February 3, 1171
"My lady?"Startled, Elhina's eyes snapped open to see her stepsister's maid standing over her. How long had she been out of it? She hadn't meant to doze off--oh, what would her mother say? "Aydelle! I'm so sorry!"
Aydelle ran her hands over the folds in her skirts and gave a tired smile. "Sorry for what? I did wake you while you were napping, you know."
"Yes, but you must have had a reason for doing so." Elhina pushed herself upwards, relieved at least to see that she hadn't drooled all over her mother's couch cushions. "I, however, had no reason to be napping in the first place."
The maid laughed. "Honey, trust me; before you start having babies, you should accumulate as much sleep as you possibly can."
Elhina nodded, more out of politeness than anything else. Seeing as she was only the king's stepdaughter, she was not a princess; that fact, however, did not stop her mother from expecting her to behave like one, and sleeping through the middle of the day was not a princess-like thing to do. "I suppose you're right."Aydelle responded with a coy smile. "You don't believe me now, but you'll know what I'm talking about some day. Anyway, there's a young gentleman waiting downstairs."
"Garrett?" Elhina raised an eyebrow. Her betrothed did not make a habit of calling often, and she'd already seen him this week.
The maid shook her head. "A visitor from Dovia. He first asked for the king, but since he's not here, he requested to see you."
"Me?" This was sounding stranger by the minute. Sometimes she doubted even the people of Naroni knew who she was; who in Dovia would have asked for insignificant, nearly invisible Elhina of Bandera? "Wouldn't he have wanted to see my mother or Ietrin or someone?"
Aydelle shrugged. "He did ask for you, my lady."
Strange. Still feeling as if there had to have been some mistake, Elhina rose to her feet. "Thank you, Aydelle." The maid gave a quick nod of a bow; Elhina turned around and hurried out of the sitting room, through the corridor and down the stairs toward the entrance way. She looped her hand into the heavy brass handle of the door to the front room and opened it just widely enough for her to slip through before allowing it to swing shut behind her.
Upon first glance, her caller appeared unremarkable. He was some years older than she was--sixteen, maybe seventeen--with a somewhat sickly look about his hawk-like face, all pale and puffy-eyed. He stood about as high as her stepfather in terms of height, but in spite of his weary, round-shouldered frame, he seemed somehow more impressive, more regal. In his own spindly, exhausted sort of way, he was almost monumental."I take it you're Elhina?" His words were no more than muttered, but he projected them in such a way that they seemed to fill the room.
Afraid to waver in such a commanding presence, Elhina nodded cautiously. "Can I help you, sir?"
For a moment, he said nothing; even his silence was majestic. His blue eyes swept across the room for a couple tense seconds before returning to her. "You really have no idea who I am, do you?"
Defeated, she shook her head. She got the feeling that there was little point in lying to him.
"That's all right." He crossed his arms and straightened his posture, effortlessly statuesque as ever. "I can't imagine that your mother and stepfather speak of me often. Anyway, I'm your brother."NEXT CHAPTER:
9 comments:
Just a quick refresher...
Laralita was pregnant with Elhina when she came to Naroni. She married Roderick after giving birth.
In addition to Elhina, Laralita and her first husband had two sons. This is the older one, the current Earl of Bandera. Without looking at the chapter labels, you get three guesses as to what his name is. The first two don't count.
No way...another Searle??? Really? Or is it Roderick...no it can't be...Laralita would not have named a son Roderick at that point...would she?
So her sons did not come with her? Is that odd or because of duty.
I really dislike Laralita right now. I mean she was annoying to begin with but I guess it never sunk in that she actually left her children. I may hate her. I didn't even hate Thetis' first husband but I may hate Laralita.
For a minute, I thought he was some illegitimate son of Karlspan's!
But ... but Laralita doesn't ever really talk about this Searle? I know Laralita has very little other than fluff and perhaps a few interior decorating guides between her ears, but come on! This is her son! Her firstborn!
But maybe that's just Searle's (understandable) bitterness talking. It must hurt, knowing that your mom abandoned you about 10 minutes after your father died, and before you knew it she was married to some king and never even came to visit. :(
I can't wait to see how this works out, though!
Oh wow, I'm MIA for like an hour and lo and behold! Three comments already :)
Gayl: Another Searle indeed. Laralita is a daughter of the older Searle, after all, so she was implicitly obliged to name a son after Daddy Dearest :S
Her sons were very young when she left. She should have taken the second one (she didn't because his name is Ietrin and I didn't want the confusion of two Ietrins living in the same castle), but Searle kind of had to stay because he became the earl (even though he was like, four years old). Laralita's oldest brother and his family ended up living with the boys until Searle was old enough to run the show on his own.
Chene: We never really got much mention of the boys, except maybe in passing. I didn't think anyone would remember them.
Morgaine: He really doesn't look at all like his mom--he's the spitting image of Karlspan (who, as any Naroni trivia hunters might be interested to know, was later given a wardrobe change and a makeover and became Florian's arch-nemesis, Seoth the innkeeper).
She might talk about Searle on occasion, but probably not very often. Their relationship is pretty strained, as you seem to have guessed. We'll get a closer look at that in the next post.
Thanks all :)
I'm stunned! Strained relationship indeed, although Laralita is responsible for it and really does not seem to care. Wonder if she remembers he exists...
Dying to get to the next chapter right now!
Yeah, she's definitely the cause of it. She really could have gone home and visited at any point, but nooo.
Or, really, she could have stayed where she was until the boys were older--but knowing Laralita, she would have seen that as a waste of her youth and beauty, and in her mind, that might just trump offspring :S
Why in the ruddy butt cracks would Laralita simply push two sons (two sons!) out of her life? Because the old husband is dead and buried does not seem sufficient. That airheaded freakazoid.
At this point, it almost seems like she just forgot about them, which is beyond ridiculous :S
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