The Locksley Women (Evelyn!)

[Aurelia]

Aurelia had not been here long and she decided that she already hated this life. She was still working a way to gain more riches and then perhaps fleeing once she had enough coin. It wasn't easy when her own husband did not believe her. And was even more difficult when said husband was outlawed. This really was not what she had meant to happen. She had expected to come to England, properly greeted, embraced, given everything a woman desired, materialistically, and then when the time was right... leave. But now she was stuck in this dreadful white man land. With a husband who was not believing her, and would not accept her advances or seduction methods when the late hour came about. That just made it all the harder to convince him! He seemed so different from that arrogant drunken fool she had made acquaintance with in the Holy Lands.

Keeping all her frustrations and annoyance inside, she was only a short distance away from the camp. Not far enough for them to try to leave without her. She wasn't going anywhere! And she constantly threatened Robin that she would go to his mother if he abandoned her. This blackmail did the trick, for even if he tried to hide from her... he did not abandon her. She was collecting an assortment of plants when in the distance, she heard someone approaching. The problem with being a fugitive associated with the most wanted man in England, was that there was knights, guards, armies even after him. Aurelia was used to be chased and hunted, but not like this. And certainly not in a foreign land. Dropping her plants, she looked around her and found a rather large stick. She picked it up and quickly disappeared behind a tree. Her back was pressed against the trunk and she steadied her breathing. She was not physically strong, nor did she have any sort of weapon training.

Her plan was to hit the intruder, if they posed a threat, and then scream as loud as her vocals would permit her to. For then the men would come and kill whoever was so near to the outlaw camp. Hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer, Aurelia prepared herself. She had to keep a fairly innocent front, so she did not expose herself too soon. Once she was fairly certain the mysterious person was right close to her, Aurelia leaped out from behind the tree and fully prepared to hit whoever it was with the stick.. managing to stop right before the stick made any contact tot he person. A look of surprise and utter shock, even a bit of fear, was on her face. It was all falsified of course, but for the sake of keeping up her role as Mira right now, she had to remain consistent by expressing such emotions. It was a young woman... and Aurelia just stared at her, frozen with feigned shock and surprise at the fact that she had almost struck a woman.

[Lady Evelyn of Locksley]

Whenever there was a bit of news that she had caught word of that would benefit her brother, she found excuses to steal away to the woods. Today's excuse; her gelding was far too cooped up for his own good. To keep up the charade if anyone had been set to watch her, she had trotted the animal about the unused jousting grounds for a short time before giving him his head. Content that she had proven that the animal actually did want to run, she directed the horse to the woods.

She followed the familiar path through the woods to the relative location of her brother's camp. Although part of her wished to see it, another knew that perhaps it was for the best that she had never been taken there. Not all of Robert's men were of the highest quality. His inner circle was far safer.

After dismounting and tying the animal to a nearby tree, she began to walk to where she normally met her brother.

That was, until she was nearly knocked to the ground. Evelyn staggered back, a hand reaching to her boot and unsheathing her knife as she stared at the woman. After a beat, realizing that the woman hadn't struck her yet, she slowly lowered the knife a little.

"Who are you?" she demanded, knowing quite well that her brother had no women in his band. Or Saracens, by the look of her.

[Aurelia]

Aurelia's eyes widened when she saw the knife. She was not really afraid. What could this little white woman do to her anyway? Besides... the men were only earshot away. Not that she felt particularly threatened or intimidated by this little lady. But Mira was the easily scared type. After all, she was meant to have been protected and sheltered until she was married, and thus passed on to her husband's care. Something that Robin was still stubbornly, and annoying, denying. The stick fell from her grasp, as her eyes conveyed signs of fear in seeing a weapon, and being in the presence of an armed woman. "I-I..." She stammered, unable to speak out of pure fear. Mira was so helpless.

It sometimes sickened her to act so innocent and naive, but then she would receive her coin and wealth and everything would be worth it. "Why you........ it sharp!" She was too 'afraid' to point to the weapon. But that was her fragmented way of asking why she had a knife in her hand. Being she was pretending not to speak English, that was the best she could do. If Robert over heard her, then he would probably have quite a few questions about how exactly she had miraculously learned English in the span of fifteen minutes... which was the last time he had seen her. Breaking out of her seemingly paralyzed state of fear, she took a slow step back, trying to place distance between her and the weapon.

[Lady Evelyn of Locksley]

Evelyn felt her hand lower as she took in the woman's fear. It felt extremly odd for someone to be afraid of her, after months of herself living in fear. She straightened up, having crouched slightly in the case of an attack. "It's alright,"she said gently, slowly sticking the knife into a pocket of her riding coat. "I won't hurt you." How did this woman get into the middle of Sherwood Forest? By her coloring Evie knew she was Saracen. A runaway slave, perhaps? Or- her stomach dropped- were the less respectable men of Robert's camp using her for something else?

"Do you need help?" she asked, knowing how stupid it was for her to be speaking as if the woman understood English. She seemed to have little knowledge of it; she might not understand what Evie was even talking about. She was a bit hesitant about helping her. After all, weren't her people the very same that her brother and the king had been fighting? Yet she was a woman, like herself, and seemed to be unarmed. "My name is Evelyn. What is yours?"

[Aurelia]

When not being able to speak English, even in faking this inability, tones were extremely important. After all, Aurelia had learned English when she could speak none of it, and even if she did not understand the exact words being spoken, she could tell by the way they were said. And any gestures associated with it. Such things were what she channeled when pretending not to fully understand what was going on. Like right now. Her eyes remained wide, but her body was not as tense, relaxing her shoulders as the knife was lowered. The woman's gentle voice giving Aurelia, or Mira rather, great comfort and reassurance.

"No hurt," she repeated slowly, as if the words were trying to register in her mind... attempting to comprehend their meaning. Her next question surprised Mira, and she looked at the young woman quizzically. "Heelp?" She questioned, as if trying to understand why she had been asked that. Aurelia knew. It was the fact that she was a Saracen woman, in the middle of the woods. Yet, this white woman seemed willing to offer aid, rather than neglect her due to her race. Was she like some others who based her opinion of her more on her other nationality? Or was she just a genuine person? No. No one did anything for nothing. Though little did she know, that Aurelia had the greatest protection any stray could ask for: the strength of Robin of the Woods.

"No heelp," she answered, concluding that was the best response. "You... heelp?" Quite frankly Aurelia didn't care if she needed help or not, but Mira did. She paused in pensive silence, her brows furrowing in slight confusion as she revealed her name. Though since it was foreign to Mira, she was trying to determine what part of her sentence was her name: her white woman name. "I..." She began to say, pointing to herself. "Mira," she introduced. "You..." Now she was motioning to her. "Eev..." Another pause as she struggled to say her name. "Eeveelaan." White names could be so difficult for poor little Mira.

[Lady Evelyn of Locksley]

Evelyn wished to ask her how she had gotten so far from home. Or, if she was a runaway slave, how she was still alive and not strung up somewhere for running away. But she had no knowledge of the language of the Saracens, and didn't want to burden the girl with unintelligible questions. Her answer left her puzzled. She didn't need help? Then how was she surviving, out in the woods on her own? She adjusted her riding cloak to give her a moment to think, wondering if her brother knew that this girl was so close to his camp.

Wait....she was asking if Evie needed help?

She smiled. "No, thank you. I'm here to meet someone, actually. A man." She didn't wish to speak her brother's name, lest this woman recognize it. But she wasn't about to go running off and telling any guards with her limited English, was she? "Robin, actually."

Mira may be a heathen, but she seemed to be alone in the woods and she hoped that at least one of her brother's men had the heart to help her get wherever she needed to be.