Sometimes it seems like certain rooms must be under a spell for the reactions they trigger in other. If such is believable, well ... then this room must have been enchanted a dozen times over. Its late into the evening and so far it has seen mutual bathing, cuddling ... and licking of various sweets off of a certain body. Still, everything must come to an end and the fire has grown dim in the fireplace.
Thomas is lying on his back on rug, arms and legs stretched out. "I ate too much," he complains, then lets out a rather loud burp. "Even my feet feel fat."
Next to him, Redmane rolls onto her side and props herself up with an elbow. "A little gluttony is good for you," she claims with a grin. "And it means you enjoyed it."
"Tell that to my stomach. I think its rebelling," Thomas groans, then has to stifle a yawn. "You should consider going to bed soon. If we're going to hit the road early, well, we'll need the rest. "I'l take the rug, you can have the bed."
"Huh, after all that you still want to sleep out on the rug?" Redmane asks, looking incredulous. "I trust you, you know, to share the bed." And to prove it, she slides over and lies on top of Thomas, nose-to-nose. "Seeee?"
"I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you," Thomas teases as his lips draw back into an amused grin. "You've become ... some sort of ravenous creature! I think the dragon paint has gone to your head.."
"So, you don't trust me?" Redmane asks, looking into Tom's eyes. "What could I possibly do to you?"
"Wait for me to fall asleep, then tie me to the bed. It wouldn't be the first time," Thomas explains and arches his brow in challenge. "Aren't you worried it might, well, change things between us?"
"Sleeping in the same bed?" Redmane asks. "We slept tangled up in blankets together a few nights ago. This will just be lots more comfortable," she claims. Then she waggles her eyebrows, and says, "If it will make you feel more secure, you can be on top this time, how's that?"
After a bit of a laugh, Thomas asks, "You really want me to join you, don't you?" His brow furrows for a moment as he thinks. "Why ... why is it so important to you?" he finally asks.
"Because, it's a big bed," Redmane claims. "I'll get lonely. You really don't want to share it though? I mean, it's just for sleeping and cuddling."
Thomas' answer is to hook his right hand around the back of Redmane's neck and snog her. When he releases the kiss, he continues to hold her close enough that his lips still lightly brush against her cheek. "Just remember ... I'm dangerous," he claims in a soft and playful tone.
"Well.." Redmane says, flushing, "I'm.. sticky! In fact, I think parts of me are stuck to your chest right now.."
"Is that a request to be licked clean?" Thomas has to ask and waggle his brow.
The girl laughs, and says, "I think that's how I got sticky in the first place! But if you want to try, that's fine too. Otherwise I think a washcloth would work."
"But not nearly so fun. Go make yourself comfortable. I'll join you in a minute," Thomas claims.
With a light amount of tugging where things did stick, Redmane pulls free of Thomas and stands up. Then she does a cat-like stretch before heading to the bathroom to start warming up the water again.
"She acts more like a dragon or cat," Thomas mutters as Redmane heads back into the bathroom. He remains on the rug for a couple more minutes, just resting and getting his stomach to settle, then pushes himself upright and stretches too. "Into the lair of the beast," he declares, certainly loud enough for Redmane to hear it. He grabs his shirt, drapes it around his neck like a cape, and marches into the bathroom. "Stand back, the great one is here!" he claims.
Redmane is rinsing out a washcloth in the sink, and just looks over her shoulder and grins. "With an announcement like that, what am I to expect?" she asks.
"The unexpected!" Thomas claims as he siddles up behind Redmane. He slips his arms around Redmane and takes the washcloth. What he does next, well, involves delicate tracing of said washcloth down Redmane's chest. "You do know that if I'm expected to be true to history ... I should be gone in the morning..." he whispers.
"Mmm," Redmane goes, closing her eyes. "I thought that's why we weren't going all the way tonight," she notes, cracking one eye open.
"Among other reasons. I'm just worried you wouldn't respect me if I actually stayed an entire night," Thomas teases. "And did you know you smell the same?"
"What, you mean.. the same as before?" Redmane asks, just to make sure.
"Yes," Thomas answers as he continues the dedicate work of washing away the sugary residue. He's very thorough.
"It's still not the same now as it was then," Redmane notes. "We know what mistakes to avoid this time, right?"
"Right. I won't tell you that the dress makes you look fat," Thomas continues to tease. "Just relax. You worry too much."
The girl lets out a breath, and does seem to relax a bit more. "Fiona told me the same thing, after we kissed to.. you know.. help me remember," she says. "She told me I smelled different."
"Ahearn was really surprised about it," she adds as an afterthought.
"When you live as part of the lands for a long time, it teaches you its secrets. Scent, more than sight, tells the truth. The land and its people and creatures all speak volumes if you know the right way to listen. In time, you even start to just know when things are coming," Thomas explains as he pauses to rinse the washcloth himself. "And I imagine he was happy."
"I don't know that he was happy, but it felt a little awkward for me," Redmane notes. "I still feel a little awkward around him. And you, too. Or maybe just awkward in general here."
"Awkward how?" Thomas asks as he reaches up to wash Redmane's neck.
"Because," Redmane says, and waves a hand in the air. "You're the only guy I ever.. knew," she says. "Plus, I know you love me, otherwise you wouldn't be so afraid of getting close to me."
"Would you prefer that you didn't know me?" Thomas asks. The tone suggests its an actual question, not an attempt at teasing.
"No, then I'd really be lost," Redmane says, and smiles to Tom. "I like you, Thomas. "I always did, from the first time we met."
"Even though I'm infuriating?" Thomas asks as he grins slightly. "And you should be less sticky now."
"Now I'm slippery," the girl claims. "And yes, even though you're infuriating. I think you need to be infuriating or you'd feel frustrated or something."
"It keeps me in control. As long as other people are on their toes, I have the edge," Thomas claims and winks. "Now, bed. Morning is going to come quicker than you want."
"Coming with?" Redmane asks. "Or do I need to pour the honey out on the rug?"
Thomas huffs a laugh. "And you would, too. How do you know I wouldn't like sleeping in honey?" he asks.
"Are you telling me that you have?" the girl asks, pausing on the way out of the bathroom.
"I do like to cause a buzz," Thomas quips as he heads towarsd the door.
"Geez," Redmane says at the pun, and turns down the bed covers. "Do you prefer a particular side?" she asks. She doesn't seem inclined to get out her nightgown.
"Mmm, right side," Thomas decides after a moment of thought. "Sleeping commando, are you?"
"The sheets look too comfy for a nightgown," Redmane claims. "Why, does it make you nervous?" she asks, slipping into the left side of the bed.
"Not at all," Thomas says as he sheds the rest of his clothing and slides in on the right side. "I just wanted to make sure we matched. I prefer this choice ... I look terrible in a nightgown. Frilly lace does nothing for me."
"Now that I can believe," the girl says. "I'm sure you've tried it on for one reason or another at some point." She scoots over to lie next to Thomas. "Warn me if you're gonna fart, okay?"
"Lets just say there's a castle in a distant land that briefly had one ugly handmaiden," Thomas claims and drapes his arm over Redmane. "And hey, you wanted me to sleep here, you have to be prepared for the risks!"
Resting her head on Tom's shoulder, Redmane says, "Well, I guess I'll have to learn to live dangerously too then when I'm around you. But at least promise not to drool if you use my chest as a pillow in your sleep. Not that I've seen you drool in your sleep, but you'd do it just irk me I bet." She's smiling when she claims this though.
"I'll just lick it off," Thomas claims and takes a moment to tap her nose. "Goodnight." And to punctuate that point, he closes his eyes.
With the room lit only by the dimming embers of the fire, Redmane closes her eyes and says, "Pleasant dreams."
Everything feels so ... odd. Not to mention cold. And when did the comfortable become harder and rougher? As Redmane's eyes slowly open, she finds herself looking at a rough-hewn timber roof. She also realizes that she's lying on a bed probably stuffed with straw ... and she's alone. In the dim moonlight, she can tell that a doorway to a balcony is open. The cold comes from the cool breeze that passes through it.
"Ugh," the woman says, and finally gets out of the bed. Wrapping her arms around herself for some warmth, she goes to look out at the balcony.
One thing Redmane immediately notices is her body is much older. In human terms, close to thirty, if she had to guess. The air is maybe sixty five degrees. Not freezing, but cool enough to make walking nude noticeably chilly. Out on the balcony a man is perches on his toes on the railing, dark hair blowing in the breeze. His back is to Redmane, but who it is, is obvious enough ... the telltale faint scars that show in the moonlight make it clear; Thomas. He doesn't look like he's planning to jump ... the stance is more that of a predator that just heard the call of its prey.
"You always get up before me," the woman notes, coming to the railing to see what Thomas is watching.
"I heard something," Thomas says quietly as he stares out into the dark landscape. "I hope I didn't wake you?"
"No, you know how hard it is to wake me when I'm in a bed," Redmane notes, looking at Thomas' always-young-looking face from the side.
"Then did you hear it too?" Thomas asks as his head tilts a bit to the side, his green eyes regarding her.
Redmane's own cloudy-green eyes look away after a moment, out over the landscape. "I don't know. What did it sound like?" she asks.
"War is coming," Thomas says quietly, "The land whispers and weeps for what is to come. A great darkness has begun to move; it will sweep much before it."
The knight sighs, and rests a hand on Thomas' shoulder. "I'd hoped that was behind us by now," she says. "But I can still fight, at least."
"Will that be enough? Summer feuds with the crown for the right of succession. That would not be abnormal in itself ... but this time ... this time. This time I think there is a hand at work; manipulating, urging. Whispers from the shadows," Thomas says, head bowed slightly. "There has always seemed to be a shadow waiting, hasn't there? Ever since December, ever since the wolves."
"It must be very patient then," Redmane points out. "I don't like the challenge from Summer, but the Rules say April can't hold the throne, don't they?"
"I am not sure it is April that seeks it," Thomas says, "While it may be someone who claims to be of April ... I am not so sure that he is. If this were that simple, the trees would not sign of it."
sing
"It will come to naught," Redmane says, reassuringly. "The succession has gone without incident for over thirty-six Years. This Year should be no different. There will be squabbling, and posturing, and a prince or princess married off to some House to calm things down. Do you really believe there could be such a conspiracy still?"
"It is not a matter of believing, it is a matter of what is," Thomas says as he steps off the railing and back down to the balcony deck. Without making a sound he slips behind Redmane, pressing up against her back. "Listen," he whispers in her ear.
The woman frowns for a moment, and then turns her attention back to the scenery and closes her eyes to see what she might hear.
For a time, all she hears is the wind in the trees and the call of the nighttime birds as they hunt. "Listen," Thomas insists as he holds her tight. Wait, maybe there is something; its soft at first, barely noticeable. But ... the sound grows and resonates within her as much as it comes from the twilight landscape. A mournful howl, longing, wanting ... warning. The cry is one Redmane wishes she didn't remember; one she felt before, great loss, pain, grief. Images flash in her mind, the forest flashing by as if she were running through it. No, she is, she's seeing it through the eyes of the creatures of the forest. She then feels their fear; the knowledge that something hungers and will not stop.
Shadows loom and stretch out, then twist. In them, deep in an impossible forest, she sees the shapes of cities, then the charge of armies. Fire, cries, death. One moment she hears her own voice calling out, rallying troups to her side. The next ... Thomas voice; firm and strong ... no joking, no hesitation, as he directs from the shadows, striking into encampments and disrupting the forces that seek to breech the walls. Above it all stands a single man, clothed in great shadows. He watches, impassive and emotionless ... and worse, his hands dance as if he were manipulating puppets on a string. The battle becomes a roar, deafening ... and suddenly it is all gone. All she can hear is the light breath of Thomas behind her.
"But who is it?" Redmane whispers. "How can one man have so much power?"
"The End. One who founded and fell. One who hates and one who regrets," Thomas says quietly as he draws away from Redmane. "A rumor. A legend. A Destroyer. Many would claim he is nothing but a story to frighten children. What you heard is the fear of the land. What may yet be."
"There.. have been rumors of strange beasts appearing," Redmane admits. "I've been fighting trolls more and more often now. It hasn't been this bad since I lost Rhiannon and found Ahearn."
"Game is growing scare in the wilds. The stories of bandits also grow. The land is restless and the people hear it and react in turn. The fey are connected to the lands, and even if they do not remember how to listen, their souls still hear the cries," Thomas says quietly, then sighs. "I will be leaving before dawn. I must find the source and proof for the Crown. If they will not listen, the Lord Protector will. I am sorry; I know you were hoping I would not leave again."
Redmane leans back against Thomas and sighs. "So much has been changing," she says. "I really believed that the dragon was the source of it all. When I defeated him... well, that's when I started to age like a normal person. I thought it was a sign. Where are you going to go look for this dark figure, Thomas?"
"Where ever the lands guide me," Thomas answers, "For now, I will head to the summer lands and from there, the darker places. I know what you will ask of me ... but this time I do not know if I can keep the promise, Miurenn. I may not return. If it is what I fear ... then I go against something far older and more powerful than either of us."
The woman grinds her teeth in frustration. "I have to defend the hills," she says apologetically. "If this vision plays out, I might not see you again until the battle itself. I wish.." she says, trailing off.
"For something neither of us could do. We are needed and we will answer," Thomas says as he slowly releases Redmane. "Go back to bed. At least allow yourself one more moment of peace."
"Perhaps this will be my final task of redemption," Redmane whispers, and turns in Thomas' arms to kiss him. "And then, Cerridwen will let me have a child, before I'm too old."
"We must hold to our hopes and dreams; for if we do not believe in them, they will never become true," Thomas says after the kiss and steps away. "I must go," he says, turning his back to her and walking back through the doors. "I am sorry."
"You aren't going to say goodbye?" Redmane asks the retreating figure, although she seems to be addressing the air more. "Hopes and dreams. Even you have them, Thomas." With a sigh, she returns to the bed. At least, beneath the scent of straw, she can still smell her lover there.
Far too many times has she had to sleep alone and its only worse when the spot near her slowly loses the warmth left behind. Sleep takes a long time in coming for her in the quiet and morning all too soon. Her eyes are assaulted by the tormenting shafts of daylight that fall upon her face. She so wants to fight it off, to enjoy the comfortable embrace of the bed, even though a familiar scent near her draws out the pains of memory. As her eyes flutter open, she finds herself looking into the sleeping face of Thomas. She's wrapped in the silken comfort of a great bed and outsides birds chirp merrily. And should she look ... she once more looks about the age of seventeen to twenty. Nothing more than a dream, it seems. Or was it a memory?
"Tommy?" Redmane mutters as she stirs.
"Mmmmgh," Thomas says most ungracefully. "Turn off the sun; it's too bright."
"You're still here," the girl notes, breaking out into a smile. "I woke up before you, finally.."
"I'm not going anywhere," Thomas murmurs tiredly. "Too comfortable."
"That.. is the nicest thing you could possibly say to me right now," Redmane notes. "I remember how you smell too now."