October 31, 2009

In Which Holladrin Ponders the Power of Blood

April 25, 1163

"Well, don't you have the biggest, bluest eyes of all the babies I know," Florian informed Holladrin's daughter, leaning toward her as she gazed up at him reverently. "Your mama has nice blue eyes too--but they're not your blue! And you know what? Your papa has hazel eyes. So... where did you get those eyes of yours, girl? Hmm?"

"Florian!" Holladrin scolded, though she couldn't help but laugh as she gasped his name; some things just refused to change! "You've been told a thousand times--she has Octavius's mother's eyes!"

The steward's eyes narrowed. "I hope you realize that's a waste of a good joke, your majesty."

She couldn't help it; she giggled. "And I hope you realize that I'm the only woman around who appreciates your sense of humor enough to let you go about questioning her baby's paternity for all to hear."

"Indeed I do," he assured her, continuing to amuse the baby with rather forced-looking faces. "Now, help me think of all the men in this kingdom who have eyes like this little girl. The only name that comes to my mind right now is Lady Alina."

Holladrin rolled her eyes. "You guessed it; her ladyship is the father of my child."

"Damn, wish I'd been there to see that," sighed Florian regretfully. "Oh well, I suppose I can always catch the next show, hmmm? I must say, if I were her ladyship, I'd much rather sleep with you than his lordship anyway, so I'm sure she'll be back for seconds."

A devious grin crept onto Holladrin's face. "Sorry? Didn't quite hear you... except, that is, for the part about you sleeping with his lordship. Anyway, I trust I can always... catch the next show, as I believe you said?"

Florian shot a dark glare her way. "Touche, my lady--touche."

Chuckling to herself, she let him kiss the baby on the forehead, then carried her to the cradle and gently tucked her in for her nap. The baby was so peaceful when she slept, Holladrin noted; she wished she would have been able to see that firsthand eight days earlier, when the girl had been born.

She'd fallen ill again a few hours after the labor. No one had been expecting it--she'd been fine the whole time she'd been living in Naroni. She spent a good week confined to her bed, her husband and the twins frequently running about, bringing her soup and water, showing her the baby, holding her hand and singing to her. Finally, she was well enough to stand, laugh, run about, and--most importantly--spend time with her daughter.

For as long as Holladrin could remember, her mother had always been periodically ill--not unlike herself now. She'd been ten years old when her mother had died; her mother had been forty. Holladrin herself was nearly twenty-five, meaning that if she herself were to succumb at forty, her daughter would be a mere girl of fifteen.

More frightening yet, however, was the notion that her daughter might inherit the illness herself. Nightly, Holladrin prayed that she wouldn't; perhaps that, coupled with any luck, might strip this curse of the power to claim yet another generation. Still... it was a troubling thought. Troubling indeed.

"My lady?"

"Yes?" answered Holladrin, hastily spinning on her heel and meeting the steward's eye.

He cocked his head, frowning as his cool blue-gray gaze studied her features. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she insisted, perhaps a little too fervently, "indeed, I am. Thank you very much for asking. Now... if you would excuse me, I should very much like a moment alone with my baby."

NEXT CHAPTER:

14 comments:

Van said...

Ah... sorry about the short post and the rather rushed ending.

Baby's name is Pandora. Holladrin and Octavius were probably just thinking of some late Dovian relative, but on the part of the writer, the name was not chosen quite so lightly. Any mythology buffs care to venture a guess as to the significance here?

*hides under desk, curls up into a balls, and rocks back in forth while frantically humming the original score from Star Wars*

Phoenix said...

Awww!! That was a sweet moment! But it is something to think about! And FLORIAN!!!!!♥♥♥♥

Hmmm...just what is going to go on with little Pandora!? Oh boy Van!! Now you have me thinking!:P

Van said...

I had been going through some serious, serious Florian withdrawal before this post.

Thanks Phoenix :)

Penelope said...

Holladrin is way more raunchy than I would have ever taken her for! I blame Florian's influence.

Oh dear... Is this baby going unleash evil on mankind?

Van said...

I'm sure Florian had something to do with it :P

Heheheh... what I meant was that the situation from which the baby sprang also spawned a whole mess of crap. The name won't affect the kid's storyline at all.

cheripye said...

Florian is utterly hillarious, out and out questioning pandora's father. LOL! although it was still a joke, and nearly fell off my floor laughing at Holladrins come back, Touche indeed. LOL! and just what is up with Pandora, will she have the same illness???

Van said...

Thanks Cheri :)

I haven't decided whether or not Pandora will have the same illness. If she does, it won't show up for quite some time.

thewynd said...

Hard to imagine that sweet little baby girl being a catalyst for something destructive...hmm...hopefully it won't be Medea haunting the castle.

Florian is just so Florian isn't he? I'm glad he and Holladrin seem to get along. That's a good thing.

Van said...

It's just a reference to the chaos that sprang upon my blog from her parents' relationship. That storyline is going to haunt me until the grave *sigh*

Yeah, it's nice to see that Florian gets along with Medea's predecessor. Holladrin's pretty good about putting up with Florian's antics.

Van said...

*successor, that is

I fail at thinking today.

thewynd said...

Aww...you shouldn't need to worry about that storyline...sometimes the mark of a good writer is in the controversy that arises from what the reader takes away.

Van said...

Heheh... thanks :) I just feel like I screwed something up there.

Verity said...

I wonder what is wrong with Holladrin. Here's hoping it isn't hereditary.

Hehe... can't help but think of Florian and his Lordship now :P

Van said...

Unfortunately, her mother had something similar, so it probably is :( On the plus side, Octavius comes from a rather healthy family, so maybe his genes will compensate there.

I know, hey? After I wrote this, it was so hard to NOT do a photoshoot... :P