Thoris Ferron's countryside mansion isn't overly large, as these things go, but it's beautiful, set just so among the foothills of the High Reaches to maximize views of the peaks to the west and the sweeping Valarian Fields to the east. That's not the reason traveling there was worth the hassle of getting out of Minrathous unquestioned, but it's a pleasant footnote.
One reason it was worth the hassle is the isolation. There are other homes, but none close enough to hear a commotion, if it comes to that. If they have to flee it won't through a crowded city brimming with enemy mages. They'll only have the two of them, Thoris and her new husband, to contend with. Another is a calculation that Thoris will be more amenable to being bribed, blackmailed, or bargained with here, where the people she'll be asked to betray are further away, the feeling that someone might hear their discussion through a wall less reasonable paranoia.
It'd have been nice to bring an egg. But the rarity of the Seheron Sharp-Shinned Sea Hawk, as it turns out, was not overstated, and they're well past breeding season besides. They've had to offer promises instead—that they're dealers in these matters, that they might be able to secure one for her next year if she'll fund their travel—to secure an invitation through the front door.
The fiction's likely to fall apart soon, as she's invited them out hawking with her in the morning. But that means it will fall apart while they're alone with her and her falconer, equipped with horses.
They've been given separate rooms in the guest quarters, but a few hours after the house has fallen dark and quiet, Bastien knocks quietly on Vega's window. There's nothing acrobatic about that. They're on the first floor. He's only gambling that he's less likely to be seen, with topiary as a shield, than he might be if he went around to her door through the hallway.
outside minrathous (vega)
One reason it was worth the hassle is the isolation. There are other homes, but none close enough to hear a commotion, if it comes to that. If they have to flee it won't through a crowded city brimming with enemy mages. They'll only have the two of them, Thoris and her new husband, to contend with. Another is a calculation that Thoris will be more amenable to being bribed, blackmailed, or bargained with here, where the people she'll be asked to betray are further away, the feeling that someone might hear their discussion through a wall less reasonable paranoia.
It'd have been nice to bring an egg. But the rarity of the Seheron Sharp-Shinned Sea Hawk, as it turns out, was not overstated, and they're well past breeding season besides. They've had to offer promises instead—that they're dealers in these matters, that they might be able to secure one for her next year if she'll fund their travel—to secure an invitation through the front door.
The fiction's likely to fall apart soon, as she's invited them out hawking with her in the morning. But that means it will fall apart while they're alone with her and her falconer, equipped with horses.
They've been given separate rooms in the guest quarters, but a few hours after the house has fallen dark and quiet, Bastien knocks quietly on Vega's window. There's nothing acrobatic about that. They're on the first floor. He's only gambling that he's less likely to be seen, with topiary as a shield, than he might be if he went around to her door through the hallway.