me... deigns to give me the time of day! I am at my wits end with that... that... jackass! No matter what I say nor do, he refuses to explain just what the problem is, what I may or may not have done wrong! I am sick of trying to please him, so sick that I could just scream, and now I've seen that that would not help either! I've tried to use all the niceties at my disposal and all I get in return is a grunt, if that, and then some stupid excuse that he's needed at the stables, the garden, the training grounds, or wherever he can come up with off the top o' his head as if I canna see he is making excuses every day not to see me, to hear me, to be one damn foot away from me!”
Despite her obvious anger, warranted though it was, Declan could see and feel the strong undercurrent of hurt she was barely managing to keep hidden; her eyes certainly told the story, loudly. Shadowed by grief, the fire usually in their depths was hardly at a smolder. Laying aside the book he'd been quite enjoying, the man used a toe to push the ottoman it had been resting on just a few inches closer. Sighing, Ailill sat, her spine straight as a board, distinctly uncomfortable. As always, the openness in her cousin's eyes put her at ease. Or at least calmed her enough to take a much needed breath, slowly calming herself even as her mouth opened then shut when he flashed her a raised brow.
“ Tiernan isna trying to hurt ye, lass, but I will say that he is aware that your hurt and anger have become a byproduct of his abrupt dismissal of you. He doesna mean for things to go this badly, but he has a problem with ye of late that he canna overcome just so easily.” Eyes of the brightest emerald flashed with feeling as the man glanced down at his wee protege. To say he felt bad for her was putting this whole stramash a bit too mildly. She was feeling broken, in heart and hence in spirit.
“ Aye? And just what the hell does that mean?”
Surprised, Declan shook his head, stood and went to the sideboard for the decanter of whiskey he'd been sipping on the past few days. After pouring out two fingers for himself, and casting a glance at the anger brewing once more in the impatient girl's face, he splashed a bit more in a second glass and handed it to her. She took it grudgingly, swallowed dutifully and handed back the empty cup, all the while giving him a look that would brook none of his usual happy-go-lucky crap.
“ It means, lass, that Tiernan is also at his wits end... with you. He loves ye, always has, always will, but yer too young for what he wants, and yer geise will forever hold you back from all that he believes you should share, alone, together. In the eyes of the Elders, you are passing the age when ye should have been finding the lost ones, carrying on with the life yer meant to lead. To Tiernan, ye are a child yet, missing out on the childhood he feels that you deserve. He doesna wish to keep ye from any of the happy memories you will accrue.”
“ Does he not realize that all o' my happy memories have always been shared with him since I was four years old? That, without him there to encourage me, to keep me sane , my life, my geise would not be worth all this effort?”
“ Perhaps not. I truly canna answer that, Ailill.”
Standing, she slipped over to the window, gazing out over the craggy peaks off in the distance. Declan seemed to prefer the solitude of this old hunting lodge at the oddest times, had been here a few days already, completely alone by her estimation. It was certainly odd. He actually got sick of being around other people all the time, no matter that all adored him, held him in the highest esteem and treated him accordingly. Then again, he had never been what everyone else believed. Nay, only she was privy to his secrets, and not too many of those were shared with Herself, either.
“ I ken he loves me, Declan, for he told me that on my last birthday. He kissed me,” she admitted softly, her eyes continuing to roam
Despite her obvious anger, warranted though it was, Declan could see and feel the strong undercurrent of hurt she was barely managing to keep hidden; her eyes certainly told the story, loudly. Shadowed by grief, the fire usually in their depths was hardly at a smolder. Laying aside the book he'd been quite enjoying, the man used a toe to push the ottoman it had been resting on just a few inches closer. Sighing, Ailill sat, her spine straight as a board, distinctly uncomfortable. As always, the openness in her cousin's eyes put her at ease. Or at least calmed her enough to take a much needed breath, slowly calming herself even as her mouth opened then shut when he flashed her a raised brow.
“ Tiernan isna trying to hurt ye, lass, but I will say that he is aware that your hurt and anger have become a byproduct of his abrupt dismissal of you. He doesna mean for things to go this badly, but he has a problem with ye of late that he canna overcome just so easily.” Eyes of the brightest emerald flashed with feeling as the man glanced down at his wee protege. To say he felt bad for her was putting this whole stramash a bit too mildly. She was feeling broken, in heart and hence in spirit.
“ Aye? And just what the hell does that mean?”
Surprised, Declan shook his head, stood and went to the sideboard for the decanter of whiskey he'd been sipping on the past few days. After pouring out two fingers for himself, and casting a glance at the anger brewing once more in the impatient girl's face, he splashed a bit more in a second glass and handed it to her. She took it grudgingly, swallowed dutifully and handed back the empty cup, all the while giving him a look that would brook none of his usual happy-go-lucky crap.
“ It means, lass, that Tiernan is also at his wits end... with you. He loves ye, always has, always will, but yer too young for what he wants, and yer geise will forever hold you back from all that he believes you should share, alone, together. In the eyes of the Elders, you are passing the age when ye should have been finding the lost ones, carrying on with the life yer meant to lead. To Tiernan, ye are a child yet, missing out on the childhood he feels that you deserve. He doesna wish to keep ye from any of the happy memories you will accrue.”
“ Does he not realize that all o' my happy memories have always been shared with him since I was four years old? That, without him there to encourage me, to keep me sane , my life, my geise would not be worth all this effort?”
“ Perhaps not. I truly canna answer that, Ailill.”
Standing, she slipped over to the window, gazing out over the craggy peaks off in the distance. Declan seemed to prefer the solitude of this old hunting lodge at the oddest times, had been here a few days already, completely alone by her estimation. It was certainly odd. He actually got sick of being around other people all the time, no matter that all adored him, held him in the highest esteem and treated him accordingly. Then again, he had never been what everyone else believed. Nay, only she was privy to his secrets, and not too many of those were shared with Herself, either.
“ I ken he loves me, Declan, for he told me that on my last birthday. He kissed me,” she admitted softly, her eyes continuing to roam
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