In Which Evaleith Sticks to the Unappealing Situation

September 3, 1180

"So, you broke out of prison."

"Sure did."

"And commandeered one of the navy's ships."

"That too."

"And then lived off village after village of chumps by selling bogus aphrodisiacs."

Evaleith's father smirked. "Brilliant, wasn't it?"

Ceidrid's mouth wormed its way into some mockery of a smile while Evaleith fought back a biting comment. Not that she wasn't glad to see her father after all these years... but she'd sort of hoped that, if he did show up, it would be while her husband was out of the house. Much as she loved them both, the chances of them ever getting along were somewhere along the lines of discovering she was actually a long-lost princess.

That was to say, practically none.

"Seems like a method of... dubious legality."

Kind of what you'd expect from a pirate, really, she wanted to say. But there was enough semi-subtle contention in the room without a third party getting involved, so she compromised with a whisper to little Honora. "Grandpa's probably going to want to stay at the inn."

Her daughter just shrugged. It might have been cute if she'd reacted, but it hardly could have been expected. She'd known Grandpa for all of five minutes--and since Ceidrid's father had been dead long before he'd ever met Evaleith, the girl probably had little concept of grandfathers at all.

"So, what do you do, kid? Just farm? You wouldn't happen to grow any of the good stuff, if you know what I--"

Evaleith let out a sigh of relief. Thank God for knocks on the door. "It's open."

It was Nora. So much for hoping to at least keep her father separate from Ceidrid's side of the family. "Sorry. I didn't realize you had company."

"Company? Nah, I'm just her father." Nora's brows arched. She knew perfectly well who and what Evaleith's father was, but any comments were decidedly withheld and for that, Evaleith was grateful. "As for you, I do hope you're not the reeve."

Ceidrid shook his head. "Adwyn, this is my sister, Nora. And she's not the reeve, but she is the lady of this shire."

"I'm thinking she's too pretty to be your sister. Could've guessed lady, though," Evaleith's father added with a wink. "I take it you've heard nothing of me."

"Oh, I've heard that you're a pirate and a fugitive and a swindler. But that probably means you'll fit in just fine around these parts." Nora pulled up the chair opposite him and wasted no time sweeping him up and down, going straight for the eye contact. Evaleith thought she saw her father fidget. Her father never fidgeted. "Relax. I'm not here to arrest you, though I daresay it would be fun to try."

"Well, you'd be the prettiest face to ever put this body behind bars. Not that the competition was much, mind, unless scraggly beards bring the little colonel to attention." Her daughter glanced at him, puzzled. With any luck, she'd just drop it and forget about it like Evaleith wished kids would do more often. "But if you're not here to lock me up, might I ask why you've come?"

"Hmm. It's not as if I'm family or anything." Ceidrid snorted. But Nora, apparently not in the business of snickering at her own jokes, turned her eyes on Evaleith. "Evaleith, please take a seat. You've probably been on your feet all day."

"Eh. I'm used to it." But regardless, she placed Honora on the floor and took the seat beside her father. She watched her daughter toddle off toward the stairs, no doubt bored with all the adult chatter. It must have been nice, being at the age when one could just walk away from unappealing situations and not think anything of it.

But alas, for Evaleith herself, that age was long gone. "Perhaps you might be interested in the ship he stole. One of the ones Devidra had marked for King Roderick's 'navy', apparently."

"Yes, and a shitty little thing it was." Her father sighed. "Oh well. Served its purpose. And it's not like this kingdom needs a navy anyway. You're landlocked, for God's sake."

"That's what we've all been trying to tell the king," agreed Nora with a roll of her eyes. "Not that he has the listening capacity of an average three-year-old. He currently has my husband working on a crew for the first vessel. Most of the people who answered the announcement only showed up to laugh in his face."

"Can you blame them?" Of course, the chorus of smiles about the table said nobody did. "The whole thing is pretty funny."

Nora flashed a thoughtful twinkle of the eye. "Care to make it even moreso, Captain Ladell?"

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