Women Do It Better (Rowan)

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin sat up straight in her seat as she looked on at the event which was starting to unfold in front of her. The archery competition had been something that Caitrin had been looking forwards to since the announcement of the agreement being signed by the Kings of the five Kingdoms. Caitrin had been quite enthusiastic about the treaty herself, Mercia was one of the five kingdoms, which meant that the peace between them was longer lasting. Caitrin wasn’t naive enough to imagine that the peace would last long; Mercia didn’t have the best track record with peace treaties, which was a sad but true fact. With nobles like her father, it was clear to see why that fact had so much truth to it. Caitrin smoothed down her gown, she had chosen to wear a dark blue satin gown today, it was practical, yet showed off a bit of her Mercian pride as well. She might not identify with a lot of her family back in the kingdom, she could still show off a little sentimentality. Caitrin was Mercian, and there was no getting away from that, so she might as well show off a little about it.

She was here alone today, given that her Uncle had refused to accompany her to the archery. She hadn’t bothered asking him why, he had been in such a foul mood that she hadn’t wanted to fuel his temper. Her Uncle wasn’t the easiest of men to get along with anyway, but recently he had become simply insufferable, yet he had refused to acknowledge any change in his mood. She had just left him and come on her own, it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to being the only member of the household to be in attendance at these kinds of functions. The archers were all getting ready to line up, and Caitrin watched them, her fist opening and closing slowly; she wished that women were able to compete in these sorts of competitions. It was a vein home, and there was no reason to suggest why it might happen but she could dream nonetheless. She would probably be better than most of them anyway. Caitrin had once practically beaten the Mercian Prince Oliver at an archery competition, though that hadn’t ended exactly how competitions were supposed to....

She grinned a little at the memory, and began to look around to find something to amuse herself while the archers continued to gather. She sighed out, weighing up the archers, looking to catch someone’s eye, though it was clear that they were concentrating too much to hope to dear up to find a woman granting them her favour. How irritating. Caitrin didn’t know the older noblewoman to her left, so she disregarded him, and looked to her right, to a noblewoman who had just taken her seat beside her. She knew the woman vaguely, if she wasn’t mistaken, she was Rowan d’Auber. Caitrin was a little rusty on the female members of the court, as she was usually preoccupied with the males. After a few moments she turned to the woman in question and smiled softly, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced my Lady. I am Lady Caitrin de Archer.” She inclined her head to the woman, smiling as she did, “Are you enjoying the festivities so far?”

Tagged: Rowan d’Auber
Timeline: Day 4 of the Five Day Festivities
Location: The archery competition
Time of Day: Morning[/color][/size]

[Rowan d'Auber]

Rowan was a little late, and embarrassingly a little red-faced and out of breath after running to the archery arena. She had left the estate with plenty of time but then ended up getting distracted...and then lost, so all in all everything was going quite well. But, she had arrived and by the looks of things she hadn’t missed much. The archery was one of her favourite things to watch – mainly because she was rather good at it herself so she could sit there feeling smug about the fact that she was probably better than most of the competitors.

The night before Iwan had been trying to explain to her why she should be more pleased about the treaty, not just about all the excitement of the festivities. Apparently it was an important political move. Rowan didn’t really care about the politics; she just wanted to enjoy herself. This didn’t stop her from having to listen to Iwan going on about it for about an hour and a half. Luckily, Rowan had learnt to block out most of what her older brother was saying – especially when Ciaran was pulling faces behind him. As far as she was concerned, treaties and politics were all very well and good as long as she didn’t have to hear about it. There wasn’t anything she could do about it anyway, so why should she be bored with it?

Anyway. She was here to watch the archery so she settled into a seat and prepared herself for the entertainment. A lot of the competitors were from the other kingdoms and so provided Rowan with extra interest. Iwan usually made sure that none of the Camelot nobles were allowed to talk to her, unless they had passed his millions of tests. He could hardly stop her from talking to some of the foreigners tho-

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced my Lady. I am Lady Caitrin de Archer. Are you enjoying the festivities so far?”

Rowan was brought out of her thoughts by a red-haired woman who looked familiar, but if she hadn’t been told the woman’s name she wouldn’t have known it. She was one of those women who always appeared to be at feasts and other celebrations but Rowan was fairly sure they hadn’t actually spoken to each other. She copied Caitrin’s action of inclining her head. “A pleasure to meet you, I am Lady Rowan d’Auber. I am thank you,” she replied in a tone Iwan would’ve been proud of and Ciaran would have snickered at. “The archery is one of my favourites. And yourself?”

[Caitrin de Archer]

Archery had always been something close to Caitrin’s heart. As a young girl she had watched her brothers training in the yard, and had wanted to join them. They were quite a few years older than her, but she had one day persuaded Jeffrey to teach her how to use a bow. He’d told her that there was no way she was going to be let loose with a sword, so he’d brought the offer down to archery lessons, though it had always been done behind their fathers back. They had been young, and hadn’t really known what the consequence of going behind their fathers back would be. One of her sisters, she never found out which, had told her father, and after a few drinks, he had called her into the solar, and she couldn’t remember what happened next. Helgund had apparently found her beaten black and blue, and with an oncoming temperature. Caitrin had never really wanted to know what had happened, she’d always just blacked that bit of her childhood out. Her father’s actions had just made her more determined to practise. Jeffrey had been reluctant after that, he’d got her a new bow and some arrows for her birthday, secretly, but he hadn’t bothered with her much after that. Since coming to Camelot she’d had a lot more freedom to practise; her Uncle had even given her a target to practise with.

The archers still weren’t doing much and Caitrin frowned a little. One of them was pretending to load his bow and pulled back the string. Caitrin cringed inwardly at the positioning of his elbow, it was much too high for him to think himself a serious archer, or at least one with a chance of hitting a target. Caitrin winced as the man looked quite pleased with himself; if only she could tell him how wrong he was, and correct him. Not that he’d listen of course, men were only ever interested in her when she was telling them what they wanted to hear. Caitrin knew enough men to be able to stereotype them without being reprimanded about it too much. She would defy many noblewomen to say that they had more experience than she did.

She smiled a little at her new acquaintance and relaxed a little. Somehow she was always more at ease in male company than female company. Caitrin was glad to see that Rowan shared her love of archery, not many noblewomen enjoyed archery, or sports really, and she could never understand why. “I am as well, I’ve been looking forwards to the archery all week.” She grinned and inclined her head towards the man who was still pretending to shoot from his bow, “Though I’m glad that we’re sat back here, who knows where half of these arrows will be flying.” She hoped the woman got her gist, as half these men looked as if this was the first time they had ever held a bow. Jesu, if she got down there she could teach them a thing or two, on, and off the archery field.

[Rowan d'Auber]

Rowan wasn’t a particularly modest woman – it was what came from being overly indulged by her mother and having to hold her own against three brothers – so she was going to make no secret about the fact that if she had been allowed to take part, this really wouldn’t be a competition at all. Since she was old enough to walk she’d been old enough to hold a bow in her hand, and old enough to show her brothers up. It was the only thing that her father actually approved of, so it had been a skill she’d perfected from an early age – that and climbing, although she often injured herself. Surprisingly, archery was never dangerous...well, not for her anyway. She’d only ever hit someone once. And that was Iwan...and slightly on purpose.

She noticed Caitrin watching someone so followed the woman’s gaze. Well, that man wasn’t going to do particularly well. Shouldn’t someone say something? Surely they shouldn’t let people who were that clueless participate? It was hardly going to be exciting for the spectators if no one managed to hit the target. She liked to think he was deliberately holding his elbow too high in order to make everyone else look better and more dramatic...or maybe he was going to fall behind and then shock everyone later on. She smiled to herself. Now that would be something worth watching.

“If he keeps his arm any higher, back here might not be so safe after all.” Rowan grinned, she was of course exaggerating a little – the man would have to purposefully aim upwards in order for the arrow to end up behind him. Hmm. That would probably be more interesting too...it would be interacting archery...and probably the only way she’d ever get to participate. Now there was a depressing thought, still, she wasn’t going to let that bother her. She was an optimistic sort and so liked to ignore all pessimistic thoughts before they had time to fester.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin ran a finger along the edge of her circlet, tucking in a stray piece of hair before looking back to the men who were preparing to shoot. She noted there were several archers, each from the five kingdoms of course, but it was only really the Mercian and Camelotian archers that she was actually interested in. She knew of the other kingdoms yes, and appreciated the fact they weren’t at war with them, but that didn’t mean she wanted them to outshoot archers from her home kingdom, or the one she called home at the moment. The idiot man who was holding his bow in the general direction of the target looked like he was going to shoot first. She wondered, dryly, weather killing someone counted as a disqualification. The thought stuck her, and then she had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing; it would hardly look proper would it? To Caitrin, events like these were all about image, especially for the spectators. She’d heard some of the rumours going round about her in court, and they would probably upset her if they weren’t true. However, that meant that on public occasions such as this she had to be prim, proper and appear to be respectful if nothing else. That involved not laughing at every fools effort who came to try their hand at the competition.

It was quite surprising to find Rowan so enthusiastic about archery as well. Some Camelotian noblewomen did practise archery, more so than in Mercia, but it still wasn’t incredibly popular. Caitrin doubted that it ever would be. She remembered learning once that the Lady Morgana knew how to use a sword, Jesu, that had been a shock. That would never be allowed in Mercia, not even for a princess. It seemed that everyone just seemed to nod, and agree with most things the young woman did anyway, so sword fighting probably didn’t seem like that much of a big deal to her; to Caitrin it was an incredibly big deal.

She chuckled at Rowan’s words, and nodded, “True, but I’m fairly sure we’d be able to judge where abouts the arrow was headed.” She looked around the people sat near them, “So at least we’ll know which direction to run in.” It was an amusing thought, but she hoped none of the archers were that bad that they had to worry about running for their lives. Caitrin watched as the fool lined up his shot, if he could call it that. She was watching him more than his technique, as that would annoy her far too much. Hmm, she would be looking out for this one at the next feast. “Do you practise yourself, my Lady?” She asked, her eyes still faintly on the young man who had just released his arrow to plant it right on the edge of the target. Well, at least he hadn’t killed anyone yet.

[Rowan d'Auber]

Now that she was talking to the woman, she was beginning to remember the various rumours that she’d heard about her. Rowan wasn’t really one to care about such things – she had several herself due to her... “unladylike” behaviour. Caitrin, she’d been told, was definitely unladylike. Apparently spent all of her time throwing herself at whichever man she could and apparently she never spoke to women unless it was to get them to stay away from whoever her latest fancy. Well, Rowan couldn’t say anything about Caitrin’s behaviour towards men, but she was certainly pleasant company so far. As someone who appeared to irritate or shock anyone she came into contact with – especially the more...reserved women – Rowan appreciated an unconventional woman. She quite liked the idea that this Lady Caitrin went around leaving a trail of broken hearts behind her. Why shouldn’t she? Plenty of the men of court boasted about doing the exact same thing. Why should a woman be expected to act differently?

Rowan had already decided she liked Caitrin, especially if all those rumours were true. She should like to see the woman in action, to sit there and smirk as all the men desperately tried to get the redhead’s attention. She imagined Caitrin would take it all in her stride, would look all the men up and down before picking the best one, as if she was picking a dress. It’s how a man would do it. It’s how Caitrin would do it. Rowan had decided.

“Do you practice yourself, my Lady?”

The young woman nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly. “Ever since I was a little girl.” She replied with a smile. It was one of her many passions but unlike most had survived her fickle nature. “My brothers would prefer if I didn’t though. I’m better than them.” Her words were said firmly, confidently and with a small smirk. “And you, my lady? You seem to know a lot about it.”

[Caitrin de Archer]

As the man walked away from his target, Caitrin tried to catch his eye, which she did with some degree of success. He was nice enough looking, and she had decided that he looked like he could amuse her at the feast later on today, or was it tomorrow? Well the details weren’t important, all she knew was that everyone would be there, and that she had a guest chambers which needed to be put to good use. The man looked away for a moment, but then realised and looked back at her. Caitrin bit her lip slightly, and smirked at her. Returning her smirk, the man inclined her head towards her, and winked as if to seal some wordless pact. Caitrin knew she might not take up the offer, should it come to that. It was going to be a long day, and who knew who could catch her eye inbetween now and the feast? She was suddenly glad that her Uncle wasn’t here; a chaperone did put off quite a lot of men. He had already made it clear he wasn’t going to the feast either, so she knew that she would have free reign to make the evening what she wanted it to be.

Caitrin had already decided she liked the young woman beside her, she was pleasant company, and she was just glad that she had actually responded to her, rather than blanking her, or choosing to be quite disinterested in the conversation. She had those problems a lot with the women courtiers. Not many of them were fond of her, as she had often gained attentions from their would-be-lovers or perhaps the man they were trying to attract the attentions of. Caitrin could see their point, in a way, but it was incredibly irritating for them to just sit there and be content to be annoyed at her, rather than upping their game in a sense. What man was going to look twice at them when all they did was sit there scowling at her?

Again, the young woman’s enthusiasm just made Caitrin smile, it was always encouraging to find other women who enjoyed sport. Though that did make her cradle the naive thoughts that perhaps women might be on an equal footing with men in competitions like this. She couldn’t see why an archery competition was so unacceptable anyway, it wasn’t like they could hurt someone, well, not unless someone was incredibly stupid. “Are your brothers competing today?” She asked, casting her eyes once again over the men who were lining up to shoot, “I’ve been practising since I was a little girl as well, but more so since I moved to live with my Uncle.” Mainly as then she hadn’t been afraid of her father finding out, “My brothers would never let me practice with them, perhaps they feared I would beat them.” She eyed the competition once again, “I’m sure we could give some of these men a run for their money, don’t you think my Lady?”

[Rowan d'Auber]

Rowan noticed the little exchange of looks between Caitrin and the man. Personally, she didn’t think he was that great, but if the rumours were to be believed then her companion wasn’t that fussy. She tried to keep herself from giggling by pressing her lips together. Was that really all that was necessary? A few glances? To say Rowan was impressed was an understatement. And would also be missing out the slight envy she was feeling as well. If that really was all Caitrin needed to do...how did she manage it? How on earth did she manage to gain such a reputation? She shifted in her seat, turning her attention away from the man. Well...she was perfectly capable of doing the same. It was just a question of seeing someone who took her fancy. There had to be someone.

Her eyes started scanning their surroundings and while there were a few men who she supposed were alright, she was far too fussy for her own good. She let out a small sigh. Maybe that was how Caitrin did it. She just went for anything and then worried about liking them later. In that case, Rowan didn’t particularly want to be good at it.

She shook her head at Caitrin’s question. “No, none of them. Although Iwan will be around somewhere...” she briefly looked around just in case he’d wandered over to the archery but her movement was in vain. “He’s a knight.” She said with more than a hint of pride. Normally Iwan’s position meant she was supposed to be on her best behaviour and make a good impression...but as he wasn’t here and everyone’s attention was on the competition, she supposed she could do as she pleased. Besides, she never listened to him anyway.

“It seems we have something else in common.” She said with a grin, “I always beat Ciaran.” She leant forwards again to get a better view of the archers, trying to decide which was going to be the most impressive. There was no one particularly standing out though so she was beginning to think this wasn’t going to be quite so fun after all. “Some? I’d say all.”

[Caitrin de Archer]

The man wasn’t the best of looking, but he would do for the evening if it came to it. Really, if needs be she could just fend him off, and pretend he was blocking her view to one of the other competitors if they took her fancy instead. Perhaps her Uncle knew this was what she did at these sorts of events, she mostly went to them for the archery, but the men were a definite bonus, but maybe he let her get away with it in the vein hope that one day one of the men would ask for her hand in marriage. That was yet to happen of course, and under Caitrin’s watch it wouldn’t be happening for quite some time. She had no intention to marry, why on earth would she want to settle down and start a family with anyone? Caitrin had no intention to become a housewife, and have a child on her every year. What kind of mother would she make anyway? Jesu it didn’t even bear thinking about. So, it was a good thing that she didn’t have to think about it presently really, all she was concerned about for the moment was seeing which man took her fancy. Nothing else mattered for the present.

Rowan’s voice drew her out of her thoughts, well, at least now she didn’t have to be worried about making eyes at one of the ladies brothers. That wouldn’t be incredibly wise of her, she knew how jealous women could be, she had experienced most of that first hand, so she just tended to try to keep her arguments and such to a minimum. She had no time for jealous courtiers anyway, if they couldn’t step up their game it wasn’t her fault now was it? “Will you be cheering for the Camelotian archers then, my Lady?” She asked kindly, she was sure that d’Auber was a Camelotian noble family, though you could never be sure these days. Her accent seemed to be Camelotian, but who was Caitrin to say, perhaps the woman was merely visiting from one of the more southern kingdoms. She obviously wasn’t from Mercia; her accent was too soft.

Caitrin had no doubt that Rowan was more than a match for her brothers, and she grinned as she spoke. It always amazed her that some noble families didn’t see any harm in siblings learning such a skill side by side. “It would have been nice to compete against my brothers, but it would hardly have been proper.” She rolled her eyes, “As my father used to say.” Caitrin pulled a bit of a face, more to tell Rowan that it was her father that she was disapproving of, and not the young woman sat bedside her. “All?” Caitrin tried hard to suppress a giggle and put her hand over her mouth and made an effort to, “I dare say we would.” Watching the young man who was just lining his shot up, Rowan’s words were confirmed as he actually missed the target, “A pity, we could have given them a much better show, don’t you think?”

[Rowan d'Auber]

Rowan was a rather competitive sort even when she wasn’t competing herself, she would always end up singling someone out and deciding they should win, and then investing all her energies in their progress. Today was certainly no exception; in fact, her competitive streak would no doubt be on top form today as there was also the sense of national pride. Normally she would favour the most handsome competitor, but today she would favour any Camelotian (although the most handsome man would still probably get her full attention, regardless of where he was from, she just wouldn’t be cheering for him if he were a foreigner). It was a rather shallow take, something which she was aware of, but it was a system that had suited her just fine.

She nodded at Caitrin’s question – perhaps a little too enthusiastically, but she was never one to reign in her excitement. “Of course.” She replied simply, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it wasn’t, wasn’t it? Who else would she be cheering for? Her first thought was to ask Caitrin the same thing, before she realised that would probably be a stupid question. Although she couldn’t place the woman’s accent exactly she was certainly not from Camelot. So, instead of asking a rather obvious question, she rephrased it. “And you? Who will you be cheering for?”

It was obvious from Caitrin’s tone and expressions that what she thought was “proper” and what her father thought were completely different things. It was something she knew all too well herself. Her own father had never approved of her learning archery; he’d been far too interested in having her married off. Luckily, her mother had been more liberal. She bit her lip slightly, trying to stop herself from thinking about her parents so much. Usually she didn’t care if the whole kingdom knew exactly when she was happy, or sad, or angry, but her parents were different. Her emotions were private and not something she wanted to dwell on at present.

Fortunately, the men practicing was enough of a distraction, especially as they were not particularly impressive. Or at least Rowan didn’t think so, and she liked to think she knew a thing or two about archery. “Indeed we would.” She agreed, the grin returning to her face. “How horribly embarrassing it would be for them...which would make it all the more fun.”

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin looked down upon the archers who were lining up their shots, and trying to enjoy as much of the crowds attentions as they could. She followed the archers that were donned in blue, and hoped that the Mercians were going to put on a good show today. She knew that those in Mercia were taught the usefulness of a bow as soon as they could grasp one, so it would be simply embarrassing to lose out in such a competition. Caitrin recognised a few of the faces, but not many. She had not been allowed to attend court much in Mercia; she had scarcely looked presentable, given her father had always been free with his discipline. The word was always put out that she was a sickly child. Pressing her lips together, she held her head high; she would have walked into the Mercian courts beaten black and blue if it had shown her father for who he really was.

She looked back to Rowan with a soft smile, and nodded as the young lady indicated that she would indeed be cheering for the Camelotian archers. She could hardly argue with that logic after all. Caitrin of course would not be upset if the Camelotian archers did triumph as she had sympathies and loyalties with the kingdom she had spent so long in, but Mercia was her homeland, and she therefore wanted them to win by default. She was quite surprised that the de Archer clan was not being represented here today. Her brother Jeffrey had been the most accomplished archer in the family, but perhaps he had lost out to some of the younger contenders, or perhaps their father had barred him from coming. Either was probable. “The Mercian archers, my Lady. I feel that it would be dishonest to cheer for anyone but those in my homeland.”

Caitrin smiled at Rowan as she spoke, and decided that she quite liked the woman sitting beside her, “I think I would enjoy doing it just for the look on their faces.” She voiced with a grin, as it was true. Caitrin had never been one for social conventions, if she had her way then she would be down there now, in one of her looser gowns, shooting beside the men. Of course her liberal thoughts did not run as deep as with some women, though she had vowed that she would never live ‘under the thumb’ as it were, when she was married. Caitrin had lived in the shadows for her entire life in Mercia, and she wanted some freedom now, and she didn’t want marriage to change that. Of course, she would have to find a different sort of man to agree to those terms. Putting those thoughts from her head, she grinned at the archer who was currently lining up her shot, “We should compete against each other my Lady, it would be wrong of us to ruin the sport of these men.” She looked side wards at Rowan, “As I have no doubt we would humiliate them; we can save them that much.”

[Rowan d'Auber]

Rowan couldn't help but laugh at Caitrin's words, perhaps a little too loudly as she was quickly shot a look by some boring woman sat near her. Well, she looked boring so that was enough for Rowan. Honestly, she had only been laughing. She resisted the urge to pull a face at the woman, or to laugh even louder, but composed herself with such swiftness even Iwan would be proud. She also resisted the urge to have an internal rant about how rude the woman was being and how she was clearly trying to prevent anyone from enjoying themselves. Luckily for the woman in question, Rowan was too busy talking to Caitrin to cause a scene. "Oh I disagree," she began, a grin, "Men should be humiliated at every opportunity." Of this, she had far too much experience than she should, but her father had insisted on finding her the most unlikable and unattractive men in Camelot to try their luck with her hand. Fortunately, Rowan and her brother Ciaran had seen to it that no one would want to marry her. Her face fell slightly, her father or her near betrothals were not things she thought about happily. None of Ector d'Auber's children had felt any great love for him, except maybe Iwan, but Rowan was convinced that was more out of a sense of duty than anything else.

After a moment or two, she pushed such thoughts aside. This was not a time to start trying to understand her brother's emotions or relationship with their late father. This was a time to enjoy herself, without anyone telling her to behave or to tone down her excitement (except that woman of course but Rowan had already forgotten about her). She was here to enjoy the tournament...and possible to enjoy some other things, if such things happened to be there for her enjoyment of course. She leant forward, trying to get a better look at the competitor's face. There must be one of them who could be described as handsome and she was determined to find him. "So...now that we have decided upon the competitor's talents with a bow...what do you think of some of their other talents?" She turned her head to see Caitrin's face. Some noblewomen would be shocked at such a question or pretend they hadn't heard or chastised Rowan for thinking such things, but Rowan had a feeling Caitrin was not one of those women. She looked like a woman who could appreciate a good-looking man.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Archery was probably the only sport she would make a point in watching over the five day festivities. After all, it was the only real sport she could partake in. Well, by partake she meant that she was quite good at it. She had her own target, along with a bow and arrows, set up at her Uncle’s estate. He disagreed of course, and had argued about it for weeks when she had first moved in with him. However, it was a tidy arrangement, he got some peace and quiet and she got some time by herself to just practice her archery and gather her thoughts. Sometimes, when the men at court really annoyed her then she took to imagining their faces on the target. Given her less than modest reputation some men often thought that they could take advantage, and she would let them. Not many of them had come up against a Mercian before, she doubted they would be that stupid again.

She grinned, and chuckled at Rowan’s words, nodding in agreement. She was right of course, men deserved to be humiliated in every way possible, especially the ones who believed they were above everyone else. They were always the most fun to toy with; they never were quite as grand behind locked doors. Caitrin didn’t voice the thought, instead she grinned a little, “I agree in fact my Lady, men bring it upon themselves to be humiliated, would you not say so?” She winked, though she doubted Rowan was having the same thoughts that she was. That wasn’t a bad thing of course, Caitrin had always been privy to things a young Lady shouldn’t know until she was married. The innocent of her fellow noblewomen was something she enjoyed, they didn’t have to put on the act she did to feel they fitted in.

In a way, Caitrin was surprised that Rowan had raised such a question, especially as she was sure that she didn’t have much experience with things like that. She wasn’t being insulting in such an assumption, in fact in some ways, Caitrin envied her. She smirked a little, faintly irritated that she could not speak to anyone without her reputation being brought into conversation. Caitrin didn’t show her irritation of course, instead she let her eyes drag over the men who were lining up to shoot, “I’m sure I’ll be more informed about that after the feast later this week.” Her eyes found Rowan’s again, and she winked; her lips creasing into a soft grin. “I wouldn’t think much of the Mercian men though my Lady, they never were that impressive.”