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Greywoods at the Gate

Aquila was a gated city - and the gates were closed from dusk to dawn.

So it was that any travellers arriving at the gates just as the sun was setting could, if traffic was busy and they lacked the necessary permits or permissions, be forced to spend a night outside the gates - either at one of the two extortionately priced inns (the Tabard, or the Golden Cock), or else make what camp they could by the road for the night.

Now, as dawn broke, the inn was resounding with the clamour and clash of cooks preparing breakfast, while those camping by the roadside were starting small fires to boil water or else to cook what rations they were provided with.

Vivien Greywood tucked an unruly strand of dark hair behind her ear as she glided down the stair towards the common room. The prices at this inn were unbearable, as was the congestion of traffic near the gate. Still, they could not have expected poor Grandmother to sleep outside or in the carriage, a fact she (Vivien) had brought up the night before, eyeing the lights of the nearby inn.

Vivien was wearing an attractive traveling costume in rusty green, a color that made the red highlights stand out in her brown hair. Arriving at the foot of the stairs she looked around for familiar faces or an empty table.

Sitting at one end of a long table was Gloria Greywood. Her old body had woken her several hours ago. She cleaned up and performed her morning devotions before slowly and carefully coming downstairs, step by step. The plate in front of her held only crumbs of her toast but her coffee mug was still half full. Her traveling bag sat at her side. When she noticed Vivien coming down the stairs, she smiled, her cloudy hazel eyes twinkling.

She waited for Vivien to come closer before saying anything.

Seeing her grandmother, Vivien's pleasantly preoccupied expression flashed open into a smile that showed her dimples. She glided to the table and slid into a seat beside Gloria. "Good morning, Nana. Did you sleep well?"

"Vivvie, dear," she replied, her voice warm and affectionate as she patted Vivien's hand. "I slept fine, though nothing is like your own bed. Did you hear the birds this morning? They sound different than the ones at home."

It was hard to tell from Gloria's demeanor that this trip was not her idea. She would have been content to live out her years in her home, taking her good days and bad days as they came. Still, her children said the doctors in the capital knew so much more and she could be in less pain. Once they started packing her belongings, she knew the decision was made and sent the letter in her shaky hand to the lord of the House.

"And have you seen your brother? I wish I knew when you two were coming down. I would have had breakfast waiting for you."

Vivien laughed. "But I can never tell a thing like that before time, Nana. Sometimes getting up is harder than other times, and sometimes becoming beautiful requires more work. But don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to eat. We're not expected for a few days yet." She looked around for a waiter and tried to flag him over. "And I've no idea where that sleepy-head is. Still abed, from the looks of things, unless he had business here on the outskirts."

Gloria thought Vivien was always beautiful, but she merely nodded agreeably and waited while her granddaughter ordered breakfast.

"I guess I'll keep watching. He has to pass through here sometime. And what are your plans today? Do you think we'll spend another night here or travel into the city?"

Vivien ordered tea and toast along with a few tomatoes. Then she turned and smiled at her grandmother. "Well, I'd prefer to go into the city. There doesn't seem to be much to do here, does there? Still, we might find it easier to wait for our cousins... I was speaking with a gentleman popping through the gate last night and he said there were quite a few protocols about getting inside of which I had no inkling. Permits and such."

Gloria's eyebrows went up. "Permits? My! Security keeps getting tighter. I can't believe a citizen isn't allowed to visit the capital city. Let's hope the letter to Lord Greywood didn't get lost." She shook her head and leaned forward, looking for her embroidery in her travel bag.

Vivien took a bite of toast, chewed delicately, swallowed, examined her nails for crumbs. "I'm sure we'll manage."

"I'm sure we will," Gloria replied.

She lifted the embroidery hoop and a small case with her supplies out of the traveling bag. Removing the needle from where it was tucked, she continued where she left off the night before, embellishing a linen handkerchief with a spray of daisies and a caterpillar creeping along the stem.

"Vivvie, did I ever tell you of my first trip to the city?"

"I think so, a long time ago, but I'd love to hear about it again," Vivien said, smiling. She kept eating delicately, listening.

"Oh! I was so excited when my father said I could make the trip with him. Mamma couldn’t go and leave all the little ones, so Auntie Helen accompanied us with her servant girl." As she talked, Gloria's emotions played across her wrinkled face. "Mamma helped pick my clothes, dresses for traveling, dresses to wear in the city, and my very best dress. She had me go through my chest and pick out pieces of my handwork to pack in another small case."

"It was hard to leave to the family, but it was such an adventure, sleeping outdoors at night and seeing new things every day. And then we reached the city - so many buildings and all the people!" Gloria paused to concentrate on threading a new color onto her needle.

"I've wanted to come to the city for so long," Vivien said, grey eyes focusing on a point miles distant. She snapped back to the present with a quick toss of her head. "Not to sleep outdoors, though. What were the people like?"

"The people... let me think..." Gloria shrugged. "They're like people anywhere. Some are nice and others think they're too good to talk to you. Lord Windhaven seemed tall and old and intimidating. I really didn't notice anyone else once I was introduced to your grandfather."

"Hmm, really?" Vivien cocked her head to one side. "I think the most interesting thing about the city will be the people - the ones who are supposed to be important, and the ones who really are important. I like that sort of thing."

Liev Greywood arrived at the Inn looking, as usual, somewhat distracted and completely harried. The tall, dark haired man's skin was now tanned a deep brown but he still radiated the aura of an academic lost in the real world outside his chamber's window. Looking over the heads of the inn's patrons, he finally spotted his sister and grandmother. He lifted a hand in greeting and started across the common room, careful to avoid contact with the other customers.

Reaching the table, he leaned down with a smile to kiss the cheek of the elder woman. "Grandmere, I'm so sorry to be late. I passed some of the fields on my way in and the soil, well, it's just so ..."

Suddenly taking notice of the other woman, he said "Oh, Vivien, delightful to ..." Liev again bent over to kiss his sister, but stopped part way through the movement with an awkward jerk. "Wonderful we're all ..." he started again, holding out his hand to shake.

The hand belonged more to a workman than the zaibatsu saririman Liev was known to be. The calluses were thick from manual labour, and he still held a small sample of soil in the palm. Looking down, the broad smile on Liev's face suddenly crashed.

"Completely inappropriate, of course." Liev brushed his hands together, to scatter the dirt on the common room floor. "Terribly sorry, sister, I was just..."

Sitting down at the table, "Lunch first, do you think, or should we try to find the manor?"

"Oh, Liev!" Gloria replied, happy as always to see him. She tucked her embroidery back into her bag. "Don't be sorry. I was only wondering where you might be. I should have guessed."

She glanced over at Vivien, still processing what her granddaughter said to her. "Vivien said something about needing permits to enter the city. It sounded like we would be staying here for lunch anyway."

Vivien was still laughing gently at her brother. She rose to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Wash up first, I think, darling. Regardless of where we go."

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