Author's Notes: Written for the LJ community tammydrabbles, prompt #62 – specific prompt #2: "Two characters meet again after some time apart. One is feeling some sort of strong emotion, and the other is thoroughly oblivious of it."
"Laying Claim"
There was only one situation in which Miri stood to gain and cared little for what others lost.
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"You don't remember me, do you?"
Miri spared a glance from the girth strap she was tightening to look sideways at the woman. A rather lovely—if pale—face, delicate hands clasped tightly into the folds of her fine dress, artfully coiffed hair, and a surprising air of determination that wasn't holding up too well. She looked like a noblewoman, and one set on a confrontation that only now did she realize might have been a bad idea. Perhaps a stable wasn't where she had imagined the verbal duel to take place.
Miri wasn't about to disabuse her of that notion. She looked back to her saddle. "Am I supposed to remember you?"
From the corner of her eye she saw that perfect red mouth part as though affronted by a terrible insult. She considered feeling bad about being so rude, but she was also fast approaching the only reasonable conclusion as to why a lady would track her down to the Rider stables.
"I was," the lady paused, searching for the appropriate word, "…close to Ev—Commander Larse."
Ah, there it was, as expected. Miri didn't miss the slip.
"Many women were close to Commander Larse," she replied carelessly, giving the strap a solid tug that snapped loudly in the quiet stable, and took a little perverse delight in the lady's jump.
When she looked at the other woman, she saw that finely bred face fighting back—what? Anger? Tears? Miri saw it now, a face that blended in with the memory of so many others. Aged, perhaps, but hellfires, so had she and everyone else in the world.
When the lady spoke, it was strained. "He left me. He was mine once, and he left me. For you."
Miri felt her eyebrows rise and a sardonic smile crooked her mouth. She led her pony past the noblewoman, only pausing on her way out to inform her, "He was always mine."
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