Endowment by The RCK (G)

[beatrice_otter]

Fandom:  VORKOSIVERSE
Characters:  Alys, Cordelia
Length: short
Author on LJ: therck 
Author Website:  AO3
Why this must be read:

Missing scene from near the end of Barrayar (aka Cordelia's Honor). Alys visits Cordelia in the Imperial Residence.  The RCK captures both Cordelia and Alys.  This fic explores the reality of being a woman versus the roles of being a woman, and how two women from such very different cultural backgrounds can be good friends despite their disagreements.  It's also about the intersections of personal and political.  Cordelia, at the end of Cordelia's Honor, is basically the Emperor's foster mother, and she knows she needs help to navigate the intricacies of Barrayaran society.  Of course, she turns to Alys.

 

She more or less ignored both the security scanners and the discreetly appraising and approving looks from the watching guards. As a widow, a respectable widow, she had no obligation to respond to such attention with a show of embarrassment. It's an easier thing to be a Vor wife rather than an unmarried Vor daughter and an easier thing still to be a Vor widow rather than a Vor wife. The expectations are... less rigid. I-- Marrying Padma was supposed to be a safe choice, and I never wanted to be a widow. She blinked once, the only external response to her memories of Padma's death. He wouldn't thank me for crying. Or maybe he would. He's beyond telling me, either way.

She entered the building and followed a servant towards the room Cordelia had selected for their meeting. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I don't have to do anything. Well, except take care of Ivan. For now at least, it doesn't take much to please him. And I'm his mother. He's going to have to worry about pleasing me.

She was so caught in this line of thought that she almost didn't see Cordelia leaning out through a partly open door. "You shouldn't do that, Cordelia," Alys said, falling back on habit and offering social advice. Habit from before wearing black, before Ivan, before... "It's undignified. How do you expect anybody to respect you if you don't respect yourself?"

 

Endowment