Daily writing prompts from June 9th, 2008 to December 31st, 2022
Wednesday September 5th, 2018
The exercise: Write about: the learning plan. Back to home schooling time for Max, officially. I think grade one is going to be a pretty fun year for him.
Does Miles get to participate in the home-schooling as well, albeit at a gentler pace, or is he elsewhere while Max is learning things? This tempts me to return to Sixticton and WrongStart, but I think they have to retrieve their children (well, if there are any left) before we can really tell more tales of their schooldays. So... Derby it is then!
The learning plan Lord Derby looked puzzled. "I'm afraid, milady Grace, that I have no idea what a zbornat is," he said. "We did bring Dignity back with us, so if she was carrying it, it should be with her." "How elegantly put," said Grace, with a hint of a chuckle. "I could almost believe that you weren't carting a corpse around like a body-snatcher or a necromancer. The zbornat, your Lordliness, would have been around her neck: it is a disc, like a coin, with a small hole drilled near the edge through which a twist of leather and copper will have been threaded." Samual's hackles practically rose at Grace referring to Lord Derby as "lordliness" and Ernest adjusted his position very slightly so that he was just stood between the two of them. "Did we find a necklace?" he asked Samual, turning his head to make eye-contact that Grace couldn't observe. There was a moment while Samual controlled himself, and then, his voice tight with tension still, he said, "No, milord." There might have been just a little extra emphasis on the last word. "A shame, such a veritable shame," said Grace, sighing. "I shall go and search where she was found for myself, it must be located." "Is it valuable?" asked Samual. He seemed to be relaxing a little. "Hah, such grubby thoughts of greed and wealth! Haha little myrmidon, it cannot be spent. The zbornat is a key to the Temple of the King, and though there was once one for every hierophant, and a way, can you believe! of making more, the hierophants are dead and the secrets of the Temple are lost. As are the zbornats. I know of three, and two are very far away. No, confrere, it is not valuable, it is priceless." "I would have understood 'yes'," muttered Samual, so that only Lord Derby heard him. A tracery of a smile whisked across Ernest's face. "We found her at the bottom of a pit," he said. "There was some kind of magic in the pit that-" "Ah yes, the Gate. It did not open for her then? Le pauvre, that must have been a shock. Merci, merci, I shall prepare appropriately. Sjarna, where is Sjarna? We shall talk, you and I," she laid a hand on Lord Derby's chest, "when I return with the zbornat. There are things that must still be done, if there is still time." "What do you mean?" asked Lord Derby, but Grace was already walking away from him, calling agitatedly for Sjarna. "I do not think she is French," said Samual, watching her go. "Her accent is certainly wrong," said Lord Derby. "But perhaps she has spent time in France before Dignity found her. She is curious though, I would love to ask Dignity why she chose her as a daughter. And... I do not think I missed anything in that pit, Samual. I do not think the zbornat is there." "Me neither, milord," said Samual. "But it will be a learning for her, perhaps." Lord Derby looked directly at Samual and raised an eyebrow. "We found no necklace, milord," said Samual meekly. "But a bracelet... now, there was one of them. A twisted thing, of copper and leather, with a little gold, disc-like pendant."
“We are going to teach you how to fight,” Cris said. His arms were crossed around his chest, making his torso appear larger. He glanced at everyone else in the tent. “She will never last without even the rudimentary knowledge.” I felt a thick ball of something gather in my throat. I could only hope it wasn’t my lunch trying to come back up and say hello. “What if I don’t want to fight?” I asked, my voice squeaking. With all of the Morphia’s eyes on me, I felt like a three-year old building a tower of blocks in front of engineer students. “Can’t I just avoid the battles?” Corvinus took a step towards me. “This is war, Tori. War. There is no avoiding it.” A shiver went through my body. Silvia came up behind me and wrapped one of her long, slender arms around my shoulder. “You are scaring the poor girl,” she murmured. “Good,” Corvinus huffed. “She should be scared. The Old World has gone complacent, not teaching their young how to defend themselves. She doesn’t even know how to build a fire. How can she possibly--” “I did not suggest this to turn the conversation on her failings.” Cris’ voice was loud but without anger. I felt some shred of bravery rise in me. “But he’s right, Cris. What good will I be learning how to fight? It’s not like I can help you guys win this war or anything. I could barely paly a game of soccer without hurting myself.” Corvinus huffed again. “At least the girl has some sense.” Cris walked over and knelt in front of me. “Tori. I know you’re scared.” I chuckled. “You have no idea.” “But in my world, there are certain skills you should know. Fighting is one of them. At least try and learn how to properly defend yourself.” I bit my lip. After everything I had seen since coming to Candra, I knew I would be okay as long as Cris was close by. “Won’t you be there?” I felt Silvia’s arm tighten around me. I felt even more like a child when I realize how that sounded. But I also knew what he was about to say. I dreaded it. Cris sighed. “I might not always be there to protect you, Tori. Corvinus is right. We are at war. I want to make sure you will be safe should there be a time when I’m not there.”
Greg - Miles just copies everything Max does, so he's learning that way :P
Actually we can only really do home stuff with Max when Miles isn't around, seeing as he's so disruptive. Plus Max is at learning centre at least once a week with the teacher and kids there.
Grace is quite... something. I like how much character you put into her dialogue and mannerisms. And, as always, I am appreciative of Samual's presence :D
Am - enjoyed the dialogue and characters in this scene. You conveyed the emotions and uncertainty of your narrator very well.
3 comments:
Does Miles get to participate in the home-schooling as well, albeit at a gentler pace, or is he elsewhere while Max is learning things? This tempts me to return to Sixticton and WrongStart, but I think they have to retrieve their children (well, if there are any left) before we can really tell more tales of their schooldays. So... Derby it is then!
The learning plan
Lord Derby looked puzzled. "I'm afraid, milady Grace, that I have no idea what a zbornat is," he said. "We did bring Dignity back with us, so if she was carrying it, it should be with her."
"How elegantly put," said Grace, with a hint of a chuckle. "I could almost believe that you weren't carting a corpse around like a body-snatcher or a necromancer. The zbornat, your Lordliness, would have been around her neck: it is a disc, like a coin, with a small hole drilled near the edge through which a twist of leather and copper will have been threaded."
Samual's hackles practically rose at Grace referring to Lord Derby as "lordliness" and Ernest adjusted his position very slightly so that he was just stood between the two of them.
"Did we find a necklace?" he asked Samual, turning his head to make eye-contact that Grace couldn't observe.
There was a moment while Samual controlled himself, and then, his voice tight with tension still, he said, "No, milord." There might have been just a little extra emphasis on the last word.
"A shame, such a veritable shame," said Grace, sighing. "I shall go and search where she was found for myself, it must be located."
"Is it valuable?" asked Samual. He seemed to be relaxing a little.
"Hah, such grubby thoughts of greed and wealth! Haha little myrmidon, it cannot be spent. The zbornat is a key to the Temple of the King, and though there was once one for every hierophant, and a way, can you believe! of making more, the hierophants are dead and the secrets of the Temple are lost. As are the zbornats. I know of three, and two are very far away. No, confrere, it is not valuable, it is priceless."
"I would have understood 'yes'," muttered Samual, so that only Lord Derby heard him. A tracery of a smile whisked across Ernest's face.
"We found her at the bottom of a pit," he said. "There was some kind of magic in the pit that-"
"Ah yes, the Gate. It did not open for her then? Le pauvre, that must have been a shock. Merci, merci, I shall prepare appropriately. Sjarna, where is Sjarna? We shall talk, you and I," she laid a hand on Lord Derby's chest, "when I return with the zbornat. There are things that must still be done, if there is still time."
"What do you mean?" asked Lord Derby, but Grace was already walking away from him, calling agitatedly for Sjarna.
"I do not think she is French," said Samual, watching her go.
"Her accent is certainly wrong," said Lord Derby. "But perhaps she has spent time in France before Dignity found her. She is curious though, I would love to ask Dignity why she chose her as a daughter. And... I do not think I missed anything in that pit, Samual. I do not think the zbornat is there."
"Me neither, milord," said Samual. "But it will be a learning for her, perhaps."
Lord Derby looked directly at Samual and raised an eyebrow.
"We found no necklace, milord," said Samual meekly. "But a bracelet... now, there was one of them. A twisted thing, of copper and leather, with a little gold, disc-like pendant."
“We are going to teach you how to fight,” Cris said. His arms were crossed around his chest, making his torso appear larger. He glanced at everyone else in the tent. “She will never last without even the rudimentary knowledge.”
I felt a thick ball of something gather in my throat. I could only hope it wasn’t my lunch trying to come back up and say hello.
“What if I don’t want to fight?” I asked, my voice squeaking. With all of the Morphia’s eyes on me, I felt like a three-year old building a tower of blocks in front of engineer students. “Can’t I just avoid the battles?”
Corvinus took a step towards me. “This is war, Tori. War. There is no avoiding it.”
A shiver went through my body. Silvia came up behind me and wrapped one of her long, slender arms around my shoulder.
“You are scaring the poor girl,” she murmured.
“Good,” Corvinus huffed. “She should be scared. The Old World has gone complacent, not teaching their young how to defend themselves. She doesn’t even know how to build a fire. How can she possibly--”
“I did not suggest this to turn the conversation on her failings.” Cris’ voice was loud but without anger.
I felt some shred of bravery rise in me. “But he’s right, Cris. What good will I be learning how to fight? It’s not like I can help you guys win this war or anything. I could barely paly a game of soccer without hurting myself.”
Corvinus huffed again. “At least the girl has some sense.”
Cris walked over and knelt in front of me. “Tori. I know you’re scared.”
I chuckled. “You have no idea.”
“But in my world, there are certain skills you should know. Fighting is one of them. At least try and learn how to properly defend yourself.”
I bit my lip. After everything I had seen since coming to Candra, I knew I would be okay as long as Cris was close by. “Won’t you be there?”
I felt Silvia’s arm tighten around me. I felt even more like a child when I realize how that sounded. But I also knew what he was about to say. I dreaded it.
Cris sighed. “I might not always be there to protect you, Tori. Corvinus is right. We are at war. I want to make sure you will be safe should there be a time when I’m not there.”
Greg - Miles just copies everything Max does, so he's learning that way :P
Actually we can only really do home stuff with Max when Miles isn't around, seeing as he's so disruptive. Plus Max is at learning centre at least once a week with the teacher and kids there.
Grace is quite... something. I like how much character you put into her dialogue and mannerisms. And, as always, I am appreciative of Samual's presence :D
Am - enjoyed the dialogue and characters in this scene. You conveyed the emotions and uncertainty of your narrator very well.
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