Learning Lessons

by TheWarden Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:04 am

Carolyn had asked for more real world experience, less learning by the books and as it was, Jamison just so happened to have a great idea on a lesson he could teach his daughter. Which is what brought him to his child's room at the Inn. And he was armed to the teeth, and by armed to the teeth I mean to say that he was extraordinarily well dressed, with his favorite suit on. a nice navy blue number with an athletic cut and a woolen rain coat. in his right hand was his cane, which had been carved out of his old wizard's staff, and combined with his sword was an amazingly effective magical tool. in his left hand was a duralanium case just over the size of a brief case. the tip of his cane rapped on her door.

Since their last meeting where the balance between her moral and Fae side had equalized Spider had let no time go to waste. No matter what time he knocked upon her door he would have interrupted some task. It was his luck that he had not interrupted her making a potion. He had interrupted an energizing session focused on the markings on her arms. She allowed the channeling to complete its work on the marking on her arm around her left shoulder before she stood and spoke one word. "Liggen." Her circle's energy quieted. After she stepped out of it she rolled a rug over it. No need to draw attention to it. Because of her task she was not completely dressed but for Spider that still meant she was more dressed than most. A black petticoat and a black shirt which fit her shape and had thin straps. This meant the markings on her arms and her upper chest showed. Every marking was a spider web. A web 2 x 2 on the underside of each wrist. A web over the bend of each elbow. A large elongated web over the top of each forearm. Two full webs where each shoulder and upper arm connected. A large web on the center of her sternum could not fully be seen. Enough of it could be that the sleek artful body of a spider and six of its legs were in view. The web on the nape of her neck was obscured by her hair as per usual. Jamison might note that her hair was black again. Now that she was balanced the dye took and holly red didn't bleed through. The red peeked out at the very base of her roots that was all. When she opened the door she did not look surprised to see Jamison there. Who else knew her here besides his noontime companion? "I see you've found my room, Father." Sarcasm, as he'd been the one to secure her this room.

"Indeed I have. I trust you're comfortable?" the question asked with the polite concern of a man who was both a father, and far too british for his own good. When she answered the door he took in her ensemble and then rose a brow. "I do so hope that I'm not interrupting anything... I've merely come to offer forth another lesson in practicality." raising the case in his hand to show her that the lesson pertained to the case, or rather what was in it.

His reaction to her attire made her smirk. Spider crossed her arms under her bosom and mocked his brow with her own. "I know in your ancient era a female's bare arms were blasphemy, Father, but I promise you won't go blind. Allow me to ease the horror." She was not going to dismiss an opportunity to learn something in a method more valuable than reading. There was no need for her to remain uncovered for the rest of her charging would be completed later. Spider reached for her nearest and most useful covering. Her enchanted duster was hanging on a hook on the back of the door. She put the long black coat on but did not button it. It was seldom buttoned. "Such eagerness to teach me. Is your Valentine not an apt pupil?" She gave Jamison the same kind of look that a cat gives a bird within swatting distance.

"We are not amused." was his cheeky comment to her before he shook his head. "I've lived long enough to not be bothered by such things Carolyn, As for My valentine, as you know I've absolutely no idea of what it is you speak of. And my quest to teach you is born of your desire to rescue your wife with a degree of haste. Join me in the Garden? This is a test best taken outside."

"Stodgy old men usually aren't." His cheek deserved cheek in return. When he called her by the name he gave her Spider's expression darkened. "Your loose tongue is breaking your word. We are not behind closed doors." He knew how she felt about others knowing her name. How she disliked being called Carolyn in general. She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. She did not rely on the lock installed in the door. Hand pressed flat against the wooden surface she activated three wards. "Sluiten. Verstrikken. Verdedigen." After each word she tapped her palm to the door. For a total of three. Spider's attachment to the number showing. After each tap power surged and fell into place. Like the mechanisms of a lock lining up. Only the parts which fell into place where magical. She turned to face him. Ready to follow. "No idea, is that so? Pity you opted out of your Fae blood, or I'd be asking you that two more times." Spider was implying that he was lying or at least bending the truth. If he were Fae or even half Fae like her to lie would be impossible and by the third time he would have had to been utterly frank in his response.

"My apologies, I assumed that an empty hallway was a safe place. Know that it won't happen again on this outing." He smiled when she set her wards, they were magnificent, like his own were. He was extraordinarily proud of her in this moment. "Pity indeed, Or perhaps I would still answer as I have. as It would be the truth." which was true he really had no idea what she was taking about since he hadnt spoken to gwendolyn since she had. and thought nothing major of the valentine.

"The appearance of emptiness is enough for you? How things change." Her implication was that Jamison had gone soft. When she had turned to face him he was smiling at her. This made her suspicious. She didn't hide that fact. The rest of his words made her roll her eyes. "Tsh." The sound of her disbelief. Her honey-bright gaze said the same. She was to the point. "What lesson have you need of the gardens for Father?" She went to the stairs and started down them as he did not move to lead the way. She knew where the gardens were for she had a view of them out her window.

"It is when I've made an effort to ensure that there are no ears hidden within it." She went to lead the way, and he started after her, carrying the case along with him. It was true, Jamison took safety very seriously, and yes he ran checks in the hallway to make sure that no devious young sprite has stashed a listening device of some means or another. "It's a simple lesson really, tell me Spider... what do you know about how the Fae bind Captured Wizards?" There had been a series of cold wars between the white council and the kingdoms of faeries for some time. there weren't any now, but it happened before.

"You plug the ears of everyone who lives behind these doors? That's sporting of them to allow such." Spider's smirk punctuated wry words. Her lips pursed when he asked the question. Footfall sounded heavier on the stairs. "You said you sought to teach Father not to give a quiz. Is this your way of seeing if I have been reading your books? I have. They are riddled with dog-ears. I've even taken the liberty to decorate the pages with hearts and a smiley faces." He should hope that she was not serious. "The Manacles of Power are ironically named. For if a Wizard is bound within them they are blocked from channeling their magic."

"Indeed it is, But to put my daughters paranoia at ease they where willing if only for today." That was a jibe, she'd been paranoid for decades, and never seemed to understand that Jamison saying her first name was not enough for anyone to take any power from it. And he often gave her jibes back. The jibe may have been avoided if she didn't get one at him. "This is a test in practicality Dear Spider, as while their task makes it extraordinarily hard. they're still not enough to keep a smart wizard."

He was the one that did not understand. While deep down she knew he could not understand when he lacked certain information that she withheld the so-called paranoia was rooted deep within. Her response could not be helped. He would feel how it bristled her. Her energy prickled standing on edge. She spoke nothing in reply. Lips were pressed in a hard line to keep it that way. She was not paranoid. That is what the change in her mood and energy screamed in her silence. She opened the door to the outdoors with a firm push. It opened wide and started to shut swiftly behind her after she stepped through it. She didn't hold it open for him. Her footfall set an immediate course for the garden.

This response was nothing new, after all she had been doing it for decades. And Jamison was a smart man, he knew there was something that she wouldn't tell him. or maybe she couldn't, whatever was the case, he was maybe hoping that with their newfound rekindled relationship she would open a bit more, but the silence showed how wrong he was. he brought he case up to catch the door when it started to close in his face. "there should be sufficient." the cane pointed at a rather empty part of the lawn.

Outwardly little showed. Besides the crackle of her power. Inwardly a lot was going on. It was an old wound. The oldest and the one that had changed everything. It was her weakness as much as she fought to get beyond it. Spider went where Jamison pointed. Stopping when she got there she turned around and folded her arms across her chest. Staring him down and waiting for the lesson. She wasn't starting at him though. She stared past him. She couldn't look at him right now.

Jamison however, he stared right back at his daughter, and unlike her, he stared right into her eyes. His cane planted on the ground, where it stayed in perfect balance. Humming with energy that washed over the two of them muting out the ambient noises of the garden. the case his hand released. where it fell into the grass. "A hundred and two years ago... I went to introduce you to the Merlin as my daughter, and before i could you stopped me, pleaded with me to not... And then again, you would not allow a soul gaze to prove your innocence... But never told me why that was. To this day, There is nary a living soul that knows your name. I've asked this of you before never to any avail... Why?" No other could hear their conversation, such was Jamison's will and the purpose of his staff standing where it was; it was an amazingly effective tool so one could have public conversations in private. there was however a downside. Jamison and Spider couldn't hear anything outside of their immediate vicinity.

by TheWarden Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:29 pm

She rolled her eyes when his hum sent up soundproof walls around them. Her scoff was indignant when he brought this issue up again. She didn't roll her eyes back down. She preferred to keep her gaze upward looking at the sky. "This does not at all seem like a lesson in the Manacles of Power, Warden." Emphasis on Warden. There was a tremor in her voice. Not a hint of weeping but of temper instead. She pressed her lips together again and she did not speak more until she was certain that the tremor would be gone. It was. From her voice. The energy around her was a different story. "Do you not count as living?" He did know her name after all. "My soul is no one's business. Nor is my name. There are none living who deserve to have even a syllable's worth of power over me."

"This is all part of the lesson. Spider." a very similar hint of bite in his own words mimicking her own. "I do, but There Are times that I believe that where it within your abilities you would strip that knowledge from my mind as well... as you state time and time again, that there are none alive who deserve even a syllable's worth of power over you. Why is it that you hide this from me?" He was careful to ask the question differently, so as not to compel her to answer.

"Like shite it is." She spat the words at him. Suspecting his tone was chosen to egg her into worse temper she still couldn't stop it. "Fat lot you know for your wise old age. I've little need to make the effort to strip my name from your mind. You gave it to me it's yours to keep." Even during the times she hated him most Spider knew he would never use something like her name against her. He gave proof of it just now. Asking his question differently to make sure he didn't use the power of three over her. Her eyes remained on the sky. It was illogical to fear looking into her Father's eyes but if there was a man who could find a way to soulgaze a second time it would be Jamison LeFey. "I was a victim of my own name once and it will not happen again."

Jamison rose a hand out to his case, which lifted to his hand then, The case was then set upon his cane as if it where a table, once again balanced perfectly. "Who was it? That made the gravest mistake of his life on that day?" asked as he opened the case and pulled from it a pair of ornately carved silver manacles, that covered a good portion of the forearms and had a large crossbar to prevent too much movement, most notable where the lines of teeth around each end of the cuffs three rose at the bottom and the top of each wrist cuff.

She dropped her gaze. Honey-bright eyes narrowing in a cat-like glare which she aimed at his nose. "How do you know it was a man? Or that it proved to be a grave mistake? If you are dropping hints that already you know then spare me the humiliation of telling you." She saw he was preparing the lesson now so perhaps he was doing just that. Sparing her the humiliation. In the past when he broached the subject she would've been gone before he could ask her a second time. It was only Zalina that kept her here right now. As he pulled the manacles out of the case Spider thought of her wife. What Jamison had in his hands reminded her of her and Zalina's ribald boudoir exploits. Not only that but the binds spoke to her. The way Fae-made items did. The energy that forged the manacles was tuned to the same pitch as her own blood.

"I can only imagine it was he whose disappearance has been put upon your shoulders." the locks on the manacles involved tracing a precise pattern on the center bar, which is something he was able to do while walking towards her, and when he got near they popped open in his arms, now with both opened he offered the manacles forward. "These are going to pinch initially when they close."

"Thomas Whiting is dead. Of that crime I am innocent." That second sentence she had repeated ad nauseam before during and after her trial. It was a known fact she could not lie. As such it was her answers to other questions put to her which had gotten her in thick with the Council. That Jamison seemed ready to proceed with the actual lesson now was a relief to her. She did not indicate this fact in her tone or expression she merely changed the subject. "Instruct me on how you wish me to stand." Spider knew firsthand that there was more than one position that a person could be bound thus. The pinch was of no concern to her. Pain did not bother her.

"I believe you Carolyn..." They where safe in their bubble and Jamison felt that would mean more if he said it that way. When she asked about how she should stand Jamison held the manacles out in front of her. "out in front of you will be fine, Wizards are often kept far away from any pockets. When it was that she put her hands into the manacles he closed them, and the wound shut and then clicked.

"You've no choice but to. I cannot lie as you know." There was a manner of business about her now. She had succeeded brushing her temper aside. Spider's focus was on the lesson and she was behaving as if their conversation was incidental and unimportant. When the binds shut and clicked into place she felt the discomfort as he promised she would. It showed in the rigidity of her posture but not in her expression. Not even a flinch. Her eyes were on her bound forearms as she made her second reply. "I was already taught the harsh lesson of being stripped of one's pockets and found my solution." Her markings of course.

"I know that, but any potential captors will not. and when you are free of these, that will be to your great benefit. but they're rather useless as long you are bound. You'll find that the pinch while only extraordinarily subtle is enough to deter your focus... now. Try to conjure a hex you would use for picking a lock." and when she tried, she would find that the teeth tightened around her wrist and forearm the more she tried to channel magic.

It did deter her focus. Not just the element of pain. Too many memories of her and her wife though in those memories it was never Spider who was bound. She was calm but only because this was a lesson. Only because she was with Jamison and he alone. If anyone actually attempted to bind her she would be incensed and would lash out like a raging tiger. Spider knew that Jamison was asking her to do something that would fail. If it would succeed he would not request her to do it. She would humor him and she stood stiffly prepared for the consequences. While she could not see it she put her focus on the marking on her sternum. Even before speaking she felt the bindings react so when the word came it was through gritted teeth. "Versie." Entirely unsuccessful as she expected.

When she failed Jamison gave a nod and folded his arms over his chest. "Now then, they're fae made manacles designed to hold our kind bound. You're test is to escape using that knowledge and one Item that you can request to aid you... you're free to take as long as you would like. Do you have any questions before you begin?"

Spider closed her eyes. She needed to. She was too self-assured for her own good. She didn't think being bound like this would bother her. But it was. Still it wasn't the pain. It was the topic of conversation that had come just before this that had reminded her why she couldn't handle being restrained. It was the memories of Zalina and the reality of her continued absence. Everyone's focus could be threatened in a different way. She squeezed her eyes closed tighter. She focused on her heartbeat and breathing. She had learned a long time ago that if all else failed she could control those. "That's unnatural. What is the use of requesting an item now when should this happen in truth I would't have means to access that item?

"Because, knowing what the item is, you will be able to prepare yourself for that eventuality. I know that I've an Item hidden on my person that will free me from those manacles that I'm more then certain i could keep hidden or at the very least seem insignificant enough to be left alone." He looked down at her wrists for a moment before back up at her eyes. He knew the item in question would have to be something she would need to be extraordinarily careful with but it really was the easiest way to get out of the manacles.

Her eyes were nothing to look at. As they were closed. Tightly. Shutting off that sense gave her less distraction so she could better keep herself calm. Despite the building discomfort with her bound state she smirked. At the beginning of this test he had said these manacles were meant to bind their kind but she had half something that he was not. And that other side of her insisted that he'd just handed her the information she needed to request the necessary item. "Then I make my request. I request the item you hide on your person that will free me from these manacles." He didn't say she had to name the object by its proper name. He said she was allowed to request one item to aid her.

Jamison narrowed his eyes at her, and then after a moment he rose a brow arms still folded across his chest. "While I would almost argue that violates the spirit of the test, I did not say you had to ask for a specific item. here." Jamison reached into one of his pockets then and pulled from it a plastic covered box cutter knife. which he carefully offered over to her. "be careful to not touch the blade when you're freeing yourself."

"That's because you know you can't argue. It's not my fault it's easy to loosen your tongue with questions." That was the weakness of many who had a passion for teaching including Jamison. She asked him the question she did because she knew his answer would give some clue. The result was luck. He'd given her more than a clue he'd given her a means to best him. Only after he said "here" did she open her eyes. She was barely controlling her displeasure with the binding already. When she saw what he offered her it pushed her over the edge. Instinctual panic as she stepped backwards. "No. No. Get me out of this thing. Now." Emphasis on now. She knew what the blade was made of. It made perfect sense now since these manacles were Fae made. The bane. He was lucky her magic was stifled right now or else he would have gotten a knee-jerk spell tossed in his face. Or several knee-jerk spells.

Jamison moved forward and clicked the blade out one time, which he scraped over the locking mechanism and almost like a cheap pair of child's handcuffs they snapped open and fell from her arms. "That is one of only two ways that we know to use in escaping the manacles.. the other is to fool the manacles into believing you are simple vanilla." Vanilla Human was a modern slang term for humans that weren't wizards. Certainly a lot nicer then the words they used when Jamison was learning magic.

He was being calm about this. She was not. The first word she spoke was a summons of power which surged a pocket of air forward to knock the blade out of his hand and as far away as the force of the gust would take it. The words she said after that were not english or any other mortal language. It was her Mother's language. One Spider didn't speak yet the string of angry words fired from her lips like she was fluent. Luckily they were not words with any Fae magic behind them for that could have cost Spider dearly. They were the equivalent of cuss words which found their way eventually to English. " - you hate me that much. No one binds me. No one. I was stupid letting you."

Jamison knew that was coming, and he was already dropping the box cutter blade when she summoned her spell to knock it away. and when she started cursing in her mother's tongue, there was a moment of remembrance where she looked exactly like her mother did. "Carolyn, you should know that I don't hate you, and I would never put you in any danger for the sake of a test."

The spill of words ended in a violent shudder. She'd bested the bane and she could relax. Relax was the wrong word. She turned her back on Jamison and she covered her face with both hands. He didn't need to say what he did. She knew what he stated already to be true. Her reaction had been irrational and incendiary. To a degree that the air around them was actually warmer. She was of Summer and their power was heat. It made a rising temper literal sometimes. "I thank you for the lesson Father. But I would kill before being bound so." She meant that. She learned too early the kind of prices a person could be forced to pay if they were restrained.

"Good..." Jamison said simply kneeling down to pick the cuffs up, which he then loaded into the case, closing it immediately before returning to his daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You are right to say such, I know not how summer treats their prisoners, but to be captured by winter is to make what we've just done look like dropping a handful of sand into the dessert."

He touched her and she grew tight and straight. No one could ever feel weakness in her body. She wouldn't allow it. Her shoulders squared and she dropped her hands from her face. "What that American did - " No. She did not make it through the sentence. For the first time she had wanted Jamison to understand what she had endured and survived the day she rescinded her desire to be his Apprentice. But her voice and will failed her. "I still live in spite of him. I don't underestimate either Court. But I refuse to fear them or any of their tortures."

"Carolyn, He is gone, rightfully so..." And Jamison had a good idea who was responsible for his death, which means that he would have to have a talk with her mother, and perhaps chide the woman for not informing him of that happening sooner. "then our lesson is complete... come, let us go back inside. I would like to get these shackles back behind steel walls where they belong." Though Jamison could easily escape them, they where still something he didn't like having out. because they were something that could disable him long enough to be shot.

"You know nothing about that." An assumption Spider always felt safe to make. If he knew he would not continue to put the same questions to her. Questions he'd asked for a hundred years. Spider was tempted to disagree with his wish to return indoors. Just to be contrary. The snitty words fell short of being voiced. Arms dropped to her sides in a rare slouch. She moved towards the residence at a dawdling pace. "This lesson has pleased me. You taught me you have something in your possession which can make you powerless. I had no idea you were a masochist."

by The Spider Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:05 pm

"Indeed you are right." Jamison picked up his case after closing it and locking it. Then Jamison went to gather his box cutter, which he picked up and slid immediately into his pocket so that she wouldn't freak out again. "There are a great number of things that would surprise you about me, and you are more then welcome to try and use these against me. I would reward you greatly if you're able to manage it."

"I know I am." She lifted her chin and looked exceedingly proud of this. Something twisted inside of her which caused her to be needlessly presumptuous. A hundred years worth her behavior was probably old news to him. "I don't believe you." Was her challenging tone old news to him too? Spider shot that at him as soon as he said he was home to surprises. Most would see Jamison LeFey as complex. He was just like any other being if you asked her. All beings had patterns that needed to be observed and learned and when they were said being became predictable. She had spent a century in the presence of Jamison's patterns. When he mentioned a reward she scoffed. "I didn't say I had wish to use them on you." Emphasis on the second I.

"you don't have to believe me, that does not stop it from being true." A nod and he retrieved his cane, and when he pulled it from the ground, offering her a nod, as the buzz of energy dropping from around them, and with that, came the sound of ambient life and wind. "you may not, but my offer still applies, if you are able to get these out of their place without assistance. I'll give you a reward." that was spoken with upmost confidence, Jamison knew she would not be able whatsoever to get to the cuffs where he had them hidden. even he couldn't do it without assistance, and he didn't have the half blood of fae to hold him back.

Foolish Spider had started walking back to the Inn at his suggestion. At a snail's pace but forward nonetheless. Who knew Father could dally even better than she. She snapped at him. "Are we retiring to the Inn or not?" She spun around to face him. Honey-bright eyes piercing his. "I prefer my rewards from women." Emphasis on women. "You're being rude." Emphasis on rude. Said the pot to the kettle. "Are you trying to goad me so I'll die trying and you'll finally be rid of me? You probably regret that oath. Is that it? Absolved of it should I die, and you won't have to bother with your promise to save your shameful daughter's shameful wife anymore. What a happy ending. To think I was stupid enough to be happy about being taught by you again! Staying here was a mistake." That was the problem. Spider found that she enjoyed these lessons (when he wasn't pointing the bane at her). Feeling kindly towards Jamison was to feel vulnerable. So she was spitting venom illogically. Stalking back to the inn.

"Spider, that's not it at all... I rather enjoy teaching you, and you of all people should know that I am a man of my words. I simply offered the opportunity to challenge you, as I know that you enjoy being challenged... but if you would rather speak your hate towards me, I'm willing to accept any criticisms that you would offer forth." That was how Jamison was going to handle that, she was going to be angry with him for that reason, he was going to absorb and offer forth more calm. Maybe it would help.

That was his response. How could it be. Spider halted. Shoulders slumping. His words deflated her like a balloon. His unceasing calm had never bothered her before. As he said she liked a challenge. The rare times when how she hurt him showed were the best rewards. Until recently. Her pleasure was always fueled by her belief that he deserved to be treated like trash by her. Spider was having trouble believing that lately. So when she lashed out at him it wasn't to crack him. It was motivated by fear of what she was feeling and how things were changing. "Why. Why are you just going to stand here and let me criticize you." She sounded disheartened. She looked the same but she was showing him her back. "You don't let anyone get away with speaking to you like this. I've heard the stories." Read them rather. Considering those Wizards had no voice left to speak with.

"you're my Daughter Spider... that allows you a great deal of leniency in most matters." Which was true, he wouldn't just rob his daughter of her ability to speak, she was his little girl after all, no matter how bad she treated him. "And you feel I deserve such words, then perhaps you have good reason to do such."

Spider laughed. Bitterly. "Where the hell did you get that bullocks from? You said yourself. You're an old man. Old ideals. Children are supposed to be seen and not heard." It was obvious he had no intention of returning to the Inn after all. If that was the case she wasn't just going to stand here with one foot edging in that direction. She sat on the ground. Drawing up one knee she began to unlace on of her boots. "What reasons think you I have Father? I don't believe you'd take such abuse unless you knew something." Spider didn't look at him when she asked her questions. With a firm pull she tugged one boot off and tossed it in the grass.

"Not all of my Ideals are old, After all... you where never forced to be married where you?" There was his dig at her, and it was true, there where many suitors that wanted her hand, and had come to Jamison asking for it., and never once did he offer any more then that they could ask her for it themselves. "I only know what you've told me Spider. Perhaps I feel that allowing you to vent your rages will help you feel better?"

She narrowed her eyes. Because it was true. Custom dictated that he should have married her off. A century of thinking about her nineteenth year and never had it occurred to her that marriage would have spared her the shame. Scared the American off. She dropped her eyes to her task. "I would still willingly be called Carolyn LeFey if you had." The second boot was removed and tossed by its partner. She slid her hand up her petticoat. Hooking her stocking with a finger and rolling it down her leg. It was tossed in the grass next to her boot. The other stocking followed before she broke her silence. "Feeling triumph when I hurt you isn't the same as feeling better. I don't even know what feeling better means." She was honest. Not even her markings made her feel better. Or the American's death. She felt prepared. Avenged. But not healed. If she were healed she would be using her proper name.

"Then perhaps my progressivism and desire for you to have a say in your life was meant to be my undoing." Jamison started toward the inn then taking a deep breath. turning his eyes to see hers. "My apologies for wronging you as I have throughout your life Spider. I do so hope that rescuing your wife will aid to ease your ancient wounds."

"Your undoing. Don't you mean mine? I'm the black mark." She'd used that phrase the day she showed up knocking on his door and now she used it again. His actions were unnerving her inwardly. He wanted to retire to the inn so she tried to walk and he wouldn't walk. So she gave up walking. Sitting in the grass to make herself comfortable as soon as she had now he was walking away from her. When she saw him turn around in her peripheral vision she looked up to meet his eyes. He was wounded. His words and tone make it clear and she was confused. This was the first wound she had caused Jamison that she didn't intend. "Father I don't understand you. I did not say I would still be known by my own name if you had married me in order to slight you. It is simple fact. Rape a married woman and the offending man has her husband to contend with as she is her husband's property. Or so it was back then." She stretched out her legs. On the soft bottom of each foot there was a web tattooed on the center.

Jamison's eyes where closed now and he took a slow deep breath before replying."You're not the black mark alone spider. It is you and I both the council sought to watch." Not to mention that doom of damocles was over both of their heads as was part of her probation. "Jamison took another deep breath. "I know you did not mean those words to spite me..." He was quiet for a long moment again, looking down at her, turning around to face her completely. "As it was back then, you where mine, until the day you where wed. And I am far more formidable a force then any small simple boy who thought he was good enough for your hand." His face was hard to read, strained to remain neutral. he was doing his damnedest not to look pained.

Spider looked so confused. She had never in her life seen Jamison like this before. From twenty forward she spent the better part of their time together trying to pain him to a degree like this and it never happened. Barely a crack of hurt from the Warden. Why did he close his eyes and breath so deep and speak so slowly now? When she wasn't trying to hurt him? When she finally answered one of the questions he'd been asking for for a hundred years? She'd told him of Thomas' violation to explain why he should not look wounded and it had only worsened. "Father you're scaring me." It was the honest truth. She was afraid to say anything else. She stared up at him from her seated spot on the ground. Spider had finally gotten what she thought she wanted and now she wanted his reaction to just stop.

"There have been many things I have seen and battled in my life. None of which have shaken me as much as hearing that my only child sees triumph in paining her father." Of course she had been trying for almost a hundred years but she'd never actually said that. Especially given all Jamison had done so that she could live. His postured was stiff and Jamison took another deep breath and exhaled his as if expelling the pain, when in reality he was just burying it deep within, hiding it within the fortress that was Jamison LeFey. "I am so very sorry Spider, for the pain that you suffered, for the great injustice forced upon you so long ago, and that I was unable to protect you from it as I should have been."

She still didn't understand. She rose from the ground. Leaving her boots and stockings where they were. "Isn't that why you pained me? You asked the Council to be my punisher when I was innocent. You refused all my requests to take me to see Mother. You disapproved of my markings. Of my choice of lovers." She rose her voice. "This isn't about you protecting me. Fathers are not gods. I was the one who was stupid. The day he was introduced I gave him my name and I paid for it dearly. He violated me and he made me swear to be your Apprentice no longer. It was my post he wanted. My avenger made sure he did not live to take it. It was my shame to bear and I was not going to be bullied by the Council to tell it before a room full of men who would have laughed at my stupidity. Why should I have told you any of this? Why should I tell it to you now? What was done was done and I blamed you not for it."

"I asked to be your punisher because anyone else would have found a reason to see you dead. The only way to ensure you would live under the doom of damocles was to accept it upon myself." He rose his voice a bit as well. watching her eyes. "I've never done anything with the intent to hurt you! ever!" and he shook his head. "You would not tell me, Your father... I would not have gotten you blamed for murder. I would have made that stupid Yank wish he'd never heard the name LeFey... but no, You tell an avenger... an outsider who winds up getting you put on trial...What makes him a man worthy of hearing of your pain, and not your own father?"

A small voice inside of her told her what he said was a ploy. To get her to spill what she'd kept silent. She was already bubbling over and the warning voice was too small to sway her. Standing as she was it was easy to close the distance. She pushed him if he didn't stop her. She didn't care that he was her Father. He deserved to be pushed for the last thing he said. "I told my MOTHER you poofta!" Spider knew Jamison did not fancy men. That's why she called him that in her anger. "I told a WOMAN. I read about dreams. Everything I could. Practiced dreaming my consciousness into the Nevernever and I cried for her there every night until she heard me. A woman. That's what made her worthy."

When she pushed him, he took only a single step back A cane helped when you needed leverage. and then he rose a hand and pushed his will forward to push her back a step. "Your Mother? she was worthy because she was a woman? And because of her, you where put on trial for a murder you didn't commit... And for this task she is revered in your eyes can do no wrong. Yet I who kept you from death... am left to your hatred, Your Mother gambled with your life Spider... In hopes it would drive us apart."

Only her Father. Only Warden LeFey would be told by his daughter that she was raped and scold her about how she dealt with it. When he used magic to retaliate her push he opened a horrible door. His push made her scream. It made her glad she had taken off her boots and stockings. Because she could pound her bare foot against the earth and better release the power of the marking there. The power traveled through the dirt underneath him where it expanded. Shaking and breaking the earth underneath Jamison. Spider's face was red with anger and her eyes dilated almonds like a cat's. Her balance between her halves was going haywire. "Get raped up the arse Father and tell me if you feel like talking to another man about it!"

Jamison was unfazed by her display, and kept his own power muted."Where my father still alive and with us I would seek his counsel." And Only his daughter would ignore an extreme gaping hole in everything and then completely ignore it. Perhaps it was true what they say about not being able to be logical and upset while being a woman. "I've only ever tried to be a good father, and a teacher to you...What, can I do to cease your hatred of me?" it's a question he'd turned over in his head over and over and over again, and he'd never asked her.

"My answer doesn't matter. You've already shown you're incapable of doing it." Spider turned her back on him. Going to pick up her shoes and stockings. "I finally trust you enough to tell you what happened to me and you did what you've done to me for a hundred years. Told me how wrong my choices were. My desire to see my own Mother is wrong. My sexual preference is wrong. My markings are wrong. My choice to hide my name is wrong. You do it here as well. My ideas on how to help Zalina have all been wrong. You seem to delight more in being right than showing me love Father. Slander my Mother and call her manner of aid a calculated gamble, fine. The night she heard my cries she held me. She said as many words as she could think of to soothe and heal me of my shame. She brushed aside my broken image of myself. She rebuilt my worth with a gentle touch. She showed me love. What did you do now? If her plan was to drive us apart there was no gamble when loving words from you are so few."

"You don't want loving words from me Spider. You want me to be a villain in your life. I've tried to offer loving words, and all you have done is respond with your hatred. You never gave me the opportunity to ease your wounds, You hid them from me, hiding behind your hatred for a hundred years, despite my attempts to reconcile our differences. Even now, you come to my door to accuse me of kidnapping. not to ask me for help, You point a finger in my face and accuse her disappearance on me." He didn't move, he didn't need to, she was just going to leave anyway, or so it seemed.

Her plans were not to leave. Spider's plan was to reconcile this. Until he said what he did. Despite her hopes that she was wrong she was right. To Jamison being right was the most important thing. She no longer bothered to look in his direction. "I called you Daddy." Emphasis on Daddy. "I told your opinion mattered to me. I even touched your face and told you that you were a good man to your family. I have conceded answers to questions I have refused to answer for a hundred years. I even answered your question of what you could do to cease my hatred. Tell me how any of those things were me hiding behind hatred." She did not pause long enough for him to answer. "In return you have told me that I'm wrong. AGAIN. Apparently you know better what I want than I do. As usual. Again I am wrong. Again being right is more important to you. Good day." Spider felt letting the conversation end here was the biggest mistake Jamison could make. But he was a predictable old man and she knew he would. She walked away.

by The Spider Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:35 pm

It all hit Jamison all at once and the realization hit him like a kick in the nuts and the old wizard dropped his case and shook his head. and he started after her. his cane left to fall over as well."Wait. I'm sorry... you're right spider... It is more important for me to be right... Being right means that I'm still... bulletproof. I shouldn't be that way, especially not with you." it was a weak apology at best. Jamison didn't say he was sorry all too often. he wasn't very good at them.

If he wanted such a kick she would've been happy to. Spider intended to retire regardless of what he said. Sorry would not stop her. But admitting that he had to be right above all? That she never expected him to confess. That halted her. Slowly she turned. Honey-bright eyes were still full of anger. She did not look at him long. Her gaze traveled to his fallen cane. She extended her palm and spoke the command. "Ik reopen." Unless he had some preventative measure the cane would come to her hand. "Bulletproof. Yes that's important to both of us isn't it?" Was it a wonder how the violation by the American had changed her the way it did when he was her sole role model? She had acted in the way she felt necessary to be from then on bulletproof. Like Jamison. "Maybe then it's best things stay as they are. So we can each remain as we are."

It didn't, of course if he wanted it he would have done something to stop her from taking it. Spider would recognize the cane as what used to be his wizard's staff when he was younger, his sword used to hand in a hilt from his waist." Spider, You're my daughter, the only child I'll ever have. If there is one person that I don't want to see me that way, its you." another thing said outright that he'd never spoken before. and of course she'd already seen that he wasn't bulletproof by hoe her words affected him before.

It felt good to have taken it from him. Desire for objects, attachment to that desire and relentless pursuit of the desire and the object was a quality of Fae. Some called it weakness others called it strength. Spider felt it now as she examined his cane. A burning I Want This. "Are you impotent?" She felt such reasonable to ask. As he said she would be his only. "Remember I didn't turn out well. You can try again." This was the second time she said that. He had replied that she was not a lost cause but the doubt still remained in her. She felt a disappointment to him for a long time. A twist and Spider pulled the sword free from the cane. The tip of her tongue peaked out. Eyes glinted just like the sword itself glinted. With Want. "How shall I see you then Father?"

"No, but the time for me to raise a child has long since passed. I have a child, and she turned out amazingly." He did feel that, despite her shortcomings, yanno hating him and all that. spider was still an immensely talented and practiced wizardess. hell had they grown up on better terms she might even be a warden alongside him. who knows what would have happened if things where different."how do you see me now?"

A Warden, never. Spider would not concede to work for the Council. A pack of people whose judgements and intentions she didn't trust. Her lip twitched. The vain smile almost broke free. Flattery was something she responded to at times. From the right source. She kept the smile in check. Keeping her eyes on the sword in her hand helped with this. Until his question. Gaze shot to him. She stared in silence. Considering. "When we're in the Nevernever you will take me to Mother. When Zalina is returned to me you will dine in our home. Those things first." After all that happened Spider refused to change her judgement without actions behind his words. She knew Jamison. She knew these were two difficult things for him to agree too. To be a bitch she added a third. Sliding sword back into cane. "And I keep this. Until the day we go to the Nevernever." His cane.

"I will take you to your mother and I will join you and your wife for dinner... but you can not ask me for that Spider." motioning forth to his cane, it was his focus his primary conduit for working magic. and despite he gave up his fae blood many many years ago... It was his, and he wanted it. just like she did. to her request he would make a counter request." What if I offered you something of equal value to me?"

She raised her brow. He was openly bargaining with her. Spider assumed he'd find doing so unwise. That it would just encourage her "bad" side. He motioned for his cane. She did not give it to him. She drew it in closer to her and held on with both hands. Spider wouldn't give it to him now. It was her leverage. If she gave it over he wouldn't have to offer her something else of value. She narrowed her eyes. It was not a glare. It was consideration. "You can offer something of equal value to you if I can add something of equal value to me. Three requests I make and you accept and one gift you give me additionally." Spider drove a hard bargain. Mortals should thank their stars she did not make her Choice to become full Fae.

"I'll give you the item to trade for the cane, and then, when I have it you may have your additional item, provided of course that you would not see it as a weapon against me." Jamison was a sneaky sort too, remember, he was a changeling before as well. and he'd also dealt with Fae more then anyone else on the white council.spider had to know he could just take his cane back by force if he wanted to, but he was trying to be nice.

Jamison had to know if he took his cane by force he would only step their relationship backward. Spider knew it. She was using the fact he would care about such to her advantage. She wasn't a stupid woman. She only increased the ante when she held better cards. "I want to know and approve the item you propose to give me for the return of your cane before I give you said cane. While it may be of equal value to you what if it isn't to me? I don't want this cane because of its value to you. I want it because I want it. You will take me to see Mother when we go to the Nevernever, you will dine with Zalina and I in our home, you will tell me of this proposed trade for your cane and I get right of approval and you will accept my additional request without me naming it specifically." The more stipulations he gave the more she would give in return. She thought it nice that she would tell him this. "My additional request is one that ceases harm you do to me. It no weapon against you."

"I'm more then certain the item in question will be of sufficient value…I accept."Jamison removed the ring from his left hands and laid in the palm of his hand, close enough so that she could see it, but not so much she could just snatch it away. "The ring your mother gave to me on the day of our joining. In exchange for my cane." he didn't want her to take this either but, it was the difference between losing an arm and losing a couple of fingers.

His ring. Her eyes nearly glowed with hungry victory. Given to him by her Mother it quadrupled its value in her eyes. She closed the space between them. Right hand pushing his cane into his chest for him to take. Left hand snatching up the ring out of his palm. She walked a few steps away. Turned her back on him and examined what she'd won from him. She pressed it between both palms and closed her eyes. Desperately she wanted to feel Mother in its energy. This offer was ironic. Considering her own last request. "No longer speak ill of Mother. Those knives pierce my heart." Head bowed she murmured it quietly. With her back still turned it may have been hard to hear her.

Jamison knew the ring would do the trick. when she gave him back his cane he channeled his energy through it, a sill measure of security before he lowered it to the ground, leaning stylishly into it." I can do that." after all before tonight he had been doing that simply out of trying to be a nice person to her. "Perhaps one day I will tell you the story of how your mother came to posses that ring, in order to give it to me... it really is quite a fantastic tale."

Her eyes were still closed. She still had the ring pressed between her palms. Her lips were pressed tightly together too. Emotions were flooding her and this happened more lately than she cared to deal with. But deal with it she must. "I would like that." Spoken after a long silence where she regained her composure. Then she opened her eyes. The ring was slipped into a pocket on the inside of her coat for temporary safe keeping. She picked up her boots and stockings from the ground and turned to her Father. "Then we have a deal."

"Indeed we do."said the old wizard with a nod in the affirmative."Maybe I can retell it to you as you're drifting off to sleep, like I did when you were a little girl." she had put the ring away and gathered her boots and stockings, which he assumed meant she was going to go inside. motioning her along with him, as a gentleman would do a lady.

Spider scoffed. Giving him an incredulous stare. "Don't push your luck, old man. I'm a hundred and twenty one years old." She smirked smugly at him. Tossing her hair over her shoulder and leading the way back to the inn. It was a jibe at him but given without venom. He had agreed to all of her requests and that had quelled her anger. She had not demanded those things haphazardly. Her choices were very particular. That he gave her the ring as well had only increased her faith. As for the story. That part of her would delight to be told a story by him in such a way, that she would never openly admit.

by Sponsored content

Learning Lessons

Learning Lessons

Re: Learning Lessons

Re: Learning Lessons

Re: Learning Lessons

Re: Learning Lessons