Men Can Change

Writers: AL, Ames
Date Posted: 8th April 2011

Characters: Wirnan, Kaya
Description: Wirnan finds out who hit Kaya, but their relationship remains hostile.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 1, day 15 of Turn 6

Wirnan

The day or two after her father hit her were always the worst. Sometimes
the second day was worse than even the first day after.. It probably didn't
help that she had cried, cried enough to make her cringe while she was
crying which only made her cry harder under the circumstances. But when she
woke, she was so sore and so stiff she could hardly move. She she just
plain decided not to. It was their first day as a married couple. She
didn't have anything to do, except maybe clean. Not that she'd be able to
do any cleaning with her back the way it was. Did Wirnan have to resume his
duties? She knew that men sometimes took at least a couple of days off to
enjoy their new 'wedded bliss'. Of course, their wedding bliss was anything
but. Kaya turned over and immediately regretted it, a long, low moan escaped
and she decided to just stay right where she was for a little while longer.

He'd been sitting, watching, and waiting for her to awake. Wirnan's face
showed his fatigue and lack of sleep as dark circles marred his face. He'd
hardly slept at all, his mind too full of all that had happened and the
sight of the bruises on her skin appearing before his eyes each time he
closed them.

Knowing when she was awake, his eyes strayed over to the bed. The sound of
her pain was nearly his undoing, but he held himself together by taking a
deep breath before he spoke.

"Who beat you?" He asked, foregoing any niceties that he might normally have
used. He was tired, frustrated, angry and confused and didn't feel like
being pleasant this morning. As Wirnan had sat through the night, he'd
contemplated all the events that had happened to lead up to this moment. He
assumed she'd taken a beating at her father's hands, but he had to know for
sure. If it was her father, he knew there was nothing he could do as that
was considered acceptable practice, but if someone else had raised a hand to
her. Wirnan's jaw tightened at the thought. No woman deserved this
treatment, regardless of what may have occurred. His thoughts only fueled
his anger towards her, towards her father, towards life in general.

Kaya jerked a little at the sound of Wirnan's voice, the gruff way he posed
his question. The sudden movement made her wince and the slightest peep of a
groan managed to escape before she clamped down on it. And then she didn't
say anymore. Her eyes lifted to look at her legal husband. Dark. Defiant.
And yet, should one look closely, there was a hint of fear, of uncertainty.
Of sorrow.

When she didn't answer his question right away, he rose from his seat and
moved towards the bed. "I _saw_ the bruises. Who beat you?" His tone was
gruff and harsher than normal as he asked the question.

Kaya winced again and she could hold Wirnan's gaze no longer. It was a long
time before she finally gave the answer, and did so just before Wirnan could
open his mouth, perhaps to raise his voice and pose it a third time. "My
father." Whispered and a tremble within, she swallowed and turned her head
to half bury her face in the pillow. "Said you would pick up where he left
off."

He breathed in deeply, trying to calm his angry thoughts. No, not at her,
but rather at the man who claimed she was his father. How could a father
treat his daughter like this?

"He was wrong," he replied quietly but with an edge of steel to his voice.
He stood, arms crossed in front oh his chest as he watched her. His first
instinct was to try and comfort her, but then he remembered what she'd done
to him in the past sevenday and he felt that flair of anger surge within him
once more.

"I know." It was soft, but audible and Kaya kept her gaze shut. She knew
he wouldn't hurt her. It just wasn't part of that gentle nature. Some hid
behind such gentleness, but not him. She dared to open her eyes and it took
all her effort to keep from wincing at the expression on his face. She held
his gaze, her own neutral though beneath it her various emotions twisted and
turned like clouds in a storm.

"Is _that_ why you did what you did?" He asked, his tone harsher, colder.
"Set me up because you didn't think I would beat you?" His eyes were blazing
with a fire that had been burning for days.

Kaya's jaw tightened and she looked down. She didn't move from where she
reclined on the bed, hands clenched into fists beneath her pillow. What
could she say? He had ruined her other plan, so this was the backup one
she'd come up with. She hadn't seen any other way. If she had
married..._him_...she didn't think she'd ever be able to get away. He'd
watch her like a watchwher, and probably beat her so that she wasn't ever
physically capable of leaving. She had no choice. At the time, she had
been angry to, and surely that had spurred some of it. But now? Now it was
mainly desperation. But how could he understand that?

Her silence was answer enough. Perhaps the times they'd spent together had
been nothing but a ploy all along. Here he'd actually begun to care about
her before, but now, it all seemed nothing but a farce and he was the brunt
of the joke.

"Men can change you know," he said into the silence before he turned and
left the room. He would never intentionally raise his hand to her, but he
was angry enough in that moment to consider his last words. If she continued
her games he might be forced to do something he would never have considered
in all his life.

Sinking onto the sofa in the room, Wirnan fumed at himself for allowing her
to get under his skin and for making him believe that for even a moment what
was developing between them could have led to something worthwhile. Now,
now, it was nothing but a shambles. She had taken from him any choice he had
and had nothing to say for herself in return.

Kaya's eyes flew open and she watched the angry, retreating figure of Wirnan leave the room. She swallowed and couldn't supress a shiver. Her throat tightened and guilt flooded through her. What had she done? Men could change. Had she changed Wirnan for the worst? Had she poisoned him so that his gentle nature would be twisted? Oh shards, perhaps it would have been better to marry the other. Now her anger and her desperation, while they had put her in the hands of a man who once considered her a friend, it was obvious that was no longer the case. She didn't want Wirnan to change. She had just wanted a way out and she hadn't seen any other way. But would he understand
that? No. He never would. As gentle as he was, Wirnan was just a man. A man whom she had hurt, and badly so. She regretted it now, the actions she had taken to get them there, and yet there was no turning back now. She had
wanted to be free...and so she would be. She would be his wife at least for a little while, in all ways but physically. She would keep his rooms for him. And then...then...then he would be free of her, to live his life the
way he wanted it.

She could no longer hold those tears back. Kaya's eyes burned and it wasn't
long before her body was shaking in sobs, an occasional strangled cry
escaping as the motion caused her back to flame. This was not the way
things were supposed to be. But this is what she had made them to be. She
had dug the pit and now would have to be buried in it.

He could hear her cries, but he forced himself to stay where he was. The
sounds however tore at his heart. They did not sound like the cries of a
manipulative, uncaring woman, but rather that of a scared child, just like
how Wrice had sounded the time Wirnan had watched him and the lad had grown
scared. **She did this. She has to deal with it.** The voice in his head
told him, but his heart wanted to reach out to her. "Shard it," he muttered
to himself, his hands balling into fists at his side. He rose, prepared to
pour himself yet another drink, but then he stilled his hand. He'd had far
more drink that his usual fare just in the past sevenday. **How else am I
supposed to deal with this debacle that is now my life?** He thought
mournfully as he lifted the decanter and poured himself the drink. Her
sounds of anguish made him almost think of pouring her one as well, but
instead he tilted the glass back and downed it in one fell swoop.

Last updated on the April 27th 2011

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Men Can Change