Arcaea/Dining Hall Late 08-09/Goffrey's Miraculous and Disturbing Recovery

Harmony went straight to the Castle after the day’s patrolling was wrapped up. She considered stopping at her house to change into some girly clothes, but Edara was informal enough and just as like to be in trousers herself. Besides, since the attack, Harmony had felt more comfortable staying in clothes that she could move in…and she felt silly strapping her sword on over a dress…not to mention that her working attire left her other weapons more accessible. She was not foolish enough to think that she could take on a warrior that had left Goff in such a state, but she was certainly not going to go down easily. Her skills might be rustier than they used to be, but she felt that she could hold her own against any ordinary man.

As she entered the Hall, Harmony wondered if she would find Goffrey awake this time…and perhaps coherent. He had seemed to be improving nicely though her cousin’s healer had been keeping him well-dosed up. She felt a twinge of guilt considering Goffrey…he was such a nice young man…and so very pretty…but…she had only wanted to play with him a bit…not…engage his affections.

She thought again of ‘Dara and her Jenred…and the way that her father occasionally spoke of his deceased wife…and wondered…maybe that sort of love happened…but maybe it was just so rare…and the rest just had to make do with affection and pleasant encounters. Certainly, she had never felt anything that approached…love…much less…that sort of…undying devotion. And speaking of…there were the undyingly devoted themselves…wrapped around each other as always…despite the company of a pretty, auburn haired young woman.

Harmony’s eyes looked to the great table…oh…damnation…where was Goffrey?

“Edara! Goffrey…he didn’t…he’s not…dead…is he?”

Lady Harmony Kindon (Dame of Nocaneb)

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Goffrey meandered about the castle aimlessly, more to loosen his aching muscles then anything else. He had managed to elude the guards at his door, placed they're to make sure he wouldn't "Escape" by sparking a religious debate between the two. They seemed level headed enough to avoid coming to blows over the issue, yet passionate enough to forget that the Lord they were supposed to be keeping an eye on was no longer in his quarters.

Unfortunately Goffrey was still unable to find a shirt, as he had returned Aerywyn's cloak before he had left a few days before. (yes I just skipped us ahead a few days sorry but it had to be done)

So shirtless and more or less lost, Goffrey stumbled upon Edara's Parlor almost entirely by accident, managing to catch Harmony's question right as he entered. The sight of her brought a smile to Goffrey's face, and he strode into the hall completely forgetting his current state of half dress.

"Oh," he said, catching the girls off guard,"I don't suppose I was quite as injured as I let on."

Goffrey Massey Baron of Sasat

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Harmony raised her brow at Goffrey as she took in his shirtless self. My, he was pretty.

“I might buy that ridiculous statement if you weren’t still swathed in bandages…and if I hadn’t seen you with your insides spilling all out of you. Sit down, you bloody fool.”

Harmony and Edara both jumped to their feet to push Goffrey onto a sofa. Their tandem motion caused them to look at each other and laugh.

“Goffrey, really! Idelle will be furious if she catches you out of bed. You’re supposed to be resting and recovering and not wandering about half-naked in the cold and getting sick on top of being all stabbed,” Edara paused in thought for a moment, “I really should call Idelle and have her come in and yell at you for a bit…you’d probably think twice about getting up for a day or two…”

“Oh, ‘Dara…let him alone…he can rest here just as well as in his bed…and I expect he’s bored to tears. Here…we’ll just cover him up,” Harmony grabbed a throw from the couch and draped it over Goffrey, “And…order him something hot to drink…that ought to stave off any chills.”

Edara looked at her cousin and grinned, “All right then, but if Idelle finds out, I’m blaming you…you are the guest, after all. It would be very inhospitable of me to go against your wishes.”

Harmony looked at her little cousin, “You know…you do surprise me sometimes.”

Edara looked at her quizzically, “Why? What do you mean?”

“You are rather naively straight forward in most respects…but then…every once in a while, I catch this little bit of sneakery about you…I rather like it.”

Edara wasn’t sure that she liked being called naïve, but she smiled at Harmony’s words, “I’ve been practicing avoiding the wrath of Idelle for years…straight forward is usually not the answer there.”

Harmony returned her attention to Goffrey, “How are you feeling…really? None of this man-fakery…tell me the truth.”

Lady Harmony Kindon (Dame of Nocaneb)

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Jenred ineffectively smothered a chuckle at Harmony and Edara, and began laughing into his shoulder while trying to give Goffrey looks of sympathy. He really needed to get the man out a bit...Hmmm...Maybe a supervised trip to the "library" to evade all these crazy females...Needed to keep quiet now though, otherwise Harmony at least would be suspicious. Besides...He wasn't done cuddling yet.

He pulled Edara back down as Harmony took the lead in caring for Goffrey, and began planning how he'd get the two of them past all these sentries...

Sir Jenred Bedwyr Imperial Magistrate of Arcaea

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Goffrey smiled despite himself, the little bit of normalcy between cousins doing him good. He sighed dejectedly and found thoughts of similar moments between him and Richter flowing into his head unheeded.

For a moment he was so fully lost in nostalgia that he almost missed Harmony's question. His face fell as he found himself staring at the floor, shifting through his tattered emotions to find an answer to her inquiry.

'How are you feeling...such a simple question...such a damnably complicated answer,' he thought bitterly 'Physically I think I'm pass the point where my life is in any danger...but some wounds run deeper then that...much deeper.'

Goffrey shuddered slightly, as if feeling the cold for the first time, but knowing it was more then that. For the longest time he had convinced himself that his father was a good man at heart, a hard, bitter, and aggressive man, but a good one none the less. He managed to fool himself when he was younger, that all the training, the bruises the scars the matches against hunting dogs and worse, had been Siegfried's way to show that he cared.

That illusion was broken thoroughly now, he had seen the killing intent in his father's eyes, he knew that Siegfried was perfectly capable of killing him and then having a full nights sleep that evening. Siegfried was going to kill him that night, SHOULD have killed him that night, but didn't, not out of love, for Goffrey knew he had none in him, but out of his own twisted purposes.

Fear covered Goffrey like a blanket, the fear that a child has of a wrathful father, the fear that comes with a certainty of immanent death, and most of all, fear of what exactly his Father's purposes were.

Goffrey hid his face from Harmony for a bit longer, reining his thoughts in, desperate not to let anyone know what exactly he had been thinking.

'I can't let them worry, if they worry they may get involved,' thought Goffrey as he straightened his face out, 'I can't let that happen, this is my fight, its my problem I'll fix it mysely, no one is dying on my account, I don't think I could take it.'

So Goffrey bared his best fake half smile, starred right into Harmony's eyes, and lied like a professional gambler.

"I'm fine."

Goffrey Massey Baron of Sasat

---

Harmony watched Goffrey carefully as he looked away, gathering his thoughts…she watched him as he looked her in the face and told her he was fine…

“Liar,” she said calmly, “Oh…it was a valiant effort…and a reasonable performance…but Goff, I was a professional…you can’t lie to me. You are not fine…so…quit trying to pretend that you are…Is this a man thing? Do you not wish to reveal your weakness before me? I assure you that I will think no less of you.”

She pondered, “Or…is there something more to this insistence…Come…confess and be hanged* for we are your friends here and, as the Poet tells us, a friend should bear his friend's infirmities*. We know that it was your father that did this to you...” Harmony caught the twitch in his face…

“Oh…yes…I see…is it that you cannot bear to discuss it? I won’t press you if it is too painful to speak on.”

• Marlowe the first; Shakespeare the second.

Lady Harmony Kindon (Dame of Nocaneb)

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Goffrey chuckled bitterly, disturbed that he was so easy to read, the fact that Harmony was indeed a professional was the only thing that soothed his injured pride.

As his chuckling died down he found himself at a lost for words, he know that he was caught, and sticking to the lie would accomplish nothing at this point. He sat immobile thinking for a moment, letting silence fill the room until it was almost defining.

"On my 15th birthday," said Goffrey, breaking the silence finally, "My father gave me a sword and a shield, then locked me in a room with a monster 3 times larger then a man," he said simply, as if he was discussing the weather.

"My Father told me as he was closing the door, that I would ethier fight or die, and if I did die then I was no son of his."

"I'll spare you all the gory details, suffice to say I crawled out of pit and that thing did not," continued Goffrey, "I don't remember much after that, but there is one thing that sticks out in my mind. I was laying in the infirmary, the healers had just announced that I would live, when my father strode up to me, clasped me on the shoulder, and said three words I would never forget," said Goffrey, as his eyes welt up in a barely visible manner, "'Thats my boy' he said to me......like....like he actually meant it, I KNOW he meant it....."

"I figured from then that he was just a poor old man, whose wife left him and took his heart with him, and thus had nothing left but his sons who he could never properly love," said Goffrey, as he tried to pass rubbing his slightly watery eyes off as scratching his head, "I rationalized that all the training all the nights of endless studies, was just the only means he had to show that he cared."

Silence filled the room as a darkness came over Goffrey's face.

"But I was a fool," he said bitterly, "I was nothing but an Aenil damned fool, I should have known what he was from the start, I should have stopped him when I had the chance, I should have been preparing for something like this ever sense he left, I should have.....I should have...." he stopped, suddenly feeling extremely exposed, fearing that he had reveled far too much of himself.

Shame gripped him and his face fell to the floor, and in a guilt stained voice he said only two words.

"I'm sorry."

Goffrey Massey Baron of Sasat

---

Harmony listened, sickened, as Goffrey spoke. She kept her face carefully neutral, afraid that any sign of sympathy on her part would completely undo him. She heard Edara make a small mewl of pity behind her and hoped that Jenred would stop her from jumping up and embracing Goff with all her well-meant concern.

She maintained her bland expression until Goffrey started to blame himself. Harmony’s face twisted as a cool anger slid through her.

“Really? YOU are sorry? You should have seen this coming? YOU should have done something?” She gave a brief, sardonic laugh, “Yes…because you were a child and he was your father and he was completely MAD…you should have known that this would happen.”

Harmony stood before him with her hands on her hips, “What in nine bloody hells is wrong with you, Goffrey Massey? Don’t you ever apologize for that murderous excuse of a father again! None of this is your fault, you blithering idiot. Why would you think that you needed to be responsible for that puling cur? He was supposed to be responsible for you…and instead…he tried to kill you…repeatedly by the sounds of it.”

She stared hard at Goffrey…what she actually wanted to do was smack him…hard…right upside the head. She opened her mouth to continue berating him when Edara’s voice caught her attention. Harm turned and blinked at her sweet little cousin who was cursing steadily and creatively. Jenred had a grip on her arms, and appeared to be somewhat less bemused than Harmony was…she had never seen Edara get angry before. Harmony tucked a few choice phrases away in her mind for future use and shook her head in amusement…her cousin did surprise her sometimes…

She turned back to Goff, her annoyance somewhat tempered by hearing Edara’s stream of obscenities.

“Goffrey,” she said in a more gentle tone, “Stop being a fool. Your…father,” she sneered the word, “Is a crazed beast and no fault lies with you. And don’t think that you are going to do some silly, heroic thing like hunting him down on your own…do you think that we’re all going to sit by and let you go off and do this by yourself?”

Lady Harmony Kindon (Dame of Nocaneb)

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Jenred, still keeping a tight grip on Edara, decided it was time to chime in.

"Honestly Goffrey...Do you actually expect that I of all people would let this be? And, do you actually think that you could evade or outwit me, with all the resources I have to call upon? With my powers as Imperial Magistrate, all my diplomatic contacts, and Edara's help pulling in the resources of Nocaneb? Not to mention I could almost guarantee that once it was publicly known that your father had attacked you, a good portion of the rest of the realm would join in? I'll forgive you since you are wounded, but really, Goffrey...That's just errant nonsense. A Baron of the Realm attacked, and you expect everyone to sit idly by while you go off and try to become one of those tales you tell so well? I prefer my Heroes living, instead of dead."

Edara seemed to be subsiding, so Jenred loosened his grip, hoping she'd remember not to hurt Goffrey when she clasped him.

Sir Jenred Bedwyr Imperial Magistrate of Arcaea

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