Up To No Good And Proud Of It [Nimueh]

[Jade Santeras]

Her polished and sharpened blade swept through the air, singing as it cut through air until it clashed with that of another sword. Her opponent wore a look of surprise on his face as he realized that he had bitten off more than he could chew with this peasant girl, she was a spitfire and he was going to lose. The thrill of battle seemed to sweep through her body, it was exciting and god she couldn't get enough of it, she was winning and she was showing yet another man that she was more than what she seemed. She was a fighter. She was a knight. "I told you." She stated simply, kicking his leg out from underneath him, causing him to fall hard to the ground. Raising her sword high, she was ready to bring it down the tip of her blade, a final strike when suddenly..

BAM!

Apparently daydreaming whilst riding a horse wasn't exactly the most brilliant idea in the world. Cause one moment she was sitting atop her black mare Ruby and then suddenly she was on the ground, a nice sized red mark on the side of her face. Dazed, Jade pushed her cape from over top her head and groaned, rubbing the sore spot on her head as she tried to figure out just what had happened. Had she been attacked? Not long after she had landed on the ground, she looked up to see her horse stopping not too far up ahead, apparently noticing that Jade was no longer on her back. "What in the..." Ah, yes she had been attacked...by a low tree branch.

"Damnable tree!" She grumbled and kicked the base of the tree. Not too hard because while she was angry, she wasn't completely stupid. She didn't need to add a hurt foot to her list of injuries caused by her stupidity.

The sound of knickering caused Jade to look up, glaring at her horse as she walked up to her. "Enough laughter out of you Ruby." She demanded as she put her foot into the stirrup. The horse shook her head, as though trying to get the laughs out now and started on it's journey yet again. Ah yes, the life of a messenger, what a life it was. It was grand...pfft yeah right, it was boring as ever but at least it beat being a bloody barmaid with men groping her ass every two seconds. Seriously! At least the smell of rain filled the air, the ground was soft and somewhat muddy in different areas but it was a nice day just the same. The sun shone brightly and aside from the pain she was feeling in her head, it was still a good day.

She was on her way to Camelot to deliver a message to the King from Mercia, it was nice, a little vacation from home. Another knicker was head and Jade frowned. "Next time warn me when there's a low branch!"

[Deleted]

Once again, Nimueh was on an important mission against Camelot. Not that she wouldn’t have better things to do on the Isle of the Blessed, but since every scheme of her to kill or disgrace Uther had failed due to minor misconceptions she just needed to try and try again. Well, this time it really was simple, yet hopefully very effective. Once before she had nearly managed to spoil peace treaties between Camelot and Mercia, by making evidence pointing at Bayard trying to poison Prince Arthur. Unfortunately Arthur and Merlin in unison had spoiled her plan and so she had to try again. Because Mercia was ideal for a hot-blooded long lasting war that might dishonour Uther in the eyes of his people.

She had been trying to intercept the message delivered way earlier, maybe even before it left Mercia, but no such luck. Now, so close to Camelot, time was wasting.
And there she came, the messenger. Nimueh, still hiding behind a tree to wait for the right moment, had to surpress a snort. A girl, really! Probably thought herself a knight. And yet so lost in daydreaming that a herd of unicorns could have trampled her down without this girl noticing. Or it could just happen that… BAM!
Even Nimueh was surprised by that, and fought down an irritated wince. Surely someone couldn’t be THAT clumsy to ride into a branch? This girl would be a pushover!

Still, as the girl now was off horseback it was the perfect opportunity to approach her. While she listened to he girl monishing her horse with a slightly arrogant smile, she crept closer and suddenly stepped on the barely visible path.
“Oh, dear God, child, did you hurt yourself?” she exclaimed with her most concerned motherly voice. It would not be easy to gain someone’s trust like that on the road, especially nowadays, but Nimueh was sure if someone could it would be her!

After all, to the eyes of this girl, she now looked like a woman in her prime age, a little corpulent (to her disdain, but everything for the gain, right?), probably a peasant on her way home, collecting mushrooms or anything else. Nimueh didn’t bother as for now, she could add accesoires to her attire with one muttered word, after all.

[Jade Santeras]

The fact that this had happened in the first place was embarrassing enough but as far as Jade knew, no one had actually seen it. After all, she was in the woods and a lot of folks were superstitious about the woods, believing creatures living in the woods. Magic and such, what a load of bull. Jade had been alive for twenty one years and not once had she ever seen anything that even remotely resembled magic, not ever. It had once existed but Uther had driven them all to the brink of extinction and after all that foolishness, magic seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Ugh, too much thinking for the poor girl who had just suffered a blow not only to her head but her pride as well.

It wasn't Jade who heard the sound of footsteps but rather the horse that she had been starting to mount. Ruby's ears pricked up and she snorted, moving forward so that Jade was unable to actually get back on the horse's back. What the.. "Ruby, stop being such a stubborn mule." She grumbled as she tried to grab at the dangling reins to stop the stubborn horse. Perhaps Ruby was able to feel the magic that emanated from the woman as she approached. As Jade's hand clasped around the horse's bridle, Nimueh's voice reached her ears and she turned to see who was around. Where did she come from?

"Um...." What could she say? The fact that this woman, whoever she was, was asking that question meant she must have seen her foolish mistake. Trying to downsize it, Jade offered a half smile and shrugged. "Yes ma'am, I'm alright, no need to worry." She didn't really sound all that convincing but at least she hadn't cried, that was what was most important as far as Jade was concerned. Venturing a hand upwards to her forehead, Jade grumbled as she felt a warm liquid on her head, she had been bleeding and she hadn't even realized it. Must have smacked her head a lot harder than she thought.

"I assure you ma'am that I am alright, just a little accident, it's nothing." A dizzy spell hit her and she had to close her eyes and let it pass. Damnit all...how embarrassing. No more daydreaming while she was working, she had told herself that a dozen times over and yet things like this happened way too often. She was too clumsy for her own good and that wouldn't do at all if she wanted to someday become a knight.

It was nice that this woman actually had shown concern, she probably had some kids of her own from the looks of her. Of course Jade didn't think for even a moment that this woman was not what she appeared but rather a witch that intended to use her message to strike at Uther Pendragon. There was no way she could have thought of such a thing because that involved thinking and she wasn't really that interested in taking part of that particular activity for now. "I thank you for your concern, it was touching but I must take my leave. I must deliver this message to King Uther of Camelot and I've wasted enough time already."

Jerking her hand sharply, she kept Ruby from moving any further and brought her foot up to mount the horse yet again. "I'm sorry that I must leave you now, if I didn't have a job to do I would offer you my horse." See, Jade could be nice at times.

[Deleted]

The horse shied away as Nimueh approached and the sorceress had to bite back some muttered rude words. Some animals, if away from the ‘feeling’ of magic for too long, which had apparently happened under Uther’s reign, suddenly reacted wary to this eerie energy radiating from the right people. Horses were delicate creatures. Not only could they sense it, but also were they cowards, fearing everything they were not used to. But this girl seemed too young to have been more than a toddler when the Great Purge started, so she probably wouldn’t draw this connection.

Well, anyway, the behaviour of the horse, Ruby apparently, spared her the trouble of having to use magic already. However stupid this girl seemed to be, at least she was dedicated to her task, and that proved once again that Uther was not such of a fool after all, trusting the wrong people. Not that this would stop Nimueh. She just had to be a bit more convincing that’s all!
“Oh no, child!” she clucked her tongue. “I can see you are far from alright, you’re bleeding!”

Then she seemed to get slightly nauseous and inwardly Nimueh nodded to herself. In the time when she still had been friends with Gaius he often taught her a bit about his craft. She almost could hear his voice inside her head now. 'Hitting your head hard can sometimes cause your brain to be in a bit of a turmoil. The signal for this is sudden dizziness. The best cure against this simply is… rest!'
Nimueh decided to seize the moment and take matters into her own hands. Like a resolute mother, she moved close to the girl regardless of the horse and laid a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. “I am sorry, but I cannot allow this my child! You hit your head hard, have at least half an hour of rest, so I can be sure you won’t fall off your horse! I would never forgive myself!”

Inwardly she rolled her eyes at herself. Nimueh the mother figure? She really had to make sure this encounter never reached anyone’s attention! It would totally spoil her reputation!
To add determination to her comment, she lightly tugged at the girl’s sleeve. “Oh I am sure it must be an honor to serve King Uther, but please, just sit down with me for a few minutes. Better to deliver a message a little late than not at all, right?”

[Jade Santeras]

Had Jade known about an animal’s intuition towards magic and those that used it, perhaps she would have made a connection but her mind wasn’t made for magic or the knowledge of it so she just figured Ruby didn’t like strangers. Ruby glared at the witch, her eyes wide in fear and her immediate reaction was to get away from this dangerous woman. Whether she had a rider on her back or not didn’t exactly bother her that much. It was only Jade’s grip on the horse’s bridle that kept her from bolting from the woods and away from Nimueh. How amusing that Ruby was reacting correctly and yet she was being scolded. How ironic…

If only Jade knew just what this woman actually thought of her, she might have taken a swing at Nim. Of course there was a good chance she wouldn’t even be able to hit Nimueh and once she drew her hand back, she’d find it smaller, green, and covered in warts. Jade wasn’t stupid! Merely ignorant of magical things since they weren’t exactly introduced into her life. She didn’t want to be stopped from her job no matter what good intentions this woman may seem to have. Jade had been raised to respect her elders and she did to some degree but this woman wasn’t her mother. Hell, she didn’t even know Jade so why did she seem to think that she had to mother her? Goodness, her mothering was getting to be more of a migraine than her migraine was… “I’m fine, really..” This was said before the dizziness of course, once that hit she wasn’t sure if she was fine or not.

Once again her attempt to mount the horse and ride away from Nimueh was stopped by the persistent witch in disguise. She really was worried for Jade. Yet again, if only she knew more about magic, perhaps she would have realized that something was wrong but all she figured was that this woman knew what she was talking about. “It was my own fault, besides my head only hurts a little bit.” Jade just barely protested weakly as she was lead to sit down again. “I can rest only a few moments.” She finally conceded, taking a seat on the ground and placing a hand to her bleeding forehead. “Um, never forgive yourself? I hope I do not seem disrespectful ma’am but you don’t even know me.” There was a difference between motherly and smothering, perhaps Nim would realize that. If she tried to hug Jade, the young woman would make a quick escape.

An honor? Well it might be seen as an honor but it wasn’t going to be much of an honor if she was late in delivering it. She didn’t wish to be in trouble with not just one King but two. “I suppose it is but I do not wish to be late.” Plus sitting there in the woods with a woman who had just showed up out of the blue wasn’t exactly on her list of things to do either. Holding tight to Ruby’s reins so the horse didn’t get away, Jade relaxed for the time being. “I hope I am not interrupting…whatever it is that you were doing before you came to my ‘rescue’.” Was it polite to introduce herself now? She was a total stranger but she had been so nice. “I’m Jade of Mercia, you are?”

[Deleted]

At least this stubborn messenger girl agreed to sit down for a little bit. Nimueh inwardly rolled her eyes and cursed her fate. What had happened to the world while she wasn’t looking? Messengers were supposed to be young, foolish men, squires mostly, who were all too eager to be lead astray by some beautiful woman for an hour or two, regardless of their important mission. But girls… they were far too sensible for their own good and for Nimueh’s taste. Hence why she needed to take up the most hated role of mother hen. Truly, if Nimueh ever had wanted a daughter, her wish now was considerably toned down.

On the other hand, her own daughter would be a powerful magical being, the next High Priestess and therefore would never cause her such trouble…
Anyway, she needed to focus. This girl clearly demanded all her cunning, and she better not blew this chance!
“Only a few moments will be fine”, she reassured the messenger with a soothing voice, not wanting to alienate her further. “Just try to relax, then the dizziness might die down enough for you to continue your errand!”

Oh yes, continue she would, Nimueh had no intention of killing today, for a change. Not that she suddenly had developed some soft spot, but to kill the messenger would lead to nothing. No, the message had to be delivered… only not quite in the content it had now!
As the girl eyes narrowed for split second, Nimueh had to admit she might have overstepped a line. Now she needed a good excuse for her overdeveloped guilty conscience, but knowing Nimueh, that didn’t take long to think up.
“Yes, it sounds weird, doesn’t it”, she confessed with a shrug and a smile that said ‘forgive a woman of my age’. “But old habits just die hard, you could say. My husband is a physician, and I often help him with his patients. So, knowing you might be unwell and I let you ride off just… rubs wrong, you know?” she concluded, hoping she would buy it.

Nimueh inclined her head at the mentioning of the name. Jade… it somehow fit the girl’s personality, though the sorceress couldn’t have told you why exactly she thought that.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Jade of Mercia”, she smiled. “Even under such circumstances. I am Cecily Warren. And no, you’re not keeping me from anything. I was just finished collecting some herbs for my husband’s remedies. And fortunate that I did, because I just have something with me that could help your bruise. May I?”
This was the perfect opportunity to begin her operation, and she silenty prayed to the Great Mother Jade would not be too stubborn to accept her ‘help’.