Tell Me What the Rain Knows [Arthur]

[Sasha]

"Stay out of this!"

"You should leave."

Sasha didn't really want to leave Arthur, mostly because inside she was scared. It was something she would never admit. But what more could she do than trust him? He would be fine. What kind of damage could Delilah inflict upon him? Arthur was a skilled warrior, and she was not. Placing her trust in his words, she silently took a deep breath and ran quickly for the exit.

She did not hear him say anything else to Delilah, because she was too busy running. Had she known what would eventually happen between the two, she would never have left. . .

[ out, for the moment ]

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah saw her daughter make a run for it, placing her trust in the prince's advice. Knowing it was a fooliah thing to do in front of Arthur, she stood her ground and made no move to chase after Sasha. She would eventually catch up with her and finish the job after she took care of the Prince of Camelot. Though she would have much prefered her daughter watch her precious prince die before her eyes. . .

When Sasha was out of sight and hearing distance, Delilah turned her mocking glare back to the prince. "Well now, where were we?" She shot him a taunting smile. Now that Sasha was gone, she could concentrate on only one thing now; killing the prince. Trying to think of something to say, she looked around quickly and saw the tiny bright red berries that Sasha had refused to eat now lying crushed near Arthur's feet. "I must say you have a brave lady friend, Arthur." She said, a smirk growing across her face. "You see those yew berries crushed on the floor? Sasha refused to eat them right before you arrived and spoiled everything. And as most would know. . . yew berries are extremely poisonous." Oh, why did Arthur have to spoil that moment? Delilah would have been delighted to see her daughter's rapid death. "And death would occur so rapidly. . . that the symptoms are sometimes missed."

The witch silently chuckled. "What is my point?" She asked, knowing that he would ask something of the sort. "Nothing you would understand." Delilah knew that made no sense to him. "Listen, I see this will only end in bloodshed. And you must realize that also, for no matter what you say I will never back down." She growled, furious at him and hungry for shedding blood tonight. She looked down at her scabbard, and then whispered a spell quietly. So that Arthur would not know she was a witch just yet. But nothing happened. Frustrated, she repeated the spell a little louder and forcefully but Arthur still would not hear her. This time it worked, and she pulled a long silver sword from her scabbard, pointing it directly at the Prince. "My sword cries out for your blood," she began darkly, the usual smirk on her face. "Come! Step forward so that I may cut you down!"

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur felt a massive wave of relief when Sasha fled. Now, he would not have to worry about Delilah doing something to her. She was hopefully getting as far away from here as possible. Now, all he needed to figure out was how to get out of this situation himself . . . but more importantly, how to put an end to Delilah's threats. Even if he left here, it did not mean he would not try to get to Sasha again. How she managed to do so in the first place, eluded Arthur. He had thought that under such strong protection, that Sasha would be safe. But he had been wrong, and it was not a mistake he could afford making twice. He needed to find some way to ensure Delilah kept distance from her. The thought of a mother trying to kill her daughter still disturbed Arthur to no end. But he did not think he could use compassion or guilt trip Delilah. No. The only way she was going to stop is if she got something grander than her apparent need for revenge.

Arthur listened to her begin to talk of the berries. He saw them only out of the corner of his high for he did not want to avert his gaze from her. It was far too dangerous. He had to watch her every move. It sickened him though, to think that she tried to force feed Sasha berries. "You underestimate Sasha," he said bluntly. He was now having difficulty referring to Sasha as her daughter. He saw nothing they had in common. In fact, it was shocking to think that they were related. How did such a cruel, sinister, ruthless woman breed such an innocent, sweet, and kind woman. It was clear that all of Sasha's positive attributes, came from her father.

Arthur then noticed her pull out a sword. Had that been there all along? He had not noticed it! Which is a bit strange because he had studied Delilah since he had stepped foot into this cave. Was there something greater at work here? He kept his own sword firmly gripped in case she lunged at him. He would not attack her, not yet anyway. "As I said before, I do not wish to kill you," he repeated, hoping -- though it may be a bit too optimistic of him -- that they could reach some sort of common ground. "Surely there is something else you want. Something you desire greater than revenge. Say you achieve what you seek." Though Arthur did not like to think along those lines, for what he had just hypothetically suggested, meant that Sasha would have been killed. And he did not want to imagine such a devastation. "Then what? You built your whole life around this one obsession, what will you do with the rest of your life?" Arthur was trying to delve into something deeper; trying to determine another desirable possibility.

[Delilah Kastus]

"I don't get how I am," Delilah growled at him. Sasha was brave, and she might even admit that someday, but not in the sense of pain. If Delilah put her through agony, then there would be no doubt that she would at least cry. He was still hesitating, still trying to reach something in her. Not a person in the world could succeed in doing so, but she thought she'd play along for a little bit. Holding her sword slightly lower but still gripping the handle firmly in case he decided to attack her suddenly, she responded to his question.

"You never believe what I say, so why should I answer you?" She said calmly. She was referring to Sasha being a murderer, and a sorceress. Still, Delilah wanted to toy with him. . . and this was no way of doing so. "I have many things I plan to do. I'm not focused on Sasha only," she added. And then, something was set off inside her and she received a new idea. From what she knew, Arthur did not know how to fight someone with magic for he was powerless in that sense. Perhaps if she tried something that was magic, she could taunt him even more?

"You know something, Arthur?" she said calmly, and for once actually meant it softly. "You don't have to fight me. I know you'd be powerless against me." Then the calmness left her and she felt a surge of excitement. She lifted her right hand from her sword pointing it at Arthur, and gave a smirk at the Prince. "ácólae slæp!" she shouted at him. This spell that she had just cast on the Prince would cause him become motionless, and unable to move, sending him to ground perhaps so that she could toy with him properly. . . and it would also reveal that she was a witch.

Translation: "Become motionless!"

[Arthur Pendragon]

Her words about her only focus not being Sasha, certainly did alarm him. While Sasha's safety had been his top priority when it came to her mother . . . he now wondered what other havoc she was planning on spreading. He would have asked as such -- even if he did not believe her -- but before he could say anything, he felt shock consume him when she began to spout out foreign words. While Arthur did not understand them, he recognized them as a spell. A SPELL! She was a sorcerer! Well that certainly changed things. A flood of thoughts spilled in the Prince's mind! Why had Sasha not told him this?! Why had she not warned him? Wait . . . if her mother was a sorcerer . . . did that mean . . . No no. Surely not. While he was not particularly happy about not being warned that Delilah was a sorcerer, he did not for one moment think that Sasha had magic in her as well. That would have just been too much. He did not believe she would ever lie to him in such a way.

While he was not angry with Sasha, he wished that he would have known what he was up against. And now, came the difficult part . . . trying to find out what the spell did. Of course it did not take long to figure out for when Arthur had attempted to take a step back -- a reflexive action he often did when hearing any sort of spell -- he found himself frozen. Was that the shock of it all? He tried to move again, but still no luck. Uh oh. This was not good. Not good at all. Having some control over his facial emotions, he used what little movement he could to glare at her.

"What have you done?!" He snapped, directing all of his frustrations to Delilah now. She had made him frozen! Unable to move! Oh this was ridiculous! How was he suppose to defend himself now?! He knew that was the point . . . for her to render him weak and defenseless and as much as he hated to admit it, it had worked! But he was not about to give up! He was not going to just stand here -- even though it seemed he had little other choice -- and let her kill him. He needed to do something more . . . anything! But no matter how much strength he used, he could not even move an inch. He could not strain one muscle of movement. He was completely and utterly trapped.

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah smirked with satisfaction as she saw Arthur become frozen. She couldn't expect him to be as happy as she was, but she had just performed a spell without any trouble or inconvenience at all. And just knowing that she had rendered the Prince utterly defenseless was too much for her. . . the pride that welled up inside of her was overwhelming. This was the same spell that she had cast on Sir Petronius -- better known as Peter -- before killing him.

"Perhaps this will end up a lesson for you in the future?" Delilah chuckled at the complete control she over him, walking over to the Prince. She made sure she studied him, quickly walking around him eventually coming up at his left side. When she said lesson, Delilah had meant that if he had fought her he probably would have won and the ordeal would have been over by now. But because he had not, he was now hers to taunt and toy with for however long she felt like it. The more she taunted him the faster her desire for his eventual death faded.

Delilah brushed her hand softly across the left side of his face, more so in a dominant way. It was just a way of expressing the control she had over him. She could do whatever she wanted and he could not do a thing to stop her. The feeling of control such as this was nice. . . nice, indeed. "How do you feel?" She asked calmly, a faint smile crossing her face. "You must feel so. . . helpless against me!" She added with a light chuckle. At least Delilah wasn't completely emotionless. . . she felt sorry that he had to feel so defenseless. She knew she wouldn't like the feeling herself. Then again, it was a plus for her because she had the upper hand in this encounter.

Delilah then became more serious and then began to stand about two feet away from him, kneeling down on her knees to watch him. After all, it wasn't like he'd be going anywhere. "So. . . I'm guessing you're wondering why my daughter never told you I was a witch?" She inquired seriously. Delilah only referred to Sasha as her daughter to possibly irritate him further, for she knew Arthur was beginning to despise her company.

[Arthur Pendragon]

As instinct would have normally taken over, and Arthur would have moved back as she progressed towards him . . . he could not. He was frozen. Though he could not afford to show any fear. He could only look at her sternly and coldly. A lesson. The only lesson he had learned thus far is that Sasha's mother is an evil woman. An evil sorcerer. But from the stories he had heard from Sasha, he had already somewhat knew that. Yet, seeing was believing. And now, he had seen all that he needed to. He tried to continue to fight through the spell but with no success. He attempted to turn his head to keep an eye on her, but could not. He could not even create the slightest bit of movement. And this only made him more frustrated with the entire situation. It only grew worse when she touched him. He knew she was asserting her authority and he despised every moment of it. Yet, he was completely defenseless . . . for now. He needed to find a way out of this! He had to! He could not even cringe, though his facial features slightly twisted into a slightly more intense glare when she had brought her hand to his cheek. He wanted no contact with her.

The fact that she picked up on it as well, made him agitated. He did not want to give her that satisfaction, but she was right. But to vocalize this admittance was . . . something he could not do. "The only lesson I have learned, is that everything Sasha said about you is true." Apart from her being a watch. Sasha had failed to mention that, and Arthur would have to confront her about that later. He didn't like to be left in the dark . . . he didn't like it when people did not disclose everything they knew about his opponent. While he still would have not been a match for powerful magic, at least there would have been some warning. But surely, Sasha had her reasons for this. Ones that he did not want to hear Delilah of all people justify. "I would not trust your reasons, so spare me from your continuous lies." Perhaps he should be more compliant if he wished to get out of here . . . but he could not. He was so angry at this woman, that he did not want to hear her words.

[Delilah Kastus]

Delilah gave a very faint smirk when he gave his answer. "Oh really?" She began with a chuckle. "Well, then I guess you'll be glad to hear that she never knew I am of magic." Feeling her muscles suddenly un-knot, she calmed and a long sigh escaped her mouth. "To keep myself safe, I never told her. . ." Delilah thought about what she had just said, and then added with genuine realization. ". . . and I suppose it kept her safe, also." To be honest, she didn't care whether it kept Sasha safe or not. . . it was for the best that she never knew, because of something that she would not. . . no, could not tell anyone. That Sasha was a witch herself, and if it ever reached her ears she could very well over power Delilah. It was best that be avoided if possible.

Something was shifting in Delilah's emotions at this moment, and she felt the need to talk about the past. . . before Arthur or Sasha, or even her son Nicolae existed. "You know, I wasn't always like this," she said calmly. Delilah was referring to the obvious evil in her, that she just couldn't seem to move past. "I think t was a few years before Uther became King of Camelot. . . I'm not sure. I had a wonderful life in Caerleon. . . a son, a husband." Then she furrowed her brows and gave Arthur a cold look. "Until my husband betrayed me. He shared a love with another woman. I'm pretty sure that's what made me what I am today. . ." She finished, not mentioning the part where she ended his life out of a sorrowful rage. This was something that she hadn't thought about in a long time. . . or at least in such an intense way. She dug her nails into the stone earth to keep tears at bay. "You don't know how much I wish things could have stayed that way. It really was wonderful. . ." She added with a faint smile.

[Arthur Pendragon]

While Arthur did not believe a great deal of what she said, he did believe her when she said that Sasha was unaware of her mother's magic. It would not make sense for Delilah to lie. If anything, she would want to cause conflict between his and Sasha's friendship and the way to do that would be to say that Sasha did in fact know. But instead, she said she did not . . . there was no reason to lie, so that left Arthur with believing her. And even made him feel a bit guilty for thinking that Sasha would keep such a thing from him. He should never doubt those he cared about. And while it was an unspoken skepticism, he would have to apologize to Sasha later for ever feeling that she withheld the truth from him. "That does not surprise me," he said, in a confident voice. While he had initially thought that Sasha had known, it truly did not surprise him that she really didn't. It only strengthened his faith in her.

Although with that, he did not believe that Delilah didn't tell her on order to protect her. Clearly, protecting her daughter was not the main priority, or in her interests. After all, Arthur had just walked in on Delilah trying to kill her. No. He doubted her intentions at keeping this a secret were for the benefit of Sasha. Just more lies. "I highly doubt Sasha's safety was ever your primary concern," he stated, expressing his doubt in her words. When she began to speak of her past, Arthur was conflicted in what to think; whether he wanted to hear this or not. On the one hand, he did not want to listen to her justify her reasoning for acting this way. On the other hand, maybe it would be interesting to see what could have been so terrible that she felt the need to kill her daughter -- even though he did not believe that there was anything in the world that would justify this act. And finally came the most pressing problem: he could not trust a word she said. So it would only make this entire conversation fruitless.

Here Arthur was contemplating the different options . . . when he knew he had none. He had no choice but to listen. She had cast a spell on him, hindering any sort of movement. So he was frozen in place, to listen to her words, whether they be lies or truth. He did also notice the change in her emotions and entire demeanor as she began to recall the past. If she got too worked up, she may become irrational, putting Arthur in an even more dangerous situation. He knew he should not be provoking her -- even less now -- but he could not help it. Her words explained nothing. It only showed how immensely bitter she was. "So why do you choose to punish Sasha, who had nothing to do with your husband's decisions?" While there was sternness in his voice, it was also a very genuine question. He did not know the story, and as previously established, he did not trust her.

Perhaps Sasha's father had cheated on his wife, or perhaps he did not; it was not Arthur's place to judge. But either way, Arthur did not understand why Delilah's wrath fell upon her innocent daughter, who had no control over her father's actions. "You could have made a better life for yourself. Maintained your family with the love of your daughter." In Arthur's opinion, she had thrown that all away. She had chosen a life of evil and bitterness rather than holding on to what she had -- mainly Sasha. And due to what? Anger at rejection and betrayal? To Arthur, that was no excuse. One should not punish the innocent for the crime of one person. Little did Arthur know, just how ironic his words were . . . for his father, the king, was doing the exact same. But right now, the focus was on Delilah; on the choices her husband had made that led her to the dark and sinister decisions that had radically changed her life, and endangered the life of her daughter.

[Delilah Kastus]

He was right. He primary concern was never for Sasha. She could care less. “No, it was not,” she replied to him. “She is not a part of me. Never was, as far as I'm concerned.” She felt no regret saying this. To her, it felt completely normal. Then she heard Arthur's question.

“It was never about Sasha,” she told the Prince. “I never wanted he comfort of family. It may bring love, but then what do you think follows love? Pain.” She felt bad for Arthur, thinking that family was important. Maybe it was, but Delilah certainly couldn't see the point. Some said she'd stop and think... and regret what she had done someday. But until that happened, Delilah would just continue onward.

“Arthur, I was like this long before Sasha and Peter. There was no reason for me to stop then,” she faintly smiled at him. It was so true, why should she have stopped then? At least it made her forget about her own pain! “My mother had always told me to never trust men, that they were all traitors,” she furrowed her brows. “I didn't believe her. To be quite honest, I was just as blind as Sasha is.”

“Do you not think that there is anything sinister about men?” Delilah just couldn't understand them. They all seemed evil to her. Peter Tiberius, Uther Pendragon, his son Arthur... just, all of them. But she knew there was no use in asking a man. They'd try to come up with an excuse. “And don't come up with any pathetic excuses. I don't want to hear them.”