Daelinde Highdawn

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Part 1 - Someday Soon

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"Daelinde, would you come down already? Dinner is almost served!"
Ignoring the calls from downstairs, she pulled a blank sheet of paper out of a drawer in her crowded desk.
"Now... where did I leave my feather and ink?" she mumbled to herself, picking up and going through several piles of clothes, papers, books and all sorts of other things she had collected over the years, which were forming a colorful mess that was occupying most of her room. Organizing her belongings had never been one of her strong qualities, so gathering and packing the most important things would probably prove quite the hassle later tonight.
But first she'd have to write that letter.
As quietly as possible, she sneaked out of her room and into her father's study. There was no doubt she would find his writing tools on his perfectly organized desk. Sitting down behind it, for a moment she permitted herself to remenisce about the time she spent here as a little girl, while her father was working and she still thought he was an important man worth looking up to.
"Daelinde, we're waiting for you at the ta-... what are you doing there?" said a deep voice behind her.
Startled by his sudden appearance, she stood up and turned around.
"It's Ditte and you know it!" she said, trying to distract her father from the fact that she was in his study, seemingly looking through his things.
"We named you Daelinde, young lady, and I'll be damned if I would ever call you otherwise. Keep your nicknames for your friends..." It had worked.
"...and we would appreciate it if you would come downstairs. Your brother is here and we wouldn't want to keep him waiting. He's busy enough as it is."
"Santhel is here...?" She replied, clearly annoyed by this unexpected visit.
"He is and he's very curious about how you're progressing with your studies."
"Oh, Fel..." she whispered quietly.
"What was that?". He frowned his usual disappointed frown.
"Nothing, I'm coming... I was just looking for your feather and ink to write some notes for my 'studies'. I'll be right there."
After her father left, Ditte picked up his feather and the little glass vial of ink and brought it to her room, carefully placing it next to the blank sheet of paper so she would remember where to find it. Once the next dreadful hours of finding excuses and lying about her studies and faking interest in her brother's boasting about his life and recent accomplishments would be over, she would be able to think of what to write.
"Be strong, it'll be your last 'ceremony' in this horribly boring gilded cage of a house..."
She had to stop talking to herself... If only there were other interesting people around she could have a conversation with instead.

"Ah, so you decided to show up! And here I thought you wouldn't be able to wait to see your beloved brother again. It has been quite a long time, after all! I'm sure you will forgive me for not being able to keep in touch, but you wouldn't believe how busy I have been lately. I was speaking with Magister Kaendris the other day and..."
She had only been in the room with him for a couple of seconds and was already bored and annoyed enough with Santhel's visit that she couldn't force herself to pay attention to his arrogant banter. While they were waiting for the maid to serve the first course, Ditte's finger drew invisible figures on her plate as her mind started to wander off.
"...as I've been appointed as one of the newest confidants at House of Kurella. You wouldn't believe what an insp-..."
"What did you say there?" Ditte's eyes widened and her mind was instantly back at the conversation. Could Santhel finally have done something... interesting?
Santhel smiled widely as the usual smugness spread over his face.
"Didn't you hear, little sister? I'm part of the inner circle of House of Kurella now. You didn't expect that, did you? You thought I would spend the rest of my life in dusty libraries, studying the arts of pyromancy...? Of course, I would've excelled at it. I've always been top of my class and my research and theories would've been incredibly thought-provoking and definately groundbreaking. But it was Miss Kurella herself that saw everything in me that I have always seen in the mirror and maybe even more! It was heartwarming to finally meet someone that could feel my potential and appreciated my genious for what it really is! So of course she wouldn't hesitate to ask me to..."
She had to admit, it was unbelievable how he could change an interesting fact into a conversation that made her loathe him and his being here even more. Sure, she had always been an admirer of Kurella's designs and it was amazing how her brother managed to become part of her entourage. But she couldn't stand his neverending boasting about every little accomplishment. One of the many things she definately wouldn't miss after tonight...

After a dinner and a drink that seemed to have lasted several eternities, Ditte went back upstairs to her room as soon as it seemed to be appropriate for her to leave. She didn't feel like causing yet another scene on her last night home.
She could still hear her father talking about everything he accomplished in life and his current position at the Silvermoon court, which didn't mean a lot, but he seemed to love how it sounded. At the same time her brother was still bragging about his position at House of Kurella and fantasizing about all the great things he would be doing in the near future.
Her mother would be quietly listening and nodding in a corner of the room, as always. She used to admire her mother for her modesty and strength to put up with two such arrogant beings as her brother and father. Over the years, though, it started to seem more and more like a weakness instead of a strength. She never stood up to them, never showed them how arrogant and stuck up they behaved. Even though Ditte knew they would never change, she had never been silent about it. Never. People like that needed to know that their words were not appreciated by everyone around them.

Packing her bags didn't turn out to be as hard as she had thought. Almost everything in her room was somewhat important to her, but she was hardly sixty years old! She still had a full life ahead of her and there would be so much more for her to explore. So much more memories to make and objects to collect. Apart from a couple of her favourite books, she would leave the rest of her bagspace for supplies and provisions she would steal from the kitchen when everyone would be asleep. The rest was a part of her old life and would only occupy the space her future could otherwise fill.
To pass the time she had before the whole house would be asleep, she tried to write a letter to leave for her family to find. It was hard to figure out what to write and, more importantly, what to leave out.

A couple of hours later, when everyone inside seemed to be sleeping or at least attempting to do so, Ditte quietly sneaked downstairs to the kitchen at the back of the house. After almost knocking one of her mother's most favourite vases of a table, she reached the kitchen door.
"Please, please, please don't squeek...", but she already knew it would. Hoping it wouldn't wake everyone inside, she opened the door quickly enough to keep the squeeking to minimum, yet slow enough to make sure it wouldn't startle Theron.
"Here kitty kitty..." she whispered in the dark. A loud purring slowly made its way to the door.
"There you are! Good girl, Theron, good girl! Do you want me to take you with me? Noooo, you like it way to much here, don't you? Don't you, little kitty? "
After making sure the cat wouldn't wake anyone from being startled, even though her purring seemed loud enough to wake all of Silvermoon, Ditte remained still for a moment to make sure no one had woken up. The house seemed perfectly quiet.
While filling her bag with carefully wrapped up packages of bread and dried meat, she tried not to stand on Theron, who was circling her feet to make sure he would get something of all of those delicious things that were normally hidden away, far beyond her reach.
"Yes, yes... there you go. Now stay there!" Ditte tossed a few left-overs from tonight's feast in the corner of the room. The purring instantly followed the food into the darkness.
"There, that should be enough. It's not like I'll travel to the end of the world... yet." she whispered to the purr in the corner, that was now accompanied by a lot of loud chewing.

This was it. She was ready to leave. Tomorrow everything would be as usual. The maid would prepare breakfast, her father would get dressed and her mother would come to her room to wake her, usually still in her nightgown. But there would be one thing different in House Highdawn tomorrow morning. Because her mother wouldn't find her beloved Daelinde in her room, reluctant to wake up. No, her little girl just closed the door behind her. All she would find in Ditte's room tomorrow would be the usual mess and a carefully folded letter, which turned out to be more of a note, on her pillow.

"Dear mother and father,

When you read this I will be on my way to a life of my own. It is about time I started one.
Don't try to find me, for I do not wish to be found.

I wish you well.

Ditte"

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Part 2 - Becoming

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"Dee? Dee, you there?"
The world started to materialise around her, as Ditte slowly opened her eyes.
"Come on, Dee! I'm not gonna wait all morning..."
Lea? Why was she... oh, crap. Of course. She promised to go to Morv's this morning and practice everything Krystha had told her to work on. But there was something else. A strange feeling told her this was a special day, but she couldn't quite grasp what it was that made this day different from any day before this seemingly random sunday morning. And why did she promise to practice with Lea on a sunday morning again? Must've been those banana cocktails...
"I'm coming! Just a second!" she shouted to Lea, who was quickly walking up the stairs.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Lea was googling eagerly at Ditte's bed, expecting... maybe even hoping to find Ditte in an embarrassing situation with someone else.
"Sorry to disappoint... you can come up. Nothing to see here" Ditte responded, as if she had read Lea's thoughts.
Quickly she jumped out of bed, scoured the floor for some clothes and started dressing herself.
"How late am I?" Ditte asked, while hopping on one leg, trying put on the pants she found under her bed.
"Oh, you're not late... I just felt like waking you." Lea smirked.
"Nice. And what were you hoping to find...?" Ditte tripped and fell back in bed.
"Nothing? What should I have been hoping for?" Her innocent face was as convincing as ever.
"Forget it... Do you guys have breakfast or should I get some in town?" She looked at Lea while getting back on her feet and lacing up her shirt.
"I just picked some up for the three of us... let's get going!" Lea was already running down the stairs and out the door.

"What should I write? Anything specific or can I just write whatever?" Ditte looked at Lea - who was sitting next to her, drawing an almost naked, buff elven man who had a striking resemblance to Morv - and then back at the empty parchment in her own hands.
"Oh, just write about the fabulous poses we have just been practicing... or how beautiful I sang for you." Lea giggled softly.
"Fine, I'll think of something myself... I don't get why I have to practice writing Orcish anyway. Besides, don't -you- have to be practicing your writing too?"
"I did mine yesterday." That convincingly innocent face again.
"My name is... Ditte... and today is sunday." Ditte cited what she was writing down word for word. "It is warm... and I am sitting next to... Lea. Morv just left... and-... Where'd he go again?"
Lea didn't notice that last part was a real question, busy shading the muscles on her sketch's arms and torso.
Ditte poked Lea with her writingfeather.
"Where'd Morv go anyway?"
"Business, pro'lly" Lea responded, not looking up from her work.
"He never tells what he's doing, does he-... What's that?"
Ditte poked Lea again and pointed at a distant figure in the sky, which was getting bigger and bigger. Lea looked up and squinted her eyes, trying to make out what was flying their way. Suddenly they heared a short, but alarming roar from Lea's drake right above them.
"Ditte, hide. Now." Lea quickly stood up and pushed Ditte back inside, away from the balcony.
"But my writi-.."
"No. Just get out of sight!"
Ditte quickly ran inside and crouched in the shadows, behind a pile of crates.

"Oh, it's you..." A chill ran down her spine as she heared her brother Santhel's voice from the balcony and she crawled further behind the crates.
"Yes, it's me. What can I help you with?"Lea asked politely, but Ditte could clearly hear the suspicion and alertness in her voice.
"I have reason to believe you and that Morvai are hiding my sister. It would be wise if you handed her over right this moment."
"Your... sister?" Lea sounded genuinely surprised.
"Do not think you will be able to play me once again, girl. You might have thought you fooled me before, but I will not leave untill you either hand her over or tell me where I can find her!" Santhel sounded almost desperate...
"That's it! That's why today is different from any other day!" Ditte thought and couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. She stood up from her hiding place and slowly walked towards the balcony as dignified and elegant as she could muster, trying to hide her excitement.
"I'm not hiding anyone, go bother someone els-..." Lea quickly turned around when she heared Ditte walking towards them.
"Oh, hello big brother. To what do I owe this honor?" Ditte quickly said, before Lea could prevent what was about to happen.
Santhel's eyes widened as he looked her up and down.
"Daelinde! I knew it! You are coming with me, young lady!" Santhel clasped Ditte's arm and turned towards Lea, "As for you... you and your 'gang' will regret hiding my sister from her family and lying about it. The Royal Court will know of this!"
"Oh, be quiet..." Ditte released herself from Santhel's grip, "... and you're too late anyway."
"What do you-... oh Fel. What day is it?!" Santhel's face instantly turned almost as red as his long, overly groomed hair.
"Today, dear brother, is the day after my coming of age. The day after the last chance you had to bring me home and lock me back in my gilded cage... Today is the day you have failed." Ditte said, grinning from ear to ear.
As instantly as his face had turned red, it now paled.
"Oh, yes. You heared me right. You're too late." An even bigger smirk spread over Ditte's face, "Now be a dear and leave us. This is also the first day of my own, free life and it's about time I started it."
Santhel regained his posture and looked angrily at Ditte.
"Our parents will hear of this! And they will not be pleased! Do not expect anything from them ever again, young lady!" He uttered and then he started mumbling some sort of chant, disappearing into thin air the next second.
Ditte didn't seem bothered at all and turned towards Lea, who had been looking from one to the other, completely surprised about what had just happened.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be completely honest with you before..." Ditte took Lea's hand and shook it, smiling apologetically "I am Daelinde. Daelinde Highdawn."

Did you just post in my subsection? :p Perhaps have it moved to the open general story section for people who don't have their own I'm afraid this "stories of various characters" is meant for my own and not others

And here I thought I had finally found the right section. My apologies, but in this maze of forums, sub-forums and sub-sub-forums, it's rather impossible to find out where to post.

Sorry for posting in your section.

Now if only I could find out how to delete a post...

Just send a message to one of the moderating staff and ask them to move it/create you a story section.

No need to delete indeed

Moved!

Thanks Saihna