April 5, 2015

In Which Camaline Starts a Return to Normalcy

December 30, 1190

"Mother!" Prior half-gasped and half-laughed as he shut the door behind him. "You're already up and dressed! And your bed's made!"

"Why shouldn't I be up and dressed?" Camaline had never been one to bother much with sleeping in. She would have thought her twelve-year-old son would have known that about her. "I don't believe it's an ungodly hour--and I'm always up before you are."

"But it's your birthday! Aunt Xeta showed up at the crack of dawn, and we made you a big breakfast."

"Aunt Xeta?" Whatever she'd expected of her birthday, that hadn't been it. Was she too visibly giddy? God, when would she be over that hopeless crush? "She came all the way out here to cook?"

"Yes. She said she wanted to make it up to you--whatever that means." And one day, she'd maybe tell him. He was too much his father's son to judge, but it wasn't the time. "And I thought it would be nice for you to have breakfast in bed on your birthday."

"And that's sweet of you--but I'd rather share the nice big breakfast downstairs with you." She pulled him in for a hug. Some twelve-year-old boys were too insecure to hug their mothers, but Prior wasn't one of them.

"Aunt Xeta's still here. Can she eat with us too?"

"Of course she can." Maybe the familiarity would lead to a return to normalcy. "Thank you very much, Prior."

NEXT CHAPTER:

3 comments:

Van said...

Next post is 1191! 1190 was kind of a filler year; the next few years might be a little more eventful. ;)

Also, Hoppy Easter/Passover/Spring Equinox/Time Off.

Winter said...

Prior is such a sweetheart. For all he's Sparron & Lettie's, he has some old school Searle sweetness in there, too. I'm glad he and Camaline are close. It helps to have people to be close to after a big loss.

I somehow suspect the normalcy that Camaline is thinking of isn't the normalcy that will eventually develop between her and Xeta....

Van said...

Prior is has an incorruptible goodness to him, the sort that shows up maybe once or twice a generation. Kind of like Dilys from Albion. Nature and nurture combined in just the right amounts here.

He and Camaline are very close! I don't know if Camaline was expecting that, but with all she went through to make sure Prior was born, I guess it was inevitable. They're more of a family than a lot of pairs who are biological parent and child. Their mutual love of Sparron only strengthens their bond.

Quite possibly. I don't know if Xeta's started seriously thinking about getting back in the romance game just yet, but we haven't seen her mooning over anyone else...