[London. October 26th, 1244. 9:00 pm] [It's a pleasant fall evening in London, cool but clear, with plenty of yellow-orange leaves to crunch through. It's been a while since Moriel asked for Eliana's help in researching the possibility of Golconda, and he hasn't spoken to her since. Now, however, he's approaching Jill Leftherder's home again...] [Begin!] #06* Moriel swishes through leaves, looking contemplative. He steps lightly up Jill's stairs and knocks. #06* Jill answers the door after a few minutes, and she smiles at Moriel. "Good evening, Mr. MacRae," she says in English. "Please come in." She looks much like she always has; the years are good to her - or maybe she's just not aging. #06* Jill opens the door wide for Moriel to enter. Jill's home looks much like it did last time, though tidier and with a new bedspread. #06* Moriel inclines his head in an almost-bow and smiles back at her. "Good evening, Miss Leftherder." He tucks the book he's carrying under one arm and steps inside. #06* Jill closes and bolts the door after Moriel steps in. There's a desk chair and her bed and two chairs at the table available for sitting, and a fire is crackling in the hearth. #06* Moriel does not sit just yet, as he has not been invited to do so. Instead he takes the book out from under his arm and holds it out to her. "I brought a gift for your lady." #06* Jill 's eyes widen. "I'll get it to her as soon as I can," she says with a delighted smile. "I'm sure she'll love it." #06* Moriel smiles again, though he looks oddly wistful at the same time. "Yes, she does seem to love books." #01 I'm not really sure what else she loves, besides scrolls and... sometimes teaching me about things. Lady Eliana is angry a lot of the time. #06* Jill moves the few steps to her desk and sets the book carefully on it. #06* Moriel cocks his head to one side. "...I see. What does she teach you?" #01 Well... #06* Jill shifts a little, then says, "She's taught me Latin. And how to read, in both English and Latin. We're still working on writing." #01 But she said reading is more important. #06* Moriel smiles faintly. "She would, wouldn't she?" #01 She did! In any case, they do go together. You could hardly learn to write without learning to read. #06* Jill nods. "I'm not very good at it, yet - really nowhere near as good as she is - but I can do it." #06* Moriel smiles at her. "Good for you." #01 And she taught me, um, some of what she called basic quadrivium, so - division and multiplication, with numbers, and things like that. #06* Jill blushes a touch and smiles shyly back, not sure if she should be proud of herself or not. #06* Moriel looks around the room, seeing as Jill seems a little more comfortable now. #01 [It really is much like it was before. No food is being prepared, and all of the pottery and utensils are where they should be, though there's a small jar on the mantle he didn't notice last time. The desk is cleared except for the book. There's a new quilt on the bed: not expertly embroidered, but functional and nicer than the last one. Her rosary's on the bedpost, as it was last time.] #06* Moriel 's wandering gaze snags on the rosary and in the space of a breath he's across the room, reaching out to touch it. At the last moment, though, he freezes, and his fingers curl back away from it. #06* Jill walks after Moriel, ended up in the middle of the room when his fingers curl away. "Mr. MacRae?" she asks, hesitantly. #06* Moriel just stands there for a moment, and then he pulls his hand away and takes a step back. It looks like it cost him, though. He turns to face Jill, eyes downcast, and says softly, "Your pardon." #01 Do you- would you like it? #06* Moriel 's eyes flash open and he almost takes a step back. "Oh, no!" He catches himself and says more calmly. "No, it's yours. Besides, I have my own." #06* Moriel pulls a rosary from his pocket. It's a lovely thing, with beads of polished jet and lapis. #06* Jill looks puzzled, but she nods. And then Moriel shows his own rosary to her, and she gasps, "Oh, that's beautiful!" #06* Moriel 's fingers twitch for a moment as they touch it. He looks at it where it hangs in the air and says quietly, "It was my mother's." Then he glances back at Jill. His gaze is troubled. "I would never take anything of yours." #06* Jill blinks, still confused. #01 I didn't think that you would? But I thought I might offer it, as a gift. I don't have much to offer, so if you liked it... #06* Jill shrugs, trying to brush it off. "Yours is lovely, though, and if your mother..." She trails off for a moment, then says, "I'm glad you have something to remember her by." #06* Moriel looks at the rosary for a moment before slipping it back into his pocket. "Yes." And then back to Jill again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." #01 It's fine, Mr. MacRae. They're- they're happy now, I think. #06* Jill crosses the rest of her way to her bed, sitting on the edge of it and picking her own rosary off from the post. "You know," she says, "I was saying the prayers long before I knew what the words meant. It's nice, knowing them, but sometimes I wonder if I'm not supposed to." #06* Moriel 's gaze flickers for a moment. He pulls one of the chairs a little closer to Jill and sits down. "I think...that knowing the words of praise you say for God cannot bring any harm." #01 Do you think so? #06* Jill works her thumb through the rosary. One, three, one, ten. #06* Moriel smiles faintly. "Yes, I do." He's silent for a moment, considering, then, "Our God is full of great mysteries, and truly no mortal can fully comprehend Him. But...I think nothing that brings one closer to Him can possibly be a bad thing." #06* Jill nods. She sits in silence for a bit, counting out beads, before asking quietly, "Do you think that everything that happens is part of His plan? I was told growing up that it is, that everything happens for a reason and God is that reason, but Lady Eliana says..." She hesitates for a moment, then: "Lady Eliana says that that's a 'ridiculous notion'." #06* Moriel is still for a long moment. "Lady Eliana...sometimes says things I disagree with." He looks down at his hands. "Still...I would not like to think...that my being taken from Him was part of His plan. But what do I know?" #06* Jill keeps her eyes on the beads. "More than me, probably. I always thought He would protect me, and-" She stops abruptly and begins recounting. #06* Moriel is silent for even longer this time. His voice when he speaks is distant, as if he's talking to himself. "One always returns to the same questions. How does evil coexist with an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving God? But then there is the question of free will. Without the freedom to choose evil, the act of choosing the path of God instead would be meaningless..." #06* Moriel sighs. "It is not much comfort, however." #06* Jill nods, then looks back to Moriel. "Thank you just the same." #06* Moriel blinks. "...you're welcome." #01 You're a good man, Mr. MacRae. I don't think that you were taken away from God, not really. No? #06* Moriel says very quietly, "I am not always a good man." #06* Jill shakes her head. "Sometimes good men do bad things, or make poor decisions, but..." She reaches out and touches Moriel's hand gently, her fingers very warm and very human. "You seem good to me, and- People like you can do a lot of good things." #06* Moriel is still like stone. "Perhaps..." #06* Moriel takes a breath, then lets it out in a sigh. He glances at the book now sitting on Jill's desk. "Well. At least I know your lady will most likely not enjoy my theology books." #06* Jill shrugs. "I don't know." #01 Lady Eliana seems to like reading about everything, even things she doesn't agree with. Hm. Well, perhaps I can ask. I have other books, in the meantime. #06* Moriel rises and offers Jill a hand with a faint smile. "Thank you, Miss Leftherder." #06* Jill takes the hand and stands as well. "You are welcome, Mr. MacRae," she replies with a smile of her own. #01 [Mini End!]