In Which Holladrin Sees Enough

January 6, 1167

As difficult as he was, Holladrin loved her brother--and as difficult as some of them were, Holladrin loved her brother's children.

However, seeing as Ietrin and Camaline were betrothed to marry her own two stepchildren and therefore frequent visitors, she figured she was justified in thinking that she saw a little too much of the pair of them for her liking. The fact that they happened to be--and it pained her to think such things of her own niece and nephew--the two least agreeable of Roderick's offspring didn't help matters much.

Indeed, it was almost painful to watch them interact. Jeda was not an outgoing girl by nature, but she tried--she tried so hard--with Ietrin. She started conversations. She asked questions. She resisted the urge to slip away into whatever sanctuary lay in her daydreams. And yet, Ietrin could not be bothered to notice. He flirted with maids, nagged manservants, and teased Camaline and Sparron; very rarely did he even look at Jeda.

The dynamic between Sparron and Camaline was, in some ways, even worse. It wasn't as if they were hostile--indeed, in principle, they did not seem to have any problem with each other. They spoke, and they did so politely. They did not need to be prompted into discourse as was the case with Ietrin, nor did they allow any sentence to go unreplied, but such a stiff tension lay within their every exchange that Holladrin couldn't help but feel rather saddened. They interacted like diplomats; they were civil because they were resigned to their fate, and she did not think that was any way for children to feel.

"You know... we don't get many nice days like this in the middle of winter," she ventured, figuring this awkward visit had run its course. "Perhaps you children would fancy a ride? I can't imagine you have much to catch up, since you did see each other last week."

Sparron sent her a quick glance of gratitude; meanwhile, Jeda fiddled with the ties on her sleeve. She really did seem to like Ietrin, which as far as Holladrin was concerned, was all the more unfortunate. Jeda may have only fancied him because she knew she would marry him when they were older, but that did not make his indifference of her any less painful, Holladrin was sure.

"Riding? For fun?" sniffed Camaline, as if she'd never heard a more absurd idea. "I think not."

Ietrin rolled his eyes. "You do realize that everyone else in the world does it, don't you, Cam?"

His sister smacked his arm with the back of her hand. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

"At least once more, Cam."

"Why you--!"

And this was another reason Holladrin wasn't too keen on Roderick sending his children to see hers whenever they had nothing better to do any given afternoon; they were so loud and so socially dominant that neither of her comparatively mild-mannered stepchildren ever got a word in past the inevitable point where Ietrin and Camaline saw fit to just start arguing with each other. Holladrin loved the pair of them--she really, really did--but some people were easier to love from a distance. The next time she saw her brother, she would have to tell him to allow for a little more time between these audiences. "Ietrin, Camaline... please..."

"Sorry, Aunt Holladrin," Ietrin apologized hastily as he rubbed his arm. "My sister punches like a man."

As she could have predicted, this earned him yet another slug. "Ouch!"

"His right upper arm is his weak point, Jeda," Camaline announced. "Believe me, when you have to live with him, you'll need that knowledge."

Ietrin seethed at her. "Jeda wouldn't hit me. She's a lady--unlike you!"

She thrust her palm across his face, the sound of the impact echoing throughout the room; Holladrin's eyes narrowed. "Shut up, Ietrin!"

"Not if you don't stop hitting me!"

"Why do you think I'm hitting you in the first place?"

"Bite me!"

Camaline glowered, her fingers twitching as her acid eyes bore through her brother's skull. "I don't even think I can say what you are in front of Aunt Holladrin."

Ietrin snorted. "And you call yourself a lady."

"She's going to hit him again, isn't she?" muttered Jeda to Holladrin out of the corner of her mouth. Holladrin sighed; this was getting rather out of hand, to say the least.

"You know, it's getting rather late," she told her niece and nephew the second she managed to find a break in their bickering. "Your parents will probably want you home soon."

Nodding, Camaline rose to her feet, her brother following suit. "I suppose there's not much else I care to discuss anyway. Besides, Father said that we have to meet Leara at Armion."

Ietrin grinned. "I wonder if Xeta will be there."

"She's nine, you know," hissed his sister.

He merely shrugged, seemingly oblivious to the presence of his betrothed. "Ten in May, Cam--ten in May."

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