In Which Falidor Gets Another Other Hand

April 6, 1171

When Lonriad had met Falidor in the courtyard and told him that his father wanted a word with him, his first thought was that somehow--some passerby who happened to glimpse Raia through the window, or some blabbermouth confidante of hers--Lord Severin had been informed.

But oddly enough, Falidor found himself greeted with a smile as he stepped into the study. "Oh good, you're here. Please, take a seat."

"No, thank you." Had he meant to say that? It didn't sound quite right. "I mean... I prefer to stand, sir."

Lord Severin chuckled, then pulled himself from his desk chair and made his way toward Falidor. "Ah, just as well, seeing as I may have to hit you if you call me 'sir' again. How are things?"

How are things? Had he really been summoned for mere chitchat? "Uh... well enough, thank you. Yourself?"

Raia's father shrugged. "Fine, I suppose--although I did have to throw a man into the dungeons today. Tax fraud, you know? And the worst part is, it's the same gentleman who used to go about accusing all the peasants of not working hard enough and leaving the bulk of the burden to him. Hypocrite--I just can't believe how people can justify such garbage, but it seems that everybody does."

This couldn't have been what Lord Severin really wanted to discuss, but if it was about Raia, then surely he would have been angry; regardless, Falidor decided it would be unwise to try to steer the conversation from its natural course. "We're all hypocrites, I guess. Perhaps you should just outlaw hypocrisy."

"Ah, but if we are all hypocrites, would it not be hypocritical to outlaw hypocrisy?" Lord Severin's mouth twitched into a brief smirk, then fell to a disarmingly neutral line; Falidor swallowed. "But that's not what I wanted to discuss with you."

Unsure what else to do, he tried to feign surprise. "Oh?"

"Indeed." His lord flicked a lock of hair of his face and frowned. "You see, I had the most... interesting conversation with my daughter last night."

...what? "She told you?"

He watched in petrifying horror as the other man nodded. Surely he was just biding his time--working himself up to some insurmountable explosion. There was no way that he could really be so calm. "Granted, she didn't have to tell me much. I wasn't born yesterday, you know; there were signs and I had my suspicions, but I was beginning to worry that I'd simply grown paranoid in my old age and it was most enlightening to hear it outright."

He hadn't even raised his voice; if Falidor hadn't known better, he might have thought that they were discussing two very different things. "So... what did you tell her?"

His lord shrugged once more. "What could I tell her? I told her I'd think about it--and I've done just that."

Falidor raised an eyebrow; this was beginning to sound almost counter-intuitive. "With all due respect, my lord, there are about a thousand things you could have told her."

"Falidor, just because an idea is shocking doesn't make it any less worthy of rational analysis." His eyes narrowed, a bizarre sort of sneer playing on his mouth. "On the contrary, I'm inclined to believe that it makes it even moreso. Now, forgive me if I sound disjointed, but I have many thoughts on the subject and I don't think I can form a clear opinion until I've put them all to words--does that make sense?"

"Uh... I guess?" Falidor's father had once told him that in order to form an informed opinion from any position, one must first understand the objective aspects of the situation. Perhaps with that in mind--and if he considered that Lord Severin might have been using a similar approach--then he could understand. But did it even matter if he understood or not? At least he wasn't being gutted.

"Good. Now, firstly I think you should know that I never really thought of Ailede as your wife." It was one of those blunt statements that sprang into a man's mouth and tied his tongue in a series of complex knots; he couldn't have replied even if he'd been able to think of something to say. "I know that the church says otherwise, but the older I get, the less inclined I am to agree with man's interpretation of the word of God. As far as I'm concerned, a true marriage has nothing to do with the church and everything to do with the heart and mind--the soul. Ailede is the mother of your children, and I suppose you may owe her something for that, but so far as I'm aware, the two of you might as well be strangers.

"My daughter, on the other hand... well, you should see the way her face lights up when she talks about you--and don't think I don't see your face lighting up right now," he added with a smirk; Falidor felt himself flush. "And I've seen the way she looks at you, and the way you look at her. I've seen the stable-hands and kitchen boys looking all gloomy, missing any kisses they might have been getting before this all started. I've always said that my children were free to be with whoever they pleased, and it seems that she's made up her mind.

"On the other hand--" Falidor nearly choked; considering that what he had been hearing had been largely positive, the sound of that phrase was not reassuring. "--she's very young, and I have to wonder if she'd still be feeling the urgency if her friends weren't getting married and she didn't see herself as being somehow left behind. Also, it's no secret that my family history doesn't exactly boast of self-control, and her behavior could very well have something to do with that--Lord knows I suspect that enough with my sons. If I know my daughter, she's very stubborn and doesn't go back on her important decisions, but with all of this, you must understand that what she believes she wants now won't necessarily be what she wants five, ten, twenty years down the road."

Lord Severin paused, as if wanting some sort of response from Falidor; at this point, he figured he was obliged. "I've considered that, sir."

"Knowing you, I'm not surprised." His lord's eyes flickered toward a tapestry on the wall, but lingered for little more than a second; soon enough, they were back on Falidor. "There's no doubt in my mind that she cares for you--she may even love you, if I may be so presumptuous to claim to know love when I see it--but love at fifteen is not the same as love at thirty. And even if it were... well, if I were to give you my blessing and let her move into your house while you're still legally married to Ailede, then I can't shield her from what people would say. She says she doesn't care, but she doesn't know what a cruel place the world is." He sighed, his eyes now falling to the toes of his boots. "And yet, on the other hand--"

The second those words had left Lord Severin's mouth, Falidor's stance must have been one of absolute perfect balance; otherwise, he would figure later, he would have surely toppled over. Another other hand? How was that possible? "Err... sorry?"

"Please don't interrupt." The other man shot him an annoyed glance, then cleared his throat and resumed. "On the other hand, my daughter is quite mature for her age, and curious and resourceful enough to have more of an idea of the world than most fifteen-year-old girls of her class; if she thinks she'll be happy with you, then I suppose she will be. Also, back to the subject of hypocrisy... well, who am I to judge her for falling in love with a married man when I myself once fell in love with a betrothed woman? The heart wants what it wants, and all that--and I don't see how I should have the right to try to sway that.

"So, with all that in mind, here is what I propose: if she still consents in January, then you may marry her. You have my permission to court her so long as you're discreet about it, but I still want her to continue living here for the time being; I want to be able to take care of her in case anything happens. Oh, and it goes without saying that if you hurt her, then I'll have to hurt you.

"Anyway, I trust you have no objections?"

Of course he had no objections. He did not think he could object to anything just then. "Of course not! I mean--my God, I never thought you'd--oh, thank you!"

Out of pure instinct, he spread his arms for a hug; Lord Severin compromised by offering a handshake. "Don't thank me--I have nothing to do with any of this."

"If you say so." Still, Falidor could not wipe the grin from his face. "By the way, you said you wanted to take care of her in case anything happens--would you mind going into a bit more detail?"

His lord responded with nothing but a sniff and a steely glare. "Quite frankly, I do mind going into a bit more detail--but if the two of you find that you can't for the life of you keep your hands off each other, then at least consider naming the little 'happening' for Raia's mother. She's probably shaking her fist at the both of us right about now, and damned if I can think of a better way to appease her."

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