Orb post - morning on the 10th (intro)

[fridgetothefire]

[Her hair is frazzled – enough to suggest that she’s lost, stressed, vulnerable; not enough to make her ugly, unsympathetically bedraggled. She wants to look innocent, harmless, deserving of good will. She ducks her head, smiles shyly. The view behind her is lovely, a wide blue sky and a distant view from the river. She's outside on one of the castle towers, perched nimbly on the edge of the wall.]

I can barely believe all this is happening. I mean – last thing I knew my brother was off to college, and now I’m in some kind of magic kingdom?

[Her disbelief isn’t too strident, just a little shaken, good-naturedly self-deprecating about her own adjustment.]

It’s probably not as different as it seems right now. I mean, human nature is the same everywhere, right?

[A smile, as though that's a good thing. There. She’s established herself as sensible and open-minded. People from a world similar to hers will think she's normal enough, thanks to the lie about college. Even better, if there's anyone here who looks down on humans like mutants do, maybe some of them will be arrogant enough and offended enough at being lumped together with them to reveal themselves by correcting her assumption.]

Comments

[sorcerous]

You are false.

[ He doesn't say this as though there's anything particularly wrong with that. ]

[fridgetothefire]

[Well. She really didn't expect lying to the master to work all that long.]

...to the core.

[It's quiet, a little strained, a tiny bit relieved, too. Mostly just...matter-of-fact. She barely knows who she is if she's not pretending, she's been lying to everyone so long.]

[sorcerous]

Liars and witches...

[ How many, here, have more in common with him than with Sif or Thor?

Food for thought. ]

Tell me your name, then, false girl.

[fridgetothefire]

[A breath, a moment of habit when she considers a dozen aliases, but then -]

Anya Lehnsherr.

[Declared, strong and sure, daring anyone to doubt her. The exact truth, with no evasions or nicknames, in its entirety, if only because her father would have beaten her bloody for giving her real name to a stranger.]

[sorcerous]

May we meet again, Anya.

[ He mounts the horse, having led her outside the stables during this conversation.

Everything is deserted. People are still hung over from the night's festivities. ]

[fridgetothefire]

We will.

Good luck, with the kingdom's enemies.

[It can't hurt for a sage to say that, right? She hopes it doesn't.]

[sorcerous]

And to you, with the kingdom.

[ He waves a hand, and returns the orb to inactivity, ending the conversation. ]