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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 11, 2016 9:17:27 GMT -5
Elowen too ate slowly, but for very different reasons. The slower she ate, the more full she would feel, and that was what she was going to need.
She caught Cassius' looks, but she too stayed silent. She'd expected smaller portions, and Cassius had expected her to get smaller portions too.
She could tell, though, that he had a strong sense of justice and debt. Perhaps he felt that this had violated the rules he had for that? She had no idea, but she did know that for whatever reason, her serving size appeared to be bothering him. She didn't want to ask him because she didn't want to draw attention to his concern.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 11, 2016 10:26:53 GMT -5
Cassius had no idea what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. He owed her, but he owed the Empire more. She'd saved his life once, the Empire had done it countless times. Going against it for something this trivial was ridiculous, so why was he so bothered by it?
Finally, he split what was left of his food in half and gave her one share. He was silent for a while, then said, matter-of-factly, "You saved my life today. Consider us even." He would not owe her anything. Not when he would likely never get the chance to pay her back on the battlefield. With another Roman soldier, it would have been easier to say that he'd do the same for them, one day, but Elowen might never fight again.
"You do not mention this to anyone. It will be my word against yours, and I doubt you'll be the one they believe," he warned, turning back to his food. "Don't expect it to happen again." Then he was quiet again, finishing his meal as quickly as he could.
"Goodnight," he said as he stood. He nodded to her and then left, saying nothing more. He wobbled back to where the fire was being set up, landing among comrades again. It'd be off his mind soon, certainly.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 11, 2016 10:36:30 GMT -5
Elowen didn't move, and it almost looked like it hadn't happened. You would think it hadn't happened if it were not for the fact she had quietly thanked him, promising not to say a word.
She had been about to contest, telling him that he would need the food, but she suspected that this was none negotiable, and that Cassius would not be able to relax until he have her the food.
She ate the share he had given her quickly, before anyone could see it, to make doubly sure that nobody would suspect anything. The last thing she wanted was to get Cassius in trouble in the face of his generosity.
She had no idea how long they would feed her these smaller potions for, but she suspected that Cassius' generosity might have been a major helping hand in whatever was about to happen. His food might well have helped her if they planned to starve her for a little while.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 11, 2016 10:46:35 GMT -5
Even as the fire lit and the men began their nightly routine of friendly brawls, Cassius was distracted. He knew exactly why he'd done what he did - it was a debt that had to be repayed. To ignore it would have been negligent. But he'd broken rules he'd never dreamed of breaking, and that claimed his thoughts for the better part of the night.
He left early, excusing himself by claiming that he was tired from the blood loss, a defense nobody questioned. They'd all been there. He fell asleep quickly - he hadn't slept properly in several nights - glad for the layer of straw he had to sleep on here. It had been a while.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 11, 2016 14:54:54 GMT -5
(Sorry, it never alerted me that you'd replied XD)
Elowen soon found an opportune place to sleep, and she was aware of eyes on her, as there always had to be now. She would have to try and ignore them if she was ever going to get any sleep.
The voices didn't stop for a long time, men gradually going to sleep and arranging who would be taking watches that night.
The Celtic woman slept with a hand over her new wound on her abdomen, as if trying to protect it from some kind of unknown attack
(Okay, so we maybe need to plan up some new events and maybe decide what these guys should do with Elowen, I don't know)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 11, 2016 15:19:17 GMT -5
( no worries! I get it. I agree, we do need to get something new rolling. maybe decide what the plan for Elowen is first and go from there? )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 11, 2016 15:28:07 GMT -5
(Sure! If their plan isn't to kill her, they may take her to Rome for the 'Triumph' where she can be paraded around in chains. She may also be sold as a slave - people would pay a decent amount for someone 'exotic' like her)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 12, 2016 2:26:25 GMT -5
( since the original plan was to get her father - who would not fetch a good price, if you take into account how old he would be at this point - I think the triumph would make a lot more sense. )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 12, 2016 2:39:18 GMT -5
(I thought so, I just wanted to give a choice XD Okay, so we have game plan then, anything else we should plan out?)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 12, 2016 2:47:10 GMT -5
( maybe the next turn of events? where do we want to put them next? )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 12, 2016 3:05:54 GMT -5
(I can't wait to plan this out but I'm on my way to school x I'll plan with you tonight)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 13, 2016 1:51:23 GMT -5
( sorry I wasn't here last night. I went to bed early. I'm here this morning, and probably an hour or two this evening. )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 13, 2016 11:30:23 GMT -5
(No problem! Anything else we wanted to plan out?)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 13, 2016 12:46:29 GMT -5
( just what happens next, I think. )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 13, 2016 13:06:37 GMT -5
(Okay. I'm a little low on ideas right now to be honest, I'm really sorry)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 13, 2016 13:26:54 GMT -5
don't be! we've all been there. the legion would likely stay for a few months, at least, until proper back-up arrives. so with that in mind, a few ideas that you can build on if anything occurs to you. bear in mind I'm low on ideas too, so if all of these seem ridiculous I wouldn't be surprised tbh let me know and we'll do something else.
- there's some sort of negotiation with the Picts, and due to her heritage and what happened, Elowen asks/is asked to attend
- I'm more well-versed in Roman history than Celtic history, so I'm not sure how historically accurate this would be, but maybe Elowen somehow manages to get to the Pictish side where she's arrested for treason (again, not sure how likely this is or what it would offer, but whatever)
- we skip forward a few months to when the legion returns and figure out where we want their relationship to be and move from there.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 13, 2016 13:36:22 GMT -5
(Thank you, all of his is amazing. I kind of of like the idea of the first one. Maybe she's he on,y one who can speak the language and debate with them enough to get some sort of peace. Things might start of really rocky because of being in the battle. Then we can use some time to build Cass and Elowen's relationship.)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 13, 2016 13:40:28 GMT -5
( I like the first one as well, it's the one that makes the most sense to me at least. )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 13, 2016 14:07:24 GMT -5
(Sure X I'll get a rep.y up x)
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 13, 2016 14:27:23 GMT -5
The next morning, it had been announced that the Picts had lost so many of their warriors that they wanted to negotiate peace talks.
Elowen listened to the conversations about this over breakfast with interest, but looking at her food so as to not make it obvious that she was listening. After the last battle it was clear to her that she didn't want to get into trouble with these people and to just pretend you weren't even paying attention was the best way to do it.
Her servings were back to their normal size now, for which she was grateful, but her wound had faded to a dull ache overnight. It would heal well, she could tell, and that was good. She had to have it heal well otherwise she risked infection.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 15, 2016 12:28:50 GMT -5
(Hey, Ree, you there?)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 15, 2016 12:31:35 GMT -5
( om my god I'm so sorry! I never got the notificatation that you'd replied! I'm just heading out now, but I'll do my absolute best to get a reply to you tonight! )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 15, 2016 12:36:25 GMT -5
(Hey problem, I figured. It happens to me all the time x Take your time if you need to)
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 15, 2016 14:04:46 GMT -5
Cassius and the other wounded soldiers were permitted to sleep in, but very few of them did. They were so used to waking at dawn that most of them would have been unable to sleep any longer even if they'd wanted to. Cassius was back to his old self, and he ate heartily while discussing this new announcement.
It was good news, most of them agreed. If the Picts agreed to a peace treaty, the legion would no longer be needed here, and they'd finally be able to do what they'd come here to do. Bring Elowen back. But the promise of being done wasn't what had them all so excited, it was the promise of seeing home again.
Roma would no doubt have changed greatly since they were last there, several years ago. Their parents would be ageing, some would have been lost. But Roma was home, and they all wanted to go back. The exception, of course, were the soldiers that had nothing left there. Those without family or property. But even they seemed happy to return to a familiar place.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 15, 2016 14:14:01 GMT -5
There was another announcement, as Elowen was clearing away her plate, that the Picts had nobody in the tribe who spoke Latin.
"Do any of the men in the camp speak Celtic, then? They're going to need someone to go in who can speak their language?"
There was a series of dissenting noise before someone spoke over the noise.
"You guys are all idiots. We have a Celt here in the camp. Just ask the girl."
"We don't have a chance with her. We blew that when we put her in battle against them. They won't trust her. And would we trust her with her own people?"
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 15, 2016 14:33:37 GMT -5
Cassius stood, a signal that he wished to speak. A moment later, he said, carefully, "We should not trust her with her people, but we can trust her people to not take her back. She killed yesterday, that will not be forgiven just because of her heritage. We won't lose her to them, because the Picts wouldn't take her."
The murmuring continued, and he had no way of knowing if it was in agreement or not. But another man, a distance down the table stood as well, and voiced reluctant agreement.
"But how do we know they're not doing this just to talk to her? This could all just be a plan they're hatching. Maybe they're even lying about the lack of latin speakers." Another said, and the murmurs got louder again as the table divided again.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 15, 2016 14:53:11 GMT -5
Elowen didn't speak, nor did she move to sit back down, feeling that it would be too awkward to sit back, down while they were talking about her like that.
Finally, they had made a decision and she was called over to the group.
"You know Latin, how well do you suppose you would be able to translate?"
"I can speak Latin well enough so I imagine I would be able to translate decently" Elowen replied, already knowing where this was going.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 15, 2016 15:34:24 GMT -5
The table made a sound of assent, and the centurion who'd spoken nodded. "None of us speak your language, so you'll have to come with us. I don't see any other options, no matter how much I dislike this one. Expect constant guard."
The legion was still split, but now that the topic had been laid to rest they moved away from it quickly, turning instead to the idea of Roma. How had it changed? Antonius was a good emperor, well-liked and respected, so they expected good ones, but with only outdated information to go off, they really had very little idea what their home and capital looked like.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 15, 2016 15:43:50 GMT -5
Elowen had nodded, but said nothing else. Like before she sat and listened from the sidelines, trying to get to know a little bit about where these people were from. Her fate was likely to lead her there anyway, so she figured she should try and get some sort of idea on what it was like.
These peace talks, she gleaned, were happening a little later in the day, presumably after the hunters of the tribes had returned after a night of hunting and the tribesmen were gathered to hear the news from the talks
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 15, 2016 17:33:50 GMT -5
The men scattered as breakfast came to a close, each tending to their duties. Here, they weren't as busy as they'd been while marching through Britannia. They were simply here to defend and keep the Picts in line. For the moment, they weren't fighting, so in the meantime all there was to do was man the wall and busy yourself with small tasks around camp.
It was a nice break, to have nothing to do, at least for most of the legion. But Cassius got antsy when there were no assignments for him. He spent the morning patrolling the wall, though he had not been asked, ignoring the throbbing pain in his side. Walking was not making it better, rather the contrary, but he couldn't sit still.
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