Unwelcome News ~ by SaralynArati

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Thanks so much for reading, Viva-la-Luna!!! Yes, that's one downside of having a mother who's an information broker; she hears everything, whether you want her to or not! And people have been trying to fix Catleya up since she became professionally popular. :)

9 years ago

Viva-la-Luna

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So much drama! And ooh what rumors they must be hearing~ They'd make a lovely couple though, if I do say so myself, both as spouses and as each others coer.

9 years ago

SaralynArati

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"No, but I thought I should demonstrate that the world did not end!" he says brightly. "You really want me to change my mind about you not being insane, don't you, Velen?" Catleya fumes. "All right, we'll try it your way, but I want it understood that I am not responsible for your safety. If you want to barge into my life, you take your chances." "I always have, Catleya, and sometimes other people's chances as well. I'm tougher than I look, you know." Thinking of his scars, she must agree.

9 years ago

SaralynArati

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"After all, you love your mother, and yet you lead your double life. Nothing terrible has happened to her since you began this way of living, has it?" he reassures her. Catleya is in no mood to have her concerns defused, however. "That's different. Her blindness makes her almost invulnerable to elimination except by those intended to resemble accident or suicide. Even the Syndicate is leery of creating bad publicity." Velen, exasperated, tilts up her head and kisses her. "Someone coming?"

9 years ago

SaralynArati

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"You do not understand, Velen. A friend I can reconcile with my conscience, but I cannot involve you, even as a facade, deeper than that. You would be at too great a risk, of collateral damage if of nothing else, and a cour... would be viewed as the ultimate bargaining chip against me by the Syndicate." Velen only smiles. "You're trying to protect me... No one has ever done that for me before. It is... nice; I like it. But I think perhaps you exaggerate the danger of a brief faux liason."

9 years ago

SaralynArati

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"Then you know we are supposedly a pair, a couple, and that perhaps a wedding or even a union is in the near future for us! Already two customers have asked me about my Cleric cour!" Catleya is incensed. "I understand that it is awkward, but rumors die away soon enough if they are not fed," Velen consoles her. "We can go along with it for a while, if you do not mind a temporary charade, and then pretend to have a falling out. Or whatever pleases you," says the red-haired man reasonably.

9 years ago

SaralynArati

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Then, one night he returns to his tiny room to sleep, only to find Catleya de Seleni lounging across his bed, playing idly with her dagger. She seems... perturbed. "I ought to silence that friend of yours permanently, but the damage is already done," she nearly snarls. "Do you know what society at large is saying about us?" "I do; I've already had one unpleasant meeting with my mother, a political enemy of your father's by the way, and a congratulatory one with my mentor among the Clerics."

9 years ago