De Pooh Family/Pandora/Knocking on Wood

Dimwood

2020-11-26 18:19:38

Pandora’s infantry was hesitant to talk on the way home, except for a few, but no one enjoyed fighting the daimons. Seeing no one killed was the one thing Pandora was thankful for. Out of awkwardness to cope with the situation, one soldier stammers and they begin to talk over one another.

“That was alright.”
“Shut your trap you were crying like a little b*tch.”
“You sh*t head.”
“One of them looked like your mother.”
“I don’t have a mother.”

A sea breeze came over Pandora’s infantry. They had come across a patch of grass where it had blue wild flowers like the ones found in the gift basket, next to a cozy lodge. Several men were injured with abrasive cuts several inches wide with deep bruising, although none were internally bleeding and so she made the decision to rest here.

The healer makes room and clears the space to place a water-resistant pad over the surface and slides a small container on top. Extending the arm over, the woman flushes out what looks like clear water over the wound. Then, she soaks the gauze in boiled spring water to wrap over the exposed surfaces of one soldier’s deeply scratched elbow with Pandora’s assistance. Carefully observing how the healer works, layers upon layers of wet to dry gauze covers the wound in an 8-figure, like a layered cake. Pandora curiously watches the healer take out a bendable hook and smiles at her own patchwork as she attaches the curlex to itself.

Later that night Pandora reflects over what had happened; she had recently dismissed her men for the next three days to rest and sent out letters. Pandora stared at the wooden walls, the darkened caramel stripes that run across the boards were mesmerizingly beautiful. Sinking deeper into her warm water bath, several water bubbles were made by her blowing into the tub.

Knocking on Wood

2020-11-26 21:04:05

It was rather sunny for that morning but the tall overhead shadows cast down a cold shade with the harsh sea breeze. The entrance was rather lonely despite having unkept monuments accompanying one another on the roof tops. Pandora had braided her hair into pigtails and clipped on a bee hairpin to the side of her face to prevent her hair from wildly flapping. It was earlier than planned. The trail to the entrance to the large building had seemed disturbed by multiple visitors with large footprints and wheel prints that had not been swept down yet. From the trail, she looks down at the ends of her long buttoned ivory dress with the tips of her flat shoes peeking out; Pandora was well dressed.

Pandora reaches for the handle bell and knocks on the door lightly, she stands in front of the entrance questioning herself if this was a good idea and looks around her, examining the estate and its old entity.

2020-12-07 03:27:08

Hollow footsteps came out from behind the doors on the other side, and a cheerful voice let out. As the knocking echoes out through Lord Salem’s estate, the door is almost immediately answered by a boy, younger than Pandora. He opens the door to see Pandora on the other side and with a smile says, “You must be Dame Pandora de Pooh. Lord Salem said he was expecting you to come by. Please, come inside.”

Pandora curiously peeks past it. It was a servant boy; seemingly well taken care of and appeared to be similar to Tig’s age. Pandora smiles and takes her first few steps within Salem’s foyer, her small footsteps echo across the hallway against the wooden floors of the home. A facet can be heard running from what seems to be the kitchen room accompanied by an aroma of sweet baked goods. Pandora follows Emile closely from behind, as to not disturb the servants busily making their rounds.

Emile leads Dame Pandora down a hallway lined with candelabras and paintings of long dead people, presumably the previous, previous owners of the Dimwood estate. The hall opened up to a comfortable living area. A fire was already burning, illuminating the room. Along the walls were bookshelves filled with all sorts of literature, nothing seeming to be in any kind of order. There were two, large lounge chairs by the fireplace, one of which Pandora was escorted to sit in. “M’lord Salem will be here in a moment, is there anything I can get you while you wait, M’lady?”

Pandora was rather comfortable in her lounge chair, as she found familiarity in listening to crackles emit from the fireplace. The bookcases reminded her of her father’s study room filled books which to her belief were hardly cracked open. Pandora looks away nervously while her fingers curl inward, “Perhaps some tea if you will.”

“At once, M’lady.” Emile bows his head and heads off down a different hallway.

As Emile is away, another person comes into the room, older, bearded, and wearing some comfortable-looking clothing. He excitedly offers a bright smile on his otherwise exhausted face. “You must be Dame Pandora. What a wonderful pleasure for you to have come. My name is Lord Salem Belmont.” He offers a delicate, gloved hand to her.

Pandora suddenly got on her feet out of respect to the lord walking into the room, she attempts shaking Salem’s hand while curiously observing his facial features. The man had warm deep set brown eyes and a clean-shaven beard, presented formal despite being in the comfort of his own clothes. Salem was much taller and built than she had expected, without a curvature to his spine from all the craftworks she envisioned him working on; his grasp was stable and precise compared to Pandora’s shaky hands, “Hello Viscount, I am Pandora de Pooh.”

“Yes, yes!” He says with some excitement in his voice as he brings her hand to his face to place a soft kiss on to the knuckles. “I’m quite excited to finally meet you. Though you are here much earlier than I was expecting. Supper won’t be done for a few hours. Perhaps a chat is in order. Would you like to chat here by the fire? Or perhaps we could walk the estate.”

A flush of red overcame Pandora’s face when she had slowly realized her knuckles had been kissed, “Yes, please.” Pandora had been trying to contain her daze and started to explain herself for the early arrival. “My men have been wounded in battle and I- they are currently in need of rest.” No, that wasn’t a proper explanation. “I- I was curious to see who gave such a thoughtful gift.” She had been reminded of the candy wrappers and torn flowers on the floor of Bisciye before battle and regained her composure. Pandora broke eye contact and lowered her voice. “The basket had made several trips before I was able to see it in my possession and was not taken care of properly.”

“T’was meant to be a warm welcome to you as a Noble of Perdan. Hopefully the message behind the basket was well received.” Salem didn’t seem like one to let any sort of emotion control his actions. In fact, he seemed to be quite collected, and not at all nervous. Pandora’s body language spoke to him, though he wasn’t going to make any sort of comment on it. He sat across from her and started the conversation with a request. “Tell me, Dame Pandora, about the battle. It’s been far too long since I’ve battled against men.”

2020-12-07 15:04:22

Pandora carefully judged Salem’s reaction and the meaning behind his words. Was he not upset about the ruined wicker basket? Cautiously, Pandora slowly sat back down on the lounge chair and mirrored Salem’s body movement. Her sentence trails off as her gaze focuses back on Salem but Pandora could not find the words to describe herself.

“The battle was not with men, Viscount..”

The atmosphere has gotten tense and Pandora sat there picking apart her own memory of the battle, unsure if it was valid. “Just so many eyes and piles of limbs- atop of one another.”

“Undead.. Bloody undead. Easy to kill if you know what you’re doing, and are prepared.. But damn those hoards. I’ll admit. I’ll fight them over men any day. Undead are stupid, and predictable. Men? Men are the only beings capable of evil without needing to be born that way.”

Salem shakes his head. “I’ll refrain from any further questions on the matter. How was your journey here? Hopefully not too much trouble.”

Pandora avoids answering the question about the journey, she did not want to think about the inner relations between her soldiers at the moment. “I hope to have enough power to end a man’s life before I die first. Tell me about the first time you found that strength?”

“That is a curse I’d rather not wish upon anyone, least of all yourself. The moments immediately following the taking of another’s life will haunt you to your grave. It is one thing to lead men willing to follow. It is another kill for their respect. The strongest men and women I know, were the ones who left the field with a clean blade.”

Pandora was silent for a brief minute as she stared into the flames, she knew the day would come when she would have to end the life of another. “Have you recently heard about the Perdan fires?”

“Yes.”

He states rather plainly. Salem was never one to lie about anything. “In fact, the terrorist known as Ser Cailin Daubeny is currently in my custody.”

“In your custody?”

“Beneath the estate is a dungeon, most likely similar to the dungeon you probably have under your estate, except that mine is outfitted to house.. Non-human captives.”

“Viscount Salem, I am almost certain Daubeny is human.”

“As am I.” He offers Pandora a grin, “But alas, the damion within him most certainly was not. Our mutual friend seems to be in quite a miserable place in life.”

“And how did you know there was a daimon within to not be his doing?”

He stands up and closes the gap between them, reaching an arm over her as he speaks.

“Daimons will leave a distinct scar, no bigger than the width of your thumb about here.” He presses two fingers to her back between the shoulder blades. “They’ll also react poorly to being splashed with water and shouted at in tongues.”

Steadying himself against the arm of her chair, Salem’s fingers pressed against Pandora's back made her unconsciously straighten up with her face turned aside to see what was happening in her peripheral vision. As Pandora turns her head back to front, her breathing momentarily halts as her eyes meet Salem's; she could make out his features more clearly. The fire reflected in Salem's chocolate eyes danced and highlighted the tips of his hair and ears.

A chilling look made Pandora wonder if he was reliving his memory of all the encounters with daimons. In a challenge to snap Salem out of that memory Pandora raises her chin, facing him directly. A wave of calm comes over Pandora as she patiently stares back, "Viscount?"

“Make no mistake, Dame Pandora, Cailin Daubeny blew up an entire city block in Perdan with a clear conscience. The Daimon possessed him after the fact, during a time when his spiritual essence was at its weakest.”

He removes his fingers and returns to his chair, “Oh and please, call me Salem.”

2020-12-08 22:36:56

“He is beneath us at this moment?”

Salem nods his head to Pandora, but doesn’t verbally answer her. His eyes are no longer locked into any kind of glare. Instead, he regards Pandora with a softened expression on his face, though still remaining neutral.

Pandora froze, she contemplated the seriousness of having the man in front of her possibly harboring a terrorist from the authorities. However, she was still curious at the thought of why the city chose to entrust such a dangerous captive to Salem. Pandora’s eyes were searching for a sign on Salem’s demeanor if he was a threat to her at this moment.

“Is everything okay, Pandora? Would you like to see Ser Cailin? I can assure you that he won’t be able to harm you. But, this would be your only chance to see him before the proper authorities come to remove him from the property.”

Pandora gave a slight nod as she felt goosebumps running down her back, unsure of what will be in front of her. Perhaps he was already a dead man and had deserved it- perhaps she had been overreacting. Is Cailin Daubeny alive? Pandora deeply wanted to confirm.

Salem stands up and walks over to her. “Take my hand and do not let go of it. Ser Cailin may be chained up, but who knows if he’s been plotting anything in my absence.”

Without any further words, Salem leads Pandora to the dungeons just in time for Emile to have returned with her tea. The majority of Salem’s estate gave no inclination to his career as a monster hunter. As soon as they passed the threshold into the area below his estate, it was hard to not have to double-take every last thing that was seen. Fanged teeth preserved in jars full of liquid, bookshelves lined with leather-bound journals, dungeon cells with live creatures within them, and finally, Cailin’s cell. The knight was un-moving, and the only cell with guards standing watch.

Pandora held Salem’s hand tighter as they neared Cailin’s cell, his body chained and flat lying on top of the bed cell. She could see his chest rise and fall in a trance-like sleep in his battered red trousers, shirtless through the bars. It was the distressed noble at the coronation, the one who jested at Pandora to use both hands when aiming at another with the basket Salem had gifted her. Confusion set in as Pandora was thankful he was alive, yet her blood boiled from recognizing the noble.

To think that Cailin hurt Oliver and the others intentionally was baffling to her, she could have stopped him in time before he was able to make it to the city walls had she known.

Pandora turned away from the sight as the guilt set in, “What will the city do with him?”

“This may sound awful, but his fate is no longer any of my concern. I’ve done my part for his healing, now he just needs to be moved elsewhere.” His neck turns to look over to his companion. “I can feel the tension in you, you know. It’s okay for you to feel the way you do, I don’t blame you, and I’m sure it’s similar to my own feelings.. We can stay as long as you like, in the event that there’s anything you wish to say to him, or anything.”

Pandora loosened her grip and let go of Salem’s hand. She felt uncomfortable being easy to read. Pandora was relieved that Salem did not murder Cailin but seeing him deeply asleep made her feel ashamed.

Pandora felt a small ache in her heart, “It was like he called out for help but no one responded until it was too late.”

“I wish I could have been there, too. I’m sure you would have done anything in your power to help him.” He reaches his hand to her. “Let’s let him be. I’ll show you the estate while we wait for supper to be ready.”

With that, the two retreat back upstairs leaving Ser Cailin alone. Salem takes Pandora on a tour of the estate, showing her his gardens, his personal mead collection, and the fields where his men are trained. As the hours pass they prepare to have supper. Salem had a feast prepared for everyone in the estate with Pandora as his guest of honor. Usually, Dimwood’s Lord can be quite a messy eater but much to the surprise of his servants, he was polite and showed wonderful etiquette.

There was entertainment, drink, warm conversation and laughter. They take this time to get to know each other. Sharing thoughts of family life, what it’s like to be a Lord, and how Pandora is handling herself as a Knight of Perdan.

2020-12-09 15:23:20

As the feast came to an end, Salem escorted Pandora to his workshop where he had made the basket he sent her. There, he got back to work on another that was already in progress. Pandora’s eyes lit up when she saw the basket. The gift sent to Pandora’s front porch was revealed to be self made and she did not believe it.

Following the movement of Salem’s handwork, his fingertips were gentle and precise with the thread; his concentration was occupied by the task in front of him and Pandora was not sure if she should make a peep as she sat closer to watch.

“It won’t be the exact same as the one I made for you last time. I’m sorry.” His eyes mainly kept to his work. But every now and again, Salem would look over to Pandora, only to hide a smile shortly after.

Pandora rests her chin on her wrists with her elbows up on the workbench. Her curious eyes leap back and forth between Salem’s concentrated face and his project, wondering what sparked this interest in Salem. As her patience was growing thin her mind started to wander elsewhere to the jars of preserved teeth, the binding of journals that were stained, the creatures dwelling under.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Salem makes his way over to Pandora, leaning in as if to whisper into her ear. But he doesn’t whisper, instead, he kisses her cheek.

Pandora quickly wanted to think of a small way to retaliate but could not in time. She felt her heart beat faster while feeling annoyed for falling for the oldest trick in the book. Pandora’s ears turned bright pink as she could sense Salem’s amusement with her reaction and made a very displeased look.

As her nose turns upward she jests, “You know, I’ve used your basket as a weapon before.” Pandora takes a curious peek back to see his reaction towards the comment.

“You mean to tell me I could have been weaving these for war?” He chuckles. “How...How exactly did you go about using a basket as a weapon?”

Pandora’s nervous grin turned into an awkward smile at the end of her sentence, “I made a pretty deep cut to one of my soldier’s and- you see, uh- I was-” Pandora’s crooked canine was showing through her smile, followed by quickly hiding it as she pursed her lips over them. Looking away she mumbles, “I used it like it was.. a mace.”

His smile falters, and his eyes return to the work he was doing on the basket. “I’m sorry you’ve had so much trouble in your career thus far.”

Pandora wanted to reassure Salem. She hastily walks over to the other side of the workbench and rests her elbows on the bench to make sure her face was in Salem’s central line of vision as he worked on the basket. She looks at Salem with hesitance, her eyebrows furrow as she tries to make eye contact. “Things are going to be okay, I have faith in them. They have their judgments but.. that’s just because I haven’t proven myself yet.”

“Their judgments be damned. They’re soldiers who are disrespecting a noble of Perdan, and they ought to be put away for that.” His voice was rugged. Angered. “You don’t deserve that.”

Pandora sighs and brings one hand to her chin, “I’m going to train harder at the academy so that they can admire me swordfight too, you know.” She makes a pouty face while she fancies the basket being woven from the other side, wishing she was good at anything.

“That’s a lot of gold you’ll be spending...Are you making that kind of money in Bescanon?”

Pandora looks upwards toward the ceiling as seemingly difficult calculations ran through her brain. Half-defeated she says, “Maybe.. I’ll just visit the tutor once every two weeks.”

“Would you be against me helping you out financially?”

2020-12-10 21:03:23

Pandora shakes her head, she ponders for a minute as her eyes glimmer to the side at the thought of something else, her lips curl in a mischievous smile.

Salem double-takes before chuckling slightly. “What’s that look?” He asks.

Her head shakes again with less effort, Pandora softly sings, “No-thing.” A small yawn appears as Pandora covers her mouth with several slow dull blinks. She had gotten a little more sleepy watching Salem work on his basket.

“I see. Well unfortunately, I won’t be finishing this basket for probably another couple of days. And the hour is getting late. It may be best that I must take your farewell, til next we meet.”

Pandora was quiet. Although she had agreed that it was getting late, she had not realized how fast time went by. She could make out Salem’s tired eyes, a hint of redness from the lack of sleep and a sense of lost patience with dialing in on the details of his work.

Pandora felt troublesome, “Would you take me back to the lodge?”

Salem extends his hand to her.

Despite how tired he was from being up the night before, “I’d love to.”

Pandora takes his hand, and Salem leads them out into the night as they walk to town together.

With an apologetic look on his face, Salem comments, “Maybe next time I can make sure that a room is arranged for you here. I’m sorry for not thinking of that. Maybe, Sara would be willing to offer her chambre for the night.. I could ask her if you’d like to save the walk into town.”

Looking over to him with pursed lips and timid eyes as he mentions an unfamiliar name, “Sara?”

“One of my servants. Sara’s family lives very close by and she’d have no issue just staying with them while you used her room.”

Pandora did not comment, she would rather not disturb Sara. Instead, she enjoyed the brief moment of holding hands with Salem under the purple-pink watercolor sky, with cotton candy-like feather clouds, and lush flora. The day was quickly ending, and the scent of the trail reminded her of flowers. She was wondering what the ones within her gift basket would have looked like before she found them crumpled.

Pandora’s voice was rather quiet, “Salem?”

There’s a gentle squeeze of her hand in response, as if he’s saying ‘I’m right here.’

A few seconds passed before Pandora had the courage to ask, “Remember the flowers?”

His eyes shift over to the exact direction to where those flowers were located, but he decided to play it off as if he’s unaware of what she means. “Do you mean the flowers that were in the basket I sent?”

Pandora looked at Salem’s face and then looked back, dazed that he caught on to what she meant to say, “Yeah.”

“They grow in a nearby field. Maybe I can take you there some time, if you’d like.”

She nods her head.

The night grew darker as they made their way to the lodge and as soon as they arrived at the front door, Salem let go of her hand.

“Til next we meet, Dame Pandora?”

She softly responds, “I want to see the flowers with you.”

“I would like that.” He smiles, and with a slight bow of his head, “May the rains part for you.”

Pandora’s heart skipped a beat, “I remember that.”

Salem places a hand on her cheek. “Perhaps you’ll remember this, as well.”

He moves in to kiss her.