Stillness of Summer

II Eithne

The lady Eithne was still, and it was that silence that bore heavily on Cailean, for he was all the more aware of it.

"It has been a while, Lady Eithne," spoke Cailean, in an attempt to cut it short.

Still, she did not turn. The maid in the room, who had been sitting on the divan, approached her, as did her granddaughter.

The girl knelt by her grandmother's side and listened to her whispers. She turned from her grandmother, to Cailean and back. "We will be outside if you need us, granmama." She gave her grandmother a kiss on the cheek, and both she and the maid made to leave.

She smiled and curtsied to Cailean before closing the door behind, leaving Cailean alone with Lady Eithne.

Another silence ensued. How had he imagined this meeting would go? He had not dared to think that far ahead, if he was to be honest. He had thought only of making it in time to see her. And right then, there he was, in the same room as she, yet never before was the distance between them as loud and tangible as it was in that silence.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then he greeted her again. "Hello, Eithne."

The rays of the Sun drifted through the windows, blanketing her braided hair and her wrinkled hands. She had also grown wide from when he had seen her last, though that had been from a time long past and gone.

The old woman did not respond, only released a deep sigh.

If anything, the silence proved that she was still the same woman he had always known, and he smiled in spite of himself, for he knew her all too well.

A certain elation began to well within him. It came back, how much he had been craving for this meeting. How much he had thought of her, on the thousands of nights he was left alone to his thoughts. He lived through the Seasons, from one Summer to the next, waiting for each to end with anticipation, so he could have a chance to feel her again.

At the back of his mind, however, hung the dread of what the end of this encounter would bring. Cailean put that behind for now. He dropped his rucksack on the carpeted floor and lay his lamp on the table. Today, for this moment, he must make the most of the present.

"I knew you couldn't resist me for very long," he said. "It was only a matter of time before you let me find you." He gripped the small divan and with ease, pulled it along with him to the other side of Eithne's bed, by the window.

He positioned it by her very side, so that when he sat on it, he was closest to her. And when he did, he had the largest grin on his face, not bothering to hide his immense excitement. "Look at you!"

Eithne, on the other hand, wore the most unflattering grimace, on her part not bothering to hide her tremendous displeasure.

"You look even more adorable at this age. I did not think I could admire you more than I have before, but again you prove me wrong. It is all I can do to hold myself back." He said the words with such a large smile, only a fool might take them seriously. But Eithne, too, understood Cailean all too well.

"Some things never change, it seems," Eithne grumbled.

"Ah, one of the many perks of being me," Cailean replied with much glee. "You don't appear as happy to see me," he observed.

Eithne exhaled. "Please stop. Let's just get this over with. Lord Cailean, what is it you want from me?"

"Don't tell me..." Cailean's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

"Perhaps, you prefer my hideous brother now. I don't understand why women fawn over him so. How is that supposed to make me feel? Not very good, I tell you."