Light Black #27; Beet Red #22 [Starfall]

[thisbluespirit]

Name: both sides of the old fence
Story: Starfall
Colors: Light Black #27 (Break); Beet Red #22 (Bent out of shape)
Supplies and Styles: Canvas + resin (also for lyricaltitles square "Angry Song" - Don't Bother Me & no_true_pair prompt "September Nine - Leion & Kadia - "what's that noise?") + Triptych + Charcoal
Word Count: 1623
Rating: PG
Warnings: Growing enmity.
Notes: Portcallan 1290, 1292, 1306, 1313; Leion Valerno, Kadia Barra, Tam Jadinor, Eolla Barra & a couple of put-upon school teachers.
Summary: A brief history of Leion and Kadia.

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i. 1290

It was nearly the end of their third day of school, and Imai Droyence had them playing a game—singing lines from a song, with forfeits when they missed their turn. Leion tripped over the line Lady of every leaf, stem and root that grows, and Imai Droyence sent him out to race round the yard with Kadia Barra, who made the next mistake.

The small area was walled and paved, with a thin shrubbery at one end with a twisted old cherry tree in the middle of it. Leion and Kadia ran round, Leion in the lead, but when they reached the tree, a great rumbling and a crack came out of nowhere. The tree split in half under it.

Imai Droyence caught them as they tore back inside in tears.

"The tree broke!" sobbed Leion.

Kadia nodded. "It banged!"

Imai Droyence looked out of the window, but the cherry tree was unchanged. "No, it didn't," he said. "Everything's all right." They must have heard something from outside in the street, but nothing he said could convince them. He had to send his assistant with them to the school sickroom to sit with Imai Westimore for the last half hour.


When it was time to go home, Leion sat down next to Kadia on the low wall immediately outside the school's front door. They looked at each other.

"The tree did break," he said.

Kadia nodded.

Leion pulled out a bag from his pocket. It had two sticky sugarnuts left in it. He held it out to her, and she took one.

"How could the tree break?" he asked. Trees didn't do that, and they definitely didn't mend afterwards if they did.

Kadia sucked the sugarnut. "Maybe Aliah is very cross with us?"

Leion shook his head. "Is she real?"

Kadia shrugged.

Kadia's mother strode in through the gate and marched over to them, cutting their talk short. She gave Leion a brief nod, turning away from him almost immediately. As she and Kadia walked away hand in hand, he could hear her saying, "Kadia, dear, I don't want you playing with that boy."

"But I was good today," said Leion out loud at their ever retreating backs. It had been a very peculiar afternoon. He kicked his heels against the wall, scowling, and hoped Arna would come for him soon.

---

ii. 1292

Someone was crying inside the coat cupboard.

Kadia frowned and pulled the door open. "What are you doing in there?"

Leion jumped and straightened up. He rubbed his face, but couldn't scrub out the red blotches that betrayed him. "I was getting something from my coat!"

"You were crying," said Kadia. "And you shouldn't be in there. I hope you didn't cry all over my coat. Urgh."

Leion stepped out. "Wasn't crying."

"Yes, you were. I'll tell Imai Ozilin on you!"

Leion flew at her.

Imai Ozilin, their current teacher, came around the corner a few seconds later. "What is the meaning of this noise? Stop that at once!"

"He started it!" Kadia hid behind the teacher. "All I said was he was crying, and he was."

"I wasn't!" said Leion, clenching his fists. "Stop saying that!"

"Imai, he was, and he was in the coat cupboard! He pulled my hair!"

"She kicked me!"

Imai Ozilin moved to stand more fully between them. "Kadia. I sent you to fetch your coat. Your father has arrived—he won't want to be kept waiting." Then she crouched down, enough to put a light but firm hand on Leion's shoulder while Kadia moved past, tightening slightly as Leion strained to rush at her. "Enough, Leion!"

"If you've spoiled my coat," said Kadia, taking it down from its peg, "my mother will make you pay for it!"

"Didn't touch your stupid coat," Leion muttered. "Wouldn't want to!"

He and Imai Ozilin watched as Kadia marched away down the corridor, fighting to get her arms in her sleeves on as she went.

"There's nothing wrong with crying, dear," said Imai Ozilin gently, straightening up Leion's sturdy over tunic. "Especially not at times like this. Just not in the cupboard, no matter how bad you feel. Why aren't you in class?"

"I left my book in my bag," he said. He looked around for it, and spotted it on the floor: a battered storybook he was supposed to be reading from in quiet time. He hastily rescued it. "You said I could go and get it."

Imai Ozilin straightened up. "So I did. Then we'll say no more. Go; wash your face and come straight back to class. Kadia will have gone by then. But next time, no matter what she or anyone else says or does—fighting is not allowed in this school. Do you understand?"

Leion nodded. "Yes, Imai." He tore off down the corridor.

"Leion! Don't run!"

---

iii. 1306

"I heard something knocking about upstairs as I came in," said Tam. "Thought it was you, but it must have been our intruder on the way out. Stars and Powers! Right under my nose. What gall! I'm so sorry, Leio."

Leion turned slowly around, surveying the mess someone had made of his room. The curtains had been slashed, as had the bedding, and anything he had left lying on any of the surfaces had been knocked flying. Shards of glass glinted dangerously on the carpet amidst the rest of the debris. Nothing had been taken, but that clearly wasn't due to Tam's return. The person responsible had had plenty of time to cause all this damage. If they had wanted to pocket something, they could have done. Leion's face closed in.

"I'd ask who hates you enough to do this," said Tam behind him, "but I think we can all make a guess. Which one of them is the question, and who they paid to do it. I'll follow it up, but -" He shook his head, and put a hand on Leion's arm. "I'll do what I can."

Leion shrugged his stepfather's sympathy away. Tam grimaced, and left him to it.

Leion turned another full circle. Then he brushed enough fallen items off of the bed to clear a space and sat down onto it, stiff with silent fury.


The question of who did it wasn't hard to answer: she told him herself the next time their paths crossed. Leion was outside in the Warderns's garden, having edged away from the rest into the shadows against the wall. He leant against its worn stones, still faintly warm from the day's sun.

"I said you'd pay," said Kadia, stopping beside him. "Wish it could have been worse. I'd like to make you go away!"

Leion folded his arms and looked skywards, stars and moon far away behind the starstone lights strung about the garden. He couldn't work up the effort to care any more, not about Kadia, not after everything that had happened with Atino. All he wanted was to never have to talk about any of it again. "Your brother deserved worse than he got. And make me pay? For all the use I was against him, you ought to thank me."

"I hate you," she said, her tone low and conversational.

"Please do," said Leion. "And while you're at it, go away and leave me alone!"

Kadia peeled herself off the wall. "Oh, I will. I only wanted you to know it was me."

"Like I didn't know already," he said. "Who else would be so spiteful?"

---

iv. 1313

"You ought to try growing up sometime," said Leion.

Kadia raised an eyebrow. "Is this general abuse, or something in particular?"

"I heard about your childish prank the other day." He glared down at her. He should have left well alone, but he'd caught sight of her stopping to search for something in her bag at the fountain inside Chamber Hall, and he had crossed over before he even stopped to think.

"Oh, that. It's done with—I apologised to Imai Eseray," said Kadia. "I don't see that it's any of your business."

"Isn't it? Come on, this is about me. Viyony is the one who has nothing to do with any of it. Leave her alone."

Kadia laughed. "Oh, it's all about you! How silly of me not to realise! Stars, you don't improve, do you? You were always this full of yourself at school, too."

"At least I'm not a spiteful little tell-tale."

"So grown-up, so mature! Funny, too—I thought you were a professional tell-tale these days. You're so self-righteous—such a hypocrite! Look, get out of my way—I've things to do."

Leion kept pace with her. "Oh, come on. You did that to Viyony because she's a friend of mine. I suppose because she's from North Eastern you thought you could get away with it, but it's not on."

"The vanity," sighed Kadia. She halted and, with reluctance, turned to face him. "When I finally see justice done for the way you treated my brother, you'll be the first to know about it, I promise. As to what I want with Imai Eseray—that's between her and me. It has nothing to do with you. And if you don't leave me alone, I'll call for the High Guards!"

Leion raised his hands and stepped back. "Yes, yes. Go on, go! But I am warning you -"

"Duly noted," said Kadia. "And I warned her about you and your habits of treachery, so notice has been served, whichever of us is proven right in the end. Now, do excuse me, there's a limit to how much I can stand of you and your hypocrisy in one day. Goodbye, Leion."

He watched her walk away.

Comments

[sovay]

"How could the tree break?" he asked. Trees didn't do that, and they definitely didn't mend afterwards if they did.

Will be very interested when the rest of that comes off the wall.

[persiflage_1]

That bit about the tree breaking is begging for more!

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Oh, the tension and the animosity between them is so nicely described!

[bookblather]

Ah, children. Always fun for a teacher. I really like how the enmity starts from something so small as a parent's prejudice and just balloons.