Aftermath

[Blue]

What a terrible day. The combination of her maid running off and the fight with a dreadful girl in the market certainly did not make it a happy day.
 
Lady Lucia walked down the main cobbled path towards the Inner Gates. Her faded blue dress was coated in dirt and torn at the hems. Strands of soft brown hair fell around her face despite the attempt to keep it restrained in a messy braid. Lucia’s light eye make-up was smeared but had been smudged enough that it wasn’t too noticeable.
 
She had started walking with quick angry steps, her high-heels clicking against the path. However as the anger from the argument in the market had begun to wear off, Lucia’s pace began to slow. Her face was flushed with humiliation. Her eyes becoming watery once more. New tears rolled down her rosy cheeks.
 
Lucia stopped on the path, not wanting to walk any farther. She just wished she was home already. Covering her face with her hands, she stood there in the road crying. What would her mother say when she got home? Most likely nothing more than what a dumb personal maid and that Lucia would get a new one soon. Her father would want to find out the peasant who had hurt Lucia. Lucia found she didn’t know the other girl’s name. Most likely her father would spend a week trying to find out before giving it up.
 
Her cheek still hurt. The impact of the punch that the street girl had given her was becoming even more noticeable minutes later. Lucia feared a bruise. Bruises were one of the hardest things to cover with powder and one of the most scandalous injuries a lady could have. She would be sure rumors of abuse from her mother or abuse from some made-up lover would be concocted. The ladies of the court wouldn’t believe that the bruise actually came from a street person. After all, a noble wouldn’t let such a thing happen.
 
Lucia ran her palm against her tear-stained cheek. She tried to stop crying for one more time, but found it was hopeless. A heart-wrenching sob left her lips as more tears fell from her gray eyes. The front of her dress was beginning to become stained with the salty tears.  Lucia tried to ignore the fact that she was crying alone on a main path outside the innerkeep. She wanted to ignore her surroundings and pretend to be in her own little world just for the moment.

[Lelio]

Orin had been walking down the path happily, Wrapped around him was a coat that he had made from a blanket and some fur, at his side he was carrying a bag containing some of his paintings that he had been planning on taking to the marketplace to try to sell for some extra money. Thanks to his brother, Orin was never desperate for money, but he did try to make his own way as much as he could.
 
Though his appearance seemed very common, he was deffinetly cleaner than the average peasant, and the manner in which he carried himself seemed to project nobility, as he headed cheerfully down the path.
 
It was then that he spotted a lady who was obviously very distressed. She seemed to be a lady of high class, but someone had hurt her. Had she been robbed by bandits? What sort of scoundrels would attack a woman? That was most unacceptable.
 
"Pardon me m\'lady..." He said gently "You seem to be in some sort of trouble...might I be of assistance?"

[Blue]

Lucia let out a shocked gasp as soon as she heard the voice. She looked up to find the source of the question. Noticing a young man, she quickly surveyed him. He seemed too clean to be a bandit or thief, but was wearing too common of clothes to be a noble. Lucia pouted, calming her crying a bit.
 
"I..." She began but then a hiccup caused her to stop. Putting her hands over her mouth, her already flushed face blushed. Lucia took a couple of minutes to get a hold of herself. She didn\'t want someone to worry too much about her. Especially not a stranger. Though perhaps this young man could escort her back to the estate.
 
This idea rang in her head. It was starting to become late afternoon, and it still was a while till she would reach the gates. Who knows what sort of evil lurked about the path waiting for helpless young ladies. It would help if she had someone to be with her so she wasn\'t all alone. Then again, if she arrived to the estate with a commoner, who was male no less, the gossip would be everywhere the next day.
 
"Thank you for being so considerate..." Lucia began in a quivering voice as she tried to keep back any new tears, "If it wouldn\'t trouble you too much, could you perhaps," She paused, trying to make sure she was making the right decision, "...escort me to the Inner gates?" Lucia had decided on a half-half decision. If she just went to the Inner Gates with an escort perhaps no other nobles would see.

[Lelio]

"Certainly m\'lady." He said with a bit of a polite bow. He knew that there could certainly be great danger lurking for a noble lady traveling all alone, and would certainly do anything that he could to prevent further harm from befalling this young lady. If he did nothing, then whatever happend to her would be on his hands, at least that was the way he saw it.
 
"Is there anything else that I might do for you? You seem to be injured. I do hope that it is nothing serious." He said. He was a bit curious as to what had happend to this lady, though he felt that it would not be polite to ask. If she chose to volunteer the information that would be one thing, but he wasn\'t going to pry.
 
"By the way, I should introduce myself: my name is Orin Airell, son of the late Lord Cedric Airell." He said. As he had spent time with both nobles and peasants (and fell somewhere inbetween) he knew that many of them had a common fear or hatred of each other, and it would be most prudent to seem more of a noble when in the presence of a noble, and more of a commoner when with commoners.

[Blue]

Lucia gave a small sigh of relief when the young man agreed to escort her. She wiped her hands against her cheeks trying to get rid of the tears before offering a weak smile. The young lady was much too worn out emotionally to try and act confident.
 
When the male asked about her injuries, Lucia waved a hand lightly in dismissal, "No, I\'m fine. Some street girl just decided to take her bitterness out on me." She answered back. The statement was filled with contempt as Lucia thought back to the girl from the market.
 
As the young man introduced himself, Lucia listened with concentration. He was a son of a Lord, then that would make this young man a noble. Lucia wondered why he was wearing such common clothes then. Her thoughts searched for Orin\'s father\'s name, trying to place what she knew about this family. It sounded vaguely familiar but Lucia couldn\'t find anything out of place about it.
 
She brought her attention instead to introduce herself. Despite her filthy dress, mussed up hair, and flushed face, Lucia curtsied in only a pure lady could. The young lady spoke in a calmer voice now that her cries were gone, "It\'s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Orin. I am Lady Lucia Callaghan, first-daughter of Duke Callaghan and Lady Giselle." She paused, straightening from the curtsy. Lucia folded her delicate hands in front of her, waiting for Orin to start walking before her, "I thank you so much for escorting me. I hope I\'m not bothering you." She\'d feel terrible if Orin had business somewhere.

[Lelio]

Orin nodded, understanding when she explained about how she had recieved the injury. He knew that many of the commoners were extremely bitter towards the nobles, and not without cause. Many of the nobles more than deserved the anger they were met with, though this young lady did not seem to be a horrible person, though that may have simply been a result of her distressed state.
 
He blushed slightly when she called him Sir Orin. He was certainly not worthy of a title. "It\'s just Orin I\'m afraid. I own no land. I\'m but a humble painter." he stated. Making the lady more comfortable with him by saying who his father was was one thing, but he wasn\'t about to lie, whether by actually lying or by not stating a truth.
 
"I am honored to meet you, Lady Lucia." He said.
 
"Don\'t worry about me, I was merely planning on heading to the market to sell some paintings, but a matter like that is nothing compared to the safety of a lady"

[Blue]

Lucia felt like going back to that street girl to show Orin to her. A painter. Isn\'t that what the girl had said never existed. At least this triumph was there for a second before Lucia realized that Orin probably had a noble\'s childhood when growing up. So maybe him being a painter didn\'t mean he fought the bitter odds with survival.
 
She brought her attention back to Orin with a smile. Lucia\'s cheeks stayed flushed but now it was due to the gentleman words that came from Orin. She was use to be flattered by men of the court. After all it was the way they were suppose to speak to a lady. Still, she was complimented by Orin\'s kindness.
 
"You flatter me," She paused, remembering that the young man didn\'t want to be called sir, "Painter Orin." The lady smiled sincerely, "What sort of paintings do you do?" Lucia asked. She wanted to take the focus of the conversation away from her dreadful state and her mind away from the market-place incident.

[Lelio]

Orin was pleased that he seemed to be doing well in speaking to Lady Lucia. He didn\'t spend much time around nobles, let alone Ladies. Any nobles that he spoke to were usually Lords that he was working for or, more rarely, his brother.
 
"I paint a great deal of paintings of the Gods, mostly Talon." True Orin himself worshipped Adora, but most nobles worshipped Talon, and so that was where the money was. Commoners could not usually pay much for a painting. "I also love to paint animals and trees...floral life, just life in general...everything that\'s beautiful."
 
Orin smiled as he spoke of the paintings that he made. Painting was clearly his passion. He smiled and pulled out a small painting of a rabbit near a bush covered in a thin sparkling layer of snow that had been rolled up in hte bag that was hanging at his side with the other paintings.

[Blue]

Lucia nodded, listening intently to Orin talk about the paintings. She had once tried painting herself. In one of her classes, she had been suppose to spend a month trying to paint. Lucia and her tutor soon learned that the lady held no artistic ability with a paintbrush. They cut that section of the art classes to a week instead.
 
When the rabbit painting was brought out, Lucia gave a soft squeal of delight. "Oh, that is so pretty!" She said. Of course, any painting but her own would seem pretty to Lucia. Her hands clapped together in glee. "You\'re very talented." She complimented.
 
Her gray eyes scanned the painting a few more times before looking down the road. It was becoming later in the day and colder as well. Lucia hoped they would get to the gates soon. Even if she didn\'t mind talking to this new person, she did still want to get home as soon as possible to clean up.

[Lelio]

Orin smiled and blushed at how much she liked his painting. He was always pleased to recieve praise on his work, especially seeing as his painting was all he ever had done to deserve praise.
 
He looked off down the street when he saw Lady Lucia doing so. Yes, she would likely be getting nervous about how late it was getting and that she was still not hime.
 
"It won\'t be much longer." He stated. He knew the area. He knew that they were getting rather near to the gates, even though they were not yet in view.
 
He rolled the painting back up as they continued walking.
 
"So M\'lady, what is it that intrests you?"

[Blue]

Lucia looked back at Orin when the question was asked. What interests her? She paused for a moment. Many a time, this had been asked at parties by new guests. Lucia usually answered music. That way, it would be an excuse to showcase her musical skills. Lucia was interested by music as she was shopping and reading. Not nearly as interested however as she was in learning.
 
For a lady to be interested in only learning was a terrible thing. Ladies were there to look pretty, not to learn anything but music, art appreciation, and etiquette. Lucia didn\'t mind this philosophy of noble life, but she couldn\'t help but want to learn. So whenever such a question was asked, she answered with one of her lesser hobbies.
 
"I enjoy music." Lucia answered with a smile. She brought a hand up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Lucia looked back down the path before bringing her gaze back towards Orin. She was unsure whether or not she should keep the conversation going or if Orin wanted to ask more questions. If Orin wouldn\'t speak up anymore, Lucia would try to find some empty conversation piece to talk about. Something of the sort like the weather.

[Lelio]

"Yes, music is truly one of the more beautiful things in life, though unfortunately difficult to paint." he said. He wondered if music was truly what Lady Lucia loved more than anything. She didn\'t seem to have much passion for it in her voice when she spoke. Was it because she didn\'t have much passion for it, and was merely saying something that would be an acceptable answer, or was it that she didn\'t feel that it was appropriate for her to exhibit passion for anything?
 
But then, she could have simply been too tired to show much passion.
 
"So, do you play music in any way...or do you just enjoy listening to it?" Orin asked.

[Blue]

Lucia looked over with a more sincere smile. She wondered for a moment what painted music would look like before turning her attention to Orin\'s question. A strand of brown hair fell in front of her eyes. Lucia promptly tucked it behind her ear before answering.
 
"I play piano, flute, and violin. I wish I could sing, but unfortunatly it\'s a bit too... difficult for me." Lucia gave a playful giggle at this, remembering her singing teacher\'s distress at Lucia\'s pitch problems with the high notes, "I do enjoy listening to music very much." Lucia answered back to the questions in a smooth fashion. She looked back towards the trail as she walked, "So tell me, Painter Orin, do you listen to music as well?" She paused before adding on another question, "Have you ever been to a concert?"
 
Lucia picked up the sides of her skirt a bit as she walked over a tiny puddle from the last rain. Though it wouldn\'t have mattered, the hem of her skirt was already ruined.

[Lelio]

"Yes, I very much like music" Orin said. "I\'ve been to several concerts, more when I was growing up than recently, but I do very much like music. I\'ve never been very good at it at all. I can sing a little, but certainly not well...and I\'ve never been able to play any instruments." He said.
 
"I have some more...noble clothes for when my brother invites me to some sort of function, concerts, parties... which he does often. I could live the life of a noble all the time if I wished it. My brother is wealthy and very kind to me, he\'d give me most anything I asked him for, but I prefer a more simple life. Painting is my passion. It\'s all I need."

[Blue]

Lucia listened to Orin\'s words carefully. She watched the ground intently as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. The lady wondered about what Orin was saying. Why would anyone want to become a commoner when they could so easily have a great life? It seemed entirely idiotic yet at the same time rebellious. What an adventure that would be! Taking on a commoner life instead of a noble one.
 
Lucia\'s thoughts went towards the girl from the market. She probably wouldn\'t agree with Orin. In fact, Lucia was almost sure Orin would get beaten up too by just saying that he preferred living like a commoner instead of embracing the wealth he was born with. Then again, wouldn\'t that make the girl contradictive... She wouldn\'t like nobles or commoners then. Lucia frowned as she tried to figure this out.
 
It was only a few moments later she had noticed that Orin was finished talking. Lucia glanced over at Orin, "Oh... but can\'t you be a noble and paint also? You don\'t have to be a commoner to ignore the arts." Lucia spoke up. She believed it would be better to be an artistic noble than an artistic commoner. After all, nobles could buy supplies and go places more than commoners. At this thought, Lucia, for a split-second, almost understood what the girl in the market had meant. But Lucia quickly shoved that aside and waited for Orin\'s response.