Feydium II
Carl stepped forward first, flanked by Gerard.
"Dad?" He laid a hand on his father's arm, drawing the other man back to the present.
Julian loosened his grip on his daughter just enough for her to straighten up.
Brieanne promptly began wiggling until she'd made herself comfortable.
"See what I got, Carl." Brieanne leaned back from her father and stuck the pipes out
toward her brother, who obediently took them. It was then that Julian noticed the
unseasonable wreath adorning her head. He pulled it from her head, despite her
indignent protest and examined it, looking for signs of where and from whom it may have come.
Carl and Gerard where doing a similar exercise with the pipes. But, beyond being
newly made, it yielded little more information than the flowers. Caine remained a step
back from the group, silent watching his niece, fairly certain of what would come next.
"Brieanne where did you get these?" Julian gave his daughter a slight shake,
dragging her attention back from Cain, whose stare she was intently returning. "Where
did you get these?"
Brieanne glanced at the wreath her father was holding out, but was prevented
from taking it back. "Where did you get these?" Julian continued to repeat the question,
quite familiar with the tactics necessary to extract information from his daughter.
The event Cain had been anticipating occurred with all the speed and subtly he had
expected. A slight narrowing of her eyes. A strange light come and gone so fast it may
have been no more then the a glint from morning sun filtering through the remaining clouds.
The hesitant pout that briefly graced her face. The alien gleam of mischievous intelligence. Her answer confirmed his theories and he settled back to watch how his brother would deal with the revelation. If the mother should have two sides and secrets, he reasoned why would her daughter be any different?
"I found them." Brieanne's answer was bubbly as she wiggled again, trying to reach
the ground. Her attempt was unsuccessful. But despite her confinement, repeated questions
received answers that where no more forth coming, being little more than "In the trees,
under the trees and in the woods."
Back home father and son where still trying to pry information out of her when Caine
finally stepped in. Gerard had returned to the castle sometime earlier, and it was becoming
very clear to the remaining brother that Julain was about to completely lose his patience.
She'd always been such a bidable child that he hadn't the skills or the experience to cope
with this new development.
"It was a bright summery place where you found your pipes wasn't it? Lots of birds
I'll bet, and butterflys and great big leafy trees...." Caine settled down on the couch,
putting his hands behind his head and leaning back to look wistfully up at the ceiling.
He reclined completely, stretching out his legs and trying to appear as if her recent
episode where perfectly normal.
Brieanne continued to sit by the fire, pipes and flowers held securely in her chubby
little hands. She regarded her Uncle blankly, certain that something was afoot, but not
at all certain as to what it might be. Carl looked up with an expression similar to
his little sister's, but with a glimmer of understanding. Julian simply sank back into
the chair, exasperated and frustrated and just grateful that someone else was taking over.
"I bet it was beautiful. Green grass. Bright blue skies..." Cain sighed, studiously
not looking at his intended target. "That meadow with the flowers must have gone on forever.
I'll bet there weren't any pine trees though. They never grow where flowers are."
"Yes there were." Brieanne climbed up next to her uncle, arguing with his apparent
ignorance. "There were little pine trees."
"Bunnies too?" Cain looked at his niece in artfully crafted surprise and trying
very hard not to laugh. Carl, waging a similar war, bowed his head as he nearly lost.
Julian shook his head and continued to watch his brother fish.
"Uh huh." Brieanne nodded. "Little white ones. And little blue birds, and great
big butterflies with little arms and feet, and great big trees with beards!" Brieanne settled
atop her uncle's stomach, bouncing and giggling and filling in the holes Cain skillfully
created. The game continued until lunch when he thought he had her going well enough to
ask an all important question, after she so helpfully told him that she'd had a party.
"Who'd you have the party with?" The sly look that had briefly appeared earlier
slid across her face and was gone. So too was she. Hopping quickly to the floor and dancing
around the chair before her elders could snag her, she cast her answer back over her
shoulder in the same sing-songy voice she'd used earlier.
"Smoketreadder and Briarsting." Carl was waiting for her on the other side.
Swinging her up onto his shoulder he spun her around as he continued with the tactic his uncle
had used first.
"A great long party like the Festival of the Unicorn?" Unfortunately, she'd grown
both weary and wary and no longer wanted to play.
"No." And she promptly kicked him in the back as she began squirming and whining
fiercely to be put down. At a motion from his father, he handed her over. The circles
under her eyes had grown increasingly darker and her mood was deteriorating badly. Her
father simply put her to bed, fretful and worried and without the answers he wanted most.