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Post by Brandwyn on Feb 3, 2010 16:49:48 GMT -5
Duke David studied the battle seasoned man before him, puzzling over just what Dougal’s true intentions were. Unlike his wife, he could understand Katrina’s attraction to the man. He had always known she would gravitate toward a military man and not some Court fop, but Oriana had her own agendas and her daughter’s happiness was not as high on the list as it ought to be, though she did mean well enough as far as Katrina was concerned.
Dougal sobered and continued in a more serious manner.
"To be honest, though, I would probably sound you out and make sure that you weren't just trying to sleep with my daughter. But, then again, I'm rather suspicious of the nobility in general."
David stroked his chin, pulling the corners of his mouth back down from the grin that had started at Dougal’s honest words. David found himself warming to the man. He had heard some of his reputation, of course, but often that was blown out of proportion to the reality, so David preferred to make his own assessment of a man’s character and abilities. He nodded solemnly after mastering his momentary levity. “I can understand that,” he acknowledged.
"I'm not sure how much proof you require that I really am in love with Katrina, but I was put on leave by Princess Cassandra pending an investigation due to the fact that I handed control of my men over to my second in command so I could be with Katrina."
The Duke could see a glimpse of the emotions this caused Dougal and was impressed by it. As a knight himself, David understood what it meant to command and to care for the men in your command and he remembered how hard it was for him to give up that command when it came his time to retire a few years ago.
"In the twenty two years that I have been in the army, sir, I have never abandoned my post. The army means everything to me and there is only one reason why I would risk my career and, potentially, my reputation and life."
David studied Dougal’s eyes and noted that he was holding his breath and was actually nervous about David’s reaction. This convinced him far more than Dougal’s words that he was sincere. Well his reaction coupled with the look that Katrina and Dougal had been exchanging when he walked into the ward. He did not doubt that they were in love, but what would that mean for their future?
“I thank you for being honest with me, Captain.” David said sincerely. “But I have to wonder, if you are permanently removed from your post, if you plan to marry my daughter, and if so, how do you plan to take care of her? She is not your typical courtier, that is true, and is quite used to the harsh realities of the life of a soldier, but she is still a child of wealth and standing and unused to not being able to purchase the items she needs or desires due to lack of funds.”
David stroked his chin again, his elbow cupped in his other hand, as he thought perhaps Dougal and Katrina hadn’t even had a chance to think about these things yet. This romance had to be fairly new or he would have known about it. He knew his daughter kept a few secrets from him, but for the most part he knew what she was doing and tried to keep a close relationship with her. He was surprised to see her looking at Dougal in such a way and had thought she had been falling in love with Henry. This sudden change had him confused and he wondered if it was so sudden that perhaps Katrina herself had not had a chance to think it through and inform her father.
“I don’t mean to jump the gun, however. If you have not had a chance to think about that, then I suggest you spend some time on that thought. There is a certain lifestyle to which she has become accustomed and if you intend to spend the rest of your life with her, then you should be aware of that and have some sort of plan to provide for her. I will not have my daughter living in a hovel on some farm scratching in the dirt for a living like some common farmwife.” He said sternly, his fatherly instincts kicking in.
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Dougal
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Post by Dougal on Feb 7, 2010 0:04:11 GMT -5
Was that a smile that the Duke was hiding? Dougal was almost certain that it was, but he couldn't be sure. If it was, then Dougal could understand why the Duke hid it. They did not quite know each other well enough to reveal amusement, however mild it might be, during such a serious talk. If it wasn't a smile, then what was it? A frown? A look of contempt? That would mean that the Duke didn't like Dougal but was trying to be nice for his daughter's sake. He kept his face blank as he tried to work out what the Duke was thinking, but the Duke's reply caused him to relax slightly. There was no emotion in his words, something that should have been there if the Duke were thinking negative thoughts about Dougal. That didn't mean that the Duke was willing to give his blessing, though, it just meant that he was more likely to.
“I thank you for being honest with me, Captain, But I have to wonder, if you are permanently removed from your post, if you plan to marry my daughter, and if so, how do you plan to take care of her?"
Dougal released the breath that he was holding but, although his face contained a mixture of blankness and relaxedness, his heart was hammering his ribcage. Marriage was the word that had cause this to happen, and he wondered about it. Would Katrina want to marry him, or did she just like their relationship as it was? It was surprising but, for someone who had been as liberal as he had once been, Dougal would not be able to carry on the relationship if it wasn't going to end with marriage. He'd been there, done that and suffered for it.
However, the Duke had a good point. Up until this point, Dougal hadn't given his financial status any though whatsoever. Now he did so with some trepidation. He had never really planned on retiring, and definitely hadn't planned on getting married to a Duke's daughter, but he had squirreled away some money for a theoretical retirement, or at least for the families of the men who would be killed with him when he eventually died in action. But that alone wouldn't be enough to support Katrina for very long. The dowry, if the Duke did agree to send Katrina along with one, would doubtless help, but that was still only short term. What Dougal ideally needed was the equivalent of about twenty years pay, so that he could supplement Katrina's own wage until she reached a point where her pay was enough that she would be able to afford what she wanted.
But how was he going to get to provide for her? Dougal quickly though of his skills, his age and what he was capable of. He didn't have much time, he realised, to build up the nest egg. Ten years at the most, but probably five or six years before he would have to sink to the level of being a bodyguard or guarding low risk shipments of goods. Still, it would be good money and, for Katrina's sake, he would be happy to do it, even if it meant long weeks without her.
"I will not have my daughter living in a hovel on some farm scratching in the dirt for a living like some common farmwife.”
Even though Dougal shouldn't have laughed, he did. It was a somewhat bitter, sarcastic laugh and, though he did not mean it to show, a hard sort of bitterness came into Dougal's face.
"There's not much chance of that happening, sir. I grew up in that kind of family, and I'd sooner die than go back to it."
He composed himself, and then continued.
"I guess I haven't really thought about the issue of money. Everything's just happened so fast and I really haven't had a chance to catch my breath. In any case, I've invested about five years wages in a friend's merchant business over the years, so I probably have enough for a couple of years, at least. I'll probably build on that by bounty hunting or working as a mercenary, since they both pay pretty well, and, if worst comes to worst, I can always call in the favours my brother-in-law owes me."
It wasn't an entirely accurate summary of how Dougal planned to get enough money to support Katrina, but he doubted that the Duke would put much stock in Dougal's real backup plan, which was pretty crazy. It had been ten years since Morgarath had been killed, and no one had yet found his riches or the Kalkara's hoard. Still, Dougal reckoned that he had a pretty good idea as to where it was and thought that he would be able to shift enough back to Araluen if the bounty hunting or the mercenary work didn't work out.
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Post by Brandwyn on Feb 13, 2010 17:30:52 GMT -5
"I guess I haven't really thought about the issue of money. Everything's just happened so fast and I really haven't had a chance to catch my breath. In any case, I've invested about five years wages in a friend's merchant business over the years, so I probably have enough for a couple of years, at least. I'll probably build on that by bounty hunting or working as a mercenary, since they both pay pretty well, and, if worst comes to worst, I can always call in the favours my brother-in-law owes me."
David listened seriously as Dougal laid out his plan for the future. It wasn't the best plan, but in all fairness the man admitted he hadn't had much chance to think about it.
David nodded and said, "Well you might want to keep working on that, I am not sure it will be adequate. However if Katrina has her heart set on you, then I am not going to stand in your way. She is a strong woman and is perfectly able to make up her own mind." David ran his hand through his hair, "her mother, on the other hand is a different matter. You should know that she will likely never warm up to you. She is very hung up on class. Being a knight and growing up in the ways of the warrior just as you have, I can appreciate why Katrina is drawn to you."
Duke David held out his hand, "I give you my blessing to court my daughter, but you treat her right, you hear me? She deserves the best and I will hold you to providing that for her."
David turned to go back into the ward. "We better get back in there before she and her mother get into another of their cat fights." The Duke shook his head, "The fights they get into... Good job on shutting her up, by the way. If you keep that attitude with her, you will do all right. Katrina could use some backup against her mother from time to time." He held the door open for Dougal to the ward.
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Dougal
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Post by Dougal on Feb 16, 2010 5:27:17 GMT -5
Dougal had actually been pretty happy with the plan he had given the Duke. It was a little rough around the edges, but he figured that it was essentially a good plan. Quite obviously, the Duke didn't like it entirely, but he was willing to accept that Dougal had not had enough time to fully think it over. Some more serious revisions than he had originally planned might be in order. Still, the Duke hadn't called the plan utterly ridiculous or anything like that, which was a good start.
"However if Katrina has her heart set on you, then I am not going to stand in your way. She is a strong woman and is perfectly able to make up her own mind. Her mother, on the other hand is a different matter. You should know that she will likely never warm up to you. She is very hung up on class. Being a knight and growing up in the ways of the warrior just as you have, I can appreciate why Katrina is drawn to you." "
Mentally, Dougal breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the Duke had forbidden his courting of Katrina, Dougal would still have gone ahead. However, this made things a lot easier on everyone and, if he was honest with himself, there were few men who would make better father-in-laws than the Duke, and none of those were members of the nobility. The fact that the Duchess was almost guaranteed to dislike and disapprove of him for the rest of her life didn't bother Dougal at all. He doubted that she would try to have him killed, not that that would stop him from being on the look out for assassin, and he had definitely endured much worse ridicule and scorn than the Duchess could pour on him. She wouldn't have a patch on his old drill sergeant.
"I give you my blessing to court my daughter, but you treat her right, you hear me? She deserves the best and I will hold you to providing that for her."
Dougal shook the Duke's hand firmly, allowing his relief to show. A smile even penetrated his mask, as he anticipated the good times that he and Katrina were going to have together.
"Thank you, sir." And, locking eyes with the Duke, he continued, "I won't let either of you down. I will give Katrina the life that she deserves."
The next little bit never really stuck in Dougal's mind, since he was still very happy about being given permission to court Katrina, but he did hear something about it being a good idea to keep his attitude to Katrina's mother and something about going back into the hospital to prevent a fight between Katrina and her mother, but he was never sure which order those sentences were spoken in. All he could remember was straightening his face so as to not rub salt into Katrina's mother's wounds and entering the room before the Duke. Afterwards he just assumed that the Duke was making a gesture that they were both equal, but he never did quite work out the Duke's motivations.
Slowly walking across the ward, conscious of everyone looking at him, he felt oddly embarrassed, not used to all this attention. No doubt there would be more attention to come, with just about everyone in the city probably already knowing about the shouting match he had had with the Duchess a few minutes earlier. That said, he couldn't suppress the joy in his eyes when he looked at Katrina.
Reaching her bedside, he positioned himself next to Katrina, felt for her hand and held it gently. Only then did he bow to the Duchess and speak.
"My lady."
The implication was clear. Dougal had won this battle and he was allowing her to state her opinion, whatever it might be.
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Post by Brandwyn on Feb 18, 2010 22:01:58 GMT -5
Katrina had just finished telling her mother about Dougal and how much he meant to her when Dougal and her father re-entered the room.
Oriana had held her tongue through most of Katrina's speech, and was just about to give her daughter a lesson in the importance of class and maintaining one's dignity when the men entered.
Both women looked at Dougal and watched him come over and take Katrina's pro-offered hand. Katrina looked warily into his face and saw that he was relaxed and almost cheerful and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She glanced quickly at her father and he smiled warmly at her and gave her an almost imperceptible nod.
A big grin spread across her face and she looked back up at Dougal with love in her eyes and squeezed his hand. The world seemed to narrow down to just the two of them and for several minutes she did not hear what was going on around her. The only thing that existed was Dougal's face and the warmth of his hand squeezing hers. Her father had given his approval. She knew it without him saying anything, just from the nod and the look on Dougal's face. She pulled his hand back to her lips and gently kissed the back of it and then laid her cheek against it, wishing her parents would leave them alone.
It was only then that she noticed that her mother was in a deep discussion with her father near the door. Her mother was angry, but Katrina had expected that. Duke David ushered his wife out the door and before leaving said, "I will check on you later, Kitten. You rest now and get well." He gave a nod to Henry and then to Dougal and said, "I am trusting you to take care of her, Captain." and with an intent stare at Dougal and a somber look on his face he exited the room.
Katrina pulled at Dougal, gently beseeching him to sit down next to her and smiled at him. "I can hardly believe he gave us his blessing." She said to him. "Though I was not going to let that stop me from seeing you." She said impishly. She reached up with her other hand and stroked his cheek, and stared into his eyes.
Then she glanced at Henry, only to find him smiling at the two of them. She raised her eyebrow in wonder.
Henry lay back and pulled his covers up around his shoulders again and looked from Katrina to Dougal. "I give you two my blessing as well, not that you need it." Henry said. "I will always love you Katrina, but as I said before, I don't love you in the same way that Dougal does."
He looked Dougal in the eyes and said, "I am sorry for being such an ass earlier and I hope you and I can become friends." Henry held out a weak hand and smiled tentatively at Dougal.
Then he grinned, "But I still hold by what I told you on the ship - if you hurt her..." He left the threat unsaid but the smile was still on his face.
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Dougal
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Post by Dougal on Feb 20, 2010 16:08:15 GMT -5
OOC: Sorry for the short post. I'm am seriously short on sleep right now.
The Duchess seemed to be far angrier at her husband than Dougal, and he pulled her aside for a talking to. In some ways, Dougal was glad that he didn't have to have that particular screaming match. He was exhausted emotionally, and wasn't completely sure that he would be able to keep himself in check if the Duchess triggered memories. On the other hand, he did want to clear the air as soon as possible. Unaired grievances had a tendency to fester into hatred and, although a remote possibility in this case, homicidal tendencies.
Looking away from the arguing couple, he gazed into Katrina's eyes and forgot about his own problems. How could he not when Katrina loved him so much? The look of love in his eyes simply melted him. He squeezed her hand back and started to play with her hair. He hadn't...No, no point looking in the past. He just liked the feel of her hair in his fingers, and the smoothness of her forehead. That and the fact that it felt right.
Katrina looked over at her parents and Dougal followed suit, sensing that their argument might be coming to an end and wanting to be prepare himself for any out burst. But none came. In fact, Katrina's father ushered her mother out of the room and didn't even give Dougal the stare of death that so many of his men had complained about on a regular basis. Gently removing his hand from Katrina's head, he stood to attention as best he could and saluted the Duke, saying,
"Sir!"
It might not be a proper response under normal circumstances, but Dougal was sure that the Duke would understand. Dougal had already given his word that he would take care of Katrina, and the salute was a sign that he would take this duty as seriously as he had taken his duties to Araluen in the past.
The Duke left, and Dougal relaxed. Katrina pulled on his arm, indicating that he should sit down next to her. He did so, grimacing slightly as the chair creaked under him.
"I can hardly believe he gave us his blessing. Though I was not going to let that stop me from seeing you."
Laughing, Dougal stroked Katrina's face with his thumb.
"I can't believe it either, although I can believe that you would have disobeyed him if he hadn't given it."
He smiled wryly.
"I would have too."
"I give you two my blessing as well, not that you need it. I will always love you Katrina, but as I said before, I don't love you in the same way that Dougal does."
Dougal looked over at Henry, somewhat surprised by his words. He had been wondering how Henry would take the news of his and Katrina's involvement, but it seemed like Henry was perfectly happy to let them be together. Dougal did, however, examine Henry's face a little bit harder s he continued.
"I am sorry for being such an ass earlier and I hope you and I can become friends."
There was no malice or deceit in Henry's face or words, and so Dougal relaxed and walked over to Henry's bed after carefully disengaging himself from Katrina. Gripping Henry's hand firmly, he shook it and said,
"Friends."
"But I still hold by what I told you on the ship - if you hurt her..."
Dougal laughed lightly, to show that he did not take offence at Henry's words, but he knew that Henry was being serious. Nodding seriously, Dougal replied to Henry's unspoken threat.
"Duly noted."
Returning to his seat next to Katrina, he began to fiddle with her hair again.
"So, what did you and your mother talk about?"
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Post by Brandwyn on Mar 7, 2010 22:09:20 GMT -5
"So, what did you and your mother talk about?"
Katrina looked up at him with an impish grin, “Why you, of course!”
…
Several days later, Katrina and Henry were finally released from the hospital and moved to the city guard’s barracks to continue their recovery. Physically Katrina was healing up well, but she continued to worry about going berserk and injuring innocent people.
The days in the hospital gave her a break from too many worries since she was able to spend so much time with Dougal. She did worry about his having been relieved of duty and wondered if there was any progress on finding King Duncan. She was still determined to see to it that he didn’t loose his standing in the army because of her. He deserved way better than that after all the things he had done for the Kingdom.
Henry had healed up nicely, but he was still quite weak and had to build up his strength. He had to do stretches and lift weights to get back into shape and rested often for the first few days. Slowly he regained his strength and ability to get around on his own. He then went back to practicing with the sword and shield until he was finally declared fit.
Katrina recovered physically quite quickly, but Sir Kenyon would not release her back to active duty due to her state of mind. She was emotionally and mentally in turmoil and could hardly blame him, even though the work would have likely pushed her problems farther back in her mind. Kenyon’s lack of confidence in her mental state only fueled her fire and as the days dragged on, she became more and more tense and worried.
Her only pleasure during those long days was seeing Dougal, holding his hand and gazing into his eyes. When he was near, she forgot her problems and relaxed. When he was gone, she fretted and worried and tried to figure out a way to get over what had happened to her five years ago at the hands of a deranged Scotti. So far the only solution she had come up with was to put an armored plate over her abdomen to prevent it from getting sliced. The only other idea she could seem to come up with was to have Dougal spar with her and deliberately keep hitting her in the stomach until she became acclimated to the sensation so she wouldn’t freak out. For some reason the doctors were not in favor of that idea. She wondered what Dougal would think of it.
She was currently in the practice yard at Araluen Castle absent-mindedly throwing blows at the pell with a wooden practice sword. She was performing one of her warm-up routines that she knew by heart and so it left her mind free to wander. She rained down blow after blow in rapid succession on the padded wooden post sunk into the ground along the edge of the yard and danced around it as if she were courting a lover.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize several people had stopped to watch her. Had she known, she probably would have stopped and blushed and then apologized for showing off. But since she didn’t notice, and the kata was therapeutic, she just kept going, changing from one style of offence to another as she waited for Dougal to arrive so she could talk to him.
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Dougal
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Post by Dougal on Mar 9, 2010 15:55:10 GMT -5
OOC: Bleh, I could only imagine a short post today. Blame Uni ;D.
Dougal's ribs hurt. He'd gotten into a fight with some idiot on a street corner who had been bad mouthing Katrina, and he was sure that he had at least one cracked rib. Luckily, there weren't any bruises visible outside of his shirt, so Katrina wasn't likely to show concern. It wasn't that he didn't want her to show concern for his health, it was more along the lines that he didn't want to ahve to explain that he'd gotten into a fight over someone insulting her. He had this niggling feeling that she might very well take it into her head that she was the cause of the fight, which wasn't true. The idiot who had been insulting her honour and virtue had brought the fight upon himself. That thought made Dougal smile. Whoever he was, that man was not going to be insult Katrina for a long, long time.
The last few weeks had been almost a dream to Dougal. He still couldn't quite grasp the fact that someone as beautiful and as wonderful as Katrina could possibly love him, and he could feel himself becoming fiercely protective of her. He knew that the women at the court were all gossiping about her, and he sometimes fantasised about going up to them and yelling at them in his drill sergeant voice, reducing them to tears and all that, but he'd never thought about it seriously. When one of them broke down crying, he knew that he'd see her as Katrina, and then his heart would break.
Moving over to the training yard, Dougal saw Katrina sparring against a pell. A small crowd had gathered to watch her, and so Dougal mixed with the crowd and watched. He wanted to see how Katrina's recovery was going, and this was a good way of doing so. From all appearances, she was doing well. He watched her dance lightly around the post and smiled. She was regaining her agility again, and her arm was as strong as before. It would be interesting to spar her again, but that might be a while. He knew that Katrina was still hurting from her memories and he didn't want to hurt her further.
He'd been watching her for about a minute before he decided to make his presence known. As Katrina raised her arm for an overhead blow, he suddenly barked out,
"Underhand! Right!"
A couple of people jumped as Dougal's loud voice startled them, and he smiled apologetically at them, before turning back to see if Katrina had reacted to his "order" or if she'd turned at the sound of his voice. While it would be much more amusing if she'd changed her attack before realising the identity of her instructor, Dougal was hoping that she would break off the attack at the sound of his voice. Just the fact that she was willing to break out of something that she was so obviously engrossed in would make him feel wanted.
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Post by Brandwyn on Mar 11, 2010 16:03:17 GMT -5
"Underhand! Right!"
Katrina heard and recognized Dougal’s voice immediately and her face lit up just at the sound of his voice. She was so used to following shouted orders during training that her arm started the downward motion for an underhand right swing, but she was feeling a bit mischievous and so she dipped the blade down low, missing the pell with the tip of the sword as she took a step to the right of the wooden post. She spun on her left foot and brought the sword up in a wide arc over and around the left side of her head, all the way around behind her and slammed it in a downward arc into the opposite side of the pell with a powerful force that made the sword ring out and her arm vibrate from the shock. She flushed just a bit as she noticed she had sliced through the padding on the pell and struck the wood. She had to wrench the blade free again with a hard tug which slightly messed up the effect she was trying to achieve of being deadly and graceful at the same time.
She was now facing Dougal and smiled warmly at him and then noticed that the crowd that had gathered to watch her was now dissipating. She flushed red and wondered why she always attracted so much attention every time she stepped into the practice yard here in Araluen. She was longing for the mountains and snow of the far north behind Macindaw Castle and was trying to convince Kenyon that she and Henry were fit for the long ride back home, but Kenyon was delaying her and Katrina wasn’t sure why.
She walked up to Dougal, her sword still in her hand, hanging by her right side and she smiled up at him. With her left hand she grabbed his right hand and brought his palm to her lips, kissing it tenderly while looking into his eyes. Her own eyes reflected her current mood which was both mischievous and clouded with doubts and worries. She was feeling rather reckless and restless. She needed some action, yet was still afraid of what she might do if she were pressed and especially if she were struck in the stomach.
She rubbed his hand against her cheek and leaned in close to him, wishing they were not in public so she could kiss him openly. They couldn’t yet kiss in the open, however, not since both of them were in the military and of differing ranks. Technically their relationship violated not only the unwritten class laws between nobles and peasants, but also the written fraternization laws within the ranks of the army. Though with her father giving his blessing, she doubted any of the other knights would make an issue of it. At least not to her face. She sighed with regret. If they had been married… she let the thought trail off.
“Dougal!” she purred his name, her eyes sparkling. “I am glad you are here." She noticed some of the courtiers and warriors were still watching her and Dougal and she saw a group of young women gossiping in a corner of the list stands. Fortunately they were too far away to hear, but she wanted to either be alone with Dougal, or spar with him.
Since she was carrying a practice sword and she was feeling very restless, she pulled him by his hand out toward the pell so they could at least converse somewhat privately.
"I really need to get out of here. This place is driving me nuts. I need to feel the wind on my face and smell the pine forest and earthy loam of the mountains. It seems like a lifetime since I last patrolled the border." She sighed. "I suppose it isn't as necessary now though, with the new treaty with the Scotti."
Katrina glanced around the practice field again and restlessly twirled the practice sword for a moment. "I normally wouldn't advocate disobeying direct orders, but I am seriously thinking about just jumping on a horse and heading north." She looked up at him with a wistful look in her eye. "Think anyone would miss us if we headed for the hills, even if for only a couple of days?"
She had been half joking, but the more she thought about it, the more she really wanted to get away, just as long as Dougal was going to be with her. "Actually, Kenyon might allow me to get away for a few days now. The doctors have given me a clean bill of health physically. It is my mental state that seems to be the problem and I think a little camping trip is just what I need. What do you think?"
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Dougal
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Post by Dougal on Mar 16, 2010 1:38:20 GMT -5
It was hard not to laugh when Katrina embedded her sword in the pell, especially after her little exhibition, but Dougal managed to keep it down to a low chuckle. A couple of the other bystanders looked at him as though he had three heads, so he stared at them, smiling quite contentedly until they looked away. A couple even decided to sidle a few steps to the left, and right, of him. Gigantic, muscle bound soldiers rumoured to be the lover of the only female knight deserved to get a lot of respect, especially when they're smiling at you despite their hard-arse reputation.
Turning back to Katrina as she came up to him, he returned her smile, amplifying it slightly as she kissed his hand. The irony that she was the one making all the moves was not lost on him, but he would not have it any other way. Apart from not wanting to screw things up, he liked Katrina taking the lead. He wasn't sure why, he just felt compelled to take second place to her. Mind you, that didn't mean that he was going to be entirely submissive. He still had his own ideas and his duty, and he was going to make sure that they didn't give the rumourmongers too much material. Unlike him, Katrina still had a bright career ahead of her, and he didn't want to be the cause of any delays in her promotion. It was going to be hard enough for her as it was.
He briefly rubbed her cheek with his calloused thumb, and then followed her out to the pell. Despite being in an open area, it actually afforded more privacy then where they currently were, so that they could carry out an actual conversation without anyone listening in. Besides, if Katrina was taking him out to the centre of the training ground, perhaps she was ready to start sparring again. He hadn't had a chance to spar with her since the second day on the ship, and was really looking forward to it. Katrina outclassed him in terms of technique, but he made that up with his fitness and experience. As a result, they very very much an even match, and Dougal hoped to get Katrina to a point where she was far superior to him. He would never forgive himself if she was killed or injured by the sneaky, underhanded kind of attack that he favoured.
"I really need to get out of here. This place is driving me nuts. I need to feel the wind on my face and smell the pine forest and earthy loam of the mountains. It seems like a lifetime since I last patrolled the border."
This he could understand. After all, Katrina wasn't the only one who had been taken off active duty. Even just sparring wasn't cutting it. Dougal wanted to get out into the wild, to hunt and track and do something, anything at all. Still, at least he could still train. It was no surprise, then, that Katrina was so frustrated by not having anything to do. Well, he'd be able to solve that part at least, if she was willing to spar with him again.
"Yeah, I know the feeling."
"Think anyone would miss us if we headed for the hills, even if for only a couple of days?"
Warning bells suddenly started to ring in Dougal's head, especially when he saw the wistful look change to a more calculating one, as Katrina became more and more fond of the idea. It wasn't that he didn't want to go on a camping with Katrina, it was just that it would start so many rumours that, a hundred years from now, new ones would still be cropping up. More importantly, the rumours would be the kind that would give Katrina a bad reputation and hinder her chances of advancing to any great rank, and Dougal really did think that she was capable of achieving much more than simply being a knight. And when she became duchess...
"What do you think?"
Dougal took a deep breath and began to give his own opinion.
"I think that it would start up far too many rumours and do far too much damage to your reputation."
He paused, looked thoughtful, and then continued.
"But, if we had an impartial, extremely respectable witness who was willing to come along and who knew when to go off hunting, it might be workable."
A slow, cunning smile spread over Dougal's face as he finished revealing his plan.
"I don't suppose any Rangers owe you any favours by any chance?"
A couple of Rangers actually did owe Dougal a favour or two, but he was sticking to his old tradition of making other people use their favours first. A tad selfish, perhaps, but also a very useful habit.
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Post by Brandwyn on Mar 21, 2010 14:12:42 GMT -5
"I think that it would start up far too many rumours and do far too much damage to your reputation."
Katrina scowled at Dougal, “Now you are beginning to sound like my mother!” She glared, knowing that was a good jibe. Everyone seemed so concerned with her reputation and she couldn’t think how it could possibly be any worse than it was. Why even bother trying to pretend it was anything else?
She looked down at the ground and swung her practice sword at her side absent-mindedly in irritation, her shoulders slumped a little in disappointment.
Maybe he really didn’t want to be alone with her, she was thinking. She knew he was still afraid of hurting her. If they were alone, there wouldn’t be anyone to stop either of them if one of them went berserk.
What would that mean to their future? At some point they were going to have to trust each other and themselves to be alone together, or there wouldn’t be much of a future for them as husband and wife.
All of this ran through her mind in a matter of milli-seconds and she looked back up into his eyes questioningly, wondering if he really didn’t want to be alone with her, just as he said, "But, if we had an impartial, extremely respectable witness who was willing to come along and who knew when to go off hunting, it might be workable."
Hope sprang back into Katrina’s eyes. So, he did want to be with her after all and he really was just concerned for her reputation. She snorted mentally at that thought. Could there possibly be more rumors flying around about her and about she and Dougal in particular? She didn’t care what anyone else thought, except her father and Sir Kenyon. No one else’s opinion mattered to her in the least. They could think what they wanted to and say what they wanted to and it wouldn’t make a hill of beans difference to Katrina.
"I don't suppose any Rangers owe you any favours by any chance?" Dougal’s voice brought her back from her thoughts again. She pondered his words for a moment, fighting the urge to tell him how silly he was with worrying over her reputation that was already as about messed up as it could get.
“Hmmm, not really owing me any favors, but perhaps Rick might be willing to escort us. I hardly think it is necessary though. Not to mention given that Rick and I once…” Her voice trailed off. It could possibly get awkward with Rick around. Probably not, since they had only had that one casual interlude during a chance moment they were both feeling vulnerable. Rick wasn’t the type to settle down or lay claims to any one particular woman. He would likely give them their privacy when they wanted and maybe that would give Dougal the piece of mind that they had a chaperone along with them.
Suddenly her musing, slightly irritated look on her face turned into a huge mischievous smile. “I think it is totally ridiculous to be worrying about my reputation and us going off alone together, but since you seem to think it is important, how about we make a little bet?” She took a step back and swung her sword up in a wide arc along her right side and then back down so the point was resting just above the ground, gently swinging back and forth.
“Let’s spar for it. I win and we go alone. You win and we take an escort with us.” She smiled up at him, inviting him to take the bait. “Should be an interesting match, don’t you think?”
She held her sword loosely, her weight on the balls of her feet in case he decided to start the match without saying anything. It didn’t look like he had a practice sword on him, but that might not stop him. She had no doubts that with something like this on the line he would fight dirty, so she tried to prepare for anything.
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Dougal
Apprentice Messenger
Posts: 597
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Post by Dougal on Mar 23, 2010 5:34:19 GMT -5
Dougal could see Katrina's face fall as he told her about his concerns. He had been expecting it, but he was still somewhat puzzled. Did Katrina not know exactly the kind of rumours that just the two of them going on a camping trip would start? Rumours that might well make the Duke more than a little mad at Dougal? Or did she just not care? Well, it was probably that and her having a little bit more faith in people than Dougal did. He was a real cynic compared to her, probably from having lived longer.
“Now you are beginning to sound like my mother!”
He very much hoped not. It would be terrible for a man such as himself to have the nasal, high pitched voice that Katrina's mother, and a good many of the noble women, had. The damage it would do to his reputation was incalculable. While Katrina wouldn't know exactly why, he did have to smile at her comment.
As he continued to flesh out his plan, hope returned to Katrina's face, which pleased him very much. Quite naturally, he would have hated to have crushed her, even a tiny bit. She meant so much to him, and it almost physically hurt him to see her spirit crushed or dampened in any way. He wondered how things would go when they were married, although he had a pretty good idea of who was going to be wearing the pants. If the need arose, then he would definitely put on his pants but, for the most part, he wanted Katrina to have control sot hat he knew that he wasn't making her do anything that she didn't want to do.
“Hmmm, not really owing me any favors, but perhaps Rick might be willing to escort us. I hardly think it is necessary though. Not to mention given that Rick and I once…”
Well, that ruled Rick out. Dougal had heard about Rick's effect on women and, even though he had complete faith in Katrina and doubted that Rick would try and come between them, he wasn't prepared to take that risk because, if something did happen, then it would destroy him. And in that case, he might very well have problems controlling himself, which would be very dangerous to everyone within a hundred mile radius who tried to stop him. And what that would do to Katrina...
No, Rick Greenriver would not be coming along with them on the camping trip.
“I think it is totally ridiculous to be worrying about my reputation and us going off alone together, but since you seem to think it is important, how about we make a little bet?”
Katrina was planning something. Her smile was so full of mischief that it was hard to believe that she had anything else on her mind. He appreciated that Katrina was willing to make a compromise, but he had to wonder about the bet. They hadn't played cards since the trip over to Gallica, and the look on Katrina's face said that the challenge would be more physical. Than anything.
“Let’s spar for it. I win and we go alone. You win and we take an escort with us. Should be an interesting match, don’t you think?”
He'd thought so. It had been a long time since they had sparred each other, and he knew that Katrina had enjoyed the experience as much as he had, so it had only been a matter of time before their next match. Only, Dougal was now at a disadvantage. He had no practice weapon and, in fact, actually had no weapons on him at all. It seemed that he was getting a bit soft in his old age. Of course, being without a weapon wasn't the same as being unarmed.
"Yep, should be interesting."
Katrina was ready for a surprise attack, but Dougal was sure that his attack would nevertheless be a surprise, mostly because he wasn't going to use a weapon. He was wearing his steel vambracers and padded jack, so he had some protection. Moreover, he knew how to fight with just his vambracers. He had practically invented a martial art centring on defending yourself from an armed attack despite not having a weapon.
Launching himself directly at Katrina would be a bad move, as he would ahve less time to adjust his arms to deflect the blow. Instead, what he was planning on doing was to advance on Katrina slowly and wait for her first attack. When she attacked, he would deflect the blow and make his move. Any overhead strike would be deflected away and down, leaving Katrina open to a tackle, while any upper-cut style slices would be deflected in a similar manner. Thrusts were the easiest threats to deal with, and Dougal doubted that Katrina would try one of them on him.
The main type of attack that he would have to worry about was a horizontal attack on his side. He would ahve to either dodge those attacks or hit the blade as he angled his arm to deflect it down, so that it titled and had less chance of slicing through his vambracer. While it was just a friendly sparring match, Dougal liked to pretend that this was the real thing, especially when he wasn't armed and was fighting to protect Katrina's reputation.
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Post by Brandwyn on Mar 25, 2010 11:11:44 GMT -5
Katrina smiled slightly when Dougal accepted her challenge. She backed off a bit, as if to wait for him to go arm himself, having noted he had no weapons on him - a very unusual thing. Perhaps the fact he was off duty right now was affecting him more than he was letting on. He never walked around without some form of weapon for as long as she had known him. Perhaps something else was distracting him and she smiled broadly at the thought that it might be her.
He advanced on her slowly and she backed up a couple steps again, assessing his decision not to arm himself. The smile dropped away to a look of concentration as she tried to figure out what he was up to. He had a confident look on his face and kept advancing slowly which could only mean he had some trick up his sleeve.
Katrina sidestepped to the right, still moving away from his advance, but now moving them in a circle instead of backing across the training yard. She needed a moment to figure out what he was planning.
Without a weapon himself, his goal would likely be to disarm her. The easiest way for that would be to pin her arms to her side and squeeze until her arms went numb and she dropped her sword. He was certainly capable of doing just that and then it would come down to a hand to hand wrestling match. She would be sure to loose if that were to happen. Dougal had years of experience and was much stronger and had a longer reach than she. He was one of, if not the best, hand-to-hand fighters in the Kingdom and she was mediocre at best. Take away the weapons and Katrina wasn't entirely sure how to win a fist fight. Speed and agility would only last while she was fresh. If the fight were to wear on, then she would be at his mercy.
So, his plan would likely be to disarm her, one way or another. Her plan had better be to take advantage of the fact he had no weapon and take him out as quickly as possible and not toy with him. She had to find a way to do that and stay out of his grip while doing so.
He kept advancing at that slow, maddening pace and Katrina decided she had done enough thinking. It was time to act. She took another step to the side, lulling him into thinking she was just going to keep going around and around in a circle while they grinned like fools at each other.
With the look of concentration still on her face, when she planted her right foot one step to the right, instead of following with her left foot, she plunged it forward suddenly and closed the distance in an instant with Dougal, swinging her sword in an circle over her head.
She brought it around as if to do a powerful, sweeping side cut right into the left side of Dougal's neck, but at the last second before the sword entered his defensible reach, she dropped her elbow and swung the sword back out, below and away from his arm and then back in for a cut to his left side, sweeping it up slightly to try to catch him just under the armpit.
She knew he had his padded jack on, and if the ship had taught her anything, it had taught her that she didn't need to go easy on Dougal, or she would bear the worse end of the match. So she didn't check the speed or force of her swing at all, figuring he would deflect it, or if he didn't that the armor would minimize the damage to his ribs.
Depending on how he reacted, her plan was to keep moving past his left side and then back out of his reach behind him to set up for another attack. That was the plan. Somehow she had the sinking feeling she was about to get a good sound thrashing and a hard lesson in fighting hand-to-hand street style. The smile was definitely gone from her face and she was now determined to win this match. She wanted to be alone with Dougal away from the prying eyes of the Court and all the gossip that went with it.
She had been dreading and looking forward to the day when Sir Kenyon said she was going to be heading back to Norgate. She wanted to get out of Araulen in the worst way, but there was no guarantee that Dougal would be ordered to go to Norgate. In fact, it was just as likely he would be sent elsewhere - if the Princess reinstated him to active duty. So she had mixed feelings about leaving the city and their current status changing.
Right now her only duties were ironing out a few details with the new trade agreement with the Scotti in an advisory capacity. For the most part they had exhausted what little expertise she could bring to those negotiations. There was no real reason for her to stay here any longer as nearly as she could tell. She itched to be gone, and yet what would become of her and Dougal if he were ordered to stay here and she were ordered back to Norgate. She didn't like the thought of only seeing him occasionally as his duties allowed.
All of these thoughts had been on her mind for days now and the sparring match intensified her need to get out of the city and be alone with him for a few days at least. She felt an urgency, as if their days were numbered.
This transferred into energy in her attack and fueled her determination to win this match. If he didn't deflect her blow, he was going to be extremely sore, even with the armor absorbing most of the impact. Perhaps, she thought, she was even transferring some of her irritation at him not giving in to her idea immediately and suggesting an escort in the first place. She was rather used to getting what she wanted because she rarely asked for things and when she did ask, she could be quite persuasive.
She didn't really want Dougal to give in to her all the time, but she had to admit that she liked it when he deferred to her and let her take the lead. She liked the way they seemed to be an equal match for each other and she certainly didn't want to manipulate him in any way. She had no intention of being like his former love who betrayed him. On the other hand, she actually was irritated he hadn't given in to her on this matter.
She redirected her thoughts to the match at hand, knowing if she didn't' pay sharp attention to his every move, his stance, the look in his eyes, that she would loose and she had a feeling he was not going to be any too gentle with administering his object lesson either.
Her practice sword was now swinging into his left side in a slightly upward arc, well within his reach, as was Katrina herself, having to step in fairly close to make the sword connect with his side. She watched his shoulders and hips, trying to see his move before he actually moved to anticipate a counter to his defensive attack on her.
She couldn't help but notice the look of confidence in his eyes and she tried not to show how that look made her nervous. He definitely had a trick up his sleeve.
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Dougal
Apprentice Messenger
Posts: 597
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Post by Dougal on Mar 29, 2010 23:24:15 GMT -5
It appeared that his ceaseless advancing was disturbing Katrina, because the smile that had been on her face changed to a look of concentration. That was something at least, especially since most of his plan revolved around waiting for her to attack. Since he obviously couldn't reveal this to Katrina, he kept following her every move, occasionally making a slight feint one way or another, but that was more to psych Katrina out than for any real tactical advantage. Besides, it felt good to have such an evil grin plastered on his face, it even made his ribs hurt a little less.
They kept this act up for a few minutes, and then Katrina decided that it was time to end this nonsense. She began to step off to her right but, rather than keep dodging Dougal, she launched herself at him, aiming at his neck. His smile intensifying, he raised his vambracer to deflect the blow. Only, it never came. Instead, Katrina changed her attack so that it was aimed for his left armpit. Well, he'd just shown his hand and hadn't blocked an attack, so Katrina would probably be better able to counteract his defensive moves, now. Of course, that didn't mean that she would be able to counteract them successfully.
Katrina's sword came up harder and faster than Dougal had initially expected, and he was grateful towards her. Finally a real sparring match between them, where they acted as though this was real life. this was the kind of sparring that he lived for, the on where you could quite easily get broken bones or rather nasty cuts. Naturally, he would make sure that he didn't hurt Katrina too badly, but he didn't mind loosing the use of an arm if it meant a really good sparring match with Katrina.
Reacting just in time, Dougal brought his arm into the best possible deflection position, elbow raised and his hand close to his left side. As the blade approached, he rapidly straightened his forearm and then brought his elbow down to shoulder level. The science of this defensive manoeuvre was very simple. The armoured forearm hit the blade, which was angled up, and pushed it both away from the body and up. While this put the blade into a dangerous position, being roughly in line with his neck, that was where the second part of the action came into play.
As his left arm began to straightened out, Dougal launched himself forward, his right arm grasping for Katrina's left shoulder. Well, any part of Katrina's body or clothes would do, he just needed something that he could use to pull her in towards him so that he could be sure of crashing his huge body into her. Normally, in situations like this, Dougal would also be ready to sweep the feet out form underneath his opponent, but he knew that his mass would be enough to knock Katrina to the ground.
Now that he was flying through the air, his left arm would be sliding along the blade of Katrina's sword, hopefully reaching the cross guard before he ran out of vambrace. If everything work out, the shock of his arm hitting the cross piece, combined with his anticipated slamming into Katrina should cause her too loosen her grip on the sword, or at least make it more difficult to launch a counter attack. After all, he needed to disarm and immobilise Katrina as soon as possible if he was to stand a chance at winning this match.
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Post by Brandwyn on Apr 6, 2010 21:30:00 GMT -5
Katrina saw Dougal switch his arm angle to block her sword swing and wondered what he was up to. It appeared to be a very risky move, since her blade was now angled toward his throat. Then she felt him pushing her sword away from him as his arm ran up the blade toward the hilt, directing the angle of her sword and thereby he was controlling her blade. This was a new maneuver to Katrina and she didn’t have any counter ready for it. She was going to have to figure out a way to stop him, and fast!
Then he launched himself at her and she felt his fingers trying to close on her left shoulder. With his momentum toward her, and her momentum toward him, the impact was going to smash her to the ground and knock the wind out of her and then there would be no chance for her to win this fight. ‘Yep!’ she thought, ‘and there is the trick up his sleeve.’ It was a good one too. She had only a second or two to figure out what he was up to and to formulate a defense and possible counter-attack.
If she kept moving in her current position, he would grab her and down she would go. So she was going to have to change directions. As he began to grip her shoulder, she reacted instinctively and dropped to her knees, wrenching her shoulder back out of his grip. As she dropped, she pushed up on the sword hilt and tried to angle the tip downward, opposite the direction Dougal was pushing her sword, hoping to lessen the impact when his armored wrist came in contact with the hilt of the wooden sword. She grabbed the sword with both hands so she wouldn’t loose her grip on it and tried to spin around, away from him while on her knees.
She hoped that she was moving fast enough that he would not be able to slam her to the ground. If she managed to evade him, her plan was to leap back to her feet behind him and launch an attack on him from behind – if she had moved quickly enough. She looked up at him and saw that his trajectory was just a hair to her right of center, but that he was still on a collision course.
Suddenly an alternative popped into her head and she got a wicked gleam in her eye just before she crumpled into a tight ball, dropping her sword from the air to the ground. This left Dougal pushing against open air and hopefully the sudden absence of her pushing against him would throw him off balance. She rolled onto her right side and across right in front of his feet and continued the roll and sprang up to stand a bit behind him and off to his right.
She didn’t give him a chance to recover, hoping he landed on the ground and wouldn’t be able to defend himself. She swung her sword in a downward arc, intending to strike him across the back. Thoughts were running through her head that she needed to finish this quickly, but that it wasn’t looking like it would end fast. She didn’t want to physically hurt him, but she did want to win, so she didn’t hold back on her swing. Part of her wanted him to block the blow, but another part knew that if it landed he would be in a fair amount of pain and it might just be bad enough to give her a slight advantage – maybe.
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