Punishment To Fit The Crime(Merreck)

[thedreamerlady]

More than anything, Sulia hated waiting. Instant gratification was too slow, and being forced to wait for what had to have been more than an hour was torture. The most had been made out of the time- a more proper bath had been accomplished, and her maid had been summoned to brush her hair, and tie it into a single thick braid that fell down her back(to both hers and the maid's horror, several twigs and a few leaves had been discovered to still be in her hair), as well as finding the best dressing gown for tonight.

It had been a gift from a rather prudish Holder Lady, and it was white, with buttons that were nearly impossible for her nimble-fingered maid to button(and unbutton for that matter), and thus, impossible for any male to take off. It reached the floor, and stiff enough that it might as well have had a corset in it. It was not the most comfortable thing she owned- but Sulia could fall asleep in nearly anything, if she was tired enough, and thus, this was fine for her.

But still, that had only taken a half of an hour, and then she tried multiple things to keep busy. She'd tried going straight to bed- but this was the hour she was usually most active, and the Lady had soon moved from the bed, leaving it rumpled. She tried stitching, but it was too dark. And finally, moving once more, she'd settled for siting at the window, staring off into the night, lost in thought.

[kayla]

He entered the room and closed the door behind him. Merrek then locked the door. While it was unheard of for servants to enter without knocking, especially the Lord and Lady's bedroom, he would not take that chance this evening. He did not speak a word at first or even acknowledge her presence. He changed out of his clothing and into his night clothes.

"You did not have to done such a forbidding gown, Sulia. I have no desire to touch you tonight." The words were cold, but true.

"I will give you one chance to tell me the truth. Who were you with this afternoon? What did you do? And Do. Not. Lie. To. Me."

Never once did he raise his voice. However, she may very well find this more frightening than yelling. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall, watching her.

[thedreamerlady]

When Merrek entered, Sulia didn't stir, fascinated by the stars, and still angry at him. She wasn't about to start crawling back to him- not in the slightest. He started talking, and Sulia decided she would at least make an effort to act like the stiff, formal Lady Holders that the girl had been told of when she was little.

Turning to face him, perfectly composed, Sulia listened through his tirade, and raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow when he told her not to lie. Why would she lie about who she had been out riding with? Any stablehand could, and would, betray her if even thought about it(which she hadn't). Crossing her legs demurely at the ankle, she responded in the adult voice she very rarely used.

"I was out riding with a stablehand north of here. In the woods." She added, so that he would have some more reference points. "I was riding a horse called Palina." Shoulders were shrugged slightly. "What else do you want to know?"

[kayla]

"I want a name, Sulia. And don't you dare act like you are innocent. I really would warn you against angering me further. Who were you with and what did you do with him?" Merrek's patience was very thin right now, and Sulia would, by the end of the evening know that she had no right to be angry at him - he was showing admirable restraint.

He gestured at the gown, "Is this supposed to convince me that you are a chaste woman, Sulia? If so, its a little late. Perhaps you should have thought about what your appearance communicates before you came to dinner with twigs still in your hair."

The look he gave her was one of pure anger. He would not allow himself to feel the pain of betrayal at the moment. "Now. Tell me what you and the stable hand did in the forest to the north did to get twigs in your hair."

He raised his hand before she could speak, "I warn you, Sulia. Any more dissembling, anything to make me angrier will only make things worse for yourself."

[thedreamerlady]

"Jaizen." Replied Sulia in confusion- and then when Merrek made his comment about her dress, everything clicked.

"Are you accusing me of being unfaithful to you with a Stablehand?" Sulia was standing suddenly, her fists clenched, and her eyes narrowed, and her voice shrill and angry. One did not lightly threaten a ranking Lady's honor, even if one was the Lady's husband. Especially not a Lady who was well liked by her court, and headstrong enough to leave over such an insult.

"As I told you before, we were riding, and as you would know if you spent more time with me, I always end up with twigs in my hair after riding." Again, the truth. And how dare he, with no proof, accuse her of something along those lines? Were a few twigs suddenly grounds for a beating?

"What, in the name of the first egg, do you think I was doing?" Her look, if she had ever used it before, would have sent her lovers scurrying. Her husband, Sulia knew, was made of sterner stuff, and yet- the look he was giving her had yet to frighten her. Everything she said would probably be regretted in the morning- but for now, she was too angry to think straight.

"Is the truth making you angry?" Sulia gripped sarcastically. "And what will you do when you're angry- beat me?"

[kayla]

"Beat you? No, Sulia, I'm going to do something far worse than beat you. I'm going to start taking away the privileges that you are so very fond of. And do not play high and mighty with me. I need no evidence when your own words speak against you."

Sulia's expression had no affect on him whatsoever. "Let's assume, for the moment, that you really are telling the truth, shall we? At the very least, Sulia, you have admitted to having gone out alone with a man and no one to chaperone you."

He began pacing, "But why should a Lady of a Major Hold need a chaperone to go riding with a man who is not her husband? If for no other reason than to protect her reputation. You have told me how vicious your ladies can be and are. And yet you go riding alone with a man - a stablehand - without anyone to chaperone you. And then you get mad when you are accused of indiscretion after your shameful appearance at Dinner?"

"And you seem to have completely forgotten that Aeria was your primary duty today. You 'talked' to her you said. Not good enough, and you know that full well."

He shook his head, "I might have been more lenient had you expressed any remorse, Sulia. However, your complete lack of respect will instead add to your punishment. You will have a chaperone with you at all times, unless you are with me. I will be talking to the Headwoman, and you are going to begin truly taking on the responsibilities of a Lady of a Hold. You will no longer be indulged, Sulia."

[thedreamerlady]

Sulia stared at him in horror. A chaperone at all times- like she was some foolish, moonstruck girl who couldn't be trusted not to fall under the sway of of her suitors. All because she'd taken protection along with her while going out riding, and she hadn't even done anything! Sulia took a step backwards- away from Merrek.

It was impossible to believe that he was going to do this to her. What kind of mad power trip was he on?

"You don't trust me." Sulia stated after a few moments of thought. "You're doing this to me because you honestly think that I would, that I would." Her voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes, taking more steps back until her back was touching the wall. The need to be alone, to think this over, to think of what this would mean to her, and her relationships came over her- but she couldn't be alone to think about. The rest of her life would be spent always with someone watching her, or surrounded by her group of giggling Ladies.

And she was going to be a laughingstock- everyone would notice their Lady Sulia being followed, and while she hoped that Merrek wouldn't announce his decree that she never be alone to the court, one would could never knew what he would do.

This time, Sulia couldn't keep tears from filling her eyes, but she started blinking them back immediately. Merrek wouldn't be impressed by tears, or protestations of innocence. He thought she was guilty already- and nothing she could do would change that.

Perhaps she could have shown Merrek exactly why she had thought riding with Jaizen had been a good idea. Perhaps she could have made things better, but to be truthful, Sulia wasn't ready for that yet.

"With." Her voice trembled, so Sulia stopped, and then continued. "My Lord's permission, I request permission to retire for the night." By that, she was requesting to go to sleep- in the smaller chamber off the main room. It was outfitted with a bed, and Sulia felt it had probably been a birthing chamber, once upon a time. At one point in time, she'd cleaned it up, and it would function as a good enough room for her. And since it had no doors outside of the one connecting it to the main chamber, and only two very small windows, she was sure that Merrek would allow her to be alone there at least.

And even if he forced Iraini to sleep in her room, at least she wouldn't have to suffer through a night next to him. Knowing that he was there, and that he didn't want her would be bad enough- being next to him, and knowing that he'd decided that she was impure would be that much worse.

[kayla]

"No, Sulia. I don't. Before tonight, I did." Though he'd not raised his voice once, there was a change to his voice now. While he did not allow the full depth of his pain to come through, he did allow some of it.

So something had finally gotten through to the girl. Though he wondered how many of those blinked back tears were selfish grieving over the privileges she had lost and how many were remorse for betraying her husband and losing his trust.

"This was not how I wished to spend this evening, Sulia. I had looked forward to a night with my loving wife, and instead I find that I do not have a loving wife, but a selfish child who does not even care about the pain she has caused others."

Some Lord may have affairs. Some thought it was their right as men. Merrek had never been one of those men. He had never once cheated on Sulia. He loved her, even now he loved her - which made this all the more difficult as he could not simply divorce her. And as long as they were married, he would not. That she would, and not care, well of course he was angry and hurt.

"You can earn my trust back, Sulia." He waved his hand. He had been going to sleep in that room himself, as he had no desire to sleep with her tonight. However, since she volunteered, he would not press the issue. "Go."

[thedreamerlady]

"You aren't listening to me!" Sulia cried out, sounding anguished. "I didn't betray your trust, I simply brought along someone to make sure I didn't get hurt." Turning away from him to hide her face, and walking towards the door, Sulia continued, quieter, but still speaking.

"And what would you know of caring about causing people pain? As though anyone would dare tell their Lord when they were in pain." The tall woman was graceful, elegant in her movements, but her face was mess- it was a good thing her husband couldn't see her.

Opening the door to the smaller room, Sulia shut it securely after her, and attempted to lock it- only there was no lock on this door. Even that comfort was denied her. Moving slowly, the Lady sat on the bed, Her hand reached up to play with the braid, and realized how heavy it was. Suddenly, a desire to find a knife and slice it all off was discovered- and Sulia dutifully pressed it back down. To mutilate herself like that would be empowering, but Sulia had never been the leader of her own life before, and to start now, and like that, was more than she could bear.

Earn his trust back. Well, that was a joke- earn his trust back after nothing had happened. Sulia was loyal in her own way- she didn't love any of the men she'd been with, other than Merrek. They were all needed for some reason or another, and she, as a woman, had her own needs- needs that Merrek couldn't meet. Romance, attention, and all that came with it was something that she needed. Merrek might not understand, but it was as necessary for the vain woman to be coddled, and lavished on, nearly as much as she needed to eat and breath.

Perhaps Merrek had sensed it, and that was why he didn't trust her. But that didn't matter- he'd stopped trusting her over something trivial. And threatened her- Sulia was aware of what she needed to do next. And she also knew it wouldn't be easy. The Lady Holder needed to decide what to do if Merrek decided to humiliate her. A realist, she knew that jealous men were dangerous, and should be watched more than mad canines.

Pulling the covers over her restless body, she wondered what Merrek was thinking on.

[kayla]

He sighed as he watched her go. She had no clue how much any of this had hurt him. Maybe she really had not done anything wrong, though the twigs in her hair...

Merrek shook his head. He found it difficult to believe that they had gotten there innocently.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. Perhaps he had been listening to his family too much. They were always insisting that Sulia was just using him, playing him. But even as he thought that he saw her at dinner, with the twigs in her hair.

She claimed that happened every time she went riding. He didn't even want to think about what that implied. But could they have gotten there innocently? Just from riding in a forest?

He sighed and leaned against the wall. And he heard her words again, "And what would you know of caring about causing people pain? As though anyone would dare tell their Lord when they were in pain." What had that been meant to mean?

Finally after a moment he moved to the door and knocked gently. However he did not wait for an invitation. "Perhaps, Sulia, I overreacted. I find it hard to believe the twigs would get in your hair if you had not been... frolicking. When I close my eyes, that's all I can see, the twigs in your hair."

He sighed, "But you've never given me any reason to not trust you before this. I will... rescind the punishment. At least the chaperone part. I do believe you should take more of the duties proper to a Lady Holder." He did not admit he was wrong. At least not in those words. "However, when you go riding in the future, a stablehand is not an appropriate escort. Tomorrow we will decide who to assign to you for such outings."

"How, Sulia," He still was not quite able to use a pet name for her, "have you been hurt? And what do you mean you can't tell me. I'm your husband, shardsit! I'm not just a Lord Holder who wanted a pretty woman on his arm. I'm your husband. And I love you. I don't want you in pain. But that doesn't mean you free reign to hurt me without consequences either."

[thedreamerlady]

Sulia had been tired, and had already started drifting off when her husband burst in to the room uninvited. Eyes snapping open, she stared at him and he went off into what she assumed would be the continuation of his earlier tirade.

The speech, however, went off into a different direction, as he rescinded his chaperone punishment. Perhaps the correct response to that was leap up and dance in joy, but Sulia didn't feel like it. She wasn't a happy woman, not yet.

And then he questioned her about why she wasn't able to tell him her problems. Sulia, caught between the right thing to do, and what she actually wanted to say, pulled herself up sleepily into a sitting position on the bed, unsure of what she was going to say before the words left her mouth.

"What I feel, my Lord, is better not spoken of. It will serve no purpose, and there is nothing to be done about it."

What did he hurt her by doing? By not spending enough time with her. By not keeping his family from openly despising her. Even by jumping to conclusions, and telling her that it didn't matter that he had no proof. But a proper Lady wouldn't comment on it. And if Merrek wanted a proper Hold Lady, then, by the first egg, that was what he would get.

[kayla]

He didn't expect her to be happy. While that was as close to an admission of being wrong as she would get, he had also made it clear that he still questioned her innocence.

So while he did not expect a youthful display of joy, he had hoped she'd try to meet him halfway. He was, then, disappointed when she did not at least try.

He would take a deep breath. Snapping at her more would accomplish nothing. "Very well, Sulia. I won't keep you from sleep any longer. However, this conversation is not over. You believe telling me how you feel would accomplish nothing. Perhaps you don't understand love then."

He would pull the door as he left, leaving her back in privacy, "Good night, Sulia."

Done