Brave New World

[Lyra Dashwood]

Lyra glanced down at her hands, realizing that she still had two or three letters she hadn't opened, for whatever reason. Shifting in her armchair, she reached out for the letter opener, reading the address on the first piece of parchment. Adamina Flamel. She couldn't help but smile; letters from Ada always made her smile. Ada's life reminded her of how her own had been, at school.

Dearest Lyra,

You will come to my party next weekend, won't you? Miss Quince will be there with her little child. It is such a darling thing, you simply must meet him. They say that the boy's father was a touring businessman, and Miss Quince never even knew his name! How romantic! I'm terribly sorry that your own bastard did not live-

She froze, re-reading the last sentence a few times. Ada knew? When had she told Ada? When had she told anyone? Her friend had brought it up so casually; did other people know?

Lyra set that letter aside for a moment, moving on to the next, to clear her head a bit. This one was from August. Her heart fluttered. Surely August did not know?

Lyra,

Might you consider coming with me to my brother's wedding? He'd found a lovely little woman who goes by the name of Diamond. At least, that's what they call her in the brothel; we're not really sure what her real name is. We're not sure how old she is, either, but she's just delightful company, once you get past the lice. Anyway, they're eloping to San Francisco. It will just be a few of us; you and I, my brother, Diamond, her best friend Starz, and Diamond's three-year-old daughter Jaycee. I hope you won't mind sharing a room with me during the trip? We've certainly known each other long enough, haha, don't you think-

The teenager stared in horror at the letter, then her eyes travelled, unbidden, to her belly. August would never speak to her like that, unless they had already...

She was pregnant again, she realized. It was the only explanation: August's tone and why he thought taking her unchaperoned and alone to a foreign country would be acceptable; why she'd told Ada about the first pregnancy. She was pregnant. Bennet and Darcy were going to kill her. She had to get away before they heard! If August and Ada both knew, it was only a matter of time. And goodness, soon she might be showing.

There was one more letter on her lap, and that from Darcy. Her hands trembled. Had he already found out? She didn't want to read it, but the letter opener was already in her hand.

Lyra,

Just a reminder that no matter what you do, Bennet and I will always love you. No matter what, we'll forgive-

Her hands crumbled about the letter. Darcy never called her Lyra. "I'm dreaming," she whispered, her voice half-horror, half-relief. She crumbled the letter, all of the letters, then pressed them up against her stomach, which seemed to swell with child beneath her hands, pressing against her corset and becoming more and more uncomfortable until she felt ready to explode.

And then she woke up. She'd dozed on the couch in the parlor, she realized; daytime dreams were always the worst. Sitting up groggily, she blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust. "Ben?" she asked as the shape of her brother gained definition. "Oh, Ben, I just had the most dreadful dream. There were bastards and upperclass men marrying whores and elopements and runaways, and I--I had--I had become pregnant and neither you nor Darcy cared!" she huffed, pulling her knees up to her chest.

OOC: Day 13. Lack of Realism / Ignoring the Setting.

  

[Bennet Potter]

Day 13 of January Writing Challenge

Willful Ignorance of Canon and/or Setting

Bennet blanched at Lyra's description of events, and he took off his reading glasses and began anxiously polishing them on with his handkerchief. What sort of impossible world — it was like a world where veela were just French witches and Durmstrang was an all boys' school. The likelihood of Bennet and Darcy not caring if Charlotte got pregnant was about equal to the likelihood of fifth years apparating on and off Hogwarts' grounds.



Suddenly Bennet was very glad that he lived in the world that he did, and not in the one that Charlotte described in her dream.



"Charlotte — Lyra — I assure you that no one is eloping or having bastards, or at least no one respectable, and you are not indisposed again. Everything is all right."

  

[Lyra Dashwood]

Lyra flinched back at his reassurance that she was not indisposed again. Of course, she deserved it; there was nothing worse that she could have done than carrying a bastard in her belly, but with the entire August ordeal, she had thought that perhaps she could put the entire thing behind her. Marry a man who did not know or suspect, never speak of it again, never think of it again, and Estella Rose would eventually disappear in the depths of her distant memory.

"Yes," she said hollowly, her hands finding her stomach in a gesture that was half-maternal, half the gesture of a someone about to be ill. "Yes, everything's all right."

Then, completely unexpected, Lyra burst out into frantic tears.

  

[Bennet Potter]

Bennet was not good with crying women. Well, to be honest he was horrible with them. He was an awkward hugger and even less confident with other methods of comfort. He was also relatively certain that something he had said had caused her to cry, and so ... well, he'd rather be anywhere else at the moment.



Dutifully, Bennet reached out to hug his sister and pat her back lightly. He was quite certain he was doing it wrong, but at least he was trying.



"Everything is fine, Lyra," he said again. He felt even more awkward using his sister's middle name, but perhaps she was grown up enough to make that call. If she wanted to be called Lyra, he should probably respect that wish. Maybe he could distract her. "I — um, did I tell you I talked to Mr. Echelon-Arnost after he brought you home?"