Very Proper Ladies

Writers: Bree, Estelle
Date Posted: 19th July 2005

Characters: Gevina, Lindria
Description: Lindria discovers in Gevina someone who has as little interest in sewing and darning socks as she does.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 7, day 12 of Turn 3

Within a few moments of entering the Ladies Solar, Gevina knew that the book she'd tucked into the bottom of her sewing basket with the hopes of getting a few moments to read would spend a lonely few candlemarks being ignored. The women within looked every bit as proper as she'd imagined, which she supposed was not surprising considering the Lady Holder's reputation for strictness.

Feeling uncomfortable with the eyes on her, Gevina hurried to find a seat--away from the older women now giving her appraising looks--and set her basket down at her feet. She had plenty of work to do, since many of her dresses still needed to be adjusted now that she'd had a few months to recover from Nakina's birth, but after the stress of the last month, she'd _so_ been looking forward to getting lost in a good romantic tale.

Deciding that a candlemark spent placidly mending would make it evident that she appreciated Lord Alalir's gracious welcome of her, Gevina pulled one of her favorite dresses and did her best to look like there was nowhere she'd rather be than sitting and calmly putting stitches into fabric. She had the feeling that anyone looking closely, however, would be able to tell she was not enjoying herself. She just hoped no one looked that closely.

Lindria was adept at picking out ladies who were not enjoying themselves sewing - mostly because she knew exactly how they felt. Having been led firmly into the Ladies' Solar by her mother and handed a basket of socks to be darned, she decided that she could at least find a companion who wouldn't talk of nothing but the finer points of needlework.

"May I join you?" she asked the young woman, who was unfamiliar to her. She looked a little too old to be a new fosterling, so perhaps she was a visiting holder's wife who might have news and gossip from the outer regions of Amethyst Cliff territory.

Gevina looked up and smiled in genuine relief at Lindria. "Oh, please do... this sort of thing always goes by more quickly with company. You're Lady Lindria, aren't you?"

"Just Lindria will do, as long as my mother isn't listening," Lindria replied with an impish smile, sitting down beside the other young woman. "You must be new to Amethyst Cliff?"

"Very new," Gevina replied, setting her mending down in her lap. "I'm Gevina, and I've only just arrived a few days ago from Black Ridge Hold. Lord Alalir has been very kind and given me a place to stay."

"Black Ridge - that's quite a way away, isn't it?" One of Lindria's tasks as the wife of the newly promoted Heir had been to learn about the most important holds in Amethyst Cliff territory, so that she could converse politely with their residents should they come to visit. If she remembered the hold's location correctly, Gevina had been lucky not to be snowed in before she travelled to Amethyst Cliff.

"Oh, yes... it was quite a long trip." Gevina hesitated, smoothing the dress out in her lap as she continued. "I hope I won't have to travel like that again any time soon."

"You won't be able to if it carries on snowing," Lindria said. The windows were firmly shuttered against the cold, but she'd been outside earlier and a few flakes had been drifting down over the snowy landscape of the Hold. When the first winter blizzard hit, only dragonriders would be able to get in and out of Amethyst Cliff.

Though she was dying of curiosity as to what might have made Gevina attempt such a risky journey, she didn't ask - even she wasn't so indelicate. Instead she grinned. "You might be stuck with us all winter!"

"I can't say that would be unpleasant. In fact, I must say that the company here is already far more enjoyable. There weren't many ladies to spend time with at Black Ridge." And being stuck here was exactly what Gevina had planned on... hopefully the winter snows would discourage her brother-by-marriage from chasing after her. Gevina knew that she was an attractive enough young woman, but somehow she doubted Ventental would find her irreplacable when faced with the prospect of making the dangerous journey in the middle of winter and having to convince Lord Alalir he had reason to bring her home with him.

"Despite the sewing?" Lindria asked, teasingly. "You'll have to get used to it if you want to stay here. Mama is very keen on sewing."

"Oh, I like sewing," Gevina replied quickly. Then she looked up and wrinkled her nose. "Well, I like being able to sew my own clothing, at least. The sewing itself... it's not as interesting, unless you have someone interesting to talk to! My sisters and I used to tell each other stories so we wouldn't get bored."

"Lord Alalir will be pleased if you know some new stories. We've got an old book of harper's tales that he's read so many times he practically knows them by heart." Lindria knew - she was often asked to read to him. "Perhaps we can share some of the tales we know?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Gevina hesitated and her smile turned a little mischevious. "Though... I'm not sure some of the stories would be very interesting to Lord Alalir... we were fond of romantic tales. We liked to dream about the handsome husbands we'd find and the adventures we'd have..." Not that dreaming had done _her_ much good.

Lindria giggled. "I think you might be right - I can't imagine Lord Alalir having much patience with a romance. But even though I already have a very handsome husband...I like a good romantic story very much! We can't tell them here, though. If Mama should overhear she'd have us both darning socks until Turn's End."

Gevina made a face again. "Sewing clothing is one thing... I _hate_ darning socks! My husband managed to poke holes in his every other day, I think..."

"Oh, I know," Lindria said sympathetically, nodding her head. "You should see what Alajeran does to his clothes. It hardly takes him any time to get holes in them, and what's more, he has to be practically dragged along to get fitted for new ones! Now, Lord Jeralir - my brother-in-law - is quite the opposite. Have you met him yet?"

"Yes," Gevina said, her voice suddenly cautious in spite of her continued smile. "I bumped into him in the nursery when I was settling my daughter there. He seemed... well dressed." Which was probably the nicest thing Gevina could think of to say about him.

"He certainly is." Lindria picked up on Gevina's change in tone immediately and put that together with her youth and beauty and all the rumours she pretended not to pay any attention to about her husband's brother. "Watch out for him - he'll charm you into believing black is white if you're not careful!" She kept her voice deliberately light, but there was a warning there, too. Jeralir was married, and though she detested Lady Calanna, neither did she wish for poor Gevina to get entangled in their intrigues.

"I doubt I'll find myself easily charmed," Gevina replied, every bit as lightly. "But I'll keep my eyes open in any case."

"That's very wise of you." Gevina seemed a sensible girl - and if she did fall for Jeralir's flattery and undoubted allure, then she couldn't say she hadn't been warned! Lindria put all thoughts of him firmly from her mind. "Speaking of charm...we can't tell romantic stories here, but would you like to come with me when I take Rufri for a walk this afternoon?" She lowered her voice. "None of these very proper ladies would dream of setting foot outside in the snow."

Usually Gevina wouldn't consider going outside in the snow either, but when the alternative was the rest of the afternoon spent in the solar with the proper ladies staring down their nose at her, well... "I would love to! Perhaps you can tell me about how you met _your_ very handsome husband!"

Lindria giggled. "Well, it's a long story - and probably not suitable for the ladies here, either." Her mother would die if she found out that Lindria had told the others how she'd actually _run away_ from her proposed husband at first. "I'll look forward to it after I've finished with these wretched socks!"

Setting aside her mending, Gevina reached for the top sock in the basket and winked at Lindria. "Maybe I should help you... after all, it's very important to keep the socks of the Hold in good repair."

Lindria was thrilled by that suggestion - the work would go twice as fast with Gevina helping! "That's a wonderful idea. After all, we can't have holders walking around with their toes poking through the ends of their socks, can we?"

"Of course not," Gevina replied, her serious tone at odds with the glint in her eye. "That would be improper... and we are never improper."

Last updated on the September 6th 2005

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