Post by Janice Olivia Monroe on Jan 24, 2010 21:02:35 GMT -6
(Following Takes Place in the Templar Gardens)
Janice: "Please, make yourself scarce." Janice's voice cut through the din of the complex crowd configuration at the heart of the pathways that carried one from one institution's garden to the next. The guard within her company found it odd; demure subserviance had been the hallmark of her creed but the long-ago days of complete acceptance of the lesser-than was at an end. No rudeness, no cruel snip mared the tone. It was only a polite command, a suggestion with evident substance. He only canted his head in respect, seeming to vanish in the next trio that walked by. Their destination Janice cared little on. She pulled her gloves over her hands, nervously touching the cowl of her cloak afterward. Her composure was half-hearted; she was no servant of the state now, merely a woman awaiting her chance to meet a particular sir once again (d)
Marius: Marius had made it to the entrance to the gardens a bit before their appointed time of meeting. He was that way; always early and never late. It had been drilled into him as a child and it stuck. At one point in his life it had even become his trademark. But that life was past, not long past, but just as dead. He refused to let his thoughts dwell upon that past. Here in Skye he had found a new life, and even more important something he never expected; a lady. His friends would have chuckled that he found his great love in a petite, little scholar who ran a bookstore. But Marius knew it was real. He also knew that Lady Janice was much more then a Lady of Letters, and yet he did not know much about her at all. She would tell him when the time was right. For now, he waited quietly for this special lady to appear. They had arranged this rendezvous back at Ebony Hall, which he was freely happy to be out of even for a moment. Now, his eyes scanned the crowd, seeking her. (d)
Janice: A horse cantered down the lane from one end to the next; she spied through her split fingers and drawn back hair a couple who sought an evening ride when the lights in Turas Lan had only begun to glow softly. Her neck craned one way, than the other! To be so small meant she would utilize the balls of her feet to peer over the larger heads, through the spaces left after torsos split away from her line of sight. Did the horse mock her heart or did she mock the horse with how it raced? How strange that it was not an appointment on anything to do with what could be found between two leather covers. Life was meant to be lived, not always observed! She learned the lesson well when she dared assist him in finding one single map, unknowing that it was her own life he came to lay upon the table and sketch. "Marius!" Sweet victory! She stood on one of the low walls at another garden's entrance to catch his attention. Despite the hum-drum dreariness of the way things had been it was amazing what one face could remedy. "Marius, here!" (d)
Marius: Suddenly as if from nowhere appearing just behind her, and softly kissing her neck. "Did My Lady call?" Always he smiled into her doe shaped eyes and always he received the same welcoming connection of souls. "Beloved, I will always be here for you." He could feel the heat running through his body; even his loins, at just the simple matter of being close to her. He fought hard to control it. This lady would remain as she was till the night when her gift was given to her husband. He stammers a bit when he speaks; she does sometimes rob him of his self confidence by her overwhelming beauty and her goodness. "I could barely contain myself waiting for you" Gently his arm slips around her. He would do nothing improper in this most public place, but he always felt best when she was close against him. (d)
Janice: "Marius?" Just when she thought that he would come towards her, the crowd swallowed him up again. The heart of the Lady of Letters was going to slip down under the hoof of the pleasure horses that kept up on their trot of this way or that. She was going to succumb to thinking it the folly of her imagination when suddenly lips touched her neck. Janice jumped only to find that the best craddle one could hope to recline in kept her from falling off the stone step. Instead of scolding him, she laughed, until she saw his eyes. "You jest, you make affection, you still even tremble when you talk. I feel the same way, you know." Her hand captured the one trailing around her waist before both arms went about his mid section while they walked to what would appear to be the Gardens of the Templar Halls. The backs of the Scholar's Guild, their private chapel, meeting place, and impression stood in fashionable stark contrast to the darkness sucking out the sunset colors. "They have hothouses here with flowers from across the continent and the deserts, while even the ones without green are still lovely..They say, every garden in the city is connected by some path, and yet only the Aberdeens may come into all gardens while returning to theirs, yet we may not enter the castle gardens from these paths. " Soft voice told him the city from the viewpoint of le petite observer. (d)
Marius: "Janice you are a most sharp eyed observer." He smiled ever so broadly, but then he spoke so unlike the warrior he was. "It is a most miraculous thing this, to have such greenery in the midst of winter. I have never seen the likes of it anywhere else in all my travels." He looked at her beautiful face, petite, but so perfect in every detail. "Tell me Sweet One, have you finished the assignment given you by the High Lord?" This changed his thoughts to that which had engendered so much damage to her world; the Trade Agreement with the Berbers. Marius had thought much upon this subject. (d)
Janice: "Thank you Marius, it is resourceful to be in my profession." She grinned. Scholars needed good eyes not only to read and write, but to take notice of the world in order to record it. She looked up at him as he looked down to her. He was looking better each day, more rested and confidant. Did he feel at home? "We're walking towards a hot house now. A riot of color in a dreary world." The subject change was inevitable. Even now, did he wonder if the shadows held expectant battle? She fathomed the possibility of Death being so close again, of it craving the chance to rend her flesh from the bone. Only now she was determined to be triumphant instead of the tragic, lost soul in need of saviors. There was too much not to live for. "Yes, darling. I have, just after the audience I went straight to work upon it for the duration of the day, night, and early next until it was sent with one of the Hall' s messenger's to his Grace for consideration. Tis a mighty venture he embarks on." He was seeking to do more than fathom a hostile culture, but befriend it. To open what was once not Europe's to open. (d)
Marius: Marius is very thougtful and resonds after a few moments. "Aye, he does that. But I fear the French will not see it that way. They sit in the middle; the Empire on one side and the Berbers of Spain upon the other. And France, as we knows has recently been united into one kingdom. It could well appear a threat to them." A look comes over his face; he sees the possibility of another war, one which for once he does not wish. He is pledged to Skye and he shall fight for her. More important, he will fight for this lady to be safe; to be his lady. (d)
Janice: "Yes, and it is for that reason that France would be occupied with its own growth. Why would it matter to them what the Lord Aberdeen does or doesn't do, so long as he isn't trapsing through their land? You are no more a diplomat than I, Marius. Nor are we both His Majesty, Philip Valois. If his Lordship angers anything it will be the Berbers.." A rousing political conversation was a sign of chivalry's exercise within the new world where women had a say. Both of them played at assumption only, but either outcome was rather dire. "I was not here long, when Scotland warred with England in 1328..not long at all by the time all had to watch their steps, things became scarce but for the Masters' sense of resource where the Hall lay. Still...the seige of the city. They put me into my room, with my maids and Carlotta. Locked us in. All we could do was pray as the sky streaked orange. I'd never seen anything like it. Where I was..it was very peaceful. I never saw Avignon nor London in war, and was in a convent during most tensions. War." Would not come that close again, would it? Her face went pale at the recollections as if they were yesterday (d)
Marius: "Sweet One, the war clouds are gathering. And it is not Skye who wishes it, nor the entire Gaelic Alliance. Philip Valois is now very full of himself. He has rid himself of a geat debt to the Templars, and he believes the Pope is in his little pocket. This alone would be cause for concern only. I wish I did not have to say it, but I do fear for the future." He held Janice closer to him, as if this could ward off the danger. "I have been the beseiger as well as the beseiged. Would that I could spre all of us such a situation. But a look at a map tells the story." Marius did not mention anything or any information he had received from his cousin. But it scared him right down to the bone. (d)
Janice: "Your politics are out of alignment, Marius. Twas the king prior to the current one whom had the Templar removed, nor do I wish to here about how France is full of itself or any such war cloud to loom!" She protested in a voice riddled with memory. She hadn't snapped at him before, nor had reason to. "Or about Spain, nor Berbers, or any such thing that spells some hint of doom, some trouble that gets anyone harmed! As it is, tis amazing we are days sans another arrow aiming from on high or some horrid attack! Please, no more of it...is it not enough to forget it for awhile." She sighed, letting the anger out to be carried away by sea air. "Please..love." (d)
Marius: Marius takes her and holds her hard against him. "If itdisturbs you, it is already forgotten Love. I will do nothing to ever upset you. I will work to see that you never again have to endure such a thing. And I pray with all my might that we are spared." Carefully he pushes back her hood and begins to run his fingers through her hair. She was wearing her bun again. How much he did enjoy to see it braided as when they went before the High Lady. Marius wished she would dress just a bit more ornately, it would become her ever so much. Still, his fingers and his palm touched her cheek as well. "I promise, it will never come to you again" He whispered this in her ear. "I swear it." (d)
Janice: "I don't want to think on losing you so soon when we have only met, Marius...I can't do that now, I simply can't." Janice held him tight, gripping her fingers into his tunic. He smelled clean, as though he had time to wash beforetheir meeting. Still there was the musk a man did keep. Her forehead pressed to his chest for a second before she looked up at him. "Don't make me promise you can not keep, or do not know if you can..though I know you mean them. I only want to keep you as we are now, in some small way of peace before it is ruined. " She whipsered, turning her face to kiss his hand. "I only want to feel my heart race in thought of you, not in wandering if you live or die. Are you not already in peril because of me? Because of what I do. I can't forgive myself if something happens to you.." Her voice crippled as it hobbled out of her throat. It was hard to enjoy the gardens, to cherish the time when things hung overheard. No one else thought as they did, but a select few! All else were free to court with little worry! To be young, with little care. Why not them? (d)
Marius: "Do you think I feel any different?" Looking down into her eyes which capture him yet again. "When I came here I was all in favor of a war where I could show my prowess and command skills to win myself a great and honored position here. Instead I found a much greater reason for having peace; I found the one thing my entire life had lacked. Something I was searching for and did not even know it." A smile curves his lips as he continues. "I found you." His voice is so tender and gentle, none would believe it came from a hardened warrior. "And I would not have this most wonderous thing spoilt by any one, king or peasant. You are my life." (d)
Janice "By the way you talk, you are quite zealous to go. But I knew nothing of what it was like to even think about missing someone, nor having someone to miss. I was completely oblivious to what it was like to be held, or kissed, or any of it...until you had to see a map.:" She looked up at him, touching both sides of his face. "Well, it is yours for the taking. You are a brave man, Marius deBrabant, to pit yourself against the unseen, to keep my secrets and all those surrounding. At first I thought you were a fool, and I no better for caring. But I want it too. I want to know what all of it is like now, now that I have you (d)
Marius: "We are both the very same in this. Before, I had no one, nothing. As for my bravery; my greatest deed was to look into the eyes of a certain bookseller, and then I was well and truly captured for now and always." Marius simply could not believe that he had said all that. But this wasn't the first time. Something in Lady Janice went right to the core of him and pulled out truths which he had never uttered to another. Truths which had ever even come into his thoughts before. Very gently, he bent over her and kissed her sweetly and long on the lips,as always losing himself to her totally. (d)
Janice: "You are still a silly man, or very self-sacrificing, to favor a bookseller-come-Ebony Hall messenger. You are positively mad..but I cherish you for it. Tis a madman that will move toe to toe with Lord Voltaire and brave all the others for a silly scholar. Janice laughed, but not at his revelation, merely in the way that God worked against what ways a human thought made sense. She returned his kiss, only pulling back after a good while. "Then remain that way, now and always. Somehow, Marius. We will make this work, all of it. Come arrows or intrigue." They walked onward ways, past evergreen bushes that were low, the outer walls of bare labyrinth bushes over toward one of the hot house doors. It was outside of that door she paused, seeing a single, perfect iris. "The Baroness, or Master Laurence..loves horticulture. In the spring the gardens of the hall are awash in blossoms and citrus fruit trees. One of the favored flowers is the iris. My beloved Miss Carlotta, my principle companion, loved them so. It was the last thing I knew she wanted before she was killed. There is a lot of loss in our world. We mourn for in private what none ever know about. She was beautiful, stern, but very kind. Bromheilde survived an ambush but Carlotta did not." (d)
Marius: Very quietly "Lady Janice, you are indeed a scholar, and possess many other talents, but you are not silly. I can't say for myself. Look at me, a proven knight who can tremble before a little bookseller. Who is the silly one? Wewill persevere; I believe our future will be with us together and children and a blazing hearth to keep us warm in our own home, safe and sound for the ages. That is what I want for us, and I will settle for nothing less." (d)
Janice: "So long as you carry no arms against a bookseller I will not fault. Carlotta wouldn't have either." She tapped the glass in silent acknowledgement of old friend before the subject at hand made her blush, "I've never imagined children Marius..to be honest it hadn't extended beyond what I do now. If God wills it, it will be so. The only childern in my life at current are Mistress Dora's two boys, Liam and Loomis. Loomis is young, but already quite the reader." Needless to say which one loved Janice the most, and to pieces. "Mm. It sounds quite nice." She opened the hot house door so that the cold air was challenged by he warmth within. Green, color, everywhere! "All in the hopes that wherever we are, you are well suited to a perpetual student? Let alone the visitors." No one would ever tell her there would be reason to turn any of the Masters and kith from any home she was in. (d)
Marius: Still I know what you mean of loss. I've have had so many comrades. You drink with them, dice with them, share stories with them, share the endless watches of the night. You know them for years. And in the twinkling of a moment;they are gone from arrow, lance, blade or axe. My mother too, but I remember little of her. She was quite beautiful; she died giving birth to my sister." Marius's thoughts switch quickly back to the hothouse and the lovely plants within. He lets the sweet fragrance of the flowers and plants assail his nose and does greatly enjoy the assault; it is like steping into another world, except that he has Janice with him. That alone will always be enough for him. (d)
Janice: "God keep your mother, sister, and comerades love. My mother is gone, too. I had her for years though." Of which she was thankful every day that unlike some whom lost their mothers to siblings, her mother was too sick to concieve so there were none. She pushed up thick, waxy green leaves or played with smaller ones. It was so warm within that she undid her cloak, folding it over her arm to reveal the dark purple dress beneath. Aye, despite the array of dyecolors and cloth, the woman was very simple. Not that it wasn't without some ornament, a special cut in the cuff of the sleeve or a bit of flare in the collars. A cross was clasped around her throat, in complete view because as usual, her hair was up. The braid was a far softer contrast, and at times she wore it down. Before breakfast. While a great many things could change the liklihood of seeing the small one in courtier's dress was an unfortunate rarity. As proud of Rosalind was of her student, she loathed open court. (d)
Marius: Marius was caught up as if in a dream; once her cloak was removed he saw a new and different Janice. The purple gown he saw did not do her marvelous figure little justice, but he knew that was her way. He kept picturing her in different gowns, fancier, ornate, fit for high court. She continued to appear more and more magnifcent with each vision. He saw her as fit for any court in Europe. To him the view was positively breathtaking; not a simple scholarby any means. (d)
Janice: The gown couldn't hide the figure she was endowed with, yet it did not accentuate every beautiful positive as the black court gown had. This one was bereft of any fur, though it did have cuffed lace sleeves. As they walked about, her simple, him in a mind of elegance her hair was snagged on some of the leaves. "Ooh bother! Silly plants...goodness.." It loosened her bun, pushed around pins, and fiddled with her gold toned hair bauble just enough to make her have to take the whole bunch down to begin again. God had also given her more hair than was necessary, for it was well beyond her shoulders now. "Oooh but I ran into the roses, look! What a high blossom." The collar only tied sheer silk at her neck, by no means covering it as it once did. Beneath the collar the collar bone area was still open in a sweet heart's neckline. (d)
Marius: Marius gently took her hair and framed it around her face. God, how lovely she looked, even in such a simple gown. "You are so totally magnificent My Lady. You could look marvelous even in a sack." He knew that she was not the equal of any lady in Europe; she was far superior with her intelligence and wit. They were simply clinging vines that produced babies on command. She is a woman with a mind equal to any man, and probably better then most. It took his breath away; that this incredible woman actually loved him. He shook his head; it was most difficult to believe and yet it was so. (d)
"..I cherish my time with you. For now and for always. We steal it. Isn't that a lark? Taking it as we can.."
Janice: "Please, make yourself scarce." Janice's voice cut through the din of the complex crowd configuration at the heart of the pathways that carried one from one institution's garden to the next. The guard within her company found it odd; demure subserviance had been the hallmark of her creed but the long-ago days of complete acceptance of the lesser-than was at an end. No rudeness, no cruel snip mared the tone. It was only a polite command, a suggestion with evident substance. He only canted his head in respect, seeming to vanish in the next trio that walked by. Their destination Janice cared little on. She pulled her gloves over her hands, nervously touching the cowl of her cloak afterward. Her composure was half-hearted; she was no servant of the state now, merely a woman awaiting her chance to meet a particular sir once again (d)
Marius: Marius had made it to the entrance to the gardens a bit before their appointed time of meeting. He was that way; always early and never late. It had been drilled into him as a child and it stuck. At one point in his life it had even become his trademark. But that life was past, not long past, but just as dead. He refused to let his thoughts dwell upon that past. Here in Skye he had found a new life, and even more important something he never expected; a lady. His friends would have chuckled that he found his great love in a petite, little scholar who ran a bookstore. But Marius knew it was real. He also knew that Lady Janice was much more then a Lady of Letters, and yet he did not know much about her at all. She would tell him when the time was right. For now, he waited quietly for this special lady to appear. They had arranged this rendezvous back at Ebony Hall, which he was freely happy to be out of even for a moment. Now, his eyes scanned the crowd, seeking her. (d)
Janice: A horse cantered down the lane from one end to the next; she spied through her split fingers and drawn back hair a couple who sought an evening ride when the lights in Turas Lan had only begun to glow softly. Her neck craned one way, than the other! To be so small meant she would utilize the balls of her feet to peer over the larger heads, through the spaces left after torsos split away from her line of sight. Did the horse mock her heart or did she mock the horse with how it raced? How strange that it was not an appointment on anything to do with what could be found between two leather covers. Life was meant to be lived, not always observed! She learned the lesson well when she dared assist him in finding one single map, unknowing that it was her own life he came to lay upon the table and sketch. "Marius!" Sweet victory! She stood on one of the low walls at another garden's entrance to catch his attention. Despite the hum-drum dreariness of the way things had been it was amazing what one face could remedy. "Marius, here!" (d)
Marius: Suddenly as if from nowhere appearing just behind her, and softly kissing her neck. "Did My Lady call?" Always he smiled into her doe shaped eyes and always he received the same welcoming connection of souls. "Beloved, I will always be here for you." He could feel the heat running through his body; even his loins, at just the simple matter of being close to her. He fought hard to control it. This lady would remain as she was till the night when her gift was given to her husband. He stammers a bit when he speaks; she does sometimes rob him of his self confidence by her overwhelming beauty and her goodness. "I could barely contain myself waiting for you" Gently his arm slips around her. He would do nothing improper in this most public place, but he always felt best when she was close against him. (d)
Janice: "Marius?" Just when she thought that he would come towards her, the crowd swallowed him up again. The heart of the Lady of Letters was going to slip down under the hoof of the pleasure horses that kept up on their trot of this way or that. She was going to succumb to thinking it the folly of her imagination when suddenly lips touched her neck. Janice jumped only to find that the best craddle one could hope to recline in kept her from falling off the stone step. Instead of scolding him, she laughed, until she saw his eyes. "You jest, you make affection, you still even tremble when you talk. I feel the same way, you know." Her hand captured the one trailing around her waist before both arms went about his mid section while they walked to what would appear to be the Gardens of the Templar Halls. The backs of the Scholar's Guild, their private chapel, meeting place, and impression stood in fashionable stark contrast to the darkness sucking out the sunset colors. "They have hothouses here with flowers from across the continent and the deserts, while even the ones without green are still lovely..They say, every garden in the city is connected by some path, and yet only the Aberdeens may come into all gardens while returning to theirs, yet we may not enter the castle gardens from these paths. " Soft voice told him the city from the viewpoint of le petite observer. (d)
Marius: "Janice you are a most sharp eyed observer." He smiled ever so broadly, but then he spoke so unlike the warrior he was. "It is a most miraculous thing this, to have such greenery in the midst of winter. I have never seen the likes of it anywhere else in all my travels." He looked at her beautiful face, petite, but so perfect in every detail. "Tell me Sweet One, have you finished the assignment given you by the High Lord?" This changed his thoughts to that which had engendered so much damage to her world; the Trade Agreement with the Berbers. Marius had thought much upon this subject. (d)
Janice: "Thank you Marius, it is resourceful to be in my profession." She grinned. Scholars needed good eyes not only to read and write, but to take notice of the world in order to record it. She looked up at him as he looked down to her. He was looking better each day, more rested and confidant. Did he feel at home? "We're walking towards a hot house now. A riot of color in a dreary world." The subject change was inevitable. Even now, did he wonder if the shadows held expectant battle? She fathomed the possibility of Death being so close again, of it craving the chance to rend her flesh from the bone. Only now she was determined to be triumphant instead of the tragic, lost soul in need of saviors. There was too much not to live for. "Yes, darling. I have, just after the audience I went straight to work upon it for the duration of the day, night, and early next until it was sent with one of the Hall' s messenger's to his Grace for consideration. Tis a mighty venture he embarks on." He was seeking to do more than fathom a hostile culture, but befriend it. To open what was once not Europe's to open. (d)
Marius: Marius is very thougtful and resonds after a few moments. "Aye, he does that. But I fear the French will not see it that way. They sit in the middle; the Empire on one side and the Berbers of Spain upon the other. And France, as we knows has recently been united into one kingdom. It could well appear a threat to them." A look comes over his face; he sees the possibility of another war, one which for once he does not wish. He is pledged to Skye and he shall fight for her. More important, he will fight for this lady to be safe; to be his lady. (d)
Janice: "Yes, and it is for that reason that France would be occupied with its own growth. Why would it matter to them what the Lord Aberdeen does or doesn't do, so long as he isn't trapsing through their land? You are no more a diplomat than I, Marius. Nor are we both His Majesty, Philip Valois. If his Lordship angers anything it will be the Berbers.." A rousing political conversation was a sign of chivalry's exercise within the new world where women had a say. Both of them played at assumption only, but either outcome was rather dire. "I was not here long, when Scotland warred with England in 1328..not long at all by the time all had to watch their steps, things became scarce but for the Masters' sense of resource where the Hall lay. Still...the seige of the city. They put me into my room, with my maids and Carlotta. Locked us in. All we could do was pray as the sky streaked orange. I'd never seen anything like it. Where I was..it was very peaceful. I never saw Avignon nor London in war, and was in a convent during most tensions. War." Would not come that close again, would it? Her face went pale at the recollections as if they were yesterday (d)
Marius: "Sweet One, the war clouds are gathering. And it is not Skye who wishes it, nor the entire Gaelic Alliance. Philip Valois is now very full of himself. He has rid himself of a geat debt to the Templars, and he believes the Pope is in his little pocket. This alone would be cause for concern only. I wish I did not have to say it, but I do fear for the future." He held Janice closer to him, as if this could ward off the danger. "I have been the beseiger as well as the beseiged. Would that I could spre all of us such a situation. But a look at a map tells the story." Marius did not mention anything or any information he had received from his cousin. But it scared him right down to the bone. (d)
Janice: "Your politics are out of alignment, Marius. Twas the king prior to the current one whom had the Templar removed, nor do I wish to here about how France is full of itself or any such war cloud to loom!" She protested in a voice riddled with memory. She hadn't snapped at him before, nor had reason to. "Or about Spain, nor Berbers, or any such thing that spells some hint of doom, some trouble that gets anyone harmed! As it is, tis amazing we are days sans another arrow aiming from on high or some horrid attack! Please, no more of it...is it not enough to forget it for awhile." She sighed, letting the anger out to be carried away by sea air. "Please..love." (d)
Marius: Marius takes her and holds her hard against him. "If itdisturbs you, it is already forgotten Love. I will do nothing to ever upset you. I will work to see that you never again have to endure such a thing. And I pray with all my might that we are spared." Carefully he pushes back her hood and begins to run his fingers through her hair. She was wearing her bun again. How much he did enjoy to see it braided as when they went before the High Lady. Marius wished she would dress just a bit more ornately, it would become her ever so much. Still, his fingers and his palm touched her cheek as well. "I promise, it will never come to you again" He whispered this in her ear. "I swear it." (d)
Janice: "I don't want to think on losing you so soon when we have only met, Marius...I can't do that now, I simply can't." Janice held him tight, gripping her fingers into his tunic. He smelled clean, as though he had time to wash beforetheir meeting. Still there was the musk a man did keep. Her forehead pressed to his chest for a second before she looked up at him. "Don't make me promise you can not keep, or do not know if you can..though I know you mean them. I only want to keep you as we are now, in some small way of peace before it is ruined. " She whipsered, turning her face to kiss his hand. "I only want to feel my heart race in thought of you, not in wandering if you live or die. Are you not already in peril because of me? Because of what I do. I can't forgive myself if something happens to you.." Her voice crippled as it hobbled out of her throat. It was hard to enjoy the gardens, to cherish the time when things hung overheard. No one else thought as they did, but a select few! All else were free to court with little worry! To be young, with little care. Why not them? (d)
Marius: "Do you think I feel any different?" Looking down into her eyes which capture him yet again. "When I came here I was all in favor of a war where I could show my prowess and command skills to win myself a great and honored position here. Instead I found a much greater reason for having peace; I found the one thing my entire life had lacked. Something I was searching for and did not even know it." A smile curves his lips as he continues. "I found you." His voice is so tender and gentle, none would believe it came from a hardened warrior. "And I would not have this most wonderous thing spoilt by any one, king or peasant. You are my life." (d)
Janice "By the way you talk, you are quite zealous to go. But I knew nothing of what it was like to even think about missing someone, nor having someone to miss. I was completely oblivious to what it was like to be held, or kissed, or any of it...until you had to see a map.:" She looked up at him, touching both sides of his face. "Well, it is yours for the taking. You are a brave man, Marius deBrabant, to pit yourself against the unseen, to keep my secrets and all those surrounding. At first I thought you were a fool, and I no better for caring. But I want it too. I want to know what all of it is like now, now that I have you (d)
Marius: "We are both the very same in this. Before, I had no one, nothing. As for my bravery; my greatest deed was to look into the eyes of a certain bookseller, and then I was well and truly captured for now and always." Marius simply could not believe that he had said all that. But this wasn't the first time. Something in Lady Janice went right to the core of him and pulled out truths which he had never uttered to another. Truths which had ever even come into his thoughts before. Very gently, he bent over her and kissed her sweetly and long on the lips,as always losing himself to her totally. (d)
Janice: "You are still a silly man, or very self-sacrificing, to favor a bookseller-come-Ebony Hall messenger. You are positively mad..but I cherish you for it. Tis a madman that will move toe to toe with Lord Voltaire and brave all the others for a silly scholar. Janice laughed, but not at his revelation, merely in the way that God worked against what ways a human thought made sense. She returned his kiss, only pulling back after a good while. "Then remain that way, now and always. Somehow, Marius. We will make this work, all of it. Come arrows or intrigue." They walked onward ways, past evergreen bushes that were low, the outer walls of bare labyrinth bushes over toward one of the hot house doors. It was outside of that door she paused, seeing a single, perfect iris. "The Baroness, or Master Laurence..loves horticulture. In the spring the gardens of the hall are awash in blossoms and citrus fruit trees. One of the favored flowers is the iris. My beloved Miss Carlotta, my principle companion, loved them so. It was the last thing I knew she wanted before she was killed. There is a lot of loss in our world. We mourn for in private what none ever know about. She was beautiful, stern, but very kind. Bromheilde survived an ambush but Carlotta did not." (d)
Marius: Very quietly "Lady Janice, you are indeed a scholar, and possess many other talents, but you are not silly. I can't say for myself. Look at me, a proven knight who can tremble before a little bookseller. Who is the silly one? Wewill persevere; I believe our future will be with us together and children and a blazing hearth to keep us warm in our own home, safe and sound for the ages. That is what I want for us, and I will settle for nothing less." (d)
Janice: "So long as you carry no arms against a bookseller I will not fault. Carlotta wouldn't have either." She tapped the glass in silent acknowledgement of old friend before the subject at hand made her blush, "I've never imagined children Marius..to be honest it hadn't extended beyond what I do now. If God wills it, it will be so. The only childern in my life at current are Mistress Dora's two boys, Liam and Loomis. Loomis is young, but already quite the reader." Needless to say which one loved Janice the most, and to pieces. "Mm. It sounds quite nice." She opened the hot house door so that the cold air was challenged by he warmth within. Green, color, everywhere! "All in the hopes that wherever we are, you are well suited to a perpetual student? Let alone the visitors." No one would ever tell her there would be reason to turn any of the Masters and kith from any home she was in. (d)
Marius: Still I know what you mean of loss. I've have had so many comrades. You drink with them, dice with them, share stories with them, share the endless watches of the night. You know them for years. And in the twinkling of a moment;they are gone from arrow, lance, blade or axe. My mother too, but I remember little of her. She was quite beautiful; she died giving birth to my sister." Marius's thoughts switch quickly back to the hothouse and the lovely plants within. He lets the sweet fragrance of the flowers and plants assail his nose and does greatly enjoy the assault; it is like steping into another world, except that he has Janice with him. That alone will always be enough for him. (d)
Janice: "God keep your mother, sister, and comerades love. My mother is gone, too. I had her for years though." Of which she was thankful every day that unlike some whom lost their mothers to siblings, her mother was too sick to concieve so there were none. She pushed up thick, waxy green leaves or played with smaller ones. It was so warm within that she undid her cloak, folding it over her arm to reveal the dark purple dress beneath. Aye, despite the array of dyecolors and cloth, the woman was very simple. Not that it wasn't without some ornament, a special cut in the cuff of the sleeve or a bit of flare in the collars. A cross was clasped around her throat, in complete view because as usual, her hair was up. The braid was a far softer contrast, and at times she wore it down. Before breakfast. While a great many things could change the liklihood of seeing the small one in courtier's dress was an unfortunate rarity. As proud of Rosalind was of her student, she loathed open court. (d)
Marius: Marius was caught up as if in a dream; once her cloak was removed he saw a new and different Janice. The purple gown he saw did not do her marvelous figure little justice, but he knew that was her way. He kept picturing her in different gowns, fancier, ornate, fit for high court. She continued to appear more and more magnifcent with each vision. He saw her as fit for any court in Europe. To him the view was positively breathtaking; not a simple scholarby any means. (d)
Janice: The gown couldn't hide the figure she was endowed with, yet it did not accentuate every beautiful positive as the black court gown had. This one was bereft of any fur, though it did have cuffed lace sleeves. As they walked about, her simple, him in a mind of elegance her hair was snagged on some of the leaves. "Ooh bother! Silly plants...goodness.." It loosened her bun, pushed around pins, and fiddled with her gold toned hair bauble just enough to make her have to take the whole bunch down to begin again. God had also given her more hair than was necessary, for it was well beyond her shoulders now. "Oooh but I ran into the roses, look! What a high blossom." The collar only tied sheer silk at her neck, by no means covering it as it once did. Beneath the collar the collar bone area was still open in a sweet heart's neckline. (d)
Marius: Marius gently took her hair and framed it around her face. God, how lovely she looked, even in such a simple gown. "You are so totally magnificent My Lady. You could look marvelous even in a sack." He knew that she was not the equal of any lady in Europe; she was far superior with her intelligence and wit. They were simply clinging vines that produced babies on command. She is a woman with a mind equal to any man, and probably better then most. It took his breath away; that this incredible woman actually loved him. He shook his head; it was most difficult to believe and yet it was so. (d)