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The impending chill of winter sits in the early evening air, and Vesper guards against it by huddling into her woolen cloak and crouching before a young, dark-haired peasant boy. "Now listen," the Lady de Newton is murmuring to the lad, "it matters not, whether she can pay. When her time comes, you are to run as fast as you can to get me, understand? Swifter than the wind. I know you are capable," she lightens her solemn tone a moment to tease, "for I saw you chasing after Rosy just a few morning's past." She reaches out to grasp his thin, uncloaked shoulder. "Run, and I shall come back with you and we will care for her, you and I. She will be fine, and you will have a new sister or brother to show the world to. Yes?" The little boy nods, and Vesper glances around before sliding her cloak off of her shoulders and onto his. "Hie, off with you now."
Talfryn's visit to Newton lands seems to have involved a ride on his horse in the brisk evening. As he returns to catch the Lady Vesper putting a cloak on a boy's shoulders. He dismounts, his horse quickly taken in by the stable hand, as he approaches Lady Vesper, with a quiet smile. "What ho, Lady Vesper. Lovely evening, isn't it?"
Vesper straightens up quickly, pretending for all the world as if she forgot to cover her now-bare arms against the chill. "Ah, Sir Talfryn. It is, though a bit cold. One can practically taste winter in the air, can one not?" She essays the man a delicate little curtsey, peeking up from under the thick sweep of her lashes at him. "Are you enjoying the hospitality of Newton? Aside from me," she stipulates, with a wicked grin.
"Oh, quite. The hospitality is famous here." Talfryn replies as he removes his cloak, and without a word drapes it around the Lady's shoulders. "Honestly, I'm looking forward to winter." he says, "A wonderful time to unwind as the nights grow dark, and the days shorter. Plenty of time to drink, to train. All in all, some bit of respite from all the running around." he says, with that quiet half smile showing on his features. "As for you, Lady Vesper, your company I enjoy- though, I admit, I'm not wholly convinced on that whole marriage thing." The heir of Idmiston states, "If I'm being honest, I'm terribly worried I'll muck it all up."
Success
Vesper checked her honest of 10, she rolled 4.
"Thank you, Sir. I know I certainly would make a mess of it," Vesper tells Talfryn, snuggling into his cloak without protest. "Marriage seems to me like the ending of all fun. What good is life if you cannot flirt anymore? Cannot experience the passion of the moment and wherever it may take you? Such is beyond me. As for winter," she sniffs at the chill air daintily, "I despise it. It is too hard, too deadly. There is only so much you can do for those not as well off as you, in the winter. Many of the peasants, the children…" She shakes her head, dark curls slithering this way and that. "It is unfair. Winter is unfair."
"Ah, its not so bad. I mean, death and life are just two sides of the same coin." Talfryn says, with a quiet shrug. "You do your best to make sure your common wards are well socked for winter. At least, that's what's supposed to happen." he mentions with another quiet shrug. "Perhaps it is different here, in these lands." he mentions, as he looks out into the air- into the night and takes a slow, deep breath. "And who said you couldn't flirt when you're married? Enjoy the passion of a moment- its just a question of with whom. Life has a lot to offer, Lady Vesper- and there are endless avenues to experience the many different facets of living. All life is a gift- it exists to be enjoyed to its fullest. However, there are some rules. Even the Gods have rules." Talfryn mentions, "A natural order, as it were. But, I'm sure you have no interest in that."
"Simply because I have no interest in being married, does not mean I have no interest in hearing your views, Sir Talfryn," Vesper replies tartly, arching a dark-winging eyebrow at the Idmiston knight. "Would you like to come inside with me, have a glass of cider, and discuss those views?" One hand tugs his cloak a little closer, and for all her verve and bravado, the lady still shivers in the cold.
"I'm rarely one to pass up a bit of good cider, Lady Vesper." Talfryn replies, "Lets not tarry, then- you seem chilled." he states as he nods towards the door and begins to walk towards the home. "That cider should get a bit of warmth back in those bones of yours."
"One can only hope, sir knight," Vesper makes her reply, turning for the entrance of the main hall of her home. Her stride is short, and she keeps it slow for the knight, possibly in deference to his wounds. "So," she begins, as she walks towards the door, "what sorts of rules do your Gods have, when it comes to marriage?"
"Well, marriage is something of a curious thing." Talfryn mentions. "We're expected to be true to our mate, but some indiscretion is allowed during times like beltane." he states, "Of course, I'm no priest- just someone who worships." he says, "Among the nobility, though, one's heirs should be theirown without question."
Vesper casts a blue-eyed look sidelong to Talfryn. "I am confused. If there are times of the year where indiscretion is allowed, then how would one know for certain if one's heirs were their own?" A puzzled frown claims her beautiful brow, marring it with the mark of her confusion. "Seems a difficult task, no?"
"Ideally, during Beltane, you'd still be with your husband or wife to celebrate." Talfryn explains, "However, sometimes things happen. Say, one's wife or husband is ill- with their permission, you might have one of those said indiscretions. Its sort of a respect thing- one should respect and cherish their mate." Talfryn says, "Particularly if the marriage has some political sentiment." he says with a slow breath, "Its all very complicated, if I'm being honest."
"It sounds /very/ complicated," Vesper makes her agreement easy and light, drawing the knight towards the fireplace and the chairs gathered there. A servant is signalled for the libation, Vesper pulling her icy blue eyes from Talfryn for only a moment to do it. Then she turns back, and to him she adds, "Though I certainly understand the need for legitimate heirs. I also understand an impulsive nature, as it is, perhaps, a stain on my character that I possess one." She does not sound as if she rues it overmuch. "I firmly believe, then, that monogamy is an impossibility for all but the most moral of characters."
"An unusual thing to admit, Lady Vesper." Talfryn says, eyebrows raising when that particular bomb is dropped. "You understand that makes you rather less attractive to me as an heir to my house." His voice has gone low, so as to spare the servants hearing anything as he takes a long sip of the cider. "I have to ensure that all my issue are mine, for the sake of my family and our honor." he remarks.
"Did I not just say I understood such a need?" Vesper replies, and rather than taking any offense, leans in a little closer with her deviant smile. "Of course it would make me a less attractive prospect for marriage," the lady tells him, conspiratorily, "but perhaps not as a potential amor, a pretty distraction?"
"You did, but I wanted to be clear." Talfryn states simply, "A pretty distraction, a lovely amor- perhaps. We'll have to see how the future plays out, Lady Vesper." he replies, sipping on his cider again.
Success
Vesper checked her flirting of 13, she rolled 6.
Vesper leans in, shrugging his cloak over one shoulder, allowing for a tantalizing display of almost-cleavage. "The future is almost always uncertain," she agrees with the heir to Idmiston, laughing softly. "But always worth the journey, in my experience. Am I unattractive to you physically, my lord?" she asks, being so bold.
Failed.
Talfryn checked his flirting of 10, he rolled 15.
"Perhaps, Lady Vesper, perhaps." Talfryn replies as he laughs at her question, shaking his head. "No, Lady Vesper- you're one of the most lovely women I've ever seen." he states.
Failed.
Vesper checked her proud of 7, she rolled 15.
Success
Vesper checked her modest of 13, she rolled 2.
Vesper seems to take the compliment in stride, though the lady also deems it sensible to offer, "There are others far more beautiful than I, but I thank you, sir. Your praise warms me on this chill evening. If it helps, I think you cut quite the dashing figure yourself. Especially without clothes on," Vesper teases, her voice mellifluous in humor. "I would not mind seeing you that way again."
Talfryn laughs again, shaking his head as he takes a long sip of his cider. "Perhaps soon, Lady Vesper- although, not in your family's home while trade deals and such are at stake. Again, that duty to my family. Pesky thing, that." he admits, with a little shrug of his shoulders. "Though, I do look forward to your returning the favor. Perhaps you should visit us one Beltane- and experience a wholly different kind of worship."
"You see?" Vesper accuses him lightly, shaking her pretty head. "The deprivation of fun in the pursuit of marriage, and my family wonders why I dislike the notion so much. Do you think me a fool? I confess," Vesper muses, nodding to the servants as they come with a tray bearing drink, "that there is a part of me who wishes to do my family honor, and marriage to you, the head of a house, would certainly advance that. But there is an equal part of me who wishes never to sacrifice what little freedom and passion I can have, outside of such bonds."
"There are some songbirds that will be happy in cage, and others that won't be. You are of the latter, clearly." Talfryn replies, as he takes another drink, putting his empty to the side. "There is always a war between reason and passion, though, Lady Vesper. Balance is the key- just as there is light and dark, the two should be in balance." he says softly, "I always wanted to just be a poor knight. I'd be married, probably in some political style by my brother who was Heir before I." he says simply. "Now, that same thing falls to me. Such is life, I suppose."
"Would that really be all you would have wanted for your life?" Vesper asks, plaintive, inbetween healthy swallows of her drink. "Just a poor knight to be saddled with a poor lady, and to live a poor life together under someone else's thumb?" Her own pert nose wrinkles in distaste at the thought, and she washes it away with the rest of her cider. "I cannot credit it. There is a life to be lived out there, waiting!"
"Oh, I'd live for the tourneys. That was the plan, anyways. Very little real responsibility, to be honest. Some battle, some tourneys, and a happy life without the burden of responsibility my brother had." Talfryn says, with a shrug. "Its the life I wanted, to be honest. I could drink to my hearts content, be with women until I was wed, and live a life of adventure- go questing, or do whatever it is was needed." he replies with a little laugh, "There is a life out there, Lady Vesper- but sometimes we don't get to choose. Its thrust upon us, given to us."
"But don't you see?" The lady replies, waving her expressive hands in a grand arc before her. "We always can choose. You could choose to say no, to pass the inheritance to the next in line. You could simply walk away one day, and none would be any the wiser. Tis morals that society has dictated to us that keeps us from doing as we please. Tis religion that prevents us from being happy. Not God," Vesper is quick to add, darting a reverent glance upwards, "who, I feel certain, would always wish us to live in happiness. But the religion created by man from His divine teachings."
"Lady Vesper- society would be none the wiser, but I would be. I love my family- and they love me. Its not my religion that keeps me where I am, but my love of my family. My duty to them." he says with a smile, quiet. "It would kill my Uncle if I did such a thing." he says softly, "It would kill him. He lost both his sons- one in War, the other to disease and now my brother…" Talfryn looks quietly to Vesper, "The Gods didn't take them, they were just taken. Perhaps it was their time- but I don't believe in a destiny. It was just unfortunate series of events. In any regard, I acted as his page. He treated me as he would a son. Perhaps you, Lady Vesper, can run away. I, however, can't. Its the morals my Uncle, and my family gave me- not society as a whole." he says, shaking his head a bit. "I couldn't do it to the people who loved me. I would know, Lady Vesper."
Vesper's fleeting hope is dashed, and one can see it in the quick interplay of feeling across her arching cheekbones, her pale, haunting beauty. "Fair enough, m'lord. I can understand, you know," she says, a little more quiet. "It is because I love my family and I do not wish to thus tarnish their reputation, that I have not yet run away from all this stricture. I would miss them, and I would feel guilt, too, for leaving. Though," this, quieter still, "each day I am treated as an abomination, the idea gets easier to stomach."
Talfryn nods quietly, drinking in quiet as he looks into the fire. "I don't think you're an abomination, for what its worth, Lady Vesper." the knight offers with a quiet, easy smile. "Lets not talk on it any longer." he offers, "And just drink and enjoy the fire."