"Family life is full of major and minor crises -- the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce -- and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul."
- Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish poet, singer, songwriter, entertainer

Lucien led the large sorrel toward the road that led to the Yearling Brook. The clouds that had filled the night with the promise of rain that never came, had mostly dissipated overnight and brought with daylight a promise of a brighter day. As the landscape streamed past in his periphery, his thoughts reached back to another ride with the same horse, with another rider, through moonlit woods. It was a simpler time...a happier time.

The memory of quiet smiles and quiet words faded against the sound of children's distance laughter. Thoughts to another discussion, had amid the noisy din of the inn. The matter-of-fact summation of the Baroness' association with a northern baron named Llew Taransson, who happened to be in Rhydin, left the Barrister stunned.

He is a good man? That was about all Lucien could find himself to ask after a length of silence.
He is a decent man. I have not found him to be cruel or unreasonable. And he is a patient man. Sylvia's reply felt more like a report on a man's dossier.

The revelation served to animate the Barrister and not let Sylvia and the family's stay in Rhydin go without a visit from him. Lucien had waited until Cain's return to Rhydin to make his way to the Baroness' home in Rhydin. He shook his head as he turned the sorrel off the main road onto the path that led the Yearling Brook.

A pensive furrow marked his features as the walls of the residence came into view. Lucien had received the reports of the troubles that followed the Barony and Royal family to Rhydin and although the walls and manor property showed quick repair, the landscape yet bore the deep scars...as did those that served the Baroness and manor. Lucien eased his expression as he approached the gate and offered the young guards a bow of his head in greeting.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen. I am here to see her Excellency."


author's note - post edited to correct spellcheck revisions

The Barrister waited until the young guard's hand was stayed before dismounting from the sorrel. He nodded to Faerad then Ben in turn, chuckling with a self-effacing smile at the young man's greeting. "Indeed it has been. Thank you." The small package was retrieved and the sorrel was handed off to a waiting stable boy with a word of thanks.

Lucien made his way across the yard to the guest house. There was a pervading sense of loss and mourning that still hung over the grounds. And yet, there was an overwhelming resolve that was hard to dismiss. He saw it in the faces of the guards and servants that moved through the grounds, saw it in the way they carried themselves as they went about their duty.

"Uncle Lucky!" Aidan's call chased away the Barrister's thoughts.

Lucien had barely enough time to set the pack down before the young boy barreled into his arms. He hoisted the boy into the air then set him down gently. "Goodness Aidan, you've grown, young master!" He gave the boy a light rustle of his hair as the little girl came toddling up to him. The brilliant smile from the dark haired child, her radiant countenance shined with untarnishhed joy. Lucien swept up the little girl into his arms, letting her giggling laughter wash away the weighty troubles, even if only briefly.

Aidan tugged at his pant leg and pointed to the sack with a hopeful smile. Lucien pressed a kiss upon Beata's head and set her down on her on her feet as she began to squirm, demanding her independence once more. He knelt down beside the young boy. Cian's notable absence was not missed on the Barrister, and he regretting missing the young boy. Nevertheless, none of that showed on his mien and with a promising gleam in his eyes nodded to sack. "I brought presents for you, and your sister and brother. Why don't you go take your sister by the hand and go see what they are, Young Master?"

"Cian's not home," the young boy explained, peering up at the Barrister.

Lucien gave him a reassuring smile and a nod, handing him the sack. "Well, then you'll just have to show him what he missed when he gets back." He chuckled as Aidan grabbed hold of the sack and his sister's hand and rushed off to see what the Barrister had brought them.

"So, you have come to see us at last, brother. No flying today?" He rose to his feet, chuckling at Sylvia's teasing greeting.

"The winds were a little stiff today," he replied, greeting her with a warm embrace and a kiss to her cheek in turn. "Thanks for the warning," he whispered before she stepped back out of his arms. Lucien turned to the northern baron who followed behind Sylvia. The Barrister stepped forward to regard the older gentleman. He smiled and bowed his head at her introductions. "Pleasure to meet you, Llew."

He stepped aside and moved to place a hand on Sylvia's back for her to reclaim her seat in the parlor. Likewise, he nodded his head to Lord Taransson to reclaim his seat with a nod of greeting to the bard.

"How are you enjoying your visit to Rhydin, Sir?" he queried the northern Baron as he took a seat himself.

The bard took his leave with the silent nodded permission of Llew as the gentleman answered Lucky. "It is quite a peculiar land indeed, though I have seen most of the town at the guidance of my guards who served here. I had no idea the area was so vast and, well," he looked between the two of them, "to be rather blunt upon it, chaotic. I have seen things here I could not have imagined."

With a soft smile, not missing the hint to her lack of showing the man around, Sylvia nodded, "Evening meals are quite full of conversation about this or that other discovery. So far, he has taken a great deal of his sights in stride."

Llew chuckled, "I will have to become accustomed to them so as not to be befuddled on my visits. I should work towards that goal better soon than later, would you not agree, Lucky?"

The unspoken exchange between Sylvia and Llew was not lost on the Barrister. Nor were the implications of the elder gentleman's easy remark. Lucien chuckled, nothing of his private thoughts betrayed upon his features. "I have made Rhydin my home for more years than I care to admit and to this day, I am often befuddled and caught unawares by the events and sights of this place," he offered with a self-effacing smile at the confession.

"It is the chaotic nature of this realm that draws many to venture here, and draws many others to stay. It is the same nature that drives many to leave, never to return." Or worse, Lucien thought but to himself. An easy smile remained unfettered. "Please, tell me, what are some of the sights you've encountered, Llew?"

Lucien smiled easily at Sylvia's apt observation. He sat forward a bit, resting his arms on his knees and rubbed his palms together, with a thoughtful grin. The Barrister nodded before he replied. "There is no place, in all the places where I've lived or visited where that is truer, than here. The most hideous appearing beast can have a most gentle disposition. Then the most innocent appearing child can be the one that sinks a dagger in your back." He had felt the man's appraisal. "It is altogether fascinating and frightening at the same time."

The Barrister considered the elder gentleman sitting before him. He tried to image the man with Aidan. He saw Sylvia in his periphery and tried to pair them together. He wondered if their discussions of frightening things would make the Baron try and keep Sylvia and the family from traveling back to Rhydin. Or if the man would want to venture this way more often.

His Majesty has deemed it a good fit and strong alliance if I wed him. A good fit. A strong alliance. Lucien kept an easy smile intact as he recalled Sylvia's words that evening at the Inn. Whether he approved or not, there were political and cultural considerations at play that Lucien knew he could not speak upon and need to respect.

"Listen to me go on about Rhydin," Lucien remarked with a shake of his head. "What of where you hail from, Llew? Sylvia tells me you are from a region in the north?"

Lakes, highlands and mountain cabins formed a mental image of the northern barony for the Barrister. The landscape suited the older gentleman who'd grown his holdings and lorded over the region. Lucien's thoughts turned to Aidan once more and he imaged the young boy amid the rugged setting. The teasing banter brought him back to presence in the discussion.

The gentle rebuttal to Sylvia's remark remained unvoiced, and the accompanying wry grin never bloomed, remaining instead in an easy smile. Lucien gave the Baroness a look that plainly spoke of her bias, but only in passing. The Barrister's attention turned back to the elder gentleman. Llew's remark answered Lucien's unspoken query. A new question for Sylvia, likewise remained unspoken.

"Perhaps we will," Lucky offered in reply to the northern Baron. "I look forward to the opportunity, Llew."

Lucien rose to his feet. "I think I've caused enough disruption for one day." A teasing grin finally broke behind the neatly trimmed beard for the Baroness. He bowed his head to Sylvia, then to Llew. "My pardon, but I've a few things I need to tend to."

A kiss was placed on Sylvia's cheek, when she rose to see him out. "I will return for another visit in a few days." Mischief then colored his expression. "And with louder toys, since the children were so quiet this visit."

The Barrister looked past Sylvia to Llew and canted his head. "Good day, Llew."