The WAR: A Story of Family

9. You Keep Coming Back

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"You shattered the remainder of my heart, yet you expect me to be okay with it day after day."

WILL AND IVY

It had been three days since Stormville and Ivy had not seen Will.

She missed him.

She missed Will. 

She missed him so much it had become a physical ache in her chest. 

She had missed the smell of him, she missed his lips... his hands... sitting and talking with him for hours... she missed him.

The night had slipped by, and she couldn't even remember any of it.

She was sitting in a corner of the Banner's salon, with Gavin Withers, her husband to be.

Gavin was talking about culture and personal convictions and hammering to her his objective viewpoints.

Ivy tried to listen and absorb what he was saying since it was meaningful to him.  But she just couldn't.  She didn't despise him, she just truly despised the situation she was in.

And she was bored of politics.

"How's your arm?"  He asked her, suddenly veering from his subject of government and politics to her recent accident.

She glanced at him.  It took a moment for her to understand what he had asked, "Oh.  Fine.  Better. Thank you."

"Every time you go riding you have an incident.  You broke your arm four months ago.  And didn't you get thrown by your mare just two weeks ago?"  He inclined his head.

"She got spooked, that's all. She's a gentle creature otherwise." 

"I think you should stop riding for a while."

The laughter and voices seemed far away as she tried to absorb what he had just said.

"Stop riding?"  Ivy repeated incredulously, "That's not going to happen, Gavin.  You know my horses are everything to me." 

"I'm not saying that you should give up the horses, just... that you should be more careful."  He shrugged, "You shouldn't take risks."

Ivy smiled wryly, "Well you shouldn't worry.  I'm not given to taking risks.  These were simply a series of unfortunate mishaps."

"Your horses won't be coming with us when we're married."

"Yes, you've said that before.  They will remain at my father's estate."

"If something happened to you, Ivy..."  His voice trailed and she thought he actually looked troubled and concerned for her.  "You need to comport yourself as the future wife of a Councilor."

Her gaze on him was cold.

Ah, yes.  His lifelong ambition. 

For an instant, she thought that whatever made him smile, whatever moved him, was what she had suspected, and it was important that she learn to accept and understand it.