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Vale of the White Horse
Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,338 Views)
Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Fate must love him very much, Rufus thought as he gazed down upon the girl, who had awoken. He'd had opportunity to admire her beauty before, and though she was a little too young for his tastes, he did envy Titius Laurentius a bit. But as she looked at him with fearful eyes and her mouth a little open, Rufus was suddenly convinced that a girl like that should under no circumstance be deflowered by a witless old man like Laurentius. No, that was an honour he'd love to take upon himself, and Venus herself must agree with him. This girl, she was a gift from the gods. Rufus stepped from the shadows, his most reassuring smile plastered on his face. 'Shh,' he said, though she hadn't spoken yet, and put a finger to his lips.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
One heartbeat long, she believed that she was still dreaming. But her dream had been about arms, and her mother and unborn brother – this was her room, her bed...the sheets felt real enough to her skin. And he – he was a Roman! One who wanted her to be silent. Essylt had to force herself to breathe out and take another gulp, because she felt frozen from shock. ‘How did you....’ she managed, more a whisper than an actual sound. Her eyes shot to her door. It was still bolted. ‘What is this?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'A dream,' he said, not really expecting her to fall for it. But it was a good openingline, one which had served him so well on countless occasions. Rufus knelt down next to her bed, stroking her pale cheek with two fingers. She was cold to the touch, but not unpleasantly so. Ah, what would it be like to cool his fire in her? He couldn't wait to find out. 'A very nice dream,' he added in a whisper and bent forward to kiss her, touching his lips to hers. Her breath tickled his skin and it took him all his self-control not to take her right that instant.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Struggle as she might, her breath stopped again, caught somewhere between her chest and her throat. This man had his lips to her before she could retreat to the other side of the bed, let alone make a run for the door and unbolt it. She smelled him. It was nothing like Morcant’s scent, or the way her father would. Essylt leaned back. She saw his eyes in the darkness; they were gleaming with excitement. She thought he must see her heart beat in her throat. ‘I know my dreams... this is not that. You’re Marcus Lentulus.’ Again, her voice was nothing but a touch of air.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Hmm, and what if I am?' he asked, savouring the taste of her lips. It was sweet like ripe figs and honey, cool as the first breath of winter. His fingers travelled from her cheek down her neck, to the bustline of her nightdress. He was simply dying to taste the rest of her, but left her be for a moment to pull back the blankets. You had to be gentle with virgins, or they would never fully appreciate the fine art of making love. Rufus breathed deeply when he looked at her lissom legs and slim hips, each line only accentuated by the thin fabric of her gown. 'Your beauty is divine,' he said, his voice a mere whisper before he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again. One of his hands slid downwards, touching a small, adolescent breast before coming to a halt on her waist.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Romans! Morcant had said it. They will rape you. They will destroy us. Essylt wanted to scream, but his mouth was closing off her own, and her door was still bolted. He had pulled her sheets away like brushing off a fly. His hand, so much larger than her own, felt her body like she was wearing nothing it all. After a moment, she managed to pull her head to the left side of his face. ‘Let me go,’ she panted. ‘Let go, or I can hurt you.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
He leaned back, smiling at her. 'You'll only hurt me if you deny me your kiss again, my sweet.' He had no desire to force himself upon her, but he thought she needed a little more gentle persuasion before she would allow him to teach her not every man only wanted his own needs satisfied. He longed to introduce her to the joys the human body were capable of, that it was all right to surrender yourself to waves of passion and lust. He took her small hand in his, turning it over and touching his lips to the soft skin of her wrist. Her scent was intoxicating, like incense or a heady wine.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
'You don't understand.' It would be better if he did not hold her hand. Essylt tried to pull away, but his grip was strong. 'I really can....I could probably kill you-' She didn't want to; she never wanted to do anything quite like that again, not even to Romans. She looked down. Her nightdress had crept upwards, revealing more of her bare body than was bearable. 'How did you get in here? That's a crime! Besides, my door's bolted...'
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Anything is possible in dreams and fantasies.' His voice was almost a purr now, and he had also noticed the slight change in how much her nightdress covered. Never one to leave an opportunity untaken, he slid his hand up her thigh. 'Hush now, sweet.' He put his finger to her lips this time. 'All this talk about hurting and killing... I promise you will enjoy this if you relax and let me.' He kissed her again, a little less gentle and a little more passionately than before.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She had to stay calm. If she panicked, her hands might issue a shot of ice, killing this man right before her eyes. Essylt pressed her eyes shut. Perhaps the best way was to focus on his hands, how he touched her. If she pretended that it was all a dream, all of this would be rather more acceptable, would it not? Even she was allowed to dream of this. She felt a heat where his hand crouched over her thigh and higher. His tongue was in her mouth, hotter than Morcant’s lips against her hair, of Cuhelyn’s quick brush on her brow. And even when she had awoken tangled in Morcant’s arms, when he had stayed up for her, she had not felt so aware of her own body. She shuddered.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
In the end, they all gave in. He didn't yet throw caution to the winds though, anxious as he was to let her experience lust in full. To him, bringing a woman to her height was as good as, if not better than, quenching the fire in his loins between her legs. He pulled the nightdress further up, tracing the swell of her hip and the dell of her waist. His hand travelled to her navel and down, gently stroking her inner thigh with the back of his fingers. Her skin was soft, and hot and cool at the same time. He pulled back from the kiss, looking in her eyes for a moment and smiling. Then he pressed his lips against the upper swell of her breast.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Her sight seemed to blur as his one hand placed itself boldly on the hidden place between her legs. Sacred gods, this was unthinkable. If her father knew...if her mother was aware of this – if Morcant ever found out. That thought made her head reel with guilt and pain and a faint sense of revenge. ‘Owl,’ she shuddered, but perhaps it was only a movement of her lips. He had bitten in her lower lip. Not hard, but gently. ‘Owl....I need you.’
He might very well mistake those last words. She wasn’t sure he could hear her at all, his mouth pressed into her breast. The nightdress moved down, exposing most of her body to him. He had not heard her warning, nor the graveness in her voice. ‘You must stop,’ she managed at last. Her hands pressed against his shoulder. ‘This is not...’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'No one will know,' he said, lifting up his face. Sweet breath of Venus, he didn't know if he could control himself any longer. It had been quite a while since he had last enjoyed a woman's body, and even longer since he had in this particular fashion. He gave her a brief kiss on the lips and brought both his hands up to her face again. 'I promise.' He shifted on the bed so that he could lay himself next to her if he wanted to, and pushed his nose against her neck, just below her ear, drinking in her scent.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She heard the flutter of wings rising above their ragged breathing. She opened her eyes and had to peer past the mass of his body hanging over her to see the owl landing gracefully on the windowsill. And suddenly it occurred to her: he must have entered through that same window, climbing on the grainary to enter the building from the courtyard. Oh, gods. ‘...Do you even know my name?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Of course I do..Essylt.' He noticed how his voice was a hoarse whisper now, and he hoped it would not scare her. She looked like an eidolon of the magna dea, with her ivory-pale skin. So fragile, yet so resilient. He couldn't take it any longer, though it was a sweet, pleasant sort of torture he'd put himself through. With another kiss, he bent over her and slid his knee between her legs, while his hands ran over her body.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She was breaking; breaking like thin ice. Essylt hated her own fragility; she could not hold this surging power within her, just as she could put up no resistance to the hands of this man, the lips of this man, the way he pressed her body down and spread it like a wildflower. His knee felt hard as bone when he placed it between her legs, so close to that place where she felt soft and feeble right now. A bit of his upper leg brushed over her belly.
‘You have no idea...’ she tried again, out of breath but feeling that she must impress this matter on him, ‘what I can do to you. Rufus. Shatter me like ice – and once the seal is broken...’
Once the dam had broken – she could not think of that. It was happening right now, with every push he gave her, with every attempt to pull her to him, like tidal waves to the moon. A whole river was coursing through her body, from her belly to her arms. She breathed hard.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Oh, he knew what she could do; spur him to heights of passion he had scarcely known before. After the less-than-succesful attempts at seducing Briallen and the sudden, complete lack of interest from Gwenllian, this night and this girl were a relief, a blessing. Her whole body was tense now. No matter, he'd have her as soft as beeswax in a few more moments. He took a hold of the hem of her nightdress and pulled it upwards in a fluent movement.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
If he’d touch her now...if his hands would feel her breasts or the sensitive part of her ribcage and belly, Essylt wasn’t sure that she could contain it any longer. It felt like it was begging to be let out. The two light eyes of the owl were almost piercing her. Was he demanding that she do it? Put her hands on his arms, his shoulders or against his heaving chest, and push the ice right into his veins or straight into his heart, like arrows? But she was no sniper. No, no. Don’t let me do this. She didn’t know what she feared most - experiencing the feel of the kill once more, or the long ages after she had seen his body drop like a falling tree, and no one to hold her in those moments of utter darkness.
She felt his breath against her bared skin, like a gust of wind only warmer. And like wind it trailed down, past her breasts, over her belly, down to the lower parts and then up again. The river was drumming against the inside of her body, beating to her skin, fighting to pour out of her every part. ‘Oh – gods contain me –‘
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'It's all right, let it all out,' he said and dug his hand into her hair, so that he may gently pull her head back and expose the beautiful marble column of her neck to his kisses.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
Yes, do - let it all out. See how he likes it. He wants the power, the sweetness and madness of it; so he shall get. 'You're crazy,' she uttered, forcing herself to keep it inside, to restrain herself. Calling the owl had been stupid. It had been panic, but this fear of letting her fickle powers loose was much stronger than her fear for what he could do to her body and honour - or her mind.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Perhaps he was, but if craziness was what brought him this, he did not mind. Rufus reluctantly let go of her. It was just that with clothes on, this wouldn't get any easier. He freed himself of the restraints of his tunic and pants, then scooped the girl up in his arms and pressed her against him, covering her shoulders and neck in kisses.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She fell down. It happened with a snap, so suddenly that she couldn’t breathe at all. Darkness clouded all of her vision, but she could feel. First, his naked skin against her own. Then how her breasts pressed against his chest by the force with which he pulled her closer. The bed underneath her back, as it veered down beneath both their weights. And something hard, pressing against her loin, burning and longing to push through. He wanted her to take him inside of her. Essylt did not know what she wanted. Let it all out, he had said. But he had meant to let it go. If she would let it go, gods knew what would happen this night or how she would emerge from her room come morning. And he had not listened. Not listened at all. A roaring voice, like that of an ocean, rose in her head, in her heart. To give him the madness, to let him taste what real power was. Her hands found his chest, pressed to his heart. No! I said I would not! With difficulty, she forced them away, but her fingers found a will of their own, pressing into his upper arms. She felt him move against her again, and it was only a matter of inches before what was outside would be inside.
Essylt tried to cry out. Her voice was stuck with an odd moaning. It felt like agony. Her body split in a hundred shards, fracturing her senses, her good wit. Her hands felt cold, freezing. ‘Forgive me,’ she tried again, ‘forgive me....’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Just when he was about to relieve the both of them of their tension, it felt as though he had thrust his arms into an icy cold mountainstream. Rufus looked down and saw that crystal - no, ice had formed on his skin where her pale fingers touched him. She was half-sobbing, but he didn't hear what she said. He could hardly think, but somehow managed to pull himself free. His arms felt as though they'd been mangled by a battering-ram. He made a grab for his clothes and missed, knocking a small cabinet over in the process. Cursing all the while, he managed to pull his tunic over his head and made for the window. With all that racket, someone was bound to investigate. He had to leave while he could. Gods damn it all.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
'I did not mean to,' she sobbed, crouching up on hands and knees like a small child. 'I'm not a murderer.' Morcant had told her so, even though he had hoped he could mold her into one. 'I'm not. I'm sorry.' But he wasn't listening at all. The fear on his face was like an insult thrown at her head. Yer he deserved it. Oh, but that people feared her with such a deep supersition! It was the one thing she herself had dreaded most of all. Essylt pulled the blanket over her body, with no power left to wipe the tears from her face or to stop the trembling of her whole body. 'I tried to warn you...'
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
He was still breathing heavily, though the combination of the shock and his still-aroused state made for a rather painful combination. There was only one thing that was important right now. 'I will not tell anyone of this and you will not either, if you know what's best for you,' he growled, his voice still hoarse. After pulling on his clothes with numb fingers, he placed his leg on the windowsill. This was going to be a dangerous descent.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She’d throw herself in front of wild dogs before she would consider telling anyone of what had occurred. He did not understand that she couldn’t ever speak of these powers to anyone in her family. As he disappeared into the night, she leaned back. Her heart was still racing. Essylt looked down on her hands. So cold. Her whole body was cold. With difficulty she got herself back into her nightgown, then tucked the blankets and sheets so tightly around her shoulders that she could pretend that someone was holding her, calming her down.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Rufus was able to climb down without too many slip-ups and made for the hills. He had enough of his wits about him to make sure he remained unseen and unheard, though it was hard. What had he done to deserve this? What had first seemed a blessing had turned out to be a curse, and it made him irrationally angry. Only when he reached the forest on top of the hill, did he grant himself a moment to catch his breath. He felt a powerful urge to take a woman far less gently than he was accustomed to, pushing her against a wall and spreading her legs for his needs and his alone. Briallen would do perfectly, or Gwenllian - or maybe just both, one right after the other. So strong was the adrenaline coursing through his body that he trembled. Rufus planted his fist in an unoffending tree, breathing heavily to get himself - all of it - under control. It took him what seemed like eternity, but eventually the fire in him dwindled and died away, leaving only a smoldering feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew that feeling. It required a man to kill, violence and bloodshed to still it. He swallowed once and again, his throat as dry as the deserts of Egypt. The painful bulge in his pants diminished, though hardly as quick as he would like. Unable to ride in his current state, he untied his horse and stalked off into the night.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
There was an urgent knock on her door the next morning. ‘Essylt…my lady. Are you well?’
She turned about, hardly able to lift herself from the stupor she’d fallen in. The sheet was all tangled around her legs and waist. It was morning; the man had not come back. Well, of course he hadn’t. Essylt cast another disgusted look at her hands before she released herself from the covers. He had knocked some things over in his wild flight and she had not bothered to put them up until now. ‘I’m fine,’ she replied through the door, brushing her wayward curls out of her face. ‘Just a nightmare... a little headache.’ She would ask father to put bars before her window. The memory of Rufus’ hands on the hidden places of her body and how he had brushed the nightgown away, rushed up a flood of blood to her cheeks.
‘Lady Essylt, please open the door.’ The voice of her maid sounded stretched. She unlocked the bolt, peering into a pale face with worrying eyes. ‘Why the haste?’ she asked. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s your mother, my lady,’ her maid said, pushing past her into the bedroom. Essylt saw her eyes sweep over the place, noting the fallen storage chest; her smaller one – she had not yet picked it up. ‘What about my mother?’ Essylt asked sharply. ‘Is she delivering?’
‘Appears so, my lady. The midwifes are all there –‘
‘Where?’
‘In her room. And the master sent for a wetnurse in the settlement, Essylt. They say the lady is very pale.’
Essylt swallowed hard, dismissing the recollection of last night. ‘Help me dress. I’ll be there without breakfast.’
Her maid, a sturdy girl about her own age, nodded and drew a dress and tunic over her, then quickly pulled her hair back with a string. ‘She asks for you, lady. Hurry!’

No one needed to tell her to hurry. Essylt felt as though she was carried by a gust of stormwind, or the wild current of a river. Her feet covered the distance from her own room to that of her mother’s within heartbeats, swinging open the door. Something was wailing – no, someone! She cast wild looks about, expecting the babe but saw only her mother. ‘Oh, Epona…’
It was just like her first vision, the one she had barely understood at all. A dead face, or one bound for death, as the spirits circled around her mother’s mouth and counting down the seconds until they would carry her last breath away beyond the veil. She sank down next to her side, putting faint and numb fingers against her cheeks. ‘Mother…are you with me? Mother, it’s me. Essylt. I’m here. Don’t go yet. Find your strength… ‘
Her mother moaned something. It must be wordless; she could not understand. The midwife said something as well, but Essylt could hardly register it until it was repeated: ‘It’s stuck –’
And then she knew. She remembered. A wave of nausea swept over her as she removed herself from her mother’s head to look down. Her mother had her knees bent up, the skirt of her dress was drenched in sweat and blood. There it was, the tiny, ash grey head of the baby she was trying to deliver. And it would not come out if her mother died now – and she would die, for it was how Essylt had dreamt it. ‘Preserve us, Arawn!’ she cried, gulping. Her hands reached out to her mother’s own, who lay limply on both sides. ‘Mother! Get yourself together or both of you won’t see the evening!’ Her hands felt so cold with fear. Essylt started to cry, her tears dropping down into the mouth that had not said another thing at all. She looked down on the face, then further down to their locked hands. A glistening cover of ice had spread from her wrists to her breasts. The woman was so white that it hardly made a difference in this light. Slowly she let go, unable to utter a murmer for help. Bending over to feel a heartbeat, she only sensed silence. ‘Mother….’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
True to his word, Cuhelyn had covered up for Morcant. Every time he wanted to say something about what had really happened, his friend cut him short and spun a believable lie. In secret, Morcant was grateful for it. He had a hard enough time as it is, dreaming every night of Roman hands touching Essylt's innocence. And every morning he awoke with a terrible dread lodged in the pit of his stomach, and a burning desire to go back and take her away again, caving in the heads of any man in his way.
'You look like shit.'
'Good morning to you too, Cuhelyn.'
His brother threw himself down next to him. 'Another bad night, eh?'
'No worse than usual,' Morcant shrugged and looked around the encampment. Everyone was doing something: after they'd brought Rhywallon's news, Gwyddien had decided that they would move the sentries from Two Lakes to the Vale of the White Horse, to keep an eye on Lentulus' movements. Morcant had volunteered. He thought it'd be best if he was as far away from Two Lakes as possible from now on.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘She is dead, ‘ the midwife said after pressing two fingers into her mother’s neck. ‘Dear gods, so cold too….No wonder. A deliverance at this age, they are the hardest.’ The woman shook her head.
Essylt couldn’t look. Instead, she turned her back to the dead face. She knew too well what it looked like, having seen it in her dreams so many times. ‘The babe,’ she said, and her voice was hoarse, so unlike her own. ‘It must live. I’ll save it.’
‘Sweetheart, the baby’s dead. I’m so sorry.’ The midwife put an arm over her shoulders. ‘It was dead before it had even began to come out.’
‘No.’ She whispered it, shrugging off the arm. That was not how she had seen it! ‘It must live!’ She knelt down between her mother’s dead legs. The baby was half out, just like she knew it would be. The wrinkled skin was grey like forgotten ashes. The eyes were closed. With trembling hands she cupped the head. It was nearly small enough to fit in one of her palms. ‘My brother,’ she whispered, into the tiny creased ears. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll hold you warm, I’ll keep you safe…Take your knifes,’ she added sharper, looking up. ‘My mother is dead. She won’t feel the pain now.’
The midwifes hesitated only until they saw the blazing look in her eyes. Essylt imagined that she must look like a crazy ghost, but whatever they saw on her face, it made them move as she had ordered them to. She dropped her gaze, keeping a steady watch on the baby’s closed face. She had seen it rosy from sleep once, with lashes resting against those delicate cheeks. For that, she would put aside her guilt, the grief and screaming pain.
As they forced her mother’s body to release her unborn child, Essylt gathered the lifeless form into her arms. Finally she could take the knife from the hands of another woman and with the blade cut the navel cord. It had wound tightly around the fragile neck. She tugged it loose, her fingers covered in blood. ‘Breathe,’ she begged the little thing. ‘Breathe now….Please, brother.’
And he did.
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