A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed]

A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - Printable Version

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RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 12-05-2019

The wind howled through the trees like a caged beast and the sound rattled Julianna to her core. It was deafening and terrifying. She huddled tighter with the kittens who seemed to be unaffected by the noise and she wondered if they had already succumbed to the cold. Frozen fingers ruffled the downy fur of one tiny head that was barely larger than the palm of her hand. The kitten lifted its head, it eyes were not even open, and mewed pathetically at her.

"Just hold on," she urged the babies. She could hardly hear herself speaking over the wind. "We can make it through this."

Julianna worried that the snow would bury them alive in the hollowed up tree. Barricading them into a frozen death. She shivered violently, and regretted the pride that forced her to leave the horn behind. She questioned her ability to even use it. Her fingers numbed to uselessness and she'd not figured out how to make it work.

Perhaps, she had done something that did not only offend Lady Ishara, but the whole frozen north and it was punishing her for that offense. Her whole body vibrated in a failing attempt to keep her warm and she thought of how nice it had been to sleep next to Eoghan. His form was so large and warm and she had felt safe slumbering against him for the first time since she had arrived in Eskra. Would her last thought be of Eoghan?

Even now she could hear him saying her name, cutting through the howling wind, like a dream. Her frozen mind playing tricks on her.

No. It was him. She was alerted to the reality of his presence by Frostfang who entered the hollow and nudged at her with his head. He meowed and she blinked at him. He battled at the bundle she had wrapped up on her cloak. He sniffed at it.

"Eoghan?" Her voice felt frozen in her throat. She shimmied closer to the opening. "I'm here." She couldn't say how relieved she was to see him crouching there. Still, she held the nest of kittens close to her chest. The cloak covered more of them than it did her. She gripped the hand he reached out to her as tight as she could with fingers like icicles. "There are...I found. Kittens."

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 12-05-2019

The form that huddled inside the treehole didn’t move for long enough that Eoghan’s heart skipped a panicked beat. “Julianna.” He repeated more firmly. Had she expired already in the cold? “Julianna!”

At last her voice small and tremulous with shivers called his name. The dread left him only for a moment as he firmly grasped her hand and pulled her from inside the tree. They were both in danger out in the storm. Even in the dark of the storm Eoghan could see the blue tint to her lips.

You’re half dead with cold.” He scolded her.

The pretty tip of her nose was exposed to the freezing cold. Angirly, he sliced off a section of his own cloak and fashioned the strip around her mouth and nose, tying it hastily at the back of her head.

With the tip of his knife, he pushed back the bit of cloak that covered the bundle in her arms. A pile of tiny furred bodies that moved feebly. He let the flap close again not wanting to expose them too much.

“Keep them close.” His voice was a growl through the covering over his mouth. He unrolled a blanket that had been attached to the saddle on the back of his stallion. He unfurled the blanket with a snap and wrapped it around her shoulders. He bent at the knees and wrapped his arms around her middle and lifted her onto the horse much as he had offered to do on the first night they met. Without delay he mounted behind her and set the horse on a path back to the cabin.

“What were you thinking!” He yelled at her over the wind as they rode. He could feel her shivering form and doubted whether she could muster the strength to argue with him. He opened his own cloak wrapping it around her. A third layer against the cold.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 12-05-2019

He was upset with her.

Julianna didn't get a chance to explain herself and was passive to they ways he was tending to her. His hand were gentler than his tone, and it was taking all of her energy to remain standing. Even the blanket he spared for her felt like it was weighing her down. She clutched the kittens tighter. Her only movement before he lifted her up and on to his horse.

He kept an arm around her. Probably to keep her falling off the horse, which she felt was very possible. Julianna buried herself into the warmth of him as he drew her into his cloak. Hiding her face against the furred mantle that still smelled so strange, but now a bit more familiar. She was so grateful to have been found by him, she would have to remember to tell him if she managed to survive her own foolishness.

She closed her eyes. She felt safe again, but she was still so cold.

They stopped moving. Julianna was oblivious to how far they traveled and when she forced her eyes open they were back at his home. Eoghan dismounted and reached for her. She hooked one arm around his neck and clung to him, as he brought her inside. The fingers that clutched the cloaked kittens felt frozen around the fabric.

Eoghan set her upon the bearskin rug in front of the hearth and immediately set to work getting the fire going again. She forced her own fingers open so she could check on the kittens she was harboring. "I...got...lost," she explained. Vaguely recalling a question he had asked her at some point. Even talking was taking a surprising amount of effort. "I didn't..." she coughed. It felt like shards of ice were rattling around in her lungs.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 01-13-2020

Eoghan blew into his own cabin like a storm. He cradled the dying southern princess in his arms as snow flurries swirled around them in the threshold. Frostfang darted inside the door and he kicked it shut with his boot. The cabin was warm but the fire had all but burned itself down to embers. He could start one again easily enough.

Eoghan deposited Julianna and the bundle of kittens on the rug and set to work. He listened to her tremulous explanation.

“I gave you that horn for a reason.” He scolded her as he plopped logs into the hearth. Each plop sent orange and red sparks flying upwards. As he worked on the fire, his mind flashed back to his own close call with death in the winter. His memory of the event was fuzzy and came in fits. The exhaustion. The desire to lay down and sleep. The dizzying white all around him. Search party torch lights. Being lifted by his father and carried for a long time through the snow. Shivering under heavy blankets and being fed warm tea by the spoonful from his mother.

Once he was satisfied with the fire, Eoghan crouched in front of Julianna and matter-of-factly inspected her extremities. He touched her chin, turning her face to the light so he could see the tip of her nose. He took her hands and inspected her fingers. He rearranged her so he could pull the slippers from her feet and peeled the wet stockings from her legs. He worked without speaking, but occasionally glanced at the bundle of kittens.

“It is not good for someone sick with the cold to be left in wet things.” He told her as he rose to his feet. “Take them off.” Eoghan left her with simple instructions while he fetched dry blankets and from his bed.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 01-19-2020

While Eoghan tended to the fire, Julianna removed the kittens from the cloak. With trembling hands she arranged them into a furry pile on the bear skin rug. Seven in total. They fit into the palm of her hand and their breathing was slow. They appeared to be okay, for the moment, but they were young enough that their eyes had yet to open. She worried they would succumb to their prolonged exposure to the cold.

The fire sprang to life and Julianna basked in the warmth of it. She was so tired. Her eyelids were heavy. Just as she nearly nodded off, Eoghan was suddenly upon her. Her eyes snapped open again when he took hold of her face. Julianna couldn't see what he was seeing, but he did not look concerned as he inspected her. She was entirely passive to the way he handled her. There was nothing uncouth in his undressing of her. Only a methodical and experienced investigation.

"Your mother came to the cabin today," she explained. The tremor was gone from her voice thanks to his attendance. Julianna unclasped the cloak and let it fall. She pushed it off of the rug, before unlacing her dress. Her hands shook. With noticeable effort she moved enough to pull the dress out from under her and over her head and then her shift. Her lack of clothing revealed the daggers she had strapped to her thighs and arms with strips of leather. "She seemed so upset that I had the horn." It was warmer out of the wet clothing, but not by much. Her ears pinned to her head, her tail was motionless behind her. The fur wet and knotted. She crossed her arms over her bare chest to rub warmth into them. "I didn't want to use it. Didn’t know if I should. She very much implied that I shouldn't. I was confused. I didn’t think I would get lost.”

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 01-22-2020

As she began to undress and explain the circumstances of her becoming lost in the forest, Eoghan was gathering some dry things for her in his bedroom. He opened the chest that contained spare clothing and selected a plain tunic. Then he took the blankets from the bed and brought them into the other room.

The sight of her gave him pause. She was doing her best to maintain her modesty by crossing her arms over her chest. Her tanned complexion glowed in the light of the fire. Her curves threatened to distract him, but he forced his gaze to her face not wanting to stare too long. He could have taken her right then and there and the red-blooded part of him wanted to. But she was in obviously no state for that.

"Here." He held the tunic out for her and turned politely to the side so that she could slip into it. When the corner of his vision showed that she had covered herself he dropped the blankets next to her and went into the other room again.

This time he brought a boar's hair brush. It had an intricately carved and stained wooden handle. It had been his mother's once but she had given it to him when his hair grew long.

Eoghan sat next to her and wordlessly, he began working the brush gently through her damp curls. "This will help it dry faster." He explained. "Tangles hold water. You can't sleep with wet hair you will catch fever."

He continued brushing and only then did he address her explanations. "Don't worry about my mother. I gave the horn to you. It is yours now to decide what to do with it. To call me when you need or not to. It's for you to decide."

Meanwhile Frostfang had come to stretch himself out in front of the fire. His purrs filled any lapses of silence that feel between Eoghan and Julianna. He lay near the kittens and soon they were stumbling towards him and nestling at his belly.

"They're rooting." Eoghan observed, "Do you have any milk? The kittens need to be nursed."

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 01-24-2020

The tunic didn't fit Julianna, but it was better than being bare in the cold and she appreciated the offering. It hung off her shoulders, but it provided the modesty she had been lacking. Her attention had been for kittens, and she had not noticed his lingering gaze. She would not have minded, but yes, she was currently in no state for the activities they could get up to alone in the cozy cabin. Activities that she sometimes thought about when she was in better sorts.

Julianna hummed in contentment when he sat next to her. He was close enough that his warmth transferred to her and she was trying to soak up all she could. She started to purr when he began brushing. A slow and resonant rumble in her chest. Her short curly locks bounced and dripped water with each pass of the brush. "Thank you," she murmured, looking down at her lap as he worked.

"I am not sure I can, Alfilius of Yesus," she replied. Intentionally using the title his mother had taught him, as if to give him some idea into the nature of his mother’s visit. She looked up from her hands to hold his eyes. "She doesn't like me. I don't know what I did." Green eyes made saccades across his face, in an attempt to read his stormy gaze. "Nothing I do pleases her. Nothing I say...makes a difference. She claims that I don't try. Try what?" Julianna didn't realize she'd begun to rant. She continued to hold still for him, however, as he brushed. Her ears flattened to allow him to maneuver the brush over the crown of her head.

"I don't-" she glanced at the kittens. "I don't know how to use the horn. It's in the bedroom. I still haven't figured it out."

She motioned to the table where a pitcher of milk still remained from the morning. She pulled her tail into her lap and finger-combed the dense fur, to have an excuse not to look at him for a moment.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 03-11-2020

Eoghan worked through Julianna's wet curls methodically and with a gentle touch. A couple of times the brush snagged, and he placed his hand against her head to hold the hair so that it wouldn't pull at the root. He stopped momentarily and stared at her inquisitively when she called him by his formal title.

[i[Mother.[/i] He thought imagining how the scene must have went. She could be a stern and uncompromising woman but she was loving and warm to those close to her. She was testing Julianna, a high ranking foreign royal and unmarried young lady. Perhaps his mother thought of her as a possible fox in her henhouse?

Eoghan listened to Julianna complain. He didn't have any advice for her. "Don't worry too much over my mother." He reiterated. In his estimation Julianna would be just fine if she remained as she was.

"Ah." He continued work on her hair, "There is a small hole on the underside concealed in the pattern that you must plug with your finger to get the sound out." He explained how to use the horn, somewhat disappointed that she hadn't discovered it herself.

Eoghan paused his brushing to get up and fetch the pitcher of milk and a rag. He knelt in front of Julianna and showed her how he soaked the rag in the milk. He coaxed a kitten away from Frostfang and handed it to her along with the rag. "It's tedious work, but you can feed them this way."

Eoghan settled back down to finish her hair while she worked on feeding the kitten. "I will show you how to navigate the forest another time. I want to take you to the shrine."

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 03-14-2020

He repeated his instructions in regards to his mother and Julianna rolled her eyes. Her ears fell flat off either side of her head without care that she was making it difficult for her him to brush. It wasn't very actionable advice in her opinion. Especially if the woman was going to keep making unannounced visits to check up on her. Bringing more chores that Julianna didn't know how to accomplish in her wake.

Like the horn. Her tail twitched, irratably. Just another thing that she didn't know how to do.

Julianna was a clever girl who liked to learn, but since coming to Eskra she had only felt foolish, and resistant to what the native intended to teach her. It wasn't out of pride or any feeling of condescension. The more she was taught and the more she learned made her stay in Eksra feel more and more permanent, when at the moment she wanted nothing more to be home. Home, where she didn't get lost in the forest and nearly killed for her own stupidity.

When Eoghan moved, so did Julianna. She turned her back to him working behind her and faced the fire. A bit of a pout was pulling her features downward. Her eyes burned, and she knew it was exhaustion that was pushing her towards tears of frustration. "Do you intend for me to keep them?" she inquired as she accepted the rag and the kitten as he handed them off to her. She help the impossibly small creature to her chest and mimicked the method she was shown.

He sat down with her again, and she shifted as if she was move away from him. She suddenly felt childish under his attentiveness, as he spoke of teaching her to navigate the forest. He had likely been a child when he learned to find his way in the woods.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 03-17-2020

Eoghan was unwavering in meeting her dolorous gaze. His intensity was meant to be calming and reassuring. He was a rock in the storm. “Yes you will raise them.” He said with finality about the kittens. He nodded curtly towards the others still nuzzling into Frostfang’s belly.

When she tried to move away from him, he placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her firmly into place. “I’m not finished.” He explained fully expecting her to comply.

He went back to brushing her hair. “You’ll raise the kittens. You’ll learn the forest. You’ll visit the temple. You’ll take my mother’s abuse.” His stern instructions came out more like a mantra. “You will be stronger in the end.”

When he finished with her hair, he took her tail and smoothed the fur from the base to the tip. When he was finished he set the brush down on the rug next to him and relaxed, changing his position so he could lounge on the rug in front of the fire. He sighed relieved.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 03-22-2020

Julianna only sighed in protest as he pulled her back. She was nearly sitting in his lap as he brushed the back of her head. She could feel the curls springing into place with every pass of the brush. What she was protesting with the indignant noise through her nose was unclear because she made no further vocal complaints. He brushed and she fed the cats in silence.

“Very well,” was her only reply after some time. She didn’t know if she appreciated him telling her what to do. The kittens, the forest, his mother. It was more responsibility than she had bargained for.

Her tail had dried quickly. The fur more resistant to water than her hair. It flicked out of his hand and curled against her spine and he laid out beside her.

“I suppose you’re stuck here through the storm,” she mused. Glancing at him briefly. He appeared so comfortable. She assumed it had more to do with the cabin being his home than her company in particular. She finished feeding the last kitten. The milk was all but gone and she let them settle in next to Frostfang who seemed content to provide them comfort. She scratched between his ears until he purred. Her own ears pinned backwards and she chewed her bottom lip. Stifling more complaints about his mother and what was to come from him staying away from the village again.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 04-25-2020

From his place on the rug, Eoghan stretched out, elongating his body fully to reach the wine skin he'd left on his table. Once in hand, he went back to lounging and sipping at the wine. He could feel the liquid traveling into his gullet, warming him along the way.

Eoghan smirked at her suggestion that he had to stay because of the storm. "It would be wise to do so." He admitted, "Although, I'm sure I could make it home if I tried." He lay back folding his hands under the back of his head. He stared at the ceiling.

"But why risk it, when the storm will finish by the morning. Besides Frostfang is exhausted." Eoghan glanced over to his lazy cat. A lump of white fur purring in a pile of kittens.

"I will sleep out here. You can take the bed."

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 04-30-2020

Clear eyes reflected firelight in a shift of colors as she stared down Eoghan; stretching out and helping himself to a bit of wine. She recalled their first encounter not a day before. She glanced over to the gash in the flooring where she had buried her dagger next to his head. Her eye cast down to the tips of her daggers, still strapped to her thighs that could been seen peeking out from beneath the hem of his tunic.

They were both armed, and both obviously dangerous if the previous night was any indication. Still relative strangers to one another. Yet she wore his clothes and occupied his house. He gave her gentle orders and tended to her and had plans for the remainder of her stay in Eskra. Julianna wondered at what point Eoghan had begun to see her as something that belonged to him. She did not know if that was a bitter thought.

Would it be so terrible? She wondered.

To belong to him.

"We can share the bed," she suggested after a brief silence. They were both looking at Frostfang before she spoke. She blinked, turning her head away from him and the fire enough to make her eyes look green again. "It is only fair, I think and certainly big enough for two."

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-30-2020

Eoghan watched her back. Watched the way the fire light flickered over her tanned skin. Admittedly, he peaked at the shapley legs he could see under his tunic. She was a bit skinny but that could be fixed with a good winter in Eskra.

Was he seriously considering her?

His brow arched, climbing towards his hair line when she suggested they share the bed.

"Then we will go to bed."

He pushed himself up and brought her with him, easily scooping her around the waist. He lifted her high enough that her feet left the floor. Just a brief moment of her pressed against him with his one arm around her back. Then he set her down again.

"Afterall, it is my bed." He stared down at her for a moment. "Come." He said, and turned away from her expecting her to follow him to bed. He stepped over the lounging Frostfang who briefly lifted his head. Normally the cat would follow his master to bed, but he seemed content to cuddle and provide warmth for the cadre of kittens snuggling against his stomach.

Eoghan pulled back the covers on the bed and slipped inside. He kept himself slightly to the right, giving her the left side of the bed.

RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-31-2020

A kittenish chirrup of a noise escaped her when he picked her up from the furred rug with ease. While Julianna was quite acquainted with how easily he could handle her, it was not so suddenly. It was just a brief moment that she was pressed against him, but she could feel the hard planes of his chest through the fabric of the thin tunic. She reckoned she must have been feeling better from her near-death experience, if the heat between her legs was any judge.

Eoghan released her just a quickly as he had plucked her from the ground and she was lost in the storm grey of his eyes as he stared down at her. He ears stood at attention.

It was all she could do to nod when he stated they would go to bed.

Julianna's tail swayed languidly behind her knees as she followed him. How easily he could command her did not seem to bother her in that moment. She didn't know what it was about him that gave him more will over her than any other man (or woman) before him.

She followed suit, climbing into the bed on the opposite side. The large bed seemed cozier now with another body in it.

While he had stayed to the right, Julianna placed herself more towards the middle. Closer to him and the warmth he emanated, but she didn't touch him. She nestled down into the blankets and furs, green eyes rolling up to gaze at the profile of his face. "Will the kittens be alright, overnight? " she asked, quietly, already purring next to him.