May 19, 2015

In Which Jeda Stays Long Enough

February 15, 1192

"Fred!" Jeda locked the door and greeted him with a hug. If there was one advantage to her status as more or less a shut-in, it was that not many commoners knew her face. She'd worn the scarf just in case, but once she'd sneaked out of the castle, no one had paid her any particular mind. "What are you doing in the area?"

"On my way to a job. Ever heard of a Lord Frandred?"

The man who'd caused Renata and Alina all that trouble some years back. In that case, she couldn't pretend to be sorry. "Nothing good."

"Yes, lucky for that. I've got to get out of this business soon."

"You do have too good a heart for it."

"But for now, at least I get to see you." He smiled, mustache curving along with it. Such a lovely smile, so kind and genuine. Very much the opposite of Ietrin's self-serving smirk. "How have things been?"

"Same as they always are. At least Dea's getting a break from it all, now that she's at the university."

"Oh." Fred sighed. "Neither of us got much of a hand when the universe dealt the cards."

"And we haven't drawn anything better since."

"No. But I'm glad you managed to get out tonight." He reached for a loose lock of her hair and twirled it about his finger. "How long can you stay?"

Jeda smiled. "Long enough."

NEXT CHAPTER:

5 comments:

Van said...

:S

Ann said...

Awwwwws!
Ietrin has to go. In any way possible, as long as it's soon.

Van said...

I don't think anyone will miss Ietrin much when he goes...

S.B. said...

Lovely and sad and a bit happy all at the same time. I love the way you use light to make a place look gray and chill or focus on the side of a face.

Van said...

Thanks! :)

The lighting is pretty accidental. I haven't installed a lighting mod on this computer, so my lighting is always sort of at the mercy of the game itself. Glad it worked here.