To Mourn a Friend
Posted: April 28th, 2015, 4:48 pm
Jaryd Kosari
Translucent white curtains moved in the gentle wind pouring through a door that led out to a private balcony; sun and cloud-shadow played on the walls. The M’hael of the Grey Tower sprawled across the settee that had been placed against one wall in his office, lost in thought. He wore simple wool breeches and a white cotton shirt, no mark of his rank anywhere about his person. To anyone unfamiliar with the Tower, he would have been fairly unremarkable.
Outside the carved door across from his desk he knew Comasi Devierin of the White Ajah sat behind a desk stacked with paper, his pen never stopping as he penned “recommendations” to the M’hael. The Keeper of the Archives had passed the Great Stair decades before Jaryd’s birth, and did not hesitate to allude to his considerably greater life experience –and thus apparently sounder logic- any time the Altaran questioned what was written. He wore his dark hair cropped short and held in place with some kind of oil that smelled strongly of lilacs and made Jaryd’s nose twitch. How a glorified secretary managed to wear blinding white and never show a single smudge of ink on his person baffled the young leader, but somehow Comasi managed it.
If the spotless Keeper knew that Jaryd lay on the settee instead of working through his own mountain of paperwork, he would probably give birth to kittens. Thankfully, he had learned the hard way not to interrupt Jaryd in his office; the Ward that surrounded the room would send any uninvited intruder flying. Comasi complained about the ‘inconvenience’ of being prevented from entering, but Jaryd chose to ignore the man’s passive aggressive remarks.
His irritation at his Keeper stood low on Jaryd’s priority list on that day, but fixating on it was easier than thinking about the real problems he faced.
In the flurry of caring for Liri and coming up with a plausible and reassuring explanation for Carra’s disappearance he had not been able to slip away to check on Amadie. Thus it was that nearly two days passed before a novice discovered her body. The poor girl had run screaming from the Blue quarters, thus destroying any hope of keeping the manner of Amadie’s death quiet.
Thankfully –and Jaryd felt a worm of horrible guilt twisting through him at the thought- no one had connected Amadie’s death with Liri’s injuries or Carra’s disappearance. The Domani woman’s ability to enter Tel’aran’rhiod was known to her Ajah, and it had only taken a few words from an Indigo with the same Talent for them to accept that she had encountered an unexpected danger in the World of Dreams.
The half-truths burned unbearably, even from inside the Void. Jaryd could not remember what it was like to live without that cold blank bubble surrounding him. Ever since he had returned half-carrying a bleeding Lirievin, he had been encased in the Void, his emotions distant and cold like flies bumbling against glass. It had kept his face still through every half-truth, every lie by omission, every moment of vulnerability. People who were used to watching his emotions and responding accordingly stumbled and faltered, and those who made a habit of waylaying him as he walked the halls quickly learned to set an appointment with Comasi instead.
He had earned their respect, but at what cost? Could he live with himself knowing that Carra was missing, an Accepted was injured, and his friend was dead, and instead of taking the time to mourn, he had instead twisted the truth into pretzels to avoid facing the consequences of his lack of judgment?
He glanced to the clock on the wall above his desk, then sat up. It was time to attend Amadie's funeral and say good-bye to yet another friend...and then he needed to speak to Lirievin.
OOC: This is more of an introspective "This is where Jaryd is sitting right now" post than anything else. Liri, if you read this and would like to respond, Jaryd has something to give you.
That said, people are welcome to post here to show their reactions to Carra being gone, Liri's injuries, Amadie's death, or Jaryd's sudden transition from Class Clown to Captain Concrete.
Outside the carved door across from his desk he knew Comasi Devierin of the White Ajah sat behind a desk stacked with paper, his pen never stopping as he penned “recommendations” to the M’hael. The Keeper of the Archives had passed the Great Stair decades before Jaryd’s birth, and did not hesitate to allude to his considerably greater life experience –and thus apparently sounder logic- any time the Altaran questioned what was written. He wore his dark hair cropped short and held in place with some kind of oil that smelled strongly of lilacs and made Jaryd’s nose twitch. How a glorified secretary managed to wear blinding white and never show a single smudge of ink on his person baffled the young leader, but somehow Comasi managed it.
If the spotless Keeper knew that Jaryd lay on the settee instead of working through his own mountain of paperwork, he would probably give birth to kittens. Thankfully, he had learned the hard way not to interrupt Jaryd in his office; the Ward that surrounded the room would send any uninvited intruder flying. Comasi complained about the ‘inconvenience’ of being prevented from entering, but Jaryd chose to ignore the man’s passive aggressive remarks.
His irritation at his Keeper stood low on Jaryd’s priority list on that day, but fixating on it was easier than thinking about the real problems he faced.
In the flurry of caring for Liri and coming up with a plausible and reassuring explanation for Carra’s disappearance he had not been able to slip away to check on Amadie. Thus it was that nearly two days passed before a novice discovered her body. The poor girl had run screaming from the Blue quarters, thus destroying any hope of keeping the manner of Amadie’s death quiet.
Thankfully –and Jaryd felt a worm of horrible guilt twisting through him at the thought- no one had connected Amadie’s death with Liri’s injuries or Carra’s disappearance. The Domani woman’s ability to enter Tel’aran’rhiod was known to her Ajah, and it had only taken a few words from an Indigo with the same Talent for them to accept that she had encountered an unexpected danger in the World of Dreams.
The half-truths burned unbearably, even from inside the Void. Jaryd could not remember what it was like to live without that cold blank bubble surrounding him. Ever since he had returned half-carrying a bleeding Lirievin, he had been encased in the Void, his emotions distant and cold like flies bumbling against glass. It had kept his face still through every half-truth, every lie by omission, every moment of vulnerability. People who were used to watching his emotions and responding accordingly stumbled and faltered, and those who made a habit of waylaying him as he walked the halls quickly learned to set an appointment with Comasi instead.
He had earned their respect, but at what cost? Could he live with himself knowing that Carra was missing, an Accepted was injured, and his friend was dead, and instead of taking the time to mourn, he had instead twisted the truth into pretzels to avoid facing the consequences of his lack of judgment?
He glanced to the clock on the wall above his desk, then sat up. It was time to attend Amadie's funeral and say good-bye to yet another friend...and then he needed to speak to Lirievin.
OOC: This is more of an introspective "This is where Jaryd is sitting right now" post than anything else. Liri, if you read this and would like to respond, Jaryd has something to give you.
That said, people are welcome to post here to show their reactions to Carra being gone, Liri's injuries, Amadie's death, or Jaryd's sudden transition from Class Clown to Captain Concrete.