OOCYou are brilliant at portraying Artur as naïve and hungry as a bear. Also, gotta love it that you are saying mother of pearl aloud;)
Adding the new facts Artur had told her about his encounter with the “cane-man” and the hunter to what she already knew, she made a final analysis. She could see the full picture now. Her conclusion was that the two men seemed to be Nolan Parnell and Birine’s son, that kelvic-hunter Ghahinder Telemnar. And they had told Artur it was good to “not need to worry about brats”.
So much for the huge danger. It seemed to have been just a couple of men who envied Artur what they saw as his guaranteed freedom from fathership. She nearly laughed out loud when she thought of Artur’s description of the lean poisoner as “starved”. Did the kelvic think of everything in terms of food ?
“I don’t think the cane man will be dangerous for Pearl” she said. “It seems to be somebody I know. I believe they must only have been speaking. But thanks for warning me. It could have been real danger if it had been slavers ... ”
Artur was daft, but he had saved today’s show for the theater and it had been good of him to try to warn her when he thought her kid was in danger. He had done her a favor. Though it had luckily turned out to not seem so dangerous, Artur had sincerely wished to help her. She honestly appreciated it. And the relief she felt spilled over on Artur. He wasn’t smart but he seemed good-hearted and considerate, she thought.
Also, she had to admit that he couldn’t have known Pearl wasn't in danger and she felt sure anybody would feel scared if they were captured by strangers and taken blood from. Amolina shuddered at the thought as her usual squeamishness kicked in. But she composed herself. She forced herself to breathe calmly and relax. Don’t start to fret over this now, she thought to herself. It wasn’t easy, but she suppressed the faint feeling of nauseas she had felt and kept calm.
Amolina had listened to what Artur said about KRI and she felt utterly surprised. His description of the institute was definitely very different from anything she’d ever heard from Valerius, from Alzelin or from the citizens of Ravok. Artur made it seem like KRI was nothing else than a terrible torture camp, where kelvics were sent to be treated like crap and experimented on at random, in order to explore what would happen if the doctors did this or that to them.
Feeling quite friendly now she smiled at the bear and went as far as to pat his hand in a gesture of sympathy. “I don’t know anything about THOSE parts of the KRI operations” she said. “Well I know the kelvics are mated of course, but I don’t know any details. Though I can’t even imagine how they would manage to do what you said without you cooperating.”
She thought of a few comforting words to add : “But as you didn’t like it, it’s only for the best that you have been weeded out and will never do it again ! And as those men said, you won’t need to worry about all the hard and difficult work with providing for a child and raising it. I can tell you it’s not easy.”
She felt a bit melancholic when she had said this. Oddly sad, like it wasn't a good thing at all. Only for some people. Only for people who didn't like children and had no love to give them. Had she been one of those child haters before she got Pearl ? She couldn't remember ! But surely not, she thought to herself. She may have thought of children as inconvenient for the career, but it wasn't like she had seen them as something to avoid forever. Just as a later thing. Something to get, later, at some point in life, one of those days.
But sometimes later happens at once, with no previous notice. Suddenly she had Pearl. And now she wasn't able to imagine life without the baby. It did feel troublesome for the career and she had chosen to not speak about her child when she was working at NMSS. But she had thought the colleagues had known it. Valerius had known it. But obviously not Parnell, which spoke volumes about how little interest he took in his business associates and their lives outside work and business.
At this point she changed topic, not to something completely different, but a little bit. “Do you mean you were captured in the wilderness? “ she asked him. “Were you living as a wild animal in the forest, all alone ? I thought that was out of question even for kelvics. There’s lots of dangerous predators there, things they call glassbeaks for instance, and wolves and whatever.”
Adding the new facts Artur had told her about his encounter with the “cane-man” and the hunter to what she already knew, she made a final analysis. She could see the full picture now. Her conclusion was that the two men seemed to be Nolan Parnell and Birine’s son, that kelvic-hunter Ghahinder Telemnar. And they had told Artur it was good to “not need to worry about brats”.
So much for the huge danger. It seemed to have been just a couple of men who envied Artur what they saw as his guaranteed freedom from fathership. She nearly laughed out loud when she thought of Artur’s description of the lean poisoner as “starved”. Did the kelvic think of everything in terms of food ?
“I don’t think the cane man will be dangerous for Pearl” she said. “It seems to be somebody I know. I believe they must only have been speaking. But thanks for warning me. It could have been real danger if it had been slavers ... ”
Artur was daft, but he had saved today’s show for the theater and it had been good of him to try to warn her when he thought her kid was in danger. He had done her a favor. Though it had luckily turned out to not seem so dangerous, Artur had sincerely wished to help her. She honestly appreciated it. And the relief she felt spilled over on Artur. He wasn’t smart but he seemed good-hearted and considerate, she thought.
Also, she had to admit that he couldn’t have known Pearl wasn't in danger and she felt sure anybody would feel scared if they were captured by strangers and taken blood from. Amolina shuddered at the thought as her usual squeamishness kicked in. But she composed herself. She forced herself to breathe calmly and relax. Don’t start to fret over this now, she thought to herself. It wasn’t easy, but she suppressed the faint feeling of nauseas she had felt and kept calm.
Amolina had listened to what Artur said about KRI and she felt utterly surprised. His description of the institute was definitely very different from anything she’d ever heard from Valerius, from Alzelin or from the citizens of Ravok. Artur made it seem like KRI was nothing else than a terrible torture camp, where kelvics were sent to be treated like crap and experimented on at random, in order to explore what would happen if the doctors did this or that to them.
Feeling quite friendly now she smiled at the bear and went as far as to pat his hand in a gesture of sympathy. “I don’t know anything about THOSE parts of the KRI operations” she said. “Well I know the kelvics are mated of course, but I don’t know any details. Though I can’t even imagine how they would manage to do what you said without you cooperating.”
She thought of a few comforting words to add : “But as you didn’t like it, it’s only for the best that you have been weeded out and will never do it again ! And as those men said, you won’t need to worry about all the hard and difficult work with providing for a child and raising it. I can tell you it’s not easy.”
She felt a bit melancholic when she had said this. Oddly sad, like it wasn't a good thing at all. Only for some people. Only for people who didn't like children and had no love to give them. Had she been one of those child haters before she got Pearl ? She couldn't remember ! But surely not, she thought to herself. She may have thought of children as inconvenient for the career, but it wasn't like she had seen them as something to avoid forever. Just as a later thing. Something to get, later, at some point in life, one of those days.
But sometimes later happens at once, with no previous notice. Suddenly she had Pearl. And now she wasn't able to imagine life without the baby. It did feel troublesome for the career and she had chosen to not speak about her child when she was working at NMSS. But she had thought the colleagues had known it. Valerius had known it. But obviously not Parnell, which spoke volumes about how little interest he took in his business associates and their lives outside work and business.
At this point she changed topic, not to something completely different, but a little bit. “Do you mean you were captured in the wilderness? “ she asked him. “Were you living as a wild animal in the forest, all alone ? I thought that was out of question even for kelvics. There’s lots of dangerous predators there, things they call glassbeaks for instance, and wolves and whatever.”
It's been a great thread altogether and a fun time writing with you!
