On the plenitude Xianthe was bound to be disappointed by the love letter he Agrippa had left. He wrote steadily in conservative hand.
"My dear Xianthe, if you are reading this it means you have made it safely to the Plentitude. The yacht was built specifically for this trip by men who I employed some time ago after your disappearance from Port Kar. It seemed the wisest thing to do considering at the time I thought I might end up making many trips across the channel. On board I have put six lean thralls which you must keep well fed and well attended during the journey. They will be the oars men and they will be lead by one Tiller man until you can reach the mainland. They are chained at the oar benches along side this cabin and you should take care that they remain that way. See to their water well, and be kind for they were not always slave at the oars."
Xianthe was incensed, of course, instructions?! Thralls? She was to be alone on this boat? She screamed! She balled up that letter and threw it on the ground before she stormed to the deck with every intention of getting off the wretched ship and running back to: the Ubar! "Agrippa!" she shrieked as she reached the top, her hand clenched in the folds of her skirt. Sorp had seen there was more and brought the letter back to her, smoothing it over her thigh and insisting she keep reading.
"The tiller man is a man who I have known and known of and you must be kind to him as well though he is not slave. He has lived ten each of our lifetimes and can confess to more riches then any man should but never will. I chose these men specifically for this voyage as I can not be on the Plentitude with you. The Plenitude is a race built sloop, equipped with masts and as many as four sail when sailing wing to wing. Her hull has been polished and coated in the glazed shell of abalone and her enamel sanded by hand to the finest degree.”
Xianthe was swearing as she read, tears on her cheeks! As she read she sank slowly to sit on the deck in a mountain of my own dress and petticoats. Ridiculously upset for the most selfish reasons. The letter went on.
"Plenitude means the ample amount or quantity of abundance; it is the condition of being full and complete. When I named her on that cool evening looking out at the sunset I gave her the name which gives her the finest meaning I could give to you." Of course foolish Agrippa had written the letter thinking she would feel how much his thoughtfulness had been given to the t ask but of course Xianthe saw only the horror of it somehow, but she did slowly see how much thought he had put into it. It made absolutely no sense at all to her but she could see it. She just couldn't ever feel complete when he wasn't there to tell her to shut up. She could feel the gentle rocking of the boat and tried to let it sooth her and the ache she was feeling in her belly. She had to smooth the crumpled letter out again over her thighs and run the back of her gloved hand over her eyes before she continued. Of course Agrippa should have known that all the thought he put into the plenitude would just be a speed bump for Xianthe’s greed when she realized he wasn't there or might not be there. He should have known her well enough to realize this sort of thing. Perhaps it was the length of separation that had made his letter to be written with happiness and joy and be received with abject tearful disappointment. The letter went on.
" I have seen to the interior myself, and you will find the couch is small but plush with goose down and the bed it is in I hand carved the trailing edge with a little wave. I hope you will forgive my hand init but it was the effort that meant the most to me, knowing you might run your hand over it while petting Sorp."
Xianthe paused and lifted her head a little, the wind tugged at a wisp of ebony curl and she ran her teeth over her lower lip. Agrippa did not do thoughtful things for her. He had never so much as given her a bit of jewelry. She was unsure, seriously unsure, how to react at all to this. He hand carved a bed for her? Had he hidden snakes inside of it?! She glanced at Sorp, who was reading over her shoulder and once more ran her fingers under the bottom edge of her eyes.
"As you are a fine woman and cannot be exposed to vulgarity on a journey such as this, even if the exposure might be to slaves. I have taken the chance to break with the designer of the Plenitude and install for you a privy toward the rear of her interior. As you can see, the entire interior is devoted to your being and you may if you wish never leave her cozy belly. I have put a curtain at the back for your own tastes and again I hope you do not find it too crude to see that I have sewn your name into it in my own rather crude script."
Xianthe laughed. This had to be a joke. Any second now He was going to jump out and demand that she strip so he could whip her for believing this nonsense. It was nonsense right? She glanced in the direction of said privy and tried to imagine what that would even be like to have Agrippa build a ship just for her, with so much attention to details, details just for her. She shifted onto her hip, her legs curled under her skirts and returned to reading.
“In a yacht such as this there is room for a small galley which I think Sorp will find more then adequate for your meals and for the meals of the six above you three to either side. You will be moving quite swiftly and I hope that you will learn to accustom yourself to the little push forward and back of the oars combined with the crest of the gunnels as they skip over the swells. During the test runs I found it immensely compelling. All of this is to say" The letter went on, "That I have missed you Xianthe and have planned for your return to her all along. The plenitude, a sleek and beautiful thing to me, has occupied her at times when I missed you and I hope that you see that in her making. I will rendezvous with you when you make the mainland and look forward to hearing of your time at court. Sincerely, the one who thinks of you as his, Agrippa."
Xianthe was silent for a long time when she finished reading, the letter it was clutched in her gloved hands. She hesitated and then pulled off her gloves so she could touch the letter with her bare fingers. She was so angry with him for not being there with her! She was angry with him for being kind so suddenly, For making her feel conflicted and grateful. Mostly though, she was angry that he was not here now, to show her what he had done for her. To hold her and kiss her and remind her her she didn't have to be everything she had been pretending to be. She needed to give in and relax. Agrippa wasn't here to be her hot bath. After awhile she rose, when she realized he wasn’t actually about to jump out and laugh at her. She wanted to go see this bed and this privy and this bit of embroidery. It was going to be all she had to sooth her on what seemed like a very long and very lonely journey. She did not have to go far to find the bed, or far to go anywhere in the interior and she found it just as he had predicted with some room for her deliberation in the privy and enough room to make herself comfortable. She found the galley well stocked and the fittings all as fine as he could afford them, she could already feel the chuffing as they had put out to sea and hear the little drum above as it beat the mark. A series of small portals gave her a view both below the water and above and she could see the stars on the horizon and the oars as they moved, soon she could feel and see that they were making great speed, miraculous speed in fact. As that was her mission.
"My dear Xianthe, if you are reading this it means you have made it safely to the Plentitude. The yacht was built specifically for this trip by men who I employed some time ago after your disappearance from Port Kar. It seemed the wisest thing to do considering at the time I thought I might end up making many trips across the channel. On board I have put six lean thralls which you must keep well fed and well attended during the journey. They will be the oars men and they will be lead by one Tiller man until you can reach the mainland. They are chained at the oar benches along side this cabin and you should take care that they remain that way. See to their water well, and be kind for they were not always slave at the oars."
Xianthe was incensed, of course, instructions?! Thralls? She was to be alone on this boat? She screamed! She balled up that letter and threw it on the ground before she stormed to the deck with every intention of getting off the wretched ship and running back to: the Ubar! "Agrippa!" she shrieked as she reached the top, her hand clenched in the folds of her skirt. Sorp had seen there was more and brought the letter back to her, smoothing it over her thigh and insisting she keep reading.
"The tiller man is a man who I have known and known of and you must be kind to him as well though he is not slave. He has lived ten each of our lifetimes and can confess to more riches then any man should but never will. I chose these men specifically for this voyage as I can not be on the Plentitude with you. The Plenitude is a race built sloop, equipped with masts and as many as four sail when sailing wing to wing. Her hull has been polished and coated in the glazed shell of abalone and her enamel sanded by hand to the finest degree.”
Xianthe was swearing as she read, tears on her cheeks! As she read she sank slowly to sit on the deck in a mountain of my own dress and petticoats. Ridiculously upset for the most selfish reasons. The letter went on.
"Plenitude means the ample amount or quantity of abundance; it is the condition of being full and complete. When I named her on that cool evening looking out at the sunset I gave her the name which gives her the finest meaning I could give to you." Of course foolish Agrippa had written the letter thinking she would feel how much his thoughtfulness had been given to the t ask but of course Xianthe saw only the horror of it somehow, but she did slowly see how much thought he had put into it. It made absolutely no sense at all to her but she could see it. She just couldn't ever feel complete when he wasn't there to tell her to shut up. She could feel the gentle rocking of the boat and tried to let it sooth her and the ache she was feeling in her belly. She had to smooth the crumpled letter out again over her thighs and run the back of her gloved hand over her eyes before she continued. Of course Agrippa should have known that all the thought he put into the plenitude would just be a speed bump for Xianthe’s greed when she realized he wasn't there or might not be there. He should have known her well enough to realize this sort of thing. Perhaps it was the length of separation that had made his letter to be written with happiness and joy and be received with abject tearful disappointment. The letter went on.
" I have seen to the interior myself, and you will find the couch is small but plush with goose down and the bed it is in I hand carved the trailing edge with a little wave. I hope you will forgive my hand init but it was the effort that meant the most to me, knowing you might run your hand over it while petting Sorp."
Xianthe paused and lifted her head a little, the wind tugged at a wisp of ebony curl and she ran her teeth over her lower lip. Agrippa did not do thoughtful things for her. He had never so much as given her a bit of jewelry. She was unsure, seriously unsure, how to react at all to this. He hand carved a bed for her? Had he hidden snakes inside of it?! She glanced at Sorp, who was reading over her shoulder and once more ran her fingers under the bottom edge of her eyes.
"As you are a fine woman and cannot be exposed to vulgarity on a journey such as this, even if the exposure might be to slaves. I have taken the chance to break with the designer of the Plenitude and install for you a privy toward the rear of her interior. As you can see, the entire interior is devoted to your being and you may if you wish never leave her cozy belly. I have put a curtain at the back for your own tastes and again I hope you do not find it too crude to see that I have sewn your name into it in my own rather crude script."
Xianthe laughed. This had to be a joke. Any second now He was going to jump out and demand that she strip so he could whip her for believing this nonsense. It was nonsense right? She glanced in the direction of said privy and tried to imagine what that would even be like to have Agrippa build a ship just for her, with so much attention to details, details just for her. She shifted onto her hip, her legs curled under her skirts and returned to reading.
“In a yacht such as this there is room for a small galley which I think Sorp will find more then adequate for your meals and for the meals of the six above you three to either side. You will be moving quite swiftly and I hope that you will learn to accustom yourself to the little push forward and back of the oars combined with the crest of the gunnels as they skip over the swells. During the test runs I found it immensely compelling. All of this is to say" The letter went on, "That I have missed you Xianthe and have planned for your return to her all along. The plenitude, a sleek and beautiful thing to me, has occupied her at times when I missed you and I hope that you see that in her making. I will rendezvous with you when you make the mainland and look forward to hearing of your time at court. Sincerely, the one who thinks of you as his, Agrippa."
Xianthe was silent for a long time when she finished reading, the letter it was clutched in her gloved hands. She hesitated and then pulled off her gloves so she could touch the letter with her bare fingers. She was so angry with him for not being there with her! She was angry with him for being kind so suddenly, For making her feel conflicted and grateful. Mostly though, she was angry that he was not here now, to show her what he had done for her. To hold her and kiss her and remind her her she didn't have to be everything she had been pretending to be. She needed to give in and relax. Agrippa wasn't here to be her hot bath. After awhile she rose, when she realized he wasn’t actually about to jump out and laugh at her. She wanted to go see this bed and this privy and this bit of embroidery. It was going to be all she had to sooth her on what seemed like a very long and very lonely journey. She did not have to go far to find the bed, or far to go anywhere in the interior and she found it just as he had predicted with some room for her deliberation in the privy and enough room to make herself comfortable. She found the galley well stocked and the fittings all as fine as he could afford them, she could already feel the chuffing as they had put out to sea and hear the little drum above as it beat the mark. A series of small portals gave her a view both below the water and above and she could see the stars on the horizon and the oars as they moved, soon she could feel and see that they were making great speed, miraculous speed in fact. As that was her mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment