Hope Falls

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 8:29

“Or maybe I did… and bringing Kael to the throne was my purpose.”

**BestNameEva** Tue 1 Oct - 9:37

"And what is mine? What was our purpose?"

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 9:56

“I wish I could write daily letters to them and get all the answers…”

**BestNameEva** Tue 1 Oct - 10:06

"Letters. Maybe - maybe you should write letters, for the girls, I mean. For Kael..." Aodhän swallowed.

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 10:13

“I will be doing, I have thought of it all already… I didn’t think you’d want to discuss it today.”

**BestNameEva** Tue 1 Oct - 10:22

"I don't want any of those to be happening, but, we - we don't know how long you'll be you. Nerissa rarely lost herself bur you - your mood swings the past few months."

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 10:23

“You think I do not have the years she did… You are thinking less?”

**BestNameEva** Tue 1 Oct - 10:28

"I don't know, I-" Aodhän swallowed. "I just don't know."

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 10:34

“We wait a few days and tell Kael we are taking a week to ourselves… and then we go from there.”

**BestNameEva** Tue 1 Oct - 10:40

Aodhän nodded, tightening his arms around her. "For now just sleep, mm."

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 10:42

Isolde nodded, curling herself around him and closing her eyes.

**BestNameEva** Tue 1 Oct - 10:46

Aodhän tightened his arms around her, closing his own eyes as he buried his face in her hair.

Phoenix Tue 1 Oct - 10:50

Isolde soon drifted off against his chest.

Phoenix Wed 2 Oct - 7:40

Three Weeks Later

Isolde made an oof noise as she instantly peeled herself away from Aodhän onto their bed the moment she saw it, sighing in relief as she sank back into the covers with a contented - but exhausted - sigh. Her eyes closing instantly with a yawn.

Daphne leaned over the cradle in the nursery, gently brushing her hand over her daughter’s cheek as she hummed softly, having been soothing her to sleep for the last twenty minutes or so. Finally letting the tune trail off and pulling her hand away with slow uncertainty that it wouldn’t wake Rhea as she withdrew the comfort.

**BestNameEva** Wed 2 Oct - 7:56

"As natural as breathing," Kael hummed softly, his arms draped loosely around Daphne's waist and leant down to rest his chin against her shoulder as he watched their daughter sleep. "You share the same expression, when you sleep. Your nose wrinkles like that."

"Straight into bed, as if you have missed being in these walls." Aodhän attempted to jest, the smile on his face not mirrored at all in his eyes as he watched her. "It was a hard journey back, next time horseback may be smoother. The path is too uneven for the carriages, not matter how cushioned."

"You must go to work," Avani reprimanded lightly, glancing up to Rauiri's reflection in the mirror. Stood in front, cinching the fabric of her dress to her stomach in search for a bump. "You have responsibilities now, have to set a good example to those men and turning up late is not going to do it."

"Daphne has a baby to fawn over, our little sister is running around making friends here and now you have a pen pal." Agatha tutted, tucking her dress beneath her as she sat down in front of the book shelf in Iskra's room. "I am being replaced by you all, it is terrible."

Inside Aoife's private quarters, behind guarded doors, books and papers were spewn across the room in disarray. Greens, violets and vibrant yellows marring walls where she had lost her temper on various occasions and thrown herbs and ointments against it. Currently she sat a window seat, knees tucked up to her chest so not even the fluffy feline beside her could nestle in her normal place on her lap.

Phoenix Wed 2 Oct - 8:13

“I will miss him most out of all of you when you leave.” Indira grinned as she sat on the floor with her nephew, the baby laying on a thick shawl as she’d spent the last hour playing games with him - Idris occasionally fiddling over with a toy or two for the boy.

“My main responsibility is to my wife and my child.” Ruairi grinned as he wrapped his arms around Avani from behind, hands instantly going to her abdomen as he swept his thumb across it. “You are my responsibility.”

“It would’ve taken us longer on horses, I wouldn’t have been able to keep upright half the time.” Isolde reminded as she kicked off her shoes. “But… the journey was worth it, for the time we got to spend together. I can’t recall us ever having time like that just the two of us for so, so long.”

“Do I? I don’t think I do.” Daphne grinned, desperate to stifle a soft laugh to avoid waking their baby. Turning against his chest to gently push him from the room as she pressed a finger to her lips before creeping out herself.

“You are not being replaced, you have spent plenty of time with the little one, as I have. And you’re happy that Via has friends too, it means she’s spending less time trying to braid your hair.” Iskra grinned as she looked up from the embroidery she was doing on a dress for their niece. “Methinks you’re enjoying something to complain about that’s not the brute our sister married. Have you heard the Baldruunians? They call them Tree Dwellers. Rather amusing.”

“Aoife?” Wyatt knocked against the door, having easily made the men guarding it move aside.

**BestNameEva** Wed 2 Oct - 8:29

"Mm?" Aoife hummed, lifting her head to rest her chin on her knees. Peering towards the door with a tired expression, "Come in, if you must."

"Tree dwellers, they are all too tall to be only 'dwellers'. They are trees themselves, or massive trunks." Agatha scoffed. "It is fitting though. They hate it, I watch their nostrils flare each time."

Kael stepped backwards, almost tripping several times on baby clothes that littered the floor. Snorting, instead of laughing, every time he had to catch himself. "We must sleep when baby sleeps, remember, my Queen." He whispered with a grin, "I need beauty sleep between our meetings,"

"And now qe go back to reality," Aodhän swallowed. "Now we need to start thinking about telling Kael, once I have checked in on the healers and seen if they have made any progress."

"Say that word again and I shall have to drag you into bed, you will have to reputation on all of that uniform." Avani hummed, echoing breathlessly as her head turned and body twisted to kiss his lips, "Your wife. It is as exciting to say as the day we got married."

"I swear I won't tell Zoya you said that," Ishaan laughed brightly, sat cross legged beside his sister, his finger gently curled around his sons hand. "He is a quiet baby, it is.. unexpected. Easy."

Phoenix Wed 2 Oct - 8:38

“Sleep sounds so good right now. I still do not think I have had more than three hours in one go since she got here… Always hungry.” Daphne nodded tiredly, taking his hand as she pulled him toward their own room.

“Mm… we have to burst his bubble of happiness… the bliss he has finally gotten to experience…”

“I came to see how you were doing. Surprised to find you still under guard.” Wyatt frowned as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“Easy for you as you are his father and not his mother or nanny?” Indira raised a teasing eyebrow. “I cannot recall any mention of either mother or father being so involved when we were this young. I think we were raised by nannies until we could dress ourselves mm?”

Ruairi shook his head in dismissal of her words as he pressed his lips to hers, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss.

“Little Rhea is big enough to be older than she is, it appears she’ll inherit her fathers side… but until she learns to understand the insult I am happy to keep using it.”

**BestNameEva** Wed 2 Oct - 8:53

"Their women are tall but at least the majority of them seem soft boned, not all sharp faced. That, with our sisters half of the genetics, I believe she will be beautiful. She won't have any problems in getting a husband."

Avani closed her eyes as she matched her, playing with his hair gently. Repeating through breathless affection, "You really need to go to work, it is a few hours. A few hours... then we can.. then.. keep going."

"The nannies are useful, mm. I don't want to be our father though, there should be a balance. I don't know if I have hit it." Ishaan frowned. "We weren't given what we needed as children. None of us were, it is why we are all so messy now."

"Still in mortal danger of being kidnapped," She drawled boredly, lifting her hand up to wipe at her face. "I want to climb the walls. Not being allowed out is suffocating."

"At least we he got a few weeks of it. He won't like us for it, but it was the right thing to do."

"She is growing, it takes a lot of food. I wish you'd eat more too though, to keep up with her. You aren't hungry enough at the moment, you will get ill."

Phoenix Wed 2 Oct - 9:06

“I eat what I can, eating much more makes me feel ill. I am fine, I doubt I will waste away - I got large enough when I was carrying her. It’ll do no harm to shrink.” Daphne assured, moving her hand to stifle a yawn.

“We couldn’t tarnish the birth of another child for him. With Idris he will always remember Bodhi… we couldn’t make Rhea’s birth associated with bad memories too. He needed the time.” Isolde nodded.

“She is to be Queen. She could be as ugly as her father and she’d still have suitors, lucky babe mm? Will do far better and be far quicker about it than us.”

“Mm… the only guests left here are Indira’s family. And yet I cannot get a straight answer if it is those whom are the threat to you.”

“Messy? I am not messy. I’m delightful actually.” Indira frowned as she picked up her nephew and settled him on her lap.

“I’d rather lose my job so we can spend all day energy day in bed together.” Ruairi kissed her forehead.

**BestNameEva** Wed 2 Oct - 9:22

Aoife smiled sadly, "Grab the tea leaves from the display cabinet in my bedroom, the ones we harvested all that time ago, I think it is finally the mkment to see if my theory of it tasting better after so much time is true." Slowly she uncurled herself, scratching the top of her pets head as she made her way over to the fire to place a pot of water atop of it to begin boiling.

"You aren't enjoying it?" She lifted her head so her nose brushed against the tip of his. "You could pull yourself away when you were a nobody as you would call it."

"To look at any of us and say we are not damaged is ridiculous, sister.' Ishaan frowned. "It isn't a crime to accept it."

"The lack of interest we have had is humiliating."

"We needed the time too, to process ourselves. When - when do we do it? How? Over a meal or..." Aodhän let out a breath. "Too many options, too many things to think of."

"You could be as well fed as Eira's pond fish and I would love you just the same. There is no need for you to drop any weight."

Phoenix Wed 2 Oct - 9:34

“We both know you’re too much of a gentleman to say anything otherwise.” Daphne chuckled, “I am fine, Kael, the healers are fine with it all. If I eat as much as you want I’ll end up feeling unwell. I’m okay.”

“I enjoy being with my family more. Appreciating my wife, more.”

“It would be if it were organic. You know that our sisters husband has everything to do with this. Our dowries are huge, the only way men would be turned off by that is the word of a King.”

“I haven’t had an episode in months. And I go longer in between each time… I don’t like being called damaged, Ishaan…” Indira frowned, smoothing the top of the baby’s head.

“No… not when there’s knives around for him to grip too tight to and hurt himself. We summon him here and we… we just tell him. We have Hawk present too. He will need the man - Daphne is too fragile to hold him up with the weight he will need.”

“Are you unwell, Aoife? Contagious? Is that the reason for all of this?”

**BestNameEva** Wed 2 Oct - 9:43

"I was talking about our Desperation to be loved, the one with all share. Our need to cling to anyone who shows us they care about us because we have never felt it before. That is what I meant, not your episodes."

"If a day with me is truly what you need, then have a messenger go to Luc so that someone knows. Say you are unwell, say I am unwell, similar to the excuses we had to make up when I first arrived here. You have to decide soon though, what you're doing."

"You believe he is tarnishing our name to prospective suitors?"

"Take one more spoonful of fruit with your breakfast each morning, that is all I am asking. Even if it is just to stop me from worrying." Kael laughed light heartedly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Please?"

"Tonight? Once you have rested..."

"The tea leaves, Wyatt." Aoife insisted softly, indicating in the direction of her room with a subtle wave.

Phoenix Wed 2 Oct - 10:01

Wyatt frowned, though did as she asked and headed to go get the leaves.

“Maybe I just won’t tell them at all. I don’t want to leave you both.”

“You don’t think he is? A wedding of hundreds, we are worth so much gold and we don’t get a single offer?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll try with more fruit.” Daphne assured as she kicked off the slippers she wore and moved to sit by his side.

“Tonight… tonight.” Isolde swallowed as she agreed. “Tonight for Kael and then… then we think about the girls. Mor, really. Eira barely understands when she gets sick herself.”

“Well… well I am loved now. I made it happen for myself. They tried to take it away from me and I didn’t give up. And now I have my son… You have yours…”

**BestNameEva** Wed 2 Oct - 10:10

Aoife reached up to take the small velvet bag from him when he returned with it, dropping the leaves into the boiling water. Scrunching her nose at the smell that emitted from the steam only moments later, "I am not ill, but Isolde is. The wasting has taken her... that is why I can not leave this room. I am not allowed to waste any energy on anything other than finding a cure, Aodhän's orders."

"There will need to be time between, Mor will need Kael." Aodhän breathed. "Kael will Nedd time to pull himself together before he can be anything for Mor."

"Mm, and he will have me. If Kiaan manages to keep his promise."

"Leave us? You act as if sending a message to your second is going out to a war you don't know if you'll return home from." Avani laughed. "To be a male must be infuriating when a baby is growing, mm? All that grandiose and need to protect."

Sponsored content

Hope Falls

Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls

Re: Hope Falls