A Moment Alone (Open)

[Afton Devonshire]

Escaping the ladies who served as her maids, Afton heaved a soft sigh as she slouched slightly in the throne. Things had been out of control recently, though there was nothing she could do besides reject the treaty she was sent. What Lord Thornbrough wanted with Ellesmar, she had no idea, but she did know that she had no intention of giving in and signing, especially if it meant sacrificing the safety of her people. But as it was, they were not safe with her rejection either, for already her villages were being terrorized by those who supported Thornbrough in his quest for the throne of Amorrosa.

There was no denying that the larger, more powerful throne was what he was truly after. Even her knights were well aware of the situation, as were those who the King of Amorrosa had kindly sent to protect her until the wedding arrangements were made and she was escorted to Amorrosa itself. There, at last, she would be meeting the Prince who was to become her husband, and within the month would be married to him. The very idea was strange, even though she knew that she had to marry in order to protect her people and forge an alliance that could not be broken. Thornbrough wouldn't dare attack her people then.

And yet, as she sat in the throne room, alone for the first time in a very longtime, she realized just how lonely she truely was. As a lady of high rank, she had never had any friends growing up and had assumed the responsibilities that she had always thought would go to her younger brother. But her Father's untimely death had prevented her brother from reaching a mature age, forcing Afton to take his place. As a woman, she was not held as a value, merely a pawn in the game of marriage and power. But thanks to the one man her Father had trusted with all his heart and soul, she was now sought for in advice of political and personal matters. This included the constant trouble her sister was in.

Even so, that left little time for Afton to be the young woman that she really was, for she merely a girl who had only recently become a woman, and that was perhaps the worst place to be. She had no Mother to tell her how to act like a lady, and had grown up with women she didn't know who told her how to walk, talk, sleep, eat and dress. From them she had pieced together the way to be a lady. But never a child.

Afton had never been a child.

[Elladan Hughes]

After what had felt like a veritable age of waiting for Elladan at the gates of Ellesmar, he and his party were at last deemed eligible to be shown into the village. Riding at the forefront of his company, Elladan led the way through the quiet streets of Ellesmar at a relaxed pace, giving the Lord the opportunity to finally sink into his seat after a full day of hard riding and take in his surroundings. The village lacked the grandeur and the splendour that Silverhill boasted of, nonetheless it had a charm of its own. Elladan was willing to admit that it made for a pleasant place for the company to pass through during their travels. In matter of fact, it struck Elladan just how familiar some of the streets were and it seemed that Ellesmar had hardly changed since Elladan's last visit many summers ago-- well, if one was willing to ignore the nigh outrageous number of guardsmen whom it seemed had been supplied by both the Devonshire family as well as the Alwin family. Though Elladan had suspected that Ellesmar would be so heavily guarded prior to arriving, as the union between the Prince and the Lady Afton was fast approaching.

And naturally, it was more than just chance and personal preference that Elladan had found himself in Ellesmar at this very point in time. Stopping here had been-- highly recommended by the Lord of Westchester. And who was Elladan to say otherwise? As far as Elladan was aware he had only need observe and report what was going within the city and for the Lord of Silverhill, tasks of that nature were much preferable to--

"Say Dan, would we be staying at the inn we went to last time? If I remember correctly, the local ale they served there packed a mighty punch," Quinn broke the calm and quiet and very thankfully stopped Elladan's train of thought before it began to dwell on matters best left untouched. Elladan turned to face his close friend and gave a smile--

"I am sure a formal introduction to the Lady Afton to announce his arrival would be far more appropriate. After all, I am certain it would look ill on us to ignore the fine young Lady of Devonshire." quipped Ursa before Elladan had even been given the chance to reply to his friend. But as ever, there was little Elladan could do to contradict the bloody fiend. Elladan sighed. Of course he was right, but the Westchester scum had no interest in courtesies and correctness and had only desire to get every ounce of information he could from the poor girl. But it was not in Elladan's power to suggest to do anything otherwise.

"As much as a tankard of mead or ale tempts me, I must admit that there is truth in Ursa's words. My personal guard, Ursa and I will travel to the keep to meet with the Lady Afton whilst I give the rest of you leave to find yourselves a room and make yourselves comfortable." Elladan instructed before moving setting off at a brisk trot towards the Keep. Even if there was one of Thornborough's men in their midst, at least Elladan was surrounded by his friends.

Upon their arrival, several more guardsmen approached Elladan, to whom the Lord gave a broad grin. "Would you mind informing your dear Lady of our presence and that we would be most grateful to meet with her if she would have us? I understand of course if she is busy at this hour, in which case we would be glad to return later if she so wished." Elladan asked in a cheerful tone.

[Afton Devonshire]

A gentle knock on the door alerted Afton to the presence of another person and snapped her thoughts away from coming events. As she straightened herself on her throne she saw the servant come quickly into the room and drop down on a knee before her in a way that she rather disliked of the people who worked within the castle walls. She had told them several times in the past that she preferred a far less formal approach when they came to address her, but she supposed it was something she would soon have to grow used to if she were to marry the Crown Prince of Amorossa. A quick motion of her hand was enough to bring the servant's head back up from his bow and allow him to speak whatever words he had come to say, since he was clearly rather in a hurry to give her the news. Afton could only pray that it wasn't news of another raid in the corners of her land. Thornborough would not get away with attacking her people for much longer, but there were not yet enough men here to truly keep her people safe. "What is it, Jacob?"

The young man looked at her, but remained kneeling against the cold stone floor of the throne room. "My lady, we have a guest waiting for you downstairs." That was strange, Afton thought to herself. She wasn't expecting anyone to appear today and certainly not someone who didn't immediately announce their arrival from Amorrosa. All of those she had expected to see from the King had already arrived and were housed comfortably within the castle walls until the time that they were instructed to escort her to Amorrosa for the pending wedding ceremony. "Did they give a name?" she asked as she slowly rose from her throne and began her approach. But the boy shook his head. "No, my lady. But one of the other servants recognized the standard as being that of Lord Elledan."

Afton was only vaguely familiar with the name of a lord who watched over lands quite a distance from her own, but instantly she was on guard for any sign of treachery that might present itself. She didn't know who she could really trust these days with the rising threats she was getting from Thornborough as he continued his pursuit of her lands and properties in hid bid to take over the throne of Amorrosa, and so she knew that she couldn't just invite him in without getting to the bottom of his visit. But nor could she afford to offend him by showing any sign of distrust. The last thing she wanted to do was alienate a potential ally who might later come to her aid. With a gentle touch to his shoulder Afton invited Jacob to rise and proceed to return to the entrance hall, where he would invite Lord Elledan and his party to present themselves to her in the throne room. And when Jacob had gone, she knew that she would have only a few minutes to compose herself.

Light steps returned her swiftly to her throne where she perched herself on the edge and placed both hands in her lap, attempting to look as dignified and lady-like as her father would have instructed. There was no time to summon her advisers to be there with her; she'd have to take this one alone and hope that she didn't unintentionally step on any toes.

[Elladan Hughes]

The company had several more minutes to wait at the entrance as the serving boy scurried off to alert his Lady of Elladan's presence. Every eye was trained on them as the seven of them stood alone surrounded by countless guardsmen who were there to protect the Prince's prize. And with such an audience, Elladan could not help but feel a little self-conscious and began scraping off whatever bits of mud he found on his leather shoulder guard.

And perhaps it was just a topic on all their minds, or maybe Elladan had just made everyone aware of how under dressed they were to be introducing themselves to the Lady of Ellesmar, but Albion was quick to bring up the topic of how presentable they currently were. "Perhaps it may have been wiser to have bathed and dressed accordingly for the occasion, I fear that the Lady Devonshire will not be best pleased with how we present ourselves-" Alby said, and Elladan found it hard to disagree. No man, no matter how handsome looked his best after a long day's ride.

But Ursa was very quick to defend his decision- "Well proper courtesy dictates that-" He started before Elladan interrupted him.

"Should the Lady Devonshire wish to speak with us, I am sure that she would choose to do so later in the evening before which we would be allowed to bathe and dress ourselves. But that's only if the lot of you do not leave that awful of an impression on her." Elladan jested light-heartedly.

And it was but a few moments later that the great doors opened once more and the party were beckoned into the Throne room. Making a last few changes to his appearance to appear a little more presentable, Elladan quickly straightened his cloak so that his sigil of the silver swan printed on the royal blue cloth could be seen by all. Slightly more satisfied with his appearance, he proceeded to lead his guard into the Throne hall where Elladan laid eyes on the young lady after what must have been an age, since he remembered her as naught but a babe when he had stayed at Ellesmar many years ago to partake in one of the village's tourneys. And now here she was, ruling an entire village in her own right (well until she married and took the name Alwin) and as fair a maid as any father could wish for his daughter to be.

"Mi'lady," Elladan bowed, his company following suit before he straightening himself and facing Lady Afton Devonshire "I must apologise for failing to notify you in advance of our presence. I would have made more of an effort myself to make a little more presentable had I known that we would be passing through the home of the Devonshire family, I must assure you that my men and I are not always this rugged. But on behalf of the Hughes family, it is a privilege to stand before you- I know that it takes great strength and courage to govern and an even more so to defy all expectations as you have done mi'lady." Elladan spoke without hesitation or hiccup as he addressed the young Devonshire and a soft smile lit his face as he presented himself. 

[Afton Devonshire]

She knew very little of Lord Elledan and the lands that he maintained a rule over, but the young woman was quick to accept their presence so that she did not appear rude. There was but a moment for her to regain her composure and sit back upon her throne before the doors once again opened and the party that accompanied Lord Elledan was permitted through them into the throne room. He was certainly handsome, she thought to herself as she took note of the silver swan that decorated the material against his chest. And those who followed him seemed jovial enough. Though she hadn't at all expected them to wander into her midst she knew that she would show them every courtesy that she could extend as as potential friend. It was something her father had instilled in her rather quickly as she had grown up at his knee, constantly listening to the conversations that he shared with his closest advisers.

Elledan marked his distance well and lead with a bow, which his men quickly copied. The smile that appeared on her lips was one of genuine intrigue, for Afton had not seen so many people travel through her lands as of late due to the threat of Thornborough looming over their heads. And with the pending marriage to the Prince of Amorrosa moving steadily closer as the days progressed, the young woman knew that it was only a matter of time before he tried to attack them again. "My lord, you are most welcome in Ellesmar," she smiled softly, gesturing for both him and his company to rise with a small wave of her hand. Again, that silly show of position, she thought to herself. One day she would try to do away with it all together if she could. But for now she would content herself with the knowledge that she might at least be able to change those in her household...the one she would shortly come to know.

She dared not to interrupt hi, during his speech, but Afton would be lying if she said that she didn't feel the impact of his chosen words. Most people had been rather shocked when her father had arranged for her to come before her younger brother and take his position of power over Ellesmar. A girl ruling? And a girl of only sixteen? The idea had been rather laughable to many of the nobility who surrounded her lands, but that hadn't deterred Afton from her duty. It might perhaps have caused a rift in the relationship that she had shared with Aiden, but still she couldn't allow it to cloud over the issues that she would need to take responsibility for. When Thornborough began to send his men after her borders, she knew that she had to act. And though she loved Aiden dearly, he was not at all familiar with the countryside compared to herself. "My lord is too kind," the lady began, rising from her throne and slowly making her way toward his men. "But the honour is mine. It is not often that we are able to greet guests such as yourself with the recent...discouragements at our borders."

She would not address the threat by name, not now. Though she bore no true fear toward him it wasn't appropriate to bring him up into conversation with a perfect stranger. Unless of course, that stranger provided some kind of insight that Afton did not yet have. But even then, she didn't wish to worry about it."I trust your journey was pleasant," Afton added as she drew closer to him.

[Elladan Hughes]

As the Lady of Ellesmar addressed him, Elladan made note of how well-versed she was. She carried herself as one would expect most young women to and spoke with a strong voice. If she did not feel well-suited to the throne she sat upon then she hid it well. It would be a mistake to underestimate her- Elladan suspected for even if she was merely very talented at hiding any sign of fear or incompetence, he would not risk such an error at his own cost.

"Please, call me Elladan. I have little desire to be called by my title outside of my duties." Elladan requested of her as she made her way down from her throne and towards him and his entourage. Away from her high seat, Elladan managed to get a good look at her. She was indeed comely and had grown to inherit the grace and elegance of her mother before her. He could only imagine that many young knights and lords had sought to court her before it had been announced that she was to marry the Prince himself. He had been told that she was dearly loved by the people of Ellesmar and she would often roam her village and converse with her people as though she was one of them. Though Elladan was doubtful as to whether that was true, as it was not the people of Ellesmar but other Lords and Ladies who spread such stories... And it was much easier to impress the latter. Though he supposed he could always ask one of the barmaids at the inn what she thought of the Lady Afton--

Elladan stopped his train of thought- it was of little importance in the grand scheme of things and something he could think about when he had a minute to himself. He instead brought his attention to the mention of ‘trouble’ that Lady Afton brought up but did not elaborate on.

"Trouble? I assume mi'lady speaks of the repercussions caused by the announcement of a royal marriage?" Elladan asked as Lady Afton seemed to step around the topic- did it pain her to mention it? Did she refer to some other trouble that Elladan was not aware of? He was not certain of her reasoning for being so vague, but he pushed to know of what she spoke of as he did not want to find any other sorts of trouble other than that which Lord Thornborough was stirring.

Though with Ursa at his side, perhaps it was best they don’t dwell on it at the moment, so he turned to the topic of his journey from Silverhill. "I have travelled so much in my years that the saddlesores, rain and cold no longer seem to bother me and truly mi’lady there is nothing better than the feeling of weightlessness as you fly across the land with no duties and no need to keep composed and all that is left is the excitement of never knowing what lies around the corner. Though now that you have brought up the topic of travel, I hope it troubles you not that my men and I would very much like to reside for a few nights at the Lady's Tavern? We do not wish to stir any trouble, we only need a place to stay and stock our supplies for the road home is a long one"