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Post by The Master on Aug 28, 2011 7:10:29 GMT -5
"My dear Madame de Pompadour," the letter read. "It is my most sincere wish that this letter finds you well, and that our sovereign lord Louis XV continues to look upon you with the love and kindness I well remember from my last visit to court."
"During my recent travels in Africa, it was my great pleasure to make the acquaintance of one Ishaq El-Amin al-Sayyid, a Moor and a Musselman, but a gentleman of great accomplishments and well-skilled in the Arts and Sciences. He has expressed a desire to be of use to his majesty, and so I have written this letter to ask that you prevail upon our dread lord to find some suitable position for him."
"Signed, Antoine Desaix, seigneur d'Chantres."
The servant who had brought the letter stood discretely as Madam de Pompadour finished reading. "The... gentleman is in your outer chambers, my lady," he said. "He craves an audience. Shall I tell him to depart?"
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Post by reinette on Aug 29, 2011 0:32:51 GMT -5
The day, so far, had been exactly as any other day. Reinette had risen, dressed, seen the king, and retired to her study for the afternoon in the usual fashion.
It was as if the events of her thirty-seventh birthday had never happened. And really, who's to say they had at all? The mirror was long since repaired and the fireplace just a fireplace after all. The clockwork figures had gone, long since destroyed, and so... and so was the Lonely Angel of her childhood, both in nightmares and dreams.
A visit from a servant bearing a letter was no surprise, nothing new. She read the letter, didn't remember a Desaix; her eyes wandered to the fireplace and she watched the flames dance for a moment, almost imagining--
"Mhm?" she said, the breath of a whisper. "No, no..." she said, rising from her seat at her desk and adjusting her panniers subtly. "Send him in." A breakup from the ordinary days would be a relief, at the very least.
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Post by The Master on Aug 29, 2011 21:21:29 GMT -5
The man, Ishaq El-Amin al-Sayyid, was tall and dark of skin. He dressed as a gentleman - an emerald cutaway coat, a white shirt with lace at the wrists, breeches and stockings, and black shoes with silver buckles. His wig was appropriate for a tradesman, but of a quality that signified wealth.
Or, at least, a willingness to go into debt to appear wealthy at court. Often the difference was subtle.
He bowed low. "My lady," he said, his French accented with just enough of the Egyptian to sound exotic. "Allow me to convey my deepest gratitude for this audience."
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Post by reinette on Sept 2, 2011 2:00:56 GMT -5
He wasn't the first dark-skinned man she'd ever seen in her life. They appeared once in a blue moon, in various stages of freedom, always different and typically very polite. She gathered that this Al-Sayyid was a noble of sorts in Africa by his dress- such brilliant green was a subtly powerful colour, and it suited him well. He was probably quite learned as well. Her heart flickered for a moment; perhaps he was a master of astronomy, and knew the stars- yes! They could arrange a telescope, have one built, a large and powerful one that could see out to the stars...
She blinked, and returned to reality quickly. Ashamed of her own distraction but never showing it on her face, she curtsied to the gentleman. "Believe me, Monsieur, it is an honor to have you at Versailles. I hear you have a talent for science; your friend's letter was most impressive." She smiled, well at-ease with the guest.
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Post by The Master on Sept 2, 2011 18:25:29 GMT -5
She curtsied to the gentleman. "Believe me, Monsieur, it is an honor to have you at Versailles. I hear you have a talent for science; your friend's letter was most impressive." She smiled, well at-ease with the guest.
Ishaq smiled modestly. "I fear I must confess myself to be as much a student of the sciences as I am the Master of any one particular field." There was a subtle note of humor to his words. "I began my studies in the fields of astronomy and logic at the Al-Azhar in Cairo, before being granted the supreme honor of studying in your own Académie des sciences with Monsieurs Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroch and with Pierre Lemonnier."
He paused to consider his words. "No doubt I should have remained at L'Académie until the end of my days, had not the late... unpleasantness occured in my homeland. I returned to Egypt in the company of the Seigneur d'Chantres, where we pledged our services to the cause of restoring the rightful Sheikh al-Balad to his throne, should it please Allah."
A shrug. "In the fullness of time, we were forced to acknowledge that it did not please Him. And so, finding myself... unwelcome in the lands of my birth, I felt a longing to return to the land which holds my heart. The Seigneur was kind enough to draft a letter of introduction to your Ladyship," here he bowed again, "so that I might present myself and humbly beg your assistance in securing an audience with his Majesty the King."
A smile. "For, if I may be so bold, I am prepared to offer him a means to achieve victory in his conflict with the English.
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