BUT WHERE'S YOUR HEART? ; RICHARD

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra bloody hated this forest. It wasn't bad enough that she'd gotten bloody lost there several times, nor was it bad enough that on her last excursion through it she'd ended up with a bloody knife at her throat and blackmail to boot. But no, even after all that, she'd still been willing to traipse herself through once more - without a bloody horse.

Sure, she'd heard of all of the demonic creatures she could potentially run into, but considering that she'd never run into one, she had paid the idea little heed. In fact, she was there on a walk. No other purpose except to relax, allow herself to think without people fawning over her and intruding on her clearly designated personal space. The irony was really just too much, she mused, even as she hacked off the head of another Balorian spider. She was without armor, which she imagined would very soon pose a bit of a problem, but at the very least she'd brought along a sword - despite how odd a leather sheath looked when paired with a noblewoman's dress. When it wasn't a social gathering, Alegra made a point to refrain from leaving home without it - after all, you never knew when a horde of massive arachnids was going to take it upon themselves to kill you.

Why they were out and about instead of in their caves, Alegra had no idea. Perhaps that had been a rumor after all, and in fact the spiders lived above ground? Considering that an hour ago she would have laughed at anyone who had suggested their existence in the first place, she had a fairly open mind. She also couldn't figure why there were only seven or eight when supposedly they grouped together in herds, but this was not something she was going to complain about. With only two of those wretched insects down, she'd be lucky to get through this; any more and even her pessimistic side would be dumbfounded by such an unreasonable turn of events.

She was strangely calm, a fact she found disturbing. Where was that fighter's fury, that belief that she could beat their sodding arses and be home by supper? It dimmed a bit when eight bloodthirsty bugs decided to make you their next meal, her subconscious provided helpfully. Alegra had to acknowledge that her pride was wounded, too. Most of the spiders hovered at around half her size, but one of them was either just as large or larger - which admittedly wasn't hard to accomplish when considering that she hovered right below 4' 11", but still wasn't doing much for the whole ego thing. Bugs were supposed to be tiny, bugs were supposed to be squished under her feet. Bugs were not supposed to be capable of squishing her.

She was already breathing hard, cornered against a tree and some brush as she was. If any decided to come up from behind, she brooded, that would be the end of it. As it was, the awful creatures could only approach two or three at a time, and they generally lunged forward only to spring back again when her blade came a little too close. But they had her outnumbered and outpowered, horribly so, and seemed to know it. Oh, hell.

[richard]

So what was Richard Vawdrey, a Knight of Camelot, doing in the Forests of Balor anyway? Well, it had originally started off as a trip to see his family in Mercia, well... what was left of it, at least. His mother had died in a raid, whereas his father had been directly killed by him because he was one of the people behind his mother's death. So the only members of his family that he knew of where his grandparents in Camelot -- not that he particularly spent any time with either group, especially his mother's side -- and his Twin brother and younger sister. However, that trip had gone awfully wrong when he had been attacked by bandits. The group of bandits didn't survive, but... well one had gotten off with his seal marking him of nobility, and while the whole of Camelot, or at least those who mattered, knew of his nobility, he didn't think he should let the bandit get off with it.

So here he was... Or rather, here he was now. He had successfully stopped the bandit and gotten his seal back, and was now on his way back to Camelot, because he was too many days off his original schedule, Mercia being on the other side of Camelot. So, traveling through the Forests of Balor on a chestnut brown mare, Richard reined the horse to a stop at a noise. Or at least, he thought he heard a noise. He swung a leg over and off of his horse and led it by the reins to a tree. Quietly, listening to his surroundings, he tied the horse to a tree and headed towards the noise. Scuffling? The sound of something crawling or walking across the forested ground? No, it had to be more than something, it was more then one for him to actually hear it.

Slowly, quietly, pulling his sword from its sheath, Richard crept closer and closer, keeping to the trees. As he got closer, he saw a woman, though rather on the shorter side, as the spiders weren't that smaller than her. Spiders? Oh hell... And they seemed to have her outnumbered. He should go help! He told himself. Rushing up, he came up from behind and swung his sword at the nearest spider, hacking off one of its hairy legs.

"Need some assistance?" he asked, confident that he could help, but not overly confident. She stood a better chance against these spiders if she had help.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

The whole monster-bug-trying-to-eat-you thing was getting very old, very fast. Her arms were getting tired from swinging side to side so much, something she hadn't trained for - in general, she fought humans, which were much taller than they were wide. This was the opposite case, and the unused muscles were groaning in protest over their blatant abuse. Alegra, never one to sympathize with herself over a weakness - especially not one that could cause her to end up between spider mandibles any second now - ignored it.

When she looked over, therefore, after her peripheral caught the unmistakable flash of a blade, she was momentarily stunned and nearly lost a few fingers for it. A man? What on earth was he doing here - and better yet, when the hell did he arrive? Her brows furrowed in concentration as she attempted to balance her thoughts with the raging arachnids, which didn't seem to be going terribly well in her favor. She took a deep breath, trying to clear her thoughts, and when she looked again, the spider that was just as big as she was had obscured her view. For several moments, she considered the thought that she had only imagined him - it wouldn't be the first time she'd tricked herself into believing something, she was sure. But, as if on cue, the spider moved again, and there he was.

A flash of spider movement to the side, and she dodged, but just a second too late - she avoided most of the blow, but wound up with a lovely slash down her face. Just like the last time she'd fought something in this forest. "Would you just go away?" she hissed at it, and slammed her sword straight into its stomach; but before she could feel victory over that small win - it was wounded, though she didn't think it was dead - she heard the man's voice, obviously speaking to her unless he had a knack for talking with their eight-legged friends. Did she need assistance? Alegra bristled instantly. No, she most certainly did not need assistance! She was perfectly independent.

"I don't-" she began, but was cut off when she had to duck to avoid another spider to the face. She growled in frustration.

[richard]

Well, the lady appeared not to want his help. Yet he would not "go away" and leave her to fend for herself, either. He would leave her when he saw her to safety, and in the midst of a spider attack was not that safety that would be required. So, instead of stepping back and walking away -- surely she really didn't want him to leave, right? -- he would step further to her side to stand beside her. And, while he wouldn't protest against the lady fighting -- though he still didn't like the thought -- he would be paying close attention to her to make sure that she did not get hurt. "I'm sorry, my lady," he chuckled softly, "but I doth protest!"

He would turn his attention on the larger of the spiders, an abnormal sized one in comparison to the others! Twirling the sword within his hands in a graceful arc, Richard took a swing at it and any spider that came within his reach. Spiders were tricky little things. They were quick-paced, agile, deadly, graceful, and just a problem altogether. However, he was confident that he was quicker.

His sword snapped across; then came slashing back the other way. Richard repeated the routine, then a third time, each strike bringing his thoughts more in line with this task. Each strike was perfectly aimed, and each parry intercepted the spider's attacks perfectly. He didn't watch his hands, but instead kept his gaze locked on the spider, letting his senses lead him. Richard felt his momentum building, felt the give and take of the battle coming quicker with each thrust and parry.

He went into a spinning rotation, sword flowing up and then down. His blade connected repeatedly with the spider's legs, cleanly severing a few of them. As the spider, evil creature it was, tried to get him from the side, he suddenly reversed his spin and went the other direction.

And between all of this, he managed a single glance at the woman.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra wrinkled her nose and glanced over at him at his chuckled protest. Sparing time for female nature was really not a good idea at the moment, especially considering the spiders swiping at her that really couldn't care less whether or not her new-found companion was as delightfully handsome as he was, but she couldn't help but appreciate his attractiveness even so. He was a good fighter, too; that much she could tell even though her observations were limited to her peripheral vision. There was an ease about his movements that made it clear he was well-practiced, and an efficiency that proved the practice had proven its usefulness. However, Alegra was slave to affection for no man, good fighter and big brown eyes or otherwise; she had much better things to do with her time, such as preventing herself from becoming an arachnid feast.

Having cast aside whatever hormones had been distracting her, Alegra felt herself becoming quite competitive. His skill bothered her; she didn't very much fancy anyone being as good as she was, which it seemed he was. This piqued her further, and determined to prove herself even if he had no idea that was what she was doing, she began fighting a bit harder, the swordsmans' energy finally showing through in her. Of course, she couldn't spare time to consider that the man was witnessing a noble lady fighting off spiders, though it managed to pass through in the back of her mind before she squashed it.

When finally all of the spiders were no more than corpses - much more quickly than Alegra would have expected, which she attributed to his skill and her ego - she stopped, taking several moments to catch her breath and wipe the blood from her cheek. Wonderful, she thought sourly. How am I going to explain this to Mother? She ran a hand through her hair, and finally turned to stare at the man who had appeared presumably out of nowhere and come to her aid. She wanted to ask what the hell he was doing in the forest alone, but then came to the conclusion that that was incredibly hypocritical, as he would no-doubt want to know the same and she would have no answer for him. The idea that she'd received assistance still irked her, in fact. She was a self-sufficient fighter and woman.

"I didn't need help," she muttered with a deep frown. The fact that she had been quite certain before his arrival that she would wind up dead had been completely forgotten; her pride insisted on maintaining the fact that she was just fine on her own, and while it was perfectly kind of him to rescue the poor damsel in distress, this damsel was more than capable of rescuing herself, thank you very much.

[richard]

When Richard had managed to steal a glance at the lady during the fighting, he couldn’t deny that he was surprised by what he saw. She was fighting the spiders too, and with just as much skill as he! A woman that was not afraid to fight? Now, wasn’t that a pleasant surprise! He focused his attention back on the battle at hand, now, pleased to have such a skilled person fighting beside him. Well, he thought, it was probably not “beside” him, she was probably trying to prove that she was able to fight off the nasty beasts herself. Wouldn’t change his mind, though, he still wouldn’t abandon her.He twirled his sword in one hand as one spider reared for an attack. With one fast motion, Richard sidestepped to the left, and then lunged forward, swinging the sword in an arc with his right arm, splitting the spider cleanly, if you could call it that, in two. He didn’t lose his footing during this attack, however, and continued with his momentum his wide variety of swings and chops, all combined into one skilled, flowing attack. And surely, soon enough, all spiders lay dead at their feet.

At this time, he turned to regard her curiously. Aside from the blood, the spiders’ blood he knew, she was a rather… attractive woman indeed. Not to mention her intense blue eyes that told Richard that she was quite capable of handling herself. Still, he wouldn’t back down from the thought that she had needed assistance against those dreadful Balor Spiders. Nor would he act to his desire – though there weren’t much sinful thoughts there, he was an honorable man, and those were wrong –. Instead, when she spoke, he gave her a smile, wiping his bloodied sword against the grass before sheathing it place at his hip once more.

Glancing around at the corpses of the spiders, he gave a small chuckle and a nod. “I can quite see that, milady. You handled yourself magnificently,” he replied, wiping his hands off on his pants, as he wore chainmail armor above. “Still, the spiders from this region are tricky little devils, larger than spiders should naturally be. It won’t be long until other come to the smell of blood.”

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra couldn't help but grimace slightly at his comment. More spiders; that was exactly what she needed right now. She sighed, wiping at her face again and taking a brief look around before her gaze settled back on him. She supposed she really ought to thank him, but the hell if she would. Her mother would have had an absolute conniption if she knew, but then again, her mother wasn't there, was she? And even if she had been, she probably would've been more appalled at the sight of her daughter dicing up spiders than the fact that she had failed to commend the knight that had come to assist her. Assistance she hadn't needed, she reminded herself for the umpteenth time. The busybody.

She recalled that he'd just complimented her and tried not to be pleased about the fact. Of course she'd handled herself well; she was an expert with a sword. As she inspected him, trying to decide how to respond, she found herself liking what she saw much too much. Further investigation of his face revealed him to be familiar; very faintly familiar. A knight, most likely, so she'd probably seen him while she herself was in disguise. She sighed, mulling over how unbelievably complicated the day had become; if she had a horse, she'd be halfway across the forest by now, eager to forget this entire thing had ever happened.

"I knew that," she muttered, her mood too foul for her to even pretend to put on the guise of the noble lady that she was. He'd already seen her fighting, anyway, so there wasn't much to be done for it; she could only hope he wasn't the type to use it against her, such as the last bloody knight she'd come across in this forest. Admittedly, this one seemed a bit nicer, but he was too nice (at this point, her furious subconscious was grabbing at strings to lay fault to him). What business did he have, running around and saving - "saving" - women in trouble? Did men even do that any more? Not without deeper intentions, she told herself firmly. He's obviously heartless. "You may leave now," she announced.

[richard]

Richard didn’t miss the woman’s grimace at his words. Well, could he blame her? More spiders would be a bad thing indeed! No one liked spiders, at least… no one he knew. He also knew, from what he had already deciphered of her, that she wouldn’t be thanking him for coming to her aid. That much didn’t bother him, however. He wasn’t the type that needed thanks, though he would have humbly accepted them had she offered them. He would have helped anyone had they been in the same predicament, so surely he didn’t need any!

The more he studied her, however, the more he was actually glad to have stumbled upon the woman. Despite her proud-to-be attitude, he liked her – did he love her? No, he just met her! Though he couldn’t deny her beauty – but he liked her strong personality. She was skilled with a sword, and admirable trait, and confident. And he respected that, especially in a noble woman such as herself – for surely she was! Yet still, despite her words, he would not leave. How “honorable” he would appear if he just left the lady alone in these woods!

“Milady, I fear I cannot do as you request,” he said, though he knew fully well it wasn’t a request. He gave her a small bow. “Please, allow me to escort you to where you head. These woods are dangerous, even for someone as skilled as you are.” As an afterthought, he added, “I’m Richard Vawdrey, Knight of Camelot,” as he realized he hadn’t introduced himself yet. He hoped that he could get her name, though if she didn’t want to tell him, he would respect that.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

His immunity to her bad mood and sarcasm only irked her further, and she suddenly had the very childish urge to get a rise out of him. Of course, a normal nineteen year old noblewoman would acknowledge the immaturity of such a plan and disregard it, but Alegra was far from normal, and in fact she indulged in such youthful things all the time; one half of her acted twice her age, and one acted half of it (at best). But really, no one was this nice. He had to have an ulterior motive for dashing through the forest, saving noble maidens from lurking monsters, because if he didn't, it meant that he probably did so on a regular basis, and she didn't like that idea at all. Now that the kiddish side of her was roaring, it was in full-blast, and it insisted that she must be the only one he'd saved - well, "saved.

No wonder she had a problem with people.

"Of course you can't," she said curtly after a moment. "Because you are a knight, and heaven forbid your fellow knights discover you left a young woman in the forest. Your image would be ruined." She found herself annoyed by the very prospect; she didn't want to be a pawn in the building of some knight's reputation - and naturally, by this point, she had convinced herself that that was exactly what was going on. A small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that he had acknowledged her skill rather than denying it or making excuses for it, and he didn't even look disgusted by it - but she squelched it by convincing herself that it was to serve his own benefit, the scoundrel.

She was already mentally creating an entire life story for him. He'd probably traveled for years and years, saving women and using them and then moving on, and Camelot was just one stop in his journey of life. With the knowledge he now had of her, she considered whether or not it would be wise to give him her real name, and eventually determined that it was; he wouldn't dare tell everyone that she was good at swordfighting, as it would undermine his story that he saved her. Besides, as a knight he no doubt knew her brother and would recognize the name. "Lady Alegra Silvertongue," she announced boldly.

[richard]

No! He hadn’t meant it quite like that! he complained in his head. Sure, he had thought it, after all, that would indeed happen if he had left her. But he hadn’t wanted to leave her in the first place! It wasn’t like he was going to go back to Camelot and brag about saving some woman’s life anyway, no matter what he did! That wasn’t in his nature! He opened his mouth to refute her claims, but found that nothing wanted to come out. And at his obvious discomfort, he turned a slight pink in the face from embarrassment. Several times in a row he cleared his throat before he found words to speak. “Milady!” he protested. “That was never my intention; to keep my reputation! I just don’t want such a fair lady to be in danger!”

Richard had the feeling the lady didn’t like him very much. He also had the feeling that she was purposefully trying to irk him, and couldn’t help but wonder if eventually she would manage to succeed. How many things could she think of to say, or think to do, that would finally get a rise out of the Knight? He could only imagine. Not that he wanted that to happen, oh gods no! But, he was still mortal, and there were still things that could irk even him.

Then, she gave him her name, and he pulled back in surprise a moment. Lady Alegra Silvertongue? So she was Drake’s younger sister, then. Well, he would have to watch himself around Alegra, lest he do something that would have her tell her older brother and start a feud between the two. He didn’t want to be at odds with the respected Knight. “You are Sir Drake’s younger sister?” he questioned, just to repeat it to himself. He gave her another deep bow in respect. “It is my deepest pleasure to meet you, Lady Alegra. Please, allow this humble Knight to escort you home?”

He knew that he couldn’t keep denying her wishes for him to leave. But even so, if she kept refusing him, he was going to secretly follow her to make sure she remained safe. And again, not because she was a noble, not because she was Drake’s sister, and not because he wanted to keep his reputation, but because he just wanted to make sure she would be safe wherever she was going.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Was this guy even human? He should have been more than annoyed with her by now, but instead he simply defended himself, seemingly completely untouched by her offense - save for the faint blush of his cheeks, which she only now noticed. It brought her decent satisfaction, but it was destroyed by the sense of attraction she felt because of it that was far too ill-timed for her liking. She exchanged all of the unwanted sensations for a subtle feeling of amusement. "I am hardly a fair lady," she said, snorting as if to drive the point home. "I'm sure there are far better out there for you to save from the perilous fate of overgrown bugs." She spoke the words incredulously, having forgotten that minutes earlier she'd been musing in disgust over their massive size.

She watched his surprise with none of her own once she'd given her name. She saw it reflected on the faces of all those who knew her brother, of course. People couldn't help but wonder how the same parents that had produced such a noble, charming knight had also managed to create the tiny ball of dynamite that was his sister. Alegra found it wonderfully funny, as she did with most controversial things, but she did have flashes of sympathy for her poor sibling, as he was bound not only by society's opinion of him but of her, too. For the most part, she put on a lovely face in public and that was that, but there were rumors circulating due to those - men especially - that she had been less than polite to in public, and she genuinely regretted that Drake was exposed to them, though she knew well that he found it every bit as comical as she did.

His description of himself as a humble knight had her internally rolling her eyes. Did she have to poke his eye or something? She was becoming seriously curious as to whether he could even be infuriated, but reminded herself that everyone had their breaking point. Surely he applied.

As she digested his request, she considered her options. She was most certainly capable of escorting herself home, spiders be damned, and she rebelled at the very though of needing someone to guide her - but then, she doubted when she'd have another opportunity to attempt to get under his skin, so prolonging their time together seemed the better option. She decided that she was really becoming very wicked if she was keeping company with someone for the sole purpose of annoying them, but that little personality flaw could be dealt with later, because she was too determined to follow through with it to try and resist now. This was part of what made her so incredibly difficult to deal with; it was like dealing with a nine year old that possessed the intuition and intelligence of an adult. A lethal combination, indeed. "You may," she finally said, albeit a bit arrogantly.

[richard]

When she commented that she was hardly a fair lady, Richard sighed. He was almost tempted to say “You’re right, you’re not,” to her stubborn attitude, but he managed to hold that in check. Why did she insist on deny that he was any help at all? The spiders had been a pain; surely they were at least a slight problem for her? He took a deep breath at her incredulous words and shook his head. “Perhaps, but none appeared other than you. Therefore, you were, and are, my primary concern, my lady.” Yes, she may be determined to annoy him, but he wouldn’t let her if he had his say in things!

The more time he spent with her, however, the more he was sure that she would wind up getting closer and closer to her goal. He would just have to be careful what he said around her. Perhaps she wouldn’t think of anything to say against him, then. Every person had their breaking point, because everyone had their secrets or could only handle so much before they gave up hold out in a fit. He didn’t pride himself on that anger, as anger frequently led to rash decisions. Therefore, he preferred only to allow his anger out when it would benefit him and those he cared for. The last time he had fully let his anger out was when his mother had been killed because of his father. He had gone and searched for the man, putting aside his mother’s wishes for him to become a Knight in Camelot, and literally hunted the hated man down. When he had found him, the source of many of his life’s problems, he had betrayed his self-named honor and killed the man on the road.

He wasn’t proud of that, yet at the same time, he felt that his father’s death was justified. So, all in all, it was a rather confusing bunch of emotions indeed. But that had been the last time he had been the angriest, and that led him to having to keep this a secret. For his father had been a well respected noble, and from what he had gathered, he was working for his mother’s parents, who wanted her dead for some bizarre reason – it should have been the other way around, they should have wanted his father dead, as he was the one who took their daughter away from Camelot in the first place. But alas, some people just reeked of contradiction.

When she agreed to let him come with her, despite being arrogant, he gave her another polite smile. “Thank you, milady, I assure you that you will be in safe hands.” He glanced around, and then added, “Did you not bring a horse?” No worries, if she hadn’t, she could use his. They would just have to backtrack a little ways and find where he had left his. Either way they would have to, though, as he would not leave the horse in these woods alone.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

She could see that she was getting to him, and the knowledge pleased her inexplicably. She held back a grin, ever more determined to push forward, her annoyance regarding the existence of a man such as himself only serving to fuel it. "Perhaps we could go find you one," she suggested cheekily. "A useless blonde bimbo, maybe, for you to swing over your arm as you walk into the city. You can leave her behind to tell stories of your conquests, and how you so aptly squashed all those insects." Her eyes were alight, almost feverish with her condemnation of his efforts, the set of her jaw proving that she was nothing if not mule-headed.

In safe hands? Her brows rose, her stance automatically shifting as a hand went to her hip. In safe hands, indeed! "Mayhap I should be the one saying that to you," she told him flatly, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "You've proven your worth against spiders, but heaven forbid any other bug come at you. Suppose a hoard of killer bees appears? I'll have to spend the afternoon saving you."

Her pride was flashing a rainbow of colors at this point, its radiation nearly tangible. She would never be "in safe hands," because she never put herself there. If danger arose, she would take care of it - the hell if she needed him to do it for her! And she found it very arrogant of him to assume he did, though of course she determined her own arrogance to be completely excusable. The skill of a man was trusted automatically, but a woman had to earn it; it was a system that she boycotted profusely and in fact blatantly ignored, or at least she was now that she had thought of it. At this point, her creativity had taken off so completely that he could probably have saved a small child from being trampled by a horse and she would have concluded that he'd been paid to do it. Such was the mind of a rebellious teenager.

She "hmph"ed at his inquiry as to her lack of horse. "Some people are more than capable of using their own two feet instead of lazing around and forcing an animal to do it," she announced. Nevermind that moments ago she'd been fervently wishing she had done just that; that was irrelevant to her point and therefore disregarded. She was on a tangent, and one she was unlikely to step down from any time soon. Normally she was not nearly so insufferable to people, especially kind ones, and instead respected them immensely, but she had a particular problem with being aided in any way and the fact that he had brought on an automatic resentment toward him - not that she would ever admit that.

[richard]

She really was a stubborn one, wasn't she? Richard was, sincerely, shocked by how absolutely unbearable she was to a complete stranger! One who had helped fight off the spiders nonetheless! One would think that someone would be nicer to someone with a sword, but alas, apparently not. Though, there was that little feeling in the back of his mind that admired her attitude. She was different from most nobles, who would at least but on a facade of respect. She, on the other hand, wasn't afraid to speak her mind. However, admiration didn't mean that he liked the insults.

And that was what he took her comment as, an insult. He raised his hands in exasperation a little, but let them fall with a resounding clapping noise back to his sides. " 'Blond bimbo?' " he asked incredulously. " 'Swing over' my arm and tell stories of my 'conquests?' Milady, what kind of person do you take me for?" He certainly would not swing anyone over his arm! Sure, he might tell stories of his "conquests", but all in good humor to amuse the Knights. He only exaggerated his tales to his thirteen year old sister, who loved tales of adventure and valor more than anything in the world.

And then she said something that both amused him, and annoyed him. How could someone be a gentleman if said woman wanted to toss insults back at him? But to think she honestly would be the one protecting him? Now, he wouldn't deny her skill, but he wouldn't deny his own either! He thought he could rather handle himself -- in particular against bees. "Milady, I have killed men before, I think I could handle a horde of killer bees. Now, if you mean a horde of giant killer bees, than this forest is more messed up than either of us could presume. Still, I think I would be quite okay."

He tried to lessen any anger she had at him by inserting humor. Though, he didn't know how well that would work against the fiery young lady. Still, he had to try something, as he wasn't going to just accept insults without speaking. He looked her over again, and than looked into the distance behind him. "Of course, you are right," he said, suddenly with a hint of mischievousness. "And as one of those people, I offer my horse to you." If she wanted to play hard, than so would he. She could either accept the horse, or he would play the "I'm not so nice" card and "throw her over his shoulder" and precede to bind her to his mare.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra gave him a look that silently but potently questioned his intelligence. "The kind of man that would throw a blonde bimbo over his arm," she repeated, a bit more slowly as if he was hard of understanding. She could see his annoyance bubbling under the surface, which came as no surprise at this point, considering she'd all but called him a pock-marked snake of a man - which would come later, she was sure, if he didn't crack before then. It was nearly a game for her by this point. She had yet to meet a person that she couldn't needle her way under the skin of, and she had no intention of allowing him to be the first.

"Killed them, have you?" she asked in an amused voice, like she was speaking to an story-telling child. "I think not. Not a kind, collected man like yourself." Of course, even if he had, she was the least likely woman in the world to have a problem with it. She couldn't stand the idea of killing someone purposefully, but she'd certainly had her share of blood on her hands and lives to her sword. Alegra rarely went looking for trouble that required such a solution, but it frequently found its way to her, just as it had today with the spiders, and when faced with a man whose intentions were black as night and painted on his face, she had no qualms about ramming a sword through his stomach and leaving him.

"'More messed up'?" she quoted, arching a brow. "Because giant killer bees would truly surprise you in a forest where homicidal lizards and giant spiders and ravenous men take humans as their pray as frequently as they can manage?" She would know. "You have been around here before, have you not? Didn't you say you were a knight?"

She saw the change of mood reflected in his eyes, and her own narrowed much like a cat's. He was growing a backbone, it seemed, subtly throwing her insult back in her face. If she were in the mood to be impressed, that would have done the trick, but was it was, she was far from allowing that. "I think not," she said simply, her eyes drifting to the horse in question. It was a beautiful creature, much like its owner - a thought she disregarded almost before she was done thinking it - and she'd always had a fondness for them, even envied their freedom. A female horse was still admired for her strength and speed without everyone criticizing it. She turned back to look at him and said rather smirkishly, "No, I believe the horse should be reserved for more delicate creatures like yourself. You wouldn't want to twist an ankle - the forest floor can be quite tricky."

[richard]

Richard sighed wearily. "Well, then your perception is wrong, milady. For I wouldn’t ‘throw’ anyone over my arm.” Really, did she think that bad of him? Was every man that tried to help someone in the middle of the forest, in particular this forest, all of a sudden the worst man alive? Apparently, from what he had managed to garner from the conversation so far. He had his own perception of himself, and it didn’t lie anywhere near that description. He was a man of his word, or at least strived to be, and would never take advantage of a situation wherein he used anyone, helpless woman or no, to further heighten his name among the Knights! And, before they reached wherever she was heading – as he didn’t know if she was to return to Camelot or not – he was bound and determined to convince her otherwise.

And she doubted that he had killed men? Or she was saying that to get to him. He wasn’t sure of which. He wasn’t keen on pressing the subject, as he was not proud of it, but he wanted her to understand that he wasn’t such a “kind and collected” man when it came to battle and protecting his and others’ lives. These words, however, bothered him more than a little, as he had indeed killed before, and once for revenge on his father. A brief look of uneasiness crossed his face before passing. “Perhaps you don’t believe me, but battle isn’t a trivial thing. Even the kindest of people – and I am not speaking of myself as the kindest of people – lose their temper. Death is not a minor thing. I am not proud of some of the things I have done.”

He looked away from her after he finished speaking, as if she would be able to read his thoughts. He doubted she could, though, doubted that she could tell he was speaking of his father. She most likely knew about the first Richard, Richard Vawdrey I. Then again, she had lived in Camelot for… how long? All her life, perhaps? The Vawdrey family name might have been heard around. His mother’s maiden name was the more likely, however, as they were better respected… Still, even if she had heard of his father, there could be no way that she would know that it was he who had killed the older man, and not the bandits that wandered the lands.

“Of course I have been here before,” he said with a sigh. “I have been within this Kingdom for quite some time and more than once have traveled through this forest. I was only trying to add light to the conversation. But, I must ask, milady, what have you been doing? Assuming that you take frequent trips through this forest, according to your words.” Yes, what need did such a young lady have to be going through this dangerous forest?

He almost smirked as she narrowed her eyes. Did she know what he planned? He prayed not, as he intended to go through with it, seeing as she refused to take the horse. It would be the actually getting her there that would be the task. From what he had seen of her fighting and her feisty attitude, he hoped not to find a dagger in his back! “But milady, I insist!” he said, feigning shock. “Here, let me help you to Arundel, she’s a sweet horse,” he added. He turned towards the horse, as if to go fetch her, only to turn abruptly on his heels and used his momentum to move forward and try to wrap his arms around her. If he succeeded, he would proceed to throw her over his shoulder – see, he didn’t throw women over his arm! – and go for the horse. If he failed, well… he would figure that out depending on what she did.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

She listened to his lecture about death with little care, wishing very much to inform him that she knew that quite well but unable to do so, lest she reveal her cover as knight. Instead, she simply replied, "But you are a knight, are you not? At Prince Arthur's command, you would go into battle and slay men who most likely do not deserve it, and instead are simply following the orders of their commanders. Perhaps death is no "minor thing," but for someone who speaks so strongly against it, you still are forced to treat it as such." A challenged blazed in the bright blue of her eyes, though what exactly the challenge was was entirely unclear to even herself; it was really just the fact that she was challenging him to begin with.

Her initial reaction to his question was just to inform him that she did not owe any explanation to him, but she thought better of it. Why not tell the truth? He was probably on some reluctant journey, she had truly come to the practically forbidden forest for a stroll. "I came here on a walk," she answered somewhat smugly. "A nice afternoon of relaxation." It hadn't exactly turned out to be such, but the intention had been there and that was all that really mattered, though by this point she was wondering if she should ever find it wise to stroll through the damn forest ever again. First bandits and a man that was far worse, and now spiders; what an awful place to be.

At his insistence, she lifted her brows, wondering if he was really so foolish as to think that was all it would take to convince her (which obviously would have been an incorrect assumption). She was just opening her mouth to object when he abruptly turned around and grabbed at her, and though she had reflexes to be proud of, it was so unexpected that she had absolutely no time to react before she found herself hoisted over his shoulder with a yelp of shock and indignity. Of all the nerve!

On some level, she found herself rather pleased that he was finally responding and even sinking to her own level, but that was immediately demolished by the fact that she was over his shoulder. The hell if she would be treated like a rag doll! Her fury came in waves. Even as a child, she'd been tiny, and people had constantly been picking her up and setting her places and never allowing her to do a thing on her own. By the time she was five, she'd stopped letting them completely, and she was quite certain no one had done so since, except perhaps when she fell off a horse or something and her brother carried her home. She was nineteen, yet here she found herself, more than five feet off the ground thanks to an absolute stranger!

"Bumbling cad!," she shouted, nearly shrieking. "I'm carrying!" She completely ignored the fact (as she often did) that that was a taboo subject among men; she didn't care how hard he blushed as long as he set her the hell down. "Put me down before you kill it, if you haven't already!" She wriggled against his shoulder, beating her fists against his back and letting out a gasp when the point of it drove into her stomach for her efforts, effectively winding her - which was probably a good thing, because if she'd had air to shout with, she'd have been using it for curses by now.

[richard]

Richard knew she had a point. Yes, at Prince Arthur’s command, he would go into battle and slay men. Some of those men were forced, he knew. Some of those men had no choice but to do as told, to kill others, to join an army or a group of people bent on bloodlust… Some of those men were in fact not men, but just boys, barely older than his young sister. Yes, he killed those who didn’t deserve it along with those who did. That simple fact, however, brought him no pleasure. It was something he wasn’t suppose to think about, being a Knight. Something he was suppose to ignore so that he could complete his job and not have his emotions get in the way. And he did it, and he did it well, but in the end, he always regretted the lives lost.

“Do you think that I do not know that?” he asked steadily. “Do you think that I don’t realize that I have to treat death as a trivial thing? That I have to kill men and children even that do not deserve to be killed? Do you think I don’t realize that I have killed young boys only just older than my thirteen year old sister? Do you know how much I want to help them, but can’t, lest they drive their own blade through my heart, or another ‘comrade’ of theirs do the same? I have witnessed death in great numbers, hundreds of innocents slain before my eyes, and I couldn’t help them.” He took a deep breath. “Do you know how that feels, milady? That you are helpless to save those you love? Tell me, milady, what should I do?”

He was, of course, referring to many of his battles. Yet, he was also referring to the times he spent in his home town in Mercia… And that last, fateful day, the day his mother was killed was a large brigade of bandits composed by his father, and his mother’s vile parents. The day that many innocent people – men, women and children alike – were killed, and he couldn’t protect them. He met the challenge in her eyes with a flat stare, blank stare; trying to show that he meant every word he said exactly how he said them.

“A walk?” he asked when she told him her reason for being in the forest. “A fair enough reason, even if I wouldn’t have chosen this place as my choice to take a walk.” With ravenous giant spiders, bloodthirsty men, and just general abnormities in nearly all of the creatures within, he would have only chosen this place for a walk if he wanted a “horror-filled” walk. “Though, I guess a group of giant spiders is probably something on the nicer side of the monsters within.”

And then he was carrying her towards the horse, his attempt at grabbing her and throwing her over his back successful. Of course, she was shouting at him and beating against his back, but still, he was successful. And than she said she was carrying. He nearly stopped walking from his surprise, and indeed, he did start to turn pink from embarrassment, but he quickly gained control of his emotions. Fine, he wouldn’t carry her over his back. She didn’t want that? Alright – though he prayed, if she did indeed tell the truth about carrying, that he hadn’t killed the thing! – he would give her her wish. At least, part of it.

“I fear for the father,” he commented, referring to her general attitude and assumptions about things. “Alright, as you command, my lady,” and with that, he shifted his weight so that he made a small jump – his feet never leaving the ground, of course – and along with that, tossed her up just slightly so that he could easily “toss her over his arm” as she called it. “There we have it. Is that better?” he asked, giving her a mischievous grin. What, she wanted him to put her down so that she could run away or just refuse to use the horse he offered? If she wanted to play hard, he would play hard too, it was as simple as that.

After all, he did have a younger sister.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Her eyes turned frigid, her mind erecting the carefully constructed walls that had become customary at this point in her life to prevent anything from slipping in - or out. She listened with a cautious, disconnected air, her face entirely expressionless, and when he had finished and asked if she knew how it felt - she had no doubt it was rhetorical, but what he didn't know was that it did apply to her - she answered flatly, "Yes," and gave no further detail. Her pride was pulsating beneath the crafted guards, itching to tell him all about her excursions as she was quite certain that he wouldn't believe her, but she refrained from doing so; he didn't have to believe her, and in fact, it was probably better for her secret if he didn't.

A bit of the heat returned to her gaze when he commented that it was a "fair" reason - what gave him the right to judge her reason as fair? It was a good reason if she said it was (which she did, though she was thinking that perhaps it would be a better idea in the future to find another forest to follow it through with), and she certainly didn't need him to agree with her; in fact, it somewhat irked her that he did. She chuckled softly and dryly at his final comment regarding the forest, telling him bluntly, "The worst creature I've come across yet was a man." It was up to him to interpret it as referring to himself or not; she wasn't, of course. While he annoyed her because of her own pride and spite, she had met a much, much worse man out here - one that made her angry just to think his name.

She watched him pinken and would've grinned if she wasn't so spitting furious that she would be glad to tear his hair out. His comment, however, had her own cheeks reddening with anger. "You should be fearing the father himself if you killed his child!" she snarled, feral if anything. She'd made a point over the years to scare off potential suitors, namely because she didn't like any of them, but that had been intentional, and while she didn't blame him for thinking poorly of her personality - after all, she'd been showing him the poor side of it, if there was even a positive side to begin with (she had no false ideas about the kind of person she was), and she didn't care much what people thought, anyway - she still found it incredibly rude of him to say so; which both pleased her and infuriated her.

She bit down on her lip to keep herself from just screaming in frustration, which would surely attract other unwanted animals, but then he... tossed her?! He threw her into the air! Granted, that was a bit of an exaggeration considering the few inches she had risen while he repositioned her, but the hell if technicalities mattered at this point. He had thrown her! As if picking her up wasn't enough, to be tossed about - she'd break his finger for that if she got the chance! She landed on his arm with a dull "oof!" before the array of curses came flowing out of a mouth that otherwise seemed too elegant to be speaking them. The fact that she was small enough to toss about did not give people the right to do so, and in fact she was quite certain that she had never been in her entire life - until now.

For several seconds, she was absolutely speechless, stunned that he would even have considered doing such a thing, much less actually done it. "Are you mad?" she demanded, though she had already concluded on her own that he most certainly was. "Put me the hell down! On the ground!" She was practically seeing red, every muscle in her body tensed with indignation. Internally, she was still constructing a plan to get her off of his arm and back onto the ground where she belonged. Perhaps tears? He seemed like the type that would be susceptible to them, especially now that she had announced she was pregnant. However, right now she was still too peeved to bring any on, so she decided to wait and see if rage worked before she pressed forward with any other brilliant ideas.

[richard]

His face formed a questioning stare at her single, simple word. She did understand how that felt? Well, he didn't quite know what to make of that. Had she witnessed someone dying? Most likely, from her response. But who? He wanted to ask, but didn't feel that it was his place to ask. She obviously disliked him and thought of him as scum or something. Why give her reason to think he was nosy also? So, he just let any questions pass unspoken. Perhaps he would ask at a later time, if, of course, she didn't take him still later. Which he was beginning to think she just might.

And the worse creature she had come across was a man? Was she referring to him or not? Because so far, she appeared to hate him. Of course, he wasn't really being hostile, so perhaps she didn't mean him. Well, whoever she meant, he would answer with a neutral reply: A simple shrug and the words, "Men can be animals." He was referring to their wild, rude nature. Of course... some did act like actual animals. Withing the world, there were some strange people indeed... Some of the most dangerous people, however, were those without a care in the world for consequences, and those who didn't think.

She also had another point. If she was indeed carrying a child, and he had killed it with his antics, he should definitely be afraid of the father. A man who has lost someone he loves, even unborn, was also dangerous. He would know, from a biased point of view on his part, as he had been that man. But yes, if the child was dead, he feared that his life would suddenly grow much more dangerous. Especially with this fiery woman as the mother. "I'm sure the child is fine... If indeed you carry one," he had to add the last part just to let her know that he wasn't sure if he believed her story or not. It could be truth, or it could be a lie. He didn't know the woman, so he obviously wouldn't know if it was the truth or not.

She obviously didn't like how he was carrying her. If she had been his sister, or he had been sure she wasn't pregnant, he would have literally dropped her on the ground. She hadn't said how she wanted to be put down. But she most likely wouldn't cooperate still, and he was intent on putting her on that horse! After all, the horse was reserved for more "delicate creatures". He chuckled a little and continued to force his way towards the horse.

So, in response, he maneuvered himself so that she would briefly touch the ground before lifting her again. "Sorry, Lady Alegra," he spoke, "but I don't particularly feel like listening right now. And you didn't say how you wanted down, nor how long." She sighed, as if disappointed. "But, if you don't like this position, then," he quickly turned her so that she would be facing inwards before he lifted her into his arms bridal style, "perhaps you would prefer this one?"