House elf to Renata Leynier

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

"Do not drop it, I beg you," cautioned Robin, and the house elf nodded cheerily. Robin watched it go, the pot of fragrant white flowers held carefully out before it. He smiled to himself; he had included no note, but she would know who they were from.

Pleased with himself, he shouldered his bow and quiver and headed out through the courtyard toward the meadow.

Comments

[renata-leynier.livejournal.com]

Renata smiled in answer. "That is something I do not need house elves for, either, then, is it?" she teased. There was nothing carnal about this; it was something her bathwoman did for her at home, in the Towers, after a long session in the circle. She loved that she could trust him not to expect more of her when she could not give it; loved, too, the soothing energy he projected, something no servant could provide, nor anyone but her beloved. She disrobed and lay on the bed, face down, head turned, and while he tended to her, she said: "She may not be so lucky as that. Look how little I was able to do for poor Dori, in the end."

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

Robin smoothed his hands over the warm flesh of her back, loving the feel of her skin under his palms. "That was no fault of yours, my love." Dorilys had been spoiled from her birth - Renata could not undo what others had wrought. And Gillian, while troubled, was not insane, he thought to himself, though he did not say it. "Surely some help is better than none," was what he said instead.

[renata-leynier.livejournal.com]

She knew he meant what he said; she could even see reason in it; but there was no comfort in it for her. "Gods grant that it be so for Gillian. For Dori, it was not. You are right, she had more than one teacher," and the catenas bracelet chilled her skin, "and such lessons are not easily undone. Still, the same can be said of Gillian. I cannot undo what she has already suffered, and it may be the ... imprint? ... of those experiences cannot be overwritten."

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

Robin bent and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. "You will do what may be done for her, and that is more than anyone else has done. And all anyone may ask. Do you see her again today, or on the morrow?"

[renata-leynier.livejournal.com]

"I see her tomorrow morning, early, to work," said Renata, stretching. "I have asked her to dine with me tonight, however; I mean to see she eats enough. There is some cultural taboo against women eating much, here. Can you imagine it? Oh, it does not surprise me, Cassandra was appalled at how much she would need to eat when first she came to Hali; but it is such a very stupid thing."

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

Robin helped her to sit up, tugging the sheet up to cover her carefully - some temptations were more than human flesh could bear. "Foolish indeed, given the abundance of food here."

He tilted her chin up to look into her gray eyes. "Is there aught else I may do for you, beloved?" This was not about physical intimacy - Robin would never challenge Renata's limits in that way. And there would be time enough later.

[renata-leynier.livejournal.com]

She wrapped the sheet about her, and smiled up into his face. "Nothing at all, sweetheart, except to explain how I can tend these plants without sunlight! I should hate to see them languish here in the dungeons. A funny thing it is, too, to say that one lives in a dungeon; it does not feel like one at all, does it?" The room was not luxurious by a long shot, but it was comfortable, hardly a cell. "Perhaps there is some charm that can be used, to give them a light more nourishing than a candle ..." she mused.

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

He grinned, touching her cheek. "You have discovered my cunning plan," he teased. "These - lily of the valley, they are called - they do not require much light, for the deep forest is their home. You may give them all that they need by taking them outside once each day, for about an hour." Robin smiled then, aware of this plan's shortcomings. "But I know that you cannot always take an hour for leisure. If you truly cannot be spared from your duties, I can take them, or a house elf will."

[renata-leynier.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps we might go together," Renata suggested.

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

He bent and kissed her swiftly, almost chastely. "And thus have you uncovered the plan within my cunning plan," Robin said, his gaze soft on her face.

[renata-leynier.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you are clever," said Renata, both amused and touched. She made sure to find her robe again before she stretched up to requite his kiss with another.

[hernes-son.livejournal.com]

This kiss was less chaste, full of longing; Robin pulled away before he really wanted to, knowing he was testing limits he ought to avoid. He leaned his forehead against hers. "I should go," he said quietly, with a smile. "If you need me, and when you are ready, I will be waiting."