January 12, 2010

In Which Nora Finds Them Waiting

July 12, 1164

"Mama's home!" exclaimed Cuthron as he tottered toward Nora and leapt eagerly into her arms.

"Mama's home," she repeated, hoisting her son to her shoulder, "and you should be in bed. What are you doing up?"

The boy's sister waved from the couch, a matter-of-face grin on her face. "Papa said we could wait up for you."

Nora raised an eyebrow, her gaze shifting to her husband, who occupied himself with the fire in the hearth. "Oh really? Now why on earth would Papa say something like that?"

Sighing, Jothein gave the fire a few last prods before setting the poker back into place. "Because their Auntie Alsina has no tact, that's why--got them all worked up about everything that's been happening in the forests lately, she did."

That did sound like something her thoughtless sister would do. Nora scowled. "Remind me to smack that girl the next time I see her. You know, I almost wish Aldhein would indulge that silly crush of hers, just so she would have an outlet for her antics who happens to be over the age of five and a half."

"Well, I'll probably be seeing him tomorrow--I'll tell him you're eager to have him for a brother-in-law."

Her unchanged vision was the only indication that her bulging eyes had not popped straight from their sockets. "Hey! I didn't say that!"

Jothein merely chuckled, ignoring her annoyed glare. Shaking her head, Nora turned to their daughter. "Bedtime, sweetheart."

Aldara didn't so much as blink, which struck Nora as unusual; she was normally a rather fidgety child. "Mama... you didn't ride home by yourself, did you?"

What had Alsina said to them? She would have to ask Jothein for the specifics once the children were asleep. "I rode home with Uncle Falidor, of course, so you know I wasn't on my own for very long--you can see his house from ours, remember?"

The five-year-old didn't seem convinced. "You didn't go through any forests?"

Nora shook her head. Then, with a grin, she teased, "Even if we did, you know I'm scarier than anything in the forests."

"Amen to that," Jothein laughed as stepped toward her, "but don't worry, my babies--Mama knows not to go riding alone these days."

Still, Cuthron buried his face in Nora's hair, as though afraid she might suddenly disappear. "Mama."

"Mama's here," she assured him with a smile, "Mama's here, and you're getting to big to hold, you know that? My back's starting to hurt."

Giggling, her son wrapped his arms around her neck, then began to bounce squeamishly. "Down!"

Nora had to laugh. "First you want hugs, now you want space. You're a little young yet for mood swings, son."

"But he's getting older every day," mused Jothein as Nora set him on the ground.

"You really think so, Aristotle?"

He casually flicked a lock of her hair over her shoulder. "You and your sister are two of a kind."

"I should hope not," she protested, shuddering. "Not that I imagine either of us is as docile and ladylike as our dear mother would have hoped."

"I imagine your brothers more than compensate for the two of you in docility."

A fact she could not argue, she mused as Jothein gently ran the side of his hand down her face. "It's true that there is no gentler woman in all the land than Falidor."

"And yet, I hope you did the ungentlemanly thing and made him see you to the door of your house," Jothein mused.

Nora frowned. "I most certainly did not; I'll have you know that I was a perfect gentleman, and personally saw him to his door. I do know my brother, and he needs my protection more than I need his."

Shaking his head, her husband planted a quick kiss upon her forehead. "Darling, please--for my own peace of mind. Let him see you to the door from now on, all right?"

Indignant, she dug the toe of her shoe into the skirt of her dress. "Jothein..."

"Please," he echoed firmly, a seriousness in his eyes that she had only ever seen in the event of a death. "We need you."

NEXT CHAPTER:

9 comments:

Van said...

Sorry about the half-assed job. I wrote this in like half an hour and it probably shows o_O

Anyway... for anyone reading THIV, there may or may not be a new prompt tomorrow. Long story short, I was sick last week and had to miss a few days of school and apparently I'm ridiculously behind in one of my classes (like, "looked like a total idiot on Monday" kind of ridiculous), so I should probably crack down on that. I generally treat my coursework with a grain of salt since A) I have bad work habits from primary and secondary school being far too easy and B) I'm not particularly motivated since there are very few jobs that someone as volatile as me can simultaneously enjoy and thrive in... but this is mainly so I'll stop hating that class so much, therefore making three hours of my week somewhat more pleasant.

Phoenix said...

Listen to your family Nora! Listen to THEM!!! And I live 30 minutes write ups which is usually what it takes me for anything! But not today! Bugger it!

LOL! I know what you mean Van! I pretty much skated through middle and high school and didn't learn good study habits. I still have problems with studying! Here's hoping that you learn some quicker than I did/do!:P

Van said...

Wow, you usually get your updates written in half an hour? That's awesome! How do you do it? And your updates are so long in comparison to mine too. That's seriously amazing.

Yeah, in junior high, I pulled 90s without even having to try. High school, I got 80s, so a bit of a drop, but a lot of people were slaving over their work and barely pulling 60s, so I felt pretty good about myself. University... yeah, kinda need to actually work. 'Tis going to be a loooooong four years :(

Phoenix said...

Uhh...probably because as I'm taking shots the general idea is forming in my head of what I want to write. Then I set the pics up and stare at them as I write. I never plan anything ahead which kinda sucks. Your plots are all organized so you have a timeline. Mine aren't so my updates are erratic!:(

LOL! Yeah, I know what you mean. I would do my homework for any given class IN that class before the bell rang and still ace it! I probably could have made it through college but I..eh got distracted by other things and didn't go back after the first year! I miss it though!:(

Van said...

Heheheh... the only fields in my outlines are as follows:

Post #, Date, POV, characters, general plot of post

I'm sure a lot of people are far more organized than I am :P

Yeah, I always did that too. I think I only did like five math assignments in all of high school and I ended up getting a 92 on the diploma.

So far, I'm finding that post-secondary is... well, a little overrated. Of course, I'm an antisocial hermit prone to frequent headaches and joint pains, so I might be a little biased there :P

Also, this is going to sound really dumb, but I think the weather here is really messing with me. It's actually nicer than the weather back home, but it's been pretty much the same since I got here in September. Back home, we actually had seasons, so my sense of time is completely shot and I look out my window and think it's April and... nope, still January :(

Penelope said...

*hehe* It's ok Van. My boyfriend's family lives in Florida. When we go to visit them in the colder months, I come back all depressed and confused. Like, "Wasn't it 80 degrees 4 hours ago?"

It's close quarters in that house! How many rooms do they have? It's a little surprising that they have such a small space but can still afford to buy books. Presents from Severin and Alina, maybe? Can Jothein and Nora read? Too many questions????

I think I have mixed feelings about Aldhein.

Van said...

Climates = FAIL

That's actually just the master bedroom. If I remember correctly, they have the kitchen, the living room, four bedrooms, and one bathroom (just for the sake of keeping their aspiration levels high). So it's actually a decent-sized house given the period.

Both Nora and Jothein make a reasonable amount of money, so they probably bought some of the books themselves (although some of them may have been presents). And yep, they can both read. Jothein's father was rather comfortable financially, so he and his sister were both educated. As for Nora, her father taught her and Falidor and maybe Ceidrid to read before he died, and then after that, they taught the younger children (neither their mother nor their grandfather could read).

I don't think anyone is really pro-Aldhein or anti-Aldhein at this point. We haven't really seen all that much of him, and in some senses he's almost been two characters--first we have reckless womanizer Aldhein of the Geneva era, and now the morose, self-loathing, slightly creepy Aldhein of today.

My personal opinion of the guy at this point? He's a decent enough person, but some therapy probably wouldn't hurt.

thewynd said...

Admittedly, every update from now on I am going to be worried about who kicks the bucket next...

Jothein and Nora have a great relationship you know?

You're lucky you got a 92 with only doing 5 assignments. The homework in my sons school weighs heavily in their grade. My middle son never NEVER did homework in math and aced the exams and still wouldn't get a decent grade because he didn't do the busywork, err I mean homework.

Van said...

Since I've already taken the last ever pictures of the next unfortunate victim of the random death date generator, that is definitely a rational worry :(

They really do have a great relationship--they're very happy and comfortable. I just wish they had more kids (they haven't been all that lucky with my admittedly horrible simplistic way of randomizing pregnancies). If they ever get knocked up again, I think I'll rig it to be twins. That would even sort of make sense, since Nora's brother is the father of a pair of twins.

Yeah, I lucked out with math teachers. Neither of the two I had in high school (I had the same one for grades ten and eleven since I took AP back in those days) checked homework--they just said our test scores would increase if we actually did it.