Our House in the Middle of Our Street

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"Roslyn!" Iwan d'Auber shouted from where he was leaning over the banister, a frustrated expression on his face. "Have you see my cape?" After about a second, having heard no reply, which was most definitely not helpful, he exhaled sharply before making his way down the stairs. He never used to lose anything. Ciaran and Rowan would often rearrange everything, but nothing would ever be lost - especially not his cape, and especially not on the morning of important events. It was probably Edmund's fault. The two year old had a habit of grabbing anything in sight. Iwan was definitely going to have to do something about that...but later, when he wasn't supposed to be attending a knighting ceremony sans cape.

On leaving the stairs he saw Roslyn stood in the hall, arms folded and with a look on her face that seemed to Iwan to be saying "What are you doing? The man I married was organised." It was a rather intimidating sight - and this was coming from a man who until recently wasn't intimidated by anything, well, nothing that he would admit to anyway. It was just another example of how much life had changed during the past two years, not that he would have it any other way, well, he would prefer to have his cape.

He started rubbing his thumb against his index finger. "Have you seen my cape?" He asked again in the hopes that she would happen to have it about her person. There was no way he was going to the ceremony without it, no matter how long it took, but he'd never been late for anything in his life and certainly didn't want to start now. It was such a dilemma for the young knight. His last hope, it seemed, was his wife.


Tagged: Roslyn d'Auber (^_^)
Location: the d'Auber Estate
Timeline: S5, the morning before Mordred's knighting

[Lady Roslyn]

Roslyn was playing with Edmund when she heard Iwan shouting down the stairs at her. She rolled her eyes, wasn’t he only supposed to be getting ready for the knighting ceremony? Roslyn left Edmund playing with the stuffed toy he had in his hands as she went to see what was wrong with her husband. She had found, since marrying Iwan, a lot of her time was consumed with organising not only herself, and not to mention their two year old son, but her husband as well. She would probably enjoy the task more if Iwan didn’t fuss so much about being disorganised. Roslyn knew how much he hated to lose things, and to be disorganised, so when he started asking her for help, she knew he would already be somewhat worked up.

Roslyn wasn’t going to the knighting ceremony, she had heard about the new knight that Arthur had decided to knight out of nowhere, but she wasn’t feeling at her best and so was remaining behind. Anyway, she was enjoying her time with Edmund too much to throw the time away on going to feasts. Iwan had to go because it was his duty, but since becoming a married woman, Roslyn found she had more flexibility with these matters. Edmund was under the watchful eye of a servant, so Roslyn made her way out into the entrance hall so that she could hear what her husband was shouting to her about. She folded her arms in anticipation, just because he was annoyed didn’t mean that he had to take it out on her.

His cape? Roslyn nodded and inclined her head towards the room that she had just left Edmund playing in. Iwan probably hadn’t remembered that he had left it in there when he had been dashing round this morning getting everything ready. Roslyn had assumed he’d left it in there with a purpose, so he remembered to say goodbye to Edmund before he left, as that was the room their son usually occupied. Perhaps she had assumed too much with that though, “You left it in there this morning when I asked you to watch Edmund while I checked on lunch.” She said with a soft sigh, “Do you want me to go and get it for you?” She knew he was already late, and perhaps he just wanted to dart off straight away.

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Ah, right yes. Iwan remembered now. He let out a small sigh of relief. He wouldn’t have to turn up late or without a cape. Ideally, he wouldn’t have to turn up at all, but that was simply not an option. Instead, he was going to perform his knightly duties the way he always did and not let anyone see just how much he disagreed with the whole thing. Welcoming a new knight should be a joyous and celebratory occasion; the whole city should be filled with a sense of pride, and then reassurance that there was someone else willing and ready to protect them. The new knight should have striven for such a position all their lives, and worked hard to prove to the king that this was something they had earned, deserved.

Instead the people of Camelot were being provided with a boy of no consequence, and while Iwan would be the first to admit that Mordred certainly had his uses and proved himself to be a worthy ally, he was not of noble birth – and as far as Iwan knew, he was not of Camelot birth either. He would be another Gwaine, Iwan was sure of it. The whole thing was just yet another example of Arthur’s complete disregard for the rules and traditions of the kingdom.

But, unfortunately, as with most things, it didn’t matter what he thought. He shook his head in answer to his wife’s question. “No, I’ll get it myself thank you.” He started to walk past her towards the room his son, and apparently cape, were now occupying but stopped on reaching Roslyn to kiss her cheek. “Are you sure you’re not coming?” A small smile formed on his lips, “We could stand at the back and make comments.”

[Lady Roslyn]

Roslyn couldn’t say that she was that disappointed not to be going to this knighting ceremony. In her opinion far too many men were knighted with little or no standing in the world. They were expected to put their lives in the hands of these men, and it wasn’t fair when these men were being knighted along those like her husband who had trained his entire life to become a knight. The view wasn’t one that was shared across Camelot though, and aside from making comments with Iwan, and casting the knights in question dirty looks from time to time, there wasn’t a lot that they could do to change things. It was depressing thought, but Roslyn had to just get on with her own life instead of wondering what on earth the King was thinking anointing all these new knights to protect them. Roslyn was sure that none of them would ever better Iwan anyway, so she could take something from that.

She followed Iwan into the room, and Edmund looked up at them both as they entered. He pushed himself to his feet and wandered over to his mother with a soft smile. Roslyn bent down and placed a small kiss on his forehead and picked up his toy and handed it back to him. He wandered off again, though he was still in the room. Roslyn stood up again and looked back at Iwan as he had located his cloak. She rolled her eyes a little at him, wondering when he had become quite so unorganised. Well, this wouldn’t be classed as unorganised to anyone else, but with Iwan it was like a complete change of personality. Luckily one of them could remember where he left his cloak, and everything else he had taken to losing as of late.

Roslyn smiled at her husband as he kissed her cheek, and she took both his hands in her own. She loved moments like this with him, and gave him a soft smile and laughed; looking down at what she was wearing. “What, looking like this?” She asked and shook her head, “I’d only show you up, comments or no comments.” She didn’t look anything near her best, though she probably could make it through whatever illness had plagued her.

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Now that he’d found his cloak Iwan was starting to feel a little better, although finally looking the part didn’t take away the fact that he’d rather be doing anything else than welcoming yet another commoner into Camelotian knighthood. Days like this just served to convince him that he and his wife were the only ones who still cared about their kingdoms history and traditions, and although there had certainly been a number of problems during King Uther’s reign, he understood the importance of status.

He nodded at his wife’s words while trying to keep a straight face but there was a faint smile on his lips. “Yes, probably.” In reality, Roslyn would never show anyone up. She could walk around covered in mud with sticks and leaves stuck in her hair and wearing the absolute worst and ill-fitting dress imaginable, and Iwan would still be proud to have her on his arm.

Now that he’d finally located his cloak – or rather Roslyn had told him where he’d left it – he wasn’t in such a hurry. Of course there had never been any real risk of him being late as he had a habit of always being early so “late” for him was just less early than usual. Some of the less...organised knights were probably still asleep.

Iwan, however, had quite a few moments to spare. Edmund was still in the room, although he was far more interested in his toy than his father’s near crisis. Iwan went over to his son and picked him up – making sure to take the toy with him before returning to where Roslyn was still stood. “What do you think Edmund? Should your mother come and rescue me from the knighting ceremony?” Unsurprisingly, the young boy didn’t reply, but he did look at Iwan, who took the action as a yes. “You can’t say no to your son.”

[Lady Roslyn]

Roslyn just grinned at her husband’s comment, though she would never have thought it when she first met him, he could be quite the tease when he chose to be. She just smiled at him, her cheeks flushing a little, as she brushed back some hair off her face. She was starting to feel a little better than she had done that morning, but she still wasn’t at her best. Roslyn had no idea what was wrong with her, but she doubted that it was anything serious. She probably just had a cold, or something equally as irritating, yet harmless. If it worsened she would send for a physician. Looking down at what she was wearing, Roslyn was completely convinced she could not appear in public like this, not now she was the wife of a knight. Not that she would have appeared in public looking anything but her best anyway, but still.

She just watched as Iwan picked up their son, and brought him back to her. Roslyn laughed, “He’d agree to anything as long as you had his toy.” She gave her husband one of her looks, though she was joking a little as well. Irritatingly, Iwan was, in his own little way, convincing her that going to this knighting ceremony might actually be a good idea. She always had fun with him poking fun at the other noble families, especially certain ones. Roslyn sighed, and kissed the side of Edmund’s head, the boy squirmed a little, though she left Iwan to deal with that. “If I go, you might have to hold me up throughout the service.” She joked a little, but given how she felt, it might turn into reality very quickly. Roslyn took Edmund out of Iwan’s arms as the boy was holding his arms out for her, and she couldn’t resist. She loved being a mother, it was one of the best things which had ever happened to her. “Do you really want me to come with you?” She asked Iwan, because if he did, then she would. She was a dutiful wife, and respected him completely.

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Iwan tried to give his wife a look of innocence but she would surely see straight through it. "I'm quite sure I have no idea what you mean. My son would agree with anything simply because I said so." He declared, shifting Edmund slightly so he could hold him more comfortably. Of course if Roslyn had anything to do with it, their son would end up doing the exact opposite and only agreeing with what she said. She could be rather strong-willed when she wished to be, and while he would never have her being anything else, he couldn't deny his life would be a lot easier if she wasn't quite so good at convincing him to her way of thinking on a regular basis. With anyone else he could argue for days and be as stubborn as the best of them, but with her however, he found herself simply agreeing without actually realising it.

At her next comment he gave her a concerned look, eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Is something wrong?" She sounded like she was joking, but that didn't put him at any ease. He tried handing Edmund the toy but the young boy only dropped it, not that Iwan had noticed, he was rather preoccupied being overly worried about his wife. His now free hand cupped her chin. "Should I stay here?" Arthur would surely understand if Iwan didn't attend the ceremony should there be something amiss with Roslyn, and, if he were to be completely honest, he would quite welcome the excuse to remain at home with his family.

He was still giving her a concerned look when she took Edmund from his arms, and it was then that he realised the toy's current location so he bent to pick it up. To him, she seemed physically fine but he usually knew nothing about this sort of thing. He liked to think he was at least a little knowledgeable about certain wounds, the kind one might suffer on a battlefield and he was aware of basic treatments for them, but anything else was a complete mystery. Roslyn, however, did not seem too concerned, or if she did she was hiding it well. He was probably being a little paranoid, it was something that came easily with his rather obsessive nature.

Of course he would rather she came with him, otherwise he wouldn't have been trying to subtly convince her. There was no doubt that her presence would only make the evening more enjoyable. "You know I do," he replied with a smile, "but it's up to you." With Roslyn he was always paranoid that sometimes she was doing what she thought she was being told, rather than what she wanted. He'd spent the majority of his life being ruled over by his overbearing father, seen how he'd commanded his mother about. The last thing he wanted was to put his own wife in a similar position. "I promise I will only give you guilt over it for about a month if you do not." He grinned and kissed her forehead. "So what do you say? Will you make my evening worth while?"