Immalaine looks over at the book, staring down at the words. She shakes her head in disbelief, reading over it again. Turning to Rastellion, she stares at him. "Can it ... can it really be? I mean ... " she looks down again ..." my home ..." she whispered.
"The names - even if they got the surname wrong - the location.. it must be. ... Immalaine, this farm is yours. And" he looks again at the date, ".. and in a few weeks, they're going to steal it from you and sell it!"
She leans over to stare at the page, a mixture of confusion and hope on her face, amongst other emotions. "But Rastellion!" she says, finally looking up at him. "What should I do ... I mean .... how? I dun know the first thing 'bout deeds or paperwork ... or none o' th' things like ye know. An' it's been so long ..." she takes a breath, as her mind frantically tries to process the news.
"I don't know. It's nothin' I've had to learn. I've been trying to /sell/ our property." Rastellion shakes his head and stands, reaching down to help Immalaine up. We should go ask the notary up front."
Her eyes confused, she takes his hand and stands to follow him to the notary. Her hands are shaking and she wraps her free arm around herself.
The ledger makes a quiet thump as Rastellion sets it on the desk in front of Bonnie. "We're here about a property," he says, pointing to the entry. "This is Immalaine Tattersoll, sole heir to this farm that you've got listed as abandoned, here, see?" He turns the ledger and points. "She needs it removed from the docket and new papers drawn up in her name.
Bonnie reads over the entry, then looks up at Immalaine. "Is this true, miss? Gaellis, son of Brastion, is your father?"
"Gaellis were me pa, yes." she said quietly.
Bonnie gives Imma a sharp look. "An' is this gentleman here your witness? Is he prepared to testify this is so? You'll need at least two more, you know, and best if one could be a watcher or the like...
"Two more witnesses? Rastellion ... how am I gone do that ... it's been years now ..." she shakes her head at him. "Is it e'en worth it I wonder? After all, the brigands burnt th' whole place t' the ground." She trembles, near tears.
Rastellion pulls her closer and says quietly, "Of course you need to do that. Immalaine, did you see what they were going t' be sellin' it for. That's three time what my pa's farm brought in, even without the buildings." He looks at Bonnie. "These witnesses... what do you need?"
Bonnie leans back and frowns at him a bit, as if looking down on anyone who doesn't know such things. "Well, unless the young lady has a deed signed over to her - which I'm taking it she don't - you need three Bree citizens, of good standing, to testify that they know she is who she claims to be. Folks as knew her and her father and her family."
He looks back to Immalaine. "You know any folk like that?" he asks her quietly.
Immalaine furrows her brow, thinking. "Wit' me pa gone ... an' all th' stablehands dead now." she shakes her head. "There might still be a neighbor or two what would've known him an' me ... mebbe ... a cousin or two, if I could e'en track them down ...." Brushing her hair back, she rubs her forehead with her hand as she continues thinking, her mouth moving silently as she grows more frustrated. "Ma's family weren't from these parts, so it'd be e'en harder t' track them down, if I e'en knew where t' start lookin' fer them."
With a sigh, he frowns at Bonnie. "Can you take the property off the docket, at least?" he asks. "While we sort this out?"
Bonnie snorts. "What, you think we're some country simpletons here?" she asks. She gestures at Immalaine. "You could be anyone, claiming to inherit this abandoned property. And how would we know the difference?" She shakes her head. "No, that's the point of these ledgers and files, as I'd have thought you'd learned by now, young fellow, being in and out of her this past month and more yourself." She draws the book back toward her. "For all I know, she's an associate of that other fellow who was in here, a few weeks back, asking about this same property. Or a competitor. And not an heir at all." She closes the ledger with a thump. "No, you want to claim to be heir, you do it proper and legal, or not at all."
Immalaine looks over in dismay. "What should I do? I have t' think .. try t' recall ... someone, anyone ...." She looks incredibly small and lost, as her mind finally starts to process the information fully. " my home ..." she whispers, following blindly as Rastellion takes her by the hand and pulls her into a more private corner.
Rastellion brings her close and says, quietly, "Immalaine... we have to find people who knew you, before the fire. Who can testify that you are who you say you are." He squeezes her hand. "Immalaine, that's your land they're going to sell... Okay, mebbe you don't want to go back there after... after what happened. But it's yours. If it's sold, you should get that money." He grins wryly. "Then you'd have more money than me an' pa. Let's see him try to call you a gold-digger then, hmm?"
Torn between wanting to agree with him and wishing it all away as a bad dream, Immalaine burrows her face into his chest, she starts quietly crying. "I jus' dun know Rastellion!" she says between sobbing breaths. "I .. I canna think ... I ne'er even 'magined ..."
Rastellion puts his arms about her and pulls her close. "Shh.... shhh... It's okay. Must be hard, finding this all of a sudden. I'm sorry... I didn't realize." He rubs her back. "Of course... we can talk about it later, after you've had a chance to think." He lifts her chin and kisses her cheek. "Here, let me walk you back to Zanrianna's house, give you a chance to think on things."
Brushing her face with the back of her hand, she nods. "I ... goin' back t' Lady Zandrianna's house sounds like a good idea right 'bout now. Jus' ... would ye stay? I dun know as I want t' be alone."
He keeps stroking her back and hair. "Of course. I've done what I needed for the Association already today... I can put of my own tradin' 'til tomorrow. Let's head on back."
Together they walk towards the door Rastellion pulling their cloaks from the wall and hands Immalaine hers before donning his own as he mutters, "I still feel foolish in this getup..."
Immalaine takes her cloak, draping it over her shoulders, before using one end to wipe her eyes. "I dun know, I think it sort o' looks handsome on ye."
"You think so." He grins and leans in to say, teasingly, trying to cheer her up, "Mebbe, back at Zandrianna's, I should wear it an nothing else, an' see if you still feel that way, hmm?"
She giggles a bit through her tears, looking at Rastellion appraisingly. "Well ... an' what if I do like it? What then hmmm?" she wraps her arm around his waist for a hug, sighing.
Leaning in to kiss her, he seems happy to have cheered her up a bit. "Then I think mebbe we'll find a cheerful way to spend the night, hmm?" He turns toward the door, heading out, then seems to think of something. He turns back to Bonnie. "Someone else's been asking about this property?" he asks her.
Bonnie looks up, distracted, from her papers. "What? Eh? Oh, the Tattersoil one, yeah."
He reaches behind his belt and pulls out a 25-silver piece from the money pouch at his waist. "I'd appreciate it if you /didn't/ mention our inquiry," he says, slipping it to her and watches it vanish in a flash, quicker than a trout taking a mayfly. "Inquiry? What inquiry?" asks Bonnie, innocently, then gives them a wink and turns back to her work. Rastellion nods, satisfied, and holds the door open for Immalaine.
Immalaine turns to Rast, shaking her head. "What were that fer? What would hurt if someone else knew?"
"I don't know," he says, quietly. "Might not hurt at all. May just have been a fellow looking through them, same as I've been looking at the records from Trestlebridge." He rubs his chin. "Then again, if someone's got an eye on that land in particular... well, mebbe best he doesn't know that there is an heir, come back to claim her own." but hesmiles reassuringly. "May be nothing," he says, "Still, doesn't hurt to be cautious while you think over what to do... Which," he adds, "we don't have to do right now." He smiles at her. "Tell ya what, let's get a bottle of that wine you like and share it tonight, just you and me, on that rug by the fire." He nuzzles her neck. "That'd be a bit of fun, wouldn't it?"
"I wouldn't mind th' wine at all. S'long as yer there wit' me." she turns and looks over the town hall square. "An' I reckon tomorrow's soon 'nough fer me to sort this out."
"It is. But," he turns to look at her, expression serious, "but we got to move on this. Deadline's only a few weeks after Yuletide. We've got that long to prove your claim." Then he grins. "Still, can't be too hard, right? Find a few relatives, maybe a Watcher or trader who used to come by your farm, who saw you with your father, right?... We'll get this sorted!"
Seemingly comforted by Rastellion's encouraging words, she nods. "A'right. Well, if ye think t'aint gone be that hard ... well I'll give it good thought ... t'morrow."
Rastellion nods, takes her hand, and squeezes it. "T'morrow," he echoes. "Now, come on, let's go see about that wine..."
(Credits and love go to Rastellion, who provided the voice of the male characters in this story. *Blows kisses to Rastellion and grins widely*)
