“Yes Da, Mama said,” Lucia said quietly. “Are you going to take any more?”
Yes.
No.
I don't know! I'm frightened and I want Liriel back. But I can't have her...
“No,” Madanach said, knowing nothing less would make Lucia stop being so frightened, and actually feeling relieved to say it. He'd promised his little girl, so he'd have to keep it now, right? Simple as that. Simple. Right. “No, I was just... your mother and I... Lucia, I don't know what you may have heard...”
And this was the bit he'd been dreading, breaking the news of the impending divorce to his children and dammit, why had Liriel had to adopt two little girls in the first place, and why did they have to be so adorable, why had they ever called him father, why had they decided to love him, why, couldn't they see he was a terrible human being?
“Her parents took her prisoner!” Lucia cried, and whatever Madanach had been expecting, it hadn't been that. “They hurt Uaile and knocked her out and they did the same to Mama and put her in a trunk and took her with them! Cicero went after them, I think he's going to kill them! Daddy, you have to do something!”
Madanach felt his entire world contracting, everything grinding to a halt as everything came to focus on one thing. Liriel a prisoner, Liriel in trouble, Liriel not sent away or gone of her own free will but taken.
Madanach focused on the empathy bond, weak and fragile but there, still there and looked for her. Further away than he'd like, far to the north-east, heading for Solitude most likely. And she was screaming. Now the Skooma was out of his system and he wasn't blocking her, he could feel it, howling fury and rage alternating with desperate pleading and then for long stretches, just this odd calm focus. There weren't any words but he could sense the sentiment behind it all too clearly.
Madanach, help me.
“I'm coming for you, cariad,” Madanach whispered, focusing on her as strongly as he could, wrapping the thought of her in fierce, protective love and hoping she could feel it, and wonder of wonders, he could feel her responding, surprise, anger, hope... love.
Navigating emotional problems had never been Madanach's strong point, it had to be said. But give Madanach a practical problem to deal with, preferably the sort best solved by raining fire and death on some unfortunate soul, and he was all over it.
“I'll find her,” Madanach promised, kissing Lucia on the cheek. “I'm leaving right now, as soon as I can get the ReachGuard organised – in the mean time, I need you to stay in the Keep and be good, and we need to get your sister in here as well...”
“She's in her room,” Eola cut in, and Madanach slowly got up to see Eola sitting in his throne... with his torc around her neck. “I already had extra guards assigned to Sissel and Lucia both, and I will say your goodbyes for you. Uraccen is on his way back, Keirine is here, the ReachGuard are already on alert and I have given orders to seal the borders and restricted teleportal use to government use only, my authorisation required. You just need to grab whatever things you need and get your arse out of this city and after Liriel. I assume you're quite done getting off your face?”
Far too like her mother, and Madanach narrowed his eyes. Eola was glaring at him, Nepos was sitting next to her with his arms folded, and somehow Keirine had got here, on Eola's other side, illusions in place that made her look like a perfectly ordinary old woman, and yet that somehow made the disapproving frown worse.
“What is this,” Madanach said quietly. “Daughter, that is my torc you are wearing – no, that is the official badge of office of the Reach-King or Queen, which you assuredly aren't just yet, what have you done?”
“I believe it's called staging an intervention,” Nepos put in. “I think that's what happens when someone has a problem and refuses to admit it.”
Re: Thicker Than Blood 8.9
Yes.
No.
I don't know! I'm frightened and I want Liriel back. But I can't have her...
“No,” Madanach said, knowing nothing less would make Lucia stop being so frightened, and actually feeling relieved to say it. He'd promised his little girl, so he'd have to keep it now, right? Simple as that. Simple. Right. “No, I was just... your mother and I... Lucia, I don't know what you may have heard...”
And this was the bit he'd been dreading, breaking the news of the impending divorce to his children and dammit, why had Liriel had to adopt two little girls in the first place, and why did they have to be so adorable, why had they ever called him father, why had they decided to love him, why, couldn't they see he was a terrible human being?
“Her parents took her prisoner!” Lucia cried, and whatever Madanach had been expecting, it hadn't been that. “They hurt Uaile and knocked her out and they did the same to Mama and put her in a trunk and took her with them! Cicero went after them, I think he's going to kill them! Daddy, you have to do something!”
Madanach felt his entire world contracting, everything grinding to a halt as everything came to focus on one thing. Liriel a prisoner, Liriel in trouble, Liriel not sent away or gone of her own free will but taken.
Madanach focused on the empathy bond, weak and fragile but there, still there and looked for her. Further away than he'd like, far to the north-east, heading for Solitude most likely. And she was screaming. Now the Skooma was out of his system and he wasn't blocking her, he could feel it, howling fury and rage alternating with desperate pleading and then for long stretches, just this odd calm focus. There weren't any words but he could sense the sentiment behind it all too clearly.
Madanach, help me.
“I'm coming for you, cariad,” Madanach whispered, focusing on her as strongly as he could, wrapping the thought of her in fierce, protective love and hoping she could feel it, and wonder of wonders, he could feel her responding, surprise, anger, hope... love.
Navigating emotional problems had never been Madanach's strong point, it had to be said. But give Madanach a practical problem to deal with, preferably the sort best solved by raining fire and death on some unfortunate soul, and he was all over it.
“I'll find her,” Madanach promised, kissing Lucia on the cheek. “I'm leaving right now, as soon as I can get the ReachGuard organised – in the mean time, I need you to stay in the Keep and be good, and we need to get your sister in here as well...”
“She's in her room,” Eola cut in, and Madanach slowly got up to see Eola sitting in his throne... with his torc around her neck. “I already had extra guards assigned to Sissel and Lucia both, and I will say your goodbyes for you. Uraccen is on his way back, Keirine is here, the ReachGuard are already on alert and I have given orders to seal the borders and restricted teleportal use to government use only, my authorisation required. You just need to grab whatever things you need and get your arse out of this city and after Liriel. I assume you're quite done getting off your face?”
Far too like her mother, and Madanach narrowed his eyes. Eola was glaring at him, Nepos was sitting next to her with his arms folded, and somehow Keirine had got here, on Eola's other side, illusions in place that made her look like a perfectly ordinary old woman, and yet that somehow made the disapproving frown worse.
“What is this,” Madanach said quietly. “Daughter, that is my torc you are wearing – no, that is the official badge of office of the Reach-King or Queen, which you assuredly aren't just yet, what have you done?”
“I believe it's called staging an intervention,” Nepos put in. “I think that's what happens when someone has a problem and refuses to admit it.”