Dahanan sat listening to his wife's pleas. It isn't that he was ignoring her, it had just become a constant refrain, and his response, as always, was an automatic, "I will speak with her."
Andorai stomped her foot, "It is not enough, Dahanan."
He turned his eyes from the open window to her angry face. Last week it was how long his sister took to run errands for Andorai, the week before it was her refusal to wear anything other than the leather breeches she went riding in. Prior to that, she had disappeared for days. She had returned with ample game, but Andorai had been terrified she had wandered off and been killed by the Scourge that still attacked at random. Andorai's fears had grown, compounded by raising their child in such uncertain times.
"I am not her father, I cannot order..."
"Of course you can," she insisted. Her husbands face looked shocked and she sighed, suddenly remorseful. "She will listen to you."
Dahanan looked at his wife and leaned back in the chair. "Andorai," he said gently, "do you remember our wedding day?"
She blinked and frowned, suddenly busying her hands with her skirt. "I do," she said.
"Do you remember what you told me?"
"It was a wonderful day, Daan..."
"On your terms, Andorai," he cut her off, "You wanted our wedding to be on our terms."
"It was still an arranged marriage," she insisted.
"Are you sorry for that?" he asked.
"No, of course not," she said, her voice short, "why can you not trust your parents choice for her?"
Dahanan frowned. It was a fair argument, he had to admit, but it still wasn't the same.
"I am not going to force her," he insisted and stood, turning from the conversation. "But I will talk to her," he conceded as he left.
Daan walked down the hill away from the house and toward the small path that served as a road. He really wasn't looking for his sister. He just wanted to think. He felt a poor guardian, not knowing where she was. But then, Mother never kept close tabs on her and she always managed just fine. Dahanan smiled. He wished he was blessed with their mother's patience. He could use it. And her wisdom. He felt he lacked both.
The sounds of rebuilding drifted through the air, the garrisons hastily fortifying and constructing. Caoimhe certainly wouldn't be here, but she was often found helping the stable master and she generally made herself useful in town when her chores at home where done. Dahanan sighed. He could not accuse her of being neglectful. She was helpful around the house, cheerful and optimistic, if not a bit distracted. Since Cai's death, she was not as talkative as she once was, and when their Mother fell ill to her grief, Caoimhe had become quieter still. She had fallen to his care. Which meant she had fallen to his wife's care, really, as he had duties within the order. But she was more than capable, he knew, she was just young. If he could put this talk of marriage off for a few years, until she was of age, then he would not need to be involved and she could make the decision herself.
A young knight stopped to salute him. He nodded and kept walking. Had she been a knight, been in the order, there would be no discussion. He sighed.
A sudden crash distracted him and he followed a small crowd around a corner.
"We have it," someone called from a second floor ledge. The remains of a crate of fruit had fallen and its contents spilled onto the street. Dahanan stopped and bent to help.
"What are you doing here?"
Caoimhe smiled as she bent to put the salvageable fruit into a crate.
"Looking for you, actually," he said. "What are you doing here?"
She shrugged, "Andorai sent me for vegetables," a sudden look of guilt came over her face. "I'm sorry," she started, "have I been gone too long? They had a cart come, I was just helping..."
Dahanan smiled. "No," he said, "but we might as well walk back together."
She smiled and they were soon walking back toward their home, vegetables in hand.
"Will you be home for long?" she asked.
"No," he said.
"Will you be in Silvermoon?"
"Yes," he said.
"Why don't you take Andorai and the baby with you? She misses you."
Dahanan sighed, "It is not a good place for a family right now," he admitted. "Soon. We will all be able to go." His sister frowned at the road as they walked. "You don't want to go with us?"
Caoimhe shifted uncomfortably, "I...I will...of course."
"That isn't what I asked," he said.
"I could...I could take care of the house," she offered. "You would not have to give it up."
"A house is just a house," he said slowly. "We are together, don't you think that is important?"
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and earnest. "Of course."
Something hung in the air but he did not pursue it.
They walked quietly for a little while. "Andorai asked me to speak to you," he started.
Caoimhe's eyes stayed purposefully on the path ahead.
"I think," he said, "I think she would like to know why you do not wish to meet Master Kyler."
Her step stuttered slightly next to him and she made a great show of adjusting the vegatables.
"I...I just," she looked at Dahanan, "is it...really important?"
Dahanan shrugged, "It is to Father. and presumably to Master Kyler," Dahanan grinned at her, "I don't think he would want to be rejected."
Caoimhe relaxed a little, "I don't want to get married."
"Ever?" he asked.
"No, that isn't what I mean," she said.
"Well you wouldn't have to marry him now," Dahanan reasoned.
"What if I don't want to marry him at all?"
"You can of course say no, Caoi," he said, "No one is going to force you."
"No one?" she asked.
Dahanan frowned. "No one is going to force you to marry Kyler," he said with certainty.
Caoimhe looked at him, he didn't return her stare. "If I say no, father will find someone else," she said. It was a simple statement they both knew to be true. "That is...that is what he expects."
Dahanan slowed a little as the house came into view. Caoimhe slowed with him. "Father wouldn't force you either."
"I know," she said. They stood in the road looking at each other. "But it is what he expects."
They stood in the path with the vegetables.
"I will tell Andorai you will not be meeting with Kyler," he finally said. He turned and continued walking. "I hear he's a bit of a prat anyway."
Caoimhe sat outside the little house listening to her brother and his wife argue. Dinner had been quiet, but strained. It reminded Caoimhe of dinners with her parents when the two of them disagreed. She had excused herself to bed after finishing the chores and slid out the window to enjoy the air. Andorai had her own child to worry about and Caoimhe was too old for her sister to look in on her, so this had become a regular habbit. She never went far, or for long, not after her last hunting trip. She knew Andorai was just concerned for her safety, but the house had to eat and she could sell the skins and bring something useful to the arrangement. She sat with her back against the wall and tried to hear what they were saying.
"She doesn't need you to be her mother," Dahanan's his voice even and calm. He was always even and calm as far as she could tell.
"Why are you always taking her side?"
"She's my sister."
"I'm your wife."
There was a long silence.
'I am not saying you are wrong," came Dahanan's even tone. "But she does not need to be concerned with suitors."
"Then what will she concern herself with?"
"Let her help you with the house, let her," he paused. Caoimhe stretched up to get a look at what he was doing. "She can do just about anything here I could."
"Does that mean you will stay in Silvermoon even longer?"
Again her brother was quiet. She took a risk and peeked in the window. Andorai had her arms crossed, staring up with a half angry, half hurt expression on her face. Dahanan reached out and pulled her close, pressing her head to his shoulder and burying his face in her hair. Her parents never argued in front of them, but she never saw them do that either. He set his chin on her head.
"This isn't really about my sister," he said in the same matter of fact tome Caoimhe used.
This time, Andorai said nothing.
Dahanan sighed. He kissed her on the top of her head before he stepped away from her. "I will speak to her again," he looked at her, trying to get her to raise her eyes to his. She nodded and walked back toward their room. Dahanan headed for the room at the back of the house. Caoimhe gasped and dashed back around to the window, but when she climbed back over the low sill, Dahanan was already sitting on the bed.
"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised," he said before she could apologize. "I know exactly who you learned it from."
Caoimhe's tense shoulders relaxed and she sat down on the bed next to him with a heavy thump.
"It isn't...," she tried to find the right words, "It isn't that I don't want to be here, Daan." she stared at her linked fingers. "To be here with you, I mean, but..."
"I know," he said. "you are a different young lady than Andorai was. She isn't quite used to that. You're too much like me," he grinned at his sister, "I think she feels outnumbered."
Caoimhe smiled slightly. "I do not wish to meet him," she reiterated.
Dahanan sighed. "I know," he said again, "but is there a reason that would be so terrible?"
Caoimhe looked up at Dahanan with suddenly wide and hurt eyes. "I thought you said I didn't have to."
He nodded at the floor, "I did, yes," he said, "I just wondered why you are so opposed."
"I don't want to get married now," she said. "I told you that."
"Yes," he said with the same tone he had used with his wife. Caoimhe frowned. Dahanan continued, "But do you see why it might be important to Andorai, and to father?"
"N..no," she stuttered, "I do not...I do not need to...to be cared for. Not...not like that."
Dahanan didn't doubt it, but still, he pressed his lips into a thin line. "Perhaps we should consider your rejoining the order," he offered. "No one would insist you start seeing suitors if you were seeking entrance to the order."
Caoimhe blinked at him. "I...I do not think they want me back."
"What makes you say that?" he said, suddenly cheered by the idea. "You are smart, you are fast, you are dedicated. Speaking as a knight, those are fine qualities." He looked at her to see if she shared his enthusiasm.
She frowned deeply. "I...I don't know, Daan," she said. "I think...I think they do not...they do not need me."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Dahanan finally said, "Consider it, Caoimhe," he said, "I am returning to Silvermoon, I will be back in a few weeks. We can talk about it then." She nodded at the floor. He thought about messing her hair as he had when she was small, but thought better of it. He smiled at her and left her to her own thoughts.
It took her a week to get ready. Not because she had a tremendous amount of personal items to prepare, but because she could not leave Andorai without adequate arrangements. She made sure there was meat, and she took all of the furs she collected to a trader who kept Andorai's accounts, so they would have plenty to barter with. She spent an afternoon playing with her nephew, helped Andorai clean the house and made sure the small livestock was well tended. She wrote her sister in law a letter, thanking her, explaining about the account with the trader, apologizing if she did not understand the course of action, and then she took her pack, her bow and her brothers old swords, and left the little house for the last time.