Hi folks, I apologize ahead of time for any rough edges or lame editing errors, I tried. I just needed to get this one out there and out of my head. This one's a little more like ch.3 than ch.4...so yeeeaah, enjoy. I'm fond of it myself.
Questions, comments, vicious lam-basting, all welcome as per usual.
yours,
-enithermon
*
Jairus didn't waited to return. He made it home unscathed, but barely. The first dim shades of morning's grey were already bleeding into the moonless sky, the foreboding menace of first light snaking its way towards him as he moved. It drained him to move as fast as he had, but he needed to know. It could not wait. He needed to know if his fears were true; if Thea was the heir to the Huroth dynasty. He needed to know if he had been sent to kill her.
Naturally he would not. He could not. There were others who might however once, or rather if, he turned them down. He was still trying out figure out how he intended to play this. He sighed as he locked the door behind him and made his way to his room. He paused in front of her door. He could keep her hidden. It wouldn't be too hard. This lair was not easy to find, though he'd grown more careless than normal these last few years. He laid a hand against the cold wood and listened closely. He heard her turn in her sleep and murmur.
He passed on, heavily. And if it was her, did he tell her? Did he tell her that once again she was to be let down by the world in one of the worst possible ways? After her near death at the hands of her own village, and the fear that his own desires had flowered in her heart, did he dare magnify all that with news of a new threat? It was not something he was particularly eager to do.
**
The door to Jairus's room was locked. Thea frowned and tried it again. No, definitely locked. Could he be home already? He'd only been gone one night, it seemed odd that he should return so soon. She stood there a moment, broom in hand and then started sweeping out the hall with a shrug. He'd never said exactly how long he'd be gone. Perhaps his business, whatever that entailed, was concluded early, or he'd changed his mind.
She'd wondered sometimes about what he did. Not long ago Tim returned with a cart load of very fine looking paintings. She was no expert on the stuff, but they seemed to be of such a quality that even the most ignorant farm girl could easily recognize their expense. She'd even been allowed to pick one.
She'd taken a small one, not feeling right taking one of the big impressive ones. It was of a woman laying in a forest. She looked like she was sleeping, stretched out on a bed of flowers and silks, half dressed, like a nymph. But her pallor and the position of her body was suggestive of something more sinister. She found it odd that she was attracted to it. She thought of the vampire behind the door. Who could account for taste?
She shook her head as she swept the bits of dust and dirt down the stairs. She had tried to picture Jairus as an art dealer, but that seemed very unlikely to her. Like her, he wasn't exactly the world's most talkative person. She couldn't imagine him trying to sell anyone anything. What would he do, stare them down until their will broke and the offered him money just to relieve their discomfort.
She smirked. Now that she could picture.
It wasn't long before her chores were done and she joined the rest for dinner. Tim nodded at her in his silent half hearted way and Barin grinned at her in his.
"Did you know Jairus is back?" she asked as May ladled a large helping of rich looking stew into a bowl for her.
The two men looked up from their food.
"No," said Barin "I didn't. Odd that he was so quick." He turned to Tim. "Did he say anything to you 'bout how long he'd be gone?"
"Said a few days. I figured he meant three or four." Barin nodded.
"That's what I thought too." They both looked at her and she felt May pat her shoulder affectionately and give it a squeeze. She squirmed in her seat and stared back.
"What?" She asked, suspicious of the twinkle in the two men's eyes. She was troubled especially by the glint in Tim's. His eyes weren't in the habit of twinkling. May served herself and sat, making a great show of not looking interested in anything but pouring soup. Tim went back to his bowl and Barin gave her a bigger grin and leaned over his food with a chuckle.
"What's the joke?" she asked again when no one answered. Barin only shrugged and kept eating. She looked around at them and waited for an answer, only to give up when she realized that no amount of questioning stares were going to break them of their complicit silence.
Clearly they thought they knew something she didn't. It was highly unnerving. She ate quickly after that, uncomfortable with their amused silence, and left for a bit of a walk while the last of the sun's light still held.
The chill in the air was invigorating, and she was wide awake and alert by the time she returned. It had been a touch too cold however and she decided to fetch a thicker shawl to warm herself with.
Jairus knew Thea had come back from her walk and listened as she made her way up the little winding stairs. He stood next to her bed, the necklace dangling from his hand. He could still leave and go unnoticed. He had to decide now if he would tell her.
He didn't move. He heard her hand on the door. He had to tell her. As much as it grieved him to be the bearer of more bad news it was her right to know.
So he let her catch him standing over the little box by her bed side, staring down at her necklace.
"Jairus?"
He looked up, and watched with a mixture of elation and regret as her face turned from surprise to pleasure. She actually seemed happy to see him. She even shut the door behind her, closing them in together, her nervousness barely a whisper. Why did this always have to go so wrong just when it almost seemed to be working. Her smile faded as he stared back at her without answering.
"What...what are you doing?" Her eyes looked to the necklace he held in his hand. He gently replaced it.
"Thea," he asked after a long pause, "may I ask you a question?"
"Yes... what's wrong?"
"Was this necklace your mothers" he asked gesturing to the box.
"Yes."
"Was her name Maria?" She frowned at him, and answered very slowly.
"Yes, she was. Why are you asking me this?"
"Was your father Huroth?"
"I think so, but I don't know."
"Are you twenty four?" There was another longer pause as she searching his face with her eyes.
"Yes. Please, Jairus, is something wrong?" He sighed.
