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Prologue, part 1
It hardly seemed possible.
Elspeth heard Shaya calling out the news, her footsteps drawing nearer. As she listened, she kept expecting to wake up... again. Yet this time, she did not. This time, it was not a dream.
Shaya hurried into the small alcove where Elspeth sat at her desk, half dazed by the news. "Didn't you hear me?" she asked, sounding mildly perplexed. "The Defenders are sending down the all-clear signal! We may finally leave this place!"
Elspeth blinked, finding her eyes abruptly misty. It had been so long in coming. She glanced through the doorway at her young son Arden, with his father's deep golden hair and elegant ears, playing quietly among the other younger children. The boy was 57, or approximately 11 in "Terran standard reckoning" (whatever that meant), and had not yet begun to grow tall or feel the stirring changes of adolescence.
Arden, and the other youngest children, had never seen the light of day -- not since before they were old enough to remember, if at all. If this truly was the all-clear signal, then today they would see real daylight. Not just today either, but every day!
She inhaled deeply, savoring the moment. "Yes, I heard," Elspeth admitted, releasing her breath in a sigh, "though I scarcely dared believe it. I was waiting to see if I would wake up."
Shaya gracefully bent and hugged her without waiting for her to rise from her chair. "It's real this time!" she said enthusiastically. "Come, let's go up together and breathe some fresh air!"
Now that she halfway believed this was not another dream, Elspeth needed no second invitation.
As she rose from her desk, she spared one wistful glance toward the ancient lamp sitting unlit in its alcove. She still missed its bright, steady light. The flickering wick of the oil lamp served, but it was not the same.
Her glance strayed toward a tall clock, at least as old... it ticked steadily, keeping perfect time -- if you didn't count the need to set it back one hour each day, to allow for all twenty-five hours. For reasons nobody could explain, the clock only did twelve hours. Twice twelve was twenty-four, one hour short of any day's tally.
Elspeth shrugged off that mystery again, and hurried after Shaya.
********************************************
Credits:
Victoria 3 / morphs / my custom dialing
Ethereal elegance and shadow / Dazzling Gaze
FK's divine hair and deja vu hair for V3
V3 tunic / Woodland Royal (recolored)
V3 Sci-fi outfit, default texture (recolored)
Laura 3 hooded cloak, Adventure Damsel texture
V3 Hooded Cloak, OTD texture
Platinum club wedding ring
DAZ freebie Hajib face veil
Royloo headgear (second face veil)
Freebie cowl, jewelry (RDNA?)
Pirate torch, DAZ pirate set
Tower Interior, default textures
The Study furniture, default textures (lamp shade re-colored)
Pirate Map, default textures
Chinese Vase, source unknown
Victorian Writing set by Ness
Row of Assorted Books, source unknown
Story Copyright 2009, "Eden Evergreen" (A.R. Warner)
It hardly seemed possible.
Elspeth heard Shaya calling out the news, her footsteps drawing nearer. As she listened, she kept expecting to wake up... again. Yet this time, she did not. This time, it was not a dream.
Shaya hurried into the small alcove where Elspeth sat at her desk, half dazed by the news. "Didn't you hear me?" she asked, sounding mildly perplexed. "The Defenders are sending down the all-clear signal! We may finally leave this place!"
Elspeth blinked, finding her eyes abruptly misty. It had been so long in coming. She glanced through the doorway at her young son Arden, with his father's deep golden hair and elegant ears, playing quietly among the other younger children. The boy was 57, or approximately 11 in "Terran standard reckoning" (whatever that meant), and had not yet begun to grow tall or feel the stirring changes of adolescence.
Arden, and the other youngest children, had never seen the light of day -- not since before they were old enough to remember, if at all. If this truly was the all-clear signal, then today they would see real daylight. Not just today either, but every day!
She inhaled deeply, savoring the moment. "Yes, I heard," Elspeth admitted, releasing her breath in a sigh, "though I scarcely dared believe it. I was waiting to see if I would wake up."
Shaya gracefully bent and hugged her without waiting for her to rise from her chair. "It's real this time!" she said enthusiastically. "Come, let's go up together and breathe some fresh air!"
Now that she halfway believed this was not another dream, Elspeth needed no second invitation.
As she rose from her desk, she spared one wistful glance toward the ancient lamp sitting unlit in its alcove. She still missed its bright, steady light. The flickering wick of the oil lamp served, but it was not the same.
Her glance strayed toward a tall clock, at least as old... it ticked steadily, keeping perfect time -- if you didn't count the need to set it back one hour each day, to allow for all twenty-five hours. For reasons nobody could explain, the clock only did twelve hours. Twice twelve was twenty-four, one hour short of any day's tally.
Elspeth shrugged off that mystery again, and hurried after Shaya.
********************************************
Credits:
Victoria 3 / morphs / my custom dialing
Ethereal elegance and shadow / Dazzling Gaze
FK's divine hair and deja vu hair for V3
V3 tunic / Woodland Royal (recolored)
V3 Sci-fi outfit, default texture (recolored)
Laura 3 hooded cloak, Adventure Damsel texture
V3 Hooded Cloak, OTD texture
Platinum club wedding ring
DAZ freebie Hajib face veil
Royloo headgear (second face veil)
Freebie cowl, jewelry (RDNA?)
Pirate torch, DAZ pirate set
Tower Interior, default textures
The Study furniture, default textures (lamp shade re-colored)
Pirate Map, default textures
Chinese Vase, source unknown
Victorian Writing set by Ness
Row of Assorted Books, source unknown
Story Copyright 2009, "Eden Evergreen" (A.R. Warner)
Image size
1000x875px 1.1 MB
© 2009 - 2024 EdenEvergreen
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