Paradise Lost - A Semi-Advanced Roleplay discussion

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Abbi scampered out into the courtyard after the crowd filed out. A public execution had just occurred. One she wasn't sure was all that fair. Some guy had lost his head only for stealing a loaf of bread. She suspected he had a family at home. What would they do now without him? Seeing the bloody scene outside she held a hand over her mouth to keep her breakfast from making a second appearance. Shakily she set her bucket down. The body had been taken care of, but the amount of blood was sickening. Her knees gave out as she grabbed for the rag in the sopping water. She changed her mindset to a more cool and collected one as she pretended the blood stained floor had just recently been painted red and she had to fix such a silly mistake. As she cleaned she fell into her old habit or singing while doing so.

(view spoiler)[sorry! Forgot to check here! (hide spoiler)]

Seraphine stepped out into the courtyard and walked over to the pale girl already starting to clean up blood. "First execution?" She asked, leaning down and pulling another rag out of the bucket, starting to help her clean. Seraphine had been working at the castle for a long time and cleaned up after many executions, especially since the new king came into power, but her first one was the worst. She had seen some violent things on the street but she had never seen so much blood in one place and she had nearly feinted. Of course back then if she had the king would have had someone else clean it and let her do something else when she felt better, but the new king was not so kind. She had seen him nearly beat a servant to death because he was bored. She tried her best not to think about what he would do if he found out she was a siren as well as part of the resistance.

Hearing someone settle beside her Abbi instinctively tensed before seeing who it was. "No." She replied, her voice both hollow and void of emotions. Pinching her lips together she did her best not to laugh. That would be entirely too morbid considering the funeral that had just occurred.. that's if you can even call it that. She could easily predict the king would just add the new man's body to the pile of corpses he had in his closet. She shuddered to think what he'd do to her had he known what she was. But, hell, she didn't know what she was. "I'm figuring this isn't your first time at an execution." Abbi was grateful for the help but she continued to sound timid. Since here she'd done her best to avoid any an all human contact. Even at the castle her superiors were sometimes abusive, and If she told her brother she was sure his temper would get the best of him, and that wouldn't do any good for their future.

(view spoiler)[ =P its fine. Btw I have to go to a band thing soon so sorry if I don't reply for a few hours (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[I was in an exam anyways so :P (hide spoiler)]

Seraphine gave a small, grim smile. "No it's not" she said shaking her head. "My first one was when the old king was still in power. He was much nicer about it though. Fair trial and all that" she said, making sure her voice was low enough that only the two of them could hear. She wasn't technically talking bad about the new king, but she'd seen servants severely punished for mentioning that the old king was nicer than the new one, so she kept her comments mostly to herself. She didn't much fancy the idea of being punished, especially since it could lead to the king discovering that she was a siren. Seraphine let out a small sigh and returned to scrubbing the blood. She preferred the current crowned prince. he reminded her of his father and Seraphine had no doubt the kingdom would be in much better hands had it been handed down to him. "What were you singing? You have a lovely voice." Seraphine said, trying to keep the conversation going. Besides, she wanted to find out more about her. The girl had a voice similar to her own and she could very well be a siren as well, but that was very unlikely.

Abbi rose an eyebrow. Though the woman appeared to be older she couldn't see her working here at the time of the old king, unless of course she was a child. In which case she wasn't so envious of a life in the castle for so long. Surely if she hadn't gone through everything up until this point in her life her used to be sharp tongue would get the best of her. She jumped when she realized her hand had left the towel an was now on the bloodied pavement. Shuffling around she wiped it off, but there was no use. Huffing she pushes a strand of her bright orange hair away from her face with the back of her Hans before continuing. She expected to fall into an easy silence, but it appeared she wanted to talk. "Um.." She bit her lip. "Just an old nursery rhyme."

"What one?" Seraphine asked, pausing to pull her blonde hair back into a ponytail. She sat back a bit to rinse out her cloth and studied the other girl. Seraphine had never seen her around the castle before, which was odd as Seraphine knew nearly all of the servants around the castle. She returned her focus back to the stone, scrubbing it with efficiency, moving her cloth against the grain rather than with it so she would get the blood out rather than push it in.

Hearing her question she shrugged her shoulders, not so eager to share. It wasn't a well known one, and she'd be surprised if anyone besides her brother, or her deceased mother knew of it. "A Cradle in the Tree." Abbi shrugged, not expecting much of a response from that. Soon she noticed she wasn't doing much of a good job and was making it much worse then what it was, but she corrected herself quickly.

Seraphine nodded with slight interest. "I think I've heard of that. A long time ago though. Its very old." She said, moving to another section of the blood, pushing a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face. She knew she probably had blood on her face or in her hair but she was used to it. She had done his so many times she got used to cleaning blood out of her clothes and off of her face. She dipped her cloth back into he soapy water, rinsing it out once more. "How does that song go again?" she asked, looking at the other girl as she cleaned. Seraphine had been trying to stop singing as much so she wouldn't get caught, but it was hard for her to stop doing one of her favourite things

"Classics are always the best though." Abbi noted with a bare smile. It was more of an act-- the smile. It held no happiness or image of the girl she used to be. Absentmindedly she repeated the older girls actions as she dumped her own cloth into the soapy water. She was guessing the blood was seeping into her maid uniform, but she wasn't all that concerned. The brown sack called clothes weren't all that flattering. Hearing the question she let some time pass before asking her own. "How long have you been at the castle." Abbi made no attempts in singing. Heavens only knew what words would slip out next if she did. All actions had repercussions.

Seraphine smiled. "For most of the old kings rule and since the beginning of the new kings." She said, studying the girls face. She could tell something horrible had happened in the recent past. Seraphine still got confused as to how other people didn't just learn to get over it. Become hard and cruel like she had. It was an easy solution. "The old king took me in off of he street." She said, returning her gaze to the task at hand. She had managed to clean up most of the blood without getting that much on herself, a new accomplishment. She generally had to have quite a long bath after cleaning blood, but this time the bath could be shorter she could get back to her job faster and not anger the new king.

"Really?" Abbi couldn't stop the words as they left her mouth. The girl looked to young to have been around for so long. Blushing she corrected herself, "I-I just mean you look rather young, but you've been around for that long?" She asked this time making sure she didn't sound so surprised, though she was thoroughly curious. At the mention of the old king Abbi cracked a small smile, he didn't seem to be a bad man. He'd taken a girl off of the streets, and provided her a job. Perhaps it wasn't the best of one, but she was almost completely assured the King Alexander would not do the same. Ever. "If you don't mind me asking why were you on the street?" The young girl cursed herself silently, wishing she could just stop herself from talking. It was very rarely that she socialized with someone and now it was likely she was ruining this one chance.

Seraphine smiled at her questions, glad the girl had opened up a bit. "I have been around for a while. I age well." She said with a shrug, making sure not to give anything away. At the second question she watched the girls slightly shocked gaze and gaze a small shrug of her shoulders. "My mother was killed when I was young. I didn't have anyone to take care of me so I was put on the street." She explained, leaning back to give her arms a rest from scrubbing. "I learned how to live and get enough food to barley survive after a few weeks." she said, watching for the girls reaction. When most people heard her story they reacted with unnecessary pity. She missed her mother for a few years after it happened, but losing her mother made her stronger. Helped her embrace her powers. Her mothers death was a double edged sword.

"Oh?" She still didn't believe her all that much, and she wanted to know more. But, she also knew her limits, and knew it was best not to push it. "How well?" And there she went with her loose tongue again. When most of the mess appeared to be cleaned up she stood to examine their work. There didn't seem to be a smudge of anything left. "That's horrible." She exclaimed, though she'd lost both parents she couldn't help but to sympathize with the stranger. "So your a survivor?" Abbi asked with a small grin, shaking her head. She knew of many children, still today, living off the streets, and making it by with the bare minimum.

Seraphine laughed again. "Very well. you wouldn't believe me if I told you my age." She said with a sly grin and a shrug. "And yeah. A survivor." She said with a shrug. She knew thats what they were called when they got off the streets clean from prostitution or without dying, but she was certain a better word to call them would be lucky. Seraphine hadn't pulled herself off the street, the old king did. Though she had been singing when he passed by. She hadn't said a word to her but she sometimes wondered if that's the reason, or at least part of the reason, he pulled her off o the street.

Either way she considered herself lucky, not a survivor.

Abbi took note of the sly grin, and she was unsure if it should make her catious towards the other woman. She seemed kind enough, and the young girl suppose everyone was entitled to their secrets... At her shrug she thought that was the end of that. Silently she cleaned; concentrating with great intensity. It was only after a while of silence that she softly began to him under her breath. The song was familiar to that of the entertainment that preformed at the kings parties and such, though it was a little more dark.

Seraphine sat back again and studied the girl. She was sure the girl had abilities of some sort, but she felt as if she didn't know of them, or the full extent. She studied Abbi for another moment before she returned to cleaning, joining in on the song, singing with her hypnotic voice instead of humming. She was glad the courtyard was empty of humans. She hadn't been able to sing as much as she'd like to lately, the whole having to be careful about not getting caught thing was a pain. Plus she wanted to run a test of sorts.

Abbi's breath caught in her throat for a moment when the other maid began to sing so clearly. Worriedly she looked around until she figured no one was in hearing distance. For one surprising second she fell back ino her humming before singing along with the girl. At first her words were nothing but a whisper, but they soon grew louder until they almost matched the other girls pitch. Easily she fell ino the routine of dumping the rag back ino the soapy water and then running it along he granite. It was all rather robotic, but with the distraction or music there wasn't much else to think of the action.

Seraphine looked back at Abbi and gave a small smile. With the caution the girl had shown, she was sure she had some sense of ability but Seraphine couldn't tell much more than that. She returned to the work at hand, only trailing off when the mess was gone. She dumped the rag back into the murky water and leaned back, her clear blue eyes staying on the girl. "Why don't you sing more? You have a lovely voice." She said, prodding and hoping to get more answers from the girl.