In Which Raia Questions Lonriad's Vocabulary

October 8, 1172

"Well, look who's here." Raia tapped her daughter on the shoulder and pointed to her brother, edging around the table and into the sitting room. "It's Uncle Lonriad."

Alina looked up from her toys and flashed her few teeth her uncle's way; Lonriad indulged her with a nod. "Hello, Alina. Can you say 'Uncle Lonriad'?"

The little girl ignored him and resumed mashing a pair of camels together in a way that seemed to be asking for at least a couple colorful comments; with the presence of Raia's thirteen-year-old brother, it was a lucky thing that the old arc was opaque. "She might not be talking for a while yet. Most babies don't at her age."

Lonriad shrugged. "Father says most of us talked early."

"Yes, and he also says most of us never shut up." She put down the toy horse and heaved herself off the floor, rising with some difficulty into an uncomfortable standing position. How the hell had she managed to get knocked up again so soon after Alina's birth? Maybe that other thing had its merits after all. "Look, I'll be putting up with all the screaming and crying again before the end of the year anyway; if she doesn't talk until she's having babies of her own, that's fine by me."

"Oh, you know you'd get bored." He stepped onto the rug and grinned. "But you won't have to worry for long; I've already taken the liberty of teaching her a few of your favorite words whenever I get her alone."

Had he? Well, it wasn't as if Alina wasn't going to learn them eventually. Still, Raia rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"'Cause everything I know, I learned from you!" She had to laugh; that cheeky smirk of his was just too much to handle. "Anyway, do you mind if I lay low here for a few hours? There kind of, sort of, might just be a pack of thugs looking for me, and I figure they wouldn't beat me in front of a baby and a pregnant woman."

Raia raised an eyebrow. Knowing her brother as she did, this was every bit as unsurprising as the fact that he was trying to teach her not-yet-verbal daughter how to swear; still, the statement did raise a few questions. "What did you do this time?"

"Something gallant--and they intend to martyr me for it."

What? It took all the self-control she had to keep from snorting into her sleeve; if Lonriad wasn't joking, then he didn't know the meaning of the word. "Lonriad, you've never done a gallant thing in your life."

"I have so." He took her by the hand and guided her around Alina's toys, leading her toward the couch. He waited for her to settle into her seat, then joined her. "I'll have you know that I was defending a damsel from a rogue."

"How? By handing yourself over to the brute squad?" She snickered and shot him a teasing grin, as she often did when conversing with her brothers.

His response, however, was a glare. "I'm serious here! I was in the village because I heard that the chausser's wife had another baby that looks like Jadin--and she did, by the way. Anyway, I was heading to the gate and I overheard some idiot ten-year-olds insulting some of the local girls behind their backs. One started making jokes about Laya's nose, so I went over there and knocked his teeth out--but it turns out that his father is the head of the brute squad and now he's got some of his thug buddies on the lookout for me."

"Well, that was pretty damn stupid of you, but I'm sure they'll leave you alone once they find out you're Father's son." She crossed her arms over her swollen midsection and smiled. "But why do you even care? You spend more time thinking up ways to insult Asalaye's nose than Jadin apparently spends between the chausser's wife's legs."

"Yes, but it's different when I do it." That was all--no explanation, nothing.

And needless to say, she wasn't satisfied. "How so?"

Lonriad shrugged. "I don't know. It just is."

Staring, Raia ran the tip of her tongue over the insider of her lips; she caught a dry bit of flesh between her teeth and peeled it back, the newly-exposed layer as alien as the conclusion forming within her mind. "I hate to break it to you, brother, but it sounds like you've got yourself a sweetheart."

"What?" Startled, Lonriad's eyes bulged to the point where Raia wondered if she'd have to catch them. "Laya? Why the hell would I want a girl who could send me flying with a sneeze? Besides, she's courting that brainless son of Goodwife Diarn's, what's-his-face who burnt his own house down."

Sure. Raia flipped back a lock of her hair and sniffed. "Well, I can't say I blame you for being in denial if she chose a boy who leaves fires unattended over you."

"Chose?" Insulted--and perhaps a little bitter--Lonriad glanced down to his feet. "Christ, Raia! I was never a choice--hell, do you think I want that nose on my babies? What's-his-face can have her. I don't want her. I couldn't possibly be less interested in her--ever."

Back on the rug, Alina bounced one of her dolls about and peeked her little head out from behind the arc. She opened her mouth as she looked toward her uncle--and, to Raia's shock, a single, gleeful word charged forth from the gaps between her teeth.

"Liar!"

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