Wedding Bells (AU, for gunslingerqueen) (NSFW)

[toweredingly]

Roland had woken with a headache and a sinking sense of cold dread, and neither were because of the large amounts of whiskey and graf he'd drunk the night before. It was a familiar feeling; the same steady almost-fear settled into his bones whenever he saw a battle looming. But battles could be fought with gunfire and cold rage, with all thought pushed aside and the world coming at you moment by moment. Today was worse. Today was politics.

He'd set aside his usual jerkin and jeans for more formal gear. The suit itself wasn't so bad, but he felt naked without his guns at his hip. It would have been good to have their comfort, even if he had no intent of using them. Their weight had always been like having a part of his father still with him, and all the gunslingers of their line before him. Now, when he most felt need of that reassurance, he had to set it aside. Clean-shaven and well-heeled, with his hair pulled back into a queue and his feet rubbed by the hard leather of new shoes, he felt like another man - and one even less capable of facing all that lay ahead.

The wedding was in the morning, before the real Fair-Day began. Then things would take their usual course; the castle flung open to the people, the feasting and singing and Fair-Day riddling, with raucous good humour and doubtless a few fights. That was manageable. He had lived that every Fair-Day for his whole life. What frightened him, more than he would ever admit, was the part that came before and after.

"You look more like a man going to put a noose around her neck than a ring around her finger," Bert commented in his ear, bringing him back to the present. For his part, Bert looked perfectly at ease in formal wear, sauntering about and regarding Roland with a critical eye. Whatever dark mood had been slithering about under the surface, he seemed to have excised it for now.

Roland answered with a grunt, looking back ruefully at the gunbelt hanging over the back of his chair, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Is there a difference?"

"Dinh or no dinh, I'm not beyond punching you. Just for once, Ro', try to stop living in whatever darkness is going on in that bony head of yours, and relax." For once, Bert wasn't smiling. He slung an arm around his friend's shoulders, looking at him closely. "She's not Susan. I kennit, Ro'. But she's what Susan would have wanted for you. Carry that with you, at least."

"Thankee, Bert." Patting Cuthbert on the back, Roland shook his head and started towards the door. Towards the Hall of the Ancestors, where Burtock Hattlen waited in lieu of a dinh, where Alain was standing by with a ring.

The hall was filled, to a casual eye, but Roland saw the empty spaces more than the full. No Cort, no Vannay, no Stephen Deschain in the high seat. Many who should have been seated in the best places were gone. Somehow, that made it easier to settle his mind, straighten his spine, and wait steady and watchful at the front of the hall for his bride.

Comments

[toweredingly]

He smiled, just slightly. "Good." He knew just how she felt. Did she feel that same lifting of dread, now it couldn't be taken back? Was it as much of a comfort to her that it was done, and in the past? He suspected it might be. What happened now, happened. They had both made their choice. "Me too."

He continued on up the stairs for a few moments before asking the next question, a less predictable one. "I plan to pick up my gunbelts. If it comes to it, can you slap leather from that dress?"

[gunslingerqueen]

So that was where he was going! Honestly, she should have guessed it. "Good, I'm surprised you didn't have them to begin with." And then, his question, "Of course I can, but this might be too much for a normal celebration to begin with so maybe I should change. It only meant something to me to be wearing this anyway." So she doubted that anyone would really hold it against her if she didn't wear the same thing all damn day. Especially since it wasn't very practical.

"Before we go back ..." For the first time she sounded hesitant, and if he bothered to look at her Roland would find that she was very interested in the stairs. "I have to give you something. Well, I guess I don't have to."

[toweredingly]

"Taking guns to a wedding is... bad manners to say the least." Roland pressed his lips together. "Which is why I couldn't help but notice the three men in back who either had theirs in docker's clutches under their jackets, or ought to see a better tailor." One had been a gunslinger. He hoped against hope that that man, at least, hadn't turned traitor - but the odds didn't seem particularly stacked in his favour.

It was because he was thinking of that, and trying to put names to the other two, that it took him a moment to register what she had said. "...Give me what?"

[gunslingerqueen]

"Hardly. It's impractical." There might be some emotional investment, the idea that neither of them should be concerned with those parts of themselves during a wedding, but that was impractical, too. "Point them out to Ignis or Agni, they'll tell everyone to keep watch, and hopefully watching is all that will be done." Roland couldn't be everywhere, and as he had said the previous day: starting off a marriage with open violence didn't do anything but invite more violence. Her kin wouldn't be paid much attention and they could wander much more easily than herself or Roland on this particular day.

"Something!" It might have been easy to mistake the sharpness of her tone as irritation but it was nothing but unadulterated embarrassment. "It isn't anything bad! Just smile and put it in your precious study because that's where it is meant to go, and then it'll be done with!" He didn't have to sound so suspicious! ... But then she did spring it on him a bit, didn't she? Oh well.

[toweredingly]

"Does me fine." Roland raised his hands, almost defensively, as she snapped. "Just curious, no more." He looked back at her, tucking his hands into his pockets, and raised one eyebrow. "As for those who'd bring lead and gunfire to my wedding day... I'll warn your kin, and I'd hope some of my own tet would see what's amiss, but in such times, it's hard to be too careful. Strap on your gun, and keep a keen eye on those who draw close." Something in his voice suggested he'd rather welcome it if an attack was made.

[gunslingerqueen]

She should have been more careful with her own tongue, and she regretted it, but a simple apology didn't feel like enough just yet. She would say it when she passed on his gift. As far the state of their guests, well, she had been so wrapped up in the main event that she hadn't noticed anything out of place, so she hoped for all the graf in the world that he was right. "I will. If it comes then it comes and we'll have a story to tell by the end of the day."

And that was all she could say about it, really. The idea of a battle might have excited her on any other day, when there was a long discussion waiting for her, when her brother was here and vulnerable, and when Kaine was already greatly irritated. There were far too many guns and blades in one damned castle.

"I'll meet you up there!" Better to go now and deal with the matter of clothing and his gift then delay it anymore. If she had to wait much longer she might just vomit a lung out and that would hardly be pleasant.

[toweredingly]

He nodded, but hesitated for a moment, as if there was something more he wanted to say. Whatever it was, it didn't come. He thought, briefly, about kissing her, and didn't do that either. Instead, he just nodded again, a little slower. "I'll be in my room," he said, rather stiltedly, and turned back up the stairs. He didn't hurry, but his legs were long, and he took the stairs two at a time, as he was acquainted with doing.

In his room, he stood alone for a moment, motionless. Now that the immediacy of it had faded, the weight of it seemed to be gathering again. He didn't turn immediately to the gunbelts, but went over to a chest of drawers, digging through it for several moments before he found what he was looking for.

He hadn't taken anything of Susan's with him when they had fled Hambry. No keepsakes, no mementos. But he had carried her body a long way, and when he had come back, he had found three long hairs still clinging to his jerkin. One was charred most of the way up its length; the other two had probably been from before the Reap, for they were not even singed. All three were twisted into a lock, hidden away at the bottom of the chest. He took them out now, touching them to his lips. "Bird and bear and hare and fish," he whispered, closing his eyes. He had meant to throw them away, toss them in the fire and mark the final end of that love. Instead, he found himself tucking them reverently back into their little bag, and closing the drawer on them.

When Nariko came to find him, the only evidence of that she would find was the fact that he was only just buckling on his guns, having taken several minutes over what, even now, he couldn't help feeling was empty pantomime.

omfg Roland :l

[gunslingerqueen]

That was an unfortunate shift in the mood and she couldn't understand the cause but Nariko didn't allow it to bother her, either. She was far too preoccupied with the matter at hand, and that involved taking herself down a different path and beyond her own door. In the quiet she allowed herself to breathe for a moment, closed her eyes and attempted to make proper sense of her own feelings but everything was a jumbled mess. The feeling of it might not properly ebb until sometime tomorrow.

She changed from the heavy lace and satin of her wedding dress to an equally flattering but lighter and equally flattering dress, as appropriate for both occasions as anything could be. Most importantly the leather at just right on her, half-hidden by the folds of the lower portion. At first she was content with her father's gun but it was as she went to retrieve Roland's gift that Joshua's gun caught her eye. It was well polished and cleaned, he hadn't been apart from it for very long, but it wouldn't see any use up here and locked away. She grabbed it with a sigh, and then tucked it into the space that usually held her knife. For the first time in her life there were two, and it felt wrong, but what in this world ever felt entirely right?

There was no wrapping the thing, mostly because it would have appeared a pile of mess if she had tried, better to just fold it neatly and carry it along. Married or not she wasn't going to just walk into his room that was ... It was an invasion of privacy. They could handle each other now, it seemed, but they weren't that close so whether he found it odd or not she knocked with one hand while the other knocked on his door. It was a bit odd that he wasn't already out here but she put that out of her mind, she couldn't handle gift giving and logic at the same time, so the logic would come at a later time.

again with the drama queen...

[toweredingly]

Roland finished fastening his gunbelts before going to open the door. The way they sat low-slung and slack on his hips contrasted sharply with his tailored suit, the style in which he wore his guns being better-suited to worn jeans and hard travel than to silk shirts and sharp-pleated pants. But somehow, it almost worked. They were so much a part of him that, even incongruous as they were, they could only make him look more like himself.

He noted the second gun at her hip, but swallowed the question half-formed. It wasn't hard to guess, with all he had learnt yesterday, whose gun that might be. He wasn't going to salt her wounds by asking. Instead, he just stepped aside to let her in. Unlike his study, which was piled with maps and wax tablets and filled with the various paraphernalia of his duties, his bedroom was neat, almost spartan. Indeed, it looked more like a guest room than most of the rooms he had put her family into. Roland sat down on the bed, taking the opportunity to pick up the hunting horn which had been on top of a cupboard and to fasten it to his belt.

"You look beautiful," he said. It was for something to say more than anything else, but that didn't make it untrue.

That's a whole new level and I really want her to find out about it

[gunslingerqueen]

Something about stepping into this space felt uncomfortable and if she took more than a second or two with the sensation then Nariko would realize why. It reminded her of what would happen hours from now, their wedding night and the decision she had pushed off for as long as possible. Go through with it even though they were both obviously uncomfortable, or be the one to say that they shouldn't at all? For the moment she was going to push it off yet again, if only because of what he said.

"Thank you." But she sounded as surprised by his compliment as she felt. She forced herself to believe that he was only being polite and got to what mattered. "... On my father's side it's considered more heartfelt to make something for one another," She tilted her head side to side here, "Granted, our marriage was never approved by my grandmother so don't worry, I never expected you to do anything, and it's for the best. Caligian weddings take an entire week to be finished and involve drug-fueled sex and tattooing so this was much simpler." ... Anyway. "You have to understand that I'm not very good at this and I only had a week, but I hope it will at least be useful."

And 'it' was, of all things, a woven blanket, granted a very thick and comforting one with a dark blue background, an attempt to resemble the night sky. The predominant design on it was the silhouette of Gilead itself done in a soft beige (or at least as she remembered seeing it when she was still riding here, and her memory was quite sharp), Old Mother and Apon above it in lighter, silver thread. "… The other side has all of your names. Bert, Jamie, Alain, Thomas, I would have written them differently but it doesn't work if I don't write it in our tongue, so I'm afraid it probably just looks like a mess of scribbles to you, but I promise that's what it is." She turned it to show him the soft white back made of the same heat retaining material, and there were six lines of some language, the full names of his ka-tet, and one more that was not her own name. "If you keep those that follow you in this world with you in your sleeping state they protect you from what can't be seen. That's the idea."

She folded it back up and held it out to him, afflicted with that same embarrassment. She had tried to work on it as thoroughly as her own dress but she still found imperfections with it. On top of that her gifts were never well known for being liked. "I know that is superstitious, but it's the thought that counts and I don't think the blankets in your study are warm enough and you don't need to get sick! So at least it is practical." If he could just smile and take it then they could go back to the Fair Day celebrations.

yes please. :D

[toweredingly]

"Superstition or not," Roland said gravely, taking the blanket, "I can use all the protection I can get. Thankee." He hesitated for a moment, running his thumb over the dense fabric, and then smiled. It was a small smile, a sad smile, and one of the most genuine he had given her. "And to say true, it's a blessing you didn't expect me to make you anything in return. Give me a gun, and my hands are the cleverest you'll find. Give me a needle, and I can just about sew a button back on." Shaking his head, he put the blanket down at the foot of the bed, getting to his feet. He loosened his cravat a little, cracking his neck from side to side, and offered her his arm.

Truth be told, he reflected, he would rather leave those who followed him in this world out of his sleeping state. They weighed too heavy on him as it was, sometimes. But then, there was much that couldn't be seen that he had cause to fear, so maybe it was a good thing to have a shield. It could certainly do no harm.

"As for not being good at it," he added aloud, "you did a damn sight better in a week than I could in a year. I count that plenty good enough. Shall we?"

Then it will be!

[gunslingerqueen]

She could have pointed out that it didn't have to be a sewn thing, it could have been anything in the world as long as it was made with hands, with some kind of good feeling for their future together. But there was every reason in the sky to avoid saying that so she only listened, a placid smile on her lips that, as was exhibited by her husband, did not come anywhere near her eyes and for her it was a very strange expression to wear.

It was corrected by the time he gave her his arm and that ... Was that really such a good idea, considering? It hadn't worked out too well the last time, but just like then it would be rude to turn him down. So she followed through even though it was a terrible idea, even though it made her feel unnecessarily cautious.

"You're right, personally I'm just glad it isn't loathed on sight." She was either getting better, or he was working extra hard to be abiding. "Lets. It would be rude to keep them waiting."

:)

[toweredingly]

The insincerity of her smile might be corrected, but that didn't mean Roland hadn't noticed it. He felt an odd kind of irritation at it, even knowing how often his own smiles were just as empty. By his standards, he was being both gentle and verbose, but it wasn't even the failure of that which put his hackles up. Most likely, it wasn't anything that specific at the root of his irritation, just general frustration at the whole situation. He had come to care for her. Given time, he might yet come to love her, although a part of him still hoped otherwise. But they hadn't been given time, and it was entirely his own fault.

What's done is done, he reminded himself, and cast a glance back at the blanket as he closed the door behind them. It was a beautiful thing, and he understood the tradition in a way he could never have spoken. Because she had made it. She had put that time and that heart into it. That meant one hell of a lot more than the words she'd said. Maybe she hadn't chosen this, but at the very least she'd accepted it, and he should damn well do the same.

Telling himself that wasn't the same as doing it, of course. Otherwise, he would have been at peace with this decision since the moment he'd made it. But it helped, a little, to remind himself of that. It helped more to know, in the gut-deep way of the truly faithful, that it was part of ka's path, for good or ill. What would be, would be. No matter if it made him feel a traitor.

"Drug-fuelled sex and tattooing," he said into the silence, when they were halfway down the stairwell, "might be what some enjoy, but I hope you won't mind me saying that I'm glad it was my tradition we followed."

[gunslingerqueen]

For someone who apparently thought there had been some 'failure' on his end she was certainly happy! He didn't just toss her gift out the window and they had managed to go quite a long while without any meaningful, awkward stretches of time! She had no way of figuring out if he was pushing himself to be more amiable but it was nice, even better that he was swallowing whatever issues he had against touching her. Nariko could convince herself left was right if she was fervent enough but Roland was a matter of up or down. Flinching at her one day and then initiating an alcohol fueled kiss a week later. Today must have been an 'up' day. That was how she could think of it.

To the grand surprise of anyone who spent more than five minutes allowing her to speak freely, Nariko wasn't against a good dose of quiet. It did not make her feel uneasy or displaced, in fact she could fall back into her own thoughts just as simply as she breathed. But of all things he would pick up on and feel a way about, it was that and now her smile was back to its full brightness.

"I don't. There are a lot of traditions and ideas that simply don't make any sense, or they are rooted in outright cruelty, it needs to change." But how that would happen, who would push for it remained a slight mystery for her. "But just as many things are valuable. Treating everyone equally and against the same set of values, teaching everyone to be strong in some way … That is what I love about our traditions. That said it's always a good idea to skip an all-day feast."

[toweredingly]

Roland nodded, looking thoughtful. "Your kin seem the stronger for it, and that is the truth. Here, we are taught to bear the burden of it, to be the strength of our people that they may have peace." He glanced down at his guns, his free hand going almost unconsciously to touch one sandalwood grip. "But of late it seems there is no peace for anyone, and a man could come to wish for a tradition more like yours."

They were far enough down the stairs now that the sounds of conversation wove into the air around them. Roland smiled a little, a twitch of his lips and a glitter of his eyes. "I hope you're ready for this all-day feast."

[gunslingerqueen]

"Stronger, but at odds with themselves in many ways." But that was the result of various, longstanding issues that had very little to do with their ideals and everything to do with attempting to eliminate them entirely. Another story for another day maybe, if his interest remained genuine. If she was right in a particular way then that 'your' would become 'our' very quickly, but it was too dark a thought to share out loud on what was supposed to be a very joyous day.

"As long as it doesn't involve an overabundance of pies, I'll be just fine." She would really have to tell him about that one of these days but right now she smiled wide, "I hope that my brother doesn't scuff your heels, he still might not believe that you are real, if he bothers you just hand him off to Lena or I." She paused. "Also, there is a blond woman who is always frowning and she is going to absolutely loathe you no matter what you do. Best to stay clear of her."

And that should be all that he needed to know from her to enjoy the festivities without interruption!

fast-forwarding a bit because there's limited stuff to happen here.

[toweredingly]

"Thankee for the warning," he said gravely, and then they were down the stairs, and surrounded by well-wishers, and he let go of her arm to embrace Bert, and the moment was gone. In truth, he was glad he'd had that time alone with her to fortify himself. It had given him time to steady himself, even with the new turbulence thrown up in his mind, and to draw the mask back on. Now, surrounded by those he knew well and those who were all but strangers as they swept on towards the smaller hall, he could even smile.

He quickly lost track of Nariko in the press of people, and didn't search too hard for her. He was looking for others - those three men with the lumpy shapes of guns under their arms, and any who might have come with them. Through the growing crowd of people wanting to shake his hand or clap him on the back, though, it was hard to see. He marked one of them across the room, a dark-skinned man with close-cropped hair, but lost track of him again as the crowds began to filter back into the Hall of Grandfathers. Under the carved eyes of his ancestors, he took his seat at the high table, where his father had once sat. And then there was the seat beside him, which had stood empty for years, which was still, in his mind, his mother's seat. For the first time in his rule, it would be filled. That thought was a heavy one, and yet, at the same time, it had a certain rightness to it. He looked up at the tapestry of Arthur Eld, and felt for the first time the quiet certainty that this was as it should be.

When Nariko would join him there, he was stony-faced as ever, but something in him had relaxed. He stood to greet her, kissing her on the cheek. This had the advantage of bringing his mouth close to her ear, so he could whisper "The dark man by the door, the fat man next to your cousin, and Henry Jacquard, ten seats on your left. Watch for them." Then he pulled away, smiling his usual flinty smile, and turned to watch as the last few ladies took their seat.

Speeches weren't his greatest strength. What he said was much the same as he'd said at every Fair-Day since returning to Gilead; wishing his guests well, expressing hope for peace, thanking them for attendance. The only sign that anything was different was towards the end of his little speech, when he added "And those who are guests among us, say thankee-sai for them, for they've come a long way to share at our table. And I thankee, every one, for making them welcome. And I thankee, too, for being here to witness one who's a guest no more. Nariko Deschain." He turned to her with a smile and a little nod. "We are bound together now, and what you do to her, I will take it as personal as if it were done to me. I bid you remember that, for all I know it comes strange after so long." For a moment, the whole full hall was silent under his scrutiny, then he nodded, just once, and sat back down.

"If you'd say a few words," he added to Nariko, under his breath, "now's the time."

don't ever ask Nariko to give speeches they will be long and saccharine and faceplam inducing

[gunslingerqueen]

While Roland spoke she found Agni and Ignis in the crowd and then looked to the two she hadn't found earlier, the fat man beside Tamir, and the one named Henry Jacquard. In both instances she slid her hair back with two fingers, the other three exposed, and then put both hands back in her lap. Roland's speech came to its end and the idea of saying anything at all hadn't really occurred to her, but it did seem appropriate that she didn't allow him to do all of the talking. So she nodded just slightly, and stood, expelled her nerves with one careful exhale and allowed herself to regard the many people in front of her. While Roland might not have been the greatest speech giver Nariko was quite relaxed. She spoke with a natural, giving warmth, her eyes bright and loving as always.

"When I was very young my father brought me to Gilead. No one from his line revered the gunslingers more than him, no one respected their origins and took them to heart more thoroughly, and so you might imagine what such a trip could mean to him, a man that had fought his own wars and came out of them with a smile and yet more kindness. I will skip the finer details and share the words that make me the woman that I am today: 'All people bleed the same, we understand suffering even if it should be felt in many different ways, for as many different reasons. Sadness, pain, injuries both physical and not, are a part of you and of everyone you will ever meet, but so is happiness. So is relief. We are capable of impossible good, of love, because we do know pain, because one has the choice to decide that pain is not all we will feel. There is not one person who is without the strength to make this decision, to open themselves to happiness, even if it takes years to make that choice.'" She paused and her happy but somewhat sad smile was not an act, it was half caught in a memory that she had to pull herself from.

"As you might imagine my father was a true romantic, but I have always agreed with him. When I remember him it is always on that day, though the world has moved on since then as you all understand. Many of you will feel as you do and I would never fault you, nor ask you to pretend otherwise, you have your reasons and they aren't to be trivialized. I would only have you know that through your pain, through your sadness, your injuries, and your suffering, that the love I felt for this place and all who are here as a child has only grown as I have become a woman. It is patient, unyielding, strong, and most of all permanent, and the only thing in this life that is stronger is how I feel for my husband, and ka itself. If being so overjoyed to have shared this day with all of you, truly the happiest day that any woman could feel when she is joined with the man of bother her girlish and practical dreams makes me a romantic as my father was then so be it. Ka wills me here to all of you, and I am only grateful for it, for the joy and for all other things, and I hope that one day you feel the same for me."

That was all. She calmly sat herself down and beamed at Roland quite naturally, after all of that she couldn't do anything less than that.

tbh i think that was a very moving speech :3

[toweredingly]

The applause came like a wave, scattered at first but growing in strength. Roland smiled back with genuine satisfaction, but his eyes weren't on her. They darted around the room, marking all those who didn't clap, or whose applause seemed too powerful to be genuine. He noted their faces, and their expressions, and filed away the information even as the applause settled into more casual chatter. Beside him, Cuthbert and Alain were doing the same.

"You speak well," Roland commented, as she sat. "And if I guess right, you've done more to settle some of them in five minutes than you could have in five years of living in loyalty." For just a moment, his smile reached his eyes. "You fit the place well."

aw well I am glad! Even though I was definitely the facepalming one haha

[gunslingerqueen]

It was fine with her. The point was to solidify her loyalty to him and that didn't mean he had to be looking back at her or, considering their response, that anyone would think to pay attention to such a small detail anyway. All that mattered was that she kept her pride on a leash and accepted the applause before it relaxed into something much easier.

"Thank you," She sighed again, shook off the lingering excitement that followed such an act and was thoroughly unprepared for his smile and that compliment. Just as when he'd complimented her before she faltered and her stomach twisted in a far too pleasant manner. Stupid, handsome smile. "That's - That's all that I want, so I am glad you think so." This would pass, he would go back to his careful watchfulness and she would think about kittens. Or her family, anything to distract from his smile and the memory of his kiss and how painfully short it had been.

XD

[toweredingly]

Sure enough, Roland did quickly drop back into silence, turning away to join the conversation his ka-tet were having, eating little and drinking less. After a few minutes, Bert leant over to engage Nariko, giving her a smile. "Well, you're stuck with him now," he commented cheerily, over Roland's glare, and raised his glass to her. "Good luck, sai. Gods know you'll need it."

[gunslingerqueen]

A very big part of her was so grateful that Roland was ... Not dense but focused enough that he didn't have the mind for things like noting her shifts in mood. It spared them a lot of extra misunderstandings. She was taking a decent sip of wine when Bert caught her attention, a feet in and of itself since she had been watching someone in the crowd with all the force of a lion going after prey and zero subtlety.

"You should really have more faith in us both, Cuthbert! After all if I have trouble I'm sending him straight to you!" It was said in good nature, of course, but with a rather playful grin, one that only faltered a bit as her eyes continued to travel back to the crowd before she corrected herself. She had to be present, taxing as it might be in some ways, as soon as it would be more polite she would have to leave for a moment or two, but right now she felt the need to remain at his side. How would it look if she just got up and left, after all? Such was the trouble of big events.

[toweredingly]

"Got all the faith in the world in you, Nariko. It's him I don't trust." Cuthbert smiled disarmingly, taking a sip of wine. "Well, him and half the people here. Well, more like two-thirds. Same goes for Ro', by the looks of things. He tell you to go armed, or was that your own pick?"

From the way he jolted after saying that, it seemed quite likely Roland had just kicked him. That would certainly explain how sharply he changed the subject. "Have you been to a Fair-Day feast before? One like this, I mean?"

[gunslingerqueen]

"If that doesn't sound turned around then nothing else ever will." She said it underneath her breathe and so Roland was likely the only able to hear it. He was just being himself but, honestly, sometimes the way he spoke bordered on a little unacceptable. But Roland hardly needed her to protect him, verbally or otherwise, so she didn't allow her mouth to run off its tracks.

"Only once before, and never back home. We didn't celebrate much of anything until just a few years ago and unfortunately due to ..." She laughed, but it was a gently forced sound. "To issues, it was always a little bit muted."

[toweredingly]

Cuthbert leant back in his seat, sipping at his wine. "I won't ask any further," he assured her lightly, smiling. "You looked a vision earlier, by the way, and no less so now. I couldn't be happier for him." That, at least, was sincere. He might sometimes be something of a clown, but he was sharp too. "You're good for him. I'll say it, since he won't."

Roland kicked him again, and Cuthbert pulled back a little, looking rather affronted. "If you're not going to talk to your wife, Ro', at least let me do it without bruising my ankle!"