A Bad Varana Wind

Corbin Pyn, sat hunched on the low stool beside the hearth, firelight glinting off the knife which scraped the skins off the mounds of potatoes which litterd the kitchen for the Alexton's impending dinner.

"If you keep holding that knife that way, you are going to cut yourself,"

He glanced up from his work, scowling at the ruddy faced woman. "I kin peel th' goddamn potatoes m'self woman," He mutterd, pausing to scratch at the four day beard with the back of the somewhat viscus knife.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so worried about her," Maeve's worrying, was wearing on his nerves. Bad enough he had his own problems without Maeve's doom and gloom. Wasn't she old enough to be well away from her moon-rage? He snorted, back to peeling.

"Corbin,"

He disided, then, to ignore her. Perhaps she'd go away. She had better things to do didn't she? It wasn't his problem if the advisor had her knickers in a wad over the brat.

"Corbin!"

"What no' woman?!"

The sniffle, never meant anything good when it came to talk about the Varana brat. If you could even call her that. 'Varana' wasn't even marginally correct. No better than her whore mother as far as Corbin was concerned. Ratcliff was just fine with him. But Maeve loved the girl and he himself had often fancied that they were possibally the closest things to parents the girl had ever had. Maybe he himself was particially responceable for her lofty ways. Maybe. Maeve more so, she'd been the one spoiling the child, though honestly he couldn't rightly blame her. Maeve's own child had been killed not days before Verity had been put to her breast. A flash flood, had torn Lancaster manor from the river's bank and with her, two-hundred souls, includeing Maeve's husband and child. Verity, had given the woman a reason to live and unfortuneately, a reason to eat. Quite abit actually. He perced his lips and in a rare molment, reached across the narrow space to squeese her shoulder. "Don' cry yeh stupit cow," He grumbled, as the water works built and then, exploded over his boney shoulder. Fuck.

"She's gone!" She bawled, even her neck turning an amazing shade of red. "Gone back t'th castle 'an Lady Mereavus on th' war path!" Not likley, the Lady Alexton was simply too wrapped up in her own life to give a good goddamn about a bratty fourteen year old girl. "No', no'," He mumbled, patting her back in what he fancied was a comforting gesture. "I'm telling you Corbin! She's going to have her killed this time!" He rolled his eyes. "She's no' goin't 'ave 'er killed, d'yeh think she'd realy kill a child?" Though these days, even he was having trouble seeing the tall, straight backed, black clad, creature as 'child'. No, Verity was something else. A child's face stretched over the mind of a cold, hard, woman who'd never heard the word 'no' in her life. Honestly, he wasn't so sure the Lady Advisor wouldn't have her killed. He'd heard about the shouting match from the chamber maids. Verity didn't seem to realize the kind of power she was dealing with. Maeve, made a glubbing sort of sound. "She dosen't like her! She never has! Not since the first day we rolled in!" There was some truth in the woman's ravings. Mereavus, had never liked Verity. Or any of them realy and as much as he thought the girl deserved a good thrashing, she hadn't derseved to be sent to that orphenage. It wasn't fair to send a fourteen year old away like that. "Well she t'ain't here enneh more is she? Th' farther away th' harder tis fer th' advisor t'diside t'ave 'er bumped off," Though the more the woman cried, the more Corbin began to think.

Perhaps, it was time to do something for all of them.

Perhaps, it was time to talk to Verity herself.

For all he knew, the minute the girl was dead, the advisor would send the whole pack of them off on the first boat to the isles. He didn't trust her. Not since he'd heard what hapend to the blonde woman.

Verity needed to realize the danger she was in.