Post by Cassandra Demarais on Jan 2, 2020 20:17:12 GMT -5
[CASSANDRA]
The next few hours were excruciating. Although the sun was about to peek over the horizon very soon, the castle still felt so quiet and strangely empty. She couldn't stop thinking about Alexandria, how Aric held her bloody against him in raging desperation for her to live. How Orin fought against her to get to his sister before she ultimately helped him sit up enough to be there at the woman's side. Everything had happened so quickly...and now, time felt like it stopped.
Nemeris had managed to find some of the Elysian guards who were quick to find the rest of their comrades that had been trapped and locked up...or the unfortunate ones to have met the demise of a sword. They spent this time checking every room within the castle, where they would either find people alive or dead. Fortunately, Eleesa, the boys and Henry were all alright, but Edward had fled. It had taken some time to track him down, where he was thrown into his chambers and guarded every waking moment. For Cassandra, she barely slept yet. She wasn't sure who was in charge while the queen was impaired, so everyone took it upon themselves to fix the damage that was done. When she wasn't in the infirmary to check on Orin, or stopping by Alexandria's chambers to see how she was, she was trying to direct the cleanup of the castle, specifically the banquet hall. She stood there now, staring at the spots of blood that still remained upon the stone before the first hints of the morning sun split through the windows.
[ORIN]
The healers at the infirmary, pretty much had to keep Orin drugged and tied down to keep him from leaving his bed. He was a horrible patient, mainly because he was so concerned for his sister and last he knew, she was unconscious, Aric yelling her name. He honestly didn't know what he would do if she did not make it.
He slept on and off throughout the night, each time he woke, he felt that throbbing pain in his face and yelled out, trying to free himself from the bed he was in. He tried to fight off the healer that would go to him, trying to calm him and stick him with a needle to put him back to sleep. But he would never win, quickly drifting back off to sleep.
Upon his wound being cleaned up and stitched, he had a large wound that ran across his eye, from just above his brow down to his cheek bone. Luckily, his eye had not been gouged out of his head, though he still endured some damage to it, the healer believing would be only temporary.
[CASSANDRA]
She was exhausted. Everyone else was exhausted. Eyes drifted down to look at herself to realize she still wore that lovely green dress, but now it was rumbled with splotches of blood that were, thankfully, not her own. One of the servant girls who struggled to clean out the blood from the floor suddenly looked like she might faint. It was enough to draw Cassandra from her own thoughts and help her up to her feet. "Come," she said, ushering her out of the room. "See the doctor and get some rest." Having been walking back and forth all night, the Duchess was quickly learning more of the castle and how to get to the infirmary, so she led the girl there and handed her off to a nurse. The servant was most likely fatigued and appeared to be alright, but Cassandra couldn't help but wonder how the queen was fairing. Aric hadn't left that room, and she knew the sleeping draft she slipped into his tea wouldn't have kept him out for very long. If anything worse had happened to Alexandria, they would know by now.
Quiet steps brought her to Mr. Evans' bedside. He had been causing quite a ruckus, she heard, but she didn't blame him. There was little anyone could tell him for awhile because they simply did not know. Now, it was simply a waiting game. He was the lucky one, and a part of her wondered if perhaps he felt guilty for that. That it was his sister who had nearly died.
[ORIN]
The morning had arrived, though Orin couldn't tell. There were no windows in the room he was in. When he woke again, he felt a bit more conscious than he had throughout the night. He groaned, his head pounding with pain. As he opened his eyes, he could only see out of one of them. Cassandra was leaning over him. Brows furrowed as he laid there in confusion. Then, the whole night came back to him and he tried sitting up, suddenly. "Alexandria!" The nurses and healers had dealt with this various times of him waking up.
[CASSANDRA]
Well, here we go again. Only, this time, she would be willing to tell him to shut up if she had to. His frantic screaming was beginning to worry some of the other patients. "Orin, stop!" she said in a stern whisper, moving to fetch him a glass of water from the pitcher nearby. "She's alright. Your sister is alright." She offered the cup to him, hoping he would take a moment and listen to her. "The healer stitched her up and she's resting. He said she should be fine." There was still an "if" scenario, but there was no need to repeat that. Alexandria was made of strong stuff, she would pull through.
[ORIN]
His hands were tied down to the bed, so when Cassandra offered him the cup, he annoyingly lifted his hand to show her that he was strapped down. He couldn't shake the feeling of anger that raged through him, still. As if he were still in that room fighting off those men. "Can I please be untied!?" He yelled out, not so much at Cassandra, but more so at the nurses. With Cassandra assuring his sister was alright and that she had been stitched up, he relaxed a little, but he hated being tied down, and he was making that obvious now.
[CASSANDRA]
She hadn't noticed the binds and rolled her eyes. He must have been that bad for them to need to tie him down, but she complied to his request and undid them. Still, she understood his fury. After everything that happened, after what they could only assume was Edward's doing and his sister nearly being killed, sitting idle was the hardest thing to do. It was killing her, and she couldn't help but wonder how many Aralorens looked at her with blame, simply because of where she was born. "Here," she said with a sigh at her thoughts, offering the cup once again. Her eyes flickered to his bandage, gesturing lightly with her other hand. "How is...your face?" she was hesitant to ask.
[ORIN]
Once Cassandra untied his hands, he sat up, maybe too quickly, as the room started to spin. He held his head to try to make the pounding dizziness stop. It was then that he reached for the cup Cass offered to him. He sipped from it carefully, and cursed afterwards because it was just water. But when she actually asked him how his face was, he just gave her an annoyed look, pointing at himself. He looked awful. "What do you think?" He blankly stared at her.
[CASSANDRA]
Yes, perhaps that was a foolish question on her part, but she couldn't help it. Lips parted to reply, but she couldn't find the words and looked saddened by that. Without asking, she gently sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the bloody bandage that shielded half his face. It needed to be changed. She had watched the nurses do this a few times already, and it had been horrifying. Still, she reached up, hesitating for a moment to see if he would allow her to carefully unravel the gauze to reveal the slowly-healing wound. Fortunately, the blade had missed his eye, but it didn't make it look any less painful. The frown that set her lips finally curled into the smallest of grins. "Well," she said quietly, trying to offer a bit of amusement though she feared it would do no good. "You certainly look like a vagabond now." Her gaze dropped and she sought for a fresh bandage. "Thank you..." she finally said, her voice shaken. "I am told that...this happened to you because you helped the ambassador and I." Saved them, even.
[ORIN]
When she reached for his bandage, he lifted his hand, grabbing hold of her wrist. "What are you doing?" He stared at her, with his one good eye. He looked at her with a look of shame. He did not wish for her to have to look at whatever it was that was under that bandage. He sighed though, releasing her arm and allowing her to take the bandage off. She was then joking, but Orin wasn't in the mood. He didn't even smile, then. He wondered if he looked like a hideous disfigured beast, though Cassandra didn't react to his face when she pulled the bandage off. She was thanking him, and it caught him by surprise. He studied her face and frowned. "No.. Not because of you." He didn't want her to feel guilty for him. And it was mostly his sister's fault for not listening to him.
[CASSANDRA]
It wasn't pleasant to look at, his wound, but even the skittish Duchess knew it was a symbol of bravery now, no matter what he thought. She was able to look upon it without cringing. All she could do was nod at his words before rising up from the bed, to find a clean cloth and dip it into some water. For once in her life, she had nothing left to say, because she did feel guilty. Although she hadn't given any orders, even though she hadn't wielded a blade in that horrible slaughter, it had been her own family, her own homeland to cause this. She held back a sigh as she turned back to him, being careful when dabbing the wet cloth to clean the wound a little more. The dinner they all dreaded had become something far worse. Reaching over for some fresh bandages, she carefully wrapped his wound again. It wasn't like her to get her hands dirty, so to speak, but Aralore was changing a lot of things about her. She supposed it was a good thing, and yet it's what she feared. What would she be if she went back to Tresteria? "I wonder...if I will have to go back home," she thought out loud. She faltered, feeling selfish to speak such things after what happened.
[ORIN]
He was quiet and kept still as Cassandra cleaned his wound for him. The water stung, causing him to flinch. But he kept his eyes on her, watching her face as she tended to his wound. The duchess had come a long way since he first met her. Never would he have imagined she would be doing this sort of thing. He hadn't even asked her to. It was then that he noticed the color of her eyes for the first time. He raised a brow when she mentioned home and he looked at her questioningly, then.
"What do you want to do?" They had already had this conversation previously. His opinion was that she should live her life the way she wanted to, and to no longer let anyone dictate her life for her anymore. Then again, he met Edward and saw how he was. Was Cassandra afraid of him and what he could do to her? Would the king actually harm someone in his own family? Well, she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore after this, anyway, because he was planning on killing him if his sister died. Hell, even if she didn't, he wanted to beat the man senseless.
[CASSANDRA]
What do you want to do? That was always the question, wasn't it? It was like they had come full circle and she didn't feel any better or differently than last time. Would her traitorous cousin die for this? Would that further ruin Aralore? Would she remain as a prisoner or be sent back to Tresteria? It was all too much to think about, and there were far greater issues at hand. If Orin were to ask, she would have told him the truth: she was afraid of Edward, but now he had fallen off of his pedestal. How much power over her could he truly have?
"Not go, I suppose," she finally answered quietly when she finished with the bandage. She leaned back, glancing down to her hands. "For once in my life...I feel like I could have a purpose here." Green eyes rolled into white, and she was sadly amused at her own words. "Not that I know what per say, because I haven't any important skills. I just-" Cassandra looked back up to him, her expression tired. It was almost funny and strange how she could find some sort of companionship in this man, as well as his sister...two people the Duchess expected to pretend barely existed. Maybe she had grown soft.
She finally shrugged. "Now I'm just babbling, I'm sorry. You should rest." This was her own problem that she would have to figure out on her own.
[ORIN]
"Then stay," he said simply. As if that's all there was to it. Orin was done with all of the political mess. His sister was constantly saying that she didn't have choices. Those things she let bound her always managed to fall into chaos. He was done. And maybe that annoyance was evident in his expression and his tone then.
Orin wasn't himself, or at least not the Orin as of late. He was somewhat reverting back into his dark, cold self. He was angered and annoyed by everything that had just happened. That his sister nearly died, that the kingdom was on the verge of being stolen by another king. And he wasn't sure what to do or how to help. He looked to her with a seriousness in his eye. "Learn, then. Whatever interests you may have... " He shook his head, wincing in pain after doing so. "Life is short. We will never have enough time.. never say what we want to say... It's all pointless... Why live that way anymore?" He looked at her again, sighing. "Have you slept?"
[CASSANDRA]
Oh. Oh no. She knew this dark, broody man meant nothing by those two simple words, so why did she awkwardly stop in place with some annoying flutter inside her chest? The sleep deprivation was doing more to her than she thought, and she should probably slow down before she passed out.
"Some of us don't have the luxury," she answered him evenly, annoyance lacing her tone. They did just have this conversation, didn't they. And as much as she wanted to snap her fingers and say things were different, she couldn't. She was powerless, at the mercy of Edward or possibly Alexandria right now. It all depended upon the next few days and how the coin flipped.
"Does it look like I slept?" Cassandra snapped, rising up from the bed and tossing the bloody bandages aside. She eyed herself again, at the blood stained gown. "I ruined your sister's dress..." Right, because Alexandria was really going to care about that. Something made her features contort into worry, the back of her fingers pressing against her mouth as though to suppress a sob...or maybe a flood of curses. "She offered to help me, but...after what that bastard just did? What if-" No, enough. Suddenly, she wanted to go check up on the queen again.
[ORIN]
He watched her as she seemingly got upset by his question. The woman looked exhausted, and his question was more to urge her to go get some sleep. He frowned slightly, scratching the back of his head as he wasn't sure how to respond. Then she was going on about the dress and Alexandria wanting to help her. He reached out and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her and urging her to sit back down, before she'd pass out on the floor. "What if what?" He questioned her, unsure of what her fears might be in this moment.
[CASSANDRA]
Maybe she was losing her mind. In a way, she felt like she had no right to be acting this way, to feel afraid, or wondering what was going to happen to her. But after years of fretting about everyone else, this was the first time since the attack that she had. Maybe she was allowed, although it still didn't feel right.
When Orin pulled her back down, it drew her out of these dizzying thoughts, and green eyes looked to him in confusion. "What?" she asked, half annoyed and half unsure about what he was asking. Blinking, she took a few red curls behind her ear; she hadn't even bothered to take it out of its once elegant up-do. She'd probably frighten herself to look in a mirror. It took her a moment to answer him finally. "What if...your sister changes her mind? Casts me out? Casts...both of us out?" Meaning Aric. She couldn't believe he meant what he had said to Edward, not after trying to protect the Aralorens.
[ORIN]
He still couldn't believe that Aric spoke the way he had. Eyes watched Cassandra as she confessed to worrying about Alexandria casting her and Aric out. If he were her, he probably would. He shook his head. "You don't know Alexandria very well, then." He said simply. It was true, the queen gave people far more chances than deserved, but it was her heart. "Have you seen the way those two look at each other? She won't cast Aric away, and she probably would fight to keep you here, not wanting to hand you back over to the king. What is wrong with him, anyway?" He looked to her, hoping that would calm her a bit more. "You need to rest..."
[CASSANDRA]
She could only imagine what he thought of Aric now. For Cass, she was still clinging to the hope that her cousin hadn't meant it, that he was simply scraping for something to make Edward more compliant. Orin said it himself- the way they looked at each other...there was no way Aric would betray the queen like that. He just couldn't.
Biting down on her bottom lip in thought, she believed him when he spoke of Alexandria. Even still, this whole mess with Edward and Tresteria complicated many things. "He's fuckin' mad," she answered Orin quickly. That wasn't very lady-like. And well, that didn't really calm her down either; her heart was thundering within her chest from rage. A brief thought passed through her head to march all the way to Edward's chambers and demand answers before the thought was gone. It wouldn't do anyone any good right now. "And I'm fine. I'm just-" No, she wasn't fine, but she would be eventually. Maybe Nemeris or someone else could watch over things for awhile. "Burdening you with unnecessary things because you're the only idiot who will listen." Oddly enough, that was a compliment despite her mood.
[ORIN]
He managed a small laugh. "An idiot, am I? Well thank you for that." He shook his head, then and he tried to stand, but was still woozy. He stopped himself and placed his hand to his head, groaning lightly. "You should get some sleep," he repeated to her. "And you are no burden. Cassandra." He paused, "You don't need to stay here with me... A miserable, vagabond with a busted face..." He smirked only slightly.
[CASSANDRA]
It was clear that she was trying not to laugh, but her mouth betrayed her by curling up into a wry smirk. It was gone the moment he tried standing up, and she hovered around him as though she'd be able to stop his fall. Cassandra sighed in a bit of relief when he decided against the foolish idea. "I know I don't need to stay," she said casually. "But I wanted to." She rose up to her feet though and looked down to him, unable to stop the smile from finding her face. Oh, he most certainly looked horrible right now, but she wouldn't be catty and say so.
Still, Cass pointed out, regarding his wound, "I think it will give you character." She pretended to think further about it. "Maybe we can even promote you to rogue. Sounds a bit more... dashingly dangerous." She was laughing at herself, idly smoothing out the front of her dress as if that would make the thing look any better. "I'll rest, if you promise to. And you know I'll find out if you don't." And what, she'd come scold him about it?
[ORIN]
A smile touched his lips when Cassandra mentioned wanting to stay with him. He couldn't remember the last time someone admittedly wanted to stay around him. He hadn't been pleasant as of lately, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Too much bitterness in his life, too much pain and devastation around him. Nothing ever worked out or went the way he wanted them too, anyway.
As Cassandra commented on his wound, promoting him from vagabond to rogue, he couldn't help but laugh, which caused him pain as his cheeks lifted. He quickly stopped and nodded, as he lowered himself back down on the bed. "Yes, my lady... I will rest. I promise."
[CASSANDRA]
She cringed lightly as his laughter caused his face some pain, but she was only a little sorry. The man had a beautiful smile that he seemed to rarely show...even with half his face covered.
When he conceded, however, she appeared pleased. Hopefully he would stick to his word, because he was clearly not well enough to walk around. "Right. Good," she said with a nod. "Good night then, Mr. Evans." She paused in a bit of confusion. "Or day...morning...whatever bloody time it is." Rolling her eyes at herself, she scoffed and turned to leave before her tired mind made her babble on about other unnecessary things.
[ORIN]
He waved at Cassandra as she headed out. "Good night, Mrs. Davenport... Come visit again?" He wasn't sure why he suddenly asked for her company again. It just kind of slipped out. Or maybe he really just didn't want to be left there alone, and he didn't know anyone else who would visit, aside from his sister--who he doubted would be able to.
[CASSANDRA]
His request made her stop in her steps on the way out. Or perhaps it had just been the first polite thing he thought to say and didn't entirely mean it. Even still, she turned her head just enough to find him from over her shoulder and grinned. "Of course," she replied and left the infirmary.
The next few hours were excruciating. Although the sun was about to peek over the horizon very soon, the castle still felt so quiet and strangely empty. She couldn't stop thinking about Alexandria, how Aric held her bloody against him in raging desperation for her to live. How Orin fought against her to get to his sister before she ultimately helped him sit up enough to be there at the woman's side. Everything had happened so quickly...and now, time felt like it stopped.
Nemeris had managed to find some of the Elysian guards who were quick to find the rest of their comrades that had been trapped and locked up...or the unfortunate ones to have met the demise of a sword. They spent this time checking every room within the castle, where they would either find people alive or dead. Fortunately, Eleesa, the boys and Henry were all alright, but Edward had fled. It had taken some time to track him down, where he was thrown into his chambers and guarded every waking moment. For Cassandra, she barely slept yet. She wasn't sure who was in charge while the queen was impaired, so everyone took it upon themselves to fix the damage that was done. When she wasn't in the infirmary to check on Orin, or stopping by Alexandria's chambers to see how she was, she was trying to direct the cleanup of the castle, specifically the banquet hall. She stood there now, staring at the spots of blood that still remained upon the stone before the first hints of the morning sun split through the windows.
[ORIN]
The healers at the infirmary, pretty much had to keep Orin drugged and tied down to keep him from leaving his bed. He was a horrible patient, mainly because he was so concerned for his sister and last he knew, she was unconscious, Aric yelling her name. He honestly didn't know what he would do if she did not make it.
He slept on and off throughout the night, each time he woke, he felt that throbbing pain in his face and yelled out, trying to free himself from the bed he was in. He tried to fight off the healer that would go to him, trying to calm him and stick him with a needle to put him back to sleep. But he would never win, quickly drifting back off to sleep.
Upon his wound being cleaned up and stitched, he had a large wound that ran across his eye, from just above his brow down to his cheek bone. Luckily, his eye had not been gouged out of his head, though he still endured some damage to it, the healer believing would be only temporary.
[CASSANDRA]
She was exhausted. Everyone else was exhausted. Eyes drifted down to look at herself to realize she still wore that lovely green dress, but now it was rumbled with splotches of blood that were, thankfully, not her own. One of the servant girls who struggled to clean out the blood from the floor suddenly looked like she might faint. It was enough to draw Cassandra from her own thoughts and help her up to her feet. "Come," she said, ushering her out of the room. "See the doctor and get some rest." Having been walking back and forth all night, the Duchess was quickly learning more of the castle and how to get to the infirmary, so she led the girl there and handed her off to a nurse. The servant was most likely fatigued and appeared to be alright, but Cassandra couldn't help but wonder how the queen was fairing. Aric hadn't left that room, and she knew the sleeping draft she slipped into his tea wouldn't have kept him out for very long. If anything worse had happened to Alexandria, they would know by now.
Quiet steps brought her to Mr. Evans' bedside. He had been causing quite a ruckus, she heard, but she didn't blame him. There was little anyone could tell him for awhile because they simply did not know. Now, it was simply a waiting game. He was the lucky one, and a part of her wondered if perhaps he felt guilty for that. That it was his sister who had nearly died.
[ORIN]
The morning had arrived, though Orin couldn't tell. There were no windows in the room he was in. When he woke again, he felt a bit more conscious than he had throughout the night. He groaned, his head pounding with pain. As he opened his eyes, he could only see out of one of them. Cassandra was leaning over him. Brows furrowed as he laid there in confusion. Then, the whole night came back to him and he tried sitting up, suddenly. "Alexandria!" The nurses and healers had dealt with this various times of him waking up.
[CASSANDRA]
Well, here we go again. Only, this time, she would be willing to tell him to shut up if she had to. His frantic screaming was beginning to worry some of the other patients. "Orin, stop!" she said in a stern whisper, moving to fetch him a glass of water from the pitcher nearby. "She's alright. Your sister is alright." She offered the cup to him, hoping he would take a moment and listen to her. "The healer stitched her up and she's resting. He said she should be fine." There was still an "if" scenario, but there was no need to repeat that. Alexandria was made of strong stuff, she would pull through.
[ORIN]
His hands were tied down to the bed, so when Cassandra offered him the cup, he annoyingly lifted his hand to show her that he was strapped down. He couldn't shake the feeling of anger that raged through him, still. As if he were still in that room fighting off those men. "Can I please be untied!?" He yelled out, not so much at Cassandra, but more so at the nurses. With Cassandra assuring his sister was alright and that she had been stitched up, he relaxed a little, but he hated being tied down, and he was making that obvious now.
[CASSANDRA]
She hadn't noticed the binds and rolled her eyes. He must have been that bad for them to need to tie him down, but she complied to his request and undid them. Still, she understood his fury. After everything that happened, after what they could only assume was Edward's doing and his sister nearly being killed, sitting idle was the hardest thing to do. It was killing her, and she couldn't help but wonder how many Aralorens looked at her with blame, simply because of where she was born. "Here," she said with a sigh at her thoughts, offering the cup once again. Her eyes flickered to his bandage, gesturing lightly with her other hand. "How is...your face?" she was hesitant to ask.
[ORIN]
Once Cassandra untied his hands, he sat up, maybe too quickly, as the room started to spin. He held his head to try to make the pounding dizziness stop. It was then that he reached for the cup Cass offered to him. He sipped from it carefully, and cursed afterwards because it was just water. But when she actually asked him how his face was, he just gave her an annoyed look, pointing at himself. He looked awful. "What do you think?" He blankly stared at her.
[CASSANDRA]
Yes, perhaps that was a foolish question on her part, but she couldn't help it. Lips parted to reply, but she couldn't find the words and looked saddened by that. Without asking, she gently sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the bloody bandage that shielded half his face. It needed to be changed. She had watched the nurses do this a few times already, and it had been horrifying. Still, she reached up, hesitating for a moment to see if he would allow her to carefully unravel the gauze to reveal the slowly-healing wound. Fortunately, the blade had missed his eye, but it didn't make it look any less painful. The frown that set her lips finally curled into the smallest of grins. "Well," she said quietly, trying to offer a bit of amusement though she feared it would do no good. "You certainly look like a vagabond now." Her gaze dropped and she sought for a fresh bandage. "Thank you..." she finally said, her voice shaken. "I am told that...this happened to you because you helped the ambassador and I." Saved them, even.
[ORIN]
When she reached for his bandage, he lifted his hand, grabbing hold of her wrist. "What are you doing?" He stared at her, with his one good eye. He looked at her with a look of shame. He did not wish for her to have to look at whatever it was that was under that bandage. He sighed though, releasing her arm and allowing her to take the bandage off. She was then joking, but Orin wasn't in the mood. He didn't even smile, then. He wondered if he looked like a hideous disfigured beast, though Cassandra didn't react to his face when she pulled the bandage off. She was thanking him, and it caught him by surprise. He studied her face and frowned. "No.. Not because of you." He didn't want her to feel guilty for him. And it was mostly his sister's fault for not listening to him.
[CASSANDRA]
It wasn't pleasant to look at, his wound, but even the skittish Duchess knew it was a symbol of bravery now, no matter what he thought. She was able to look upon it without cringing. All she could do was nod at his words before rising up from the bed, to find a clean cloth and dip it into some water. For once in her life, she had nothing left to say, because she did feel guilty. Although she hadn't given any orders, even though she hadn't wielded a blade in that horrible slaughter, it had been her own family, her own homeland to cause this. She held back a sigh as she turned back to him, being careful when dabbing the wet cloth to clean the wound a little more. The dinner they all dreaded had become something far worse. Reaching over for some fresh bandages, she carefully wrapped his wound again. It wasn't like her to get her hands dirty, so to speak, but Aralore was changing a lot of things about her. She supposed it was a good thing, and yet it's what she feared. What would she be if she went back to Tresteria? "I wonder...if I will have to go back home," she thought out loud. She faltered, feeling selfish to speak such things after what happened.
[ORIN]
He was quiet and kept still as Cassandra cleaned his wound for him. The water stung, causing him to flinch. But he kept his eyes on her, watching her face as she tended to his wound. The duchess had come a long way since he first met her. Never would he have imagined she would be doing this sort of thing. He hadn't even asked her to. It was then that he noticed the color of her eyes for the first time. He raised a brow when she mentioned home and he looked at her questioningly, then.
"What do you want to do?" They had already had this conversation previously. His opinion was that she should live her life the way she wanted to, and to no longer let anyone dictate her life for her anymore. Then again, he met Edward and saw how he was. Was Cassandra afraid of him and what he could do to her? Would the king actually harm someone in his own family? Well, she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore after this, anyway, because he was planning on killing him if his sister died. Hell, even if she didn't, he wanted to beat the man senseless.
[CASSANDRA]
What do you want to do? That was always the question, wasn't it? It was like they had come full circle and she didn't feel any better or differently than last time. Would her traitorous cousin die for this? Would that further ruin Aralore? Would she remain as a prisoner or be sent back to Tresteria? It was all too much to think about, and there were far greater issues at hand. If Orin were to ask, she would have told him the truth: she was afraid of Edward, but now he had fallen off of his pedestal. How much power over her could he truly have?
"Not go, I suppose," she finally answered quietly when she finished with the bandage. She leaned back, glancing down to her hands. "For once in my life...I feel like I could have a purpose here." Green eyes rolled into white, and she was sadly amused at her own words. "Not that I know what per say, because I haven't any important skills. I just-" Cassandra looked back up to him, her expression tired. It was almost funny and strange how she could find some sort of companionship in this man, as well as his sister...two people the Duchess expected to pretend barely existed. Maybe she had grown soft.
She finally shrugged. "Now I'm just babbling, I'm sorry. You should rest." This was her own problem that she would have to figure out on her own.
[ORIN]
"Then stay," he said simply. As if that's all there was to it. Orin was done with all of the political mess. His sister was constantly saying that she didn't have choices. Those things she let bound her always managed to fall into chaos. He was done. And maybe that annoyance was evident in his expression and his tone then.
Orin wasn't himself, or at least not the Orin as of late. He was somewhat reverting back into his dark, cold self. He was angered and annoyed by everything that had just happened. That his sister nearly died, that the kingdom was on the verge of being stolen by another king. And he wasn't sure what to do or how to help. He looked to her with a seriousness in his eye. "Learn, then. Whatever interests you may have... " He shook his head, wincing in pain after doing so. "Life is short. We will never have enough time.. never say what we want to say... It's all pointless... Why live that way anymore?" He looked at her again, sighing. "Have you slept?"
[CASSANDRA]
Oh. Oh no. She knew this dark, broody man meant nothing by those two simple words, so why did she awkwardly stop in place with some annoying flutter inside her chest? The sleep deprivation was doing more to her than she thought, and she should probably slow down before she passed out.
"Some of us don't have the luxury," she answered him evenly, annoyance lacing her tone. They did just have this conversation, didn't they. And as much as she wanted to snap her fingers and say things were different, she couldn't. She was powerless, at the mercy of Edward or possibly Alexandria right now. It all depended upon the next few days and how the coin flipped.
"Does it look like I slept?" Cassandra snapped, rising up from the bed and tossing the bloody bandages aside. She eyed herself again, at the blood stained gown. "I ruined your sister's dress..." Right, because Alexandria was really going to care about that. Something made her features contort into worry, the back of her fingers pressing against her mouth as though to suppress a sob...or maybe a flood of curses. "She offered to help me, but...after what that bastard just did? What if-" No, enough. Suddenly, she wanted to go check up on the queen again.
[ORIN]
He watched her as she seemingly got upset by his question. The woman looked exhausted, and his question was more to urge her to go get some sleep. He frowned slightly, scratching the back of his head as he wasn't sure how to respond. Then she was going on about the dress and Alexandria wanting to help her. He reached out and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her and urging her to sit back down, before she'd pass out on the floor. "What if what?" He questioned her, unsure of what her fears might be in this moment.
[CASSANDRA]
Maybe she was losing her mind. In a way, she felt like she had no right to be acting this way, to feel afraid, or wondering what was going to happen to her. But after years of fretting about everyone else, this was the first time since the attack that she had. Maybe she was allowed, although it still didn't feel right.
When Orin pulled her back down, it drew her out of these dizzying thoughts, and green eyes looked to him in confusion. "What?" she asked, half annoyed and half unsure about what he was asking. Blinking, she took a few red curls behind her ear; she hadn't even bothered to take it out of its once elegant up-do. She'd probably frighten herself to look in a mirror. It took her a moment to answer him finally. "What if...your sister changes her mind? Casts me out? Casts...both of us out?" Meaning Aric. She couldn't believe he meant what he had said to Edward, not after trying to protect the Aralorens.
[ORIN]
He still couldn't believe that Aric spoke the way he had. Eyes watched Cassandra as she confessed to worrying about Alexandria casting her and Aric out. If he were her, he probably would. He shook his head. "You don't know Alexandria very well, then." He said simply. It was true, the queen gave people far more chances than deserved, but it was her heart. "Have you seen the way those two look at each other? She won't cast Aric away, and she probably would fight to keep you here, not wanting to hand you back over to the king. What is wrong with him, anyway?" He looked to her, hoping that would calm her a bit more. "You need to rest..."
[CASSANDRA]
She could only imagine what he thought of Aric now. For Cass, she was still clinging to the hope that her cousin hadn't meant it, that he was simply scraping for something to make Edward more compliant. Orin said it himself- the way they looked at each other...there was no way Aric would betray the queen like that. He just couldn't.
Biting down on her bottom lip in thought, she believed him when he spoke of Alexandria. Even still, this whole mess with Edward and Tresteria complicated many things. "He's fuckin' mad," she answered Orin quickly. That wasn't very lady-like. And well, that didn't really calm her down either; her heart was thundering within her chest from rage. A brief thought passed through her head to march all the way to Edward's chambers and demand answers before the thought was gone. It wouldn't do anyone any good right now. "And I'm fine. I'm just-" No, she wasn't fine, but she would be eventually. Maybe Nemeris or someone else could watch over things for awhile. "Burdening you with unnecessary things because you're the only idiot who will listen." Oddly enough, that was a compliment despite her mood.
[ORIN]
He managed a small laugh. "An idiot, am I? Well thank you for that." He shook his head, then and he tried to stand, but was still woozy. He stopped himself and placed his hand to his head, groaning lightly. "You should get some sleep," he repeated to her. "And you are no burden. Cassandra." He paused, "You don't need to stay here with me... A miserable, vagabond with a busted face..." He smirked only slightly.
[CASSANDRA]
It was clear that she was trying not to laugh, but her mouth betrayed her by curling up into a wry smirk. It was gone the moment he tried standing up, and she hovered around him as though she'd be able to stop his fall. Cassandra sighed in a bit of relief when he decided against the foolish idea. "I know I don't need to stay," she said casually. "But I wanted to." She rose up to her feet though and looked down to him, unable to stop the smile from finding her face. Oh, he most certainly looked horrible right now, but she wouldn't be catty and say so.
Still, Cass pointed out, regarding his wound, "I think it will give you character." She pretended to think further about it. "Maybe we can even promote you to rogue. Sounds a bit more... dashingly dangerous." She was laughing at herself, idly smoothing out the front of her dress as if that would make the thing look any better. "I'll rest, if you promise to. And you know I'll find out if you don't." And what, she'd come scold him about it?
[ORIN]
A smile touched his lips when Cassandra mentioned wanting to stay with him. He couldn't remember the last time someone admittedly wanted to stay around him. He hadn't been pleasant as of lately, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Too much bitterness in his life, too much pain and devastation around him. Nothing ever worked out or went the way he wanted them too, anyway.
As Cassandra commented on his wound, promoting him from vagabond to rogue, he couldn't help but laugh, which caused him pain as his cheeks lifted. He quickly stopped and nodded, as he lowered himself back down on the bed. "Yes, my lady... I will rest. I promise."
[CASSANDRA]
She cringed lightly as his laughter caused his face some pain, but she was only a little sorry. The man had a beautiful smile that he seemed to rarely show...even with half his face covered.
When he conceded, however, she appeared pleased. Hopefully he would stick to his word, because he was clearly not well enough to walk around. "Right. Good," she said with a nod. "Good night then, Mr. Evans." She paused in a bit of confusion. "Or day...morning...whatever bloody time it is." Rolling her eyes at herself, she scoffed and turned to leave before her tired mind made her babble on about other unnecessary things.
[ORIN]
He waved at Cassandra as she headed out. "Good night, Mrs. Davenport... Come visit again?" He wasn't sure why he suddenly asked for her company again. It just kind of slipped out. Or maybe he really just didn't want to be left there alone, and he didn't know anyone else who would visit, aside from his sister--who he doubted would be able to.
[CASSANDRA]
His request made her stop in her steps on the way out. Or perhaps it had just been the first polite thing he thought to say and didn't entirely mean it. Even still, she turned her head just enough to find him from over her shoulder and grinned. "Of course," she replied and left the infirmary.
