Tuesday 21 January 2014

Chapter 107 - A shoulder to cry on

Running into the outhouse, Elenie proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach several times.  Standing up, she wiped her mouth and wondered what had triggered the bout of sickness. 
Feeling a little better, she went back into the greenhouse to tend the plants, which were showing signs of neglect from their long absence.  Dory joined her and they worked together in an uncomfortable silence. 
Once they had finished tending the plants, Elenie realised that she had run out of reasons to avoid something she had been dreading - she needed to visit Ieaun's parents and give them the news.   Squaring her shoulders, she set off resolutely and upon arrival, found them waiting for her along with Ieaun's younger brother. 
Rhiannon, Ieaun's mother, ushered Elenie into the living room.  Elenie was slightly surprised that none of them asked where Ieaun was, but Rhiannon didn't give her a chance to say anything

"I know why you're here dear one.  You've come to tell us that Ieaun is dead haven't you?  Don't worry child, we already know all about it."
Elenie stared at her in shock.

"But, but, how do you know?  Who told you?  What do you know?  Does everyone know?" 
Rhiannon smiled sadly, "You forget my dear, Ieaun wasn't the only one in this family with the Sight, both Bryn and I have it too and more than that."

"More?" Elenie asked, her confusion evident in her face.
"Indeed, as well as the Sight, I have other gifts which crop up from time to time in my family, although some of my ancestors considered this more a curse than a gift.  The night a close relative dies, I see their spirit.  I saw my boy the night he died and he told me what happened.  Don't grieve too much child, he knew walking into that castle that only one of you would leave alive and he chose to sacrifice himself so you would survive.  It was a brave choice to make and I'm so proud of him."
Elenie felt tears well up in her eyes "You saw his spirit?   Where is he now?  Is there any chance that I could see his spirit at some point?"
"I don't know child, usually the only time I see spirits is the night they die, but I have heard of them visiting their loved ones from time to time.  Don't live your life waiting for that though, he would want you to be happy again, even if it doesn't feel now as if you ever will be again." 
With that Rhiannon held out her arms and Elenie collapsed into them, sobbing into her shoulder.  Rhiannon held her close, murmuring reassurances to her as Elenie let herself grieve properly.  When she finally straightened, Rhiannon hugged her again "Whatever happens in the future, you've been my daughter since you married Ieaun and that won't change.  You'll always be welcome here." 
After spending some time with the Glyndwrs, Elenie went home feeling a little less raw.  When she got there, the little fox cub came running out to greet her.  
Picking her up, Elenie walked round into the garden, cuddling the cub made her feel better, and she stroked her quietly for a few moments.  Looking down at the cub a thought struck her; "You don't have a name do you little one?  Or at least, I don't know what your name is...  I can't just call you cub all your life can I?"   
As she crouched down to put the little cub on the ground, the cub barked softly at her and said "Silly faerie!  Of course I have a name, do you think my mama wouldn't have given me one before she vanished?  I'm Ffion." 
"Well then Ffion" Elenie laughed somewhat shakily, "Do you want a treat?"

Ffion barked excitedly "Yes, yes, of course I do" and Elenie carefully threw her a biscuit. 
The evening was drawing in by now, so Elenie bent down again to pick Ffion up and take her indoors. 
After settling Ffion down in a basket to sleep, she shared another silent meal with her mother.  Although her conversation with Rhiannon had bolstered her, she still didn't feel ready to talk to Dory especially when she kept thinking how much more Rhiannon felt like a mother than her own mother! 

The following morning, she was just settling down to have breakfast by herself and try to think how she wanted to deal with her mother's presence in the house and her life, when her phone rang unexpectedly.

13 comments:

  1. Wow that was interesting that Ieaun's family already knew about his death. That had to be tough on his parents to see their child had died. :( Kind of relieved that Elenie that she didn't really have to break the news to them.

    Hmm I'm really interested in that Marital status roll and the number of kids lol. I just keep guessing at it. Can't wait to see what it is.
    I'm still hoping that Elenie and her mom can rebuild their relationship. I'm sure Elenie will need her more once the baby is born.

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    1. Well, both his parents (until they aged up & retired) were in the fortune-teller career and in my head they both had the second sight, so it didn't feel right that they wouldn't know. It did make it a lot easier on Elenie too, especially since they've come to terms with his death and so were able to comfort her.

      I'm afraid the whole reason I haven't put the marital roll and number of kids up is to keep you all guessing ;)

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  2. Aaaaw. Poor Elenie. That had to be tough to be trying to steel herself to give such awful news. But at least Ieaun's mom knew of it all and tried to comfort Elenie a little also. It looks like she could really use a steady someone to lean on about now.

    It's really sad that Dory and Elenie are having such a hard time connecting. I know there are many years of pain and embarrassment to get through and hope they can find their way back to each other soon.

    Hmmm! Who's calling?

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    1. It was tough for her, which is one reason why Rhiannon was comforting her. Elenie does need someone to lean on right now, but she does have a few someones around - Rhiannon & Bryn (Ieaun's father) still see her as family even though Ieaun's dead, and Evie and Talfryn are around when she needs them too.

      They are having a hard time connecting, but it wouldn't feel right to me if they connected immediately after everything that's happened between them.

      As for who's calling, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find that out... ;)

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  3. Oh wow, I'm surprised she didn't notify his parents much sooner than that. Though I guess it's understandable, as she's still processing it all emotionally herself. Even with forewarning through the Sight, I'm really surprised his family's handling it so well. I don't think I'm handling it so well, lol. I find myself unable to focus on Dory at all, through all this, so that Elenie isn't connecting much with her yet is one thing that doesn't surprise me.

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    1. To be fair to her, the whole of last chapter and almost all of this one are supposed to have taken place over the course of one day, so she hasn't really delayed that much.

      His family are handling it well in front of Elenie because they don't want her to blame herself. How they deal with it behind closed doors is another matter (but this isn't their story so I haven't really worked that one out particularly).

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    2. Ah ok, one day makes much more sense :)

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  4. I'm glad Rhiannon didn't blame Elenie for Ieaun's death, I know some people would. I guess being able to have final words with a departing spirit must help, especially since Ieaun explained his choice to his mother.
    And I'm happy that Elenie has her mother-in-law's support since she's still estranged from Dory.

    I'm looking forward to finding out what the unexpected phone call is about.

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    1. Rhiannon doesn't blame Elenie because she's well aware of everything involved in the Sight and she feels that to blame Elenie would be to dishonour Ieaun's choices and the same goes for providing support to Elenie.

      The phone call will be explained in the next chapter :)

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  5. Aw, way to break my heart again! It must've been such a shock to Ieaun's mother to see her son's spirit and know he is dead. :( I guess from one point of view it's good thing, since she could come to terms with her son's death and help Elenie with her grief, but even so, it must've been terrible. I really wouldn't want to be in her shoes. I wonder how Ieaun's brother feels about it?

    Oh, and I love little Ffion! Elenie really should've learnt by now not to make conclusions about magical creatures!

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    1. I'm sorry! It may not have been as much of a shock for her - she does have the sight after all so she may have had some idea beforehand, whether clear or in the form of a premonition, but it has meant that she was able to help Elenie rather than just reacting to the news.

      Yes, Elenie probably should have learnt not to jump to conclusions about magical creatures, and given Ffion's mother, she should have realised that Ffion probably would be magical, but in her defence, she's not really thinking clearly right now.

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  6. Aww, how sad, but if his parents knew it was coming, I guess they've had some time to reconcile themselves to it. It could be why his mother was so calm, and could even comfort Elenie. Still, it would be tough.

    That fox is still the cutest thing---and I wonder who is calling...

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    1. They did have some time to reconcile themselves to the situation, and that did mean that they were able to be there for Elenie, so in a way it was a good thing, but still sad as you say.

      The fox-cub is very cute, I haven't played with dogs much in the sims previously, but she is adorable!

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