The Sweetest Revenge. (Elvi and Sherona)

[Elvi]

Lost in her own world where a very grateful young woman, wearing a wonderful royal blue gown, was escorted by the King himself, Ursa almost shrieked at the sound of Sonja's voice.
Dropping the dress, she hastily stooped to pick it up, looking guilty enough to be charged with stealing gold from the Royal coffers.

"Oh M'Lady....Sorry M'Lady....No M'Lady..."

Still a little flustered and blushing deep red, Ursa draped the robe as best she could over her arm and took a deep breath. Even though she spoke with a little nervous quake in her voice, Sonja could she that she spoke the truth when she finally answered her question.
"It was a little difficult finding a replacement for your clothing M'Lady, me and Greta had to work quite hard and then Greta did her best to remember where all the holes and burns were."
She took a short breath before continueing to garble.
"But Greta's good like that, she has a good memory, once she's seen something she never forgets, she can make exactly the same thing time after time..."
Her voice faded a little, she still had difficulty in understanding why Sonja had wanted all of this.
"So....she had no problem in marking where the smithy had to put the holes 'n things....."

[Sherona]

Sighing as she did indeed spy a hole where her right breast would hang out, shuddering at the thought that while she had been unconcious bits of her body had apparently been exposed in such a fashion. Sonja turned her gaze toward the maid with a quirk of her brow, "I am no Lady..please..it is just Sonja." Eyeing the leather carefully, the Sorceress begins the process of slipping off her shift, and pulls the leather top on, backwards. "Can you help me fasten the back now Ursa?" That would take care of modesty, it definitely was a sight tight around her breast area, the front having been designed to accomodate her rather then the back, but it would do for modesty sake.

"I appreciate the effort you went through to find the garment..though you can thank your King for the added work of remembering holes and tears. That was his idea, not mine." Turning her back to the maid, so that she could reach the fasteners easier she continues speaking without much mirth. "If people were just a little less tight lipped around here, and someone would tell me something other then simply expecting me to go along with ..with who knows what docilely then we probably could have avoided the whole scene yesterday."

[Elvi]

"I'm.....not sure what you mean M'Lady...."
Ursa, a confused look on her face, stepped forward and began lacing the tunic, doing her best to ease the leather where more space was needed.
"I don't know what you mean by tight lipped, I have done my best to answer everything you have asked me..."

She lapsed into silence as she stepped away, frowning at the way the tunic looked, still completely confused as to why Sonja had insisted that they be 'returned'. 

The turning of her tunic most certainly did give Sonja a modicum of privacy, though she would find her trousers, a different matter. Not only singed and burnt, her origional ones had been almost ripped from seam to seam by her fall from the tree.

[Sherona]

"There is a difference between answering questions honestly, and avoiding speaking of things." Sonja replied, trying to hide the irritation at Ursa's apparent refusal to quit referring to her in such a formal tone. Lifting the trousers, and a sound that could only be described as growl-like escapes the woman's lips as she inspects the damage. "Oh he is good..." Lifting her fingers to her temples once more Sonja contemplates. He has left her with little choice, dress in the heavy unfinished garment that he chose, or dress in clothing that left little to the imagination.

"What is it that you did not want Greta to say?" She adds, after she sees the confusion and even the frown on Ursa's face. "If there is something you want to know I will, of course, return the favor of honesty." She still has yet to decide what to do about the clothing situation, however seeing as how it was only sunset when she came back in here she feels she has atleast a few hours before the decision would be forced.

[Elvi]

"I don't know what you mean M'Lady..."
ursa looked down at her feet feeling as though she should be telling this woman something but couldn't for her life think what.
"....If you mean when Greta was trying the dress on you? I was just trying to stop her rambling on and on....She does that a lot and sometimes she actually forgets to do what she has started out to do."

Ursa sighed, now she felt like she was being unkind to the seamstress.
"If we had let her she would have continued to ramble on about everything and we would have still been stood there, especially if she had wandered off and on to her grand children...."
She hessitated and gave Sonja a small smile.
"Two of them are pages and we've never heard the end of it...."

Glancing at the dress and then back to the trousers Sonja held in her hands, she continued.
"Would you like me to take the dress to her now? We can still have it done before you are to be seen in public...."

[Sherona]

"I suppose if she can't fix these seams.." Sonja replied grudgingly, her face dark and her lips twisted wryly. "I had hoped to 'go out in public' fully as my self rather then some dressed up doll." Turning her back once more to the Maid, "Just loosen the strings again please. Perhaps before you go, you could tell me what is rumored to be planned during the ..the coronation ceremony?" Surely there would be some talk of special tasks that had been ordered out of the ordinary, such as a guillotine assembled..or a gallow prepared..and if anyone in a King's household would hear such talk it would be the servants.

[Elvi]

"I don't think they can be M'Lady...or I am sure Greta would have done so..."

Ursa's face brightened, at last she had an answer for a question that Sonja had asked.
"OH...It's going to be wonderful!"
Stepping back to her she began to pull at the lacing, her nimble fingers working with practiced ease.
"The Bishop is here...."
She paused for a moment, of he would be, they had just burried the old King, but he hadn't been seen for some years, he being quite elderly now.
"And there is to be a big feast after the ceremony and dancing and...and the servants are to have a seperate feast of their own, because the King has declared that it a day of Merry making for all....and I have a new dress to wear that I have kept for a special occasion...."

She sighed happily, there was this stable lad that had set his cap at her. She, of course, as a member of the Royal Household, had played it quite aloof, but perhaps tomorrow would be the perfect day to 'give in'....

[Sherona]

Sonja was tempted to try and bargain with the maid, the blue velvet contraption in exchange for the ordeal of trying to procure an un-damaged set of leathers. However the sudden vision of Borghast casually mentioning flogging an aid simply for not relating information, that he himself did not seem willing to relate either, stopped her. She had little doubt that if the King had so desired to, he would find little problems with punishing the maid.

Shrugging back into the borrowed shift, Sonja nods at the right intervals. The only thing of special note it seemed was the Bishop, however he might be there to oversee the actual ceremony. Having been too young for the late King's coronation she is unsure of what actually goes on, though since it is popular belief that god chooses royalty, it is not unreasonable to expect that the bishop had some role in the ceremony.

"So the usual I am sure, feasting, merry making..pretending that everyone is happy that the Prince is taking over the reign?" Shaking her head, unable to strike the sarcasm in her voice. "But yes, please have Greta finish up the dress if it is not too much trouble for her."

[Elvi]

Ursa blinked in confused surprise at Sonja's comments.
"But most are happy M'Lady, the old King let the country fester and it's people argue amongst themselves...Surely, both yourself and the Rebel Council being here proves that there is time for change?"

[Sherona]

Suddenly Sonja sharply looked at Ursa, her face drawing pinched. "The ..the council is here you say?" Surely not, surely they had not captured all of them. Her chest suddenly felt constricted, and though she struggled to breath normally, she could feel her heart rate quicken. She had to have answers, and this farce,...the lie that had been told to this woman has outlived its usefullness. So, Sonja laid her own cards on the table so to speak.

"Ursa. I know what you have said you been told, however that has been a lie." Shifting on the bed, drawing her legs up to curl beneath her, dark eyes remain on that of the other woman. No shame, nor guilt resides on the Sorceress's face, atleast not in the fact that she had attacked the then-prince. "It was not some rogue band of people that attacked me..I attacked the 'Kings' hunting party. The people who were executed were my friends...This..this whole thing," Sonja lifts her hand, gesturing to the room, the dress, even the tattered leathers, "It is simply a game for Borghast." Dropping her gaze now, her fingers idly tugging at the collar around her neck, "Is the council..are they in the dungeons..or are they locked away in rooms much like this one?"

[Elvi]

Ursa looked aghast at what she was saying, surely this woman had received a hafty bump on her head, for her to say such things.
"Surely...you jest M'Lady....the Great Tower was prepared for themselves and their families, they have been offered every comfort and the children were still playing in the walled gardens when I came in here...."

Ursa shook her head.
"The King has not imprisoned you here, he is protecting you....why he has even given you rooms from his own chambers."
Sighing, she young maid shook her head.
"I really don't understand what is wrong here, perhaps I should ask the Physician to call on you?"

[Sherona]

Sonja felt as if her world was suddenly something out of a fiction story. What is right is wrong, what is white is black..all topsy turvy. "The Great Tower?..Their families?" No, this could not be happening. They had taken every measure to ensure that no one person had ever been aware of the other, every missive was sent via paper and never in person. All decisions by the council was made via these missives, so even those in the council was not suppose to be aware of the others. To make just this event impossible.

Her head wheeling, a doubt niggled in her mind, perhaps she had been betrayed..No, she firmly pushed that doubt behind her. Dark eyes land on the servant in exasperation, "Fine. If I am not a prisoner, then I wish to be taken to the council. I would like to speak with them before the ceremony."

[Elvi]

Ursa took a deep breath, a small note of panic in her voice, she wasn't quite sure what to do.
"I....I cannot let you just walk out M'Lady...I....someone will have to speak to the King. The guards at the door only answer to him....and well, they are not to let you out unless he says, for your own safety..."

[Sherona]

"Of course...for my own safety." her voice fairly drips with the sarcasm. Sonja turns away, unable to concentrate on any of the thoughts that are racing through her mind. "If you are going to get Greta to fix the dress, then perhaps you should go now. I would offer to help cart the material to her..however there seems to be goblins and boogeymen within the castle waiting to attack." That said she lays face down on the bed, her eyes sliding closed but not in sleep.

[Elvi]

Ursa mumbled and curtsied before picking up the dress and leaving, not even bothering to close the door behind her.
She was almost in tears and wished that they had chosen someone else for this job and not her.
Sniffling she sighed as she tapped on the outer door, calling for a page to help her with the heavy fabric as soon as it opened, she had thought this work would be a wonderful oppertunity for her, how wrong she had been....

[Sherona]

Sonja does realize that she has upset the maid, but under the circumstances the young woman can not begin to feel guilty about that. Instead she waits for the sound of the outerdoor to open and close before she moves from the bed. Creeping toward the open door, wondering if there was a guard posted at the inner door as well as the outer. If not then she could possibly rifle through the desk and other objects in the other room. Perhaps she might find something of use to her..even if it is just a simple blunt object. Hesitantly she peeps from around the corner, into the outer room.

[Elvi]

The room, though brightly lit, seems to be empty and left as she had last seen it.
A quiet fire lay in the hearth, it's embers throwing off heat to warm the otherwise cold room, as with most castles of the time, chairs and rugs were heaped around it, the perfect place to sit and be warmed
The only other difference was that it looked as if someone had been working at the desk. The parchments and scrolls better organised.
Some documents laying sealed ready to be taken away, or possibly read, it would take close inspection to see whether they bore the King's seal or anothers.

[Sherona]

Sonja leaves the room quickly and quietly, not wanting to alert anyone out of teh room that someone was in the inner room. She does however quickly moves the perch where Borghast had last been that she knew of and draws back the curtains swiftly. Making sure he is not there, she quickly moves to the desk. A few of the top parchments are discarded after a glance, though she does look at the parchments that are sealed. Not caring about hiding evidence, Sonja is pretty resigned to the fact that unless her powers returned that she would be executed after Borghast finished whatever little play he was putting on. Breaking the seals to each parchment, Sonja's dark eyes scan the contents looking for any information that might be useful, particularly anything that had to do with the morrow's planning.

[Elvi]

As she drew the curtains back, a cool breeze blew in from a slightly open window and she could indeed hear the shouting and calling of children at play. The walled garden could just be seen from that window, torches lit against the darkening sky, she could see the odd small figure dart from one place to another, before dissapearing from view, hidden by the high wall or a tree.

If Sonja had hoped to fins anything worthy amongst the papers, she was to be dissapointed. A few replies from both local gentry and foreign dignitories, either confirming or declining his invitation to the coronation celebrations and some very mundane messages reguarding stores and millitery matters.
It was obvious that Borghast was no fool and had left nothing of great import for her to find.

[Sherona]

Out of habit, Sonja does memorize the basic figures on the store supplies and a few of the militant issues. Disappointed, yet not really surprised, she drifts back toward the window. Watching the antics of the children below both heartened her and caused a curl of fear within her. Here, alone and seeing the apparent freedom of the children in the gardens below it is hard to shake the thought that perhaps not all in the council was trustworthy. In her solitude she allows the hard mask that she adopts as easily as the children fade into the shadows below, to fall leaving her ragged nerves and emotions exposed for this small moment in time.

[Elvi]

"I do enjoy the sound of children playing."

While she had been rifling through his papers, Borghast has entered the room from a door by the side of the fire place.
These rooms being his own and the door having a heavy tapestry hung in front of it, he hardly ever closed it fully, so had not even made a sound when he entered.
He watched her staying in the shadows cast by the fire and the thick alcove wall that his the entrance to his bed chamber, an amused smile on his face as she tore open the letters he had left.

Stepping out he grinned, though still in shadow, she probably would not have known if the ammusement he felt was not betrayed in his voice.
"I see you have decided to disguard the replacement clothing and keep the shift."
He chuckled.
Do you realise that when the fire light catched it, it is almost see through...."

[Sherona]

Whirling at the sound of his voice, irritated both by the fact that he had once more sneaked up on her, and the fact that she herself was to blame for not checking the room thoroughly. Her eyes automatically shift to the papers on the desk, but she does not drop her chin. "Normally yes, however when they are not where they are supposed to be the playing seems more...sinister."

When he mentioned the state of her dress a firey flush spreads across her cheeks as she hurriedly crossed her arms over her breast. Hurriedly she backed beside the fire place, hoping that without the firelight caste behind her, the shift would go back to covering her. If not appropriately, atleast modestly. Though her cheeks were reddened, the heat from her gaze matches the heat in her cheeks as she glared at him.

[Elvi]

"Children playing are children playing...let them be, after all why should they have the worries of adulthood before they need to."
He shrugged, wishing that had been true for himself, alas it had not.
"Thier parents on the other hand, know full well why they are here...seven families their fate hung in the balance adn only one person to save them."

Borghast sighed, continueing talking as he watched her moved towards the fire.
"But I am sure....."
His sentence cut short by a loud laugh, the King shook his head.
"OH you little vixen! Standing there like that just so that I may look upon your womanly virtues, stand slightly to the right would you....that way I can see the full curve of your hips......"

[Sherona]

Struggling now to maintain her composure, Sonja gripped the opposite arms in each hand so hard that the knuckles whiten as he spoke. If she were a different sort of woman, she might have tried to use her 'womanly virtues' to persuade the new King to at least reveal his plans. However she was not so subtle, having no experiance with anything other then forcibly obtaining what she needs.

Assuming he meant that he was the only person to save them, Sonja snorts at his word. "You are not known for your sensibility or your mercy, I doubt that the families can rely on you as their Savior. Just answer this quick question..How. How did you know that we would be there that day, how did you know the Seven's identities?" His next words drove an outraged gasp from her lips and she hurriedly pressed herself against the wall, scooting to the left as she did trying to find a bit of shadow.

[Elvi]

He roared with laughter at her reaction.
Ignoring her question, after all, he wasn't stupid and he certainly wouldn't reveal his sources, better to keep them all guessing as to who was the rotten apple in their barrel.
"Would you like me to avert my eye fair Sonja? Or perhaps I should go and get you one of my own robes to make you more 'comfortable'?"