Spirits of the Earth

OOC: This thread follows directly after this one: Hanging By an Ice-Cold Chanelier (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=14690.msg135585#msg135585)

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As they traveled southward to Turgall, they made their way across the top of Belkrath and into a Northern town. No one questioned them, as this town made most of it's money on travelers and trade, so it had a few small shops, a tavern and inn, but nothing more. Once his new companions had some better clothes, they continued west into Hellvion, to where Blaith met up with a few associates, leaving Katahnia and Conall alone for a few days, but demanding that they stay low.
Not one to disobey, she remained steadfast by Conall's side, seeming only able to share whispers with him for days until they were on the road traveling once more.
There had been talk of running away, but it appeared neither was so foolish, as if, every time they looked over their back, her crazed cousin might be there.

Now they were going south and they were finally crossing the boarders into Turgall.
By now, the areas were much warmer, the grasses thawing along with the river beds, which were gushing with life as song birds sat on bare branches and whistled songs.

Katahnia smiled at the sight of a yellow-crested pheasant, recalling a time long ago, before her family had been slaughtered, and before her name had become erased. It was funny how twice i her life, the people of Connlaoth wanted her dead.

It would take the rest of the day to ride into the castle, and by then, the pair had been given a second pair of clothing, a chance for a proper bath before he'd drag them into his home.
They were just outside the castle gates, residing in a small tavern called 'The White Rose'; where a bed and bath could be purchased for half a silver. Blaith paid a premium to see the pair got oils, while he himself road on ahead to ready the castle for their arrival, and also to get himself in better clothes.

It was while Katahnia lay in the cooling bath waters that she finally spoke to Conall, having been silent most of the day.
"Conall?" she spoke towards the wooden partition int he room. The place was dark, but cozy, and segmented by thin squares of wood, and flimsy, but lockable doors. She had made sure her bath room was next to his, and waited until she heard him get comfortable in the waters on his side before striking up a conversation. After all, she could hear everything through the thin walls, and no body else was in there.

And it was like the rest of their journey- where no one questioned who they were, as if their other lives were ghosts.

((Getting to the point because the thought of this just amuses me.))
After weeks of travel , Conall was happy to finally have arrived in Turgall. He was even more relieved to be staying at an inn which was, an experience that was quite rare for him but that was hardly a matter to him since he was only happy to be given a moment of peace.

He took his time undressing, his fingers fumbling with the same button for a good three minutes before his mind registered that he was doing it wrong. This happened quite a few times more , but he eventually had removed his clothing and stepped into tub and settled down into the water which was a little too cool for his usual preferences , but he wasn't about to complain because it had been far too long since he'd bathed and it felt fantastic.

He sighed pleasurably and leaned back , closing his eyes and just enjoying the soaking process. Hearing Katahnia's voice, he didn't answer right away. Ah yes. This was nice. He could fall asleep here. "Yes,  Katahnia?"

   

Upon hearing the contentment in his voice, she smiled. Leaning back in the waters, she stared up at the ceiling and crossed her arms over her bare chest.

"Doesn't it feel really good to be out of those Mountains and back in the valley? I mean, despite all of this treacherous wind, I've become quite found of Turgall."
Though that was idle talk, and she was starting off their conversation with some idle chit chat. Truth be told, she had quite a lot on her mind.

"I didn't mind the mountains so much. I thought they were rather beautiful but perhaps being from Ardal, I'm used to seeing mountains, "Conall replied ,"In all honesty,  I was just happy to be out of prison and those horrible mage camps ."

He shuddered thinking about it and quickly changed the subject back to something a little more pleasant, "I've never really been here before, to Turgall I mean. Well, technically I have been here ,but it was a rather brief venture. I never really got to see very much but I never really had much time for anything. There was so much to do, you know?  " He cleared his throat. "So,  what sorts of things are there to see here?" 

Katahnia remained reclined in the water, her green eyes moving as if reading the ceiling.
"The usual things you'd think, but with flatter plains there are more farms for crops, I suppose." She sighed and splashed her hands through the water before turning his way and asking more seriously, "Conall... I... I've been meaning to ask you." And she paused to consider her question. "What do you aim to do about Ardal? I know right now we're stuck like prisoners, forced to follow my cousin around but... I know you care greatly for your duchy."
And she knew it had always been on his mind.

There was a long silence. He'd anticipated such a question, "I've learned from your cousin during our travels that Cormac Shanley, my uncle, is the new duke of Ardal. He murdered tortured my family to death so talking to him is out of the question. The first step is figuring out what's been happening there in my absence and then , I need to figure out who his allies are and who opposes him and why. Then I need to discern what their stances have been with this ...war and see if my interests and theirs might match up. I'm fairly sure that getting in touch with my mother's family, House Aeron would be a good idea. I know they disliked my father ,but they're likely to hate my uncle even more. The only problem is I've never actually met any of them. They sort of...just cut contact off with my parents shortly before my birth. So, they're not going to believe that I'm their grandson without some sort of proof which I don't have right now."

He frowned and thought about it some more, " Before I was sent to the mines, a family heirloom from House Aeron was taken from me. If I could manage to get that back and present it to them, they would acknowledge me as their blood because I was supposedly buried with it. "

Katahnia thought over his question while holding her bar of soap, and it almost appeared as if she were trying to bore a hole through the bath waters as she thought.
"Would you know where to begin to find such an item?"
For she had to wonder, if she too, still had allies since her apparent 'death'.
"You know it's strange.. to think the entire world thinks we're both dead." She stared up at the ceiling and smiled, before sighing and dipping her head beneath the water.

"Is it? People accepted my death so readily. As if they wanted mages to be responsible because that only validated their ill feelings." He sighed, "Forgive me.  I just...did no one question it? Or maybe they had no choice."

Conall rubbed his bearded chin (which was still in bad need of grooming and a cut) thoughtfully, " The last person who had my grandfather's sword was Calent Allarick. He might have sold it , or he might have kept it as a trophy.  I could certainly see the latter. No one in Allar or Uthlyn would recognize that heirloom so he need not be concerned with anyone seeing it but he wouldn't want it floating around. Better to keep it hidden under his nose. However, breaking into the palace wouldn't be easy. I'd need someone very skilled in that department. The best. I suppose I'd need money for that. Criminals never work for free. " Oh to think that he was considering robbing someone (even if he was stealing back something that was his) . Oh , Ansgar, I'm going to burn . 

The first thought that came to her mind was the one woman she had thought she hated. But even now, could she really blame Jinai for what happened between her and Cauwyn? When she felt she had been silent too long, she finally spoke.

"I know of someone who could do it."
And there would be no questions asked...

"Y-you you do!?" She heard him splashing around in the tub. Well, he wasn't quite sure what to think about that! Conall thought of Katahnia (in spite of her inappropriate teasing) a lady . Er, mostly. Sort of. Oh , Ansgar's beard! He had no idea what to think now!  What sort of people did Katahnia run around with? It made him worry a little! Just a bit.

However, it didn't matter did it? This was good that he knew someone who knew someone who might be able to help him. "Well, that's uh...great. So, how much do you think that would cost?" 

At his eagerness she frowned, though that frown deepened at his last question.
"She wouldn't cost us anything." She said softly. "She does this for the cause."

"Oh," well, this was awkward. He'd just assumed that...oh dear. He fumbled a bit over his words, "M-my apologies for making assumptions. I- have little knowledge of about these sorts of things. I- not, that making money is a bad thing. One must earn a living and I cannot fault anyone for it. " He cleared his throat, "I cannot help ,but detect that you don't sound all that enthusiastic about your suggestion though. Is there something the matter?" 

Kathania perked up at his words.
"She and I... well... it's complicated." She said with a sigh. "She's the reason I was no longer with Cauwyn." Yep. She was the other girl...
"But we had been friends before that, and we both believed in the same views. Although she was a bit... differnet in the way she approached her end goals. She's... not quite what you'd expect as a friend of a former lady." Then again, no one would have suspected Cauwyn as her lover, either!
"And well... she never says no..."

As if the conversation couldn't get any more awkward. He flushed with embarrassment. "O-oh. I- I'm sorry." He bowed his head. So this man she said she would have married, the father of her child had...cheated on her with this other woman? What a fool, that ex-lover of hers. He felt anger flash briefly through him, but he need not allow it to consume him. Cauwyn was , as far as he knew, gone and this must have been some time ago before he'd even met Katahnia.

" I don't understand why any man who was so blessed of earning your affections would just gamble it away like that. " He shook his head, " that is truly his loss." Though he wouldn't dare say he was glad that it had happened. He'd never wish anything ill on her. Had Cauwyn not done what he did, who knew? Maybe Katahnia would be elsewhere raising her daughter...

But that was not the way life worked. Here they were. "Well, we don't have to ask for this woman's help if you don't feel all that comfortable with it." Although his options were so limited, Katahnia's feelings were more important to him.   

Kathania grew quiet for a time before replying, "No... that's alright." ANd he'd be able to hear her move through the water before she sighed. "We have limited options and well... she's trust worthy."
Well.. except with men...
"And this is something I know she could do." SHe was creative, after all...
"It's just that I.. well.. It might also be difficult to simply track her down..."

"Very well, then, " Conall replied,"if you're comfortable with it then I would like to seek aid from this uh..." Well, he wasn't quite sure what to call her. "Er...acquaintance of yours. " Maybe they were still friends, maybe not. He didn't know and he wasn't going to prod much. It wasn't his business unless it truly bothered her.

"Right. Any ideas where to start looking? Though I suppose at this point your cousin won't allow us to wander far. I am a little surprised he left you here with me. I remember a time when he wouldn't let me anywhere near you. Or, perhaps he knows that I'm a gentleman and I behave myself. "

"Well..' Katahnia began, knowing full well Conall wouldn't like this...
"If we want to track her, the best place to start looking is a brothel." Yep,s he hung out with whores!

"WHAT!?" Conall's gasped and his face turned so red. "Whores? Whores? Like  people that sleep with other people for money? I don't really understand how that is going to help- I thought she was a thief or something. "

Whores!? Oh , Ansgar! He really was going to burn in hell for this! Actually, he could imagine how that could work. Oh! Why was he imagining it! He covered his face, " Not a problem. Not a problem. " It wasn't as though they were going there for uh special services or anything dirty like that!

Kathania blinked, and couldn't help but smirk at his reaction as she gave a light pat to the flimsy wall inbetween them.
"Really, Conall, it's not like she works there."
But close enough! "She just.. er.. does a lot of.. business there." And that did NOT sound anybetter...
"But yes, you were right to assume she was a spy. She does a lot of scouting for an organization known as the Free Folk. It's very hush hush, but they keep a safe haven for repressed mages."

"Business!?"  What did THAT mean? He could venture to guess. His face flushed even darker. "Silly me. What was I thinking?" Cause, you know, that totally didn't sound like what a whore did at all. No sir!

"I...didn't say spy. I said thief, but a spy is even better. " And , well, spies could also be whores and thieves. So maybe this woman was all of that. Wow, she must have been pretty busy. "And you really think she could get that close to Allarick? She's that good, huh?"

Katahnia frowned as she thought it over.
"Well, I know she has.. her own ways of doing things... but she normally likes taking the most challenging task." She said sheepishly, and beginning to feel guilty she even mentioned it as she sighed. "Maybe we ought to consider another alternative." She said, and finally began working at lathering her body up with soap.

"So she's not afraid of danger? Good, because that's exactly what we need. Even if the uh...methods are a tad bit questionable. " He wasn't very fond of the option, but beggars couldn't be choosers. "If she really would consider it, then I say we locate her and speak with her at least. Unless you can think of a better alternative, because I don't know of any."

Katahnia mulled it over for a good long while, struggling internally with the answer before she groaned and let herself fall back into the tub, propped her feet up and said, "Alright!" Except she misjudged how far out her legs were and kicked her bare, soapy feet into the flimsy partition between them-
and when it began to wobble her eyes went wide as she gasped and leaped forward as if to catch it...
but it was too late, and the partition fell over-
right ontop of Conall's head.

She was the one whom had suggested it in the first place! Why was she having second thoughts now? Maybe it bothered her more than she was admitting? Conall wasn't sure what to think and he didn't see the partition board come crashing down on his head.There was flailing and splashing , followed by an explanation of "GAH!"

Had the board murdered him!? Probably not. "That wasn't quite the reaction I had been anticipating." He pushed the board up and rose out of the tub to set it back in place, but of course he forgot one minor detail and got an eyeful of Kathania's soapy bosoms and stumbled backwards , splashing back into the tub. The partition fell with him, smacking him in the face.

"Ow..."

Served him right, the pervert.

Gasping, Katahnia covered herself with an arm, but managed to lean forward, feebly so in attempts to help him remove the board... for all the good it was doing her as her one free hand was all soapy and wet and kept slipping over the board.
"Sorry about that.." she said, averting his gaze, as her face was as red as a cherry... but even still, as they fought to lift the board, she found herself catching an eyeful of him as she paused in her lifting and smirked.

"You know, with that wet beard..... you kind of look like a giant drowned rat."

Oh! She was back to insulting his beard again, was she. Well, she could fling all the insults she liked because the beard wasn't going anywhere! It would be forever preserved! "Oh yeah? Well, you look...like..." He found himself staring at her inappropriately at her chest and blushed furiously, turning his gaze away, "Oh! Just help get this infernal thing off me, already!"

Catching him oogling, she gasped.
"C-CONALL!" And she took her bar of soap and threw it at his head. "You keep peeking!" she said, trying to keep her one hand more erm.. well.. she was TRYING to cover herself with one arm but it was just not doing such a good job, and finally, after realizing her efforts were for naught, (at leaest one handed,) she just decided t use two of them. He already got a look anyways and she moved to help him lift it. "On three... One.. two..." But a gasp indicated the board was suddenly ou of her control, and before Kat knew it-
CRASH...
it landed and sealed over her entire tub. Thankfully, she had ducked down to hide in it, but hwen she lifted her head, she realzied she was trapped inside!
A moment later, she was knocking underneath the wood.
"Conall! Conall! Please! Help me get this thing OFF!"

"What!?" Conall's face darkened red with embarrassment at her accusation, "I -I am most certainly not! It's not my fault that they're - they're THERE.  " Well, it was partially true, but not really.  "Oh , give me a break.  You looked at me first!" Also, not true, but she hadn't noticed the first time, right? Yes, yes. Blame it all on her. She was the real pervert here! "I was looking at you because you were talking to me. That's the polite thing to do." Except maybe for when one was nude. Crap. He probably should just stop talking.

And they moved the board off of him only for it to fall over on her , trapping her inside her own tub. " Hang on. I got it." Conall moved the partition board off (though it did slip from his grasp a couple times) and got it standing upright as it had been before. He slipped back on his side and she could hear him chuckling on the other side.

Gasping,s he was thankful to be able to breath fresh air again, and as she laid back in her tub, raking a hand thorugh her wet hair she heard...
the snickering.
OH NO HE DIDN'T.
And she wasted no time in standing up and shouting "CONALL! I hear you laughing over there!" Then gave an angered SHOVE to the fixed partition so it could fall back over him- only problem is.. she shoved it a bit too hard and slipped ou tof her bath- and went clean over the partition with a shriek and landed...
conveniently in his lap..
int he tub, with her face just an inch from his and while her eyes were looking directly into his, her entire face went red.

"C-CONALL!" she said, with an instinctive slap- Though it was hardly his fault at all, and after a moment, she realized what had all just hapened as he'd suddenly feel her shaking ontop of his lap


Yep


That's



Right.



She was laughing.

(( Special. I'm trying to imagine how she even managed that , but I'm just going to say that she used magic. This is sort of mature, I guess? lol...though more like immature. ))

At her indigence, Conall's snickering turned into full-bellied laughter. With a shake of his head, he settled back into his tub and resumed enjoying a nice, relaxing soak. He didn't see her sail over the partition until she landed in his lap with a splash and a grunt of "oof!" coming from him.

He stared at her, looking confused but then she hauled off and slapped him. "Ansgar! What was THAT for!? "

And now she was laughing and he found that laughter to be infectious and joined her. Well, it was probably one of the most ridiculous things that he'd seen.

OOC: Mature ish D:

Well, despite the situation being dreadfully awkward, at least they were enjoying themselves. She shook her head, wiped a few tears from her eyes as it had been ages since the last time she had ever laughed so hard.
"God, I think my stomach hurts from all this laughing," she said ad as she began to calm down, she found herself staring right into his eyes, and before she knew what she was doing, she cupped his face and kissed him.
"That's for rescuing me from my wooden grave," she told him, then reached int the bath waters and pulled out his hand, and set it over his eyes with a laugh.
"And that's so you don't peek!" ad before he could protest, she reclined back in his embrace, and sighed as her back prssed to his bare front and just enjoyed laying int he bath wiht him.
"I know this might seem awkward but... this is rather nice..." she said, smiling up at the bathing room ceiling. "I mean.. it's not like we've had a chance to be alone together since we've left the camp."
And lord knew even longer since she'd been with a man, cuddling or other wise.

((Mature for the nekkids. Turn away, kids! ))

Conall was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.He calmed down after a bit and grinned up at her despite their extremely awkward and inappropriate situation. He stuck his tongue out at her and smirked, "Hah! Serves you right, Miss Harmond. " 

Then she leaned forward and kissed him. Was it just him or did the water feel a lot warmer now? And then , predictably, she teased him again and took his hand and draped it over his eyes. "I told you, I wasn't peeking!" He started to protest and then what...what was she doing!? She was laying on top of him. But they were naked! This was so inappropriate! But he wasn't stopping her, he wasn't protesting because he'd never been with a woman like this before and he liked it.

Oh Ansgar....Blaith is going to murder me if he finds out. 

He nodded at her words. It was true that they hadn't had any private time together and it was nice simply to be able to laugh or enjoy a peaceful moment. But did she really have to sit on him while they were naked? His face was so red. "Y-yeah. It is nice. " That was about all he could manage. 

As with everything else, the moment shared together was short lived. She eventually turned bck to him, smiling at his face and how his hand now covered his eye. Wrinkling her nose, she snuck another kiss, just a quick one, to his lips before rising out of the tub.

"I think I've had enough bathing for one day." She said with a sigh, and took his towel and wrapped it around herself. "Though I'm not touching that partition anymore," she said matter of factly, while she tucked the towel in tightly around her form. GIving a fluff to her hair, she stared at the divide between the two rooms before crawling over and retrieving her own towel from the other side, and then handed it over ot him.

"Here, you should get out of there before you prune."

...

"Or your beard falls off."

((Slightly mature.))

She got him all worked up only to end things so quickly? Was she toying with him? Although he was somewhat relieved that she'd decided to leave the tub when she had or else his wood would have been poking her in the back. As she left the bathwater, he hastily drew some soap suds over his lap to hide his arousal.

She claimed to have had enough bathing.

I haven't.  He thought forlornly and looked down at the sudsy water with a frown.

At the mention of the partition though , he snickered. He took the towel that she handed to him and waited for her to disappear behind the room's separating wall before he rose from the water and hastily wrapped the towel around his waist. "There you go with your beard envy again. " He drained the tub of the bath water. God was it dirty. Well, he supposed it should be . He hadn't had a bath in months, almost a year. So gross! He felt refreshed now though as he hadn't in ....a long time. "Hrm....I really do need to take care of my hair, I suppose. It's so ratted...I'll have to..." He shivered, "Have it cut and let it grow out again."

The horror....

Katahnia made sure to give him enough privacy, but snuck a playful look as his towel went around his waste.
"Oh? Considering a shave?" she asked playfully.

Conall gasped and hugged himself , "Don't LOOK! I'm not dressed yet!" As if she hadn't already seen everything already or most everything. He had no idea. In spite of all the scarring that covered his lean body, he wasn't a bad looking fellow. However, Conall was still a nobleman and clung a little tenaciously to his propriety. Sort of. He was also still a man, after all. His face turned red and he turned his back on her as he sought out his clothing which he'd left in a pile on his bed. He sad down and dressed himself in his undergarments first, "So sorry to disappoint you , but I am not shaving, "he told her stubbornly, "I'm just getting a trim to be rid of the knots. That's ALL. "

Inside he wanted to cry though. Most of it would have to come off.

"Hrm.. I don't know.." she said, inspecting his face quite thoroughly as she leaned in real close, kissably close, and smirked. "Seems you might have a knot all the way down to the skin." She scrutinized. "Yes, oh I see it.. right.. there." And she poked his dimple with a laugh.

"What!?" Conall's expression was one of complete horror. Still pantless, he rushed over to the nearest mirror to examine his face, running his hands over his beard and feeling for this supposed deep knot. But he couldn't find it and went back over to her, "Where!?" He had to know. Yes, he was taking this quite seriously because the fate of his beloved beard was on the line!  He noted the look on her face and knew that she was teasing him now, "You're terrible! You had me worried, honestly!"

He sighed and pulled on his pants now, "Alas, most of it really will have to go. I suppose I ought locate a skilled barber. " He was totally not asking her. She'd probably shave it all off and leave him hairless! 

Katahnia grinned and approached him, still in her towel as she gave him a coy grin.
"Ah, your beard. Your pride and joy.." she said, jutting out her chin as she stepped ever closer.
"What would you do if let's say.. another pine cone got stuck in it?" She was barely a foot away from him now, and still approaching. "Or...if I found a pair of.." and she held up her fingers to mimic it. "Scissors?" and she gave the air a little 'snip-snip'.

Conall took a step back from her with a gasp when she drew too close to him and blushed furiously, "You wouldn't dare! And p-put some clothes on before you invade my personal space, for Ansgar's sake!" Really, woman! He somewhat hated her for getting him so wound up into such a tight ball of nerves. The lack of decent attire was...distracting him from looking at her face . He kept staring elsewhere at her body.

"Oh, changing the subject now are we?" she inquired with a tighter grip to her towel. "Who says I'd leave you alone before I get that beard off of you?" and she teasingly reached for it, giving it a light pull.

"I say so!" Conall replied, exasperated with her because she wasn't listening to him. She just kept on trying to invade his little bubble. Really, how RUDE! He kept inching away from her and she kept getting closer until his back was against a wall and he couldn't retreat anymore. "Miss Harmond! This borders on harassment! Not just any sort of harassment, mind you, but beard harassment. It's a very serious crime that's so serious that I can't even say what the punishment is because that's how -how..." Crap. His eyes were wandering again.  His face flushed darker and his gaze shot back up to her smug face, "Miss Harmond, really! If you catch a cold, you are not blaming me!" 

It was there Katahnia paused, and started to laugh and laugh, and was laughing so hard, she found herself needing to brace against poor Conall who was now pinned against the wall!
"Oh, Gods! Conall, I'm so sorry but!" she couldn't even finish that thought as she was laughing again, but when she did, she looked up at him with a teary eyed expression and smile. "Gods... you and that beard!" and she was giggling again.

((sort of mature and yet immature , but no one is surprised I'm sure!))

"Women! You just don't understand!" Conall sighed dramatically. It was true! They really did not! "Think of it this way , you have your fancy dresses and jewelry and men have their facial hair. My hair is my dress." Wait. That sounded kind of absurd; he made a face and then narrowed his eyes at her , daring her to comment, "Don't even think about it." He waved his finger at her in warning. "Now, if you would be so kind as to allow me to pass , I would very much like to finish dressing myself. I swear to Ansgar that if you don't move, I'm tearing that towel off of you and dressing you myself!"

Wait. That also sounded rather inappropriate. He hid his face in his hands, " I mean, stop harassing my beard and just let me pass !"

At his comment, her smug expression faded as she gasped.
"You wouldn't dare!" ANd she hugged onto her towel more tightly. And then at his lst bit of words, she found herself trying to stifle a smile. Shaking her head,s he gave a roll of her eyes. "Alright, but just remember, this is our last few moments alone together..." And she turned to walk away.
Part of it was playful, but also part of it was to remind him- well..
Despite trolling him, she enjoyedt his moment for a good reason, and enjoyed it well.

Conall quirked a brow at her and smirked, "Ha! You think you know me so well, do you? Well, perhaps I would dare, but I suppose we'll never know!" Oh no, he was not falling into another trap she'd set up for him!

But then she had to go and remind him that this was a rare opportunity. Well, since she put it that way...

He moved up behind her and grabbed for her towel, giving it a playful tug. "Well, we don't have all day! Hurry up, Lady Slowpoke! "

Katahnia gave a gasp and leaped away from his tugging fingers.
"C-Conall!" she said, but laughed and playfully slapped his hand away.
"And what if I decided to stay here all day in my towel?"
Really, she was being ridiculous but she wanted to be! If anyhting, just to torment Conall a little longer! And just as she was about to say somethign playful again, a knock came at the door.

"Kat, are you ok?"
She paled and slapped a hand over her mouth. Had he heard them!?
Hesitantly, she released a breath and hesitantly called out, "Yes, I am alright!"

"You've been in there for a while...."

Kat turned to Conall, the back to the door.
"Y-Yes I know!" she siad, her voice croaking a big "I just.. I'm finishing up my hair!"

A moment later, she could tell Blaith was shaking his head "Alright, I'll see you back at the hotel room. juts don't take too long."
And she kept a hand over her lips, even long after Blaith ws gone, and the fear inside her just abou toverwhelmed her, as her legs began to give way and she fell towards the floor.

Though there was a naughty part of him that would have liked to do it, Conall wasn't seriously intending to rip off Katahnia's towel. It was just a game. Hey, she had started teasing him first! It was only fair that he fired back . But she was so much better at this than he was and it wasn't fair! Well, one day he'd get her good! Maybe. He had a feeling that he was destined to lose many battles and probably the war too!

He held his breath when he heard Blaith speaking and exchanged a worried glance with Kathania because he wondered the same thing. Still, it was an odd thing that Blaith had trusted him to be alone in a room with Miss Harmond. Did Blaith think so highly of him or did the man simply believe that Conall wouldn't dare try something for fear of consequence. Maybe the thought hadn't even occurred the man at all! Who could possibly know? Blaith was insane , after all!

He noted Kat looking a little wobbly on her legs and frowned. Fortunately for her, his reflexes were quick enough and he caught her in his arms before she collapse to the floor. "That was close." He murmured. "He's going to know eventually." That was to say if he hadn't figured it out already.  Although Conall certainly wasn't suggesting that Blaith find out sooner than later. It was preferable that Blaith became aware when he and Katahnia were well away from the lunatic.

"Need help?" He teased lightly and then shook his head, knowing that their time had just about come to an end.  He kissed  her cheek and hugged her tightly. Who knew when he could do such a thing again?

Curses! He was starting to think he should have just ripped off her towel a lot sooner!   

Finding herself in his arms, she clung to him. She needed it. Her cousin nearly scared the piss out of her! And now, she found herself trembling in his arms as she leaned against him.
"Gods, I wish we could just stay this way forever..." and then she turned around to face him, her eyes looking deeply into his. "Can we make love?"

((Sort of mature))

Conall rested his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes,"It won't always be like this, Katahnia," he smiled and then added with a touch of humor in his inflection, "Be careful what you wish for though. Are you so certain that's what you want? Imagine being stuck with me and my knotty old pinecone-ridden beard for the rest of your life. " He teased, trying to lighten the mood.

However, his mirth faded away and was replaced by a whole slew of emotions at the simple request of being joined with him physically. Conall's face burned the deepest shade of scarlet, "Kat..." and he let go of her so suddenly and turned his back on her.He shook his head and combed a hand through his hair nervously. "Ansgar only knows how much I want to experience everything that love is with you, but Kat...I- we cannot wholly abandon reason for passion right now. Your cousin thinks you're fixing your hair. What if he were to show up while we- " His face burned so hotly at the thought of being one with her. Actually, his whole body warmed at the thought of it. God, he did not want to die a virgin and here was a woman that he was crazy about who willing to have him.

Conall turned around again and looked at her. He couldn't get his mind off the way her lips tasted or the manner in which his body responded every time they touched. The past few weeks of being denied her was too much to bear and he'd made up his mind, "Oh ,to hell with him!" he closed the distance between them , pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips quite passionately.

((lol kept nodding off while writing. ))

Katahnia wasn't sure what she had been expecting, all she knew was that she needed him and wanted to forget herself within him and connect with him in a way that her body was hungering for. So when he began to fumble over his words, she smiled softly at him and cupped his cheek. But before she could respond, his mind took a turn,a nd suddenly she found herself in an impassioned kiss.

Not able to breath, she found herself pushing from him with a gasp, her chest heaving beneath her towel as she looked dizzily up at him. But then she smiled, caused her breath and grabbed onto his face, kissing him fierce.

Some how the pair must've ended up on the floor, her hands smoothing over his chest as she kissed him hotly as she leaned over his form. Now straddling him wearing nothing but towels, she continued to kiss him, feeling her body heat rise as her hands entangled themselves into his hair.

(( Mature because of towel nekkids. ))

Conall was confused at first when Katahnia pushed away from his kiss. He knew he was inexperienced with women, but kissing was something he'd practiced and he fancied that he was decent at it at least!  She was more experienced than he was though so maybe she'd had better or was she now having second thoughts about this? He started to open his mouth again to ask her what the matter was , but she silenced him with a kiss of her own.

The intensity of it surprised him a little. He gasped softly against her lips and he took step back. Unfortunately, the action ended with his foot slipping on the towel he'd left so carelessly on the floor and he went crashing down onto his back with a grunt and a chuckle at his own foolishness.He wasn't quite sure whether or not he'd accidentally brought Katahnia down with him or if she'd lowered herself down on her own , but that hardly was a concern for him as she positioned herself above to straddle him with so little on.

He smiled up at her nervously and was sure that he looked as uncertain on the outside as he felt on the inside. He'd courted women with words and chaste kisses. He had no experience at all and he didn't know where to begin. Was there a right way of doing things? Was he just supposed to let his body act without thinking or...maybe he ought to stop worrying about it and let her guide him in the right direction as she had with his dancing.

Between hungry kisses he felt the need to remind her, with a heated whisper against her neck, "I-I have n-no idea what what to do." He blushed furiously. Yeah. That wasn't a very sexy thing to say, but hell it was the truth, and he was afraid what she might have expected from this.

((Way to state the obvious, Conall. :/ ))

At his words, her smile warmed as she gave him a sweet, softer kiss upon his lips. Then another, and another as she cupped his face.
"Don't worry,"s he whispered, kissing him again. "Our bodies will figure it out." And this time she kissed him deeper, shrugging off her own towel and reaching for his own. Skillful hands peeled it open, so that as they kissed, nothing more ws between them but the heat of their bodies.

And despite his nerves, she could feel his eagerness against her leg as she smiled through a kiss and moved to nibble at his ear and kiss at his neck. It wouldn't be hard for him to figure it out- her heat was intense against his sex as she kept her legs open- and as she kissed him her body moved at just the right angle, that'd he' be able to feel his sex prod against something soft, warm and wet-
and if he wanted to take her just thne- all he had to do was push.

(( Mature-ish. ))




"It's that simple, is it?" He couldn't imagine doing anything without giving it much thought, but he didn't question what she said; he trusted her. He closed his eyes partially and laughed softly because the sensation of her lips devouring his earlobes felt so odd! He nuzzled his face against her neck and left a trail of feathery light kisses down her neck and stopped tantalizingly short of her cleavage.

Conall felt her shifting above him and watched her remove first hew towel and then his and felt pretty damn silly that all he could do for a couple minutes was simply stare at her. She'd always been beautiful to him, but viewing her in her most natural state captivated him, made his mind go numb and left him tongue-tied. "Beautiful..."Well, at least he managed to say something complimentary without sounding like a complete imbecile!

He felt the temperature of his body increase as their bodies drew ever closer and he felt his arousal pressing against something that made him blush an even darker shade. When he tried to figure out where to go from here with his mind, he drew blanks . However, it seemed that Katahnia's words were true and there was something primal and magnetic that guided him. Gently his hips moved forward and joined with her physically.

The moment they were joined, a gasp escaped her lips. It felt heavenly, and was exactly what she needed. She was so tense, so tight,and her only release could come by the simple act of making love. No longer a virgin, she was gentle with him, but let the natural way of things take it's course, for she wanted him to sample her just as much as she wanted to sample him. SHe wanted to be in tune with him, to make this moment beautiful, so she was slow and moved her hips over him to let him have a taste, for the first time, of a woman's love.

Her sex was tight against him as she moved, arms around his neck as her lips met back to his ear after leaving her own trail of hot kisses against his bare shoulder. And as she moved, soft breaths of pleasure escaped her, feeling him- gripping his member with her sex, as she fit around him like a hot, velvet glove.

"Gods.. Conalll..' she said, her lips partially smirking."You're right." And her eyes, which had been closed, open to look at him half liddedly. "This is beautiful." And then she dug her teeth lightly into his ear before nuzzling his cheek spoke breathlessly, her body still moving slow for him, until he might want to take over making love to her himself.

"Gods.. you feel so good inside me." And then she gave him another kiss to his temple, squeezing his hand.

"I love you. I love this. Gods..." ANd she let her hand smooth across his chest. "And to think, we almost let your beard get in the way.." she told him playfully. Naturally, she could not let him live that down, even while they were having sex!

He gasped almost in unison with her and gripped her sides rather tightly with his hands He didn't know what to expect and he certainly wasn't expecting this.It took Conall's mind a few moments to become acclimated to all of the sensations that washed over him after connecting with her. He lay there for a few moment, staring up at her with an expression of awe.

And when she started grinding her hips slowly, tantalizingly against him, the sensation of her tight, slick inner walls gently massaging his cock drove him mad with desire. His body shuddered and his muscles tensed beneath her. He gripped her sides even more tightly and titled his head back and moaned her name but the sound was quiet and incoherent. 

Conall nodded his head slightly at her words, grateful for her words and for her tenderness.  "It feels so good to hear you say that," he replied softly when she told him that she loved him and the situation that they'd been drawn into, "I love you too , Katahnia."

At her comment about his beard, he couldn't help but laugh. Really, did she ever know when to quit? But that's what he loved about her. "Indeed? So you say, but I suspect that you've simply surrendered to the inescapable charm of my facial hair, "He told her playfully and planted a kiss on her nose and followed the with another on her lower jaw.

He slid his calloused hands up her sides , slowly, his fingertips brushing over her skin lightly, "You're such a tease. You're making me feel like jelly on purpose, aren't you?" He blushed furiously because he'd hardly done a thing and he almost felt powerless under her. He felt as though he had to do something.So, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugged her then proceeded to grind his hips against hers, attempting to harmonize his movements with hers. It was , he thought, almost like dancing. And Ansgar was she good at it; he , on the other hand was a complete novice. 

((*craps out this post* ))

Katahnia smiled, closing her eyes lightly at his reply to her jest. Dimples cut into her cheeks, but instead of saying anything, she simply gasped, and close dher eyes even tighter as his body began to move.
Placing her hands onto his hips, her lips met to his, her hips moving faster, feeling her body become sweet from his and then she slowed down to pause, opening her eyes for a moment before she asked, "Would you like to take the lead now, or shall I?"
It was his first experience, perhaps he should take her as he saw fit?
Brushing his hair from his face she peered huskily into his eyes. "Just let your body do the talking, and mine will only respond."

"I-" Conall wasn't sure what he wanted to do here, "am supposed to lead?" He felt incredibly stupid after asking because wasn't that always the way of things in Connlaoth? Man led the country, man led the house, the dance-sex too, most likely. And, he supposed that he'd never improve if he didn't practice. He nodded, "If that is your desire." Really, he didn't mind. He  simply wanted to do whatever pleased her the most.

(( lolol...fail.))

"Just let your body move," she said, smiling at his stiffness, and she showed him. "Like this.." and she moved her hips, just so, so that he could feel his member moving through her. She smiled. "All you have to do is move so that if feels good for you, and I'll let you know if it feels good for me." And she took his hand and kissed it. "Unless you want me to lead?" And her eyes danced playfully at her question.

((The following is rated FE for fail erotica! Whee!))

The mischievous look in her eyes thrilled him as did the way she moved. Ansgar! He could bare resisting his instincts any longer. "You lead the last dance, I think I'd like to lead this time." She'd told him twice to just trust his body, he didn't need her to tell him thrice. He wrapped his strong arms around her once more and pulled her against him tightly once more and kissed every bit of her flesh voraciously and rocked his hips against hers in slow, steady movements that gradually quickened along with his breath.

(( *brain dies* ))

Craning her neck back and arching her body, Katahnia moaned at the way he moved. To think, this man was making love for the first time didn't register in her mind any more. No, his body knew what to do, and as they were unioned, she clung to him tightly, keeping her legs spread open for him and enjoying the heat, enjoying the need, and kissing him hungrily as they made love.

It was dangerous, but that's what also made it so thrilling, and also that this was how their first time was to be- in a simple bath house, after such a long and tiring journey- so it was only fitting the pair had their reward, loving on one another in what some might believe to be sin.

Out of wed lock, but deeply in love, she moved her hips in ryhthm to his, smiling and eventually laughing a little as the sensations inside her grew and grew.
"Gods, Conall!" she cried out, finger tangling into his hair. "Gods... yes.. yes... yes.. yes... YES!!!"

Throwing her chest up, and head back, she cried out his name several times to the heavens as his sex made her sing, but even she knew she had to hold back, kissing him to stifle those screams and whispering into his ear. "Gods, if only we were truly alone...'
The things she would do- but she knew they wouldn't have much time for this, but they might as well make it count. And as nervous as he had been, everything he was doing to her, was beautiful.

((Mature for the sexy times.))

Conall's breathing turned to rapid, heated breaths that caressed every bit of her flesh that he could reach from his position under her. Desire had consumed him more and more with every impassioned cry of his name that resounded from his lover's throat and her name escaped him in the form of gasps and low moans.  His thrusting quickened , moving ever deeper within her until he could go no further. And the sensation of her slick , velvet sex gripping his member so tightly sent waves of inexplicable pleasure coursing through his blood.

He felt her body quiver and explode around him with a hot wetness that enveloped his member and drove him mad with passion. It felt so good that he felt as though he were about to explode himself.  He closed his eyes and gave one final thrust before he too exploded. Conall threw his head back and cried out ,"Katahnia!" And when he'd finished at last, he lay back panting , his strong, sweat-slicked body shuddering with contentment.

(( They need to hurry it up or they gonna be in a whole lot of trouble! Wrote part of this last night so if it makes like no sense...too bad! lololol))

Their moment of bliss was well deserved, well warranted as Katahnia collapsed ontop of him, breathing heavy with her face laying across his chest. It took a while for her to become roused by his words, but eventually, she looked up at him and smiled.
"That was beautiful," she told him, kissing his bare chest as she released a long, contented sigh, curling her feet. "What I wouldn't do to hvae this done again, a million times over." SHe shivered in delight, then sighed again before she rose. "ANd what I wouldn't give to be able to bask in this moment forever." She took his hand now nad drew it to her lips, kissing his caloused fingers softly.
"Conall... I.. I really do mean it." And she kissed his fingers again. "I love you." And she kissed his fingers again. "But we should hurry. Blaith.. he'll... he'll be back soon."

It took Conall a few moments to calm his emotions. To his lover's words, he nodded ,but did not move immediately as she moved away. "If only we could, "Conall lamented and then he smiled affectionately at her when she told him that she loved him, "I love you too."

He would certainly look forward to making love to her again. And again and again. What he wouldn't have given to be alone with her able to make love to her with no restraint, as loud and long as their hearts desired and for as many times as she wanted him to take her. What he wouldn't give to marry her.

But, alas, this brief encounter was all they had for the time being and what an experience it had been. An unforgettable moment for him and one of the happiest moments of his life. To know that he was loved body and soul, it was a very warming and made him feel more complete than he ever had.

He slowly sat up and went back over to the bath to clean himself off a bit. He dressed quickly. He did his best to fix his hair and his beard but months of tangles and knots had left it in such a state that there was no hope. It would need to be cut. He checked himself in the mirror. He was starting to look a little more and more like the Conall Shanley he'd once been.

He turned his head and glanced over his shoulder , "Almost ready?" 

She dressed as quickly as she could, and moved towards the wood partition. "Should we try to fix this?" she inquired, sighing as she rested her hands at her sides. "Part of me thinks we ought to leave it, but if Blaith were to see..."
Perhaps that was a reason good enough. Gesturing to Conall, she moved to her side of the bath house.
"Here- let's hurry up. Before he comes back." And the last part was said in but a whisper.

At her question concerning the partition , Conall smirked. After their failed attempts to fix the thing, he wasn't sure but Katahnia's fears were similar to his own. If Blaith noticed it was out of place he'd probably get suspicious and Conall probably would not be able to explain his way out of it for the simple fact that he was male and hadn't been around a woman in a long time. It also didn't help that he and Katahnia already seemed to be on pretty friendly terms with one another. No doubt Blaith would easily connect the dots and murder him.

"Yes, but please try not to fly over it again, " He chuckled as he moved up to his side and helped her to move it back in place.

"Why?" Katahnia asked, playfully. "You seemed to enjoy the last time when I did." ANd giving him a flirtatious look,s he moved to help him place it bakc, but paused a moment to steal a kiss before the two were parted- and who knew how long the walls between them would need to remain up.

Drawing in a breaht, she steeled herself, staring at the wood as if staring through it to Conall. She'd have to practice keeping her emotions in check, lest Blaith realize the truth. Now fully dressed and as composed as she could be, she stepped out of the bath house.
"Blaith!" she gasped.  she held a hand to her chest. "You could have given me a heart attack!"

"Where's Shanley?"

Kat's face went white, then red.
"Why he's uh.."

And Blaith moved past her to knock on his side of the door to the bath house, while Kathania held her breath.

Conall grinned at her mischievous remark .Well, she had him there! There was no arguing with her over the truth! He eagerly shared a kiss with her, but stared forlornly at the walls that came between them. From this point on they would need to remain that way and who knew if they'd ever come back down again?

Hearing Blaith's voice, he straightened up and adjusted his collar. He forced composure which had been perfected over the years. Inwardly, however, he was close to pissing himself. When Blaith knocked , Conall cleared his throat, "Yes, Lord Harmond, I am ready."

Opening the door, a knife flashed and was passed between them.
"I forgot to bring this earlier.."
and he looked the other man over, noting the beard and tangles of his hair.
"I figure you could use a shave."

Seeing the flash of steel, Conall's eyes widened and opened his mouth to protest. For a split-second, he thought Blaith knew what had transpired only minutes ago and was going to murder him. With a knife though ? Relief filled him however when the other man mentioned shaving.

With a sigh, Conall accepted the knife, "Indeed. Thank you." He looked at Blaith and then over his shoulder at Katahnia. "I've done this on my own before. I'll take care of it. It'll just be a few minutes, I suspect. " Having said that, he disappeared back into his side of the bath.

When the man would leave, Kathnia and Blaith returned to the Inn. Kathania was already in her room, brushing her hair again as she thought about the events that transpired. Her and Conall were now officially an item now, there was no questioning it, but..
what did that mean? Her mind swam over the idea until she felt exhausted, and curiously, wondered if Conall was thinking about her while she thought of him. She had to share a room with Blaith, who fortunately, was exhausted and already in bed, and she contemplated sneaking out to see how Conall was fairing. But should she risk it?

Turning over to Blaith, she heard him lightly snoring, and quiet as she could- she slipped out of the room...

Conall stood before the mirror and gazed upon his image. He stroked his long, knotty beard that fell just a bit below his shoulderblades. Had he been able to care for it, it would have been quite magnificent like his father's. Instead, it looked like a rat's nest. "Well, old friend, I guess this is goodbye for now." The knife flashed...

It was three quarters of an hour later that Conall stepped out of the bathouse looking very different than before. His hair had been chopped to shoulder-length where it had once fallen down to the middle of his back (well, he couldn't do a very good job provided that all he had to work with was a knife!). His beard had suffered the most damage though because it was mostly gone and what remained in its place was something short and much cleaner looking that didn't grow past his chin.

He made a turn to walk to his room , but halfway there he encountered Katahnia in the hallway and froze. His heart swelled and his gaze was affectionate, "Miss Harmond, "he looked around for any sign of Blaith, "I just finished. What do you think?"  His hair was still in need of rescue but it looked a hell of a lot better than before!

Kathania, who had already run clean into him, gasped at the sight, a hand cupping over her lips.
"C-Conall?" she said, her lips twitching up into a smile. "Oh my god.."and she looked him over, but then  drew close, her eyes going back to her room.She held a finger to her lips.
"Please, speak hushedly. Blaith is sleeping and he doens't know I left the room." And then she looked him over some more, before blushing."You look really good." And her cheeks swelled some more as her smile broadened. "Very handsome, and clean."

Conall placed a finger to his lips in a gesture of hushing and smiled at her. Lowering his voice to something closer to a whisper her replied with a smile, "And you look as radiant as ever, my lady. " He swept forward into an elegant bow . "I'm so glad that you approve. Although, I think there's much work to be done on my hair. I must confess that my hand was a little shaky and I can feel that it's uneven in the back. Alas ,I did what I could. And, I just want you to know that my beard valiantly sacrificed itself for you."

As an afterthought, he added with a grin, "Did you sneak out just to see me?" The thought tickled him because he couldn't stop thinking of her and how much he wanted to spend every moment with her that he possibly could.

Kathania gave him the look when he talked about his beard.
"How heroic of you, an event to go down in history." Then latching onto his arm, she smiled and leaned in close to steal a kiss. "And if you must know." And she kissed him again. "The answer is.." and she kissed once more. "Yes."

Conall wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close , "Shame on you, Miss Harmond. I like the way you think because I was thinking doing the same thing. " He kissed her back once, twice, thrice. He sighed and let go of her and stepped back. They really could not afford to be too careless.

"I'd invite you to my room, but I don't think Blaith would take too kindly to that. I know it might sound a bit silly since we haven't been apart for all that long , but I couldn't stop thinking about you. I really did do this for you, " He gestured to his beard, "and for the record I'm not keeping it this short forever so enjoy it while it lasts. "

Katahnia's heart fluttered at his response.
"I was thinking of you, too," he whispered. Twirling a playful finger into the remains of his beard, she looked up at him with a happy smile.
"At least we can enjoy this stolen moment together..." but as she considered leaning up to kiss him, she paused and hesitated.
"Let us steal off, but only a moment. I just had to see you. As you said, I know it might sound silly..but I couldn't stop thinking of you." And she tucked back her lips and looked into his eyes.
"Come on, before Blaith will hear us."

"As you wish, " he offered her his arm and together they walked side by side. "So, where to , my lady? You probably know your way around better than I do. "

"Well, we can't go very far.." she whispered. "Perhaps just down the hall? To a quiet corner? Just so I can ensure Blaith does not wake up without me there." And she glanced up into his face, eyes sparkling as she stated, "I'm glad you cleaned up. You look so very handsome."

Conall blushed at her compliment, " Your pardon if I sound a tad bit arrogant, but  you ought have seen me two or three years ago. Women would actually look at me. " He chuckled, "but I envy you. You look as beautiful as the day I first met you. "

"Sounds like sensible enough plan, "Conall guided her down the hall , past his room and to the very end of the hallway. He turned to face her now and looked down into her eyes, "Well, here we are. '"

All Kathania did was smiled and leaned in against Conall. She just enjoyed this moment together, even if brief, to cuddle in beside him in the quiet darkness of the hall. After some time, she finally lifted her gaze to his and smiled and just took the time to admire his face as her hand cupped his cheek, and she leaned forward to steal a quick kiss before she pulled away, and glanced down to her lap, and wrinkled her nose as her smile widened, and she blushed.

Leaning his forehead against hers, Conall stared into Katahnia's eyes. He took her hands in his and held them, saying nothing for two minutes or three. At last, he sighed softly, " You know, we could probably run from here right now if we wanted to. " That was a dangerous idea in itself , but he had to wonder, "I am loathe to spoil a moment like this, but do you honestly think Blaith will be of any help to us?"

Kathania's eyes went more seriously as she tried to read him, fingers lacing into his.
"Conall I.... it.. it's not if he can help us. It's more along the lines we don't have a choice. And I.. I for one am scared of him." ANd her whispers became even softer at that, as she peered back downt he hall, tensing against Conall, bracing herself as if Blaith were to awaken at any moment and open that door to find them. But she tried to steel herself as she drew in a breath, and rested herself more comfortably against him.
"But don't think I have not considered it myself."

"I fear him not.  I won't remain here long if he serves no use to my cause. Connlaoth is up in flames and I'm not going to sit around and play subservient to his psychotic whims. I will find a way out of here and if I must take a chance and run, then so be it. Though I am not entirely rash, I will wait and see his intentions but the moment he hurts you, I will show him the color of his heart. "

He squeezed her hands, "I just want you to know where my thoughts are since I am uncertain of how often Blaith will allow us to be alone within one another's company. Things could get ugly ,but I will try my best to divert us from such a path. I know not how well my charisma will affect him.  "

"I do love you, Katahnia, and it pains my heart to speak these words that follow, but we ought return to our respective rooms and turn in for the night."  He slipped his arms from her hands and embraced her. Before they parted he kissed her one last time. It was a soft, but passionate kiss.

"Sweet dreams, Miss Harmond." Conall told her affectionately before moving back to his room and disappearing inside. Once inside, he collapsed into bed and surrendered himself to exhaustion, his dreaming of her.

Katahnia smiled at his words, feeling her chest swell with pride and love for this man. And at his parting kiss, her heart fluttered.
"Things will work out. We'll find a way. We survived this far." And she took his hand, squeezed it once before returning to bed.  The next day was nothing but travel, and Blaith, seemingly agitated by it. Thankfully that kept him distracted from the awkward couple he was chaperoning, and by the time they got to his home, he already had to be off on business.

"I shouldn'tbe long, but... I need to clear up something between my men." He stared sternly at Katahnia, and then to Conall. "I... suppose you can keep an eye on her, Shanley? After all.. with my cousin's return, we'll have to be careful. Most assume she's dead." And as he looked Conall over he smirked, "And you as well. But one of my servants will be around you at all times. Shall you need anything, simply ask- but he can not speak- no more tongue..."And Blaith gave a look that hinted at the dark reason as to why.

"Now, is there anything the pair of you need before I am off?" He was fixing at the lapels of his coat as he inquired.

Katahnia only smiled smally and nodded. "No." And turned to Conall, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Well, if there is nothing, I should be back before night falla nd Shanley.." here he paused, placing a hand upon his shoulder. "If anything happens to Kat..."

ANd it was Katahnia's turn to put her hand on his shoulder.
"Blaith.."she said, offering him a leftward smile. "Really, you of all people should know I can handle myself."

"Yes but.." he cast a glare Conall's way. "Do not forget your place, Shanely. I know we do not see eye to eye, but if you try to run while I am gone- so help me, I'll hunt you down like a dog."


"Blaith.." Kathania's words caught him, but he did not turn from Conall. "Do not worry. I will keep an eye on him. You can trust me..." Adn she tried to force her cousin to look at her.

Blaith's eyes met to hers, staring at her and ghosting a hand by her cheek.
"Katahnia.. if times were different, I wish we could have wed. But as it turn sout.."
and here, he kissed her, lightly, softly- upon the hand. It was enough to send goosebumps and create a sudden sucking of her life force- but only ubt a second of it before Blaith pulled away as he smiled. Katahnia felt relieved. The feeling was unnerving and... left her feeling a bit tingly all over, as if her body was just waking up. It was .. peculiar, for the same sensation happened to her when she had awakened from her crystal prison so long ago...

"Be safe." she said softly.

"You too."
And he was gone.

At the mention of the tongueless servant and the disturbing look Blaith gave him, Conall felt his stomach twist with illness. However, the expression on the duke of Ardal's face was a mask of calm.

Even as Blaith made his threats about what would happen if anything should befall Katahnia or if Conall chose to run away, Conall's expression remained peaceful. Inwardly, he thought I will do whatever I must to protect her from harm, including you. Threaten me all you like, Blaith Harmond. I will turn the tables on both you and Allarick one day and then it is you who will learn just how foolish it is to provoke a Shanley.

Conall nodded and replied honestly, " You need not worry , Lord Harmond. Your cousin is safe with me. " 

He turned his head , unable to watch Blaith caress Katahnia's face and not keep a straight face. He felt an unsettling sensation tingle up his spine. The thought of them together seemed pretty wrong.

Blaith and Katahnia bid each other farewell and then the man was gone.

Conall breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Katahnia with a slight frown on his face, "Well, perhaps you'd be so kind as to give me a tour of the place, Miss Harmond? I've never been here before."

Katahnia nodded, and sparing a glance back to the awkward servant, she took Conall's arm and began to guide him through the halls-
and creepily, that servant followed. It was eerie, and Katahnia tried to act natural, but for the life f her, she couldn't shake the creepy, tongueless servant. Blaith hadn't lied when he said he'd be there with them- every step of the way...

Conall was all too aware of the servant that followed them as well, but he only paid the silent man a glance or two. Idly, he wondered what the poor man had done to lose his tongue. What was even more unsettling was the fact that maybe the man hadn't done a thing wrong and had his tongue cut out regardless. Conall would not have been surprised given how mentally unstable Blaith was.

They turned down a hall and passed a wall of portrait paintings of numerous members of the Harmond family. Conall paused in step and turned to examine them, "House Harmond. Did you know any of these people?"

Kathania stared up at the portrait and smiled.
"Yes. That's my father's family. They were Serenian." She turned to him. "Before he met my mother, he had been a prominent part of Serenian society. The name carried over when he married my mother, and they inherited a duchy that no longer exists here." She lowered her gaze with a soft frown as she thought it over before sighing. "Sometimes I wonder how long this war has been going on..."

"Serenian...I've been to Serendipity once with my father when I was younger. Arca is huge and a little scary. So much magic everywhere and everything they do was so...different. although it was amazingly diverse. I'd never seen so many different peoples all living together in once place. Mages, non-mages, humans, non-humans. I still wonder how that manages to work for them when our country has problems with deciding whether or not we'll tolerate mages alone. "

His eyes lingered on the portraits for awhile longer before he turned to fully to gaze at Katahnia, "So, where was the duchy of Harmond?" Out of the corner he noticed the servant watching them silently . Always watching.

Katahnia only nodded sagely. "I've been there. I know what you mean." And then at his last question, she turned away, staring back at the picture of her father and his family as her eyes softened.
"You'll never guess.."

"Hrm. Well, I'm pretty sure I know where it wasn't. Ardal hasn't changed in decades. " He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. She was right. He couldn't begin to guess where it was so he shrugged ,"Oh, I don't know. Did Allar swallow it up?"

When he guessed, she only smiled and answer softly, her words nearly choked on forming tears, "Yes."

"What!?" Well, he really shouldn't have been surprised at that, but it had been nothing more than a wild guess formulated from his own personal dislike of the duchy, and namely of House Allarick. Seeing her tears, Conall reached into his pockets for...oh. Right. He did not wear the gentleman's attire and therefore had not what he sought. He turned to the silent servant , "Pardon, could you spare a kerchief for the lady? "

The grim man stared at Conall a moment, but said and did nothing, before he reached into his breast pocket and produced one for him.
Kathania, accepting it, dabbed at her eyes and turned from Conall.
"It.. it's hard to believe, I know.." she said softly. "But at one point, my father had been close with Calent's... but.." she smiled sadly before turning to him. "That was in a world long ago."

"Thank you," he told the man when he gave his kerchief to Katahnia.

"That's not really that hard to believe at all when you think about it, "Conall sighed with a shake of his head, "after all , some families will tear their own apart just for a crown. The people who you think that you know and love for fifteen years suddenly change over night and slaughter everyone close to them without even shedding a tear. My uncle, Cormac Shanley, did just that.  And next time I see him, nothing he has to say to me will spare him of my blade, I assure you."

He turned back to the portraits, "Are there any paintings of you when you were younger? " 

Katahnia smiled and shook her head.
"No.. those burned down with my home." And she looked down at her hand and nearly forgot herself whens he took Conall's hand and squeezed it. Looking up into his face, her look showed what her mouth could not.

OOC: heh heh... mouth could not...

"Oh. I'm so sorry. You know, you sort of look like him.  I see the resemblance. " He gestured to his face, passing his index finger over his lips, "Your smile is alike and the eyes. " He looked down when he felt her hand slip into his and squeeze it. He squeezed back and slipped his hand from hers quickly and afforded her a sorrowful look. The servant was watching them. Then he offered her a sad little smile and turned away so they could resume their walk down the hall, " So, you say you've been to Serendipity before? " Well, duh. He supposed that made sense considering her father had been Serenian. "Have you ever traveled anywhere else? "

"Hyoite, but only in the mountains, and it had been brief. And I've seen the ocean. It's beautiful on this side of the country- near Allar. Have you ever been? To the ocean I mean," she asked with a warm smile as she walked beside him, the silent servant following behind.

"Well, I've been to Allar a few times. " His tone and expression was sour, "It's a beautiful land in itself, but the people are snobbish. I can't stand the way they look down on my people. Although, Allarians have this habit of looking down their noses at everyone. " Well, perhaps not all Allarians were that bad , but his experiences in the duchy had rarely been pleasant. People were falsely courteous only because he was a Duke and he knew insincerity , usually, when he saw it.

"I did see the ocean, yes. That's actually how we traveled to Serendipity. It was my first time on a ship. I was seasick for days. My sister had to look after me because I was so weak.  Ansgar bless her. She would have made a good mother." A pained expression crossed his features as the memory graced his thoughts.

Katahnia leaned in close.
"Your sister.. I'm sorry to hear about her.. and the rest." She added quietly. "My family hadn't even survived the war before this one, so I know how you feel when that empty pit in your heart forms." SHe smiled towards him, trying to comfort him, even as he hurt. She took his hand again, and squeezed it. Hand holding, at least, wasn't entirely a sin.

"Forgive me. I've never really discussed it since it happened. I was sixteen and I was crowned and there was so much to do. Thank Ansgar for Erving and the support of my people or I would have been lost. "He felt her hand in his again and squeezed it ,"And thank Ansgar for you, my friend. " He offered her a warm smile, the look in his eyes conveying to her what words his lips could not speak.

He changed the subject, "I seem to recall you telling me some long while ago that you're also a literary enthusiast? Romance novels?"

Katahnia understood his expressions well enough. As they walked, she grew silent- even after his question was posed and mouthed the words, 'I love you'. Before turning away with a playful smirk.
"Romance novels? Who do you think I am?" And back to him, she grinned even more. "I studied history, science, philosophy, adn when I did read novels,"s he said, eyes sparkling. "They were adventures and well.." she shrugged as she looked to the floor. "Occasionally there'd be a bit of romance."

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders, " Well, you're a lady and you are a bit of a romantic. I just assumed that such reading material might pertain to your interests. Quite impressive, Miss Harmond. Surely a woman after my heart. "Of course they knew the truth of those words . She already had it.

"History is a rather respectable subject. One of my favorites, as a matter-of-fact. However, my guilty pleasure is plays. I like to read them and I've seen a few though not as many as I would have liked."

Katahnia lightly kicked him. He almost was hinting at too much! but she smirked none the less and gave a shake of her head.
"Tell me, Conall.. I heard you had another favorite past time. Something aside from books.. something along the lines that boarder on obsession. Hrm.. what was it?" She tapped her finger to her lips and grinned mischievously back to him. "Something about horses." She told him flatly, then added. "And beards, and pinecones?"
Yep, she went there.

Conall winced and shot her a glare that said, What was that for!? But then he smiled and nodded slightly for he had realized his error.  Ansgar, refraining from flirting with her was going to be a little more difficult than he thought because he had grown so accustomed to it.

At her questions he elevated his eyebrow and smirked , " Well, I'm from Ardal so I should think the interest in horses ought be fairly obvious.And what Connlaothian man doesn't admire a beard? However, I've no idea where you heard about this pinecone business. You know, I've heard some rather disturbing rumors about you myself. " He chuckled, "I hear you have beard envy and once threatened to shave a man's beard off and claim it for your own. "

"Why yes!" she continued, walking wtih him down the hall, grinning. "I do have beard envy. Too bad I am no longer surrounded by any such men with epic beards..."

Conall appeared as though he had been wounded. He touched his little beard and reflected on the days when his beard had been, well, "epic" wasn't quite the word he'd have used to describe his beard. "Regal" , "dashing" or "magnificently irresistible " . He nodded in agreement with her, " Indeed. Quite the tragedy. I feel your pain, my lady. I really do." He patted her had and adopted a mock sympathizing expression.

As they reached the end of the hall and rounded the corner , they came into a larger room furnished with expensive wood furniture ((which Keals is too lazy to describe in detail)) and fireplace. Conall left Katahnia's side and crossed the room , approaching a piano that sat near the window. "I haven't heard music in awhile. " He looked over at Katahnia, "Have you a request?" He didn't wait for her to answer. He took a seat on the bench and played a few , ear-agonizing notes. "Oh...Ansgar, that's not right." He laughed at his own error and shook his head , "It really has been too long. " 

Katahnia smiled and approached his side, wincing a bit as his erroneous playing.
"I haven't played in a while either," she said, smiling and taking a seat beside him. "Say.. do you know the song 'The Bluebird's True Colors?' I used to love that song when I was growing up and haven't heard it in years. If you know it, would you play it for me?"

Conall's expression brightened, "You're in luck, Miss Harmond. I am indeed familiar with that one. My oldest sister, Cara, played that one quite a bit. She was rather fond." He chuckled, "And she was a much better pianist than I'll ever be, but I'd be more than happy to play for you. Now, if only my fingers could remember, " he tested a few more keys , wincing at how off from the melody he was. He laughed, "Well, maybe I've forgotten entirely. I suspect my ability must have fled me when I shaved." But then his fingers finally found the right keys and he played (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ9rfiyooMQ), softly at first but the melody's volume built up gradually as his confidence did. 

Katahnia smiled, wincing a bit even when his fingers initially fumbled over the keys.
"I'm sure it'll come back to you," she said, smiling over at him, then as his fingers found it, the memory coming back more clear.. she found herself smiling and wishing she could lean into him as they shared a rare moment together in the music room. The day was perfect, happy.. bright- with the sun shiningin through the window and reflecting off the polish surface of the piano and she stared at it, watching the reflection of a tree move through the spring breeze and smiled quietly, moving, oh so subtly just a bit closer to him.

When he was finished playing, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at her , "Perhaps you might like to try, Miss Harmond? I seem to recall that you had musical talent yourself when I met you. "He smiled at her , "I make no specific request. Surprise me. "

Katahnia gave a smug smile as she let her eye gloss over the keys.
"Oh.. but I'm not sure what to play.." though as she thought it over, she ghosted her fingers over the keys and studied it a moment, before beginning to quietly play the song, 'Love Come May.'
The song, ironically, was composed over a love that seemed impossible and should never be- and the two lovers always promised to meet 'in may'. Though as she played, she began to fade off and couldn't finish it, thinking about how it was hitting too close to home, even for her... as her eyes glossed over with tears.

"I've never heard that one before, "Conall admitted, " it's quite beauti-" He noticed that Katahnia had stopped playing abruptly and turned his head to look over his shoulder at her teary-eyed visage, "Miss Harmond? " His expression twisted with worry, sympathy. He wasn't sure what bothered her, but he found the kerchief Blaith's silent servant had given him and offered it to her. "Are you alright?"  Well, given the fact that she was on the verge of tears he supposed not and felt like a fool for asking as much. He rested a hand over hers and squeezed it.   

"No, no... I shall be fine," she said with a shake of her head, but accepted the kerchief with a soft, "Thanks," before she looked up into his eyes. "I was just thinking about how sad this song was." She blinked back a few tears, and laughed inspite of herself. "I suppose this is one song you are not familiar with? The lyrics really are rather sad..." Though before she could further her thoughts on that, she turned her eyes back towards the keys and let her mind drift off into thought.

"Sad?" Conall looked thoughtful ," I thought it sounded rather soothing , but I detected a some of sorrowful notes." He glanced over his shoulder and saw the servant was watching them rather intently that it made Conall's spine crawl unpleasantly. He frowned and turned his attentions back on Katahnia, "What is it called? Ah, but we could drop that subject if it brings you discomfort. I could play you something perhaps a bit more cheerful to brighten your mood, hm? Unless you'd like to do so yourself. I think you play much better than I do." He chuckled. Well, it was the truth.

Katahnia just nudged him playfully with her hip.
"You're the one that needs practice. I suppose that means you ought to play!" And her eyes challenged him, to see if he was man enough to do so- considering with his beard cut so much shorter now and all!

Seeing in the challenge in her eyes, Conall laughed, "That is a fair point, Miss Harmond. Very well , then. I think I have something you might like. " He started playing again , this time lifting his voice in song as he played. Conall's voice was average. Not bad , but not great.

"Cursed in shadow true
a ceaseless maze you're meandering though
Shall you stagger on,
with no light to guide your way?
Share with me your tears
All your pain and deepest fears
I recall a time
when you drove the darkness away

Come and take my hand,
Let me help you to understand
And give to you
all that you have given to me
Close your eyes and see
All the things that we could be
No matter how far apart,
know our souls forever are linked

As the storm draws nigh
Dreams shall fall to ruin before your eyes
Know that you're not alone
When calamity starts
I shall calm your anxious heart
Know that you're not alone

When hope stops shining
Endless darkness around you winding
Know that you're not alone
I will give my all
So your tears shall no longer fall
Down onto sorrow's throne

Gaze into my eyes
Evermore you shall find
Within this noble heart,
that you shall always belong
Call out to the gloom
Find your courage and let it bloom
Forlorn you may feel,
but inside I know you are strong

Keep me in your heart
And we'll never be far apart
Let the bonds of love
break the chains restraining you
Ever you shall find
Demons lurking not far behind
Lift your spirit now,
We shall be together soon"

When he was finished he turned his seat , "So, am I improving , Miss Harmond? Be honest. Don't hold back with your criticism. "

((The pain. I didn't edit this at all and realize that some of the stanzas read awkwardly because they're a mouthful. TOO BAD. ))

Listening to him play, at first she found herself taken back and laughed at the song. A hand went to her chest as she shook her head.
"Oh, Conall.. really.." but as he played on- she began to listen more intently to the words and found as she did so, her mind was becoming lost to them. For too many verses rung true, and she felt the truth behind them thrill her, sending a shiver to her skin. Though the song went on, and on and on, she found herself unable to tear her gaze away from him.
And as he finished and turned to her, Katahnia's reckless heart got the better of her, as she suddenly leaned forward, cupping his face as she kissed him , feeling all of the power of her love behind it. ANd even though she knew it was foolish, it was silly, she gasped between the kiss to another to say, "Gods, forgive me, Conall.." before her lips crashed into his once more. "Let's break these chains." And she stood up suddenly from the piano bench and grabbed onto his hand and pulled him with her-
She wanted to run, to run away..
far from this place.
Far, far, far away to where she'd no longer have to wear those chains, or kiss him and feel ashamed.

Breaking out of the room, she found herself pushing into the tongueless servant as she squealed out with glee. She never felt such freedom before as she stumbled down the hall, running at top speed, Conall still latching to her hand.

"To the stables! Come on! That's where we have to go!" she shouted, and continued to drag him through the manor until both of them were stumbling out the back door.

It was a time to Run. It was a time to be free.

((Crashing lips? Man, that's kinda abusive!))

Katahnia's reaction sent him staggering mentally, completely off guard. The suddenness and forcefulness of her kiss nearly made him topple out of his seat. As their lips met a bit more violently than was within his preference. Conall gasped,   "Miss Harmond!" Had she gone utterly mad!?  Did she forget where they were? Who was watching!?

Before he could utter another protest, she took his hand and he found himself letting her lead him away. He winced when Kat barreled into the poor mute servant and knocked him staggering aside. The gentleman in Conall felt a little sorry for the poor man who was simply doing his duty, "My sincerest apologies, sir! " He called over his shoulder as they passed by. Idly, he was concerned about what would become of the servant who may have failed his master , but his guilt did not linger for very long as he understood that ultimately he had to escape Blaith's clutches.

He ran behind Katahnia, still clutching her hand; his mind and heart was racing faster than his legs. "Ansgar, you're positively mad!" He called out to her with a laugh. This sort of recklessness was not natural to him until , well, he'd met her. Why did he always let her pull him into madness!? Why did he receive such a rush from behavior that went against everything they ought to adhere to?    Blaith was going to be livid when he found out about this!

They rushed through the manor and he found himself stumbling out the door and into the light. He looked around the courtyard and he had no idea where to go from here, expecting someone to stop them. However, no armed guards came charging their way. Yet. Katahnia suggested the stables and he was looking, "Yes, but where is that!?"

She knew this place better than he did!

"This way! It's near the south gate!" she called, and pulled him along as the two rushed across the stone path and around the side of the manor to where soon, the smell of manure greeted them. And once inside the blue painted stables, Kathania was panting and laughing so hard, her entire chest hurt.
"Gods.. Conall." ANd she turned to him and kissed him hungrily, whimpering as she did so. "I can't believe I just did that!"

Conall wrinkled his nose as they entered the stables . Although he didn't mind the stink of horse, the stink of their waste was not a welcome smell that he'd ever get accustomed to. He was about to guard his nose with a hand to block out the stench when Katahnia pulled him in for a kiss which his lips responded to eagerly. When she moved away and made the comment about not believing her own rash actions, he chuckled. "Though I keep thinking you might do the sensible thing, I am not surprised. Always bold, you are, but that's what I love about you."

"Well, " he glanced at the horses. There were plenty of sturdy, healthy beasts here to choose from that could take them away swiftly but, "are you certain of that this is what you want? Once we're gone, he'll hunt us both and we presently have nowhere to go. " He thought of Blaith and everything he'd done to her and then stopped himself from reasoning with her because now he wasn't making much sense.  "No, you are right. I apologize for questioning your actions. " He placed a hand gently on her cheek and met her gaze, "After what he did to you, I cannot stomach another moment of his presence. We should make haste. We should take two horses since we have nothing. We can sell the extra horse in the next town we come across. " 

Kathania, too stunned to speak, only nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Yes, two horses then, since we can not take them all!" And she took Conall by the hand, squeezing them happily before looking towards the horses.
"There are so many. I wonder which is the fastest?" And as she guided him away, down past each stall, her heart hammering wtihin her chest- something else made her heart then leap into her throat-
A grunt.

Or more appropriately, a groan.
At first, she had almost not heard it, but turning around,s he gasped when she noted the tongueless servant pointing a pistol at them and suddenly, she gave Conall's arm a tug- but said nothing, horror having stolen her own voice.

Instinctively Conall stepped forward, positioning himself to shield her from danger. He glared defiantly at the man holding the pistol, but then his expression softened and his eyes pleaded with the gunman, "Did Lord Harmond silence you? " Because that look Blaith had given him earlier seemed to suggest i had been so. "You need not follow him any longer if you wish. You could come with us. We'd look out for you, " He did not anticipate to get through to the other man, but anything was worth trying. " Please, we cannot stay here. He will kill us both. "

THe mute's expression hardly wavered at the man's choice, he merely cocked the pistol to ready it- a lead balled bullet already in the gun.
Katahnia felt her heart nearly in her throat as she touched Conall's arm, not wishing for him to get shot, but not knowing what to do.
"Perhaps we can take him?" she whispered, but even she knew it was dangerous. One bullet was all it would take to do some serious damage to either them-
and it could very well kill.
THough it seemed the pair would not get their chance as the mute stalked it's way towards them. Thinking fast, Katahnia noticed one of the horses int he stall they were nearest had it's rear towards them- and with no door in the way of it- it wouldn't be difficult to spook the horse to kick-
and so she waited, holding her breath as the tongueless servant came for them and just at the right moment, she pulled out a hidden pinecone from her pocket and hrled it, smacking the horse in it's rear.


The action startled both gunman and horse.
The horse, as expected, kicked. And the servant fired.
And Katahnia screamed- but a moment later, she noticed, with a laugh, the bullet had only grazed Conall's jacket as she looked at the singeing hole.
Gods! She could just faint!

And down tot he ground her eyes went, noting the body of the  servant having gone still, and to Conall she wrapped her arms around him after shouting with glee.

"Gods!" she breathed against him, holding him tight. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Conall blinked and stared at the still body of the nameless, voiceless servant as his mind tried to work out what had just happened. What had caused the horse to spook? And he was surprised that the creatures were so poorly trained. Were this Ardal,the horses were not so easily frightened. Ah, well. It was hardly a matter worth being concerned over since it worked in their favor!

A small part of his heart twisted with remorse for the man who was , by the looks of it, dead or perhaps unconscious? He shook his head and remembered to let himself breathe once more. "That was," he glanced down at the arm of his coat where a bit had been torn then back over his shoulder at the hole in the stable's wall, "close." He finished with a sigh and a shiver. Idly, he wondered how this scenario would have played out had Katahnia not been quite so resourceful.

He noted the pinecone on the ground and then looked over his shoulder at her and quirked a brow here way, his expression contorting with bemusement, " Where did you get that? Don't tell me you brought home a souvenir."

Nodding at her suggestion of leaving, he slipped out of her embrace and walked over to the servant lay. He knelt down and collected the pistol from the man. It felt odd in his hand. Not that Conall had never used a firearm before, it just wasn't a sort of weapon that he was fond of. But they needed something to protect themselves and so he claimed it. He searched the servant for something else of use , but found nothing. Of course, he thought, why would a servant have much of anything?

He stood up and went over to a pair of horses on the far side of the stable and nodded at them , "I think these two will do quite nicely. I would recommend taking something , but I don't think time is on our side. We'll figure something out once we're long gone from here."

They prepared the horses and were on their way.

Katahnia could not believe she had done what she had either, but their lives had depended on it- and she was no fool. It was a war they were fighting, and if they remained here, who knew what might become of them if Blaith's unstable nature got the worst of him.
Following his lead, she moved to get her own horse and calmed it down with a soothing voice before throwing her legs up and over the saddle.
And so it was, they pair now walked out from the stables and down the road, at a quick pace none the less.

"We should take the paths less traveled. Keep from the cities after a day or so and camp out beneath the stars. It'll be harder for Blaith to track us. Though I must say, I'm surprised this is how it came to be. I... Blaith and I hadn't left on good terms before all this happened. I... I'm not sure I'd be able to digest what he had in store for us had we remained. But for now, let us just focus on the road, and let it guide us as far away from here as we can."

Conall nodded as they rode at a steady but inconspicuous pace side by side, " Indeed, but we also need supplies. We have nothing but two horses, a pistol and the clothing on our backs. We also need a direction."  A thoughtful expression crossed his visage , " I cannot suggest returning to Ardal just yet. That would be risky even if my arrival is not expected."

He shook his head, " I don't even know who to turn to right now. My uncle killed so many people loyal to my family and who knows how many more he slaughtered in my absence? House Aeron would be our best gamble, but as I said before, I've never actually met them and the one thing that ties me to them is in the possession of Allarick. So, that leaves us with pursuing this friend of yours that you mentioned earlier. You said she might be found at a..." He blushed , "whorehouse. You never mentioned where it was though. "

Knowing their luck, it'd be on the east side of Connlaoth!   

"Well," Katahnia went on with a sigh. "She may or may not be at a whore house. But I know she associates with such, especially with those around the capital. Though I'm not sure how wise it would be for us to go there." And with that, she frowned. "But we are pretty close to Matron's Hollow... perhaps we could try our luck at a brothel in Uthlyn? My.. identity might be less.. conspicuous there."

Her statement caused him to frown,"Uthlyn is good. Perhaps I might be able to contact Lady Delgrin if she's still alive," His mind drifted back briefly to that fateful night at Luvina's party where he'd first met the woman who was now by his side and it brought a small but noticeable smile to his lips, " I would not dare ask too much and place them at risk, but whatever little aid that can be lent is something more than what we have now. So, I say Uthlyn is a good start."

However that decision made aside, he wondered, "Pray tell me, how popular are you? I mean no offense ,but there wasn't a lot of news about you that reached Ardal. Or..." He looked down. " I would have sought you out. I wanted to see you again... but no matter. 'Tis all in the past and  truly, Ansgar smiles on us now for here we are to be given a second chance at so many things."

"It's quite alright. Only in Reajh I seemed to be making an impact. Before I was sent north, I've been focusing my attentions on trying to peacefully goad the Grand Duke into relinquishing his new laws. The horrors he has put so many people through are horrifying. But naturally, he ignored me and the rally's I had formed. Eventually, he had... sent his mordecai out to hunt me down. And well.... after a long game of cat and mouse, that's how you ended up finding me in the mountains."

"Indeed. I'm not so surprised to hear it. Never one for peaceful negotiations, Allarick."  Conall took one hand off the reigns and dug into his coat pocket for something and produced...

the pine-cone Katahnia had thrown earlier. He held it up for her to see. "Perhaps this will come in handy. We'll walk straight up to the Grand Palace and throw it at his big, fat head. " He grinned, "What do you think?"

((Don't ask me when he picked it up. It's magic!))

OOC: Omgerd 8D
Best post evars!

---------

Katahnia placed a hand over her lips as she laughed.
"Did you honestly pick that up, Conall? Or do you have your own stash of pinecones int that close-cut beard of yours?"

Conall laughed and rolled the the thing around in the palm of his hand, "Oh no, of course not! Don't be silly! It's my personal hair freshener. " He tried to stick it in his hair , tucking it behind his ear. "I think pine is a very respectable smell. And the pine-cone  also makes for a handsome decoration. I think it brings out my eyes. " However, when he tried removing the thing he found that it had become stuck fast, tangled in his curled locks. "On second thought, perhaps it ought stick to a more simple purpose and not my hair. "

Giggling, Katahnia shook her head.
"Perhaps you should not try your hand at fashion, Duke Shanley. THough I must admit, the pinecone really does bring out the pine green of your eyes." And she batted her own pale lashes at him prettily.

"Indeed not! Fashion is quite a vain profession that a gentleman such as myself would never pursue. " He tried wiggling the pine-cone out of his hair, " Though perhaps since you like it so much ,I was thinking that I might attach it to my crown. Or do you think such a decoration would be ... a tad bit presumptuous of me? I might become the envy of all the other dukes. " He stroked his beard thoughtfully as he considered this.

By this time they were a fair distance  from Blaith's manor and crossing through a more rural part of Turgall. There were grass and fields for as far as the eye could see and hardly a soul about. The world was quiet, as though he and Katahnia may have been the only two people left in it and  the sun was sinking on the western horizon to their left. Conall looked up at the sky , gazing up at the puffy clouds, painted in pinks, orange and purple hues and gradually the sky grew darker. Pretty soon, it would be nigh impossible to see a thing or make further progress. Conall looked around for a proper place to stop but everything was so...open with the only potential cover being tall grasses.

As the sun had nearly vanished completely, Conall stopped and dismounted. " I suppose we'll just have to stop here for the night and hope the horses don't spook and run off. " There was nothing around to tie them to that he could see, unfortunately. There were some farms in the distance but he didn't think it wise to venture too close to them.

"Here should be alright." She told him as she stepped off her horse and shivered. "Though the night has gone quite cold. I should have thought to bring more than this flimsy jacket. It's positively freezing!" she said, shivering and trying to pull her hands into the sleeves of her dark blue, light weight spring jacket.

He hadn't been quite so aware of the cold until she mentioned it. Even so, he removed his own coat and placed it over her shoulders, "This ought to keep you a bit warmer." He then sighed, "  Just do me a favor and help me get this infernal pine-cone out of my hair, please?"

Giggling, Katahnia obliged, and was gentle at untangling the curls from the knotty layers of the cone. Once the pinecone was out, she smiled and held it in one hand, then moved nearer to him and leaned in close.
"Here. You'll get cold without your jacket. Perhaps we can share it?" She suggested, then moved to loosen one arm from a sleeve, then scooted in close to him as she moved to wrap the one side of the jacket over him.
"There, much warmer now, isn't it?"

"Thank you. You're a lifesaver, " Conall was relieved to have the thing out of his hair and he'd already scolded himself several times over internally for being such a goof. His entire body flushed with heat when she drew closer. "Sharing is nice. " He agreed. "But, um...." He looked around, "could we , maybe sit down before we get comfortable? I know we've been riding for half the day, but I'm still a bit tired from Blaith pushing us to reach Turgall so quickly. " He admitted.

Katahnia nodded, and soon the pair were nestled against a hill side. They were in the middle of the Connlaothian plains, and the winds had picked up, making the chilly night even colder. With her teeth chattering, she leaned in even closer to him and commented,
"At least...least.. this is.. is... warmer than the mountains! It was positively freezing up there!"

"Y-you're t-t-telling m-me! I-I o-o-only l-lived th-there f-f-for a y-y-year. " Or had it been two? He'd honestly lost track of time up there.

Conall couldn't stop his teeth from chattering or his body from shivering as the breeze grew stronger and the temperature chilled. So, he twisted around to lie on his side and wrap his arms around her and hug her close. "A-at l-least i-if w-w-we f-freeze t-to d-d-death, it'll b-be t-t-together. " He grinned lazily at her.
He was being a bit over-dramatic , but he would happily take freezing in the plains with her over lying alone in a bed for another night.   

Kathania smiled and nestled in against him from where they lay.
"I think, at least, things are beginning to heat up. Though if your beard turns into an ice cube, you might be sleeping alone!" she teased.

"Oh! N-nice, r-r-real n-nice , M-miss H-harmond!" Conall replied with mock indignation, " Y-you would make a poor man f-f-freeze after s-sacrificing his beard and his c-coat for you!" The warmth they shared between their bodies had caused his jaw to cease quivering as much. "Well, in th-that case , give the c-c-coat back!"

"Give the coat back?" she stared at him indignantly. "I most certainly will not! What sort of gentleman are you to ask for a lady's coat back?"

"Very well, then. I won't ask you. I'll take it off, like a gentlemen!" He let go of her, sat up and slipped out of the coat then , grabbing his half in both hands he tried to yank it off her. 

Yeah. That was real gentlemanly alright.

"C-conall!" Laughing, Katahnia clugn to the coat, but he pulled rather hard, her torso kept twisting. WIth her one free hand not in the sleeve, she tried to grip onto the end he was pulling.
"Let go, Conall!" she said with a laugh. "For if you don't, I'll take the coat and claim it all for me!"

He did as she commanded though not by intention. His boot slipped on the grass and he fell stumbling backward with a gasp and lost his grip of the coat. Conall hit the grassy hill and tumbled down it bodily calling out as rolled , "AS .....YOU....WISH!" 


((Princess Bride reference. It had to happen!))

Gasping, Katahnia watched in horror as he slipped down the side, a hand over her lips and half the coat sagging off her form. She could have just throw herself off the hill side after him, but instead, she called after him.
"Hurry back up here, Conall! It's freezing up here while I stand alone in your coat!"
And it truly was, as the wind whipped around her to remind her just how chilly the night was. And she shivered within it.

OOC: LOL she's such a nice gf XD

((She must not be all that horrified if she's able to make a comment like that. xD))

Conall stopped rolling at last and lie at the bottom of the hill, face down in the grass. From somewhere above up on the hill he could hear Katahnia calling down something cheeky. Oh! She would have the gall to say something like that! He pushed himself up and stood up , turning to look back up the hill at her. He cupped his hands over his lips and shouted,"COME BACK UP!? YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO MAKE ME CLIMB BACK UP AFTER PUSHING ME DOWN THE HILL!?" He shouted above the wind, "MAYBE YOU COULD COME DOWN HERE INSTEAD! 'TIS THE DECENT THING TO DO! " Why had they been lying so far up on a hill anyway? Was it not better to sleep at the base and use the hill itself as cover from the wind?

"Come down there?" She laughed and sounded offended. "Conall! You must be crazy!" And at his expression she regarded him with a pout. "But you're so far away! You expect me to walk all the way down there? It would take me years!"

Conall stared up at her incredulously. She couldn't be serious! "WHAT!? IT TAKES MORE EFFORT TO MOVE UP A HILL THAN DOWN IT! GET DOWN HERE! IF YOU DON'T WISH TO WALK THEN JUST ROLL DOWN LIKE I DID! IT'LL BE OVER BEFORE YOU KNOW IT! "

"Roll down there?!" She called after him. "What are you crazy? Has that pinecone gone to your head? I could break something! This hillside is steep, Conall!" And as she spoke, her voice echoed into the valley all around him.

"STEEP , INDEED , AND YET YOU SEEM DISINCLINED TO EXPRESS  CONCERN FOR MY SAFETY! REALLY, MISS HARMOND, I WONDER IF YOU MEANT IT WHEN YOU SAID THAT YOU LOVED ME!" Conall was fighting hard not to show any amusement as he shouted back up at her. He then threw his hands up in the air and sighed, " SO BE IT, THEN! MAKE ME SUFFER A PAINFUL ASCENSION BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO LAZY TO MOVE FROM WHERE YOU ARE!"

Begrudgingly he made his way back up the hill because it was cold and she still had his coat! When he was by her side once more he wagged a finger at her as if to scold a naughty child , "If I didn't love you so much, I'd push you down so you could take a share in my suffering! Now, I believe that you were about to return my coat to me, if you would be so kind!"

Katahnia shook her head at him, amusement sparkling in her eyes.
"Oh- but we are meant to share!" she protested, clinging to the coat that was still only on her by one arm. She pouted. "But now that you're up here I do wonder.."S he began, turning thoughtfully away from him and looking downt he hill. "If us climbing down there and sleeping might not be such a bad idea after all.."

Conall took one look down the hill, one look at his aching knees and then groaned, "And you couldn't say this earlier!?"He covered his face with his hands and mocked sobbing noises. "So cruel! Why do you do this to me!?" 

((I am loathe to making short posts like this but it makes sense, I think. ))

Pinching onto his sleeve, she yanked Conall close and proceeded to kiss him, despite his hands covering his 'sobbing' eyes.
"I joke, partially, but one has to wonder if the winds would be less dreadful down there.." and as she spoke, she idly let her fingers play wtih the buttons of his shirt before moving nearer to him and  opening the jacket. "Come on. It's chilly. Let's just get close so we can keep warm and sleep while we can. Who knows how quickly Blaith might be able to pick up our trail. We'll need all the rest we can get."

The fake crying ceased and he uncovered his eyes and looked at her, his eyes twinkling mischievously, "Do you want to find out? Just one little push and you could be down there in not time!" He swept her up into his arms and carried her down. Once they were at the bottom, Conall set her down and then settled down on the grass,lying on his back and gazing up at the stars.  "Don't you dare tell me that you want to go back up there."

Katahina was stunned when he, after all the work he had done, decided to carry her all the way down! Not that she'd complain! She simply giggled and clung onto him tightly, and once they were settled in at the bottom of the hill, she leaned in close and drew him into the coat for them to share.
"No, right here is just fine,"s he said, snuggling in beside him as she smoothed a hand across his chest, then peered up at the stars.

"Omitting the wind, it's rather tranquil here, isn't it?  " He murmured and lowered his gaze, turning his head to look over at her. His lips curled, pulling into what could only be described as a roguish smile, " We are alone here now, " he informed her mischievously, "we could..." one his his hands slipped up underneath her shirt and lightly caressed her stomach.  "Forgive me, for I do jest. 'Tis a bit too chilly for such things," and not to mention they were out in the open with nothing to hide what they were doing. Granted, it was dark but still...

He cuddled with her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck and kissing it, "Call me mad, but I am elated that we're doing this. I've been yearning for you all day. Having to keep my distance is most vexing."   But that wasn't the only reason and he knew that she understood.

"Conall!" she said, but was delightfully surprised at his jest. Though it made her blush terribly so to feel his calloused hands against her skin. "You would try something on a girl out in the cold,"s he poked back, nestling in beside him while giving him a sheepish stare. "Perhaps if the weather were a tad warmer... I might consider letting you fantasize with me out here in the grasses."

And the very thought warmed her. They could be caught if they even tried. But then again- who would ever see them? Especially on a night such as this? Either way, just remaining close to him was enough, and she enjoyed his presence and warmth all the more for it. It was exiting to think, after all, they were on their own road to freedom.

"What do you think has happened since we were gone?" she murmured, staring up at the stars as she peered through her own hair that had fallen over her eyes. "Do you think the war has gotten any worse?"
THough part of her knew it already had.

"Just fantasizing? " Conall pouted a little and then followed up with the bold declaration, "I have managed that without your help, thank you." He'd leave out the details on that one because he was a gentleman and she probably knew enough about men to venture a guess as to the true meaning behind such a statement. He winked cheekily at her and lightly poked her bellybutton with his index finger. "If you're speaking of putting that fantasy to application, however, I would be more than happy to oblige. " He shook his head, "Alas, we do need our rest so that we might resume our journey at first light. For it is quite probable that your cousin has already arrived home to find us fled and one could only presume that he's already sent out a search if he isn't leading it personally. And I'm quite certain that he'll kill us the next time he sees us."

He shook his head at her question , "By now , I'd say Connlaoth must be in a state of absolute turmoil. You saw Bellkrath for yourself and those camps.Ansgar preserve us, I had no idea how depraved these places were until I saw them for myself. I know that even as one Ansgar's faithful, I cannot be alone in feeling that there is so much wrong with that- with all of this. There are also people who will likely use this pandemonium to further their own selfish ambitions. I wish I knew what Allarick was thinking. You might find it disturbing to know that he and I were once on the same page. I wonder who changed more. Him or me?" He swept the strands of hair from her vision and kissed her jaw."However, I also believe that as long as people such as you or I or Lana are still alive ,there is hope for this country yet. It's going to get worse before it gets better , but it will eventually."

"Yes, I too agree, Connlaoth's future is most unfortunate. It seems to be in quite the grave state. It's why I tried to verbally declare my logic to the masses. And I had quite a lot of listeners. Unfortunately, that was very stupid of me, no matter how civil I was trying to be in making the Grand Duke listen to the plight of it's people. Though thank the Gods I am still alive." And she turned to Conall and peered into his eyes, smiling softly as she cupped his cheek.
"Where would I be without you, Conall?" she told him sweetly as she kissed his cheek, right beside his lips. "I can not fathom I'd even be alive now were it not for you." And she took his hand and squeezed it while she nestled in close.
"Though I suppose now I have a lifetime to try to thank you for it. For everything." And she nestled her head against his chest and grew silent.

Perhaps it could have been confirmed that hse might have been sleeping, had she not added, a few moments later...
"Perhaps the next time we make camp, you can... live out some of those fantasies."
She always was an awful tease!

Soaking up all of her praises, Conall smiled lazily and closed his eyes," Noble deeds ought to come free of charge, Miss Harmond. Nevertheless, I shall not protest a generous donation made courtesy of your affections."

He shook his head, "You're not the foolish one, Miss Harmond. Allarick is as am I. Courage in the face of adversity is a rare quality and you ought to be proud that you possess it. It is a quality in you that I have always held the deepest admiration for. The world never changes for the better if people are not bold enough to challenge what is custom." He too settled into silence with her, content to allow himself to gradually be lulled to sleep by the warmth of her embrace and the steady rhythm of her heartbeat against his.

He was nearly asleep when he heard her speak. He opened an eye and looked at her. Conall laughed heartily, ever delighted be lured by such prospects, "You certainly know how inspire a man, don't you? Well, I suppose I ought to get some rest then. The sooner we make camp next, the better!"
~
Conall woke an hour before sunrise and left Katahnia sleeping there in the grass with both coats wrapped around her and went to collect the horses. Cresting the top of the hill, he could see everything from this vantage point. Everything , including several lights moving through the fields towards them. Their movements were meandering , as though uncertain and searching. Conall could not make out the figures holding the torches, but he had a bad feeling and so, quietly he slipped back down the hill with both horses in tow.

He returned to Katahnia's side and knelt down, placing a shoulder gently on her shoulder, "Katahnia, " he said softly and gently nudged her, "wake up. I don't wish to alarm you, but it's quite probable that your cousin is hot on our trail. There's someone headed this way now. They haven't spotted me , but they're close enough. We should get moving. "

"Hrm?" Katahnia sat up at his words, but was still groggy and warm with sleep. "So someone might be following?" She bit her lip and moved quickly, and once she realized she had both coats of his, she offered one back as they mounted their horses.

"It is still dark out. Hopefully we can make some ground before he realizes where we are. But I suggest we head to those woods we saw in the distance. It'll be easier to lose him that way, come on." ANd with a heavy kick to the horse, the pair were thundering across the field, making their way from the valley and soon within the confines of the forest.

Despite the sun rising now the tall trees kept them clothed in heavy shadows, and a morning fogged rolled in, which was perfect. And as she pressed her horse forward, it stepped over a small stream and chuffed out white breaths as they moved forward.

"I think a lot of heavy riding through these woods ought to lose him for a while, but we'll have to find a town to eventually get some supplies. It's going to be a very long journey." And at that, she shivered and nestled herself more so into her borrowed coat as she peered worriedly over her shoulder, hoping no one was following, but the fog made it impossible to tell.

About an hour and half time's ride saw them through the woodland and emerging into more grassy, hilly farmlands. Though the sun still rose at their backs, Conall could hardly feel its warmth through the biting chill of the morning breeze. He was only thankful that it wasn't quite as chilly as last night. He brought his steed to a halt and surveyed the area.  To the west, not but a few minute's ride from where they were there was a town guarded by a tall stony wall that had been erected to shield the people and their homes from the elements and serve as protection from vagabonds.

"Let's investigate the town , shall we?" Without another word he coaxed his horse to move forward. There was only one entry point in town that was guarded by two men from the local militia.

"Welcome to Pineton!" One of the guardsmen waved at the pair and greeted cheerfully.

"Pineton. Pineton? " Conall looked amused , "You do not jest? That's the name of this town?"

The jovial militiaman blinked ,appearing somewhat quizzical for a moment, "Yes, sir. Why do you ask?"

Conall shook his head and smiled, "No reason in particular. It's just a rather fascinating name. I rather like it. Your pardon, my good sirs,  we are but humble travelers. Might we be permitted entrance as guests to your charming settlement? "

The two gate guards exchanged looks, " Well, I suppose it'll be alright. There's plenty of room at The Ten Flagons, " the jovial guard informed them and stepped aside to allow them passage, "Pretty darn cheap too. Only two silver pieces for a room. Complete with a bath and three meals.  "

"That sounds perfect , thank you gentlemen, " Conall replied with a nod and rode past them , crossing into Pineton.

((I blame Ivory for the name. It was her suggestion. xD))

Pineton was quaint with a. Small mill sweeping across a small lake that lay to the north eastern corner. The place was also bustling, children laughing as they helped with midmorning chores and colorful people all mingling in the market.

"Well, isn't this place nice and.cozy. its refreshing to see.such a town not affected by the war," Kat commented as her green eyes took everything in with wonder.

Everything seemed so serene here that, strangely, it felt almost wrong.  Though he knew he should have enjoyed these quiet moments, the memories of his experience in the prison and in the mage camp weighed heavily in mind and heart. He felt as though he shouldn't be here and the guilt proceeded to eat at his nerves. Usually, Conall wore a mask of impassiveness but as tired as he was, there were cracks in his facade of calm and the guilt that he felt shone through them.

He nodded at Katahnia's words silently and dismounted from his horse, "I don't think there's much coin to be found here. We might have to do a bit of bartering."

~

As Conall had predicted, the people of Pineton didn't have much in the way of coin but were more than willing to barter a lot of random things for the horse. Though some of those things might have come in handy, most those things were things that would have been more useful to a farmer than a traveler.

Six hours later, Conall encountered a merchant from Vythe who seemed very interested in the horse and , while he didn't have much more than some silver pieces on him, he had plenty of goods to trade that he was more than happy to offer to make up the price. " That is a fine horse. Ain't seen one like it out in these parts. Ye didn't steal from one 'o the lords , did ye? " He inquired with a laugh, obviously joking.

Conall exchanged glances with Katahnia and chuckled,opting to just not say anything at all lest he should give something away.

"I'm thinking thirty silver and, "the old merchant held up a finger to indicate that he needed a moment. He went over to the back of his wagon and proceeded to pull random objects off his cart and toss them at Conall's feet. A few minutes later , the pair of them had a nice bit of supplies that could possibly last them long enough for their trek to Uthlyn.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. Perhaps I should have been born a merchant instead." He nodded over to the inn after packing everything up and securing it to the remaining horse. He slung the haversack full of provisions over his shoulder and moved towards the inn.

~

The Ten Flagons was a small, quiet and comfortable little inn which seemed to be empty save for one lonely man seated at a table near the window. Conall had not even stepped through the door when the innkeeper rushed around from behind his desk and approached him in greeting with a bright , jovial expression , "Welcome to The Ten Flagons, my good sir! You couldn't have picked a finer establishment-"

"SHE'S GONE!" The lonely man at the table cried out , sobbing, " Oh Melody! WHY!?"

Conall forced a smile and tried his best to ignore the crying man in the background, "Thank you. We need a room. You wouldn't happen to have any vacancies by any chance, would you?"

The innkeeper nodded enthusiastically, "Oh , plenty sir! "

Conall looked around seeing how empty the place was and had no doubts about that claim, but he was polite enough not to point it out. "Splendid. Ah, " he turned to Katahnia, "I suppose one room will suffice. " It'd be silly to pay for two rooms when they needed to conserve and , well, they were quite familiar with each other.

"So, you'll be sharing?"

"Indeed."

The innkeeper had been hoping for otherwise , but he smiled regardless, "Well, for a room that'd be about three silvers. And that comes with three complimentary meals, sir. Sound fair?"

It sounded a bit steep, actually, considering the quality of the accommodations but Conall wasn't going to argue. He just wanted to go to bed. He gave the innkeeper the appropriate amount of coin and the man gave him a key and pointed right, "Down the hall, and it's the first room on the left. There's only four rooms here so it shouldn't be too hard to find!"

"Thank you," Conall smiled and left the desk and walked down the hall. He found the room in short time and unlocked the door, pushing it open. "Well, this is...homely. "

Katahnia had remained quiet during most of the exchange. It was best to let just one of them lead the dialogue anyways, so once they had procured a room, it was only then did she let the tiresome trip finally get to her, and the poor woman looked exhausted as she was placing their things upon the table before slumping own onto the bed and raking her fingers through her hair.

"This has been quite the journey,"s he murmured, releasing another breath before glancing over at him with a smile. "But yes, I agree, this place is rather homely. Though I doubt my cousin will find us here, I think after we are well rested and can acquire more supplies, I'd like to keep moving." And she said this as she took a moment to retrieve a silver toned brush and worked at her hair. it was knotted and filthy, but she supposed a bath could come when they'd have time, and paused a moment to pluck out a few stray strands of  grass and debris that were tangled in her locks, before finding something suitable to pull her hair back with as she glanced into the mirror and smiled at Conall through it's reflection.

"It'll be nice to finally sleep with you in a proper bed," she told him softly, a graceful blush heating her cheeks as she smiled. "Are you hungry? Should we inquire about something proper now to eat?" She knew that she, herself, was famished, but if he was more exhausted then hungry, she would also not mind to sleep first, either.

Conall nodded at her words, fully in agreement with her suggestion that they keep moving forward, " Indeed we best not test our luck. The sooner we're away from Turgall, the better, "he replied, watching her brush her hair with an appreciative expression on his warm but weary visage. His smile only grew when she mentioned sleeping in a bed together, " I would welcome the most humblest of beds. I can't take much more of sleeping on the earth; my back is killing me." To emphasize his pain, he rubbed his spine.

He nodded at the mention of food, "Indeed. I don't think either of us has eaten since yesterday morning and while I have grown accustomed to going without food for days, now that I have a choice I'm not going to torment myself, " he nodded towards the door, "Together or would you rather that I bring you something?"   

"Together will be wonderful," she said with a sigh through a smile as she turned to look at him,t hen promptly handed him her brush. "Here, you could use this." And at that, her smile grew more playful as she stood up from her chair. She was removing her coat and other travel attire as she waited for him, her gaze only leaving his to peek out the single, small window of the room.

"Looks like rain.."s he commented softly. Hopefully, that would aid them in their escape rather than hinder them. They'd have to keep moving, and keep moving fast.

Conall stared at the offered brush, his lips tugging into a slight frown and a single eyebrow quirking at her, " I beg your pardon , but I think my hair looks quite perfect, thank you. "

So it looked a little frazzled from all the riding. He was honestly too tired to care and he was thankful that he didn't have to concern himself with appearances nearly as much as he had when he'd been nobility. He wasn't going to miss having to go back to spending hours fussing over that. He met her gaze and sighed then quickly ran the comb through his hair and lightly over his beard just to be humorous. "There. All done. Shall we depart now?" He moved to the door and pulled it open, taking a step through it and waiting for her on the other side. He offered her his arm.

((Lazy Conall is lazy. ))

Katahnia rolled his eyes at his playfulness, and had to comment about the brushing of his beard.
"At least you remembered to brush that bird nest on your face. We don't want the locals talking about us. We're trying to be discrete, after all." And she smirked and stole a kiss to his cheek before hooking arms with him. "Lead the way, my prince."

Arm in arm, they made their way leisurely to the dining area, "We have to be discreet? " He asked as they sat down at a table; he pouted, "I know what isn't happening this evening. " Though he waited to say this after the serving maid had come and taken their order he still quickly scooted his chair back a bit to avoid being kicked under the table.

He got kicked anyways.

And with her hands clasped and held neatly upon the table, she kicked him a second time for good measure. When they were brought their food and ale (for it was uncertain if the water was good just then) Katahnia peered into her cup with a sigh before lifting it towards Conall in a toast.

"To knew beginnings."

Damn. He hadn't moved away far enough. Conall winced as the toe of her boot connected with his shin, "Ow!"He looked at her , his expression seeming to ask ,'What was that for?' and then , as if to answer that look she kicked him again. Shaking his head, he thanked the serving maid for delivering their food and the reached for his own glass and lifted it, tapping it against hers lightly, " New beginnings. May you find happiness , good health and –" he winced, "more forgiving shoes. I think you've bruised my shin."

She took a.haughty drink.
"Well, you deserved it. I supoose your aching shin might remind you to choose your words more carefully." And she hid her playful.smile behind another sip of her.drink.

"Indeed?Well, my shin begs to differ," Conall replied with a pout tugging at the corners of his lips and took a sip of his drink . "Mmm. Not bad. There was a time when I wouldn't dare touch common ale, but this is nice. Much better than that loathsome dredge they called water in the mines. " He shivered at the thought. The water really had tasted like urine and he wouldn't have been surprised now if there had been urine in it.

"I think you should compensate me for the damages. How does beard grooming duties strike you? Really, it's more of an honorable duty than a chore though. " Half-grinning, he set his cup down and reached for his knife and fork then paused to appreciate the fragrance of a delicious meal ((which I'm too lazy to describe atm)). "Ahhh. That smells good." Without further delay, he proceeded to dig his fork in and eat.

Katahnia shook her head.
"Who said I'd ever listen to you? Besides," she gave his shin another playful kick. "It's not my fault your shin's in the way." ANd with a grin she looked away and stared down at the food. The roast before them smelled exquisite.
"Man, this smells so good.." and as she began to dig in, moaning over the juicy, savory flavor of the meat, she over heard a man from the next table call out-

"Hey, Sable, this horse meat is really good!"

ANd Katahnia had already swallowed her food when she blinked and slowly lifted her gaze to observe Conall's expression, especially as the man went on to say, "It's just a shame the horse had to die, but it makes for a good meal!"

Conall was skeptical of his meal, "I don't know. Don't you find it odd that a little hamlet like this is serving meat at a common inn? You saw our room. These people don't have much coin." He frowned a bit and then shrugged, "Perhaps they have an overabundance. I'm not complaining. " He dipped his spoon into the stew and had a mouthful rolling around his palette when someone made a comment.

He spat his meal out into his bowl and shoved the bowl away, "Horse meat?! HORSE MEAT!? " He rose suddenly from his, his expression outraged and his body and inflection quaking. "Do you people have ANY idea how expensive even the simplest workhorse is!? And you slaughter it to make stew!? How dare you serve horse to an Ardalir! I refuse to eat at this establishment! " And with that he stormed away from the table.

It was then that the men seated at the table behind them burst out laughing. " Horse meat, Duncan? That's a good one! Hahhaha! "

"Poor bastard. Got no sense of humor!"

Conall heard their laughter and knew he'd been played a fool. Knowing it was a joke did little to help his mood or his appetite however. He stormed down the hall and to his room. "Ignorant churls. " He muttered under his breath and opened the door.

Katahnia stood there. Sure, the idea of eating a horse was appalling, but to what her man rush up the stairs in a huff made her sigh. She was famished, but she wasn't going to eat alone. Requesting the stews to be placed into one larger bowl rather than two smaller, she wrapped up the bread and juggled all the food in her arms before kicking the door with her foot.

"Conall, it's me. Let me in before I drop all of this food!" and really, it was quite a cumbersome amount considering she had two ale cups, a large bowl of stew and a wrapped piece of bread.

The door opened and a red-faced Conall Shanley stood on the other side, still looking every bit as agitated as he had moments ago. Seeing Katahnia with the food in hand, he sighed , "Here. Let me take some of that off your hands there." He took the bowl and a cup of ale and set them down on the nightable beside the bed. "I apologize but that wasn't funny." He told her stubbornly and he certainly was not amused in the slightest. 

Katahnia gave him a knowing look, one that was a bit patronizing but also said 'I know.'
Shaking her head, she gestured to the two crates used as chairs inside the room.
"Well, shall we sit and eat? I'm still starved, and as red faced and flustered as you are, you should still eat." And to be a bit of a tease, she added, "And perhaps go easy on the ale.."
She didn't need him to get drunk and prattle off about his love for horses, though if he did..
she could forever use that against him.

Conall was reluctant to touch the food, but even he knew better than to be so petty over a joke. He shook his head and turned his back on her for a moment, smiling lightly. " I can hold my ale just fine, thank you." He took a seat on the bed, "Just try not to spill any of you meal on me. I haven't forgotten the last time you were given a bowl of stew. " Technically it had been slop. "And for the record, I can hold my ale well thank you."

Plucking up a carrot from the bowl of soup, she stared over at him warningly.
"Careful what you say, Conall! Lest I stick this carrot up your nose."A nd with a smirk, she popped the piece of vegetable into her mouth with a smirk.

Conall rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue at her, "Don't be absurd. I am the Prince of Pineconia. You will never defeat me much less with a carrot! " He helped himself to some bread and ale. "Now, you silly little acorn. Your Prince demands that you apologize to the royal shins . For kicking them and causing them much grief."

((I told you this would be special.))

Katahnia kept the carrot in hand, the threat very much remaining real as her gaze narrowed upon him.
"Kiss your own shins, Conall." ANd like the 'princess' she was, she stuck her tongue out at him, all lady like. "And who said anything about you being a prince?" she wrinkled her nose. "You certainly don't look the part."

"You wound me, my lady- although , with your present attitude I use the term rather loosely." He pouted, " You told me I was a prince. Does that mean that you lied to me? " 

Katahnia kept her chin held high.
"Perhaps I did?" she said, giving a saucy sip to her spoon that was full of soup. "And I'm going to eat all of this food if you don't help me eat it, oh King of the Pinecones."

"If you do manage to eat it all, I'm not carrying you and neither is the horse. I'll roll you to Uthlyn, if I must. " He dipped his spoon into the bowl and sampled a taste of the stew now. Chicken and vegetables. Of course.  "And how does one go from Prince to King in less than five minutes?" He inquired after swallowing his first mouthful.

Kathania's grin only widened and the sparkle in her eyes twinkled more.
"When he marries his Queen, obviously."
And she sucked on some soup before adding, "Oh, or killed his own father. Which ever happened first." She added, pointedly.

Conall helped himself to a long , much needed drink. When he was finished he tossed a smirk her way, "Well, it obviously couldn't have been the latter because, " Conall set his spoon down and reached into his pocket, pulling out...yes. The pinecone. He set it down on the bed. "He's right here. So, I suppose that I must've married a queen somewhere between renting this room and now." And then he grabbed for his mug of ale and frowned, peering down into it. "Well, you did warn me to go easy on the drink." He admitted with a chuckle then showed her the nearly empty mug.

Katahnia's smile carried well into her eyes.
"So do you take your father with you everywhere you go? Because if you do.." she began, lightly sipping at the soup. "You and I need to have a serious talk about what happened in the bath house."

"Oh . Come to think of it, that might be why he stopped talking to me. Although, I'm not so sure we should have that conversation in his presence. I think he's still traumatized. " He patted the pinecone and said to it gently, "There, there. Don't listen to anything she says and you'll be alright. "

Katahnia gave a gleeful wrinkle of her nose.
"Yes, I'm sure he's more than traumatized. After all, did you see the condition of your beard? It was definitely not the most handsome time for you and it in your life time, that I can assure you."

Conall looked wounded by her words but he nodded in agreement, "True. My Sionad fashion was not very flattering. Though , I don't know. I wouldn't say it's the worst I've ever looked in my lifetime-" And then he looked at her curiously, "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. "He flicked his "father " off the bed with a finger and then gently nudged him under the bed with a boot . "You might want to hide yourself there. This could get ugly."

He picked up his spoon again and helped himself to another warm mouthful of stew , "You're never going to let me forget that, are you? " With his free hand he rubbed his now much shorter and cleanlier beard.

Slurping in more stew, she smirked over at Conall, her green eyes dancing with mirth.
"But of course not. I think you know me better than that. Besides, just look at how handsome you are now, with your beard all nice and tame." And at that, she gave a playful, patronizing pat to his chin.

Conall wrinkled his nose at her as she patted his chin. "Well, I can tell you what isn't very attractive. That noise coming from your mouth." He was half tempted to rob her of her own spoon because he found the noise slightly cringe-worthy though it didn't bother him as nearly much as it used to,"  Are you slurping your meal? Really, Miss Harmond , I thought you were a lady proper! I wonder what atrocities you shall wreak upon etiquette next? Burping? " Although there were plenty of times when she behaved like anything but that! 

((I do not know why I woke up this early. :/ *rolls away back to sleepland* ))

Katahnia, peering up at Conall from her bowl of soup, took up a handful of bread and flicked some of it towards his beard.
"Careful what you wish for, Conall,"s he teased. "Besides, what manners do we need with a life on the road. Besides, we're eating in our room. Nobody will see me get stew all over my face." And with a wider grin, she went back to eating, this time, making extra slurpy noises as she went.

With a slight gasp, Conall swept the bread crumbs from his beard, "Wish for? I wish you'd cease making that dreadful noise! " And he cringed, adopting a mock-horrified expression at the very idea of her getting stew all over her face, "What do I care about anyone's opinion? I'll see it and that's enough for me to be appalled!" He cringed again at her slurping and shot her a warning glare, "Ansgar's beard, woman! Do that again and  there will be, " there was a long pause there because he had no idea  ," ...consequences!"

Katahnia only looked at him, drawing up the spoon carefully to pursed lips before..


SLLLLUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP.
Yep, making the loudest and most longest slurp yet. Take that, beardsly!

Conall's grin was triumphant. What? She had nothing smart to say in reply, did she? Hah!

But then he saw her lifting the spoon to her lips and she dared to make that horribly unattractive noise again that made him flinch with aversion.

Conall about lost it, "Gah! Now you've done it! This means war!"  He tackled her, "Give me that spoon! "

When Conall lunged at her, she yelped.
"Conall!" ANd she yanked the spoon and bowl away from him, but not without spilling some on the make shift table. "Quit it or the soup will end up on the floor!"

Conall didn't pursue and backed away, frowning, "Very well. I will refrain if you refrain from making that horrid noise. "  He excused himself for a moment to leave the room. A minute or two later he returned with bucket and a rag to sop up the mess with. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd behaved yourself. " He informed her as he scrubbed the nightable, " I should make you clean this."

Leaning back in her chair, she waited for Conall to return before lifting the soup bowl closer to her lips... and then taking a spoonful,.. she...
slurrrped. But this time, not without a little giggle that followed.

Conall's head snapped up suddenly and he shot a glare her way that told her that he was not going to let her get away with that. For a moment, he looked about read to throw the rag at her head, but the last thing he wanted was to make her spill more stew and give himself more to clean up! He forced a smile and finished cleaning the night table.

"Laugh it up now, Miss Harmond, because the moment you fall asleep..." He grinned devilishly.  Revenge was going to happen!

Katahnia only made another, longer, louder slurp in response.
"Oh really?" She slurped again. "How do you plan to sleep with all of this noise?"

Conall tried not to let his irritation show, because he knew half the reason she was going it was to irritate him and the other half of the reason was because she enjoyed driving him crazy because she was evil. He shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. You only have so much stew left and I have the rest of the night." But if she thought that he was going to sit there and listen to her do THAT for even so much as an hour, she had another thing coming to her. "Or maybe your lips will get tired before then." Well, one could only hope!

"Oh, I doubt my lips could tire," she teased. "And even if I run out of soup.." and she lifted her chin up and slurped the air.
"I could always do that for several hours in your ear."

The look on Conall's face was horrified and he drew back as if she'd just said the most disgusting thing EVER. Utterly appalled by the suggestion of it, his face flushed bright red , "You most certainly will NOT!"He composed himself and folded his arms over his chest, "I think you're bluffing. You will tire. Slurp. Slurp. I don't even care." He waved a hand at her dismissively, confident that she'd tire long before that stew was finished.   

Taking the bowl to her lips, she was about to drink it down before she paused nad offered it over to him.
"Now, you know I could drink this all, but really, COnall, you could eat something. you'll need your energy. I plan to keep you up all night, after all." And she gave his body a quirk once over before...
making a playful, and failed attempt at combining SLURP noise face with sexy.

Katahnia looked so ridiculous that he couldn't help but laugh in spite of his irritation. And each time he tried to force composure he started laughing again, with each round of laughter being louder and causing more ache to his belly than the last one, " What in the world are you doing with your face? That is so...wrong!" He sat down on the bed beside her, leaned over her to reclaim his spoon from the night table. "You are so childish, Miss Harmond. I mean, honestly. "   He couldn't keep a straight face for long because he made the mistake of looking at her; He started laughing again.  "Stop making me laugh!" He elbowed her lightly in the side.

"What? What do yo mean laugh?" she said, still trying to dawn the same peculiar face but she too, was soon laughing as she moved to elbow him back.
"If anything, you should be captivated by my beauty, not laughing and pretending to be repulsed!" and she nudged him again, this time with enough force to knock his spoon clean out of his hand.

The spoon went flying out of his hands , "Hey!" And as it clanked harmlessly to the floor he turned on her with a frown, "Nice going, Kat!" He elbowed her again, " How, precisely, am I supposed to eat now?"

His eyes swept over her once and he snorted, "Beauty? Indeed. I would not challenge such a claim were it not for that hideous noise you keep making. And stop...making that ridiculous face..." He cracked up again.

"Use your fingers?" she said, giving him a glittering stare as she jutted out her chin. "ANd what ever do you mean about my face?" and here she teased him by leaning in real close to his face, kissably close, except.. well, whens he got this close- she...
SLUUUUUUUUURPED right against his cheek!

At first it was sexy and he was all excited...

and then it suddenly was not!

In fact, it was probably one of the least sexist things ever.

"Ugh! Get off of me you depraved lunatic! " Conall pushed her away though just hard enough to move her lips away from his skin. He slapped a hand over his cheek which was warm and slightly wet with just a little bit of saliva on it, "How dare you! You just drooled on the beard!"

Laughing, Katahnia finally conceded as she moved to throw herself onto the bed as she stretched.
"Your beard has been through worse, trust me," she told him. Need she remind him how horrid it had been? Shaking her head, she rolled over onto her side and nestled into the bedding.
"At least these beds are comfortable here. I think we chose a good place to rest up. And the soup is just superb. Hopefully we can have the same stuff tomorrow." And here she grinned, positively beaming at the idea.

"Of course. He suffered a great loss," Conall lamented the cutting of his beard as he stroked his chin. He watched her get comfortable for a moment and then stood up and went to retrieve the spoon she'd made him drop earlier.  "You just lay there while I clean up the mess, your majesty." With spoon in hand, he returned to the bed, sat back down and quietly finished the stew in the bowl. When he was done, he took bowl and bucket with the rag in it and left the room to return it to the kitchen. When he returned, he collapsed on the bed beside her and buried his face in the pillow. With a full belly and a comfortable bed, he was ready to fall asleep.

He might have been ready to call it a night, but Kathania was not. Rolling over so she was laying on her back, she sighed before turning her head towards her belly-down companion.
"Conall.. are you asleep?" she asked, curling her socked-toes into the bed sheet. Turning over, she now completely lay on her side and peered into his face, one hand resting beneath her cheek.

His muffled voice spoke from a face-full of pillow, "Not yet." He only wished he could fall asleep that quickly at will.  With a sigh, he rolled over onto his side to face her , "What is it, my love? " and then he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, as if he suspected that she might be up to no good.

He hadn't forgotten what she'd teased him about earlier. She'd promised to keep him up all night and he was almost positive that what she meant by that wasn't what he was hoping for.

There were going to be some obnoxious slurps coming. He just knew it!

"How far do you think we can out run my cousin? I know we've just taken off so hastily, but I still worry he might catch up to us more quickly than we'd hope." And her eyes sought to his, a most serious expression on her face. "I'm just worried what will become of us if he does." Though she smiled a little as she recalled another plight..
"Though, I do realize the roads are also dangerous, and neither one of us can be claimed to be alive any more. How interesting things will be if you are to resume your throne and I, going back to the capital, banging on the Grand Duke's door asking for mercy in the law."

"Well, I can't honestly say how far he'd pursue us. One cannot predict the thoughts of a madman, after all. "  He reached out and rested a hand against her cheek lightly, his gaze meeting hers, "I would die before I let that happen. Besides, I think we both knew the risks we were taking in running and now running is all we can do. Even without a rational thought in his mind, your cousin doesn't have the luxury of chasing us across country. The moment we cross the Turgall border, we won't be so easily tracked.  "

He frowned at her suggesting that she'd return to Reajh. Though it was a long way off,he felt his stomach twist at the thought of being parted from her and even more so at the thought of her placing herself right back into a den of wolves. But he couldn't ask her to stay with him anymore than she could have asked him to abandon his people and go with her. " I know that is some ways off, but I don't suppose you might consider another option? "

Katahnia nodded sagely about her cousin. Though she didn't like the idea of her cousin being labeled as such, she knew it was true.
"Things are just unfortunate. But yes, we knew our fate the moment we took off." She leaned into his hand, her own moving forward to rest over his before she was confronted with his last question as her eyes peered into his questionably.
"What do you mean? What other options do we have?"

Conall blushed lightly and proceeded ,appearing every bit as nervous as he felt. Perhaps he should have waited to make such a suggestion , but now that he'd put it forward even in its vaguest of forms, he knew that backing down wasn't going to ease his nerves any less or calm her curiosity. He frowned slightly , his eyes filled with uncertainty and an unspoken desire, "I...just thought that perhaps you might like to stay with me," he closed his eyes and shook his head, " but that's foolish thing to hope for isn't it?"

Katahnia laughed lightly as she shook her head.
"What do you mean, Conall? Of course I'll stay with you. We are traveling together, after all." But it seemed she hadn't gotten the meaning of what he meant when he proposed it.

Conall laughed nervously and forced a smile, "Right you are. Silly me! I'm sorry...the days have made me weary and I'm not thinking clearly. I just need some rest," He half-lied.

Maybe he wasn't thinking very clearly about this. What was he thinking? To ask her such a thing now when they hadn't properly courted one another? When they had so many more important things to do? What if their politics differed too much ? What if their faith differed too much? What if she never stopped using magic or if he could never accept the fact that she wouldn't? He told himself every time he asked himself these questions that he loved her and accepted her regardless , but what of her? Maybe he needed time to think this through some more.

"I love you, " moved closer and kissed her cheek.

Katahnia raised her brow when he lied. She could kind of tell he was just trying to wave something off.
"You sure nothings bothering you? You get a weirdness to your face when you lie."
Though when he said he loved her, she felt her heart flutter as her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. And her face softened as her smile grew.
"I love you too." Taking his hand, she twined their hands together while keeping her eyes upon his as she kissed his finger tips softly.

"So now, tell me what you really mean before I start slurping on you again,"s he threatened, wrinkling her nose in playfullness as she hoped they were close enough he wouldn't hold back anything from her. After all, they were in this together- and she hoped he didn't have any regrets. She did torment the poor man, after all.
"And if it's about my teasing, you should know if I didn't like you I would have left you well enough alone." And here, she stole a kiss to his lips, her grn- still as smug as ever but in her eyes, she meant business. He better speak up or else!

When she asked him if he was sure that things were alright, he tried to meet her gaze but found that he couldn't which was something foreign to him because he could have looked anyone else in the eye and lied through his teeth without hesitation and , often, without feeling much remorse because the lies he told were typically necessary.

Were these lies really necessary? Was the truth? The uncertainty ate at him , but  still he tried to stand by his original stance, "I'm fine . There's nothing weird going on with my face." What did she mean by that anyway? 'A weirdness' to his face? He shook his head and squeezed her hands.

He smiled at her threat, but still looked uncertain. "No, no. It's not the teasing. I like it." And then he added hastily, "  But not the slurping." Because he really didn't like that sound. Seriously.

He forced himself to meet her eyes with a sigh, "Oh, alright. You got me. Katahnia, what I meant to ask you was if you'd like to ..."

A knock at the door interrupted whatever he was going to say . Well, sort of. "Fuck?!"

((lololol soooo ooc there at the end but I couldn't help myself. We'll just um...pretend Conall uses the F word very rarely and when he's very frustrated. *sage nods* ))

Katahnia, taken back by his choice of words, turned towards the door just as it opened- and found herself gaping at just who happened to stroll on in.

"Katahnia Harmond, I thought that was you," Jinai said with a coy grin, her green eyes flickering over the pair as she regarded them cozily upon the bed. "So who's the boy? Got a new lover?"

The blood in Katahnia's body was set to broil, but she stilled her tongue, swallowed any anger she held towards this woman, since Jinai was the sole reason she and Cauwyn had that terrible fight an d broke up. Rising from the bed suddenly, she regarded Jinai with some contemption, "Jinai! I didn't think I'd see you here."

JInai gave a shrug, her eyes taking in the room.
"No body thinks they'd find me anywhere, but I'm usually everywhere." And she laughed at that, a hollowed laugh, and one that Katahnia thought, even for this woman, was quite odd.
"So what are you doing here? Last I heard the Grand Duke took care of you." And she looked the woman over, and it was then Katahnia realized the woman was high. She should have known that from the way Jinai was walking, unable to keep her footing straight and the goofy smile she wore.

"Jinai...." she said, hesitantly approaching the woman. "Are you... are you on opiates?"

And with a laugh, Jinai nodded. "The whole world is on opiates!" And with one stoned foot, the girl tripped, and lucky for her, Katahnia was able to catch her.

"Hey, you smell like horse meat- were you eating the stew?"

Kathania, finding herself at a loss of words, only replied hesitantly, "Er.. y-yes.." and she gestured for Conall to move aside as she helped Jinai take a seat and once she looked the girl over, she frowned.

"I hate to say this, Jinai, but you look like shit."

Jinai.. who's gaze had gone to Conall with a doped up grin, turned back to Katahnia as she laughed a barkish laugh right in her face.
"So do the pair of you! what happened- you both drag yourselves out of a grave?"

Katahnia drew in a careful breath, trying to steal her nerves from getting too angry with this girl- but she was already on her list of people she cared... less for, but even still, she knew Jinai was someone who helped the cuase- and for that, she at least had soem respect for her- even if she was an ass.

"Something like that," Kat spat hotly.

"And who's the boy, you never did tell me your playthings name."

Conall hastily corrected himself, "Forgive me. That's not what I meant-" God, was he mortified that that vulgar word had slipped from his mouth! He covered his face with a hand to hide the furious blush heating his face up to a brilliant shade of scarlet. His face turned a darker shade of red when Jinai came sauntering in as if the room as if she were expected company; she was not. 

He opened his mouth to ask her to leave, but the rude intruder spoke first. Conall's embarrassed expression immediately shifted to surprise. This strange woman seemed to be familiar with his lover. He looked curiously now over at Katahnia whom was ignoring him at the moment , her attentions heatedly focused on the other woman. He knew Katahnia well enough to know that the expression she was wearing wasn't pleasant.

He was even more surprised that to discover that this wreck of a woman standing was the person they had earlier decided to find. How convenient that the woman found them first instead! "That's Jinai?" He looked the drugged-up whore over once with a frown, his gaze skeptical. He remained quiet , however, and let the women proceed with their exchange.

At Katahnia's gesture, Conall slipped off the bed and moved away to lean against the wall across the way. He closed the door which Jinai had neglected to do. His irritation only grew at being referred to as Kathania's 'plaything' rather than her lover, but he did a fair job of not allowing his inner irriations to translate to his expression. With as much patience as he could muster, Conall replied with an even tone, "I am Conall, Miss Ringstate. " He wasn't quite sure how much he ought to divulge at this point because though Conall did not have a whole lot of experience with opiates or the effects of them, he could tell that there was something rather...off about Jinai and her mental state. He could have properly introduced himself and for all he knew, she might hear "Calent Allarick" or "the Queen of Serendipity" instead. One could never tell and he wasn't going to throw the name Shanley around in Turgall without discretion.

He looked worriedly at Katahnia, "It may be advisable to leave our surnames out of this conversation. The walls are thin and we are still in Turgall," He reminded her softly.

He looked back at Jinai and frowned again. Now he was having doubts that this woman was capable of helping him.

"The walls.." Jinai laughed. "That's not the only thing that's thin."

Katahnia cut a glare her way and forced Jinai to have a seat, which only made the opiated woman laugh.

"Gods.. how many of those vials did you take?"

Jinai tossed her head back with a laugh.
"All of them."

Katahnia paled.
"All of them!? By the Gods, Jinai! You could kill yourself!" But it seemed Jinai was indifferent as she laughed and turned her stoned gaze to the duke.

"Come on, learn to have a bit of fun. I have more anyway, if you want to try to reach the sky with me."

And all Katahnia could do was look appalled.
"No, thanks, Jinai. NOw is not the time nor place."

ANd with that, Jinai laughed.
"Of course it is. There's always time for getting high."

Kathania looked disgusted. "Maybe for those who wish to ruin their life..."
And at that comment, Jinai went silent and stared at the ceiling, her smile still there but not reaching her eyes this time.

Conall blinked and stood there, looking and feeling awkwardly uncertain of the whole situation. He wasn't sure whether or not to take pity on this clearly damaged woman or be offended by the sheer lack of her manners. Was this the same Jinai that had stolen Cauwyn from Katahnia? He found that hard to believe, but he had no idea what kind of man Kathania's former lover had been. But , honestly, who would risk losing such an amazing woman for this?  He saw nothing appealing about this drugged up mess.

Conall sighed and shook his head, "Miss Ringstate, please. You're not- you don't seem to be ..." Well, he really couldn't be sure but he'd heard things about opioids before and he'd never heard of them discussed in a positive manner. The end results tended to be quite... well, ugly. If she didn't feel like shit now, she would sooner or later. At least, that was what he'd heard and Katahnia's own statements seemed to support this. Whatever Jinai was doing to herself, it certainly wasn't healthy.

"Your pardon, but you don't look well," He spoke honestly in spite of not knowing whether , in being high, she currently felt like a duke's treasury or if she was merely covering up her real feelings with lies and addiction. "Is there a reason that you...barged in here? Do you need anything from us?" He really didn't feel like offering her any at all. Ansgar was she rude! But, it was in his nature to be compassionate; sometimes he hated that quality in himself.

Jinai just laughed, just looking at the ceiling as she did so before painful sparkles of tears began to form.
"No. I just remembered, 'Hey! I knew that gir!' and figured I'd come say hello." And she paused to observe Katahnia, and judging by the way Katahnia's expression changed, she realized she no longer wanted to stay and play. "But now that I've said hello, I think I'll say goodbye."
Though when she went to stand up, Katahnia caught her by the arm.

"Jinai... something's the matter. What's wrong?"

And despite the genuine concern on Kat's face, Jinai only turned to her with a laugh.
"Nothing's wrong unless you don't let go of my arm and I make it so."

"Yes but you're crying-"

"Crying?" JInai laughed and touched her eyes. "Must be the drugs!"

"Yes, well, you could have tried knocking first, " Conall replied flatly with a slight growl at the end of that statement. He was only relieved that he and Katahnia hadn't been in the middle of something more intimate or he would have thrown this woman out on her ass promptly without question. He crossed his arms , not appearing the least bit convinced by Jinai's explanation.

Conall reached into his pocket , pulled out a kerchief and held it out to the woman in offering, " If you would prefer, I could leave if you need to speak with Katahnia in private. I could bring you a refreshment? Some ..." and he recalled that there was little more than ale to drink and , well, giving Jinai ale was probably not a good idea. "Actually, perhaps something to eat instead?"

Despite being upset that this girl was the reason she and Cauwyn broke up, she couldn't be so heartless towards her as she cut a glare Conall's way.
"Yes, snacks. Go." And once he was gone, she sighed and turned to Jinai, who was suddenly sobbing.

"Jinai.. honestly- what's the matter?"

"I can't do this."

"Can't do what?" Genuinely concerned, Katahnia scooted closer to where Jinai was now sitting on the bed.

"I can't take the last vial to kill myself."

"Kill yourself!?" Katahnia back by this, what on earth was going on that she was talking about over dosing on drugs? ANd even more so to her surprise- she told her and at the mention that JInai lost a child, Katahnia's mouth fell open and quivered ever so slightly as tears welled up in her own eyes.

"The.. the baby... was it... Cauwyn's?"

It was then Jinai's shot to Kat.
"What? NO." she made a face. "That man disappeared after you left him. He went on about trying to find you, though I guess he didn't."

Kathania, surprised at how much relief she found in that statement, also found more pain as she realzied...
"Cauwyn... he.. he tried to find me?"
And soon it wasn't just JInai who was in tears, but Katahnia as well.

Jinai stared at the other woman, her own eyes reglossing over.
"Yeah.." she wiped at a falling tear, then another and gave a sniff as her nose began to run. "But you know I didn't mean for that to happen. I was just there wanting a fuck. We were both drunk or high, maybe both. So he obliged. We even pretended he was fucking you."

Katahnia held up a hand and shook her head. "Please.. I... I don't know if I can bear any more of it..."

"The thing of it was, I told him you can only live once," Jinai smiled sadly at it. "And now that i realized I fucked up someone else's life- I think I'll go get that last vial."

Gasping, Katahnia rushed after Jinai as she tried to leave, but when she did so, she found herself surprised when Jinai shoved her away.
"Get off of me, Kat! I'm sick of fucking everything up! I lost a child. I lost whatever love I had got, and I ruined yours. So let me just bow out of this game for now while I can. I fucking can't stand this world any more."

And it was here Katahnia's grip tightened on the other woman's wrist as she stated, "No."

And that's when Jinai slugged her across the face and bolted for the door.
Catching a glimpse of Conall on the other side, she called ou tto him, "STOP HER!" And Katahnia held onto her throbbing chick while holding an anxious breath.

For reasons that no one could probably fathom, Conall nodded at Katahnia's words ,but paused before the bed to reclaim the lonely pine cone he'd left on the floor.He made his way to the kitchens , noting the way the men seated in the dining area looked his way with grins on their faces . One, squat fellow with an over-sized mustache and balding head gave him the thumbs up, " Way to go, son!"

Conall quirked a brow at the man as he walked by curiously and muttered to himself as he continued onward to the kitchens, "I really do not understand these people." Reaching the kitchens he encountered a trio of maids gathered before the hearth and speaking in hushed, gossiping whispers.

Conall caught part of the conversation and enough of it to cause him reason to blush, "Two women in his room! " One maid gasped, "Can you believe it?"

"Well, did you get a good look at him? He's a handsome young devil. "

"Not to mention wealthy. He had two horses!"

"Do you suppose he's nobility?"

"Is it normal for nobles to travel with not entourage? Don't they usually have body guards?"

"Maybe he's a merchant?"

"Regardless, " the third maid cut in, "it's quite scandalous. Really, he ought to be ashamed of himself! Such philandering is an act of sin and-"

Conall awkwardly cleared his throat and the women gave a start, "Pardon me, ladies, but might I request a warm meal for a ...friend?" Well, Jinai wasn't exactly his friend and didn't seem to be Katahnia's either. He wasn't sure what to call the woman aside from a lost soul.

The women stared at Conall for a few long , silent and awkward moments and he could imagine that they were probably wondering how much of their conversation he'd heard and if he knew that they'd been talking about him.  Finally, one of the women found her voice and nodded enthusiastically, "Right away , sir!"

As he waited on the meal, Conall heard a commotion behind him and Katahnia calling out to him from across the hall. Immediately, the duke of Ardal spun around quickly on his heels in time to see Jinai running. He wasn't sure what was going on , but he didn't think to question Katahnia's commands and moved quickly to block her exit path from the hall. "Running away isn't going to solve anything. Let us help you." He tried to reason with her though he doubted that would be of much use since Katahnia seemed to be failing to keep her.

((Feel free to abuse my character. So wrong. xD)) 

"Shut up and get the hell out of my way!" And not waiting to hear his whiny ass excuse, Jinai kicked him in the balls and ran.

With a grunt and a wince, Conall doubled over and pressed his hands over his smarting groin. "She kicked me !" He acted as though he were surprised and he probably shouldn't have been. He looked over at Katahnia and saw her looking expectantly at his way. Sighing, Conall took off running after her. Jinai was fast and she probably would have had the advantage over poor, tired and somewhat sickly Conall IF she hadn't been high.

And the patrons in the inn , for the most part gave them a wide berth. The men were amused, the women were appalled and Conall was pissed because Jinai was a pain in the ass and she was STILL ahead of him when she was already out the door, "When I catch up to that bitch, I'm going to kill her!"  He didn't really mean that ,of course. Maybe he'd just beat the crap out of her or something much less violent! Maybe.

He was gaining on her too until a man with a cart loaded down with grains rolled out into his path and forced Conall to go around it and lose some distance between him and his target. Cursing under his breath, Conall pulled the pine-cone out of his coat pocket and held it up. He had an idea that was, he supposed, slightly crazy. "Forgive me , father, for I am about to sin! " With a war cry, he hurled his father- er , I mean the pine-cone at the back of Jinai's dumb blonde head!

(( We talked about this the other day and I decided that it had to happen. I'm going to let you decide the outcome since um...that's how things work. xD))

When the pine cone came sailing at the back of her head, it hit the mark dead on with a loud THUNK. Stumbling after the attack, she turned around and placed a hand to the back of her head, rubbing at the lump forming there. Though before she had a chance to cuss out Conall, she watched as Katahnia charged out the door. Swearing between her teeth, she turned to try to run from the two- and most comically (and unfortunately) ran head first into a wall.

"Jinai, wait!" Kat called, finally making it to Conall's side, and quickly gaining on where Jinai was now left, stunned. Turning her gaze towards Conall and inquiring, "Are you ok?" she then refocused her attentions back on Jinai as she rushed into the alleyway.
"Jinai, please stop!"

Realizing her nose was bleeding, Jinai begrudingly clutch a hand around it as blood seeped all over her fingers, but she turned away from them and tried to make a get away, though her other free hand was needed to steady herself against a nearby stone building. Needless to say, she hadn't gotten far when Katahnia rushed infront of her path, and Jinai, with a growl, fell intoa dizzy mess upon the ground.

"Really, Jinai, come now. Come back with us to the Inn so we can talk."

Jinai smiled, though it was obviously fake.
"Yeah, go back there for what?" And Katahnia noted the tears in Jinai's eyes again and sighed as she peered over at Conall. The Gods save them- this was going to be a long night.

"Here," she offered a kerchief to the woman before throwing Jinai's arm forcefully over her shoulder. "Conall and I are taking ou back to the inn. you cna sleep this high off and we can talk in the morning."

Groaning, she only peered over at Kat before glancing to Conall.
"If there weren't four of you I'd knock your teeth out," she tried to growl threateningly, but did not fight hteir aid as Kat gestured to Conall to help her get JInai all the way to her feet.

"Easy does it. Now come on, we'll get you a meal and someplace to lay, and tomorrow morning will be another day."

Once they had gotten the woman back to the Inn, Jinai fell asleep almost instantly, and unfortnately for the two of them- Jinai was now occupying the bed as Katahnia released a tired sigh.

"I just don't know what to do now. I thought she might be able to help us but she's a wreck. And despite out history... I can't just leave her like this. She wanted to kill herself," Katahnia revealed as she sighed down at Jinai's snoring form. "She was always selfish, wreckless and rude, but I think something bigger happened to her- I dunno what but she told me she just lost a child and to hear that ... it's just terrible. SHe probably feels like shit, for lack of a better word." She she turned a tired smile to Conall.

Conall wasn't terribly pleased that Jinai would be staying the night and Katahnia could probably see that in the sourness that he didn't try to mask from his expression. The explanation of Jinai's behavior set him slightly back and he felt sympathy, but even so he wasn't about to stand back for long and allow Jinai to be violent towards his lover,  "If that is your wish, then I shall not protest it. " He told her quietly and then frowned, noting her weary expression , "What about you? Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Katahnia sighed and rubbed at her throbbing jaw.
"Nothing really, I just have a feeling Jinai will have left a bruise on my face. THough don't worry about it," and she smiled and placed a hand upon his and squeezed. "We've been through much worse than Jinai Rinstgate."

Chuckling, Conall leaned forward and lightly kissed Katahnia's jaw, "Of that , I have no doubt. She is quite a handful though. " His head turned and his eyes went over to her sleeping form stretched out on their bed. "If you'd like to get some sleep , I can stand watch by the door. Now that I know she's not...very ladylike, I think I'll be prepared for the next time she tries to make a run for it. " 

Katahnia looked up into Conall's eyes. She was exhausted, but wasn't he? Though she wasn't sure if she could get some rest so easily. Sighing, she nodded.
"I'm exhausted," she stated, and went quiet for a time as she closed her lips. "Though I'm not sure how well I can sleep, knowing so much is going on- and now the woman I thought might be able to help us.." her eyes lingered over Jinai as she sighed. "It seems we might need to be helping her out, instead."

He nodded, figuring that Jinai would be useless to them the moment she walked in the door. He kept his focus on Katahnia, "Are you certain you need nothing?" He tilted his head, regarding her curiously but then he sighed and nodded .

"If you really cannot sleep then I'm afraid that must. I'm sorry. I'm so...tired. " He felt guilty but he couldn't control the way his body was feeling. Not with his ailment. "Apologies.I haven't been feeling well since ... we've reached Connlaoth. Don't worry. It's normal for me. It'll pass...soon." Soon as in a few days or weeks, possibly a month. His condition wasn't a very predictable thing. He took her hand and kissed it, "I love you. Wake me when you feel like getting some rest, alright? "

Katahnia stayed up most of the night, and when Jinai roused, it was loud and she was doubled over a chamber pot and vomiting. Between sobs and her illness, it seemed the day's job was going to be long as Katahnia peered over at Conall's awakening form and offered him a tired smile.

"She's been like this all morning. I haven't slept a week." Shaking her head, she gave Jinai some space and moved in closer to whisper to Conall.
"From what I've gathered, Jinai was part of a pretty big incident up North. In Breakpoint, in Allar." She shook her head, but the smile she wore showed she was genuinely impressed. "Turns out she and.." and the next part was whispered even lower, "Her lover, had gotten a lead on some mages that were to be sold into slavery over seas. They had just enough information to sink the ships and free the mages- Isn't that fantastic news?"

THough as she went on, she cleared her throat, "But it still does not answer the main question that well... It seems Jinai had been with child and lost it shortly after they blew up the ships. She's a mess now and her body is still reeling from the drugs."

Then with a frown, she noticed...
"Say.. are you alright?" She placed a hand to his forehead. "You feel warm. Would you like some ale to drink?"

Conall frowned and nodded at the news . The loss a child was dreadful news , but the liberty of enslaved peoples (likely people whom had no business being slaves to begin with) was indeed somewhat uplifting.

He wasn't overly fond of slavery though so he supposed it wasn't such a bad thing and especially since he'd seen the conditions of a mage camp.  He touched her shoulder lightly and offered her a weary smile, "I'll be alright, " he lied," A drink does sound nice though, thank you. "

Nodding, Katahnia poured a glass of ale and handed it towards him.
"What do you think we ought to do with her? It wouldn't sit well with me if we just abandoned her. Perhaps she could travel with us? It seems she has a lot of intel but I.." She bit back her lip and frowned. "I feel as if it would be wrong to use her for our plans now, after what just happened..."

"Thank you," he accepted the glass and drank slowly as he listened to her. When she was finished, he lowered his cup and shook his head, "I...you're right. She's probably in no condition to help us in the manner that we were hoping for. We'll just have to think of something else then. Although, with her knowledge , perhaps she could point us out to someone who could help."

He frowned deeper," However, if she comes with us then she's going to need to know the truth sooner rather than later. We don't exactly have the luxury of having an oblivious person tag along with us. She doesn't know who I am and I don't know how much you've told her about recent events ,but if she knows little,  that's dangerous. " He took another gulp of ale, " perhaps we'll give it a few days and let her...sober up a little first . She seems to ...need a break but I wouldn't recommend staying here longer than one, two days. Honestly, I'd prefer to be away tomorrow but ....you're right. We cannot leave a person in need to suffer.  "

Katahnia went quiet as she thought over the severity of the situation.
"You're right. We can't stay here long. We could.." and here she hesitated before lifting her gaze to his. "We could just have her travel with us. We don't need to reveal everything. We can just take this in stride." And the looks she gave him was pleading. She could in all of her heart, leave Jinai to waste away here. And whatever hate was there, seemed to begin to dissipate.

"While she sleeps, we ought to gather our things." And she rose to her feet and began packing what little they had. "But yes, let's plan to head out. My cousin could be closer than we'd like."

Conall followed after her and put a restraining hand on her arm, forcing her to cease packing, " That's what I was suggesting, but we aren't packing. I am." He pointed to the makeshift 'bed' of sheets and blankets on the floor where he'd slept earlier, "Katahnia, you need to rest or you're going to end up ill. Please, try for me. Even if only you only manage to sleep for a couple hours. " Now his gaze pleaded with her, " it would kill me if you worked yourself to illness and exhaustion.  " 

Katahnia looked into his eyes. She saw that look and turned away.
"I could sleep on the road," she said, and tried to get back to packing again.

His grip on her arm tightened and he pulled her around to face him. His expression and tone was of mild exasperation, "Why are you...so...so...Kat? " What he meant to say was stubborn but same difference ! "Do I have to sit on you to make you lie down for a bit? Because I will if I have to. " He promised.

Katahnia gasped.
"Really, Conall. We've got more pressing things to deal with then my sleep patterns. Besides, the longer we linger, the easier it could be for Blaith to find us." ANd her eyes searched for his, hoping he could be reasoned with.

Conall sighed, "The only thing right now that concerns me is your health. I'm not in the mood to argue with you, Katahnia, and since you won't be reasoned with..." He moved forward and swept her up into his arms, carried her over to the makeshift bed and deposited her in it. To make certain that she wouldn't try to escape he pinned her down beneath him and glared down at her, "I will sit here as long as it takes for weariness to overcome you, " and then he added with a playful smirk, "or , perhaps I could tire you out." It was a bold jest and a suggestive one at that. If they had been alone , however...

Curse his luck!     

"Conall?"
Katahnia let out a gasp as she was suddenly scooped up into his arms. "C-Conall!!!" And when she found herself deposited into his make shift bed on the floor, she tried to sit up, only to find his ass coming down upon her and crushing her beneath. She gasped again and beat against his side.
"C-conall! Get- get off of me! I can't breath!" And struggled and wriggled beneath him like an earth worm in the dirt, but at his playful comment, she paused and turned up to him with a gasp.
"Conall!" THough she couldn't deny that she was a little turned on by it as her cheeks flushed.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. " He beamed down at her and then his expression changed to something mockingly thoughtful, "Although, now that I think about it, we'd probably wake Miss Ringstate." He chuckled. Because, really, she could be a noisy lover!  "Too bad for you, huh?" He grinned down at her mischievously, "I suppose you're just going to have to surrender and fall asleep because I'm not going anywhere, my dear." He patted her cheek. And in-spite of his playfulness , he was quite serious. He wasn't going to leave her alone until she got some rest, dammit!

Katahnia wriggled beneath him again, and managed to get one arm free.
"C-conall! That isn't very nice. Besides, you're crushing me!" she complained while trying to push him with one arm. "Besides, who said I'd even allow for it? You're in hot water now, Shanley. My lips and love are off limit until you get off!"

Conall smirked , "Nice try, Miss Harmond. You're probably just saying that so you can escape." Despite saying as much, he did lift his weight from her but stomach but remained leaning over her, keeping her other hand pinned to the floor. "And who says you can tell me what to do? You're hardly in any position to deny me from taking what I want." He teased her and stole a kiss from her lips, pulling a face at her afterwards and appearing every bit goofy. 

Gasping that he'd dare steal a kiss, she continued to flounder beneath him like a fish out of water.
"Conall! Really!" she said, placing a hand to his chest in attempts to push him away. Yet, even though she was a bit flustered, it was hard for her to remove that small bit of a smile. Shaking her head, she gave an irritable sigh. "Really now- you are not being fair. Our lives are in danger. A few hours of lost sleep will not kill me."
But them remaining here very well could. She didn't want to think about what her cousin was capable of.

Conall's mirth vanished for a moment and he became quite serious, "Our lives are always in danger,Katahnia. We already have Miss Ringstate in poor condition to look after. It will not bode well for us if you deny yourself a bit of reprieve. What good will you be if you're too tired and sick to move? I will fight your cousin if I must in order to see you take better care of yourself. Four hours. That's all I ask, please."

Katahnia sighed frustartedly.
"Just four hours?" she asked, staring at him skeptically before turning her nose away in a subtle sneer. "Really Conall.."
But upon realizing he was serious, she sighed.
"Alright, fine. I cave. I'll try to take a rest. But honestly- did you have to resort to sitting on me? I never thought I'd say it, but you might want to consider losing some weight. You're pretty heavy there, my duke."

Conall grinned down at her triumphantly and planted a light kiss on the tip of her nose, " I'm pleased that you are so gracious to concede, my lady." He moved off of her and turned away , smiling at her comments about sitting on her and his weight. " If we didn't have company , I would have offered a more pleasurable alternative. Ah, but it all worked out in the end , did it not? Sweet dreams, Miss Harmond. " With that said, he patted her leg and moved away to pack what little possessions they had.   

And that's when he'd find a pinecone to the back of his head.

OOC: looool
epic. short. pine cone.

The hours came and went and Conall had everything prepared for the journey ahead long before he chose to wake Katahnia up. Seeing the women were still fast asleep, he left the room and went to the kitchen to request a trio of warm meals to be set in the dining area and returned to the room to rouse Katahnia first. He touched her shoulder and shook her lightly, " Rise, sunshine. Time to get moving. "

Katahnia groaned and turned her body.away from him, closing her eyes tighter.
"Conall..." She wrinkles her nose. "What time.is.it? How long have I been asleep?"

Conall hesitated with the answer. To tell her the truth or not? The truth would possibly get him killed! He told her anyway! "It's an hour before light. I let you sleep a bit longer than you may have agreed to ; six and a half hours, approximately." And he moved away from her before she could , possibly, strike at him most violently.

Warily, he approached Jinai because who knew how that woman would respond to being awakened after having such a wretched day. Regardless, he put his hand lightly on Jinai's shoulder and shook it lightly, "Miss Ringstate, Katahnia and I are leaving now." He glanced back over his shoulder at Katahnia and sighed heavily, "And you are coming with us. "

"What?!" Katahnia shot up. Seeing Conall move away her cheeks puffed out in anger.
"C-conall!" And she threw a pillow at him. "Why did you let me.sleep so.long?" She asked, approaching his.side as she huffed. And despite all.of her noise and his shakes, Jinai did not wake up.

(( Conall, why so dumb? Never tell a lady the truth!))

The offending pillow , thrown from Kat's low angle , hit the man square in the rear. Conall gasped and turned around to face her, " I let you sleep in because...you would have done the same thing! " He told her, his voice raised with exasperation. And it was amazing that Jinai could just lay there and snore right through their argument. Had he known she was such a heavy sleeper he would have made well on his promise to tire his lover out!

"She sleeps still..." Conall bent down and retrieved the pillow on the ground , then struck a very unresponsive Jinai with it repeatedly. Actually, he was quite enjoying himself because the stupid woman was the reason he didn't get to sleep in a bed last night! He missed that sort of luxury, damn it! Not to mention he'd been about to ask Katahnia ....

Ah  , but perhaps Jinai's interruption was a good thing then. It gave him more time to consider his proposal to her. There was no question in his mind that he would ask her again. It was simply a matter of when.

He hit Jinai with the pillow again for good measure! 

Seeing Conall hit.her.'friend' with a pillow made her gasp.
"Conall! Really!" She snatched the pillow away from him but a.groan from Jinai had her next set of words hitching in her throat. Jinai tossed and turned upon the bed in a fit, her eyes still.closed as she groaned again. Turning to Conall, she peered worriedly back to Jinai.
"Jinai?" But when Katahnia moved.forward to.touch her, she gasped and jerked her hand away. "Her skin... She's with fever." Turning to.Conall she commanded, "we must go.fetch her water. You go, see if some can't be.found. I'll stay to.keep.an eye on her." And she sat upon the bedside and peered down worriedly to Jinai, feeling her forehead. Yes, she was definitely warm. Her frown deepened.

Being deprived of his only weapon against Jinai made Conall pout, " That was for punching you. " He told Katahina lamely. Hearing that Jinai was with fever her swore and oath under his breath. Ansgar curse their luck! How ironic that the woman they thought was going to be able to help them would turn out to be such a pain in the...

He nodded and left the room, returning minutes later with a bowl of water and a rag. He set the bowl down on the night table and then dipped the rag in the water , handing it off to Katahnia, "So, how bad is she? "

So maybe they wouldn't be leaving so soon after all!

Katahnia sighed.
"She woke up.to..puke while you.were gone. But.it.seems she's gone back to.sleep." she frowned as she watched.Jinai tremble. "She's also.shaking." Accepting the clothe, she placed it to Jinai's forehead and sighed.
"I don't know what.to.do.... We can't stay here but.we.can't leave her like this. She's pretty bad."

Conall sighed, not liking what she reported to him, " If she's as bad as you say,  then we don't have much choice. Leave her or stay in town.  If you don't know how to treat her, perhaps I should seek out a doctor."

It was a risk, but there was nothing short of leaving Jinai here that they could do. Taking her along would only slow them down and out in the open road this made them easy targets for Blaith Harmond who was certainly actively searching for them.

Katahnia lowered her head and.grew quiet. Several minutes passed.before she sighed hotly and began to.cry.

In that span of silent seven minutes, Conall had left to seek someone experienced medical knowledge. Asking his fellow patrons in the inn, they pointed him out to the home of Regina Quinton, the wife of the town's former most skilled doctor. Most of the men swore on Ansgar's beard that the woman was a miracle worker or something silly like that, but Conall wasn't about to doubt their words. At the very least, the woman must have be knowledgeable.

Reaching her home, Conall knocked on door and waited; the door opened and the face of a withered old crone ( a really ugly crone!) peeked out, "Yes!?" The woman practically shouted at the duke , "How can I help you, sonny!?"

Conall momentarily glanced down at the little dog that wouldn't stop barking at him . "Are you Regina Quinton? The innkeeper across the street said you might be able to help a sick friend of my ..." He wasn't quite sure what to call Katahnia. Openly declaring her a lover rather than a wife was quite scandalous and drew unnecessary attention. "Wife." He finished hastily. He should have just stopped at friend. Ah well. 

"Sick person, you say!?" Regina shouted at him again. "Say no more, kid! Let me just get my things and we'll be on the way!" The old woman turned quickly from the door, leaving it wide open. Conall was surprised that she trusted him so much.

And while he waited, the dog bit his ankle.

Her enormous medicine bag acquired, Regina hobbled after Conall toward the inn. However, when they reached the room they found Katahnia in tears.

"Poor child. We're too late." Regina lamented loudly.

Conall scowled at the old healer, "She's not dead!" He hissed at her, "See to her, if you will. I'll pay you well." And then he moved over to Katahnia and took her hands in his, "It's going to be alright." He assured her.

Rising off the bed, Katahnia wiped away her tears and moved closer to Conall's side, standing between him and the female doctor.

"She's with fever- but last night- she came to us.... She was under the influence of several optiates."

"Opiates , you say ? Hm. "

Conall put an arm around Katahnia's shoulder, "Is there a problem?"

Regina shook her head, "No , child. It's just been some time since I've encountered such a thing , but don't you worry. I've just the thing to help the girl. " Regina opened her bag and proceeded to sort thought it. "This will take time , unfortunately. "

"That's fine. Do what you can. We need to step out for bit, "Conall replied with a nod and guided Katahnia towards the door, "we won't go far."

" Alright, sonny. Just be sure to check up in an hour or so. "

"We will. " With that , the pair left the room and made their way to the dining area . Conall found a table near the window where three bowls of lukewarm soup awaited for them. Conall waited for Katahnia to take a seat before taking the seat next to her . "I don't know what else to do. I'm sure Missus Quinton will take good care of her. The townsfolk I've spoken to spoke of her quite highly. "

Once seated, Katahnia grew quiet. Her eyes were lost in her cold stew, and she wasn't even picking at it- just playing around with it as her spoon mixed it around in circles.

"I'm worried," Katahnia admitted. "About a lot of things." Sighing, she peered over at Conall. "I think if it's possible, we need to get out of here as soon as we can." She kept her voice low, eyes scanning the room before she turned back to Conall wth an imploring gaze.

"Do you think there's a way we could procure a wagon? Or a one horse cart? If so, we could place Jinai in the back as seh recovers and..."
Sighing, she dropped her gaze and lowered her head.
"Oh, now I'm sounding foolish. I'm sorry.I just.." And she chewed on her lip. "You know Blaith will stop at nothing- and I would have lked to make more grounds than this before remaining somewhere for such a lengthy amount of time."

Sighing, she shook her head agan and leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling.
"And from some of the news I've heard... I'm worried about my daughter."

Quietly , Conall ate his soup as he listened to her concerns.  She answered most of her own questions and he wasn't about to restate the obvious. Setting his spoon down on the table, he reached across the table and slid his hand over the one nearest to him and squeezed it lightly, " As would I, but it is what it is and we will have to make the best of what Ansgar has given us to work with. We have each other, Katahnia. Together, we're a lot stronger than anything her or anyone else tries to toss our way. "

He felt her hand slip from his and watched her curiously as she leaned back in her chair with an expression that weighed Conall's heart heavily with concern. She mentioned her child and it had been quite a long while since she'd said anything about her daughter. Though he'd inquired if her intentions were to see the child, Katahnia had insisted she were needed elsewhere and he hadn't pressed the matter further often. Now that she was talking on the subject again, he wondered what it was that had stirred these sudden concerns. He looked at her curiously, " What news do you speak of? Is ...she alright?"

Katahnia sighed.
"I have no news- not of my child but I just.."s he fidgeted and peered over towards Conall. "I worry for her. I figured she'd be safe where she is, but with all of this news I'm receiving... I'm worried something could have happened to her. Perhaps I am being foolish. I could send a letter- but.."s he shook her head. "If anyone could intercept it and connect me with the woman keeping watch of her... I fear what it could mean." She shifted uneasily.
"Would you... be terribly angry with me if I suggested we head to Reajh?"

"As any parent would in your position, " the duke of Ardal agreed softly, " I remember telling you when you first mentioned her that you ought to see her and I haven't changed my mind a day since. I think , even if her safety weren't threatened, it will be good for you both." He gave her hand another light squeeze.

Conall studied her face for a few moments then closed his eyes and shook his head, "Katahnia, how could I possibly be upset with you? " He opened his eyes and offered her a gentle smile," Family is every bit as important as one's duty to one's nation. We make for Reajh then. " It was risky, it was a detour but Ardal could wait just a little while longer. 

Squeezing his hand back, her eyes looked into his. "Thank you," she whispered, and went back to her soup. Taking a sip, she laughed. "It's cold." It wasn't even luke warm at this part. Shaking her head of it, she turned to Conall and just worked at the food, not complaining any longer, but thankful she had anything to eat.

"I don't think I've ever talked much about my baby." She blushed now to consider it. "She must've grown a lot by now. She's so smart. I named her Callista, after a close friend of mine growing up." And her stare grew distant and sad. "A friend who hadn't survived the raid on my home."

At her words of thanks, he nodded and smiled, "You're welcome. " He joined her in resuming his meal and paused when she spoke again and shook his head, " You mentioned you'd trusted her in the care of someone else, but I know nothing more and I...could tell how much it pained you to speak of the matter so I didn't press you to say anything more."

He went quiet again and smiled affectionately when she told him her daughter's name, " That's a beautiful name. Intelligent, beautiful , just like her mother. I can't wait to see her-" but then he realized," Oh...or do you think that might be awkward? " 

"Awkward?" she said, giving him a playful smirk. She flicked a light bit of cold soup at him from her spoon. "Why would it be awkward? She's eight now. I'm sure she'd be delighted to meet you." Then she paused to consider, with a laugh. "And she hates it when I call her my baby. But that's what she is to me. My baby, forever and always."
And as she smiled over it all, she suddenly felt her eyes sparkle with tears as she looked away, a hand hiding her trembling lips. Though the tears were evident and she oculdn't mask that, even as she looked away from him.

With a gasp and then a short laugh, Conall wiped the bit of cold soup from his face. At her question, he shrugged, "Well, I don't know. She might feel a little intimidated by this impressive and most saintly of beards." He stroked his chin , adopting an overly-exaggerated expression of thoughtfulness.  He shook his head and then grinned at her words which followed, "My mother always said the same thing to me and I'm sure she'd never let me hear the end of it either. I think many parents are like that. I know I felt that way about..."

She turned away from him suddenly though he had not missed the tears threatening the corners of her eyes. "Kat..." He moved his chair back from the table a bit, turned it to face her then moved it closer to her so that he could lean over her and put his arms around her and hug her close.   

Though she flinched back and was rigid at first, the moment his arms were around her, she felt herself break. Sobs escaped in a soft, choked squeal before her body began to shake, and shake heavily. BUrying her face into his shoulder, she just let herself cry until she could finally compose her sniffles, and though the tears still ran, she moved back just so to wipe at her eyes.

"I'm so sorry I just... Gods, I miss her."
And she missed Cauwyn, too. He really did look like her, a lot of the same features- especially his nose. Though her heart had moved on since, there would sitll always be a place for Cauwyn.

"It's alright, " Conall replied softly , hugging her ever tighter though his embrace was always more gentle than firm, " let your tears go if you need to." He soothed as she rested her head against his shoulder and sobbed. "Oh, Katahnia..."He slipped an arm from around her and reached up for her face , brushing strand of hair and tears gently from her eyes, "Don't apologize for being an emotional human being, my love. Have faith. We'll find her and you'll see her soon." He couldn't be too certain of that, but in times like these, hope was really all one could hold on to.

He pulled back from her and held her at arm's length, "Now you look like a bit of a mess. Shall I have the maid set a bath for you? I think we're going to need to stay another day. We'll have to see what Missus Quinton has to say about ...Miss Ringstate before we make any real plans. For the time being, you ought to try to enjoy this moment of peace. Eat, sleep, take a wash or waste your time further here in my company. Consider this moment yours. " 

Kathnia nodded numbly at his suggestion.
"Yes, perhaps a bath." ANd as she pulled away to wipe at her tears in attempts to regain composition of herself, she paused a moment to consider as a smirk took over her lips.
"Though I suppose not a shared bath." And she laughed softly at that. But giving Conall a more genuine grin, she took his hand and squeezed it. "Maybe next time."

The blush of surprise on Conall's face was quite brilliant, " Oh. I -" Honestly, he hadn't been thinking of having her in such a way when she was clearly distraught. He noted her grin though and shook his head, smiling, and his cheeks burning, " Yes, yes of course."  He squeezed her hand back, leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll inquire right away. I'll be back. " He moved away from the table.

((I will leave it up to you to write out the bath or skip it. He'll wait at their table unless something else happens. xD))

While Katahnia was left to bathe, she lay in the waters contemplating how her life had faired up to this point. Before Callista's birth, things had been difficult, but much simpler. Now she had to juggle being a mother, and a woman who was the voice of the revolution. Not to mention, even now- a new love (though she hardly saw that aspect as juggling).

Leaning her head back into the tub, she stared up at the ceiling when she heard a knock at the door. "Conall if that's you..."s he said with a grin, but at the voice, she heard it was the nurses. "Oh, yes, I'll be there right away." Rinsing herself off quickly, she slipped out of the bath and wrapped a towel around her. Stepping into the room, the woman gave her an update.

"PLenty of rest and water- but don't let her near those opiates. She has to get them out of her system and it won't be a pretty few days."

Internally, Katahnia blanched at that fact but gave a nod of her head. "I understand." Drawing in a deep breath, she turned to where Jinai lay and then offered coin tot he doctor before she left. It seems all they could do now... was wait.

There was a soft knock at the door before Conall let himself in quietly, " I exchanged a few words with the innkeeper. He's agreed to allow the acquisition of a second room for a price, naturally. I thought it would be necessary for when either of us needs to rest while the other keeps an eye on Miss Ringstate." He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, a light frown present on his features, " I don't like this arrangement , but aside from leaving her here like this, I know not what else to do. In that state , moving her would be...risky for us as well as for her but if she becomes too much of a problem..." He let his voice trail off with a soft growl and then he sighed, "I have had more rest than you have. Perhaps you ought to take advantage now of this quiet time and get some more rest? "

Katahnia remained quiet for a time as she stared down at her 'friend'.

"I understand,"s he spoke softly. "It's not like everyone can be saved." And she knew Jinai was a reckless fool. Perhaps it was just foolish of them for trying to help her, but Katahnia was not heartless. She couldn't just find someone and let them suffer, knowing full well she could help. Turning to Conall, she gave him a tired sigh.

"Thanks, I think I might take you up on that offer with no fuss this time,"s he siad, taking his hand and squeezing it. "Though I understand what dangers we face, I'm just glad you are alright with us at least trying to help her out."

"Unfortunately that is the way of the world," Conall replied softly with a slight nod, "but ,luckily for her you are compassionate enough to try and I love you enough to go along with it. " He wasn't so sure he would have been quite so generous in her position, but perhaps he would . One could never be so certain of what they would do until they were faced with such a situation.

As she took his hand, he pressed the key to her palm, "The kingdom of slumber awaits you, my queen. " Taking her hand, he raised it too his lips and kissed her fingers lightly.

Katahnia smiled and cradled his cheek in her hand.
"Too bad you can't join me,"s he said, a mischievous sparkle to her eyes. But the sort of smile she was giving him implied 'Yes, but we'd best not'.

Taking the key, she kissed his lips, then cheek before pulling away, sparing one sympathetic glance back to him at the door before she disappeared, leaving Conall alone with the sleeping Jinai.
Or, at least they could have presumed she was sleeping until she spoke up.

"You know, you can go after her. I don't need watched over like a kid." Yep, Jinai was awake, but she sounded worse for wear, her voice croaky and her eyes hanging heavy, despite being open.
"I'm sure she could use the sex."

At the sound of Jinai's voice, Conall gave a start and gasped at the crudeness of her words. He blushed furiously, his expression fighting hard not to submit to his irritation and embarrassment but his frustrations were initially plain as the noonday sun. This woman...if he wasn't a gentleman...

Conall coughed and straightened his posture, forcing himself to smooth his temper and present himself with a professional , courtly air of calm."Needs and desires are two separate things , Miss Ringstate. As much as I desire to be with her , I made a promise to keep an eye on you which I intend to honor. Besides, after the stunt you pulled last night, I don't think you're in any position to make any claims that you are not in need of some manner of intervention. " Divine intervention was what she really needed but Ansgar had left this challenge for him and Katahnia to deal with, unfortunately.

JInai laughed, but the bark of a laugh had her wincing as she threw a hand dramatically over her face.
"Okay, whatever you say, Duke."
She was no fool. She heard enough things to get the gist he was someone important. But her head was pounding as she groaned. Gods, she felt like the dead.

"I don't need watched over. I don't think I'd get far anyways, but if you're going to stick around, can you get me something to puke in. Unless you don't mind vomit on the floor..."

The duke of Ardal smirked, "I am not concerned about you running, Miss Ringstate. I know you won't get far. You didn't last time. " He shrugged, "If you really desire to leave then I won't go out of my way further to stop you again. You're an adult and while I can't say that I agree with your choices, that is not for me to decide. I only seek to help you because it was Katahnia's will and in spite of whatever sour history you seem to share, she still cares for you more than others would."

He took a deep breath, "I know not how much your ...inquisitive ears have overheard , but whatever blanks there are I will leave it to Katahnia to fill them for you. " Conall was no fool either and whatever surprise or curiosity he may have felt towards her using his appropriate title, his countenance was a mask of chilling calm that couldn't quite rival that of Calent Allarick , but eh...damn well close enough.  "My name is Conall and I would appreciate it if you would call me nothing else. " He replied evenly and moved to collect a bucket which he'd left near the bedside. He held it up for her to see, "Fortunately ,Miss Ringstate,  I am always prepared. There's a bucket here near the bed. You need only roll over and ...well, you know." He set it down and moved away, "Is there anything else?" 

Once she found out where the bucket was, she rolled over onto her belly, threw her head out from over the bed and retched. She did that at least twice before spitting out the vomit taste in her mouth than rising her eyes to meet to his.

"Ok, Duke, but if you don't want people believing what they over hear, you need a better story than  pretending not to care. It's a dead give away of what you truly are." ANd she wiped off her lips on the back of her hand.

"There any booze in here? I could use a drink."

Conall ignored her again, refusing to be rattled and feed her information that she had no business knowing. Katahnia may have called her friend, but the duke of Ardal didn't trust her further than he could throw her.  " You need a drink?" He looked at her incredulously. He felt as though he might have needed several. Shaking his head, he took his unfinished mug of ale and handed it to her. Were there clean, drinkable water to be found here he would have given her that instead. "Here."

Jinai took the ale and drank some of it down befrore making a face.
"Ugh, I change my mind, here." ANd she shoved hte thing back int his hand before groaning and letting her face collapse back onto her pillow.

Well, this is going to be a long , fun afternoon. I can tell already. At least she's calmer than last night.  "Very well. " He took the mug of ale and set it down on the night table for her to take later if she had the stomach for it. Because he sure as hell wasn't drinking after her disease-ridden lips. He could not begin to imagine where her mouth had been and what few places it had not. Disgusting. He shuddered and grabbed a holy book from the table and sat down with it on the opposite end of the room near the door to do some reading. He certainly wasn't interested in talking to Jinai and he needed something to preoccupy his time with until Katahnia could take over watching her for him.

"Ugh."

Jinai moaned and groaned, flopping around in agony for a good few hours before puking again in the bucket, then turned her attention to Conall.
"So how long you've been with Kat?" she wiped off the puke from her lips before giving a sniff. The woman looked like completely shit, bags under her eyes and all.

He enjoyed reading in silence for a couple hours, occasionally pausing to inquire if Jinai needed something. Such inquires were met with miserable groans and incessant flopping about like a fish out of water.  And so he resumed reading , that is, until the woman spoke up. The inquiry about his relationship with Katahnia was not a subject that he minded discussing.

He adopted a thoughtful expression, "Only a few months ," but he was speaking of how long it had been since he'd found her in the Kilanthros opposed to what he suspected she might have really been inquiring about which was an inquiry about how long he had been her lover and that time had been so much shorter.

"How long have you known her, Miss Ringstate?" He was genuinely curious. There were still many things about the woman he loved that he hardly knew. 

Jinai lay there on her side, still feeling wretched.
"A couple of years. Off and on. We're kind of into the same thing. Well.." she paused to think about it as she smirked. "Kind of. Considering we both think Connlaothian law is shit."
She gave Conall a rare smile before weakly turning away from him, now laying on her back as she stared up at the ceiling, then, after a moment, she was on her side and puking again.

"I don't understand how I can puke so much. I haven't eaten that much in a few god damn days," she groaned through a forced laugh and raked her messy hair out of her face.

"So I've heard, "Conall frowned slightly at her crass remarks. He offered a ghost of a smile though warmth in his green eyes conveyed that he would not disagree about Connlaothian politics which had been a mess , it seemed, since the day he'd been born and certainly well before that. People liked to blame the grand duke's assassination and mages, but Conall felt the real problem was far more deeply rooted than most cared to consider.

He frowned as she turned her back on him, "You have the substances you've abused to thank, so the doctor told us. " 

Jinai ignored that comment.
"Ugh, and my head is pounding. Ain't there anything else to drink besides ale? I could use some water."
Turning to peer over at Conall, she looked him over. "You ever take drugs? Or is there a law saying dukes can't get high?"

When she inquired about him having ever taken any drugs, he gave her a curious look, "Technically, there are few things I couldn't do in my own lands, but it's more a matter of personal choice and the limits of my own body than what my authority allows." He shrugged, "  However, I have known other nobles to indulge in such things. The aftermath is not pretty. Oh it picks you up in the beginning, but eventually you come crashing back down. Rather hard." And that was no dig made towards her or her profession, but rather just a simple fact.

"There's little more than cheap ale and mead here at the inn , but Pineton is a farming community. I think I could probably barter in town for some goat's milk or something. Katahnia and I were avoiding the water. It doesn't look or smell very...drinkable." And that was saying something given what he'd been served in prison.

Jinai smirked at his response.
"How would you know? Unless you've taken some." And she brushed some messy hair from her face and observed him. "So you've only been together traveling a few months then? What brings you here, anyway? Last I heard Kat was in the capital, but then something happened and she was presumed dead." She peered up at the walls, eyes searching before she sighed and fought off the urge to puke again. The vomiting was just making her down right exhausted.

"And you don't have to watch over me." And hse paused before adding, "I'll live. If the drugs were going to kill me, they would have already. But now I just have to deal with this nasty mess until my body gets cleaned." She wrinkled her nose unhappily. Her body was a mess anyways. She hurt in places she never heart at before and now she was sicker than a dog.

"So there's no water?" she asked again, never realizing she had never wanted fresh water now more than ever before in any moment of her life.

Frowning , Conall crossed his arms, "I'm an educated and observant man, Miss Ringstate. Just because I don't play with fire, it doesn't mean that I don't know it can burn you let alone how." Of course there were things he had known nothing of and there were things he'd done that he was still rather inexperienced with, but...that wasn't part of this conversation!

He uncrossed his arms , " It's quite a long story of how I came to meet Katahnia and how it is we've managed to find ourselves here. I thought perhaps she might have told you something herself. You two spoke last night for quite awhile. " And he had no idea about what. "She seems a bit ...upset. " He shook his head, " To be frank, Katahnia told me you were a spy and as such I am not sure how much I ought to tell you. Granted, I don't have that much to hide. I never did and perhaps my honesty was my downfall." He stood up and walked over to the door, " Well, if you really want water I can get some for you but I'm not so sure you'll appreciate it. It's quite filthy."

And he left before she could reply. Time passed slowly and it was nearly an hour before Conall had returned with a full waterskin. He went over to the bed and held it out for her to take, "Well, water it is. It's ....murky and possesses a slight hint of...manure. "   

JInai only smirked and watched the man leave. She had just about fallen asleep when he returned and promptly retched.

"God, that smells worse than dog shit. What are you trying to do, kill me!?" ANd she shoved the thing away.

Kill you? Well, there's a thought. It'd certainly solve a lot of problems right now, wouldn't it?

Conall sighed,"I warned you, did I not? But you wanted water and I got it for you." He frowned and watched the waterskin fly away then abruptly smash into the wall on the opposite side of the room. "You're welcome."

This woman was so damned rude.

"How about some tea instead? "

"What?" Jinai looked up at him and wrinkled her face in disgust. "No, gross. With that piss water?" She shook her head. "I think I just need to rest some more." And she threw herself back on the bed, and wilted into the blankets as she sighed.
"And you don't have to watch me." she gave a chilidsh glare his way. "I'm too sick to go anywhere.." Really, she dind't have to be watched over like a damn kid!

Conall was tempted to just leave her alone like she wanted , but then what would Katahnia say? He had promised to watch Jinai and that's what he would do whether either of them liked it or not. He shrugged, walked back to where he'd left his book, sat down on the floor and pulled it back into his lap. "Fine. I won't watch you then, but I'll sit here and read. Let me know if there's something you need , otherwise pretend I'm not here. "

This was going to be a fun several hours. He couldn't wait for Katahnia to wake up so he could be free. 

The next few hours went on just like this. Jinai fell in and out of sleep, and when she wasn't sleeping, she was awake and sweating, puking into a bucket and begging for water. She complained about the smell,a dn when she finally tried to drink it- she puked some more. Eventually, after Jinai had passed out a third or forth time, the door cracked open and Katahnia peered inside.

"Conall?" she noted JInai sleeping, before closing the door behind her and tip toeing to his side. "How's it going?" she asked softly, afraid to speak any louder than a whisper.

The moment Katahnia entered the room, Conall snapped the book closed and hopped up to his feet. "Ansgar be thanked that you're here." He moved forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. God, was he relieved to see her! Although this experience had not been quite as terrible as he'd been dreading.

"Miss Ringstate is...well, we shared some words and there was some mild protestation made towards my presence but other than that, she's spent most of her time expelling her illness into a bucket. She refused the water she requested and whined about a lack of booze. Other than that, I've been reading and distracted by the thought of wishing that I could have joined you." He released her from the hug and took a step back, "Did you rest well?"

Katahnia smiled and blushed at his affections, though when he brought up with Jinai had done, she glanced over the sleeping woman's way before turning to Conall and smiling.
"I've missed you, too," she whispered, stealing a kiss softly to the corner of his mouth. Her eyes then took in his.
"So I suppose things are as normal as they can be?" She took his hand and squeezed it. "I suppose we can thank the Gods for that."


"Thank them yourself," JInai groaned as she woke up.

Katahnia, startled by the woman's sudden interruption, shook her head and smirked the girl's way.

"You of all people should be greatly for this, too, Jinai. We're at war here."

"Yeah, but we've always been at war."

Conall cleared his throat gently , " I thought that perhaps we might grant Jinai the courtesy of giving her a little quiet time." He was somewhat thinking of the woman's preferences, but more or less thinking of his own and of Katahnia's . Jinai couldn't do much right now and it wasn't likely to kill the woman if she was left alone for an hour two. Although Conall supposed that he ought to just get some sleep. 

"I just thought maybe since we're ...here still that we could um...spend some time alone together. " Of course he wasn't thinking of what Jinai had suggested earlier! Although he would have welcomed that option! "Not long , but we haven't been permitted to slow down since the Kilanthros and just...be together." Did that even make sense? And it felt a little ...awkward having to confess this with an audience, but here was an opportunity and he figured that they may as well seize upon it.

"If you two need to fuck, I"ll just ignore you," came Jinai's voice oh so helpfully from on the bed.

Kathnia didn't even have a chance to answer Conall when she had spoke and her face turned red as she cast a mean glare Jinai's way.
"Really, Jinai!"

"What? IT's not like it's not obvious. Besides, I need to-" ANd before JInai could finish her sentence, Katahnia cringed and turned away, just as Jinai puked some mroe into a bucket.

Whispering to Conall, she asked, "Has she been ill this whole time?" She looked worried, but she had no idea this was just part of the process Jinai's body was going through for her withdrawl.

Conall's expression was that of naked mortification, "That's not - I wasn't even - well, perhaps -" well, he was a man! But he was also a gentleman! Damn. " Indeed, Miss Ringstate! Please do keep such crude comments internal, thank you!  "

But then Jinai made another comment which had Conall feeling rather flustered. Obvious? What did she mean by that? Oh. THAT. But he- was it really? Did it really seem that way? Or was it just Jinai's naughty assumptions? Did Katahnia read it that way? That THAT was the only thing he'd been thinking about!? That certainty was not his intention! Damn it, Jinai!

He was half tempted to hold her head down in that bucket drown her in the god damned vomit!   

And then to Katahnia's inquiry he nodded, "Indeed, but her body needs time to abolish the poison in her system. The drugs rather.  " And then , he leaned in close to her and whispered, "Does it honestly seem to you that I'm only interested in -satisfying physical desires?"   

Katahnia was more surprised by Conall's comment than by Jinai's. Gasping, she looked at him.
"Certainly not!" and her face went crimson.

"Just go ahead to the other room already," Jinai groaned over her bucket. "I'd rather not deal with two lovers right now."S he had her own messed up love life to figure out. Ugh.. Jude...
Where was he now and was he pissed at her for leaving? Did he even realize why?


Katahnia sighed and gave Conall a pout, but it was evident she was agitated over all of this, definitely more flustered than usual!

Conall shrugged helplessly at his partner's exasperation. It was an honest, curious question and he was relieved to find that his own suspicions were confirmed and that Jinai was just making these comments to rattle him. 

"I don't think it'll hurt to give Miss Ringstate some privacy," Conall offered , hoping to diffuse the tension a bit, "perhaps you and I could make a venture to town and see if we could find a suitable source of drink for our friend." He met Katahnia's gaze and offered a smile though he felt about as flustered and agitated at the situation as she was. "What say you, my lady?"

Although Katahnia wanted to, a part of her just couldn't let Jinai be left this way.
"I don't know..." she said with a frown. "I don't know if we can trust her alone. Even in her... condition." Katahnia said, and bit her teeth into her lip as she frowned. "Besides.."S he added in an even lower whisper. "I'm not certain it would be wise for either of us to show our faces in town."
But by the Gods, if she didn't want to get out of this inn!

"True, " Conall conceded , "wandering is indeed a tad bit risky. Although I don't think it'll hurt to to step out for a few minutes and get some fresh air." His hand found hers and he squeezed it, "We need not go far. We may linger near the inn and watch the sun set, hm?"

Kat looked uncertain, but seeing the groaning state Jinai was in, she finally conceded.
"Alright, but only for a quick one."

"Damn- after watching me for hours all he gets is a quickie?"

Katahnia shot Jinai a look.
"If you're well enough to make such retorts-"
But just as Katahnia was trying to scold the other blonde haired woman, Jinai suddenly thrust her head over the side of the bed and puked- missing the bucket completely and hurling onto the floor.

"Just get out of here," Jinai groaned and wilted against the bedding.

"What's a quickie?" Conall was lost on Jinai's terminology. He looked at Katahnia helplessly confused and immediately recognized the blush of indignation. "Ah. Nevermind." Jinai must have been saying something suggestive again. He shook his head and hooked his arm in Katahnia's and led her out of the room, "Let's just give Miss Ringstate a few minutes of privacy."

Outside ,the sun was sinking slowly in the western horizon and the activity in town was winding down. Merchants were packing up shop , mothers called for their children to abandon their playing in the streets and hurry home. The militia was ever watchful with a handful of soldiers patrolling the gradually darkening streets. Conall remained near the inn with his arm linked with Katahnia's. He took a deep breath, "Ah. Doesn't that feel a little better?"   

Katahnia drew in a breath, too.
"Yes," she said as she exhaled. She gave his hand a squeeze. "It honestly does. Though to be honest.."s he said, giving him a nervous smile. "I'm still afraid to step out ontot he street. I feel like some criminal- always having to watch my back. I'll be glad if this war can ever be over."

"Well, technically we are criminals in the eyes of the powers that be in Connlaoth. I am a traitor and you..." He turned to face her, studying her face and appearing hesitant to speak the words on his mind. They both knew what she was and he was afraid to say it , afraid to risk others overhearing it and terrified of losing her. And what would the people think if they had learned that their duke had become so taken with a mage?

He shook his head and smiled, "Appear far more beautiful with each passing moment. I think the only thing you're guilty of casting such a spell on my heart. " He touched her cheek with a hand gently and gazing into her eyes affectionately. "Fear not, my love. I shall protect us both. Though I think lingering here for a few minutes here won't cause us much harm. "

"You flatter me, Conall," she said, beamingly. "But naturally a man of such affections towards me would think me a Goddess." And she playfully bat her pale lashes at him. "But to be fair, my duke,"she teased in but a whisper to his ear, "Maybe you're the one doing spell casting?"

Shaking his head, Conall replied with an equally bright smile, "Flattery? Hardly! To imply that I would employ empty words to win your affections wounds me, Kat. I speak so because my heart is bursting at the seams with adoration for a lady whose fairness cannot be illustrated with a handful of words. There is not an end to the sweet words that I would-" he would have rambled on , but the whisper in his ear made him turn suddenly on her in a mock gasp, "You would dare make such allegations against me! " He nudged her playfully in the side and then wagged a finger at her , with a grave expression of mock scolding, "Tsk, tsk. Shame on you, Kat. I would never do such a dreadful thing." And then he adopted the cheekiest of grins and leaned close to whisper in her ear, "In public. My charm is a well-guarded secret, you know."

"Having met you as I did, I'd say you were trying to keep that such a secret. You could have fooled all of the ladies with your charms. But.." she said with a grin. "I think I knew better. I saw the potential, right then in there, in a man with a beard so young." And she playfully twisted a finger into his now.

Conall laughed richly, " My lady, please. Thy compliments doth make my beard blush so. It seems I am not the only one here gifted with a silver tongue. Such a clever mind, you possess. The first among such a grand list of your wonderful qualities that captivated me. " He placed a hand gently on her cheek and leaned in to steal a kiss. "And very nice " His eyes briefly drank in her figure with a light flush on his cheeks," ...uh dancing.Yes, you move quite nicely. Far better than I. In all respects, actually." 

 

"And from that look you just gave me," Katahnia told him in a giddy whisper as she leaned in close. "Makes me wonder which dance you meant." And her green eyes shimmered playfully as they took him in, and before he could protest or retort, she kissed him suddenly, a breath expelling from her nose as her lips were sealed as she softly moaned.

"I love you, Conall," she told him, threading her fingers into his as she gave his hand a light squeeze. "But who knows why fate was so cruel to have you fall for me."

Conall smirked at her, " Your mind is so filthy sometimes. You really ought to be ashamed of yourself. And you would blame fate rather than assume responsibility for your own wicked deeds. " He squeezed her hand back and regarded her with a mock stern look.

((tiny post. Man, I am sorry. )) 

Katahnia's eyes danced like twin jewels of green fire.
"Yes, but you started the kiss," she told him playfully and leaned in as if to steal another, but paused instead and simply let her lips tug leftward across her face.

Conall leaned in to meet that kiss and when she pulled away his expression was of mild frustration, "I only have to initiate such because you're such a tease. It's positively maddening. " He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it lightly, "As much as I'd like to remain frozen and enjoying this moment, I grow weary. I think I shall retire." And then he leaned in closer and whispered in her ear cheekily, " You're welcome to join me, if you desire , my lady." 
 

Katahnia's cheeks turned pink at his words, her body heating. SHe gave him a knowing smile, cheeks dimpling.
"If only it were so easy. There's still the problem of Jinai.." and she gave him a wearisome shrug. "At least it's not forever." And her eyes shined at that before she leaned forward, and stole a soft kiss to his cheek. "Good night, my pine cone prince." And he'd find something slipping into his hand. A very small and dainty pinecone.

~

At dawn's first light, Conall rose and attended to the preparations that were necessary for departure before he approached the room Jinai and Katahnia shared. Hopefully, Ansgar (or Jinai) had been merciful and allowed his love some reprieve.  She had enough stress on her plate as it was without Jinai adding to it. With a sigh he tapped his knuckles against the door and called out ," Kat, are you two awake? It's morning and we ought probably depart soon." 

Katahnia was already ready. It appeared as if she and Jinai had come to an understanding; and well- she had agreed to come back with them to Reajh. It seemed she too, was eager to meet up with someone she cared for, and somehow, had come (somewhat) to terms with it during the night. The lack of sleep was evident in Katahnia's eyes, but she smiled warmly none the less and soon the three of them were making their way out of the small in and creeping through the quiet of the town in the early morning.

The shop keeps were just opening their places to sell their wares as the group passed by, trying to be as indiscreet as possible- but no one seemed to notice them, no one seemed to care. But thankfully they were on the road to Reajh before the streets here had gotten too crowded, and the journey to the capital city was a tense one. On more than one occasion tehy had to slip off the main road to avoid large bands of traveling soldiers who were sweeping the streets- and when they were confronted by them- they tried to play thngs off as cooly as possible. All three ofthem were tense that they would be noticed, after all, they were all wanted criminals, even if two of them ought to have been dead, but when Reajh finally pulled into view, Katahnia let out a tired sigh as she studied the city from afar set against the sharp shadows of sun set.

"I never thought I'd set eyes on this city again," she murmured quietly, eyes locked upon it.

Conall stepped closer to Katahnia and replied softly, " Interesting how a little time away from civilization can make the city seem so much larger and nosier. " He glanced over at Jinai briefly before turning his gaze back to his beloved, "Where shall we proceed from here, my lady?" 

(( Sorry. I can't post much at this point in time. I do believe we still need to plot. Send me a message in YIM when you're available for that. ))

"If I could intervene," Jinai began, stepping up behind the pair of them. "But might I suggest we stick to the outskirts of the city, and be wary who sees us. I'm not exactly a welcome citizen here, and I'd imagine neither are the pair of you."

Katahnia gave a nod.
"She has a point." And she gave Conall a smile before turning away. "I... my daughter is kept on the west end. Over the bridge and just a few blocks from there. The lady that keeps her is named Lephanie Dapner-"

"Wait, woah, Lephanie is keeping your child?" Jinai cut in, and couldn't help but laugh about it.

Katahnia cut her a look.
"Yes,a nd what's so funny about it?

"Nothing,  I just knew Lephanie when she used to be a whore. She always adored kids. Seems like she finally got a break. Though if she's watchign your child, I'm sure she's got more than she bargained for!"

Conall remained quiet and poker-faced through most of the exchange although at Jinai's final comment, he chuckled softly and nodded his head in agreement. He honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the offspring of Katahnia was about as spirited as her mother, or even more so.

(ooc: omg another post today! What is the world coming to?)

"He just knows I'm right!" Jinai beamed while Katahnia simply rolled her eyes. The two really looked like a pair, and might possibly pass for sisters on how closely they looked like one another, both with blonde hair, bangs and vibrant green eyes. They were about the same height as well, almost the same build, but their eyes told a different story, and their smiles were hardly the same.

"Well, I'd rther not waste any more time. Let's just take it slow. No need to give the guards a reason to follow us," Katahnia said.

"Then follow my lead. I doubt either of you have been in the city lately. Safe, discrete paths are hard to come by."

Conall said nothing in response to Jinai's initial comment, adopting an innocent look that seemed to say, "I have no idea what she's talking about. "

Any of the physical similarities in the two women that others might have perceived were now lost on him. The differences were as plain as day to him .

At Jinai's last comment, Conall smirked but didn't speak his mind. Had she forgotten where they'd been for the past few months? Perhaps the drugs in her system were still talking? He shook his head and followed behind , feeling slightly more anxious than he knew that he probably should have.

Conall wasn't wrong in his presumptions. It was hard for Jinai to think or care about anything or anyone outside of herself. But it seemed Jinai was more than willing to help. Whether it was because she felt like she owed them or not, or to simply aid them in hopes to move on with her life and all back on her ass with drugs....

No one could say for certain her alibi, but Katahnia was grateful for the help, and knew, despite their history, Jinai wasn't the sort to literally stab one in the back. They both worked for the same cause after all, even if Jinai's intentions and methods were like a mystery to Kat.

The outskirts, she knew, would take much longer to navigate than roads inside the city, but as Jinai predicated, it was less active and not as many people on the streets. Though most kept their eyes down if they were poor, and the rich normally had escorts- for even city life these days was not safe.

It was a pity for her to see how much of the city had been turned into something of a military state, and it appeared two new prisons had sprung up since her last visit. Even more flags of the Grand Duke's branding, crowned more buildings, and as they rounded a turn, Jinai swore and gestured for the other two to get back.

Katahnia did not hesitate to keep back, but the tension was maddening, since Jinai did not move for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually she turned back to the others.
"Quick, we need to go the other way. Seems the patrols have doubled since last week. If we can get to intersection before the bridge, we can probably go the long way, but that would put us on a thruway to first street."
And that street was a bit too busy for her liking.

"If we have to... we can get creative in our means of travel," Katahnia reminded. "There are plenty of buildings around, after all."

Jinai simply shot her a look.
"Not if you want to draw unwanted attention. The trick here is to blend in. If you don't look like trouble, no body bothers you- even if your face is printed all over the walls." And to make her point, she jerked her thumb at her very own wanted poster.

"I think they got your nose wrong, but other htan that.." Katahnia mused. "It really does look like you."

Jinai only smirked.
"Ass."

"Idling and speaking in hushed tones is suspicious," Conall pointed out with a light smirk.  Not long after that comment , the small party moved on, sticking to the route of Jinai's preference. Conall took the scenery in, wishing he could have felt surprised by it. However, past interactions with the new Grand Duke left him feeling that all of this was to be entirely suspected and he recalled a time in the past when he'd warned people against such things. If only his youth hadn't colored others' perceptions.  Few had listened, believing that Calent would deliver this land from darkness. Idly, the duke of Ardal pondered whether or not some of those doubters were now wishing they had heeded his warnings.  Conall turned his eyes to gaze upon the statue of one of the holy saints. If ever there was a time needed for divine intervention, now would have been it. But Ansgar remained silent. No miracle was to come. Was this his way of punishing his children for their sins?  For giving into fear and losing faith?

He remembered a time , a few years ago when Uthlyn had been full of light and life. As he gazed upon it now, strangely, it seemed even less welcoming than the frozen tundra he'd just left behind.

"How deep does your madness run, Calent?" He muttered softly, pondering who was more insane. Blaith or Calent? He felt more inclined to believe it was probably the latter. "God have mercy on Connlaoth." He took a moment to pray.

Unfortunately, even favored route seemed to present some roadblocks. Jinai suddenly stopped and backpedaled. Wisely, Conall retreated as well.  At the mention of 'getting creative' , his left eyebrow immediately shot up. He then chuckled at the exchange between Kinai and Katahnia . Wisely, he didn't add to the humorous exchange and brought the conversation back to the matter at hand,"  "Did you have any specific idea in mind?"

"There is a bridge and a series of shops not too far from this end. It's easier to blend in, but guards are everywhere. If we keep a low profile, and pretend to be browsing, they general leave people alone- even those who may look like a criminal on the wall. I think their eyes are only trained to seek out hesitation and outbursts, things that are obvious and leave the plain and ordinary relatively alone," Jinai explained. "Then again, it makes perfect sense. The soldier's are rather simple, after all, and the guards, not at all much different."