Not until the three of them were saddled and on their way again did Coatleque venture to offer any explanation. One thing had been wearing on her mind the past three days. That she had been instructed specifically not to be the last one seen with him. Difficult when you are so easily recognized all across Eorzea and your name spoken loud enough to travel. She could at least adhere to the letter of the request if not the spirit. "We will be splitting up once we reach the city." She began. "Sharla, I need you to accompany Lord Algincourt to the Forgotten Knight. Get him a room at Cloud Nine. I will leave in the opposite direction to Fortemps estate to announce his arrival. Lord Taeros will collect him afterwords."
"Th' Forgotten Knight? Consider it done."
Her own cowl was raised again to hide her hair and eyes and they set out northward to Dragonhead. The rest of their ride was uneventful, to the relief of all. Coatleque remained wary just the same. More so as they neared the Gates of Judgement. Her pace slowed so she could fall back next to Sharla once they were on the bridge to the city, and a purse was passed between them for the room that would be required. The promise of further explanations at later times always accompanied these transactions, though lately it was rare to make good on them.
They departed as planned just inside the city. Coatleque kept her cowl pulled low but did not instruct Sharla or Dheres to do likewise. As they turned right for the inn, she collected their mounts and turned left to the stables.
Coatleque was greeted shortly after arriving at the apartment by the house servant, Percibald Petrias. She wasted no time removing her bothersome robe and leaving it on a nearby peg. "S-Ser Crofte! We were not expecting you!" She turned him with something of a frown. Such news was unexpected given the circumstances. She had thought her mission would have been well advertised among the house by now.
"Truly, Mister Petrias? T'is a pleasure to see you again at least. No matter, I am here to see Lady Eglantine if she is available."
He looked her over once and beckoned her further into the hall. "Come, here, sit by the fire!" She did as he bade while he fussed over a decanter and glass, handing her some wine which she held close with both hands. "Wait right here; I will see if Lord-- wait, you said Lady Eglantine?"
"Yes. I am forbidden to address my lord directly. Lady Eglantine is to be his proxy."
"I see. Well. Wait right here!"
Perci left her and for a time she sat in much needed silence by one of the most welcoming fires she had seen in the past few days. There was no time for a proper inn since she had left Isghard so many days ago. She smelled of the road, and perhaps some other foul things as well. Her hair had not been brushed in far too long, and looked matted and stringy with dirt, sweat, and grease. All things considered, she was glad Jameson would not have to see her in this state.
The wine also helped to warm. Setting her now half-empty glass on the small table by the decanter, she chose to stand by the fire as she waited. Her arm throbbed in the chill air beneath her still blood-stained leather. She held it firmly to her stomach and massaged it with her other hand. Standing there reflecting over the past few days she almost did not hear the approach of Edda's handmaiden from around the corner.
"Oh! Ser Crofte! Do you need assistance?"
"Miss Laine." She greeted the woman flatly. "Mister Petrias is notifying Lady Eglantine of my arrival."
Tamsin looked over her arm with worry then. "Are you... hurt?" Her eyes widened then. "Fury have mercy, m'lady! That needs tending! Let me draw you a bath." Coatleque stopped her with a raised hand before she could rush by to the baths however.
"I am fine, it is just sore in the cold is all. Business first. I can see to this later." Tamsin paused and looked at her worriedly, but relented. The paladin was not part of the household. Today, she was not even a guest. She was only a messenger, and by her expression she had no intention to stay longer than necessary. Bowing her head, she hurried along to find where Perci had gone.
It was not too long after that Coatleque was seen to the dining room where she was told Lady Eglantine would be joining her. Another hearth was aglow behind the table, and the paladin chose to stand once more by the fire rather than taking a seat. Tamsin began to pull a chair for her as she strode past the table. "Would you care for a pastry while you wait?"
"No, thank you. I do not plan to stay for long." She did have a steaming hot cup of something already prepared however, which was now offered to Coatleque. "Really, you needn't on my account..." She hesitated as the cup was offered closer. The sweet smell of chocolate was incredibly hard to argue with, so the cup was taken and held closer than the wine from the hall. She inhaled slowly and turned back to the fire. She might have even began to feel comfortable if not for the involuntary bristling of the hairs at the back of her neck.
The door to the room had opened and closed causing a draft. More than that, she knew who was now standing behind her. "Thank you, Tamsin." came the soft voice as the servants attention turned to the Lady of the house. There was a slight sucking of air as Edda winced from the heat of the cup given to her then the soft padding of footsteps as she moved closer to the fire. "Ser Crofte. Thank you for waiting."
Coatleque did not turn or otherwise acknowledge her presence beyond a sniff. "Of course. I've come to report on the task I was set to." She spoke in an even tone. The restraint in her voice evident.
"And what is that?"
"Your betrothed asked me to see someone to safety from Thanalan to Ishgard. I collected him near the Silver Bazaar, drove off his would be assassins, and escorted him through the Shroud. He is awaiting my lord Taeros at the Forgotten Knight under guard of another Sultansworn." She paused, her blood becoming heated and her voice more stern. "Though I wonder why I could not tell him this myself."
There as a soft laugh. It seemed almost mocking to the paladin. "Then you may ask him when next you see him." Edda paused to study the woman but made no remark on her appearance. "Why did you not bring your charge here directly?"
It may have been the laugh. Perhaps the inane question. Coalteque felt something snap inside, and she had to do something to keep from lashing out. So she drank. Not a sip, but a large swallow of scalding-hot chocolate. There was no flinch. No acknowledgement of the searing pain assaulting her tongue and throat. The cup was then set aside on the table. "It was requested that I not be seen with him last. And as everyone from Ul'dah to Fallgourd knows who I am, I had no other opportunity."
"I see. Shall I send someone to collect him then?"
"You may wish to do so yourself. He is a young lordling, after all." Her tone turned mocking then. She turned to Edda with a glare as she began to understand. "You did not know I was forbidden to speak with him?"
Edda glanced down at her own cup and took a tentative sip. "I knew," she began slowly. "Though it was not I who proposed the idea. That is not to say I was not the cause, however, but I had planned to appeal to his decision the very next sun. But..." She smiled wistfully and glanced from the fire to the paladin and back again a few times as if her words should explain everything.
Coatleque's glare turned to a frown, and for a brief second may have had death itself in her eyes. She gestured angrily to Edda, the sword across her back gleaming in the light of the fire. "You DO love him, don't you!"
Edda remained ever so calm, blinking and smiling widely. "My, so that is what you were worried about? Does the prospect disturb you?"
The paladin scoffed at her. "Me? No. Why should it. I see the way he looks at you." She took a step closer, to the worriment of the servants behind who had kept their silence thus far. "Take care, Lady Eglantine," she hissed as she gestured accusingly to the woman. "He is a powerfully driven man. He will take what he wants when he wants it, and you will not be able to stop him." She leaned back again, standing straighter. "You will either learn to pacify him or..." She paused. "Find out yourself. And when you can not... when everyone else has come and gone, I mean to be the one still standing. Then he will see who is truly loyal."
She bit off the last few words with some measure of scorn. A blatant challenge being laid between them. The room had fallen eerily silent. Tamsin stared from across the room, and even the sounds from the kitchen had ceased. Edda merely smiled. "I have completed what he asked." Coatleque said at length, her breaths coming heavily. "Be sure that he knows that." She scowled at Edda only a moment longer before storming away.
"Th' Forgotten Knight? Consider it done."
Her own cowl was raised again to hide her hair and eyes and they set out northward to Dragonhead. The rest of their ride was uneventful, to the relief of all. Coatleque remained wary just the same. More so as they neared the Gates of Judgement. Her pace slowed so she could fall back next to Sharla once they were on the bridge to the city, and a purse was passed between them for the room that would be required. The promise of further explanations at later times always accompanied these transactions, though lately it was rare to make good on them.
They departed as planned just inside the city. Coatleque kept her cowl pulled low but did not instruct Sharla or Dheres to do likewise. As they turned right for the inn, she collected their mounts and turned left to the stables.
Coatleque was greeted shortly after arriving at the apartment by the house servant, Percibald Petrias. She wasted no time removing her bothersome robe and leaving it on a nearby peg. "S-Ser Crofte! We were not expecting you!" She turned him with something of a frown. Such news was unexpected given the circumstances. She had thought her mission would have been well advertised among the house by now.
"Truly, Mister Petrias? T'is a pleasure to see you again at least. No matter, I am here to see Lady Eglantine if she is available."
He looked her over once and beckoned her further into the hall. "Come, here, sit by the fire!" She did as he bade while he fussed over a decanter and glass, handing her some wine which she held close with both hands. "Wait right here; I will see if Lord-- wait, you said Lady Eglantine?"
"Yes. I am forbidden to address my lord directly. Lady Eglantine is to be his proxy."
"I see. Well. Wait right here!"
Perci left her and for a time she sat in much needed silence by one of the most welcoming fires she had seen in the past few days. There was no time for a proper inn since she had left Isghard so many days ago. She smelled of the road, and perhaps some other foul things as well. Her hair had not been brushed in far too long, and looked matted and stringy with dirt, sweat, and grease. All things considered, she was glad Jameson would not have to see her in this state.
The wine also helped to warm. Setting her now half-empty glass on the small table by the decanter, she chose to stand by the fire as she waited. Her arm throbbed in the chill air beneath her still blood-stained leather. She held it firmly to her stomach and massaged it with her other hand. Standing there reflecting over the past few days she almost did not hear the approach of Edda's handmaiden from around the corner.
"Oh! Ser Crofte! Do you need assistance?"
"Miss Laine." She greeted the woman flatly. "Mister Petrias is notifying Lady Eglantine of my arrival."
Tamsin looked over her arm with worry then. "Are you... hurt?" Her eyes widened then. "Fury have mercy, m'lady! That needs tending! Let me draw you a bath." Coatleque stopped her with a raised hand before she could rush by to the baths however.
"I am fine, it is just sore in the cold is all. Business first. I can see to this later." Tamsin paused and looked at her worriedly, but relented. The paladin was not part of the household. Today, she was not even a guest. She was only a messenger, and by her expression she had no intention to stay longer than necessary. Bowing her head, she hurried along to find where Perci had gone.
It was not too long after that Coatleque was seen to the dining room where she was told Lady Eglantine would be joining her. Another hearth was aglow behind the table, and the paladin chose to stand once more by the fire rather than taking a seat. Tamsin began to pull a chair for her as she strode past the table. "Would you care for a pastry while you wait?"
"No, thank you. I do not plan to stay for long." She did have a steaming hot cup of something already prepared however, which was now offered to Coatleque. "Really, you needn't on my account..." She hesitated as the cup was offered closer. The sweet smell of chocolate was incredibly hard to argue with, so the cup was taken and held closer than the wine from the hall. She inhaled slowly and turned back to the fire. She might have even began to feel comfortable if not for the involuntary bristling of the hairs at the back of her neck.
The door to the room had opened and closed causing a draft. More than that, she knew who was now standing behind her. "Thank you, Tamsin." came the soft voice as the servants attention turned to the Lady of the house. There was a slight sucking of air as Edda winced from the heat of the cup given to her then the soft padding of footsteps as she moved closer to the fire. "Ser Crofte. Thank you for waiting."
Coatleque did not turn or otherwise acknowledge her presence beyond a sniff. "Of course. I've come to report on the task I was set to." She spoke in an even tone. The restraint in her voice evident.
"And what is that?"
"Your betrothed asked me to see someone to safety from Thanalan to Ishgard. I collected him near the Silver Bazaar, drove off his would be assassins, and escorted him through the Shroud. He is awaiting my lord Taeros at the Forgotten Knight under guard of another Sultansworn." She paused, her blood becoming heated and her voice more stern. "Though I wonder why I could not tell him this myself."
There as a soft laugh. It seemed almost mocking to the paladin. "Then you may ask him when next you see him." Edda paused to study the woman but made no remark on her appearance. "Why did you not bring your charge here directly?"
It may have been the laugh. Perhaps the inane question. Coalteque felt something snap inside, and she had to do something to keep from lashing out. So she drank. Not a sip, but a large swallow of scalding-hot chocolate. There was no flinch. No acknowledgement of the searing pain assaulting her tongue and throat. The cup was then set aside on the table. "It was requested that I not be seen with him last. And as everyone from Ul'dah to Fallgourd knows who I am, I had no other opportunity."
"I see. Shall I send someone to collect him then?"
"You may wish to do so yourself. He is a young lordling, after all." Her tone turned mocking then. She turned to Edda with a glare as she began to understand. "You did not know I was forbidden to speak with him?"
Edda glanced down at her own cup and took a tentative sip. "I knew," she began slowly. "Though it was not I who proposed the idea. That is not to say I was not the cause, however, but I had planned to appeal to his decision the very next sun. But..." She smiled wistfully and glanced from the fire to the paladin and back again a few times as if her words should explain everything.
Coatleque's glare turned to a frown, and for a brief second may have had death itself in her eyes. She gestured angrily to Edda, the sword across her back gleaming in the light of the fire. "You DO love him, don't you!"
Edda remained ever so calm, blinking and smiling widely. "My, so that is what you were worried about? Does the prospect disturb you?"
The paladin scoffed at her. "Me? No. Why should it. I see the way he looks at you." She took a step closer, to the worriment of the servants behind who had kept their silence thus far. "Take care, Lady Eglantine," she hissed as she gestured accusingly to the woman. "He is a powerfully driven man. He will take what he wants when he wants it, and you will not be able to stop him." She leaned back again, standing straighter. "You will either learn to pacify him or..." She paused. "Find out yourself. And when you can not... when everyone else has come and gone, I mean to be the one still standing. Then he will see who is truly loyal."
She bit off the last few words with some measure of scorn. A blatant challenge being laid between them. The room had fallen eerily silent. Tamsin stared from across the room, and even the sounds from the kitchen had ceased. Edda merely smiled. "I have completed what he asked." Coatleque said at length, her breaths coming heavily. "Be sure that he knows that." She scowled at Edda only a moment longer before storming away.
