Too Little, Too Late

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 14th October 2020
Series: The Hallmaster's Ladies

Characters: Jalodwyn, Thayde, Yasha
Description: Thayde goes to visit Jalodwyn and isn't welcomed
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 6, day 10 of Turn 10
Notes: At Jade Harbor Hold
Mentioned: Enamra

Thayde

"Jal. Jalodwyn! Wake up."

The husky voice drew Jalodwn out of her slumber. "Hm? What is it? Is
it Jalotha? Is she needing to be fed again?"

"No, but I've klah for you. She's asleep, but get up."

Jalodwyn groggily rose and sat up, seeing Yasha holding the blessed
cup of klah. She reached for it, blinking, then looked outside. "Is it
dawn?"

Yasha handed her the cup and sat beside her. "Yeah, sorry to wake you,
but a dragon's arrived and I thought you should know."

"So? Dragons come here all the time." She rubbed her hand over her
eyes as she took a sip of klah.

"It's who the dragon brought, Jalodwyn. The Master Dolphineer is here.
He went into the main building. I saw the knots and he looks like what
you described."

That woke Jalodwyn up immediately. "What? Thayde's here?" At Yasha's
nod, Jalodwyn cursed softly and got up, draining the steaming cup of
klah in seemingly one gulp. "Do you know what he's here for?"

"No. No one does. Everyone was surprised to see him from what I could
see. Hey...hey...it's okay." Yasha rose and wrapped her arms around
Jalodwyn to stop the pacing. "I'm here, I'm not leaving until I know
he's gone" She took the cup from Jalodwyn and cupped her cheeks.
"We'll be okay."

Jalodwn's pale face stared up at Yasha's, taking in the soft
gentleness of her dark eyes. "What if he's here for her? What if he
tries to take her away?"

"He can't. She's yours. Everyone knows she's yours."

"But..." Jalodwyn buried her face in Yasha's shoulder.

"If he tries anything, we'll go north. Just like we talked about,
okay? There's positions there." Yasha stroked Jalodwyn's back and
exhaled slowly. "Breathe. He might not even be here to see you or the
baby."

Jalodwyn nodded against the dark shoulder. "I don't want to see him. I
hate him."

"I know."

The knock on the door startled both of them and Jalodwyn rushed
towards the cradle, looking down on the sleeping baby. "Yasha..."

"I'll handle it." Yasha stepped out of the room, closing the door
behind her before going to the door of their shared quarters. The
tall, dark woman opened the door. "Yes?"

"I am here to see Jalodwyn," Thayde said to the woman that answered
the door. The only time he could ever remember being as nervous as he
was at that moment, was when he had been waiting on the dock to marry
Enamra.

Yasha's fine eyebrow raised as kept the door half-closed, only
revealing half of her body. Her gaze flicked over his knots and then
went back up to his face. "Is this an official visit, Master Thayde, or a
personal one?"

"Personal," was his reply, although he would make it "official" if necessary.

"Then I'm sorry, but she's not available. It's very early and..."
There was a soft cry of a baby and Yasha turned her head to look
behind her before the cry was quickly shushed by an offer of nursing.
"She's occupied at the moment. And she doesn't want to see you. Please
leave."

"Jalodwyn," Thayde called over Yasha, his dark eyes trying to see
around her. "Let me in."

Yasha's eyes narrowed and she moved her body to stand even more
protectively between Thayde and the rest of the room. Her jaw lifted
stubbornly. "She's busy, Master Thayde. I've asked you to leave."

Jalodwyn came out of her room, hidden behind Yasha's protective stance
and cuddled the baby closely to her breast as she fed. Swallowing
hard, but unable to resist, she peeked just a little around to see a
glimpse of Thayde's face before she withdrew. Stubborn anger at the
sight caused her to speak, visibly surprising Yasha. "Go away, Thayde.
I don't want to see you. I don't want to hear from you. I don't want
anything to do with you. That's what _you_ wanted."

Thayde spoke as if Yasha wasn't standing in front of him. "Be an
adult, Jalodwyn. I'm not asking you for anything, other than to hear
what I have to say."

Yasha scowled at Thayde, anger building in her expression as she spoke
up before Jalodwyn could respond. "Be an adult? An adult?! You sent
her away. She has no family here to support her or the baby. Her
mother died right before she came to you. Did you know that? And her
partner before that. When she needed help the most, you sent her away
because she made a mistake just like you did! I've been here for her
when you should have been! How dare you! I ought to..."

"Yasha, don't." The soft voice was strained. "Just don't. " Yasha
slammed the door closed and there were muffled, angry murmurs behind
the door then a moment of silence.

The door slowly opened just a crack and Yasha's face, set in anger
reappeared. "Come back in half a candlemark. She's feeding the baby.
She'll speak to you after."

Thayde continued to ignore Yasha, and spoke so Jalodwyn could hear
him. "I'll be back in half a candlemark." As far as the Dolphin Cove
Hallmaster was concerned, this matter was only between him and
Jalodwyn, and he did not need anyone else's approval or judgement on
the matter.

----

Half a candlemark later, Jalodwyn was far more calm and after dressing
and putting Jalotha back into her cradle in the bedroom to nap, she
felt a little more prepared to face Thayde. Yasha had argued with her
against it, but acknowledged that with Thayde's position, he could
push the issue far more than they could resist seeing him. Being
expected for duties, the other dolphineer wasn't able to remain to
assist or support, leaving Jalodwyn to face him alone.

So when there was a knock on the door, with anxiety flaring in her
chest and a rapidly pounding heart, Jalodwyn opened it. Her face was
thin, and dark circles were under her eyes, but she couldn't help her
lack of sleep. She did, however, look neat and dressed which was far
better than she had looked when she'd been awakened. The sight of
Thayde made her anxiety worsen, but she straightened her back. She
opened the door slowly, allowing him entrance and stepping back to
stand between him and the bedroom door, then simply waited.

Thayde was struck by her appearance, which he had not been able to
really see before, with Yasha blocking the entryway. In his mind's
eye, whenever Thayde thought of Jalodwyn, he remembered her with the
healthy glow of sun on her skin, cheeks slightly reddened, eyes
lively. Back when they had been friends, before being one-time lovers,
he would have described her as bubbly and mischievous. She seemed none
of those things now.

"I apologize for earlier, I didn't mean.... I don't mean for my
presence here to cause you distress. I have come to talk. That's all."

She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to feel blood trickle down
the inside. "And there are things I need to say to you as well." The
mindhealer Yasha had insisted upon had been helping her, making her
confront issues that she'd been avoiding, but she knew she'd have to
visit him as soon as possible after this conversation. She took a deep
breath, then spoke slowly and carefully. "How I acted before during
the ship voyage and after was wrong. I was not in a good place
emotionally and I was dealing with issues that you weren't aware of. I
shouldn't have done what I did and I hope that your wife was more
understanding than I was." She took a breath. "I apologize. And I
didn't lie to you. I wasn't with anyone else before or after you." She
finally looked at him. "Now, say what you came here to say and then
please leave."

The apology caught Thayde off guard and the little speech he had
memorized a thousand times on his way to Jade Harbor completely left
him. "Thank you, for the apology. I apologize, as well, for being so
stubborn about the possibility of fathering the child." He paused. "It
truly isn't my intent to come here and force you to make any
decisions. I forfeited my rights as a father when I sent you away from
Dolphin Cove, I understand that. What I would like to offer you is
some support, financially, or personally, if you will take it."

Hugging herself tightly she stared at him for a moment before
answering, visibly struggling to
keep her words calm and even. "I don't want anything from you.
Nothing. You rejected her before she was even born. You made that very
clear and I never want her to feel like she wasn't wanted. She's
innocent and she doesn't deserve that. So you don't have to worry
about her existence interfering in your marriage or your life. "
Wetness brimmed in her eyes before she quickly brushed at them.

There was a muffled whimper, then a cry behind the door. Jalodwyn's
head whipped towards the sound and taking a quick minute to glance at
Thayde, she opened the door. "I'm no longer your problem, so you can go." She pushed her way inside of the bedroom and picked up the squirming infant, checking her nappy.

Thayde watched Jalodwyn with the baby, and he couldn't help but wishing it was Enamra standing there with their child. He kept his eyes on the woman's face, not allowing himself to really look at his daughter, for fear of growing attached to something he could not have. "I can provide for you, and for our daughter, like a Hallmaster's daughter deserves. If you change your mind, or find yourself, or her, needing something.... Just send me a message." His eyes flicked briefly toward the bundle in her arms before he took a step backward, and then retreated from the room.

Jalodwyn followed to close the door behind him. "She won't even know about you or who you are. Please don't come back." It closed with a firm click.

Last updated on the November 30th 2020

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Too Little, Too Late