[Ficlet -- Chalion] Illumination

[shimotsuki]

There has been some discussion lately about how we could all do with a little more Chalion fanfic in the world. So here's a little ficlet -- no major spoilers, except for the ship itself, which you can see coming in the book from about chapter 3 anyway, hee.

• Illumination
  (541 words | PG-13 for intimate situations)
  The sum total of their time alone as husband and wife so far was all of maybe fifteen minutes. Still, they had made a striking amount of progress in that quarter of an hour.

Illumination
Cazaril finished a kiss and pulled away, just a little. Betriz looked up at him, flushed and beaming and slightly out of breath.

She had been Betriz dy Cazaril for six hours or so, he calculated. But after the wedding came feasting, and speeches, and eventually dancing. So the sum total of their time alone as husband and wife so far was all of maybe fifteen minutes.

Still, they had made a striking amount of progress in that quarter of an hour.

They were sitting very close together on the edge of the bed—their bed. Richly embroidered tunic and trousers and gown lay draped over a chest in the corner. Now Betriz was wearing nothing but a simple linen shift, dyed some lovely pale color that was impossible to identify by candlelight, and worked along the modest neckline with violets and snowdrops and other symbols of the Daughter. This shift was much finer than the plain white ones she had worn for swimming lessons a year ago, but it had much the same effect on him.

And that was about the only thing that could have stopped him kissing her. He wanted to look his fill while he still had the chance.

When Cazaril returned his hungry gaze to Betriz’s face, he saw that her smile had widened. At least she didn’t mind him looking. Now, in fact, she was doing some looking of her own. There probably wasn’t much that his own linen shirt and trews left to the imagination.

Not much—but something, withal.

And so, when her deft hands found the laces of his shirt and began to untie them, he felt his smile turn slightly wry against her lips. “Let’s blow out the candles,” he murmured.

“No,” said Betriz placidly, “let’s not.”

He swallowed. That wasn’t in the scene he had painted in his head for this night.

She was eyeing him rather shrewdly, but then her dimple flashed. “I can’t believe you’re tired of looking at me already!”

“No—of course not—”

Her hand settled on his thigh. He drew a sharp breath.

“Well, I’m not, either. Tired of looking at you, that is.” She leaned in and found his lips with hers, and her fingers continued their nimble dance down his chest until his shirt hung open.

Her warm hands slipped under the smooth cloth to rest on his shoulders.

He stiffened. He couldn’t help himself.

Betriz went very still, but she didn’t take her hands away. “Caz. I love you—all of you.” She leaned up and brushed her lips along one eyebrow. “There’s no shame in anything you’ve done.” Her voice grew stronger. “You know that better than I do.”

Cazaril opened his mouth to speak, but his mind failed to supply him with any useful words.

“Besides—” the dimple returned—“you can’t possibly imagine I won’t want to be doing this again in the morning!”

The impish glint in her eye provoked an answering grin from him before he knew it. How was it that his imagination had never carried him past this one night?

He kissed her again, softly.

And then, quite deliberately, he shrugged his shoulders, letting the shirt slide down his back to pool on the bed behind him.

. * fin * .
[ To Chalion/Vorkosigan story index ]

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Comments

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a treat to wake up to! I thought you'd write Caz perfectly, and you've proved me right. This is just spot-on from Caz working out just how long they've been married vs. how long they've been alone together, to his OMG! moment about Betriz seeing his scars. And your Betriz is just right, too, not letting him get away with his insecurity, knowing just the right thing to say to him, with that hint of mischief and naughtiness that is so her.

Loved this: How was it that his imagination had never carried him past this one night?

LOL, poor Caz...I can just see him fretting about the scar thing and thinking if he can just put the light out before they get naked, he'll be safe. LOL

Oh, and can I just say, that Chalion clothes make the story even more suggestive? Unlacing shirts? Yum. ;)

On another note, you might consider linking this at bujold_fic and lmbujold. When I posted there I found a lot of Chalion fans and had a great response. And maybe it'll help encourage more Chalion fic!

Lovely job, m'dear. I do hope you'll do some more...

*bemoans lack of Chalion icons*

[gilpin25.livejournal.com]

*bemoans lack of Chalion icons*

I did find a couple on the second site someone had done, but they were quotes from the books. The Paladin one was actually a great one about praying for help to the Bastard, but I thought how much chaos could I cause using that if you hadn't read the book? ;)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

how much chaos could I cause using that if you hadn't read the book? ;)

*snort* Good point. Chalion theology, taken out of context, might get some people very exercised! ;)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind comments!

I'm glad you thought the "OMG! moment" was okay, because I know the situation is more complicated than this -- they both know that Betriz has seen his scars before, and she'd be able to feel them in the dark, anyway. But I didn't want to turn the dialogue into some giant expositional exercise, so I kept it kind of minimal.

Unlacing shirts? Yum. ;)

Hee hee. I wondered about the logistics of the linen undershirt for a while, and finally decided that they probably wouldn't waste buttons -- which would have had to have been hand-carved -- on underwear. ;)

On another note, you might consider linking this at bujold_fic and lmbujold.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had wondered about the first one (didn't know about the second one!). Maybe I will... although I have been trying not to look too hard at any Bujold communities, because I'm only two thirds of the way through the Vorkosigan series and don't want to end up accidentally spoiling myself by chancing upon the wrong fic summary, heh. (I've already seen a reference to a dismaying character death, but at least it wasn't clear if it was canon or fic-specific.)

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

although I have been trying not to look too hard at any Bujold communities, because I'm only two thirds of the way through the Vorkosigan series and don't want to end up accidentally spoiling myself by chancing upon the wrong fic summary, heh.

You can always be a member of a community, with posting access, but just not watch a community! I did that for a while with some of my Heroes ones because I was afraid of being spoiled.

I had never thought about hand-carved buttons before. But you're right! lol

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

You can always be a member of a community, with posting access, but just not watch a community!

Oh, very true, and that's what I decided to do for now. I just feel a little funny about advertising a fic on a community that I'm not very active commenting in. (Although I guess I've done that with genfic_hogwarts in the past, heh.)

But I really do need to be careful -- just looking down the top page at bujold_fic today to get a sense of the preferred posting format, I saw a Vorkosigan-related pairing that I had no idea was coming in the series. Of course, maybe it isn't a canon pairing. But still, in each book I read from now on, I won't be able to help looking for signs of it! :/

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of chatter going on in the community, so fear not. ;)

Whoops, sorry about the spoilers! I guess I hadn't thought about that because I haven't read the Vorkosigan series so none of the names mean anything to me.

Which reminds me, I am interested in reading...what's the first book in the series?

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

At least the (possibly) spoiled pairing is one I will wholeheartedly approve of if it is actually canon, heh.

what's the first book in the series?

This is a surprisingly difficult question! First, because the earliest books were published out of series-internal sequence, and second, because many of the books were published once as stand-alone novels and then later in anthologies, and there are novellas/short stories that fit into the sequence and may only be in the anthologies.

I like reading according to the series chronology (although there are a couple of stories set in the far distant past that I haven't read yet). So my personal suggestion would be to start with the two novels about Miles's parents, Shards of Honor and Barrayar, before moving on to the Miles books. (Miles's mother, Cordelia, is an excellent specimen of a strong Bujold heroine.) Confusingly, of course, these two books have been republished as one volume, Cordelia's Honor.

I actually use this Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_mcmaster_bujold#The_Vorkosigan_Saga) as a guide for what order to read the series in! (Yes, I am a geek.) I've read through Mirror Dance so far.

I think you will enjoy the Vorkosigan series if you do give it a try. It's set in a world with planetary governments and space travel, but it's really about people and complicated political situations. And although there are certain similarities between the patriarchal structure of Barrayaran society and what we see in Chalion, I've actually been quite struck by how different the two series feel -- LMB isn't just rehashing her futuristic galactic politics in medieval pseudo-Spain, more power to her.

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

First, because the earliest books were published out of series-internal sequence

I knew I liked this author. ;)

Thanks for the info! I'd actually seen that Wiki page, but didn't realize it was the recommended reading order!

I cannot hear the name Cordelia without thinking of Anne Shirley and cracking up...

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

I knew I liked this author. ;)

I know exactly what you mean! ;)

I cannot hear the name Cordelia without thinking of Anne Shirley and cracking up...

Yeah, too true, heh. But Commander/Captain Naismith is worth the cognitive dissonance. ;)

totally OT

[vesta-aurelia.livejournal.com]

RICKMAN!!!!

as the COLONEL!!!

*swoons*

*is being a nerd again*

[katyhasclogs.livejournal.com]

I wondered about the logistics of the linen undershirt for a while, and finally decided that they probably wouldn't waste buttons -- which would have had to have been hand-carved -- on underwear. ;)

And also, since I'm pretty sure that washing was done by bashing clothes with cricket-bat type things, the buttons would have got smashed. For centuries people rarely, if ever, washed their outer clothes since they would either be too delicate or (in the case of wool) take too long to dry, so they wore linen next to their skin as it was easy to wash.

Re: *is being a nerd again*

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Detail-oriented nerdage is always welcome, lol.

Good point about smashing buttons... I did know that outer garments were rarely washed -- I remember reading something years ago, maybe even in a children's book, about how somewhere in Scandinavia you would wear undergarments under your woolen dress (or skirt?), and an apron over the top, so that the dress itself wouldn't have to get washed all winter.