Dream a Dream

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

Dreamer noticed how Nelie tried to brush the matter out of the way, but he wasn't that easy to get rid of. Weather the little adventure in the library was wasted, it didn't matter to him, he wanted to know what exactly she was looking up. More importantly, he wanted to know who she was.

"Whats your family name?" Dreamer said, knowing that the name would be important. The name would say if she was a noble or not, and may give a reason as to why she was given permission. Then another thought struck him, she could read, it wasn't a common skill. He himself was working on it, and was getting good, but it hadn't been a skill he had.

If she could read the complicated books in the Royal library, then she had to have come from an educated background. She had to be a Noble, no commoner could afford the education.

[Nellie Bell]

Nellie sighed and shook her head. She looked back at him and said, "You really don't know how to take a hint do you?" She laughed humorlessly. But his next question was, by far, the easiest one for her to answer. This time her smile was almost smug. "Bell. Just as I had said." It was true too. Finella Telanie Bell. When she came to Camelot, she knew, to escape notice, she had to change around her name a little bit, so used Nellie instead of Finella, but she didn't have the heart to change her last name. She would feel like she was losing herself a lot more than she already was. She looked him in the eye, her grin showing her white teeth. "Ready to give up now?"

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

Dreamer smiled, the woman's unwillingness only made him even more curious. She attempted to make him stop, and that wasn't going to happen. All in all, it seemed like an interesting game now that played off his curiosity, a dangerous combination.

"You obviously don't know me malady, i don't give up" he said. His teeth also gleamed back at her, his amusement very obvious. "You are very interesting my noble friend", his tone made the noble part sound like a compliment, instead of the hint it was.

[Nellie Bell]

Nellie narrowed her eyes almost playfully, wondering at his curiosity. It appeared he wasn't going to stop, and that annoyed her, but she wasn't really mad, per se. The questions were still getting under her skin, though. She figured that her simple answer would never be enough to give anything away. Especially anything about her past.

Then, something happened that she never thought would. Someone had guessed Nellie's past. Her mouth popped open and her eyes went wider than they ever had, making her look like a stunned doe. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She put a fake smile on her face and looked at him. "I don't know where you got that crazy idea from. I'm a barmaid, for crying out loud."

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

Dreamer noticed the changes in her facial features, the raised eyes and the face smile, both he himself had used before. He smiled, he had caught her off guard. "I wouldn't recommend crying out loud, you never know who will become interested" he said, providing a humorous tone to his joke.

Dreamer sighed before pushing his hair back for a moment, accidentally letting his eye showing for a moment, before his hair fell back into place. "Look here Milady, we both know your a barmaid, but we also both know you aren't a normal barmaid" he said. "No normal barmaid has records of their family in a noble barmaid, no normal barmaid recieves permission to look threw said library, and no normal barmaid could even begin to comprehend a fraction of what is written in those records".

He let each word come out smoothly and softly, so as to not alarm any attention from nearby tables. He was taking it slowly, his curiosity moving in like a predator for its kill.

[Nellie Bell]

Nellie listened on in horror. He knew. He knew, he knew, he knew. A new kind of panic entered her looks. What if he was there to kill her, and his questions had been to make sure he had found the right girl. The single living heir to the Bell throne. She reached one hand under the table and clutched her sword in case he decided to do anything. Then again, if he was looking for her, this guy was probably a trained assasin and she wouldn't last more than two seconds. She swallowed and tried to calm herself as to not worry any of the customers in the bar. "Ok," she breathed, "you found out I'm a noble." Or was, but he probably already knows that, she thought. "What now?" If he was an assasin, this would be his shot. She was practically inviting him to make the kill. But even through her worry, she saw something odd in his eye, but before she could get a better look, his hair was already back in place. It caught her off-guard for a second, but she immediately returned to her alertness, and made sure she had a good grip on her sword.

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

"What now?" he said, repeating her words again, he thought the end would have been obvious. He had expected her to continue on with being difficult, not ask him how he wanted the situation to end. He did not know she was grasping a blade below the bar, so he felt, in no way, any danger.

After a moment of silence between the two of them he said, "Well, how about you explain the rest of this fascinating story while we both have a glass of milk". Dreamer had never caught on as a big alcoholic, and the ale at the Ram still made him cringe. "Don't worry," he said, trying to reassure her "I swear i wont tell another living soul about this, i'm just curios" he smiled brightly.

[Nellie Bell]

His words didn't completely soothe her apprehension, but Nellie did loosen her clutch on the swords just a little bit. It was still at the ready if he was playing a game, but she was no longer imprinting the engravings from the hilt onto her hand. She wasn't sure how to continue. When he talked about the milk, in her current situation, she was immediately suspicious. Did he know she was holding a sword and wanted her hands to be free so he could kill her easily, or was he just an honest person trying to unravel a confusing girl over a glass of milk? She wasn't sure. Not only that, but she had never talked about her past. To anyone. And she didn't want to open up like that to a random stranger.

"Umm.." She reluctantly released her grip from the sword and, against all her instincts and her head screaming at her that she's crazy, she turned around, grabbed two cups, and poured the milk. When she turned back, she was surprised that she wasn't on the floor bleeding. She placed one cup in front of him and the other in front of her, but didn't drink it. Instead she placed her hand back on the sword.... Just in case. "Y-you really don't want to know about." She forced a laugh and a smile. Perhaps he wanted to hear the story, to know for certainty it was her family that they had forced out years ago. See, not trusting happens to people when their entire family is massacred at the age of 15.

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

Dreamer could tell she was withdrawn, she felt uncomfortable discussing her history. A part of him wanted to stop questioning her, it really did, but that wasn't going to happen. His curiosity was to strong, and her history too interesting, to just give up now. Like he said before, he didn't quit.

"Trust me" he said, "I'm interested" after a moment he felt he should try to comfort her. "I'm sorry, my curiosity is to compelling, i find myself always asking too much questions" he said, smiling he continued, "Just ask a few of the regulars here, or even the guard at the front door, though i don't think hes working right now, they'll tell you of my curiosity".

Then he said it, his voice growing a little lower as he thought about each story he had heard from both acquaintance and friend, "Ive probably heard worse than yours anyway, so please don't be frightened to tell me".

[Nellie Bell]

Nellie saw something that kind of surprised her, and made her calm down a bit. She saw hesitation. But not hesitation in a, "should I kill her now or later," kind of way, but it looked like he might not ask her any farther about her past. But, of course, he did. She rolled her eyes and actually emitted a tiny laugh. "Yeah, you do. You definitely don't know where to stop." A bit of an actual genuine smile played on her lips. It was gone in an instant when she realized that if she was going to get this giy off her tale, she would have tell him her story, whether it ended in her death or not.

Nellie looked him in his eye and said very seriously, "Let me tell you now. My story doesn't have a happy ending. If it did, I wouldn't be here right now." She searched his eye, and found only curiosity. She sighed and looked down shaking her head. She didn't lift up her head when she started her story. "My name is Finella Telanie Bell. My parents were King and Queen of a kingdom far away from here, and I was the Princess. I had three older siblings, my brother being the eldest and me being the second eldest. We had a great life. My father wasn't the greatest King, but he did the best he could, with my mother by his side, supporting him. Then," she stopped for a second, gathering herself. This was the part that hurt the most, "when I was 15, umm, my Kingdom was... invaded." Her voice became hoarse as she was holding back tears. It annoyed her because she never ever cries in front of people. "And I was the only one to get away. The guard grabbed us two horses and we rode here to Camelot." She looked back at him, leaving out the part that her entire family was massacred before her eyes and so was the guard on their way here. She forced a smile, her eyes stinging with tears, but she held them back. "So, that's my story."

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

Dreamer felt a little bad after he had heard the story, and noticing her fighting to keep her calm appearance. It wasn't working to hard, but hey it was an effort. Now, all Dreamer felt like was a total jerk. He didn't ask about her family, he didn't need to really. Her family was most likely murdered, although he didn't know in front of her eyes, or else she wouldn't need to look for updated records in the castle library.

"Im sorry" he said, taking a sip of his milk to try and think. Then he got it, he could help, but it might be risky. He had never tried to heal an emotional wound with magic before, or even to dampen it. Dreamer used White magic, which healed whatever was broken, at least that's what he was told. So in theory, he thought, he could heal a wound beneath the flesh.

It was worth a shot.

"I think i can help" Dreamer said quietly, "Help ease the pain, even just for a little bit".

[Nellie Bell]

Nellie could tell that he felt bad. Good, she thought. Not like I wanted to tell him. But she didn't actually want him to feel bad, it was just extremely painful to talk about. "No, it's ok. It's just, that's the first time I've talked about it.... Ever." She knew hat was crazy. But there was just no one she could trust enough to tell. It took her forever to tell this guy. Then again, she spent most of that time debating whether or not he was an assasin, which he didn't seem like he was.

Then he said something that confused Nellie. "Ease my pain? It's not some scratch or gash on my arm that can be healed with a touch." There was obviously skepticism in her voice, but also a trace of anger. She felt that he was making fun of her a little bit. She tells him her life story, than he goes and says he can make it better. She eyed him carefully, narrowing her eyes slightly.

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

"Dear gods" he said, "I wish, it would be much easier". He could heal a scratch or gash, no problem. He didn't mean to sound offensive, he had just assumed she knew about him. Which was idiotic, cause he rarely openly let anyone know he was a magician.

He decided he might just have to, to help this woman.

"How do you feel about...um...magic" he said quietly.

[Nellie Bell]

Nellie furrowed her eyebrows, confused by his answer. That wasn't necessarily one she expected to hear, and his words themselves were confusing her. The he asked what she felt about magic. "Well, I know it exists. And that I know very little of it. I was learning it... back then." Even after she told him her story, she was still uncomfortable talking about it, or even referencing it. Then she gave him a regarded look, a bit suspicious. "Why?"

[Jasen "Dreamer" Masters]

She was cautious, but Dreamer still felt a little comfortable because she had been studying it. He soon convinced himself that she was a Mage, so he could feel comfortable talking to her about it freely. "Well" he said, "I could try and heal some of the wound the best i can".

He waited a minute before saying, "But Ive only ever did physical wounds, broken bones, gashes and such, Ive never dealt with anything emotional before". He needed to let her know that before hand, that it would be an experimental trial.