To Love To Lose

A First Impression

Any French or Latin will be translated at the end of the chapters :D

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Alice found herself quite taken aback to see her father dressed it was was referred to in their household as his 'nonsense finery' - the clothes he wore to make a false impression. He was normally a man of untidy doublets and loose undergarments, that spilled out due to the exertion of swordplay, it surprised her even more that a fur lined cloak suited him so well. It made him look the part of Lord Geoffrey Hendry, she decided.

He clapped his hand on the back of her brother. Erik was tall and wide, a formidable force of muscle - one of the King's best soldiers and possibly, not counting her beloved and now deceased mother, her favourite person in the world.

She was proud of her two men, the only people she had left; they did good by her and she couldn't have asked for better people to be her protectors. However, the only disadvantage of living in a male household was that Alice had become quite accustomed to hiking up her skirts and running round in a manner so boisterous it would challenge Erik's temperament; and sword-play which she really shouldn't have learnt but her father could not resist teaching her.

"Ah! My daughter, how lovely you look!" Geoffrey looked down on his daughter, and a pang struck his heart when he saw how like her mother she was. Large, steely, grey eyes, a straight nose, high cheekbones and a lovely, plump set of rosy lips balanced just above a strong chin. She was a beauty in her long, dark green dress that made her sandy blonde hair glow in the sunlight. A simple, golden coronet settled on her head, her unruly shining waves spilling around and over it in an organised waterfall of sunshine.

Alice looked up at her father who had a slight tear in his eye and she smiled.

"I could say the same for you father, you look very handsome" she ventured to wink at him and he laughed loudly, pulling her into a tight, quick hug before he wandered off to sort the horses. Alice sighed and slumped onto the chair at her fathers' desk.

"That suits you!" Erik laughed, leaning against the cupboards full of her fathers contracts and writings. Alice scoffed.

"Nonsense, I am to become a Lady, Erik, I cannot be thinking of such things as sitting in a man's chair, at a man's desk doing mans work!" she cried, Erik catching the sarcasm in her voice strolled over to his sister, placing a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes trying to be as serious as he could manage.

"Indeed, and you shall be a dutiful wife and bear many children! You shall sit and sew all day and make tapestries for your husband to admire, and let us not forget the necessity for you to look pretty when he has guests to your house!" Alice could not contain the laughter and it burst from her chest in a flurry of musical notes pretty enough for an angel. Erik laughed along in his deep, husk but not as heartily as she did. He was used to leaving home but he had known that if he returned, Alice would always be waiting for him. From now on, however, she would not.

"Do not look so serious Erik, Father would not let me marry Lord Maunsel if he did not think he was good enough. I am sure he is a lovely man, he may be tough at first, but that is to be expected; I shall not back down and I will warm his fire! He will be a good husband... even if I have to beat it out of him." Erik smiled at the devious sparkle in his sisters eye and wondered how Tristan would deal with his little bird. She was beautiful but prickly and harsh when she wanted to be, despite the obvious heart of gold she held in her chest.

"I know, I just wish that you could make your own choice." Alice sighed and cupped Erik's face in her hand, she knew her brother fought against the injustice of marriage without love. He had married for just thus and he was bound to a woman who loved him no more than he loved her. She sought physical contact elsewhere, as did Erik and Alice's heart ached for her brother; a man with everything yet so little.