Ewan put away the sharpening stone, the one Storm had given him in what seemed ages ago and yet not so long, and the blade he had been sharpening in the case and stood from the couch to return it to the top of the bookcase. The snap and crackle of a well tended fire warmed and gave faint light into the room. He had lowered the lamps to the barest hint of light. Sometimes the shadows gave him comfort while his thoughts were busy.

Listening to Ewan sharpening his weapons had become a sound of comfort over the years. It brought her out to the living room after putting Avery in bed with a sleeping Kellan against her chest. Even though she could have put her youngest son in his crib, sometimes his soft, warm body eased her own worries and brought a sense of peace. Storm's eyes followed Ewan as he stood to put the blade away before she rested her cheek softly against the top of Kellan's head.

Ewan heard her come, or perhaps he felt her return. He did not analyze which it might be, but sent a half smile over his shoulder to her. It was a picture of peace, one of many that he collected and then held in the back of his mind as shield and defense against other matters.

The smile left him only when he looked back to the bookcase and searched for one of the few books he brought with him from Yransea. Tedious but important tome with the inanity of laws from beginning to end with his own notes along margin lines of implications and loopholes to be exploited. It was rare for him to take it out, but having it near had seemed a good idea. With the current situation, one unforeseen, it was even more so. However, it was currently eluding him. "Beloved, have you seen the book called Valley Rainfall Annual Ledgers?" It had been its latest title upon rebinding.

She frowned, recalling the title only for the unusual context it supposedly had. "Have you checked the bottom? It might be behind some others. Otherwise, I cannot recall." With the warm fire and the warm baby, it was being just a touch too warm for her liking. Standing, she gave Kellan a light kiss before moving to place him in his crib and tuck him in.

He crouched down and tilted his head and upper body over to read the titles, reaching into the back behind other books and finally finding it. With a tired grunt, he rose to his feet, muttering, "How did it get down there?" It certainly was not within his recollection, and it disturbed him more the failing to remember putting it there. It was a disturbance that did not last long as he flipped through the pages and sank back onto the couch. Another glance up and over his shoulder, he smiled to see that the family was half to its comfortable slumbers. "Avery went to bed without much fuss then?"

"Avery could have moved it by chance." She didn't seem all that concerned with the rearrangement of their books. Once Kellan was properly tucked in, she moved to join him at the couch closely and glanced down at the book. "Yes. I think all his running about with Whisper tired him." Her gaze lifted up to look at him then.

"Hmm," he nodded and flipped the page, scanning quickly. He felt her eyes on him. The temptation to break off what he was reading at that instant was strong, but he scanned the page he was on before he looked up to her. His brows rose in silent question of what was foremost on her mind.

She shook her head gently at his silent question, not wanting to interrupt his investigation of the book. Instead she curled up close to him and rested her cheek on his shoulder. There could never be enough nights where she could do just this and be overwhelmed in knowing that he was hers.

The lack of question amused him. His smile returned and released a soft laugh. One tempting crimp that caressed the edge of her face got a teasing tug and he went back to his review with a sigh.

Another page on and the information he sought was found. It was not what he had hoped, but what he had expected, and the book was closed. "I do not know now why this troubles me so." He began in the middle of his thoughts and then shrugged it entirely away just as he set the book aside on the couch next to him.

One arm moved to curl around Storm's shoulders. "What news from your realm? After the last year's adventures, am I to think paperwork is not so unwelcome?"

The gentle tug brought a small, silly smile and she chuckled. She didn't look down at what he was reading, knowing that he would tell her if he so chose. His words did bring a light frown that eased only with his arm bringing her closer to him, "No, it is not, but it does not make it more enjoyable. Things are peaceful, the way the should be. Paola is helping me with the discovery of my gifts in Yransea, and that takes much of my time while I visit." She shifted slightly, so that one hand moved to caress his cheek, then his hair, "What is troubling you so, beloved?"

"Right? You are looking for something to keep it from being right? How about marrying someone simply for politics? You need to look no further." Her tone sharpened and she fought the urge to cross her arms.

"Perhaps it is not the romantic way for it to be done, but most of the marriages among the nobility are arranged, Storm. That we have the luxury of marrying for love does not mean that all do or should." He was starting to feel a bit defensive himself. "What is to be done? Have a civil war? Hundreds, perhaps thousands die, when it can be shortened or even perhaps prevented because the King makes a tie between a man of station and influence and the Yransea family?"

"I am not saying that such an arrangement could not making things better, but what a terrible way to live you life next to someone you do not care for. To involve her children with... just some man." Her tone sounded disguised, but she didn't mind disagreeing with the philosophy. It was not going to change anything, "Cannot treaties or such be used instead?" She had no idea of the details of this teetering war, and did not try to show such knowledge.

"When the prior treaties and the very heart of the matter is to set one person upon the throne over the other? I wish treaties could work, but until the north feels they have gained some of the power of the southern baronies, they will continue this surge of attacks." Ewan rubbed at his brow and chuckled. "Involving her children more than you know. Aidan would go to live with Lord Llewellyn as his heir until Sylvia provided him with one, and Sylvia would have to choose to divide her time between her sons. Even I cannot find a glimmer in that troubling choice."

He closed his eyes and rest his head on the back of the couch. "I can only hope that caring will grow between them as it did with Their Majesties. He is a sensible man at least, if ambitious."

"Until Sylvia provided him one? She is not something to be bred. She is a person." She couldn't help it anymore, and eased herself out from under his arm to stand close to the fire and glare at the orange colors rather than him. She knew it wasn't his choosing, and did not want to direct this sudden swell of anger at him.

Ewan released her and leaned forward to watch that stiffening of her spine. His elbows on his knees, he tilted his head. "No, not someone to be bred, but our society is based upon inherited rights to titles and land. If Llewellyn has no heir of his blood, then we can face this again in ten, perhaps, fifteen years. Any heir other than blood has a weak claim at best. That is the stroke." His hand chopped just as an ax upon a block of wood. "The master stroke. King Maelgwn and Lord Llewellyn get what they both need and want at very little cost to them."

"But at what cost to Sylvia?" She ran her hands through her hair to give them something to do. Grinding her teeth together, she forced her shoulders to relax, and for her anger to leave with the tension. It was no easy matter. "I am sorry, beloved. I do not mean to show disrespect for the ways of your people. I just care very much for Sylvia and her children."

"As do I." He sighed. Picking up the book, he stood and returned it to the bookshelf, back on the shelf at his eye level. "But there are some things from which I cannot protect them. The needs of the kingdom come before everything." It left his mouth with a conviction he felt into the core of him even as the injustice of it continued to peck at his thoughts. "It is not as if I can just kill him and be done with it." He smirked over at her hoping to lighten her mood.

She had to look away into the fire again, hurting far worse than she did for Sylvia. His priorities to the kingdom was without question or falter, and that hurt was something she would not show. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to match his new direction without letting her feelings spill over, "I have never known something to be out of your reach or talents." She gave him a sidelong glance.

"You give me far too much credit. However, outside of my reach?" His smile remained true even as a corner of his mind replayed the last night of King Rhodri's life. "Not physically, but my duty and my vows keep me from acting counter to the best interests of my country. I would not go back on them any more than I would go back on my promises to you, beloved."

Ewan walked to her and set one hand at her elbow. There was no patronizing or demand in that touch, just support and understanding. "I am not blind to its emotional cruelty. Emotions, for better or worse, are not the powers at play here."

And just what would happen, when those two vows crossed? When the answer glared hotly in her mind, Storm could hear the far and faint sound of thunder. Her emotions were already getting the best of her, and would give her away without more control. Forcing a cap over them, an ending to the topic at hand would be the only way for her to keep the control in a firm grip. She tried to think of the freedom she was given, present in the simple touch to her elbow. She kept from having the last word as she usually did. Instead, she moved to hug him close, and keep her sorrow for her friend close to her heart.