Us Girls Gotta Stick Together

[aliana]

Despite the dangers of what she was doing, Aliana knew it was worth it. And she just kept having to remind herself of that. It was the only thing that filled her with courage right now as she sneaked around the castle, late at night. She was not in her regular disguise, but rather, a vibrant orange dress. Luckily, she had her cloak draped over her which was more dull in color and therefore, better camouflage her in the darkness of the night. Still. Her crime was not wandering around, but rather, what she was clutching with one arm hidden under her cloak. It was a pile of food. A couple of loafs of bread and a few apples that she had stolen from the castle kitchens. She would feel far more comfortable had she been disguised, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She had heard of a family who lost their sole breadwinner and for that reason alone, had to act quickly. There was no time to go home, get her costume, come back to the castle, and then disappear again. That was even more risky than what she was doing right now!

With this justification in mind, she practically tiptoed down the hall, knowing that she would have to put her torch down, which is precisely what she did half way. It was even darker now, but at least she would not be attracting more attention to herself. She was lucky enough to evade the guards. Well, perhaps it was not as much luck, as it was knowing where to go. Being a maiden in the castle she was familiar with the less populated passages. With her other free hand, she pulled up the hood of her cloak to give her more concealment, and then tucked her hand under his robe to hold the food she had hidden with a better grip.

She was getting so close to the exit now! Once she was out of here, she could rush to her home and drop off the food once her identity was properly hidden! Right now, she was Aliana, but soon, she would become the person who the people had so kindly named as the MysticGuardian. As she neared the exit, she made the mistake of turning her head to look behind her, and so as she rounded the corner, ended up colliding into someone. The impact was so unexpected, that it had startled Aliana to the point of loosening her grip on.... everything! The bread fell from her hands and the apples rolled down the stone ground. Aliana's eyes widened with shock and fear, terrified to look at who had caught her as she watched the food now on the ground. Slowly, and very dragged out, she raised her gaze to see who she had bumped into; to see who had caught her; to see that it was.......Marian de Clare.

~ Tag Marian ~

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[Marian Cooper]

Silence was key, Marian had learned. Experience had taught her which corridors would be empty when she needed them to be, but another handy trick was silence. They rarely turned to look anywhere but on their specified patrol routes, unless one happened to make a noise that drew their attention. The guards at the castle were truly inadequate, she figured, with all the thieves running about, nipping in and out of the castle and taking what they pleased, not to mention noble ladies looking for a good time outside the castle walls.

Tonight was no different than any other night for Marian; she itched to get away from the castle. She remembered Robin's words when he'd said he had a cause, he was helping people, as she made her way through the lower floors...well, she could help people, too. Not that she really cared to, of course. She just couldn't stand to let the bloody outlaw upstage her. So even as she was making her way out of the castle, she turned back, intent on finding something (although she really had no idea what, since this 'helping people' thing was new to her) that she could take that would make a difference in someone's life. And when she did, she ran smack into someone.

So much for silence.

It was a woman, as was made obvious as they collided bodily and Marian instinctively reached out to catch the falling person. Too soft and small to be a man, she decided as she steadied the girl and released her, looking down at all the things that had dropped when they had collided. Food? A midnight snack? If so, someone was very hungry...there was enough here to feed a whole family. She looked at the woman again, recognizing her as a maid...and someone who definitely shouldn't have been sneaking around with all that food at this hour. She also looked horrified, and guilty, like she'd been caught doing something she oughtn't have been doing. It looked like Marian had just found her good deed for the day. She stooped down to scoop up an apple that had hit her boot, then held it out to the other woman wordlessly.

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[aliana]

Lady Marian de Clare. Aliana had heard quite a bit about her. More so about her being intimately attached to the Sheriff. Everyone knew of his affections for her, but Aliana was not one to judge their...relationship. All she knew was that if Marian truly reciprocated his feelings and loved him in return, then they would have been married by now. The fact that they were not, certainly indicated that it was a possibility that their relationship was very one sided; unrequited love some called it. Still. As Aliana previously reminded herself, she was not one to judge. Right now, she had just been caught red handed, smuggling food out of the kingdom. As she was not a great liar, especially since her confidence level was extremely low right now as she was herself and not hidden in her costume. She found the woman before her to be rather intimidating. It was true that like most nobles, Marian had a confidence a strong presence, but especially now, being in front of her, it felt all the more dominant, and made Aliana all the more petrified.

She needed to think of something quick and clever to say. Oh who was she kidding! She was not sharp tongued, or witty! She was stuck! So utterly trapped! And the ensuing silence was only making her feel more nervous. Then, Lady Marian began to move. What was she doing? Why was she bending down? What was.........she...... doing? Aliana looked at the apple that Marian held out for her. Then she looked at Marian. Then back at the apple. She felt too uncomfortable to shift her gaze back to Marian as she did not quite understand what was going on. She was offering her apple back to her? Surely she knew she had stolen it! Why was she... wait...Aliana knew why she was out and about at this time, as she was engaging in criminal activity...but why was Marian wandering around the castle at this hour? Aliana knew that right now, she was in no position to ask such a question. Right now, she would have to try to convince her of....her innocence? No. That was rather useless too! Oh what to do!

She slowly reached out to take the apple, very reluctantly, so her gesture was slow and drawn out. When it was in her hand, she looked down at it shamefully. Even if she was going to be punished for this, she would never for a moment regret her actions. Still looking down at the circular fruit, she spoke. "I understand if you must report me for this." When trying to weasel oneself out of a situation, Aliana's words were not the wisest. She was acknowledging her guilt! And yet, there was nothings he could say to even attempt to convince Marian of her innocence. Her voice was soft, kept low and even had a slight shakiness in it out of fear over what her fate would be for this crime. Imprisonment for sure...but possibly death!

[Marian Cooper]

Marian quirked an eyebrow at the woman as she slowly, timidly reached out for the apple she held out, terror evident in her expression as she clutched the fruit, the very picture of guilt. How had she really planned to get away with this? If Marian had been anyone else, this woman surely would be in a lot of trouble, and acting so obviously guilty wouldn't help her at all. Oh, hell, very few things would help her at this point, except maybe running. But she wasn't even doing that! And then she went on to proclaim her guilt, and Marian gave a snort of laughter.

"Don't look so pathetic, you're just asking to be arrested. Now help me pick this up before someone else comes along." She didn't ask, she ordered, because she was a noble and this was a maid, and somehow the natural order of things just seemed to kick in. Using part of her skirt, Marian made a kind of pouch and started collecting apples, bread, whatever the woman appeared to have dropped all over the floor. This was quite a lot of food...definitely more than enough for one woman. If she were hungry, it would've been much easier to get out with just a loaf of bread, rather than all this. Maybe she had children to feed? Oh, that would be so much better for Marian's good deed. Ha! She could help people too, outlaws be damned!

Once she had collected all she could, she looked to the other woman, hoping she was ready to go, too. They didn't have a lot of time, and carrying all this would make it even more difficult to get out of the castle, but it would be easier with the two of them than it had been for the woman alone. "Ready to go?" She asked, figuring they'd have time to discuss the finer details of what was going on here once they were outside the castle, without any guards to find them and cause trouble.

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