#lord teigen cosmos

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Character sketches/refs for the main trio and their parents from my story What's Right in Exchange ! Maura, Oliver, Lord Teigen Cosmos, Ashara Spades, Alban, General Pythrormr, and Ezra 'The Prophet'

Maura (9) is the daughter of Teigen and Ashara, while Oliver (7) & Alban (0.5) are the sons of Pythrormr and Ezra

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Day 65 // ft. Maura, Oliver & Alban, and Lord Teigen & Ashara

#51 / Tickets

“Calm down! You’re scaring me!” Maura cried, near tears. Oliver dropped the pipe he was holding and turned to her. He panted, hands trembling. Looking down at the ground, he could see that he was standing in a shallow puddle of blood. His sandals were thick enough that it wasn’t touching his feet, which he was grateful for. His bearer had told him that blood from other people was dirty, and could get him sick, that any blood was a hassle to clean up.

Since he and his brother were always so ill and often coughed up blood, Oliver was certain that his bearer knew what he was talking about.

Their attacker lay dead at his feet, and Oliver didn’t bother to wonder why Maura hadn’t been afraid of him killing them. No doubt her master’s clan had killed many people in front of her as she grew. But her master’s clan had a code of honor, and hitting the corpse until it was nothing but a mess of gore was frowned upon. They held respect for the dead and their bodies.

Oliver’s people did as well, but he was a frightened child protecting his infant brother and their companion, so he did not follow the honorable path.

Still, he turned to the human girl and apologized sincerely. “I’m sorry I frightened you. I got carried away. I shouldn’t have.”

“It… It’s alright. He did surprise us.”

His brother whimpered, and Oliver quickly went to Maura’s side to peer at the baby. “How’s Alban?”

“He’s fine. I guess all that yelling woke him up. He’s cranky when he’s woken up, huh?”

Oliver nodded. “Yes. Our bearer says it runs in the family, though it skipped me.”

“Oh. I always wake easy. I find it difficult to fall asleep. I guess we should be grateful that Alban falls asleep so easy…”

He hadn’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep since he’d found his brother being stolen from his crib. His bearer had told him it was his reptilian instinct refusing to allow him to let down his guard when he was in danger. Oliver had whined and said his human half didn’t care about instinct, it needed sleep. At the time, his bearer had chuckled softly, and pulled him onto his lap to help him fall asleep. Oliver doubted his bearer would find it funny now that his half human physiology was starting to affect him even more negatively.

After killing a pursuer, he needed to rest, but couldn't. They had to get far away, find help.

Maura put a hand on his shoulder. “Oliver? Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t believe him, but didn’t say anything about it. “We have to keep moving. If we don’t get to the river by midnight, we’ll miss the ferry ride, and have to survive a whole nother day in the city.”

“I need to get rid of my sandals. They’re ruined.”

“There’s a dump up the street that we’re going to walk by. You can toss them in there.”

-

The ferry was neutral ground, and Oliver could have cried with relief as they paid for three tickets and got on board. The price for the tickets varied from person to person. Since Alban was a baby, they allowed Maura to pay his fare. Oliver handed over his sash to the masked person selling tickets, and Maura gave a sun shaped earring, along with both of her servant armbands.

Before they were handed their tickets, the person hooked the earring to the side of their mask, put the armbands on like bracelets, and wrapped the sash a few times around their head. They adjusted the earring, and gave Oliver all three tickets. He gave Maura hers and Alban’s tickets, and the three of them stepped onto the large boat.

Their tickets showed that the three of them were to be seated near the front of the boat, on the top level. People stared at them as they walked up the stairs, and Oliver knew that they were staring at him and his brother more than they were staring at Maura. She looked like any other servant girl, but he and his brother were not only Reptilian, but hybrids. Oliver was a partial albino chimera, and Alban was completely albino.

They reached the top of the boat, where there were cots and baskets of food laid out so they could look up through the glass dome atop of the ferry at the stars. After finding their designated area, Oliver was glad to see that there was a bassinet instead of a third cot for Alban. Two stones with heat charms on them were in the center of the little circle, along with their food basket and a container of water.

Settling down, he and Maura ate and drank. She gave Alban some water and soft food, and then let Oliver rock him to sleep. He laid his brother down in the bassinet, and put one of the stones next to him. Maura laid down on her cot, and Oliver took his place on his, pulling the other stone into his arms.

He fell asleep easier than he had in weeks, his stress gone for the night.

-

When Lord Teigen stepped up to the ticket booth for the ferry the next night, he was immediately taken aback by the sight of the seller. For as long as he’d known the crew of the ferry, they’d all worn the same uniform, a long black cloak and a white mask with large horns and a skull-like face.

They wore his clan’s servant armbands on their wrists, and a familiar silver earring on their mask.

“I need tickets for myself, my servant, and my entourage.” He handed them a bag of jewels. They took it and cooed.

His servant finally looked up at the seller. “That- that’s my daughter’s earring!”

“Quiet,” he hissed at her.

“Teigen, that’s Maura’s earring…” she whispered back, eyes wide. “Why is it wearing it?”

“Payment for a ticket. It’s the only thing of value she had.” Though it didn’t explain why the seller had her armbands as well. Perhaps she still had the hybrid baby with her. Without her earring, it would make tracking the two much harder.

Even quieter, she said, “That was her most treasured item… I can’t believe she would give it away…”

Teigen looked around, and then asked the seller, “How much would you want for the earring?”

“What are you willing to offer?” a cacophony of whispering voices asked.

Whatever it takes, he wanted to say. Instead, he replied, “Any reasonable price you ask for.”

They heard what he said within, and pointed down towards the ground. His servant looked at him in confusion, but he understood what the cost was. He rolled up his pant leg until he could unstrap his prosthetic leg. He pulled it off and placed it on the counter. A hundred different cackles rang in his ears as the seller took it and tucked it behind the counter. They removed the earring and armbands, and handed them to his servant. She quickly tucked them into her pocket.

He used his servant and his cane as support, and tickets in hand, made his way back to his entourage to pass out the tickets.