Post by mairi on Jun 8, 2008 14:02:22 GMT -6
Pride of Eireann [11:38 P.M.]: Mairi was sitting on the docks alone, after talking a spell with Jack. She was dressed as a Ceannfort again, this time wearing a striking deep scarlet dress with room enough for her to run in it, and sleeves of light fabric to help with the heat. A soft breeze rolled in presently, blowing at her hair, to which was pinned a matching red veil of scarlet. It was pulled back over her hair, leaving her face open, and her hands were folded
Pride of Eireann [11:39 P.M.]: delicately in her lap. She had a lantern beside her, and she stared out to sea, as though she had many questions on her mind. Some concerned the fate of the Emerald Paladins and if she would reform them when she reclaimed Ulster; there was also her growing Navy to think upon, and lastly the man who ran it. (d)
Crossofthesword [11:49 P.M.]: ::Robert would be walking Sadiq's quite retinue was not making for very good company on this endevor. He wound be dressed no longer as the traveler that he had at once. Emerald green sleeveless tunic covered one of a whitish hue, chainmail layered between the two, chainmail greaves would cover his legs where the thick leather boots did not. This attire seemed to befit him better, he would almost resemble James from a distance though his stature was different in many a ways. He lacked his uncles slender frame the larger bones of a true McKeown befitted him more. The slick black belt and emerald pommeled sword that usually befitted him would be strapped to his side as he walked along those docks looking at the ships at sea. He wished he could someday see his uncles grand ship the Amante Bleu once more but he knew that it lay at the bottom of the English Channel along with four others of the Isle of Mann fleet. By happenchance he ran upon a lady he met but only a few days before, "Good Evening Lady Mairi" he would say though he already knew his presence was unmistakably announced by the heavy footsteps of his boots and clash of his metal on metal. He bowed in recognition to the other. "I hoped I would see you again for I have something for you, my uncle said for me in a letter that if the need should ever arise I was to find you and give you these." He would say withdrawing two rings from his pocket, one bore the signet of the McKeown home the other the great seal of the Emerald Paladins.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [11:54 P.M.]: Mairi remained seated and looked rather relaxed, almost enchanted as well as enchanting. She offered an amused smile as Robb addressed her. "Please, not that title... I am half sick of being called lady, for we all know that lady I am not. If it please ye, call me Ceannfort, or Mairi," she said with slight authority. There was a pleasant, calm nature about her this evening, and she knew now that Robb was friend, not foe, and that he would defend her rather than attack for true. "We have much to discuss. I
Pride of Eireann [11:56 P.M.]: would like to inform ye of what is to happen in the coming months, so that ye may retake what is yer own," she said. It was hard not to immediately dote upon or mentor the young man--he was a man by all accounts in her eyes, but she already felt more like a mother to him, and had difficulty seeing a young Irishman in the full scale of war. However, he was a McKeown, he should know. Mairi accepted the rings, teary-eyed. "I'll treasure these always, a cara." (d)
Crossofthesword [12:02 A.M.]: ::Robb smiled slightly, "For to long I have run from the assassins my dog of a cousin has sent after me, it is time for me to fight back. If I could convince Sadiq to allow me I would march up the keep steps myself to challenge him" His youth showed in his brash motives. He knew that a plan like that was suicide but by his own stubborness he was the kind of man who would say anything to get his point accrost. That skill was something his uncle never fully employed however used when it was nessicary to a cause. "But if you help me to retake Man what may I do to repay such a favor, as a McKeown I can never stand to be endebted to someone especially without knowing what it is that I am to owe." his uncles journal held many secrets and many truths for him, a book he had refused to read until this point. He knew that Man was a provice of Ulster and if it took becoming a province once more to help put the seat of his family back in the rightful hands then he knew he would do so.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [12:06 A.M.]: Mairi patted the place beside him. There was almost something supernatural in the glow of her tonight. All mothers felt a certain light about themselves when they were pregnant, as Mairi had felt with Seanna. There was something rather unique about how she felt now. She had an inkling of what it might be, of rumor become truth, and she looked in guess at the sea before resting her hand on her belly. She had gained only a bit of weight since being in Skye, and thus far only Jack, Bess, and Aislin knew about
Pride of Eireann [12:08 A.M.]: the early pregnancy. She would not trouble the young man with her concerns or her joy, but perhaps that explained her patience with him in the face of his ardor. "Ye are kin to me," she said, "an' I will see to it that yer wish will be so," she promised him. "When the time comes to take Man, it's likely i won't be able to fight at yer side," she said without further explanation, "but I promise ye ... ye'll have Ulster's finest to gain it back." She then considered what he said. A prudent man, knowing there
Pride of Eireann [12:09 A.M.]: would be a price. "In return I wish fer ye to with us reclaim Ulster first, an' then ye'll have use of me armies to claim Man as yer own, and officially I'll bestow upon ye the title of Barun as is yer right." (d)
Crossofthesword [12:16 A.M.]: ::Robb sat down upon the docks, "Kin?" he would say he was taken a little aback by the comment seeing as how he knew very little of the lady merely what his uncle had wrote down which wasn't much to say the least. "I don't know where exactly Ulster is, but if taking it means that I will someday have the chance to retake Man I'll do it." he stood now and drew his sword the polished steel glowing as the moonlight hit its surface. "To ye I pledge this sword from this time onward." he wasn't the most formal person that was partly to blame of his uncles for letting him only see a very limited spectrum of true court life. He layed the blade at the ladies feet, the only posession he had to his name that truely meant something was it and so if he were to pledge by anything he wanted this blade and no other to bear his promise of arms.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [12:21 A.M.]: "Aye; ye are blood of yer uncle, as kin to me." She nodded in acceptance of his allegiance and noted that in the past, the most heartfelt swearings of such were often the most meaningful, if not necessarily the most formal. She recalled how Jack had sworn himself to her cause.
Pride of Eireann [12:24 A.M.]: "Ulster is to the northeast of Eire, an' currently infested with British sassenach swine. Dunluce sits near the northernmost tip of me province. Due to past transgressions from other Irish who are not so loyal as I thought..." Mainly Valerian County came to mind... "I am seekin' to petition' that Ulster be a sovereign province of Skye; an arrangement of mutual benefit. If the Duke an' Duchess agree to this, then we will never walk alone," she promised, "an our takin' back of our own land will be swift an'
Pride of Eireann [12:25 A.M.]: mighty. If ye need be provided for her, yer welcome to come aboard The Cruel Mistress; it's Jack's ship, an' I'll notify his men. The Lagan is also here, an all-Irish ship that used to sail under my... under the previous admiral's command," she said with a tinge of sadness. (D)
Crossofthesword [12:29 A.M.]: ::"I have a ship.. or mainly a skiff of sorts" Robb would say, "Sadiq commands it, its an arabic ship but it holds up well in these waters. I have dispached a letter hoping to intercept my Uncles former ships which hold what remains of the legions of the Emerald Paladins aboard them, they were in flight from Ireland heading far north hoping to drive back the British with the cold. I can only hope that they have succeeded and my letters have gotten to them asking them to come here before they get to Mann
Crossofthesword [12:31 A.M.]: and my bastard of a cousin takes them." He didn't know how fast a letter would move in such a small ship as the messenger he had paid to deliver it was. He didn't even really trust the messenger but it was a plea that he had to send out or risk never seeing his uncles men again.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [12:36 A.M.]: "Keep me informed of yer efforts," Mairi requested, "Me prayers are with the ship. We will see the Emerald Paladins victorious once more. If Jack can lend one of his ships to help ye, let him know. The Lagan is fast an' seaworthy."
Pride of Eireann [12:38 A.M.]: "Yer a bold an corageous man," she continued, offering him some praise, "ye need only have the patience to bide yer time, an' Man will be yers." The Ceannfort placed a reassuring hand on Robb's shoulder, wishing she could confess so many things to her new and trusted friend, but she left things as they were. How many maidens did she know back home who might be suitably married to him? She could see her people prosper in the eagerness in his eyes, and it gave her uncommon strength. "We'll be glorious again..
Pride of Eireann [12:38 A.M.]: hostin' tourneys and festivals...aye." (D)
Crossofthesword [12:41 A.M.]: ::"Aye" he said the thought of a tourney brightened his eyes and his spirits, it was known throughout Man that his uncle had begun to gain retinue in a tourney by winning all that time ago and in the last year he had finally come able to best his uncle in a sparring match, though he knew in his heart that it was the age getting to his uncle in those years and if he had been in his prime no way would Robb had been able to best him.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [12:44 A.M.]: "If ye like tourneys... perhaps ye might help run one, someday then. i can imagine it'd be a large affair, all of Skye, Man, an' Ulster comin' out fer it. I think ye could even best me husband, but don't tell him I said so." She smiled a bit, trying to encourage Robb. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if even she could best Jack, but she wanted to bolster his confidence. (d)
Crossofthesword [12:49 A.M.]: ::Robb would smile, "Maybe someday we shall see" he would say he looked up at the stars above as he had did many a times back on Mann when it was just him and his uncle on the top of the keep looking up no one else around but the stars. "If the ships do not get here I will be needing to be fitted for armor, saddly Sadiq's is not very... fitting" he would say with a small laugh, the armor Sadiq had provided him was some of his uncles old stuff, his shoulders were to broad and he broke the pauldrons straps when he moved to draw his sword. For sixteen the lad was built quite large.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [12:53 A.M.]: Mairi grinned. That was something best reserved for a father and son...the fitting of armor. But as none were present for Robb, she had an idea of who might serve as an adequate and willing substitute. "There's no need fer ye to wait on that...I'll send Jack with ye to get the armor fitted. He is an expert at that type of thing." She wasn't sure if that was true--had Jack ever even worn armor? She did know, at least, that her husband was resourceful, and very kind to young folk needing help, especially any
Pride of Eireann [12:54 A.M.]: considered kin by Mairi. Robb was fortunate that she was in a pleasant mood, and also that she respected his uncle so much. Though he was large, she did not see him as such; he was young, though brave, and in need of help that she could give. (d)
Crossofthesword [12:59 A.M.]: ::"Tha.. thank you" he would say he never really had a dad his uncle was the closest thing and since he was extremely busy he didn't have a whole lot of time to spend with the boy. Mostly he was just trained by the master at arms, the whole fitting of the armor just came as a part of him growing up. He would get bigger and he would streach the armor as he did or have new pieces made to replace the old ones. He was pretty independent on many levels. But the thought of someone who actually cared enough to help him was different to him and so it struck him oddly when she said that.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [1:01 A.M.]: Mairi slightly feared that she would never give Jack a son. She was a strong woman in her own way, and so was Seanna, though she was just a baby still, and Jack would love them and be proud of them--but still, she wished to give him a son and knew that there were no guarantees. She placed her hand over her belly again, subconsciously, and smiled. "Yer welcome. Tis only right, fer family. Ye know... I'm so sad I was unable to keep in touch with yer uncle, towards the end of things." By helping Robb, she
Pride of Eireann [1:01 A.M.]: hoped that she could right that wrong. James had been an essential asset to Ulster at all times, and his loyalty had been unwavering. She knew to expect the same from Robb. (d)
Crossofthesword [1:07 A.M.]: ::"My uncle understood" Robb looked at his feet then, "When he came back from Ireland for the last time he was as white as a sheet, fourteen ship loads of men came pounding onto Manns soil along with full weapondry. We had to open a new barracks for them all. I joined up at the age of twelve just because I knew that I would make my uncle happy by doing so. Then I took an arrow in the side by a misfire and was sent to the infermary before his uncles forces left on a campaign that was comissioned in France by the Pope himself. He died there in France. I should have been there not lying in some Knights Hospitablers hut waiting to heal I needed to be there, maybe then... maybe.. Uncle would be here today and he would have already come up with a plan to save Ulster like he always did.." he frowned thne thinking of the day he got the letter contianing those rings and his uncles will.:: (d)
Pride of Eireann [1:11 A.M.]: She found the rings to be large, but she managed to place them on her fingers. After doing so, she withdrew the McKeown ring, keeping only the ring with the seal of the Emerald Paladins to herself. She offered the McKeown ring back to Robb. "This is yer own legacy, not mine." She spun the Emerald Paladin ring about on her index finger. "But it's me own duty to do right by the paladins, an' this'll serve as a reminder. We'll share to parts of the same burden, ye an' I, an' we'll make things right. I'll have
Pride of Eireann [1:13 A.M.]: no guilt over yer uncle's death. How long have I mourned for me Sean...." she stared out to the sea, then, remembering the seal that had visited her recently, felt somehow again at peace, and knowing Jack waited for her on the ship caused her peace as well. "Sean," she explained, "Admiral O'Neill...he was me husband, long before I knew Jack," she explained, "an' he went out to see an' died for Ulster. I've felt a lot of guilt over losin' him. I often think it was me own actions an' behavior that sent him to
Pride of Eireann [1:13 A.M.]: his watery grave...but we cannot go on forever livin' with those mistakes, even if they really well are our own." (d)