![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Lady and Knight (4/4)
Mar. 22nd, 2018 07:39 am(( Lieselotte Companion Pieces: Part 4 and Part 5
Harrowheart Part 3 / Lieselotte Part 3 ))
Zandros was too physical. Gardin was too young and stupid. Andolian was too far-away. I had to find someone who wasn’t like any of them. Someone small, maybe. Someone who didn’t think he could intimidate Isidor. Someone older, but not two hundred like Andolian. Someone who didn’t worship the Light but practiced magic like the Durants. Not a businessman, not a land-owner, but a mage. More like the Durants in spirit than bank account.
I spent days and days looking around Dalaran following leads. I felt like a detective, but by now Mrs. Durant had been on Azeroth for a few weeks and my energy for all this was disappearing. Every day I felt sicker and sicker. Every night I got worse and worse thoughts. I was glad that I was smart enough to tell Mrs. Durant I wouldn’t see her for a few days. It made it easier. A couple days I sat on a bench and just stared for a real long time. I thought about bad things I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I felt bad. But I thought about Isidor and how much I love her, and I reminded myself that I had to save her from a bad future, and that’s what got me up and at it again every day.
One day as I was sitting on the bench a group of folks walked by me and they were real loud and I couldn’t hardly think. I was going to get up and leave and that’s when I realized they were a group of student mages learning from an archmage.
And that’s when I got a real good idea.
A Kirin Tor student is exactly what I needed to find! Someone funny and handsome and magical. Someone like Khadgar. The real Khadgar, not a costume.
I went to the University and started talking to professors. Most of them were real weird, but in that way that mages are. Harmless weird. Just strange. They thought that if I asked them questions they got to ask me questions too. They asked about my magic and my runeblades and whether or not I’d like to help them with an experiment. One old man had me lift up a real heavy box for him. I met one instructor lady who reminded me of Adia, and maybe because of that I was nicer. I forget that sometimes I’m too short-tempered on Azeroth. I forget to say nice things like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and I forget to smile and I forget to blink. But like I said, Archmage Adia was real nice, and I think that made me nicer, and so she gave me better answers than anyone else.
She told me that one of her colleagues was a lady named Archmage Leywalker who does shields and illusions. She’s got a son named Basil who’s just a little bit older than Isidor and looking for someone to spend his life with. She described him a little bit – a battlemage in the past but a scholar now, real sweet and harmless, a ‘good boy.’ I thought he sounded perfect. The Archmage said she’d arrange a meeting.
I realized when I was on my way back to Mrs. Durant for the first time in almost a week that I was determined to make this work. It made me feel confused. How come I can be determined when I’m doing bad things? How come I can do things I know I don’t really want but tell myself that I want them? I remembered being in the army. I remembered being in the Scourge. I remembered doing bad things but saying to myself that I had to do them.
And then I was at Mrs. Durant’s room and I didn’t have no more time to think about it. I told her about the Leywalkers. The very next day we were having dinner with them.
Their apartment was real real high up in one of the spires of Dalaran. I figured that meant it’d look real important inside, but I was surprised by how normal it was. Real clean, of course, but real sparse too. They had a lot of mechano-magical constructs in the house. A little clockwork finch that sat in a cage and sang, a little Suramar-style sweeper bot that floated around and cleaned up the marble floors, and a mechanical cat that had rabbit fur on it to make it soft and nice to touch.
As soon as I saw Basil I got a little bit excited cause he’s real short. Shorter than Isidor for sure. But I was surprised by the big scar he had on his face. He had a few deep scar lines that went down the whole left side of his face and cut his eyebrow in half. He had a fake eye that was made of gold with a purple center and a Kirin Tor eye symbol carved into it. He had a metal arm, too! It was like Lawrence’s but all gold, and I could tell it ran off of magic instead of electricity. I knew he was a battlemage, but I didn’t expect all of that.
We sat down and had a real nice but simple dinner. It was soup. That’s all. I mean there was conjured apple strudels, but otherwise that was all. Not having to eat a bunch of food gave me time to look around. There were so many books. None of the other families had this many books!
Archmage Leywalker was a real smart older lady. She spoke some, but like Mrs. Durant she was usually pretty quiet. Sometimes she asked questions about magic on Earth, and then she’d nod and look real thoughtful as she ate her soup. She wanted to know about the Durant family history, and I told her everything Mrs. Durant let me. She told me that her family have lived in Dalaran for centuries and have been mages for even longer. She admitted that she cares an awful lot about genealogy, and I didn’t mean to laugh, but I did. I thought that was perfect, I said, cause the Durants do, too.
Then she asked me what my family name was, and I told her ‘Weatherhill,’ and she got real excited. She says she knows that’s a real old family name from some early mages that fought in the Troll Wars. They did magic more like shamans, more like Vrykul, that was weather-based. I laughed again. I didn’t know that! I felt real important and I think it made her feel real important, too, that she could share that with me. I said I’d tell my father, cause I knew he’d be so excited to find that out.
Basil was real reserved and well-mannered and only spoke when the moment was right. He didn’t mention his scars right away even though I think he knew I was looking at his eyeball, but he said he served in Northrend and kinda gave me a look like ‘You did too, right?’ I nodded and I said I did. I didn’t mention that I served the Scourge and not the Ebon Blade or Ashen Verdict. Probably for the best, too, cause he lost his arm up in Icecrown and he said he lost his brother at the Wrathgate. Hearing that name again excited me. It filled my head up with good memories. I wondered how he died. Was it the Forsaken plague bombs? Or was it us? Did some nasty little ghoul tear him up, or was it someone like me? Maybe it was me. I wouldn’t ever know, but I could pretend it was. Then I thought about Icecrown. I thought about Basil’s arm. I wondered how he lost it. I wondered if someone tore it off, or cut it off. I wondered how hard he’d fight if I tore the other one off. I wondered if I could do it before Lieselotte or his mother stopped me. Then I realized I was staring at him and he was staring at me like he expected something but I didn’t have nothing for him so I blinked real hard and nodded and went back to translating. I missed some stuff he said. Something about ‘duty.’ Serving was his duty. He was real casual about it after he knew I was paying attention again. He repeated that serving was his duty in a real dull voice. Like getting his arm eaten off by a zombie was the same as going down to the market for groceries.
He said that these days he likes what he does, which is study illusions like his mother. He showed Mrs. Durant a nice little illusion trick by turning the table invisible while we sat at it. It was weird cause you could still see everything sitting on it and you could still feel it. He laughed when I put my hands on it and leaned around to look up from under it. (It was still invisible from the underside by the way.) I wasn't sure if I should have been mad that he laughed but he looked at me with a real sweet smile. I couldn't smile back but in the end I wasn't mad. I noticed then that he wasn't half bad looking despite the scars. Not rugged handsome like Zandros, but cute. I hoped Isidor would find him cute anyway.
I liked him a lot less when he mentioned that he was feeling his age now that he's almost thirty and how he can't wait to have children. He moved right on from that and tried to ask a bunch of questions about Mrs. Durant’s world. Normally I like talking about Earth, but I only told him what Mrs. Durant wanted me to say.
I felt myself getting real far away from the conversation for the rest of the night. I spoke for Mrs. Durant, but I don't remember none of it. What I remember most is that a few hours in I saw Basil looking at me from across the table. I could tell he was scared. I wondered if he knew me. If he saw me in Icecrown. If he recognized my face.
I never found out.
Eventually Mrs. Durant knew when to say goodbye. We went back to her inn room. She had a lot she wanted to talk about. I couldn't. I told her I had to go to Acherus. She asked if I couldn't stay just an hour to talk. I stared at her a real long time. Inside I knew I needed to speak, but I couldn't make my jaw move. Not for a real long time.
No, I said. For the first time. No. I couldn't be there with her. Not right then. I had to go to Acherus. And so I did.
~ ~ ~
The next day I was back in Dalaran. She took breakfast in one of the cafés and I sat with her. My engagement suit felt dirty from wearing it so long, but she looked nice as ever. Her voice was soft as ever. She was kind as ever. Mrs. Durant don't even know. It's probably for the best.
In the end I couldn't tell her who to pick. I could only remind her of the things we saw. I told her Zandros has real special magic as a Spellbreaker, and his family's in a real good place. I told her Basil’s a real lineaged mage and that a connection to a Dalaran family would open up a whole world of magic to the Durants. I told her both of them seemed nice enough. Both of them were strong and loyal. Either of them could be Isidor's honorary patron. I told her one of them could be Isidor's husband. That she could spend her life with them.
And then I told myself that's how it ought to be. The living with the living and the dead in the past. One way or another. A man from Azeroth or a man from Earth, sooner or later they would have found her someone. Sooner or later they would have made her choice.
So is it wrong that just a little… For just a minute… I really hated Lieselotte Durant?
Harrowheart Part 3 / Lieselotte Part 3 ))
Zandros was too physical. Gardin was too young and stupid. Andolian was too far-away. I had to find someone who wasn’t like any of them. Someone small, maybe. Someone who didn’t think he could intimidate Isidor. Someone older, but not two hundred like Andolian. Someone who didn’t worship the Light but practiced magic like the Durants. Not a businessman, not a land-owner, but a mage. More like the Durants in spirit than bank account.
I spent days and days looking around Dalaran following leads. I felt like a detective, but by now Mrs. Durant had been on Azeroth for a few weeks and my energy for all this was disappearing. Every day I felt sicker and sicker. Every night I got worse and worse thoughts. I was glad that I was smart enough to tell Mrs. Durant I wouldn’t see her for a few days. It made it easier. A couple days I sat on a bench and just stared for a real long time. I thought about bad things I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I felt bad. But I thought about Isidor and how much I love her, and I reminded myself that I had to save her from a bad future, and that’s what got me up and at it again every day.
One day as I was sitting on the bench a group of folks walked by me and they were real loud and I couldn’t hardly think. I was going to get up and leave and that’s when I realized they were a group of student mages learning from an archmage.
And that’s when I got a real good idea.
A Kirin Tor student is exactly what I needed to find! Someone funny and handsome and magical. Someone like Khadgar. The real Khadgar, not a costume.
I went to the University and started talking to professors. Most of them were real weird, but in that way that mages are. Harmless weird. Just strange. They thought that if I asked them questions they got to ask me questions too. They asked about my magic and my runeblades and whether or not I’d like to help them with an experiment. One old man had me lift up a real heavy box for him. I met one instructor lady who reminded me of Adia, and maybe because of that I was nicer. I forget that sometimes I’m too short-tempered on Azeroth. I forget to say nice things like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and I forget to smile and I forget to blink. But like I said, Archmage Adia was real nice, and I think that made me nicer, and so she gave me better answers than anyone else.
She told me that one of her colleagues was a lady named Archmage Leywalker who does shields and illusions. She’s got a son named Basil who’s just a little bit older than Isidor and looking for someone to spend his life with. She described him a little bit – a battlemage in the past but a scholar now, real sweet and harmless, a ‘good boy.’ I thought he sounded perfect. The Archmage said she’d arrange a meeting.
I realized when I was on my way back to Mrs. Durant for the first time in almost a week that I was determined to make this work. It made me feel confused. How come I can be determined when I’m doing bad things? How come I can do things I know I don’t really want but tell myself that I want them? I remembered being in the army. I remembered being in the Scourge. I remembered doing bad things but saying to myself that I had to do them.
And then I was at Mrs. Durant’s room and I didn’t have no more time to think about it. I told her about the Leywalkers. The very next day we were having dinner with them.
Their apartment was real real high up in one of the spires of Dalaran. I figured that meant it’d look real important inside, but I was surprised by how normal it was. Real clean, of course, but real sparse too. They had a lot of mechano-magical constructs in the house. A little clockwork finch that sat in a cage and sang, a little Suramar-style sweeper bot that floated around and cleaned up the marble floors, and a mechanical cat that had rabbit fur on it to make it soft and nice to touch.
As soon as I saw Basil I got a little bit excited cause he’s real short. Shorter than Isidor for sure. But I was surprised by the big scar he had on his face. He had a few deep scar lines that went down the whole left side of his face and cut his eyebrow in half. He had a fake eye that was made of gold with a purple center and a Kirin Tor eye symbol carved into it. He had a metal arm, too! It was like Lawrence’s but all gold, and I could tell it ran off of magic instead of electricity. I knew he was a battlemage, but I didn’t expect all of that.
We sat down and had a real nice but simple dinner. It was soup. That’s all. I mean there was conjured apple strudels, but otherwise that was all. Not having to eat a bunch of food gave me time to look around. There were so many books. None of the other families had this many books!
Archmage Leywalker was a real smart older lady. She spoke some, but like Mrs. Durant she was usually pretty quiet. Sometimes she asked questions about magic on Earth, and then she’d nod and look real thoughtful as she ate her soup. She wanted to know about the Durant family history, and I told her everything Mrs. Durant let me. She told me that her family have lived in Dalaran for centuries and have been mages for even longer. She admitted that she cares an awful lot about genealogy, and I didn’t mean to laugh, but I did. I thought that was perfect, I said, cause the Durants do, too.
Then she asked me what my family name was, and I told her ‘Weatherhill,’ and she got real excited. She says she knows that’s a real old family name from some early mages that fought in the Troll Wars. They did magic more like shamans, more like Vrykul, that was weather-based. I laughed again. I didn’t know that! I felt real important and I think it made her feel real important, too, that she could share that with me. I said I’d tell my father, cause I knew he’d be so excited to find that out.
Basil was real reserved and well-mannered and only spoke when the moment was right. He didn’t mention his scars right away even though I think he knew I was looking at his eyeball, but he said he served in Northrend and kinda gave me a look like ‘You did too, right?’ I nodded and I said I did. I didn’t mention that I served the Scourge and not the Ebon Blade or Ashen Verdict. Probably for the best, too, cause he lost his arm up in Icecrown and he said he lost his brother at the Wrathgate. Hearing that name again excited me. It filled my head up with good memories. I wondered how he died. Was it the Forsaken plague bombs? Or was it us? Did some nasty little ghoul tear him up, or was it someone like me? Maybe it was me. I wouldn’t ever know, but I could pretend it was. Then I thought about Icecrown. I thought about Basil’s arm. I wondered how he lost it. I wondered if someone tore it off, or cut it off. I wondered how hard he’d fight if I tore the other one off. I wondered if I could do it before Lieselotte or his mother stopped me. Then I realized I was staring at him and he was staring at me like he expected something but I didn’t have nothing for him so I blinked real hard and nodded and went back to translating. I missed some stuff he said. Something about ‘duty.’ Serving was his duty. He was real casual about it after he knew I was paying attention again. He repeated that serving was his duty in a real dull voice. Like getting his arm eaten off by a zombie was the same as going down to the market for groceries.
He said that these days he likes what he does, which is study illusions like his mother. He showed Mrs. Durant a nice little illusion trick by turning the table invisible while we sat at it. It was weird cause you could still see everything sitting on it and you could still feel it. He laughed when I put my hands on it and leaned around to look up from under it. (It was still invisible from the underside by the way.) I wasn't sure if I should have been mad that he laughed but he looked at me with a real sweet smile. I couldn't smile back but in the end I wasn't mad. I noticed then that he wasn't half bad looking despite the scars. Not rugged handsome like Zandros, but cute. I hoped Isidor would find him cute anyway.
I liked him a lot less when he mentioned that he was feeling his age now that he's almost thirty and how he can't wait to have children. He moved right on from that and tried to ask a bunch of questions about Mrs. Durant’s world. Normally I like talking about Earth, but I only told him what Mrs. Durant wanted me to say.
I felt myself getting real far away from the conversation for the rest of the night. I spoke for Mrs. Durant, but I don't remember none of it. What I remember most is that a few hours in I saw Basil looking at me from across the table. I could tell he was scared. I wondered if he knew me. If he saw me in Icecrown. If he recognized my face.
I never found out.
Eventually Mrs. Durant knew when to say goodbye. We went back to her inn room. She had a lot she wanted to talk about. I couldn't. I told her I had to go to Acherus. She asked if I couldn't stay just an hour to talk. I stared at her a real long time. Inside I knew I needed to speak, but I couldn't make my jaw move. Not for a real long time.
No, I said. For the first time. No. I couldn't be there with her. Not right then. I had to go to Acherus. And so I did.
The next day I was back in Dalaran. She took breakfast in one of the cafés and I sat with her. My engagement suit felt dirty from wearing it so long, but she looked nice as ever. Her voice was soft as ever. She was kind as ever. Mrs. Durant don't even know. It's probably for the best.
In the end I couldn't tell her who to pick. I could only remind her of the things we saw. I told her Zandros has real special magic as a Spellbreaker, and his family's in a real good place. I told her Basil’s a real lineaged mage and that a connection to a Dalaran family would open up a whole world of magic to the Durants. I told her both of them seemed nice enough. Both of them were strong and loyal. Either of them could be Isidor's honorary patron. I told her one of them could be Isidor's husband. That she could spend her life with them.
And then I told myself that's how it ought to be. The living with the living and the dead in the past. One way or another. A man from Azeroth or a man from Earth, sooner or later they would have found her someone. Sooner or later they would have made her choice.
So is it wrong that just a little… For just a minute… I really hated Lieselotte Durant?
