Post by Yves Chevalier on Mar 11, 2010 15:59:31 GMT -5
Sometimes I felt like nothing I ever did mattered. It seemed that all of my best laid plans never seemed to be in line with what other people wanted or needed.
Once I had a family, but I never fit in. Once I had a lover, but she was untrue. Of course, here in Terre d'Ange that was nothing new, or even hurtful, not really. But it was different when someone was untrue not in body, but with their heart. That had always been mine, until she gave it to another.
Maybe I shouldn't have left Eisande. I wanted to see the world, to fight, to find a purpose that my pampered life had thus far not seen fit to show me. I still think I would have made a good Cassiline, but alas my father had not seen that in me at a young enough age to do me any good. Still, it might have saved me much heartbreak, but then, it also would have had me miss out on so much more.
At any rate, my return saw the end of everything. Of her and I, of my estranged family, of everything that I thought I knew. I took my sword and my horse and left it all behind me ... all the betrayal, the pain, the heartache. At least, that was my intention, though the haunted places in my soul never let me forget.
The City of Elua. I rode in at dusk, the sun setting over the crown jewel of Terre d'Ange and making it seem like the city was ablaze. I was in no condition to appreciate it, however. Instead of announcing myself at the Palace, as I had been instructed to do, I ended up in Night's Doorstep. The place fit my sour mood and for a time I drowned my anger and my sorrows in drinking, gambling, women and fights. I might have gone on like that for Elua knew how long, until I stumbled into Madame Moreau's bath house one night.
It was a night much like any other, they all ran together after awhile, when I pushed open the doors and settled in to drink myself into a stupor. I had chosen the place because there was also the possibility of having a woman or two, or maybe just drowning myself in a tub of hot water. I was only a drink or two into this plan when trouble, as it so often did, reared it's ugly head.
I had been watching one of the girls for an hour or so - a pretty dark-haired thing with a waist that seemed too small to be humanly possible - when I saw another patron harassing her. Now, to be fair, this was not a particularly unusual occurrence in these sorts of places, but it soon became apparent that this man was not going to give up unless he was forcibly dissuaded. I looked around for the burly men who usually worked in a place like this, but there did not seem to be anyone around.
Mind your own business, Yves.
I suppose chivalry is something you can never really get out of your blood. I was raised with it, groomed to protect the weak. It just wasn't in me to sit there and do nothing while a woman was being threatened. Inconvenient as that was to my plans for the night. But then, when had my plans ever gone as, well, planned?
I rose a bit unsteadily and made my way over to the pair. The young lady looked angry enough to spit daggers and I wondered for a moment if my intervention was even necessary. When he put his hand out and grabbed her arm, I reacted instinctively, catching his wrist with an iron grip.
"I think the lady has made it quite clear that she doesn't want your attention, friend."
He looked at me, his eyes taking in my lean physique, week's worth of stubble, dark circles and amazingly thick dark hair (if I do say so myself). He snorted then and made what I'm sure he thought was a witty comment.
"I don't see any ladies here. Or any friends either, for that matter."
He made to pull his arm away, but I kept my grip firm - and then punched him squarely in the nose. I felt and heard the satisfying crunch of breaking bones before I twisted his arm behind his back and threw him out the front door with no ceremony, slamming it behind him.
When it was over, I turned back to my drink and a light smattering of applause. Embarrassed, I nonetheless sketched a bow for my audience before sinking down into my chair. I hadn't been sitting long, however, when a shadow fell across the bar and I looked up to see a woman, the Madam from her expression, arms folded across her chest, regarding me thoughtfully before saying the two words that changed my life forever:
"Follow me."
Once I had a family, but I never fit in. Once I had a lover, but she was untrue. Of course, here in Terre d'Ange that was nothing new, or even hurtful, not really. But it was different when someone was untrue not in body, but with their heart. That had always been mine, until she gave it to another.
Maybe I shouldn't have left Eisande. I wanted to see the world, to fight, to find a purpose that my pampered life had thus far not seen fit to show me. I still think I would have made a good Cassiline, but alas my father had not seen that in me at a young enough age to do me any good. Still, it might have saved me much heartbreak, but then, it also would have had me miss out on so much more.
At any rate, my return saw the end of everything. Of her and I, of my estranged family, of everything that I thought I knew. I took my sword and my horse and left it all behind me ... all the betrayal, the pain, the heartache. At least, that was my intention, though the haunted places in my soul never let me forget.
The City of Elua. I rode in at dusk, the sun setting over the crown jewel of Terre d'Ange and making it seem like the city was ablaze. I was in no condition to appreciate it, however. Instead of announcing myself at the Palace, as I had been instructed to do, I ended up in Night's Doorstep. The place fit my sour mood and for a time I drowned my anger and my sorrows in drinking, gambling, women and fights. I might have gone on like that for Elua knew how long, until I stumbled into Madame Moreau's bath house one night.
It was a night much like any other, they all ran together after awhile, when I pushed open the doors and settled in to drink myself into a stupor. I had chosen the place because there was also the possibility of having a woman or two, or maybe just drowning myself in a tub of hot water. I was only a drink or two into this plan when trouble, as it so often did, reared it's ugly head.
I had been watching one of the girls for an hour or so - a pretty dark-haired thing with a waist that seemed too small to be humanly possible - when I saw another patron harassing her. Now, to be fair, this was not a particularly unusual occurrence in these sorts of places, but it soon became apparent that this man was not going to give up unless he was forcibly dissuaded. I looked around for the burly men who usually worked in a place like this, but there did not seem to be anyone around.
Mind your own business, Yves.
I suppose chivalry is something you can never really get out of your blood. I was raised with it, groomed to protect the weak. It just wasn't in me to sit there and do nothing while a woman was being threatened. Inconvenient as that was to my plans for the night. But then, when had my plans ever gone as, well, planned?
I rose a bit unsteadily and made my way over to the pair. The young lady looked angry enough to spit daggers and I wondered for a moment if my intervention was even necessary. When he put his hand out and grabbed her arm, I reacted instinctively, catching his wrist with an iron grip.
"I think the lady has made it quite clear that she doesn't want your attention, friend."
He looked at me, his eyes taking in my lean physique, week's worth of stubble, dark circles and amazingly thick dark hair (if I do say so myself). He snorted then and made what I'm sure he thought was a witty comment.
"I don't see any ladies here. Or any friends either, for that matter."
He made to pull his arm away, but I kept my grip firm - and then punched him squarely in the nose. I felt and heard the satisfying crunch of breaking bones before I twisted his arm behind his back and threw him out the front door with no ceremony, slamming it behind him.
When it was over, I turned back to my drink and a light smattering of applause. Embarrassed, I nonetheless sketched a bow for my audience before sinking down into my chair. I hadn't been sitting long, however, when a shadow fell across the bar and I looked up to see a woman, the Madam from her expression, arms folded across her chest, regarding me thoughtfully before saying the two words that changed my life forever:
"Follow me."