"Well, that was before we became sisters: in our hearts, if not by blood." the blue-eyed girl beamed back at the sloe-eyed daughter of Tancred.
Saifya smiled right back but then asked if the sisters wanted a bit of privacy, she would gladly retire out of earshot. She did not put any credence that the young women would plan anything. Well, she didn't know the new one but she had trust in Rigunth.
"By no means, My Lady, what I have to say is fit for your ears, too: though Father Ancelin may wish to withdraw, as what I have to say may not be palatable to his ears." said the warrior-nun quite bluntly, but the man merely shrugged and smiled his usual gentle, knowing smile. "...And that is, that you must at all cost avoid returning to Great Orm and the into the power of our uncle the Tyrant, dear sister, for I believe your life might well be forfeit should you do so!"
Safiya nodded, then glanced to Rigunth. She knew Offal to be one of the most treacherous vile men in the land, this did not surprise her.
"Your sister is more than welcome to stay here with me. She will always have an honored place at our table," Safiya declared.
"Your sister is more than welcome to stay here with me. She will always have an honored place at our table," Safiya declared.
Rigunth beamed and squeezed Safiya's hand and the Hospitaller gave a nod and a short but grateful "Good. Thank you, My Lady."
Father Ancelin gave a funny little look, as if to say well, that's all very nice, but...
"You do not think that meet, Father?" Rigunth asked, a little put out that, just by pulling a face, he could rain on her parade quite so thoroughly. He shrugged.
"Oh, I am sure that you will be as safe as a pea in a pod, My Lady Rigunth. But how much safer still were you to, say, travel south?" he asked, as if the thought had only just occurred to him.
"But then we would end up in Brydd! Why on Aereth would we want to go there? Apart from the fact that it is a fairytale land of high fashion and elegant manners and all sorts of other wonders, where handsome knights do gallant challenges at the whims of their ladies fair, and the Sun always shines and everything is bright and gay. Oh, and food is plentiful and most skillfully dressed and the wines are the finest in the world. But apart from that, I understand it is a horrible place." the girl said roundly, sticking up for her Saskian prejudice like a good 'un.
"You do not think that meet, Father?" Rigunth asked, a little put out that, just by pulling a face, he could rain on her parade quite so thoroughly. He shrugged.
"Oh, I am sure that you will be as safe as a pea in a pod, My Lady Rigunth. But how much safer still were you to, say, travel south?" he asked.
Safiya looked askance, "South? What for?" He was also apparently forgetting Rigunth was technically still a captive at Sartell however kindly she was being treated.
"But then we would end up in Brydd! Why on Aereth would we want to go there? Apart from the fact that it is a fairytale land of high fashion and elegant manners and all sorts of other wonders, where handsome knights do gallant challenges at the whims of their ladies fair, and the Sun always shines and everything is bright and gay. Oh, and food is plentiful and most skillfully dressed and the wines are the finest in the world. But apart from that, I understand it is a horrible place."
"Nonsense, that is what the Bryddians would have us believe!" Safiya scoffed, even more a Saski. Her father had told her all about Brydd though she was unsure if he had ever actually been there? Probably not.
"Nonsense, that is what the Bryddians would have us believe!" Safiya scoffed, even more a Saski.
Ancelin chuckled indulgently. Saskian women were a dour lot, even beautiful young ladies such as these, who should, by their years and their looks, be amongst the gayest creatures on Aereth.
"Much of what Lady Rigunth has to say is true, if rather fancifully put." he chimed in, his hands clasped before him and his chin on his chest, as if either in great thought or nodding off after a heavy lunch. "However, there is more to be had in Brydd than mere Aerethly merriment and pleasure."
"To what do you allude, Father?" Rigunth asked, her smooth brow wrinkling.
Ancelin chose his words carefully, and directed them chiefly to Safiya.
"Your Father has won a signal victory, My Lady. He is a proud man, and is flushed with victory. Offo seems weak. That makes my task much the more difficult. For it is my duty to try and broker a truce and bring peace to this troubled land."
Rigunth looked huffy "Hmm. Your duty to Offo, who started this whole trouble by sending me into Grayfall with those awful traitorous mercenaries!" she objected.
"No, my child, my duty to Ceros!" the Father countered "I serve Ceros, not Offo..." he collected his thoughts, he must not be distracted from what he had to say by these three young beauties.
"Offo has lost a battle. But he continues the war, by other means. You must know that he has sent his daughter Fredegund into Brydd, where she will meet with the Royal family there, and the powerful nobles who control their armies." he warned.
Rigunth actually laughed out loud.
"Oh, but we both like Fredegund, don't we Saffy?" she smiled, though her sister Audovera looked somewhat more thoughtful. "What possible harm could her visit to a silly old Tournament in Brydd do to Lord Tancred?"
Much of what Lady Rigunth has to say is true, if rather fancifully put." he chimed in, his hands clasped before him and his chin on his chest, as if either in great thought or nodding off after a heavy lunch. "However, there is more to be had in Brydd than mere Aerethly merriment and pleasure."
Safiya would believe her father over this priest, holy man or not. Besides, he had been sent by Offo, hardly an endorsement for the fellow.
"And what is that then?" Safiya sounded dubious.
"Your Father has won a signal victory, My Lady. He is a proud man, and is flushed with victory. Offo seems weak. That makes my task much the more difficult. For it is my duty to try and broker a truce and bring peace to this troubled land."
"Ha! Offo IS weak!" Safiya declared confidently inspired by a distinct bias toward her father.
Rigunth looked huffy "Hmm. Your duty to Offo, who started this whole trouble by sending me into Grayfall with those awful traitorous mercenaries!" she objected.
The priest of course denied it.
"Offo has lost a battle. But he continues the war, by other means. You must know that he has sent his daughter Fredegund into Brydd, where she will meet with the Royal family there, and the powerful nobles who control their armies." he warned.
Rigunth actually laughed out loud.
"Oh, but we both like Fredegund, don't we Saffy?" she smiled, though her sister Audovera looked somewhat more thoughtful. "What possible harm could her visit to a silly old Tournament in Brydd do to Lord Tancred?"
Safiya remembered Fredegund from the woman's earlier captivity in control of her father. Tancred could have treated her brutally, he had not. He could have even killed her...disemboweled her. But he did not because her father was a merciful man.
"Tournaments mean nothing. Only battles and sieges matter," Safiya declared.
"Tournaments mean nothing. Only battles and sieges matter," Safiya declared.
"I'm sure that they are fun to watch, though. And good practice for the knights." put in Rigunth. For, truth to tell, she took guilty pleasure in hearing about the fripperies of the South, although she was wary of saying so in front of the more xenophobic Safiya.
Father Ancelin nodded.
"There is much to be said for both your opinions, my ladies." he said, diplomatically "What think you, Sister Audovera?" he asked, feigning mild indifference.
"The tourneys of the south are mere showy spectacles for empty-headed ninnies. My lady Safiya is right, the activities in the lists and upon the melee field are, of themselves, of no importance whatsoever" she said boldly, and Rigunth went a little red. "However, it is said that such gatherings are a place where the great meet and mingle without the constraint of court etiquette and where deals are made and reputations burnished or tarnished. You may be sure that our cousin Fredegund will use her unholy and unnatural glamour on whomsoever wins the joust and the favour of Princess Clothild to further Offo's ungodly ends." she suddenly found interest in a nearby bush and averted her gaze from theirs. "... or even turn her eerie charms upon the Princess herself."
She was doubly embarrassed: not only because she was rumour-monging about the proclivities of the heir to the Bryddic throne, but also because such insidious rumours were also in circulation about the members of her own order.
Rigunth's sister was now called upon to have a say in this discussion.
The tourneys of the south are mere showy spectacles for empty-headed ninnies. My lady Safiya is right, the activities in the lists and upon the melee field are, of themselves, of no importance whatsoever" she said boldly, and Rigunth went a little red. "However, it is said that such gatherings are a place where the great meet and mingle without the constraint of court etiquette and where deals are made and reputations burnished or tarnished. You may be sure that our cousin Fredegund will use her unholy and unnatural glamour on whomsoever wins the joust and the favour of Princess Clothild to further Offo's ungodly ends." she suddenly found interest in a nearby bush and averted her gaze from theirs. "... or even turn her eerie charms upon the Princess herself."
Safiya smiled when her own opinion was now being upheld by the woman. But then it suddenly became about Fredegund. She did not quite get what this female knight was trying to say.
"Eerie charms? When she was our captive here, I saw no evidence of any eerie charms. And she never tried to escape and ....while quite capable of chattering away she never said anything to anger us...well, I mean my father. Now as for this Princess Clothild, is she rather weak minded or something?"
It would not surprise her, the Princess was a Bryddian after all.
"Eerie charms? When she was our captive here, I saw no evidence of any eerie charms. And she never tried to escape and ....while quite capable of chattering away she never said anything to anger us...well, I mean my father.
Audovera looked at Safiya with an earnest gaze and answered her seriously.
"Indeed, her strange ways did not manifest themselves until after she returned from being held as a hostage by your Father. Some blamed her time here; they said it was a curse of some sort because your sister died in Offo's care. I know not. But, should you meet her now, I believe that you would find her changed."
Rigunth decided to jump to her cousin's defence.
"Oh, Fredegund is still a lovely person! I would do anything for her." she yelped.
"Yes, and she might cast a similar spell on the mind of the heiress of Brydd!" exclaimed the Hospitaller.
"This Princess Clothild, is she rather weak minded or something?"
Aurovera answered Safiya's question in her usual blunt manner.
"It is rumoured that she is a woman who lies with other women."
"Ewwww, that's yeuky!" winced Rigunth, looking rather sick "Don't talk about such horrible, sinful things in front of Father Ancelin! Ugh, the idea of women kissing and touching each other, bleugh!"
"Yes, it is rather disturbing..." nodded the priest. "I shall have to pray especially hard tonight at Vespers to remove such an appalling image from my mind" he intoned, sanctimoniously.