June 27, 2011

In Which Isidro Resorts to Desperate Measures

February 16, 1175

"Wait, is this...?"

Riona's forced voice wavered before letting the phrase hang. Isidro took to massaging his wrist in an effort to look occupied. It had been cruel to bring her here, but she'd left him little choice. He'd already spent long hours banging on bathhouse doors while lamenting loudly how long she took to wash herself. He'd made observations about hand gestures and the way she walked, only to watch her grow more conscious of such mannerisms. He'd even swiped the rags from her room and watched in agony as she floundered for an excuse as to why she needed them back.

It was so obvious. It was frankly a miracle that none of his idiot cousins had figured out who she was, much less his father--and the longer Riona stayed with them, the more likely it was that one of them would. That was a risk they could not take; as little as he liked Riona, he did not want to know what his father might do if he found out that the 'spirited young boy' tagging along after them wasn't a boy at all.

He didn't want to tell Riona that he knew. He'd have to if he couldn't force a confession out of her, but that would no doubt involve tears and sobs and perhaps his father storming upstairs and knocking on the door, demanding to know what was going on. No, it had to look like a misunderstanding. He had to make her uncomfortable without seeming like that was his intent. He wanted her to reach her breaking point, to pull him aside privately and tell him to stop, to confess when she couldn't give any better reason for asking. If she did that, he could just send her on her way and tell the others that 'Searle' had left on 'his' own accord; no hard feelings, no explosive reaction on the part of Domingo, nothing.

But she had failed to work with him so far and he was running out of patience. This was a desperate measure. "Seems a shame to be on the road for so long without even getting laid, doesn't it?"

"Looks like the night's just getting started too," added Bernardo as he pried his eyes off a blond fondling her client's cock under cover of his tunic. "The clothes haven't even come off yet."

Nodding, Riona grimaced--a good sign. People didn't grimace when they were enjoying themselves. "Err... I noticed."

She scuffed her boot against the floorboards. Maybe this was the part where she dashed out the door and he chased after her, demanded to know what the problem was, heard it told straight. She'd been playing with fire long enough.

But she didn't move. Some foreign emotion tugging his heart downward, Isidro looked her over. She was tall and gangly for a girl her age and flat-chested even without the binding, but he didn't see how that alone had managed to fool everyone. They must have never gotten a good look at her face. She was too pretty to be a boy.

"Are you a virgin, Searle?"

Her thick lashes reared back and the blue of her eyes swelled past their sockets. "...eh?"

"I take that as a 'yes'."

Mortified, Riona's mouth fell agape. She was slipping. She had no idea how to get out of this and they both knew it. The only way out was to run--she must have realized that.

But if so, why were her feet so firmly planted? Was she too afraid to move? Or was she just too damn stubborn for her own good? "Uh..."

"So... are you boys just planning on standing here all night or what?"

The speaker was a girl who must have approached from one of the benches. She was dark and petite, with startling eyes and soft features. She was attractive enough to make a man look like a fool for rejecting her. She'd do.

Grinning, Bernardo sized the girl up, then sent a wink Riona's way. "I bet she's good."

The girl laughed. "So I've been told."

Yes--she'd do. Isidro pulled a small sack of coins from his belt and tossed it back to Riona. She was already spending more than she could afford on private rooms; no reason she should have to fund her own humiliation.

NEXT CHAPTER:

15 comments:

Van said...

Sorry about the wait. I don't even really have a good excuse for it. I've just been drained the past few days. I'm hoping I can get an Ashelia up tonight, though?

The Lunar Fox said...

Oh that last preview image, lol! Riona is stubborn. Good luck, Isidro. Though I love him even more after this update.

Epi said...

Quite a pickle there. Sad that she went on this trip without seeming to even -start- thinking through what it would entail.

Anonymous said...

Riona is not going to make this easy for Isidro at all, is she?

And now that we've been inside his head, he does seem like a nice guy. Nice enough to want to get Riona AWAY from Domingo. Smart man.

And I just checked the character pages to make sure, but for a minute there I wondered if that could possibly be an illegitimate daughter of Geneva's. Geneva did have those startling violet eyes. But apparently not. Oh well. ;)

... Ninon is probably too old as well, come to think of it.

Van said...

Lunar: I think they're both stubborn :P But yeah, Isidro's been growing on me too.

Epi: Riona isn't exactly great at the whole "thinking things through" thing :P

Morgaine: Oh, it's a battle of wills at this point, for sure :S

Isidro is... well, I don't know. He's kind of a grouch, but he does have principles and he sticks to them.

I think Ninon is close in age to Geneva's daughter with Lonriad? But yeah, no relation there.

Penelope said...

Uh oh. Ball's in your court now, Riona! How will she respond to this, Isidro's most recent scheme to out her as a girl??

At the end of the day, this is probably all Isidro's fault. He should have spoken up from the get-go, forcing her to retreat in shame. Now it has been a whole month and she really would be in danger from Domingo and his jerk nephew.

Van said...

We'll see soon enough ;)

Yeah, he probably should have called her out earlier. But I imagine it would have been difficult to pull her aside for the first bit? And then maybe it just dragged on for too long. Not really sure. Still in the process of figuring out Isidro's reasoning.

Penelope said...

He could have just embarrassed her in front of the other guys during that first encounter as soon as he was certain that she was who she was. I couldn't imagine him being a gentleman about it and taking her aside or even defending her when the others closed in. However, I think that he would realize that whatever she got within those first few minutes would not have been nearly as bad as what would come later. Not only that but there were semi-honorable men there who would have defended her and maybe even escorted her home.

Van said...

I think if it had been just Casimiro there--or even just Casimiro and Bernardo--Isidro would have been totally okay with that. But Augustin was there, and Isidro doesn't trust Augustin as far as he can throw him, especially where women are concerned. More on this later...

Penelope said...

*Waits patiently for Naronies*

Van said...

Give it another hour and a half or so? ;)

S.B. said...

Ok I'm officially in love with Isidro LOL!

And if this doesn't work, what will he try next?

Van said...

Not sure what he'll try next if this doesn't work. Probably the next step will be just calling her out, but he clearly doesn't want to do that.

Verity said...

Uh oh... somehow I don't think Riona is going to cave. How's she going to wriggle out of this one though?!

Van said...

I guess that remains to be seen? ;)