“Well, he is amiable company when one isn’t duelling him,” Eglantine allows. “And men from - the places he is from - are men such as one would find anywhere, other than the unusual vitality.” They laugh, before sobering. “But the most dangerous man in the Neath? No, that’s not Feducci. The contenders for that title are much, much more perilous. And they don’t always do you the courtesy of making it a formal challenge when they come for you.” Eglantine smiles wryly. “Some of them can be more perilous with a hand outstretched in friendship’s semblance than Feducci can be with any manner of blade or lance.”
"So, you are both greenhorns, I see. I don’t even remember when I came down here, but I spent so much time in a strange, irrigo soaked place recently. What I do remember is last Sackmas, and the one before, and, I believe , the one before as well… A swear
A sweetheart, you ask? Oh, yes, but she is over the zee, she has been over the zee for so long, will she ever come back?
Ryan pulls back, and reaches for his handkerchief. He turns away, lifts his mask, dabs, and comes back to stare mask-to-mask with Eglantine. Was he… crying? “Yes, I suppose I misspoke.” He lowered his voice, and for once the obnoxious optimism was replaced with a quiet melancholy. “I certainly know better than most how threatening a false smile can be. My brother’s name was Matthew. He was killed on the Surface, by whom I do not know. We were with friends, I thought. It turned out that both were assassins; I managed to defeat mine and my brother was not so lucky.” He stared down at the table. “Were they spies from the Game? A criminal I caught seeking revenge? Something more nefarious? I want to know why he was killed and who killed him. I tracked my leads, as every good detective should, and they led down here.” He gazed back into Eglantine’s eyes. “I don’t know why… I’ve only just met you, yet, I feel like I could impart all of my secrets to you.”
“Krawald, I am so sorry. Nobody should have to worry about what their significant halves may be, or if they should ever return.”
*Where
“Krawald,” Ryan began, trying to regain his joyous attitude, “as a long time resident of the Neath, please, tell us, what has been your favorite adventure down here?”
"I’m so sorry to hear about your brother, Ryan. Alas, many people seem to have found their way down here after some tragedy, though I was luckier. And Eglantine, I seem to remember hearing something about that story at court, though to be honest, there seems to be some new scandal to gossip over every few days and yours was soon forgotten."
A small rat comes scuttering up Krawald’s leg, jumps on the table, deposits a small envelope and spends a few minutes in earnest conversation with Krawald before hiding in their pocket. Krawald turns to Ryan. "Ah, it seems I have been able to locate some information about the Illuminated Gentleman for you. My butler’s nephew is sometimes a little unrefined, but he does have his ways. He will take the Soft-Hearted Widow’s in return and thanks you. As for adventures? Well, as I said, my memory is not quite what it once was and I have seen, and done, many strange things. For example, I became friends with a group of unusual creatures and was able to spend a few days in their home. The Neath might be a long way under the surface, but this place is much deeper and I explored their caverns of living amber that run much further still. If you are interested, you could visit my salon and admire a few fossils I brought back. They are certainly interestingly shaped."
“Thank you kindly. I would greatly appreciate visiting someone who’s seen so much that I have not. And thank you for the confession.”
“I will be sure to send you an invitation to our next little soirée, then. If your relationship with that artist’s model endures, you are welcome to bring them along. And Eglantine, you would be welcome as well, of course, if you are interested. Maybe I’ll invite an author of my acquaintance to present their new word, or a showman.”
Eglantine’s cat pads back to the table, carrying a motley, teenaged kitted with brambles in its hair by the scruff of its neck. Putting the kitten on their lap, Krawald says “Thank you for bringing back my little friend here, sir or ma’am. He gets into trouble so quickly. There is fish for the next course, you would be welcome to stay.” Then, addressing the kitten: “Don’t look at me like that, with the state of your hair I know where you’ve been. You know how dangerous that is, what with your mother’s exile! What if they had caught you?” The kitten, diplomatically, stays silent. “Oh, alright, then, get into my pocket,” Krawald sighs. “No, not that one, Crik’s in there. But don’t think your mother won’t here of this!”
Ryan stands from the table and stretches. “Well, dear friends, I must return to my lodgings. Sadly, I am quite sleepy, so I bid you all a farewell. Krawald. Eglantine. Eglantine’s cat. Mr or Ms Kitten. Crik. And whatever manner of other beasts there may be.” And he bowed graciously, removing his bowler hat as he did to reveal curly, dirty blonde coloured hair. “I do hope we meet again tomorrow, though I confess I may be late again. Thank goodness your kitten was found. Adieu.”
“Adieu, it was a pleasure. I shall stay a little longer and, if Eglantine will excuse me, collect some confessions from other tables.”
Eglantine has been silent a while. Eventually, they speak to Ryan. “This is the time when secrets are given. Perhaps that’s why.” Their voice is solemn now, even melancholy. “Those who’ve lost something come down here, and those who’ve done things they must flee from. The wicked, the wounded, the wild: the Neath opens wide to swallow them all.”
They force a less gloomy note into their voice to answer Krawald. “I am sure I would be pleased to visit your Salon.”
The cat, meanwhile, leaps up onto an empty chair at the table. Perhaps the offer of fish is what’s keeping her there. Her smooth, elegant and entirely feminine voice informs Krawald, “The child really must learn to watch where he wanders. He seems inclined to stray into the most dangerous places.”
Surprised, Eglantine rises, to farewell Ryan. “Good fortune to you. And… may you never have to pay the price in your search that I once did in mine.”
You hear the sound of a gong, seemingly emanating from everywhere (you suspect a clever cook with a very large soup pot). A space on the floor has been cleared, and a nervous looking string quartet begins to play.
(The dance floor is now open in a separate thread to anyone who wishes to dance)
edited by pillbox on 11/2/2016
Penny enters, rather flustered over being nearly a full day late. They seat themselves at Table 3, in a almost passing imitation of calmness and refinement. "Sorry I’m late, I’m a bit new around here, took a bit to find my way here. How, er, is everyone?"
Eglantine nods to the newcomer, smiling. “Welcome! I’m well enough - as, I hope, are you?”
The fluffy black cat blinks in calm acknowledgement as Penny sits beside her. “You’re just in time. There’s going to be fish.” Plainly, this is important.
“Oh, I’m Eglantine Fox - Citizen Fox if we’re being formal,” Eglantine adds, offering their name and term of address absently. “And you?”
"Penny Cogitatio, artist, author, and resident of London for… 4 weeks now? So much in so little time, remarkable", they ramble off with semi-practiced ease. "That’s uh, quite the large cat there. Wouldn’t happen to have a taste for lizard would it? Have to be careful with the closest thing to a friend I’ve made down here."
“Lizards,” the cat says with immense dignity, “are not worth the effort of catching them. Fish is to be preferred, or fowl, or mouse if one must.”
Eglantine shrugs helplessly. “There you have it. You and your lizard are safe from everything but her opinions.”
The cat gives Eglantine an unamused look.
"Wonderful. This little guy may very have saved me from an eternal slumber," they say, pulling out a small, green, world-weary lizard from their dress. "Unless that dream of a mirror filled jungle was merely a dream, in which case he has merely provided a good deal of fond memories." The lizard has little and less to say to this, and blinks slowly.