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Post by King Uther Pendragon on Dec 1, 2008 15:26:46 GMT
The orchard is a wide spread of land, with row upon row of fruitbearing trees and is a good place to wander in contemplation. The trees aren't a particularly arduous climb, with low lying branches and wide boughs. Also, If you're in want of a snack, then delicious fruit can usually be found here. At sunset, this is a particularly romantic place.  |
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Post by Prince Arthur Pendragon on Sept 30, 2009 14:43:15 GMT
Arthur tightened the reigns on his mare and pulled her into a slow walk. It was late evening, and the last light of day was just fading. He often went for a ride about this time, always by himself. It allowed him to relax and forget -if only for a few moments- that he was the Prince of Camelot.
Tonight was an especially beautiful night, the leaves on the trees were just starting to turn the colours of sunset that they always did around this time of year. The fruit season was just starting and Arthur stood up in his stirrups to pluck a pear from a nearby tree. It was perfectly ripe and juicy and he was glad that he lived in a country that produces fruit like this opposed to the exotic regions his cousins lived in, where apples and pears were almost unheard of.
He walked his horse onwards, past the rows and rows of trees until he reached the clearing at the end of the orchard. He was quite happy staring out across what would one day be his kingdom, when a voice broke his thoughts.
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Post by Lady Gillianne Auvray on Oct 8, 2009 23:08:04 GMT
(Henry)
They had walked in silence almost the whole way to the Orchard. Gill had made a few passing comments about the increasing coldness, the beautiful blur of pinks and oranges that were painted across the skies, but she had gradually fallen quiet. A comfortable quiet. The castle grounds were more beautiful without talking.
She unlatched the gate to the Orchard. Whilst the palace orchard had a function: to provide the palace with fruit, it was also wildly beautiful. The trees were not planted in strict grids, but in flowing, winding rows that stretched as far as the eye could see. Gill crossed her arms as she walked, part in contemplation, and part to keep herself warm. She had made no effort to keep to Henry's pace, and so casually checked back over her shoulder to make sure he was still behind her.
She stopped and leant her head against one of the trees, scratching it's rough bark with one of her nails. She didn't know what had possessed her to come out here with Henry... acting on an impulse? That was hardly characteristic of Gill. During the walk she had reverted to her more laid back personality, talking only when it felt right. She waited for Henry to catch up to her in silence.
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Post by Henry Renold on Oct 10, 2009 21:37:23 GMT
Henry was confused, to put it mildly. Not only was he willingly spending time with someone of a higher class who actually worked for Nobles, but she was letting him into the Royal orchard, where lows like Henry were strictly forbidden.
It was not only the events of the day that left Henry feeling puzzled though. The way that he had felt when someone had trusted him and wanted to help him was something of an enigma itself.
Henry walked several paces behind the strange girl now, staring at the back of her dark brown head. She walked with none of the swagger that Henry had grown accustomed to seeing in the young ladies of the slums and she didn't bear the same curves as they did. Most of them worked in brothels and Henry didn't know if it was unusal to see a girl without those qualities or not. Either way, he found the sight of Gill much more pleasing than those easy girls who stood outside the brothels.
Ahead of him, she had stopped by a tree and was clearly waiting for him to catch up. He spoke quietly as he finally caught up with her, for the first time since they had left the castle.
"What are we doing out here?"
They had spent the journey barely speaking, because Henry didn't know what to say. Gill had eventually given up and he was more than happy with the silence that resulted. There was something about this girl that really intimidated him. It wasn't her status, or the fact that she might have him arrested for stealing and tresspassing -that much he knew- but exactly what it was, he couldnt have said.
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Post by Lady Gillianne Auvray on Oct 11, 2009 0:56:00 GMT
"What are we doing here?"
Henry's quiet words wrenched Gill from her thoughts. She blinked, refocusing her eyes which, until then, had been staring out into the sky. She turned to face him, leaning more fully back onto the tree with both arms by her side, touching the trunk. How could she tell him why they were here? She didn't even know herself! She felt light, almost drunk. Gill didn't know why, but she was meant to be standing here with this half-starved, unshaven and silent boy that confused and puzzled her, and made her pulse race.
"I don't know" she replied, a smile flickering in and out of existence. The three words sounded ridiculous- a poor conclusion to the blur of emotions that were whirring away inside her. It struck her again that she didn't even know his name. It would make sense to ask him now. Yet Gill remained mute. She could say something suggestive, or seductive? Idle chatter just seemed so unnecessary.
Instead of furthering a conversation about the view, or names or anything, Gill turned to face the tree and using two low branches as footholds, climbed up, disappearing into it's boughs.
Crunch. A few seconds later a dull green apple with a perfect bite mark was dropped down to Henry.
"Come on up. Please? The view's amazing..."
In truth, Gill couldn't see the panoramic sunset very well through the leaves, which were silhouetted black against the bleeding twilight sky. She wished she could have painted it. She wished more that Henry would join her.
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Post by Henry Renold on Oct 13, 2009 17:42:57 GMT
Henry watched in bemusement as Gill slid gracefully through the branches.. What is she doing? He wondered to himself as the very tips of her toes just disappeared amongst the leaves.
So far Gill had been a complete puzzle to him. She had almost been killed in the slums, almost killed him in the kitchens and yet here she was leading into the orchard where they were both likely to be executed. Yet he followed her willingly, not knowing why, but cursing himself for doing so.
A voice that sounded much further away than he had expected called,"Come on up. Please? The view's amazing..." and without needing to be told twice, Henry climbed.
Although he was thin, Henry had strength, and swinging up through the boughs of this apple tree was not a particuarly difficult task. Within seconds he was sitting opposite the serving girl, trying not to break the branch, with a smug but subtle grin on his face.
Neither of them spoke to start with, but staring into the girls eyes unnerved him, and he quickly wanted something to break the tension.
"What are we doing here?" He asked sighing.
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Post by Lady Gillianne Auvray on Oct 16, 2009 10:47:56 GMT
Gill couldn't help but smile as she watched Henry seat himself on the branch opposite. She was so unsure how he would react to anything she said. Her attentions were obviously making Henry feel awkward, as he had asked again what they were doing here. "If you don't know what you're doing here, what makes you think I do?" she replied lightly, her eyes still on his face. The light that filtered through the trees was an odd pinkish hue, making Henry's face glow. She cocked her head to one side saying: "You don't like nobles do you." It wasn't a question, just a statement, and she didn't give Henry a chance to confirm it either way. She also didn't ask for an explanation, but instead finally broke eye contact, looking down at her hands. Although they were slightly red from a day's work, and rougher than a noblewoman's hand- they were not the hands of a girl who had been working all her life. "I used to be from a wealthy family, but situations change. I became a farmer's daughter, and now I'm a maid..." she seemed to be talking more to herself than Henry. Without pausing she reached across and took one of his hands with both of hers, turning it over to inspect the underside in her lap. "You can tell a lot from a person's hands. Not from any fortune telling nonsense though..." She ran her thumb across the boy's palm. "Your hands are so scarred!" Again, it was an exclamation not a question. Henry wasn't particularly talkative, and Gill didn't want to scare him away with question after question, especially when she was oddly enjoying his quiet company. Besides, she thought, Curiosity killed the cat... she remembered the phrase her father used often. He never seemed to remember the second half though- and satisfaction brought it back. [OOC: Henry, I hope it's OK about the scarred hands. I guessed in your line of work you'd use knives a lot! (you carry them up your sleeves right?) I can change it if you want smooooth hands ) |
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Post by Henry Renold on Oct 16, 2009 18:51:11 GMT
"Well you're the one who asked me to follow you." He half-whispered back to Gill. It was true but Henry knew he could have left at any time, and he hadn't, so Gill was right too.
His eyes grew wide as she stated how he disliked nobles. Was it that obvious? He would have to be more careful in future, or someone may connect him to The Brotherhood and he definitely couldnt risk that. He continued listening as she carried on about her life, explaining how she had gone from a weathy daughter to a maid. Strangely enough it didn't seem to matter to Henry any more, something which shocked him more deeply than what she did next.
He flinched in surprise as she grabbed his hand, and winced as she drew a line across his palm with her thumb. It tickled. It felt strange to be so intimate with someone, and Henry was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"I do a lot of work in the fields." He said sharply, though not unkindly, and pulled his hand back and into his sleeve. He hoped she would mistake the scars for those a farmers tools would cause, and not recognise them as the scars left by a knife, she might run a mile at any sign of violence and he weirdly, didnt want that.
After a minute or so of silence, Henry started to feel bad.
"I wonder what stars are?" He said slowly, trying his best to give her some sort of conversation, as the first few winked into existence. He blushed a bright scarlet and turned his head away embarrassed that he had let himself get caught up in the moment.
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Post by Lady Gillianne Auvray on Oct 19, 2009 22:33:16 GMT
Under normal circumstances, Gill would probably have been hurt if someone had pulled back their hand so roughly, but instead, she was too caught up in Henry's explanation.
"You're a farmer?" she began, "I used to help out on the farm back home and the tools are so dangerous, see here-" at this point she thrust her own arm towards to Henry showing him the back of her hand. It was an odd hand movement, reminiscent of how a lady would offer her hand to a nobleman; she pointed to a horseshoe shaped silvery mark that Henry probably couldn't even see in the dim light.
"-that's where my youngest brother hit me with a hoe! I'm pretty sure he did it on purpose, they always said I was more of a hindrance than a help in the field. They must have really wanted me out of the way!" Gill laughed reminiscing, she had barely thought about home since she had come to Camelot. It was nice to remember.
Caught up in her reverie, Gill hadn't noticed the silence that fell between them until Henry broke it:
"I wonder what stars are?"
As soon as he spoke he turned his face away, so Gill couldn't tell if the question was in earnest, or if he was making fun of her naivete...
"I'm not sure..." she replied, deciding it was a proper question, "Scholars would say different- but they remind me of magic. I think maybe someone really powerful put them there." Gill turned to look at the stars properly.
"Can you do magic?" She inwardly cringed that she had asked such a childish question and fervently wished she'd phrased it a bit better, still, it was out there now...
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Post by Henry Renold on Oct 20, 2009 22:32:32 GMT
"Me?" He asked, as though she was making a joke. "If I could do magic, I don't think I'd be dressed in these do you?" He surprised himself with the way he spoke, he hadn't meant it to sound so rude and he definitely didn't feel that confident. Now that he had drawn attention back to his scruffy attire, he wanted to change the subject again, but just didnt know how.
"I think your right about the stars though," He said after some time, much more softly. "I always like to think that its where people go after, you know? But I don't know, maybe thats just wishful thinking." He sighed, and stared into his lap, thinking about his birth mother.
Often, when he was younger, he used to imagine that his mother had been a noble, who had had an affair with an illegal sorceror and to avoid the shame on her family, had abandoned the baby as soon as she could. He soon came to realise that had that been true, he would more than likely have some sort of magical abilities and never in his life had he shown any sign of anything at all. He thought he had disbanded all thoughts of his mother long ago, but clearly they still hung there, like cobwebs in hsi mind.
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Post by Lady Gillianne Auvray on Oct 23, 2009 20:05:00 GMT
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say... I mean, I was just asking." Gill stumbled over her words when Henry replied so defensively to her question. She wasn't even sure what she was apologising for, but she made a mental note to keep her tongue in check in the future. Now Henry had mentioned it, she couldn't help but look at his attire. It was dark, worn and threadbare in most places. Infact, it was so scruffy she wondered that she hadn't considered it before. She had obviously been preoccupied with other things- her stolen purse, the man threatening her, and most recently: nearly losing her job.
When Henry replied about his thoughts on the stars, she smiled. At least he hadn't stayed mad at her, but then he fell silent and looked so forlorn and deep in contemplation. When Gill couldn't think of anything comforting to say, she instead attempted to cross over and sit beside him on his branch, hoping that her closer presence would be comfort enough.
Unfortunately, in the dark, she completely misjudged the distance, and plummeted over the branch she was aiming for, a startled scream escaping her lips. Her flailing hands clutched at Henry's lap, then legs, then feet in free fall, but were unable to keep hold. She landed with a soft thump on the grassy ground below, hair lightning-struck wild, skirts and petticoats hitched up over her knees. With one hand, she held her head as if to stop the sky spinning before her, in the other, she clutched one of Henry's shoes, a glazed expression on her face.
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Post by Henry Renold on Oct 25, 2009 19:27:50 GMT
As Henry fell deeper into his thoughts, Gill tried to move to sit beside him on the branch. His first thought was that the branch wouldn't hold, but that soon faded as he saw that she had missed her target and was free falling. He almost followed her to the ground as she pulled at his legs, but he managed to stay in the tree, and only lost his shoe. A thump told Henry she had landed and he leaned through the branches looking for her.
It was too dark to see what had happened so he called out "Uh are you okay?" No one replied.
With a quick slide and a shimmy, Henry was back on solid ground and he quickly ran over to where Gill lay, dazed and confused.
"Um..hello? ...Girl...hello?" Henry suddenly realised he still didn't know this girls name, and he felt awful for not having asked before. He wasn't sure if she was unconscious or just refusing to talk to him, but he was starting to worry, and he could have sworn he could hear the sound of hooves pummelling the soft earth.
He realised as he bent down beside her, that her skirts were rather jauntily placed above her knees, and not wanting to be rude he arranged them as they should lay.
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Post by Lady Gillianne Auvray on Oct 25, 2009 23:08:46 GMT
Gill didn't know how much time had elapsed until she saw Henry's blurred face hovering infront of her. Her ears still rang from the scream that had echoed out across the orchard. She stared, her eyes glassy as he spoke to her. His words washed over her, comforting, yet only registering a few long seconds after he had finished speaking.
"Hello?... Hello." she said, the world was gradually coming into focus the right way up, and Henry's two faded floating images became one concerned face looking down at her. She could feel his hand pulling her skirts down over her knees, and flinched at the sudden contact when the back of his hand touched her leg.
"I... I think I have your shoe..." she mumbled, stretching out both arms, offering the shoe and at the same time requesting to be pulled upright. She ached all over, and bruised like a peach- she was bound to be covered in tiny stormcloud bruises the next morning.
"And it's Gill, not girl." she added, waggling the shoe at Henry. Was it her ears still ringing, or could she hear distant horse hooves?
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Post by Henry Renold on Oct 27, 2009 19:57:26 GMT
Henry leant forwards, close to Gills face as she opened her eyes. He was so worried she might have done some serious damage and she didn't seem to be properly conscious either.
Please wake up! He prayed silently.
When the "Hello" left her lips, Henry frowned, she still didn't seem to be registering her surroundings but at least she was awake. He laughed as she offered his shoe to him, waving it in his face as she told him her name.
"I had wondered if you even had a name!" He smiled and took the shoe from her, laying it beside them both.
"How is your head? Does it hurt? I cant believe you fell!" His words flowed out, surprising Henry. He had been so quiet so far since meeting Gill, and now he was babbling like an excited child.
He shut up straight away, blushing scarlet and trying to turn away, as he did so he caught his hand in her long skirts and slipped, ending up sprawled across her body.
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Post by Prince Arthur Pendragon on Oct 27, 2009 20:13:18 GMT
Arthur's peace was shattered by one of the most piercing screams he had ever had the misfortune to hear. It echoed across the orchard, making his horse lay her ears back flat and stamp her hooves. Arthur felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up at the sheer pitch of the scream.
Within seconds he had turned his horse and was racing back to the lines of apple trees on the far side of the orchard where he believed the noise had come from. Luckily the horse he was riding this evening was one he favoured for her speed and soon he was reigning her down into a steady trot and searching for the source of the wail.
It took a while but finally Arthur heard voices and saw dark shadowy figures moving further down the row. Dismounting, he walked between the trees watching the figures trying to work out what was going on.
Currently a man was bent over the figure of a woman, dishevelled and laying flat on the ground. Her skirts were ruffled and Arthur watched as the man pulled at them making the girl flinch.
"Get your hands off of her!" He cried, unsheathing his sword and holding it pointed at the man. For the first time Arthur noticed his dirty thin clothes. He was a filthy Low, from the slums where disease and crime were rife. God only knew what he had been about to do to this poor girl.
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