Interlude - New Year
Thus, Silesse's Civil War ends. Of course, things don't just magically get better once the fighting ends. There are those who still fight, hating Lewyn for whatever reason. There are still the injured who must be treated. There are buildings to be repaired, funerals to be had. Annand's had been particularly large and beautiful. Though, we did get a blizzard not long afterwards, and our first 'call' to assist with snow rescues.
In the midsts of all of this, there are preparations for Lewyn and Erinys's wedding. They had wanted to wait, but everyone seized on the excuse for a party, particularly the civilians. They decided to not even bother fighting, and that's how we celebrated the coming of 761 Gran.
The day of the wedding, I had planned on maybe watching the children to make sure they weren't underfoot, or to tend to the minor injuries that popped up whenever you had a large group of people running this way and that. However, it was apparently taking longer than expected for Erinys to get ready, and I happened to be the first person Sylvia found when she went out looking for additional assistance. I wasn't sure why. I guessed it was because Sylvia automatically went towards the infirmary first, because that's where she normally would be at this hour, though it could've just been because everyone else was busy.
"Erinys, try to stop flinching," Sylvia chided absently. She was attempting to put makeup on Erinys, but since Erinys wasn't used to wearing a lot of makeup, she kept squirming. "Ugh… I have to wipe this off and start over."
"I'm sorry," Erinys murmured. It might've been easier for her if she could look in the mirror, but with Sylvia doing her makeup and me being recruited to braid her hair up, she really couldn't. "Must we… whatever you're doing?"
"Lining your eyes. It's just to help emphasize them." Sylvia very carefully wiped off the eyeliner and then began again. "They're pretty. Well, all of you is pretty, as I'm sure Lewyn poetically describes. Or will tonight."
"Sylvia!" Erinys went red all the way to the tips of her ears and the roots of her hair. Sylvia just laughed. "You…!"
I bit back my own laughter and focused on my task. Erinys had decided, at some point during the preparations, that she would have flowers braided into her hair. I wasn't sure if it was chance or not, but she picked anemones for it, the flower Annand had once cheerfully mentioned wanting to braid into Erinys's hair. I felt rather saddened by it, because honestly, Annand should've been the one doing this. While I was fairly certain Sylvia would've been Erinys's Maid of Honor no matter what, Annand should've been the one helping Erinys get ready. Annand should've been the one braiding anemones into Erinys's hair. Annand should've been the one laughing at Sylvia's teasing and Erinys's squeaks. But she was dead. She was dead and buried. I felt like I was 'stealing' her place, and it felt wrong.
It didn't help that brushing and braiding Erinys's hair reminded me of the last time I'd helped a bride get ready for her big day. Deirdre was still missing. Deirdre, who had been so happy and so nervous about her wedding, wasn't here. It hurt. It hurt all the more because I knew I had to smile, today of all days. Erinys and Lewyn deserved all the happiness in the world, after all. I didn't want to bring the mood down.
"I don't know how the makeup is going, but your hair is done," I finally murmured, tucking the last flower into the braid. Annand had been right; Erinys's hair was good for things like this. "Is there anything else I can help with?"
"At this point, I think it's just Sylvia torturing me with makeup," Erinys joked. She waited for Sylvia to pull back before looking up at me. "Thank you, Alicia."
"Of course." I carefully hugged her, worried I'd somehow mess something up. "I'll see you during the reception."
"Save a dance for me~" Sylvia teased with a wink and a smile. I laughed and left the two of them to it, making sure the door was shut.
I lingered a bit, though, just… remembering Deirdre. Aideen's wedding hadn't made me so sad, but that might've been because I hadn't been very involved. Ethlyn had been Aideen's Maid of Honor, for instance, and others had handled most of the preparations. Because I'd been pregnant and ordered to rest, I'd spent most of the time prior in the infirmary, tending to minor injuries and making sure we had plenty of hangover remedies. And while I had technically been involved with Lachesis's 'wedding', it had been so different and rushed that I hadn't made the connections.
But I couldn't help it this time, and… well, I felt guilty about Annand as well. While I stood by my decisions, it didn't help the gnawing 'what ifs'. I could only hope she was watching, and having fun with everything.
"Lady Sister!" Startled, I turned and saw Azel jogging towards me. "Good, finally found someone," he sighed. Before I could even ask, he held up his sleeve and a button. It took a moment to realize the button really should've been on the sleeve. "This fell off. Somehow. I don't know how, thankfully Tailtiu caught it before it got lost, but it needs to be fixed and I can't sew, so if you don't mind…?"
"I think my sewing kit is in the infirmary at the moment," I replied. I'd left it there last night, at least. "But that should be a quick fix." I thought about ruffling his hair, but settled for smoothing it out. "After all, we can't have the Best Man looking any less than his best."
"I'm just confused as to how I managed to tug it off." He sighed gustily, but smiled when I took his arm. "Are you okay? You were looking sad."
"I'm fine." I made sure to smile back. I didn't want to dampen his mood. He'd been excited and nervous when Lewyn asked him to be his Best Man. "I suppose I am a little sad that we won't see Arvis's wedding."
"Not at this rate, anyway. Still, part of me is glad that we can avoid all the chaos." He stopped me as four servants ran past us, each carrying something. One almost fell and had to do an elaborate series of juggling and steps to keep from dropping everything. We both went to help, but they were out of sight before we could. "Grannvale is much bigger."
"That is true." I hoped we could write soon. I hadn't wanted to ask Queen Rahna when so much was going on. But I did want to make sure he and Diadora were still okay. "I suppose yours will be just as fussy."
"Why…?" Azel groaned as soon as he got it, nearly tripping over his own feet as we continued making our way to the infirmary. "Shoot. I'm the little brother of the future king of Grannvale. Does that mean… wait, what would our titles be?"
"I have absolutely no idea." I didn't really care to find out, truthfully. The idea of answering to a 'title' made me queasy. "Regardless, yours will be very fussy."
"You say that like yours wouldn't be either!" He scowled and I smiled serenely. "I should suggest it be extra-fussy."
"We'll see." No matter how excited the others got, I couldn't really see Chulainn and I going through a formal ceremony. I was happy the others enjoyed it, but it didn't feel right for us. Besides, I had promised Deirdre and I… I wanted to continue hoping she was okay and that I would see her again. "Ah, here's the infirmary." I was almost surprised to see no one inside, but then I remembered that Aideen and Claude were busy. Claude was officiating, after all, and Aideen was helping with the decorations. "Let's see about getting that thread."
It took a couple of tries before I found my sewing kit and a couple of tries to find a thread that matched Azel's shirt. But once I did, the button really was a quick fix. I decided to check the other buttons on his shirt to make sure none of them were at risk, and found them all perfect. It made both of us all the more confused that the first one had fallen off.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Lewyn poked his head in just as we confirmed the last of the buttons and I was putting away the sewing kit. "A maid told me to you headed in here," he explained, stepping inside. I was used to him wearing white, but today, he was wearing nothing but white, much like Erinys. I'd been told it was traditional for Silessian royals to wear a lot of white for formal things, to reflect the snows of their home. "Did something happen?"
"My button somehow got pulled off," Azel explained, holding up his sleeve for emphasis. I focused on packing up my kit and storing it away. "We have no idea how or why. But Alicia fixed it. Her sewing kit was here."
"Why here?"
"I was working a late shift last night, since Aideen and Claude needed to be up early," I explained, turning to face them. "Now then, unless you two want some sort of tea to calm your nerves, I do believe you have more work to do?"
"We do," Lewyn confirmed. He gave me a quick hug before slinging an arm around Azel's shoulders and leading him out. "Claude is insisting on a last minute practice sort of deal, Azel, so…"
I watched them leave with a smile, and then decided to check on those hangover remedies. I had a feeling they would be needed.
The ceremony had been lovely, far more musical than Sigurd and Deirdre's and Aideen and Midir's. It was, apparently, how all Silessian weddings were, celebrations of song and music. Lewyn even performed a few pieces; I only recognized 'Hope on the Wind', but the others were just as beautiful. Afterwards, there was traditional dancing, though it was outside in the cold courtyard, with the snow falling on all of us, instead of a ballroom. I had attempted to stay inside, because it was warm, but Sylvia caught me for the promised dance and after that, I ended up dancing far more than my poor-athletic-ability really would allow. I danced with Azel, of course, and Lex. Sigurd snagged me for a couple, and Lewyn got me for one. Tailtiu insisted on a group dance with Ayra, and afterwards, I danced with Shanan and Oifeye. It was a relief when Chulainn finally caught me and helped me inside, though he did have to half-carry me.
"Could you have not grabbed me sooner?" I whined, struggling to breathe. I was horribly sweaty and my hair stuck awkwardly to my face and neck. "Why so many…?"
"Because they think it fun," Chulainn replied, grinning at my dark look. "You looked like you were having some fun as well, when you weren't struggling to not pass out."
"We'll see what my answer is in a few hours." I whimpered as my legs went from numb to 'why did you do this to us?'. "I need a bath. My feet hurt."
"And up." He picked me up easily, laughing at my yelp. I hadn't expected that one! "Is that a little better?"
"I still need a bath." Still, it was a relief to not be on my feet. "Thank you for getting me when you did, by the way. I should probably say that before I continue complaining."
"Ah, it wasn't solely altruism." He kissed me gently, smiling as he pulled away. "I was jealous they kept stealing you away."
"So that's the selfish motive." I laughed and tucked myself against his chest. "We'll have to head back out in a while. We need to be good friends and celebrate with Lewyn and Erinys."
"We can do that after you get that bath you want." We made it to our room, and he managed to open the door. Though, strangely, Lachesis was also there, playing with Caitriona and Conall. Now, that wouldn't be unusual, except it was our room and the twins should've been in the nursery. "Hello?"
"Eep!" she squeaked, whirling. She almost fell, and Chulainn and I exchanged weird looks before he set me down on the bed. "Uh… hi?"
"Did you get dizzy, Lachesis?" I asked, skipping the greeting. I probably shouldn't have, but this really was a bit bizarre. Chulainn ducked into the bathing room to make me up a bath and stay out of this. "Though, I'm not sure why the twins are here?" With that said, Caitriona and Conall were certainly happy to see me, climbing into my lap. I spared a thought half-lamenting that Chulainn had been right on their eye colors. Caitriona had red eyes, like Arvis and Azel, and Conall had a red left eye and a blue right eye. Chulainn had been smug for an entire day about it. "Actually, I thought you'd… I'm just rambling and not letting you answer. I'm sorry."
"Well, it's definitely not something you'd expect?" Lachesis admitted sheepishly. She sat down on the bed too, fiddling with her ring. I wondered if we needed to get it resized again. "So, first off, I'm not the only one who left the party."
"Well, that's obvious. Chulainn and I are here."
"Right, right, but…" She paused, gathering her thoughts. There was the sound of something falling in the bathroom, but when I leaned over to peek in, Chulainn waved away my concern. "That shouldn't have been the first thing to say. The first thing should've been that the children actually escaped the nursery?"
"They… they what?" I gave her an incredulous look, absently fending off Caitriona's attempts to pull at my necklace. Conall took the opportunity to 'chew' on my sleeve. I found one of the teethers and passed it to him. They were both teething, though Caitriona seemed rarely bothered, unlike Conall. I worried a bit by how they were warmer, but I'd been reassured it was fairly typical for teething. "How?"
"Not sure, but we're currently blaming Seliph as he's the only one who can walk steadily enough to the door." She shrugged. "Could be that the door was partially open as well. But the point is that they escaped. Well, except for Ulster. The servant we left to watch them had been changing his diaper." Clearly, we needed to have more than one person watching them. They were far more mischievous than expected. "I got recruited to help find them. Along a few others."
"So, that explains most of it." Though it was still bizarre to me. "Why are you in our room, though?"
"Actually, you guys left your door open, and they crawled or whatever here." She poked Caitriona's cheek, making her giggle. "I think they were looking for you and Chulainn. Though, I don't know how they knew the path from the nursery to your room."
"Well, we do carry them every night." Still, would a baby actually retain that? Did they get lucky? I had absolutely no idea. "So, that's how you ended up here."
"Yes, and they just looked so sad because you weren't here, so I played with them to try and make them smile again." She picked up Caitriona from me and cuddled her to her chest. Caitriona tried to go for her earrings, but Lachesis ducked out of the way in time. "And then you two appeared."
"I see." I laughed softly, amused now that I had an explanation. "Thank you for finding them."
"It's no problem. Though, it does make me worry." Lachesis rested a hand on her abdomen. She still had about four or five months to go for her own pregnancy. "I hope they don't lead my little one into trouble."
"Now, how much trouble can they get into?" I grinned when she rolled her eyes. After this, I was expecting a plethora of pranks and the like when they got older. "Regardless, though, thank you again. Chulainn and I will take them to the nursery after we've recovered a bit."
"I should make sure the others were found." She kissed Caitriona's cheek and set her down on the bed. Caitriona immediately crawled into my lap again, which made me feel… I wasn't sure. 'Happy' felt too tame. "See you later!"
"One moment." I caught her hand before she went too far. "Did you get dizzy?"
"No, I got a little… lonely." She smiled wryly, running her fingers over her ring again. "I miss Finn, and I can't wait to have a big party like this one. But I didn't want to make anyone worry about a bit of self-pity."
"I understand." I couldn't stand thanks to the twins in my lap, but I did tug her a bit closer so that I could give her a hug. "Are you better?"
"Much. The kids are great for relaxing and cheering up!" She grinned and it was real enough that I smiled back. "But I need to get back before worrywart Sigurd comes looking!"
"Of course." I waved her goodbye and gave Chulainn a 'really?' look when he finally stepped out of the bathroom. "You were more than welcome to have that conversation with us, you know."
"I might have, if you didn't put those bath salts you like in an inconvenient place," Chulainn retorted instantly. "That's why some things fell, by the way." He scooped up Caitriona, smiling as she laughed. "Your bath is ready."
"Thank you, dear, but do remember that the bath salts are placed where they are because the children are too curious," I replied. It took a little bit of convincing to get Conall to leave my lap, and really, he didn't until Chulainn sat down as well. "Do you mind picking me out another dress? This one is far too sweaty to put back on."
"Sure. Enjoy your bath."
"I shall."
After an enjoyable bath, a change of clothes, and copious playing with the children, Chulainn and I dropped off Caitriona and Conall at the nursery, now guarded by four servants, and returned to the party. I was almost immediately accosted by Erinys for a group dance, and it took me a while to get extracted from the dancing. Honestly, the only reason I did was because Sylvia recruited me to help Erinys escape the party with Lewyn. After all, today was their wedding and weddings nights were apparently very special. I didn't quite understand it, but that was neither here nor there.
"And here I would've thought you would have escaped again," Sigurd teased. Both of us were on the edges of the crowd, watching everyone dance and have fun. I tried to keep an eye on Azel, mostly to see if he and Tailtiu would actually kiss or not. They'd gotten close thrice today. "Where's Chulainn?"
"Chulainn has been dragged into a drinking contest," I answered, glancing over to that corner of activity. Chulainn and Beowolf both looked extremely bored at Alec's antics. "Sylvia also made me promise to try and stay late at the party."
"Ah, promises. We forgot to get one out of you during Aideen's wedding." He watched everyone with a warm smile, laughing to himself. "Deirdre would've loved this."
"She would've." I poked his side to make him squeak. "She'd also be cross with me if I let you not be anything but amused during this."
"That's true, and we should be happy for Lewyn and Erinys. And for Silesse." He sighed, though, and looked up at the sparkling stars. "It's so incredible how… relaxing it's been here. It's been good to all of us."
"It has, civil war aside."
"Civil war aside." He pointed to a group of particularly cheerful children, laughing and dancing about. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. "In a few years, our children will be old enough for that."
"Yes, though now, they're thankfully asleep." Shanan was too, actually. Oifeye was awake, though. I wasn't sure where he was, but something told me he was with the knights in the 'drinking contest corner'. "I can't believe they escaped the nursery."
"Aren't they clever?" He grinned and I rolled my eyes. "Ah, it's going to be fun when they're older. Pranks all the time… I can't wait to teach Seliph my favorite ones."
"I bet you'll regret that when you become the target."
"Not if it's clever enough!" He gasped suddenly and pointed to a darker area of the courtyard where we were all partying. "Hey, look there."
"Hmm?" It took me a second to find what he was looking at, but I had to gasp and giggle when I did. Sylvia had kissed Claude's cheek before bolting with a bright red face, Claude staring after her with a blush of his own. "Progress!"
"Speaking of progress." He pointed to a relatively empty part of the dancing, where Brigid and Jamke were dancing. Though, it did look more like Jamke was teaching her than outright dancing. "I hope Jamke can get home soon. He's been with us far longer than he needed to be."
"I do believe he keeps reminding you that he doesn't regret it."
"I suppose." He grinned and nudged me. "Bit of a relief that you two are making steps to become friends finally."
"I'm sorry that I hold grudges." Looking back, I really should've tried sooner. Considering what I'd forgive other people for… "Though, maybe I just can hold onto one grudge at a time, and Jamke was significantly better than Chagall."
"May Chagall burn in whatever hell the gods put him in." He said the words darkly, and I had a feeling that if Chagall somehow came back, Sigurd would gladly rip him apart again. "Wait, that's too serious of a topic. How did we get on that?"
"You brought up how Jamke and I are finally getting along, and then I turned it to Chagall. So, I'd call it my fault." So, I needed to be the one to change the subject. "Drat, I lost track of Azel."
"Why are you looking for him?"
"He's gotten close to confessing to Tailtiu a few times and I'm curious if the wedding atmosphere will spur it on."
"Oh, that's a good thing to watch for." Sigurd even got on his tiptoes to help me look. "There. They're with Lex and Ayra, sharing a drink."
"I see." I smiled softly at how happy they looked. "You know; we should probably jump back into the festivities."
"We should, but it's so much fun watching everyone have fun."
"It is." Though, I was now worried that there wasn't nearly enough hangover remedies. "We are such a crazy family."
"We are." He grinned and offered me his hand. "Here, let's dance and then go make sure no one is dead with the drinking contest."
"That sounds like a plan."
It took more than one dance, mostly because Lachesis wanted to dance with Sigurd while she was well enough and Azel had caught me for a dance as well. But we all did manage to make it over there, just in time for the drunken stories to start. I curled up next to Chulainn as I listened, though I couldn't help scolding people for particularly bad medical choices. Aideen did the same when she and Midir joined us, which only seemed to spur the storytellers into telling more outrageous stories, just to hear the two of us squawk in protest.
This would be a good year. If it started with this much fun, it had to be.
Author's note: So, have a wedding and some slowly finalizing of the last of the couples. Just some fun for the group, really. As we come into the final year for Gen1. Babies typically begin teething between 6-10 months (based on the research I did; saw another source that said '4-7', but that was only one) and can have a variety of reactions to it (with some unbothered and some in a lot of pain). Teething can cause a slight elevation of temperature, but shouldn't be in a 'fever' range. If there is a fever, then there's likely an infection. (Teething did used to be considered a 'cause of death', mostly because so many children died in their first year which happens to be when teething also occurs. Now, we know that's not the case. Correlation does not equal causation!)
Also, since this has come up a few times. While I do take inspiration from the mangas, I do not consider them 'canon' nor do I plan to use every little plot in them (as can be seen with my avoiding the awkward Lachesis and Eldigan subplot that Oosawa used). If you want specifics (as in, 'are you going to do this plot point?'), you are going to have to PM me (or review while logged in to an account so that I can PM a reply), as some people do wish to avoid spoilers.
Next Chapter - Spring Flowers
