Post by Celeste Jacquard on May 2, 2015 21:36:08 GMT
-Open-
Night was falling. Celeste glanced out the window of the tavern, noting the growing length of the shadows. It would soon be time to gather her things and leave. Her spirits fell at the prospect. The tavern was a nice one, or as nice as one could expect a tavern to be, she supposed. The dark wood of the tables gleamed under their polish, the food was better than she had hoped to expect the first time she walked in, and it was clean, the hint of stale ale was barely discernible in the air. But she knew that would change soon enough. Public houses tended to pick up in custom once night fell, and Celeste tried to be well on her way before the nights patrons began to arrive.
It had been nearly a month since her father, the patriarch of the Jacquard family, had decided it would be prudent to relocate from Orus to Byzantir. And that month had felt like an eternity to his eldest child. After living under the guardianship of her rather lenient uncle for the better part of a year, it was a hard pill to swallow, being back under the watchful eyes of her parents, more specifically the dragon that called itself her mother. Celeste had become accustomed to going and doing as she pleased, with little to no interference. That her wanderings took her almost exclusively to the library and the markets, and that her days had been filled with little more than reading, was of little consequence to her Helaine Jacquard. She had a one track mind when it came to her daughters, and not even the kingdom being on the brink of war was able to shake her resolve to marry off her eldest.
It had been a quiet battle of wills between the headstrong Celeste and her relentless mother. The two women stuck in a loop whose script seemed set in stone. For her part, Celeste had adopted a theory that if she was out of sight, she was out of mind, hoping that if she couldn't avoid her mothers maneuverings all together, she could at least remove herself from having to actively participate in them. Unfortunately, this meant she lost the sanctuary of the Great Library. It was too obvious a choice for her to spend her days, and instead had taken to going to where her mother would least likely look for her.
Which is what routinely brought the young woman to the tavern just outside the castles gates. During the daylight hours it was a relatively quiet, albeit dimly lit, place she could remain hidden away undisturbed when she needed to escape, if only for a few hours. Though she drank nothing stronger than spiced juices and tea, she was generous with her coin, and if the proprietor found her odd or out of place, he kept it to himself. She was settled in the same spot she always did, a table near one of the few windows, taking advantage of what little sunlight trickled in.
A book was spread open before her, and her dark eyes shifted from looking outdoors to the page in front of her. It was a rather hastily written account of the exile of the plagued to the outskirts of Escar. Some scholar, or perhaps a fool, had taken it upon themselves to find the settlement that had begun to form in Indir, where the plagued gathered. A fascinating subject given the kingdoms current state of affairs. She'd found it not in the library of course. A merchant whom often brought her books he found in his travels had passed it along. There was no official law forbidding such a tome, but Celeste no longer trusted the crown not to censor things they would rather not have the population know. And nothing seemed to make monarchs more paranoid and jumpy than the prospect of war. She had found too many conveniently missing gaps in the histories collected in the great library. She had once thought it a sad byproduct of apathy, that over the generations, some stories were just lost. Now, she wasn't so sure.
She glanced outdoors once more. Though the evening was beginning, there was still perhaps an hour or so of decent light left. Her worry was that the book would be taken from her before she had a chance to read it in it's entirety, and that would be truly a shame.Something like this needed to be read. Perhaps had someone bothered before Arana had been overrun, if someone had the foresight to learn a little about the threat camping just outside Escars borders, then they wouldn't have been caught so unaware. She shook her head, thoughts like that bordered on treasonous, and she would do little good to dwell on the mistakes of the crown, even in her own head.
"Another drink m'lady?"
Celeste was taken from her thoughts by the approach of the barman. She shifted slightly, covering the pages of her book with her arms, shielding the words from the mans eyes. She very nearly rolled her eyes at the behavior. It simply screamed I am hiding something. Besides, the man seemed no more interested in what she was reading then he ever was. Perhaps it wasn't just monarchs who were jumpier at the present time. She glanced at her nearly empty cup contemplatively before finally nodding. "Yes, please." She would guess she would be finished within the hour, and home shortly thereafter. early enough to avoid the more raucous crowds. Though likely late enough to receive a lecture on the proper time for a young woman to be off the streets to be sure- still it seemed worthwhile. She hastily swallowed the luke warm remains of her drink. Her attention was fully back on the pages in front of her, oblivious to the doors opening and loud voices as the tavern began to fill for the evening.
