26th Cylus, 718
following this
following this
The trial before, they'd set out for the Tower with the intention of seeing it getting struck by lightning in the storms. Apparently, so her father had told her, it was an amazing sight and the Tower lit with constant impacts. They had set out in the truly terrible conditions and, for all that Arlo had grumbled and complained, they'd both known that he didn't mean it. He was more than happy out in the elements and she knew, somehow, that they both felt it was important that they visit the Tower before they left Scalvoris. They would, undoubtedly, leave as soon as the weather allowed it.
They'd found a place to set up camp the night before and, despite the awful weather, they were both well rested and, of course, well fed. "So, like, when we leave Scalvoris," she said, with a grin at him as she pulled her cloak tight around her. "Are we gonna 'ave to stock the boat completely with food or risk you cookin' the horses?" Solemn of face but with a gleam of mischief in her eyes, Vega handed him the remains of her breakfast which she simply could not eat. "I'm stuffed. Will you still love me if I get fat?" She waggled her eyebrows, puffed out her cheeks and grinned. "I can be yer fat ginger girlfriend in the bumblebee 'at. Such a lucky guy."
The trial before, they'd saved a cat from up a tree. Of course, it being them it wasn't any old cat up a tree. No, it was a cat called Giggums up a tall, thin, spiked and bendy tree on the edge of a sheer drop. What other kind of cat up a tree would it be, after all? As they walked, away from their camp, Vega slipped her arm into his and pulled herself against him slightly. The winds had died down this morning and with a bit of luck, she thought, they'd get a few breaks of walking in before it got awful again. That it would get worse she did not doubt as she looked at the sky. Still, a bit of a reprieve. "Do you think we'll ever come back 'ere?" Never say never, she figured, but then there were so many other places to see.
"When I was a kid, my Papa used to tell me a story about a Tower," if it seemed like a random start to a story, then it probably was, though it didn't seem it to her. "I s'pose it was a bit like that one. It was locked in the land, a'course an' there were all these rumours about great treasures in there. Any'ow, it was said that there was a mage who lived in it, an' anyone who came near got burned to a crisp on the doorstep." A lot of people had tried, she said, to get into that tower, and they'd all died. Politicians had come and demanded entry, knights in armour had threatened the mage. People had offered him great titles and land to get into the tower, but his response to them all was the same. Burnt to a crisp.
"But then, one trial, a Princess walked up to the Tower," Vega said, motioning to the structure which was much more visible in front of them. "An' she knocked on the door an' asked if she could please come in, cos her father was tryin' to marry her to a Prince called Prince Snoozy-Head, an' she found him dull an' she didn't wanna marry him." The mage let the Princess in, where she learned magic and then became a Queen with lots of armies and the mage was her advisor. As for Prince Snoozy-Head, well, he'd lived a long and boring life. With a slight shrug, she explained. "Papa said the moral of the story was that manners don't cost nothin' an' rude can get you killed. Also, that it's not a good idea to try an' force a woman to do anythin'. Or I might have added that bit, maybe."
As they walked, she glanced at him. "You strange folk who went to school an' lived in houses an' stuff, you tell stories of princesses in towers, don't you? So Papa said - said it was a traditional human tale. Sounds dead weird to me. Is that really what you tell your kids?" It seemed strange to her, if so. The lesson of 'have good manners or die' seemed harsh. But then, she wasn't sure what sort of things humans and other land-living people did in terms of parenting.
As they walked, the Tower grew closer and was a very visible dark shape in the dark skies and then there was a sudden rumble of thunder. And there, above the Tower, was a thundercloud and first one, then another and a third, fourth and so on, bolt of lightning striking the structure. It lit up every time and it seemed almost as though, as the electricity struck, it lit up from within, rather than on the outside. Vega stopped in her tracks and watched it, entranced. "Arlo, it's beautiful," she more or less whispered as they stood together and saw the structure lighting up in a prism-like rainbow of colours. "It's not in any way nat'ral. But it's well pretty, innit?"
The question was, she supposed, simple. "Wanna get closer? Have a looksie?"
They'd found a place to set up camp the night before and, despite the awful weather, they were both well rested and, of course, well fed. "So, like, when we leave Scalvoris," she said, with a grin at him as she pulled her cloak tight around her. "Are we gonna 'ave to stock the boat completely with food or risk you cookin' the horses?" Solemn of face but with a gleam of mischief in her eyes, Vega handed him the remains of her breakfast which she simply could not eat. "I'm stuffed. Will you still love me if I get fat?" She waggled her eyebrows, puffed out her cheeks and grinned. "I can be yer fat ginger girlfriend in the bumblebee 'at. Such a lucky guy."
The trial before, they'd saved a cat from up a tree. Of course, it being them it wasn't any old cat up a tree. No, it was a cat called Giggums up a tall, thin, spiked and bendy tree on the edge of a sheer drop. What other kind of cat up a tree would it be, after all? As they walked, away from their camp, Vega slipped her arm into his and pulled herself against him slightly. The winds had died down this morning and with a bit of luck, she thought, they'd get a few breaks of walking in before it got awful again. That it would get worse she did not doubt as she looked at the sky. Still, a bit of a reprieve. "Do you think we'll ever come back 'ere?" Never say never, she figured, but then there were so many other places to see.
"When I was a kid, my Papa used to tell me a story about a Tower," if it seemed like a random start to a story, then it probably was, though it didn't seem it to her. "I s'pose it was a bit like that one. It was locked in the land, a'course an' there were all these rumours about great treasures in there. Any'ow, it was said that there was a mage who lived in it, an' anyone who came near got burned to a crisp on the doorstep." A lot of people had tried, she said, to get into that tower, and they'd all died. Politicians had come and demanded entry, knights in armour had threatened the mage. People had offered him great titles and land to get into the tower, but his response to them all was the same. Burnt to a crisp.
"But then, one trial, a Princess walked up to the Tower," Vega said, motioning to the structure which was much more visible in front of them. "An' she knocked on the door an' asked if she could please come in, cos her father was tryin' to marry her to a Prince called Prince Snoozy-Head, an' she found him dull an' she didn't wanna marry him." The mage let the Princess in, where she learned magic and then became a Queen with lots of armies and the mage was her advisor. As for Prince Snoozy-Head, well, he'd lived a long and boring life. With a slight shrug, she explained. "Papa said the moral of the story was that manners don't cost nothin' an' rude can get you killed. Also, that it's not a good idea to try an' force a woman to do anythin'. Or I might have added that bit, maybe."
As they walked, she glanced at him. "You strange folk who went to school an' lived in houses an' stuff, you tell stories of princesses in towers, don't you? So Papa said - said it was a traditional human tale. Sounds dead weird to me. Is that really what you tell your kids?" It seemed strange to her, if so. The lesson of 'have good manners or die' seemed harsh. But then, she wasn't sure what sort of things humans and other land-living people did in terms of parenting.
As they walked, the Tower grew closer and was a very visible dark shape in the dark skies and then there was a sudden rumble of thunder. And there, above the Tower, was a thundercloud and first one, then another and a third, fourth and so on, bolt of lightning striking the structure. It lit up every time and it seemed almost as though, as the electricity struck, it lit up from within, rather than on the outside. Vega stopped in her tracks and watched it, entranced. "Arlo, it's beautiful," she more or less whispered as they stood together and saw the structure lighting up in a prism-like rainbow of colours. "It's not in any way nat'ral. But it's well pretty, innit?"
The question was, she supposed, simple. "Wanna get closer? Have a looksie?"