The Pretender Chronicles - Stowaway

[+TIME] Middle-earth time is:

Nighttime on Mersday, Day 16 of June.

Execute the +TIMEFRAME command for year information.

Real time is: 21:40:01 MDT on Tue Mar 17 2009.

The Beruthiel\'s Cat(#30467OVaeM)

The ships of Gondor are legends in their own right. Though long ago were the Ship-Kings of old, the skill and magesty of their vision is still fully realized in this vessel. Each rope is tied down and in it\'s place -- ne\'er a loose strand lay anywhere ondeck. The wood and plankings are hued a ruddy brown, and brass cappings shine bright, set over the exposed ends of beams. From stem to stern, she is clean and masterfully wrought. Several copper-girded holes line the hull -- obvious oar ports.

High above, strung on the mighty masts, are the brilliant white sails of the ship. The wind gently buffets them, and the canvas snaps and ripples -- as if anxious to take full-on the winds, and set out to break the cresting waves. High atop the mast flutters the white banner of peace.

**Scene in progress opening poses lost. It\'s night and one of the women crew is up on deck, being seasick. Ceredir goes to help her and recognizes his wife, Nelladel, who has stowed away**

[Nelladel(#7905)] A moment of mindless instinct in the midst of her illness makes Nella reach out and grab Ceredir\'s arms as he falls down on the deck beside her. Nella\'s light grey eyes and pretty but stubborn face stare at him, shocked into silence. She can find no words as Ceredir says her name repeatedly.

\"By the Valar! By the One himself!! What...what are you doing here? How are you here?!\" Anger, surprise, fear--terror, in fact--all mix in Ceredir\'s words and emotions as he speaks. Though the Master Scout is not insensitvie to the woman\'s plight, and he at least tries to cradle her in his arms to ease her suffering.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Not frightened in the face of his anger- perhaps because of the look on her face that tells she knows she is getting what she deserves- Nella puts her arms around Ceredir and lays her head against his chest, still feeling ill from the rocking motion of the ship. \"Hey, love,\" she murmurs against his chest. \"I missed you.\" After she calms herself from another moment of nausea, she asks,

\"Well, how do you think I got here? I walked on board and hid away. I\'m small it wasn\'t hard.\" Yet she sounds guilty as she says these things.

\"What do you mean, you walked on board and hid away?!\" Ceredir says, anger growing now that Nelladel is no longer sick to her stomach. \"What are you doing -here-? Here, of all places? We could die! We could all be killed!! What are you doing here?! By Eru, Nella, what have you done?\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"I mean I walked on board and hid! Do you think I was going to watch you sail away to your death and be a merry widow without trying to do something about it? And after we spoke with  ***, I realized that the only way to...\" Nella pauses, and with guilty downcast eyes, finishes, \"to ah, help you, would be to come along. I\'m not afraid to die, and you don\'t have to protect me I can protect myself.\" Yet for all that she says, she keeps holding onto Ceredir.

\"How..how could you do this?! How can I possibly do this now when I have to worry that not only will I die but that you might die as well?! How could you be so selfish, Nella?!\" Ceredir\'s voice carries even above the wind whipping about the ship.\"Eru save us! Better..Ulmo, save us! I should...I should give you up to Ulmo now, in fact! Better that than watch you tortured and enslaved at the hands of the Haradhrim!!\"

And in fact, the Master Scout seems about to do just that, to give his wife to Ulmo: He gets to his feet and tries to drag her with him and toward the railing!

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella draws back out of Ceredir\'s embrace, her face flushing as she shouts back, \"Selfish? I am -not- selfish!\" She leans forward, and to the many watching eyes of the crew, it might look as if she is about to whisper something very intimate in his ear. However, what she whispers is, \"I have come to see the rightful king of Gondor, and I will see him, and no one will stop me!\" All the eyes of the deck hands are riveted upon this pair. Then, as she is dragged to her feet, Nella screams to the many watching men, pleas for help.

In his anger, it is doubtful the Master Scout even hears what his wife whispers. \"To Ulmo!! Better that I should choose the means of your death than that I have to watch you die at the hands of the enemy!!\" He tries to grab her and relentless pull her toward the railing. The crew, perhaps shocked, looks on in horror, not believing that Ceredir will throw his wife overboard.

[Gurtir(#30678)]  A black cloak of starless midnight... a hood uncast back, underneath which but a glint of steel can be seen... powerful eyes and a mask. And a gauntleted hand befitting garment and figure and purpose, likewise dark, likewise strong as it moves towards Ceredir\'s arm-- for silent steps bore the figure to the couples side, aided if not by natural ability than by the passionate argument that blinds man and wife.

\"Stop.\", is the single uttered word.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella looks up into Ceredir\'s face, horrified, eyes wide in the panicked moment and looking as though she doesn\'t know this man at all. A few frightened noises come from her fear-constricted throat, but no more than that. But when a voice speaks up, a voice that sounds so reasonable, Nella turns her tear-stained face to gaze at her savior, despite still struggling in Ceredir\'s grip to keep away from the railing. Her eyes are wild and desperate with a plea to the man who has just spoken.

Loudly does Ceredir gasp in his breath suddenly at the sound of that one command. He stares, equally horrified, at his wife. And then, hand shaking, he drops his grasp of her.

The Master Scout falls to his knees in front of the black cloaked figure.

[Gurtir(#30678)]

\"This will do in terms of on-board entertainment.\", speaks the black cloaked figure once more, gray eyes glancing briefly around the crew ere seeking Nelladel\'s and Ceredir\'s with intensity.

\"Go to your quarters. Both of you.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella, like a frightened child, takes several steps back from Ceredir when she is released, rubbing the sore places where his hands gripped her arms too hard. \"Yes, sir.\" the lovely dark-haired girl mutters, grey eyes dropped to the deck floor and not leaving it. \"Only..\" she lingers near the cloaked man. \"I have no quarters. I was sleeping in the hold with the supplies.\"

\"She..she is a stowaway, Baiz...and...my wife,\" Ceredir adds the last part quickly. Then, he turns to Nelladel, shaking his head, but at least his temper is spent. \"I will not throw you overboard. But I wish...you should not have come. No matter what you seek to do or see...and you must never, ever say that again, your explanation you just gave to me. Not here on the ship, nor to anyone except that one person it concerns. We will all be killed if that reaches the ears of the wrong person.\"

[Gurtir(#30678)]

\"Then we will go down to my quarters. After the two of you have settled your quarrels, you will then share your husband\'s.\", Baizindinakh speaks in reply to Nelladel, folding the gauntleted arms in front of his chest-- black against black, suddenly no shapes are discernible, \"Understood?\"

He then nods at Ceredir\'s words, \"Heed him.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"Yes, sir,\" Nella replies through gritted teeth, completely ignoring what Ceredir said, except to shoot him a look of hurt and distrust. \"I don\'t want to share with him. He just tried to -kill- me. I\'d rather sleep in the hold!\" She protests, persisting in her stubborness. But as to the other matter...Nella nods. \"I won\'t say anything of it. To anyone.\"

\"I would not...Nella!\" Ceredir pleads. \"It would be killing a part of myself to see you die...I could not kill you...I...\" Ceredir sighs. \"I am sorry.\" He glances to the black-cloaked man and repeats that. \"And I am sorry, to you as well. For this...behavior...\"\"Forgive me?\" Asked of both.

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"You scared me!\" Nella rebukes him further, careful to keep her voice from rising too loud again. \"You were going to do it. I saw it on your face you weren\'t yourself.\" Sad, accusing eyes watch him while Nella stands near the cloaked man, still shaking slightly from the entire incident.

[Gurtir(#30678)]

\"Come. This is not the place for discussions nor ammends.\"

The figure replies just this in a whisper, a brief gesture indicating the crew still glaring, before leading the way.

One hand does Ceredir offer to the woman, a gesture of peace and reconciliation, as well as an acknowledgement of the wisdom of the black cloaked man\'s whispered advice. He waits.

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"You -really- scared me,\" Nella says when at last she takes Ceredir\'s hand, after staring at it for a minute. She frowns at him, but squeezes his hand as they follow the the man.

[Gurtir(#30678)]

The man does not look back unto the couple, rather following ever straight down the stair that leads to the quarters.

Once safely out of earshot, Ceredir once more turns to the girl, and if he can, places both hands on her shoulders. Notably, he does not wear his uniform on this trip, though his hands are gloved. \"Forgive me...I love you too much to see anything bad happen to you...love you more than my own life...and it felt to me that you had thrown your life away, coming here like this. But...it is done. We will make the best of it and move on. Know that...if you had died just now, I would have gone with you. It would not have been alone...\" Small comfort that.

\"But you must heed me now--you must never, ever speak about Lord Alphros out loud again on board this ship. Nor in Umbar, lest it gets back to the rest of the ship. It must seem as a front...and we now need a reason you are here...Perhaps..Baiz can help.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] Somehow, Ceredir\'s words seem to soothe Nella\'s hurt feelings. She smiles again, and puts a hand to his cheek. \"I love you. And I know you don\'t like it, but..I couldn\'t do it anymore. Sit, and wonder, and wish, and be helpless while dreaming of you dying...though I don\'t feel so useful here, yet.\" Her smile fades. \"I won\'t speak of him. But- I wanted to ask a favor of your friend Baiz.\" Somber, intelligent eyes look to see where the man they speak of has gone.

[Gurtir(#30678)]  Baizindinakh walks on, pretending he does not hear the intimate exchange of words between the couple. When his name is mentioned, though, not only once, but twice, he turns to face them-- or so the twirl of fabric indicates, for his garment and the fading light of the interior of the ship do little for the visibility of his form.

\"Aye?\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nelladel steps forward alone to ask the man her question face to face. She holds her head up to look him in the eye, and asks, \"Well, since I am already here, and there is no reversing it...I would like to ask, sir, that you take me to see him.\" She places a light emphasis on the word -him- to indicate what she was forbidden to speak of.

[Gurtir(#30678)]

For several seconds, Baizindinakh holds Nelladel\'s gaze within his own, examining, it would seem, the girl\'s very soul with that particular potency his gray eyes are capable of bearing. Then he nods, ever so lightly.

\"I will do what I can to arrange this in the middle of all that has to happen. And as for what your husband asked, speak the truth. Name this a female whim and little will the men have to wonder about. Act, then, according to this twisted image that shall be made of you.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella gazes back at the man unflinchingly, calm beneath his heavy stare. She nods, \"Thank you, sir. To get me there is all I ask once I am there...worry about me no longer. I do not intend to live, if Ceredir does not.\" She raises one dark brow. \"The truth? No, I think that is a lie, Baiz. But for what you are about to do for me...I can act. I will make everyone believe it is so. I care not what Gondor thinks of me anymore.\"

[Gurtir(#30678)]

Again, the man but regards the lass in silence, no emotion displayed by flicker of flesh nor tone of voice-- when he speaks, it is only after she is done, bowing his head.

\"I wish you to live, lady, for I shall ensure your husband does. This is not a trip of death and despair... it is one of hope and renewal! Fear not. Dream and commit your heart to this dream.\"

Turning then to leave, \"All is going to be well.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] Slightly cheered, Nella offers the man a smile, and a nod that acknowledges his words. \"I will look forward to our arrival, then.\" She says quietly. Her last words follow him down the hall before she returns to Ceredir. \"It shall be as you say.\" Then she hurries her steps back toward her husband.