Crisis|Skyheort, Talen'sul

[Kender Bard]

Luminous met up with her friends outside of the palace gates only a couple of hours after dawn, as she agreed upon, Vortai in tow. With her friends as her entourage, she set off to the early morning market.

It took a bit of hunting, but Luminous finally located the tailors. Their wagon was sure enough bedecked in colorful strips of cloth.

Cloak was the first to notice her approach and judged from the guard and the girl's fine clothes and jewelry that she was, indeed, the princess. In a bright voice, she called out, "Your Highness! My daughter informed me of your coming but neglected to mention you'd have brought your own small court with you!"

Fausta peered out from within the wagon. Oh for fuck's sake, she thought with angry exasperation.

"They're my friends," Luminous explained.

Cloak flashed the children a brief smile. "All and well, though I hope they understand that there won't be much to see. We can't conjure a dress out of thin air. First we'll be taking your measurements. After that, we'll send you on your way with a script that you'd bring back in a couple of days and, ta-da, your dress will be ready for you."

Aries made a face. "We got up for this."

"Oh," Luminous remarked, sounding a little disappointed. "Well, all right. What do I do?"

Cloak beckoned to her. "Come here and stand on this crate please, my dear. We'll be testing some colors against your skin and hair too, so this might be a little tedious. We'll be pinning scraps of cloth against your current outfit to hold them there while we compare."

Fausta hopped out from the back of the wagon, carrying a cushion of pins as well as a woolen pad. "We'll be using the pad against your skin so we don't accidently prick you."

"Thank you," Luminous told them and went to stand on the crate.

"I'll do most of the measurements," Cloak told her. "Usually my husband does, but I don't want you to feel nervous having a strange man moving his hands around you. He will be helping me out a little, though, but let me know if you feel uncomfortable with his presence. I have worked for young noble ladies before and I know how skittish they can be."

"I'm not skittish," Luminous protested.

Aries could already tell he was going to be bored out of his mind and nudged his brother. "Why don't we leave and come back?"

[Northen Light36]

Pas nodded and Bas looked tempted, but shook her head. "I'll stay with Lumi," she told her brothers. She smiled at her friend. "I can keep you company."

"Maybe you should get a dress," Pas teased his twin. "Before everyone forgets you're a girl."

Bas rolled her eyes and mock punched her brother. "What would I do with a dress? Other then ruin it," she laughed. "Besides, I'd look stupid. Like you in a dress. Boy's clothes are better."

[Kender Bard]

Aries laughed and left with Pas.

Fausta rolled her eyes slightly and moved to fetch a different length of measuring cord from amongst their supplies, handing it to Cloak.

Luminous stood still, allowing Cloak to move around her and stretch out the cord against different lengths of her body. She softly spoke the measurements aloud, expecting one of the other family members to record it for her.

"You don't have to stay," Luminous told Bas. "I didn't know it was going to be so boring."

"Brother, you assist for a few minutes, I need to rummage in the scraps box," Fausta told Deodan, slipping back inside the wagon with the pin cushion, disappearing under a canvas cover.

Cloak hummed a cheery little song as she worked. "What colors do you think we should start with, my love?"

[Northen Light36]

Bas shrugged. "I'll drag you weapon shopping later and you can be bored," she told Lumi with a grin. "Then we'll be even. Besides, I've got nothing better to do." She looked at Cloak and suggested, "Purple? That's your favourite colour, isn't it Lumi?"

[Kender Bard]

"Purple and gold, perfect colors of royalty," Cloak remarked.

"That would be nice, I suppose," Luminous murmured.

And so the morning went, with measurements being taken and scraps of cloth pinned to Luminous in various shades of purple and yellows as well as a few other for comparison. All of the tailors worked industriously around her.

"I think we're about done here," Cloak remarked. She selected a longer pin for the last scrap, a heavier velvet piece, slipping the wool underneath Luminous's sleeve as she did so. "Yes, I think I know what to work with." Quickly, she pulled all the pins out while asking Calan to write the script up. "And a note for your parents if you wouldn't mind? Just some information about us in case they enjoy our work."

"Of course," Luminous answered dutifully, rubbing her arm a little. "My arm's kind of numb."

"All that holding it up for me, so patiently," Cloak laughed. "It'll wear off shortly."

Fausta approached Vortai, smiling at him shyly with a coy expression. "Could you hold this for me?" she asked him, offering him two strips of cloth held together. "I need to put these together but it's hard to do without another pair of hands."

[Northen Light36]

Vortai blinked, then smiled slightly and nodded. "Of course," he agreed, taking the strips of fabric from Fausta.

Bas stiffled a yawn, glad the dull morning was over. "Weapons shopping next, please?" she asked Lumi. "After we find the boys?"

[tuo]

Calan nods patiently and writes on a piece of paper expertly. "Son, could you please get the cloth needed to start working on this ready. I'd hate to keep the princess waiting for her dress too long."

Deodan nods. "Course father." He smiles and ducks back into the inventory.

[Kender Bard]

"Actually, son, not quite yet," Cloak warned her son. "Remember, we have to move our cart. We were warned about parking it in the wrong area of market."

Which was actually truth. A guard had come by to point out that a tailoring business should be with the other clothiers, not in the middle of the spice and herbs.

"You are," Luminous agreed with a small smile. "You should be on the south side of market."

"So you'll be able to find us there in, hmm, two days," Cloak told her, handing her the script and note once Calan had finished writing them up.

Fausta put a pin through the cloth though wound up stabbing Vortai's hand in the process. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She hastily took the cloth back and snatched up a scrap of another cloth, wrapping it around his thumb.

"Well, we better get going before my friend drops dead of boredom," Luminous joked, still rubbing her arm. "Farewell then, until two day's time."

Cloak was already putting everything in the wagon quickly, but she still paused to give the princess a warm, sunny smile. "In two days."

"Come on Bas," Luminous told her friend and beckoned to Vortai while walking away.

[Northen Light36]

Bas all but ran from the tailors, only too eager to go do something more interresting. "Let's find the boys then I really do need a new dagger," she told Lumi. "I chipped the edge of mine sparring with Pas a few days ago and Muma will skin me if she sees that."

"Last I heard, you weren't supposed to practice with live weapons," Vortai remarked, reaching up to rub his forehead.

"That's why I need a new dagger and to get this one repaired," Bas replied.

[Kender Bard]

Luminous darted along, surprised to find herself out of breath very shortly as she did. She slowed to a walk, frowning and shaking her head slightly. She started to slip her note into a pocket when a word caught her eye. Pausing, she looked down and read the note that was meant for her parents. The "recommendation." Eyes wide, she gave a gasp and cried out, "Vortai!" Though it came out only as a weak whisper of the cry she had intended. One hand flew up to her throat as breathing became a chore from standing alone. "Vor-!" Dizzy, she fell to her knees and gave a small, strangled little gasp as her throat closed.

[Northen Light36]

Vortai couldn't respond to Lumi. He too was on his knees, with a hand to his throat and his eyes wide with panic as he desperately struggled for breath. Bas froze, looking between her friend and her uncle in shook for a moment, then ran.

There was a healer's house near here, one linked to the guild but that wouldn't matter. A healer was a healer after all. She pounded on the door, desperately hoping the man was at home. "Help! Please! Help us! We need help!"

[Kender Bard]

The man glanced up with a start. He hastily set down the small mortar he'd been holding and snatched up the bag he always had nearby for emergencies. Clearly it was something desperate. "Take me," he ordered Bas.

By the time they arrived back, both individuals had fallen unconscious. The healer, seeing who his patient was, swore and gave his attention first to Luminous, kneeling down by her and searching for some cause. "What happened?" he asked of Bas, even as he tried to desperately search for a cause.

[Northen Light36]

"I don't know," Bas replied, taking a deep breath. Panicking wouldn't help. She closed her eyes to block out the sight of her friend and uncle and focused on the details of the morning. "We been to the tailors, Lumi was getting a new dress. She was fine then, except she kept rubbing her arm and complained it was numb. Then... I think she looked at a note the tailor gave her and shouted for Vortai. Then they just fell to their knees and couldn't breathe."

[Kender Bard]

The healer nodded and worked in silence, feeling Luminous's neck. He checked her arm, running a finger lightly over a small puncture wound that was just slightly discolored at the edges. "Poison, I think," he said, and opened her mouth, peering in. He tried to ease a little bit of healing water into her mouth and cursed quietly shortly after. From the way his hands shook just slightly, it was obvious that he was beginning to panic a little too.

He next tried to force some healing water into the original site of the wound, but when all it did was clear up the discoloration, he shook his head and grabbed a small surgical knife from his basket. "Don't watch," he warned Bas and bent over the princess with it.

By then they'd attracted a crowd and the healer did his best to shield the princess from the onlookers while concentrating on his work. Several minutes later, he moved away from her and over to Vortai. Blood stained the girl's neck and chest but color had returned to her face.

The healer didn't spend nearly so long with Vortia. He hesitated, shook his head, and closed the man's eyes.

[Northen Light36]

Bas covered her mouth as she stared at her uncle, then quietly looked at the healer and whispered, "You can't do anything for him?" It wasn't really a question, as her gaze returned to her uncle anyone could see the little girl knew he was gone.

Pas, attracted by the crowd, tugged Aries along and ran to see what had happened.