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When they finally made it back to camp and Alistair took the water bucket from her, Isadora wasted no time in collapsing to the ground, her arms and legs so sore and tired she thought they might fall off. Sitting down, she wiped the sheen of perspiration from her brow, trying to catch her breath. She'd only made the trip once and she was exhausted; it seemed like far too much work to do every day, for such a small amount of water, no less. She wondered how people could possibly live like this, and looking around, she had her answer. They lived like this out of desperation.

"It's a hard life." She observed, not complaining; she only had to live like this for a few days, and then she'd be home again, whereas this was life for these people. She didn't know if she should feel sympathy for their plight, or turn her nose up and tell him that sometimes you had to do what you had to do in order to survive. Her life wasn't difficult like this, she had her own trials and challenges to deal with, but physical labor had never been a part of her life before today. That was for other people to deal with.

Once she'd caught her breath, she stood up again, dusting her skirt off fruitlessly, looking at him resignedly. "All right, what do you want me to do?" If he thought she knew how to do laundry, he was wrong. Washing clothes? Why on Earth would a princess ever need to do anything like that for herself? No, she paid people to do menial tasks like that, so she could focus on other things. Not that she thought he'd understand that. She already felt dead tired, but she had a feeling Alistair wasn't going to care about that.

Following him to the river's edge, Isadora crouched down as he filled the bucket, cupping her hands together to scoop up some of the cold, clear water for a drink. When she'd sated her thirst, she splashed some water on her face, grateful for the chance to wash up. Glancing up as Alistair approached her, she caught the smile on his face and couldn't help but be slightly afraid; she had yet to see him smile over anything, so she could only assume that he didn't have anything good in mind. "What are you doing?"

Trying to back away from him, she just wound up falling backward onto the riverbank, only more unsettled when he told her not to scream, right before she saw the knife in his hand, her eyes widening with fear. He was insane! Insane, and he was going to kill her now! She kicked at him, even as he grabbed the hem of her skirt, pulling it taut. "Get away from me!" She cried in alarm, not quite screaming, because she didn't think that screaming for help would get her anywhere, but she wasn't about to sit back and just let him...cut her dress?

Taking the strip of fabric he'd cut off her already-ruined dress, he backed off, and she got to her feet hurriedly, glaring at him and wondering what he was up to. If he was just taking a souvenir...well, that would be creepy. She watched him wrap the cloth around the handle of the bucket, and as she realized what he was doing, her expression softened. She considered telling him that it might've gone better if he'd just asked, but somehow, she didn't think that would end well. "...Thank you?"

Her muscles tensed as he stepped towards her, but she managed not to flee. She didn't know if he was planning on hurting her, but she was quite surprised when he took the bucket from her, and a little confused. Mere seconds before, she'd been worried what his anger would make him do; now he didn't seem angry at all, as though her simple apology had actually meant something to him. It took her a moment to start following again after he took the bucket, but not before glancing at the trees quickly; could she get away? Of course the answer was still no. She'd wait a little longer before her next escape attempt, wait until he wasn't tensed for it.

As he spoke, she didn't want to believe him. If he were evil, of course he'd lie, right? And besides, he had kidnapped her! That alone was hurting his case for why he and his people were so good; how could someone stand by while a defenseless woman was tied up and held against her will, and continue to claim they weren't evil? But good and evil weren't so black and white, as she well knew; she could be cold and callous at times, yet she didn't consider herself evil, just human.

When he spoke of his dreams, she believed him; she'd heard him talking in the middle of the night, after all. She frowned, not sure what to say, or even what to believe. She'd never considered that people didn't choose to have magic, that it was as much something they were born with as she had been born a princess instead of a milkmaid. She didn't know if she could trust him, in fact, she was fairly certain that was a bad idea, but why would he lie? To garner sympathy, of course, but how sympathetic to his cause did he expect a kidnapped princess to be? [/blockuote]

Already, she knew that this gown was ruined. Mud caked the hem and sleeves, with dirt and dust smeared over the rest. It had even been torn in a few places, probably while she was trying to run away, and there were water marks staining the delicate material. She'd probably order it burned when she finally returned home, for it certainly wouldn't be fit to be worn anywhere but on a jaunt through the woods.

She was surprised when he finally spoke. She frowned at his question...he didn't understand. Of course he didn't understand, he wasn't noble; how could he understand the responsibility she had, that she had to take care of her people? She'd meant it when she said she'd order a sweet little girl's head cut off, she'd order it a thousand times if it would keep her people safe, her own soul be damned for all time if that was what it took.

"I don't hate your people." She sighed, not sure how she could explain, if she even could. Or if she should. Did it really matter what he thought of her? "Have you ever loved something so much that you would do anything to keep it safe? No matter how monstrous those things might be?" Maybe that was the best way. He loved his people at least enough to kidnap her, but then, she wasn't sure he considered that monstrous. He probably thought he was some kind of hero.

"There's a woman who works for me, a maid. Her name is Anna and she's very beautiful, very kind, everyone who knows her loves her." She took a deep breath, she hated this part, hated having to tell it. "When she was sixteen, a man fell very deeply in love with her, but she didn't return his feelings. So he cast a spell on her to make her love him. He took her from her family and married her, and when they came to Caerleon, he was found using magic and executed. The spell broke, and Anna tried to forget, but she can't, and now she lives in fear of both men and magic, too ashamed to even return home." She bit her lip, she couldn't help but feel guilty when she thought of Anna; the girl who she should have protected, but couldn't. "I can't help her now, and when I should have, I didn't protect her. Magic is too dangerous to go unchecked, and I'm sorry that your people must suffer for it, but my people deserve to live without fear." People like Anna, who deserved to be protected, but weren't. Isadora owed them too much, she couldn't afford mercy.

It was obvious that her words had upset him; it was also obvious that calling him merely 'upset' was an understatement. Isadora didn't like how cold she could be, that she could calmly say that one day, she may have to order the execution of a beautiful young girl, without so much as blinking, yet it was the way she had to be. She tried to be as forgiving of her subjects as she could, but somewhere, you had to draw a line, and someone had to decide what was too much and put a stop to it. She love for that someone to be someone else, to let her be a regular girl whose biggest worry was getting her chores done, but she wasn't that girl. Isadora had to be cold and decisive, she had to make heart-wrenching decisions and she had to have conviction towards her actions, even if she doubted or regretted them, she could never show that to her subjects.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he walked away; what had he expected? She didn't only support the laws, she ensured they were carried out. She had never once heard of magic being used for anything but evil, even if these people weren't inherently evil, they chose a path that would invariably lead to destruction. Isadora wouldn't execute them for that, God forgive her, but if they posed a threat to her people in any way, she wouldn't hesitate. She couldn't afford to. People relied on her, her judgment had to keep them safe, she couldn't let them down.

She was surprised when he didn't respond to her, but addressed the child instead, looking up at Alistair with a raised brow. Then she looked to Mae and smiled warmly. "Be sure to have lots of fun for me." She said when the girl gave her a wide-eyed look, to confirm what Alistair had said. She could've argued or complained, but she doubted that would change his mind, and she wasn't going to blame a child for his ill manner. She wasn't looking forward to it, of course, but she didn't see the point in trying to change his mind. He'd already made up his mind about her; she was a spoiled princess. She saw no point in trying to reason with him.

Isadora smiled at the young girl who brought their food over, about to thank her when Alistair cut her off sharply. Isadora rolled her eyes, so there was really no point in telling her not to tell anyone who she was, since he was going to prevent her from speaking in the first place. She shot the girl an apologetic look when she caught her staring at her across the fire, then looked at Alistair out of the corner of her eyes and rolled them again for the girl's benefit, shaking her head slightly. The girl burst out laughing, making Isadora smile. At least she wasn't the only one unimpressed by Alistair's stoic behavior.

She took the plate of fish from him and started picking at it, when he spoke again and she looked up at him like he was insane. Skills? He was going to kidnap her and put her to work? "Nothing that you would find useful, I'm sure." She answered, eating some of her fish before she decided to elaborate. She wasn't some common woman, she had never learned how to sew or tend fields or even to cook, all of those things were done for her. "Mostly I spend my time managing the staff at Caerleon, negotiating with irate nobles, passing laws and then deciding guilt concerning those laws, and many other boring tasks that I doubt you care to hear about. I can also read and write in Welsh and Latin, if that interests you."

Most people Isadora had met believed a princesses' days were filled with ball gowns and cream puff pastries, and she supposed that was probably true of some princesses, but she was not one of them. She was active in the governing of her country, and she was kept quite busy with commoners and nobles alike, leaving her with little time to worry about learning to cook or make her own clothes. She doubted her work would impress Alistair, he probably thought the world would be a better place if everyone lived in small bands like this one and relied entirely on their own abilities for survival.

Isadora knew she wasn't like other princesses; she knew she was different in the same way that one castle maid is different from another maid. Their function, their purpose might be the same, but their appearance, their manner, their personality, all of it was different. But as nobles didn't appreciate that one maid was distinct and unique from others, commoners didn't appreciate that a princess was more than just a princess, that beyond her title and gowns and fancy hair pins, she was still just a person.

Isadora moved with an easy grace that a woman who worked every day of their lives could never carry off. Even while kneeling on the ground, she kept her back straight and her chin high effortlessly, appearing more like she was sitting on a silk cushion rather than a roughly woven straw mat, regardless of what the reality might be. When he refused to give her any inkling of what her time here would be like, she sighed, but made her way out of the tent nonetheless. She wondered if he was keeping her in the dark on purpose, or if he just had no idea what to do with her. Clearly he didn't have a lot of experience with the whole kidnapping the princess routine.

"How exciting." She murmured, wondering what she might've been doing at the castle by now as she made her way out of the tent. She knew she'd probably be awake, in the clutches of a maid, having her hair combed and teased before breakfast with the other royals. Straightening up outside the tent, she looked around at the humble camp she'd spent the night in for the first time, pausing as she took in the unfamiliar people around her. So these were the people who wouldn't help with her capture, but were more than willing to allow it to happen. She looked at Alistair, wondering what she was supposed to do.

Isadora couldn't help but giggle softly at his compliment, it seemed that all she'd heard of the young Lord Arthur's flirtatious ways was true; why wasn't she surprised? "Why thank you, My Lord, I must say, you've become quite handsome yourself." She replied indulgently, and why not? Arthur was already very confident, with good reason; she wasn't lying when she said he was handsome, and it was well known, even as far off as Gwent, that he was also skilled in the arts of combat, having won championships for years past.

She nodded when he inquired about how she was doing, and smiled. "I am quite well, thank you. A little weary from the journey, but nothing a bit of rest and a hot meal won't cure." She answered, when she had left her home at Caerleon, everything had been well in order, and even her father's health was looking up. She hated to leave when he wasn't feeling well, since that could be the last she'd see of him. She nodded again. "Of course, we're prospering." Like Arthur, she did not wish to go into the details right here and now, out in the courtyard.