Jean: A Legend In My Own Mind (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zouzounaki) wrote2005-12-03 06:05 pm
zouzounaki) wrote2005-12-03 06:05 pm
Entry tags:
FIC: Wonderland part 2
Fandom: Hornblower
Rating: R/NC-17 (there's a reason my icon's smilin'! ;-))
Character(s): Horatio
Timeline: After Retribution, movie-wise; almost directly prior to Loyalty.
Title: Wonderland
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ghanistarkiller or Jean/Evenstar
Read the first chapter: HERE
PART TWO
Horatio awoke, realizing he had slept longer than he was accustomed to. Sweet, warm dreams had beset him all night, wrapping him in their luxurious softness and beguiling sensuality. Alice, he thought, reality rushing up at him like a bucket of water in the face. His room was cold as ice, a fire burning haplessly in the little wood stove; Alice must have come in this morning and lit the fire, careful not to disturb his rest. He warmed his clothes by it before dressing himself and, realizing from the state of his trousers that he was in no condition to be in public company just yet thanks to the enthralling charms of his dreams, he sat until the hardness between his legs lessened.
He descended the steep stairwell, stopping at the second floor landing. He glanced down the corridor, identifying the occupants of each of the doors just as Alice had showed him on the chessboard until his eyes came to rest upon the last. Alice's stories buzzed around his head as he found himself cautiously moving towards the portal, touching the wood as if he could glean some sort of enlightening information about the chamber behind it. Slowly his hand fell to the knob, turning it gradually until the mechanism clicked and he leaned his weight against the door in an attempt to open it.
There lay no unearthly threshold to some fantastic realm but an ordinary bedroom and, true to Alice's word, it was obvious it had not been used in quite some time. His footsteps seemed so loud in the undisturbed stillness of the chamber. Shadows moved and scattered at his approach like living things, startling Horatio as he moved. A broken mirror snapped beneath his boots, a gilded frame lay nearby the sparkling shards; it must have fallen from the wall some time ago. Beside where it used to hang was a small portrait of a lovely young woman, her cheer barely concealed by the serious demeanor she had taken on for her sitting. On her lap sat a baby and the rounded border proclaimed the piece's subjects as Lorelei and Alice McCarttey. This must have been Eaemon and his wife's bedchamber. The King of Dreams, he sighed sadly to himself. There was a charge about the air in the room, an apparition of darkness, of dreaminess. As the shadows closed in, he shrugged them off leaving quite abruptly.
He once again continued his journey into the common room he had supped in last night. A few still loitered though a good number were absent, most likely having already taken their breakfast and now were going about their business, whatever it might be. He took a seat near the fire, happy to rid himself of the chill within his lean frame though warmth still remained in his body from Alice's touch last night and the wonderful fantasies he had dream of as a consequence.
"Mr. Hornblower, I presume," a cheery voice sounded, powerfully merry in the dim, rather drab silence of the room. He turned to see a woman, a pleasant sort in her middle age with bright eyes, a warm Irish smile and a round pregnant belly beneath her frock, cheeks so rosy they matched her vibrantly colored hair. She was carrying three plates filled to brimming with food, all balanced upon her arms; breakfast, he presumed. She set the spread out before him. "Alice has been speaking of you all morning. Miss Devons at your service," she introduced happily, "though folk around these parts just call me Keira. Now eat up! I do say, you like more'un like a scarecrow than a man!"
"Much obliged," Horatio managed a thin smile, scooping a fried egg into his mouth gratefully. "Delicious," he complemented, and it was so after the pasty and tasteless porridge he had been living on since he'd arrived in Portsmouth. "Where are Mr. McCarttey and Miss Alice this morning?" he inquired, expecting to see the girl's lively face appear at any moment. Or was that hoping? Had she really been speaking of him all this time?
"Alice'll be at the Cranleighs' today," replied Keira brightly, wiping her hands upon her apron, "She's a job there on odd days, helping out with different chores. Eaemon is at his usual business; he's a shoemaker, you know. This used to be his shop, before... We're hoping to get off to the Colonies one day; all of His Majesty's soldiers, they need good strong boots to fight in, now don't they!" The low cheer of a 'hear, hear' sounded from the back of the room at this. "Alice'll be back before you know it, she left extra early this morn. If you need anything else, just let me know," she grinned, disappearing into what Horatio guessed was the kitchen.
The scraping of a chair could be heard against the rough-hewn wooden floor and soon Horatio was joined by a man most likely younger than himself in a marine's uniform, the source of the earlier shouted approval. The Scarlet Soldier, Horatio thought, grinning a bit. "Aubrey," he introduced, brushing his thick red hair from his forehead and offering Horatio his hand.
"Hornblower," Horatio returned, taking the man's hand and giving it a firm shake.
"Infernal piece of bad luck, this peace is," Aubrey sighed, stretching his arms and resting them behind his head. "Don't happen to be good at cards, my good man?" he inquired. Horatio smiled and told him to fetch his deck.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alice scurried in from the cold, shaking the dampness of the gently falling snow from her hair and coat. Horatio was just shaking hands with Aubrey, congratulating him on a game well played while the younger man cursed his luck and praised the naval man's skill, when he spotted the girl slipping in from the bitter winter weather. "Next time, Hornblower," Aubrey grinned, "luck will be on my side. Good afternoon to you, Miss Alice," the suave man bowed chivalrously to the new arrival. Horatio didn't like the way the rake was eyeing her.
"And to you," she laughed at his exaggeratedly gallant gestures. "I take it you've finally found someone who can beat you at cards," she threw a mischievous glance towards Horatio, her cheeks coloring as she realized he was staring at her with that intense gaze of his. Suddenly she felt the cold shake from her body, melt like an icicle outside her window when she lit the fire there. Heat originating from her belly tickled her from top to toe at his attention and she once again felt the warm trickle of arousal between her thighs as well as her heart pounding as if it might break her chest.
"Aye, indeed I have!" Aubrey chuckled. "Be careful of this one, Miss Alice," he winked, "good fortune is on his side!"
"Duly noted, my Scarlet Soldier," Alice giggled as Aubrey brushed past her and retrieved his greatcoat from a stand beside the door. "It's a hard freeze out there," she warned as the marine placed his hat upon his head and opened the door, "Be wary of the ice." He tipped his hat to her and gave her an 'aye, ma'am' as he left, shutting the door firmly behind him. "Oh, I'm so glad I found you here," she said joyfully as she turned to Horatio. "A hard freeze!" she told him as if that was supposed to mean something special, something important. "The reservoir should be solid straight through," she continued, fetching something from the trunk at the base of the coat stand and holding them proudly up for him to see. A pair of skates. "They're my papa's," she informed him, "or, at least, they used to be when he was able. They should fit you just right!"
"I really..." Horatio protested as she retrieved her own pair. "I don't know how," he admitted mawkishly, frightened of making a fool of himself.
"Nonsense," she said kindly. "I'll teach you; you'll see how easy it is. Come on now, get your outside wear on; it's cold out there!"
The dirty streets looked almost pristine swathed in its fresh blanket of immaculate white, a wonderland of winter able to obscure even the ugliness of the port's alleyways. Snowflakes fell leisurely about them, so soft, so gentle. Children played in the freshly settling powder, their spirits lifted despite the temperature as they laughed and built men of snow. One impish little rascal threw and ice ball that connected with Horatio's shoulder and tried to run as Alice gathered snow between her mittens to return the favor. She laughed as her own projectile pegged the boy in the back of his head, making him curse and shake his fist at them as Alice grabbed Horatio's arm and pulled him along quickly before the scamp and his friends could retaliate.
Finally, they reached the reservoir that shone like a sheet of glass in the cloud-masked dim sunlight. A few couples were already circling the ice, a small number of children glided around the edges as their parents looked on. Alice danced easily onto the glossy surface after slipping her skates on, she moving smoothly effortlessly once around the pond and came 'round to look expectantly at Horatio. Oh Gawd, he thought, swallowing hard, this was it. With a small struggle, he managed to get his skates on and wobble onto the ice. He skidded gracelessly, his legs moving in different directions from where they should have been, bending and slipping every which way. Alice laughed, putting her arm around him until he gained balance. Little by little, she showed him how to steady himself and then to move, slowly at first and then with more and more confidence.
"You're very good at this," Horatio observed as they slid along together, their arms locked.
"I've been skating here since I was a girl," she told him, gazing into his eyes. "When we couldn't afford skating boots, I used to strap knives to my shoes and come out here and skate all day long." At last she felt he had become comfortable enough to show him some turns and spins. He whistled, impressed, as she made an elegant circle, her skirts twirling about her as she moved. Horatio tried to imitate her but fell flat on his bum the first time, by the fourth try he had almost gotten it, though somewhat less stylishly as his partner.
"Will you go to the Colonies with your father and Miss Devons?" he asked casually. She gave him a nod in the affirmative and he ventured, "Does nothing or no one keep you here?"
She laughed ay his clumsy attempt at discovering if she had a lover. "I've no suitor, if that's what you're getting at," she chuckled. "I had once, a naval man such as yourself. He was a midshipman, Jack Parker. He left one day to fight the good fight..." her voice trailed off.
Horatio's heart sank; he knew too well this story, had witnessed his share of fallen young men, their lives and those who were waiting behind for them shattered forever by the blast of a bullet or the cut of a saber. "He didn't return," he finished for her forlornly.
She laughed. "Oh no, he returned," she smiled sheepishly, "just not to me. He married a girl from London, Mary, I think her name was. I still have the ring he gave me," she confessed guiltily. "It's silly, isn't it? Jack Frost, that's who he is," she teased. "Though he won't freeze my heart!"
Dusk was beginning to fall and Horatio determined that they should start heading back. Reluctantly, she agreed, knowing that the stew would be bubbling in the pot by now. With a sudden mischievous grin, she flopped to the ground, Horatio running to her in panic to see what was amiss. "Get away!" she said, scowling and laughing at the same time, "You'll ruin my snow angel!" She moved her outspread arms and legs back and forth until the indent in the snow imitated the wings and skirt of a heavenly body. Impulsively, Horatio followed her lead, dropping into an untouched patch of snow and making an angel of his own. "Wonderful!" she assessed as they both stood and appraised their handiwork. "Brrrr, I'm chilled right through," she giggled.
"Something to warm you," he said before he was aware of what he was doing, taking her into his arms and kissing her hotly and tenderly. He intended it to be an innocent kiss, a brotherly peck upon her frost stinging cheek but his lips had unexpectedly and involuntarily taken a detour, her supple, rosy lips proving too inviting to pass up. Soon the velvety roughness of his tongue had gently began exploring and tasting her own.
"Better than a hot tot," she flushed scarlet, a little breathless. Taking his hand as they walked unhurriedly back towards her father's boarding house.
The common room was now busy with conversation and activity. Alice had disappeared to perform her nightly chores and Horatio settled in with a hot meal prepared by Keira. He played a round of whist with Aubrey and two others, Lorry and Carlson, until a comely chit appeared in the doorway and Aubrey vanished with her up the stairs. He knew now why Alice called him the 'Scarlet' Soldier.
The hour grew late and Horatio lingered drowsily by the fire. He heard the unmistakable sound of Eaemon walking upon his one good leg, the scrape of his cane, and soon the older man was seated beside him. There was something of him that reminded the young Commander of his former captain, Pellew; an effortless authority and a stern sort of kindness as well as a dry sense of humor. It helped put him at ease. "Alice took you down to the reservoir this afternoon, did she?" asked McCarttey, lighting a cigar. The sweet scent of tobacco curling around Horatio's nose with its thick tendrils of smoke.
"Yes," Horatio responded rather hesitantly. "She is...quite pleasant company."
"Pleasant indeed," Eaemon nodded slowly, glancing at the fire. "Some, they take her for slow in thought, simple minded. It's just...she sees so much beauty in this world; it is a rare and fortunate gift indeed, especially in these dark times. My little storyteller," he smiled. "She's such an imagination on her, that girl; the fancies she comes up with. She fancies you, I can tell that," he smiled slightly.
"Sir, I would never..."
"At ease, lad," laughed Eaemon. "I'm not trying to put you on the spot. You don't treat her like the others, that's all I'm saying. You treat her with regard. Ta for that. Now go on with you, get yourself to bed. Everyone else has," he yawned and stretched and, looking around, Horatio could see that he spoke the truth; the room was empty, silent.
He climbed the stairs to his room sleepily, his feet dragging against the steps as he leisurely began to remove his jacket. His attic chamber was quite warm, lit by the comforting glow of the wood burning stove and the bedside candles. He breathed a deep sigh, his fingers fumbling with the buttons of his waistcoat. He started when an unexpected voice crashed softly through the hush of the small room, "I thought you'd fallen asleep down there."
He spun around to see Alice lying upon his bed, her black hair spread against the pillows like strands of silk, her diaphanous gown revealing every curve and contour of her body. She smiled so sweetly and alluringly; her pale eyes the color of the sea after a storm. "Are you coming to bed or are you going to just stand there and gape all night?" she teased.
Click here for chapter three
Peace, Ghani
Rating: R/NC-17 (there's a reason my icon's smilin'! ;-))
Character(s): Horatio
Timeline: After Retribution, movie-wise; almost directly prior to Loyalty.
Title: Wonderland
Author:
ghanistarkiller or Jean/EvenstarRead the first chapter: HERE
PART TWO
Horatio awoke, realizing he had slept longer than he was accustomed to. Sweet, warm dreams had beset him all night, wrapping him in their luxurious softness and beguiling sensuality. Alice, he thought, reality rushing up at him like a bucket of water in the face. His room was cold as ice, a fire burning haplessly in the little wood stove; Alice must have come in this morning and lit the fire, careful not to disturb his rest. He warmed his clothes by it before dressing himself and, realizing from the state of his trousers that he was in no condition to be in public company just yet thanks to the enthralling charms of his dreams, he sat until the hardness between his legs lessened.
He descended the steep stairwell, stopping at the second floor landing. He glanced down the corridor, identifying the occupants of each of the doors just as Alice had showed him on the chessboard until his eyes came to rest upon the last. Alice's stories buzzed around his head as he found himself cautiously moving towards the portal, touching the wood as if he could glean some sort of enlightening information about the chamber behind it. Slowly his hand fell to the knob, turning it gradually until the mechanism clicked and he leaned his weight against the door in an attempt to open it.
There lay no unearthly threshold to some fantastic realm but an ordinary bedroom and, true to Alice's word, it was obvious it had not been used in quite some time. His footsteps seemed so loud in the undisturbed stillness of the chamber. Shadows moved and scattered at his approach like living things, startling Horatio as he moved. A broken mirror snapped beneath his boots, a gilded frame lay nearby the sparkling shards; it must have fallen from the wall some time ago. Beside where it used to hang was a small portrait of a lovely young woman, her cheer barely concealed by the serious demeanor she had taken on for her sitting. On her lap sat a baby and the rounded border proclaimed the piece's subjects as Lorelei and Alice McCarttey. This must have been Eaemon and his wife's bedchamber. The King of Dreams, he sighed sadly to himself. There was a charge about the air in the room, an apparition of darkness, of dreaminess. As the shadows closed in, he shrugged them off leaving quite abruptly.
He once again continued his journey into the common room he had supped in last night. A few still loitered though a good number were absent, most likely having already taken their breakfast and now were going about their business, whatever it might be. He took a seat near the fire, happy to rid himself of the chill within his lean frame though warmth still remained in his body from Alice's touch last night and the wonderful fantasies he had dream of as a consequence.
"Mr. Hornblower, I presume," a cheery voice sounded, powerfully merry in the dim, rather drab silence of the room. He turned to see a woman, a pleasant sort in her middle age with bright eyes, a warm Irish smile and a round pregnant belly beneath her frock, cheeks so rosy they matched her vibrantly colored hair. She was carrying three plates filled to brimming with food, all balanced upon her arms; breakfast, he presumed. She set the spread out before him. "Alice has been speaking of you all morning. Miss Devons at your service," she introduced happily, "though folk around these parts just call me Keira. Now eat up! I do say, you like more'un like a scarecrow than a man!"
"Much obliged," Horatio managed a thin smile, scooping a fried egg into his mouth gratefully. "Delicious," he complemented, and it was so after the pasty and tasteless porridge he had been living on since he'd arrived in Portsmouth. "Where are Mr. McCarttey and Miss Alice this morning?" he inquired, expecting to see the girl's lively face appear at any moment. Or was that hoping? Had she really been speaking of him all this time?
"Alice'll be at the Cranleighs' today," replied Keira brightly, wiping her hands upon her apron, "She's a job there on odd days, helping out with different chores. Eaemon is at his usual business; he's a shoemaker, you know. This used to be his shop, before... We're hoping to get off to the Colonies one day; all of His Majesty's soldiers, they need good strong boots to fight in, now don't they!" The low cheer of a 'hear, hear' sounded from the back of the room at this. "Alice'll be back before you know it, she left extra early this morn. If you need anything else, just let me know," she grinned, disappearing into what Horatio guessed was the kitchen.
The scraping of a chair could be heard against the rough-hewn wooden floor and soon Horatio was joined by a man most likely younger than himself in a marine's uniform, the source of the earlier shouted approval. The Scarlet Soldier, Horatio thought, grinning a bit. "Aubrey," he introduced, brushing his thick red hair from his forehead and offering Horatio his hand.
"Hornblower," Horatio returned, taking the man's hand and giving it a firm shake.
"Infernal piece of bad luck, this peace is," Aubrey sighed, stretching his arms and resting them behind his head. "Don't happen to be good at cards, my good man?" he inquired. Horatio smiled and told him to fetch his deck.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alice scurried in from the cold, shaking the dampness of the gently falling snow from her hair and coat. Horatio was just shaking hands with Aubrey, congratulating him on a game well played while the younger man cursed his luck and praised the naval man's skill, when he spotted the girl slipping in from the bitter winter weather. "Next time, Hornblower," Aubrey grinned, "luck will be on my side. Good afternoon to you, Miss Alice," the suave man bowed chivalrously to the new arrival. Horatio didn't like the way the rake was eyeing her.
"And to you," she laughed at his exaggeratedly gallant gestures. "I take it you've finally found someone who can beat you at cards," she threw a mischievous glance towards Horatio, her cheeks coloring as she realized he was staring at her with that intense gaze of his. Suddenly she felt the cold shake from her body, melt like an icicle outside her window when she lit the fire there. Heat originating from her belly tickled her from top to toe at his attention and she once again felt the warm trickle of arousal between her thighs as well as her heart pounding as if it might break her chest.
"Aye, indeed I have!" Aubrey chuckled. "Be careful of this one, Miss Alice," he winked, "good fortune is on his side!"
"Duly noted, my Scarlet Soldier," Alice giggled as Aubrey brushed past her and retrieved his greatcoat from a stand beside the door. "It's a hard freeze out there," she warned as the marine placed his hat upon his head and opened the door, "Be wary of the ice." He tipped his hat to her and gave her an 'aye, ma'am' as he left, shutting the door firmly behind him. "Oh, I'm so glad I found you here," she said joyfully as she turned to Horatio. "A hard freeze!" she told him as if that was supposed to mean something special, something important. "The reservoir should be solid straight through," she continued, fetching something from the trunk at the base of the coat stand and holding them proudly up for him to see. A pair of skates. "They're my papa's," she informed him, "or, at least, they used to be when he was able. They should fit you just right!"
"I really..." Horatio protested as she retrieved her own pair. "I don't know how," he admitted mawkishly, frightened of making a fool of himself.
"Nonsense," she said kindly. "I'll teach you; you'll see how easy it is. Come on now, get your outside wear on; it's cold out there!"
The dirty streets looked almost pristine swathed in its fresh blanket of immaculate white, a wonderland of winter able to obscure even the ugliness of the port's alleyways. Snowflakes fell leisurely about them, so soft, so gentle. Children played in the freshly settling powder, their spirits lifted despite the temperature as they laughed and built men of snow. One impish little rascal threw and ice ball that connected with Horatio's shoulder and tried to run as Alice gathered snow between her mittens to return the favor. She laughed as her own projectile pegged the boy in the back of his head, making him curse and shake his fist at them as Alice grabbed Horatio's arm and pulled him along quickly before the scamp and his friends could retaliate.
Finally, they reached the reservoir that shone like a sheet of glass in the cloud-masked dim sunlight. A few couples were already circling the ice, a small number of children glided around the edges as their parents looked on. Alice danced easily onto the glossy surface after slipping her skates on, she moving smoothly effortlessly once around the pond and came 'round to look expectantly at Horatio. Oh Gawd, he thought, swallowing hard, this was it. With a small struggle, he managed to get his skates on and wobble onto the ice. He skidded gracelessly, his legs moving in different directions from where they should have been, bending and slipping every which way. Alice laughed, putting her arm around him until he gained balance. Little by little, she showed him how to steady himself and then to move, slowly at first and then with more and more confidence.
"You're very good at this," Horatio observed as they slid along together, their arms locked.
"I've been skating here since I was a girl," she told him, gazing into his eyes. "When we couldn't afford skating boots, I used to strap knives to my shoes and come out here and skate all day long." At last she felt he had become comfortable enough to show him some turns and spins. He whistled, impressed, as she made an elegant circle, her skirts twirling about her as she moved. Horatio tried to imitate her but fell flat on his bum the first time, by the fourth try he had almost gotten it, though somewhat less stylishly as his partner.
"Will you go to the Colonies with your father and Miss Devons?" he asked casually. She gave him a nod in the affirmative and he ventured, "Does nothing or no one keep you here?"
She laughed ay his clumsy attempt at discovering if she had a lover. "I've no suitor, if that's what you're getting at," she chuckled. "I had once, a naval man such as yourself. He was a midshipman, Jack Parker. He left one day to fight the good fight..." her voice trailed off.
Horatio's heart sank; he knew too well this story, had witnessed his share of fallen young men, their lives and those who were waiting behind for them shattered forever by the blast of a bullet or the cut of a saber. "He didn't return," he finished for her forlornly.
She laughed. "Oh no, he returned," she smiled sheepishly, "just not to me. He married a girl from London, Mary, I think her name was. I still have the ring he gave me," she confessed guiltily. "It's silly, isn't it? Jack Frost, that's who he is," she teased. "Though he won't freeze my heart!"
Dusk was beginning to fall and Horatio determined that they should start heading back. Reluctantly, she agreed, knowing that the stew would be bubbling in the pot by now. With a sudden mischievous grin, she flopped to the ground, Horatio running to her in panic to see what was amiss. "Get away!" she said, scowling and laughing at the same time, "You'll ruin my snow angel!" She moved her outspread arms and legs back and forth until the indent in the snow imitated the wings and skirt of a heavenly body. Impulsively, Horatio followed her lead, dropping into an untouched patch of snow and making an angel of his own. "Wonderful!" she assessed as they both stood and appraised their handiwork. "Brrrr, I'm chilled right through," she giggled.
"Something to warm you," he said before he was aware of what he was doing, taking her into his arms and kissing her hotly and tenderly. He intended it to be an innocent kiss, a brotherly peck upon her frost stinging cheek but his lips had unexpectedly and involuntarily taken a detour, her supple, rosy lips proving too inviting to pass up. Soon the velvety roughness of his tongue had gently began exploring and tasting her own.
"Better than a hot tot," she flushed scarlet, a little breathless. Taking his hand as they walked unhurriedly back towards her father's boarding house.
The common room was now busy with conversation and activity. Alice had disappeared to perform her nightly chores and Horatio settled in with a hot meal prepared by Keira. He played a round of whist with Aubrey and two others, Lorry and Carlson, until a comely chit appeared in the doorway and Aubrey vanished with her up the stairs. He knew now why Alice called him the 'Scarlet' Soldier.
The hour grew late and Horatio lingered drowsily by the fire. He heard the unmistakable sound of Eaemon walking upon his one good leg, the scrape of his cane, and soon the older man was seated beside him. There was something of him that reminded the young Commander of his former captain, Pellew; an effortless authority and a stern sort of kindness as well as a dry sense of humor. It helped put him at ease. "Alice took you down to the reservoir this afternoon, did she?" asked McCarttey, lighting a cigar. The sweet scent of tobacco curling around Horatio's nose with its thick tendrils of smoke.
"Yes," Horatio responded rather hesitantly. "She is...quite pleasant company."
"Pleasant indeed," Eaemon nodded slowly, glancing at the fire. "Some, they take her for slow in thought, simple minded. It's just...she sees so much beauty in this world; it is a rare and fortunate gift indeed, especially in these dark times. My little storyteller," he smiled. "She's such an imagination on her, that girl; the fancies she comes up with. She fancies you, I can tell that," he smiled slightly.
"Sir, I would never..."
"At ease, lad," laughed Eaemon. "I'm not trying to put you on the spot. You don't treat her like the others, that's all I'm saying. You treat her with regard. Ta for that. Now go on with you, get yourself to bed. Everyone else has," he yawned and stretched and, looking around, Horatio could see that he spoke the truth; the room was empty, silent.
He climbed the stairs to his room sleepily, his feet dragging against the steps as he leisurely began to remove his jacket. His attic chamber was quite warm, lit by the comforting glow of the wood burning stove and the bedside candles. He breathed a deep sigh, his fingers fumbling with the buttons of his waistcoat. He started when an unexpected voice crashed softly through the hush of the small room, "I thought you'd fallen asleep down there."
He spun around to see Alice lying upon his bed, her black hair spread against the pillows like strands of silk, her diaphanous gown revealing every curve and contour of her body. She smiled so sweetly and alluringly; her pale eyes the color of the sea after a storm. "Are you coming to bed or are you going to just stand there and gape all night?" she teased.
Click here for chapter three
Peace, Ghani