PSL- In which there are horses and, just barely, time enough.

[gavesugar]

The Wisemen are in consultation - where, Sheila knows not, but while they consult Ash has little to do but sit around and bask in his victory.

And she'll be damned if he's going to bask with Arthur's serving wenches.

It's her idea that they go riding, somewhere close enough to the castle that they shouldn't bump into any straggling but well-armed skeletons and far enough away that they may enjoy each other in privacy.

She is the envy of some, the baleful regret of others, as she combs the mane of her mare and waits for him to find her in the stables. He is something of a late riser, but she knows he will arrive.

Late or no.

Comments

[thisismyboomstick]

He's clear about them, but that doesn't mean he knows how to deal with them.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Oh hey, small talk!

[gavesugar]

She breaks up the cheese with her fingertips. "Hath he asked thee?" she wonders, curling up, her arm tucked about her own waist.

[thisismyboomstick]

He's distracted for a moment as he digs into the food.

"Huh?"

Eloquent as always.

[gavesugar]

She frowns at him, shoves his shoulder lightly. "The Wiseman. Hath he told thee how ye might return to thy life?"

[thisismyboomstick]

"Oh." He wipes his mouth on his sleeve, forever classy. "No, I think he's got somethin' up his sleeve, but he hasn't told me about it yet."

[gavesugar]

Ugh, must thee, Ashley? "So ye do not know if ye shall leave by inches or by seconds?"

She's trying not to be upset, Ash. The vicious bite she took out of that sausage was out of hunger, she swears.

[thisismyboomstick]

"Not a thing. Though he said something about taking the long way."

... He's never felt sympathy pains for a sausage before.

[gavesugar]

She frowns. "There is so much that I wish'd that thou might lean, that I wish that thee might see in my kingdom."

Is she giving him battle flashbacks? Oh my.

[thisismyboomstick]

"I'm not leaving right away."

He can't stay forever, though at times like these it's hard to remember the reasons why.

[gavesugar]

"La," she says, between small bites of cheese and bread which could only be described as ladylike.

Sheila looks away at the idea. It's hard for her to clearly describe it all to him. It's as if her entire life had been scribbled in black and white, then suddenly burst into color when he arrived. Her life has been passive, a corset constructed to hold her in and still. She'd never known longing before the day she saw him - he'd unlocked her from her cage.

"But someday I must waken to a morning without thee."

And to the knowledge that he doesn't want her.

She gets it. It's over.

She releases the cheese, her fingers spreading out upon her extended knee, white and still.

[thisismyboomstick]

He sighs.

"It's not that I want to leave you..."

They've had this discussion before, it seems.

[gavesugar]

"Oh?"

She fixes him with this look. He probably remembers it well, because the last time he saw it she was throwing a rock at him.

"Is it not still'pillow talk'?

He doesn't 'belong there'. She can't forget that he said that - won't forget it - as much as it seems to weigh her to the earth every time she recalls it.

[thisismyboomstick]

Dammit.

"No... No, it's not."

And okay, maybe he's a little scared of what would happen if he stayed, but wouldn't anyone be?

[gavesugar]

"And...tho I do trust thee in some matters...how am I to trust thee in this one?"

She sounds prissy for a reason.

[thisismyboomstick]

I don't know," he admits, picking at one of the cakes. He's looking anywhere but at her, until he tells himself to man up and look her in the eyes.

"I guess I'm just askin' you to believe me."

[gavesugar]

Sheila holds his gaze calmly, before reaching out to pluck the cake from beneath his fingers.

"Ye do not love me."

He told her he did - but it's very possible he thought she was Linda.

[thisismyboomstick]

He knows who she is. He might be a complete idiot when it comes to his emotions, but he knew who he was talking to.

"You sound so sure."

He shakes his head, leaning a little closer.

"You know you're not the reason I'm leaving, right?"

[gavesugar]

"Ye made it quite clear." She imitates his voice, then, badly, "so long."

She breaks away, stares at the sweet grass waving in the distance. "Aye, I am not. But whatever I may be, 'tis not enough to make thee stay."

[thisismyboomstick]

He sighs. "You know I can't stay. I don't belong here."

Not that it's not very tempting. It's not like there's much left for him back home.

[gavesugar]

"And what if I doth not belong, either." She shifts her gaze to his face, the intensity of her words evident yet laced with hope.

[thisismyboomstick]

"Would you come with me if I asked?"

[gavesugar]

"Mayhaps," she says to her knees. "Would ye make safe passage to me to this new world."

Sheila has never known love. Not before Ash touched her. The possibility of what he brings is so new, so frightening.

[thisismyboomstick]

"Would you be willing to leave everything behind?"

He has no sense of medieval propriety, so he's unaware of just exactly what she would be leaving behind.

"Pretty sure people here want you to stay."

[gavesugar]

There isn't much propriety left in the situation; he just barely avoided a hanging himself, little does he know. Ladies do not give themselves away as she has.

"I am Arthur's poor relation," she says. "The ladies of the court know me well enough, but we are not bosom chums. Who will miss me?"

She picks up a pear and rubs it between her fingers thoughtfully. "Have I told thee of my mother?"

[thisismyboomstick]

He hasn't been around long enough to pick up on the social issues of the time. In his eyes, she's pretty damn royal.

"No." He shakes his head, idly picking up more bits of food.