Who: Alyssa and Ned What: A squire runs into a Lady When: Tuesday morning Where: Castle Rating: low
Ned liked the idea of becoming a knight even if he wasn’t sure when that would be. It was true that he probably only got the position because his parents were very wealthy and influential, but he wasn’t terrible at being a squire. He had a long way to go and he could be described as awkward, but he no longer dropped Sir Ronon’s armour and he had only lost Sir Ronon’s horse one time - he’d gotten a lot better since.
Today, however, seemed to put a snag on his steady improvement. It started with the horses getting spooked for some reason when he was mucking the stables and then he took the wrong food for breakfast to his Knight. Having fixed that now and been chewed out by the cooks, he was tasked with bringing the ‘stolen’ food to its rightful owner. Which was how Ned found himself tentatively knocking on the door of Lady Alyssa.
Alyssa stared at a letter she knew she needed to write, but the words escaped her. Perhaps she should ask her beloved brother if he could spare a few minutes from courting Lydia to help her craft it.
Honestly, she did not care to get married anytime soon. Marriage meant a greater chance of someone finding out her secret. But, she knew what expectations lay in front of her and her brother could only help her for so long.
The tentative knock at least gave her a reason to put off this letter. “Enter,” she called.
There was a bit of a delay before the door entered and Ned came in. He held a large plate of food from the kitchen and he knew he didn’t look quite like the other servants. Particularly not when he had some hay still in his hair from the stable though he wasn’t aware of that. He didn’t know Lady Alyssa too much as someone who stuck closely to the knights, but he was aware of her, much like the others.
He cleared his throat. “Your breakfast, M’lady? I - apologies for it being late…” Hopefully she wasn’t as mean as some of the others he had to occasionally dealt with. One in particular yelled at him quite frequently.
Alyssa watched with amusement as the person didn’t enter the room. While she could be ruthless, like her brother, Alyssa didn’t bother in her day-to-day life. When the person she didn’t recognize entered her room, she relaxed.
‘Thank you,” she replied and stood up and walked over to her food. “I wondered where it was.” Alyssa looked at him closely. “Are you well?” He looked nervous, as though Alyssa might yell at him. “I promise to not yell. Mistakes do happen.” Plus, his tardiness meant she could skip her music lesson. Alyssa loved music, but her current tutor was too strict for her liking.
Why were all the rich people pretty? Both the high class women and men had this look to them that left Ned wondering how people could actually look that way. Would he look like that when he eventually became a knight? Somehow he doubted it, though he did desperately want to.
“Oh, uh, I’m fine? I just took the wrong tray to Sir Ronon, is all. I’m his squire?” He did a little bow. “Edward, M’lady, though most people tend to call me Ned.” It had been his mother’s way of calling him that he adopted in memory of her, really.
Truthfully, Alyssa owed some of her loveliness to her Fey side, although she’d never say so. Of course, given how good looking her brother was, perhaps Fey had less to do with it. Objectively, Alyssa recognized her brother as attractive, although she’d never say so. His ego could barely fit through the door.
“Nice to meet you, Edward.” Alyssa rarely used nicknames. “How is being a squire?” It didn’t occur to her he might have other things to attend to, so intent on procrastination. “Come. Sit.” Only then did it occur to her that perhaps he might have other things to do. “If anyone tries to yell at you, please send them my way.” Alyssa could be scary when the mood suited her.
It was like she could read minds. Even though she gave him her assurance, Edward looked back at the door as if to check if there was going to be an annoyed person in the doorway. Since there wasn’t and he didn’t just combust into fire, he took a seat where she indicated.
“It’s wonderful in a lot of ways. You learn a lot too. It’s rather tiring though. Armour is so heavy.” Actually everything was so heavy. Swords and shields and armour - it was a lot. “I like taking care of the horses the best.” He paused, then added belatedly. “M’lady.”
Alyssa didn’t worry too much about what people thought besides Kol. Oh she loved the rest of the family, but nobody else knew her secret, and therefore nobody else mattered quite as much. And if she wanted to procrastinate for two minutes with someone, she saw no reason to not do so.
“Oh, horses are one of my favourite things too.” Alyssa’s eyes lit up. She could ride well and waved away the formality. In this instance she didn’t care.
“Armour is heavy.” Alyssa would know, as she’d wielded it a few times. Look, she preferred the activities of men to those expected of her.
He looked surprised. "You've handled armour?" It was hard to picture considering she looked so lady-like. He realized how it sounded and hastily added, "Not that I doubt your word, Lady Alyssa. I'm only just surprised." Hopefully he wasn't digging himself deeper.
"Horses I like the best. They have kind eyes."
Alyssa nodded, primly. “I didn’t want to be left behind while Kol trained. Our father allowed it.” Truthfully, Alyssa preferred the pursuits of men. Chalk it up to the Fey in her.
“Horses are the kindest souls in the world.” Alyssa smiled. “I should let you get back to your day, but maybe I’ll see you the next time I go and ride.”
Lady Alyssa was nice. Some of the Lords and Ladies didn’t look at him like he was there and seemed to rather look through him and yet Alyssa even asked him to sit and engaged him with some conversation. It was a nice change. Plus Edward figured he’d need to learn to talk to women so he could be a good knight.
“Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Lady Alyssa.” He stood up and did a small bow of sorts. “I hope to see you sometime at the stables.” He meant it too.