"Zelda..." Ari breathed, before he could stop himself. He shut his mouth so that he did not add anything else, not until he was certain he had digested this; but his expression may have been enough, ashen and utterly aghast.
He didn't know what he had been expecting. But it... was not this. Never mind that Zelda was still a child in his mind, she had never been that sort of girl. Katia had always been a romantic, as Xena had been once too, as well as a flirt; but Zelda hadn't. Zelda had been more interested in swords and ships and adventure. If he had worried about anything, it would have continued to be the idea that she might one day spontaneously run away to become a pirate.
If he had been to consider this eventuality for a single second prior to this stunned moment, he might, at a stretch, have suspected it of her and one of the ragtag band of boys with whom she had spent all her schooldays being friends. It still would have been foolish of her, but teenagers... They were foolish.
Instead, startlingly, she had said a man. Evidently, he did not pay enough attention to his younger siblings' lives. Ari hadn't known she knew any men. (Perhaps she hadn't even known him.)
"Did he pressure you?" He asked firmly, his brow creased. She had made it sound as though it were her fault, as though she had made her choice willingly, but Ari wasn't sure he believed it, that she had been at all in control of that situation, however it had occurred. She was only nineteen, after all; Merlin, and their mother was dead, did she know any better?
Now that he'd started, there was a stream of questions in his head, none of which he especially wanted the answers to, but which... needed to be asked. "When did this happen?"
He didn't know what he had been expecting. But it... was not this. Never mind that Zelda was still a child in his mind, she had never been that sort of girl. Katia had always been a romantic, as Xena had been once too, as well as a flirt; but Zelda hadn't. Zelda had been more interested in swords and ships and adventure. If he had worried about anything, it would have continued to be the idea that she might one day spontaneously run away to become a pirate.
If he had been to consider this eventuality for a single second prior to this stunned moment, he might, at a stretch, have suspected it of her and one of the ragtag band of boys with whom she had spent all her schooldays being friends. It still would have been foolish of her, but teenagers... They were foolish.
Instead, startlingly, she had said a man. Evidently, he did not pay enough attention to his younger siblings' lives. Ari hadn't known she knew any men. (Perhaps she hadn't even known him.)
"Did he pressure you?" He asked firmly, his brow creased. She had made it sound as though it were her fault, as though she had made her choice willingly, but Ari wasn't sure he believed it, that she had been at all in control of that situation, however it had occurred. She was only nineteen, after all; Merlin, and their mother was dead, did she know any better?
Now that he'd started, there was a stream of questions in his head, none of which he especially wanted the answers to, but which... needed to be asked. "When did this happen?"
The following 5 users Like Ari Fisk's post:
Aldous Crouch, Bella Scrimgeour, Cassius Lestrange, Ophelia Devine, Zelda Darrow
Aldous Crouch, Bella Scrimgeour, Cassius Lestrange, Ophelia Devine, Zelda Darrow
