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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 5:46 pm
The conversation between Kara and Lithian was much the same as the one she’d had with Ataya. The only difference was that he did not suggest terminating the pregnancy, like her brother had. Likely due to Lithian and Kara being alike in that they were meant to heal others, not kill (though she was sure her uncle could kill if he was pushed). She talked to him longer and about her father and mother and Rinn, finally deciding that Rinn would need to know before Kara informed her parents. He was the father and he had a right to know. It would also allow him to be prepared for Detraeus’ anger.
She waited another day before she sought out Nesrinn. Her stomach flip flopped at the thought of telling him but she knew it would need to be done. The news was received as well as one could hope. Surprise was evident on his face but it soon faded and was replaced by a hesitant smile. Kara and Rinn spent the day together, talking and discussing all their options — even terminating it (even if Kara was against it). Rinn, too, was adamant that that was not an option. Adoption came up several times but shoved away, eventually, each time.
As the day came to an end, they had a plan — albeit rocky one. If things went wrong with Detraeus — Kara continued to insist that her father would not harm her — then she would seek the safety of her uncles and find a way to contact him so that they could leave the city and find a home for themselves. Though Kara knew hiding from her father would be an impossible task, she agreed to the plan and prepared to ride back to her uncles’ home.
“Let me go with you,” Rinn said as he took hold of her hand and pulled her in close. He brushed a curl away from her face and cupped her cheek with his hand. “I can protect you.”
A small smile curled up the corners of her lips and she shook her head. “No. You would be the one needing protection if you were there.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “I will do this. He won’t harm me, I promise. My mother will be there. And my uncles and brother will be close by.” She reached up, hand cupping his cheek as well and thumbing over it. “I love you, Nesrinn.”
“And I you, Akara.” He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss to her lips before tugging her into a lingering hug. “Stay safe.” Once last kiss and Kara was off, weary and ready to be done with all of this.
However, when she arrived back at her uncles’ house she went straight to her room, closed the door, and collapsed on her bed. She needed time to think before she told her parents. Kara rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as she laid her hand protectively over her stomach. It was small, a tiny flicker of life that wasn’t yet large enough to cause too much of a difference in her body. She felt it, though, and it made her excited and scared at the same time. She wasn’t ready for a baby — not by a long shot — but she would gladly take on that responsibility when the time came. Finally she slept that night, tossing and turning as her brain tried to sort out just what she would do the next day.
Morning came too quick, it seemed, and before she knew it, Kara was out of bed and her daily routine finished with. She padded out onto the deck that looked out over the ocean and sighed. At the sounds of grunts and metal against metal, her gaze darted to the side and down the beach. Her father and uncle Casseth were sparring, something that seemed to do every now and then whenever they visited. Off to the side was her mother, sitting against a rock and watching the practice match carefully.
Being sure to stay a safe space away from them, Kara moved across the beach and joined her mom on the rock. “Good morning, Akara,” Ara said as she smiled down at her daughter. “Sleep well?”
“Morning.” The greeting was quite, muttered, and almost lost amongst the clang of sword and axe. “Mmm, I slept...alright.” She watched the sparring match in silence, brows pinched together as she contemplated on when to tell them. Together? Separate? Her mother first? She rubbed at her eyes and sighed, catching the attention over her mother again.
“Is something wrong, Kara?”
“No…”
Ara frowned at the hesitance in her daughter’s voice and she wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulder, tugging her in close. “You know you can talk to me about anything, ok?” At a small, almost not there, nod from her daughter, Araceli kissed the top of Kara’s head and glanced back up to the match.
They sat in silence for a moment until Kara couldn’t stand it any longer. “Mommy…?”
“Hm?” Araceli glanced back to her daughter, a small tilt to her head as Kara pulled back. Immediately Ara’s eyes focused on the tears that were starting to spill over. “Kara...what on earth is the matter?”
Kara chewed on her lip, hesitating before finally saying what she’d come to say. “I’m...pregnant…” She clenched her eyes shut, expecting yelling, cursing, anything but the silence that followed. She tensed up as she felt her mother’s fingers under her chin, lifting her face.
“You’re sure?” Ara’s voice was soft, unaccusing as Kara blinked open her eyes and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Nesrinn.”
“That dovaa boy you’ve been spending time with while down here?” Kara nodded again, swallowing. “Have you told anyone else? Him?”
“I told Ataya and uncle Lithian. And I told Rinn.” She let her lashes drop as she let out a shuddered breath. “And he’s not a pureblood, mommy. He’s a hybrid. An...orderite and dovaa hybrid…”
The breath caught in Ara’s chest at the word and she closed her eyes tight. She knew full well the problems that that little bit of information might cause with Detraeus but also knew it would be an unavoidable tidbit of information. He had to know of the boy’s bloodline if Kara was to keep the baby. Araceli tugged her daughter in close, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tight.
Kara’s body shuddered, eyes welling with tears as she clung to her mother.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:38 am
Detraeus rolled his shoulders, stretching used muscles as he and Casseth came to a pause in their session. He had his own morning routines, of course, but those typically began early, pre-dawn and well before Casseth even considered it an hour fit for waking persons. During the periods he and his family visited, though, he would often still practice with Casseth as they had when they were younger once the hybrid woke and was ready for such things. Despite both of them being older, now, and neither of them still participating in anything so brutal as Vienrith Stadium, it did well to keep fit. For Casseth and his mate, the risk of violence against them and their family was ever-present, even with their pseudo-isolated home, and for Detraeus, there was no such thing as a proper excuse to allow his body to dip out of full function. So far as he was concerned, the day he could no longer fight to defend himself and his family was the day he died.
So, they maintained their traditions.
He was aware of his mate’s presence initially and, in the in between, noticed his daughter’s approach. It was not until Araceli pulled their daughter in, however, holding her as though to stave off some outside danger, that Detraeus’ full attention flicked their way. Frowning, he set aside the dulled practice blade with which he’d been training with Casseth, and made a vague motion towards the other man, signalling his intent to pause before approaching Ara and Akara.
“What’s this?” he asked, the spines at the tip of his tail rippling with a building concern as his suspicions that something was wrong were confirmed. “What happened—is she hurt?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:53 am
Araceli looked up at the approach of her mate and frowned. She shook her head slightly as she smoothed over Kara’s curls. “No, she’s not...hurt.” Araceli tried to pull away from her daughter but Kara’s arms tightened around her waist. “Come on, sweetie, he needs to be told, hm?”
Kara buried her face against her mother and shook her head as much as she could. “Nnh…” She knew, though, that her mother was right. Kara would have to tell her father and it seemed there would be no avoiding it or putting it off now. She froze when Araceli leaned down and whispered in her ear, telling her to leave out the part about Nesrinn’s bloodline, for now. Kara clenched her eyes shut and took a deep breath. When she finally pulled away from her mother, she kept her head turned away as she wiped at her eyes.
When she turned to face her father, she had to take another deep breath and hold back the tears that threatened to start spilling over again. “Daddy...please don’t be angry with me…?” She paused, eyeing him for a moment before turning her gaze back to her mother. At Araceli’s nod of encouragement, she looked back to Detra. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered, gaze flicking to the ground as she waited for the yelling.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:10 am
Detraeus stared.
Of all the things he might have anticipated, his daughter’s admittance was, at first, so far from them that the words did not fully register. She couldn’t be pregnant. The girl was innocent. She hadn’t…
His first instinct was to shake his head. No. It wasn’t possible and she was mistaken, because she had had no opportunity. She did not understand and she had to simply be so naive that—
Then, though, his gaze turned to his mate — the seriousness in her expression and her reactions. Surely, if Akara was that far from the truth, Araceli would have calmed her. Explained to her. Told her something, and — innocent as Detraeus assumed his daughter was in some areas — he knew she was a competent healer, practiced and better every day at her art. Lithian could sense life in a body and had known when Araceli herself was carrying, so how…?
“I don’t understand,” Detraeus said, his voice low and neutral but on the edge as his tail flicked. “You are untouched. Unless you have lied to your mother and I…”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:27 am
Akara winced as the word ‘lie’ left her father’s lips and she couldn’t force herself to lift her gaze from the ground. “I...it was only…” She bit her lip, eyes closing as the tears started to fall. Kara shook her head, fists clenching in her lap. “I...didn’t lie. I just didn’t...tell you.” She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. “I’m sorry, daddy…”
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 12:01 pm
At the words ‘It was only…’ Detraeus’ mind to went to the worst possibilities, anger and defensiveness spiking upwards. Someone had forced her. This wasn’t her fault. Somehow—
But then, she went on, and Detraeus’ gaze narrowed at the revelation that she had kept things from them. She had been with someone, and hadn’t begun to speak of it with either himself or her mother. His posture bunched, jaw tight and teeth grit, his mind again swirling over possibilities, all the dangers she had opened herself to. And this. This…
At length, after opening and shutting his mouth several times in indecision, he shook his head sharply. “We are not discussing this here. Return to the house and pack your things. Tell your brother to, also. Our stay here is done. When we are home…you will tell me everything.”
Without another word, he moved, turning to fetch those things of his that he had brought to spar with Casseth before starting back towards the house.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 12:19 pm
“But daddy…” Kara’s words were lost, her father already well out of range. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she sagged and looked back towards her mother.
“It’s for the best, sweetie. For now, yeah? We’ll have Lithian get word to Rinn about where you’ve gone. For now, do as your father said.” Ara leaned forward, placing a kiss on her daughter’s forehead and ushering her to stand. “Come, let’s go back to the house. Your brother is at Lithian’s shop, in town.” She tilted her head.
Kara blinked, eyeing her mother carefully. “I can…”
“Yes, you can go fetch your brother but nothing else. Come right back, Akara. Your father is angry enough as is.”
Kara sighed and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” When they arrived back at the house, Kara gathered her hastar and headed out over the desert, making the trip into the city as slow as she could, not wanting the time to leave to come any sooner than it should. Finally, as she came upon Lithian’s shop she dismounted and stood and stared. She could run. She could leave and never look back if she wanted — find Rinn and just leave Eowyn all together. Kara knew, however, that she couldn’t do that to her family — she couldn’t just leave them. So with a heavy sigh she tied her hastar up and pushed open the door to her uncle’s shop.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:48 pm
“Mm, no,” Ataya said. “I don’t think…” His words trailed off as Edmun’s fingers skirted up his, catching beneath the tips of them and blocking the spell he used to read. “Edm—mmm…”
There was some discussion that proceded from there. Something about herbs, remedies, packaging, vials — Ataya didn’t remember exactly what it all was because in the end, there was more to do with lips and tongue than ink and paper, and his fingers found their way to the nape of Edmun’s neck and then—
Then his sister arrived.
“Kara—”
He wasn’t precisely sure where his uncle had gotten off to or why the man had decided that leaving the front desk precisely when he was busy using the back storeroom for more useful purposes was the best of all times, but—
“—what, are you…?”
Edmun, as might be suspected of an overly well-behaved pureblood, dropped his hold, sputtering and stepping back to leave Ataya scowling and slumped loosely against the wall. “Akara…?”
“What is it,” Ataya quipped.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:56 pm
Akara’s cheeks flushed, eyes wide, at the sight she walked in on. Her gaze jerked away as her uncle’s helper, Edmun, pulled away from her brother. “I didn’t know...I’m sorry...I…” She closed her eyes tight, cursing herself mentally before taking a deep breath and moving her attention back to the two. She had had no clue that Ataya had something going on with Edmun and she eyed her brother closely. Why hadn’t he told her?
Kara winced, torn from her thoughts, at Ata’s tone. “Nnh...I told daddy, Ataya…” She rubbed at her eyes, holding back the tears she didn’t want to shed in front of Edmun. “We’re...going back to the mountain. I’m sorry…” She whispered the last part, gaze flicking towards Edmun, briefly, before going back to her brother.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:12 pm
Ataya stiffened at the words, twitching away from Edmun’s hold and towards his sister. “You’re alright. You are alright, yes? Edmun—”
“She’s fine, Ataya. She’s not hurt—”
Ataya moved for his sister, lifting a hand and waving off the rest of whatever Edmun might have said. “Good.” He reached out, the room cooling as he used his magic to locate her shape and reach, catching beneath her chin with long fingers and a frown. His voice, when he spoke, was soft, coarse, but quiet enough only for her to hear. “He did not hurt you…truly…?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:25 pm
Kara shivered at the change of temperature but otherwise remained still as Ataya moved towards her. She shook her head slightly at his question and let her eyes close. “No, he didn’t. I told you he wouldn’t, Ataya. He’s not happy, though.” Her brows pinched together as she opened her eyes. “I didn’t tell him Rinn has orderite blood, though. Not yet. Mother knows, though…” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He wants to go home and...talk.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:32 pm
“Mmm…” Ataya frowned, but said nothing more aloud for a time, shifting instead and letting his hands drop to move out of the room with his sister and without another word to his company. “Home,” he repeated when the had made it out of the building as a whole and into a space without company. “So he has not yet killed your boy?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:34 pm
Kara glanced back, giving Edmun and small, apologetic smile before turning and following after her brother. “No. He still does not know who it is. He didn’t actually ask.” She frowned. “I don’t think he even believed me at first.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:35 pm
Ataya snorted. “Of course not. How could Father’s perfect daughter have touched a man? She tells him everything…”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:46 pm
Kara winced at the words and looked away from her brother. “I…” She opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it when no rebuttal left her lips. Kara stepped past her brother, going to fetch her hastar. “We should leave,” she said, her voice holding a bit of hollowness to it.
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