Cearball learns the conditions
Galloway, Scotland
Don’t wake him when he’s sleeping. Don’t bother him when he’s drinking or eating. Stay back when he growls. Cearball wondered whether Malcolm had realized how much his warnings made his father sound like a vicious dog.
The only piece of uncanine advice Malcolm had given him proved to be hard to follow: Don’t fail to meet his eyes.
“Father,” Lady Maire said, “come be greeting young Malcolm’s friend Cearball.”
“Malcolm’s friend?” Lord Colban’s eyes widened and flashed with gold. He tossed a glance over his shoulder at the young man following him into the hall. “I’d heard the cousin of Orlaith was here…”
“One and the same they are,” Maire said.
Colban grunted. His stare of wary befuddlement hardened into mistrust. The man behind him looked positively hostile.
Cearball bowed and said, “Bound to Orlaith by blood, but bound to Malcolm by affection.” He hoped his voice seemed so high-pitched only by comparison with Lord Colban’s growl.
Maire laid one hand on Cearball’s arm and the other on her husband’s. “Cearball, this is Malcolm’s father and his twin brother, Colban.”
She smiled, but Cearball saw her fingers sink into Colban’s sleeve as she squeezed the biceps beneath. The gesture had no apparent effect on the man attached to it.
“My lord.” Cearball bowed again, an inch lower this time. “I’m glad to meet you all. Malcolm has told me so much about you.”
His father grumbled, “He hasn’t mentioned you.”
Maire released her husband’s sleeve and stroked her hand soothingly down Cearball’s arm. “They only just met. You know how quickly boys make friends.”
“I’ve a letter from Malcolm’s own hand,” Cearball said. He was glad to play the boy if Lady Maire was willing to play the mother. “I’m certain he mentions me…”
“Fie now! Do you see?” Maire demanded of her husband. “He thinks you’ve called him a liar!”
Colban laughed, and his shoulders relaxed. “No, Mother, that I will not. But I shall be glad to see the letter all the same.”
“I’ve a letter from the King of Lothere, also,” Cearball blurted. “That is, I haven’t it, but I came with his messenger…”
“I know it,” Colban said. “I just read it upstairs.”
Behind him, Malcolm’s brother snorted and smiled to himself. Cearball did not know what was in Sigefrith’s letter, but he now feared it had not been flattering to him.
Colban smiled slyly at his wife. “But no letter of introduction were the two of you ladies needing, or so it seems to me.”
“Ach, letters!” Maire laughed. “What need have we of letters, when we’ve before us a lad who only ten days ago was holding our granddaughter upon his knee!”
Sebdann begged, “Tell him what she does when she sees you getting up in the morning, Cearball! All a-dragging your sorry carcass out to the table!”
Cearball felt his cheeks grow hot. “Ah… she disapproves.”
Maire laughed. “She disapproves! Imagine a disapproving baby face, will you, Father? Ach!” She leaned her hand on Cearball’s shoulder and sighed. “How I wish I could see her! Cearball says the hair of her wee head has the same color as mine!”
“Ah!” Colban smiled. “Has it then?”
He lifted a lock of his lady’s hair, and for a moment his grim face was all tenderness. Cearball imagined himself in the same stance twenty years hence, fingering one of Condal’s soft curls.
Maire seemed to see her chance. “Be good to him, my dears. We surrender him to you. Don’t keep him up late, for he has ridden far today.”
She patted her husband’s breast and stepped between him and Cearball on her way to the stairs. Colban snatched her hand and pulled her arm taut. He gave her that hungry stare men tended to wear when they found Cearball in close conversation with their wives.
He pulled, but Maire stood firm. She waited in silence until he kissed the back of her hand and let it drop. Then she gave him that sly smile, full of promise, that women gave their husbands when they both knew Cearball was only a toy.
“And let the poor lad eat his supper.” Her stiff skirts thumped against a chair leg as she turned. “Sebdann and I have kept him talking without cease this last half hour.”
Cearball wished himself invisible, but courtesy obliged him to respond. He bowed to the ladies. “A great pleasure it was.”
Malcolm’s brother snaked an arm around Sebdann’s waist as she went by, and unlike his father he jerked his wife against his hip and kissed her. Sebdann giggled breathlessly in surprise.
Cearball had seen that often enough, too. The disadvantage of being so agreeable with the ladies was that it tended to make one unpopular with the men.
Maire turned her head as she rounded the table, smiling at Cearball in particular. “Good night, gentlemen.”
“Good night, ladies.” Cearball bowed, allowing him to pretend to notice something worth inspecting on the toe of his boot.
Sebdann added, “We shall see your sorry carcasses in the morning!”
Maire caught her arm, and they laughed together as they strolled off.
Colban chuckled fondly and stepped past Cearball to pull out a chair. “You shall see from whom wee Maud gets her disapproving face.”
Heartened by the smile, Cearball said, “I was thinking mayhap Iylaine.”
Colban laughed. “Ach! Mayhap as that may be. Have a seat, lad, and finish your supper while it’s hot.”
Cearball awkwardly lowered himself onto his chair without looking down. Just when he had found the edge of his seat, Lord Colban asked, “The letter?” and Cearball hopped up again to find it in his purse.
Malcolm’s brother jerked a chair away from the table as if to protect it from Cearball’s proximity. He flopped himself down and asked, “So how’s Maire?”
“Ah…” Cearball fumbled in his purse to give himself a moment to think. Lord Colban had read Sigefrith’s letter. Sigefrith had surely mentioned Maire. Colban must have showed it to his son.
He handed Malcolm’s letter to Colban and eased himself back onto his chair. He bowed his head over his plate, but out of the corner of his eye he watched Lord Colban take out his knife and slide it behind the letter’s thick seal.
“When I left,” Cearball muttered as he picked through his stew, “she hadn’t said a word to anyone yet, to my knowledge. But that was nine days ago.” He stabbed a bit of beef on the tip of his knife and stuffed it in his mouth.
Behind him, young Colban’s chair creaked as he leaned forward. “I meant in bed.”
Cearball’s chewing slowed.
Lord Colban laid the two pages on the table and scratched his head. “Ask her husband.”
“Aengus would punch me in the mouth if I asked him.”
“I wouldn’t blame Cearball if he did, either.” Colban waved the back of his hand at Cearball without looking up from the letter. “’Twasn’t Sigefrith who told us. His new messenger believes he has the right to carry tales of his own. You may want to punch him in the mouth, too, while you’re at it.”
Cearball swallowed. His heart was racing. Tempting as the idea was, he would not be able to punch his way out of this situation.
He laid down his knife and turned to Malcolm’s brother. “Scratched and bruised and confused I found her.” His voice shook, and he clenched his hand around his knee in a vain attempt to steady it. “I told her to ask her family for help. I even told her family – I told Malcolm. I even met the man and blacked his eye and sent him away spouting blood from his nose. What more would you have had me do?”
Lord Colban raised his hand. “Eat your supper, lad. He never asked you what you did about her. He was only being rude.”
Malcolm’s brother snorted and tipped back his chair until it thunked against the wall.
Cearball turned around and bent over his supper. He was not entirely sorry the matter had come up. He did not know what Malcolm had written in his letter, and it had at least given him the opportunity to defend himself. But he had not anticipated that he would need defending. He had thought addressing himself to his sweetheart’s guardian would be awkward enough as it was.
“So you slept at my brother’s, did you?” young Colban asked. “If the baby was disapproving of you at breakfast?”
Cearball grunted.
The chair squeaked as Colban rocked slowly on its hind legs. “Iylaine must have approved of you a fair bit, then. For I was never asked to stay.”
Cearball grunted again and kept chewing. Then he laid down his knife and turned to see whether he had heard what he thought he was hearing.
The front legs of the chair clopped faintly to the floor. Young Colban leaned forward and mouthed, “How is she?”
Cearball’s chair squawked as he almost leapt out of it. Malcolm’s brother gripped the arms of his own chair, ready to rise.
Lord Colban lifted his head and glared at his son.
“If you’re as rude a guest as you are to guests, it’s no wonder Iylaine won’t stand you.”
Malcolm’s brother sat back in his chair and attempted to look innocent.
“Don’t bother getting used to him,” Colban told Cearball. “He’s leaving in the morning.”
“What?”
“You’re leaving in the morning, I said! You’re going to your Uncle Eochaid and telling him to fetch his boys home, for if I have to go after them, they’ll be learning they’re not too old to be whipped.”
“Lugaid and Ferdie?”
“They’re in Lothere harassing poor little Connie. And if Gorman truly told them they were to bring Connie home with them, you tell her man she’s not too old to be whipped either. I wouldn’t trust those two with a she-goat I liked.”
Malcolm’s brother laughed. “I wasn’t aware goat-fucking was among their depravities.”
Cearball would have liked to share his own opinion of their depravities, but he was more interested in Condal. “Will you then be guardian to her, my lord?”
Lord Colban grunted and frowned at the parchment. “I suppose I must. I never understood why the father of her wanted Comgeall for it. Inheriting of a man’s house is one thing, but his wee daughters…”
Cearball sat forward. “Comgeall struck her sister in the face, you know. And Sir Egelric – ”
“I know.” Lord Colban’s curt reply was like a dog’s soft bark of warning before teeth were bared.
Cearball sat back. His face tingled with sweat. Malcolm’s brother stared off between them into the shadows, flexing the corners of a thin smile.
Then Lord Colban looked up and asked mildly, “One of the Brians, then, are you?”
“Aye, my lord. Ah…”
Cearball realized that the mention of Condal must have made the man look at him with the eyes of a guardian considering a suitor. This was his chance.
“Aye.” He smiled and tried to look at ease. “And my father’s mother was the daughter of the King of Osraige, and though I have houses in Dublin and Cill Channaig, most of my lands are – ”
“Isn’t that a bit awkward?”
“Ah… what?”
“With King Enna and the High King?”
Cearball swallowed. He longed to pull out his handkerchief and blot his forehead, but he recalled Malcolm’s warning and dared not look away from Lord Colban’s eyes.
Colban asked, “The Brians are at war with the Cheinnselaighs, are they no?”
Cearball sighed in relief. The man simply misunderstood Irish politics.
“Ach, no, my lord. Or rather, not all of us. Brian Boru had the two wives, you see, and the two sons. The High King comes of his son Tadc. We come of his son Donnchad. Two families.”
Colban lifted his brows and nodded. It seemed he was after a political alliance. Fortunately Cearball had political allies.
“My father’s sister Mael Muire… that is to say, my aunt… King Enna’s wife…”
Cearball rubbed his sweaty palms together. Now what? Now that he had dropped the name? In truth, his aunt now detested him as much she had once reviled his mother.
“Ah… she is said to resemble Brian’s most beloved wife Gormflaith. Being her granddaughter, you see.” He grinned stupidly.
Colban grunted and turned back to the letter. Cearball whipped out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead.
“And the Prince of Gwynedd is a… a good friend of mine. That is, Gruffydd son of Cynan. Ah…”
“He’s the one in prison, isn’t he?”
“Ah… aye, but I maintain close ties with his family.” Cearball glanced at Malcolm’s brother, fearful he was about to comment on the nature of these “ties.”
“What did you think of him?”
“Ach, he’ll rule again in Gwynedd. You’ve never seen the like of his patience or determination. The only force that can stand against him is treachery, and to fight that he only needs more friends.”
“Hard to come by in prison.”
“Aye, but he has men working for him on the outside.”
“Such as yourself?”
Cearball paused to wonder whether Lord Colban might look unfavorably upon an alliance with the House of Iago. But there was no help for it; if there was one friend Cearball would not forswear it was Gruffydd.
“Aye, my lord,” he murmured. “For one summer he was the father I never had. I won’t forget it.”
Lord Colban nodded and smoothed a hand over one of the pages, flattening the crackling parchment against the wood. He read a few lines and asked, “So you’re acquainted with Domnall mac Lochlainn, too, are you?”
Cearball began to relax. His relationship with mac Lochlainn was simple and manly. It helped that mac Lochlainn had a very ugly, very devout wife.
“Ach, aye, my lord. I know him well. We’ve fought together many times, and won many cattle. I led threescore men into battle for him last year.”
Malcolm’s brother muttered to himself, “And they followed?”
His father shot him a sour look. He asked Cearball, “What did you think of him?”
This, Cearball thought, was a question with a right and a wrong answer. He cracked his knuckles one by one and considered.
“I think… he is a man who will either die in glory or become a great king.”
They were Murchad’s words, in fact, but at least Cearball believed them true.
Lord Colban said, “And I see you’ve made the acquaintance of our cousin, Young Aed of the Aenguses?”
Cearball looked up in alarm. The very name made Malcolm’s forehead wrinkle with worry, but Colban’s face conveyed only polite curiosity.
“Ah… aye, I did at that.”
“And what did you think of him?”
Malcolm’s brother crossed his ankle over his knee, sat back, and smirked. For this question, Cearball feared, there was no right answer at all.
“Ah… very polite, he seemed to me.”
Lord Colban chuckled and shook his head.
“Doesn’t give you much to hang an opinion on, does the lad? Smooth as a serpent, is that one.” He shook his finger at Cearball. “But he’s another such a one as your mac Lochlainn, mark my words. He also owes me a favor.”
He straightened the sheets on the table before him and laced his hands together over his knee.
“I shall write a letter for you. Colban can take you there when he returns from his uncle’s. In this weather you’re obliged to go through Three Winds, but Diarmait isn’t there. Young Aed is the only man who can get you over the sea to Ireland before the spring. Unless you’ve some Norse friends Malcolm didn’t mention?” He smiled.
Cearball croaked, “Ireland?”
Colban cocked his head. “Isn’t that where you were heading?”
Cearball tried desperately to turn the question in a favorable light. “Aye, my lord, but surely not before the spring. That is… I wouldn’t take a young lady traveling in the winter on horseback, much less on the open sea.”
“Ach, have you a young lady with you?”
Cearball’s eyes smarted, but he dared not so much as blink. “Not… just yet, my lord. But… didn’t Malcolm mention that I had asked Condal’s hand in marriage?”
Malcolm’s brother clomped his boot to the floor and demanded, “Connie?”
His father lifted a hand to silence him. “Aye, he did mention it. But I did not think it worth mentioning myself.”
Cearball’s mouth fell open. This was worse than a refusal. This was an insult.
Colban stared at him for a moment longer. It was evident from whom Malcolm had inherited his expressionless face. Then he shoved back his chair and stood.
Cearball leapt up after him. “My lord!”
Colban squatted and heaved a log onto the fire. His son slipped ominously close to the edge of his seat.
“You don’t even know me!”
Malcolm’s brother pounded his fist on the arm of his chair. “What else need we know? The first thing you did upon arriving in Lothere was lie you down with the wife of Cousin Aengus! And now you’re wanting little Connie for dessert!”
“Maire came to my room! Mine!”
“And what? And raped you?”
Lord Colban slammed the poker into its stand to interrupt them with its clang. “From Maire, nothing would surprise me.”
He spun to face Cearball.
“Malcolm knows you, and he likes you. Shall we start from there? Hmm?”
He paused, giving Cearball time to squirm. It was clear from whom Malcolm had inherited his uncanny eyes.
At last he laid a hand on Cearball’s shoulder and broke his own spell.
“Nothing against you, personally, lad, but she won’t be marrying anyone for a while. She’s but a wee girl yet. Only thirteen.” He patted Cearball’s arm took a step towards the table.
Cearball cried out, “Fourteen! My lord… Please…”
Colban stopped and sighed. “Ach, Uncle…” He turned back to Cearball. “You ask me to be her guardian; behold, I am guarding. I must do as her father would have done. The youngest of her sisters to be married was sixteen, and her father always did say he wished he had waited a year. So, seventeen.”
“Seven – teen!” Cearball gasped. “But she’s only fourteen!”
Colban cocked his head. “That was my point.”
“But… three years!”
Colban shook his finger. “Three and a half, for I won’t see a frail girl married in the winter time. But you may ask me again in three years.”
“But three years!” Cearball twisted his sweaty hands. He needed the mind of Malcolm. He would even have accepted the loan of Murchad’s. Instead he had the head of an idiot toddler. “Three years! We cannot wait so long!”
“Can’t you?” Colban’s brows lowered, shading his eyes until their rich gold had turned brown. “How long can you wait, then? Nine months?”
“No! No!” Cearball wailed. “I never so much as kissed her! I swear it!”
Malcolm’s brother snorted and chuckled to himself.
“But I might have!” Cearball shouted past Colban’s shoulder. “Condal is not a maiden lightly to be kissed! However, I assure you, we do share an undeniable bond of affection!”
Malcolm’s brother closed his eyes, leaned his head against the back of his chair, and smiled like a man basking in the sun. At that instant Cearball’s sole desire was to drag him to his feet for the pleasure of knocking him down again.
Then Lord Colban spoke softly and reminded him of Condal. “And any other bonds?”
Cearball’s cheeks warmed. “Ah… What?”
“I mean: Has she already promised to marry you?”
Cearball stood up stiff and tall. “Condal is too modest and well-bred a young lady to do any such thing, my lord.”
He was as proud of Condal’s modesty and good breeding as if they had been his own. They also provided a gratifying explanation for her failure to accept his proposal.
“However, she has told me that she has an affection for me that is unlike her affection for any other man.”
The fact that she had likened it to a sister’s for her brother was, he thought, only further proof of her modesty, and was not worth mentioning.
“And she has promised me that she will not allow herself to be married to any man unless I have been informed and given the opportunity to plead my suit. So you see, my lord, while she has not promised she will marry me, she has not promised she will not.”
Malcolm’s brother laughed aloud.
Cearball lunged at him. “Do you mock the lady’s word, sir?”
Lord Colban flung his arm out between them and caught Cearball across the chest. He eased him back towards the wall until Cearball stood on his two feet again, and he concluded with a fatherly pat. Cearball’s eyes burned.
“No one who knows her would mock Connie’s word. And if I take you at yours, I admit it is a rare sign of affection on her part. But that does not change the fact that she is but a girl yet, and I will not let her go.”
“But three years!” Cearball whimpered.
Colban smiled wistfully. “Four years did I wait for Malcolm’s mother.”
He lifted a finger before Cearball’s nose. Cearball crossed his eyes and stared.
“A wee wisp of a girl of thirteen she was when she was betrothed to me, and I a man older than you are now. I promise you, you’ll both survive. And if you’re still wanting one another then, you’ll both be the better for having had time to ripen.”
He gave Cearball’s shoulder a friendly shake and turned to the fire. Cearball began to understand that he would be returning to Ireland alone, hunkered miserably in the bottom of a boat, soaked with winter spray and chilled so deeply he would never be warm until he saw Condal again. He would be returning to Dublin alone, to his cold, shuttered rooms that would seem more sordid than ever, and not the house he would have made for her. Surely spring would not return to Ireland so long as Condal was not there. Surely he would never be happy again.
“But… Lady Maire was your cousin!” he pleaded. “She lived just over the hills! You could see her from time to time! Couldn’t you? You could at least see her! Walk with her, and hold her hand!”
Colban chuckled, doubtlessly remembering.
“And I have to go to Ireland! And it’s a lucky man I’ll be if I see her three times in those three years!”
Colban shrugged. “You have my permission to correspond with her.”
“Correspond?”
Cearball imagined himself dictating love letters to Murchad, and listening to him read Condal’s replies. He would never be able to say what he meant if he had to say it to Murchad. And if he knew Condal, neither would she. And meanwhile there would be Lugaid and Feradach, there would be Eadred, there would be Finn… there would be all these other men who would sit beside her at table, dance with her, whisper with her, flirt with her…
“A betrothal!” Cearball cried. “You must allow me at least that! You had at least that! I beg you! Give me hope!”
Malcolm’s brother sat up. “A betrothal? Who do you think you are?”
His father waved him back. “Now, I would consider that – ”
“Consider that?” Malcolm’s brother shouted. “Do you think Flann would have considered that? You don’t know this twit from Adam, but you get two pages from Malcolm and it’s a fucking Papal blessing!”
“Silence!”
Malcolm’s brother sat back in his chair. His face was flushed and sweaty, but his lips were pale, the whites of his eyes wide. Like Malcolm, he must have known the warning signs of a dog angered to the point of savagery. Cearball stood very still.
“As I was saying,” Colban growled over his shoulder. He turned back to Cearball. “I would consider that on two conditions. First, that Connie herself ask permission of me.”
Cearball nodded, though his head was heavy. Condal did not seem to see the urgency of the situation. But she had not realized they might not meet again for an entire year. He wished he could at least somehow witness her missing him.
“Second, I shall go to the men who know you, and ask them, as I asked you: What do you think of him? Enna. Mac Lochlainn. Gruffydd. Sigefrith. Young Aed. Even Malcolm. So, if you believe I shall like the answers they would give me today, then tomorrow we may start writing letters. And if you aren’t certain…”
He pounded Cearball’s back, and Cearball swayed with the blows.
“Go back to Ireland and spend a few years practicing at being the sort of husband wee Connie deserves. Flann would not have given her up to mere titles or family, mere cattle or land, my lad. Flann wanted one thing for her. A good man.”
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Yay ! First comment ! Now, back to reading !
Aww. That's just too cute.
" Flann wanted one thing for her. A good man."
Thats right!
Hooray for Colban! I'm sensing some resentment of Malcolm on his twin brother's part - doesn't seem like he's become the man his brother is and their father knows it.
Oh, I'm so glad that Cearball can't have her yet (or hopefully ever) and that Colban at least intends to guard Connie from Lugaid and Ferdie (Ferdach?). I hate those guys.
I kinda hate how rude Malcolm's twin is about Iylaine, but I can see where he's coming from...feeling that she essentially stole his brother from him.
Love Gog more than ever! In the second to last picture he reminded me very much of Egelric when he had Lili. Also the talk he gave Cearbear was very like the one Egelric gave Eadred.
But Colban's losing points with me every time we see him. Why can't he be more like his brother? Although I guess that's the root cause of his behaviour.
Maire is wonderful. I can see why Malcolm loves his mother so much.
That was a great chapter. I had no remembrance of Colban being such a wise man. I like feeling Cearball confident and then afraid all along the chapter. And young Colban being all young and fire-tempered. But I think it's a good decision Colban takes for I don't think
is good for our little Connie.
I also love the way Cearball has been tricked with the "but she's only fourteen". Brilliant !
I don't believe he'll have a chance to marry her, not because of Colban disapproval (though I think he makes Cearball think he doesn't disagree with this marriage in the only purpose of giving a chance for Connie to meet someone else; after all, he's Malcolm's father), but because of the 3 years separation.
And none of those men know about Malo ! And it was nice to see Malcolm's beautiful mother !
Poor Young Colban seems to be one big, seething ball of resentment. On the one hand he misses his twin terribly -- he had always believed they would be inseparable again once Malcolm had become a man and left Sigefrith's court. So he could not possibly react kindly to hearing that this Maire-banging interloper is "Malcolm's friend." Meanwhile, he doesn't forgive Malcolm -- and especially Iylaine -- for denying him that reunion.
And on top of that there is the whole deal with Colban feeling inferior to his brother, and suspecting that he isn't the favorite son, and that Malcolm would have been their father's heir if there had been a choice. (Hence the whole blow-up about how Malcolm writes two pages and it becomes a fucking Papal blessing.) And because Malcolm isn't there, he has to hear his family talking fondly about him all the time, and feel even more like the second-best son.
And, on top of that, Colban is simply temperamentally something of a petty jerk. It's as if Gog got the boys' names backwards.
I don't know what Gog's exact plans for Cearball are -- whether he really would welcome a marriage between him and Connie, or whether he simply believes Cearball (or Connie) will find someone else long before then. Probably he has a lot more planned than what poor slow-witted Cearball is guessing. I think he will at least use Cearball to his own ends, whether or not he ever lets him marry Connie. That's probably why he's packing him off to Young Aed in such a hurry. This chapter is the first in-story hint that there's something up between Gog and Young Aed, given that Malcolm himself wrinkles his brow when he hears the name, but Colban is all cool about him. And Young Aed does "owe him a favor," however that came about...
I was really intrigued about the whole political aspect of this chapter. It's kinda hard keeping track of who's who and who's where. I feel like I need a map.
Anywho, I love Malcolm's family. His mother is charming, and she makes me think that this is the way Malcolm sees Iylaine, which is really sad. His father is epicness. And I want to give Young Colban a hug.
I felt so sorry for poor, pretty, not very bright Cearball here. He has a lot of growing up to do, but in time he could become that good man Flann wanted for Connie. Thing is, I doubt he'd still want Connie then.
I'm glad they're both being given time (the worst they could go is get married right away), but I fear Lord Colban might use Connie for his own ends. I doubt he'd let her marry Malo, for instance.
Also, loved the pictures! The angles and the lighting were brilliant.
Quick political review:
King Enna of Leinster (on the east coast of Ireland) is the brother of Aed's wife Orlaith. Enna and Orlaith (and their kids) are members of the Ua Cheinnselaigh family. On their mother's side they are also both Ua Briain, and, like Cearball, descended from Brian Boru's second wife. Cearball's aunt is married to King Enna. So he has connections.
The current High King of Ireland is also an Ua Briain, but he's descended from Brian Boru's first wife, as Cearball explained. The High King's family is currently in high conflict with the Cheinnselaighs and the Ua Briain of Cearball's side. A startling number of Ua Cheinnselaigh and Ua Briain nobles were slain in a great battle last year, and Cearball and Murchad both might have died if Enna hadn't chosen that moment to send them both to the Isle of Man to ask nicely for assistance. (Which Whitehand didn't give.) So even though they didn't see Eirik on that trip, the fact that Murchad is Eirik's brother-in-law has already indirectly saved his life (and Cearball's) at least once.
Domnall mac Lochlainn was mentioned by Egelric in August, 1083, in "Egelric looks down upon a queen". He was the new King of Aileach, in the north of Ireland. At the time Egelric mentioned him, Cearball was 16 years old and engaged in mac Lochlainn's army. By now mac Lochlainn has hopes of becoming the High King. So far he's had success after success in battle, but he hasn't yet faced down the current High King. He is making overtures to King Enna, so it seems likely there will be some sort of alliance growing up there.
As for Gruffydd, he's Blocky Boy's dad. When Cearball was a newly-orphaned lad of 14, Gruffydd left his exile in Ireland to attempt to retake his lands in Wales. He did succeed, but some of his men betrayed him and he was captured and imprisoned. That expedition was Cearball's first experience with battle and so forth, and I think Gruffydd must have taken a shine to him. (In my original plans for Cearball, they were actually lovers, but that's not the Cearball we know.)
Young Aed is still Young Aed.
As I have hinted, there seems to be something up politically between him and Gog. Last summer Young Aed had smashing success in warfare (unsanctioned by Old Aed) and won quite a bit of land along the south coast of Galloway. For next summer he was eyeing Ramsaa for himself but Diarmait beat him to it.
That's why Sigefrith is fuming over Old Aed failing to take advantage of his ships -- now Young Aed finally made war with his little navy and it's working out great for him. And when Diarmait made a similar maneuver, Old Aed failed to support him, too. Unfortunately, Sigefrith has invested a lot in his alliance with Old Aed, and it's going to take some surgical diplomacy to stay on good terms with both Young and Old Aed. Gog might be a key player in that. Perhaps Gwynn too!
As a political entity, Cearball is not much to speak of himself so far, except as a guy with lots of interesting family relations. (The Cheinnselaighs, the Brians, and both the Colins and Earl Eirik by way of Cousin Murchad.) He's fairly wealthy in terms of land, but his land needs a lot of work. Because his house at Inis na nGedh is uninhabited and in the middle of a bog, it was spared when the High King went on a rampage in Osraige a few years back, so he's better off than a lot of his neighboring nobles. For a hapless fellow he's had a few lucky breaks in the past couple years. But he seems to realize that at this point most of his connections are likely to say, "Who? Cearball? He's a feckless fratboy. Also, he slept with my wife/sister/daughter."
It was good to see Gog again. And yeah, I definitely think he's got more in mind than whether or not he's going to let Cearball marry Connie. Poor Cearball just can't keep up on the intellectual level.
But oh, his hopes will probably be crushed when Gog hears from all of Cearball's connections! Not sure whether I find that sad or amusing. I'm never sure whether or not I like Cearball.
Fortunately Cearball is not vain and cocky enough to say "Go ahead and ask them!" Unfortunately (from his perspective) he realizes that he is going to have earn her through good behavior, and he does not seem to be enthusiastic about the prospect. Time will tell whether he goes through with it, or just says Fuck it and goes back to his old feckless fratboy ways. I soooo want to see him in a heart-to-heart with Murchad. And Sigi.
His "Noooo! I shall never be happy again!" is rather hilarious though. (And will be even more so if Sigi overhears it.) Even though every teen thinks their first True Love is their one and only... there is still something rather histrionic about the boy. Cearball is what happens when emo and testosterone meet.
I seriously love Cearball so much. He is the cutest - so hapless and desperate and kinda slow on the uptake, stumbling around for the right answers and thinking about Connie all the meanwhile... He may be good with a certain sort of woman, but he certainly isn't so adept with other men.
I do think it's sweet that he's trying to commit to this "vision of love," but I seriously doubt that either he or Connie will still want one another in three years (especially since I'm not at all convinced that Connie really wants him anyway.)
Malcolm's twin gives me the heebie-jeebies a little bit (though I also think he's pretty funny), Gog is made of awesome, albeit rather cutthroat and worrisome, and Malcolm's mom is the greatest. I hope we get a chance to see more of both those ladies, as they are awesome. I can see them having fun with Sigi.
I don't think Connie does or ever did really want him. There seems to be some attraction there, but I think it's more due to the fact that he's a cute older boy and she's been looking forward to feeling grown-up. And unlike a lot of the guys around her, he is rather non-threatening. So she may feel tempted to settle on him just to avoid worse, in the same way she kissed Finn to avoid being slobbered on by Lugaid or Ferdie or Young Aed. But the love is not there. Malo is the guy who gives her butterflies and OMG HE TOUCHED MY HAND! feelings.
As for Cearball, he definitely does have a huge infatuation with her, but I'm not sure it will last when she's out of range. He just doesn't seem like the type. But I'll have to see how he handles the separation. I did have thoughts of him getting together with Uallach at one time, but how awkward would that be now? He slept with her elder half-sister. For that matter things might be awkward with Murchad, too, but at least Murchad is a man and he understands these things.
Malcolm's twin has the famous yellow eyes.
Writing him reminded me of writing Ferdie actually. They're both a little creepy. (They're also first cousins and grew up only an hour's ride apart, so there's ample explanation for any resemblance.)
I don't know when or if we'll see Malcolm's mom again. But I could imagine her kicking back with Sebdann and Sigi (and Sadb, as long as we're dreaming) and getting drunk and hooting and hollering well into the night.
Oh, now that would be a fun party. ^^ A pity that we can't add Matilda to the bunch while we're at it.
So you think Gwynn might become politically important? Would that be because of her ancestry, or because of herself? I'd love seeing her with some power, but she might need someone to advise her what to do with it, at least at first. Oh, Gwynn as a politic player ... it would be so Matilda-like. Although Matilda never had a chance to really use what she had. Have Gwynn and Ogive ever talked about more serious things together? I think those two have a lot of potential for awesomeness.
Poor Connie on the other hand would be completely lost in the power play. I'm so afraid that she's going to be ripped apart, figuratively speaking. Although now that Gog is really garding her I hope that won't happen. And I don't think he will let Malo marry her, assuming Malo even want's to, which he doesn't really seem to. Which is very good, because I don't think he could save her from all the angel-drama. We don't need another Eithne. And Connie may be special, but she's also very fragile, I think.
Ooh, so happy we got to see Malcolm's family, and especially his mom. I was surprised his brother was acting so.. douchey (???) as I didn't remember him being QUITE that bad before. But I guess some years have passed...
Cearball... I still don't like him :x I did feel bad for him. But I don't think he will marry Connie in the end. If they did I feel like it would be a very unhappy marriage.
I think Gwynn would become politically important because young Aed was interested in her, right? I started imagining, what if they got married, and everything was all sunshine and lollipops, and whatever she and Finn had together ends up fizzling out
Like Egelric and Gunnie. *tear*
Gwynn could become politically important because of her connections. That was the role of a lot of women in this era, and the point of a lot of marriages. That's basically what Young Aed is looking for, though he's also insisting that she be a clever, capable woman as well.
Gwynn's important because on the one side she's related to Godwine and Magnus, who are still trying to get back the English throne, or at least Wessex. On the other side she's related to Gruffydd of Gwynedd (Cynan's dad). And Wessex is right next to Wales. So if both Cynan's dad AND Harold's sons got back into power -- which is a BIG "if" -- Gwynn would be related to most of the British rulers south of the Mason-Dixon line, as it were. That could be useful to a lot of men, and not just Young Aed.
It's funny, Ann, I don't think I've ever given much thought to the idea of Gwynn as an active political player and not just a marriageable pawn. I don't think she has the kind of political mind Ogive does -- the minute Ogive hears a piece of information, her mind is busy analyzing the politics of it.
Gwynn is more like Matilda... I think Matilda would have been less interested in politics if the British political situation had gone more to her liking. But things didn't go the way she wanted, and that was JUST NOT FAIR, and Matilda spent the rest of her life trying to restore her family to the throne so that she could get back to her important duties of gossiping and horseback riding and childrearing and sex.
I don't think Gwynn has been raised on a diet of politics the way Matilda was though, so politics isn't as self-evident to her. But she is smart and retains information, so all it would take is the right diet of conversation.
I think that's probably how things went with Young Aed. He is probably used to pretty-but-stupid girls (and Gwynn certainly seems that way at first), and probably accidentally asked some too-political question or made some too-obscure political observation. And while he tried to backtrack and smooth it over and prevent her from worrying her pretty little head about it, Gwynn simply nailed it. And then again. And again. And he found himself drawn into a serious adult conversation with a sparkling smile and pair of boobs. No wonder he was impressed. And meanwhile Sigefrith was smiling vaguely and recalculating his entire plan for the next five years, and Connie was stirring her mashed turnips around on her plate and wondering if she still had kiss-marks on her face, and Gaethine was coughing softly into his napkin and rubbing the back of his neck...
Oh, and Stacy... don't even THINK about anything going wrong with Fwynn! Lo, there will be much angst and incertitude before they ever realize their love for each other, but in the immortal words of Eirik: IT IS LIKE DESTINY!
THANK GOD! FWYNN STILL HAS A CHANCE!
Anywho.
This was quite an interesting look inside Cearball's head. I don't dislike him perse, just well, he isn't my favorite person. And well I almost felt bad for him except for nobody FORCED him to do the things he has done to acquire a reputation. No it's coming back to bite him in the rear and I'm sure he is feeling a bit repentant.
As for Colban, I understand completely. And it WAS rather funny. And Gog was pretty awesome, and canny. And the womenfolk...so giggly!
Poor Connie.
It's certainly a relief to hear that Fwynn isn't going to burst into flames and burn until all there's left are cold ashes nobody remembers, like it happened with Egelric and Gunnie.
(Personally, I don't dislike the direction Egelric+Gunnie took; it felt realistic and in a way it was more romantic to leave it off as a platonic thing. I just don't want that for Fwynn.)
Oh, and thanks for clearing up the political situation, Jenny! It's much more exciting to me now. Gwynn as a political player would be powerful because no one would see it coming. Ogive is obvious, so you'd do what Sigefrith did: marry her off to your son, but keep her inside a castle. Gwynn seems stupid, and that works to her advantage, I think.
Now I'm not sure I want Connie to marry anyone. Whoever her right man is, he hasn't appeared yet. Sometimes I think she'd be good for -- brace yourselves -- Young Malcolm. There, I said it. Feel free to light your torches now.
And...
I hereby nominate that for the quotes. That's Cearball's Law of Character Physics.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Everybody remembers Egelric and Gunnilda! *holds up butane lighter to the wind* I don't think their story is quite over yet. Not to say it will get romantic again, but I think there will still be some more Egelric + Gunnilda chapters.
I see what you mean about Connie and Sir Malcolm. I actually started worrying about that the very moment that Malcolm found himself "alone with a fragile, frightened little girl of his clan, who hearkened to his every phrase with the obedience of awe." (In "Malcolm dons an unsteady crown".) It COULD happen. Connie is just the sort of girl that Malcolm needs.
You know what, maruutsu? You might be on to something there. Each of them are just the sort that the other one needs right now.
(Don't think I've forgotten my beloved MALO MALO MALO, though. He remains lurking in the back of my mind with his beautiful eyes!)
Happy New Year, everybody!
I could totally see Connie and Sir Malcolm. Although, I do still like Yware for Connie, whenever they meet. And you know what might be... well, not really too interesting, but just sort of nice alongside a bunch of heavy, dramatic, unpredictable storylines? Connie and Cedric, maybe? Just thinking, if Finn gets Gwynn and Vash gets Kraaia and ConRAD gets Meggie, then Cedric gets...? And if he spends all his time swooning over Gwynn only to find that she runs off with Finn and then Connie has been there alongside the girl he thought he loved the whole time? Of course, that does sound a lot like Alred and Hetty and Lili, now that I think about it. Hmmmm...
*dodges flying pitchforks*
And now, for the first (but not last!) time in 2010, I have surely annoyed you all. Happy New Year!
Cedric gets Cubby!!!!!!
I totally forgot about Gwynn's actual blood, even though I think that was one of the things that Young Aed mentioned in that one chapter... and I think it was mentioned somewhere about Cynan+Meggie? I forget. But it would be awesome to see Gwynn totally kicking political butt.
I'd be very excited to see some Egelric+Gunnie chapters (even without the romance)
Happy New Year, everyone!
I can see Connie/Malcolm too, but I really really don't want that to happen. I think Connie needs some peace and quiet. A holiday away from all the guys, so to speak. Couldn't she and Gwynn go visit Brit maybe? Oh, I'd love to throw Gwynn and Connie together with Ogive. I think they could all three profit from spending more time together.
My favorite for Connie is still Yware. But if he really is as silly as I imagine him now, he would have a hard time winning Connie's hand, wouldn't he? I can't imagine he would impress Gog so much with his fancy hair and fancy clothing.
Connie is currently getting a "holiday away from all the guys" but it is at Malcolm's house. So.... not quite away from all the guys, unfortunately. However I'm sure no one even begins to suspect anything yet, including Malcolm himself. And that just seems dangerous to me. He is getting an opportunity to live day in, day out with a girl who is uniformly pleasant and generous and modest. Probably feels pretty good.
There's also Rua now, so if he wants to vicariously experience something passionate and romantic (with bonus points for having to do with his fascinating godfather), he just has to go visit Rua and stir her up with a chat about Magog.
So there are several potential problems for Malcolm & Iylaine's marriage this year, and that's just on Malcolm's side!
I thought about having Connie go stay with Brit (if they could pry her away from control-freak Malcolm), but I haven't decided whether Brit is going back to Dunellen or not. Hetty's baby is expected for late Februrary / early March, and it's probably the only birth the Princess would be likely to attend before her own baby comes in the summer. And she ought to attend at least one birth.
But if she stays until Hetty's baby comes, then she'll be starting to get big by then herself, and Dunellen is rather far away for a pregnant woman to travel. So Dunstan might instead decide to take her home now and let her figure out childbirth by herself.
Or... Dunstan and Brit might decide to stay at Nothelm out of fear that Alred and/or Hetty are having such massive problems that they will need sane heads around.
And Happy New Year, everyone!
Who else is having sauerkraut today? 
"Just on Malcolm's side?" Uh oh. My Vashlaina senses are tingling. D:
And I had forgotten about Yware! That would be a sight to behold: Malcolm trying keep Connie away from the guy with the girly hair, and Yware trying to entertain poor Connie in that dour old house with that serious guy with no fashion sense.
How about Malcolm gets Connie and Yware gets Ogive? That way everybody's happy. Except Iylaine, but she's never happy anyway.
Happy New Year!
Hooray for Gog! Though I really didn't recognise him at the beginning. We haven't seen him for such a long time and he looks so much older now!
I just find carebear so... icky. I don't know quite why he has all the ladies swooning over him because I can't see it at all. I guess that has a lot to do with us being inside his head where his thoughts are all boofy and stupid. I think it is also that he gets so sweaty when he is nervous. I really don't want him for Connie. I have set her up with Yware already in my mind... they can plait each others hair or something (I think Yware will definitely spend longer in front of the mirror than her in the morning). Team conare (it kind of sounds like that bad Nicolas Cage movie con-air "I got you a bunnie"
. Or Ywonnie (the Y is silent 
).
And wow... is twin Malcom sour or what. Not that I blame him. Remember the twin wars... I think Sigefrith won. His twin is definitely superior. Not like Sourpants McBland moustache face.
Happy belated New Years everyone! I hope you had a great time. I for one drank bacon vodka (ugh) and almost got hit by a rogue firework (I still can't believe people are allowed to set off their own fireworks here
... in Australia we aren't since they might start a bushfire).
So...interesting chapter, really interesting comments! Thanks for clearing up the political stuff Meryt, twas very helpful. I still believe that the whole Connie-various suitor problem if taken slowly over the next couple years can be solved gracefully (a still interested EadRAD, or a grown up Cearball, or a non-angelic Malo, or a good-for-her Yware...the chances of these four happening may or may not be equally probable). I could probably see Cedric taking an interest in her, but I am still holding out for some glorious refugee or perfect girl (woman) for him in the future. Now, I admit I could actually see Malcolm and Connie being very, very good for each other. But, I am completely against it. I guess I still hold a tiny grudge against Malcolm, but he was probably the main obstacle in Vash's unhappiness, and possibly Iylaine's as well (yeah, still Team Vash over here). He chose Iylaine and he won her, fine, he can be happy. And if not, oh well! Figure something out. Marriage is not easy, and Iylaine will never be easy to get along with (probably not even if she ended up with Vash). Connie does not deserve all those problems he may be carrying around, and unless he is willing to somehow magically (no, seriously, magically) become unmarried...well. Maybe he does not deserve Connie either. He can't have his cake and eat it too. Other than that I think Malcolm is swell! Heh. *reignites the butane lighter in the wind*
I agree I do't want Connie for Malcolm. Marriage is not good for her right now. She needs time to grow physically and mentally. Anyway Connie + Cearball = NO
Devin, there isn't any Malcolm + Connie marriage in the cards anyway, since Malcolm is already married. What we're talking about is an extramarital affair, and that is DEFINITELY not good for Connie. I imagine everyone agrees with that.
What we're talking about is also a lot of "should have beens" since I do agree that Malcolm + Connie would have been a good marriage, at least for Malcolm. And probably for Orphan Connie too, to have that kind of rock-solid-albeit-slightly-controlling man. Someone (I think Meggie?) described Connie as simple-hearted, and that is just what Malcolm needs in a woman, since he's so incapable of reading complex hearts.
Nimue, I do think Malcolm deserves some of the blame for his marriage being in its present state... but not much. The prematurity of the marriage was all due to Egelric -- Malcolm wasn't even dreaming of suggesting getting married before he was 18 until Egelric all but ordered him to do it. And of course we now know that that alone could have averted everything, since Vash was waiting for Iylaine to grow up a bit before telling the truth.
And since the wedding... he has tried really hard, for a really long time to make it work. He has put up with truckloads of shit from Iylaine. He knows his wife is secretly in love with another man, even if it's only a grass-is-always-greener sort of idealistic love. He indulges her, he coddles her, he makes excuses for her crabby behavior. That may be stupid or counterproductive of him, but it's all he knows to do, and at least he's trying. Nothing he does makes her happy. It's wearing him down. Malcolm is getting close to his breaking point with her.
I already know a lot of stuff that is going to happen in that marriage this year, but I wasn't really counting on Connie getting involved. I can see potential for it though, even if it's all one-sided (i.e. Malcolm falling in love with Connie).
It would also solve my problem of how to keep Connie in the valley, since the logical thing for Gog to do is bring her back to Scotland when the weather gets warmer for travel. Malcolm-in-love could use his redoubtable powers of persuasion to convince his dad that Connie is better off in Lothere, and then he could keep her around to crush over.
(This is totally starting to remind me of Young Sigefrith seeking Wynflaed's company to escape his ugly marriage, back in the day!)
As for Cedric, something tells me that when his perfect girl comes along, we will all know it at once. Which means she hasn't made an appearance yet, or at least not asserted herself as a potential romantic partner. (He's only 12 after all, and she's likely to be younger anyway. So... for instance Stein's little sister Astrid is a possibility... but she's still playing with princess dolls at this stage in her life.)
On the other hand, it took us a while to see the poetic rightness of Kraash, so maybe Cedric's great romance just needs time to bloom.
Or maybe it's Cubric for reals...
(Oops, just realized I meant to say obstacle in his happiness...haha.) But yes, I suppose I am just more frustrated with the entire situation. Don't get me wrong, I feel sorry for Malcolm because I do not think he knew exactly what he was getting in to, or at least to what extent, right? And I understand he is trying hard. I am really eager to see what happens with Iylaine, because it is her unhappiness that is in a way the root of it all. Still, something seems so wrong about Malcolm now falling in love with Connie (and for me, that wrongness will keep me reading). I feel like I may be thinking a bit from Vash's point of view, especially from that one chapter when he hears Iylaine calling for Malcolm after having just saved his life. It's as if Vash made some kind of brittle, painful, effervescent peace with the idea of the the two being together, so finding out that the love is not quite as true I do not think would comfort him at all, but instead cause him pain if he truly did love Iylaine. I am not sure where Vash stands currently, and maybe I will feel a bit better about the whole thing when Kraaia is a bit older, and the two get closer, and mingle with wolves or something. I am definitely seeing parallels with Young Sigefrith and Wynflaed, it's true. But to me Iylaine is more redeemable than Hilda ever was. If only something could happen, anything at all, to give Iylaine true and lasting happiness. What I could see happening is either Malcolm leaving or Iylaine running off, and then her essentially ending up with no one but maybe her children. Or she could just become some mysterious renegade forest elf lady. Apparently I start to daydream when problems in Lothere are overly problematic.
Lovely.
Oh that would probably hurt Vash quite a bit. He sacrificed his own happiness to give Iylaine what he thought she wanted. How terrible if that sacrifice was wasted.
The worst thing about being late to the party is catching up on the comments so I've by-passed half of them at the risk of repeating things that have already been said.
But what a relief this chapter was. Colban is the most sensical person to have intervened in Connie's life yet. Her sisters, Egelric, Sir Malcolm... They've all been disastrous. And here Colban steps in and says, "You seem like a nice enough lad, your resume is all in order but I'm going to need a few letters of recommendation and Condal's expressed interest before we proceed." Logical. Expedient. Done. He even gives Cearball an opportunity to do a make-up exam later.
!EDIT!: And might I add, "BAANNNEERRRRR!!!!!"
Quoted for reason of distilling an entire chapter into a single sentence.
Don't worry, the comments on this chapter are mostly not on the topic of this chapter, as usual. Other than the typical "Cearball is so cute" / "Cearball is so icky and sweaty" divide.
Heh, I don't understand why Cearball can't be both!
He is totally both! Hence the divide. It's like that three blind men and the elephant story. Some people only see the cute, and some people only get a handful of sweat.
Um, I thought you said earlier that Malcolm would be much better with Eithne?
Anywho...ROCK ON NIMUE!!!
Eithne is lost to all mankind at this point, I think. She's carrying Black-and-Batty's babies, if not black and batty babies.
It's hard for some of us to reconcile that a cute man may also be icky and sweaty. In Cearball's case, it sort of comes with the package. Along with a note saying "I.O.U." where his brain should be. Poor, icky, sweaty, dim, yet cute Cearball. Oh my, he really is like a Carebear! All fluffy and sweet, but bad for your braincells.
All fluffy and sweet, with a boner.
That too.
*dusts off hands*
You don't even need me anymore to steer the conversation to penises.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love you guys?
Anyway, yeah. Cearball is adorable in his awkward, kinda dumb, oversexed-yet-goodhearted way. Honestly, I think that only enhances the cute - albeit not the "I want to get it on" kind of cute, but the endearing kind of cute. Yeah. I want to pat him on his greasy, sleazy head.
(But maybe I'm just full of goodwill since I am surrounded by kittehs? I don't know. They do enhance one's mood.)
Shame about Malcolm not getting a girl like Connie to begin with, but...he was determined to get Iylaine, and, well, he got her. Poor misguided people, sigh. It's nice that Connie will be getting a break from the suitors, but if Malcolm falls for her, uh...maybe not. (Although I like the potential Sigefrith & Wynsome parallel. That would be cute.)
Cassie, your reaction to Cearball is pretty much exactly the sort of reaction women like Malcolm's mom and Sebdann have to him. (And Iylaine, as far as we have seen.) They don't really want to sleep with him, but he's cute and fun to play with. Especially with the two of them there, alone with him for half an hour... you just know Cearball was intellectually outgunned, and probably didn't even realize he was being batted around. But he's just helpless-kittenish enough that some of their maternal instinct kicks in as well, so it never gets mean-spirited.
There is a whole other class of bored society wife that sees Cearball as the a young stud, so that's a side of him we haven't really seen. For those women he doesn't have to make clever conversation, he just has to make a good showing in bed. We haven't had the POV from any Lothere ladies who would be susceptible to that (if there are any!), aside from Leof noticing that Cearball was ogling Lady Eadgith's chest, and picking up on the potential threat. However, it's true that Hetty seems to take Cearball rather more seriously than he deserves, so perhaps in other circumstances something might have happened there.
Hmmm... it really seems so often that we are thinking that the menfolk of Lothere would be happier with a simple, straightforward sort of girl (e.g. both the Sigefriths, Malcom... can't think of who else right now but there have probably been others). One who does not meddle or pry or be all complicated and stuff. Is it just that the many of the men of Lothere can't handle complicated, deep women. Because they are all messed up themselves. Some of them do seem to need a complicated woman. Is Hetty too unmessy for Alred?
I'm going to hop in and say that the womenfolk could probably use less complicated men too (Egelric and Alred I am looking at you). Don't you think Hetty would have been infinitely more happy with someone like EadRAD. Who was just devoted to her and loved her honestly and truly and in a lovely red-haired, freckled sort of way. Just my two cents. I like red-haired men.
Heheh, Verity, are you slyly accusing us of sexism?
I don't know, I don't think we're disproportionately in favor of simple women. It would be interesting to draw up a list of all the main characters, male and female, and attempt to classify their ideal relationship on that admittedly oversimplistic, binary, "Simple or Complex" scale. But even off the top of my head I can think of lots of guys who need complex relationships with clever, passionate women. There's Eirik and, to a lesser extent, Murchad. Leof. Egelric. Alred. Dunstan. Caedwulf (whether he realizes it or not). Even Ethelmund. Among the younger set, Conrad and Finn.
Then there are men who need simple, uncomplicated women. It may be simply that two of them (King Sigefrith and young Malcolm) are such MAIN characters that they get discussed a lot. I think Bertie is one who needs a simpler, quieter girl, though that may not be what he got in Anna. Young Sigefrith definitely does. And among the boys, I don't think Cedric could handle the likes of Gwynn, even though that's what he thinks he wants.
Among the ladies there are some who would like quieter, simpler men too. How about Edris? Maybe Sophie -- peppery as she is, she always did seem to have a thing for Stein. Wynflaed definitely found her soulmate in big teddy bear Sigefrith. And as for women who maybe love complex men, but who want to have simple, easy relationships with them -- Eadie? She herself is difficult with him at times, all unknowingly, but from her perspective it's all lovely and simple.
Oh, and for Hetty... she probably would have been content and quiet with someone like Eadred. Someone who was simple and good and all. But Hetty is a special case because she yearns for something huge and passionate and so overflowing that it could get messy. I think Hetty would be the type who would have the good, safe, boring marriage, because she is not innately adventurous, but she would fantasize a lot about living the romance novels she reads. Hetty is just waiting with every fiber of her being for the right man to literally sweep her off her feet and not take no for an answer. And Leof is (or was) damned close to doing that.
I wasn't meaning to accuse
sorry! I have often been thinking about this too... I think I have commented before that someone would be better off with a simple woman. I guess today I just realised that we talk a lot about it 
Oh noes... I am like becoming the anti-sexism crusader (need cape) or something! It is because I had to give a mini-seminar on gender inclusiveness in the classroom in the pedagogy course I recently took. And since then I have been noticing more and more when I am thinking about things in a one-sided way. I don't think we are overly in favour of simple women either. I guess I just started thinking about it because I for one, tend to spend a lot of time thinking that the men would be happier with less complex women but I hadn't really considered how much happier some of the women might have been with less complex men
.
It's OK I understand.
I am sure some of my storylines are kind of sexist insofar as they're romantic fantasies of the sort that imaginary modern-day Hetty would read in her romance novels. There is much sweeping off of feet, and much getting carried away. And too much forgiveness applied to abusive men (although this is the 11th century and men are allowed -- if not expected -- to beat their wives).
But I would be sad if you all came to the conclusion that my repeating theme is that men are happiest with women who are simple and kind and who don't complain when they act like jerks. That is: "Women should act like Connie or Eadie if they want to be loved." Well maybe the jerks ARE happiest with that sort of women, but I don't want the take-away message to be that women should be simple and kind and not complain when they are with men who are jerks. Sometimes the appropriate way to treat men who are jerks is with a kneecap to the testicles. Fortunately we have Kraaia and Sigi to deliver that message for us, and I hope we have lots of female characters delivering other shades-of-gray messages in between.
I definitely did not mean your repeating theme was that men are happiest with simple women!! I don't think that is the theme of Lothere at all... your story has more than its fair share of phenomenally strong women fighting against the unequal standards of the time.
I was rather meaning that (and I don't think I came across very well... having a Baldwin moment here
) I had one of those weird disconnect moments while reading the comments where I was like, wow, we probably wouldn't say this if it weren't medieval times. I have the same moments when I get all forgivey of the abusive men, as you pointed out. I start thinking, wow, am I actually saying this. I would hate these people in real life.
But then I was thinking about it a bit more when I was in the shower and I am starting to realise that maybe we DO in fact say stuff like that in modern times quite often. It is just a little more veiled. How often have you heard someone recommend a less "high-maintenance" girl to a man. Or telling people not to go near because that person is too "messy". There is the age old scene from movies of the mother telling her son she had hoped he would choose a "nice" girl. Maybe we haven't gotten as far away from the medieval ideals as we think we have.
I do think your story has en excellent balance of characters with differing needs and wants, strong-minded and weak (I for one would be interested in that table
... everyone can just do a big musical chairs sort of switch to be with someone more simple or complex and then everyone will be happy... there must be an algorithm that could calculate the ultimate partner for each character). On seconds thoughts... nooooo... Lothere would be no fun without the angst and the torment 
And btw I am all for sweeping off of feetage. Hehe... I know that there have been a lot of editorials recently about how the younger generation of women have bad role models unlike our generation. We had Anne of Green Gables and Jo from Little Women... tough, kickass women who just wanted to get a good education. The younger generation have Bella from Twilight who stays with a guy for love even though there is a good chance he will kill her. But to be honest I can't help it... I just think that is soooo romantic!
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