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gypsy_merrique · Journeyman Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 213 Location: Umbra

Slipping quietly away from the tent housing her twin, Merrique bathed in a nearby stream before departing the distant gypsy camp on a far end of Ilshenar. This was not a camp frequented by traveling kin; it was a more secret place. A place of illness and death. The place her twin languished in a deep sleep induced by the most talented of the clan's healers and herbalists. Much as she wanted to be reluctant to go, she had to admit to herself she was joyful to get a break from the grueling demands of her sister's healing.

It was fate, she was convinced, that Merrique happened to see the wedding announcement during one of her too-brief visits to more familiar areas. She decided then and there that she would go, and bring good wishes on the behalf of herself and Xana. Nobody need know the harsh truths of the situation at hand. Such a joyous occasion should never be marred intentionally--not when such news could wait. Besides, she thought, the status of the situation could easily turn into a positive looking outcome. In fact, waiting was probably better.

The ceremony was as beautiful as the location. How ironic it was, that the wedding was held in one of Xana's favorite places to sit with her lute and play her songs, to sing their verses. It was as if she were there in spirit, if not body.

After the festivities, Merrique stopped at her home, the home she shared with any number of visiting, traveling, or needy cousins at any given time--and just as often, with nobody at all. She changed into an old dress and prepared to travel back to be at her sister's side, but not before penning a grateful letter to an old friend who made the evening much more bearable to her.

It was true, she thought, that sometimes misery really does love company.
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. . . But the dark is very trustworthy.
It's always as dark as you thought it was.
And you don't have to work at staying there.
All you have to do is survive it.
And I've been doing that forever.
from the novel "Dark Debts" by Karen Hall