Topeka looked out from the leafy greenness of the tree she was in. Slender white trunks of birch trees, textured maples, sleek, scarlet madronas, and golden beeches surrounded her in the small forest. Topeka smiled and climbed nimbly down from the tree's upper boughs and walked the stony pathway to her home, sidestepping the stream that burbled merrily on its way.
Topeka's home was small: a little cottage made of large stones, rounded and smoothed by the river, and a thatched roof. Inside the floors were a shining wood, worn by the paces of Topeka's boots, and the walls were stuffed with mosses to hold in the heat or the cool air. A little kitchen held what could be called a stove and an oven, but running water was not to be found. Instead, there were two wooden buckets filled to the brim with water from the well outside. The cupboards, far from being full of cobwebs were instead filled with an abundance of food, for Topeka was a good hunter and gardener and acquired all her food by her own hands.
In the central room of her cottage, Topeka had filled the walls with shelves of books, for there was nothing she loved better than to cozy into a chair and read. A fireplace filled with sweet-scented wood crackled merrily most of the year, for the springs were not very warm and only in summer did the fire die down. A large window filled most of the remaining wall, allowing a picturesque view of the forest.
Topeka sighed. Her house was so beautiful, but empty as well. Empty of human company.
To clear her mind of loneliness and to keep herself busy, Topeka entered her kitchen and began to bake some more bread. Although her cupboards were filled, her heart was not, and she fooled herself into thinking it was the lack of bread that made her feel out of touch with the world.
When the bread was put into the oven, Topeka decided to take a rest, leaving the kitchen and settling down in front of the fire. Soon she was asleep, her silvery hair mashed against the floor and the lashes of her blue eyes ceasing their fluttering.
A sweet, fresh smell that spread warmth through the house announced that the bread was done. Topeka, who had been awakened by the scent of bread, removed the loaves from the oven. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Surprised, Topeka tucked her loose hair behind her ears, straightened her rumpled clothing, and went to open the door. A young man with a sweet smile and intense grey eyes was standing there. He smiled and winked at Topeka, who felt shy and did not smile back.
"Hello," the young man said, "I'm Mikael. Have you any need of a odd job taken care of? Roof needs mending? Fireplace needs wood? You see, I'm out of a job at the moment, and any little task sets me back on my feet. In return I ask only for a little food.."
"Oh," said Topeka, wiping a floury hand on her pants, and holding it out to Mikael, "I'm Topeka Ironel. I don't believe I have anything for you to do..." Sensing his disappointance, Topeka smiled hesitantly, "but I'm sure I'll be able to think of something." Mikael grinned and shook Topeka's hand. Then he walked in after her.
Topeka walked back into the kitchen and called out to Michael.
"I have fresh bread on the table. How about an early supper of fruit, bread, and cheese?"
"I'd love it," said Mikael. "I haven't had any food since I left Thelia, a good two days ago."
"You know," remarked Topeka, trying to sound casual and not as excited as she was to have company, "I have a cousin that lives a few weeks away from Thelia. Her name is Santefe, the Silver-tongued. She's a very distant cousin, actually. No tail." Topeka grinned to herself.
Mikael walked into the kitchen, a knowing smile on his face.
"Santefe, the Silver-tongued? Has she auburn hair, and green eyes?" Topeka nodded.
"She's the wife of Thelia Keep's new Morair!" Topeka shook her head in disbelief, but Mikael nodded.
"Really?" asked Topeka. "Since when?"
"She was married, to the young King Kane of Llowell."
Topeka thanked Mikael for such fine news, and he replied that it was his pleasure.
Topeka set the table, with Mikael's help. A large pitcher of milk was on it, and a platter of bread, cheese, and thick, juicy meat from her larder. A bowl of grapes was the centerpiece, a few wildflowers tucked here and there between the purple orbs. Topeka perched on a wooden stool, and Mikael sat across from her. Between bites, they chatted about news of Thelia.
Soon Evening shed rosy rays of somber light upon Topeka's windowsill, and she knew that now was the time to sleep. She cleared the dishes, and went in search of a pillow and quilt for Mikael. She came up with a soft white pillow, and an old, huge quilt filled with downy fowl feathers. She handed them to Mikael, went to her room, changed for bed, and crawled in. In the other room she could hear Mikael getting ready for bed, turning pages of a book by candlelight.
Intrigued as to who exactly this young man was, Topeka got out of bed, opened the door, and floated down the hall in a long white night gown. She walked into the living room on quiet feet, and stood watching Mikael. She cleared her throat, and Mikael started, then turned around, and, seeing it was Topeka, smiled and stood, bowing.
"Allow me to thank you, Lady Topeka, for your kind hospitality."
Topeka smiled sharply at Mikael as he slid back onto the couch and under the quilt.
"You are quite welcome, my friend. Would you like me to build up the fire?" Mikael shook his head.
"No, but would you come join me?" He patted the floor where he lay.
Topeka gracefully folded her legs sinking down onto the blanket. Mikael looked up at her and grinned sheepishly. Topeka grinned back. He sat up and looked at her. She was very lovely, he realized. He had never really looked at her, and did now. Topeka's silvery white hair hung softly about her shoulders, ears poking through it. Soft silver lashes framed crystal blue, intense eyes that stared back at him unwaveringly. Her skin/fur was a soft tan; her hands were small and cool as she touched his shoulder lightly. He reached up to her, palms open. Topeka put her hands in his and smiled.
"Hey," Mikael said softly, "You know, you are really very pretty." He put his hands on her hips and drew her closer, leaning forward, and kissed her softly. Topeka looked at him, startled, then closed her eyes and kissed him back. Mikael pulled her closer, and under the covers.
Topeka woke in the morning, feeling achy and hollow. Sunlight was streaming in onto her face. She felt for Mikael, and gasped as she felt around the space where he had been the night before...nothing. She got up and looked in all the rooms. On her bedside dresser there was a note from Mikael. It read:
Dear Topeka,
Thank you for the supper and bed. As I said, I do little odd jobs. I did what you needed, longed for. I gave you companionship, and what you thought was love. I can read minds, so I can tell what odd job the person would like. I'm sorry if this hurt you. What else can I tell you? Oh yes. You've been impregnated with my son.
Best Wishes,
Mikael
Topeka dropped the note, and fell to her knees, a sob escaping her throat. It had all been a trick.
Topeka knelt on the floor for a while, overcoming her rage. She looked up at a mirror. It scared her what she saw there. Her eyes were wild, cold and threatening, with a horrible anger mounting behind them. She knew then that she could no longer be the innocent Topeka. She was something different, something silent and menacing.
"I will find you, Mikael," Topeka vowed in a hoarse voice.
Topeka went to her room and found a large pack to carry her things; a smaller one she tied onto her belt. She packed a variety of cloaks, as well as warm woolen socks. The winter was fast approaching, after all. Topeka glanced down at her well-worn boots, and sighed. It was too bad that she hadn't the time to make a new pair. It was doubtful that the boots would last the winter. It couldn't be helped, however. Topeka resumed packing.
She tucked a few small knives into the boots she was wearing, and polished an old sword until it gleamed, which she then buckled around her waist. She packed two daggers and a bow in her pack, a quiver of arrows hanging on a strap across her shoulder and back. It mattered not to her that she had never had to defend herself, and therefore knew not how to fight well or even how to wield or hold some of those items, although she was a good hunter. Leggings, shirts and sweaters also went into the pack. Topeka stuffed the thick hide of a ryanth, some poles, and some furs into the pack. She shoved all of her money into her pouch; not much, but enough. Last of all, Topeka packed enough food from her larder and cupboards to last a long while.
Topeka walked outside to her paard Sfili's stall. She tied her bags to his saddle and put all Sfili's gear onto the paard, last of all his saddle. Topeka swung up into the saddle, and gazed a last time at her peaceful home, feeling the ache in her chest grow. Then she dug her heels sharply into Sfili's ribs, and they galloped across the fields and through the sparse woods, to a new place.
Topeka, unable to track Mikael, switched to the main road, remembering that Thelia was but a day away. Sfili moved tirelessly, although he was a paard unused to heavy attire and long trips. They arrived in Thelia the following morning. Topeka urged Sfili toward the large Keep where her distant cousin Lady Santefe lived. Once at the gate she dismounted, strode up to the guard, and coolly addressed him.
"Greetings. I am Topeka, and you would do well to let me pass. I must see the wife of the Morair." Something in her eyes left the guard without a will to question, and he opened the gate. Sfili walked through, his hooves clicking on the grand marble path.
Topeka entered the quiet, majestic Keep, dismounting Sfili, who walked along beside her. Inside the castle hung many tapestries. A long oak table rested in a large room, possibly the main dining hall. Topeka noticed a small, winding staircase in the corner of the room, partially hidden by another tapestry, and peered into the musty gloom. She was about to enter when she heard a voice.
"Greetings, Topeka."
She whirled around, cheeks blazing, to meet Santefe's familiar--but somewhat forgotten--sparkling green eyes.
"Greetings, Santefe. I see you've become wife of the Morair, in the short time we've been parted." Santefe grinned.
"Yes, I suppose so. If you call that many years a short time. Have you met my husband?"
Topeka shook her head, smiling.
"I'd heard of your marriage, but I've never seen this Morair of yours." Santefe smiled coyly.
"Ah, yes..I have completed my quests..but what of you? Why have you come to this gentle land?" Topeka nodded slowly, thinking.
"Have you heard of a man named Mikael?"
"No. A friend of yours?" Topeka laughed harshly.
"Not quite, unless you consider rape a friendly thing." Topeka neglected to mention her willingness. Santefe gasped.
"Oh, poor Topeka! I never thought anyone would find you out there, let alone molest you-" Topeka put her hand on Santefe's shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. There was nothing you could've done; I was foolhardy." Santefe shook her head glumly.
"Now,"said Topeka,"I wish to meet your husband." Santefe smiled in excitement, obviously pleased with the request.
"Oh, you'll love him. Just a moment-" Santefe peered up the staircase Topeka had seen upon entering.
"Kane!"
"Hmm?" A young man's voice floated down the stairs, and Kane soon followed. Seeing Topeka, his eyes widened, but, ever polite, he bowed, kissing her hand. He kissed Santefe gently on her fair cheek, addressing her whilst grinning at Topeka. With a jolt, she realized that Kane was much like Mikael--both friendly and flirty. A gentleman but..not. A hot bolt of anger flowed through her.
"Whom do I have the pleasure of greeting, my dear?" Kane inquired of his wife, who chuckled.
"This is the fair lady Topeka, my cousin, if it please you, Morair." Santefe laughed outright, and Topeka grinned, holding out her hand, which Kane took, and, with a flourish, kissed. Santefe hugged Topeka tightly.
"We are so glad that you're here!" Santefe said, brightly. "It's been awfully dull in Thelia, and I've missed you so." Topeka nodded.
"I am glad to be here as well." Santefe beamed enthusiastically, but in a moment grew somber.
"Why are you here? You've never sought your relatives, before." Topeka sighed.
"I am here because you are the greatest, wisest Protectress in all the land, the best Healer as well, and now I need your help. I must learn the ways of a fighter. I must become better than the best in wielding a sword, tougher than the toughest in hand-to-hand combat, the swiftest runner, the surest bowman. And I knew you could help me," Topeka said, in a rush. Santefe looked thoughtful.
"Wow,"said Kane,"you make quite the impression. What made you this way? Santefe always spoke of her soft-spoken, sweet cousin." He grinned, and Topeka smiled wanly.
"I'd prefer not to speak of it," she said icily, and turned her attention back to Santefe, who shook her head and with a sad, but firm look in her eyes, answered Topeka's request.
"If I do teach you, what will you do then? Pursue the man who raped you in vicious bloodlust, thirsting for revenge? No, you mustn't be taught." Santefe pursed her lips, and Kane's eyes widened in surprise.
"But you will spend the night. It is my wish that you do so," Santefe said, and smiled apologetically, snapping her fingers to call a lady-in-waiting. The lady-in-waiting curtsied to Topeka, then took her hand and guided her out of the room and up a grander flight of stairs than Kane had come down. Topeka looked back, surprise and hurt written across her face, but Santefe turned away and Topeka was too well-bred to question the wife of a Morair.
"It isn't fair!" Topeka growled, safe in her room, as she pummeled her pillow. "I came all this way, and now she won't even help me!" Worn from her journey and from her anger, Topeka relaxed slightly and drifted into a light slumber, intending to leave as soon as the sunlight touched her window.
The creak of a door opening woke Topeka. She held still for a moment, and then turned to see the wall opening! A dark figure stood in the shadows for a moment, and Topeka bit her lip, thinking it was Mikael. But in a moment, the faint candlelight in Topeka's room revealed it to be Kane, Santefe's husband.
"What are you doing here?" Topeka hissed, frightened and curious at once. Kane bowed, his face blank.
"I came to help you m'lady. I know that you wish to hunt this Mikael down, and to do that you must have skill. I will help you. I am as good as my wife when it comes to a fight." Kane sat down on the edge of Topeka's bed, and leaned forward, his nose nearly touching hers. "But you must do something for me." Topeka's eyes widened and narrowed.
"You are married!" she cried, and Kane covered her mouth hurriedly.
"Yes, I know that, and I love her dearly. But you are so beautiful...and I have been with her for so long that she seems almost boring, I guess. I am still passionately in love with her, but you were perfect from the very moment I saw you."
Kane took Topeka's hands in his, gazing at her, his heart beating quickly, his breath ragged. Topeka's heart raced too, but for a different reason. "Please," Kane breathed, "all I ask is a kiss.." But his voice implied more and Topeka shook violently, and tore away from him.
"No," Topeka whispered hoarsely, "no! I love my cousin! I could never do that to her. She loves you, you love her! You'd be throwing that away!" Kane shook his head, and let go of her hands.
"You may be right. But you lost your chance, Topeka Ironell."
After Kane left, Topeka couldn't sleep. She realized that there would be no help for her in Thelia, and the thought made her feel chilled.
If they won't teach me, I'll have to teach myself, she vowed, and packed her things.
As Dawn broke across the horizon, her rosy fingers gently caressing the land, Topeka saddled her paard and rode away from Thelia.
She left in Kane's study a small book, written in a delicate hand. It was the story of Kane and Santefe's meeting and love, as Santefe remembered it. Topeka had found it lying in the library. It was well-worn with love. Topeka kissed it, a tear rolling down her cheek, before putting it down.
Read this and remember Kane, Topeka thought.
"Ya, giddup!" Kane stared out the window as Topeka and Sfili departed Thelia. He moaned and his head fell into his hands. The book lay open beside him.
Topeka traveled far, to get away from the horror of what seemed like abandonment from her cousin and advances of the Morair. Eventually, however, Sfili tired, and Topeka turned the staggering paard onto a road that led to the nearest--and smallest--town.
That town, not really a town, was Sinlahekin. A town filled with magic-wielders, bitter and loving, many packs of wolves--that could speak!--and any other kind of animal or creature imaginable. She did not find many friends, keeping mostly to herself. She was considered strange, and most shied away from her. Topeka didn't mind. After years of aching from loneliness, now loneliness was all she needed.
But she did acquire one thing from Sinlahekin, and that was magic. A day that began like any other ended with, quite literally, a bang.
She had been resting at the bar, where she did not drink but sat and listened to the various chatter and quarrels that blended together around her, when a tall man in black entered. The bar, if not silent, became noticeably quieter. Some greeted the man as if he were an old friend; other kept away from him and muttered dark curses at his back. Topeka attempted to ignore his presence, but the strong scent of magic that permeated the air was too much to pretend away.
The man sat a few stools away from Topeka and ordered a tall golden drink the frothed and fizzed as he drank it down, in one swallow. She watched and admired the casual muscularity in his arms and legs, studied the rugged but handsome angles of his face and dark hair, the stubble on his cheeks and chin. There was a power behind him that she longed to explore deep inside, but she stayed quiet and was content--for the moment--to watch.
However, her quiet was broken, for a sturdy man whose reddened face announced his drunken state approached the stranger.
"Hey, ye," he mumbled, tapping Topeka's stranger upon the shoulder. The stranger didn't turn around, but Topeka sensed the tensing of his muscles.
"Dun ye ignorrre me. I seen ye last night; ye wur with muh wuhmaann." The veins in the man's neck strained, and his words became even more slurred. Still the stranger did not speak, but stood and turned around, meeting the drunk's eyes with his own shining black orbs. The drunk stepped back a pace but his fists clenched. Topeka's ears flattened backwards, and she bared her fangs slightly, bracing herself for the fight she was sure was coming.
What happens Next?
Gender: Female
Age: I would say about 23
Origin: Danach
Hair: A silvery-white, and down past her shoulders
Eyes: An intense, ice blue
Physical description: Not very tall, but lean and shapely and rather muscular. She's a sort of puma anthro, and she has sharp ears and a long tail. Her skin/fur is a pale tan with areas of white. Her teeth are quite sharp.
Clothing: Generally a short green, belted dress, gloves, and knee-high boots, but she has been known to wear pants and nicer dresses. However, this is her favorite outfit because it allows her movement.
Skills: She can move very quickly, especially when climbing, and she's a good hunter and gardener. She makes her own weapons, food, and clothing.
Personality: Generally easy-going, Topeka can sometimes become irate and fierce, sarcastic.