Oh Great. Another One. [Aoife]

[Richard de Calys]

Richard was already not enjoying himself, but then that wasn't any great surprise. He didn't want to talk to this girl. He didn't particularly want to be in her general vicinity. For some reason, she didn't share this sentiment. Mercia, to him, was a rather boring place, so alright, there was a reason why she would want to speak to someone from a far better place in Albion but even so. Richard couldn't possibly be that interesting to a...fourteen year old? The sooner she left, the better, but if their last meeting was anything to go by that wasn't going to be for a long time. "It is no concern of yours." He said firmly, mainly because he didn't want to talk to her anyway and secondly because he didn't actually buy anything. He was in the kingdom to find information, not to acquire objects, which was quite a nice change. Either way, his business was none of Aoife's concern so he wasn't going to tell her, or rather, lie to her.

Oh good. She was asking about Caitrin, because that experience hadn't been traumatic enough, now he had to relive it with an annoying teenager. In the north. He almost laughed at her use of the word "grumpy". He really wouldn't have described his mood then as "grumpy". Rather concerned would be a better way. "Yes, yes I was. She wouldn't leave me alone either." That might have had something to do with the fact that he might have kidnapped her and chained them together, but after they were separated she wouldn't stop trying to jump on him. "I'm here to enjoy myself." He replied with a sigh. "And you're not helping. Go away."

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife pulled a face at Richard’s answer. Why did he always make things so difficult? Did he just enjoy being annoyed and grumpy? This was the second time she had met him, but neither time he had looked very happy about anything. “Why wouldn’t you want to tell me?” She challenged with a wicked grin, “Is is something secret?” Her immaturity often shone through in situations like this, but she didn’t care, she was too excited at the prospect of actually having sussed Richard out in a sense. “What will it take for you to just look happy as well, this is a feast not a funeral.” The words had her mothers touch all over them. She often said the same thing to her father at such functions.

Aoife giggled slightly as he said her Aunt wouldn’t leave him alone either. She and her aunt were clearly in one mind when it came to annoying Richard, if that had been her aunt’s intent of course. Like she’d pointed out before, she’d never met the woman. She only heard odd things from her family, and most of that was gossip. “Why wouldn’t she leave you alone?” She asked curiously, and with wide eyes. He couldn’t deny her an explanation when he had been the one to say such things could he? Then again it was Richard. When he finally told her to go away, Aoife felt like she had achieved something. Obviously she didn’t want Richard to hate her, but he was now showing that he didn’t like her at all. Now she could fan those flames, as she had no intention of going anywhere, this was much too fun after all! She, unsurprisingly, didn’t move but instead walked so she was stood in front of Richard, rather than off to the side. After all, if she was going to continue to annoy him she wanted his full attention for the pleasure. “You don’t like me very much? Do you?” She asked him with raised eye brows and with her arms folded. A smug grin pressed against her young lips, she had him sussed, or at least that was what she thought, which was the important thing at the end of the day.

[Richard de Calys]

Why didn't he want to tell her? Well aside from the fact that what he had found out would compromise her kingdom's safety he didn't particularly care much for her and didn't want to tell her anything, let alone something important. Shouldn't she have a chaperone or something to stop her speaking with strange young men? He looked around, trying to see if there was someone who looked like she was supposed to be with her. With any luck some over protective old nurse would come and tell her that young ladies weren't supposed to be talking to men on their own, but something told him that was just wishful thinking. She was probably too old for a nurse anyway. Oh, why wasn't there someone?

"Yes, it's a secret. And I'm not telling you." She could protest and be as immature as she wanted, it wasn't going to work. Richard was very good at keeping his mouth shut at the right time, or maybe he wasn't good at physically keeping his mouth shut, but he was good at not saying what he wasn't supposed to. Aoife wasn't going to get anything out of him so she might as well save him the bother of having to talk to her.

He really wasn't enjoying talking to another de Archer and he certainly wasn't enjoying talking to another de Archer about a previous de Archer. It seemed he couldn't escape the damn family. He could go to the furthest stretchess of the world and he'd still manage to find an annoying ginger women who was intent on stalking him. What had he done to deserve this? Apart from the thievery and blackmail and helping murderers, kidnappers and other unsavoury people of course. He was only trying to make an unhonest living. "Because I'm irresistable to women, obviously." Richard replied in a sarcastic tone. There had clearly been something about his person that had made Caitrin quite so keen to remove his clothing, or maybe it was just his reluctance that had spurred her on. Either way, it was not something he remembered fondly.

Aoife was now standing in front of him so he couldn't escape her - well wasn't that grand? She couldn't possibly find him quite so entertaining, could she? Surely there was someone much more interesting for her to go and annoy. Obviously not. "What ever makes you say that?" He asked in reply to her question, already finding that smug expression of hers far more irritating than was probably reasonable. Damn girl. Why couldn't she just leave him alone?

[Aoife de Archer]

Well, she could have guessed Richard would say something like that. For an adult he wasn’t very mature was he? Aoife pulled a face at him, usually even when adults had secrets they would tell her, because she looked so harmless. Really, she just loved gossip, and if Richard was that bothered about not telling her something then it was probably something exciting. Obviously she wasn’t going to let this drop, and she wondered if Richard knew that too. She hoped so, or else it left a rather awkward tension in the air. She rocked on her heels again, and put her arms behind her back thoughtfully, “Well I can keep a secret.” She pointed out with a grin. She was very good at keeping secrets, but at the moment she was having trouble getting Richard to say anything to her.

As she was a teenager, she could be just as stubborn and immature as Richard wanted to be. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere. This was too much fun to just leave alone after all, Richard was just too much fun to annoy. “That wasn’t a very mature reply by the way.” She pointed out with a smirk, he was the adult, therefore he should know better, or at least that was Aoife’s reasoning. He should be treating her with some respect as well, she was a de Archer after all. She knew she always had her family name to fall back on to justify why people should show her respect. No Mercian in their right mind would insult her family name within proximity of anyone associated with the de Archers.

She snorted as he said he was irresistible to women. She wondered if her Aunt had thought the same thing. She wanted to meet her aunt now, just to ask her and pry her for details about Richard. She wouldn’t care about asking her anything else, just about this meeting. “Well, you’re not doing very well tonight are you?” She asked brightly. There were plenty of beautiful Mercian women, in the sort of silk Aoife really wanted for her dresses but her father wouldn’t buy her such finery just yet. He said those dresses were for courting women. Aoife just wanted the best, was that too much to ask? But so far, Richard hadn’t attracted any women, well apart from her, but she didn’t count because she’d only come over here to annoy him.

Richard was making the conversation harder and harder, but Aoife didn’t just want to leave, because what did she have to leave to? They weren’t even dancing yet! So she’d have to stand around listening to her father go on about silly wars in other kingdoms. Aoife didn’t really care about any of that. “How long are you staying in Mercia for?” She asked politely, hoping to finally get something out of him.

[Richard de Calys]

Richard didn't actually care whether Aoife thought he was being immature or not, he would be as immature as he could if it meant she would get bored of him and find someone else to annoy. He should have known she was a de Archer as soon as he saw her, and then he should have ran away as far as possible. That seemed to be the only way to survive this particular family. He folded his arms across his chest, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. What exactly was she trying to acheive here? Was it just annoying him? Women. "Wasn't it? Well you'll just have to go and find some more mature company then won't you?" And then he could escape the attentions of the ginger dwarf.

No, he wasn't trying very hard to attract the attention of any young lady, he wasn't trying at all. He just shrugged, not about to tell her the real reason why he wasn't after any attention, oh she would probably have fun with that one. "How very astute of you, tell me, where did you get these amazing powers of observation?" He asked sarcastically. The worst thing about this meeting was Aoife being so smug about everything she was saying, like she was just oozing charm and wit when in reality everything she said, and the way she said it, was just more and more annoying. No doubt her answer to his question would be said with a smug grin because she was oh so clever.

Richard narrowd his eyes at her. Why did she want to know how long he would be in Mercia for? Not surprisingly he didn't trust her one bit. She'd probably find out where he was staying and then stand outside his window every waking second shouting at him for ignoring her and "being immature". Mercia was quickly becoming one of his least favourite places. "However long my business takes me."

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife was finding it incredibly difficult to keep herself from laughing. She’d never met an adult like Richard before. Most adults wouldn’t even speak to her in the way that he was, they’d just find her father or send her away. Well, Richard had sent her away before but she knew he didn’t have any power over her so she could exploit that somewhat. She still didn’t really believe he was royalty of wherever he was from, maybe he was delusional, that was always possible. Ok, now it really was difficult to keep a straight face. Pressing her lips together to stop herself laughing, she coughed into the back of her hand, a trick her father had taught her so people wouldn’t know she was laughing at them. “So why are you immature? Shouldn’t royalty be more… well…” She couldn’t think of the word and she pressed her lips together, “Learned.” She said rather smugly. If he was some sort of Duke then he should be able to come up with better responses than the ones he was giving her at the moment; honestly.

Putting one of her hands on her hip, Aoife raised an eye brow at Richard. She was only young, but she knew when she was being talked down to. She was a de Archer after all, it wasn’t as if being talked to in such a way was uncommon. Her grandfather was the worst for it. She didn’t have much time for him, he just annoyed her. “So why aren’t you trying to attract women then?” She asked, smugly once again, and looked around the room. There were plenty of young women without partners who were incredibly eligible. Aoife hoped that when she was old enough she would attract better attention than any of them were, “Are you just shy?” She asked in a pitiful tone, if Richard was going to speak down to her, then she was going to bring this down to her level. “Or is it that you miss my Aunt too much?” Now she was on the verge of giggling, and she did let out a small laugh, because everytime her Auntie Caitrin was mentioned Richard just looked uncomfortable.

It was always about business with Richard, for an immature delusional Duke he was certainly all about work. How boring. “What business exactly?” He probably would answer her again, but she hoped that he would, maybe she would even catch him off guard; she lived in hope of course.

[Richard de Calys]

Seriously, what did Richard have to do to get rid of her? Everything he did or said just seemed to make her even more interested and quite frankly it was getting ridiculous. Where was her father? Shouldn't he be stopping her from talking to random men? That was what fathers were for. It was all very badly done. He rolled his eyes at her "coughing" - he'd seen that trick before and didn't really see the point in it, especially when it was performed so badly. It was a good thing he wasn't easily offended, or trying to impress her, otherwise he'd be rather put out by her reaction. As it happened, he was rather put out, but only because if she was laughing at him she wouldn't leave him alone. "Royalty can do what they like." He replied rather petulantly, probably proving her point about his immaturity but he was beyond caring. He just wanted to be left alone, however unlikely that seemed.

Ah, the question of women, something he was more than eager to avoid, and that wasn't just because this was Aoife he was talking to. He sighed. This was not something he was going to answer properly. "Not all men are obsessed with women." He replied, trying to give an answer that was satisfy Aoife without divulging too much information. He had a feeling though that nothing would satisfy her. "And especially not with your aunt." That probably wasn't true - the way Caitrin had behaved around him it was obvious she was used to more than her fair share of male attention and it was therefore perfectly reasonable to think that all men were interested in her, but Richard was in the minority, the very anti-Caitrin minority.

What was her obsession with his business? It was bordering on ridiculous, and he was beginning to tire of her constant questioning. Actually, he was beginning to tire of her. "It doesn't matter to you. It's not that interesting anyway," he said with a shrug in the vain hope that his answer would put her off asking more questions.

[Aoife de Archer]

Even though Richard was falling back on his Royal name, he wasn’t acting in a Royal way. True Royalty could practically do what they wanted, but there were limits weren’t there? Shouldn’t he have been formally introduced or something? That ususally happened when there were Royal guests. Ah-ha! Aoife had something on him now, how could he be a Royal if he hadn’t even introduced himself to the Mercian Royal family? It was the height of bad manners, “If you’re Royalty why hasn’t the King greeted you?” She asked rather promptly with a wide grin on her smug face.

Aoife pulled a face at Richard. How could any man fail to notice that half the women in this room were highly eligible? And most came with a dowry to brag about, even Aoife knew that. She couldn’t understand how Richard could not appreciate that? Was he blind? Or just stupid? Hmm, he didn’t look stupid, but he was certainly acting like it. It was a tricky situation to say the least. She smirked when he spoke about her aunt, “You don’t like her, do you?” She pointed out, feeling rather smug about sussing this fact out. She wondered if her Aunt had this many problems with Richard, he was just frustrating to talk to, but his reactions were incredibly amusing. Aoife would have pointed out to Richard how silly his actions were, she was sure getting at least one of these women on his arm wasn’t too much of a task, but obviously he thought differently. Laziness was another trait she now assigned to him.

Aoife highly doubted his business wasn’t that interesting, because if it wasn’t interesting then he wouldn’t have made such a fuss of not telling her. That was perfect logic in Aoife’s mind. If it wasn’t interesting he would have just come out and said what it was. It probably wasn’t going to be that interesting now Aoife had built it up so much, but she already thought Richard was delusional so it would be interesting to see what he came up with, “How do you know I wouldn’t find it interesting?”

[Richard de Calys]

Richard wasn't really this interesting, or at least not to someone who didn't want something, so he had absolutely no idea why Aoife had become so interested in him. And now she was asking about his history...brilliant. He didn't particularly want to tell her, mainly because he didn't particularly want to talk to her anyway, but she wouldn't believe him and then just ask more questions. He sighed. This was ridiculous, as ridiculous as that expression on her face. "I haven't introduced myself." He said simply. She'd have something to say about that, she had something to say about everything. Was there a way to tell her just how he'd got himself in this situation without a) interest her too much and end up with a barrage of more questions and b) not tell her the reason he was in Mercia? Probably not. He was just going to have to go with being vague again.

Had she honestly just asked if he liked Caitrin? Liked as in...liked? He really wanted to be somewhere else right now. It seemed he was never going to escape Caitrin, or the de Archers in general. Well wasn't this just brilliant. "Of course I did." He said sarcastically. "I pledged my undying love for her." Now that was a scary thought. He didn't envy the man who would end up pledging his undying love for Caitrin. Richard could barely last a few days in her company, let alone the rest of his life, and no, that wasn't just because she was a woman. It was because she was annoying and wouldn't stop trying to jump on him. Hmm. Maybe he would have to rethink that previous thought - while he didn't envy said man, he was sure plenty of men would, especially if Caitrin was always so free with her affections.

It seemed she was still determined to find out what his work involved. Of course she wasn't going to find out. He had a very strict policy when it came to his work, one that mainly involved not telling anyone anything. Aoife was definitely not an exception to the rule. "You're a girl and it doesn't involve ribbons and flowers."

[Aoife de Archer]

Well why hadn’t he introduced himself? Didn’t he want the Mercian royal family to know who he was? The Royal family was one of the most important, if not the most important in all of Albion, so she couldn’t believe Richard was being so silly about this whole thing. “Why not?” She chirped back to him, because if she was of another royal house she would probably be incredibly excited about introducing herself to the royal family of Mercia. Everything Richard did just confirmed the fact he was an incredibly strange individual.

Aoife knew Richard was being sarcastic, or at least she thought he was being sarcastic. It would be rather strange if he hadn’t been being sarcastic. She pulled a face at him, “Well she is a de Archer, I can’t see why you wouldn’t love her.” Aoife’s wit was yet to come to maturity, but she did have occasional moments. Though Aoife loved her comeback, and she would be telling everyone just how quick and clever she was at such a response. She knew now though that that would be her only half decent come back of the night which was a little disappointing, but she had made her point to Richard at least.

Aoife pulled a face at Richard. Though she was a girl, and she did find ribbons and things like that quite fun and interesting, it didn’t mean that was all she cared about. She was rather put out that Richard thought that was the level of her interest. She loved many things, ribbons just happened to be one of them. For one, she loved her horses, her father had bought her her own horse and she loved it with all her heart. She loved dancing as well, see there was more to her than ribbons and flowers. Aoife was about to point that out to Richard, but her ears pricked up at the sound of the lutes tuning up into their first piece. She was incredibly excited and turned around to see nobles assembling in the middle of the room. Now she had another idea. She grabbed Richards arm and practically dragged him into the middle of the room to where the dancing was about to take place. Now, Richard couldn’t leave the floor because it would be an insult to her household, and the fact she was a child would just win her sympathy. Aoife was good at getting people to feel sorry for her. Plus, Richard would just draw attention to himself, something she supposed he wouldn’t want to do. “See, I like more than just ribbons and flowers you know. I take it you can dance?”

[Richard de Calys]

That was an excellent question and one he didn't have an answer for. That was annoying, and slightly embarrassing. He usually had an answer prepared for any such question but he hadn't been expected to be interrogated by a small girl. This was meant to be a strictly no contact job, just finding information and reporting back. It was supposed to be a nice, easy job too before he'd gone and found himself a stalker. "I don't want to talk to him." He replied, trying to wave her away. It wasn't a lie, he really didn't want to find himself face to face with the king. He probably knew what had happened in Cantia and therefore probably wouldn't approve of Richard's being in his kingdom. In fairness, Richard was only there to find information for Mercia's enemies and that was the sort of thing that didn't tend to make a good impression on kings.

Richard snorted at Aoife's comment. He wasn't usually one to snort - it wasn't the most attractive thing to be doing - but it was the only appropriate response. Richard knew enough about the de Archers, especially the female ones to argue his case quite effectively. He'd learnt they were annoying, stubborn and asked too many questions. Not exactly a great catch, and certainly not anything to tempt him, and that was before he took into account their sex. "Would you like a list?" He asked. It would be an awfully long list, maybe it would bore her so much she'd finally leave him alone. It wasn't a very likely scenario, but a man can dream.

His comment about ribbons seemed to have hit a nerve. Good. He wasn't usually in the habit of trying to upset children, but for Aoife he'd make the exception. She was certainly in the habit of annoying him so she couldn't complain when he proposed to do the same thing.

He hadn't noticed the music starting until he was being dragged into the middle of the room. His face fell, he stared at Aoife. This was not going to end well. Oh, she was sneaky. He couldn't exactly run off now, not without anyone noticing, and knowing her she'd make a show of it. "Of course I can dance." He said through gritted teeth. His mother had made sure that he could dance - how else was he going to tempt the young women of Cantia? Not with enthusiasm, anyway. He sighed, "Will you leave me alone if I do?" The answer was probably obvious, but, like he'd thought before a man can dream.

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife couldn’t understand why Richard wouldn’t want to meet the Mercian royal family. They were the most important people in the whole... of well Mercia. If Aoife was a royal she would want everyone to know who she was. It was silly that Richard didn’t share that view. Titles were wasted on people like him really, because he wasn’t taking advantage of it. “Well you’re just silly, who wouldn’t want to talk to the Royal family?” She was resisting calling him names because that would ruin her argument that she was practically a young woman anyway, and she shouldn’t be being treated like a child.

A list? Well now he mentioned it, perhaps if he did form a list she could show it to her father, to see if any of it were true. He would know his sister well enough to tell her wouldn’t he? Hmm, unless Richard was just joking about the list, she couldn’t really tell. “A list would be fabulous.” She answered happily, probably too happy. She was quite interested in this aunt of hers, mainly because she had annoyed Richard as well and in Aoife’s eyes that was something to be admired. Then she pulled a face, there couldn’t be that much that Richard hated about her family could there? She couldn’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t love their family. Everyone in Mercia respected the de Archers, that was apart from Richard it would appear. “You can’t hate our family thatmuch.” Richard was probably just being dramatic for the sake of it.

Aoife felt rather smug that her plan had worked somewhat. Richard hadn’t run away yet so all was well and good. She wasn’t even sure why she was winding him up anymore. At first it had just been to find out what he was doing in Mercia, but now she was just enjoying winding him up for the sake of it. Aoife was often told she was too bold for her age, but she was finding this was working to her advantage, because she hadn’t had this much fun in some time. “That depends how well you dance.” She pointed out, because there was no way that she was letting Richard away that easily. Well, she wasn’t letting him away easily at all, but that wasn’t the point. The music had started, and with this particular dance the man had to start with his hand on his ladies waist. A smug smirk formed across her lips. There was nothing peculiar about this scene, Aoife made nobles dance with her.

[Richard de Calys]

Richard just looked at her and raised his eyebrows slowly. From his experience there was nothing grand or impressive about being a royal. It was just something you were, like brunette or tall. Being royal had certainly not helped him and as a result he'd rather gone off the whole idea of royalty in general. He'd managed to build a reputation for himself using only his own talents, not his status, so if he could do it surely everyone else could. Yes, he used his title when it suited him but it wasn't anything to get too excited about. Unless you were a young Mercian girl of course, she seemed to find everything that he hated fascinating. "Have you met a royal before?" He asked with a definite tone. If she had then she'd understand they were nothing much to be celebrated. People were people - annoying and only as good as they could be exploited.

Did she actually want a list or was she just being a usual annoying self? Richard would have no trouble in producing such a thing, but he wasn't going to bother unless she was actually going to appreciate it. Writing a list would mean having to relive his time with Caitrin, and that was something he wasn't going to do without good cause. Maybe a list would finally be the thing to get rid of the girl. That would be a fine thing. "You really want a list?" He found himself laughing at her next words. She really had no idea about her aunt, did she? It was very easy to hate the woman. He'd been tortured because of her, and had his shirt stolen. That had not been an enjoyable night. All in all, Caitrin de Archer had caused a lot more trouble than she was worth, and he was starting to think the same could be said for her niece. "Let's just say the less time spent in your company, the better." He smiled at her, part of him hoping she'd be offended and leave him alone.

Richard outwardly groaned as he realised what the music was and what type of dancing would be required. Well this was depressingly predictable, as was her smirk. How did he manage to get himself into situations like this? With great skill, obviously. Reluctantly he placed his hands on her hips, lightly though, trying to keep as much distance between himself and her as possible. "I'll have you know I was one of the best dancers in Cantia." It was true, his mother had made him spend hour after hour practicing because obviously that was the best use of his time. And now he was dancing with a child. This was going to do wonders for his reputation.

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife couldn’t understand why Richard couldn’t see why the Royals were a sight to behold, and something to be awed at. She had wished so hard when she was younger that she could have been a princess, but she knew it was never to be. She did however look up to the Royals, they were always so fashionable, and lovely, and she couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t aspire to be like them. The Royals were supposed to be someone that everyone looked up to. “I have.” She announced proudly, “I have met both the princes, and I fail to see how that proves any sort of point. I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to speak to them.” She couldn’t see Richard’s point at all, the royals she had met had always been well disposed to her, and caring. Why on earth could he say that he wouldn’t want to meet them?

Well, Richard had been the one to offer a list, so why shouldn’t she want one? If he didn’t have anything to offer then he shouldn’t have anything in the first place. It wasn’t exactly good form to just offer things without actually ever intending to give them. Richard would be deemed the rudest and silliest man she had ever met if he didn’t actually have a list. “Well you offered, of course I want a list.” She said, folding her arms, because of course that meant that she was being completely serious. She frowned at his next words though, she hadn’t really done that much to give him cause to hate her as much as he did. Then again, it didn’t seem to be her that he hated, it was more her entire family that he didn’t like. She couldn’t understand how her aunt could have made him hate her so much. “Well that’s not very nice is it?” She snapped back at him rather quickly.

As he placed his hands on her hips, she just continued to smirk up at him. She was enjoying this an incredible amount, but she could see that Richard would probably rather be anywhere. Aoife just started as the music commanded her to, “Then I don’t see why you don’t look like you’re enjoying this.” She said rather smugly, and grinned at Richard. He could at least look like he was enjoying himself. She was surprised that Richard could actually dance, but she moved with him, she was probably too graceful for him, but she was enjoying this possibly too much at the moment but she didn’t care.

[Richard de Calys]

Of course she had met the Mercian princes, and of course she was all in favour of them. She was probably one of those ambitious noble women who were convinced they'd marry a prince and become queen. Irritatingly, she'd probably manage it. Richard didn't actually know anything about the two princes - he kept away from royalty as a general rule, but he was sure the very fact that they were of a higher status than her would surely be enough to turn her head. He struck her as someone who didn't approve of anyone being above her in status. "Trust me, I know enough about royals." He replied with a sigh. Yes, he knew plenty about royals. They were all the same, too concerned with their own power and wealth and reputations.

She genuinely wanted a list? Well, she probably didn't genuinely want a list, she just wanted to annoy him. What was it with de Archer women and annoying him? To do such a list justice he'd have to give it a proper think so Aoife would just have to wait. This implied he'd be meeting her again...no. He would say he'd work on a list for her, but he'd be leaving Mercia before she could have a chance to stalk him again. He congratulated himself on the fine plan. "Should we meet again, you will have such a list." He said, already deciding that he would be leaving Mercia as soon as an oppurtunity presented itself. As far as the job was concerned...well...he'd just make it up. His customer would be none the wiser.

Dancing with Aoife was something he really didn't want to be experiencing. He appeared to be irresistable to de Archer women which just landed him in horrible situations like this. Still, at least she wasn't as bad as her aunt and he still had his shirt. "Usually my partner is less annoying. And taller. And southern." The only similarity seemed to be that once again he was forced to dance with someone when he'd much rather be doing anything else. He had to twirl Aoife around before putting his hands back on her hips, rather hesititantly. Surely they were nearly at the end by now?

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife had always been a little irked that neither of the princes were closer to her age. She was sure she could have married one of them, after all Princes did sometimes marry noblewomen. Her father had always said that she was as beautiful as a princess, so there was no reason why she shouldn’t have hoped to one day rise to become such. It was a distant dream though, and she was sure she wasn’t the love of Oliver or Edmund’s life which was a disappointing but true fact. Maybe she would marry one of their cousins, or one of the members of the high nobility instead. She would love that, she really wanted a large household to instruct. She wouldn’t be able to stand living out her days in a poky little estate. She wanted so much more from life than that. “If you knew anything about Royal’s you would introduce yourself to them.” She pointed out, after all, they were the most important people in the whole of Mercia. She couldn’t understand Richard at all, and she was almost settled on the fact that he was just being silly and unreasonable for the sake of it.

Urgh, but they might never meet again and then she’d never get her list! He couldn’t just offer her a list and then palm it off with a future meeting. He would probably make it his job to never see her again, and if he ever did he might pretend he knew nothing of the list and that would just be incredibly annoying. She had got herself quite excited for nothing. “That’s not fair.” She retorted quickly, and then realised how childish she sounded. Great! “I mean, what if we never meet again, I will never get a list.” That was more mature way of phrasing it wasn’t it? Aoife didn’t feel like she was being unreasonable, if Richard didn’t have a list then he shouldn’t have offered it in the first place.

Aoife was quite enjoying this dance, mainly because she knew that Richard wasn’t enjoying it, but still. She raised her eye brows at him, “I’m not annoying.” She retorted quickly, slightly insulted by his words. The other comments were neither here nor there, but she screwed up her face as he mentioned the fact that she wasn’t southern, “Then that is an improvement, surely? I’ve heard women in the north are much prettier than those in the south.” Then he had to pick her up, something she was also enjoying greatly, “You should smile more, you might even enjoy yourself.” She smirked at him, knowing nothing in the whole of Albion would make Richard enjoy this moment, but oh well, Aoife was happy enough for the both of them.

[Richard de Calys]

Richard could see this argument going on for some time. He'd make a disparaging comment about the royal family, albeit a generalised one as he didn't know anything about the Mercian royals, and Aoife would just tell him he didn't know what he was talking about. Well, actually Richard did know what he was talking about - he'd spent far too much of his life in the Cantian court and in the presence of his own family. Ah yes, that wonderful family of his who had rushed to his aid as soon as it was clear he was merely a beggar with a title. He'd been thrown out onto the streets while his uncle lived a life of luxury. Well, at least his brother was also enjoying that life. That was his sole consolation when it came to his family, well that at the unlikelyhood of seeing them again.

Aware that Aoife was waiting for an answer, and even more aware that she wasn't going to give up until she had one, he just shrugged. He was in no mood to be discussing royalty, especially with someone like her. "Well if you say so." He replied, although it should be made clear that he was not admitting defeat, he was simply choosing his battles. If Aoife wanted to continue in this pro-royal mindset then she could do just that. It wasn't his responsibility to see she sorted out her priorities. He really didn't care that much, not about her anyway, he just wanted to stop talking about royals.

He wasn't going to point out that not seeing her again was the general idea. He might not particularly like the girl, but his manners and sense of decorum seemed to be prevailing. If it weren't for such an attitude he could have just left her, but no, he had to stand there and try not to be rude, or not overtly so anyway. "Oh no," he replied flatly, "Well I'm sure you'll survive." Alright, that wasn't exactly being polite but it was rather restrained. She'd already managed to irritate him on two seperate occassions, what more did the girl want? He probably shouldn't answer that, even hypothetically, it would only depress him. At present, he was quite certain if he never saw the girl again it would be too soon.

She wasn't annoying? Well she had clearly been misinformed, or living in some delusion. She was quite possibly one of the most annoying people he'd ever met. It seemed to be a family trait. As was arrogance, too, apparantly. Women in the north prettier? Well, he wasn't one to notice such things, he couldn't see any difference in their physical appearance. What southern women did have over their northern counterparts was their ability to pronounce words correctly, but Richard was hardly the best judge on the fairer sex. "I can't imagine you being an improvement on anything." he replied and then grinned at her - there, he was being polite, as he was grinning, and now she couldn't complain that he wasn't doing so. He was still yet to enjoy himself though.

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife wondered if Richard classed being completely and utterly annoying as one of his main talents, well if he did then he wasn’t succeeding. It was clear he was trying to annoy her and he was failing miserably because if she was annoyed then she would have left by now wouldn’t she? Aoife felt quite smug in the fact that she hadn’t let Richard bother her, and that she was just trying very hard to be completely mature about this. He could be immature, but she certainly wasn’t. Well, Aoife felt like she was proving a point with this, and she was going to look like the bigger person in this situation, she was sure of it. In fact, Aoife was almost deflated and annoyed when Richard decided to just agree with her, and not give her a retort to rise to. She had a complete argument ready to enact in his general direction, and now all her wit and thought was completely wasted wasn’t it? What good was this?

“Is that is?” she asked him, just raising her eye brows at him. He had previously been slating all royal families, including the Mercian one, and now he expected her to believe that he had just come around to her way of thinking? Aoife was sure that it couldn’t be that easy, but she had already asked him if he was being serious, so she couldn’t really say anything more could she without sounding annoying. Well, Richard already probably thought she was being annoying, but she knew that she wasn’t, he was the one that was annoying, not her. Nevertheless, she wasn’t put off by this one set back, she was Aoife de Archer, and she never gave up, not when she was having so much fun anyway.

She still thought that he was being incredibly unfair, after all, why did he promise a list if he had no intention of delivering one. She was supposed to be the child, not him, so she couldn’t see why he insisted on acting so unconventionally and immaturely. “You shouldn’t promise things if you aren’t going to go through with it.” She pointed out, trying to sound mature and slightly arrogant because she knew she was right. It was rude to promise things without any thought of delivering them. She knew it happened, but it wasn’t going to happen to her, “Perhaps you should start the list now, in case we don’t meet again.” Now she was being serious, but Richard would probably still would deny her a list, or anything close to it, because he was really just a silly and irritating man.

Now he was just being rude, she didn’t care that he was grinning, Aoife wasn’t that stupid as to not realise when she was being insulted. “Well, I doubt you will find a lady who would find you to their tastes in the north.” Aoife retorted quickly, it wasn’t her best retort by a long shot, but it was something at the end of the day, “I bet my Aunt didn’t like you much either.” Then she pulled a face at him as she carried on her steps in the dance, no one was paying them any attention; why would they, after all, she was a child and he was no one. They made an odd coupling to say the least.

[Richard de Calys]

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The girl clearly did not understand subtlety, not that Richard was very surprised by this. If she did they wouldn’t be having this conversation. He’d be off making money and buying hats and having much more fun, well, any fun. But, as it happened, Aoife didn’t understand subtlety at all – or if she did, she was extremely good at ignoring it – and so he was stuck here, talking to her, and being annoyed. He was never coming to Mercia again. Maybe he was doing Mercia a disservice – basing his entire opinion on two women, and two women of the same family, but even so. It was cold and dark and full of annoying women. “Yes, yes it is.” Richard replied, eyes scanning the room, trying to find some other noble he could shove her onto. He’d had more than enough of her; surely it was someone else’s turn to entertain her now.

For all her smirks and what he assumed she thought were clever words, she really was quite the child. As soon as he didn’t give her the answer, or reaction, she wanted, she behaved like this – trying to act in a mature and adult manner but failing completely. Why did she want this list anyway? And why did she have to have that put upon arrogance? Like most things she did, it was very, very annoying. “I could, but surely you would prefer the excitement of uncertainty?” He raised his eyebrows. “I would have thought you would appreciate that.” Richard didn’t care what she appreciated, but what he appreciated was her immediate absence. That would be rather nice.

If she was trying to be insulting, she was certainly going the wrong way about it. Richard didn’t care what the women of the north thought about him – not in that way anyway. In fact, it would be far better if they didn’t think of him like that. He’d had enough of his fair share of awkwardness and embarrassment when it came to the fairer sex. The further they stayed away from him – well, only when that sort of thing was involved – the better. They could just lose their money to him and go away. That would be the ideal. “Your aunt disliked me so much she wouldn’t leave me alone. Or my shirt for that matter.” There was little attempt at hiding the irritation from his tone. He’d needed that shirt! Obviously not as Caitrin had though, he thought rather bitterly. If he ever saw her again, he would make sure to steal some of her clothes...and then cover his eyes and run away because she’d probably think he was making a move or something...alright, she could keep her clothes, but so could he.

[Aoife de Archer]

Aoife was starting to realise that she would miss Richard when he left. He was annoying yes, and he thought he was so much cleverer than he actually was, but that was his fault and hopefully one day he would see how silly he was. Aoife doubted she would meet anyone quite like him, especially not at the Mercian courts. No one would dare say half the things he had, especially about the royal family. Aoife still couldn’t understand why he didn’t like them, the Mercian royal family were very proper, and the princes were the centre of the court. They were just what everyone wanted to aspire to be, well apart from Richard that was. Still, Aoife couldn’t see why he was being so annoying. He clearly just liked being irritating in every way possible. “That’s not a very mature reply.” Aoife pointed out, “Shouldn’t you be acting more like your status?” She asked him, a sly smile crossing her lips.

Did Aoife want the excitement of uncertainty? Did this man know anything about her at all? Aoife wasn’t really one for surprises, or being patient in the slightest anyway. Richard had promised her a list, so she wanted a list. She wasn’t being unreasonable, as Richard had offered the list she was completely fine to ask for the promised list. If Richard didn’t have one then he shouldn’t have offered one in the slightest. “Not really, I just want the list, like you said.” Why would she want to wait anyway? This was as good a time as any.

Aoife could tell that Richard didn’t like her aunt very much. In fact, bringing her up again in conversation just seemed to annoy him even more. How could one woman be so bad? “Your shirt?” Aoife asked, slightly confused and raised both her eye brows. What on earth was he talking about? Why would her Aunt want his shirt, ew, Aoife didn’t want to think of things like that, especially about a family member. She doubted a de Archer woman would be so liberal anyway. More likely Richard was trying to brag, and make himself sound more important than he actually was. No doubt her Aunt had paid him little attention in actual fact. “Are you sure it wasn’t you who wouldn’t leave her alone?” Aoife asked, feeling quite clever she had arrived at this conclusion now.