Post by moralhazard on Feb 25, 2019 0:35:00 GMT
Citrine’s reaction was as far from what Thea imagined as – well – as possible. It was true, too, that Thea hadn’t had many she could talk it over with. Most of her friends in the city – as they’d called Urmlaspyr – were friends they’d had together. In other words, Dom’s friends. Thea’d liked them, had fit in well enough, but she was an artisan, a Baring, and there had always been a little distance, just enough that Thea hadn’t felt she could talk to any of them about her problems with Dom.
And at the keep? The few cousins that knew had encouraged Thea to keep it a secret; Dom wasn’t exactly what her family considered marrying material, and Annabelle, in particular, had told Thea to wait as long as possible before breaking the news as she could. Annabelle would have been the only one Thea might have told, but she – she knew too well what Annabelle thought about cheaters, that one should leave them at all cost, that such behavior was never excusable, and Thea hadn’t wanted to fight for her relationship to her friend, when it was all she could do to fight for it to herself.
Citrine’s words soothed some fear that had been knotted up inside her for nearly a year; it wasn’t gone, exactly, but Thea thought maybe she would be able to forgive herself after all.
“Then he did it again,” It was a few moments before Thea could summon up the will to continue, but now – now she was content to see it through. “A different girl, too, a – a mutual friend, that time. The first one I hadn’t known,” Thea sighed a little. “That time I left him, but I… I don’t know,” she was quiet.
“Without Dom, Urmlaspyr seemed so… small, and stifling and…” Thea wrinkled her nose. “I wanted to leave, and at the same time I thought if I stayed, I might not… might not be able to resist him.” Now the words were pouring out, almost like a flood. “I think he wanted me to catch him, the second time. I… he knew I was planning to come by that night, I’d been out of town. I found out – later – before I left that – there had been others.” That had been courtesy of Silfina, the elvish girl who’d been with Dom. Thea could still picture the mingled pity and contempt on her face.
“But, then, apparently he’d been careful before. The first time he couldn’t have known I’d come by, but the second?” Thea shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he wanted to see if I’d just – accept it. Maybe he wanted me to leave him. I don’t know. He begged me to take him back, he…” she sighed. “I don’t know. I thought I understood him better than anyone in the world, and it was like – it was like I never even knew him.”
And at the keep? The few cousins that knew had encouraged Thea to keep it a secret; Dom wasn’t exactly what her family considered marrying material, and Annabelle, in particular, had told Thea to wait as long as possible before breaking the news as she could. Annabelle would have been the only one Thea might have told, but she – she knew too well what Annabelle thought about cheaters, that one should leave them at all cost, that such behavior was never excusable, and Thea hadn’t wanted to fight for her relationship to her friend, when it was all she could do to fight for it to herself.
Citrine’s words soothed some fear that had been knotted up inside her for nearly a year; it wasn’t gone, exactly, but Thea thought maybe she would be able to forgive herself after all.
“Then he did it again,” It was a few moments before Thea could summon up the will to continue, but now – now she was content to see it through. “A different girl, too, a – a mutual friend, that time. The first one I hadn’t known,” Thea sighed a little. “That time I left him, but I… I don’t know,” she was quiet.
“Without Dom, Urmlaspyr seemed so… small, and stifling and…” Thea wrinkled her nose. “I wanted to leave, and at the same time I thought if I stayed, I might not… might not be able to resist him.” Now the words were pouring out, almost like a flood. “I think he wanted me to catch him, the second time. I… he knew I was planning to come by that night, I’d been out of town. I found out – later – before I left that – there had been others.” That had been courtesy of Silfina, the elvish girl who’d been with Dom. Thea could still picture the mingled pity and contempt on her face.
“But, then, apparently he’d been careful before. The first time he couldn’t have known I’d come by, but the second?” Thea shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he wanted to see if I’d just – accept it. Maybe he wanted me to leave him. I don’t know. He begged me to take him back, he…” she sighed. “I don’t know. I thought I understood him better than anyone in the world, and it was like – it was like I never even knew him.”