Competition

Writers: Clancey, Paula
Date Posted: 21st December 2007

Characters: Felyna, Corowal
Description: Felyna visits Corowal trying to discover if she has any competition for his attention.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 7, day 2 of Turn 4

Felyna

For once, a frown marred her lovely face. There was no one nearby to correct her; no nurse clicking her tongue in disapproval, and so the frown stayed.

Felyna considered it her duty to keep her ears open for goings on in the Hold, and certainly before Vanea had taken over, she had often directed the kitchen help with meal preparations and so on. She was trained for that, after all. Most of the kitchen workers respected her, perhaps even liked her as she had a smile for them most of the time.

Because of that painstakingly created relationship, it was no surprise one of the girls had whispered to her of a large picnic lunch requested by 'the Lord Holder hisself'. When she had first heard this, she had been secretly thrilled. Surely he was planning on surprising her with a picnic!

But no.

A couple of sevendays later, she realized he had indeed gone on a picnic.
And it was _not_ with her.

But who?

There were very few other suitable - and single - ladies with which a Lord Holder could spend time. Who then? Surely not a drudge or a servant! Her frown returned, stronger than ever.

Well, she was going to find out. It was time she furthered her plans along anyway, with Corowal. She wanted to take her time, but not so long that he found another woman to marry in the meantime. And she knew she was far from the only woman in the Hold. Far from the only woman.

Taking a moment to smooth her appearance and her frown away, she stopped by the kitchen to gather a pitcher of klah and two mugs, and made her way to Corowal's office.

Shifting the tray, she knocked with her free hand. "Corowal?"

"Enter!" Corowal called absently. He was deep in studing the records before him and his brown's had pulled together with the concentration.
His auburn-tinted hair was all mussled. There was something in the records that didn't ring true but he just couldn't spot it. He wished that Ofelia were still alive. She had had a talent of catching discrepancies on one glance. She had been able to detect patterns when others just saw chaos.

Her voice was gentle, even persuasive, as she spied him bent over hides.
She could not confront him outright, as nothing had passed between them but a few candlemarks of .. interest. And that day in the storm. She shivered in memory a moment. That should have bound them together tightly.

But, despite that, he didn't seem to seek her out often or push beyond the bounds of proper behavior. It was troublesome at best. So she had no grounds to call him out for spending time with another woman, but she would find out who it had been. A smart woman knows and recognizes her competition. And she was _very_ smart.

"Corowal, you've been locked in here for candlemarks. The kitchen drudges say you've had nothing to drink or eat. Take a break with me for a moment?
Perhaps I can help you."

The tray was set down on a table away from his desk - no chance of spilling on all those hides and she poured him a mug. Hands cradled around it, she smiled warmly at him.

Corowal was startled to hear her voice. "Ah, Felyna, hi," he greeted and stretched. He glanced the clock in his office. "Man, is the clock really that much? I've lost the track of time," he apologized.

The smile faded; he did not seem all that pleased to see her. Perhaps she had misjudged her ability to capture him. A faint sigh echoed in her mind before she offered him the still warm klah mug. For someone everyone said would make a wonderful Lady Holder, she certainly failed to catch the interest of _any_ Lords, never mind the two she'd known at this Hold.

"You're very dedicated, my Lord. All the people notice, not just myself.
I believe they really are glad to have you as their Lord." The smile returned for a moment. "Besides, with such lovely women looking after you, perhaps you let the time pass on purpose, hoping one of us will come rescue you, no?" She was teasing him, but also trying to catch any information about _other_ ladies who busied themselves looking after Corowal.

"But I don't have anybody looking after me, that's why I bury myself to work," Corowal replied with a playful pout.

Felyna chuckled softly. "I doubt that, my Lord. I look after you as much as you'll allow, and I'm sure there are others. And if you've not noticed my looking after you, I'm doing a very poor job of it indeed."
She winked at him, in response to the pout.

Felyna sank to the chair across from him gracefully. "Im sure it has to be hard with all the children and losing your wife. Not just to care for them, but to have a partner, someone you can trust to help you. You're suddenly needing a great deal of care, or at least help, I would think." She paused, wondering if she should continue to be so honest.

Corowal nodded and felt a bang of guilt. He had been neglecting her.
He had been too engrossed with his attempts to get Erassa to his bed that he had forgotten Felyna. He was painfully aware that only way to get Felyna to his bed was to marry her. While Erassa was 'damaged goods' and unsuitable as a wife.

She watched him for a moment, but no names were forthcoming. The frown reappeared then smoothed by long practice, and she chewed her lower lip briefly as she thought of the next steps to take. She did like him, and she did worry about him. She loved taking care of him; her mother's raising showed in that at least. "Its alright, Corowal. I know things are very difficult for you. I just wanted you to know I'm here if you need anything, and your Hold seems to love you. The kitchen girls especially.." Her laughter was warm with the thought. "They're the ones who tattled to me you hadn't eaten, after all. " Her smile returned and she touched his hand briefly. "And you have a wetnurse for Wallia, yes? Erassa, isn't it? How are her services? The children seem happy enough, when I see them."

"The children like her and she takes good care of them, that's all I care about," Corowal replied. He leaned backwards and rolled his shoulders. That wasn't the complete truth but he wasn't yet close enough with Felyna to start confiding with her. Besides, the truth was actually something that any woman didn't want to hear.

Felyna peered curiously at him for a moment, then decided there was nothing to read into that statement. "If you're happy, Corowal, then so am I." Her smile was bright, sunny warm. She rose from her chair and moved around to rest a hand on his shoulder, feeling the tension there. "Just be sure you let me know if you need anything, my Lord.
I am here to help."

"You wouldn't know how to massage tense shoulders, do you?" Corowal asked. He also made a mental note to himself to not to ignore her so long time from now one.

Felyna actually blushed, suprised at the question. "I know how to do many things to ease your work, Corowal." A brief hint of what she might be like between the furs flashed in the glint in her eyes, though she wasn't even sure herself. "But are you sure.. I mean ..
what if someone comes in? And I would not want you to think me..forward." The blush remained, as if it was the most improper of activities. Even as she spoke, though, gentle hands were rolling across the muscles she could feel.

"What's wrong in massage when we have all our clothes on?" Corowal asked. He was quiet for a moment and then said quietly. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I'm not quite used to the tighter view of proper and improper at the Emerald Falls hold. Things were more relaxed at the Coral Bay. You might say loose moraled."

Felyna laughed aloud at his statement, the blush still present despite her efforts to erase it by will alone. "The fault is my raising, Corowal.
Overtrained, perhaps? I am not offended; I have often wished that I was other than I am - trained to be a Lady Holder - but I am not unhappy with my role in life, either. Tongues wag whether you will it or not in a Hold, as I know you are aware, and I simply have a care for both our reputations, another skill in which my mother trained me extensively from the time I could bat an eyelash at a boy." Which had been very young in her case.

"I've never been to Coral Bay. Perhaps I could visit there sometime; I must confess to a desire to see 'loose moraled' in action!" She teased him, and he would also feel the knots in his shoulders slowly disappearing under her skilled fingers. Along with embroidery, easing a man after a long day had been bred into her and her sister.

"Interesting idea," Corowal said thoughtfully.

It wasn't the only interesting idea in the room, Felyna thought absently, smiling all the while.

Last updated on the December 23rd 2007

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