Dead these six weeks, I still cannot believe She's gone But her clothes hang in the closet, Each one her favorite (she said) Looking sadder each day I still listen for her step at the End of the day For how can she be gone?
@Morganna: it's always nice to have your poetry here, and this feels like the lyrics to a ballad of some kind. It's beautifully sad.
Disbelief "If the King really wants to see you then he's put up a signpost," said Samual. "Though I'm not sure what to make of the other two signs." He looked from one doorway to another and back again, hunting for differences. "Or it's a trap," said Tomasz. "The King is... tricky." "What was going to come after 'or'?" asked Lord Derby, his insistence adding a teacherish tone to his voice. "Or demons," said Tomasz. He sighed, and his shoulders sagged. "I don't really want to talk about it." "Demons are mathematical constructs," said Lord Derby. He frowned, and the fingers of his left hand tapped against his leg. "You can't get fat from them. But... the one that brought me here seemed more solid. It... exploded, practically." "I don't know anything about mathematics," said Tomasz. "But the demons here are real. Oh.... Oh well. We eat them." Samual took two steps backwards, the disbelief on his face showing that the movement was unintentional. "We have to. There isn't enough food here, and there's no way out. Dignity was trying to find us a way out." "You eat demons?" Samual stared, then his hands clutched his stomach and he retched. "What does the Lady Grace eat?" asked Lord Derby. Tomasz shrugged. "I've never seen her eat," he said. "She's the only one who isn't desperate to leave. She seems to like it here." He laughed, but it sounded bitter and forced. "She told Dignity it was too dangerous to try and leave. Are you alright?" This last was addressed to Samual, who was throwing up thoroughly against a wall. Samual waved a hand weakly, too busy to speak. "It just gets worse," said Lord Derby. His voice was gentle and his eyes were compassionate when he looked at Tomasz. "Dignity would have returned for you all," he said. "I know her -- I knew her -- and she would have returned. And now I know what the secret is she was trying to uncover. And I know that I have to find it as well and take it back, because otherwise it will be discovered in the same way as Lady Grace did and too little knowledge is more dangerous than too much." "You're talking in riddles," said Tomasz. He turned away from Lord Derby and hesitated for a moment, then went to Samual's side. "Are you ok now?" he asked, one hand on Samual's elbow, steadying him. Samual looked at Tomasz for a long moment, holding very still. Finally he relaxed. "I've felt better," he said. "I don't feel hungry any more though, that's the truth." There was another moment of silence and then the two warriors heard a crash that shook the floor and made them stagger. Looking around, they saw that Lord Derby was gone and a huge slab of stone now blocked the doorway labelled 'Dignity'.
Elizabeth and Arthur sat side-by-side at a polished wooden table. Books and papers were, predictably, piled up on it. Arthur's were neat and Elizabeth's were untidy, and all five volumes of Labdaris's Libro di pensieri incatenati were laid out, opened up, between them. "These experiments are barbaric," said Elizabeth, tapping a page. "How could anyone imagine them, let alone carry them out?" Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It's sort of a matter of personality," he said. "There's a kind of person who just solves problems and doesn't think about the other problems they might create." "What do you mean?" Elizabeth sounded arch, arrogant. "Say you need to blow your nose," said Arthur. "A handkerchief catches the contents and you can wash it later and re-use it. But if you need to use again before you can wash it, you need another, or you use the dirty one. So a normal person, if there is such a thing, invents the disposable handkerchief." "Obviously." "Labdaris would invent a handkerchief that gets rid of what you put on it," said Arthur. "Cover it in contact explosive so it blows back, for example. Or it sucks in anything that touches it and ejects it into a waste dimension somewhere." "Both of those will lose someone a nose." "And that thought would never occur to Labdaris," said Arthur. "So when he wondered if you chain spells and hide what you'd done... he found ways to do it." Elizabeth's disbelief was almost palpable.
Morganna - dang, lady. That's a hell of an emotionally charged acrostic. Very, very well done.
Greg - that's quite the exit for Derby. I'm trying not to worry about him being on his own now, but it doesn't seem to be working.
Also enjoying the side stories you're including here. Everything is so fleshed out and... real? Legitimate? Realistic feeling. I think that hits closest to what I'm aiming for.
4 comments:
Dead these six weeks,
I still cannot believe
She's gone
But her clothes hang in the closet,
Each one her favorite (she said)
Looking sadder each day
I still listen for her step at the
End of the day
For how can she be gone?
@Morganna: it's always nice to have your poetry here, and this feels like the lyrics to a ballad of some kind. It's beautifully sad.
Disbelief
"If the King really wants to see you then he's put up a signpost," said Samual. "Though I'm not sure what to make of the other two signs." He looked from one doorway to another and back again, hunting for differences.
"Or it's a trap," said Tomasz. "The King is... tricky."
"What was going to come after 'or'?" asked Lord Derby, his insistence adding a teacherish tone to his voice.
"Or demons," said Tomasz. He sighed, and his shoulders sagged. "I don't really want to talk about it."
"Demons are mathematical constructs," said Lord Derby. He frowned, and the fingers of his left hand tapped against his leg. "You can't get fat from them. But... the one that brought me here seemed more solid. It... exploded, practically."
"I don't know anything about mathematics," said Tomasz. "But the demons here are real. Oh.... Oh well. We eat them."
Samual took two steps backwards, the disbelief on his face showing that the movement was unintentional.
"We have to. There isn't enough food here, and there's no way out. Dignity was trying to find us a way out."
"You eat demons?" Samual stared, then his hands clutched his stomach and he retched.
"What does the Lady Grace eat?" asked Lord Derby. Tomasz shrugged.
"I've never seen her eat," he said. "She's the only one who isn't desperate to leave. She seems to like it here." He laughed, but it sounded bitter and forced. "She told Dignity it was too dangerous to try and leave. Are you alright?" This last was addressed to Samual, who was throwing up thoroughly against a wall. Samual waved a hand weakly, too busy to speak.
"It just gets worse," said Lord Derby. His voice was gentle and his eyes were compassionate when he looked at Tomasz. "Dignity would have returned for you all," he said. "I know her -- I knew her -- and she would have returned. And now I know what the secret is she was trying to uncover. And I know that I have to find it as well and take it back, because otherwise it will be discovered in the same way as Lady Grace did and too little knowledge is more dangerous than too much."
"You're talking in riddles," said Tomasz. He turned away from Lord Derby and hesitated for a moment, then went to Samual's side. "Are you ok now?" he asked, one hand on Samual's elbow, steadying him. Samual looked at Tomasz for a long moment, holding very still. Finally he relaxed.
"I've felt better," he said. "I don't feel hungry any more though, that's the truth."
There was another moment of silence and then the two warriors heard a crash that shook the floor and made them stagger. Looking around, they saw that Lord Derby was gone and a huge slab of stone now blocked the doorway labelled 'Dignity'.
Elizabeth and Arthur sat side-by-side at a polished wooden table. Books and papers were, predictably, piled up on it. Arthur's were neat and Elizabeth's were untidy, and all five volumes of Labdaris's Libro di pensieri incatenati were laid out, opened up, between them.
"These experiments are barbaric," said Elizabeth, tapping a page. "How could anyone imagine them, let alone carry them out?"
Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It's sort of a matter of personality," he said. "There's a kind of person who just solves problems and doesn't think about the other problems they might create."
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth sounded arch, arrogant.
"Say you need to blow your nose," said Arthur. "A handkerchief catches the contents and you can wash it later and re-use it. But if you need to use again before you can wash it, you need another, or you use the dirty one. So a normal person, if there is such a thing, invents the disposable handkerchief."
"Obviously."
"Labdaris would invent a handkerchief that gets rid of what you put on it," said Arthur. "Cover it in contact explosive so it blows back, for example. Or it sucks in anything that touches it and ejects it into a waste dimension somewhere."
"Both of those will lose someone a nose."
"And that thought would never occur to Labdaris," said Arthur. "So when he wondered if you chain spells and hide what you'd done... he found ways to do it."
Elizabeth's disbelief was almost palpable.
Morganna - dang, lady. That's a hell of an emotionally charged acrostic. Very, very well done.
Greg - that's quite the exit for Derby. I'm trying not to worry about him being on his own now, but it doesn't seem to be working.
Also enjoying the side stories you're including here. Everything is so fleshed out and... real? Legitimate? Realistic feeling. I think that hits closest to what I'm aiming for.
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