Logs:When First We Practice To Deceive
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| RL Date: 10 May, 2011 |
| Who: Cason, Emmeline |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Emmeline confesses. |
| When: Day 20, Month 9, Turn 25 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Raum/Mentions, Seani/Mentions, Tomaeran/Mentions |
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| The first guilty inklings of something amiss must have come within moments of hearing that Ani, of all people, was being punished with hard labor. And that her marriage to Tom had been dissolved. Of course, Ani deserved better then Tom but it sure didn't seem as if hard labor was a good way to enforce such a thing. Then hours passed. And at least a day, maybe two, while Emmeline tried to listen through rumor and gossip. And then tried to catch Ani alone, but the woman is surprisngly slippery for such a mild mannered and meek person. So, gritting her teeth, the little pseudo-harper set her goal abit higher. Cason. If she had to plead and whine to get a private audience with the man she had obviously been reduced to doing so. And the normally wry and good humored girl is so very subdued that it's eerie when she finally gets her chance. Cason isn't so difficult to find, though what /can/ be difficult is actually finding him alone. As the afternoon sun heads over the cliffs beyond, however, the leader of he exiles can be found at the entrance to the caves, surveying the wet landscape below with an unreadable expression. "I'm tod you've been looking for me, Emmeline," he remarks, turning, now, to face the harper. "What might I do for you?" Not being one to dawdle on niceties or fawning or any number of other things that she finds both distasteful and demeaning, Emmeline just jumps right on in. "It's about what I can do for Ani." she replies simply, looking out at the landscape as well, just in the opposite direction of where Cason is looking. "I find it hard to believe that such a sweet woman, who obvious has more patience then a human being should be capable of, would do anything to warrant a sentence of hard labor." Of course, it's also likely that just about the while Island thinks that way. Which is why she says more quickly, in order to make it clear why she's stating the obvious in the first place. "I don't know what she's accused of doing, and I haven't been able to find out. But I won't wait and risk the poor woman spending more time then she has to doing work she doesn't deserve. If I'm right, then I know what she's accused of. And if I'm wrong, well... hell, I deserve whatever's coming my way anyhow." "Emme--" begins Cason, before he stops himself from whatever he was going to say. Finally, quietly, "There's no one who can be patient forever. We all have our breaking point. It's my belief that Ani reached hers; I can't blame her for it." Despite that, he encourages her to keep talking, adding, "Say what you must, Emmeline. I'm listening." "I approached Raum, and asked him to help me teach Tom a lesson." Blunt, and to the point. See? "The intention was to knock him out, dump in in a leaky boat - preferably with no oars, maybe a few nice size branches - shove the boat into the current that runs back around the Island." She lays it out in all its ugly glory, not bothering with any excuses or trying to pretty it up. Well, she does leave out Riorde. But there's no point in dragging the other girl down with her! "Am I right in assuming Ani was accused of something similar?" Of course, before he can say anything, Emmeline babbles again. "And if I'm right, I realize that this situation is my doing. I'd just ask that you not stick Ani with that unbearable and insufferable idiot that used to be her husband again. I'll take her punishment - she can teach the children instead of me. I'll give her lesson plans in the evening. It seems only fair. She likes children, I hear." Cason's expression is unreadable as Emmeline speaks, though by the end, he's raising his eyebrows. "Emmeline," he begins, finally. "How do I know that you're telling me the truth? Or that you and Ani weren't working together? For all I know, you're just covering for her because you feel bad." The way he lifts his hand, he's obviously attempting to forestall arguments. "It's not my intention to punish Ani forever. I know what my nephew is like; I know what happened to you. But Emmeline... she admitted to it. She took responsibility." "Ohhh, why did you have to ask that?" Apparently, the words just slip out before Emmeline has a chance to take them back. "I don't want to have to drag anyone into this. I prefer not to humiliate myself to someone more then once. It's just one of those things, you know?" A sigh escapes her lips. "There's someone who can corroborate that I intended to do this. Someone whose help I asked for, before going to Raum. This friend of mine decided there was a better way to handle things. I agreed to do things their way, initially, but by the end of the conversation - which degenerated into a useless argument - I told him to just stay out of it. And then went and spoke to Raum." She tries to keep the sullen guilt out of her voice there, but doesn't quite manage it. "As for Ani... she was there when Tom nearly tripped me right into the bonfire after baiting me and hitting me with seaweed spitballs. I can only imagine she feels unecessarily guilty and so she took the blame because of it." Quietly; "None of that proves that Ani wasn't involved. I have a /confession/, Emmeline. Two of them, I suppose, with yours, but-- Ani's not stupid. She's not unhappy with the situation. If anything, I think my nephew is the one most unhappy, and /he/ is getting what he's wanted for turns." Cason shakes his head, then tips his head so that he can meet Emmeline's gaze directly. "If you want to be punished, then fine, I will punish you. I want you to train Seani. In two sevens, when she's finished her punishment duty, you will train her to help you with the children. In the meantime, you will help her with her duties, once you have finished lessons for the day." "Then ask her again." Emmeline pleads, not above allowing her eys to water a little if it helps to prove her point. "She doesn't deserve her punishment if she hasn't done anything wrong and we both know it. Tell her I've admitted that this is my fault. Maybe that will get through to her. /Why/ would she admit to it." It's not really a question, but a sincere statement of bafflement. "I can't blame her for thinking about it. Hell, if I were her i'd have been fantasizing about it for turns now." And as if she's just now realizing she's talking about the man's nephew, her face flushes. "Sorry." she mumnles, sounding not at all contrite. "I meant what I said about deserving whatever I got. So if that's the best I can do for Ani then I'll take it." she agrees, without an ounce of complaint about the 'punishment' at all. Far as she's concerned, she's getting off pretty lightly for it. "You have a guilty conscience. I understand that." Cason scrubs at his eyes, frustrated, but not letting too much of it show. "But so does Ani. I don't know whether you're telling the truth, or if she is, but she is definitely guilty of /something/." He drops his hands back to his sides and shakes his head. "Emmeline, I can't afford for there to be suspicion on our only trained Harper. I can't afford to lose you, and I can't afford for people not to trust you. Leave it be. You'll do your share of Ani's work, and you'll train her, and that will be the end of it. Do you understand?" There's a hint of sympathy in his tone, now, just barely audible: he gets it. Emmeline lets out a slow breath, some of the tension that's been knotted up in her shoulders loosening a little. What little harpr training she's had /does/ teach her how to read people. So she realizes, even if unwillingly, that this is the best that's going to happen. "I.. yes, I understand. Of course I do." she murmurs. "Perhaps, from now on, I'll take my responsibility a little more seriously." Right, cause she totally needs to be MORE serious. But at least it means that she gets it too. "Thank you, Cason." she adds simply, tipping her head respectfully at him before she turns to leave the poor man be. "Thank you, Emmeline," says Cason, without specifying exactly what it is he's thanking her for. "You're doing a good job, you know. I know it's been hard. But. I appreciate your efforts. Have a good afternoon." He'll watch her go, his smile a rueful, twisted little thing. |
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