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Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 31st May 2006

Characters: Cyrek, Mariss
Description: Cyrek returns with the caravan from Amethyst Cliff and is reunited with his daughter.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 11, day 7 of Turn 3
Notes: Follows 'A Proposition'

"Da!" Cyrek dropped his bags and opened his arms to his daughter, who embraced him so tightly that his ribs hurt. He rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes, and for a moment he let himself imagine that he was _home_.

It was all too brief.

"Shards, I missed you so much..." Mariss' voice was muffled in his tunic, and Cyrek hid a smile. She sniffed and held him a little tighter. "When can we go home?"

"I... don't know." Cyrek glanced around at their new quarters over his daughter's head. They were smaller than what they had at Amethyst Cliff, but that was to be expected. Here he was simply a visiting dignitary, a working man. Respected, maybe, but no one special.
**Unless...** Lord Benaroy's offer drifted through his head like snow blown on the breeze. He could be Steward here.

"Da?" Mariss leaned back from their embrace to look up at him. Cyrek was unhappy to see that her eyelashes were wet with tears. "Did you hear me?"

"Sorry, I was... somewhere else." He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "What did you say?"

"I asked you how your trip was. Over the mountains." It was a lie, but she couldn't quite bring herself to ask her question a second time.

"It was fine. Muddy, and one of the wagons' axels broke, but everyone made it in one piece."

Mariss bit her lip. "And- and the Hold?"

Cyrek's smile slowly faded. He kissed her forehead again, left his bags by the door and went to sit in a chair by the fire. The rooms they'd been assigned were small and dim, lacking the small things that made it into a home. He dug the palms of his hands into his eyes. "It's... bad." Mariss crept over and perched on the chair's arm, slipping an arm around his shoulders. "How bad?" she whispered.

"I- the Lord Holder and his family are dead. I want to rebuild but nobody is listening to me." He smiled bitterly. Why was it easier to confide in his teenage daughter than the men he worked with?
"Honestly, why should they? There's nothing left but walls and rubble. It would take turns and nobody want to take the time to do it. But it's our home and I hate seeing people turn their back so easily on so much history."

"So what are we going to do?" Mariss asked. "We can't stay here."

Cyrek hesitated, catching something in Mariss' voice that she hadn't meant to say. "How was your stay here?"

Mariss bit her lip. "I- it was- all right. I guess."

"You don't sound convinced, love."

"Maybe I'm not. The first night here I wanted- you asked me to help settle the Amethyst Cliff residents, right? Well..." She let her hair fall down around her shoulders to obscure her face and hide her shame. "They think I'm an idiot. The Steward's son and the Lord Holder's daughter sharding _drugged_ me because they thought I was some sort of hysterical ninny."

"They _drugged_ you!?"

Mariss nodded. "And I've been shunted aside and locked up in the solar with Royani every chance she gets. She's an insufferable little snob!"

"Mariss," Cyrek said, half in warning, half in sympathy. "They probably didn't know what to expect right after I brought you here, and would have heard second hand horror stories and been frightened themselves. And you've been sending me reports, so-"

"But to do anything I've had to lie, cheat, and manipulate my way into getting my hands on a pen and hides! And Royani gives me these horrible pitying looks when she sees my seams and is _so_
patronizing, and- and I'm sick and tired of being judged by my gender!"

"Mariss..." Cyrek reached out and enfolded her into a hug.

"I want to go home," she muttered into his shoulder.

Cyrek was quiet a moment. Amber Hills Hold wasn't used to his strong willed, intelligent daughter. They hadn't seen her grow up, turn from a serious child to a young woman who was more than able to pull her own weight, hadn't seen what she was capable of. And maybe they weren't ready for someone like her... he felt a small pang of guilt for raising her more like a son than a daughter. Had he done her a disservice, and made her unprepared for a world where women were expected to be meek and domestic? Mariss was neither of those things.
**And yet I couldn't be prouder...**

But Amethyst Cliff Hold was gone. It was a pile of rubble and broken dreams, and the Hold itself was uninhabitable. How could he bring his little girl to somewhere like that? Lord Benaroy's offer suddenly seemed more attractive. If it was just himself, he'd stay and rebuild. But it wasn't. Mariss needed a roof over her head, somewhere dry to sleep, and a place where there was opportunity for her to make her own way. **Even if they can't see what's in front of them. She can show them.**

"Da? Did you- find Vivvi?"

He shook her head. "I'm sorry, love. She's dead."

Mariss was quiet for a moment, then visibly steeled herself and leaned back from his embrace dry-eyed. "What about our things? Were you able to get into our rooms?"

"The roof fell in in the sitting room, but I salvaged what I could.
Your chest is all right, but it's got a little water damage at one corner. And your mother's ebroideries from the walls... It'll all be moved up here shortly."

She managed a small smile. "Good. I'm tired of wearing hand-me-downs.
I want something that's _mine_ for a change."

Cyrek reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. She needed somewhere to belong, and there was no way that he'd let her molder away in a tent when she could have a place at a Hold. He suddenly knew he'd accept Lord Benaroy's offer.

But that didn't make it feel like any less of a betrayal, or make it seem any less cowardly.

Last updated on the May 31st 2006

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