A letter addressed to Muriel arrived. It was from her father. She had hoped it came with good news. She read it in her bedchamber as she sat beside Vidar. There weren't any other people in the room.
The letter didn't have any good news.
For some reason, her father's clients were avoiding him, and most of his products had been either stolen or vandalized to the point of uselessness. One of his commerce ships was even attacked by pirates! The letter wavered and flapped in her hands as she tried to keep her composure. How could all of this happen so quickly?! And he was just climbing out of the hole not long ago!
Vidar snatched the letter out of her hands as if he was angry about it, but he was actually the calm one. Muriel was the one with hot breath rushing in and out of her nose, with tight lips, and with eyes like spiky icicles. "So odd," Vidar said. "This must have dishonest and illegal dealings in the background. Pure incompetence can't account for everything here."
"Are we even going to pretend we don't know whose hands are tilting the control bar?" She folded her arms, holding her violent thoughts inside her chest.
"Of course not," Vidar said as he folded the letter into a tight rectangle. He put the paper on a small table and sighed. "If I invested in your father's business, it wouldn't be enough to save him. The assaults would continue. I'd be wasting money."
Muriel's face was so hot that her lip rouge felt as if it would slide down her chin and plop into her lap. "What can be done, at the very least?"
Two long arms left their shelter so they could bend around Muriel's shoulders and back. She had to lean out of her seat in order to properly receive the hug. Vidar smelled a bit like meat pies and healthy herbs this day. She almost wanted to playfully, gently chew on one of his fingers.
Vidar said quite hopefully, "We could convince your father to lie."
"Lie?" Muriel nuzzled the other arms through his clothing even thought she was still mad. The affection was easing her aggression. "What sort of lie are you talking about?"
"We could spread the idea that your father is ill, so ill that he can't care for his business. So, we'll have him move into this castle, and until we can stop this threat, we'll have to keep him. That means your sisters will have to come too."
Muriel was almost like a glowing hot piece of metal dipped into cold water. She looked up at the pointed chin. The view was similar to looking under a stalactite. "You ... would you ... are you going to invite my family to stay here? For an indefinite amount of tine, even?"
"It's a large castle," he said, that jaw of his moving with his voice. "Why shouldn't I open it to your family in these dire times?"
Her flesh was still hot, but Muriel was so much happier. "Would your mother disapprove?"
"Considering the circumstances, she'd be very understanding."
Muriel curled her fingers around Vidar's chin, shut her eyes, and tugged his face down for a heavy kiss. His voice rumbled up from his throat and down into hers. She was becoming more and more excited. Just touching this compassionate creature was enough to brighten her thoughts.
She loved him so much.
Not much convincing was needed in order for him to hold her down on her bed.
***
Muriel and her mother-in-law received Glen Devin and his older daughters with pleasant greetings and hopeful sentiments. Everything was going to be fine. This was temporary. Nothing to worry about.
Her sisters were temporarily delighted at the bedchambers they were shown to. They loved all the extra space and elegant furnishings. Her father's head was lowered most of the time. He shuffled his feet as he was shown his new bedroom. Muriel knew why he was so glum. She didn't want to say it aloud.
Glen Devin felt as if he was less than half a man.
Poor thing.
When he sat down on a stool near a window and sighed, Muriel stepped over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's not the best of circumstances, Papa. I wish fate had offered us something kinder, but all we can do is live."
He smiled up at her, but he looked much weaker than the last time she had seen him. The color in his hair was fading into a haggard gray. His bones were more visible. His eyes didn't match his smile. They were almost stunned.
Muriel sat down beside him and gave him a gentle hug.
His voice was quiet. "I'll have to thank your husband personally."
"Oh hush, Papa. You can do that after you've washed your face and had some food." She put a small kiss on his cheek.
Once everyone was settled, and after Muriel witnessed her father give the dreariest, weakest thank you to her awkward husband, she thought to have a short tournament of board games. That would cheer everyone up, right? Two people at a time would play a game and the others would watch. Then they'd figured out who was up next to play with the victor. Muriel's sisters were still fairly distant, but that was normal considering who she married. Her father was almost always looking down, and he lost very quickly, as if he couldn't find any joy in the game and simply gave up. He didn't even watch the other games, at least not without a misty film over his gaze.
When all the games were done, Princess Arya led the women into the gardens for a walk. Only Muriel was eager to have a conversation with her. The sisters were quiet. It turned out to be a much less interesting walk than what Muriel had hoped for.
