Alphabet Drabbles, Token of Affection
Aug. 26th, 2009 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juxtaposieOne of many responses for the Alphabet Drabbles Meme.
Title: Token of Affection
Prompt: U is for Uther, No John, for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
erised_wings
Fandom: Merlin
Character/Pairing: Uther/Igraine
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: In which Uther realizes just how big Igraine's heart is, and just how much he loves her.
Uther isn’t shy about giving gifts. Igraine thinks, lucky though she is, that surely other husbands, king or no, do not spoil their wives the way Uther spoils her. She can no longer count the number of times she’s returned to her chambers to find some trinket or another laying on her pillow, and for every night he spends away from her, there is an embroidered ribbon or a handful of carved wooden beads left on her bedside table. When he must make longer journeys, he brings her bolts of cloth – finely woven wools and silks dyed the color of the sunset. Once there was even a horse; a fine, long-legged mare the color of fresh milk, with a neck so gracefully arched that even the roughest of the stablemen handled her with the utmost gentleness.
Igraine’s reaction to every gift is an instantaneous smile, with the brightness varying from object to object, but she never smiles so brightly as when she has him in her arms again, and they are alone together away from the weight of the world.
The first time Uther returns without a present, he apologizes. He is exhausted, she knows, bone-weary and travel-stained, and he hangs his head as he tells her how sorry he is that he didn’t keep her memory closer while he was away from her.
When she laughs at him – gently, and with no mocking in her voice – she cannot decide if his expression is closer to anger or hurt.
“Husband,” she says gently, taking his face in her hands, “no gift could ever be so precious to me as your safe return.” When she stands on tiptoe to kiss him, he puts his arms around her and holds her more tightly than she can ever remember.
Title: Token of Affection
Prompt: U is for Uther, No John, for
erised_wingsFandom: Merlin
Character/Pairing: Uther/Igraine
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: In which Uther realizes just how big Igraine's heart is, and just how much he loves her.
Uther isn’t shy about giving gifts. Igraine thinks, lucky though she is, that surely other husbands, king or no, do not spoil their wives the way Uther spoils her. She can no longer count the number of times she’s returned to her chambers to find some trinket or another laying on her pillow, and for every night he spends away from her, there is an embroidered ribbon or a handful of carved wooden beads left on her bedside table. When he must make longer journeys, he brings her bolts of cloth – finely woven wools and silks dyed the color of the sunset. Once there was even a horse; a fine, long-legged mare the color of fresh milk, with a neck so gracefully arched that even the roughest of the stablemen handled her with the utmost gentleness.
Igraine’s reaction to every gift is an instantaneous smile, with the brightness varying from object to object, but she never smiles so brightly as when she has him in her arms again, and they are alone together away from the weight of the world.
The first time Uther returns without a present, he apologizes. He is exhausted, she knows, bone-weary and travel-stained, and he hangs his head as he tells her how sorry he is that he didn’t keep her memory closer while he was away from her.
When she laughs at him – gently, and with no mocking in her voice – she cannot decide if his expression is closer to anger or hurt.
“Husband,” she says gently, taking his face in her hands, “no gift could ever be so precious to me as your safe return.” When she stands on tiptoe to kiss him, he puts his arms around her and holds her more tightly than she can ever remember.
