MacLaaran Village

[Sir Kyle]

February 20th, 1321

I woke up at sunrise and hurried downstairs leaving lava sound asleep. I wanted to say goodbye to Tim and cea, but seth said they left five minutes ago. I'm sure Davie and the guards will watch over them. Sailing around to Ireland is always a risk, but I'm sure they'll be fine. Tim promised to send a letter once they arrive.

I grabbed a couple mugs of hot tea and headed back upstairs to wake up my kitten. The rest of that will be left to Yer imaginations.

[Praegorn]

Whaaaat?  Not even hints or stick drawings? ~lol~

[TimTheEnchanter]

Having arrived in Glasgow the day before Tim had found them an Inn, and they had unloaded the large trunk from the carriage.  Tim and cea both thanked Davie for driving them ... cea gave Davie a kiss on both cheeks, and Tim pressed two gold coins into his palm before sending them back to MacLaaran.  The servants from the Inn stored the trunk in the carriage house as they had travelling clothes in a smaller bag along with that small satchel that Tim kept with him at all times.

Talking to the proprietor this morning, I find that dinner will be at 8pm tonight, along with other information about where the port office was located and at least two jewelers within an easy half hour walk through the city.  As it's still early in the day I take cea by the hand and we head out into Glasgow.  By the look on cea's face it's evident that she hadn't been in a large city before... I had to admit it was quite a change from the quiet little village of MacLaaran.  How long had it been since he had been in Paris, 4 years?  Had it really been that long?... Squeezing her hand as they walk the city streets, 4 very happy years.

They come across the first of the jewelers after a mere 15 minute stroll and they go inside the small establishment.  She looks at me curiously, as if asking, "why are we shopping before the trip?" but not arguing about going into a jeweler.  I inquire of the owner how long he has been in business, making small talk before coming to the point.  No, in fact I'm not in the market to purchase something... just the opposite in fact.  I draw my satchel up to the counter as we are alone with the owner in the small shoppe.   I reach inside and take out a small black sack maybe a hand's breath in size.  I empty the contents onto the polished stone countertop... several large raw emeralds tumble forth onto the counter.  The proprietor doesn't show anything on his face.  I can't say the same for cea.  I glance at her sideways and the size of her eyes looks to have doubled, but she says not a word.

The proprietor takes one of the emeralds in hand, turning it over in his fingers, running his fingers over the rough surface of it.  He indicates it is of "adequate" quality, trying to hide his interest in where one finds uncut emeralds.  He asks if I want to sell the lot and I indicate that I do... He disappears into a back room and re-emerges with a set of scales. He weighs each emerald and writes the weight down on a piece of parchment.  Coming to a total weight of just under 100 carats, he offers a price which I think is a little low.  I counter that by cutting and polishing the emeralds himself he will save expense, and he can end up with quite a few finished stones by cutting the larger ones down.  He thinks on this and increases his offer by 20%.  I agree to the terms and he suggests that I return the next morning and he will have the funds.  I agree, packing the emeralds back into the black sack, and then into the satchel.  We bid him good day and walk back out into the morning sunshine.

Out on the street cea can hold her questions no longer.  I chuckle at the flow of questions, but answer them all truthfully... no I didn't tell her about the jewels before... yes I know I always tell her everything... no there is nothing illegal about selling jewels... yes I really need to sell them... because we need the funds for travelling... yes in fact there are a few more jewels in the satchel, which is why after we stop at the port office we will be locating that second jeweler.

Reaching the port office we go inside and talk to the port master.  The port master informs us that there are two ships in dock that are bound for Ireland.  The first ship, MerryMaker will leave in two days time and will dock at Belfast in the north.  The second ship, SweetSilver, will leave in 4 days, and will dock at Waterford.  I ask the port master what docks both ships are berthed at and he tells me that MerryMaker is at slip 1, and SweetSilver is at slip 12.  I thank him for the information and we leave the office.  As we walk down to the slips I tell cea that we will seek passage on SweetSilver as its port of Waterford is more than two days closer to Kilkenny than Belfast.  We make our way to slip 12 and ask a dock hand if he knows if the Captain is aboard the SweetSilver.  He believes that he is and we walk the gangway to the deck.  It's a nice looking ship... big enough to make the crossing easily and in comfort.  I ask a deckhand if the Captain be about.  He points to the stern where we see a large man with a white beard looking out at the crowded harbour.  Realizing that I should have gotten the Captains names from the port master, I approach and just say, "Excuse me Captain".

The Captain turns and appraises us both... obviously land lubbers... I extend my hand and give my name... my real name... "I'm Tim O'Malrain"... He shakes my hand and introduces himself as Captain Methany.  I inquire about passage to Waterford, and he nods and says that they do have one cabin that we can hire.  We negotiate a fair price for the voyage and I confirm that the ship will leave in 4 days time at dawn.  I tell him that we will be here on the evening of the third day if that is acceptable.  He says it is, and we shake hands again before cea and I depart the SweetSilver, walking back down the gangplank to the dock.

[TimTheEnchanter]

We've been in Glasgow 3 and a half days now. On the first morning we found the first jeweler and negotiated the sale of the emeralds I had brought along, then gone to the port to seek a ship to bring us to Ireland.  We had found the SweetSilver and made provisions to make passage on her when she left port in 4 days time. 

After leaving the docks satisfied with the SweetSilver and Captain Methany, we stopped in a public house called The Three Feathers for a nice lunch.  I had the Shepherd's Pie, and cea had a Ploughman's, a plate of cold meats and cheeses.  We enjoyed sitting in front of the fire in the pub, just talking about the upcoming trip.  I tried to reassure her that the passage across the channel would be uneventful in a ship the size of the SweetSilver.  I knew that storms could come down from the North Sea with little warning, but I saw no need to worry her with such.

When the serving lass had asked us for the fifth time if there was anything else that we might require, we decided that she must want to clear the table and wanted us to either pay for something else or clear out.  We chose the latter, and gathered our belongings and headed out into the afternoon hustle and bustle of Glasgow.  I answered cea's unasked question and said, "No, you were never that impatient when serving at home in MacLaaran."  She just smiled up at me and took hold of my arm as we walked towards the second jeweler.

It seemed to take longer than I had thought it would to locate the second jeweler.  The shoppe was tucked down a side alley, dimly lit even in the afternoon light.  The houses overhung the tiny alley so that not much natural light was able to filter down onto the grey cobblestones.  cea clung tighter to my arm as we approached the door, and she whispered to me, "I don't like this place very much." I tried to calm her fears with a squeeze of her hand on my arm.  I told her that it would be alright.  I had been in places a lot darker than this before.  She didn't look very convinced as we opened the door to the shoppe and a bell attached to the door rang... a black cat scampered across our path and out the open door.  Again, cea squeezed my arm tighter.  I patted her hand lightly and told her quietly that I didn't believe in any of those omens.

We appeared to be alone in the tiny establishment, but there were several fine looking pieces of jewelery on an assortment of headless busts behind the very old and worn wooden counter.  This place lacked a lot of the polish of the first jeweler, and I was about to question whether we should even bother with this particular establishment when my eye caught sight of a ring in a small display case on a shelf behind the counter.  Leaning across the counter to look closer it appeared to be a silver ring with a blue saphire set in it.  The shoppe was dark owing to the lack of light from the alley outside, yet the blue stone seemed to reflect something.  It didn't glow, just looked as if it were reflecting the noonday sun, which obviously it couldn't do inside this shoppe.  At that moment a small man with a grey beard appeared behind us, and asked "Can I help you?" cea gave and audible "EEEEP!" and gripped my arm all the more tightly... I had to admit that I was a little startled myself, but smiling I told him that I was interested in talking with the owner.

The small man informed me that he was the proprietor of this shoppe, and asked again if he could help us.  He asked if we were looking for an engagement ring perhaps?  He had obviously looked at cea's fingers and seen no band, although I was sure his eyes took in the silver chain about her waist with the alternating rubies and opals, and no doubt the silver collar at her throat.  cea smiled at his question and looked up into my eyes with the same question unasked but definitely going through her mind. 

I informed him that I had something that I was looking to sell in fact.  That brought a questioning look to his countenance and I assured him that it was all proper.  I set the satchel on the old oak counter, and withdrew a smaller silver silk bag.  The small man approached, now curious at what I might have in the bag.  I emptied the contents onto the counter and he smiled.  There on the counter were 6 medium sized stones, each one about the size of a small crab-apple.  Each stone colorless, and clear, but rough, obviously uncut and unpolished.  He asked if he might examine one, and I nodded agreement.  Taking a small glass, like a tiny telescope,  from his vest pocket he placed it over his right eye and held the stone before it, turning to face an oil lamp that was burning at the end of the counter.  He made several satisfactory noises, though none of them were real words.  Turning back to me and removing the glass from his eye he asked if the other stones were in similar condition.  I assured him that they were all from the same source.  At this he abruptly said, "I think this calls for some tea." and placing the stone from his hand back on the counter, he turned on his heel and disappeared through a set of curtains into the back of the shoppe.

cea looked at me and whispered, "tea?"  I shrugged and placed the 6 stones back into the silver bag, and the bag back into the satchel.  At that moment the small man appeared back through the curtains carrying a silver tray on which was a silver tea set, three china cups, and a plate of small scones.  cea looked at me then back at the man obviously wondering if he kept tea in the back for all his customers.  I had another idea running through my mind at the moment.  The small man motioned us over to a small table and four chairs at the side of the shoppe.  He set the tray down on the table.  cea immediately started to reach for the set to serve, but I grabbed her arm.  We were his guests and he wanted to play host.  "Sit, sit" he said as he prepared the cups.  "My dear, how do you take your tea?" cea answered "lemon, and milk please".  "Ahh, yes" he said, and handed her the cup of tea on the far left, just as she had asked for it.  "And you, good Sir?"  I replied "Milk and honey, please", and he immediately handed me the cup on the right, taking the cup in the middle for himself.  He sat himself down in one of the two remaining chairs and sipped his tea before continuing.

He then said, "So.  A gentleman and his servant..." he looked at cea but continued, "...but surely more than just a servant as she clings to you as more than a Master, come to my shoppe this day. You come with 6 very nice diamonds which you intend to sell, or... perhaps something else?"  I asked him about the silver ring with the saphire in it.  He replied, "Ahhhhhh.... yes.... I wondered when you would get to that."  Putting his teacup down he crossed the shoppe and withdrew the ring from its display case, bringing it across to us.  "Perhaps you'd like to have a closer look at it?" he said with a bit of mirth in his eyes.  I nodded and he placed it into my outstretched palm.  I looked carefully at the runes embedded on the outer surface of the ring.  Again the blue stone seems to reflect a light that was not present in the room. I turned it up, and read an inscription from the inner edge.  The small man watched me closely as I did this, a small smile on his lips when I looked back to him... he knew that I could read the inscription.

I offered one of the diamonds for the ring.  The small man sipped his tea and asked for three.  I knew my offer of one was too low, and he knew that his suggestion of three was too high.  We agreed on two diamonds for the ring, all the while cea looking at me incredulously.  The small man then said, "Well that will leave you just 4 diamonds."  I agreed and asked for 1000 gold sovereigns each.  He looked disconcerted at that, and told me that he couldn't come up with that much, though he agreed that was a fair sum.  He indicated that he could purchase 2 of the remaining 4 diamonds at that price.  I asked how much time he would need, and he indicated 2 days.  That worked well with our plans for leaving and I withdrew two of the diamonds from the silver bag inside my satchel and handed them to him while I kept the silver ring with the blue saphire.  We finished our tea, thanked him for his hospitality, and left his shoppe, making our way out to the wider and lighter streets of Glasgow.

On the streets cea's questions started again... Yes I knew what I was doing... No I was not going to explain why I traded two "huge" (her word) diamonds for one silly ring... Yes I realized that 2000 gold sovereigns was a lot of money... Yes I had a plan for carrying all that money... No I did not think that I needed those guards of Tris's back now.

We walked the streets of Glasgow back to the Inn while her questions continued.  The only way I managed to make them stop was to put my lips onto hers as soon as we were back in our room at the Inn.  Then the questions stopped...

[TimTheEnchanter]

We had gone out the following day to the first jeweler and sold him the uncut emeralds for the sum of 800 gold sovereigns, wrapped in rolls of thin parchment 50 sovereigns in each roll, a total of 16 rolls of coins deposited into the satchel.  The difference in weight is evident as I lifted the satchel to my shoulder thanking the jeweler, knowing that he would make a fair sight more than his 800 sovereign investment once the stones were cut and polished.  I make a mental note to stop back in this shoppe when or if I ever return to Glasgow.

We exit the shoppe and squint into the early morning sunshine, not common for a Feburary morn in Scotland, but we enjoy the warmth that it brings to our faces.  We cross the wide street, cea's smaller fingers entwined with mine.  She swings my arm as we walk, and I look over and see her smiling.  I ask her what brings that smile to her face, and she answers it is the sunshine, the warmth of it, and the fact that we are going on a trip together.  She is anxious to be on our way across the Irish Channel, bound for Waterford.

We enjoy a pleasant afternoon browsing among the shoppes and vendors that line the busy streets of Glasgow.  We can go to the second jeweler in the morning and then have our belongings delivered to the SweetSilver.  We don't purchase anything in our shopping, and that evening we enjoy a pleasant meal in Inn before heading to our room for the night.

The following morning I am anxious to return to the little shoppe in the dark alley we had discovered two days prior.  Poor little cea rolls over and says she wants to have a lie in this morning.  I don't force her to come with me.  She was up late last night afterall. I exit the bed and pull on my clothes, searching for my other sock.  What the heck had she done with it?  I know I had it on yesterday, and well, the rest of my clothes were in a neat line from the door to the bed...

With fresh socks on, soft leather boots, and the rest of my travelling clothes I exit our room quietly and head downstairs.  I tell the proprietor of the Inn that I only want a scone for breakfast and that I will take it with me.  I inform him that cea is still sleeping upstairs and that we would like our trunk delivered to the SweetSilver at berth 12 in the port before dinner this evening.  With the scone stuck in my mouth I head out of the Inn, on my way to the little jeweler in that dark little lane.

I make the journey easily retracing the steps that cea and I had made two days earlier, without the stop at the port obviously. Entering the small shoppe, remembering the dark interior, the worn wooden counter, and the small gentleman with the grey beard who hearing the bell jingle emerges from the back room again.  He smiles as he see's that it is me and he tells me to please have a seat while he brings us some tea.

He disappears into the back again, and returns moments later with the same silver tea service, this time with two cups instead of the three that he had when cea and I had been here before.  He pours the tea and puts milk and honey in it before handing it to me.  After fixing his own cup he sits in the chair next to me and takes a sip before continuing.  "Now Sir... I have the 2000 gold sovereigns ... but perhaps there is something else in my shoppe that might be of interest in exchange for the other two diamonds?" I smile and tell him that I appreciate the offer but I think the ring will suffice.  He asks if I read the inscription on the inside of the band... watching my eyes as I answer.  Looking over the top of my tea cup I answer that I did.  He says that there aren't many who can read the old language and asks where I learned it.  I tell him that I spent several years in the mountains beyond Constantinople with a master who taught me many things.  We chat about the "old language" for several more minutes as we finish our tea.  It is obvious that this gentleman had another profession before taking up the role of a shoppe keeper.

After our tea is finished and the cups are replaced on the silver tray he stands and crosses to the old wooden counter, walking behind it. I follow him, and put my satchel up on top of the counter, opening the top and withdrawing the small silver bag from inside.  He brings up two rather heavy looking bags himself from behind the counter, setting each on the wooden top with a heavy *THUD*. He explains that there are 1000 gold sovereigns in each bag, 20 rolls of 50 coins each.  opening the silver bag and letting the remaining 4 diamonds roll out onto the countertop I offer him his pick of any two.  He holds each one up to the light at the end of the counter, and selects two of them.  I return the other two to the silver bag and the bag to my satchel.  Then I deposit each of the bags of rolled coins that he has provided into my satchel as well.  I thank him for his business, and his tea, then lift the satchel to my shoulder.  The weight is now twice as heavy as it was yesterday.  I will have to remedy this, and my mind sets to it as I exit the shoppe, hearing the bell jingle as I close the door.

I make my way back through the city streets in under a half hour to the Inn and go up to our room where I find cea still in bed.  I drop the heavy satchel on the floor and she jumps, startled at the sound, and giving me a stern look for waking her thusly.  I walk over to the side of the bed and bending down kiss her lips.  When I raise my head and look into her eyes the stern look has evaporated, and I say, "slide over".

After lunch downstairs cea and I make our way to the port again, and slip 12 where the SweetSilver is docked.  We go aboard and let Captain Methany know that a large trunk will be arriving with our belongings later this afternoon, and that we will be coming to join them after dinner this evening.  He agrees and lets the first mate know to expect the trunk.  We leave the SweetSilver for the time being, and spend our last afternoon together in Glasgow. 

Dinner at the Inn is warm and hearty, more than we're likely to get abord ship for the next several days.  I tell cea to eat up as she doesn't know how her stomach will feel once we are on the open sea.  She picks at her food, and I can tell that she is a bit nervous about the ship now.  I tell her not to worry, that I have been on dozens of ships.  We will be fine. My words don't appear to be convincing her as she just moves the bits of shepherds pie around her plate with her fork.  I finish my dinner and ask her if she is through.  She nods, and we go to settle our bill with the Inn Keeper.  He assures us that our trunk has been delivered to the ship, and encourages us to stay with him again when we return to Glasgow.  I thank him, not sure if we will pass this way again or not, and cea and I leave the Inn.

We walk through the darkening streets to the port.  As we pass each successive corner cea holds my arm just a tad tighter.  By the fifth corner I tell her that she will stop the circulation in my arm if she holds any tighter, and she loosens her grip fractionally.  We walk the remaining 4 blocks together and her grip, though not loosening, at least doesn't get any tighter.  When we can see the port I hear her breath a sigh of relief and we walk down to the quay.  Strolling along to slip 12, we call up to the deckhand who gives us permission to come up the gangway.  We board the SweetSilver and the first mate lets us know that our trunk arrived mid-afternoon and that it has been stored below.  He shows us to our cabin and then says that he will inform the Captain that we have arrived.  We bid him our thanks, and he disappears.  As she turns to face me, cea looks up into my eyes and asks, "Are we really on our way?"... I answer, "Yes, we are really on our way."

[Sir Kyle]

Tis Story Night and I hope that Seamus has found the poem that won Tim a prize at the recent Winter Ball and is prepared t' read it in a nice Irish brogue, just as Tim might have read it.

My mind drifted off to thoughts o' Tim and cea, probably now on a ship sailing to Ireland. I do hope they arrive safely and that cea was able t' enjoy her first experiences at sea.

[Sir Kyle]

Very nice Story Night evening. First Dami walks in after a leave of absence. She got hugs from everybody.
Tim read his poem to cea while aboard the ship to Ireland, Rois read a beautifu poem that she wrote years ago, and William read his poem to Dami from last year.

Then our latest guest, Coventina, read a clever story about a gypsy and her boyfriend, a Valentine's Day tale.

I put off reading The Humorous Tales of Sir Licksalot until April, since it was getting late.  Coventina said she'll look for something else to read next month. I told her that means she'll have to stick around, assuming she can find the Dreambook on the Mac website.

[TimTheEnchanter]

The voyage itself had been uneventful, and of sea voyages, that was often times the best thing that you can hope for.  It had taken two days and two nights and they had made Waterford with no ill effects on either cea or himself.  The cabin had been smaller than  the chambers at MacLaaran obviously, but it had suited them nicely.  Meals were mainly breads, ale, smoked fish, and porridge that seemed to consist of something not completely unlike sawdust in warm loch water.  Sailors neither he nor cea intended to be.

They departed the SweetSilver at Waterford harbour, and two of the crew were assigned to bring their trunk down the gangplank to the quay.  After two nights aboard ship, it seemed like a night in a bed that was tied to ground might be a good idea and Tim got them a room in a small inn called The Thistle and Shamrock that had a petite pub nestled into the corner of it with the same name.  After a hot meal, and a warm bath, cea and Tim settled in for the evening, content to have a soft bed, a warm blanket and each other.  As he drifted off to sleep that first night in his homeland, the land that he'd left over 15 years ago now, he could smell the peat fires of the nearby houses.  It smelled like home.  Wrapping an arm around the already sleeping cea he closed his eyes.

We awake the following morning to the smells of bacon cooking.  We dressed from our small travelling bag having had the trunk delivered and stored in the carriage house behind the Inn.  Coming downstairs we find Mrs Daugherty bringing an Irish fryup out to the few other guests that were awake.  She motions us to a table exclaiming how much more rested we both look this mornin'.  Sitting at the small wooden table that she's shown us to, Mrs Daugherty disappears into the kitchen.  As we sit there I can feel the questions about to boil over in cea's mind.  She starts with how long will it take to get to Kilkenny, have I been to Waterford before, why do the fires smell different here, how long had it been again since I was home, do I think my mum will "approve" of her, what will she think of her son bringing home a servant girl, will my sister like her?

I don't get a chance to even answer the first one before Mrs Daugherty shows back up with bacon, eggs, bread, black and white puddings and a pot of tea.  As she looks at the enourmous amount of food cea asks how we are ever supposed to eat all of this.  I laugh and say eat what you can, it's a long ride to Kilkenny.  She gives me that "don't be a smart-ass" look that she's perfected over the years, and digs into the excellent meal before us.  I manage to answer most of her questions as we eat our breakfast.  It will take two days by carriage to reach Kilkenny.  Yes I've been to Waterford before, but it has been a long time and things change.  The fires are made from peat that they collect from the bogs and dry, and it does have a unique smell, something that I had forgotten, but was a very pleasant memory for me.  Thinking back I tell her that my father had died 14 years earlier... and I had been gone from home a year, or maybe two before that, so either 15 or 16 years now.  Of course my mum will "approve" of her.  Thinking to myself that I've not brought a "girl" home since... since Aoife, and I had only been 15 years old at the time.  I told cea not to worry about the fact that she was a servant girl.  I didn't think of her that way.  I hadn't in a very very long time.  That brought a smile to her lips, and I left off the question about Ayslin.  Ayslin would have to decide for herself what she thought of ceanna.

After we finish the wonderful breakfast we head out into the streets of Waterford in search of transport for our trip to Kilkenny.  When she asks why I didn't ask Mr Daugherty at the Inn that question I just look at her and say, "I can find it thank you".  Men don't ask directions.  This street must go somewhere or they wouldn't have bothered putting it here.  We find several merchants, lots of things we don't need, but I let cea look in all the shoppes anyway.  We do finally come across a stable of sorts attached to a shoppe that says "Donnelly's Carriage Builders, and Trade".  I take us inside this establishment and discover that they do in fact have carriages for hire. We negotiate a reasonable price for two days journey to Kilkenny and I agree to pay the driver for 4 days since he will have to bring the carriage back.  The shoppe owner says that he does know where the Thistle and Shamrock is, and will send a buggy by for our trunk.  I thank him and we return to the Thistle and Shamrock by way of several more shoppes that cea just "has to" stop in.  You'd think that she'd never been outside the tiny village of MacLaaran in her whole life... and you'd probably be close to correct.

Arriving back at the Thistle and Shamrock at lunchtime after spending the entire morning walking, we agree to have a lite meal and tell Mr Daugherty that a buggy from Donnelly's would be by to pick up our trunk.  Mr Daugherty assures us that it is safe in the carriage house and that he will help the lad get it loaded when the buggy arrives.  We pack our small travelling bag upstairs and settle our account with Ms Daugherty who is now tending the till at the small pub just as Mr Daugherty arrives back inside to tell us that the trunk has been loaded and there is room to ride with it back to Donnelly's if we like.  We agree, thank them both for the fine treatment and go outside where we find a youngish lad at the reins and our trunk tucked in the buggy. I help cea into the buggy pass her the bag, and then climb in myself.

We arrive at Donnelly's in short order, and Mr Donnelly tells the lad and another to put the trunk onto the back of the larger travelling carriage that is waiting at the stable entrance with two horses already afixed to it.  I pay Mr Donnelly the agreed sum, minus the 2 days that I will give the driver when we reach Kilkenny.  Mr Donnelly introduces us to Pádraig our driver, thanks us, and helps cea into the closed carriage then tosses the travelling bag up top to Pádraig who places it beside him.  I carry my satchel with me and climb in behind cea.  Mr Donnelly closes the door behind me and whistles.  Pádraig snaps the reins and the carriage turns into the streets of Waterford, soon to be on the highway north towards Kilkenny.

[Aurora]

(this is a recap to catch everyone up on the same page)

A few weeks ago, Aurora came Home to SEM from working at Fussen House. She entered Her chambers with Her dog and the dog immediatly started growling and barking a warning.. Aurora found the balcony door open, the winter wind blowing through the room, and a missive left on Her table.. a letter from Her Father, saying Her younger Brother, Thomas had escaped from the prison and was expected to be heading Her way.. and to be on guard. For a time, every time She ventured outside in SEM the dog was on edge, and She also felt as if She were being watched. She kept Manor guards closer than normal, and expressed Her concern to Tris also, who vowed to keep Her safe and assigned several Mac guards to watch over Her as well. One night She had an uneasy feeling that Thomas was near, but nothing came of it, so She figured it was just nerves.

Thomas, however, had indeed traveled the several weeks down to Schone, over the still snow covered high mountain passes. He had intercepted all messengers to Schone, until He found the missive to Aurora from Her Father, and paid off the boy, sneaking into Schone and Aurora's chambers, leaving the letter where She would find it. He had been living in the Black Forest surrounding Schone and was keeping watch on the Manor, taking careful note of Aurora's comings and goings. He watched as several nights She left and did not return, and curious, followed Her one evening, ending up on the outskirts of MacLaaran. He managed to get close to the Castle and see Her inside, although He was nearly detected. On His way out of town, He left a note for Aurora, which was found and given to Tris, who told Aurora about it. Thomas then traveled back to Schone Lands, gathered His things and went back to MacLaaran Village, cleaning up and taking an assumed name, knowing that as long as He didn't run into Aurora, no one would know who He was.. He would be just another Traveler. He walked into the village and rented a room in the Velvet Hammer and has made 2 trips to the Castle. Both times speaking to Sir Kyle and once to Sir Tristram. So far, so good.

Aurora has inquired several times about Thomas, if Tris' guards have seen anything, but Tris' says nothing's been found since the note, and there are no suspicous people around. Aurora asks about people staying at the Hammer.. Tris insists Thomas would never stay there, but Aurora tells Him that if Thomas could find a way to do it, that's exactly what He would do... Tris says He'll check into everyone there, perhaps use an enticing barmaid.. Aurora points out He's not going to admit to being Her Brother. Tris assures Aurora, again, that no harm will come to Her and Thomas will be found.

[Sir Kyle]

On Sunday night Tris, lava and I gave Lady Aurora her scroll, so She's now a full fledged member of MacLaaran.

My architects are busy fixing up Her new chambers and work will commence on the new MacLaaran House for Children. We'll provide funding for the erection of the new building, just south west of MacLaaran Village.

((check out the map))

http://www.webmaze.com/memberpages/booo/maclaaranmap.jpg

[Praegorn]

Welcome........home..Lady Aurora. ~chuckling~

[TimTheEnchanter]

Two days on the road from Waterford, and we approach the enclave known as Kilkenny.  I can't help but stick my head out the window of the carriage and look at the villiage, the thatched roofs, the slender columns of smoke eminating from the chimneys, the smell of peat in the air.  It has been 16 years since I've been home... and still the place looks as if I were here just last week.  I call cea over to the window and point out the sights as the carriage pulls in and slows as pedestrians are crossing the lane in front of us.

"Look ... there... that's the blacksmith, Callaghan's... and there... that's the bakers... Lahey's... oh, you'd like the linen shoppe... Mrs Mulligan runs that... "I'm like a little boy coming home again. I look over at cea and she isn't looking out the window... she's looking at me... a smile on her face... I can't help but be excited... it has been 16 years, and soon I will see my Mum and Ayslin again.  I lean farther out the window of the carriage and call up to Padrig... "Take the next turn to the right.  The house is at the end of the lane."

We turn right and follow the narrow lane to the end.  People craning their heads out of windows as we pass, trying to see who would be arriving in a closed carriage.  We pull up to the last cottage on the lane.  It is a small limed cottage with an aged thatched roof.  Perhaps a little more worn than I remember leaving it... but then my father had been gone for 14 years.  After the years in MacLaaran, the cottage seems tiny as I open the door of the carriage and jump to the ground before the wheels have even stopped turning.

Padrig pulls the horses to a stop, sets a brake, and climbs down from the drivers seat.  I already have cea by the waist and lower her to the ground easily. Turning back to the house I look at it... then to her and say... "This is home." ...Taking her by the hand, I lead her up the garden path towards the door to the cottage.  Remembering Padrig I call over my shoulder that I will return to help him with the trunk after I have taken cea inside.  Padrig just smiles and sets to unlashing the trunk from the back of the carriage.  I lift the handle on the small wooden door... push it open and step into the darkened interior, pulling cea inside with me.

Ayslin sees me enter and calls out excited... "TIM!!! YOU'RE HERE!!! "... Our eyes are slow to adjust to the dim interior of the cottage, but I hear my sister's voice and see a figure rushing towards me.  As Ayslin wraps her arms around my neck, cea lets go of my hand and I hug my sister.  Ayslin talks excitedly in my ear as she refuses to let go of my neck... "We didn't know when to expect you.  We heard back from the messenger that you would come, but we didn't know when.  We've been wondering for days how long it would take you. Oh I'm so glad you're home."

"I'm here Ays... I'm here..." Finally releasing me and stepping back, it's only then that Ayslin notices cea is standing behind me... she looks surprised to see her. Seeing the look on her face, I step back and take cea by the hand.  I'm about to introduce them when Ayslin speaks... "You must be ceanna... "

I look at cea and she looks at me... then we both look at Ayslin... not knowing how she knew that... Seeing the confused looks on our faces Ayslin smiles, chuckles, and then explains... The story being, Seamus after finding Tim at Castle MacLaaran in Scotland sent word back home about the beautiful young lass that Tim had found at MacLaaran.  Ayslin let us know that Seamus had described ceanna in intricate detail.  More detail than just a passing glance could have determined.  How everyone back in Kilkenny who knew Seamus and Eoin had wagered on whether Seamus would voluntarily leave this new found castle in Scotland, and with or without the lass that he obviously took more than a passing interest in... I look at cea and her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are lowered.  I lean over and kiss her cheek and she raises her eyes to me. In those eyes I see the answer that I already knew... and I hoped my eyes conveyed the same to her.

Ayslin looks cea over from head to toe... then smiling, tells her in a low voice, ... "I think you made the right choice... Seamus and Eoin might be fine boys to look at... but their eyes wander too much..." then stepping close to cea, Ayslin reaches her arms around her and hugs her... whispering in her ear, so that only she can hear... "I'm glad you're home too ... my little sister..." I watch my sister hug my cea... and I smile as she leaves a kiss on her cheek.

There is a knock at the door, and Padrig is standing there with our trunk, young Danny standing beside him smiling into the cottage.  I appologize for not returning, and Padrig asks where we would like the trunk.  I tell him outside the door will be fine.  Danny and I can move it later.  I walk back outside the cottage into the sunlight with Padrig.  He has brought my satchel, and our travelling bag to the cottage door as well.  I ask him if he will join us for dinner tonight and wait to start the return journey until the morning, but he declines, wanting to get started back to Waterford... Reaching into the satchel I pull out a small money bag, and give Padrig the 2 days wages for the return trip, and an extra tip for the outstanding service.  He thanks me kindly and climbs back onto the carriage, expertly turning it in the small lane... I watch him disappear down the lane and turn left into the high street before turning and clasping a hand over Danny's shoulder entering the cottage again.

What I find inside warms my heart.  Ayslin and ceanna, sitting and talking in front of the fire.  I could not have wished for a better homecoming.  I know now that things will be just fine here... and it's time that I find Mum.

[TimTheEnchanter]

The first day we arrived Mum did her utmost to put on her very best face.  Fixing us a fine meal that evening.  Laughing and listening to our stories.  Trying to convince us that she is fine, just tired.  The discussions with Ayslin over the past three weeks tell us otherwise. She is very weak but will not let Ayslin call the healer, insisting instead that all she needs is a pot of tea and some herbs that Mrs Flaherty brings to her every Monday.  I just shake my head and cea tells me that she can see where I get my stubborn streak from.

Ayslin and Mum delight in hearing the stories of my travels.  Even cea seems interested in hearing though she's asked and heard them all before.  I tell of leaving Ireland from Dublin on a ship bound for Lisbon, Portugal.  I found Portugese to be an interesting language and not at all like what I expected.  I only stayed in Portugal for a month before making my way across the border into Spain.  I fell in love with the Spanish countryside.  The warm days and cool nights.  Making my way across the country from job to job, I finally found myself an apprentice to an swordsmith in Toledo.  They have the most wonderful techniques in Toledo of folding the steel when they make the blades. I remind ceanna that the daggar that I gave her all those years ago came from Señor Moreno.  I had sent Seamus to the continent once he left MacLaaran, and I frequently asked him to send items purchased from people and places that I had visited.  I worked for Señor Moreno for several months, but it was evident that a smithy I'd never make.  Although I admired the artistry, I could not match his intense love for the craft.  It was hard to leave, but I did and made my way through Barcelona before skirting the Pyrenees along the coast and into southern France.

It was in France that I met and worked for Monsieur Gabeaux, one of the better wine makers in Toulouse. I worked for Monsieur Gabeaux for almost 1 year, learning the tending of his vinyard, the harvest, and the pressing of the grapes.  The wine he made was very good, but Monsieur Gabeaux could never understand how I preferred my Guinness to his grapes.  I left his employ in very good terms with several bottles of bourdeaux which came in very useful when crossing into Hungary, but that's another story.  I worked my way along the southern coast of France over the next 6 months spending almost a month in Marseille in the employ of a Madame who ran a house of "less than honorable intentions".  Again, that's a story for another time.

I crossed into Italy and spent the next two years there.  The first stay was in Torino where I learned to transcribe documents and books.  My affinity for languages gave me an advantage here and I was set to translating.  It was here that I was first exposed to some of the more arcane writings that I came to learn in much greater detail my chosen profession.  My employer, Giacomo Biondi was an older gentleman and had literally hundreds of books in every language that you could imagine.  I read all of them that I could understand and poured over the rest of them hoping to glean even the slightest nuance from the words.  I found that I had a love of the written word.  After a year and a half I left Biondi's and made my way to Firenze where I met the incredible artisan in leather Dario Pirandello.  Dario could fashion the most wonderful items from leather.  Showing my soft leather boots to them I let them know that these were made in Pirandello's shoppe by my own hand.  From Firenze I made my way north and east to Venice spending several months working for a glass worker there before continuing on north towards Austria.

It was in Austria that I almost died from pneumonia during that winter.  All three of them look at me aghast as I say this.  Especially cea as I must have failed to mention this "little bit" of information in my previous tellings of my stories.  Well at least I have her attention now. Maybe it was the sickness... maybe not... but I never developed a love for Austria.  I moved on the next spring into Hungary and the Border guards were not much interested in letting me pass into their homeland.  Well two bottles of bourdeaux and 4 hours later I was invited home for dinner with Sergey.  Sergey's wife Natalia can cook a very decent meal I tell you.  The Hungarians are a warm and generous people... once you eat and drink with them.

From Hungary I made my way down the northern edge of the Adriatic ending up in Greece.  The Uzo was flowing and it was difficult to leave the warm evenings in Greece, but I found myself drawn towards the city of Constantinople.

[Serenitee]

~grumbling softly as she starts her day at the cottage.  Tugging on a tattered, cream colored chemise and a dull brown skirt.  Tying the skirt up at one side in a single knot while the stretched out lace of the chemise's neckline slinks down a shoulder~

~looking in her bedroom mirror, rolling her eyes as she just has no time to make herself picture perfect.  Lifting her fingertips to twist the unruly curls framing her face...sighing heavily as she notices that her head appears to be lopsided.  Growling as she whips a satiny block of fabric from her dresser top and neatly ties it about her head, nicely capturing the silken mass of curls.  She ties the cloth neatly in a knot at the center of her forehead then catches a glance of herself again in the mirror and just laughs~

~straightening her shoulders, not caring of the slipping chemise, she sets about her day, wandering about the cottage shaking her head at the mess she has let accumulate~

Well, I may as well start on this mess!...~softly humming~.....but where to start...~biting her bottom lip before deciding to start outside on the porch.  After all a bit of fresh air may be good for her weary attitude.

~stepping outside then turning to the door, bending over to pick up the small rug at the entrance then moving back around and to the edge of the porch.  Holding her arms as far out as she can then giving the rug a brisk flick...suddenly coughing and gagging as a sneaky spring breeze whipped up at the same time she was flicking.  Muttering loudly yet incoherently as she drops the rug to the porch and is racked by a fit of sneezing~

~ducking her head, then tossing it back...pausing....ducking and tossing again...the last sneeze just not wanting to come.  Closing her eyes for a moment...breathing deeply then smiling.....thinking that wasn't so bad.  Glancing into the sunshine then convulsing into a  strong surprising sneeze, sending her head flying forward, the scarf coming loose, her curls falling about her face~

~groaning and rolling her eyes.  Her hand swiping the hair back from her face as she just plops down on the steps of the porch~

I should just go back to bed!...~mumbling to herself~

[Sir Kyle]

April 3, 1321

I decided not to wait until Thursday to make the trip to Edinburgh. You never know what nasty turn of the weather might occur and what other troubles we might face enroute.

Davie MacKenzie brought the buggy I decided to use right up to the front gates of the castle. The 500 gold sovereigns to pay off this year's taxes was packed in heavy wooden chest bound by metal straps. We loaded it on the back of the buggy along with the lunches that Rita had prepared.

Tris had two mounted guards that would accompany us during the trip to Edinburgh. My steed, Blaze was saddled and ready as was Tris's horse. My lava decided not to go along this time, still fussing because she wanted a very special dress before she met King Robert the Bruce.

I kissed her goodbye, mounted up and we were on our way.