In Which Asalaye Employs the Intimidating Feature

October 15, 1171

"Oh dear God." Asalaye groaned as she caught sight of the dark-haired boy walking toward her from the direction of the village center. She supposed she was in a good enough mood to handle him, but she didn't want to run the risk of ruining her high spirits--she did have to make an impression, after all. "Why is it that every time I'm in town, you always happen to be here too?"

That same insufferable grin on his face, Lonriad came to a halt a few feet in front of her and rocked back and forth on his heels. "The universe is full of coincidences, you know; if you'd rather not run into me, then I guess you're going to have to take it up with the big man up in Heaven."

"Don't think I won't." Annoyed, she leaned back, resting her hands against the fence behind her, but sprang back when her palm caught a sliver--somehow, this had to be Lonriad's fault. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't you have servants to run errands for you?"

"Actually, I was visiting my grandmother--she does live in town, you know."

Asalaye rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure. Out with it; why are you really here?"

His smile never vanished; if anything, it widened. "Well... I did visit my grandmother, really. But I also heard that the chausser's wife had a baby that looked exactly like Jadin, and I just had to see that for myself."

She snorted; regardless of the source, that actually was rather amusing. "Are the rumors true, then?"

Lonriad nodded. "It's uncanny."

"Guess that's what you get for being a chausser--you spend so much time in tights that your wife has to find someone else who's actually willing to get out of his."

"Not that it's hard when you look like her!" Lonriad ran his hand through his hair, a dreamy look on his face. Asalaye glowered at him, but he was too far gone to notice--idiot! "I mean, have you seen that bosom? It's almost as magnificent as the baroness's! Lucky Jadin-baby, getting to suckle those puppies..."

That was not a mental image for the faint of heart; a bit of nausea welling at the base of her throat, Asalaye shuddered. "Ew."

"Speak for yourself, Laya--mind you, you'll probably fill out nice yourself. A pity you have such an enormous nose, really."

"All right, say that again, and don't think I won't knee you in the balls."

"What? You'll fill out nice? Your nose could cover the shire when it rains?"

"No." She crossed her arms and smirked. "My name is Asalaye."

Lonriad snickered. "Ass-lay."

...Oh dear God. "Laya it is, then."

"What?" The corners of his mouth hadn't turned downward in the entire time they'd been speaking, and clearly they weren't about to now; if anything, they rose. His teeth, she noticed, were a startling white. "All these years and you never noticed that--and your parents never noticed that? Where did they get the name from, anyway?"

"Oh, it was her grandmother's name."

Her heart suddenly a flutter, Asalaye turned around to see Cord stepping out of the shepherd's barn. It had only been a week or so since she'd last seen him, but he seemed to have grown taller in that time--broader too. Of course, he was fourteen--not some scrawny twelve-year-old imbecile with ridiculously great teeth. "Hello, Cord."

He sent a wink her way, then strode past the sheep lingering by the door and into the open pasture. "Hello, Asalaye--personally, I've always liked your name."

She turned around for a second just to stick her tongue out at Lonriad; oddly enough, he didn't return the gesture. "I thought he was your stepsister's sweetheart?"

"Oh, they decided to just be friends," Asalaye dismissed. "Melria's sweet on the bookseller's son now; I think he looks like a goat, but to each their own."

Lonriad sniffed. "I don't know--with a great big beak like that, you can't exactly afford to be picky, can you?"

Stopping just short of the fence, Cord sent a warm smile Asalaye's way, then glanced past her toward Lonriad. "Is he bothering you?"

"No, he was just leaving." She placed her hands on her hips and employed her steeliest stare; if there was one advantage to having a large, ugly nose, it was that it made it easier to look intimidating. "Weren't you?"

Lonriad's eyelid twitched For a triumphant, perhaps delusional second, she thought he might run away crying--but instead, he only shrugged. "Might as well, I suppose; between the two of you, my average-sized nose is starting to feel a bit out of place."

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