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Vale of the White Horse
Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,319 Views)
Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Attacked?' Rufus raised his eyebrows, making very sure his expression fell a little further with each word she said, his lips pressed to a thin line. If he interpreted her words correctly, she was starting to get on to him. He didn't know yet whether that was a good or a bad thing. There wasn't much she could do about it yet, anyway. Rufus pulled his shoulders back. 'You'll have to forgive me if I don't know how the situation was before I got here, so I wouldn't know whether there has been more or less of this scheming you mentioned. Perhaps lady Gwenllian has been attacked by our man... I really want to get my hands on that guy,' he said, his voice sounding vexed. 'I will not allow such brutality! Hum, I beg your pardon. I get carried away. How is the poor girl doing?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Recovering.’ There was still a decent chance that this man had nothing to do with it. She sat down after all, removing the cloak and folding her hands. ‘I’d rather not have you distress more with inquiries, if I can be honest with you. She’s…she’s really bruised - even in her face. It’s…I’m sorry. It really does make me feel dreadful.’ It wasn’t a lie at all. She ran a hand over her face. If this man was innocent in this matter, at least he was powerful enough to aid them. She stood up again, turning to the hearth. It had an empty place where the sunrise tapestry should be hanging. 'This, and the murders, and my husband...'
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Give her my sincerest wishes for her speedy recovery,' Rufus said. He actually meant it; standing idly by while her husband was beating the life out of her wasn't exactly something he was proud of. 'You can count on me to do the best I can, my lady,' he assured Briallen. He was going to have to mind his step, though. He may have underestimated these people a bit.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘I shall see that I will. And in turn, may I wish you good luck on this…hunt? Someone who allows a girl like her to suffer in this way deserves nothing but punishment as far as I am concerned.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I agree, my lady,' he said. 'If you'll excuse me now.' Rufus bid her farewell and walked out of the caer. Hanging around there when her words clearly let know that she was catching on to him would not be the smartest idea. But that was all right; it'd be more challenging this way and he'd certainly enjoy it heartily when he wrested all control of the area from her and her husband. He walked out of the caer and into the settlement. He wasn't really going to conduct another research, but he had to make things seem as though he was.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
He was exercising again. Sometimes he was gone for hours, stalking through the hills. Essylt didn’t know why he needed so much time; now and then she believed it was because he was trying to avoid her. She didn’t complain. It was by her doing that he was locked in this settlement, away from his brothers and his missions. Or possibly it had something to do with those two things after all. He had slipped something about needing to be here, but had never found the need to elaborate. She tried to fill her days with cleaning, but the hut was too small to do that daily. Other times she’d just walk around. Morcant had told her to stay close to the house and not wander off to the center, where Roman villa’s were occupied. She had dressed herself in the blue tunic and skirt today, having brushed the mud off first. There was a low bench in front of their house now. Morcant had made it from a plank of rough wood. She sat and tried to catch the few sparse rays of sunlight between the clouds. It was cold, but she minded it less than the darkness inside. Her owl was perched next to her, keeping her company as a companion. The oddest companion she’d ever had. Her hands worked a needle, up and down, to repair Morcant’s shredded shirt, the one that had barely survived his fall in the river. They had so few possessions already.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Rufus walked around the settlement just this side of aimlessly, only he made it seem that he was doing the most thorough research of researches. He was at the outer edge of the settlement now, where the Dobunni houses were situated. What few people who lived in that part quickly scurried back into their homes upon his appearance. He shrugged at it. There was obviously nothing to be found here, so he walked towards the crossing that would take him to the marketplace. When he rounded the corner, something attracted his attention. A girl, sitting on a low bench in front of one of the houses. A girl with a very familiar bush of blonde curls. She was absorbed in her needlework, but he'd recognize those small hands on the darkest night. They were the hands that had nearly killed him, after all. But what was Essylt doing here? He might as well go and found out. With springy steps, he walked towards her. 'Good morning, Essylt,' he said.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
The pain of the sharp point in the mouse of her hand made her wince. The owl fluttered up, brushing air against her face, making her hair dance. Why had she not seen him coming? Since Morcant had informed her that this man was back, she had been so careful to stay clear of the center and even of the market. Essylt stared up into his face, gathering her things to jump up with shuddering knees. She wanted to duck through the dark hole that was the door, shutting it and throwing her whole weight against it to hold him out. Instead she stood there, knowing that he’d simply follow her in and make her feel more trapped.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I wouldn't have expected to see you here,' he went on with the same smile plastered on his face when she didn't speak. She looked like a trapped deer, her expression almost similar to the one she'd worn on their night together. It was a good thing he'd had a busy night, so to say, or he wouldn't have been able to control himself. 'All alone?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She watched from the corner of her eyes as the owl stroke down on the roof, fixing the Roman man with a stare that should unnerve him. ‘Please, leave,’ she finally managed.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Why, I've only just arrived,' he said silkily and spread his hands. 'Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. I'm just curious to know what brought you here. It's quite a ways off from your father's chieftaincy.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
He wouldn’t? She found it hard to trust that smile. Essylt looked around, but no one was here. Most people had been sensible, she thought, and fled into their homes when they saw him walk through their street. ‘I might do something to you, though.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I don't think you will,' he said quietly before seating himself on the low bench she had previously occupied. 'Or did I misinterpret the "I didn't mean to" and "I'm not a murderer" coming from your lips?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘No, you didn’t,’ she said softly. Still she wished he had taken such a fright in her that he’d pass her by hurriedly. Essylt pressed the half-repaired tunic to her chest, looking at how he was sitting himself with such ease.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Didn't think I was. Please, sit.' He tapped the space next to him. Oh, how confused she looked - she must not really have expected him here. What a remarkable coincidence, this was. Away from her father's caer, alone for as far as he could figure,... she was ripe for the taking. If it hadn't been for her hands. But the thought of the danger only made him want to prove his worth. Essylt just needed a little gentle persuasion.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
He wasn’t going to leave until he’d said what he wanted to say, Essylt thought. And he seemed to have recovered from his initial fear. She didn’t know if that pleased her – though she hated the thought of frightening people, she also hated how he made her feel like he was a predator. ‘I don’t think I have much to say to you,’ she murmured, sitting down gingerly, staying on the very edge of the bench. ‘I don’t want to hurt people but sometimes it happens.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Yes, you didn't seem like the type to enjoy hurting people at all,' he murmured. 'But you haven't answered my question yet; what brings you here?'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘Trying not to do such things on people close to me,’ she answered a little reluctantly. But Morcant wouldn’t be back for a while, unless she’d somehow manage to send the owl his way without speaking. ‘Something happened back home. I’m keeping myself away to protect them. Apparently, I am dangerous even if I don’t enjoy it.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Was she trying to scare him off? Rufus thought she was, which amused him. 'I'm very sorry,' he said in a low voice. 'It must be hard to have isolated yourself so, out of your own free will, no less.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She thought about this. Yes, it was hard. It hurt like a bruise. ‘I’m not regretting it. My father and newborn brother will be safe without me.’ She looked the other way. ‘Was that all?’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Ah. I take it that your mother has passed the veil - that is how you call it, isn't it?' he asked, letting the smile slide off his face. 'I'm deeply sorry for your loss.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘She was rather more pushed,’ Essylt said, unable to keep the heavy bitterness from her voice. ‘By me.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
Well, that was a sad story indeed. If her voice didn't sound as though she was on the brink of tears, he would have thought she was making it all up in order to make sure he never touched her again. Rufus shifted on the bench, leaning against the outer wall of the little house. 'It's a coincidence we meet here,' he said after a silence, 'quite unexpected. If there is anything you need, you may tell me. After all, I'm here to look after the people living in this settlement.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘I need to be left alone,’ she said, staring at her hands. ‘I need that no one finds out I am here at all. And you don’t have to take care of me. We mean nothing to each other.’
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'Ah, you wound me,' he said and put a hand to his chest as if she'd hit him there. 'If you meant nothing to me, I would not be sitting here.' Rufus poured all his sincerity into his voice - it wasn't really a lie, anyway.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She faced him, feeling awkward. They’d never met before; just that one night. She still wasn’t sure how he’d come up with the plan to enter her room so suddenly. Well, Gwyddien’s worry had been valid. This was a dangerous man. He could probably bring her back to Two Lakes in an instant. ‘I see. Sorry for wounding you a second time.'
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I'll live. Barely, though,' he added with a half-smile. 'You said no one must find out you were here? I will make sure no one does.' Indeed, she'd be his little secret and his alone. He liked that thought.
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
She nodded once, looking around everywhere expect him. If this was all, he should get up and she’d go inside and wonder whether to tell Morcant of this encounter. But he was still sitting in a unperturbed fashion. Would it be acceptable to just raise and walk inside herself? Or would he see that as an invitation? She didn’t know what to say. He looked a little different in daylight, but she still remembered his hands across her body. He’d done all sorts of things to her, felt her in places no one had even brushed her before. It was a painful realization that he knew exactly how she looked underneath Morcant’s given clothes; that lovely blue tunic that fitted her eyes so well, according to Cuhelyn. It made her feel like she was wearing nothing at all.
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Sonja
Red & dangerous! Rawr!
'I assume you've not much furniture inside yet,' Rufus went on when she kept silent. Small talk was the way to go if he wanted to make her feel at ease. Shower her with little favours and things she needed, and she might even invite him out of her own accord. He didn't exactly have the idea that she had disliked their activities; she'd just seemed scared and shy. 'Tell me if you need anything, and I will get for you without anyone the wiser.'
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Marieke
Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
‘We have a…there’s a stool,’ she admitted. Her mouth twitched into a fleeting smile. That sounded miserable indeed, compared to Two Lakes.
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