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January 7, 1191
"Alina! Your great taste never fails to impress me." Ellie, looking tasteful herself in a lovely red and gold dress Lady Rona had given her, squealed as she gave her sister a hug. "Yellow and pink. A welcome touch of spring for a winter wedding."
"A winter wedding without snow on the ground," muttered Alyssin from the bench. Beside her, Evera shot her a warning glare, but Thetis let it slide. A comment on the weather was merely a comment on the weather. Alyssin was very much her father's daughter and therefore didn't care much for emotional events--but like her father, she wouldn't ruin Alina's special day in any way Alina herself hadn't sanctioned.
"The colors were a splendid choice, dear," Thetis agreed. Blushing, Alina smiled; she'd probably worried that her parents would question a dress that wasn't pure white, as if they didn't have more important things to worry about. "Don't you agree, Rina?"
"Definitely." Rina must have felt so out of place among all the yellows and golds in the room--and being the only young woman in the room who hadn't spent nine months in Thetis's middle. She would be Thetis's daughter-in-law before the year was up, but her other daughters-in-law had opted not to help Alina prepare, as there would be enough of a crowd and someone needed to mind the children (and Florian). But Rina knew only Alina well, and it was important that she get to know Severin's other siblings.
The three oldest girls would make for a reasonable start. Evera liked everybody. Ellie could be shy at first, but if one made an effort, she'd double it in return. Alyssin could be tough to please, but Severin was even tougher to please and Alyssin knew that--so if Severin loved this young woman, there had to be something Alyssin could at least like about her.
"You should see the fabric Father picked out for Severin's wedding tunic." Alina grinned with wicked glee. "It's so yellow it makes this dress look blue! Mother, promise me you'll let me be there when Father shows it to him."
Thetis sighed. In Severin's mind, love of one's family came with no obligation to love or even tolerate one's family colors as well. In Florian's mind, notice of one's lack of fondness for their family colors came with every obligation to force the colors upon said person whenever possible. "Don't give your brother a hard time."
"Why not?" Alyssin craned her neck to the side and cracked it--to Ellie's obvious alarm. "He always gives everyone else a hard time."
Evera squirmed in her seat. "I don't think it matters anyway. Severin obviously loves Rina more than life itself. He'd still marry her even if he had to wear Alina's dress."
Alyssin snorted. "What do you think of that, Rina?"
Rina allowed herself a quick roll of the eyes before quipping back. "I think it would be a shame to let him stretch the pretty thing."
"As much as I'd love to see it, I have to agree--and the bride is always right on her wedding day." Alina winked. "Make note of that, Rina. The sky can be red if you want it to be, because no one will dare argue otherwise."
"I'm sure I'll find something better to be right about."
Alina laughed--and so did Thetis. "You may not be the bride today, but I believe you're right about that."
NEXT CHAPTER:
March 7, 1186
Alina may have had other engagements more days than not and Severin may have loathed the task with the fires of a thousand hells, but Teodrin didn't mind babysitting, nor did he often have anything better to do. He wasn't exactly a loner, but he was plenty shy enough that most of his 'friends' weren't really more than pleasant acquaintances he sat with at lunch. And he didn't talk much to them either--just sat and listened as they conversed with each other, muttering quick generalities if anyone asked him anything. Something more would have been nice, but he didn't know if he wanted to risk getting close with anyone. Some days, even his parents were more than he could handle.
The little kids, though... well, they didn't care. Some of them couldn't even talk yet. They just went along with their business, playing and spouting nonsense syllables as if that was all life was about. Sometimes, when he was around them, he could almost pretend that they were right.
Today, though, his mother's conversation with Evera and Setran made it an uncomfortable challenge to lose himself.
"Yes, I think Aldhein's next report will be much better. We were worried that we'd have to take some measures to improve his focus, but it seems Shahira de Cervantes took care of that for us."
"Lady Riona's daughter?" asked Evera.
"Yes. Turns out that she's quite studious, so Aldhein started working harder in order to impress her." His mother chuckled. "She's in the class below until next month, but he sees her during breaks and it seems she's developed over the course of the winter term. He's grown quite smitten."
"Ah, yes--that age." Setran through back his head and smirked--and then looked over at Teodrin. He wished the couch cushions would open up and swallow him whole. "How about you, Teo? Have your eye on any lovely ladies?"
He had no answer other than to scuff his boot against the floorboard and stare down at his knees. His mother took over verbally. "Setran, please. You know he's shy."
He was, but that wasn't really it. In fact, all of the classmates he kept company with were girls. The boys were so immature, so shallow-minded and rough-and-tumble. It was easier to relate to the girls--insofar as Teodrin could relate to anyone--who were thoughtful and considerate and friendly. But he'd yet to feel any particular interest in any of them, which was probably for the better. Who knew if he'd ever be husband material anyway.
"He's shy, sure--but he's not dead."
"Aww, Setran. Leave him alone." Evera shot him a smile. It was good to have another older sister in the house. He had Alina, but she was a fixer; she had to tackle any perceived problems right away, never content to leave them be. Esela had some similar tendencies, plus a particular brand of sarcasm Teodrin knew meant no harm but nonetheless sometimes stung. As for Alyssin and Ellie, they were too much like his father and mother respectively. In terms of older sister allies, Evera was the best he could have hoped for. "Not everyone cares to start courting at twelve. You've still got plenty to do on your own time before worrying about girls."
Teodrin shrugged. He wasn't sure what he had to do, but he did have plenty to worry about. "I guess so."
Content, Evera grinned at him again before turning back to their mother. "So, Mother, you'll have to catch us up on local happenings. Little Florian's doing much better, thankfully, but we haven't gotten out much since he got sick."
"Oh." His mother grew hushed, prompting one of Setran's signature head-cocked squints. "So you haven't heard about Lord Severin then?"
"Lord Severin?" Evera gasped, Setran frowning opposite her. "You're kidding. He's usually in such good health. What could have happened to him?"
"To him? Nothing."
"Then--"
"He's in fine health; he just had to leave the country for a few weeks." His mother sighed. What was it about sighs that made everyone sound fifty years older? "It's his father..."
NEXT CHAPTER:
August 2, 1172
"You're sure you can make it home all right?" Thetis did enjoy Alsina's company, and she did think that the girl could be clever if she tried--but somehow, she didn't doubt that that red-haired head would have been oft-forgotten had it not been attached at the neck. Likewise, it would have surprised her to learn that the younger woman had ever managed to get from Thetis's house in Tetran to her own home in Armionshire, and the fact that every account she'd heard had involved someone having to point Alsina in the right direction confirmed this.
But the girl just nodded, her dark eyes sparkling with a naive confidence. "Aww, that's sweet of you to worry, Thetis, but it isn't as if I haven't made that trip hundreds of times."
She wasn't quite reassured; nevertheless, the best way to handle Alsina was with a smile. She would run into someone like she always did. Hell, if Thetis knew Aldhein at all, he was already on course to meet his wife halfway.
"Well, today was fun." A glint of August sun sparkling on her new bracelet, Thetis clasped her hands together and laughed. "It's nice just to have a market day with the girls--same time next week?"
"Definitely--I'll ask Evaleith if she wants to come too." Waving, she began to make her way down the path, toward the westbound road to Armion. "Goodbye, Thetis! I'll see you next week!"
"Bye, Alsina!" Thetis watched as her friend stepped further and further away until she took a bend and scurried out of sight. It was a fitting end to a pleasant afternoon, but even fitting ends were ends; it was as good a time as ever to open the door and step back into the house.
Or, so she thought.
Perhaps she and Alsina might have lingered a little longer at the tailor's shop, or stopped for some of the baker's fresh pastries. Maybe they might have paid a visit to a new baby born to one of the village women, or stopped a minute to listen to a bard playing by the gates, or even taken the longer, more scenic route back to the house. Even if Alsina had taken a couple more seconds--just a couple more seconds--to turn that bend, then it was quite possible that Thetis's timing would have been more fortunate. She might have been spared the shock that awaited her inside.
But timing can be a cruel, cruel thing.
NEXT CHAPTER:
December 13, 1171
"Oh, Ev, you're back. I was just wondering, have you seen my--"
"Shut up!" Evera stormed into the house and slammed the door behind her. Her stepfather was at the castle, her mother and the housekeeper had taken the children visiting in Armion, and her stepbrother was sprawled out on the couch as he often was, all smug and mock-innocent--as if he didn't know what he'd done. "God! I don't even want to look at you right now!"
And yet, she continued to do so; she watched as Setran twitched and stood and stepped toward her. As little as she wanted to look at him, she had to hear him confess it. She couldn't even say why--she just had to. "Uh... what did I do?"
"Don't play the fool with me!" Her fists flew to her hips with such force that her knuckles might have been dented, but she was almost too furious to notice. "I was just visiting the girls at Veldora Keep, and Aldara and Viridis and I went down to the village and guess who we saw? Riala--and she was just leaving Laveria's shop!"
Setran shrugged, his face that of a man on whom the accusation was lost; if he wasn't playing the fool, then she supposed he actually was one. "So? A lot of people come and go from any given shop on any given day."
"You don't get it, do you?" What a stupid boy! Had she possessed any control over her shaking arm, she would have slapped him. "Do you know, pray tell, what unmarried girls can only get from Laveria's shop?"
Her stepbrother sighed. "Ev, maybe she was just visiting with Aerina, or maybe--"
She silenced him with a stomp of her heavy riding boot. Her mother wouldn't be too happy if it had left a dent, but that was a problem for another day. "Don't bother covering your tracks, Setran! She left with a little red pouch--and by God, everyone knows what it means to leave Laveria's shop with a red pouch!"
Setran blinked, tense and confused, his face obscured in frustration as he tried to put two and two together--then, out of nowhere, he began to laugh.
"Wait, you... you think I got Riala pregnant?"
Evera scowled. "Is that supposed to be funny?"
"What? Christ, Ev!" His hysterics unrelenting, Setran shook his head. "When was the last time you saw Riala around here? She's not my sweetheart anymore--and even if she was, I never slept with her. I didn't think she was the sort of girl to randomly get herself knocked up, but if she is, it certainly isn't mine!"
"...Oh." Her face flushed to an uncomfortable warmth. She felt rash and stupid and embarrassed--had she really stormed all the way back home without even thinking things through? What had possessed her to do that? Setran, she supposed, wasn't the fool after all. "I, uh... oh dear. I'm sorry, Setran."
An amused smile on his face, Setran shrugged. "Honest mistake, I suppose. Come here."
She stumbled forth into his outstretched arms, the tension in her veins melting away as he wrapped them around her. Even when they were children, Setran had always given the most comforting hugs. "I just... I can't believe I did something so stupid. I wasn't thinking, I guess."
"It's all right." His hand dropped to hers as he pressed a kiss to cheek. "We don't all have to be rational all the time."
"Mmm." Evera stole a brief chance to grin, then pulled herself back to meet her stepbrother's eye. "Setran, if you don't mind me asking... what went wrong between you and her? I mean, you never seemed that close to begin with, but... well, you know."
Setran chuckled under his breath. He had a way of warming a room with a laugh. "Yes, I know. As for what happened... well, Riala was always just sort of a distraction. I feel bad about using her like that now, but I sort of had feelings for someone else--someone I probably shouldn't have had feelings for--and I had to come to terms with that."
Evera took a moment to study his face; Setran wasn't usually one for such personal admissions, but he didn't look to be lying. "Did you?"
He pursed his lips, as if trying to think of a reply, so she expected that it would only be a moment before he did just that--she was wrong. What he did was a different sort of response entirely.
At sixteen, Evera had danced and winked and flirted, but she'd never been kissed before--at least, not like this. This was more than a brief token of thanks after a dance, or a silly over-the-face dare. His lips left a tingling sensation on her own, like the clear ring of a crystal goblet after one flicked it with her finger. He tasted of cinnamon and felt like silk, but more than anything else, he was water; it had never occurred to her just how thirsty she was.
At last--too late, too soon--they parted. Both shocked and strangely satisfied, Evera stared up at Setran's grinning face and raised her eyebrow. "Uh... what was that?"
"I just wanted to try it." His fingers running through her hair, he shrugged. "Now, if you don't mind... I kind of want to kiss you again."
NEXT CHAPTER:
June 12, 1170
"So, are you two officially sweethearts now, or are you just practicing up for better people?" Alyssin's question was delivered without the barest hint of a joke; if they hadn't been in the presence of a guest, Thetis might have sunk deep into the couch cushions and tugged at her hair in frustration. Why oh why oh why hadn't she insisted that the girl accompany her father and brothers to the keep while Riala was visiting?
Struggling to keep her composure, Thetis managed to tone her reaction to a mere crook of the eyebrow in her daughter's direction. "Alyssin! Be nice!"
Alyssin's mouth twisted into an ess-like squiggle. "What? She's always over here, but they're never hanging off each other; it's a perfectly valid question!"
Thetis lifted her head to her forehead and sighed; on the other couch, Setran and Riala exchanged a worried glance. "Well, we haven't really talked about that yet," Riala answered after a few seconds' consideration, her pretty voice wavering and unsure.
Satisfied, Alyssin nodded. "Commitment issues?"
Setran slouched back and groaned--as if Thetis had needed that prompt to send the boy's sister a warning glare. "Do you want to go upstairs and relieve Goodwife Noth of the babysitting duties?"
She watched as that pair of blue-gray eyes rolled toward the back of Alyssin's skull. "No..."
"Then keep your mouth shut." She shared an exasperated look with Evera, who was tending to the fire, then locked eyes with Riala. "I'm sorry about all this, dear."
"Oh, it's quite all right," Riala assured her with a sickly-sweet smile. "I have a little sister of my own, after all."
Beside Thetis, Alyssin snorted. "The way your mother goes about, you should probably have more than the one."
That was it--that girl was not leaving the house for the rest of the week! "Alyssin!"
"What?" Her annoyance brimmed with such an understated exaggeration that only an eleven-year-old girl could possess. "It's true and you know it!"
She just wants the attention, Thetis told herself as she often did. If you ignore her, she'll stop.
And yet, Alyssin made it increasingly difficult to do so, especially now that her behavior had obliged Thetis to extend the invitation. "My apologies, Riala. If you'd like to stay for dinner, feel free to do so; I'm sure Goodwife Noth wouldn't mind cooking for one more person."
"Hell, she doesn't even have to cook one more person," insisted Alyssin with a shudder. "Riala can have mine!"
Riala acknowledged her with a passive wave of the hand, then turned back to Thetis. "Thank you for the offer, but I believe I'll just go home for supper; we have a good cook at home."
Thetis ignored that comment--Alyssin, however, did not. "I'm guessing she's not your mother."
She didn't know if she could take any more of this. "Go upstairs."
Oh, how many times must she see those eyes widen in protest? "But I don't want to give the twins my cold!"
"You don't have a cold!"
"It's a stealth cold!"
Thetis tossed back her head and bit her lip; her daughter certainly didn't get that from her side. "Why can't you be more like your sister? She's been nice and quiet this entire time."
Skeptical, Alyssin glanced toward Evera and frowned. "I bet she's not being quiet in her head."
That had been an odd thing to say. Thetis leaned over and strained for a hint of her eldest's face--indeed, she did look rather pensive. "Evera, are you all right?"
"Well... maybe just a little flushed," Evera admitted, placing the poker to the side and stepping back from the fire. "Might I go lie down for a minute?"
Thetis nodded, then watched as her eldest disappeared up the stairs. Now only Alyssin and Riala remained out of the girls; if her stepson left before either of them, Thetis did not think she would be able to bear it.
"Are you sure you'd rather not stay?" she offered once again, though politeness had grown rather difficult over the course of this visit. "It is a long ride."
"Plus Hamrick and Dragon will probably give you their dinners as well," Alyssin added with confident glee.
"Thank you, but no." Riala flashed an obligatory smile, then pulled herself to her feet, Setran following suit. "In fact, I should probably be going now. Thank you for your hospitality, Mistress Tumekrin."
"Any time," Thetis replied, though she wasn't sure she meant it. "Give your regards to your father for me."
"I shall."
Setran laced his arm around Riala's waist and ushered her to the door. "I'm glad you could come," he told her, taking her in his arms for a quick parting hug.
"My pleasure." Riala pursed her lips as if expecting a kiss, but Setran merely patted her on the shoulder and opened the door for her. His gaze followed her off for a silent couple of minutes; then, without saying a word to either his stepmother or his sister, he slammed the door shut and trudged up the stairs.
NEXT CHAPTER:
February 11, 1170
"I told you we should have stayed in Tetran!" Setran hissed as he ushered his stepsister into the inn. It was getting chilly, and he figured it would only be common sense to warm up for a couple of minutes before embarking on the long ride home; of course, the weather was the least of their problems.
Evera rolled her eyes, what remained of their teal hue only intensified in the segmented state. "There are boys back home too, you know."
"None so forward! I knew we should have just gone to the village by the keep and waited for Father, by you wanted to go off to Veldora, where Fenrick and Jadin and Searle and their little group of followers might ogle you!"
"I didn't come here to be ogled!" she snarled back, an unpleasant scowl on her usually docile face. "I just wanted a change of pace for once--and who cares if the boys were looking at me? Boys do look at girls, in case you haven't noticed! They didn't mean any harm!"
Setran shook his head. It was true that she spent most of her time at home helping her mother with the children, but he hadn't expected her knowledge of the world to be this lacking. "Evera, they're boys! All they think about is sex!"
"Oh, so that's what you were thinking about when you were checking out Riala and Aerina in Laveria's shop, then?"
Damn. He'd hoped that that had gone unnoticed--he did have some defense, though. "That's different."
Evera sniffed--a very un-Evera-like thing to do. "Oh? How so? Just because it's you and not Fenrick or Jadin or Searle?"
"No!" Why did he have to explain this to her? "They were waving and calling me and batting their lashes! You were just minding your own business!"
"Then if I wasn't doing anything wrong, why are you yelling at me?" She drove her foot into the floorboards as she aimed her glare toward the ceiling.
"You did nothing wrong? You're the one who insisted we come here!" Setran crossed his arms and bit his lip so firmly that he could taste blood. "If you hadn't dragged me down here, then there would have been no ogling and you wouldn't have torn your cloak on that gate and we'd probably be home by now, perfectly happy--and I am not yelling at you!"
"You tell yourself that, kid." Startled, he glanced toward the bar to see the male speaker emerge from the door to the kitchens, a woman at his heels.
The man--presumably the innkeeper--closed his eyes and sighed. "I hate afternoons; the only customers we ever get at this hour are screaming kids."
The woman shrugged, stepping past him and toward Setran and Evera. She wasn't jaw-droppingly beautiful, but there was a certain spark to her that Setran had not failed to notice. "We still generate profit in the afternoons, darling."
"Yes, but is it worth it?" Her husband rubbed his neck, then followed her. "I am a businessman--I didn't come to Naroni to be the daytime nanny for a whole shire. Now, what do you kids want?"
Setran glowered at him; if he took notice, he didn't show it. His wife, however, was observant enough to catch the tear in Evera's cloak even in the dim light. "The new gate, I take it?" Evera nodded; smiling slightly, the woman shook her head. "You're certainly not the first. I can stitch that up for you, if you like."
"Oh, I don't want to be any trouble," Evera insisted. After that fight, it was nice to hear her speaking to someone else--someone she wasn't furious with.
"Nonsense! It'll only take a minute." The woman turned on her heel and headed back toward the kitchen, gesturing for Evera to follow. "Come along--my sewing basket is in the back."
Resigned, Evera shot Setran one last look of poison, then hurried off after the woman. "Thank you; that's very kind of you."
Setran watched as the pair made their way into the back, the door swinging shut behind Evera. She would probably be angry with him for the rest of the day. He wanted to apologize, but why should he? And for what? He'd been right, after all.
"Look, if you aren't going to order anything, you might as well wait for your little sweetheart outside."
Annoyed, Setran took to surveying the innkeeper. Was this the infamous Seoth? If so, he was beginning to see why his father disliked him. "She's not my sweetheart," he corrected him bitterly. "She's just my stepsister."
The innkeeper wiped his brow, then stared down his nose at Setran; he was by no means a tall man, but he still had the advantage of being full-grown. "Son, I've been around for a while now, so believe me when I say this--no boy alive gets so worked up about a girl who's 'just his stepsister'. Now, either buy a drink or get the hell out of my inn."
NEXT CHAPTER:
June 9, 1166
Evera had always been great with babies, even when she'd been scarcely more than one herself. She'd been content to occupy Setran with silly faces before he could sit up by himself, and she'd fretted over Alyssin and Hamrick and little Dragon almost as much as Thetis and Goodwife Noth had. Now that the girl was all of ten, Thetis was quite comfortable to leave Evera to tend the younger children whenever she wanted to lie down for a moment, and in truth, she was more than up to the task.
It seemed to Florian, however, that most girls of that age would protest, or at least feel somewhat resentful of their mothers for pawning off boring little siblings onto them when there were far more interesting things to be done. The baron's daughter never complained, but Jeda was the sort of girl who spent her days dreaming of impossible things in order to escape harsh realities, impossible things which Florian doubted included watching her little sisters as her stepmother napped. Lyraina Diarn, Halford had told him, grumbled when her mother and grandmother left her siblings to her, and he figured Raia would be even more opposed to the idea.
But Evera didn't mind at all--in fact, she sometimes even asked if her mother was tired, as though searching for a reason to occupy herself. She'd always been a kind girl, and willing to help around the house; lately, however, this behavior had been frequent even for Evera. There was something on her mind, Florian was sure of it.
But what? Were some of the other children teasing her? Or perhaps she was fond of a boy? Whatever the reason, he didn't like to see her troubled. "Evera? Can we talk for a minute?"
Nodding, Evera lowered her baby sister down into the very crib in which Florian had once lain her and turned to face him. "All right..."
The corners of his mouth twitching into a slight smile, Florian nodded toward the couch by the door. He sat down and drummed his fingers against his knee as he waited for her to join him. Perhaps he should have left this to Thetis--it wasn't like he was one for heart-to-heart conversations--but there was a baby in the house. There was also a small child, and two older children in their wildest of semi-independent years. If Thetis wanted an hour to herself, then he supposed she deserved the rest.
Besides, if she got the chance to get off her feet for a while during the day, then Florian would be rewarded for his troubles that night.
Inhaling sharply, Florian faced his daughter and frowned. "Evera... is something wrong? You've been kind of strange lately."
Awkward, she let eyes sink to her lap. "I'm all right," she mumbled. Florian wasn't convinced; not only did she have her mother's selfless soul, but also her crippling honesty.
"There's an art to lying, you know," he sighed; when she was in better spirits, he would have to teach her. "For God's sake, Evera, don't tell me you're going to fall into that damned habit of pretending you're all right when you really aren't."
She tilted her head and looked him in the eye; he couldn't put his finger on it, but something in her face told him that this wasn't about some boy. Good. That would have been the last thing he wanted to talk to her about. He'd leave that one for Thetis; he didn't think he'd ever be ready. "Evera, if you don't want to talk about..."
"Papa, what was my real father like?"
Suddenly, boys would have been a far preferable topic.
It had been a matter of time. It had always been a matter of time, since the day Electra had first placed her in his arms. It was human instinct, he supposed, to want to know one's own origins, and Evera was sensitive enough to not breech the subject with her mother.
But what could he tell her? She was ten years old, savoring the last of her childhood; he didn't think she was ready to know the truth. All the same, he couldn't lie to her. It was useful to teach children to lie, yes, but actually lying to one's children? That was a parental failure.
"Papa?"
What could he say? He knew exactly how he'd describe Norwan to anyone else--in fact, he had several ways of describing Norwan to anyone else--but this was her father they were talking about. He couldn't tell his stepdaughter that the devil himself trembled before the oversized bonacon that had expelled the girl's father, even if she did hate him. And why should he assume she hated him? Had anyone ever even mentioned him to her?
Florian swallowed; perhaps the words would come to him one by one? "Your father... he, uh..."
Nothing. Never before had he been at such a loss for words; even the image of Seoth's smug face inspired no sudden verbal brilliance.
Visibly uncomfortable, Evera shifted, her dangling ankles tapping the frame of the couch. "He never did a good thing for anyone, did he?"
He watched as a small tear welled in her eye. He hated seeing her like this; he had to say something to reassure her. If there was an art to lying... then surely there was an art to truth-telling as well?
He reached across the couch and took her hands in his own. "That's not true, baby; everyone does a good thing for someone at some point."
She didn't look convinced. He wasn't surprised; there had to be more to it than that. "What about my father?"
The tear rolled from its duct to her cheek. Trying to smile, Florian lifted one hand to wipe it away. "Well... he gave me you."
NEXT CHAPTER:
