Lorenzel, Part 2

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Sareth
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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Lillith looked back and forth between Sister Rose and Brother Miguel, her face wet, and eyes wild with too many conflicting emotions at once. It was easy to see that part of her wanted to go right back to running. However, Rose was nothing if not good at seeming maternal and caring. Regardless of what faith she was a part of, she had that universal trait, and Lillith could no more question or defy it than gravity. With a sniffle that in no way implied she was calming down, she nodded spasmically, but said nothing.
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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"Miguel, be a dear and go fetch us some tea," Sister Rose said. "Chamomile would be good." Brother Miguel didn't wait to be asked twice; he headed for the front of the inn.

As soon as Lillith was inside the room, Rose motioned to her to be seated, then closed the door carefully; she wouldn't make that mistake again, not with Maduin, Brad and Sasha still nearby. Some things were just better talked through in private. "Lillith, you were listening at the door a moment ago?"
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Sareth
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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The girl nodded jerkily. "I didn..didn't m.m.m.ean to. B.b.b.b.ut I heard mo...mother's name."
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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"You know, when dealing with something frightening or disturbing, sometimes it's best to put a name on it," Sister Rose said gently. "What else did you hear?"
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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"No....Noth..." The girl shook her head, quivering.

Clearly, she had heard enough. But as is common with large emotional shocks, she didn't want to face it, and so wouldn't admit to having heard a thing.
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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Sister Rose didn't say anything in response to this denial at first; she simply raised an eyebrow a fraction, and just the barest hint of a smile crossed her lips for a moment. It didn't seem like the time to meet Lillith's reluctance head-on, but how else could she bring down the barriers that were coming back up in the room? ... Ah.

"Let me tell you a little about my own family," she said. "Actually, it was the family I married into. My own parents, and their parents and grandparents before them, weren't very interesting." (This last with a self-deprecating smile, although she believed it.) She was interrupted by a knock on the door, as Brother Miguel brought tea. Mugs were distributed, and Miguel quietly left for the privacy of his own room ... and Rose checked the door again just to be on the safe side.

"Now where was I?" she said. "My late husband, you will recall, was a half elf, in just the same sense as you are, Lillith: not exactly half human, half elven, but with enough elf blood mixed in with the human for it to show." She smiled again, and for the first time in years, she was able to face this memory with a smile, not tears. "Actually, it was one of the things that attracted me to him. I thought that with his slightly pointed ears, lean build, silver-blue hair, sensitive face, he was impossibly handsome. I still feel that way ... And his immediate family, his parents, sisters, were a close, loving bunch. But ..." She paused for a sip of tea before continuing.

"... The elven part of his ancestry was a part he never knew -- even though my father-in-law says that the elf that gave him those wonderful ears, body, face lives on to this day."

That didn't seem to be making much of an impact on Lillith, but Rose's point was yet to come. Another sip of tea, and then she got to it:

"And, my father-in-law says, loves him and his brethren enough to have risked her life for them, more than once ... even though they have never met."
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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That declaration caused Lillith to stir a bit. She sniffled, giving Sister Rose a doubting look. "Elves don't risk their lives for us."
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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Sister Rose smiled ruefully. "Lillith, you and I haven't had the experience, and perhaps we never will ... but I think you'd be amazed at the risks some parents will take for their children. Even elves, and even children they've never met."
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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Lillith shrugged. "Maybe. If they knew about them. Mother raised me alone."
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Re: Lorenzel, Part 2

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Sister Rose nodded. "Fair enough. I don't know the whole story of this elf who was Kenny's ancestor, but there's not much doubt that it's true. Remember that you half elves live longer than we do." The ones who make it to old age, anyway. (Of course, she wasn't going to voice that point to Lillith.) "Some of the old people of the village were around at the same time as ancestors of theirs who did remember Kenny's many-times-great grandmother. They learned on their grandparents' knee about some of what she did, some of the signs that she'd been doing it. The old people of the village say the signs are still there." And they weren't very comfortable at first with me learning about them, either. "She's still taking care of them, all these years later, even the ones she's never met."

A hard-to-describe expression passed momentarily over Rose's face. "This elf sounds like an extraordinary woman. I'd kind of like to meet her some time..." Lillith's own expression was also hard to describe, but it had enough elements of horror to it that Rose hurriedly continued, "But to come back to here and now ... Yes, your father didn't know about you until recently. But he knows now ...

"And if I size him up correctly, he isn't just a very, very loving father, he's also a damn good man."
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