Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 9th April 2019
Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife

Characters: Enamra, Thayde, Hista
Description: Thayde tries to be a gentleman, but he's in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 10, day 19 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Jylanya

Enamra

Thayde

********

Thayde's arms were full as he arrived at Enamra's quarters. This time
he'd brought not only supplies for Enamra, but he'd brought a few
puzzles and things that he thought her younger siblings might enjoy as
well. He knew that she didn't have a lot of money to buy them things,
and they were living off of Hall charity, with Enamra still working as
a drudge.

"Enamra?" he poked his head into the room since the door was left open
as per their arrangement for his coming to her quarters to give
lessons. Hearing no answer in return, Thayde stepped in and peeked
around before setting his things on the table. His eyes caught on
Enamra finally, seeing her where she lay on her bed, which was tucked
in a corner of the room, Thayde crept over. "Enamra?" he said again
softly. His eyes caught on the sight of her bare legs, he'd seen them
before when they'd been swimming, but the way her skirts were hiked up
to reveal them made his brow break out in sweat.

The Master Dolphineer glanced at the door, knowing that if anyone
walked by they might see her lying there like that and get the wrong
idea. "Shells," he muttered, hurrying over to the door and closing it.
He then crept back over to where Enamra lay and gently, slowly pulled
her skirts back down to cover her legs. **Whew, there we go.**

That lazy, indulged pet of Jylanya's had slipped off of doing the
scrubbing for the last time, Hista thought, fuming. It wasn't fair
that the new girl had her own quarters or that she was receiving
personal instruction from Thayde, the Master Dolphineer. She had been
trying for nearly a turn to get him to look at _her_ but the instant
that stupid little whiny slut popped out her bastard, he didn't even
glance her way. It wasn't fair!

Stomping to the back room where Jylanya had hidden her away, Hista
glared at the door, lifted her chin and without knocking, burst
through. "Now you listen you dumb slu..." Her words trailed off as she
saw the man that she had just been thinking about bending over Enamra
in bed. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock. In bed!
So _that_ was what was going on!

The moment the door popped open and she heard the familiar, dreaded
voice, Enamra woke and was immediately confused by the man standing
over her and the sight of Hista past him. "Wha..."

Cheeks red with anger and embarrassment, Hista's eyes narrowed with
sudden malicious intent. Determined, she thrust her nose up in the air
and turned on her heel to stride purposefully out of the small living
area. She would tell Jylanya what she saw, she decided, but not before letting
everyone in the drudge's hall know too. Her smile
suddenly widened as she altered the story just enough in her mind to
make it worse for the telling to the other drudges. Enamra of course
had been naked and Thayde between those skinny legs of hers. Enamra
wouldn't be allowed to show her face in the Hall again!

Thayde was frozen in place, having jumped back when the door opened as
if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, when in reality,
the scene Hista stumbled upon had been completely innocent. Surely no
one would believe her? he thought. From what he'd seen of Hista around
the Hall, she wasn't pleasant and she bullied the other drudges. He
had a respectable reputation and no reason to doubt that people would
think the worst of him- that he was sleeping with a _child_.

"I'm sorry, Enamra. I was just going to cover your legs and leave so
you could keep on napping." Thayde tried to explain.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to gather her wits. "I'm sorry, Master
Thayde. I was just so tired." Her cheeks reddened at what he had done
and she firmly tucked her skirts under her legs as she sat up. "The
girls are with Mornem's foster mother; they wanted to spend the night
with him. I was just going to lay down for a little bit." She yawned
and rubbed the heel of her hands over her eyes again.
"What did Hista want? I did all my chores already."

"I'm not sure what she wanted, " Thayde admitted, leaving off that he
felt certain Hista had been on the verge of calling Enamra a slut.
Perhaps some day Hista would be put in her place, he thought. It
annoyed him to think that someone like that was giving Enamra such a
hard time when life had been nothing but hard for Enamra and her
siblings.

"She's been mad at me ever since Jylanya let me have this room. She
threatened to cut my hair off in my sleep." Enamra spoke tiredly, but
seemed as though she had gotten used to the older girl's constant
threats. "She was probably wanting me to scrub the floors again, but
Jylanya said that I was only supposed to do that once a week and the
others girls had to take turns to. It must be Hista's day to do it."
She rose and padded her way to the small table on bare feet, still
yawning. "Will we be writing again today?"

Thayde's brow furrowed. Threatened to cut her hair? Did Jylanya know
the sort of things that Hista was saying? He made a mental note to
speak with the Headwoman about it. "We're going to play a memory game
today. One side of the card a picture," he showed her as he settled at
the table with her, "and on the other the word that represents the
picture."

"Okay." She took a breath, wanting to do well, but fearing that once
again, she wouldn't get the words right. It was frustrating and she
didn't know how Master Thayde had the patience for her.

Last updated on the April 12th 2019

Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife [Next: The Fragility of a Reputation]

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Wrong Place, Wrong Time