[Chalion ficlet] Home

[shimotsuki]

A belated happy birthday to katyhasclogs! I hope this is the kind of thing you had in mind...

Home (600 words | PG)

• Prompt: Cazaril, sometime between Chalion and Paladin
  
• Summary: Cazaril has realized that after he marries Betriz, they will need a place to live. The obvious solution is not, unfortunately, the easiest one.
  
• Author’s note: Being away from home (heh) myself right now, I wasn’t able to check any canon details, so if anyone sees any errors or inconsistencies, please let me know!

Home
“It’s exactly what we need,” Cazaril heard his own voice saying. “We’ll have enough space to entertain when it's necessary. And it’s connected to Iselle and Bergon's apartments by that secret passage.”

“Relatively secret,” Iselle amended.

“Well, yes.” Cazaril bent the corners of his mouth upward into what he fervently hoped was a plausible smile. “But convenient no less. I’ll be able to attend you in an instant even in the middle of the night.”

“Mmm,” said Bergon. He was watching Cazaril carefully.

Cazaril fought to keep his face from showing the panic that wrenched his gut as persistently as Dondo’s soul ever had. He cleared his throat and gave a brisk nod. “In any case, as I have no other home to offer Betriz once we are wed, the chancellor’s official residence is both our best and our only option.”

“You don’t have to offer me a home,” said Betriz, who sat beside him on a low, padded bench. Her hand, tucked in the bend of his elbow, gave his arm a little squeeze. “I’m sure Iselle and Bergon could spare us a room or two here in the castle, if we asked them nicely.”

Her words were light, but her eyes were worried. Normally, it pleased him no end that she read him as well as she did, but this one time he wished he could have been a little less transparent.

To Betriz, and to everyone else in this room, actually.

Iselle, looking much more concerned than Cazaril would have liked, smiled a little at Betriz’s words. “Of course we would, if you asked nicely. But on the other hand, you may soon have a lot of little dy Cazarils running around—you may be glad of the privacy in the chancellor’s residence.”

Little dy Cazarils. Cazaril’s pulse jolted at the royina’s words. All the more reason not to try to live in that place—

“It’s all right,” said Lady Ista suddenly, from her seat by the fireplace. “It will be all right.”

Startled, Cazaril turned to face her.

She met his gaze with eyes that were clear and steady, and not vague in the least. “It was never really his house.”

Cazaril didn’t have to ask who she meant.

“It belongs to the roya or the royina, and he only lived there at Orico’s pleasure.” The corner of her mouth quirked; painfully, Cazaril thought. “It was Arvol’s house just as much as it was ever dy Jironal’s, you know. More, really, as Arvol had it longer.”

“Mother’s right.” Iselle looked relieved. “And there were dozens and dozens of chancellors before dy Lutez, too. Dy Jironal was only a—” She scrambled briefly for a passable metaphor. “A pebble on the beach of history.”

“Give the walls a fresh coat of whitewash,” said Ista. “Change the furniture and the tapestries.” She grimaced. “For the gods’ sake, choose a different bedchamber. But you two, and your children, will fill the house with your own lives and your own memories. It will be all right.”

Cazaril let his breath out slowly. The tightness in his chest eased for the first time since he had realized, days ago, where he was going to have to live after the wedding. He smiled at Betriz, a real smile this time, and felt the same swell of joy that always came when she smiled back.

“I suppose it will,” he said slowly. “It will if we truly choose to make it so.”

. * fin * .

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Comments

[katyhasclogs.livejournal.com]

Oooh yay!

I loved this, particularly the idea of Dy Jironal as 'a pebble on the beach of history', Ista being very wise, Caz being completely surprised by the idea of children (bless) and all of them reading him like a book.

Thank you - it's lovely. :)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm so glad you liked this.

I'm not sure I meant Cazaril to be surprised at the thought of children -- I suspect that sort of thing has been very much on his mind lately -- but rather, I was attempting to show that the idea of raising them in the house where the dy Jironals had lived is the worst sticking point for him here. [ETA: I see -- it's the question mark that does it. Changing that now! Thank you.]

Anyway, this particular problem about Caz and the house has been on my mind for a while; surely he would need to live there, and surely he would hate the idea. So it was fun to have a chance to play around with it. :)

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Aw, Caz fic! I've been missing these two lately, and this really hit the spot! I hadn't thought about the fact that they'd necessarily get the quarters where dy Jironal had lived, but this is totally a Caz way of thinking about it. Love how Ista talked him around! And little dy Cazarils -- Aw!

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! I'm glad it hit the spot. :)

I don't have my books at hand, unfortunately, but I'm thinking if both dy Lutez and dy Jironal lived in that house, it might be something all the chancellors would typically do. (Even if dy Lutez wanted to use the secret passage for reasons other than his job, lol.) And poor Caz doesn't have many other choices, although I suppose it might not be out of the question for Iselle to give him (or Betriz!) a house as a wedding present if necessary.

And little dy Cazarils -- Aw!

Totally!

[philomytha.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this! I never thought of Cazaril moving into dy Jironal's house, but it makes perfect sense and fits into canon so well. I realy liked Ista's role here, with her consoling Caz after the ending of CoC. Also, sort-of-secret passages are great! Lovely!

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It was fun to write.

I'm away from home just now, so I don't have access to my books to check, but I really thought I remembered there being reference to a particular house that the chancellors used (with that secret passage) -- different from the dy Jironal family home.

And thanks for the kind words about Ista. I like the way she and Cazaril have understood each other ever since he came to tell her about Teidez, and I wanted to build on that here.

[philomytha.livejournal.com]

I just looked it up and there is reference to a not-quite-secret passage between the palace and the chancellor's home. Ias and Arvol allegedly used it to visit each other for trysts.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks for checking! That was exactly what I thought I remembered (whew) -- I mean, that the house with the secret passage of tryst fame was associated with the office of the chancellor, and wasn't just dy Lutez's (or dy Jironal's) personal house.

[blcwriter.livejournal.com]

Lovely. I do love Ista's wisdom-- and Caz's being confused and concerned over something so very material after so many spiritual doings.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

That's a nice point about material versus spiritual problems; I hadn't thought about it that way, but between the wedding and his new position at court, Caz will have lots of concrete problems to solve for a while!

Thanks for reading, and for your comments.

[bookish-brownie.livejournal.com]

This was very enjoyable; I love post-Chalion moments. Everyone was nicely in character, and the situation seems fitting. It's wonderful to see Caz happy, with a future ahead of him.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I like the little glimpses of Cazaril that we get from Ista's perspective in Paladin. And he certainly deserves some happiness after all he's been through.

[gilpin25.livejournal.com]

I also hadn't considered that Caz and Betriz would move into the house where dy Jironal had lived, but, duh, it makes obvious and perfect sense now you've written this! I like the struggle Caz has going on between emphasising those handy practicalities out loud and the internal please, anywhere but there! feeling. Bergon's "Mmm" speaks volumes, from 'you're not fooling anyone, you know', to 'we're a newly married couple and might not actually need you that often in the middle of the night', lol.

It's good to see Ista cut straight to the heart of the matter - she understands exactly what he needs to hear, and it's a nice reflection of the relationship between the two of them. And how Caz realises it's all about choices. :)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

It does seem that use of the official chancellor's residence would be something too hard for Caz to turn down, especially now that he's starting a household.

'we're a newly married couple and might not actually need you that often in the middle of the night'

*snort* Yep, there's that.

I really enjoyed including Ista here; I'm sure she's a lot clearer in her mind by now than she's been in years, even if no one (except Cazaril?) has really started to notice yet.

(No one has yet asked me where I've stashed the Provincara, lol. I was going to say, if pressed, that she and Lady dy Hueltar were off visiting some other dowager for the evening. ;) )

Thanks so much for reading, and for your comments.

[vkw10.livejournal.com]

“Give the walls a fresh coat of whitewash,” said Ista.

Perfect! By the time Iselle and Betriz have involved Cazaril in a dozen decorating decisions, he'll think of girlish laughter instead of dy Jironel when he walks into the house.

I wonder if Chalion has any custom like kissing under the mistletoe? Mistletoe kisses would surely help dispel any dark aura in that house.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading!

You're right, something like mistletoe would be perfect. (Or a summertime equivalent? We don't know how long the engagement was...) Maybe we can invent a custom related to the Mother's Day. ;)