Post by Seek on May 4, 2013 7:12:26 GMT 10
Title: Costs
Rating: PG
Word count: 501 words
Summary: Buri finds Raoul in the stables.
Pairing: Buri/Raoul
Round/Fight: 1D
Notes: Part of the Slow Burn series.
-
After the war, Thayet takes her aside and says, “I’ll like you to stay Commander of the Queen’s Riders.”
“But Thayet…” Buri protests. She’s always thought that her promotion to Commander was temporary, necessity brought on by the war. She’s always thought that she’s going to step aside for Thayet once the war’s been won.
“Don’t,” Thayet informs her. “I’ve seen what you’ve done with the Riders during the war. You trained them, rode with them, led them…You’ve made the Riders into a capable fighting force, and I haven’t really done anything about it.”
“You’re always too hard on yourself. I’ll resign,” Buri says, but Thayet says, firmly.
“Buri.”
And Buri knows, in that moment, that Thayet jian Wilima won’t back down, and that she, Buri, is going to be remaining Commander of the Queen’s Riders.
-
She finds Raoul in the common stables, perhaps because she can’t bear to be receiving congratulations from the other Riders when word spreads. He’s sitting, his back to the wooden stable walls and the stall is…
Empty.
“Oh, Raoul,” Buri murmurs sadly, as she realises.
Raoul doesn’t open his eyes. “Funny, you know,” he murmurs. “He elevated me to the peerage. He gave me Malorie’s Peak.”
“So is it my lord now?” she asks, keeping her voice teasing and light.
He opens his eyes. His coal-ash gaze is sharp. “No,” he says. “Gods, Buri. Please don’t.”
After a moment, she settles down beside him.
“Thayet made it permanent, didn’t she?”
“How did you know?” She sits cross-legged. Raoul can’t quite manage that, so he sits with his legs stretched out before him.
Raoul smiles. “Jon talked,” he says. “I think they were planning it for some time.”
“I heard they’ve settled on ‘Giantkiller.’”
Raoul shakes his head. “It was only a twenty-foot giant…”
“And you were in the field hospital for a week,” Buri retorts. “I’d heard they wanted to call you Snakeslayer, but decided it didn’t sound quite so dramatic.”
That draws a weak smile out of him. “Socks died.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t even the snake…” Raoul whispers. “Just a stray arrow. It went straight through his head. Just a second more, and it would have shot me instead. My father let me pick out Socks when I was a page. I knew he was getting old, but I was hoping to retire him to Goldenlake once the war was over…”
They both look, involuntarily, at the empty stall. “Anyway, I snuck out of the inauguration party,” Raoul adds. “Didn’t feel very much like celebrating.”
Buri snorts. “I’m sure the Riders have got something planned back in the barracks. I don’t really feel up to being there either.”
“We could hide,” he suggests, traces of his boyish enthusiasm lingering in his eyes. “They’ll never try the common stables first.”
It is, as always, infectious.
“I’ll sneak off to get something from the kitchens so we can camp out here,” Buri says. She stands up. “If I don’t return, avenge me.”
Rating: PG
Word count: 501 words
Summary: Buri finds Raoul in the stables.
Pairing: Buri/Raoul
Round/Fight: 1D
Notes: Part of the Slow Burn series.
-
After the war, Thayet takes her aside and says, “I’ll like you to stay Commander of the Queen’s Riders.”
“But Thayet…” Buri protests. She’s always thought that her promotion to Commander was temporary, necessity brought on by the war. She’s always thought that she’s going to step aside for Thayet once the war’s been won.
“Don’t,” Thayet informs her. “I’ve seen what you’ve done with the Riders during the war. You trained them, rode with them, led them…You’ve made the Riders into a capable fighting force, and I haven’t really done anything about it.”
“You’re always too hard on yourself. I’ll resign,” Buri says, but Thayet says, firmly.
“Buri.”
And Buri knows, in that moment, that Thayet jian Wilima won’t back down, and that she, Buri, is going to be remaining Commander of the Queen’s Riders.
-
She finds Raoul in the common stables, perhaps because she can’t bear to be receiving congratulations from the other Riders when word spreads. He’s sitting, his back to the wooden stable walls and the stall is…
Empty.
“Oh, Raoul,” Buri murmurs sadly, as she realises.
Raoul doesn’t open his eyes. “Funny, you know,” he murmurs. “He elevated me to the peerage. He gave me Malorie’s Peak.”
“So is it my lord now?” she asks, keeping her voice teasing and light.
He opens his eyes. His coal-ash gaze is sharp. “No,” he says. “Gods, Buri. Please don’t.”
After a moment, she settles down beside him.
“Thayet made it permanent, didn’t she?”
“How did you know?” She sits cross-legged. Raoul can’t quite manage that, so he sits with his legs stretched out before him.
Raoul smiles. “Jon talked,” he says. “I think they were planning it for some time.”
“I heard they’ve settled on ‘Giantkiller.’”
Raoul shakes his head. “It was only a twenty-foot giant…”
“And you were in the field hospital for a week,” Buri retorts. “I’d heard they wanted to call you Snakeslayer, but decided it didn’t sound quite so dramatic.”
That draws a weak smile out of him. “Socks died.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t even the snake…” Raoul whispers. “Just a stray arrow. It went straight through his head. Just a second more, and it would have shot me instead. My father let me pick out Socks when I was a page. I knew he was getting old, but I was hoping to retire him to Goldenlake once the war was over…”
They both look, involuntarily, at the empty stall. “Anyway, I snuck out of the inauguration party,” Raoul adds. “Didn’t feel very much like celebrating.”
Buri snorts. “I’m sure the Riders have got something planned back in the barracks. I don’t really feel up to being there either.”
“We could hide,” he suggests, traces of his boyish enthusiasm lingering in his eyes. “They’ll never try the common stables first.”
It is, as always, infectious.
“I’ll sneak off to get something from the kitchens so we can camp out here,” Buri says. She stands up. “If I don’t return, avenge me.”