Jewell spent several hours on Sunday morning visiting flower shops. She clicked-clacked her way in black heels up and down the streets of RhyDin. Surely the black dress was a mistake in such intolerable heat, even if the crimson belt did match her hair perfectly, but she realized earlier in the morning that despite the sultry weather, it was fitting that she had been wearing black all week. Jewell had been in mourning and she didn?t even know it until last night.
She made her trek through the streets alone. She hadn?t planned on bringing Ishmerai with her went she went down to the docks anyway since this was a sorrow that belonged to her and not to him, this was homage she felt she must pay alone. After the way he had blown up at her this morning over the revelation that Stephen knew her name?and therefore posed quite a danger to her safety in Ishmerai?s mind despite her protestations that this was not the case now nor would it ever be?Jewell didn?t even want him with her searching the flower shops, making her task easier. She would just do it herself, Ishmerai be damned she had muttered when she left the hotel suite.
The anger stuck with her through each flower shop, burning inside. Jewell disguised it with pleasant words with each shopkeeper, yet those little clickety-clack steps of her heels on the paving stones sounded like the tantrum stomps of an angry child in her ears. Her anger started to ebb when she left one specialty floral shop with just what she wanted in a box under her arm, steps finally directed to the docks as the afternoon sun rose high in the sky to scorch the ground. In its place came the flood of sorrows and regrets that had left her sleepless the night before.
The heat worked out in Jewell?s favor: she practically had the long pier to herself as the savvy fisherman that regularly used it had been out much earlier, retreating to bars at the height of the afternoon before they would return again in the early evening. Jewell marched to the end of the pier, looking completely out of place and not caring a whit. Not heeding the dirt, grime, and salt on the old weathered boards, she sat down with her legs dangling over the water; her shoes she set off to the side while the box she placed on her lap.
Jewell was silent for quite some time as she just stared at the water, watching the ripples, the bits of dust and pollen floating on top, her feet swinging to obstruct her view at times. ?It?s strange that you?re gone, Robert. I?m sorry it took me so long to come here, to say goodbye. I just... I didn?t even know.? It may surprise some, but Jewell sat there and shed tears for Robert. ?He should have called me. I would have come.?
What do people tell the dead? Jewell sat there for some time after her initial outpouring of grief and just talked to Robert. She told him about some of what happened in Faerie and the scars it had left behind. ?I try to hide it, but it still feels like death has a hold on me. Like I?m not really free from any of it even though I?m here. It?s going to come back and get me.? She spoke about the regrets she had about the way everything had ended not just between her and Stephen but with Robert too. ?You didn?t deserve that from me, Robert. You were a royal pain, but you were a better brother than my own flesh and blood ever was to me. And I just turned my back, didn?t I?? Then she told him about what she had been up to since coming back, what it was like to see all the new faces and to miss the ones that were gone forever. ?It?s just not the same. And he misses you, you know? I know he does.?
Finally, when there wasn?t anything more to say, she lifted the lid off the box she had purchased. Inside were dozens upon dozens of white shamrock blooms. It really had taken her all morning to find them, but she knew it was worth it. Jewell refused to do things by halves even now. Leaning her head down, she kissed the top-most flowers before standing up and releasing the lot of them into the air. The breeze carried them out over the water before they rained down upon the harbor, floating this way and that.
?Goodbye Robert Kidd.?
She made her trek through the streets alone. She hadn?t planned on bringing Ishmerai with her went she went down to the docks anyway since this was a sorrow that belonged to her and not to him, this was homage she felt she must pay alone. After the way he had blown up at her this morning over the revelation that Stephen knew her name?and therefore posed quite a danger to her safety in Ishmerai?s mind despite her protestations that this was not the case now nor would it ever be?Jewell didn?t even want him with her searching the flower shops, making her task easier. She would just do it herself, Ishmerai be damned she had muttered when she left the hotel suite.
The anger stuck with her through each flower shop, burning inside. Jewell disguised it with pleasant words with each shopkeeper, yet those little clickety-clack steps of her heels on the paving stones sounded like the tantrum stomps of an angry child in her ears. Her anger started to ebb when she left one specialty floral shop with just what she wanted in a box under her arm, steps finally directed to the docks as the afternoon sun rose high in the sky to scorch the ground. In its place came the flood of sorrows and regrets that had left her sleepless the night before.
The heat worked out in Jewell?s favor: she practically had the long pier to herself as the savvy fisherman that regularly used it had been out much earlier, retreating to bars at the height of the afternoon before they would return again in the early evening. Jewell marched to the end of the pier, looking completely out of place and not caring a whit. Not heeding the dirt, grime, and salt on the old weathered boards, she sat down with her legs dangling over the water; her shoes she set off to the side while the box she placed on her lap.
Jewell was silent for quite some time as she just stared at the water, watching the ripples, the bits of dust and pollen floating on top, her feet swinging to obstruct her view at times. ?It?s strange that you?re gone, Robert. I?m sorry it took me so long to come here, to say goodbye. I just... I didn?t even know.? It may surprise some, but Jewell sat there and shed tears for Robert. ?He should have called me. I would have come.?
What do people tell the dead? Jewell sat there for some time after her initial outpouring of grief and just talked to Robert. She told him about some of what happened in Faerie and the scars it had left behind. ?I try to hide it, but it still feels like death has a hold on me. Like I?m not really free from any of it even though I?m here. It?s going to come back and get me.? She spoke about the regrets she had about the way everything had ended not just between her and Stephen but with Robert too. ?You didn?t deserve that from me, Robert. You were a royal pain, but you were a better brother than my own flesh and blood ever was to me. And I just turned my back, didn?t I?? Then she told him about what she had been up to since coming back, what it was like to see all the new faces and to miss the ones that were gone forever. ?It?s just not the same. And he misses you, you know? I know he does.?
Finally, when there wasn?t anything more to say, she lifted the lid off the box she had purchased. Inside were dozens upon dozens of white shamrock blooms. It really had taken her all morning to find them, but she knew it was worth it. Jewell refused to do things by halves even now. Leaning her head down, she kissed the top-most flowers before standing up and releasing the lot of them into the air. The breeze carried them out over the water before they rained down upon the harbor, floating this way and that.
?Goodbye Robert Kidd.?