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Alorha had taken the brush from him gently, almost carefully, as though she were worried the simple act might somehow be too much. When he turned so his back faced her, she shifted slightly on the bed, drawing one knee up beneath her as she settled into place behind him. For a moment she only looked at his hair, running the brush slowly through the long strands while her other hand separated the thicker tangles first. She liked doing this more than she expected. There was something strangely calming about it—the steady motion, the quiet of the room, the soft sound of the brush pulling through dark hair. She worked patiently, starting at the ends like she had been taught with horses' tails so nothing pulled too hard, gradually moving higher. Every now and then her fingers replaced the brush entirely, carefully working apart knots before brushing through them again. She was very aware of how close they were, aware that she had been talking a lot all day and trying very hard now not to start rambling again. It would be easy to fill the silence, but she forced herself to slow down, to let the quiet exist. Still, curiosity tugged at her, and eventually she asked softly how he had come here. His answer made her pause. The brush slowed, nearly stopping for a moment in her hand as she listened. She hadn't expected that. Something inside her chest tightened uncomfortably as he spoke about being sold, about working in the fields, about the queen buying him as though he were no different from livestock at market. Alorha swallowed quietly, her eyes fixed on the long dark strands slipping through the brush while she tried to process it without reacting too loudly or too dramatically. She didn't want him to feel like he had said something wrong. “Oh,” she murmured after a moment, the word soft and small. She resumed brushing again, slower now, more thoughtful. Her fingers slipped through his hair briefly before she continued, smoothing the strands down his back. “I’m… sorry that happened to you,” she said quietly. The words felt too small for something like that, but she didn’t know what else to say. She was very aware that she was not particularly good at serious conversations. Still, she tried. “But… it’s not like that here.” Her voice softened further, careful and sincere. “You don’t have to worry about… being perfect, or being scared all the time. Not with me.” She hesitated slightly, aware she might sound naive, but she pushed through it anyway. “I know things are… different elsewhere. But this is your room too now. You can relax here. Eat as much as you want. Sleep. Whatever you need.” Her hand moved automatically through his hair again, brushing the last of the tangles free. She found herself smoothing it out longer than necessary, fingers combing through it almost absentmindedly while she thought. “And I won’t… beheading anyone,” she added after a moment, a faint awkward attempt at reassurance that made her wince a little at herself. When she finally finished, she set the brush aside but still idly braided a small section of his hair before letting it fall loose again. Only then did she climb properly under the blankets, settling into the bed with a quiet exhale. The day had been long, and even now her mind buzzed faintly with worries about the meeting tomorrow, about people watching her, about whether she would embarrass herself again. Eventually exhaustion won out. The quiet room, the full stomach, and the steady calm of the evening pulled her into sleep not long after. Morning came slowly. Alorha stirred faintly as pale light crept through the window, shifting beneath the blankets with a soft, sleepy sound. For a few moments she hovered in that comfortable space between sleep and waking, the warmth of the bed holding her there. Something felt slightly different though—quieter, maybe—and her brow furrowed faintly as her mind slowly caught up. She blinked her eyes open. The other side of the bed was empty. That alone wasn't strange at first; she assumed Sage had simply woken earlier than she had. But the faint sound of coughing somewhere in the room made her sit up more quickly, the lingering fog of sleep disappearing almost immediately. “Sage?” Her voice was still thick with sleep as she pushed the blankets aside and slid out of bed. The floor felt cool beneath her feet as she padded across the room, pausing when she saw him slumped in the chair by the window. For a moment she just stood there. Something about the way he was sitting immediately made her uneasy. He looked smaller somehow, shoulders drooping forward, head resting on his arms as if the simple act of sitting upright had taken too much effort. Concern tightened in her chest.“Sage…?” she repeated more softly, stepping closer now. As she reached him she noticed the flush in his face immediately, the unhealthy heat that radiated off him even before she reached out. Her hand hovered for a moment before she gently placed it against his forehead. Her eyes widened. “Oh— you’re burning up.” The quiet panic she had gone to bed with the night before returned instantly, twisting in her chest as she crouched slightly beside the chair. She tried not to sound too alarmed, though it was difficult. “You shouldn’t be up,” she said, voice softer now but firm in the way someone speaks when they are trying to take care of someone else. “Why did you get up? You should’ve stayed in bed.” Her gaze flicked toward the table where he had placed the food, realization settling in. He had gotten up to prepare everything anyway. The thought made something heavy settle in her stomach. “You don’t have to do that,” she said gently, almost insistently. “Not if you’re sick.” She straightened slightly but remained close, still watching him carefully as though worried he might collapse entirely if she looked away. “You’re resting today,” she added quietly, already sounding like she had decided it whether he liked it or not. “Meetings can wait. Being alive is… kind of more important.” Her voice softened again as she brushed a loose strand of hair away from his face., then moving to get him a blanket, a cool cloth and some tea. |
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Sage had hummed softly at Alorha's apology, lifting his shoulders in a small shrug. "It's not your fault," he noted. "Some people just ...draw the short straw when they're born," he added. He'd come to accept that fact - at least at the palace he was inside. He wasn't doing quite so much physical labor as he had before. But even so, the fact that she cared enough to want to know about him, and really was upset by the things he'd had to put up with made a kind of warmth bloom inside his chest. It wasn't long before they'd settled down for the night, and admittedly the next morning was kind of a blur. Her voice had been muffled, though when she'd repeated himself he managed to peer over at her, mind working to process what she was saying. Did she need something? Or was she just saying good morning? By the time he'd registered that she'd just said his name, she had already crossed the room. He'd blinked in surprise when he felt her hand rest on his forehead, but his mind was working too slowly for him to even consider flinching away at first. He sort of just....stared at her for a moment, eyes glazed slightly with the heat of fever. "I'm fine," he noted after a moment, sort of waving off her concern. "Things need to get done still," he added, gesturing to nothing in particular. She didn't sound like she was arguing with him, though - her mind was already made up. So he just sighed and let his head drop back down again. It made him uneasy, how easily she allowed him to just ignore his duties. But he had to admit he was glad he didn't need to go stand around in meetings today - he wasn't sure he'd make it all the way through one. Alorha had reappeared then, something soft draping over his shoulders. He lifted his head in surprise at it all, but after the initial shock have in and curled into the blanket slowly. He had been cold, so it was admittedly nice to have. He wasn't sure what she had put in front of him, but that was warm too, so he sighed before picking it up and taking a sip to test what it was. It wasn't bad, but the steam helped most, easing the tightness he felt in his chest. He murmured a sort of tired "thanks" to Alorha, still not entirely sure he could just sit around all day, but relieved she was giving him that option. |
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When Sage insisted he was fine, Alorha didn’t even try to argue with him in the dramatic way people sometimes did. She just looked at him for a long moment, clearly unconvinced. His face was flushed, his movements slow, and the way his voice dragged slightly told her everything she needed to know. “You’re not fine,” she said simply. There wasn’t frustration in her tone, just a calm certainty—as though she were stating something obvious like the weather being cold. She straightened again after touching his forehead, glancing briefly toward the door and then back to him. He was already letting his head fall down again, which only confirmed her decision. Alorha turned and disappeared into the room for a moment without another word. It took her a minute or two of quiet rummaging before she came back with a thick blanket folded over her arms. Without ceremony she draped it over his shoulders, adjusting it so it sat properly around him rather than just sliding off. The heat radiating from him made her frown faintly, but she said nothing about that either. “You’re freezing,” she muttered under her breath, more to herself than to him. Then she crossed to the small table and returned with a steaming mug, setting it carefully in front of him before nudging it closer. Fevers. You felt boiling but you were, in fact, freezing. “Drink that.” Her tone wasn’t bossy exactly, but it had the firm practicality of someone who had already decided what needed to happen. She watched while he picked it up and took the cautious first sip, her shoulders relaxing a fraction when he didn’t immediately push it away. When he murmured his quiet thanks, she gave a small shrug, leaning one hip against the nearby table. “It’s just tea,” she said. “Not exactly heroic.” For a moment she watched him curl little deeper into the blanket, clearly exhausted despite trying to pretend otherwise. The stubbornness of it almost made her smile faintly. He really did seem convinced he should still be working. “You’re resting today,” she said again, quieter now but just as certain. “Nothing important is going to collapse because you sat down for a few hours. She paused, rubbing the back of her neck thoughtfully. “Well. If it does, that probably means it wasn’t built very well in the first place.” The comment slipped out before she could stop it, and she huffed softly at herself. There it was again—that tendency to ramble. Her lips pressed together briefly as she tried to rein it back in. Instead she reached over and adjusted the blanket slightly where it had slipped off one shoulder. “You already carried breakfast up here,” she added after a moment, nodding toward the table. “That’s plenty productive for someone with a fever.” Her eyes flicked back to his face, studying him in that straightforward way she had when she was trying to solve a problem. “You look like you’re about to fall asleep sitting up,” she said bluntly. There was no teasing in it, just simple observation. She stepped back a little, folding her arms loosely as she considered him. “If you pass out in that chair I’m not dragging you back to bed,” she warned lightly, though the faint smile on her face made it clear she probably would try anyway. Then, after a moment, she added in a softer voice, “So you might as well rest properly. Go to bed." |
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Sage found himself a little overwhelmed as Alorha moved about the room, handing him the blanket and tea and telling him to rest. It was in a good way, he thought, but even so, he wasn't used to it, so part of him argued that he shouldn't be accepting the help from her. After all, their roles were ....kind of supposed to be reversed. Normally, a queen didn't play nurse, especially not to a servant. It was baffling him more than a little bit. He wasn't sure what he'd expected from her, but it certainly wasn't this. Being friendly and actually taking care of him were two pretty different things. He sort of just stared fully at her as she spoke, the heat of the fever slowing his mind and throwing his focus off balance. He did catch her comment about the system collapsing, and he wrinkled his nose in a quiet sort of amusement. "Least we wouldn't need to worry about losing the war, if there's no kingdom to take over," he noted slowly, still wanting to have a somewhat normal conversation. He'd picked up that if he didn't respond she'd just keep talking, and he didn't want her to get bored or.... anything. He let out a sheepish sort of grunt when she stated he looked like he was going to fall asleep on the chair, a frown crossing his face as she told him to go back to bed. "How'll you get lunch then," he asked, face shifting into a sort of concentration that meant he was trying to think about an answer to that question. Admittedly, his thinking wasn't really doing well at the moment though, so he didn't get very far. Eventually though, with her insistence she would be fine, he sighed and moved to get up, placing the half empty cup down on the table and wrapping the blanket around himself as he waddled over to the bed again slowly, and admittedly not entirely steadily. He collapsed onto the mattress soon enough though, passing out pretty much immediately after he'd drawn the covers back over him. The bed was warm, and he found himself sleeping deeply for a good couple of hours before stirring again, sort of blinking groggily as he woke, attempting to figure out why he was still in bed. Then the events of the morning hit him, and he let out a soft breath, turning to attempt to find Alorha. He just ...felt like he needed to check in. Make sure she didn't need anything. He felt better than he had before....but the fever still lingered, and his head still hurt a little bit. It wasn't pounding anymore, but that was probably just from going and fixing himself to get breakfast. He did shift to just get rid of the jewelry and such after a moment, since he figured she would t let him go anywhere for a while. The more he thought about it, the more he recognized he wouldn't be leaving the room, and quite possibly the bed, for the rest of the day, so he shifted to wash the makeup off too, and change into something a bit more comfortable. That took what energy he had though, so he crawled back onto the bed again once he was done. He didn't fall asleep right away, he wanted to be up for a little while at least, but he was still pretty chilly, so he settled himself under the blankets as he peered around for Alorha. |
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Alorha remained where she stood while he slowly made his way back to the bed, watching him with a quiet attentiveness that she hadn’t quite learned to hide yet. It wasn’t worry in the frantic sense, just the steady focus of someone making sure another person actually followed through on what they’d been told to do. When he finally collapsed onto the mattress and dragged the blankets back over himself, she felt a small, private sense of satisfaction. Good. At least he was resting. The room grew still not long after that. For a while she lingered near the table where he had left the tea, fingers brushing lightly along the rim of the cup as she debated what exactly she was supposed to do with the rest of the day. Queens, she suspected, probably had full schedules planned for them at all times. Meetings, papers, advisors, people asking for decisions. Yet here she was… standing in a quiet room with nothing immediately demanding her attention. The thought felt strange, and she couldn’t quite decide if she liked it. Eventually she moved to the chair near the window and sat down, folding one leg beneath her as she picked up a book from the nearby table. She opened it more out of habit than genuine interest, her eyes scanning the page while her mind wandered somewhere else entirely. Every now and then she glanced toward the bed without meaning to, checking that Sage was still there and hadn’t tried to sneak off somewhere. Each time she looked, he was still curled under the blankets, breathing slow and heavy with sleep. Hours passed that way, the quiet broken only by the occasional turning of a page that she hadn’t truly read. When Sage finally stirred again, the movement was subtle—just a shift of blankets and a faint rustle of fabric—but Alorha noticed it immediately. Her gaze lifted from the book, attention snapping back to the bed as she watched him blink awake. She closed the book without marking the page and set it aside, standing from the chair. “Oh,” she said softly as she stepped closer. “You’re awake.” She stopped beside the bed, studying him in that same straightforward way she always did when she was trying to figure something out. His face still carried a faint flush, though not nearly as bad as it had been earlier that morning. Her eyes flicked briefly across him, taking in the lack of jewelry and makeup, the way he’d wrapped himself properly in the blankets. Good. At least he had listened. “How do you feel?” she asked. Her tone was calm and practical rather than overly worried, the kind of question someone asked because they fully expected to keep taking care of the situation regardless of the answer. She tilted her head slightly as she watched him, clearly evaluating the response before he had even given it. “You slept for quite a while,” she added after a moment, glancing briefly toward the window where the light had shifted far across the floor since morning. “I was beginning to think you might miss lunch entirely.” Her attention returned to him then, quiet but steady, waiting to see whether he actually looked any better—or if she would need to insist on more rest. |
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Alorha had noticed him wake up immediately, which he had assumed would happen. He'd noticed the way she'd watched him crawl into bed earlier, clearly a little concerned about it all. When she spoke, he was pleased to note that her voice no longer sounded louder than it really was, and it wasn't echoing around his head at all either. Those were good signs, at last from what he knew of illness. He hummed softly in thought in response to her question, sort of leaning against the headboard to half sit up, dragging the blankets up with him. "Better," he noted, a sheepish smile crossing his face. She'd been right to force him back into the bed, though he didn't really want to admit that. It still felt wrong, in a way, to be laying around like this. Alorha wasn't doing much either at least...he'd feel worse about it if she'd gone to meetings and stuff while he slept. He sort of nodded with a heavy breath when she mentioned she'd been worried he might have missed lunch. "Not super hungry anyway," he admitted, though he did need to figure out how to get that over here. The cook certainly wouldn't bring it down, and he wasn't really close to any of the other maids or servants since he spent most of his time here rather than the servant quarters. While he was pondering that though, a soft knock sounded at the door, an older maid slipping in with Alorha's lunch as well as a steaming bowl of some kind of soup, which she set alongside that other meal. At Sage's questioning look, she sort of looked down her nose at him, hands moving to her hips. "My son would push himself the same way as you, young man," she huffed. "The missus has the right idea. Stay in bed and drink soup," she grumbled, in only the way a mother could, before wandering back out of the door again. He had to admit he was surprised ....he hadn't expected anyone to help, or even know he was sick. But then again Alorha had noticed right away, despite the makeup he wore, so maybe this older woman had too. If she was a mother, maybe she'd just ....noticed something was off. He wasn't entirely sure. But the idea of a warm meal did make him relatively less cold. |
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Alorha straightened slightly when the knock came at the door, her attention shifting instantly toward it. She hadn’t been entirely sure what she was meant to do about lunch—queens, she assumed, did not usually fetch their own meals—but before she had time to decide anything, the door had already opened and the older maid stepped inside with the tray. The sight alone brought an almost immediate wave of quiet relief through her. Someone, at least, seemed to know what they were doing. She watched closely as the tray was set down, her eyes lingering on the second bowl—the one clearly meant for Sage. The steam curled gently into the air, carrying the warm scent of broth across the room, and Alorha felt a small flicker of gratitude toward the woman she didn’t entirely know how to express yet. When the maid scolded him in that firm, motherly tone, Alorha blinked in surprise before glancing sideways at Sage. For a moment she looked almost amused, though she wisely said nothing while the woman was still present. Once the maid had left, the door closing softly behind her, Alorha moved toward the table and examined the food more carefully. Her gaze flicked back to Sage almost immediately, as if checking that he hadn’t somehow decided to ignore the entire situation and return to sleep instead. “You should eat,” she said simply. It wasn’t an order so much as a very firm expectation. She pulled the chair a little closer to the bed so he wouldn’t have to move very far, sliding the bowl of soup toward him first before settling her own plate nearby. Her movements were deliberate and practical, clearly focused on making things easier for him rather than making any sort of ceremony out of the meal. “You don’t have to be hungry,” she added after a moment, glancing up at him again. “You’re still eating.” There was a faint stubbornness in the way she said it, the same quiet determination she seemed to bring to most decisions once she had made up her mind. After making sure the soup was within easy reach, she finally sat down herself and began picking slowly at her own lunch. Every now and then her eyes flicked back toward him, as if silently making sure he actually followed through. The meal itself was quiet. Alorha ate far more slowly than usual, her thoughts drifting back toward the long list of things the council had mentioned earlier that week—travel, negotiations, kingdoms she had never seen and barely understood yet. Even now the idea of leaving the palace felt strange. She had only just arrived here herself, and already they were preparing to send her across half the continent. Eventually she finished her meal and set the utensils aside, wiping her hands lightly on the cloth beside the plate. Her gaze shifted back to Sage once more, studying him for a moment to confirm that he had eaten at least some of the soup. “Good,” she murmured quietly. She stood then, brushing a stray fold from her sleeve as her expression shifted into something more thoughtful. “I have a meeting,” she said, almost apologetically, though her tone remained calm. “About the travel plans.” Her eyes flicked briefly toward the bed again, clearly measuring whether he looked stable enough to be left alone for a while. After a moment she seemed satisfied. “You’re staying here,” she added. “Rest.” The statement was delivered with such calm certainty that it didn’t even sound like something she expected to argue about. With that decided, she slipped out of the room to meet the waiting maid who would escort her back toward the council chambers. The meeting stretched longer than she expected. Much of it involved discussions about upcoming visits to other kingdoms—particularly the northern territories, where winter conditions made travel slower and more complicated. Alorha listened carefully this time, trying to absorb as much as she could without speaking too quickly again. Still, while the council debated routes, escorts, and political implications, her thoughts kept drifting back to the room she had left behind. By the time the meeting finally ended, one practical thought had rooted itself firmly in her mind. He didn’t have the right clothes. So instead of returning directly, she stopped briefly with one of the attendants responsible for supplies and requested several things. It felt slightly strange asking for them, but no one questioned her—at least not out loud. When Alorha finally stepped back into her room, the door closing quietly behind her, she carried a folded bundle in her arms. Her eyes moved immediately toward the bed to check on Sage before she said anything. Once she saw him there, she crossed the room and set the bundle down carefully on the foot of the mattress. “I brought a few things,” she said. She unfolded the top layer first, revealing a loose, soft shirt made of much lighter fabric than the structured clothing he usually wore. Beneath it were comfortable trousers with no heavy seams or fastenings, clearly meant for resting rather than standing through court appearances. A thicker pair of wool socks followed, along with a soft blanket-like robe that looked far warmer than the thin garments he normally had. “These are… easier to wear when you’re sick,” she explained, smoothing one sleeve absently between her fingers. Only then did she pull out the second part of the bundle—heavier clothing folded beneath the softer pieces. A lined coat, thicker trousers, and gloves suitable for colder climates. “They talked about the northern kingdoms again,” she added, glancing up at him. “You said it snows there.” She pushed that part of the bundle a little closer as well. “You’ll need warmer things.” There was no sense of ceremony in the gesture. She said it in the same straightforward tone she used for everything else, as if it were simply the most obvious solution in the world. Still, there was a quiet satisfaction in the way she stepped back afterward, clearly relieved that she had at least managed to fix one small problem for him. Keep him warm while he was ill. Prepare him for poor weather. She could do that much, at least. |
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Sage found himself offering the older maid a sheepish smile as she scolded him...he didn't know who she was, really, other than the fact that she was a maid. He'd seen her around but never actually talked with her. So he was surprised she'd even noticed him this morning ...he hadn't seen her. Or....maybe he had and just not realized it. Either way, he made a mental note to thank her later. He groaned when Alorha said he needed to eat, hungry or not, but shifted to reach for the bowl, testing the temperature hesitantly. He didn't expect much flavor wise, but it was surprisingly good. The steam helped loosen his chest too, so he just stopped at it slowly, breathing in the vapors as he forced it down his throat a little at a time. He caught Alorha glancing in his direction a few times, and offered her a vaguely amused, albeit tired, look. "I'm eating, don't worry," he noted quietly, figuring she just wanted to check in. Make sure he was taking care of himself. When she mentioned the meeting, he'd nodded, already moving to get up, before her next words stopped him. He....wasn't going? Was that even allowed? He cocked his head at her, surprised and also rather curious about it. "But .." his protests were cut off though, so he'd just agreed with a sigh and nod of his head. It was just travel plans, nothing too hard for her to deal with, but he still felt a bit guilty about it. Once shed left, there wasn't much for him to do, and he found himself drifting off again. This time it was a much lighter sleep, and as she came back into the room he was awake enough to lift his head up over the blankets around him to peer over at her. He noted the bundle in her arms, though he wasn't sure what they were. When she held up the clothes, showing them to him, he blinked slowly. It took him a minute to realize they were for him, but once he did he moved to crawl across the bed and approached her to take the offered fabric. "Oh," he noted, looking at the outfit he had in his hands. Then she moved to the coat and such, and he found himself staring wide eyed at them before sputtering out a shocked sort of thanks. He did move to change into the much more comfortable clothes after a moment or so....he hadn't worn normal clothing in years, and he had to admit he felt much more like himself with them on. More like he had a little bit of dignity, a bit more pride for himself. In a good way, of course. He settled down on the bed again, this time wrapping only one blanket around him. These clothes were much warmer too...he supposed covering skin did that to a person. It was a bit odd, to feel the fabric against his skin like this....but it certainly wasn't a bad thing. "So we're going north first," he thought out loud, cocking his head slightly as he thought. "That's the normal route they take," he added. "North and then around and down and to the other side and back up to here." It made sense. |
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Alorha had been talking almost the entire time since she returned, though she wasn’t entirely aware of it. The meeting had left her head buzzing with information she was still trying to sort through—routes, alliances, names of people she hadn’t met yet—and when she got overwhelmed like that the words simply… spilled out. It was easier to talk than sit quietly with all the thoughts circling in her head. Even now, as she stood near the bed watching Sage examine the clothes she had brought back, she found herself explaining things again that she had probably already mentioned once. “I wasn’t sure what you actually had anything warm,” she admitted, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she hovered nearby. “No one really explained that part to me. They tell me all these important things about kingdoms and trade routes and political expectations, but no one mentions if the person traveling with me has shoes or warm clothing.” She shook her head lightly, half amused and half baffled. “It seems like something they should think about.” When he looked up at the coat and the heavier things with that wide-eyed surprise, Alorha felt a strange little twist in her chest she didn’t quite know how to name. It wasn’t pity exactly, and it wasn’t pride either—more a quiet sense that she had done something small that actually mattered. She folded her arms loosely as he gathered the clothes, trying not to hover too closely while he changed but clearly paying attention anyway. “They said the northern kingdom will be the first stop,” she continued, slipping easily back into her rambling explanation. “Apparently it’s the most politically useful to visit first. Something about trade agreements and winter shipping routes—I’m still trying to understand how all of that connects.” She let out a soft breath and gave a tiny shrug. “Honestly, half the time I think they expect me to already know things no one has actually told me.” She quieted for a moment as he finished changing, her eyes widening slightly when she realized how different he looked in the softer clothing. It wasn’t dramatic, not really, but there was something about the way the fabric fit him that felt… more human. Less ceremonial. Less like he had been carefully arranged for display. “That looks better,” she said without thinking, the words slipping out easily. “More comfortable.” Then, because she rarely managed to stay quiet for long, she kept going. “They talked about snow too,” she added, pacing a slow little line near the foot of the bed as she thought out loud. “I’ve seen snow before, but not like what they were describing. They made it sound like the entire world just disappears under it for months. I’m not even sure how people travel through something like that without getting lost.” Her brows knit slightly as she tried to picture it. “Do the roads just… vanish?” When he settled back down and mentioned the usual route, she turned back toward him quickly, clearly interested. She moved a little closer again, sitting on the edge of the bed this time without really thinking about it. “North first, then around and down,” she repeated thoughtfully, almost like she was mapping it in her head. “That’s what they said in the meeting too, though they used a lot more complicated words for it.” Her fingers absently picked at the edge of the blanket as she continued talking, her voice quieter now but still steady. “I’m glad you said that, actually,” she admitted. “When they all start talking at once it’s hard to tell what’s important and what’s just… people trying to sound clever.” For a moment she paused, glancing over at him again to make sure he still looked alright in the warmer clothes, her concern never fully leaving even while she talked. “You’re warmer now though, right?” she asked quickly, her tone softening again. “Those fabrics are thicker. I figured that might help if you’re still cold.” Then she leaned back slightly, letting out a long breath as the tension of the day finally started catching up to her. “It’s strange,” she added after a moment, half to herself and half to him. “Yesterday I was worried about saying the wrong thing in front of the council, and today I’m apparently organizing winter clothing for palace travel.” She gave a small, slightly breathless laugh. “I’m not entirely sure I know what I’m doing." |
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Sage didn't mind the constant chatter. Actually, it was kind of nice. It turned out some of the worries or other things that were circling around in their minds. Plus, it seemed to help Alorha think through things, so he wasn't about to tell her to be quiet. Not that he was fully ready to say anything like that to the queen anyway, but even so the quiet chatter was just nice in the quiet of the evening. When she mentioned not having warmer clothing, he shook his head as he changed, nodding towards the wardrobe where his feet outfits hung. "That's all she gave me," he noted. "Last time we went on the trip, I think she just made sure she would be my only heat source so I'd stay close to her. Make sure I didn't run off or something, I guess," he thought out loud with a shrug, buttoning up the shirt as he spoke before settling down again. He nodded when she mentioned he looked more comfortable, though shed moved on again before he had a chance to actually respond with words about it. That was fine ....he found it vaguely amusing actually. "It's one of the bigger ones," he agreed, tilting his head as he though back to the last trip he'd been on. "Nearly the same size as us, in terms of land and population," he added. It would be important to keep them as allies. They had been a big help in the war so far. When she mentioned the snow, he couldn't help but laugh softly at her questions, shaking his head. "It can cover the roads....but they have to keep them clear so they shovel it to the side," he explained. "That way wagons can still get through and people can still ride or walk about town if they need to." He shrugged then, since that was pretty much the extent of his knowledge about it all. When she mentioned the nobles had said everything in a smart sounding way, he nodded along, wrinkling his nose slightly. "They like to show off," he noted. "If they're doing that it means they aren't talking like you're a child though, so I suppose that's a good thing," he pointed out. It meant they saw her as the queen, and an adult at least. One who could understand that kind of language. As she brought up the new clothes again, he nodded in the positive, offering her a small smile. "I am warmer like this," he mused, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position. She kept talking then, and he just shook his head with a sort of sigh. "You'll have plenty of weirder jobs to do," he pointed out. "But so far I think you're doing just fine," he added. "From what I can tell, all the servants and maids like you too." That was probably important to mention, since they were a large number of the castle population, and they couldn't exactly just walk up to her and talk without getting punished by....someone. he wasn't entirely sure why it would be, but it would happen. |
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Partly Cloudy with Afternoon Drizzle
