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November 20, 1195
"Awww! I didn't think you could be any cuter than you were the last time I saw you, but you've somehow managed!" Riala cooed to Melria's baby. It was not uncommon knowledge that Riala had been Melria's fierce defender and best friend since the death of the king, and her dropping in unannounced on any given day would not be unexpected, but Rennie suspected that her presence here on this particular day had been Sev's work. Riala was Sev's doting big sister who could deny him nothing, and if Sev's betrothed was dreading meeting her half-sister for the first time, and if Riala's warm presence could act as a buffer and a distraction for the stepmother... well, then Sev wouldn't be shy about asking.
Sev himself hadn't been able to come, which Rennie didn't much mind. Sev's presence might have alerted her father and stepmother to Rennie's unease, if they were dense enough that they hadn't noticed it before. She hadn't been able to shake Ella, though.
But Ella's presence, like Riala's, would at least be beneficial. Ella had been a half-sibling all her life and was well-versed in that etiquette. It would have been nice to have her in the delivery room while her mother labored with Sparron only a month and a half prior, but her mother had insisted on keeping her aids to a minimum: Rennie and Alina, their grandmother, and Aunt Raia.
Sparron was an easier presence in the world than Avine, though. For all Lettie knew that there must have been some man involved, it wasn't hard to convince herself that Sparron was entirely of her mother. Her mother, who'd always been steadfast and supportive and loving. Avine was half her distant father, and half the unanticipated stepmother she barely knew and didn't really have much need for.
An unfair judgement to pass on a baby who couldn't help her parentage and might as well grow up to be more than their sum.
But, who the hell could help how they felt about shit like this.
"I'm so glad she got Searle's eyes. They're so pretty, aren't they?"
Rennie rustled in her seat, though Ella was quick to calm her with a pat on the arm. Her father's eyes had eluded the rest of them. Arkon and Alina both had their mother's eyes, while Severin had Grandmother Renata's. Rennie got her own from Great-Grandfather Lonriad. That deeper blue couldn't have been bothered with any of them.
"They are--though there's nothing wrong with a lighter blue." Riala's note, Rennie was positive, had been for her benefit. She wasn't in the mood to appreciate it much.
"Or brown," added Ella. A brown-eyed baby of Melria's could have been anyone's, after all--not that Rennie felt any better about that.
"They might change, anyway." It was a weak attempt at saving her own ass from some danger she couldn't identify and wasn't even sure existed. Where was she even going with the comment? All she wanted was to leave. "I mean... babies' eyes can be kind of fickle sometimes, can't they?"
Ella--sweet, eager Ella, so keen and yet so powerless to keep up Rennie's spirits--nodded with vigor. "Oh, true! My brother Isidro's took a while to settle, I think."
Riala offered a slight shrug. She had the benefit of having raised four children from infancy--and, more likely than not, had been warned about Rennie's reluctance. But, she was also Melria's friend. She was stuck in the middle.
Rennie could relate.
"I guess we'll see."
NEXT CHAPTER:
October 16, 1176
It was a little early to be turning in, but this had been the longest day of Cord's life and he wished it would just end already. His work was done and done again and every attempt to talk to Riala had been met with a silencing glare or her storming out of the room. Dinner had been an icy affair; they'd sat at opposite ends of the table, never saying a word, not even locking eyes. He'd tried a few times, but every time he'd looked up she'd been looking down, nudging her food with her fork but never eating it, finally leaving her plate on the floor for the dog and retiring before the sun had begun to set.
He wasn't sure if she was asleep. He thought he could see her eyes flickering, but it might have been wishful thinking. Knowing his luck, she'd sleep through the night while he spent most of it envying her that, and then he'd wake in an empty bed and this day would stretch to the next. Lord only knew how long that could go on.
How could he have been so stupid? He'd gotten her into this mess. She'd had even less say in the matter than he had, yet she'd never complained, not once. She'd tried to make the best of it and in a matter of minutes he'd ripped those efforts to shreds. And why? Some comments from his idiot drinking buddies? Men who had laughed at his misfortunes while Riala strained to hold him together?
And this was how he repaid her. He'd be lucky if she ever spoke to him again.
And yet, he doubted he could go on without hearing her voice. "Riala?"
She shrunk away beneath the blankets, folding into herself as if to disappear. Maybe he should have gone to the spare room. He hoped she wouldn't get up and do that herself. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
She rolled onto her side and glanced over her shoulder, her eyes a glimpse of day in the middle of the night, a damp rawness to her face as if she'd been crying. Ah, who was he kidding? She had been. "I know you wouldn't do that."
Her lip quivered, but not to make way for any word. His guilt had been eating at him all day and now her silence was a death blow. "Riala? Riala, please say something. Anything..."
Butterfly lashes fluttered over the blue, but other than that she was still. He heard a swallowed sob lodge itself in her throat as her hesitant mouth eased open. "I'm pregnant."
Cord edged a little closer and draped his arm over her waist. It wasn't much--just a gesture, just an action, maybe just a bit of selfishness on his part, a need to feel the firmness of his child within her--but it was a start. He had a lot of atoning to do and he had to start somewhere.
NEXT CHAPTER:
October 16, 1176
So much for hoping a drink with the boys could ease the stress of the season's end. All Cord had wanted was to take a breather after finally getting the pigs settled for the winter, but no... no, his so-called "friends" hadn't granted him that luxury. Not when half the conversation centered around what wild things Cord must have been doing with his wife and the other half--the more enthusiastic half--was all about what wild things his friends had done with his wife. Like he hadn't even been in the room. Maybe in all the ecstasy of their carnal memories, they'd forgotten he was--at least, until he'd slugged Nedrir Corran across the jaw and stormed out.
And yet... well, it hadn't been all that long ago that he would have been laughing along, maybe even pitching a few jokes and anecdotes himself. He'd always felt a little bad about it--she'd always been his friend--but men talked about women like that. They always had, hadn't they? It didn't girls like that know it? Girls talked about girls like that too.
Still. He wished they'd stop now, or at least where Riala was concerned. Every reminder that she'd done such things with those men in the past was a worry that maybe--maybe, when he was off with his friends or she was out and about--she was doing something similar in the present.
"You're home early."
If she was entering through the front door, then no wonder the house had felt so empty. "I see you were out."
"Your horse lost a shoe. I had to take him to the blacksmith." The blacksmith. Now there was a man who'd always had a thing for her. A handsome man too, if the giggling of the local girls meant anything. "Anyway, I'm glad you're back. I wanted to talk to you about something."
She looked so sweet and serene, just standing there smiling at him. He wished his immediate thought wasn't that she wanted to discuss alternate sexual arrangements. "Actually, I should probably talk to you about something too."
"All right." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he heaved himself off the couch. Had she thought it too loose? As if it had been ruffled earlier? "Cord, I--"
"Can we talk about my thing first?" A hurt, doe-like look flashed across her eyes, but she nodded. In an odd sort of way, he supposed he felt sorry for her--she was a nice girl--but now that he was wondering, he had to get to the bottom of it. "Look, Riala... how many men have you been with?"
Riala frowned, one eyebrow nudging skyward. "Does it matter?"
"A little bit, yes." Her pretty eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and he couldn't believe that. She wasn't a stupid woman; she must have known what people said about her. "Look, I just... I don't know. I guess I just want a normal marriage at this point, and I want to be sure that you aren't about to--"
"To what?" Her eyes tensed to a slant so dangerous he felt foolish for thinking her fawn-like before. He'd always known she was a tigress deep down, but it was the first time he'd ever felt threatened. "Sleep around behind your back? Call on men in exchange for favors? Make you support children that weren't yours? How could you say that?"
She had a fawn's face but her scowl was practically draconian. The air from her voice might have been fire and he would have been none too shocked. He should have been more careful in his phrasing, perhaps. "Riala, please, I just... well, I know you weren't exactly an angel before we got married, and--"
"And you were?" Cord flinched. She might as well have kicked him in the groin. "At least I had nobody to hurt, Cord! You courted Asalaye for years, years while you spent spare change on prostitutes and came to me for a good roll in the sack every now and then. What would you be saying if you'd married her and she asked you what you just asked me? Wouldn't you have said the same thing? 'Does it matter?'"
Flustered, Cord struggled his way into a grimace. "...does it?"
"Yes Cord. Yes it fucking does!" The flames in her voice shot throughout her body, the aura about her an inferno he could never fan. He shouldn't have pressed the issue. He'd never felt so stupid, not even when he'd burned the old house down. Not even when he'd accidentally jilted both of Master Indruion's daughters. "Christ! A man sticks his cock somewhere and he might as well be trying on a pair of boots, but a woman tries to have a little fun and suddenly she's a whore for life, isn't she? Here I was thinking you were better than that. Fuck you, Cord--fuck you!"
A wad of spit landed on the toe of his boot. Her flare eyes scorched him one last time before she stormed up the stairs, an uncrossable wall of fire springing up on every step she cleared. Her shoes slammed against the floor of the upper level, pausing only long enough for her to shoot him one last jab. "Oh, and did you want to know how many men I've slept with since I married you? One. You!"
The furious steps resumed and the bedroom door banged shut with the force of a cannon. Silenced, Cord slumped back onto the couch. A pang in his gut told him he had a lot to think about.
NEXT CHAPTER:
April 17, 1176
"...and then before my wife can even get a guest list together, you go behind Nanalie's back and--"
"Sir, with all due respect, that's not how it happened!" But how had it happened? Even to Cord the details were a bit hazy. But if nothing else, he'd hoped that no one would think he'd planned for this; unfortunately, that may have been to much to ask.
Or at least from Asalaye and Nanalie's father.
"Oh really?" If he squinted, Cord could swear he saw two steady jets of smoke spouting from Master Indruion's nostrils. How was this snarling beast the same man who had always greeted him with a smile when he'd shown up at the house for a visit with Asalaye? Was it time playing this trick on him, or merely circumstance? "Then enlighten me. How did it happen?"
Maybe this was all just a nightmare. If it was--and by God, how he hoped it was!--then now would have been as good a time as any to wake.
"It was all just an honest mistake, sir. I just went to visit a friend and the next thing I know, her brother forces me to marry her."
Master Indruion raised an eyebrow. Maybe it had been too much to hope that he would by the abridged version of the story. "God damn it! If I want bullshit, I'll clean my barn. You've jilted both of my marriageable daughters and I'm not leaving without an explanation--the true explanation, or at least as true of one as a backstabbing little shit like you can give!"
Backstabbing. Of all the things he'd never been called before and hoped never to be called at all. He'd always tried to be a good man, and for the most part he'd succeeded. How was it that one stupid mistake could render his otherwise spotless past null and void? "All right, we may have been... sort of... not wearing clothes..."
"Oh, so that's what happened?" The man's finger met Cord's rib with all the force of a javelin, his once brown eyes red as all hell. It was a struggle not to shudder. Cord must have had a good three inches on Master Indruion and several pounds at that, but all of a sudden he was three years old again and not even knee-high--and this was not the kindly old friend of his father's who'd always been so good about letting the children play in his loft. "Neither of my girls ever put out for you, so you went to find yourself a little tramp who would? You idiot! If you just wanted sex, no one would have forced you to marry a whore from the brothel!"
"Sir--"
"You know what?" Master Indruion shot Cord another glare and stormed toward the door, a clap of thunder in each footstep. "I'm glad you didn't marry either of my girls. By God, they can both do much better than a lecherous oaf who turns from a good woman at the whim of some slut!"
"Sir--"
"Don't you 'sir' me!"
The door slammed shut before he could realize it had opened--before he could even apologize, say how much he loved Asalaye, how he would have tried to do right by Nanalie. A labored sigh breaking free from his chest, Cord shuffled to the couch and collapsed upon it. He never would get a chance to say those things now. In all likelihood, Adonis Indruion had no intention of ever speaking to him again.
"Cord?"
He didn't have to turn to see Riala making her way down the stairs, not when her slippers made that soft click! on every step, not when her linen skirt swished from board to board. How long had she been listening from above? Long enough to hear herself branded a slut?
"How much did you hear?"
"Does it matter?" Fairy footfalls chimed against the floor as she flitted forth to join him on the couch. She had been good about this whole thing, much better than he might have expected. He almost felt guilty about wishing she was Asalaye.
"Are you all right?"
Cord shrugged. "I didn't get to say everything I wanted, but I guess I'll survive."
"Mmm." Her blue eyes fell to her lap as she twirled her wedding band around her finger. It was a little big for her, but that shouldn't have surprised him. It had been made for someone else. "I'm sorry, Cord. I should have told Fenrick to fuck off."
Was that how she really felt? Maybe she was right, or at least partially. Then again, maybe he was an even bigger asshole for thinking that. "No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have called at your place."
"You couldn't have known this would happen." A frown on her mouth, she let her hands fall idle. Stillness didn't quite suit her. "I can't believe I was so careless. I've never been caught before."
Never. He believed her. He could even vouch for her.
But there was a first for everything. Figured that it had to be him.
NEXT CHAPTER:
April 16, 1175
"Cord!" Perhaps a little more eager than was acceptably ladylike, Riala greeted her friend with a quick hug. Fenrick and Eilyssa and the baby were visiting at her father's house and her other siblings were at their grandmother's and Lord only knew where her mother was. Even the cat had been out on the prowl since morning. She'd been alone all day and a face other than her own reflection was a welcome relief.
Besides, she needed some details. "How did it go? Did you end up asking Asalaye to marry you? What did she say?"
Cord said nothing--odd, seeing as there was nothing he cared to discuss more than Asalaye, and certainly that preference had only strengthened since talk of marriage had begun. Suspicious, Riala lifted herself to her toes for a better view of his face. Of course he'd said nothing. His eyes answered every question.
Badly, No, and Nothing, because of the last answer.
"So... Old Man Indruion didn't budge, then?"
Cord's head fell to incline, his fist balled to steady its shaking. She'd never seen him like this--strong Cord, tall Cord, Cord the rock. He was a man on the verge of falling apart and she wouldn't be enough to hold him together. "Not if Nanalie wasn't going to get an offer first."
So not a single one of those boys had come through for him. Cowards. Ingrates. Cord had been running favors all week, anything to get the tiniest chance of cooperation from any of them--and unbeknownst to him, Riala had thrown in her own brand of persuasion too--and it had all been in vain.
And what was wrong with Nanalie anyway? Sure, she wasn't the most personable of people... but she had worked hard and had a good head on her shoulders and might not have been anything horrible to look at if she tried a little harder. Most of those boys could have done much worse--and besides, she might not have even said yes!
"Oh Cord, I'm so sorry." The shaking in his hand intensified somewhat; not sure what else she could do, she steadied it with her own. "I can't believe that not one man asked her."
His fist tensed within her grasp as a tortured sigh escaped him. It was alarming. Cord was not the sort of man who sighed lightly. "One man did."
"And yet, he--oh!" What had she been about to say? Something about Master Indruion going back on his word? That had been dumb. Cord would have found a way to get past that. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "Oh Cord! Why did you do that?"
Why had she asked that? It was obvious. "I thought she'd say no."
Poor boy. His only crime had been falling in love with the second sister and a marriage of convenience was too harsh a punishment. But he knew that--obviously. And there was little he could do now without looking like an insensitive ass who withdrew proposals like lots in a game of dice. He was just here to sit, most likely, to talk while she listened. Or maybe he wouldn't talk at all. Maybe he just wanted someone to hold his hand for a little while, to lend him the strength he never thought he'd lack.
Nodding, Riala pulled him up the stairs and ushered him into her mother's bedroom. It was the warmest room in the house, the coziest--and for once it was unoccupied. She gestured for him to take a seat on the bench by the foot on the bed, then closed the door and joined him.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Is there much point?" He slouched into a drawn-out collapse, elbows to his legs, catching his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I may be just a pig farmer, but I'm a man of my word. If I asked Nanalie to marry me and she accepted, then I suppose I have to. I'll marry her and go through life with her and have babies with her, and Asalaye will see me all the time and hate me forever."
"You don't know that for sure." Of course it was the strongest possibility... but that wasn't necessarily a guarantee, was it? "Have you had a chance to talk to her yet?"
Cord shook his head. "Why would she ever want to talk to me again?"
It was a stretch, but she had to give him something. A good friend would give him something. "...closure?"
He sniffed. Poor boy. He'd never wanted to give Asalaye 'closure'. He'd hoped what they had would never need it. So much for all of that now. "I... I don't think I want to talk anymore. Can you just..." he reached across the gap between them and took the fold of her skirt between his fingers "...be there? You were always good at the, uh... comforting."
So that was what he was after. Why hadn't he just said so in the first place? Then again, heartbroken boys weren't always the most methodical of people. Maybe he hadn't known what he needed just then. But if he did now...
Well. What could she do? She was his friend, after all.
"All right. I'll comfort you."
She pulled her legs onto the couch and crawled on top of him, the muscles of his abdomen firm beneath one hand and his heart vulnerable beneath the other. At least he knew what he needed. There would be much comforting required.
So there was no sense in wasting any time.
"The fuck?"
"Get your cock out of my SISTER!"
NEXT CHAPTER:
September 30, 1174
"Ri-la!" whined Alina from her spot on the rug. "Sev's chewing on dolls again!"
Fenrick's father's house had not been Eilyssa's first choice. She'd ridden down to Veldora to visit Xeta, only to find that Xeta was visiting her brother at Armion. Not wanting to waste the trip, she'd looked around for the other girls, but Aldara was out with her sweetheart, Vera was down with a headache, and--from the sounds of it--Riona had once again done something worthy of a scolding in her father's study. So she'd left the castle and headed to Falidor and Raia's place in hopes of catching her betrothed, but he wasn't there. His twin sister, however, was.
And now here she was, babysitting with Riala, of whom she was never sure. She was nice and all, but...
"Aww, Sev, that's not food." Riala clicked her tongue as her little brother put down the doll and stared at her. Satisfied, Riala turned instead to her sister. "And you shouldn't be tattling, missy; if you're so quick to tattle on your brother, then one of these days he's going to tattle on you."
It wasn't bad advice, but there was something about the way Riala gave it that seemed a little off--like tattling was something more than an inconvenience. Something horrifying. Eilyssa nudged her left heel with her right toe and let her ankles fall together. There were some odd number of rumors flying around about her soon-to-be sister-in-law and she would have preferred to think that there wasn't any truth to them.
But if nothing else, at least the presence of the children provided an easy change in subject. "At least they're cute, right?"
"Oh, definitely." A fond smile on her face, Riala shot a thoughtful glance toward the pair of them. "I hope Father and Raia have another one soon."
Eilyssa frowned, if only because Fenrick had always expressed a hope otherwise. Then again, having a stepmother who was barely older than you were had its perks too; she herself had quite a bit of fun with Alsina. "I imagine Raia's welcoming the break, though."
"Well, you can't blame her there, can you?" There was something infectious about Riala's laugh. Maybe that was the source of all the rumors. "But no matter. I suppose it won't be long before I have a little niece or nephew to occupy me, correct?"
As she was starting to do whenever someone mentioned that, Eilyssa blushed. She knew it wouldn't be the far off, but was there any sense in getting ahead of herself. "Err... with any luck?"
"Honey, you won't need luck. You're young and healthy and it shouldn't be a problem." Riala flashed her a quick grin and patted her on the shoulder. "If it doesn't happen, it's probably just because my brother isn't trying hard enough."
If she'd been pink before, she must have been deep crimson now. Maybe it was comments like that that fueled the rumors. "Riala!"
The other girl smirked. "What? All these men go around bitching about their wives not being able to bear them any babies, but they never consider that it might not be her problem, do they?"
She did have a point there. If nothing else, it explained the annoyed look on Jeda's face every time Ietrin shook his head at the sight of her flat stomach. "I guess they don't."
Bitter, Riala slouched back in her seat. It must have been the first time Eilyssa had ever seen her at all subdued. "Men. They have this one overly-specific idea about what a woman should be and any girl who doesn't fit that is an abomination by default. And yet, they never seem to apply the same logic to themselves, do they? Hypocrites."
Eilyssa let her eyes fall to her lap. Girls like Riala did suffer heavy blows at the hand of the double standards. A pity that it wasn't just the men who enabled them. And hell, what right did she have to think that? Wasn't she uncomfortable around Riala herself? Well, at least she had something to work on before she had to start worrying about babies.
"I managed to get Fenrick trained up for you pretty well, though--if I do say so myself." Riala took a piece of her hair in hand and fiddled absent-mindedly. Eilyssa kind of wanted to give her a hug. "If he starts slipping up, though, just let me know and I'll beat the sense back into him. We women have to stick together."
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:
