More fic
I wasn't going to bother posting this. It's gossip fic, but is neither entertainingly mean nor do many other characters get a mention. This one's for me! :)
Marron looked worriedly at Arden as she walked up the stairs surrounded by the children who were already bickering about what bedtime story she should tell them. She turned to Jess who was folding piles of freshly-laundered clothes with her. "I'm worried about Arden," she said.
"Worried? Whatever for?" Jess asked, sighing as she spotted a tear and set that tunic aside to be mended.
"She's very distracted these days, haven't you noticed?"
"I suppose she is, now that you mention it. She was sitting in the kitchen staring into nothing for half an hour yesterday, letting her tea go cold. I thought she was just tired."
"Well," Marron said, "she is off at the Choma camp as often as she's here, and when she's not, she's studying about rituals or light incantation. I hope she's finding the time to eat and sleep."
"Oh, she was always sensible," Jess said, "I can't see her running herself into the ground, can you?"
Marron raised an eyebrow. "How many nights were we on Fort Hatfield before she slept a night through without waking up to look after the little ones?"
"I suppose," Jess said. She tutted over another ripped tunic. "I don't know what they get up to, I really don't," she muttered, putting it in the mending pile. "If it was another girl her age I know what I'd do," she said thoughtfully. "I'd tell them to go out and have fun and too much to drink and take a day off from worrying. I don't think Arden would take the advice, though," she said.
Marron shook her head. "We all forget how old Arden is," she said. "What most of the girls her age that have left this place need is a break from their children and husbands!"
"I had forgotten," Jess said. "Arden's the same age to the day as Kalla, and she's married four years and expecting her third any day now! Arden always was a bit of an old maid, never chasing the boys around like the others."
"She was always too shy for her own good," Marron said. "I still can't believe how well she's doing, off seeing the world, doing rituals, getting incantation training from the Crown Prince himself! I used to think she'd never get the nerve up to leave the orphanage."
"I must say, off all the children I've seen grow up here, she wasn't one I thought would go so far."
"What I'm glad about," Marron said, lifting a second basket of clean clothes up onto the table, and beginning to sort and fold, "is that she's finally spending time with other young people. I mean, even when she was a child she didn't know what to do with herself among children her own age, spent all her time running after her brother and the younger ones, but now there's that nice Armengarian girl who comes to visit her, and our new High Sherrif, and that girl who's lodging with her."
"Our new High Sher... oh, the green one. Do you really think she's suitable company for Arden?"
"Of course she is! Oh, but you weren't here when Arden introduced her. Ilsa spent hours playing songs and telling stories to the children; she's a lovely girl, never mind what she looks like. Arden said her mother was wolfkin and her father was an ork, so that explains her... unusual looks."
"Oh, well I suppose if you've met her and she seems alright," Jess said, still sounding slightly dubious as she started to pair off socks by approximate size and colour. They worked in silence for a couple of minutes before Jess turned to Marron. "You don't suppose she's met a boy?"
"Who, Arden?" Marron said in surprise.
"Well, a boy would explain why she's had her head in the clouds so much recently," Jess said. "A man, I should say," she corrected herself, remembering Kalla.
"Oh, I don't think so," Marron said. "No, we'd have noticed! You know what young love is like, there would have been some lad's name cropping up twice as much as anyone else's when you talk to her, and there hasn't been."
"No, I suppose you're right. She's not talking about anything but Hadrian Constantine's plans for the Choma these days."
"See? She's definitely working too hard," Marron said, shaking her head.
Marron looked worriedly at Arden as she walked up the stairs surrounded by the children who were already bickering about what bedtime story she should tell them. She turned to Jess who was folding piles of freshly-laundered clothes with her. "I'm worried about Arden," she said.
"Worried? Whatever for?" Jess asked, sighing as she spotted a tear and set that tunic aside to be mended.
"She's very distracted these days, haven't you noticed?"
"I suppose she is, now that you mention it. She was sitting in the kitchen staring into nothing for half an hour yesterday, letting her tea go cold. I thought she was just tired."
"Well," Marron said, "she is off at the Choma camp as often as she's here, and when she's not, she's studying about rituals or light incantation. I hope she's finding the time to eat and sleep."
"Oh, she was always sensible," Jess said, "I can't see her running herself into the ground, can you?"
Marron raised an eyebrow. "How many nights were we on Fort Hatfield before she slept a night through without waking up to look after the little ones?"
"I suppose," Jess said. She tutted over another ripped tunic. "I don't know what they get up to, I really don't," she muttered, putting it in the mending pile. "If it was another girl her age I know what I'd do," she said thoughtfully. "I'd tell them to go out and have fun and too much to drink and take a day off from worrying. I don't think Arden would take the advice, though," she said.
Marron shook her head. "We all forget how old Arden is," she said. "What most of the girls her age that have left this place need is a break from their children and husbands!"
"I had forgotten," Jess said. "Arden's the same age to the day as Kalla, and she's married four years and expecting her third any day now! Arden always was a bit of an old maid, never chasing the boys around like the others."
"She was always too shy for her own good," Marron said. "I still can't believe how well she's doing, off seeing the world, doing rituals, getting incantation training from the Crown Prince himself! I used to think she'd never get the nerve up to leave the orphanage."
"I must say, off all the children I've seen grow up here, she wasn't one I thought would go so far."
"What I'm glad about," Marron said, lifting a second basket of clean clothes up onto the table, and beginning to sort and fold, "is that she's finally spending time with other young people. I mean, even when she was a child she didn't know what to do with herself among children her own age, spent all her time running after her brother and the younger ones, but now there's that nice Armengarian girl who comes to visit her, and our new High Sherrif, and that girl who's lodging with her."
"Our new High Sher... oh, the green one. Do you really think she's suitable company for Arden?"
"Of course she is! Oh, but you weren't here when Arden introduced her. Ilsa spent hours playing songs and telling stories to the children; she's a lovely girl, never mind what she looks like. Arden said her mother was wolfkin and her father was an ork, so that explains her... unusual looks."
"Oh, well I suppose if you've met her and she seems alright," Jess said, still sounding slightly dubious as she started to pair off socks by approximate size and colour. They worked in silence for a couple of minutes before Jess turned to Marron. "You don't suppose she's met a boy?"
"Who, Arden?" Marron said in surprise.
"Well, a boy would explain why she's had her head in the clouds so much recently," Jess said. "A man, I should say," she corrected herself, remembering Kalla.
"Oh, I don't think so," Marron said. "No, we'd have noticed! You know what young love is like, there would have been some lad's name cropping up twice as much as anyone else's when you talk to her, and there hasn't been."
"No, I suppose you're right. She's not talking about anything but Hadrian Constantine's plans for the Choma these days."
"See? She's definitely working too hard," Marron said, shaking her head.