December 24, 1175
"So." Lord Severin leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms against the edge of the desk. He was completely calm and that was somehow just as unnerving as the infernal wrath Isidro had feared. "Riona plans on raising Alya herself, then."
Isidro fidgeted with a loose thread on his sleeve and nodded. Here he was, a grown man, restless as a child awaiting a scolding about some hi-jinx gone wrong. Why couldn't he just bash him across the head with the shield on the wall and be done with it? "They're inseparable, sir."
"Then it would be cruel to try." He reached to the side and straightened the pile of books on his desk with a hasty hand. Seemed Isidro wasn't the only one feeling anxious. "I take it her baby is yours?"
Well, now it was coming, certainly--and yet, he looked no more fussed than he might have had Isidro swiped a slice of bread from the kitchens. Isidro swallowed. "So you noticed."
"A little hard not to, don't you think?"
Shit. Had he just insulted the man's intelligence? Shit, shit, shit... "My lord, I--"
"Isidro. Please--I'm not keen on titles." Isidro fell silent, the air in the room both lighter and heavier at the same time. Unruffled, Lord Severin drummed his fingers against the surface of the desk. "Are you planning on marrying her?"
"If she'll have me."
The older man raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"
Considering this was Riona's own father he was talking to, he probably should have just said 'yes'. Idiot! "I mean... well, I don't know. I have nothing to offer."
"I see." Lord Severin pushed back his chair and rose to his feet, stepping around the desk and stopping just in front of Isidro. "Do you love her?"
"More than anything, sir."
"Then that should be enough." Hands at his waist, his mouth twitched into the ghost of a smile. "There's an empty castle by the mountain pass and I've been looking for someone to man it. It's yours if you want it."
What a world. Knock up a lord's daughter and get a castle as a reward. Not that Isidro was in any position to argue. "I won't let you down."
"Good. I'll have Vera and Aldara see that it's furnished, then you and Riona may move in at your convenience." His new lord crossed his arms and glanced toward the coat of arms on the wall. "What of your family, though? Do they know where you are and will they want you back?"
It must have been nice to have led a life that would allow for that assumption. A little queasy, Isidro shook his head. "There's no room in my family for me."
A few seconds of silence ticked by, tense and dreary as the minutes after a storm. Lord Severin closed his eyes. "There's always room in ours."
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