Imprisoned! Again! (Spice)

[Paradox]

Laighean shook his head , "No, no. Ah think you misunderstood me. I said I wanted to get to know ye like in a friendly sort o' way, not that I wanted to court ye. That's- ah mean , come on now. Don't ye think courtship is a wee bi ' hasty considerin' we only joost met a hanful o' times?"

If Aella had been his little sister, he'd have been really concerned. Fortunately , Fi was not a hopeless romantic. Well, that he knew of? Was she...oh Guardian, he hoped not!

"And the reason ah'm uh... it's sort o' a long story. Truth be told, ah actually danne know 'ow old ah am or why ah look – I was in me prime when me home was cursed . The land, and everyone in it was sort o' frozen in time so ah've been around for a long time but not really livin'-" He noticed now that in her flustered state, she wasn't headed in the right direction.

"Er...the inn is that way." He pointed in the opposite direction which she was going.

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Aella, not fully hearing everything he had to say, stumbled in her tracks before turning around.
"Right!"
ANd as she move to follow that direction, she paused to realize as she turned around, furrowing her brow.
"Wait, what? If you had no intentions then.. then.. why did you kiss me?" Though then might not have been the best time to inquire, considering- the guards were well on their way!

[Paradox]

Laighean felt very much on the spot, " Ah danne. Ah joost...uh...well, it was joost a friendly peck on the cheek. It's nae like ah swept ye into me arms and planted a smooch on yer lips!" Although he was tempted! " Ah joost - well, ye know. 'Tis a friendly gesture. Me people kiss each other on the cheek all the time. Er...some of the time. Rarely. But ah mean they do ...on rare occasion?" Lame.

"Why are ye out here anyway? " The last thing he would have thought was that she'd been crazy enough to try and see him, but it was crazy enough that she was out here alone. "Ye could get attacked by robbers!"

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Aella, blushing embarrassedly at his words, turned away from him. She couldn't look at him. Couldn't see him. She felt so foolish and at his question, she didn't know if she COULD answer him.
"I.. just I.." ANd her voice croaked in her throat, tears stinging her eyes, but before she could even consider a real response, the guards rounded the bed and were right before the pair, shining a light upon them.

"There he is!"

"And he's got a woman with him!"

"After them both!"

[Paradox]

Her reaction felt worse than an arrow to the gut. He knew he'd said something wrong , but he couldn't figure out what. "Aella," he was going to ask when the guards caught up with them. 

"Hi there!" Laighean greeted the guards cheerily with a wave. "How ye doin' this fine, night my fine sirs? " He winced and raised his arm to block his view when the light was being flashed in his eyes, "Er. Would ye be so kind as to lower that? "

They did but then one of the guards pointed his mace at Laighean and snarled, "Put your hands up where I can see them, mage. "

"Yeah! And no tricks!"

"Or lies!"

Laighean did as he was instructed,raising his arms well above his head, "Alright. Ye got me, lads! Ah'll go quietly." Of course the swirling white mist gathering around his fingertips spoke otherwise.

"Shit! He's using magic! "

Laighean laughed, "That's right! Ah'm summonin' a fearsome army of flesh eating monsters that'll tear you limb from limb if you come another step closer!"

And the icy mist did swirl forth from his fingertips, forming into dozens of flitting icy little shapes.

"Butterflies? "

Laighean laughed nervously and blushed, "Oops. How embarrassing. That's the wrong spell. Give me a moment. "

"Enough of this nonsense! Grab him!"

Laighean snatched Aella's wrist, "Now's a good time fer runnin'!"  And run they did!

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And run they did. Aella didn't have a chance to really register it all, her eyes beginning to blur over with tears as they did so- and the run itself was awkward at best, not just because of her confused, breaking emotions, but because as the torch lights were cast over them, from time to time, Laighean would solidify and they'd bump into one another none too gracefully as they probably appeared a pair of fools to the advancing guards.

"How are we going to out run the guards?" she asked, pathetically wiping at the tears falling down her face. "And what if they catch us and we both hang?"
Oh! She had never been a criminal before, and the more she thought about their situation, the more she wanted to cry.

[Paradox]

"Calm ye'self, lass. They're not going hang ye. Ah'm sure your mother will find a way to blame all of this on me.  " Laighean reassured her. Really, did she have to cry now? Couldn't she hold it in and save it for later ? The tears were going to blind her and slow her down, if her emotions didn't blind her to her surroundings first that is.  But he knew he probably had himself to blame for this. If he had known what to say then she wouldn't be such a mess.

And this whole time he had denied all fault in what had happened but the truth was Aella would probably be somewhere else safer and happier if he'd just left her alone at that party. It's not like interacting with her had gotten him anywhere other than on a bad sort of path with his brother.

"I know joost the thing that'll get rid of them," He raised a hand and ,gathered the moisture from the air around them, willing it to solidify into an icy mist which he blew from the palm of his hand back over his shoulder. And the cobbles behind them turned slick and cold, causing their pursuers to lose their balance, slip and fall.

Unfortunately, Laighean was a little cocky in his display of ability and neglected to stop himself in time to preventing the ground beneath him and Aella to turn to ice as well and soon they too were slipping and sliding along. "Ach! This joost isn't me night!" 

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With a yelp, Aella went down hard on the cobble stone, dragging Laighean with her- but where they were both positioned precariously over the slick cobblestone, the light suddenly went out as Aella shivered when Laighean turned back into a ghost. And for the life of her, she couldn't help but begin to sob just then. Oh, her mother was right! She was such a fool!

[Paradox]

The situation made Laighean feel incredibly awkward because never, in all his years, had he made a girl cry before. As she passed through him, he moved away and , in his incorpreal form, he found it much easier to regain his balance. If he'd been solid, he would have offered to help her to her feet , but as it was he could do little more than look down at her and feel guilty. "Ah. Danne cry, lass. It's not the end o' th' world. " He tried to comfort her, having no idea what was wrong with her. He just assumed that she was afraid of being arrested or something which he thought was silly because she was a duchess's daughter , someone clearly too important to be seriously punished for being a wee bit naughty.

"Do ye wanna talk about yer...um....feelings or...something? Do ye need tea? A...stuffed bear?  Cookies?" He asked lamely, not really sure how to go about this. 

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Scrambling onto the wall next to her, the girl finally managed to drag herself to her feet, all the while the guards were still lumbering and clattering away as the fought the ice themselves.
"No.." she said, still sobbing as she shook her head. "I just need to go back home. I've made a mistake." How could she be so foolish? She was devastated, and the pain was too much to bear. Now she felt an even bigger fool before, and now-t he only time she felt shame. And she didn't even feel like running anymore as she leaned into the wall and cried.

[Paradox]

Laighean stood there stupidly, trying to work out in his mind how this had gone downhill so quickly. He mentally retraced his steps back to the conversation that had shifted her mood. There was something about him that bothered her. Was it what he was that caused her grief? She'd made a 'mistake'? What did she mean by that?  He shook his head and shrugged at her, "Alright. Uh...do ye need someone to walk ye home?"  He only realized how foolish that sounded after he'd said it. "Oh. Right. Well, maybe part o' the way?" 

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By now, one of the guards had righted himself, and challenged the ice as he stormed across it, all the while Aella was shaking her head.
"No!... no," she said, turning her face away from him. "I can see myself home." And at that very minute, a torch light came dancing over them as the guard grabbed Laighean roughly by the arm.
"You're coming with me mage! By order of the Duchess of Hellvion, we will keep you under lock and key!"

[Paradox]

"This just isn't my night," Laighean sighed and turned away from Aella and to the guard, " okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but ye leave me with no choice. "

And the guard shrunk back a bit, still holding onto Laighean's arm but half- expecting a terrible blizzard to rain down upon him...

Laighean wrenched his arms free, quickly grabbed the man's head in both hands and with a cry of "HIYAH!" he smashed his skull against the guard's and shook his head regretfully as the poor fool collapsed face down on the icy cobbles. Laighean bent to snatch up the torch and gave one last glance over his shoulder at Aella, "Right . Well, ah suppose this is goodbye then. Farewell, princess." And with that, he walked off quickly because the other guards were recovering and he had no intentions of being caught. Again.

"There he goes! Don't let him get away!" And the guards pursued him, leaving Aella cold, teary-eyed and very much alone. 

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Aella watched in dismay as Laighean downed a guard using his head, and long after he left, she finally choked out a sob, and turned away from the area and began to rush towards her home. THe manor home wasn't too far away, but she kept getting turned around, and just as it was looming on the horizon (aka- just a few blocks away) she paused to catch her breath and lean into a wall, where there, she took the time to let herself cry more properly. She felt like such a mess. But who wouldn't? Her heart, after all, was broken. And she? She felt a fool!

[Paradox]

It wasn't difficult to lose people when you were ghost. All Laighean had to do was pass through buildings with ease at night. He reached the inn in no time, but paused and cursed himself for thinking about Aella. He hesitated , wondering what good it would do to go back and see her. What could he say to her when she didn't seem to be in the mood to talk or even so much as look him in the eye? Why were girls so damned complicated? And why did he feel like it was his fault for not understanding ? His mother had never been able to properly explain that one to him.

He sighed and turned away from the inn, "I hate myself." Ultimately, he decided that the least he could do was make sure that Aella actually did make it home safely because he had left her in a blubbering mess . But, hey , she had insisted on it so it wasn't his fault! Right? Right? Right. It wasn't his fault if something happened to her because she had refused his help.

His steps took him wandering back to where he'd left her and , eventually, by chance he did catch up with her which surprised him because he wasn't expecting to find her so easily. He would have assumed that she'd found her way home by now. Laighean considered going to her since she was crying, but he hung back in the shadows. No. He'd just make sure she'd get home safely. She probably didn't want to see him right now anyway but it wasn't easy for him to stand idle and listen to her cry. 

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It took a lot longer for Aella to find her way back home than it had been to sneak on out. With tears blinding her and her mind just a mess, she eventually found herself on the street to her home, but before she even had a chance to sneak around back, a few of the city guards rounded the bend- a torch light upon her form. Flinching back from the light,t he lead guard called back towards the open front door.
"Duchess Melora! Here she is! We found your daughter!"
And before Aella had a chance to protest or even react, her mother was rushing down the pathway and out into the streets. Seeing her daughter in a soiled, velvet cloak, she frowned and took her into a rough embrace before turning her head back towards the guards.

"Thank Angsar she is safe."
And the men nodded towards her as Melora guided her daughter back into the home. Turns out, Melora knew of Aella's escape just moments afterwards, and was in a fit when the city guards took song long to come and question her- especially when the mordecai bells were ringing!

"So what you're telling me is that, that... mage is on the loose?"

The lead guard raked a hand through his hair and gave a shake of his head.
"Yes. It turns out his powers are immune to the mordecai. The men at the jail exclaim he turned into a ghost."

Melora's eyes went wide as she took in the news.
"Ghost!?"

The man hesitated, but nodded. "I can only report what they say, my Duchess."

Melora growled. "Insolent guards! What sort of time are we living in that a magical ghost can run amok in the streets?A re we are barbaric as the Adelans? As uncivilized as the Essyrni!?"
And the night went on like this, the guards swearing they'd bring the man in and long after they had left, Melora forced Aella into her room, keepng her under lock and key, and even adding a few enchanted charms around the door in hopes to ward the salacious ghost out.

Now stuck in her tower bed room, Aella threw herself back onto her bed. She had cried so much on her way home, she had no idea how to feel now rather than numb, and clung onto a tiger stuffed toy upon her bed- that was, until she realized what memories that brought up as she upsettedly threw the toy acrosst ehr oom, then buried her face into her pillow- hoping sleep would find her in this exhausted mess. Perhaps when she'd wake up.. it would all be just a dream....


And as Laighean was making his way after the girl- Draven stepped out from around the bend and stared down at his younger brother.
"Hello, Laighean. I assume those bells are for you?"

[Paradox]

Laighean was only somewhat surprised to find Draven here, but his expression only showed bitterness and irritation at his elder brother's arrival, " Are they? Ah dannae. The only thing ah know is yer in me way. Excuse me. " He stepped around his brother and kept moving forward, not once looking at the man because he was so pissed. Not just with Draven ,but with himself. And the only person whom had suffered from so much failure was poor Aella. Somehow, he had to set it right again.

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Draven sighed and turned around, following after his brother.
Laighean..." he growled. "You can't just walk away from me. I know you're upset about the Masked Ball, but I wasn't going to tell you about it because you'd get in the way."
ANd if the bells ringing now were any indication of that, Draven would be the first to point it out.
"Besides, where are you running now anyway?" And spotting the Avelon Estate, his eyes narrowed.
"Laighean... you didn't.."
Was his brother so terrible to have fooled around with the Duchess of Hellvion's daughter!? His head would roll come morning!

[Paradox]

"Ah can and ah am!" Laighean shot back testily, keeping along his path and determined to not let his brother control him- no, to not let his loyalty to Draven control him anymore because he felt that his brother hardly deserved that anymore. "Ah'm glad t' know that while ah've placed me faith in ye, ye've none fer me. Thank you, brother. Now , get lost! "

Laighean laughed , " Running? Me? What for? " He twirled around , smirking as his form became incorporeal in the shadows, " C'mon Draven. Who can catch a ghost?  "  But there was something else he ran from and he was sure that Draven wouldn't understand it because Draven had never let himself experience women.

"What?" Now Laighean paused and spun around, studying his brother's face. Did Draven think that he'd fooled with Aella? Well, he really couldn't fault his brother for thinking that since he pretty much bedded every fair lass they'd come across. " What if ah did? It's none o' yer damned business! Or is the all-mighty Draven jealous because ah'm 'avin' fun an' yer too busy savin' the world? " Of course , he said this just to piss Draven off, to push buttons because he was frustrated with the man. Let Draven think he'd fooled with Aella. Laighean doubted that Draven would believe him if he'd told the man that Aella was the one girl he wouldn't just lay with. Poor Laighean couldn't explain his feelings for Aella even if he wanted to because they were new to him. If only mother were around. Hell, Fiona would be more helpful!

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Draven narrowed his gaze upon his brother.
"By the Forest Guardian, Laighean, have you lost your mind? Don't you know you could compromise all of us by bedding that girl? All of our heads will roll if her mother finds out- and no small thanks to you, it's taken a lot of convincing for me to get even close to her mother. She has something that we need, Laighean, and if you mess this up, I swear by the Guardian I'll-"

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE!?"

Shit, the guards were there. Moving into the shadow, he stood as a ghost beside his brother and glared. "Let's get back to the Inn, Laighean. Before the entire town is after us both."