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((A ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪғᴜʟ ɢᴀʀᴅᴇɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ ғᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴs, ʙʟᴏᴏᴍɪɴɢ ғʟᴏᴡᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ sᴡᴇᴇᴛ sᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴏғ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ. Aʟᴍᴏsᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪғᴜʟ ғᴏʀ sᴜᴄʜ ᴀ ʜᴏʀʀɪʙʟᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ))

Jordan looked up to see someone with a basket, Freina, he knew almost everyone in the Castle, it was his job, though he might talk to her, he was finished with his work anyway "Hey Freina, please come here" He asked politly

Jordan smiled slightly "It's okay, may I ask what are you doing?" He asked bored

Jordan nodded "Of course, tell me do you know who I am?" He asked, he wasn't seen often so wanted to see if people knew of him

Jordan laughed "No, it's fine, I like it that I am not recognisable, my name is Jordan Unorlox, Spy master in future" He said, he was enjoying her innocents

Jordan again laughed "No I mean that I am the spy master, I just told you so you know in future" He said

Jordan smiled "I am surprised you haven't heard of me, though I try my best I do get a lot of attention" He said as a gust of wind blew one of his weird diagrams with scribbles towards her

((Okay))
Jordan looked at the diagram "Automatic water boiler, still working out the kinks" He said stretching his hand out so she could give it back

"If you mean the spying part, I work for the royal family, this is a hobby" He said putting the design away

"Nothing much, got nothing to do so am looking for inspiration" He answered

Jordan smiled "Ohh no, your just entertaining" He said

Jordan raised an eyebrow and decided to have some fun "The abandoned daughter of a wealthy merchant, not that ordinary" He said

Jordan smiled "It's my job to know everything about everyone, so yes I know about how your mother abandoned you" He said

Jordan smiled "Of course, I will see you soon" He said laying back down

((So end or time skip?))

((Okay so we end))

Hunter sighed softly and put his hands into the pockets of his fine pants as he walked through the garden. It was a nice day and he had been tired of being inside where it seemed to be so suddenly stuffy. He had no real plans for the day, as usual, and he maintained a casual stroll even as he headed into the thicker grove of trees.
There were a few people around the garden but he hadn't made any particular contact with any of them. That was how he preferred it. He always enjoyed the silence of the garden, plus the added scent of the outdoors. It was nice, for the time being.

Whitaker stood with his arms crossed under the shade of a massive oak, partially concealed by the tree's broad trunk. "And you're positive that it was Emerson who said this?" he inquired, pinning the girl under his gaze, who only rolled her eyes.
"When have I ever been wrong?" Jocelyn grumbled. She had had a clear view of the meeting from her hiding spot in the alcove and she was looking directly at the councilman while he discussed the legitimacy of some lord and lady's child. Still, the Baron studied her suspiciously. Jocelyn had no idea what had gotten him to doubt her so much.
After a long moment, Whitaker finally nodded once. "I suppose I could use that for now," he said slowly, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "But I want more by tonight or you'll find yourself without a dinner," Whitaker claimed with a threatening glare before heading out under the sun to the main part of the garden and disappearing back into the castle.

While walking Hunter stumbled upon something very interesting indeed. He got what seemed to be the end of a conversation about royals secrets and gossip. He recognized Whitaker's voice immediately, as it was unmistakable in tone. Then, he heard the voice of the girl from the day before. Her name was Joy, Josie, Jocelyn, something of that nature. In any case, she was promising that her information was correct and then being prompted to get more or be left without dinner. This is not what Hunter expected. He knew that Whitaker had been looking for her, but not for something such as this.
So, when the Baron was gone he quickly swooped over to the girl and grabbed her by the wrist. "You're the one who has been leaking everyone's secrets then," he said, letting go of her wrist as if he had touched something slimy rather than just her skin.

Jocelyn dragged a hand through her hair and sighed, raking her mind for any of the usual haunts she hadn't visited yet. Whitaker thought secret rendezvous grew on trees. They weren't exactly easy to stumble upon, otherwise they wouldn't be secrets. And if she couldn't listen in on anyone, she would be forced to break into someone's study. No one liked going to bed with an empty stomach.
A gasp escaped her when she suddenly felt someone grab a hold of her wrist. Jocelyn tried to yank herself out of their grasp and spun on her heels only to come face to face with the stuck up nobleman from the library. A deep frown settled on her lips at his accusation, quickly pulling her wrist back to her side, his touch like a burn. "Didn't anyone ever teach you it's rude to eavesdrop?"

Hunter actually burst into laughter at that one. "You can't be serious! You eavesdrop for a living. That was the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard in my entire life. Oh my, you're funnier than I would have thought. Except, you actually thought you were making a serious point. How sad for you." He sighed happily and shook his head. "Pathetic, really."
He crossed his arms now and looked at the girl, a smirk on his lips in his amusement. "Really though, this is interesting. You're working for the Baron, who is apparently your Uncle, and you're a snitch. Do you get a kick out of ruining the lives of those you have never met? Wouldn't surprise me. Or maybe you're just too scared of going without food, which is ridiculous. Any idiot can sneak into the kitchen and get something to eat."

Jocelyn set her jaw, staring at him with fire in her eyes. How dare he laugh at her when he had no idea what he was talking about? "Yes, I do literally eavesdrop for my life," she snapped at him. He had no idea that if she did anything else, she would more than likely have her head separated from her shoulders. "Yes, I work for the Baron, but I have no uncle. And the only kicks I've gotten in the past five years is in the stomach courtesy of Whitaker's polished boot. You probably have no idea what it's like to go without food, even for a single night, and that's the very least that could happen if I didn't do as that bastard asks of me."

"You're right, I don't know what he could do to you, but I don't think you do either. He's weak and a coward. He's using a young girl to find out secrets on others just because he isn't willing to put in any work himself. It's pathetic, like you. You're sitting around letting it happen, encouraging it. You could leave, but you choose to stay and participate. Don't pretend as if you have no choice in the matter. You could get away and at the very least you could get your own food. You're obviously smarter than he is. He would never find you, and yet you stay," Hunter shook his head in disgust. "Don't make excuses for what you are doing. There are other choices and you're just refusing them."

"I know exactly what he is. And of course I have a choice, but while I may be selfish, I'm not heartless. If it were just me, I would have left years ago and never looked back. But I know exactly what would happen if I tried to leave and while I'd be happy risking my life, I'm not so keen on letting a man with more character than anyone in this godforsaken place die for my mistakes. Don't you dare judge me for something you know nothing about, you spoiled, spineless buffoon," Jocelyn snarled, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before she stopped holding herself back and introduced his face to her fist.

"Spoiled? Spineless? Yes, that's absolutely me. It's like you've known me my entire life," Hunter said before rolling his eyes. "You don't know anything about me. You don't even know who I am. I know more about you than my own mother knows about me, not that that's a lot. I know that you're still standing here arguing because you're just as bored as I am with this place. I know you think you're doing the right thing, but you're not. I know that you're weak because you're too scared to make a change in your pitiful life. If the Baron is really threatening someone's life, who are you to keep that to yourself. Inform the authorities. Put out some dirt on him rather than everyone else, whom you have no idea. I mean, I'm not keen on the royals myself, but there are other ways to get at them."

Everything was so black and white with him. Jocelyn felt like she was talking to a brick for all the good her words were her, he might as well be deaf. He would never understand because he was so damned determined to fight with her that he couldn't see reason. And he was doing it all because he was bored.
Shaking her head, she took a deep breath. She was done with this. Jocelyn would have been perfectly content if she had never seen him after that day in the library. He may have helped her then, but she had no idea why and she doubted he knew why he did it, himself. But standing here with him was pointless. She had work to do. "You know nothing," she told him before moving to step around him.

"And obviously you don't either," Hunter agreed with her sarcastically, stepping aside so that she could leave. He didn't know what her problems were, nor did he really care. No matter what excuses she might make, she was not doing herself or anyone else any favors by doing what she was doing. He thought she was a cop out, really, not willing to do what it took to get out of the position she was in. He didn't believe that anyone was truly stuck in their positions. But, he did know from personal experience that some people weren't willing to do what it took, or weren't willing to go through any possible pain. He wasn't himself, but then again, his current position wasn't that bad.

Jocelyn marched away, but her heels were sinking into the soft, uneven dirt, being off the paved walkways of the garden. It caused her frustration to only grow and coupled with the ache that had started deep in her chest, she lost her restraint and kicked her shoes off. Bending down, she picked them up and turned, throwing one back at the nobleman where it struck him square in the back.
Filled with a sort of satisfaction that did just a little to lessen her anger, she tossed the other shoe into a cluster of rosebushes before continuing her retreat into the castle, the cool grass soothing against her feet.

Hunter turned abruptly after feeling a thump against his back. He looked at the shoe that had now landed sideways in the dirt. He growled in the back of his throat then took off after her. He caught up to her in a matter of seconds then actually wrapped his arms around her, making sure to entrap her arms, and lifted her off the ground. He held tight to her despite her wiggling.
"I should just go turn you into the Baron right now and tell him that you're throwing shoes like some kind of animal. Do you think he would be happy about that? I'll tell him that you told me all about everything and he'll have your damn head. Why can't you just keep your damn shoes on your feet?! You're so frustrating! I've never met a woman so frustrating!"

Jocelyn let out a startled yelp when her feet suddenly left the ground. It was only when her assailant began to speak that she really started struggling. "Put me down!" she demanded, trying and failing to pull his arms off of her. And he had called her uncivilized. For a moment, Jocelyn almost wished she had kept her shoes on so she would have something harder and pointier to kick him with other than her bare heels.
The Baron wouldn't care about her throwing shoes, but having his political tactics discovered... that she wasn't totally sure about, but Jocelyn would call the nobleman's bluff. Even if he did tell Whitaker, she doubted the consequences would be so severe.
Jocelyn chose not to show him any of her uncertainty, refusing to say anything but, "Then you must not know many women, now put me doubt, you brute!"

((Heading to work now, will be back in a few hours))

((Alright, sounds good.))

"You make me glad that I haven't met many woman," Hunter told her in a low growl, "And I'll let you go just as soon as you stop kicking me and trying to get away. I'm tired of you. You have no business arguing against me so much. All I wanted was for you to wear shoes, and now you're throwing them at me like a child. We could have solved this entire thing within our first few seconds of meeting if you had just been wearing shoes and if you hadn't been so damn judgmental. You started this entire thing, remember?" He held tight to her still. He wasn't a huge man, but he was strong and he had no trouble holding her, at least not yet.

"I'll stop kicking you when you put me down," Jocelyn retorted, continuing to struggle in his arms. "If you're so tired of me just let me go and I'll leave. And here you go blaming everything on me again. You're the one who ran into me in the first place, then you're the one who came to me when you had to put that stupid book away, and you were the one who grabbed me twice in the past 20 minutes. You started it, so just take the blame and let me go!" She wished they were closer to the garden, where a scene like this would have drawn more attention and the nobleman would have to put her down.

"If you had just been wearing shoes I would have apologized and moved on without saying another word to you, but you're every damn place I go now and you're never wearing shoes. It's irritating as hell. I mean really, I offered to buy you more comfortable ones. And I only had to come to you to put my book away because you wouldn't move. I obviously should have just picked up and moved you aside then. And on top of that you're a snitch. You are seriously the most infuriating human being I have ever met," Hunter said. His voice wasn't quite at a shout but it was pretty close. Her wiggling was becoming quite annoying but he didn't dare let her go.

"I'm still waiting for those, by the way," Jocelyn snarled sarcastically as she made yet another attempt to break loose. She had ended up moving, not because he had asked her too, but technically he said if she moved, he would get her new shoes and she had. "I'm not a snitch, so stop calling me that. The royal family has their own spies anyway, so don't make it sound like what I do to stay alive is so damn outrageous. If I'm the most infuriating person you've ever met, just let me go already and this can be over! Honestly, you act all high and mighty, and reasonable, but the fact that you won't just get over it makes you no better than you claim I am!" she argued.

((Going to disappear to drive home))

"I never said I was reasonable, and how am I supposed to buy you shoes if you run off and disappear. It's not my job to hunt you down when I'm trying to be generous. If you want something from me you can stick around. I don't even ask that you be polite since you obviously can't. So, if you want the damn shoes I'll get them because I'm a man of my word, but not until you stop wiggling," Hunter replied to her. It was like a soft shouting match between them and at this point he wasn't even sure they arguing, or why they were.

((Alrighty))

Jocelyn snorted. It had been the hidden message in all of his arguments when he seemed to think he was making all of her points invalid with his shining debating skills. It wasn't her fault she had had to leave, otherwise the Baron would have found her and she would have been stuck doing his bidding the rest of the day.
She trusted this man about as far as she could throw him, but if he promised to both put her down and by her some wearable shoes, Jocelyn didn't see many options. Frowning, she allowed her body to go still just long enough to see if he would do as he promised.

Hunter immediately let her go and stepped back away from her. "Was that really so hard?" he asked. He took a long, deep breath. "Alright, now, if you want to put your shoes back on we can go get you some new ones. If you throw anything else at me though, the offer is off the table." He looked at her seriously, though most of the anger had boiled out of him now. In fact, he felt more calm than he had in quite some time. Maybe he just needed a screaming match with a random stranger who didn't seem to be able to hold her tongue any more than he could.

Jocelyn scowled at his condescending question and felt the need to be just a tad difficult once more. "I don't want to put my shoes back on," she told him on a technicality, not to mention one was back where she had flung it at him, the other lodged in a shrub somewhere. She seriously wondered if he had had some kind of traumatic experience with bare feet in the past. Besides, Jocelyn hadn't grown up in any fancy palace, but she had to believe that even noble children enjoyed running around without shoes...
He did seem to have worn himself out, though, after their heated argument and managing to hold her writhing body suspended in the air for minutes on end. She wondered just how long this would last, though.

((Last post for the night!))

Hunter rolled his eyes, "You're really going to argue with me on this? Should not buy you any shoes? I'll gladly be ok my way if you want to continue with your current heels..." He turned as if ready to walk away. "It's entirely your decision." He suddenly turned back to her. "Or, one other option. You give me your name, formally, because you haven't done me that courtesy as of yet." He raised an eyebrow. At this point he wasn't sure which option she was going to go with. She could really do anything.

She silently crossed her arms, knowing that she should just do as he asked, but after complying to his demands once, Jocelyn felt that she needed to revert to her former disobedience.
Jocelyn met the man's gaze steadily, easily able to choose the price she would have to pay for decent footwear. "People here would know me as Jocelyn Whitaker," she informed him simply. She hadn't gone by her real name in years; she couldn't very well go around with the surname of a peasant when she was supposed to be posing as someone of a higher status. It was then that Jocelyn realized that throughout the course of their disputes, the man had failed to introduce himself as well.

"I didn't ask what people around here called you. I asked for your name," Hunter told her. "I already know that you're not Whitaker, since you informed me so harshly earlier that you have no uncle. So, your real name. I'll even throw in my real name if you want it." Hunter never took his eyes off her face when he was speaking to her. He always looked directly at her as if challenging her, even if he wasn't necessarily doing so. He was taught to always look in the eyes, and the rest was just in his personality.

Jocelyn frowned slightly, narrowing her eyes just a little bit. Why couldn't he just take the name she game him and leave it at that. But there was really no point at keeping quiet about it. He knew she wasn't really who she claimed, anyway. "Jocelyn Stormway," she finally answered, though she doubted it would really mean anything to him. It was a small, insignificant name, hardly carrying more weight than seven letters and to syllables.
To anyone else, it was forgettable. But to her it marked the time in her life when she was hungry, and then then the time when she was happy.

"Nice to meet you Jocelyn Stormway," Hunter with almost a hint of gentleness to his tone. He of course didn't recognize her name which meant that she was probably just a commoner who would meet have entered the palace without some kind of push to do so. He would inquire later, if he got the chance.
"I'm Hunter Summerton," he said with a shrug, not really expecting her to know who he was or that he existed. Sure, the queen used to have the same last name but it wasn't as if she mentioned her younger brother or as if he was really a part of the public. He was just as much a no one as Jocelyn, except he had a small role on the court.

His choice of words was almost amusing, claiming it was nice to meet her when they had been fighting the entire time they had been aware of each other's existence. It was just a common phrase, but it did something to loosen up her frown.
Jocelyn blinked when he finally introduced himself. She knew him. Well, she didn't know know him, she had just heard of him. Within the first year of being under the service of the Baron, she had been forced to learn the names and backgrounds of most of the nobles that lived in or near the Ivory Castle. Hunter had been near the top. "The queen's brother, hmm? No wonder you're so uptight," she remarked. Jocelyn remembered how he had mentioned he had days worth of free time, which now made sense, knowing that he wasn't really involved in much of anything around here.

"Yes, being a queen's brother definitely makes one uptight," Hunter said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes then turned and motioned for her to follow. "Well, I guess we best be going if you want those shoes. Do you want to go to the royal shoe maker or would you rather just go to the marketplace in the city?" he asked her. He didn't really care where they went, as long as it gave him a break from his usual boring routine of nothingness. He ran his hand up through his hair as he started to walk, waiting for her response.

"The market," Jocelyn said without hesitation. She couldn't remember the last time she had stepped foot outside the walls surrounding the castle. She missed being able to see honest, genuine people who didn't care about palace rumors or political nuisances.
Following behind Hunter, she continued, "Besides, the royal shoe maker would probably only have shoes as ridiculous and uncomfortable as the ones in my wardrobe."

Hunter pointed to his own shoes. They were boots and they looked just as most royal boots would. "He made mine. They're the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned in my entire life. I requested them to be made without the steel in them, and with short nails. He did wonderfully. But, I'll take you to the market. It's been a while since I've been outside these walls."
He turned and looked at her. "Ever ridden a horse?" he asked. "I would prefer not to have to request a carriage be hitched up. Too many questions I don't feel inclined to answer. I'd rather we just ride into town, if that's alright with you."

"Well, I can't say I've ever seen a woman in this castle walking around with boots on under her skirts," Jocelyn huffed. She had never liked wearing boots anyway, they always seemed stiff with her. Weaver had bought her a pair when she was ten, but she would continue to wear her old shoes. They would allow her to move swiftly and silently and she wore them until she started losing the circulation in her feet because they were too tight.
"It's been years since I've been up on a horse, but I don't see why I would have a problem with it," she said slowly, making a face like the words left a funny taste in her mouth. Agreeing with him still didn't sit with her too well yet.