With a bow of her aged head, the Nanny stepped out leaving the two men alone. With the closing of the door, the hall lights lost, the room was dimmed to the flickering light of the fire.
In the heavy shadows, the young Lord turned to look up, the presence at his shoulder felt leaning closer. The voice so close to his ear soft with a hushed awe that runs counterpoint to the aggressive growl natural to his voice. "She is a beautiful creature indeed, brother. My congratulations on your little Ailynn."
It was with these words that the man, so shaken by recent years and his marriage, looked down at the tiny angel in his arms. Such soft skin, dark hair already in tiny curls against her fair face and then her eyes staring up at him with unusual curiosity for one so young. As he looked down into those eyes, his heart was lost, his breathe stolen and a love he hadn't felt since his son was born swelled within him. They were like sapphire velvet fired from within with a starburst of icy pale blue and shards of liquid silver, eyes that even now warmed, the pale blue and silver receding as she regarded the men before her. A small hand lifted, tiny fingers curling against the blankets around her as if trying to reach out and touch the two men staring down at her with such admiration.
As the two stared on, a soft tentative knock came to the door. The two men, as if broken from their trance, jerked their heads up to look at it before an invitation to enter would be given. A shaken young maid, looking as if harried and attacked, entered to drop an awkward curtsy and speak to the two men in a shaken voice. "M'Lord, your Lady wishes your presence and the return of her child. She demands it most forcibly."
The woman's tantrums and habits of throwing things at the staff was near legend by then and young Esiah sighed with a tiredness from years of dealing with such irritations. He started to stand, placing on lean hand on the smooth brown leather arm of the chair to push himself upright before a larger stronger hand came down on his shoulder with gentle insistence.