When last we left our heroes...
Reiana, meanwhile, decided to go to the theater, where she saw a festal drama rehearsing the search of Malfaloth the Hunter (the Moon) for Eibram the Ram of Dawn (who pulls the cart of the Sun) in the dead of winter. While at the theater she met a young spear-maiden (at least, that is what she claims about herself) by the name of Thoranrai, from the Leopard Archipelago. According to Thoranrai, she is part of a popular movement--some might even call it a revolution--aiming to protest the high taxes Sencankarr currently charges in exchange for non-existent protection. Thoranrai managed to rope Reiana into a demonstration at the theater, which resulted ultimately in the two of them being carried off to cool their heels in the guardhouse for the night, despite the fact that Reiana weakly protested that she wasn't with the girl. Thoranrai, on the other hand, assured Reiana that this was "all part of the plan."
In the meantime, Tengelbur met up with his friend Feiral, and the two of them proceeded to head down to Thorinta's field for a night of "debauching," where amid their cups and their cards they managed to reunite with Anaris, who had returned to Sencankarr but was aiming to get a bit of her own "debauching" in before telling her parents she was home. Feiral let them to an establishment known as The Rusty Anchor, owned by a particularly tough local character going by the name of "Fish." What followed was several hours of drinking and mostly losing, first at cards, then at dice, and finally at racing lizards. Only right at the end did Tengelbur's luck turn, and he was able to acquire a small ankalar (a "racing lizard," a spined species of "bearded dragon" indigenous to the southern shores of the Amborian sea) named "Venture Capitalism" at a throw of the dice. Whatever intentions Tengelbur might have had to cure Feiral of his gambling addiction seem to have failed utterly, since Feiral's luck managed to turn at the end of the night and he alone of the party managed to return home with as much in his pockets as when he left.
During the night, Tengelbur noticed his old family servant and steward, Inyanyer, wandering through the Field on some errand. Unfortunately, he was too drunk to do anything about it at the time beyond flinging a pebble at the man (who did not notice it).
The next morning brought a great deal of sensation as Tengelbur and Anaris drunkenly returned to Rose House, where Vanera was in preparations to reveal to his parents the truth about his marriage to Talarja. Before breakfast, Tengelbur and Tanurendal managed to find Reiana (and her new friend Thoranrai) and bail them both out of the stocks, and Thoranrai revealed that the plan she and her compatriots had made involved crashing the banquet of the Blowing of the Horn--the same banquet at which Neras Garini was set to propose marriage to Vanera's secret wife.
Speaking of Vanera, after a series of escalating outrages at breakfast, he pulled his parents aside and revealed the truth about his marriage to them. His mother fainted dead away, while his father quickly began trying to work out how an annulment might be had before the whole thing erupted in one giant scandal for the Kjavabo family. While Tengelbur and Thoranrai began to plot how they might use this news to crash the banquet the next day, Vanera and Reiana set out for Azure Courts, where Vanera intends to confront Talarja's parents head-on.
No comments:
Post a Comment