The Mercy of Strangers
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th October 2005
Characters: Thalia
Description: Thalia worries about her future - and whether there _is_ a future for her at Garnet Valley - and does what she can to secure it
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 7, day 12 of Turn 3
Notes: Very late in sending due to my prolonged absence. Apologies to my coposters!
Thalia closed the door behind herself and rested her forehead against the wood. It was smooth with age and cool against her skin, and she traced the knots and silken grain with her fingertips. The air felt stale and the slightly spicy, masculine scent of her late husband was slowly being overtaken by the sweet smelling powdered skin of her baby. She and Aslian had all but barricaded themselves into the little room.
Aswic was gone... they had never been close, nor loving, but he had been kind to her. Tears pricked at her eyes and she bolted the door, then went to check on her baby. Aslian was asleep, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him. His fat cheeks were rosy and she ran a finger lightly across them before going to sit by the banked fire and stare moodily into the embers.
Aswic was dead, as was Auren. The latter she could summon up nothing more than a vague sense of loss - he had been a good Steward, but they had never gotten along. It was almost a relief not to have to see him glower at her for some trifling mistake or suggestion, or to sit in awkward silence while he ignored her at the dinner table. But Aswic... he _had_ been kind to her, if not exactly... interested.
**And what's going to happen to me now?**
She glanced again at the sleeping child and bit her lip. If only she could sleep the way he could... if only she didn't _know_! Her fate was in the hands of the Conclave now, and her gender denied her a voice among them. _Their_ fate was in the hands of the Conclave.
Aslian was the rightful heir to Garnet Valley, but the old Lords might try to put someone else in his place - a stranger, someone more amiable to them and their wishes. A pawn, someone being rewarded for a good deed, a younger son with 'promise'. Someone who would want to start their own Bloodline.
And what would become of them... she and Aslian? Aslian might be acknowledged by the Lords and a Lord Warder put in his place until he reached an age where he could rule on his own. Or he might be denied his birthright and cast from the Hold. And she herself... she'd already been sold once in marriage, but at least her _father_ had made the decision. Maybe the Conclave wouldn't care about her enough to try to marry her off at all. And what if they stripped Aslian of his birthright... She would be sent home to her father, widowed and with a small child, and her chances of marriage seriously diminished.
She would live as an old maid in her father's Hold, sewing mindlessly and chastising the younger Ladies in the solar, doing nothing for the rest of her life. **Although, how different is that from what I am doing now?**
Nothing. The fire popped and she frowned at it, then got up for her gitar. There was nothing she could do - the Lords would not be sympathetic, nor would they listen to a woman without a gold dragon.
And she was only twenty - her gender and her youth worked against her. **But maybe my youth will work for me... I am young enough to be an attractive wife for a new Lord, and I've proven that I'm fertile. Shards, I'm no better than a herdbeast. Maybe I _should_ go home.** Her gitar case was on top of the wardrobe, out of sight and out of the way of the clumsy drudges' hands. **Back to Eastern Point... better to be an old maid there where I'm cared for than to remain here and be alone.** She snuck another look at the sleeping baby and frowned.
No. She would not go home. Garnet Valley Hold _was_ her home now, perhaps not by choice, but the Hold belonged to her. She was Lady Holder, and her son was heir. Running home with her tail between her legs was out of the question; she could not deny Aslian his birthright - would not! The wild sweep of mountain and the cold winter winds that scoured a land brushed white with snow, the gems beneath the surface, the hard faces of the Holders who she governed... whether they liked her or not, she was Lady Holder. And it was about time that she started acting like one.
The carved wardrobe loomed over her, still filled with Aswic's things, as she replaced the gitar case on it's top. She opened its doors and withdrew a worn evening robe in deep red, embroidered with an aimless design around the cuffs and collar, and slipped it on over her dress. It had been Aswic's and was enormous on her - she had to roll the sleeves twice to find her hands inside them. It bolstered her courage as she took Aswic's place at his desk and withdrew a piece of creamy, thick paper embossed with Garnet Valley's official crest, and a gold pen and matching inkwell from the nook where they hid. The desk was dark wood and the varnish had worn off in places where generations of Lords of Garnet Valley had sat and worked, smiling as they read letters or assuming a serious expression as they penned late-night missives to their Holders and peers. She dipped the pen into the ink and began to write.
'To the Conclave of Lords...'
Last updated on the October 4th 2005