• Welcome to The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz.
 

Recent

Welcome to The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz. Please login.

March 28, 2024, 05:37:58 PM

Login with username, password and session length
Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 27,486
  • Total Topics: 2,721
  • Online today: 180
  • Online ever: 930
  • (January 20, 2020, 11:58:07 AM)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 140
Total: 141
Laurna
Google

Latest Shout

*

DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Visionaries--Part Two--Chapter Six

Started by Evie, December 16, 2011, 09:22:13 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Evie

   Chapter Six

   Eddington Manor, a short distance from Concaradine
   August 22, 1136


   Lady Ædwige gave a glad cry as she recognized Sister Helena's approaching form, running to meet her.   A groom helped the magistra and her companion dismount, and Helena swept the black-swathed girl into a motherly embrace.

    "Oh, Magistra Helena, I'm so glad you were able to come!"  After a long moment, the younger woman extricated herself from the embrace, stepping back to greet her former classmate with a somewhat more distant smile, although it was evident that her joy at seeing her former teacher again overrode much of the displeasure she might have felt at seeing Helena's traveling companion.  She gave the other girl a coolly polite nod.   "And a good morning to you as well, Cass.  I trust your first journey beyond Rhemuth wasn't too arduous?"

   "Not at all," the draper's daughter assured the young noblewoman.  "It's rather difficult to overtax oneself on a barge, unless you're one of the watermen, of course.  I can't say I fancy coach travel as much, though."

   "In this heat, I daresay a coach would be stifling," Ædwige agreed.  "I'd have gone on horseback the short distance from Concaradine, though I suppose if you've never sat a horse, a coach would be preferable despite the summer heat.  You've never learned how to ride, have you, Cass?"

   "Not yet," Cass replied evenly.  "Not too many opportunities for a draper's daughter to learn such a skill.  I may look into it someday, though, if I have reason to think it might prove useful.  It can't be too hard, after all, if you've managed it neatly."

   "Look, Ædwige, I've brought you something," Helena said quickly to forestall an argument between the two maidens.  She lifted the wicker-lidded box out of the coach.  "Open it just a crack at first and have a peek inside."  Privately to Cass, she added via Mind-Speech, Dear, don't be so risible!  I'm sure Ædwige didn't mean anything slighting by her comment.  She's not quite herself right now, you know.

   I'm equally sure she did mean it, Magistra Helena,
Cass disagreed, and while I'll allow she's probably under a great strain these days with her husband's recent death, she's just as much herself as she ever was, sad to say.  But I promise I shan't let her goad me.  I'm sorry I lost my temper.  I did try to warn you that Ædwige and I don't get on very well.

   Child, that's hardly Rhemuth's greatest secret.

    Ædwige peered into the small box her former magistra set before her, her sky blue eyes going wide as she heard a plaintive mew come from within.  She laughed, opening the lid enough to reach inside and draw forth a black and white ball of fur.  "You've brought me a kitten!"  Delighted eyes turned up to smile at Helena.  "Oh, he's charming!  Or is it a she?"  She stroked the tiny cat, giggling as it began to sniff and lick at her fingers.

   "He's male, and I've been calling him 'Boots' for lack of a better name.  You see how he's got little white boots on all four paws?  But of course you can rename him whatever you wish.  He'll hardly mind, as long as he knows what name to answer to when you've a treat for him."

   Eddington's young widow laughed.  "He has boots and a bib as well, though I suppose 'Boots' makes for a more dignified name for a cat than 'Bib' or 'Bibby.'"  She cradled the kitten to her chest.  "Well, let's get you two settled in, shall we, and then I'll see what sort of victuals I can conjure up for us.  My man Henry can bring your travel chest up after he sees to your horses and driver."  She glanced at Cass.  "Have you one to bring up as well?"

   Cass shook her head, indicating the small bundle she carried.  "Just my travel sack.  I can manage without assistance."

    Lady Ædwige glanced briefly at the bundle.  "I daresay it's not too heavy," she agreed, her smile a shade too sweet.   

#

    The Lady of Eddington escorted her two guests to the bedchamber she'd had made ready for them as soon as Prince Nigel's messenger had conveyed word to her that Sister Helena would be in the area and that she and Cass hoped to stop by for a brief visit before continuing their journey to Llannedd.  She opened the chamber door before them and stepped back, allowing her visitors to enter first.

   A small but cozily appointed bedchamber awaited their view.  Helena stepped through the doorway, stripping off veil and wimple in quiet relief.   Ædwige giggled, following suit, discarding her black veils and setting them to one side as she drew out the long hairpins securing the gold tresses braided and loosely coiled at the nape of her neck.  "I know, veils are awful in the summer, aren't they?  And to think of how I used to look forward to dressing like a married lady rather than going bareheaded like a young girl."

   Cass raised a dark brow at her.  "I thought you weren't exactly looking forward to marriage," she asked, looking skeptical.  "You certainly seemed like a lamb being led to the slaughter about it when you left Rhemuth at the start of the new year."

   Cass! Helena reproved her student silently.  That's hardly tactful under the circumstances.  Remember, she could well have come around to enjoying her married state in the past few months with Sir Gilrae."

    Ædwige's gaze met Cass's, her expression cool.  "I never said it was the marriage I looked forward to, but you must admit, there are more advantages in being the lady of a manor than in being a mere maid, and that much any woman might well look forward to.  And some veil styles are quite lovely, even if they are abominably hot in August."

   "I suppose," Cass conceded, "though I'm glad enough to be able to do without one at present.  Jesú, it is hot, isn't it?  I can hardly wait for autumn to get here."  She set her bundle down on top of a nearby chest, looking around at her surroundings.  "This is a beautifully appointed chamber.  Did you furnish it yourself?"

   The young hostess looked mildly surprised at Cass's gracious words.  "Well...no, actually, I believe my lord husband's first wife did.  Though I quite like it also.  I really haven't had time to put my own stamp on the place yet."  She sighed.  "I suppose I'll get around to it eventually, but I'd really rather just put it all behind me at present and return to the Schola as soon as I'm able.  Perhaps once I'm done with my studies, I'll have time to see to it."

      "But...."  Cass looked slightly confused.  "Won't your husband's heir be taking over the manor now, or does he have other lands where he prefers to reside?"

   Helena turned her attention to the young widow, who blushed slightly.  "I'm with child.  So the question of inheritance is far from settled yet, you see.  If my child lives, he'll be the future Lord Eddington."

   "Oh, my dear!  Such happy news!  I didn't realize."  Helena beamed at her former pupil.  "How far along are you?"

    Ædwige shrugged, looking self-conscious.  "I don't know exactly.  I can feel the baby growing inside me, and I think he's a boy, but how early on can you sense that sort of thing?"

   "I'm really not sure."  Helena frowned thoughtfully.  "Sister Therese could probably tell you when you're due.  I imagine you haven't seen a midwife yet, if you don't know for certain already."

   The young widow shook her head.  "I informed Lord Robert's wife of my condition, of course—Lord Robert stood to be my husband's heir if he had died without issue—but anything can happen, especially in the early months."  She turned anxious eyes to her former teacher.  "I do wish I were in Rhemuth already, where I could have access to the best Healers and midwives.  Fortunately Lady Miranda—that's Lord Robert's lady—has offered to introduce me to her midwife.  I'm just not sure...."  She bit her lip, looking worried.  "I'm sure she means well, it's just...her husband does stand to inherit Eddington Manor if anything goes wrong with the birth...."

   "Oh, child, surely you're not worried she'd wish harm to you or the babe?" Helena asked, realization beginning to dawn.  "Is that what you fear?  Has she done or said aught to make you believe she'd willfully give you over into the wrong hands?"

    Ædwige shrugged again, looking forlorn.  "Oh, I'm sure it's just some silly overwrought fancy!  It's just...."  Tears sprang to her eyes.  "I know I've been here for half of a year already, but I still hardly know anyone outside my own household, and it just doesn't feel like home yet."

   Helena drew the girl into her arms.  "Well, there's a solution for that.  Once you've got matters settled enough here to leave in your steward's charge, come back home to the Schola.  As Bishop Duncan told you back at Christmastide, he'll gladly make a place for you, even if you have to start the new term a little bit late."

#

   The lady of the manor had a light repast brought up to the guest chamber.  Once everyone had eaten and felt refreshed, they re-donned their headgear in preparation for going back outside.   "I'll give you a tour of the grounds, such as they are," Ædwige said.  "The manor isn't very large, but I think it's rather picturesque.  And I have a few matters of business I need to tend to with our...with my steward that I suppose really shouldn't be put off any longer—some matter to do with repairs needing done on the stonework in the Eddington family crypt--but I can see to all that while you wander, if you'd like, or if the day grows too hot you are welcome to return to the manor without me.  Or you can come with me, if you like, though I'm not sure a crypt is the most inviting place to sit in wait for my business to be ended."  She wrinkled her pert nose, grimacing slightly.  "I do hope Gilrae's not too far gone yet in this heat," she mused.  "Perhaps I can convince Martin to wait until the cool of the evening before he drags me back out there to inspect the stonework."

   Cass raised a dark brow slightly, but said nothing in reply to her former classmate's offhanded comment regarding her late husband's undoubtedly decomposing corpse.  Helena pushed her plate away, the last vestiges of her earlier appetite departing altogether.

   Ædwige scooped up the exploring kitten to bring along with them as they toured the grounds.  The two visitors set forth along with the young widow, following Ædwige's lead downstairs and through the Hall into the courtyard beyond.  There, their hostess proudly showed off her small yet well-tended garden.  "It was ill-tended when I first arrived here," she told them, "and of course most of the growth had died off during the winter cold, but as soon as the ground thawed I began ordering and planting fresh herbs to restock it.  Sister Therese would be proud; I attended to her lessons well, don't you think?"

   Helena surveyed the beds, pleased by their layout, which was both practical and appealing to the eye, as well as by the herbs Ædwige had selected to plant in them.  'Yes, it looks like you've got all of the basics here, or at least those that will grow and thrive in this climate.  Sister Therese would be quite proud indeed."

   "That's what I was trying for, having as many of the basics as I could stuff into such a small plot without it ending up looking like a disorderly hodge-podge," Ædwige noted.  "Too bad it's likely to grow over with weeds again as soon as I'm gone.  Gilrae had a gardener—some cotter from the village below—but the woman was hopeless, and I've yet to find another one to take charge of the garden while I'm away at Schola.  I suppose I could bring the matter up to Martin today while we're going over the day's business."  She giggled as she retrieved little Boots from the wallow he was making under a clump of catnip and pointed to the stables, where newly cut stone at one end of the building proclaimed its recent addition.  "I had Gilrae add on to the stables as well.  Papa gave me a palfrey for my wedding present, but there was no decent stall to keep her in, so he had that section added on just for my Celestia."  She beamed.  "I can show her to you if you'd like...unless Cass is afraid of horses?"

   Cass snorted.  "Not particularly.  I'm sure your Celestia is quite lovely.  She'd hardly be otherwise, if your dear Papa gave her to you for a wedding gift."

   Ædwige glanced at her suspiciously as if wondering whether there were some hidden barb in Cass's words, but at Cass's bland expression she shrugged, deciding to take the other girl's words at face value.  "Oh, she is.  She's a beautiful dappled gray, and cost Papa a great deal.  I just couldn't stick her in some stall hardly fit for use as a tool shed!  Fortunately Gilrae was sensible enough to understand and do something about it."

   He was sensible enough to grasp that Ædwige would pitch holy hell if she didn't get her way,
Cass observed sourly, if silently, to Helena. Spoiled rich bitch.

   Helena gave the draper's daughter a mildly reproving glance.  Ædwige is rather spoiled, I'll grant, but she's the only child of doting parents.  I'm sure she'll outgrow it in good time.

   I was an only child also, Cass grumbled via Mind-Speech.  But if I'd put on airs like Ædwige does, my Ma would have tanned my hide!  Not that I had much to put on airs about, but still, you'd think Ædwige's family would have realized they'd have to send her out into the world sometime, and that not everyone is going to treat her like she's some pampered little princess.  Even the King's daughters aren't allowed to act so uppity, nor is Briony Morgan, for all she's a Duke's daughter!

#

   While Ædwige conducted her business with her steward, Sister Helena and Cass continued to wander the grounds of Eddington Manor.  Their path took them past a small grotto built just outside the entrance of the family mausoleum.  The magistra and scholar stopped there briefly to visit the grotto's shrine, offering up their prayers for the departed soul of Sir Gilrae of Eddington.  Nearby, they heard voices--one a low masculine rumble, the other slightly raised.  They recognized the second voice as Ædwige's, although both were just beyond the range within which a bystander might easily make out their conversation.

   They continued on, crossing over to the stables which, to Helena's eyes, looked small and no fancier than need be for their intended purpose but quite well-maintained and serviceable nonetheless, their hostess's complaints notwithstanding.

   Cass's ice blue eyes flitted from sight to sight, drinking in their surroundings.  "Did you grow up on a manor like this?" she asked Helena.

   "Oh, hardly," the magistra said with a smile.  "No, I'm mostly city bred, like yourself.  I spent my younger years in Pwyllheli for the most part, although my father has a house a day's ride outside the city as well for those times when he needed a  quiet retreat from his business ventures and the clamor and bustle of life in the capital.  And as a merchant in the shipping trade, he sometimes kept various rooms in other port cities as well, but we rarely accompanied him on his travels.  Only on occasion, for brief visits to Concaradine or Desse perhaps, and of course there was my trip to Joux once I was ready to leave home and enter my great-aunt's household to finish my Deryni education."

   Cass looked surprised.  "I thought you studied at the Schola before you started teaching there?"

   "Oh, I did.  But only some advanced studies; I'd already been taught the basics years earlier."

   The maiden looked thoughtful.  "So why Joux?  Couldn't your father find someone closer to home to teach you?"

   Helena smiled.  "Oh, I suppose he could have; Deryni aren't plentiful in Llannedd, but they can be found, if one looks in the right places.  My mother was Jouvian, though, and she wished me to spend some time in the land of her birth, so I could get to know her side of the family."

   The intent ice-blue eyes turned to face her.  "Were you close, you and your mother?"

   "Very.  And I'm quite close to my father as well."

   A slight shadow crossed the girl's face.  "My mother's a right queer sort; I can't say I really know what that's like, growing up feeling close to her, although I suppose she cares for me well enough in her own way, as I care for her.  And our relationship has improved somewhat in recent years.  As for my father...well, he died a while back."  Her expression grew shuttered, not inviting any questions, so Helena didn't ask any.  She simply nodded in acceptance of the confidence her pupil had shared with her.  Coming from the normally quite reserved Cass Draper, it was a rare offering.

   "My mother died only a few years after I married," Helena said instead, "and I grew up with two brothers as well, though neither one survived to full adulthood.  My father has since remarried, so it's his new wife and her children you'll be meeting when we get to Plasnywedd, my family's home in Llannedd.  I've not met them yet either.  She was formerly married to my father's business partner, but he died a couple of years back, leaving her a widow with two young children to raise alone, so my father offered for her.  He's hoping for more sons to pass his mercantile interests on to someday, and there's also Marared's little lad to be raised in the trade as well."

   "And a step-daughter to dower also, I assume, since you say your father's new wife brought two children into the marriage with her," Cass observed.  "Or did her own father leave her provided for?"

   "I'm not sure," Helena said.  "I believe he left some sort of provision for his widow and both of his children, although of course if it was lacking in any way, my father will see to their needs as he's able."  She smiled.  "He's prosperous enough not to have any cause for worries over taking on an extra mouth or two."

   Cass was silent for a long moment.  "He sounds like a good man, then," she finally observed.

   "I'd like to think so."  Helena's smile turned into a grin.  "Then again, I might be just a bit biased.  He is my father, after all."  

   The girl shrugged.  "Most  any man can breed, magistra.  There's nothing about getting a child that makes a man any better than any other, though for your sake, I'm glad yours is a good sort."  She was silent a few moments longer, then added.  "I had a good stepfather as well.  Or at least he was as decent a sort as he knew how to be, and he kept a roof over my head and Ma's and taught me right from wrong.  I miss him."

   Helena absorbed this revelation, feeling honored by the level of trust it indicated, coming from the extremely private Cass Draper.  "Your stepfather died during the fever-flux epidemic a few  years back, did he not?"

   "Yes, magistra."

   Helena ventured cautiously.  "Do you remember your real father?"

   Cass's marginal openness towards the subject swiftly slammed shut.  "No, my lady."  Another momentary pause, followed by a quiet, "He's dead."

   The magistra glanced at her pupil, but Cass's grim expression didn't invite further questions.

#

   Ædwige was bored.  She dearly wished Martin would stop nattering on about repairs and stonecutters and all that rot so she could get back to her guests.  It was a delight to see Sister Helena again; she hadn't expected to see her favorite magistra again so soon.  It was a pity she'd brought that draper's upstart bastard with her, but then again, there were probably few female students left at the Schola during the summer months who would be free to provide the magistra with a suitable escort during her journey back to Llannedd.  Ædwige supposed Cass had nothing better to do, after all, unless she wanted to go back to selling woolen goods in her mother's shop for a few months while waiting for classes to resume, so she might as well make herself useful to Sister Helena in the meantime.

   She nodded at something Martin said about replacing the mortar, giving her consent to his suggestion—whatever it had been—before continuing her musings.  Perhaps she ought to have paid him more mind; it was clear even to her inexpert eyes that the Eddington family crypt was in a dire state of disrepair.  Even if that hadn't been clearly visible, she could hardly fail to note the faint odor of decay in the air, despite the closed door which should have sealed off the entombed bodies within altogether.   She hated to spare the expense for fixing it back up—it was only some musty old tomb, after all, and she hardly planned to be buried in it, not to mention there were far more exciting things she might be spending all that money on!—but if she didn't, Gilrae's remaining relatives would probably howl at her until she rectified the matter, so she might as well get it out of the way now so they'd leave her in peace.  She hardly envied whatever workmen Martin might procure to do the repairs, but thank Jesú she'd hopefully be long gone by the time they got around to doing the work.  She had already started closing off several rooms in the manor in preparation for her departure, and had begun packing her personal belongings.  If only Magistra Helena were heading back to Rhemuth right now rather than away from there to Llannedd, she'd have asked to join her company for a safe escort back to the Schola.  Oh well, all in due time.  Now that she had most of her late husband's immediate affairs sorted, and Martin to handle the rest, she had little reason to continue sticking around here much longer.  Not when there were her studies to return to.  And return she would, as soon as Bishop Duncan would allow.  This time, no one would be able to force her to leave.  She was mistress of her own household now and under no man's command.   Of all her solaces right now, that was her greatest.   Someday she looked forward to returning to Eddington Manor and making it completely her own, but at the moment it was just another unwelcome encumbrance preventing her from returning to her training as quickly as she'd like.  

   Not that she enjoyed scholarship for its own sake, of course.  Ædwige had to admit she wasn't really the bookish sort.  But oh, the joys of learning how to utilize her powers, of seeing all she was truly capable of once she learned how to harness the gifts that she'd been born with and put them to good use!  She was tired of being powerless, a pawn in her father's desire for upward mobility, bartered off into a marriage she never wanted in order to gain her family some nebulous advantage or another.  She'd had hopes of marrying far better than Sir Gilrae of Eddington.  

   Ah well.  At least the nasty old coot had left her reasonably well off.  She'd have enough dower to secure a better marriage for herself the next time around, unless her next suitor demanded a ridiculously high dowry.  Her marriage contract with Gilrae had seen to that.  And, of course, he'd left her well provided for in a different way as well.  Not in a way she'd hoped for originally, but now that she had a little time to get used to the idea, she realized that serving as an heir's regent would provide even more security than she would have had if she'd simply been left as a childless widow.  Her late husband's brother was under no legal obligation to provide her with a home, after all, even if it was generally considered the moral thing to do.  He could have sent her packing back to her father's house instead, had he inherited the manor outright, and Ædwige was still too miffed with Papa to consider returning there.   

   Her darling new kitten stumbled over a patch of uneven ground nearby, stumbling and nearly falling face-first into the dirt.  The young widow laughed, taking a few steps away from her steward to retrieve the feline.  The man's voice trailed away, and as she turned her head to look at him again, he looked slightly annoyed.

   "Oh, do go on, Martin, I'm listening."  Ædwige cradled the soft creature against her chest and forced herself to pay heed once more to the man's endless prattle.  
   
   
Chapter Seven:  http://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php?topic=801.0
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

AnnieUK

Ædwige seems a right cow!  I'm taking to Cass Draper a lot more and I'm not surprised she is reticent about her father, if I remember correctly who he was.

Evie

Oh, you probably do remember him.  Tall handsome man, black hair, ice-blue eyes, ever-so-moderately sociopathic, was never properly introduced to Cass's mother before he raped her and left her for dead, leaving her pregnant and mentally and emotionally scarred for life, or at least until Jashana Arilan managed to ease some of the psychic trauma?  Yeah, that's the git.

And yes, Lady Ædwige is proving to be a delight, the more I get to know her.  Though one might need to be a bit elastic in one's definition of "delight."   :D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

AnnieUK

Yup that was the chappy. Right charmer he was, eh? ;)

Evie

When he chose to be.  And in more ways than one.   ;)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

Amazing how Aedwige has gone from "poor little duck" to "spoiled rich bitch" in the space of one chapter!  Who'd have thought it.  ;)  I doubt her future will go quite the way she's hoping it will, though.

And Baron Walter was always my favourite candidate for a vat of boiling oil.

It would be interesting to see if someday Cass and Javana can come to some degree of reconcilliation.
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Evie

Quote from: Jerusha on December 16, 2011, 01:57:33 PM
Amazing how Aedwige has gone from "poor little duck" to "spoiled rich bitch" in the space of one chapter!  Who'd have thought it.  ;)  I doubt her future will go quite the way she's hoping it will, though.

LOL!  Well, it's all in the eye of the beholder, sometimes, and I'm sure Ædwige thus far has been more careful not to let her former magisters see certain sides of herself that others she has less regard or respect for, such as Cass, might have been more privy to all along.  She's perhaps a little less on guard at times in this scene, so Helena is starting to catch more of a true glimpse of the real Ædwige, but I'm sure there are others at the Schola who think she's a darling little angel and will be disillusioned if she should end up proving otherwise.   :)

Quote
And Baron Walter was always my favourite candidate for a vat of boiling oil.

Yes, I was on the verge of doing a "choose your own ending" and opening up the floor for everyone's lurid suggestions on the best way for him to die.  Y'all seemed so eager for him to shuffle off this mortal coil in as horrific a way as possible....  ;D

Quote
It would be interesting to see if someday Cass and Javana can come to some degree of reconcilliation.

That might be possible someday.  Javana isn't the sort who would tend to blame the victim, especially since she was a victim of Walter's crimes herself, so while meeting Cass might stir up memories for her that she'd prefer to avoid, she'd also realize that Cass was, in her own way, just as much a victim of her late husband as herself.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Elkhound

Aedwige strikes me as the sort who can be very charming when she wants to be.  I teach Middle School---I see girls like that every day.   Charming when they want to be, and vicious little shrews when crossed.

Evie

Lord have mercy, yes, not only are you right about Ædwige, but the middle school years are probably where you find some of the worst of those tendencies cropping up.  I did some classroom observations in middle schools while going after my secondary education degree, and I swear middle school girls practically savage each other and eat their dead afterwards!   ::)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Alkari

#9
QuoteAnd Baron Walter was always my favourite candidate for a vat of boiling oil.
Though I was rather pleased with his eventual ending!  Couldn't have happened to a nicer chap and all that ...

QuoteCharming when they want to be, and vicious little shrews when crossed.
Seems to describe Aedwige exactly.  I bet there have been some "interesting" moments in the Schola's dormitories with Cass and Aedwige :D

Somehow I am already feeling sorry for the unborn child. I suspect that self-centred Aedwige may find the practicalities of motherhood to be less than 'convenient' for her, especially if she is aiming to attract wealthy young noblemen and finds out that many of them don't especially wish to take on a stepchild.

derynifanatic64

Not Walter--NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!  Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water.  And he is about to become a grandfather?  I sincerely hope that child will be nothing like its grandpa!
We will never forget the events of 9-11!!  USA!! USA!!

Evie

#11
No, Walter isn't anywhere near getting a grandchild soon.  He's Cass's father,  not AEdwige's.  And don't worry, unlike Cass, AEdwige came from a loving, supportive, even indulgent family, who did their best to give her all the nicest things they could afford and to raise her into a sweet and biddable little lady.  So what could possibly go wrong? 

(*cackle!*)   ;D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Elkhound

Quote from: Evie on December 16, 2011, 03:24:09 PM
Lord have mercy, yes, not only are you right about Ædwige, but the middle school years are probably where you find some of the worst of those tendencies cropping up.  I did some classroom observations in middle schools while going after my secondary education degree, and I swear middle school girls practically savage each other and eat their dead afterwards!   ::)

They mostly grow out of it.  Unfortunately, I think we all know some grown women who are still like that.


Elkhound

Quote from: Alkari on December 16, 2011, 04:55:44 PM
Somehow I am already feeling sorry for the unborn child. I suspect that self-centred Aedwige may find the practicalities of motherhood to be less than 'convenient' for her, especially if she is aiming to attract wealthy young noblemen and finds out that many of them don't especially wish to take on a stepchild.

Let's hope Aedwige--sorry, I don't know how to do the ae combination--has the sense to find (or gets help in finding) a good nanny who can take care of the child while she goes about her 'business.'

Evie

Quote from: Elkhound on December 16, 2011, 08:19:09 PM
sorry, I don't know how to do the ae combination

In MS Word or Scrivener, I could tell you how to find it in the menu options, but here on the Forum I just cheat by copy/pasting the name from the posted story or a comment that has the Æ combination in it.   :D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!