June 4, 2010

In Which Halford Is Called by Name

February 25, 1167

Lord Severin was by no means a short man, but there were few men alive who needn't have looked up to meet Halford's eyes. Being big and tall had its benefits--he had a long stride, and rarely did anyone make the foolish mistake of picking a fight with him--but this was one time where it seemed like almost a handicap. When you were tall, people assumed that you had power, that you knew the answers, that you possessed the ability to make everything right.

And knowing this made unfortunate tasks all the more difficult. Great things were expected of tall people; men of Halford's stature were meant to fix things--not to tell others that some tragedies were beyond repair.

"Halford," Lord Severin greeted him as he prodded the fire, only turning his head for the briefest of moments. He did not use the honorific of 'Goodman Diarn', for which Halford was grateful; he supposed it was somewhat better to hear bad news from someone one felt comfortable calling by name.

Perhaps the same was true of telling such things, but Halford doubted he would have been any less tense if he could have called the man by some childhood nickname. "My lord. I just came from Adonis's house. Arydath is still there."

Lifting his head, Lord Severin put down the poker and stared forward. "I would assume that Honora had the baby, then, but you don't seem like a man with such happy tidings. Is the child all right?"

"Fine, physically," Halford breathed, the image of that poor little brown-eyed infant screaming itself to sleep in Arydath's arms still fresh in his mind. "They were going to name the baby for your wife had it been a girl, but it's a boy, so they named him for you."

The other man nodded. "I shall thank them when I go to see the boy. How is Honora?"

Halford's upper lip drew inward as he took a sharp breath. "Well... she lost a lot of blood. Arydath needed an extra hand after the baby came, so I went in and I just couldn't believe it. I never would've guessed anyone had so much blood in them."

"Is she all right?" asked Lord Severin, but something in his tone suggested that he already knew the answer.

Halford sighed. "Arydath did everything she could, but... Honora's heart just kept racing. Adonis had to run to get Laveria, and even between the two of them, neither had ever seen anyone bleed out so quickly. There was nothing they could do for her. I'm so sorry, my lord; I know she and your wife were very close, and..."

There was no 'and'. There was just the silence that occurred as the news became reality.

Slowly, Lord Severin turned away from the hearth, his expression inscrutable. "Have you ever had one of those days where you just knew from the moment you woke that something terrible was about to occur?"

Halford shook his head; when one was married to a woman whose intuition bordered on the supernatural, one left such matters to her. Lord Severin's dark eyes flickered toward the ceiling, then met Halford's own. "My youngest daughter, Vera, she sometimes complains of seeing this... color. She doesn't have a name for it, and she can't really describe it--how can you describe a color, really? Anyway, it scares her; she woke me and Alina this morning by running into our room, screaming that the color was everywhere." He shifted, his shoulder rising as if he were trying to crack the joint. "The thing is... every time she sees this color, somebody dies, someone whose death affects the family. I don't know if Vera knows it, and I'm afraid to tell her, but I couldn't help but notice after a few instances. The stronger the color is, the nearer geographically the death occurs."

"So it was strong today, then?" Halford guessed.

Lord Severin closed his eyes. "Strongest she's ever seen, she claims. And then, a couple of hours ago, it just... stopped."

"Honora died a couple of hours ago."

"She did."

Halford watched as the other man began to pace about somewhat, strolling to the edge of the fireplace and back to the other before glancing at it again. "Sometimes I wonder if knowing half the fact is really any better than knowing nothing at all. All day I knew something would happen, but I was powerless to prevent it because I didn't know exactly what it would be."

"There was nothing you could have done," Halford tried to assure him. "There was nothing anyone could have done."

"I know--and yet, that makes it no easier." Lord Severin allowed himself to exhale, then bit his lip. "I shall tell my wife what you told me; Honora was her best friend and close confidante for years before we came here, you know. Go back to Adonis and your wife, and I'll be there soon after, with Alina if she so chooses. Tell Adonis and the children I'm sorry."

"I shall."

Agitated, Lord Severin tugged at his sleeve, his frown deepening. "The death of a good woman. A little girl seeing otherworldly apparitions. You know how some people wonder whether or not there actually is a God?"

Halford nodded. Lord Severin's eyes wondered warily about the room. "It seems to me that if the Bible is at all trustworthy, then the existence of the devil would prove the existence of God; therefore, I believe today has proven the existence of both."

NEXT CHAPTER:

11 comments:

Phoenix said...

*sigh* I actually like Honora! It's always horrible when someone dies in Naroni!:(

And interesting tidbit about Vera. Very interesting indeed!

Anonymous said...

Oh, no! And just two posts ago Honora was talking about what an easy pregnancy she was having! *sob*

Poor Alina, she's not going to take this well. And double-poor Adonis and all those children! Evaleith especially! It feels like she just got her relationship with her mother straightened out, and now she's gone. :(

In other news, wow, interesting gift you've given Vera there. I wonder if she understands it yet? It seems like a hard gift for a not-quite-six-year-old to bear ... for anyone to bear, as Severin amply proves!

Van said...

Sorry, both of you. I know this did sort of come out of left field. I may do a post on my LJ about Honora's death later.

Phoenix: I realized I hadn't really done anything with Severin's two youngest daughters, so I gave this little ability to Vera (Riona is a much flightier personality that probably wouldn't have been as compatible with such a thing in a literary sense, but she'll get some air time too). We'll be seeing Vera fairly soon, and this might be an important thing to keep in mind.

Morgaine: We won't be seeing much of Adonis and the kids any time soon, but both his household and Evaleith's are going to be quite shaken up :(

I don't think Vera's noticed the connection just yet. It seems like a rather macabre observation for an otherwise happy six-year-old to make. I think she gets that there's something sinister about the color, but the death connection might be a stretch for her at this point in her life.

Whymustallthegoodonesbetaken said...

Oh sad...

I liked Honora. : (

It even showed the picture of her and Adonis on the banner thing on the top.

S.B. said...

Now that was a shock! But I love it. It's real. Women died in childbirth. They still do.

I have to say that I really love your first paragraph about height. That is so true.

Heartbreaking and quiet and ominous. Beautiful writing.

Van said...

Whymust: It's always tough killing characters :(

Sometimes the random banners turn out to be eerily relevant :S

Beth: For a medieval story with so many characters, it's almost shocking how few childbirth-related deaths have occured. Of major-ish characters, there's only been Electra and now Honora. The sad fact is that was probably the leading cause of death for women back in the day :(

Thanks, Beth. I was a little worried about the first paragraph because I'm short and don't know what I'm talking about XD

thewynd said...

I think I was expecting twins with Honora, not her untimely death. But it is a common thing for the times and no one is really exempt from it.

With Vera though that is an interesting and ominous gift, if you can call it that.

As sad as this piece was, it was completely and beautifully written.

Van said...

It would have been nice if Honora had had twins, but the twin rate in this story is rather high, so I've been trying to keep it down, especially since Halford and Arydath just had twin girls last November and Thetis's next pregnancy (which won't be for a while, but still) will be twins.

But yeah, it was really common for the times. Honora birthed five babies and came out on top, but the sixth time, she just wasn't as lucky :(

We definitely haven't heard the last of poor little Vera's ability :(

Thanks Gayl :)

Penelope said...

Sorry I'm so behind, Van. :(

And ARGH! I have mixed feelings about Honora. There was a time when I liked her, mainly because of the way that Adonis saw her. But then she not only abandoned her daughter but denied the kid and that for me was just unforgivable. I feel bad for Alina having lost a friend and bad for Adonis having lost his wife. But for Honora herself... I don't think that I'll miss her.

Penelope said...

Also, thanks for the Halford moment. ;) I really like that guy.

Van said...

No worries, Pen :)

Yeah, this was one death where I wasn't really sure what to expect in terms of reader reactions. I was a little surprised to learn how popular Honora actually was.

For me, I always did like her--literary offspring syndrome and whatnot--but I found that she lost a lot of her appeal after she told Adonis the story of her childhood. Her mysterious past always seemed to be the most interesting thing about her in a literary sense, and after the whole thing came out into the open... I don't know. I guess in a way she kind of died right there.

I'd been missing Halford too. We don't see nearly enough of him.