The Raven (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Leon is as surly as a bear today." Emma commented as she came into the kitchen with a scowling Leon on one hip and a happy Eli on the other. "He must get it from your side of the family."

Placing Eli in his seat, she knew that to put Leon down would insight a screaming terror. Instead, she sat at her spot with him on her lap, giving Boar a smile as their son pouted.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I told ya Bear was a good name," Boar grinned and reached over to smooth back his son's hair. "Righ' Little Bear?" He'd begun to call Leon by that name only recently, but Leon seemed to respond to it as well as his own name. He gave his father a dark look and Boar could only laugh. "Okay, okay. I'll leave ya 'lone."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Caerleon Bear, you need to cheer up." Emma murmured as she pressed a kiss to the top of his head as Boar dished up the eggs and ham he'd been cooking for them all.

Leon refused to touch his food at first as Eli are whatever his father offered him like a hungry bird. Emma smiled at her sunny little boy as she finally tempted Leon to start eating, his dark mood starting to slowly lift.

 

[KieranSoares]

"See? Eli'll take care o' him," Boar smiled and sat back in his chair. "Reminds me o' myself when I was a little lad... Brogan was like Eli t'me. I used t'outsize 'I'm so ye'd never guess I was younger. I guess tha' made us closer."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Leon needs to learn how to control his surly nature." Emma commented as Eli finished his plate and looked up at his Da for more. "And these two will eat us out of house and home before too much longer."

Emma hugged Leon tightly, her nose pressed against his sweet smelling dark hair. "I wish you wouldn't grow so fast, my loves. I'll miss having wee babies."

 

[KieranSoares]

"The faster they grow, th' sooner they'll be handin' you their own little lads an' lasses," Boar teased with a smile, mussing up Eli's hair and making him giggle. "But I'll enjoy gettin' t'take 'em out hunting before too long. These boys'll be ridin' before they walk if they're anythin' like my brothers an' me."

 

[heartofcourage]

"When are you going to take them boar hunting?" Emma asked, knowing that with her husband it was already a foregone conclusion that her little boys would go on their first hunt very soon. "Can I at least have some warning?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Not til they're big enough t'sit in a saddle with me an' I can teach 'em t'be quiet when they need t'be. Ye've got a few years yet, love. I won't take 'em out when they're jus' babies, much as I think Leon could put a bear down with just a stare." Boar leaned over to kiss her.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma gave him a soft smile as he leaned in and kissed her, promising that they still had a few years of being babies before he took them into the woods for their first hunt. That made her feel better about things. When Boar started teaching them about what it was like to be his sons, she knew that they would drift further and further away from their mother, simply not needing her as much. She wasn't really prepared for that moment to happen.

 

[KieranSoares]

The little family enjoyed some months of peace and plenty of help and love from Boar's larger family. Brogan was ever the doting uncle to Eli and Leon, and Julia a doting aunt. But not too long before Julia herself was to give birth to her own child, Emma was out in the market one morning looking for something to prepare for dinner that night. Her boys were with their father in the keep.

When she paused at a stall, shouts sounded over the market and the people hurried to get out of the way of several armored horsemen surrounding a central rider dressed to the nines in royal attire. His short-shorn hair and short beard made him look a bit different, but Emma would know him at a glance.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma had picked out a leg of lamb for her family that night. The boys loved it as much as their father did. Some vegetables on the side and they would all be happy. She had to smile as she thought about how far her life had come in such a short amount of time. She could cook with the best of them now, thanks to her patient husband. She took care of her boys and loved them with an abundance that she didn't think she could ever have.

As she was paying for her meat, she heard a commotion and turned to see the man that she had left so many years ago riding into the town square with a determined look on his face. Emma paused for a long moment as she saw him, wondering why he was there. His hatred for the Scots was well apparent in her time with him.

 

[KieranSoares]

The small procession halted and the Prince sent two of his guards toward the keep. One of the remaining two split off into the crowd and the Prince and his last guard cornered a shopkeeper. Emma could just barely hear her own name mentioned in the conversation.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma heard her name spoken in whispers and she suddenly felt incredibly nervous. Gathering her bag close to her, she hurried from the town square. She very well could have gone to the keep and been safe with Boar. However, she made her way home to the little cottage that she had called home for the past few months.

 

[KieranSoares]

About an hour passed after she returned home, before a heavy knock sounded on the door and a voice called, "Open up in the name of the Prince of Clan Walsh!" Apparently some unaware townsperson had let on where Emma's new home was.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma said nothing as the heavy knocking came to the front door. She slipped silently towards the bedroom, intent to hide until they went away. If the worst happened, she could slip out the window that was there. She had no idea why the prince was there and looking for her, but if news got to Boar, she knew that he would come for her before too much longer.

 

[KieranSoares]

The knock and call sounded twice more before Emma heard the muffled voice say, "Shall I open it anyway, sir?"

"No. We'll be in trouble with the King if we go breaking doors down. We'll go to the keep and ask there."

The procession made their way away, and as Emma expected, Boar was home within the half-hour. He stepped inside and called, "Em? Emma, you here?" He had the boys in his arms. He'd had help taking them to the keep earlier when Brogan had come by but he'd rushed home without help.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma stayed in hiding until she heard Boar's voice calling out. Letting out a long sigh, she slipped from her spot in the cupboard, hurrying to find him. The moment her eyes fell upon her boys, she felt a million times better.

"I'm right here." She said as she scooped Leon up in her arms and kissed his little cheek, taking her strength from her son's. "I assume they found you at the keep?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I saw 'im an' slipped out after tellin' Brogan not t'say anythin'," Boar murmured. "I don' know what 'e wants... but I don' want 'im around 'ere."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Someone I. Town told them where we lived." She said as Eli held out his hands for his mother. "They can and knocked but I hid. They said they were going to the keep to look."

Emma reached out and took Eli as well, holding a twin on each hip as the boys hugged her tightly. "We aren't going to let this control us. I'm going to make dinner. We will act like they aren't here in Inverness."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Jus' don' answer the door at all. Let me 'andle it," Boar murmured, kissing her cheek before helping her put the boys to bed as they were both starting to nod off.

 

[heartofcourage]

Once the boys were tucked into bed, Emma got a meal prepared. Roasted lamb and vegetables with rice. It was one of her specialties and Boar could eat enough for all of them. Once they were seated, Emma could tell how tense her husband was.

"I made you a pear tart for dessert." She murmured, struggling to break his tension. "You can have some of you promise to leave some for the boys."

 

[KieranSoares]

Boar gave her a gentle smile and answered in turn, "I dunno. It might be too good t'share, considerin' th'talent ye've got fer cookin'."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, I had to learn since you wouldn't hire me a cook." Emma said as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her husband's lips.

Quietly she pressed her forehead to his own for a moment and let herself soak in the moment. It was quiet and peaceful. It made her appreciate the man that he was even more.

"I love you, Lynndon." She murmured softly. "And you know I will never leave your side willingly, right?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I always like t'think so," Boar offered with a handsome grin, "ever since I stole y'back." Though it had been a very rough patch for them, he looked back on it with humor.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You didn't steal me." Emma said with a slight smile. "I asked you to come and get me and you did."

She leaned in and kissed him again, the smile on her lips growing wider. She had definitely found where she belonged in life. While she was still worried that she couldn't do what was right for her boys, she had become an excellent mother. The boys would toddle after her in the market place, holding on to her skirt like a pair of little ducklings trailing after their mother. They were well behaved most of the time, only truly being rowdy when their father was involved. It was a nice little life, one that she had to thank Boar greatly for.