Under Pressure

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 16th January 2020
Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife

Characters: Enamra, Thayde
Description: Enamra is unable to handle the new found pressure of being a Hallmaster's wife.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 2, day 2 of Turn 10

Enamra

Thayde

It had been too much. Seemingly every quarter of a candlemark, a new
message arrived at her door, scribbled suggestions for the upcoming
ball, or questions she didn't know how to answer. They began to pile
up on the new desk in the office along with scattered place setting
designs, potential menus, floral arrangement designs... most of which
she didn't understand or couldn't read. Many of the notes were written
so hastily, she couldn't even make out most of the letters.

Frazzled, she snatched the last note from yet another messenger,
slamming the door in his face as she paced back into the office. It
was a mess of hides and with a sudden cry, she swept them all into the
floor and collapsed on top of them, holding her head in her hands as
it pounded in complaint. She couldn't do this. She couldn't do this!
There was too much! She stared at the piles of hides and whimpered,
rocking back and forth as her heart hammered in her chest. It was
impossible.

With a sudden urge to leave before she was completely, Enamra shot
from the apartments in bare feet, brushing past several people without
apologizing for running into them. She just had to get away from the
piles of hides that seemed to be growing behind her. Instead, she
escaped for a long walk to the small cove that had first brought she
and Thayde together.

It was evening before she returned, completely exhausted and feet
covered in sand. She passed by her office, disrobed, wiped her feet
and collapsed onto the bed, clad only in a brief shift.

"Enamra?" Thayde called softly when he entered their quarters. It was
a tad bit later than he normally arrived home, so he was puzzled to
find that there was no smell of dinner inside. He had been sure that
he was late for the meal and he would find Enamra impatiently waiting
for him with food covered to be kept warm.

His eyes scanned the room but there was no cooked food and no signs of
Enamra. Walking to her office, he pushed the door open took a sharp
intake of breath as he came across all of the scattered notes that
were lying about. "Yikes." The last place he looked was the bedroom,
where he finally found her sprawled on the bed. The little shift that
she wore was something he had seen her wear underneath her dresses
before, but it might as well have been lingerie in Thayde's mind. All
he could see was healthy expanses of smooth skin, beckoning for his
touch.

Toeing off his shoes, Thayde pulled his shirt over his head in a
single motion and tossed the fabric aside as he slid onto the bed next
to Enamra, one hand tracing up the back of her bare thigh.

Enamra mumbled softly, but her leg shifted under his hand, hiking up
to bend up nearly to her waist. She burrowed deeply into her pillow,
nuzzling it as she settled back down into the bed. Even the shift in
weight in the bed didn't wake her, though she instinctively squirmed
closer to the heat of him.

A smile tugged at Thayde's lips as he allowed his fingers to skim
lightly up the back of her thigh, up over her hip, and along her arm
until he got to her gently rounded shoulder. She must have been really
tired, he thought, because he could count the times one two fingers
when he had come home to find Enamra asleep.

That brought a soft mumble, and she rolled towards him, brow
furrowed. She lay her head against his chest and sighed in her sleep,
trying to both cuddle and sleep. She felt a tickle along her arm and
blindly brushed at it with a sleepy complaint.

"Enamra," he chuckled her name softly in her ear, one hand finding
it's way up inside the shift.

Instead of a sleepy moan like he may have expected, Enamra's eyes
fluttered open just a little and she frowned as she swatted at the
wandering hand, moving away. "Stop it... sleepy..." She rolled back
over, her bottom jutting towards him as she curled up.

"Come on," he said spooning his body around hers.

Disruption to her rest brought on a fierce irritability and
resentment. So, only half-awake, Enamra lifted her head to snap at him
sharply in a tone that she would have never dared use awake. "Stop it,
Thayde. I'm trying to sleep." Her head fell back on her pillow and she
jerked away, nearly to the edge of her side of the bed before
burrowing back into the pillow.

Thayde's eyes were a bit wider than usual and his hand still hovered
in midair from where it had been resting on her hip. **Whoa.** He had
never heard Enamra use that tone, not even when she had found out he'd
slept with Jalodwyn, nor even when she had found out that Jalodwyn was
pregnant. A knot of hunger twisted in the pit of his stomach,
reminding him about his missed dinner. Gently crawling out of the bed,
so as not to incur his wife's wrath again, Thayde dressed quietly and
slipped from the bedroom. Maybe by the time he made something to eat
she would be awake and ready to talk.

Even his movement off of the bed was no longer enough to fully rouse
her. She tugged the blankets up to her chin, sighed and fell back into
a deep slumber. The smell of food cooking didn't rouse her, nor did
the clatter of dishes. She was still asleep when Thayde had finished
his meal, her arms wrapped tightly around her pillow.

While she slept, Thayde thoughtfully stood in her office, opening the
different slivers of paper that littered the floor and reading the
different messages. A wrinkle furrowed his brow as he glanced around
at her desk. Tomorrow he would have a talk with her and get to the
bottom of her unusual behavior.

*******

Last updated on the January 18th 2020

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Under Pressure