The Partridge and the Quince, Brunnhold Campus
The Bastian’s head titled ever so slightly to the side; she smiled a little more. This was not nearly the first time Ana had hinted at something weighing her down. The death of her parents? Uncertainties remaining with the estates? Niccolette was not sure, and she did not ask. It was not, of course, that she was not curious. She found she was, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly so, and all the more so at the soft, utterly charming sigh from the elegant Anaxi.
“No,” Niccolette said with a little shrug; she answered after the second question, and did not bother to specify which she was answering. Her mouth had moved faintly at the subject of the plantation, somewhere between a laugh and a grimace. She looked away, now; the hand in her lap tightened, although Ana would see only the faint shift of the fabric of her dress, the slightest pulling which relaxed after a moment.
There was a little moment of silence, a taut beat.
Perhaps Niccolette’s shoulders had tensed, ever so slightly. The widow sighed; she exhaled, and pulled her gaze back from the glimmering reflection of the candle in the window, looking at Ana instead. “Actually, I have taken up volunteering at Grand Mercy, in Vienda,” Niccolette said, almost idly. Her fingers came up to cup the wine glass; she swirled it, lightly, and set it back down, and lifted her gaze back up to the other woman.
“The plantation is in a rather more capable hand than mine,” Niccolette said with a little smile, more genuine. “I went back recently but…” she swallowed; she closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. When she opened them again, there was the faintest little glimmer, but it was swept away when she blinked again.
“One wearies of Vienda, all the same,” Niccolette said with another shrug. She did not take a sip of wine, this time, but pulled her hand away entirely, letting it rest lightly on the table. “I find myself glad Brunnhold is so close at hand. I am sure the girl I was in school would be utterly shocked to hear such things; in those days, Vienda seemed the height of amusement. Well,” Niccolette grinned again, back towards more familiar territory. “Given what is available in Anaxas, at least.”
There was still an edge to her; she did not seem quite comfortable on the chair. She held Ana’s gaze for a moment, and then glanced away; her smile flickered too, at the edges. Niccolette shifted, ever so slightly; the straight line of her posture did not diminish, not quite, but it did not look so easy as it had moments ago.