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Post by Helena Castus on Jan 24, 2009 1:01:17 GMT -5
Helena was dressed in a white skirt and a light blue shirt. She had a darker blue sweater over that to keep her warm. She skipped in the snow down the Hadrain's wall. She knew she probably shouldn't go to the wall but she couldn't help it. She was bored and her guards again were not playing with her so she was up to her own devices. She had to entertain her over active imagination somehow. At the moment she was imaging a battle going on the other end and she had to quickly get over there to help. Of course no one but her knew why she was heading towards the wall.
She started to run and she could hear the guards sigh a bit. She called back to them, "if you had said yes to playing tea with me we wouldn't be out here." She giggled. They weren't going to chide her for talking back because she could always say that she her mother. On that thought she wondered where her mother was. She hadn't seen her all day. She started to slowly walk along the wall and pretend that she was helping ailing warriors. This made her guards tense a little. She continued to play like this for at least a mile down the wall not knowing anyone was coming. [/center] |
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Post by kajouka on Jan 24, 2009 16:08:43 GMT -5
[ooc: Should I assume that the timing of this thread is before the Saxons arrive? I can guarantee they wouldn't let her play near the wall with an army of 500 Saxons out there.]
Guinevere approached her daughter from behind silently. She was irritated that Helena was roaming the wall without any real protection. Yes, there were guards stationed along the wall, but their eyes were supposed to be on the horizon watching for danger, not on those who walked along the wall for fun.
"Helena," Guinevere called out, hoping to catch her daughter off guard. While she wasn't angry at her offspring for this transgression, she felt she needed to communicate that running off alone could no longer be accepted. While nothing had happened yet, she feared the Saxons would not hide their faces much longer. The queen worried for her daughter's safety, when Helena did things like run off without her assigned guardians. Guinevere made a mental note to reassign Helena to someone more attentive, and perhaps give the guards who let her run off a less than pleasant assignment.
After calling out, Guinevere waited for her daughter to turn, before she'd say anymore.
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Post by Helena Castus on Jan 25, 2009 3:52:35 GMT -5
((ooc: yes you can assume that it is before.)) Helena knew she wasn't supposed to be without her guardians. She'd just gotten annoyed with them because they wouldn't play with her. That was the whole reason why she was out here in the first place. Had they played dress up with her they'd be inside where it was warm. She was oblivious to her mothers approach that was until the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she stopped what she was doing but didn't turn around. Then her name came. She was going to be in trouble for being here and her guardians still trying to run up and catch up with her. She was going to get them in trouble. She flinched a tad at her name but did not turn around very quickly. She didn't like it when her mother or father were angry especially with her. She ran through a bunch of things she could tell her mother then choose against it as she turned around.
"Yes mommy?" She said rather innocently. She knew that was far from what she was right now but well you couldn't blame a four year old for trying to get out of trouble. She approached her mother with caution hoping that her mother wasn't going to be too angry with her for running off. The air seemed tense around her and she hadn't noticed that before. Now her mind went else where wondering why there was so much tension. |
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Post by kajouka on Jan 27, 2009 21:10:49 GMT -5
Guinevere watched as Helena turned around to face her. The look of pure innocence on her face would have normally made the queen melt, but she kept her expression firm. "You know you aren't supposed to run off, Helena." Guinevere began, the seriousness of the situation evident in her voice. At any other time, Guinevere would have felt safe letting her daughter roam their kingdom, but recent reports of Saxon activity had the queen on edge. Her daughter was precious to her, and to Arthur, and Guinevere had promised her gods that she would do all in her power to keep the child safe from harm.
"I know that I expressly forbade you to run off from your guards today." she pointed out, hand resting lightly on her hip. "And yet, here you are and I see them..." Guinevere pretended to look around, "No where."
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Post by Helena Castus on Jan 28, 2009 23:53:23 GMT -5
Helena stood there looking at her mother trying not to cry. She didn't like it when her parents were angry with her. It never had the girl feeling good. And the tension in her mother's voice was starting to scare her. She was a brave little girl through and she was going to show that. She refused to actually break down in tears as her mother continued to adress her rather sternly. Her look of innocence had gotten her no where with her mother and at this point that rather scared her. She began to look away from her mother as she was simply reminded that she had been told not to run off today.
Honestly the young girl had forgotten that her mother had told her such a thing. She couldn't help it when she was bored. She was courious about just about everything and to be forbade to do something only made her want to push the boundaries a tad. By the way her mother was sounding though it wasn't a good thing at all. She looked down and shuffled her foot at the end of her mother's words. She sounded angry at the guards as well who had now just run up to the pair and were apologizing to her mother. She waited only a moment for them to say their peace before she said hers.
"Mommy, I'm sorry. You are scaring me..." At this point the strong little girl started to cry. "I didn't mean to run off but they wouldn't play with me and I wanted to do something." [/b] She had a short attention span for things anyways and she wanted to do play like any other little girl her age. "Please don't be mad." Her lips quivered but no sound came with the tears that were flowing down the young girl's face.[/size][/center] |
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Post by kajouka on Jan 30, 2009 23:46:44 GMT -5
Guinevere sighed softly at she watch Helena morph from defiant and bold to scared and unsure. The queen's intention had not been to bring her daughter to tears. However, a sliver of fear would do the child some good. Guinevere would not be able to shelter her daughter forever. Had the Saxon's defeat sent them fleeing from Britain forever or had the Romans truly decided to abandon the island for good, Guinevere would have cherished the years of letting her daughter grow up naive to the true nature of the world. But more than likely the Saxons would attack, and Helena was more at risk than anyone. She was the only daughter of the King - her life was more valuable than even Guinevere's.
Guinevere settled down on her knees in the grass in front of Helena. "Come here, my daughter," she replied, holding out her arms. "I am not mad at you, my child. But you must understand. You may be young, but you are old enough now to understand. The world is not always a nice place. You are not an ordinary girl, but a princess. That title brings with it luxury and power. But it is also a cross you must bear for the rest of your life. You shoulder responsibility to your people and your kingdom. You are a symbol of hope and freedom. Your head must always be held high with pride, no matter how low you feel. And because of that, those who oppose your crown will stop at nothing to take it from you. It is for that reason you must remain safe with your guards, no matter how bored you might be."
Guinevere took her daughter's hand and stood up. Walking together, they headed up one of the hills that rolled through their lands. In the distance, Guinevere pointed out a small village. "Were you but a farmer's daughter, you could run through the hills and be carefree. You must accept that your life is different."
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Post by Helena Castus on Jan 31, 2009 18:01:02 GMT -5
Helena sniffled back her tears when her mother asked her to come to her. It was probably the tension that she could feel now making her ever wary of what was going on and her own couriousity about things. She went straight int her mother's arms though and wipped her eyes in a way on her dress as she snuggled into her. Her mother was such a strong and brave lady that in an instant Helena had calmed down.
She listened carefully to what her mother was saying. Hanging off every word like it was a fantasy story or something but she knew it was true. She was pretty intellegent for a four year old as it were. She looked confused at some things and yet at other she understood. Though so of this teaching would probably be forgotten and she would have to be reminded until she was way older. Still she listened and nodded and such so her mother knew she was listening and trying to undersandstood at least some of what she was saying.
She took her mother's hand as they stood and began to walk up the hill. The visual and such helped the young girl to understand what her mother was tell her. "Mommy, I like to play does being a Princess mean I can't play?" That was something that confused her. She was four after all and most the time adventure and play was on her mind. Much like it had been on her mother's mind when she was her age according to grandfather Merlin after all. [/center] |
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Post by kajouka on Jan 31, 2009 22:23:37 GMT -5
Guinevere felt a tug at her heart strings, but while some things about being a princess were more difficult, there were other parts of life that were easier. "You can play, Helena, but you must play more carefully. You cannot play wherever you like, whenever you like, with whomever you like. Your guards are part of your life and your castle walls protect you. While this may seem unfair, there are things you never have to worry about that the average girl does. You do not have to be afraid that you may not have a meal on the table. You will not grow up spending your time working the fields. You will instead grow into a strong leader for your people. A queen who must make decisions and motivate troops, and keep your people strong."
She turned to face her daughter again, a smile on her face. "There are pros and cons to every lot in life, but most people would think you pulled the better position, even if it seems unfair today." She tugged softly on Helena's hand. "Shall we go back to the castle? Perhaps I'll speak to your father about finding another girl your age to adopt so that you will have a permanent playmate. Would you like that?"
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