June 16, 1176
"So. Guess who stopped by the castle with her mother this morning." Nora leaned forward in her seat and batted her eyes Falidor's way, the teasing smirk on her face one Raia had used on her own brothers more times than she could count. "Your pretty little granddaughter."Repressing a smile of her own, Raia shot a quick look toward her husband, who in turn glowered at his sister. "Shut up, Nora--but she is pretty cute, isn't she?"
Ah, men! They were silly, sure, but most of them did have that useful immunity to their own progeny--particularly the progeny of the female persuasion.
And with that in mind... "Father?"Her father raised an eyebrow. He wasn't an idiot; after all these years, he knew full-well when she wanted something. That didn't mean he could resist. "Yes?"
"I heard something about a man being tried for arson next week?"
Her father sighed--a defeated sigh. Raia leaned back in triumph. "Fine--but only because you're the only person in this whole shire who ever volunteers for jury duty."Beside her, Falidor rolled his eyes. He snapped out of it when Raia landed a light backhand slap against his arm. "It's mentally stimulating."
"That's an interesting way of saying 'tedious'."
"Well, why don't I go to work for you next week while you stay home with the kids and see if you won't accept absolutely anything as a well-deserved break?"
"All right, all right, I see your point." Oh, that one won it every time. "Anyway, uh... what did this fellow burn down? Supposedly?""Well, it turns out there's a brothel in the hills that caters to clientele with particular fet--"
Well, not like it was too difficult to guess where that was going--and good thing too, considering the interruption in the form of a frenzied knock at the door. "It's unlocked!"
The door flung open with its usual swish!, followed by the flip-flopping of bare feet against the hardwood. Must've been Tavrin.
Or not."Shit! Why are Father and Nora here?"
On the other couch, Nora frowned. "Nice to see you too, stepson. Now, what the hell happened to your clothes?"
Lonriad swallowed, trying to make himself look a little more calm. He wasn't the worst liar in the family--that was Searle, by far--but he did have a weakness for pretty brunettes and their stepmother happened to be just that. Even childless men had their curvy Achilles' heels. Not like that was any surprise. "Uh... bears. Bears happened to them."
Raia cringed. Falidor stared at the toes of his boots and her father smacked his palm against his forehead. "Lonriad, are you being chased by an angry parent?"
"What? No! Why would you think--?"
"Shit! Lonriad, why are your parents here?"
And that... that was why they would 'think'. Raia pulled herself to her feet and grimaced as she approached her brother and waved to the girl behind him. "Hello, Asalaye."
Asalaye sighed. "Hello, Raia. Can I borrow a dress?"Nodding, Raia gestured toward the stairs. It was probably the least she could do. "First door on your right. The bottom two drawers are mine."
"Thank you."
She hurried up the steps with all the urgency of a spooked doe. Poor kid, getting caught like that. It had probably been her first time too. "Lonriad, have you ever heard of something called a 'lock'?"
"There wasn't a lock. We were in a hayloft."
...and to think, it was probably Asalaye's own father's hayloft! "Congratulations, little brother. You've just crossed the line between 'dim' and 'moronic'."
"Raia, there'll be plenty of time to insult your brother later." Their father stood and made his way toward them, the resigned expectancy in his eyes worthy of any cynic Raia had ever known. He wasn't disappointed. He wasn't even surprised. If anything, he was just thankful it wasn't any worse. "How much of a lead did you have on--?"Someone pounded on the door. Asalaye must have shut it--thank God.
Raia's father sighed. "I'll deal with him. Go upstairs and put on something of Falidor's. And try not to stick your cock into anything on the way there."
NEXT CHAPTER:
17 comments:
Bah :(
At least I have tomorrow off from school. To the other Canadians out there, I hope your Thanksgiving weekend is turning out a lot better than mine is :S
(Also, any remaining IFV readers, there's an important note both there and on my blog.)
OMG
I was cringing as soon as Lonriad appeared, laughing at the same time of course. You could totally tell this was going to happen, but I am so embarrassed for Asalaye and Lonriad! This is truly the height of awkwardness, but once again I am impressed with Severin taking charge of the situation, and his last comment is just perfect.
:D
Wow, that was quick :)
Heheh... it was kind of written in the stars, wasn't it? :P Still, definitely awkward for the poor kids.
Knowing his kids, I think Severin spends a lot of his spare time mentally preparing himself for this kind of thing XD
Weeeeell! XD It looks like another wedding.
I can't pity Lonriad, but poor Asalaye and poor Severin! *snickers*
Man, am I glad we can finally cut to the chase! :D Well, literally!
For some reason, I had trouble understanding exactly what was happening on the first read through. I think it was just because it was late at night and because Lonriad appears shirtless on the scene, lol.
Wow, those two really went for it? I'm surprised that they just hopped to it so quickly!
"Uh... bears. Bears happened to them." LOL! I can see him looking down at the ground and shuffling his feet or something before he spits that out.
You know, Lonriad and Asalaye's situation was easily the least shocking part of this chapter for me. People in Naroni are tried by a jury of their peers? And women are on those juries? And Roderick thinks that's a good idea? I mean... Roderick??
HEY! What *is* Tavrin up to these days? I miss him.
Like Penelope, I was a little surprised that there was a jury and Raia was allowed on it, but then I realized that Severin's ideas are more progressive than most. I'm curious if there are jury trials in other shires or just in Severin's.
"Uh... bears. Bears happened to them." Good thing I hadn't taken a drink of my coffee when I read that part or else it would have been spewed on my keyboard from my laughing so hard.
Looks like Lonraid won't be the first to get out of teenhood without a scandalous marriage.
Ann: That is a distinct possibility XD
I don't think Lonriad quite regrets this. Actually, Asalaye may not either. They're certainly in trouble, though :P
(Er... not that sort of trouble. Yet.)
In a theoretically endless story like this, there comes a point where some weddings/pregnancies/deaths have to be rushed.
Lunar: Yeaaaah, that would do it XD
In all fairness, it's been over a month since they got together. We just never saw them in all that time.
Oh man, he totally should have done something like that. I'm getting so lazy with my narrative :S
Pen: It varies between shires, but if you want to commit a crime in Naroni, best do it in Veldora.
I miss Tavrin too, but I have no plans for him at the moment. He's just living his normal existence right now, but we'll see him again as soon as something hits me.
Orilon: It varies from shire to shire, but basically everyone gets a trial in Veldora, no one gets one in the royal shire, and it depends on the offence in the other two.
Heheh... I guess Vera might get that distinction? Since she's a girl, though, probably not. There's still hope for Roddie and Co., though ;)
Well, on the sliding scale of scandal, I don't think Viridis's marriage was THAT scandalous. Or Searle's, as far as the rest of Naroni is concerned. Both of them, from the outside, would look like normal medieval family-alliance marriages.
From the inside ... well, it's the Kemorins. You were expecting sanity?
I LOVED Raia here. Loved her! She's got one of the awesomest Kemorin personalities, and that's saying something. I'm glad she's not getting buried in married-with-kids land.
And ah, Lonriad and Asalaye. Why am I not surprised? If laughing hysterically.
Great update!!!
No, Viridis's probably wasn't too too scandalous, other than who she married. And Searle's is only scandalous to those in the know.
But yeah, the Kemorins aren't exactly known for their kosher marriages, are they?
I don't think Raia was ever in any danger of getting buried in married-with-kids land. She probably worries about it, but she's enough of her parents' daughter to find ways around it.
Lonriad and Asalaye had it coming to them :P
Thanks :)
Hehe I pretty much stalk this site, it's like my third most visited sites ever :P
And I agreee with Morgaine about Raia and the whole not getting buried in married-with-kids land (lol) she is much too gutsy for that!
Bears? Did they eat the clothes? I had this vision of Yogi Bear with his hat and tie...
It was inevitable with those two, but hilariously awful timing LOL! As usual, Severin shines in this. The man's a gift.
The sequence about children is interesting and kind of sad because it is, unfortunately, all too often all too true. Raia probably will find a way to avoid the tedium but I can't imagine it will be easy.
EkhoGirl: I'm flattered :)
Raia loves her kids, but I think every mom needs a few outside interests, especially women like Raia.
Beth: Heheheh... somewhere in the forests of Veldora is a bear in a blue shirt... XD
I don't think timing is Lonriad's strong suit. He's like his brother Jadin that way :P
I guess that's every parent's struggle, mothers in particular even nowadays. Love the kids, care for the kids, do everything that can be done for the kids... but at the end of the day, a person does need something that's just hers.
Thanks guys :)
Hehe... I think Severin is getting to be an old hand at marrying off his kids after the fact. Ironically Searle is the only one who did things in the right order :)
I think it would completely throw him for a loop if one of his kids had a normal wedding XD
"Try not to stick your cock in anything on the way there."
Oh god if I had been eating I would have choked!
XD
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