Rolling Stone

[Harlequin]

Pheobe\'s time at the Broken Wheel had been cheerful, and relatively well-spent, but the night was growing steadily darker, and it was clear that she was not going to make enough for a bed and a meal in that place, so she took a bow and moved on. Her next destination was the Scowling Boar, as she was already dressed her best. A jaunty grin graced her features, and there was a spring in her step, though the shadows crept in as the sun got ever lower in the sky. As they say, rolling stones gather no moss.
It was not safe, for a young lady out at night, she\'d often been told. But she\'d never run into trouble that a good story couldn\'t patch up, and she was a fair hand with the little daggers in her boots, besides.
She\'d rather sing a free song to a wannabe highwaymen at night then sleep in a doorway during daylight.

[Existentially Odd]

Captain Wilson straightened from her crouched position - she\'d been prodding at a grate in the roadway to check it was secured and no one could crawl down into the sewer systems (or up from it) - and spied a woman headed her way. She frowned to herself, her body tensing.
   
   Her afternoon had gone even worse than her morning had and it seemed likely that this person would be the death knell she\'d been anticipating would fall ever since she’d conversed with Lieutenant Montgomery just after mid-day and found him ill-prepared for his duties. She’d hurried off after her conversation with him to her home to change into warmer clothes that would help her withstand the cold weather for longer periods, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and an air of foreboding hovering over her.
   
   That she’d returned to the palace gates via the mercantile area had been her greatest mistake of all. The fates had decreed it necessary that she spy Lord Dagger with yet another young strumpet on his arm – not even the exotic one he’d been eyeing off at Temple – as he ushered her into a business that was supposed to be closed on a Day of Worship. The glimpse had been brief and had stopped her in her tracks, mouth falling open ever-so-momentarily. It had been him… but who was the girl? She’d looked half his age! Wilson had been out checking the route for the Prince\'s ride ever since, her rage growing steadily in its coddling blanket of confusion.
   
   For Dagger, there was no sure answer.  From this woman, she needed just one.
   
   “Hark, what is your business here?” she called as she stepped closer, a hand up to let the woman know that it was she who was being addressed.
   
   Wilson was fairly sure she could be seen in the meagre light, though as she attempted to look the stranger over, it struck her how dark the day had become. A glance behind her confirmed that the sun was truly gone, for the street lamps on the main road to the Innerkeep had been lit without her noticing (poking about off the beaten track as she was). She and this woman were the only ones in plain sight.

[Harlequin]

Pheobe\'s smile seemed the polar, cheerful opposite of the captain\'s mood as she made her reply. Pheobe had never had much problem with the law, lest they turned out to be corrupt – and those had been some of the worst encounters of her short years on the road. She\'d left many a town with a blackened eye and rumbling belly because the local constabulry had turned good folk against her. She\'d lost everything, once, fleeing police accusations of witchcraft. The smile didn\'t go away, but her words were careful, in case Wilson turned out to be one of those, "Just passing, captain." She dipped her head in greeting, "To the Scowling boar I\'m bound, but I can always pause a time if you\'ve coin to spare for a song." Always the working girl, despite the need for caution. Stepping lightly had always been something of a relative term for the young bard.

[Existentially Odd]

Somewhat surprised by the young woman\'s audacity, Wilson\'s eyes widened and her suspicions lessened immediately. The stranger was obviously a travelling minstrel - and not likely one with an eye for eliminating any royal offspring - but Lam wouldn\'t be Captain of the Guard if she accepted everything at face value.  She lowered the hand that had been raised, tucking it into the warm pocket of her wool-lined coat.
 
"The Scowling Boar will be closed for performances and drinking - \'t\'always is, on a day of worship."
 
She could only assume that this was news to the young woman, that she was a stranger to Oberon and its ways. The captain was aware that The Broken Wheel ignored the law of remaining closed on the holiest day of the week - conveniently touting the philosophy that Adora encouraged the celebration of life in every form, and what was a celebration without a drink? For the sake of conciliation, the guards ignored this flagrant violation of their authority because it was, technically, beyond the walls of the castle and by informed ignorance, the status quo remained. She also knew that the Falcon\'s Mask had been found open a time (or fifty!) as well, but the most genteel inn of them all respected the ruling that beverage consumption and revelry was forbidden on Worship Day and its doors were never open to the public at such times. Besides which, only the ruling class frequented the place, and they were vehement law followers... in their own manner.
 
"If you\'ve got coin and a good fist for banging, you could get some attention and a room, though," the captain offered.

[Harlequin]

Pheobe\'s ever-present grin didn\'t falter a bit as she listened to the woman, though inwardly she cursed herself. On the road, one tended to forget the holy days, and there were only o many towns that actually bided by the laws governing such things. The last township she\'d stayed in had no qualms with letting any kind of drinking dancing and whoring going on any day of the week.
"Ah, of course." The bard sighed theatrically, "And one day to rest, for our Lady, that is her due." She nodded with a solemnity that was almost mocking, but not near enough to cause justifiable offence.
"Puts me in a quandry, this,  for a fist I\'ve got, sure enough" she said, "And a voice for singing and a fiddle for playing, but not enough coin for a room, I\'m afriad." She laughed, a booming sound that could easily fill a room, "But such is the life I\'ve chosen, and I\'d trade it for not other." She gestured expansively at the dusty path ahead of them, "But come! Enough of me, would you care to accompany a lonely traveller to town? For the shadows grow long, and I hear it isn\'t safe for a girl on her own." As always, her tone was friendly and warm, but just on the edge of mocking.

[Existentially Odd]

The captain\'s lips twisted thoughtfully, repressing her grin. She got the feeling that this bawdy woman felt no fear, no matter where she might stray, and that her words were of the tongue-in-cheek variety. Wilson had failed to ever point out to any woman (that appeared capable of looking after herself) that it was dangerous on the streets alone; it seemed a hypocritical thing to do. And this woman seemed to be stating the fact in a manner of jest that well suited the captain\'s humour. Her mood lifted slightly.

"I suppose I could do that," she considered, spinning subtly on the balls of her feet so that she stood sideways, opening the path before them. She had finished her inspection of the roadway from the palace to the drawbridge to the limit of her abilities at such late notice, and all that was left to do now was to get a full night\'s rest in preparation for the morrow. In some ways she hoped it would snow heavily through the night, forcing a cancellation upon the excursion... but the skies remained clear and more snowfall seemed unlikely.
 
 
   “This way, Miss…?” she enquired, gesturing towards the inner gates with a hand extracted from the warm depths of a pocket, eyes focussed intently on the stranger. She wondered if she would get an honest name and wanted to see the woman’s expression when she spoke it, in order to guess.

[Harlequin]

The bard grabbed the hand that had been extended to indicate the way in a warm handshake, "Thibideaux," she finished enthusiastically for the Captain, "Pheobe, though, is what you can call me, as I\'ve never been anyone\'s miss nor ma\'am, and I plan to keep it that way." Her grin widened as she released the Captain\'s hand and started along the path, hopefully with the other at her side, "And this way seems fine as any, as ways go. And it\'ll go quicker should you deign to tell me more of yourself and your fine township as we make our way, Captain,"
She didn\'t ask the other woman\'s name, figuring that it would come out in time. Some people could be very protective of their names, she knew. Pheobe\'s gait took on a slight bounce as they went; her feet were happiest dancing, but they were content to make a game of walking when that wasn\'t appropriate.

[Existentially Odd]

Blinking at the swift conversation that flowed so easily from the young woman, the captain walked beside her, trying to digest her rapid words.  She was impressed that someone who seemed to know so little about the city, picked her as Captain of the Guard nevertheless.
 
"Yes, but... if you have no coin, then where are you bound?"  Information about their surrounds was one thing, but the dilemma of where the newcomer would sleep that night was of more interest to Wilson at that point; she didn\'t need another corpse in the snow on the morrow.

[Harlequin]

Pheobe shrugged. It didn\'t look as though she could handle a whole night of the cold, though her cloak was heavy, "I\'ll find something to do with m\'self for the night. Always do, Probably always will." he grinned at the other woman. She\'d marked her for a higher ranking officer when she\'d first beens topped on the road. Your average underling was usually much more hesitant, and \'captain\' was a fairly generic title for higher ranking officers, so she\'d taken a stab, and gotten it right, "No need to worry about me, lass, worst comes to worst, I\'m sure you\'ve got a nice warm cell for me somewhere." She was grinning from ear to ear.

[Existentially Odd]

The captain laughed outright; the woman\'s sense of humour was somewhat infectious, she decided (she also thought she would be an excellent performer and suddenly the idea of a song was not a bad one - she\'d have to try and catch a show sometime).

"You think I should arrest you?  Just to give you somewhere to sleep?" she scoffed... but her eyes twinkled.

It wouldn\'t be the first time she\'d taken pity on a loner walking the streets, though she had to pick her candidates wisely. She couldn\'t take just anyone to the cells and leave them there overnight with no paperwork filled out. She had to be able to trust that they\'d keep their mouth shut about the safe bed, else she\'d be dealing with a spree of petty crimes in the name of a night of security (not that that hadn\'t happened a time or two, either, but the paperwork on such things was horse shit and annoying to say the least and she would do everything in her power to avoid it!). She also had to feel such a visitor was worth her ordering her men to keep their mouths shut and violate the sanctity of the law, in the name of mercy.

Phoebe could be so deserving...

"Pray, what would I charge you with? And will I be forced to rough you up a little to subdue you, or will you go willingly?" she murmured, the tease hidden well within her deep monotone of a voice.

[Harlequin]

"Well," she said, making an overly dramatic  thoughtful face, "If I sing you a song, you can arrest me for making merry on a day of penitence." She grinned -- well, she\'d never really stopped grinning, but the same grin got bigger -- "I\'m sure your fine constable corps  wouldn\'t mind having a song or two, themselves, no strings attached, when I awake next evening, refreshed and good as new from alovely days sleep." She slept late into the afternoon, getting to bed very late most nights. It certainly wouldn\'t be the first time she\'d slept in jail by choice, and most decidedly not the first time she\'d slept in a cell for any other reason.
"And you can be most assured, madam, that such a kindness will not be broadcast to the public. For their own good, you know."

[Existentially Odd]

Wilson snorted gently, her smile as wide as Phoebe\'s as she shook her head.  The woman had gall, that was for sure!

"Evening!" she exclaimed.  "That\'s a luxury you won\'t be afforded, but I daresay I can find you a bed for this night. Your discretion will be most appreciated, in fact; for I have no interest in the paperwork your visit would conjure.” She walked beside her companion for a few moments of silence, before a wicked idea occurred to her. Her eyes danced as she kept them trained on the road ahead, the gates for which they were bound now in sight.
   
   “I tell you what; I\'ll be out on the land all day tomorrow, so let us see just how long you can keep my guards charmed for… a little test between you and I, you understand.” She spared Phoebe a glance, to see how she was taking this jocular offering. “I\'ll wager their sense of duty against your wiles and propose you\'ll be gone when I return as the sun sinks next evening, for I shall order them at morning\'s first light that that is what I wish for. Should I be proved right, I will accept your acknowledgement of being bettered in the form of a song.”
   
   She smirked, confident that she would be victorious in this – her word was never questioned by her men – but knowing that either way it went, she would win. If a sassy stranger with pretty songs could compromise her orders, it would be in the city’s best interests for Lam to know. Weakness could not be tolerated in the ranks of Oberon’s defence. By the same token, if her orders were followed, she’d still get to see the bard perform, and perhaps the song would reflect the strength and mercy of Oberon’s guards – another feather in the hat of the keep’s reputation.

[Harlequin]

(sorry it took me so obscenely long -.-)
"You drive a hard bargain, lass," The bard took a moment to consider, but only a moment. "But it sounds like a good one, to me," she decided, grinning expansively and walking backwards to extend a gloved hand to the other woman.
She liked games, and any publicity was good publicity, in her eyes. as long as her name was out there, the money would come.
Plus, even if she lost – and she never really played anything to win – she\'d have gotten a night\'s sleep, which was certainly more than she could\'ve ever said otherwise.
"That settled – you are my shepherd, captain, my fluffy little behind follows where you lead." She stepped aside to let the captain pass, bowing dramatically at the waist, and holding her arms out to indicate the path ahead, with a signifigant flourish.

[Existentially Odd]

Wilson laughed outright, amused by the cheeky wit of her companion as she playfully shook her hand. Yes, it would be an interesting thing to see how her stay at the lockup went, indeed; the captain was beginning to suspect that the other just might have the charisma to pull it off, and get herself an extended stay in the jail cells despite her orders.

"This way then, little lamb," she joked, her step not faltering despite Phoebe\'s jaunty moves. Theye were soon walking shoulder to shoulder again. After a couple of steps taken in silence, she decided she\'d actually had her mood altered most favourably by the bard, and that she hadn\'t exactly been fair in her terms. "So what is it you would demand should you prove me wrong? Or will I only find that out when I return on the morrow\'s eve and find you there in the cells, still carolling my guards?"

[Harlequin]

Pheobe had not considered this; what she wanted out of this, "Well, well, well, that is a conundrum..." she tipped her head back and tapped her chin thoughtfully with a finger, "A regular enigma, if you will. I suppose I\'ll take whatever you offer up, captain. For either way, I\'m damn certain I\'ll come out of this with something I didn\'t have before." She grinned from ear to ear. She didn\'t plan on winning – not that she planned on losing, either – but it was always fun to taunt your opponent, if only gently.

[Existentially Odd]

"I suppose you just might, at that," Wilson conceded with a breathy exhalation of a laugh. Her mind turned to exactly how she would introduce the woman to her guards and before she knew it, they were at the business side of the guardhouse quadrangle. They\'d arrived at the administration block and it faced the heart of the Innerkeep, presenting a solid, two-storeyed face of watchfulness to those passing by. At the very centre was the entrance to the long wing and this was where she led Phoebe.
   
Continued in Sleepover
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