In the Name of a Queen

[Falcon]

"Anne," Nicoli repeated softly watching as she dove into the water and admiring the grace with which she appeared again. He hesitated when she called to him but after a moment he nodded and scanned the water's edge for the easiest place to enter the cool glassy waves. His cloak was removed, folded and set next to hers, along with his sword, belt, knife, coin purse, and anything else he thought might weigh him down and make the lesson harder. In the end he was down to his breaches and snowy white shirt sleeves as he stood on the shore watching the water lap at his toes and stirring up bits of silt around the smoothed oak foot.

He paused then.

In the past fording rivers had been a chore, the buoyancy of the material combined with the moving current constantly wanting to send the foot out from under him. Swimming with it would be impossible. Yet as he looked at the queen bobbing around in the water he knew that it would be foolish to let this one little thing stop him from learning something that seemed so simple. Carefully he began to hike his pants leg up and undo the buckles that held the harness around his knee. He was free in a moment, but balancing one legged on a sandy shore was not easy, and before he could sit and ease into the water he fell into the lake with a shout of surprise and a great splash the sent droplets flying in all directions.

The leg ended up abandoned in the sand as Nicoli came up again some ten feet away, spluttering for breath and splashing about as he floundered his arms in the attempt to stay afloat.

 

[moffnat]

Anne gave a great laugh as he fell into the water, swimming gracefully over to him and grabbing him by hands. Despite the pity in her heart that she felt in seeing him one-legged in all his glory, she was having too much fun being amused to let herself fall into a pit of sadness. Besides, Nicoli did not seem the man to want to speak much of the matter and Anne would spare him the embarrassment.

"Stop, stop!" she chuckled. "You're going to wear yourself out before you even start! Put your foot down on the sand, you're taller than me, I know you can reach it. And spread your arms out a bit, reach towards me and move them to help you stay upright."

Holding his hands still gave her that fluttery feeling, despite how many times she had done it before then.

"There. Better. How does that feel?"​

 

[Falcon]

"Awkward," Nicoli admitted with a laugh at his own ridiculousness, "But better than all the splashing." His fingers grasped hers lightly as he followed the pattern she set, trying to mimic her every motion, for once far more concerned with the water and not falling over again than he was with the lines of propriety and how many times they had crossed them. His soaken shirt clung to his skin where his shoulders emerged from the water, revealing the shoulders and upper body strength of a swordsman even as his sleeves puffed and billowed in the water with every motion he made. It was possible that that might be his saving grace when it came to swimming, that his arms could compensate for the missing leg. His dark eyes sparkled with amusement at himself and the joy of learning something new, and his boyish grin spoke volumes.

"So the trick of swimming is all in how you move your arms?" he questioned when he thought he had finally gotten the hang of the motion she was showing him, "then it won't matter that I'm -- " he couldn't quite bring himself to finish that sentence but said instead, "I've always wanted to learn this . . ."

 

[moffnat]

"It won't matter that you're what?" she asked with a small frown. "The head of the Queensguard? The man who unhorsed King Anton in a single stroke? One of the strongest warriors in the garrison and the most loyal man I could ask for?"

Does it matter that you stole the heart of your queen?

Anne sighed, pulling soaking wet hair over one shoulder. "Most of swimming is in the legs, but you have the perfect amount of upper body strength to be able to do just fine with only three limbs. Come, to the deeper water." She gestured with her hand for him to follow her, and began treading water until she was able to float on her back effortlessly.

"Floating is one of my favorite parts of swimming," she told him in a tone of complete relaxation. "You simply lay on your back and let your body do the rest. Everyone naturally floats, it's just a matter of letting the water carry you where it will. For more control over your floatation, glide your arms through the water wherever you wish to go."

Anne wondered briefly if she could float to the future the faerie read in her palm.​

 

[Falcon]

He felt slightly ashamed of himself at her reprimand. And while he was proud to hear her say that he had compensated well, part of him just wanted to hear her say it didn't matter, to hear anyone say it didn't matter. Not exactly something he could ask for.

He followed her out into the deep, finding her fingers just out of reach as if coaxing him further than he normally would have been comfortable with, and several times he bobbed under as he tried to use the little she had shown him to get there. He had no way to tell if he was doing well or poorly, but decided that if she thought he was a lost cause Anne would not have invited him to follow her.

He went under several times before he managed to relax enough to truly float on his back and once there he wobbled a bit every time he tried to use his arms. Eventually he resorted to using his hands like little flippers and it seemed to work well enough as he adjusted to simply letting himself relax. It was an odd state of being to be in fror him. He was so used to being on high alert over every little thing that he found he almost didn't remember how any more, at least not completely.

As he drifted his mind began to wander and eventually his eyes locked on the stars high above. "They're so bright tonight," he started almost unthinkingly, "When I was a boy we used to lay on the stable roof, my father and I, and he would point out the constellations and tell me their stories. Marjus the wood cutter and his great ax, Mirca the milkmaid who tricked the three foolish kings out of their gold, The hunter Devron with his bow, Simeon the great snow cat who walks the northern wild." With the last he raised an arm to point out the stars in question and with another splash went under again.

This time when he surfaced he couldn't help but sneeze as a large quantity of water had gone up his nose. "What do you say to seeing if there's any dinner?" he sniffled trying to shake the water out of his ears as well and struggling to tread water as she had taught him. "There are only so many dunkings a man can take in one night." But as he looked towards shore a slight frown crossed his features. "I ah - I may need a bit of help to get out of the water," he murmured awkwardly, suddenly sounding a bit shy.

 

[moffnat]

Once again, Anne closed her eyes and let the sound of his voice sweep over her in every way imaginable. She so cherished whenever he spoke in long tangents for purely selfish reasons. Perhaps, one day, someone would invent a bit of machinery that could capture the sound of someone's speaking and allow the listener to play it back whenever they so desired. If such an invention ever came to pass, the ReValyan queen knew precisely what she would record first. At the last little mention of a snow cat in the North, Anne furrowed her brows and swam upright to look at him with amusement.

"A snow cat?" she chuckled. "I've never heard of such nonsense. Come on, I've heard there's food, faeries delicacies with honey and snails. Snails! Can you believe it?" She took his hand once again to keep him in the right direction, careful to scope out any rocks under the surface with her feet or any dips in the sand. When she found them, she made sure to direct Nicoli away from them to ensure he didn't trip. His arms couldn't prevent him from falling in the water. This was a part that could only be controlled by the legs.

When they reached the shore, Anne exited the lake first and turned to offer both her hands to Nicoli to help him out. "The faeries brought over your leg and our cloaks," she told him with a smile, flexing her fingers towards herself to encourage him to reach for her. "Don't worry, Nicoli. I didn't let you drown, and now I won't let you fall."​

 

[Falcon]

"I was going to tell you the story about that one," Nicoli teased back. "True or not it is very entertaining and I thought you might like it. But since you've decided to poke fun I may have to make you wait."

Never the less he clung to her hand as she guided his path out of the water. He found that somehow he didn't mind needing help so much when it came from her. He still didn't want pity, but help was a bit different. Especially when it was given without a single remark about the problem.
"I may have to put quite a bit of my weight against you," Nicoli cautioned as they reach the shore and she held out her hands. He grasped them and trembled slightly as he stood out of the water with her support doing his best not to pull her on top of him instead. He closed his eyes a moment fighting back his embarrassment, suddenly painful aware of how their sopping clothing stuck to them. Though in his case it was far more about the way his dripping pant leg exposed his missing limb, rather than the manner in which Anne's dress clung to her. A blessing in disguise as the next words out of his mouth turned out to be, "I'm sorry, but it'll be better if I can brace against your shoulder."

It was a bit awkward, but Anne turned out to be as good as her word as she didn't let him down until he was beside his leg. He took his time fastening the harness around his knee and checking the straps before standing under his own ability and reaching to give her hand a gentle squeeze of thanks, before turning to look back towards the festival. "I owe you," he stated simply, "both for the swimming lesson and the help. What can I do in return?"

 

[moffnat]

Anne helped Nicoli to his wooden stump with the best of her ability, groaning in petite exhaustion as he was lowered gently to the ground. Nicoli was heavy and strong, much contrasting the queen's small and fragile frame. He had at least a foot of height difference as well. When Nicoli began strapping the wooden leg back onto his body, she put her hands on her hips and panted quietly to herself.

"You...wow," she breathed with a little laugh. "Sorry. You're much bigger than I am, but at least I was able to help."

Anne pulled her long chestnut hair over one shoulder, now reaching at the base of her spine since it was sopping wet and heavy, and squeezed what water she could to keep from getting a massive headache. She liked her long hair, and while it often gave her migraines with how heavy it could be she was able to keep it under control for the most part. However, the pixies seemed to enjoy her hair almost as much as Anne did, and in a whirl of colors they began to braid her hair with flowers and place the crown back upon her head.

"I'll get that snow cat story out of you someday!" Anne teased with an accusatory finger pointed in Nicoli's direction. "Now come on, I'm starving. I can't wait to see how the faeries prepare snail."​

 

[Falcon]

"Well remind me not to ask you for help if I'm wearing my armor," Nicoli joked back, "Though given a few months to wear the stuff everyday all day, you'd probably be as strong as any knight." He meant it as a complement, to say she was capable. He truly believed that if she wanted to she could find a way to match any knight in her guard.

"And if you truly want the snow cat story I supposed I could managed to tell you on the ride back," he gave a long suffering sigh, "provided you can stay awake for it." With a mischievous wink he turned from her and trudged back towards the festivities.

One thing was clear, when faerie folk threw a feast they threw a feast. A long table had been filled with delights of all kinds. Foods he knew, foods he loved, and foods he had never seen before. As the pixies floated around his head and other faeries danced and played games on the law, Nicoli surveyed the spread debating what to try first. Anne may have been excited for the snail, but her knight very quickly found something he thought was far better. In a large silver basin on one end of the table in a beautiful pool of chilled sweet cream floated some of the brightest berries he had ever seen. Beside it rested some sort of flaky bread drizzled over with honey. His face practically glowed with joy as he took a large helping of both, and then sneaking a look at Anne, also helped himself to some smoked fish and fresh vegetables in an attempt to look like he was eating a balanced meal.

 

[moffnat]

Anne made herself a plate with snails, berries, honey and bread, and a whipped cream tart. She sat on the ground against a great willow tree with vines that hung around her like drapes, and she took little bites of each piece of food in turn. The snails tasted like spiced chicken, which seemed odd to her, but they delicious and she was grateful to accept more from a faerie who offered. The berries, cream and tarts were sweeter and more splendid than anything she had ever tasted and the honey with bread made her fingers sticky. Teasingly, she wiped the honey off on Nicoli's arm when he sat beside her.

"Here," she joked. "My present to you."

A band of pixies and faeries alike gathered together with instruments of all sorts of peculiar shapes, playing a gentle tune while other danced along. Anne listened happily as she ate and chuckled at various jokes that were told, letting her dress dry though it clung to her gentle frame. She looked over to Nicoli and offered half of a bread cookie to him.

"Have you tried this one?" she asked with a smile.​

 

[Falcon]

Nicoli frowned at her when the honey was wiped on his arm. He had rolled his sleeves up so the damp fabric wouldn't get in his way as his shirt dried, and she had gotten the syrup all over the area just above his right wrist. He very quickly realized that the only way he was going to get it off without spreading the mess was to lick it. He did so looking something like a sulky ten-year-old with a bruise ego as he sucked the sticky substance from his skin leaving the nearly unnoticeable, fine, dark hair that coated his wrist sticking up at an odd angle. "Thank you for that," he mumbled, "It's always a pleasure to serve as your napkin."A moment later had to stick his own fingers in his mouth for the very same reason.

He took the half cookie as a form of apology and closed his eyes in bliss as he tasted it. "That is good!" the knight praised as he finished his plate, set it aside, and leaned back against the tree. A moment later he found he was humming along with the song the musicians were playing having picked up the rhythm from the first refrain. His voice was deep and smooth and the toe of his good foot tapped along with the melody. "Strange," he sighed when the song was done and the players switched to a new tune, "how something can feel so familiar and yet be completely new." He wasn't exactly talking about the song, but he knew better than to try to explain what he meant.

As he watched the faeries dancing through a parting in the hanging willow branches, he found himself suddenly longing to pull Anne to her feet and join them. Yet as he tipped his head sideways to look at her, he wondered if the idea might not be a bad one. The fact that he was likely to trip all over the place aside, she was still his queen and he did not want to take liberties just because no one was watching. Especially not considering how far he had already been carried away.

 

[moffnat]

Anne finished her plate and handed it to a cleaning faerie that offered to take it for her. She watched the dancing and listened to Nicoli humming along, no longer paying attention the musicians that sang and played. It was phenomenal to the young queen how the voice of one man could bewitch her into such a love-stricken stupor, so lost in the roughness of a hum.

Softly, she chuckled. Anne turned her head towards Nicoli to ask him a question or make a comment about the music--she was no longer sure, she just wanted to talk to him--but when Anne's eyes looked at Nicoli she found his were already upon her locked in a gaze of admiration. She was certain he could see her blush.

"What?" Anne laughed, looking at him strangely. "What are you staring at?"​

 

[Falcon]

Nicoli coughed, and looked at his hands in embarrassment. There was really nothing for it except the truth, or a version of it anyway. To tell her the whole truth, it would ruin the little friendship they had.

"I - ah - well, I was trying to figure out if it would be out of line to ask you for a dance," he started sheepishly, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck and managing to look nothing like the grown man he actually was. "And then it occurred to me that the Captain would have my head if he ever learned of it, and that I'm not nearly as light footed as I once was . . . and that I don't actually know the dance they're currently doing . . ."

In fact the dance in question did actually look fairly complicated. Each partner held one end of a brightly collared ribbon suspended between them. Sometimes it seemed like a normal country dance with the ribbon held instead of each others hands, and at other times it was a wild flurry of steps, so fast Nicoli knew he would never keep up, in which each dancer seemed to be trying to tangle their partner in the ribbon without getting caught themselves. More like a gigantic game then a dance really. A gigantic game full of color and movement and what seemed like such a complexity of rules Nicoli wasn't even entirely sure of what he was watching.

 

[moffnat]

Anne was admittedly very shocked. She looked at him as if he'd just done something crazy, as if he'd caught a fly between his fingers or grown back his leg. She knew that such shock would be expected of her, should be expected of her, but instead of letting it turn her judgment towards the right direction Anne found the corners of her lip tugging upwards into a flirty smile. The queen sat there a moment and basked in his attention before pushing herself to her feet, brushing the dirt from her dress and offering his hands to him for the third time that night.

"What, afraid of a little dance?" Anne teased, though honestly she was immensely flattered at the request. "I would be honored to dance with you, Ser Nicoli. But I admit that I don't know a single step of any faerie dances..."​

 

[Falcon]

"You need only ask and we will be happy to teach, Mother of Mercy, Dear Friend." a voice chirped just outside the screen of the willow branches as Nicoli took her hands and rose to his feet. His ears were decidedly, and noticeably red. He had crossed a line, he knew he had crossed a line, and now she was rewarding him for it.

"My name is Gavil," the Fairy chirped stepping up to them. He looked like a lad nor more than twelve, bare chested in brown breaches with vines wrapped around him like a sash and a daisy behind his ear. His wings, like his eyes, were bottle green, and the curly mop of hair on his head as black as jet. There was a mysterious twinkle in his eye as Gavil looked up at them. "Come," he gestured them both on to a pach of free lawn, "Come!" he flicked his hand and a second later there was a ribbon in it, as green as his eyes.

"We'll have to start with the base, you never get anywhere if you can't learn that. Come on, each of you take and end of the ribbon in your right hand, then stand facing each other about four feet apart, the man on the left." Gavil ran around poking them into place until he had them each in the right spot. "Now, that ribbon always stays in that hand, though you might hold it across your body or over your head. Understand?" When the lad, for Nicoli had to keep reminding himself that the faerie could easily be as old as his grandfather, had been assured that they did understand he continued on, walking them through each step as he spoke.

"First, you extend your right hands to each other, but don't let go of the ribbon, and walk around counter-clockwise. The you extend your left hand and clasp each other's fingers as you circle the opposite direction. After that you circle each other to switch sides and raise the ribbon over your heads as you go around the couple in the space next to you. Dear Friend, you should walk backward so that ribbon is in both of your outside hands and goes over all four head like and arch . . . Then they raise their ribbon and you duck back through, Dear Friend again backward, spin under your own ribbon and retake your original places."

Gavil stared at them for a moment and frowned, his gaze shifted between the humans and the other dancing pairs of Faeries, "too tall" he muttered to himself, and then clapped hind hands, "you'll have to practice with an illusion then!" immediately the wind picked up and seemed to flow into two forms, an illusionary ribbon between them. It was obvious they had been created so that Nicoli and Anne might have another couple their own height to work through the dance with. "Don't worry," Gavil crowed, "we'll go one step at a time, as slow as you need, as many turns as it takes."

 

[moffnat]

Anne caught on as quickly as someone could. Dancing had always been one of her strong suits and pleasurable passtimes, and while being queen had taken much of her spare time away from her there were countless nights when Anne would lose herself to the music in her head and pirouette across the tiles of her chamber. She had almost considered taking lessons again. Almost, until the orange-winged faerie had flown innocently into her life and told her news that would change everything for ReValya, forever.

Anne chuckled as the illusions moved gracefully and she did her best to mirror them, going a bit slower to allow Nicoli a chance to catch up. She held the ribbon gently but without risk of letting it fall, and held Nicoli's hands when it was required and danced around him when the moves told her to do so. Anne giggled as she "accidentally" stepped on Nicoli's good foot, not hard enough to cause any problems but light enough to be titled a tease.

"It's not so hard!" she exclaimed after a few rounds of repeated circles. "Don't you think, Nicoli? It's rather easy once you get the hang of it!"

"You dance with the grace of a faerie, Mother of Mercy." Gavil smiled as he watched the pair. "Your partner, on the other hand..."

"Dances with the greatness of a king!" Anne playfully gave an extra twirl where it didn't belong.​

 

[Falcon]

"I was going to say something about an old goat," Nicoli grumbled as he trod on a loose stone and stumbled a little through the next step, wincing and trying not to grab for his bruised knee. "I did warn you I wasn't very good." Yet in his eyes was a hint of sadness. Once upon a time he had been good with the dance, had been very good. He had been hoping to give the Queen something she'd enjoy while he had the opportunity, while the line had already been crossed, and instead was only holding her back at his cripple's pace.

"The dance does grow infinity more complex as you advance into the next round" Gavin admitted, "Its sort of a game, The pattern gains steps and it become only you and your partner, eventually flowing into a sort of free style as you try to wrap the ribbon around your partner's waist and "catch" them. Some dance for prizes or prestige, I've seen romantic pairs dance where the catchee had to offer something up. usually a kiss, though I do know a couple that dances over a week off of chores . . . though as your partner is injured I do not think it would be advisable to advance that far. I am sorry, Dear Freind, I did not notice before. Perhaps you will visit us again when the lesson will be easier for you?" Gavil smiled kindly and with a wave of his hand both the ribbon and the partners he had provided were gone.

"I shall go and find a healer and see what may be done to ease your recovery. In the mean time, if you wish, I can request they play one of your human waltzes? There are a number we enjoy and no one will complain." The second question was directed solely to Queen Anne as Gavil gave a little bow. Nicoli knew that if it was what she wanted, he would not say no.

 

[moffnat]

Anne sighed, content enough with their little dance to stop for the time being. She felt a bit of shame for not thinking of his bruised knee, so caught up in the thought of dancing with Ser Nicoli that his condition escaped her memory temporarily. The queen thanked the faerie for his offer of medical attention, scratching the back of her neck, wanting to apologize to Nicoli for her selfish ignorance but she also knew that it wasn't something he was partial to speaking of so openly. If only Anne could heal his knee with a kiss--wait! No. She laughed quietly to herself before slipping her arm into Nicoli's, leading him away from the other dancing faeries.

I love him. Gods help me, I'm in love with Nicoli.

"I hear there are games just up ahead," she told him with a bright smile, one that she had worn so often throughout the night that her cheeks were beginning to hurt. "Rings and bottles. That's Diana's favorite game. She plays them at every festival and always wins the best prizes--I keep telling her that an accuracy like that would make her good with a bow and arrow, but she doesn't know any female teachers in ReValya to assist her with learning and I haven't found any either." She chuckled a bit. "So shy, that one. I wonder if I could win something for her!"

Stirred by the idea, Anne left Nicoli's side to rush to one of the small booths, so short that Anne had to sit down in order to see the little bottles clearly. Anne wasn't a tall girl, standing only two inches above the Faerie Queen herself, but it was enough of a difference to cause a problem with the game.

"I'm so sorry! Forgive me, Mother of Mercy!" said the little faerie who attended the booth, a boy child, young for even one of his kin. He looked no older than five to the human eye. "I didn't plan on having humans here. You're a bit too tall for a faerie and Dear Friend is utterly hopeless, but I hope you can still enjoy the games."

"I plan to," Anne chuckled. "Don't worry." She picked up the three rings and looked back to Nicoli, waving him over to her side for good luck.​

 

[Falcon]

He never wanted to see that smile vanish, Nicoli thought aimlessly as Anne led him around. He was content to simply walk with her on his arm because he knew it wouldn't last. Just let me pretend a little longer, Let me pretend that it might be . . .

He closed his eyes, soaking in her voice as she spoke of Diana and the rings. Letting the sound wash over him, only to open them again when she suddenly left his side. He looked for her and sighed with relief to see she had only sat down before one of the small game booths. One that contained, I should have guessed, rings.

Finding his way to her was easy, sitting again was not. The cool water might have felt good, but the unanticipated exercise provided by the dance had cause the limb to begin to stiffen. Though he managed to lower himself awkwardly to the ground, muffling his grunt by biting his lip, it was not a comfortable experiance. Once down, however, he found the lawn was heaven, filled with lush grass that grew so well and tightly that it make the perfect carpet. Nicoli couldn't help laying back in the foliage with a sigh.

"I was thinking," Nicoli started as Anne played her game, tucking an arm behind his head, "Tristen's daughter is a fair shot with a bow. She helps her father hunting sometimes, and she is, if I remember correctly, of an age with Diana. The girl's not a professional teacher by any means, but I'm sure she be able to give instruction on the basics."

 

[moffnat]

"Really?" Anne asked, tossing the first ring only to miss. "She's fourteen, so the same age as Diana. I suppose that would be good. Diana is always in need of friends, and as much as I encourage her to meet new people she will always remain hesitant. I hope she grows out of it by the time she reaches adulthood, though it's not something I can entirely blame her for with the weight of all she's seen and experienced. But I'll keep the thought in mind."

Anne tossed the second and third rings, only to have both of them end up in the dirt or wedged between bottles. She gave a great laughed and jested with the booth runner about how she'd have a better chance at dancing with ribbons than throwing rings, but it was all amiable and nothing was meant as a rude remark. Anne looked over her shoulder to where Nicoli lay resting in the grass, purely relaxed, and with a quick goodbye to the child faerie she was at his side once more, laying beside him in the foliage.

"I'm terrible at rings," she concluded with a chuckle. "I would make an awful bowman."

Anne looked up to the stars and tried to find the shapes that he had pointed to earlier when she had so foolishly asked him to swim with her, so selfishly dragged an injured man into a place where he didn't belong. She wasn't oblivious to his struggle to sit, and while her instinct was to help him Anne knew he wouldn't like that in the slightest bit.

"How is your knee?" she asked gently, reaching out to place a hand on it before realizing how incredibly outrageous that would be, and she drew her hand back on the spot.​