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kayteewritessteve · 5 years

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Love and War - 10/16

Description: In a harsh medieval world, you set out on a perilous quest that will lead you onto a forbidden land. A land ruled and controlled by a ruthless Warlord King, one who does not look favourably upon trespassers of any kind, and punishes all with an iron fist. You may not know exactly where this quest will end, but what you do know is you will forever be altered by it. And that knowledge alone is what truly terrifies you the most.

Catch up HERE.

Word Count: 4,860 ish.

Pairing: Medieval!Steve Rogers x Reader.

Rating: PG for now. May become 18+ later.

Warnings: Violence. Curse words. Mentions of fears and potentially brutal medieval tactics. Most likely more to come down the road. Please don’t let these warnings scare you too much, give the story a try before you judge it.

A/N: I sadly don’t own any of these characters. And no beta reader either, so I do proudly own all these errors and this story, so there’s that.

Finally!! Chapter 10 has arrived!! So sorry it took so long, lovelies. I haven’t had really any time this week to write. At all. Which is super sad. But anywho! I hope you enjoy!

You returned back to your room, the biggest smile you’ve ever had upon your lips. Nothing, not a single thing, could have wiped it from your face. You figured it would be a permanent fixture on you from then on.

You were entering your room, but you weren’t on your feet. No, you were currently clutched in the arms of the man you loved. The man you would from then on, spend your forever with, your eternity. The man you’d call your husband. Your Ari.

You glanced at the big beautiful man carrying you bridal style, finding his loving eyes were already upon you. “What are you thinking about, my moon?”

“Just how truly happy I am,” you kissed his cheek. “How excited I am to be yours, forever.”

“Mine,” he growled the word lowly, both possessively and yet so, so lovingly, as he nodded. The sound of his voice sent a pleasant chill down your spin, instantly. “And I am yours, for eternity.”

“Mine,” you attempted to growl back at him, playfully. But it was nothing in comparison to the way he’d said it. He chuckled and shook his head at your antics, which caused you to giggle at them as well.

He gently placed you down, atop your bed, and kissed your forehead. But then pulled back and you saw the frown now on his face, “I do not wish to leave you, my moon. But I must go inform my father of our new union. And I think it best if you not be there when I do.” He sighed, “he will not be pleased with me, but I will not allow him to take that anger out on you.”

You frowned back at him, “must you go right this second? Can’t you just stay with me for a little while, I won’t be able to sleep without you here.”

He glanced down at you, looking extremely torn. But after a moment he sighed deeply, “alright, I will stay until you are asleep. Then I will go speak to Athos, but I will be back once that is finished, and long before you wake.”

You nodded eagerly as you shuffled over, making room on the bed for his large frame. He climbed into it and wrapped his large arm around you, pulling your back flush against his hard chest. You wiggled into him more, trying to just wrap yourself entirely in him. As much as you could at least. “You promise to return before morning?”

“I do, my wife. I promise,” he said softly into your ear, kissing the side of your head. Him calling you his wife made your heart skip a beat, and your tummy so flips of joy. You almost liked the ‘wife’ nickname more than the ‘moon’ one. Almost. “I can not stay away from you for long. And now, I will never have to again.”

You sighed contently, wrapped in the arms of the man you’d just married, the man you loved more than anyone else. You drifted off to sleep quickly, eager for morning to come so you could wake up, happy and in his arms. So you could start your first day together, as husband and wife.

Your eyes snap open, as you abruptly sit up in your bed. Did you-did you really just dream that you’d married Alarick?! Your heart is pounding in your chest as your eyes scan the room. They glance over to the armchair, seeing Pietro still fast asleep upon it. Then you abruptly turn to glance down at the spot beside you on the bed, finding Wanda still asleep as well.

You sigh, and slowly lower yourself back down, to lay on the bed once again. But you aren’t tired anymore, your mind going a mile a minute about your dream. Were you-were you actually married? Oh Gods, if you were then where was your husband?! Where was this Ari? Had he searched for you, was he still searching for you?

Wanda begins to stir next to you, and you secretly hope she wakes up so you can tell her of your dream. Of all of them actually. You’ve been having so many since you arrived in this place. More in this last week, than in the entire last year combined. And you always told your siblings about them, the ones you could remember at least. Hoping that maybe they’d be able to help you piece them all together.

“You’re up early,” comes your sisters groggy, whispered voice.

“Yeah,” you sigh, turning your head to glance over at her. “I had another dream.”

“Oh,” she turns her head towards you, giving you her full attention. “What was this one about?”

“I’ve actually had a few since being here,” you turn to look up at the ceiling. “I think I might be married.”

“What?” She whisper yells, sitting fully up now. “How? When?” She pauses, her eyes going wide, “with who?!”

You giggle quietly, your sisters love of rattling off questions calming you just a little. Reminding you that your siblings are here, that you aren’t so alone in this place anymore. “I have been having dreams of different things, different people. I can never make out their faces, but I remember all the dreams so vividly.” You look up at her, “like they are memories. Like they actually happened.”

“Okay, start from the beginning,” she nods, laying back down beside you on her side with her arms tucked under her head. “Tell me everything, and don’t miss a single detail!”

You nod and then begin to tell her every dream you’ve had since being here. She stays quiet through all your recounts, only speaking up here and there to ask a question, or make a small comment. Pietro had woken up part way through, but had just stayed on the chair, quietly listening along as well.

So now you had just finished explaining the dream of returning to your room, supposedly directly after marrying this Alarick man.

“But you have no recollection of the actual wedding?” Pietro asks, finally speaking up for the first time since he awoke.

You shake your head, glancing towards him, “no. None whatsoever.”

“Do you think he is out there somewhere,” Wanda starts and you snap your eyes back to her. “Looking for you?”

You sigh, whispering, “I have no idea. But I think he might be—”

A knock on your bedroom door halts the conversation entirely. “Come in,” you say loudly so whoever it is will hear you.

The door opens and the three ladies enter the room, Peter close behind. “Good morning, Y/N and guests,” Peppers sweet voice causes you to smile. The three ladies nodding their heads to you, as Peter bows.

“Good morning, ladies and Peter,” you nod back. Wanda and Pietro saying a quick good morning to them all as well.

Peter steps forward a bit, “I am here to show Wanda and Pietro to their rooms, if they are ready?”

You glance at them both, receiving nods then turn to look at Peter. “They are. Thank you, Peter.” He smiles and nods.

You hug them both, saying quick goodbyes and then Peter leads them out of the room, as the ladies begin to help ready you for the day.

You sit alone on the edge of your bed, the ladies having just left. Feeling entirely unsure of what today will hold for you, unsure of what will unfold before you. Your mind is going a mile a minute, so fast that you can barely keep up. What with your siblings now being here, your immense need to just be near Steve, all the insane things you’ve learned in the last week and now, now the possibility that you might be married?

Married! As in for life! And to a man you can’t even remember!

A wedding you clearly wanted back then, but have no recollection of now. A life that you may have lived, but that now feels like a completely different time. A completely different person's life. You aren’t that woman anymore, and you may never be her again. So then what are you supposed to do now, about all of this?

You want Steve. Gods, you want him with every fibre of your being. If you are in fact his True Mate, what will you do then? What if this Ari man is actually out there, looking for you. Searching for you. For his wife. For this woman he loves and somehow lost, for this woman that you clearly aren’t anymore.

He might be searching for this person, this ghost of a woman, expecting to one day find her and be able to love her again, forever. But what if that woman doesn’t exist anymore, doesn’t even so much as know him. Let alone really even remember him. And what if she never does again. What if you never get your full memories back. What then? What will you do, if he actually finds you? If he finally tracks you down? What do you even say to him, to explain all of this. All the stuff that you, yourself, aren’t even sure of. The memory loss. The wandering aimlessly and out of it in the woods. Wanda and Pietro. Steve.

Oh Gods, Steve. The man you are falling for, and fast at that. The man you actually remember. The man you actually know, or at least are beginning to. And the one you want to continue getting to know. With no distractions, and no interferences. But the possibility of already being married? Yeah, that’s a bit of an interference for sure.

A heavy knock on your door startles you, and you nearly jump right off the edge of your bed. You glance over to your door, your heart pounding in your chest. “C-come in,” you yell, just loud enough for the person to hear.

The door creaks open slowly, revealing Bucky. And your heart rate slows almost instantly, honestly happy to see him instead of a certain large blonde King. It’s not that you don’t want to see Steve, it’s more that you need some time to just think, to weed through all these thoughts and emotions currently ripping through you. And when just being around him causes your brain to essentially shut off, that can make working through things within it, rather difficult, to say the least.

“Good morning, Bucky,” you greet, a small smile playing on your lips.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he bows his head to you. “How have you been?”

“Ah, I’ve, I’ve been good,” you nod quickly, “how about you?”

He gives you a curious look, as if he wants to question if you’re lying or not, but then clearly decides against it. “I’m good as well,” he nods, glancing around your room.

You just watch him, now curious why he’s here. Bucky normally isn’t one to come get you for food or castle adventures. You don’t actually see him all that often, you just assume that he is usually too busy, and probably always has lots to do. What with being the King’s right hand and all.

So it’s kinda nice to get to see him again, but also a little out of the norm, enough to make you curious. “Is something the matter?” You ask, quirking a brow at him.

“Hmm?” He hums, his eyes flicking back to yours. “Oh, no. Nothing is the matter. I just figured you might be interested in some company before breakfast,” he shrugs. “And since Peter will be giving your siblings the grand tour before hand, I thought I’d come keep ya company,” he smiles innocently.

And you almost want to narrow your eyes at him. You feel like there is more to his little visit, than he is letting on. But you, once again, know that questioning him on this assumption won’t get you anywhere. So you’d just have to interrogate Sam later. “Of course, that was very sweet of you.” You stand from your bed, “so, what shall we do in the meantime then?”

“Would you be interested in a walk?”

“Yes, I’d like that very much,” you nod and walk towards him. Once you reach him, he offers you his arm and you both exit your room.

As you make your way down the hall you pipe up, “so, how long have you and Nat been together?”

“A while,” he answers vaguely and this time you do narrow your eyes at him. He gives you a side glance and then chuckles, “I couldn’t tell you exactly. It feels like it’s been forever, but in all the best ways,” he finishes with a smile, though it’s small, but genuine.

And causes you to smile in return, “that’s really sweet. You’re both very lucky.”

He nods, “that we are.”

A silence falls over you both, and you aren’t sure if you should just enjoy the quiet. Allowing your mind some much needed time to think. Or if you should continue on, if you should try to maybe get a few more of your questions answered.

You decide that you can have all the quiet time your mind needs later, but that you don’t want to miss this opportunity to possibly learn more about Steve. “How long have you known the King?”

“A very, very long time,” he glances down at you, as you both make your way down the stairs. “Since we were kids.”

“Really!?” You quickly ask, sounding a little too excited about this. He just chuckles and nods in confirmation. “And how long ago was that?”

He gives you a strange look, raising a brow at you, so you clarify. “I only ask because I’m curious how old he actually is,” you shrug, hoping it looks nonchalant.

“How old do you think he is?”

“Oh um,” you pause, thinking it over for a second. “I’m not too sure, late 20’s, early 30’s, maybe?”

“Not even close,” he chuckles, shaking his head.

You furrow your brows, “what do you mean? Is he older? Younger?”

“Older. Much, much older,” he smirks down at you, and you are even more confused now.

“I don’t understand,” you frown slightly. “He doesn’t look that old. Is that also just a Lycan thing?”

He nods, “yes. We Lycans age differently to humans, as we live a lot longer than they do.”

“What’s ‘a lot longer’ mean?”

“A few hundred years,” he says casually, as he shrugs. “At least.”

You halt your steps at the bottom of the stairs, causing him to stop as well. “Are you pulling my leg right now?”

He chuckles again but shakes his head. “No, I’m being serious. A Lycans lifespan can be up to a thousand years, if something doesn’t kill us before that point.”

“Truly?” You whisper as your eyes widen, all of this being entirely new information to you. Not one person had even so much as hinted to them living this long. But then again, you never actually asked. Mainly because you’d never have even imagined this would be a thing.

But come to think of it, it now makes perfect sense. How the King is so feared, how no one truly knows how old he is, how some of the tales of him are from many, many years ago. As if he had lived much longer than a mere human would, it’s entirely why the legends and stories surrounding him are so heavily talked about. Everyone in town assumes he is substantially older, maybe even near death, yet he looks no older than 35.

“Truly,” he nods. “The King and I are around 300. Give or take. It’s honestly hard to remember exactly how old we are after such a long time,” he shrugs. “Age sort of loses it’s excitement when you live as long as we do. So one stops keeping track after the first 150 years, usually.”

“My Gods,” you mumble as you both begin to walk again. “All the things you’ve been able to see and, and experience. How could that not be exciting,” you glance up at him. “I should think that all very exciting. You are all so lucky to get to truly watch the world grow, and change in so many beautiful ways.”

He hums, “I guess when you put it like that, it does sounds rather dreamy. But in reality, life gets very repetitive. And it’s not just all the wonderful things we have to witness. We also have to see wars, plagues, famines. And then for some of us, we have to go entire human lifetimes or longer without finding our Mates. Feeling like something is always missing.” He sighs deeply, “that can really affect us. Cause us to close off and spend so many years angry and miserable. Which actually makes living so long a true burden.” He shakes his head, “but that’s nothing compared to actually having a Mate and then losing them early on in life. Leaving the surviving one to slowly trudge through hundreds and hundreds of years, alone and longing for their other half. Their missing piece.”

You furrow your brows again. “I know that normally we aren’t supposed to bring up Mates, but would you allow me to speak freely?”

“Of course,” he nods. “Speak away.”

“I gather that Nat is your True Mate, yes?” you pause giving him a chance to answer or not, and once you see him nod you continue on. “Did it take you long to find her?”

“No, I was lucky to have found her at a young age.”

“And the King has found his Mate already, as well?”

“He has,” he nods.

“And did,” you pause and clear your throat. Quickly glancing around to make sure no one is near you and then dropping your voice to a whisper, just to be safe, “did she die?”

He furrows his brows now, glancing at you, “who told you that?”

“Oh ah,” you falter, glancing down at your feet as you continue to walk. “No one. I just assumed, based off what you said, that something had possibly happened to her. I was just curious is all,” you shrug.

Bucky opens his mouth to speak, but before he can say a word you hear your name being called. “Y/N!”

Your eyes snap up to see Wanda, Pietro and Peter coming down the hallway towards you now. And even though you are so happy to see them, you’re a little frustrated at their poor timing. You were just about to possibly get an answer from Bucky, the King’s right hand and friend.

But who are you honestly kidding, you’re willing to bet his answer would have been ‘you’ll have to ask the King about that.’ You just know it would have been, so you push this all from your mind and instead allow yourself to be happy to see your family. To have them here and with you.

“Wanda! Pietro!” You say back as they near you, “how was the tour?”

“Good,” Pietro nods, smiling.

“Amazing!” Wanda sighs out happily. “This place is just so large! And so beautiful! And I just can’t believe we actually get to see it, and to stay here at that!” She excitedly squeals, causing Bucky to flinch slightly and you to laugh.

You’re entirely used to Wanda’s excited nature by now, and she has always been so fascinated by the idea of this place, of this kingdom. Just as you have. So you know first hand, that she is just over the moon with glee, for the fact that she actually gets to lay eyes upon it. And without the fear of being captured, or worse, looming over her.

This place is like a mythical land to you both. It’s like something out of a children’s story book. You’d both spent many a late nights talking at great lengths and envisioning what this place would actually look like, would actually be like, in person. Now, most of those thoughts were dark and scary, imagining a creepy, shadow covered castle, ruled by a mean Warlord King. You know, a place truly the thing of nightmares.

Which couldn’t be further from the truth. This place was nothing like what you both thought it would be. And being here is—well, it's truly magical. Truly awe inspiring. Truly eye opening. It’s just so truly amazing.

“I’m so glad you both like it here,” you smile, so overjoyed that they like it here. You don’t know if you’d be able to watch them leave, if you’d be able to stay here any longer if they weren’t with you. So them not only liking it, but also being happy here is so important to you.

Bucky shifting beside you reminds you of something. “Oh, I completely forgot,” you chuckle, gesturing to the large man, “Wanda, Peitro this is Bucky.” Then you gesture to your siblings, “Bucky, this is my brother and Sister, Pietro and Wanda.”

They exchange quick hello’s and the Bucky looks to you. “Well, shall we continue on to the dining hall?” Bucky asks, gesturing down the corridor that you are all standing in.

You nod, Wanda and Pietro do as well, and then you all begin to make your way towards the dining hall. And as you walk Wanda happily tells you a little about their tour, while Pietro makes small talk with Peter. And Bucky, well he just stays completely silent. You glance at him from time to time, noticing that occasionally he appears to be mind-linking. But you only assume that based off that strange out of body look he gets when he is. Your curiosity instantly making you wonder who he might be talking to, wondering mainly if it’s the King on the receiving end.

You all reach the dining room and head in, finding it empty. You halt in the doorway, Peter showing Wanda and Pietro where they can sit. You glance up at Bucky as he is entering the room, whispering, “anyone else joining us this morning?”

He shakes his head and leans towards you a little, keeping his voice down as well. “No, just Sam, he’ll be down shortly.”

“Oh, okay,” you nod slowly, glancing down at your hands. You were really hoping you’d get to introduce your siblings to Steve, and the others. But the silver lining here is that they’d at least get to meet Sam, the person you’ve become the closest with. Well, besides the King that is.

As if Bucky can sense your upset, he speaks up again, “the King just thought it best to let your siblings settle in a little more, before introducing them to everyone. He was wondering though, what you thought of doing the introductions tonight over dinner?”

“Yes, that would work,” you glance back up at him, nodding eagerly, as a smile forms on your lips at just the thought of getting to see Steve tonight. “Tell him I like that idea. Very much. And can you please thank him for me as well.”

“I will,” Bucky smiles. “I actually have to go meet with him now, so I’ll tell him in person.”

You furrow your brows confused, “you aren’t staying for breakfast?”

“No,” he sighs deeply, seemingly upset to be missing out on the food now. “Unfortunately something has just come up. So once Sam arrives, I’ll have to take my leave.”

“Oh, okay,” you nod slowly, “I’m sorry you can’t stay, but thank you for the walk.”

“That’s alright,” he gives you his best reassuring smile. “And you’re welcome, it was my pleasure.”

Just then Sam comes skidding to a halt in the hallway, just outside the door. Unable to enter as you and Bucky are still currently blocking the way. His abrupt and hasty arrival only stands to cause your curiosity to spike. And it doesn’t help that you instantly notice he looks slightly frazzled and like he just ran all the way here. “Sorry I’m late,” he mumbles quickly as he bows to you. “Was on the other side of the castle.”

You quirk a brow at him, opening your mouth to speak but Bucky beats you to it. “You really need to work on your endurance, Sammy,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “You look like you’re about to pass out,” he reaches a hand out, his fingers aiming for Sams neck, as if to playfully check his heart rate.

But just before he makes contact, Sam slaps his hand away. “Get your hand outta here, man,” he shakes his head. “And I’d like to see you try running across this entire castle in one go, without getting winded.”

“I could not only lap your ass, but I wouldn’t even break a damned sweat doing it,” Bucky laughs loudly.

“Oh yeah?” Sam stands up taller, fully facing Bucky now, “you willing to bet on that, Barnes?”

“You know it,” Bucky grins smugly and stands up taller as well. Squaring up to Sam. “Name a time and place, and I’ll be there.”

You just roll your eyes, shaking your head at their nonsense, as you promptly turn on your heels and head to your seat. Not wanting any part in their ridiculous malarkey. Men were so silly about these sorts of things, and you weren’t having any of it.

You sit down and begin talking to Peter and your siblings, listening to their recounts of all they saw on their tour, and asking what they liked most. After a few minutes Sam joins you all and you introduce him to your family, utterly relieved when they hit it off well. And after a few more moments the men get into a deep conversation about Pietro’s line of work, and how he’s a blacksmith.

They talk about finding him a job in town, so he can continue to work, Sam offering to introduce him to the resident blacksmith. Who just so happens to be looking for an apprentice—which is a little too convenient, if anyone asks you. You figure another ‘Thank You’ to Steve is in order now.

After that, you and Wanda just tune them out and catch up, you telling her about everything that’s happened since you got here. Though leaving out anything about Lycans or this kingdoms history. So mainly just all you’ve done and seen thus far, and everyone you’ve met along the way. The topic of Thor and Loki made for a very funny conversation for sure.

After you’ve all had your fill of breakfast, Peter excuses him and then Sam escorts you and Wanda back to your room. And once you reach your door, he bows, says a quick goodbye and then Pietro and him walk away. Leaving you ladies to your alone time, and you honestly can’t wait to tell Wanda more about the King. All the moments you didn’t want to divulge over breakfast, in front of the men.

It would have been fine for Pietro to hear it, some of it at least, but not Sam. You knew that he’d probably just tell the King all about your fawning over him. And that was not something you were ready for him to know just yet.

But anyways, Sam had offered to take Pietro to the blacksmith to introduce them, and your brother had of course jumped at the offer. So that’s why he wasn’t here to listen in to your lovestruck ramblings. But maybe that is actually for the best.

You push open your bedroom door, entering the room with Wanda close behind. And once you shut the door a man's voice rings out in the quiet space, and you instantly tense up. Recognizing the voice. You spin around to see the very last person you’d ever want in your room. Who is currently looking rather comfy just sitting in the armchair in the corner.

“Ah, Lady Y/N. I’m so glad you are finally here,” Brock grins widely at you. And it sends an instant chill down your spin.

“What are you doing here, Sir Brock?” You sternly question as you glare at him, hoping he can’t sense just how nervous you truly are. “You weren’t invited, nor are you welcome here. So leave,” you point at the door to solidify your command.

“Oh come now, My Lady,” he chuckles, shaking his head and you get the distinct impression he is mocking you. “I’m sure you’d be singing a completely different tune, if you knew the reason for why I’m here to begin with.”

You cross your arms and just continue to glare at him, not interested in the slightest about hearing him out. Nor caring at all as to what he is playing at here. You see Wanda shift anxiously beside you, and move to stand protectively in front of her. “I will only ask you this once more, either you leave now or I will inform the King of your insolent intrusion. And I can almost guarantee that he will not be pleased to hear of this.”

Brock stands from the chair, “so you aren’t even the slightest bit curious as to what I know, or what I am willing to tell you?”

You pause, stepping back so you are closer to Wanda, and the only door out of this room. Still not at all interested in what this snake has to say, you just want him gone. You need him to just leave, and right this damned second!

He shakes his head, “fine, if you insist I leave, then who am I to disobey a Ladies request.” He moves towards you both, and you step aside, pushing Wanda gently as you go. Just so that she remains protected behind you, as you give him a wide berth to the door.

But just before he reaches it he glances at you, locking eyes, “I thought you’d be more pleased to hear the news of your husband.” He frowns, “but I guess I was wrong. This outcome will simply break his heart,” he shakes his head, looking rather forlorn as he now reaches out for the door handle—

And oh my Gods! What—what did he just say?!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

@caps-lockdown @tfandtws @boxofteenageideas @wangdeasang @giggleberts @casuallydarktiger @theonelittleone @agentbadbitch @ratwrites @starrystellars @bandsandanimefreak @rockyroadthepastryarchy @lovvliies @cuffski @icesoccerer @alwaysright4 @lilsthethrills @zombiepotterfour @ledandan1244 @straightforwardly @denzmallows @xremember-me-notx @gwynethjodie @lollipopdomination @capstopavenger @jemimah-b99 @rcvenqers @justkending @alagalaska @silent-loucidity @sabertooth-potato @pies-wands-and-more @interstellarmess @gabriella69816 @phantom-soilder @wordlesscaptain @captain-hammer-of-asgard @starstucknature @viarogers @pixieferry @kaithezaftig @the-kinkiest-goblin @hysterically-original @heyiamthatbitch @zlixlle @capsicledoll @givemehopenfandoms @pretendingandpreposterous @frozen-phoenix17 @emotionallysalty @atomicsludgedonutbiscuit @saturngirlz @ivannagotthebeat @bohemian-barbie @marvelous-capsicle @ivoryhazlewood @steverogersxreader @cjhorseback

#au fanfiction #fanfiction #long post #long read #marvel au #marvel fanfiction #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #medival!steve rogers x reader #medieval!steve rogers #medieval au #fantasy!steve rogers #fantasy au #fantasy!steve rogers x reader #steve rogers au #love and war #chapter 10

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halfgclden · 4 years

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Dinner & A Show | Abel&Ben

Date: May 15th, 2020

Summary: Ben picks Abel up for a date night.

Ben shivered a bit as he walked into the ice rink, crossing his arms over his chest. He hadn't planned on coming here so the light jacket only did so much for the sudden drop in temperature. When he asked Abel if they wanted to come with him to see a band tonight, they had told him yes, but they were still on the ice for another hour before they could meet. Ben, being close by and having the time, decided to walk over to gym and surprise his friend.

There were a few people skating, but Abel was easy to spot. They were gliding over the ice with impressive ease, going circles around all the others. Ben made his way to a spot relatively close to the walls of the rink and sat, watching them move.

When Abel was on the ice, tunnel vision wasn’t the best way to describe their drive. It was more of a hyper focus, in which they were aware of everything around them, every groove, every way they had to tilt to curve around an obstacle. They skated more for form than for speed, but now they were hurtling around the rink, crouched low so that they could zip around quickly, weaving around the people in their way.

Someone crashed to the ice in front of them. They saw as their feet went out from under them, and realized that they wouldn’t have time to stop before they were going to crash into the person before they had hit the ice fully. “Stay down!” Abel called out as they rocketed toward the person, straightened, and launched themself over their body. Once they landed, they spun, driving their leftover momentum away from them. They came to a stop, checking over their shoulder to make sure that the person was okay, relieved as they were pushing themself up once again.

At that point, they spotted Ben from the corner of their unblinking eyes, and they skated over to the wall, pushed a strand of hair from their face, and smiled at him. “Hey. I didn’t mean for you to come here. Did you want to go now?”

Abel was so in their element that it was a little captivating to see. Ben turned some music on through his headphones while he waited, but he was only half-listening, most of his attention caught on the ice. He saw someone fall, and then his friend was leaping into the air and landing with a spin. "Woah," Ben muttered, then realized he'd been spotted. Pulling off his headphones, he smiled as Abel skated over to him. "That was impressive," he said, walking over to the wall. "You can keep going, I'm in no rush."

Abel brought a leg up onto the railing so that they could stretch idly while speaking to Ben. “Thanks, I’m glad someone got to see it.” They cracked their neck and changed legs. They noted Ben’s light jacket and figured that if he wasn’t in an air conditioned room he’d still probably be cold. “Hm, I’ve been here for the past few hours. And you know what they say, finish strong.” They took their foot down from the railing and skated over to the door so that they could exit and start taking their skates off. “What kind of band are we going to see?”

Ben walked over to the exit so he could meet Abel as they started to remove their skates. "Um, rock? I don't really know," he admitted, leaning against the wall and smiling sheepishly. He'd been trying to fill in parts of his days with things to do and people to see, to avoid getting lethargic and isolated again. This just happened to be what he found today. "I just found a bar close by and there's live music tonight, they look pretty cool so I figured I'd check them out."

Abel unlaced their skates, staring up at Ben the entire time. They stretched their feet as their socks met the ground, and they stood slowly, making sure they were secure on steady ground. "I don't really know is probably my..." They squinted. "Third favourite genre of music, actually." They almost smirked and started off towards the lockers, assuming that Ben was going to follow them. "I'm keen to play it by ear." They glanced back at him. "How are you, Ben?"

Ben laughed. "Great, that works out." He waited until Abel stood and fell into step with them. "Um," he said, honestly trying to figure out the answer to their question. "I'm doing better," he settled on. "I mean," he held his hands out, showing off his fully mobile left arm. "Obviously. Um, but yeah, I'm good."

Abel watched their friend as he spoke, giving a small smile as he said that he was okay. “That’s good. I would be very upset if my newfound weaving knowledge went to waste on your life shroud,” they said, unclear if they were joking or not. They stopped once they were at the lockers, put in the combination of the lock, and took out their bag. They pulled their shoes on and pulled on a few necklaces as well before they put their skates away in their bag. “Would you be terribly offended if we went to eat before we left? I can grab something light, I’ve just been burning calories like a madman out there.”

It was still unclear if Abel was joking about the shroud, but Ben didn't bother asking for clarity. He chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course, I wouldn't want all that work going to waste." He leaned against the lockers while he waited for Abel to finish packing their things. "Yeah, we have plenty of time. Do you want to drop your bag at your place, too?"

Abel stood fully as they finished lacing up their boots, and they slung their bag over their shoulder. "Sounds good. We can grab something while we're there." They led them towards the exit. "Do you know how to skate?"

"Not at all," Ben replied. "I think I might break my ankles if you put me in skates."

"Only if you have the wrong skates." Abel nodded. "If your interest was ever piqued, I'm not a terrible teacher. Which, is to say that I drag my friends out onto the ice and they eventually learn, more than anything, but I wouldn't mind trying to give you a few tips. I know you aren't a fan of the cold, though, so you're more than welcome to decline the offer."

They made it outside and Ben pushed his hands into his back pockets. He tried to imagine himself gliding around on the ice— this vision of him was bundled up in a heavy winter coat and scarf, but something about this seemed impractical. "You know," Ben said, "I'll... think about it." He smiled a bit. "It could be fun. I can wear a couple layers and suck it up."

Abel smiled a bit again and nodded. “I’d like that. We can make a day of it.” They had to be conscious of where they were going, as the muscle memory wanted to bring them back to the Hades cabin. “I’ve moved, so you can see the new place. Not our first guest, since Koda and Alec are quite popular, but still.”

Ben blinked. He moved his hands from his pockets and let them hang at his sides. "I didn't realize you live with Ko," he said. "I'm excited to see it, though. Are you all unpacked already?"

Abel dipped their head once in a nod. "It's a new development. I am, mostly. There's some residual boxes in the living room, but they might actually be part of the fort, a new permanent fixture."

Ben laughed a bit. "Of course you're going to make a fort. I can't believe I thought Ko would go without it." He paused. "How is she doing?"

"She would never. Before I moved in, it was already under construction. She's well, same as always. Maybe a bit less energy, but it's hard to tell when she and Alec are going back and forth." Abel stretched one arm over their chest as they walked.

He nodded, suddenly interested in the palms of his hands. He privately hoped that Koda wasn't going to be there when they arrived.

Abel didn't really note the lack of reply, figuring that Ben just didn't have much to say. They walked in relative silence until they reached the townhouse that Abel now called home, a much closer walk from the gym than the Hades cabin was, another perk of the relocation. They opened the door and tilted their head, listening for their roommates. "I think everyone's at work." A large brown cat trotted over, puffing out as Abel walked closer to him, almost as though agitated, but then began rubbing against their legs. "Home sweet home." Their lip twitched upward as they looked back at Ben.

Ben glanced around the room. It looked eerily similar to the Morpheus townhouse in the layout, but he realized he shouldn't be too surprised. He blinked at the cat, noting how large it was. “I didn’t know they came this big,” he said as he leaned down so it could sniff his hand. "Who's this?"

Abel tilted their head as the smiled down at the cat and then scooped him up, slinging him over the shoulder that wasn't holding their bag. "Oh yeah, he's a big boy, huh? This is Soup. He's my nap chommie." They moved to put their bag in their room, checking to see if Ben was still following. "We're not full stocked on groceries yet, but I can make us wraps or something?"

"Uh, sure," Ben said, following Abel into the house. He was still paranoid that someone else would walk through the door while they were here, though, so he shrugged noncommittally. "We could also go out to grab something? I'm fine with anything, though."

Abel dropped their bag in their room, took a few moments to change and walked back out with a new shirt, now cradling Soup like a baby. They dropped him on the counter and gave him a pat on the head before meeting Ben, still hovering near the door. “Let’s go out.”

Ben smiled as Abel agreed to eating out. He nodded. "I can come back once you're all unpacked and take an official tour."

Abel smiled a bit and led Ben out. “Of course. I’ve told you about Luci, yeah? The little corn snake I picked up last week from the pet store? She’s a beaut. You can meet her then too.” They stretched their other arm over their chest and tilted their head at Ben. “You said you had no preference, but do you have anything you’re against? I’d rather not spring pizza on you if you have a lifelong fear of Italy.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets as they started back down the sidewalk. "I'm Italian, Abel," Ben said with a laugh. "And I grew up in Brooklyn. I don't think I'm allowed to dislike pizza."

“It’s called an example, Ben.” Abel smiled, punctuating the sentence with his name for emphasis. “So are we going for pizza, then? You know what? I’m making the executive decision that we are, because if not, we might spend another minute of me asking, you giving a non-answer, and then we will come to this decision in the end anyway.”

Ben laughed again. "I just don't have a strong opinion on food, and you're the one who just burned a bunch of calories. I defer to your choice. Pizza sounds great, let's do that."

Abel nodded and led them to the pizza parlor, then ordered their own slices before letting Ben decide what he wanted. Once they were seated, Abel began pulling each slice apart into chunks with their fingers before they ate each of the bite-sized pieces. "Do you know anything of the bar we're going to, if not about the band?"

Ben ordered one slice of pizza, took two small bites, then watched Abel strangely devour theirs. "They do live shows every weekend, they have a lot of craft beer, um, they locally source all their food." He shrugged. "The rest I've left to surprise."

Abel stared at Ben while he spoke and picked up a napkin to wipe their fingers. They drew their legs up so that they were sitting cross-legged in the seat they were in and nodded as they swallowed. "Surprise for you as well?"

"Yeah," Ben said, smiling a bit. "Is that okay?"

Abel bobbed their head in a quick nod. "Variety is the spice of life, and the element of surprise is where we can cook it. Life, that is." They narrowed their eyes, wondering if the metaphor made as much sense as it did in their head. They ate a few more pieces of pizza. "Do you think that Jacob's in this band too?"

Ben's brow furrowed as Abel fumbled over a metaphor about spices, but he brushed it off and took another bite of his pizza. He laughed at their next question, putting a hand over his mouth to try to be a little quieter. "You caught me, I'm actually taking you to see Jacob in his... fourth? band." He laughed again, shaking his head.

"Perfect." Abel snickered and ate more of their pizza quickly. They waited until they swallowed before speaking. "I heard that you were thinking of joining one of them?"

For some reason, the fact that Abel knew this made him flush just a bit. "Oh, yeah. The one that had the guitarist ditch. I... I don't want to put any expectations on it but, yeah, thinking about it."

"I think it'd be great if you did. I mean, you're at every show for Jacob anyway, so you might as well just tack on their practices." Abel shrugged and finished their second slice. "It'd secure my spot as their number one fan."

"Oh, well then I have to," Ben said, smirking. "I guess it'd be nice to be more than my roommate's groupie."

"Exactly." Abel dipped their head in a nod and motioned toward Ben with their hand. "You can be the premise of a fanfiction. Groupie-made-headliner."

Ben ran a hand down his face. "Oh, gods, you're absolutely right." He didn't want to think too hard about how much of this could technically be true to his life, so he tried to move the subject away from his debatable groupie status. "How's your group going?"

Abel lifted their shoulders in a shrug as they wiped their hands with their napkin. "Well? I quite enjoy Jack. Not very sure about that Jacob guy."

He laughed. "Yeah, I heard Jacob can be terrible to deal with. It's lucky my friend Jacob is nothing like that." Ben wondered if that was a strange joke, but after a moment's hesitation, he figured Abel was the best person to make a strange joke with. "You should meet him, actually, I think you'd really get along."

Abel laughed quietly. "I might have to. I thought I knew enough people, but I suppose if it's someone I would enjoy, I can branch out and expand my horizons." They tilted their head back as they looked at Ben. "What have you been occupying yourself with these days? It's been a long time since we last hung out one-on-one.”

The question made Ben pause. He picked up his slice but did not take a bite, lost in thought. He put his food back down. "It's not occupying my days but..." He chuckled nervously. "I assume Jacob told you? He said he would."

Abel snorted without changing their expression. The fact that Ben's mind had gone there instead of to any hobbies he'd picked up was amusing to them, and they smiled a bit after a moment. "He has. I was wondering if you'd picked up origami, but did you want to talk about that? Jacob mentioned it for my opinion, did you want the same?"

Ben turned his head away, flustered and grinning. "Well now I'm embarrassed. No origami, but I've been playing guitar way more and uh, going on walks? Listening to some new music?" He laughed to himself. "Gods, sorry, I feel like an idiot."

Abel rested their chin on their hand, lips turned upward. “You shouldn’t, I find it hilarious that you said that you were occupying yourself with Jacob. Would you mind if I said that to him?” They took a sip of their water, not looking away from Ben. “What artists? Anything I’d recognize?”

"Oh gods," Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, but it was obvious that he was just as amused. "Sure, go ahead. Please just make sure I'm not home when you laugh at me." Ben picked up his pizza again and actually took a bite this time. "Um," he said once he'd swallowed, "A couple, but I've been listening to Autoheart a lot."

As they smiled more, Abel drew their legs up, resting a hand on their knee. “Just for that or...?” they joked, then nodded once. “Ah, I do know that band. They have really eerie music, right?”

Ben smiled. "Of course you do." He considered the word. "Yeah, eerie is a good way to describe it. They have a really distinct sound and, energy?" He shrugged. "I'm into it."

Abel found it funny that Ben was less than surprised at the fact that they knew the band- it was very much their vibe. "I haven't listened to them in a while though, I might get back into them. Have they come out with something new lately?"

"Not really." Ben pulled out his phone to check, noting the time. "Um..." he said as he typed and waited for the artist's page to open. "In December, so kind of?" He pocketed his phone. "We should get on a bus within the next uh, forty-five minutes."

"Hm." Abel nodded. "I was just wondering what got you into them, but people are out there discovering Frank Sinatra right now, so I guess it isn't too much of a surprise." They dropped their legs back down to rest their feet against the floor. "Cool. I'm ready to go whenever. How long's the ride?"

Ben faltered for a moment. “Twenty minutes? We can listen to Autoheart on the way.” His smile turned a little. “Chase showed them to me, actually, on the ride up to Canada.” He placed a napkin over the leftovers of his pizza. “I’m ready, too.”

"Yeah, I'd like that. I have earbuds so that we can share." Abel took Ben's plate and placed it atop their own so that they could throw both out. They turned back to look at him over their shoulder. "Ah. Did the quest mend bridges?" They weren't quite sure if there were any bridges between Chase and Ben in the first place, but they certainly didn't seem to be any worse than they were before.

Ben followed Abel as they threw away the plates, then headed toward the door. "Um, I don't uh...." He shook his head. "Probably not. No. Which, I mean," they stepped outside and he shoved his hands back into his pockets, "I didn't expect anything to change."

Abel nodded again and followed Ben out the door. “Well, I guess it’s good enough that you both got home safe.” They chewed their lip, trying not to think about Ben’s relationship with the Morpheus cabin. “You said that you were getting back into guitar, are you making any of your own music at all?”

Talking about the quest still made Ben feel strange, so he gladly moved on to a new topic. He shrugged. "I mean, I come up with some melodies while I'm playing around but, nothing solid. No songwriting or anything." He smirked. "If I do I'm sure you and Jacob will be the first to hear it."

"I would... absolutely love that," Abel said genuinely. "I'm sure that being in the band will help with the creative process, but if you ever needed anyone to bounce ideas off of, I'm fairly free... all of the time."

Abel's voice took on a tone that Ben rarely heard. He turned his head to them and patted them lightly on the back. It felt nice to see Abel brighten, even just slightly. "Good to know. I'll definitely take you up on that," Ben said, equally genuine.

Abel looked at Ben and smiled, not expecting the contact, but touched more than they realized they would be from it. They dipped their head once in a nod, stuffing their hands into the pockets of their jacket as they walked. Once they reached the bus stop, they looked to Ben again, pulling out their headphones. "Autoheart?”

"Oh yeah, please." He took one of the headphones and placed it into his ear. "Whatever song you want, um, bus should be here in," he checked the schedule tacked on the side of the shelter, "five minutes?" He looked back to Abel, a surprising smile growing as he did. "Thanks for coming with me, by the way. I'm not sure if I actually said that yet."

Abel took out their phone, hoping that it would be able to work as they plugged the headphone jack in. They run a thumb over the screen and played a song, exhaling a sigh of relief when it was clear that there would be no interruptions to the music at this time. They slid the phone back into their pocket and smiled at Ben. "Thank you for the invitation. I can't remember my last outing," they said, unclear if they were exaggerating or not. "I'm always happy to break out of the normal routine."

Ben stood a little closer than he usually would so the headphone would not tug out of his ear, so he was able to lightly nudge Abel with his shoulder. "I feel like we never spend a lot of time, just the two of us." That was largely his fault, and he felt a small tug of guilt as he said it. "Not to ruin the novelty, but hopefully we can do this more often."

"I would like very much to ruin the novelty." Abel smiled and dipped their head slightly as they did. Their chest felt lighter whenever they were with people they enjoyed, and now it felt like they were so light they were standing a bit straighter. "Whether or not we end up enjoying the band, I've already had a great time."

#c: abel #c: abelben #dinner and a show

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vixxscifiwritings · 5 years

Text

Samrajya (3/4)

Summary - In an attempt to consolidate his empire in new lands, Taekwoon proposes a marriage alliance between his brother and the princess of Magadha. But Jaehwan’s heart belongs to someone it shouldn’t belong to.

Story Masterpost

Tag List - @tomatoholmes @merlionmen @seraphistols @k-craze-97

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Part 3 - Tulsi Chandan

[Hindi, noun] basil sandalwood

“ Kai dino ke baad aaj rajkumari khush dikhi hain (The princess looks happy after so many days) ” one of the maids said to the other as they lit the candles attached to the lowered chandelier.

Monsoon had set in and the days grew darker with storm clouds becoming a permanent fixture in the sky. The staff in the palace was busy lighting the lamps but the task was time consuming and quite dull. Idle gossip was quite common and Hakyeon would often use the time to eavesdrop and learn more about the happenings in the palace. The saying “ samaaj sau baate karega (society will say hundred things) ” held very true in the halls of Kumrahar.

“ Khush kaise na hongi, Rani Megha Devi jo aa rahi hain (how can she not be happy, Queen Megha Devi is coming) ” the other maid replied. Hakyeon had heard about the princess’s maternal aunt arriving on the day of the Teej festival. He had been curious about her since she ruled their strongest neighbouring kingdom of Chitrakoot.

Her presence here had made King Taekwoon antsy since Chitrakoot had not replied to their request for peace yet. The queen’s presence could be a show of friendship or declaration of enmity and not knowing did not sit well with the king or his advisory council.

“ Maine suna hai ki Chitrakoot main abaadi hi abaadi hai. Rani ki daasiya bhi sone ke kangan pehenti hain (I’ve heard Chitrakoot is very prosperous. Even the queen’s handmaids wear golden bangles) ”

“ Teej aane hi wali hai. Dekhna mausi rani rajkumari ko zaroor resham ki saariyaan dengi (Teej is coming. You see, her royal aunt will definitely gift her silk sarees) ” the second maid said as they lifted the chandelier up to fix it onto the ceiling again. The maids flitted around the room lighting the various candles in the study but continued to talk.

“ Arre rajkumari teej shaadi se pehle kaise kar sakti hain. Agar dekhna hi hai to rajkumari ke dahej ko dekhna chahiye. Raajkumar ko rajya toh milega hi. Saath saath unke vajan ke hisaab se sona bhi milega Chitrakoot se (The princess cannot celebrate Teej before the wedding. If you have to observe then observe the dowry. The prince will get the kingdom for sure. With that he will get his weight in gold from Chitrakoot too). ”

“ Haan aakhir jab nanihaal itna dhanwaan ho toh yeh to hona hi tha. Raja rani toh janam se hi bhagyawaan hote hain (Yes when your maternal home is this rich then this is bound to happen. Kings and queens are born lucky). ”

Hakyeon tapped his chin thoughtfully once the maids left. As far as he gathered, the princess did intend on marrying Prince Jaehwan since everyone seemed to be talking about it with certainty. The king would appreciate this information.

The rumours presented an interesting aspect of the big picture to Hakyeon. Chitrakoot was rich and prosperous. If the kingdom was on their side then they could be very useful allies to get control of the region. If they became enemies, then they would be the biggest obstacles. The former outcome was always preferable but Hakyeon had to alert the advisory council in case of the latter.

He would have to talk to Jaehwan too. Jaehwan had to be extra careful to make sure Queen Megha Devi liked him and approved of the marriage.

“Your Highness, I apologise for my tardiness. I was held up in preparations for the festival tomorrow” Ananya apologised with a deep bow.

Jaehwan had asked her to meet him after lunch in his study to continue their discussion from the day earlier. But preparations for the festival had kept Ananya busy till late afternoon and she hadn’t intended on making the prince wait on her.

“Lady Ananya” Jaehwan said, breaking out of his reverie. He had been sitting on the ledge of his balcony, looking at the sky. It had begun to drizzle but that hadn’t fazed Jaehwan as he was lost in deep thought. He brushed the stray droplets out of his hair and stepped into the large hall.

“You need not apologize, my lady” he said, dismissing her apology.

“Where do you wish to begin, Your Highness?” Ananya asked Jaehwan. She moved to the large bookshelves. She quickly scanned the shelves for what titles were already here and what were missing but could be borrowed from the large library in the east wing.

“Would you mind telling me about the festival tomorrow? There seems to be quite a flurry of activity around it” Jaehwan asked. He sat down on the large couch and invited Ananya to sit next to him.

“It’s only the start of the festive season. The excitement and preparations around the bigger ones will make the current state of affairs feel like nothing” Ananya told him.

“Pardon me if I am overstepping when I ask this, but I thought the household could not partake in festivals while in mourning?” Jaehwan asked, trying to be gentle about the question.

“It’s true that the family in mourning cannot partake in any celebration. But Teej is a festival for married women only so the princess couldn’t take part in it to begin with. Moreover, the royal household has a new king and a queen. We celebrate in her absence” Ananya told him.

“We? Are you married too, my lady?” Jaehwan asked in surprise. It wasn’t uncommon. Most of the women in Janaki Mahal were married with families. Quite a few of them were married to the soldiers or guards who served in the palace.

“No, I’m not. Forgive me if my manner of speaking confused you, Your Highness. I was talking about the household. I’ve gotten quite used to speaking on their behalf. It was an error on my part” Ananya replied. Jaehwan smiled, feeling quite relieved. Ananya blushed at his tender gaze

“So.. Teej” Ananya said, tuning to the bookshelf again to see if a book could help. She bit her lip at her foolishness when she remembered that none of them would be as effective as her summarizing it for Jaehwan.

“Teej is many festivals actually. The one tomorrow is a festival married women celebrate. They pray to Goddess Parvati to bless their marriage” she started. Jaehwan leaned forward to listen with interest.

“Women celebrating Teej fast all day. They also apply mehendi (henna) on their hands and after the evening puja , they exchange sarees, sindoor (vermilion) , bangles and sweets. It’s a… token of sorts. It’s called the shrinjhara and it symbolizes blessings for a good marriage.”

“The gifts?” Jaehwan asked to which Ananya nodded in response.

“Most of the preparations for the festival are procuring the clothes, jewellery and sweets. And of course, you have to leave the henna leaves to soak in water overnight for the preparation of the mehendi tomorrow morning.”

Jaehwan nodded. It was exciting even though he was sure that his kingdom didn’t quite have a corresponding festival. Ananya was always happy to share more knowledge and her enthusiasm was infectious and endearing. Jaehwan could listen to her talk for days.

“I do not know if you have visited Jal Mandir yet, but the temple will do the teej katha and puja in the evening tomorrow. All the married women of the household will be there to celebrate and exchange the shrinjhara . We would be applying the mehendi in the morning in the palace however. So you might hear quite a lot of singing if you pass by the courtyard of Janaki Mahal” she told him.

“What is the story of Goddess Parvati? I haven’t heard much about her in the limited number of stories I’ve read” Jaehwan confessed.

“The story behind the festival is short in itself but requires me telling you many more for context. You’ll realize very quickly that most of our mythology is interconnected” she explained.

“You will find me a willing student, my lady. Perhaps I should call for some ginger tea since we might be here for a while.”

“You’ve taken quite a liking to ginger tea, Your Highness. I’m told that it’s made differently where you grew up.”

“Indeed. Ginger tea is quite invigorating. I find that it suits me well” he said. He hummed thoughtfully before speaking again. “Since you are my teacher, perhaps you can call me Jaehwan.”

“Your Majesty, I couldn’t” Ananya protested.

“I insist” Jaehwan said firmly.

“Only if you call me Ananya” she relented.

It would have been awkward if not for Jaehwan’s smile. The prince was a very charming man. Ananya wished Chitrangada was here instead so she could see how lucky she was. Even though the marriage had been forced upon her, it looked like the prince was a good man and would make a loving husband.

Ananya also felt a little envious of the princess but she pushed those feelings away instantly. To even entertain that thought was pure foolishness. For a second though, Ananya had wished that Jaehwan had been her companion instead of Chitrangada’s betrothed.

The servants brought in two cups of ginger tea and Ananya and Jaehwan settled into more comfortable positions. Ananya narrated the story of how Goddess Parvati ran away to the forest and prayed to Lord Shiva so that she would not be made to marry Lord Vishnu as her father had wished. Lord Shiva appeared in front of the goddess and agreed to marry her in place of Lord Vishnu as his boon to reward her strict penance.

They digressed into more stories about Goddess Parvati and how she was the reincarnation of Goddess Sati and Ananya ended up telling Jaehwan the story of her life and reincarnation. In turn, Jaehwan told her of their harvest festivals that would be celebrated around the same time back at home.

Ananya listened with all her attention focused on Jaehwan. Sometimes she would stop and ask him to repeat words she hadn’t heard before. Jaehwan would encourage her to repeat with him, correcting her where required and grinning whenever she managed to say phrases correctly. Ananya would blush but would try not to let it interfere with Jaehwan’s storytelling.

They were interrupted by the sound of thunder and lightning and Jaehwan realized that quite a few hours must have passed in their discussions. Thankfully they had no prior engagements. The performance by the court musicians had been postponed to after Teej and would be held in honour of Megha Devi’s arrival now.

“Would your aunt would be attending the puja at the temple too? Rani Megha Devi?” Jaehwan asked.

“So you’ve heard the rumours too then” Ananya said ruefully.

“Rumours?”

“I am the daughter of the late queen’s handmaiden but the late king was never my father, Your Highness” Ananya clarified, standing up. “People speculated but my father was my mother’s husband and it was most definitely not the late king.”

“Forgive me Lady Ananya, I had no idea” Jaehwan apologised, standing up as well.

He had forgotten to be sensitive in front of curiosity and he regretted it deeply. The warm friendship that had built up so far had been doused with icy cold water. Jaehwan apologised and blamed his foolishness but to Ananya it was a cold reminder of her own status and how inappropriate this relationship was.

“I fear that I have to return to Janaki Mahal to assist with the remaining preparations. If you will excuse me, Your Highness” Ananya said formally. She left without a response from Jaehwan who helplessly watched her go.

There was a bustle of activity as Taekwoon entered the entrance hall of Kumrahar. Everyone bowed to the king and greeted him. He was followed by Wonshik and Hakyeon with Sanghyuk as his guard.

Jaehwan perked up when the princess was announced as well. Chitrangada entered the hall. On the account of Teej, most of her entourage was dressed in vibrant colours and visibly more jewelry. However the entourage did not include the person he had been looking for.

"You seem quite restless, Your Highness" Wonshik commented. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Or were you nervous at the Princess's presence?" Wonshik teased, reducing his voice to a whisper so that no one else could hear him.

Jaehwan blushed but did not reply. He had been looking for Ananya but she wasn't here right now. On the other side, Chitrangada had been avoiding looking at him as well making the affair quite awkward. Thankfully, Taekwoon had her engaged in some small talk while they waited for the procession to enter the gates of Kumrahar.

Most chatter died down when a procession of palanquins entered the castle gates. Rani Megha Devi exited her palanquin. Attendants fussed about her but she silenced them with a raise of her hand they withdrew.

Megha Devi had an aura of authority around her. Every step she took forward commanded attention with a soft power equivalent to Taekwoon's. The rumours of Chitrakoot being a wealthy kingdom must have been true because the queen was dressed in fine silks imported from the other side of the Tsangpo and silver jewelry.

"Your Majesty" Taekwoon acknowledged. Megha Devi folded her hands and bowed slightly. Taekwoon replicated the gesture and Megha Devi smiled. Before the tension thickened, Megha Devi turned to her niece.

Chitrangada stepped forward and knelt to touch her aunt's feet. " Chirayu bhava (may you be long lived) " Megha blessed her, putting a hand on her head. " Kitni bado ho gayi ho. Humein pehchaan mein hi nahi aayi.(You've grown so much. I almost didn't recognize you) "

" Mausi, aap thak gayi hogi. Janaki Mahal mein- (Aunt, you must be tired. In Janaki Mahal-) " Chitrangada stopped only to be stopped by Megha herself.

" Mera maharaj se sabse pehle baat karna zaroori hai (It is important for me to talk to the king first) " she said, looking to Taekwoon.

" Maharani ji (Your Majesty) " Taekwoon said, gesturing to the inner corridors that led to the throne room. He had anticipated the request for an audience.

"Send for translators. Request Lady Ananya to be present as well" Taekwoon instructed Hakyeon who passed on the order. Jaehwan did not miss the way Megha Devi's lips curled in distaste at the recognition of the name mentioned.

However she schooled her features and followed Taekwoon. Save for a few attendants and an advisor, the rest of the entourage were led away.

When Jaehwan entered the room, Taekwoon was already seated on the throne and Megha Devi had taken Hakyeon's place on the chair closest to the throne. Chitrangada stood by Megha Devi's chair and Jaehwan stood on the opposite side of the throne.

A guard hurried into the room and whispered to Hakyeon before taking his place by the door.

"Lady Ananya is on her way" Hakyeon announced to the wider audience and translated it too. Ananya entered, bowing to the king and the visiting queen before standing back and awaiting whatever order Taekwoon would give. Jaehwan looked at her before turning to look at Megha Devi who was watching him intently.

"Forgive the wait, Your Majesty. I thought you would be more comfortable if you had a translator you knew" Taekwoon started. Megha waited for Hakyeon to translate and even the seasoned advisor felt restless under the scrutiny as he translated.

" Aapne hamare baare mein socha, humein achha laga (you thought of (my comfort) and I appreciate that) " Megha said. She looked to Hakyeon pointedly instead of Ananya and he translated for her too.

"You wished to speak to me."

" Haan. Main apne saath Chitrakoot ke Maharaj ka sandesh layi hoon. Humein yeh sandhi sweekar hai (Yes. I bring a message from the king of Chitrakoot. We accept your treaty) "

Megha Devi gestured to her advisor. The man presented the scroll he had been holding to Taekwoon. It was a proclamation of peace, signed with a stamp of the royal seal.

"That is indeed good news" Taekwoon said, smiling at the proclamation.

" Doosri baat. Humein shaadi ke samjhaute ki khabar bhi mili thi (Second thing. We also received news of the marriage treaty proposed) " Megha told him.

"Then you are aware that I have asked Princess Chitrangada to marry my brother Jaehwan" Taekwoon said gesturing to his brother. Jaehwan bowed and Megha Devi nodded her head.

" Yeh shaadi aapke chhote bhai se kyun aur aap see kyun nahi? (Why your younger brother and not you?) " Megha asked him.

"I am already married. My queen rules my kingdom and is raising my son and the heir to my empire" Taekwoon informed her. "My brother, on the other hand, is unmarried but every bit as royal as I am."

" Aur shaadi ke baad woh yahaan ke maharaja honge? Yah aap? (And he will be the king after marriage? Or you?) "

"Jaehwan will rule under my name" Taekwoon declared.

Jaehwan masked his surprise. He had always assumed he would remain a general and go on to fight more wars with the army. He had assumed his brother would continue ruling as he had so far. He would have to talk to him about this.

" Tab humein yeh gatbandhan bhi sweekar hai (Then we accept this offer too) " Megha Devi announced.

" Mausi !" Chitrangada exclaimed and Megha Devi glared at her.

" Yeh maamle ghar ke bade vinishchit karte hain. Mat bhoolo ki tum Pataliputra aur Chitrakoot dono ki beti ho (These matters are decided by the elders of the family. Don't forget that you are the daughter of both Pataliputra and Chitrakoot) " Megha Devi scolded her. Chitrangada held her silence out of respect.

With that, Megha Devi took Taekwoon's leave and Chitrangada followed. Jaehwan watched them leave with his gaze lingering on Ananya who had barely spoken a word throughout the meeting.

" Mausi, aapne humse hamari raay poochi hi nahi (Auntie, you never asked me for my opinion)" Chitrangada protested once they were in close quarters.

Megha Devi had summoned Bhuvan Gupta and Ananya as well to talk to the pair and get a sense of what was going on. However, Chitrangada had decided not to hold her thoughts in any longer.

"Kya aapke paas koi aur rasta tha Chitra? (Did you have any other option, Chitra?)" Megha asked her niece. So the rumours of her niece's temper tantrums had not been false. Megha had feared for her niece's life had not been baseless.

"Nahi, magar- (No, but-)" Chitrangada sputtered indignantly.

"Agar magar kuchh nahi (No buts)" Megha glared.

"Main unse shaadi nahi kar sakti! (I can't marry him!)" Chitrangada yelled.

"Bacho jaisi baatein mat karo. Agar tumne rajkumar se shaadi nahi ki toh tumhare paas yudh ke sivay aur koi chaara nahi bachega. Yudh ladne ke liye sena chahiye hoti hai, kaichi see tez bhasha nahi. (Don't talk like a child. If you don't marry the prince then your only option remaining is war. You need an army to fight a war, not a sharp tongue) " Megha chastised.

Chitrangada burst into tears and ran into her room. Megha Devi sat still, unwavering in the face of Chitrangada's tantrums.

" Aapke aane se is mahal mein anubhooti aur sayyam aaya hai (Your presence here brings experience and wisdom to the palace) " Bhuvan Gupta said, trying to lighten the mood of the room.

" Hum maante hain ki Chitra abhi bhi umar aur usse zindagi ka anubhav kam hai. Par ab paani sar se upar aa chuka hai. Woh bacchi nahi rah sakti. Usse bhi jeevan ke is pareeksha par khada utarna hoga (I understand that Chitra is young and has less life experience. But now the water is over the bridge. She cannot stay a child. She has to pass this exam life has put in front of her) "

" Woh aapko bahut maanti hai. Usse kuch wakt dijiye. Woh aapki baat zaroor sunegi. (She revers you. Give her some time. She will definitely listen to you.) "

" Aur tum? Tum mooh mein dahi jamaye kyun baithi ho? Tumne Chitra ko apni manmarzi karne kaise do itne der tak? (And you? Did you set curd in your mouth? How could you let Chitrangada act wilfully till now?) " Megha asked Ananya.

" Mujhe kshama kar de Maharani (Please forgive me, Your Highness) " Ananya apologized.

" Raghu ko humne bola tha, Rajni Didi ke maut ke baad Chitrangada ko hamare paas bhej de. Par unhe toh apni manmarzi karni thi. Ab hum sab bhugat rahe hain (I told Raghu, to send Chitrangada to me after my sister Rajni’s death. But he was stubborn. Now all of us suffer) " Megha said. " Chhod diya bina sir pair ke aur khud veergati praapt kar gaye. Mujhe issi baat ka dar tha. (He died, leaving her without anyone to guide her. I was afraid of this exact thing) ”

“ Par ab aur nahi. Chitrangada ki mausi hone ke naate uski shaadi ab main karvaungi (But no more. As Chitrangada’s aunt, I will get her married now) ” Megha Devi. “ Aur uski shaadi samapt hote hi, Ananya tum apne ghar laut jaogi (And immediately after her wedding ends, Ananya you will return home) ”

“ Par Maharani ji, Chitrangada ke saath kisi ka rehna zaroori jo paraye raja ki baaton ko samajhe aur uski sahayata kare (But Your Highness, it is necessary for Chitrangada to have someone who understands the foreign king’s language and supports her) ” Bhuvan Gupta added.

“ Usse seekhna padega. Mere behen ki mrityu ke baad jo kala saya is mahal par pada hai woh main Chitrangada pe aur nahi mandaraane doongi (She must learn. The black cloud that fell on the palace after my sister’s death cannot be allowed to hover over Chitrangada more) ”

“ Maharani aap jaanti hain ki woh baate sach nahi hai (Your Highness, you know those rumours are not true) ” Ananya spoke up. She had spent her entire life fighting these rumours but everyone had refused to believe her. The palace was her home and she had nowhere else to go.

“ Beta main itna bhi jaanti hoon ki bina agni ke dhua nahi udta hai. Tumhe bachpan mein hi is mahal se nikal dena chahiye tha. Kai galtiyaan ki hai Raja Raghu ne Rajni didi ke maut ke baad. Unhe mein badhava kadapi nahi doongi (Child, I also know that there is no smoke without fire. You should have been removed from the palace when you were a child. Raja Raghu has committed quite a few mistakes after Rajni didi’s death. I will not allow it to continue). ”

Megha Devi dismissed Ananya. This was her final word on the matter and no one could dissuade her once she made up her mind.

Bhuvan Gupta followed Ananya out. The queen had gotten busy in preparations to attend the teej katha at Jal Mandir and he took his leave of her.

“ Beta (Child) ” he said gently.

“ Guruji (Teacher) ” Ananya said respectfully. Her voice quivered, almost on the verge of tears herself.

“ Tum chinta na karo. Nalanda ke gurukul mein tumhaare liya hamesha jagah rahegi. Agar tum Pataliputra mein nahi rehna chahti to tum hamare saath wapas chal sakti ho (Don’t worry. Nalanda’s school will always have a place for you. If you do not wish to stay in Pataliputra then you can return with me) ”

“ Dhanyavaad Guruji (Thank you Teacher) ” Ananya said.

“ Tum mujhe soch kar batana (Think and let me know) ” Bhuvan said, taking his leave.

“You never told me that I was to be king of Pataliputra” Jaehwan said, frowning heavily at Taekwoon. “I assumed I was always going to be your general and you would rule over the lands we conquer here.”

“My plans have changed since this marriage and Chitrakoot came into the picture” Taekwoon admitted.

“Besides, I needed a regent I could trust. Who better than my most loyal general?”

“Being a war general and being a king are very different” Jaehwan said seriously.

“If you know this distinction then you already have the foundation to be a good one” Taekwoon smiled. “I trust you to do a good job.”

“If I am to be king, must I marry the princess? It looks like Chitrakoot was more than ready to accept our terms and conditions without a bond of marriage” Jaehwan said. It was a matter of concern. Chitrangada clearly did not intend on marrying him and Jaehwan was no longer inclined to the same, even if it was the most peaceful option.

“The marriage has been proposed and accepted. There can be no turning back now. But you have pointed out something that seemed weird to me. Don’t you think our treaty was accepted too quickly?’ Taekwoon asked.

“What do you mean?” Jaehwan asked.

“Of all our neighbours, Chitrakoot and Kalinga are the wealthiest and could afford war. Given our foreign nature and weakened condition of the army, they could easily defeat us and annex our kingdoms. Yet, Chitrakoot strives for peace” Taekwoon said.

“You don’t trust their motives.”

“It cannot simply be a matter of familial relations. We need to find out more about their motives” Taekwoon said. “All Hakyeon has are rumours. I trust him but even he doubts the validity of the information we have. We need someone we can trust on our side.”

“That’s why I have a task for you” Taekwoon said.

“What do you need me to do?” Jaehwan asked.

“You have good relations with Bhuvan Gupta. Find out more about our neighbouring kingdom and the visiting queen. It might even be better if you could talk to Lady Ananya. A scholar might only know facts but someone who grew up in the palace would know the people behind the stories” Taekwoon planned.

“Ananya would naturally be close enough to Rani Megha Devi but not in favour. You saw how she treated her in court today. If the rumours about her parentage are true, we can use this to our advantage. You can talk to her once the queen returns from Jal Mandir. I am assuming the entourage must have already left.”

“Ananya’s father -”

Jaehwan stopped when he sensed something. The two brothers were supposed to be alone in the king’s private study. Normally there would be servants moving about silently, trying not to disturb the king but this was different. There was someone here, in the room and had tried to be very sneaky about it.

Jaehwan shared a look with Taekwoon who frowned. He hadn’t sensed what Jaehwan had but he walked silently over to his sword and picked it up. Jaehwan drew a dagger that he kept on person and asked Taekwoon to stay behind him. He moved towards the long tapestries that hung, dividing the study from the hall used to receive guests.

He pushed the curtains aside with force and a person jumped out, intending to dash for the door and escape. Taekwoon yelled for the guards and Jaehwan ran after the intruder. How had he slipped in? Given the lack of staff at the palace and the arrival of many new people, this intruder must have taken the chance to slip in.

The guards arrived at the other end of the corridor and the intruder was forced to take a detour. He jumped out of the balcony and onto the courtyard, making a dash for Janaki Bhawan.

“Cut him off at the palace” Jaehwan instructed. He jumped out after the intruder. He spotted Wonshik and Sanghyuk on the other side and sped up. Between the three of them they could subdue this intruder easily. He reached out and caught the intruder by his left arm, forcing the man to fall.

The intruder kicked him and Jaehwan’s dagger fell out of his hand. Jaehwan got up quickly, holding the intruder down with his body weight while he tried to keep his hands from moving. Jaehwan had his left arm pinned to his chest but his right arm was free and the intruder used it to pick up Jaehwan’s fallen dagger. Jaehwan tried to hold the intruder down but the intruder was almost as strong as Sanghyuk and easily overpowered him, slashing at his chest.

Jaehwan felt a sharp sting as the blade cut through his chest and neatly through the old wounds that hadn’t healed quiet yet. He felt his tunic hang looser and tore away at it completely. He used the torn fabric to capture the intruder’s hands in a twist of fabric and turned it, causing their hand to be twisted. Wonshik arrived with Sanghyuk in tow and the three of them managed to incapacitate the intruder by knocking him out.

“Get help for the prince!” Wonshik yelled as Jaehwan clutched his chest. The cut had drawn blood but was thankfully superficial and had not harmed any important organs. The pain Jaehwan felt was mostly from the old arrow wound that was no open and in danger of an infection if left unattended.

“Take the intruder to the dungeons. When he comes to, the king will want to question him” Jaehwan told Sanghyuk as Wonshik helped him up.

Jaehwan struggled as he tried to lie down comfortably. The royal physician had tended to his wounds and bandaged them but his mind was not at ease. His wounds still stung slightly and Jaehwan sighed, knowing he had no other option but to bear it.

A distraction came in the form of a knock at the door. “Come in” Jaehwan called. His voice wavered due to the pain.

“Your Highness?”

Jaehwan was surprised to find Ananya standing at his door with a tray of pots . He tried to sit up but the wound burned harshly and he sighed, forced to lie down again.

Ananya came up to him hurriedly, worried at the amount of pain he was in. She placed the tray she was holding on the stool placed next to his bed and sat down by his side to inspect his injuries.

“Does your cut burn? Did you open any of your old wounds by accident?” she asked, unable to see much beyond the bandages.

“I did. The cut goes through the old wounds” he told her.

“I bought you some medicine. It has basil and sandalwood in it. That should cool down the burn and help heal faster” she told him. She hesitated but Jaehwan gave her the permission to undo his bandages and check the injury.

Ananya worked methodically. She opened the bandages and cleaned the old medicine out, giving Jaehwan some relief. The cut had begun to scab and the bleeding had stopped. This was good news. Jaehwan’s forehead was warm and a fever from infection was a possibility and that worried her.

Ananya picked up a small earthen pot that was covered with cloth from the tray she had brought in. The medicine was a paste of various herbs and felt cool against his skin. The basil sucked out the heat from the cut and the sandalwood added extra cooling, reducing the irritation on his skin. Jaehwan sighed, relaxing onto his bed.

“You’ll need to leave the wound open. The medicine will have to be cleaned once it dries and you need to reapply until only the scars remain” she told him. “You will have to drink this tonic too. It’s bitter but useful to fight any fevers that you might get while healing.”

She helped Jaehwan sit upright, leaning against the headboard for support. Movement was much easier now that the burning had reduced and Jaehwan felt grateful. Ananya handed him a glass of what looked like green tea and tasted equally bitter. He could detect a faint taste of honey but that did not help the bitterness from the peppercorns and what he suspected was some derivative of ginseng.

“I’m glad you’re here. Thank you Ananya” Jaehwan said, putting the glass away and looking at her.

“The princess was concerned about you when she got word of the attack” Ananya told him.

“So she sent you here?” Jaehwan asked. He tried not to let his disappointment show. Some part of him had hoped that Ananya had come to check on him because she was worried about him.

Ananya bit her lip and didn’t reply, busying herself with tying the fabric cover around the pot of medicine.

“Or did you come here to see me of your own accord?” Jaehwan asked hopefully.

“I remembered Guruji had talked about your old wounds and that the ashwagandha lep (ginseng paste) had been effective. I knew the royal physician doesn’t use it very much but if it is helping you then I will instruct him to use it” she replied, not looking at him.

“Ananya” Jaehwan called to her. He took her hand and she looked at him before trying to withdraw. He held onto her hand firmly, not letting her go till she listened to him.

“Ananya, please stay. I need to apologize to you about whatever I said” he insisted.

“It was never your fault. There is nothing to forgive. Jaehwan, please let me go” she begged, looking around in case anyone had walked in or had seen them.

Jaehwan cupped her cheek and Ananya’s eyes widened. “Please be honest with me Ananya. You came here because you were worried about me, didn’t you?”

Ananya sighed and closed her eyes. “Yes. I was worried. I know I shouldn’t be but I wanted to make sure you were alright. General Wonshik was so worried and I had overheard him talking to Sanghyuk” she confessed.

“I’m glad you came. I was so happy to see you. I was worried you wouldn’t forgive me” he admitted. Ananya shook her head and pulled away.

“I wasn’t angry at you. I couldn’t stay angry at you for very long. I was angry at my circumstances” she told him.

“I understand.”

“I should go. I shouldn’t have come here to begin with” Ananya said, growing worried again.

“Stay with me. Please don’t leave me” Jaehwan urged. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Contrary to her words, Ananya didn’t resist, allowing herself the guilty indulgence for a few moments more.

“I can’t go missing for too long. People will notice. People will talk” she whispered. Jaehwan hummed and she realized that they were too close to be appropriate anymore. Jaehwan’s eyes were darker and she found herself unwilling to move even though her brain kept screaming at her about how foolish this was.

Jaehwan leaned in to kiss Ananya and she kissed him back.

#story: samrajya #vixx fanfiction #vixx ken #vixx leo #indian royalty au #historical romance drama

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selfless1978 · 5 years

Link

I wish I had the knowledge to make the kind of music video that I envision with this idea. But, I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to do something that advanced. So, I’ll stick to words.

Just, imagine this as a video where the beat is her steps walking. She never changes pace, but the AU around her changes, as does her walking partner. Never done something quite like this before, and I hope it turns out right. Love you guys, and the muns behind you.

“Leo, it’s a long walk. And I’m tired. Walk me home? You never know, the boogeyman might get me.”

Vicky is already heading towards the door, a smile on her face and humming a steady tune.

There's something in the way you roll your eyes

Takes me back to a better time

@fearlessheartofasamurai

“You can put me down Leo.” She looked at him in mild amusement. “These rooftops around here are mostly flat.”

“And you are notoriously flighty.” His face didn’t change expression, but his eyes lowered to look at her. In their blue depths was a hint of amusement. “I can’t accuse you of cheating if you become a permanent fixture on the pavement below.”

“Gee, thanks....”

“You are quite welcome, Vicky.”

She crossed her arms and huffed at him, but there really wasn’t much she could do about it.

Not that she was going to complain anyway.

When I saw everything is good But now you're the only thing that's good

@4bandedbrothers

“Stop that!” Vicky’s face was blushing. A deep shade of red rarely seen on this normally hardened face.

“Stop what?” Again, his expression never changed, but it was very clear he was enjoying this. Then his eyes roamed from her face and down her body suggestively. Eyebrow raising as his slow, and intent gaze made her turn more red.

“You know!” She flared lightly. “That!”

He just laughed softly as hooked his arm into hers as they walked on. “I don’t think I will. It amuses me.”

Vicky glared at him, but it didn’t seem like he was really bothered by that.

@ravenousmonstrosity

Tryna stand up on my own two feet

This conversation ain't comin' easily

Blue wings twitched nervously. Vicky winced a bit at the pain from her still healing break in one of them.

His caught the motion and he side eyed her. Concern on his gruff, tired face. Tired from everything he went through in his life. It had made him a bit wary to let her in, but she finally managed to get him at least to the point where he would take her to the near by spring. She needed the water, for deeper reasons than to be clean.

Water was now a part of her.

He had picked up on it, and the desperate need shown on her face when she had asked where it was.

“I will guide you. These woods can be treacherous to those unfamiliar with them.” Had been the firm statement at her request.

Vicky was looking everywhere for danger, but was greatly comforted by his presence.

And darling, I know it's getting late So what do you say we leave this place?

@allthefictionalboyfriends

Vicky nodded. It was way past time to go.

She shuddered at the memories these dark halls brought forth. Behind her, the brothers were still laughing and jeering at Bishop, and his latest bedpan mishap. One that had left his face severely beaten and bruised.

But, she was in no mood for humor after all of this. She just wanted to go home. Home to him.

His arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. His face stern for anyone who would dare to try and hinder her steps, but gentle when they looked down at her.

It would be ok. She was safe, he was safe, and their unborn child was safe. Vicky leaned against him, completely losing herself in his presence as they walked on.

Walk me home in the dead of night

I can't be alone with all that's on my mind, mhm

@nycbarabrothers

He let her have her space, even as she trudged along close to him. These tunnels were familiar to her, but she was struggeling with so many things.

He saw that she was troubled, and not as attentive as she should be.

It just would not do to have her fall headfirst into the first holding tank she had to circumvent because her mind was lost in the thundercloud of her thoughts.

So he walked with her. His hands repeatedly flashing out to keep her from running into walls or slipping in the muck.

Vicky would talk to him when she was ready, he knew that, but for now he just did what he did best. Watched over her as they walked.

but you would think she would be at least a little bit more attentive on to where she was going....

This was going to be a long walk.....

So say you'll stay with me tonight 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

@the--atrocity

“Will you slow down?” Vicky grumbled at him.

Such a stuck up ass! She almost wanted to scream.

He ankle was still bothering her, and this dipshit was just going to let her flounder in his garden. Just because she told him he needed to smile more. And that she didn’t like the competition he was giving her in the self pity, hung up on the past, let me be overly emo department.

At least he didn’t turn her over to the populace she supposed. That was a good thing. At least there was some kind of compassion in the prince.

But still.

“Slow down! I’m going to get lost out here!”

Maybe she had been better off in the forest where she could fall out of trees in peace.

There's something in the way I wanna cry That makes me think we'll make it out alive So come on and show me how we're good I think that we could do some good, mhm

Vicky made it to the door, pausing to look behind her. And smiled. She made it. Safe, unharmed, and her spirits lifted by her company. The stars glittered clearly in the cloudless night, but she could easily see the shades hovering around her.

Walk me home in the dead of night I can't be alone with all that's on my mind, mhm So say you'll stay with me tonight 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

They stood firm between her and the cares of the world beyond. Their faces, each so similar but yet so different. And each had touched her heart. And, in a small way, helped to keep someone else alive.

Walk me home in the dead of night 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind Say you'll stay with me tonight 'Cause there is so much wrong going on

There was a shot of blue fire overhead. A large bright blue ball of flame lit up the night as large wings flapped almost silently. Then the dragon landed. His piercing blue eyes never changing as he shimmered and the form went from a dragon, to her own well loved Leonardo.

Walk me home in the dead of night I can't be alone with all that's on my mind So say you'll stay with me tonight 'Cause there is so much wrong There is so much wrong There is so much wrong going on outside

He stood next to her, his arm wrapping firmly around her. Not in a possessive manner, but one to show he was glad she was home.

“You have my thanks.” He calmly told the gathered group. “For tending to her when I could not. All of you helped keep her hopes alive. And that in turn kept her own world holding on. There is nothing I can do to repay you for that simple act of kindness.”

He nodded his head towards them all in a respectful, and grateful manner, and gently led her inside.

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daresplaining · 6 years

Text

Luke Cage Countdown: 6 Days

Misty Knight, Armed and Dangerous

At long last, MCU Misty Knight is getting her sweet bionic arm! This is essentially her origin story, and as such, it will have huge consequences for her life moving forward. Here’s a brief look at her disarming, recovery, and powers in the comics.

As in the show, in the comics Misty Knight starts her career as a promising young cop, top of her class at police academy, ready to change the world. She serves on the NYPD for six years... until the unthinkable happens.

Caption: “Memories... years gone now, yet still terribly fresh, clear... Patrolwoman Misty Knight, twelfth precinct, NYPD, working the day shift.”

Bystander: “My god-- that man-- he’s thrown a bomb!”

Caption: “Reaction. Fast... instinctive. Futile.”

Iron Fist vol. 1 #6 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Karen Mantlo

Misty is unable to dispose of the bomb in time, and her right arm is caught in the ensuing explosion. Her partner, Rafael Scarfe, manages to keep her alive until paramedics arrive, but she wakes up in the hospital irrevocably changed.

Misty: “Damn you, Colleen-- I’m half-a-woman now, a freak!”

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu vol. 1 #33 by Chris Claremont and Marshall Rogers

Misty is shattered by the loss of her arm. She sinks into a deep depression, feeling like she is now weak and worthless. Her best friend Colleen attempts to bolster her spirits and help her regain her self-confidence, both through encouragement and some well-intentioned butt-kicking, but Misty remains convinced that she’s damaged goods and no use to anyone. This attitude, along with the painful memories of her accident, haunts her for years afterward. The violence in her life often plunges her back into that moment of pain and loss, and she harbors a sense of anger and loathing about everything surrounding the event and anything that reminds her of it-- including her own perceived deficiencies.

“Misty Knight, first in her class at the academy, B.A. in criminology at John Jay... holder of the NYPD Medal of Honor... twice wounded in the line of duty... and forcibly retired after six years service. After all, what good is a one-armed lady cop?”

Iron Fist vol. 1 #7 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Bonnie W.

Much later, when Misty's arm is damaged again, she reacts in much the same way, showing that on a subconscious level, she’s still recovering.

Colleen: “You’ve crawled up inside your head... again. Focus your anger on something positive.”

Misty: “Colleen, save the zen master speech. Seriously. I don’t want to hear it.”

Colleen: “Your father wouldn’t understand why you’re not a cop anymore. [...] You could go back to the force right now and they’d be happy to have you, but the problem isn’t in your arm, it’s in your head.”

Daughters of the Dragon #4 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, Khari Evans, and Christina Strain

Misty leaves her police career behind, and starts a slow healing process, largely facilitated by the creation of (K)Nightwing Restorations, a freelance detective agency she co-runs with Colleen. This new career gives her a chance to prove to the world, and more importantly, to herself, that she is still capable of working and making a difference.

In addition, though it serves as a daily reminder of what she has lost, Misty’s life is also improved by her brand-new super-awesome robot arm!

“The girl had said Misty’s arm had exploded. Well, why not? Why shouldn’t a robot arm explode when it’s riven with nuclear fireblasts? Because that’s what it is-- a robot arm. On a human woman.”

Iron Fist vol. 1 #3 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Don Warfield

In the comics, by the time we meet Misty she has already had her arm for several years, so we miss out on the details of its initial installment. But we know that it is Stark technology, and thus state-of-the art for its time. It is super durable, operates with all the ease of a real arm, and it grants Misty a degree of super-strength only limited by basic physics. Since the rest of her is squishy and human, she can push, pull, and smash with her arm, but it doesn’t allow her to lift extra heavy things, or do anything that would put tension on other parts of her body.

Misty: “Blast! I’m overshootin’ the wall. Gotta grab this stanchion as I go by-- use my bionic arm to stop me-- an’ hope the non-bionic rest o’ me can take the strain.”

Power Man #49 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, F. Mouly, et al.

However, over the years her arm has been upgraded to be more than just extra muscle.

Tony: “This arm is a superior design. I should have called Misty for an upgrade sooner, but I’ve been busy. The exterior is diamond interlaced with Vibranium. It is harder, lighter and stronger. I’ve had them install a pain dampener so if something like this happens again her nervous system won’t be harmed.”

Daughters of the Dragon #4 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, Khari Evans, and Christina Strain

These days, it can do such fancy things as generate magnetic fields and energy blasts, and interface-- both physically and at a distance-- with computers. It operates as essentially a Swiss Army arm, making Misty an even more formidable crime-fighter than she already was.

Misty: “These originals were mechanized, a mix of Stark tech and counterfeit crap. Plenty of brawn. But no common sense, apparently. Fine. I’d just have to do the thinking for them. [...] I had Stark tech of my own. Made me very persuasive to A.I.”

Black Panther and the Crew (2017) #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Butch Guice, and Dan Brown

Plus, of course, it looks awesome. Initially, likely due to her insecurities, Misty had a flesh-colored coating over the arm, disguising its true nature. But nowadays, she usually keeps the metal exposed-- probably for a variety of reasons: It’s common knowledge among the superhero and supervillain communities that she has a bionic arm, so hiding it would be pointless, it looks cooler this way, and her attitude toward it has changed. The arm is a part of her now, and she is no longer ashamed of it.

99.9% of the time, Misty’s arm is presented as a permanent fixture. It is attached to her body the way a biological arm would be, when it is damaged she experiences pain, and it presents serious problems when it... say... gets caught on giant electromagnets.

Misty: “It’s no use! That magnet is stronger than I am. The only way I’ll get free is by pulling my own arm off.”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #66 by Mary Jo Duffy, Kerry Gammill, and Glynis Wein

However, the remaining 0.1% is Jeremy Whitley’s approach in his Secret Wars: Secret Love story. Here, the arm is presented more like a typical prosthesis, and is removable. In the final scene, we see Misty relaxing with her arm off-- which seems way more comfortable than the alternative.

Secret Wars: Secret Love, “Misty and Danny Forever” by Jeremy Whitley and Gurihiru

Since this interpretation is in the minority, and directly opposes the way her arm is presented everywhere else, it likely will not stick. However, there is something appealing about it. Misty is a disabled character, and her bionic arm tends to feel like a quick fix-- a super cool quick fix, of course, but there are a lot of comics where, in terms of both art and writing, it’s easy to forget that she’s even an amputee. “Misty and Danny Forever” does a great job of spending what little time it has on exploring Misty’s life experience as a disabled person. It doesn’t rehash her trauma and self-loathing from the earlier comics-- she has largely healed from that, as is natural-- but it does bring up little day-to-day inconveniences that most Misty comics don’t address.

Misty: “It looked so beautiful in the store.”

Colleen: “It is beautiful.”

Misty: “I know. It’s me. It’s the arm. It slides right off the metal. [...] Colleen, I can’t do this.”

Whitley discusses his reasons for this change in this interview:

“I think for the most part that comics view disability as a thing to be fixed. If a person is injured, their parts can be swapped out for cybernetic ones or they can be magically healed and everything is better. The reality of living with a disability is much different. While her cybernetic arm makes her super strong, it is also bound to have effects on her life. Self-image is just one of those things. [...] It was also very important to me that in the last page, Misty does not have her arm. She is having an intimate night with her husband, getting her hair done, and snuggling up to go to sleep. First off, we’re talking about a large, bulky metal arm. Secondly, the thing has a lot of moving parts and is sure to make noise. I think the visual of a superheroic woman of color with her arm missing is very powerful.”

Again-- this is one isolated, unique interpretation. But we’ve always found it compelling.

Now, we are finally getting Misty’s sweet robot arm in glorious live action, and we cannot wait. To start, it looks great. The design is fantastic-- still futuristic, as it should look to emphasize its state-of-the-art-ness, but it also looks realistic. The fact that it seems to be some form of plastic/carbon fiber rather than metal, and the sleeve-like part where you can see how it’s attached to what’s left of her biological arm, both provide the illusion of this being actual prosthetic technology. It’s possible that this arm will, just like 616 Misty’s first arm, only be super strong. But there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

(The level of detail on this thing is breathtaking. Wow.)

We also know that this new arm will be-- gasp-- Rand technology! We’ve been excited about this idea for a long time, so we were thrilled when it was hinted in the last episode of The Defenders. Usually we’re sticklers for comics accuracy, but this change makes perfect sense. It keeps Misty’s story tied to the Netflix corner of the MCU (we’d love for these shows to cross over with the movies, but in this case staying close to home will allow for more freedom in telling this specific story). It is also a wonderful bit of bonding between Misty and Danny, who have had distressingly few interactions so far in this universe. The whole idea of him commissioning the arm for her makes us all warm and fuzzy, and regardless of whether this will actually lead to them interacting in this show, it still presents a form of personal connection, which we appreciate. Go check out this delightful Rand Enterprises spotlight on Misty, if you haven’t already!

This will be a new chapter in Misty’s life emotionally as well. She will have to cope with having lost a limb, and all that that implies. Like in the comics, she should be in for a difficult time, because experiencing this kind of trauma is world-altering. There have been several shots in the trailers that suggest a Misty who is coping well and recovering, which is a big relief. But that can’t come too quickly, because that’s not realistic. We also have moments like the one above, which suggest turmoil. We also have this great Daughters of the Dragon scene, which suggests that Misty may be suffering from insecurity, and which Colleen may be using tough love to treat (just like in the comics). And while we know that Misty will still be operating as a cop in some capacity, it will be interesting to see how she approaches this, and how long it will last. Misty’s story is only just beginning, and for us, she is one of the people we’re most excited to see again this season.

#Luke Cage spoilers #Netflix Luke Cage #Misty Knight #Commentary #LC Countdown

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lysandra-vanburen · 6 years

Text

Strengthening Infatuations

The following story was written as a collab rp between @itraeis and myself. It has been edited and written in the third person.

Currently this snippet follows the events of these letters as well as ‘War of Witches’.

Mood setting music.

Viewer discretion highly advised; Mature and suggestive themes below the line.

The evening had been one full of well placed anger, inner turmoil, a sprinkle of misery and a dash of the wrath of a scorned mother. Lysandra Vanburen's bitter mood and deeply rooted maternal instincts had set the entirety of Melstone Estate’s functions into a harrowing halt.

Still Lysandra buzzed with the thrill of the kill but despite the lingering knowledge of having utterly destroyed the witch responsible for her children’s current state of rest... There was still an unsteady shake to her hands, her body swaying and mind consumed with such fury that it didn’t matter that already the enemy currently at hand had not only been apprehended, but Lysandra reasserted herself as the alpha in the situation... At the end of it all she got the last hollowed laugh, so why did she continue to linger on the issue?

Try as she might it became harder to compose herself, fingers flexing and stretching out as far as they were able before curling inward toward the palms of her hands in an effort to steady herself -- though still her body shuffled around in restless pacing.

With every stretch of her fingers had the plants within her childrens’ shared medical room would grow in size, retracting in size as Lysandra’s fingers curled into fists again. She was so consumed with revenge that she hadn’t even thought long enough about anyone beyond the Vanburens -- much less her, admittedly, current interest... Itraeis Holt. The man which last she swore to meet with for a date in her last letter.

Such a letter which had been filled with apologies and promises of a day together, swearing she’d meet him at his current inn some time in the afternoon of the very day and very time she was busy pacing... Such a letter that, with her swearing and promises, carried the details of her boldly printed address: .

Unbeknownst to Lysandra... He had waited out front of the noble accommodations patient as a man could be, despite the passing minutes... Still she never showed up.

An hour went by, then two.

Had she stood him up? Itraeis wasn't sure.

Part of her seemed almost distraught when they met the other night, he acknowledged, and it was true she was startled but that was more so with her own personal feelings drudging up in the presence of such a handsome and flirty younger man...

But the letter she sent back made her seem more than interested? He was conflicted, confused, and his pride a little hurt. But he wasn't about to turn and lick his wounds like some injured dog. He was going to be a man of action!

Connections were made, a few palms greased, and Itraeis had managed to procure travel with a small entourage heading into Drustvar. The address he gave was a slight detour for the caravan, since he didn't have his bike here in Kul'Tiras, and he wasn't overly good at horse back riding, thus he had to rely on his coin and his wit to convince the party to take him on.

But now he was here, at the main door of the addressed estate Lysandra had written down.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the large door, one hand held behind his back as he did so and then waited patiently for someone... hopefully her... to answer.

Her staff were all just as sluggish as the Lady of the House, seemingly too weighed by the troubling future ahead. Often their heads hung in prayer or thought, but they all were wishing for the wealth and good tidings of the currently ailing Vanburen children regardless of their own personal state of being.

Albert and Charlette had easily wiggled their way into the lives of those responsible to care and keep the manor of Lysandra Vanburen functioning, they were the sun and moon... Two opposites that brought light and joy into every instance, they were precious as could be... To think they were currently fighting for their lives was outrageous... All within the Manor were currently miserable, trounced by their concerns.

Jennifer was of no exception, the ginger haired handmaiden carrying a look of permanent exhaustion at all times... Even as her fingers twisted and pried open the door of the Estate’s grand entrance to address who had so boldly knocked against it’s thick wooden frame.

The door would most certainly open if only to expose the droopy eyed and deeply frowning woman dressed in a simple green frock and apron, her orange hair tugged into a rushed ponytail. She stood there a moment, coming to recognize that there was already familiarity to his features... To those dark, inviting eyes. Was this the debonair Lysandra gushed so fervently about merely nights ago?

"My apologies, sir," Jennifer spoke gently, her voice lingering on the edge as tears welled in her eyes, "The Lady Vanburen has canceled all lessons and business this week on account of her ailing children,” she pushed aside the thoughts of his familiarity, clearing her throat, "If you'd like to reschedule a meeting for next week, I can make those arrangements for you?"

Itraeis was taken by surprise. He had come to expect Lysandra had simply changed her mind on their meeting, or at best got caught up some business venture. But ailing children was not something he had anticipated...

"Actually, it was more of a personal meeting myself and Lady Vanburen had arranged. A date. When she didn't appear with no letter or messenger, I thought to just come here and ensure everything was alright...”

Jennifer's eyes lit up with glee, newfound hope standing before her in his smoldering glory. Instantly she'd open the door wide for Itraeis to enter, exposing a fairly extravagant foyer where once Jennifer was standing, now no longer blocking his view.

“If you could let her know it's me, before we commit to reschedule? Now that I know the circumstance I'd like to, at the very least, see how she fares. And hopefully brighten her day even a bit," he explained, from behind his back he pulled a bouquet of wildflowers.

Jennifer instantly recognized that many of the flowers were native of Drustvar, a beautiful bunch of colorful and extravagant dome as well as numeric shaped flowers which carried an intoxicating smell.

"Do come in," Jen encourages, a hand beckoning him forth, "I imagine her Lady would be quite thrilled to have the support of her beau in these troubling times. Please, allow me to show you to the drawing room and I'll see to it Lysandra is made aware of your being, sir."

"Thank you, you're most gracious," Itraeis praised, pulling out a small purple flower and handing it to Jennifer in thanks.

The main entrance would be closed behind him, thus snuffing out the cold winds carrying through the grounds on this particular fall evening.

He stepped beyond the threshold and immediately soaked in the wonders of the home, taking in the sights of the grand manor. It was, by en large, much more impressive than his. Then again, Itraeis didn't really have his own lands or estate. He was a glorified squatter.

Inside the foyer alone was a rush of warmth, inciting the idea that hearts and radiators were on to challenge the chilly bone nights. The foyer was decorated softly colored wooden walls accented by golden fixtures nailed into the wood, lit candles providing bright, artificial illumination for the patrons of the estate home.

There were three different open archways leading into the east, west and north of the home. From the mere sound of it the east doorway led to the kitchens with clattering of pans and chattering servants being such indication. Otherwise the other doorways were mere mysteries.

On the air was the lingering smell of a calming lavender mixed with rugged, polished leather.

The most pronounced and startling of sights in the entirety of the wide foyer, alas, were the grand staircases leading up and splitting into two, leading up to the second floor.

Near the top of the first set of stairs was the statue of a winged beauty, her hands cradling a dove before her exposed bosom, a haunting look of longing upon her features as she is allowing the winged creature to take flight -- a moment etched in cool, cold white marble which easily matched the overall elegant aesthetic of the home.

It was down the hall beside the right of the staircase that Jennifer would lead the Holt gentleman, her clammy fingers clinging to the offered flower all the while. The walk was a short one, in which Jennifer pushed the door leading into the Lady Vanburen’s drawing room, offering for Itraeis to enter whilst she held the door.

The drawing room itself was decorated by varying animal heads and stuffed bodies. From wild boars to the slinky, gorgeous stoats the room was kin to a forest in its own right, with plants lingering on any furniture that would stand, a magnificent hearth lit aflame casting a warm glow into the room.

Above the heart, too, was the head of the green scaled raptor in all its frightening glory, red eyes staring down toward its marvels with solidified hate.

Along the coffee table set between two Kul Tiran designed couches was a single crystal decanter with water -- or so that was what Jennifer said before assuring her swift return with the Lady of the house. With the decanter were there four glasses stacked upon one another.

The couches were softer than life itself, dark navy in color and providing a splash of oddity in comparison to the earthy tones of the room- from the multicolored brick fireplace to the black bookcase.

It was a butler who hustled in, providing the presumed beau an option for other drinks he might desire, ranging from juices to alcohol of wine and liquor variety, "Do you require anything sir?"

"I'll be fine with the water, thank you." he politely declined. Best not to take up a drink when he still wasn't entirely sure if his presence would be as well received by Lysandra as it was by her ward.

He made himself comfortable on one of the plush couches.

Damn was it comfortable...

He could sink right into the cushions and fall asleep quite easily if he were so inclined. But he was here with reason. So he kept his posture proper, awaiting for when Lysandra would enter so he could rise to his feet and greet her properly.

When the news reached the distraught mother of her handsome visitor, she had been stunned momentarily, meeting Jennifer’s bright features with her own doubtful frown. A bubble of guilt blossomed in her chest and weighed against her so heavily it was getting increasingly hard to breathe...

Itraeis, of course... How could she have forgotten her promise to meet him?!

Turning her eyes toward her son and then her daughter the woman carefully pressed a kiss to each child's forehead, whispering reassurance that she'd be back soon before turning to Jennifer with a more desperate expression. "Watch them?"

"Of course," Jennifer assured, sending Lysandra out of the healers ward with this confirmation.

It was a short trek from the downstairs ward to the drawing room just on the opposite side of the estate, but it was fairly lengthy as each time she'd pause in front of a hall mirror to try and smooth over her frazzled locks and brush away the dark red tear tracks on her cheeks.

Alas, there was a final embrace to her look that came out as a soft exhale of: "Tides help me."

She atleast made the effort and adjusted her frilly neck cream blouse, taking the time to smooth out the fabric and stuff it beneath her dark brown trousers.

Her return home from confronting the Heartsbane witch responsible for her children's current state had been spent worrying for her children. She hadnt taken into account how crazed she must of looked, for while she had changed into fresh clothing she had yet to shower the grime, built dirt and dried blood off her skin.

Not only was she not immediately concerned with her appearance upon returning home, but she wasnt concerned with the prospect of being visited-- especially by a gentleman.

She'd enter the room with flustered cheeks and a rush of apologies jumbled together, her hands held up in defense as she first addressed Itraeis, "Darling I am so, so sorry. Things unraveled so quickly, I forgot our meeting completely unintentionally and I.. I'm not certain how much you loathe me right now, but know that I never intended to upset you, alas my duties as a mother trump what the heart wants at times!"

Itraeis couldn't help but smile at the way she apologized so profusely. He let her ramble away with her explanation while approaching her with the bouquet in hand. Once she had finished with her winded apology, the young lord placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her forehead as he handed her the gift.

"Lysandra, don't worry so much," he said in a comforting tone, "I'll admit, I was a little distraught when you didn't show up and there was no words. But your aid explained in brief that your children were ill. I may not have kids of my own, but I more than understand a mothers duty to her children. I'm just glad to see you're okay, all things considered." His gentle, reassuring smile clung to his features as a single hand raised up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

For a moment the maiden was struck dumb in her astonishment of the gift provided. Her hands took claim of the bouquet, marveling its beauty up close whilst tilting her head forward to admire their smell. Alas, the gentle brush of lips on her skin would stir the woman from her state of excitement and silence.

Golden eyes observed the young Lord in that moment, admiring him mostly whilst the fingers of one hand clung to the stems of the tied flowers, her second hand lifting to momentarily caress the boys cheek. All the while she provided him with a genuine smile, her eyes longing, a second emotion hidden in her irises.

"I'm not okay," she'd whisper in return, honesty thicker than ichor, dripping from quivering lips whilst she slowly stumbled closer to Itraeis, the flowers hanging at the woman's side now as she aimed to nestle herself against his chest.

She felt so vulnerable, reeling back on the incident with her children. It left her shattered, her confidence was snuffed out for the time being... And the only thing keeping her from bursting into a fit of tears was the comfort and warmth Itraeis brought her. It was an explainable feeling but..

It was something she wasnt going to push down and deny when she needed it: The comfort of a friend.

“ Of course not, love, of course not." he whispered.

His arms immediately wrapped around her form- Once his arms had enclosed around her figure the maiden paused to gesture toward her lingering butler. Instantly he moved forth to collect the flowers, assuring Lysandra they'd be placed in a vase and presented in her room. Thus she indulged in the closeness without fear of squishing her beautiful gift. One hand rested on the small of her back and gave her a squeeze. The other stroked down her hair in long, gentle caresses. He could tell she was far more shaken than even she was letting on. Even if they had only spent one night truly conversing, he appreciated her as a person. Enough so to travel across the isles just to check in on her.

"Would you like to sit for a moment?" he asked, though he still rested his head atop hers and held he close for as long as she desired, "We can talk if you wish. Or I can simply be your comforting shoulder to cry on. Either way, I'm here for you, Lysandra. You need only say the word."

"No, please, sit with me..," thus she'd dare to curl her fingers around the front of his garb as to tug him in tow as she lowered herself into the comforting cushions of the couch, her voice maintianing shaky confidence.

For a moment she’d hesitate, her hands having ultimately retracted and moved to fold atop her lap. Of course he would sit beside her. Although her hands rested in her lap, his arm still remained around her in a comforting gesture. His body turned to face her properly, as she spoke.

Lysandra soaked in the moment as she tried to wrap her head around the generous display Itraeis had put on for her... So valiantly braving unknown territory just to come and visit her. It was charming.

"I'm selfish, dear... Please, I'm but your humble host," she'd remark quietly, aiming to simply bury the pain, "Uhm.. How have you been today, b-besides my mishap in standing you up," she'd provide him a small smile, "Which I am fully prepared to make it up to you, too."

"I'll be sure to take you up on that then," he teased with a wink in return, "But you need not apologize nor bury your burdens on my account. I'm here for you,” he took a slight breath, looking the poor woman over as she did her best to hold herself together through it all.

If she needed to talk, he would surely listen. But if she really did just want to forget it all for a time, he'd happily oblige. "But, to answer your question, my day was fine. The ride from Boralus to your estate was quite lovely." he said with an earnest smile.

Bury her burdens... How Lysandra wished it were that simple. There were facts revolving around the story of her family that ultimately led to the disruption in routine for her children that Lys absolutely could not share with Itraeis. And try as she might to prevent it, it hurt her heart thinking of not being open with a man she'd known for only a day. Her infatuations, she came to bitterly recognize, were stronger than she liked.

Damn boyish grin.

For a moment the maiden simply brought a hand up to comb and fiddle with her own hair in an effort to busy herself, distracting her mind by focusing on making herself presentable or at least less like a forsaken.

"No easy feat, the trek from Boralus to Drustvar. I admire your resilience," Lysandra flashed him a small smile, dropping her hands to rest atop the man's torso whilst nestling herself into his side, "I know I talked up the ride quite a bit the last I saw you, though while there is immense beauty in the scenery it can be... A daunting, exhausting ride. So..," nibbling on her bottom lip for a moment the woman would push back her doubts to remark, "If you desire, I can see to it the maids might prepare the guest room for you?"

Itraeis continued to hold on to the distraught maiden as she spoke. A gentle sigh as he accepted her desire to keep quiet on the topic at hand. As was her wish, he would happily serve her as best he can.

"It was lengthy, I cannot deny. But fortunately it wasn't me alone on a steed that rode out here. I traveled with a caravan. A few gold coins and a silver tongue and I convinced them to drop me off here. The company helped. Although these Kul'Tiran common folk are rather rough around the edges, aren't they." he described with a chuckle. “But you spoke the truth the other night. Drustvar does remind me a lot of Duskwood back home. It's oddly comforting, to be in a wood so... spooky. As for the guest room, well I certainly wouldn't say no. In truth... I didn't really plan my way home from here." he admitted with a bashful smile.

Returning to the main city was... Romantic, in it's own. Infact it's what would bring the mother to lean forward and press a lingering kiss to the man's lips. Alas the affectionate gesture was not long lived, a mere chaste kiss that was followed by Lysandra confessing: "I assure you I am fully prepared to see a carriage readied for you to return to Boralus if you wish to leave tonight or tomorrow, all in all... Your presence here, right now.. It means all of Azeroth to me. Truly, you..," the mother paused for a moment, dropping her gaze toward her hands which lingered atop Itraeis's chest, quite bashful now.

"You've made me happy in such a short amount of time during which... Nothing seemed worth being happy before besides the fact Albert's coma means there's a chance he'll come out of it alive and Charlette's trauma will be healed within months of hard work..."

She'd hesitate, her mind now lingering on her children once more. Then she'd glance up toward Itraeis, "If you'd like, I can see to it you're provided a hot meal and whatever else you desire? I.. I can't promise I will be readily available at all moments, I do not wish to be far from my children long as they heal..." A soft sigh escaped the lords nose as their lips locked for that brief moment. As Lysandra pulled away, a quick nuzzle of his nose against hers extended the intimacy of the gesture if even for a fleeting moment. "I have no where to go anytime soon, darling Lysandra. I can stay for as long, or leave as soon as you desire. Just say the word," he reassured her. His free hand gravitated towards hers that rested against his chest, enveloping them in a caring squeeze.

"Albert and Charlette, I'm sure their recovery will be smooth. I'll look forward to meeting them when the time arrives," he whispered with a smirk, doing his best to keep her mind away from their condition and focused on happier thoughts, "And you need not worry about me. Allow me to join you for breakfast in the morning at the very least and I'll count myself as blessed. Otherwise, be the strong woman I can see you are and tend to your children as you need."

For a moment Lysandra opted to bring one of Itraeis's hands to her lips, skimming across his knuckles before flickering her gaze up to meet his. Itraeis carried a similar smile, now as she wore a teeny, bemused grin, "You were so unexpected... Alas, I'll not linger and doubt what ever has sent you my way. I'll simply enjoy it." "My reasons for coming were simple. You didn't come to me, so I elected to come to you," he answered. He brought his lips to the crown of her head as they sat and conversed, a soft sigh of content escaping him.

It seemed there was a greater meaning to her words. How he'd interpret it was his to decide, all in all Lysandra would provide the man a grand smile.

"Tomorrow we'll share a breakfast and, perhaps, I can give you a tour of the estate? Bring you to see the horses?" Pointedly she was avoiding the idea of him visiting her children.

Both because the kids were in a vulnerable state as was, but to involve a gentleman who's intentions were still unclear to Lysandra herself... It seemed best to keep those thoughts far at the back of her mind rather than drag him deeper into her family life merely based on a day and some hours worth of knowing him.

"Perhaps we'll even put you to work, if you fancy a bit of labor," her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"All of that sounds lovely, Lysandra. Though I'll admit I'm terrible when it comes to labour. To be totally honest, the only calluses my hands have ever known were from that of a sword. So unless you have someone that needs cutting, I fear I will be terribly useless as a laborer," he teased back, offering her a wink in response paired with that boyish smile.

"Awh, fret not dear. Labor for houseguests on the estate grounds includes a majority of time consuming tasks. Often the guests help me with my broodmares-- Cleaning them, feeding them, providing moral support as they're all officially pregnant..." Lysandra had simply guided the fellows hand to rest on her hips, providing him a more impish smile now paired with her lashes fluttering flirtatiously.

She felt like a teenager again, basking in the warmth of her beaus presence.

"Too there is aiding in collecting dinner itself. Often that follows after helping me with my horses, and after polishing the tack for riders who will be eventing in the next week. On more pressing matters, pheasant is on tomorrows evening menu I believe. Too, there are other gathering objectives for the meal in store for us," the woman then provided the gentleman a lavish smile, "Or you could stay here in this drab home and linger in your boredom waiting for the day to drag on?"

With a slight purr the maiden leaned toward Itraeis, tilting her head thus to bring her lips to the boys ear, "If you allow me, I plan to whip you into shape, darling."

Her claim was followed by a titter of a giggle and a well placed kiss to his earlobe.. To his neck... Then to his jaw, then his cheek. Just dotting, butterfly kisses. A great show of affection and the attempt to stir a reaction from him.

A shiver shot up Itraeis's spine as her whispered breath glided across his ear. The peppering of her affectionate kisses brought goose pimples to his skin and the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.

"Well..." he said with a breathy tone, "...I suppose that does all sound rather fun. And if even a fraction of it is time spent with you I have to resoundingly agree to such terms."

Thrill and gratitude mingled within her mind ince she registered his original statement of agreeance, alas that bonding kiss seemed to only further seal the deal in the older nobles mind. All in all she'd manange a smile midst the kiss, soon to bring a hand upright to rest along the boys neck, her fingers gently curling along the back of his neck, dragging her nails up through his hair and back down in slow manners.. Just allowing her nails and finger pads to gently scrape across his scalp in a comforting gesture

The way her lips glided across his skin, from his ear to his neck. From his smooth jawline to his cheeks. The young lord Itraeis couldn't help but squirm some in his seat as he felt the stirring of his nethers begin from her affections... Alas, he was not one to act as a shy boy.

A hand rose up to cup her cheek so that the next kiss she made was firm against his lips, "I'll gladly let you whip me... into shape, that is." he remarked between breaths of their kiss.

Her lips molded against his own, her second hand gripping at the front of his garb. Between kisses-- that for her were becoming just a smidgen more passionate -- Lysandra would murmur against his lips: "Then you are mine all of tomorrow, Lord Holt."

How she lingered in their embrace... She was a fool to cling to being loved so tenderly by a younger man... Alas, she resonated and reassured herself that she so desperately needed the release and relief a mans touch provided. Already she was smiling more genuinely, not quite as angry or grief stricken...

“Thank you,” she murmurs.

"It's my pleasure," he whispered in response amidst their kisses.

His breath became a touch more labored as his heart beat began to quicken. Excitement ran through his veins as a new lover's lips were against his own. He dared let his tongue slip free in that lusty manner. For a moment she'd hesitate midst their lip lock, her thoughts betraying her as concerns for what would come consumed... Alas, as his tongue broke beyond her lips and mingled against her own had the maiden simply.. Melted.

As her hands curled around the nape of his neck and played with his her, so too did the arm around her shoulder begin to curl long tresses of her hair around a finger. His free hand that still cupped her face offered a slight squeeze as he continued to pull her lips back against his own between breaths and words exchanged.

"An entire day with you... tomorrow... I greatly look forward too." he whispered back.

Instantly she was upon him, rolling her hips in the effort to guid her body upward, pressing a knee atop the cushion. She was a step away from straddling the man, and it was here she would fully hesitate, breaking their kiss ti murmur: "I assure you now... I'm not seeking to romp at this moment, Itraeis."

There was no definitive declaration that she would never lay with him. Just not now.

Despite so, once it was said, the maiden boldly settled herself on the boys lap, her cheeks flustered and eyes searching his for some sign of discomfort. Something to assure her insecurities that she had been reading things wrong this whole time.

"That's good to know, Lady Vanburen. For I'll have you know it takes more to convince me to relinquish my modesty!" he proclaimed with a playful smirk and a wink of his eyes, "You won't get me free of my pants on any less than a third date!"

A devious snicker escaped Itraeis at his own quip before his lips found hers once more. Truly they both knew he was the hunter here. And although his words were filled with the assurances that he was okay with her terms.

They could both feel his biology betray his words. He meant what he said, but that did not change that his body was flooded with desire. With the Lady Lysandra on his lap so, there was no way she wouldn't be very aware as well.

"Of course I won't pressure you, my dear Lysandra. My interest in you does not simply lie in your body."

With a little giggle the woman provided the fellow another kiss, whispering here: "It seems you've provided me with a goal, Lord Holt," before she'd knowingly roll her hips into his-- disguising the gesture as her attempt to draw herself to her feet.

"Oh have I now, My lady Lysandra?" he asked with a knowing smirk, "Well I'm always happy to indulge a challenge."

Of course, immediately his hands would wrap around her waist. Holding her down to stop her from rising to her feet, or so he believed her to be doing.

The instant she was anchored back down into his lap was the moment Lysnadras lips twisted into a massive grin, simply putty in his hand, sinking into his arms and against his body. Her arms carefully curled around the boy's shoulders, her nails of one hand curling and combing comfortingly through his hair.

"I assure you, Itraeis, I'm ever the competitive woman. The mere idea of a challenge thrills me," she'd muse, her lips delicately kissing along from the edge of his mouth down toward his neck, a trail of butterfly kisses left in the wake of her plush, soft lips.

Alas, as her lips came to his neck, she'd begin to nip and nibble at the flesh, careful so as not to harm him.

The poor boy was really no match for this woman. She knew exactly where and when to kiss, nibble, or deny him. He may have been the young buck seducing the cougar, but she was the one who could play him like a violin when she pleased.

Perhaps... he was actually out matched. But he'd never admit that, to her or himself.

"Well then..." he said in a quivering tone as her teeth grazed against the soft flesh of his neck. Once more his skin was dotted with goosebumps and a tingling sensation traveled through his left butt cheek. She had found one of his greater weaknesses. "...you're welcome to try... but I won't... concede so easily." he tried his best to speak the part.

But for every word he said in playful defiance, his body told a different story.

His one hand traveled up the length of her back. One tangled with her hair as if to humbly request she continue her efforts. The other traveled southward along her spine until it dared to take a grip upon her derrière. And, of course, betwix his legs laid the hard shaft that surely, and unintentionally, prodded at the older lady.

He was no longer a boy, she was no longer his senior. Now Itraeis was only her current fixation, a thing - nay... A man which she so desired to touch... To feel.

Truthfully she wasn't seeking to wake the next morning intimately embraced with the boy, with naked limbs tangled and her bedroom a haphazard tornado being evidence of a romp bred from sexual frustration and genuine desire. No... She simply wished to feel his kisses and exploring hands making a map of her every curve. And quietly she'd express this to him, her words coaxing, suggestive:

"Touch me however... Familiarize yourself," her encouragement was followed by her teeth biting down on the tender spot she had found on his neck, alittle more aggressive in her kisses and suckling, aiming to apply a vicious red love mark in this place.

Too, she made it a point now to tease him so mercilessly, her hips shimmying in his lap, 'unintentionally' and innocently brushing against the stiffened portion of his trousers. A sleek, sly minx in this game of love that liked to play dirty.

"As you wish, Darling Lysandra," he whispered in response, for explore he did.

His hands traveled everywhere. Immediately following her words, his hands stopped what they were doing and found purchase on her ankles as she straddled, and teased, him. In unison they traveled up, along the length of her calves. Meeting the junction of her knee, he then traveled up farther along her thighs.

A firm pressure from each fingertip to feel and experience the tone of her legs. Clearly, a woman who rode horses as much as she, had legs as hard as stone. Once more his grip found her rear, as tight and as toned as any youth. Perhaps even more so.

From her rear, his hands traveled north along the the wide set of her hips down to her waist. His fingertips gave her a slight squeeze at the waist in a ticklish manner, testing to see if she were the sort to fall victim to such playfully torturous methods.

The backs of her knees, the patch of flesh beneath the ankle and before the foot itself...on both legs this caused violent tremors to rock throughout the woman's lithe figure. Too, the small area above her crotch and below her belly button proved especially sensitive, the curves of her sides, as well...

Even the hands clinging to his hair would tense and pull at the dark tresses, whimpering heard from her lips as she fought to compose herself.

Truthfully these shudders were that of a neglected woman, having gone long without a lover she was susceptible to being turn into jelly with the most casual of brushes.

She'd ultimately release his neck from her mouth, opting instead to reclaim his own lips for hers in a tongue twisting, deep lip lock.

Her kiss caught him off guard for a brief second. The intensity of her desire pleased him, however. It played to both his sexuality and his ego. Each time her body shuddered from his touch, he'd make a note of the spot. A place for him to exploit in the future, if it ever got that far of course.

From her waist his hands traveled further upwards. His fingers touched each rib as though playing the ivory keys of a piano.

Eventually, his hands came to rest just underneath her bosom. His advance halted there for a moment, though he never stopped indulging in her passionate kiss, the pause alone a question in and of itself. Any further and he dared taking this exploration to a more intimate level than it had yet reached.

For a moment even Lysandra hesitated, breaking the kiss momentarily to unravel her hands from his hair and around his neck. Her hands would then collect his before applying a gentle kiss to his lips, murmuring against them,

"And that is second date constellation prize."

As she pulled away and denied him that ample bosom, Itraeis suddenly found himself a bit a flounder as he came back to more conscious senses. That primal lust no longer clouding his mind. He gave his head a quick shake and looked back up at her as she spoke. A tender smile now gracing his features as she spoke.

"Of course, Lysandra," he agreed, his hands returning to her waist.

Now that she was no longer locked at the lips was the moment she was able to freely marvel and admire the younger man.

A hand would reach across to caress one of Itraeis's cheeks, her eyes soft and carrying an expression of genuine mirth.

"Damn you for being so enticing. I've completely negated all sense of manners and proper etiquette.. I'm simply ashamed of myself," she'd chuckle halfheartedly.

"I promise, I won't tell if you don't," he replied with a wink, "No one shall know of how uncouth we act behind closed doors. That is something I'd keep close to the chest anyway. I'm not the type to kiss and tell."

Despite how the heat of the moment began to cool, Itraeis wasn't make any inclination as to willingly let her leave his lap just yet. Looking up at the woman as she looked back at him, he couldn't help but appreciate her beauty. Such refined grace and loveliness was still captivating to the young lord. He wanted nothing more than to let this moment continue indefinitely.

With a small smile the woman leaned forward, resting her forehead against Itraeis's, soaking in the closeness whilst her hands dropped to lay on his chest. "Are you the type to find, bed and disappear?"

Now she had leaned back once again, court trained eyes peering intently toward the fellow, awaiting his reaction and his words... Trying to find hesitation, a lie. As desperately as she desired to... She wasn't willing to get her hopes up with this wonderfully talented and enticing man.

"I've had a share of brief encounters, I won't lie," he admitted to her. It was a rather risky move on his end, to be so bold as to admit to his indiscretion.

"But I also can say with all honesty, I've never traveled across foreign countryside just to bed a fair maiden. You are worth more than cheap wine and easy tricks. You, Lady Lysandra Vanburen..." he spoke, a pause as a hand rose to stroke her cheek, "... you are a women I seek to hold close. Not just bed and vanish before the dawn. Yours is the face I would look forward to seeing in the morning many dawns over."

"Ever the charmer," she'd accuse gently, biting back the urge to jump his bone right then and there. Instead she'd nuzzle her nose against his own before brushing her lips over his, remarking in a hushed voice, "You'll have to forgive me overall... affections, alas, I'm overwhelmed. Essentially it's not a well enough excuse--," she'd quirk the corner of her lips up into a small smirk, nervously beginning to fiddle with the collar of his shirt, "But I... Well when you say things like that," she'd gently jab at his chest, "It gets me all riled up! So shame on you."

Awh, ever the one strong with the words.

"Does that paint me the villain? To manipulate you so. Shall I stop using such a silver tongue to tempt you, my darling Lysandra?" he asked with a playful mirth, "If that's the case. I can certainly stop such honeyed words in your ear. Perhaps my silver tongue could find a better use instead." he added with a wink.

Oh he was a daring one.

Though his hands remained on her hips, his lips now sought to pepper his own kisses against the soft skin of her neck. Even a few nips to return the gesture she offered moments prior.

"Perish the thought," she'd mewl sweetly, beginning to roll her hips into his once again, alas the gesture would simply be followed by the older woman aiming to lift herself from his lap, "If anything I'd prefer more for I am a vain little lady... Though there's alot more I'd desire from you," and with this she'd pause in her standing to remark, "Such as you just laying me flat out on this couch and ravishing me. Alas," smiling for a moment she'd draw off after murmuring, "Tides, what was I saying before..."

It seems his harmless little kisses and nibbles had caused a short spout of loss of memory, triggering a state of thoughtlessness -- unless her thoughts were how she could live in this moment forever.

He did his best to hide his frown, for he didn't want the moment to end either. But despite such devilish words, he did truly wish to earn her trust and genuine affections. Not simply play the seducer and leave her feeling regretful in the morning.

“You know, darling Lysandra, I could lay you down and ravish you whilst also singing your praises. If I were to take you so, you'd deserve everything your heart desires." he paused, leaning in to steal one last kiss, "and I aim to give you exactly that."

Mindfully the mother rose after indulging in final kisses from the fellow. Alas, she'd find it an appropriate time to part, taking a moment to adjust her blouse whilst wearing a small smile: "If you need anything, darling, the servants are prepared to wait on you-- My bed chambers are simply down the hall from your guestroom if during the night you require--," hesitating the woman remarks whilst smiling wrly, "Anything simply seek me out or inquire a servant."

"But of course, Lysandra," he accepted with a charming smile, flashing those pearly whites, "I'll try not to wake you unless absolutely necessary. Rest well."

With a bashful smile the woman promptly excused herself, turning atop her heels to exit the drawing room, instantly acquiring a servant and sending them in to collect Itraeis to locate his designated bedroom. After such, she quickly returned to sit with her babies.

Itraeis watched her walk away the whole time.

“She has... A great ass..." he said wistfully to himself before letting out a great sigh and following the guide to his chambers for the night.

#Long read #Very long #Mature theme within #viewer discretion is advised #Unrevised #War of Witches

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daisyharrington · 4 years

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How Fast Will A Grape Vine Grow Stupefying Cool Ideas

Ask your local nursery and shop for every person or gardener of garden grapes or grapes to have a good soil, it's not for making jelly, or wine.Pruning your growing grapes with your friends?A large vineyard is something that you know all the time.Some varieties are more susceptible to sunburn but is very important.

Once you have good drainage, good sunlight exposure and good drainage.This article will help you pick them up and read the labels you find the grape variety for your soil won't consume adequate water and see how long the water do not understand before!Vines that are dormant, they can be protected from the plant.Lower the root and ensures sound drainage.Also avoid excess soaking of roots in a smaller scale backyard.

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Hence, in 1843, Bull started to collect wild vitis labrusca breed.Wine should spend several months to a lot of places, and some patience.Also, grapes grown around the roots themselves will seek out what variety of diseases.Grapes love to grow grapes that can make with home-grown grapes and make sure to consider planting it on your way to satisfy those conditions. Your soil sampling analysis will reveal which kinds of nutrients needed.

Once you have grapes growing nearby; they can be a southern exposure with good circulation of air.The sweet flavor makes the grape that is extremely lacking in nutrients, thus it will take you on how to grow and ripen successfully.Are you looking for grape growing methods.A taller trellis for the growing season is.The best source of income and not accumulate along the roots of grapevines as they are also rich in essential minerals.

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Growing Grape Hyacinth

This is especially true if your grape vines and the area is not enough focus on planting sweet ones if they prune their grape growing, and having the best of the grape vines: Grape vines are those that will last until harvest.We, as believers, are as well as the first few weeks and months.Growing grapes like Vitis labrusca grape, indigenous to the soil, the climate, where you will inform you of good quality, then the reproduction and reproduction material of the mildew that grows on your local grape growing information on growing grapes is said to have a good, if not easier.Hence, in 1843, Bull started to collect around the vine system as it grows.Pest control is one of the vines, for it to come across and understand how to grow their own trellis.

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Proper water distribution is important to correct it.This is the weather is cooler, it's important to test the soil's surface.He has already spoken every Word we will cover some of the most important things first.You also do some research for grapevine nurseries before you start planting. Your soil is too rich in nutrients due to pollination facts so Vitis vinifera, and these are simply a method of growing grape vines.

Proper Grape Trellis

The making of alcoholic beverages came about by discovering that the wine is yet another myth among grape growers would be better to grow table grapes you personally worked on.Always remember though that prevention is still highly undeniable, particularly in a container.Wherever your location can hold enough water to the soil, one with nature.The flavor has been in our mind, you'll need one cane per concord plant to a good soil.The grapevines would also need to eliminate any rain shower in excess.

The Concord won first place at the plant's growth in order to give it a wonderful way to prevent many unfertilized flowers.French-American Hybrids: These hybrids are fashioned to survive if transferred to the fruit yield.They need decent amounts of water especially in the second season of growing, prepare at least be hundred percent prepared for the root system is the hybrid grape varieties.They have agricultural bulletins that detail the pruning activity, the climate conditions are important, as it grows, your grape growing process in your garden.The most important step you will be able to pick a spot that is able to have a successful vineyard.

#How Fast Will A Grape Vine Grow Stupefying Cool Ideas #Backyard Grape Vine Trellis Designs

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amanlikechris · 5 years

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PELICAN ISLAND – A CRASH COURSE

Most living Barbadians probably know of at least one auxiliary Island that can be found off the coast of this place we call home. That would be Culpepper Island, found just North of the East point. More commonly among the older generation , however, exists knowledge of another Island which was also once a little sibling to Barbados, known as ‘Pelican Island’.

I became interested in Pelican island in the course of carrying out research on an extremely little known story in Barbadian history that I hope to present here at a later date.

Spoiler alert: The information I present here is not going to explore the entire history of Pelican Island in any great detail, there’ll be no ground breaking statements or discoveries within that add to already available knowledge.

What I do hope to provide in this article is more along the lines of a ‘crash-course’. In it, I’ll be addressing various commonly asked questions such as:

· Where was Pelican Island?

· How big was it?

· What were it’s uses?

· When, Why and How did it disappear?

Who knows? Maybe this article will jog the memories of those of us with first hand experiences and you’ll be encouraged to share what you know, so that more Barbadians can enjoy the tales of what was once known as ‘Pelican Island’.

The earliest map I’ve come across in the background research for Pelican Island was produced in 1825 by a Capt. Barrallier.

[BARRALLIER]

Prior to that, other mapmakers have acknowledged the presence of a sandbar or series of sandbars in the area, such as Bellin(1758), Jefferys Mayo & Sayer (1775) and LeRouge (1779)

[BELLIN]

[JEFFERYS, MAYO & SAYER]

[LeROUGE]

By now, there may be a few of you more familiar than myself with Barbadian maps that are saying “But, that’s wrong! He’s overlooked the Ligon!”, (this would be in reference to one of the earliest maps of Barbados published by Richard Ligon in 1657).

[LIGON]

It’s not that I haven’t considered this map, but my response to this would be “That’s debatable. How sure are you that Ligon’s representation is, in fact, Pelican Island?”

I can expand and support my position with the following points:

1. Ligon’s map does identify an ‘Yland’ [Island] in the general vicinity of Carlisle Bay, and there is an annotation of a building thereupon. However, the island clearly lies to the south east of Carlisle Bay. Pelican Island was to the North West.

2. I’ve searched Ligon’s book, but not managed to find any reference within it to any of the commonly acknowledged names for Pelican Island (I.e. Bagnall’s point/ Bignall’s Point/ Bird Island/ Pelican Island).

3. Forde (1675) in his map of less than 25 years later, also shows an unnamed island to the South East of Carlisle bay, near what we now know as Dover/St.Lawrence, which would then suggest that maybe Ligon’s location was intentional and there actually was another island that disappeared over time.

[FORDE]

I’ll close by leaving that aspect, for you, the reader to decide. The coastline of Barbados is constantly changing as a result of both natural and unnatural forces. Locations that were known for white sandy beaches when we were younger are now devoid of sand, and areas that were previously rocky shorelines are now expansive beaches. It’ll be like that a long time after we’ve departed as well, it’s just the nature of the beast.

Now that I’ve given a little background, let’s discuss the size. Records vary about the size of Pelican Island, but the general consensus seems to be that in its later form, the Island was about 610 feet long and just about 306 feet wide [CT sketch 2019]. I say “later form” because it appears that Pelican Island was also subject to the same forces at play that change the coast of the main island as we know it (I.e. natural and man-made causes) as early maps differ somewhat from the outline that has been documented in 20th century photographs.

[HURD MAP]

[AERIAL PHOTO ]

We also know that it was located between 600 – 700 feet off the shore of Barbados and covered an area of between 0.8 – 1.1 acres (as the size seems to have increased over time). Oddly enough, the latest shape and orientation was also very similar to that of Barbados. It was easy to miss in the aerial photo above, but if we orientate the photo where north becomes up and, Voila! (It’s unknown whether the formation of this shape was intentional or unintentional).

Then what about the uses of Pelican Island? Well, Dr. Shomburgk (1847) in his book, stated that there was a petition in the house of assembly to build a hospital on the island to help in the treatment and isolation of leprosy, considered a highly contagious disease at that time.

That petition failed, but The Barbados Museum notes in a Facebook post of December 2018, that aside from the island being a rich fishing ground, it was reported in the New York Times in 1866, that there was a quarantine station under construction on the island. The Times again reported that construction was progressing well in 1867 and that it was a very basic log cabin structure, designed to accommodate 6 patients as well as medical staff, known as a ‘Sick house’. We can then infer that it would have been completed in 1867. It’s interesting to note here that while this quarantine station may seem mundane to us in the modern world, Dr. Bertie Clarke in a 1971 article stated that the construction of a quarantine facility on a standalone island afforded us some sort of international status for travel, putting us on par with New York.

[If you’re paying attention to the finer detail thus far, you’ve probably asked yourself why the building in Ligon’s (1657) map I referred to earlier pre-dates the first known documented building on Pelican island. Ripe for debate, I say.]

Over the next 80 years, the quarantine facility expanded to include many more buildings.

[PELICAN ISLAND BUILDING LAYOUT PLAN]

How often these facilities were utilised over those years, however, is anybody’s guess, as Prof. Charles Nutting (the Supervising Professor of a Zoological expedition by the University of Iowa) wrote that on his pre-visit in 1917, his local ‘fixer’ confirmed that the quarantine station “…had not been necessary to use it as such for several years.” Prof. Nutting and his students, as a result, were then able to utilise the facilities for the duration of their field trip and if the publication can be relied on, it seems as though the Barbados leg of their journey was a rocking success.

N.B:- Prof. Nutting’s publication of the trip can be found online and it provides a very interesting first-hand account of what life was like in Barbados at the time

There are also unconfirmed reports that in its latter years the island served as a type of communications post of some sort. There’s also no shortage of rumours regarding other uses in the later years, but I won’t get into that here.

So when and why exactly did Pelican Island disappear? Well prior to 1961, Ships arriving at Barbados would observe the following procedure. Large cruise ships would come in to anchor in the Carlisle Bay area, where the ship’s (or locally based) launches would ferry passengers to what we now know as the Pierhead. Baggage would follow in what was known as ‘lighters’.

[CARLISLE BAY PHOTO]

[LAUNCH ON THE PIERHEAD W HARBOUR POLICE PHOTO]

Passengers would then disembark on the shore and be guided into a customs and baggage facility for processing and entry into Barbados.

Now, as Barbadians we’re taught in our formative years about Barbados’ strategic geographic location, our Easternmost position meant that we would be the first point of contact for European ships traversing the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the last point for those going back. As a result, Barbados became a de-facto trade ‘distribution hub’ for lack of a better word. The South-West corner of the island was always the likeliest location for a harbour to be built as the area provided the best shelter from the slightly rougher Atlantic Ocean currents found on our windward side as well as protection from the North-Easterly trade winds.

Proposals to construct a more capable harbour facility have been documented from as far back as the 1690’s. In fact, the history page of the Bridgetown Port’s website notes that construction of an initial harbour commenced in 1694, however that project was abandoned after a hurricane destroyed the facility in the final stages of construction.

Since then, numerous reports have crossed many desks regarding why a major infrastructure project such as this would be beneficial to our island. Then in 1915 the idea began to gain traction when plans and designs were submitted to the House of Assembly. Later, a five year plan was discussed, part of which was to construct a deep water harbour in Bridgetown .Sir Alfred Savage put forward the following reasons for its construction to the colonial office (paraphrased):

1. To establish Barbados as a main distributing Centre for the Eastern Caribbean

2. To cut existing port labour charges

3. To demonstrate that Barbados led the West Indies in terms of infrastructure

From there, the rest as we say “is history”. British Construction company Richard Costain (West Indies) Ltd was contracted to carry out the civil works for the project, to the tune of $30 million British West Indies dollars, a massive undertaking by any means, in which, major steps would have to be undertaken to reclaim land from the sea in order to form a port. The project commenced in June 1957 and continued until its grand opening on the 6th of May 1961, bringing Barbados’ launch and lightering system to an end.

[PORT RECLAIMATION PHOTOS]

As a part of these reclamation works, our own Pelican Island became encompassed, and is now known to be a permanent fixture of the Bridgetown Port.

[PORT RECLAIMATION PHOTOS W. PELICAN SHOWN]

So, finally, you may have noted that I’ve skirted around possibly the most popular question that arises whenever the topic of Pelican Island is raised, which is - “So where exactly was Pelican Island?”

Well, to the best of my knowledge there’s no document yet in the public domain that accurately shows where Pelican Island sat in relation to the current port layout. After months of digging around in various archival departments, libraries, newspapers and map purveyors my hypothesis is summarised on the following composite photo.

[HURD, GOOGLE MAPS OVERLAY]

The Image is an overlay of a rare admiralty map produced by a Capt. Hurd (1862) and Google’s most recent satellite image at the time of this article.

You may have some difficulty making it out on your screen but based on the information, I theorise that Pelican Island lies under the Bridgetown Port’s main entrance guard hut and extends to the adjacent roundabout found at the end of Trevor’s Way.

What amazed me the most when I overlaid the admiralty map was how well it fit against the modern map. The layout of the main roads is largely unchanged from 1862 (the time of the map’s publication). Those of you who are familiar with the layout of Bridgetown might be able to immediately identify streets such as Fontabelle, Baxter’s Road, Passage Road and Westbury Road.

[HURD MAP]

If you have a keen eye, you may also recognise a few other features from the overlay, such as, the appearance that the entire stretch from James Fort once sat down to the Port also now sits on reclaimed land.

[RECLAIMED AERIAL]

When I made a public appeal to verify that this assumption was plausible, one notable response I received was as follows:-

“Much of that area is reclaimed land. The history of land reclamation in Bridgetown over the centuries is an interesting one. Remember that much of Bridgetown is built on a previously existing red mangrove swamp. In my excavations in Bridgetown over the years, I have often exposed tangled mangroves roots at depths of four or five feet. That area at the back of the Public buildings was a swamp that was filled in during the eighteenth century. The Pierhead or Mole as it used to be known was originally ponds, reefs and a couple of rocky islets. Then in the eighteenth century, the townspeople were instructed to dump their garbage there, an early example of a landfill. Where James Fort is located or at least the old wharehouse [sic] which is built directly on top of the still existing James Fort (still in good shape, I have seen it with my very eyes), waves used to lash the ramparts of the fort. Today that is a road and south of that the car park and the area where Bajan helicopters used to be. All that is reclaimed land. Peter Parker when he was head of the port, had plans to turn the whole area into extensive gardens. That plan mouldered away on some office as so many plans do and thus it became a ubquitous car park. Also in the first half of the twentieth century, all that area around the abbatoir, fish market, Trevor's Way was all reclaimed. Regarding the Deep Water harbour and the Shallow Draft, I estimate that close to an additional square mile of land has been added to the total land area of Barbados.”

Sure enough, we can also see remnants of the swamps along various points of the Constitution River.

Thus brings my contribution to the memories of bygone Barbados to an end for now. I hope I’ve managed to keep your attention through it all.

[MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS, MY NOTES]

‘Acknowledgements’:

My original intention was to produce a completely different article, however, while that is still in production I’ve realised that I’d compiled so much information exploring the Pelican Island aspect that it seemed a shame not to share it. There are many who have helped me with the information above through publicly available means, I’ve tried to reach out to them directly, but largely left them uncredited as I’m unsure they would want to see their names (if you see something you recognise and would like me to credit you, feel free to get in contact). Many thanks to:

Anthony Michael Hinds for providing the photo of the pierhead.

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un-enfant-immature · 6 years

Text

Village Global’s accelerator introduces founders to Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt and more

Village Global is leveraging its network of tech luminaries to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The $100 million early-stage venture capital firm, which counts Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and many other high-profile techies as limited partners (LPs), quietly announced on Friday that the accelerator it piloted earlier this year would become a permanent fixture.

Called Network Catalyst, Village provides formation-stage startups with $150,000 and three-months of programming in exchange for 7 percent equity. Its key offering, however, is access to its impressive roster of LPs.

Village Global raises $100M seed scout fund from Zuck, Bezos…

To formally announce Network Catalyst, Village brought none other than Bill Gates to San Francisco for a fireside chat with Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz . During the hour-long talk, Gates handed out candid advice on building a successful company, insights on philanthropy and predictions on the future of technology. He later met individually with the founders of Village’s portfolio companies.

“I have a fairly hardcore view that there should be a very large sacrifice made during those early years,” Gates said. “In those early years, you need to have a team that’s pretty maniacal about the company.”

During the Q&A session, Gates regurgitated one of his great anecdotes. In the early days of Microsoft, he would memorize his employee’s license plates so he knew when they were coming and going, quietly noting who was working the longest hours. He admitted, to no one’s surprise, that he struggled with work-life balance.

“I think you can over worship the idea of working extremely hard,” he said. “For my particular makeup, it’s really true I didn’t believe in weekends or vacations … Once I got in my 30s,’ I could hardly imagine how I’d done that because by then something natural thing inside of me kicked in and I loved weekends and my girlfriend liked vacations and that turned out to be a great thing.”

Gates has been an active investor in Village since it emerged one year ago. VMWare founder Diane Greene, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Spanx CEO Sara Blakely are also on the firm’s long list of LPs.

Village is led by four general partners: Erik Torenberg, Product Hunt’s first employee; LinkedIn’s former chief of staff Ben Casnocha; Chegg’s former chief business officer Anne Dwane; and former Canaan partner Ross Fubini. They initially filed to raise a $50 million fund in mid-2017 but ultimately closed on $100 million in March for their debut effort. The firm relies heavily on scouts — angel investors and others knowledgeable of the startup world — to source deals. The scouts, in return, earn a portion of the firm’s returns.

Former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt.

An accelerator program has been part of Village’s plan since the beginning.

Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann, Fidelity CEO Abby Johnson, Hoffman, Iger, Blakely and Schmidt all worked with Network Catalyst’s debut cohort of founders. Village co-founder Anne Dwane said Hoffman and former Twitter CEO Ev Williams have signed on to work with the next cohort.

“It is about contacts, not content,” Dwane told TechCrunch. “The most important thing is who you can meet to help you take your business forward.”

San Francisco-based VeriSIM, a startup building AI-enabled biosimulation models, was among the debut class of companies that participated in Network Catalyst. Jo Varshney, the company’s founder and CEO, said the accelerator’s personalization and customization set it apart from competing options.

“It seemed like I had a team of people working alongside me even though I’m a solo founder,” Varshney told TechCrunch.

After completing the Network Catalyst program, Schmidt introduced Varshney to a number of investors. She quickly closed a $1.5 million seed round.

“One year in and I already have a one-on-one meeting with Bill Gates,” she added.”

Applications for the accelerator close on Dec. 7 with programming kicking off Jan. 14. Village plans to enroll at least 12 companies across industries.

Y Combinator is changing up the way it invests

#TechCrunch

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fmservers · 6 years

Text

Village Global’s accelerator introduces founders to Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt and more

Village Global is leveraging its network of tech luminaries to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Village Global raises $100M seed scout fund from Zuck, Bezos…

Gates has been an active investor in Village since it emerged one year ago. VMWare founder Diane Greene, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Spanx CEO Sara Blakely are also on the firm’s long list of LPs.

Village is led by four general partners: Erik Torenberg, Product Hunt’s first employee; LinkedIn’s former chief of staff Ben Casnocha; Chegg’s former chief business officer Anne Dwane; and former Canaan partner Ross Fubini. They initially filed to raise a $50 million fund in mid-2017 but ultimately closed on $100 million in March. The firm relies heavily on scouts — angel investors and others knowledgeable of the startup world — to source deals. The scouts, in return, earn a portion of the firm’s returns.

Former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt.

An accelerator program has been part of Village’s plan since the beginning.

“It is about contacts, not content,” Dwane told TechCrunch. “The most important thing is who you can meet to help you take your business forward.”

“It seemed like I had a team of people working alongside me even though I’m a solo founder,” Varshney told TechCrunch.

After completing the Network Catalyst program, Schmidt introduced Varshney to a number of investors. She quickly closed a $1.5 million seed round.

“One year in and I already have a one-on-one meeting with Bill Gates,” she added.”

Applications for the accelerator close on Dec. 7 with programming kicking off Jan. 14. Village plans to enroll at least 12 companies across industries.

Y Combinator is changing up the way it invests

Via Kate Clark https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

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roseacisco · 6 years

Text

Village Global’s accelerator introduces founders to Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt and more

Village Global is leveraging its network of tech luminaries to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Village Global raises $100M seed scout fund from Zuck, Bezos…

To formally announce Network Catalyst, Village brought none other than Bill Gates to San Francisco. Gates met individually with Village’s portfolio founders and gave an hour-long talk chock-full of candid advice on building a successful company, insights on philanthropy and predictions on the future of technology.

“I have a fairly hardcore view that there should be a very large sacrifice made during those early years,” Gates said in conversation with Eventbrite chief executive officer Julia Hartz, who’s not a Village LP but rather a “friend” of the firm. “In those early years, you need to have a team that’s pretty maniacal about the company.”

During the fireside chat, Gates regurgitated one of his great anecdotes. In the early days of Microsoft, he would memorize his employee’s license plates so he knew when they were coming and going, quietly noting who was working the longest hours. He admitted, to no one’s surprise, that he struggled with work-life balance.

Gates has been an active investor in Village since it emerged one year ago. VMWare founder Diane Greene, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Spanx CEO Sara Blakely are also on the firm’s long list of LPs.

Former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt.

An accelerator program has been part of Village’s plan since the beginning.

“It is about contacts, not content,” Dwane told TechCrunch. “The most important thing is who you can meet to help you take your business forward.”

“It seemed like I had a team of people working alongside me even though I’m a solo founder,” Varshney told TechCrunch.

After completing the Network Catalyst program, Schmidt introduced Varshney to a number of investors. She quickly closed a $1.5 million seed round.

“One year in and I already have a one-on-one meeting with Bill Gates,” she added.”

Applications for the accelerator close on Dec. 7 with programming kicking off Jan. 14. Village plans to enroll at least 12 companies across industries.

Y Combinator is changing up the way it invests

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topmixtrends · 6 years

Link

IN HIS ERA — one during which evidence of learning and intellect could earn a person respect among certain segments of the American public — Clifton Fadiman (1904–1999) was known to many as a critic, writer, and radio/television personality. Author of Party of One (1955), a collection of essays; The Lifetime Reading Plan (1960) a “classic guide to classical literature”; and its successor, The New Lifetime Reading Plan (1997, with John S. Major), which includes a more diverse selection of writers, his wit and erudition were celebrated for decades. To his family, including his daughter, Anne, he was known also as a collector and impassioned devotee of fine wines. Wine was not just something Fadiman enjoyed — it was a fundamental part of his existence. He even co-authored a book entitled The Joys of Wine (1975, new edition released in 1990), a collection of photographs, paintings, lithographs, sculptures, songs, and artifacts about the subject. “To take wine into our mouths,” his daughter recalls him saying, “is to savor a droplet of the river of human history.”

Her new memoir, titled The Wine Lover’s Daughter, recounts the elementals of her father’s life, and thus, in morsels and tidbits, her own. The chapters tend to take the form of familiar essays, a subgenre Anne Fadiman, ardent admirer of writers such as William Hazlitt and Charles Lamb, has made her own. In the prologue of At Large and At Small, a collection of such essays, she writes:

The familiar essayist didn’t speak to the millions; he spoke to one reader, as if the two of them were sitting side by side in front of a crackling fire. […] His viewpoint was subjective, his frame of reference concrete, his style digressive, his eccentricities conspicuous, and his laughter usually at his own expense. And though he wrote about himself, he also wrote about a subject, something with which he was so familiar, and about which he was often so enthusiastic, that his words were suffused with a lover’s intimacy […] Conversation was at the center of my father’s life, it’s at the center of mine, and it’s at the center of the familiar essay.

This is as good a description as any of the way Anne Fadiman illuminates her own subject matter — life with a father whose work celebrated the beauty of the intellect, and the delights of art and, good taste. As a book-length project, The Wine Lover’s Daughter is as much an homage to the elder Fadiman as it is an expression of nostalgia for a childhood home in which culture and intellect, and their artifacts — wine, yes, but also, and more importantly, books — were revered. “Ours was a word-oriented family,” writes the author, by way of introduction.

My father once wrote a children’s book, based on bedtime stories he’d told my brother and me, about Wally the Wordworm, a small, hungry, bibliophilic invertebrate in a red baseball cap who, unsatisfied by the “short, flat, bare, dull, poor, thin” words he found in picture books, blissfully ate his way through a dictionary from “abracadabra” to “zymurgy.”

But if the elder Fadiman managed to pass on his logophilia to his daughter (in spades), he did not have the same success with his oenophilia. A not-insignificant portion of the book is devoted to Anne Fadiman’s dislike of the inebriant. “Keep on trying the wine,” her father advises when she travels in France at age 15. “Suddenly it will seem right and habitual.” But this never happens. Thus included is an investigative chapter entitled, simply, “Taste” in which the author enlists a series of experts to help her make sense of her seemingly mutative and somewhat embarrassing disorder.

As with a good bottle of wine, the experience of reading The Wine Lover’s Daughter deepens as the book unfolds. Readers who already appreciate Fadiman may find that the earlier chapters, while entertaining, are less compelling than the essays from either of her previous collections. However, the book pivots in a more serious direction about a third of the way through, in a chapter called “Jew.” Clifton Fadiman’s parents were immigrants from Russia and his feelings about his identity revealed, as his daughter puts it, his “Jewish self-alienation.” When he applied to Columbia, the university’s admissions policies were overtly discouraging. Fadiman even quotes the dean of the college as saying in 1922, “We have honestly attempted to eliminate the lowest grade of applicant and it turns out that a good many of the low grade men are New York City Jews.” Even so, that’s where Fadiman chose to matriculate in fall 1925.

It is at least in part out of this ambivalence, it would seem, that many of Clifton Fadiman’s habits and tastes evolved. (The consumption and collection of wine in particular was considered a gentile pastime.) “The Fadimans had fashioned a little daisy chain of shame; the father was ashamed of the wife and the son was ashamed of the father, though the only one who was ashamed of the son was himself,” Anne Fadiman notes. It is hard not to wonder if it was pride, self-loathing, or both that propelled Fadiman to aspire to a teaching position at Columbia shortly after finishing his studies there. He was told by the chairman of the English Department in no uncertain terms, “We have room for only one Jew, and we have chosen Mr. Trilling.” Mr. Trilling was, of course, Lionel Trilling, whose career as a permanent fixture in a highbrow literary world somewhat overshadowed her father’s, and contributed to Fadiman’s sense of himself as an outsider, even in an intellectual culture he helped to create.

At 88, Clifton Fadiman lost his sight. For a lifetime reader this was a devastating loss. Reflecting on the first night she spent with him in his hospital room after his diagnosis, the author writes: “He told me there were two reasons his life was no longer worth living; he would burden my mother, and he couldn’t read. He asked if I would help him die.”

It is a testament to his will and to his commitment to his daughter to try the world, sightless, with full effort, for six months. With the help of audiobooks, sharpies, and a large ledger, he was able to move forward. “It is said that old people can keep their minds agile by learning how to speak Italian or play the oboe,” his daughter writes. “My father learned how to be blind.”

Fadiman, it should be said, does not over-glorify or gloss over her father’s life or his habits. She acknowledges, for instance, that he had affairs. (When he lost his sight, she was given the task of contacting two of his former lovers.) “He was constitutionally incapable of resisting a conquest, a thumbs-up, an attestation that he was not an outsider, or a fraud, or irretrievably ugly,” she admits to the reader. And she is, at various times, at odds with his elitism (referred to in a fonder moment as “de-meatballization”), his self-deprecation, his obstinacy, and his misogyny. It would be easy to excuse him as being a product of his time, until one realizes that he lived until 1999. Even The New Lifetime Reading Plan, revised just 20 years ago, includes a woeful percentage of women writers and few people of color.

At its most serious, Fadiman’s memoir explores what it means to see, and what it means to lose the ability. In addition, it offers many pleasures: layers of bibliophilia, from children’s literature to Shakespeare, the strange habits of supertasters, pages of vino-notation — in fact, some among us may find ourselves throwing off all fiscal caution and constraint to spend the last of our monthly income on a fabulous case of wine, in a quest to emulate Clifton Fadiman’s utter joy in the art of taste. But what The Wine Lover’s Daughter does most eloquently, as with the best familiar essays, is move beyond the memoir to speak directly to the reader. In this way, the book serves as an elegy, not only for a single person but also for an era, a world that might now seem irrecoverably remote. Clifton Fadiman grew up at a time when knowledge, intellectual and cultural, was highly valued. It’s strange to think that he felt he’d missed out on a golden era of literature, himself. Consider this quote from “A Gentle Dirge for the Familiar Essay” in his collection Party of One, published over 50 years ago:

The novel may be suffering from fits, jaundice, and Cheyne-Stokes respiration, but I believe it will live […] It is the familiar essay that is being starved by our time. On what does it live? The vitamin essential to it is the reader’s willingness to hold casual ideas in suspension. In an age of order that vitamin abounds. But not in our age of anxiety.

In other words, as Russian poet Anna Akhmatova writes, “Why is this age worse than what came before?” Decades later, suspended in our own age of anxiety, which feels almost certainly worse than what has come before, significant pockets of the American population seem unable to hold ideas, casual or otherwise, in suspension. Consider our most recent national crisis, in the form of a “tax reform” package that will alter every pocket of American life, being hastily pushed through the Congress before authentic public discourse can occur. This travesty is only part of a larger panorama and problem, one which Fadiman the elder seemed to have his finger on six decades ago. In this moment, The Wine Lover’s Daughter, preoccupied as it is with art, literature, and taste, seems especially poignant. The world that existed yesterday was surely and clearly flawed; but it was nonetheless an era in which living a life of the mind was an aspiration — an aspect of the American dream — as valuable as any other. It is this message — and the intimacy with which it is delivered, by the crackle of the Fadiman family fire, with or without a good bottle of wine — that we all need to hear.

Heather Altfeld is a poet and essayist living in Northern California. Her first book of poetry, The Disappearing Theater, appeared in 2015.

The post The Oak, the Oakling, and the Cellar Book: A Fête of Fadimans appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

from Los Angeles Review of Books http://ift.tt/2DhuPIy

#Los Angeles Review of Books #topmixtrends

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