eldorne_girl

Delia has a brother. A big brother, snarky and moody and protective and proud and they took care of each other. Just three years apart, and she followed him everywhere until Papa sent him to court and then her to the convent. She fell in with Roger and treason and he fell in the Tusiane war in a charge against their second cousin and smashed his leg and withdrew in on himself for a few years though she came and saw him and they talked and sometimes they laughed and sometimes...

Sometimes Delia dreams she's a little girl again and they are exploring the garden because Papa is busy with the horses and Mama is pregnant again and no one really wants to deal with the wilful Eldorne children. Jem is holding her hand and striding forwards on sturdy five-year-old legs while she's toddling along behind, all wide-eyed and trusting. They are young, and little, and the garden seems big and overgrown and they spend hours and hours exploring and playing and being children again and

and when Delia wakes, her pillow is damp with tears.