FIC: Andrea's Story, continued
May. 30th, 2007 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalHee. I'm actually gaining some momentum on this. Especially now that I've figured out the nature of the final crisis.
Back in the guest house the Moot provided for Master Tez’s household, which by any human standard would be considered a manor or hotel in its own right, Andrea settled herself on a bench in the central garden and began to work on a small piece of carving work. Eventually the strip of leather she was working on was going to be shaped into the petal of a leather rose, to be part of a full bouquet, complete with stiffened leather stems dotted with small iron thorns. It was one specialty item that she made that was particularly favored by her customers, for reasons she’d long since decided not to inquire too deeply into.
Andrea was just completing work on the myriad of delicate lines representing a real plant’s vascular bundles, when a shadow covered the light she was working in. She looked up to see Count Veritelli’s companion looking down on her in curiosity.
“I’ve always wondered about elves and their habit of using leather goods when their famous for their vegetarian preferences,” he said, then bowed to her politely. “Jonathan Kincaid, page to Count Veritelli.”
“Well, my master would say that it was just another example of his race’s screaming hypocrisy.” Andrea stood up and gave him a deeper bow, in deference to his rank. “Andrea the Half-bred, servitor to Tez the Eldest. How may I help you, sir?”
“Help, yes,” he said, somewhat hesitantly. He was a relatively young man in his early thirties, she guessed, physically if not chronologically as old as Andrea herself. He had dark blue eyes and a long nose, and his hair was dark blond and kept in a short queue that disappeared under the collar of his tunic, which was in the Veritelli house colors of bright blue trimmed with yellow. “I was just wondering, out of curiosity, what your position was in the Eldest’s household.”
“Leather crafter,” she said.
He blinked. “What does that have to do with negotiating treaties?”
“Absolutely nothing,” she answered, then added, “I think I was brought in mainly to discomfit our hosts, being a half-bred and all.”
“Ah, the famous elven chauvinism,” he said, then shrugged apologetically. “Not that recent history favors humans very well in that regard either. My ancestors have much to answer for.”
“Yes, I know. I was there when the King’s Cleansing began,” Andrea said.
Jonathan’s eyes widened. “You’re joking surely. You’d be well over a century and a half…” His face grew bright crimson and his mouth shut suddenly.
“Oh, I’m not that old,” she said, then added, “I was only eight at the time, so I’m just a hundred and forty.”
He composed himself and bowed to her again, “My apologies, Andrea, for whatever you suffered through.”
She laughed lightly. “You should really stop doing that. Any elf that catches you is going to really start wondering about humans that insist on bowing to a slave.”
“I thought you said that you were Eldest Tez’s servitor?”
“Slave, servitor, it’s much the same to the elves,” she replied. “Though I thought that Master Tez leading me in on a leash would have been a fairly obvious clue.”
“Oh, yes. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to that. I was looking at your face.” He looked as if he was going to say something further, then turned away from her. “Forgive me, I should leave you be.”
Oh, that wouldn’t do. Master Tez wanted her to be spreading his opinion after all. “It’s all right. Are sure there isn’t anything I can help you with?”
“I was told to ask, that is to say…” Jonathan shook his head. “What I’m trying to ask is, what your Mas… What the Eldest’s position is on the issue of slavery?”
It was Andrea’s turn to be confused. This issue was one that hadn’t even turned up during the discussion this morning. “Against it, mostly,” she answered.
The young man frowned. “But he keeps slaves. You’re a slave.”
“Well yes, but… um, that is, with me it’s different,” she answered, stumbling.
“How so? Are you free to leave whenever you wish?”
“I don’t want to leave. I… that is, I’m safe here. The only reason that Master Tez bought me is because he was trying to protect me from the mobs during the Cleansing. He needed to be able to bring me into the Elven Domain you see, and the only way to do that was with a collar around my neck.”
“But if you wanted to…” he went on.
“I don’t,” she said, cutting him off. “Why would I go back among people who’d just as soon see me dead?”
“That’s not true anymore,” he insisted. “The dictates against the half-bred have not been law for twenty years. No one is seizing their property anymore.”
“It’s not property they need to worry about,” Andrea said. “I have a very distinct recollection of seeing a half-elven family hanging from the trees of their farm, before my master was able to get us over the border.”
“That isn’t happening either. My uncle has been quite firm in enforcing the new laws against harassment of non-humans, and has the king’s support” Jonathan said. “Half-bred are moving back to the kingdom now. More importantly, they’re being welcomed.”
“Maybe they are, maybe they’re not,” she said. “I have no doubt that I wouldn’t be welcomed, coming from the Elven Domain. Anyway, I wouldn’t want to. I’ve got a profitable business here.”
“Profitable for whom?” Jonathan asked. “Doesn’t all of your commission money go into your master’s purse?”
“Three quarters,” she admitted. “He lets me keep a quarter for myself.”
“If you were free, it would all be yours. And what do you spend that quarter profit on anyway? What luxuries are you able to buy with it from elven merchants?”
She shrugged. “Clothes…”
“He’d let you run about naked otherwise?”
Andrea shot the young human an annoyed look. “New tools for my trade.”
“He could hardly make a profit off your labors if you weren’t equipped to practice your craft.”
“Look, just look…” she sputtered. “If you’re trying to pump me for information about my master, you’re choosing a strange way to go about it.”
“His opinions concerning the relations between the Domain and the Eastern Kingdoms are obvious enough. I’m more concerned about his measure as a man. Elf, rather.”
Andrea frowned at him. “He saved my life when I was eight years old. If not for that I would be dead, reduced to bones in an unmarked grave, or maybe just stuffed into a sewer for the rats to feast on. I owe him for that.”
“But when will the debt be fully paid? Have you ever asked him what the price of your freedom is?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” she said, feeling suddenly mulish. “Now go away. I will tell Master Tez that you called.”
“Yes, Andrea.” Jonathan gave her a short bow and took his leave, leaving her staring at his back until he turned a corner and disappeared.
She tried to return to her work on the leather rose’s petals, but found her concentration had been shaken by her conversation with the human. Annoyed, she set aside her work and stuffed her tools back into the case. She stood, then found herself tugging briefly at her collar. It was a replacement for the plain iron ring that her master had locked around her throat so long ago. Now she wore a carved leather piece, marked with a swirling spiral pattern, studded with semi-precious stones, a single silver ring hanging down the front for her leash, and lined with comfortable suede on the inside. It wasn’t even locked in place, merely held together with a simple leather lace knotted in place.
She had no reason to remove it, after all. She’d made it herself.
TBC
Back in the guest house the Moot provided for Master Tez’s household, which by any human standard would be considered a manor or hotel in its own right, Andrea settled herself on a bench in the central garden and began to work on a small piece of carving work. Eventually the strip of leather she was working on was going to be shaped into the petal of a leather rose, to be part of a full bouquet, complete with stiffened leather stems dotted with small iron thorns. It was one specialty item that she made that was particularly favored by her customers, for reasons she’d long since decided not to inquire too deeply into.
Andrea was just completing work on the myriad of delicate lines representing a real plant’s vascular bundles, when a shadow covered the light she was working in. She looked up to see Count Veritelli’s companion looking down on her in curiosity.
“I’ve always wondered about elves and their habit of using leather goods when their famous for their vegetarian preferences,” he said, then bowed to her politely. “Jonathan Kincaid, page to Count Veritelli.”
“Well, my master would say that it was just another example of his race’s screaming hypocrisy.” Andrea stood up and gave him a deeper bow, in deference to his rank. “Andrea the Half-bred, servitor to Tez the Eldest. How may I help you, sir?”
“Help, yes,” he said, somewhat hesitantly. He was a relatively young man in his early thirties, she guessed, physically if not chronologically as old as Andrea herself. He had dark blue eyes and a long nose, and his hair was dark blond and kept in a short queue that disappeared under the collar of his tunic, which was in the Veritelli house colors of bright blue trimmed with yellow. “I was just wondering, out of curiosity, what your position was in the Eldest’s household.”
“Leather crafter,” she said.
He blinked. “What does that have to do with negotiating treaties?”
“Absolutely nothing,” she answered, then added, “I think I was brought in mainly to discomfit our hosts, being a half-bred and all.”
“Ah, the famous elven chauvinism,” he said, then shrugged apologetically. “Not that recent history favors humans very well in that regard either. My ancestors have much to answer for.”
“Yes, I know. I was there when the King’s Cleansing began,” Andrea said.
Jonathan’s eyes widened. “You’re joking surely. You’d be well over a century and a half…” His face grew bright crimson and his mouth shut suddenly.
“Oh, I’m not that old,” she said, then added, “I was only eight at the time, so I’m just a hundred and forty.”
He composed himself and bowed to her again, “My apologies, Andrea, for whatever you suffered through.”
She laughed lightly. “You should really stop doing that. Any elf that catches you is going to really start wondering about humans that insist on bowing to a slave.”
“I thought you said that you were Eldest Tez’s servitor?”
“Slave, servitor, it’s much the same to the elves,” she replied. “Though I thought that Master Tez leading me in on a leash would have been a fairly obvious clue.”
“Oh, yes. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to that. I was looking at your face.” He looked as if he was going to say something further, then turned away from her. “Forgive me, I should leave you be.”
Oh, that wouldn’t do. Master Tez wanted her to be spreading his opinion after all. “It’s all right. Are sure there isn’t anything I can help you with?”
“I was told to ask, that is to say…” Jonathan shook his head. “What I’m trying to ask is, what your Mas… What the Eldest’s position is on the issue of slavery?”
It was Andrea’s turn to be confused. This issue was one that hadn’t even turned up during the discussion this morning. “Against it, mostly,” she answered.
The young man frowned. “But he keeps slaves. You’re a slave.”
“Well yes, but… um, that is, with me it’s different,” she answered, stumbling.
“How so? Are you free to leave whenever you wish?”
“I don’t want to leave. I… that is, I’m safe here. The only reason that Master Tez bought me is because he was trying to protect me from the mobs during the Cleansing. He needed to be able to bring me into the Elven Domain you see, and the only way to do that was with a collar around my neck.”
“But if you wanted to…” he went on.
“I don’t,” she said, cutting him off. “Why would I go back among people who’d just as soon see me dead?”
“That’s not true anymore,” he insisted. “The dictates against the half-bred have not been law for twenty years. No one is seizing their property anymore.”
“It’s not property they need to worry about,” Andrea said. “I have a very distinct recollection of seeing a half-elven family hanging from the trees of their farm, before my master was able to get us over the border.”
“That isn’t happening either. My uncle has been quite firm in enforcing the new laws against harassment of non-humans, and has the king’s support” Jonathan said. “Half-bred are moving back to the kingdom now. More importantly, they’re being welcomed.”
“Maybe they are, maybe they’re not,” she said. “I have no doubt that I wouldn’t be welcomed, coming from the Elven Domain. Anyway, I wouldn’t want to. I’ve got a profitable business here.”
“Profitable for whom?” Jonathan asked. “Doesn’t all of your commission money go into your master’s purse?”
“Three quarters,” she admitted. “He lets me keep a quarter for myself.”
“If you were free, it would all be yours. And what do you spend that quarter profit on anyway? What luxuries are you able to buy with it from elven merchants?”
She shrugged. “Clothes…”
“He’d let you run about naked otherwise?”
Andrea shot the young human an annoyed look. “New tools for my trade.”
“He could hardly make a profit off your labors if you weren’t equipped to practice your craft.”
“Look, just look…” she sputtered. “If you’re trying to pump me for information about my master, you’re choosing a strange way to go about it.”
“His opinions concerning the relations between the Domain and the Eastern Kingdoms are obvious enough. I’m more concerned about his measure as a man. Elf, rather.”
Andrea frowned at him. “He saved my life when I was eight years old. If not for that I would be dead, reduced to bones in an unmarked grave, or maybe just stuffed into a sewer for the rats to feast on. I owe him for that.”
“But when will the debt be fully paid? Have you ever asked him what the price of your freedom is?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” she said, feeling suddenly mulish. “Now go away. I will tell Master Tez that you called.”
“Yes, Andrea.” Jonathan gave her a short bow and took his leave, leaving her staring at his back until he turned a corner and disappeared.
She tried to return to her work on the leather rose’s petals, but found her concentration had been shaken by her conversation with the human. Annoyed, she set aside her work and stuffed her tools back into the case. She stood, then found herself tugging briefly at her collar. It was a replacement for the plain iron ring that her master had locked around her throat so long ago. Now she wore a carved leather piece, marked with a swirling spiral pattern, studded with semi-precious stones, a single silver ring hanging down the front for her leash, and lined with comfortable suede on the inside. It wasn’t even locked in place, merely held together with a simple leather lace knotted in place.
She had no reason to remove it, after all. She’d made it herself.
TBC
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-31 01:02 pm (UTC)And I think I'm in love with it. Oh, Andrea, having your ideals and way of life questioned so insightfully by a human :-D
no subject
Date: 2007-06-01 08:48 am (UTC)