A Crown Of Blades(ARTK, Book 3)

Chapter 41-42

Manor 1st, 3330 A.G

"You're holding it all wrong." Her brother said, sipping in his second glass of wine. "Relax your arm- no, the other one. Don't want to drop the damned thing."

Louis had spent the day getting drunk while Krea and the others practiced archery- not that she blamed him. If the babe in her womb hadn't grown to dislike the taste, she'd be trying to drown out mother's memory too.

  "Would you like to try?" Krea shot back, fully aware of how poor his aim were. "Or perhaps you'd still be able to find father and my husband. I'm sure they'd be happy to have you."

  Louis laughed so hard his face turned bright red. "Noooo thank you. I should like to sit right here on my ass."

  Krea rolled her eyes, refocused on the target- and simply let the arrow go. It did hit the target, but only the very edge, and this made her brother laugh even more. Krea set the bow down and tried to reach down for a rock, but her belly would only allow a little before it grew uncomfortable- so she simply dropped to the ground on her ass and picked it up once she were down.

  Then she threw it straight at Louis's head, and it were Braya, Nota and Ysabelle laughing. While blood dripped from Louis's forehead they laughed so hard the servant standing by gave them strange looks- which made them laugh even harder. Eventually it ceased with each of them clutching their stomachs, the pain so great the soreness would be felt tomorrow.

  Louis grunted, lifted a hand to his face and blinked several times. "Perhaps I shall get pregnant, sister. They I may do whatever I wish without consequences."

  He smiled, and Krea pretended to think while rubbing her chin. "Try to carry the heir to a territory, then- if you're going to do it at all. Your child will have everything they could ever need or want, and it helps to be in love with the man."

  Ysabelle thought of her brother then, out in the forest hunting with Jeremy Simonett. She'd heard from Braya that her father was not a pleasant man, yet she hadn't been given the proper chance to form an opinion. From what she'd seen Jeremy were just a cranky old man, and that couldn't make someone a bad person- but she also hadn't been forced to live with him her entire childhood. One would think she could smell it from a thousand paces away with the man she did grow up having as a father- but all that'd done were cause her to block out most feelings she had about the wickedness of other people.

  Perhaps in time, she would see.

  Out in the forest, Andrew set his bow down. Both knew they hadn't come out here to hunt. Andrew could sense they needed to talk about something; he just weren't sure what.

  "I... am sorry about your wife." Andrew tried. "I've heard... nothing but good things about her."

  Jeremy Simonett looked his son in law up and down, assessing for just how much he'd tell him. "Yes well.... She was a decent woman. A decent mother. I may not have always been the kindest..... but I did care for her. How could I not when she carried so many of my children?"

  Jeremy shrugged and Andrew only frowned. "Did you love her for any reason other than her.... Fertility?"

  Jeremy's mouth hung open for a moment, unsure of what to say to that- when he spotted a group of birds on a high branch a couple trees  down. He may have been old enough that the movement hurt his bones, but nevertheless he positioned and released his arrow. It hit the creature right in the eye and it fell to the ground, so they began walking to retrieve it.

   "How has my daughter's pregnancy gone?" Jeremy asked. "You don't seem like a cruel man. I trust that you are kind to her? Kind enough, at least- that she doesn't have any stress to pile the death of her mother on top of?"