"Damn you!" Nora continued to pound on the door, her relentless knocking sending a surge of echoes down the ordinarily sleepy corridor. "Hurry up! I need to talk to you!""One second!" She listened to the sounds of creaking floorboards and rustling fabrics as Lord Severin and whoever was in there with him hurried to get dressed. She didn't know why the woman was bothering to clothe herself--they could hear who it was, and it wasn't as if Nora didn't see a naked woman every time she took a bath. Maybe she was trying to hide herself in the wardrobe or something. If that was the case, Nora didn't think there was much point to her shame--like half the maids in the castle hadn't already slept with Lord Severin.
"Some time today would be nice!" she hissed, placing her fists on her hips. "Really, this is im--""All right, all right!" Lord Severin opened the door just widely enough that he could slip through, then quickly closed it behind him; Nora caught a brief glimpse of a cinnamon-haired woman she believed worked in the kitchens. "What do you need?"
Rolling her eyes, Nora grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down the corridor, into the next of the guest bedrooms. "It's probably best if we have some privacy." It occurred to her after she said it just how he might have interpreted the statement, but he didn't say anything. She didn't know whether to feel respected or insulted.
He shut the door, then drew nearer and met her eye. "What is this about?"The room was lit only by a couple of candles on the the nightstand, and the coral paneling bent it in such ways that the lighting in the room was of a rather rosy hue. She could scarcely make out the blue of his tunic. He was all black wool and silver buttons. He looked so untouchable--and yet, that only made her want to try.
But enough ridiculousness; she had a mission here. "It might interest you to know, my lord, that your daughter Viridis is a woman now."She hadn't guessed how he might react. Her own father hadn't lived long enough to be informed of her transition into womanhood, nor would her husband be alive for any of her daughters'. But in all fairness, she shouldn't have been the one telling Lord Severin about this--it should have been Lady Alina.
"What?" A look of panic crossed his face, his brow raised and his mouth agape. "Already? She's only ten years old."Nora nodded. "Some girls get it early; Jothein's sister started at nine."
Somberly, maybe even a little guiltily, Lord Severin frowned. "When did this happen?"
"Some time in the night. The cramping woke her, she claims. Naturally, the sight of all that blood scared her, so she went and woke Raia."He sighed. "Poor girls. How are they now?"
"Viridis is lying down in Raia's room," she told him. "She's still in pain, but at least she's informed. Raia went to your mother's for some sort of mixture; she should be back soon."
Gravely calculating, Lord Severin crossed his arms, twisting his wedding band with the sides of the adjacent fingers. "One of my little girls just went through that difficult transition without her mother. The two after her will as well. Thank you for talking to her; I imagine it must have been uncomfortable for you."Nora shrugged. "Someone had to--and really, Raia handled it as best she could last night. I didn't have to say much."
"Regardless, I appreciate it."
"Not a problem." She sighed, letting her hand fall lifelessly to her side. "But I know what you mean. My son is getting older, and one of these days, he's going to need someone to give him a talk. Someone's going to need to make sure he has the right information."
He reached across the gap between them and took hold of her hand. He was both warm and cold, soft and rough. She'd always looked up to him as some sort of majestic being of a man, something beyond human, but he felt so earthly and present and real. He simply was. Just as she was, she supposed."Someone will."
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then released it; it hovered for a second as she tried to figure out what had just happened, if anything. "You think?"
He nodded. "I know." A faint smile on his lips, he leaned toward her and kissed her on the cheek. "Again, thank you; I'm going to see my daughter now."
"Tell her she's very brave," Nora insisted.Lord Severin looked her over, a hint of a spark in his eye that she had not seen in quite some time. "Coming from you, that is high praise indeed."
NEXT CHAPTER:
11 comments:
Why does it seem like Photobucket is more and more intent on eating my pictures lately? Grrrr... >:(
I love these two together. I know Severin needs more time to grieve/act out and I want him to take it, but I'd like to see them get together eventually. They're very well-suited to each other, I think.
Oh, and Severin really does look yummy with that hair. Disheveled, but yummy.
Yeah, he needs a little more time to figure everything out, but they are quite well-suited personality-wise. That and Nora would make a splendid Lady Veldora. Of course, there's the whole class issue, but it seems too early to be worried about that :)
I love that hair on him. I was originally just going to have him wear it for the duration of his woe-is-me phase and then find something else for him, but I'm thinking I might keep it :)
I almost skipped this chapter because it had Severin in it and he still annoys me. I mean, he knew that one of them was probably going to die before all the kids were grown, so...I just don't get it. He chose to bring those kids into the world so he needs to GET WITH IT. Apparently he can get with it enough to sleep around! Anyways, Nora is awesome but I hope she doesn't fall for him when he's this useless. Who wants a man like that!?
Heh... I think maybe five of the seven were accidents :P But the point stands.
I think it goes without saying that he's channeling his frustrations into all the wrong outlets. I did say a while ago that he needed to get worse before he gets better. I think we saw him at absolute rock bottom in this post, so at least he's progressing upwards now? He seems a lot more level-headed here than he did then, but then again that was his own POV and this is Nora's.
Did he know either Alina or himself would die so young? I don't think he did. Even in a time and place where that was a statistical likelihood, it seems like a tough possibility to fathom beforehand, at least if you're married to someone you actually liked. Her death caught him off-guard, shook his world around, tore his heart into tiny little pieces and left him to clean up the mess.
Noooo... 5/7 = oops? That is just insane. After oops #2, no way I would have let that thing anywhere near me. Severin must have the self-control of a 15-year-old boy.
And at this point, Nora could do better. :p
They were accidents waiting to happen :P
Nora could definitely do better at this point, but sometimes, people just want what they want and no one can really understand why :P
Penelope, I think that they might have been "oops" for Severin, but they weren't "oops" for Alina -- I think she wanted that thing near her and making babies.
Maybe Nora could do better, but Severin is still a good guy underneath all that grief. Maybe if Lonriad comes and shakes him up a bit, he'll pull his head out (of the maids' quarters) and start being a good guy again. (Whoever thought we would all be crying, "Lonriad to the rescue!"?)
The only thing I wonder is whether Veldora castle can handle all of Severin's kids PLUS Nora's kids.
Half-accidents :)
It's funny that you mention Lonriad, because I just finished taking pictures of him (and Florian!!). We shall see what his planned visit brings...
That would be a ton of kids in one castle. And if they ended up having even more? O_o
Florian... and Lonriad... together?? That is too much personality for one room.
*snickers* the maids' "quarters".
Should be interesting to see how that post turns out :P
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