a post of the vaguest variety
Second Cycle of Cryxatum in the Season of Spring, Era XV
A slender young woman stood on the deck on the gently swaying merchant-ship, the skirts of her blue silk dress fluttering in the breeze. In the distance, the walls and spires of Jaedaxia embossed their shape through the veil of sunlit fog, yielding a ghostly, elegant silhouette of the city's horizon. The girl's violet-hued eyes gazed calmly ahead, as the prow of the ship sliced through rippling waters.
It was, she had to admit, a pleasing vista. Quite different from the grey walls of stoic Portshire, where she had spent the Winter seeking training in a certain craft. Alais had not found what she had sought in that city, but no matter. She would find it in Jaedaxia.
And soon, she thought with a muted satisfaction. She'd done well to book passage on the ship, for true to the captain's word, it had made good time along the Libertas Bay. The docks would receive shipment of spice this brightening, courtesy of the vessel that – with every passing moment - drew nearer and nearer to the Gift of the Empire. It would also deliver Alais to the next step of her journey.
Jaedaxia. A place of elegant architecture and dramatic history. A bastion of high culture, genteel entertainments and fine arts. And most importantly, of learning. The city's colleges and universities were renowned throughout the Kingdom, this was common knowledge. Even her father - an alchemist born, raised and apprenticed in Aelyria Prime - had praise for the Collegio of Aethereal Studies. Not that he wanted his daughter to study there, of course, when she should be setting her mind on marriage...
But, nonetheless, that was exactly what Alais intended to do. She would enrol at the collegio, if they would have her. There she would learn of alchemy, and philosophy, and any other study that she might wish to explore – and she would do this unfettered by the expectations of her family, who would happily see her grow fat and careworn as the wife of some avaricious merchant lord.
A pale, mirthless smile crossed the girl's face, even as the wind whipped tendrils of her neatly-groomed hair into dark ribbons. But the smile did not linger. Behind her, the crew began to bustle about like irrated cattle, grumbling and swearing as they prepared to deliver their precious cargo. With a bland, unreadable look upon her delicately-sculpted features, Alais moved away from the deck.
With a light, cautious step along the ship's creaking timbers, the nimble girl retreated once more to shelter. There she would read her books yet again, and keep herself to herself, just as she had for the best part of this journey. Thanks to a few discreet words in the captain's ear, she had not been disturbed by his men, and she had not disturbed them.
And this was how it should be. For although the crew might have raised a few eyebrows at their well-dressed passenger, Alais could not have been less interested in them. And in fact by the time she'd disembarked the ship, presented her visa to the guard, and passed through the city gates, the memory of the sailor's faces was forgotten.
The alchemist's daughter had plans to attend to.
Last edited by Alais d'Aurenz; October 19, 2008 at 07:21 PM.
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From Trysvale to Jaedaxia
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