|
|
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | '''Roleplay from Sorsha McDowell:'''
| |
| | | | |
| − | Sorsha had not been able to get much more sleep and she was feeling very tired as she made her way through camp. Originally she had intended to wait to meet with Sir Colin, in order to give him time to get things in order with the Lighthouse, but as she sat in her tent thinking, she had changed her mind. He had told her himself blood was sacred and she had to agree, he was right. From his letters, she had the impression he would listen with an open mind, she hoped everything would just turn out well in the end. Making everyone wait on her, was not fair. So it was with the decision that she had gotten dressed to make herself appear much more presentable than she had the previous day and walked until she found the Marshall’s tent.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A guard was posted in front of his tent and she squared her shoulders, and refrained herself from standing on the tip of her feet to gain height. The men here were unusually tall, she noted absently.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “Good day, I am here to see Marshall Colin, is he available? If so would you inform him that Sorsha McDowell would very much like to speak with him," she told him, and waited as he went inside.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Colin Bedwyr:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | After resuming his rightful place as Duke of Qubel Lighthouse, Colin had a number of matters to take care of. Estates to put in order, oath offers to deal with, tasks for his unit, dealing with the few battered peasants who celebrated his return (or, more likely, the return of forces which might protect them from further incursions), fortifications to inspect...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | So when a servant approached him with word that Marchioness Sorsha wished to speak with him, he was momentarily confused. Why...Ah, yes...Something about that hot-head Malcolm. He gestured for her to be sent in immediately, and had his desk cleared of papers (the only room in the whole fortress that had been cleared of all monster remnants, so it would have to do) and a second chair brought in. He wondered what this was all about...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Sorsha McDowell:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The tall guard returned and motioned for Sorsha to follow. The take over had been successful and in much less time than she had anticipated. Therefore it was no surprise that instead of meeting him in his command tent, the guard directed her to the fortress itself. When she entered, she did notice the place had been ill used and felt sympathy for the Duke’s task of bringing the place back to its original state.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She entered the large room, noticing the large desk and the man she had come to see. He looked up at her entrance and she suddenly felt maybe this wasn’t the right time, but she couldn’t turn back now she had already gotten this far.
| |
| − | He seemed preoccupied, lost in thought. She assumed he had a lot to deal with, reports, transcripts, queries and such. She took note of his handsome face and wondered if he had any resemblance to Kaylan’s, Malcolm. If he did, then she could very well see why her cousin had fallen so deeply in love with the man.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | His guard introduced her and left the room. She looked timidly past the desk and bit her lip to keep from going into an incessant rambling on her part, to explain why she was there. She had practiced it in her head the entire way there, but there really wasn’t anything to do but to wait and see what type of character he did have, and to then determine the best way to broach the subject.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Colin Bedwyr:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Colin smiled somewhat absently at his guest, and gestured for her to sit as he took his place behind his desk. She seemed...somewhat lost. He hoped she would forgive the lack of state he welcomed her in, but he hadn't had the time to even begin repairing the palisade much less clear a proper dining room...Although the latter was high on his list.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Since she would not begin the conversation, he would have to ease her into it...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | "Marchioness Sorsha, a pleasure to meet you in person at last. Would you like some tea? I'd offer something stronger, but my cellars are sadly in the same shape as the rest of the stronghold, and I will not be drinking myself until my duties are somewhat less taxing, so it was not a priority...Perhaps a light repast? I have an excellent store of cheeses, though the crackers I'd normally choose to accompany them are lacking..."
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Sorsha McDowell:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | At the offer of food and tea she gave a soft shy smile, “yes I would very much like that.” She was a bit drained from lack of sleep, and gracefully took a seat. He motioned to a servant, she hadn’t even seen. He had been so still, he seemed to come out of nowhere and hurried off to fetch said items.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “I cannot begin to tell you how truly sorry I am to disturb you at such a time. I had wished to wait until things were somewhat calmer for you, and I would not become a nuisance of your time, but alas I do have to return home shortly and I didn’t want this chance to pass us…” she cleared her throat, “me… by.” He looked at her curiously and she then gripped the chair, to avoid playing with them out of shyness.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “I will not keep you waiting, but before I carry on, what news of Sir Malcolm? How long ago have you talked with him? If it has been recent, how is he?”
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She knew the questions were very personal, but before she divulged more than she needed to, she had to be absolutely sure she was doing the right thing.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Colin Bedwyr:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Colin raised an eyebrow, but the lady was obviously distressed...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | "I haven't spoken with Malcolm in years...The last correspondence I had with him arrived some days ago, informing me with unusual brevity that he had moved to the Colonies. Either he's grown up a great deal, unlikely, finally realized that I don't care for his overly wordy letters, also unlikely, or he's unhappy about something, which seems far more likely. Given that he'd been a rising star in...Fontan? It seemed odd. May I ask...Why?"
| |
| − |
| |
| − | He spread his hands in a questioning gesture.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Sorsha McDowell:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She took a moment to carefully weigh his words. Unusually brief letter, left, unhappy and odd. If Colin thought Malcolm odd after reading one of Kaylan’s letters he would have found her downright disturbing. He had given her enough information and she felt she could go on from there.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She rubbed her hands on her leggings and rose from the chair, again absently noticing her lack in height. Realizing she could never use that to her advantage in these parts, had she gone from the world of men to giants? The thought came quickly and disappeared.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She began to pace slowly. Colin watched her move to and fro, but waited patiently and for that she was grateful. There was no real easy way to say everything without either sounding like she was mad, downright evil for playing with people’s strings, or a liar, therefore she took the plunge.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “Lord Colin, I don’t believe in subterfuge and I will not take several ways to get to the point. I know it appears that is what I was trying to do, but I was simply attempting to discern Malcolm’s state before I moved on.”
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Obviously Malcolm had withheld a lot of information in his letters, or Colin would have said more by now. Maybe he did not realize his cousin wasn’t as self centered and pompous as he made others believe, a ploy perhaps? Why would he not mention why he had left for the Colonies?
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “I believe I know why Sir Malcolm left to the Colonies, and I can guarantee that I have information that will change him,” she stated softly and Colin watched her with interest. “Has he ever mentioned a woman…by the name of Kaylan?” she asked pointedly and paused to stand right in front of him. She believed in the truth, but she couldn’t flat out drop the entire blast in his lap before he had all the facts, she would risk the chance that he’d listen, laugh at the impossible tale she spun and tell her to leave.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Deep down, she silently prayed Malcolm had told him something...anything, it would make this sooo much easier for all parties involved.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Colin Bedwyr:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Ah...So that's what this was about...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | "Well, yes. That overgrown puppy mentioned her a time or two, seemed actually infatuated with her, which was a nice change from his normal butterfly-dalliances...But there was some sad tale there, apparently she died or some such...I'm afraid I was more amazed that Malcolm actually cared enough about someone else to grieve. I had privately assumed his departure from the East had something to do with this...I wasn't going to bring it up, but since you seem already to know..."
| |
| − |
| |
| − | He raised an eyebrow as the implications of what she'd said filtered through.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | "Are you saying...That this Kaylan is not dead, perchance?"
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Sorsha McDowell:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She blinked back at his nonchalance at the entire matter and found it somewhat hard not to be bothered. If he only knew half of what had transpired between Malcolm and Kaylan would he still treat it so lightly?
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “My <i> cousin </i>,” she said through gritted teeth, “was presumed dead yes. I don’t really know why Malcolm left for the Colonies. I was hoping perhaps you knew. According to my brother, the man was devastated before he mysteriously left, without saying a word. Since we both assume it has to do with the sad news then I will stop trying to guess. If there had been a different reason for his departure other than the obvious then I would not bother to interfere.”
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She took a deep breath, still remembering how it had felt like to know her cousin was dead. “Sir Colin, the reason I seek you out today is because Kaylan has returned and she is very much alive and I fear Malcolm does not know and he still grieves, needlessly.” And there it was and she had finally said it, it hadn’t been as hard as she thought.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Colin Bedwyr:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Colin stroked his chin, wrapping his mind around this news.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | "Well...In order...My congratulations on this happy news. It is not often one has a family member return from the dead...As for Malcolm...I will send him a letter and inform him. My thanks for this information, and I will be sure to pass along any reply I receive from Malcolm."
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Colin wrote out a note, waved a scribe over, and had it added to the top of his personal (as separate from his Duchal) to-do pile. As the scribe scurried out, another servant arrived with the summoned refreshments.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | "And now, milady, with the matters of import taken care of...Shall we turn the conversation to a lighter topic? I would hate to waste the opportunity to dine with a lovely lady by having the entire visit taken up by business."
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Colin sipped from his tea, hiding a wince at the astringent flavour, but all water in the area had to be boiled until they were sure they had found all the areas befouled by the monsters, and the tea was still better than straight boiled water.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Roleplay from Sorsha McDowell:'''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | She was extremely glad for his quick thinking and conclusion on the matter, and breathed a sigh of relief only then realizing she had been holding her breath. Of course she would have wished to know right away of Malcolm and how events would unfold, but in this case she would need to be patient and wait, she had done her part, Kaylan and Malcolm would need to play theirs. This was the extent and conclusion of her interference, she truly had more issues at hand and her own life to get in order. Of course starting with food usually helped.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | “Thank you very much for your assistance in this, I am truly grateful.” She reached over for the other tea and took a small sip and hid a small smile as she as well winced at the taste. At least his hospitality wasn’t lacking. And if I have not already said so, congratulations on regaining the Lighthouse.”
| |
