The Countess of Vanesbright had brought her nephew Adam along to the castle, which had thrown a fairly large and child-shaped wrench into the day's plans. Fortunately for everyone involved, the King was nothing if not adaptable.
Which was why he was now sitting in the garden with six small children, all of them in a circle in the grass. He was cross-legged, his chin in his hands and his elbows on his knees, his posture terrible. The children were being much more careful about sitting up straight. The circle was being led by a girl named Jenny, who had curly hair and liked to find creative new ways to wear scarves. She had a paper fortune teller on her fingers, and was keeping count in her head as she opened and closed it in different directions. Finally, she stopped, and opened one of the folded portions with a serious air.
"Tomorrow," she read, and the children gasped.
"That's too soon," Adam protested.
"Fate has spoken," Jenny said firmly, closing the fortune teller back up. Then she held it out to the King. "Your turn," she said. "What's your question?"
The King contemplated the folded paper. "I don't think that I have one," he said.
"Ask when you're going to get married," Lara suggested.
"Ask about your past life," suggested Ty.
"See if there's doom in your future," Gina said.
"Oh!" The King perked up. "Yes. Will anyone kill me before Winter Solstice?"
Jenny nodded her approval of this line of questioning. "Pick an element."
"Fire," the King said, surprising no one. Jenny counted out four letters. "Six," he said, and she counted it out. "Two." Finally, she unfolded his fortune.
"No," she read, and the children all let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Aw," the King said. He held out his hand. "Here, I'll do yours."
Jenny hesitated. "I guess a dragon is sort of like a witch," she said, before reluctantly handing over the paper. She'd been very insistent, for weeks, that the fortune teller only worked for her because she was a witch, and no one else was allowed to touch it. "I want to know something about my soulmate," she decided as he got the fortune teller over his claws. "Air," she said, and he counted it out the way she'd done. "Three. Seven."
The King unfolded the flap of paper. "Helen Young," he read. The other children screamed.
"What?" Jenny sputtered. She snatched the fortune teller back to look at it, and saw the name just as he'd read it. "I didn't write that," she protested. "How did you do that?" She closed the fortune teller back up, and tried to repeat what had just happened, frantically counting out three and three before opening seven. This time, it just said 'the moon'. "Who's Helen?" she demanded, repeating the process and only getting the moon again. She unfolded each of the numbers, and didn't find the name under any of them.
"Your soulmate," the King said. "If you believe in that kind of thing."
"You broke it," Jenny accused.
"Maybe," the King said, because he broke too many things accidentally to deny it. "Would you like to play pirates again?"
"What's the librarian doing?" Gina asked, pointing.
The entire circle looked over to the bottom of the hill.
"Oh, that didn't take long, did it?" the King said. "Perhaps we ought to give them some privacy."
"Do they know you're not actually supposed to tumble?" Adam asked, tactlessly loud.
Lara frowned and leaned closer to him. "Are you not?" she asked quietly. She was going to have to reassess what she thought she knew about tumbling.
Which was why he was now sitting in the garden with six small children, all of them in a circle in the grass. He was cross-legged, his chin in his hands and his elbows on his knees, his posture terrible. The children were being much more careful about sitting up straight. The circle was being led by a girl named Jenny, who had curly hair and liked to find creative new ways to wear scarves. She had a paper fortune teller on her fingers, and was keeping count in her head as she opened and closed it in different directions. Finally, she stopped, and opened one of the folded portions with a serious air.
"Tomorrow," she read, and the children gasped.
"That's too soon," Adam protested.
"Fate has spoken," Jenny said firmly, closing the fortune teller back up. Then she held it out to the King. "Your turn," she said. "What's your question?"
The King contemplated the folded paper. "I don't think that I have one," he said.
"Ask when you're going to get married," Lara suggested.
"Ask about your past life," suggested Ty.
"See if there's doom in your future," Gina said.
"Oh!" The King perked up. "Yes. Will anyone kill me before Winter Solstice?"
Jenny nodded her approval of this line of questioning. "Pick an element."
"Fire," the King said, surprising no one. Jenny counted out four letters. "Six," he said, and she counted it out. "Two." Finally, she unfolded his fortune.
"No," she read, and the children all let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Aw," the King said. He held out his hand. "Here, I'll do yours."
Jenny hesitated. "I guess a dragon is sort of like a witch," she said, before reluctantly handing over the paper. She'd been very insistent, for weeks, that the fortune teller only worked for her because she was a witch, and no one else was allowed to touch it. "I want to know something about my soulmate," she decided as he got the fortune teller over his claws. "Air," she said, and he counted it out the way she'd done. "Three. Seven."
The King unfolded the flap of paper. "Helen Young," he read. The other children screamed.
"What?" Jenny sputtered. She snatched the fortune teller back to look at it, and saw the name just as he'd read it. "I didn't write that," she protested. "How did you do that?" She closed the fortune teller back up, and tried to repeat what had just happened, frantically counting out three and three before opening seven. This time, it just said 'the moon'. "Who's Helen?" she demanded, repeating the process and only getting the moon again. She unfolded each of the numbers, and didn't find the name under any of them.
"Your soulmate," the King said. "If you believe in that kind of thing."
"You broke it," Jenny accused.
"Maybe," the King said, because he broke too many things accidentally to deny it. "Would you like to play pirates again?"
"What's the librarian doing?" Gina asked, pointing.
The entire circle looked over to the bottom of the hill.
"Oh, that didn't take long, did it?" the King said. "Perhaps we ought to give them some privacy."
"Do they know you're not actually supposed to tumble?" Adam asked, tactlessly loud.
Lara frowned and leaned closer to him. "Are you not?" she asked quietly. She was going to have to reassess what she thought she knew about tumbling.
The following 3 users Like Tindome's post: Distopian, SolitareLee, Viala
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Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 10:26 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 11:12 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-08-2019, 12:06 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 12:24 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-08-2019, 03:25 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 03:41 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-08-2019, 05:04 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 06:19 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-08-2019, 11:00 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-09-2019, 09:09 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-09-2019, 02:33 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-09-2019, 04:48 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-09-2019, 10:53 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-10-2019, 07:27 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-10-2019, 08:44 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-10-2019, 03:15 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-10-2019, 03:44 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-10-2019, 05:24 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-10-2019, 09:01 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-11-2019, 04:02 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-13-2019, 11:21 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-15-2019, 02:04 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-15-2019, 06:59 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-15-2019, 11:39 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-16-2019, 04:36 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-16-2019, 04:50 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-17-2019, 06:26 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-17-2019, 10:32 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-17-2019, 10:54 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-18-2019, 11:51 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-18-2019, 08:23 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-18-2019, 08:50 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-18-2019, 11:40 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-19-2019, 12:04 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-19-2019, 12:10 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-19-2019, 04:33 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-20-2019, 06:18 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-20-2019, 06:56 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 11-21-2019, 10:38 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-21-2019, 11:01 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-02-2019, 08:35 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-02-2019, 08:58 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-10-2019, 05:34 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-10-2019, 05:50 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-16-2019, 12:40 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-16-2019, 12:53 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-17-2019, 03:01 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-17-2019, 10:39 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-17-2019, 06:20 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-17-2019, 08:07 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-19-2019, 06:23 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-19-2019, 07:04 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-19-2019, 08:15 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-19-2019, 08:49 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 12-20-2019, 05:12 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 12-30-2019, 07:24 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-30-2019, 09:47 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 01-01-2020, 07:12 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 01-01-2020, 05:45 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 01-01-2020, 05:59 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 01-02-2020, 06:41 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 01-18-2020, 12:39 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 01-18-2020, 02:20 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Tindome - 01-31-2020, 06:45 AM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by Viala - 02-03-2020, 04:56 PM
RE: Building Bridges [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 02-03-2020, 05:55 PM