The Knight Is Still Young

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

The night was still young, and Vaughn still had a great many people to meet. It was not because he was social. He loathed these kinds of events, but they would prove to put him at an advantage. Upon seeing all this royalty and nobility, and putting a name with a face, he would be able to recognize and remember most people here and that would be very useful in the future. For today, he would have to be Vaughn Adeney, noble knight of Lord Adeney and only representation of the family. He was not here to make a good impression, but he could not make a scene either as he did not want to be escorted out when he still had so much to learn and discover about all the royal guests, and the Pendragons themselves.

He walked in, after having taken a short break from the ball. It was only the first night of the festivities and Vaughn was already sick of the extravagance and show the Pendragons, and everyone else here really, put on. He was dressed in a dark outfit, with gold work on it. It was not too over done, but sophisticated and elegant enough to make him look like a noble. He was far too used to being in his armor, and did not exactly like the feeling of not having his swords strapped to his back. He at least had his dagger tucked in his boot, just in case. He could not go anywhere, completely unarmed.

His eyes scanned the crowd. Beautiful women. Vain men. Wait. Speaking of beautiful women, his eyes rested in a very familiar one. Alegra Silvertongue. It was her, and she was almost unrecognizable. She blended in with this crowd as she too had an appearance to maintain as the daughter of a rich and noble family. This was the first time he had seen her since his first, and rather long encounter. Maybe he would call for his next payment during the course of the next five days.

Vaughn grinned. She was conversing with some people. Oh this was too funny. He approached her, keeping in mind that he had to be civil, but still. He knew he would not be able to help himself. "My my, Lady Alegra. Don't you look positively ravishing tonight." His tone was not as suggestive as it had been in the past when he complimented her, not on the surface anyway. To anyone listening it was polite, kind, and flattering. But to her; to Alegra, someone who had engaged in a very long conversation with Vaughn and had spent a significant amount of time with him, she would know the underlying meaning of his words.

[[ Tag Alegra
-- First Night; Introductory Ball ]]

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Oh, how Alegra hated social gatherings. Loathed them, in fact, to the point where she was not above throwing a rather childish tantrum at her mother if she thought that it would gain her any ground towards not going. In this case, it hadn't, and she had bitterly and unhappily was prepared for the Introductory Ball. Even Drake was going, and he disliked them nearly as much as she, which placated her some. Of course, the two had entirely different reasons. For the most part, he simply disliked being around people he didn't know, as it felt it made the entire social scene awkward.

Alegra, on the other hand, had much more violent distaste for it. Her instincts were that of a knight, having trained like one, matched up with the paranoia of a person with a very big secret and the unease of a person that was easily the smallest one there, and obviously so. She hated to think that there could be someone in the ground with a sword tucked into their pants, just ready to pull it out and go after someone. Since all she owned was a sword and there was obviously no place on the form-fitting, low-cut dress she wore to store something of its size, she was defenseless. Alegra Silvertongue did not like being defenseless. There was something to be said for having her older brother around, but considering she hadn't seen him in quite some time, the comfort was rapidly wearing off.

In fact, he'd fairly abandoned her. One moment, the two of them had been standing beside each other, approaching a familiar group of friends; the next, she turned to ask why he was being so rudely quiet, only to find that he had disappeared into the crowd. In fact, minutes later when she spotted him and he noted her pointed glare, he had the gall to smile and wave at her! Inside, Alegra was fuming, but on the outside, she was every bit the serene, elegant, lovely woman that society expected her to be. In fact, she even managed to pull it off better than most other women who really did aim to live that way, namely because she'd observed them all and taken the best parts from each.

To her dismay, she felt herself being watched. The hair at the nape of her neck seemed to stand on end, but she didn't move, simply kept speaking, laughing at all of the appropriate moments, until finally the person who had been watching her seemed to be much closer, and then he spoke. Her night abruptly grew much worse, and she found herself wishing very intently that she could disappear behind the drapery. The friends she was speaking to regarded Vaughn interestedly; the three females looked flattered, though he had not spoken to them, and the male appeared to be sizing him up. Alegra, however, caught the double meaning in his words.

"Thank you," she said graciously - a bit too graciously, almost mockingly, though the others would hardly be able to pick up on it. "You dress up quite nicely." There was more, there, of the returned underlying tones that she was confident he would pick up on, but that she could not make too obvious lest she upset their company. Stupid, nonsensical, utterly ridiculous ball!

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

Vaughn withheld a laugh. After all, there was nothing funny to those around them who were watching and listen to their conversation. But to Vaughn, there was something extremely funny in her words. It was because it was a compliment from her. It was something that though meant to be nice, he knew the actual message she was trying to get across. It was almost as if the two knew each other well enough to be able to talk in some sort of code or different language. "Thank you My Lady." He slightly lowered his head in a bow. He had never showed her this kind of respect before. He was mocking her, because of where she was and how she looked and so was emphasizing his by paying her the proper 'respect'.

"I hardly recognized you, considering you looked rather different during our previous encounter." When she was all clad in armor and then in her undergarments, and then a more simple dress. "But I must truly say how beautiful you look tonight." All he could do was smile. Not laugh, unless there was something to be laughed at. And not suggestive, unless they were alone or only were within ear shot of each other. Oh, this was too funny and holding in all his laughter was proving to be rather difficult.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

She smiled politely at his sort-of-bow, and gave a slight sort-of-curtsy in return. When her friends cleared their throats, obviously waiting to be acknowledged, she straightened out and put on an overly apologetic face. "Here we are, exchanging pleasantries, when I've yet to even introduce you all! How forgetful of me." There was nothing even remotely forgetful about her, of course. Her mind was as sharp as a spear and as hot as the fire used to make it; but they couldn't know that, of course. "Clarisse, Elizabeth, Anne, and Frederick," she informed him, gesturing daintily at them as she did so, and then turned to them. "This is Vlad." At their bemused expressions, she carefully explained, "Well, it's short for Vladimir. He prefers Vlad." She shot them a calculated don't-ask-me-why look that was supposedly intended for their eyes only.

"Yes, well, at our last encounter I didn't have hours of preparation beforehand," she provided, still smiling. There was a barest touch of sarcasm to her voice, of course. In reaction, she had had hours of preparation - it was simply for armor, not for a dress. Acting as the epitome of the modesty that she had so sworn to be against, she even managed to blush a little, her cheeks tinting a light pink color as she said, "Why, thank you. I don't know how the servants manage to do anything with this hair, it's a wonder they made me presentable at all."

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

He smiled politely at each guest as she introduced them. He would remember their names. Not because it was important right now, but it may be significant in the future. And that was when she introduced him as 'Vlad', Vladimir. Vaughn just kept smiling. He decided tonight would be a good time to reveal his real name. He would after all, be referred to as Vaughn, Sir Vaughn, for those who knew him. Had this place not required seals and proof of identity, he would not have bothered with his real name. But now, he may as well. "Actually, it is Vaughn," he informed them, in a very polite tone. He glanced at her, giving her a quick wink, only quick enough for her to see if she was looking at him. "It is a pleasure to meet you all." Was it a pleasure? No. Was it interesting? The night still had yet to prove that.

Yet again, Vaughn held back a laugh. She was acting like such, a noblewoman. Then again, he was acting like a gentleman. There was nothing apparent about their deception, though the two of them knew it was far from the truth of their true selves. "Those hours of preparation proved to be very beneficial." He emphasized the words hours. He knew this was not her style. Not her scene. And that was why it was so funny to see her in such a position, acting like such a princess.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

At his correction, she made a small "o" with her mouth, and then her lips transformed into a lovely little pout. "It was not very nice of you to lie to me," she chastised, noting his wink and trying very hard to resist the urge to step on his foot. Instead, she turned her sights to the four that still stood there, looking rather confused by now, and murmured conspiratorially, "Honestly, men can be such teases!" in a tone low enough that it would seem he wouldn't be able to hear it, when in reality she'd made sure he could so long as he was paying attention. The ladies nodded sympathetically and Frederick shifted his weight rather uncomfortably, apparently still trying to identify the situation.

Alegra smiled and twirled a lock of hair about her finger, the blush appearing to creep up again. "It's kind of you to say so," she announced with a small, bashful little giggle. She'd melted hearts with it before; now, it was more for amusement than anything else. The four that were their company didn't seem surprised or like they saw anything out of the ordinary, so she knew she was pulling it off rather well.

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

Oh good god. This was absolutely wonderful. To see such a scene. To see the two of them acting this way. "My dear Lady, I did not lie. You merely presumed to know my name, and how could I correct such a radiant woman as yourself. No. I did not have the heart or will to do such a thing." That was not the reason he had not corrected her at all. But now, acting as someone he was not, he had to find the good in his actions if only to express them to others. Then again, he did not have to. But he wanted to. Because it was funny. Because seeing the expressions on her friend's faces was positively hysterical. Yet, Vaughn could not laugh at them. It would create more confusion than they were probably experiencing right now.

Seeing her blush just added to the hilarity of the situation. He had said far more, suggestive things to her and she did not even flinch, on the outside of course. But now, she was blushing over his overly kind words. "So are you having an enjoyable time tonight My Lady?" Paying the proper respects, concerned about the time she was having, such an act indeed.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

"Mmhmm," was her only response, laced heavily with an expression that resembled a person who was not going to bother correcting a small child, knowing as they did that it would not do any good. Of course, that was only the appearance as it would be to him. She turned and smiled cheekily at the three other women, who all immediately busied themselves holding back outrageous giggling; to them, it would seem she was being delightfully flirtatious, something they all clearly knew her to be good at. In any given situation where the opportunity to benefit from it arose, Alegra had been known to flirt and woo her way across the ballroom. A talent for sure.

Her face displayed none of the humor that she felt at his asking if she was enjoying herself. "Yes!" she announced breathily, practically beaming. "An absolutely glorious time, in fact! The people, the dresses - I love it all!" The lie was delivered with such enthusiasm that would be easy to believe she was having the most fun of anyone there. "In fact, I daresay it's nearly as exciting as it would be to... well, to fight off bandits! Wouldn't you agree, Sir?" Her eyes sparkled mischievously, and at her declaration, the people around them immediately attempted to make it appear like they were having an equally splendid time; their excitement was not to be outdone. Alegra was a trend-setter.

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

Vaughn could now finally chuckle at her comparison to this event being as exciting as fighting off bandits. He of course picked up on her reference to their first encounter. The others however, may either be confused or amused at the odd comparison. "Well that all depends on who is fighting the bandits." She had fought them mostly on her own. Even though he had killed a few, it was only in direct self defense for himself. He had not been protecting her, and he did not feel bad for not having done so.

"Then again, a woman as delicate and fragile as yourself should not fight such dangerous people. In fact, you should not even have to encounter such dangers. That is why knights like I will be there to protect you." Yes, it was a common belief and assumption that that was what knights did. Saved the damsel in distress. She was not quite that, but of course, no one else knew that so he would play up her helplessness. "So do not fear my Lady. Even though you would be helpless against such opponents, you will be well protected by men like I."

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra tilted her head slightly, her brows drawing together as if in curiosity as she airily inquired, "Is it not equally exciting for all those fighting?" She was the image of wonder as she spoke, so obviously wanting to know about the ways of the knights and those who fought. In fact, if the whole knight thing didn't work out for her, she could probably have made a delightful career for herself as an actress, judging by the unsuspecting faces of their company, who seemed equally curious and impatient for an answer as she herself was. "Perhaps it all depends on skill," she declared. To them, she was complimenting him; to her, it was the exact opposite.

Alegra smiled faintly, blushing once more and glancing up at him through her lashes. "Yes," she murmured, "I'm sure that if I were to be in such a situation around you, you would do a marvelous job protecting me." The women were practically swooning over such bold declarations from him, their eyes fixed on the pair as if they made up a lovely tale of romance. "After all, strong knights like yourself are trained to do so, right?" Even her body language was perfected; there appeared to be delicate goosebumps along the tops of her arm, clearly from the thought of being in such a dangerous position.

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

"Precisely. Skill. Bravery. You must see all of these qualities when knights fight for their king." Everything Vaughn was saying went against his beliefs. He hated knights. He hated what they stood for. But he was saying it because apparently, tonight was the night of contradictions and lies. He and Alegra were putting on a grand performance for everyone. The only thing that made it the least bit regrettable was that no one would ever know just as skilled they were at portraying people they truly were not.

He would do a marvelous job indeed. He had at least not walked the other day. But just watched her. "I would indeed My Lady. To protect someone such as yourself would without a doubt be the greatest honor a knight could ever desire." Each word was spoken with sincerity, and yet for those who knew him better than that, it was said with complete sarcasm. It was no honor to protect her. It was more of an honor to blackmail her.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

"It must be wonderful," she decided with a sigh of longing. "To be able to serve with such a purpose - what better reward could there be in life?" Alegra was calculating her responses long before she made them, so it was like she was reading from well-delivered lines; an odd thought, indeed. "I should love to see you fighting some day," she added wistfully, then pondered for a moment before biting her lower lip sweetly. "Though I suppose that would be a poor idea. I simply can't stand the sight of blood." She shuddered frailly, a grimace adorning her small face.

Her smile radiated at him following his declaration that it would be an honor. "I'm pleased you think so!" she said in delight. "But of course, I should hope that such a situation never arises. It would be terribly frightening, and I should hate to see you get wounded." She appeared to consider for a moment, then shook her head. "Although I suppose such an efficient knight as yourself would probably escape unscathed." Apparently sick of watching them, Frederick announced his departure, and she sent him a wounded little look that almost appeared to make him change his mind before she turned her head, allowing him to kiss her on the cheek. Such a shame, she thought with a sigh as he left. He'd had potential.

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

Well her friends seemed to scare easy. Only the men of course. The women seemed intrigued by their story and exchange of words. They were constantly flattering each other, and on the outside that would intrigue any romantic. But at heart, neither of them were truly like this. An audience for their play. "The only better reward I could imagine, is having a woman like you by my side." He said it with such sincerity. But that could not be further from the truth. "My lady, I would not want you to witness such disturbing things. Your purity and innocence is far too precious to me to allow you to be exposed to such gore and violence." Vaughn was laughing on the inside. Her purity. Innocence. Oh how he cared very little about them. After already had having made a good impression on her mother, now he was working to do the same with her friends. Why? Because it would be so very fun to win over their affection.

"To have you concerned for me is another great honor. But do not fear Lady Alegra. The thought of seeing you once more, would motivate me to fight through the most dangerous encounters and any wound that would result from it, as long as I was able to see you again, no injury is too great." He was being ridiculously cheesy, and he knew it. But the deliverance of his lines were that of a romantic. A man who enjoyed flattering women, but not in a perverted sense. In a genuine sense. "It seems that Frederick has not yet found a woman he cares so deeply about, and is therefore, unable to fathom or understand such feelings and words." He was teasing him. Not trying to provoke him to the point of starting a fight, but rather, just point out his decision to leave the group.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra put on an appropriately flustered expression, her eyes diverting down and to the left; a practiced move, and one she'd mastered perfectly. "You flatter me, sir," she said timidly. The three women did almost exactly as she had, looking anywhere and everywhere except at them; it was too intimate a scene, in their eyes, to be watched. On the inside, Alegra was satisfactorially amused by their ability to embarrass the silly girls without even speaking to them. Oh, the perks of being her, she thought, fighting back a grin. She was too cocky for her own good. "But, why, we hardly know each other yet. We've met only twice... Surely you cannot mean what you say!" This was the most fun Alegra had had in weeks. For once, she was enjoying playing this otherwise obnoxious dress-up game. The performance was so splendid; perhaps they should start asking for tips.

"I should be glad, then, to be the thought that keeps you around a while longer. I would certainly miss your company if something were you keep you away." At his admonishment of Frederick, who pretended he had not heard it, Alegra tutted. "Oh, now, don't say such things," she pleaded. "Frederick's a dear friend." One that she'd only met that night. Surprise flitted across his face, and then he seemed to puff his chest up a touch. Alegra could not help the glint of victory in her eyes. It'd been a while since she'd been forced to a big event, and as such, just as long since she'd attempted to dazzle a man. That her skill had not diminished pleased her devilishly. "But didn't you say you had somewhere to go?" she asked innocently, a tease if anything. Unwilling to be caught in a lie, his face flushed and he nodded once, taking his leave.

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

"I may have only met you twice, but it is like living two lifetimes." Had Vaughn not played this role so often in the past, he would have choked on his words. But no. He could pass them off, and he was passing them off. Of course, Alegra would not believe him considering that encounter they had in the past was less than pleasant, for her. "Nothing would keep me away from you." He said that last part, with a bit of an added flirtatious tone. Nothing really could keep him away, but for a completely different reason than the one they were all thinking. Because of the money. Because of what she would owe him every month or so. But he could not exactly advertise that fact now could he.

"So have you come with your family?" He asked, wondering if her mother was here, and even her brother. "I would so love to see your mother again. She is a dearly kind woman." He had indeed met her before, but again, not for the reason others thought. Everything he said had a hidden meaning to it, that only Alegra would understand enough to pick up on. To them, he may have met her mother as a potential suitor, which was indeed the lie they had told. But to Alegra, he met her out of sheer curiosity.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra smiled at his flattery. "Surely you realize you leave me speechless," she chastised half-heartedly. A joke, really. Nothing in the world could truly leave this noblewoman speechless so long as she had air to speak with and a tongue to form the words. But then again, wasn't this entire thing a big joke? A rouse? And the funniest of all sorts, because everyone around them was taking them so utterly seriously. Of course, some of their words were truthful, in a way, just not in the manner that their onlookers perceived them. She knew exactly why nothing could keep them apart, as did he, and it had absolutely nothing to do with romance of any sort. Being an odd sort, that only amused Alegra further.

At the mention of her family, Alegra was forced to recall their last meeting. There was little more frustrating, she decided, than having to watch someone you love be charmed by someone you despise, and knowing that things would only become worse for everyone involved if you corrected them. "She is here," she affirmed. "Drake, too, of course, but I daresay he's off stealing some poor woman's heart." The murmur from the three that now stood there rather awkwardly told Alegra she was most likely right; after all, the skill to woo had not been granted to only one half of their generation. She smiled at his compliment for her mother, and added, "I'll be sure to tell her you said so. I'm sure she's equally eager to see you as well."

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

"Well I should not disturb your brother then," he told her. He was not going to concern himself too much with getting on her brother's good side. Mainly her mothers, because it was funny if nothing else. Because if he was going to continue to play the role of her 'potential suitor' and visit her house with open arms, then he would have to continue to be in her mother's favor. On the other hand, it would indeed be fun to sneak in the estate. A challenge in nothing else. That was just so much more difficult when his face was already known to everyone inside though.

"You will not have to tell her anything My Lady. I can tell her myself." This was his subtle hint to her that he planned to see her mother at some point within the next few days. Maybe even tonight. "It would be my utmost pleasure to be in her company again. Two women of the Silvertongue family in one night. Could a man be any more fortunate than I." A rhetorical question. A rhetorical and sarcastic one.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra thought rather ruefully that if he was going to disturb either of her family members, it ought to be her brother. The man had positively awful taste in women, and she couldn't recall a single one that he'd courted and she had been fond of. They were all stuck-up, high-and-mighty types that looked down their nose at his fiery little sister whenever he brought them home. Their intelligence existed only beneath layers and layers of silk, perfume, sucked in waists and voices that were an octave higher than they ought to have been because they thought it was attractive; and even then, they did the best to hide what intelligence was there, as it was a man's job to be smart. Idiots, the lot of them. Which was why, thankfully, none of them had lasted.

He wanted to tell her? Alegra held back a sigh and replaced it instead with a dainty smile. "That would be lovely," she declared. There was actually a touch of truth to that statement, as well. Though she knew that he was simply playing a game with her and her poor mother, her mother did not, and actually found herself sincerely flattered. She supposed this was a good thing, as it kept the woman carefully ignorant of what was truly going on, and she couldn't help but appreciate her mother's happiness. "Shall we be off to find her, then?"

[Vaughn Adeney]

::vaughn::

Vaughn had to make sure what would ordinarily be a smirk, was actually just a smile instead. "I would truly love that." But again, not for the reasons one assumed. He enjoyed the fact that he was in her mother's favor, only because it was so very the opposite with Alegra, or so he assumed. What man would be in the favor of a woman he was blackmailing anyway, or even one he had allowed a group of men to attack. The entire situation was all too funny. Alegra would indeed be someone he would see on a fairly frequent basis throughout the course of his life however, and now, he would see her for the next five days, if he decided to stay for the entire duration of the celebrations.

"Excuse me ladies," he said a he lowered his head in a bit of a bow. "I will only keep your friend for a short while. I will not deprive you of her wonderful company for too long." His voice was polite, and had a bit of a flirtatious tone to it. He offered his arm to Alegra, so that she could link her own through it. "Shall we?" He asked, in a very gentleman- like way.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Alegra smiled brightly, her face nearly dimpling, as he politely excused himself from the three. He certainly wasn't harming her reputation, that was for sure. Perhaps if he wasn't such a cad - an amusing cad, she had to admit, but a cad none the less - she would thank him for it, though she well knew that he wasn't doing it for her. He was doing it to keep his reputation, most likely in addition to the fact that he would look quite good having charmed her, and because he found the entire situation so funny. But beggars could not be choosers, right?

Alegra linked her arm through his so that the creases of their elbow lined up, her hand laid gently against the contours of her upper arm. She shot their company a final grin, a somewhat cheeky edge to it - she would have to remember to stomp on her ego before she slept, lest she wake up with a swollen head - before nodding to him. "Yes. I believe I last saw her socializing alongside Clarisse's mother near the table of refreshments." She began walking in the direction she had specified, doing her best to remain completely in-tune with his own steps, though this proved difficult when considering she took two for every one of his.