I honestly am not sure. Jewelry would be the likeliest, I suppose. Things for her hair. But I'm not sure what she kept. Possibly nothing.
I won't contest anything of hers in particular you wish to keep. But if I may request leave to review anything else prior to it being given away or otherwise disposed of.
[Romain is not sentimental, but he is spectacularly bad at letting go of things; luckily his house(s) are large enough no one is likely to call him on it.
Instead of commenting on that:]
I am not the only one I expect will be looking to answer this, but there are plenty of people well-qualified to hunt down Venatori. Baron Deshaies, on the other hand, is a man I am in a position to make extremely uncomfortable.
But first I need to determined whether he was a fool or participated willingly. How I proceed [not "whether"] will look slightly different. I've sent some discreet ravens, but I will need to decamp for Orlais to begin work properly. I plan to depart as soon as the memorials have ended.
[ here, he falters somewhat. the question is wholly unexpected. he will remember this, fond as he already is of romain, even as he takes a moment to answer, his tone shifted into something more thoughtful. ]
They are not. There is no body to return to the soil, and it would be impractical besides. [ he would die before seeing gwenaëlle rise as a wight or preserved unnaturally in the nevarran fashion; luckily andraste has saved them from that. ] We mourn temporary, if lengthy, separation and not loss.
The Dalish bury their dead in the ground, I hear. I confess, it's not a practice that sits easily, but I suppose...
[Well, in this case, it's moot. There's no question to be answered. He'd expected to help his granddaughter through the loss of her husband, if he vanished as so many other rifters had. This, he is unprepared to navigate.]
Some believe our spirits are reunited in the Fade, or whatever might lie beyond it. I suppose I have no way to disprove as much, but I am not a sufficiently pious man to lean upon such reassurances.
[ not unkindly: ] I thank you for your assurances, Romain, [ yeah he’ll risk it. ] but I will not make use of that crutch. I had her for a shorter time than I had hoped, but I that I had her at all was enough.
The thought of her before the Maker’s throne in any capacity, let alone being made to wait by Himself, is an amusing one.
[His tone is a bit wry.] I would not be entirely shocked if she made her way to His presence on brazenness and refusing to understand the word 'no' alone.
[If he might push back on the familiarity another day, well, this day is an exception in many ways. He feels tired and old and he is running out of family.]
I will spend some of my resources to make sure she is memorialized in Orlais. I know she would dislike it, but such memorials are for the living, not the dead.
[ he might have hoped along the lines of a miraculous return along the lines of the miraculous appearance of the rifters, but he is not one prone to the hope of the impossible. the unlikely, but not the improbable. ]
[He thinks, briefly, of Marius Bellerose, who last he knew was still in Val Royeaux; he wonders if anyone will think to tell him what's become of his niece. It's a thought he promptly puts away.]
Carved plaques are the most usual approach, though perhaps something else would suit her better. A fountain. I will reflect, but if you have any ideas, I will take them into consideration.
No, [ thranduil says, thoughtful. ] A fountain would be fitting indeed. Set the bottom with mosaic stones if you have the inclination, something to catch and play with the light.
[ he'll haunt it for years. moonstone might be too precious to stud the bottom, but it ought to be something that would have caught her eye in life. ]
It will be strange, to be in Kirkwall without her. I'm inclined to linger, to keep my grandsons clear of the war, but I keep turning corners and expecting to see her there.
[But Thranduil isn't wrong, not about Thomas' readiness for responsibility or about Romain's inclination to handle Thomas' training personally. Regardless of what his father may have to say about it.]
But that's so. I'll have to see if Guilfoyle plans to stay. If not, I'll need at least one or two more capable men on staff.
Would he rebuke you, for teaching him early? Unlucky is the Man who has an untried heir, [ thranduil says, which he says with enough weight that he heard it somewhere, probably, and also do the boys have a dad if thranduil has not met him? ]
Guilfoyle will stay, if I ask it. What weapons do your grandsons train with?
[Confidently said, but almost with a hint of regret. His legitimate son and his illegitimate son would both me more convenient with their temperaments reversed. But that is not today's problem.]
Their education is well-rounded, and Raoul is still bit young to specialize. But Thomas favors sword and shield. He has always been drawn to the chevaliers, for all he knows it is not a path open to him.
[ then that's carte blanche, if romain approves, and romain is a reasonable man, as men go. ]
I intended, [ he says, and it is slow, and painful as legolas' second disappearance, ] to give what came with me and my kin from Arda to my children, had there been any. But perhaps they will be of use to either of your grandsons.
[That quiets him a bit (not that he'd been especially otherwise before). He inclines his head, for all he knows Thranduil can't see, and thinks it through.]
If you are sure. Weapons, then?
[Given the tendency of Thranduil's earlier question.]
[The pause isn't hesitation, precisely. Romain is a deliberate man, and seldom inclined to say yes to anything at all without weighing it.]
Yes, if you like. At least as long as we're all in Kirkwall. However things play out, Thomas and his brother will be facing a world in a different shape than the one they were born into. More knowledge may give them an edge they will need.
[Romain plans to make them the best players of the Game he can with the time he has left, and he has some more practical skills to pass on. But Orlais is invaded, and the Chantry is in danger of splintering. It's an unorthodox time, and a bit of flexibility wouldn't go amiss.]
Thomas is serious but bright. He'll push back if he thinks he needs to, but not simply to demonstrate his independence, as a rule. Raoul takes his brother's lead, still; we'll see how long that lasts.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crystal, in the soon after.
Is there anything of her mother's [ annegret, he means. ] that I ought to keep my eye out for?
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I won't contest anything of hers in particular you wish to keep. But if I may request leave to review anything else prior to it being given away or otherwise disposed of.
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I am sentimental. [ frankly. ] but no hoarder. In a few months' time, there may be things in need of review.
I assume you have some manner of plan brewing.
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Instead of commenting on that:]
I am not the only one I expect will be looking to answer this, but there are plenty of people well-qualified to hunt down Venatori. Baron Deshaies, on the other hand, is a man I am in a position to make extremely uncomfortable.
But first I need to determined whether he was a fool or participated willingly. How I proceed [not "whether"] will look slightly different. I've sent some discreet ravens, but I will need to decamp for Orlais to begin work properly. I plan to depart as soon as the memorials have ended.
no subject
[ he is keenly aware of the limits thedas has imposed upon him, his reach. romain has fewer. ]
With this matter, or any other.
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[Whether he will remains to be seen, but that has less to do with Thranduil in particular than it does Romain in general.
There is a pause when it seems there might not be anything more. But then:]
What do your people do, in mourning? The customs, I imagine, are not quite the same.
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They are not. There is no body to return to the soil, and it would be impractical besides. [ he would die before seeing gwenaëlle rise as a wight or preserved unnaturally in the nevarran fashion; luckily andraste has saved them from that. ] We mourn temporary, if lengthy, separation and not loss.
no subject
[Well, in this case, it's moot. There's no question to be answered. He'd expected to help his granddaughter through the loss of her husband, if he vanished as so many other rifters had. This, he is unprepared to navigate.]
Some believe our spirits are reunited in the Fade, or whatever might lie beyond it. I suppose I have no way to disprove as much, but I am not a sufficiently pious man to lean upon such reassurances.
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The thought of her before the Maker’s throne in any capacity, let alone being made to wait by Himself, is an amusing one.
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[If he might push back on the familiarity another day, well, this day is an exception in many ways. He feels tired and old and he is running out of family.]
I will spend some of my resources to make sure she is memorialized in Orlais. I know she would dislike it, but such memorials are for the living, not the dead.
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In what manner? Something at the university?
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[He thinks, briefly, of Marius Bellerose, who last he knew was still in Val Royeaux; he wonders if anyone will think to tell him what's become of his niece. It's a thought he promptly puts away.]
Carved plaques are the most usual approach, though perhaps something else would suit her better. A fountain. I will reflect, but if you have any ideas, I will take them into consideration.
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[ he'll haunt it for years. moonstone might be too precious to stud the bottom, but it ought to be something that would have caught her eye in life. ]
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[It's not really soft. It's quiet, though.]
It will be strange, to be in Kirkwall without her. I'm inclined to linger, to keep my grandsons clear of the war, but I keep turning corners and expecting to see her there.
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[ he's... considering. ]
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Thomas is 14.
[And inclined to fancy himself old enough to be a soldier, or would if his grandfather had not put his foot down.]
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[ say, looking into his niece's murder. ]
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His father is still alive.
[But Thranduil isn't wrong, not about Thomas' readiness for responsibility or about Romain's inclination to handle Thomas' training personally. Regardless of what his father may have to say about it.]
But that's so. I'll have to see if Guilfoyle plans to stay. If not, I'll need at least one or two more capable men on staff.
[Bodyguards, if not by that name.]
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Guilfoyle will stay, if I ask it. What weapons do your grandsons train with?
[ this is elven loyalty: generational. ]
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[Confidently said, but almost with a hint of regret. His legitimate son and his illegitimate son would both me more convenient with their temperaments reversed. But that is not today's problem.]
Their education is well-rounded, and Raoul is still bit young to specialize. But Thomas favors sword and shield. He has always been drawn to the chevaliers, for all he knows it is not a path open to him.
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I intended, [ he says, and it is slow, and painful as legolas' second disappearance, ] to give what came with me and my kin from Arda to my children, had there been any. But perhaps they will be of use to either of your grandsons.
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If you are sure. Weapons, then?
[Given the tendency of Thranduil's earlier question.]
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Yes, if you like. At least as long as we're all in Kirkwall. However things play out, Thomas and his brother will be facing a world in a different shape than the one they were born into. More knowledge may give them an edge they will need.
[Romain plans to make them the best players of the Game he can with the time he has left, and he has some more practical skills to pass on. But Orlais is invaded, and the Chantry is in danger of splintering. It's an unorthodox time, and a bit of flexibility wouldn't go amiss.]
Thomas is serious but bright. He'll push back if he thinks he needs to, but not simply to demonstrate his independence, as a rule. Raoul takes his brother's lead, still; we'll see how long that lasts.