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Friday's and Saturday's
Ah, Sweeney fic is on the way, but not quite done yet. For Friday, I have a tiny little drabble, dedicated to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
karasukun, inspired by LOTR as well as the fact that I had to sing this frickin' song five times in two days last weekend. Forgive the repetitiveness. Heh.
For Saturday, I have an extra-long fic, so I'm giving you more than one LJ-cut to allow you to jump around or read it in more than one sitting. It was not, originally, going to be this long.
So...here you are.
Friday:
Title: Middle Earth's Twelve Days of Christmas
Fandom: LOTR
A/N: Dedicated tokarasukun and to Eddie Izzard, whom I pictured going "FIVE GOOOOLD RINGS" every time I was forced to sing the song.
On the first day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
A sapling from a White Tree.
On the second day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White Tree.
On the third day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Five Dwarvish Rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Ten hobbits smoking
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Eleven dwarves a-mining
Ten hobbits smoking
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Twelve men a-fighting
Eleven dwarves a-mining
Ten hobbits smoking
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
Saturday:
Title: Silent Night
Fandom: Ravenloft
A/N: Dedicated heartily toplaidavenger, who suggested it.
Disclaimer: This is a bit more complicated than my usual fanfic disclaimer because this fic is based on an RPG campaign, rather than a movie or a book or whatnot. Therefore, to give credit where credit is due: Ravenloft is a setting used for the d20 RPG system. All the place names, nationalities, etc., as well as Alanik Ray, belong to them. The campaign this fic is based on was created bysquirrelmadness and all events referred to, as well as the characters of Ambrose, Sophia, Oliver, Désirée, Shaoron, Lucia, Josef Masha, Theophilus, and Franz, belong to him. The characters Hollis, Eanokien, Eanoki, Carmen, Arkadiy, Borgoff, Luka, Elor, M. (Tydeus) Dardanos, Ren, Pepe, and Sindora are original PCs who are not mine. I beg the kind indulgence of these characters' creators in allowing me to play with them; this fic is meant in fun and I love all of your characters dearly.
The little bit that's left (specifically Anya, Fyedka, Nicolas, Stella, and the Kartaakans other than Hollis, as well as the plot) is mine. I let this thing run away with me, but in hindsight, I'm kind of glad I did, as I enjoyed it.
Yes, I'm aware that Christmas doesn't exist in the setting. Shut up.
Hollis had not stopped singing Christmas carols for the past three weeks. Silently, Anya cursed Ambrose for managing to be away from home for the vast majority of the month. Usually she’d have been with him, but the twins meant that she was, for the moment, tied to the ranch. Hollis had come to help, which wasn’t unwelcome, per se.
But then she had decided to have a Christmas party.
When Anya received Ambrose’s reply to her letter, she promptly decided to murder him when he returned. She could practically see the grin on his face as he wrote it:
A – A party sounds like a splendid idea. Make sure the menu is acceptable for guests, of course, and buy yourself enough alcohol. I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time.
Please don’t kill anyone who’ll be missed.
Love, A
Definitely. She was going to kill him.
--
Fyedka had taken the twins to bed early, though not before Hollis had managed to fill them with cookies and sweets of every description. The twins adored her. Fyedka did not, but being a good butler, he never expressed this opinion. Unfortunately for him, most of the servants didn’t have to deal with sugar-filled five year olds, and so they all adored Hollis as well.
Anya took a long sip of red wine and a deep breath. She had managed to escape Hollis’ attempts to make her “beautiful,” but had conceded to wear a suit. Hollis looked gorgeous – even in her mid-thirties, she still had a youthful face, and her red hair was artfully arranged. She went around humming, checking on the food, the music, the decorations, while Anya couldn’t do more than stand awkwardly in the ballroom. She lived here, but it was neither her ranch nor her party.
Hollis had wanted to invite the neighbors. In the politest terms she could manage, Anya told her that the neighbors might have come if Ambrose had been home, but none of them would especially want to see the ranch’s mistress. Hollis had been hard to convince, but Anya had finally won her over – especially since she let Hollis invite a large number of her friends from Kartakass to make up for it.
They all arrived together, in a pack of happily chatting people, singing Christmas carols, and overenthusiastically greeting Anya. Her brief journeys through Kartakass had prepared her a little, but it was very disconcerting to have them swoop down on her in Nova Vaasa. She was almost relieved with the guests she knew started to arrive.
She could barely say she knew Sophia and Oliver, but she nodded to them anyway when they entered. Eanokien and his son were with them. Carmen would be arriving, eventually, and perhaps her father. As if the occasion could become any more awkward. And then he’d want to see the grandchildren and…
Her train of thought was interrupted when she realized that Eanokien had been trying to talk to her for the past five minutes. She shook her head and apologized. He simply shrugged, thanked her politely, and moved off, keeping an eye on his son. The boy was a little too young, really, for such a party – he couldn’t be more than 14 or 15, could he? But he was incredibly polite and well behaved, if a little pale.
She was watching the boy when she was abruptly and hardily pounded on the back. “My leetle falcon! How are you?” She turned and almost smiled at Arkadiy. Almost.
“Well enough, sir. Thank you for coming.” Now she knew it was bad. She was almost happy to see the crazy Falkovnian. There was a strapping-looking young man at his side – Borgoff was the spitting image of his father, whose hair had just begun to grey at the temples, though he looked as strong and earnest as ever. The boy was still young, of course, but he seemed somehow much older than the one she had just been studying. He offered her his hand, and his handshake was firm and strong; almost overly so, as if every handshake was an attempt to prove his strength. Anya didn’t flinch.
Hollis whirled over. “Roman! It’s great to see you.” She hugged him.
He smiled. “Thank you for the invitation,” he said, kissing her hand once she had stopped squeezing him. “I could not resist the chance to see Nova Vaasa and our old friends. It is a pity my wife and the other children could not come, no? But.” He dismissed such regrets with a wave of his hand, as if to imply that such blasphemy should not be uttered.
Hollis smiled. “Come dance with me.” He nodded and followed her. Anya and the boy looked awkwardly at each other for a moment until he spotted Eanoki. With a murmured excuse, Borgoff slipped off into the crowd. The Kartakaans had started singing in four part harmony, and some had begun to dance.
Luka arrived, dressed very festively, with an elf Anya didn’t recognize. She slid over to talk to them and discovered he was Elor, the ranger who had helped them take down Désirée almost fifteen years ago. Luka made excuses for M. Dardanos; he went out very little since loosing his family. Anya secretly breathed a sigh of relief – there had been no way to prevent Hollis from inviting him, but things could have quickly gotten messy. She’d been half afraid – well, no matter now. She assured Luka it was good to see him, and the two of them disappeared into the crowd.
Anya almost regretted that Ren hadn’t been able to come. She was still involved in a search for Shaoron, and had work that couldn’t be abandoned for Christmas festivities. She and Lucia sent their greetings.
Even Hollis hadn’t been able to track down Pepe. Anya doubted anyone would be especially disappointed.
Sindora arrived looking stunning in a traditional gown of some sort, her dragon draped around her shoulders like an ornament. She looked around the room, coolly surveying it before nodding to Anya and moving in to mingle with the crowd.
The party began to pick up, and Anya relaxed just a little. It would be over soon, and in any case, it was just some drinking and dancing. Nothing fancy. Hollis got her to dance with Luka, Arkadiy, and some Kartaakan (whose name she didn’t catch) once each. Though she wouldn’t say she enjoyed it, it wasn’t especially painful. She smiled to herself; could it be she was mellowing with age? …no, surely not.
At about ten, she noticed a small, round face peering through the top banister of the main staircase. With a sigh, she moved up quietly and looked down at her son. “And what, exactly, are you doing out of bed, young man?”
He squirmed under her gaze, muttering “…juswantedtoseetheparty, Mama…”
She sighed and scooped him up easily. “It is far too lake for you to be up, rininski.”
Arkadiy choose that moment to look up and notice Anya. “Ah, ees that a new leettle falcon chick? Come, Anya, let him see the party – eet is good for him, ya?”
She shook her head, but Nikki turned to her and said “Please, Mama? Just for a minute?”
Sighing, she asked, “Is Stella still up?”
He nodded solemnly, “Yeah, but she stayed in bed. She said you were going to yell at me when you caught me.”
She couldn’t help laughing a little. “All right. Back to your room, and I’ll have Fyedka come get you both in a minute, all right?”
Before either of these things could happen, however, Carmen Masha blew in the front door. On her arm was not Josef Masha/Kitsunov… but instead, a very harried-looking Theophilus des Acres-Noirs. He smiled weakly up at Anya before Carmen announced, rather redundantly, “We’re here!” Eanokien looked as if he would have liked to have smacked his forehead, but was too well brought-up to do so. Eanoki threw himself at his mother in the largest display of emotion anyone had seen from him all night long.
Theophilus explained to Anya as she descended the stairs, Nicolas still in her arms, “I’m afraid the snow’s gotten rather thick, and my carriage was delayed. I would have most likely been hopelessly lost had not Miss Masha happened across my path.” He looked over at Nicolas. “Oh my, how fast they grow up. Hello, sir.” Nicolas’ eyes got wide at being thus addressed by a grown-up, and he glanced at his mother uncertainly.
“Well, go on, say hello.”
“… ‘lo.”
She shook her head. “Ah, well. Please enjoy the party. I shall return, but it’s time that this young man got to bed.” She ignored both Arkadiy and Nicolas’ protests and she walked back upstairs.
After wishing both children a good night once more and briefly considering making a run for it, Anya returned to the party. Though there was still plenty of revelry and music, and even a small amount of gift exchanging, the murmurs of worry had begun to spread. Apparently there was a veritable blizzard outside.
Fyedka cornered her before she could get sucked into the party. “Miss Evans, it seems that road travel is quickly becoming impossible. We may have to put our guests up for the night, but we aren’t prepared yet. I’m afraid some of the guests may have to sleep on couches or the like.” He was very calm, but expectant, waiting for instructions. Anya liked Fyedka; his cool head and intelligence were hard enough to find among her circle of acquaintances. But she hated having servants in the first place. It was just a little nerve-wracking, even if she’d had years to adjust.
“All right. Well, many of the guests won’t mind, I imagine. I’ll take a couch, of course.” She sighed and ran a hand back over her hair. “There’s really nothing to be done?” Fydeka simply shook his head. “All right then. Organize the servants and do what you can.” He nodded and withdrew, and Anya began searching for Hollis. Someone would, after all, need to make an announcement, and Anya did not intend to do it herself.
Hollis was excited. Anya managed to talk her out of announcing that the guests were invited to a “slumber party.” But she did manage to get everyone’s attention and announce that due to the weather, everyone would be invited to stay at the ranch for the evening. This announcement was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and Anya wondered for a moment if it would be considered bad form to ask the Kartaakans to stay in the stables. She privately pictured them sleeping in a large heap, like puppies.
The drinking and dancing continued as Anya alternated between helping the servants and keeping an eye on the guests. She kept herself busy to avoid thinking about the claustrophobia of not being able to get out. And it worked, for the most part; it was only when she paused that the tension started gathering in her shoulders. She could hear from the other room that Arkady was sharing a rather embellished version of one of their adventures, and Hollis was “helping” with her own brand of flourish. At least the guests would be entertained.
When the Kartaakan was found dead, Anya’s first thought was that the killer had an overdeveloped sense of melodrama. Honestly. Who stabs someone at midnight? She had Fyedka take the body to the kitchen, discreetly, and regretted that Detective Ray had declined Hollis’ invitation. Ah, well. It couldn’t be helped now.
--
The first order of business was to keep people from panicking. To this end, she took Hollis, Luka, and des Acres-Noires aside and explained what had happened. Hollis was understandably upset, especially as she had known the boy, but managed to pull herself together enough to say she would do her best to keep everyone calm. Anya enlisted Luka to pull aside any of the guests who might be helpful to an investigation, while des Acres-Noires came to examine the body.
He frowned as he examined the wounds. “They look like knife wounds. But the angle is odd. You see?” He pointed.
Anya nodded. “They look like the killer slashed from above, but didn’t know what they were doing.”
“Precisely. And you can see they slit his throat when they gave up trying to stab him. The question is, why did no one hear the man cry out? There was clearly a struggle.”
“They were many rooms away with an orchestra and a choir between the guests and the victim.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The bigger question is, why-”
Luka, Elor, Eanokien, Carmen, Arkadiy and Sindora chose that moment to arrive in the kitchen. Arkadiy said “Why what, my leetle falcon?”
Anya shook her head. “Where’s Hollis?”
Eanokien said calmly, “She, Sophia and Olivier are trying to keep the other guests both calm and under observation.” He observed the corpse for a moment. “You cleaned him already?”
“Just barely.” Anya glanced over at the butler, standing unobtrusively in the shadows. He nodded. “Nothing more than wiping away the blood to get a better look at the wounds.”
They all stood there for a moment, until Sindora said dryly, “So. Now that you have us here…was there a plan?”
Anya hated this. Ambrose should have been here. But she simply said, “Well, the culprit couldn’t have gotten away. Fyedka’s checked; no one could have left the ranch in this weather for hours, and even if they’d tried, someone would have seen them. They have to still be here.” She exhaled and looked at the corpse. “They aren’t a trained killer, unless they’re deliberately trying to throw us off, and based on circumstantial evidence, I’d venture a personal motive. The blows are rather viscous, if somewhat ineffectual.”
There was a pause. Carmen smiled. “Quite a speech, coming from you.”
Anya swallowed her irritation. “Never mind that. We need to start gathering information.” Turning to Theo, she said, “Would you mind checking the body to see if there are any smaller clues?” He nodded and turned back to the corpse.
Luka said, “So, do you want us to interview the guests, then?”
Arkadiy looked fierce. “We weel not let a murder go undetected at a party. In Falkovnia-”
Sindora cut him off. “Perhaps it would be best if we tried to gather information a bit less obtrusively first.”
Nodding, Anya said, “I want most of you to circulate and keep your ears open. See what you can pick up. Sindora,” the dragon blinked at her, but Anya ignored it, “if you’d help me with a little more formal questioning, I think we could get a bit of information. But the most helpful things will likely be what you can overhear.”
Eanokien said, “We’ll find out who he came with first, and work from there. Shall we send people in to you one at a time?”
Anya sighed and nodded. “I’ll show you where the study is.”
--
An hour later, they had talked to most of the party-goers, at least briefly. Hollis had been able to give them a good deal of background on most of the Kartaakans, and on the dead boy, Jacob. Theo had determined that he died from the throat wound, but had probably been knocked unconscious before then, as there was head trauma. This also explained why he had sat more or less still through the botched attempts.
Those involved in the investigation, minus Sophia and Oliver, who were keeping an eye on the other guests, were now closeted in the study. Anya sat at the desk, hands folded, watching the others.
Carmen and Arkadiy were arguing, rather loudly.
“None of us are above suspicion, that’s the point!”
“My honor weel not allow such an insult. To eemply that such a…”
Hollis cut him off. “It’s no one in this room.” She looked around, wide-eyed. “None of you would kill a random stranger for no reason.”
There was a short silence that was almost awkward before Anya said, “Though everyone should still be handled carefully, I think there are three likely suspects.” She glanced at Sindora, who nodded once. “There is his brother Herman, the girl Liesel, and that Wilhelm fellow. They’re the only ones who have any apparent motives.”
Hollis frowned. “But I know all of them. They…”
Anya cut her off, a little annoyed. “Ritisia, dear, you know everyone. You wrote the guest list.”
Hollis opened her mouth and then closed it again, turning to scowl at an empty patch of air. “No, I will not.” Everyone else displayed varying degrees of awkwardness at her address to Franz. After a moment, the bard turned back to Anya. “Well, I suppose it does have to be someone I know, if you don’t think it could be the servants.”
Shaking her head, Anya replied, “We questioned them, and it’s possible, but unlikely.”
Sindora nodded. “There is no motive. It has been confirmed that none of his personal effects were missing. And in any case, a robbery under such circumstances would have been most short-sighted.”
“Not that a murder was not equally ill-advised,” commented Eanokien. He and Carmen exchanged a look unintelligible to anyone else in the room.
Luka shook his head. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
Hollis looked grim. “I’ll handle this.” She set her jaw in a way that suggested she was most put out that someone ruined her party by murdering one of her friends.
Theophilus cleared his throat politely. “Do be careful. We don’t know what the murderer is capable of, under the circumstances…”
Arkadiy stepped up. “I weel protect you, Hollees. We weel go now, yes?” She nodded, and the two of them swept out of the study.
Carmen looked amused, but she was the only one. Sindora said simply, “Shall we follow them?” The remaining group trailed them out into the ballroom.
Hollis stood on the little dais that had been assembled for the musicians. She looked as severe as she ever did, with Arkadiy glowering at the room over her shoulder. Anya nodded to Fyedka, and he discreetly began posting some of the larger grooms at the exits in case someone decided to make a run for it. Anya put a hand on her revolver, and noticed she was not the only one with a ready weapon. All the better.
After a moment, Hollis began. “I’m very disappointed in you.” She glared out at the crowd. Anya almost flinched, and she realized Hollis had to be giving her voice a bit of a magical boost. Her friend had gotten very good in the years they’d been apart. “I invite you all here for a perfectly nice party, and a good time at Christmas, and to visit my friend Anya, and one of you,” she raised an admonishing finger, “decides to go and spoil it for everyone.”
There was a hush over the crowd as everyone looked vaguely ashamed and embarrassed. Suddenly, a girl with long flaxen braids burst into tears.
“I’m sorry! I just…I did it for the…the STORY,” she sobbed. Everyone in the ballroom stared at her. Liesel, the murdered man’s fiancée, continued in what Anya found an hopelessly melodramatic manner. “He was,” she sniffed, “going to leave me. It would have just been another little failed romance, but I stabbed him at midnight. At a Christmas party. Now someone’s sure to make a song about it, and we’ll be together forever.”
After a moment of incredulous silence from everyone but the girl (who continued weeping), Anya stepped forward. “All right, miss Kaiser, come with me. We need to talk.” Arkadiy gave Anya a disapproving look, which she ignored. “A private talk.”
As Anya led the sobbing blonde away, Hollis brightened, though much of it was probably an act, given Jacob’s death. “Well, everyone, we should honor Jacob of course, but I’m sure he’d want us to enjoy the rest of the party as much as we can.” After a moment of hesitation, the band started up again.
--
By the time Anya returned, the party was winding down. The servants were showing the guests to various rooms in which they could sleep while waiting out the blizzard. Luka, Hollis, and Elor were talking in the ballroom, but most everyone else had gone off to sleep.
Anya stepped up to them, and shook her head. “I’m afraid I have some tragic news. Miss Kaiser took her own life before I could stop her. She said something about it being appropriate. Clearly, she was completely mad.”
Hollis shook her head, eyes widening in shock and hurt. “I had no idea…” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Even though…nevermind.” She half smiled, sadly. “Well, I guess that’s that, then.”
Luka gave Anya an appraising look, then just shook his head. “I suppose a quiet evening at home is just perpetually out of the question.”
Wryly, Anya rejoined, “I’ve never heard of such a thing, Mr. Zephos. ”
After a moment, Hollis said, “Well, I guess it’s bedtime after all. The roads should be clear in the morning, shouldn’t they?”
Anya nodded. “Clear enough, I imagine, yes. You all go on up. I’ll be to bed later on.” They all wished each other goodnight and merry Christmas. Anya watched them go, then turned. She and Fyedka had business to attend to in the kitchen.
karasukun, inspired by LOTR as well as the fact that I had to sing this frickin' song five times in two days last weekend. Forgive the repetitiveness. Heh.For Saturday, I have an extra-long fic, so I'm giving you more than one LJ-cut to allow you to jump around or read it in more than one sitting. It was not, originally, going to be this long.
So...here you are.
Friday:
Title: Middle Earth's Twelve Days of Christmas
Fandom: LOTR
A/N: Dedicated to
karasukun and to Eddie Izzard, whom I pictured going "FIVE GOOOOLD RINGS" every time I was forced to sing the song.On the first day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
A sapling from a White Tree.
On the second day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White Tree.
On the third day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Five Dwarvish Rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Ten hobbits smoking
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Eleven dwarves a-mining
Ten hobbits smoking
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, a hobbit gave to me,
Twelve men a-fighting
Eleven dwarves a-mining
Ten hobbits smoking
Nine Riders riding
Eight orcs a-growling
Seven elves a-preening
Six ents a-“hoom”ing
Five dwarvish rings!
Four leaves of Mallorn
Three loaves of Lembas
Two shards of Narsil
And a sapling from a White tree.
Saturday:
Title: Silent Night
Fandom: Ravenloft
A/N: Dedicated heartily to
plaidavenger, who suggested it.Disclaimer: This is a bit more complicated than my usual fanfic disclaimer because this fic is based on an RPG campaign, rather than a movie or a book or whatnot. Therefore, to give credit where credit is due: Ravenloft is a setting used for the d20 RPG system. All the place names, nationalities, etc., as well as Alanik Ray, belong to them. The campaign this fic is based on was created by
squirrelmadness and all events referred to, as well as the characters of Ambrose, Sophia, Oliver, Désirée, Shaoron, Lucia, Josef Masha, Theophilus, and Franz, belong to him. The characters Hollis, Eanokien, Eanoki, Carmen, Arkadiy, Borgoff, Luka, Elor, M. (Tydeus) Dardanos, Ren, Pepe, and Sindora are original PCs who are not mine. I beg the kind indulgence of these characters' creators in allowing me to play with them; this fic is meant in fun and I love all of your characters dearly.The little bit that's left (specifically Anya, Fyedka, Nicolas, Stella, and the Kartaakans other than Hollis, as well as the plot) is mine. I let this thing run away with me, but in hindsight, I'm kind of glad I did, as I enjoyed it.
Yes, I'm aware that Christmas doesn't exist in the setting. Shut up.
Hollis had not stopped singing Christmas carols for the past three weeks. Silently, Anya cursed Ambrose for managing to be away from home for the vast majority of the month. Usually she’d have been with him, but the twins meant that she was, for the moment, tied to the ranch. Hollis had come to help, which wasn’t unwelcome, per se.
But then she had decided to have a Christmas party.
When Anya received Ambrose’s reply to her letter, she promptly decided to murder him when he returned. She could practically see the grin on his face as he wrote it:
A – A party sounds like a splendid idea. Make sure the menu is acceptable for guests, of course, and buy yourself enough alcohol. I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time.
Please don’t kill anyone who’ll be missed.
Love, A
Definitely. She was going to kill him.
--
Fyedka had taken the twins to bed early, though not before Hollis had managed to fill them with cookies and sweets of every description. The twins adored her. Fyedka did not, but being a good butler, he never expressed this opinion. Unfortunately for him, most of the servants didn’t have to deal with sugar-filled five year olds, and so they all adored Hollis as well.
Anya took a long sip of red wine and a deep breath. She had managed to escape Hollis’ attempts to make her “beautiful,” but had conceded to wear a suit. Hollis looked gorgeous – even in her mid-thirties, she still had a youthful face, and her red hair was artfully arranged. She went around humming, checking on the food, the music, the decorations, while Anya couldn’t do more than stand awkwardly in the ballroom. She lived here, but it was neither her ranch nor her party.
Hollis had wanted to invite the neighbors. In the politest terms she could manage, Anya told her that the neighbors might have come if Ambrose had been home, but none of them would especially want to see the ranch’s mistress. Hollis had been hard to convince, but Anya had finally won her over – especially since she let Hollis invite a large number of her friends from Kartakass to make up for it.
They all arrived together, in a pack of happily chatting people, singing Christmas carols, and overenthusiastically greeting Anya. Her brief journeys through Kartakass had prepared her a little, but it was very disconcerting to have them swoop down on her in Nova Vaasa. She was almost relieved with the guests she knew started to arrive.
She could barely say she knew Sophia and Oliver, but she nodded to them anyway when they entered. Eanokien and his son were with them. Carmen would be arriving, eventually, and perhaps her father. As if the occasion could become any more awkward. And then he’d want to see the grandchildren and…
Her train of thought was interrupted when she realized that Eanokien had been trying to talk to her for the past five minutes. She shook her head and apologized. He simply shrugged, thanked her politely, and moved off, keeping an eye on his son. The boy was a little too young, really, for such a party – he couldn’t be more than 14 or 15, could he? But he was incredibly polite and well behaved, if a little pale.
She was watching the boy when she was abruptly and hardily pounded on the back. “My leetle falcon! How are you?” She turned and almost smiled at Arkadiy. Almost.
“Well enough, sir. Thank you for coming.” Now she knew it was bad. She was almost happy to see the crazy Falkovnian. There was a strapping-looking young man at his side – Borgoff was the spitting image of his father, whose hair had just begun to grey at the temples, though he looked as strong and earnest as ever. The boy was still young, of course, but he seemed somehow much older than the one she had just been studying. He offered her his hand, and his handshake was firm and strong; almost overly so, as if every handshake was an attempt to prove his strength. Anya didn’t flinch.
Hollis whirled over. “Roman! It’s great to see you.” She hugged him.
He smiled. “Thank you for the invitation,” he said, kissing her hand once she had stopped squeezing him. “I could not resist the chance to see Nova Vaasa and our old friends. It is a pity my wife and the other children could not come, no? But.” He dismissed such regrets with a wave of his hand, as if to imply that such blasphemy should not be uttered.
Hollis smiled. “Come dance with me.” He nodded and followed her. Anya and the boy looked awkwardly at each other for a moment until he spotted Eanoki. With a murmured excuse, Borgoff slipped off into the crowd. The Kartakaans had started singing in four part harmony, and some had begun to dance.
Luka arrived, dressed very festively, with an elf Anya didn’t recognize. She slid over to talk to them and discovered he was Elor, the ranger who had helped them take down Désirée almost fifteen years ago. Luka made excuses for M. Dardanos; he went out very little since loosing his family. Anya secretly breathed a sigh of relief – there had been no way to prevent Hollis from inviting him, but things could have quickly gotten messy. She’d been half afraid – well, no matter now. She assured Luka it was good to see him, and the two of them disappeared into the crowd.
Anya almost regretted that Ren hadn’t been able to come. She was still involved in a search for Shaoron, and had work that couldn’t be abandoned for Christmas festivities. She and Lucia sent their greetings.
Even Hollis hadn’t been able to track down Pepe. Anya doubted anyone would be especially disappointed.
Sindora arrived looking stunning in a traditional gown of some sort, her dragon draped around her shoulders like an ornament. She looked around the room, coolly surveying it before nodding to Anya and moving in to mingle with the crowd.
The party began to pick up, and Anya relaxed just a little. It would be over soon, and in any case, it was just some drinking and dancing. Nothing fancy. Hollis got her to dance with Luka, Arkadiy, and some Kartaakan (whose name she didn’t catch) once each. Though she wouldn’t say she enjoyed it, it wasn’t especially painful. She smiled to herself; could it be she was mellowing with age? …no, surely not.
At about ten, she noticed a small, round face peering through the top banister of the main staircase. With a sigh, she moved up quietly and looked down at her son. “And what, exactly, are you doing out of bed, young man?”
He squirmed under her gaze, muttering “…juswantedtoseetheparty, Mama…”
She sighed and scooped him up easily. “It is far too lake for you to be up, rininski.”
Arkadiy choose that moment to look up and notice Anya. “Ah, ees that a new leettle falcon chick? Come, Anya, let him see the party – eet is good for him, ya?”
She shook her head, but Nikki turned to her and said “Please, Mama? Just for a minute?”
Sighing, she asked, “Is Stella still up?”
He nodded solemnly, “Yeah, but she stayed in bed. She said you were going to yell at me when you caught me.”
She couldn’t help laughing a little. “All right. Back to your room, and I’ll have Fyedka come get you both in a minute, all right?”
Before either of these things could happen, however, Carmen Masha blew in the front door. On her arm was not Josef Masha/Kitsunov… but instead, a very harried-looking Theophilus des Acres-Noirs. He smiled weakly up at Anya before Carmen announced, rather redundantly, “We’re here!” Eanokien looked as if he would have liked to have smacked his forehead, but was too well brought-up to do so. Eanoki threw himself at his mother in the largest display of emotion anyone had seen from him all night long.
Theophilus explained to Anya as she descended the stairs, Nicolas still in her arms, “I’m afraid the snow’s gotten rather thick, and my carriage was delayed. I would have most likely been hopelessly lost had not Miss Masha happened across my path.” He looked over at Nicolas. “Oh my, how fast they grow up. Hello, sir.” Nicolas’ eyes got wide at being thus addressed by a grown-up, and he glanced at his mother uncertainly.
“Well, go on, say hello.”
“… ‘lo.”
She shook her head. “Ah, well. Please enjoy the party. I shall return, but it’s time that this young man got to bed.” She ignored both Arkadiy and Nicolas’ protests and she walked back upstairs.
After wishing both children a good night once more and briefly considering making a run for it, Anya returned to the party. Though there was still plenty of revelry and music, and even a small amount of gift exchanging, the murmurs of worry had begun to spread. Apparently there was a veritable blizzard outside.
Fyedka cornered her before she could get sucked into the party. “Miss Evans, it seems that road travel is quickly becoming impossible. We may have to put our guests up for the night, but we aren’t prepared yet. I’m afraid some of the guests may have to sleep on couches or the like.” He was very calm, but expectant, waiting for instructions. Anya liked Fyedka; his cool head and intelligence were hard enough to find among her circle of acquaintances. But she hated having servants in the first place. It was just a little nerve-wracking, even if she’d had years to adjust.
“All right. Well, many of the guests won’t mind, I imagine. I’ll take a couch, of course.” She sighed and ran a hand back over her hair. “There’s really nothing to be done?” Fydeka simply shook his head. “All right then. Organize the servants and do what you can.” He nodded and withdrew, and Anya began searching for Hollis. Someone would, after all, need to make an announcement, and Anya did not intend to do it herself.
Hollis was excited. Anya managed to talk her out of announcing that the guests were invited to a “slumber party.” But she did manage to get everyone’s attention and announce that due to the weather, everyone would be invited to stay at the ranch for the evening. This announcement was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and Anya wondered for a moment if it would be considered bad form to ask the Kartaakans to stay in the stables. She privately pictured them sleeping in a large heap, like puppies.
The drinking and dancing continued as Anya alternated between helping the servants and keeping an eye on the guests. She kept herself busy to avoid thinking about the claustrophobia of not being able to get out. And it worked, for the most part; it was only when she paused that the tension started gathering in her shoulders. She could hear from the other room that Arkady was sharing a rather embellished version of one of their adventures, and Hollis was “helping” with her own brand of flourish. At least the guests would be entertained.
When the Kartaakan was found dead, Anya’s first thought was that the killer had an overdeveloped sense of melodrama. Honestly. Who stabs someone at midnight? She had Fyedka take the body to the kitchen, discreetly, and regretted that Detective Ray had declined Hollis’ invitation. Ah, well. It couldn’t be helped now.
--
The first order of business was to keep people from panicking. To this end, she took Hollis, Luka, and des Acres-Noires aside and explained what had happened. Hollis was understandably upset, especially as she had known the boy, but managed to pull herself together enough to say she would do her best to keep everyone calm. Anya enlisted Luka to pull aside any of the guests who might be helpful to an investigation, while des Acres-Noires came to examine the body.
He frowned as he examined the wounds. “They look like knife wounds. But the angle is odd. You see?” He pointed.
Anya nodded. “They look like the killer slashed from above, but didn’t know what they were doing.”
“Precisely. And you can see they slit his throat when they gave up trying to stab him. The question is, why did no one hear the man cry out? There was clearly a struggle.”
“They were many rooms away with an orchestra and a choir between the guests and the victim.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The bigger question is, why-”
Luka, Elor, Eanokien, Carmen, Arkadiy and Sindora chose that moment to arrive in the kitchen. Arkadiy said “Why what, my leetle falcon?”
Anya shook her head. “Where’s Hollis?”
Eanokien said calmly, “She, Sophia and Olivier are trying to keep the other guests both calm and under observation.” He observed the corpse for a moment. “You cleaned him already?”
“Just barely.” Anya glanced over at the butler, standing unobtrusively in the shadows. He nodded. “Nothing more than wiping away the blood to get a better look at the wounds.”
They all stood there for a moment, until Sindora said dryly, “So. Now that you have us here…was there a plan?”
Anya hated this. Ambrose should have been here. But she simply said, “Well, the culprit couldn’t have gotten away. Fyedka’s checked; no one could have left the ranch in this weather for hours, and even if they’d tried, someone would have seen them. They have to still be here.” She exhaled and looked at the corpse. “They aren’t a trained killer, unless they’re deliberately trying to throw us off, and based on circumstantial evidence, I’d venture a personal motive. The blows are rather viscous, if somewhat ineffectual.”
There was a pause. Carmen smiled. “Quite a speech, coming from you.”
Anya swallowed her irritation. “Never mind that. We need to start gathering information.” Turning to Theo, she said, “Would you mind checking the body to see if there are any smaller clues?” He nodded and turned back to the corpse.
Luka said, “So, do you want us to interview the guests, then?”
Arkadiy looked fierce. “We weel not let a murder go undetected at a party. In Falkovnia-”
Sindora cut him off. “Perhaps it would be best if we tried to gather information a bit less obtrusively first.”
Nodding, Anya said, “I want most of you to circulate and keep your ears open. See what you can pick up. Sindora,” the dragon blinked at her, but Anya ignored it, “if you’d help me with a little more formal questioning, I think we could get a bit of information. But the most helpful things will likely be what you can overhear.”
Eanokien said, “We’ll find out who he came with first, and work from there. Shall we send people in to you one at a time?”
Anya sighed and nodded. “I’ll show you where the study is.”
--
An hour later, they had talked to most of the party-goers, at least briefly. Hollis had been able to give them a good deal of background on most of the Kartaakans, and on the dead boy, Jacob. Theo had determined that he died from the throat wound, but had probably been knocked unconscious before then, as there was head trauma. This also explained why he had sat more or less still through the botched attempts.
Those involved in the investigation, minus Sophia and Oliver, who were keeping an eye on the other guests, were now closeted in the study. Anya sat at the desk, hands folded, watching the others.
Carmen and Arkadiy were arguing, rather loudly.
“None of us are above suspicion, that’s the point!”
“My honor weel not allow such an insult. To eemply that such a…”
Hollis cut him off. “It’s no one in this room.” She looked around, wide-eyed. “None of you would kill a random stranger for no reason.”
There was a short silence that was almost awkward before Anya said, “Though everyone should still be handled carefully, I think there are three likely suspects.” She glanced at Sindora, who nodded once. “There is his brother Herman, the girl Liesel, and that Wilhelm fellow. They’re the only ones who have any apparent motives.”
Hollis frowned. “But I know all of them. They…”
Anya cut her off, a little annoyed. “Ritisia, dear, you know everyone. You wrote the guest list.”
Hollis opened her mouth and then closed it again, turning to scowl at an empty patch of air. “No, I will not.” Everyone else displayed varying degrees of awkwardness at her address to Franz. After a moment, the bard turned back to Anya. “Well, I suppose it does have to be someone I know, if you don’t think it could be the servants.”
Shaking her head, Anya replied, “We questioned them, and it’s possible, but unlikely.”
Sindora nodded. “There is no motive. It has been confirmed that none of his personal effects were missing. And in any case, a robbery under such circumstances would have been most short-sighted.”
“Not that a murder was not equally ill-advised,” commented Eanokien. He and Carmen exchanged a look unintelligible to anyone else in the room.
Luka shook his head. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
Hollis looked grim. “I’ll handle this.” She set her jaw in a way that suggested she was most put out that someone ruined her party by murdering one of her friends.
Theophilus cleared his throat politely. “Do be careful. We don’t know what the murderer is capable of, under the circumstances…”
Arkadiy stepped up. “I weel protect you, Hollees. We weel go now, yes?” She nodded, and the two of them swept out of the study.
Carmen looked amused, but she was the only one. Sindora said simply, “Shall we follow them?” The remaining group trailed them out into the ballroom.
Hollis stood on the little dais that had been assembled for the musicians. She looked as severe as she ever did, with Arkadiy glowering at the room over her shoulder. Anya nodded to Fyedka, and he discreetly began posting some of the larger grooms at the exits in case someone decided to make a run for it. Anya put a hand on her revolver, and noticed she was not the only one with a ready weapon. All the better.
After a moment, Hollis began. “I’m very disappointed in you.” She glared out at the crowd. Anya almost flinched, and she realized Hollis had to be giving her voice a bit of a magical boost. Her friend had gotten very good in the years they’d been apart. “I invite you all here for a perfectly nice party, and a good time at Christmas, and to visit my friend Anya, and one of you,” she raised an admonishing finger, “decides to go and spoil it for everyone.”
There was a hush over the crowd as everyone looked vaguely ashamed and embarrassed. Suddenly, a girl with long flaxen braids burst into tears.
“I’m sorry! I just…I did it for the…the STORY,” she sobbed. Everyone in the ballroom stared at her. Liesel, the murdered man’s fiancée, continued in what Anya found an hopelessly melodramatic manner. “He was,” she sniffed, “going to leave me. It would have just been another little failed romance, but I stabbed him at midnight. At a Christmas party. Now someone’s sure to make a song about it, and we’ll be together forever.”
After a moment of incredulous silence from everyone but the girl (who continued weeping), Anya stepped forward. “All right, miss Kaiser, come with me. We need to talk.” Arkadiy gave Anya a disapproving look, which she ignored. “A private talk.”
As Anya led the sobbing blonde away, Hollis brightened, though much of it was probably an act, given Jacob’s death. “Well, everyone, we should honor Jacob of course, but I’m sure he’d want us to enjoy the rest of the party as much as we can.” After a moment of hesitation, the band started up again.
--
By the time Anya returned, the party was winding down. The servants were showing the guests to various rooms in which they could sleep while waiting out the blizzard. Luka, Hollis, and Elor were talking in the ballroom, but most everyone else had gone off to sleep.
Anya stepped up to them, and shook her head. “I’m afraid I have some tragic news. Miss Kaiser took her own life before I could stop her. She said something about it being appropriate. Clearly, she was completely mad.”
Hollis shook her head, eyes widening in shock and hurt. “I had no idea…” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Even though…nevermind.” She half smiled, sadly. “Well, I guess that’s that, then.”
Luka gave Anya an appraising look, then just shook his head. “I suppose a quiet evening at home is just perpetually out of the question.”
Wryly, Anya rejoined, “I’ve never heard of such a thing, Mr. Zephos. ”
After a moment, Hollis said, “Well, I guess it’s bedtime after all. The roads should be clear in the morning, shouldn’t they?”
Anya nodded. “Clear enough, I imagine, yes. You all go on up. I’ll be to bed later on.” They all wished each other goodnight and merry Christmas. Anya watched them go, then turned. She and Fyedka had business to attend to in the kitchen.