A Time of Change
...some things will be the same yet some things will be different...
LADY AISLIN CREED
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LORD EAMONN OF EOHMARK[/color] Eamonn said, dressed in an olive gambeson and brown breeches.[/ul]
PRINCE AODHAN ABERDEEN[/color][/ul]
MO'R OUKSELO BEATHAG ABERDEEN[/color] Manhood began to take him, to shape him as it was want to do for he was eleven now. At eleven, unknown to them, walked the only prince of Scotland to ever be black in flesh, and by name. He grinned to them as he left, leaving Beathag to do the speaking.
"Good mornin, m'brother n' sister."[/ul]
LADY AISLIN CREED[/color] Aislin stood only a foot away from Bess now with her hair in a long braid that hung over her shoulder. It went thin and ran all the way down to where her knees were hidden under the thickness of the fabric.
"Ah see Aodhan is taking into his lessons now. He seems eager to become a man, childhood has grown tiresome?" He had never been without his energy.[/ul]
LORD EAMONN OF EOHMARK[/color] Things were different when Eamonn was young; the mannerisms and cultural expectations were different as well. Skye was a culture Eamonn still found himself adapting to.[/ul]
MO'R OUKSELO BEATHAG ABERDEEN[/color] As he walked out of the doors, it would be with his head held up to meet the day and some would swear he had the baring of a king's son.
"We've been at it taegether, him and I. Spring will come n' with it events tha' shall nay move in the same old order." The famous flaxen head of hair was so long, that like Aislin's it was gracing the backs of her knees by now. It swayed with a simplistic, graceful flow as she walked.[/ul]
LADY AISLIN CREED[/color] They would not be as they had been? Aislin tilted her head a bit then looked to Eamonn for a moment before looking back to Bess.[/ul]
LORD EAMONN OF EOHMARK[/color] Eamonn commented, before his thick brow arched at Bess' comment. Events moving out of order?
"I see you still speak in riddles, sister." It was a habit that Eamonn himself did not have.
"What events shall Spring herald? What news keeps my kin 'thoughtful' this morning." He asked frankly; then again, was Eamonn any other way?[/ul]
MO'R OUKSELO BEATHAG ABERDEEN[/color] Half grin held up a side of her face before the full effect turned up both mouth corners. Shutting her eyes, she came around the back of the chairs to touch the top with the pale heels of her hand. [/color=green]"Who walked past ye was nay only the Lord of the Isles, Aodhan will be an undisputable prince, and a future King. He will be the Lord of the Isles, King of Skye, Scotland and England. Protector of Ireland and Wales. Because his mother..come the spring..will be known as Queen of the same, Ahdam as the King."[/color] Her shoulders did not sag under the weight but stood firm as all her height had. Royalty was once gawked at by the Aberdeen; long lived servants with middle title yet callused hands whom found some of their lineage had higher standing and still scarred hands from the harp's bent.
"The Mo'r Triath assembled it, and it would take his wife tae tell him call it wot it is, wot we are, and nay shirk from wot his own influence has wrought. Robert Bruce left it him, and it will be needed now." She looked at where she'd had a map placed of Europe, Africa. She looked at them before looking at the map.
"He's tae announce it proper after our mothers are commended tae the pyre, n' would have told ye both in private it sae happens ye find me first." No, it was not news to be kept away. It was still so new, so radical that it spiraled like a bird in a delve for the planet.
"The influence of this..small place is bein' put tae the true test. She shan't come down now. One little trade document Adam had translated for a man here," she pointed in Africa, Fez, Morroco.
"Rules up enough contempt. Tis a want of free trade tae bring things hither and yon. M'husband did nay wish tae 'burden meh' when he interacted with Moors. Ah wish he had prior. In any case he seeks free trade through wot is called the Pillars o' Hercules, the Straight o' Gibraltar tha' lets ye bet from one end of the country to the next. Tha's far, but important in wot can be carried tae n' brought back across waters. People are as territorial with water as they are land. Considerin' he's captured the attention o' wot Christian folks call a 'heathen'..this has turned the attention of the Papacy on us in worry he'd give said heathens accesss tae Europe. Then ye have Spain, 'ere..who's men 'ave come already tae kill tha' poor woman. Nay succeedin' thank God but our peace is on the back of diplomacy. Certain folk keep out wot would seek tae get in. No. I told Ahdam tha' if ye are gaein tae seek for these people..on Skye, and all these people his ambition has claimed, trade n' fortune, n' prosperity than we are gaein tae give them the solidarity tae back it." It was an extended statement, but one in earnest.
"The King can hold fast his allies where the Mo'r Triath can not. One word from Rome. One..one hand lifted by the older world and the truth is we are smote out. I'm nay lettin' it happen. Tha's a throne, this is a kingdom n' he is a King. It's high time he embraced the fullness of wot he acts n' as his Queen, there is more I can move than the Mo'r Oukselo who holds her mouth shut and allows him forget tha' it is a head he should be burdin. This is the true test of all of this, from Inverness e'en until now. Tha' is wot Aodhan thinks on, he knows the entirety o' it, and is as willin' as me." She looked out with narrowed eyes across the room to an opposite wall.
"Fer tha', I may owe the translator, Lady Janice, n' her man Sir Marius gratitude, fer they near paid with Adam's thoughts to another man with their lives. Those are but two, there be hundreds upon Skye, n' Scotland, n' wot e'er else we hold now."[/ul]
LADY AISLIN CREED[/color] Aislin commented silently. The troubles of a marriage were not meant to be public in any means. Moving towards the maps, she looked over the great vast of lands that Bess had spoken on. This would mean a great deal of changes, but were any of them ready for it? An isle was one thing, but large areas of land like this? What would it mean?
"So there be no doubt that ye both will become King and Queen? Ah know ye would have told us as soon as ye knew, ye both were always good at keeping us informed of such things. For that ah thank ye Bess." Ocean eyes looked to Eamonn for a moment, wondering how he was taking this news. She studied his face even as she spoke.
"Nay many families can share such closeness as we have. Let us hope that this will nay turn yer minds into things never faced." Power changed people, made them something else completely. Bess might very well be too old and stubborn to change her ways, but what of Adam? Did Aislin doubt her brother-in-law? No, but she worried on the pressures it would give to the family that were still in need of finding their footing. Another comment caught her attention.
"Janice? What be she having to do with Adam and ye?"[/ul]
LORD EAMONN OF EOHMARK[/color] Eamonn retorted under his breath, but he did not try to mask or hide his comment. Bess spoke eloquently where he spoke plainly; while there was nothing wrong with such talk, too much often gave Eamonn a headache. Patience was one of the many traits he worked on constantly. Soon enough, however, Beathag revealed the thoughts she kept. Adam was King, Beathag was Queen, and their children the heirs of their legacy. Eamonn arched a brow high. King and Queen? Once before Adam spoke of his reluctance to become King, and now he accepted such a title? Part of the blonde horseman wondered just how 'willingly' Adam accepted that responsibility; of course, that was kept to himself. From an objective standpoint, such grand titles would better give Skye standing and control. Even more, Skye became independent from the vast world. Hazel eyes turned to the map his sister and now wife stood near. Pressing lips together, Eamonn moved forward as well and glanced down to the map. Eamonn had been outside of Sevenwaters, but the lands that Beathag spoke of were foreign to him. Politicals...Eamonn hated it with a passion. Eamonn prayed that Skye was strong enough to dig heels into the ground; soon enough more Kings and Queens would desire Skye. Land and prosperity; conquer by force, it always remained the same. Eamonn sighed inwardly. Aislin did plenty of talking for the both of them, thankfully, since Eamonn seemed to have little as he digested the sudden news. However, his gaze did shift to his wife as she made a very good point: power could change people; pray it never changed his sister and brother-in-law.
"Indeed." Eamonn remarked, before pausing. Janice and Marius? Eamonn arched a brow. What weight did they have in the coming of royal titles? A good question, once again, asked by his wife; one that lingered on his mind as well.
"What business does a scholar and a newly arrived rider have with my sister and brother-in-law? What makes those two stand above hundreds?" Eamonn asked, the smile upon his face had long since vanished and now the beginnings of a frown came on with such strange news. Eamonn tried to make a point in knowing who his sister associated with for objective and personal reasons.[/ul]
MO'R OUKSELO BEATHAG ABERDEEN[/color] Open to the extent of friendship yet Beathag had always been more private than most could ascertain. For years her name was Bess when that had never been her true name.
"Ahdam is m' husband, and the love of my life. He has given me four children to bare him, and between us we've shared six. But he is nay m' first husband. Ah've outlived two." One learn how marriage works with exceptional doses of long or short practice.
"There's nay doubt we shall become King n' Queen. Worry not of our love fer ye or how we speak with ye now. While the herald will change, our open way shan't. Nay family is as close as we are, nor are their royal families elsewhere in Europe sae well lived as we, either. It locks in a power we already have but exercise in a slight way. It needs full baring because though the world is nay Skye, Skye is part o' the world. Robert Bruce died, he left Scotland tae Adam." A part of her wondered at old life and a place called Inverness, what would they who were there have thought of this day when a man in service now claimed what he once was a lowly knight of?
"Ah speak a few tongues better than our soon tae be King and one is Clan. Him as King will seal many rifts left when there wasn't one, but sae many ally under him. it will help abroad." She looked over to Eamonn.
"Lady Janice has been a fixture in m' libarries n' halls these last few years. She only comes out 'tae the fore because the shy woman has an ability with languages n' letters tha' astounds, sae Ahdam asked her if she could translate his letter tae the Sultan in Fez. She could with some effort, and speaks the base of most Berber countries which is Arabic. Fer writin' tha' letter which ultimately became the catalyst fer this, she's been in fear o' translate his letter tae the Sultan in Fez. She could with some effort, and speaks the base of most Berber countries which is Arabic. Fer writin' tha' letter which ultimately became the catalyst fer this, she's been in fear o' her life. Sir Marius has preserved said life on more than one occasion and as recent news as shown meh, Janice is now his wife. At any rate, they are but two among many more who've done such. Been taken down n' tae task on battle fields and in the streets n' fer wot if we dae nay grasp the fullness o' our reign? Eamonn bein' shot at, ye sneakin off tae war or healin the folks of it. The siege o' the city. Our fleein here as the other fell around our heads. E'en now there are people tha' ensure our peace at the lack o' their own and ah know tha' places like England are breakin their backs in half. Men months n' years from home all for the belief of us...well then they must have their belief justified. Sae the two o' them just join a line o' many like us n' others who believe in somethin' sae much we'd bleed dry for it. Well it can then beh said ah believe in m' ancestor's places here sae much, n' you, and m' people..tha' m' own faith is justified in wot will be done. Ah ne'er aspired tae this, but Ah am Lady by choosin and by heritage, m' ancestors were Scotland's harpers n' wise folk among out lesser things. If their daughter can be ennobled than aye, Ah will be Queen. And a damn good one, at tha'." No it was never chosen and there were days she'd wondered what the old Kings or Queens they'd serve would think, to see this now..to see the likes of her among the line of succession.[/ul]
LADY AISLIN CREED[/color] Aislin said bluntly. She could only imagine how Adam must be taking this. His power was greater then Bess would be. His choices; while Bess would be behind them; would be the fate of them all. Did Aislin doubt that Bess would be a good queen? She thought on it for a moment.
"Ah nay doubt that ye will be Bess. Ah would trust no others in such a task of ye and Adam. Have ye both truely wondered what ye will give up for this? Ye can nay rule these places from Skye." Her hand reached up as ocean eyes went to the map and touched Scotland.
"They be too vast for that."[/ul]
LORD EAMONN OF EOHMARK[/color] Eamonn asked, seriously.
"Your speech of your devotion to this newfound leadership you tow have gain is well and good, but save speeches for the crowd. I know of your heart, and Adam's as well." And he did. There was no question in is mind.
"The greater the kingdom, the greater the risks and attention you draw. Be more than a damn good Queen, Beathag. If you want to keep all of that...all of this land for yourself and Adam...but of you will have to be much more than damn good rulers." Eamonn said, bluntly, before lowering his hand from his wife's shoulder.
"But enough talk of what is inevitable. I have not had enough whiskey to stomach anymore talk of politcal affairs." And though there was a mild sense of jest in his voice, Eamonn was serious. He was a man of war; a rider who fought battles. Eamonn never favoured the politics and games rulers played; politics went out the window in the heat of battle.[/ul]
MO'R OUKSELO BEATHAG ABERDEEN[/color] She took Aislin's hand though back to the map as they once did long ago, teaching one another in a small dockside office.
"Skye is Scotland. Ye can come tae her by rowboat from the coast. Dun think of it as separate anywhere but but 'ere." She pointed to the body of water dividing England, Scotland, Ireland and the rest of the islands from the body of Europe. This was more Aislin's benefit, for her mind absorbed with rapid ability things like this.
"Ah've been little lower than Queen since the death of Robert Bruce, it was nay realized by ye because we remain close tae home. Scotland's been hours since then, and a little before. This includes where we once lived at Inverness. These lands." She touched with Aislin's hand England, Ireland, and Wales,
"'Ave governors tae aid the people and are, fer purpose, self governed as they should be. Jack Flynn here, in Ireland.. the council here..of Wales as set by her royal blood, and than the only thing we've e'er subjucated is here. England. It's spread n' vast by our reckonings. Not that." She pointed to the larger European countries at times fractured into many provinces, many kingdoms. If they wanted a war worse than what they'd ever seen..live on the continent.
"Tha' Govenor is primin' another, and tha' is where the upset lay. We've ruled from 'ere, tha', fer near four years. Tis nothin' in the span o' time o'Europe, and we are apart of the continent at large. Ahdam n' I have spoken, we will as we did n' do, share Equal rule. He relinquished tae tell me things in fear of harmin' me in some way and for wot he saw me as in death. It's haunted him, n' fer tha' reason Ah've let it be as I his counselor, and he the speaker. We will speak equally n' decide equal now as afore, but ah can only change the outcome of things already set in tae motion, nay the entirety of what is. Tae be coronate will turn this eyes.." She took that hand again and lay it out on Europe,
"On us, as they always have been. With a bit of wider-eyed aspect. What will change is the amount at which ah took n' wot is divided between Ahdam n' I. Tis talk fer another day but ye would be astounded to those Ah've spoken with already." Eamonn was not fond of politics, but perhaps Aislin might have a head for her old questions as she did once. Learning was everything and no one knew it all. She realized weight would bare burden of crown but one did not seek to use what was new of their world, what right had they to tout it?
"At any rate we hold wot is ours n' defend the Celts, nay own them all. But we are better taegether against the whole of that world than apart. My walking among the people, or my coming to see you shan't change. Wot changes is it has guards, yes. But if I am silent now, then the likes of wot ye dae or those who come to find it out for themselves falls in meaning. Ye would be surprised, how many men n' women come with questions on the whole of you, your learnin. N' other women, of merit by their minds. We may always fall tae the side of, and behind our men for a great many things n' this is the way o' it but if my voice is as mute as it has been..the likes of yours fall to the wayside. Sae tha' will change. But let the rest o' it be fer another day as the important things shan't. Ah'd like tae enjoy m'family before Ah place m' mother where she should have been years agae."[/ul][/blockquote][/size]