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Vale of the White Horse
Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,288 Views)
Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian waited until her breath was a little steadier, then she got up and took one of the boughs. It would be slow going, but if getting across safely meant losing time it was just the way it was. She licked her lips, feeling as though a stone had settled in her stomach. 'I'm ready. I think.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
The water was cold. He suppressed a gasp as it went up to his knees, tugging on his braccae and boots. It felt like many tiny hands reaching under his clothes to feel him, see how easily he could be dragged down. Not so easily, he thought grimly, tightening his fingers around his stick and clenching Gwenllian’s arm in his other. He walked like a blind man: feeling the pebbled ground that was invisible beneath the churning water, fumbling with his stick until he was sure that he could brave the next step. When they were in the middle, the current gushed and beat around his torso. The cold made it hard to breathe.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
The only remotely good thing about this was that her feet were now so numb that she could not feel the pain anymore. Downside of that was that she couldn't get a good grip anymore, either. Halfway across, she stumbled and nearly fell, if it hadn't been for Rhywallon's hand holding her up. Her heart kept racing, even when she'd found her balance again. Step for step, she thought, biting down on her lip. The current pulled at her clothes. She should've bound her skirt up, she realized. Well, too late to do that now. The other shore came steadily closer. Just a little bit further...
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Finally, painstakingly, he could reach out a hand and grab the foliage on the other bank. Rhywallon pulled himself half up, belly flat on the ground. He allowed himself a second of breathing time before he struggled up all the way and helped Gwenllian climb the slope. They were both wet like dogs.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Her teeth chattered as she struggled up the slope, as much from cold as from pure relief that they were safely across. It was about time something went their way. She thanked the gods in silence. When they reached the top of the slope, she allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. Her clothes were dripping wet; though it was midday and a watery sun shone over them, they'd probably get very sick if they did not get warm and dry soon. 'Should we find a shelter now?' she asked Rhywallon, attempting to wring as much water from her clothes as she could.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Yes.’ He really wanted to splay out and sleep for seven days. ‘We’ll find a place between the trees and make camp there.’ It was still not far enough from the river as he should like, but they had reached the point where they simply couldn’t go on. So he took a painful gasp of air and forced his feet forward, up to the rushing trees in the distance.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
When they finally halted, Gwenllian felt as if her feet could fall off at any moment. Their makeshift campsite was in the shelter of a large rock, with some stunted trees casting a shadow over them. Before she sat down, she started gathering some wood and rocks for a fire. She was beyond being hungry and really just wanted to fall asleep.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
He felt his face. There was still the cut that Sulpicius had made; a fresh cut, soon to turn into another scar. Well, nobody would notice. Rhywallon took the wood from Gwenllian's hands and made the fire himself. He could barely heave himself to a squatting position. When the flames flared up, he leaned back. ‘Sit down, Gwenllian,’ he said flatly. He reached out an arm. ‘You can sleep now.’
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Sonja
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Gwenllian didn't so much sit down, but sank ungraciously on the ground next to Rhywallon. 'You should sleep too,' she muttered.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
It would be too dangerous, but he didn’t think he could manage to stay awake the whole time. ‘I will,’ he promised. There was no sound of soldiers nearing them. Only the fire, the wind in the trees, the usual forest sounds; it reminded him of the things he’d said to Gwenllian when she had been too terrified to sleep. He had no strength for that now.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
She nodded and lay down. What she really wanted was to sleep in his arms, but she didn't dare too, afraid it might trigger memories. 'Rhywallon...,' she said after a while. 'I forgive you.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
For a while, he couldn’t speak. His throat felt screwed tight, though he swallowed and swallowed. His hand reached out to touch that delicate skin, those flaming tresses of her hair. He barely dared to to, afraid that his fingers would bring sacrilege upon her. ‘You probably shouldn’t,’ he managed to whisper at last. ‘But if it is your gift to me, I won’t – won’t refuse it.’ Tears pricked behind his eyes; suddenly, flowing over him like a wave.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian scrambled up again, though it cost her the last bits of her remaining strength. She put her arms around him and her cheek against his. Her body tensed out of its own accord, but she didn't let go. She refused to let remembering the Roman's touch determine the rest of her life. 'Please don't cry,' she muttered, with tears running down her own cheeks as well.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
This only made him want to cry harder. He hadn’t done that in a long time. He sat frozen in her embrace while the fire threw an odd glow over the two of them. After a long while, he spoke into the flames. ‘They came to our house one night when I was still out, tending to the cattle. My father was no longer alive, you see, he…had been taken from us the year before. My mother and two sisters where home…both not yet married, they were still only fourteen and fifteen…Olwen and Angharad…’ The taste of their names in his mouth left him nearly choking. ‘I saw them coming with soldiers...it was not to make a friendly visit. Three of them were together. Aulus Cloeilius – Marcus Iulius….who stood by and watched, but it were their men they dispatched all the same…And Sulpicius. Laughing all the time. They cut off all the entrances. Soldiers went in. They would only have raped them, forced them to bear their offspring for perhaps, or simply abused until they’d expired from exhaustion.’ He pressed his mouth in her hair, his body shocking. ‘So I ignited torches and burned it. I burned the place. Those who were in did not come out. Not ever.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
There was nothing she could say that would properly convey how sorry she was and how her heart bled for him. Gwenllian wished she was a little bigger, so that she could wrap her arms around him like he'd wrapped his around her when she had been frightened. Why a family should be pulled apart like that was beyond her. It was a cruel and terrible fate for his sisters and mother, but she wasn't alltogether sure it would've been so much better should they fall into the hands of the Romans alive. Hadn't she herself wished to die rather than endure Sulpicius' touch any longer? She leaned back so that she could touch the scarred and burnt half of his face. It was still a brave face, nothing would change that. But it was bitter, realizing what he must feel everytime he looked in a mirror.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)

Where she touched him, it felt like his skin healed. Her fingertips moved over his burns and scars, and over his tears. It did not feel wrong to cry in front of her. Not this time. ‘He was wrong, you know,’ he finally said softly. ‘I do not want to die. No longer.’ His fingers curled around hers, pulling her hands gently from his face so that he could lean over and taste her lips. ‘Because you lit a lantern for my feet.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Breathing suddenly got easier. She wouldn't have known what to do if he'd said that he still wanted to die. Everything would get better soon - had to, because she didn't want to imagine how it could get worse. Gwenllian wrapped her arms around his neck and succeeded remarkably well in trying to forget about the rest of the world.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
It had rained even more that foreseen. It was only one of the reasons for Briallen to decide to head back to the Vale earlier. The moon had not yet passed, but her mother had been laid and there was nothing more to do for her. Caradog tried his best to make her feel comfortable, but she just couldn’t stop worrying about Tudwrig. At night, though she always lit the candle for him, she saw his haunted face in her dreams. It was time to leave.
Braegne did seem somewhat reluctant. Briallen understood it quite well, as her maid had more friends and family over here than at the desolate Caer March.
So it was early morning when she stood on the courtyard of Shadow Well, with her escort and Braegne gathered around her. Caradog kissed her on both cheeks. ‘We will miss you, cousin. Don’t wait long to send word of you. We’re still your family. My father will want to see you.’ Perhaps he could read the doubt in her eyes, because he squeezed her hand. ‘He loved your father and he loves you.’
‘Thank you, Caradog,’ she said.
He helped her mount the horse. ‘Safe journey.’
And they rode off, while the sun barely touched the horizon. It was not wise to run to a swift speed in this time before dawn, but her heart longed for home.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
The days were long, but the only thing Morcant minded about the work was not seeing Essylt. He suspected the Roman would take hideous advantage of the fact that he couldn't be there to glower him away. He carried the heavy bench he'd just fixed back inside single-handedly. It was his last job for the day, which was just as well. The sun had already gone down and he longed to be back home, with a fresh loaf of bread and Essylt’s voice. When he’d put the bench back in front of the hearth and draped the furs over it again, Morcant straightened and dusted off his hands. He gathered his tools in the workshop. As he crossed the courtyard, he saw a familiar face – he imagined he could smell the man before he recognized him. Rufus did not even glance at him, but stalked inside the caer with an unreadable expression on his face. Morcant was too tired to care, and walked down the hill and into the settlement. He should make a little time tomorrow to talk to Cuhelyn; he hadn’t seen his friend in a week now, and he wanted to know how things were going for the brotherhood.
‘It’s me,’ he said before opening the door. The warmth of the fire washed over him, and he felt a little less tired knowing that he could just sit and do nothing for the rest of the evening.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She looked up, her fingers still weaving the last bits of yarn into a slim braid. ‘Welcome back. Are you alright?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Morcant nodded. 'Little tired, 's all.' He held up the bag he'd been carrying. 'Supplies for this week,' he said. When the woman who ran the household at the moment had asked him how he would like to be paid, he'd asked for half in coins and half in grain and other supplies. 'Did you hear any interesting gossip from the neighbours?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘No,’ she said, taking the bag from him. They had a little cupboard now. Morcant had made it in his spare time. ‘Well, it seems that there's a girl pregnant from a Roman soldier, but that's not new. Why, should I have?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
For the girl's sake, Morcant hoped that the soldier was going to take responsibilities. Knowing Romans, he probably wouldn't. 'Ah, no, but I figured that any news I could give my brothers about the things going on here would do. Haven't really had time to poke my nose into things.' He lowered himself on a chair and stretched his legs out in front of him with a groan.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Ah well, maybe I can talk to some people tomorrow. But Rufus is a clever men, Morcant. I know he’ll scheme with delicacy…’ She gave him a loaf of freshly baked bread and stirred in the small pot that was hanging over the fire. The brew inside was hardly a luxury, but they could not live on bread forever. ‘Did you ever think about what I said? That I could…talk…to him?’ It wasn’t a prospect she was particularly fond of, but she had fooled him once – well, nearly fooled, at least. Perhaps she could get close enough. He had said he’d taken a liking to her.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
The scent of the food made him realize how famished he really was. Last he'd eaten was a hastily gobbled lunch of flat bread and cheese. 'I thought about it,' he answered to her question. 'But I still don't think you should. That man's got many faces, Essylt. He may be kind when you're around, but his attitude changes the moment he sees me. If he finds out you're talking to him to get information, he might change on you the same way.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘I know how he is,’ she answered, avoiding his gaze by focusing on the stew. It would nearly be hot enough. ‘But maybe I can think of a way that won’t be too obvious.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Well, think of a way first then. We can talk about it after that.' Though he doubted his answer was going to change. It wasn't that he didn't trust Essylt, because he did. Rufus was simply too dangerous. 'It smells good,' he added then with a nod at the stew and smiled.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘I’m glad,’ she said softly. And she was; not only that he seemed to be content with the simple things she had to offer him, but also that he had paid work in the caer. He had brought home small things, like the cauldron or two bowls, even roughly made spoons. ‘You remember, when you fell into that river,’ she continued, filling the two bowls with the stew, handing one to him, ‘and you managed to haul yourself on shore?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Yes,' he said, 'it's kind of hard to forget.' He touched a hand to his chest, where the leather throng with the little twig was hidden underneath his clothes. The leaf was brown and dry by now, yet it hadn't fallen off.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Are you still wearing the cord I gave you then? The one that used to be Branwen’s?’
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