Log:Once Upon a Time, Scene 7

Once Upon a Time 2010/04/28 	 Liandere Lorelei 7

Once Liandere and Lorelei are alone, Liandere comments: "I wonder how Palanir will react. I doubt that he expected anyone would be able to retrieve the antidote."

Lorelei frowns. "Then the poisoning of the king - this is some scheme of his?"

"Yes," Liandere replies from beneath her cowl. "He's ambitious, and he has a dark heart. The King finally found the truth about Palanir. The King would have stripped him of his position, had Palanir not poisoned him first. Even now, he plots against your friends."

Lorelei says, "And I thought I was being paranoid... still, I warned them I was suspicious. I'm sure he'll find Jenn and Jess more than he bargained for." She pauses. "I'm not worried about them, I'm worried about you! What happened to you, Mum?"

Liandere holds up a single finger. "All in good time. It's been some while since I've had company here -- I should at least invite you inside."

Lorelei nods, relieved that her mother at least shows some sign of normal behaviour - even as the coldness of her greeting woories her. She would hug her, but she's not sure it would be welcome. SHe's not even sure it would be safe.

Liandere opens her palms in front of herself as she turns towards an open patch of water here in the swamp. She begins to chant in some tongue which the translation enchantment fails to convert. She begins to move her arms in a series of precise yet flowing gestures...

Trees and vines begin to grow out of the water and begin to merge together:, with branches forming the structure and vines lacing in between them. They form a giant mooing, about ten feet tall at its highest point and just about as wide. It looks like a head, partly risen out of the water. Two recessed areas, nearly six feet tall form the eyes. The criss-crossing vines look like the veins of a persons face, with the skin peeled away.

Lorelei watches the disturbing sight with more than her normal vision.

One of the eyes begins to open laterally, like a cat's iris, with branches and vines crackling. It forms a doorway. "Come in... it's just about time for tea."

Lorelei says, "I could fancy a cup, it's true!" and steps through as her mother does. She holds her breath.

The inside is a single round room. There are two chairs seat to either side of a stone fireplace. The chairs are formed of tree trunks, with the knotted roots digging down into the floor of the place, and the branches rising up and joining the ceiling. Both have hollows to allow someone to sit in them. The room is mostly a pallette of dark blues and grays, with the occasional bit or red or yellow that catches the eye.

Nothing here seems quite straight or symmetrical. At the same time nothing looks quite organic either. It as though many of the design features were intended to be just a little off.

Lorelei takes in the effect of the place, every bit as ambivalent as her mother's greeting. "I do have to wonder, mum - why are you living in a swamp?" she asks, as conversationally as she can manage.

A crow sits quietly on a perch in the corner of the room. It watches Lorelei as she comes in, first with one eye, then the other.

Liandere heads inside. She takes one chair, leaving Lorelei to sit to her left. "I wanted a place where I would not be disturbed. A place where I could focus on my craft. Nothing else really interested me. In fact, the swamp itself is part of my work."

Lorelei sits on the other chair. "And what is your work?"

Liandere says, "I grew tired of the unrelenting light and perfection of the Court at Undermoon. It began to ring as false to me, especially when those with dark hearts presented their perfection and beauty as masks for what was beneath the surface."

Lorelei nods and lets her mother speak, trying to understand. And hoping things aren't as bad as they seem.

Conveniently, there is a tea set on a tree stump doubling as a coffee table. The pot and cups are made of stone. Liandere points at the pot, and with a twist of her hand, the pot rises. She pours a cup for Lorelei and or herself. "I recall liking this bit of tradition from Earth," she comments. When she's done pouring, she says, "None from the court were as bad as Palanir..."

"We were bethrothed," Liandere says. "But it wasn't until I was older that I discovered the sort of man he was."

Lorelei nods, still wondering what sort of man that is. Did he do *this* to her - whatever this is exactly?

"Ambitious, vengeful, wicked." Liandere says. "I recall feeling that being lost on Earth was the best thing that ever happened to me. I met Quentin. I had you. I was ready to give up this world and live happily on Earth."

Lorelei asks quietly, "So what happened?"

Liandere says, "Palanir found us. His sole desire is to one day be king himself. For that to happen we would have to be wed. He would have killed Quentin without a second thought, so I gave into his wishes. I agreed to return and marry Palanir, and he would spare your lives."

Lorelei says, "*Our* lives? He knew about me?"

"I was able to conceal your existence from Palanir." Liandere says. "If he knew, I don't think his pride would allow him to accept the agreement. And as it turned out, the compromise was not enough for him..."

Lorelei says, "What did he do?"

Lorelei holds the cup of tea but isn't drinking, too intent on the story.

"Palanir would have my hand in marriage, but he knew that my heart still belonged to Quentin. So he used dark magic to try and steal my love. But pacts with dark entities rarely end the way one intends. He took my heart, and he keeps it, hidden away amongst his things.

Lorelei rattles the cup against her saucer as her hands tremble in anger. "He did do it! I knew it!"

Lorelei says, "Did you tell anyone what he did?"

Liandere says, "I can't help but think that he did me a favor. Otherwise, I would miss you and Quentin terribly..." Liandere pauses in thought for a moment. "No... there just didn't seem to be any point to telling anyone. Father, Meril... it was hard to care."

Lorelei says, "But - you must *know* that you would have cared... if you still had your heart - must have *known* the injustice of it!"

Lorelei thinks. o O (And you did, didn't you? That's why you're here - trying to show the darkness behind the facade....)

Liandere says, "It just didn't seem very important." She says. She summons her cup of tea to her hand and begins to sip from it.

Lorelei takes a sip of tea herself. "Does anything?"

The tea is bitter, definitely an acquired taste, if one can actually build a taste for it.

"The swamp. I'm pleased with how it's turned out..." Liandere sips her tea, not seeming to dislike its taste at all. "Our family has a long tradition of being skill at crafting magic."

Lorelei says, "I'm sure! I'm impressed - not that I know much at all about magic.... Mum - your heart. He keeps it, you say - do you know where?"

"There is a locked chest that he keeps in his quarters at the castle," Liandere says. "Aganar has seen it --" she looks towards the crow for a moment. "-- and so has father. That's why Palanir poisoned him."

Lorelei says, "I'll get it back for you, Mum! I don't know how to undo the magic that took it from you, but we'll find a way!"

Liandere says, "If you must."

Lorelei says, "It may not be important to you now. But it's important to me - and I'm sure it's important to Dad, and to your father, and to your sister - and will be to you, too, once you're whole again!"

Liandere nods. "You are free to go whenever you'd like."

Lorelei says, "Oh mum, I don't want to go! Not so soon after finding you again!" Putting down her tea and getting up to hug her mother, if she'll permit it, she says, "But I have to go and help my friends and ger your heart back - then we can have a proper reunion!"

Liandere doesn't hug back, making it a slightly awkward.

Lorelei knew she wouldn't, but had to hug her anyway. As she releases her, she asks, "There's something I wanted to ask - you left the candle for me - was that so I could find my way here when old enough?"

Liandere says, "The last thing I had wanted was for you to come here... I wanted to keep you safe and away from Palanir... the candle was so that you could escape from danger, since I would not be around to protect you myself."

Lorelei says, "Oh Mum - I'm sorry then! But we'll stop Palanir, and get your heart back, you'll see!"