#clarmont

For angst: 

Early-widow!Everly

And because that is NOT AT ALL my actual headcanon for how Clarmont and Everly turn out, a fluffy divergence to go with:

“Oh! She opened her eyes!”

Clarmont, who’s scarcely left the room since the birth, drops the papers he’s been working through and hurries to where she’s seated, resting a hand on her back and leaning down to smile at the infant in her arms.

She follows him with wide, shockingly blue eyes, gives a tiny yawn and blinks as he talks nonsense to her.

It feels strange not to have a name for her, but it’s tradition in Revaire to wait at least a month. Give the name to a person, they’d explained it.

“Elspeth’s eyes were that same color, after she was born,” he says, voice choked with emotion.

Elspeth. That’s a strong contender, then. She runs a gentle finger over their baby’s cheek. “Do you think…”

“Maybe. She’s only a day old yet, plenty of time to decide.” He strokes her back. “Did you have any thoughts?”

She blushes. “Silly ones.”

“I doubt that.”

“‘Clarity’ definitely counts as silly,” she insists, shifting the baby to the breast she’s clearly starting to look for. “People would call for ‘Clar’ and neither of you would know which of you they were asking for. ‘Liberty’ is…”

“Not silly.”

“Perhaps not. Very Arlish, though.”

“You say that like it’s a negative. You should keep your culture—or as much of it as you want to.”

Part of her pushes the idea away, says a good princess assimilates completely to her husband’s culture. She’s pretty sure it’s the same part of her that feels a twinge of guilt for giving Clarmont a daughter and not a son. She’s been trying not to listen to it, but it’s difficult.

“Your name is a bit atypical, isn’t it?” he continues. “For the royal family?”

“I’m told that only one small kindness spared me from being named Everlasting Faith,” she chuckles, ignoring the way her sore body aches even with that slight punch of air. “The quill was on the page to record my name in the royal house of Arland when my wet nurse convinced Mother it was too much of a mouthful.”

He laughs. “Had they already gotten to the ‘L’?”

“I’ve never gotten a satisfactory answer on that!” she says. “So probably.”

That mishap alone is a strong reason to go with the Revairan tradition of waiting a few weeks, she thinks.

But she’ll keep “Liberty” in the running for now.