Post by Lisa on Jan 8, 2010 11:03:04 GMT 10
Title: Esteem
Rating: PG
Midwinter Advent Prompt: #18 – Forgiveness
Summary: Owen shows more respect for Margarry’s father than for her own wishes.
Note: Part of a larger arc of advent prompts collectively to be known as "Midwinter Furlough", part of the Cavall's Heart series.
The only downside with officially being allowed to court Margarry, now that their intentions were made clear, was that Lord Wyldon preferred to keep them nearby. So when Owen came calling, he and Margarry had to sit nicely in the parlor, talking of trivial things to one another and holding hands and hoping that neither of her parents (who often wandered through, rather than hovering over them as they clearly wanted to do) listened to the low murmurs of conversation between the happy little phrases that were expected.
“I don’t think we’re fooling them at all,” Margarry whispered one chilly morning. “They were young once, after all.”
“I don’t know if I agree with you,” Owen said loudly when Lady Vivenne came through the room, pulling down the Midwinter Decorations that they had painstakingly put up a week before. “I think there’s great merit in studying the archaic languages of the Eastern Languages.” When she’d finally taken down the last cut-out snowflake, he stole a kiss from his betrothed. “I don’t care if they know. I think our test is whether or not we play the game by their rules.”
“And their rules are that we don’t do things like this,” she said, running one hand up his breeches.
Owen nearly jumped as her hand moved further and further from his knee. He clasped her hand tightly, moving it to the embroidered pillow between them. He swallowed nervously. “Their rules are sensible, given their concerns about your virtue. They know I don’t have the will to stop you.”
“The will, or the desire?” she asked, her eyes playful.
“Both.”
She sighed. “Da has taken all the fun out of you. I thought you were the sort who tried to break rules.”
“No,” he corrected her. “I’m the sort who tries to follow them, but end up breaking them anyway.”
The corners of her mouth turned upward into a teasing grin.
“But I’m not going to with you!” he insisted. He let his voice drop even further, just to be certain even Mithros couldn’t hear. “I promised Lord Wyldon. He said that if I value my life, I’d best let you be a virgin on your wedding day.”
“He wouldn’t know,” she said with a scowl.
“But I will,” Owen said, feeling his face flush. “It’s not about you, it’s about my trust with my knight-master.”
“Former knight-master,” she hissed. “And you should apologize!”
“For what?”
“For saying it’s not about me. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had that conversation! And I’m insulted that you would make a promise like that to him without considering what I might want!”
Owen yanked his hand away from hers and rubbed his temples. He didn’t like arguing, but sometimes Margarry made it impossible not to. Sometimes he felt like no matter what he did she would find fault in him. But maybe she was right. A woman’s virtue wasn’t a man’s business, after all.
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” he finally said. “And you’re right – he wouldn’t know. But—”
“I know,” she said, cutting him off. He was pleased to see that her brows were no longer furrowed. “He was your knight-master before we ever met.”
“And he was your father before he was my knight-master.” He smiled sadly. “He does it because he loves you.”
She rolled her eyes. “He does it because Eiralys and Sunarine were such flirts that it nearly gave him a heart attack when they were at court. And because he doesn’t trust me. I’m not asking you to bed me, Owen – just spend a little more time petting.”
“Let’s not argue,” Owen said, taking her hand again and bringing it to his lips. “I’ll be heading back to the border soon, and I don’t want to growl at one another while we’re together. Forgive me?”
“Of course I will.” She said, tugging at his hair with her free hand. “I don’t want to argue, either - I’d rather be spending my time kissing you.”
“I can handle kissing,” Owen said, his voice low. Their lips met in a tender kiss, but Margarry clearly did not intend for it to stay chaste or sweet. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. He returned it enthusiastically, until he was aware of the sound of a throat being cleared.
They pulled away from each other, opening their eyes to see Wyldon standing in the doorway, his expression dark. Owen winced. He realized that winning Margarry’s forgiveness was easy in comparison to the rest of Cavall.
- the end -
Rating: PG
Midwinter Advent Prompt: #18 – Forgiveness
Summary: Owen shows more respect for Margarry’s father than for her own wishes.
Note: Part of a larger arc of advent prompts collectively to be known as "Midwinter Furlough", part of the Cavall's Heart series.
The only downside with officially being allowed to court Margarry, now that their intentions were made clear, was that Lord Wyldon preferred to keep them nearby. So when Owen came calling, he and Margarry had to sit nicely in the parlor, talking of trivial things to one another and holding hands and hoping that neither of her parents (who often wandered through, rather than hovering over them as they clearly wanted to do) listened to the low murmurs of conversation between the happy little phrases that were expected.
“I don’t think we’re fooling them at all,” Margarry whispered one chilly morning. “They were young once, after all.”
“I don’t know if I agree with you,” Owen said loudly when Lady Vivenne came through the room, pulling down the Midwinter Decorations that they had painstakingly put up a week before. “I think there’s great merit in studying the archaic languages of the Eastern Languages.” When she’d finally taken down the last cut-out snowflake, he stole a kiss from his betrothed. “I don’t care if they know. I think our test is whether or not we play the game by their rules.”
“And their rules are that we don’t do things like this,” she said, running one hand up his breeches.
Owen nearly jumped as her hand moved further and further from his knee. He clasped her hand tightly, moving it to the embroidered pillow between them. He swallowed nervously. “Their rules are sensible, given their concerns about your virtue. They know I don’t have the will to stop you.”
“The will, or the desire?” she asked, her eyes playful.
“Both.”
She sighed. “Da has taken all the fun out of you. I thought you were the sort who tried to break rules.”
“No,” he corrected her. “I’m the sort who tries to follow them, but end up breaking them anyway.”
The corners of her mouth turned upward into a teasing grin.
“But I’m not going to with you!” he insisted. He let his voice drop even further, just to be certain even Mithros couldn’t hear. “I promised Lord Wyldon. He said that if I value my life, I’d best let you be a virgin on your wedding day.”
“He wouldn’t know,” she said with a scowl.
“But I will,” Owen said, feeling his face flush. “It’s not about you, it’s about my trust with my knight-master.”
“Former knight-master,” she hissed. “And you should apologize!”
“For what?”
“For saying it’s not about me. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had that conversation! And I’m insulted that you would make a promise like that to him without considering what I might want!”
Owen yanked his hand away from hers and rubbed his temples. He didn’t like arguing, but sometimes Margarry made it impossible not to. Sometimes he felt like no matter what he did she would find fault in him. But maybe she was right. A woman’s virtue wasn’t a man’s business, after all.
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” he finally said. “And you’re right – he wouldn’t know. But—”
“I know,” she said, cutting him off. He was pleased to see that her brows were no longer furrowed. “He was your knight-master before we ever met.”
“And he was your father before he was my knight-master.” He smiled sadly. “He does it because he loves you.”
She rolled her eyes. “He does it because Eiralys and Sunarine were such flirts that it nearly gave him a heart attack when they were at court. And because he doesn’t trust me. I’m not asking you to bed me, Owen – just spend a little more time petting.”
“Let’s not argue,” Owen said, taking her hand again and bringing it to his lips. “I’ll be heading back to the border soon, and I don’t want to growl at one another while we’re together. Forgive me?”
“Of course I will.” She said, tugging at his hair with her free hand. “I don’t want to argue, either - I’d rather be spending my time kissing you.”
“I can handle kissing,” Owen said, his voice low. Their lips met in a tender kiss, but Margarry clearly did not intend for it to stay chaste or sweet. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. He returned it enthusiastically, until he was aware of the sound of a throat being cleared.
They pulled away from each other, opening their eyes to see Wyldon standing in the doorway, his expression dark. Owen winced. He realized that winning Margarry’s forgiveness was easy in comparison to the rest of Cavall.
- the end -