[PRP] A love story (Leon, Shari)

[Thaliawen]

Lynwood was a wonderful place to raise children, and Veri was glad to be able to call it home. He stretched out on a lawn chair in the palace gardens, looking for his daughter, Shari. Davian had wandered off somewhere (probably to find that dryad of his, what was her name?) Oh well. It didn't matter.

He was out here for another reason though, his middle daughter's friend was supposed to be coming with her children. "Shari, they should be here soon," he called, looking for her.

One of the kitchen staff came out to the garden with a tea tray full of desserts. Huh. Well, hopefully, Eve wouldn't mind.  

[Ivypoison92]

Thaliawen

Eve pushed a stroller with stars on it, the twin infant boys sleeping. Rai tended to get sleepy when he was in the stroller and Ko had been tired from playing with Howl and Cal. She greeted a maid politely, asking where the garden was while ignoring the fact that the maid was cooing over the twins. After a little bit, the maid helped her find the garden. Eve pushed the stroller, stopping it near Veri, "Leon!" She smiled softly.

Rai growled in his sleep, making Shari look up from her dolls. She stood, brushing off her dress. She normally was not a girly type, but she preferred to look nice for Leon. Though the dress was not the very fancy type. She could handle tree climbing and running around in the dress easily.  

[Thaliawen]

Leon looked up from the cookie the maid had given him, smiling at Shari and dropping said sweet in order to hug her. "Shari!" he beamed. "Momma said we'd be coming to see you. Come on, let's go down to the lake near that willow tree!" He took her hand, intending to lead her off. "You look pretty," he added, smiling at her.

Veri greeted each of his visitors with a smile. "Don't go far, Shari," he warned.  

[Ivypoison92]

Thaliawen

Shari hugged him back tightly, smiling. "All right, Leon." Eve laughed at Leon, finding that his fondness of Shari so very endearing. Shari herself held the same edge of ice in her eyes that Eve recalled her mother having. Knowing Veri though, she doubted that the girl would be purely a warrior. She was a princess, after all. Eve sat down next to Veri, reaching for one of the sweets on the tea tray. She tended to try to eat healthy for the sake of teaching her children how to eat healthy. A sweet now and then was all right.

Shari chuckled and headed to the lake with Leon. Eve glanced towards the twins, seeing Ko starting to stir from his nap.  

[Thaliawen]

"My brother told me he saw a sprite at the lake," Leon informed Shari as they walked. He revealed his reason for desiring to go by saying, "I bet we could catch it. He called it a nymph. Daddy says nymphs are water sprites."

"You should enjoy them," Veri said, looking to Eve. "They're the best I've ever tasted. The kitchen workers have outdone themselves."  

[Ivypoison92]

Thaliawen

"Aren't sprites shy?" Shari asked, having heard about such creatures from Aeto. The elf did not mind teaching royalty, though he did hate it when Shari corrected him about the histories of the warrior clans. A lot of them had traditions, especially the frost clan even though they had been viewed as deadly. One such tradition was a winter festival that she heard her father wished to have in memory of his mother and her clan.

Eve nibbled on a cookie while sitting next to Veri, her long red hair was braided back as she had learned from raising several boys that long hair was dangerous around babies, especially Rai. Ko, the twin that looked like Eve more than Demy, sat up in the stroller, glancing around. His mismatched eyes were different colors than Eve's, having more his father's eye color. "Yummy."  

[Thaliawen]

ivypoison92

"Yeah, but I bet it comes out for us," Leon said eagerly. "There's all sorts of tree spirits too! Have you met Reese yet? He says he's been my size forever!" Reese was the guardian of the forest, impossibly old, immortal, and he grew slowly along with the forest. "I'm glad I won't have to be the same size forever," the boy confided.

Veri smiled at Eve, taking a cookie of his own.and eating it.  

[Ivypoison92]

Shari chuckled at his words, "It'd be hard to stay little all the time. I've met Reese, he's pretty cool. How are you handling have two baby brothers?" She knew that Leon had two older brothers, and now he was big brother to the infant twins Rai and Ko. She watched the water carefully, having always been reserved about the lake. Aeto was cautious about the lakes too. She knew it was because of what happened to Faust's older sister, but unless his sister, she knew how to swim.

Ko made a cooing noise at Veri, wanting one of the cookies. Eve glanced at her son and picked the blonde child from the stroller, cuddling the infant. Ko watched Veri while chewing on a teething ring.  

[Thaliawen]

"They're loud," Leon said, after a long moment. He looked towards the adults, almost as if expecting to get scolded for that statement and then said, "Howl thinks so too. Yesterday he put a spell on Rai so his crying wasn't hearable. Mommy got pretty mad at him."

Howl didn't enjoy all the noise. He was young, but he was trying to be as talented in magic as his mother was.

Veri offered Ko a cookie.  

[Ivypoison92]

Shari sensed that Eve might be the type to scold her sons about being mean to their siblings. But it was something siblings did sometimes. "I'm guessing Ko's the quiet one of the pair then. I hope Howl's going to be okay. Your mother can be scary when she wishes to be. All babies cry a lot. I do believe Howl was just as loud as Rai." She did not mention that she was sure Leon himself had been loud too. Both boys seemed very attached to their mother.

Ko cooed and babbled what Eve understood to be thank you in baby babble, sitting on Veri's lap while eating the cookie. Ko was wearing a onesy with little music notes on it, an outfit that Demy had bought for the baby. Eve kept an eye on Rai, letting the cranky child sleep. I"m starting to wonder if Rai's likely to ever smile for me or Demy. He's been fussy and cranky most of the time. I do love my son, but part of him is just unhappy for some reason."  

[Thaliawen]

"He is," Leon agreed. "Momma won't hurt Howl any," he added. Eve pretended to be scary, and she could do that all she wanted. But they all knew she was a softy. He knew better than to believe there was ever any danger behind Eve's wrath.

Veri beamed. He loved children. His own had grown up much too quickly. "I'm sure whatever's making him so unhappy will pass," he offered. "When Thali was born, she used to screech whenever she wasn't in the same room as Vate," he laughed at the memory. "I thought something was wrong with her. Maybe this is Rai reacting to his soulmate not being around."  

[Ivypoison92]

Eve would never hurt her sons, but she was not against using the wards on her home to keep them from using too much magic. Since most of her children had to mantain some of their magic to live and breath, her wards kept Howl's use of magic limited for the time being. That was her idea of a punishment for her sons. Eve hoped that when Rai's soulmate was near, her baby boy would smile. As for Ko, he seemed to be quieter than all her sons had been. Even Rai spoke now and then, Ko not so much. "Do you know of any speech teachers, Veri? Ko hasn't started speaking like his brothers did. He usually does baby talk, but that's all he does."

Ko finished his cookie and used Veri's arm to stand or try to, by gripping his sleeves. He was growing quick and understood everything the adults were saying. He just did not want to speak. Why bother when his siblings were loud enough.

Shari watched the lake, seeing several light dancing along its surface. "Leon, there's a few sprites on the lake!" She pointed to where the two lights danced almost together.