In Which Camaline Calls at the New House

March 30, 1175

"Auntie Camaline!" Camaline barely had a chance to ready herself before Leina sprang into her arms, her older sister trailing with a graceful exasperation. Smiling, she gave the little girl a quick squeeze; Camaline wasn't fond of children as a rule, but she had a certain soft spot for Aydelle's girls. "Auntie Camaline! Guess what! I can count to a hundred!"

"All the way to a hundred?" she gasped, as if the very concept was mind-blowing. Hanna rolled her eyes; at seven, she was old enough to realize when adults were being indulgent, but at least she was sensitive enough not to dampen her sister's spirits.

Leina beamed. "Can I have candy?"

"Leina!" Hanna scolded as Camaline pulled a package of sticky toffee from her cloak pocket and dropped it into Leina's outstretched hands. "You shouldn't just expect candy."

"But Auntie Camaline always brings candy!"

Camaline forced herself to laugh. Such reactions were more emotional than she was ever inclined to be, but children were not attuned to subtlety and it seemed a shame to alienate the only two she cared for. "That I do--and don't think I forgot you, Hanna," she added as she produced a second parcel.

Her resolve to be more grown-up forgotten, Hanna took the candy and grinned. "Thank you, Auntie Camaline."

Leina, who'd already proceeded to her new stash, flashed a gooey smile. "Fank 'oo."

"Enjoy." Camaline tapped Leina on the nose, then clasped her hands together. "Is your mama home, by any chance?"

"She's upstairs." Hanna tugged at Camaline's sleeve. "Can I take you cloak and hat?"

Nodding, she removed her crispinette and diadem, then proceeded to the ties of the cloak. "Thank you, honey." She handed the discarded garments to Hanna, who stashed them in wardrobe with a child's sloppy care; Camaline sent a last smile the girls' way, then proceeded up the stairs to the bedroom. "Aydelle?"

"Cammie!" There was a delighted, welcoming note to Aydelle's formerly tired voice; settling into a new place was difficult, but it was a relief when that phase was over and it was nice to see that Aydelle had reached that point. "Get in here!"

Too ready to oblige, Camaline bolted up the remaining steps and turned around the bannister--only to wish she hadn't. "...Oh."

There was a girl on the other side of Aydelle's bed. She was a gangly redhead with a plain face but Aydelle wasn't known for being picky. They were both clothed and they weren't touching but those facts seemed little more than details. Camaline knew she wasn't Aydelle's only lover--far from--but most of the others were men and after Aydelle's disastrous wreck of a marriage, Camaline got the sense that all she wanted from anyone with a penis was the simple use of said organ. Another woman was more troubling. Another woman might have been a threat.

"Oh, I've forgotten my manners." Aydelle tossed a lock of silky hair out of her face and laughed. "Aspen, this is Princess Camaline, future Baroness of Tetran. Cammie, this is Aspen. She's lady's maid to the duke's little sister. Anyway, Lady Rona is relocating to her brother's castle and Aspen is staying here while a room is being prepared for her. She's a great help with the girls."

"Your highness."

Camaline studied the girl as she pulled herself to her feet and gave a clumsy curtsy. She was far too stiff and awkward to be a proper maid as far as Camaline was concerned; she scarcely looked comfortable in her own body, much less in the presence of her superiors. What could someone like Aydelle possibly see in such a kid?

"Charmed." She found she could only sniff, but Aspen looked neither offended nor disappointed. Perhaps she was just too stupid to react.

"Mind running downstairs and occupying the girls for a while, honey?" Aydelle nodded toward the stairs, then sent a wink Camaline's way. Compliant, Aspen shuffled in the direction of the steps and vanished into the depths of the ground floor.

"Don't worry--it's not what you're thinking." Aydelle shot up from the bed and twirled around the footboard, catching herself on Camaline's shoulders and planting a kiss to her lips. "We were just having a little heart-to-heart; poor girl's run into a bit of a snag in her love life, I'm afraid." A snag in her love life. Well, insecure little oddballs like Aspen needed to get used to that--not that Camaline cared much. Just as long as the problem had nothing to do with Aydelle, she didn't give a damn either way. "Anyway, what brings you here today? Is your husband out and about?"

Camaline rolled her eyes. "He went to Veldora to see Searle's new baby."

"Oh." Aydelle's queasy face summed it up more accurately than anything Camaline could have said. "Awkward."

"You're telling me. Sparron drunk himself into a stupor when we first got the news--but then again, it's not like the idiot didn't know to expect it."

Sighing, Aydelle turned around and headed back to her place on the bed, her skirts swishing against the floor and a sway in her hips. "It's not always that simple, love. But speaking of babies..."

"No." Not wanting to dwell on it, she joined Aydelle on the bed. Yes, people were talking. Yes, her father-in-law kept sending her expectant looks and she was getting tired of just standing there and shaking her head. Yes, Sparron was probably getting anxious for a baby if only to assure himself of some illusion of normalcy. But it was a lost cause--and really, if it hadn't been for Sparron and the in-laws, she wouldn't have cared. She'd never wanted babies anyway. "Mark my words, Sparron will knock up Searle before he does the same to me."

Expression unfathomable, Aydelle's gaze swept over her, a soft hand resting against the curve of her side as the eyes finished their scan. "Oh well. It would be a shame to ruin that perfect body anyway."

"Oh, I don't know." Camaline scooted a little closer to the middle of the bed and smirked. "You've had two of them and your body's as perfect as ever."

"You liar--regardless, I appreciate the thought." Aydelle slid her belt through its rivet and dropped it onto the floor, then drew nearer, taking Camaline by the hand and fiddling with the golden pretense around her finger. "Sparron has brothers anyway."

Not that it was the heir part that concerned him, but Camaline nodded. Aydelle probably had some sense of it anyway. "He does."

"And he still treats you well? He doesn't do anything disagreeable?"

In spite of herself, Camaline had to smile. "He's my best friend."

Aydelle wove her finger through a lock of Camaline's hair and folded it under. "Then that's all that matters."

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