A wanderer in the night

[Anonymous]

It had been a period of several hours after the confrontation between Rodolphe and a woman from earlier in the day, and it had been tugging at Lucille's conscience for a greater part of the day. The woman was thin and had not looked well. Lucille hated feeling inadequate and powerless, and knew that she had to do something, even if Rodolphe didn't support it. She ordered several of her handmaidens to get two of her fine outfits, made of fine materials, as well as get a decent amount of food and some money. They packed them up in paper, so that they would look like a relatively innocent package.

Lucille, meanwhile, hunted for a long hooded cloak so that it could cover her face enough. People knew who Lady Lucille Maverikko was, and she would have to certainly keep her wits about herself. Still, she would not have to go out alone, and she would have to leave with 2 other girls. One was a tougher handmaiden who was much more streetwise, and the other was equally as helpless as Lucille was.

Lucille made sure that the maids swore themselves to secrecy, and under the cover of night, they were out to Reajh, to find the spot where the events transpired from earlier. The trek took them several minutes, as they had to do it by foot, but they made it. A nervous Lucille knocked on the door of a townsperson, and waited for an answer.

The door quickly and forcefully opened, and a gruff looking man answered. "Whaddya want?"

"Have you seen a woman who looks she looks as if she's older, she has dark lips and brown and blonde hair, and there seems to be something on her head?" Lucille kindly asked, hoping that her regal bearing wouldn't be discovered by her voice.

"Hell if I know. I'd check down that road if I were you," the man pointed a fat and dirty finger at a narrow alleyway that was rampant with mice and rats about the size of a small dog. Lucille cringed at bit at the sight, but had to immediately forget about that.

"Thank you kindly, sir. You have certainly been of much..." Lucille answered in thanks, but the man slammed the door in her face.

"...assistance." Lucille quietly and dejectedly finished.

"Well, miss, shall we be on o'way?" the tougher maid asked as Lucille nodded. And on they were, into an alley overrun by mice and other pests.

[Anonymous]

(OOC: Hope you don't mind if I join in.)

Verdandi silently fumed as she trudged through the alley. This place had rats, huge ones that were apparently not intimidated by her. Really, she’d thought that carpet merchants were spared the trudging through icky stuff. That was one of the reasons that she’d quit her job as an assassin a couple years before/

Apparently, the Moirae refused to smile on her. Typical of the cold, unmerciful hags, to whom the lives and welfare of mortals were but mere-

Ah, it appeared that she was falling into her old habits again. She made a note to try and get the swearing-at-gods under control. After all, one never knew when a deity was real, as opposed to concocted by the ruling class as a way to keep the people under to control.

Currently, she was on a mission to discover exactly where her sniveling, idiot supplier was hiding and extract what she owed with a minimum amount of fuss. Eleven carpets hadn’t been delivered yet, may he be pelted with camel dung. Sadly, the best way to his house was through this miserable, underused path.

Of course, it was night. After all, it would have been slightly inconvenient if she had been seen while extracting her goods. Being arrested for extortion â€" or whatever this type of illegal venture was â€" did not quite cover the criterion of “minimum amount of fussâ€?.

She raised a slight eyebrow, imperceptible in the darkness, as she heard a fellow wanderer. This one, however, was far louder than she was. She rather thought it was two people-or maybe three. It was rather hard to tell, and her skills were getting slightly rusty. But then, she hadn’t known that trudging through alleys was part of being a carpet merchant.

Well, well. She toyed with her options. She could either pass this ragtag band, or she could greet them, maybe scare them  by pretending to be a ghost.  Although that was probably a bad idea, considering that this was Connlaoth.

Unfortunately, the choice was taken out of her hand as she somehow managed to trip over a rat, despite the fact that she had been stationary, causing a loud thud.

Yet another reason why she’d given up on her last career.

[Anonymous]

Lucille jumped at little bit. She immediately looked down, slightly scared. Oh, she surely hoped it wasn't a member of the Connlaothian government that had found about her taking a trip out of the palace...

Lucille looked at her tougher handmaiden, hoping that she could answer for her. Earlier when she was at the door with the man, she had heard her regal speech slip in excitement, but it was just her luck that the man shut the door in her face.

"Are ye okay?" the second handmaiden asked as she stood looking at the fallen body.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am.� Verdandi said, hand surreptitiously going to her dagger. It was unlikely that robbers would ask if she was all right, but hey, one never knew. This was a dark alley, after all.

“And who might you be?� she asked curiously. Women, as a rule, didn’t exactly frequent alleys. That is, non-assassin women. If they were assassins, then that was a different story, although she strongly doubted it. Most assassins worked alone, and there were three women in front of her.

[Anonymous]

"Aww, we're just perfect strangers, miss. Ain't no need to get yerself all worried about that." The second handmaiden replied, her grip tightening on the goods that she carried. She passed a quick glimpse to the first handmaiden, who held tightly to the clothing. Lucille remained silent.

[Anonymous]

It occurred to Verdandi that everyone seemed quite nervous towards her. By Hel, one would think that she was an ax murderer or something. She would have expected more aggression, considering that she was a foreigner and they were the locals. And why did they need a spokesperson anyways?

It all made Verdandi very curious.

“You in a hurry?� she asked casually. “If you’re not, I could buy you a drink at the tavern.� Yes, she was prying. But then, people shouldn’t have secrets. It made things all very inconvenient.

[Anonymous]

.the lid of a garbage can creaked slowly as it brushed the two metal objects in opposing directions, lifting the lid from the stationary barrel to peer down inside. another person somewhere in the alley lit a small fire, and a few of the poorest peoples crowded about it to stay warm. she searched through the remains of a resteraunt, they had only been there for a few hours, so she figured it was her greatest bet at safe food. she herself was in a hooded jacket as welll, but it's seams clung to each other loosely, and the fabric wore thin in all the much needed areas. a smalled figure stood just behind her, hundling up closely and tugged at her skirt ever so innocently. her hand reached back to pat the figure's head before she reached into the container, and pulled something from it, handing it to her. she seemed delighted and leaped into her place by the fire. AERIAL continued this for some time, handing out food to anyone that requested, digging until she found something edible for everyone, less herself. but she'd eaten last night, and one couldn't be too greedy in her situation.

.she then too took her place by the fire, and pushed down her hood as to let the heat of the flames lick her ears and nose, the last thing that she needed was to get a blasted cold or something. she heard the fuss down the alley, they all did, but none paid any attention. the regular crowd was completely assembled as every night, and they were unconcerned about anyone else. so long as they stayed in that part of the alley, they would be politely ignored.

[Anonymous]

The second handmaiden nodded her head, "Aye. W'need to deliver something to someone."

Lucille looked forward, raising her head a little bit. It was the woman from earlier. Lucille was extremely delighted to see her, but then she looked at the condition of the woman that she wanted and the condition of the others. They were so positively destitute, Lucille's heart fell into her stomach as she looked at them. She suddenly felt extremely guilty. Why, she had known that there were people who weren't well-off in Reajh, but she never knew that there were so many people who were so impoverished, and meanwhile, while all these people were suffering so, Lucille resided in a palace where everything and everyone catered to her and Rodolphe.

She remained silent, blood rushing to her face, and her eyes beginning to sting with tears. She hated the feeling of guilt, and she felt a little bit of anger with Rodolphe for being so flippant towards these poor souls.

[Anonymous]

.AERIAL sat down along the back wall of a building, still where the fire could illuminate her face, keeping her at least relatively warm. the small one that had tugged on her dress now coiled up into the warm embrace. AERIAL, though not her maternal guardian wrapped her arms around her and enveloped her in her jacket and arms to keep her warm. the smaller the person, the more likely they were to be affected by the climate. the child seemed content, gnawing away at the food that she given, offering some to her watchful companion, but being told to keep it. greedy as she felt, the rest was slowly taken away, she needed all the food that she could get after all. she knew that if AERIAL really needed it, she would have acepted the offer without shame. the child, not as mindful to the privacy of others glanced down the alley to the group conversating. she stared a moment's time and looked back just as easily. the others followed in her curiousity and looked to be sure it was no one who would be overly upset that she looked onto them. since it was a group of females, they weren't thought to be very threatening. none the less, their attention was now on the group down the alley, wondering.

[Anonymous]

Lucille froze as the little girl looked at her. She was so close to helping these people, but yet, she couldn't do much of anything yet because they were preoccupied with this young lady before them. It would be rude to be dismissive towards the woman.

Lucille kept her head down, though stealing quick glances at the group of paupers every now and then.

[Anonymous]

Oh, puh-leese. Just how stupid did those people think she was? They had to be insane to walk around in an alley. They didn't even have any visible weapons. She was just about to point that out when she saw one of the women look behind her. She turned, and noticed a group of paupers congregating. She flushed, realizing that she had been caught unawares. How foolish of her, to not notice them. And it wasn't as though they had taken care to remain silent. They were just going about in their business.

There were definitely times when she wished that she had eyes in the back of her head.

She considered for a while, then hastily backed out of the way and leaned against a wall. That way, she could keep her eyes on both of the groups. She studied the trio who had been conversing with her.

[Anonymous]

Lucille gave the woman who moved aside a generous nod, as she and the first handmaiden went over near the group of paupers. She set down the large package that she carried, and warmed her hands over the fire. The other handmaiden stood next to Lucille to make sure that nothing would befall her. As a little girl walked to the side of her to investigate who this new stranger was, Lucille gave the girl a very shaky smile, as best as she could give under the circumstances.

[Anonymous]

.AERIAL clentched the little girl she held tighter to keep her from rising up to these new strangers. she looked up to them and recognized the woman leading the little army. her eyes narrowed a bit, and she cleared her throat to begin defensively. we, ma'am, are breaking no laws here. the others murmered their agreement in her decision as they only assumed that she was here to shoo them from the alley way. perhaps she wasn't keen on the idea of them taking food from others. but, it wasn't like they still wanted it. and that was her only defense. she knew the onwers of a few of the stores who'd told them they didn't mind at all, sometimes even brought it out on plates and let them use forks. thus, she was already preparing her own trial, right here with the garbage cans and stray animals as her jury.

[Anonymous]

This was completely and utterly idiotic. It was also a waste of her precious time.  To make things worse, the people weren’t even doing anything, and were completely unamusing. Everybody seemed on the defensive. What had happened to the fond old days of team unity and bashing people’s heads for intruding? This wimpiness made her feel old. Then again, this was Reajh, not Zantaric.

Verdandi put on her best scowl, and began walking towards her destination again. No street rats were going to keep her from leaving.

[Anonymous]

Lucille sighed, relieved that the other stranger had left. The second handmaiden joined Lucille and the first maid. The second handmaiden put the package down on the ground, and then looked up to Lucille.

"I am not here to shoo any of you off," Lucille started, her voice shaky. "For I know that our upper-class is what has helped to contribute to your woes. And for this, I can try to say that I am sorry, but not even words can express the feelings of shame that I hold."

"Who are you, miss?" One of the little girls asked.

Lucille turned to the young lady. She pulled down her hood and showed her face. "I am Lady Lucille Maverikko." Lucille introduced herself in a near whisper. She then turned to the woman from earlier in the day. "Madame, I truly apologize for my husband's actions earlier today. He only thinks of himself sometimes. Please try to understand, my station as a wife permits me to do nothing to raise a word of protest to him in the public eye. Privately, however..." Lucille looked to her handmaidens, "I can do as I please. And I've kept your words and wisdom in regard."

As Lucille said this, her servants began to open the packages. One of them contained two dresses. One was made of fine pink silk, embroidered with beautiful flower needlework. The dress was an empire-waist, with a gold-thread rope under the bustline.

The second dress was made of soft purple velvet, and in a similiar empire waist pattern. This one was much more simple, yet still, it was obvious that it was expensive to make.

A second package held meats, breads and cheeses inside of it, with a small butter knife inside of it. The meat was well cut so that it had little fat. The bread was a relatively large loaf, capable of feeding about 3 people at once. The cheese was in a smaller pack.

The final bag had enough money in it to so that a family of 5 would be supplied with food for at least 2 months. God only knew how long it could last just one person.

"Madame, if you wish, I could take some of the smaller ones with me to stay in the palace for 3 nights. I promise you that they will be fed very well. Just please be sure not to inform anyone that you have this much money, for they will surely let the tax collectors know, or they will attempt to steal from you. If you run out of this money, you can sell the dresses and even the knife, so that you will have a decent supply. Please, take it." Lucille's voice was slightly pleading with the woman.