Garald confesses
8th November 1102
Garald chewed nervously at his nail as he walked. He always picked at his nails when he was worried or upset. It proved a good distraction from whatever it was he did not want to think about.
The wick had come away at the side and he nipped clumsily at it trying to cut it off at the base. He only succeeded in pushing it in the wrong direction, causing a stab of pain that made him want to give up.
Lyiss meets a horse
8th November 1102
The days were growing short and dark and Lyiss felt the weight of the approaching winter pressing down on her like a smothering blanket. Soon it would be too cold for her to walk outside and she would be confined to stifling rooms with too hot fires, having stifling conversations with stifling women.
Nyawe remembers a fairytale
“So how did it go?” Madlenka asked with a sly grin.
She was lying on the thick, woven carpet with the Crown Prince who was happily batting at his knees stopping occasionally to catch at the long tail of hair that draped down his mother’s shoulder.
Garald forgets something
Garald softly swung the door open, careful not to let the hinges squeak. He cursed himself for forgetting, once again to have them oiled. It did not matter, Nyawe was lying awake her hands folded neatly on her swollen belly.
Radomir waits
The fist was crunching into his face before he knew what was happening. He felt the bones of his nose cracking under its weight, a dreadful crushing feeling he remembered well and a gout of blood spurted onto the fist that was coming in a second time. Sigurd’s fingers curled around the neck of his tunic pulling him upright as his fist collided with Radomir’s exposed belly.
“You bastard!”, Sigurd was snarling, his teeth bared, “You dare touch her!”.
Valeriya does not know
“Here we are then”, Cindra’s friendly voice was very close to her ear, one warm hand kindly resting on her hip to steady her. It was so difficult to walk. If only the floor would stop moving about like this it would be a whole lot easier.
Sigurd finds a beast within
Sigurd gazed down at the floor, his eyes fixed on a small scuff mark just beside his left toe where some heavy chair had been dragged across the soft-wood floor.
Lyiss hears a confession
Lyiss opened the door and quietly slipped into the stables. She wanted to see if her favourite bay was here and she was not disappointed. Sael was chomping blissfully on a mouthful of hay, her velvety nostrils flared as she noisily inhaled. The smell of the stables was pleasant, a combination of warm horse and the heavier scent of fresh hay.
Sael nickered softly as she saw Lyiss, straining her head towards the gaps in the bars through which Lyiss could stroke her face. Lyiss raised her hand to oblige, but was distracted by a muffled sobbing coming from the darkest corner of the room.
She followed the sound and was stunned to see the Earl, perched on a bale of hay, quietly weeping into his open hands.
