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| Vale of the White Horse | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,379 Views) | |
| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 20:26 Post #751 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'What would you want to know?' Essylt asked, keeping her eyes on the absent road. |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 20:29 Post #752 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Why don't you start by telling me how long your pops has been in the same boat with the Romans?' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 20:35 Post #753 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'Nearly three years,' Essylt admitted quietly. She had a feeling that feeding him information would not help her father. Perhaps it'd even endanger him? She guarded her words carefully. 'They came three years ago. Six moons later my father accepted their offer for peaceful coexistence. It's not so bad.' She lifted her eyes to his. Air-eyes, her mother had often said. 'They leave us be, mostly.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 20:40 Post #754 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Hm-hmm.' Peaceful coexistance, his arse. It was a hostile take-over, and those vermin never did anything that wasn't profitable to them. 'Never met the Romans yourself, or have you?' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 20:44 Post #755 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'Of course I have,' she said, nonplussed. 'There's a Roman settlement near us. They bring us all sorts of wealth from their own lands and the other places. We...we buy those. They have been civil to me.' She swallowed. The more she said, the harder his gaze seemed to press on her. 'I believe it is not uncommon for Romans mingling with our own people on some other levels.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 20:48 Post #756 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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His face darkened. 'Well, I've met some Romans, and they weren't half the chivalrous lot you make them out to be. Mingling, indeed.' Morcant snorted. He'd seen some unpleasant things done by those pigs and he'd gladly run a sword through every last one of them. |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 20:53 Post #757 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She didn't know what to reply to that. She had been kept mostly out of her father's affairs, having other things to do as a daughter of the household. She thought of her mother again. What if the child was a girl this time, too? Essylt knew her father was considering this too. It must be why he had been talking to a Roman officer lately. He had told her. The man had shown an interest. He would settle permanently in the lands. He'd take a Roman wife, but did not think that they could stand the climates. Her father had said the man had praised her pleasant appearance. 'I know they've taken our lands as their own home,' she finally said in what she hoped was an amending voice. 'But war isn't unusual amoing our own chieftains and clans either.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 20:57 Post #758 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'War isn't, taking over territory belonging to another people is something completely different,' he answered curtly. 'They're imposing their heathen ways on the normal folk, bringers of wealth or not.' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 20:59 Post #759 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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He wasn't going to be convinced. In truth, Essylt couldn't care much about this conversation with the man who had grabbed her and taken her away, keeping her on a leash. 'It's not my fault,' she muttered, staring ahead of them. |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:02 Post #760 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Didn't say it was.' Morcant pushed some trees aside. He was already getting rather tired of walking at this pace, having to take the girl's speed (or lack thereof) in account. 'How old are you?' he asked after a short silence. |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:05 Post #761 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'I'll turn seventeen in one moon,' she replied. Did it matter? The Roman had said she was overdue. Not in those words, of course. Girls married at fourteen where they came from. That wasn't impossible, she assumed. Still, she was grateful that her father had not taken on that particular Roman custom. 'Why?' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:08 Post #762 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Just curious,' he shrugged. He guessed she wouldn't understand it if he told her that discussing the Romans set his blood aboiling and his hands itching to do someone an injury. It was an irrational sort of hatred, Morcant knew, as the Romans hadn't actually done anything to him. But they'd done quite enough to his brothers for him to justify his own behavior. |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:14 Post #763 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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There wasn't much to discuss after this, she felt, so she concentrated on keeping up with him. If she walked only a step behind him, she found, the rope would not pull at her but hang down in a relaxed arch. She didn't want to walk next to him, afraid she'd touch his arm with hers. So far he had not so much as looked at her in an indecent way and she supposed that he had a strong face for the man he was. She'd rather keep it this way and knew that men weren't to be trusted in these matters - not even after hours of indifference. |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:22 Post #764 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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When the sun was high up, he found them a nice, comfortable clearing to enjoy lunch (though 'enjoy' was probably too big a word). He loosened Essylt's bonds and motioned her to sit down while he opened his bag. More of the bread and dried meat appeared, but he was getting low on supplies. Morcant didn't want to tie the girl to a tree to go hunting though, so they'd just have to make do. He also pressed a dented waterbottle into her hands, drinking from the flask of strong drink himself. |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:25 Post #765 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She had to admit her legs had grown tired and she was grateful for the rest. The water tasted like it was old. There wasn't any use in complaining over it. She looked down on her wrist. The skin was red like a flame or the bite of an insect. It hurt everytime she moved her hand and the rope brushed her. Now that the bonds were less tight, she traced her fingertips over the sore parts and whimpered. |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:34 Post #766 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant looked at her as she nursed her apparently sore wrist. Well, there wasn't much to be done about that. The rope wasn't meant to tie a person up in a very comfortable way, and he figured this way would be preferred over tying both her hands together. He shrugged. 'You're quite the silent type, aren't you,' he said. She was all snow and pallid lilies, he thought, with that pale skin and light eyes. |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:37 Post #767 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She looked up, leaving her painful hand for the time being and took another sip from the water. He was right; she felt locked up inside her own quiet thoughts and didn't think he would care to talk. She didn't feel like babbling to her captor, at least. 'I wouldn't be, usually, I suppose.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:40 Post #768 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Well, you're going to have to talk some time. It might as well be now, don't you think?' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:42 Post #769 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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It was hard to understand him. He must know enough: who she was, what house she belonged to, where to go to get a royal amount of money for her safe return. 'Why do I have to talk some time?' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:44 Post #770 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'You can't be silent forever,' he laughed. 'Besides, my brothers are going to want some information from you and it'll be much easier if you just give it to them without a fuss. Nothing bad will happen to you if you do, at least.' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:45 Post #771 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'Who are your brothers?' she asked, growing worried. 'You can't ask me to betray my father to....' bandits, she wanted to say, but what if that offended him? 'To anyone with bad interests.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:52 Post #772 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'We've only good interests at heart,' he shrugged. 'We won't even hurt your old man. All we're interested in is giving the Romans their just deserts.' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:55 Post #773 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She was silent for a while, looking at the grass bending over her tunic. She wanted a change of clothes. 'It will be his downfall,' she said then. 'It is better to cooperate with the Romans, because they take by force what they cannot get in peace. You may not hurt it, but it will hurt him all the same. Please don't do that to us.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 21:58 Post #774 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'If our plan succeeds, the Romans won't have the opportunity to do your father harm.' Morcant didn't get why the girl was being so anxious. She should be glad that he and his brethren would get rid of the Roman yoke. |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 21:59 Post #775 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'And if it doesn't?' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 22:03 Post #776 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'It will,' he said curtly. 'And trust that we'll take enough measures to keep our own people safe.' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 22:04 Post #777 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'I don't know you,' she said softly. 'You have taken me hostage. How should I trust you?' He had better taken the daughter of a Roman officer, she thought. |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 22:07 Post #778 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Haven't raped you, have I?' he said lightly. 'An ordinary ruffian would have. But like I said, we like to keep our people safe. I may have tied you up, but that won't be for long. As soon as we arrive, I'll promise you you'll be cared for like a princess.' |
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| Marieke | 14 Apr 2010, 22:09 Post #779 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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He hadn't, and it was still her most urgent fear. 'It is still not right,' she said but it was with very little real defiance. 'After that, will you bring me back to my home? My mother is expecting and it is dangerous enough without my help.' |
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| Sonja | 14 Apr 2010, 22:12 Post #780 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'I already told you I would, didn't I? Don't worry your pretty head over it.' Okay, in lieu of his previous statement that probably wasn't the best remark he could have made. But Morcant never really thought about the things he said until he had said it. |
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