Eʟɪᴢᴀʙᴇᴛʜ Tᴜᴅᴏʀ, ℚᴜᴇᴇɴ ᴏғ Eɴɢʟᴀɴᴅ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
commandsthewind) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
paradisalogs2012-09-12 11:44 pm
commandsthewind) wrote in paradisalogs2012-09-12 11:44 pm
Entry tags:
all these blessings
Who: Elizabeth Tudor & Echidna
What: Terrible terrible things, that involve wine, B&E and whatever follows.
When: Evening, after supper.
Where: Elizabeth's room.
Rating: ... M? Let's just go with that.
Elizabeth sat on the head of her short table, the bottle of wine and glass beside her as she read something she'd found in the library. Out of sheer habit if nothing else, she'd lit candles beside her. She really just forgot about the light switches most of the time, and candles served all the same as far as she was concerned.
Taking her eyes off the page, she idly playing with the flame, she wondered at the time and when her visitor would come. Sometime, it mattered little, and still as curious as she had been when they'd spoken earlier. It was at the least a distraction from these thoughts of home, where they tended to stray if she let them.
Sighing, she turned the page, beginning to read again.
What: Terrible terrible things, that involve wine, B&E and whatever follows.
When: Evening, after supper.
Where: Elizabeth's room.
Rating: ... M? Let's just go with that.
Elizabeth sat on the head of her short table, the bottle of wine and glass beside her as she read something she'd found in the library. Out of sheer habit if nothing else, she'd lit candles beside her. She really just forgot about the light switches most of the time, and candles served all the same as far as she was concerned.
Taking her eyes off the page, she idly playing with the flame, she wondered at the time and when her visitor would come. Sometime, it mattered little, and still as curious as she had been when they'd spoken earlier. It was at the least a distraction from these thoughts of home, where they tended to stray if she let them.
Sighing, she turned the page, beginning to read again.
no subject
However, that wasn't the elf's goal this time. She wanted to make an impression, however that turned out. While her thoughts did toy with various possibilities of how this interaction could end, she hadn't yet pinned this queen into a sure goal just yet. Sometimes it was so much more fun to see how things played out. So long as she was allowed to nudge them along as gently as she knew how. So while the lock-picking was silent, as was her entry, she was sure to make her entrance (or at least someone's) known. The jarring sound was only matched by the sudden breeze drawn with it, causing the candles to flicker and the shadows to dance. But really, a moment later, it was as if nothing occurred.
Well, except for that snake suddenly slithering upon the table and around the bottle of wine, followed moments later by a breathy chuckle in the queen's ear. With Echidna leaning in from behind her, she was privy to what the woman was reading, although her curiosity on the subject was idle.
"The efficient kind of army, to answer your earlier inquiry...Majesty."
no subject
The reached for the knife she'd been eating with earlier was instinctual. She was no fighter, but she'd been dealing with assassin's too long.
It took her another moment before she realised what was being said to her. She was still to rigid all over because of it however.
"It would seem so," it's grit out between her teeth before she took a calming breath.
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"Forgive me for the alarming entry. The likeness you share with a certain acquaintance is something I'll count as a charming blessing." Fingertips trailed along the back of Elizabeth's chair, nails toying with a stray curl of hair but never quite touching, before she walked around so that she was beside the table and in full view. Taking it's supposed cue, the serpent immediately relaxed and slithered over to the tanned woman, coiling around a waist that was already barely covered by what might be deemed a leather undergarment...now that it was under a snake, at any rate. But for all the skin she showed, the weapons and buckler she carried in stride sent a clear enough message.
Yet despite her little surprise, she didn't move on the offensive, instead crossing an arm over her chest and bowing a bit. Even then, the curve to her lips was mocking, though the glint in her eyes could have been a trick of the candles.
"I am the Veteran Mercenary, Echidna. It's a pleasure to make your lovely acquaintance."
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Marking her page and closing her book, she didn't look up straight away. Not noticing the other woman playing with her hair, it wasn't her hair after all. "You're not the first to say so." When she did look up however, she did her best not to gape.
Her very best.
But it was a little hard not to. Where were her clothes. Those were hardly even under garments. It took a moment to find the words to introduce herself back. Swallowing down, and using the excuse of nodding her head to look away, her face burning a little in embarrassment. "Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of England, Ireland and France."
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Really, it was absolutely darling.
Pulling out a chair for herself, the elf wasted no time in lounging, checking over the bottle of wine that the snake had slid over to her in it's trek before she peeked past it once more towards the woman who was familiar yet new.
"You carry several countries on your upon your back, yet you've given your heart to one. If I may ask a question of my own, why did you marry England?"
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Which was made that question so impossible to answer with just a few lines. "If you would like the legality of it. France is held out of pride, my sister lost our traditional hold of it due to foolish council on her husband's behalf. It has it's own king. Ireland is a conquered land that will never truly answer to me, lest I force it. So you see, England is the only one that really matters..." she sighed, taking a sip of her wine before continue. "... but as for why I gave my heart to England? In the truth of the matter beyond such things?"
She thought long on those words, setting her glass back down, running the tip of her finger across the edge of it. It was really hard to summarise it. "But in the laws it is perhaps the same understanding. In England, and in Europe, a woman simply ceases to be once she marries. She is her husband's property. She becomes one with him... so I have become one with my people. Nothing less then my heart would do. Nothing less then every drop of my noble blood would be fit for service, would keep me alive and keep me strong. Because my people have bled much for their kings of late, and they require something more then vain pride in return. So a wife serves, so I serve."
Elizabeth sighed, pausing in her musings, things she seldom spoke of, if only because she never asked. Looking back up at the other woman smiling grimly, "I give them my heart, because my people deserve it. Because it makes me glad to see them grow, to be strong again after so much death, so it makes me grow too. Selfish perhaps, but my people are my only care. My England, is the only Lord and Master I shall ever answer to." She tries to keep her voice flat, and calm, but it really is so much in her heart. Not some foolish young idealism. She'd become too much something she loathed for her country. Her soul was corrupt, as was her mind. But her duty was truly in her heart, it always had been. For both good and bad.
no subject
"How touching. And one man alone is claiming your country as his lifeblood? I'm never heard of such a feat, but even I can still be surprised." As proven by her reaction to the face double. Echidna didn't shy away from unknown things, really. They made life more exciting. But honestly, the stupid man that had started this discussion was nothing more than a catalyst for Echidna.
Uncrossing and re-crossing her legs, the woman stretched out her toes, eyeing the point of her boot for awhile before shrugging almost dismissively and setting the bottle back down beside the glasses. "I can see that you're not a warrior, but if you had been born in my world, no doubt you would have grown to be the perfect queen for Gainos. Any woman with such a strong will and deep love for her people would surely conquer in battle."
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Which was a small mercy. But one she appreciated. She was consciously anxious about that, about finding that some person did in fact want her dead, and she had no guards to protect her.
Still, she couldn't think too much about that, Echidna was distracting enough. Really. There was just so much she was trying vainly to not look at. It was hard enough trying not to ask if she wanted a jacket or something similar. Was she not cold at the very least? "No, save a bit of archery, I've never held a weapon in my life." Elizabeth shook her head at that, amused. "I hate battle, point of fact. Luck has saved me more than anything else. I avoid it however I can, especially because the first time... I did so for poor reasons, and paid for it dearly. But recently I have been luckier." And she'd been defending herself. Even if she had brought it down on her own head.
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"For a queen not to like battle is rather unheard of in our lands. But then, it's the only way she can earn her crown. If you had been raised there, no doubt you would view it differently."
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She topped up her glass as she spoke, smiling at Echidna briefly. "My premise for disliking wars is far more calculated then most would believe. Though having innocent men's blood on my hands sickens me." Mary of Guise had taught her well. "I have a poor army and navy. I focused on trade instead to strengthen my country. I do not like wars because I cannot predict them, I cannot fix their outcome. I do not like to play chance if I don't have to. But perhaps I would be different, if I came from there."
She sat the bottle down, thinking a moment longer. "How exactly do these battles take place? With armies?"
/GIVES UP AND EDITS
But intrigue could be just as useful as a blade.
With a little shrug, Echidna finally leaned over to pour herself a glass, feeling comfortable enough at this point that Elizabeth wouldn't try to kick her out just for talking. Then again, she'd been on good behavior, but with just as good reason! ...Yes, the wine would make the evening worth it, even if she got nothing else out of it.
"You mean for the rights to the crown? Well, there have been group battles before..." Reminded of her own, a tickled smile touched her lips before she enjoyed another sip. "But traditionally when participating in the Queen's Blade, the fights are one-on-one. Any woman who deems herself strong enough can fight her way to the capital of Gainos, which is often hard enough. Many don't make it. Once there, it only gets more difficult. When the champion is declared, she fights the current queen herself. If she wins, the crown is hers for another four years until the next tournament. Some queens have persevered over many tournaments, but you never know when the next shining star will reign supreme."
<3
They'd all learned their mistakes, quickly and cruelly. She didn't waste time when it came to killing those convicted of treason. When Echidna took the wine she smiled a little. "My apologies, usually someone else just pours it. I'm a little out of living... by myself. Please help yourself, food or drink." She shook her head, amazed how you forget the little things.
"One on one? Your Queens would put themselves at such a risk?" She's a little shocked at that. Even men did not do such things. It was an older tradition, to have a champion fight for a monarch, but seldom those themselves. Though her father had gone to battle just the same. He had fought when it came to, like King's past, but that was at the host of a great many thousand men. "I see... ah, that is very different to how we battle." She drums her nails for a moment. "The way you do things at least, is cleaner for the numbers lost. No more then the person in question I suppose pays for it." She sighed. "For the most part, crowns are inherited through the male line. I happened to be the only surviving child of the previous King. My Brother, though younger, went first, then my elder sister." Not that she was going into either of their reigns. "Battle however, is down with thousands of soldiers. The one I just won was... ah, the numbers were in the tens of thousands on my enemies side."
no subject
Finally, with a mirthful chuckle, Echidna shook her head. "Lineage isn't ignored in our realm, either. Nobles adhere to it, though of course it is not strictly passed down through males." Thank the gods. Still too often for her liking, though. They were always the most idiotic to haggle with. "And don't misunderstand; war is war, and battle is battle. While the Queen's Blade was created to keep a certain level of balance in our realm, it is in it's very own category and not to be mistaken for anything else. Humans will always find things to fight over."
Her words were nearly tainted with a bitter aftertaste, the elf distantly retracing her last conversation with Alleyne, before it quickly warped into another smile and haughty jingle of a laugh. "No offense, dearest. I like a good fight as much as the next. What a shame that you don't, but I've no doubt you have countless other skills."