October 19, 1186
"Hanna!" Her mother reached her arms from the couch with such a burst that Hanna stumbled back a step. "I wasn't expecting you today, baby.""I had some free time." Better to get this over with quickly, or so she'd decided as she'd tossed and turned the night before in search of sleep.
Her mother was not conventional, and for the most part, she loved her for it. Whereas many of her friends hadn't dared told their parents that they'd started using herbs, for instance, her mother had been steadfast in her support. Hell--if Hanna had come to announce that she'd gotten knocked up, her mother's instincts would be to help, never to scold or rage or anything else most parents did.
But this... well, for all Leina had spoken of little else since she'd been old enough to play pretend, Hanna doubted her mother would take it so well. "I have news.""Oh?" Her mother smiled, probably expecting some academic accolade. If only she'd had thought to call on Sister Lurra before leaving campus! She hated the thought of that smile fading away.
Hanna nodded to the couch. "Maybe we should sit."
"All right." One black brow arched, but her mother obliged nonetheless, allowing Hanna the seat beside her. "Something shocking?"
"Um... yes, it might be." Here it was. She doubted her mother had ever quite imagined this for her--it was no secret it hadn't panned out for her mother herself!--but it was her life, after all. And her mother deserved to know. "Sev asked me to marry him."Silence--just her mother's catlike eyes, shocked, staring. She supposed she'd have to elaborate. "And I, uh... I said yes." That, at least, merited a blink. "I'm sorry if that's not what you were hoping for, plus I know your marriage wasn't great and you might have wanted something different for Leina and me, but I love him. He makes me happy, and I know he'll keep making me happy, and I'll be able to help with his family business and keep myself occupied. I know you must be disappointed, but--"
She stopped. Her mother's warm hand had taken to squeezing her own, soft and silky as the first time Hanna remembered.
"Now, why on earth," her mother soothed, white teeth visible as her lips crept upward, "do you think I'd be disappointed?"NEXT CHAPTER:
3 comments:
The pop-up add-on for AdBlock Plus seems to have done the trick with Photobucket. That said, I'm still on the lookout for more useable sites.
Yeahhh... I think Aydelle understands that just because fidelity isn't for her, that doesn't discount other people's marriages. She must have given Hanna the indication somewhere along the way that she thought women should value their independence by not committing in any way to another person that they did not give birth to. I can see why Hanna would think that. I think I tend to feel luke warm towards Aydelle because I am sympathetic towards Camaline, and because I really do believe in all the mushy stuff that Aydelle has chosen to eschew.
I doubt Aydelle ever explicitly told Hanna and Leina that they shouldn't get married... but she's clearly not a fan of monogamy, and while she gets that other people feel differently and she doesn't necessarily have a problem with that (on an individual basis, at least; she does have a problem with the societal expectation of marriage and monogamy, particularly for women), I think she did want to show her daughters that there are more choices than just wife/mother or nun, and Hanna probably took that as her hoping her daughters would keep to less traditional paths.
That said, Hanna has every intention of working after she's married, and I doubt she would have agreed to marry just anybody. She's not selling out; just exercising her own control over her own life. And I think Aydelle sees that.
Camaline is probably the closest anyone ever came, possibly the closest anyone ever will come, to getting Aydelle to commit. But it didn't quite work, so the split was for the best for both parties. Rest assured that I do have plans for Camaline on the romance front, but a few other things have to happen first.
Post a Comment