They were shopping in Amaranthine when she found the painting. "Maker's breath!" she exclaimed as she stopped short. "Look at that!" Hanging on the back of the stall was a family portrait. It depicted a couple, the woman seated while the man stood behind her. Surrounding the seated woman were three children, all of whom were about the same height. The thing that caught Elissa's attention the most was the man. He looked exactly like Nathaniel.
It took but a moment for her to talk to the merchant and purchase the painting. With his assurance that it would be delivered to the keep shortly, she continued on her way, still musing over the uncanny resemblance that she saw.
-0-0-0-
The painting arrived at the keep, as promised, the day after Elissa returned. She received the wrapped package and brought it to her and Nathaniel's room, where she knew he would be at this time of day. Sweeping into the room, she ignored his raised eyebrow and plunked the large, rectangular package on the bed.
"Look what I found in the market the other day!" she exclaimed as he moved to stand next to her. She tore the plain wrapper off the portrait and stepped back so that he could examine her purchase.
He paused, a look of shocked silence on his face. A moment later, he leaned over and picked up the portrait, tilting it at a better angle to see its entirety. "This … this is our family portrait from when I was a child." He carefully traced over each of the figures in the portrait, pointing out who was who. "There's Mother, and Father, and myself, Thomas and Delilah. I assumed this had been lost years ago." He gently laid the portrait back down on the bed and stepped back a moment before smiling ruefully. "I forgot how much I look like Father," he remarked, almost too casually. "At least you'll know what I look like when I get older." His face closed down a little, assuming a neutral expression, as he waited for her to respond.
Elissa looked at Nathaniel a moment, then back at the portrait. He's worried that he reminds me too much of Rendon. The realization made her eyes widen for just a moment. How do I make him understand that he hasn't reminded me of Rendon in months? She thought for a little bit longer, then an idea came to her. She quickly removed a painting that was already hanging on the wall and replaced it with Nathaniel's family portrait, then dragged a mirror over next to the portrait. It took a little longer to dig up the painting Rendon had gotten made of himself as an older man, but she triumphantly produced the small painting and hung it on the other side of the mirror. Nathaniel just watched her silently, a question in his eyes.
Now that things were set up to her satisfaction, she clasped Nathaniel's hand in hers and gently tugged him so that he could see himself in the mirror. "I don't think so." She smiled at the incredulous look on his face. "Look." She traced his face with her fingers. "I know that when he was just a little older than you are now," she pointed at the family portrait with the hand that was not tracing Nathaniel's jaw, "that he looked very much like you do now, but look at the portrait when he got older. Do you see those lines on his face?"
Nathaniel looked at her, clearly confused. "Of course," he said cautiously. He had no idea where she was going with this. This made Elissa smile.
"Bear with me a moment." She traced his forehead, smoothing out the lines that creased whenever he raised his eyebrows. "These are deeper than when he was younger. You always raise your eyebrows when you're curious about something. He didn't ask very many questions, I gather." Nathaniel nodded in confirmation, so she continued. She traced the space between his brows. "This is smooth. Look at your father. He spent so much time frowning that he had a permanent wrinkle here. You won't have that unless you suddenly become unhappy all the time."
Next, Elissa moved to the outside corners of Nathaniel's eyes. "When you smile or you're tracking, these form," she said as she traced the crow's feet that were starting to develop. "Your father hardly ever smiled." Then she traced around Nathaniel's mouth, just barely skirting by his lips. "here, you have laugh lines. He doesn't. He frowned so much that by the end, his face had developed a permanent sneer. Your mouth turns up a little at the corners, because that's the way it's used to staying."
Then she got to the last part she wanted to accentuate. "Your lips – see how full they are?" Nathaniel groaned unhappily; he hated to be reminded how full his mouth was. He thought it made him look too feminine, despite all reassurances to the contrary. Elissa smiled at the groan. "Your father always had his pressed together in disapproval. You don't." Then she picked up the portrait of older Rendon off the wall and brought it to where Nathaniel was standing. "I predict that you will look completely different than your father as you get older. You're choosing to approach life differently than he did, and it will show in your face." She added, trying to make it sound like an afterthought, "I like the way you look."
Nathaniel's face had lost its neutral quality while Elissa was emphasizing all the differences between him and his father. By the end, he was smiling at her. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he understood what she was trying to say. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. When he drew back, he responded.
"There is one thing that will never look different than Father." He traced the lines of the portrait in front of him. "I'll always have his nose."
Elissa laughed, causing Nathaniel to smile. "Nobody's perfect," she teased as she smiled at him again. She traced Nathaniel's nose before leaning up and kissing it right on the tip. "I don't mind that at all."