In Which Thetis Asks Properly

April 4, 1198

Thetis popped a hip to the side and continued to admire her reflection. Yes--this would do nicely. What better way was there to break in a new house (and a new bed!), after all? And why not treat her lover to the sight of her in an elaborate, barely-there slip? It was their first night in their home together, after all; they'd only ever have one of those.

She cupped a hand beneath one of her breasts and tried to prop it upward. The bust of the garment was small enough to magnify any cleavage by comparison, but her breasts still felt somewhat inadequate. Thetis pouted. Figured, really, that CeeCee had ended up with the great chest--despite her taste for men resulting in who knew how many pregnancies that would have them swell even larger anyway. Not even remotely fair.

Hmm... nice ass, though, she tried to reassure herself. The mirror confirmed that she did, at least, have that going for her.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," called Honora from the bathroom. "I'm almost done."

"No, take your time; I'm preparing a little housewarming present for you."

"Housewarming? Thetis, I've been living here for months now!"

"Not with me, you haven't." Thetis nudged the that met above her hip, a little more skin in plain view. "Besides--don't think I won't take any excuse to thoroughly spoil the woman I love."

"Aww, that's sweet. I actually have something for you too."

"Oh?"

"Hang on--" The door creaked open as Thetis made a few last minute fidgets with her hair, but shut again before she could turn ahead. "Uh... did you commission something from Mistress Corran too?"

Thetis jerked back from the mirror and blinked. Sure, Mistress Corran's most infamous design had its own secret popularity to hear CeeCee tell it, but of all the women who might have sought it... well, suffice to say, Thetis would have guessed that Honora would have been more keen to see it on her than to wear it herself.

Not that Thetis much minded the thought of Honora in such a garment. No... not at all. "Well, this ought to be fun. We can play at being two harem girls after hours, fooling around behind the back of their disgusting fat keeper."

"To be honest, I think I'd have to work my way up to scenarios; I feel silly enough wearing this thing, especially after peeking through the door and seeing how stunning you are."

"Next to you?" Thetis snorted. "Not a chance. Let me take a look, beautiful."

The door opened again, and this time, Honora stepped out.

And Thetis could scarcely recall the definition of the word 'disappointment'.

"My God." Honora, in her same outfit--only with more ample breast, only with a healthy glow to her skin, only in pink. Thetis couldn't stand pink when anyone else wore it, but she loved it on Honora. "You... I don't even have words for it. I just want to keep looking at you forever."

"Well... you don't have to just look." Honora giggled, blushing all the while; Thetis grazed the warmth of her cheek with a loving hand. "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it. And I love the flowers in your hair." Her favorites, from the garden--their garden. Honora had sought out Thetis's parents' gardener herself. "Not as much as I love you, though."

She took Honora by the hand and spun her closer, kissing her way up her bare arm. Her other hand walked its fingers across Honora's hip, lacing beneath the line of the slip--and soliciting a sigh in its wake. "I'm so glad you talked me into living together."

"Me too." Thetis planted a kiss to Honora's neck and looped her arms around her love's waist. She might as well have been hugging her own beating heart. "Marry me."

Startled, Honora turned herself back around--not upset by the smile on her face, and not unwilling by the weakness in her knees, but nonetheless surprised. "If only we could be married!"

"Well, we practically will be, living together--even if we have to keep quiet about it." Thetis shrugged. "Besides, Xeta and Camaline are married."

"What?" Honora's eyelids flickered in disbelief as Thetis brushed back a strand of that rich dark hari. "But they... they couldn't be!"

"Well, not legally--but in the eyes of God, they are. Xeta told me herself." And a happier, more hopeful secret she couldn't recall ever hearing. "Brother Sieron married them. He's fond of men himself, apparently. And if God didn't strike him dead after marrying Xeta and Camaline, surely he wouldn't mind marrying us."

"Truly?"

Thetis took Honora by the waist and dipped her downward. "Truly. I don't see why any pesky legal technicalities ought to override a God-sanctioned wedding. Isn't God supposed to delight in love, after all?"

"Yes..."

"And the day's still young! After we christen our bed, we'll still have plenty of time to don our best dresses and ride to Armion. And you can wear those pretty flowers in your hair."

"That... that does sound good." Full lips wide and eyes like sunlight, Honora stepped back and took a second to catch her breath. Even a sigh looked sexy on her. "Perhaps... would you mind asking me properly?"

Thetis's heart skipped, ready to sprout wings and fly laps about her torso. Right then, Honora could ask nothing of her that she would have minded. "I'd enjoy nothing more."

She dropped to her knee and reached for that soft, gentle hand.

"Honora Indruion: will you marry me?"

NEXT CHAPTER:

In Which Honora Is Promised a Dog

April 9, 1193

"Happy birthd--"

Only a word and a half and a barely-closed door, and that was greeting and privacy enough for a smooch where Thetis was concerned. As always, Honora tried to relax best she could. Thetis lived in a large castle, after all. Her mother had greeted Honora personally and told her she could find Honora in the bedroom--never mind that her brows had lowered somewhat as she'd said it. None of Thetis's siblings lived at home any more, her father was in conference, her mother and sister-in-law had been just about to leave, and if any of her nieces and nephews were around, they'd chosen to keep to themselves. They weren't about to be caught.

Not that that ever stopped Honora from worrying. She was sixteen years old, the same age her parents had been when they'd married. She knew he was joking, but her father was already starting to pester her about whether she had her eye on any of the young men, and there were a troubling numbers of rumors circling about in regards to the identity of her 'secret suitor'. She didn't know what she'd end up having to tell him. She was neither religious enough nor academic enough that he'd believe she'd gone off to join a nunnery.

"Thank you." Thetis winked as she let go, oblivious as ever to Honora's awkwardness. That was part of her charm. "I'm so glad you managed to get here early, and not just for the obvious reasons. I've come into possession of some most interesting knowledge, and I believe it will prove relevant to us."

"Oh?" What interesting knowledge could have applied to them? Had her Aunt Hanna's mother been caught with someone? Not that Honora knew anything concrete about Aunt Hanna's mother, but she had her suspicions. If she'd been caught, and if there was a punishment in the works...

"Good news!" Thetis assured her. "I overheard my parents talking about it. You see... it seems that my sister-in-law and Camaline are an item."

"Xeta?" Honora frowned, puzzled. She hadn't known Thetis's brother Jadin all that well before his death, but surely a woman who'd been so taken with that sort of man had no interest in...

"Yes, I was surprised too. But, my mother pointed out that a person can like apple pie without losing their taste for blueberry, and I suppose it's not any of my business if a person likes both rather than one or the other." Thetis shrugged. She had such an easy-going, devil-may-care view of the world that Honora both admired and envied. "But anyway--the two of them will be moving into a cottage together in the summer."

"Living together?" She wouldn't pretend that the thought hadn't crossed her mind. But... "Though, they're both widows. It's not that strange, the idea of two widows sharing a residence; no one will think much of it."

"Nonetheless, it's a point of inspiration. If two widows can share a residence without attracting any scrutiny, perhaps two not-so-maiden aunts can take up together as well."

"Without a man to protect them?" Whatever would her father say to that?

"Man!" Thetis snorted. If the pair of them hadn't fallen in love, Honora had no doubt that she would have ended up in a loveless, economical marriage with a not-unpleasant man who she only bedded for the sake of babies; Thetis, on the other hand, had no interest in even feigning a romantic interest in men and would gladly take to the highest tower of her father's keep to announce her distaste for the lot of them. "We'll get a dog. A dog is a much more useful protector than a man."

"Don't let your father hear you say that."

"My father told me that!" She laughed. Her father could probably hear her from his study--though Honora hoped she was wrong about that. "But, I suppose we have plenty of time to plan. No sense in thinking much about it until we're partway through university, at least."

Honora nodded--though, now that it had been said, she doubted she'd be thinking of much else until it either happened or didn't. "I guess so..."

"Indeed!" Thetis clapped her hands together and pecked Honora on the lips once again, light and fast this time. "So... birthday sex?"

Honora smirked. Thetis wasn't any quieter in bed than she was out of it, but something about the act made it more difficult to fret. "Just lock the door."

NEXT CHAPTER:

In Which Severin Has One More Reason

April 9, 1177

"Quite bit bigger than the last few, isn't she?" Severin noted, raising the baby to his shoulder and rubbing her back with the tips of his fingers. As little as he'd planned on another child--hell, as little as he'd planned on the last ten of them--it couldn't be too much of an issue, having another little one around the castle. Roddie was now living with Isidro and Riona as a page, and in the interest of fairness that meant that Falidor would be going to Searle and Donnie to Lonriad. It was only a matter of time before Vera was out of here too, as well as his stepchildren. That left CeeCee and the new baby, plus Jadin's children; as crowded as it was, he supposed it would be nice not dying in an empty house.

"You couldn't tell from Nora's screams?" Chuckling to herself, his mother blew a kiss toward her newest little granddaughter. She probably never thought she'd have so many. "Anyway. I gave Nora a mixture of mine. Told her to take it every morning after breakfast; as long as she's diligent about it, you should be able to avoid having another child while still keeping yourselves occupied."

Only now? Oh well. Now that he had them, he wouldn't have given up the kids he already had. Still... "Mother, if my arms weren't so full of baby right now, I'd be twirling you all around the room."

"Well it was damn necessary, considering you apparently have all the self-control of an adolescent rabbit." She smirked, gesturing for him to let her see the baby again; Severin lowered the girl to his mother's eye level, earning the baby a wave a silly face. "Cute little things, though. But for God's sake, you're forty-four years old; most people your age are dead."

"An odd thought, coming from my own mother."

"Oh, just shut your damn mouth and let me get my fill of this little girl while I have the chance." While I have the chance? That was an odd choice of phrasing. "You know, I was hoping she wouldn't be born until that Lorn boy had found another priest, but I suppose she won't be out of your sight for a while anyway."

"And speaking of Lorn's priests, are you ever going to tell me exactly what's going on with Brother Remiel?"

His mother sprung out of her hunch and glared at him, though he nearly missed it in his shock. He probably would have frozen at the sound of his own slip if not for the baby in his arms. It was a happy day and he'd promised himself he wouldn't ruin it by pestering her, but some part of him must have had other ideas. Maybe it was the sensible part. There were some crises even a birth couldn't push aside.

"Well? Are you?"

Her eyes flickered toward the bedroom door, then to the baby--then back to his, a hurt sort of annoyance throughout. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you when you say he's bad news." And how could she think he didn't? After what he'd done to Severin's little girl? "But you haven't been clear on the details. How do you know him anyway?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

And how was it not? Especially if she knew Brother Remiel as well as she seemed to. Especially now that Severin had one more reason to get to the bottom of this. "Mother, if my family is in danger, then anything you can tell me is my business."

"Just stay away from him." She tapped her foot, the finality of the beat lingering in a paradoxical echo. "Stay away from him, and keep your children and grandchildren away from him too. That's all you need to know."

"Mother, I'm not satisfied."

She shrugged, then turned around and made her way back toward the bedroom. "Tough."

NEXT CHAPTER: