Darkwood (closed)

"They're all having a rough time." Dylan said, turning to look at Burke as he stood near her chair, trying his hardest to seem out of the way. "If there's something we might do to help them, then we're going to do it."

It was only a few more moments before Isabella swept into the room like the force of nature that she was. She looked very much like a woman in love, her gaze immediately going towards John no matter where he was in the room. He made her grin like a fool and it was very clear that they were still in love with one another after their rushed wedding of state only a few months earlier.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. I got detained." She said in a breathless tone, greeting both Ashien and Dylandra with a kiss to each cheek. "And how are you, dear? Surviving? At least the brute finally came home, right?"

"And you, Ashien, have a lot of forgiveness to ask for. Leaving your pregnant wife alone while you run off to war. Shame on you." Isabella scolded him with a grin as only a close friend could do.

"Tell that to my sister. There are three women in this world that I'd do absolutely anything for, and the first one called me away to help retrieve her new sworn sister from a foreign land. I couldn't very well say no, could I?" Ashien chuckled as Isabella's personality seemed to take over the room. "Not to mention, you can blame your father too. He's always liked Kayla, and when I told him she'd called for me, he practically threw me out the door toward the east to get on a ship."

"Well, at least tell me that he's made it up to you already." Isabella said, glancing over at Dylan as she shook her head no. "Well, I'll just have to keep that in mind. Make him plan a party at Darkwood and invite everyone, Dylandra."

"He's never been good at planning parties. They're horribly boring after a few hours." Dylan teased, looking up at her husband with a small smile.

"The only party I care for is a feast with my family up north, you know that. I'll leave the nonsensical noble soirees to Henry. And speak of the devil..." Ashien smiled as he heard the door open once more and in stepped Henry Beauclerc, Isabella's father and the well-liked King of England.

"Ashien," Henry smiled, relieved to see his favorite Cavalry Major whole. "I haven't heard a thing about what happened in the Triad yet. How'd it go?"

"Well, the mission to retrieve Kjotva was a success, thanks in part to the arrival of a very angry Khan and the previous Queen of Sweden, and I think I'll make a good General of Christopher yet."

"And Kayla?" Henry asked, his brows stitched in concern. "She's alright, yes?"

"The whole thing was rough on her, for plenty of reasons. But I think she'll be okay. She and Christopher are planning a visit home soon. If all else fails, he'll bring the family to her."

"Good, good... And I believe we have someone new." Henry's gaze turned to Burke, who was bravely holding his ground at Dylandra's side, and bowed quickly to the man he knew was king of the entire country.

"This is Burke. We'd like to talk to you a bit about him and where he came from."

"He's a polite young man." Isabella mentioned softly as she watched Burke bow deeply to her father when he was introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Burke."

"Leave it to Ashien to take up a cause only moments after he arrives back home from a war." Dylan said softly as she reached out to touch Burke's arm, encouraging him to take a seat beside her. "Burke showed up in the middle of the last snow storm, starving and barely dressed to survive. We since have learned that he came from the Kensington Work House."

"Ah, I see... You don't have to tell me much," Henry sighed. "They were instituted by noblemen under my grandfather, William of Normandy. Orphanages sap money from the treasuries of whomever governs the area an orphanage is in. So some noblemen got the idea to make the orphanages able to pay for themselves, even turn a profit. They became similar to prison farms, as if the children were criminals for being alone or abandoned. Many today are only allowed to keep what money they absolutely need to survive, and the rest goes to the governing lord. Kensington is no exception. I've been trying to regulate the dispersal of the working children's earnings, make it so that they don't have to work so hard, but they still learn skills and trades to prepare them for the future. And while some work houses are well-kept by more generous Lords, I'm afraid some are the opposite, and it's very difficult to monitor them all... There are so very many, sadly, and so many children to feed and clothe without homes or guardians. It's an uphill battle." Henry settled into a chair with a sigh. "Forgive me, Burke, for being unable to make things better." At that, Burke gave him a nod of acceptance. The boy held no malice or anger.

Dylan looked over at Burke as he stoically took the news with a nod and said nothing else. Dylan reached out and smoothed her hand through his short sheered hair, giving him a small smile.

"Well, I suppose you'll just have to be content to stay at Darkwood for the time being. I'm afraid you're much too small to be out there on your own. At least in my opinion." Dylan said softly to him, reiterating to the young boy that he wouldn't have to go anywhere that he didn't want to be.

Burke glanced at her, the furrow of his brows echoing past sentiments he'd told to her. He didn't want to be a burden, or take such charity. Ashien spoke up with a smile to Henry. "In fact, we're considering adopting Burke as a Ghis. He has potential as a squire, I think he'd do well living right next to my stables and training grounds, and he could learn from my own squire, Ben. Ben will be done with his training in a year or so and move on to another knight for another skill set, but it'll be a good opportunity nonetheless."

"You mean to make Burke your son?" Henry asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile, making Ashien pause. "That's quite an idea. A young boy needs parents."

"Well, I didn't say-... I mean, it'd be entirely up to him, really. I won't do anything he doesn't want," Ashien muttered, looking to Burke who now stared at him in shock at the implications of an adoption.

"It will always be his choice. If he wants us to be his parents, he knows that all he needs to do is ask." Dylan said with a shrug of her shoulders, treating Burke with a dignity that he might have never experienced in his life. "For now, giving him our last name is simply a way of ensuring that he will have a good future no matter what he chooses."

Burke looked between her and Ashien, and suddenly tears began to brim in his eyes, making Ashien sit forward with a concerned stitch of his brows. "Burke...?"

"You mean it?" Burke asked, looking up to Dylandra, the one he'd grown to care for over the past month. "You... you'd be my Ma...? You want someone like me?"

Dylan looked over at him as he suddenly expressed intense emotion and she carefully pulled the small boy to stand in front of her. He was upset at the idea that they wanted him, overwhelmed that there was someone out there that might have wanted to give him a chance in life.

"I told you that first day that I met you that this was all your choice." Dylan said softly to him, gently touching his cheek. "If you think you need time to decide what you want, we will gladly give that to you. No one is asking for anything right now, Burke."

She brushed the tears as they fell down his cheeks, giving him a small little smile. "You're a good boy. Who wouldn't want you to be a part of their family? You'll have to share me with a small baby in a few months time, but I think you can handle that responsibility. Don't you?"

Burke practically collapsed into her lap, hugging her tightly and burying his face against her shoulder, his entire frame trembling as he clung to the woman who'd given him a whole new lease on life.

"I think that's a pretty clear answer," John chuckled softly, moved by the scene and taking Isabella's hand.

"I agree. I suppose I ought to call for the appropriate papers, then," Henry sat back with a smile of his own at the sight of genuine love and emotion in a normally-rough world. "The Ghis family just never stops growing, does it?"

"Never," Ashien chuckled softly.

Dylan ignored everything else in the room as she swept Burke up into her arms, letting the little boy find the comfort that he so desperately wanted and needed. She still didn't push him for anything, simply letting him take his time.

"Come on now, Burke. Let's dry your tears." Dylan said as she helped him to clean up his face. "How about we see what everyone is having for lunch? I'm starving."

Burke nodded, though he was reluctant to move from her sure embrace. John rose with a smile. "It's about time for lunch anyway. Come on, buddy, we'll set you up in the dining hall." His encouragement helped Burke to rise, never relinquishing Dylandra's hand. Ashien walked with them, Henry and John and Isabella leading.

Dylan walked down the hall between Ashien and Burke, glancing from the little boy up to her husband's handsome face. She could learn from Ashien and his confidence, the way that he carried himself as if nothing in the world could possibly bother him. They had been through so much together in a short amount of time, and while she still felt that their time together would be incredibly short, she felt as if she had known him for her entire life.

As they neared the royal family's private dining space, Dylan felt faint again. It was so strange with how it would come and go without the least provocation. She held Ash's hand a little bit tighter as she paused in her walking. The wave of dizziness that followed was unexpected and Dylan soon heard another voice talking to her out of concern.

"Mummy?"

Dylan opened her eyes to see a blonde woman standing in front of her, eyes full of concern as she looked to the man standing beside Dylan as if to find an explanation. The woman looked so much like Ashien that Dylan thought she was familiar, but couldn't place her.

"Mummy, are you alright? You look ill. Burke, help her to sit down." Dylan looked instantly to the man beside her, startled to see an adult Burke standing there, middle aged and handsome as he held her hand so tightly.

"Who are you?" Dylan asked as Burke helped her to sit, the woman coming to sit beside her as they waited patiently in the hallway.

"Mummy, don't be silly." The woman looked over the top of Dylan's head to Burke, sharing a silent look of concern with her brother. "I'm Ashleigh, Mummy. Remember?"

"Ashleigh..." Confusion lined Dylan's face as she looked at the woman as if she hadn't seen her before in her life.

"You've been confused since your last fall. Do you remember falling? You said Da had come to visit you and you got out of bed too quickly and took a tumble. Burke has been caring for your at Darkwood while you recovered." Ashleigh gently brushed Dylan's hair out of her face, giving her a smile.

"Where is your father?" Dylan asked softly.

Ashleigh looked slightly pained at that question and took Dylan's hand in her own, holding it tightly. "He died, Mummy. A long time ago."

Dylan was stunned into silence with that news, turning her head to look up at Burke with tears in her eyes. "No, we were just at the palace together. We were with Burke on our way to lunch with Isabella and Henry and John."

"Burke, sit here with her while I get Edward, alright?" Ashleigh asked, giving her brother a small nod and patting her mother's hand lightly. "Edward will call the doctor and we will get you all sorted out."

Ashleigh was soon up, hurrying down the palace hallway to wherever this Edward was residing. Dylan caught a glance as her daughter moved past a portrait of Ashleigh and Edward posing side by side. A prince or a king at the very least, Edward bore a striking resemblance to John. However, what startled her the most as the reflection of the mirror beside it that stared back at her. Dylan was no longer young. Dark lines etched her face and her dark brown eyes held a sadness that seemed to have been there a long time. Her hair was now pure white and she looked so impossibly small.

"I'm an old woman." Dylan murmured as she squeezed her eyes shut against the image, struggling so hard to figure out what was going on.

"In here, Ashien." Isabella's voice brought her back to the present, Dylan's eyes opening as her husband carried her into a room and she was laid on a bed. "Get her comfortable and John will bring a doctor."

Dylan stared up at Ashien for the longest moment, just as confused as ever. "I don't...think....this pregnancy agrees with me."

Ashien sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, reaching out to lay a hand on her forehead. "How do you feel, love?" He asked softly. He knew all women experienced pregnancy differently, but he was concerned Dylandra might be ill, or perhaps she wasn't getting what she needed to support a pregnancy. "Any pain, nausea, dizziness?"

Burke was quietly waiting aside, barely hiding his terror that the woman who'd just taken him in might not be well.

Dylan stared up at Ashien as he gently stroked her forehead, asking her if she were alright. She could tell him what had happened, but she chose to save him from the undue panic that it might cause. Instead, she nodded that she was and let out a long and tired sigh.

"I'm fine, Ash. Just dizzy from time to time." She said softly as she looked over towards Burke, his dark eyes wide and terrified.

"Come here, Burke." Dylan bade him to come near her, holding out her hand as she sought to comfort him. "I know this all seems scary, but I promise that I'm alright."

Ashien lifted Burke up onto the edge of the bed as well, letting him hold Dylan's hand. "She'll be alright between the two of us. Things get unpredictable with babies, I don't think it's serious." He didn't want to lie to Burke, but he wouldn't voice his true concerns either. "Henry has the best doctors in England at his disposal."

“See? Nothing to worry about.” Dylan said, trying hard to assure the young boy that she was truly alright. “If Ashien says it’ll be alright, you can trust him. He’ll never let anyone down if he can help it.”

Burke didn't respond aside from clutching her hand in both his own, too anxious to accept such words at face value. Ashien sighed and ruffled the boy's hair. "You need proper proof, hm? You're about as stubborn of a worrier as some of my brothers."

It wasn't too long before the royal physician arrived, whom Dylandra had come to know of late as her primary caregiver in London, while Ashien also often trusted the nearby werefolk more.

"I'm fine. I swear." Dylan insisted as the doctor entered and started a general exam, asking questions until he had his answers. "See? I told you so."

Dylan was given a scolding for over exerting herself, not drinking enough water, and not eating enough. She knew that she had been busy with Ashien gone, but now that she was reunited with him, she had found it difficult to settle down and actually take care of herself.

"So in other words, I need to have Van watch you at all times," Ashien teased as the doctor delivered his advice and chided Dylandra for not looking after herself. "Though I think Burke could do that now. He's worried enough for you that I think he'll do a fine job."

"I'm a grown woman, Ashien. I don't need anyone watching over me." Dylan said with a long sigh as she looked at her husband. "I just need to take more time for myself. Be a little more selfish. You will simply have to fend for yourself."

"I'll survive," Ashien smiled gently, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "We'll stay a while and give you some time to rest. Henry will get us the paperwork we need for Burke in the meantime."

Dylan gave a small smile as Ashien kissed her cheek. Soon enough, she had fallen asleep, much more exhausted than she had originally thought. It was time to slow down and to take more time to rest, for everyone. They had been in a constant state of movement for far too long, rushing to figure out what was going on with the time jumping, to fight in a war, and to enjoy one another. Dylan's body, now hosting another growing life, had simply had enough.

She woke what felt like hours later, wrapped in warm blankets and slightly disoriented. She was slightly worried that something more had happened until she saw Ashien and Burke sitting at a table by the fire, sharing a small meal as they talked softly as not to disturb her.