April 14, 1160
"Oh, but perhaps we should be doing something productive this afternoon," suggested Holladrin, her blue eyes wide with a naive faith in the world that Athalia currently envied. "Maybe we ought to make some little dresses; November will be here sooner than we know, and we don't want to be caught unprepared, do we?"
"But there's no sense not getting any more use out of the gowns we made for my older three, is there?" she protested hastily. She felt horrible, resorting to such excuses, but she didn't know what else to do. Her husband, children, father-in-law, and sister-in-law were all so excited about the new baby--she knew that it was cruel to lead them on, but how was she to tell them that she had lost it?
Fortunately, Holladrin didn't seem to need much more convincing. "Yes, that's true. And they are such pretty dresses--it would be a shame to just keep the packed away. But maybe we should see if they need any mending?""If I remember correctly, they're all in good condition..." Athalia muttered under her breath.
Her sister-in-law shook her head. "Thallie, if you don't feel like sewing, you could just say so."
Why hadn't she just said so? Now that Holladrin had voiced the thought, it seemed terribly obvious. "Thank you, Holladrin. Forgive me."For everything, she wanted to add. This was the last time she ever announced a pregnancy before she actually started showing.
"Oh, don't worry about it, silly!" the girl laughed. "Besides, now that I think about it, perhaps Surenica would like to mend her old dresses for her little sibling herself? I know that she isn't even nine yet, but... when did you and Oswald want her to marry?"Athalia shrugged. "We still have quite a while. Unfortunately, her betrothed is younger than she, so we have to wait for him to grow up first."
"That's true," agreed Holladrin as she rose from the couch. "I'm feeling rather peckish. I'm going to go down to the kitchens and see if there are any of those little cakes left. Would you like me to bring you one?"She shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm not hungry."
Holladrin opened her mouth to reply, but instead of words, she answered only with a cough--several coughs.
"Holladrin, are you all right?" asked Athalia, concerned.
The younger woman did not answer.
"Holladrin...? Oh my God!"
Panicking, Athalia leapt to her feet, gaping uselessly at her now unconscious companion as she lay on the wooden floor, motionless except for the strained movement of her lungs causing her chest to rise and fall.
"Oswald!" she called for her husband at last, frantically praying that he was near enough to hear her. "Farilon! Someone! Come quick!"NEXT CHAPTER:
10 comments:
NO!!!! Not Holladrin! She's so sweet and innocent!! :( That makes me sad! And the title for this post was spot on!!
And when did Athalia lose the baby? And how long is she going to lie?
Athalia lost the baby earlier that week. She probably won't lie for much longer, but I'm sure she'll wait until Holladrin gets better to break the bad news to everyone, just so it doesn't all come at once. It's not particularly important though--I'll be surprised if we see Athalia again any time soon.
Oh, no, Holladrin! I knew she wasn't well, I figured this would come eventually...
Poor thing. I love her and her cleavtacular dresses so very much! She's one of my favorites, actually.
At least she wasn't alone when it happened. That would not have been good at all :(
Heheh, I know she's one of your favs, Cassie. And really, what's not to love about her? She's such a sweetheart. And her dresses! I imagine the silly girl probably isn't even aware of her necklines. You'd think her father might have some objections, but I guess he knows her well enough to know she isn't the sort of girl to go around looking for trouble.
At first I thought OH NO!! And then I read the comment you made about Athalia waiting until she got better so phew!
She really is sweet, I wish that she and Octavius could hook up...they would be so good for each other.
Heh... I was kind of surprised that everyone assumed she just dropped dead. I probably should have gone into a little more detail, but yes, she is still alive.
And they would be good for each other. To quote Florian, Medea should just die already :)
It's a bit cruel to hope that Medea would die. It's not her fault she's insane.
On a related note, Octavius isn't good enough for Holladrin. :P She needs someone dashing and swoon-worthy. Like a handsome doctor who comes from a distant land and alleviates her illness. Holladrin is lovely. But Octavius is just Octavius.
Yeah, but she was pretty mean before she went insane, and that was definitely her fault.
Heheh, true. However... I think the fact that Octavius himself isn't really anything special is part of the attraction for Holladrin. She's gorgeous and kind and clever... but at the same time, she has an incredible appreciation for the simple things in life. Such as Octavius. But we'll see how things go there :P
She's so pretty!
Isn't she?
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