Home again... and bored again|Aegestrom

[Kender Bard]

"We will," Aries promised, grabbing the basket once he had his cloak on. "Come on, girls, let's go have some fun."

"Bye Lady Sanderson!" Luminous called out with a backwards wave. "Thanks for the picnic!"

[Northen Light36]

"You're welcome," Acqua called back. Chuckling softly, she muttered to Pixie, "Lady... I'll never get used to that."

~Probably because the only way you could be less of a lady is if you and Mat were the first pair of Toms to produce a litter,~ Pixie shot back at her companion.

---

"Where we gonna go for our picnic?" Bas asked. "Inside the city or out of it?"

[Kender Bard]

"Let's not go outside," Luminous said, a touch of nervousness in her voice at the idea. Sneaking out of the palace was as much risk as she was willing to take, anymore. After the whole kidnapping fiasco... It was all she could stomach. "Let's go into one of the nice parks."

"Oh I know where one is," Aries replied, moving ahead of them. "Not far from here, actually."

[Northen Light36]

"Okay," Bas agreed easily, despite feeling a tiny bit disappointed. She liked to play outside the walls. After a moment of following her brother, Bas gave into her own restlessness. "I'll be back in a moment," she assured her playmates and dashed off.

~She's restless today,~ Smudge remarked in clear amusement. ~Kittens.~

[Kender Bard]

Aries handed the basket to Luminous, who took it in surprise. "Me too," he said and took off after his sister. "Wait up, Bas!" Whatever she was up to, it was bound to be fun and interesting and he didn't want to miss out.

"I don't like going outside the walls without Vortai or my parents," Luminous confided quietly to Smudge. "It scares me."

[Northen Light36]

~Understandable,~ Smudge replied soothingly. ~You're still a kitten yourself, and you've been badly frightened. These things take time to heal. And kittens should be wary of wandering from the den before they've grown in any case.~ She jumped, with some effort, onto a low stone wall. ~We'll wait here for them to return.~

---

Bas barely glanced at her brother as she ran. Her sharp sense of smell had caught a hint of something promising and she was determined to find it. When she spotted the berry pie - and the house who's windowsill it was cooling on, she grinned.

The Carmody family were a well off family of gem traders and jewellers. They, and in particular the two children of the house, were also enemies of Bas', for they took pleasure in sneering at the 'sell sword children' and their crowded home. Their mother also wasn't above making sneering or mocking comments about both of the Sanderson adults - in particular Acqua and her choice of clothing style - while gossiping with her friends in the market. And she was tasteless enough not to care if Acqua, Mat or any of the children were within hearing range.

"A berry pie would go well with a picnic lunch, don't you think?" Bas asked her brother casually, smirking.

[Kender Bard]

"Yeah," Aries whispered, his fingers flexing slightly. "Pity there's just one." If there had been at least two, they could both swipe one. "You go get it. I'll cover you." He touched his Wind sign and chanted, bringing up a faint wind around Bas to silence her. Not that he thought she needed it, but, well, it never hurt.

He grinned more, mouth already watering at the thought of the pie and the pathetic cries of the two stupid kids that were expecting it.

[Northen Light36]

Bas grinned and nodded to her brother in thanks. Abandoning her cloak for fear it'd get caught on something, she eyed the iron fence with its decorative 'thief resisting' spikes with contempt. As if that would stop any self-respecting thief.

For one thing, that oh so clever fence had enough room between the bars that she barely needed to suck in her stomach to get through the gap. And the rose bushes on the other side weren't a deterrent either. What was a tear or two in her tunic and a few scratches on her arms compared to the prize of a hot berry pie? Particularly one snatched out of the mouths of the Carmody brats.

Without any real trouble, Bas crept up to the kitchen window and, after a glance around, snatched the pie. She'd just made it back to the safety of the bushes when she heard the youngest Carmody child, the daughter, shout, "Mother! Mother, the pie is gone!"

Crouched in the bushes, Bas smirked at Aries and carefully passed the pie through the bars of the fence to him before slipping out herself. "Let's go," she giggled.

[Kender Bard]

Aries grinned and nodded. "Good job, sis," he whispered, pulling his cloak around to better hide the pie he held closely. He dispelled the silencing wind as well and scurried off, trying not to laugh out loud. "Wonder how long they'll cry!" he giggled to his sibling.

[Northen Light36]

"I hope they cry all night," Bas said with a scowl. "Jessica was teasing Letha cause her blue dress had to have a patch put on it the other day. And you know how much Letha hates it when her clothes aren't perfect. I heard her telling Muma that she won't wear it again."

[Kender Bard]

"The next time we see Jessica, we ought to put a hole in HER dress," Aries muttered darkly. He'd do his level best to try if he got the chance.

Luminous glanced up as she thought she saw her friends in the distance. "I wonder where they went off to."

[Northen Light36]

~I smell berry pie,~ Smudge commented, sniffing the air. ~Up to mischief, children?~ she asked Aries and Bas privately.

"Lumi, look what we brought for our picnic!" Bas called. It probably was better that Lumi didn't know it was stolen. Princess weren't allowed to do that sort of thing, after all. And she wouldn't want Lumi to feel jealous.

[Kender Bard]

"Ooh!" Luminous squealed. She of course thought that they had bought it. "It smells yummy!"

"Still hot," Aries said, wincing. His hands were beginning to burn a bit. "We'll let it cool and it'll be ready to eat by the time we finish the other stuff."

Luminous hastily found them a spot to settle and sat down with the basket, grinning. "You two are the best."

[Northen Light36]

"Yep, we are," Bas agreed with some satisfation at the successful theft. Sitting next to Lumi, Bas opened the basket to reveal it's contents. There were two sandwiches for each child, one made with chicken and the other ham and cheese, three cups for them to drink their juice and a treat - a small box of candied fruit to share.

[Kender Bard]

Luminous squealed happily at that and took a piece of candied fruit to eat before she tucked into her sandwich. "Maybe the next time you guys gotta go somewhere, I can go with you," she remarked. Even though she knew that wouldn't happen. "I don't like being without my friends... Honored Leader Ann of Naurorod visited but she's older than me. I still like her a lot. She understands me better than Mother or Father but you guys are my best friends."

"You're one of our best friends too," Aries chirped.

"I bet you guys could even make court fun," Luminous remarked wistfully.