There Are Ways

Writers: Ames, Clancey
Date Posted: 23rd April 2011

Characters: Lisadi, Felyna
Description: Felyna and Lisadi have a chat.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 1, day 12 of Turn 6

Felyna

"Good day, Lady Felyna," Lisadi said as she entered the woman's solar.
She bowed slightly to the lady holder. They had spoken quite often
over the months, but mostly about the goings on around the hold,
nothing of great import, aside from her and her fosterlings.

"How are things this day?" She asked as she settled down onto one of
the chairs with her sewing basket. She was working on adding some
intricate designs to a new dress for Dareera and she couldn't wait
until she could gift it on the young girl. She loved her and Trewlin
as much as she could her own children, and in her mind, they _were_
her children now, for they really had no one else to relay on but her.

Felyna was at work on her own embroidery. She had one of Wallia's
dresses, and was stitching big, pretty flower designs on it. It was
quiet in the solar today, the children were all at lessons, and some
of the ladies were off in another part of the Hold helping organize
their stores after Turnover, which always put a big dent in their
stockpiled food and beverages.

Pleased to have company, though, Felyna looked up at Lisadi and
offered her a genuine smile. She found Lisadi's presence
comfortable and enjoyable, even though she was a foster mother. It
wasn't -foster mothers- she had trouble with, but only with women she
with whom she had to share her husband and home. After all, even if
Erassa didn't live with them, she would still be the children's foster
mother, and Felyna would be happy with that arrangement.

While she enjoyed caring for the children, her husband was right in
the fact that she did have other things that she needed to be seeing
after in her position as Lady Holder, and she needed to be able to
travel with him at a moment's notice. In that regard, she would be
more than happy to have a wonderful foster mother like Erassa to rely
on.

"Good day to you, Lisadi. How are things with you? I am well,
enjoying some peace after Turns Beginning" Her eyes twinkled. "I
saw you dancing at the celebrations with a certain Steward."

Lisadi actually blushed slightly at the Lady Holder's words, feeling a
bit like a foolish school girl. "Yes, we had a very nice time. In
fact, Sarban and I have seen quite a bit of each other since my
arrival here." Should she tell Felyna about their more recent decision
to make their courtship formal? It would come out sooner or later, so
why not know?

"In fact, Sarban and I have decided to make things a bit more
official, with our courtship that is." She reached into her sewing
basket and pulled out the dress for Dareera, running her fingers over
the little buttefly that she'd started. Dareera seemed to love
watching and chasing the little bugs, so Lisadi had thought it was a
perfect addition to the plain dress.

Felyna laughed gaily at the blush and grinned a girl to girl smile at
Lisadi. Her smile turned thoughtful as the foster mother went on,
explaining the entire circumstance.

"I am so happy to hear that, Lisadi. I've been trying to marry
Sarban off for months, maybe I can stop parading girls in front of
him, or trying. Not that he ever paid me much mind." Her eyes
twinkled, then turned a bit sad. Courting for her had been a
calculated plan of attack, weakening her target until he couldn't do
anything but marry her. There had been nothing of love, and very l
ittle of like, in the entire act. Granted, she had learned to like
her husband after months of marriage, but she had never been ... happy
and blushing.... over him the way Lisadi was now over Sarban. It
wasn't to be for someone of her station, or so her mother had always
told her.

"Its good to see a romance blooming in our Hold. I hope things work
out, and if you need any help...ahh...catching him.... let me know,
hmm?" Her smile flashed again briefly. She could teach Lisadi all
sorts of things, though she expected that the foster mother would not
want to 'trick' Sarban into anything.

"Oh, well," Lisadi wasn't quite sure what to say. "I think, maybe, I
have already captured his attention," her brow furrowed, "but I don't
know for sure." She sighed. It had been so much easier back at her old
hold. It was so small that there hadn't been many options at all. Yet
she'd loved Burned. She wondered whether she would actually learn to
love Sarban as well. She liked him, that much was for sure, and she
found herself desiring more from him, but love? She didn't know yet.
He made her happy, and he was a good man, that alone would be enough
if he agreed that he wanted to be with her.

Felyna's laugh was sweet and merry. "I could help you be sure,
Lisadi. There are ways...." Her voice trailed off with an interesting
lilt. "But for the record, I think you're probably right. I'm just
as happy to see him, perhaps, settling down. And how are the
children in your care?" she went on, changing the subject. If
Lisadi wanted more help, or more talk of men, she would let her know.
"I hear good things, and the children have definitely bloomed, though
I remember the little scare a few months ago."

"They are doing well," Lisadi replied, smiling at the thought of the
two fosterlings. "Things weren't easy at first, but they've both
settled into the lives we share now. I was making this for Dareera,"
she fingered the embroidery, holding it up slightly for Felyna to see.
Settling the dress back on her lap she looked at the Lady Holder again
with curiosity. "What did you mean, there are ways?" She felt a bit
foolish asking, but truthfully Lisadi had never really courted in this
manner before. She'd and married her first husband mainly because they
were in the same area and it was the _right_ thing to do.

Pleased she had asked, Felyna grinned like the young girl she still
almost was, at least in age. Not in wisdom or sheer understand of
her place in life and how to keep it, but in turns, she was still not
too far out of her 20th turn.

"The trick is to make him think he cannot live without you.
Anticipate his needs before he even realizes he has one, but don't
provide it yourself all the time. Just make sure he has what he
needs, and he knows you are the author of filling that need. If you
use drudges, or the kitchen girls, or the children, it all adds up to
him realizing all on his own how smart and amazing you are, without
you telling him, or trying to pull him into bed to do it." She
considered Lisadi for a moment, critically.

"No, you would not pull him into bed, and that is good. That is
_not_ how I caught Corowal." She smiled. "But it is part of
_keeping_ him once you are married. If you wind up marrying Sarban,
I will teach you what my mother taught me about pleasing men in bed.
Trust me, foster mother, he will not want to stray." Her eyes gleamed
with the knowledge that her methods worked.

"It very much has to be his own idea, but sharing your opinions about
his life or work at critical times will lead to him asking you for it
again, later. Its very much like hunting, Lisadi. Predict where the
quarry will be, what he will need when he gets there, then arrive
there, provide what he needs, and wait for him to fall to your arrow,
or in this case, your care for his life. You must be proper all the
time, but leave a hint of impropriety in a word or a look." She
leaned back a little, and went quiet, wondering what else to tell her.

Lisadi nodded, then replied, "Thank you Lady Felyna. I must admit for
all my turns that I never really had to court and keep a man. My first
husband and I married simply because we were some of the only
marriageable aged folk in and around our small cothold. He was a good
man, though the marriage wasn't based on love, I did grow to love him.
But he was a simple man, and Sarban is not the same. I fear my simple
life before coming here is nothing to compare to so many of the
wonders I see around me each day." Lisadi was happy at Emerald Falls,
but she still, so often felt like the country girl mixed in with the
fancier folk.

Felyna nodded in complete understanding. It was common among the smaller
Holds, and even here at Emerald Falls, to betroth your children without any
thought to what they might want or need. The only purpose being a good
marriage with some mutual benefit to both families and a union that would
produce children. The post-plague mentality was still very strong.

"I only offer my advice because it is quite literally what I was raised to
do, Lisadi. I wish all the folk here at Emerald Halls to be happy in their
marriages. We must all do our duty and marry, but it can be so much more
fun to have a man who actually wants to be married to you, and perhaps one
you want to be married to, as I'm sure you learned from growing to love your
husband. And to be honest, all men are quite simple. Sarban and
...this... " she waved a hand to indicate the Hold proper "... may seem
fancy and wonderful, but its much like the cothold you grew up in, only writ
large. There are proprieties and images to maintain at this level that you
would not have at a small cothold, but the relationships among the people
are really no different. Its the same as your home, only with prettier
wrappings that can't come off with one tug." She shrugged with casual
elegance. "I don't mean to intrude. I can't help myself, most of the time.
Corowal ..and Sarban to be honest... are always prodding me about my
'meddling' in the relationships at the Hold. But I tell them... the Hold
is your care, but I think part of my work is to care for the people that
make up the Hold."

Felyna's words gave her a lot to think on. This was Lisadi's first venture
into any relationship of any kind since she'd married and then lost her
husband. She didn't want to rush things, but yet, she also didn't want to
end up alone for all her days.

"Thank you Felyna, I need to think on some of what you said a bit more. And
I don't mind the advice. My experience is hardly the same, and it helps to
hear what others can share. I've learned that alot with the children. If it
wasn't for some of the other foster-mothers and hearing what has worked and
not worked for them I might still be making a mess of things most everyday."

Felyna smiled in return. "Anytime, Lisadi. Anytime. Though, I doubt you'd
be making a mess of things!" She turned back to her work, but only to put
it aside. "Speaking of the children, I think I may go check on Corowal's.
Perhaps we may speak again soon?"

Lisadi nodded. "It was nice talking with you."

Last updated on the April 27th 2011

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There Are Ways