On Mount Alyppia

They Know

"Violetta was playing," Gregor said to explain the mess in his workroom that morning.
Playing. Well, she had certainly been doing something. Two of the sparring dummies had been mutilated. Chests slashed, limbs scattered, heads cracked open, innards spread across the floor. Arista had mended the dummies before, and made them in the first place, but she didn't know if she would be able to salvage these.
Still, she tried. When Assuntina and leonid came in for their twice-weekly lessons, she had fingers that were pricked and bleeding, a shorter temper than usual, and no dummies.
Assuntina gave her a chirpy hello when she came in, which Arista echoed feebly. And Leonid- Leonid gave her that smile whenever she handed him a weapon, the one that made her feel fluttery. She vividly remembered what had happened that day on the roof, when she'd been silly with pain and drink and talking more than she should have been. She didn't know what to do, about what had happened, what to think about it. So she didn't. Still, it made her happier than she could say to know her stonecarver did not hate her.
Still, he was a horrible swordsman. Gregor had been trying to teach him the same maneuver for some time when Arista glanced up and let herself get a long look at him. His skin was swarthy from the sun, his brow scrunched. Sweat soaked through the back of his shirt and plastered his curls to his forehead.
Gregor demonstrated again. Leonid tried to mimic him. But he was used to holding a pen, or a hammer and chisel, not a rapier.
"No," Gregor said impatiently. "It's..."
He demonstrated and explained yet again. Leonid still looked lost. Assuntina gave him an amused look from where she stood sparring with one of the dummies that Violetta had not killed.
While Gregor prattled on, Arista hesitantly lo0ked up and met Leonid's eyes. Holding his gaze, she mimed the movement with the rapier she was cleaning. He slowly imitated the motion. She nodded.
"Yes! Like that!" Gregor said. He really must have been frustrated, to react so vocally.. She snuck another look at Leonid, and saw that he was giving her the smile.
After the lesson was over, Assuntina chatted with her while she cooled off, as had become habit. Arusta gave one word answers to all her questions: how was she, how Gregor had been acting, how her eye was, whether she thought it was too hot.
"Oh, do you know a nymph named Vivalius?"
Arista looked up. "Yes."
Assuntina didn't catch the hint of hostility in her voice. "He came to my father's court a few days ago. He asked about you."
She frowned. "Truly?"
"He asked how you were and how your eye was, and told me to say hello to you."
"Why was he there?" Assuntina asked, forgetting for a moment that she had no business speaking so brazenly to the prince's daughter.
Assuntina didn't seem to care, or even notice. "He came to speak to my father. How do you know him?"
Arista shrugged. "He- he fixed my eye. He was kind. He keeps birds."
Assuntina raised an eyebrow. "Birds?"
"Big birds," Arista said. "Big as horses. They were like lions, in the back, they had cat tails. He called them griffins. Sorry, I'm not saying this right..."
"It's alright," Assuntina said quickly. "Birds, you said? That explains the eagle."
Arista frowned. "Eagle?"
Assuntina nodded. "He flew in as an eagle, then changed into the shape of a man, then became a bird again when he left. He didn't show you?"
Arista shook her head.
"Odd," Assuntina said thoughtfully. "He seemed all too willing to show it off at court."
Arista replied with another shrug. She didn't know what else to reply with. Vivalius had been good to her, probably only because half of her was nymph. He didn't have to show her anything. She was grateful enough that she was still alive and had eaten well for two days. And Jack. She had gotten to play with Jack.
"Do you know any nymphs but him?" Assuntina said suddenly.
Arista tilted her head at her. "What?"
"It's just, since you're a Lippian and all, I thought you might. Nymphs are strange, but interesting."
"I- I don't-"
"Do you know who your parents are, for example? Your nymph one, at least? It just seems odd for a nymph to help a girl, even a Lippian, nevermind ask after her. I just thought perhaps you were familiar with nymphs, that's all."
Arista felt like a statue. "How'd... How'd you know that?"
Assuntina frowned. "Know what?"
"That I- I'm- I'm a-" She swallowed. She couldn't bring herself to say it.
"A lippian?" Assuntina said. The word floated from her lips so easily, as if it was no concern to her whatsoever. As if it was just a handful of sounds and not what made Arista's life not a life worth living.
Assuntina's eyes widened suddenly. "Oh, you never told me, did you? It was Leo who told me... You never meant for me to know, did you? Oh, I'm so sorry..."
Arista swallowed. No one ever apologized to her. It made her want to squirm. "I- It's alright," she muttered, even though it wasn't. Even though the less people who knew what she was, the better.
"I'm sorry," Assuntina said again, biting her lip. "Well, then, do you trust him? Would you? The nymph, I mean."
Arista had forgotten they were talking about Vivalius at all. "I s'pose... Why're you asking?"
"No reason," Assuntina said with a little laugh, tucking a glossy curl behind her ear. "I just wanted to know what you thought of him. He seemed... Good."
"He was," Arista said.
Leonid picked right then to call to Assuntina that their carriage was there. She gave Arista a brief smile and dashed away.

So at this point, I think I update on Saturday and not Friday, because I keep freaking forgetting. I'm sorry, my dudes.
To reward my lovely readers, all two (three on a good day of you), here is a very badly drawn picture of Arista and Leo that I found in the depths of my photos somewhere. Enjoy.
On that note, I actually draw my peeps quite a bit, would you be interested in seeing any more of those?

Tell me if so.
So long, suckers!
~Amanda