Chapter Two - Of Mothers and Men
Alanna, looking even thinner and more worn than when Aly had last had a real conversation with her, frowned at her oldest son and her only daughter. "I don't know what you were thinking," she scowled at Thom, "bringing fifteen people here, unannounced, catching your sister and the servants by surprise."
He shot her a careless grin. "Mother, you need to learn to relax and go with things. We all had a few weeks off, so we decided to come here. It was perfect!"
"Perfect for you, perhaps." She turned to Aly. "And as for you, young lady, I don't even know where to begin. Sneaking out at sunrise with little more than a note, being captured by slave-trading pirates, getting your nose broken and your face scarred, getting sold to an exiled Rittevon, taking part in the beginning of what's sure to be a full-scale revolution. Goddess, if it's not one thing with you..."
"Duke Mequen was a kind, good-hearted man," Aly protested vehemently. "He died because some slimeball prince wanted to use his oldest daughter to gain the throne! And as for getting my nose broken and my face scarred, I did that purposefully so no sick, twisted luarin nobleman would buy me for a playtoy." She raised an eyebrow. "I would think that you, of all people, know how hard it is to be the favored of a god. Not all of us go around ridding our realms of crazed power-hungry royal dukes and ruthlessly ambitious Lady Delias."
Her mother held her hands up in defeat. "Fine, I concede. I have no wish to argue with you, Alianne." She obviously still had the annoying habit of using her daughter's full name. "Now, your father was expressing concerns over the amount of time you've been spending with this Nawat character."
Thom bit his lip to keep from grinning as his sister's jaw dropped indignantly. "Da's had people watching me? I'm no fool when it comes to men, he knows that!"
"He also knows you have a certain weakness for the young man, and that makes him nervous. You're his only daughter, Alianne, and he doesn't really want to give up the notion that you'll always be his little girl." Alanna shrugged and drank the remainder of water in her goblet. "I'm sorry, but I can't sympathize with you on this one, since I was never in that situation."
The afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a golden light into the baroness's sitting room. It was a room meant for sewing and gossip, but was instead packed with books, maps of Tortall and surrounding countries, weapons, and a set of gold-washed chain mail. As George's study was completely his, this was Alanna's space and no one else's.
Thom yawned, looking drowsy. "Can I go please? There's absolutely no point in my being here." He took his mother's silence for assent, and silently walked out, shutting the door quietly behind him.
After several uncomfortable minutes of silence, Aly admitted, "I saw the naming ceremony. You needn't have been so angry with him. He just didn't want anything to distract you in Scanra."
Alanna's eyes narrowed. "Your father and I are completely honest with each other, Alianne, no exceptions. It never occured to me that he would be the first one to break that agreement, especially not when the issue at hand concerned one of our children." She sighed heavily. "It wasn't easy for me up there, knowing that you were gone. I kept thinking that maybe you were injured, or..." She shook her head. "But that's all water under the bridge now. I want you to introduce me to this Nawat, so I can absolutely assure your father that he isn't after only one thing."
He has gotten better about the mate-feeding thing, Aly reassured herself quickly. Perhaps he'll have enough sense not to mention it in front of my mother. Or, for that matter, my father when we go to Corus next week. Every time the former crow did bring it up, however, she would quickly quiet him and tell him vehemently that they weren't going to make any nestlings anytime soon, if ever. He was still obdurate about understanding that human reproduction was quite different than that of birds. He had actually been shocked to learn that she wasn't born out of an egg.
As she and her mother walked together towards the rooms where Nawat was staying, Aly entertained her with the story of how she had told Duchess Winnamine and the rest of the Balitangs who she really was.
"I knew you weren't really a merchant!" Sarai had exclaimed excitedly. "Your grammar was just too good for a commoner." Her eyes grew misty and distant. "I can't even begin to imagine what it's like, having Alanna the Lioness for a mother."
"Not as glorious as you would think," Aly replied drily, causing her father to laugh.
Dove viewed her silently, with a slight frown on her face, as she heard from her former maid what she had known all along. Aly knew that the younger girl understood why she had hidden her identity from them; as the daughter of two so well-known people and the godsdaughter of the king, she was a powerful weapon in the hands of many.
Alanna smiled sadly when she heard how much the four children idolized her. "I do hope you told them that my success has been a result of very, very hard work and many sacrifices. Ask anyone who knew me back when I was still training, save your father and a few others, and they'll tell you that I was short and skinny, and no one ever really expected me to be so great."
As if he sensed their approach, Nawat suddenly materialized around a corner in the hallway. He gave Aly that special smile of his, the one he seemed to save only for her, but it faded slightly when his gaze fell on her mother. "You are the one they tell me is the chief female of this household, am I incorrect?"
"Yes, that would be me," she replied lightly, "although my daughter usually assumes those responsibilities in my frequent absences. And that makes you Nawat, the young man who came back from the Copper Isles with my husband and Alianne."
"Alianne," he repeated, trying her full name out for the first time. He smiled again, making Aly's stomach do somersaults. "It's very pretty, although I prefer Aly, if you don't mind."
"Oh, I don't," Aly said earnestly. "My mother and my grandmother are the only ones who actually call me Alianne all of the time."
Silence fell, giving her good time to make sure Nawat looked, well, presentable. He had been almost dismayed to learn that he would have to start dressing like a luarin nobleman when we came to Tortall, but he had started doing so with grace and dignity. Thankfully he and Thom, both tall and long-limbed, were the exact same size, so for weeks Aly hadn't had to do any more than steal her brother's clothes. Thankfully, her brother's sense of style was impeccable, and Nawat's appearance seemed to satisfy Alanna, for which she gave a sigh of relief.
He bowed somewhat jerkily, and offered her mother his arm as he had watched the other young men do to the ladies over the past few days. Alanna, touched by his sweet gesture, took his arm gratefully and smiled at him. Aly followed behind the two of them, crossing her fingers behind her back. Just don't mention the mate-feeding, she prayed silently. Please, Goddess, keep him from bringing that subject up for the time being.
Their mother came and went, as she always did, causing Aly and Thom to exchange hidden looks of relief. Over the days she was there, Alanna hunted with them, allowed herself to be charmed almost senseless by Nawat, and devoted time to her project-of-the-visit: her wardrobe. Thanking the gods it wasn't something involving raising walls, or building an entire new addition, the servants secretly rejoiced. When their master was away, Lady Alanna's projects tended to be more and more extreme, the raising of the walls being prime example of that.
Thom and his friends left on the same day she did, giving Aly an entire week to herself before she left for Corus and the royal court. She was sitting behind her father's desk reading over intelligence reports when Nawat popped his head in, a hopeful look upon his face. "I was wondering if we might go riding today," he said with great anticipation in his voice, "for I greatly wish to see your lands before we go for good."
Aly smiled back inspite of herself. "My father's lands," she corrected him. "And I'm positive we'll be back here before the summer's over; court gets so dull after a while, even when you've never been. Let me change, and we'll go."
Now that it was just the two of them, she dressed simply in a white gown, her hair hanging down her back. They kept it at a steady canter as they rode through the countryside, not wanting to tire out the horses too quickly.
Aly reined in her mare, coming to a complete stop overlooking the ocean. She glanced up at Nawat and flashed him a brilliant smile. "I bet you've never ridden on the beach, in the surf."
"Why would I want to do that?" he asked her, confused once again. "Won't the horses get wet?"
She sparred her horse forward with her heels, knowing that he would follow no matter if he made no sense of her actions. It's sweet, she thought sadly, but I could get annoyed with that awfully quickly.
They galloped down the beach to the water's edge, and continued up the coast. Aly threw back her head and gave a yell of sheer delight as the water soaked her from head to toe. She slowed the horse and jumped into the ocean, the waves crashing at her waist. Nawat dismounted beside her and stared for a few moments as she splashed him playfully.
"Come on!" she shouted. "What's wrong with you?"
He stepped closer. "You're so beautiful, Aly." He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply. She held on tightly as her knees had gone almost completely weak. For several minutes they stood there, locked together, as the sun set over the ocean. When his hands moved down, and he began to kiss her neck she threw her head back and caught sight of the castle above them. Da has them watching, she remembered with regret, and gently pushed Nawat away.
"I'm sorry," she whispered shakily, "but we can't do this. Not here and now. It's...hard to explain." He continued to stare at her strangely, but oddly enough, his gaze wasn't centered on her face. Her soaking wet gown clung to her body, and she realized with a start that it was white.
Nawat, a blush tinging his cheeks, turned modestly away and took off his tunic, handing it to her. She was equally red in the face as she pulled it on top of her ruined dress and began to trudge up the beach, her horse having wandered off somewhere. He followed, although at a respectful distance, and together they made their way back up to the castle and across the drawbridge. The men-at-arms exchanged knowing glances and hid smiles behind their helms as Aly passed them, soaking wet and covered in sand, wearing a green tunic over her white gown, her head held stubbornly high, followed by a thoughtful Nawat.
After a bath, she sat down across from him at the dinner table and lifted her chin in a challenge, one that he refused to acknowledge. They ate in silence, Aly not completely oblivious to the fact that none of the maids would meet her eyes, or the smirks they were sending each other across the room. News of this, however blown out of proportion it really was, would certainly reach her father by noon the next day, either prompting him to return home or to summon her to Corus. Although she'd have to face his wrath either way, she definitely preferred the latter. There was much less a chance of him having Nawat hanged from the battlements by his own entrails that way.
They ate swiftly and went their separate ways after dinner, Aly to the observatory tower and Nawat to...wherever it was he went.
"So, is this how you plan to live? Going from one youthful indiscretion to the next?" The speaker had an all too familiar crisp, light voice. "I would have thought Lady Sarai's dalliances of last summer would have taught you something."
"The only one really aware of said trysts was me, not Duke Mequen," Aly replied wearily. "What do you want with me, Kyprioth?"
The god materialized in front of her, looking exactly the same as he had the last time they had been face-to-face, wearing his "elder statesman" ensemble, or so he liked to call it. "Aly, dear heart, don't sound so joyful. I always keep in touch with my former associates, as your father would be quick to tell you."
"Quick to warn me is more accurate," she retorted. "I never thought you'd be one to just stop in on old acquaintances unless you really wanted something from them. Well, pity to you, because I fulfilled my end of the bargain, and you yours. Contract terminated."
"I'm a trickster, stirring up trouble is what I do best." He flashed her a wicked grin. "What if I were to promise you that if you were to accept my offer tonight, I would make sure that Daddy never finds out about his little girl romping on a beach with some young stallion."
She wrinkled her nose distastefully at his colorful imagery. "We were not 'romping' at all, and I don't think Nawat would appreciate the comparison."
"Of course he would, darling, he's a man! They're all the same, you know that." He grew serious. "And though you might have been doing naught more than kissing the boy, your father's going to hear differently, and it's your word against a castlefull of servants."
Aly crossed her arms across her chest and viewed Kyprioth with great skepticism. "Other than saving myself the trouble of having to face my father when he believes I've been...overgenerous with Nawat, what's in it for me?"
The door opened, and a maid stuck her head out. "My lady? There's a message for you inside from his lordship."
Damn you, Maude. "Thank you, I'll be right in," she said quietly, but turned around to look behind her, swearing that she heard mocking laughter on the wind. She shut the door firmly behind her and made her way back to her rooms, steeling herself for the worst.
Strangely enough, the message contained nothing but a pleasant order for her to leave for Corus within the next three days. Aly threw onto her bed and looked up at the canopy, her worry increasing with every passing moment. George's easy-going temperament was as famous as his wife's hot temper, but his daughter knew him well. When it came to certain things, like his daughter's relationships with young men, it didn't take long to get him angry.
She bit her lip with worry, the cordiality of the note making it even worse. What had Maude told him?
NOTE: Ugh. I really, really hated that chapter. What was I on when I wrote that? Ah, well, I like the next one…I promise it's an improvement. This one is just scheisse.