Forgiveness is Divine // Laeghton

[Lord Laeghton Mercer]

Laeghton was, by nature, a caretaker. That was what he always reminded himself of when he was stuck in hard times. He'd always taken good care of his friends, and of those he had many, but had often come up short of taking care of himself. Of course, right now that was no matter. He didn't care if he were dying . He'd take care of his sister over anyone. She was nervous to be here, he knew, but he also knew that it would get better. It had to, or his attempts were in vain.

He laughed nervously in response to her acute sound, choosing to brush off all compliments she paid. They were not quite true anyhow. Aye, he had given her that, partly because he'd been such a bad brother to her to not write as oft as he should. "You're sweet, Wrennie, but I'm not that good. However, my dear," he pulled the locket out of its place beneath his shirt, "I still have this." He smiled softly and continued, "It's yours, I know. I've worn it for five long years, now, because it was the one part of you I had. Mother sent it to me after Father--" Goddamit. He should not have said that. That wound was not something that he had intended on opening yet, because he knew how detrimental it would be to his sister. He looked at her with a petrified stare for only a second before (as usual) trying to pass it off unnoticed.

But she was smart, she knew. For the love of God, he wished he hadn't said it, though, because she didn't know that two and a half years ago, their father had committed suicide. After finding a young girl's body strewn in a creek that was much too decomposed to identify, he had simply had enough. He did not want to live in a world of such chaos. But Wren Rae did not yet know he was gone... And she, in the condition she was in, would blame herself. Damn.

He thought he could see her relax more as she sipped her tea. Hopefully it was helping. "I don't care who hates me or who doesn't. I have been rather selfish lately, anyway, always stuck up in my castle drinking and pretending to care about Avonderre. And I do hope so. Teas are wonderful," he smiled at her. He wouldn't tell her what he'd put in it. That wasn't something she needed to know right now, because now she only needed to heal herself, from the outside in. He sure couldn't see any, because she'd probably gotten good at hiding them, but he knew there were bruises beneath that dress. He would make her better, he swore.

He continued to draw even breaths, focusing on calming his too-sudden temper. "Don't thank me," he said weakly. Then he saw something gather in her eyes, and he didn't really know what it was. It was like... fear. And then she revealed what had been welling up there for a while now. God save her, she'd killed him? Laeghton worked to cover his surprise, and he came off easy, with just a raised eyebrow and a slight frown. After a silence, he said simply, "Sometimes God has martyrs do reckless things. You get what you give, I suppose." He liked to think that if one was good, that good would be given them, but it didn't seem that way to Wren Rae. Her husband, he may have gotten what he deserved. But neither Wrennie nor Laeghton had gotten a fair bargain.

Perhaps, he chanced to think, it would come soon. He hugged his dear sister to him and prayed to a god that he didn't understand.

STATUS complete TAG Wrennie ATTIRE click me
LYRICS Broken Things; Ryan Kelly NOTES alas, there are none.
COPYRIGHT Flik of Roleplaying Extras

[Wren Rae Mercer]

Wren Rae shook her head. “You were always good to me…” She looked up at him. “You still are. If you were not good, Laeghton, you would not be standing here trying to convince me of the worth that I lost when I was in Tyrian.” She shuddered speaking the name. She watched as she pulled his locket…her locket…from in under his shirt. Her eyes lit up with remembrance. “I remember that locket…I missed it so when I was away…” She looked at him and smiled. “Father gave it to me…I’m glad that you took care of it. And I am glad it could provide you a semblance of solace…even for a short while.

Wren Rae did not miss the slip, the sudden stop in the middle of the sentence. She cocked her head. “After father…?” she prompted, though she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Did something happen to him? You said that everything was fine…everyone was fine…” She searched his face for the truth, a soft ache already forming in her heart. She had missed her father so while she was in Tyrian, writing nearly as many letters to him as she had to Laeghton. Though she had been her mother’s little angel, she had always been her father’s little girl. She would not say that she had loved him best, as she had loved both her parents equally as a child, but she held fond memories of sitting with her father as he read and she practiced her embroidery. If something had happened to him…

“Laeghton…” she said, almost scolding. “You are one of the least selfish men I’ve ever met.” She looked at her locket where it lay against his neck. “You were hurting, because of my own selfishness. Just because you needed time to mourn…that doesn’t make you selfish.” She shook her head. “If I hadn’t gone out to the apothecary that night…I never would have run into them…and I would have been able to stay in Solraya. You would not have had a reason to mourn.” She brushed at her eyes.

Wren Rae saw the surprise and didn’t miss the frown that crossed Laeghton’s features. She buried her face in her hands, already halfway to sobbing. She had been able to stop herself from talking about the unpleasantness since it happened, but saying the words all of a sudden made it more real to her. She really had committed an act against God, and her brother too, much as he tried to hide it, at best disapproved of what she had done. She shook her head, sinking into one of the chairs again. “I didn’t mean it Laegh…I swear I didn’t mean to do it. I was so afraid…he was going to force himself on me…I grabbed a candlestick and…and…” She now wept openly. “There was so much blood… and now I will be barred from entering heaven for my sin…”

She felt Laeghton wrap his arms around her and she cried into his shoulder. “I’m so sorry Laeghton…I…I’m out of composure…”

[Lord Laeghton Mercer]

With a sympathetic smile, Laeghton tried not to hear what she was saying. He had proof himself that he was to blame, so why did she keep saying otherwise? He shook his head. Best not worry about himself right now, for he wasn't who he was concerned about. "It was all I had of you. Would you like it back?" he asked, averting the subject and moving his hands to remove the locket in case she wanted it back-- after all, she was back home and he didn't need it anymore.

She noticed. He wished to God he hadn't said that, but now she was curious and he hand to tell her. What was the best way to do this? There was no good way to say this. He took a step toward Wren Rae and held one of her hands in his. "Wren Rae," he started. He was pathetic. "Wrennie, three years ago we found a body in the forest outside Solraya. He told himself it could only be you and... I'm so sorry Wrennie. He's gone to where he feared you were. He always said you were his angel." A couple tears made their way down Laeghton's cheek. He wanted her to understand that he wasn't trying to hide things from her-- all he wanted to do was let her heal the wounds she'd already gotten.

He didn't want to see her eyes when she understood, because she had loved their father so dearly. She'd had more time with him than Laeghton, because of his schooling in France and his moving to Avonderre. But Wren Rae had spent so much time with him... And Laeghton did not want to break her heart, poor girl. He knew how much she needed to heal from her scars, and her bruises. He had to take care of her, and so far he wasn't doing too well.

He hugged her. He couldn't say anything else, because he didn't want to talk about himself. He was selfish, but she didn't understand it. He could only help her right now. Laeghton was a caretaker by nature, to everyone but himself. He stepped back and said, "It couldn't be your fault. God led you somewhere, and now he's brought you back. Don't you ever blame yourself, Wren Rae." He tried to assure her with a broken smile, but he knew that he couldn't do that yet. He was just glad she was here.

Laeghton encircled her in his arms again and tried not to show his afflicted emotions. But he let go and she sunk into a chair, without making eye contact with him. What could he do? His words were not of much use, it seemed, but he could try anyway. "You know for certain he died?" Laeghton wanted to try and make this less than it was. He knew some medical things. If he could ease this pain in any way, he would. "You'll not be barred from heaven. You're our Angel, Wrennie," he said softly. If anyone had done the unforgiveable, it was he, who had tried suicide twice.

But if there were ever something he'd not tell Wrennie, it was just that.

STATUS complete TAG Wrennie ATTIRE click me
LYRICS Broken Things; Ryan Kelly NOTES alas, there are none.
COPYRIGHT Flik of Roleplaying Extras

[Wren Rae Mercer]

Wren Rae laid a hand on Laeghton’s to stay his as he reached to take it off. She shook her head slowly. “Thank you Laeghton. It is kind of you to try to return it to me but…I think it is in better hands with you. You’ve taken care of it this far.” She let her eyes linger on where it hung on his neck. “Besides, it looks better on you anyway.” She let her hands fall to her sides once more.

Wren Rae had not known that her heart could shatter more completely than it already had. Her father…dead? She shook her head, not wanting to believe it. “But papa…he…he can’t be…” She closed her eyes against the fresh onslaught of tears. “Father…he can’t be…” Her body trembled with the sobs she was holding in. How had she torn her family apart so much by making one stupid decision? Perhaps God had taken her father away because he knew that she would kill her husband in the end. God was omnipotent after all.

She buried her face in her brother’s chest as he hugged her tightly. She had hoped to apologize for the trouble that she had caused the family, but now…now her father was in the ground. And she had put him there. “Can…can I go to him…one day I mean…to say goodbye?” she asked, her voice shaking so much she wasn’t sure if Laeghton would even be able to understand her request.


“I…I wish that were true Laeghton…” she said. “But…I know that I have been led home by the grace of the almighty. For that I am grateful, and I am even more grateful that you chose to receive me into your life once more.” She gently pulled at a fraying string.

She shook her head. “How could he not have died? I struck him a heavy blow and the blood…there was so much of it.” She looked at the floor with fear in her eyes, seeing his body and the pool of blood in her mind’s eye. She had dreamt about it every night she was at Aislynn’s home. “As unchristian as it is…I do hope it…that I killed him…because I couldn’t bear having come home only to be forced to return once more. It would almost certainly spell the death I so longed for in my marriage…” she said softly. “I do hope you are right. That even with all these impure thoughts, I would be allowed within the gates of heaven.”

[Lord Laeghton Mercer]

He looked at her, head cocked and eyebrows raised, not sure what she was saying because it wouldn't process in his mind. It was her locket, not his. But she told him to keep it, so he would. He dropped his hand from where it hovered above his neck, and let the locket hang on his chest, between to two sides of his slightly opened shirt. "You sure?" he asked, not sure why this was having such an effect on him. Or maybe he was having some sort of alcohol-related mental block.

Laeghton met her desperate sobs with tears of his own, and grabbed her to him. Now, he was the only man in her life, and he had to be there for her, strong and steadfast. If she was going to ever get any better, she had to have a good man there for her for once. But right now, Laeghton was having a bit of trouble holding himself together. He hadn't cried for his father in over a year, though it was hard to say that he'd cried over one person and not another; all the tears simply fell together. "Shhh..." he whispered, stroking her hair and trying not to let his guard down too much. "He's better now. He's... watching over his angel... bringing her back to me." Laeghton tried so very hard to make this easy.

When she looked up, he read the guilt in her eyes like a book; it was written all over her face. How could he convince her otherwise? "It's not your fault, Wrennie. My God, you didn't force yourself away." To her question, he creased his brow. But he understood. It was very early for her to be asking such a thing. "Well, yes, Wrennie, one day. Not anytime soon. And not until I know you can handle your lot. You'll be strong again one day, Wren Rae. But let me be your strength for now." He'd rambled a bit, but it had all come from the heart. He had to heal her. Had to.

"How could I ever deny my angel entrance to her home?" She lived here too. What was his, he would always be willing to share with her, no matter what or when or why.

He looked her in the eye with sympathy. Poor, poor thing. No one he'd known had ever gotten themselves in such a tight place. Perhaps this would teach him to be more forgiving with those who lived in Avonderre. "You never know. But God will work it all out, Wrennie, believe that. When you find yourself again, you'll realize how good you are, and that you deserve the gates of heaven. More than I do, even. Suffering makes one strong." He kissed her gently on the forehead and sighed. It was just something he could never tell her.

STATUS complete TAG Wrennie ATTIRE click me
LYRICS Broken Things; Ryan Kelly NOTES alas, there are none.
COPYRIGHT Flik of Roleplaying Extras

[Wren Rae Mercer]

Wren Rae nodded her head. “I…I am,” she said softly. Though she missed the feel of the locket around her neck, she wasn’t about to take the only comfort he had been able to take during her absence away from him, especially if she never turned out alright. It would be the totem of the Wren Rae that she used to be and he could look back and remember the good times that they shared together before she had been so abruptly taken away from the world she had known.

In the midst of her sobbing, she felt her brother’s arms reaching for her and pulling her close to him, the hold both protective and mournful in its own way. She knew he must have mourned for both her and their father, but at the same time, he too was still in mourning for everything, and the thought only made her cry harder. Laeghton didn’t deserve to have this much pain heaped on him. He had done nothing wrong. “I’m so sorry Laeghton…” she whispered into his chest. She was apologizing not only for her tears, but for everything that had driven Laeghton to this point in his life. She could only imagine the sorrow he had been going through. She shook her head. “I don’t want him to see me like this Laeghton. I was his little girl…now I’m his little disgrace…”

“Laeghton…I may not have forced myself away but…if I wasn’t so eager to have a child…then I would never have gone out that night…and I never would have been taken. It was my own avarice that sent me to my own personal hell…” she said softly. She closed her eyes and let the tears leak out as they would. She couldn’t stop them any more than her brother could. Together they would weep, though their reasons for weeping may not have been the same.

She nodded her assent after a few moments. Though she would rather have gone and visited the grave of her father as part of her healing, she did not want to bring the burden on Laeghton to do that before he was ready, even if he hid behind the excuse that it was she who wasn’t ready. “Thank you Laeghton…” He needed her as much as she needed him and she was trying to give him what he needed, after having spent so long taking away the happiness he so justly deserved. And as much as she did not want to admit it, she was rather comfortable being protected instead of protecting herself.

She flushed lightly, looking up at him. “This is your home Laeghton. You were made Lord of Avonderre…and this is the home of the lord. I am merely a humble guest…and if you need me to be more…to work to stay here…I will…” She needed to offer something in exchange for his kindness, even if she knew he would just refuse.

She closed her eyes as she saw the pity in her brother’s eyes. She hadn’t want him to pity her. She had come to tell him her story and be gone. She didn’t want to darken his home anymore than her experiences already had. “If suffering makes one strong…then you are just as strong as I. I see that you have suffered Laeghton. Do not try to make my suffering the only one that is noble.”

[Lord Laeghton Mercer]

"Alright," said Laeghton, dropping the hand from his neck and drawing a deep breath. He would drop the subject now, for fear of distressing his sister any more than the poor girl already was. He loved her so dearly.

He held her to him and he wasn't going to let go until she knew that she was loved. If not by that godawful husband of hers, then by him. She had to know that. But he had to assure her with words, as well. "Wren Rae, I can assure you that this is not your fault. Most of my tragedy I brought upon myself, and it is Tyrian who's at fault for the rest." He pulled her to him steadfastly, doing all in his power to make her understand that she need not take the blame for anything. She'd been used, and bitterly so, and that was unacceptable for a man to do to her. No man should treat any member of the fairer sex with such... hate. "He won't. He can't. And neither can I. We see you only as the pure woman you are. Scars might be there, yes, but you're still our Wren Rae."

The words tasted strange, and for the first time Laeghton realized that he was the patriarch now. He was the rock of this family... and that made his recent habits disgust him even more. He'd been such a bad role model for anyone. But he was doing what he could now. He was trying to be so good to everyone around him, searching for a redemption he didn't deserve. He was, after all, unable to take care of himself.

Laeghton let her go a bit and cocked his head curiously. "So that was what it was about." He nodded remnisciently. "I've never had one myself. I'm pretty sure my wife was infertile. I don't blame you at all, though. I've always wanted children." He didn't tell her that he practically had an apothecary in his kitchen now. That was something he'd taken up since she'd gone, more or less to find painkillers and hide the fact that he had an excessive opium collection. But he breathed deeply again and managed another unconvincing smile. He was going to make her strong again, and he had to be the right kind of mentor to do it right.

He embraced her once more. "Don't thank me." He wasn't the one who got the credit for this one. As he held her, he remembered something. He used one hand to take the rosary from his pocket and then placed it around her neck. "I imagine you've missed having one of these." He smiled, a tear still working its way out of his eye. "And you'll do nothing of the sort. I get on just fine." It was true. Though he had some help.

With this, Laeghton let her go and sat down at the table. He grabbed his pipe from the table and inhaled a deep breath of it. He kept talking though, knowing it was better if she didn't know what was in the pipe. "Noble or not, suffering isn't exactly an enjoyable pasttime. Sit down. Let's talk of other things now. Tell me... Tell me how I've aged since you left. Tell me what you remember about when I came from France. Smile, Wren Rae. You're in God's hands now." It was true. And thank God she was. Because if he'd never found her, things would not have turned out well for him.

STATUS complete TAG Wrennie ATTIRE click me
LYRICS Broken Things; Ryan Kelly NOTES alas, there are none.
COPYRIGHT Flik of Roleplaying Extras

[Wren Rae Mercer]

She felt a weight be taken from her shoulders when she saw him accept the locket. She let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding and clasped her hands together in front of her. She knew how much he loved her. She remembered how much he took care of her as a child and even now he could have sent her away, but instead he held her to him like she was more precious than anything else in his manor.

She let her brother’s words wash over her, chipping away at the guilt that had so engulfed her. “I…I will give you that Tyrian is at fault for much of our tragedy, brother.” She curled into his arms, very much like a child seeking refuge from a storm. She felt safe in her brother’s arms, and while she stood there, she could almost believe that he was right, that this wasn’t her fault. She didn’t want to feel all the shame, and she could almost imagine her father holding her as a child and telling her that she had done nothing wrong when things seemed to be dark. Laeghton reminded her of him so much.

“Are you sure father won’t see me like that?” she murmured softly, trying to hold onto that idea. She wanted her father to still love her, even in the afterlife. She leaned on Laeghton, taking strength from him that she felt leaving her as she began to give in to the peace that he offered. She no longer had to be ready to take a hit, or to protect herself from everyone around her. She was safe here, and Laeghton didn’t care about the scars, physical or mental.

Wren Rae let her gaze drop as Laeghton questioned the motives of her disappearance. She hadn’t ever told him how much a child meant to her. She had mentioned that she wanted one in her youth, but it meant the world to her to bring life into this world. “I know…it was selfish of me to wish a child so much…” she said. “I only thank God that I had the sense to wait until the wedding. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I had brought into the world the child of that monster…” she shuddered at the thought. She looked up at him again. “I want a child Laeghton…so much…” She shook her head. “No man will take me for a wife now, though.”

She felt the familiar, yet almost altogether foreign, weight of the rosary as Laeghton put it around her neck. She looked at the cross and ran her fingers over it gently, feeling the smoothness of it. “Laeghton…it’s beautiful…” She looked up in time to see the tear fall from his eye and she reached to wipe it away, wishing that she could take the sadness from him as much as she knew he was trying to take her pain from her. “Thank you…so much…” She hesitated a moment, before standing on her tiptoes to gently kiss his cheek. “You are a saint, brother.”

She let the corners of her mouth turn into a semblance of a smile, moving hesitantly away from the window and gently seating herself across from him. “You have not aged a day, Laeghton. You are simply more careworn than I remember you being. And for that I blame myself in part. You have worried over me.” She smoothed out her skirt. “It’s been so long since I have seen anything outside the walls of the Tyrian manor where I lived. Will you tell me of Avonderre?”

[Lord Laeghton Mercer]

Laeghton watched his sister with a careful gaze. Though he could only use one of his eyes now, he could still read her like he used to. She was fighting herself to believe him. He smiled assuringly at her and nodded. "Thank you for that, then," he said. He was glad she was letting Tyrian take much of the blame for this. The more weight she took off her own shoulders, the easier she'd be to help, and Laeghton wanted so much to help her. His poor sister needed to get better, but she also needed time, because the wound was still fresh, as far as Laeghton knew.

He held her close and stroked her long brown hair. "My goodness, Wren Rae, he was a much better man than I am, and I think you're still the perfect princess I knew five years ago. People can't change, Wrennie. They just figure out who they really are. You're still the same woman." He smiled upon her. He really believed that. He had always believed that, and had been severely disappointed when he'd realized that somewhere inside, he was just an opium and alcohol addict who had a problem with being left alone. He had a tendency to take care of everything but himself, and he rarely understood where he'd been led in his life.

He looked her in the eye. He really did understand her plight--he had wanted children ever since he'd been married, but for two reasons had never gotten any. First of all, his wife was infertile. He'd heard rumours that she'd miscarried one too many times, and been fixed to where she'd do it no more. Secondly, she was so repulsed by him that she rarely came to his bed, and when she did, he felt like a whore. She'd only married him for her title, of which she'd now been rightfully stripped. "Oh, I know, Wren Rae. I want children too. But we've been rather unfortunate, I know. You have none with your Tyrian husband? If that's so, I can find ways to annul that marriage and you'll be good as new. I'm Lord Avonderre. I have much diplomatic power." He smiled at her. "Wren Rae, you're beautiful. Many a man would have you for a bride. Even your fiance has yet to marry, last I heard."

He was glad she liked the rosary. He knew little of Tyrian, but he knew that any man who would use his wife like that was too evil to tolerate religion. "It was made by a friend of mine, a glassblower. Every bead's a different color." He smiled. It was a gorgeous rosary, but it wasn't the one he used. His was made of wood, and very worn--it had been their father's. She wiped away his tear and he smiled. She was so sweet. And she didn't mind his crying, either. "You're so welcome." He didn't comment on the saint remark, knowing it was best to balance the sinner with a saint-like veil.

He laughed a bit. "No, I am older. And if you remember, my sight and hearing's even worse than it used to be. They were fading last I saw you, but now they're gone." He was amazed at how little he minded it, though. It wasn't a major loss, but it was metaphroically just the reminder of himself he needed. "Avonderre's not much different. A bit poorer and my people hate me a bit more. I'm no Joscelin Brent, you know. But we're not Tyrian either. It's a pretty place, really. Small town charm. Just not up to Solraya's glittering standards." He smiled and took another smoke of his pipe. The opium felt so good as it went through his system.

STATUS complete TAG Wrennie ATTIRE click me
LYRICS Broken Things; Ryan Kelly NOTES alas, there are none.
COPYRIGHT Flik of Roleplaying Extras

[Wren Rae Mercer]

Wren Rae nodded an acknowledgement. Laeghton deserved so much better than fate had given him. She could see the protective urge in his eyes and knew that despite what she had said, she was not going to leave these walls. Not until he thought she was ready to. She closed her eyes as his hand stroked her hair, the way their father used to do when she was a child and had come to him with tears in her eyes. She loved them so much, both her brother and her father. It made her wonder how she could even begin to suspect that her brother had forgotten about her while she was in Tyrian.

“I hope you are right. I prayed every night, though the rosary I had with me when I was taken broke soon after I was wed. I hope that would have made father proud. I prayed for his wellbeing, though I did not wish him well. I hope that makes me the good Christian our parents raised us to be.” She smiled up at him. “It warms my heart to hear you say that father would think well of me after everything.” She curled into him in thought. “Who is looking after mother? Is she well?”

Wren Rae looked at her feet as he asked her about children with her husband from Tyrian. “No…I…I have no children…” While the truth, it was also quite plain that there was something hidden behind those words. Remorse? Regret? Guilt? A twinge of fear maybe? She felt any number of emotions. She shook her head as he offered to help her find a way to remarry. “As kind, and as thoughtful as it is, Laeghton…I do not wish you to go through that trouble for me. There is no need to annul a marriage when I am a widow…and furthermore…I do not wish for you to be put into a position where you are pulling favors for me to be married.” She had already been trapped in one loveless marriage. Though she knew her brother would not force her into a marriage she didn’t want, she also didn’t want to be a burden on him for the rest of his life. “Beauty is not everything. For a man to take in a ruined widow because she is beautiful? Once I lost my beauty he would look for some younger doxy to find his pleasure in.”

Her eyes moved to meet Laeghton’s and her heart skipped several beats when he mentioned her fiancé. He’d never married? After all this time? Did he still love her? Hope flickered in her eyes for the briefest of moments. “He…never married?” The daydreams she had had during her betrothal of them spending a life together were back in full force, flooding her memory with beautiful pictures she had painted for herself, until she shattered her own illusion when she realized that he could never want her now. Laeghton forgave her for everything, but he was her brother. Her fiancé could not be expected to forgive her marrying another man, even if she was forced. She looked at his chest again.

“I…I hope that he was not keeping himself from marriage on my account. I hope that he…” she hesitated. Was it forward of her to say she hoped that he mourned for her? She was not his wife yet, nor was she his family. Did she really have any reason to hope that? She tried a different approach. “I hope that he was able to move on and be happy at the very least. Any woman would have been lucky to have him.” She couldn’t help that her voice cracked on the last words. She didn’t want him to have forgotten her, but she only wished him happiness. She could never have wished her fiancé ill, and she knew that she would suffer an eternity in silence if only he had been happy. He’d been the one person that she truly loved.

She inspected the rosary closer, and found Laeghton’s words to be true. Each bead was lovingly hand-crafted, and shone with different colors. She laid her hand over it and looked at Laeghton. “Your friend must be a wondrous man, to have created something so beautiful. I’ll bet God himself smiles down on him. I promise I’ll take good care of it.” And she would. She couldn’t bear to see such a beautiful thing be broken because of her carelessness.

“I am sorry to hear of your hearing and sight. Was there nothing the physician could do?” she asked. She concerned herself with his wellbeing because she feared he was all that she would have left. She feared the rest of the family was going to turn their back on her once they found out where she’d been all these years. To lose Laeghton as soon as she had gotten him back because of complications with his health…it would most likely be enough to send her to the grave that most assumed she had already fallen into.

She shook her head. “You are most certainly not running your territory like Tyrian. And while you may not be a Joscelin Brent, God smile upon him, you are doing well for yourself. I’m sure that the people do not hate you.” The smoke from his pipe did not bother her much. The scent was familiar to her, though she could not place if she had smelled it before or after she had been taken to Tyrian. “If it is of any consolation, Laeghton, I think that Avonderre is perfect…”

[Lord Laeghton Mercer]

If he could have hugged the pain and the memories away, he would have. Laeghton wanted more than anything for his sister to get past all the bad things that had happened lately and to move on with the life she'd had before. He wanted to see her married to someone who loved her, with the children that she wanted so much. But he knew how selfish and cruel men were, and he didn't know if anyone would accept her into a second marriage. If there was any other man that thought like he did, and saw the beautiful spirit in her, he wanted that man to marry her.

And there were things that he'd done while she'd been away, bad things. Things that he dare not ever tell her. He sighed. And then, as she spoke, a smile grew on his face. She was so genuinely concerned, and he could see it there under whatever veil she was sporting. "You're no different, Wren Rae. You're a better person than myself, actually, and you were raised by a couple of very good parents. I don't know if the devil himself could break your faith." Although, it was true, it sounded like he had certainly tried to. Ah, and mother, yes. Including Laeghton, the three oldest of the boys were all of marrying age. "Ghymian," he said. Ghymian, their sixteen-year-old brother. "He's doing a fine job, too."

Ghymian was a bit like Laeghton in his love and capability of caring for others, it was true, and their mother was doing well.

Laeghton caught an ill-written note in her tone. He should not have been so bold in his choice of words, and he knew he'd done wrong. Clearly, he had to let her move on in her own time, and if she ever wanted to marry, it could not be something he was involved in. "I'm sorry, I... I mean only to help you and I'm not doing a terribly good job of it. Of course your life is your own to manage. I'm not to meddle in those affairs." He cast his gaze down, then heard more from her. "There will be a man who loves you, Wren Rae. God will provide. Beauty is but one part of your perfect nature, Wrennie."

And then on the subject of her fiance, he smiled. He knew some things that Wren Rae didn't know, and a telling grin positioned itself upon his lips. "Nor did he intend to, last I spoke to him. Though I admit that was six months ago." He watched Wren Rae's plight, knowing all the while that there were people in the world that were capable of loving the broken, of fixing them and making them the whole that they had once been. He was one of them, but there were others. Pain could not be the end of the story, and even if she never remarried, Wren Rae would not end her life feeling unloved, Laeghton was sure of that. And she would, ultimately, make it to heaven.

The pain in her voice was all too clear and Laeghon had to cut her off. "Wren Rae, he still loves you. Not any other woman. Last we spoke, he was still chaste, still mourning... he was still hoping you'd come back, because he didn't think that the body we found was your own." and Laeghton wasn't going to say it, but there had been speak of an attack from and on Tyrian for some time, and her fiance had thought of being a spy to see if they'd had any information. He looked his sister in the eye. She had to understand how loved she was, and how what had happened to her had not altered any views of her. She was still their angel. If she could just see that, it would be so much easier for her to move on. And she loved that man--he could see it within her. She needed him.

The solemn concern written on his face resolved into a happier look when she commented on the rosary. He was glad she liked it; it was a bright, pretty thing--and she would be, soon, too. "The people of Avonderre never cease to amaze me." was his comment. He did love his people. He cared for them. But he was simply not good enough with details to understand their problems, try as he might. He shook his head. "No. They've been going for some time. The sight was some sort of injury from when I was young, I'm sure you remember. And then my hearing was dismantled by a loud noise sometime ago. I've half of each, though, so I'm still fine" He smiled. He didn't really have anything to complain about. Those were minor physical details, and then there were his addictions, but those were his own choices and not anything he could ever rightfully complain about.

"Well, thank you. It is a nice place." Later, he wanted to introduce her to the city, when she had the poise and the heart to be out of the castle. But for now, he was happy to have her here. With another smoke of the opium, Laeghton felt his body relax, and he smiled. Things would get better.

STATUS complete TAG Wrennie ATTIRE click me
LYRICS Broken Things; Ryan Kelly NOTES alas, there are none.
COPYRIGHT Flik of Roleplaying Extras

[Wren Rae Mercer]

She let out a breath she hadn’t known that she had been holding. It surprised her how much the affirmation of her family’s health and safety did to alleviate the stress of the past few years. She knew that, with the exception of her dearly departed father, they were all safe from the unpleasantness of it all, and it was enough for her to relax a bit. The tension began to ease from her body, aided by Laeghton’s words and the tea that he had given her. She smiled up at him. “Your faith in me seems as unshakeable as you think my faith in the Lord is.”

Her eyes lit up at the mention of one of her other brothers. “Ghymian…oh I have missed him so. He must be growing into quite the man if he is caring for mother. The last time I saw him he was so young.” Her thoughts went into the past once more, though this time to a more pleasant time and place. She remembered playing with her brother after his lessons and realized just how much she missed him now. The happy memories started to soothe the ache of being away from her family for so long, though she knew Laeghton was right. She didn’t think that either she or they were ready for a reunion.

She shook her head. “You are doing nothing wrong, Laeghton. I am being very foolish.” Her eyes wandered down to his chest. “Of course it is your business, if you choose to make it such. After all,” she said, her eyes hardening and her voice taking on a hint of acid as she spoke, “it is a woman’s place to do as the man in her life bids.” How often her husband had told her that. She looked up, and softened after a moment, shaking her head once more. “I’m sorry, Laeghton…it’s not you that I am angry with…and I do so appreciate you help. I just…I can’t help but think that he is waiting just outside my vision, though I know he is gone…please forgive me for speaking so to you.” She offered a small smile.

“I do hope that you are right. I hope that there might be a marriage filled with warmth waiting for me in my future…” She did not add that she had avoided the word love on purpose. She would do what she had to in order to make sure Laeghton would not have to care for her until he kicked her out. If that meant she decided to enter into a marriage for the safety it would provide her, she could hope that there would be affection and warmth, not the ice and hatred that had filled her last marriage. She knew that it would be impossible for her to find love again for any man other than her ex-fiance. He had stolen her heart and she knew she could never take it back from him.

Wren Rae’s eyes flickered up to Laeghton’s once more before she blushed lightly. “He…did not intend to marry?” She could help her body’s reaction to the words. Her shoulders straightened with hope and her blush deepened. Could this mean he was as deeply in love with her as she was with him? Her heart went out to him for the years that he had spent in mourning and chaste. “Oh…the poor man…” Though she felt badly, she also couldn’t help her heart skipping a few beats. The man she loved had not taken another into his bed, and perhaps that meant that he had not taken another into his heart. A small smile graced her lips before she could stop it.

She fingered the rosary and nodded. “Your people amaze me as well if they produce such beautiful work. Please…if you speak with him again, tell him that he does beautiful work,” she said. She felt a longing in her heart to wander among the others as she hadn’t been able to with her husband, though she knew it wasn’t safe. She would rather tell the man himself that she appreciated his work, but she knew it was better for her to remain hidden for a little while so that if the Tyrians were coming after her, it would be harder for her to be found.

She shook her head and reach up to brush a hair out of his face. “Laeghton…you always find the best in the darkness. Even with only half-sight.” She did remember the injury that had affected his sight. She remembered sitting with her mother during his recovery as well. She wished she could take care of Laeghton as much as he took care of her, but she knew she could never do as much as he did for her. She just hoped that he would never know all of her scars and what she went through in order to keep herself safe. Let him think of her in the light of perfection that he cast her in. She’d rather he didn’t know how awful she was.