Goat Ewe (January 3010) - [Ceolmund]
Oct 20, 2017 22:26:59 GMT -5
Post by Runa on Oct 20, 2017 22:26:59 GMT -5
“I need help with the thatching near the chimney. I think it was knocked asunder when they were putting out the fire. Runa said she would do it... but... she has been out in the cold so much today already. And she punched a hole through the window and cut her hand....”
“Thatching a roof is easy enough work for me,” he began with. Amalric studied the young man’s face as he spoke, heard the reluctance with which he mentioned the places where Amalric could be useful. His eyes followed the man’s motions, and he studied the fold of Ceolmund’s brow as he looked to the bedroom door. “Broke a window, hm?” The man could see the pain, the disappointment, the loathing. He chanced a glance to the covered window before turning back. He sighed, and set a large, meaty hand on Ceolmund’s shoulder.
“Ceolmund, a man should never feel guilty about asking for help when he needs it. And don’t you remember what I used to tell you when you were a lad? I’m here for you now, too.” He smiled, his bearish face almost soft. “I’ll start with the roof.” With long strides, the man set out to find the things he needed, and it was around the time Inga returned with the mead for Sunnifa.
--
Inside the bedroom, Hildred was helping her daughter strip, grabbing the muddy clothes, and setting them aside, and using the cloth to hurriedly wipe her down. Whatever conversations were going on in the sitting room were little more than a gentle murmur, and Hildred had been busy commenting on the array of weaponry hanged on Ceolmund’s wall for Runa to even bother to listen. It was not until Sunnifa raised her voice that either of the women paused to listen.
“What in Bema's name would keep you from pressing charges?!”
That had made Runa frown. Ceolmund had not let the guards take that woman? After all she had done? She exchanged a look with her mother, and Hildred paced quietly for the door, pressing her ear against it.
Runa had seen that look on her mother’s face before; it was the one she wore whenever she was concerned for her children. She wore it for Beorhtric rode off with the Eored, and recently she had it again when Runa had come to work crying not but two days past. Runa hurriedly padded to join her.
“She said she loved me. I could not do it. She has not said it in... years... I do not remember.”
Hildred’s face contorted, and she brought a hand to cover her mouth. Runa felt her heart turn to lead and plummet into her stomach. What did he mean, Elin had not said she loved him in years? The woman had the most amazing son in Edoras, one that nothing was ever good enough for, one who she followed like shadow or tracking hound, causing scenes. Runa had always known the woman was not the best mother; she had seen the woman’s overreactions and inane tantrums since she was twelve. But she had always thought the woman had done those things because she loved Ceolmund. That she simply was terrible at showing it.
But this…
Her eyes were stinging, and her mother slipped her hand into hers. They exchanged looks and silently agreed. They needed to hurry. For a while there was silence out in the sitting room, and Runa and Hildred worked to get the mud from her skin, and combed out of her hair.
“Love? And you believed her? Mother does not love you Ceol... she doesn't love me. She doesn't love Father, or my boys. Love is false. It isn't real. You cannot trust it. Don't ever believe it... the word does not mean a thing. You should have had her locked up.”
Runa and Hildred both looked to the door, mouth agape. Runa snatched the blue underdress that her mother had brought and slipped it onto her shoulders before running for Ceolmund’s weapons display and picking a dagger from the wall. There were children in this house, and she did not want them hearing such lies no more than she wanted her husband to.
She flung open the door; mud was still in her unkempt locks, and she emerged, immediately eyeing the faces of Ceolmund and his sister. “Leik, Deoric,” she said as evenly and warmly as she could. “Have you trained with Ceolmund?” She twirled the dagger in her hand, testing the balance of the blade. “I think Inga will be missed at the Hall by now, and there are two other girls here that deserve a break. If I give you this, can you take them safely to their home, and Inga to the House?”
“Thatching a roof is easy enough work for me,” he began with. Amalric studied the young man’s face as he spoke, heard the reluctance with which he mentioned the places where Amalric could be useful. His eyes followed the man’s motions, and he studied the fold of Ceolmund’s brow as he looked to the bedroom door. “Broke a window, hm?” The man could see the pain, the disappointment, the loathing. He chanced a glance to the covered window before turning back. He sighed, and set a large, meaty hand on Ceolmund’s shoulder.
“Ceolmund, a man should never feel guilty about asking for help when he needs it. And don’t you remember what I used to tell you when you were a lad? I’m here for you now, too.” He smiled, his bearish face almost soft. “I’ll start with the roof.” With long strides, the man set out to find the things he needed, and it was around the time Inga returned with the mead for Sunnifa.
--
Inside the bedroom, Hildred was helping her daughter strip, grabbing the muddy clothes, and setting them aside, and using the cloth to hurriedly wipe her down. Whatever conversations were going on in the sitting room were little more than a gentle murmur, and Hildred had been busy commenting on the array of weaponry hanged on Ceolmund’s wall for Runa to even bother to listen. It was not until Sunnifa raised her voice that either of the women paused to listen.
“What in Bema's name would keep you from pressing charges?!”
That had made Runa frown. Ceolmund had not let the guards take that woman? After all she had done? She exchanged a look with her mother, and Hildred paced quietly for the door, pressing her ear against it.
Runa had seen that look on her mother’s face before; it was the one she wore whenever she was concerned for her children. She wore it for Beorhtric rode off with the Eored, and recently she had it again when Runa had come to work crying not but two days past. Runa hurriedly padded to join her.
“She said she loved me. I could not do it. She has not said it in... years... I do not remember.”
Hildred’s face contorted, and she brought a hand to cover her mouth. Runa felt her heart turn to lead and plummet into her stomach. What did he mean, Elin had not said she loved him in years? The woman had the most amazing son in Edoras, one that nothing was ever good enough for, one who she followed like shadow or tracking hound, causing scenes. Runa had always known the woman was not the best mother; she had seen the woman’s overreactions and inane tantrums since she was twelve. But she had always thought the woman had done those things because she loved Ceolmund. That she simply was terrible at showing it.
But this…
Her eyes were stinging, and her mother slipped her hand into hers. They exchanged looks and silently agreed. They needed to hurry. For a while there was silence out in the sitting room, and Runa and Hildred worked to get the mud from her skin, and combed out of her hair.
“Love? And you believed her? Mother does not love you Ceol... she doesn't love me. She doesn't love Father, or my boys. Love is false. It isn't real. You cannot trust it. Don't ever believe it... the word does not mean a thing. You should have had her locked up.”
Runa and Hildred both looked to the door, mouth agape. Runa snatched the blue underdress that her mother had brought and slipped it onto her shoulders before running for Ceolmund’s weapons display and picking a dagger from the wall. There were children in this house, and she did not want them hearing such lies no more than she wanted her husband to.
She flung open the door; mud was still in her unkempt locks, and she emerged, immediately eyeing the faces of Ceolmund and his sister. “Leik, Deoric,” she said as evenly and warmly as she could. “Have you trained with Ceolmund?” She twirled the dagger in her hand, testing the balance of the blade. “I think Inga will be missed at the Hall by now, and there are two other girls here that deserve a break. If I give you this, can you take them safely to their home, and Inga to the House?”