Land Ho!

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 4th August 2011

Characters: Parale, Ioven, Syren, Venrys
Description: Parale sees their quarters and figures out it's not going to work.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 11, day 21 of Turn 5

They had gotten off the boat, finally. Parale had come on land, looked
up into the sky, and taken her first real look at Sunstone Seahold.
Happy, she had herded the girls and followed Ioven to find out where
their quarters were so she could unpack, eat, and rest. She'd see the
Headwoman to introduce herself later.

"Is it this way?" she asked, knowing she was probably likely to get lost
for awhile.

The girls were proving hard to keep corralled as they set foot on
familiar territory again. Venrys hurried on ahead, calling, "Follow me!
I know the way!"

"Me too! Me too! This way!" Syren said with a bit of a jump as she
hurried towards the main Hold.

"Follow the girls," Ioven nodded, as he helped the boy he had hired on
the dock to help them with their bags and trunks. "We'll be right
behind. Oh oh oh!" He caught the bag that threatened to tip off the
back of the cart as the straps were loosened.

"Venling, slow down! I haven't gotten rid of my sea legs yet!" Parale
warned as she hurried to catch up, grabbing their hands. That was as
much to keep them near as it was to assure herself that she wasn't all
alone. She kept looking as they walked, taking in the sights and sounds.

The girls talked as they climbed the slope up towards the Hold, throwing
out names of people and places as they passed them, excited to share
their home with Parale. "That's Ferna's cot!" "That's where I tripped
and fell and scraped my knee!" "That tree is a citron tree!" "That's
called a terrace!" "This is the Hold entrance!"

"Oh, this is nice..." Parale was used to the mountains and stone of
Garnet Valley. This was definitely a change. It was a lot warmer and she
tried not to notice. When they came inside, she waited for the girls to tell
her where to go.

"This way," Venrys said as she weaved and pulled Parale through the
corridors and up the stairs.

"I hear the Harpers classes!" Syren cried happily, as the sound of
children's voices singing reached their ears, knowing their friends
would be there now.

"You'll get to go back to them tomorrow," Parale reminded her, following
Venrys carefully. "And I'll get to meet some of the other women..."

"Here we are! This is it!" Syren cried loudly, jumping and yanking on
Parale's arm in her excitement.

Venrys' face fell slightly. "Daddy has the key." They couldn't get in
just yet.

"Does he now?" Parale lifted up her fingers which held a key. She shook
it and then put it into the door, opening it. She allowed the girls into the
rooms, then walked behind them, shutting the door as she took her first
look at her new life as a wife.

"Yay!" both girls cheered as they squeezed past her and into their
home. "Come on, Syren! It's our old room!" Syren skipped after her,
rediscovering their rooms once more.

"Once your father gets here, we'll decide what we're going to do. It
might be good to have a nap." While the girls were sleeping, she could
get work done. And there was a lot to do.

"No!" Venrys whined. "It's too early for that!"

"Yeah! I want to play," Syren complained, her brow furrowing slightly
in worry that Parale might be serious.

"No playing until you're unpacked," Ioven puffed as he and the young man
set a large trunk on the floor just inside the door.

"Ah well that settles that. Girls, when you see your trunks, you know
what to do." Parale was going to be starving once she made some serious
inroads on the pile of stuff.

"Your trunks will be next," Ioven warned, nodding to his helper to lead
the way back down to the waiting cart.

"Parale, come see my room," Syren said taking her step-mother's hand.

"_Our_ room," Venrys reminded her as she turned on the ball of her foot
and walk towards the open door to their room.

She willingly followed, looking around at the girls' accommodations. Her
mind was curious to see if there were any obviously female touches in
the appointments.

"Are you going to sleep here with us too?" Syren asked as she climbed up
onto the bed.

"It's bigger than Daddy's room," Venrys noted as she hitched her leg up
onto the mattress.

"It is?" She immediately became curious about that. That wasn't usually
how it went, she remembered. "Oh no lovie..a wife always sleeps with
her husband."

Syren looked a little disappointed by that, but it was quickly forgotten.
"Hey! Our toys!"

Venrys remembered that they had packed some of their things away before
they left, not to take on the trip but to keep them safe while they were
away. She pulled open the closet to find their long forgotten items.

"Don't get too caught up. Your trunks are here. Come and get them and
start straightening up," she herself headed back into the main room and
then into the other bedchamber to look it over. The furniture was sturdy
and well made, but it was quite spartan and small. Parale's things would
never fit.

Ioven was thinking the same thing as he stood in the door behind her.
"I always thought it looked... bigger. Big enough, at least."

"What are we going to do?" She frowned, trying to think. There probably
wasn't storage. She could stack the bulk of her stuff against the wall for
now, but it wasn't what she wanted. Unsure of herself already, this was
making it worse.

"Well," he sighed, bracing his hands on either side of the door jam,
looking around, trying to work it out but coming back to the same,
simple solution. "I guess after I bring in the last of the trunks I'll
go down to the Headwoman and see if we can't get something... more
suitable to our changed situation."

"Please. I'd hate to unpack all of it only to have to pack and unpack
again." She would if she had to, but the holder in her refused to accept
such waste.

"I'll do that," he nodded. "Girls," he called over his shoulder, "Just
put your stuff in your room. Don't worry about unpacking it now. Get
your stuff in there and then go ahead and go play. I'm pretty sure I
heard Harper Classes finishing." And it would be better to have them
out from under foot while they tried to fit everything somewhere. "For
now," he said turning back to Parale, "I'll get the boy to help me move
that dresser out into the living area behind the chairs. It will be a
little cramped, but we have the table and it would be better than
keeping your trunks out there."

She nodded, accepting that. Ioven would try to fix it. She would see how
he fared in this first test of being a husband.

Last updated on the November 6th 2011

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Land Ho!