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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 15, 2016 17:39:35 GMT -5
Elowen, while waiting for talks to begin, found herself on the Wall. She was under guard, of course, as she never was allowed out of sight for even a moment now.
The soldiers patrolling the wall acted as enough guard for her,and everyone knew there was nothing to be gained for her from escape.
So she found herself sitting, looking out at the landscape, wanting to soak in everything that was familiar
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 15, 2016 17:43:35 GMT -5
On his second time walking along his section of wall, Cassius could no longer ignore the searing pain radiating from his side. He'd definitely made it worse, and if he looked at it now he knew he'd see fresh blood staining his bandages.
There was nothing to do but rest.
So he found a place to sit on the wall, groaning as he sat back down. He should have taken this day off, as he'd been allowed to do. Why hadn't he just been lazy? He knew why, but that didn't make it any better. Instead of pondering it anymore, he turned to his wound, tending to it best as he could.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 16, 2016 11:12:00 GMT -5
Elowen could see that the Roman man had sat down nearby, and he looked in pain. She moved to sit next to him.
"You're looking forward to heading home with the others, then?" Elowen asked, hoping to not only find out a little bit more about the city, but to distract the man from the wound which was clearly still paining him. She would offer him help with cleaning out his wound but she already knew he would probably refuse her help anyway, so there was no point in even offering.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 16, 2016 11:28:21 GMT -5
Cassius had bent over to look at the bandages - sure enough, they were painted red with his blood - but jolted upright the moment he was spoken to. He'd expected the person speaking to be a superior, but after a moment he realised that it was a woman's voice, Elowen's, more specifically.
He neglected to greet her as she had neglected to greet him, leaping head-first into conversation instead. "Roma," he sighed in response, letting his shirt fall back down as he sat back properly. "I'm excited to see her again, yes. When I left Antonius was not yet Emperor. So much has changed there and I can't wait to see it." He paused, glancing at her again. "I take it you're not as happy to see it?"
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 16, 2016 11:35:01 GMT -5
Elowen shrugged "It will be something different, and I am always excited to see something different. But under the circumstances, no, I'm not particularly looking forward to it. But I can see why you are happy to be able to see it again. I can appreciate that."
Yes, she was curious and excited to see Rome, but it also meant leaving behind everything familiar and it meant giving up her freedom. But after all, there was no going back even now, so there was no point in seeing Rome as the point of no return.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 16, 2016 12:00:47 GMT -5
"It's beautiful," Cassius told her, fondly. "It's all white pillars and busy streets. It's not at all like what you have here." He didn't mean this to sound offensive, though he later understood that it might easily come out that way. But he was right, Roma and Britannia could not be any more different if they tried. Not even the trees were alike, much less the people.
"Everything there is so massive," he went on, thinking back. "The buildings are tall and there's so much space inside them, nothing like the tents here. I remember leaving and suddenly feeling as if I'd grown a foot." Having grown up in Rome - in the upper classes at that - he never felt dwarfed there. It was his natural habitat. But once he'd left he'd seen how other people lived and, much like people felt smaller in the city, he'd felt like a bigger person just by leaving.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 16, 2016 12:12:12 GMT -5
Elowen nodded as she listened, brushing off the comment about Rome being nothing like her home, because she knew what he had meant.
She put her arms behind her and sat back on them, allowing her pale skin to hit what little sunlight she had.
"It does sound exciting" Elowen replied "I never felt like the pace of life here was enough for me. Anything I need to know? I have a whole new culture to get used to and I don't want to offend anyone and get myself in trouble over there"
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 16, 2016 14:51:12 GMT -5
Cassius considered for a moment before he spoke, looking thoughtful. "The most important thing is to remember your place in the hierarchy. As a prisoner of war, you'll be at the very bottom alongside the slaves. Act like you should here, and you should be just fine. Don't speak to anyone above you unless you're spoken to - that should apply to me as well you know," he added with a teasing glint in his eye, before continuing. "Do as you're told, anyone who's not a slave will be allowed to order you to do things, and you'll have to do it unless a higher up or your own highest has ordered something contradictory.
"The only difference between you and a slave, really, will be that you're owned by the Empire and not any individual. That means no hard work - unless the Emperor decides to put on a show - but it means treatment cruel in a lot of other ways."
He wasn't sure how to explain it, really. Not to mention that he could only see it from a Roman slave owner's perspective. If she was a slave, he might have more to say, but she wasn't. She was a prisoner of war. He hadn't been around them much before this, and certainly not in Rome. He didn't even know how accurate his warnings were, really, now that they had a new emperor with a new approach to things. "Just stay quiet and listen," he said after a while, a final piece of advice. "You'll be fine as long as you don't open your mouth or act out."
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 16, 2016 15:10:31 GMT -5
Elowen nodded "Okay, so basically I shut up, don't do anything unless I'm ordered to, don't speak unless spoken to and do anything basically anyone tells me to do. Good to know"
She'd already figured, but it was always worth trying to glean information. She didn't want to upset anybody important in Rome and get herself punished just because she didn't understand the way she did things in Rome?
It was also good to know what she was getting into as a prisoner of war. She would likely be paraded around as an insult to her culture and for someone for the Roman crowds to hate on in case they started to speak out against the Emperor.
She still wondered what would happen, but probably nobody had any idea exactly what she should expect. She would probably just have to take everything as it happens. She couldn't prepare for what was going to happen so she supposed she would just have to take everything in her stride.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 16, 2016 15:38:25 GMT -5
Cassius nodded. "That pretty much covers it, yeah," he confirmed. He propped himself up on his arms so that he could sit more comfortably, sighing as the tension in his side released and his muscles relaxed.
"How's your wound doing today?" he asked, changing the subject easily. "Is it healing well?" It would be a shame to hear that hid dinner had not made a difference, he thought with a small smile to himself. He still wasn't sure why he'd done what he had, but he'd come to terms with the fact that he might never know.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 16, 2016 15:46:58 GMT -5
Elowen nodded "It's doing a lot better, thank you. It was not as bad as it looked, I don't think. What about yours? It still looks painful"
She had noted the blood staining his bandage when she came over and was aware that he seemed to be trying to relieve pain for it.
"I know a lot of herbs that can be used for painkilling but I don't see any of them growing around here. Otherwise I'd get some for you"
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 16, 2016 17:21:40 GMT -5
Cassius shrugged. "It was doing as expected this morning. But I refused to sit still, so I opened it up again." He didn't sound surprised, and he wasn't really. He'd done this before. "I'll go see a surgeon once I'm not risking passing out by standing up."
He was losing blood, was the problem. Not quickly enough for it to be even near fatal, but enough for it to be a little disorienting. He sighed, resting a hand over where the wound was. It didn't feel hot, so it wasn't infected. Good. That meant he'd be fine once the bleeding slowed a little more. "Could be worse," he commented.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 16, 2016 17:37:55 GMT -5
Elowen nodded "I can help you to stand up if you want to, but it'd probably better if you sit a while anyway and let it heal a little bit, so there's probably no point."
She looked away, her eyes once again focused on what was beyond the wall, looking at the villages in the distance, more like toys from their distance.
"These peace talks are going to go horribly you know," she said quietly "if they choose to even listen to a word I say after the battle, the peace won't last long. The Picts are like a wasp's nest. Once you've provoked it, they won't stop until they've either destroyed you or you've destroyed them. These warriors are so much fiercer than mine. I'm not trying to say that Rome isn't powerful, but I don't think you'll make it to the Highlands."
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 17, 2016 10:26:46 GMT -5
Cassius sighed, drawing his hand back. "I know," he admitted. "We built a wall to keep them out, of course I know. But the peace will last long enough to give back-up time to get here, so I really don't have any right to question it. And it allows me to return home, so I don't really want to."
Rome wanted the highlands for reasons unknown. The night previous, some of the men who'd been even further north had told him of how cold it was up there, and what little resources it had to offer. They had nothing to gain from them that they couldn't get from the southern part of Britannia already. Cassius was certain that attempts to move beyond even Antoine's Wall would be dismissed quickly. They wouldn't get any further than they already had, not if Antonine was as wise as he was rumoured to be.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 17, 2016 12:13:41 GMT -5
Elowen nodded "I know. I just pray that nobody will blame me when this goes terribly. The last thing I need is being accused for something that was always going to happen anyway."
To be honest, she suspected they'd put her up to this so they would have someone to blame when it went wrong, not that she'd ever say that - it'd be too much of a risk. But she definitely suspected it would be that.
She hated that she was going to have to do all of this for people she hated. But where could she draw the line anymore? She had already been made to do everything she had never thought she would ever do, and his was just another thing..
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 17, 2016 12:47:16 GMT -5
Cassius nodded, sighing as he readjusted himself again. He understood her worry, he knew that there were men with then who spoke enough Celtic to, at the very least, hold basic conversation. But not only did they never exercise their ability for fear of the impact it would have on their reputation, they didn't want to risk failure. She'd been volunteered as a scapegoat, and everyone in the camp knew it. Nobody would mention it.
"How badly do you think they'll react to seeing you on our side again?" he asked. He was careful with his words, not wanting to seem as though he was prying into something he shouldn't. Not that he should feel that way, he knew that he had the right to ask any question - and demand answers - but he didn't want to be inconsiderate just because of that.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 17, 2016 13:04:45 GMT -5
"Very badly," Elowen replied "I committed the greatest dishonour you can among my people. Not only did I let myself get captured - my people have been known to kill themselves rather than let themselves be captured - but I went against them in battle. I'll be surprised if they don't try to kill me. But if I don't want to get into trouble I'll have to make them come around"
There was no way to sugarcoat what was about to happen for her. She had to be frank and honest because any way she tried to put this was going to sound bad.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 17, 2016 13:29:04 GMT -5
Cassius nodded slowly. About what he'd expected, then. The Celtic culture was so strongly centred around the people in a way that the Roman culture never had been and likely never would be. Treachery to the Empire was a grave crime, but turning on your own people was expected and not so harshly punished.
"I suppose that's what they hoped to achieve by forcing you to fight," Cassius mused. It was torture, sure, but it wasn't torture for torture's sake. It was also insurance, a way of making sure that no Pict would ever take her in.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 17, 2016 14:04:25 GMT -5
Elowen nodded "I think so too. If there's anything I know about your people, it's that you don't do something without a reason. The only way to be sure I wouldn't try to escape again would be to make sure I had nothing to return to."
She guessed that this was the reasoning anyway. These Romans were cruel, but she didn't think needlessly so, though she might be proved wrong very soon anyway once she got to Rome. Maybe she was wrong and she was overestimating the Romans.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 17, 2016 17:53:06 GMT -5
Cassius smiled, almost sadly. "Yeah, we're definitely tacticians," he agreed. Anyone with any kind of social standing learned early how to manipulate people - and the rules - in an advantageous manner as some kind of preparation for Roman life. They always seemed to find a solution that not only solved their problems but also gained them something else as a nice bonus. He hadn't seen that with any other people, and certainly not to the same extent.
( sorry for the short post ^^' I ran out of things to say, I think. )
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 17, 2016 20:05:05 GMT -5
(No problem x Let me know if you wanna move on with the plot but I'm trying to get some kind of bonding time going on x)
Elowen nodded and fiddled with the ring on her finger, looking up again at Cassius and moving to explain before he asked "It was my father's. I found it a couple of night's ago, before I tried to escape. I think he died between my capture and then and my people delivered it to me. I'm just sort of glad it happened before they started to hate me otherwise I might never have known that he'd died."
She didn't know why she felt she needed to explain herself to him, but something about Cassius seemed to demand answers. Something she couldn't explain which drew answers out of her.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 18, 2016 5:33:47 GMT -5
( no, bonding time is fine! I've just always found it hard to write a lot of dialogue in one sitting - I've always been a plot centred writer - but I'm absolutely down to continue. )
Cassius looked down at her finger as she spoke, studying the band of metal. She was right, she hadn't been wearing it when she was captured. The army would have taken anything that could have aided her in a fight, metal jewellery included. But he knew that they'd be ignoring her by now, not giving her more than enough time to ensure that she wasn't attempting another escape. A ring was easily missed when all you gave someone was a second glance.
"Was that why you tried to escape," he asked. "To prove that your father was dead? Or did it have more to do with wanting to be with your people again?" He realised as he asked this that he'd simply assumed that she'd attempted escape to get away, but he'd never considered that she was escaping to reach a destination and not to leave one.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 18, 2016 5:59:55 GMT -5
Elowen thought for a moment. Her escape attempt had been for so many reasons, it was hard to pick out a main reason.
"I think both," Elowen replied "I had a lot of reasons. I was grieving, I wanted to find out if my father was really dead, I wanted to return to my people, I was scared because I didn't know what was going to happen to me, and I simply didn't want to be here."
She hadn't realised until she said it how much she had wanted to escape and how many reasons she had for wanting to escape. She hadn't really thought about it at the time, to be honest, but now she thought about it, she had many reasons to want to escape.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 18, 2016 16:08:38 GMT -5
Cassius chewed on this for a moment. She had many reasons to leave, certainly. Knowing that her father might very well have passed couldn't have made staying any easier.
"I'm sorry that you never got to know for certain," he said. He couldn't bring himself to apologise for her capture, not because he didn't understand how difficult that must have been but because, despite everything, his orders came first. But he could apologise for the uncertainty and the pain that must be causing her, on top of everything else.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 19, 2016 5:58:28 GMT -5
"Thank you," she said quietly in response to his apology "But you don't have to apologise. Hopefully when I talk with the Picts I might be able to get some news of my father from them in the process. But they probably hate me too much to actually tell me anything, It's worth a try, though."
She paused, thinking about whether she should change the subject or not. It was a bit of an awkward subject and Elowen wasn't one to seek pity. She never really wanted pity, to be honest.
"Are you looking forward to seeing your family again?" she asked.
It was probably a bit of a risky subject, but she had heard Cassius talking about his family before so she figured it was a safe enough topic with him - he didn't seem to hate his family or anything.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 20, 2016 8:30:51 GMT -5
Despite the consensus here in the camp - don't bring up a family that doesn't belong to you - Cassius really didn't mind talking about them. He wasn't close enough with his father to miss him still, but he couldn't deny that he'd had a good upbringing, and he certainly looked forward to seeing him again.
"Of course," he answered, nodding. "My father is supposedly really close to the Emperor now, I want to congratulate him on his advancements. And last I heard from my sister she was expecting her second, so I assume she'll have just birthed her third." Maybe this sounded impersonal, offers of congratulations and no mention of looking forward to seeing his nephews. But their family had never been close, they bonded due to circumstance and nothing else. He loved them, but they weren't a tightly wound clan.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 20, 2016 16:53:41 GMT -5
"Huh," Elowen smiled "Well, my congratulations aren't worth anything, but congratulations anyway. The growth of a family and the growth of the influence of those in a family are both things to be celebrated. Or I think so, anyway"
Hearing about his family made her think about her own.
"I had a little brother. He had been training to succeed my father but he died a couple of years ago - he had went to help another tribe and was captured in battle, actually. I guess it's a family thing. My father was all I had, and now my family will end with me."
That was a strange thought, that she would probably be the end of her family line. It felt like a foreign thought - it was something she'd never even considered before.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 21, 2016 5:40:52 GMT -5
Cassius wondered what that was like, knowing that you were the last of your family. That with you, it would end. He didn't ask, just nodded, trying to put himself in that situation, but quickly failed. He had such a large family that it seemed impossible. And no matter how close he got, he just couldn't feel that emotional impact. He raised his upbringing for that.
"What did you do, then," he asked instead. "While he was training to succeed, I mean. As the chief's daughter you must have been important in some way." He said this based on the very small amount of knowledge he had regarding the Celtic culture. He knew that among them, the women worked in ways that the men did, too, and he wondered how far that extended. At home, the free women had the same rights as men, but they didn't work in the same circles. In fact, it was considered lowly for a woman to work when she should be tending to herself and the home.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Dec 21, 2016 5:51:09 GMT -5
Elowen shrugged "I trained to be a warrior and I often helped my father negotiate relations with other tribes.He never intended for me to lead, not while I had an older brother. But it fell on me quite quickly, that responsibility. But I did help him a lot. He taught me to negotiate and debate with other tribe's and to go into peace talks, but he never taught me to be a commander. Not until far too late, anyway. He wanted my brother to be a commander and for me to focus on diplomacy with other tribes - my brother could never win an argument and he was awful at any kind of diplomacy. So that was my job, and I'm hoping it will be a little bit useful in everything that is to come."
All she had to do was to get the Picts to trust enough to listen to her and the peace talks would be easy. Her diplomacy might even come in useful in whatever was to come once she got to Rome, though she wasn't sure.
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Post by 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯 on Dec 21, 2016 6:00:19 GMT -5
"That's more useful," Cassius said. He meant it. Being raised by a politician had taught him that much, words got you much further than violence. He would never reach his father's esteem in the army, but if he'd continued to work with him he would have. If he returned to politics upon his return, he still might. He was still young enough to make it to the top before he died or retired. "Especially where you're headed. No prisoner of war has anything to gain from having been a commander."
He shrugged, leaning back again. The movement pulled at his wound and he winced, but he quickly found a new position and the pain eased again. "My father hoped I'd go into politics," he said. "He taught me a lot when I was younger. I think it upset him when I left for the army. He knew as well as I did that I'd never rise above my station." He sounded thoughtful, but not sad. He had no need for sadness when he'd long ago moved on. "But I wanted to leave, so I did. Of course, now I want nothing more than to go back, maybe see what I can do to work with him again. We'll see what happens, I suppose."
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