Home Sweet...Home?

-The Cartagan Orchard. Early Morning, 2 DSTR-

There was not many things more beautiful than a radiant sunrise that you had the benefit of seeing from beginning to end. With the added scenery of an orchard of well maintained apple trees, it would be the picturesque morning that was written about and spoken of in every romantic story in existence. This was not the reality for Tyreth as he stood on his front porch, a mug of coffee in his hands. He was leaned forward on the "sturdy" railing of the porch, but he was wary to put his weight actually on it for he had felt it shift under the pressure of his arms alone. Looking out over the mess of trees, he could see weeds surrounding the trunks and that the trees were in por shape and very poorly groomed.

His uncle's death had been sudden and unexpected, or at least that was how it seemed when Tyreth was leagues away in the center of the queendom. Now, with his eyes riding over the landscape, he could tell that the death of his uncle and that of the Orchard had been an event long in the making. Narrowing his eyes, he took a long swig of the drink to finish it off. Dropping his hands down and hooking a finger through the handle of the mug, he moved from the railing and to the center of the staircase. Stepping down, he felt the sag of the boards beneath him and shook his head as he realized the rot had even begun to infect the structure of the home itself.

Continuing down the stairs to the ground, he strode down the path towards the apple tree groves. Reaching up to the lower branches of a vine-strangled tree, he pulled free a red apple and looked at it as if to appraise its worth. At first glance, it seemed like the perfect apple, its color a rich red and its size quite impressive. However, upon closer inspection, soft spots could be found all over the skin. Squeezing gently, he narrowed his eyes as the fruit burst open with the smallest force applied to it. Rooting his finger though the crushed fruit, he sucked air in through his teeth in an annoyed manner as he saw a collection of maggots spilling forth from the insides of the apple.

Squeezing his hand shut around the remains of the apple, bits of fruit and juice dribbled through his fingers to the ground. Dropping the mush to the ground, he squatted down and looked at the assortment of apples that lay on the ground in various states of decay, clearly stricken by the same maggots. Shaking his head slowly, he wiped his hand through the grass around the tree in order to clean it off. Standing with his hand mostly cleaned apart from a slight sticky residue left over, he placed his hand on the trunk of the tree and patted it a few times before speaking in a quiet voice, "What happened here? How far does this go?"

Stepping deeper into the grove, he walked throughout the trees, testing apples here and there. All in all, the maggots affected nearly three quarters of the crops that he tested. Walking towards the estate, he felt the sun's rays on his back and cursed it for its awakening. It was a sick twist of symbolism, the sun coming above the horizon just as his eyes were opened to the true state of events at the orchard. Grabbing an apple from a random tree, he squeezed it gently and cursed under his breath as he felt it beginning to give way under his fingers. Walking though the trees, he could see signs of life around the first trees as the yard slaves had begun their work. Closing in on them, he called out in a commanding voice, "Gather around the porch, now!!"

Seeing several heads whip around to him with dumbfounded expressions, he noticed that they were completely surprised by his presence within the groves. The effect of their confusion was so strong, in fact, that there were more than a few slaves who froze where they were and stared at him as he approached. Moving towards a male slave who stared at him with a shovel in his hands, Tyreth reached out with his free hand and smacked the man across the face before pointing towards the estate and shouting, "Go! Now!!"

Furrowing his brows in anger as the slave took a step back, he saw the man's senses return as he took his shovel and moved to the others. The action had the desired result for he had struck the largest slave he could see, striking fear in those that were rooted and sending them scurrying to obey. Moving towards the stair case, he smirked as the slaves moved to clear a path for him to move up the stairs and to the porch. Turning to look over them as he stood elevated above them, he projected his voice outwards, "Today you will need shovels and wheelbarrows. Return everything else to the sheds. I want every apple out there picked and buried in the fields. Give them to the horses if you wish, but I do not want to see a single one on the trees come suppertime."

Turning to head back inside, he paused to listen to them moving to obey him instantly. Satisfied with their movement speed, he strode into the estate and stopped as he saw many of the house slaves had gathered before him. They were wearing a variety of short skirts and tops with collars to match, a ridiculous outfit that his uncle had insisted they wear. He had to admit they were extremely flattering and he felt his eyes lingering on a few of the slaves for a split second, but he did not allow his eyes to settle for any noticeable amount of time. Stepping towards them, he nodded as they split like a log so that he could move between their ranks toward the family room that dominated much of the main floor. It could double as a dining room depending on the amount of people to be served.

As he got to the rear ranks and could see the main table that was set up with a rather large array of breakfast foods, he called out, "Gather the others. I want all of you present for this. Also, meals of this size will no longer be necessary. That is all." Hearing several of them hurriedly move upstairs, he strode into the room and took his seat at the head of the table. Standing behind his chair, he rested his hands on it and watched as a few of the women moved into the room as if to grab the platters of food to reduce the size of the feast. Putting a hand up, he waited until they had all stilled and retracted their hands. Flicking his hand to the side in a dismissive gesture, he spoke in a steady tone, "The food can stay for today. Just remember for tomorrow." He stayed standing at his chair as he waited for the slaves to arrive.

-Tag Cordelia and Randel possibly-