Sionnach (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Andre stared at her for a long moment, as if confused. "Do you... do you think that's all you are to me? Just... entertainment? Because I've really messed up if you believe that." He looked down, shaking his head slowly. "I know when I first admitted I was interested, it probably sounded that way. Like I was looking for someone just to have fun with. But that changed in the time after we caught those men in the caves under Trondheim. You gave a damn about me, more than any fling ever did. But before we could really seriously talk about it... I was taken away. But you came and got me. And I tried my best to look after you after what happened in Tonder, and again when you miscarried... That's so much more than just entertainment and adventure, Ri. I stuck around because I love you, and we take care of each other without making the other change. That's all I want. And if there's an adventure along the way- which you are anyway- then that's great too."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Gia even questioned if we're rushing into this. So much is unknown." She moved towards Andre and took his hands in her own. "I know I love you, but everything has been turned upside down lately. I just wanted to be sure that we were on the same page."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't think we've rushed anything. And we haven't asked the other to do anything they weren't ready for. I've followed your lead mostly. Other things have been happening too fast, but not my relationship with you. But all of this is still better than what I knew before. And being welcomed in by you and your family- my Ma too- is... it's more than either of us could've ever dreamed of."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And you don't think you want more freedom? That you might be making a mistake by choosing me?" Riley asked softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"What makes you think I'm not free?" Andre asked with a slight tilt of his head. "You're not a shackle, Ri. You're a person. My partner. Just because I prefer to do things with you, doesn't mean I'm not allowed to do them on my own. And the same goes for you. We'll both have our own projects and adventures, but we'll always have each other to come home to... If that's what you want."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley didn't say anything as she moved forward and hugged Andre tightly, not willing to let him go. "Of course I want that. I want nothing more than to be your wife."

 

[KieranSoares]

Andre smiled, burying his face against her shoulder. "Then we're gonna make it happen," he promised quietly. "I don't know when or where... but I do know that once we get back to Trondheim, I'm gonna make you a ring."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley smiled as he said that, promising her that what they wanted would really happen. When she let go of him, she kissed him gently and then sat next to the fire to relax and get herself warm.

As the evening wore on, the keep was quiet. Rain continued, but everyone had found calm within the stone walls for the time being. When Qira emerged from his rooms, Fiona was leaning against the wall outside. She had dressed in loose trousers and a tunic and looked exhausted, but determined.

"I have only a limited time before Sam wakes up and finds me gone." She said to the great panther before her. "I'm asking you to accompany me on a walk. If you say yes, we both have deniability for what we're really going to do. So, Qira, would you go on a walk with me?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Qira stopped and stared at Fiona for a long moment, the slight furrow of his brow letting on that he wasn't sure he should let her get into trouble in her condition. But he nodded slightly, offering his arm to walk with her.

 

[heartofcourage]

They walked at a slow pace down the hall, Fiona leaning on Qira's arm for support as she got herself into a rhythm. Before they reached the great hall, she was standing tall and strong. It was what she needed.

"Royer." Fiona called as she and Qira walked through, her eyes glancing in the young man's direction. "Follow us, please."

"To a quiet room please, Qira." She murmured to the panther.

 

[KieranSoares]

Finn Royer had been allowed some free roaming privileges as he wasn't a criminal and he hadn't shown any real hostility, but he was essentially a prisoner only allowed to move between his quarters and the dining hall, needing an escort everywhere else. The same went for his men.

Finn was sitting at a table with his men, quietly discussing when Fiona entered. When he rose, so did his bodyguards, but Qira held up a hand. "Royer only," he muttered, and at the young man's word, his men sat back down. Qira led the way to a little-used parlor near Kell's office, but not close enough to draw attention. Once inside, Qira shut the doors and lit a few candles and the fireplace in the room to give them light in the late winter darkness. Royer stepped in and glanced around nervously, but he kept his calm.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Have a seat." Fiona said as she pulled out a journal, one that she rarely used. "You as well, Qira. I won't be blamed for overworking you."

She sat down on the other side of the small desk in the room, reaching for a quill pin and opening her journal. It was bound in dark leather, one that Sam would have recognized instantly. It was where she wrote down her most intimate details, namely the list of those that were her enemies. Her daily journal was tucked neatly away in her satchel, but this one served a much darker purpose.

"I was clear when I spoke with you earlier that I wouldn't tolerate lying." Fiona said as she neatly wrong Finn's name at the top of the fresh page. "And that is exactly what you did.'

 

[KieranSoares]

Finn watched her begin to write, his expression stoic as Qira pulled a chair next to the door behind him. "I said my Da was chosen to become King o' Scotland. Tha' wasn't a lie. The people chose him when he proved he could be the leader they needed. An' when nobles didn't bow t'the people's demands fer fair treatment, my Da drew his sword on their behalf. He was a leader of farmers, an' now he's their king."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And that is another lie, young man," Fiona said calmly as she turned her pale blue eyes on him. "You can believe that your father is a good and honorable man doing what is right, but if he has had anything to do with that woman or Frederick Barbarossa, then he's no better than them. You might have told my husband a story to save your own skin, but you're going to tell me the truth."

"My family is buried in Inverness. Generations are still there. My blood is in that soil, my soul in those woods that were burned to a char the day I killed an emperor. If I have to raise every single dragon on that isle that has been asleep for centuries to take another tyrant down, I will." Fiona promised, her eyes were dark with that promise. "So, for the sake of your dark little soul, you are going to tell me who has funded your father and who is loyal to him."

 

[KieranSoares]

Finn's brows furrowed, his stubborn spirit coming out immediately. "My Da's a good man. Jus' because he hired a mercenary once t'help him with some difficult nobles, doesn't make him a tyrant. He rules fer the people, he's destroying th'feudal system you all got rich an' fat off of."

"Destroying, or replacing with a dictatorship?" Qira muttered, making Finn look back at him with a glare. "No one to share the spoils with, so he gets it all, and controls how he's spoken of so some people like you are disillusioned into loyalty thinking he's great and humble."

 

[heartofcourage]

"How can you claim to be for the clans and know what all Scots want when you call it a feudal system?" Fiona asked, venom in her voice. "It's bastards like your father who kept me pinned down in poverty with a boot to my neck for good measure."

"Have you ever known a day where your belly ached so much that you wished for death? Have you ever had to decide if you would eat that day or if the child you were raising would eat? Don't you dare speak to me about things you don't understand." Fiona hissed, as angry as she had ever been and too tired to hide it behind her normal calm exterior. "Until you allow yourself to be raped for money, you'll keep your fucking mouth shut about this "feudal system"."

 

[KieranSoares]

Royer stared at her for a long moment, unwilling to budge from his place. "I think it's time I took my leave. You'll release me so I can tell my people t'prepare t'be taken over again. We know we'll lose... but goddammit if we won' take some o' you with us."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You'll leave this room when I say you can leave this room." Fiona said as she stared at the stubborn young man. "And you wouldn't say those words unless something I have said has rang true."

"The only way you come off my list is by proving yourself to be honorable. I want to know who has helped your father in gaining that throne. It wasn't just him being the strongest with a sword or gaining loyalty as he went. He hired a woman with a known history of illness and violence. He tore apart cities and families. I don't even have to be in Scotland to know what happened there. If you have any sort of conscience, you will know that what has happened isn't right."

 

[KieranSoares]

"An' how the hell am I supposed to prove myself t'you when yer holding me hostage fer something you think my father's done?" Finn growled, but there was a hint of concern there, worry that she was right.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Something I think? You just as much admitted that he did all of this. Destroying the feudal system? Demanding that clan kings come under his command?" Fiona asked, staring the young man down as he tried to wriggle out of the moment. "Where does that sound like a fair and just king?"

"Listen, young man, I know what it feels like to have to grapple with the fact that your father isn't the man that you thought he was. I was beaten by my father, ignored, treated as inferior. All I wanted was to believe that there might have been some good in him. I clung to that hope with every piece of my being. I know what you are going through right now. What I want is for you to do what is honorable and decent."

 

[KieranSoares]

Finn took a step back as she spoke of her own father, and he turned only to find Qira now standing, leaning against the door. "I don't want t'be here," Finn growled again, but his voice was losing strength.

"Then tell us what we want to know," Qira murmured, taking a gentler tone to encourage the young man who was being told what some part of him knew about his father.

"He's a man of th'people," Finn insisted, a little weaker in tone now. "He's done awful things, but only to people who deserved it."

"We all know that is only the story he allows to be told," Qira spoke softly still. "You are still young and new to the world of war and politics. You do not see how he pulls the strings."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And who deserves it, Finnegan? What human deserves this?" Fiona asked him as he came to the slow realization that things weren't what they seemed. "You probably heard the stories about me, about how I terrorized the Germans and killed children and took glee in doing so. Standing here in front of you now, do you believe that's true?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Finn looked back to Fiona, shifting nervously, arms still crossed. "... I don't know," he murmured, still too stubborn to let her win just yet. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Qira put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him and a chair toward the desk and making him sit across from Fiona.

Keeping a hand on the young man's shoulder, Qira encouraged him quietly, "Tell us who helped your father on his way to the throne, whether you believe he earned it or not."

Finn's gaze dropped to the floor. "... Alphonse Montaigne was his first strategist, now advisor to th' throne. Dalen Neav an' a group of his men were my Da's first officers an' organized the militias. Arturo Oliveras came in along the way an' made a place fer himself as a spymaster. He recommended Stila. I don' know how they're related exactly... Those are the big names I know of, but there's probably more."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona dutifully wrote down every name that was given to her, pausing only when he did. She let oua long sigh, placing her quill down and looking up at Finn.

"It's hard, I know. It's your family and you have to make peace with that." Fiona said as she closed her journal. "You owe me no loyalty and you are welcome to fight for your father. I wish you well if that's the path you choose."

 

[KieranSoares]

Finn's eyes remained on the floor, but his expression was hard. "... I want to talk to him first. And my Ma... then I'll make my decision." He glanced up at Fiona slowly, and added, "... If you're right..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "If you're right, I won't let him keep that throne."