(no subject)
Merry was swinging in the backyard porch chair when she heard the car door slam. Which was expected, but not the angry footsteps on the front stairs. She leaped off the swing and pounded through the pantry, meeting Laurel in the hallway.
"That overbearing, pompous, arrogant, meddlesome, haggard old bitch."
"What happened?" Merry hugged her friend.
Laurel's face was sticky with tears, red-eyed and white-lipped with fury. She looked as though she wasn't sure whether to be grief-stricken or enraged. Shock was definitely setting in, though, and she collapsed in one of the overstuffed chairs in the living room. "Dame Veronica evicted me from the house. She's probably on the phone to her lawyers right now getting me stricken from all family records."
Merry sat down heavily on the couch. Not that Laurel and her grandmother weren't always at loggerheads, but this was more extreme than the old woman had ever gotten before. "Orfeo?" It was the only thing Merry could think of that would have set her off. Laurel nodded. "Oh, honey..."
"It's so stupid. It's utterly, completely stupid. It's just fucking class arrogance. Class and school arrogance. It's not like there's any real difference in the first place..."
"She's never liked sorcerers," Merry remembered out loud. "She always distrusted Father."
Laurel nodded. "And she can't stand the fact that other than that, he's pretty much everything she might have wanted me to marry. Except subservient to her wishes." She smiles. "And ... calm. He's not exactly the ..."
"He's like an overgrown teenager." Merry smiles. "And you love that about him."
"Yeah." Just talking about it seemed to calm her, or maybe it was thinking of Orfeo. "Yeah. And I know she'd hate it. Just... she won't even consider it."
Merry shook her head. "I didn't really think she would. She's the one who married you off to that son-of-a-bitch drunk, remember? Did you..."
"I know. I guess... I just hoped she'd ... I don't know." Laurel dug the heels of her palms into her eyes, scrubbing away the tears. "I just wish I could have a normal family, for once. Not even without the magic and the witchcraft and the rest of it, that's fine, just a normal family without a ruling dictator and everyone else breeding according to her laws."
There wasn't much Merry could say to that, and she didn't even try. They'd had such vastly different upbringings; Laurel had a clan, Merry had only her father. Laurel's grandmother had dominated every move she made till she was twenty four, Merry's father was watchful but lenient. For the first few months Laurel had been strongly mistrustful of Sebastian, watching for the catch, waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one who was so damned Victorian could be so relaxed. But after a while ... that was when she had started spending so much time over at the Kane house.
They smiled wryly at each other, having reached the same thoughts at the same second. And then the door banged open, admitting the third member of their little coven.
"That overbearing, pompous, arrogant, meddlesome, haggard old bitch."
"What happened?" Merry hugged her friend.
Laurel's face was sticky with tears, red-eyed and white-lipped with fury. She looked as though she wasn't sure whether to be grief-stricken or enraged. Shock was definitely setting in, though, and she collapsed in one of the overstuffed chairs in the living room. "Dame Veronica evicted me from the house. She's probably on the phone to her lawyers right now getting me stricken from all family records."
Merry sat down heavily on the couch. Not that Laurel and her grandmother weren't always at loggerheads, but this was more extreme than the old woman had ever gotten before. "Orfeo?" It was the only thing Merry could think of that would have set her off. Laurel nodded. "Oh, honey..."
"It's so stupid. It's utterly, completely stupid. It's just fucking class arrogance. Class and school arrogance. It's not like there's any real difference in the first place..."
"She's never liked sorcerers," Merry remembered out loud. "She always distrusted Father."
Laurel nodded. "And she can't stand the fact that other than that, he's pretty much everything she might have wanted me to marry. Except subservient to her wishes." She smiles. "And ... calm. He's not exactly the ..."
"He's like an overgrown teenager." Merry smiles. "And you love that about him."
"Yeah." Just talking about it seemed to calm her, or maybe it was thinking of Orfeo. "Yeah. And I know she'd hate it. Just... she won't even consider it."
Merry shook her head. "I didn't really think she would. She's the one who married you off to that son-of-a-bitch drunk, remember? Did you..."
"I know. I guess... I just hoped she'd ... I don't know." Laurel dug the heels of her palms into her eyes, scrubbing away the tears. "I just wish I could have a normal family, for once. Not even without the magic and the witchcraft and the rest of it, that's fine, just a normal family without a ruling dictator and everyone else breeding according to her laws."
There wasn't much Merry could say to that, and she didn't even try. They'd had such vastly different upbringings; Laurel had a clan, Merry had only her father. Laurel's grandmother had dominated every move she made till she was twenty four, Merry's father was watchful but lenient. For the first few months Laurel had been strongly mistrustful of Sebastian, watching for the catch, waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one who was so damned Victorian could be so relaxed. But after a while ... that was when she had started spending so much time over at the Kane house.
They smiled wryly at each other, having reached the same thoughts at the same second. And then the door banged open, admitting the third member of their little coven.