Spirits of the Earth

The Grand Ball had gone off without a hitch. It was absolutely perfect and all of the dukes, lords and ladies were talking about it from the capital all the way to the sea. Though there were a select few who had come out of the ball with more frowns than anything, and Valia Coleridge, sister to the Grand Duchess, was just one such victim.

She and her husband had been on less than good terms as of lately- or rather, ever since she had had her baby- and she could feel it herself that their marriage was on it's last legs. And she was genuinely afraid of it. They had tried to talk at the ball, but nothing seemed to work and Valia had since refused to go home.

So she had been living at her sister's palace for a few months, remaining quiet and keeping to herself, but growing depressed and not eating. But she wanted to talk- she just had no idea what to say. And when her nad her sister tried to get close, it seemed something would come up and Valia was left waiting.

Well, she had waited long enough, and the moment she heard the news the Grand Duke had to attend something in the North, she practically was throwing herself at her sister the moment Grand Duke Allarrick's carriage was out of sight. She was holding Kathryn's dress sleeves now and peering up ito her eyes, when suddenly her pink eyes filled with tears as she choked on her own breath.

"Oh, Kathryn! How we need to talk! We need to talk and about much!"


And little did she know another such person was approaching the palace as they spoke-f or his ears were sharp and his intentions focused on but one thing-
Dekka Blade was going to get a private meeting with the Grand Duchess- and for all he knew, this meeting could be their last.

Kathryn had made a few half-hearted attempts to talk to her sister -- but, for the most part, she had simply tried to be a gracious host.  She didn't know what the trouble was between her sister and Gabriel Coleridge, but the very least she could do is try to be supportive.

Of her sister, that is.

But after her sister saying so little for so long, she felt almost ambushed -- but, after a moment of surprise, her expression melted into a sympathetic look as she sank down onto the bed and patted the mattress beside her.  "Of course we do, Valia..."

"Everything in my life that can go wrong, has! My husband is upset with me, I have a child I do not know if I love, and I'm afraid to bed my husband in fear of a second one. Kathryn I.. I just don't know what to do! Once there had been passion, maybe love, now has died away and I have no idea what to make of it. How can I explain to my husband, the poor, beautiful man, that his wife is afraid of him? I just... Iknow my job is to give him children and I... I had adored all the sex we had once shared but now? Now we only fight and I haven't the gall to tell him why I am so upset. I just.. I can't take this any more! I wish I could love him, but is it selfish of me to be so afraid? I miss his touhc, Kathryn. To be close, but I'm afraid of the consequence. I.. I had almost died giving birth to that child and everytime I look at it all I see is some monster that could have killed me!"
And Valia's face was a mess, red and upset as tears streamed down her face.
"Oh.. Kathryn, is it so wrong of me to be afraid? And how... how can I even confront my husband on this? I... I don't know hat to do but I fear our marriage is ending and i.." she hesitated. "I do not know if I could live with myself if it were to end."

Kathryn looked slightly taken aback by the sudden confession -- or, perhaps, her reaction was only because of her own personal experiences as a wife and a mother embittered her to Valia's plight...  Whatever the case, her expression soon became sympathetic, and she pulled her younger sister into a hug.

"Valia, there's nothing to be ashamed of.  But Gabriel loves you, I think.  The way he looks at you..."  There had been a time when she had tortured herself, agonizingly memorizing every stolen glance, smile and touch...and wondering why her own husband was so very different.  What followed was every emotion from self-pity to blaming her own shortcomings to loathing her husband...and, finally, a cool, protective level of disdainful self-involvement that had made her utterly ignorant to the problems the Coleridges were experiencing...  She felt guilty for that.  Even if she and Valia had not been close for many years, she still felt as though she should have known.  "He's a good man.  I think, if you told him..."

Well, he would surely understand...

Pulling back from her sister, she reached for a handkerchief and dab gently at the younger woman's cheeks.  "And, anyway, there are...things...you could try.  At least, that's what I've heard."

Valia looked up into her sister's gaze and sniffled.
"Things?" She sat up more so and peered at her questionably. "What do you mean?" And then she furrowed her brow, pouting as her lips trembled. "And how do I explain this to my husband? It's miserable and embarrassing... After all, how do you tell a man you do not want to bear his children?"

Kathryn nodded, a light flushing touching her cheeks.  Yes, she had heard of such things...  But she was a duchess, not a whore, and so she could not give very many details...

"Well, I would start by not phrasing it that way," she said carefully.  "Tell him what you told me.  That you're afraid.  Tell him what you told me."

Surely, no one who loved a woman as much as Gabriel Coleridge loved his wife could hold that against her...

"What?" At the very idea Valia looked HORRIFIED. "But I .. I can't.. you don't understand, he.. he'd think less of me!" she said, taking her sister's hand and gripping it. "I... we... the things we've done! And to tell him I'm afraid of it now? Surely who could believe me?"

But if anyone.. she began to realize, as she said it.. surely it was her husband. So unconditionally he stayed at her side, but she- she just couldn't comprehend it in all of her selfishness why anyone would be that way.

"Oh, Kathryn!" she said with a sob and threw her arms around her. "I Just don't understand how tod! What if my marriage ends? I'll be a mockery! I'd have to leave this country! No one could live with such disgrace!"

Kathryn looked a bit dubious at her sister's dramatics.  "Your marriage is only going to end, if you let it end, Valia.  God knows why you're hiding here when you should be talking to your husband about all this..."

Rather than Kathryn...

"You've already given him a healthy son.  An heir.  You've done your duty, and he'll see that."

Or so Kathryn imagined...

"Yes but I don't even know if I love my child! He's so weird and oddly shaped and he cries and won't stop bothering me and he makes me cry and it's awful, Kathryn! Simply awful! Oh, but there I said it! ANd that must make me horrible! Surely Gabriel won't love me after that. Ansgar's name..  I just am so afraid of so many things and I've never been this afraid of.. well, anything Kathryn!"

"That's what children do, Valia.  It's just a stage.  It will pass."  Kathryn squeezed her sister's hand, intending for it to be a gentle, comforting squeeze, but squeezing just a little too hard as her thoughts went to her own baby...

Rather than share her grief, however, she rose and turned away from her sister.  She was making a show of pouring out a glass of water for her sister, but, really, she just needed to step away from the topic a moment...  It was a subject she had never been able to talk about with anyone...not even when she wanted to.  And, now that so much time had passed, the topic still brought so much pain, like a wound that had never healed properly...

"Valia, I know you're upset, but you need to talk to your husband about this.  I'm just...not the one to be giving out advice about..."  She frowned down into the clear water inside the pitcher.  "...Anything domestic, really."

"Oh, but you don't understand, Kathryn. You don't have any kids of your own!" Valia went on, completely and utterly ignorant to her own sister's woes. Those things had gone int he years they were apart, and she had missed so much about her sister's life and yet, remained ignorant because of her own jealousy and her own life woes.

Kathryn was the Grand Duchess!
Kathryn had an exciting love life!
Kathryn was perfect.


Though as Valia went on lamenting, another figure loomed in the shadows just outside the window, hanging out there like a spider and the moment he caught her location he grinned, but said nothing, and simply watched.

Valia would not see the way Kathryn's expression hardened with her statement -- the icy glint in her eyes or the thin line of her lips as she glared at the water pitcher.  Valia also probably would not notice the way her body tensed and began to coil slightly, like a snake about to strike its prey.  If it had been anyone but Valia, Angsar alone knew how unfriendly or violent her reaction might have been...

But, it was Valia...and Kathryn was just as guilty as everyone else in spoiling the girl...

It felt like a long battle, a struggle against the anger that threatened to overcome her, but, really, only a moment had passed.  And, still, Valia was prattling away behind her...  She didn't even see the shadow upon the wall; instead, without a word, she let her sister carry on, and she bowed her head with her eyes closed as she tried to rebottle all of that pain her sister had, unintentionally, let loose...

After several moments, she said, sounding tired, "Maybe you should be talking to Mother about this..."

"Mother? But haven't you heard? She's taken ill. Besides, she's never been that close to us. Not how we are Kathryn." And she frowned and hesitated before adding. "How we were... You know, we haven't been able to see much of one another since your... your wedding. Though I suppose that's not all your fault."

"That's very kind of you," Kathryn murmured, although in a way that seemed to suggest just the opposite as she finally turned back towards her younger sister.  "But I don't know what else I can tell you.  If you won't take any suggestions from me, you obviously need to talk to...somebody else who can help you."

Anybody else.  Please, God, somebody take her sister away before she killed her...

"That person just...obviously isn't me."

"Well maybe she just needs a man she can talk to?" Dekka said as he slunk in through the window, causing Valia's breath to hitch inside her throat. He took a few steps, then paused and peered down. "Hello, Kathryn." And not to ignore her, his green eyes went to her sister. "And Lady Valia." And he gave a partial bow to her.
"And I make my suggestion not in too bad of taste, but I'm sure your husband would only agree with your sister..."

Valia's lips went tight as she looked at him, but then she turned to her sister, saying not a word.

"Maybe it's time you talked to him? And what better time than now?"

Kathryn's initial reaction was not very dissimilar from her sister's...and, although she should have been furious her former lover was barging into her room -- especially after their little argument at the ball -- she felt a sweeping sense of relief, more than anything else...

And Valia didn't need to know the details of Kathryn's relationship with Dekka...  That was a whole different bottle of pain and frustration...

And, so, she only nodded ever-so-slightly.  "Talk to him," she advised again, as though Dekka breaking into her room to add his two cents was entirely normal...

Valia gaped, uncertain what to say as she stared at the pair. When thoughts did return to her lips she stuttered.
"But I'm here." she pressed firmly, like when she was a child. "Visiting with my sister."

Dekka only casually responded.
"Aren't we all?"

Valia grew pink faced and turned to her sister.
"I.. I couldn't possibly leave now to see him. E.. e.. especially since, well.. well..." and she realized, she had no good reason about it, but her eyes burned with tears none the less!

It was, in fact, quite amazing how quickly she was warming up to him again...

That was dangerous territory.

"Write him a letter.  Ask him to come see you here.  But, I promise you, Valia, he loves you.  And he'll understand why you're so afraid."  Putting on a smile, she used a fingertip to brush away a tear.  "You're going to be fine, Valia.  And you and Gabriel will go back to being as happy as you ever were."

Valia, not certain she believed her sister, or even what this thief said, choked on a sob and shook her head before turning tail and rushing out of the room. Dekka only smirked at Valia's fleeting form.

"So glad you and your sister are nothing alike," he commented, well after she left.

Kathryn frowned after her sister.  Part of her was relieved for a moment's respite, and she immediately felt guilty for the thought.  Instead of rushing after her, however, there was a different problem she now needed to deal with...

She closed the door behind Valia, then turned to face Dekka with a frown made even deeper by his observation.  "We're more alike than you'd think."

Still leaning against the door, she looked over the man before her, grateful for the help in dealing with her distraught sister but wary, nonetheless.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again."  Again.

Dekka smirked, the playful air about him not lost, despite what they had been through at the ball.
"I didn't think so either." He kept his eyes on her for a moment, but didn't cross the room.
"I heard about your husband, going North."

"Business," was her own only reply.  She was still trying to gauge him and what he was thinking, somehow, as if that might better prepare her...

"Dekka," she said at last.  "Before you say anything, I wanted to say I was sorry.  I was...cruel to you at the ball.  I should have been kinder."  She still thought of those words -- of what she had said and how she had said them...and it did seem a terrible thing...  She paused, then, and her voice and expression both darkened a bit.  "But if you ever grab me like that again, I'll use something much sharper to drive you off."  Something similar might have been said in play, once upon a time, but there was nothing playful in her tone; she meant it, and she wanted him to know that she did, because she had not appreciated being shaken around like a rag doll...

Dekka listened to her words with a nod, digesting every little bit and piece before flashing her a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"You won't have to worry about having me grab you again," he told her coyly, and moved away from her to let his eyes idly trace around all of the rich trinkets about the room.
Oh the things he could steal...

"So why is your sister here? To make you join  her in wallowing over her own miseries? Surely she realizes her suffering is nothing compared to yours?" And though he directed all of this to the Grand Duchess, his eyes were on anything but.

It was a shame that Dekka's eyes were elsewhere; he would miss the way her expression crumpled in the wake of his comment about her suffering.  It was quickly replaced with a more guarded look as she swept across the room.  Much as she had done with Valia a moment ago, she positioned herself so that Dekka, should he look at her, would be unable to read her expression with her back to him and her head bowed over her dresser.  "Did you want something, Dekka?  Or did you just come here to mock me?"  For that was what she had taken his words to be.

Though, perhaps, he could read the disappointment in her voice...

As she spoke, she was carefully removing a small jewelry box from the top dresser drawer.  Inside, glittered the trinkets that symbolized their relationship: buttons, a few pieces of jewelry, a small, neatly-folded swath of cloth, a few folded letters...  The ring he had thrown back at her had been placed inside as well.  Her hand reached out to brush against a ruby, but she stopped it before making contact.  Instead, she slammed the jewelry box closed and turned, offering it to the thief.

"I assume you're here for these."

Dekka turned when she approached him, and he stared at her, lips flat and his expression a bit unreadable before his green eyes lowered to the box in her hand.
"What's this?"

Kathryn's eyes went down to the box, looking down at the engraved design, steeling herself visibly before lifting her eyes back up to Dekka.

"I know most of it probably isn't valuable to you, but, some of the jewelry..."  She frowned at him, looking expectant.  "Why else would you come back?"

Dekka made a face.
"Jewelry? You think I came back for jewelry?"
He had, in fact, considered asking for the ring and necklace back but...
Even he didn't want to deal with those memories either. Or ones of her.
Though in truth, he figured she didn't have the necklace, or any other thing of real value to him. Sure the palace was full of things- but anything he could take.
Just not the thing he truly wanted.

His green eyes studied her face, and saw the way she looked so worn in this light.
"You've really grown up, Kathryn."
From playing pretend in the mountains, now to living it. He knew the politics and masks nobles wore, and his gaze and face became hardened for it, the normal playfulness fading away as he took her in.

"But I didn't come here for jewels. I came here for you."

Kathryn's frown took on a different light, becoming less stubborn and more sad as he continued to speak.  Her eyes fell back to the carpet, making her look sad indeed.

She supposed she had grown up.  But what choice did she have?  And the way he said it...  She agreed -- that fanciful, naive girl she had been was gone, and she would never return.

Just as quickly, she looked up, her surprise apparent.  "For me?"

The way she said it...  There was an undercurrent of fear -- not of him, but of what it could mean...because those words might herald her whole world crashing down on her again...

Dekka saw her look and cut his eyes away, blinking back any emotion that was surfacing as he cleared his throat.
"Yes, you think I came here to visit with the Grand Duke?" He turned to her, the suave grin he always wore returning, but his eyes seemed hollow.
"I find the Grand Duchess much more interesting, and her company- much more adequate to my needs."

Kathryn stared at him.  This conversation was getting dangerously close to being similar to the one that had erupted in an argument at the ball...  She didn't want to argue with him.  She wasn't sure what she wanted from him, really, but an argument was not it.

Finally, she looked away and retreated a bit from him.  The small box was set on an end table, and the Grand Duchess herself settled down into an armchair.  She glanced towards the empty chair set to her left, inviting him wordlessly to sit, if he liked.

"You look well, Dekka.  I'm glad.  I used to wonder if you'd been caught and killed...but, then, I thought, I would have heard.  You're too well-known for your death to have gone unnoticed."

Dekka was careful with his words and even more careful with his mannerisms. He was foolish to come here, he knew that- but he didn't want to end it like that- even if this was a final goodbye.

"Do you really think they could kill me so easily? You know that's why I vanished.... had I stayed anywhere near the capital I would have been hung on sight. Things were too crazy, and even someone as stealthy as myself has his limits."

He paused as he thought it over.
"I did get your letters." Even if he never wrote.
"They were... destroyed, but I made a copy."
It was a lie- Evangeline made a copy.... but still. She didn't have to know about that.

Kathryn frowned up at him, looking visibly torn between two choices: to pursue the opening he had left her, or to carry on, as though they barely knew one another at all...

The first option would leave her vulnerable, but the second...  Yes, he had (in her mind) wronged her...but, once upon a time, Dekka had been the only one to truly know her, more-so than her husband, certainly, and even more-so than her sister.  Once upon a time, she had trusted him with her secrets...and, he had never let her down.  Except...when he left...

"Why didn't you write back?" she asked, having made up her mind at last.  She didn't hold it against him -- fleeing, that is.  That was something she understood.  But to leave her without a word...  "I waited for you.  And I kept writing...  In case you came back..."

Dekka grew quiet, his green eyes studying her for a long while before he informed her, "I did write back."

The look of surprise on Kathryn's face would have been impossible for him to miss.  She stared at him, glanced at the box that held everything she had ever received from him, then looked to him again.  "No," she breathed out.  "You didn't."

It wasn't that she thought he was lying... 

"I looked.  Everywhere I thought it might be.  There was nothing..."

Dekka didn't miss the look, and his smile in return was forced.
"Guess even the mail has turned to shit. Though I suppose it doesn't matter much now..." he said, turning away and scratching at the back of his neck- though it certainly made the moment more awkward.

"The mail?"

It wasn't truly something she had considered.  Well, she had, but she had always thought if he had written her anything, he would have left it somewhere...

Her expression crumpled slightly as she considered the possibilities.  But if he had mailed it to her, where could it possibly have gone?  Who would have been bold enough to steal a letter addressed to her...and, if it were stolen, why had no one come forward with it?

In the end, would it have made a difference?  She couldn't say -- honestly, she didn't know...

"I'm sorry, Dekka.  I never thought..."  Somehow, she always imagined that if he had written her, it would have found its way to her...  She had never thought it had become lost somehow...  It would have meant the world to her, she thought, if she had known...  She studied his profile, then laughed softly, even as she brushed a tear from the corner of her eye.  "You know, it took me a long time to give up on you.  A really long time."

And when she had given up on him...she had given up on everything.

"Yeah, well.." he continued on awkwardly, though he laughed through it and shrugged. "There wasn't just one letter..."

Kathryn simply stared at him for a moment, then looked down at the carpet with an expression of pained confusion.

Not just one...

She could only imagine what her life might have been, sustained by Dekka's letters...  She could even imagine herself, pulling them out to read at night...

"I never saw any of them.  I thought you had just gone without a word..."

That, it seemed, was the question: what had become of the letters?  Not just one...

"Calent, perhaps..."  But he had never said anything to her...  Though, perhaps, it was why he had left for so long, because if he had known she had betrayed him...

"Er... the letter's weren't much of anything," he reassured her. "Just to remind you.. you know.." he smiled through his teeth, but it was more like trying to cut ice. It was so forced, he turned away so tht he could more properly grit his teeth.

"I'm sure you have the war to thank for losing them." He then added with a frown.
"Where is your husband anyway? You know it's difficult to get anywhere near this palace if he's around. Guess he doesn't care much to keep his wife as protected.."

Perhaps...

"No," she said softly.  "That's not it.  To anyone else, the palace is impenetrable.  You've just always been that good, Dekka."

And that, of course, was true...

Her sigh was soft and barely audible as she watched him.  She wished she could take it all back, now -- everything.  Or, perhaps, it might have been better had she slipped out of the room while Calent was sleeping that day...so she could go on trying not to feel anything at all...

"Are you considering robbing the palace blind in his absence?"

Dekka kept his shoulder to her before shrugging.

"There was only thing I was always after.... but wouldn't it be something?"
And he left the thought at that, silently chuckling to himself for being such an idiot.

Swallowing down his hurt, his pride, he turned to her and grinned.
"So if i were to.. rob him blind... where should I start?" and he gave her a playful waggle of his brows.

Kathryn couldn't help but smile in response to his antics.  She felt 18 again, entertaining the King of Thieves in her bed while her husband worked in his study in the other wing of the palace.

And what she wouldn't give to turn back the clock to that time again...

"I have a few ideas...  Tarts, for one."  But even the teasing felt hollow now...

Turning to her, he gave a hollowed smile.
"I'm not here for tarts..." He took a few steps towards her, then paused as his head darted towards the door.
"Someone comes.."And he moved away from her, like the wind,a nd was out the window before she could even say goodbye.

Kathryn's lips parted slightly -- but it was already too late...

...And calling him back was a dangerous idea, anyway...

Instead, she steeled herself and turned to the mirror as a servant knocked.  It was a trivial matter -- a question of fabrics for a dress Kathryn had had commissioned for the coming months...and if Dekka were still at the window, with his ears strained, he might hear a whisper of maternity and a coming child...

"See that no one else knows," Kathryn added at a more conversational tone as the girl curtsied.

"Of course, your Grace," she promised as she turned to go.

Dekka held back, his body pressing against the castle stone, but his acute hearing had heard everything. And remaining pressed against the wall, he found little strength to remove himself as somberly, he began to find the cracks already splayed across his heart chipping away and breaking it completely apart. What hope there was he knew was dashed, a child, a true child to the Grand Duke, would give Kathryn no more reason to accept a lover on the side, especially after what she had already presented to him at the masked ball.

Though to save face, he'd find himself wearing another mask forever. A mask that began his fate, a mask to end it.

"Close the door after you," Kathryn added as the woman left.  The woman gave one final curtsy, then vanished.

There was a pause, then, and she appeared at the window.  Almost languidly, she leaned against the sill, with one arm crossed over the other.  She sighed softly as she looked out over the courtyard below, then said quietly, "You always were the first to know all my secrets, Dekka."

He supposed he knew she was coming long before she appeared, though when she spoke, only then did he lean his head back.
"So how far along?"

"About two months," she ventured carefully.  "I haven't told anyone, yet.  Not even Calent.  Definitely not Valia."  She sighed again softly, then turned to look at him.  "You know, just in case."

Just in case of a lot of things...

Her expression saddened, then, and she turned away again...  She had wanted him to be the first to know the first time...  She had written it to him, in fact...if only he would have gotten that letter.  But, by then, he was already gone.

Dekka's smile cut cruelly across his lips.
"Heh, to think, you're husband is heading North, for what? At least a month's travel-a nd here you are, possibly with his heir." He shook his head.
"I certainly wouldn't have told either of them, too."

"I hope it is."  Fervently.  Another son to erase the burden of what had become of their first little boy...

Kathryn continued looking downwards, and then she glanced sideways at him again.  "Would you like to come back inside?"

It would be a bit warmer.  And more comfortable.

Dekka grit his teeth through his casual smile.
"I don't know. Don't you think I've already over stayed my welcome?" THough he looked at her this time when he spoke.

Kathryn frowned at him, then stepped inside to give him room to follow...should he care to.

"There's no such thing, Dekka."

What was it about him that always made her head spin?

"But if you're going to go, I think I'd like a proper goodbye.  Unless you think that's asking too much..."

Dekka's lips curled ever so slightly at her statement. ANd at the last thing she said, it remained stale and cold on his lips.

Even he was uncertain why he remained, though the hesitation was there- and it was several minutes of the room growing cold before- suddenly he was there.

"If by goodbye you mean a fuck.." he said, playfully grabbing at her sides. "I wouldn't mind obliging."

"I'd forgotten," she murmured, sounding rather surprised as her hands covered his.  "How crass you are."  She made no move to pull away from him, however; against her better judgment, she stood there, with his hands on her hips, looking up into his face.

He looked older...

The pair were already close, but she moved closer as she tentatively reached up to caress one of the lines on his face.  "I'd forgotten a lot about you."

"What? Is it that I've turned into a dream?" he told her, leaning in close so that his words splayed across her ear, cheek, then neck.

Kathryn's eyes closed lightly as his hot breath tickled her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.  "Yes," she agreed with a soft laugh that sounded, somehow, sad.  "All a wonderful dream."

Her smile faded slightly, then, and she dropped her hand back to her side as she regarded him.

"But it won't be long, and you'll have to go again..."  And even if he wrote her, it would still feel like having her heart ripped out all over again...

His lips ghosted up her neck.
"Maybe we can make this dream last a little longer," he growled into a whisper against her ear, hands remaining up her sides, though one moved to lift her hair away from her neck before he kissed it.

She wasn't resisting -- God knew, she should, and, yet, she was melting into his arms and falling all over again with each caress and each breath...  And his lips...

It would be so easy, she thought, to just let him carry her away, as he had done so many times since they had first met...

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, winding a slow path down her cheek to fall against his.

"When you go, it will break my heart again."

And, honestly, she wasn't sure she would recover the next time...

"Then who says I should ever go?" he whispered, his hand finding the tear on her cheek as he wiped it away. "Kathryn..."
But he only let his words trail off, his thoughts and dreams left unspoken as he kissed just beneath her ear and subtly to her cheek.

That was just pretend...  But who says they shouldn't pretend -- just for a little longer?

The thought made her laugh quietly.  Pretending -- that's all they were supposed to do from the start.  This was never supposed to be so complicated...

...But, then, of course, the moment he had kissed her the on the eve of the ball, she'd been lost to him...if only she'd known that at the time...

"I never could tell you no," she murmured, giving his cheek an affectionate nuzzle.

"Perhaps you weren't meant to," he growled through a soft whisper, fingers raking through her hair as he turned her around and smashed his lips into hers. He didn't care if it was over, he wanted to try, because Ansgar be damned if he did anything in his life but at least love Kathryn as he should.

"Kathryn," he told her, hands groping, feeling all over her body. "Gods, Kathryn, I think I love you."

A second tear slid down her other cheek, a futile emblem of what reasoning dictated and, in her passion, she completely opted to ignore.  Instead, she met his kiss with equal passion and need as she pressed her body up against his.

But she couldn't bring herself to return his words -- because if she admitted to him how she felt, she would have to admit it to herself...and if she did that, she knew she would never survive after he had gone again...

So she would pretend that this was all just for fun...and believed, whole-heartedly, that it was temporary...

When she didn't speak, but kissed him back- he felt the mixed signals scorch through his veins.
Was it passion or was it love? Was it foolish or was it gain?
But it didn't matter, he had the world to prove to her and he would do so through a kiss- a touch, and fingers working at the laces of her corset.


"Kathryn.." he breathed, and moved her up against the wall. "Do you remember the first time we almost did this?" he spoke, words hot against her throat as fingers continued to work deftly at removing her outfit and hefting up her skirts as he pinned her against the wall.

"I remember a lot of firsts with you," Kathryn murmured honestly, looking up at him as her clothes began to loosen and her skirts were lifted to give him access to her body.  There had, indeed, been a lot of firsts -- and a lot of "almosts" as well...  "Which time?"

"All of them," he breathed against her, loosening the front of his pants. He had waited too long for this- and the fight at the party, only made his desire grow all the more strong. His body was inside her before he knew what to do, and natural instincts kicked in as his lips met to hers, and his body moved with need.

OOC: Maturity is happening now, kiddies!  Cover your eyes!

A soft sigh of pleasure left her lips as he entered her, and her eyes closed lightly as she let him take the lead in this familiar dance.  Her arms rested against his shoulders, and she angled her hips to better receive his thrusts.

But she had missed this -- the sense of adventure and danger, knowing they could be discovered at any time...  Feeling connected to another human being, if only for a moment, in a way she had never felt with Calent...because, even now and after years apart, her husband still did not know her half as well as Dekka Blade did...

No man could know her heart, her body as Dekka did. He played her like a well tuned instrument, and took long and furious strokes to remind her he did not forget which angles and thrust types she  liked best. Even his kisses were tactful, crawling all over skin with hunger and need as he fucked her- no...
He made love.

Her breath, that voice- the taste of her skin, the smell of her hair...
"Gods.. everything about you is beautiful,"he whispered, his sex sinking in deeper and deeper to her hot velvet silken sex.

It should have been alarming how quickly she became lost in his touches, in his kisses, in every breath and beat of her heart.  It was little wonder Calent had never been able to compete with him -- her whole world had revolved around Dekka, and now she remembered why....

She let him shower her with attention, and all the while her need for him -- physical and emotional -- increased with every stroke.  Her lips sought out his, then traced over his jaw and down his throat, then murmured, "God, Dekka...  I've missed you..."

Obviously, in more ways than one!

Once he knew he had her singing, he slowed down his strokes and drew them out, wanting her to beg for it like she always did, and making her body force her to scream out with need.

"You have no idea how much I feel the same," and he told her this, his face flushed, his cock only tip hanging inside of her, the rest exposed and slicked from her sex- before suddenly, he slammed the length deep within her, and did that same, painful, pleasurable process again and again.

"Gods.. Kathryn.."a nd his kisses were everywhere.

Kathryn's whimper was clear, driven on by his erratic thrusts into her waiting sex.  "You're teasing me," she accused with a breathless laugh, appreciating, as always, his mastery of the matter and the way it heightened her own pleasure...

A pleased color had risen onto her cheeks as she tilted her head back to moan with each hard thrust into her body.  "Don't stop, Dekka.  Don't stop..."

He had no plans on stopping, and with each aching removal ofhis cock, she'd be able to feel him throb with need. He was soaked with her, so slick- he had no resistance when he'd finally slam himself back into her, fully, and with need.

ANd he moaned for it, kissing her gently and moving her over to a nearby desk top,where he guided her to sit and he- bent over her, began to fuck her like mad.

Kathryn leaned back upon the desktop as she wrapped her legs around him and moaned encouragement to him.  Her hands found purchase -- one on the edge of the desk and the other in his shirt as he finally helped her reach her peak.  She cried out his name, her need and passion transcending merely her physical reaction to his attentions...

God, if she had just had this...had him...these past few years would not have been hell.

He must have been feeling the same way, because he normally lasted much longer than this, but he grunted and slammed himself deep inside her and gave pause, "Gods.. Kathryn.." and she'd be able to feel his hot seed spill inside her before he collapsed against her shoulder and shivered from the deed.

Kathryn's smile was tender as her arms encircled him, holding him close against her body as he softened inside of her.

It was, apparently, something they both had needed...

The Duchess pressed her cheek against her lover's shoulder, breathing in the scent of him.  It was so familiar, and, yet, something she had once forgotten in her anger and her pain...  She should have known he would not have left her willingly...

But, willing or not, even if she had known, his departure would have hurt...

For now, however, she was happy enough to just cuddle up against him and soak in the afterglow of some fantastic sex...

"Do you want to get out of this stuffy castle?" he inquired, breath against her shoulder where he kissed softly. "To see the world- do what we had once done? I think our cabins might still be in the woods..."

"Your cabin, maybe," she answered with a soft laugh.  "I'm sure that mine is long gone."  The rains and winds had probably taken even the foundations of the tiny cabin...  His, of course, had been much nicer...

Her breath would feel cool against his neck as she released another sigh.  "But you know that I can't.  I still have to deal with my sister.  And if something happens while Calent's gone..."  That would fall squarely on her shoulders...

"Then it looks like we're staying here," he grinned, and she'd be able to feel his smile against her skin. "Besides, someone has to look after the Grand Duchess while the Grand Duke is out..."

Her smile almost rivaled his as she finally pulled back to study his face.  "You're absolutely incorrigible."

But, here she was, as usual, encouraging him...

"Since you're here to stay -- at least, for a little while -- why don't we catch up?  It...has been a while."  She smiled as her fingers ghosted over his beard, noting with a triumphant smirk one gray hair.  Oh, he wouldn't like that...  "I'll order dinner be brought up....and you can tell me where this gray hair came from."

"Eh?" his eyes went crossed and followed her gaze. He cupped his goatee. "What do you mean?"
and a moment later, "Fuck." ANd he was moving over towards a mirror to look at it, inspecting it with a growl before-
yanking it out.

Kathryn smirked at him, looking all-too-amused as he fretted over the single gray hair.  He had lost none of his vanity over the years, and that amused her perhaps more than it should.

"I think you'd look rather refined with gray hair," she noted, smiling as she slid off the desk.  When her feet touched the floor, she paused to straighten her outfit and begin to tighten her corset again.  "Better to have gray hair than to have none at all."

Dekka without hair would be...well, less dashing, certainly!

"If your beard is beginning to gray, you must have gray hairs on your head as well," she teased, sounding rather nonchalant about it.

Dekka began to rummage through his dark red locks as he scowled, but caught Kathryn's nonchalance as he sighed and smoothed a hand through his hair, raking bangs from his forehead.
Turning to her, he let his hair fall back into his face.
"I think I'd hang myself if I were going bald," her told her with a smirk. "Save the guards the trouble. Can't have an ugly King, now can we?"

"You wouldn't hang yourself," Kathryn answered, smug in just how much she knew about the King of Thieves.  "It would be too quiet...  If anything, you'd find a way to make sure you went out with a bang -- something public and dramatic, to try to make sure no one ever forgot your name."

Turning, she swept her hair aside.  "Would you lace me up, please?"  Since it was his fault her corset had been undone in the first place...

Dekka tilted his head to one side and smirked. Naturally- she was right. But as she turned her back to him to expose the laces he grinned.
"What on earth for?" he said, lips kissing up her neck.

"I need to check on my sister," Kathryn answered, her smile apparent even in her words as his lips made their way up her neck.  "Since you distracted me...  And, I have other things I need to do too."  Calent had only just left, after all...  "It's far too early for me to crawl into bed and stay there with you, Dekka.  I have work to do."

Although, as usual, she certainly didn't seem to be fighting his attention!

"But what if I told you my skills only lay in untying your clothing, not tying you back up? After all, what good what it do for me to bind a woman back into her clothing- except.." he said, suddenly pulling some of her strings tightly, "To tear them off later." And his words were growled hotly against her neck.

Kathryn exhaled softly, surprised at the sudden gesture.

"You had better not," she murmured with a smirk.  Her hands folded around the chair in front of her to keep her steady as Dekka re-laced her clothing.  "This is one of my favorites.  The trim really brings out the color in my eyes..."

Besides, ripped clothing would be difficult to explain...

"Well.." he said, with a kiss to her neck. "Perhaps later." And he gave a few more tugs and leaned back to focus on retying her tightly into her wardrobe. But after a moment, his hands slackened, the knot had been done, before he peered up towards her face.
"How far along are you?" She couldn't have been that far into her pregnancy... He wondered how she knew she was expecting.

"About two months, I think," Kathryn answered as she smoothed her skirts back out.  "I thought I mentioned that?"  Perhaps she had only thought it in his general direction...  Without missing a beat, she handed him the jacket she meant to wear over the corset, expecting him to hold it out to her like a gentleman so that she could slip into it.  "I hope you aren't trying to imagine what I'll look like fat and pregnant," she added, with a slightly crestfallen expression.  Because fat and pregnant...  Well, it wasn't fun.

Dekka's eyes sparkled a moment as he took in her body.
"Yes, it does seem strange, doesn't it?" And like a good boy, he took her jacket and let her slip into it.
"Two months.." he repeated. Yes,s he stated it earlier, but it was just hard for him to accept. Maybe she was mistaken- maybe she was only pregnant now-
but why did he care?A nd why would he even want her with his child?
Though perhaps the answers came from his heart- still crushed over the fact she could have fathered his child earlier- before it had unfortunately died. It weighed heavily on him to think that if she did- he hadn't been there for her-

Even though he would never be much of a father figure-
though perhaps the idea only appealed to him once he realized he had a grey hair.. or two.
Mortality was a heavy burden all of them had to suffer with-
and realizing his fame was his own sought after immortality- he had no real immortality in blood.

Unless, of course, he fathered some bastard children out there- which was more than possible for a man so sexually active as himself.

"So what do we do now? Taxes and tea?" he said, cheerfully, hoping to change the subject to something more... applicable, and less depressing.

Yes, he was quite the helper, wasn't he?  Kathryn slipped the buttons of the jacket into place, then turned to kiss him -- a gentle, but somehow determined kiss, as if it alone could keep the day at bay.

"Nothing so important as taxes, I assure you," she answered with a particular sparkle in her eye.  "Taxes, policy, law -- important things like that are a man's duty.  I'm only responsible for small things that can be entrusted to a woman -- overseeing the household, menu-planning, foreign relations..."  She rolled her eyes a little bit skyward.  Connlaoth had some peculiar ideas...

"And dealing with my sister, of course.  But I'll come back just before dinner.  And I'll request they bring up some tarts for you, if you like."

"So you're assuming you can keep the King of Thieves here, in this study, as if some animal in a cage?" He quirked a brow at the idea, his smirk growing wider.

"Of course not," Kathryn answered with a smirk to meet his own.  "But, in there, perhaps..."

She tilted her head towards the door that led to her bedroom.  It hadn't seen as much use lately, due to her blooming relationship with her husband...so it should make a fairly decent hiding place for the King of Thieves.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Dekka."  A sobering thought entered her mind, suddenly, as she considered he might not be there, waiting...

Dekka's grin would be the last thing she'd see as she closed the door- but no grin awaited her when she had to confront her sister. Valia was furious, upset, and an emotional mess- and she was furiously moving about her guest room to pack up her things.

"Valia?" Kathryn prompted as she stepped into absolute chaos.  She gestured to the servants to go with a flick of her wrist, dismissing them even if Valia would be made even more upset by the gesture.  "I assume you aren't going home?"

Probably not.  Her sister was far, far too stubborn to actually heed Kathryn (and Dekka's) advice without another fight.  Besides, that certainly wasn't a look of resignation on her face; she was, obviously, very upset indeed.

"Obviously I am," she told her curtly with a sniff, and turned her back to her sister as she tried to cram a poofy pink dress into one of her travel bags. "And obviously I am no longer desired in this.. palace."

"That's not true, Valia," Kathryn murmured as she closed the door in the wake of the exiting servants.  "I did tell you that you could invite him here."  She stepped around the bed to put a gentle hand on Valia's arm to gain her attention.  "You're welcome to stay as long as you need to.  But I hate to see you so upset like this, Valia.  And that's the only way I can think of to resolve it."

Valia was a mess of emotions, and it didn't take long for her to start sobbing over her dresses.
"I'm just upset because you're right," she finally relented, but the crying did not as she sniveled and sniffled and dabbed at her face with a kerchief she produced from her dress.

Kathryn blinked a few times, looking a bit surprised...because it was so unlike Valia to relent or to admit someone else was right.  She was almost at a loss of how to respond for a moment, but then, instead, she pulled her younger sister into a hug.

"It's alright, Valia.  The important thing is that you talk to him about how you feel."

Valia tensed and cringed at the hug before her body began to tremble again with more violent sobs.
"BUt I really don't want to!" she wailed. ANd then, after she quieted from a few more sobs, she added. "I'm just afraid what will happen- and that he'll think of me as less..."
She sighed and tried to calm her tears, but they still were simmering inside her pink eyes.

"Valia, I think he'll be just so happy to have you back..."  At least, that was what Kathryn assumed!  She was certain that if they would just talk, her brother-in-law would understand and sympathize with his distraught wife.  After all, no one could resist Valia when she was in tears!

"Think of how happy you two will be again, Valia.  Just like this never happened."

"Yes.. but... I'd like to have sex again but I'm still afraid to have more children!" she wailed. "I don't like remaining abstinent!" There was certainly no fun in that!

No one did, certainly...

"Then let me send out my maid to find out what options you have.  I've...heard about some things.  But I don't know very much.  I've never had cause to learn more, I suppose."

Valia peered back at her sister.
"What.. what sort of options do you mean?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Kathryn sighed softly and had the good grace to look embarrassed.  "Well, I don't know that much, Valia.  But it's something working girls do, or so I'm told.  Something the man wears during sex to prevent the girl from getting pregnant."

"A man... wears?" The evidence was there in the way Valia's face twisted in confusion.
"But Kathryn..." she said, looking around with a blush on her face before turnign to her sister. "Surely you already know a man and woman are naked when they..." she said, speaking through her teeth and gesturing wtih her eyes. She knew her sister was having tons of sex, after all!
ANd of course.. she had to wonder if her sister knew the entire streets of Reajh knew this, too- though it was't a rumor about her and her husband- that was for sure...

"Well, yes," Kathryn answered.  A blush touched her cheeks as well.  She wasn't accustomed to having to talk about it...  Even with Dekka, they rarely talked...  "Of course they are."

Usually.  Sometimes.  She'd spare her sister that detail...

"But I think a man wears it..."  She lowered her voice.  "On his penis."

The face Valia made was priceless. It was one of awe, disgust and surprise.

"What?! On his PENIS?!"

Kathryn nodded, looking all too serious as she went on carefully.

"Yes.  So you can still have sex, but you won't get pregnant.  It...catches his seed."  Yes, that was it.  She couldn't come up with an analogy, so she would just have to explain it!

"I've never had to use one, so I don't really know the details...but I guess it must work."

Valia made a face.
"But... wha... how?" She shook her head, a bit appalled by such an idea before taking a seat on the bed, growing quiet as she stared off into nothing.

"I don't really know," Kathryn confessed softly.  She sighed then settled down on the bed beside her sister, looking a bit thoughtful.  "It's that or potions.  But I've heard the potions are dangerous, Valia.  That's the sort of thing a girl drinks if she has no choice and doesn't mind risking her life."

Yes, she had heard some stories...

"But the other things...  They aren't dangerous at all."

Valia stared off into space, looking as if she had just seen a ghost, before suddenly, a light, shrill laugh escaped her.
"And to think- I have to have a conversation like this with my husband!"

Kathryn's smile was benevolent as she regarded the younger girl.  "It's that or remain chaste."

And remaining chaste was considerably less fun...

"If you want to go home, Valia, I won't stop you.  But, if you're more comfortable here, you could write to him.  Calent's gone for a little while, so the palace should be fairly quiet."

Feeling miserable and morbidly giddy, Valia's face crushed, as did her demeanor while her eyes welled up with more tears.
"You..you think I should.. should invite him here?" she spoke in barely a whisper, uncertainty and dismay clear in her eyes.

"I think you should do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable, Valia.  You know you're always welcome here, and I'll do anything I can to help.  But if you want to go home, I'll help you put away your dresses and hats so nothing gets ruined."

Being at home offered privacy, yes, but there would also be a little more pressure -- or so Kathryn thought.  If things went bad, it would be better to be here than alone with him...

Valia's eyes teared up as she seized up over the choices laid before.
"I... I guess I should write him then,"s he said softly, trembling slightly before she realized with a gasp, "But oh! What about..." And then her voice lowered into a whisper. "Your other guest?"

Kathryn nodded encouragingly.  "Whatever you need, honey."  Her question about her other guest gave her pause, then, and she was grateful for her foresight earlier.  "And my other guest," as Valia tactfully called him, "Knows I will not be free until dinner-time, so I have all the time in the world to dote on you."  Well, a few hours, anyway...

Valia frowned, lips trembling as she haughtily replied, "That's not what I meant!"
She dropped her gaze to her lap. "So I suppose you shall be indisposed the rest of the evening." The last part was said more quietly.

Kathryn, at one time, had been very good at reading her sister and deciphering her sister's needs.  It seemed that skill had faded a bit as time passed, because, for the life of her, she could not understand what the younger woman was driving towards.

"We haven't seen each other in years," Kathryn answered softly with a slight nod of her head.  "We have a lot of catching up to do."

Valia's eyes sparkled with very real tears. She needed her sister badly, yet here she was- admitting she would be fraternizing with the King of Thieves all night long. And without saying much of anything, Valia just began to cry.

"Don't cry, Valia," Kathryn murmured as she scooted a bit closer to, once again, pull her younger sister into a hug.  "Hush, now.  It's alright.  What's the matter?"

Kathryn knew Valia didn't particularly approve of her affair with Dekka, but it was hardly something to cry about!

Valia wasn't sure how much longer she could go on like this as she sniveled and sobbed and shook her head.
"It's just that... that, you're life is so much different now- our lives are so different now that I was hoping to steal a moment like we had before. When we were kids- and when I found out your husband was going away.."s he added as she brushed back some snot and tears. "Well I... I was hoping we'd have time just for us- none of this cry, these politics- just how things were like back in Highheart."

"But I.. I suppose that's a silly request," she added, her voice trembling. "You are the Grand Duchess." And she- well, she had given birth to the heir of Orchy. But at what costs was it that their lives changed so much?

"Valia, this is what our lives were like in Highheart, don't you think?  The pair of us sharing secrets...  You'd tell me about your latest boy, and I'd tell you about my latest adventure...and then you'd scold me for being unladylike."  Wasn't that pretty much what they were doing now?  Except, back then, there had been fewer tears.  Usually.

"I've promised him we'd spend the evening together," she added softly.  "I've wronged him.  Terribly.  I can't stand him up."  Part of her wanted to -- to pretend he wasn't there, waiting, but they had been through too much together -- and apart -- for her to leave so easily.

"But, tomorrow, I can spend all day with you, Valia.  It will take at least another day for your husband to arrive anyway, and we can do so much more in a day than we could in a few hours."

Valia glowered and turned away from her big sister, folding her arms across her chest.
"But what if it rains?" Clearly the two could not go shopping (where naturally, she presumed they'd be spending most of the day..) if it rained!

"This isn't Highheart, Valia," Kathryn answered with a soft smile, clearly more bemused by the suggestion than anything else.  "Storms do not simply come out of nowhere.  We usually have beautiful weather.  That's why so many of the markets are out of doors."

Poor Valia...

"Come on, now.  We'll do whatever you like tomorrow."

Valia's lips trembled as she looked incredulously at her sister.
"And what am I to do for the rest of the day?" she stammered, trying to brush back her tears. "Kathryn, this isn't fair I-" But Valia's words stopped there as she stared, and stared and stared at the sudden appearance of Dekka Blade. She didn't even hear him enter the room, and alls he could do ewas point with a finger.
"YOU!"
Then anger flushed her cheeks at his smile. "What are you doing in a lady's room!?"

Kathryn half-turned, then sighed softly.  Well, this wasn't helping, was it?

"Are you really bored already, Dekka?" she asked, then shot an equally exasperated look towards her sister.  "And keep your voice down, Valia!  The whole palace doesn't need to know he's here..."  In Angsar's name, why did she feel like a rope in a tug-of-war match?

"But he... he..." Valia stammered and Dekka stepped forward with a suave grin.

"Is wearing the Grand Duke's Clothes?" Dekka said, finishing her thought. Then he turned to Kathryn. "But of course." And his grin rose leftward as he took Kathryn in with hungered eyes.

Kathryn turned completely around this time, even as she rose to her feet to look over the King of Thieves.  "Dekka..."

Really!  Just what was he playing at?!  Wearing the Grand Duke's clothes...and...and...

What was exasperation quickly shifted to a look of concern as she lifted her eyes to his face with a soft gasp.  "What did you do to your beard?"

Dekka blushed and gave a toothy grin as he stroked his chin.
"What? Don't you like the appearance of your new guest?"

"New guest?"  Was he insane?  It was bad enough that he was here...but for him to be strolling around like that...

Kathryn closed her eyes lightly and exhaled slowly as she counted silently backwards from 10.  Just because she was (apparently) the only sane one in the room was no reason for her to get hysterical...

Just one thing at a time...

"Valia, I can't be in two places at once...  It's only for dinner and tonight that you'll be on your own, really.  I told Dekka I was busy until dinner, and I meant it."  She shot a look in the thief's direction.  Honestly, the pair of them!

"What? You don't think we couldn't all get along together?" Dekka questioned, flashing Kathryn one of his grins. But Valia wasn't buying it as she gave him a glare and a 'hmph!'

"The guards would all recognize you!" she sneered. "Beard or not. You look too much the part-a nd your presence is TOO convenient."

Kathryn gave him a flat look.  "That isn't the point."

Although her sister's statement gave her pause.  What did she mean, his presence would be too convenient?  Really, the bounty on his head must have gone down -- after all, he had been absent for years!  The city -- and its guards -- had moved on to more pressing matters...like the Masked Mordecai and Shrouded Swordsman...or other bandits stalking about the capital city!

Dismissing it out of hand, however, she went on, "Besides, I know what your idea of a good time is, Dekka, and if you tried that with my sister..."  Much less both of them together!  "...I really would have to kill you.  Or have you arrested.  Or something."

Dekka laughed.
"Is it so harmful for me to want to request openly sharing some champagne? Or some dinner?" ANd he flashed Kathryn a charming and toothy grin.

Kathryn was half-tempted -- because that would solve both problems, wouldn't it?  Except that neither could behave...

"If Valia wouldn't mind," she said at last, "Then I wouldn't mind."

But Valia would mind -- although God knew why!

Valia stared- and stared and stared at the pair before sputtering.
"Wh-what? Dine with the King of Thieves?"


ANd somehow- it had happened. Valia had agreed, the three of them found themselves at the massive palace table in the dining hall while they were all served roast duck. And Dekka himself appeared and acted like a true king himself- while Valia only watched in mild fascination- somehow, the idea of osmething as scandalous as dining wiht the king of thieves left her relatively quiet- and also distracted from her own problems. It was probably the only reason she agreed to it. BUt as they were all sharing in some food, she leaned in towards her sister and whispered, "I hadn't thought this through- but what are we to call... your... guest?"

For the record, not that her opinion apparently mattered, Kathryn was still against this whole thing.  It was one thing to have Dekka visit in private, with no one to witness his comings and goings from her room.  It was another thing entirely for him to parade about like this...

And, frankly, it had left her in a bit of a sour mood as she pushed the carrots around her plate in silence.

When Valia spoke, she blinked at her younger sister a moment, then looked to Dekka curiously.  She had failed to think of that very thing, perhaps because this entire situation had been pushed upon her without her consent to begin with!

"I'm sorry," she offered, as cordially as though she were at court.  Every ear in the palace was likely attuned to the answer.  "I was so surprised by the visit I forgot you didn't already know one another.  If you wouldn't mind, I think you should have the honor of introducing yourself to my sister."  Her eyes settled expectantly on Dekka.  She didn't know what to call him either...

"Clearly you couldn't have forgotten your own cousin, Fagen!" Dekka said with a laugh and let the drink in his glass swish about. Valia blinked. "Adelan by birth, but Connlaothian at heart!"

"Clearly," Kathryn agreed.  "And what good luck that you happen to be here, too," she added in her sister's direction.

Indeed.  Such wonderful luck...

"You'll have to entertain yourself tomorrow, cousin," she murmured as she sipped from her water glass.  "My sister and I have already made plans, and, unfortunately, they are exclusive."

"Well, I'm sure you have some servants who wouldn't mind keeping me company?" he answered in jest, green eyes sparkling.

It was, all-in-all, not a very successful meal.  Talk at the table was terse and awkward, and it wasn't long before Kathryn announced her intent to retire.  She promised her sister, one final time in plain view of Dekka, that tomorrow would be their day -- for them alone! -- and then she was safely hidden away in her room.

Once the bath was drawn and Kathryn comfortably lounging in the warm water, she dismissed her servants.  They could come empty the bath tomorrow, for all she cared; tonight, she said, she just wanted to be alone.

That was mostly true.  She did want to be alone.  Unfortunately, she assumed, someone else was going to crash her little party of one...

Knowing the dinner was more than... awkward, Dekka retired as well and made himself scarce that evening so that Kathryn at least had the illusion she was alone. But she knew better- as did he, and he found himself sitting on the edge of her bed staring at the box she had given him but too afraid to open it. But realizing there were so many reasons he had come here- and Kathryn being the only one (reason), he found himself lifting off the lid in one fluid motion before peering inside to the little trinkets within.

The memories surrounding them were foggy- but they were there, and as he went through them- piece by piece, his lips twitched into an awkward, numbing smirk. But just as he was lifting something from the box, a series of letters fell out onto his lap, and he found himself picking up the first one (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=16496.msg181521#msg181521)...
and he didn't stop reading until the last.

For a long, grey moment he let each one sink in. The reality had been revealed to him earlier, but the truth behind the words, the gravity of what it meant only sunk in now and slowly he placed the letters back inside the box and found himself staring for the longest time at the ground.

It didn't take a fool to read between the lines-a nd after a good long moment, he left the bed and slipped inside the bath house- and before she had to chance to protest him, he knelt beside the bath and wrapped his arms around her tight.

Ah, so there he was at last...  The gesture surprised her -- it was, after all, quite unlike the King of Thieves not to march in with a smirk and a joke.  And now that they were alone -- without Valia or the servants -- it was easier to relax and accept the hug, even if she had no idea why she was getting one from him.

Besides, she had had plenty of time to soak and to consider everything that had happened...

"You're a bit late," she told him with a smile, oblivious to his mood or the reason for it.  "The water's getting cold already."

He nuzzled his face into her neck, burying it there as he hid his expression from sight. But she might have been able to feel it as his grip tightened around her as she gave her a tighter squeeze.
"Cold water be damned. I just want to hold you."

His entrance had been odd, but this was just not Dekka.  Oh, it wasn't that he was opposed to it, per se -- it was just that he was easily distracted by, well, women in general, and so the holding usually only came along after he had wore himself out.

And she had never complained or held it against him...  It was simply who he was.

She suffered his tightened grip in silence for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Dekka, what's going on?"

Dekka released a hot breath against her neck as he held her tight, still leaning into her from where he remained just behind her as she lay in the tub.
"I read your letters." And the words he spoke, he breathed through her hair.

"Which letters?" she wondered, thinking back to her desk and the few letters on her desk.  Most were political and, to be perfectly honest, dull.  The few personal letters were mere greetings and congratulatory wishes on the success of the ball.  No, there was nothing at all, she thought, that would trigger such a reaction...

"The one's in the box," he whispered, voice hoarse as it came out. His arms remained around hers, his pose, not changing. "The letters I never received when I was.... away."

For a moment, she remained confused...but, then, it dawned on her.  It had been some time since Kathryn had peered inside that box, and she had almost forgotten that it contained every letter that had come back to her unread...

Her body stiffened a moment.  She had a hazy idea of what those letters contained -- and it was a glimpse of something she had buried deep inside and sworn to never bring to light again...no matter what happened.

"I'd forgotten those were in there," she murmured quietly, slowly relaxing back into his arms a moment before pulling gently away so that she could face him.  "Dekka, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean for you to read them."  He probably felt like they'd been put there to guilt him...and that would have been a terrible thing to do.  "I should have burned them years ago."  She glanced down, looking every bit as uncomfortable as she felt.  "I was...really struggling back then.  And I shouldn't have tried to make it your problem."

"No.." he told her, eyes avoiding hers as they were kept glued to the ground. "No..." He shook his head as he drew in a slow breath before he exhaled. A frown deepened on his face.
"You told me a lot of that at the masked ball- but even then I didn't want to believe it. How much I failed you. How much it broke you that I was... away."

Kathryn sighed softly as she rose.  Water cascaded down her body to pool onto the floor as she shrugged into the large, soft robe waiting just a few steps away.  Her back was still to the thief as she spoke, occupying her hands with pulling her long, red-gold hair out from where it was trapped by the robe.

"I always knew what you were, Dekka.  I should have been grateful for the time we had together, but I wanted more.  I always wanted more."  It was selfish, but he had spoiled her, and...  How could she turn away from the one thing in the world that was hers alone?

"At the ball, I only told you any of it, because I thought...  If I could make you stay..."  She laughed quietly, but there was no joy in that sound, and she raised her hand up to press against the bridge of her nose.  "Sometimes, I'm not as grown-up or responsible as I think."

Seeing him had caught her entirely off-guard...but it wasn't fair to blame her behavior on him.

Dekka stood beside the tub, the front of his body soaking wet as he stared at her back side.
"Kathryn..."
He wanted to approach her, to say something to comfort her, but he knew he had wronged her. He was the god damn king of thieves. He could have tried harder. But somehow..
he liked not having his head cut from his neck.

He felt his hands tense into fists at his side before he sighed.
"You have every right to be angry with me- to hate me and ask for more. I just never wanted... much as far as commitment with you, Kathryn. I was afraid of the last ring- that this would be the same and nothing more. But that was me being selfish. I knew where to find you. I knew how to act so you wouldn't run away. I played with your heart strings, Kathryn, because I could- because I wanted to- and because I wanted to be selfish and make you only pine for me."

Kathryn half-turned, her smile almost sarcastic and somehow dark as she quietly answered, "Don't give yourself all the credit, Dekka."  She was still, in many ways, the naive girl she had always been...but there had always been a part of her that wanted those things she could never have.  And her husband, well..  Their relationship was far from something in a fairy tale...

Whether he had set out to play with her heart or not, in the end, she had no choice but to fall for him.

"Anyway, what does it matter?  It's in the past."  And she was finally beginning to get her life together again...even if it wasn't the same life it had been...and even if she wanted to pretend it had never happened.  It was easier that way.

"Heh.." he gave her a dry smile as he looked her body over in her robe- out of instinct, naturally. "It matters because I'm still selfish. And I still want you all to myself."

"No," the Duchess answered softly.  "I think that's precisely why it doesn't matter.  You want what you can't have.  I'm married -- or have you forgotten that already?"

And now pregnant, besides...

"But we can pretend, just like we always have."

The only thing that seemed to have changed in this equation...was her.

Dekka looked her form over.
Pretend...
He could pretend a lot of things. Perhaps that's all this was all along-
and he was ok with it. He always was. But something about what they were changed drastically from when they fooled around inside their little cabins to now-

Perhaps if the war had never gotten between them- their affair would have blossomed triumphantly- but turns out...
Dekka had some value on his life and the dangers finally out weighed the gain and he never thought of the consequences.

But he had to wonder..
if he had known about the baby...

Would he have still come?

Realizing the answer, he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Then the relationship will become as phantom of the rumors..."
Becuase now that it was said out in the open- he felt the allure of it's illusion breaking with each passing second. He wasn't sure how else to answer her.

Kathryn stared at him a moment, then she dropped her gaze as well as she digested what he had said.

"So, you're leaving again."  At least this time, he had been kind enough to leave right away instead of letting her get attached.  Small favors, she thought.

After a small hesitation, she asked, tentatively, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know if I'll leave." He observed her in silence, his eyes wavering. "You're like an addiction, something I want but can't have. A scratch that's there, but I can't reach. A dream I want to become a reality. But..." He sighed and turned way from her, staring over at the gilded walls.
"I also am a beast of habit and a sore loser." HIs smile went crooked. "I don't think your husband's won this war yet."

The slightest of smiles touched her lips, genuine but hesitant, as though the smile itself were afraid to appear for too long, lest it be forced back into hiding.

"Who would have guessed that you were so poetic?"

Usually, he would have sworn every other word...

Kathryn sat down on her mattress as he stared at the opposite wall.  She crossed one leg over the other as she looked at him, studying his features.  "Dekka..."  She smoothed out the comforter beside her in invitation.  "I think you should know.  You made the right decision the first time you left.  Not because I want you to go, but...  I can't bear to think of you captured or hurt or dead."

"Oh, it doesn't matter now," he told her, green eyes dancing as he got comfortable stretched out beside her on his side. "You're stuck with me, Grand Duchess."

"Good," she answered simply as she snuggled up against his larger frame.  Her eyes closed lightly, and it seemed, for a moment, that she might be falling asleep.  After a moment of silence, she added, peeking at him with one eye, "But if you're going to stay, there are rules, Dekka."

Dekka's grin grew naturally wider across his face.
"But of course. There'd be no fun in it if there weren't some fucking rules to break." And here, he kissed at her shoulder.

The comment did not draw a smile or a laugh from her.  Instead, she turned onto her back to look up at him.  "I mean it," she said softly.  "There's one rule you can't break, not ever, Dekka.  Not unless you want to leave."  She hesitated a moment, then lifted up a hand to trace his freshly-shaved jaw.

She really did like him with a beard so much better...  Even if it did have a little gray in it.

"Dekka, we don't...  We can't talk about him."

Dekka peered up from her shoulder where he had been nursing.
"Him?" he murmured, hot breath against her flesh as his hands felt up her sides.

"Him," she affirmed, looking up at him with a rather serious, if somehow lost, expression.  "Or the letters."

She wasn't sure she owed him an explanation...but, then, maybe she did.  Who was she to say?

"I would just as soon pretend that it never happened.  Not any of it."

Dekka looked up into her eyes, seeing the pain, the hurt there and he knew she wasn't talking about Calent.
"So you'd rather just... forget?" he asked, his expression most serious, even for him as his green eyes peered into hers. "It sounds like a difficult chore," he murmured.

The Duchess's smile was sad.

"Brandy," she said simply.  Yes, the brandy had helped...  But not as much as she would have liked.  If it had been the cure-all she sought, not even Calent could have convinced her to give it up.

But any fool could see she had never recovered, with or without the liquor.  It had remained a gaping wound in her life, never healed.

Dekka peered more curiously into her eyes.
"Brandy?" He made a face, and didn't quite get what she meant.

Kathryn nodded slightly as she looked up at him.  "Yes.  Brandy.  Liquor.  Alcohol?  Surely, I don't have to tell you...  If you drink enough of it, it helps.  If nothing else, once you pass out, it keeps the nightmares away."

Her eyes looked away from his, staring up past him at the ceiling above.

"It's been...hard...without it.  I don't always sleep well without it."  Poor Calent thought his nightmares kept her up -- but, in reality, she was glad for the company.  Things were better with him there to tire her out before bed, but that didn't always help...

Dekka scrunched his face.
"What? You think fucking alcohol will fix it?" He shook his head. "That stuff fucks you up, Kathryn."
And the last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt.

Kathryn blinked at the ceiling and gave her head a little shake.

"Nothing will fix it, Dekka.  And I know so much brandy is bad for you, but..."  She sighed softly.  "It really did help."

She glanced at Dekka, then, and her expression softened.  "Don't look so worried.  I haven't drank a drop since the ball.  And even then, I was on my best behavior."  Because of Calent.  Because she had promised him...

Dekka's eyes softened as he studied her.
"What made you change your mind?" he asked in a breath barely above a whisper.

"Calent," she offered softly, able to meet his eyes for only a moment before looking away.  "A few weeks before the ball..."

"It took him a year to notice, but, eventually..."  Well, eventually, he had.  And they had made up.  "But I was in a dark place before that.  So...  I just don't think about it."

It was here things began to make sense. ANd once when the thief may have been clouded over what transpired between them, it all began to become clear. He rose away from her, lifting up his chin in a half realized nod.

"I'm sorry," she murmured softly.  After a moment, she scooted up onto her knees beside him.  "I keep hurting you.  And, believe it or not, that's the last thing I want to do.  But I can't lie to you either."

It was just that so much had happened...and he had missed it all...

Dekka turned away. He scowled. He was never good dealing with these sorts of things and he shrugged her away.But he didn't know what to say to her as he got up and simply walked away- though he paused over at the wall, near the window.

Kathryn exhaled softly and remained where she sat, simply watching him.  She didn't know what to say either.  Somewhere, deep inside, she knew how she felt about Dekka -- how she would always feel about him.  But that part of her was buried, and with good reason...because Dekka could never be a permanent part of her life, and when he left, her world would fall apart again.  The only way to avoid such pain would be to deny everything but the physical attraction and friendship...

But that was obviously no longer what he wanted...

So, instead of going to him, of trying to think of something to say to comfort him, she reminded him only, "You weren't here."  It wasn't an accusation; it was a simple statement that, sometimes, things changed because they had to change, because they couldn't take anymore...not for the right reasons.

Picking up her hairbrush, she let down her hair and began to brush the red-gold strands in silence, letting him decide if he would stay or if he would go.  She couldn't even say anymore which she hoped for...

Silence was a new thing for him- but that was how he remained, brooding by the window in silence. He knew what she meant, what it would mean for them- but he tried very carefully to consider what ought to be done.


"So are we to simply remain as fuck buddies?" he asked after a moment, flashing her a classic grin. "Or, presume that's all it has ever fucking been before?" But though he asked her the statement, he himself was pushing away what was rising to the surface, the part of him that wanted Kathryn for Kathryn and not just her body. He never thought he'd crave for someone as such, but here he was- contemplating a life as a body for sex rather than a body for relationship.

Who knew he'd even ever care....

Kathryn's eyes caught his in the mirror, and she studied him with a sad expression.

"When we first met, I think I could have lived with you out in the woods, and I would never have been happier.  But that was...so long ago.  I've grown used to this life.  And the truth is, if I had to leave it, I don't know that I could."  Her eyes were still on him, technically, but she didn't seem to see him any longer; her gaze was unfocused, as though seeing another time and place in the polished glass.  Moisture shimmered in those deep orbs as well.  "I don't know what's out there anymore, and that...  It's terrifying."

She blinked a few times and turned her attention back to her hair.  "If I can't leave and you can't stay, where does that leave us, Dekka?"

Dekka wondered that himself and shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess that fucking leaves us to the whim of the fucking winds."
he turned to her, laughing softly, but it was an unrealized, dry laugh.
"I mean, though we both live fucking different lives, does not mean we can't continue our charade and our play. I told you Kathryn, I'm addicted to you. Even if I tried to leave this, I'd be back for more."

There was a time she had felt the same way.  Hell, maybe she still did.  Maybe that was why she had let him back into her bed, even though she and Calent were supposedly so perfect...  Maybe that was why it still hurt so much...

Her smile echoed his as she set her hairbrush down and turned slightly to face him.  "What the hell have we gotten ourselves into, Dekka?"

"A fucking game," he told her, dark eyes sparkling. "And I fully aim to cheat life and get everything I fucking want." And his eyes never once left hers, so she understood exactly what he meant.

A twinkle appeared in her eye at his statement.  She should have known he would say something like that...

...And she couldn't even pretend to be upset by it.

"Then, I guess we're both on the same page," she murmured with a more genuine smile case in his direction.  As dangerous and stupid as it was...

And after such a moment and revelation, he quirked a brow, released a sigh and said coolly, "So.. do we start fucking now, or later?"

"You'll have to work for it."  She wore a smirk as she stepped over to the discarded box and pile of letters.  Fishing them out, she shut the box and returned it to its hiding place, then turned to offer Dekka the letters.

"These have caused enough damage.  Get rid of them."

Once he had taken them, it was with the confidence of a queen that she strode away from him.  Her robe fell away, fluttering to the ground in her wake as she settled down onto the bed, stomach down, with her chin resting on her hands to watch.

She didn't have to tell him twice. The letters were as good as gone, tossed carelessly out the window before he flicked the buckle on his trousers open and threw off his belt. His clothing haphazardly torn away, was discarded in his wake, and soon he was approaching the bed, a wide grin on his lips and a raging hard on pointed her way.
"You read for a fuck?"

Kathryn half sat-up with a gasp.  "Dekka!  That wasn't what I meant!"

Although, he of course knew that.

And she knew he knew that.

Damn him for always wanting to get under her skin!

"You go out there and find those right now!"

Although, for some reason, she didn't seem as upset as she should have...

Dekka cocked a brow.
"Like this?" his cock throbbed eagerly as he crawled onto the bed, the action causing it to wag beneath him.
"Some how I doubt that's what you really want," he purred, and moved to craw overtop of her, dominating her in his shadow as his green eyes gave her a hungry leer.

If Kathryn didn't know better, she'd assume he had some other magicks in addition to fire -- like weakening her resolve, for example, and creating that other kind of fire in her belly...

She leaned back, thighs parting in invitation and breasts rising with each anticipatory breath.

"Why don't you show me what you think I want, and I'll let you know if you're right," she answered with a smirk.

Dekka's eyes sparkled at the request, and peering down between her legs, he smiled at all that she had to offer. Brushing red hair from his face, he wasted no time lowering himself between her legs and gripping onto her thighs as he hefted her closer to him and buried his mouth against her sex, lapping at it's outter folds and twisting his tongue along it before leaning forward and sucking and nibbling at her clit.

When he'd feel her begin to writhe, he'd hold onto her more fierce, before working his tongue to a steady across her sex, then slowly ever so slowly, dragging it hotly across it as he breathed.

Kathryn flung her head back and lifted her hips up towards him as a moan left her parted lips.

Letters?  What letters?

"Oh, God, Dekka," she panted, wanting, desperately, for him to do more, to go inside, to suck, to do...anything...to satisfy the itch he was building inside her.  Her fists clutched at the comforter as the world melted away.  It was such delicious torture...  Her hips tried to escape his grasp, wanting to follow that wicked tongue, demanding attention...

Aggressively he pulled her near, when at last he finally sunk his tongue deep inside her, letting it feel around and taste the sweet tang of her body and lap and gorge on her sex.  She tasted heavenly, and if there was truly an ambrosia, the God's drink, then he was tasting it now as he shoved his tongue deeper into her and wriggling it all around, finding the places that itched the most and then burying that tongue even deeper than before as he hugged his face close to her body and barely paused to even breath.

Kathryn responded favorably to his attentions -- back arched slightly, legs spread wide, lips parted to moan and gasp out encouragement as his tongue discovered and rediscovered all of the best places.  And, soon, wiggling and writhing was not enough; her hips back to move, up and down, as though his tongue were a different organ altogether.  Her body produced honey for him, enough so that it seemed it could fill a pot.

"There," she whimpered as his tongue brushed against a particularly sensitive place, causing her to almost shout the word.  "Oh, yes....  Fuck me, Dekka.  Yes!"

He used his tongue to take her to a whole new level of ecstasy, and when she was shouting his name to every God, he pulled his tongue out of her and swallowed down her taste while pushing himself over top of her possessively and beginning to fuck her soft sweet sex wildly. There was no need to hold back as the headboard of her bed began to smack heavily into the wall.


ANd at such screams and commotions, Vesrik, who had been doing his rounds down the hall, paused to catch wind of it, and hesitantly, remained near the door.

Dekka could have done anything he liked to her in that moment, and she would have accepted it all with mindless willingness -- as long as he kept making her feel like this.  She was soaked by the time he slid into her, so much so that he was fucking her deeply in no time.  And she clung to him as her body clenched his member possessively as an orgasm claimed her...but, already, she was falling into another as her body met his and her lips pressed against shoulder, throat, lips -- anything.

And, yet, it did not keep her encouragement from spilling out into the room, begging him to keep going, to go deeper and harder...

Vesrik heard it all and felt a pain inside his pants and frowned to realize, he could never have her- or any other woman, not really. Not after what the mad had done. But even still, he was bitter over so many things and to listen to the Grand Duchess to so openly sing of her sin while her husband was away....

He just needed a name- to hear her cry out for the man who was her lover. Was it the famed King of Thieves? A smile twitched upon his greasy lips. He so ever hoped it was.


By then it sounded as if Dekka was nearly breaking the head board of the bed as he twisted Kathryn over and was fucking her like an animal, moving into her deep as he lifted up one leg and slammed into her hard, his balls slapping against her each time he reached in deep.

"Scream my name, Kathryn. Let me know to whom the Gods you cry for," he growled, and continued to pump into her, possessively, heatedly, fast.

It took her a moment to get it out -- he was hammering into her so hard and fast, that it was all she could do to hold on for dear life.  Eventually, however, her stuttering -- punctuated by moans, half-spoken words and garbled blasphemies -- formed a word.  "Oh, Dekka!"  And as she came again, once that word had fallen from her lips, it came again and again as she pushed her hips back against his needfully: "Dekka, yes!  Dekka, Dekka, Dekka!"

All caution was gone, swept away by a desire that had only built in their years apart...one that Calent, in spite of his prowess and endurance, could never hope to fulfill.

One Dekka was all he needed as a sinister grin curled across his lips. And he kept close to that door now. It seemed the show had only just begun. And as he listened to the grunts and cries of pleasure, jealousy flooded him like a poison. Yes, he could use this against her-but how? Would her husband even believe him if he told him so? No.... he needed to find something else that could tie her unfaithfulness to the elusive King of Thieves.

So biding his time, he simply listened to their little romp of pleasure, even as it went on for hours. Their names cried out, eventually, tehy were tied in knots upon the floor and he was taking her again like an animal, bucking with need and grabbing her by the air, pulling it much like a rein as he leaned back and into her, hips thrusting forward as he slammed into her without mercy and full of years of need.

At some point, Kathryn's voice had gone a bit hoarse...and her limbs were beginning to feel like jello.  None of this lessened her enthusiasm, of course; she simply responded to him with all the more fervor.  She had lost count of how many times she had come or how long they had been at it; for all she knew, the sun could have risen or the palace could have fallen apart around them...

But, oh, it was so sweet...and Calent was not the sort to be rough or rude in the bedroom, for fear of hurting his wife...but Dekka, on the other hand, took as much as he gave, and that was intoxicating for her.

It was through a long, groaning, whimpering breath of mercy that he came, body clinging to her so fierce that as his hot seed spilled deep within her, he shivered.
He immediately rolled off of her, laying on his back, sprawled out upon the floor as he panted and smiled up at the ceiling as he laughed.

"I do believe, Grand Duchess Kathryn, that the entire palace might have heard that one."

That should have alarmed her -- it really should have.  But, then, it also should have stopped her from screaming like a harlot throughout their little misadventure.

Instead, passively, she blinked at him, then laughed softly as she rolled over to snuggle up to his side.  "I don't even care right now, to be honest.  I just want to sleep.  For the next hundred years."

And if sleeping on the floor meant she didn't have to get up, that was fine by her.

He wrapped his arms around her and just held her there on the ground.
"Well, considering I broke your bed, you might have to sleep here with me on the floor," he told her through a closed eyed grin.

"I can always lay on you if I get uncomfortable."  She was only partly teasing!  Fortunately, there was a blanket, not too far away.  Reaching across his chest, she managed to grab it and tug it over them.

And tomorrow...  Tomorrow they were going to have a little chat about him acting out...because he was acting like he wanted to get caught, and, for all she knew, he did.

Dekka lay there without a care in the world. Letters be damned, Connlaoth be damned, he just wanted her. And fucking hell... did he ever have her.

Morning came all too soon.  The morning sun was only just beginning to creep in through the windows when Dekka would feel a hand on his shoulder.  The woman, silhouetted against the light of the morning sun, crouched beside him, her form made all the more shapely by the corset she wore.

"Wake up," she whispered softly.  "You need to go back to your room before you're missed."

And, looking closely at her, Dekka would recognize the woman to be Kathryn's maid, Molly, who had often been drawn into their affair as a messenger or to provide an alibi for the Grand Duchess.

Once she saw him to be awake, she stepped away from him to begin to examine the broken bed, unmindful of his nakedness.

Sleepily he sat up, eyes instinctively roaming over the curvy form of the maid. Where he not so taken by his current love, he'd invite Molly for some fun. But as it were, his eyes turned away from the voluptuous maid to the delicate, sleeping form of Kathryn Allarrick and his hand gently stroked down her cheek before he stole a kiss.

It was barely morning now, ad as he stood up from the bed, his red hair was a mess about the front, and even his braid had a few loose tufts jutting out from it. He gave a yawn, a stretch and scratched a hand through his unruly bangs before rising, nakedly, from the bed side.

His pants were somewhere- as were his clothing, and once he gathered those up, he began to dress against a side table, and once he was ready, he followed her out and to his room. Not a peep was made as the pair slipped down the hall, but Dekka was alert as ever- not that it was too much of a concern. They had made so much noise last night, it would be impossible for half the staff not to know their Grand duchess had been fucked.

Once inside his room, he took some time to down some water, and after realizing it was too early to be awake, but also he was too awake to fall back to sleep, he remembered his actions from last night and rose from the bed. When he opened the door he was surprised to find a servant waiting there.

"Good morning, I wanted to see if you had any clothing that needed tended to-" But Dekka pushed past the man and moved out into the hall.

"Nothing this morning, Cedric, " he told the familiar servant, pulling down his sleevesa nd moving to exit the palace.

Kathryn's room was located on the east side of the building, and lucky ofr him- the weather was gentle last night, despite now how the air hung with threats of rain. But the winds were strangely calm, and as he moved across the grounds, his green eyes expertly searched around- and each time he found a letter, he slipped it into his pocket and moved on to find the next....

All the while not realizing... the vizier's eyes were upon him, watching him like a hawk.
Vesrik dabbed a napkin to his lips as his brows furrowed. He wondered what the man was up to, and finished up his tarts for breakfast, and is tea, before he himself, began to make his way out to the east wing of the yard.

Kathryn's appearance at breakfast was prompt, without a hair out of place.  If there were whispers or glances shared between servants, she was ignorant to them; she seemed far more focused on settling some work before attending to the plans she had made the previous day with her sister.

Letters were read and prioritized, orders were given, and, finally, she turned her attention to the meal.  It was a light breakfast -- her stomach felt queasy this morning -- but she seemed in a fair mood, nonetheless.

(OOC: I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO.  :( )

Valia had, somewhat bitterly, eaten by herself. And kept herself locked in her room to contemplate all that had happened during her stay with her sister. Seeing her sister and the King of Thieves so... close at hand was a bit.. strange to her. Like some peculiar dream, and she knew not what to make of it. Sure she had heard stories from her sister of them- but not once had she actually seen them truly together. So nervously she chewed on the inside of her lip while pacing about her room- uncertain what to make of herself, of her sister, or even the future set before her.

Little did she know what fate had in store- or perhaps she would have been more civil, and smart with her actions. But for now,s he remained as the brat she always was, and of course, waited for her sister to come to her, rather than the other way around..
She might be the Grand Duchess, but she had made a promise! And if she did not show up...
Ansgar help her! SHe'd run away!

Lucky for her- the King of Thieves was preoccupied elsewhere-
and so was, most conveniently, their vizier....

With her breakfast complete and morning duties addressed, there remained one thing left to do: find her younger sister.  It was something she was actually looking forward to -- it wasn't often she and Valia spent time together as sisters, particularly not now that they were adults with responsibilities...

She knocked softly upon her sister's door.  "Valia?  Are you ready?"

Before she could consider contemplating any more thoughts over.. well... anything, the knock at the door made her jump in her seat as she turned towards the closed door.
"Y-yes. You may come in!" Because she most certainly was not going to get up just yet to appease her sister as she looke dback into the mirror and gestured to the maid waiting on her- "Yes, the ruby earrings should do." And she waited for the woman to place them in her ears as she waited, chin held high, and peering over at the door through the mirror's reflection.

In her time as Grand Duchess, Kathryn had become rather used to sweeping into rooms -- and she did so now with a smile.  She glanced towards the maid, then settled herself patiently in a chair to wait -- Valia could take some time to complete her ensemble, after all.

"I had thought we should discuss our plans for the day..."

Mostly, because she had no idea what her younger sister wanted to do!

Valia set her lips into a purse and gave a huff of her breath through flaring nostrils.
"Yes, but what are two sisters of such character to do about the great city of Reajh?" Valia repeated boredly and made it appear as if she were stifling off a yawn. "But really, what have we not seen here? Surely there is something about the city or palace we could do to occupy ourselves." Though no ideas came readily to mind- for she was stuck on the idea her sister was prefer such scandalous company as that from the King of Thieves.

"Make ourselves known, I imagine," Kathryn answered with a somewhat amused expression.  "We'll have an escort, of course -- so we can feel rather secure about exploring the city."  Not that Kathryn intended to do too much exploring...

"Or, if you prefer, we could pack a picnic and go out into the woods."

She knew her sister wouldn't prefer that option...

Valia arched a brow.
"And who would escort us?"

"An entire complement of royal guards, I should imagine," Kathryn replied, deliberately misunderstanding her sister.  "And our maids, of course.  We could hardly ask the guards to help us with our shopping."  She chuckled a little at the thought.  "Believe it or not, Valia, Calent rather insists I never leave without a proper guard..."

Valia huffed and gave a fluff to her hair.
"I suppose shopping will do. I haven't bought any new jewels in ages." Though lord knew Gabe was always trying something. But it wasn't those types of jewels that would fix their marriage....
and she, being as old as she was now- quite honestly needed to just grow up.

"I suppose we could stop at a jewelers, maybe a dress shop and somewhere to buy some candies. My son has taken quite a liking to chocolates."

"I hope you're spoiling him, Valia," the Grand Duchess answered with a smirk, even as she unconsciously touched her own stomach.  "Or I will have to."

Rising, she crossed over to hover behind her sister -- although she did so with a grin.  "And I should be glad of your opinions.  There's no one here I can ask advice of.  No one has quite your sense of style."

The pink aside!

Valia snorted.
"Of course! My child will only have the finest of things!" Even if he was a boy. Why couldn't the brat have been born a girl? But at least her husband had an heir. She supposed that was the plus side...
but she had always, you know, dreamed of only ever having girls....

Shaking the thoughts aside, she blinked and peered over at Kathryn. "Perhaps we should stop somewhere to get him a new toy." For she did feel at least somewhat guilty for up and leaving him- even if she did not act as the best of mothers around him- he was still.. well ... hers.

"Valia, we can stop in as many toy, dress, and chocolate shops as you like.  We have the whole day, after all."

The Grand Duchess examined her own reflection, taking a moment to fiddle with a length of chain of the necklace she wore, before her gaze shifted back to her sister.

"Shall I order the servants to pack us lunch?  Or would you like to come back to the palace?"

"Pack?" Valia gave a snort and rose from her chair. "I hardly see that as suitable. No, no." She shook her head. "We shall dine out. Today we'll make no cuts on enjoying the finer points in Reajh."

Kathryn laughed softly, looking disbelieving.  "Anything you like, Valia, but...  I'm ashamed to say, I've never actually eaten in Reajh..."  Why should she, when she could picnic or retire to the palace when she was hungry?  "I'll have the steward make the arrangements somewhere."

Of course, she didn't quite know where...but that was a minor detail!

"Never once?" Valia wrinkled her nose at the idea. "ANd you've lived here for how long?" She blinked. How inconceivable!  "What does your husband do? Lock you up in a cage?"

"Of course not, Valia," she chuckled.  "I rarely go into Reajh.  Usually, if I want something - and often when I don't - Reajh comes to me.  I'd rather spend my time out on the range or in the woods, really."

Not that she had a lot of free time for that either...

Valia gave another snort.
"You're the Grand Duchess!" Clearly her sister knew what that meant. "Am I to force myself into visiting you more often so you can become more intimately aquainted with your capital city? Even I am aware of some of the finer restaurants,a nd me and Gabriel have only ever been but once!"

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to put you out, dear sister," Kathryn murmured with a grin and a sparkle in her eye.  "But if you should happen to find yourself nearby, I should welcome your advice."

Valia's home was a long way to travel, of course -- it truly would be monstrous to ask her to visit much more frequently...particularly with a small child at home.

"In the meantime, we will have to rely on you to get us through this day."

Valia gave a snooty sniff at such a claim and fluff to her hair.
"So it would seem. Now, I know one normally needs reservations, but we must see if we can't get ourselves a table at Court De Beaux."A nd looking her sister over, she raised her chin. "And if the Grand Duchess can't get a seat there on a Sunday afternoon, who can?"

"I'll send someone to see to it," Kathryn promised with a soft smile.  She wasn't accustomed to using her influence to gain dinner reservations, but, nevertheless, if they declined, she would feel most insulted indeed.

"Then we shall leave as soon as you are ready, Valia."

With a sigh, Valia checked the two earrings were secure by giving them a light pull before rising to her feet and turning towards her sister.
"I am ready now. We can leave at once."

Kathryn truly did adore her younger sister -- and so it was that, in spite of Valia being, well, Valia, the pair had a good time...although most of the purchases were Valia's, she, too, found a few things to buy.  And Valia had been right about the meal -- it had been quite good, in fact...and, somehow, that had surprised Kathryn.  And, the rain that had been threatening all morning had held off -- another blessing!  It seemed Angsar wanted them to have a nice day out together after all!

Back at the palace, she had sent Molly scurrying ahead up to her room to lay out a different outfit for her to change into -- there was no reason to lounge around the palace in the same clothes she had been shopping in...

Once Kathryn had a moment alone, and it seemed both her 'escorts' for the day were indisposed, a rap came upon her door, and the voice through it- Vesrik's.
"Might I request your presence, your grace?"

Kathryn's sigh was soft and annoyed as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror.  This was a casual dress, meant for entertaining in her home as comfortably as possible without putting on all those airs she had worn outside the palace gates.  She had yet to add jewelry to the ensemble and put up her hair again, but, for the time being, she was decent enough.

But those airs were for others as much as herself, for she was expected to behave in a certain way...

"If you must," she answered shortly as she bade Molly to open the door for the toad.

Stepping into the room, Vesrik's grin grew darkly across his lips.
"Ah, Grand Duchess, I see you're looking as lovely as ever. How was your day out with your sister? I would think your meal was at least adequate at Court De Beaux?"

Kathryn's smile, unknowingly, matched his.  "Word travels fast."  Lifting up a pair of earrings, she tilted her head slightly to insert the hook into her ear.  Once the first was in, she glanced at Vesrik in the mirror.  "Don't worry, Vesrik.  I don't intend to push my way into that restaurant -- or anywhere else -- on a regular basis."

Why else would he be here but to chastise her?

"Oh? Is that so?" Vesrik said, mocking a pout. "Such a pity. It is one of the finest establishments in this great city," he went on, slowly making his way towards the woman's side, but as always, kept himself at the most respectable of distances with always the best vantage point for him.

"It isn't that I don't intend to visit again -- it really was quite good."  Her gaze had turned to the mirror as the second earring fell into place.  Picking up her make-up, she began to carefully apply it to her face.  "I plan on making a reservation, next time.  Apparently, there is quite a long waiting list to get in, and several people seemed rather irate that their reservations were cancelled on my behalf."

Which was, admittedly, somewhat unfair...  In any case, it set a bad precedence.

"Apparently, some of the most powerful men and women in Connlaoth dine there...and it would be unwise to step on their toes."  Because it wasn't like these were mere peasants...  These were the wealthy, after all.

"Ah, I would not worry yourself so, my grace. Even the wealthy should know their place beneath that of a Grand Duchess, I'm sure," he told her graciously, in a smooth tongue without missing a bit. Nor any details there in of her person. She was a lovely woman, after all.
"But if you are available, I was wondering if you could spare a moment?"

"It isn't that.  I'm well-aware of the unrest.  I wouldn't want to send tongues wagging about how we take what others have earned..."  She brushed her brush over her cheeks lightly, spreading a pretty pink color in its wake.  "We can't go about carelessly tarnishing our reputations, now can we?"

But, if that wasn't what he wanted to talk to her about...

Turning, she regarded him with her usual subtle disdain.  It was no secret the pair were not close, after all...  But she was, in the very least, always polite.  "What is it?"

"Yes, well, balance is a delicate thing. Just one brush of rouge might make your cheeks appear too hot, as if you had just come from the suns of Essyrn. But just the right, gentle stroke- and it adds a beautifulness to your countenance. But ah.. yes, I am not here to speak about Court De Beaux or a lady's rogue. I'm here to talk about.. something interesting I've seen. A certain.... thing I found in he garden." And he idly tip toed his fingers across the back of her chair before peering back nto her reflection in the mirror, and his expression, was a faint resemblance to that of a wolf.

"What did you find?" she wondered, clearly not putting the pieces together on her own.  After all, her thoughts were filled with shopping and her sister's idle chatter...with more of it to come in the evening, or so she assumed.

Vesirk's gaze remained placed upon her delicate figure in the mirror. And though his smile nor expression changed, his eyes sparkled darkly.
"A letter."

"A letter?" she repeated, her look of confusion doubling.  "And why should I care about some letter you discovered among the roses, Vesrik?"  Because she certainly didn't!  "I told my sister I would oversee the delivery of her packages personally, so if you could kindly summarize this..."

Well, it would be nice!

"Dekka.." Vesrik began, watching the woman carefully as he began to paraphrase the letter (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=16496.0) he had found in the gardens. "If a messenger bearing this letter finds you, come back to me. My son is dead, and I have nothing else to keep me here any longer. I can't bear to pretend anymore, not when everything I had in the world has been taken away from me. You're all I have left, and I know you must be out there somewhere. Even if you no longer care for me, if you ever did, I am begging you to take me away from here. I can offer you anything you want. Name your price."

And as he finished speaking, he kept his face as poised as that of a snake eyeing it's prey in the darkness, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Kathryn's back straightened as he went on, her eyes narrowing slightly before she turned to look at him.

It was a dangerous look.  He may have looked like a snake -- but, in that moment, she looked like a wolverine -- unafraid of the snake's poison and determine to kill it.  She had never doubted Vesrik's ambitions, nor the lengths he would go to in order to achieve them.  Pretending not to recognize the letter would be an insult to them both...

Damn Dekka for throwing those letters out the window!

Lifting up her hands, she clapped -- a slow, delicate clap as she met his eyes.  "Congratulations, Vesrik.  You've discovered evidence of a mother's pain.  Any mother who has lost her child dreams of running away."  Or so she assumed.  Who would want to stay behind, when there was only pain?  "I thank you for retrieving it."

"Ah yes, a mother's pain..." He went on casually, dramatically as he gave a shake of his head. "It was unfortunate to lose the Grand Duke's first and only child. To think of the burden you bear. If only those rumors had been true.... Though what was his name? That those ridiculous rumors surround? Some.. King of Thieves?"

"The man who ruined my mother's birthday party?  Who stole our most precious jewels?  Who killed one of my suitors?  And embarrassed my father so badly he still suffers the scorn of the other lords?"  From her tone and list of crimes, one might have believed she loathed the King of Thieves...but, of course, that was only her projecting her feelings about Vesrik onto the other man.  Oh, and, probably some of the anger she felt towards him for tossing those letters from the window...  "I'm sure I have no idea.  As I recall, it was a frightfully common name.  No doubt, that's part of why he's escaped the noose all these years."

Vesrik chuckled.
"Not at all common, especially when associated with a certain... Grand Duchess?"

Kathryn's eyes narrowed.  Lifting up the heavy, decorative hairbrush she had been using only a moment before, she gave it a twirl around her hand.  It would have been more impressive had it been a dagger...but from the anger coloring her face, she was imagining that it was.

"What do you want, Vesrik?"

"I don't know, you tell me. What would even a man in my position seek to gain from any such letters? Scandal against my lord and lady would be rather cumbersome for a man like myself to deal with, don't you agree? Especially, scandal he himself could prove through letters that were undoubtedly written by her grace. And last I checked... this... Dekka fellow, was a mage, was he not? Yes... scandalous indeed."

So he had more than one...  Damn Dekka to hell for putting her in this position!  For all she knew, he had found them all...  Why hadn't she burned them when they had been returned to her untouched?

Resisting the urge to beat him to death with her hairbrush (although, to be honest, she was still envisioning it, just to cool her blood), she said instead, "Enough games, Vesrik.  I know it must be hard for a man with your...condition...to grow a spine and act like a man rather than a sniveling coward like true eunuchs...  Speak plainly.  What do you want?"

The fact she went there, about a situation he'd rather have kept private (though unfortunately for him, those close to the Grand Duke already knew...) he just gave a dry chuckle through closed lips.
"I'll save it for a rainy day. Your day has been long and trying as it is. But let's see... your cousin was it? How is he fairing? I have not seen the poor man for hours. Has he taken ill?"

At that, Kathryn's eyes first glinted dangerously...  Her hand tightened on her hairbrush, and then, with a passive smile, she turned her back towards him and resumed pulling the brush through her hair.  "About that...  I think we should like to take a picnic tomorrow -- just the pair of us.  We'll have an early departure...quietly, through the garden gate.  Be a dear and see that it's unlocked for us.  And see that I'm not missed by the staff."  She glanced at him in the mirror, her own look a dangerous one.  "You're right, of course.  Should rumors spread through the palace and with such letters in your possession, the Grand Duke will certainly look unkindly towards anyone withholding certain information from him."

"Whoever said it'd be with held?" Vesrik mused over her change in demeanor. Did she honestly think he'd be so foolish with this letter? Or any others...
Or what the staff had already seen.
"I know yours and... Calent's... situation hasn't been the best as of lately. Why, it would be a shame to be the one to inform him of bad news... and to think, he is still without an heir. And his wife, the one who could't even produce him an heir, was doing him so much wrong by sleeping around with other men. I wonder how kindly he'd take to a bastard on his throne." And he gave a sympathetic shake of his head. "But perhaps the death of his child would be seen in a.. different light? Or that in which the position of his wife, and well, certainly, her sister, the young Lady Colerdge, and the Duchy of her husband? I'd... hate to be the one to cause such.. tensions."

"Let me be frank with you, Vesrik, since you're clearly too enamored with yourself to read between the lines."  Once again the hairbrush was set down, and she turned to him with a flutter of her eyelashes as she crossed the room towards him.  "You have my letters.  If it weren't so cowardly to hide behind a woman's secrets, I would almost respect your nerve."  Almost.  "So, here's the deal.  You'll do as you're told.  It could be a good deal for you -- knowing the when's and the where's, and you won't even have to work for it.  If I don't get what I want, you'll do more than simply lose those letters..."  She had stepped by him and paused just over his shoulder.  "You have a certain reputation among the Court, Vesrik."  Her hand settled on his shoulder, fingers lightly tracing down his arm as she murmured into his ear, "So when the head inquisitor demands to know the names of all those I've betrayed my husband for, I'll make sure your name is on that list.  And I'll be sure I have the witnesses to prove it."

Continuing towards the desk, she lifted a single item from the desktop.  This time, twirling the letter opener around her hand looked much more impressive -- and more deadly.  "You can, of course, refuse my generous offer, Vesrik.  You wouldn't be the first man who has tried to fuck me to die.  Just the first who is physically inadequate for the job."  The dark glitter that had touched her face earlier had all-but blossomed across her features now as she approached him again.  There was a seductive swagger in her hips and the warm, almost orgasmic enthusiasm in her tone that had been missing previously.  "Do you want to hear my favorite part?  It isn't the rush of warm blood running over my hands or way that little spark of light fades from their eyes...  It's the fear -- that moment when they realize they've made a mistake and that it has cost them everything.  And you can smell it...even before they empty their bowels.  It's a heavy musk that stings your nose and clings to them long after they've died."

The Grand Duchess stopped a few feet from Vesrik; instead of brandishing it towards him, she pressed the sharp instrument against the strings of her corset running along her right side...and with one, fluid motion, she tore through the laces.  The corset first sagged, as if unsure what to do, then burst open to reveal the silken shift underneath...and it was already turning a bit red from the cut along her side, no doubt caused when she had cut away the corset.  It was a small cut...but it would prove her point.

"'He tried to rape me,' I'll tell them.  And all the while, Dekka will be searching for those letters...  And, if he can't find them..."  Tears shone in her eyes.  "'He made me write them.  He said if I didn't, he'd kill me.  And when he came back...'"

Men were always suckers for a crying woman, after all.

"Now, which option works best for you?  Work for me -- keep the letters as an insurance policy and earn a little extra coin, not to mention my undying gratitude -- or work against me.  It's your choice."

(OOC: I...got so carried away, Spice.  SO CARRIED AWAY.  Also, uh, yeah, look, it's the old Kathryn!  Who knew she was buried in there somewhere?  ;_;  Let me know if this needs revisioning, and it shall be revisioned.)

Vesrik chuckled, a pleasant sound, despite the dark situation.

"Yes, money can buy many things. For now, we'll say it buys my silence." And with a humbled bow, he took the ladies hand and kissed the top of it lightly.
"But that wound, my lady, you should have it looked at. It would be a dreadful thing if it were to infect. We can not have our Grand Duchess, who is in quite a... delicate condition, become ill. The Grand Duke needs an heir, and if it is produced, it would cement his position here immensely before all of Connlaoth. So I hope you understand my.... concern of the fidelity of his wife. He has... had a trying life, Calent has. It would be terrible to have his empire fall from just a little piece of paper."

Vesrik and his games...  It was sickening.  But, two could play at that game...

Her smile matched his as she answered, "And it would be equally as terrible for him to lose so devoted a friend and adviser at a critical time like this.  All because someone's ambition exceeded his common sense."  Softly, she added, "We'll talk more after my picnic tomorrow."

Turning away from him, she crossed back to her vanity and turned in order to examine the cut in the mirror with a cluck of her tongue.  "Send Molly back in.  I'll need her help with this."

"As you wish, my lady," And he bowed out of the room, but not long after Molly had returned, and briskly so to attend to her, Dekka was stepping into her room without so much as a knock at the door. And in hand he had a bunch of letters, and well...
a few fresh flowers picked from her gardens. Not noticing the room or sensing the tension in the air, he gave his lover a suave grin.

"Ah, Grand Duchess Kathryn," And he bowed to her, then to Molly. "And the lovely maid." And taking her hand, he kissed it gently, causing a blush to heat Molly's poor cheeks.

"Molly, go apologize to my sister on my behalf.  Tell her I'll be with her shortly."

Once the maid had left the room, Kathryn settled down at the vanity to begin braiding her hair into the careful, winding braids for which she was known.  She scarcely acknowledged the King of Thieves, the letters, or the flowers as she worked.

It was only when it seemed he was about to say something that she finally said, "Tomorrow, we're going on a picnic.  We'll leave through the gardens before dawn, and we won't be back until well after the sun sets."

Her tone was carefully neutral; she wouldn't truly murder Dekka...though she wanted to scream at him...

Dekka gave a coy grin, not seeming to catch any meaning behind what she said.
"Oh, it's been a while since we've had sex in the fields," he told her with a wink. "Or against the trees." Producing the flowers, he offered them out to her. "Some flowers, and well.. I figured you might want these back. They're what I could find. I figured I'd look again for the others tomorrow, though I think the remaining few letters might have been lost in the moat."

Kathryn looked down at the flowers, but she didn't take them.  Instead, she looked at the letters, then up to him.

"You won't find them."  Because she knew exactly where they were...  Turning away from him, she tried to concentrate again on carefully winding her hair around her head...yet, if he were paying attention, he would notice the way her lower lip quivered and the moisture welling up in her eyes.

Because...she didn't know what she was going to do.

"Can't find them? Who do you think I am, the Grand Duke?" Probably a joke in bad taste. "Look, I'll find them. I just got... well anxious to come back to see you." And as he moved around to her front, only then did he see the waver in her expression.
"Kathryn?"

Kathryn was trying to steel her nerve.  Her breakdown in front of Vesrik had emotionally drained her, however, and it made it difficult to control her emotions...

"Vesrik has them.  I think I've got it under control for now, but..."  She exhaled softly, refusing to meet his gaze.  She could feel all of those pent-up emotions, fighting to break free.  "I don't know for how long.  Or what he'll want..."

It was then Dekka's expression began to fade, and some of the color drained from his face. After the severity of the situation set in, he swore between his teeth.
"And he thinks he can just use that fucking against you? Fucking asshole cunt wipe. Well he's got  another fucking thing coming. I'm not the fucking King of Thieves for nothing. I'll get those fucking letters back, and-" Here he was puffing himself up, and rightfully so. Not only did he have Kathryn to worry about, but his own neck as well. "And fucking make him wish he would have just let those letters fucking go. Man's going to be wishing he was just a fuckin' eunuch. Cock sucking bastard." And he was so pissed off, he slammed a fist into a nearby wooden chair back, which sent the piece of furniture splintering.

To see him so angry actually brought some comfort to the Grand Duchess.  Ignoring the chair, she rose and stepped towards him.  Lifting her hands to his cheeks, she drew his face towards hers for a deep, emotion-filled kiss.

"I know you will.  In the meantime, we have to be smart about this.  I've agreed to pay him."  Among other things.  "He knows we're going out tomorrow...  You should circle back and catch him off-guard.  And once you've disposed of the letters, you can come find me..."

"Pay him? Pay that fucking ass clown for what? Call off the mordecai and I'll burn his fucking ass alive, is what. That pig's going to roast on a fuckin' stick." It seemed the kiss only paused the moment for him to spit more fire, and at the suggestion of a plan, he eyed her over. "No, why wait? That fucker is as good as dead." And he began to stalk towards the door, with every intention of beating the pig senseless until he could no longer breath.

"Dekka..."  Kathryn caught his hand quickly, trying to get him to stay a moment.  "He'll expect you.  He's not stupid."  Unfortunately...  "We need to be smarter than he is.  I can't lose you.  Not when I just got you back."

Dekka turned to her, growling.
"And you expect me to fucking play that prick's game? Let's just end it here and be away from this god foresaken mess. You've seen it yourself, the fucking bull shit and blood shed your husband leads, not to mention the webs I fucking know that spider of an adviser is working. Fucking cock nosed shit head." And he was growing so pissed, his fist began to steam. And it was then he pulled away from her, confused at first, but then cackling angerly as he threw a punch towards the ground and let his entire arm flare up into flames.
"Seems the mordecai have got the fucking right idea..." And he turned from her again, the door just paces away.

Kathryn swallowed and straightened, her expression grim...the very picture of a woman watching her husband go to war, and not expecting him to ever return.  "Be careful," she murmured softly.  "Please."

With a nod, he turned to open the door, and saw an entire wing of guards heading their way. Closing the door, he swore.
"Fuck." And turned to Kathryn. "Got a sword?"
But with a smirk, he began to laugh, and laugh and laugh as there was a hardy knock at the door.

"Grand Duchess Kathryn! We heard there was a mage on this side of the wing! The mordecai are on their way!"

And still laughing, Dekka turned away from her and threw the door open, and flung his flaming fist into the first guards face. Well, if he was going to die, at least he'd go down in a flame of glory.

"Yeah, we got your fucking mage right here!" And in another throw of flames and punches, the next two guards went down two, leaving the final two who were flanking to draw their swords as Dekka growled, the flames creeping higher up his arm.

It was almost too much to bear.  Kathryn watched in horror as Dekka charged into the guards.  Immediately, she stepped forward with one hand extended and her mouth partway open -- but what could she say that would help?

What could she do that would help?

Her hand fell to her stomach, pressing lightly against it for a moment, and then, without a word, she just walked away.  Numbly, she moved towards the only other exit her room offered: the balcony.  Softly, gently, really, she closed the door behind her, and, in spite of the chill, sat down with her back towards the room, her knees drawn up to her chest, and her face buried in her arms upon her knees.

This was it.  This was her life falling apart.  And she would rather freeze to death out here than watch.

Catching a rotund shadow, no doubt  the adviser Vesrik Delcheux, had Dekka's blood boiling as it seemed the rest of his body was creeping into a roar of flames. The guards, undaunted by the display, cut towards the man quickly. But he was deft, even in his angered state, and avoided their blades and unleashed a ball of fire against both the men as they let out screams, dropped their swords as they fell to the ground, burning to death swiftly inside their metal armor.

Wiht the guards down it left little in his way, except as he was charging down the halls, he felt his flames snuff out- and the words that rolled out of his lips were so colorful, it made a rainbow seem grey.


The noise was enough to alert Valia, who snuck out of her room and saw the horror that was the pile of guards on the floor just outside of Kathryn's room, and she hadn't seen Dekka disappear down the hall, not that she cared, for her fear was only directed towards her sister as she called out, "Kathryn!" and moved to pound desperately on her door. "Kathryn! Are you in there?" Was she even still alive!?

It wasn't until Valia would try the handle and step inside the room that Kathryn would hear her.  She shifted slightly to peer into the room, then rose to open the balcony door.  The wind caught her hair, swiftly undoing the long, blonde locks and tugging at them playfully as she simply stood there.

"You should go back to your room."

There was no reason for her to get caught up in this -- in any of it.

"Kathryn..." Valia spoke, taking another cautious step towards her. "Is he...?" She dare not utter the words, for even as she spoke, Dekka's rampage found no bounds. You fucked with the King of Thieves, you fucking paid for it. Vesrik was as good as dead.

Fire or no fire, no one would stand in his way of revenge, and the single mordecai backed by two guards ran into view, they didn't have a chance to stop him (not that magic negation would) as his hook shot came out in a blast, and it's metal hooks clung to the chandelier above. Once secured, the man allowed it to sail him up and over the confused series of guards, before yanking the shot free and causing some of the melting candles to fall onto of the poor men's heads.

Not bothering to stick around, he took off down the hall quick as lightning, left, then right, and down through the mazes. He could hear the echo of guards, and the rush of movement through the halls, but it was a soft clapping that gained his attention as he whirled around and felt a blade suddenly piercing into his flesh.

Red, hot blood bubbled through his finger tips as he clutched around the wound and whirled around, finding himself coming face to face with the Grand Duke's crooked adviser.

"Such a swift and nimble one you are. No wonder you are difficult to catch," he said, teeth flashing just as dangerously as teh bloodied knife he now held. "But I wonder, what sort of price you have on your head now- considering all of the offenses you've wracked up in the last twenty seconds."

Dekka spat towards him.
"Fuck you, you bastard. YOu're going down, and if my head rolls in consequence, I don't fucking care!" ANd before Vesrik knew what was happening, the man was upon him, rolling fists through the air, one connecting to his cheek, the other across his jaw, then his eyes and his eyes again, and in his blinded moment, the rotund man struck out, slashing Dekka across the face. And when Vesrik opened his eyes, Dekka's green eyes pierced his own, and they appeared like flames from hell.

A boot swiftly met to his face, knocking teeth out before the same boot came to nail him in the gut, and the adviser was seeing white, writhing in agony and barely able to call out for help.

"You're going down, you fucking pig. And I'm going to be the one to gut you raw."
Though as Dekka moved down to yank the dagger from Vesrik's grip, the man surprised him with another stab to his body, and through a grunt of pain, Dekka yanked it out, then turned the blade over and moved to slash it at the other man's throat.

He wasn't sure how deep he cut him, but he knew he got a slash in, as Vesrik's eyes went wide while he clutched his throat, blood seeping beneath his hand. And just as Dekka was moving in for a finishing blow, a cry behind him had him jerking his head away.


"YOU THERE! HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE GRAND DUKE!!!!"


"Fuck." Turning back towards Vesrik, he watched as the coward of a man began to crawl away and growled. "There ain't no fucking way you're getting out of this one. Get back here you fucking prick!" And with guards at his heels, Dekka made chase after the stumbling adviser, and when he caught up to him again, he began to beat the shit out of him until he lay, practically unmoving upon the floor, and four guards had to come and tear the King of Thieves off.

"The King of Thieves broke into the palace," Kathryn murmured softly in a calm voice with a neutral expression and her eyes seemingly focused on something far, far away.  In truth, the shock wasn't feigned; she didn't know how to process this sudden change in her fortune...  "And when the guards confronted him, he turned on them, and..."  A shiver went through her, perhaps partially caused by the doorway that remained open to her balcony behind her.  "He'll have to be executed.  Publicly.  If he survives the Mordecai."

And, honestly, she wasn't sure what would be worse.

(OOC: Not going to lie -- I was totes rooting for Dekka!)

Valia's face scrunched quizzically at such a proclamation.
"Kathryn..?" she went on, evenly, carefully. "What do you mean. I thought... I thought he was our guest?"

"Guests don't kill the guards, Valia!" Kathryn snapped, anger suddenly blooming in her expression.  That seemed to be the only bite she had in her, however; with a defeated expression, she sank down into a chair helplessly.  "Vesrik sent the guards to arrest him.  He has letters...letters that prove my infidelity.  And I threatened him.  So he sent the guards after Dekka."

Her eyes rose to meet her sister's.  "And I can't even help him..."

Valia's lips fell open as her face went white, and even from here, despite them being unable to hear his cries, Dekka was roaring out in fury as the guards detained him, one punch to silence him, then a dozen more to bring him down to the ground. Like a hoard of a locusts, the guards grabbed onto his limbs fiercely, and smashed him clean up against the wall while they forced his hands behind his back and cuffed him.

There'd be no escape for the King of Thieves today, and despite suffering a severe thrashing from the guards, he fought every bit of the way to the prison. And into the prison he went, tossed in, half alive, half dead, and spitting up blood all over the stone grounds. He only had a chance to spare one glance towards the mordecai guards who slammed the iron bars closed in his face and locked it, and locked it twice. And as one mordecai peered down at him, promising the thief would seek death in the morning, Dekka flashed him a white toothed and bloodied smile, before spitting his way. And the guard hesitated not to use the butt of his rifle, smashing it into Dekka's face and silencing him to the ground.

"Check on the adviser, alert the other guards and check on the Grand Duchess!" The man barked out his orders as he stormed away, advising double the guards and mordecai remain here. This prisoner was not getting out. The King of Thieves would pay.

Before the guards entered her suite, the Grand Duchess was, once again, wearing her mask.  Servants and guards alike were subject to her fury as she called for the imposter's head -- a man who had dared impersonate her dear cousin from Serendipity.  Publicly, she sent a hasty note with Molly to be taken, immediately, by messenger to locate her cousin to inquire of his health.  (The note and accompanying payment was, in fact, quite the opposite and destined for a different hand altogether...)  She herself called for a public execution come morning, somewhere the people could see what awaited those mages who dared to invade her home and attack her people and ordered the guards tripled on his cell...for all knew the King of Thieves had many, many tricks up his sleeve.  Vesrik, too, was seen to and cared for immediately by the royal doctors, with Kathryn inquiring of his condition, the dangers of his condition, and what could be done to make him comfortable.  In short, by the time the sun rose, the palace, the staff, and the guards had been in such a flurry of activity all night that they were unsurprised when the Grand Duchess announced that the execution would proceed without her attendance, for she had neither slept nor eaten and could barely hold herself upright without the help of her maid.

The march to the execution grounds were already well underway by the time a cloaked shadow slipped out the window of the Grand Duchess's room.  The shadow was swathed in black, with its face hidden but for a pair of feminine eyes peering out at the world.  It hesitated as it studied the side of the palace, then carefully began its ascent to the roof.

It moved carefully, pausing, once, when one hand slipped, then completed scaling the wall.  On top, it slung the bow off its back from where it had been stored and moved across the grand, sweeping architecture towards the battlements overlooking the square.  The three guards posted there, eyes on the execution below, received arrows in their backs, and the shadow replaced them there as the charges against Dekka Blade were being read out loud.

Already, in spite of the early time, the square was packed with on-lookers.  Guards and Mordecai stood at attention between the raised stage and the crowd calling for blood.  The shadow set the arrows -- both the ones it had brought and those of the guards -- down before it, then nocked an arrow and fired.

Dekka was just being led towards the stage when all hell broke loose around him.  The guards at his rear went down, one after the other, with arrows in their backs...and then, just as swiftly, the announcer fell with an arrow in his throat...and the executioner with an arrow in his breast.

Arrows continued to fall down on the guardsmen as chaos erupted around the square.  The townsfolk reacted as a panicked mob, pressing and fleeing alternatively with a mind of its own and contrary to all logic...and, all at once, the bound prisoner would find a knife pressed into his hand...and the guard that had drawn his sword to attack him also shot through.

"It's the Masked Mordecai!" one of the guards gaped, while his partner scowled a response.

"The Shrouded Swordsman, you fool!  Look at the cloak!"

"It's the Mordecai for sure," the first argued loudly.  "Look at the mask!  And he's too scrawny to be the Swordsman!"

OOC: I love how Audric and Leif make trouble in other threads they're not even aware of <3
I also wonder if she had some help of Dekka's hook shot during any of this? Or at least has it on her person? <3<3<3

--------

The bell tolled in the early morning, ringing once and resounding in the air, an echo of the call to death. The sun was barely rising, the faint, yellow glow having crept through his cell window, but not with enough force to remove the morning chill from the room. And it was then the men came, grabbing the shackled man and pushing him forward through the open door of his cell, and onward he was commanded to march.

With one boot in front of the other, Dekka obeyed, not having much chance of doing anything except giving the guards a cold, sneering smirk as he was guided forward. He supposed, if anything, this was how he was to go. Either by blade or by noose, but a public execution excited him like no other,a nd the thrill of the fame after death was enough to lead him onward with little struggle. If anything, all that was happening here today was them securing his place for all eternity, to be remembered for being the fallen lover of the Grand Duchess in a time when there was so much hatred towards his kinds in her land.

But maybe that was the magic of their love,a nd why this 'myth' and 'rumor' seemed to be treasured, or at least highly acceptable among the masses to be carried through just about every corner of the land on whispers.

Yes, he was the mage lover of their Grand Duchess- the notorious King of Thieves that stole hearts, and stole treasures. And today, today well...
His execution would be stolen from him.


By none other than the Grand Duchess herself. And that much was evident to him as the men around him went down. His green eyes lifted slowly, spotting the subtle movements of shadows, and when one of the men nearest to him went down, he heard the other pair behind to argue before ramming an elbow into one of their guts, then the shackles into the other's face, before looping the chains around the guard that fell first, and jerking it taunt as the mans' face began to turn red, purple, and swiftly unto blue.

Funny how they guessed the small figure would be that of those ridiculous masked vigilantes he had so often heard about. But they were of little consequence to him now. ANd what would these men think? As they were offed by the very Grand Duchess herself?

(OOC: That's the idea!  Also, I feel a bit bad I stole his exit from him...  D:  But Kathryn would have been so sad!

And, yeppers, I assuming she has some of his things, since he obviously didn't have time to grab them!  XD )

Kathryn's arrows found the other guard, then.  And another.  If he didn't move soon, they would close the gates and keep him trapped in the square...and then what would he do?

But Kathryn, already, was facing problems of her own.  A shadow fell over her, barely giving her time to duck a sword swipe.  She moved swiftly, knocking the man off-balance and sending him crashing down into the square below, then lifted her bow again to shoot down the man in the gatehouse.

Hurry, Dekka! she thought.  She was fast running out of arrows...and she had no idea how long she could keep her position...  More guards would be on their way...

OOC: He was a bit busy being in jail 8D

----------

Once the way was cleared, Dekka hesitated not to leap from the gallows and onto the wooden balcony below it, iron chains rattled as he crouched into a land. Green eyes cut through the area, seeing the panic, seeing the chaos, then leaping full force into it. He landed iwth a tumbling roll amongst the crowd, and cursed himself when he dropped the knife. He scrambled to pick it up, but a horseman was upon him, nearly trampling him beneath his white beast as he heard the kiss of drawing steel.

It was at that notion he knew he had to act- and fast, and rammed himself full force into the horses side. It hurt like hell, but it was enough to jostle the horse and freak it out, as the stallion reared up on it's back legs and tossed it's rider onto the ground. And just as the horse came stomping back onto the ground, Dekka tried to leap onto the beasts back, but failed and landed hard on the cobblestone.

With a groan, he watched as the white horse fluttered away and swore out words between his teeth before pushing himself up off of the ground, and swearing again when he realized the knife was dropped a second time.
His eyes searched frantically for it, but as he turned around,t he swordman he had de-horsed earlier was now on his feet,a nd swinging his sword- directly at Dekka's head.

What the hell was he doing down there?!

Kathryn's attacks slackened a moment as she watched, horrified, as Dekka threw himself at a horse.  His plan almost worked -- but it was not enough, and the thief was thrown back onto the ground with a man looming over him.

Having little choice, Kathryn turned her attention to the swordman.  Her first arrow glanced off his chain shirt harmlessly; she narrowed her eyes and drew back a second arrow.  This time, she aimed for a smaller target -- but one less-protected: his arm.  The arrow sliced into his wrist and caught there even as he brought the sword downwards towards Dekka's head...

A gargled scream came out. Blood was evident as something fell to the ground, and a second later, Dekka was tumbling beside then scrambling up behind the now wailing guard before a boot connected to the man's back. Chains scraped across the ground now as he lumbered away, knife in hand and he, seeking frantically for a way out as the square was beginning to swiftly thin with people, but become more populated with the guards.

Kathryn had a better view of the action on the ground than he did.  She could hear, echoing off the stairs, footsteps on stone.  But she didn't dare give up her perch -- not yet.  Lifting her hands to her lips, she gave a shrill whistle and, with a gesture, pointed towards the eastmost gate leading out of the square.  After that, it was back to firing arrows down on them, trying to clear him a path while protecting his backside...

But, soon, that wouldn't be enough.

And soon, she would be out of arrows.

Only so much could be done, and guards were a plenty in the square just outside of the Grand Duke's palace. Though a few men had been downed, another horseman was storming Dekka and this time, the fire-thief had a plan, a foolish plan, but then again a lot of the times his escape plans were just like this- where he would improvise.

So as the white stallion tore his way, Dekka leaped clean in front of it's path, avoiding the oncoming blade, but then just as the horse was rushing past, he threw himself at the beast and well- luck was on his side as the iron shackles got looped upon the saddle horn. Dekka's elation was short lived as the rider noticed it's extra piece of baggage and threw his sword up, just in time for the horse to slow, for Dekka to swing and then his elbow to connect into the rider's gut. Stunned, the blade fell and the man went side saddle, but before he fell over, Dekka grabbed onto his body, using it to throw himself half on the horse before wrestling with the man and finding himself soon on the saddle of the white horse.

He gave a laugh at the downed rider who stared back up at Dekka in stunned silence, and just as archers were readying their arrows for him, the King of Thieves righted himself on the saddle and fumbled over the reins. THen with a kick of his boots he shouted, "YA!" And the horse replied in kind, whinnying at the boot prod and scream and tore off across the square, bolting towards the portcullis.

And that's when the guards realized exactly where the escaping thief was headed.

"CLOSE THE GATES MEN! CLOSE THEM!" and the familiar heavy, click, click, click of the gears  and the sharp teeth fro the door began to fall, just as Dekka was rushing towards it. It was hard to see if he'd be too late- but he at least had to give it a try.


Freedom was just a breath away.

Up above, Kathryn held her breath as Dekka finally got a mount beneath him in a dazzling display of skill and luck.  Her relief was short-lived, however, as the gate began to drop from above.

Faster, Dekka.  You have to go faster! she thought, for there was nothing she could do if the gate had already started coming down but keep his path clear.

And just as he reached the gate, she realized the archers that had been aiming at him were also aiming at her, and she ducked back down behind the protective wall just as arrows sailed overhead...and as guards mounted the stairs behind her.

They were both out of time...

There weren't enough arrows to stop the archer, or enough arrows to stop him. But one things was evident was that one struck him, the grunt was made, but it was garbled as the horse barely made it beneath the jagged jaws of the closing portcullis and the second he was outside, he wilted painfully into the saddle and pushed and begged the white horse onward until the chase took him far, far, far away from the city, from the palace into the wilderness beyond.

OOC: And this concludes this thread, continued here. (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=16498.msg181541#msg181541)