Life's Just Not Fair [Cenred]

[Catalina Regalis]

It’s all about power and taking control

It wasn't often that Catalina argued with her Uncle when it came to where the druids settled next but she had a bad feeling about being in Cenred. She heard terrible things about the cruel ruler of this realm but her Uncle would not listen to her. Aldriv knew his niece's penchant for over-thinking things and while he enjoyed her imput he wouldn't allow himself to be swayed. Besides, there was a reason he had chosen to bring their people here at this particular time. Samara and Catalina both knew why as well, he made this trip every year at the time time. It was the anniversary of her mother and father's deaths at the hand of The Great Purge. Both had been burned so there had been no bodies to bury, the final resting place to visit but Aldriv chose the next best thing, the place where Catalina had been born.

It was just outside of Ealdor, a small clearing in the middle of the forest. It was a beautiful sentiment, honoring her parents in such a way. So sad, knowing that she had only known her parents for a year before they had met their demise. She had no memories of either of them. She didn't know if she had her mother's smile, never knew the sound of her father's laugh. She was told these things of course but it wasn't the same. It didn't help her know them. Touching her amulet that hung around her neck, she sighed and followed behind her sister and brother-in-law, she happily carried her little nephew in her arms though he got heavy after a while, especially when he squirmed around.

It didn't take them long to reach the clearing where they began to set up their camp. Looking around at the quiet place, Catalina sighed as she lay her nephew in the cradle his father had made for him. He had fallen asleep not long after they had reached the clearing and she was thankful for that as well, she had started losing feeling in her arms. She wasn't sure how she felt being here, she figured her Uncle felt closer to the memory of her parents but she had no memory of them so what was she told hold onto? A false hope that somehow something would magically make her feel closer to them? She couldn't do that. It was too sad. Too pathetic even.

Supplies were needed as they had started to run out. A trip to Ealdor. Catalina volunteered rather quickly, earning a somewhat disapproving look from her Uncle. She knew why as well, he wished her to remain so that they could have a moment of silence for her parents but she just wanted to get away for a while. She didn't want that silent moment because it was another way of acknowledging that she would never know them. Saddling up her horse, she bid her Uncle and sister farewell and headed towards the small town of Ealdor. She had been there before, had even made some friends there as well but that was years ago.

Cat enjoyed the ride, galloping her horse Cobalt through the forest towards the small town. She couldn't help but have a bad feeling but she figured it was part of her feeling towards being here in the first place. Her red cloak billowed behind her as she rode. No one would know that she was a druidess, they would merely see a young woman who was picking up supplies for a journey. Sure, there was some risk in traveling alone but Catalina needed to be alone.

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Tags; Cenred
Word Count; 606
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Evening – During the First Season

[Deleted]

Cenred had set out to check that his spies were doing their jobs and not sleeping on it. Lately they had been slacking when it came to people crossing the boarder and he’d had five of them strung up because of their incompetence. You just couldn’t get the staff these days. He’d chosen to pay a surprise visit to one group who worked the boarder area that divided his kingdom with Camelot. Thankfully he found this group to be working their hair off, having captured three people already.

“Nice to see that I can trust some people around here” he smirked and ordered them to be taken back to the castle, “and I’ll be on patrol this evening with you – after all, why should my men have all the fun?”

The guards chuckled and they set down for the rest of the evening, some being sent out to scour the forests to see if any stowaways were hiding.
They had left no stone unturned and in the end headed back to where the group were hiding, ready to pounce on their next victims. Was it always this quiet? Cenred was becoming quite bored; he would have preferred to be back at the castle tormenting the prisoners.

Finally! Some action was about to go down! The guards spotted a horse and rider. “Leave this one to me” he told the guards. As the horse drew nearer Cenred noticed that the rider was a woman. What was it with women and crossing the boarder? Had they no brain cells? He took his place and waited until the sound of hooves was almost upon him.

He jumped out, the horse reared up throwing it’s rider off the back and crashing to the ground. Cenred drew his sword before she could scramble to get up and pointed it to her neck.

“Nice of you to drop in” he smirked and looked to his guards, “Bring her…” he told them. “I like blondes, far more fun to toy with”

[Catalina Regalis]

It’s all about power and taking control

Her mind should have been on her riding, she knew that but she could not help but think on her parents or at least the things she had been told about them. This was a hard day for her, knowing that they had both been burned for using magic, for being what they had been created to be. How could someone be so cruel as to rip families apart in a blind attempt to get rid of something that would never fade? Her horse seemed to pick up on her feelings and because of that was more twitchy than usual. Still, despite the pain and worries she had at that moment, the ride was a bit of freedom that she had needed since coming to this place. She wished she could leave, leave behind the feeling of abandonment and loneliness that this day brought to her, run and never stop running. She couldn’t though, couldn’t abandon her sister or her Uncle. She knew her place and that was with her family, the druids. Anywhere else and she would be nothing but an unwelcome outsider, someone that would eventually be chased away because of what she could do.

Going for supplies should have been a simple task, Ealdor wasn’t too far off but she had forgotten the dangers in the form of bandits as well as the tyrant who ruled this realm, Cenred. The sun was setting in the sky and soon night would fall though hopefully she would be back with her people before the sun sunk completely over the horizon. The night did not frighten Catalina; it was though who chose to dwell at night that frightened her enough to wish to be in the safety of her camp. There was a slight chill to the air as she rode, wiping against her fast and drawing tears from her eyes. She could blame the cold for the tears but she knew better. She was running again. Running from her sadness. Damnit! She had to focus!

Had she been concentrating on where she had been going, she might have noticed something amiss, though Cenred did well to hide himself and his men. How could she have known that the King of Cenred had chosen to grace his men with his presence and took pleasure in catching wayward souls and torturing them in his castle? She knew about his depravity towards others, especially those that were not of his realm but still, she had figured that he would be in his lofty castle, not out where she was. It was all a blur the moment that something jumped out in front of Cobalt, causing the stallion to rear up in terror, causing her to slip off his back and land hard on the ground. What had just happened? Cobalt was not easy to spook…

She didn’t even notice Cenred or his men at first; she was that dazed and was trying to recover from her breath being knocked out of her. Gods that had hurt so much. It wasn’t until a sword was being pointed at her that she realized that this situation was a whole lot worse than what she had first thought. Cobalt had run off at this point, leaving her behind at the mercy of these ruffians. Traitor…

What was she going to do now? While frightened, she glanced upwards to see the face of the man who held the sword and felt her heart sink low in her chest as she easily recognized the man. He was no common brigand but rather Cenred himself. How did she keep getting herself into these kind of messes? Seriously! She had to have the worst luck in the world to be faced with so much while she was only so young. She pushed herself so that she was kneeling on her knees, eyeing the sword precariously. She didn’t move too much, not wishing to be impaled by the blade but she couldn’t allow herself to be taken because she was sure that she would not be seen again if that occurred. “I like blondes, far more fun to toy with” Those words caused a shiver to run down her spine. She didn’t wish to be his toy.

“I am no one’s toy.” She said firmly and concentrated. "ásencan." She whispered, her eyes flickering gold as she focused her magic on the men around her. The ground would suddenly become like quicksand to Cenred and his men, causing them to unbalance and sink slowly. She wouldn’t kill them, regardless of their intent towards her, she would not kill them. Given the pain she was in at that time from the fall, she couldn’t hold her focus and so the spell stopped, having only sunk them as far as their ankles. She didn’t waste any time in seeking to flee, stumbling to her feet and attempting to run from them. For a gifted druidess, she wasn’t very good at defending herself. If she didn’t mind killing than she would have been in great shape. They wouldn’t have been but she would have.

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Tags; Cenred
Word Count; 848
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Evening – During the First Season

[Deleted]

She had magic! Magic of all things! So much that she’d made his feet and his guards feet sink into the ground and tried to make a run for it. What on earth? He growled with frustration as he and the guards tried to free themselves from where they were sinking slowly but surely. It wasn’t easy to lift your feet as you were gradually going down.

“AFTER HER!” he raged as some of the other guards, whose feet were thankfully free, “I WANT HER CAUGHT AND BROUGHT TO ME NOW!!!” his feet waded through the ground as they sank and after a few tugs, he was finally free.

“She’s heading north sire!” one of the men called,

Cenred grabbed him by the throat, “well don’t just stand there, FIND HER!” he released his grasp and pushed the guard back, withdrawing his sword and heading after the group.

She wasn’t too far off; the guards were still giving chase but their paces were getting far more slower than they should be.
“Oh out of the way you fools! Looks as though I’ll have to take this one on myself!” He rolled his eyes; you just couldn’t get anyone to do anything simple around here.

Cenred carried on after the girl. No one got away from him by sinking his feet into the ground. Now his outfit was muddy. Leather wasn’t exactly the easiest to clean. It wasn’t that easy to run in either, especially when it was raining, Cenred hated wearing leather in the rain.

He finally caught up with her and tackled her to the ground, pinning her arms to the floor before his guards surrounded them, swords drawn.

Cenred snorted, “Like a lion to its kill”

[Catalina Regalis]

It’s all about power and taking control

Well this was just bloody brilliant wasn’t it? One moment she’s mourning the loss of her parents and tearing up as she tried to search for memories that weren’t there and now she was running for her life from King Psycho and his men. Today was turning out to be just peachy… Her reaction to use magic may have been misguided but it was all she could think to do in order to keep herself safe and free from these twisted men. She could only imagine what they wished to do to her and really didn’t want to find out. Her heart beat so fast that she was certain it would burst from her chest as she stumbled to her feet in order to get away while the men sought to free themselves from the mud. She could have killed them but she didn’t want that, she just wanted freedom for herself. They would be very angry, she knew that before she had even cast the spell but why bother caring about their feelings so long as their feelings didn’t involve choking her to death or plunging their weapons into her. (Giggidy)

She could hear them from behind, King Psycho’s order for them to catch her and bring her back to him. Catalina was not going to let that happen if she could help it. She had given herself a bit of a head-start since she had muddied up them lot of them, if she could make it to the forest she’d be safe, she’d be within her Uncle’s telepathic reach and he’d come save her. She just had to make it, she had to! She was quick and had the advantage, surely this meant her success and she had something the Neanderthals didn’t have, magic. She peered behind her and what she saw scared her because they were moving quicker than she thought they would. Underestimating those she was against… she really needed to stop doing that. “áwæcan.” She whispered, her eyes flashing gold before the spell took hold on the two chasing her. Their pace slowed as they began to weaken and tire out. It was another form of her sleep spell, didn’t knock them out completely, not yet anyway but it had the desired effect. With that taken care of, she concentrated on the forest that was just beyond her reach.

Had she not been so confident that she was going to make it, she would have used the spell on Cenred as well but she had no idea he was as close as he was. She was going to make it! She knew it! Or so she thought… It seemed that she had allowed herself to get too cocky too soon because before she got close to the forest edge, she was tackled from behind. The shock it happening was worse than the pain really as well as the fact that she had been so close. She cried out as she was hit and hit the ground hard with a body on top of her. She would have been a great deal more frightened had it not been for the fact that upon impact she was rendered unconscious. The darkness took her quickly and at that very moment, as she lay surrounded by swords, she was at Cenred’s mercy…if he had any mercy within his being.

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Tags; Cenred
Word Count; 577
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Evening – During the First Season

[Deleted]

Cenred was pleasantly surprised to find that he’d actually managed to catch the woman before she turned him into a frog or something.
She seemed to appear merciful at that moment, as though she’d only just realise who on earth she was dealing with. Many people sported the same expression just before he put a sword through them. Weak and begging. Cenred didn’t do mercy; he didn’t give nor receive none so why on earth should anyone else have it?

His father used to tell him that mercy wasn’t the making of a king. He was right, of course he was. Cenred’s father had been a far worse king in terms of putting people in their rightful place. Cenred now understood where many of them were. The gallows, the executioners’ block or the stake. Never the less, he knew that his father would be proud right now if he knew that he’d caught a girl who not only possessed magic, but one who might actually be of some use.

Cenred kept the sword held to her. She wasn’t about to go anywhere; she was most likely far too busy thinking up an excuse for crossing the boarder and trespassing on his lands. The old ‘I got lost’ excuse just didn’t cut it these days and anyone who lived to tell the tale would say the same, except they couldn’t – because nobody lived to tell any kind of tale when they were on the other end of his wrath.

“That was the wrong choice” he growled and allowed the guards to seize her. He dusted himself off and circled her. He was going to make sure that she knew just who she was dealing with - and the consequences

“I don’t think we need to make a cheerful introduction – you know who I am and I know what you are” he stated, “You’re in trouble”

[Sorry its short!! Cenred has no idea what to do with her]

[Catalina Regalis]

It’s all about power and taking control

A frog. If only… That being said, turning Cenred into a frog would be an insult to all frogs everywhere and they had never done anything wrong to Catalina. Being tackled from behind definitely threw a person off in more ways than one. She had almost been to the forest, so close and yet so far as she lay on the ground. She had struck her head against the ground when she went down and had blacked out for a few moments, blood slipped down the side of her face from the small gash over her left brow. What a low blow… She had done nothing wrong except try to escape danger, why did it matter that she had crossed the boarder? It was for supplies for her people. Still, this simply proved that she had been right in her fear though strangely enough it had only been her and not her people that had been in immediate danger. Figured…

It didn’t take her long to regain consciousness and by the time she opened her eyes, Cenred had gotten up and was now holding her at sword-point. How lovely to see when she opened her eyes. A reminder of the trouble she was actually in. She wouldn’t beg or plead for her life because King Cenred was not the sort that would grant mercy and seeing her beg would most likely be something that would give him great satisfaction and she would afford him no such pleasure. Her head ached as she lay there, unmoving and unsure what her fate would be. He didn’t want to kill her; she knew that because if he had wanted her dead she would be already, that was a fact. She figured that she knew why as well, because she had used magic and that interested him. If the thought that would do anything for him, he was as crazy as he was unmerciful and cruel. As for an excuse, she offered none because she had none.

“That was the wrong choice.” Coming here as a whole had been the wrong choice but she could hardly take it back now. Cat was unable to resist as his guards came and roughly picked her up off the ground. Their grip would surely leave bruises on her fair skin but saying something would probably make them be rougher. She ached all over and had the guards not been holding onto her, she might have fallen due to her dizziness. What now? She glared icy daggers at Cenred as he spoke; she hated how he said ‘what’ she was. She was no different than any one else really; sure she had magic and was able to use it but that was because of her upbringing. She was human like the guards that held her were. She would hardly call Cenred human, considering his reputation and how he was treating her now, not a chance.

In trouble.. Yeah she was in trouble. That was obvious. Not like she needed him to remind her but he most likely was enjoying her distress. Arrogant bastard that he was… She peered over her shoulder at the forest, hoping that her people took notice her predicament but she couldn’t know as she stood there. Her Uncle would look for her if she was gone long but would she still be there or would Cenred have already killed her? Always the pessimistic type, Catalina couldn’t help but think of various things he could do to her and there wouldn’t be anything she could do until she was able to better focus her mind. Working magic required energy and a clear head and she had neither at this moment. “I’ve done nothing wrong and these actions against me are nothing short of barbaric.” She finally spoke, her voice betraying her fear despite her attempt at masking it. “What do you intend on doing with me?” She just needed time to rest and regain her energy and than she would be able to use her magic but would she have any time?

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Tags; Cenred
Word Count; 685
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Evening – During the First Season

[Deleted]

He chuckled when she said that she’d done nothing wrong. “Trespassing on my land is wrong and you seem to have done just that” he looked around. “This is my Kingdom you’re in you know…I can’t just let you pass through freely – who do you think I am? Uther Pendragon may let you roam freely, but I don’t have such a loose hold on my kingdom like he does” He told her.

He nodded to his guards who held onto her tightly. Thankfully they had a cage that they could transport her back to the castle in. he wasn’t going to let her ride on his horse or anything, for all he knew she might turn it into a frog or something.

“You’ll see” he smirked and mounted his horse, watching as the guards practically dragged her to the cage. “This is just for precaution, I don’t want you getting away from me now” he smirked and the group set off back for the castle, leaving the other group to carry on their watch of the boarder.

“Oh I may as well tell you what im going to do with you” he shrugged, “First im going to ask what on earth possessed you to trespass in my kingdom and then im going to kill you anyway – unless, you have a very, very good reason that would interest me” he told her.

[Sorry it’s short!!!]

[Catalina Regalis]

It’s all about power and taking control

Why was this happening to her? Seriously… Did she have the worst luck in all of Albion or what? She had done nothing wrong. What sort of King outlawed people to cross the boarder into his Kingdom? Such cruelty to those who did not deserve it and there was nothing that she was able to do to escape from the situation. She had used her magic and exposed herself as a druidess and then she had been caught. Her head ached and she was unable to focus her mind on what she needed to do. How was she going to escape? She was scared. Terrified even and yet she couldn’t show it. She had to be strong if she was going to keep from being killed by this tyrant of a King. Really, what was it with being a King and a tyrant? Was there no peace-loving Kings that were good to the people that graced their land? If she ever found such a King, it was possible that she would never leave that Kingdom. Her eyes widened as he spoke to her, accusing her of trespassing onto his land. Of course she knew what Kingdom she was in, she wasn’t a fool… “So you would kill any who cross into your land? You are not a King. You are a monster.”

She tried to wriggle out of the guards’ grasp but they held her too tightly. She cried out in pain as she was jerked around harshly in response to her attempt at freedom. She saw the cage and her eyes widened. No no no, she couldn’t go in a cage! She was not an animal, she was a human being! “No!” She cried out, looking over her shoulder at the forest, just hoping she saw hope in the form of her Uncle coming towards her but she saw nothing. She was on her own. She had known coming here was a bad idea. Why hadn’t she listened to her instincts? Because she had been too busy being a spoiled infant that didn’t wish to adhere to what her Uncle said. She should have stayed but she had been too invested in her own selfish feelings. Perhaps this was how she paid for that selfishness. She kicked and screamed as the cage was opened and soon she found herself tossed inside.

Cenred was not exactly good at hiding his intent. She knew before he even spoke that he was going to kill her. The cage slowly ambled towards Cenred’s castle as the ‘King’ decided to spoil the surprise of what he was planning on doing to her. Kill her for what? For just setting food on his soil? Utter foolishness. She crossed her legs and tried to cast a spell on the lock that kept the cage locked but she wasn’t able to focus so the spell didn’t work. Her head ached and there was a few times she was sure that she was going to pass out. No, pass out and she would most likely not wake up. She had to stay awake. “So you plan on killing me then.” She reasoned aloud, echoing what he had said. Very good reason that would interest him? Right… “If you wanted me dead, why didn’t you just kill me back there?” She asked indignantly as she sat in the cage. She might as well since he supposedly was going to kill her anyway. She had nothing to lose at this point. “You apparently lack in such things as logic.”

She sighed as she laid back on the dirty floor of the cage. She was feeling sick from the ride to the castle. The further she got from the forest, the further she got from chances of freedom. Her heart continued to sink much like the sun that was sinking over the horizon. She figured that once she entered that castle, she was never going to leave it except as a corpse. How lovely. So morbid but true. “As for a reason, I doubt the reason I have for being here would interest you so I shan’t waste my breathing in telling it.” That and it was none of his business why she was there. She had intended on getting supplies nothing more. “So you can burn for all I care.” She was not normally a hateful person but being captured definitely did nothing good for a girl’s temper.

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Tags; Cenred
Word Count; 750
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Evening – During the First Season

[Deleted]

“So you would kill any who cross into your land? You are not a King. You are a monster.” Cenred rolled his eyes at this. Why did women always question him and his motives? If she weren’t of magic and of some use then he would’ve killed her by now.

“I do so for my kingdom’s own good – no one wants spies from all parts of Albion trespassing across their land – My people expect me to be a king and by ridding my kingdom of worthless nobodies and people who believe that they can over throw me, then I would say that im more of a king that you think I am not”. He smirked.

Finally after their journey they were back at the castle. Cenred dismounted his horse and looked through the bars of the cage and chuckled. He’d heard her trying to cast some freaky voodoo earlier but she hadn’t succeeded. “The bars do you justice – make you far prettier”. He commented.

"If you wanted me dead, why didn’t you just kill me back there? You apparently lack in such things as logic.”

He snarled, “You are of far use to me than I thought – but im slowly beginning to realise that perhaps I should kill you now? But logic or not, you are of magic, and although I’ve dealt with people of the same kind before, Im prepared to let you explain yourself to me – perhaps then I may show a thing called ‘compassion’ – although I will admit for myself, that is very rare to come across…you should feel privileged that im actually preparing to give you a chance”.

He roared with laughter as she told him that he could burn. “I burn already…burn fear in the minds of my people and of my prisoners – so don’t think you can tell me anything that I haven’t heard before. You might just be burned yourself one day…especially if you were in a place such as Camelot”.

He’d give her a chance, see how he could manipulate her and perhaps then he’d kill her. yes. That sounded just right.