[IRP] The County of Northborough

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Ella
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Ella »

Following the fiasco that was her birthday dinner, Ella returned to the city for several days. She did not make her normal trip home each evening, instead choosing to stay in her small apartment above the butcher shop. Ella only returned to the manor at Northborough midday on Friday, after finishing her work early. Upon returning home, she found that Tyris was gone, hunting maybe. Her daughter had not returned home yet either from her visit to the library in Fenia City. So, devoid of responsibilities and company, Ella went to her office.

The maid found her there, brush in hand as she covered a canvas with dark grey and black strokes. The painting was not even halfway done, but one could not mistake the ominous clouds that had been created on the skyline. A knock on the door interrupted her progress. She turned to the now open door to see a maid standing there.
"Lady Nikola would like to see you, my Lady," the woman bowed her head before leaving the room with the door still ajar. "Oh," Ella said as she put down her paintbrush. She quickly wiped her hands on a damp cloth then followed the maid out and down the hall to the foyer.

"Nikki, I didn't know you were coming," Ella offered her a genuine smile, perhaps the first real smile seen on her face in a long time. The witch wrapped her arms around her friend, completely oblivious to the paint that was smeared across her forehead. "What brings you here?"
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Nikola
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Nikola »

The sound of approaching footsteps turned Nikola’s attention to the approach of the same maid that had left her there, followed by the familiar figure of her friend. “I didn’t know I was coming until I decided that’s what today was for,” she responded, smiling sincerely as she hugged her friend. “I see you have been painting,” she announced, running a finger through the still damp paint on Ella’s forehead and holding her finger up with a chuckle for Ella to see the dark gray smudge. “I came because I miss my friend and wanted to see how you are doing,” she answered Ella’s last question as she accepted the cloth the maid offered as soon as she had seen the smudge on Nikola’s finger. She nodded her thanks and wiped the smudge from her finger and then offered to wipe off the smear across Ella’s forehead. “Seems to me, you might could use some company apart from the usual,” she commented, keeping a light tone in her voice. It was good to see Ella smile, but the darkness she was sensing seemed to emanate from inside the witch. Nikola knew that Ella tended toward shadow, but this was different. This felt wrong, somehow, but she did her best not to show that she noticed.
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Ella
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Location: Northborough or Fenia City

Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Ella »

"It has been a while, I suppose," Ella answered with a pensive tone. How long had it been since she had last seen Nikola? In truth, she didn't rightly know. Time slipped by. Ella stayed lost in it. Invisible and yet heavy. In the months of her seclusion, it felt she had been trapped under a wave, stuck in a harsh current. She was pulled through the endless sea unsure when she would be able to catch her breath again.

Ella's thoughts moved back to the present again as Nikki remarked on the paint smeared on her forehead.
"Oh yes, I have been." The maid handed Nikola a cloth to clean her finger first who then handed the cloth to Ella so she could clean the grey pain from her face. "Thank you," she said as she rubbed the cloth across her skin, trying to get up all of the wet pigment. She handed the cloth back to the maid, leaving despite a small grey stain that remained on her forehead. She didn't notice so she could hardly mind it.

"I'm glad you decided to come. Do you want to go to the sitting room, or the gardens, or..." Ella started listing off things that her friend might enjoy doing while simultaneously trying to remember what it was that she enjoyed doing.
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Nikola
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Nikola »

The sense of foreboding was strong inside the manor house which made sense as it seemed to be coming from Ella herself. Nikola did not even fully understand what she was sensing, but the power that dwelt inside of her had made her sensitive to such things. "Why don't you show me around and then I would love to see some of your paintings. After that maybe you would go riding with me? When was the last time you really spent any time out in the fresh air, absorbing the sunlight on your skin?" she asked and hoped she had not crossed a line with the question, yet it seemed harmless enough. She had thought to ask her to go riding right away, but something stilled her tongue and instead she made the other suggestion. Perhaps she might learn something of the source of the darkness if she lingered awhile in the manor. Or not. Nikola was not entirely certain she even knew what she was doing, but it felt right.
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Ella
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Ella »

"Oh, sure," the witch gave a slight nod of her head, "That sounds good." She then turned and began walking down the corridor on the right. She pointed out the great dining hall, the sitting room, the library, and the second sitting room as she walked down the corridor to the room at the end.

At the end of the hall, she stopped and turned the handle of the last door. Ella pushed open the large wooden door to reveal her study. There were bookshelves lining the walls, a large easel near the window, a desk off to the center-right with many many pieces of parchment scattered on it. On the floor, propped up against the many bookshelves were various canvas. Some had completed paintings, some had half-finished works, and some were still empty.
"This is where I paint," Ella spoke in a hushed voice as if a loud voice might disturb the chaos within. The dark-haired woman moved inside the room and began flipping through the canvases along the sides. Finding the one she was after, she picked it up and showed it to her friend. It was large, covering over half of her body. The painting was a landscape with many grey and brown tones. All life seemed to have been sucked from the surrounding nature except for a single red rose on a bush with no other flowers.
Last edited by Ella on Sun Nov 14, 2021 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nikola
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Nikola »

Nikola followed behind Ella, looking into each of the rooms she pointed out as they passed them. They reached the end and Ella opened a large wooden door to reveal the room within. Her study, she called it, and at one time it may have been used as such, but the scene before her was more art studio than study. Her eyes gazed upon the paintings she could see, admiring the talent of the hand that had created them while Ella seemed to be searching for something in particular. The hushed tones which Ella used spoke of something precious, or special, or perhaps something else. Nikola was not certain. Ella found what she had been looking for and showed a painting to Nikola. Nikola reached out to touch the painting, drawn as the artist had likely intended, to the vibrant red rose alone on its bush. There was no other color in the painting aside from the darker hues of … what? It was not exactly a winter scene, nor was it precisely autumn either. It was most definitely not spring or even summer, yet it seemed to describe what Nikola was sensing in this place. The single red rose must mean something, and she turned her eyes from the canvas to search Ella’s.

“Does this have any particular meaning to you? It is lovely, but it seems to be more than just a painting.” There was more she wanted to say but held her tongue. She would bide her time until the moment was right to delve more deeply into what was causing the darkness that seemed to be consuming her friend.
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Ella
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Ella »

"Everything has meaning," Ella continued in her the same soft-spoken tone. She turned away from Nikola and set the painting down, propping it up on the chair at her desk. "Art is subjective, each person will take away something different. If I told you what it meant to me, would it diminish what you take away from it on your own?" Ella gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. She had somehow managed to turn this into an art lecture in her efforts to avoid answering the question. The truth was that this painting had very deep meaning to her, one which hurt for her to share. This was the first painting she had done after losing the baby. A dead, lifeless world with but a single Rose.

"We should go," she said suddenly, "darkness falls quickly in these parts. We don't want to be lost in the woods when the night comes." Ella motioned for Nikola to follow after her, "Let's go the stables. You can borrow one of my horses if your mare is still tired from the ride here, and then afterward we can have dinner." She led her friend back out of the room, down the corridor, and then down a different corridor. They reached a different side of the manor where there was another door to the outside. From here there was a short gravel path to the stables.
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Nikola
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Nikola »

Nikola took note of the way Ella avoided her question and tried not to make eye contact with her as well. There was definitely more to this painting that she was letting on, but there was likely a reason for that, too, and Nikola chose to respect her friend’s privacy, at least for the moment.

She brightened as Ella suggested they go to the stables and get ready for a ride. She chuckled when Ella offered one of her own horses in case Star was too tired.
“I think Star would protest rather vigorously if I dared take another horse out when she is right there waiting. We took our time getting here, and I have a feeling that even if she is not fully rested, she would still want to go. I will be sure to ask first, though,” she said with a wink at Ella. Nikola and Star were bonded in a sense, ever since that battle with the yvrms not long after Nikola had acquired the young mare. Even though they did not speak to each other in a manner that other creatures would understand, there was something there that helped them understand each other on a very basic level.

As they reached the stable at the end of the gravel path, Star greeted her with a whinny and shake of her mane. Nikola grinned and approached the mare, gently stroking her soft muzzle and then scratching behind her ears. Star’s head dropped and she took a step forward as if to say “keep going!” and Nikola chuckled and scratched her ears some more.
“Are you ready to go for a ride, or do you need to rest?” she asked the mare who just looked at her as if Nikola had grown a second head and then pawed the ground impatiently with her front hoof. Nikola turned her head to look back at Ella. “I think she wants to go if you don’t mind if we stay a bit after the ride to give her time to rest up,” she announced and slid back the lever securing the stall she was in. Entering the stall, she found Star’s tack and immediately set to saddling her own horse. Back at Firestorm Manor, Ben usually did this for her, but she still got lots of practice and to be honest, she enjoyed doing the chore as she got to spend more time with her beloved mare.
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Ella
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Ella »

"You can stay as long as you'd like," Ella responded when Nikola mentioned that they may need to stay longer to allow Star to rest after the ride. "You know you're always welcome in my home. And your company is perhaps necessary when I need a little light."

They followed the gravel path to the stables where the horses were kept. Ella kept several horses at Northborough estate for her own uses plus her family and visitors. There was not one that she was partial to so she allowed the stablehand to select one for her. The burly man selected a dappled grey mare which he fitted with a saddle blanket followed by a saddle. Given her small frame and her lack of familiarity with these creatures, Ella left these tasks to the professionals. When the horse was ready she mounted it with the assistance of the same stable hand. She shifted in her seat to get comfortable before leaning forward and offering a gentle pat to the mare's neck. The girl let out a nicker at the affectionate touch as Ella spoke, "Ready?" She picked up the reigns and guided the horse out of the stall and into the open area of the stable.

A few minutes later, Nikola joined her. Ella looked over at her friend and asked her the same thing,
"Ready?"
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Nikola
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Re: [IRP] The County of Northborough

Post by Nikola »

Once Starr was saddled and bridled, the mare swished her tail impatiently as Nikola led her out of her stall. With an affectionate caress of the mare’s soft, velvety nostrils, she approached the horse from the side and placed her foot in the stirrup. Ella was already on her horse and heading outside the stables when Nikola mounted and urged Starr forward. The mare’s head was held high and she nearly pranced as she moved forward to join Ella’s mount.

“Ready,” Nikola replied as Ella asked. “You know these trails, so you take the lead,” she suggested. She would ride next to Ella for as long as the land would allow it so that they could converse easily, but if the trail grew too narrow, she would fall in behind Ella and simply follow her lead.

“So, you do enjoy a little light, then,” she grinned, referring to an earlier statement that Ella had made. “I shall endeavor to bring as much light into your world as you will allow,” she promised with a warm smile at her friend. Ella was not always the dark, brooding being that many people seemed to see. There was a warmth to her, and although laughter did not come from her as readily as it did for Nikola, the woman could radiate light once you got to know her. She had a troubled past, Nikola knew, which had made Ella into the reserved woman she appeared to be when in social settings but was a brilliant mayor and now Finance Minister for the Kingdom of Fenia. Nikola had gotten to know her on their trip with TK and John through some of the other viceroyalties throughout Secfenia at large and they had become close friends, even if they did not often get to spend time in each other’s company.

As they rode, Nikola wanted to delve into what seemed to be troubling Ella but bided her time until either Ella chose to open up, or the time seemed right to start that conversation. Nikola knew that she had taken the loss of her child with Tyris very hard, but she suspected that was not the only thing troubling her friend.

Looking around her she took in the well-groomed lawns and bushes around the manor house of the estate. Beyond those were the pristine woodlands that studded the estate in every direction but one. There was a small lake a short distance down a gentle slope from the manor. She admired the cultivated areas but was drawn more to the natural woodlands and waterways. It was probably the sidhe blood in her that connected her to the trees and earth, but she was human enough to enjoy the labor of those who had carved out such a lovely estate.


“So where to? Into the woods or down by the lake?” she asked, patting her mare’s neck as Starr tossed her head impatiently.
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