(no subject)

[wordofa_sayre]

The door opens a bare crack, letting through the sound of voices raised in anger.

"Uncle Edward, I am going back to the Old Kingdom, and I don't care what either you or Father has to say about it--"

"Nicholas, I am tired of having this argument with you. We will discuss it further after we return from Dorrance's house party, but for now I don't want to hear another word."

"Fine!"


He storms through the door, slamming it shut behind him, then stops dead in his tracks, staring at the room in front of him.



"... brilliant," Nick Sayre breathes, and a sudden grin wreathes his face.

Comments

[makesthings]

Sameth is sitting at a table and making some sketches when he hears the Old Kingdom yelled.

When he looks up and spots Nick, he grins and folds up the paper before heading over, "Nick!"

[wordofa_sayre]

"Sam!"

He loses no time in meeting his friend halfway, clapping him on the shoulder the second he's in reach.

"What fantastic luck!"

[makesthings]

"Yes, where are you and are you really finally coming to the Old Kingdom?"

Its been in the edges of letters but nothing seemed certain.

[wordofa_sayre]

"Ancelstierre," he says, with a grimace. "I'm at Uncle Edward's right at the moment. Seems my family's of the opinion I'm not to go off across the Wall again any time soon for some reason."

He does have the good grace to look a bit sheepish at that.

"Not to worry, I'll talk them round. How about you, how've you been, old chap?"

[makesthings]

"Do you want Dad to write them a letter? He could be kingly at them and explain that you'll be far safer in the Old Kingdom. I know they understand that sort of diplomacy. I'm good, busy with all the work I need to do. There's a lot to do and that I'm learning to do."

[wordofa_sayre]

He shakes his head.

"No, no, I'm sure someone somewhere'd get all in a huff over it, seeing as Uncle Edward's the Chief Minister and all. They'll just have to give in eventually -- it's only been six months, and I'll talk the rest of the year if I've got to. Besides --"

Nick waves one hand at the bar around them, and grins at his friend again.

" -- now that I've found the way back here, we've other options! Tell me all, Sam, what've you been working at?"

[makesthings]

"Well, yes but then Ellimere and Dad could deal with them. They're good with politicians. I finished Lirael's hand. I've been doing work on restoring Charter Stones but that's a large project and I plan to ride the Wall once everything with the Southerling refugees is sorted out. What about you?"

[wordofa_sayre]

"I'm sure they are, but then Father'd make it an Event, and there'd be conflict, and I think after Corolini's madness we'd all do better not to have any more trouble for a while," Nick concludes.

He sounds much more aware of such things than he used to be, if a little sour about it.

"Her hand? Is she doing all right, since -- well, since everything?" he asks, trying not to look too interested.

[makesthings]

"You're probably right and we don't need anything to cause any other problems. Yes, I think so. She's mainly out with mother,"

Lirael seemed to slip easily into the role of Abhorsen-in-Waiting and Sam's used to not seeing her around. That's what being Abhorsen means, being where you're needed.

[wordofa_sayre]

He winces.

"Too true, that. ... I suppose she's all sorts of busy what with putting pieces back together again, after, well, everything."

A beat.

"All of you, that is," he amends.

[makesthings]

"Not exactly, that's my job. She's helping Mother take care of any Dead that are about. We've been through worse,"

The Old Kingdom still hasn't properly recovered from the Interregnum.

[wordofa_sayre]

Nick winces a little bit more at that.

"Yes, well."

[makesthings]

"Come and have a drink with me. Are you working on anything interesting?"

[hadyougoing]

Ava happens to be crossing to the bar for a drink and maybe dinner, just in time to hear the door slam. Abruptly, she turns that way.

Her own expression is-- surprised.

"Nick?"

(Her necklace, of three rather pretty gems, has a Charter Mark on the central one.)

[wordofa_sayre]

(Much like the one that gleams faintly on his forehead, when he absently brushes the shock of hair away from its now-customary position.)

"Ava! Isn't this a delight!" he exclaims.

[hadyougoing]

Oh good! For a second, she wasn't sure whether it was cool to have remembered his name after all this time.

His ... potentially-a-minor name.

Ava steps nearer so they don't have to yell across the bar, catching sight of a mark like Sameth's on Nick's forehead. Has she seen that before? The last time they met she was sort of distracted.

"Oh wow, hi!" she says.

"I haven't seen you since the world almost ended."

[wordofa_sayre]

"Yes, well," he says, looking a little sheepish. "Thanks for that, by the way."

A glint of light from her necklace catches his eye, and his glance sharpens.

"Hello there, that looks -- did Sam make that for you by any chance?"

[hadyougoing]

"Anytime," she says, and is about to add something like you better be keeping yourself out of trouble these days, dude.

But instead she touches the necklace lightly, and smiles.

"Oh-- yeah, he did. How'd you know?"

[wordofa_sayre]

"Looks like his handiwork," Nick tells her. "Saw enough of it at school, and he's only gotten better and better since."

Beat.

"Not to mention the--"

He points at the central stone, then glances up to meet her eyes.

"-- the Mark."

[hadyougoing]

School!

School where he still is?? What kinds of schools do they have in Ancelstierre anyway, because she gets the feeling Sameth is not a very helpful case study?


Her gaze flickers briefly up to Nick's forehead before she returns the look.

"Yeah," she says with interest.

"We match."

[wordofa_sayre]

"Seems we do," Nick agrees, and his smile is wry but warm.

[hadyougoing]

She feels sort of awkward, which always makes her cranky. And while she admittedly doesn't know a whole lot about Sameth's kind of magic, except that it makes very handy flashlights and anti-bad guy wards, she's curious about what it means to have a mark like Sameth's on your forehead.

Then again, Sam did say he wasn't the only one. He's just different (and better).

"Did you have that before?" she asks.

"I mean-- when I met you before, in here." There were really only two times, and neither could exactly be considered Great Days to Be Nick Sayre.

[wordofa_sayre]

"Er... not exactly."

Now he sounds sheepish.

"Not the first time, at any rate. The second - well, it was, there were - a lot happened -- how much did Sam tell you, after it was all over?"

[hadyougoing]

"Ummm," Ava says, wracking her brain and avoiding a brief urge to get irked about that whole more-than-one-time thing.

"Well, I know--"

She glances left to right.

"You don't want to sit down or anything, do you?" Orannis is gone and all that, but possession and magic on that scale is ... kind of a big deal.

[wordofa_sayre]

"Oh! Yes! I've gone and been right rude, haven't I?" he asks, with a quick, apologetic grin.

"Allow me, please, if you would--" Nick moves to the nearest empty table and draws out a chair for her.