Starting Off on the Wrong Note

[Opal Draer]

OoCFail. So sorry. But its here, however lacking it might be.

76.fall.513.

Opal waited impatiently within her casinor, half a chime away from confronting the overseer in the fields. She'd sent word that the little singing slave would be needed today, but the child had yet to arrive.

"Dira help him if he's ignored my wishes," Opal fumed quietly; the freeborn help that her family employed proved endlessly frustrating. Skilled in narrow fields, and by turns nauseatingly timid or insultingly brazen, Opal had so far found no redeeming qualities in them. The field management, specifically, seemed to feel that they were entitled to refuse her access to her own family's slaves.

Temper still simmered when she recalled the day one had even had the audacity to argue with her - and in front of Kat, no less! It had been embarrassing, and Opal knew that, had it been any other Dynasty member, she'd have been forced to a much harsher treatment of his insolence. But that was the trouble with freeborn. Neither slaves, nor Dynasty, they walked an uncertain line; you couldn't very well haul one off for punishment, and well they knew it. It seemed, to Opal, that they quite enjoyed pushing their boundaries and testing her patience.

Like today.

With a huff, Opal reached for her scarf, wrapping it loosely over her hair in deference to the wind. It wouldn't do to go confronting her inferiors looking like one of them. Stomping, unladylike, to the door of her suite, Opal threw it open intending to march herself off the boat and straight to the cacao fields. If that stupid, stubborn petching freeborn thought he could countermand her directives --

Her mental tirade was interrupted by the sight of a disheveled, miniature child standing at the edge of the short pier. The Truenote was Opal's casinor and, though small, was meticulously kept up inside and out, so the child's intense and curious scrutiny of the vessel did not cause the redhead to squirm. It did, however, irritate her to no end. How long had she been out there? How long had Opal been inside, working herself into a fine temper and quite looking forward to a chance to tear into that intolerable freeborn overseeing the cacao fields for withholding her slave? And here was the very slave in question, standing there wasting time staring at the outside of the Truenote as though she'd never seen a boat before.

So it was understandable, at least to Opal, that her voice should come out clipped and less than welcoming. "Where have you been? Don't stand there staring, come over here."

[Lilou]

Lilou had been set on the cacao groves again. This one was one a particularly isolated island... with a small, wooden boardwalk leading to more solid ground. All around was dark, swampy water... she wondered if a crocodile would climb out and eat her. Normally there weren't crocodiles here, but what if one had been living in her forever, and had been waiting here just to eat her? The thought made the little girl shiver in fear. Still, she kept at her work, glad for the lightening basket in her hands.

At the moment, the reed-woven creation was full of a heavy fertilizer... made to help the trees grow big and strong. The slave liked trees, but she really preferred smaller plants... ones with leaves she could touch, and pet. Smiling quietly to herself, she stretched to lightly brush one of the pointy leaves with a few fingers. This tree in particular was widespread, meaning that she could easily grab a branch if she wanted to. Unripe pods hung heavily on the branches... but they would ripen soon. They'd get nice and big and red and make that hollow sound when you tapped on them.

However, for now, she was supposed to dump the funny mix of sticks, leaves, and general dirt onto the already existing soil. Though she didn't really know the technical part of plants, she did know what this new soil would give the trees better food, and make them grow better. And she liked plants that grew well... brown and dead ones always looked sad... really sad. Especially the way they drooped and wilted, like they'd lost the will to live. It made her pity the plants, want to pick them up and pat them, and make them happy again... but no matter how much she tried to talk to plants, they never talked back, not like humans. She was sure if a tree could talk, it would say nice things. People didn't say nice things...

Her mind was drifting off, but glancing down at the heavy weight in her arms, Lilou blinked in surprise. She set it down on the squishy soil, digging it in slightly so it wouldn't slip down the slope into the water... which she was still sure had a crocodile in it. She dug her hands into the fertilizer and grabbed a big handful, as much as the tiny appendages could manage. Going over to the base of the tree, she opened a crack between her hands and scattered the chunky mix around the earth. She knew she had to do around the tree's stretch... someone had told her, long ago, that a tree's roots went as far as the branches... and she wanted the roots to pick up the nice fertilizer and make the tree grow more. She didn't remember who had told her... one of the slaves? Who else? But it didn't feel like a slave... but, oh well. It didn't matter too much, did it?

She went through another few handfuls in a similar manner, scattering the fertilizer until her basket was empty. She sighed, picking it up, before trudging down the floating path back to where she could find more. It was only when she noticed the position of the sun, when she remembered... Mistress Opal! The lady had wanted to meet her, something about music. Lilou's heart leaped at the thought of music. Glorious, magical, music. She squirmed a little in delight, before dropping off her basket and practically running to where she was needed. She didn't know if she was late, and was a little worried about that... would the Mistress say no if she was late? That would be terrible.

The slave found herself on a small pier, staring at shock at the boat. It was a nice size, though nothing like the funny thing she slept on at night. It was majestic, really... pretty sails, a white deck... She nearly squealed in delight. However, she knew the Draer didn't like her doing that... so she stayed silent, and watched with awe... until she was interrupted, of course.

When ordered to move, she squeaked in surprise... Mistress Opal had been watching! "Right right right!" she exclaimed, head bobbing in apology. She dashed forward until she stood a respectful distance from the Dynasty lady, before halting and glancing up. "I'm here!" she finished with another nod, waiting for whatever interesting thing came next.