Thread: The Light Surrounding Us (Quantum Tangle x OffToTheRaces)

What was he to do? Bryce pondered restlessly in his sleep. He wondered has the years truly passed so quickly. Little Althea had grown now, becoming a woman, but the Teyrn would always remember his youngest bouncing happily upon his knee while he sang songs of a war since passed. Truthfully he felt blessed to have his family. Many days he woke in a cool sweat with the fearful thought that this had all been a dream. To lose the love of his Eleanor would be a tragedy unlike any hed experienced, for her love and patience gave him strength. Their eldest son Fergus was inspiring. If only Bryce had shared the boys same confidence and inner strength, how grateful should he be? Yet the day his daughter was born the Lord felt indulged himself a selfish luxury. Morning and night as a young babe he was the first and last thing little Althea, his pup, would see. In turn she followed him. Eleanor admitted once jealousy at his connection to their daughter, saying that the way he looked upon Althea was one of a man in love. It was true. Bryce loved his daughter fiercely wanting to let her rise from her station, as a daughter and second born many of the responsibilities towards Highever were secondary. Her future was truly free. She could be all that she wished, and though his wife insisted he spoiled her temperament, Bryce, could not help but feel proud seeing his daughters defiance. A rebel princess he would call her, if only hed known that in fifteen years those little lessons would serve to pain him. His friend and comrade Rendon Howe was not a man easy to like, but he respected the mans cool intuition. Good friends since their fight against Orlais hed never questioned the bitter mans council. When he proposed an alliance of marriage between their families? Nothing ever felt more logical. Nathaniel was Howes eldest son and heir to Amaranthine, and though the boy was a few years older than Althea they grew together as close friends. The boy was meek. And Bryce had hoped that Altheas fierce demeanor would inspire more confidence, but as it stand the boy stood in her shadow as she threw barbed remarks at Rendon at the mere suggestion of marriage. When Eleanor came to him with news of his daughters actions the Teyrn felt his temples pain. Oh why for all the Makers Grace would she say such things?! For the first time in a long time he was furious. He remembered marching into her room and demanding she pack her things. They were going to the Cabin, but this was no retreat he told himself. This was to be a lesson for his sweet pup. Truthfully the Cousland lord only had himself to blame and he knew it. She made him soft in his heart. His daughter inspired a gentleness that many would never see from the tireless man. Even in the night, he felt Althea slip into his bed and tuck into his side. There he held her remembering when she was so small and rest silently upon his chest. His presence was the only thing that could calm her cries, and when she lay that way atop of him she was ever content. Needing to be beside him, she was his shadow. With an audible Oof! the Teyrn awoke to his daughters bright smile, as if shed forgotten that shed been in certain trouble. Forgotten that her father still held a disagreement with her. Lifting the thumping pillow he tossed aside and reached with strong arms to scoop his daughter up and toss her ontop of the bed beneath him. Diligent fingers found the delicate crooks of her legs, arms, neck, and sides. All the things that would make her squirm and regret her rude awakening. A man in his mid-fifties Bryce Cousland had lost the dark chocolate color in his hair, the same color of his daughters. Instead now hed grown into the course silver but his face belied such an age. Dazzling eyes stared down upon her with comfort and joy, a gaze her mother often praised as one of his most pleasant features. The romance between her parents was strong and they often described the other with such poetic fondness. But the line between romance and truth was thin, for the Teyrn had physically kept in enviable shape for his active lifestyle. Being the Lord of Highever had not slowed him down and made him connected. Althea would know, for much like her father they needed a touch of the wild. And their little hunts became an activity that only they shared. Fergus did not hold the taste for hunting wild game, much like his mother. And now that the boy had married and started a family of his own Bryces son was beyond his guidance, but not beyond his pride. Stubborn child could you not afford your father a proper rest? Bryce teased in acquisition continuing to lightly tickle his little beauty nevertheless, the moment was quick to pass with a sigh as the man rolled off the bed to his feet quickly reaching a laced shirt and slacks. He could never sleep comfortably encumbered by clothing, even covers bothered him, and all he would bother to wear were his undergarments out of modesty. From her view Althea would see the aged and toned back of her father marked with light scars. Wounds from arrows and close calls with the edges of swords. A reminder that not too long ago Ferelden had been lost in a Rebellious war with the Orlesians for their freedom. Have you prepared your satchel? I wish to show you something. He asked with insistence. Althea would know her father well and had good sense to see that hed immediately moved to the business of the day. Never a man to waste time or words, Bryce Cousland only tempered his ambitions out respect of the Royal Court, but there was no Court in his cabin. Out here in the wooded forest outside of Highever Keep they were free of responsibility.