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Post by Alistair on Oct 10, 2011 20:25:12 GMT -5
The look she had worn was not one of surprise but one of fear; still he knew that there was nothing to fear here. Should something evil happen here then surely he'd have seen it in a dream. He'd not; he'd been dreaming of something else. Something darker. Alistair did not often share his dreams with her; knowing that magic unsettled her and if she knew dark thing in this world she would try to stop them all. The whole point to his dreams were that they did not change.
If you saw someone die; they died. If your dreamed stopped before the death; you had a chance. Everything he saw in his dreams always happened but he was able to either stop it from getting worse; or get others out of the path.
Since he was apparently good at distracting her; he ducked his head a bit to make them level; to make sure all fear was clearing from her face. Once satisfied; he stood up fully and reached out to touch her noise with one of his fingers. "Come; we find this gift and see about putting color in your cheeks." Meaning he was going to make her blush; very soon.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 7, 2011 13:22:00 GMT -5
"Prince Vortigern of Sorelia," so that was the name of his newest foe. Alistair turned his head to look at the way the man had hurried off too but did not say anything in return. He was thinking about how best to handle the man; since he did not seem the type to just let an insult pass. He knew that he would be watching his back for the rest of the trip. Perhaps longer if the man became king one day.
"And what about your kidnapping of Princess Isadora?" He turned back to the young prince and watched him after he spoke. Alistair did not have many close friends nor people who knew the truth of him. So when the prince questioned his actions it was a first. Alistair stared at him for a long time; at first not going to answer but decided at the last moment to do so.
This was her friend; and she seemed to have faith in him rather then his father. If this king could change things; then he owed it to his people to explain why he'd made an enemy of him. "I was born with the gifts of my mother; who was murdered by your father for doing nothing against him. Who would see me and my woman burned, hanged or beheaded for nothing but living." He did his best to keep the bitter anger out of his tone; but did not care enough to know if he succeeded. "Many sons can make my claim. Hear tale, you know the loss of a mother. What if you watched her die? Heard her screams?"
"How far would you go to protect another son? A daughter, a husband?" Alistair never said this much; but once he started he wanted the man to understand. Isadora's 'friend' she called him. Said he was not the man he father was. He did not have faith in the men but he trusted her.
"I bare the scars to prove I would let no harm happen to the princess nor the servant girl." He'd been stabbed in the back for the princess when she poisoned him and ran away. The servant girl had been returned to the city a few hours after she was taken; with nothing but a few minor buries. He was not the villain he had wanted Camelot to believe him to be. He could be that man; but he had not wanted to enrage the beast-just provoke it. Get the bastard Pendragon's attention for the message he wanted to send.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 16:16:03 GMT -5
"They weren't said for you." He told the prince not wanting the man to think he was suddenly approving of the Pendragon line. He hated the father and his history. "Who was that man?" He asked not knowing the full name of his newest target for his ire.
There was something a bit more casual between them at the moment' and Alistair did not expect it to last. For the moment they were staring down at each other and trying to plot to bring the other down or dance around the the knowledge they were not friends but foes who had to pretend. "I met her once." He refereed to Gwen; and his kidnapping of her. "I do not like men who will seek to harm those who will not defend themselves." Be it Uther's attacks on druids or this ass's attack on the meek servant girl. Still; he had spoken up because the man had insulted him; by in turn insulting the girl.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 15:53:52 GMT -5
The bloody prince had followed him? Alistair had not looked away from the name who's name he did not know; nor card to ask for it. While looking at him he was taking notice of them on his sides and how they moved. His hands resting down and by his own weapons; ready to let this take the next step. He knew there would be hell to pay for it later but he could not walk away for reasons he he could not explain in his mind.
When the prince turned king walked down the steps and over to them; he was surprised but let nothing show on his face. It was not until Arthur's hand reached up to rest on his shoulder; Alistair turned his head to look down at it but did not take the hint to back off. He did not know what his hand was there; and it left him wondering what the purpose was for.
When the idiot Vortiagain or whatever; walked away with out a word, Alistair turned to look at the prince; ready to start their fighting over again or whatever he said next. He did not speak first as he was not sure the prince's meaning behind his actions. Alistair had known he was out numbered and the prince who hated him had come to his aid. Why? "Why?" He asked; wanting to know.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 15:31:31 GMT -5
Alistair was easier to read then most people assumed; and the longer you knew him there were things you could pick up on. None of it was really ever in his face. When he was was relaxed his body was looser; and his moments casual. When something was bothering him; his shoulders became tight and he worked harder to keep his face impassive. When he became angered or annoyed he became very still and kept his face unreadable.
Being unreadable was how he could protect himself from looking the idiot. Make sure that he came to appear the silent foe rather then the unsure child he'd been at twelve. "And it's so hard to tell what you're thinking." Which was the other point to being unreadable. "You have to ask to know." He did not like talking about somethings; but if it would make her feel better he would try. Sometimes he would soften his words; with effort to not hurt her but he would not leave her with nothing. He would try.
"I am." "Then I am." Because of this was her idea of 'happy' then surely it could be this simple. Reaching up to remove her hand flower from his face; he leaned down to kiss her to prove his words. Yes they fought; and he hated many things in her world but that was not defined his life.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 15:21:45 GMT -5
Alistair stared at the noble unblinking. He did not know enough to recognized very seal of every kingdom so he was not sure who they were nobles from. Yet he could tell groups when he saw them; and knew these men were from the same place. Someplace not here.
He knew whom he spoke of; the maid who looked to become queen if the annoying gossips could be believed. Alistair didn't know (not care to know) if the boy king would made the servant his bride; but the words struck home. Because he would be the one this man spoke of; the unworthy one. Alistair walked closer to him; his steps slow and measured but other wise he was very still.
Once he was face to face with the arrogant noble he spoke; "You should remind yourself that with these people you hate you'd have no rank to hold over them." He spoke in a low voice, tight with anger but not heated. "I would have more respect for the servant girl then for a little boy who'd not yet learn to mind his manners."
Then he'd did something that he'd saw Vaughn do once when trying to start a fight; since he did not like to fight with words. In a swift move he reached his hand up and knocked over the cup of wine the man held so it spilled all over his noble clothing. "Oops." He said just like Vaughn had said; only the bastard had laughed and Alistair held a more 'that wasn't an ascendent' tone.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 14:42:26 GMT -5
"Now gentleman, this is the world we live in, a world where rank means nothing. Where the dirt beneath our feet, suddenly become praised and rewarded." Alistair looked over at the idiots while walking down the steps and ignored them. He disagreed but this wasn't his battle and he cared not for the idea of 'pure bloods' and 'common blood'; for when he spoke of bloodlines it was from father to son; mother to daughter. There was no blood that was better nor worse. Ranks were nothing but men who took the power and given them the name.
"You there! How would you feel if a commoner assumed a role as knight?" As Alistair was a 'commoner' and a knight he ignored the comment for a moment but the man (who ever he was) kept going. "Tell me honestly. Is it not despicable that unworthy men are given more than they are entitled to?" He paused walking for a moment and looked at the group. All together there was six of them; but he was used to being the druid out numbered by knights only bold in numbers. "Better a strong blood who earned then a man of cold blood who did nothing but get birthed."
He was not normally a person who said things to anger others; he normally ignored and walked away not caring to speak up. For some reason this man irked him. Perhaps it was all the nobles; for the fat one had been talking earlier. Perhaps it was spending him in her world were knight did not let things pass. He didn't know.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 14:05:10 GMT -5
Alistair wasn't going to spend anymore time talking in circles tot he nobles here. Either they wanted to talk about what had lead Arthur up to this point or ask about his family. He didn't want to talk about either; which meant he had not answered quite a few things or ignored them and asked his own question.
Alistair paused to look behind him; having sworn he could hear the faint echos of steps behind; as the stones trapped the sounds but when he looked nothing was there. In the woods he would have known that someone was following him; however as it stood he only could guess. With so many walking down halls and people filling this damn castle it was hard to tell.
Turning back and walking deeper down the hall he came to a four way cross. He looked up and down the halls before following the one with windows. Looking out them he could tell he was growing near to a new exit. Out the windows there was a small court yard with nobles filling it. Steps leading down to the courtyard was just down the hall. If you crossed the opening was there another faster way out? Alistair moved down the hall; and with a last look behind him; walked down the steps to join the people below. He wasn't going to do more then nod in passing as he had places to see and exits to find.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 6, 2011 13:44:07 GMT -5
Alistair knew that the only reason he was here was because of his princess' having spoken to the prince before him and having cleared the air. He didn't however like having it reminded to him by the boy king. He said nothing; only watching the man impassibly while he spoke to him. It annoyed him to no end that he could not just treat this boy like Vaughn and smack him.
Vaughn was not a man of strong loyalty; but Alistair knew he had it with him. Even with the man's loyalty they had their share of brawls. Knowing that if he treated this 'prince' such a way that it would end with both of their lives as forfeit (cause one of them would die, and if it was the prince Alistair would be killed in return) meant that he could do nothing. He was not good at turning words and repeating himself with out getting annoyed. Nor did he want to stand here and defend himself to a man who did not trust him and never would.
Alistair stared at him while he talked and when he was done he; turned right around and silently walked down the hallway. He didn't excuse himself or make up some lie of some place he had to be or some person to find. Nor did he head back to his room.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 5, 2011 23:20:43 GMT -5
He had known but not cared about holding her hand in the market. If dreams were what troubled her; it was something he could at least relate to. "Your dreams are not real." He told her in a soft voice so no one would over hear them. "I do not know how mortal dreams work; but you are safe when you are awake."
Whatever she had saw wasn't going to get her today. Even if his dreams could go to her; he was here to protect her. He was having his own dreams. Things to watch out for; and prepare for. He knew his were real; and that his would be coming there way one day; not soon but one day. Her's were not. She was safe from her dreams; unlike he was his. "You should not fear." He knew thinking on it would drive her mind; as thinking on his would do to him. "You should look for something that would be a gift to you."
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Post by Alistair on Oct 5, 2011 23:10:38 GMT -5
"No one is going to take her," Not while he was here to make sure it did not happen. Besides; it was a kidnapping it was worried about. It was something darker and more deadly. It was his foes; his sister or his father's sins that Alistair expected here tonight. "You kidnapped her to humiliate the Pendragon name, no one will take her now." Perhaps he should admit to wanting to know the escape patterns; for his real reason. Surely a man who had so much to loose would understand. "You made yourself an enemy in this castle, no one here is an enemy of the Princes of Gwent."
No; but they were of him and his. Pendragon was like a curse when you stepped into some circles and he sat up here and liked to ignore the fact that his father was a murderer and until lately he had been known as the bully in his footsteps. "If you continue to single yourself out as an enemy, then I will treat you as thus." "I have made no actions against you." Not yet. "Let us not pretend, Pendragon; we are behaving only on the request of a woman. You have your ways of protecting what is yours and I have mine. I will not loose her now."
"You and yours have many foes; should one make their stand tonight I am getting mine out of your stones before they fall down upon her head." He admitted; his voice not heated, but strong. "I am not the enemy you should fear."
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Post by Alistair on Oct 5, 2011 22:39:49 GMT -5
He wanted for her to take the flower and when she did he dropped his hand to rested over her belly; spread wide as if to touch the whole child that was there. If she asked him if it was worth it; then he could answer that a million times easier then 'happy'. They fought constantly; and he often thought about shaking her or dragging her back in the woods but he knew the difference between fighting; and hate.
He'd tired not to fight with her; the stars new he tried. There was just only so much a man could yield. So many orders and rules he could follow at a time. "There is more to like on the scale, then to hate." If that meant by her standards that he was 'happy' or 'not unhappy' then so be it. He still did not understand why she asked this. "Why?" And wondered if she was not; "Are you?"
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Post by Alistair on Oct 4, 2011 23:23:12 GMT -5
He wasn't sure how to make her understand; especially with out angering her. He watched her as she turned from him and waited for her to turn back; but she did not. He waited to see if she would but not for long; for he knew he owed her an answer. Even if he did not know how to give her the answer.
He glanced at the ground to scan for anything he would have to step over or fallen leaves that would give his approach away and found none. He moved silently toward her; reaching over to pull a flower up that grew on one of the many vines that climbed the walls. Turning it he placed the petals on the skin of where her should and neck curved together, and traced a line over her color bone before holding it a few inches form her.
He knew that he could not answer her in terms of yes and no; he did not even know how to. He used his free hand to pull her back into his chest and rest his head over her's. "There is many things I hate; but you are not among them." He told her in a gentle tone to ease into things; "Your rules are many; your traditions great." And they could make him feel as if he was trapped in a room with the walls too close around him; "I've seen your people's version of 'happy' and that can never be me." They were too carefree; and at ease. Comfortable in their surroundings in ways he could never be. "I would not leave here for want to be anywhere else." There was no where he rather be.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 4, 2011 22:10:08 GMT -5
"...Are you happy?" Alistair's eyes jumped up to her face as she asked this; finding the question she had just asked had guard him slightly off guard. Was he happy? Why would she ask that to him; was she not? He had never thought about his life in terms of 'happy' or 'sad'. He'd seen others 'happy'; with smiles and laughter. Was he ever feeling something akin to that sort of joy? No. He'd not since before his parents were killed. He doubted he ever would; it was not in him to be such.
He hated many aspects of his new life; he hated fighting with her about his bloodlines; he hated her rules and the jobs knights often did. He hated not being there on the front line to protect his people; and not being able to just sit in silence sometimes. He spent years alone with no one to even talk to; only sometimes traveling with others. He took jobs at times and had been able to be around people for short times but found it easier to be where it was just him. Here their were people and talking was a must; fighting as a game was fun; flirting was a sport; and they mistrusted everything they did not know he really was.
Yet there moments that he knew he would not wish to live with out. Times when it was just them; or he did something right to please her. The games they played as she kicks him out of her bed. When she trusted him to ask him opinion on something he cared nothing about; such as politics or events that he drug his feet getting to. Times were the knights did something good rather then fun; like helping the towns people or even fighting off some sort of wild animal. When he felt useful.
Did the hate out weight the moments? No. Yet he was not sure he could ever use the word happy to describe his life. How did he answer with out hurting her? "The word means something to you that it does not to me." He told her; not answering since he could not.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 4, 2011 21:51:04 GMT -5
Alistair did not quite believe her. Her face was pale and her words were hesitant. His eyes moved to again take in the surroundings but nothing looked out of place. Everything was normal for how he saw it on most days. No fires of unusual sizes; no fighting in the streets; nothing out of place. He did not like the know she lied to him but he was not sure how to prove it.
How was he to protect her when she would not tell him what made her appear so white? She had touched his hand; and he no longer cared about rules. Turning his hand over he grabbed her's; engulfing it in his larger palm. "Something has caused you to look like this. I would know the the reason." It was not a question; he wanted to take care of her but if she hid things from him he could not do so. "If there is danger; I serve you better to know."
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Post by Alistair on Oct 4, 2011 21:12:01 GMT -5
"Everything I do is in the public eye. I want you to be a part of my world." He knew that; it was the whole damn reason he was here. Why he was dressing the knight and doing everything he hated. To be with her. He'd given everything up for her. It had not been an easy change either. Alistair wasn't bitter over the change; he knew that it had been his choice but making the choice had been hard: living it was harder. Everyday he lived the life that was everything he wasn't.
He wasn't a 'brother' like the knights were; he wasn't a noble, he was the son of a farmer. He hated crowds, and did not like talking with people over dinner. He hated taking orders as much as he hated giving them. Alistair wished like hell some days he could just be. To escape--with her--for a few damn hours and just not pretend or watch their backs.
"You already see me as your wife. But I don't think of you as my husband." He wasn't sure why that bothered him; but it did. "I want you to be, but we've already done so much wrong...if we don't do it right, then it will always feel that way to me." Every moment of everyday he was conforming. Doing things that made him uncomfortable; and everyday there was more. He didn't even know how to do as she asked; nor had anyone he could ask. He did not even know what to say to her about her 'request'.
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Post by Alistair on Oct 3, 2011 22:46:32 GMT -5
Now that bloody woman was laughing at him. He stared at her for a moment before looking away. If he did not feel the idiot before he did not. He was getting better with know what to say and when to say it. Years watching Vaughn play with words like they were his third sword had taught him some; but he'd never self sure enough to use them.
He was thinking; lost with the words in his mind that he could not say when she froze. Alistair stopped besides her and scanned the area for any sign of danger before looking at what she looked at. Then at her face. Something was off but he could not place it. "Princess?" He asked in a low rumble rather then a normal tone so others could not hard. "Is all well."
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Post by Alistair on Oct 3, 2011 22:35:51 GMT -5
"And why exactly is it that you must know?" Alistair looked back (and down) at the prince. This was one of the moments in his life that he was damn glad of being tall. "I know how easy it is to steal a princess from your walls. No one is talking mine." It was as close to admitting what he was doing to the man before him. Alistair did not care if he was rude or forbidden. He had a job that was self given; and no one would cause him to fail.
"Do you see any other knights down his hall?" Looking up and down the hall for a moment; it wasn't until his next line that he realized it was a rhetorical comment. It was times that these he got annoyed for not realizing that. "You should be with the other knights." Drinking and whoring and pretending to fight each other. No. He had other things to do. "I am not telling you to hide away. But you should not be wandering around my home in solitude." He was not going to debate this forever; "I am not dropping my guard in a castle of enemies."
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Post by Alistair on Oct 3, 2011 22:22:43 GMT -5
"I'll speak to my father as soon as we return to Caerleon." That conversation would at least be easy now; since the old man didn't half know who she was he might-might-not even know what she was telling him. He'd not had a father figure in his life so the deep parental approval need wasn't there for him. Had he not been so annoyed with the princess at the moment he would have given a sign that he knew that she found it hard and offered his support.
Instead he just stood there. This was her world; and everything had to be her way. In most cases he would admit she knew more but he was feeling ungracious at the moment and didn't want to say anything that might start a fight. "You'll have to propose in public, you realize." Like that. Alistair stared at her; his impassive face getting easier to read as the surprise of that almost past over him. "Explain."
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Post by Alistair on Sept 30, 2011 22:50:18 GMT -5
It never was the right time with them. He watched her walk around and away from him. He should have expected it. He never brought up magic between and this was the damn reason. She walked away; and withdrew. Back in the village when he'd had the bruises on her wrist healed; she'd back away. He's shown her the goodness that magic could be used for; and she'd still not wanted anything to do with it.
He didn't expect her wake up one morning and embarrass the idea; but it was his bloodline. His family in many ways. Their child's blood and history. People were dying and he was at a damn ball. He remained silent for a short while before speaking again; "How long can you hide the child?" He asked; to both change the taboo subject between them; and to began planning how best to protect her reputation. His voice was tight however; even as he attempted to hide his annoyance over their not speaking on his life line in a way.
As for her reputation; he never really understood what that was as clear as she saw it. It was like a child in it's own way. She was always worried about getting ruined; and you had to protect it constantly. It was something massively annoying; but important to her. It was why he did he best to care for the invisible child.
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