Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar]

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:14 pm

Well that made her day more of a nightmare. "I'll be a ball of yarn in the claws of rapture I'm sure. Color schemes and gowns and cake decorating and all sorts of other fiddle-faddle while you're holed up with your father. Since I doubt your mother would want to be left out she'll probably drag me over to your home and I'll be subjected to all the ideas and whatnot. Guess having Siofra around will be a small comfort." She reached out to hold his hand and looked rather sad about the whole ordeal, one might venture to say she looked ready to burst into tears.

In the meantime, yes, Verunia had sought out the elf to tell her the news. "I found out this morning when I went by to wake her up. I'd planned for this to just be another get together, like the last event, but I went to see her and I changed my mind on the spot. A wedding it is!" No she wouldn't outright say 'I caught my daughter in bed with her sweetheart and to my knowledge they're not legally married', but it was enough to warrant a wedding as soon as possible just in case something rather important came up later. In her own mind she didn't see why they weren't married already, but that was based on her own thinking, not once did it occur to her that Lori had never had a sweetheart prior to Stefan, and that the entire idea of marriage so soon was enough to make her faint.

Lori would simply have to deal with the wedding date being so close, because the longer she pondered the idea the more she thought perhaps her mother would give them close to a month before the final date anyway. "Given that it takes weeks just to plan a wedding I think we might have a month or so, maybe six weeks anyway before this ever happens. Unless you have the connections to make one happen in a week, dress, food, venue, and everything else, it's gonna be a while." the girl rationalized.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:19 pm

Stefan could see that Lourna wasn’t all too happy about how the day was most likely going to go but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He was pretty sure that Verunia would never allow him to have all too much to say in the preparations and in addition, he wasn’t supposed to see the bride’s dress before the wedding, and that would most certainly be the top and foremost point of conversation anyways.

Laughing, he nodded along to Lourna’s words. “Let’s hope you’re right and it really will take a bit of time to plan it all out. I sort of get the feeling that your mother might want to have it all over and done with a little quicker than six weeks and she is just the right kind of woman to make everyone work a little quicker to suit her wants. Not that it’s a bad thing, but.. you know..” Getting up to put away his breakfast dishes, he moved back to Lourna to give her a kiss. “I should be off. Enjoy your day! I’ll swing by this evening, or maybe a little earlier, to see how it went with your mother.”

Siofra had been about to head to another one of the archery training sessions which she wanted to keep an eye on though it technically wasn’t her charge on that day. She like the impromptu meetings though, because the archers were more casual and felt less pressured when they knew that neither the bowmaster nor his second were anywhere near to observe their practice. It made for a more accurate analysis of their skills.

When Verunia suddenly found her just outside the palace, she figured that something had to be going on otherwise the woman would certainly not have come here. And she was right. A marriage? Now that was some quick work. “Are you sure that Lourna and Stefan are even up to be married already? Have you even asked them before deciding that you’re going to throw them a wedding? Not that I am against the wedding as such, but shouldn’t it be Stefan’s job to propose first before someone else takes the decision off their hands?”

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:29 pm

The woman looked a little uneasy and whispered as quietly as she could, "I found them in bed together this morning if it's any indication." With that little secret given to the only person she had any intention of telling, she began to speak normally again. "At any rate the way they've been lately is more than an indication if ask me. I'd like your help in making sure this doesn't get too stressful for Lourna, the way she's been lately it doesn't look like she can handle much more on her plate than she already has." It wasn't as if she was heartless about the whole idea of planning this, but she didn't really know if they'd done anything the night before or not. Better safe than sorry just in case they had, and being married didn't exactly require them to be used to the idea for it to happen.

"Very well, I'll leave the door unlocked after I get home." This was to be a day of hellish proportions and she wished she could get out of it, but her mother wouldn't listen to that. Maybe if she could pull her aside early on, this could be set back. No never mind her mother never listened to her opinions before, she certainly wouldn't listen now. After Stefan left she shut up all the doors and windows and spent a little time with Sinyaya just to play games with her before getting out and facing this monster her mother deemed a 'wedding'. "Can I go too?" asked Yaya. For once Lourna couldn't really say no for any reason, it was sure to be a small wedding, just family and all that. If her husband to be came from a well-educated family then perhaps having the little dragon with her could be a good deal of fun! "Yes Yaya, this time you can go." This sent the baby dragon into an uproar and she went running about as fast as her lanky little legs would carry her.

With that out of the way, she went off to at least get a head start on her mother and looked at a few patterns here and there for a dress. The least she could do was make this easy on herself and give her mother less to drone about throughout the day. "Willow Mother just take me now and spare me the suffering..." she muttered.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:47 am

As Verunia lowered her voice for this confession, Siofra merely raised an eyebrow. She had been raised in a fairly non-conventional way seeing that her mother had been left by her father and things hadn’t always been easy. Neither her mother, nor her brother had ever seen any harm in her befriending males unlike other mothers who never even let their daughters look at a guy without considering such a small gesture to mean something.
And Siofra got the impression that for Verunia this was much the same.

“And you are certain that this even means something happened?” Siofra asked incredulously. She could hardly imagine Lourna or Stefan initiating anything more than kissing without anything having been officially sealed, at least amongst them – of course Siofra didn’t know about the proposal. If they did, she was sure they would both be clever enough to lock their doors before engaging in any kind of sexual intimacies. “It couldn’t be that maybe they just slept in the same bad because they spent the evening together and the weather was too bad for Stefan to go home?”

Besides, Siofra didn’t really have the time to spend all day pondering over wedding arrangements, as much as she’d like to take the burden off of Lourna’s shoulders. “Honestly Verunia, I don’t mean any disrespect but shouldn’t it be them to decide when they want to get married instead of you making that decision for them? Just because they’re spending time together and enjoy each other’s company doesn’t strictly have to lead to a marriage right that instant.” Problem was of course, Surahnians thought differently. In addition, the fact that Lourna wasn’t the youngest anymore as far as their social conditions went, didn’t really help the matter.

“If you insist however on doing preparations now already, I will join you later. I cannot leave the grounds now, I have my duties to take care of as well. Where will you be headed around lunch time?” Siofra didn’t want to anger the woman either, after all she had no quarrel with her and sometimes it was nice to have a bit of female company that wasn’t an archer aspiring to take her position. Plus, she really did like the idea of being involved.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:00 pm

"I wouldn't trust Lourna to make that sort of decision on her own. Up until that day I forced her to go to the Festival she was content to spend every second of her spare time in that shop of hers. She's my only surviving child and for our people it is important that we carry on our legacy." No, she didn't entirely trust her with matters such as these, and she certainly wouldn't trust her word that she didn't get intimate with her sweetheart the night before. "Whether she did or didn't is something to be determined later, this isn't going to happen immediately. It will take me some time to get everything set up, this can't exactly take place over the span of a week obviously." She gave a nod and thought it over. "Most likely at Stefan's home with his mother, and Lori. If this goes according to plan and she agrees with where this is going, I can get everything out of the way by supper time this evening, then it's a matter of a dress and a date!"

In point of fact Verunia had a seamstress waiting with the boy's mother at that moment, and Lori for all her nerves of steel, was a shaking wreck. Her daughter was on her way over there and now that lunch plans had been made, she might need to send her to the kitchen to bake dessert before even discussing the dress. Actually on her way over the girl had been doing a rough sketch for the cake: the one thing her mother would have NO hand in concerning the wedding. It was also something she'd planned to do with her lovable bookworm, since he couldn't really do much anything else to help with the planning. If her mother thought she was going to run the show and do everything the way she wanted, she had another thing coming. The Lion Father may have made her a quiet girl, but by no means was she spineless! Her wedding was meant to be something she'd enjoy and remember for years after, not something she'd mark off as something else her mother had forced on her.

"Lots of oranges and reds, maybe a hint of yellow to add a little glow." Lourna mumbled. The dress HAD to be white, nothing would change her mind on the color of her dress. This would be some afternoon, and boy was Stefan going to be in for a surprise!

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:01 pm

Well, it was her daughter. Siofra wasn’t going to argue with her if she thought she had to control seemingly every aspect of Lourna’s life, even those she shouldn’t even have any part of. It wasn’t Siofra’s job to tell Verunia how she should handle her family affairs. The half-elf only knew that she would never have tolerated her mother being so overbearing, even if it was all meant in the sweetest way possible. After all, Verunia was a nice woman and it had indeed been her fussing that had finally gotten Lourna out of her shell. “I shall swing by later in the day,” Siofra simply replied in the end and waved Verunia off as the woman headed to the appointed house while the half-elf went to the training session.

Later in the day, as promised, Siofra took some time to make her way towards Stefan’s family home. On the way, she stopped by the library to pick up Stefan. His father put up complaints but one pointed look from Siofra shut him up rather quickly and suddenly even told Stefan to hurry up and follow his superior.
“Did you have to put him so on edge?” Stefan asked under his breath when they were outside. “Did he have to complain?” Siofra simply replied. It was one of the good things about being an official, people knew the consequences of rubbing the wrong way against them, especially if there was an order involved, which hadn’t been the case now, but still.

“So anyway, why the rush to get to my mum’s place?” “Because wedding plans are under way, and you should be part of them, at least for a few things. Obviously you shouldn’t be involved in the choosing of the dress but everything else, you should at least be aware of. You will be part of the wedding as well after all.”
Stefan merely shrugged. It wasn’t like he had planned on staying completely out of it anyway but he wasn’t sure his presence was wanted amidst all this women right now, especially since they were most likely really going to talk about the dress.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go in first and announce your arrival. Dress-talk will then be postponed until you have been relieved of your duties as groom-to-be. And please, one of you tell Verunia that you have proposed to Lourna, otherwise the woman will for all eternity believe that the wedding was her idea.”
Stefan stopped dead in his tracks. “How did you…?!” Siofra stopped to turn towards him, a slight grin on her face. “Isn’t it obvious how I know?”

It obviously wasn’t to Stefan but Siofra merely shook her head, smiling, and waved him forward. She wasn’t going to explain it to him if he didn’t know.
Soon enough they reached Stefan’s family home, and as indicated, Siofra deposited Stefan in the hall and went to find the women herself, quickly announcing Stefan’s presence as well before the young man could get any ideas and suddenly bolt. One never knew with men.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:01 pm

When Siofra announced that Stefan was home Lourna's shoulders immediately relaxed. 'Thank the gods! Siofra just made this all the easier.' It wasn't the first time she'd been glad to see Siofra, but this was the best yet. "What perfect timing you have Siofra!" she chimed. "I actually just took a pie out of the oven not too long ago. It should be rested in a few minutes." When she first arrived she promised an afternoon treat to help keep things running smoothly, and instead of cherry it was apple. Siofra's favorite and she knew it all too well. Her fiance hadn't shown his face yet, but since her mother was putting away everything involving the dress and leaving the rest of the planning materials untouched, she kept her cake sketches to herself and wouldn't let her mother see them.

Lourna had a tough time staying seated and had to exercise all her self control to not bolt out of there and drag him with her. Instead she simply sat waiting for the likely-nervous man to walk in and say hello. "Come now Stefan, this is the first time she's smiled since we all sat down to talk about this event. Likely enough it's because she knows you're here, come sit down we'll fill you in on what you missed." His mother called cheerily. She always seemed like such a happy woman despite everything going on in the city around her. Perhaps it was that she had her husband at the house nearly every night to entertain her, or maybe it was just that her precious baby was grown up and getting married. She had younger children all varying in age, but Stefan was her oldest and that gave him a very special place in her heart.

Of course the man himself probably had little idea just how much he meant to both his mother and his soon to be wife, and it was likely enough he would just have to learn over time. "Likely enough when we're done here this evening I'll just steal him and keep him with me if that's alright?" There was a hint of a joke in that statement, but she fully intended to keep him with her another night just for the sake of having him to snuggle with.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:07 pm

Siofra smiled briefly, acknowledging Lourna’s relief with a wink before she made sure that everything dress related had been put out of the way. Then she went to call in Stefan, so that he could share in the fun of wedding preparations. As the future groom, he shouldn’t just idly wait for it all to be arranged for him, and seeing that he was not a soldier who would likely pretend to have better and more manly things to do, he might even have a few ideas himself, as well read as he was. At least that was Siofra’s hope. Otherwise these elderly women would have him for snacks in between.

Reluctantly and a little hesitantly, Stefan followed Siofra’s wave and stepped into the room upon hearing his mother’s voice specifically calling for him. He couldn’t bail now. They all knew he was there. And it wasn’t like he wasn’t interested in helping. It was rather the fact that these were all women, and somewhat crazy women – apart from Lourna – and he wasn’t sure he was fit for spending a whole afternoon with them.

“Oh that’s quite alright, dear,” Stefan’s mother happily chirped. “Keep him for as many nights as you want, as long as you promise me that you’ll bring him by from time to time before I forget what my son looks like.”
Siofra shoved Stefan to the table, firmly planting him in a chair before nonchalantly leaning against his chair. “Well then, what have we missed so far?”

Stefan wasn’t quite so sure he liked having Siofra at his back like that but there was hardly anything he could do about it. He also knew why she was staying there, and almost as if she wanted to remind him, she discreetly prodded him in the back. But he remained silent for now, merely looking at Lourna with a shy smile before clearing his throat and chiming in: “Indeed, what have we missed?” If he had to act the part, then he’d better do it right!

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Thu Feb 28, 2013 7:29 pm

"You have missed me trying to pry answers out of Lourna, she is keeping far too quiet about all this." Case in point, Verunia had been on the verge of smacking her daughter for the last hour or so because all she'd given her was a color scheme and the kinds of flowers she preferred. "Mother, this is 'my' wedding whether you claim it was your idea or not. To be frank Stefan had already proposed to me and we'd decided we wanted a wedding in the summer." Well 'that' was something she needed to know that morning before she flew off in a hurry! She glanced between the two and gestured to Lourna. "Well go sit with your fiancee Stefan, don't be shy." After the way she'd found them this morning she wasn't expecting him to shy away from her, but apparently this made him rather nervous, no shocker there.

"I'd be more appreciative if you'd let us plan this OUR way; it isn't your wedding mother. If it were I wouldn't be sitting here listening to you; I'd be running my shop business as usual." Of course at this she noticed her mother looked much sadder but then covered it by waving off her remarks. "Come come now Lori be reasonable, you hardly deviate from your schedule unless I force something on you, what difference is there between that and this?" Now Lourna was MAD, she had no right to say that! "You hardly ever pay me any attention except when you get your mind set on one of these schemes of yours. The only one I'm glad for is when you told me to attend the Festival last month, everything else has been a waste of my time! I will consult you about my dress and nothing more, do you understand mother?" In the course of her mini-rant she'd coughed up a drop or two of blood and it made her look as though someone had bloodied her lip

Her mother was rather aghast at what her daughter had just done and reached out to smack her rather harshly before storming out in fury. Meanwhile the resounding smack! had left Lourna staring holes into the floor, a hand covering the red mark her mother had just left. "I would be quite alright if I didn't see my mother at the wedding." she choked softly. 'Mother's never raised her hand to me before...Perhaps the physician was right and she 'does' need help.' she thought. If her mother wasn't angry with her tomorrow she'd know something was up and send her mother off for therapy. For now though, her eyes were glassy from the force of the hit and she blinked it away. "Let's not let the afternoon go to waste shall we? I mean after all we took time off especially for this meeting, might as well get something done!"

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:21 pm

Both Siofra and Stefan were wondering what they had just walked into and kept quiet for the most part, trying not to be noticed as Lourna and Verunia were yelling at each other. It wasn’t a pretty sight though both of them shared the opinion that it was good for her to stand up to her mother in this respect and told her what Stefan and herself had planned for themselves instead of letting Verunia decide on everything. Bad enough that the woman hadn’t even lingered around long enough to let her daughter tell her the good news about a proposal.

Though they shared much the same opinion, they both remained quiet.
Until Verunia reached out to smack Lourna that was. Siofra, out of instinct, got into a defensive stance and Stefan jumped up out of his chair to try and shield Lourna.
Siofra stared daggers at Verunia, wondering what had brought on the sudden change in the woman’s attitude. She was a person with a quite prominent personality and she was used to getting her way but she had struck Siofra as being a woman who would strike her daughter for speaking her mind, definitely not considering Lourna’s age and the fact that Surahnian women were generally encouraged to be outspoken rather than hide behind others.

Stefan didn’t waste time on Verunia and instead turned to the kitchen to get a large chunk of cheese from the kitchen, which he wrapped a towel around and held to Lourna’s cheek to cool off the slapmark a little. All the while, he didn’t say a word. It wasn’t necessary. Everything had been said, and everything else would just make the situation worse.

Confused by what had just transpired, Stefan’s mother was mortified at the whole situation and rummaged through the papers scattered all over the table, feigning interest in them while actually just hiding her embarrassment and trying not to look at anyone. At Lourna’s words, she instantly picked up her cue has hostess of this mess and piped in. “Yes, yes, let’s do that. Terrible waste of the afternoon otherwise. Look here, I have a few sketches still lying around from when I was planning my wedding to my husband, most of them are flower arrangements and possibilities of how to put them together or colour schemes. Some may not be possible since we’re not back home anymore, but it might give you an idea on what it is you want for your own flowers.”

And just like that, the atmosphere was remedied a little. Stefan settled back down into his chair, all the while keeping the cheese against Lourna’s cheek until she was ready to take it away. Siofra stayed standing behind Stefan’s chair for now, as she had done before, though her reason therefore had changed. While earlier she had wanted to remind him to give the good news, she was now making sure he would not make a wrong move.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:50 pm

Noticing that Siofra was still standing, Lourna motioned for her to sit. "Please, come sit down standing must be uncomfortable." With her mother now out of the house, she brought out a rather simple sketch of a tiered cake with shading in places and arrows pointing to different words and descriptions. "I didn't want to show her this because...well...I wanted this to be the only thing she didn't tamper with. I also didn't want to trust another baker to make this the way it was supposed to be. I fully intend to make this happen myself, if not with a little help perhaps from you and your mother, Stefan." From here on in she wouldn't be speaking to her mother about anything concerning the wedding, she would discuss most everything with Siofra, Stefan, and his mother. He would be left out concerning the gown obviously but everything else would have his input.

"I know you're busy with work and all Siofra, but I'd love it if you could help with the dress. You have an amazing taste in clothing, after all." By now her cheek was no longer sore, so she stood and took the cheese back to the kitchen, only to come back with slices of pie for everyone. "I think it's cooled enough to eat by now, enjoy!" After looking over the papers from her soon to be in-law's wedding, she wrote down a few things and smiled. "Guess we'll just have to see what blooms in the summer and go from there." At this point her mother's rash actions were little to nothing to her, having seen similar things happen before, and she was finally starting to warm up to the idea of planning for the occasion.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Wed Mar 06, 2013 2:23 pm

“No no, I’m fine standing up,” Siofra retorted, waving off Lourna’s concern. It was unnecessary. She was used to standing or walking most of the day anyways so it was nothing unusual for her. The situation had relaxed quite a bit though with the departure of Verunia and Siofra sighed inwardly that it had remained at the loud exchange and the slap and nothing worse had come of it, at least until now, but she sincerely hoped it would remain that way.

Moving over to Lourna’s chair, Siofra found this vantage point by far better as everyone suddenly crowded over the sketches the bride-to-be was showing them. “This looks quite fancy,” Siofra admitted to Stefan’s frantic nods.
The young man was analysing the cake into the smallest detail. “For a quick sketch, you’ve already done a lot of work on this,” he commented, in his mind’s eye already building up the cake in all its glory.
“I can understand though that you wouldn’t want to entrust this to another baker,” he grinned. “Who could rival you with the creativity and the taste? I’m not quite sure about the native bakers but your goods are amazing.”

Siofra didn’t comment. There was no need. The smell of the apple pie was speaking for itself, and that was merely a normal pie. “I shall be around for the gown for sure.” The half-elf smiled at her friend. “I can’t guarantee I will be for everything else but for the gown, absolutely. I wouldn’t want to miss that.” And she meant it as well.

Stefan too was wondering what the dress was going to look like but of course he would have to wait until the day itself to see it. “If we’re really going for the summer wedding,” he mused, “then maybe we could try and organise the ceremony somewhere outside of the city walls maybe?” He looked up at Siofra who was still looking down at the cake sketches, piece of apple pie in one hand. “Do you think that would be doable?”

“That entirely depends on what Surahnian culture dictates, but as far as the weather is concerned, it should be no problem in summer, and there are quite a few lovely spots where you could perform a wedding.” Siofra had a few in mind of course, having been to Racksom often enough in her teen years.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:14 am

The whole idea of this wedding was suddenly sinking in and it was all she could do to hide that she was now getting very nervous about it. "I might have you sample some ideas for the cake, but that isn't a major priority. I'm honored you'll help with the dress!" The sparkle in Stefan's eyes over her drawings of the cake made her heart flutter in her chest and she was overjoyed to see him so happy about it. 'I can hardly wait! This is all so exciting!' she thought to herself as the conversation drifted from the cake to flowers to location and then back to what little about the dress could be spoken of like the kind of fabric to be used. Of course by now it should be noted that the sun was already starting to set and the day had been quite an interesting one.

After all was said and done Lourna was practically asleep on poor Stefan's shoulder, mostly from lack of food but his mother was a bundle of energy and had her running ragged. After a short bit of time to gather everything up, she stifled a yawn and bid her future mother-in-law goodbye. "We'll set a date for dress-talk sometime soon, alright?" After standing up she wasn't really all that tired, but she did have a dragon to care for and a shop to run, not to mention a man to cook for and he hadn't been too comfortable all day from what she could tell. "Well you have mother's permission to stay over again, so shall we go before it gets dark?" Sinyaya was surely going to to be an annoyance with all her hyperactivity, but it would be worth it to get away from all this talk.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:30 am

Siofra was glad that the afternoon passed in an easy atmosphere as of now, the cake had certainly helped that, and there was quite a lot discussed. Nothing had been decided of course as it was far too soon for that, but a lot of things had been narrowed down, which would make it all so much easier on the couple when it came to finally really making the decisions.

“Speaking about dress,” Stefan chimed in. “I know I’m not supposed to know anything about it, but do I have to wear something specific to match? Or will the normal classic attire suffice?” He hadn’t been to many weddings as most of his cousins were either younger than him and still available or they had been married when he had been too young to remember much of anything.

In turn, they all bade Stefan’s mother goodnight, since it was practically evening already. The half-elf accompanied the young couple to the bakery to chat a while longer and to check up on Sinyaya’s development. After all, Siofra hadn’t been around all that much the last couple of days and dragon growth could be quite quick.
“How has she been behaving lately? Anything odd? Anything out of the ordinary?” Siofra asked as they were almost at the shop, having passed the walk there exchanging pleasantries, and a few jokes, at Stefan’s expense, of course.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:33 am

"She's been sort of quiet, more content to keep to herself and wait till I'm busy to bug me for attention. No more rats in the house though so she gets out during the night and hunts for them." Would Stefan really need to put thought into what he was going to wear...? Probably. "Just make sure it fits with the color scheme I suppose. I don't really know." she admitted as she opened the door and found Sinyaya grooming her left foreleg. "Well you're up early Yaya." The dragon immediately perked and trotted over to greet everyone and purred. "Welcome home!" Lately she'd grown somewhat distant in reference to Lourna, but that was part of her growing up and the girl had come to somewhat accept it.

"Have you been holding down the fort properly while I was away?" The little dragon nodded her head and sat down. "The crazy lady tried to get in here for some reason so I hid when she looked in the windows. She looked pretty angry so that only gave me more incentive not to let her see me." The things her mother knew could be her downfall if she were to get angry enough to tell anyone who didn't already know (kind of an oxymoron but her mother did some very strange and silly things thinking they were logical). Her little friend was now properly awake, thanks to noticing a bug crawling across the floor, and took off after it with a determined fixation.

"Looks like the shop stayed in one piece, thankfully. I'm sorry that the discussion didn't quite go as planned, but at least we have a few things sorted out now. Thank you Siofra, I wouldn't have made it through all that without you and Stefan, even if he stayed quiet half the time." She did a little extra cleaning before putting something on for dinner. "Siofra will you be staying around for a bite to eat or do you need to hurry home? I won't feel bad if you can't stay."

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Mar 22, 2013 8:43 am

Siofra surveyed the dragon closely. Sinyaya was growing quickly, there was no doubt about it, but she seemed to grow distant, which certainly was part of aging and not needing someone to look after her every second of the day, but Siofra couldn’t help but wonder if it was the fact that she was cooped up in a house all day long as well. Dragons weren’t meant to be kept as pets, never were and never would be. Soon enough the night dragon would be too big anyways to be kept in the shop and Lourna would have to come up with a solution. Might be better to consider that sooner rather than later. Especially if Verunia might be blabbering things.

“Best indeed that you didn’t let her see you. Odd enough that she came here when she knew full well she stormed away from a meeting with everyone.” Siofra would keep an ear open for any rumours but she hoped that Verunia hadn’t done anything stupid in her anger. Lourna did seem overly worried about the whole incident and the half-elf knew from experience that some women could be very vindictive. The girl didn’t say anything along those lines however, so Siofra didn’t push it either.

Stefan for his part was intently observing Sinyaya hunting after the bug before following Lourna in the direction of the kitchen. “The meeting went well enough though, I found,” he finally chimed in. “We discussed lots even if nothing final has been decided, but that wasn’t necessary either way.” Siofra nodded absentmindedly to the words as she agreed but her thoughts were elsewhere. Had she heard correctly?

Lourna’s invitation for dinner was lost on Siofra as the half-elf turned towards the door and listened out into the streets. She could have sworn she had heard the clink of armour and weapons but all was silent now. Holding up a hand behind her to silence the other two as she could hear Stefan drawing in a breath to speak up, Siofra slowly stepped out of range of the door in case it should swing open and drew her bow.
And not a moment too soon.
Her arrow was nocked and ready to be loosened just as the door flung open and a hooded figure stepped in, deadly sword gleaming in the slowly dying light.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Mon Mar 25, 2013 12:01 am

Of course Lourna's first instincts when the door flew open were to move Stefan and the little dragon into the back room, heaven forbid the wrong person see Sinyaya, and string her bow. What gave just anyone the right to barge into her establishment uninvited this late in the afternoon?! "Who are you?" Stupid thing to ask someone who'd just walked in with a sword drawn. "State your business." After an awkward pause to look him over she frowned. He reminded her of one of the thugs that had given her and Siofra trouble a while back, but she'd never seen him before.

Yaya meanwhile was watching from the crack in the bottom of the door to the back room and knew something was wrong since Lori'd strung her bow. She decided it would be best not to go out and risk getting everyone in trouble and instead silently hoped her friends wouldn't get hurt. If necessary she'd go out and gnaw the person's ankles to kingdom come, but for now it was a waiting game to see what they were going to do, and the suspense was painful. "Stefan, psst, what's goin on out there?" she whispered to the otherwise silent man next to her.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:09 pm

Siofra was still out of line of sight of the intruders when Lourna reappeared out of the backroom with her own bow drawn. Her reactions were swift, which was a good sign. And most importantly, she had gotten the dragon out of sight. Hopefully Sinyaya had enough sense not to intrude on this now.

Stefan in the meantime was looking around the room for a weapon. He was no good at using them but he did know a little bit, having gone through some sort of basic training back in his youthful days. Maybe it would be of use now. Though lacking the actual weapon was a bit o a problem. ‘A kitchen had knives’, he suddenly thought. Certain that he would find something useful there, he was just about to hurry to get one, when the night dragon asked her question. “I’m not quite sure, my dear but what I do know is that is best for you if you stay hidden. Whoever these men are, they will not look kindly upon a dragon and it will cause more trouble than we already have at our hands.” Looking at the dragon, he sighed. “I know you love Lourna, but you cannot help her with this.” Well maybe she could but Stefan preferred not to risk it. He took Siofra’s warnings seriously, even though it had been a while since she had pointed out that Surahnians would not look kindly upon a pet-dragon.

“We have come to repay a certain kindness,” the intruder replied, his voice amused. “I thought that was obvious?” A second voice behind the first man chuckled lightly before adding: “And we know your friend is here with you, so… come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Listening to both of them – the half-elf was sure though that there were more than the two who had spoken – she contemplated her next move. She could just shoot the first one right there and then but what good would that do? There still were a few more outside probably and it would only lead to more appearing at another time. No, they had to deal with this differently. Of course, if they insisted, she would gladly shoot them. For now, she remained where she was, trying to keep inconspicuously to the shadows out of sight of the man, still half-way in through the door only.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Sat Mar 30, 2013 4:24 pm

"You can repay it by leaving and not darkening my doorway again." Lori snipped. "Leave now or risk being riddled with arrows in all the wrong places." She knew Siofra would aim for the family jewels first and foremost, and Lori would be aiming for head-shots and other closely related areas. "This is not a confrontation you can win, leave now and you'll live to see another day." Sadly one of the thugs outside got a little impatient and stormed on in, only to be met with an arrow through the jewels, followed by another through the chest. "I warned you, let the games begin."

With the first one down it was easy to see there'd be lots of blood to clean up over the course of the night. "Looks like I'll need to mop before I open up shop in the morning." Fifteen minutes passed and with no more comments from the peanut gallery moving the bodies wouldn't be too easy, but not too tough either. "Guess we'll get rid of these and then part for the night?" Her voice was a little shaky from the scuffle, but she'd wait to let everything out until after Siofra left. There weren't but about 4 bodies total, but there had been some shop trashing and things were a bit of a mess. "If you need to go home urgently I understand, I'll clean up here as if nothing ever happened and I'll keep you posted about wedding details." As soon as Siofra was out of earshot she'd be breaking down in tears, she did NOT like killing people. Period. She proceeded to grab her mop and bucket and clean the blood off the floor before it stained.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:04 pm

The fighting was over quickly enough but the clean-up afterwards took quite some time and it was a pain to get rid of the bodies. At least there was a man in the house, even if one with measly muscles, but he did have some. Carrying books seemed to have done the trick as well even if there had not been a lot of other training in his life. How he had never been thrown off the ships by his people, she couldn’t quite fathom, as crazy as they sometimes were about their military status.

“Grab them under their arms, Stefan, I’ll take the legs and follow my lead,” Siofra ordered, taking complete charge of the situation as she was used from her job and Lourna really wasn’t in any condition to do so, even though she held her own quite well during the brief fight. “Lourna, you can start on the mopping already, and make sure the dragon stays out of the mess.” Bloody pawprints all over the house wouldn’t do. All through the short fight, she had remained where she had been confined with Stefan talking calmly to her all the time. He hadn’t really known what to tell her so he had started to tell her a little story, anything just to keep a soothing tone so she wouldn’t rush out and do something stupid.

As Siofra and Stefan were carrying the bodies out of the shop under the cover of darkness, he looked at the red-headed woman. “How can you do this? I mean, this was murder.” Abruptly Siofra stopped and dropped her end of the body, leaving Stefan to crumble under the full weight. As he was scrambling to get back onto his feet, she was staring daggers at him. “Murder? Is that what you think this was? Alright then, let me ask you this then: would you have preferred these men storming into the shop, torturing and violating your fiancée in front of your eyes?”

Stefan wanted to retort but left his mouth open without a word coming out, slowly closing it again. In silence, they both picked up the body again and continued on their way. The topic was not brought up anymore that night. Their individual tasks were done in silence and once all the bodies were dumped a little stretch away from the city walls, Siofra and Stefan returned to the shop to help Lourna with the remaining work.

Nodding to the baker’s words, Siofra was already out the door before she turned back around. “It will be best to lay low for a while but go about business as usual. Just... stay unnoticed. And keep your eyes open for any unusual people.” With one last look at the shaken couple, Siofra closed the door behind her.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:54 pm

After confirming with Siofra and bidding her goodnight, she put her mop and bucket away and looked like a marionette performing a pantomime as she started on some sort of recipe. She wanted to get her mind off of what had just transpired, and Sinyaya trying to help her kneed was doing a decent job. The little dear was freaking out over the clamminess of the dough every few seconds and eventually just sat by Lori and snuggled up to her. "Perhaps when you're bigger you can help me with this, but for now I need something to keep me busy, your affection is enough." She half wondered why Stefan hadn't come out to help her, but then remembered that the little dragon would have likely come dashing out furious if Stefan hadn't been back there to keep her calm.

"You think so little of me for defending myself?" she asked glancing at the young man. "I noticed that you are overwhelmingly quiet after what's happened here." Now it was taking all her self-control not to break down in tears. "Well say something already, say you hate me, say you think I'm a murderer, something!" Sadly she couldn't hold it back anymore and tears started flowing. "What would you have done in my place? Was what I did so terribly wrong...? Should I have let them do what they wished and not contested them?" It would be tough to get past this ordeal and truthfully she had been holding back on crying starting from the first arrow she fired.

She felt rather embarrassed crying in front of him like that, but it couldn't be helped. She'd never seen battle and wasn't used to having do defend herself so ardently. Sinyaya wasn't about to judging the girl for doing what she did, she was proud of her for it! "I want to fight like you someday Lori, you were great!" It was a comfort well given, as she was in better graces with the baker than the girl's own fiancee was at that moment.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:56 am

“You weren’t defending yourself, you were killing them in cold blood,” Stefan replied, his voice calm and detached. He wasn’t really seeing what he was looking at but his eyes were locked on the door. For some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt that this was not the end of it all but then again, it might just be because he hadn’t been in a life-threatening situation in quite a while, even though he hadn’t even been part of this particular fight himself. It had been a long time since armed men had walked into his house and he had kept well out of the way when the battle had raged over Racksom.

“I don’t hate you for what you did, and I don’t think you’re a murderer.” He knew however that he was contradicting himself even as the words left his mouth but he couldn’t take them back now. No, he didn’t see Lourna as a murderer but she had fired an arrow without having more reason to do it other than someone being in her shop without having any business there.

“You could have disarmed them, shot them elsewhere and gave them the necessary beating or whatever to keep them to stay away. There was no need to kill them. Despite the fact that they came waltzing in here with the swords brandished.”
He knew that his words were most likely going to make her hurt even more than she already was, but she wanted him to be honest. Well, there it was. They had both known they were from two different worlds when it came to war and this was the perfect proof thereof.
Finally, he tore his gaze away from the door to look at his betrothed. Seeing her tearstreaked face pained him very much but he just couldn’t bring himself to walk over to her and comfort her. Not yet.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Apr 05, 2013 4:07 am

"I did what I had to in order to survive." she replied meekly. "Make up your mind, Stefan. You just said I killed them in cold blood, which by that definition makes me a murderer. Next you say you don't hate me and I'm "not" a murderer. They came in with swords drawn and wanted to settle a score, I did what anyone in my position would do." She pulled Sinyaya close and gave her a small cuddle before sending her off to sleep by the hearth. "These tears aren't from you being angry about what I did, they're from knowing that I just killed four men in the business half of my home. I don't enjoy killing and I don't think I ever will, but it would have continued to be a problem down the road if I didn't do anything tonight."

With Yaya safely in the other room, she crept over and tried gingerly to put her hand on his shoulder. "I hardly even like visiting a butcher's shop I'll have you know. My being uneasy around carnage is also why I didn't especially like men my age who were the career military type. Honestly it's why I care for you so much, and why I'd risk my neck fighting an entire army to see you safe. I know you aren't happy with me, but will you still be staying over tonight? I promise there won't be another rude awakening tomorrow morning, but I can't promise I won't be up at dawn baking." Hopefully this could blow over in a few short days and things would get somewhat back to normal. . .

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Apr 05, 2013 10:42 am

“I should make up my mind,” Stefan repeated. It had been a question in his head but it had come out as a statement, which in the end it really was. He had to make up his mind, that was for certain but he wasn’t ready to do that just quite yet. He loved Lourna and he knew that she loved him too and would go through lengths to keep him safe, which he appreciated because he would do the same to her.

However, that did not imply that he had to agree with every single action she took. And this had been one such occasion where he definitely had not agreed. “You think there was no other way. You know, I was on the brink of getting a knife just to have something like a weapon to stand beside you while you fought off the intruders but I stayed with Sinyaya, trying to keep her calm and that she shouldn’t reveal herself so as not to bring you any more grief than these thugs already were because if she were discovered...” For a moment, he paused, not quite sure where he was going with this. Just as well that Lourna sending the dragon off to bed.

“Lourna, if it causes you so much pain that you have killed people, why on earth do you think it’s a good idea to join the archery division of the army? Why on earth would you think it’s a good idea to go into battle when you can’t even walk into a butcher’s shop without feeling bad? You may have killed these men in self-defense,” he was still of a different opinion but he wasn’t going to repeat that fact, “but if you go into battle, you are killing people who have not ever done you any harm. You wouldn’t be any different from the men your age you apparently dislike. How could that ever sound like a good idea?”

He knew that if anyone heard him, it would be hell to pay. He was openly defying their laws and Zartear’s will but he did not care. It was no secret that he didn’t share some of the ideals but he never made a huge deal out of this as he was quite attached to his life. “I thought you were different. I thought you knew that life is not something to be thrown away on a whim because an inconvenience appeared that you cannot deal with at that exact moment. Have you even considered how much trouble Siofra could get into if someone were to discover what transpired here tonight?”

Out of breath and with his heart rate through the roof, he shrugged away from her and went to open the door. “I’m sorry Lourna, I love you, but I won’t stay tonight. I need some air and time to think. And so do you.” And with that he closed the door behind him, not even waiting for what she had to say. He loved her, he really did, but he could not stay with her that night. He simply couldn’t.

Subject: Re: Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar] Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:56 pm

As he walked out she could feel her heart ripping in half, but really she knew he was right. "Choosing between the military I'm obligated to serve in for at least another two years and the man I love, that is a harsh decision that is not up to me to make." She made up her mind and set to work making something exceedingly special with the dough she'd set aside. Somehow proving to Stefan that she didn't want anything to do with military life if she could help it was going to be tough, if he even still wanted to see her. "You'll see me sooner than you think, my love."

Night rolled by and so did most of the next day, mainly without incident, and she found herself working on her cake design. "Can I really not go without him for a day...?" With a deep sigh she put the book away and took inventory of what had sold that day. "Seems his favorite has gone unsold all day." she muttered as she boxed it up. She wasn't sure if he'd be happy to see her so soon after everything, but she finished withe box, ran upstairs to change, and set out to see if he was at the library. Seemed he'd taken the day off from his studies, quite understandable after what she'd done the day before. She stopped by his home and sincerely hoped he was there or she'd start to get worried. It wasn't worth losing her mind to serve in the army full-time, and it 'had' been an order to run the shop. Obviously she couldn't shirk either of her duties, but really her first priority would be to make a merchant of herself and get her business going.

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