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Vale of the White Horse
Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,276 Views)
Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'That's good to hear.' He wanted to suggest to invite her cousin here when spring came, but he didn't know whether it was such a good idea. 'Now if I can just get my own chieftaincy back, life'll be good,' he added dryly.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She smiled bitterly. ‘I’m going to wash up a bit. Perhaps after that we can find a way to talk of more pleasant things, as a husband and wife should.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I will compose a verse for you while you're gone,' he attempted with a bit of a smile.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She laughed softly, bowing over to kiss him on the lips. 'I'll look forward to it.'
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Don't get your hopes up, though,' he warned her, thinking the feeling of her lips against his must be the best he'd felt in a long time.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
'Hm!' With a smile, she left the hall. Braegne would be as tired and dirty as she was, but someone had already prepared a bath in her room.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
When the soldier he'd posted to keep an eye on what was going on inside the caer had come to announce that Briallen had returned, Rufus decided to take immediate action and pay the chieftain and his wife a surprise visit. If he was going to keep the control he had in the Vale, he had to do so. From what he could gather, Briallen had left so suddenly because someone of her family was either dead or dying. If that was the case, he didn't think she'd put up much of a fight like she'd started doing before her departure. Rufus did not bother changing and walked out of the settlement and up to hill, towards the caer.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Sorry to disturb, my lord..lady,’ a servant girl said.
Briallen didn’t feel much like being disturbed indeed. She looked up. ‘What is it?’
‘There’s a visitor to see you both. The lord Marcus Lentulus.’
‘Oh, I see.’ She had enjoyed her bath. Braegne had braided part of her hair into a high crown and she had donned her best skirt and tunic. After all, she’d been gone so long and she had intended to be pretty, just for Tudwrig.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Urgh,' Tudwrig voiced his dislike at the announcement of Lentulus' arrival. With Briallen back, he'd felt like he could sit up all evening to talk with her without being bothered by the curse. Now that the Roman wanted to see them, he felt very much like giving the curse complete control to rip the man to shreds. 'Let him in, then,' he told the servant girl wearily. When she left, he looked apologetically at Briallen. 'We'll just hear what he's got to say and brush him off quickly,' he suggested.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Right.’ She had other things on her mind entirely. Briallen had moved closer to him, so that her arm brushed his all the time. If he was feeling so well, they might actually have a chance of laying together for the first time. It was also what made Lentulus’ visit so disturbing. She tangled her fingers around his. ‘We’ll do that.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
He nodded when the door opened to let Rufus in. The man was walking as casually suave as ever, and it really made Tudwrig hate his guts.
'My lord, my lady,' Rufus said with a fluent bow.
'Lord Lentulus,' he returned the greeting. 'Please, sit.'

Rufus took his place and smiled at Briallen. She looked rather more pretty than before; glowing, almost. Perhaps his information hadn't been quite correct, then. 'I see you've returned safely,' he said then.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Yes, and only just,’ she said with her brightest voice. ‘It was a long journey.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Where, may I ask, did your trip bring you?' Rufus asked casually.
Before Briallen could answer, her husband interrupted: 'Did you have something in particular to ask of us?'
Rufus raised his eyebrows. 'I wanted to pay my respects to the lady, first and foremost. I came as soon as I heard the news of her arrival.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘You may ask,’ she said, willing Tudwrig to remain calm. ‘I’ve been visiting my family in Shadow Well. Do you know it? It’s just over the border with Gwynedd.’ Briallen smiled. ‘I’m part Silures.’
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Sonja
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Part Silures, eh? Now that was interesting. And perhaps even a little disturbing. 'I haven't had the pleasure of actually meeting your kin, but I have come past Shadow Well on my travels. But what on earth possessed you to make the trip in this weather?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She felt a shadow fall over her face. ‘My mother passed the veil recently. I wanted to see her off the way that is suitable for our people.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry to hear that,' Rufus said and bowed his head.

'You'll understand that the lady and I are not quite in the mood for any lenghty conversations I hope, my lord.' Tudwrig made sure his voice was level. If only for Briallen's sake, he mustn't lose his temper.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Thank you,’ she said, without blinking.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Rufus withheld himself from smiling. So her mother had died. Perhaps he could keep her off balance, if she'd suffered such a loss recently. He licked his lips and looked at Tudwrig. 'I will cut straight to the point, then.'
'Go on.' Rufus couldn't tell whether the man kept his face carefully neutral, or just wasn't really interested in what he had to say.
'There is some displeasure in the settlement, concerning the new low of the rations.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Briallen tightened. ‘Would that be the displeasure of your people, my lord, or our own?’
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Sonja
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'Your own, I am afraid. Since I know you are hardly able to go down into the settlement yourself, my lord, I thought it my duty to keep you posted.'
'You are too kind,' Tudwrig muttered, feeling a headache coming up. He couldn't deal with this ration-problem, and the curse, and the Roman all at the same time. 'I will look into it.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Briallen kept her eyes fixed on Rufus, feeling all the brightness of earlier minutes leave her. Instead, she felt grim. She wanted to tell this man that he need not mediate between them and their own people, that he should mind his own business and preferably leave for Rome to settle there without any rations to worry about. But if she even pointed out the first matter, he’d merely suggest that they had better take care of their own themselves. And he would be right.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I will see what I can do as far as rations go,' Rufus said calmly, settling on the bench as if he intended to stay there for a rather lengthy period. Which he did. He'd noticed a shadow passing Tudwrig's face, and he wondered whether the man would violently oppose to what he had just suggested.

'Please, do not bother yourself. We've managed hard winters before, and we will this time.' Tudwrig rubbed his right temple with his fingers. Why couldn't that man just leave? Perhaps the headache would abate if he did.
'With all due respect, it's different this time. This new settlement...' Rufus spread his hands.
'I already told you that your superiors should have started building in spring, not autumn,' Tudwrig grated.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘He has a point,’ Briallen said, raising her eyebrows. ‘Do you know why they would decide such a thing? It seems to be defying the gods. And Rome is such a great empire…surely, they would have learned a more practical timing?'
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
With some satisfaction, Tudwrig noticed that Rufus' expression had tightened. 'Ah, I cannot answer that question, my lady. I can assure you that I would have done it differently, but as it was, the choice wasn't mine to make.'
Tudwrig wanted to contribute his two copper coins, but a sudden stab of pain nearly split his head in two - or so it felt to him. He pressed his lips together and tried to ignore it. Now that the curse was close to taking over, he was suddenly not so sure of staying in the open when it happened. He could be rid of the Roman, yes, but what would happen to Briallen should he turn now?
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Yet you follow orders as though you were a blind man. That’s surprising, my lord. I thought Romans were so clever to have a mind of their own.’ Briallen glanced sideways. Tudwrig had sucked in the air sharply. Was he not well?
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
If Briallen wanted to think he was following orders, let her. It would make matters easier on his side. Rufus smiled slickly. 'I live but to serve, my lady. I keep my own mind for my own business, and -' he stopped when Tudwrig suddenly winced and turned as pale as milk. That strange, haunted shadow passed his face again, he saw.

They were both staring at him. He tried to shake his head without it attracting too much attention, but didn't succeed. Tudwrig didn't like the look of suspicion on Rufus' face at all. 'Headache,' he said, though it was more of a growl.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Right.’ She rose, pulling him along on his arm. ‘You’ve been exhausting yourself too much for my sake. Please. Go get some rest before you fall ill.’ Because if he waited it out and changed into that awful beast, she wouldn’t know what to do. She had tamed it once, but with Rufus around….No – she doubted he would be tamed then.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
And again he was leaving Briallen alone with Rufus. Tudwrig hated himself for it, but there wasn't much he could do about it. It'd be potential disaster should he turn here, no matter how easy the solution to the Roman problem would seem that way. 'Take care,' he said hoarsely to Briallen before nearly fleeing the great hall.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Good advice, she thought. Briallen took a moment to stare after him, hiding the expression of her face from Rufus. This was a little awkward. She hoped that it wasn’t the Roman who had upset Tudwrig so much. The pleasant expectations were gone. She sighed tightly, then turned around.
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