Eight Intertwined

193 - Performance

Primrose lost track of how much time she spent standing in front of Geoffrey's grave just staring at the flowers she had grown around it. The rest of the travelers seemed similarly apathetic to the crawl of the hours around them, and they only remembered to find a place to rest for the night when the sun began to sink over the horizon. Primrose knew she should have paid Revello a visit to say that she had completed her goal of avenging her father, but she couldn't find the energy. Being around anyone but the travelers was so endlessly unappetizing at the moment that Primrose just wanted to go back to an inn room and collapse. 

So the rest of the travelers managed the process of getting the group a few rooms at the inn, and Primrose fiddled with the blade of her dagger in the silence. She couldn't say she was entirely at peace, but she felt better after admitting to herself that she had changed her perceptions of Geoffrey to suit her own goals. Primrose had been idealizing him for years when the fact of the matter was that he hadn't been there for her when she needed him. She wished that revelation hadn't been given to her by Simeon of all people, but she couldn't be too picky with the details. At least she had gotten there eventually. 

Primrose, just as she had expected, crumbled onto her bed as soon as she was given the chance. H'aanit took to locking the door behind them, and Linde prowled over to Primrose before sitting next to her bed. The dancer couldn't hold back a smile, and she dangled her hand over the edge of the mattress to scratch at Linde's ear. The snow leopard purred against her hand, and Primrose smiled despite her exhaustion. Linde had always been sensitive to the emotions of the travelers, and she was right there to comfort anyone who needed it. Primrose couldn't have asked for a better feline companion. 

"How art thou feeling?" H'aanit asked as she sat down on her own bed. "Dost thou want to talken about all that has happened?" She watched Primrose for a long moment only for the dancer to cast her pleading eyes, and H'aanit sighed playfully as she crossed the room and sat down next to her girlfriend on the bed. Primrose repositioned her head so it was resting in H'aanit's lap, and the huntress pulled her ponytail free before starting to absentmindedly comb through her hair. Primrose felt electricity race through her body at the touch, and her smile grew ever wider. 

Unfortunately, it didn't last for long, and Primrose's smile flickered and faded when she realized she still had to answer H'aanit's question. "I... I don't know." H'aanit hummed in response, and Primrose continued to stroke at Linde despite the melancholy tug at her heart. "Simeon was right about a few things. I was changing my view of Geoffrey to fit what I needed at the time. After he died, I... I was so alone. He was the only family I had for a long time. My mother passed from sickness when I was young, and Odette was so much older that she had practically permanently moved out by the time I came around. She sent letters when she could, but a lot of the time... It was just me and Father. He was the only one I could turn to, but he was so busy running Noblecourt. I never blamed him for that since he couldn't help it, but... I still wished he had more time for me." 

"As I understanden it, thy father loved thou greatly, but he was a flawed man as well," H'aanit said simply. Just like always, she saw through to the heart of the matter without any need for pretenses. Primrose appreciated it, though it caught her off guard to hear someone refer to Geoffrey through such blunt terms. She had almost thought him immune to that due to his position as the head of House Azelhart. "There were some things he could not do for thou, and thou hath every right to be upset with how it unfolded."

"Yeah... I guess so," Primrose murmured. "I felt bad for thinking that he failed me. I didn't let myself think about it for a long time. Father was strict on me because he had to be. I was going to inherit the house one day. I had to be strong. I had to be ready. Still..." Primrose's fingers went still on Linde's head. "I wish he had been there more. I wish he had realized what Simeon was doing and tried to stop it. I don't know if he would have seen it, but..."