Dare|Rivenway, Ronduin

[Devon]

Lucid had been playing with some of the other boys around his age in Ronduin. So far they had had a fierce round of tag, but were all growing bored and wanted something else to do. One of the boys suggested a dare and made it clear no one but Lucid would do it.

Pointing off at one of the larger homes in Ronduin the boy said, "I dare you to sneak into that house."

Lucid shook his head at the boy and replied dryly, "That's my house."

The boy looking embarrassed pointed towards one of the other larger homes in Ronduin, "Then that one and we want proof, you have to bring something back from the house," he dared.

Lucid glared at the boy but nodded his head agreeing, "Fine, I'll do it," he said and stomped off.


Making his way towards the home, he peered around making sure no one was around and found an open window he could climb in. Pulling himself into the house he landed with a small thud and quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard him. Content that he wasn't discovered he decided he'd explore and see if he could find a good trinket to bring back to the other boys.

[Darastrix]

The house, the residence of one of Ronduin's wealthy non-nobles, didn't have what one would call a straight-forward floor plan. The main hallway was a curving spiral that had been designed to resemble the twisting of a nautilus shell, and the rooms themselves, aside from being accessible from the main hall, were also connected by narrower, curving corridors.

Like other large Rondian homes, it had several floors, and each was just as twisting and curving as the one below. The design gave the illusion of a more sprawling building, as a person had to walk further to reach a room than they would if the hall was a straight line.

The majority of the owner's wealth appeared to have been put into the architecture itself--the design, the polished floors, glass windows, large mirrors that served to reflect light and make the rooms look larger, doors that were purely decorative and led nowhere--and many of what decorations there were were either very large or surprisingly common, like shells or water-smoothed river stone.

In one room, however, a ring had been left resting on the lip of a wooden bowl of shells. It was silver and set with a round, grey pearl and a dark blue stone--clearly not something one could be accused of running off to the market to buy for a few bits.

[Devon]

Lucid paused as he saw the ring that was resting on the shells. Moving into the room he took a closer look at it, he wasn't terribly interested in jewelry, but even he had to marvel at its design. Reaching out cautiously with his hand towards the ring he paused drawing back to rethink what he was doing.

It wouldn't look good if he were caught stealing a ring in a stranger's house and he didn't want to invite that trouble on himself, but he had a dare and he couldn't lose face in front of the other boys. Weighing the situation in his mind he figured he'd do something even better than just bringing back a trinket. He'd meet the owner of the house instead and see what that would bring him.

Turning on his heels he started to leave the room and begin his search for whoever lived there.

[Darastrix]

After a period of searching, a door opened as Lucid passed it, and a woman's voice called, "Eloise? Have you come home?" before its owner stepped into the hall.

She was a thin woman of average height, dressed in a blue tight-bodiced sheath with a wrap of bright red and gold winding over her shoulders and down her side. A pair of small sand dollars hung from her ears and her forearms were wrapped in strips of blue-dyed leather. When she saw Lucid, her eyes widened and she took a step back.

"Who are you?" she asked. "How did you get in?"

[Devon]

Lucid quickly looked to the woman and answered, "Um..I'm Lucid," he said. Not intending to lie to the woman, he told his tale, "I took a dare from the other boys to come to your house..I happened to get a little lost after I found my way in and well, I might as well come clean to the owner and just leave. I'm terribly sorry ma'am," he apologized a pleading look in his eyes.

[Darastrix]

"My husband's really the 'owner' of this house," she murmured, an almost confused expression flitting across he face. "I think perhaps you should speak with him. He should return...return...." She trailed off, pressing an oddly long-nailed hand to her forehead.

"He was sailing back," she whispered. "In summer. The storms.... I--excuse me." She looked back at Lucid, as though just remembering that he was there. "I have these spells at times. Sometime I'm not even sure what's real. I--"

"Inara!" Another well-dressed woman came hurrying down the hall. "You know it's past time for your medicine!" She cast Lucid a suspicious look before pressing a glass of murky green liquid into Inara's hands.

Inara frowned at the glass for a moment, holding it delicately between the palms of her hands. "Do I really need this, Eloise?" she murmured, her brow creasing.

"You know you do," the other woman replied, tapping her foot with impatience as she glanced back toward Lucid.

Inara looked as though she might say more, but shook her head instead and drank. "I was looking at the ledgers earlier," she said, once the glass was empty. "I know pearls grew scarce when we weren't able to go into the river a couple of years ago, but somehow the money we brought in went up. And it's still up."

"That's a good thing, sister," Eloise said, her tone one used most often in dealing with small children. "And it's not polite to talk about these things in front of...company."

"Yes," Inara agreed, "but...other things aren't adding up. Where is the extra money going?"

"I'm sure I wouldn't know," Eloise replied with a wave of her hand. "Edmond sees to all those things. You can bring it up with him later."

"Yes.... Oh, but the boy, Eloise."

"I'll see to it. You'd best go lie down; you know how you get tired after your medicine."

"Yes." Inara inclined her head toward Lucid, her eyes a bit unfocused. "My sister will see you out," she told him. Her voice, which had been soft from the outset, had a breathy quality now, like she was sighing her words. Without waiting for a reply, she turned and returned to her room, almost in a trance.

[Devon]

Lucid watched the woman walk away, wondering what it was he had just witnessed exactly. "Um..is your sister...Lady Inara all right?" he asked the woman.