April 17, 1173
"And this," Cord concluded the tour as Asalaye followed him through the door, "is the master bedroom."Christ, how many bedrooms did one man need? Even if Cord had started drawing up the plans for the house before his mother had married Sir Tarien--before he'd known that the rest of his family would be staying at the manor--the count was a bit steep. "So... how are you going to fill out all this space, exactly?"
He shrugged, not taking his eyes off the window in front of him; he did, however, reach back for her hand. Like she might have expected from a farmer, it was rough and calloused, but she didn't mind. Her father and brother had hands like that too. "Good question. Guests, farmhands, servants... maybe kids some day..."
"Kids?" The word stuck in her throat and was expelled in a choke. Concerned, Cord glanced at her, but she picked herself up with a grimace. At least there was a possibility that he'd meant it as a harmless comment? "What the hell, Cord? You're only a kid yourself.""I'm fifteen." He turned around and tapped her on the nose. "Your own brother was married at sixteen, I might remind you--not that I'm planning on marrying any time soon. Anyway, do you like the bedding?" He nodded toward the bed, which was spread with a blanket of a pretty turquoise shade. "The dye wasn't cheap, but I figured it would be nice to have a splash of color."
"It is," Asalaye agreed, prompting a goofy grin on Cord's face. She always wanted to laugh when he smiled like that, but she wasn't sure why. It wasn't a particularly flattering grin, and it somehow made his nose seem even longer--not that she had any reason to complain about other people's noses, as Lonriad always made a point to remind her. "Nice color choice, too.""Most girls like turquoise, right?" She nodded. His smile grew a little. "That's a relief. I really didn't want to have to spend the rest of my life with pink bedding."
Oh? Asalaye glanced over the bedding once again, her lip curling inward with each sweep of her eyes. She did like turquoise, but... "What's wrong with pink?"Her sweetheart's brow arched. Had she ever seen it do that before? He had such thick, bushy brows that it was kind of a strange effect--almost comical, even. "I wouldn't have thought you were the sort of girl who liked pink."
"Err... I'm not." It was a lie--she loved pink--but she didn't want to make a big deal of it. She didn't want him to replace the blanket if she said she liked another color. She also didn't want him to not replace it if she said she liked another color. "But I do like turquoise."
"I thought so." Out-of-the-blue, he took her by the waist and twirled her around in circles. The motion, she would later muse, must have been playing with her senses. His nose looked smaller and his hair looked shorter, darker. His goofy grin became a teasing smirk and the earth was the cosmos. Only the sparkling dust of the universe supported them, but it was enough. The stars danced and the clouds swirled and the moon shot across the sky like a glowing arrow.But then he set her down, and the stars vanished. She was back in his bedroom, no longer in the company of the celestial but instead in that of goofy grins, large noses, and turquoise blankets.
NEXT CHAPTER:
5 comments:
This was the first thing I saw when I went to build the set for the next post :P
Wow -- Cord has put a lot of time and effort into this house. Well, he should, he will be living there ... but I hope he it's putting all of his eggs in the Asalaye basket.
Because I think I know who that dark-haired, short-nosed boy she saw was. ;)
Poor Cord, he's going to get his heart stomped on sooner or later, is he? (Not that I'm not shipping Asalaye and Lonriad -- I just think it kind of sucks for Cord because other than being a complete idiot and burning his house down, he hasn't done anything to deserve it. I hope there's a consolation prize waiting for him!)
Cord certainly isn't cutting any corners with the house, whether that's for himself or for Asalaye or what :P
If Asalaye doesn't end up going for Cord, he shouldn't have much of a problem finding someone new. He was born a peasant, but he's been doing well for himself and now that his mother's married to a knight, he's officially a gentleman. Also, if you catch him at an angle that doesn't showcase his nose, he's nothing horrible to look at. He won't be dying alone ;)
Cord seems more delighted in everything in general than one particular girl (I hope). But perhaps Asalaye would let the Lonriad dream slip away. First choices aren't always the best choices.
The pink blanket. It's a small thing but telling. She doesn't want to speak her mind because she's either afraid he would change it or wouldn't change it, but the reluctance to offer an opinion is important. At Cord's age, phrasing the choice differently just wasn't going to happen.
Cord is pretty excited about the new house. I don't think he was reading into everything quite as much as Asalaye was--who knows what he might have done with the pink blanket.
Speaking of pink blankets, I'm glad someone picked up on that detail. She just doesn't want to know what he'd do if she said she wanted a pink blanket :S
But maybe it's just her age? She's twelve. If this was 2011, her father probably wouldn't be letting her date, much less a fifteen-year-old boy who might be at the point when he's starting to get ideas. She's nowhere near ready to get married.
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