by Fleur » Tue Aug 25, 2020 4:19 pm
Ely edit 29 Jul 2021:
1-6 qps, depending on length and quality.
Potential +1 qp: if part of a series: x
Total: 1 qps and Catisune +1 for making it a series
*****************************************
Note: I started writing this for the Brown Ajah quest about 5 points of a library book, and it turned into a snippet of life in the Tower for young Fleur. References are from actual RP interactions. Catisune let me write her in, and is posting a sequel. Any other Accepted/Novices who find this forbidden book - would love to read your reactions to it!
Fleur tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, stifled a baby sneeze into her elbow, and carefully pushed the cart full of dusty books down a wide hallway. It was quiet, almost too quiet. Every now and then, the languorous silence was jostled by the intermittent creak of a chair, the soft rustle of a page, or the occasional muted cough. Fleur glanced wistfully at bright-eyed Catisune, poring over what looked like a mountain of books. It would have taken Fleur a year to read even one of those horribly detailed tomes. Catisune, with her wild, red hair and ink-stained fingers, looked as content as a Kandori cat dabbing at its proverbial plate of eel.
Fleur turned the cart into a long oval room lined with tall bookcases, and picked up yet another book with a sigh. "Radun" she read haltingly. That was the book Alison Sedai and Catisune had been discussing so animatedly. Feeling like an imposter, she shelved it quickly. A dash of red, she thought, would have suited Alison Sedai's severe white dress very much.
Fleur turned the cart into another room. She chuckled suddenly as she remembered Catisune's unusually militant expression when she had petulantly told her she did not NEED to learn to write. The argument had been brief. Now Fleur could form letters, and so what if it took forever to draw them. Even Fleur thought they looked pretty.
Lost in thought, she did not notice as a book slid out of her grasp and fell on the floor with a soft "thunk". Mortified, Fleur knelt to retrieve it. It was then that a small, badly dog-eared, well-thumbed, volume wedged behind the lowermost stacks caught her eye. Fleur's eyes grew wide, as she read the ornately cursive title slowly:
...Hearts of Flame...
Fleur's own heartbeat quickened as she found herself reaching for it. From the way it had been stashed, she could tell it was a book to be read in secret only. Giving in to a sudden impulse, she hurriedly stowed the book in her dress. She looked around. The library was just as it always was. Fleur went back to her work. This time, the hour did not take so long to pass.
Later that night, after the giggling and murmuring had subsided, the complaints dissipated, and the soft sighs and gentle snores of the sleeping Accepted filled the room, Fleur quietly retrieved the book from where she had tucked it, under the mattress. By now the rose petal exercise was second nature to her. Surrendering to saidar, Fleur channeled the smallest trickle of fire to make a light ball no greater than the palm of her hand. With a shiver of excitement and wonder she did not try to question, Fleur began to read haltingly.
The next thing she knew, Verne was shaking her awake. "Fleur! It is almost time for Asandra Sedai's class and you are still in bed!" Fleur's eyes opened instantly. With a soft shriek, she leapt out of bed and ran to her things, hurriedly trying to catch up with everyone else. She did not notice the curious way Catisune was watching her. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she somehow managed to make it to class, her hair a little less neat than usual.
At lunch time, she found her mind straying to the story she had fallen asleep reading - that of Birgitte Silverbow and Gaidal Cain. She was still at the part where they did not get along. But, thought Fleur dreamily, of course they would. She smiled to herself as she picked at her plate of vegetables and tangy sauce. She could not wait for the night to come, when she could read what happened next.
Ely edit 29 Jul 2021:
1-6 qps, depending on length and quality.
Potential +1 qp: if part of a series: x
Total: 1 qps and Catisune +1 for making it a series
*****************************************
[i]Note: I started writing this for the Brown Ajah quest about 5 points of a library book, and it turned into a snippet of life in the Tower for young Fleur. References are from actual RP interactions. Catisune let me write her in, and is posting a sequel. Any other Accepted/Novices who find this forbidden book - would love to read your reactions to it![/i]
Fleur tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, stifled a baby sneeze into her elbow, and carefully pushed the cart full of dusty books down a wide hallway. It was quiet, almost too quiet. Every now and then, the languorous silence was jostled by the intermittent creak of a chair, the soft rustle of a page, or the occasional muted cough. Fleur glanced wistfully at bright-eyed Catisune, poring over what looked like a mountain of books. It would have taken Fleur a year to read even one of those horribly detailed tomes. Catisune, with her wild, red hair and ink-stained fingers, looked as content as a Kandori cat dabbing at its proverbial plate of eel.
Fleur turned the cart into a long oval room lined with tall bookcases, and picked up yet another book with a sigh. "Radun" she read haltingly. That was the book Alison Sedai and Catisune had been discussing so animatedly. Feeling like an imposter, she shelved it quickly. A dash of red, she thought, would have suited Alison Sedai's severe white dress very much.
Fleur turned the cart into another room. She chuckled suddenly as she remembered Catisune's unusually militant expression when she had petulantly told her she did not NEED to learn to write. The argument had been brief. Now Fleur could form letters, and so what if it took forever to draw them. Even Fleur thought they looked pretty.
Lost in thought, she did not notice as a book slid out of her grasp and fell on the floor with a soft "thunk". Mortified, Fleur knelt to retrieve it. It was then that a small, badly dog-eared, well-thumbed, volume wedged behind the lowermost stacks caught her eye. Fleur's eyes grew wide, as she read the ornately cursive title slowly:
...Hearts of Flame...
Fleur's own heartbeat quickened as she found herself reaching for it. From the way it had been stashed, she could tell it was a book to be read in secret only. Giving in to a sudden impulse, she hurriedly stowed the book in her dress. She looked around. The library was just as it always was. Fleur went back to her work. This time, the hour did not take so long to pass.
Later that night, after the giggling and murmuring had subsided, the complaints dissipated, and the soft sighs and gentle snores of the sleeping Accepted filled the room, Fleur quietly retrieved the book from where she had tucked it, under the mattress. By now the rose petal exercise was second nature to her. Surrendering to saidar, Fleur channeled the smallest trickle of fire to make a light ball no greater than the palm of her hand. With a shiver of excitement and wonder she did not try to question, Fleur began to read haltingly.
The next thing she knew, Verne was shaking her awake. "Fleur! It is almost time for Asandra Sedai's class and you are still in bed!" Fleur's eyes opened instantly. With a soft shriek, she leapt out of bed and ran to her things, hurriedly trying to catch up with everyone else. She did not notice the curious way Catisune was watching her. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she somehow managed to make it to class, her hair a little less neat than usual.
At lunch time, she found her mind straying to the story she had fallen asleep reading - that of Birgitte Silverbow and Gaidal Cain. She was still at the part where they did not get along. But, thought Fleur dreamily, of course they would. She smiled to herself as she picked at her plate of vegetables and tangy sauce. She could not wait for the night to come, when she could read what happened next.