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arcanist-cinnead-blog · 7 years ago

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(( I was recently at CVIK’s Festival of Lyss! This is just a piece to follow up the event, as Cinnead won a piece of jewelry from the auction there! If they have a tumblr please feel free to tag them, or let me know what it is so I can tag them in it!

Also, there’s day 2 of the festival is happening, with mount races and more at 7pm PT | 10pm ET, March 30, 2018! ))

“What can I get for you?”

“Just water, please. Ice. A couple sprigs of mint on the side-- and perhaps the usual slice of chestnut meringue pie, if you please.”

“Cinnead?” The Sylvari was all smiles as the waitress had to do a double take, before bending down to try and look at him better. Of course, the mask he wore wasn’t going to let her do that so easily, nor did he have any inclination to take it off right away. “By Grenth’s frozen ballsack, is that really you under there?”

“Is that a real idiom, Marietta?” Cinnead shot back, watching as she sat down. “And who taught you to speak that way? Should you even be sitting right now? Aren’t you working?”

“Bah, enough with the questioning. You’re not my father.” She said, sliding herself in. She was a young thing, ginger tresses coiled into twin buns on the sides of her head, a few long tresses escaping and dangling off. Constellations of freckles adorned her cheeks and nose, and bright blue eyes shone with an almost awed look, unable to believe that he was right there. She was a pretty thing, a little waif of a girl, but my, had she grown.

“Speaking of, how is he? Last time I visited he had come down with that terrible cough.” Cinnead said, finally removing the hood and mask that had been keeping his identity secret. “I hope he’s up and about.”

“The last time you visited was over four years ago, Cinnead. A lot’s changed since then.”

Had it really been that long? He began to think back-- joining the Priory, eventual transfer over to the 82nd Battalion... time sure had a way of slipping by. When he broke free from his thoughts, Marietta was twiddling her thumbs, staring at her lap. “Marietta?”

“It’s been hard. Papa passed two years ago. Never really did recover from that sickness. Didn’t have the funds to hire help to get to Divinity’s Reach, either. And with all the danger around here we probably wouldn’t have even made it to Nebo Terrace by ourselves.” She delivered everything with a practiced tone, taking a deep breath to smile at him. “But it’s been okay.”

“Marietta.”

“I’m running the tavern now, and it’s as busy as ever! Grew up here so it’s not like anything’s really new. Centaurs and bandits keep me busy with all the soldiers coming in and out. Can’t believe it’s already been two years. Time sure just keeps going, huh?”

“Marietta. I’m--” Cinnead reached across the table for her hands, seeing that they were starting to shake. Instead, she just raised them, rapidly waving them about as she spoke.

“And with Ma needing the help with the storefront side of things between this and that I’ve just got no time for anything. I bet you understand that. You were gonna join the Priory, weren’t you? How’s that been? I never really thought you the booksy-type but--”

“Marietta.” As much as he hated doing so to her, his voice adopted a more paternal tone. It was enough to jolt her into stunned silence, staring blankly at him for a moment. Then her lip curled, starting to fight back the tears that formed. “I’m... so sorry. I never knew. Why didn’t you send me a letter?”

She brought her hands into her lap, looking off towards the other tables. Most everyone was lost in their own affairs, barely noticing the two there. “Ma said I should’ve. But I didn’t want to bother you. With you looking forward and moving into these great things I didn’t want...”

“Want what, for me to look back?” Cinnead asked. “Marietta, why do you think I come to visit you? Because I’m stuck on that day?”

“Because I didn’t want you to think that I can’t do this!” She grit her teeth in frustration, a hand going up to wipe her eyes. “I’m not that girl of four you saved way back when, Cinnead. I’m a grown woman. I’m strong.”

“Strength doesn’t mean you have to take the burden all on yourself, Marietta.” Exasperated, Cinnead shook his head. “I know you’re strong. I’ve never doubted that for a second. But to be truly strong means to know when you have to ask for help. When you have to realize that there are others not only able to help, but also willing to. Would you have ever told me if I hadn’t come to visit?

The look on her face said it all. She went to speak again, but Cinnead let out a small sigh. “I know. You got so busy with things. In truth, all I can do is apologize for having gotten lost in all that myself. Between the Priory and now the Pact--”

“The Pact?! You went up and joined them proper? Were you there when they slayed the dragons?” Cinnead couldn’t help but laugh a little. Despite the sudden switch from morose to intrigued, there was that look in her eye that he remembered from twenty years ago. That excitement that he saw each and every time he came to visit with new stories and adventures to share.

“I did. And... I was, but not with them. There’s so much to say, Marietta. I wish I had visited sooner.”

The both of them fell silent as the mood was brought back to the tense gloom from moments prior. Marietta shook her head, reaching across for the Sylvari’s hands. “It’s okay. Like you said. We’re busy people. Life is just gonna... be like that. Life. And we have to keep fighting to get through it.”

He clenched her hands softly in his, nodding. “You’re much stronger than I thought. Such a grown woman.”

“Hey! Stop teasing, I’m going to be twenty-five soon, you know!”

“And still single, with no children? My, you’re doing well for yourself.”

Her jaw dropped in shock at the playful jibe, before she brought Cinnead’s hands up and dropped them on the table in mock offense. “If all you’ve done is come back here after four years to have fun at my expense, Cinnead, then I thought better of you!” Her tone of playful indignance betrayed the harsh words she spoke, and she got up and smoothed out her dress.

“Actually, I was going to ask for a room for the night. I have some time off and thought we could catch up with some stories and such. Like old times.” He said apologetically. “But in truth, I also came to deliver something.”

“Deliver-- a gift?” Her childlike wonder had come back and she quickly turned, closing the distance between them. “Where’s it from this time? The cold peaks of Hoelbrak? Oh, something from the Grove?”

“Better.” He said, taking out a small, wrapped bundle, placing it on the table in front of her. “Something from Elona. A replica, so it’s not quite the real thing-- but the things it’s made of are very much legitimate. Go on.”

She did her best to not just tear into the delicate tissue and wrapping that held the gift inside, but when she unraveled the sheets, her hands went to her chest. “Cinnead! This-- are you serious? I can’t take this.”

Deciding he would have to do it for her, Cinnead stood and lifted the necklace for her. The assortment of blues, aquas, and teals blinked in the light of the tavern, their reflections speckling the walls nearby. Marietta stood frozen, watching as he put it on her, fingers touching the gemstones that hung, casually rubbing over the large tanzanite centrepiece. “There. See? You can. It looks wonderful on you.”

“Where did you-- how much-- I can’t--” Marietta sputtered. Cinnead laughed, loud enough to cause some people to look their way. She turned around, suddenly aware eyes were on her. “Cinnead-- I’m grateful, really, but do you realize this makes me a target? What if bandits come? What if someone--”

“If you live so afraid of the world around you, how can you live?” He said back. “Someone told me that once. A little girl, barely four years old. I saved her from some bandits that had taken her away from her family. I was afraid of doing so, at first. I’d never really seen anyone like her kind before. But she didn’t judge me one bit for how I looked, or who I was. Simply on the actions I took. She gave me the courage to go onwards, see more of the world. I owe her a lot.”

“Cinnead...” She looked down at it again, shaking her head. “I suppose I can put it away. Take it out on special occasions. And... maybe now and then. But still-- this? For me?”

“I did say I owed her a lot, didn’t I?”

She ran her fingers again over the glass beads, before looking around. Cautiously, she tucked it into her clothes-- though the garnet at the top still showed over the collar. “You shouldn’t have.”

“Perhaps. And I don’t intend for it to be an apology, or anything of the sort. Simply... the opportunity was there for me to acquire it. And I couldn’t think of anyone else to have it. My dearheart certainly wouldn’t be able to fit in it.”

She reached up for her hands in his, smiling despite starting to cry. “You’re a fool. An old fool, you know that?”

He pulled her in for a hug, one hand going to soothingly rub her head. “And you’re the little girl that helped this old fool press on. It’s only right that I spoil you. Besides, you gave me that princess wand and that backpack all that time ago. Those are worth a fortune by now! And all this time, Princess Marietta never had any Princess Jewelry to go with it. It was a travesty, I tell you. A right travesty.”

She laughed at his poor joke, shaking his head. “By the Six-- that wand and that backpack-- don’t tell me you use those still. Please.”

“Of course I do! I stared Zhaitan directly in his ugly mouth, drew that wand and shouted at him. ‘By the power granted to me by Princess Marietta, I, Cinnead, Defender of the Weak and all things Sugary, banish you!’ Just like that. He didn’t stand a chance.”

She broke into more laughter, pushing away from the Sylvari. “I bet he died more of embarrassment than from your actual ability.”

“Hey! After all the trouble I went to get you that, you talk to me that way? You know, show that off, and you might find yourself a proper suitor. Bet that’ll help you draw in some.”

A swift punch was sent into his arm, and she stomped a foot. “You’re incorrigible! Ugh!” She stomped off, hiding a smile from him. She was a few feet away before she stopped, raising a finger to the necklace again. “I’ll have your regular room ready for you in a few minutes. And the biggest slice of that pie I can get for you.”

“Thanks, Marietta.” Cinnead sat down, watching her go off with an extra bounce in her step. He sat back in his seat, staring at the ceiling.

Four years. Where did the time go?

#writing #oneshot

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