The first thing the Eorling woman was aware of when she awoke was the pain in the back of her neck when she lifted her head. The pain tugged and traveled across her shoulders and shot up into the back of her head. Her throat was parched, her eyelids stubborn to open. She rubbed them both, her vision cleared before her thoughts and it was then she realized she was still sitting on the floor of her chambers next to the wall near to her door. She straightened from her slumped over position, rubbing her eyes some more and looked about. The familiar sounds of the early morning routine in her home filtered from the main room, muffled and calm. She rose slowly aching in other places from the uncomfortable night on the hard tiled floor, eying her bed as the memories of why she was there awakened with her and all that had transpired the night before began to dawn on her. Oh how she wanted to climb into that bed, pull the blankets over her and hide from the rest of the world, but she could not as there was a very distinct possibility her family were in danger. No, she shrugged the thought off, he'd never hurt her, or the children or Aanya, would he?
She altered course, shuffling into the main room, her joints loosening, the pain and stiffness subsiding a little. Her eyes met with Aanya's, a smirk upon the young nursemaids face whilst she nursed her son Samuel to her breast. The mood in the room was calm, there was nothing amiss. It seemed like any other morning.
“Mr Seaver still asleep then?”
“No, he left last night” Neyaa answered quickly, noting that her tone with Aanya was a little sharp.
Aanya's gaze lingered for a while on Neyaa following her as she walked over to her own son Branston and pulled up a chair next to the boy as he was enjoying his breakfast, kissing his forehead. The three year old screwed up his face and wiped off the kiss grinning. He picked up his bowl to show his mother he'd eaten all of his porridge. She took it smiling back at him and turned it upside down, held it over her head and pretended she would wear it as a hat as she always did. The boy giggled unaware that this was far from a normal morning. Branston was no mummy's boy, he did the rough, tumble things that young boys do. They had a wonderful relationship, she had known the benefit of a happy childhood and a mother who loved her dearly and with no father figure in Branston's life anymore, Neyaa was determined to bring her son up well and adopted a patient and understanding style of parenting whilst teaching the boy everything she felt he needed to know to make his way through life feeling safe, secure, confident and considerate of others.
No, Seaver would not hurt this boy. Would he?
“Do you want any breakfast Miss Neyaa?” Aanya's voice finally registered after her third time of asking.
“I am a monster, I killed innocents, I killed my best friend, that flaxen haired boy you once knew has gone ...” He had shouted those words in her face whilst they pushed and pleaded with one another.
“W..What?”
“Breakfast?”
“N...no, no thankyou” Neyaa frowned “Sorry Aanya, I'm tired”
Aanya smirked, making her own assumptions.
Neyaa lifted Branston onto her lap and embraced him, the boy wriggled, wanting to be at play so she set him down and stood up and poured some tea whilst Aanya chattered on as she always did After all these years she still reported village gossip that Neyaa had no interest in whatsoever. The tea eased her thirst, but not her anguish.
“Who brought that then? Was it Mr Seaver?”
Neyaa's thoughts snapped back to Aanya's ramblings “What?”
“That, there!” Aanya pointed to the bench by the fire with her free hand as she held Samuel over her shoulder, patting his back to bring his wind up.
Neyaa looked at the bench “It's nothing”.
“Doesn't look like nothing to me!” Aanya of course had already explored the expensive basket containing a selection of the finest mead.
“Mister Seaver bring you that then?” Aanya probed.
“Yes” Neyaa responded almost over the top of her the pit of her stomach lurching.
“Won't do mead any good so close to the fire.”
“Aanya!” Neyaa cut her off again, getting irritated at being reminded. “Once you've settled Samuel, please start packing, for the three of you, you will be staying with Terralynn and Fastdred for some time”.
Aanya rocked her son gently in her arms looking at her employer in disbelief. Neyaa may be her employer, but she was more than that, she treat the girl as if she were her daughter, but on occasion her tone told her otherwise.
“How long are we going for, why?”
“I do not know”
“But you must know if you are sending us to Miss Terralynn's, is she expecting us?”
“No, but she will understand when I explain, now, no more questions, there's little time, I will go into the village and arrange for a cart”
“What is the rush?”
“Aanya!”
Aanya looked affronted at first, but then her eyes widened and her expression shifted to one of concern. “You, are not ...” The nursemaids eyes lowered to Neyaa's naval area. “You are not going to lose another child, I saw your pain earlier, your cries last night...surely”.
“No, no... it's not that” Neyaa cut her off quickly.
Aanya blinked and a tear slid down her cheek, not convinced. “You can not be alone Miss Neyaa, I remember the last time..”
Neyaa appeased her, with a gentle assurance “Nay, Aanya, tis naught like that, I...I think that I am long over due that trip to the hidden vale of the elves and the Grey Warden has offered to take me”. She forced a smile, but it did not reach her eyes “Mayhaps, they can tell me what is the matter with me”.
Aanya seemed convinced for now and she took Samuel to place him in his crib, stepping around Branston who was constructing something with his wooden building blocks.
“I am a terrible liar” Seaver had said with conviction”.
“On the contrary, you are an excellent liar” she'd responded.
Her stomach churned over with worry again. Perhaps if she could convince him that his confessions he had shouted the night before had not been heard, to avert a most terrible consequence... Truly he had not been heard, she was quite convinced of it, Aanya was no good at hiding things. There was much to be done, she padded into her bed chamber and began writing.
First, a missive to the kindly Eorling woman, Brynleigh, whom she'd met at Seavers house recently and liked instantly. The young woman had looked upset when Neyaa arrived at Seavers, her first thought was that she was one of Seaver's bed warmers and had fallen for him and was learning that it was hopeless to harbour feelings for that man. But nay, it seems that was not the case at all, she had experience in working with horses, in fact, she had worked for Seaver himself tending the Inn's stables, but had tendered in her resignation after a few days because her betrothed had listened to the rumours around Bree about Seaver being a libertine and he feared for his woman's honour. She supposed the man had a point, Seaver had lain with so many women and committed to very few of them, she knew only too well about that, but, she also reasoned, Seaver was not the sort of man to covet another mans woman. She dipped her quill into the ink and began to scribe a letter to Miss Brynleigh to invite her to an interview with the view to offer her employment to cover her absence.
Once it was written and sealed, Neyaa closed her eyes and replayed the scene in her head again from the previous night. The wonderful gift, the polite conversation, talk of the history of their people. Something was different though, that aloofness was back again whenever she went too close to him, it was so obvious that she had moved away to the bench across from him. And then it changed for the worse.
“What is it that we are doing here Neyaa?”
She had no idea what he was talking about or how to answer. It was as if something had taken hold of him and he sought only to smash into pieces all the trust that they had built up between them. She struggled hard to remember all that was said, but only fragments of it had been retained. His words continued to worry and sting.
“Do you think we can continue this way whilst we still share a bed?” He'd challenged.
She had heard enough, her ire had risen, she had asked for nothing from this man, and yet he wished to slander what they had, she had done everything on his terms and enough was enough, she told him to leave and then they'd argued. He witnessed her temper, and her some of his. He argued he was wicked, she argued he was not. Fear gripped them both, silencing them abruptly once it dawned on them that Aanya and the children were asleep in the next room. His last words about all those he had murdered ringing in her ears.
And now those words returned, as much as her instincts told her she knew him well enough that he would never do such a thing, she could not take that chance, the man had too much to lose, more to lose than merely losing her. She must try to convince him that Aanya had heard naught, that his secrets were safe, and if she could not convince him, then he would see what a mother would do to protect her child. She loved the man dearly, she cared deeply for him, but there was nobody that she loved more than Branston. She breathed out slowly and picked up her quill and replenished the tip with ink, pausing, she must choose her words carefully for she had listened to Seaver tell her so much about his life and had striven never to judge him and yet here she was about to do just that and probably unfairly. She said her love would never hurt him, but mayhaps that love for her child may. She looked down at the parchment and began to write.
My dearest Seaver,
I write not to cause you further anguish but to perhaps alleviate yours.
I have watched Aanya closely in the wake of yestereve and I am certain that she heard naught that would incriminate you. I know the girl well, she is completely incapable of hiding secrets. I am certain that if she had heard such utterings she would be unable to contain such a secret.
She has acted entirely innocently, I hope that you will trust my judgment, I would never lie to you.
You have naught to fear, but I think that I have, so I am sending Aanya and the children somewhere where they will be safe. There is naught that I would not do to protect them.
I will take your secrets to my grave, but I am not yet ready to go to it, so I beg that on this matter, that you trust my word that you were not overheard.
May your path be a happy one,
Kind Regards,
Neyaa Sunngifu.
She read over her words with some trepidation about sending them. It had to be done, she folded the parchment and slid it into the envelope and sealed it. She wrote his name on the envelope, she trusted nobody but herself to deliver it, nobody must intercept this. She swung her cloak around her, pulled up her hood and let herself out of the door, to make her way to Seavers house...
((OOC – If you got this far without getting bored and wish to see Seaver's letter in response it can be found here))
