Melancholy Didn't Suit Her [Dragaera, Aliera & Sethra, PG]

[invoking_urania]

Title: Melancholy Didn't Suit Her
Fandom: Dragaera
Rating: PG
Genre: Vignette
Words: 289
Notes/Warnings: Done for 'when all the world dissolves' for 31_days @LJ.
Summary: Aliera rarely contemplates the past.
Disclaimer: Dragaera copyright Steven Brust and this derivative work was created without permission.


Aliera as a rule, didn't speak much of the last days before the Interregnum. She avoided those historians who sought to get her account, and refused to read any of the popular fictionalized accounts, or see any of the plays, or view the paintings -- to the point where she had challenged several authors, playwrights, painters and various curious onlookers to duels on the matter, if they were so foolish as to press it. (To be fair to Aliera's account, she avoided using Pathfinder, and did offer to revivify them afterward -- which was the closest she would get to admitting that there was no hard feelings towards them. Not to mention that many of these affairs happened when she was cornered at Castle Black, and she didn't want to break Morrolan's rules regarding the castle.)

She did, occasionally, give the odd remark to Sethra Lavode, concerning things that had changed in the centuries she had lingered in the Paths of the Dead, not fully alive. Sometimes, when Morrolan was in earshot, just to get her cousin riled up about being a 'youngster'. Then there would be a heated discussion on the matter, and some playful sparring, and all would be forgiven.

Other times, when she was alone with the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, her voice would turn more nostalgic for places and times and people that would never come again, not as they were. People and places either gone or changed long past recognition, with Aliera left behind, speaking words to a woman so ancient, she remembered when the Empire was young.

Usually after indulging in that, she'd go out and pick a fight. Melancholy didn't suit her.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Very interesting ficlet. I like how you managed to give a different view of Aliera and still keep her very IC. There's a contemplative feel to this piece , and I think you managed to make it fit with Aliera's character, especially with the emphasis on the last line. (The nod to Paarfi was a great touch.)

(runespoor7 on lj)

[beccastareyes.insanejournal.com]

Thank you. I was really worried that I wouldn't hit Aliera's character right, since she is a very active character, and this is only my second fic. Also, the mental image of Paarfi trying to get information for Five Hundred Years After from Aliera made me chuckle.

(The word count was also deliberate -- I noticed I was running over 100 words, so I decided a Dragaera ficlet should be a Dragaera-style drabble, and I went for 17^2 words instead of 10^2 words.)