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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:14 am
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Stumbling and exhausted, the two finally reached the wall. Tessa smiled and sighed, putting a hand against it. "We made it, Kirsen" she told him wearily. "We made it in time."
Kirsen, frowning, looked around. "Tessa, where are we? What is-- Tessa?" He'd looked back, and she was gone.
"Tessa?"
~
In the dark of the night, just after the sun had set, there was a soft tapping at the prince's window. Light and gentle and quiet - it sounded confident and calm, almost calling to him.
Wake up, Prince. Wake up.
If he heard and heeded the call and came to open the window, he would find a tiny, ghostly-looking young woman sitting on the tree branch outside his window and waiting very patiently.
Tessa was a patient creature. This was where her visions had led her, and she was willing to wait until the person inside came to speak to her.
She'd go get Kirsen later. He tended to be overly conscientious about things like knowing people before trying to help them, and entering through doorways, and other such silly societal conventions. Tessa was less restrained that way.
For now, she just waited.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:17 pm
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:48 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:49 am
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The girl sitting in the tree smiled at him. "Once upon a time, I had another name, but I have forgotten it now. You may call me Tessa - that is what my friend Kirsen calls me." Then she tilted her head thoughtfully, looking at him. "But you asked who I am, not what I am called. I am a...I believe that your people call it a Seer. I dream of the future. But only what I am shown. Not everything."
Then she sat forward and examined his face carefully. "You are certainly the one I saw in my visions."
Sitting up again, she swung herself off the branch and through the window into his room. "I have dreamed of your future, and the future of this place. My friend and I will be of use to you in what is to come, if you will have our help. Many things rest on your decision, but I cannot influence your choice."
Standing and smiling as calmly as if she'd just told him the sun would rise tomorrow, she asked, "What do you choose, Prince?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:45 am
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:28 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:19 pm
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Tessa's large eyes followed his movements. She stood politely, saying nothing, seemingly perfectly willing to wait in this position all night for the prince to make his decision.
When he finished his considerations and spoke at last, she did not look either pleased or unhappy. She took his words with a calm, solemn nod, her face not changing expression in the slightest.
Notably, she did not tell him whether his choice had been right or wrong. Clearly she was serious about not interfering with his choices.
"Very well," she replied, standing a little straighter. "In that case, Prince, allow me to ask you another question. Whom do you trust, implicitly?"
This seemed like it had to be a lead-in to something, but she didn't make any mention of that. Instead, she just watched him, her oversized eyes unblinking and steady.
Was now the time to tell him about the triangle, she wondered. Would it be safe to tell him such things now, or would it only push him deeper into paranoia?
It would depend on his answer.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 6:41 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:43 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:00 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:07 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:49 pm
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:57 pm
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Tessa looked at him thoughtfully for a moment or two, and then she nodded once decisively, as though she'd come to a conclusion. Reaching forward, she took his hand and traced a pattern on the palm with the index finger of her free hand - the pattern of a triangle.
"Not all of those you trust are worthy," she said calmly, but her finger traced the pattern of a triangle in his palm, over and over and over. "The triangle is your shelter." Her finger touched the top of the triangle she was tracing. "The liar came first. Then came the brother." And her finger slid down the side to touch the next point. "And finally the lost one. This is your shelter when the storms rage." She touched the third point. "How many sides in a triangle, Prince?"
She traced the triangle on his palm one more time before she let his hand go.
Then she stiffened, straightened up. Her eyes went filmy and blank. When she spoke, her voice was colder, smoother, icy. "They come."
Standing rigidly, her head turned towards the window. "They are coming, Prince. Gather your warriors and stand ready. They are close, and they mean to kill." For a brief second she thought of Kirsen, probably still where she had left him or close to it, trying to find her. But she couldn't leave. "You must prepare for battle. Now!"
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