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Vale of the White Horse
Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,260 Views)
Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Oh, what isn’t he?’ Briallen growled, throwing her hands in the air. ‘Plotting, scheming, insulting Tudwrig and me. Threatening us. We’re past the fake courtesies, that’s for sure.’ She glanced past Gwenllian. ‘You said “we”. Rhywallon returned with you?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Yes, he and -' Before she could answer, she saw a shadow moving behind Briallen.
It was Elgued, standing just outside the circle of light, completely naked and with a sword in hand. 'Is this your idea of sentry-go?' he asked with a growl.
'There's no need for the sword, Elgued,' Gwenllian said, a little irked. 'This is Briallen, Tudwrig's wife. Briallen, this is Elgued. A friend.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘And a warrior,’ she noted thinly, averting her eyes. ‘That’s really impressive. Nice to meet you.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Whatever. Gwenllian, care to explain?'
She lifted her eyes to the ceiling of the cairn. 'I didn't know you suffered from morningmoods,' she said. 'Why don't you go wake up Rhywallon? I don't want to explain this twice.' He did have good timing, she had to admit. Though this was a rather impromptu council of war, it was always better to know what she could and couldn't say. And because Briallen probably had to be back before sunrise, they'd have to clear things up as soon as possible.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Sure.’ Elgued poked Rhywallon with his foot. ‘Wakey wakey, bro.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian put a hand against her forehead. 'I'm sorry,' she apologized to Briallen. 'He's normally not like this.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She smiled tightly. ‘Naked and rude?’
‘I’m rude,’ Elgued grunted. ‘And naked when I fight, usually. I said wake up!’
Briallen flinched. The Rhywallon she remembered would not respond well to a kick, well, anywhere, and she had no time for a brawl right now. She looked at Gwenllian. ‘You trust him?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'With my life,' Gwenllian answered, stifling a laugh when Elgued impatiently kicked Rhywallon. Perhaps it was nerves, or the elation of seeing Briallen alive and well, but she thought there was something inherently funny about the situation and she wanted nothing more than laugh. 'Come on, brother, you know better than to kick him like that.' She crawled towards Rhywallon herself and put a hand on his shoulder.
'Wake up,' she said softly, shaking him gently.
'Yeah, that's going to wake him up,' Elgued scoffed as he put on his smallclothes.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Gwen?’ Rhywallon sat up straight. Something was off – why was she whispering? Why was Elgued dressing? ‘Are they coming?’
Briallen cleared her throat. ‘No one came but me.’
‘Lady Briallen.’ How had she known their hiding place? He squeezed his eyes at her. Which side was she on, now? ‘We’re taking a risk, here.’
‘I know.’ Briallen sat down cross-legged, as close to the fire as she could. ‘But we’re allies, so trust me.’ She let her eyes run over the maimed face of the man Gwenllian had run off with, and over his friend, who was painted in blue tattoos. ‘I want to commission a murder.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Now that is something I don't mind waking up for in the dead of night,' Elgued said with a glint in his eye, suddenly all rapt attention. 'Do continue, my lady, who irked you enough to warrant a new haircut?'
Gwenllian in turn, looked interestedly at Briallen. 'Lentulus?' she hazarded a guess.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Yes,’ she said, squeezing both her hands around the dagger in her lap. ‘Rufus. I want him dead.’
‘Then you’re not alone,’ Rhywallon muttered, reaching for the fire himself.
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Sonja
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'We can certainly accomodate you there, can't we brother?' Elgued said, his good spirits returned rapidly as anything.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘We intend to.’ Rhywallon looked at Briallen. It might be the awkward light of the flames, but she seemed paler and skinnier to him. ‘Does your husband know?’
Briallen shook her head. ‘Not yet.’
‘But you are certain?’
She hesitated only for the time of a heartbeat. ‘For certain,’ she said then. ‘He is dangerous and has to be brought down. You are the only one who can do this.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian turned her empty cup around in her hands. Though she hadn't the faintest doubt that Rhywallon would be able to take him out, Rufus was dangerous and had many men at his disposal. Then again, so had Marcus Iulius, and he certainly can't repeat the story, she told herself. But, after all, Iulius was despite being a cunning dog, nowhere near of the same calibre as Rufus.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘I like her,’ Elgued said in the silence that fell between them. ‘Said you were married?’
‘Very much,’ she replied, but with a smile twitching in the corner of her mouth. ‘I will pay you whatever to get this done.’
Rhywallon smirked. ‘He’ll die with or without your money, my lady.’
‘But preferably with,’ Elgued said. ‘Can you fill us in on the situation here?’
‘Yes.’ She leaned back. ‘He’s made it no secret that he intends to usurp every power over the Vale, sooner rather than later. With my husband’s condition, we are at a very vulnerable place right now. It would be a perfect time to strike.’ She paused for a moment. ‘I believe he’s trying to trap us,’ she added then, softly. ‘A while ago, I found a half-decayed corpse in my own garden. It could not have come there in any way but his trickery…And as for that severed head, he accused of us…’
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Sonja
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Gwenllian sucked in her breath. 'In your garden?' she repeated, in unison with Elgued who said: 'He thinks the head was you?'
A corpse, and Rufus had to be the cause of that - oh, she didn't want to think it, but she rather thought that was the only explanation for Cuhelyn's disappearance.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Oh, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t really believe it was us,’ Briallen replied coldly. She stared at the warrior with his woad tattoos. ‘Why, was it you?’
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Sonja
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'We rather thought it was a warning of the sort our good friend might appreciate,' Elgued said with a dark grin.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘I’m sure he got it.’ She felt a ball of anger rise in her chest. ‘He’s clever enough to flip things around and make it into a death trap for us! It rather ruined our day and probably our future.’ She rose swiftly. ‘Forget payment. You kill him, and repay the damage he did today.’
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Sonja
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'Don't get your smallclothes up in a twist, my lady,' Elgued retorted drily. 'Tell us a bit more about that body in your garden, though. Anything on him that could possibly identify him?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘…No.’ Briallen swallowed her anger. ‘I only saw the hand. We didn’t…dig.’
Rhywallon caught Elgued’s look. ‘Perhaps we should.’
‘Why?’ Briallen asked. ‘The cold may have preserved the body for a bit, but it was still decaying. I have no idea who it could have been…No one went missing.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'No one from the Vale, at least,' Gwenllian said, looking at Rhywallon and Elgued. She could see they were thinking the same as she was.
'Aye. We should dig. Sooner, rather than later.'
She agreed with Elgued. If Rufus did bury it, he might decide now is a good time to unearth it and push that one off on Briallen and Tudwrig, as well.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Fine,’ Briallen said, after a while. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know who the body might turn out to be. ‘Come now, before it gets light. I’ll show you.’
Rhywallon stood up. ‘We have four hours till sunrise. Elgued, douse the fire.’
The smirk had slid off the man’s face, but he still managed to lift a corner of his mouth as he pushed earth over the flames. ‘Dousing.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian walked after Briallen, followed by Rhywallon and Elgued bringing up the rear. They had some few hours until it dawn, which should be enough, but Roman soldiers were swarming the hills like ants. She had a bad feeling about this, which she ascribed to nervosity for what they'd find. Who they'd find the body to be, if that was possible after all this time.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
They made it safely back to the caer. Rufus’ soldiers must be somewhere else tonight, or perhaps the small member of the Earth Kin had done something to protect them all.
Briallen led them round the tower, to the patch of earth that had been her garden. She hadn’t touched it or even come near it ever since the hand had come out of the earth.
‘Wait here,’ she told them, hasting inside. She got a warmer wrapper and a lantern from her chambers, without waking up Braegne.
‘It must have been around here,’ she told the others then, shedding the light over the earth.

Rhywallon looked around for a stick. A shovel would come in handy, but lady Briallen wouldn’t keep those hidden in her rooms. ‘Pray we don’t find him buried here,’ he muttered to Elgued. ‘Lentulus had better pray for that too.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Oh yes,' Elgued agreed. In the lamplight, Gwenllian could see the expressions on both their faces: they bode ill for Rufus. If the body was Cuhelyn, she herself rather thought she'd like to have Rufus meet her dagger before the day could get much older. As Rhywallon and Elgued digged, a whaft of a rather unpleasant odour drifted towards them. Gwenllian wrinkled her nose.
'There we go,' Elgued said darkly as a clawlike, skeletal hand stuck out of the dirt.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Rhywallon stepped back as Briallen raised the lantern to illuminate this first piece of the buried body.
‘Dig around there,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to do more damage to it.’
Slowly, they started to see more and more of the corpse. The smell was almost unbearable. Rhywallon tugged the hem of his tunic over his mouth and nose.
‘Enough,’ Elgued finally said. ‘Rhywallon, pull.’
Reluctantly, he put his hands on the body, gently pulling it from the grave. Disgusting, he thought, repressing a shiver.
‘Could you shine on him closer?’
Briallen nodded. The light spilled over the remains of what must have been a sturdy man. ‘Well?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve. The smell was so bad it made her eyes water, to say nothing of how the body looked. Patches of it had been better preserved than others, she assumed because of the frost. Elgued poked it with his stick, which made a singularly unpleasant sound at times. Then he bent over and reached out to take something. When he lifted his hand, Gwenllian could see a partially decayed bit of twine dangling from between his fingers. There was something like a dirtied coin hanging from it and Elgued's expression spoke volumes.
'I will turn that miserable son of a bitch inside out,' he growled.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘What is it?’ Briallen asked. ‘Is this the man you were seeking?’
‘It is,’ Rhywallon growled. ‘That man has seen his last few days, I swear on my blood.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Gwenllian balled her fists. It was peculiarly satisfying to hear Rhywallon talk that way about Rufus. The man deserved no less, with all the misery and death that followed in his wake. She shook her head. Perhaps it was a bit too bloodthirsty of her, but she hoped to be able to watch the Roman's death struggle.
'What do we do with the body?' she asked, her voice muffled by her sleeve. 'We can't drag it along, but I don't like the idea of leaving it here, either.'
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