(thaïs de lamorraine. it had been one of the last names on isaac's list, stark and a standout—no child had ever come through the rifts. she could not be a child; petrana would have heard about that, if it had happened. so,
it was not as if it were a wholly unique name within the history of the house, but the likelihood of it being...anyone else. it is, she supposes, nearly so absurd as the likelihood of it being thaïs. )
Excuse me. Am I speaking with Thaïs de Lamorraine?
[ perhaps, some day, the sound of her name will cease to ring strange: madame la dauphine, ma princesse, cette salope. not even lothaire, breath gone hot and stupid on her neck, had dared.
but it's what she wrote on the form, so — ]
Yes. [ a deep voice, itself short the inhale. there is some shuffling for the crystal before it recollects: ] This is she.
[ the voice from the crystal falls still. thais stretches, watches the glittering little thing, waits: a cat upon wisplight. silence rolls. finally
you are in forces?
unwinds her, already reaching to shut the thing in some drawer (they will find her if it is so important) when it sounds a more familiar song. brusque: ]
Who is this?
[ it would be foolish to not consider another might have crossed into the spell; some ill-fortuned farmer, else a wandering sword. but there are few who would speak so delicately.
[There is a young woman, blonde in the way summer wheat is golden from the sun and presumably freckled by the same element, waiting in the stable yard when Thais next returns from a leisurely ride or a mission requiring the possession of a horse or whatever you like. Wysteria hardly knows the details. What she does know is:]
Mademoiselle, I must offer my most sincere apologies! I have been terribly inconsiderate to you! I truly don't know how I managed to overlook the details of your arrival for I make it a point to be fully aware of every--I had wrongfully assumed you were a chevalier or another ex-Templar, and it wasn't until the publication of the list that I realized my error. I understand completely if you cannot forgive me, but I absolutely insist on doing you some favor or kindness to make it up to you. Please allow me to take you to dinner.
[All of this she says seemingly in one extraordinarily long breath while clinging to the stirrup Thais has yet to remove her foot from.]
I have a matter of — admittedly minor concern, I suppose, but of possible ...
There is a portrait of myself and of your sister that I must assume to have been painted after my demise. It arrived as we did, and is currently being held for me, as I have not — determined an appropriate course of action with it. I had the thought that a gallery might enjoy the novelty of it, it could be. Rifted items are of some interest to some Thedosians and your father was ( among other things ) a gifted artist. But I would know your thoughts, if you've any. If you've a preference on what might be done with it; I suppose you might be more familiar with the work than am I.
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crystal.
it was not as if it were a wholly unique name within the history of the house, but the likelihood of it being...anyone else. it is, she supposes, nearly so absurd as the likelihood of it being thaïs. )
Excuse me. Am I speaking with Thaïs de Lamorraine?
no subject
but it's what she wrote on the form, so — ]
Yes. [ a deep voice, itself short the inhale. there is some shuffling for the crystal before it recollects: ] This is she.
no subject
she thinks, oh.
she is silent for too long. )
You are in Forces? ( no, that's—she makes a sound, exasperated with herself, and: )
La dauphine d'Lamorre. Yes?
no subject
you are in forces?
unwinds her, already reaching to shut the thing in some drawer (they will find her if it is so important) when it sounds a more familiar song. brusque: ]
Who is this?
[ it would be foolish to not consider another might have crossed into the spell; some ill-fortuned farmer, else a wandering sword. but there are few who would speak so delicately.
fewer who can read. ]
no subject
I am Madame de Cedoux. I was—
La dauphine was my daughter. Are you named for her? We were not the only—I am certain, she must have had cousins, in time.
( many had had to die, but she remembers that some had bent the knee. might have courted marius's favor thus. )
no subject
I've a cousin Veda.
[ — which had not gone half so well as they must have expected.
her voice does not crack or quaver. no warmth rolls through the gaps of her breath (stupid, gone stupid). ]
i / ii
ii.
action;
Mademoiselle, I must offer my most sincere apologies! I have been terribly inconsiderate to you! I truly don't know how I managed to overlook the details of your arrival for I make it a point to be fully aware of every--I had wrongfully assumed you were a chevalier or another ex-Templar, and it wasn't until the publication of the list that I realized my error. I understand completely if you cannot forgive me, but I absolutely insist on doing you some favor or kindness to make it up to you. Please allow me to take you to dinner.
[All of this she says seemingly in one extraordinarily long breath while clinging to the stirrup Thais has yet to remove her foot from.]
crystal.
There is a portrait of myself and of your sister that I must assume to have been painted after my demise. It arrived as we did, and is currently being held for me, as I have not — determined an appropriate course of action with it. I had the thought that a gallery might enjoy the novelty of it, it could be. Rifted items are of some interest to some Thedosians and your father was ( among other things ) a gifted artist. But I would know your thoughts, if you've any. If you've a preference on what might be done with it; I suppose you might be more familiar with the work than am I.