A New Start

[Kysis]

((for EO))

It had been a long trek.  Oberon was further away from Greece than he had originally planned on going, but once he had gotten going, he could not stop.  It took crossing two kingdoms and a body of water for him to feel even remotely safe, and he still had his eyes roaming hawkishly, even in his own new home.  It was familiar in a way, and that was probably what made it worse.  His new house reminded him of Kreos… what it had been.

Kreos was gone.  Kysis paused in the front courtyard, staring blankly at the fountain as it bubbled away.  Kreos was gone and not coming back.  The people had mostly been evacuated, but not all could make it.

A tug at his tunic made Kysis look down, big blue-green eyes peering up at him.  Pandora smiled, blinking a few times before skipping on ahead, opening the door for herself and darting inside.  She did not understand what had happened.  Kysis couldn’t tell her about her mother yet.  He couldn’t bear to see her sweet, innocent little heart broken.  Helen had been one of those to die, the Ottomans taking hostages before the whole Liari Household could be moved.  Only a few others of the house had made it out alive, Kysis and Pandora among them.  He would have to tell her sometime.

Sighing, Kysis walked around the fountain, only glancing at the lemon tree for a second before heading inside.  An olive tree would have been better, but they probably would not grow so far north.  His Retainer had tried his damnedest to make everything work, and for that Kysis was thankful.  Rico had gone ahead of them, arranged for a manor to stay and store things at, purchased a location for a shop already, begun negotiations with the local Guardhouse.

And today, on his day of arrival in Oberon, he was supposed to meet with the Captain of the Guard.  Why Rico had decided to schedule it then was confusing, but the Retainer had been good to actually get such a meeting.  Kysis tried feeling thankful as he crossed the threshold of his house for the first time, peering around the empty entry hall, huge and will many doors around it, a staircase winding up the wall on the right side.  It sounded like Pandora had already claimed a room and was telling Rico, whom relayed orders to the guards who were doubling as movers.  The manor was in disarray.  Kysis hoped the meeting was on neutral grounds and not here.

“Are you feeling good enough to go out now?” Rico’s voice asked from the top of the staircase.  He had become too serious since their childhood together.  The Ottoman attack had taken a toll on him as well.  Kysis sighed and nodded, asserting that he needed to change from his traveling gear first. “The first door on the left.  Everything is already in there.”

Kysis turned, going left and finding that first door.  He opened it to find an expansive bedroom with high ceilings, a massive fireplace, slit windows running from floor to ceiling on one wall, obscured mostly by thick curtains.  Kysis walked over the stone floors, opening the tall wooden piece of furniture laden with his clothing.  He opened the doors on it, choosing a blue doublet, black pants, a white tunic to go under the doublet (the sleeves would be visible).  It was a quick thing to change, Kysis taking a moment to brush out his hair, leaving it loose.

Finishing the laces on his boots, Kysis went back out into the main room.

“Are you going to wear the patch?”

“No.” There was no question, Kysis answering quickly.  He would not cover up his eye.  The gash going through it had just recently healed, caused by a whip.  The pupil had been split, right eye milky and blind.  It was the only scar on his face, and rather noticeable, but Kysis did not see the need to hide it.  The Ottoman Sultan had left his mark before Kysis left his, which was far worse.  Kysis had not kept any men hidden in Kreos to hear word if the Sultan died from it.

But he probably did.  That would put Helen to rest, at least.

“You are to go to the Guardhouse and tell the person at the front desk who you are.  The Guardhouse is…” From there Rico gave directions to the Guardhouse, Kysis repeating them.  He already had them memorized.  He left his sword with Rico, not having a permit yet.  Kysis would not break any laws, not when he was trying to get a fresh start.

Kysis followed those directions, finding himself at the Guardhouse quickly.  He went inside.  The person at the front desk gave him a strange look, staring specifically at the reddish scar through his eye before running through the door behind that desk.  Kysis waited patiently.  Hopefully everything would be in place and good to go.  After Kreos, Kysis wanted some time to rest, recuperate.  Why did Rico have to schedule the meeting already?

[Existentially Odd]

Kysis was led upstairs by the guard a few moments later and, when he knocked on the open door, Lam stood to greet them.  She\'d had explained to her that her visitor, Lord Liari of Kreos, had arrived and wished to see her and had told the duty guard to show him up, feeling annoyed at the fact that such an action had needed clarification.  This merchant was set to make a very big splash in Oberon, if his weapons were as good as claimed, and she was eager to learn more about the demonstration his assistant had described to her; they planned to do their best to completely relocate their successful business to here, in the north, and she admired that tenacity.

When she saw him, she also admired the nasty scar across his face, looking at it first before smiling into what had to be the only working eye in his head.  "Pleased to meet you, Lord Liari," she greeted, holding out her hand to be shaken.  "I\'m Captain Wilson.  Thank you, Dent," she told the guard hovering behind her guest crisply, as she shut the door and then turned.  "Please, be seated," she invited, gesturing at the chair on the opposite side of the desk to her own.  She walked around the large, ornate bit of furniture to re-take her seat as she continued the polite portion of their discussion - being friendly in a very professional, business-like way, as befitted her crisp grey uniform and tidy presentation.  "Have you been in Oberon long?  How did you find the journey?"

[Kysis]

He followed in silence, hands held loosely behind his back, gait easy and strong.  A few looks were given at him as he went, Kysis only giving them quick glances, eyes always roaming.  He was calm and collected.  Some of his fellows had considered it a gift.  Kysis thought otherwise; it had been drilled into his head from years for grooming for the position of Lord Liari.  That training had become second nature, not a gift.

The office was of good size, Kysis immediately watching the one who addressed him.  Oberon was going to be a new and strange place.  Already he felt foreign, just seeing the freckled redhead, a woman, introducing herself as the Captain.  Kysis extended his right hand, giving a firm shake before quickly releasing, hand going to his side at that point.  It was odd, not having the weight of his sword against his hip.  There was not a day in Kreos, or while traveling, that he went without his sword, but now… he would have to go without until he got that permit.

Silently he followed, taking the seat offered him.  From that seat he was able to size up the Captain, cold blue eyes skimming her over and deciding that she was at least a capable warrior, could stand up to a lot, and would take nothing from anyone.  Kysis could tell this from her stance, sure tone.  Once asked an actual question, two right off the bat no-less, Kysis spoke, tone with a slight gruff edge, as if he had gone through a lot lately.

“I just arrived.”  It was quick, concise, effective.  His accent was thick, exotic, Greek through and through.  He had no want to chit-chat either, lips pressed into a line, eyes showing nothing.  Business and necessity were why he was there.  “Have you had a chance to inspect our facilities yet?”  A question, to the point, was fired right back at her.  The twenty-five year old lord would not dawdle when there was a lot to be doing.

[Existentially Odd]

The Captain managed to school her features into not giving the reaction that she felt, which was surprise and a little bit of offense (mixed in with intrigue).  She\'d not expected a man so recently scarred to be the life of the party but she hadn\'t expected he\'d be so curt when she was making friendly remarks, either.  So much for trying to put him at ease, it seemed there would be no point.

Of course, that just inspired her interest further, making her wonder what stories he had to tell in that alluring, thick accent of his.  She supposed she\'d never find out, for he wasn\'t likely to open up.

After a brief pause, in which she looked down towards the work on her desk - moving a paper lightly, with her right hand, even though it wasn\'t necessary - and cleared her throat, she looked back up into the Lord\'s good eye.  She smiled again, even though it was clear he wouldn\'t appreciate it, and answered him.  "I haven\'t, no.  Do you feel that that\'s necessary?" she enquired politely, wondering why he wanted her to look at a weapons shop when he was here to discuss giving a weapons demonstration on the street.

[Kysis]

"The shop my Retainer bought also includes the space in front of it, which he says would be suiting for the exhibition."

That sentence was probably the longest one he had spoken in a long time.  In fact, this was the most he had spoken to someone in a long while.  Those last days in Kreos had been too dire, and the trek up had been too defeated for much conversation.  Even now so many words leaving his lips did not feel right.  Kreos still hung heavily on his mind, over his shoulders, making it hard to think of anything else.

He had to though.  He couldn\'t let what happened get in the way of his duty.

"I was not sure if the Guard needed to see the area beforehand to approve of it."

There was no way to be curt and simple with these answers, so he made it as close to that as he could without cutting out any needed information.  It was obvious from the sounds of him that he had other places to be.  Kysis was battle worn and travel tumbled, not having any time to rest after either.  It felt like he had been dragged behind Atropos the whole trip up to Oberon.  But Kysis could not show that.  The only hint was the fatigue faintly touching his eyes.

"Or if we could just move forward with our plans and tell you the date and time instead."

[Existentially Odd]

Wilson frowned, finding her guest\'s reasoning sound but his attitude bordering on aggressive.  She had no idea what he\'d been through on the way to arriving in Oberon, but she was getting the impression that none of it was particularly pleasant or easy to bear.  Unless Lord Liari was just another arrogant, obnoxious noble who expected everything done his way... but she didn\'t think so (though she couldn\'t have vocalised why).

"The date and time will be necessary, yes, but I think I\'d rather see exactly which establishment you plan on holding this exhibition in front of first," she said succinctly, the scowl not abating.  "Have you seen the area?  Is it big enough for what you want to do?"

[Kysis]

Kysis listened closely, nodding when she said the date and time were needed, as he expected.  However, she seemed rather confrontational, something Kysis did not want to put up with at the moment.  Any other time, any other circumstance, but not this one.  For a moment Kysis closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

He could still see the carnage of Kreos.

Quickly he opened his eyes, trying to blink away their suddenness, the harshness of them.  For a moment there was pain visible on his face, then it was gone.  Kysis looked away from the Captain, gazing almost side-ways at the edge of the desk, something cold and hard and unmoving.  He needed that reminder.

"No.  I have yet to see it."  There was disappointment with himself in his statement.  Though he could have blamed it on Rico, since he had been the one to schedule the meeting without giving Kysis any time to explore their new facilities, Kysis had already decided it was his own fault.  He should have traveled faster.  Then there would not have been this problem. "I haven\'t had a chance yet."

Luckily, Rico had also given Kysis directions to get from the Guardhouse to the shop, and directions from the shop to get back home if needed.  Home.  Kysis could hardly think of the cold manor his belongs were in now as home.  Home was gone.

"I know.  I\'m ill prepared."  Kysis paused for a moment, looking up at the Captain, into her eyes.  In this sort of situation, in the past, Kysis would have been dismissed for being so ill prepared.  Oberon did not seem like that sort of place.  At least so far.  Kysis would reserve judgment for later. "Would you like to inspect the facilities now or at a later date?"

[Existentially Odd]

Watching him, she could see why her instincts were telling her that he wasn\'t just the usual obnoxious noble; real pain was shown in his expression, in the way his body tensed and focussed on something inane to get him centred.  Only in the most dire of situations had she seen en acting this way and the militant in her sympathised with him, without even knowing details.  It was nothing but a softening of her attitude, really, but she forced herself to not dismiss him for his lack of preparation - at the very least.

"I don\'t wish to inconvenience you, Lord Liari.  My schedule is flexible and I\'m willing to meet you at any time you nominate, if now is not good.  I just need a visual of where you\'ll be demonstrating and a schedule of when, so that I can know how many guards you\'ll need to support you.  Really... you seem tired," she finished kindly, her green-eyed gaze raking over him intently, "tell me when it\'s convenient for you."

[Kysis]

Inconvenience him?  Oh no, this was not an inconvenience at all, but Kysis did not interrupt her.  He listened in silence, absorbing all of the information given, the offer laid on the table.  As she finished her bit, Kysis mulled over the options, doing so quickly.  The life of a Captain had to be a busy one.  Kysis had not been told how long their meeting was scheduled for, so he did not know what he had to work with, but another time seemed optimal.  That would give him time to prepare and save her the hassle of him stumbling blinding over the plans he had not even made.

"Another time would be better..." Kysis had to say something.  The silence was starting to gnaw at him.  It also gave him a few more fleeting moments to compose what else he needed to say. "If you have a slot open tomorrow, I would have time to better prepare for the logistics of this."

Having dealt with foreign forces before, Kysis\' English was impeccable, if accented.  He had to know the language well during the brief stints of diplomacy he had attempted with the Ottomans before they launched their surprise assault.  Now his language skills were being put to a more peaceful purpose, and it felt better, but still not good.  For a while there would be a dark cloud hanging over him.  Some things took time.

"I am sorry for wasting your time today."  The apology sounded completely like a formality, though he actually meant it.  Right now Kysis\' mannerisms were stiff at best, tense like someone who knew a blow was coming and prepared for it.  Kysis did not realize just how much of what he was going through he gave off in his attempt to completely mask it.

[Existentially Odd]

She took a few moments to respond, observing the weariness and tension in him, wondering if she should step out of her official role and show him the sympathy she felt for him.  As a city representative and someone who would prefer to have a good working relationship with a weapons dealer for said city, in the future, she decided it wouldn\'t be too far beyond her position.

"I\'m rostered on to patrol until mid-day, but I am free after that.  I can meet you in the markets around one of the clock and we can go from there?" she offered, still pondering the step away from official duty even as she voiced her thoughts.  "Afterwards, perhaps you\'d like to share a late lunch at one of the taverns and we can discuss logistics?"

[Kysis]

For a moment his hope sunk, settling like a rock in his stomach.  Rostered for patrol.... but when she finished the sentence, that feeling dissipated.  The woman had a plan.  Kysis looked straight at her, surveying her face quickly but more thoroughly than he had before.  There was an undeniable intelligence in her eyes.  Kysis nodded.  It seemed like she had a good plan, if that did sound a touch informal.

"Alright.  That\'s good.  I am supposed to help work on the shop all morning anyway." Kysis chewed lightly on his bottom lip as he thought, barely even enough to see.  He was staring at her desk now.  Having his back facing her office door put him on edge, but it was not showing too much.  Kysis had managed so far, at least.  Since the meeting was not going that much longer, he would be fine the whole time, actually.

"Where in the markets should we meet?"  Kysis thought for a moment, considering.  His speaking was not so cut off and curt as it had been earlier, mostly because plans were falling into place and he was distracted.  For some reason, the Captain made him drop his fierce guard a little bit. "I could give you directions to the shop, if you\'d like?"

[Existentially Odd]

"Thank you," she encouraged, not having the heart to point out that she\'d been born and raised in the city for the past twenty-six years, she was bound to figure out which shop was new (she was pretty sure she knew which one it would be already, really).  He didn\'t seem like he needed that extra bit of stress.

~*~

Captain Wilson finished her patrol, filled out her remaining paperwork and filled the next round of guards in on everything that had happened on her and her partner\'s rounds and still managed to make it to Lord Liari\'s premisis early.  It was only ten minutes, but that explained (to her) why he wasn\'t waiting out the front to greet her when she turned up.  She stood outside the establishment for all of one minute, gloved hand upon the mace at her hip, neat, woollen uniform also advertising her work position.  She got more than a few second glances (some smiles too, thankfully) and so she decided to stop making the general public nervous and enter the shop of her own accord (the door was ajar anyway).

She blinked rapidly once inside, her eyes adjusting to the darker interior as quickly as they could so that she could see where she was.  The first thing she noticed was that the store appeared unfinished, a worker was still sanding one of the shelves, a pot of varnish on the floor beside him.  The second thing she noticed was that the worker appeared to be dressed like a guard, but not one of hers.  How curious.  She cleared her throat to get his attention, not wanting to startle him too greatly (it was habit for her to step quietly into a room, despite the size of her boots, which everyone wrongly assumed to be detrimental to subterfuge) but wanting to be directed to Lord Liari.

[Kysis]

The guard stood up quickly at the clearing of the throat, giving a quick glance at the woman and her garb before turning his head slightly, to look towards where the Lord Liari actually was.

Kysis had managed to jump and grab a hold of one of the beams that jutted across the store and was pulling himself up it at the moment.  He was wearing a loose tunic, slightly loose pants tucked into laced up boots.  They were work clothes, not the noble\'s attire he had donned yesterday.  With a silent hoist, Kysis pulled himself up on the beam, giving an order down to one of his men below him.

"Εκτίναξη αυτό επάνω." Kysis gave the order rapidly, the man he addressed throwing a rolled up piece of cloth at Kysis.  The lord easily caught it, unfurling it to show the Liari seal, which he hung promptly from the rafter.

"Commandant, a visitor is here."  The guard spoke in good English, if extremely thick and low.  Kysis turned immediately on his beam, not having any difficulty balancing on the rounded piece of wood.  He blinked a few times, not coming down quite yet.  He wasn\'t done up there.

"You\'re early."  Kysis used his arm to wipe a little bit of the sweat off his forehead, taking a deep breath.  His tunic was open a touch in the front, enough to see some of the massive chest scar of his.  Kysis nodded towards Alexandri, the guard going back to his sanding on the rack.  "Sorry about the disarray here...."

[Existentially Odd]

She laughed a little at his gruff greeting, feeling that perhaps she\'d offended him by being early, when she\'d meant the opposite.  How ironic.

"Well, I could go back outside and wait if you\'d prefer?" she offered, pointing across her body to the door in a deliberately awkward move (to emphasise the silliness of the offer), her green eyes twinkling to show that it was a joke.  Her smile also added to the softening effect of her words.  "But rest assured, I\'m not offended by disarray.  I\'m happy to watch and wait."

[Kysis]

Well, that settled that.  "If you don\'t mind waiting a moment, I\'ll be ready soon." Kysis then, without waiting for a response, turned back to the work at hand, another furled piece of cloth tossed up.  This one was a tapestry of a jousting tournament, which Kysis put up next to the crest.  That done, he sat down on the beam, looking down at the ground and considering the jump.  Eight feet....  He got a good grip on the beam again and slowly lowered himself down, letting go once there were three feet left to go.

Landing nimbly, Kysis made for the back counter, shuffling around with some things back there.  After a moment of not finding anything, Kysis asked the nearest guard in rapid Greek what happened to his change of tunic.  A moment later he got a response in English, from Alexandri closer to the front of the shop.

"Pandora ran off with it about half an hour ago."

"Pandora was here?"  Kysis looked around quickly, as if he would see his mischievous, five year old daughter hiding somewhere.  She wasn\'t, irritatingly enough.  And she had his damn tunic.

Turning back towards Lam, shaking his head, Kysis finally addressed her again. "I hope my attire isn\'t offensive.  It seems Pandora ran off with my change of tunic."  Kysis gave an apologetic look towards Lam, probably the most emotion he had shown so far.