Not a Good Judge of Character Part 2

Writers: Ames, Eimi
Date Posted: 11th May 2013

Characters: Danrina, Canovan
Description: Canovan follows up and Danrina gets in a tricky situation.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 13, day 17 of Turn 6

Danrina

Danrina missed the help at her father's small Hold. She was fluffing
up the pillows on the little sofa, dusting with the rag she carried.
It was harder work than she'd imagined keeping up even her small
quarters. As she stood back and admired her work, she felt pride.
_She_ had done this. Made the room look nice, not some servant. While
the work was hard, she was proud to be doing it with her own two
hands. Things were so different here than they'd been at home.

Glancing around the room, she heaved a sigh. She hated to admit it but
she _did_ miss the company of her annoying siblings every now and
then. It was lonely being here all alone. It was hard to believe her
family had even _let_ her stay here all alone.

**Just goes to show what father really cares about, after all,** she'd
met a few other girls who'd come seeking husbands and what not, but
all were accompanied by family who stayed with them. She was glad her
brother hadn't stayed, but yet, shivering a bit, she recalled a few
encounters where she'd wished she hadn't been left completely alone to
fend for herself.

Almost as if on cue, there came a knock on the door. Canovan stood
outside, hair still dripping with rain. The rain had let up for a
spell, but he got caught in a cloud burst on his way up the hill.
Still, it was that very rain that he was sure would keep his little
friend indoors and make her easy to find.

Danrina turned, curious who might be paying her a visit. Perhaps it
was one of the other women coming with a new match prospect. She moved
and tugged on the door, a smile on her face that quickly froze into
place.

"Oh, hello," she said a bit cautiously. She'd had time to think over
their encounter and realized that the woman and children _had_ to be
his, which made him a creep in her mind. A man not so different from
the one her father wanted her to marry.

"I didn't actually expect to see you again," Danrina told him, trying
to be polite but not inviting.

"You didn't?" he asked, smiling his charming smile. "But I promised you
that ride! Did you think I'd forget?"

She blinked, giving him a confused look, "But I thought the woman and
child were with you?"

"They were," he laughed, thinking that it was only a trivial matter.
"But they're not here now. Listen, I'm soaked. Can I come in?"

She blinked, staring at him in confusion. "Um..." Danrina was still
staring at him incredulously. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

What? Was she playing hard to get now? Well, he liked that game, too!
"I'm soaked and it's pouring outside. Just let him dry off a little and
wait for a break in the rain. Wouldn't you feel bad if you're sending
me away led me to getting pneumonia and dying?" He chuckled, his eyes
sparkling and his smile bright. "Come on..."

"I..." Danrina was uncomfortable. She wished someone else were living
with her to help her right now. "I don't want you to get ill, but I
don't think that's such a good idea." However, she had relaxed her
stance at the door in her uncertainty. If he truly wanted to he could
enter and there would be little she could do to stop him. "Maybe I
could just get you a towel so you can dry off and then you can head
back?"

"Sure, sure," he nodded, seeming to give in.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Danrina held up her hand as if to remind
him to stay put as she turned, leaving the door open, and hurried back
into the area where she kept the towels. She rummaged around trying to
find one. All the while her heart beating loudly. Has she misjudged
this man? Perhaps he was unhappy in his marriage, but that didn't help
_her_. She wasn't _that_ kind of girl. She needed a man she could
marry, not one she could fool around with. Finally finding what she
sought she grabbed the towel and called out, "I've got one."

When she turned around, Canovan had slipped through the open door,
leaning back on it gently to shut it. "Thank you for taking the
trouble. That will do," he said with a triumphant smile.

With towel in hand she turned back to the front, heading towards the
door. Danrina froze. She blinked. "Um," she murmured, not sure what to
do now. She had been foolish to leave the door open. She realized that
now seeing as he was standing _inside_ her rooms, blocking the door
and any chance of escape. "Here, you can take the towel with you when
you go." She said, thrusting it at him, hoping he would leave at the
suggestion.

"Well, that would give me a good reason to come back," he said with a
brazen wink. "This is a nice room you have here. Perfect for a single
girl with no one to look after." Canovan began walking around the room
as he used the towel on his hair.

Danrina wasn't sure what to do now. She didn't like the way he kept
hinting at coming back and her being alone. She swallowed, chewing on
her bottom lip and for the first time since her arrival here, she
wished her brother _hadn't_ left.

"Nice view," he noted, looking out the window. Canovan set the towel on
the sill before starting on the ties to his soaked tunic. "I can see
why you picked this one." He pulled his tunic over his head and threw
it on a nearby chair.

"Um," Danrina flushed and looked towards the door. "What are you
doing? You can't stay here."

"Oh, I have no intentions to stay," he assured her, grabbing up the
towel and running it down his arms. "I'm just drying off. I'm soaked
to the _bone_. What?" he asked, noticing how she looked away. "Haven't
you seen a man with his shirt off before?"

"My brothers, yes," Danrina replied, wishing she knew how to get him to
leave.

"No other men?" he asked with an incredulous laugh. Canovan walked
towards her with a confident ease. "It's not like there's anything
_wrong_ with seeing a man without his shirt. Men here go shirtless all
the time down on the docks or out in the fields. I'm sure your brothers
don't look any different than me, do they?"

She didn't want to look, really she didn't, but she _was_ curious. He
was muscular and well built, but she'd never really _looked_ at her
brothers as anything more than her brothers. "No, not really, I
guess," she replied. Then taking a slight step back she added, "It's
really not proper for you to be in here with me alone, you know?" She
doubted that would help her cause, but she had to try something.

"Well, if it's not, it's too late now, isn't it." Canovan smiled to
take the seriousness out of his words. "We're not doing anything
improper, are we Danrina? We're just talking." He leaned his shoulder
against the wall next to the door.

She was nervous by all this, but she didn't know what else to do.
Maybe if she just talked to him for a few minutes, he _would_ leave
then.

"I guess we can talk for just alittle while," she replied, though she
hoped a good opportunity would come for _her_ to sneak away if need be
and get some help if things started going badly.

Canovan continued to run the towel over his neck and torso. "So what
_is_ going on between you and the Steward? I mean, you were alone with
him, and you didn't seem nervous at all. Is he your man?"

"My what?" Danrina asked, shock written on her face. "He was kind
enough to look out for me when I was here on my own for the first
time. Nothing more." She had no idea where Canovan had gotten the idea
there was something going on between them.

"Oh, trust me Danrina, _no_ man is that kind. He had to have wanted a
_little_ something from you in return. Why else was he trying so hard
to get you alone? Surely, you must have realized." He flipped the
towel over his shoulder and shoved his hands into his pockets as he
awaited his answer.

Danrina shook her head. "No, that isn't what I thought at all." Was
there some truth to what this man was saying? Was the Steward thinking
of other things as well? That was _not_ the impression she had gotten
that day. For the moment her danger with Canovan was momentarily
forgotten as she recalled the ride with Bryvin.

"Oh come on, you must have thought of it a _little_," he said, pulling
the towel off his shoulder and reaching out to set it on a nearby table.
Canovan returned to the same pose, but mysteriously closer to her than
he had been before, but he doubted she'd notice as flustered as she was
about the thought of the Steward's intentions.

"No, I swear, I never thought of it!" Danrina declared fervently. She
turned and looked at him sternly as if to emphasize her point. She
didn't like being challenged the way he was challenging her. "Trust me
I would have _known_ if something like that was happening!"

"Of course you would have." Canovan reached out to stroke her shoulder
soothingly. He took another small step closer, now completely blocking
the door, though his tone was of complete understanding and concern.
"It's just... how much experience with men have you actually _had_? I
mean, you must have fooled around a little here and there. You're a
beautiful young woman after all."

She blinked at him, feeling slightly confused that he was so close.
Now, how had _that_ happened? She tried to shift back, but there
really wasn't anywhere to go.

"No, I've not. My father and brothers made sure of that or else my
worth for marrying off would have been lost." She shook her shoulder
and looked him straight away. "I think it's time you _leave_." Danrina
had come to realize that she'd let this man worm his way into her
quarters and now he'd _touched_ her. She did _not_ like that _at all_.
She glared at him.

"Whoa!" He threw his hands up as if she was suddenly being unreasonable.
"What happened? We were talking all nice and friendly and suddenly you
treat me like a miscreant! What did I do?"

She'd had enough. "These are my quarters and I want you to leave. I'm
not interested in you and any of this," she gestured towards him and
the room, "stuff that seems to be going on. You've got the wrong idea
bout me mister." Danrina's spirit had returned. She used to be able to
get her siblings to lay off with her sharp words and fiery tongue. "It
doesn't matter what you did or didn't do. I want you to leave. Now."
She would have pushed past him, but he was basically blocking her in.

He leaned back, giving her enough space to not feel he was boxing her
in. "Without my shirt? What would people think if a shirtless man just
walked out of your quarters after you've had the door shut? What would
that do to your reputation?" Canovan looked over to where the shirt sat
on the back of the chair, silently encouraging her to retrieve it for
him.

Drat it, how had she gotten into this mess. He was right of course.
She moved passed him in a huff to gather his shirt and throw it at him
and force him to leave.

Better breeding stopped her from tossing the wet cloth back in his face,
though she would regret that. As he reached out to take the shirt with
one hand, he grabbed her wrist with the other and pulled her close to
him so he could lean in and press his lips to hers. "Thank you."

Danrina sputtered, trying to push him away. There was actual _fear_ in
her eyes now. She pushed harder against him.

"Get out! Now! Don't _ever_ touch me again!" She was yelling rather
loudly.

"Calm down or you'll have the whole Hold talking about you. You _know_
they'd be on my side, right? I mean, after all, you've been seen riding
with the Steward alone, you obviously told a married man where you live,
and here he is - shirtless inside your rooms. Doesn't look good for
you, does it. Now, do you really want to attract that kind of attention
to yourself?" He shook out his shirt and slipped one arm into an
uncomfortably wet sleeve after another.

She swallowed with difficulty, feeling rather trapped in the
situation. "Leave, now," she repeated, her voice a bit raspy from
tears she was trying not to shed. **What have I done? What do I do to
get out of this now?** "I don't want any trouble and you _know_ I
never invited you here for anything like this. _Please_ leave," her
voice broke a bit as the stress of the situation hit her full force.

He shook his head as he started buttoning his tunic back up. "You're
acting like I was trying to _force_ myself on you! I didn't."
Canovan's voice lowered as he looked her straight in the eye. "But I
_could_ have." He was not going to be leaving without what he came for,
so he would take satisfaction in the fear in her eyes. "I could throw
you down on the bed right now and it would be your word against mine.
And who are you? No one here knows you, nor cares for you. Me, I'm
surrounded by friends, by family, by those who would swear to the
quality of my character. They would know I would _never_ do such a
thing. But you... Who knows what you would do? Who knows how many men
you've seduced and corrupted? Don't ever think that they would believe
_you_ over me, my girl. Do you understand me?"

She gaped at him. Her face showing first shock and then anger. "You
loathsome _bastard_. I couldn't imagine being married to man like _you_,"
she spat. "I pity that woman and child who are forced to live with
you. Now get out of here before I go screaming that you _did_ force
yourself on me. Don't think I won't play such a card if need be. _GET
OUT_." She moved over to the door, grabbing the handle and yanked it
open.

The door hit in the back as she opened it, not even knocking him off
balance. Canovan had only to lean back against it and it would once
again close, with her trapped in the room with him. The thought flitted
across his mind. But he had to admit, he did like her spunk. It made
her all the more attractive. After pondering his options for a moment,
he took a step away from the door. "All right, if that is your
decision. Just remember, I could have called your bluff, but I didn't.
Next time, though..." He nodded towards the now open door. "You should
peak outside first and make sure the coast in clear."

Danrina hadn't even thought of that. Peeking her head out the door,
she noted that there was no one around.

"All clear, not go before some _does_ come," she was eager to get him
out of her rooms as soon as possible and try and put this whole
situation behind her. She hoped there would never _be_ a next time.

"Why don't you plan on saving me a dance at Turn's End, eh?" he said,
giving her a another wink before slipping past her into the hallway.
"Or I may just have to come and look for you again. Good afternoon,
Danrina."

Last updated on the May 16th 2013

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Not a Good Judge of Character Part 2