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December 30, 1194
"Why are you here?"
Maybe not the best way to greet an unexpected visitor in the dead of the night, but... well, he was unexpected, and it was the dead of the night. Lettie had heard that Tarien had been in Naroni--who knew what for--but she hadn't thought she'd see him, nor had she cared to. A letter every now and then was fine, but after Searle, she didn't need to be looking after another emotional wreck of a man at the expense of her own sanity.
Though, if he was here now, maybe those letters had been a bad idea.
"I wanted to see you."
At this hour? She must have cashed in her sanity already. "And the morning was out of the question?"
"I couldn't not see you."
Lettie raised an eyebrow. A couple of letters of support following his father's death, and that apparently merited waking the housekeeper with a midnight knock at the door and a refusal to leave without seeing her. Whatever he'd come to the country for, she hoped it hadn't been just a pretense. "Tarien, it's late. And tomorrow's New Year's Eve, so I don't really want two late nights in a row."
"I just... I wanted to thank you."
Really? That couldn't have been said in a letter? "For what? All I did was write to you."
"But I needed that." He raised a hand and stroked the side of her face. She'd chalk up that startling gesture to sleep deprivation. "I need you."
"No, you don't."
"Marry me."
Eh? "No."
He dropped his hand and blinked--genuinely surprised. Then again, the last three times he'd asked that, he'd gotten a different response. "Lettie--"
"I'm not interested in marrying again." She'd spare his feelings by not mentioning that he wouldn't have been her first choice if she was.
"But I thought you cared for me."
"I care for you as a person, and a friend, and a correspondent." Certainly not as a second husband--and not with herself as a potential fourth wife for him! "Tarien, you've been married three times. Do you just propose to any woman who's kind to you?"
Tarien's eyes fell to the toes of his boots. Lettie tried to keep her own from rolling. "I'm not good at being alone."
"Everyone's alone sometimes." Personally, I was at my most alone when I was married. "It's just... something we all have to learn."
"Maybe." There was a muted tone to his voice and she doubted he believed her.
"And you have your children, and grandchildren. And your brother and sister." She shuffled forward and gave him a hug, and tried to ignore his heavy breath at her ear. "You'll be fine."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"All right. I suppose I'll... head back to Dovia in the morning. And you'll stay here."
She nodded.
But he kissed her.
And, after all that... she let him.
She felt sorry for him.
NEXT CHAPTER:
April 8, 1194
Haldred's two surviving sons sat on the benches by the fireplace, just as they had in turn when Cladelia had been in his place. They'd had eight children together, and four had remained when Cladelia's time had come. Since then, he'd lost Searle. Jadin and Tarien remained, along with their sister Celina.
None of their boys had been lucky enough to inherit much of their mother's strength. Jadin had the most of it, perhaps. So long as he could see a reason to go on, he would, and he was young enough that many remained ahead of him. But, he was still recovering from the death of his eldest daughter less than a year ago. That was not enough time between losses.
Tarien... well, it had been apparent since the boy's first wife had died. Tarien was incapable of being alone. After his first wife had died, he'd married his sister-in-law. After his second wife had died, he'd searched long and hard, four failed betrothals before he found his third. His third wife had been gone a few years now, and Tarien had been dropping hints about perhaps searching for a fourth. He'd taken to writing his cousin Lettie in Dovia rather frequently, though Haldred suspected she only replied to humor him. That would not end well.
"Comfortable, Father?"
His daughter--his only remaining daughter--sat down on the empty side of the bed and reclined, practically daring him to send her off. He chose not to. "Yes, thank you. Where is Sidwein?"
"He went to fetch his mother. She'll want to see you." Viridis. His sister--his only sister, only sibling at all. She was nine years older than he, and probably hadn't expected to outlive him. Frankly, Haldred had outlived himself.
"Poor Viridis. As if she didn't have enough mourning this year already, what with her grandson." Perhaps she and Jadin could commiserate. Jadin, at least, had his wife. Viridis... well, her son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law would be hurting in different ways. "I don't envy you and Sidwein. No doubt you'll have to lend support to both households."
"One more than another; we both know Aunt Viridis is tougher than Tarien."
"And you're tougher than both of them. I'm sorry we never noticed. We never noticed much about you."
She shrugged. She likely had a lot to say to that, but found no phrase appropriate for a dying man. He would have deserved it, but he appreciated the restraint.
"I'm sorry."
His daughter sighed. "Sidwein and Viridis should be here soon."
NEXT CHAPTER:
September 28, 1161
No sooner had the girl and her new husband strode through the door than she had flung herself into Laralita's outstretched arms. "Aunt Laralita!" she squealed as they embraced.
"Holladrin!" Laralita excitedly addressed her niece. "How long it's been since the last time I saw you! I simply can't believe you're a married lady now--and a future baroness!"
As Holladrin turned her head to lock eyes with Roderick, he smiled. He had always had an especial fondness for Primus's eldest daughter, as she had been named for his sister. In addition to this, she was now the wife of Tarien, whom he had always held in the highest of respects as the eldest of this new generation of the Dovian nobility.
But for some reason, Tarien did not seem himself. It wasn't his marriage, Roderick was sure--the pair had entered hand in hand, with the young man looking upon his new bride with considerable fondness--but something was certainly troubling him. Though happiness may have been at the forefront of Tarien's mind, it was not without an unwanted companion.
"Your majesty," the visitor greeted him at last.
Roderick nodded. "Tarien. Congratulations--it was the thirteenth of this month, correct?"
"Thank you, sire," he acknowledged, "and yes, it was the thirteenth--Holladrin's sixteenth birthday, as her father had always planned. May he rest in peace," he added in an undertone, casting a worried glance toward his wife.
Understanding, Roderick then turned to the young bride. "Congratulations, my dear."
"Thank you, your majesty," she replied, both polite and delicate. "You have a lovely kingdom. I'm truly glad that my husband suggested a visit."
"And I am truly glad that you are truly glad," he declared, taking her hand in his and planting a quick kiss upon it.
Laralita flashed him a wide smile, her pouty bottom lip swelling majestically as it always did. "Roderick, might I give Holladrin a tour of the castle? And introduce her to the children?"
"You may do as you please, my darling," Roderick bade her; oh, how he appreciated a woman who actually treated him like the king he was!
After a quick peck on the cheek, she eagerly took her niece by the arm and practically dragged her from the study, shutting the door behind her with her free hand. Now free of feminine ears, Roderick's gray eyes locked with Tarien's violet. "Now, Tarien... how are you?"
"In terms of my marriage?" the young man began. "Quite well, thank you. She's lovely, isn't she? I must admit, I did have my doubts before--she was always such a shy young girl--but she's really grown into something magnificent."
"She is very much like her aunt in the sense that they are both magnificent," sighed Roderick with a fond smile.
Tarien shrugged. "Oh, but Aunt Laralita was never shy--even as a little girl, my mother tells me."
"Well, what can I say? The Sadiel sisters are renowned for both their beauty and their quantity--not for their timidity," Roderick laughed. "As I married one, I would know. But of course, you would also know, as both your mother and your mother-in-law are among their number. And speaking of your mother and your mother-in-law... how are they?"
A crestfallen expression suddenly emerged on Tarien's previously animated face. "Well, my mother-in-law is well, or at least as well as you can expect of a widow of a year. As for my mother... well, she and my father are the reason I wanted to take Holladrin away for a while," he finished in an undertone, as though he suspected Holladrin was just outside with her ear to the door as opposed to being ushered about the castle by Laralita.
Roderick frowned knowingly; in a marriage between to such strong personalities as Haldred and Cladelia, this sort of thing was bound to happen from time to time. "Are they fighting?"
Tarien shook his head. "No--at least, not any more than usual. They're just a little... preoccupied."
"Preoccupied?" the king repeated. "Preoccupied with what, dare I ask?"
"Well... frankly, there's been some trouble with a couple of my siblings," the younger man informed him. "The twins, specifically. You see..."
Casting a quick, cautious glance toward the door, Tarien leaned toward Roderick and proceeded to whisper the tale into his ear. At the sound of his voice, each tiny hair within stood at attention; when it ceased, not a single one fell limp.
NEXT CHAPTER:
September 27, 1158
"Well, this certainly is a surprise," Roderick greeted the young man in front of him. "My God, boy--I haven't seen you since Rudolphus and Eudocia got married. Terribly sorry that I missed your sister's wedding, but it isn't as though anyone didn't know why I wasn't there. How are Lileina and Cambrin doing, anyway?"
"Well, thank you very much," answered Tarien with a half-hearted smile. "Their little girl is almost a year old now. All three of them are very happy."
Roderick sent him a teasing grin. "And are you thinking of achieving such happiness for yourself any time soon, young Tarien?"
The young man sighed. "Well, I've been promised to my cousin, but her father doesn't want her to marry before she's sixteen, so I'm still free for another three years. Just as well--lot of empty sheaths out there lacking a sword, if you know what I mean, and I might as well feel around before I find the one that fits."
Shaking his head, the king pulled himself to his feet and pushed his chair back into place. "There's not much else you young people think of besides 'sheaths' and 'swords' is there?"
"Unfortunately, my very visit proves you wrong there," muttered Tarien wistfully. "So many beautiful maids in this castle, and after I give you this news, I will be in no state to seek their undoubtedly agreeable company."
Roderick nodded, understanding. "Something dreadful then, I take it. Has someone found the body of my late wife?"
"No, but you are on the right track, your majesty," the younger man insisted. "In fact, it concerns my uncle, the Earl of Bandera--your wife's brother."
"Oh."
Gravely, Tarien nodded. "We all knew it was only a matter of time, but now that's happened, it just feels so... odd."
Roderick felt his lips curl into a frown. "I see."
"I'm sorry if we were at all presumptuous in sending you this message, considering all that happened with your wife," the boy apologized, "but Karlspan always held you in high regard, I hope you realize. He never had a bad word to say about anyone--he was a fine man, my uncle."
Indeed he had been. Despite everything that Geneva had done to him, Roderick could not have asked for a more gracious brother-in-law than Karlspan. Never before had he met a man both so brilliant and so accommodating, so frail of body, yet powerful in spirit. Nobles and peasants alike had loved him. He would be sorely missed by all, including the man who had been so insulted by his sister--regardless of Geneva, Roderick would grieve for her brother.
With a slow nod, he agreed, "The finest."
NEXT CHAPTER:
