Lady looked across the room at Tarquin’s gift to the king. She had changed from the Kingsday battle armor to a more formal outfit for the Feasting that followed. Her Jerkin was night blue and cut down to her knees. She wore it sleeveless, and its lower cut at the neck showing more skin than modest women dared, and proving her status as a free woman. Her boots were the same battle ready ones she wore in the throne room, as was her blade but her hair was relaxed, the black metal thorns replaced with gold ones, just as sharp but also a teasing bit of color tangled in her dark hair.
The others gathered around Tarquin at a safe distance, since he was presenting the king with new property. Lady who took a place beside the Demon in the throne room walked directly to Tarquin and examined this “woman” of his. To her eyes it was a frightened boy in a light grey linen dress. His white hair tangled about his head held bits of leaves, and the occasional crawling thing. He was brown with dirt, but underneath that, newborn pink. He stared fixedly at the floor and he rocked out of rhythm to the song he softly hummed.
Looking at him Lady suddenly thought of her younger brother, now years dead. He had been eager, joyful, and at times gentle, and she had grieved that with all his blessings he had not been given enough strength in this world. His memory proved far stronger than his sword hand as he was slain in his first duel. There should have been nothing of her dashing confident, adoring brother who promised he’d win a protectorate for his sister. Still the longer Lady looked at him the more her heart began to ache. To end the ache she looked up at Tarquin.
Tarquin's formal dress showed off the wealth and power of the Wail Stone protectorate. He wore a black leather jerkin made of mountain drake, naturally beveled in black diamond scales. It was thin and light. Highly polished silver ornamented over the sleeves and at the collar and hung a dozen rings deep under the bottom of the Jerkin. The peach tree, his family's crest was painted in bright earth tones across the jerkin's chest. Under it he wore a shirt of thick warm grey linen, puffed at the upper arms, and gathered near the wrists under more mountain drake leather, this time straps woven together into slick black shiny bracers.
There was nothing unusual about his dark grey trousers except the belt that secured them was taken as a battle trophy from his earlier duel, the buckle was a gold dragon swooping down for the kill, it's talons gripping and locking the belt. It was a bragging piece of jewelry made to be dueled over and Roid had lost it that morning over his false claim against Tarquin. Steel snakeheads bit and locked the sides of Tarquin's boots, the left boot sheath to a thin dagger. Tarquin's wounded arm was in a casual sling made from a long wide peach colored ribbon.
“Give him to me.” Lady demanded of Tarquin, and the Skald lord just looked at her and blinked as if he hadn’t heard right. “Don’t play the fool, Tarquin, you think our king will honestly believe this is the great prize that the others challenged you to possess?”
“Give her to you?” Tarquin said to clarify.
“As pretty as your boy is Tarquin, he is no she, and you risk the kings wrath to trade him a pretty slave boy when he expects an exotic woman.” Lady’s tone was reasonable rather than argumentative. “Give the boy to me. It will save your life and I will take good care of him.”
“This is...was...my salvage, Lady. and I’m sorry she doesn’t seem feminine enough for you, but assure she is no boy. I found her wandering naked out of the wyldwood.” Tarquin didn’t hide his amusement very well although he wanted to trouble from Lady. She had survived more challenged than some of the older lords of Skald.
Lady almost accused him of lying as she looked down at the boy, suffering under the gazes of more and more people who clustered into the feasting room to get a peek. Tarquin was unsettled by Lady’s scrutiny.
“He can not think, or breathe in here. There is too much, to many people in this room for him.” Lady said bending to one knee and reaching a hand to the boy.
“I agree, this room is making her upset, but I need to present her to the King. I do not want to seem in defiance.”
“And that is why you will give him to me.” Lady decided, she pulled a leaf from his fine white hair and was rewarded with the boy noticing her. His eyes the color of morning sky now drank her in but he did not smile, he stayed worried. She nodded to the boy and stood back up to face Tarquin. “Somethings are protecting even in defiance of the king, or why bother to call yourself a Lord of Skald”
“Well said.” Drake could not help but grin at the surprise his sudden presence gave. “Now, what are we in defiance over?”
No comments:
Post a Comment