#azarinintown

[asheewrites]

LilBean visits pt 9

The man raised a brow. One brow. And looked at me for a long moment, before his smile turned a bit… lopsided: “Ah… that is a… thoughtful gift, Lady Azarin. Certainly”

He conjured up a nut from… somewhere and held it out to the tiny monkey.

It made a chittering noise and hopped over, feeling at home on his bony hand. The back-paws clung to the span between index finger and thumb, the front paws grabbed the nut and the tiny critter chomped away on it, unafraid.

“I saw it and thought of you, I think the baby will agree that you have its eyes”, his whole being reminded me of it. All movement and curiosity and slid-eyed looking at people. Also pretty darn friendly.

He chuckled. And watched the monkey disappear in his sleeve.

With a nod, he said: “Well, I can see that…”

I could see how it made it’s way through the clothes, they were tight enough for that.

“… so they are associated with luck in your country, mh?”, it re-appeared in his collar and sat down on his shoulder, clinging to his hair for support and inhaling another nut with the other paw.

Mazin seemed unconcerned about the whole thing.

But still looked at me, I drew back a bit and said: “Ah, yes… a symbol for luck and prosperity, golden spirits sometimes manifest in a form like this”, I nodded.

“Mmmmh”, he looked at the tiny being and petted it with his index finger, scrubbing its forehead. It seemed to like that, “But see, in our culture it’s associated with thieves. Especially small monkeys. Being that take what doesn’t belong and are graceless about it,” at which point I remembered that I had heard a monkey scream before – in delight. Huh.

“That… is a simple misunderstanding”, I started, when he already waved, with a smile.

“I believe so, it is an honest mistake. And I do see the resemblance”, he squinted his eyes next to the animal, for real-life comparison. It matched. fairly well, “The point is, though: Out of your hands, it will reflect on all your actions, so… I suppose we are not as forthcoming with information in this embassy…”, he frowned and rubbed his forehead.

“,,, so it would seem”, after all, the foreign religions usually were quick in spreading their beliefs and correcting everything.

“I’ll happily take my little brother with me. Lil Nima will love the crap out of it in a few years. Great gift”, he smirked and winked.

Ad with that, it was over, and he spend an hour with answering questions about the cultural connotations of some things… he especially pointed out the differences. For example cows. They get eaten here.

[asheewrites]

LilBean visits Pt7

When I reached the place of ruckus, I… was still about thirty meters away.

There were a lot of people. So I followed up the stairs on top of a building. Joined the – smaller – crowd up there.

What was on display was actually a fight.

A fight between black and white. It was a weird display.

The white one looked like an ice spirit, my little ‘spy’ was right. And the other one looked like a shadow come to life.

The fact that it was evening did not help with the strangeness-factor at all.

And these simply… moved around in a flowy manner.

They both had a lot of fabric. And flowy bits.

The white spirit even had long hair.

…

It could be a wind spirit, too, if I looked a that. The clothes really flew somewhat dramatically.

But weapons clashed all the same. At least there was a metallic clanging sound.

And sometimes even a hurt sound.

They both kept to the rules of fairness, as far as I could tell with my limited experience. They at least did until the white one ducked and swiped the feet from under the black one.

And then there was a – I swear – white sword pointed at the shadow.

The shadow laughed and the light went into the house, closing the door behind them.

No one really… knew what to do, and while we had all stared at the door, the black one had disappeared.

The people slowly dissipated… and stayed far away from the house. The people are superstitious in this country.

I moved as well, but towards it.

At least in a quarter of an hour I did this, until then, I talked with the people that watched.

They were clearly convinced a black and white fairy had fought. Almost no doubt. The sceptics got laughed at.

Well, I walked around the block to get through the alley and approach the house from behind. When I lifted my hand to knock, my shoulder got tapped.

[asheewrites]

LilBean visits Pt6

„Lady Azarin?“, said a tiny voice from the doorway.

When I looked to see, there was a little girl, fidgeting and looking up at me with big eyes: “Welcome back!”, she nodded and smiled, all pigtails and toothy smile.

I remembered her from the temple. Friendly little gal, I smiled back: “Thank you, I hope everyone behaved while I was gone?”, she did have a habit of looking around, it was quite useful.

She swallowed: “That’s… that’s why I’m here”

“Oh?”, an encouraging smile was all it took to run up to my uniform-clad form, tugging on it.

“The people say there is a FAIRY in town!”, another meaningful look out of big eyes.

I crouched so she could whisper in my ear: “But I think it’s a spirit! An ice spirit, all white and floaty and it has killed people! Because they made them angry! Now they are in the middle of the city and no one dares doing things! It must be a great spirit!”

The little one looked frightened. I patted her head and still smiled: “The spirits still protect us, even from one of their own. The only thing we need do is pray”

She ran off to the temple, full of confidence and smiles.

 I was not sure if I would feel the same if it was an actual spirit – or fairy – was in town. But likely, it was just a foreigner being misjudged again. It wouldn’t be the first time.

It was a strange first report to get, but… it probably concentrated many people in the middle of the city. Quick questioning offered the fact that the Lady’s child was already born. A whole month early. Well the stress with the four bloodbrothers certainly didn’t help. Even if she was a little on the spoiled side.

There was other information – a house of one of the Begyre-citizens burned, a few women had taken asylum, volunteers had shown up, the book index had grown and quite a few more – but I should go and see what the hassle about fairies was about.

Straightening my military uniform, I went out to the location of the tavern, passing through less-desirable parts of town. Apparently the ‘fairy’ didn’t have a good sense of smell.

Still, I was not the only one going in the direction.

There was… a fight going on?

It was a bit worrying.

So I picked up a little bit of speed.

A man could run, after all.

[asheewrites]

LilBean visits Pt5

Binding my breasts that tightly wasn’t comfortable.

But this country was simply ridiculous. A military uniform made entrance and processing so much easier. There was no hold up.

A simple signed message about how I was an ambassador from Begrye, if they wanted to see my pass they would need to inspect it. They did look through the window, saw the ID and let me pass.

No issues, nothing.

The first time I arrived, my traditional clothing as an ambassador had revealed my gender readily. It… didn’t go as well. And every time I pass the border I am reminded to the first time I had to strip. And had been searched. It was not an appropriate search. The bastard had gotten a bloody nose.

The almost arrested party was still me. They threatened me with swords and spears.

Only my military entourage kept them from actually arresting a diplomat.

I was furious.

They had invaded my country and forced an adhesion contract on us, but they did agree on proper diplomatic treatment and had gotten us an embassy, to ensure continued trade. So this was outrageous.

After we had passed the border, it became more and more clear that the treatment I received was reserved for the women. All the women.

It was ridiculous. A trade city with a library the size of a small village discriminated against women.

That happened if you didn’t want to believe the stories.

 But it was my first actual assignment as an ambassador. I was supposed to scout the area. Provide help for people setting up business. Employing defenders. Organising matters.

… attending parties.

And that is what I did.

I got schooled in selfdefense and learned whom to turn to if there was an actual probem going on and I needed to be heard.

It was a thankless job, for the most part. Seeing that I could not step in myself, but we erected a temple of worship for our own spirits within the confines of the city and all our people had access to the library, if wanted. The requirement to go to school was positive as well. Women were at least allowed to learn, if not to vote.

There were hurdles to overcome, but with the influx of cultures, the governing forces could not actually keep up the discrimination forever.

 But until then… I accepted the pain in my chest. And thanked the guards for their service.

I was looking forward to the news. As nice as home was, this mess of a city always had an interesting story to tell. And – naturally – the library got bigger every day.

Since I brought presents for the general’s son, it would be no trouble to reach the source of rumors immediately.

However much flirting that would involve this time.