In Which Halford Brings Good Joy of Great News, or Something to That Effect

January 6, 1159

"Lau--rei--na!" bellowed Halford to the landlady as he and Adonis stumbled into the inn. "Sumthin' to drink for me an' Master Ind'ruon here, tha's a good missy!"

Laureina's husband sent him a disapproving glare. "You're already drunk as it is--and it's barely midday. Why should we serve you anything?"

Halford chuckled heartily. "'Cos we bring you, people o' Veld'rashire, good joy of great news!"

"Or... sumthin' to that effect," added Adonis under his breath.

Seoth continued to stare stonily, but Laureina laughed. "Oh, good joy of great news, you say? And what, pray tell, might that be, Halford?"

"Well, come o'er here and I tell you," he offered her, slapping his knee as an invitation for her to come and sit on his lap--then he remembered that he was standing.

Laureina didn't move; Seoth, however, made his way around the counter. "I'll handle this, love," he told her, turning to face Halford sternly. His grave and cold manner might have been unnerving had Halford been sober; it was a fortunate thing that the landlord was a fairly small man, and that Halford himself was quite large.

His wife took the opportunity to push a second pint toward the hooded patron in the corner, a figure whom Halford might have ordinarily found suspicious, but of whom he took little notice in his current state. "You do that, champ."

"So..." Seoth began, obliging Halford to look downward in order to meet his eye. "Why is it that you've come to the inn when you've clearly already had your fill of wine, if not something stronger?"

"The news!" he exclaimed, rather exasperated. "The joy! E'eryone oughtta know!"

Seoth's eyes narrowed. "Know what?"

He turned to Adonis, who promptly shook his head. "You better tell him, 'Alford... I think I migh be sick," he slurred.

Chancing a quick glance at his now paled-faced friend, Halford snorted. "You gen'lemen can't 'old your liquor. Anyway, Seoth... we were o'er at the castle, right?"

"The castle here?" demanded Seoth. "Lord Severin's castle?"

Excitedly, Halford nodded. "Aye, tha's the one!"

"Continue," Laureina obliged him as she made her way to her husband's side.

"Right. So... we got there, and Lord Se'erin an' Lady Alina were pretty happy about sumthin'."

Impatiently, Seoth made some gestures that seemed to be telling him to get on with it. "And...?"

"There's gonna be a wedding in June!" blurted out Adonis, clearly no longer able to contain himself.

"And not just any ol' weddin'," Halford added, noting the disappointment in Seoth and Laureina's faces. "The king's! King Ro'erick is gettin' married in June! To Lady Alina's sister, Lar'lita!"

Seoth raised an eyebrow. "The former Countess of Bandera?"

"One an' the same! An' you know what a royal weddin' means," he whispered, pausing dramatically for effect. "Tha's right--holiday!"

Giddily, Laureina clapped her hands together, her features alight with the radiance of her smile. "Well, isn't that wonderful? We'll all have a day off! The farmers will certainly be happy."

"Maybe go tell your patrons," Adonis advised her.

Cracking the first hint of a grin Halford had ever seen from him, Seoth nodded. "Indeed, we shall."

"I'll beat you to it!" his wife teased him as they made their way to the tables. "Gentlemen! I have an announcement to make..."

Halford chanced a quick glance at Adonis. "Still want ano'er pint?"

"No thanks," he replied, shaking his head. "I'm drunk enough a'ready. I'll just head 'ome now--now that I know everyone'll be happy. Abs'lutely everyone."

NEXT CHAPTER:

In Which Adonis Senses an Emergency

October 3, 1156

"Well? What do you think of it, my lord?" Adonis inquired. Recently, many of Severin's tenants had been complaining about not having anywhere to do their laundry, and fortunately, Adonis had found just the place. In fact, he and Honora had been using this pond for their own laundry for quite some time now.

"I don't know, Adonis," sighed Severin. "It looks to me like one of those places that starts out with a practical purpose, but then just ends up being a novel place for sex."

Adonis raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"I take my wife here every once in a while. Alina gets a thrill whenever we have sex outdoors."

Tomorrow, Adonis decided, he would have to start looking for a new place to do his laundry.

There was a faint crinkling sound, like someone walking across the stiff autumn grass--somebody was approaching the pond.

"Honey, I'm telling you, this is the best place for a little afternoon delight. It's nice and secluded, and it's shallow enough to stand, and... oh, er... hello, my lord."

It was one of the local farmers, accompanied by a woman Adonis vaguely recognized as the baroness's maid. Clearly, Severin and Alina weren't the only ones who enjoyed some nice pond sex every once in a while--now Adonis really had to find a new place to do his laundry.

"Goodman Wythleit," Severin addressed the man. "I must say, I am surprised to see you here, of all places. Shouldn't you be at home with your grandchildren? Your daughter-in-law is far too ill to be running after them herself, and I happen to know for a fact that her eldest is working today."

Goodman Wythleit nudged the ground with the toe of his boot, then stared in Severin's general direction, though avoiding his eyes. Adonis didn't imagine that the man's discomfort was quite necessary, but then again, Severin was not particularly fond of selfish people.

"The second is old enough to watch the younger three for a few hours," the old farmer answered after a moment of awkward silence. "Besides, someone had to come here and, er... do the laundry."

"Oh. Well, if that's the case, then where exactly is this laundry of which you speak?"

Adonis couldn't help but smirk; a sidekick was something he had never planned on becoming, as they were generally both pathetic and second-rate, but he had to admit, he had definitely chosen the right hero to follow.

"Er... I'm wearing it," muttered Goodman Wythleit lamely. "And, uh... so is she."

Severin nodded, his eyes narrowed. "I see. Well, we'll be on our way shortly, and then you can feel free to tend to your laundry."

"Yes, my lord."

Sheepishly, the farmer and the maid hurried off toward the far side of the pond. Adonis supposed he could only be thankful that the two of them seemed to have the decency to wait for him and his lord to leave before they engaged in their aquatic lovemaking.

"What did I tell you?" demanded Severin triumphantly. "This place is perfect for sex. You should probably stop doing your laundry here, but I do think that you and Honora should return for... other things."

"But what would we do with Had?" asked Adonis. He felt bad using his son as an excuse, but really, sex in public places didn't sound all that appealing to him. "Unlike you, I don't have a steward, much less one who'd be perfectly fine with being a nanny as well."

Severin shrugged. "Just leave him with Alina and me. Why do you think we sometimes just drop off Raia with you and Honora for a while? Falidor has his days off, you know."

Adonis opened his mouth to reply, but was immediately distracted by the sudden sight of Goodman Diarn running toward them, a desperate quickness to his stride and an urgent expression upon his face.

"Goodman Diarn?" Adonis addressed him, prompting Severin to turn and face the pig farmer. "What's the matter?"

Panting, Goodman Diarn continued to approach, not stopping until he was within a few feet of Severin. Goodman Diarn, Adonis knew for a fact, was normally quite a polite man who wouldn't have ignored such a question; this had to be an emergency.

"My lord," he began, speaking with panicked hand gestures. "My lord... my wife said to come and get you as quickly as possible... the baron's there, and your mother..."

Severin frowned. "Hold on a second, Goodman... where are they? What's going on?"

"They're at Goodman Tumekrin's house... it's... not good."

"Damn," Severin cursed under his breath. "Did Electra have the baby too early? Was it stillborn? What happened?"

The pig farmer took a deep breath, then stated, "The baby is fine. She gave birth to a strong, very healthy boy, and named him Setran, for her father."

"But then what is the emergency?" Severin interrogated him, the lord's brow furrowing more deeply than Adonis had ever seen.

Goodman Diarn inhaled once more. "It's... it's... just, just come with me, my lord. Please. And quickly--we don't have much time."

NEXT CHAPTER: