April 6, 2010

In Which Raia Resorts to the Language of Men

April 12, 1166

"Just back from a nice ride in the country, are we?"

Startled, Raia turned around to find Prince Ietrin standing behind her. "What are you doing here?"

He grinned--she supposed he meant to look sly, but she privately thought that he only succeeded in looking like a mule. "Oh, I just happened to be in the area and thought I'd drop by."

That seemed doubtful somehow, but she was in a bit of hurry and didn't know if she would have time to argue with him; instead, she just smiled and nodded. "I'm sure. Anyway, I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you, but I was actually just about to leave."

Undaunted, Ietrin shrugged; Raia felt the corners of her smile begin to slip. "I wasn't planning on staying long. In fact... where are you headed? We might as well go together."

He just couldn't take a hint. Falidor had once told her that men who were oblivious to female signals were lucky in the sense that their confidence could not be shattered, but Raia had dismissed that notion with a sniff; as a woman, her opinion was that of an outsider's, but it seemed to her that no amount of confidence could compensate for impenetrable ignorance. "I'm going to Armion Keep; if you rode past here on your way from the castle, then it would be rather counterproductive of you to accompany me."

"Armion Keep?" he repeated, an unfathomable sparkle in his violet eye. "Going to visit Lornie-boy?"

Frowning, Raia nodded. "He's been going through a difficult time, you know. I can't even imagine what it's like to lose one's father, and to have to take over as duke as well? He must be so lonely."

"Such is the life of a man of status," Ietrin mused, leaning closer than Raia would have preferred; she might have shoved him if she thought there was no chance of disturbing the horses. "I would know, of course, being a prince. Few understand what we go through, so we are often alone even in the most crowded of rooms--but you seem to know exactly how to cheer the likes of us."

"Good to hear that Lorn will appreciate the visit, then."

Ietrin placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned forward; it was her instinct to turn her head away from his, but she realized it was needless as he aimed for her ear instead of her mouth. "You know... maybe I haven't been a great friend to poor Lorn lately. Perhaps I should come along with you."

"And what about this errand of yours?" she questioned with a smirk. "This task you were in the area for?"

"Oh, it's not that important."

Raia raised an eyebrow. "Compared to a social call?"

"Compared to this."

She didn't realize what had happened until it was already over. He'd taken her chin in his hand and tilted it toward his own, just enough so that their lips briefly met.

Much to her surprise, she hadn't disliked it; on the other hand, she hadn't liked it either. No tongue... no lingering sensation... no dreamy glance to follow... from what she knew of kissing, it had been hardly a kiss at all. Kisses were supposed to be passionate, sensual, or at the very least, nice. This had been... well, tolerable.

In any case, she supposed there wasn't any harm in it. He had a betrothed, but such a shadow of a kiss could have only been for practice anyway. He might as well have just given her a hug.

She took a moment to consider a verbal reply to his physical gesture. She finally settled on a quick laugh, accompanied by a wave of her hand. "Well, if your errand was less important than that, then why did you bother coming all the way out here in the first place?"

That supposedly sly grin of his returned. "Men have been known to do more for less."

"Indeed, but I figure a prince would prefer to do less for more."

Throwing back his head, Ietrin chuckled; she still couldn't discern the look in his eye. "We princes are not immune to all the ails of lesser men, that I can promise you. Now... shall we head to Armion?"

Perhaps some part of her had hoped that the kiss had driven the silliness from his system, but that must have been too much to ask. Despite the high regard older women seemed to hold it in, subtlety was not the language of men; it was time to be blunt.

"Ietrin, like I told you, I have plans for the day. Don't make the mistake of thinking they can be bent to include you."

NEXT CHAPTER:

10 comments:

Van said...

Okay, so I definitely should have posted this after the last post, but it slipped my mind:

A cute Easter video.

Anyway, extras will be updated tomorrow, since I actually have class in the morning and can't continue on with this long weekend pattern of staying up to times when my parents would actually be waking up--that and the fact that I haven't even made the updated family tree pictures yet :S (granted, I think the only noteworthy changes are Alsina's transition to adult and the birth of Roderick's second son).

Gaaaaah, I'm so behind on life. Sorry all :(

Whymustallthegoodonesbetaken said...

Well I enjoyed it! Raia might very well be my favorite of the second generation children. I'm sure there are quite a few others who agree. =)

Anonymous said...

Silly boy, just can't take a hint, can he?

Raia's my favorite, too. So tell me, where has she learned what she knows about kissing -- more of her mother's forbidden books? ;)

Can't wait to see how things develop between these two.

Van said...

Whymust: Glad you enjoyed :)

Morgaine: Like father like son. Also, like mother like son :)

I doubt her parents are particularly subtle about their affections in their day-to-day lives, so she's probably witnessed a whole lot of kissing. Plus there are servants who might say a few things, and then of course there's Raia's number one source, Searle the squire. He's thirteen now, so it's quite possible that he's been getting some smooching of his own at this point.

Penelope said...

*Heh* Yes, but then what did Ietrin say? If only Severin knew about Ietrin's suggestive behavior towards his daughter. He would go mental.

I thought that it was interesting that Raia thought of herself specifically as a woman here. I remember it being a difficult transition for me that anyone would call me a woman (the implication being that I was an adult) when I was 17 or so.

Van said...

Ietrin's only eleven, so Severin would probably think he was all talk at this point. It seems like one of those "maybe if he's still doing that in a few years, then I'll start worrying" sort of things.

As for Raia's thought process, it could be a times thing. She's ten right now, and she'll probably be married at fifteen or sixteen :S

Plus she's at the age where adulthood is a ways away and isn't all that scary, so she's probably a little anxious for it, and maybe a little too proud to think of herself as a kid. "I'm ten now--I'm all grown up" :P

Phoenix said...

LOL!!! Oh MY GOD!! Is he EVER stubborn!! He needs some sense knocked into him or something. Because he's killing me!:P

Van said...

Ietrin got the worst of both his parents, that's for sure :P

thewynd said...

Fell behind here as well. Ietrin is such a smarmy little kid isn't he? And I was surprised a bit by Raia's reaction...I can certainly see her wanting to be kissed but not by him so I was waiting for the left hook...

These kids just crack me up so much.

Van said...

No worries :)

I think he caught her off-guard here (plus she didn't seem to think it was much of a kiss in the first place). But yeah, it does seem like a perfect opportunity for her to lay the smack-down :P

Thanks Gayl :)