What is Your Will?

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."

July 1st

July had dawned warm and sunny in Verona. Even Montague Court was brighter and lighter in the glow of summer, when the scent of flowers wafted through every wood-latticed window. Still, Beatrice had been glad to wake up to a day when she had somewhere else to be. Her joy had only increased to hear that her father was 'indisposed' and would be staying at home with her grandmother and her grandmother's ladies-in-waiting. Paulina and Mercutio's party would be so much more pleasant without the chill between the Montague men spoiling the summer warmth.

But, once she arrived with her aunt and brother, Beatrice felt a touch overwhelmed by the crowd on the terrace. She wandered out onto the grass and advantageously positioned herself beside a lush, green fruit tree. From here, she could watch everyone and, she hoped, notice when the person she most wanted to see arrived.

Not Yet Enjoyed

"One half of me is yours, the other half yours - Mine own, I would say. But if mine, then yours,

And so all yours."

June 22nd

"M'lady?" The servant inched closer. "M'lady?"

Georgiana started out of her reverie. "I'm sorry." She hesitated, feeling a bit guilty that she couldn't remember the woman's name. The unfamiliar servants had come as part of the rental of the house. "What do you need?"

Thou Hast a Careful Father, Child

"Assume a virtue, if you have it not."

June 9th

The nurse had not exaggerated in the message she had sent to Adrian. Behind the door, the room was ringing with Frederick's wails. Wailing was not usually in Adrian's purview. If the nurse couldn't soothe Frederick, she went to Ann. It was only natural, Adrian believed, that a small child would be better comforted by his mother. It didn't hurt that the mother was Ann, either. Her warm touch was one of the first things that enthralled Adrian's heart when they were little themselves. Even if her warmth was now often paired with verbal kicks in the backside, it remained a marvel. Adrian didn't have a talent for warmth.

Bid Me Lurk Where Serpents Are

"Let me still take away the harms I fear, not fear still to be taken."

March 20th

Lettice Carey was home at last.

Barely more than a hundred years earlier, Carey House had been home to a noble family. When the sea swallowed most of Lady Carey's dwindling fortune, she angled for a clean fall. Nearly all of her family was sent away, their bags laden with salable goods, to begin more modest existences in places like Port Gale and Maerdilean. What couldn't be transported was eventually seized by the Council to put toward her unpaid taxes. The Council also stripped her of her title and holdings. Only two assets remained to the former Lady Carey, and she sold them both to the Capulets: Carey House and her personal store of information. She had secrets worth more than gold and knew how to acquire more. Her middle daughter had talents for both secrets and blood. Even as the Carey name faded into obscurity, a new alliance formed.

Heaven and Yourself Had Part

March 6th

"Sire and child and happy mother who all in one, one pleasing note do sing."

"I told you, it's a girl!"

"An' I told you it's a boy! Looks just like him!"

Puck threw up his hands, disturbing his currently precarious sense of balance. "What does that have t'do with anything, idiot?"

"A daughter would have my sister's eyes. They always do!" Tybalt slurred. "That one's a boy."