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rainbowfic2023-04-11 11:42 pm
shadowsong26) wrote in rainbowfic2023-04-11 11:42 pm
True Blue #20, White Russian #1
Name: shadowsong26
Story: An Unexpected Rescue
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: True Blue #20. Secret you wouldn't even tell your best friend., White Russian #1. Арте́льный горшо́к гу́ще кипи́т. (Many hands make light work.)
Supplies and Materials: graffiti (TVTropes game, with reference to Rags to Royalty and Handy Cuffs), tapestry (True Blue + novelty beads), eraser (Princess Telri AU), novelty beads (The world is made up of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This is a fact well known... It's also wrong. There's a fifth element, and generally it's called Surprise. - Terry Pratchett), glue ("You might feel torn this week, caught between celebrating life with friends versus honoring a desire to become more reclusive and truly contemplate what's going on right now in your love life. The Sun and Jupiter embrace in your social 11th house on Tuesday, which suggests your friends are a definite blessing for you this week.")
Word Count: 1140
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Isshiri, Telri, Andrell
Warnings: Brief combat/hostage-taking; some awkward family drama of the 'secret spouse' variety, along with the background Politics informing why.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. Just under the wire, lol.
Once again, Telri had followed her husband into a situation that was just a little bit over their heads.
But the rumors Lady Riluke had mentioned in her letter, rumors of people disappearing in this province, had been too important to him to investigate, especially since they had started talking about trying for children, and once she fell pregnant, they wouldn't be able to do this sort of investigation for his cousin or his mother or his brother-in-law.
So they had set themselves up as bait, and the plan had gone remarkably well. Almost too well. They had been found, Isshiri had put up just enough resistance to be convincing, and the two of them had been taken, bound and blindfolded, into a hidden valley where the bandits had their camp.
The good news was, they had been kept together, and there were no signs that their captors had recognized Isshiri.
The better news was that Isshiri's hands had been bound with rope, in front of him. Useful as a weapon if he could work himself out of the knots; and just a spark or two to free himself if he couldn't.
"How many?" he asked her.
She closed her eyes and stretched out with her senses, counting the heartbeats in the camp around them. "...two dozen, I think. Maybe a few more. Not counting the other captives. There's almost as many of them."
He nodded. "Ri was right, then."
"Yes." Telri flexed her own hands, experimentally. Her hands had also been bound in front, but while Isshiri had been teaching her how to get out of situations like this, she wasn't very good at it yet. No luck. I'll have to find something to cut myself free, or--
She felt the bandits' heartbeats pick up a few seconds before the noise started.
...fighting? Infighting, or is the camp being attacked?
"Someone's coming," she warned, and Isshiri nodded, placing his half-freed hands back in his lap.
One of the bandits, a bloody sword in his hand, ripped open the tent flap. "Move. Now."
Telri met her husband's eyes, and he nodded once. Which meant he had some kind of plan; a step ahead of her.
"I said move!" The bandit shifted his grip on the sword, an unmistakeable warning.
"We're moving," Telri said, pushing herself to her knees, and then to her feet, stumbling just a step away to give Isshiri room for whatever he was going to try.
Isshiri was taking a moment; probably partly pretending and partly real. The bandit made an impatient noise and took two long strides across the tent to haul him up.
Quicker than Telri could follow, the rope, now smoldering, flashed out between Isshiri's hands, whipping the bandit across his face.
He yelled and tried to reverse direction, tripping over his own feet and landing hard on the ground. Telri kicked him in the head, as hard as she could, to make sure he would stay down, then joined her husband, offering him her hands to help him get all the way up.
At least the bandits hadn't taken his leg along with their weapons.
"You all right?" he asked, slicing through her bonds as soon as he was steady.
"Yes," she said, and leaned in for a quick, impulsive kiss. "You?"
"Always," he said, and smiled. "Come on."
But before they could move to get out of the tent, the flap opened again; this time framing a young man in a regular Feredar army uniform.
...attacked, then, she thought.
The soldier took in the situation at a glance, moved swiftly to kick the sword away from the semi-conscious bandit's hand. "Are you two all right?" he asked.
Isshiri tensed a little next to her before letting out a quick breath, forcing himself to relax. She squeezed his hand briefly.
"Yes, we're fine," she said.
He nodded, and shouted. "Sir! Two more captives in here!" Lowering his voice again, and smiling in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring--and, to his credit, came very close--he added, "You're safe now, I promise. My lord will make sure you get back to your homes."
"Thank you," she said.
Before any of them could say anything else--or the soldier could move to secure his prisoner--there was another stir of activity just outside, and tent flap opened to admit a third man.
He was older than either the soldier or the bandit, with grey eyes and greying brown hair. There was something vaguely familiar about his face, but Telri couldn't quite place it until--
The soldier jumped to attention. "Sir!"
Next to her, Isshiri took a breath and straightened, giving her hand a quick squeeze. She glanced up at him, then back at the newcomer, and then realized.
...oh. Oh my gods.
The stranger--the King blinked. "Isshiri?" He returned the soldier's salute briefly, and gave a pointed look at the bandit on the ground, who was starting to come around.
"Sir," the soldier said, and immediately dropped to his knees to secure the prisoner.
"Andrell," Isshiri said, more or less ignoring that byplay, bowing his head just a little. "It's...it's been a while, hasn't it."
"It has," he said, and then relaxed into a smile. "It's good to see you again. Are you all right?"
"Yeah. And, uh, yes, I'm fine," he said, then looked at Telri. "We're fine."
Telri met his eyes, took a breath, and nodded.
This wasn't how they'd planned to introduce her to his family. They'd talked about it, a few times; after they got married, and especially in the context of maybe having children before too much longer.
But they were here, in front of Isshiri's royal brother-in-law--yes, Isshiri was a prince, too; Telri knew that of course, she'd known since long before they got married on that beach in Sanru. But Andrell was King of the nation of Telri's birth. And he wasn't her beloved. It was...it was different.
The point was, keeping their marriage a secret was no longer an option. And it was...probably in a few moments, when her nerves calmed, Telri would be relieved. For a moment, at least. To have it out in the open, to call her Isshiri her husband, to hear him call her his wife...she'd wanted that for a long time. Despite the danger involved.
Well, her life with Isshiri was dangerous when they kept to themselves, too. She could cope with danger, as long as she had him.
...even if, at the moment, her tongue seemed to have frozen in her mouth so she couldn't say so in words.
For his part, to her relief, the King didn't push at them; he stood there, patiently, waiting.
Isshiri nodded, gave her a quick smile, then turned back to Andrell. "This is Telri," he said, pulling her forward to stand at his side. "My wife."
Story: An Unexpected Rescue
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: True Blue #20. Secret you wouldn't even tell your best friend., White Russian #1. Арте́льный горшо́к гу́ще кипи́т. (Many hands make light work.)
Supplies and Materials: graffiti (TVTropes game, with reference to Rags to Royalty and Handy Cuffs), tapestry (True Blue + novelty beads), eraser (Princess Telri AU), novelty beads (The world is made up of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This is a fact well known... It's also wrong. There's a fifth element, and generally it's called Surprise. - Terry Pratchett), glue ("You might feel torn this week, caught between celebrating life with friends versus honoring a desire to become more reclusive and truly contemplate what's going on right now in your love life. The Sun and Jupiter embrace in your social 11th house on Tuesday, which suggests your friends are a definite blessing for you this week.")
Word Count: 1140
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Isshiri, Telri, Andrell
Warnings: Brief combat/hostage-taking; some awkward family drama of the 'secret spouse' variety, along with the background Politics informing why.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. Just under the wire, lol.
Once again, Telri had followed her husband into a situation that was just a little bit over their heads.
But the rumors Lady Riluke had mentioned in her letter, rumors of people disappearing in this province, had been too important to him to investigate, especially since they had started talking about trying for children, and once she fell pregnant, they wouldn't be able to do this sort of investigation for his cousin or his mother or his brother-in-law.
So they had set themselves up as bait, and the plan had gone remarkably well. Almost too well. They had been found, Isshiri had put up just enough resistance to be convincing, and the two of them had been taken, bound and blindfolded, into a hidden valley where the bandits had their camp.
The good news was, they had been kept together, and there were no signs that their captors had recognized Isshiri.
The better news was that Isshiri's hands had been bound with rope, in front of him. Useful as a weapon if he could work himself out of the knots; and just a spark or two to free himself if he couldn't.
"How many?" he asked her.
She closed her eyes and stretched out with her senses, counting the heartbeats in the camp around them. "...two dozen, I think. Maybe a few more. Not counting the other captives. There's almost as many of them."
He nodded. "Ri was right, then."
"Yes." Telri flexed her own hands, experimentally. Her hands had also been bound in front, but while Isshiri had been teaching her how to get out of situations like this, she wasn't very good at it yet. No luck. I'll have to find something to cut myself free, or--
She felt the bandits' heartbeats pick up a few seconds before the noise started.
...fighting? Infighting, or is the camp being attacked?
"Someone's coming," she warned, and Isshiri nodded, placing his half-freed hands back in his lap.
One of the bandits, a bloody sword in his hand, ripped open the tent flap. "Move. Now."
Telri met her husband's eyes, and he nodded once. Which meant he had some kind of plan; a step ahead of her.
"I said move!" The bandit shifted his grip on the sword, an unmistakeable warning.
"We're moving," Telri said, pushing herself to her knees, and then to her feet, stumbling just a step away to give Isshiri room for whatever he was going to try.
Isshiri was taking a moment; probably partly pretending and partly real. The bandit made an impatient noise and took two long strides across the tent to haul him up.
Quicker than Telri could follow, the rope, now smoldering, flashed out between Isshiri's hands, whipping the bandit across his face.
He yelled and tried to reverse direction, tripping over his own feet and landing hard on the ground. Telri kicked him in the head, as hard as she could, to make sure he would stay down, then joined her husband, offering him her hands to help him get all the way up.
At least the bandits hadn't taken his leg along with their weapons.
"You all right?" he asked, slicing through her bonds as soon as he was steady.
"Yes," she said, and leaned in for a quick, impulsive kiss. "You?"
"Always," he said, and smiled. "Come on."
But before they could move to get out of the tent, the flap opened again; this time framing a young man in a regular Feredar army uniform.
...attacked, then, she thought.
The soldier took in the situation at a glance, moved swiftly to kick the sword away from the semi-conscious bandit's hand. "Are you two all right?" he asked.
Isshiri tensed a little next to her before letting out a quick breath, forcing himself to relax. She squeezed his hand briefly.
"Yes, we're fine," she said.
He nodded, and shouted. "Sir! Two more captives in here!" Lowering his voice again, and smiling in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring--and, to his credit, came very close--he added, "You're safe now, I promise. My lord will make sure you get back to your homes."
"Thank you," she said.
Before any of them could say anything else--or the soldier could move to secure his prisoner--there was another stir of activity just outside, and tent flap opened to admit a third man.
He was older than either the soldier or the bandit, with grey eyes and greying brown hair. There was something vaguely familiar about his face, but Telri couldn't quite place it until--
The soldier jumped to attention. "Sir!"
Next to her, Isshiri took a breath and straightened, giving her hand a quick squeeze. She glanced up at him, then back at the newcomer, and then realized.
...oh. Oh my gods.
The stranger--the King blinked. "Isshiri?" He returned the soldier's salute briefly, and gave a pointed look at the bandit on the ground, who was starting to come around.
"Sir," the soldier said, and immediately dropped to his knees to secure the prisoner.
"Andrell," Isshiri said, more or less ignoring that byplay, bowing his head just a little. "It's...it's been a while, hasn't it."
"It has," he said, and then relaxed into a smile. "It's good to see you again. Are you all right?"
"Yeah. And, uh, yes, I'm fine," he said, then looked at Telri. "We're fine."
Telri met his eyes, took a breath, and nodded.
This wasn't how they'd planned to introduce her to his family. They'd talked about it, a few times; after they got married, and especially in the context of maybe having children before too much longer.
But they were here, in front of Isshiri's royal brother-in-law--yes, Isshiri was a prince, too; Telri knew that of course, she'd known since long before they got married on that beach in Sanru. But Andrell was King of the nation of Telri's birth. And he wasn't her beloved. It was...it was different.
The point was, keeping their marriage a secret was no longer an option. And it was...probably in a few moments, when her nerves calmed, Telri would be relieved. For a moment, at least. To have it out in the open, to call her Isshiri her husband, to hear him call her his wife...she'd wanted that for a long time. Despite the danger involved.
Well, her life with Isshiri was dangerous when they kept to themselves, too. She could cope with danger, as long as she had him.
...even if, at the moment, her tongue seemed to have frozen in her mouth so she couldn't say so in words.
For his part, to her relief, the King didn't push at them; he stood there, patiently, waiting.
Isshiri nodded, gave her a quick smile, then turned back to Andrell. "This is Telri," he said, pulling her forward to stand at his side. "My wife."
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Haha, that's a good question. Certainly there are going to be Questions when Andrell brings his in-laws home...
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“Never underestimate the power of a good cup of coffee.” ― Ursula Vernon
Why is everyone so willing to help me? It's never happened before. - Snarf, Thundercats (1985)
“I love boats. Boats are great. You can get all kinds of places and meet all kinds of interesting people, and you never know if they're going to try to eat you or worship you.” ― Ursula Vernon, Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew
“You are not a failure, you know,” he said, “simply because you can’t endure something unendurable.” ― T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Strength
“If we ran then we would have to admit there was something to run from. If we ran, then the small child that lives in every soldier's heart knew that the monsters could get us.” ― T. Kingfisher, What Moves the Dead
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Loooooool right??? I mean, Nolani will like Telri! But.
And yeah, it's nice to work with Andrell as an adult who has settled into himself and his role as King! He's a good bean.