SIA Showcase for Readers and Writers discussion
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Jane Jago - shut up and write
That was such a fantastic interview! Really thoughtful questions and I absolutely loved your wit, Jane :)Christina - Your oiled up hug was quite the thing to picture! I imagine having the memory to laugh over is worth the cost of replacing your ruined shirt. I almost think you should frame it ;)
I'm a big fan of perfectly chiseled male forms...but on a book cover it does nothing for me!
The prompt for this story was 'beauty'. I rather liked how it came out, so here's a thing for WBD. Please feel free to criticise.Skin deep
Garanwys was beautiful from the day that she was born, a lovely child who grew into a stunning woman, a woman who was only too aware of her power over men. She was Garanwys of the red-gold hair and green-gold eyes, Garanwys whose lissome body and secretive smile turned strong men's knees to water, Garanwys about whom visiting bards made songs and poems, Garanwys whose own father could deny her nothing.
Even before she reached full womanhood, the calculating beauty looked about her for a suitable husband. Her eye lighted on Owen Smith. He was a handsome man, a man as strong and dependable as an oak tree, and a man of considerable wealth and influence. Oh yes, Owen Smith would be almost deserving of the gift of her beauty.
And that might have been the end of the story, except that Owen Smith did not admire Garanwys in all her rose gold glory. He had an entirely different woman in his eye, and, instead of waiting for Garanwys to reach her fourteenth birthday, he married Llys. Llys, round-faced and capable, and the only daughter of Eudric Clothmerchant.
Garanwys ground her perfect white teeth in anger. How could she have been passed over in favour of a creature as plain as Llys? Llys of the nut-brown hair and mild blue eyes. Llys who employed no arts to attract. Llys who had probably never had a flirtatious thought in her life. Garanwys fumed, and vowed vengeance. She would make Owen Smith desire her, and ruin both his marriage and his life, she vowed.
While Garanwys was biding her time and learning certain things at the knee of her mother, who had begun life in a whorehouse in Flanders, Llys and Owen were settling into a contented life together. Their marriage had begun auspiciously, even when the new husband disclosed precisely what he had paid Eudric for the pleasure of his daughter's body and mind. To Owen's delight, Llys lifted a smooth-skinned shoulder and smiled ruefully.
"He'd not have allowed thee to take me from the loom for naught..."
They laughed together and the pleasure of his experienced hands on her skin soon distracted Llys from any thought of her father's meanness.
This obvious contentment was fuel to the fire of Garanwys' resentment, but it was not destined to last. When the winter was at its coldest Owen was called to the castle to shoe the castellan's destrier. What happened that day is still shrouded in mystery, but what is known is that there was some sort of accident. They brought Owen's body home to his young wife on a hurdle.
If Llys cried, nobody saw it. She squared her shoulders and faced life. Moving the young blacksmith who had worked under Owen into the house behind the smithy Llys returned to her father's home, wealthier but alone. Rubbing his hands together at the thought of managing another goodly chunk of wealth, and at regaining the services of his daughter at the loom, Eudric kissed her on both cheeks.
"Thou hast always a home here, my daughter" he said floridly.
As for Garanwys, she turned her resentment from Owen Smith to his widow, and began a series of pinpricks designed to cause Llys discomfort. Tales of Llys' shortcomings as a wife, and hints about how Owen desired Garanwys began to circulate among the young women of the town. If Llys heard any such stories she gave no sign, even when she was being called barren by the worst gossips.
Her mother looked at her daughter's serene face and wondered what went on behind those soft blue eyes, but she was powerless to help so she kept her council.
About a year after Owen's death, Llys' twin brother, Llyd, returned from his term of service to the king. He had left as a child, but returned a man: a broad-shouldered, open-faced, handsome, guileless giant of a man, who had the prospect of being very wealthy one day. Garanwys cast her gold-green eyes his way, and within a very few weeks she had him hooked. She played him like a great fish, dropping poisoned comments about his sister and mother whenever the opportunity arose, whilst all the while pretending the modesty and virtue she knew would bring him to his knees.
Understanding that Eudric would have other plans for his son, the lovely Garanwys set about charming him as well. She sat in his lap and performed certain acts for his delectation, all the while moistening her perfect lips with the tip of a pointed pink tongue. Eudric weakened, and gave permission for Llyd to press his suit.
The first time he offered for her hand, Garanwys refused him, casting down her eyes and saying his mother and sister hated her.
Llyd went home in a rage. He roared at the womenfolk that they had stolen his chance of happiness, and even went so far as to strike his sister - bruising her smooth brown cheek with his big fist. His mother, Lyonette, faced him with a cold anger he had never seen before.
"If the wench thou hast set thy heart on thinks we like her not, it is no more than some girlish fancy on her part. Thou shouldst be ashamed to so strike thy widowed sister."
For a moment Llyd glared into his mother's broad, homely face, then hung his handsome head.
"Why doesn't Llys defend herself then?" he muttered.
"Why should she? She has done naught." Lyonette spat on the floor. "Leave us now. I will have no more of thee."
He went, kicking his heels like the overgrown boy he would always be.
"She means to have him, though" Llys said sadly.
"Unless something better turns up."
The two women looked at each other in genuine sorrow.
Two moons later, Garanwys accepted Llyd as her intended husband, and they became formally betrothed. The women of Eudric's household sighed, and prepared themselves for trouble.
It was not long coming.
Llys was working in the herb garden when her mother came out of the kitchen and sat herself on a stone bench in the spring sunshine.
"We have a problem, dear heart" she said without preamble.
"Garanwys?"
"Yes. She now says she will not marry Llyd while thou art still living in this house."
"And shall I stay here forever, then?"
"There is naught that would please me more. But. She has thy brother and thy father pixie-led."
"I know it. So I am to go."
Llys dusted off her hands and came to sit beside her mother, who looked into her only daughter's calm features and sighed.
"Why does she hate thee so?"
"Because Owen Smith wanted her not."
Lyonette regarded her daughter in a puzzled manner.
"Why would he want her when he had thee?"
"All men must want her. Thou knowest that, Mother mine."
"Aye. I do know. And should one not, it seems her spite follows him even unto death."
"Him and his widow."
Lyonette patted the hand that lay on Llys' lap.
"Sadly. And now I must press thee. Thy father asks what thou wouldst do."
"I know not, Mother. Do I have choices?"
"Thou dost. There have been two offers for thy hand in marriage. There is one offer of a place as a housekeeper. Or thou mayst have a cottage of thine own in the village."
"But I must, indeed, leave my childhood home at the behest of a spiteful woman."
"Thou must."
"Then tell me of these offers."
"The priest requires a housekeeper. The fat innkeeper offers for thy hand in matrimony, as does Aled Sheepherder."
"I would not live alone for the rest of my days, so I must choose one of the other offers."
"Thou must."
"I'll not warm the lustful priest's bed."
"Quiet child. He is a celibate" Lyonette spoke sharply, then looked into her daughter's intelligent eyes and lifted a work-worn hand to her cheek. "Or perchance not..."
"Not" Llys was scornful. "Remember, I lived beside his house while Owen and I were man and wife. So." She wrinkled her smooth forehead. "I'll not take the fat innkeeper neither. He has already worked three wives into their graves. But I like Aled Sheepherder, he was a friend of Owen and he is a kind, good man. Will thou tell my father I will take his offer gladly."
"Gladly?"
"Aye. I will do it with a glad heart and grudge my husband naught. You might also tell Father that I neither cried nor bemoaned my lot. He could have spoken with me himself."
Lyonette smiled sadly. "Not so dear heart. The hurt in thy eyes would have made him uncomfortable." Then she heaved herself onto her feet and made her way back into the house. Llys returned to her weeding.
So it was that straight after matins two days later Llys was wedded to Aled. They stood hand-in-hand at the church door and Lyonette thought what a handsome couple they made, her nut-brown Llys and the tall, dark, black bearded farmer. The parish priest spoke the words grudgingly, inwardly bewailing the fact that the comely young widow would not be warming his own bed. He quickly pronounced the duo married, then stomped off to his breakfast.
The newlyweds endured an awkward breakfast of their own at the great table in her father's house before setting off to walk the league to Aled's farm. Leaving her mother's garden they could both feel Garanwys' eyes boring into their backs.
"That one has hate for thee" Aled remarked.
"I know it. She cannot hate Owen Smith any more, so I must be his substitute."
He made a noise of disgust and tucked his wife's hand under his arm. As they trod the dusty track through the heart of the town, Llys was surprised by how many came out to wish them well and throw flower petals for luck. Aled smiled down at her.
"Thou art popular, wife."
She blushed under his gaze. "Art sure it is not thee?"
Once away from the houses they turned west, and walked the verge of the King's Highway for a short while before taking a well-maintained track into the hills. They had gone only a little way when Aled stopped and turned Llys to face him. He half smiled.
"Is this truly thy will, madam wife?"
She thought she saw a flicker of hurt at the back of his eyes and wondered what caused it, but she met his gaze unflinchingly. "It is, my husband. I wed thee gladly and will grudge thee nothing."
His smile became more genuine and turned a little wicked as he bent to taste her mouth. He lifted his head.
"Nothing? Not even..."
Her cheeks were delicately tinged with pink as she put up a hand to touch his lean, brown cheek.
"Least of all that. Thou knowest I am no virgin, and I hope thou wilt not be shamed when I say I have missed the pleasures of the marriage bed."
His eyes grew hot and he lifted each of her hands to his lips in turn.
"If thou and I were not in full view of whoever might be out on the hill, I would be tempted to take thee here and now on the sweet-smelling grass."
Llys leaned into him and he heard the catch in her breath before holding her away from his body with a strong hand at either shoulder.
She smiled wickedly. "If thou wilt not, thou wilt not. Instead tell me of thy household."
He tucked her hand back under his arm and they began to ascend the track.
"I fear there is much work for thee, my lady wife."
"Thou needest not fear. I like to work."
By the time they crested the rise on which Aled's farm buildings stood, Llys had a pretty firm grip of what awaited her.
An oxcart stood outside the compound, with four men sitting idly on the shafts.
"Oh good" Llys smiled sunnily up at him. "My possessions are arrived."
"Thy possessions?" Aled quirked a brow.
"My spinning wheel. My loom. My clothing. And much else. Didst thou think me destitute?"
He scrubbed a hand over his face before chuckling at his own naivety.
"I gave it no thought."
"And thou hast no need to give it any thought now." She smiled at him, showing small white teeth and healthily pink gums.
His answering smile was a bit rueful. "It looks as if my plans for thee may have to wait."
"May not anticipation add to pleasure, my husband?"
His eyes rested on her hotly, and she swallowed around a sudden lump in her throat.
It took most of the rest of the morning to unload the cart and assemble the loom. By the time the men had finished their work, Llys had found time to organise a midday meal.
Skin deep: part twoAled sat at the head of the table, and enjoyed better food than he had been presented with for a long while.
When the cart was rumbling off down the track, he turned a smiling face to Llys.
"I have a question. How didst thou manage to produce a midday meal amongst the rest of thy endeavours this morning?"
Her smile was entirely self-satisfied.
"My mother and I prepared it before dawn this morning, and it was packed on the cart with everything else."
He laughed appreciatively and bent to kiss her warmly.
"I must be about my work. I will see thee anon."
He went off whistling, leaving Llys to take further stock of her new home.
They supped together in the thickening dusk and Aled found himself admiring how competent Llys seemed to be.
"And hast thou set our house to rights, wife?"
"Not yet. Although I will. This house is in need."
"Aye. So I believe."
She laughed. "Thou will be more comfortable when I am done."
"I am sure I will. Is there aught thou needst?"
"Nay, my husband. Save thy permission to change some things."
"Thou needest no permission. This is thy house."
They talked a little more about generalities, then Aled stood up and offered his hand to Llys. She put her own hand in his and he led her to their bedchamber. At the door he bowed her in.
"I will give thee some moments to make ready."
Llys smiled at him. "Not too long, my husband."
When he entered the room, Llys was sitting up in bed, looking demure, with her unbound hair falling to her waist. Aled's breath hitched, as he wondered what she wore beneath the shining brown cloud. She smiled and patted the bed beside her. He sat and as the mattress moved the curtain of hair shifted, exposing one pink-tipped breast. Almost as if drawn by a magnet, his hand slipped into the glossy brown waves and his thumb caressed her flesh. Llys purred like a contented cat.
"May I look at thee" his voice was hoarse.
She laughed deep in her throat.
"Only if I may look at thee..."
He stood up and scrambled out of his clothes with more haste than dignity. When he looked back Llys was kneeling on the bed looking at him with slumbrous eyes.
"Thou art beautiful" she murmured.
It was his turn to laugh. "And thou art not?"
She crawled to the edge of the bed and into his waiting arms. He bent to kiss her and she bit his lower lip. Hard. After that, it all got a bit heated, culminating in Llys astride his hard, muscular body riding him savagely towards their mutual goal.
A satisfied Llys lay along the hard wall of his chest and he stroked her back. He felt her smile.
"Have I shocked thee?"
"Nay, lady. Do not all men dream of a wanton wife?"
"I know not. I am not a man."
He laughed in genuine amusement and she made as if to roll off him. He tightened his arms around her.
"Art thou sure, I believe I am no light weight."
"I will bear it, and I find I like thee close."
She smiled again and almost immediately drifted into sleep. He stayed awake a little longer just enjoying the feel of skin against skin.
Llys awoke in the strange light of pre-dawn, face-down on the bed. There was a warm weight on her back and a set of teeth grazed the side of her neck. She groaned and lifted her head. Aled raised himself on his elbows and nipped sharply at her nape.
"Wilt thou?"
"I will my husband."
He ran his tongue down her back to the swell of her buttocks before settling between her legs. He put his hands under her hips and lifted her into a kneeling position. She made a little mewing noise, rather like a stroked kitten, which served only to excite him more. As she reared up against him he entered her as smoothly as a warm knife into butter. He groaned and they moved together, as much in accord as if they had been lovers forever.
When they finally collapsed in a sweating heap he rolled off her back and pulled her so they lay spooned together.
"Good morning wife."
"Good morning husband. Dost thou wish to break thy fast?"
"Methinks I already have."
She giggled, then sat up. "And that is why I thought thou might need food."
He ran a hand through his wild black hair, and smiled. "Food would be good."
Llys sat up and patted him, before climbing out of bed and dressing briskly.
That night set a pattern for the newlyweds. Aled and Llys found themselves wholly compatible in bed, and day by day they grew closer in the other areas of their life together.
Llys found herself looking forward to the touch of his big hands in the quiet oasis of their big bed, and she surprised herself by more than liking the quiet, dark man she had married. She thought him fond of her too, except that there was sometimes something in the back of his eyes - a wariness, and a suggestion of hurt. Llys was a patient woman and an intelligent one, so she bided her time and bit her tongue, contenting herself with merely being extra tender whenever she spotted that sorrow in her husband's eyes.
She watched, and considered, and in the end she was forced to admit that there had to be more behind Aled's reticence than simple shyness or him waiting to see whether or not she was to be trusted. Something, or someone, somewhere had given him a distorted image of her, and, sadly, she had more than an inkling of who would have been behind that. Her own father. The greedy man who had gone so far as to include her person in a deal he made with her first husband. Llys wondered what he had demanded from Aled in payment for her body in his bed. She sighed inwardly and bided her time.
By now it was summer, and Llys and Aled made love on the soft green grass of the orchard, and against the cool stone wall of the dairy, and out on the high hills with only the sheep to witness. Llys twined her fingers in his hair and felt him twine his fingers around her heart. And each time they drew close he obviously remembered something and withdrew himself from her. And each time that happened it hurt just a little more. She would almost have preferred him to strike her, as that hurt would heal in time. This might go on forever she thought sadly, even after she found out what her father's greed had prompted him to do.
Summer was over, and autumn was well advanced, when Llys' mother came to visit. She drove herself in a cart pulled by a single slow, patient ox, bringing the goods for which she had bartered at Shrewsbury market. Aled raised one eyebrow and she grinned at him.
"The twenty fleeces thy wife begged of thee have been well used in barter."
He had the grace to blush, and Llys gave him her sweetest smile.
"Next year we will need less of these things..."
He smiled down at her. "Thou hast already worked miracles. I will send some lads to unload."
When the cart was unloaded, mother and daughter sat beside a roaring fire.
"Mother..."
"What ails thee, dear one?"
"I need to know what Father has done."
"Done?"
"Something has given Aled the idea that I may not be honest."
Her mother looked grim. "That sounds as if thy father's hand may have been involved. I will find thy answers. But it may take some while."
"I will wait. And I would not ask this of thee if it were not that I..."
"Dost love him?"
"Aye. I believe I do."
After the midday meal, Llys' mother climbed into the cart and headed for home. Aled put an arm about his wife's shoulders.
"I like thy mother. She is almost as serene as thee."
"She would be more serene, but her life does not permit. I am lucky. Thou dost not test my serenity in the ways my father tests hers."
He pondered that one for a moment, and Alys could almost hear him thinking about her father's meanness and his reputation as a philanderer, then he nodded briefly.
"Nor will I. Ever."
"I did not think thou would."
They went inside together, and somehow found themselves walking hand in hand into the bedchamber. He smiled down into her eyes.
"Why lady, how comes it that we find ourselves here?"
She laughed low in her throat. "I know not, my husband. Hast any idea?"
He reached out and pulled the scrap of ribbon from the end of her braid running his fingers through the brown waves before unlacing her bodice and cradling her breasts in his big hands. She purred like a satisfied cat and he lifted her onto the big wide bed. Later as she lay in his arms he leaned on his elbows and smiled down into her fair face.
"Wanton wench."
"Flatterer."
He laughed delightedly and bent to nibble her lower lip.
"Would that I could stay in thy arms all day. But I cannot. I must work."
He rolled out of bed, while Llys sat up and began rebraiding her hair.
He dressed swiftly and went off whistling.
He returned much later to find Llys at her loom. Coming to stand behind her he looked at the cloth she was making.
"That is beautiful. I didst not know thou was so talented."
She smiled up at him, only to see the cold suspicion back in his eyes. She kept her face calm, and spoke with her usual gentleness, although her heart felt like lead in her breast.
"It's only weaving, not so much a talent as a skill." She got up from her work. "Food?"
"Aye. That would be perfect."
The months passed and full winter arrived with all its bitter chills. Fortunately there was no snow on the day that Aled and Llys were ordered to attend the castle, where the new county sergeant was on a visit of inspection. It was very cold though, and Aled looked at his wife in genuine concern.
"Wilt thou be warm enough?"
She smiled.
"Aye. I think I shall not freeze. I have warm clothing enough, and I have had them put hot stones in the cart to warm our feet."
"Thou thinkest of everything."
They looked each other up and down, and grinned their approval.
Aled looked handsome in Lincoln green, and Llys wore earth brown wool, which she had woven on the loom downstairs.
At the door, Aled took her cloak in his own hands and wrapped her in its warm folds, then looked a little surprised at the thick, soft woollen cotte lined with sheepskin the old servant handed him.
"This is not mine."
Llys smiled. "It is. A gift for thee."
He raised her hand to his lips. "Timely. My thanks."
She coloured under his gaze and he bent to whisper something in her ear. She slapped his arm and giggled.
The ground was iron hard, but the sturdy cob in the traces was surefooted and their driver careful. The cart arrived at the castle gate without mishap. They descended and the old shepherd drove off to Eudric Clothmerchant's house, where he would stable the cob and wait in the warm.
Aled drew his wife's hand through his arm and they took their place in the line of folk being presented to the brawny, hard-bellied, red-faced figure of the sergeant. He nodded briefly to Aled and paid Llys the dubious compliment of a widening of his small, suspicious eyes at the sight of her smooth, fair face. She curtseyed demurely and the couple passed into the great hall. Llys could see her family over by one of the huge fires that attempted to warm the room. She turned towards the other fireplace and Aled patted her hand.
"Dost not wish to see thy family?"
"My mother, aye. My father, my brother and Garanwys, less so."
He laughed and steered her to a group of farming families, into which they were soon absorbed.
There was a good deal of gossip and laughter, and Llys leaned against her husband's warm bulk. He chafed her shoulders with his big hands and the wife of one of the other farmers smiled her understanding.
"It matters not how much wood they pile on the fires, this hall is ever cold."
"Aye" her stout balding spouse seconded the comment. "I think t'is the stone sucks all the warmth from the air."
"I know not the why" Llys said quietly "but the cold gets into the bones."
Aled was tall enough to see across the hall, and he bent his head to her ear.
"Thy brother's betrothed obviously doesn't feel cold."
Llys quirked a mobile brow.
"No cloak for Mistress Garanwys. She is all tricked out in her finest gown and has her breasts on a plate for every man's eyes."
Llys sighed and he kissed her cheek.
"My brother is such a fool" she said sadly.
Skin deep: part three"Never mind, love. We can leave now if thou wouldst."
"Art sure? I would not have my squeamishness cause thee trouble."
"Nay love. The arrivals have stopped and we were not bidden to eat. We can make our reverence to the castellan and slip away."
"Thou will not be alone. Most of us are for home now."
The farming contingent filed past the silver-haired castellan, who smiled on them all, and made their way out onto the bitter cold. Aled and Llys hurried along the frozen ruts to Eudric's house. To Llys' surprise, their cart was just about ready for them, including fresh hot stones for their feet.
"Heard we did about that Garanwys going up to the castle dressed like a trollop. Thought thee would not stay overlong. Set the lad to keep watch." The old timer who drove the cart showed his lack of teeth in a conspiratorial grin.
Aled handed his wife into the seat and wrapped them both in a sheepskin blanket. She turned into his arms, and he was surprised to feel the wetness of tears against his neck.
"What ails thee?" he asked gently.
"It's shaming" she whispered. "Shaming that one who calls herself betrothed flaunts her body as she does. And shaming that my own brother allows her to behave thusly."
"Love makes fools of us all." There was a world of sadness in his voice, but he stroked her back and she slowly regained her composure.
That night, their lovemaking was almost breathtakingly tender and after Aled drifted into sleep in her arms Llys lay awake for a long time just listening to him breathe.
The next morning they were up early, as there was wool to be delivered to the castle with a snowstorm threatening. Llys waved her husband away with a smile and went about her household duties with her usual air of unruffled calm.
She was at her loom when the cart rolled back into the farmstead. It was earlier than expected, and Aled came quickly to her side.
"I fear there is trouble in thy father's house."
She turned to face him.
"Garanwys?"
"Aye." He squared his shoulders. "I spoke with some friends in the castle guard. They say Garanwys came to the gate last night, as bold as brass, and asked to see the sergeant. He had her brought to the guardroom and she smiled at him. The men who were on guard told me he walked over to her and put his hands to the neck of her gown tearing it down to her waist, exposing her breasts to the eyes of everyone in the place. Then he put his hands up under her skirts and hauled her roughly to him. They say she laughed as he threw her over his shoulder and strode off to his bedchamber. The groom of the chambers avers that they could hear her screams and groans all the way along the top corridor of the keep. There is little more to tell thee, save that the sergeant and his men left at first light, with Garanwys perched astride the crupper of his horse like the cheap drab she undoubtedly is."
Llys put her hands on her suddenly hot cheeks.
"Oh no." She laughed harshly. "Though I doubt not that my brother is better off without her."
"He is, though I fear he will take some convincing..."
Llys walked into Aled's arms and he was surprised to find her shaking.
"It is none of thy fault..."
"Oh. I know. But my poor foolish brother...."
"Love makes fools of us all." Llys felt him tense and draw away so she sniffed loudly and then blew her nose on a scrap of rag.
"I am sorry. I was behaving foolishly."
He gave her a little pat on her arm, then smote his forehead with the heel of his hand.
"I forgot. I beg pardon. Thy mother left a note for thee in the guard chamber."
He handed her a sheet of parchment sealed with an ungainly blob of red wax and made to move away. Llys stayed him with her hand on his arm.
"Wait, please, I have no secrets from thee."
He looked puzzled, but pleased, and waited while she broke the seal and read the short missive in her mother's laboured hand. When she raised her eyes to his face he was surprised to see them bright with unshed tears.
"I'm sorry, Aled" she said brokenly. "So sorry." Then she could speak no more.
He took the note from her hand and read it aloud in his deep melodious voice.
"Llys. It is as thou feared. Thy father has indeed a hand in thy husband's mistrust of thee. When thou didst agree to wed him it was the fourth time he had asked for thy hand not the first as we did think. Thrice before thy father had told him that his suit was not to thy taste. That he was not wealthy or important enough for thee. The fourth time he did say unto Aled that thou must wed and he was the least unpleasant to thee of those who were foolish enough to want thy hand. I am sorry."
Llys sat back on her stool. She was the picture of abject misery, and Aled could scarcely bear the look in her eyes. He crouched down beside her and took her hands.
"My poor dear" he said softly. "Given in marriage at the behest of a drab, then caught between thy husband's pride and thy father's perfidy."
He stood up and pulled her to her feet.
"Come. We need to talk."
He strode to the bedchamber with Llys following obediently in his wake. Shutting the door firmly he took her in his arms and squeezed her tightly.
"Oh Llys. What a fool I am."
She looked at him and her tear-drenched eyes kindled with impotent fury.
"I would quite like to kill my father. But only after I have beaten thee to a bloody pulp. Why didst thou not talk to me? Surely by now thou knowest I would not lie."
He looked ashamed.
"I do know it. But I feared to hear the truth."
She looked incredulously at him.
"Thou wast afeared to speak to me and I was afeared to speak to thee... I will kill my father."
He laughed shakily then took her smooth, round face in his big hands.
"Dost think thou could begin to love me?"
She smiled into his eyes.
"Too late for beginning. I do love thee with all mine heart. And thou knowest that if thou didst but think." Then she blushed rosy pink. "And thou. Couldst thou begin to love me."
His smile was the tenderest thing she had ever seen.
"Too late for beginning" he quoted back at her "I do love thee with all mine heart. And thou knowest..."
And then, of course, the big wide bed called them and they settled the last of their worries with kisses and caresses.
Uncaring what anyone thought of them, Aled and Llys spent the rest of that day curled together in their bed, making love and talking. When hunger reared its head, they ate together in quiet contentment, watching big fat snowflakes fall from a yellowish grey sky, before returning to bed.
A long while later, as the firelight painted rosy pictures on her skin, Llys cradled Aled's head to her breast.
"Art awake?"
"I am" she could feel his mouth against her skin.
"Good. I have a gift for thee."
He lifted himself on one elbow.
"Thou hast?"
"Aye."
She took his free hand and placed it on her belly.
For a moment the significance of that action passed him by, then a slow smile spread across his face.
"Dost thou mean?"
"I do. Come the summer you will be a father."
He gathered her to him as gently as if she was made of the finest priceless glass.
"And I will see a babe at thy breast..."
"Aye my love. Thou wilt."
They lay quietly for a long time and in the end Llys had the final say.
"Thank you Garanwys" she said softly.
Sadly. Wet Ceramic Lube turns out to be something you spray on bicycle chains....*sighs disappointedly*
PS New headless torso development. Now they have tattoos. Okay till their tits sag!
1. Skin Deep was super aww. And I dig the title.2. The truth about wet ceramic lube? Highly disappointing.
3. Sagging tattoos. Hmm... a new type of shifter? XP
1. Thanks Annie.2. And yes, wet ceramic lube really is a disappointment.
3. Saggy tattoos would have to be among the most off putting sights to approach one across the bedroom carpet
Sold my very first paperback book today. Nearly had a conniption fit I was so excited.....
Mod
Thank you GG, Christina and Alex.Currently I'm like a sixty-something five-year-old....
I totally thought I already posted my congrats here! I guess not so super duper congratulatory hugs for you Miss Jane!! That is awesome!!!
Nice one, Jane!! Paperbacks sales are tough to break into! :)
Congrats! Paperbacks can be a tough sell. :D
Many, many, many, many, many, many congrats, Jane!!! ;)
Jane wrote: "Sold my very first paperback book today. Nearly had a conniption fit I was so excited....."Yesss! So much molly fluffin' yessssss!!
*ahem*
Congrats, ma'am ^_~
Bolded Hearts has done it again.... Thanks to India Emerald for such a kind review....Blushes
So. We all know about our sales flat lining. (Or I'm assuming it isn't just me.)How do we react?
We can:
Laugh
Cry
Have a beer
Change all our covers to headless torsos with six packs and implied big schlongs
Answers on the back of a twenty :-)
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Nah...seriously, no matter how tempting it is, I like to think that my male characters have a head on top of their sculpted torsos. :P
The six pack with the hands covering the Crown Jewels as a marketing ploy - especially for the book that has no humans in itt. Think it'll work?
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Hadn't thought of that GG.... Hmmm...But there is humans in JC. In Aaspa's Eyes there are none. There's elves, fairies, dwarves, spiders, ogres, nary a puny human... (unless you count Very Naughty Vsmpires)
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That SIAFBB Thing is happeneing, and you signed up for it.
!
You're set! No more need to worry.
However, chocolate helps with flat dementors! (but not the busty ones)
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But there is humans in JC. In Aaspa's Eyes there are none. There's elves, fairies, dwarves, spiders, ogres, nary a puny human... (unless you count Very Naught..."
But you do like I saw before. Put the torso green, purple, or purple depending on your story. :P Add a third nipples, I don't know, but I am sure it would be feasible. :P
I absolutely understand, Jane. I'm right there with you. But as CB says, we have the event coming up. That should help. And if not, third nipple torsos are always an option. ;)
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I'm sorry, Jane. For everything I've been learning, it's all about continuously putting forth the effort and, eventually, you see those efforts pay off. Someone compared it the other day to getting one of those old-style hand pump wells going for the first time. You have to pump the thing for what feels like forever and the whole time you're seeing zero results. Then all of a sudden, mojo finally kicks in and things start flowing like crazy! Then the effort isn't nearly so much to maintain it and you actually have to contain the force!Keep working and leading people to your book. Then others will start leading them too.
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Lol
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Yes, Jane - be sure and be in the SIAFBB, is what I meant. :D
That will help! Because of reasons!
I've noticed my page reads and sales went kaput in the least two weeks. No idea why. So, you're not alone. Must be something in the air.And CB does NOT have three nipples. I don't have proof. It's just a gut feeling. :P
C.B. wrote: "I'm not some kind of kitty shifter! :DOh, you're not. *walks away dejectedly*
I've actually had sales... though nothing awesome. But I'm all for doing some sales seance. Let's all gather around the ouji board and have the spirits tell us the magical potion that will pull in fans.Or, we can do the SIAFBB event... which I signed up for. And another event. Who knows... You might get peaks in your valleys!
Great! You need to make sure you have a chicken ready, to put on your head. The ghosts like that.All the promoing actually wears me out. I lose track of stuff, though I have spreadsheets spelling it all out, telling me what to do. I have to let it all 'go dry' before I pick something else up. I'm odd that way.
Spreadsheets. Eek!*runs from thread screaming*
PS Not actually fretting about lack of sales. S'life. Just thought it'd be good to share my flatlining in a silly sort of way as a kinda gesture of solidarity.....
Guys, no chasing Jane from her own thread. Use a Power Point presentation next time. ;P
That's it I'm having a headless bloody torso on all my books (except Bolded Hearts of course).Now all I need is a model. Any volunteers.....
It may be painful, especially if Annie Arcane acts as my assistant. But think of it as art.*hides hacksaw and zip ties*
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*smiles widely and puts down trail of double chocolate brownies*
Jane wrote: "It may be painful, especially if Annie Arcane acts as my assistant. But think of it as art.*hides hacksaw and zip ties*"
You beckoned, ma'am? ^_~
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+1 bazillion LOL