When Fate Comes a'Knocking (Goblin)

[Zero]

Erthe shook his head as Primrose spoke. She was really trying too hard. What did she feel she needed to prove to him? Or to anyone, for that matter? There was a reason the drow spoke so little. Well there were many reasons, but one of the reasons was sometimes you just didn't need to say that much. Some people hadn't learned this. The lady wanted him to understand something that he really didn't need to understand.

"I don't think you're pathetic, Lady Primrose." No, he certainly didn't think that. "But if you think that you'd still rather be in my place, then perhaps you are a bit foolish." Red eyes stayed straight ahead, but there was a tension in the way he held himself. A slave calling a lady foolish was...not something that was done. Still, Erthe had said it and he knew that someone else might have punished him, but he didn't think that Primrose would.

[GoblinFae]

Her only response was to nod her head in silence. She did feel like a fool, even more so for complaining to a man who had probably spent his entire life being someone's property and whipping boy. Primrose mentally cursed herself for being so thoughtless and cruel. She should have known better. No, she did know better.

The noblewoman sighed heavily before letting go of the reigns for a moment. She placed both of her hands over her mouth before sliding them down to right over her heart and then rapidly swiping them away and out perpendicular to her body as if she was throwing something away from her.

'Goodbye misery, I don't need you anymore!' she thought, doing it twice more, then retaking the reigns. It was something her father had taught her to do whenever she felt darkness closing in around her heart. Primrose had always found it to be a bit silly yet it had never failed to work as far as she was concerned. Already she felt a bit lighter if not just very weary and sad. She thought it would probably be best to remain in silent contemplation for the rest of her journey rather than bother the poor man forced to escort her all the way to Serendipity.

[Zero]

While Erthe hadn't been exactly sure what to expect after calling Primrose foolish, he honestly hadn't thought that a tense silence would end up settling over them. The drow hadn't though that silence could feel heavy, but apparently it could weigh a ton. He didn't know what to say, though, so they rode quietly with only the sounds of their horses' hooves keeping it from being completely unbearable.

The slave had thought that having the young lady being quite would be a blessing. She made him uneasy with her insistence of treating him as if he wasn't just a lowborn slave that was more property than person. He was wrong. Erthe found himself missing her voice, even if he didn't agree with what she said - this sad void that hung between them would make the trip miserable, but he didn't know how to break it.

As the sun climbed through the sky, there was an excuse to talk, and for that he was thankful. Speaking quietly, he'd been subtly watching her much of this time, but now he looked more directly. "Lady Primrose, you should eat something. It is midday, shall we find a place to break?"

[GoblinFae]

She nodded her head in acknowledgement then urged Zinnia abruptly to the side and into a small clearing she remembered from years past. From there she quickly and effortlessly dismounted, not waiting for Erthe in any capacity as she saw to the needs of her horse before her own.

Primrose had not spoken a word in several hours and continued to hold her silence, feeling the tension between them grow with her guilt. Her mare nuzzled her fondly, seeking attention as the noblewoman rubbed the warm neck distractedly. She tried to busy herself to keep from thinking but it was no use. All she did was think.

Like she had said to Erthe before she had not even thought of eating although it was for a slightly different reason. Even at that moment and the thought of food, Primrose felt nothing. If it meant that she could get the slave to eat as well then she was more than willing to choke down some bread before they were on their way again.

[Zero]

He followed along after her into the clearing, not sure what else he could do. As he dismounted to look after Tucker Erthe really had hoped that maybe Primrose would start talking again, but the silence dragged on uncomfortably. The drow found himself softly stroking the stallion's neck as a comforting gesture, although he wasn't sure if he was comforting the horse or himself. Mentally he cursed himself for ever calling her foolish. It was not the place of a slave to say such things.

As soon as Tucker was comfortable he moved to the pack horse and looked after that horse with as much consideration as he had his mount, even stroking the animal for a few moments, muttering softly to the beast in the elvish language, thanking it for its service. Then he pulled out a few rolls left over from breakfast and sighed, casting a tentative glance towards the quiet woman.

"I'm sorry I called you foolish, Lady Primrose. I would accept any punishment, but I know you won't give it, even though I deserve to be reprimanded for speaking beyond my place." Erthe knew she wouldn't like him talking like that, but it was how he felt and besides, maybe it would actually get her to say something. The silence was more than he could stand.

[GoblinFae]

"You did nothing wrong Erthe and require no punishment. You followed a directive to agree with something I had said. You were only performing a duty no matter what your own feelings were. You need not concern yourself with it. It was what I needed to hear," Primrose responded softly. There was no life in her words as if her spirit had been dampened and smothered to the point of nonexistence.

She did not look at him as she went about her tasks. Food was the last thing on her weary mind. "You must eat as well Erthe. Your health is as important as my own," she said with a finality before finding there was nothing else she could do. Her horses were cared for, she was not hungry, and she doubted Erthe would listen to her words. She sank heavily to a stone, pulling one knee up to her chest to rest her chin on it and sighed.

[Zero]

Maybe the silence hadn't been so bad after all. Erthe listened to Primrose speak, and the softness and listlessness of her voice troubled him greatly. He had seen what the poor lady had been reduced to before his arrival. That shadow of a woman that had shuffled towards him from bed was not really alive. The great care and respect he'd been shown had made him uncomfortable, but he felt like he'd caught a glimpse of the real Primrose Dragoslov, and this was not her.

The drow knew what it was like to have your spirit broken. It left a person barely still a person, and though he thought himself to have picked himself back up from the shattered spirit, he knew that he was probably kidding himself. No one knew, saw, or cared about the real Erthe, because not even he remembered that man. The slave wasn't sure that man even actually existed. Had he ever been allowed to be his true self? Had this miserable, beaten creature become his true self?

How could he allow that to happen to her? How could he stop it? Erthe felt helpless, he'd spent his entire life being helpless to fight his circumstances, and it was maddeningly frustrating. There was no appetite to him, and the thought of food went so far as to make him slightly queasy. He'd eaten more and better food than he was accustomed to since arriving at Primrose's house.

"You should eat something, Lady Primrose." He murmured softly, crimson eyes half-lidded as they observed the way she sank down to the stone and sighed. The drow might have been rather stoney-faced at times, but his expression had softened into concern as he knelt down in front of her, putting him a little closer to her level instead of constantly towering over her.

[GoblinFae]

The noblewoman looked at him dully as he sank to her level. She found his concern endearing but also sad. Primrose wondered if he only did it for fear of his master's reprimand. She would not blame him, Engilram was a terrifying man who cared for no one and nothing but himself and his own needs.

"I will eat if you do," she replied softly. There was a weariness in her words but also an underlying determination. Primrose would see things done and done right, starting with his care. Slowly she reached a hand out to touch his face, wishing to cup his cheek in the palm of her hand. She craved contact with someone. Primrose missed the closeness of her family already combined with that Harkness. He too had been her protector and her heart broke to think of him.

[Zero]

It may have been the slave's duty to see Primrose safely to their destination, but his master didn't have as much to do with it as the promise he'd made to Jain to take care of her. Even more than the promise, Erthe just wanted to make sure that she was safe and cared for because she was a sweet, gentle woman that had been very kind to him when not many would have. Never once had she looked down on him because he was a slave or not human, and though it made him uncomfortable, he still appreciated it on some level.

"Of course I -" The words seized in his throat as her hand reached for his face, as his heart began beating faster the urge to flinch away from that touch was difficult to fight. At least he'd seen it coming. Her fingers and hand were soft and warm against his cheek, and he dropped his gaze to the ground, not looking at her and obviously tense.

She shouldn't soil her hands with his lowly self, but those words tangled on his tongue and he couldn't say them. Erthe didn't want to upset her, and she didn't seem to like it when he talked poorly of himself because of his position. So instead he found other words, and licked his lips nervously before saying them. "Do you want to talk about it?"

[GoblinFae]

She rubbed her thumb gently against his cheek moments before letting her hand drop away from his face. She had seen the hunted look in his eyes as she had reached for him and felt bad for the pain she believed she had caused him.

"Forgive me Erthe. I should not have done that without permission. I hope I did not hurt you." Her gaze dropped to her foot as she moved the hand that had touched him to rest on the thigh of her extended leg.

Primrose did not look at him when he spoke again but her eyes displayed her confusion. "I do not understand. Talk about what?"

[Zero]

The gesture was so tender and brief, as soon as she took her hand away Erthe let his eyes come back up to rest on her face, looking into her gentle blue eyes and wondering how he could help ease the pain he saw there. Her apology made him uncomfortable and he dropped his gaze again. A lady shouldn't apologize to a slave for any reason. Certainly not for something so simple and sweet as touching him like that.

"You don't have to apologize, Lady Primrose, even if you had harmed me in some way, but you didn't." Her confusion both did and didn't surprise him. It wasn't his place to talk to her, especially not in regards to things of a personal nature. Still, he felt himself curious and also wanting to have her open up to him again. The listless, closed-off silence was awful.

"I know that you have lost someone deeply important to you recently. Jain asked if I knew a Mr. Hoverstone, and you yourself called me Harkness and threw yourself upon me when first you saw my shadow. Maybe it is wrong of me to presume, but..." He shook his head.

[GoblinFae]

Her eyes slammed shut even as a sad smile tugged the corners of her lips upward. "Harkness," she murmured barely breathing as she let the painful name cross her lips. Primrose swallowed tightly before opening her eyes more fully and smiling brighter at the Drow.

"Thank you Erthe. You are too kind," she told him licking her lips to try and calm her racing heart. "Perhaps tonight if you are still willing to listen I could tell you more about him. But yes, he was someone...someone special." She blinked her eyes rapidly to beat back tears while adjusting herself on the rock more comfortably.

[Zero]

Asking about the recently deceased was a gamble, but Erthe realized that although the young woman looked on the verge of tears, it had been a good call. Though her first smile was sad as she spoke that name so lovingly, the next was brighter as she looked at him, and he couldn't help but smile softly back at her.

"I did nothing, Lady Primrose." He said softly, "And I am always willing to listen if you need to speak of something - of anything." It wasn't a slave's place to be a friend to their betters, but if it made Primrose smile, if it lifted her up out of that awful, bleak stupor, then it was a trifling thing to be a sympathetic ear for her to pour herself out to.

[GoblinFae]

"Thank you. That means a lot to me to hear. You don't have to but I am grateful for the offer alone. Not many people in this world would do the same. Makes you quite special I suppose," Primrose told him with another warm smile. She longed to hug him in thanks as she would have done to any other person yet she had already seen his discomfort at being touched. The noblewoman dared not upset him further.

"Now then. I do believe there is some food you are meant to be eating, no?" There was the faintest glimmer of her playfulness reflecting in her glassy eyes. Despite the tears that still fought to fall she was in better spirits thanks to the concerned slave.

[Zero]

Erthe shook his head in denial. He was not special. There were plenty of people who would offer to talk to someone in distress. Especially someone like her. The drow could understand why those that surrounded Primrose came to love her dearly. Even he felt drawn to her, and he had only just met her. Jain was right, a very special woman indeed. Bitterly he thought about the man that he was delivering her to. Not the kind of person to really appreciate how uniquely warm and caring Primrose was. Hopefully this man she was to be married to would at least see and love that about her.

"You too, Lady Primrose." Erthe said softly, looking up at her and lifting his hand with the rolls and pushing one gently into her hand. "That was the deal." He smiled and stood, moving over to sit nearby and dutifully biting into one of the two rolls still in his hand. They still tasted delicious, and only a few minutes ago he thought the food would be tasteless in his mouth. Well, that was when things were tense and heavy. The drow felt lighter now that Primrose was smiling and talking again.

[GoblinFae]

She smiled honestly and nodded her head as she accepted the food from him. "That it was, you are quite correct, my friend." Her dangling leg swung back and forth as the noblewoman picked at her food, her fingers delicately tearing the bread into small enough pieces for her to nibble on while watching him eat his own food.

"Thank you, Erthe, for everything. I know I am not an easy travel companion. You are being most accommodating."

[Zero]

Friend? Erthe shifted slightly uncomfortably at the use of that word. Someone like him didn't deserve to be friends with someone like her - and not just because she was a lady and he was a slave. Although that was part of it.

"I am a slave, you don't have to thank me for anything, Lady Primrose." He had promised to take care of her, and he would. A girl like her deserved to be taken care of by a better man than him, but he would just have to make due until he could get her to wear they were going and hope that her husband-to-be was a good sort. That made him thoughtful, wondering just who she was supposed to marry. It wasn't his business, he reminded himself as he took another bite and chewed thoughtfully.

[GoblinFae]

"Slave or not I choose to, Erthe. I believe in thanking people for what they do no matter who they are. I am afraid it is a habit I cannot break. I hope it doesn't bother you too much, my friend. It is likely you will be thanked quite a bit by the time we reach Jad-home."

Primrose scowled briefly at having to remind herself that where she was headed would be her new home. She wanted nothing to do with it but the noblewoman was determined to stand her ground and keep an upbeat attitude about her new life even if it killed her.

[Zero]

Erthe still didn't think he had done anything worthy of being thanked. Pointing that out would only have her arguing the matter with him, though. It was an argument he knew he couldn't win. Not only that, but the idea of arguing with a lady made him more than a little uneasy. Arguing or back-talking would normally get him whipped. Primrose would never, he knew that, but it was so ingrained that he couldn't shake the apprehension of punishment at the slightest wrongdoing.

"Serendipity isn't a bad place to live, you know." The drow offered quietly. He'd been born in Adela, but he'd lived in Serendipity for parts of his life. Of course as a slave one place was little different than another. It probably wasn't the right thing to say, but he knew that this move was not what she wanted for herself and felt the need to at least try to be supportive in some way.

[GoblinFae]

Primrose nodded her head while offering him another warm smile. There was a fondness in her voice as she spoke. "Aye, you are quite right. I spent much of my childhood in Serendipity with my mother's family after my father's unfortunate death. She wished to be close to her family although now I wonder if it was just my uncle's demand that she be so. The land can be quite beautiful.

"Tell me Erthe, if you don't mind that is. You don't have to tell me if you do not wish to. But, have you always lived in Serendipity?"