Paradise Lost - A Semi-Advanced Roleplay discussion

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Demi shooed off her helpers after they had set out the abandoned carriage at the base of the mountain. It was laid down on its side and missing a wheel, a simple glitch on the road was the story. Her once filth-less dress was now in shambles. For a few minutes she stood there uncertainly before she heard the flipping of a horses feet just a little off in the distance. Demi didn't have time to speak as she pried open the door to the carriage. Slowly she drew her dagger from her up thigh. Without so much as a second thought she dug the blade into her upper arm. A little blood spilt was the least she could do for her cause. Just as soon a blood-curdling scream left her mouth. It was more of an act then anything else. From the little window from her side she could see the crest of the royal family. Whoever it was must've been from the castle. She continued to whimper pathetically. "Help." She called out.

Magnus frowned as he heard a blood curdling scream and slowed his horse to a stop. He noticed a carriage at the base of the mountain and hesitated until he heard a cry for help. With a sigh he headed over to check it out. He didn't much care to help the woman, she could die for all he cared, but he had been making an effort to help more people lately. He was known as The Cruel and with the resistance brewing and growing more popular he had to change that title.

He dismounted a few feet away from the carriage and walked over to it, running a hand through his hair. "What happened?" he asked, his blue-grey eyes taking in the situation with caution. His hand rested on his sword as he moved a bit closer, reaching out for the door.

Demi's eyes narrowed as she saw a familiar royal peer into the carriage. Her dagger was well hidden in her dress again and she clumsily gathered herself onto her feet. Already she could tell he wasn't so interested in her problems, but she would make him interested. Falling against the door she got out of the carriage, pushing past him with her hand clasped over the wound in her arm. Her lip trembled as she moved backwards before her legs purposely gave out. All the while her eyes remained upwards. "The driver..." Her voice broke off as if pained. "I don't know what happened... Something spooked the horse, he got loose?" Demi said it as more of a question. "Then the carriage went tumbling. And now my arm." She shrugged before wincing. It wasn't that deep of a cut, but it still bothered her. She allowed herself to look up at him uneasily. "D-do you have something to stop the bleeding?"

Magnus forced a concerned look onto his face, managing to keep the annoyance to only his eyes. "Yeah, let me check my horse." He said, moving past her. He dug in one of the bags and retrieved a small blanket. Tearing off a chunk of fabric he returned to her. "You have no idea where the horse or driver could be?" He asked, looking around with a frown. "You would think they would have fallen the rest of the way down as well." Magnus had grown suspicious of everyone since the resistance had started. He knew if he wasn't careful he could be killed. He was trying his best to figure out who was part of the resistance from the first meeting but he could never be sure. "What's your name?" He asked, reaching out for her wounded arm, his grip more rough than it needed to be.

Demi kept her gaze locked to the ground. She was well aware he was not the king, but he seemed to have inherited some traits from his brother nonetheless. Hostility and Rudeness seemed to be the only path he chose. Which was understandable, she'd be the same had it been someone infiltrating camp. When he reached out to wrap the wound she shied away from his touch. It appeared he wasn't so gently either. "Careful." She hissed, doing her best not to show her anger towards him. Slowly she pulled her bloody grip away from her arm. "Aurora. Aurora Petefer." She shivered. The name was an alias to the nobles that lived up in the mountains. They weren't all too popular with the king but that meant she could easily play-act as their daughter. Though anyone who knew the couple would notice her hair and eye were far too light to be relative to their olive skin tone and dark brown eyes and hair. But, luckily for her, the nobles were very secluded and she was assured no one would question her intents.

"Petefer?" Magnus asked, quickly and efficiently wrapping the cloth around her wound, making it tight to stop the bleeding. He released he arm and studied her, he was certain the name belonged to some nobles in the mountains, but he wasn't sure if his brother was on good terms with them or not. He stayed out of the business. "Where ere you headed when the accident happened?" He asked, resting his hand on his sword again. He wanted to cover all of his bases. The woman seemed innocent enough but he didn't want to risk leading an assassin into the castle. He could easily blame it on one of his sisters if he wanted and get away with it, but the punishment for that would be terrible and he would never let his sisters take the blame for that.

His gaze returned to the mountain as he searched for the body of the driver or for the horse. He wasn't sure if either horse or driver would have survived that fall without a carriage to protect them but, if they had, it looked like they had both taken off. Good he thought, returning his gaze to Aurora, They know how to take care of themselves.

Demi recalled the man asking her what had happened to the horse and man. She felt silly for not having answered. But at least she could blame it on the adrenaline and shock. When the towel was wrapped firmly around her arms she stood once more, cursing softly as her ankle rolled underneath her. These heels were killing her. Exasperated she yanked them off before looking up at him. "Petefer." She repeated, her voice losing its faultiness. "Daughter of Alice and John Petefer." She said, looking down at her heels. "If you don't mind could you direct me towards town?" Demi asked looking at the multiple different directions she could go. "I've never been out here alone... My parents arranged a room for me at the castle for a few days. I'm supposed to visit with the King. I'm sure though if I get to town my family will have friends to offer me a ride." Her voice was small. Hesitantly she peered up at him. "And what would your name be?"

Magnus watched her pull off the heels and heard her mention her parents. He was certain now that he knew the family name. "I can take you." He said , letting his hand fall from his sword. He met Auroras eyes easily and with an air of confidence. "My name is Magnus Fallon." He said in answer to her question. He ran a hand through his hair and whistled for his horse who had wandered off a bit and was eating grass. "I can take you directly to the castle." He offered, with a sort of grimace. It would take longer to get home with another person on his horse, especially if she was accustomed to riding in carriages. He wouldn't be able to go as fast as he'd like. But knowing she was the daughter of Nobles from another kingdom he couldn't leave her here, it could start a fight between kingdoms that could turn into a war and all that crap he could care less about.

Seeing his hand fall from his sword she barely contained a smile. Clearly she hadn't earned his trust, but for the moment she didn't prove to be a threat to him. "A Fallon?" Demi asked as if in surprise. As he offered a ride she shook her head. "I certainly wouldn't want to burden you." She ignored his grimace as he walked over towards the horse. Gently she ran her hand down its long golden mane. "I should be able to suffice for myself. I may be a lady, but I can handle walking." She find it unreasonably odd how he tried to be a gentleman. Certainly he wasn't as awful as his brother, but as far as she was concerned the entire royal family were monsters. And if she was lucky enough she'd be the one to ignite the flame that burned them all to the ground. Literally.

Magnus sighed softly, this whole situation was a pain and he wanted to be done with it. "You wouldn't be a burden at all." He said, this time forcing a smile that seemed to be real. This lady didn't seem to know who he was, which was good. If she didn't know the title the people had awarded him she might be easier to convince that he was kind rather than cruel. "I'd feel a lot better if I could personally show you to the castle." He added, walking back towards his horse, still watching Aurora. He couldn't read her very well, which was a bit unnerving as he was generally fantastic at reading people, but he couldn't let it bother him too much. He had to get her back to the castle so he could get back to doing his own thing.

Demi knew he was lying but she turned back to him with a full hearted smile. "Okay. Besides it would be best if I didn't waste my energy walking." She indicated her arm, turning back to the mare. "And I would be in company of a rather handsome man so I suppose it's not all that bad." She said. For a moment her eyes flickered down towards her cursed dress. The maroon ball gown would make it far too difficult to get onto the horse and she knew she'd return to camp in a few weeks with more than a few complaints. Her heels were abandoned to the side of the road but she wasn't all that concerned with them. "Can you give me a hand?" Demi asked looking up to the horse with doubt. She'd never fully trusted the creatures.

Magnus smirked at her compliment and walked around to the side she was on. "Of course" he said, easily lifting her up. The more she talked, though, the more he was annoyed. He always wondered why women would wear dresses that were so big and prevented them from doing basically anything productive. He had to admit that she did look good though, the dress hugged her figure nicely and it was hard to stop his eyes from wandering.

Once he was sure she was on securely, he pulled himself onto his horse, patting her mane out of habit. "You'll want to hold onto me." he said, looking at her over his shoulder. "Let me know if you need to stop to readjust or anything." he said, hoping his voice sounded as kind as he wanted it to. His eldest brother would never believe that Magnus was actually helping someone and getting nothing in return. Magnus still felt as if it was ridiculous and a waste of time, but he was doing what he could to find out more about the resistance to take it down.

Sitting atop the horse Demi itched to reach for the reigns and run off back into the woods. Maybe it was too soon-- the resistance wasn't strong enough. Shaking her head she put on a brave face as Magnus moved to straddle the horse. When he mentioned having to hold on she gave a withering stare to his back. It was bad enough that he'd had to put his hands on her to get onto the horse, but now she had to touch him. Demi looked up at him with a short nod, still confused as to why he was being kind. Maybe he was the good brother... She heard there was at least one of those. Though they all supported the king. So good, or not good, she wasn't a fan. Slowly she extended one hand forward, wrapping it around his waist. "I'll be fine." She murmured as she risked a look at the mountain once more. "I just hope to give word to my mother before the rider does. Having her worried will do no good. Once we're at the castle can we send for someone to fetch my things?" She asked, mentioning the luggage that was in her cart. After all it would be strange to travel without clothing of any sorts.

Magnus held back an exasperated sigh and nodded. "Of course M'lady" he said, digging his heels into the horses side. He would have gotten off and grabbed her luggage himself but he didn't want to overload his horse, she was only used to carrying him and sometimes one of his sisters. Magnus looked over he mountain again as he turned his horse in a circle and they started back towards the kingdom, his body stiff and ready for an attack. He had always wondered how his other older brother could be so kind to people, same with his sisters. They had nicer names than he did and he had a feeling that they might be spared if the resistance decided to attack and managed to take over; not that he thought they could. There was no way a group of commoners who had never used weapons in their lives could over throw his family. They were to strong and made sure they only had the most loyal guards who couldn't be paid off. Those guards and the executioner Magnus thought to himself with a smirk. That guy is brutal. He'd be good to use as a body guard.

Demi let her gaze wander as an odd silence sat between the two. Every now and again they'd come across a particularly bumpy road which only brought her closer to the man in front of her. Each time she pulled away as quickly as possible, biting her lip as a low throb of pain racked up her arm. The towel was beginning to soak with the red color of her blood, and she was all too relieved once they finally reached town. Instantly she saw the castle from her position behind him. With any luck she could get her information and leave. First she'd have to meet with her associates inside of the castle. Which would be difficult. She knew the name, but sadly enough not who it was. Considering she was the leader of this so called resistance it was rather bad on her part that she didn't now. For a moment her eyes flickered towards the prince in front of her. Seeing the smirk on his lips she looked at him questioningly. "Is there something to be happy about, sir?" She asked breaking the silence as she looked around the rather desolate town.

"Only the fact that I have a beautiful lady so close to me." Magnus said smoothly, his gaze travelling over the commoners below them. He looked down and noticed that the blood on Aurora's arm had soaked through onto his clothes and he held back a sound of disgust, clearing his throat instead. He returned his gaze to the commoners, noticing that a few of them looked shocked to see their 'cruel' prince with a ragged lady on his horse. Step one to changing their minds I suppose. He thought to himself, digging his heels into his horse so she would pick up speed. He hated being around the commoners. Many of them wasted their lives asking for food or money instead of trying to get a job. Even many of the ones with jobs were useless. He would never be able to spend as much time helping these people as his siblings did. he sometimes wished his family had taken after his brother like he had. It would be so much easier to rule over them if they were completely terrified of the family, instead of holding onto the hope that the kind ones would be able to change things.

"I'm sure." Demi murmured with a playful eye roll. Just in their brief time spent in town she could easily tell that the Prince was not overly fond of his people. It was all rather ironic really. The people were the majority of the kingdom and they were turning farther and farther away from the reign of the king. What happened when there was no more people, or commoners, as they were so called. The answer was simple, really, no people meant no kingdom. She highly doubted the Fallon's wanted to rule over no one. As they picked up speed her muscles tensed in automatic response. All so suddenly it was made absolute he wasn't the Prince with a heart, an she highly doubted he'd be all that pleased if she kept falling into him with her bloodied arm. Absentmindedly she began to think of the best way to treat the wound. Some stitches would do, but beyond that she wouldn't need much help in the matter.

(view spoiler)[Are we going to move this to the castle? (hide spoiler)]

Magnus continued until they reached the gates of the castle court yard where he slowed to a stop and slid off of the horse. "Would you like help down?" He asked, looking up at the woman and holding out a hand. He could feel his shirt clinging to his skin where the blood had soaked through and he wanted to get her to where she was supposed to be as fast as possible so he could get washed up and changed into something clean. He looked up at Aurora and took a moment to examine her face. She was very beautiful, but, at further examination of her face and eyes, she looked like someone who had seen too much to be as innocent as she put on. Not only that, there was something in her eyes that made him a bit uneasy. She didn't look quite as kind as she let on, but he wasn't one to judge. He was doing the exact same thing. Perhaps she was worried herself.