Post by Liselle Beaumont on May 10, 2017 18:32:20 GMT -5
Laying aside the fun and frivolity of the masquerade ball with her costume, Liselle adopted a more somber mien for the Lantern Ceremony that evening. She had not specifically told anyone of her intention to attend, but requested a horse and one of the house guards to ride with her to the lakeside in company with many others who sought to join the Crown Princess. Thanks to the solemnity of the event, she avoided speech as much as possible, her eyes meeting no one's when the guard aided her in descending from the saddle. She reached back for the lantern she'd brought, then advanced along the lake's shore to find a place where she could set it adrift.
Not truly paying attention to how far or where she walked, the horses left in the guard's care, she managed to reach a place that allowed her quiet, private reflection. Her thoughts went to her late grandmother, her father's mother. Liselle, as the youngest, had been the apple of the matriarch's eye, one who understood her largely non-verbal granddaughter and nurtured the child's abilities with the cats that were the pride, the joy, and the focus of the House. Javier's wife died when Liselle was twelve, shortly after Perceval's enforced departure for Samartia. Had it not been for her grandmother, Liselle didn't know if she could have stayed sane.
She missed Grand-mère terribly, crouching at the water's edge in preparation for lighting the lantern and nudging it out into the water. Wisely bringing flint and tinder with her, Liselle frowned with concentration, trying to be careful and avoid lighting more than the wick itself. She was never very good at these things.
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Perceval Beaumont