((*Scratches head* Well, right now I think we have more Exalted than Gifted... How's that gonna work? I can have Aedha be Gifted instead, if you want...))

"They are more of your Order," answered Silvryn, in the same language. ((Lol, too lazy to make it up)) "We will be departing soon."

Turning to Tal, she switched back to the Common tongue. "I have not lately been made aware - you'll have to find out."

A tall, slender boy - or was it a boy? - came up beside Kjiro, eyes bright with curiousity. "I'm Kiarryn," she said forthrightly to the group. It was a she, as was proven by her voice, which was light and musical, but to all appearances she could have been male. Her hair was cropped short, almost to her ears, and she was sunburnt and obviously used to traveling.

((A thought just occured to me - for Kiarryn, think Keladry from Protector of the Small. She looks like that))

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What's Protector of the Small?

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Tal nodded. Then he could only hope he didn't have any awkward run-ins here. He hadn't left the Order's compound in disgrace or anything, he had simply experienced the usual amount of competition and contrariness. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

When the lass started talking, though, it gave him a start. She looked very much like a boy. That was odd--not many females he had met had a voice that mature but still could be mistaken for a boy.

"A good day before you, Khiarryn," Tal said, greeting her in the odd manner of his people. Many other elves considered those of the Desert to be nearly rustics, yet it was not so. They had simply developed an unusual culture after many, many generations of living in the blistering heat, away from other Elves, encountering only other nomads, merchants, and the occasional threat that had managed to get all the way to them.

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"And you as well," answered Kiarryn, with a quick grin in his direction. "My lady," she murmured respectfully to Silvryn, who smiled.

"Make yourselves comfortable," the Princess said to the general group. "Not too comfortable, though - we won't be here long."

And she strode off, presumably to attend to something else that needed doing.

(It's a series of books by Tamora Pierce. I read them a whiel back and it just occured to me that Kiarryn's a lot like Keladry, the main character))

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Tal accepted the reply with an inclination of his head, then smiled as Silvryn glided away--she seemed to have mastered the regal, imperious walk of princesses well since the last time he had seen her before this journey.

He settled in an exquisitely carved wooden chair near one of the rooms enormous fireplaces, which provided the heat in the expansive building. He had no worries about getting ready--his pack was untouched, and as for his pack mule, it carried the few other things he had decided to bring along. It would not take much time at all to gather everything.

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Kiarryn wandered off - she was rather interested in the new arrivals but didn't really blame them for not being interested in her. She was nobody, a long-escaped slave who'd made a life for herself, if not a high-ranking one. But nobody knew that, either. Kiarryn didn't want their pity or their scorn.

Spotting Tal, though, who had seemed polite, she went over and sat by the fireplace as well. "I suppose you'll be coming with us, then, when we go?" she queried by way of starting a conversation.

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Lol, sorry I couldn't respond sooner, Meldawen--I had to get off for a little bit to do something.

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Tal quirked an eyebrow as Kiarryn sat down near him.

"I will be coming along as well, aye. I have within me a desire to see my former haunts, as well as to see how a certain incident that occurred earlier plays out. Some of my companions provide a source of interest for me," he replied to her question.

He resumed his flame-gazing, but watched Kiarryn curiously out of the corner of his eye. Was she Gifted, too? He snorted. That was a ridiculous question--of course she was Gifted. Silvryn said that this was where the Gifted and Exalted were housed, and Kiarryn was not in the garb of a servant girl.

"What is your gift, Lass Kiarryn?" he asked, letting his curiousity get the better of him. Obviously she was not skilled in it, or she wouldn't be going to the Order for training.

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eryn looked around amazed and scared at the same time "I wonder when I'll have my mind probed and where?" she asked herself

"Just Kiarryn is fine," said she, a touch offhandedly. Respect was not something she was used to. "I manipulate earth and water. Not - not very well, mind you. And yours?"

She remembered when she'd first learned of her gift - a scorching desert day when she'd almost died of thirst, left with nothing from the slave caravan who'd abandoned her, and in desperation had produced a spring in the middle of the fields of sand. That had forced Kiarryn to become more proficient at her gifts than she otherwise might have.

((No problem ))

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"Very well, Kiarryn," Tal said. So he and the girl were no longer on formal terms. Interesting--she seemed very trusting, allowing a stranger to be informal with her.

"I have the greater skill in healing," he replied to her question, "but I can also manipulate the flame." He nodded towards the fireplace, his gaze becoming bright and piercing. The fire--which until recently had been roaring merrily--abruptly dwindled, then came back in a swell of heat and light, forming delicate shapes inside the pit--indeed, it was a miniature version of the palace insomuch as Tal had seen of it. He stirred, and something in his eyes seemed to change. In response, the flame shifted into the shape of a great bird rearing into flight. As it rose out of sight in the chimney, Tal let his control over the fire go.

"That is nothing compared to what those who have it as their primary gift can do, of course," he said with a smile. "I cannot have a fine control over the flame if I try forming into something much larger than that. Some Exalted whom I knew could have made a palace nearly as big as this real one is."

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Kiarryn's eyes brightened, the flaming bird reflecting in them. "Much better than I, though," she commented with a laugh once the fire returned to normal. "You can heal as well? That is fortunate - my lady Silvryn can as well but her others gifts are greater. And I am not sure who you have brought with you" - her gaze flicked to the entrance, where others still seemed to be gathered - "but I know of not many here whose skill goes beyond minor healing of cuts and scrapes."

She leaned forward, interested. "What Exalted do you know? I have heard they are rare and powerful."

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Tal smiled. "They are not so rare as I used to think, it seems," he said. "I know of at least five who came with our group, Penfire and the princess Silvryn included. Indeed, I think that there might be less Gifted among us than there are Exalted. As for the Exalted who I was referring to, he died while I was in training. Someone saw fit to poison his wine, and no-one who possessed the gift of healing was near enough." He winced at the memory--indeed, he had been only a few rooms away, but the poison had been fast acting enough that only a much more powerful healer could have saved him.

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"Oh, I'm sorry," said Kiarryn quietly, tucking her legs up under her on the chair to curl like a cat. She paused for a moment to watch the fire, playing restlessly with the braided trim of the armchair she sat on. "I do wish we would hurry and leave," she murmured, almost as if to herself.

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(Urgh...lostness. I'll post later, once I reread everything..)

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(i know that feeling. which is why i'm saying... goodbye. this is the end. i am leaving. see ya. )

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- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
~art credit~

Goodbye!

lol, Raven--lost in your own RP?

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Hearing Kiarryn's follow-up statement, Tal tilted his head to shake his depressing thoughts out, and then turned to the girl.

"Indeed, it is my belief that we will be leaving soon," he said with a smile, "but first the others must make ready. Do you know who the other Gifted and Exalted are that have stayed here with you?" he asked curiously.

If Silvryn had not known, perhaps the young lass would. He hoped. So far, she had not appeared to be an extremely observant girl.

I wonder what her story is, he thought to himself. He would have to ask her.

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(-.- Very funny..)

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