m a e a
here comes the sun
smiling down
smiling down
She grinned at his mock hurt, pleasantly surprised that he was playing along. Her image of Rory had always been of someone stern, down to earth but serious... perhaps because most of the few situations where they'd actually spoken was over business. There was little reason to laugh over barrels of mutton, sheepskin or cider kegs, borrowed ponies or goat cheese, but apparently Noah had done so anyway where she simply did what needed to be done and left, hurrying back for the safety of home. This was more the side of him her brother used to see, and it began to make more sense how they had gotten along.
As for Evie... well. Maea thought she was used to the woman and her quirks after spending so much time together as kids, but apparently the time apart had made her skin tender again. She was not allowed beneath whatever shell protected the ginger woman's core, and dealing with her was like walking barefoot over rose thorns. One wrong step and blood was drawn.
Maea accepted her own apple and bit into it, chewing with as neat manners as was possible given the sticky nature of the pastry. Nodding in agreement with Rory's assessment, she too preferred not to think about the part she had played in entering the Spire... It had been the single biggest mistake of her life, and the regret still haunted her, with frequent nightmares and an ever present sense of guilt.
"It's what drove me to make it happen" she said, "though I wish now I'd chosen a better timing. I talked to Jigano about it too, and be was... not impressed. And maybe I could have chosen some other people to help me...
But none of us are going to be there permanently, Rory, I want you to know that. If we get things set up well enough that it actually becomes reality, I intend to let the people decide for themselves who will lead. They'll get to volunteer, and vote between the candidates...
I hope that will make it easier to swallow having someone lording over us."
She certainly didn't want the job full term. Maea still dreamed of becoming the adventuring Loreseeker, collecting stories and learning about the world... If she ever got good enough at reading and using the sword. Being a leader... It honestly didn't appeal to her, beyond the process of creating a working system.
