Tiny Little Song

I stood there, my boots firmly planted on the bricks in front of the entrance to the Armed Hall, and felt that dual-wash of emotion run through me as my counterpart's son dared smile at my daughter.

Nevermind that she had smiled first.  It is her right to smile at whomever she pleases; the boy's mistake was in paying more than the proper, dutiful amount of attention to that smile.  Proper, dutiful attention did not include turning to face her full-on with a return smile, much less a smile that attentive, or eyes that noticed a bit too much about my daughter.

The second that whelp misstepped, his ass was mine.

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From the way her eyebrows were angled when I walked in, Katherine had felt my approach from some distance away.  It was to be expected, of course.  I was furious by that point, and certainly wasn't about to prevent knowledge of my ire from reaching the masses.  Perhaps it had been far too long since I had last put the fear of Me into the general population, particularly regarding familiarity with my offspring.  

Katherine's head tilted to one side, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.  I realized I had been standing in the doorway, staring at her.  She curled one hand upward and rested her chin on it, the smile on her face slowly spreading.

"Oh, so you know, then?"

My breathing caught in my chest, which was steadily feeling tighter with each passing moment.  "Do I know what?"

As usual, my Poet failed to be properly alarmed by the tone of my voice and outward display of gathering office.  I glared at her, but the silly creature simply grinned back, daring to look amused.  "Why, that he's been courting her for a while now, my dear."

I reacted first to having my pet phrase so carefully flung at me, then to the actual content of her statement.  Of course I didn't believe her.  Who would be so profoundly without sense as to approach one of my children in such a manner without first consulting me?

Katherine delicately cleared her throat, earning another futile glare from me.  "Rachella."

I couldn't actually glare any harder at her, so I switched tactics and went completely expressionless.  The rotten woman actually tilted her head and chuckled at me, biting down on the tip of her finger in the most distracting manner.  It was a deliberately teasing move on her part, and the gambit worked in diverting some of my attention in spite of my valiant efforts to remain in full fury. "'Sy, you didn't take any action when I went after Gerald, either."

"That was different," I said, steadfastly ignoring the hint of petulance in my own voice.  "I was too confused to figure out which of you I should kill, and by the time I did come to any conclusion, the matter was already out of my hands."

She snorted and simply folded her hands.  Point to me, then; she didn't have a ready response.

"Tie, darling.  I distracted you from your rather pissy mood."

Said pissy mood slid firmly back in place, augmented with an edge of indignant peevishness.  "Tell me more of this so-called 'courtship'," I said, schooling my face back into its normal steady, impassive mask.  She twirled her pencil through her fingers as she shifted her chair sideways, making room for my feet on the edge of her desk.  I dropped into the chair next to her, then swing my feet onto the surface of her desk with a solid THUNK.  She lifted one eyebrow, letting me know that I wasn't fooling her one bit, and brushed away the few stray chunks of dirt that had fallen from my soles from the surface of her desk.

Not that I was going to apologize for messing up her workspace.  Not right now, at any rate.

"What's to say?  He's a polite boy, very well-mannered and well-raised.  He has a good head on his shoulders and recognizes a treasure when he sees it.  Really, Tesynnodai."  She sighed, dropping her chin back onto the palm of her upturned hand.  "I'm beginning to think you get yourself worked up over these things simply to have something to be worked up over."

I stared at her a moment, and she stared right back.  "Not quite," I grumbled.

She laughed, sitting back in her chair and brushing her fingertips across my leg in a light swat.  "Don't kill him, 'Sy.  Give him a chance to prove himself.  Give Stevane a chance to prove herself."  She raised an eyebrow at me, and I didn't need her to actually voice the reprimand I read in her eyes.

Sometimes I find it very difficult to believe I let her live.  The cheek.

She looked over my shoulder and waved a hand.  Almost instantly, a hot pot of coffee was carefully placed on her desk, a safe distance from me feet on the off chance I decided to sweep everything within reach off her desk with my boots.  She poured a mug for me, silently handing it to me before pouring her own.  I watched her as I sipped, contemplating pulling her hair out of that twisted braid and throwing her across the desk for a bit of fun.  Unfortunately for me, she's far too on guard when I'm in this sort of mood, and most of the actual fun is in taking her by surprise.  

"He's hardly the worst thing to pass her way," she said, picking the conversation back up where we had left off.  "I can think of several poor souls who were discouraged from approaching her." She chuckled.  "Poor Erynn couldn't walk for a week."

"My dear," I chuckled, "that was your doing."

Her eyes widened in mock surprise.  "Was it?  Oh my."

It was my turn to snort.  "I do recall still owing you for taking on that particular task for me."  I was pleased to see that she wasn't sure which way to take that statement, and I certainly wasn't about to enlighten her.  The most delightful part was that when I got around to actually repaying her for that favor, she still wouldn't know quite which way I had meant it.

"... Yes.  Well."  She curled her fingers around her mug.  "If you really feel so strongly about it, talk it over with his father.  I'm sure you two could work something out."  She paused, then chortled, sharing a small flash of just the sort of interaction she was picturing.  "Or," she continued, "try talking to Stevane's mother about things.  After all, she is her mother, and I'm quite sure she'd be pleased that you sought her out on such a delicate matter concerning her dau--"  She choked, coughing and laughing at the same time.

I swear it wasn't my doing -- although I will not say one way or another whether or not I had entertained the thought of throttling her at that moment.

"Perhaps I will do just that," I said, pausing to savor the look of shock on Katherine's face.  "You are quite right; she is her mother, and should have some say in the matter of her daughter's unusually brave suitor."  I set my half-empty mug down on the serving tray and bowed low.  "Do keep me informed of any further developments?"

I waited long enough to enjoy a couple of openly surprised blinks, then vanished.

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