August 2, 2010

In Which Lyraina Uses the Obvious Adjective

February 27, 1168

"Really, it's fine," Had insisted once more. "If I'm not doing work for your father, then I'll be doing twice as much for my own; he's still punishing me for the whole thing with Lorn and Deian, you know."

Lyraina smirked. "He's going to be punishing you for the rest of your life for that stunt--and so will I, by the way."

The boy laughed as she landed a playful punch on his upper arm. "I'm really in for it, then."

"Damn right." The best thing about Had helping her father with the pigs was that he often ended up staying longer than he needed to, usually just to joke around and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather--a fact for which Lyraina was grateful, as they lived in different shires and hadn't seen as much of each other as they might have liked before.

"Not as in for it as your father is, though," he noted as Lyraina's grandmother's curses continued to ring from the house. "No one gives it like old Hilla."

Slyly, Lyraina turned and shot him a quick, narrow glance. "Her granddaughter might."

"Maybe so--but not until you get that thread out of your hair."

She raised an eyebrow; what had he just said? "There's no thread in my hair."

Indignant, Had nodded. "There is so--you jut can't see it, that's all."

"And you can?"

He placed his arm around her shoulders and gently combed out a lock of her hair with his fingers; after he'd finished, the arm remained.

"You little sneak. Where did you learn that?"

Clearly impressed with himself, Had snickered. "Careful observation of your parents."

Lyraina snorted. It wasn't ladylike, but she couldn't help it--besides, she supposed it was better to be heard over her grandmother's shrieks. "With my parents, observations don't really need to be all that careful."

"I know; I was speaking in relative terms."

Shaking her head, Lyraina glanced toward the pond and sighed as the little ducklings followed their mothers across the still, clear water. "Oh, Had! You're so... so..."

So... what? She struggled to find the right adjective. She'd been hoping for something either too profound for him to comprehend or too ridiculously complex for him to even know--but most importantly, she wanted to be truthful. Therefore, she went with the obvious.

"...short."

His laughter created an odd sort of euphony with the sounds of the hollering adults inside. "I'll be taller than you, you know--I'm a man, you know, and neither of my parents were short."

"Yes, but neither of them are tall either--my father's tall."

"But your mother's short."

Giggling, Lyraina raised her fist to punch him again, but she found a loud thud!--one too loud to be caused by her twelve-year-old fist at any rate--preceded the impact. Where on earth had that come from? Had something fallen inside--something large?

Stranger still was the silence that followed--never had she known her father and grandmother to stop arguing so suddenly.

"Had," she breathed, tearing her eyes away from the house and looking back to him, "what do you think that was?"

NEXT CHAPTER:

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whatever that thud was, I hope it wasn't Halford or Arydath! ... Then again, if Halford fell to the ground, he'd probably cause a supersonic boom, not just a loud thud.

And in other news, Had and Lyriana are adorable!It's a nice reminder that that tween stage can be as cute as it is awkward. I'm also amazed by how much Lyriana looks like her mother; she must get stopped in the marketplace and told, "Oh, your mother delivered my babies! You look just like her!"

Van said...

According to my outline, we won't be finding out exactly what happened for another seven posts :( Lyraina and Had, however, would have found pretty much immediately.

Thanks Morgaine :) I'm liking Had and Lyraina too :)

Lyraina does look a lot like Arydath, but I can see a little of Halford in her too. I lucked out with the daughters from this particular combo. The sons weren't so lucky--Arydath's nose looks waaaaaay weird on men, which will be proven when we see Lyraina's brother.

Keri said...

Hmm, I was kinda hoping it might end up being Had and Raia. But I guess there's a bit of an age difference there huh?

Van said...

They're still young at this point, so we won't know for sure for quite some time just yet. At this point, I kind of think Had almost thinks of Raia as more of a sister than anything else, but who knows? Things can change.

All three are twelve. Lyraina is a week younger than Had, who in turn is two months younger than Raia, so I don't think age would be much of a problem either way :)

S.B. said...

what a way for a charming interlude to end, with a frightening noise.

I just love this, the cute flirting about who will be taller!

Van said...

Thanks Beth :)

Small spoiler: Had ends up taller, but only by about two inches.

Phoenix said...

LOL!! Those two are so cute together! I like the teasing and flirting that was going on around the arguing that could be heard in the house. The source of that loud boom is going to be interesting to see! And Had ends up taller huh? Hahaha!

Van said...

When they reach their final heights, Had is never going to let her forget it :P

Thanks Phoenix :)

Verity said...

Oh no! What was the thud... this is really ominous.

And these guys are very cute. I think they would be a great match.

Van said...

We'll find out about that thud... uh, soonish. I do have pictures for the chapter, but I'm on vacation right now and might not get to writing it for a while.

They are very cute together at this point, but they're still young. Still, I'm not sure if either will ever be a major character, so they could possibly have a little background romance and get married and live a relatively drama-free life.

Penelope said...

Don't let it be Halford! :(

But I am also fond of grandma.

Van said...

Ach! The identity of the victim still hasn't been revealed!

I do have pictures for that post, but I doubt it'll be up until I'm back from vacation. It's the last post I have pictures for, so I'd need to shoot a preview pic.