Elendor
Conversation with Arabella
Arabella visits Cordelia in jail.
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Bree guardhouse
Game Date: September 6
Description: It has been a full day now since the elves handed Cordelia over to the Breeguard, and since that time, the girl has been kept in one of the cells here in the Bree guardhouse. The guards aren't quite certain what to do with her, though--the dagger she had stolen was returned to the elf, and the elf has left town. And the mayor hasn't been in yet to decide the girl's fate. So Cordelia lingers in the jail, with nothing to do but cool her heels.
It's midafternoon on an early September day, the guards here playing cards in a lazy, bored sort of way. Cordelia is in a cell, sitting on the floor, plate of finished food pushed to one side. Arms folded over her chest, her eyes half closed, listening to teh guards talk about their game.
[Arabella(#19996)] A young girl enters the guard house, looking grown up and proud of it in a new blue dress that swings down to her knees. Over one shoulder is a big leather bag, stuffed full and hard to close. Bella's green eyes study the faces of the guards until she finds the one she seeks. "Excuse me, mister." She taps her little fingers on the shoulder of a younger guard, then sticks her hand into the bag. She produces a newly mended pair of breeches. "I'm running errands today, and your Ma asked me to bring you these." While the guard looks embarassed, Bells looks both pleased and perhaps a little amused. She sets the breeches on the table, beside the cards that are laid out.
The sound of a young girl's voice knocks Cordelia out of her half sleep, and she scrambles to her feet, rushing to the door to her cell to try to look out the little window. "Liuni?" she calls loudly, then tries to get a better look at the girl. It doesn't -sound- like her sister, certainly, after hours of doing nothing at all, any chance is grabbed on.
"You Liuni?" the guard then asks Arabella, brusque voice trying to cover his reddening face. "And, uh, how much coin do I owe your mom for these?"
[Arabella(#19996)] Arabella looks sharply over in the direction of the sound of a female voice. A very familiar voice. "Who's over there?" Bells asks, pointing to the door. Only then does she answer the guard's questions. She frowns, "I'm not Liuni. Name's Arabella Methven of Archet." She waves the second question away. "Don't worry about it. She said you can settle up later. There's a few things left to mend. Though I do wonder how you got a hole in your breeches, just...there." She points to the seat of the pants, where they've clearly been mended. Bella gives a childish but charming grin, an innocent look. Then she points again. "Who is that?" But she thinks she's already puzzled out the answer.
"Oh..." A long sigh accompanies these words, and Cordelia turns her face way, sinking down slowly to the floor with her back against the door. In no mood, apparently, to hear the citizens of Bree and its surrounding towns vent their anger at her--though she can still hear from where she sits. She pulls her knees up, arms around them.
"Ah, thank your mother for me, then," the guard answers, face reddening more. "I was...uh...cutting wood." Yes, that's it.
A brief glance to the cell that holds the Mordain woman. "That? Local girl, name of Cordelia. The elves had some sort of complaint or another with her, but they've gone and now we're wasting our time looking after her. Need to get the mayor's attention on it..." He shrugs. "Who's Liuni?"
[Arabella(#19996)] "Cutting...wood.." Bells repeats. Surely she'll be chatting delightedly about the guard's embarassment later to anyone who will listen in the Pony, and at the market. She'll gossip her way right back to Archet by the end of the day. Then the girl's face becomes somber, and she replies, "That's her sister. She was nice. I don't suppose I could talk to her?" She points to the door again. "I'll be careful," she offers as though the guards would be concerned as to Bells' well-being.
"Talk to her....?" the guard eyes the door, then Bells. "She can hear you all right from here...you mean open the door and let you see her and talk to her?" He scratches his head. "Well, I don't see any harm in that...she's only a young woman, and scrawny at that. Don't see how she'd attack or anything....." He fumbles for his keys and rises, and unless Bells stops him, he is opening the cell door--Cordy scrambling out of the way and getting to her feet as he dose so.
[Arabella(#19996)] Arabella follows the guard to the door, and when it swings open, she steps in. For all that she's loud mouthed and young, she's really not afraid or aware of the many dangers she could get herself into, behaving the way she does. The cute dark-haired girl thanks the guard, then looks at Cordelia. She crosses her arms and stands tall (which isn't really that tall, being as petite as she is). "Well..?" She says to Cordelia, as though she's owed an explanation for a great many things. There's no mention from her of their not so pretty confrontation at the sewing shop.
The guard considers for a moment, then shuts and locks the door behind Bells. "I'll be here if you need anything," he calls, but from the lazy way he says it, it's clear he expects no trouble. After all, Cordelia isn't even 20, and he is a 35 yr old man in prime condition....for someone who sits around playing cards all day and drinking too much ale at the Pony at night. Still...if nothing else, he outweighs her.
In the cell, Cordelia eyes Bells warily, slowly backing up until she sits on the edge of the cot. "What do you want?" she asks, quiet but still defiant. "You had your say the other day. Told me exactly what you think, no matter what I said. What do you want now?" Her eyes dart to the door and then to Bells....the guards didn't check her for knives, and she -could- easily grab Bells and hold a knife to her throat. But then that blasted Ranger, Grey, would likely run her down on the road again. She silently curses him.
[Arabella(#19996)] "Why'd they put you in here?" Bells asks, though she already knows most of the answer. Accusing green eyes watch the woman on the cot while she says, "I thought you were my friend, but you just hurt people. Why?" Sad words that couldn't sound more disappointed. But...Arabella hasn't come without her own protection. Ever since Muirgheal left Archet in search of her husband, the girl has carried a carving knife, nicked from the lodge kitchen, at the bottom of her little messenger bag. Though likely she'd never get to it in time, it does make her feel some braver, especially when walking on the road back to Archet at night.
"Don't know," Cordelia shrugs, avoiding the question a bit. "I returned the dagger I took...so...don't know why I should be here. ANd I don't hurt folks on purpose. This elf...he wasn't nice." Her eyes narrow with the memory of it. "Accused me of all sorts of things. Lies, all of them....Where is Keldean? Have you seen him?"
[Arabella(#19996)] Bella isn't very easily led, or convinced. She crosses her arms, answering Cordelia first. "I haven't seen -him-. Or your sister." Then she has some questions of her own, "I've never heard of a mean elf. You could be making that up. But...I don't know much about elves, except that they're magic." She never takes her eyes from Cordelia. "Must you lie to me? I was going to invite you to my wedding, until you stole Seeker away." The girl looks distraught. "You were like another sister. You used to be so nice." She can't fathom the change.
Another sigh from the older girl--she stands up and paces the cell a bit, careful to avoid Bells. "Remember, Bells, how Rhifaroth told you not to be friends with me?" she asks, not bothering anymore to use the man's pseudonym. "That was because I have a very...wicked family. People who want to use me to do horrible things, and they will slit Liuni's throat if I don't do them. That's how I got involved with hurting Rhifaroth--but it was a choice of helping them or watchign my sister die. And they would have made me watch, Bells. They would have cut her throat right in front of me--do you know what that's like?" She turns on the girl, her voice and look intense--she's not sparing the child anything.
[Arabella(#19996)] "No!" Bella shouts back, wanting to make some sort of smart remark to cover up her earlier- perhaps faulty- accusations. Then something occurs to her, "Is Liuni safe?" How many times has Liuni come to Archet to play with Bells? Plenty, enough that Bella would be upset if anything happened to the girl. "Still doesn't excuse you from hurting Seeker. I heard Muirgheal crying all the time- made herself sick." But it sounds as though this situation is too complicated for her to pass judgement. Perhaps that can be seen in her eyes. "I hope Liuni's okay." Is all she says at last. Then, "What will they do with you?"
"Liuni is safe," Cordelia answers, stopping her pacing. "That much I know. So..." She shrugs, releasing Bells from her gaze. "Here? I doubt they will do much of anything. This is Bree...they don't like people in their jails, it seems. Too much trouble. But the mayor likely will decide...at some point," she sighs, sounding frustrated. "As for Rhifaroth...he knows full well how I feel about what I did, and he is the only one who knows--and rightly so. You can think whatever you want about me and call me all sorts of nasty names, but the only person whose opinion on it matters is Rhifaroth."
[Arabella(#19996)] "Oh, I'd say the mayor's opinion counts for something. And Muirgheal's." Arabella snaps. But then her voice softens as she rests her back against the door. "I came in here to see if there was a chance you'd still be my friend. If you'd just -stop- doing bad things.." She keeps on watching the woman, wanting to reach out but also having trouble trusting. "If they let you go, will you hurt anyone else in Bree?"
Cordelia laughs bitterly. "Murgheal gave me money to leave town. But that ranger--Grey?--he won't let me." She looks up, watching the girl, her eyes focusing on her for some time before she looks away again. Then she sits slowly back down on the edge of the cot. "I don't want to hurt people, Bells. Truly, I don't....I just...I get so angry and...I do things...like I can't help it....I -want- to change, Bells. But ...how? People won't trust me anymore. I have no friends here, not even Rhifaroth." She exhales slowly. Can a small girl like Bells sense there is truth in her wrods for once?
[Arabella(#19996)] Arabella frowns, thinking for several long, silent minutes. "I don't know how you change," she says, trying to catch Cordelia's gaze. "But I think that it counts for something, that you're sorry. And that you don't want to do it. You -can- have friends here. I'm still your friend." She smiles hopefully, "When Muirgheal brings Seeker home- to Archet- I'm going to have my wedding. It might be a long time, but Sam agreed to wait for them. But maybe by then, folk might have calmed down about all this. I'd like you to come." Bells has errands to be doing, however. She calls for the guard, but not in a frantic way, to let her out. She turns back to Cordelia to say, "I'll work on bringing you some better food than what they're giving you." Perhaps it's a sort of peace offering, all this.
It's midafternoon on an early September day, the guards here playing cards in a lazy, bored sort of way. Cordelia is in a cell, sitting on the floor, plate of finished food pushed to one side. Arms folded over her chest, her eyes half closed, listening to teh guards talk about their game.
[Arabella(#19996)] A young girl enters the guard house, looking grown up and proud of it in a new blue dress that swings down to her knees. Over one shoulder is a big leather bag, stuffed full and hard to close. Bella's green eyes study the faces of the guards until she finds the one she seeks. "Excuse me, mister." She taps her little fingers on the shoulder of a younger guard, then sticks her hand into the bag. She produces a newly mended pair of breeches. "I'm running errands today, and your Ma asked me to bring you these." While the guard looks embarassed, Bells looks both pleased and perhaps a little amused. She sets the breeches on the table, beside the cards that are laid out.
The sound of a young girl's voice knocks Cordelia out of her half sleep, and she scrambles to her feet, rushing to the door to her cell to try to look out the little window. "Liuni?" she calls loudly, then tries to get a better look at the girl. It doesn't -sound- like her sister, certainly, after hours of doing nothing at all, any chance is grabbed on.
"You Liuni?" the guard then asks Arabella, brusque voice trying to cover his reddening face. "And, uh, how much coin do I owe your mom for these?"
[Arabella(#19996)] Arabella looks sharply over in the direction of the sound of a female voice. A very familiar voice. "Who's over there?" Bells asks, pointing to the door. Only then does she answer the guard's questions. She frowns, "I'm not Liuni. Name's Arabella Methven of Archet." She waves the second question away. "Don't worry about it. She said you can settle up later. There's a few things left to mend. Though I do wonder how you got a hole in your breeches, just...there." She points to the seat of the pants, where they've clearly been mended. Bella gives a childish but charming grin, an innocent look. Then she points again. "Who is that?" But she thinks she's already puzzled out the answer.
"Oh..." A long sigh accompanies these words, and Cordelia turns her face way, sinking down slowly to the floor with her back against the door. In no mood, apparently, to hear the citizens of Bree and its surrounding towns vent their anger at her--though she can still hear from where she sits. She pulls her knees up, arms around them.
"Ah, thank your mother for me, then," the guard answers, face reddening more. "I was...uh...cutting wood." Yes, that's it.
A brief glance to the cell that holds the Mordain woman. "That? Local girl, name of Cordelia. The elves had some sort of complaint or another with her, but they've gone and now we're wasting our time looking after her. Need to get the mayor's attention on it..." He shrugs. "Who's Liuni?"
[Arabella(#19996)] "Cutting...wood.." Bells repeats. Surely she'll be chatting delightedly about the guard's embarassment later to anyone who will listen in the Pony, and at the market. She'll gossip her way right back to Archet by the end of the day. Then the girl's face becomes somber, and she replies, "That's her sister. She was nice. I don't suppose I could talk to her?" She points to the door again. "I'll be careful," she offers as though the guards would be concerned as to Bells' well-being.
"Talk to her....?" the guard eyes the door, then Bells. "She can hear you all right from here...you mean open the door and let you see her and talk to her?" He scratches his head. "Well, I don't see any harm in that...she's only a young woman, and scrawny at that. Don't see how she'd attack or anything....." He fumbles for his keys and rises, and unless Bells stops him, he is opening the cell door--Cordy scrambling out of the way and getting to her feet as he dose so.
[Arabella(#19996)] Arabella follows the guard to the door, and when it swings open, she steps in. For all that she's loud mouthed and young, she's really not afraid or aware of the many dangers she could get herself into, behaving the way she does. The cute dark-haired girl thanks the guard, then looks at Cordelia. She crosses her arms and stands tall (which isn't really that tall, being as petite as she is). "Well..?" She says to Cordelia, as though she's owed an explanation for a great many things. There's no mention from her of their not so pretty confrontation at the sewing shop.
The guard considers for a moment, then shuts and locks the door behind Bells. "I'll be here if you need anything," he calls, but from the lazy way he says it, it's clear he expects no trouble. After all, Cordelia isn't even 20, and he is a 35 yr old man in prime condition....for someone who sits around playing cards all day and drinking too much ale at the Pony at night. Still...if nothing else, he outweighs her.
In the cell, Cordelia eyes Bells warily, slowly backing up until she sits on the edge of the cot. "What do you want?" she asks, quiet but still defiant. "You had your say the other day. Told me exactly what you think, no matter what I said. What do you want now?" Her eyes dart to the door and then to Bells....the guards didn't check her for knives, and she -could- easily grab Bells and hold a knife to her throat. But then that blasted Ranger, Grey, would likely run her down on the road again. She silently curses him.
[Arabella(#19996)] "Why'd they put you in here?" Bells asks, though she already knows most of the answer. Accusing green eyes watch the woman on the cot while she says, "I thought you were my friend, but you just hurt people. Why?" Sad words that couldn't sound more disappointed. But...Arabella hasn't come without her own protection. Ever since Muirgheal left Archet in search of her husband, the girl has carried a carving knife, nicked from the lodge kitchen, at the bottom of her little messenger bag. Though likely she'd never get to it in time, it does make her feel some braver, especially when walking on the road back to Archet at night.
"Don't know," Cordelia shrugs, avoiding the question a bit. "I returned the dagger I took...so...don't know why I should be here. ANd I don't hurt folks on purpose. This elf...he wasn't nice." Her eyes narrow with the memory of it. "Accused me of all sorts of things. Lies, all of them....Where is Keldean? Have you seen him?"
[Arabella(#19996)] Bella isn't very easily led, or convinced. She crosses her arms, answering Cordelia first. "I haven't seen -him-. Or your sister." Then she has some questions of her own, "I've never heard of a mean elf. You could be making that up. But...I don't know much about elves, except that they're magic." She never takes her eyes from Cordelia. "Must you lie to me? I was going to invite you to my wedding, until you stole Seeker away." The girl looks distraught. "You were like another sister. You used to be so nice." She can't fathom the change.
Another sigh from the older girl--she stands up and paces the cell a bit, careful to avoid Bells. "Remember, Bells, how Rhifaroth told you not to be friends with me?" she asks, not bothering anymore to use the man's pseudonym. "That was because I have a very...wicked family. People who want to use me to do horrible things, and they will slit Liuni's throat if I don't do them. That's how I got involved with hurting Rhifaroth--but it was a choice of helping them or watchign my sister die. And they would have made me watch, Bells. They would have cut her throat right in front of me--do you know what that's like?" She turns on the girl, her voice and look intense--she's not sparing the child anything.
[Arabella(#19996)] "No!" Bella shouts back, wanting to make some sort of smart remark to cover up her earlier- perhaps faulty- accusations. Then something occurs to her, "Is Liuni safe?" How many times has Liuni come to Archet to play with Bells? Plenty, enough that Bella would be upset if anything happened to the girl. "Still doesn't excuse you from hurting Seeker. I heard Muirgheal crying all the time- made herself sick." But it sounds as though this situation is too complicated for her to pass judgement. Perhaps that can be seen in her eyes. "I hope Liuni's okay." Is all she says at last. Then, "What will they do with you?"
"Liuni is safe," Cordelia answers, stopping her pacing. "That much I know. So..." She shrugs, releasing Bells from her gaze. "Here? I doubt they will do much of anything. This is Bree...they don't like people in their jails, it seems. Too much trouble. But the mayor likely will decide...at some point," she sighs, sounding frustrated. "As for Rhifaroth...he knows full well how I feel about what I did, and he is the only one who knows--and rightly so. You can think whatever you want about me and call me all sorts of nasty names, but the only person whose opinion on it matters is Rhifaroth."
[Arabella(#19996)] "Oh, I'd say the mayor's opinion counts for something. And Muirgheal's." Arabella snaps. But then her voice softens as she rests her back against the door. "I came in here to see if there was a chance you'd still be my friend. If you'd just -stop- doing bad things.." She keeps on watching the woman, wanting to reach out but also having trouble trusting. "If they let you go, will you hurt anyone else in Bree?"
Cordelia laughs bitterly. "Murgheal gave me money to leave town. But that ranger--Grey?--he won't let me." She looks up, watching the girl, her eyes focusing on her for some time before she looks away again. Then she sits slowly back down on the edge of the cot. "I don't want to hurt people, Bells. Truly, I don't....I just...I get so angry and...I do things...like I can't help it....I -want- to change, Bells. But ...how? People won't trust me anymore. I have no friends here, not even Rhifaroth." She exhales slowly. Can a small girl like Bells sense there is truth in her wrods for once?
[Arabella(#19996)] Arabella frowns, thinking for several long, silent minutes. "I don't know how you change," she says, trying to catch Cordelia's gaze. "But I think that it counts for something, that you're sorry. And that you don't want to do it. You -can- have friends here. I'm still your friend." She smiles hopefully, "When Muirgheal brings Seeker home- to Archet- I'm going to have my wedding. It might be a long time, but Sam agreed to wait for them. But maybe by then, folk might have calmed down about all this. I'd like you to come." Bells has errands to be doing, however. She calls for the guard, but not in a frantic way, to let her out. She turns back to Cordelia to say, "I'll work on bringing you some better food than what they're giving you." Perhaps it's a sort of peace offering, all this.
Players: Arabella, Cordelia
