IceAndWave/FlowersForNerivus

Flowers For Nerivus

In which news is delivered, blood is spilled, and flattery is suspected...

The 2nd Day of Descending Wood, Realm Year 763

Sian closes the door to Venia's room, but not quickly enough avoid hearing another muffled moan before it clicks shut.

Sian is so very glad that he was with Asura earlier. He wanders out, shaking his head.

Walking out of the inn, chased by the envious gaze of a teenage boy, he steps out into the mid-morning streets of Tideholme, breathing in the crisp air.

Sian draws in a deep breath, letting said air invigorate him before he starts off, full of purpose! Probably. Mostly, he just walks to Cora'Esh's home.

The house of the enigmatic Dragon-blooded sorceress is where it was when Sian visited previously, buried in the maze of streets that comprise the older parts of Tideholme. He knocks at the door, and it is opened a moment later by the same child that Sian saw the previous day. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes, I was supposed to see your mistress today. Is she available?"

The child blinks for a few seconds, before replying, "Yes, she is Lord Nerivus. If you would follow me into the atrium, I will take you to her."

Sian nods at this, and does so.

The child turns and walks into Cora'Esh' home, leading Sian through a long corridor flanked on either side by doors through which strangely coloured lights spill through cracks in the wood, before entering an open area. Cora'Esh stands at the centre of a small, but dense garden, greenery running riot in the warm and humid air.

"Ah, Sian Nerivus. One was hoping you would come," she looks up, her pale red lips curved in a slight smile, "Please, have a seat," she gestures to one of several chairs.

Sian does so, draping his coat over the back of it and smiling back slightly.

Cora'Esh remains standing, tending to her plants in the damp air, "One assumes that you are here to fulfill one's curiosity as to the events of last night's social event at the Iceflower Palace. Is this correct?"

"It is. A rather eventful night, as it happens."

"One has heard tales of some of Lady Asura's other such gatherings. One does not doubt that they are interesting, for those of an appropriately debauched disposition."

"Well, the last one I attended was like that, as you saw. But this was rather restrained... only Asura, Cynis Venia, myself, and a newcomer called Cassia."

"Cynis Venia? One does not recognise that name."

"Ah, she is new here also... only recently arrived from the Realm. I met her a few years ago, when she was travelling through this region, but I understand that this time, she is here to stay."

"Ahh... and yet another cast-off from the Realm joins us poor exiles at the fringes of civilisation," there is a definite mocking tone to her otherwise emotionless voice. "And Cassia?"

"I did not get much of a chance to speak with her. But Asura seems to have adopted her as a sort of protege."

"Interesting," Cora'Esh prunes a rose-bush as she talks, carefully clipping dead branches away and letting them fall to the floor, "One presumes that she was also Exalted?"

"Yes. I assume Fire, though I may be wrong."

"Most interesting, ah!" the sorceress pulls a finger away from the roses, a thin drop of blood running from where she had pricked it on one of the thorns.

Sian stands at that, moving over to look at it. "Are you okay?"

"One is fine. The risk of tending to my garden," she strokes a hand over the roses, actually allowing her blood to drip onto the petals of one for a few seconds before, licking it clean and stemming the flow, "One sometimes thinks that the only reason that happens is because one's garden is hungry for blood." She turns and smiles thinly at Sian, "Such nonsense, one is sure you would agree."

"Well, it is possible... the North is known to hold many strange things. Why not blood-thirsty plants?" He looks over the roses with interest.

The flowers have a subtle, yet potent fragrance, the source, Sian realises, of the almost imperceptible flowery smell that surrounds Cora'Esh.

She glides across the atrium, replacing her pruning tools with care and precision in a small box and then turns to face Sian once more, "Was there anything else of interest that occured at the Iceflower Palace beyond the introduction of new arrival's to one's home?"

"Indeed. Asura had a proposition for us all; an alliance."

"An alliance? To what end?" She claps her hands once and the child servant appears wordlessly and takes the toolbox away, disappearing back into the house.

"Mutual gain. In other words, she has no idea yet."

"Ah... one is not surprised. One has had only a few interactions with Lady Asura and they have led one to realise she is far more interested in earthy pursuits than in the more nebulous, yet rewarding, pursuit of knowledge."

"Mhmm. I don't understand the urge for power myself, but I saw no benefit in turning her down."

"Turning down a Dragon-blooded Satrap, even if one is likewise Exalted, is rarely a beneficial course of action."

"My point exactly." He touches the blood-stained flower petal carefully.

"It is simplicity itself to be listened to if one's voice is carried in a manner that cannot be ignored," Cora'Esh say, apparently apropos of nothing, "Witness the pig V'Neef Gosul."

"It is hard not to, given his size." He grimaces at the thought of the fat merchant.

"A most perceptive statement, Sian Nerivus," Cora'Esh smiles slightly wider, the expression suiting her pale face.

Sian offers a faintly embarassed smile in return.

The sorceress changes the subject suddenly, gesturing to the plants all around, "One wonders what you think of one's garden? It is not easy to grow many of these plants in so frigid a clime, and so one has had to... improvise."

"It is very impressive. I know little of gardening, but what little I do know tells me that you have done well."

"One is pleased that you like it," she reaches out with a pale hand and plucks a rose from a vine that twirls around one of the many columns in the atrium, the outside of it's petals a deep carmine red, while the inside is a pale yellow, and offers it to Sian, "A gift, Sian Nerivus, in thanks for the information one has been granted."

Sian smiles, and sniffs it lightly. "Thank you, Cora'Esh. Though I hope this is not the only rose I am to receive, given my next offer." His smile turns slightly mysterious.

"Oh? One's curiosity is roused."

"I thought as much." He lowers the rose, and looks at her. "As you say, the pursuit of knowledge is important to you. And of course, I could not help but notice your interest in the artifacts of the past."

"Continue, Sian Nerivus."

"I travel a great deal, and no doubt you would be happy to have someone so mobile locating more of these artifacts for you."

"One finds your offer... interesting, Sian Nerivus. Of course, this would require that one be made aware of your... itinerary."

"Indeed. But it is a simple matter for me to inform you of my plans."

"One is curious what you would obtain from this arrangement."

"A friend in Tideholme who is not burning with ambition. Perhaps the occasional reward of an artifact or two. Flowers." He smiles, lifting the rose and sniffing it again.

"One is tempted to accuse you of flattery, Sian Nerivus," Cora'Esh smiles, "But it is rare indeed that one is able to accuse anyone of that, so one will forgive you."

"Your benevolence is endless." He grins.

Cora'Esh nods slightly, as if in affirmation, and then looks over Sian's shoulder, her eyes distant, "One hopes that you can forgive this, Sian Nerivus, but there is something to which one must attend and cannot delay."

"It is fine. I will be in town for a while yet, if you wish to talk further."

"One thanks you." She claps her hands and the child-servant appears, saying in its old-yet-young voice, "If you would follow me, Lord Sian, I will show you out."

Sian nods, bowing to Cora'Esh before exiting.

The journey out of the sorceress' home is short and uneventful, and Sian soon finds himself stood outside the door to her house. He notes now that the house actually seems to occupy the entire block it is on, but the varying styles of the buildings make this difficult to see at first.

Sian wonders about this for a moment, then shrugs, heading back to his room.

Fallen Descant is there to greet Sian as he enters, the way he always does, and ushers his Exalted guest up to the room that the innkeeper now maintains more-or-less permanently for him.

Sian thanks him for that, requesting something to eat along the way.