A Meeting at Rubicon

Rubicon River Hold - Lady Holder's Office

office.jpg

This room indeed bears the mark of the current Lady Holder. There is no artwork save for a simple mosaic of the hold's design into the floor as you enter. There are no distractions in here for her or those that have business here. One wall has bookshelves that are neatly stacked, with all books within reach as well as wooden boxes containing parchments. A large rosewood desk marks the centre of the room, simple, yet elegent. A highbacked chair cushioned in royal purple velvet sits behind the desk, while two simpler chairs sit before it. On the north wall towards the western corner of the room is a simple door leading to the private chamber of the Lord and Lady.


It is a bit after midday at Rubicon Hold proper and Ryeira is in her office as usual. The curtains of the map on the wall have been drawn open. Little flags and markers stuck into its surface at various points. She is alone in her office at the moment, standing a few feet from the wall just to look over the map. Though she is as immaculate as ever, there is definately some notes of strain about her. More tightness to her eyes, a bit of weight loss. Though she is ever the statuesque Bitran that arrived over a decade ago. An uneaten meal sits upon her desk along with a stack of reports.

Its a gentle tap on Ryeira's door, and without waiting for a response, Niva is showing herself in, the Weyrwoman in her every day leathers, having come almost immediately from the Weyr, rather than taking the time to fuss and fix herself up for a formal visit. "Lady Ryeira.." She offers in greeting as she slowly closes the doors behind her, gaze going to the map, and then the Lady Holder in turn.

Ryeira looks up as she hears the tap on the door, nodding silently to the Weyrwoman before looking back to the map, "Weyrwoman." She replies in kind. She takes a step toward the map, her slate eyes looking over some of the red markers on the map on the outskirts of their lands. "I need to address Conclave and get confirmed as Lady Holder of Rubicon in mine own right or in stead for my son. I have waited far too long to address them and I am losing ground." Literally.

"That was one of the things I needed to speak you with. With the quarantine lifted, Xanadu would be happy to provide transportation to ensure that the Lord Holders are all able to attend. We… Have identified more Hannistan outposts.." And moving to the map, she indicates a trio of locations along Rubicon's Southern border. "We've been waiting to move on them until the situation was solved, but we're afraid they'll be attempting to take advantage of… his Lordship's absence." Niva considers her words carefully, dropping her gaze.

At the notations of the Weyrwoman, Ryeira grimaces and collects a few more flags from a tin on her desk and marks them out. She places them upon the board where indicated and shakes her head. She points to the north of the hold, "We have had a few renegade incursions as well. We lost so many of our fittest men and fighters upon that ship, it will take us time to fill their ranks again. But I am hardpressed to get anyone out here until things are settled with the leadership of this Hold." The old catch 22.

"We'll increase patrols in those areas, if you could mark out on a map where they were." And then, a soft sigh and Niva begins to pace. "We.. maybe have some positive nose for you, however. One of my riders noticed… footprints in one of the deserted coves, near were… we found some wreckage. He's.. taking the wing out to investigate. I don't want you to get your hopes hope, however, I felt that as the Lady of the Hold, you deserved to know." Pausing in her pacing, she glances up at Ryeira, to judge her reaction.

"I will have a map made up for you…" Ryeira responds and moves to a little box in the wall, where in ropes are passed through, leading to bells in other areas of the hold. Intricate and yet archaic. At the news she nods without a flicker of hope passing her gaze. "My lord had a firelizard, there were half dozen or so men aboard the vessel with firelizards and none have returned to the hold. I will not announce such a false hope to the hold until it is proven to be one of the men. We must focus here and now, not to some distant shore that holds mysterious footprints. I cannot have my people distracted." Cold we are perhaps.

"Lady Ryeira, I'll return with news as soon as we've anything to share. While.. we have hopes, after all this time, its rather unlikely." Niva admits with a soft sigh, shaking her head. "If you will contact the Lords and Ladies, Xanadu will provide transport, and we'll ensure that this is settled once and for all." Niva's already turning towards the door, the Weyrwoman uncomfortable in the cold woman's presence.

Ryeira nods to Niva, her gaze remaining on the map. Oh the Bitrans, stoic and proud they are. For her, perhaps it is only that getting her through this. Has she cried yet? Has she grieved? Most assume she has not. The cold ice queen, but she is THEIR ice queen. There is a certain level of devotion she has achieved amoung the locals here. As Niva starts to leave, Ryeira finally looks up to her. "Thank you…"

"Your welcome, Lady Ryeira.." Niva offers with a nod before she's excusing herself and going to collect the promised maps and return to Xanadu.


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License