July 23, 2012

In Which Celina Leaves It for Later

July 10, 1179

So that was it. Bizarre and unexpected, but no less plausible than any other explanation that might have crossed her mind. Lorn had been gone an hour after a visit that might have dragged on for years, but Celina had yet to move. Her heart was drowning in every emotion she knew of and then some. There was the joy of having her little boy back, along with the anguish of knowing what his life had become. There was the urgency of needing to do something, frustration of not being able to do anything, and small, secret hope that nothing needed to be done.

And yes, there was anger. Anger at Remiel for playing with the order of things. Anger at Lorn and Severin and Nora for not telling her sooner and also for telling her at all. Anger at herself for not getting off the couch and going to her son right now, kissing his metal forehead and grasping his armored hand and telling him it would be all right.

Even though she was damn sure it wouldn't.

"Are you all right?"

She lifted her eyes just long enough to see Ovrean approach from the corridor. The cushions rustled as he sat down beside her, no doubt staring in sympathy as he waited for her answer. "I'm fine."

She couldn't convince herself of it. She couldn't convince him either. "You're not.

"No one would be."

He was right and there was no point in denying it. Celina fought back a sob as a tear escaped her eye. "My poor boy. He's been through so much and who knows what he's going through. And he's been with us all this time and we never recognized him." And how the poor child's heart must have broken with every reminder of that. "And here I am, wallowing in it all while he's the one living it."

"You're his mother. You're allowed to wallow."

No. No, she couldn't do this. Not now. Her son had been standing right in front of her this whole time and she finally knew who he was. He deserved to know that before she would let herself wallow. "It can wait. I... I'll talk to him first."

Ovrean's tender fingers folded around her wrist. "You're sure?"

Celina swallowed back the rest of her emotional prison and nodded. It was a more tentative nod than Farilon deserved, but it was a nod nonetheless. She would go to him. She would wallow later. "I'm sure."

NEXT CHAPTER:

5 comments:

Van said...

Doing a bit of forum pimping here...

For everyone who's a Plumb Bob Keep member (and for those of you who aren't, you really should be :P), this year's Summer Secret Santa thread has been posted, and if you have any interest in content creation and sufficient free time in August, you should definitely consider signing up. Not only is it a ridiculously fun idea, but a ton of great content came out of last year's event, and I doubt I'm the only one hoping for a repeat this year ;)

Epi said...

My heart broke for Celina here.

Ooh, Secret Santa. I might give it a go but I usually end up wimping out of making things... I'll think on it.

Van said...

It is a whole lot of emotions to deal with in one sitting :S

Ooooh, you should definitely think about it! Last year's was a lot of fun :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, Celina! :( Poor woman. But at least she now knows and can begin to deal with it.

As for the anger -- once Celina catches her breath and does her wallowing -- she should focus that exclusively on Remiel. He deserves it. ;)

Lastly, Ovrean is a good man, being for her like that. Kudos to him too. :)

Van said...

Yeah, in the long run, it's much better that she knows. Once she's over the initial shock, she'll be able to think things through and figure out what's best for Farilon and the rest of the family.

And yeah, Remiel's really the only one who did anything other than what they had to do :S

Ovrean has been pretty good for Celina. He's steadfast without being forceful, and supportive without being overbearing. They work together quite well :)