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Language:
English
Series:
Part 2 of Katrina and Roran and Carn
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Published:
2022-03-10
Words:
785
Chapters:
1/1
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17
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28
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Katrina Finds Roran And Carn in the Barn

Summary:

Katrina goes to get Roran and Carn from the barn. When she finds them, she's a little disappointed, but not surprised.

Notes:

I guess this takes place a couple years after 'Home'

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Katrina was making bread (for which meal isn’t important, the fact is she is making bread because she is good at it and Roran's loaves always come out so-so) and it was almost done baking. Ismira helped, of course (the four-year-old navigated the kitchen with much more confidence and slightly more skill than Carn), but she lost interest once the loaves went in the oven and she couldn’t poke them anymore, so she wandered off to hassle one of the more social farm cats that sometimes snuck inside the house. Roran and Carn were, supposedly, working in the fields but the evening was getting dark enough that Katrina assumed that, at this point, the pair were in the barn getting the animals settled for the night or getting distracted. 

Katrina grabbed her oven peel (Roran made it soon after they moved back to Carvahall) and pulled out the loaves. There were four of them, all perfectly round and perfectly cooked. They were, unfortunately, too hot to eat just yet, so she set them on the table to cool. Something fell with a small thud in another room and a cat hissed.

“Ismira!” Katrina called, not really worried that her daughter was in trouble. One of the first things Carn did when he was strong enough was cast a ward around Ismira that would alert Katrina and Roran if the little girl got seriously hurt or was in a dangerous situation (which could sometimes happen on a farm with animals and tools and a curious child). 

“Mommy,” Ismira announced as she marched into the kitchen, proudly holding up a brown cat. “I caught Mr. Poof!” Mr. Poof, for her part (because she was a female cat, despite Ismira’s insistence to the contrary) looked rather disgruntled with the whole arrangement but accepted the girl’s treatment with the resignation of an animal that decided the costs of slipping inside a house for extra food and warmth were usually worth it. Mr. Poof looked up at Katrina and gave a hopeful meow. “And I fell down.” Ismira raised her arms—and Mr. Poof—to show off her newly scuffed elbows.

“Does Mr. Poof needs food, now that he’s been captured?” Katrina asked.

“Yes,” Ismeria agreed. “So he’ll say where his castle is!” Because that was another thing Ismira decided: Mr. Poof used to be a prince with a castle hidden in the Beor Mountains, but a sorcerer turned him into a cat and forced him to flee to Carvahall. It was a fanciful child’s story, made harmless now that Alagaesia was free of insane sorcerers (except for Murtagh, maybe. Katrina didn’t know if Roran’s cousin actually left Alagaesia, and in all honesty, it was probably unfair to call him insane). 

Katrina smiled. “I’d better go get Daddy and Uncle Carn.”

The little girl nodded sagely.

So, Katrina covered the loaves with a cloth to keep the cat away from them and then stepped outside and walked over to the barn in the quickly fading light. She saw a sliver of lantern light coming through the cracks in the door and knew Roran and Carn were inside. She paused at the door, listening for a moment. 

“So this merchant, Aden, drops by every year when he comes to Palancar Valley,” Roran interrupted himself with a grunt and the jingle of metal buckles. Katrina guessed he just pulled off Lluagor’s work harness. “And he always wears the oddest clothes—so many layers and colors. It’s ridiculous.”

Carn snorted. “He is visiting an Earl, I think there’s a dress code involved.”

“Well, he’ll continue being the only one doing it,” Roran replied. “Because I’d look like an idiot in those things.”

“You look good in everything.”

Katrina held her breath, waiting, hoping that this time, of all the times, Roran would finally see it.

“Naturally,” her husband brushed Carn’s words aside. “But I just have to ask myself: how does he keep it clean?”

Katrina rolled her eyes and pushed through the barn doors. “Hoping I’m not interrupting anything, boy.” She said, wishing that she was.

Roran leaned out of Lluagor’s stall. “Hi, darling.” He said with a smile.

Carn looked up from putting hay in the goats’ manger. “Hello, Katrina.”

“Supper’s ready,” she said with a smile.

“My most beautiful woman,” Roran praised. “Say no more.” 

 Ah, but Katrina had a lot more she wanted to say to the two men—mostly to Roran for somehow managing to be so oblivious but also to Carn for taking so long to figure out that Roran Garrowson needed clear, direct conversations, not shy and half-hidden comments when it came to matters of the heart.

“Then you both better come with me,” She said. 

 

 

Notes:

Katrina can't wait for her boys to *FINALLY* get it together. She is a goddess and I absolutely love her.

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