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At present, Caitrin Aubert wasn’t in the best of moods and really, Richard was one of the last people she wanted to see. Last time they had met she had been drugged more times than she cared to remember, kidnapped a ridiculous amount of times, and she had spent the rest of the time either arguing with him or getting lost in the woods. It was hardly an experience any of them were likely to look back on with much fondness, so it was no surprise that he was already returning her sentiments, and was trying to wind her up. She folded her arms at him, an image no doubt he would remember from their last meeting and pressed her lips together to let him know that she wasn’t amused in the slightest, “It might surprise you to know I’ve been married for nearly two years now.” She stepped up to Richard and slapped his arm with the back of her hand with whatever strength she could muster, “Don’t call my child ‘this’.” She pointed her finger warningly at him, but increased the gap between them once more, not really wanting to stay within close proximity for too long. She was a little touchy about her pregnancy at the best of times, she didn’t like those around her calling the baby within her ‘it’ or ‘that’, or any variations of those terms, as when they were used it almost made it seem as if this weren’t real, or that no one really believed it would end in a new life. It was her being over sensitive, and she knew that, but after losing her first child in the dungeons she was justified to be a little touchy; especially given the circumstances.

Caitrin rolled her eyes at Richard, last time they had met he had clearly been the victim in everything which had happened. Granted, he had been tortured, by how many bandits was it? Anyway that didn’t matter, what mattered was that his experience paled in comparison to hers. She’d been kidnapped, drugged and she’d gotten lost over and over again. “Your modesty?” She laughed, “If anything, Griff would be keeping me safe from you. Given how well our last meeting turned out.” She had no intention of trying anything on with him today, even if she hadn’t been happily married she wouldn’t have dreamt of flirting with Richard as much as she had last time; he wasn’t worth the effort.

Again, he didn’t surprise her one bit and she looked down at the bag and then back up to Richard, “If you’ve taken anything from my home,” The warning finger was back; it probably didn’t look as threatening as she imagined it to be, “Please tell me you haven’t robbed my home.” If he had, at least the bag was within reach of her; she could always threaten to resume flirting if he refused to hand anything over to her. After last time, she doubted he would be willing to risk it.

What with her being quite shocked by Richard’s presence, Caitrin had almost forgotten that Griff was still asleep. She jumped as he shot up to his feet, and quickly composed herself. He never moved that quickly, especially not in the morning. She looked her husband up and down, “Nice to see you’re awake.” She grinned and then changed it into a laugh as Griff asked her if Richard was bothering her. “You’re about three years too late for that question.” She pulled a face at Richard, answering the question more to him, than the person who had asked it. “Would I ever bother you?” She asked with mock innocence, winking at Richard a little just for fun, then she realised Griff had no idea who Richard was. She never had told him that particular story, “Griff, allow me to introduce Duke Richard de Calys, and this, Richard, is my husband, Lord Griff Aubert.”

A part of Caitrin hated these moments, and wanted them to stop. She shouldn’t be out here with Pip, she knew that. Really, she should be in Camelot, or at wherever it was that Griff seemed to stay when he wasn’t at the estate to find out what exactly was the matter with him, rather than being out here with another man. It didn’t feel like it was just any old man though, she had known Philip longer than she had known Griff, and he had always told her that they would be secrets, and keep what they had a secret. She wasn’t sure what they had anymore, he knew she was going to marry Griff, she’d told him that herself but here they were. Sometimes she knew that she should be telling Pip that she wasn’t interested anymore, and to tell him to leave, but there was something about him which had her hooked in a way, every time she went to end it she found herself unable. She didn’t want to let go of this experience in a way, and that was the only way she could justify it to herself. It was so daring and exciting, most of it involved sneaking out together, and spending long nights intimately, knowing they wouldn’t see each other for months. It wasn’t love, not in any sense; it was a deep sort of lust, and one that Caitrin couldn’t let go of.

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Caitrin tried to just focus on the situation at hand, and not think about the situation with Pip, or Griff, or anything. Nothing was going to happen out here anyway, not that Caitrin would mind, but she had come to learn that Pip enjoyed his luxuries too much to give weight to such thoughts. She’d always aimed to please of course, so she had never protested. Griff wasn’t responding the way that she wanted him to at the moment, they had been practically sick with love for months, and then he had proposed and everything felt like it was going so right, but now he hardly came to see her. He just told her that he was busy, or he had things to do at the estate, or that Lucan had asked him to stay with them for a while. Caitrin had just nodded and gone along with it at first, but now she was starting to get worried. She had always heard that there was more fun in the chase, rather than the capture. What if Griff had gotten bored with her, and he was filling his time with someone else? He wouldn’t do that to her, would he? She bit her lip; she knew Griff loved her, she knew that, so why now was she choosing to worry about it so much?

Pausing, Caitrin raised an eye brow at Pip, and leant up against the nearest tree half dramatically, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. He never disappointed her, in the same way that she never disappointed him, he never even jested about things like that usually, so she knew he was serious. Caitrin tilted her head to the side and frowned, “You know that I don’t like being disappointed.” She pouted dramatically, “What is it then? This isn’t you telling me that you’re leaving, is it?” Caitrin asked softly; she knew that this wasn’t going to last, and perhaps if Pip had to move on it would be for the best, but still, she would be sad to see him go.

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

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

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

The baby was still sniffling in his mother’s arms, and Caitrin tried to soothe him, bobbing him up and down as the man, Matthew, was laid out on the bed. Caitrin’s eyes ran over the man, and she bit her lip, trying to stay calm. If Arthur could feel her agitation, there was every possibility that he just wouldn’t settle down. It wasn’t like him, but neither was it unheard of, and that was the last thing everyone here needed right now. Mercifully, the child did settle a little, but Caitrin didn’t relax just yet, she knew how changeable a babies mood could be; more so with Esmae, but still, she hadn’t taken all the Archer charm from her brother in the womb. She held him close to her, checking that he was still warm enough, and that nothing was physically wrong with him. She suspected he was just tired.

Caitrin watched the maid scarper off, and took it as her cue to move closer towards the bed to get a better look at the man. These were similar symptoms to the ones that Nora’s own father had been having, but these were so much more violent, and quick, almost as if it had grabbed his life quicker. She shuddered a little, not really wanting to believe her own suspicions about the matter in hand, but she couldn’t think f anything else. “Nora, this is the same thing your father is suffering from.” She looked over the man again, not wanting to get too close, as she held Arthur away from Matthew’s general direction. She might care for this man, but her son came first. “If it was a fever it would not have grasped him this quickly.” She said with an air of certainty, and she bit her lip, almost wishing she was wrong.

Caitrin knew she still had quite a bit to do before her shift ended. In a way she would be glad to go on maternity leave, just to get a break from the day to day running of this place. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her job, but being as heavily pregnant as she was now, and knowing it was only going to get worse over the next few months, just didn’t sit right with her. She was already exhausted, when it came to actually leaving she would probably be going round in a wheelchair the rate her belly was growing at. She wouldn’t get much peace at home either; Griff owned a pub, or to be more precise they owned a pub, but Griff was there all the time, and it was called the Aubert Arms. Caitrin didn’t really mind much about the owning of the pub, it gave her free drinks and they were both doing well enough from it.

She began to flick through the emails that had accumulated throughout the morning, there wasn’t much of interest, and she started writing a reply to the first one. As she did, she felt the babies within her stir, and begin to kick again. She gasped loudly; one of the junior nurses turned round to help, but Caitrin waved her away. It wasn’t the pain so much, but the shock which got to her sometimes. Looking down at her bump as it began to settle, she sighed and ran both her hands over the skin smoothly, and slowly, “Knowing my luck you’ll both be miniature versions of your father, and you’ll be just as smug about it.” Sometimes she grew sick of being pregnant, she wanted to be a normal size again, and be able to go five feet without someone staring, or asking her when she was due. Her emotions were bad at the best of times, but recently they had gotten so much worse.

Her hands ran across her belly again as she saw Nora approaching the desk. She gave her new acquaintance a warm smile, and gestured to the seat on the opposite side of the desk. “It’s no problem.” She waved it away with a gracious smile, it was nice that their work was recognised sometimes, yes, this was their paid job, but a little thanks went a long way sometimes. “I’ll just check for you.” Caitrin turned back to her computer and pulled up Nora’s fathers medical records. “According to this the doctor is booked in with him tomorrow morning to review his medication.” Caitrin squinted a little at the results to make out the document which had been scanned in. It was true what they said; Doctor’s really did have illegible handwriting, “Do you want another drink before you go?” Caitrin asked, “Perhaps a tea, or coffee?”

Caitrin let her gaze wander to Griff for a few moments, as he was still asleep. She was quite glad that it was only Richard here, and not anyone who would cause them harm. If it had been Morgana’s men who had come upon them, or whatever other thugs lay in these woods, then they would have already been robbed, kidnapped or killed. She knew Griff wasn’t a morning person, but she expected him to have a few more survival instincts than he was currently displaying. Obviously that had been too much to hope for. She frowned a little at the thought, Griff had his moments, but this was not one of them; she still had his cloak wrapped around her shoulders as well. Caitrin nudged her husband with the side of her leg softly. All she got was a little grunt from him before he turned over and remained silent.

It didn’t surprise Caitrin that Richard bowed again, in the short time of knowing him she knew he set a lot of store by appearances and adhered to them completely. She took a few moments to enjoy Richard addressing her by her proper title, and it occurred to her just how much had happened since their last meeting. She hadn’t even met Griff when Richard had kidnapped her from the tavern. It wasn’t a tale she visited often, but it amused her to think on it. She chuckled as Richard nudged Griff as well, and shook her head, “My Lord husband isn’t really a morning person.” She explained with a soft grin. The conversation with Richard was almost pulling her out of the knowledge of how serious their situation was. He still hadn’t said anything about the fact she was pregnant; a fact she was a little put out by.

She shrugged a little at his words, she didn’t doubt them in the slightest. She wasn’t really as interested in winding up Richard as she had been the last time they had met, as this was a neutral meeting, and it was already preferred to their last one, where she had essentially been his captive for days on end. It was a bit dramatic, but it was somewhere near the truth. “Not here to kidnap me this time are you, then?” She gave him a wicked grin, “Though you would have a bit more to carry this time.” She turned to the side to emphasise her condition to Richard. She still couldn’t believe he had not commented yet. Her attentions were then quickly returned to their present situation as Griff stirred beside her, “What are you doing out here?”

By the time the young maid had finished, Lady Caitrin Archer felt like she was being suffocated and she couldn’t say that she was incredibly comfortable either. The maid had assured her the corset was part of the latest style, and it was how all the ladies in Verona were dressing. Well, Caitrin wasn’t a lady of Verona, and she enjoyed breathing. The corset was relaxed a little, so it still had some effect, but also so that Caitrin was sure that she wasn’t going to pass out from the lack of air. The maid looked a little put out her advice hadn’t been taken, but she didn’t say anything, and instead just fetched Caitrin her purple, fitted gown, and began to help her into it. It was a pretty little thing; she had brought it from her Uncle’s country home along with a selection of her finer gowns. She had to look the part, after all. The maid excused herself, and Caitrin waved her away as she made a grab for the wine which had been left on the top of her dresser. The maid had already helped her braid her hair, and place the latticed headdress around the rest of the hair to keep it in place. The headdress itself was stemmed with jewels, and the finest silk that her Uncle had managed to buy for her. She had wanted to wear her hair down, and loose, but she had rescinded that decision when her cousin had pointed out that they weren’t here to cause a stir, they were supposed to go unnoticed.

Well, what he had meant by that was that they were supposed to be noticed, but in a more productive way, or more that she was supposed to be noticed. That was the whole point in journeying this far north. She began to run her fingers along her jewellery, and pulled a face, she had been watching the women from her window, to get an idea of the fashions and so forth, but she had not paid attention to the jewellery that they had been wearing. When her cousin knocked on the door, she didn’t move, or even seem surprised, “Come in.” She called absently, and Dristan strode in; he was already ready, of course. Dristan didn’t seem surprised in the slightest that his cousin wasn’t ready to leave just yet. Though Caitrin was the only cousin he had contact with, she felt like more of a sister to him. His mother had died when he had been a young boy, so it had just been him and his father for many years. Caitrin had been sent to live with them at the age of three, as her parents could ill provide for her any longer.

“Are you not ready yet?” He asked, though Dristan already knew the answer. Caitrin rolled her eyes at him,

“I am nearly ready. You are so impatient sometimes, cousin.” Dristan gave her a trying look,

“It will hardly look good if we are late for the Duke’s own feast.” Caitrin couldn’t argue with that; everything hinged on tonight. If things went badly then they would have to think up a new plan. They had come here for a reason, and they weren’t leaving until their mission was fulfilled. Caitrin would have voiced her excitement about the mission to Dristan, but no doubt he would judge her for that. Eventually she did pick up a black choker which matched her dress, and also took the fan for good measure. They had managed to secure a personal invitation to tonight’s proceedings; they had been expecting as much since they arrived here. After all, Rouland Archer was an incredibly wealthy man, and money spoke louder than words. Caitrin took one last look in the mirror and nodded to her reflection; now she felt ready. Turning round, she extended her arm to Dristan who gave her a trying look. Caitrin pulled a face at her cousin, and waited for him to invite her to take his arm. She opened her fan with a flick of her wrist, and took her cousins arm as he led her outside, towards Duke Griff's feast.

Caitrin could feel the evening chill starting to surround their little party. She breathed out slowly, wrapping her cloak further around her shoulders to keep the warmth in her body. A part of her wanted to just get this over with as quickly as she could, but then she also wanted to make sure the princess was conveyed safely to her destination. Caitrin smiled across at Xenia, and then back to the guard who was riding with them who inclined her head towards her. The man was one of her uncle’s finest guards, and Caitrin felt a lot safer having him around. A few years ago she wouldn’t have heard of having a guard accompany her anywhere, but she had been through too much in the last year or so to want to travel without someone there to protect her. She had learnt the hard way what it was like to face such dangers alone.

A cough drove Caitrin from her thoughts, and her eyes darted to her guest, and she bit her lip, not sure what to make of the scene. “Are you quite well my Lady?” Caitrin asked, pulling her horse to a stop and gesturing for Xenia, and the guard to do the same. They were not long out of the estate, but if there was a problem then they could always turn back. The princess sounded as if she had quite a chesty cough, which unnerved Caitrin slightly.