March 16, 1180
Sir Searle, Neilor was willing to bet, had a castle of not-insignificant grandeur somewhere back in Dovia, but he had instead opted to live out the rest of his days in a small cottage on the Carvalli coast, as it seemed the pretty-yet-frail young wife trumped any desire he might have had to reconnect with his daughter. Not that such a reconnect was likely to go well in any case, but the thought and all.It was a clear day when they finally arrived, the first clear day the region had seen in weeks if talk in the nearest village was to be believed. The Carvalli might have taken that as a good sign but Neilor was not one to put much faith in omens. Neither, it seemed, was Tivie; if she was, she might have taken the last couple steps up to the front door a hell of a lot more quickly.
Quickly, not unlike Neilor took those same steps to join her. "Are you all right?""I guess." She looped two fingers through the silver knocker and lifted, but let it drop with a force that brought little more than a tap!. "I don't know. What am I even going to say to him?"
"You're not the one who needs to say anything." Of course, he wouldn't blame her in the slightest if she wanted to. "He should know what he did wrong. He ought to spend the rest of his life making it up to you."
"But he won't." And for all she'd come this way--for all she'd dropped her life and gotten tangled up with him and Landus and traveled further than many did in their lives--she looked like she believed it. "This was stupid. I'm not a kid any more. And I have still have my mother, plus a stepfather who actually gives a damn about me. I don't need him."
"No," Neilor agreed. She didn't, not really. She was clever enough to see that there was little point in needing someone so unreliable. But who said it was her father that she needed? "But for what's it's worth, I don't know when you'll get another chance for closure.""I guess." She shuffled back and slumped onto his shoulder. He took to rubbing at the small of her back, the ends of her strawberry blond curls tickling the side of his hand. "Is it worth it, though?"
"I don't know." She raised her arm to his neck and he felt as thought time had stopped, even though he knew that wasn't the case. If anything, the seconds dashed past with a heightened haste. "That's not my place to guess."NEXT CHAPTER:
8 comments:
Today is Severin's 880th birthday. I wonder if that's a sufficient excuse for buying cake. I did buy cake for a novel character's birthday once.
Sure! Why not? ^^ Any excuse for cake is a good one in my books. XD
And aww Tivie! I think I know the feeling. You may not need him, but I think you need "this".
Neilor is a sweet one. I approve lotsly!
Absolutely an excuse for cake!
I'm loving Tivie and this story arc. It's sort of like finding an extra $20 in the laundry - not expected, but awesome.
Alas, with all the Thanksgiving pies on display (all of which, sadly, too large for me to consume on my own), I saw no cake. I did, however, nab some brownies--pseudo-cake?
Ann: It's definitely not Searle himself that Tivie needs, but she could use the closure, methinks :)
Neilor can be a bit rough around the edges, but he's certainly not incapable of sweetness when he tries. He does seem quite fond of Tivie.
Winter: Thanks! I'll admit that I was a bit worried about this storyline at first--not sure how people would react to an arc focusing on characters they barely knew, however short it was--so I'm glad that people are enjoying it. Maybe we on the other side of the screen need some closure with Searle too ;)
There's always an excuse for cake. ;) Severin's birthday sounds like a good one to me!
*she says as she munches on fresh broke-and-baked cookies*
And yeah, I think we too could use some closure with Searle, and some explanation of what went on in his head all that time ago. Although speaking of all that time ago, I went and looked up the last time we saw Searle and Danthia together ...
Danthia told him to stay away from Tivie. I mean, I don't know whether she wanted him permanently away or just to make himself scarce for now, but she did tell him to get gone before Tivie woke up the next morning. Methinks that Danthia may not have mentioned this to Tivie.
Still, the next post looks like it'll be an interesting one!
Baked goods for everyone! :D
It's been a while since we've seen Searle. His motives have always been a little dodgy--sort of a combination of over-sentimentality plus guilt. He loves so much that he barely loves at all.
Danthia did tell him to stay away--though Tivie was quite young at the time (six or seven, I think, if even that?), so who knows how long she meant. We've also had references to her keeping an eye out for any interaction on occasions where they might meet. She does mean well, but yes, there is a lot that she's been keeping from Tivie.
Searle's problem, as far as I'm concerned, is that he gets so wrapped up in any single person that he stops having room for anyone else in his life. He doesn't know how to balance - or perhaps he's just codependent beyond all belief.
Dang, Severin looks good for being 88. :)
- Scribbles in a rusn
I think you've pretty much summed up Searle's problem there. He focuses all his affection on one person and there's none left to go around. Actually, a certain other Searle may have that problem too...
He did age well. XD
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