Lady of Silences

Briac

Briac watched as a speckled blackbird toddled slowly along the ledge of his window. He sat sideways at his desk, a few papers idly held in one hand, as the bird pecked at bits of dirt on the sill. Beyond, the streets of Kharo sprawled and twisted towards the sea; a maze of stone and wood that brought the myriad smells of the city towards his office. A smooth breeze brought in a pepper scent mixed with honey bread, followed shortly by sawdust and iron. But beyond these lay the ever-present tang of bodies, pressed together as they moved through the markets and streets. Far beyond the houses and tidy squares lay the harbor, already bustling as the sun rose in the sky. Dawn was a busy time in Kharo, as humans and pannari alike began to crowd the streets, and Briac found himself moving in his chair to turn toward the window and take in the city sounds. Though his tower rooms were separated by the main city by the walls and gardens of the Cathedra's grounds, they afforded him a birds-eye view of the southern edge of the city.

Briac had been at this desk for several hours already, reading through the proposals and correspondence that had arrived late the day before. Most were not addressed directly to him, as few people would send a message personally to the Rabh Alai, but instead came to him after review by the Ninth Council.

He paged through the papers one more time before setting them aside. Trivial matters, mostly regarding increasing funding to this chamber or that, appointing a new Alai for a country temple whose aged head had passed into the arms of night. He could sign off on these without much further thought. Again he glanced toward the window. But the sun had risen further and the brightness was getting to be too much. He pulled his eye-cloth from a drawer and toyed with it for a moment, before choosing instead to pull down the curtain over the sill. Immediately the pain in his head eased, though this did remove the view he loved so much. Each day he rose early to take advantage of the faint light, only to have to turn away as the sun climbed. From this point until dusk he would have to remain indoors or risk the head pain that came to him even when he covered his eyes. For this reason, he loved the rainy and windy days, and the shorter days of mid-winter. But spring was several weeks in now, and though it brought the city to life below him it shortened his time to enjoy the sight.

A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He paused a moment to set down his papers and got up to walk towards the door. Upon opening it he was greeted by a petite woman in flowing white robes and elaborately braided hair.

"Rabh Alai," she bowed slightly before continuing, "blessed morning to you. Is there anything I can get for your morning meal?"

Briac took a step back and gestured for the woman to enter his room. "No, I'm not hungry at the moment, but thank you Meera."

She followed him into the room as he turned and walked back toward his desk. "I have a summary of today's scheduled meetings for you." She set a small sheet of paper down and began to run off his schedule with precision.

"To begin with, you will be meeting with the Council to discuss the appointment of a new member to replace Alai Khefar," she paused to press three fingertips together and pull them toward her chest, "may his rest be peaceful. I suspect this will be brief, there are only a few candidates and each has already made his case in the small sessions earlier this week. I have those summaries here, as well as the recommendations of the Alai who have sponsored each man."

"After this I have you in the Hall of Echoes to receive petitions. You have the usual three hours, after which you are free until the sunset services."

Meera turned and frowned towards the window, her dark eyes narrowing. "It's going to be very bright today Your Grace, if needful we can postpone petitions until the morrow."

Briac waved his hand dismissively, "No, no, that won't be necessary. I can manage just fine with my eye-cloth. I must always be available for the people to see, and arrangements can be made to dim the room. I won't take days off for so little reason."