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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 19:22:53 GMT
Finally, after two long weeks of travel, Brenna had made it to the northern Irish kingdom. Her heart skipped a beat as she reined her horse to a halt and sat atop the mare for a moment or two outside of the little house that Markis Burke had made into a cozy home for them so many years ago. A sentimental sigh drifted from her lips as she swung her leg over the horse, dismounting with a soft thump of her boots against the cobblestone. She took a deep breath and led the mare around to tie her off to a hitching post somewhere nearby. She was clad in her typical assassin's gear, in hopes that it might make her story ring more true. What kind of welcome she was expecting; she didn't really know. Hell, she had no idea if the man would even welcome her back. But, damnit, she was still in love with him after all these years and her heart thundered at the thought of seeing the man again. Not allowing herself enough time to chicken out she walked up to the house and knocked lightly on the door. Her nerves were definitely on edge now, and it felt for all the world as if there were a thousand butterflies fluttering around her stomach.
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 5, 2014 2:36:49 GMT
Had been working the forge, in which was attached to the home in a market-fashion. If it rained there was a canopy that attached the forge's ceiling to the house's. Sybil had been commissioned by Esras to make him a new set of armor since her sword was a huge hit for the man in the melee. She was tired as she had to deal with his measurements and detail a sketch to work in her mind.
As she moved through her home, she took off her forge bracers, her largest burn marks showing up her forearms as she moved about. She had kept on her pants and taken off her smithy apron to hang by the door. Wearing her usual green tied up shirt over a cleavage-friendly white shirt. When she heard the knock from her door she went on edge. But maybe it was another new customer which she seemed to score many customers wanting weapons since the games. Aeden definitely promised her a payout. She opened the door with a crossbow in her hand. When she saw a woman she flinched at the site of her assassin's gear. Squinting. "Business hours are closed.. The forge was just put to sleep.." She would say as kind as she could but she was highly in speculation as to why such a woman was standing outside her door.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 3:10:52 GMT
She waited patiently for Markis to answer the door. She shifted a bit uncomfortably in her stance and went so far as to cross her arms over her chest. She had rehearsed a speech to give the man when he opened the door to find her standing there, but it completely fled her mind when a woman answered the door with a crossbow in her hand. For a brief moment she thought that maybe her love had moved on, but closer inspection revealed the girl to be far too young for Markis's tastes. She arched a brow at the crossbow and wondered who this girl was. And then it hit her. It had been so long that she hadn't known what to expect of the daughter that she had left behind. Tears sprung to her eyes and she felt her heart clench like someone had squeezed a vice around it. "Oh gods," she whispered softly. "You're his daughter, aren't you," she asked, though it was really a rhetorical question. Who else could this young girl be? She cleared her throat and did her best to choke back the tears that threatened to spill over. "I'm not here for the forge. I'm here to see Markis," she said with a slight frown.
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 5, 2014 3:37:28 GMT
Sybil squinted more at the reaction of the woman. She could see the onslaught of tears in the woman's eyes and she tilted her head. When she heard the woman call Sybil 'his daughter', Sybil's heart hurt for a moment. She looked over the woman closely when she told Sybil she was there for Markis and not the forge. Sybil gave her the heaviest of frowns. "My name is Sybil Burke. Yes I am his daughter.." If this was one of her father's friends she best.. Break it to her kindly. "Come in." She said calmly and placed the cross bow against the wall.
Leading the woman into the house, "Please take off your boots and close the door." Sybil had the same calm about her as her mother did it seemed. She would pull a chair out at the dining room table. "You're going to want to sit down." Sybil insisted. More so in a welcoming fashion. She had to tell many men who considered Markis a friend. But never a woman. Not one like Brenna anyways. Upon her sitting, or standing. Sybil paced a bit. She didn't know how to tell this woman. It seemed like something had been between her father and her. Though Anna was very well loved by Markis. "My father.. Won't be able to see you. Uhm.." She breathed in painfully and placed her hands on the back of the other chair. Swallowing it down. "Dad.. Dad was murdered when I was 13 M'am." She would tell her straight out. But Sybil's face was sad and sullen. She missed him so much. His big hugs and his awkward feelings about raising a little girl. If Sybil were a man it would have been so much more easier. But he was an amazing man. If you ever read about those little girls who love their fathers to the end of the Earth. Sybil was one of them.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 3:51:00 GMT
Sybil. It was a beautiful name, and one she could imagine Markis having given their daughter. When the girl invited her in she did as she was bid, taking her boots off and closing the door. The girl's comment about sitting down immediately put her on edge and she found herself frozen to the spot. "Oh gods," she said before Sybil even attempted to explain what had happened. Her heart clenched even tighter than it had before and the tears that had sprung to her eyes now spilled over as a sob racked her body. She felt like she couldn't breathe, and when the girl spoke of Markis's death she found herself slumping down into the chair that Sybil had pulled out for her. "Oh gods," she whispered again. "Eighteen years. I should have known," she said softly, dropping her face into her hands. "I didn't exactly think he would welcome me with open arms after what I did to him, but...This. Gods. I didn't think he would be dead," she choked out. For a moment or two it seemed as if she were completely oblivious to the words that had come out of her own mouth. And then she lifted her head and turned her gaze on Sybil. This was her daughter. Gods how she'd dreamed of meeting the girl that she'd left behind so long ago. But now? Now how could she tell Sybil who she was? How was she supposed to inform a girl who was obviously still hurting over the loss of her father that the mother she'd thought dead for her whole life was actually alive and sitting in her house? "Sybil," she said, drawing a shaky breath. "How did it happen, exactly," she asked. She'd been preparing herself to tell the girl who she was, but she wasn't sure, now, if she could bring herself to do so.
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 5, 2014 4:01:45 GMT
When the woman started crying, Sybil would frown and tilt her head, as she moved to sink into her chair across from Brenna. When Brenna said 18 years Sybil would tilt her head. So that's why she didn't know Brenna from before. For a moment Sybil thought that Brenna probably knew Anna. Well that 'this lady' did as Brenna didn't introduce herself. But then she heard the woman said 'for what I did to him'. She gave her a protective face, what had she done to Markis? This woman obviously was trying to atone for something. So Sybil could only levelheaded hear her out. That's what Markis would do. Possibly. It depended on the caliber of wrong she did.
When the woman addressed her again, Sybil could hear her own voice in the woman's. They sounded much alike. She squinted a bit at her, was Brenna her mother's sister or something?
But then her face morphed and her eyes widened. Thinking about it. She had come home from the market. Her father wasn't feeling so great and he needed some ore from the miners that used to sell iron ore in bars. She stepped into the house and it had smelled of soup that she made him for supper. But also.. It smelled like blood. When she lit a candle she... "He.. was Decapitated." She choked out. "They hung the man who did it.. But I lost my favourite person." She admitted to Brenna.
"How.. Did you know him? I'm 18 years old.. So I wouldn't really know you at all. Though he's never talked about you I gather?" She tilted her head. "Did you know my mother Anna?" As she spoke she rubbed at an eye that let a tear fall.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 4:18:39 GMT
She listened silently to Sybil's words, and the mention of the man who had done it being hung. Which was far nicer than what she would have done to the man. Still. It was probably best that the man had been caught and killed so quickly. She nodded to Sybil's question and took a deep breath, knowing that now she was going to have to explain now. Part of her was expecting the girl to take up that crossbow again, but she knew she owed the poor girl an explanation. It was her daughter, after all. "Yes, I knew Anna," she said, taking a deep breath. "I was Anna," she shook her head, but continued quickly, leaving no room for questions until she was finished with her explanation. "When I came to Ireland it was to leave behind my life as a royal assassin. I had gained too many enemies in a very short period of time. I used the name Anna as an alias, never expecting to meet your father, let alone fall in love with him. But I did. And then I got pregnant with you, and found out that one of those many enemies had followed me to Ireland. He didn't know I was here, and I had to hide for a good portion of my pregnancy. Hoping that he would never figure out who I was. When you were born I knew I had to leave. I couldn't risk being here any longer. I couldn't let him kill Markis...or you," she said on a sob, rubbing her hands over her face. "So I went back to where I came from. Returned to being an assassin because it was all I'd ever known. It took me years to hunt down the man who had followed me to Ireland. And that much longer to make sure that I could get away without being followed by another enemy. Not one moment in those eighteen years did I not think of you or your father. I spent every moment imagining what it would be like to come back to Ireland and see your father's face again. To see what kind of person the daughter that I'd always longed for had turned into," she finished, the tears still streaming down her face.
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 5, 2014 4:54:41 GMT
In all honesty Sybil would have hunted him down and offed him herself if the Knight's Order didn't do what they did. When the woman said she was Anna, Sybil squinted and then shook her head. "You.. Faked your death?" She stared at her and then frowned indefinitely. Though level headed some points just made her snap a bit. "You.. You messed him up because you were afraid he couldn't defend himself?" She said sharply. "If you are my mother. I'm sorry but. Dad, dad was so messed up for so long. Some nights he would buy himself a drink and just stare at it. Dad didn't drink so.. It was insane when he would bring something home. There were times I remember in my childhood when I asked the wrong question. Like... What would happen on my first time or what was love. Or even something as simple as what does it mean to become a woman? When the blood starts, how do I stop it? I had to ask the whores down the street. Because dad just.. Closed up. If you know anything about Markis Burke you know that.. You know that he was the most gentle of man but when angry.." She actually ran her hands through her hair and stood up, and with one swift moment she launched the chair into the wall with a flip of her leg. "Fuck!" She swore loudly. Sybil was not someone to let her temper snap. She sat on her knees infront of Brenna and began to cry. It made sense. She would ask about Anna and he would tell her that the physicians told him he couldn't see her.
Then she thought of it and got up. "If you're my mother." She moved right up to Brenna and pulled down the collar. A birthmark stood there on her collarbone. She stood there startled. Frowning. "Then.. We have the same.. birth mark. That's what dad would always say." She would put her hand on her birthmark on her collarbone that mirrored Brenna's.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 5:04:37 GMT
She had expected the anger, quite honestly. While it was possible the girl inherited her father's level-headed nature, she knew she would have been pissed if she had been in Sybil's shoes. Her heart broke as she listened to the girl rant at her and all she could do was nod. "Yes, I did it because I didn't know what else to do, Sybil," she said with a shake of her head. "If there's one thing you should know about us assassins it's that we don't give our victims time to defend themselves. Part of killing someone professionally is making sure that they can't hurt you in the process," she said on a sigh as she let her eyes fall closed. She took a ragged breath and opened her eyes to look at Sybil again. "I'm sorry for the damage that I dealt to both you and your father, Sybil. I would give anything to be able to change it, but what is done is done," she said on another sigh and her heart shattered when she watched the girl sit on her knees and cry. But it only lasted for a moment before she stood up, proclaiming that her mother had the same birth mark that she did. "You inherited it," she said softly before she stood up and unfastened the armor that encased her torso and closed around her neck. She pulled off the chain mail that she wore beneath it and pulled down the collar of her plain black shirt to reveal the identical birthmark.
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 5, 2014 11:41:16 GMT
Sybil frowned at the responses she was getting. But she would be lying if she said she never forged a sword or dagger or a hidden one for an assassin before. She disliked killing in their pattern highly but she had to deal with it when it came to others. She bit her lip a little. "Yes I know what assassins are like. I wasn't born yesterday. Obviously." She would say coldly. "What do you plan to do now that you're.. In my house?" She made it occur to her that Markis would have asked the same thing. That even if Brenna was Anna and she was an assassin he would just be crying for joy and hoping she'd stay. "Father threw out your clothing when he needed to clean his mind and keep me safe. All we have is a few dresses but they've been tailored for me." She was obviously on the shorter side of lady. Though Markis was at least 2 inches shorter then Brenna anyways. Which painted a funny picture for Sybil. "Not that a lady in armour is an unthought thing anymore. We have two lady knights in the Eastern Kingdom."
"Yes I inherited it." She nodded. "My father used to poke it with his finger and tell me all about you. Or well.. All about your undercover self." She smirked a little but Brenna came out the same as he had told her. It took a lot to hide a weaponry finesse. Even more from a black smith. So she knew her mother could deal damage with a weapon she just didn't think an assassin was the sort of job Anna dabbled in. She paused a little. "It's not really the only thing I inherited." It made sense, full sense. Her father always told her that she didn't get her hand-to-hand fluidity from her. That he had seen Anna catch things in the forge before that surprised him. She'd also punch a man out before
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 17:45:06 GMT
She ignored Sybil's coldness and gave a soft sigh. "I don't have any plans," she said with a shrug. "I came back to try to make peace with my family; no matter what that takes. I didn't expect this to be easy; though I didn't expect it to be quite this hard either," she admitted as she wiped the tears from her face. She shook her head at Sybil's comments about dresses. "I have my own clothes. I just wasn't naive enough to think that I would be staying here for any length of time," she said with a shrug. "And by here I mean in this house," she explained. She actually gave a soft laugh at the comment about lady knights in the eastern kingdom. "One has to be chivalrous to become a knight, and I would hardly consider someone who has killed in the ways that I have to be chivalrous," she said with a shake of her head. Though it was obvious by the expression on her face that there was a distaste in her for the things that she'd done. Despite her job, Brenna hated to kill other people; especially in the ways that an assassin had to.
Her heart clenched again when the subject turned back to Markis, though she couldn't help but smile when Sybil said that Markis had told her all about her and that the birthmark wasn't the only thing she had inherited. "Well, for your sake, I hope you at least didn't inherit my temper," she said with a soft laugh. It had been a long time since she'd laughed, and the fact that it was her daughter who had brought the laughter from her made it mean that much more to her. Sybil may hate her forever, or even just a really long time, but she was going to do her best to get some sort of acceptance from the girl, even if it was just a grudging one. Her gaze flicked to the door and she sighed, figuring that she'd done enough emotional damage to the girl to last a life time in the short while that she'd been here. "I'm sorry, Sybil. I know there are some things that sorry can't fix, but for what it's worth; I truly love you and your father. I did what I felt had to be done, and I'm not expecting forgiveness; especially not so soon, but I would like to be able to see you again. If it's not asking too much. I will let you come to me if you decide that you ever want to see me again."
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 6, 2014 17:33:45 GMT
Sybil looked at her mother and then looked at her hands. "Well to make peace with me. You are going to have to work hard and stay around.. I understand the loss of my father probably has put some more grief on you.. But that is a price some must pay when they are away from their family for so long.." She smiled a little. Thinking about Markis. When she explained she was naive enough to think she wouldn't have been staying that long Sybil would give her a chuckle. "If it was Dad he would have had you in his bed already.." Sybil was trying to make light of everything. She needed to think about it all. When her mother explained she has to be chivalrous, Sybil gave a smirk. That wasn't why Sybil chose to not even try. Neither did she have that chance seemingly she was not a noble by any means. Though she'd be lying if she didn't take a favouritism over one noble in particular.
"No, I didn't inherit that.. Unless you push my buttons far enough. Things that trigger me.. People who just walk into my house because they know I'm a woman living alone.. And people who call me a man because I can beat things to a pulp." Sybil was trying to make amends, trying to make some sort of sense about all of this. She thought she'd be more on edge and pissed off about this. But maybe it was shock. She didn't really like Brenna but that was probably because of her choice of job and its nature. But she could see a lot of herself in this woman in how she acted. "I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive you for what you did to Dad. But I hope he's watching us where ever he is.." She leaned back in her chair. "The door is open if you'd like to stay. In all honesty, I have always wanted to know what my mother was like. You should be the one to do the job of coming to me. I am your daughter. And if you want me to think of you ever as I have thought Anna as my mother. You will have to work at it. I will do my part and try and create some sort of balanced relationship with you, as I have been an orphan for five years. I have had to raise myself practically. Dad has struggled so much but he was stubborn and has never bedded another woman or even flirted, so I have never had an older woman's presence in my life." She would say assertively. So she did get her level from her father. Crossing her arms over her chest she sighed. This was a mess.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2014 17:56:30 GMT
She frowned at Sybil's words, honestly having expected the girl to want to toss her out onto the streets and have nothing to do with her. Which was why she'd made the offer to be there if the girl decided that she wanted her there. "I don't mean to force my presence on you, Sybil. At eighteen you're a grown woman who can make her own decisions," she said with a shake of her head. "And having been an orphan these last five years proves that you can take care of yourself." She glanced around the room and gave a slight smile when Sybil made the comment about her father. It made her heart ache to think that she had lost the man she loved for good, but...she'd already been living with his loss for eighteen years. The only real difference was that these last eighteen years she'd convinced herself that she would see him again. When Sybil continued to talk she flicked her gaze back to the young woman and listened to her. A smile graced her lips at the girl's words about her irritations and that one of them was people calling her a man because she could beat things to a pulp.
"I don't know how many times I've been called unladylike by someone for knocking a man or two on their ass," she teased, though she was sure Sybil probably meant some of that to be the metals she worked with as a blacksmith. "But I don't think it makes a woman less ladylike to do so. I think most men just dislike the idea that a woman can kick their ass at anything," she said with a shake of her head. When Sybil said that the door was open if she'd like to stay she tilted her head to the side a moment before deciding to settle into a chair again. "I'm more than willing to come to you, Sybil, I just figured you'd want to toss me out on my ass after all of this," she laughed unhumorously. She would give a nod to what her daughter said about never having had an older woman in her life. And she'd be lying if she didn't say that she was happy to hear that Markis had never bedded or even flirted with another woman. Not that she hadn't expected him to move on after eighteen years, but it was nice to imagine that he had loved her as much as she had loved him. She considered, for a moment, what it was she was going to do with her life now that she was back in Ireland with a daughter. Being an assassin was not something that she'd ever wanted to do. It had been forced upon her when she was younger, and then again later in life because it was all she'd ever known. And being an assassin generated a lot more money than being a bar maid as she had been while she'd lived in Ireland the last time. Now, however, she was considering going back to doing the bar maid thing. Perhaps doing a bit of the assassin thing on the side if she ever thought it necessary. But she'd made a massive amount of money over the years that she had put aside for the day that she would be able to return to Ireland. So she imagined that she wouldn't be hurting for money for a while.
"So tell me. Since I'm the one that has to come to you," she said with a smile. "Tell me more about you. What was your life like growing up? What sorts of things do you like?" She wanted to ask her more girly questions, but she didn't want to push it too much just yet. Maybe; if she could actually establish a relationship with the young woman, there would come a time when it would be okay to ask those sort of questions.
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Post by Sybil Burke on Aug 7, 2014 5:12:16 GMT
"I know you don't mean to. It had to be done though." Sybil would respond to her. "I may be a grown woman but I am still your daughter. Dad always told me that no matter my age I was still a child to him." She tilted her head slightly and smiled. The words 'proves that you can take care of yourself' rang true. "I don't like being alone though." Sybil spoke calmly to her mother. She knew that Brenna must be going through a shock about finding out about her father. She knew the love that her father would talk about was not a lie in the least bit. It had only been Brenna's name and status as an assassin that the woman seemed to lie about.
The moment she saw the smile that she could beat others. Laughing though. "Yes, I can definitely relate. I think it is good for women to know how to defend oneself as I fully believe the same for men." Upon hearing her mother tell her she thought Sybil would toss her on her ass, Sybil smirked. "I had thought on it. But it's not something I would entirely do. You did knock and waited for me to answer the door so no need to get angry." Sybil would help her mother get a job, or possibly even her old job back. But that was up to her mother she was obviously a fully grown woman. She even had an 18 year old daughter.
Upon being asked about herself, Sybil took a breath. "Until I was 9 I was just your average girl wanting to dress in elaborate dresses and be announced the next best thing. But puberty hit and father made that part of my life so much fun. He had no idea what to do with that. He taught me about how the body works with forge innuendos." She'd chuckle thinking about it. It drew a tear in her eye that she wiped away. "Dad put my on the forge when I was 9 and I was announced his assistant. There I studied under him and as I grew up I began to use hand-to-hand to get my jobs done faster and to keep myself safer from drunkards and thugs. It also helped me keep my arms from burning. Sometimes." She raised her arms and her burned and scarred wrists showed. "I like to forge weapons and armour. It makes me think of dad, and it brings me some closure I find." Sighing and thinking. "I like to cook and clean. Make traps. Which I should teach you what levers to pull and not pull.. And for fun I either try and read or.. I go and teach squires and pages how to defend themselves.. Or I flip Knights over my shoulder." She grinned at her mother. "How about you?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2014 5:34:29 GMT
She smiled at Sybil's comment about being a grown woman, but still her daughter. But the comment about not liking to be alone got to her. "I understand that," she said softly. She listened to the rest of what the young woman had to say, paying close attention to her words about herself. She smiled a few times and choked back tears a few others. Gods how she wished she could have seen Sybil grow up. When the girl asked her about herself she frowned. "Well, I have to say my life was probably a lot more boring than yours," she said with a laugh. "I was born Brenna Holt; my parents' names were Thorne and Sylvi, but I don't remember much of them," she admitted with a shrug. "I spent most of my life training with both weapons and hand to hand combat techniques. Until about a year or so before I met your father, when the king himself offered me a position as a royal assassin," she said with a shrug. "I was naive back then and had no idea what kind of toll that thing takes on a person," she sighed. "It was then that I came to Ireland and met your father. I hadn't counted on meeting anyone special, falling in love, or any of what happened. But it all came about," she said with a shake of her head. "And then when I got pregnant with you and found out an enemy had made his way to Ireland I knew I couldn't stay here with you and your father. It killed me inside to do it, but I faked my own death after you were born and returned to the life that I'd had where I came from," she said softly. "So for the last eighteen years I've spent my life as a hired murderer, paid by the king himself. But then war broke out and everything went to hell. I'd been looking for a way out for the last eighteen years, and there it was. My perfect opportunity. I knew I couldn't fake my own death as far as other assassins were concerned. It just wasn't possible," she said, shaking her head again. "But with the king killed off, I managed to slip out of the country. And while it's vaguely possible that someone managed to follow me, I've got a hell of a lot more experience under my belt this time around. Which means I know I'll be able to take them out before they ever get to me, or you," she said firmly.
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