In Which Lyraina Is Alerted to Something Special

March 2, 1171

"Done!" declared Hilla in triumph as she slipped the last pin into Lyraina's hair. "Doesn't she look pretty, Ma?"

Some odd years ago, before the twins were born, Hilla had decided that Lyraina was 'the pretty sister'. Lyraina had protested this fervently, but to no avail; when Hilla made up her mind, it was a done deal. Not that Hilla let her suppositions hold her back though--indeed, since the notion had motivated her to hone her sense of style and absorb everything she could learn about fashions and hair-care, surely her efforts had given her a step up even if she hadn't been the prettier sister by birth.

In any case--she was prettier, Hilla was prettier, the twins had both of them beaten, whatever--Lyraina was glad that at least one of them knew how to doll oneself up; she didn't care much about how she looked most of the time, but every once in a while, there came an occasion for which Hilla's talents came in handy.

From the bed, their mother gave a quick glance and an approving nod; wherever Hilla got her passion for the pursuit of beauty from, it hadn't been industrious, low-maintenance Goodwife Diarn. "Very nice, both of you."

Though far from distant, their mother had not been the most involved of parents since they'd reached the age at which they could be mostly independent--after all, she had things to do and so did they. For the most part, Lyraina and her siblings didn't have a problem with this, and it even became a further advantage on nights when the young people would gather in some field and dance and drink and laugh unsupervised. Evera and Alyssin, Lyraina knew, had told their parents that they were spending the night at Eilyssa's house--likewise, Eilyssa's parents would think she was at Evera and Alyssin's. Lyraina and Hilla had never had to make such arrangements, though, as their mother was quite lax about such things and saw no harm in the occasional bout of youthful hi-jinx.

As if to further prove this, she winked. "Is Had going to be there, Lyri?"

Lyraina exchanged a quick look with her sister, then laughed. "After all that time Hilla spent yanking my hair around, he'd better be!"

"Oh, I don't mind," Hilla insisted. "If I hadn't done yours, I would've just done my own again, and I like the way mine turned out."

She rolled her eyes; she sometimes forgot that her sister was still young enough to miss the occasional bit of sarcasm. Fortunately, she was spared the awkwardness of having to explain that by a knock at the door. "Cord's probably wondering what's taking us so long--stupid boy." She glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "You can come in if you like."

"Oh, don't mind if I do," came the voice of a man--a man surely older than their thirteen-year-old brother--from the other side.

Hilla grinned. "Sir Tarien!"

"At your service, ladies," he announced himself as he stepped into the bedroom. Lyraina felt herself smiling; she'd at first pretended to warm up to the knight in order to annoy her mother, but she found she'd taken a genuine liking to the man. "I must say, all of you look ravishing today--and not only the ones making an effort, I must say."

Lyraina turned around just in time to see him send a wink her mother's way; it was returned with a raised brow. "So now that you're used to just barging into my house whenever you please, you want to further test the boundaries and waltz into my bedroom uninvited?"

"Ah, but I was invited!" he protested with a nod Lyraina's way. "You mean to say that you didn't invite me--this time."

"This time?" Lyraina's mother snorted. "Don't get your hopes up."

Sir Tarien smirked. "On the contrary, my hopes are heading downward--something else, however, might defy gravity on such an occasion."

"Don't talk about your cock in front of my girls."

"Who said anything about my cock?" He raised his finger and waved it about in mock-scolding. "What I meant was that my whole being would be simply over the moon; my God, Arydath, you do have a dirty mind."

She stuck out her tongue. "That would be 'Goodwife Diarn' to you, shitbrain."

"And that would be 'Sir Tarien' to you, Goodwife Diarn--but if you happen to be partial to nicknames, I suppose 'shitbrain' will suffice until you can come up with something more fitting."

"And what, pray tell, could be more fitting than that?"

"Oh, don't mind her!" Lyraina interrupted before Sir Tarien could reply with another flirtatious remark; she could tell that her mother was getting agitated, although she did suspect that the woman was more fond of him than she cared to admit. "She's anxious from fretting about what horrible trouble we might get into at the dance tonight."

A puzzled frown broke on her mother's face; Sir Tarien, however, laughed. "You don't say--no wonder you're all dressed up! Do you have a sweetheart, sweetheart?"

"She does," Hilla answered for her. "His name is Had, and he's a gentleman's son."

The knight gave an approving nod. "Very nice--and how about yourself, love?"

The younger sister beamed mischievously. "Oh, I like to think there's enough of me to go around."

"It's true--she'll have a dance with every boy there and they'll all be begging for more."

"I believe it." He cocked his head to the side and closed his eyes. "Know why?"

"No." Hilla laced her arm through Lyraina's and rested her head on her shoulder. "Why?"

"I'll tell you--it's because you've got character." Sir Tarien leaned back and surveyed them, a fond, almost proud look in his eye. "Both of you. You're beautiful girls, but a lot of beautiful girls turn out very dull--not you two, though." He took Hilla's hand and kissed it, then did the same with Lyraina's; it was nothing like when Had kissed her there, but a warm feeling lingered all the same. "You've got that something special."

"Yes, that's all very well and good, but I'm afraid all this 'something special' will be on its way soon," sneered their mother from the bed. "The girls and their brother will want to be there before sunset, so they'll have to leave in a few minutes--and then you'll have no reason to stay."

Sir Tarien took one look at her, then shook his head. "Not true; where do you think they get that something special from?"

Lyraina's mother sniffed. "The same place from which you should be getting a hint--now, as I have to tell you every week, get out of my goddamn house."

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