Submission (#199) Approved

It was entirely too difficult and complicated to keep one's house tidy during the Miasma season. Especially when one tended to leave a trail of small golden leaves behind her wherever she walked. The Baroness huffed in mild annoyance as she swept the small but growing pile of leaves before her, the straw broom brushing against the smooth wooden floor of her house as she worked. She had thrown the sliding paper shutters covering the windows wide open to let the newly-fresh air in and the stale air inside her house out; the Miasma was almost entirely gone, retreating back to the Overwilds from whence it came, and now the only mist in the air was created by the waterfall that rushed down the side of the mountain behind her little corner of Kyendi.

Behind her, doing its own part to help, the Baroness's pomu Winston followed with a small broom of its own, sweeping up the golden leaves the elnin left behind her as she moved through from the kitchen into the sitting room. Stopping for a moment to rest, the Baroness smoothed a stray strand of hair from her face and looked behind her to survey her work -- then sighed dramatically. "Oh Winston," she said with a shake of her head and a glance down at the small spirit familiar at her feet. "It doesn't look like I've done any cleaning at all, does it?"

"...Pomu?" replied Winston, blinking its tiny eyes up at her. It looked around and, seeing that there were nearly as many leaves on the floor as there had been when they'd started cleaning, slumped. "Pomu…"

"Nevermind," the Baroness chuckled. With a flourish, she flung open the front entrance and enthusiastically swept her pile of leaves out onto the moss-covered stone lanai. She paused and allowed a gentle breeze to ruffle her fur, the sound of the nearby waterfall and stream filling her with a sense of tranquility. The city of Sulapei, nestled up against the mist-shrouded Rajasana Mountains, was a beautiful place, more a collection of adjacent villages really than a single city. She was glad every day that she had chosen to settle here after she had left Faerindell and her old life behind. Leaning her broom against the wooden wall of the sitting room, she brushed imaginary dust off of her apron and floral dress, then whirled around and went back inside, heading straight for the kitchen. "I know what this day calls for. A tea break!"

In short enough order, the kettle had been boiled, the hot water poured into a pot filled with tea leaves to steep, and small tasty sandwiches had been made and arranged on a plate in a decorative manner. The Baroness took her afternoon snack out to the lanai, where a small cafe-style table had been set up in the filtered shadow of one of her tall tree ferns, along with two chairs. Placing the plate and teapot on the table, she trotted back inside to retrieve a cup for the tea and a pair of small plates for the sandwiches. "Pomu?" inquired Winston, hopping up onto the other chair and then to the table to examine the spread.

"Well, one never knows when one might receive visitors, does one?" Moving her enormously fluffy tail out of the way, the Baroness sat in one of the chairs and crossed one leg demurely over the other, then poured herself a cup of tea. This was the life, she thought, sipping tea on one's lanai with the gentle rushing sound of the waterfall and the occasional villager out and about enjoying their day. The mist rising from the base of the waterfall was combining with the mist creeping in from the nearby mountains, adding a softness to the green tangle of deep forest that surrounded this part of Sulapei. Birds and butterflies were beginning to re-emerge, the latter flitting between flowers in the various small gardens that dotted the village, the former perching on trees or ferns or moss-covered peaked rooftops and serenading the day.

A hailed call of "Baroness!" echoing through the houses and off the side of the mountain broke the tranquility of the scene. The Baroness looked around for the source of the cry, easily recognizing the playful lilt in the voice. Sure enough, around the corner of one of the other houses nearby appeared the bouncy pale curls and eternal bright smile of her dear friend Amari, a Marquise in her own right. The smaller elnin's large poof of a tail bobbed up and down as she fairly skipped up the stone path and across the foot bridge over the stream that separated the Baroness's house from the rest of the village. "There you are! I was hoping I'd find you home!"

"Darling, so wonderful of you to come by!" the Baroness replied, getting to her feet and holding out her arms. She embraced Amari with genuine affection, lightly kissing first one cheek then the other. "Mwah, mwah. I was just sitting down for tea, and I KNEW I'd have a visitor." Returning to her chair, she gestured for the Marquise to take the other. "Do sit, have some tea and a sandwich. You're looking wonderful, darling, is that a new dress?"

Amari giggled as she squeezed her tail fluff so she could sit in the chair like a lady. "That's terribly sweet of you, my dear!" she beamed, pouring herself a cup of tea. "Oh, this? I've had it for so long, it's practically worn threadbare! I do love it so." She puffed out her heavily fluff-covered chest and plucked at the hem. "Actually, that is precisely why I've come calling. Well, besides catching up with all the news!" Amari's laugh pealed like a bell through the village. "I know you're the clever sort -- much moreso than I am, I fear! -- and you have access to wonderful resources for all sorts of things. I was wondering if perhaps in your travels, you may have come across some fabric or other that you might see your way clear to parting with?" The Marquise fluttered her eyelashes at her friend. "I'm sure you have, I'm just sure of it! One hears things, one does…"

Now it was the Baroness's turn to laugh. "Oh, you never need to ask! What's mine is yours, darling." She sipped her tea and eyed Amari through half-lidded aqua eyes. "This wouldn't be for a new dress, would it?"

"See, oh you're so clever, so very clever!" Amari clapped her paws together, sending her macaron-shaped crown bouncing above her head. "I desperately need a new dress -- I have heard," she dropped her voice and leaned in, "that there is going to be a party soon, a ball if you will, to rival any of King Laurent's parties. And I simply MUST go!" The petite elnin sat back as best she could, though she kept her voice low. "And you should too. Arianwen, you keep too much to yourself," she scolded gently, using the Baroness's actual name (being one of the very very few who knew it). "You need to get out more. Enjoy yourself! Mingle, my dear!"

The Baroness demurely poured herself another cup of tea. "I do enjoy myself. I garden, I have tea, I read…" She looked around at the rooftops of the village, the mist rolling in from the mountains, the lush greenery of the place. "I'm perfectly content to stay at home and entertain myself, Amari. You know that."

"Then why did you fight your way out of Faerindell to get to Laurent's masquerade? My dear, I know you don't miss a party. And this promises to be quite the event!" Amari pouted dramatically. "It would be a TRAGEDY if you weren't there! A TRAGEDY!"

"Alright, I shall think about it. I don't want to let you down, darling." The Baroness picked up a sandwich and nibbled at it absently. It might do her some good to get out more after all.

Amari positively beamed, knowing full well she'd won. "Excellent, my dear! Now, about that dress…"