A Noble Invitation

[Vortigern]

-------When Vortigern heard approaching footsteps, he turned his head to see who entered. Who would be up at this hour of the night? Who dared disturb his much needed peace and quiet? Much to his...well, he was not sure if it was delight or chagrin, Lady Romily entered. She had been started by him, though he made no apology. It was not as if it was his fault. He half expected her to storm up to him and throw choice words his way. After all, she was no longer under the supervision of her father. Now what was this Romily de Braose really like when uncontrolled. To his surprise, though he made no show of it, she curtsied. Not only that, but she apologized and referred to him with proper title. Now this was not something that Vortigern saw as an act of kindness; such gestures were ones that he expected. Ones that were long overdue.

-------He turned to fully face his, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked towards the noblewoman. Lady Romily," he greeted in a rather formal tone of voice. "Has your illness deprived you of sleep?" He asked. She had excused herself for she'd been feeling 'unwell'. He asked now not because he cared, but because he was curious as to why she decided to wander around in the middle of the night. Clearly, ignoring the fact that he was doing the same. "Or is this is a frequent habit of yours," he added, in slight ridicule of what a bizarre habit that would be indeed.

[Romily de Braose]

Romily put the book back on the shelf as Vortigern asked whether she her health had caused her lack of sleep or whether she got her kicks from stalking around Wolfhall at night.
She turned back to him, “The first my lord”. Of course the second wasn’t true! She hardly ever rose at that hour to look for a book, “but I find that my headache is much improving”. Not that he would care. “Stalking around Wolfhall in the dead of night isn’t how I get my kicks”. She added – channelling her earlier thoughts.

Her brows knitted together when it came down to the ultimate question. Why was he in the library? Romily put the candle down and leant back against the bookshelf. “Is this a frequent habit of yours my lord?” she repeated his earlier question, “or are you an avid reader?”. The question itself wasn’t offensive and she did not say it in such a tone that would allow him to think of it that way. With Vortigern, he was a hard man to read so she had found out.

With her back still pressed against the bookshelf, she waited for an answer. Whether it be sarcastic or honest. She was sure it would be the first.

[Vortigern]

-------She was acting very, different now. Less outspoken, more...dare he say...respectful. No. He would not go as far as to say that. She could be just acting this way for whatever reason. Maybe her illness was one of the mind and she had split personalities. He had heard that there was such a thing. Either way, it made her unpredictable and Vortigern did not like unpredictability. But, he would have to determine what she was truly like and whether it was just a show. When she assured him that this was not how she got her kicks, he gave a bit of a smile. "Ah yes," he said in a voice to show as if he was recalling something from earlier. "You get it from, going on a ride." Yes, his tone as before was insinuating that she was riding something more than a horse.

Maybe that was why she was not married yet; because her virtue was in question. "And it would make sense that you do so at such a late hour." He knew he was being rude, but he was permitted to. She was lower than him in the social ranking of the world. When she questioned if this was a frequent habit of his, or if he was an avid reader, he was a bit surprised that there was no sarcasm in her voice. Or if there was, it was not evident."It is not a habit of mine to wander aimlessly in a foreign estate." Well, not a noble's estate anyway. Just because she was being 'polite', did not mean he was expected to return the favor. For he owed her nothing; and she owed him proper respect. "This library is just the first chamber of remote interest that I came across." Truth be told, he did enjoy reading. Education was essential for any future ruler of a kingdom.

[Romily de Braose]

She didn’t look insulted by his riding comment. She’d merely said it earlier to annoy her father and succeeded. “Indeed”.

With that she pushed herself from the bookcase and scanned the spines for the one she was looking for, her finger tracing over each and every one before finding what she was after.
“Do what at this hour? Search for a book?” she questioned, “That is the answer being that I cannot sleep and have nothing else to read my lord” she smiled. Romily felt that she could be more herself now that her father wasn’t in presence and watching her every move.

"It is not a habit of mine to wander aimlessly in a foreign estate."

“Until now so it may seem” she smiled again and watched him.

“And how do you find it my lord?” she asked referring to the library, “Does it please you?”
Would anything please this man? Romily wasn’t sure whether she wanted to hear the answer to that question.
He still hadn't answered her previous one as to whether he liked to read or not. Perhaps he did after all - otherwise it wouldn't be of interest to him.

[Vortigern]

-------Vortigern continued to watch her, trying to determine her true nature. Was she just a spoiled little daughter of a noble, trying to upset daddy? Or was there more to it? Of course with their behavior at dinner, there seemed to be more to it. Vortigern truly did not care, but if this was all he had to pass the time, then why the hell not. "Is not reading a bit too, advanced for you?" He asked. Yes. Vortigern was indeed a male chauvinist. "It will not benefit you in life. Sewing, embroidering, talking about fashion and gossiping about others, now those are things better suited to your kind." Her kind being noblewomen. God he remembered all the bloody conversations he had to endure in their presence; talking about completely frivolous things and each minute of it had been pure torture. He wondered how he had ever survived when his sisters resided in the castle. Now, they were their husband's burden.

-------Until now? He was not wandering aimlessly! Well, technically he was. But he did not want her to point that out. A prince did not 'wander aimlessly'. It made them sound lost and confused; Vortigern was neither. Not that he would ever admit it if he was. Her next question begged for more honesty... brutal honesty. There was no need to lie about it. He took a few steps towards her, standing at her side, his hand resting on one of the shelves. His eyes watched her carefully. "Not even remotely," he answered with a bit of a smug smile, the double meaning in his words arising once more. She was talking of the library, but his answer also meant in reference to her. "Tell me, what has suddenly caused change in such a loose tongued woman?" He asked a question; he expected an answer.

[Romily de Braose]

Ok, she got it. She was a woman whose only use was to sew and have children. She remained sombre and sat herself down in one of the chairs. “Not entirely” she told him, “a bit more education than normal can do wonders – and I find that in books”. This was true. She’d learnt more from books than she had done with her tutor. “I do enjoy the odd bit of embroidery though, but I find it all gets a bit too much of the same thing after a while”. She told him, “As for gossiping – I tend to steer clear of that area, even pageantry. My father likes to attend such celebrations but I keep myself to myself”. No she didn’t. Her father kept her away from them. “Such matters like that do not really interest me”.

Romily didn’t know why, but she was now laughing lightly at his comment that he wasn’t impressed with the library. It wasn’t mocking though. The last thing she wanted was a row in a dark library with a foreign prince. “Then what does my lord?” she asked sincerely.

"Tell me, what has suddenly caused change in such a loose tongued woman?"

She hadn’t expected him to ask that. Well she had but not this early on. “It was out of character for me to be acting how I was earlier,” she told him honestly, “I guess I wanted to show my father that no matter how hard he tries, his plans to throw me under the nose of every visiting nobleman will not always work. I am sorry for my actions, but the real me is as you see me now”. Like it or hate it – Vortigern would just have to put up with it.

Romily looked up at him, “Aren’t you tired from today’s events my lord?”

[Vortigern]

-------Vortigern did not like people who disagreed with him, and he felt his irritation re-emerging. "Perhaps you should acquire more common sense rather than knowledge attained from books. As your behavior clearly displayed that you are massively lacking in that department." It was rather easy to insult someone beneath your station. And Vortigern did it fluently; without an ounce of reluctance. Was she an easy woman to provoke? It seemed her father certainly had that effect on her. Now he would find out if it was something any one was able to do, or if it was a gift selective to Lord Durwin. He truly did not care how polite she was being now. It did not make him forget how utterly rude she had been before. And Vortigern was not one to see the good overshadow the bad in any person.

-------Really? She did not gossip? "I highly doubt that," he argued. It did not matter that he barley knew her enough to reach that judgment. Nor was it relevant that clearly no one knew her better than herself. He just found it impossible that a woman did not like to gossip. All women gossiped. It was like breathing to them. "Women are prone to gossip. It is in their nature." God it brought back dreadfully painful memories of conversations at the dinner table. "I think I shall wear purple to tomorrow's tournament." "No dear sister wear blue, it brings out the color in your eyes." "And well you do want to catch the eye of Sir Thomas, do you not?" And then they would giggle. And Vortigern would cringe.

-------"Besides, what other possible interests could you have?" It was both a rhetorical question and yet one that could indeed be answered. And then she asked a question of her own, in regards to what pleased him. "Certainly nothing that is within your capability," he told her. Again, with bunt honesty. Nothing in the home of a noble with this rank would please him. It was hard enough to meet his standards in a castle fit for a king and queen. Now she was apologizing again. Hmm... now what to make of this. Clearly, it did not ease the way he spoke to her. It did not diminish the criticism he directed to her. But it was a curious thing indeed. "And why would he want to, as you so eloquently put it, throw you under the nose of every visiting nobleman. Especially me." Meaning, he was better than the rest. Especially if he was the only royalty they had ever entertained.

-------"You and your family is of no relevance or consequence to me. Therefore, your outrageous behavior had no merit. I doubt it ever would." He was not going to forgive her; the damage was done. Of course, it was not as if he would have spoken to her any better had she not insulted him. She was still lower than him. Her next question was one he was tempted to ignore, yet, he found himself answering it. "If I was tired, do you not think I would be resting?" Why not throw a little condescension into the mix. "I will rest whenever I so choose to. And it need not be the source of your curiosity." Though he was not quite sure why he was not tired... sleep would help pass the time quickly, and thus permit tomorrow to come sooner.

[Romily de Braose]

"Perhaps you should acquire more common sense rather than knowledge attained from books. As your behaviour clearly displayed that you are massively lacking in that department."

Romily leant her head to one side and looked at the floor, smiling slightly. “Perhaps you are right” she admitted.
Her eyes went back to rest on him, “Well as you clearly saw earlier – I am not most women my lord”. Not at all. Romily had brought herself up with Bonnie’s help and some gentle nudging from her father. Perhaps Vortigern was right – maybe she was just a dumb noblewoman.

She didn’t bother to answer his question about interests. He wouldn’t listen to what she had to say anyway. Instead she chose to flip aimlessly through the pages of the book that was now resting in her laps.
Then came the question of her father and his actions. Romily didn’t look up from the book. “Because he thinks that he might just strike lucky with you” she told him, “ it is not that I do not think lowly of you my lord – it is just that he does this every time. Asks me to sit next to a man all evening, make conversation about things that do not interest either of us. I suppose we can both say that he was wrong on this account – for you do not like me at all”. It was then she looked up at him and smiled. “Anyway, what my father thinks does not matter now – the evening has come and gone.”

There went the sarcasm again. She’d only asked a question and didn’t intend to make it hurt in the slightest. “I was only asking” she replied quietly, “If you wish for me to leave you then I will do so – I only asked to see if you were comfortable.”
Romily felt truly defeated with this man. There was just no pleasing him and she was only doing something nice. If he had said that he wasn’t then she’d have sent for a servant to deal with whatever the problem was.

She stood up clutching the book tightly, not looking at Vortigern and feeling very foolish at the fact that she thought they could at least be civil.
Her voice came out quieter than even before. He seemed to have drained some energy from her in the process! “In fact, I shall leave you – I am sure you want some time to yourself without some clueless noblewoman wasting the rest of it”.

[Vortigern]

-------Her willingness to admit that he was right just left him silent for a moment. But her next words, pointing out that she was not like most noble women, was entirely true. Of course, he was not about to see that as a good thing. Since when had he ever come even close to paying her a compliment. Why should he bother? "No, you are not," He confirmed. And just to make sure she did not misinterpret how he meant it, though his tone was far from flattering; he added for clarification purposes: "Unfortunately." Very unfortunate indeed. "Perhaps it would do you well to actually mingle among other noblewomen. Learn by example of how to interact with others above you. How to address them. How to respect them." Had she really never been to court? Her father's reaction seemed to suggest that she had not... but, really?

-------He could not believe what she said next. Her father had actually tried to 'strike lucky' by... oh dear god! That was positively laughable! Vortigern even scoffed at the mere suggestion of such a preposterous thing! It was actually downright demeaning, to hear that her father would actually believe that he would settle for someone so low. "It would take far more than luck for that to be even remotely possible." At least she had seemed to acknowledge that. How oblivious did a person have to be to really believe that such a thing was possible?! "It is not even a matter of liking you." Though he did not like this family. "You are far too beneath me for me to even consider for an instant that you would be an adequate match to me." Yes. Him. His pride and arrogance clear with his words, and his reminder to her of where she was in the social hierarchy. As he never passed up the chance to remind her.

He seemed to be breaking her down with the way her voice quieted. Well, good! It is what it should be then. As she got up to leave, Vortigern's words, he assumed, would stop her. "Actually, I suppose I should thank you," he said, countering her remark about her 'wasting his time'. His gratitude was a bit sarcastic, but he had a purpose for this sudden outspoken gratefulness. "For reminding me what is wrong with the women in todays world." And why it was so hard to find a decent wife; because they just did not know their place. And tonight, at the de Braose estate, he was reminded of that. Granted, it happened a far many more times before coming here. He was just picking on her because she was here in front of him. And because he had the power to mock and bully her.