What To Do (1)

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 22nd November 2008

Characters: Leisenn, Alydelle
Description: Leisenn confronts Alydelle about some knowledge she has acquired.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 13, day 1 of Turn 4

Aly didn't want to go to the Hallmaster's office. She had a feeling she knew what it was about. She was scared, afraid of what was going to happen. She hadn't wanted it though! Shards, she hadn't wanted any of this!

The girl hesitated outside of the Hallmaster's door, but finally knocked upon it after a few moments of indecision.

"Come in!" Leisenn looked up, her sharp-eyed gaze resting on the young woman in the doorway for a moment before she waved the girl to a seat. "Close the door behind you, Allydelle, and sit down."

The words felt cold to Alydelle and she lowered her gaze as she closed the door. Leisenn had been a lot warmer beforehand but now...now things had changed. The girl meekly made her way over to a chair and slowly sat down.

"I'll get straight to the point - points. After what happened to you I felt that you needed a break away from here; perhaps to go home for a while. Apparently that isn't possible."

The Hallmaster's letter to the girl's parents had received a response making it clear that Allydelle's wilfulness in taking on an apprenticeship meant she was no longer part of the family and totally unwelcome at their home. It was an awful thing for any parent to say, in Leisenn's opinion, but it also meant the girl remained squarely the responsibility of the Hall.

Alydelle shook her head. She knew it wasn't possible. Frankly, she was glad. She had never been happy there, never felt like a part of the family. At least the dolphins had accepted her for who she was. She was happy with them.

"Is there anywhere else you feel you could go? Anybody else you could go to?"

Again, the girl shook her head, refusing to look up at the Master. Where could she go? Her birth family was at the hold. Her adoptive family, as she saw it, was at the Hall. There was nowhere else - no _one_ else.

Leisenn sighed, having expected that would be the case. "And now the dolphins have some news they thought I ought to know. About you. Would you care to tell me yourself?"

Alydelle winced visibly, but she should have known she couldn't hide it - especially not from the Hallmaster. "I...I'm...." She didn't want to say it. If she said it, then she would have to acknowledge that it wasn't just a bad dream.

"You're pregnant, Allydelle," Leisenn said when it became apparent that the apprentice was having trouble saying the words.

The girl burst into tears, despite the fact she had told herself she wasn't going to do that. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to force herself to stop but it seemed to only make things worse.

Leisenn sighed, wondering if she was ready for this. After so many Turns of dealing only with boys and young men she was woefully out of practice (and a little out of patience) with having girls and women in the craft. It wasn't a development within herself that she was proud of and she hoped that time would set the situation right.

In the meantime she had to deal with Allydelle. She got to her feet and rounded the desk, pulling up a chair beside the one the girl occupied and patted the apprentice's shoulder. "Here," the Hallmaster handed over the clean handkerchief. "My mother always told me to keep one on standby for emergencies."

Alydelle took the handkerchief with a trembling and wiped her nose. It took a few moments, but the tears eventually subsided and her crying was reduced to a few sniffs, punctuated with bats from the cloth.

"So. What are we going to do about you and the baby. What would _you_ like to do?"

"I...I don't know." The girl tilted her shining eyes up to the Master. "What...what choices do I have?" She honestly didn't know what to think, what to do. She had been trying so hard _not_ to think about it, but it wasn't going to do any good. Not thinking about it didn't make it go away.

"We could find a family for you to go and live with - good people, welcoming - until you have your baby. Or you can stay here, but you know there's bound to be talk, some of it unkind, and not all the masters and journeymen in the Continent will be able to protect you from all of it."

And a certain number of the people who ought to know better than to comment would be as bad as the other apprentices.

Last updated on the November 22nd 2008

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What To Do (1)