In Which Medur Curses the Lack of a System

August 16, 1186

Medur was not surprised to find that the arrival was Sir Lonriad--Sir Ashe had been expecting him, after all. He had not guessed, however, that Sir Lonriad would be accompanied by his eldest son. Usually, when either Sir Ashe or Lady Rona had visitors, the possibility of those visitors bringing their children along was at least mentioned.

Then again, Sir Lonriad was Sir Ashe's closest friend, at least so far as Medur could tell. And Sevvie and Yvanette had fun together, or they had once, back when Yvanette had still gone on regular play-dates and before Asalaye had died. It was no stretch to believe that Sevvie had tagged along at the last minute, and Sir Lonriad had allowed it, knowing that Sir Ashe was unlikely to object. "Sir Lonriad. Sevvie."

"Master Diarn." Lonriad smirked--teasing him, no doubt. Medur kept to formalities out of caution, figuring he'd rather be pretentious than disrespectful, but House Kemorin had a particular distaste for the decorative aspects of their status, at least where people they liked were concerned. And hell, even people they had no opinion of; urban legend had it that the gravest verbal condemnation Lord Severin could ever give was 'That's Lord Severin to you'. "Really, Medur, Sir Lonriad is... uh, well, not my father. And not my grandfather either. But you get the point."

He did. Was there something wrong with him? Yes, he'd been born a peasant, but his own stepfather was a knight--and Sir Lonriad's uncle. He ought to have been more comfortable with the nobility by now. "Yes, I guess I do."

"How are those twins doing? Quieted down any?"

"Yes, actually." The common ground could help. Sir Lonriad had four children; surely they'd kept him up at night? Granted, he'd never had two at once, but even one baby was enough to keep sleep at bay. "They're old enough to play now, so that helps them burn energy. They kind of rile each other up, but Aspen and Dally calm them down, so Ellie and I have been bringing them here." A lucky thing that Winter didn't mind! At least, she said she didn't mind...

"Speaking of playing..." Sevvie bounced to his feet and beamed up at him. How old was Sevvie, now? Eight? Nine? And still tiny. Even now that Medur was a father, he was still the same old giant clumsy oaf around children. Damn. "...is Yvanette home?"

Was she? He hadn't seen her all day. But her parents were both home, and surely she wouldn't have left unsupervised. It was early enough that she might have still been asleep. "She should be around somewhere."

"Oh, good. Thank you, Medur!"

The pint-sized blur bolted past him, further into the castle. Sir Lonriad shook his head. "Kids. But speaking of whiny brats, are Ashe and Rona ready for me?"

"Um... they should be, yes. Sir Ashe is in his study."

"Great. Thanks, Medur."

"You're welcome."

Sir Lonriad followed his son through to the next room, en route to the study. Medur shut the door behind him, then made for the desk--the one he could never bend his legs beneath out of consideration for his knees.

How had he not been fired yet? He was no good at this job. Well... the clerical parts were all right, he supposed, but he hadn't mastered the social aspects--and after this long, how could he expect he would? Never mind that he was too damn big for the indoors. Should've just stayed on the farm with Cord while Ellie provided the steadier income.

Hell--he'd been born a peasant! It was only thanks to his noble stepfather's army of tutors that he and his siblings could even read. His father had never learned. His mother had tried, but any more than a simple sentence was a lengthy ordeal. He was the son of a pig farmer. He could think of only two reasons why he was still employed as a steward: Ellie's post as Lady Rona's made, or endless patience on Sir Ashe's part.

Or maybe three, now that he had the twins. Or would that bring him to four?

"Medur?"

Winter stepped in from behind the corridor door--frowning. Strange. She wasn't the miserable sort. "Are the twins behaving?"

"They're fine. Ellie's watching the kids for a minute anyway." That was... good? Didn't explain the frown. Had things soured between Winter and Had, perhaps? She'd spoken of him quite fondly only the day before... "Lady Rona wanted to know if Sir Lonriad had arrived."

"A few minutes ago now." But if Lady Rona only wanted to visit with Sir Lonriad, surely she would have come herself? And what was with that frown? "Everything all right?"

"He didn't bring any of his children with him, did he?"

"Just young Sev--oh."

Yes. Yes, that explained it. At least the error could be blamed on a lack of a system. But as steward, wasn't putting a system in place his responsibility? "He didn't ask for Yvanette, did he?"

Why even bother nodding? She already knew he had. "They're going to kill me, aren't they?"

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