A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - Printable Version
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RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 03-29-2019
His comments seemed to fall on deaf ears as Julianna prepared herself to venture out into the freezing Eskran night. She was loathe to leave the coziness of the cabin. A coziness that she had created and had been so rudely interrupted by Eoghan. She no longer harbored any doubts that he was the Thane's son as he claimed to be, but was continuing to be difficult with him because she was finding him to be insufferable. They would trod through the snow and ice and into the village as a punishment for his attitude.
"You wouldn't be able to keep me in the kitchens," she countered. A comment that was subtle, but vulgar. It wasn't as if she fancied herself particularly crass or desirable, but she was determined to go toe to toe with him.
Julianna donned a heavy furred coat in preparation for the ride. A dyed velvet in a rich green, lined with brindle-colored fur. It belted around her waist with a simple golden cord to keep it closed around her shivering frame. It also had a thick hood, that she pulled over her head. As if her wardrobe was designed around mystery.
He was rushing her as she put on furred slippers. She muttered curses at him for him impatience, before stomping past him and out of the cabin. She stood in the doorway, and he pushed past her in continued defiance. She waited silently while she retrieved his horse. She had rode with the Thane and his wife to the domicile and therefore had no mount of her own.
Not in Eskra anyway. She sighed wistfully and watched her breath puff out in a thick white cloud. Back home she had a beautiful horse. An all-black stallion that was the fastest steed she had ever ridden.
She missed him. She missed home.
The horse that Eoghan appeared with felt like one of the largest creatures she had ever seen. She felt her eyes widen. Feline ears hidden by layers of hooded cloaks pressed tight to her head. It was massive, and she felt dwarfed standing next to both of them. Noticing the stallion's hesitation, she tentatively reached out to place a hand on his snout. She cooed something gentle to him in her native tongue.
"No," Julianna snapped back when Eoghan asked if she needed assistance. She glared up at him, before looking back to the horse. She looked at him again. Then the horse. Unwillingly to yield to his smugness, she arranged her skirts to so she could hook her foot into the stirrup. Reaching for the saddle horn, felt a bit like rock-climbing, but she managed, and gripped it tightly, pulling herself up and onto the horse in a swift motion. She exhaled through her nose, triumphantly, prompting another swirling cloud of white. Julianna arranged her skirts once more, looking the picture of poise and grace. Looking for all the world like royalty and not someone who had just had him on the ground at knife point like some sort of wildling.
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 03-30-2019
Eoghan took some measure of satisfaction in her obvious hesitation to mount. He took even more at the bit of effort she had to exert to climb atop the animal. Practically scrambling up a mountain. Though he credited her for her composure.
He wasn’t terribly better than her at mounting the horse with his wounded side. He gripped the saddle horn with the arm of his good side and tucked his arm against his bad side as if to brace the wound. He mounted with a hiss of pain. Leather groaned for him with the addition of his weight. Eoghan lifted his chin to stare up at the misty night sky while he muttered a curse at the Gods for his pain.
He settled into the saddle behind her. His chest was pressed to her back and his arms were around her frame and he grasped the reigns. An oddly cozy arrangement. He urged the horse forward towards the glowing township below them. They rode in silence for the first several minutes. Eoghan was even less happy about being back in the saddle. The pain in his side bled into a persistent ache. His body wouldn’t let him forget his wound.
Eoghan wondered sourly who was this insolent woman in fine velvet atop his horse. Certainly no squatter would have finery as this. The luxurious dyed velvet spelled riches. And the color was very precious itself. Green dyes were hard to come by. Even he had nothing of such a color in his wardrobe.
He was more than intrigued at this point to find out the truth. And it would certainly be satisfying to prove his identity to this skeptical woman. Wouldn’t she be surprised to find the pages scraping and ready to serve his every need?
“Mighty fine cloak,” He commented after a while. His breath crystalized over the top of her head. “Where did you have it fashioned?” He knew his question would be fruitless the moment he uttered it. She had been thus far very determined to keep her secrets.
“What are you? Runaway merchant’s daughter? Sneak off a ship at port and scurry your way into the woods? What kind of price could we fetch for returning your expensive little arse back to your papa, eh?” He was just floating more theories to pass the time as they rode.
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-04-2019
It had been many years since Julianna had had to share a saddle. It felt unusual to be so close to another person in such a way. Strangely intimate, and she didn't prefer spending the moment with a strange man. However, the Eskran cold was biting down to her bones and he was quite warm. Her small frame shivered continuously, and she clenched jaw to keep her teeth from audibly chattering.
She was thankful for the silence and comfortable in it, though it didn't last long. Eoghan was presenting himself to her as they type who didn't have a filter between his mind and his mouth. Always wanting to have the last word or spew some snide comment when the moment presented itself.
"The cloak is from my homeland," she said, mostly to appease him. She said nothing further about it. Her voice wavered in the close, teeth clashing together. She arranged the hood of her clock to cover her mouth, hands shaking. Julianna had been under-prepared for the cold. Her home was temperate and mild, freezing winters like this were unheard of. She had never seen snow.
She didn't care for it.
The ride was smoother than she expected. The giant mount she was on was expertly picking its way through the underbrush of the forest, maneuvering easily despite its size. Her pride kept her from getting more comfortable; she kept her back straight instead of leaning into the equally giant man behind her.
"My family is already paying your people plenty for my continued presence. If the thane is truly your father, I am sure you will discover it is more than enough to demand your respect."
Julianna was silent for the rest of the ride. She did not understand why this man chose to live so far away from the township. It was notably warmer, though not by much, inside the walls. The dirt streets empty of snow. Lanterns lined the streets and controlled the temperature.
The manor of the Thane was larger than the other houses in the village. As the rode towards it, Julianna noticed a sudden commotion rippling through the staff. The guards were quick to open the gates for Ehogan and his mounted company.
Julianna was surprised to discover that this man might actually be who he said he was.
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-07-2019
Even through his thick clothing, during the ride Eoghan could feel the little woman shivering almost violently. She adjusted her own clothes, trying to give herself more coverage. He knew it was no use. Once the cold got in, it would set.
A southerner. He surmised, at last, wondering why she found herself so far north, and in his home, and shrouded in secrecy.
The inside the manor gates, Eoghan dismounted with the care to protect his weakened side. “Tell my father I have arrived.” He instructed one guard who nodded and trotted off to fulfill the command.
He reached up and took the woman at the waist, effectively pulling her down from the horse. A swirl of cloaks, he turned with her and set her on the dirt. “Shall we have my father settle our differences, then?”
He handed the reigns off to another man who would see to the horse for him. Eoghan placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and led her up the manor steps and inside. He led her through the house to what appeared to be an audience room with a roaring hearth.
He extended his hands towards the fire, warming himself while he waited for his father to meet them.
“Eoghan!”
His mother rushed into the room. She was barefoot and wore a linen sleeping shift. A fur-lined fleece robe flapped open as she ran into the room. Her hair was bound in an intricate braid that was somewhat mussed from sleeping. She rushed at Eoghan and hugged him around his stomach.
“Hello, mother. Sorry to wake you.” His voice was strained from the sudden contact with his wounded side. He obliged her the hug and patted his mother's back. He bent and kissed her on the cheek as she pulled away from him.
“You're hurt!” Ishara exclaimed clapping his face in her hands to peer up at him.
“I’ll heal. Her needlework is passable.” Eoghan stood up straight, pulling out of his mother's grasp. He nodded to the all but forgotten stranger.
Ishara turned to lay eyes on the still cloaked woman that stood off to the side by the hearth. She pulled her robe closed. Folding herself into it with a shiver. Her bed had obviously been warmer.
A look of recognition passed over her face. She seemed to be imagining the conflict of Eoghan arriving home unexpectedly to discover a strange foreign woman in his bed. Ishara idly pet the fur that lined the lapel of her robe. She seemed displeased, her demeanor changed.
“Your father will be here in a minute. There is something he would like to discuss with you. Both of you. And I want to hear about this wound." She glanced at the cloaked woman again as if wondering if she had given it to him.
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-08-2019
Better safe than sorry, Julianna thought to herself as she watched the hustle in the courtyard of the Thane's manor. Despite the late hour, more and more servants appeared before her very eyes to tend to Eoghan. She was used to the pomp and groveling that came with a station of power. None of the servants acknowledged her, which suited Julianna just fine. Her arrival and board with the village was mostly on a need to know basis, it was possible they assumed she was just some women the prodigal son had returned with to keep his bed warm.
Eoghan dismounted, and Julianna was not quick enough to do the same. She had been watching the commotion. Strong hands gripped her waist, and he plucked her from the horse with ease, despite his injury. She uttered a squeaky noise of surprise, her hands when to his shoulders to steady herself until he placed her securely on the ground. She looked up at him, continually aware of much larger than her she was. Julianna mumbled something like thank you, and he motioned her into the house with a heavy hand on her shoulders.
He led her through the manor and into a spacious meeting room. A fire roared in the hearth, even though no one had been in the room before them. Julianna didn't hesitate to cross the room to the source of warmth. She sighed in heavy relief as the shivering finally subsided. Her cloak felt heavy with the wetness of snow.
Ishara, the Thane's wife, entered the room first. She was dressed for sleep but Julianna still recognized her from their brief meeting the day before. There had been an exchange of pleasantries that felt almost electrically charged with tension. She figured Ishara worried that Julianna's presence would cause trouble for the village.
Julianna couldn't blame her for that.
The woman watched surreptitiously as mother and son reunited. Talking among themselves as if she were not present. Perhaps that was for the best, because when she caught Ishara's gaze for a moment she caught a passing look of concern. The matriarch was trying to figure if she had been the one to injure her son.
Almost, but not quite.
Julianna looked away. "It was not I who injured your son. He returned that way. Mauled by a wild boar, he claims."
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-23-2019
When Ishara pulled away from Eoghan, she positioned herself in front of him like a small, curvy, auburn shield. Although she had placed herself protectively before her son. Eoghan towered behind her with the semblance of learned tolerance on his face. Ishara dressed Julianna down with her eyes before her innocence was claimed.
Incredulous, Ishara turned back and gazed up at her son over her shoulder. “A little pig did all that?” She asked and gave him a prod with a finger in his side. A well-trained healer, Ishara could tell by observing where he guarded just where his wound was. The finger she poked him with was well-placed. Not on the wound where she would disturb any stitches but just below it where the skin was tender enough that Owen audibly complained.
“Ow.”
“You speared your first boar before you saw your first decade.” She challenged the lie Eoghan had fed to his unexpected guest. Not buying the story, she turned and narrowed her eyes at Julianna. It occured to her that Eoghan would be too proud to admit he was hurt by a little woman. Ishara was sure in her mind that Julianna had done it. But why was she spinning tales for him?
Catching the line of his mother's gaze, Eoghan snorted. “It was not she* who did this to me. I would have cleaved her in half before she landed any blow on me.”
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-27-2019
When her shivering had finally ceased in the warmth of the fire, Julianna looked up again to find that Ishara had moved protectively in front of Eoghan. She frowned at both of them, brow furrowed so deep that it made her green eyes look black. She was not feeling particularly welcome in Eskra, at that moment. Even though the proper arrangements had been made and she herself had done nothing more than exist and be exactly where she was told, she felt unwanted.
That was just fine with her. She didn't want to be there either. All they needed to do was find her a new, unoccupied place to stay and they could all go back to pretending she wasn't there.
Her hood was beginning to bother her ears. They were pressed tight against her head, the fur was still wet from the snow. It was too much effort to keep her tail still in her annoyance. It wanted to flick back and forth and advertise her obvious irritation with them.
"You would have had to catch me first." Julianna snorted laugh, overhearing the conversation. Eoghan talked big for a man she had had on the floor about twenty minutes ago. "I don't attack to wound." She pushed the heavier velvet hood from her head. It provided little relief overall. Still wet and still cold. "He would be dead by my hand. Luckily for him, I am not the cleave first ask questions later, type."
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-27-2019
Ishara was shocked by the confident way Julianna and her son spoke of killing one another. She was particularly shocked by the presumptuous statements Julianna made. If only because she was Eoghan's mother and rather attached to her son even though he was unruly and disobedient.
She closed the distance between herself and Julianna with her fists clenched at her side. Her hand opened and she slapped Julianna on the cheek. “You will do well to remember you are a guest of my house, young woman. And you will keep yourself covered. It is not as private here as you seem to think.” Irate, Ishara took hold of the hood to Julianna's cloak and wrenched it back up to cover her ears again.
“Mother!” Eoghan hissed from somewhere behind the women. He had hardly enough time to process the reveal of the stranger's ears and full face before his mother had rushed her to put her in her place.
His brief glimpse of the rather beautiful young woman with the furred ears that had popped up from amongst her dark curls raised only further questions.
“Hush your mouth, Eoghan. I've had enough from you, as well. She is our guest!” Ishara turned on him and planted her hands on her hips. "And I want the truth about that wound. Now!"
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-27-2019
Julianna barely had time to register the actions of the angry mother. It all seemed to happen at once. She watched the auburn haired woman cross the room with a cool indifference, and then, in a blur of movement she was left with a stinging cheek and vision half-obscured by the reapplication of her hood. These offenses infuriated Julianna. A white hot rage easily bubbled up inside her. Unwelcome and disturbed and continually offended. Despite this, she managed to keep herself in check. Only the slightest sight of her lips pulling back to reveal sharp canines as she suppressed a growl with a deep inhale.
She pressed her own hand against her burning cheek. Lips parted as if she would speak, but no words came. She had sparred and battled plenty of times in her history, but never had she been struck as a punishment. Her eyes welled with tears. Not because she had been hit, or because she felt embarrassed but because she wanted to go home. She knew she was trapped here for the foreseeable future. She sunk to the floor because she could think of nothing better to do with herself. Julianna was angry and exhausted. She pinned her knees against her chest with her own arms. The bottom half of her face was hidden as she continued to stare petulantly into the fire.
Ishara abandoned her to turn an unequal amount of ire towards Eoghan. She did not get very far into her interrogation of his injuries before another man entered the room.
He was just as tall and broad as Eoghan. His hair was cropped shorter, making it look darker than it was, but he also wore a fashionable beard. He was dressed in leathers and furs as if sleep had never even occurred to him.
Darcy Weatherfare gazed at the scene cast before him in firelight. His wife and their guest roused from their beds by his son who had returned home too early. "Stop causing a scene, Eoghan," he commanded. He moved further into the room to place a hand on his fussing wife's shoulder. "You're pointlessly upsetting your mother, because Julianna would easily best you in a fight."
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-27-2019
Eoghan felt ashamed of his mother's actions. He wished she hadn't struck the woman. Not for his sake. He could see her eyes glimmering with unshed tears of anger before she crumpled to the floor.
He didn't have an opportunity time answer his mother's demands for information before his father appeared and diffused the situation with his calm, commanding presence.
Ishara fell silent for the moment. Pouting at him with her eyes, she leaned into her husband's touch and against his leathered side. She was pouting more for his having left her sleeping alone late into the evening again than anything else.
Eoghan's mouth pressed into a thin line as his father embarrassed him in front of their strange guest.
“Who is she? I came home and she was there in my house. She refused to identify herself or justify her presence. I brought her here, father, because she claimed you gave her leave to --”
Ishara interrupted her son's complaining, “He returns wounded," she informed her husband with another quick flashing glare at Julianna.
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-27-2019
Darcy folded Ishara into his side. She pressed against him and he rubbed her arm reassuring with his hand before leaning to kiss the top of her head affectionately. He could feel the chilly night on her skin and wish she had no gotten out of bed for all of this. The squabbling of spoiled children.
"I did give her leave to stay in your home." Darcy effectively interrupted wife and son as they both attempted to control the situation. He looked down at Ishara in time to see the way she looked at the other woman. More of the situation was revealed to him in that look. Darcy released his wife to cross over to Julianna at the fire. He knelt down beside her, ignoring Ishara and Eoghan for a moment to speak to her softly. She spoke Eskran well enough but he used her native tongue with her. It was meant to be comforting and she replied to it easily.
Julianna's gaze bounced between the other two figures in the room as she explained her version of events in shorts, clipped sentences. Darcy sighed, and lent her his hand to help her rise from the ground.
"I have been made aware of Eoghan's wounds," he looked pointely at Ishara, as if to urge her to stop blaming the woman. "A runner was sent ahead of him and I know the situation." Another pointed look, this one for his son.
"As for our guest," he urged Julianna forward with the hand he still held. She seemed resistant to be brought back to attention. Half turned away from them and looking at Darcy as if to question whether this interaction had to continue any longer.
"My name is Julianna Maxillion," she informed Eoghan, since Ishara already knew. She continued to frown at him. "I am the princess of Veridian."
"Julianna's family is one our southern allies and our most respectable trading partner. We have agreed to keep an eye on her while a recent attempt on her life is investigated. Therefore, she will be staying with us for the foreseeable future."
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-27-2019
Little gestures of tenderness from her husband were enough to quell the fury in Ishara. She accepted his affections and her pout melted into a weak smile. She folded herself protectively into her robe as he moved to speak with Julianna. Ishara felt a flash of indignance as they spoke in a tongue she couldn't understand. But she kept her protestations to herself and merely rubbed her own arms against the chill.
Eoghan was stoic and still. He didn't move even when his father addressed him. He didn't move until the stranger introduced herself as a princess. He couldn't keep the surprise from his face. His jaw fell open for a second before he was quick to snap it shut again.
He folded his arms over his chest. “I understand the secrecy.” He said levelly despite his defensive posture. He became pensive for a moment. He brought his hand up and rubbed his lower lip as if he were considering a problem or puzzling over the new information he'd been given. His pale gaze remained on Julianna's face though he seemed to be looking less at her than through her.
He scoffed suddenly at Darcy. “They brought their Princess to the frozen north for her protection? Would they be unhappy to learn they dropped their precious one into the midst of old conflicts?” Eoghan spoke ominously of the impending battle that Darcy no doubt was aware of since the runner had beat him with the news.
Ishara made a noise of protest and confusion as she glanced to her husband with questions. “What?”
“The weather favors us.” Ignoring his mother's question, Eoghan continued addressing his father. “The snow will slow them down.”
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-28-2019
"I am not worried about them," Darcy said. Agreeing with his son in a way. "There is a storm coming that will keep them at bay. If not throw them entirely off course. A harsh winter will be our boon, this year." He released Julianna, and moved towards his family. It left the outsider standing awkwardly across the room from them.
"We're also counting on the harsh and unfamiliar terrain to keep any of Julianna's possible pursuers from the south at bay."
The women seemed suddenly left out of the conversation as the men spoke of strategy. For Darcy, it was not intentional. He held his wife's opinion in very hard regard and knew she was quick-witted and brilliant. He and Eoghan had a way with knowing what the other was thinking.
Retriving a wine skin from the table, Darcy poured a heafty glass. He drank deeply while he continued to consider the position he found himself in.
"Julianna will be staying in your cabin for the time being. The seclusion will benefit her." He filled another cup and passed it to Eoghan. Not that the drink would keep him from protesting. "You will stay here while your injuries heal."
Julianna made a noise of protest behind them. A breathy, scoff of a noise. She didn't want to continue to stay in Eoghan's home. She had been hoping they would find new accommodations for her.
"This also does not excuse you from your shrine duties," he raised he brows knowingly at Eoghan. "And do try to get along with our guest." He gestured to Julianna as if it was any question who he spoke of.
She scowled at Eoghan, but didn’t say anything
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - saronym - 05-28-2019
The feeling in the room was one of tension. The closed postures of mother and son were mirrored. Eoghan with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Ishara hugging herself in her evening robe.
Ishara's eyes flashed to her husband. The roundabout way they spoke of an impending threat was all she needed to hear. She put the dots together in her mind and shivered despite herself. A battle may be coming in full winter. Crimson stained white.
Eoghan's jaw was firmly set as he listened to his father speak. Both he and Julianna uttered some sound of disagreement with Darcy's instructions. Eoghan's sound was a closed mouth rumble of disapproval from deep in his chest.
Eoghan delayed in accepting the offered wine. When he did take it, he nearly slapped it from his father's hand, sloshing the dark liquid dangerously though without spilling it.
He drank in the same as his father. The same arm held the flask. Head tilted back some. Swallowing big gulps of the liquid. It was truce enough.
“Fine. The woman can have my bed.” The words were suggestive but there was none of the playful smirk or twinkle in his eye. Rather he glared back at Julianna blaming her still for his displacement.
Eoghan glanced at his mother upon hearing that he continued to be sentenced to maintain the shrine to Rhona out in the woods beyond the town. Ishara raised her chin and fixed him with a stare that said the judgement was final. Eoghan couldn't face his parents when they were a united front. He could wear one down when they stood alone. But both together --
“And what of the Princess?” He nodded at Julianna who they had been talking around. “She requires escort back, I presume.”
RE: A Princess for Wintersfeast [Closed] - megs - 05-29-2019
Darcy considered his wine for moment. Swirling the dark liquid back and forth in the cup before lifting it to his mouth to finish off. "You can accompany her back to the cottage. A show of good faith," he suggested. "It will also allow you to get whatever you need from there for your stay here." He set the cup down again and moved to gather his wife in one arm. "Let's go to bed," he said quietly to her, ushering her out of the room with an arm around her shoulders. He looked down at Julianna as they walked past her, still standing and looking defiant where he had left her.
"I apologize for the intrusion," he said to her, once again in her native tongue. She didn't answer him, but he continued anyway. "He's not that bad. I know it is not ideal, but I hope you can come to enjoy your time here."
Green eyes darted upwards to meet the Thane's gaze. "Thank you," she murmured. Her response was in Eskran, because she was including Ishara in the apology that followed. "I am sorry to have disturbed you this evening. It was not my intention to seem ungrateful."
As the couple departed, Julianna's expression had smoothed into something more resembling defeat. She was exhausted, having not been able to sleep her first few nights in the strange land. Her near constant shivering wasn't exactly conserving her energy either. The fine trembling had begun again when she had moved away from the fire for introductions.
Julianna watched Eoghan for a few moments, his displeasure with his parents decision still obvious. Were her ears not hidden by the cloak Ishara demanded she keep on, he would see the way they pinned backwards against her hair. Resembling a cold and frightened kitten. She wrapped herself up in the thick green velvet. She cleared her throat, suddenly feeling like she had lost her voice. Despite the pugnacious way she had been with him before.
"Shall we go?"