Tell Me What the Rain Knows [Arthur]

[Sasha]

Why did the bad things always happen when she was just beginning to enjoy life? Everything had been fine, despite being in her mother's presence. Her friendship with the Prince was growing finely, and she was learning everything she needed to know about Camelot. And then this happened. Her mother had abducted her, as amusing as that would sound to strangers. Not only that, she was also forced to stay in a cave... in the Forest of Balor. Thankfully only at the mouth of the cavern, but it still wasn't safe! Didn't she know that she could be killed too if one of those creatures appeared?

Lady Delilah had threatened her that if Sasha tried to sneak out she would regret it, and the worst thing about that was... she knew her mother would truly do such a thing. But why had she taken her here? As if she couldn't guess, but... was Delilah really such a fool as to bring harm to a noblewoman and go against the King? However, that was the least of her worries.

Sasha sat up against the cave wall, not knowing what she was waiting for. "Hello, my sweet daughter," Delilah said with a soft maternal voice as she emerged into the light of the entrance. This sent a chill down Sasha's spine, because she knew -- she could feel it -- that there was something in her mother's voice. Something was going to happen. Delilah sat down in front of Sasha, and then took her daughter's hand. There, she put something small... but it felt so cold. When Delilah took her hand away, it was revealed five small bright red berries. What? They looked aluring to the eye.

"You see those yew berries?" Delilah growled, losing her original motherly voice. Her voice was very dark, and angry. "You are going to eat them. Or I'll make you."

Yew berries? So familiar.... oh! she thought with fear. No... that couldn't be! Her mother couldn't be doing this! She just couldn't! If more than 3 yew berries were eaten, it could prove very fatal! Yew berries were very poisonous! Why would her mother do this?

But it was happening, and no one was there to stop it.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Something was not right.

Arthur trusted his instincts. After all, being raised to fight and trained as a knight, keen instincts were imperative. It was why when he had a bad feeling about something, he often trusted it . . . and this was one of those cases. Sasha had not yet returned. In fact, he had not seen her for the entire day. This was not like her. She was adventurous, yes . . . but she would not just randomly vanish like this. She had been running from her someone, from the pain of her home. She would not just disappear without a word. The fact that he knew from what she told him, that her mother was not exactly kind, worried Arthur. It made him concerned. What if she had found her?

Well, that was only one of the many possibilities. She could have gone into the woods and encountered some sort of strange creature -- as that was not a rarity. Or what if bandits had gotten their hold on her? A beautiful woman such as herself . . . well, Arthur knew that sometimes the minds of men were not so innocent. There was so much potential danger around . . . and she was not here right now. She was out there, possibly encountering something.

These thoughts were precisely what made Arthur dress in his armor, and wait until night time before venturing out. He would not be able to explain this to his father. His father would not risk the life of his son to save that, even of a noblewoman. Arthur regarded her as a close friend at the very least though. Yes, they had shared a few intimate moments and who knows what the future held, but right now, she was a dear friend and Arthur had to find her. Putting on his gloves, he made his way out of his chambers, not even bothering to take Merlin with him.

He went to the stables, seeing his horse already prepared and without another moment's hesitation, mounted on it, and quickly set off into the night to search for the missing woman. He would have to first go through the Darkling Woods, as they were the ones surrounding the city. He could not go too quickly though. He was looking for some sort of tracks, and the fact that it was dark meant that he would have to be even more careful so that he would not miss anything. So he rode . . . slowly, yet anxiously, keeping a keen eye on the ground as well as his surroundings just in case there was some sort of trail -- as that was what he was heavily relying on at the moment.

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah saw her daughter was hesitating, and that made her impatient. "Eat them," she growled, trying to hold back her heavy anger. "It's for your own good." Did "taking care" of her own daughter bother her? No, not at all. Especially since this would help her to fulfill her plot to kill the King. The Prince would be next, if she found the right time. Why did she need to remove her daughter? Because even though Sasha was blind to the fact, she carried strong magic genes. Her maternal ancestors were all magic users, so one way or another Sasha carried those abilities. Delilah knew Sasha must never know this, for it would hurt her plans to kill the King and Prince. She knew her daughter's determination... thanks to that good for nothing man, Peter.

"Alright, Sasha, I admit... they are poisonous," she explained, a gleam of faked sympathy in her golden eyes. "But I promise, if you eat them your time will come so quickly it will be painless." That was only half the truth; death would occur very rapidly when eating a yew berry, but it would most definately NOT be painless. And with such a sick mind, Delilah would enjoy her daughter's last moments.

Sasha would never know that her father's death was Delilah's intentional doing. She'd die thinking it was her fault, which she knew pained her greatly. And she would never know the true extent of her abilities... that they reached deep into magic.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur rode deeper and deeper into the woods, wishing he could go faster but knowing that he could not. When he noticed there was a considerable amount of tracks, he dismounted his horse and took a hold of the reigns, leading it rather than riding it. He first crouched down, eye carefully the fresh trail that would hopefully lead him to Sasha. It was the only thing he had to go on right now and desperately hoped it was not misleading. He could not afford to waste time following useless tracks.

He stood up once again, following the prints. The worst scenarios were running through his mind right now. He wished this could be a more formal endeavor; that he could have more knights to aid in the search. He was well aware that if he asked, they would have assisted him. But it would be against the king's wishes. Which is why he had to sneak out . . . yet the consequences of his actions would be nothing if it meant that Sasha was safe. Arthur would never regret aiding a friend in need.

[[ I'll maybe have him find them in the next post, if that's alright! And I'm sorry its so short! ]]

[Sasha]

Sasha looked up from the berries with widened eyes when her mother said that they were poisonous. "You can't be serious," she said with surprise, and a sudden feeling of anger starting to burn within her. "B-but... you are." Looking back down at the deathly bright red berries, she decided that for once she'd refuse her mother's request. Turning her burning glare back up to her mother, she stood up quickly and threw the berries roughly on the ground. It took a lot of gut for her to do this, because she knew Delilah wouldn't hesitate to seriously injure her. It was about time Sasha did this, though.

"I know why you're doing this. For what I did. But hasn't it ever crossed your mind that living with it everyday is enough of a punishmet?" She spat, furiously and speaking all of this very rapidly.

[Delilah Kastus]

Sasha stood up and threw the berries on the hard stone floor of the cave, ruining them. That was what made Delilah snap. That was the end of it! Sasha was a real fool, making the decision to refuse her mother's request. There was only one thing left that she could do, something that even someone as emotionless as Delilah had tried to avoid. "Don't you remember clearly, Sasha?" She spoke calmly, standing up. "You intentionally did away with your father, so how can it pain you even at the slightest?" Delilah gave a bit of a devilish chuckle, her hand firmly on a hidden knife. It wasn't like most women to wear a scabbard with a dress, but she wasn't one of the others, was she? "And that is, of course, what I'm here for. To deliver this pain."

This would only take a moment, if Sasha could hold still. Delilah pulled the knife out, holding it firmly in her grasp so that her daughter couldn't steal it away. She hoped the sight of her weapon would send fear into Sasha. She was standing very close to her daughter, and practically had her up against the cave wall. Delilah gave a smirk and with quick speed pushed her daughter agianst the cave wall roughly. There, she held her short knife to Sasha's throat. "Now, hold still so I don't make a mess," Delilah said, about to... well, was it really that hard to guess her next actions?

[Sorry if you find this a little disturbing, Arthur! I just wanted to show the dark side of Delilah in a very dark way lol]

[Arthur Pendragon]

The night air was very quiet, which made the search for Sasha a bit easier. He would be able to hear any hint of movement, and muffled voices -- speaking of voices, all those years of hunting had paid off in this moment. For in the distance, he heard murmuring. Now, it could very well be someone else for it was not clear enough for Arthur to reach the distinct conclusion that it was Sasha. But there was always a chance! It was the only lead he had right now -- and it seemed to be coming from where the trail was leading. That was all the conviction that Arthur needed to hurriedly follow the sound of the voices. He make sure to walk quickly, but not make too much noise to tip them off.

Soon enough, a cave came into view and the voices were becoming more clear as by now, Arthur was certain that they were originating from it. No wonder it was so muffled. Arthur very slowly pulled out his sword from its sheath, hiding on the side, trying to gain the element of surprise for it would give him the upper hand . . . well, sort of. This was the thought he was going on before he finally stepped into view. Standing at the mouth of the cave, it seemed he had arrived just in time to see a woman hold a knife to Sasha's throat. Panic and worry filled the prince, but he concealed both emotions. Showing such fear to your enemies was not at all advisable. So much for having the upper hand. The woman had Sasha is a very violent hold. But Arthur could not let this go on.

Holding the sword out in front of him in a defensive stance, his eyes slightly narrowed at the woman. "Let her go." Arthur's voice held a high tone of authority and sternness. He was dead serious on this matter for the life of a dear friend was at stake. He did not enjoy fighting women . . . quite frankly, he hated the thought. But if she was not going to comply with his words -- which held an underlying threatening tone -- then he would have to take drastic measures. Drastic ones, but not impulsive ones for he had not yet forgotten that she was holding Sasha's life in her hand right now.

[[ I wasn't too disturbed at all! hahah I just feel bad for Sasha! Delilah is definitely not winning the mother of the year award any time soon ]]

[Sasha]

Just as the knife slowly started to break her skin and sent a feeling of genuine horror through her heart, Sasha heard a familiar voice. She wasn't used to hearing him speak in a stern voice having not been in Camelot long enough. "Let her go," he spoke. Sasha gave a silent sigh of relief; it had never felt better to hear the Prince's voice. As long as he was here, nothing could happen to her.

She felt blood trickling down her neck from the small cut her mother had given her. As her mother let the knife drop from her throat, Sasha pressed her hand against her minor wound to stop the bleeding. If it was possible, there wouldn't be any more violence. If Delilah was smart enough to obey Prince Arthur's orders, then right now everything would be over for Sasha. And how she longed for that...

[Sorry it's short! :[ I'll get a longer post with Delilah]

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah swore under her breath when she heard the young man off to her side, at the mouth of the cave. She let her knife drop from her daughter's throat, and turned her head quickly to give the intruder a firey glare with her golden eyes. She could tell that he was dead serious when he spoke, as if that wasn't obvious in his stern voice. In a minor attempt to overestimate the young man she gave a creepy laugh. "Hmm. I would," she started. Of course, she had let Sasha go but there was no way she'd actually let her leave. "But you are wasting your time here, Arthur. I will never let her leave... alive, anyway." She chuckled at her little joke.

Delilah loved it when foolish young men like the Prince had no knowledge of her abilities. That also meant that if he tried anything, she'd put an end to his attempt of rescuing her daughter. No, she wouldn't kill him. She would save that for another time, when she'd enjoy it clearly. "I am not doing this for the reason you are suspecting," she said, a truthful and sorrowful look on her face. "It's for revenge. She... if only you knew what she's done..."

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur felt a massive wave of relief when the knife was lowered from Sasha's throat . . . but he knew better than to show any evidence of that relief, no matter how much he felt it. He remained composed, firm, serious. He was not oblivious to the blood either, and while he felt slightly more relieved, his concern did not diminish in the slightest. He took a few more steps inside, never taking his eyes off of Delilah. He was watching her very intently, very warily. He did not know her. That made her unpredictable and he was not going to take any chances . . . not with Sasha's life on the line. He wanted to move closer to her, to make sure she was alright, but was very careful in every step he was taking. "Are you alright?" He asked Sasha, while keeping his gaze locked on her mother. No wonder she escaped to Camelot . . . to be free of her wrath. What kind of mother was this?!

And to make things worse, she was trying to justify her actions? No. Arthur would never believe that Sasha could have done anything that would deem such violent actions against her, acceptable. If only be knew what she did? "Whatever it was, it can not be worse than a mother torturing and threatening the life of her daughter." This was not how a mother was supposed to be. She was supposed to be kind, nurturing, and eve if Arthur had never experienced the love of a mother, he had witnessed it. He had felt jealous witnessing it. But seeing her . . . it only filled Arthur with anger and shock. "Let your daughter go. Whatever quarrel you have, settle it with me." He was not trying to be all dramatic and self sacrificial, he just so desperately wanted Sasha out of harms way.

[Sasha]

Sasha Tiberius felt a stinging pain that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. It was similar to the pain she felt when the griffon had wounded her, but not nearly as intense. “I’m fine,” she replied to the Prince, quiet as a whisper but hopefully audible. Sasha was so grateful for him rescuing her... it was so noble, and it just proved once again that at least someone cared about her.

Wait... did her mother just hint to Arthur that she was a killer? She didn’t exactly think the Prince would take the word of someone he didn’t know over a close friend’s, but it was just the mention of it. The crimes Sasha truly had committed were in the air, and it all depended on what Arthur believed to be the truth that would decide where she ended up. If he did not believe Delilah, then their friendship would remain and because of the current experience possibly grow stronger over time. If he did believe her, then Uther would condemn her to execution for the murder of a Knight. Where Sasha knew she was destined to die, even if it wasn’t any time soon.

[Delilah Kastus]

"You would be surprised," the Lady Delilah growled, aggression starting to rise in her throat. "I can tell you straight out what she did, and whether you choose to believe it or not, it remains so." Yes, she would reveal Sasha's crime right here in front of the Prince. Delilah glanced at Sasha, only to see tension growing within her. If she could pull this off and at least make the Prince wonder even during denial, then that would be a good accomplishment. She didn't know how she'd kill Sasha without being run through by Arthur, so she'd have to try both of them... it was a big risk but at least she'd be able to use sorcery as a tactic. "Nothing different will come of settling things with you, Arthur," she gave him am angry look. As if he could see it through the darkness? "I will not waste my time with that."

"You think it's not as bad as a mother torturing and threatenng the life of her daughter? Well, maybe so. But I wanted it to remain the same amount of pain she's inflicted on me," she found herself raising her voice at the Prince a little bit, but she went on with a calmer voice. "You remember my husband? He served under your father as a Knight. And your father's men could not find his murderer. Do you want to know why?" Delilah's tone became darker and she turned her head exprectantly to her daughter, "Go ahead, Sasha. Tell him. Tell him who is responsible for your father's death."

[Arthur Pendragon]

While Arthur was relieved to hear that she said she was fine, and her wound did not seem life threatening, he knew that she was probably far from it. He had guaranteed her safety, only for her to be abducted by her mother, the very person she had fled from and now he could see why. While her remarks did strike curiosity in him, at the same time, he did not know how much to believe. He had become close friends with Sasha, and trusted her . . . so how could he believe a woman, her mother, who had held a knife to her throat. He had witnessed first hand how upset Sasha was over the death of her father, especially after that night where she had terrible dreams about it. She had inquired as to whether he knew who had killed him . . . so surely her mother was not suggesting that her and Sasha knew the murderer. That could not be right. As he previously established, he trusted Sasha far more than her mother.

"You are already wasting your time, for I doubt I will believe whatever lies you choose to speak." Right now, his priority was to get Sasha out of here and back to safety. How had her mother even been able to take her? He should have better protected her. "Let your daughter leave here, no good is going to come out of this." How could a mother gain so much satisfaction in attempting to kill her daughter? It was terrible. Despicable to say the very least. "Tell me what exactly what it is that you want," he added, trying to understand her motives for doing this. Did she want money? Or was she just ruthless enough to want nothing else other than her daughter dead.

[Delilah Kastus]

"Yes, you are right, I am wasting my time," Delilah agreed darkly, while a smirk of amusement grew on her face. "You would never believe bad of a woman you trust. You're too blind to see the obvious truth in my 'lies'." Delilah began to show a blank expression. She edged a little closer to Sasha and played with her knife noticeably, just to cruelly tease Arthur . . . and her daughter. But then she stopped noting that Arthur was enraged and was the one with the bigger weapon. That of course did not stop her from loving it. "And it's not like I can expect Sasha to give it away."

She completely ignored him when he urged her again to let Sasha go, but when he asked her what her motives were . . . interesting question, which would follow with a cruel answer. "Is it really that hard for you to guess?" She snapped at him irritably. "I need Sasha to pay with her life. I can only imagine how many false things she's said to you. Played it like she's innocent, lying straight to your face!" Her voice then grew deeper and a lot more rageful. "Sasha is the one who killed Sir Peter! That is why you could not find the one responsible. I was ignorant enough to hide her from your father, and leave Camelot. I regret that with all my soul now." She started to glare furiously at her daughter. "All I want is her gone. That is what my motives are. Then I'll be on my way . . ."

She didn't really think Arthur would so easily let her kill Sasha. And that was why if he gave her any sort of physical trouble, she'd kill him immediately. And if Sasha was watching, the better it would be for Delilah.

[Arthur Pendragon]

When she took a step towards Sasha, so did Arthur. Of course, he had to do so cautiously for she was far closer to her and she was the one trying to kill her. Arthur's sword was still out, but he knew it would still be difficult to strike a woman . . . the mother of Sasha . . . the wife of Sir Peter . . . and yet, if she kept acting in such a threatening manner -- more so towards Sasha than him -- then he would have no choice. It was then that she revealed something . . . something rather outrageous. Something so unbelievable, that Arthur froze for a moment, just looking at her.

No. Arthur would not . . . could not believe it! Whatever her mother said surely could not be true. Sasha had been so upset over her father's death and it was clear that it tormented her . . . but surely not in the ways t hat Delilah suggested. Arthur had only gotten the chance to get to know Sasha for a little while, but he trusted her. He trusted his instincts when it came to her . . . he did not believe there was an ounce of evil in her heart. For it was not her, but her mother, who was holding the dagger to her throat. How could he believe anything that she said? He would not. No. That could not be how he died. Sasha had loved her father. She had spoken so highly of him, so fond of his memories -- ones that she could remember --, and mourned so deeply for his loss. So what could her motives be? What possible reason would she have had to kill her father? None. Arthur could not think of a single one.

His face was rather serious as he stared sternly at the mother of his dear friend. "I do not believe you." His words were determined and held a high degree of confidence and certainty in them. "Now put your weapon down. You will not succeed in your supposed claim for vengeance." In other words, Arthur would not let her succeed. Nor would he believe her. He would believe Sasha. He would side with her, no matter what. She was the victim here . . . not her mother. There was such a dark cruelty in Delilah's actions and words, ones that sent a chill down Arthur's spine. What kind of mother was this. "Your lies fall upon deaf ears here," he added, as if to further convince her that he did not believe a word of what she was saying.

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah dipped her head while a solemn expression played on her face. "I suppose it's fine if you endanger your own kingdom," she said without any trace of emotion. "It's not like I care." And she didn't care... she could care less about their well being; that's just how terrible she was. Delilah would have been a bit more friendlier if it were a woman who had stumbled into the cave... but not to a man. She would give anything to just kill the Prince right now, but not yet. It was so hard to fight the urge. . .

But she could of course do other things aside from killing the man. "If you interfere, I swear you'll regret it. . ." She threatened the Prince. "I don't care if Sasha means anything to you. She's a murderer, and I know I'm probably setting a bad example for myself... But I've longed for this moment since that night in the middle of winter when I saw Sasha kill Peter by the stream. He trusted her, and loved her as a father would a daughter... and I loved him." A blood lusting smirk appearing on her face. "But your friend stole everything from me!" She spat out the word 'everything' with anger. Delilah turned to Sasha and walked toward her, acting as if she were going to go ahead and kill her right there in front of him. Fully aware that he just might come at her. If he did, then that would be great. It would go accordingly to plan.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur still refused to believe there was any truth in her words, but Sasha remained silent, and while he could not fully read the expression on her, there was a nagging fear that was not entirely dismissing all of Delilah's words. But he could not focus on that right now. He had to focus on Sasha's safety. Delilah seemed she would not be backing down, and neither would Arthur. The only problem was that he knew nothing about her. He did not know what would appease her, what words to say to change her mind. How could he negotiate when he did not even know the terms upon what she wanted. It seemed all she cared for was to see her daughter dead but surely, surely there was something else she wanted. Something Arthur could bargain for . . . anything to save Sasha.

Just as she had been so unresponsive to his commands, he was equally unresponsive to her threats. "Killing her will not solve anything." He spoke the words but he knew they would mean nothing to her. He had encountered people in the past who were driven by such a thirst for revenge. It was sickening, like a disease that plagued them, and she seemed to be no exception to that. He watched her very carefully, claiming that all she wanted was Sasha dead . . . and then she moved towards her. Whether this was part of her plan or not, Arthur could not afford the risk involved in not reacting. And so, perhaps moving the most quickly he had ever since entering this cave, he hurriedly moved forward, standing directly in front of Sasha, even pulling her further behind him.

He was now the barrier between her and Delilah. He held up his sword, prepared to do what was necessary, though he truly hoped that it would not come to killing Delilah. Then again, with the way things were going, she was not one to back down. "I will not let you harm her," he said, his tone becoming slightly more aggressive, equally stubborn, fully determined.

[Sasha]

Sasha saw her mother walking toward her, ready to end her life at any moment. She slightly widened her eyes, and backed up against the cave wall. But when Arthur rushed in front of her, blocking Delilah's way. Arthur made it heard that he would not let Delilah harm her. And that just made Sasha smile. Not in a 'selfish relief' way, but as if appreciating that he still trusted her and was determined to protect her.

This didn't seem to surprise her mother; she just stared at the Prince with her creepy smirk. . . as if she would do something dark any moment. Sasha felt quite safe with Arthur protecting her like this, in fact safe enough to break her silence. She hadn't wanted to speak before, fearing that if she said the wrong things Delilah might harm her. But now seemed fine. "Why won't you just back down? You have to realize by now that you won't be able to, umm... to... kill me." She spoke in a seemingly brave voice.

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah made no change of expression when the Prince jumped in front of her daughter; just the same old smirk that usually scared others. She glared hotly at Sasha when she began to speak and break her silence. What did she mean by her "brave" words? Well, whatever. She did not know Delilah was a witch, who could very well kill both of them at the same time if she wanted to. "You stay out of this!" She hissed, giving her a stern and furious glare.

Delilah looked back to the Prince, and this time just gave him a creepy chuckle with an emotionless expression. "You have your sword, Arthur. Why not use it?" She began to smirk again, very amused by this. Delilah backed away very slowly, just to create a bit of distance between them. Spreading her arms out, as if tauntingly giving him a chance to strike her, she teased him, "Come on! Give it your best." A moment later, she gave him a devilish smirk. "Or are you too much of a coward to actually fight?"

[Arthur Pendragon]

Had the present situation not been so tense, he would have smiled at Sasha's words. She once again, proved her bravery and strength and the fact that she was not willing to just accept whatever fate her mother believed her to deserve . . . truly showed that Sasha was building confidence. But this recognition was forced out of his mind for the time being when Delilah began to taunt him, encouraging him to strike her. Arthur knew why she was doing this and it was not because she welcomed death. It was because she knew that he would not -- could not -- do it. Not because he felt he was no match for her, but because it was difficult for him to bring himself to strike a woman . . . even one as cruel and dark as this one. And she was fully aware of this. She anticipated it. Or well, her taunting suggested such any way. Arthur stood there, sword still up to block any attack that she might charge at them with. He made no move towards her. In fact, he stayed more closely in front of Sasha than he was in front of Delilah.

Arthur resented being called a coward; in fact, he absolutely despised that term. But he also knew that Delilah was just trying to provoke him, so did his best to keep himself composed. The task here was to protect Sasha, not to kill her mother because of his pride. "You should leave," he said in a low voice to Sasha, keeping his gaze entirely focused on her mother. He would stay behind, try to buy her some time and distract her mother. That seemed to be the best possibility right now. If Delilah attacked him -- or Sasha --, then he would have to react defensively. But he could not be the one to initiate the attack. "I do not wish to kill you," he told her plainly. He said this, hoping there was some sort of understanding that they could reach. While he doubted it, he had to give her the benefit of the doubt . . . one last time.