(no subject)
Mocha #29. When All Else Fails with Hot Fudge
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1260
Word Count : 1805
Yay for major plottiness, something I don't do nearly enough of. Some of the events leading up to Kairn & Shasa's departure.
“I’ve got your things.” Kairn was shoving a pair of knapsacks in front of her, stuffed to the point that their buckles barely shut. “I tried to pick clothes that were loose, so they’d last,” he went on, oblivious to her open mouthed stare. “And there’s a bit of food. But I figure we’ll be able to manage that along the way, anyway.”
“Kairn,” she said slowly.
“I think it might be best to go west,” he said, still ignorant. “If we have to leave the country, it’s safer than heading north.”
“Kairn.”
“It should be what?” he said, with a frown at her middle. “About the end of autumn? We could be settled somewhere by then.”
“Kairn, I’m not going.”
Eyes still on her belly as if the thing were about to swell right before them, he scratched at his head. “What we’ll do after he’s born, I don’t know. I mean, the world, Shas. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Are you listening?” said Shasa.
Kairn snapped upright, blinked at her a few times, and had another go at his scalp. “Hmm?”
“I said I’m not going.”
The frown deepened. The knapsacks hit the floor. “We’ve been over this, Shas.”
“And Sethan can take better care of me than you can.”
“If Sethan cared about you,” She tensed. He met her eyes a moment, then shook his head. “Sethan wants a baby,” he said, a finger aimed at her middle. “A dead baby. Berwyk wants a dead you.”
Staring at his hand, Shasa swallowed hard. “Sethan won’t let him.” It came out with far less force than she’d intended.
He shook his head again, and the look that met her now was utterly patronizing. “He’s not a god, you know.” Shasa bit her lip. “Berwyk does what he wants. I’m surprised he doesn’t have his hands on you yet. I’ll bet Reida’s sharpening her knives already.”
Shasa glared at the knapsacks piled at her feet. She folded her arms across her chest. Sethan wouldn’t let them touch her. It was Reida that did Sethan’s bidding, not the other way around. And Berwyk was never anything but kind. The sweet little grandfather of a man, want her dead? Ludicrous. It was just a baby. “I’m not going,” she said again.
Kairn hefted one of the sacks from the floor, quickly threaded his arm through a strap, and to her surprise said, “Fine then. Stay here and get yourself killed. I’m going.”
Her jaw fell again. “What for?”
“I’m not watching it happen.” He shrugged the pack into place. “I love you, Shas. And I’ll do what I can to save you, but I can’t protect you from yourself.”
“I…” What more was there to say? His jaw was set, his knuckles tight over the strap that hung around his shoulder, but he wasn’t turning for the door. He was waiting for her to cave, threatening her into a choice. “Fine. Go, then.” Her eyes fell to the bag, full of her clothes. She gave it a kick and it rolled over with a soft whump.
He did turn then, and her fingers curled tighter around her arms and tears stung her eyes. “I’ll wait for you,” he said. “Out by the laundry.” His voice was breaking. Not daring to look up, she dug harder at her arms. “You can pretend you have work, and we could just slip away.”
“Just go.”
“I’ll be there until sunset,” he called.
Her shoulders heaved as the door shut behind him. Another kick to the bag, this one violent, sent it sailing into the side wall. It was just a baby. A baby couldn’t really end the world. Sethan didn’t believe any of that nonsense. Or maybe he just loved her too much to care. Either way he’d know what to do. But Kairn…Kairn was always there. And now he was gone. She shook her head. He’d sit there under the sheets, with his knapsack on, wait until night, give up and come home. He’d never go without her. No need to chase him, it was Sethan she needed to find.
“Idiot.”
Kairn twitched. He swung his head around to find Reida behind him, one foot already up on the fence. Turning with a frown to the knapsack in his lap, he went back to plucking at the grass.
“What do you want?”
There was a groan from the fence as she hoisted herself over it. “Where’s your sister?”
Kairn tossed a few severed blades of green to the ground. “How should I know? Apparently I’m not her keeper.”
She made her way to him, heavy boots trodding the swath of grass between the clotheslines. “Idiot,” she said again as she settled beside him.
He stopped his prodding of the grass, turned to look at her. Dark eyes glared back. There was no sign of the grin he’d expect, no triumph. “You won,” he said.
“You know, I expected more from you.” Her eyes fell to the ground and she dragged a hand in a lazy arc through the grass.
“You won.” Perhaps it hadn’t sunk in. “She doesn’t want to go. She has this idiotic notion that Sethan wants to take care of her.”
“Oh, he’ll take care of her alright.” Now there was that grin, all teeth and venom. Kairn shook his head and shifted away from her. The back of a hand met his knee. “Stop being such a little girl about it.”
“Huh?”
“Throw her over your shoulder, drag her kicking and screaming. It’s what I would do.”
“Huh?” He was staring at her, open mouthed, trying to determine just what her aim was.
“Of course,” said Reida, “I’ve got more balls than you ever will.”
Still gaping at her, Kairn was having a bit of difficulty remembering how to get his jaw to work. “You…you want us to run?” he said at last.
Her lips twisted into a grimace and she balled her fist in the grass. “I want to cut that brat out of her now.” She gave the grass a violent twist and pulled a clump of it from its roots. “I want him never to have laid a hand on her.” She tossed the handful of crumpled stalks away. “I’ll settle for not having to watch her carry it for the next eight months while he goes prancing about, all proud that he’s outdone the gods by taking your dimwit sister to bed.”
“I-”
She turned her scowl on him. “Just go, alright? You can get out the front gate tonight. I’ll make sure everyone’s at the back.”
“But-”
She tore another clump from the lawn. “What more do you want me to do? Pack a few more bags for you?”
“Reida…” It was a trap. It had to be a trap.
Reida threw the grass down on top of the first clump. “It’s not a trap,” she said. “Besides, what choice have you got?”
There wasn’t really an answer he could give to that.
She shook her head and shoved herself to her feet. There came a forceful thump across his shoulders as she turned away. “Hurry up and grow some, would you? Tonight. The front door. Or you’ll be doing it without me.”
The twit was dusting in the library. Berwyk’s library. Reida put a hand to her temple and shook her head. The girl jumped when the door shut, the duster flying out of her hand to twirl through the air and fall back into her palm. Clutching at it, shaking, she looked to Reida.
“Well, well, well,” said Reida, in the most silken, menacing tone she could manage, the sort she typically reserved for Kairn. “What have we here?”
“R-Reida?” said Shasa, still fumbling with her hold on the duster.
Reida clucked her tongue as she closed in on the girl. “Working?” she said. “You shouldn’t be working, my dear.”
“I…But…” She turned the duster over slowly.
“You,” she clapped a hand on her shoulder, felt her go rigid, “should be resting. Precious cargo,” she added, with a point to her still flat belly that sent her blushing.
She stared dumbly at the finger aimed at her middle. “I can’t just sit about for the next eight months! I‘m not some invalid.”
“Oh,” said Reida, grip tightening on the girl‘s shoulder. “I don’t imagine it will be that long. A baby’s viable enough before term, and he only needs to breathe a few moments. I’d say six months. Seven, tops.”
There was a whimper, barely above a breath, as Shasa slipped out of Reida’s grasp. “But Sethan-”
“I’m sure he’ll come by to see you, dear.” She plucked the duster neatly from her hands. “After all, he’s put a lot of work into this little project, hasn’t he?” Shasa flinched. She patted her back. “Of course, it will be much easier for him to visit if you are where he expects to find you, now won’t it?”
Hands clutching at the empty air, the girl gave a wooden nod.
“Good.” Reida gave her another pat. “Now, be a good girl and run along to your room.”
Another stiff nod and she was shuffling towards the door. Reida sighed as it closed behind her and tossed the duster down on Berwyk’s desk.
He’d tried the kitchens, the pantry, the bathhouse, her room. Kairn was running out of options, standing in front of the one he feared the most, the door to his own room. Sethan’s room. She just might be there, but he might be with her. He turned the knob and pushed in the door.
There was Shasa, pale as a sheet, bulging knapsack hung over one shoulder. She spun to face him and her whole body slumped with one shuddering exhale. The words tumbled from both their mouths at once.
“Shasa, you’re coming with me.”
“I’m going with you.”
Kairn felt his own body fall into an odd mix of both tension and relief as he let the door fall shut behind him. Shasa staggered the few short steps between them, stiffly, like one walking in a dream. She caught his hands in hers and stared up at him, wide eyed and shaking.
“I went to the laundry and you were gone. You said sunset. But you were gone!” There were tears welling in her eyes and her fingers clutched at him.
He squeezed her hand back. “I realized I was a fool.”
Shasa shook her head. “I’m the fool.”
The doorknob rattled. They both froze. Shasa’s eyes darted about the room like a rabbit looking for a hole. Kairn lunged for the wardrobe. He threw open a door, shoved Shasa and the bags inside, slammed it shut even as she squealed a protest, and set his back against the wood.
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1260
Word Count : 1805
Yay for major plottiness, something I don't do nearly enough of. Some of the events leading up to Kairn & Shasa's departure.
“I’ve got your things.” Kairn was shoving a pair of knapsacks in front of her, stuffed to the point that their buckles barely shut. “I tried to pick clothes that were loose, so they’d last,” he went on, oblivious to her open mouthed stare. “And there’s a bit of food. But I figure we’ll be able to manage that along the way, anyway.”
“Kairn,” she said slowly.
“I think it might be best to go west,” he said, still ignorant. “If we have to leave the country, it’s safer than heading north.”
“Kairn.”
“It should be what?” he said, with a frown at her middle. “About the end of autumn? We could be settled somewhere by then.”
“Kairn, I’m not going.”
Eyes still on her belly as if the thing were about to swell right before them, he scratched at his head. “What we’ll do after he’s born, I don’t know. I mean, the world, Shas. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Are you listening?” said Shasa.
Kairn snapped upright, blinked at her a few times, and had another go at his scalp. “Hmm?”
“I said I’m not going.”
The frown deepened. The knapsacks hit the floor. “We’ve been over this, Shas.”
“And Sethan can take better care of me than you can.”
“If Sethan cared about you,” She tensed. He met her eyes a moment, then shook his head. “Sethan wants a baby,” he said, a finger aimed at her middle. “A dead baby. Berwyk wants a dead you.”
Staring at his hand, Shasa swallowed hard. “Sethan won’t let him.” It came out with far less force than she’d intended.
He shook his head again, and the look that met her now was utterly patronizing. “He’s not a god, you know.” Shasa bit her lip. “Berwyk does what he wants. I’m surprised he doesn’t have his hands on you yet. I’ll bet Reida’s sharpening her knives already.”
Shasa glared at the knapsacks piled at her feet. She folded her arms across her chest. Sethan wouldn’t let them touch her. It was Reida that did Sethan’s bidding, not the other way around. And Berwyk was never anything but kind. The sweet little grandfather of a man, want her dead? Ludicrous. It was just a baby. “I’m not going,” she said again.
Kairn hefted one of the sacks from the floor, quickly threaded his arm through a strap, and to her surprise said, “Fine then. Stay here and get yourself killed. I’m going.”
Her jaw fell again. “What for?”
“I’m not watching it happen.” He shrugged the pack into place. “I love you, Shas. And I’ll do what I can to save you, but I can’t protect you from yourself.”
“I…” What more was there to say? His jaw was set, his knuckles tight over the strap that hung around his shoulder, but he wasn’t turning for the door. He was waiting for her to cave, threatening her into a choice. “Fine. Go, then.” Her eyes fell to the bag, full of her clothes. She gave it a kick and it rolled over with a soft whump.
He did turn then, and her fingers curled tighter around her arms and tears stung her eyes. “I’ll wait for you,” he said. “Out by the laundry.” His voice was breaking. Not daring to look up, she dug harder at her arms. “You can pretend you have work, and we could just slip away.”
“Just go.”
“I’ll be there until sunset,” he called.
Her shoulders heaved as the door shut behind him. Another kick to the bag, this one violent, sent it sailing into the side wall. It was just a baby. A baby couldn’t really end the world. Sethan didn’t believe any of that nonsense. Or maybe he just loved her too much to care. Either way he’d know what to do. But Kairn…Kairn was always there. And now he was gone. She shook her head. He’d sit there under the sheets, with his knapsack on, wait until night, give up and come home. He’d never go without her. No need to chase him, it was Sethan she needed to find.
“Idiot.”
Kairn twitched. He swung his head around to find Reida behind him, one foot already up on the fence. Turning with a frown to the knapsack in his lap, he went back to plucking at the grass.
“What do you want?”
There was a groan from the fence as she hoisted herself over it. “Where’s your sister?”
Kairn tossed a few severed blades of green to the ground. “How should I know? Apparently I’m not her keeper.”
She made her way to him, heavy boots trodding the swath of grass between the clotheslines. “Idiot,” she said again as she settled beside him.
He stopped his prodding of the grass, turned to look at her. Dark eyes glared back. There was no sign of the grin he’d expect, no triumph. “You won,” he said.
“You know, I expected more from you.” Her eyes fell to the ground and she dragged a hand in a lazy arc through the grass.
“You won.” Perhaps it hadn’t sunk in. “She doesn’t want to go. She has this idiotic notion that Sethan wants to take care of her.”
“Oh, he’ll take care of her alright.” Now there was that grin, all teeth and venom. Kairn shook his head and shifted away from her. The back of a hand met his knee. “Stop being such a little girl about it.”
“Huh?”
“Throw her over your shoulder, drag her kicking and screaming. It’s what I would do.”
“Huh?” He was staring at her, open mouthed, trying to determine just what her aim was.
“Of course,” said Reida, “I’ve got more balls than you ever will.”
Still gaping at her, Kairn was having a bit of difficulty remembering how to get his jaw to work. “You…you want us to run?” he said at last.
Her lips twisted into a grimace and she balled her fist in the grass. “I want to cut that brat out of her now.” She gave the grass a violent twist and pulled a clump of it from its roots. “I want him never to have laid a hand on her.” She tossed the handful of crumpled stalks away. “I’ll settle for not having to watch her carry it for the next eight months while he goes prancing about, all proud that he’s outdone the gods by taking your dimwit sister to bed.”
“I-”
She turned her scowl on him. “Just go, alright? You can get out the front gate tonight. I’ll make sure everyone’s at the back.”
“But-”
She tore another clump from the lawn. “What more do you want me to do? Pack a few more bags for you?”
“Reida…” It was a trap. It had to be a trap.
Reida threw the grass down on top of the first clump. “It’s not a trap,” she said. “Besides, what choice have you got?”
There wasn’t really an answer he could give to that.
She shook her head and shoved herself to her feet. There came a forceful thump across his shoulders as she turned away. “Hurry up and grow some, would you? Tonight. The front door. Or you’ll be doing it without me.”
The twit was dusting in the library. Berwyk’s library. Reida put a hand to her temple and shook her head. The girl jumped when the door shut, the duster flying out of her hand to twirl through the air and fall back into her palm. Clutching at it, shaking, she looked to Reida.
“Well, well, well,” said Reida, in the most silken, menacing tone she could manage, the sort she typically reserved for Kairn. “What have we here?”
“R-Reida?” said Shasa, still fumbling with her hold on the duster.
Reida clucked her tongue as she closed in on the girl. “Working?” she said. “You shouldn’t be working, my dear.”
“I…But…” She turned the duster over slowly.
“You,” she clapped a hand on her shoulder, felt her go rigid, “should be resting. Precious cargo,” she added, with a point to her still flat belly that sent her blushing.
She stared dumbly at the finger aimed at her middle. “I can’t just sit about for the next eight months! I‘m not some invalid.”
“Oh,” said Reida, grip tightening on the girl‘s shoulder. “I don’t imagine it will be that long. A baby’s viable enough before term, and he only needs to breathe a few moments. I’d say six months. Seven, tops.”
There was a whimper, barely above a breath, as Shasa slipped out of Reida’s grasp. “But Sethan-”
“I’m sure he’ll come by to see you, dear.” She plucked the duster neatly from her hands. “After all, he’s put a lot of work into this little project, hasn’t he?” Shasa flinched. She patted her back. “Of course, it will be much easier for him to visit if you are where he expects to find you, now won’t it?”
Hands clutching at the empty air, the girl gave a wooden nod.
“Good.” Reida gave her another pat. “Now, be a good girl and run along to your room.”
Another stiff nod and she was shuffling towards the door. Reida sighed as it closed behind her and tossed the duster down on Berwyk’s desk.
He’d tried the kitchens, the pantry, the bathhouse, her room. Kairn was running out of options, standing in front of the one he feared the most, the door to his own room. Sethan’s room. She just might be there, but he might be with her. He turned the knob and pushed in the door.
There was Shasa, pale as a sheet, bulging knapsack hung over one shoulder. She spun to face him and her whole body slumped with one shuddering exhale. The words tumbled from both their mouths at once.
“Shasa, you’re coming with me.”
“I’m going with you.”
Kairn felt his own body fall into an odd mix of both tension and relief as he let the door fall shut behind him. Shasa staggered the few short steps between them, stiffly, like one walking in a dream. She caught his hands in hers and stared up at him, wide eyed and shaking.
“I went to the laundry and you were gone. You said sunset. But you were gone!” There were tears welling in her eyes and her fingers clutched at him.
He squeezed her hand back. “I realized I was a fool.”
Shasa shook her head. “I’m the fool.”
The doorknob rattled. They both froze. Shasa’s eyes darted about the room like a rabbit looking for a hole. Kairn lunged for the wardrobe. He threw open a door, shoved Shasa and the bags inside, slammed it shut even as she squealed a protest, and set his back against the wood.