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 Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:22 pm
It was later that night when something knocked at the door to the apartment. Rising from her seat at the small, dingy, scratched table, Elaine hurried over, opening it.
"Nathaniel."
"Elaine..."
"No."
Nathaniel looked away for a moment. "You need to give up this foolish game, Elaine. Come back to me."
"No. I won't be your caged bird, Nathaniel - I told you that. Lizzy and I can do just as well without you holding a leash about our necks."
"For God's sake, Elaine!" he whispered, heatedly, grabbing the smaller woman about her shoulders. "She doesn't even know that I'm... I'm..."
"I can't tell her that you're her father. She hates you so much already - thinking that you left us will only make things worse."
"I didn't leave - you did!"
"I know, but will she believe that?" Carefully, Elaine slipped from his grasp. "Just... let us be, Nathaniel. Let me be who I am."
"I..." He paused, searching for the words. "I love you, Elaine," he finally whispered, voice barely above a breath. "Please."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:37 pm
Elaine looked down biting her lower lip trying to hold back her tears, "Don't say that Nathaniel, don't. If you meant it you ... You wouldn't do this to us! You are not the man I fell in love with anymore." Her voice wavered softly in the air.
Nathaniel reached out and tried to touch her cheek but she withdrew and his hand grasped at the air and he looked away, "I did what I had to..."
"You didn't have to become like ... them," Elaine hissed spitefully, "At least like this Lizzy didn't have to be disappointed in what you had become..."
The man bowed his head his shoulder slumping a bit, but as he spoke there was a tone of hope, "Y..Yet you did not deny that you love me," Nathaniel looked up at her a thin stream of tears coming from his eyes.
Elaine sighed and moved to him a step, "I will always love you, but I can't live caged..."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:41 pm
"She's right, you know," Lorelei said, emering from the shadows, cautiously. "Imprisonment is no way to treat a wife."
"And what do you know about such things?" he started, staring at her.
"I know a great deal. My mother was in the same position - she stayed with my father, and was crushed beneath his will. She almost doesn't seem human anymore - she's his pet, his toy, and nothing more.
"If you love her... then... you love her. It's not a matter of desiring possession - it's a matter of honoring who and what she is. And she's an independent, strong woman. So if you want her back..."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:16 pm
Nathaniel flushed and looked away from Lor and Elaine, "They mocked me and the way I ran my family," he protested clenching his fists.
At this point Voltaire made himself known stepping beside Lorelei, "If you didn't care what I thought then you shouldn't care what they think either, Sir."
Again Nathaniel started a bit, how many of these people where there?!
"You do not seem to have ever been married! Either of you! How could you possibly understand!" Nathaniel's voice rose slightly.
Elaine reached out and put a hand on Nathaniel's arm, "Don't you will wake the children."
Nathaniel quivered with barely contained rage before stilling again.
Voltaire cleared his throat, "I have never been in love and that is true, and I haven't been married either. Yet I know things by watching those around me in travels and ... Marriage should be a partnership of sorts and not a way to trap someone.." He leveled his gaze on Nathaniel, "Your friends have unhappy wives that are bitter and hateful."
Outnumbered, again...
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:23 pm
"And while I have never been married - though it was my father's intent - I have been in love, and I have seen how significantly it differed from what I saw in my own home. Growing up in such a loveless, domineering household only left me uncertain, afraid, and damaged. And a girl such as Lizzy shouldn't have to go through that, just as Miss Elaine shouldn't have to go through having her spirit crushed.
"You are not triffling with a simple country girl - Miss Elaine has her wits about her, and knows what she wants."
Elaine colored and nodded. "Yes... and you have two options - stay as you are and find a more suitable wife for your advancement, or deal with the taunts of your colleagues and have a loving wife and beautiful child that are allowed their own person. Kindness is not a terrible thing, Nathaniel - just look at these two. Their kindness makes them much better people than you have shown yourself to be over the past few years."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:39 pm
Nathaniel's eyes were being opened and not gently. Yet it was easily seen that opening his eyes gently would have little to no effect, not the effect that this was having.
They were right. He wasn't bringing his family closer together he was alienating them by treating them this way. What a fool he had been. He was a few words from either getting his beloved Elaine back or losing her forever.
..That he could not bear, "I..." Nathaniel knelt before Elaine, "I will do what it takes to get you back and to get Lizzy to accept me." He reached imploringly for Elaine's hand, "I had been such a fool. All along I had all the riches and friend I could ever need within my wife and our child..."
A child whom technically hates him right now, but he'd have to fix that over time...
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:43 pm
The exceedingly sappy revelation facilitated, Lorelei curtsied and disappeared back into the shadows.
Elaine looked at Nathaniel. "You must earn me back, you know," she chided, after a moment. "I cost a little more than you originally paid for me - you have a few years backpay of affection waiting for me..."
Nathaniel snorted, grabbing Elaine and pulling her close. "Oh, trust me. I'll repay - with interest." He kissed her, then released her. "But for now, it's much too late. I'll visit tomorrow. Your lunch break at the mill. Count on it."
At Elaine's nod, Nathaniel disappeared out of the door.
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 4:06 pm
Voltaire decided to leave the couple to their ... banter. Hearing such talk would make the half-elf a bit flustered and so he found sleep much better company.
Elaine retired soon after finishing the rest of her tasks, and could barely get to sleep it seemed.
The Next morning:
Everyone woke up and had a breakfast together. The children played while the adults talked idly about nothing in particular before Elaine had to (quite happily) go to work.
"Why mamma so happy?" Lizzy asked just shortly before Elaine left.
Elaine giggled lightly offering but a shrug, "Don't worry about it, darling. We shall talk about it tonight. No work for you today, I shall have Mrs. Dollery watch after you. Her niece is over today I hear."
The prospect of a playmate made up for not needing to work, yet the reason why was not told. The child assumed that it'd be included in the mysterious talk.
Elaine turned to Voltaire and Lor, "Mind dropping her off for me? I am quite late already and.."
Voltaire shrugged and glanced at Lorelei before saying, "I don't mind, just give us directions and she'll be put there safe and sound..."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 4:52 pm
After receiving directions, Lorelei grabbed her's and Annjette's butterflies - a wonder she could still pick them out - and led the way down the stairs. A quick stop-off, and a long, tearful goodbye - it seemed they had made quite the friend! - and the two gypsies (and their daughters) were back on the streets.
"Well. We should probably get back to the inn now... they're probably wondering what happened to us!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:46 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:50 pm
"Come, Rojiza," says Caroline quietly. "Let's be away. We'll find some other wee trinket for your bittie horde, eh?" she says with a wry smile. She stands and slaps at her skirt to get the remnants of dirt and leaves off of it. She holds her hand out to Rojiza and helps her stand up.
Rojiza takes one last look at the pond before slipping back through the gate the way she'd come in. She pauses to make sure her mother succeeds in hopping it, giggling slightly at the ungainly way Caroline goes about it. She takes her mother's hand as they walk back towards the town.
|So if any of you new gypsies want to RP, just post that you've seen me, and I'll have something about you intrigue my magpie of a daughter.|
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:35 pm
DeArca, in completing his wagon, Forest Spirit, began to throw his supplies within his wagon interior, stretching his arm as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "After endless days, I have finally completed it." He smiled to himself, feeling a large amount of accomplishment. Knowing that all this was still so new to him, DeArca wore a confident smile, clapping the wood shavings from his clothes. "Its still early in the day! I suppose making a round for some food would be the smart thing to do." He said to himself, closing the door of his wagon, walking away into the woods. "Whine if you get into trouble, Marko!" He called to his mule, which are the acorns and grass on the ground, his snout tied to the neighboring tree. A sack over his shoulder and his gloved hands continuing to pick wood shavings from himself, DeArca kept his eyes focused on his surroundings, wishing to find fresh berries and nuts for food. If he could find a nearby spring then a water supply was definately in store for him but he knew staying in one place too long wouldn't be wise in case there were bandits lurking.
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:43 pm
Rojiza spots a young man exit a gypsy's wagon (a new one it looked like, too), and disappear into the sparse foliage nearby. Something about the man intrigues her, and she tugs on Caroline's hand, wishing to follow him into the sickly-looking trees. After all, he's a gypsy--why isn't he in their caravan?
Caroline too had seen the man. Her eyebrows had flicked up upon sighting him, but she decided to pay him no mind. Rojiza, however, evidently had different plans. "Oh alright," she says, knowing that if she refused to follow the man, Rojiza would do so on her own, and letting Rojiza on her own had proved unwise thus far. She walks with Ro until they catch up to the young man. He has a rustic appearance, and carries himself with the pride of the young. "Excuse me," she says softly, so as not to startle him into reacting negatively.
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:48 pm
The sudden words behind him caused DeArca to stand and turn his head quickly, his body soon following its motion as he faced the mysterious pair. "Hello there...I hope I'm not trespassing. I'm just looking for food!" He said, looking at the woman and his eyes were in a state of...apprehension. The way she looked made him believe...no, not believe...confirm this woman was what he thought. "By the heavens, I had no idea I'd run into a gypsy so quickly. It's nice to meet you, miss!" He said, not really knowing...how to speak to a gypsy. Given he was born of gypsy-blood, he was raised as a farmer, knowing nothing of his given heritage. "Oh, I'm sorry...my name is DeArca..." He introduced himself, hoping not to seem rude to the two.
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:55 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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