July 12, 1178
Figured. Just as Camaline was finally free of those infernal straps for the night, someone had to come tapping at her door. It was too light a knock to be Sparron or her father-in-law, but it was certainly an adult--most likely a man, or perhaps a heavy-handed woman. Whatever they wanted, she hoped it was her maid; anyone else would require a hasty re-stuffing of her nightgown. "Who is it?""It's Searle."
And what was Searle doing here at this hour? So far as Camaline knew, Sparron hadn't bedded him since the day the baby had been conceived. It must have been something important--some sudden change of plans or something. She supposed she'd have to see him, although she did wonder why she wasn't getting this secondhand from Sparron as she usually did. "Is there anyone out there with you?"
"No."
She pushed herself out of her chair and hurried to the door, shutting it behind her as she stepped through. "What do you want?"Searle glanced to the ceiling. He wasn't a nervous sort, but she'd been told she had frightening eyes--particularly for those who brought ill news. "The baby's coming early."
"Oh." Well. That certainly complicated things. "And what's being done about it?"
"I rounded up her maid and a couple other servants to keep an eye on her, then I went to fetch Nanalie, and then Arydath." Probably the most sensible course of action given the circumstances. Of course, everything would have been simpler if the baby could have been born at Tetran, but moving in a laboring woman from the next shire couldn't have been a good idea on any level. "Then I came here. Sparron's riding out to my castle right now."
As he should have been--it was his baby, after all. Then again, it was quite possibly her baby as well. "And what should I be doing?"
Searle sighed. She wished he hadn't. He didn't sound quite like himself when he sighed, and while Camaline didn't care for people in general, she did have some grudging respect for those who could at least be genuine; she'd always thought Searle to be one of them. "Get dressed and we'll follow in one of your carriages. Tomorrow morning, I'll head back here to say that you and Sparron went for an early ride, but you went into labor near my castle and you're being tended to there."Not that Camaline had ever enjoyed carriage rides, but there was hardly a more likely solution as to why she'd be all the way out at Searle's castle full-term. She supposed she'd give him some credit. "All right. Give me a minute and I'll be ready."
"Please hurry." His eyes shot down to his wedding band as he stretched his hand in front of him. "I know it's late and everyone's in bed, but I don't want to risk--""Getting caught?"
A lightning charge shot through Camaline's nerves as her father-in-law stepped forward from the shadowy corridor beyond the room--arms crossed, mouth scowling, brow furrowed to a sharp valley. Of all the times for her eyes to fail her. Of all the times for his to be sweeping her up and down, stopping to linger on her flat, perfect middle. If she could have chosen the moment of her death, this would have been it.
"I think I've heard enough, but I suppose the two of you will have the whole length of the ride to make sure of it."
NEXT CHAPTER:
16 comments:
Holy shit. Last full week of classes.
...Awesome.
*Gasp*
I didn't expect that.
Well, it's not like Octavius can stop Camaline from taking her husband's child in as her own (if it's a boy) I mean, it would be a huge scandal if the truth that Sparron got Searle's wife pregnant...
And there's little he can do to alter the whole thing - unless the baby is a girl and he want Sparron to have it even though that wasn't agreed... I wish I could jump into Octavius's head and see what he's thinking... This isn't something small, this is A BABY (well, technically it is small :P) a human life, I can't imagine he would wish anything bad on his grandchild so hmmmm....
ARRGH. Van, damn your ability to leave the audience wanting more, it is totally insensitive >:(
:P
Dun dun DUN!
Still, I'm almost glad Octavius found out. If anybody can bring some sanity to this mess, it's him. And we may even get to see Badass Octavius, which is always fun!
Well, fun for us.
EkhoGirl: We'll be getting into Octavius's head three posts from now, so we'll see what he's thinking after he has a bit of a chance to process it all. We'll also get a bit of insight in the next post too.
But whatever they decide to do, yeah, I think it'll stay a family matter.
Heheh... sorry? :P
Morgaine: It was such a crazy, complicated plan that it was only a matter of time before they got caught, especially with Sparron and Camaline, you know, living with his parents.
It does open quite a few storyline possibilities...
Ho! Someone's got some 'splaining to do.
I am glad though, that if anyone was going to get caught, it was one representative of each couple. At least then, it looks like what it is-- A conspiracy rather than, I dunno, "Let's steal Lettie's baby," or "Let's dump this brat someplace." But once it's exposed, then what happens? Do they cut the baby in half and give one side to each family? I wonder what Severin will do. I can't imagine that Octavius wouldn't tell him. I expect that he'll probably just throw his hands up in the air and say that kids will be kids, the way he does whenever his children do anything scandalous (which accounts for just about everything that his children do where romance and/or reproduction are concerned). You know what? Who could blame Searle for thinking that this was a normal suggestion.
I think I'll take that one step further and say it's for the best that it was specifically Searle and Camaline who got caught. Sparron and Lettie would have looked like a love affair. The two men would have looked like two jerks taking advantage, and the two women might have looked like some sort of coercion. Since they're the biological parents, Sparron and Lettie are obviously involved no matter what; Searle and Camaline does give more of a conspiracy feel and robs them of any "victim" status.
As for what happens to the baby... well, the next seven posts all take place on this night/the next morning, so I'm sure that question will be answered fairly soon.
Oh, I'm sure Octavius will tell Severin, whether out of a "Your son is insane!" mindset or a "Hey, you should probably know that your newest grandchild isn't actually yours" mindset. He could just react as he usually reacts--a.k.a. not reacting--but then again, nothing else that his kids have done so far really compare to this :S
Ha! Nurture failed Searle XD
*ponders* You know, you're right. This one does take the cake. I am curious about what there is to do though (other than just monumental fury). No one has broken any laws. (Although, reckless endangerment to the baby is debatable and might not be on the books in Naroni anyway.) I think most families in this situation during "the times" would have made that baby disappear. Once you know that it's an extramarital bastard twice over and the product of some bizarre scheme, you have to do the responsible thing, right? And it's off to the home of some surrogate parent, never to know its true identity because there are lands, titles, and chains of succession to consider. The stability of the kingdom depends on it. People go to war over these sorts of questions.
It is a good question. I don't know if they'd go so far as to make the baby disappear, though, especially if it's a girl; Searle has a son and an older daughter and he could always have more sons, so no one would question why she's not his heir. A boy would be a bit more complicated. If Sparron takes him and names him his heir, his brothers might take that as an insult if they ever learn the truth (even though they're probably too young to be thinking about it much right now). Searle could always take him, but then if something were to happen to his older son, things might get complicated, especially if he has more sons later.
But in terms of the nobility, neither family is particularly high-ranking, so I don't know if the whole kingdom is at immediate risk of anything earth-shattering. Most likely it'll just be both sets of "parents" and Octavius and Severin working something out behind closed doors.
Err, more than an insult, I would guess. No one would look at that baby as a legitimate heir. Sparron can do all the naming he wants to-- I can't imagine King Ietrin (shudders) allowing that to stand. It's more cut and dry on Searle's end though. That's not just not his baby. Unless of course, they plan to pretend that it is. Then it could get weird if anyone knows otherwise. And at least Arydath and Nanalie know otherwise already.
Within the context of Naroni, they kind of do occupy important positions. It's all over the second they step out their front door, but domestically, who's higher up than Octavius and Severin (other than royalty)? Lorne?
It occurs to me that Searle will be a duke someday. We won't see it, but it will be there. Weeiiirrrddd.
Yeah, I don't see Roderick or Ietrin allowing it... if they actually knew. I can't imagine anyone involved will be eager to go public with this, though. And given their own positions, neither Arydath nor Nanalie would have much to gain with a breach in confidentiality, unless one of them is planning on blackmailing everyone (which I doubt), or one of them just really wants to stir the shit (which I really doubt.
Fair enough, they're pretty high up in terms of Naroni as an isolated place. But the two involved houses are generally pretty cooperative and the Naroni nobles do tend to stick together if only to fend of Roderick. Roderick could get involved as Camaline's father, but if she allegedly has a child then she is allegedly fertile, which would be good news for him and all the children he hasn't shipped off yet. I don't see any wars being waged over this, at least not immediately.
But really, I can't see anyone telling Roderick. If Octavius tells Severin, then Severin will probably tell Nora, but she has nothing to gain from letting the secret slip either. I'd be most worried about Octavius telling Holladrin, because if Sparron names the baby his heir, then her three sons are getting screwed (unless they're the sort of boys who would rather just be knights? I haven't done much with them yet, and one of them is just a baby, so I don't know).
Wait, Searle? This Searle? He might be lord one day if Jadin and his male progeny all die off before he does, but there would have to be some sort of apocalypse for him to be duke of anywhere.
Oh yeah, Jadin IS the eldest! hehehehe I think I'm a lot more comfortable with that. Jadin is a frivolous goof but he's not... er... intellectually challenged. LOL @ the apocalypse that just left Searle standing. I'd read that.
Oh wow, that would be a twist. Blackmailer Nanalie. I think if she were ever in some DIRE need, it wouldn't be beyond her. Maybe not Arydath either, but Arydath seems more like the sort of person who could hold it together without resorting to cruel and desperate measures. Sometimes secrets slip though. And people have a tendency to tell their spouses EVERYTHING, even secrets this enormous. The confidentially absolutely breaks down there, because when you're privy to something that crazy, you want to tell someone about it and bounce the idea back and forth, and you tell yourself that it's okay to talk to your spouse about it because you're basically one, two-headed person. Of course, everyone's relationships are different but I think that's a lot of people's experience.
Oh yeah, any kind of faction-forming, intrigue, assassinations or even war wouldn't happen before Sparron kicked ye olde bucket. As long as he lives (assuming Octavius is kaput), he is lord.
I wouldn't tell Roderick either, but what if he found out? I guess Aldhein slipped by, and that was Roderick's own wife. He could allow himself a measure of denial there though.
For all Jadin is a hedonistic fop who enjoys giving commentary during brothel sex, he does have Searle beat in the common sense department. I wouldn't say Searle is stupid, but he puts his heart before his brain and he definitely lacks in the sense department.
Luckily for everyone, neither Arydath nor Nanalie is in dire need. And I do think there's an inherent confidentiality there, seeing as they're essentially medical professionals. But yeah, secrets slip :S
It occurred to me as I was walking back from my ninety-minute-turned-forty-minute class that the biggest confidentiality threat at this point is actually King Oswald. Though she might not be happy about it, I can't see Holladrin waging war on an innocent baby even if he did budge her sons in line... but she might tell her brother, who could easily decide to back his nephews when the time came, and that sort of thing wouldn't go unnoticed or unquestioned by the populace. Then again, Oswald does think of Naroni as kind of a joke and Dovia is expanding eastward and northward (Naroni is southwest of Dovia); he could very well offer his nephews equal or better positions in his new territory. I guess time will tell :S
If Roderick found out... good question. The illusion of his daughter's fertility could benefit his other children, but he might be too short-sighted and too proud to claim a distantly-related bastard as his own grandchild.
True--from what we've seen, Eilyssa's maternity doesn't seem to be a huge secret. But maybe Roderick just sticks his fingers in his ears and tells himself that people don't know.
Oh my, the Empire of Dovia! *does toe dance of potential exciting plot turners* Heh, and Oswald is right. Naroni is kind of a joke. It might not always be though. Is it likely that Holladrin will out-live Octavius? He's older but she's always ill.
90 minute turned 40 minute classes are the best kind.
Looking at the random death dates, Holladrin's best bet for outliving Octavius is if he ends up having an aneurysm over this :S
Oh, Naroni is totally a joke right now. But hey, maybe Roderick's Carvallon ambitions plus the recent influx of Spanish knights might give them a bit of a boost in terms of international standings.
The Dovian Empire? That could be pretty exciting... ;)
Yeah, the prof is in Europe and the TA's lecture went much more quickly than she'd anticipated. It was awesome.
Hooray for Octavius knowing!
This certainly hastens any immediate closure :)
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