#32 of Iana's Story: Troublesome and Strange

I've put up Letter Ten, even though you can't really comment on it Terrwyn. I still wanted to put it up. I couldn't resist. We've revised 42% of the story. Almost halfway, perhaps I should get on with the letter Eleven, then we'd be at halfway. 

In the meantime, I had this already written and I'm finally posting it. After a troublesome argument with her sister, Iana's troubles continues.

#32  Troublesome and Strange
My room was too cold to consider sleeping in it, not unless I covered the window again. I wasn't going to tackle that task on my own. 

The wind howled through the glassless, gaping hole. The night sky was black as a cave, no moon or stars visible out there. I wrapped an extra wool shawl around my shoulders and hurried out into the hall, only to run straight into Olwen. He caught me with one arm. In his other he held a short candle. He wore an alarmed look on his face, and concern in his warm eyes. "I heard a loud crash and then shouting. Are you hurt, your highness?"

He must have been standing in the hall for sometime. How much shouting did he hear? It was dark enough now at least the shadows could hide my blushing. Was it Olwen? I wondered. Olwen and Joli? The thought was just too silly, I dismissed it immediately. "No, I'm fine. A little bruised maybe, but it's no more than I deserve," I told him.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Princess?" he asked. 

Bravely Broken #31 Iana

Iana and Joli. Joli comes from the french word for pretty. Iana is from . . . actually I have no idea. I think I just made it up. The confrontation between the sisters continues below. How easily we say things - or shout things - we don't mean to our family.

Bravely Broken

I waved to Joli from the window, tipping backwards unsteadily. She hauled me inside, dragging me roughly off the sill and down I crashed to the floor. My landing was not elegant, and I would certainly have bruises tomorrow.

"Didn't you hear me knocking earlier?" I asked.

Her face turned from pale to a livid purple, as it does when she is angry or embarrassed.

"Since you weren't answering," I complained. "I had to come around from the outside."

"That's no excuse."

"Sorry, I wanted to talk."

Ten Winners - the goofy, gleeful and goosey

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Last year, I started out with this idea of presenting various books, movies, characters, songs, TV shows, anything or anyone that had a wonderful element of goof. Only the silliest, funniest and ridiculous could be chosen for a Gooseyness award.

Last Years winners were predominately from books. No surprise there, I read more books than I watch movies. We had Victorian space epics, princesses with gravity problems, or hair problems, a group of  friends with weird hobbies -  the jellyfish obsessed kind - and a girl named September.

I'm starting to better understand what qualifies for a gooseyness award. I made a shelf of books that include some of the winners from last year, and as I was adding books I found other ones that I want to share with you.

Sisters, Iana's Story #30

I try to keep these posts short, under 1000 words; I aim for around 600-800, although sometimes they come out longer. I make all these plans about what will happen next and then the story expands all of a sudden. Gah. My general rule is, whatever the story wants, the story gets. That's why I had to split Roderick's latest adventure into Part1 and Part 2. Chapter 4 of Iana's story ended with a startling declaration by Joli, and now chapter 5 begins right where we left off.  

Sisters

I looked at my sister, noticing her hands clenched tighter than before. "I will go. Iana can stay," she said as if that decided the matter.

"You can't mean that," I declared.

Part 2, from the Travel Journals (Iana's story #29)

From Prince Roderick's Travel Journals


3 days counting, before April, in the year 217 - Evening

There has been an incident. We might be stuck here longer than we thought. I do not quite know when it happened. It occurred sometime after our visit to the village matriarch.

"Grandmother is resting. You'll have to wait Strangers." The matriarch's granddaughter said, but allowed us to come in to wait. She kept her face turned wore a simple veil over her head, so we only saw her left side in profile. I could see only shadows on the right half. She led us to chairs by the hearth and fetched mugs of something warm and strangely spicey. She said Blind Thomas was allowed to stay only if he didn't play with his lute. Blind Thomas soon left, clutching the lute under his arm, saying he'd be at his usual spot by the well, practicing if we needed anything.

The home of the matriarch was the largest I'd seen in the village of Lost Hope, with a covered porch around three sides of it, while inside was a large stone hearth, and two other rooms besides the main room and kitchen. One room was where the matriarch slept. There was a bed also in the main room. It was occupied by a girl who appeared soundly asleep. We kept our voices low, to not disturb her, until the granddaughter told us, "Don't mind her. She'd can't hear us, or even if she does she won't wake up. She has to sleep during the day and is awake only at night."

"A curse?"

And Lastly

An Ode to Love


Where do I start?
It sings.
Gives me wings,
my eyes bright stars,
breaks the strings of my guitar.
But oh, it stings.
It scars.

It's not a secret.

My dearest one, don't be shy
sweet apricot, you must not cry!
Our love is not a thread so easily broken.
We won't lose yet, this tower is not forsaken.
Take heart, my dove, our hope to be together,
that we will always have each other,
might still come true
happily we will say I do.

Sing along if you wish!

I have a tale to sing to you of Merry Weather Myrrh
a single song that ten lines long
it (probably) won't even hurt your ears.
He was called the Duke of Donkeyskins, the Prince of Pigeontoes and sometimes King Cornhusk.
His castle was made of chickenwire.
The roof a copper pot.
He adorned his clothes with doghair, spiderwebs and feather ruffs.
His saber was of pigweed, and his crown of juniper.
Mice would often fray his ragtag boots, giving them holes for his toes.
An elf you might suspect, and in that you are correct.

What's missing?

The Misadventure of a Lady's Missing Ring
shorter version


Lady Suzane dressed her finest in green and gold,
(just like a parrot!)
She danced all night at Thursday's gala,
at least until her slippers faded.
As she heard the midnight bells sing,
she noticed something was amiss,
seeing nothing on her finger, she shrieked, "My favorite ring is gone!"


But where'd she lose it? - why it must have slipped, sir.
Plop! it fell right off her finger 
down into her cup. (And she didn't notice?)
A servant took the cup to clean it, 
where the ring rolled down into the drain.
How it floated to the seashore -no one really knows.


Encrusted with sand and slimy seaweed, 
it was stuck on the leg of a crab
where Sir Charlie stepped by mistake
a grave misfortune for he broke his leg.
He soon recovered and dined on crab cakes,
then set out to return the prize.


After several misadventures Sir Charlie somehow managed
to return the ring. Lady SuZane was estatic.
They're getting married in July.
Even I was invited to the wedding, 
to see the happy couple 
to sing and dance and drink, and merry, we will be.