The Poisoned Apple

[Dark Angel, Queen of the Silver Mist]

Open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the poisoned apple is the most very finest Café in Elfame. With an exterior that looks like a gingerbread house and each oaken table inside being hidden behind a velvet curtain, many favour this place for private conversations.

[the_rabid_snail]

((For lesha/Cirrus))

Ianira exhaled nervously as she approached the doors of The Poisoned Apple. Her stomach was twisting in knots, and her throat was tightening, making her feel as though she could barely swallow or even breathe. A few days prior, her Aunt Asphodel and her mother had summoned her to the sitting room after dinner one evening to inform her that the final details of her betrothal had at last been settled and that she would be meeting her fiance for the first time at The Poisoned Apple today. She did not know as much as she would have liked to about her betrothed; her mother and aunt had only made her aware of the basics as they had reassured her that she would have many opportunities to get know more about her fiance for herself before they were due to be wed as soon as she was of age.
Smoothing her silk, teal skirts, she seated herself at a vacant table, anxiously leaving instructions with the staff to direct Cirrus - or as she knew him, Dagger - to her location as soon as he arrived. A china cup of steaming, black tea with hints of citrus flavor was set in front of her by one of the servers, and she daintily dropped two cubes of sugar into the dark liquid, waiting a moment for it to cool slightly before tasting it. She refrained from ordering any actual food as her appetite was nonexistent due to her anxiety and tentatively cracked open the book she'd brought with her to flip through while she awaited Cirrus's arrival. Her mother had insisted that she be a tad early, and so Ianira had slipped a book into the carriage with her when her mother wasn't looking. The tome was evidently well-loved. The silver lettering on the cover had begun to fade, and the binding was worn and coming away in places. Despite this, she had never asked for a newer edition of her favorite collection of epic poems, preferring to pore over this one until it disintegrated. And so read it she would, at least until her betrothed arrived.

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

Cirrus Messinger approached The Poisoned Apple about ten minutes after Ianira had taken a seat and started reading her book. Standing in front of the cafe, he looked up at the structure. Being approached just a day ago, he was formally informed that he was to be betrothed to Lady Ianira Moonshiver and that he was to report to this cafe to meet Lady Ianira. Cirrus wasn't too happy about being forced to come here. In fact he even tried declining the union, but Asphodel had been set on him marrying her niece. He pondered why and what could she possibly gain with this union. A fairy shoved pass him all to his annoyance to get into the cafe. He disliked others. Why couldn't we meet in Noturne Woods where Nyx is. She was his companion, Nyx Dazzleforest. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Deciding not to prolong for much longer, he took the last few steps that would place him inside the cafe. The interior had him wrinkling his nose. Being use to the woodsy scent of the outside, he found this place to smell to sweet. Someone approached him requesting his name. He gave his name and was directed toward a red curtain. The creature pulled the curtain back revealing an elf woman. She sat at an oaken table. A book was nestle between her fingers. She seemed so engrossed in the book was his first thought. The curtain moved back in it's original position when he stepped forward. Without a word, he took a seat opposite of her. Then he waited quietly for her to finish reading. She's prettier than Nyx. He noticed the way her forest green eyes flicker from right to left over the words on the page. Her braided hair styled in a bun on top of her head made him think of a woven crown that little girls would make out of grass and flowers to put on their heads. Her ghost pale skin gave her this unearthy appearance that made Cirrus curious about the kind of person she was. Overall, she reminded him of a white lily: fragile yet strong.

[the_rabid_snail]

In the beginning, Ianira had tried not to become too engrossed in the poem she was reading. She certainly did not want to be so absorbed in the plight of a legendary fae whose entire tribe was slain that she did not notice when Cirrus arrived, but after a mere five minutes of looking up from her worn tome, she reached the section where the hero, Juuso, discovered that the people who had raised him after the extinction of his tribe were actually part of the inimical tribe that had wiped his own out. At that point, she forgot to glance up at the curtain every thirty seconds and became immersed in a whole other world, a world of tragedy and long-forgotten legends.
So when Cirrus appeared and sat opposite her, she didn't notice right away. It took approximately a single minute for to realize that she was no longer alone, and as she finished reading the last page of the rune she had been on, she nearly flinched but somehow managed to keep her composure mostly together despite being startled and a tad embarrassed to be caught reading so intensely. The lightest of rose pink blushes dusted her porcelain face, and she hastily tucked her book away out of sight, earnestly wishing that she had not slipped the tome of epic poems with her under her mother's nose. If she had only forced herself to sit and wait patiently, this would not have happened. Her gaze would caught Cirrus immediately, and she would have made a much more flattering first impression. As soon as the blush on her cheeks faded, she raised her eyes to meet Cirrus's. She was unsure what she had expected, but this was not it. He was different than how she had imagined him to look but not in a bad way at all. Unfortunately, she could not allow her thoughts to dwell on the matter for too long, for she feared her face would flush again and give her away. Instead, she gathered her courage and spoke aloud, trying her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. "Good day, my lord. It's lovely to finally meet you at last."

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

My Lord. I haven't been called that in so long... He haven't been a prince in years, not since the deaths of his parents. No, Cirrus thought, he was no longer a prince. If anything he was an animal in a human body. He didn't know the ways of his people. Abandoning his minor court in favor of a life in the wild, he stayed nearby. If it wasn't for the human girl, Nyx, he would have long left Elfame. After all it was his own people who injured him til he was so weak and beat up that he couldn't move. The incident had taken place in the Noturne Wood. His own people had dragged him to the forest where they carried out their plans to dethrone him by attempting to end his life. The only reason he survived was because of the human's help, but that was all. In exchange for saving his life he made a vow to protect her. Over time he came to trust only Nyx, but now that he was told he was to union with the very lady in front of him, he felt a whole mixture of emotions. Cirrus nodded his head in acknowledgement. He had long chosen not to speak to her in hopes that she gets fed up with his quietness and forced her aunt to end this union. So far, Ianira had proven she was really only interested in the book she was reading. Maybe just maybe there were a fine line that would push her over enough to get involve with him further. It wasn't that he didn't find Ianira attractive. Actually it was quite the opposite. No but he felt like he was too far gone for social interaction. If it haven't been required that he be here, he would have been back at Nyx's house watching over the girl like he done for so many years now.

[the_rabid_snail]

Strangely, Ianira couldn't help but feel the slightest disappointment at his silence. Did he not like her? They had only just met, but had she made so terrible a first impression that he would not deign to speak to her even out of mere politeness? Perhaps she had insulted him by not noticing his presence immediately. Now she had to decide if it would be better to apologize for any unintentional slights or suffer in silence. As shy and socially graceless as she was, it was hardly an actual choice, and she felt more comfortable as the silence between her and Cirrus stretched on. One of her delicate fingers stroked the handle of the china teacup absentmindedly as she wondered what was to happen to her now. She wouldn't particularly mind sitting quietly for the rest of the afternoon as long as she had her book of epic poems to flip through, which she did. The well-loved tome was resting on her seat, but she had draped her teal skirts over it to conceal it from view. Speaking of her gown, she had been a bit miffed at her mother's selection. The pearls entwined with ivory thread along the neckline and the intricate silver beading in the shapes of stars and crescent moons around the waist made the dress too opulent for Ianira's taste. The sleeves did not extend more than two inches past her shoulders but were made of sheer gossamer with faint swirls of silver thread near the edges, and miniature emeralds adorned her ears in the form of teardrop earrings. Normally, she preferred less eye-catching clothing, but her mother had given her little choice in her attire this afternoon.
Once more, her gaze fell to her favorite book, though the only evidence it was there was a rectangular ridge near the edge of the chair. Hesitantly, her fingers found the cover beneath her skirts and placed the tome gently in her lap as she debated whether or not she should risk reading it. It seemed already that Cirrus saw no need to speak to her, and she was uncertain if she should stay or not. She definitely was not going to simply leave; she was too shy, and her mother would be displeased with her if she did so. But there was nothing much to do besides sip her tea, and that did not sound in any way appealing at the moment. Reading was the only past time of any interest available, so she cracked open the book, setting it on the table and flipped through the pages until she found the rune she had left off reading.

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

(What's the story name that she is reading? I'm thinking of having him know the tale or part of it.)

[the_rabid_snail]

((It's based off the tale of Kullervo, which is one of the epic poem stories in the Kalevala. Basically, it's about a boy with magical powers who was treated badly as a child and ended up as sort of an unpleasant person. His tribe was supposedly slain by another, but he was spared and later sold into slavery. At some point he escapes and finds out some of his family is alive and goes to find them. He accidentally sleeps with his sister (not knowing they're related), which later causes her to commit suicide when they discover they're siblings. After finding the rest of his family, he embarks on a quest to kill the people who enslaved him and killed off the rest of his tribe. He is successful in doing so with some help from the gods, but the rest of his family is murdered while he's away. When he returns home and finds their bodies, he throws himself on his enchanted broadsword. The moral of the story is supposedly that children shouldn't be given away or mistreated because they'll never truly recover from it. In this case I altered the hero's name to Juuso, so I suppose it could just be called The Tale of Juuso.))

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

A small smile tugged at the corners of Cirrus's mouth the very moment she retook the book from it's hiding place, but he forced it away. If he were to laugh right now, she might mistook his laugher in the wrong way. He was laughing at her, yes, but not in a mocking way. It was a little amusing that she hid the book a few minutes ago, but now she was bring it back out when they were suppose to be getting to know each other. His interest grew as she laid the book on the table. There must be some interesting story in that book. Leaning forward just an inch, his eyes landed on the top of the page. Scanning the words, his eyes moved slowly from right to left down, moving from one word to the next. The word appeared backward and upside down. Nonetheless, his gaze landed on a word that was very familiar to him. In his mind he respelled the word in the right order. The name of the protagonist appeared plainly in his head. He knew a little of the story she was reading. Leaning back a little, his gaze watched her eyes moved once more. Just by watching her he could see that she read a lot. Her eyes moved with intent and at a speed he haven't yet mastered. Turning his head, he stared at anything but her face. "Children are precious," his voice was hoarse in a sense from underuse. "To mistreat one is as bad as spilling the blood of something so pure. To give one away is even worse. That story speaks of this, right?" Turning his head a little toward her, he looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

[the_rabid_snail]

Out of the corner of her eye, Ianira sensed movement, and instinctively, her heart began to thump faster. However, it only turned out that Cirrus was leaning forward a little, and there had been no cause for alarm after all. She was uncertain if he was intrigued by her book or not and pondered rotating the book to allow him to read easier, but if she turned out to be incorrect, that was an embarrassment she would rather not experience. As it so happened, her silent question was answered sooner than she expected when Cirrus spoke aloud of the meaning behind the tragic tale. Her gaze instantly leapt from the pages of the book to his face, both awestruck and delighted that he knew the story she had read a number of times. Before she could truly comprehend what she was doing, she began to quote a section from the end of the story from memory:

"O, ye many unborn nations,
Never evil nurse your children,
Never give them out to strangers,
Never trust them to the foolish.
If the child is not well-nurtured,
Is not rocked and led uprightly,
Though he grow to years of manhood,
Bear a strong and shapely body,
He will never know discretion,
Never eat the bread of honor,
Never drink the cup of wisdom."

Abashedly, Ianira lowered her lashes, fixing her gaze on the oaken table. She supposed it was strange that she returned to this book of tragic and heroic poems time and time again, especially since she had endured some of the abuses Juuso had in her own life. According to the story, she was supposed to end up like him and ultimately take her own life, but still she could not help but be fascinated by how the legend unfolded. Besides, it was only a story that had been written down so long ago that none alive now remembered if there was any truth to it or not.

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

Cirrus watched this lady. There was a melancholic feeling about her. That much he could tell from her reading choice. However, she could just love reading those ancient stories. Whichever the case, he found himself a little surprised by her ability to quote an excerpt of the story. Sure he heard of the story and even read it once or twice, but there was no way he could remember a part of it from word to word. To top things off, she is still young. As she stared down at the table, he couldn't help wondering what was going through her mind. They were due to be united as one after all. "What do you think...about our union?" He decided to ask her right out. Prolonging this get together was pointless. He had other things to do such as returning to his wolf form and not socializing with his fellow beings. "Do you even know anything about me?" His statement came off a little cold to his own ears, but he had to know what she knew. If they were to be united, surely she would have to get used to his speaking habits. Beneath the table he lifted his right foot a little from the floor. He intended to cross his legs to get more comfortable, but the table prevented him from crossing his feet, so he lowered his foot back down. With a frown on his face, he averted his gaze back to the red curtain. He only knew so little about Lady Ianira. Since his decision to stay in the wild, he haven't kept tabs on the social society with following the royals and their keen. No he was too focused on survival than who married who. Even this treaty wasn't of very much concern to him.

[the_rabid_snail]

Cirrus would be right in judging Ianira's melancholia by her choice of literature. Although she was still young, she had read more than most fae her age and even some older than her, and while she was relatively inexperienced, there was a deep albeit dark maturity about her. However, usually she tried to shroud it behind a veil of youthful vigor and innocence, which was more befitting of a girl her age than the cryptic, despondent aura beneath. When her betrothed asked her opinion of their engagement, she was uncertain exactly how honest she should be, lowering her gaze to an empty space of table between them. "It's still kind of a shock to me." She finally spoke aloud, lifting her eyes back to Cirrus. "I mean, I knew either my mother or my aunt would marry me off eventually, but I suppose it always seemed so distant, so much further in my future. Or maybe I was just willfully deluding myself." Like how Juuso thought he could have it all despite his family's warnings when he sought to destroy the tribe that had sold him into slavery. But when Cirrus's next, much colder question reached her ears, her eyes immediately fell back down to the table as she did not know what she had said wrong. "I..." She started, uncertain how to proceed at this point. Unbidden, the memory of her smuggler friend telling her not to be so timid all the time came to her. At the time he had been lecturing her (though in a kind way) about not being such a doormat and allowing other people to determine things for her. Somehow, she gathered her courage and forced herself to meet Cirrus's eyes, thinking of what her friend Nikolae would tell her to do if he could see this meeting. "I know about as much as most people know about each other in arranged marriages, which is probably not enough to write a book on. Do you know anything about me?" She returned the question, having to fake every ounce of confidence in her voice of which there was not an over-abundance.

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

She was right. He knew nothing really personal about the his soon-to-be. He barely knew anything about the fae society now if it haven't been for her aunt, who neglected to inform him of certain details about this small fae. No he would still be wandering the Nocturnal Woods at his companion's side, hiding himself away from the community. "I know your aunt is a very determined fae." Cirrus tilted his head to the side. The brief flash of passion in her ocean eyes showed him a little insight into this elegant fae. The corners of his lips tugged into a small smile that remained on his face for a second. "Are you just as determined..." His brown eyes narrowed just the slightly. "No. You the type of being who rather surround herself in stories and legends. Not that that's a bad thing." He leaned back in his chair. His mind piecing together what he would say next. "It makes me wonder if you really are living." His gaze was still on her however his mind was far away. To a dark place at the corner of his mind. "Does one live their life in pursue of happiness? Or to survive? This arranged union: What will it be born of?" Blinking his gaze refocused on Ianira as if he was looking for her to answer his question. His parents union had been based on a mutual liking toward one another. He heard the tales of his parents love story and thought he might want something akin to their. But now the only thing he could see was loss and hurt. This delicate looking fae was one he couldn't subject to a life of the wild. He could subject her to his damaged self. Looking at her he found her to be worthy of someone with a state mind and heart. What was a wild wolf like himself doing with a small bird? Her aunt might be wrong this time...about us.


(Sorry this is super late. I understand if you don't want to contiune with me.)

[the_rabid_snail]

((Sorry for the long delay! Due to unforeseen stress and school and just life I guess I haven't had the time to write up anything. But I have a lot of free time on my hands for the next several weeks if this rp is still something you want to continue.))

Ianira's chin dipped down at the mention of her aunt, her eyes focusing on the unfinished cup of tea in front of her. Sometimes she didn't understand how she could be of the same flesh and blood as her aunt. Asphodel was nearly everything she wasn't and never could be: refined yet determined, strict but kind, lovely but with a tongue as sharp as steel. Her aunt could walk with kings but still not lose the common touch. "Yes, I have oft heard talk about my aunt's tenacity when others think there is no one around to hear them." She agreed, daring to risk a glance up at his face.
Her emerald eyes swiftly plummeted down to her hands resting in her lap at his assessment of her. Is there any shred of determinacy lurking anywhere within me? Does it count if it resides in the form of staying up all night reading and writing and musing and pacing just to grasp a difficult concept? Maybe not since I am far too afraid to share any of my writings to the world. A dreadful curse it is to open my soul up to everyone and everything if some passing stranger but reads a single rambling from my pen. Although Cirrus assured her that her lack of determinacy was not necessarily a major character flaw, she couldn't help but wish she didn't appear so one-dimensionally timid and wretched. Yet another wistful yearning she could spend evening and morning hours on the balcony or in the courtyard daydreaming about. "Hard to say." She answered thoughtfully, her gaze flickering softly from her lap to Cirrus. "There is time before we are to be wed. Perhaps we will grow to like each other, or perhaps we'll only learn how to tolerate the other." Part of her wanted to protest: But there are different ways of living; everyone simply thinks their way is better than the others. But as usual, fear held her tongue still.

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

(I do want to continue this one. I'm thinking up a post now.)

[the_rabid_snail]

((No worries! Take your time :).))

[Iesha (In east shade house at...)]

Cirrus studiedher. She was a particularlittle thing. Yet something about her intrigued him. Maybe it was because she was actually one of the few that chosen to speak with him without negativity or it could be that quietness that surroundedher. She was a mystery yes. Perhaps allowing himself to get to know someone else wouldn't be bad. "I do believe you are offering friendship, M'lady." The corners of his mouth twisted upward slightly before returning to it's normal spot. Cirrus took the chance to glance around. There was mothing to see ocourse but the curtain that surrounded them, but he felt like he was staring. "Be prepared," he said after a moment. "I'm not one who has kept up with activity around here. In fact, I believed I was wandering the forest the last time your aunt found me." He met her stormy, blue eyes. "Which brings me to my next question. Walk with me? This place is too indoorsy for me."

[the_rabid_snail]

Ianira had to exert every drop of willpower to keep herself from fidgeting under Cirrus's thoughtful gaze, though she could not keep herself from casting her eyes back down at the table, wondering what he was thinking and if she had proved a disappointment to him or not. As he responded to her last thoughts, she glanced up and was gratified to glimpse a ghost of a smile on his face, and a soft smile of her own graced her lips briefly in return. Maybe he didn't find her to be too much of a lost cause or too disagreeable. For the moment, it seemed there was hope she could hold onto, and so she dared to hope that somehow things would work out, that she would not disappoint her family, that Cirrus would at least like or tolerate her and not find her too lacking, that she would grow to like him more in turn. Though she might be wishing for too much already, she knew better than to dream of love, for such a gift was not meant for her. She was not deserving of it.
At his warning, she dipped her chin in a small nod once to indicate she understood. It did not bother her in the slightest that he had not kept up with the goings-on around the courts. Personally, she cared little for the social events and gossip running rampant through the court, but her mother expected her to be fluent socially and apprised of everything happening around her, although she strongly preferred to keep to herself and immerse herself in books. "Of course." She answered, grasping her russet cloak and fastening it around her neck with a silver clasp in the shape of a howling wolf's head. "Do you have a specific place in mind to walk to, or shall we just wander and see where we end up?" She asked, tucking her tome of epic poems into a pocket on the inside of her cloak.