October 12, 2010

In Which Severin's Morning Gets Worse

September 1, 1169

The weak morning light might as well have been a charging ball of fire; Severin squinted, but his lashes were an insufficient shade. Groaning, he grabbed hold of the blanket and attempted to pull it over his face, but something was pulling it away. Neither his leaden arms nor aching head had the strength to compete with the opposing force, so he instead slid along the stiff, scratchy linen sheets into the depths of the bedding. It was only then that he noticed the small, naked figure to his left.

Nora! The name ricocheted off the curve of his skull and bounced about on the surface of his brain. How much wine had they had the night before? He wasn't sure he could trust his own self-control with that amount of alcohol, but surely she would have protested had he tried something--and surely he would have stopped. Oh dear God--what if he hadn't? What if she'd kicked and struggled and screamed to no avail, and he'd just ripped the dress off of her and had his way with her? His throat overflowing, Severin rolled over to the edge of the bed and hurled over the side; he did not think he could live with himself if he had done that to her.

He pushed back the blankets and pulled himself out of bed, careful to avoid the pool of vomit. His clothes lay strewn about the floor, overlapping with Nora's; he picked them up and dressed quickly, then took a towel from the wardrobe and draped it over the upchuck. One of the maids--definitely not Nora--would tend to that later.

Nora! He'd tried to be careful around her. So many times had they been talking when his eyes would slip downward from her face, and so many more had he watched with hypnotized reverence the swaying of her hips as she walked away, but he'd spent minutes upon minutes upon hours telling himself that nothing would ever happen. He couldn't afford to let it happen. She was his employee, and--more importantly--his friend. He cared for her. He respected her. She was not just some notch waiting to be added to his bedpost.

And yet, he had taken her and done just that. Damned if he could ever look her in the eye after this. She'd probably want to find work elsewhere and never speak to him again. He didn't blame her if she did; she would be much better off.

Still asleep, Nora shivered. Severin hauled his lethargic form to the other side of the bed and repositioned the blankets around her--it was far short of the least he could do, but to ignore her discomfort now would have been to spit in her face. Still, it hurt to look at her, all cold and frail and tired, so very different from the vivacious woman he knew. He braced himself, then reached beneath the linens and took hold of her hand. To his great relief, she squeezed back--he didn't know if she was aware of his presence on any other level, but if she hadn't recoiled at his touch, then he must not have done anything to hurt her.

At least, he hoped that was the case.

He let go and stepped back, watching as she rolled onto her back. She looked lonely, all by herself on that big bed; he might have crawled back in beside her if he could have known for sure that she wanted him there. Instead, he opened the cabinet door of the beside table and pulled out a scrap of parchment, along with a quill and an inkwell. He scrawled a quick apology and a promise that they'd talk later if she wanted to, then set it on the table's surface and stepped out of the room.

What a day this was shaping out to be. He doubted he could salvage his relationship with Nora after this, even if she had been a willing participant. It was also the first of the month, and he'd failed to find a wife out Roderick's harem from hell; Roderick would then choose one for him. Knowing his luck, it would probably be that God-awful Antonina woman. At this point, the best case scenario seemed to be Nora and her relatives slipping him some poison or stabbing him in his sleep and unceremoniously disposing of his corpse.

"Severin!"

He looked up to see Roderick standing in front of him--arms crossed, teeth barred, livid. Severin cringed; as if his morning needed to get any worse. "Roderick?"

"Don't you 'Roderick' me!" his cousin spat, his gray eyes filled with all the ferocity of an offended griffin. "Now, I think it goes without saying that you have a lot of explaining to do..."

NEXT CHAPTER:

14 comments:

Van said...

Whyyyyy does Photobucket keep eating my pictures? Hell, I compress them myself already--Photobucket doesn't need to do it again! >:(

thewynd said...

Van, your pictures look good on my monitor!

I'm so, so sorry I haven't commented on your other updates but I have been following in Reader and OMFG it never occurred to me that they would get drunk and get married. I did wonder if he would ask her out of convenience but damn!!!

That expression on Roderick's face at the end was priceless.

I hope you know how much I love your work...and my word verification? fartin. No lie.

Van said...

That's a relief about the pics--they look very staticky and compressed to me, but then again my computer is a few years old and it was the cheapest I could find at the time.

No worries--life happens :P

I considered a scenario like that, but I don't think I could have done that to poor Nora--having him ask her strictly out of convenience. Not that this is much better, but it seems a bit more hopeful on the "maybe developing feelings at some point" front--you know what they say about what you do when you're drunk, after all ;)

Roderick is not happy about this. Not happy at all :)

Thanks Gayl :)

Keri said...

Your pics look great to me too. I feel sorry that Severin doesn't remember any of it. He's figured out what happend afterwards though...maybe it's a good thing those crazy priests told the king. Screw the reprucussions! Nora and Severin will be GREAT together. Just don't go killing anyone off, lol.

Hey, I was wondering when we'll see Thetis and her kiddos again. There hasn't been much mention of her or the kids recently.

Once again, awesome awesome awesome. LOVE your stories.

Van said...

Yeah, he's about to the get the blanks filled in for him :P

I'm planning on doing a storyline involving Thetis's daughter Evera in 1170, so we will doubtlessly see Thetis and the other kids as well :)

Thanks Keri :)

S.B. said...

OMG...he's writing her a note??? Poor guy! Nora will be good for him, but Severin is going to catch it big time from Roderick!!

I don't see any problem at all with your shots. They always look beautiful!

Phoenix said...

Oh! Ohhoho!!! This is fabulous! Although him writing her a note kinda sucks I'm sure they'll get over this...hump! *crosses fingers*

I never have a problem with your shots Van!:D

Van said...

The shots are just sort of... overly-compressed :S

Beth: He really has no idea just what went on the night before :S But yeah, Roderick is about to unleash his fury.

Thanks :)

Phoenix: Yeah, they'll probably get past this, but he thought it was the right thing to do at the time.

Thanks :)

Anonymous said...

You know the relationship is official when Nora, Severin and Alina all show up together on the top banner!

And oh, poor Severin. I find it interesting tha he automatically assumes that Nora wanted nothing to do with him. She's going to be so heartbroken when she wakes up and gets that note. (Especially if she remembers what happened the night before, and if she had really wanted to et married.)

But in the meantime, we have the LULZ of watching Roderick pitch a fit!

And your pics look fine to me, Van!

Van said...

Ah, the new banner has made an appearance :) I'm still not sure about that picture of Severin, but I wanted one from after I changed his hair, so my choices were a bit limited.

Fortunately, the note didn't say anything too blunt--just sort of "Hey, not sure what happened last night, but sorry for any trouble, we'll talk later", that kind of thing. Chances are, Nora doesn't really remember either.

Thanks Morgaine :)

Penelope said...

Heh, that whole note thing seems a little cowardly. A little, "Let's not discuss this like adults and say that we did."

Roderick looks like an impertinent child up there.

Van said...

Probably not the best way of dealing with things, for sure :S

When does Roderick not act like an impertinent child? :P

Verity said...

Heehee... Roderick always makes me laugh when he's angry. He looks so pompous and silly.

I like to imagine what would happen if Roderick, Sigefrith and Eallair all met. I can imagine Sigefrith either hating Roderick on sight or trying to figure out how he could take advantage of him. Then poor Eallair hovering in the background trying to figure out how to smooth things over between them.

Van said...

"Pompous" and "silly" are both words that describe Roderick all the time, so naturally those qualities are only magnified when he's angry :P

LULZ at your Roderick/Sigefrith/Eallair scenario! I can see things going down just like that too--poor Eallair :S