(OPEN) Un nouveau lieu, une nouvelle vie

[elix3r]

((Translation of title: A new place, a new life))

She'd been lost before. But that was back when the other nobles, guards and servants knew her and her condition. They had always looked out for her, and therefore losing herself in the french palaces was, after the first few weeks, a extremely rare occurance. Jaqueline had know the scents and their meanings their, like the fragrant smell of roses and sweet grasses that signalled the ways to her favourite gardens, the delicate smell of roasted chicken that would cause the depths of her stomach to rumble and roar with newly brought on hunger and indicate to her that dinner was almost ready to be served in their private quarters. The texture of the walls and the hushed banter of others would also whisper her location within the palace, however, here - in Nottingham - they were silent.

It was now her second day in the new town and she was only marginally wiser to the layout. At least one of the maids out of kindness had escorted her around the place at least 20 times helping Jaqueline to familiarise herself with the characteristics of Nottingham Castle. The poor woman was probably out of paitence entirely when she took her leave after guiding Jaqueline back to her chambers. The blind girl's curiousity was still not satisfied, so with a rough idea of where most areas were she walked gracefully - her mother would have been proud - but slowly down the corridor, her senses drinking in as many minute details as possible. She place one delicate hand on the stone wall to her left, fingering the imperfect notches where they had been accidently stuck by objects and as she walked, allowed her fingertips to brush the wall. This little action making her feel slightly more secure than before.

And as you would expect from following just a wall and loosing proper concentration, she was soon unaware of her position in the castle. Cursing her luck she slowed her pace even more so it seemed to any other that she was simply dawdling along and thought long and hard about where she was. Yes she could just turn around and attempt to follow the wall back but how on earth was she meant to know which was her door? She had passed many on her walk and nearly all seemed identical. Jaqueline's right hand unconsiously moved towards the pockets that were hidden slightly by the pleats that came from the waist of her dress, and as they delved down into the fabric, her fingertips brushed the hilt of dagger that was attached to that side of her undergarment with it's pair being accessible through her left pocket. Just the touch of the cool metal calmed and refocused her mind.

That was until her nose caught the scent of the forest. It was similar to the forest at home, with fragrances of pine, oak and ash but fainter. This stopped her movement entirely as her brain whirled to figure out why something that smelt of forest would be in the castle which was at least a mile from the town? Jaqueline turned her head slightly towards the scent, yes whatever was was just across the corridor from her and it was silent. Steady feet carried her petite form away from her wall of security to what would seem- due to the slight breeze coming from that direction - a window bay. Her left hand fingertips were literally hovering millimetres away from the wall when curiousity prevailed and she strode quickly straight across the corridor to the opposite wall with her right arm outstretched, her hand aching for the security of stone. A small smile and sigh of relief formed on her lips as she made contact with the cold wall, her fingers once again moving over the imperfections before she realised she was tantanisingly close to this curious forest thing. A mischievious grin replaced the relieved smile as she tiptoed almost towards the source of the scent, gleeful excitement of potential discovery taking over her sense of hearing which if she had been focused would have picked up the quiet breathing in her immediate vicinity.


Word Count: 701
Notes: Woah... never really wrote this much before so please don't be put off!

[Marian Cooper]

Marian had spent the better part of the morning exploring the woods nearest to the castle, and she was quite pleased to report that she was beginning to get quite a feel for the forest. She was no expert yet, but she was quickly becoming familiar with the area immediately surrounding the castle and town, learning where it was safe to wander and which areas she ought to avoid, because they were frequented either by patrols or bandits. She was even gaining enough knowledge that she dared to venture further into the trees than she had since her first escape attempt, when she'd gotten herself terrifically lost and in a lot of trouble. All in all, she was feeling quite pleased with herself as she stole back into the castle.

Once she got past the soldiers on the main level, stealing back to her chambers had never been a problem for Marian in the areas where there were fewer patrols. So she let her guard down somewhat as she made her way back through the winding corridors of the castle, taking those passages that were less well-used as an extra precaution. But this notion backfired when she turned a corner and found herself looking directly at someone else. It was a girl; from her dress, obviously noble, but different, somehow...there was definitely something about her that screamed 'doesn't belong', although Marian couldn't quite place it. As the soon-to-be lady of the castle, Marian really ought to know everyone who visited, or even dwelled in the castle, and yet, she had spent her time being far more concerned with getting out of the castle rather than with learning how all was in it.

She drew to an immediate halt, staring at the other girl and waiting for her to say something; probably a comment on her strange clothing, and yet, none came. Marian waited, and waited...until she realized just why the girl hadn't said anything, her hand outstretched towards a wall on the opposite side of the room, her eyes fixed and yet, unfocused. She was blind. Marian had heard about some blind girl joining the court here...a French girl. Aha, that was why she didn't seem to belong! No, not the blindness. The Frenchness.

Marian held stock-still, barely daring to breathe, hoping the girl would just wander off on her own to do...whatever it was little French girls did. Probably embroidery, ugh. Could you do embroidery if you were blind? Maybe by touch...no, that was absurd. So probably not embroidery, then. Whatever it was, Marian wanted her to just flounce off and do it, but no. Her eyes widened when the girl made an abrupt about face, suddenly walking directly towards her, her hand outstretched. Marian sucked in a deep breath, and making her steps as silent as she could, she sidestepped the reaching hand, taking as few steps as she dared to get away from her without making enough noise that she would be discovered. Why she was trying to hide from the blind girl was anyone's guess; she had probably just run into the only person in the castle who wouldn't make a scene over how she was dressed, because she hadn't the foggiest idea how she was dressed. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

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[elix3r]

Images of her idea of forest things swarmed her mind as she inched closer and closer towards the origin of the scent. Objects that were sharp, objects that were of felty nature, objects that were rough against the touch of her skin. All of these being things she had come into contact with when out in the woodland at home, but were the english wonderlands of trees and bushes of different texture or shape? Eager to discover more she rushed the last few steps and felt... only air. Immediately her senses reverted back to their usual sharpness, no longer hindered by the overwhelming excitement, she was quickly assessing every minute detail in her surroundings. She cursed herself for loosing her focus in the hunt for the smell which still hung strongly in the air. The forest thing was not stationary.

Jaqueline almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the supressed breathing so close. She whipped round to the slight scuff of feet - it wasn't too heavy so she deduced that it was a woman she now faced, and the miniscule shift in air that was escaping this unknown person. A pale slender hand dove into her right pocket, gripped the hilt of dagger and withdrew it from it's lightweight sheath. Whilst her left hand swung across in a swipe into the space aiming to grab hold of any garnment that her fingers made contact with. Her unseeing eyes tried to strain into the woman in front, but who was she trying to fool, no image would conjour for her and it never would, would it? Her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out what woman would have such a prominant scent of the forest about her, more than that, what woman who would be in these windy passages of the castle. "Qui êtes vous?" The words came out unconsiously and just rolled easily off her tongue before she registered the questionning thought. She shook her head slightly at her mistake of language before repeating her question in a heavily french accent but none the less in english. "Who are you?" She demanded with significant authority that for someone with sight was completely wrong for a girl of her size and complexion.

[Marian Cooper]

Marian raised an eyebrow when she spoke in unfamiliar French words; it seemed like so long ago that she'd blankly stared at her tutor and tried to make the foreign noises come out right, but Marian had never been very good at French, and once her lessons had come to an end, she'd basically gone ahead and forgotten any scrap she may have accidentally picked up. And so when she spoke in French, Marian's eyes widened slightly, and she resumed slowly, silently backing away from the girl. Blind and she couldn't speak English. No wonder she'd been exiled out to the backwoods of the universe.

But apparently she could...and she had a tone! Maybe the smarter move would have been to turn tail and just run; she didn't think the girl would have much of a hope of catching her, or even following her, but it was that tone that seemed to make every iota of sense flee from her pretty little head, and her eyes narrowed and she lifted her chin, unwilling to be spoken to in such a...French way! This was England! She would not be spoken down to by some tiny French pastry! "Who am I? Who are you to ask?" She demanded right back, putting her hands on her hips in a signal that the blind girl would not even see, but it was important that she made it nonetheless.

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[elix3r]

No matter how silent people think they are, they will never know the truth. Jaqueline found slight pride in the fact that she had attuned her other senses to that higher of the average human being. Therefore what this woman now thought was a silent movement, Jaqueline could hear the slight scrape of leather against the stone floor as each foot was lifted and then the slow gentle but still easily hearable as it was placed back on the floor. The french girl was now focused, listening intently to the woman-forest-person, and to be honest she thought to herself, if she can hear an entire conversation clearly through a solid oak door back home, she should be able to keep tabs on this woman in front of her. Her interest was piqued now, she wanted to know more about why on earth she would be here and why on earth she smelt of forest which had ultimately drawn her to this point.

After swiping air and missing cloth by inches she let her left hand curl into a loose fist and hang by her side, but still ready to dive into a pocket or tense and strike, whilst her right tightened around the hilt of her dagger, gripping it more firmly. And it was then that she got the shock of her life. This woman denied her the answer she demanded! Instead she receives an extremely haughty: "Who am I? Who are you to ask?" Jaqueline almost felt like someone had taken a swipe at her! Never in her life had she been questioned! She had to blink once to remind herself what this woman had just said. The petite french girl wondered how she stood, how she looked, it all fascinated her how this domineering had just retorted at her. Her feet took a stride towards the woman and cocked her head to the side as if trying to see some mysterious aura that would pierce that darkness that plagued her sight. "I am Lady Jaqueline De Lamater, and I would appreciate it if you answered my previous question s'il vous plaît." She said with curiousity and fascination laced into her polite french tones.

[Marian Cooper]

"I am Lady Jaqueline De Lamater, and I would appreciate it if you answered my previous question s'il vous plaît."

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The name was unfamiliar to Marian, but that hardly meant anything. She was unfamiliar with everyone in this godforsaken place. Marian wondered if she ought to actually answer, or else just make something up, or, as her previous instinct had been, run away without another word. But she had already spoken, and if the girl was blind, it probably meant she could recognize voices the way other people would recognize a face, so if she ran off now it would only be a matter of time before she encountered the girl again, and then she'd have some explaining to do. Maybe it was better just to get it out of the way now.

"I am Lady Marian de Clare." She returned, having no more excuses to withhold her identity. Aside from her clothing, she wasn't doing anything wrong by being here, and the girl wouldn't exactly know about that, now would she? Being blind and all that. So she should be able to get out of here without getting too much more trouble from the girl; and it was something she should probably see about doing sooner, rather than later. She might not be able to tell that Marian was up to no good, but if someone else were to come along...well, she likely wouldn't be so lucky. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. If there's nothing else, I'll just excuse myself...."[/blockquote][/size][/color]

[elix3r]

Hmm, Marian De Clare, she shook her head slightly as she searched for the source of familiarity of the name. After sifting through the mounds of information she had stored, it suddenly clicked, this was one of the other ladies the maid had mentioned on her several tours of the castle. Marian was meant to be wed to the Sheriff, meant to being the key words. It put the girl at ease to know the name of her company so she quickly and carefully stowed her dagger back in it's sheath in her deep pocket. There was no danger for now, she thought. But as she had been pondering over the woman's name the hesitant shuffle of feet indicated her company was itching further away from her with each second that passed. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. If there's nothing else, I'll just excuse myself...." No she couldn't go! Jaqueline began to walk towards her noisy movement, who would answer her questions, guide her back to her room and most of all help her get out and about? The forest still played on her mind, Marian had obviously been that was a fact, now she wanted to know more.

"Wait!" The desperateness she felt being transferred into a shrill but authorative command that she had often put to use to attract the attention of her father. It had always worked. "Why were you in the forest?" She asked curiously as she continued to close the distance between them, the scent of timber becoming stronger as she got closer. The emphasis of her question was on the why, this was what Jaqueline wanted to know. Not the when, not the where but why. Later she would figure out the how for herself as it would obviously be easier for an entourage of guards to accompany her as direction wasn't one of her strong points when alone.

[Marian Cooper]

Marian drew up short when the girl shrieked, wondering what would cause her to howl like that. What could she possibly want her to stay for? Well, maybe she was lost or something...but Marian couldn't exactly help her with that right now! If she had to escort the girl about, surely someone would see her, before she had the chance to change! And yet...Marian couldn't just abandon some helpless little girl to wander the passges until she happened upon someone else to help her. But even as she was considering all this, the girl was speaking again.

Marian's eyes widened at her question, and her mouth fell open, although no sound came out. How did she know that? Who had she been talking to? Or maybe she wasn't as blind as she seemed! If that were the case, she certainly made a good act of it. Marian just stared at the girl, entirely dumbfounded for a moment, before she caught herself and blinked, realizing she needed to answer her. Not with the truth, of course. "What are you talking about, the forest? I've not been anywhere near the forest. Who told you that?" She answered, her tone defensive and indignant, the better to cover the truth of what the girl has somehow managed to induct.

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[elix3r]

The pause between the question and the answer began to stretch as the silence continued. Jaqueline raised a slim eyebrow in expectation, folded her arms and shifted her weight to one leg as she waited. And then she was in denial. "What are you talking about, the forest? I've not been anywhere near the forest. Who told you that?" She actually snorted with laughter before quickly regaining composure and turning it into a tinkling giggle. She shook her head, who was Marian trying to fool. "Just because I'm blind, does not mean that I'm stupid Marian." She said with a lightened note to her voice. Her mistake was a common one for those who were ignorant of those like her. One sense might not exist but the others will substitute its loss. Common sense ought to indicate that to people shouldn't it? She sighed at the way so many took what they had for granted, why was the world so messed up?

"I know you were in the forest." She said in a know-it-all voice, "you smell of it." Jaqueline placed her hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side trying to figure out why Marian thought that she could get away so easily with the lie. "Now shall we cut the merde, why were you in the forest?" A smile drew on her lips that shouted 'I am right' as she repeated the question once more. She wanted to know the true answer this time.

Notes: Sorry for the rubbishness... muse has gone into hiding...

[Marian Cooper]

The girl laughed at her, and Marian rolled her eyes. Not that the little blind girl would see it, of course. "Really? Because you're certainly making a compelling case towards it." She replied acidly. Just because she had been called out on her lie didn't mean that she was going to just admit it. No, if you were going to lie about something, you had to commit. It wasn't like she was worried about her telling anyone; who were they going to believe? The little French strumpet? Marian doubted that. So she'd say what she liked, regardless of whatever miraculous powers of perception this girl might possess that told her otherwise.

She folded her arms over her chest as the girl insisted she had been in the forest, but her expression changed to one of some confusion mingled with an appalled look when she mentioned her scent. "Wha- I smell of it? What, do you make a habit of going about...sniffing people? Like some sort of hound?" She had to turn this situation around, to one where she was not at fault for smelling of the woods, but where Jaqueline was at fault for having detected as much. Didn't she know good little noble girls were supposed to keep their noses high in the air, lest they smelled something unpleasant? "And speak English, for God's sake! You're not in France any longer, we don't need your words fouling up the air." When in doubt, insult the other party and insinuate their guilt over your own. Oh, the things you learned at court.

[elix3r]

Jaqueline disregarded her catty comments with slight flick of her blonde locks. She was stalling, Marian was never going to admit the lie she had told, and who was she to wheedle it out of her? Jaqueline knew just as much as the next person that once a lady set her mind on the path of dishonesty there was no way back. A lie once formed simply grew and grew until an entire novel could probably be spun from it. "Wha- I smell of it? What, do you make a habit of going about...sniffing people? Like some sort of hound?" She rolled her eyes in exasperation, she just didn't get it did she? Jaqueline let out a heavy sigh out of slight frustration at the other lady's ignorance or just blatant hostilities to avoid admitting who was actually right in this conversation. "Yes Marian, I go down on all fours and sniff every person I met when they're not looking." Her words oozed with sarcasm. God, people these days...

"To be honest you stink so much it's hard not to notice." She quipped harshly in a matter-of-fact tone, as she narrowed her eyes at the place where her sharp ears told her Marian stood. "And speak English, for God's sake! You're not in France any longer, we don't need your words fouling up the air." Oh the cheek! Who on earth did she think she was telling her what language to speak when it was her tongue that would speak it! Did she not understand how easy it was to slip back into one language? For the english it was like being forced to speak french when they were born to speak english! "You English people are so arrogant! It is not easy speaking your complicated language you know... And don't you worry, with any luck my foulness will be sailing back home as soon as possible." Home, that would be good. Home to her brother and mother, to the sympathetic kind people of the french court, to where she so desperately belonged.

[Marian Cooper]

Marian noticed the sarcasm in her tone as she responded, and while it drew a smile out of her, she didn't make a sound. She couldn't let the girl know that it amused her, after all. At least she had either forgotten about the topic of where Marian had been that morning, or at the very least seemed willing to drop it. Good. Marian didn't need to make up any more about where she had been, and she certainly didn't have an alibi, so they might as well just leave it there. Marian was somewhat surprised by the girl's next remark about her odor, but she knew she shouldn't be. Venom should always be returned with venom.

"In that case, I wish you all the luck in the world." She replied in a falsely bright and cheery tone, yes, it would be nice if she would return home to France; England had enough mouthy noble girls without adding one more who was more prone to using her nose than her sense. Marian wondered if she could even stand to leave the castle; the stench of the marketplace and the filthy peasants therein were almost unbearable to her, she wondered how someone with senses so finely honed as to identify where another person had been would fare. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably find my way to a bath. I would so hate to assault your senses further." She turned to go, hoping her attempt to escape would go better than it had last time.

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