Solo Hiding in plain sight

[Job thread] Sorla follows up on yesterday's message

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Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.

Hiding in plain sight

Postby Sorla on May 30th, 2017, 4:12 pm

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Continued from here

51st Spring

All day Sorla had been watching Syna's progress across the sky, willing her to move a little faster so that she could find out why Leire had wanted so urgently to meet her this evening. She had spent the day watching Betsy translate the list of measurements Sorla had taken into a pattern that would actually become a dress. Sorla was intrigued, and more than a little confused. Betsy showed her how to draw out the pattern onto a large piece of parchment, using a ruler and string to mark out the length of the seams and then loosely sketching out what would become the neck opening and the armholes. By the time she had finished the parchment was covered in a mass of lines and curves, with dotted lines where the old seamstress had used triangles to help her pinpoint the location and shape of the darts. Sorla had never drafted a bespoke pattern from measurements before; that had been her father's job, while she had been tasked with the simpler orders that could be stitched together from one of the pre-made patterns her father kept in the back of the shop.

Eventually the hands-on lesson was over, and it was the end of the day. Sorla had appreciated the rest from sewing; her hands had grown soft in the long time since she had last worked as a tailor, and there were new, still-tender callouses on the tips of her thumb and fingers. She neatly packed away her sewing kit, and hurried out of the workshop, not wanting to be late to her rendez-vous with Leire. She knew it would not take her more than a bell to reach the Sanity Centre, which was presumably why Leire had asked to meet her there. It was the only place Alvadans could trust in when they could not afford the leisurely pace the city normally demanded.

Sure enough, Sorla was soon standing outside the Sanity Centre, looking around for the willowy brunette she had measured the day before. At a tap on her shoulder, she looked round to see a tall man with sandy hair. 'Sorla?' he asked. The red-head was surprised. How did he know her name? She nodded hesitantly, senses alert for some kind of trap. But the man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. 'Thank you for coming,' he said. 'Leire's waiting over there. Please, come with me.' He pointed to a small building beside the Sanity Centre. It was rather nondescript; in fact Sorla would hardly have noticed it at all if the man hadn't directed her attention to it. It had a low, wooden door, and was completely undecorated. There was nothing to reveal what might be inside.

Sorla followed the tall man through the door, unlike him not needing to duck as they passed underneath the low-hanging lintel. They were now in a rough, poorly-lit wooden room with a bored-looking woman sitting on a chair behind a counter at one side. She looked up as they came in and waved them through another door, apparently recognising the man. Sorla was tense. She had been expecting to meet Leire, not be taken into a secret back room with a strange man. He sensed her reluctance, and turned to her. 'I'm sorry about all the secrecy. It's just, if Leire was seen with me, or if anyone knew you had been here with her, things could get... difficult. I swear by Caiyha we mean you no harm,' he said with a smile, as if amused by the Inarta's suspicion. She stared at him for a moment, and then decided that there was honesty in his grey eyes; she nodded and followed him through the door.

Word count: 620
Last edited by Sorla on June 10th, 2017, 12:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sorla
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Posts: 48
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Joined roleplay: April 23rd, 2017, 10:32 pm
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Hiding in plain sight

Postby Sorla on June 15th, 2017, 11:05 pm

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To Sorla’s dismay, on the other side of the door was an empty room. She turned on the man, trying to push past him back into the anteroom where the woman was sitting, but he restrained her. His grip on her shoulders was firm but gentle, and his voice was calm. ‘Please, I mean you no harm. I beg you to trust me.’ He kicked the door shut behind them, and then quickly let go of Sorla and walked to the other side of the room with his arms up in a gesture of harmlessness. ‘I won’t touch you again, but please hear me out before you decide to leave.’ Sorla’s heart was pounding, and she scanned the room for signs of a trap, but there was nothing there except a couple of stools; no weapons, nowhere for anyone else to hide. She kept her back to the door with one hand on the latch, but did not leave for the moment. ‘Speak,’ she said curtly, willing to give this man a chance, but ready to bolt if he made one wrong move.

‘Thank you,’ he said gently. ‘I’m here in Leire’s place. She cannot risk leaving her home and being seen here with us, but she knows I am here. She told me to show you this.’ He held out a scrap of blue fabric overlaid with lace. It was the sample Sorla had left at Leire’s house the day before. Sorla relaxed a little. Nobody except someone from the house could have got their hands on the fabric, and Leire had asked her to come here, after all, so perhaps this man was telling the truth. ‘Go on,’ she said, beginning to be convinced.

‘My name is Selmond, and Leire and I are in love.’ Sorla looked puzzled. ‘Wait, I thought her fiance’s name was Godric?’ The man nodded. ‘That’s why this must be a secret. Godric… Leire does not want to marry him. He’s handsome and powerful, and he makes her skin crawl.’ Something about the mixture of fear and protective fury in Selmond’s eyes when he spoke of Godric made Sorla shudder, but Selmond did not explain what he meant. ‘If anyone found out about me… about us, Leire’s father would be furious. And so would Godric’s family. They’re very rich,’ he said as if it explained everything. And to a certain extent, it did. No wonder Leire had seemed so apathetic and so utterly compliant to her mother's wishes at her wedding gown fitting. The so-called bride had no intention of getting married to the perfect bridegroom her parents had chosen for her, but couldn't risk letting her family find out and was going along with the whole thing like a charade. ‘Will you swear not to tell anyone?’ Selmond asked.

Sorla nodded without hesitating. She knew from bitter experience what it meant to be given to a man against your will; had seen the terror in her sister's eyes as Nolent had torn her dress and pushed her against the wall. There was not a scrap of doubt in her mind that she needed to help Leire escape from a marriage she did not want. 'I promise, I will say nothing,' she said, relaxing her grip on the latch and moving into the room to sit on one of the stools. 'I will help you if I can. But I still don't understand, how do you want me to help? Why did you ask me?'

Selmond explained. 'We've talked about it over and over again, thought about it from every angle. The only way we can be together is if we leave Alvadas. If we stay, they'll find us.' Sorla nodded her understanding, still waiting to hear how she fitted in. 'We can't leave by land, it's too dangerous at the best of times, and Leire is…' at this point he stopped and grinned despite himself. ‘We need to be somewhere safe by the time our family grows,’ he said. 'Congratulations,' said Sorla, smiling. 'I understand completely. The Unforgiving is no place for a pregnant woman or a baby. But why don't you go by boat?' Selmond nodded. 'That’s the obvious answer, but here's the problem. Leire's father practically runs the docks. There's no way we'd be able to get onto a ship without one of his people noticing; they all know who Leire is. We need you to make her a disguise.'

Sorla let out a long, 'Aaahhh.' Now she understood. Selmond continued, ‘We thought as you already had her measurements, it might be easier… we’d pay you of course?‘ Sorla nodded. ‘Yes, I can do that. Although I warn you, I don’t have experience with much other than Inarta clothes, so I can’t promise a perfect fit.’ Selmond smiled. ‘That’s fine. In fact it’s probably better if it doesn’t fit too well. She needs to not look young or pretty or rich. We need to make her into the sort of person that the dock workers won’t look twice at; just another poor person in search of a better life.’

‘I think I know what you mean,’ Sorla smiled. The description reminded her of herself not long ago, and she remembered exactly how she had looked: dusty and grimy, with patched, fraying clothes and tangled hair. It was a pity she had thrown her travelling clothes away; they would have been perfect. ‘When do you want to leave?’ ‘I’ve negotiated passage on a ship leaving in the afternoon, seven days from now,’ Selmond said. ‘Is that long enough?’ ‘Just about,’ Sorla replied. It would mean working all through her day off, but for the extra coin and the knowledge she had helped save Leire from a life of misery, it was worth it. ‘Thank you,’ said Selmond. ‘Leire and I will meet you here at Syna's rise in seven days time. Until then, take this as a token of our gratitude,’ and he counted out several coins into Sorla’s hand.


Word count: 1618
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Sorla
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Posts: 48
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Joined roleplay: April 23rd, 2017, 10:32 pm
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