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| Vale of the White Horse | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,263 Views) | |
| Marieke | 19 Mar 2011, 23:51 Post #4231 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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For a moment she froze and felt a lump rising in her throat. She heard his footsteps move away, but didn’t turn to find out how far he was going. After a moment she tied the knot in Carwyn’s improvised diaper. ‘Not much luck with fathers, have you,’ she told him unsteadily. |
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| Sonja | 19 Mar 2011, 23:54 Post #4232 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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When he was out of sight, Morcant planted his fist in an unoffending tree and growled curses. This couldn't be the rest of his life, he'd crawl out of his damn skin. And though he couldn't give a rat's ass about the brat, he thought he wouldn't forgive himself if he did something to estrange Essylt from him. Gods, where was Cuhelyn when you needed him to get some sense into you, with a fist if need be? |
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| Marieke | 19 Mar 2011, 23:56 Post #4233 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She waited for him to get back, cradling Carwyn until he went back to sleep. When Morcant didn’t, she walked around and spotted him against a tree. ‘He’s quiet now,’ she told him. |
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| Sonja | 20 Mar 2011, 00:00 Post #4234 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Good,' was all he said, rubbing his knuckles. He hadn't drawn blood, but the pain had helped him to get back to his senses somehow. |
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| Marieke | 20 Mar 2011, 00:02 Post #4235 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘I need you to tell me something,’ she said, after drawing a deep breath. She settled Carwyn against the same tree, delicately so he wouldn’t wake up. ‘I’m not going on until you tell me. What have I done to you? If you want to leave me, just do. I can’t….I don’t care anymore if you would. I mean, I would care, but if you...' |
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| Sonja | 20 Mar 2011, 00:06 Post #4236 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'It's not you, it's your brother,' he said after a long silence. 'I don't like the look in his eyes.' It sounded like a pitifully inadequate reason, but it was true nonetheless. 'I'm sorry, I know you love him, but...' He shrugged his shoulders. 'Doesn't mean I'm coming back on my word,' he added, almost as an afterthought. But secretly, he wanted nothing else. |
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| Marieke | 20 Mar 2011, 00:08 Post #4237 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Essylt swallowed, looking down on Carwyn. With his eyes closed, he looked like any other infant. ‘It’s Udd Wyll,’ she muttered. ‘That’s what frightened my father and the wetnurses. All it means is that he is like me.’ |
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| Sonja | 20 Mar 2011, 00:18 Post #4238 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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But Essylt could at least, to a degree, take care of herself. 'Mh. I'd like to have a chat with that guy some day,' he grumbled. |
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| Marieke | 20 Mar 2011, 00:19 Post #4239 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Really?’ she asked. |
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| Sonja | 20 Mar 2011, 00:20 Post #4240 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'I'd like to know what gives him the right to meddle in people's lives like this.' Morcant shrugged. After what he'd seen, it'd take more than the Hillfolk to scare him. |
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| Marieke | 20 Mar 2011, 00:21 Post #4241 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘And what do you imagine he will tell you?’ she said. ‘Everyone meddles. That’s living.’ |
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| Sonja | 13 Jul 2011, 20:17 Post #4242 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'And you're just going to be that easy about it?' Morcant shook his head, unable to believe his ears. 'I don't think he has the right, but hey, that might just be me,' he scoffed. Even though he really did not want to estrange himself from her, he was getting increasingly annoyed by her reasoning. Living? Living wasn't allowing someone to meddle in your life and let him get away with it. He'd kick the living daylight out of anyone trying, personally. |
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| Marieke | 13 Jul 2011, 20:23 Post #4243 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Easy?’ she replied, feeling a rush of anger. ‘You were all to happy trying to get me go along with your ideas easily, or have you forgotten?’ Clutching her brother to her chest, she rose to face him. ‘Kidnap me. Refuse to take me home. Force me to exhaust myself in a crazy manhunt, eye for an eye, because you just can’t stand the foreign blood on your soil!’ |
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| Sonja | 13 Jul 2011, 20:34 Post #4244 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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That was completely irrelevant. He was human, doing things because he thought them right. This Udd Wyll figure, he wasn't, and he was just sitting on his ass doing whatever the fuck he pleased. 'You're not exactly innocent of that sort of thing, either, are you?' he half-shouted back at her. 'With that infernal baby we're lugging around, with your father that you desperately needed to go see, and I could go on and on and on!' |
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| Marieke | 13 Jul 2011, 20:39 Post #4245 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She nearly staggered back at the force of his words, but somehow she managed to plant her feet firmly on the ground, raising her chin to him. ‘Carwyn is my brother,’ she whispered. ‘This is the package. If you think you love me, then you take him. If you won’t, then leave us both and fight your war alone.’ She breathed deeply. 'There would be no need to worry anyway. Rufus offered to take care of me on several occasions.'
Edited by Marieke, 13 Jul 2011, 20:40.
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| Sonja | 13 Jul 2011, 20:46 Post #4246 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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It was as if she'd stabbed him in the gut with a sword. Morcant clenched and unclenched his fists. 'And you really think that a half-wit Roman dog would actually fulfill a promise? Do you?' He grabbed her by the upper arm, dragging her along with him. 'If you like Hillfolk meddling with your life so much, use it and see for yourself whether or not that bastard will really take care of you,' he snarled and pushed her down near a puddle, forcing her hands into the chill waters. |
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| Marieke | 13 Jul 2011, 20:51 Post #4247 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Essylt nearly dropped Carwyn when she stumbled in an attempt to stay straight. He pushed her down anyway. As soon as she felt the water closing over her knees, the ball of anger in her chest made way for a clutching fear. ‘I don’t want to,’ she uttered. ‘I hate this!’ |
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| Sonja | 13 Jul 2011, 20:53 Post #4248 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'What happened to not minding it, because in life, people just meddle?' Morcant scoffed, hardly aware of what he was doing. Hardly caring. 'Look at it, damnit! Romans are filthy dogs and you must understand that. How long do you think you'll last in the hands of someone like Rufus, eh?' |
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| Marieke | 13 Jul 2011, 20:55 Post #4249 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘At least hold the baby,’ she croaked hoarsely. ‘Or d’you want him to drown now?’ |
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| Sonja | 13 Jul 2011, 20:59 Post #4250 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant was faintly aware of holding Essylt down with one hand while picking up Carwyn with the other, rather carelessly dropping the boy on the soil. 'Go on, take a look,' he then urged her again. |
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| Marieke | 13 Jul 2011, 21:09 Post #4251 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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It was hard to breathe normally. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting the water to reveal all sorts of frightening, distorted pictures. It was always bad when that happened. Right now, all she wanted was to settle somewhere quiet and safe, to keep herself and her little brother from whatever harm. Morcant’s grip was too strong to fight, she had known that for months. When she slowly opened her eyes and stared past the water´s surface, there was nothing. Just a muddy ground, not even clearly visible. Essylt swallowed and waited for a mouthful of air to pass through her body, relaxing her muscles. Suddenly there was a flash of movement. A fish, she thought for a moment, but realized then that it was an owl. Not a reflection of her own pale creature, but the one from her vision. It soared above the hill and disappeared. A shadow rose from the water and wrapped itself across her face. A face, right there, and a body. Dark eyes. No, pale eyes, blue like robin´s eggs. But filled with bitterness. Is this me? she wondered. It must be, because the face had a cloud of fair hair, tangled in messy curls. ‘Disappear,’ the Other-Essylt whispered. She raised her hands, and Essylt found she was mirroring the movement, not even a second behind. The shadow flung out to all sides, and the hills and the forest and Morcant and Carwyn were all gone. |
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| Sonja | 13 Jul 2011, 21:22 Post #4252 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Essylt fell really still after that last, weird gesture. Morcant was just in time to keep her from toppling face first in the water and dragged her limp body towards him. The rage was subsiding, and now he was a little consternated. But no, she had to see. Had to understand. |
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| Marieke | 13 Jul 2011, 21:27 Post #4253 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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As soon as she was out of the water, the real world came back to her. It was still here. ‘Carwyn,’ she muttered, collecting the baby in her arms. The other Essylt, the shadowy one, had not disappeared. She was still within herself, pressing a little closer to the surface. Udd Wyll’s warning drifted back to her. She looked at Morcant. ‘I trusted you. But I can’t.’ |
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| Sonja | 25 Aug 2011, 19:31 Post #4254 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Something had broken, he felt that even in his present state. He was still angry, now mostly with himself. His mother had always warned him of his temper; that, even if he meant well, screaming and shouting could only serve to make things worse. But he was also angry with Essylt - why didn't she see that all he wanted was to make her understand? Morcant pulled his hands away as if Essylt's ice had hit him. 'All right then. Fine. If you still want to go, go.' |
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| Marieke | 25 Aug 2011, 19:43 Post #4255 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘It’s an old fire,’ Elgued said, prodding with his foot against the ashes. There was no life in the dark coals. This campfire hadn’t burned for weeks. ‘Someone spend the night and moved on.’ ‘He could,’ Rhywallon murmured. It was hard to see in the shadows. They had staggered along the forest on foot, hoping that their soft boots and the falling night would conceal them from spying eyes. He remembered Rufus well and his eyes would be nearly everywhere. He made a small circle. Whatever Elgued said, something was not right. He thought he could almost feel it in the prickling of his old scars. ‘No stones on the fire,’ he observed. ‘Look at these branches. They might have might a shelter. Someone was planning on returning here, sooner or later. Let us hope that he won’t, or that it will be later. We can’t trust anyone.’ Unless…But he couldn’t stand to think about that now. He knew it was craven of him. Back in the safety of the Brotherhood he had been the first to believe that Cuhelyn was dead. Now that he was here, he’d tried to think of anything but murder. ‘It’s a good place nonetheless,’ Elgued said. ‘ We’ll stay here. It’s concealed. The smoke won’t be seen through the dense trees.’ ‘Unless somebody dragged him,’ Rhywallon growled. ‘Then we will show them our teeth and knives. You’re talking like a lady, brother.’ |
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| Sonja | 25 Aug 2011, 20:00 Post #4256 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'And you're talking like a young pup, a little too eager,' Gwenllian muttered. She liked Elgued a lot, almost like a brother, but siblings always had a habit on getting on one's nerves. It wasn't that she felt a need to jump to Rhywallon's defense - he was perfectly capable of that himself - but Elgued's constant assertion that he was totally up for some action and preferably right this instant was starting to get old. When Elgued looked as though he was going to snap at her, she continued in her most inoffensive voice: 'Do you think you could make me a fire, please?' And with a roll of his eyes, the big warrior turned around and got the last of their firewood from his bags. Perfect timing, really. She unsaddled her horse, bringing her own bags to what could very well have been a shelter: some half-decayed branches resting against the trunk of a large tree. |
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| Marieke | 25 Aug 2011, 20:08 Post #4257 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She had made him smile. Bless her, Rhywallon thought. She was crazy to follow him back to the Vale, but he was glad for it. ‘We will stay here for as long as we can,’ he agreed. ‘Gwenllian, take first watch. I’ll…I’ll go last.’ Dawn was the time he worried most about. Roman men could still be around, maybe Rufus had set up some daily watch. Or maybe he was being a lady, as Elgued said. He shrugged the feeling off. ‘We need a patrol. The settlement is too close – there’s no way around to reach the caer. Still, I should like send word there…The lady Briallen is trustworthy.’ She had let them go, after all. But if she truly believed in their innocence, he wasn’t entirely sure. Even if she had then, who knew what Rufus had managed to make them believe? |
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| Sonja | 25 Aug 2011, 20:21 Post #4258 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'I'll go.' Gwenllian really wasn't surprised Elgued proffered himself to take a message to the caer. And she couldn't say that she minded, either. It had been so long since she'd talked to Briallen, she would give a lot to see her face. 'First you'll make me that fire, brother,' she said. 'I'll take that first watch, Rhywallon.' While Elgued got the fire going, she opened a bag and took a look at their dwindling provisions. It was a good thing spring had arrived. If Elgued got all too unmanageable, they could always send him out hunting. |
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| Marieke | 25 Aug 2011, 20:26 Post #4259 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘Our young sister imagines she has become our chieftain,’ Elgued joked mildly. He worked the flints until a spark fell on the firewood and he could blow life into the flames. Rhywallon grinned tightly. ‘She has that right.’ |
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| Sonja | 25 Aug 2011, 20:40 Post #4260 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'I'm doing the cooking, aren't I? I've tasted yours, Elgued, and I would much prefer to chew on a stick.' That was not entirely true, but Gwenllian found she liked a bit of good-humouredly joking around. Things hadn't been different in the Brotherhood's camp. It had taken her a little while to get used to, though. Elgued shook his head and stepped away from the fire. Some time later, she gave the two men their bowls of food and settled down with her own. 'A verbal message, I think.' 'Beg pardon?' Elgued looked at her with a single eyebrow raised. 'Oh, the message you're going to bring to Briallen. Verbal would be best.' 'You're stating the obvious, sister.' Gwenllian smiled. 'I know. Sometimes, that's a good thing.' |
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