He followed suit, dragging the door to a close behind him until it snuggly fit against its frame.

Noah led her back to the stairs quietly, holding his hand out for her to take before descending. Once on the second floor, he set the candle he took back into its original holder mounted to the hall wall. The smell of what was cooking downstairs was stronger here and grew more so as he led her down to the first floor after returning to Donavan’s room in order to put his shirt back on. The smells of cooking and talking were heard, though it was only the voices of Isabella and Ryon, seemingly no one else was to be found in the hall. Noah led Elann towards one of the archways opening up into the hall. The dining room and kitchen were pressed up into one large room.

Ryon was reaching into a cupboard when the couple rounded the corner, his head turning to face the two of them before he handed off a spice to Isabella, who was stirring away at a pot.

"Hello again," Ryon greeted with a slight wave of his hand, looking between the two of them. Like Noah, Ryon wore simple shorts and a worn out shirt.

Journey to the East

It was nice to hear his gift to her was cherished. Noah hadn’t seen her earrings for the majority of the trip. He had begun to think she either discarded them, lost them, or left them in Syliras. It was heartwarming to see her with them on, even if she wouldn’t have told him they were special to her. He was partially ignorant to the social image gold cast for those around women in her society. He knew it held some weight in where he lived now, but the value was pretty much lost on him. He liked to adorn himself in jewelry when he lived in Zeltiva, the practice falling null when he moved away to Syliras.

Noah didn’t mind Elann reaching for the rings after he sorted them by metallic makeup. Most of them were fairly simple, which may not have been surprising. They lacked extravagant engravings, simple bands of solid and gleaming color. Eventually he managed to fit all his fingers, bar his thumbs, with rings. The smaller rings that once fit his hands as a child were now only big enough to fit his pinkies, if that. He was turning one of the rings over at the base of his finger when Elann spoke up to say she used to have a lot of jewelry.

“Why didn’t you buy more?” he questioned in return.

Noah took off a majority of the rings, keeping two on either hand and putting the rest with their kind in the pile. He went for the earrings. There was a mixture of what was women and men’s styles. He unclasped a pair of simple tiny golden hoops that would hug his earlobes once they were on. He didn’t touch the necklaces, keeping to the glossy stone charm wrapped in hemp his mother gave him.

Journey to the East

Noah found it surprising Elann was taught by her father. He would’ve thought the man too busy running their tribe to teach his children anything. From the way Elann often explained her society it seemed the women were in charge of many things pertaining to the household. To him, education of children was under the same umbrella. Upon her explaining though, he thought differently. He nodded at what she said, not finding it as surprising that she was versed in mathematics. He’d seen her bargaining and shopping before, so he figured being good at math came with the territory.

She commented on why she thought he learned so quickly and so well, leaving it short and simple. He nodded in half agreement and in half just taking her words as they were in observation. He couldn’t say for sure about himself, but he took her words about him to heart.

Noah pushed away from the window and went around Elann going towards his dresser. He ran his hand over the top of it before pulling open the topmost drawer. He moved aside some of the clothes he left behind, clothes that were probably too small now, and retrieved a small glass case. Closing the drawer, he set it on the desk and opened it, revealing a collection of jewelry: rings, necklaces, earrings, and a smattering of charms.

“You’re wearing the earrings I bought for you,” he said, looking down into the open case.

He reached inside and took a handful of the jewelry out, setting it on the desktop. There were a collection of gold and silver pieces, though most of them were gold. They still held their shine for the most part, well taken care of by him when he still had them. He sorted the rings from the necklaces then went and grouped gold with its likeness and silver with its own before trying to fit the rings over his fingers, mostly to see if the smaller ones still fit and if the bigger ones finally fit him.

Journey to the East

Noah and Elann’s opinions differed on how small the room was. He thought it was too small for him now to reside in comfortably again. Going over to the sloping sides of the ceiling he was beginning to have to bend slightly in order to not hit his head. He’d grown a lot, he realized, since he left, and was still continuing it seemed. Despite the thoughts in mind he showed her a smile and turned to face the window again at the mention of the view. He moved off center so she could partake in the view as well if she wanted to without him hindering it.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I still like it.”

He faced her again, watching her hand as it came to his face and felt it upon his cheek. Noah leaned his shoulder into the window at her second question, holding his hands over his slanted center.

“I was tutored by my mom and sisters,” he told her. “I grew up too fast to go to school. I learned how to read and write. I can do math pretty well too.” He kind of shrugged. “Learning’s always been easy for me though, not sure why. Usually after I learn the basics of something I can teach myself for the most part, like with drawing and playing that,” he pointed to the lute. “If I get stuck I’ll find someone to help me so I can continue on my own.”

He paused a moment. “Were you taught my your mom too? Did you have a school in your village with all the moving around?” he wondered in return.

Journey to the East

Elann’s sudden fright gave Noah a little pause as he started back up the stairs, partly expecting her to be tumbling down them. Thankfully she wasn’t, and was just standing there at the top as he had asked of her. In his room, he stayed sitting, turning his head to view Elann as she came over his shoulder to look at what drawings remained that he didn’t take with him. They were of various things, small still-life images of items that still resided in his room and of things he saw just outside of his window. She was right to assume he spent hours looking out of the window, doing nothing else all day if he really didn’t want to. Aside from looking, he often took flight from it, having it open late at night for him to either leave or return whenever he wished. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t recall closing it before he left for Syliras.

The sounds of the lute strings plucking caught his attention, drawing it away from the window he was looking at to Elann and the instrument. He stood up from the chair, pushing it back into the desk and regathering his papers to neatly stack them in the corner. He set the dried inkwell atop them as a weight to keep them from moving. Moving himself, he went back to the window and undid the lock before pushing open the panes. Upon opening, wind rushed in, greeting the Stormwarden. He could sense their longing and misunderstanding, such feeling turned near instantly into curiosity as they filtered into the room at a slowly dying pace, licking and lapping at what interior of his room and eventually the house as a whole as they fled out of the open door.

Noah’s view was particularly great in his opinion. It wasn’t of the opposite house and street like Donavan’s. From his window he could see the shoreline and the lights of the wharf. He saw the tops of buildings and some roads. He stuck his head out, leaning out with his torso while bracing himself with his hands against the window frame. It was deeply nostalgic for him to see the sights again, of which some had changed but many were relatively the same. There was a quiet happiness in him that burned like dull embers as he took in the fresh air, breezing tickling his curls.

He pulled himself back in, pulling the panes together and closing the window with its latch. After double checking the window was closed and locked he turned to face the room again, resting his bare back against the cool pane carefully, sending goosebumps over his body as it was momentarily chilled.

“Do you like it?” he asked, peering at her through the orange firelights.

Journey to the East

Where he may have felt disappointment coming from her, she would feel meager confusion coming from him in return. Standing there as she addressed herself in the mirror, he wondered if anything was amiss he couldn’t see. She showed him a smile, so he figured it was a fleeting feeling. Looking into the bond he could no longer discern her let down, but his confusion and concern weren’t dispelled as easily.

Seeing she was ready to go, he opened the door and let them out into the hall. The smells wafting up from downstairs made him realize how hungry he really was, and in that moment for a brief period his hunger was more prevalent than his concern. He passed by the steps leading downstairs and rounded the railing to begin up the stairs leading up to the final floor of the house. Perhaps later on, with growing experience, Elann would be able to tell that their home was rather wellmade and carefully constructed, maintained, possibly telling of whatever hidden wealth Noah’s family had.

Before they took to the steps Noah let his hand out for her to grab, understanding that steps weren’t her strong suit. He still found humor in the first day he met her, where she couldn’t figure out the key or push the heavy door of her apartment. It was what he thought about as they trekked up into the dark depths of the uppermost floor. At the landing, he looked around, able to see by the little light filtering from upstairs. He took a candle from a nearby holder and asked for Elann to remain there while he hurriedly went back downstairs, lighting the candle on one of the ones downstairs before returning.

With new light he navigated the small landing. There was an open space before a door came into view. It was partly open, either remaining that way for three years since he left or being left that way from the last time someone was in there. With his poor sense of smell he couldn’t discern anyone’s recent scent in the air. He disregarded the thoughts and pushed the door open quietly. He parted away from Elann briefly in order to light his room’s candelabra. With all the candles lit, his room came into full orange glow.

It was about half the size of Donavan’s downstairs with a slanted ceiling telling they were at the very top of the house. Everything there resembled much of the furniture in his apartment if Elann recalled, simple and dull in appearance. The bed was about the size of a normal child’s, save for it being longer to accommodate his long frame. He couldn’t fit in it now, at least not without balling up a little. The linens were made and everything was rather orderly. There was a thin standing dresser with clutter on top, most notably boxes and small chests much like the one holding his gold in him and Elann’s trunk.

Noah went to the far side of the room and drew the curtains. Moonlight flooded into the window, which was large. The heat from downstairs had yet to find its way up here, and with the door even partly closed, his room was cut off from much of the house. His love for isolation started here, that much was probably clear. Noah went to the small desk positioned in the corner of the room and sat down, taking an old and worn candle out of its holder atop the desk and placing the one he took into it. There were still papers on the desk, drawn on sketches of barely finished design.

He ran his hands over them, moving aside accumulated dust to examine his old work. Stood against the desk, on the floor, was an old lute, something he disregarded for the moment while he looked at his drawings, shifting the papers one by one. The looks were quickly made, him eventually turning to look at Elann wherever she was in the room.

Journey to the East

Elann’s words were short-lived. Her reply was warm to him though, her little peck of a kiss he didn’t return and the nudges into his neck before she laid against him upright. He brought his hands around her, wrapping about her back in an embrace as he took in her words. Noah rested his chin over her shoulder, licking his lips as he looked to the chest there on the floor. He couldn’t hear much of anything going out around the house, if anyone had come home. The smells of what he hoped was food didn’t come through the closed door either. The house was sturdy and expensive, only growing more so with each child born to the Amuel family.

“Okay,” he said himself after a little pause, mostly lost in the interaction but was just attempting to pass it off as Elann questioning him curious as he would do her at times.

Eventually he looked to the closed door, envisioning the landing and hall behind it. “Do you still want to see my old room?” he asked her, nudging his head against hers lightly.