Slipping Bonds [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

“Do you need that much luggage, Dame?”


The words slipped from the lips of the black-haired prince Ciaron Kinsell as he stood, dressed in golds and blues, near the stables. Horses were being prepared for the adventure, and it seemed Daina had only just decided that a cart would be better than several pack horses.


His sister, Daina, so-called Dame after an argument when they were children (‘Dane sounds like a guy’s name!’ he recalled her complaint), was not dressed so well. The princess wore what might have been considered nice, by a serf, in a brown dress with a cream apron, and her dark hair pulled high up. She took one look at him, and arched an eyebrow, “You know the trip is going to take days, don’t you?”


“And?”


Daina bit the inside of her cheek, then said, “Nothing,” before she turned back to oversee the others loading the cart, her blue eyes making sure nothing delicate would be crushed. “Not all of this is mine.”


He walked over to where she stood, offered an, “I know. How many in our party?”


“Your guard,” that was what Bellum was to Daina, “A few mercenaries—”


“Mercenaries?” Ciaron’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “Father isn’t sending us with knights?”


“They’re needed here,” she answered, “They aren’t the sort you’d find in bars looking for bounties, Ciaron. They’re a bit more noble than that.”


“Still….” He found he was uncomfortable with the idea of traveling with people he didn’t know, and who’s loyalties he had no understanding of. Bellum was loyal for reasons Ciaron understood. Mercenaries were loyal to coin. ‘Then again, who has more coin than the crown?’ Perhaps he didn’t need to worry, but still, he did.


“Don’t worry, they’ll be done packing soon, and we can get on the road. You can get to know everyone then.” Daina clapped a hand on the back of his shoulder and smiled, “I’m sure that will distract you all the way until we reach the castle of the Hoster family.”


Ciaron swallowed down the anxiety as Daina started to walk into the stable. He followed after, a lost puppy, “Who’s putting us up tonight?” He knew that Daina had arranged for them to stay with nobles most of the way to the Royal Hosters, as another way for him to get to know people. He didn’t really know the people in his kingdom, after all, and knowing his lords was sort of necessary.


“Lord Gregory Grant and his family will see us, if our timing is good,” Daina didn’t want to tell him they were running behind as she found her stallion. Many thought she should have had the black thing gelded, like her brother’s white horse, but she couldn’t bring herself to have it done. “Go prepare your horse,” she directed, to his groan.


He looked around, as if he might find a servant to do the prep work for him.

 

[disgruntled panda]

Earlier, when it appeared that Daina would be wanting a cart, Bellum had excused himself from Ciaron’s side to go prepare the cart horses so the servants could focus on packing. The task had not taken long to accomplish with the help of the driver, and the team stood hitched to cart, waiting for the adventure to begin. With that one worry out of the way, the elf had gone back inside to prepare his own mount.


His lips shifted down into a light scowl when he heard the ever familiar voices of the prince and princess inside the stable. There went his hope of having some quiet to himself, and a break away from his charge. Bellum stood after making sure the saddle’s buckle was secure, and took a slight step back. A critical eye was cast on the dapple gray stallion, which was the very same beast he’d rode while in the military, to make sure the tack fit how it should. He was surprised that they had not taken along with his other possessions when he’d been striped of his rank. Then again, after giving it some thought, no one had probably wanted it. Trained war horses rarely accepted new riders after losing their first.


Bellum moved to open the stall door before he turned back to the animal, grasping the reins and leading him out of the loose box at the end of the stable. Arctic blue gaze soon found the royal siblings, Daina already seeing to her own horse, while her brother seemed to be standing there uselessly. This did not surprise him in the least. He continued to lead his mount down the aisle toward the open doors, ignoring Cairon as he walked passed. It was clear he was searching for someone to shove his duties off on, but the elf was not going to take the bait. It would not help the younger man remember that his personal guard was not his servant, which was something Bellum often seemed to be mistaken for.


While the small band of mercenaries were on the castle grounds, they had separated themselves from the castle’s inhabitants on the other side of the stables. Used to travel, their preparations had already been taken of, and now they idly waited with their mounts for the rest of the group to finish.


Aside from knowing that their task was to protect royal party during their journey, and the route they would be traveling, they knew little else. Knowing why the prince and princess were heading to the neighboring kingdom wasn’t something they were concerned with. Their only concern was doing their job correctly, so they could collect the other half of their money which was to be given upon a successful arrival.


Hawke, dressed in light leather armor dyed black, stood with the group, listening to old men’s chatter though he hardly volunteered anything to their conversation. His gaze glanced to sky to note the position of the sun as their talk turned past conquests in the bedroom. Almost noon, and it did not seem like their employers were any closer to being ready to leave. Not that the men seemed to really care.


“I’m goin’ t’see if there’s anythin’ I can help with.” The blonde muttered to the others before he walked away. Rounding the corner of the stable, he spotted the servants loading the cart, and no sign of the royals or the guard that had been with them. His brows furrowed together in mild annoyance as he made his way over to the unmentioned cart to help. A small chest was lifted from the ground, and he stepped over to start to place it over the cart’s side.


“Stop!”


With a groan, Hawke stopped himself from lowering the chest, and looked to the servant that had cried out. “What?”


“You were about to set that thing on Princess Daina’s dresses.” The servant scolded as he came over, and took the chest from him. “We’ve got everything under control here. Your help is not needed.”


He shook his head in disgust. Even the servants here seemed to be complete snobs. “Apparently you don’t ‘ave it under control. I’m sure that th’ princess and prince would like t’make it t’th’ next town before night fall.” He pointed out with a growl, turning to walk away, heading toward the stable. Perhaps some one inside would prefer his help.

 

[Lucyfer]

The siblings were not alone in the stables, which was fortunate for Prince Ciaran. He hadn’t been able to make out the other figure in the stables with them until the stall gate was opened and the man walked through with intent to pass him by.


A mischievous grin crossed the prince’s face and lit in his eyes, “Bellum, you’re good with horses,” he could feel his sister’s distaste, even if he couldn’t see her roll her eyes. Ciaran didn’t care. She’d taught him to use honey before commands, to her eternal frustration. “Would you mind preparing mine for me? I’m afraid it would take quite a while if I did it myself.” She'd also told him that now and then, it was okay to be self-depreciating. Humility was good. He tended to only use it to gain things from others, and it wasn't so much as showing humility in that case. It was just an attempt to manipulate the situation so that he got what he wanted.


In this case, it was his horse prepared for him. Bellum was good with horses, too. That was just a perk. He could have been terrible with horses and Ciaran would have had him do it. He barely knew his own steed any longer; he wasn't exactly allowed to go out on many pleasure trips, after all. What bond there might have been between horse and rider was virtually non-existent. The geldling would be easy for the prince to replace.


“All the reason you should.” Daina did not speak the words loud enough for her brother to hear, and so he thought she was speaking something sweet to her own stallion.


Ciaran did hear the steps of someone approaching, and he made certain to move from the doorway and put himself in profile to it. This would also give Bellum room to move out if he so chose. Ciaran shot a look at the one who entered, and raised his voice to speak, “Who are you?” The demand in his tone.


Daina glanced up, noted, “That’s Beckett,” his surname was slipping her mind, if he had offered one, “He will be one of those joining us,” she explained, then addressed the blonde, “Is there anything we can help with?”


Ciaran just eyed the blond suspiciously. He was still not keen on this idea of mercenaries coming along, no matter how much money the crown had. Money was fickle compared to loyalty. ‘Or magic.’ Well, magic could be fickle, but not in the case that Ciaran was considering.

 

[disgruntled panda]

The steps of horse and rider paused the moment the Ciaran spoke. Almond-shape eyes regarded him coolly as if he was a mere pest, something that wasn’t the effort to be bothered with. He listened to the excuse, knowing the he was most likely only saying such things to appeal to him, to get him to do what he didn’t want to do. Not that it really was an excuse, but more like the cold hard truth. It would not surprise him if Ciaran did not know that he was even supposed to put a saddle pad on before placing the saddle.


Being more sensitive than a humans, that sharp hearing picked up the uttered words from the princess. Bellum could completely agree with her. A brief hint of a smirk crossed his lips when he felt the restless pawing of the stallion beside him. For a moment, it crossed his mind to accept the task and allow Ciaran to tend his mount. Dealing with the high-strung animal would no doubt teach the boy to appreciate his calmer gelding more, but, as tempting as it was, it would be unwise to do it. The stallion could possibly hurt, or even kill him, and Bellum didn’t need any help imagining what that would bring down on his head.


“I will not.” He prepared himself for some sort of rebuke from him, but none came since something else had gained the brat’s attention. Looking to the stable’s entrance, he studied the mercenary. Much like his charge, Bellum did not trust or particularly like mercenaries. Their only loyalty was to coin, and that loyalty could easily be shifted from one thing to the next by whoever was willing to give them more than their previous employer. Not that he could speak much on the subject of loyalty. If it had not been for the collar resting around his neck, his own loyalties to the Kinsell family would probably vanish rather quickly.


Giving a shake of his head, Bellum continued on his way out of the stable.


Hawke stopped as Ciaran spoke, hardly missing the demanding tone. His lips parted in preparation to say his name, but Daina had beat him to it. His mouth resumed its closed state as the man shrugged his shoulders as if to silently say, “What she said.”


He quickly stepped to the side when the elf walked passed with his mount, not wanting to get kicked by the beast he was leading. His gaze followed after them for a brief second. Hawke had never seen one of the elven folk close up before, but apparently the rumors he had heard were true- pointed ears, and that the males appeared to be bordering the feminine side. If that had been a male that had walked passed.


Hearing Daina speak, he drew himself out of his thoughts and took a few steps further inside the building, ignoring the look her brother was giving him. “Actually, ma’am, I was wonderin’ if ya’ll needed help with anythin’.” He did not point out how slowly the process was taking them considering how rude it would be.

 

[Lucyfer]

The interruption stayed the rebuke on Ciaran’s tongue, but the refusal was not forgotten. Beckett was the name of this mercenary, and no surname was offered to fill in the gaps. Ciaran narrowed his eyes, which followed the mercenary as he stepped further in. He wanted to be useful. ‘Yeah, right.’ Ciaran finally started to walk to his own white horse, “Easy,” he spoke under his breath to it as he opened the stall door to tend to it, since now he was distracted by the mercenary and wanted to hear any conversation.


“I require no help,” Daina answered, for she was nearly finished with the tack. She was now just looking over the job to make sure everything was in order. She’d started to accept they were going to be late; she, Bellum, and others might be able to gallop to Lord Grant’s home, but the cart and much else would be left undefended. They’d be camping this night. ‘Send a courier on to Grant to explain and thank him for his hospitality anyway. Wake early.’


It crossed her mind to ask the mercenary to fetch the courier, but instead she said, “My brother may need assistance with his horse, if you are feeling charitable.”


“I don’t,” Ciaran scoffed at the idea of a mercenary helping, apparently finding that to be different than Bellum doing the job for him.


“Dear,” honeyed words, “is the saddle pad on?” The saddle was.


She couldn’t see Ciaran turn several shades of red before starting to remove the saddle. Satisfied her point was made, she walked to the gate of her own stall and opened it again, a gentle hand holding her own reins to bring Hesperos along behind her and out of the stables.


“Fine,” Ciaran muttered, more to himself than anyone there, “I could use a hand,” admitting it now wasn’t the same. Bellum had become a safe entity to admit things to, because Bellum couldn’t do anything to him, and in Ciaran’s mind that meant he couldn’t do anything to harm his family, either.


He knew there were limits, such as the fact Bellum could refuse to do chores, but it always seemed to surprise him a little, or else, annoy him.

 

[disgruntled panda]

Brows lightly furrowed together as he listened to the exchange between the siblings, his gaze shifting toward Ciaran when the saddle was mention. Teeth settled on the tip of his tongue as he forced down the urge to lightly scold the prince for not knowing how to complete a simple task that hardly required use of one’s common sense. Hawke Belmont certainly would not have given any second thought about scolding, but Beckett could not afford to do so. A hired hand should never speak in such a way to their betters, and that was the role he would have to continue to play. Keeping up the appearance of an uneducated base-born brute that was skillful with a sword shouldn’t be too hard. He had for years, after all, only those of the Abandale royal court knowing his true identity.


A mental sigh was given as he took a step toward the stall where Ciaran and his mount stood, mostly to move out of the Daina’s way so she could leave. “A ‘and ye shall ‘ave then.” His mood wasn’t exactly charitable, especially toward what he thought to be another spoiled brat, but he was willing to do almost anything to get them on their way.


Hawke raised a hand and held it out toward the gelding, allowing to get his scent before he raised a hand to scratch between his ears. Mossy green eyes slowly came to meet that of the younger man, but it soon dropped downward in what could easily be mistaken as a sign of respect or submission. Honestly, it was all he could do to keep his expression a neutral one.


“If ye don’t place somethin’ on th’ animal’s back a’fore ye put th’ saddle,” The mercenary began to explain as he began to remove the gelding’s halter, “Then it’ll rub sores an’ th’ ‘orse will most likely b’come angry with ye.” Hopefully the explanation would help Ciaran remember. Having to aid him every time it came to time to set off on their adventure again would only slow them down.


Setting down the halter, he lifted the bridle from its place and slipped it over the animal’s head. It took some time to get it to accept the bit, but eventually it did and be began to buckle the bridle in place. Hawke’s expression became doubtful as he chanced a look at him. Did he even know how to ride? He supposed that was not his problem. He did have his own personal guard to babysit him, which would no doubt be a small blessing for everyone else in the party. Well, aside for the elf obviously.


Once outside, Bellum had lead his mount away from the general area where the rest were getting ready for the journey to wait. A critical eye was cast toward the cart. Only a few items remained to be loaded, but the servants seemed to be taking their precious time with it. A scowl claimed his features. If they took any longer, they would no doubt be camping outdoors. He did not care, used to it from his time in the military, but Ciaran would most likely complain about it. There was no proof of this, of course, but the elf rarely took a optimistic point of view.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ciaran gave the stranger room, ‘Beckett.’ He reminded himself, and he watched the movements of the man in the stable, every cautious, especially after Daina left. He doubted much would happen so close to the castle, but he still worried.


His ears caught the sound of the accented voice and his thoughts cut off from concern, to take in what was being said. “Oh.” He’d never had it explained to him, honestly. He’d just been told to do it certain ways, and not often—he didn’t get out to his horse. He hadn’t know the saddle caused it problems like that. He tried to make a mental note so that he’d not unintentionally harm the animal. He had no problems with Flurry. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”


He watched as Beckett went about the rest of it, noting how long it took for Flurry to accept the bit. Always a troublesome thing. He could guess it was because the horse did not get out as often as the others, that he struggled with that. “Is it all set, then?” He asked, prepared to take the reins if it was ready to go.


~***~


Once out of the stables, Daina mounted Hesperos. Height was useful for finding a courier, but once up higher and trotting out near the cart, she could see that the cart wasn’t even ready yet. A scowl crossed her face, and she snapped her fingers, “We will be leaving in five minutes, finish loading the cart!” She snapped, since a pair of the servants were standing idly by, chatting at the cart.


They jumped to attention at the snap and went back to work.


She turned the stallion about and quickly located another servant. She urged Hesperos by Bellum, “Daniel,” she knew most of them by name, made a point of it. The man looked up from his path.


“Princess, how may I help?”


“I need a message brought to Lord Grant that my brother and myself will not be visiting him this evening, nor on the morrow. We ran behind, but we will make a point to visit him on the trip back,” she said. She did not want to be rude, after all, and that was why Grant needed to know. It was the least she could do.


“I will ensure that message gets to Lord Grant as quick as wings,” he said, “Is there anything else?”


“No,” she shook her head, “You may continue on.”


“Thank you,” and so he did.

 

[disgruntled panda]

Hawke took a step back and glanced over the gelding to check before giving a small nod of his head. “Aye. Everythin’ seems t’be in order.” A friendly smile was given as he settled his gaze on Ciaran. “Wasn’t so hard, was it?” He teased.


He stepped out of the stall so the prince would have room to exit. “If that’s all ya need, I’ll b’gettin’ back t’my men.” Well, they weren’t exactly his considering he wasn’t their leader, but the meaning should be clear enough. Turning, the mercenary walked away and exited the stable. The sight of the loaded cart the greeted him was a bit shocking, and pleasing, since he had thought that they would still be loading it, or that the princess might have found something else she couldn’t leave behind.


Looks like everything is ready then. Hawk thought to himself as he rounded the corner of the stable to find the other mercenaries and his own docile mare.


Bellum had spotted Diana trotting past, but he had not given much attention to her direction, or any thought to what her goal was. His gaze trailed back over to the stable, spotting the mercenary walking out by himself. He noticed that Ciaron had yet to emerge. His eyes narrowed. Surely the unknown man hadn’t caused the prince any harm. No one would be foolish enough to hurt him this while they were still on castle grounds with so many people around, would they? Perhaps- No. He silenced the thought. There was no way he was going to go check on him like some worried mother hen- because he was most certainly not worried. Ciaran was fine, and did not require any help. Though...


“Princess, how may a help you?”


Bellum allowed himself to become distracted from his thoughts by eavesdropping on the conversation a few yards away. Just as he suspected, they wouldn’t be making it to their intended destination. Great. Just was he needed. If they had to spend the night outdoors, he had a feeling that there would be no sleeping on his part. Not with the hired guard around. No matter how much he might dislike Ciaran, he wouldn’t allow him to fall prey to one of those brutes if one(or more)decided to take the chance of harming or spiriting away the young man.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ciaran took hold of the reins when the mercenary agreed that Flurry was ready. The name was slipping out of his head already. “Yeah…,” off Bentley? Some ‘B’ name went, and Ciaran glanced at his horse again, and gave it another once over to take in how this looked.


He’d have to mimic it next time. Best to try and remember how it ought to look, so he could get it right. “Okay, ready?” He asked Flurry.


It didn’t respond to his voice, and he sighed, shook his head, and then led it out. It was docile enough. He heard it was because it was gelded that it was docile, compared to his sister’s stallion, but he’d never seen Hesperos act up before. He wasn’t sure how much he believed that made a difference in their disposition.


Outside, he walked with Flurry to the cart area, and there saw Daina separating from a conversation, and Bellum looking more annoyed than usual. He always looked annoyed. He noted there were no boxes near the cart anymore, and did wonder what half the things were. ‘They can’t all be dresses.’


He thought of asking why Bellum looked particularly annoyed, but his thoughts were interrupted.


“Are we ready now, Ciaran?” He heard Daina call to him. To answer, he moved up into the saddle. He knew at least that much, and he did know how to ride, though he wasn’t as practiced. He imagined he’d get quite good on this trip, though.


“Yes,” he answered, “Do we have everything?” He motioned to the cart, now below him, and saw her give a sharp nod. Hesperos danced around so Daina could speak to one of her handmaids who was tagging along to go inform the mercenaries they were, finally, leaving. Off went the red-headed maid on her own mare to alert the group, as horses were now brought for the cart, and a familiar old driver tagging along with them.


Ciaran smiled at Richard—he’d been around for as long as Ciaran could remember, and he was glad for the friendly face. Richard waved back, of course, as he got situated in on the bench of the cart.

 

[disgruntled panda]

Conversation among the men stopped when they spotted the hand maid riding over to them. Some rather randy comments about her appearance were made as they broke apart and went to mount their horses, but they were quickly silenced by their leader.


Hawke guided his chestnut mare to the front of the stable where everyone else waited, mouthing a quick apology as he rode passed the servant. He could only hope that any vulgar talk wasn’t spoken around Daina. He didn’t know if he would be able to keep from hitting the offender if someone did. While he could tolerate fun and games, he didn’t exactly like how his fellow mercenaries treated women as nothing more than objects to subject their desires on. He had been raised to be a complete gentleman when in the presence of the weaker sex.


The rest of the group shortly followed after the blonde, a little over half of them bringing their mounts to wait by the wagon while the rest went to join Daina and Ciaran. Having one of the first to volunteer, Hawke was among those that would ride along with the royal siblings and their lone guard. A small dip of his head was given to the two as he halted his horse near by.


Bellum ignored the feeling of relief that washed over him when the spotted the prince walking out of the stables. Turning to the side and setting a foot in the stirrup, he swung up gracefully into the saddle. He gave a light flick of the rein and trotted over to Ciaran, stopping a few feet away.


He studied him and his mount from the corner of an eye, giving a slight tilt of his head. “It seems that you managed to figure it out on your own.” He commented in his usual stoic tone.


His lips pulled into a thin line as he noted the mercenaries gathering around them. If it had not been for knowing that the men were on their side, it would have been easy to believe that they planned on attacking them. He tightened his grasp on his reins in favor of not moving at to the hilt of his sword that rested on his left him in its sheathe. A small sigh escaped from him as he warred with his frazzled nerves. Bellum felt the need for a vacation, feeling that he was becoming paranoid the longer he stayed around Cairan. Sadly, this trip was hardly anything being made out of the pleasure of simple travel.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ciaran could have told the truth, but what Bellum didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, in this case, “Yeah, I managed,” he informed the elf, though made sure to sound a touch offended that there was ever a doubt…even if he himself had given reason for that doubt. He was still annoyed Bellum hadn’t done as asked.


His eyes shifted towards the ladies as the red-headed handmaid rejoined Daina.


Hazel looked a touch distressed when she returned to Daina, and rode close to the princess’s side, but didn’t mention what troubled her. Daina didn’t ask; it was easy enough to guess, considering the company they kept for this venture. ‘Another few daggers would have been nice.’ Although convincing Hazel to keep one might have been more trouble than it was worth.


When the mercenaries joined the group moving out, positions were taken. Hazel rode a few paces behind the royal entourage, and more when the blond mercenary joined Bellum, Ciaran, and Daina, for Ciaran urged his own horse to be nearer to his sister.


The blond gave a dip of his head, and Ciaran managed to respond with a forced smile. His sister inclined her head in return, and she cast an eye back towards Hazel, and then Richard at the cart, where most of the mercenaries had gathered. Hazel didn’t drift that close to the cart.


Daina’s gaze returned then to the one known as Beckett, “Thank you for assisting Ciaran,” she didn’t see the way Ciaran’s expression tightened in annoyance, considering the previous conversation he’d just had with Bellum, “So tell me, Beckett, how did you end up in this company?” Talk made the travel go smooth, and Daina wanted to know more about those she rode with, especially since it seemed the first night was not going to be in the safety of a noble's home.