Guest Quarters: Royal Palace of Andor, Caemlyn

Dark woods and pale marble play a game of contrasts in this room. It's broad and arching ceiling, carved from the finest alabaster, mixes with the roughened edges of some southern hardwood's stained hue as it's criss-crossed by beams. The walls placate the surrounding fervor of marble sprites carved here and there along the window sills with paneling of the finest grade, polished to a near mirror sheen. There is a rotund bed, heavy with ivory linens, roughly in the center of the room and the accoutrements surrounding such finery are of the highest quality.

Subdued motes of dust linger int he calm and hazy afternoon sun that shines through the unfettered windows. The windows are bathed in a feathering drift of snowflakes that gather themselves in the corners of the panes, making perfect ovals in which to view the outside from. There is a large set of oaken doors that lead back out into the hallway of the Resident's Wing.

Contents:
Calisa

Calisa sits cross-legged on the bed, smoothing back Satira's hair. She is not frightened, or sad, or anything at all...her face us simply dead.

Rennar sits on the other side of Satira, mostly keeping to herself as she watches her youngest sister in what might be a motherly manner. Occassionally, her gaze goes to Calisa - though it seems unreadable, as if just too much has happened to her for her to 'feel' anything at all.

Calisa raises her head, hand still moving on Satira's forehead. "The other night, after you returned." No inflection in her voice, no expression on her face. "You saw something about me."

Rennar does not look up to meet Calisa's gaze, "I saw many things last evening." She comments, not answering her statement directly. Her hands absently pick at loose threads upon her ragged pants, ones she has yet to change out of even after spending the night in the palace.

Calisa reaches for a damp cloth that lies beside her, gently wiping Satira's face. "What did you see, Rennar?"

"Blurred images, nothing truly." Rennar murmurs quietly, continuing to pick at the threads upon her pants. Her eyes remain affixed to Satira's small features.

Calisa's hand pauses, then continues it's motion. "Serious, then. I want to know, sister." A hard edge entering her voice.

"I am being serious, Calisa." Rennar murmurs, "There was nothing that I saw that I could gain true meaning from." There is a note of honesty within Rennar's voice. Truly, she could not glean an entire meaning from the image, not with so many possibilities about what it could mean.

Calisa shakes her head. "Nothing /you/ could. Perhaps I can. Rennar...tell me!" Her voice rises, brittle control nearly shattering.

A frown now comes to Rennar's features. This time she turns her attention more sharply and firmly on Calisa, "Remember yourself, sister." Her words come out with a hardened edge, the woman snapping from all the pressure she's been under lately. "I /have/ told you all that I can. Or, is there something you should be telling me, but can't find the nerve to do so....?" Her eyes and words both hold a direct sort of challenge.

Calisa's fist clenches around a handful of Satira's hair. "You will not tell me, and that is as frightening, perhaps more so, than any image could be." The moment past, her voice is again dead. "And what should I be telling you?"

"You are the one who is going around in a fitfull of anger, Calisa, you tell me? And I have /told/ you, there is nothing to tell you. That you do not believe me is your own matter." Rennar continues to frown at Calisa. "I did not even receive the warm greeting that I thought I would, considering as how my uncle saw fit to see that I was declared dead, I would have at least seen a happy face upon my return. Instead, I get angered words about where Satira was, without any concern of my person at all. Do you hate me, as much as you hate him....?" ANd as she speaks, there is true hurt showing within her eyes.

Softly, "I remember you speaking plainly, answering my questions in the way I put them. Not dancing around them." Her eyes snap wide; it is a good thing Satira is not awake, as Calisa yanks brutally, not even noticing. "Do you really believe that, Rennar?" She releases Satira's hair, fist again clenching as soon as it is free.

"What am I to believe when the first things out of your mouth were word demanding to know where Satira was?" Rennar counters, the hurt still evident within her eyes, touching her words, "I understood your concern, but then you just seemed to grow more cold and distant. There was no love or warmth coming from you. /None/. Just hate and anger. It almost seemed as if you put at fault for what it was Jeffrin did himself."

Calisa's voice is a whisper. "Never at you, sister. I was never angry with you..."

Rennar turns her gaze back at Satira, "It was not even Jeffrin who did this to her... it was the assassins, I would lay my life on it. Though..." She chuckles dryly, "In a sense I suppose it was he who signed her fate. He refused to kill me, when ordered to by a Lord of another nation, for surely he was not of Andor."

Calisa's throat clenches over a scream; it is at last a minute before she makes any answer. "Not illness...I-will-see-those-responsible-dead." She too gazes at Satira, speaking to her now. "I will, sister..."

"Calisa... calm yourself!" Rennars voice ranges hard and sparp, pitched to get the girls attention. "You will do /no/ such thing." Her eyes narrow in a dangerous manner, "The matter is in the Queen's hand now. She will take care of things, if matters can even be taken care of. Three of the assassins are dead, and only one got away. There's no telling where he is now, but Light only knows that he's probably not here in the city any longer. He'd have to be stupid, or down right dull headed if he was. I will /not/ having you act just as if you were one of /them/." She punctuates each of her words, in an attempt to make her see some sort of common sense, and barring that, the authority of the woman who is heir-apparent to the Lion Throne, and House Head of Hune.

Calisa says "Someone hired them. Someone knows..." Calisa's hand, back on Satira's forehead shakes. "I'm not one of them - as you /should/ be able to tell - but I will find that someone." Eyes raise to meet Rennar's."

Brows knit together tightly at Calisa, "Someone knows what....?" Suspicion touches Rennar's eyes briefly, "As far as I can tell, Satira, and possibly even Jeffrin, was poisoned because I am heir-apparent. There are a great many a people who would wish me dead, as well as our entire family, for just that position, but none are as close to Ishara by blood than myself, next to Aislynn." Surprise still tingles within her eyes even as she mentions the part of her being heir-apparent, as if that were news she had just heard only recently herself. "Do you plan to go around killing all the nobles of Andor then?"

Calisa's mouth drops open. "Heir...?" She stares at Rennar. "A Lord of another land, you said."

Calmly, even though still surprised at her own admittance, Rennar turns her eyes back to Calisa, "Aye, heir-apparent, at least until Aislynn has daughters of her own." Rennar seems to shift uncomfortably after that, lowering her eyes. There is something there that she seems to know, but from her expression she's unwilling to talk about it. "And the man was not a noble of Andor, at least not one that I know, and I'd like to think as Head of one of the higher standing Houses, I'd recognize even the most minor of crests." Her voice softens a bit, becoming more gentle, however she has the look about her that she can start back into her earlier mood with no problem. "And there are an awful lot of Lords out there to go traipsing after each one." Again, she tries to make her statement clear - she does not support Calisa's earlier standing about 'seeming them dead'.

Calisa's gaze turns probing, warnings unheeded. "His voice. Was it accented?"

"I am not going to discuss this any further." Rennar says, eyes narrowing at her little sister. "It is not a matter for you to take into your hands, nor will I allow you. You have gotten the only bit of information about this that I will give." Her tone suggests a sort of finality. "If you want more, you will need to speak of the Queen about such matters, not that I expect she'll let a fourteen year old girl go traipsing off after killers and murderers, and probably worse."

Calisa sighs, nodding slowly. "It is as you say, High Seat..."She stares at Rennar a long moment, then back to Satira. "But if she dies...Light, why can't the Aes Sedai here Heal?"

"There are healers here who can probably do more good than the Aes Sedai." Rennar murmurs quietly, turning her attention back to Satira. She then gently murmurs, "You might also want to watch where you grab at things." It is a gentle reminder of Calisa's having pulled at Satira's hair.

Calisa nods again, falling silent; her face closes tightly. She again pick ups the cloth, dabbing at Satira's face.

"The healers said that she will be fine... it will just take time for the rest of it to run its course. They caught it in time." Rennar murmurs quietly, fingers going back to picking at the loose threads of her pants.

Calisa smiles quickly at this one bit of good news, as quickly sobering again. "Rennar..." She shakes her head. "Why will you not tell me what you saw?"

Rennar sighs at Calisa, rising from her chair, "I have already told you." She keeps insisting, "Unless you wish for me to reveal things I saw about the Queen, which I swore on my very life and soul that I would not, and then, in essense, commit an act of treason and become an oathbreaker at the same time....?" She raises a brow slightly at Calisa, awaiting the response. Her words hold a very strong note of honesty within them, her expression calm.

Calisa frowns. "I never asked about her..." Hurt matching Rennar's enters her eyes. "I liked being able to believe you, sister."

Rennar sighs at Calisa, "Believe what you will then, sister, for it is all the truth I have to offer. You reached me at a point where I had been through much, and simply could not endure any more. You saw how I broke down within Demonders arms."

Calisa sits up straighter. "I saw. And I saw you staring at me as if witnessing my death." She swings her legs around, standing. "Please, if Satira wakes, send for me. Until then..." ZShe does not finish, but starts out of the room.

Rennar watches after Calisa, stretching her own tired and hurt limbs. "I will, or have someone come after you." She comments quietly, her expression unreadable.

Calisa pauses, nodding to that. "High Seat." She yanks the door open, perhaps a bit harder than was necessary.

Calisa walks out the heavy wooden doors and into the hallway.

Later, wishing to collect her thoughts, Rennar leaves the palace for the outdoors.

The Queen's Gardens: Royal Palace of Andor, Caemlyn

This circular expanse of garden curves around the backside of the Royal Palace. Flagstone paths meander off through the lush greenery, through trees and many flowering shrubs. Trellises with flowered vines crawl up the gleaming white walls that surround the palace. A white stone courtyard sits at the center of the gardens, with tall columns circling around it, holding up its golden-tiled roof.

The lazy sounds of birds chirping and the breeze blowing through the trees makes you feel like taking a catnap. A fine sprinkling of pristine snow lies upon the ground, and the water in the redstone fountain has a thick layer of ice on its surface. A white stone path leads back west to the Courtyard and a white stone staircase curves up near the Palace to a balcony that overlooks the gardens.

Rennar wanders into the gardens, with her cloak wrapped about her arms. She seems to wander about listlessly, taking a deep breath of air. She is unaware that there are two figures standing on the balcony above her.

From above, Demonder continues to look away from the balcony, eyes strangely set in their anger. "It is beyond out control now, this matter with Jeffrin. All we can do is help those around and heal."

From above, Calisa smiles again. "Is it?" She looks more carefully at Demonder. "Do you want it to be?"

Rennar seems to freeze as she hears the voices above, then pulls the cowl of the cloak over her head, disguising her features. With that done, she continues to walk about the gardens, making her way toward the leafless, branchy maze located at its center.

From above, Demonder's eyes go distant for that time. "Yes. It is not for me to decide, Calisa." There's a slight tilt of his head. "I'd likely wish the worst pains on him that my mind can create. But I'd not one to give into that mad anger, even if he deserved it."

From above, Calisa makes no answer to that. "Good day to you, Lord Demonder..."

From above, Demonder turns back around as Calisa leaves, elbows resting on the balcony in silent contemplation.

Rennar disappears into the maze, just as Demonder turns about and starts looking over the gardens once more. She sighs softly to herself, hugging the cloak to her to ward off the cold. There is a familiar way about her as she walks about the various paths of the maze, seen easily from above, as if she knew it like the back of her hand.

From above, It doesn't take long for the hooded figure to catch Demonder's attention, her weaving through the maze within the garden. For now, he simply watches, a touch of longing hitting his eyes as he suspects who the figure may be.

When she thinks its safe, the hood comes off, revealing the identity of Rennar. She moves to the bench in the middle of the maze and settles herself upon it, mindless of the snow. In fact, it almost seems as if she lies down on it, curled up in a small ball. Whatever else occurs there is hard to tell.

From above, There's not exactly a rush in the way Demonder leaves the balcony, but it is enough of one. He steps away from the balcony, then looks over the maze once again, in a haste trying to remember her path, before heading away.

From above, Demonder leaves the balcony and walks down into the garden.

Demonder walks down the winding staircase from the balcony and into the garden.

There is silence in the gardens, as the evening sun starts to settle below the horizon. Very little movement can be hard form within the maze, the form within not moving a speck.

Not really realizing the sounds his feet might be making, Demonder makes his way across the garden and to the maze. It all looks different from down here, even when he enters the place where he had seen Rennar enter before. Slowly his footsteps can be heard crushing against the snow as he follows Renni's footprints within.

Rennar sits up quickly from her spot on the bench, surprise covering her face. She quickly pulls the cloak over her head, covering her features oncemore, and moving to one of the bushes that just simply stands there, out of place, and hides behind it.

Demonder comes into the center where the bench is found, his head bent down as he reaches near the end of the path. But his eyes go to the empty bench. "Renni?" he asks quietly, taking a few steps toward the bench.

Hearing a familiar voice, Rennar peers from around the bush. Relief touches her eyes, "I am here..." She murmurs quietly.

Demonder takes a step to her at the sight of Rennar. "Sorry... I saw you from the balcony. I..." Demonder suddenly gets the look as though he doesn't feel he belongs here. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"You are not intruding..." Rennar murmurs quietly, "I just came here to think... its.. its alot like my refuge in the woods, but I dare not go out there, not now..." She sighs softly, coming out from behind the bush, "Please stay...?"

Demonder's eyes are still cast downward, feeling bad that he had followed her to her one refuge from everyone. But at her request to stay, his chin does raise, as he moves over to the bench and stretches out his arm for her to take. "We can stay within the Roesone manor..." he suggests.

Walking over to Demonder, Rennar takes the outstretched arm. "I may take you up on that offer..." She comments quietly, "But it will depend on Satira's condition." A darkness seems to linger under her eyes, bespeaking of one who has not gotten enough sleep in a long time, and one who's been through much stress just recently, "I don't think she can be moved."

Demonder leads Rennar closer to him by a slight pull, his eyes filled with concern for her. "She has been brainwashed under Jeffrin's influence?" Demonder asks bluntly. "It's terrible that because of him, all this is happening within your family." Leading her to the bench, Demonder turns Rennar to him. "But he's not the only one responsible here."

"Poisoned..." Rennar speaks as she moves closer, the concern and worry clearly washing out her features. Her words are softly spoken, "And now Calisa wants to make certain everyone responsible dies."

"Poisoned?" Demonder hadn't heard, apparantly. "Already its beginning, so soon after the attack?"

Rennar shakes her head slightly, "This happened before the attack... and for some reason has already taken effect. I hear it is the same that was given to Jeffrin." She murmurs quietly, looking down at her hands as she sits next to Demonder.

Demonder's arm comes around Rennar's shoulder, his cloak covering her shoulders as he draws her into his embrace. "There is a cure for this poison?" Even as he asks the question, his fingers to go her chin to turn her more to him, eyes warm and loving, offering security.

"The healers have done as much sa they can for her, the rest just has to run its course." Rennar murmurs quietly, turning her head toward him as directed. "Calisa demanded I tell her what I saw... I refused... particularly when she is on this vengence kick."

"Particularly because of what you saw," Demonder responds too quickly. "How did she even know you even have knowledge of anything?" Stroking her cheek, he tilts his head watching her. "Don't tell her, please." He asks her, even knowing she likely won't.

"I told her, a while back, that I could see things. She takes pleasure out of demanding answers from me, forgetting who she is and what her place is within the House." Rennar answers, looking a bit irked at what she just reveals. "She has no idea what she's playing with by asking me to reveal things, nor you... but at lease you have the common sense not to act on that knowledge. I told her that I could not determine what I saw, which is true. I did not glean any certain meaning from her viewing."

The look of concern on Demonder is clear, as she reveals to him that Calisa knows at least partly of Rennar's talent. "There's no misinterpretting what you saw," Demonder's voice is that familiar whisper, reluctance showing. "It marks her as clear as anything. At least sometime in the future. The anger she holds, the spite, she will search for those that can offer her inner peice and revenge."