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Guest STSF Jcin

Clarity comes after the moment has passed

Clarity comes when the moment has passed

-J'cin

 

The doors had been closed for about an hour, and Ramsley had left J'cin to sit in the hall, wanting to be alone. After 600 years, the truth was out. She knew. Old wounds had been torn open, and now it could all be over.

On one had, he was relieved. There would never be a question in his mind again. She knew the truth, or at least most of it, and that was all. But on the other hand, the guilt he had been feeling since he had been unable to apologize way back at the beginning intensified. He had hurt her again, as freshly as if the wound had just been cut.

And he had to do it again.

She knew. But what did she know? Did she know how many times? Did she know with whom he had betrayed his vows? Did she know that he was going to seek her forgiveness?

He had to make things right with her, he decided. He went upstairs to his room, and stared a long moment at the bookcase that seemed abit out of place on the sidewall. Not yet, he said to himself. She deserves to know the truth first, before I can even ask forgiveness.

"The chapel is as you left it, sir." Ramsley said, entering quietly behind him, and pulling the statue head down that opened the secret staircase "None but myself enter, as it has always been."

"Thank you" J'cin whispered. "But I have a new instruction for you."

"Sir?"

"When my father showed me that chapel, he told me that it was only for blood members of the family. That it was tradition."

"Yes sir, and for your family valets to ensure that it was maintained."

"I have a new instruction for you, old friend. Briana is family. If she stays, of if she leaves and returns someday in the future, when you pass your title on at the end of your life... she is family."

"Sir?" the old man ask again.

"I've hidden enough from her already, and a secret like this may not be that big, but its still a secret. I want her to know."

Ramsley smiled. "You're growing up, Master J'cin."

"It only took 600 years." they shared a grin.

"What are your instructions?"

"Keep your own counsel, as you always have. When we talk again, I'm going to tell her everything. Then I'm going downstairs to spend some time doing something I haven't done in almost 2 centuries. If she remains, and comes looking for me, bring her down."

"As you wish."

"And Ramsley."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for taking care of my family's home. Both before, and while I am away."

"It remains, as always, my pleasure, sir. Good night, Master J'cin."

J'cin slept fitfully that night, troubled by unpleasant dreams.

 

The next morning dawned, to find Briana still missing. A quiet question to a couple of the gardeners let him know that she had in fact returned home the night before, and had left again on a rested horse. So he contented himself with the knowledge that she was all right, and just needed more time. In the meanwhile there were things he needed done. The wardrobe that had been in his quarters had its false back removed, and the true back refinished. The ring it had secreted in the leg of the wardrobe J'cin put in his pocket for luck, and the portrait he brought into the common room. He pulled down the portrait that had hung there before, of himself as a younger man, newly commissioned into the musketeer's, and replaced it with the portrait of his family, all smiling as the were captured by the painter's skilled hand. He fussed with the frame for a few moments, making sure it was perfectly centered, than rolled up his sleeves and moved some of the furniture, giving the portrait a central position in the room. Satisfied with a job well done, he sat down, and nodded his thanks as he was handed a plate with a cold sandwich, some fruit, and a glass of cold milk. He chewed slowly, and stared at the painting, composing the words he would speak if and when Briana returned.

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