The Company of a Wife and Mother

Writers: Avery, Chelle
Date Posted: 27th October 2014

Characters: Parale, Syren, Venrys, Zelah
Description: Xeladrie meets Parale and her children.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 9, day 12 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Ioven, Bryvin, Danrina, Parme

Zelah

If she was going to survive here at Sunstone Seahold, and handle being
married to - that man - she was going to need allies. People who felt
sorry for her, who liked her. Other women would be a good choice for
that. So she made some inquiries, and decided on meeting Parale early
on. A kind sympathetic ear would be useful to have.

So she wandered through the halls to where she was pretty sure the
right room was, and knocked on the door.

A small girl-child answered the door. Syren's face lit up when she found
the new Lady Holder on their doorstep. "Hello Lady!" She did a quick curtsy
which was about all she could manage before she opened the door wide.
Forgetting the manners she had just shown, she yelled, "Parale, the Lady
is here!"

Not knowing she heard right, Parale headed in quickly from where she had
put the baby down to sleep. Parys was just turning nine months and her
daughter was growing quickly. She was also crawling which made her life
difficult. At least there was Venrys to watch her. "Oh dear, Lady Xeladrie,
please come in."

"Hello dear," Xeladrie told the girl with a smile. She didn't mind
children, fortunate for someone whose sole job was to make more of them.

"Greetings. Am I interrupting?" she asked when the older woman came out.

"Oh no..just trying to get together dinner before my husband comes home."
Parale had winced inwardly at Syren's yelling. They were going to have to
talk about that but the young girl still got so excited. "Unfortunately, the
rain
has kept them inside for the day so..it's been hard." That meant the girls
were out
of ideas to keep themselves occupied.

Xeladrie followed Parale, looking around to see what the other woman
looked like. "I always liked being inside, but I had siblings who hated
it," she confessed. "Is dinner soon, am I being a bother?"

"Oh no." **Why on Pern is the Lady Holder in my quarters?** Shooing Syren
off to do something constructive, like pick up her drawings from the rug,
Parale shut the door behind them and led Xeladrie the rest of the way
inside. "Well
my Lady..Syren you have met. The crawling one there is Parys and Venrys is
very
nicely helping to sew her some new diapercloths." Her tone tinged with pride
at
her little brood of females. "And I am Parale, of course. My husband, Ioven,
is one of the smiths here at the Hold."

"He works in the ceramics," Venrys supplied easily, thinking it sounded
important.

"It's good to meet you all. I'm trying to get to know people since
I've just moved here," Xeladrie explained.

"What kind of ceramics?" Xeladrie asked Venrys.

Only too happy to explain, Venrys took on her teacher tone. "Well they use
the kiln to fire pottery that we need for plates, jars, vases, or even for
paving stones. Right now, though, he's helping with plans for a generator to
bring
electricity here."

Parale smiled, thinking of how they had met. "We had one at Garnet Valley.
That's how I met him, when he was studying it."

"I know a little about pottery," Xeladrie offered, realizing she had
something in common with the girl. "My father let his daughters learn
about it. I have bowls I made myself."

Syren was the one interrupting then. "I draw sometimes. You wanna see my
pictures Lady?" Her eyes were eager and her manners all but forgotten as she
tried to take the attention away from her older sister. "You have a sister
too?"

"I would enjoy that." Xeladrie gave Syren a smile as well, then looked up
at Parale to make sure it was alright.

Not sure what the correct protocol was in this situation, Parale watched
curiously as Syren led Xeladrie to the pictures she was supposed to clear
from the rug. Thrusting several into her hands, the little girl was quite
proud.

Xeladrie looked over them. "When did you start drawing?" she asked.

"Oh when I was only three turns. It was more like coloring then though."
She smiled, eager to be praised and by the Lady Holder no less.

Venrys, on the other hand, understood what a rare visit this was, and
was curious to know why it was happening. She hadn't missed the surprise
on Parale's face either.

"Well, it seems like you're enjoying it, so that's good."

Xeladrie smiled again at the kids, then looked up at Parale again. "You
said you'd been at Garnet Valley with electricity? Do you miss it?"

"Sure, but not really because of the electric though it is a boon. I miss my
mother and cousins. I miss the seasons and the mountains. Our Hold is in
the rock itself. This...it's hard being in this when thread comes." Indeed,
Parale had almost clawed Ioven the first few times in her efforts to get
somewhere else.

"Oh, I see. Are you getting more used to it now, though? I'd love to see
the snow and mountains."

"I've adjusted somewhat yes, but I think I'll always prefer Garnet Valley to
this." She had agreed to come here, though. Maybe someday if Ioven chose
to work for his Mastery, they could go back to the smithhall and she could
go home. "This is all the girls have known, though."

"You think they'd miss it?"

"I do. They have friends here, though they have moved quite a few times in
their short lives. Parys was born here." Due to Ioven's job, it wasn't
likely they would move for some time and she had agreed to come here, after
all. Besides, she had made friends as well. Parme was a good woman. She
wished Danrina well.

She gave a smile. "Well then hopefully you'll remain for quite a long
time, for their sake and your own. It's good to call a single place your
own for some time."

"I suppose it is. I'm still getting used to the idea of having a family.
See...Venrys and Syren...their mother died. I'm their stepmother." Of
course Parale had decided they were hers, but some people didn't understand
that.

"Oh, I - I didn't know," Xeladrie said softly. "But you love them very
much and they seem to be happy with you."

"Mmm they are mine now, for good or ill. And perhaps they will have other
brothers and sisters besides Parys in the future. What about you, Lady? Has
your time here been fair since settling in?" She knew how hard it could be
coming to a new place, especially Sunstone. Parale had been strange to these
people. At least Xeladrie had her rank as protection.

Xeladrie blinked for a moment, letting herself take a moment to frame an
answer. "I think it's well so far. It's a little unsettling to miss those
I know, but I'll adapt."

"Well if you want to stay and watch the girls...you can have dinner with us.
If there was nothing else you needed to be doing?" Parale knew she didn't
have much to offer but it was the mannerly thing to do and the young woman
did look a bit lost. It wasn't the first time one of those had landed at her
door, Lady Holder or not.

Last updated on the November 13th 2014

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The Company of a Wife and Mother