There's No Secrets in a Wyer (L'nuo)

[Rowen]

((Pre-approved, prearranged, and I almost forgot about it XD ))

Rekka woke, warm, relaxed, peaceful. Her eyes opened slowly to find L’nuo with her. She felt heat creep into her face as she recalled the night before. What had she done? How could she forget the last question she’d wanted to ask, the one that might be the most important to her. Instead she’d lost her senses to the touch he’d given her. What a fool she was. Slowly carefully she slid from the bed pausing beside it to look at L’nuo, she couldn’t help it when she lifted the covers around him more securely and then she reached for her clothes in the barely breaking light.

She always woke with the sun, sometimes before it, she had to, there was a lot of work to be done when the weyr day began. She walked from the room pausing to look over her shoulder one last time, her voice was a whisper. “Good bye L’nuo.” She walked silently out, stopping in her room to clean up a little and change clothes before heading toward the night hearth where her shoes had been forgotten. She limped, her ankle was definitely sore, she used the walls for support where she could, but other wise none really commented, none offered to help her, and she didn’t ask for any.

-Later-

One month later she blamed her late bleeding on her emotional stress, and her work. A month after that she was sitting with her face buried in her hands in her washroom. She should have known better, should have been able to think! That’s why she’d feared his touch, being unused to it she could see clearly that she’d drowned in what L’nuo had provided. Now she paid for her inability to think past that.

Standing slowly she made her way out of her washroom after splashing water on her face. Her focus was completely on the chest that she approached, kneeling on her knee’s she opened it carefully and it creaked with her misuse of it. She rarely opened this chest, ever because inside, is where she kept her memories. Reaching in she let out a ragged breath as a tear fell from the corner of her eyes. “Oh mama, look at me, look what I’ve done to what you left me, to myself..”

She lifted the torn dress that seemed to be all but rags. The elegant designs were torn the soft fabric in her hands reminding her all to clearly of how soft her mother’s skin had been. She lifted the fabric to her cheek as she remembered her mother’s last touch. Placing the rags in her lap she reached back inside. “They ruined what little you left me mother, and I wasn’t smart enough to not follow in your footsteps. I tried I really did.. I tried to make them stop that day, but I was to weak, I spent hours looking for the rest of the beads but I didn’t find them all..”

She lifted a small pouch out of the chest and opened it slowly tipping it to spill just a few of the small glimmering beads. She curled her hand around the cool beads and shifted them in her palm as if looking for a flaw in them. “Now.. I’m just.. like.. you..” She tipped the beads back into the pouch and closed it again. Pain twisted her insides and she carefully put the beads back inside, and then placed the rags over it again. “What a fool I was to think I could be different..” She carefully closed the chest and rested her head against the lid of it.

She placed a hand over her stomach pushing lightly, trying to calm the churning as she let the cool wood of the chest sooth her forehead. “I regret..” She closed her eyes, she regretted her past, she regretted what she had done, her weakness, her inability to move on. To be someone other than who she was. She didn’t finish her sentence aloud, but let her words die, she didn’t need to speak them aloud, she knew what she regretted.

-A few minutes before Rekka sits in her washroom-

As L’nuo sat down to lunch he was approached by a woman, he recognized her as the one he had danced with a few months ago and left standing on the dance floor to go to Rekka. “She hasn’t told you has she?” The woman’s voice was sweet, and sultry, with a hint of anticipation. Her cloths outlined her figure, and her eyes were lusty as always. Her smirk was smug as she regarded L’nuo with knowing eyes.

[E]

L’nuo found himself with a large chunk of tuber in his mouth as the woman approached and spoke her question, a sly and devious look on her face. Ah women and their feline games, he knew that look well enough and knew it meant nothing but trouble. He wasn’t sure who the woman meant by ‘she’, as he had not had any real steady relations for the last few months. Swallowing the tuber whole, he regretted it instantly and took the time to drink some juice to sooth his throat before finally putting down his fork and giving the woman the attention she was obviously looking for.

“Now now, my lusty beauty.” He said, turning his chair enough to grab the woman and pull her into his lap. “It’s obvious you have found yourself a juicy morsel, why don’t you share it with good ol’ L’nuo.” He asked it with a smile on his lips. He knew her sort, she liked her attention and she would find any way to get it, devious and taunting or innocent and sweet depended on the day and how far away she was from her bleeding. Her sort were honestly the easiest to get to work how he wanted them to.

[Rowen]

The woman's smile shifted slightly almost malicious in its intensity as she shifted in L'nuo's lap reaching out a hand and taking something from his plate as if she had every right and chewed on her choice thoughtfully as if she were thinking about the way it tasted, and she might very well be. She tilted her head, clearly stalling with whatever she knew. "Ah but L'nuo how can I share something you've already had?" She giggled as if finding her own words amusing.

She seemed to be stalling again as she turned and smiled at him wrapping her arms around his neck. "She's the worst sort of woman there is. You deserve to know at least, but she always was a coward, even as a child." The woman made a pouting face. "It isn't any fair that you gave her so much attention." She tilted her head and smiled. "However since you seem to have forgotten about her I'll forgive you, and as a reward I'll tell you the secret she thinks she's doing a good job of hiding."

She smiled and jumped up swatting L'nuo's hands away as she bent over taking another bite from his plate and chewing before speaking. "Rekka is pregnant, and since I know she's too much of a prude to have slept with anyone but you..." She let her words trail off before continuing. "After all no one else was interested even for the amount of time you were. She's not very pretty after all." The woman gave a shrug as if to say it was obvious before turning hearing her name being called her smile lit up. "Ah, lust calls my name." She smiled at L'nuo before walking toward the direction the voice had come from that had called her name.

[E]

L’nuo found his appitite vanished at the news. It had been a pleasant few seconds watching her put each morsel between those fine, soft lips but as soon as the words ‘pregnant’ and ‘rekka’ were spoken he could have cared less if it was an old hag eating wherry shit. He was up and gone before the woman even had a chance to turn around and speak her last sentence.

The brown rider didn’t really know where the headwoman’s rooms would be, but that was quickly remedied as he seemed to snatch a nearby cavern’s woman from thin air. Pulling her far more roughly than he intended too, he spoke an apology before asking for directions. It so happened to be another woman L’nuo had flirted with shamelessly in the past, but something in his face must have told her now was not the time as she stammered out the directions he asked for.

Not looking back to see if she was okay, he moved along, lost in his own thoughts. ’Rekka is pregnant’ was all that circled in his mind even as his heart wrenched painfully. He had sworn to himself he would not have another child… It couldn’t be too late… How had it slipped his mind to take this woman between shortly after like he had so many other women before?

Coming to her door, he heard someone speaking inside. His frustration momentarily dissipated as he leaned against the door and opened it silently, just far enough to listen. He didn’t catch everything, but he did hear parts…

“Now.. I’m just.. like.. you..” --- “What a fool I was to think I could be different..” --- “I regret..”

L’nuo let out a held breath. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard… Opening the door and stepping through, he closed it quietly again before kneeling down next to her and resting a hand on her back. “Rekka… You don’t have to regret. It’s not too late to undo this.” He said, pushing his own frayed nerves to the background even as he spoke with a soothing voice. Trying to be reassuring to both himself and the woman on the floor, he made the assumption of what she regretted would match what he regretted. “It’s just a short trip between, Menith and I, we’ll take you to the beach for the day. It will be easy and help wash away the stress….”

[Rowen]

Rekka jerked at the sudden touch, the sudden voice. She hadn't heard the door open or close she cast a glance at it to see it closed then focused on L'nuo. What was he talking about? He couldn't know that she was pregnant it wasn't possible she'd done her best to hide all of her signs as they'd slowly appeared. Looking up at him however she felt the blood drain from her face, there was no other explanation for his words. Somehow, he knew.

'Just a short trip between..' She felt her stomach twist, and she stood quickly moving away from L'nuo taking care to step out of his touching range. She didn't want to have to deal with his touch right now, he'd been doing fine in forgetting about her for weeks, no months. Her eyes narrowed. She felt her jaw clench against bitter words, and turned on her heels away from him she didn't even want to look at him.

Who was he to come and say that to her? He certainly hadn't made any attempt to stay in contact with her. No just once had been enough for L'nuo. "I'm not in the mood for the beach today." Even to herself her voice sounded strained and she had to bite the inside of her cheek from telling him that she had no intention of spending any time with him. He could go roll in a pile of dragon dung for all she cared at this moment.

'You don't have to regret.' She glared at the wall folding her arms across her chest. Who was he to say that? He didn't even know what she regretted! If he did know he wouldn't be here asking to take her to the beach of course after a short trip between to insure that her pregnancy was ended. Was that what he thought she wanted?