Chapter 66: Chapter 66

I briefly froze a moment as Marian mentioned the Title, it should have occurred to me that as a teacher she would have easily caught wind of the situation. I awkwardly chuckled as I rubbed the back of my neck. "I guess." It had been a while since my heart pounded with nervousness, but this situation was bound to happen eventually and better Marian than Alcrem.

Marian leaned forward still looking at me seriously. "You've never been one to flaunt your appeal before, so why start now? Is this just a phase from puberty? Or did something happen that disrupted your life? This seems more like the wanton behavior of a rich idiot whose lover left him, rather than that of the Vell I know. So tell me what happened."

Her intensity was something I hadn't expected and I was caught off-guard. The relationship between me and Marian was more complex than mother and adopted child, and I knew that was part of the reason her mother-like concern was something I had a hard time dealing with. I could still clearly recall the night nearly a decade ago when I had essentially assaulted her in the morning. While the person herself had been okay with it and hadn't placed any blame on me, there was still a lingering sense of guilt that had kept me from getting too close with her.

There was an intense swirl of emotions stirring through my mind while Marian looked at me. The engagement of me and Arya wasn't something that either of us had ever really talked about and was another reason I was trying to keep my distance. I knew Marian had been troubled when she heard the news, but I couldn't tell if it was from motherly concern for marrying someone who had technically killed me once, or a deeper more hidden reason, I had always had a hard time reading where Marian's feelings lay.

My thoughts whirled as I opened my mouth, only to close it, before steeling myself and looking back at Marian. "To be honest, I think I offended Arya and in my frustration to figure the reason out, I lost myself to distractions when I was unable to find anything out." I hadn't ever hidden anything from Marian, so even though I wasn't sure about her reaction it was best to be truthful.

Marian's eyebrows curled up in curiosity when I told her the events that led to my current behavior, before she released a sigh. "How is it that you can't understand the heart of a girl when you are one yourself?" Marian's gaze had softened as she gently shook her head. "She definitely is trying to get you to distance yourself, either because of something she learned, or something she was told. You need to talk to her and sort this out, it isn't like you couldn't stop her if you really wanted, you've just been avoiding it."

Her tone was accusatory while she berated me, but I knew what she said was true. I had all kinds of means at my disposal if I really wanted to keep Arya from being unable to avoid me, but rather than confront the problem I'd simply avoided it all together. While it wasn't entirely my fault, a greater portion of the fault lied with me. Relationships were something neither I nor Velen had been good at, especially romantic ones. It would be too late now, but perhaps tomorrow I could ambush Arya and force the issue out of her mouth. As I resolved myself to take Marian's advice, I suddenly felt her hand reach across the table and touch mine.

"Speaking of avoided issues-" She began as her voice lowered. "Shall we talk about us?"

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