Palace Grounds - Queen's Garden

Moira looked at Esras and looked away for a moment, like as if she was calmly understanding the happenings. Her stern gaze returned to him and then she listened to Ranait again. She was fair, and it showed as she let both speak. The fact that Esras gave her such a broken description sort of amused her in the sense the carnal acts of marriage crossed her mind and she gave a small crease to her beautiful brow. Looking at him with a bit of respect she shook her head. "Don't stick your neck out like that Esras. Someday you will need that neck of your's. Possibly even for my lady in waiting. Her actions are her own.. As are your's." She paused for a moment and she closed her eyes. Breathing out. "I am very well versed in the carnal issues in marriage. But not the kind you are considering."

As she listened to Ranait after when she stepped forward and curtseyed she gave her lady a once over. Sighing under her breath at the dress and her wound. Mostly her wound. As she began telling her what had happened and ensured that she wouldn't apologize to her brother. She watched her for a moment of silence. She was thinking. "I am sorry to hear about Marquess O'Halloran." She said softly to her Lady in Waiting. Frowning sharply. "As long as he will not blame you for beating him to a pulp then Ranait. Upon your punishments. You should know me better, I have had you as my lady in waiting for some time now and I will not ask you to take punishment besides your own embarrassments and the act of apologizing to whom you see fit. To be a Lady these days tends to be who is the prettiest and who is the most qualified. In my time. To be a lady insisted that even a Queen must show humility in every wrong she takes." Looking to the two and sighed. "Shall we get the silly woman looked at then Lord Kavanaugh?" She nudged her head towards the Queen's Rooms. "Get you in a good dress and patched up. I wouldn't want that getting infected. And maybe something sweet for the news of your father.."

NPC

While they got her cleaned up the time went by quickly, though the sun had already started fading by the time they got inside.
Eventually everyone would at least go to their separate chambers. Whether or not characters slept is entirely up to their players.

Alpin had been wandering mindlessly through the Queen’s gardens, having been invited to meet her this morning, but she seemed to be missing. The door to her personal garden was open, so he had taken the opportunity to take a look, and had found himself lost in the beauty of nature. It had been quite some time since he had found time to wander through a garden, and he had to say that he had missed the practice. He used to take a book out to the gardens at his estate and remain there all day, reading to his heart’s content, but that had been over ten years ago, before he had been made a Duke. As he was walking he heard the faint hum of water and would follow the noise, knowing that he had to see it before he left the gardens. When he finally caught sight of the water he was distracted, though, as it seemed that somebody else was already at the water’s edge. A pretty young lady was sitting on a rock with her toes in the water, smiling rather prettily. He would approach quietly, trying to decide if it annoyed him that she wasn’t acting like a lady, though eventually he found he didn’t mind; the ladies of the court these days were usually off gossiping, and this one was merely sticking her toes in water- he couldn’t quite bring himself to mind that.


He would move closer, deciding on a whim to remove his shoes as well before shifting to sit beside her, though at an appropriate length away. He too, would let his feet dangle into the water before turning to look at her and offer one of his award winning smiles, “Hello,” he would say kindly before directing his gaze back towards the water, “A philosopher once told me that there was no better place to seek wisdom than in the midst of nature’s beauty,” he would murmur, half trying to charm her with his wits and half trying to strike up a conversation.

He would nod in agreement when she said that his philosopher was a smart one, “I like to think so,” he would say, a smile still curving up the corners of his lips. He noticed the faint blush on her cheeks, but couldn’t guess why it might be there. Maybe she was embarrassed about not acting like a lady or something of that sort, though he wouldn’t ask her about it; it wouldn’t have been honorable. He had been gazing at her, so when she began to fidget with the bandage the smile that had graced his face would slip into a frown as he wondered why a lady would need a bandage on her hand. He was just about to ask about it when she spoke again, causing the smile to resurface on his face, “Indeed. Though, I haven’t taken the opportunity to walk in the beauty of nature for quite some time. Sadly, I just couldn’t find the time,” he would sigh softly, looking regretfully down at the water.

After a moment he would let his gaze return to the lady, “Though, I have found that the answers to life’s dilemmas can surface through wise counsel, hence why I know of such an intelligent philosopher,” he would murmur, not having to try hard to keep the conversation going. A cross between a smile and a grimace would pass over his face as he felt the fish beginning to go after his toes, wiggling them about in an attempt to get them to go away to no avail, “That is the weirdest sensation,” he would murmur softly, letting his gaze flick to the lady once again, “How can you bear it?” he would ask, his words followed by a deep, rumbling laughter.

When expressed her sympathy and then went on to say that she didn't know what she would do if she couldn't find time for nature he would reach up to brush his fingers swiftly through his hair, “Oh, I assure you, it is unfortunately easy to forget about the little things that make life worth living,” he would comment, his brows furrowing slightly as he tried to figure out why he had just said that to the lady though he didn't find himself regretting that he did. There was something inviting about her that just begged him to continue talking, which was rather intriguing to him because when he tried to converse with women he often got the feeling that they would rather be speaking to somebody else. Probably because he couldn't find it in himself to gossip; he had too much honor to do such a lowly thing.

Upon hearing her response to his question he would grin, wrinkling his nose in a playful manner, “That they do, but I can’t imagine why somebody would want to subject themselves to this experience, their perception slightly different or not,” he would say, though he didn't pull his toes from the water. Upon hearing her say that she was used to it he would tilt his head slightly to the side, peering at her as he wondered why that might be. She must be close to the Queen or maybe the King, to be able to wander the personal gardens often enough to get used to the fish. When she commented about wiggling her toes he would grin, though it was more genuine than the one he had offered to her earlier, “Well, I will keep that in mind,” he would murmur, wiggling his toes just to see if she was right. It seemed that she was, as the fish swarmed over to his feet and began their sucking. When she commented about being glad that there were no fish with teeth he would snicker, “I would have to agree with that, especially since you tricked me into wiggling my toes,” he would accuse her, though there was a certain quality to his deep voice that spoke of teasing.