``I SIGNED UP FOR THIS GAME ; VAUGHN

[Alegra Silvertongue]

"They are concerned," she corrected. "My mother thinks I'm out with friends and my brother is away." She paused for a moment, reconsidering his declaration that she should want them to be concerned for her, and shook her head. "But even if they were not," Alegra decided, "I would not want them to. What good could come of people worrying over me? I will not change the way they am, so all it will serve to do is create trouble, for me and for them." She shrugged, wrinkling her nose. She meant what she said, of course. Alegra loved her family dearly, but it would be so much simpler if they acknowledged that she was self-sufficient and quit their fretting.

When he made it known that she was there of her own volition, she went silent and straightened up, considering this. When he took a step forward, she hardly noticed. "That's true," she admitted, though in her mind, it was not that simple; he now had life-changing information on her, and surely he knew it. Walking away from him would be begging him to follow through with whatever actions he might take to amuse himself, and she was certainly not going to encourage it. Finally, she claimed, "Your sense of perception is odd, as well. It may not be your presence that traps me here, but I am trapped just the same." Goosebumps rose along her arms at the thought, especially how correct it was. In a matter of speaking, she was trapped, and that was worse to her than any injury he could have granted her with.

[Vaughn Adeney]

"Out with friends at this hour?" Vaughn shook his head, acting as if he was disappointed with her for lying, a complete joke of course. "Well you could always tell her that they tried to rob you, so you killed them." With that, he motioned to the lifeless bodies lying around them. He kicked the head as he took a few more steps towards her, his eyes completely locked on her. "So you are just a misunderstood poor girl, who's family does not understand her need to be liberated from their authority and rules." He was of course being sarcastic. "Aren't you quite the rebellious one."

He was now standing directly in front of her, his tall figure looming over her small one. "So how many people know that the daughter of a noble steals her father's, or brothers, armor to ride off into the night?" He wanted to know if she was actually a knight, or still just posing to be one and trained on the side. How far did she carry this image of hers.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

She rolled her eyes at his suggestion, though she was quite certain he was being sarcastic. She lifted a brow, however, at his judgment regarding her family. "I am not some 'misunderstood poor girl' at all," she informed him firmly. "My mother knows exactly how I am, just not what I do. She may hate it, but she does, indeed, know it." The world "hate" was putting it lightly. Every time Alegra spoke a bit too boldly or loudly, every time she returned with muddied hems or leaves in her hair, her mother would have a fit that might've scared the bandits away with no need to fight. Alegra had long since grown used to them and was not about to let her fear of anything, much less her mother, control her, but that did not change the fact that it complicated matters.

She had ignored him as he came closer, but now that he stood directly in front of her, she pulled herself up to her entire meager height and tilted her chin back to stare him in the face. It took a lot more than a tall man to intimidate her - even if this particular tall man had over a foot on her. How many, he wanted to know? "One," she answered, "and he's quite unhappy about it, at that." Her mind retraced back to his assumption that she'd stolen the armor, and she added indignantly, "I stole nothing - this armor is my own." She'd bought it at least a year ago under the guise that it was for her brother, and since then had stored it in a large lockbox that a hopeful suitor, a blacksmith, had once gifted her with before she frightened him off. It had been intended for her dresses, of course, but she had found a better use for it.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Vaughn thought it was funny that she had to justify herself, constantly and react to his words, disproving every one. He was glad they served their purpose. And that she was engaging in a conversation with him. He would have to find out as much as he could about this peculiar situation. "Your own armor. So you serve on the army then?" He asked, in a tone that called for an answer but also insinuated that he sort of already knew what it would be. He just wanted to hear it. For one did not wear armor like that just for the joy of it all. It was armor well taken care of, and at the same time, had been used quite a bit.

"Where are my manners. I ask you so many questions, and not one pertains to your name. What is it?" He asked. He did not care about manners, or being polite, or whatever the social protocol was upon meeting someone for the first time. He wanted to know for personal curiosity. "I am going to need a name to associate with that alluring face."

[Alegra Silvertongue]

"I serve when it suits me," she allowed. It was a horribly callous way to phrase it, and perhaps made it seem like she cared less than she did, but it was the truth. She could not serve full-time because of her mother, and even when she had spare time, she did not always feel like donning armor and allowing men to take jabs at her. When she was bored, however, or simply felt the need for the sense of adventure and accomplishment that came with her disguise as a knight, she would do just that. There were times where she could not help but wonder if she ought to have been born male, since all the things she so loved to do were hideously against that which a female was supposed to enjoy doing.

At his mention of manners, she could not help but smile wryly. It was the most humorous thing she'd heard all night, especially since she was sure she knew exactly where his manners were: in a pile of manure, abandoned there years ago, if she had her guess. But Alegra was no fool. If she answered his questions for nothing, he would have access to any and all information about her, and she would be left with none about him. Besides, she did not want to give her name out to a stranger, so he might as well tell her her name so that he was less so, right? "Tell me yours," she said instead, "and I would be happy to tell you my own."

[Vaughn Adeney]

That was all Vaughn needed to know. He had no respect for knights. Well, he had no respect for anyone, but he did not regard knights as honorable and loyal as everyone made them out to be. "That sounds rather vague for someone who should instead be loyal to the crown they have sworn allegiance to." Another ridiculous act that Vaughn did not understand. No one should be that willing to die for another, and if they were then they were fools. "Unless of course you managed to skip that entire oath of allegiance." Which would bring him to his next curious question, how did she manage to get away with it. But he would ask, all in good time.

"Rather juvenile, aren't we?" He said chuckling when she told him to tell her his name first. He had not yet offered that information. Then again, he had not yet been asked a question by her nor did he feel obligated to answer any. "I will stoop to your level of childish phrases and point out, that I asked you first." So immature, and yet, still very amusing.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

He was a quick one, that she could not deny - and he was correct, at that. "I was unavailable for the inauguration," she said with a false air of innocence, eyes twinkling with mischief. When all of the other knights were being sworn in, she was at home, being forced to learn how to repair shirts. A week later, she'd shown up in armor and simply blended herself right in with the rest of them, and though she could see the confusion on their faces as they all tried to remember her, they were all too embarrassed to ask; after all, a knight was supposed to be perfect in every way, including memory. Because of this, they all avoided her, lest they be forced to admit they hadn't a clue who she was, and it was for the better that way. It made things much easier.

When he accused her of being childish, one brow rose, and when he pointed out that he had asked first, the other joined it. "You asked first," she agreed, "and I declined to answer until you have told me yours. Is the the summary over?" It was amazing to all who crossed her the wrong way how such a dainty little thing could have such a blunt, often sharp tongue to her. However, the more important part was the mind behind it, and Alegra had no illusions about the fact that she was at a disadvantage, nor did the entertain the obviously incorrect idea that she could make him forget it. "You could easily find out who I am from the information you have on me," she informed him simply, "but I have no way of knowing your name. So, if you want to save yourself the effort of tracking me down, tell me yours first." She did not let on that she had seen him before, in fact - and would refrain from doing so unless he asked.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Vaughn didn't think he would go through all that effort. Or maybe he would if he was to carry out the bigger plan he was forming. "You are right. I could ask around. Question the other knights. Go to your estate, ask your family. That would not raise suspicion that complete stranger knows about your secret at all." He spoke his last statement with sarcasm. "I just thought you would save both of us the trouble, and perhaps your mother the anger, by telling me now what your name is. But if not, then so be it." He was not one to beg for answers, or plead. No. He had never pleaded for anything, nor would he ever. Nothing was worth that effort.

"I would not mind paying your estate a visit though," he said looking and sounding sinister when saying it. He would visit it, steal a few things, eliminate any opposition, and be on his way. Perhaps that would be a fun adventure. Maybe this was too easy and would deprive him of the potential enjoyment of going through the effort himself. While he still posed the question, there was no pressing urgency for the answer.

[[Where would she have seen him?]]

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Her eyes narrowed. A threat? If there was one thing Alegra did not respond well to, it was threats, though she supposed he did have a point. "You would rather that than tell me your name before I told you mine?" she asked, the corner of her mouth turning down. It seemed like a lot of trouble to her, but she supposed he was a man, after all. Men and their pride! She, too, was a person with much more pride than she needed, so she had no choice but to assume that he was not idle about his words. If it were her, she'd follow through with it, too. However, with her own pride warring, there, she was at a loss. Clicking her tongue thoughtfully, she considered her options. She did not know how skilled he was; possibly just as much as herself. However, she had faith that if he were to stop by, she could at least wound him to the point where it was no longer worth it, and if Drake was home, as well, there would be little left to do about it.

But, she had to admit, that wasn't what she wanted to do. He intrigued her, for some reason, though she couldn't quite place it. After all, he was not the first rude, crude man she had ever met. Not to mention that he likely had connections, and whether or not she could defeat him in battle was moot if he decided to return. Besides, even the possibility that he could win was unacceptable to her; she couldn't afford to put her mother in danger like that. Though they were already so close, she took a step forward until she was centimeters from touching him; if she was going to concede, she was going to retain as much of her pride as possible while she did. "Alegra Silvertongue," she said, her voice clear and her eyes watching his face closely.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Vaughn looked far too pleased when she moved closer to him. All the advances were not his own. Though that in itself, was something he was not used to. Most women he moved towards, felt uncomfortable by it, part of the reason he did it. But she never ceased to surprise him. He looked very carefully at her, searching for any sign of hesitancy or deep rooted fear. He saw none. And this just made him smile, as if it was impossible to wipe that expression from his face. He did not return the favor by giving his name. Not yet anyway. Vaughn had no issue with revealing his identity. He was not the person with something to hide. He moved his hand towards her, brushing a loose strand of her hair and tucking it behind her ear.

He leaned in, very close, as if he was about to kiss her, but instead, moved his head to the side a bit so that he was speaking in a low voice in her ear. "A beautiful name for an even more beautiful woman." Despite everything, he was not above continuing the flirtations. The setting did not have to be romantic, and the situation did not have to be ideal. He would keep doing so, even with corpses lying about them. He would test her level of comfort.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

She watched and tried not to sigh as he smile. Defeat was a bitter taste in her mouth, and though it was hardly a competition or even a battle, she could not help but feel as if, at least in their little debate, he had won. Alegra was not used to losing, not ever, nor was she used to any sort of blow to her pride. You were never know it, the way her eyes blazed with such bold determination, but it was, in fact, wounded. She just had enough of it that it hardly made a difference.

She didn't move, didn't even flinch when he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, simply continued watching him, still as a statue. Even when it looked like he would kiss her, she didn't shift in the slightest. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her, wasn't going to let him make her uncomfortable. When he moved his mouth to speak in her head instead, she felt the almost ticklish prickle of his facial hair, but she was used to it. Drake was not always so efficient about shaving, and the bothersome brother had a thing about kissing her cheek when he knew she didn't like it, so the feeling was not new. "I would consider myself no less beautiful if my face was marred by burns," she replied instead. "I could care less about how I look, my focus is only on what I do, and that I enjoy doing it."

[Vaughn Adeney]

"Yes you would. People are superficial dear Alegra. Unless you could wear your helmet every day and hide yourself from the public eye." Men and women were equally vain when it came to their looks, appearance and wealth. Vaughn perhaps would have been had he cared about anything, even himself. "You are fortunate to not have to worry about that, thus far. But you never know what could happen later if you continue to fight. Your small scratch today could have been worse." He paused, looking at it and now able to get a closer look since he was much closer to her than before. His voice lacked any empathy for the wound she received.

"Besides, how would the daughter of a noble, explain such battle wounds to others." Another curious element to her whole secret identity. Any noble family had the attention of other nobles as it was part of their duty to socialize them. One of the many things Vaughn hated about having been a noble. Though it was fun to provoke others when it came to those horridly boring events and feasts. So how would she explain each cut, each wound, without sounding like a clumsy woman when she should be displaying grace and elegance. Vaughn almost wished he could be there to see her explain it to others. It would be such a humorous story to hear.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

"You would judge me by the standards of others despite the fact that you surely have realized by now that I am not average?" She lifted a brow, still facing forward, motionless. "A person who cares about public opinion would, perhaps, agree with that statement. I, however, only care about the opinion of the people I care for, and considering that there are many people in the world who are mothers and brothers to ugly women, I would venture to say that my family would love me no less if I were unattractive." Alegra was not the type of girl to blush and call herself "plain" even after having spent hours at home getting ready. She was under no misconception about herself; she knew she was attractive. When she needed to, she exploited it; but otherwise, completely ignored it. She enjoyed riding horses, and they didn't care what she looked like, and enjoyed swordplay, but in her knight's helmet, it wouldn't matter if she had no nose.

Considering the fact that she did not need or particularly want a man at this point - they were troublesome, she found, always having to be dominant and manly, and she would never be allowed to do stuff that challenged their masculinity (though how riding challenged them was beyond her) - her looks were entirely pointless to her. Compliments were always nice, any girl liked those; but she would much rather be appreciated for things she could control. It was practically an insult that the only thing people ever noticed about her was her appearance. Her lips quirked upwards at his question in a faint smile. "People will believe anything if they want to desperately enough," she announced. "If they want to believe that a small child threw a rock at my face from the side of the road, believe it they will." Her fingers itched to feel the wound and inspect the damage, but she had very little tolerance for pain, and she knew well that it would hurt to do so. "Besides, this is rare. The first I've had in months. I'm good." Modest, too.

[Vaughn Adeney]

"Every one is average." Vaughn was not an advocate for equality, but he did not give the human race much credit. People were not worth it. "But as a noble, I am not surprised you consider yourself different than the average person." Even if she was a female knight, which was unusual but he himself would only define it as an strange sight. Vaughn chuckled yet again, taking a step back as if to inspect her. "Create as many exceptions as you will, the basis is still the same. Caring about what others think. Valuing the opinion of others. If people did not do this, the world would be a very different place."

He slightly raised an eyebrow still grinning at her defensive remarks to everything he said. As if she had some deep need to disprove him. It was not uncommon for people to do this, and it only made him laugh more. "It may be worse next time. Or maybe I could speed that process up for you and then see how little you care about what others think of you and how you manage to injure yourself in your spare time." Was he threatening her? Yes. He would not actually physically do something to her. He did not truly hurt someone unless he had a reason to, though he did not hesitate.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

(ooc: I should not be attracted to a guy threatening my character. I should not be attracted to a guy threatening my character. I should not be attracted to a guy threatening my character...)

"If everyone was average," she corrected, "the word would not exist." As he continued to speak, Alegra couldn't help it; her face twitched into a wry, subtlely amused smile. "Yes, incredibly different," she agreed. "We might even have men offering women up to bandits for a show." She shot a grin at him. For Alegra, an offense against herself was easily forgiven; it was offenses against those she loved that could not be. This near-constant switching between proud/annoyed and joking/smiling was not new for her, either. Her emotions were all equally as passionate, and came and went at the slightest provocation. She did not control them, did not try to hide them under a serene face unless it was a dangerous situation.

As he threatened her, both eyebrows went up and the grin faded some, but did not altogether disappear. She wasn't afraid of him, even if he did go through with it. "Be my guest," she welcomed him, quoting his own statement from earlier. It was not a false sense of nonchalance. While she was horrible at dealing with pain, she did not fear it, and in fact a scarred face might get her mother off her back. She would never purposefully harm herself, but in this case, it would not be her, it would be him, right? Of course, neither did she exactly want marks on her face, or the hurt that would go with them, but if she had no preference, might as well leave it to the man with the thread.

[Vaughn Adeney]

"The world after all is a stage," he said in response to her statement. She had been obviously referring to what Vaughn had done moments ago, allowing the bandits to attack her, though they did not succeed. If they had, Vaughn would have only missed further entertainment from her. But he would have been on his way and not had a reason to stay and poke fun at this woman. Her invitation was not something he could so easily ignore. She made not be showing any signs of uneasiness in his attempt to intimidate her, but that did not discourage him.

His next actions happened extremely quickly. He moved behind her and while doing so, pulled out a small dagger from his side. He was directly behind her, his body practically touching hers while his arm was around her and the side of the dagger was against her neck. He was not pressing the dagger into her neck, but it was barley an inch apart. In addition to that, with his free hand he grabbed hold of her wrist, keeping it rested at her side but disallowing its movement. It was the hand he noticed her using when she was fighting the bandits, and so prevented her from reaching for her own weapon. These three movements could have been combined into one quick action for he had not wasted a moment. Even if she could not see his face, a sinister smile spread on his lips. He lowered his head so that he could speak directly in her ear. "Do you fear death?" He asked, always curious to people's reactions when met with such a life threatening situation.

[[Hahaha! If it helps at all, he is not actually going to hurt her. He is just having fun playing around with the idea of it, as I am sure you can tell from the post.]]

[Alegra Silvertongue]

Before she could really respond to his original statement, he was a blur of motion, and even someone with reflexes such as her own had no hope of tearing away from him before he had his hold around her. Not one to fight a losing battle, she instead remained still, even as she noticed the gleam of the dagger he now held at her neck and felt his arm locking hers into place. She remained silent, waiting, and was slightly surprised at his question.

"No," she answered calmly. It wasn't a lie; her heartbeat hadn't increased even a beat. "I would be a fool to not fear what comes afterward, however. Any tortured, miserable existence is better than none at all." She rarely if ever admitted to atheism even to herself, namely because she usually wasn't thinking about it. She didn't bother spending hours of her say moaning and worrying over what was to happen. It would happen whether she wasted her time thinking about it or not, and she had much better things to do while she could. Alegra had faced death before, and it was not nearly enough to shake her up. She leaned her head back, granting him better access to her neck, her hair now against his collar bone and her skull half an inch or less away. "Though I'm sure that it would be more amusing for you to watch me squirm, I would ask that if you plan to slit my throat, you do it quickly. I promise to make as much of a show of dying as I can in the mean time," she requested politely.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Vaughn did not move his position. He was contemplating actually wounding her, just to see her reaction. Saying things were on matter. Hypothetical situations were never real. And when they did happen, sometimes a whole other reaction resulted. Words were empty; actions did not lie. "You must really have nothing to live for, if you are so willing to die. Even asking for death." Vaughn had not even threatened to kill her, just hurt, and posed a question. She was here, asking for him to slit her throat. It was interesting indeed.

"If I did it quickly it would not be much of a show now would it," he said devilishly, still tempted by the thought of it, wanting to see more of a reaction, which was what was making him debate on whether to do it or not. "It would be quite rude of me not to grant a lady her wish though." He began to slowly press the blade closer to her throat.

[Alegra Silvertongue]

"If I truly had nothing to live for, I would kill myself and be done with it," she informed him. "And I did not ask for death, I requested that if you plan on killing me, you do it kindly." For a moment, she paused, then continued, "Besides, what more could I do in this situation? Beg, plead? Pardon me for saying so, but I don't believe I'm wrong in the assumption that you would not respond well to that, and in fact you may kill me just to spite me. If there's nothing I can do to stop you, I might as well let you do what you will."

She rolled her eyes heavenward when he spoke on. "Now who's being juvenile?" she shot. The back of her neck was beginning to ache from being tilted back at such an angle, but when she felt the blade press closer against her skin, obviously there came with it the realization that she could not very well straighten it back out. As aforementioned, she would not ever inflict injury on herself. "Are you going to stand there and taunt me with your shiny toy all night, hoping I'll quiver with fear?" She mentally shook her head, rather unable to do so physically. Alegra would not be reduced to that, not if there were a hundred daggers all threatening to enter different parts of her body. "If you're going to do something, do it. You're not provoking me, only annoying me." Though, then again, she supposed he might find some joy in that and continue doing it. She sighed.

[Vaughn Adeney]

"Not necessarily." Vaughn had nothing to live for, but he was not suicidal. He did not fear death, but there was no need to rush it. It was what made him so reckless, and care very little about the consequences of his actions. "You are rather defensive. If you argue this much with your family then it is no wonder they do not try to stop you from riding off." One of the many reasons he could not stand being around his own family. Arguments, fights, quarrels. He had often just remained silent for the duration of the argument, which tended only to annoy them even more. "A kind murder. Who would have thought there is such a thing." Another oxymoron. He would have only associated that with something like an assisted suicide. "Maybe you lack the strength and courage to kill yourself, so you ask for someone else to do it for you." Maybe that was what made her so reckless.

"I have nothing against you Alegra," he said when she suggested that she would do it just to spite him. He just liked seeing the diversity of people's reactions. "Yes," he said bluntly. Answering her question about standing there all day with what she described to be his 'shiny toy', his dagger, his weapon that threatened to end her life in one quick movement. "A knight does not quiver in fear." He knew at least that much. "Even a bizarre one such as yourself." He paused for a moment, not releasing his hold on the knife or her wrist. "You are indeed a woman who is far too passive for her own good."