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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 21:27:37 GMT -5
Merrek was excited that Sulia would be returning home soon. He had missed his wife, and while he had been careful not to allow it to affect how he ran the hold or his public demeanor, the fact of the matter was that some people had noticed that he was every so slightly "off." Part of that was that he more than missed his wife. He was also concerned about her. From what he remembered from meeting her family, and what she herself had told them about him, he was very concerned about her spending time with them without him. But she would be returning home soon, and he would soothe any hurts that they had caused her.
He had come out to the courtyard to greet her when she arrived. He was dressed in such a way as to make sure that she knew that he was eager to see her, in some of his finest clothing, appropriate for meeting his Lady. His pants were a fine material, not as tight as he wore when he was younger as he was a bit older than he used to be, but they still looked quite nice on him. The silk shirt and jacket were also very dashing on him, and he'd take time to see to his hair. Though he full intended to sweep his wife off her feet - maybe not literally, take her to their room, and show her just how much he had missed her.
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 10, 2008 22:10:28 GMT -5
Sulia was enchanted with the Bluerider, and his dragon who'd picked her up. While she wasn't dressed in her best(She hadn't even bothered to bring her best), she felt like the young man liked her too. While she wouldn't initiate a relationship with a Bluerider(or a dragonrider in general, as much as she would like too), it was a soothing balm after several sevendays with her family.
A delicate shudder ran through Sulia's body. It had been, of course, horrible, and she was very excited to be back. Even Ariashi couldn't make Fort less appealing than the fish hold of Nerat. Bevefeth touched down lightly on the Fort Courtyard, and Z'brevi leaped off to give her a hand down. Standing in Fort, looking slightly bedraggled, Sulia smiled, and wished she would never need to leave. And she wouldn't. Not for a long time. She hardly noticed Z'brevi bow, and leave, his blue's wings darkening the sky.
All she saw was Merrek, who'd been waiting for her, dressed ever so fine. She ran to him, and didn't bother to follow any of the proper forms of address.
"I've missed you so much." She murmured, snuggling up against her husband. There was little doubt in her mind that she was probably going to make Merrek ashamed of her, what with herself close to tears, and probably smelling heavily of fish, with her hair, improperly bound up, and falling down. Her dress had been worn several times before, and the green still had smudges of dirt on it, but Sulia didn't care. She was away from Nerat at last, and never, ever going back.
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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 22:17:20 GMT -5
Merrek made sure that the bluerider was tipped nicely before he left, but his eyes were only for the beautiful woman who had dismounted the dragon. It made him smile when she ran to him and the way she clung to him. "I missed you too, my love. I'm very glad to have you home."
For the moment being, Merrek was not remotely concerned with appearances. He had missed her, and he knew how hard the time most of have been for her. He held her closely to him, and it was only a moment before he lifted her chin and kissed her deeply. "Don't worry. Whatever they did or said, you're home. This is where you belong. And I'm not letting you leave again anytime soon."
"I love you." He murmured, still holding her close. "Let's get you inside." Not out of shame, but because he wanted to get her to their room.
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 10, 2008 22:35:09 GMT -5
Home. It was, she supposed. She certainly liked it better than Nerat, and company was much better. Merrek was there, and he, well, he loved her. And didn't mind any of her faults. Not like her mother, and her sisters. He was nothing like that. Shards, even Alsea wasn't as bad. She bit her lip, and snuggled in even closer to Merrek.
"Can we?" Sulia said quietly. "Go inside. Away, away from everyone? I can't handle any of this." It galled her that she would be experiencing this weakness. Merrek was never weak, Nebarcus was never weak, none of the people around her were ever weak. Just her.
Or they never allowed her to see their weakness. And it bothered her. She didn't want to be weak.
"You know." Sulia said as they walked. "They tried to convince me to bring back a cousin or too. I didn't like it. They treated me like a child again." And her hands hurt. Badly. She hadn't been used manuel labor, not anymore. Gutting fish. Her nose wrinkled in the remembered smell. She was never going to Nerat again.
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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 22:41:10 GMT -5
"Yes, darling, of course we can." He began to lead her into the Hold. Everyone could think what they wanted. If they were smart, they would realize that this was what happened when two people who loved each other had been separated and were rejoined.
As he walked with her, he held her around her waist as tight as he could and still walk. "You don't ever have to visit them again, Sulia. You're home. And you're safe here. And what I plan on doing with you and for you tonight will definitely not make you feel like a child."
He did look at her slightly askance. "Why would bring cousins with you?"
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 10, 2008 22:56:09 GMT -5
"Because it's my duty to the family to ensure them a good future at Fort." Sulia said dryly, looking slightly more herself. "And probably because Rena wants to spy on me." A trace of bitterness, and a toss of paranoia. Not that she was probably far off. The oldest sister of hers was not a nice woman, and would have liked the power to bring the Lady of Fort down.
"They want to use me." She further clarified, speeding up slightly as she recognized the door to hers and Merrek's apartments. "And you have no idea how much the idea of you and me doing things that children don't do is making me feel better about this day." Weeks without sexual contact were another thing that Sulia never wanted to revisit. Nerat failed in almost ever respect.
"Can I send Alsea to torture them?" She asked, once they were inside their rooms. "I think she could take Rena in a fair fight." The smile on her face was very bright, and didn't bode well for that sister of hers. "And I know that Alsea would hate Rena more than she hates me. At least I don't get off on making people hate themselves. At least I don't spot flaws a mile away, and then never stop talking about them."
She moved away from Merrek, moving to her things, and finding a soothing lotion for her hands, wasting no time in applying some. She wanted the hands of a lady again, not the hands of a labourer.
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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 23:03:00 GMT -5
Merrek shook his head. He believed deeply in one's duty to one's family, but in the case of Sulia, he did not think that she owed her family anything at all. "Darling, you have no duty whatsoever to them anymore." He kissed her softly and then reluctantly let her go as she went to lotion her hands.
Something about that made him frown. He moved over and took her hands, his frown deepening as he saw what he saw. "They made you work? You went to visit, and they made you, the Lady of Fort Hold work?" He took over gently working the lotion into her hands. He was not upset that her beautiful hands were calloused, but the idea that when she went to visit family they would put her to work angered him, and he wanted to show her some extra tenderness to try to make up for it.
"I think I'd rather Alsea was not influenced by these people at all." His eyes flashed anger, not at his wife, but at her family, but he forced it back to focus on her. "And yes, darling, I plan on spoiling you tonight and tomorrow. I've cleared my schedule so we can have the whole day together."
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 10, 2008 23:19:14 GMT -5
"Of all of them, Etaben is the only one who isn't rotten at the core." Sulia said, smiling softly as Merrek lotioned her hands, smelling the light perfume of flowers rise from it. "And his father would never allow him to visit. The rest might not be bad, but Rena's got them all under her thumb." A laugh tore itself from her throat. "Yet, she's not the one inheriting the Hold. A pity really. She'd probably get the Hold to run tiptop."
Sulia leaned forward, and smelled her own hands. Flowers. They smelled no longer of fish. It was such a pleasure not to smell fish anymore. "And of course I worked. There, I'm just another mouth to feed." Her eyes flashed. "And I'm good at it. I've always been good at working." It was a good thing Merrek wasn't much taller than her. Sulia decided. Or she would have been able to simply lean towards him, tilt her chin, and managed to kiss him. It was a few minutes before she leaned back away, as well. Kissing her husband was a favorite pastime.
"Alsea could inspire fear in the hearts of anyone." Her voice was matter of fact. "But if you'd rather she didn't go there, I won't complain. And does this spoiling include a bath? I keep smelling fish."
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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 23:29:51 GMT -5
Merrek laughed warmly at the request about the bath. "My poor darling. Though you are torturing your husband who has greatly missed you and wants nothing more than to make love to you; yes, take your bath." He enjoyed the kiss greatly, and nuzzled against her hair when she leaned away. "You are much more than just a mouth to feed, dear. You are an incredible, beautiful woman, and they are all fools for not realizing that."
"And I do not believe my gentle Alsea is as bad as you make her out to be. Though she will make a wonderful Lady Holder when her time comes." She did have a backbone, that was for sure.
"Come, lets get that bath drawn up for you and you rid of these fishy clothing."
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 10, 2008 23:40:00 GMT -5
"Well, Darling," Sulia began coyly. "You could share my bath you know. I'll need help. I've got at least a sevendays worth of dirt saved up for you. Fish oils too." She added as an afterthought.
"And trust me, everything is better if you wait." Her brown eyes roamed up and down Merrek's body, a smile, no longer soft or coy building on her face. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Most definitely. And with the way he was sweet talking her, she wasn't going to stop being fond for some time.
She made no comment on Alsea. Honestly, she wouldn't have brought the child up, if she hadn't been mentally comparing Alsea and Rena every five minutes. The child wasn't all that bad, she'd decided, but the two of them would probably never be close friends.
"And you have all day." The green dress, easy to put on and take off by one person was slipped off, pooling on the ground, as Sulia walked out of it, heading toward the bathing chamber.
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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 23:45:08 GMT -5
"Haven't we waited long enough, my love?" Though he would not deny her her bath at all, and at the invitation to share it with him, he was more than glad to accept it. He had been raised that a man never invites himself into a woman's bath.
When she disrobed, his eyes drunk her in appreciatively. She was surely lovely, and he sometimes wondered how he was lucky enough to have her. As he followed her, his own garments found themselves forming a trail to the bathing room. And when he was quite naked, he moved a bit quicker, catching her by the waist again.
"I do indeed, my dear. We do."
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 10, 2008 23:55:01 GMT -5
Kissing Merrek's neck softly, Sulia surrendered herself to his hold. This was, by far, the best homecoming she'd ever received. Even hours of her and Yonne gossiping, comparing, and being the best of friends wasn't as good as this. Though her mind shied away from it, she couldn't think of a lover who'd offered her a better homecoming.
Disentangling herself from Merrek, Sulia moved onto the bath, smiling in joy over the connivence of not having to wait an hour or more to have enough water warmed for a bath. She opened the sluice, and waited until the bath was full, pouring in some of the precious smelling salts that Merrek had given her. Turning off the hot water, she slipped into the bath, eyes closing with sheer joy. Her eyes opened again, and looked at Merrek's naked form imperiously.
"In you get." She said seriously. "I've got some work for you hands." The pouch containing sweet sand was pulled towards herself, and she started scrubbing, unable to wait for Merrek now that cleanliness was so close to her.
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Post by kayla on Apr 10, 2008 23:59:01 GMT -5
Merrek chuckled and followed his wife into the bath as she said "in you get." "Yes, ma'am." His eyes were twinkling, and as soon as he was settled in behind her, he took the sweet sand from her and began to wash her, making sure to clean her thoroughly, but also to caress and touch her as he did so.
Once had her neck and shoulder washed, he occassionally rained kisses down upon them as he washed her. "You're never going there again, at least not without me. And they would not dare treat a Lord and his Lady like this ever again."
He nuzzled momentarily into her hair, "But enough of that. Let that horrible experience wash away from you."
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Post by thedreamerlady on Apr 11, 2008 0:22:50 GMT -5
"I don't know Merrek." Sulia said slowly. "I have a feeling Rena wouldn't allow you to get away without working either." The look she shot Merrek was laced with humor, however, and while she was serious, it didn't bother her anymore. Not now that she was growing cleaner, and smelling of something other than fish!
There were soft noises she made when Merrek kissed her, but as much she might want to melt into her husbands embrace, it would have to wait. Her feet she attacked with sweet sand, and her legs, her stomach, her chest, her arms. Sulia's entire body would be clean, even if it killed her. Her eyebrows were furrowed with determination, and her entire mind was into being clean.
"Tell me what's happened while I was gone." She commanded, taking advantage of the fact that she was allowed to be commanding here. Being regulated to being a child in most matters had driven her to want to be commanding once more. Also, Merrek was distracting her from being clean. His mouth needed to be occupied with something other than kissing her. Telling her stories would suffice for now.
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Post by kayla on Apr 30, 2008 21:16:57 GMT -5
Merrek resisted groaning when his wife pulled away from his kiss to attack her feet. However, there had been times that he had felt dirty enough to want nothing until he was clean, and she had been gutting fish for far too long. A reality that made him quite angry, actually. Her family had no right to treat her like a drudge, and as far as he was concerned, she would never be allowed to go back there.
So, instead, he scrubbed her back, careful not to scrub hard enough to hurt her, but working hard on getting her clean. As he did, he told her what all she had missed in the time he was gone. Telling her how the exploits of his younger children, and what of the court gossip that he knew. While it was not something that he usually paid much attention to - just enough to make sure that there were no dangerous rumors that needed to be squashed as he had had to when there had been a grossly wrong rumor that he beat his beloved Sulia. Of course he'd been most hurt that she had believed that he would. He stopped his mind from going down that path as he focused on how much she cared about the gossip and the goings on of those who thought themselves above work.
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