IP: 82.14.67.140
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 07:38:00 AM by thoth
 i never learned to swim, how did i end up in the deep end? The guards had been waiting for them – or rather, waiting for Tristan – at the border of the castle grounds. After sending off his spoonbill familiar to call the search off, the leader of the group had given the crown prince little choice in being escorted back to the palace. As if something would happen to him on royal grounds. Neither of the guards had looked at Thoth or Grayson twice, which may have gone part of the way to explaining why they didn’t recognise the former as a (now ex-) missing person. His weight loss and the mud in his hair, clothes and obscuring part of his face probably helped too. The guards had told “his Highness’s friends” that they should head home too, before frog-marching Tristan back to the castle. Thoth, Grayson and Junebell had continued at a slower pace – allowing for Thoth’s ankle – and were only a few metres from the looming building before the doors burst open and a young girl came running out. She’d grabbed Grayson by the arm, babbling something about a new book, and dragged him inside and down the corridor, leaving the door swinging symbolically on its hinge. The brightly lit interior had glowed a little orange and radiated warmth. Junebell had helped as far a she could go – to the door – and cast him a concerned look before trotting off to find the stables. With no small amount of trepidation, Thoth had entered the building and, using the wall as a support, found his way through the familiar corridors to the section of the house where Tristan had told him that Nimueh, Saffron, Grayson and Mordred had moved to after the pirates took Apeliotes Island. And here he stands, staring at the closed door. This isn’t a part of the castle which Thoth has visited before, but the description of the door and the corridor, and its position in the wing, is exactly as his friend had described. He reaches hesitantly to the door with one hand, but withdraws it almost immediately and tucks his hands into his armpits. This is a temporary stop, and he knows it. Thoth had become Joel’s temporary ward while his mother was away, but now that Joel is gone and his mother is dead all previous contracts are broken. As she was never a named carer and as the guardianship had only ever been temporary, Nimueh has no obligation towards him. After the way he had behaved towards her, there’s no reason why she should want him either. The question of what will happen to him now can only be answered by the state, under whose jurisdiction he, as an under-thirteen, now falls. He’ll be rehomed somewhere, probably temporarily again, with a complete stranger whose interest is probably not in him but in ‘doing good’. Using his sleeve, he wipes most of the mud off his face and plucks a few of the larger clumps out of his hair, the colour of which is now indeterminable. His good leg is aching now from taking his full weight, so he leans his shoulder against the wall by the door for a moment. Despite the comparative warmth inside the building, he shivers as he reaches down to scratch his bad ankle, which twinges painfully. No sense in waiting around. If this has to be done, he might as well get it over and done with. Inhaling deeply, Thoth pushes himself away from the wall, stands as squarely as he can before the mahogany door and raps on it timidly with his knuckles. no way to tell who's winning the fight |
Replies:
- may it be the midday sun - By n i m u e h March 14, 2013 at 00:33:02 AM
- living for the weekend. - By thoth March 16, 2013 at 01:26:58 AM
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