Logs:Ozwon's Steward
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| RL Date: 1 July, 2015 |
| Who: Faryn |
| Type: Vignette |
| What: Faryn's mystery weeks away near the end of Turn 37. |
| Where: Ozwon's Hold, Benden Area |
| When: Day 25, Month 12, Turn 37 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: R'hin/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Last (super late) vig from Faryn's so-called vacation, mostly for my documenting purposes. Covers the entire span of M13, T37, and I hereby swear to never post a vignette this far removed from the date ever again. |
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OneTwo hours ago, Faryn had been on vacation, of sorts. Now, she was settled in a large wooden chair, watching a willowy man rock a restless baby in one arm while he shuffled gamely through a series of logs and papers on the oversized desk that dominated the room. Faryn could feel herself grimacing as she watched him, for the thirtieth time, swap the tiny child from one arm to the other, all the better to jimmy the drawer open with a grunt, saying, "It's tricky because it--" grunt--sticks." The drawer grumbled as it opened, and he began pushing his fingers through them in his search. She truly felt bad for him. She could see where his organization had once been: stacks of papers with labelled journals atop them had survived the steward's distress, but not many. He had small boxes for different statuses, but they were not neatly filled anymore. She'd even had to stoke the fire when she'd come in and found him, rocking over his newborn daughter in a room cold enough to freeze off fingertips. She understood, now, why Ozwon had wanted help; why R'hin had suggested her was still in question, though she had her own suspicions. "I'm sorry, may I?" It became too much when Wynne, tiny and bothered with being shifted again while on the brink of sleep, opened her mouth and began to fuss. It was the gentle fuss of warning, like the tick of a bomb "Please. I'll need to know where these things are anyways." Welem gave her a suspicious look, but he looked equal parts exhausted, and after considering stopped, gesturing to the mess of papers: after you. He moved away, swaying with his daughter, as Faryn resumed his search. "We send tithe to Benden the second week of the month," Welem explained, unburdened from splitting his attention one extra way. "You'll need to get it sorted, and make sure you get the counts right, or we'll hear back from Dorbin's steward in record time. It can be a damned hassle, getting the right amount of goats in, especially if it snows, so you'll want to start early." "Is it this one?" she asks, holding up a bound volume for him. "Yes, and the red one, should be..." he trails off and starts over, to search himself, until Faryn levels a serious look at him, one that flickers only once, to include his hiccuping, restless daughter. He doesn't seem the sort to be stopped in his tracks, but he does it then, considering her before he turns away again. Faryn finds the red one without a struggle. "The red is for tithes; the black one, that's for paying everyone. The cycle here ends at the end of the month, and you pay them on the first. That's five days," he adds, like he's worried she can't count. Indeed, he asks immediately, "How's your math?" "I count kids, horses and beasts for slaughter, and keep the records well," she says evenly, distracted as she flips through the pages of one of the logs. "Or so I'm told. What's your daughter's name?" It's meant to be a distraction, because Faryn's certain she can see him going grayer by the minute, but she's surprised when he's forthcoming with an answer. "Leica. Her mum...she said she knew it would be a girl, had a feeling." Faryn looks up from his notes to a rueful expression. The eye contact makes him shuffle, and he coughs to clear his throat, straightens himself, squares his bearing. "I don't suppose you've done this before." "Not exactly. I'm not sure what R'hin told you," she begins, though she's really made progress on this apologizing for everything business. Welem cuts her off with the skill of one used to talking over people, though it's a gentle thing, so as not to wake the baby who has shoved her hand in her mouth and is drooling on his shirt. "It doesn't matter. You shouldn't have to worry about much, excluding any unforeseen circumstances, though to be honest, there are plans in place for those as well. We're too far away from Benden to take the risk of needing help hastily. Three days ride through those mountains is easier when you're looking at it from dragonback, and that's in good weather. In winter it can be four or five." "Three," Faryn echoes, weakly. "Or five." Welem's brow rises. "Yes. But it won't matter. You'll have quarters, clothes and food while you're here." "Ah," she says softly, not looking for the note in the log. "Alright." "Do you have any questions?" Faryn takes the stack of books into her hand, and a few spare pieces of parchment for good measure. "Where's my room?"
TwoShe probably should have capitalized on the questions, but by the time she has more several days have passed and Welem is unavailable to her. She's not sure if he's gone, or if he's just squirreled himself away in one of the many apartments in the small cave system. It doesn't really matter, because her questions need to be answered, now, and she's got to sort them out or risk losing what little authority she's been given by Ozwon and Welem. "Where are they?" "I told you," the older man is saying in exasperation. He looks down on her, literally and metaphorically, refusing to look her in the eye as he explains, "I can't find them all." "Then your pay is forfeit." It's the logical answer, and logic is what drives her now. When she uncertain, it's facts and figures, and when corners are cut, she needs to repair them. "You knew they were required, you should have brought them sooner." "You have no right -" "I have every right. You can go beg Ozwon to change my mind, if you want, but I doubt he'll be anything but mad to hear from you when I tell him you've left more than half your herd in the mountains. Three isn't even worth bringing. You shouldn't have shown up." Around his ears and on his plump cheeks, the holder turns the red of beet stains. He takes a threatening step and she tenses in anticipation, but doesn't retreat. "Go get Welem," he growls. "You know I won't do that, either. Please, Mohr," it's a turn for diplomacy, carefully treading around his fury now that she's essentially poked him with a stick, "go get what you owe, and I'll be happy to pay you. We're already late." "Next time your dragonrider comes," Mohr spits at her, "he'd better take you back with him.". This cuts Faryn's attention sharply. "Excuse me? Next time?" Mohr's turned away, though, and is muttering to himself as he stalks for the stables to retrieve his runner, to help retrieve his goats. "Aye," he grouses. "Next fucking time. You'll be lucky if I don't throw you on that dragon myself." Several responses blossom in her mind, and she picks the one that strikes her strongest "You put your hands on me, and see if I don't break it off. Go get your sharding goats." Mohr goes. And Faryn stands there, with Welem's black book in hand, mulling over the threat. "R'hin, you sneaky fuck," she mutters at the sky, where Leiventh does not hover. There's nothing to be done for it now, or tomorrow, or maybe even within the seven, and she goes inside instead. Ozwon is not happy to hear from her, and she leaves with her head down and apologies on her lips for mistakes that aren't hers.
ThreeR'hin - You'll get this if you're stopping, because I've promised two whole days off to the kids if they catch you here and can get you this letter. I imagine there will be spectacular fights in the courtyard over it, but only one of them has to make it, and I have my money on the husky one. You should know I don't appreciate being spied on any more than I appreciate being abandoned in the middle of a farmhold. Ozwon is very generous, and Welem has been kind to me the few times he's come out, but it's not home, and I hope you haven't just gotten me kicked out of the Hall. I hope you know what you're doing. There's no point in trying to visit me now. Welem says he'll be fine resuming his duties. He's tougher than he looks, I guess. This note is just so you'll maybe make time to pick me up. --- She sees Leiventh land, because she's waiting for it, and one of the runner children comes to her instead of seeking out the dragon. She's breathless and pigtailed, and she bends at the waist to catch her breath. She gestures broadly and wordlessly, then manages, "That bronze." "That bronze," Faryn says, peering out the window. Indeed he's there, and so is R'hin, and a husky kid is standing there, passing off her letter "Thanks for telling me. Go in the kitchens now, tell them I said you could have a sweet." She'll face a wrath for it later, from the beak-nosed headwoman, but it's worth it. As the girl rushes off for her prize, Faryn follows, taking a deviation at a fork in the hallway but not going outside. She hides in the caverns until she knows R'hin is gone.
FourFor all she was angry last week at knowing R'hin had been sneaking in and out of the tiny hold, she's happy when the same girl from the seven prior appears in Welem's doorway, beaming in anticipation of her prize. "Your bronzerider's here," she announces, and Welem's eyebrow makes a run for his hairline. Faryn holds her hands out. "Out of my control, Betany," she says, amused by the way the girl's expression flickers to Welem then back, and then falls. Her retreat is the stomping retreat of teenagers slighted by the world, though when she pops her head into the kitchen, she'll probably get a sweet anyways. It was the least Faryn could do. "They look good," Welem is saying, flipping through page after page of Faryn's unfamiliar handwriting. "No problems with Ozwon?" "Not really," Faryn says, dipping her head. She's antsy to go, wants to meet R'hin before he has cause to come seeking her. She'd like to be the one to find him, for once. She can imagine his covert appearances, probably spying on her as she handled the holders and gave them their stipends, and watching that day she was out on horseback helping Mohr's wife when half their goats got out, again, and when she met the returning tithe train from Benden. "They'll be happy to have you back," she notes, softly. It's almost sad, really. "I doubt that," Welem laughs. "You've taken it easier on them then I would. I think they'll realize they liked it, before too long." He pauses, flipping through the pages one last time. "I think I may owe you a stipend, too, for the month." Welem's biting his lower lip in contemplation as he examines the numbers. That's when R'hin appears, of course, all easy smiles and silver tongue. He declines for her before Faryn can get a word in edgewise, and the rapidity with which sullenness settles on her face is astounding. She looks as petulant as the child she dismissed minutes ago as R'hin exchanges words with Welem, heaps praise on Faryn's performance, and then he drags her along to Ozwon to thank him as well, for the opportunity. She's so perplexed by his whirlwind of activity that she says little, smiles easily, crosses palms and is drawn into, of all things, a hug against the big holder's chest. "Erm." "You're welcome back here," Ozwon offers, and his tone is always this way to her, hard to read, almost joking though she can't for the life of her determine when he is. "Welem will probably need more time off, and I'd be happy to have you back. I might even give you his job, if you want it." Welem's smile is strained, like he doesn't find this funny, and Faryn hastily declines. "No, sir. I -the weyr and all, I have duties to the hall and--" "Sure you do, sure you do," replies Ozwon, waving his hand in a gesture that dismisses her excuse as well as their presence. "You keep it in mind, if things change. Not many people stand up to Mohr." "I will, sir. Promise." Not long later, as she's buckling into Leiventh's straps, she's surprised to find that she means it. She's even more surprised to note that she's distinctly sad, as they loft up and up, to see the hold getting smaller and smaller beneath them. She keeps her eyes on it, right up until they go between. |
Comments
Squishy (15:16, 1 July 2015 (MDT)) said...
Hahha this was awesome.
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