Stubbornness Can Only Get You So Far

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin shifted and pulled the blankets over her body. She groaned slightly and made a mental note that if she was ever going to do this again she was going to do it in summer, rather than in winter. She shivered slightly and hugged her body gently. She knew she would have to move eventually, but it would be colder outside the bed than it was inside so for the moment she could see no good reason to move. She drew herself up on the bed and frowned slightly, it had been four days since she’d left Camelot and she was now starting to get slightly concerned at her own actions.

She had managed, in her anger to end up in somewhere in the Northern Lands. She’d been aiming for Mercia, mainly because she knew Mercia, but she’d taken a wrong turning somewhere along the lines and now she was in the middle of nowhere; fantastic. She wasn’t about to admit she was lost, no, she was perfectly fine. She sighed and sat up in the bed, picking her shawl up from the bedside table and pulling it around her shoulders. She had every intention of returning to Camelot, but she had a point to prove first.

Her Uncle had made the silly mistake of pushing a suitor to take her hand, naturally Caitrin had taken it badly, and had run off in the night. She was going to return, she just wanted him to know that no matter how hard he tried she would never again be forced to take a suitor to her bed that her family had forced upon her. She’d been too young when her father had forced marriage upon her to know how to react to it, she was a bit older now, and fortunately her confidence had been enough to carry her down the road, and convince her that running away was the right thing to do.

All in all, apart from being slightly lost this had been one of her better ideas. None of her Uncle’s men had been able to track her as she’d left in the middle of the night, therefore she was at her liberty at when she returned; she had enough money to tide her over for a few weeks anyway. She’d managed to find this inn and had gained lodgings for the night, though the man behind the bar had said she could stay as long as she wanted.

Caitrin groaned and finally threw the covers back and was hit with the cold that the morning brought straight away. She didn’t let it bother her though as she quickly grabbed a comb and pulled it through her hair, crossing the room to where she’d laid out her underclothes and dress. Setting the comb down she pulled on her clothes quickly, trying to avoid getting too cold and laced up the back of her dress carefully. There was a small mirror in the corner so she walked over to it, her comb in hand again and started pulling it through her hair again, just to make sure she did it right. It didn’t matter she was technically on the run, she could still look her best couldn’t she?

Tags: Richard de Calys
Timeline: Series 2, after the Match Made In Hell Thread
Location: The Northern Lands
Notes: I know she hasn't actually done anything in this, but if you want me to edit just let me know (:

[Richard de Calys]

OOC - eh, this will get better when they start interacting.


There was something better about searching for people, rather than objects. When trying to find an object the only hardship was finding a seller, or in some rare cases finding the root. People were much more fun. They thought, planned, were unpredictable, and, more importantly, they provided Richard with a challenge. From what he had been told by Rouland de Archer, his niece, and Richard's current job, Lady Caitrin, was certainly a challenge. He had not inquired as to why the woman had run away, he didn't need to know and it was not his place to find out, but it must have come as a shock to Rouland, why else would he call for the best?

Richard de Calys was more than used to his reputation preceeding him, what else would be the point in having one, but it was not usually known by someone such as Rouland de Archer. Normally those who knew of Richard were the sort to keep to the shadows, or powerful rulers in need of discretion and professionalism. From what Richard had heard Rouland was neither of these. He was powerful yes, but no more so than most nobles, and he was not a shady character, otherwise Richard would know a lot more about him. But, whatever sort of man he was, he clearly cared greatly about his niece - or she was very useful to him - and so Richard had been hired to find her.

He had been trying to find her for three days now. She already had a day's head start, and any more delay was only likely to cause the distance between them to widen. It was not the easiest job to find someone when all you had was a name and a passing description. But he would remain vigilant - otherwise he wouldn't get paid.

Eventually he came to small inn, which a rather old and possibly delusional (she had kept calling him Cerys) woman had said a young redhaired woman was staying. While the likelihood that this woman was Caitrin de Archer was horribly slim, it was all Richard had to go on so far, so he had taken his chances.

It was still morning, so the inn was not as busy as he was used to, and it was a little strange to be alone and not to automatically make his way to the darkest corner he could find. Instead he strode confidentally over to a man who he presumed was the owner, or at least the official table cleaner and asked, "Excuse me, but I don't suppose you have seen a young woman, red hair, about this (he gestured with his hand) high? She is travelling alone, I am her brother, you see, we're all terribly worried about her."

The man thought for a moment, and did not question Richard's lie before replying, "There is a young woman staying here. She has not woken yet, but I shan't disturb her. Would you care for a drink while you wait?"

Richard smiled politely and after a short pause replied, "I'd best not, it is still the morning."

The man simply shrugged and went back to his work, leaving Richard to sit by himself and wait. He wasn't even going to be shown a seat, which he didn't think was terribly good service. Reluctantly he sat down as far away from the drunk - it seemed all inns had a constant resident - and hoped the mysterious red haired woman would appear shortly, and that she would indeed be Caitrin. He would be most annoyed to find out he was wasting his time.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin still had her comb in her hand as she examined what could be done about her hair. She frowned slightly, it just wasn’t doing what she wanted it to this morning. She ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it, well if it was going to be curly hair today then it could at least look like she’d meant it to be that way. She smiled slightly at her reflection in the mirror, wondering what the day would bring her. Perhaps she should just stay here until she chose to return to Camelot, or she could always walk on to the next tavern, she was sure it wouldn’t be that far away.

She crossed over to the bed, her arms wrapping around her body as the chill was still in the air. She opened the windows and was pleasantly surprised that the weather was dry, even if it was still freezing. The morning frost was still touching the leaves of the tree in front of her window and even looking at it just made her shiver again. Her thoughts ran back to her predicament, she was still annoyed she’d let herself get lost, how had she even managed that?

Her tummy grumbled and she placed a hand on it, her hunger distracted her anger for the moment and she realised just how hungry she was. At home she would have probably already eaten by now and be out with her horse. No matter, she’d thrown this upon herself so she had to deal with the consequences of it. It made sense though to seek out some breakfast, she was sure it would just be the stale end of bread but even that looked attractive at the moment. So, in a quick burst of energy Caitrin grabbed her cloak to wrap around her shoulders and headed downstairs to seek out some breakfast. The tavern wasn’t very full, there were a few men enjoying an early drink and of course there was the resident drunk; did he ever leave?

Caitrin walked up to the barman who had sold her the room yesterday with a wide smile, all she wanted was a bit of breakfast. She’d probably take it up to her room as she had no intention of staying down here with the resident drunk. He’d tried to introduce himself to her yesterday, was it Oliver or something like that? She didn’t really care if she was being honest. The bar man was looking at her in a strange way though. She was used to men looking at her in funny ways, but that was usually after she’d spoken, she hadn’t even said anything yet.

“Any chance of a spot of breakfast?” She asked cheerily and he nodded quickly and then looked behind her,

“Your brothers come looking for you.” Caitrin furrowed her eyes at him, there were several things wrong with what the man had said. For one, none of her brothers could know she was here, unless they had finally grown an ounce of intelligence. Secondly, her brothers were all still in Mercia, they hadn’t cared about her when she’d lived there, they would have probably cheered at the thought of one less sister to share their inheritance with. Caitrin looked casually over her shoulder at the man the barman had pointed out. She frowned, she’d never seen him before. She shook her head at the man in front of her and shrugged,

“He’s not my brother.” She said in a very matter of fact way, the barman probably had her confused with someone else. “So about breakfast?” She asked hopefully and he nodded,

“I’ll bring you something over.” She smiled sweetly at him and then wandered to sit on the other side of the tavern. She couldn’t be sure but Caitrin was certain the man who the barman had claimed was her brother was watching her. She was used to men watching her, she got more than enough attention at court, so it didn’t faze her that much, and so she just sat down, hoping her breakfast would not be too long.

[Richard de Calys]

Thankfully Richard did not have to wait long until the girl with the red hair appeared. Hmm...she could be Caitrin, but then there were plenty of young red haired women in Albion. She could be anyone. His eyes stayed on her, seeing if he could learn her identity through observation alone, but the man did not address her by her name, which was irritating.

When she turned around and looked straight at him he gave a forced, but seemingly pleasant smile. Clearly the idiot man had said something to her. Interesting, now she was ignoring him. He had been expecting her to approach, surely that would be a natural reaction. Well, not if you were on the run, he thought as he watched her sit down away from everyone else, like himself.

He remained seated, just watching her and trying to decide whether it was possible she was Caitrin. She certainly carried herself like nobility. After a few moments he decided the easiest way to determine either way would be to simply approach her.

"Excuse me, hello, please forgive my abruptness, but you wouldn't happen to be Lady Caitrin de Archer?"

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin looked around the tavern to find something to amuse her thoughts while she waited for her food to be delivered. She wanted something to distract her thoughts from the hunger which was burning through her body. She noticed the man again in the corner of the room, and she was certain he was staring at her. She put her eyes from him, now feeling slightly worried. Men looked at her in many ways, but his was not a stare of admiration, or even longing, no, this was something different. Caitrin found a goblet of water placed down in front of her by a young maid and she thanked her quickly before proceeding to drink from it; hopefully that wasn’t what the barman constituted as ‘breakfast’ but you could never really tell with these places.

She had been too caught up with her own hunger and her own thoughts to even notice the man as he approached. She blinked a few times to focus on him and resisted the urge to look completely baffled when he spoke. Was she... Well of course she was, but this man obviously didn’t know that. Now the more interesting question to Caitrin was who was this man, and why did he want to know who she was. It was plausible her Uncle had sent someone after her, but it was also possible that he had gained her name to engage her attentions. It certainly was a way of forcing conversation on her. Of course Caitrin wasn’t going to answer him straight away, no, that would be far too easy and what would be the fun in that?

Caitrin looked up at the man, he was certainly handsome but that wasn’t going to help him really. She’d teased better looking men than him, and worse looking men, so he really didn’t stand a chance. She leaned forwards slightly, inching a single eye brow up at him and pressed her lips together, as if thinking seriously about his question. She was doing well to hide her confusion of how a random man in a tavern could know who she was, but there was plenty of time for that later. She knew she was safe enough in the tavern anyway, if this man was following her and his intentions were less than noble then there were men here who would protect her; she knew that.

“Am I Lady Caitrin de Archer?” She repeated thoughtfully and took another swig of her water. “I might be, but that of course would depend who was asking, and why.” She leaned back in her seat now, acting more casually, “And of course how nicely you smile at me.”

[Richard de Calys]

Of course she would have an attitude, Richard should have assumed as such. Normally such a reply would amuse him, but spending three nights without hot water was starting to take its toll. All he wanted now was to find out if this really was Caitrin de Archer - and he suspected she was - and then take her back to Camelot.

He let a small smile appear on his lips as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. One arm leant on the table while the other hung over the back of the chair. "Shall I take that as a yes, then?" He raised his eyebrows, almost as an adult would while reprimanding a small child. He was in no mood for silly games with this girl, he just wanted to be paid. Ignoring her request for a nice smile he began to explain his reason for inquiring after her identity. "I have been sent to find you, to take you back to Camelot. Are you going to come nicely? I haven't got all day."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin watched the man carefully, she tried to see if she could remember him at any point during her time in Camelot; that might hint to why he was actually here in the first place. Perhaps he was not even from Camelot, he could have followed her from the last inn, she honestly couldn’t remember. She frowned as he gave her a mere small smile, honestly she had been expecting more. However, sometimes it was more fun when they resisted her at first, it of course didn’t put her off. As he drew up a chair she copied his actions and placed an elbow on the table and placed her head on her hand and watched the man carefully.

She shrugged and pressed her lips together again as she thought of how to answer him. He couldn’t justifiably think it fair to expect an answer from her without even giving her his name could he? “You can take it however you want; that doesn’t make it true.” She pointed out playfully, she supposed this man was smart enough to assume her defiance was because she was Caitrin de Archer, for if she was not she would probably have been insulted, or perhaps more confused, or at least she assumed so.

So her Uncle had sent someone to come and get her; she wasn’t surprised in the least. Although she was intending to return to Camelot she wasn’t about to jump up and return to her Uncle’s side because of some random man in a tavern. Caitrin raised an eye brow at him, did he honestly think that it would be so easy as to just ask her to come back to Camelot? Her Uncle clearly hadn’t warned him about her well enough if he thought it was.

“And what makes you think I would go anywhere with you?” She asked him, “For one you have not told me your name, and secondly, your smile was not nearly nice enough.” She gave him a quick wink, surely that would warrant some sort of encouraging reaction? If not then of course she would keep trying, all men broke eventually, and this one wasn’t going to be an exception.

[Richard de Calys]

This Lady Caitrin was certainly stubborn, and over confident, irritatingly so. Still, she was keeping Richard on his toes, so it couldn't be all bad. He hadn't actually realised that he had not yet introduced himself, which was highly unusual for Richard, normally it was the first thing he did. Introducing oneself was quite an art, one that he felt he excelled at.

"You are quite right, how rude of me." He stood up and took a step back from the table, after tucking his chair in of course. He gave a flourished bow, one that made the tail of his coat flick out slightly and remained bent for a second before raising his head and saying, "My name is Richard de Calys," he straightened up, "Duke of Cantia." He remained posed for a few seconds before returning to his chair - introductions were important after all. "Now we both know each other."

There was a moment or two's pause before he answered her previous question. Why would she go with him? Well, because he wanted her to probably wasn't a good enough answer. He leant back further into his chair and folded his arms across his chest in a casual gesture. "Would you prefer to stay here? How much money do you have?"

[Caitrin de Archer]

His reaction to her words was something she was not expecting. Her shock was probably evident as he bowed and introduced himself. He was a Duke? Was he being serious? She managed a small sort of grin as he sat back down, now insisting that they knew each other. “I am sure the pleasure is all yours.” She said in a very natural tone and took another swig of her drink. She shook her head, she had not formally introduced herself so she mimicked his actions and stood up. She held her skirts and swept into a low curtsey, the same one she always used for her more formal of introductions. She didn’t care the odd drunk was probably going to stare at her. She raised her eyes to him, “My name is Lady Caitrin de Archer, seventh child of Lord Payton and Lady Ardith.” She now fully extended her back and returned to her seat, pleased with her little introduction, “Now we know each other.”

That was an odd question, but it was a fair one all the same. She knew she had enough money to keep her for a fortnight at the least but of course Richard didn’t need to know that did he? Two weeks was not a long period of time and she was starting to miss the luxuries which being a Lady in her Uncle’s household brought with it. “That, my Lord, is none of your business.” She pointed out and sat back casually, “But enough to not need to rely on my Uncle for some time.” She accompanied her words with a smirk, he would have to try better than that really.

Caitrin leaned forwards, trying to close the gap which had been created between the pair. She was sure she would not be persuaded to go anywhere; why should she? Her Uncle had tried to force her into a match she did not want to even think about, so why would she return to him so quickly, even if this man was incredibly good looking. She rolled her tongue about in her mouth thoughtfully and looked upwards before setting her eyes back to Richard, putting on a small smirk. “I am not going to return to my Uncle anytime soon.” She said thoughtfully and put her head in her hands again, “Unless of course, you can think of any way of persuading me.” She winked again and the word persuading was said a lot slower and just seemed to roll off the tongue more than the other words Caitrin had spoken. Men were altogether such an easy breed to tease and toy with, but it was incredibly irritating when they didn’t rise to the bait. No matter; she would just have to up her game.

[Richard de Calys]

He was rather surprised when Caitrin copied his actions of standing up to introduce herself. Most people were just surprised, or unconvinced when he told them who he was. Caitrin was neither, perhaps she was just amused. At least now he knew that she was who he thought and that he wasn't wasting his time. Now he just had to get her back to Camelot. That shouldn't be too difficult...

Hmm, that was interesting. Money appeared to be a touchy subject, so she must not have taken that much. That was good, it meant he had something to win her over with. A woman of her standing would surely prefer to be in the comfort of her own home rather than penniless in an unknown land. "Forgive me, my lady. I am merely thinking of your comfort and wellbeing. I wonder how long you will be able to manage without your uncle for financial stability? Surely you can see the advantages of returning with me."

Well now. This was an interesting turn of events. Was she...flirting with him? This was not good, not good in the slightest. Richard was not one to become easily flustered - even with a sword at his throat he was calm and collected and always thinking of something to get himself out of danger. Women, however, women were different. They were something he would never understand and always managed to make him feel quite uncomfortable. He knew men obsessed with the fairer sex, men who thought of nothing else, who spend their entire lives trying to find a woman to call their own. Richard did not feel the same need.

"Heh," he let out a nervous laugh to accompany that embarrassingly nervous noise. "I'm sure we could...erm...come to an understanding. To get you home. To your uncle." He stopped speaking abruptly, aware he was rambling. This is why he didn't like women. He didn't know what to do when they started winking and saying words in an inappropriate manner. Men were much better; they were simple and easy to understand and didn't make Richard ramble at all.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was still reeling from the fact that Richard was a Duke. She was curious, but then again what else was new? Unfortunately Caitrin had been blessed with being incredibly nosy, uncommonly so. She frowned slightly at Richard, but saw her opportunity to flirt so she drew herself closer to him, “So, what would a Duke such as yourself wish to gain from seeking me out?” She asked suggestively, nipping her bottom lip before returning to her casual self; her grin etched solidly upon her face.

Caitrin raised her eye brows at his little speech about her comfort. In fairness, Caitrin was used to little comfort. When she had lived in Camelot she had gone many years with sharing a room, and with most of her dresses being hand me downs; she wasn’t some spoilt noble who was used to servants doing everything for her. She didn’t even have a hand maid at her Uncle’s home which was odd for a woman of her standing, but she preferred to do things herself. She smiled at him and raised both her eye brows. She leant forwards slightly, “I thank you for your concern, but it is misplaced. I can manage just fine thank you.” Her words were toned with slight irritation as she knew she could only last for the next two weeks without her Uncle’s financial stability and she knew that too well.

Caitrin felt a small sense of accomplishment as Richard let out a small nervous laugh. It was a pity, she thought he would last longer than that; it really wasn’t that much of a challenge and he was really making it too easy. It had been over a week since she’d had the pleasure of teasing a man and she wasn’t going to let this one go so quickly.

Caitrin knew exactly how to handle this one, or at least she thought she did. She still had no intention of going anywhere with him, but she could have some fun while he tried to convince her. She ran a hand through her hair, releasing it and letting it swirl around her shoulders and gave a small grin, biting her bottom lip and raising her eyes to Richard. She leaned slightly closer towards him and gave a small nod in agreement at his words, “I’m sure we could.” She mused and then raised her eyes thoughtfully and gave a few moments of silence, just to keep up that expectation, “Do you have any suggestions?” She asked him in a slightly quieter voice, keeping her eyes locked with his. Plus, this was the opportunity for him to show her what he knew, or perhaps how far he was going to go along with her teases.

[Richard de Calys]

"I am making a living." He replied casually, he hadn't been looking at her when she had biten her lip, which was fortunate as he wouldn't have known what to do and would have only embarrassed himself, instead he could just talk about himself and remain confident and in control. He pulled at the lapels on his coat before continuing, "Fine clothes like these do not come cheap." Well, they do when you steal them, which was exactly what Richard had done, but Caitrin did not need to know that.

“I thank you for your concern, but it is misplaced. I can manage just fine thank you.”

He pressed his lips together, had he been inconsiderate? He wasn't entirely sure if she had been offended but was hiding it through politeness. Richard may be a thief and more than happy to provide the most evil of men with anything they needed for their dastardly plots, but he was always in favour of good manners. "Please forgive me if that was rude." However, at the same time this was his job, he wasn't being paid to have a pleasant talk in an inn. He was being paid to bring her home. "But I urge you to at least consider what I said."


Oh good God. Richard just stared at her. How the hell was he going to get himself out of this? All he wanted was to find her, take her back to Camelot and get his lovely money. This was going against his carefully constructed plan and he did not like it one bit. Right, focus. He could think himself out of any situation. This one should be easy.

He made a fist, pressed it to his mouth and cleared his throat. Throats should always be clear, he had learnt, it was rather difficult to talk your way out of trouble without a clear throat. He shuffled backwards, chair and all, and then spoke slowly and consideringly. "My lady, I think you misunderstand me." Just looking at her was making him feel out of his comfort zone so he resorted to staring with an almost-vehemence at the table. "My job is to take you back to uncle." He made the mistake of glancing up at her. She was biting her lip. Bloody woman. He was more than aware how his behaviour looked. It looked as though she was having an effect on him, well she was, but not the sort of effect she was hoping for. "Sorry but could you please take this seriously? Your uncle is worried and- stop biting your lip!"

Where the hell had the owner gone? He needed a drink.

[Caitrin de Archer]

As Richard spoke about making a living Caitrin found herself even more curious. Surely Duke’s earned enough through their lands to not have to chase around obscure nobles around Albion to earn a few gold coins? She furrowed her brows at him, true enough his clothes were fine, but he should be able to afford them anyway if he was a Duke surely? “I take it being a Duke does not constitute making a living then?” She asked him casually, but really she was itching to hear his answer.

Richard had asked her how much money he had, and only after she had replied he had supposed it a rude thing to ask? What a stupid thing to say. It was impolite to ask a woman how much money they carried with them, in the same way it was not the proper thing to ask for the value of an estate or someone dowry. She pressed her lips together and said politely, “Apology accepted.” Caitrin left it with that, because there was really no point in having an argument with this man over something so insignificant anyway. She did not reply to the latter part of his speech, as he asked her to consider his words. She had already considered and rejected them, but he didn’t have to know that, not just yet anyway so Caitrin remained silent and grabbed her goblet quickly.

Caitrin folded her arms in a rather defiant way. She honestly couldn’t care less how much her Uncle had promised to pay him for her safe return, or how much he wanted her to accompany her; she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Why should she? Caitrin was sure she understood him perfectly, which was why she was acting in the manner that she had chosen. She knew he wasn’t here to flirt with her, so therefore it was more fun to force him to do just that because she knew he could not just disappear. He’d already told her that he was supposed to deliver her back to her Uncle, so she supposed he would have to stick around.

Her Uncle was worried about her? Well that was laughable. He was perhaps worried about what her father would do to him if he found out she was missing and that was all. After all, Caitrin was of little use to her father, or Uncle, if she had run off and got herself disinherited. She couldn’t provide them with a strong marriage, or anything really unless she was under her control. In all honestly Caitrin was enjoying the freedom which not being under anyone’s control had brought. It was a new feeling, and one she supposed she would not be experiencing again once she returned to Camelot. “If you truly believe he cares for me you cannot have spent long in his company.” She retorted and gave him a small smile, Richard knew nothing about her and her family, and he probably never would.

She resisted the urge to laugh as he asked her to stop biting her lip. She held the laugh in-between her lips and therefore caused quite a wide smile to beam across her face. She raised an eye brow, which was happening too much in this conversation but never mind, and leaned closer towards Richard. “Why?” She asked, opening her mouth slightly but not moving it, nor did she bite her lip, “Does it bother you?” Caitrin didn’t draw back for a few moments, but eventually she gave him some space at least, he really was too much fun to toy with. Then again, most men were.

Caitrin had all but forgotten about her breakfast but the barman came round to her, explaining that she would receive her food shortly, or at least in the next hour. Caitrin groaned slightly, she wasn’t sure she could stand the wait, though there was obviously little she could do about it. She looked across to Richard who was still sitting rather casually and she stood up quite abruptly. “As to your earlier words, it might surprise you I have little interest in your ‘job’.” She walked around the table towards him, not too close but she was within arms reach, “And I certainly will not be helping you accomplish your task.” She bobbed her head to him, he was a Duke after all and it was the proper thing to do. Caitrin then turned to leave to go to her room, because at least there she could wait for her food in peace, and perhaps sort out the state of her hair.

[Richard de Calys]

"Not when your father lost all your money." Richard said with a shrug. It was a subject he didn't like to discuss so openly with near strangers, well, he didn't discuss much of his personal life with near strangers and especially not when he was working. He was not there to tell Caitrin all about his life and how he ended up here so she was just going to have to settle for that as an answer.

The loss of his fortune, through no fault of his own, was rather a touchy subject for the young duke. He had been forced onto the streets with nothing but a name, and yet he had managed to turn it into an advantage. Now he had a reputation, one that had taken nothing but hard work and patience to build up. He was therefore reluctant to spend any time discussing his life before with this woman. It had nothing to do with her, so he was going to keep it that way.

Now she was just being stubborn and annoying for the sake of it. Why couldn't she just cooperate, could she? No, because then she wouldn't be being all independent or whatever. He sighed, he couldn't be bothered to argue with her. "I didn't actually. Look, I know you are trying to be rebellious and everything but I don't really have the time. You're not going to last in the wide world by yourself so just come back with me." Obviously he would prefer to persuade her verbally, but he was more than prepared to use other methods to get her back to her uncle, anything to get paid after all.

He was still staring at the table. Before it had been irritating that she was being so stubborn, now it was irritating that she was enjoying this so much. If it was up to him he would just leave her there, surely she wasn't worth this much hassle. But it wasn't so he was forced to put with her and ignore her teasing in the hopes that she would soon get bored and go back with him.

"No," he replied firmly, still not looking at her. "It does not bother me. It just proves you are not taking this seriously." It was like trying to speak to a small child.

Oh brilliant. Now she was walking off and he had to follow her. He'd never in his life followed a woman up to her room. He stood up sharly, almost knocking over his chair and started after her. "Lady Caitrin! I really do insist that you come with me!"

[Caitrin de Archer]

Ah, so a Duke with no fortune? Now that was interesting. Caitrin noticed he had tried to make the topic casual, and of course you did that whenever the pain of the situation got too much to bear in reality. Caitrin did the same thing with many of her predicaments, and she therefore did not press Richard further, she knew she might have touched a nerve, and she didn’t really want to provoke a less than friendly reaction.

Caitrin could do little more than look a little surprised at Richard’s words. She could not last in the world by herself? And how exactly had he assumed she had got this far? She hadn’t had an escort, she had been on her own for the whole time and had been fine. To be fair, Richard really wasn’t doing a great job at persuading her to go anywhere with him; he hadn’t even returned her flirts which she thought was incredibly rude on his part. “I can manage perfectly, I have done so far, and I can continue to.” She didn’t care how much she had inconvenienced this man; it wasn’t her fault he had been sent after her so why should she care?

Caitrin kept leaning forwards between Richard, she felt like she would be letting him off too easily if she just sat back and kept a wide distance between them. “If it does not bother you I wonder why you feel you cannot look at me.” She gave a small laugh and drained the last of her goblet of water. It turned out a bit of morning banter, with a small amount of water, had made her a lot perkier and ready to face the day. She was sure she was not going to get rid of Richard in a hurry, which meant she could enjoy herself teasing him in the meantime. She frowned at him, honestly, he could at least smile. Was that really too much to ask?

Caitrin had been having fun toying with the man, but it was really no fun unless they gave her something to work with. Some men were just no fun, and seeing as she had the option of terminating their conversation herself she took it. He clearly wasn’t bothered about anything but getting her back to her Uncle and that irritated her. How could he not feel anything through her flirting with him? It was ridiculous. She wasn’t expecting him to fall head over heels in love with her, but he could have at least given her something!

Caitrin didn’t even look back at him, she heard a chair fall and he shouted after her but she waved him away with her hand, calling over her shoulder, “You can insist all you want, I’m not going anywhere with you.” And with that she hitched up her skirts and bounced up the stairs to her room, satisfied with her conversation with the man. Perhaps he would see there was no possible way he could get her from the tavern, at least not with him, and leave. However, Caitrin had a sneaky suspicion that it wasn’t going to be enough. She reached her room and began to fumble about with her room key, casting her eyes to the stairs now and again to see if Richard would follow her upstairs.

[Richard de Calys]

Richard was just becoming more frustrated as the situation continued. It seemed as though there was nothing he could say to her. He was usually so good with words, so persuasive, apparantly not today. Or maybe she just had some amazing ability to ignore logic and common sense. He hoped it was the latter, he really didn't want to be losing his touch. No, the problem was clearly her. "I cannot make you believe me, but I can speak from experience. The world is a cruel place, and even those with the keennest of wits will suffer, you will not be an exception." Perhaps he was speaking a little harshly, and over exaggerating the situation, but then perhaps that was what was needed to get through to her.

Her laughter just made him feel even worse. He knew what a fool he was being, he was embarrassing himself. Richard de Calys did not embarrass himself. He eventually had to look at her, because not doing so would only prove her point and that was something he was loathe to do. "What does or does not bother me is not important. I would be much obliged if you could please take this situation seriously." He replied firmly, and bit down on his lip as if to emphasis his seriousness.

Why was she making him follow her up to her room? Alright, he knew exactly why she was making him follow her up to her room, but that didn't mean he liked it. He'd never been in a situation like this before. Of course there had been women who had flirted with him, mainly when he was at home in Cantia and they were looking for a rich husband. He had resigned himself to the fate of having to marry, regardless of the fact that he didn't want to. But since losing his fortune, and therefore his eligibility, he had gained a freedom of another kind. The freedom to like who he wanted, and not have to be in any uncomfortable situations with women again, until now.

Very reluctantly, he followed her up the steps and once again tried to reason with her, although he was quite certain it wasn't going to work. "Lady Caitrin, I am not leaving you until you agree to come back with me. I have a contract with your uncle." It was not by any stretch his greatest argument, but even that would not be enough. From what he had seen of Caitrin she was not one to have orders dictated to her, and she was not one to suddenly back down. He was probably going to have to resort to some...unsavoury methods if he wanted to get his money.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was becoming slightly irritated with Richard, did he assume she was some naïve little noble woman who had never been outside her families estates before? If he assumed anything of the sort then he was a fool. She hadn’t run away before, that much was true, but she’d been attacked by bandits twice before and had escaped both times; even when that idiot Vortigern had tried to sell her off to the bandits. She blinked as she tried to rid herself of the memories of that stupid man, the quicker she forgot the better. “I know how cruel the world can be.” She snapped back at him, who was this man? He knew nothing about her and her life, “That does not mean I cannot cope by myself.” She had coped before and she would cope again without Richard’s help.

Well he was finally looking at her again, that was something. She raised her eye brows at him as he said she was not taking the situation seriously. Of course she wasn’t, why should she? She knew she wasn’t going anywhere with this man so she didn’t have to take anything he said seriously. In truth she was still amused at his reactions to her flirts, she’d never made a man cringe so much and she was quite enjoying having the upper hand or so to speak. She didn’t miss the fact Richard bit down on his lip and she leaned forwards again and spoke in a quieter tone than she had used before, “Now look who’s biting their lip.” She raised an eye brow and gave a satisfied smile before getting up and heading towards her room.

As predicted Richard did follow her up, she suspected he would, although she doubted he had the same motives that men usually did when they followed a woman up to her bedchambers. In fact, from what she had seen of Richard she was certain he didn’t have those motives at all. She grinned at him as he emerged fully on the landing and began to unlock her door. She just held her hand on her key as he spoke and she shrugged softly but carried on looking at Richard as she replied to him.

“Well then, I suppose we have a lot of time to kill together don’t we?” She smiled, probably a bit too much but she had wanted a bit of variation in her day and perhaps this was the fix she had been waiting for. “Because I really don’t care what you have with my Uncle, I am not leaving with you.” She finished off her words with a sweet little smile which didn’t fit but she didn’t care and she opened the door to her room and took off her cloak, throwing it on her bedside table as she collapsed onto her bed. She hadn’t been sleeping well since she’d left her Uncle’s home, but that was a small price to pay she supposed.

Sitting up, Caitrin’s eyes crossed to Richard and a small smirk appeared across her cheeks, “Please make yourself comfortable.” She said softly, running a hand through her hair and gesturing for him to actually come into the room and set himself down. “We could be here for some time after all.” She rolled the words around in her mouth and finished it off by letting her tongue linger by her bottom lip before pressing both her lips together as she cocked her head to the side slightly, grinning at Richard.

[Richard de Calys]

It was safe to say that Richard was not expecting the situation to improve. Whenever he got Caitrin back to her uncle - and after all of this there was no way he was not going to - he would be negotiating for a larger pay. Richard often prided himself on his ability to do his work, it was how his reputation had been built so qucikly, to be in a situation now where he was being made uncomfortable by a young woman was rather embarrassing.

His words had clearly angered her, but at least that was a reaction he could cope with. He would rather she was shouting than flirting any day. "I understand how you feel," he said in his best reassuring tone. "You want to control your own life, have your independance, but this isn't the way to go about it, trust me. I felt exactly the same." Hopefully she would start to see reason, or at least appreciate the fact that he knew what he was talking about. He had left home - albeit not through choice - and he knew how hard it was. Caitrin was quickly becoming more than just a job for Richard, he genuinely wanted to help her, wanted her to see sense. Women did not survive as easily as men, especially not those born into nobility.

Alright, yes, he had biten his lip, but for completely different reasons than Caitrin. She was just wasting her time trying to be seductive, even if her actions could have worked on the young duke they were not going to, it would be the height of unprofessionalism. "That was out of frustration. You were just being inappropriate." He replied, slightly annoyed that she should imply otherwise.

With a frustrated sigh he followed her into her room. Right, this couldn't be that bad. Richard had been in far worse situations than this, what exactly was Caitrin going to do to him? Nothing that he couldn't prevent.

He tried to ignore her very unladylike manner of speaking, told himself not to be such an idiot and walked over to sit on the bed. He could cut the toughest of men with only his words, he could steal anything from anyone, he was a duke for goodness sake, yet leave him alone in a room with a women and he ceased to be able to function. He was going to sit on that damned bed and start behaving like himself again. He cleared his throat before speaking, "We could, yes, unless you are going to behave properly."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin sucked against her teeth in a slightly irritated way and leaned back in her seat. The more Richard spoke the more she found herself annoyed by him. This wasn’t the plan, she was supposed to be annoying him, not the other way around. She looked away from Richard for a few moments before looked back to him, thinking of a way to answer him. She placed an arm casually on the table, pressing her lips together before she answered him, “And how would you suggest I keep my freedom?” She asked carefully, “Run around chasing nobles like you perhaps?” She raised an eye brow at the man, she would never end up like someone like him. Of course Richard didn’t know that she did intend to return to her Uncle eventually, but she would do it in her own time rather than when Richard decided she should go back.

Caitrin knew that Richard had not been biting his lip in a seductive way at her, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t have some fun with it. To prove a point she bit her lip again, widening her eyes slightly at him and smirking, “I wouldn’t say I was acting inappropriately, you’re just no fun.”

Whatever Caitrin’s Uncle Rouland had promised Richard, in ways of pay, it must have been a significant amount as if it wasn’t then Caitrin doubted Richard would still be here. That would only make it more difficult to get rid of him really wouldn’t it? She couldn’t help but grin as Richard joined her on the bed. She leaned back on her bed again; she was probably too tired for this time in the morning.

As Richard spoke she couldn’t help but laugh. She pushed herself up slightly off the bed, purposely pushing her chest out slightly; if he thought she wasn’t behaving correctly then she might as well carry on as she had started. A hand ran through her hair. It was after all usually her secret weapon, for some reason men could never resist her hair for whatever reason, though there were few red heads at court she supposed. “Well then, I hope you have brought a change of clothes.” She smirked, showing she had no intention of behaving, therefore unless he just saw sense and left the pair of them would be together for quite a long time. “Do you have any suggestions to pass the time?” She asked slowly and finished it with a quick grin, surely he couldn’t still be immune to her flirts?

[Richard de Calys]

For not the first time since meeting Caitrin, Richard found himself at a loss for words. This didn't happen to him, and he didn't like it one bit. It was, however, impossible for him to be anything else but frankly uncomfortable and slightly worried. "No, that is complete contradiction to my point." He replied and folded his arms across his chest tightly. "I'm telling you not to do that."

No, Richard was not much fun, but then he didn't really have much oppurtunity to do so, and especially not right now. His idea of fun would be finding some rare and much sought after ingredient, or showing the world just how good he was at what he did. Trying to stop some hormonal young woman from jumping on him was definitely not fun. "I'm not here to be fun, my lady." He said with more than a little irritation in his voice. He had been trying to keep a cool head, or at least appear to have one, but she was making it increasingly more difficult.

It was only after a few moments that Richard realised he had been staring at Caitrin's chest as a mouse would stare at a cat. She was doing this on purporse. With an awkward cough he averted his gaze, now staring pointedly at the floor. How did he get himself into situations like this? It was utterly ridiculous. What happened to all his nice customers, ones that just wanted someone bumped off? Those sorts of jobs were a hell of a lot easier, and allowed Richard to always be in control of the situation. He was very much not in control now. "I suggest we just sit and wait for you to behave properly."