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Post by Tallaith on Dec 8, 2009 12:41:03 GMT -5
Ceallian watched her cousin, Can-Calan, leave the small dining room in the Prancing Pony with a fond smile, then took the chair closest to Berenloth.
"It is a hard matter to explain, why we call each other 'cousin.' Sometime you should speak to him about it, since I have so little grasp of history! I was lost in his explaination and I do not wish to make him tell me over and over again." She blushed and reached for the pitcher to freshen cups of ale for herself and the Elf.
After a long sip of the drink, she settled back in her chair and turned her demure smile on Berenloth. She dropped her voice, moderating it at something a little greater than a whisper that wouldn't carry past his ears alone.
"I was speaking to you of my cousin, Leasung. She is my true first cousin and was raised in the Riddermark by my grandmother, who is a great Lady there. Our grandmother spends half the year with Theoden King and the other half running her own great house. So Leasung was brought up very differently than I was.
"Not so long ago, she was sent here by my grandmother. My father was in no little disgrace for his actions before I was born, and my grandmother is my own mother's mother. So she wished to bring me to her home after hearing of my rather poor marriage, at least in her eyes, to a lower-born Captain of Men. But for many reasons, Leasung failed to bring me back. She had even hired mercenaries to help her cause, but...
"As you see, here I sit before you. In the midst of all this, Leasung became.. um.. very friendly with my Kinsman, Brendur, and learned some of his secrets. Leasung is a very willfull girl and a very, very clever one! She presented different faces to everyone she met, and I have not decided who she truly is yet. But I think Brendur likely saw more of the truth than any of us.
"Leasung is a liar. Her name is a bit of a joke, even, meaning 'lies' or 'fables.' But I believe she is a good lass, who has not had virtuous people to show her the path she should take in life.
"Regardless, she betrayed Brendur for a bounty. And in return, she was held prisoner by the people she sold him to. They took out their revenge... for many days." Here Ceallian cleared her throat and paused to sip her ale. She dropped her eyes, her face coloring deeply in some emotion, perhaps rage, perhaps shame. "She is not the same lass now. Of course.
"She wanders. She does not recall much of her days even before her capture, and recalls almost nothing about it. At times she is child-like. And others she is clever. I do not know what to do with her. I am only frightened for her, and frightened of what she may plan in this state. She needs good friends, perhaps one who can get close enough to her to find out the truth of what lies inside. But not a Man. Not after..." she trailed off before sighing softly.
"There is so much more to it, but that is the simplest way I can explain. There is also a person involved, I shall call him the Dark Man. But that is another tale entirely."
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Post by khrys on Dec 8, 2009 13:43:10 GMT -5
Berenloth's eyes were beginning to tire and his ears as well. It was a late evening for someone who was out of bed and single. He began to beg an exit from company after the minstrel left Ceallian and he alone in the sub-room.
She began her tale and in a short minute he could think of nothing but to hear it to the end.
As she completed it, he nodded.
"No cruelty is meant by my next words, Lady Ceallian. Please remember that."
He stared at her face, trying to will her to raise her chin and eyes, to look at him full on. He stepped closer and spoke even more softly than she had.
"If she is as you say - duplicitous, willful, selfish - then she is a danger to any she sets her eyes on. Even you."
He continued without stopping to assure she wouldn't interrupt with an expected defense of Leasung.
"She sounds manipulative and destructive. You should not be the one caring for her. Not because you present a bad example - on the contrary. You exemplify what she can become. But you should step back for the very same reason that Ser Brendur should have never acquainted himself with her: because she has the power to hurt you more than any other."
He moved very close now, into her personal space, forcing his point home.
"If you insist on finding someone to bring her back into society then make it someone of iron will who can do what you can't: enforce and discipline."
He stepped back and returned to a normal volume, "And yes, do not let it be someone who indulges in women. It would give her one more weapon. And do not choose a eunuch - they would be too soft. Find a soldier-woman or a male who prefers...well..." He bowed his head slightly, more of a nod, to speak the unspoken.
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Post by Tallaith on Dec 8, 2009 14:36:25 GMT -5
Cay went postively steely as Berenloth spoke his mind about Leasung. She could tell he was at least partially attempting diplomacy and wondered with an inward smirk how the Elf would react if he knew the true depth of the force of her anger. But she calmed herself, unable to relax her posture, however, and listened.
After a long, heavy, humming silence, she took a sharp breath and tilted her head to the side, finally meeting his eyes.
"You mean one who does not prefer the company of ladies, I assume." She shrugged. "Though you could call me innocent in such matters. I may be very wrong. For a little while, I imagined it would be best if she had a lover who was also one of my friends, who could perhaps coax her into better ways. But I agree with you. That would not work because she is too... well, unfaithful and selfish to trust someone enough for that.
"And I do not believe she could hurt me so badly that I could not tolerate it, though she almost meant the death of Brendur after all the work I did to save him! I nearly destroyed my own good name, and my marriage, to guarantee his safety, then she betrayed us!
"I do not think she can imagine what her actions cause, how they hurt others. I will think carefully on what you have said, but honestly, I cannot think of a single person who would be fitting to what you have described."
She sat back in her chair and dropped her eyes again quickly. "I have kept you too long. I am sorry. I hope your new clothes are serving you well."
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Post by khrys on Dec 8, 2009 16:06:22 GMT -5
"Unfaithful and selfish...she almost meant the death of Brendur...nearly destroyed my own good name...my marriage...she betrayed us"
Had Berenloth begun to count each crime that Leasung had perpetrated, he would have run out of fingers by now. Each offense was more than a slight, for they endangered people that should be sacred as kin. People who could offer a home. And Leasung had burned them in a long list that fell from Ceallian's mouth almost unendingly.
"I do not think she can imagine what her actions cause, how they hurt others."
"I don't not think you can imagine the destruction she can bring down on you." He kept the thought contained in his head, unspoken.
Everything that Leasung had done should be just cause for expulsion from her family and friends. Royalty with offspring who commit such acts are not kept at hearth: they are sent forth to war. Such aggressiveness was properly redirected to a battlefield full of enemies rather than left to simmer and stew under a kinship roof. It saved crowns as well as kingdoms - a formal agreement when someone became a danger to their own family.
Ceallian had listed the offenses and after each breath of one she had immediately excused it, forgiven it, allowed it grace. She had no intention of sending Leasung away to keep her house in order. Once more he was frustrated at Mankind and the short life they lived, for it made them short sighted and volatile.
He touched the folded clothing she had offered to him. There had been no billing. No debt. She was kindly and forgiving. A good thing that would be her ruin and possibly her death. He couldn't allow that.
Berenloth turned his back to her for a moment in order to view the doorway and hall. Seeing no one near the fireplace he assumed there were none within earshot. He turned back to her and spoke.
"I do not have a flavour for women. She can be safe with me in that matter. But she needs to learn of membership and belonging, in a way that can't be taught through example," he watched her face, seeking a reaction, "There is a call out to control the encroachment of darkness. Skirmishes break out in various locations across the land, including that of Dwarves and Elvenkind. If she were taken to battle, she could learn first hand the lesson of mortality and the value of comraderie."
"If you are willing, I can take her until the next new moon. On my own life, I'll protect her and temper her through it. When she returns to you, she might then learn from your example. But though you care much for her reform and wish her to be at peace with herself and others, this won't happen until her inner fury has found a proper hearth in which to burn."
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Post by Tallaith on Dec 8, 2009 16:56:42 GMT -5
To her credit, Ceallian listened to him without interruption, keeping her expression stonily neutral. She betrayed herself, however, in how hard she bit her lower lip, which was already ragged from worry.
She thought in silence for so long she was actually afraid he'd walk out, thinking she was giving him some sort of rude reply by simply ignoring him. It had never occured to the girl that her own cousin could cause so much harm, or that she could be so deeply disturbed and even broken. Ceallian took pride in seeing only the best in everyone she met, regardless of what their past actions spoke of them. She called both the most noble and chivalrous of Men her friends, as well as common thieves, cutpurses, and sellswords. She measured a person's worth in light, the brilliant glow of their soul that she sensed within them, rather than using the weight of their words or mannerisms as a guide.
But, she reminded herself, she was barely more than a child herself. And she'd been wrong before, ruining her own first, and still heart-wrenching love affair, and causing a death that would never weigh any lighter on her shoulders. Perhaps it was worth this chance to offer Leasung a life change she could never force herself to manage.
Finally, she spoke, though her lips were almost icy. "Aye. Take her, but do not hesitate to call on me or my companions for any aid you need. Promise me, though I know in these days I cannot hold you to it, that she will return to me alive and whole. At least speak the oath, even if you feel it is a lie, so I can forgive myself for this?"
The girl looked up to the Elf, the plea clear in her eyes.
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Post by khrys on Dec 9, 2009 0:28:57 GMT -5
For a brief moment, Berenloth saw what it was that his kind loved about Man. He was unused to the deep sincerity he felt when he responded.
"Your ferryman will take my soul before he is e'en aware that hers is there."
He turned to go. "Speak no word. Make up some farce that will send her to my room here in three days. If she is not dressed for war then I will take care to equip her once we have left for Ost Guruth."
He intended to put her gift in his room and then take his pipe for a long walk around Bree. He had much thinking to do.
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Post by Tallaith on Dec 9, 2009 16:30:17 GMT -5
Ceallian sat alone and motionless. She stared silently at the scratched and greasy dining table for so long that the boy who was charged with cleaning out the vacated private dining rooms nearly jumped out of his skin when he found her there.
"Miss. Yer time was up a half hour ago," he offered after he steadied himself a bit. His voice was changing and it cracked almost painfully. "I ken letcha stay fer five coppers fer another hour, if ya like, but someone's already bought this room fer a private breakfast wit' his lady."
Cay glanced up from the table, weariness showing in the tiny creases around her eyes. She was young enough yet that a good night's rest erased this mark, but right now, she looked easily five years older than she really was. She was completely surprised but maintained her smooth demeanor as she stood stiffly and shook her head.
"No, I am sorry. I suppose I nodded off. What time is it?"
The boy took his time looking her over, barely able to conceal his blatant stare as his eyes lingered on her figure. Ceallian really didn't notice this, as accustomed to it as she was, and rarely did someone make such an arse of themselves that she was forced to speak or act. She did, however, automatically fold her arms to conceal a little bit of her cleavage, and flicked her faded, patched skirts neatly aside with one hip to bare the blade that hung from her belt there.
He took this as a hint and bowed over the table, averting his eyes as he began to clean it off. "Almost dawn, Miss. Ya been here all night."
Cay thanked him wordlessly by dropping a few copper pennies on the table and stepped out into the dim, silent corridor. This was the quietest hour in Barliman's house, just before the sun came up. It was also the time that most foul works were done, she had learned. With an exhausted sigh, she turned to head to her room. She could easily believe she'd been awake for hours, lost in heavy thoughts, but now her body ached for rest.
She found the key at her belt and opened the door to the little second-floor room she'd kept for the last three nights. Sighing with immense relief, she noted that Leasung was actually literally unmoved in the bed, still curled beneath the rough blankets with one arm thrown over her eyes. The younger girl breathed slowly and deeply, her face relaxed and at total peace as she dreamed.
The weariness suddenly overwhelmed Ceallian. She barely made it out of her dress and into a robe before she collapsed next to her cousin in the narrow bed. She fell asleep immediately and did not dream.
Leasung shook her head in violent opposition. She somehow restrained herself from throwing the heavy clay mug in her cousin's oh-so-demure face and settled for slamming it down on the table, sloshing the contents everywhere and soaking her own borrowed gown, instead.
"You are bloody insane! You think you can control everyone's lives? You cannot control me, or tell me what to do, or how to live!" She stood from the table, nearly tipping the long bench she'd sat on over in her wake, and spit like a viper in the other girl's placid face.
Ceallian was at least thankful that the common room of the Pony was deserted at this time of day, but for a few half-interested servants who'd likely seen far, far worse fights than this in just the last few days. She took a very careful breath, holding her expression stonily neutral, and took up a napkin to blot her face.
"You have two choices. One, you will do as I have suggested, and go with an escort I have hired for you to the new house I have found for us in the country." To Ceallian, these words rang in her ears like glass being shattered on a pile of copper pots as lies. She was a terrible liar, but she was trying her hardest to keep this very plain and unembellished. "Or, you can return to your home in Rohan. And we both know that is impossible."
Cay sat back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. Her own meal was untouched; she'd wracked her conscience for the last three days about this, running very possible outcome through her mind, and practicing her lies over and over and over again. This was actually proceeding better than she had hoped. At least Leasung had not tried to stab her.
"You will have everything I can provide for you and an armed escort. You will wait for me in my new house until I feel that it is safe to fetch you." Ceallian's tone was firm, indisputable. "Do you understand? You will meet your escort here this evening."
Leasung almost fell flat on her back now as she scrabbled back from the table, spreading her arms as she bowed with mocking obedience to her cousin. "I see I have no choice. My life will be lived for me, and I will be a prisoner. But someday, cousin, I will repay you for what you think is kindness. Until then I will do as you say."
She turned on her heel and began to march to the room they'd shared. "Bitch."
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