Visiting the 'prison'

[Northen Light36]

"You better have brought the royal brat, Sorin, or I'm going to be very... disappointed in you," Mathew warns, turning away from Talon. "Considering I don't see Ronoh's runt here, you're not impressing me so far. And you know what'll happen if you fail me."

[aivea]

Sorin pales, but leads Mathew toward where Luminous is being kept. Silently, he hopes that the fact that the princess is unharmed, and right there will take the edge off of Mathew's rage. In fact, he needs to work to suppress quivering from terror, in addition to having lost his voice. Memories of his own sadistic treatment of slaves who disappointed him currently caused more fear than was possibly intended by Mathew's threat.

[Northen Light36]

Mathew idly notes Sorin's reaction with cold satisfaction, but doesn't say anything as he picks up the baby, ignoring the other prisoners behind him for the moment. A second later his expression changes from amusement to disgust and annoyance as Luminous throws up her last meal over his shirt. Growling, he turns to look at Alethia. "You! Girl!" he snaps. "Are you capable of looking after a child?"

[Kender Bard]

"Yes," Alethia says quietly, smoldering. Her eyes, though, are wide with fright as she stares at Luminous. Suddenly her safety takes a backseat as her maternal instincts fret for the baby.

"Princess Luminous," Talon gasped, shocked.

[Northen Light36]

"You have working eyes. Congratulations," Mathew growls at Talon as he places the princess back in the basket. "Now shut up." That said, Mathew unties Alethia's feet and then yanks her roughly into a standing position to untie her hands. "Now girl, you going to take care of this brat. And don't get any ideas about taking off either." Mathew chuckles coldly. "You won't even make it off my land before the dogs catch upto you... and it's been a while since I fed them."

[Kender Bard]

Alethia shuddered, but didn't flinch away. She made a grab at the basket as the baby started to wail, loudly, and made some cooing sounds to calm the babe down. "You're going to need to get some things if you don't want her to die," she growled at Mathew. "A goat, for milk, and a stack of fresh linens for diapers. She'll also need a basin for bathing, and something soft to sleep in. If you won't get a cradle, then a drawer with cotton cloths will do."

[adris]

Vortai woke up right about then, shaking his head to get his eyesight back in order. He hadn't fallen asleep as much as he let his body reboot real fast. He looked around at how everyone is alive and breathed a soft sigh of relief. Then he saw the child in Alethia's hands and quickly shot his eyes away. He didn't get a good enough look at who the child was, as all that ran through his mind at that moment was his own mother. He silently clutched his hand into a fist, silently cursing that he couldn't chant aloud lest he be caught.

[Northen Light36]

Mathew scowls, but nods. "You'll have what you need," he replies coldly. "Sorin! Make yourself useful boy. There's an old craddle in the attic. Fetch it, then go over the Flinders' farm and borrow a goat from them. It's the red house to the south of here."

[Kender Bard]

Alethia moved to where Talon lay, kneeling next to him. The Wind seemed more at ease with his wife nearby, and allowed himself to simply gaze in awe at Luminous, who'd quieted down much more now.

"What do you have the Princess here for?" Alethia asked of Mathew, trying to make the baby comfortable.

[Northen Light36]

Mathew raises an eyebrow mockingly. "I don't see how that's any of your business girl," he replies. "But since you asked, I need to have a... discussion with the brat's parents and I want to make sure they'll be reasonable when we speak."

[aivea]

Still feeling like he'd swallowed his tongue, Sorin dashes upstairs, and carries down the cradle. After depositing it rather disinterestedly between Mathew and Alethia, he leaves the house in search of the goat mentioned by Mathew.

[Kender Bard]

Alethia gently lay Luminous in the cradle. The babe seemed to calm down, and fall into a doze after Alethia started to rock her. She didn't make any further comments about Lya and Shadow or the Princess.

Talon, seeing everything calm for now, decided to shut his eyes and try to snatch some sleep. He had a feeling that he would need all his energy in the coming time.

[Northen Light36]

Mathew watches them for a moment then stalks off to change his shirt.