Post by devilinthedetails on Dec 6, 2018 9:39:02 GMT 10
Title: Lost Goose
Rating: PG-13 for some sexuality and homophobia.
Prompt: Letters
Summary: Shinko's loneliness is written into the Midwinter letter she writes her brother.
Lost Goose
Shinko wanted to write a Midwinter letter to her brother in perfect calligraphy to prove she still remembered the land that had created her and her calligraphy was no less a graceful, precise artform than it had been when she sailed from the Yamani Islands to Tortall to meet the prince she was destined to marry. Her desire for unattainable perfection betrayed her with fingers that quavered as she drew the goose’s long, slender neck.
Tears of frustration rose flame-hot in her eyes, and she blinked them back, determined not to mar her letter to her brother with telltale tear smudges.
“A goose.” Roald’s shadow darkened her parchment as he leaned over her desk, resting a gentle palm on her shoulder. She didn’t have time to be grateful he could still interpret the intention behind her brush strokes despite her fumbling fingers before he went on, “The goose is an image of loss and absence in Yamani poetry and calligraphy, is it not?”
“Yes, it is.” For the first time since she had married Roald, she wished that her sensitive husband hadn’t made such a careful study of Yamani symbolism and wasn’t so attuned to her moods. When Roald continued to gaze down at her with a concerned furrow to his brow, she answered his unspoken question in a murmur, “I’m writing a Midwinter card to my brother.”
“You must miss him.” Roald patted her shoulder. “Invite him to visit us in state come the spring.”
“My brother has a lover he’ll want to accompany him—a male lover.” Shinko held her breath as she waited for her husband’s response to this revelation.
“Your brother is family.” Roald kissed her hair, but she could see in his stiff face the fear of scandal. His ears were already blazing red as coals with imagined whispers about her brother, and his eyes were wide with visions of how the court would stare at her brother’s lover as if he were a dragon. “He and his lover are welcome in Tortall.”
“I’ll warn my brother that he and his lover must be discreet if they come to Tortall.” Shinko cupped Roald’s chin with the hand that didn’t contain her brush. “I’ll explain to him that nobody must be able to suspect that they are more than friends or your family would be dishonored.”
“I thought all Yamani were always discreet.” The clouds parted in Roald’s expression at her promise, and sunshine sparkled in the blue lakes of his eyes.
“That’s because you aren’t subtle enough to detect our many indiscretions, darling.” Shinko tapped Roald’s wrist with her brush in playful reproach.
“I’m subtle enough to realize that’s an insult, my dear.” Roald’s quiet chuckle melted the winter frost from Shinko’s heart, easing the loneliness she had felt as she wrote to her beloved brother back in the Yamani Islands. “Adding an endearment to an insult doesn’t make it discreet.”
“Then I can only hope that my magnanimous husband will forgive my indiscretion.” Shinko lifted her lips to press them whisper-light against Roald’s mouth.
“I would forgive my beautiful wife any indiscretion when she asks so sweetly.” Roald deepened the kiss, and Shinko felt her spirit fly from her chest as if soaring on goose’s wings.
Rating: PG-13 for some sexuality and homophobia.
Prompt: Letters
Summary: Shinko's loneliness is written into the Midwinter letter she writes her brother.
Lost Goose
Shinko wanted to write a Midwinter letter to her brother in perfect calligraphy to prove she still remembered the land that had created her and her calligraphy was no less a graceful, precise artform than it had been when she sailed from the Yamani Islands to Tortall to meet the prince she was destined to marry. Her desire for unattainable perfection betrayed her with fingers that quavered as she drew the goose’s long, slender neck.
Tears of frustration rose flame-hot in her eyes, and she blinked them back, determined not to mar her letter to her brother with telltale tear smudges.
“A goose.” Roald’s shadow darkened her parchment as he leaned over her desk, resting a gentle palm on her shoulder. She didn’t have time to be grateful he could still interpret the intention behind her brush strokes despite her fumbling fingers before he went on, “The goose is an image of loss and absence in Yamani poetry and calligraphy, is it not?”
“Yes, it is.” For the first time since she had married Roald, she wished that her sensitive husband hadn’t made such a careful study of Yamani symbolism and wasn’t so attuned to her moods. When Roald continued to gaze down at her with a concerned furrow to his brow, she answered his unspoken question in a murmur, “I’m writing a Midwinter card to my brother.”
“You must miss him.” Roald patted her shoulder. “Invite him to visit us in state come the spring.”
“My brother has a lover he’ll want to accompany him—a male lover.” Shinko held her breath as she waited for her husband’s response to this revelation.
“Your brother is family.” Roald kissed her hair, but she could see in his stiff face the fear of scandal. His ears were already blazing red as coals with imagined whispers about her brother, and his eyes were wide with visions of how the court would stare at her brother’s lover as if he were a dragon. “He and his lover are welcome in Tortall.”
“I’ll warn my brother that he and his lover must be discreet if they come to Tortall.” Shinko cupped Roald’s chin with the hand that didn’t contain her brush. “I’ll explain to him that nobody must be able to suspect that they are more than friends or your family would be dishonored.”
“I thought all Yamani were always discreet.” The clouds parted in Roald’s expression at her promise, and sunshine sparkled in the blue lakes of his eyes.
“That’s because you aren’t subtle enough to detect our many indiscretions, darling.” Shinko tapped Roald’s wrist with her brush in playful reproach.
“I’m subtle enough to realize that’s an insult, my dear.” Roald’s quiet chuckle melted the winter frost from Shinko’s heart, easing the loneliness she had felt as she wrote to her beloved brother back in the Yamani Islands. “Adding an endearment to an insult doesn’t make it discreet.”
“Then I can only hope that my magnanimous husband will forgive my indiscretion.” Shinko lifted her lips to press them whisper-light against Roald’s mouth.
“I would forgive my beautiful wife any indiscretion when she asks so sweetly.” Roald deepened the kiss, and Shinko felt her spirit fly from her chest as if soaring on goose’s wings.
I'm so flattered to have inspired you. I always picture the Yamani culture as one where all the details are planned to be as perfect and graceful as possible and Shinko as the sort of narrator who notices and appreciates details, so it's great to hear that you think those small details provide color for the Yamani traditions. I definitely want to do the Yamani culture as much justice as I can when I write about it. 
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!