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| Vale of the White Horse | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,266 Views) | |
| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 16:18 Post #4141 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant wasn't sure exactly what to think of this. At least now she wouldn't be marrying some lecherous old Roman, and he was happy for it. But if her father treated her little brother so badly she wanted to up and leave that instant, it was really bitter. 'All right,' he said, leaning against the wall and watching as she fed Carwyn. Travelling would be nearly impossible with a child, in this weather. 'He's gonna be okay, though?' |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 16:19 Post #4142 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Who is?’ she asked. ‘My father?’ |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 16:21 Post #4143 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Carwyn,' he clarified, pointing at the little thing in her arms. He certainly looked pale, and though Morcant knew next to nothing of children, he was fairly certain they shouldn't have such a pallor. |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 16:23 Post #4144 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Her face fell even more as she lowered her eyes to the little boy. He was eating, that was true. So eagerly in fact, that she would have to stop soon, before he’d have too much all of a sudden. ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. ‘They left him exposed to draught and even cold. He’s had wetnurses, but father said he scared them.’ |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 16:25 Post #4145 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'How, a little thing like that scared them off?' Morcant shook his head. Some women were really scared of their own shadow. He stood up to feed some logs to the flames. If he'd been cold for so very long, it'd be important to get him warm again. Or so he thought it worked. |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 17:55 Post #4146 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Well, he may share some of the same blood as I do,’ she muttered, putting the milk-drenched cloth away. Carwyn started to protest, opening his mouth and crying for more. She sighed, rocking him. This was going to be very trying. ‘I can’t believe he did all of this! My father…he’s…He’s been a brute!’ she exclaimed. |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 18:03 Post #4147 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Even so, Morcant didn't even think of Essylt as scary, though she could do some of the most frightening things he'd ever seen. He wondered what a little boy could've displayed to scare all his wetnurses away, but then Essylt shouted and he sat down next to her. Not that he knew what to say that'd make this somehow easier for her. He looked at the baby boy in her arms and shook his head. Good Folk-bloodline or no, leaving a small thing like that to his own devices was cruel. |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 18:07 Post #4148 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘At least one thing is clear,’ Essylt said, after trying to recollect herself. ‘First me and now Carwyn has lost our home.’ She looked sideways to Morcant. ‘Journeying back to Caer March with a baby is probably a folly. If he was my own, I could easily keep feeding him, but…’ |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 18:11 Post #4149 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Still, in this weather,' Morcant muttered and frowned, thinking deeply. They could always go to the brotherhood, but he didn't think that'd be such a good place for a hungry baby. 'Hm. Your father's got stables?' |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 18:14 Post #4150 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Of course. Wherever we go, we’ll take horses.’ She had already thought of this, somehow, in the rush of her shocked mind. ‘Maybe it is better if we don’t return to Caer March, but…It felt like home, in the end.’ She looked at him. 'Tell me your ideas.' |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 18:17 Post #4151 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Caer March is the only place I know that'll provide us a decent roof over our heads. If it was just us two, I'd say the brotherhood. Don't think a tent would do Carwyn much good. Other than that - fresh out of ideas.' |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 18:21 Post #4152 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Essylt nodded. Her brother deserved a warm, comfortable home. Their roundhouse in the settlement wasn’t as comfortable as this chieftain’s cear – or who was she fooling? The boy had been left in a burned down, crumbling part that would eventually have been the death of him. ‘I think my father hates me for disobeying him,’ she said softly. ‘If I go now, it’ll be a breaking such as I’ve never…It wouldn’t be the same as running away.’ |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 18:26 Post #4153 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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If he'd been in her place, he'd be long gone by now. Part of him wanted to knock sense into her old man, but it was probably not the best course of action he could take. 'But you can't stay here either, can you?' |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 18:29 Post #4154 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She shook her head. ‘Not if this is what our household has become. My brother needs me now. That’s what I told father.’ |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 18:33 Post #4155 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Hm. Well, if you want to go back to Caer March, then we go. We'll be faster with horses, anyway.' Morcant rubbed his temples. This was going to cause trouble with those damn Romans. |
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| Marieke | 20 Aug 2010, 18:35 Post #4156 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'I do want to. But now I need to figure this out..We can't just leave.' Carwyn quieted down, nestling his head against her breast. She smiled. 'I will think of a way.' |
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| Sonja | 20 Aug 2010, 18:37 Post #4157 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Okay,' he said shortly and nodded. 'I'll leave you alone, now? I think the little one wants to sleep.' |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 20:32 Post #4158 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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This was getting annoying. He’d set his mind on three women in this Vale, and he hadn’t managed to get a single one of them. Was he losing his touch? Neither Morcant nor Tudwrig posed much of a threat to him, and yet he hadn’t gotten anywhere Briallen and Essylt. Gwenllian was completely out of the question of course. He wasn’t going to be so stupid to confront Rhywallon. It’d probably be the very last mistake he’d ever made. And not in a good way. Ironically, he really needed men like that one. He ruefully shook his head. Things would’ve been so much easier if he had Rhywallon’s brute force and – though he disliked to admit that there was a remote possibility that someone had mental capabilities equal to his own – intellect. Rufus flung the wax board he was writing on aside and sank back in his chair. Though he was sick of sitting here like some forlorn little pup, he didn’t quite know what to do. It had been Cuhelyn he’d seen stalking the streets, and he really wanted to get his hands on the pile of rotten ratshit that was Morcant’s partner in crime. The only thing he’d enjoy more than squeezing Cuhelyn so hard that he’d start bleeding from his hair, was doing the exact same thing to Morcant. Rufus’ fingers tapped a restless staccato on the wood of his desk, every tick louder than the one before until it looked as though he wanted to stab his fingers through the wood. Then, suddenly, he stopped and got up. His earlier encounter with Briallen had left him with some spare adrenalin – not to mention blood that had rushed to places other than where he needed it – and he now knew just the way to get rid of it. Screw that he didn’t have an exact plan on how to get Cuhelyn into his clutches. He was every bit of an underworld guy as the man himself – most likely even more so. He could improvise. There were things he’d done that would turn even the most hardened veteran’s stomach, without so much as turning a hair. And why stop now? Life in the Vale had made him a little soft, he realized. Time to take off the gloves and do things the way he was used to do them in Rome. And that included going after a pain in the ass himself. Because his flunkies here sure as hell weren’t qualified for that job. Soft-bellied, improver, scumchucking soldiers, that’s all they were. He needed new men. Dressed in the nondescript clothes he reserved for occasions as this, Rufus made his way through the settlement. He’d assigned the most reliable of his men to search for Cuhelyn as well, and close the net around the slippery little bugger. Most people on the streets ignored him, which was just as well. Last thing he wanted is to get recognized and someone mentioning it to Briallen and her deadbeat husband. Rufus had never cursed nor blessed his face, which was as plain as the taste of water, but right now he considered it his best feature. Had he been incredibly handsome, not only would his endeavors in chasing women become less of a challenge, he’d also stick out like a sore thumb in this pack of normal – if not just downright ugly – faces. Rufus deliberately took his mind off his current self-consideration. He’d been doing that too much over the past couple of weeks, and it was getting on his nerves – much like the fact that he hadn’t seen a sign of Cuhelyn yet. He halted at a crossing and considered his tactics. Just when he was about to smash his fist into the nearby house, someone tapped his shoulder. ‘Sighted him,’ were the only two words the man muttered, but they were enough. Rufus straightened his back and ran in the opposite direction, towards the centre of the settlement. There were enough dark alleyways around the marketplace to waylay a single bandit. He was looking forward to it already. Cuhelyn halted in the middle of the alleyway when he heard something other than his own breathing. He was getting a little winded – not such a good sign. If these damned soldiers (at least, he thought they were soldiers, but he really had no idea) insisted on chasing him like some rabbit all day, it wouldn’t be long before they’d trap him. They already had, in a very real sense. To shake them off, he’d had to get outta town, but it looked as though they meant business. And this sort of trouble could only mean one thing, and that was that snide gutter monkey of a Lentulus. Before he’d even finished that sentence in his head, a figure loomed up from the shadows before him. And sure as hell, there was the man himself. Cuhelyn cursed under his breath, and his muscles tightened. ‘Long time no see,’ the man said cheerfully, though there was nothing even remotely cheery in his eyes. They were as cold and dead as the blade of a sword. ‘Yeah,’ Cuhelyn answered flatly, ‘shame. Had hopes I might avoid you forever.’ Rufus smiled. A smile Cuhelyn wanted to rip off his face and feed to him. ‘It’s a small world, I guess. Where’s your friend?’ There was a malicious tone in the man’s voice Cuhelyn didn’t like one bit. Well, if this was the way it was going to be, he’d just have to do his very best to put this man out of the Vale’s misery. He bunched his muscles, clenching his fists. ‘Dunno. Probably off deciding how he’d gonna rip your balls off and feed them to Arawn’s dogs.’ He gave a shrug that belied his tense stance and beating heart. Barking out a laugh, Rufus took a step towards him. The git was still smaller than he was. It wouldn’t be too hard to give him a little pat on the hand and make him lay still forever. ‘Don’t make it your day job to be witty. I’m not really interested in Morcant; I’m interested in what you two are a part of. And you’re going to tell me.’ ‘Ha! In your dreams, I ain’t saying nothing.’ ‘Ah. That’s what you say now. I daresay that you’ll change that opinion before very long.’ ‘And who’s gonna accomplish that? You?’ Cuhelyn shook his head. ‘I can take you on with one hand tied behind my back.’ ‘Oh, you probably could. I’m not denying that in the least. But your forgetting one important thing: those who aren’t all too strong, should be smart. And I’m smarter than you are.’ Before Cuhelyn could’ve come up with a retort, a sharp pain stabbed through his skull. Then everything went black. |
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| Marieke | 7 Oct 2010, 20:45 Post #4159 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Hush now,’ Essylt begged, but the small bundle in her arms kept on wailing. She rocked him desperately while his cries seemed to fill up every part of their small hut. It wasn’tt even a real home; this was a shed, still smelling of the sheep that it must have occupied before. Morcant had draped most of their blankets on the floor just to keep the draught out. Her head was hurting. She imagined that Carwyn was sore too – sore and cold and hungry, and too small to understand any of it. She rubbed a hand over her eyes, brushing the stray locks from her brow. ‘It’s alright, my love…Here I am, shh.’ |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 20:50 Post #4160 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant had been prowling the little hut for the last couple of hours, not the least of all because Carwyn's constant wailing drove him nearly insane, but also to see if there was any way he could fix this pissbucket of a shelter to keep the draught out. He threw a look over his shoulder, his lips tightening when seeing Essylt's eyes fixed on her baby brother. She'd hardly glanced at anything else ever since they'd left her father's caer. Damn it all to oblivion and beyond, he thought to himself. They couldn't even get a proper fire going, just a small flickering flame barely enough to light up the darkness at night - anything bitter, and a single gust of wind could make the whole shed go up in flames. Finally tired of walking, he sank down on the blankets covering the floor. 'I'm gonna make food,' he said, though doubted she could hear him over the incessant crying. |
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| Marieke | 7 Oct 2010, 20:54 Post #4161 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She nodded. At least there was food, as long as Morcant could go out and hunt. There were always hares, making their way through the carpet of snow, skinny as they had become. ‘Could you go to that farm and see if we can get more milk?’ she muttered, stroking Carwyn’s swollen face. ‘I’m worried he will fall ill.’ The farm was a good few hours walking from their dwelling, but without any form of nutrition, Carwyn would die. Sometimes she half thought that Morcant would welcome it. He never looked at the child, never took him in his arms to comfort him when she was so weary that even her bones felt like they were made of stone. |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 21:00 Post #4162 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Sure,' he said, struggling to keep his voice sound normal. It wasn't so much that he minded going out - anything to escape the bawling child -, but it was the way Essylt had started asking him to do things, as if it had become self-evident that he would, that irked him. Yes, he'd said he'd do anything to help her, and he still felt that he wanted to keep doing just that. But her queries were getting close to commands, and he didn't think he'd like that. |
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| Marieke | 7 Oct 2010, 21:04 Post #4163 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Essylt glanced up, feeling a fleeting smile pass over her lips, but it wasn’t enough to catch his attention. She crouched to the small fire and, putting down Carwyn for a bit, managed to warm up the last of the milk they still had. After feeding it to him, she finally dozed off into a fragile slumber. Essylt leaned back, closing her own eyes. When her first days in the Vale of the White Horse had felt painfully primitive and unfamiliar to her, she now longed to be back in their roundhouse. |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 21:10 Post #4164 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant wrapped his clothes tightly around him and walked out, closing the door carefully behind him. The wind was cold, but not as cold as he knew it would get soon. His legs were a little stiff and he walked at a brisk clip. Soon, he got a little warmer from the exertion - warmer than he'd been in the hut, ironically enough. The downside was that walking with nothing but the wind in his ears left him time to think. About Essylt, since that was the direction his thoughts always took. How long had they been living together, now? And how much had happened between them apart from a kiss or two? It was frustrating him, and not just because it'd be the perfect way to stay warm - though he doubted Essylt would agree to it even just for that reason. Not with Carwyn around. Morcant gave a grunt, and doubled his speed until he was nearly running. |
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| Marieke | 7 Oct 2010, 21:14 Post #4165 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She must have slept, because when she heard a slamming sound, it was Morcant again. His shoulders were covered with snow. The flakes had been caught in his hear, like a white headdress. She pushed herself up, glancing to see if Carwyn was still breathing. That was a nervous trait she’d developed lately, she realized. As if she was afraid that he’d slip away from her suddenly and quietly. ‘Are you back soon,’ she asked, ‘or did I just miss all of it?’ |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 21:17 Post #4166 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Bit of both, I guess,' he said and put the container down. The cold had cleared his mind a little, thank the gods. 'I ran most of the way.' Morcant shook the snow from his hair, sending flakes down in a white flurry. Carwyn had stopped crying, but it was anybody's guess how long that'd take. |
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| Marieke | 7 Oct 2010, 21:19 Post #4167 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Is there news from the caer?’ she asked, because she always asked. At first they had noticed that her father had sent out search parties, but those never found them. After that, things had hushed. Maybe father simply denied she had ever existed, as he had banished his young son from his life. ‘Why did you run?’ she asked then, struggling to get away from her own thoughts. |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 21:25 Post #4168 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Felt like it,' he shrugged. 'It kept me warm. And there's no news from the caer - at least not as far as the farmer knew or I could figure.' He sank down on the blanket, thinking they would soon need more blankets if they didn't want to freeze to death. You could never predict what the weather was going to do. 'So the little one's finally asleep, huh?' |
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| Marieke | 7 Oct 2010, 21:27 Post #4169 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She nodded. The hair fell over her eyes again, she brushed it off. She must look like a farmer’s girl, ordinary like the rest of them. But Carwyn was asleep and there was milk again, so he would live for a little while longer, if she kept tugging him in and keeping him warm with her own body. |
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| Sonja | 7 Oct 2010, 21:33 Post #4170 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Then Morcant's stomach started grumbling so loud he was for a moment afraid it'd wake the baby. He bit on the inside of his cheek and grabbed the half-eaten carcass of the hare he'd caught yesterday, ripping what little meat there was left on it from the bones and chucking it into the cooking pot. Dinner was going to be lukewarm at best he knew, with their small fire, but it was better than chewing on frozen grass. A little while later, he'd cooked up a meager stew. Tastier than their dried meat-soup, but not by much. 'Here,' he said, handing a bowl to Essylt. |
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