InWhichTheDuchessIsIntroducedToHerRooms

From IMiA

Juliana finds Phillip speaking to a servant. "Ah. I was just going to look for you," he says. "I fear I may be detained for some time longer. That said, I think you should rest. I have made arrangements for a room in the palace."

"You will come for me, when you're done?" she asks, reluctant to leave him, but very tired.

"Absolutely," he says and kisses her on the forehead. The servant stands ready to escort Juliana to the room.

She ignores said servant (because she's used to servants, unlike me, who finds this weird) and wraps her arms around him. She snuggles up against him for a moment and just smells him and feels his warm (alive) body. Then she disengages, reluctantly... and lets herself be led off to bed.

The servant escorts Juliana through the palace. She is eventually shown to a door and presented a key. "Should Your Grace require anything, please do not hesitate to let us know." With that, the servant bows and departs.

Juliana thanks the servant and lets herself into the room.

Juliana finds herself in the sitting room of what must be a large suite of rooms. A well-stocked bar stands in the corner. A nearby table is set with plates of meat and cheese and bread. A fire glows in the hearth, apparently more for the comfort of its presence than any real heat.

The rooms are tastefully and expensively furnished. There are two bedrooms and many closets. The closets have clothes that would fit Juliana nicely and be appropriate for wear during an extended stay in the palace.

She loosens her laces (without too much effort, since this is just a bodice and not a corset) but leaves the bodice on in case she's needed quickly, takes the combs out of her hair, and runs her fingers through it.

Oh god, is it her suite?

Whose? A suite that looks like it was more or less decorated for Juliana? Yes. Or are you looking for a specific owner?

I mean, her suite in the future - the one she shared with Marlette. (But yes, the fact that there is a suite that feels like it's hers is VERY strange.)

oh. THAT. :-) It does look a bit familiar. Though these are definitely not the clothes from her "dream" The post-war era will have much different fashions than the current era :-)

She's going to the window to check out the view (I know we had a window) and confirm or deny.

After looking out on the City below, Juliana is convinced that this is the room she "remembers."

She stands there, looking out, and lets it all come. All the grief and all the pain. She misses Marlette. She feels helpless here, like she made a mistake coming back. She's still afraid it's not really true, it's just an illusion of the future, and she's half nuts about that. She misses Eric - the Eric from there, the one that might not exist in reality. She's terrified for Phillip, and now that she's been told about GUNS, she is freaked out to an even higher level.

So she cries, looking out over the city.

The city is awash in light tonight. Amber is brightly lit normally, but during Carnival, it is a sea of brilliant lights and colors.

A knock sounds at Juliana's door.

She sighs, and has to take a few deep breaths to make herself stop crying. She wipes off her face, again. She walks back through the front room and opens the door.

-- Main.LizTrumitch - 21 Aug 2004