The Vanquine Orphans
A Lilly & Sasha fanfic by Aisling Yinyr Ngaio
Chapter Three: False Alarm
Something was wrong. Edmund sensed it the moment Valerie returned from her morning's abulations. He was about to go out on his daily scavenging when he noticed her looking pale and shaken and greatly confused. Reining in the sense of foreboding, he stepped back into the house and called out to her.
She started, hesitated, and finally came towards him, but he saw that she refused to look up at him. Completely mystified, he queried, "What's wrong, Valerie?"
"Nothing..." she mumbled in reply, worrying the violet cloak he'd brought for her a few months ago, giving lie to her assurance.
Gently he touched her chin and forced her to look at him. Her lips trembled, her eyes were frightened, and - he could almost swear - was shining with tears. "Valerie, don't lie to me. Something's the matter if you're this upset. Are you ill? Hungry? What are you worried about?"
Valerie bit her lower lip, then repeated in a small voice, "Nothing's the matter, Edmund. Really."
Sighing impatiently, Edmund released her for now. "Very well. You'll tell me if there was something, won't you?"
She gulped, nodded and uttered a faint "Of course" before turning and scurrying back to the Great Hall.
He watched her go, shaking his head, and wondered whether this was what the Vanquine elders termed the "difficult period" in a child's life. A period when, so the saying goes, the child becomes recalcitrant, hard to handle, and even rebellious. But surely not Valerie. She was always so supportive and helpful, managing their little "household" while he was away during the day. It had been eight months since their escape, and after his "indiscretions", things were finally looking up for them.
So, why was she suddenly so upset this morning, and yet refused to confide in him?
The mystery of this plagued Edmund all through his prowls through Quenera streets. Twice he was almost caught due to carelessness when distracted by his thoughts while thieving from the nobles in the park. He nearly missed an opportunity to start an ego war between two wizards outside the Wizards Guild HQ. And he nearly found himself sitting on a bench trying to figure the mystery out.
That evening, when he reached home with slightly less than his usual load, he was greeted at the door, not by Valerie, but by Theresa and Rosa, who cried out in alarm the instant Edmund stepped over the threshold, "Valerie's dying, Edmund! Please help her!"
Cursing under his breath at Valerie's obstinacy this morning, he passed the packages to Phillip and Peter - who heard the girls and came running up to meet their mentor - before running down the stairs into the Great Hall. There, he saw, in the middle of the rest of the children, a distraught Valerie, who's quite clearly been crying for the better part of the day.
Suddenly, he was engulfed by the rest, all of them trying to tug at his cloak at once, and the voices jumbled up, but all only requesting one thing... that Valerie get better immediately. Edmund had difficulty extracting himself from the bevy before finally reaching Valerie.
"Valerie, what's wrong now? Tell me."
"I- I just- I'm-" Valerie, brave little Valerie, found that she couldn't speak from the fright of it all. While Edmund was trying to patiently coax her into speaking, a voice from the back shouted, "Valy bleeding, Edmund! She bleeding lots!"
"Bleeding! How did you...?" Thunderstruck, he immediately gave her a onceover, rolling up her sleeves and her pants to check her arms and legs, but no wound was discovered. "Valerie?"
"It... it's... not... it's... um... down... here..."
Suddenly, he understood. Vaguely. And he was so relieved that he sat down in front of the scared girl and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Oh thank goodness."
"Edmund? I- I don't- Am I going to die?"
Focusing on the quivering girl once again, he spoke to her, and to the entire room in a voice that brook absolute confidence. "No, Valerie, you're not going to die. I promise."
"B- But- it's really a lot... I thought it would stop, but it didn't... And it just kept on..."
Edmund fixed a mock-stern look on his face. "You're not going to die from this, Valerie. Trust me." Most of the children now took the proclamation for the promise that it is, and let out a sigh of relief. They went and hugged Valerie before skipping off to check out the parcels Peter and Philip, now utterly relieved, were unwrapping in the kitchen. Still keeping a eye on the half-hopeful, half-scared almost-woman in front of him, Edmund called out, "Peter, keep the young ones in the playroom. Rosa, maybe it's time you take to the stove alone for the first time."
Amid squeals of happiness and clamours for being the "cook's help", Edmund pulled Valerie onto her feet, then led her to a quiet spot away from the noise. Guess it's time.
And now, only when the crisis was over, did he consider what he had to do. And he blushed hot crimson. What he wouldn't give for one of Vanquine's mothers to be here right now!
"Listen, Valerie... God, how do I put this? I need to tell you things about... err... well... in case the other girls experience the same in the future then you can-"
"WHAT? The same?" Valerie panicked at the thought that the other girls will soon bleed as much as she. "No, it can't-"
"Calm down, Valerie. It's... actually rather normal... and umm... I think it will happen every month..." Oh boy, this is going to get awkward...
When Edmund and Valerie finally had things straightened out between them (amid many blushes, halting explanations and jumping-to-conclusions), dinner was ready, albeit almost being burnt. Taking his usual place, Edmund watched as the girls flocked around Valerie and exchanged whispers like fury, probably asking her about her "condition". The boys took the cue and congregated amongst themselves, engaging in loud, boisterous dinner talk.
Edmund had to smile and shrug faintly each time a question from the girls made Valerie blush and glance at him for help. He only knew so much, when his father had taken him aside at the age of eleven and explained the "basic facts of life" to him. Of course, it had been heavily biased towards the male angle, so there was only some mention of what the ladies go through. He made a mental note to fix a date in order to rearrange the sleeping arrangements of the children. Separate bedrooms were needed now, that's for sure.
As he helped himself to more bread, musing over the plan, Edmund thought, "Well, thank goodness I won't have to go through 'The Talk' four more times."
- To Be Continued -