A Sharding Mess

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

Characters: Kaya, Wirnan
Description: Day two of...not so wedded bliss.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 1, day 16 of Turn 6

Wirnan

Kaya awoke before Wirnan. Her back still ached, but the pain had dulled.
She had spent a good day of the previous day in bed, the soreness having
settled into her muscles far too heavily to allow her to do much. She'd
gotten up, used the privy. Food had been brought, but she had hardly
touched it. She sighed softly as she eased out of bed, moving slowly.
Stiff, still sore, but not nearly as bad. Sleep and rest made healing so
much quicker. Her father had never given her much time to rest and she had
always felt like the pain lingered far too long. Carefully, Kaya pulled on
her clothing and laced up her dress.

It had been a long couple of days. Her anger, it was still there, but had
lowered to a simmer, barely bubbling and now regret had come into play.
Regret for what she had done. But what choice had she? Anything else
would have found her in the hands of a man who would have done just as much
to her. Probably worse.

A shiver sent another ache through her body and Kaya moved out into the
other room. Her eyes darted about and there she found Wirnan, crunched upon
the couch and her expression rest upon him. She'd had no choice, but he
wouldn't understand. He was a man, never forced before into such a
position. Even if she had tricked him, it was less than what she would have
suffered had she not. No, it was necessary. It had to be done. Her eyes
drifted along the room, noting the messiness of it. There was a small pile
of clothing, probably from when Wirnan had changed. Some dishes from food,
probably brought for her and for him, but she hadn't touched hers. Those
sat upon the table. Why had he not put them outside for the drudges to
take? The tray remained as well. The girl picked her way over and began to
carefully and as quietly as she could, pile the dishes upon the tray,
wincing on occasion from the twinges in her back.

He'd had a very restless sleep when he'd _finally_ been able to go to sleep.
Not only did he have the emotions from all that had happened bouncing around
in his mind, but then he'd learned about what her father had done to her.
He'd had far too many drinks after realizing the extent of the beating,
anything to try and wash the sight from his mind. He recalled how badly the
young boy they had found just months ago had been beaten. Would Kaya's
father have gone that far? He'd had a _very_ hard time shaking the thought
of her beautiful face and body marred so horribly.

Now, as the sounds of movement in the room and plates clinking together
started to seep into his consciousness, he began to stir. Grogginess filled
his mind as he realized there was someone else in the room! Sitting up
quickly, fearing an intruder, he found the room nearly spinning at the
sudden motion. When his eyes fell on Kaya, he visibly relaxed as it was
_not_ in fact someone bent on doing him harm, as his sleep-filled mind had
thought in those early waking moments. Yet, she _had_ harmed him. Had pushed
him into something he hadn't asked for. How were they going to get through
this?

"Are you better?" He asked, holding his head to steady it and the pounding
he felt to accompany it.

Kaya stiffened at the sound of his voice. She hadn't meant to awaken him.
She had been trying to be quiet. Her eyes darted to them, but they
remained upon his visage only briefly, dancing away and back to the glasses.
"Yes." She finally answered, though she didn't go into detail. Better,
yes. Fully healed? Certainly not yet, but that would come in time. She was
certainly better compared to the day prior when all the bruises had seemed
to settle deep into her bones.

The pile was stacked carefully and efficiently on the tray and Kaya bent
over to pick it up. Everything had been a whirlwind and now she was there,
she wasn't sure what to do. She was going to have to survive somehow. That
was the entire reason for doing what she had done. Survival. With Wirnan,
those chances were much greater.

Her hands shook as she tried to lift the tray, made heavy by all the dishes
stacked so carefully. She'd barely begun to lift when it all came crashing
down, arms still too sore and weak. Pottery shattered against the floor and
for a moment Kaya just stared at the mess that was scattered across the
floor. Her throat tightened and water stung her eyes. "I'm sorry!" The
words rushed from her mouth and she eased herself down to begin picking up
the shattered pieces.

Her pressed his palms to his forehead as the sound of all the dishes seemed
to be magnified by the headache he already had. He ground his teeth
together, wanting to yell at her for being so clumsy, but the moment he
opened his eyes and looked in her direction, he found he couldn't.

Heaving a sigh, he moved off the sofa and joined her. "I'll help." He
figured the sooner they got things cleaned up, the sooner he could consider
finding a nice dark corner to sleep off the effects from yesterday.

"No. It's okay." Kaya insisted, not looking over at him. "I'll get it."
She tried hard to school her features against the soreness that was still
making her movements stiff. Better, not gone. She began to gingerly take
the broken pieces and place them upon the tray. She was surprised he didn't
yell at her, but grateful that he hadn't. It only reinforced a much gentler
nature than Favinar had possessed. She reached out, plucked another piece,
then dropped it, causing it to split into two, but she didn't notice. In
her haste to clean, she had not been as careful as she should have and the
sharpness of the dish sliced her palm. Blood oozed from the cut and she
cradled it to her chest, then lifted it to her mouth, trying not to hiss at
the sting.

"Fine," he grumbled, rising. If she wanted to clean up the mess he'd let
her. Too bad she couldn't right the mess she'd made of their lives with her
foolish little stunt. He'd moved away to pour himself a glass of cold klah,
anything to try an ease the pounding in his head. Perhaps he'd go visit the
healers and get some herbs to dull the ache. He'd turned back thinking to
tell her that when he saw her cradling and sucking her palm.

"What did you do?" He asked moving over and reaching for her hand. When he
saw the gash, he frowned. "You should go get that looked at. I'll call a
drudge in to clean this up instead."

"It's just a cut. It will be fine." Kaya murmured in between pressing her
mouth to her palm. It was a mess. The whole thing was a mess. She had no
idea how close her thoughts were to Wirnan's. Tears stung her eyes, making
the broken glass and pottery blur before her. "Just...just give me a
minute." What had she done? Get away from _him_ that was what. But now
Wirnan hated her. And for that, she hated herself.

"It's bleeding! Look I'll go with you. I wanted to get something for this
sharding headache anyway. Leave the pottery, I'll get it seen to." He wasn't
going to yell at her or stomp his feet. His head hurt too much for any kind
of strange antics. Right now all he wanted was a nice dark corner, a soft
bed, and for time to rewind a few days so his life wasn't in total disarray.

"No. You go. I'll be fine. I just need to clean it." She needed to get
out of there before she started bawling like a baby. Kaya used her
uninjured hand to push her to her feet and then turned to head into the
bedroom, slipping through it and further in to the bathing room where she
could run her hand beneath cool water and, hopefully, gather herself
together.

He wanted to roll his eyes or chase after her or scream, or all of the
above, but instead, he set his mug down heavily and muttered "Fine." Quickly
making sure he was presentable, he left the room, the door closing behind
him. Perhaps he spent far longer than he needed to with the healers. When he
returned a few candlemarks later, he stood with his hand on the door,
contemplating whether he really wanted to go back inside and face whatever
was before him.

While he was gone, Kaya had cleaned up the mess. Her hand had been wrapped
with a bit of cloth she'd found. Not the best bandaging in the world, but
it had helped. She had picked up the pieces, carrying them a little at a
time and set them outside, then flagged down a drudge who had whisked them
away. Then she had set about cleaning off the floor, making sure it was
swept well. She had just finished rubbing it down moments prior before
finally settling down on the couch with a heavy sigh. For the millionth
time since everything had happened, she began to wonder at the wisdom at
what she had done. And shiver at the other choices she could have made.
This one seemed the safest. If only it hadn't had to have been done
so...in such...a way. But Kaya couldn't have seen any other way to do it.
She had been trapped, and he had been her only escape.

He opened the door and entered his...no their rooms. His eyes quickly
scanned the floor and noted that all the debris was gone. He saw her sitting
on the couch. He looked in her direction but a moment before turning to shut
the door behind him. He really didn't know _what_ he wanted to say to her.
He wanted answers, but then again, he didn't want to speak to her at all.
Turning back to her he simply stared at her, his expression nearly
unreadable. What was he going to do with her? With himself? With them?

Last updated on the April 29th 2011

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A Sharding Mess