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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 15:24:42 GMT -5
Servants always knew better than to pester the Lord while he was at home. It was just a simple rule: no one do anything to bother him while he's resting. There was one however, who was allowed without punishment.
Eve's brown curls waved behind her as she ran around one corner of the grounds, cut across some grass, and came to a skidding halt in front of the Lord. She gave a quick smile, looking him straight in the eyes with her own forest green eyes that had more gold than humans would admit in them.
"My Lord." Even after running around the entire place, Eve still had perfect control of her breathing, accountable to how much she exercised. In her orange tank top and black shorts, there was no doubt about how muscular the nineteen-year-old was. Her body was riddled with sheaths from the swords on her hips to the knives on her arms. Her back carried a black long bow as if it were nothing, and any who had come against her would know that she was painfully fast. The thing that seemed to amuse her Lord the most, however was not her small arsenol.
Eve was allergic to silver. She had been since childhood, and she would always be allergic. Even just being near silver stiffened her muscles. Thus, every single sheath contained gold knives or swords and nothing of silver. Not great against a lycan, but Eve could get her hands on some silver if it was really necessary.
Now, standing in front of the Lord, she bowed low, none of her weapons clattering. "A human at the gate insisted on an audience with the Lord. He had no weapons, so I left him at the gates."
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 15:32:24 GMT -5
Faust was working on his research in his small home inside the castle. When he heard Eve come in he turned so she could adress him properly. Behind him piles of tomes and grimoirs lay stacked one on top of eachother, each containing powerful magic that the lord wished to study.
"What did he want?" He asked. "Obviously something trivial." He snorted and pushed some of his snow white out of his eyes and stretched, it had been a long time since he had a chance to.
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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 15:42:23 GMT -5
Eve grinned, seeing all the tomes and how Faust had been looking through all of them. She shook her head slightly, half an answer, half at his reading. Looking at the tomes and thinking of magic, Eve realized something. She had pushed through the sliding door without even thinking about any dangerous spells that might have been placed on it. That wasn't good news...she was getting too comfortable with her job.
"He wouldn't tell me, My Lord," Eve responded. "Said it was important." She didn't give him the fact that she thought it was probably something stupid like his goat getting eaten by a rabid wolf. Eve wasn't hired to make smart comments or give opinions, she was hired to protect and serve.
Eve half turned to the door, looking back towards the gate. "Would you like me to escort him in, away from the property, or escort you to him?"
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 15:52:00 GMT -5
"Escort me to him, thank you Eve." He said, shutting the open tome behind him. "But so help him, if its something as trivial as a rabid wolf that man's going to wake up in a few hours in some feild somewhere." He threat was real, lately he had been getting very trivial requests and complaints. He was not above proving a point, though killing wasn't his style, so a few bruises would be good enough.
He walked outside with his bodygaurd. "Eve, you need not be so stiff, you are among friends here at my castle." He told her. "I know we pay you, but I'd see that only as fair seeing that you're skills are very well in demand." He looked at Eve and smiled somewhat.
"It gives me great pleasure to have you here at my residence." He continued. "And you should keep in mind that even though you have a duty to fill a social life might not hurt either."
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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 16:16:23 GMT -5
Eve walked slightly in front of her Lord, but she held her hands behind her to show that although she was not in the submissive position, it was not because she was above him. Eve listened to Faust as she would at any other time, although she was beginning to notice that he was treating her more like a friend than a bodyguard.
"With your permission to speak, My Lord, it is better if the guard and the guarded do not speak too much to eachother. There is always the chance I will die for you, and no one must care." Even with her hands behind her, Eve's arms were flexed, her crossing purple knives tattoo almost shown off.
"Having said that, while I appreciate your concern over my well being, I am quite happy here." The truth was, Eve had played with no one but her foster mother for her entire life, and she neither missed nor wondered about what it was like to have friends.
Movement caught Eve's eye from behind a tree. "Down!" she told Faust, bringing out two knives in one fluid movement. "Show yourself!" she called out, crouching on one leg, low to the ground. She caught glimpse of something and did not hesistate, throwing one of her knives so that, by the time a hand was in full view, her knife was slipping into the palm.
A yell resounded after a moment, the person registering pain. Eve crept around slowly until she could view behind the tree-it was the visiter. Her second knife went out in a blur of speed, imbedding itself just above the man's knee-cap-he wasn't going to be walking anywhere.
Eve ignored the man's screams of pain, considering whether she or the Lord should question him. Deciding the Lord probably had better ways to get the truth, she talked in her normal, calm voice to him. "If you will follow me, My Lord, you can question him." Immediately drawing two more knives from her boot sheathes, Eve stood and looked back at Faust, no hint of her personality showing through a cold mask of frozen eyes and features.
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 16:32:33 GMT -5
Faust listened to what Eve had to say, unfortunately it brought him a slight sadness to hear the things she said. It mattered not if they spoke or if they didn't speak, for he would surely be troubled by her death.
The fact was that he needed very little protection, at least most of the time. His magic was powerful and he was excellent at sword fighting, yet he had made powerful enemies in his climb to liberate this kingdom from greed and corruption. Those enemies would stop at nothing to have Faust killed and so he hired Eve, hearing that she was the best, to lessen the chances that he'd be caught off gaurd. As well, Faust had a secret that had to be kept from his enemies, if they found out, he would be killed certainly. He needed Eve to keep others from finding that secret out.
Unfortunately the woman, not a year younger than he, had grown on him. He found it somewhat frusterating to have dinner alone, so he had asked Eve to join him, only to have his offer rejected in an official tone. Maybe there was something she needed to do but Faust thought it was something about her that made her this distant to people.
When she had caught the intruder Faust walked up casually to him and asked two questions. "Why are you here? Who sent you?"
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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 18:20:23 GMT -5
Eve stared at Faust as he walked by her. When she had turned to address him, she caught something on his face, some hint of a troublesome thought. She hoped, nay, prayed that the thought had nothing to do with her. If Madam Clari learned that Eve had already managed to get her mark to be worried about her, she'd find a way to tear the tattoo right off Eve's arm. She shuddered at the thought and followed Faust to the prisoner.
The prisoner spat on the ground in front of Faust and Eve winced-it wasn't smart to make magic-users angry. She and Faust could pretend all they wanted, but the only real reason she was his bodyguard was because he was not showing the extent of his power. Still, she felt as though it would be failure to not act like a true bodyguard. Being the best at fighting and guarding did not always mean you were the best bodyguard, and it hurt Eve to know that she had almost failed the final exam because she had a liesurely conversation with her mark while throwing knives into each and every potential enemy. The fact that she hit all their throats didn't matter, she had talked to the mark.
Eve knelt on the ground before the man, one knife facing out, the other drawn in against her arm. She was ready for a fight if it occured. "I'd answer My Lord if I were you," she said, voice intimidating. "I can carve you up and cause you physical pain, but he can carve your mind." With that bit of pleasant advice, she moved behind Faust, standing at attention like a good little bodyguard.
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 21:43:37 GMT -5
The indruder looked grudgingly at both the people in front of him. After a few moments he answered. "I came in here looking for him." He said nodded his head rudely at Faust. "My family is starving, I needed the money so I took a contract to kill you. It was my first time but the reward was so high that food would never be a problem again!" Suddenly he started to break down and began to cry. "Please don't kill me, I have a family that needs me! Please show mercy."
Faust listened to this carefully. "You were on a suicide mission, I hope you know. If you even succeeded in killing me you'd be slaughtered by the castle gaurds, and that is not even including my bodygaurd here." He looked down at the man crying over his boots. "It was foolish."
Yet he sighed. "Yet if I was to kill you that would prove nothing, more attempts on my life would be made and your family would starve and grieve because of your death." He was confident that this man wasn't going to try anything so stupid ever again. "So I have a solution."
He scribbled down something on a peice of spare paper and gave it to him. "This will give you and your family enough food to live off of for a few months. In exchange you must eventually pay me back for the food by the end of the year, a loan of sorts." He looked at Eve and nodded, wanting her to bandage the intruder's wounds. Then he added. "But so help me, if you ever try putting my life in danger again I won't be so understading."
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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 22:01:52 GMT -5
Eve almost smiled at Faust. He was so nice and understanding. She would've just slit the man's throat and be done with it, but instead he loans the guy money. It was the same nice and understanding attitude that kept trying to convince her not to be such a....bodyguard. The same one she kept ignoring.
Nodding her head at Faust's order, Eve knelt before the man, put away her knives, and pulled two handkerchiefs from her pockets-it was never a good idea to run around killing people with unbound cuts-and looked him in the eyes with sincerity. "The hand you will need stitches or a good witch for," she said quietly while wrapping the handkerchief around his wound. "I will not remove the knife, for you would bleed to death if I did." Eve ignored his wide eyes and moved down to his legs after tying the handkerchief tight.
"Your leg on the other hand," she hesitated, sighed. "I will be surprised if you do not limp for the rest of your life." His eyes were only getting wider, Eve's only avoiding his more. "The cut most probably sliced most of, if not all of, the tendon connected to your knee-cap. A very, very good healer might be able to fix it with magic." She was nearly done tying him up when she saw his hands coming for her throat. Immediately backing away, Eve growled.
"Listen to me you thief," she said, upset enough to show anger in front of Faust for the very first time. It took quite a bit to cause emotions to show on Eve, and she was definately raged. "My Lord may have believed your story, but I did not believe a word," she snarled. His eyes were once more wide. "If it were up to me, I'd be burying you right this second." Eve reached forward and roughly tied the last of the bandage. "Don't push your luck, fool, or you may yet find yourself below the ground-breathing or not."
Eve stood and backed away, eyes on the ground. She wished she could turn her back and count to twenty until her anger washed from her face, but she had to keep her eyes on the assassin. Eve settled for giving him a cold, battle-hardened look as her rage left her slowly.
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 22:18:24 GMT -5
Faust watched her bandage the man's wounds and listened to her words. He beleived this man's story, mostly because he could see it in his eyes and a man's eyes can never truely lie.
When he heard Eve talk about needing a good healer Faust promptly wrote another note. "This healer does good work, she'll help you." He scribbled another note down. "This'll handle the pay, and you need not pay me back for this one." He handed the stunned man the note.
"Now, I trust you know where the front gate is?" He asked. He continued without letting him answer. "You can get there yourself, I trust your wounds aren't so bad you can't walk."
He watched the man limp away and looked gently to Eve. "I'm guessing that was the same man who wanted an audience with me?" He asked.
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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 22:26:59 GMT -5
Eve watched the man, not turning to see what Faust thought of her emotional outburst. "Yes," she said, voice normal once more. "That is the man who requested an audience." He stepped outside the gates, and finally Eve turned to face Faust. "I'm not sure he was the only one, My Lord. If there was a contract out on you, with an inexperienced taking it, there are most probably more."
In Eve's own opinion, that meant they should lock down and keep watch. Again, however, her job was to give the bare facts and let her mark decide what to do. She watched him with eyes that were not quite normal yet, forest eyes that were cold. As a druid, she could have possibly called a minor healing on the man. She wasn't sure whether Faust knew that, but he didn't ask it of her, and she sure as hell wasn't about to help the enemy.
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 22:40:53 GMT -5
Faust nodded. "There will always be more, its always been like that." He said. "I'm just happy that he didn't become crippled or was killed." He sighed. "He was just a farmer, not a killer."
"Now, I think a drink will be in order." He said, massaging his temples. "Stress isn't helped by an attempt on one's life."
A servant girl came up with two glasses and bottle of liquor. Faust thanked the girl and gave her a smile before she left. He uncorked the bottle and poured some into a his glass. He offered the second glass to Eve. "Care for some?" He asked politely.
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Post by Eve on Jul 19, 2005 22:47:35 GMT -5
Eve listened to Faust and almost sighed. He was like a big, powerful boy scout who wanted to heal the world one misdirected soul at a time. Most people would have thought it was a wonderful cause, Eve just thought it was stupid. Or lost. Or both.
Watching him be kind to the serving girl, Eve did sigh. He treated all the servants like people. It was good enough, but not when it came to his bodyguard. The offer of liquor startled her. "I don't drink, My Lord," Eve responded, still surprised. Alcohol drowned the senses, causing uncoordination and possible danger, especially in her profession. Why then, would Faust offer her a drink?
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Post by Faust on Jul 19, 2005 23:31:01 GMT -5
"Ah, yes." He said. "My apologies, I should have asked." He sipped his drink and smiled at her. "I realize now that a drink would probably be denied by anybody of your profession." Bowing his head in apologies.
At that moment an arrow skimmed past his head, right where it would have been had he nod bowed it. Another assassination attempt by someone. At a glance Faust could tell the shot was made by a professional killer, he was up on the highest tower of his castle. This time he showed no mercy.
His hand was up before the archer could knock another arrow into his bow. With the force and sound of a canon a blast of magic was forced from his hand. Though the energy was invisible, everyone could see it speeding to its target because of the wind swirling as it went through the air.
The assassin was hit squarely by the sphere of Faust's magic. His bow snapped and his arrow shattered. He was thrown back as if hit by some giant's club and everyone could see him falling. There was a dull thud as he hit the ground, unmistakably dead.
All of this had happened in less than five seconds, Faust's reaction time was superb. "He was a professional killer." He explained both to the servant girl who had come up to take Eve's untouched glass and to Eve herself. "There was no hope pf him letting me go peacefully, or even giving up his ways."
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Post by Eve on Jul 20, 2005 0:03:54 GMT -5
Eve was in the middle of turning and taking out her bow when Faust shot out magic. She shouldn't have been hurt, really, but it stung to see what a failure she was turning out to be. She couldn't even keep her eyes off her mark for enough time to see danger coming to him. She turned abruptly, listening to Faust and watching everything at the same time. For what just happened, she would find a way to punish herself....probably by scaling that tower a few times while looking at all the ways that damn proffessional could have killed her mark while he offered her liquor.
Eve spoke to Faust while turning in a slight circle, watching all the areas where a killer could hide. "He was not only a professional, My Lord. He was trained at the same place I was trained. The arrow had purple knives down the side, which are the only arrows we use."
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