Chastershire

Anna was wearing plain men's clothes, a plain man's shirt, dark britches for riding horseback, and boots. Her dark hair was hanging loosely about her face and hiding her tattoo. She was riding atop a black stallion. Most people would not recognize the woman without her Captain's uniform, or without wearing her usual armor.  Strapped to her back was a staff and at her hip rested a sword, though one could also guess that there were possibly other weapons hidden upon her person.

Anna had been riding for quite some time, but she was rather looking forward to seeing the expression on Aodh's face when she showed up with his gift. She kept her stormy blue eyes searching as she rode through Chastershire. The sheer volume of how big this place is was starting to make her feel just a bit uncomfortable, especially as she had dressed so simply.  Though she had dressed as such because of being on leave from the King while she 'had business to attend to' and because that said business had required her to go undercover as it were.  She continued to ride through the Earldom and then she spotted the man she had been looking for.  She would recognize him anywhere now, even though they had only met the one time.  "Hey!" she called out, riding towards him now.  She would stop her stallion once she was close enough, and only after Aodh would stop.

Anna would direct her fierce grin at Aodh and immediately respond, "I am full o' surprises," with a soft chuckle, "though I thought this would nae be one for ye." She made a grimace next, being really sore from her long trip and she would shift atop her stallion.  She continued to hold onto his reigns and then lifted her leg so that she was sitting side saddle, facing Aodh. "I have a present for ye," she said with another grin. "Though, do ye suppose I could rest Nightshade first? We 'ave been on the roads for what seems like forever an' a day." She stretched her arms a bit, eyeing the jump to the ground. She did not think she could sit on Nightshade any longer, and that is what decided her. "Do ye suppose ye could put us both up for at least a night of rest?" She let her vivid blue eyes dart to him to see his reaction to that question. "I dunno when or where ye want yer present, but lemme get down first, or I might jus' lose my min'," she said as she let her gaze watch him and to see if anyone was around to over hear. She did not know if any of his people were trustworthy or not or if he even wanted them to know about it.

That all being said, she leaps off of Nightshade, excited to finally be able to give Aodh what she had promised him, and her legs give out as they are like jelly from the long trip.

Anna would murmer, "Aye," to his first comment, in agreement. Then of course she didn't quite have her land legs about her when she leapt to the ground and luckily Aodh grabbed her arm to steady her and stop her from making even more of a fool of herself. She was not used to help from others, so her cheeks flushed with embarrasment when he had to steady her on her feet. She winced slightly, a bit sore, and a soft sigh escapes her lips.  "Thank you, Aodh, Nightshade an' I will both try to stay outta trouble while we're here," she said with a teasing tone, as if to distract from the fact that she'd nearly face-planted just moments ago. Then she gave in, "An' I suppose I will have t' get m'land legs back."   Before the servant could take Nightshade, she would slowly turn to untie two things from his saddle. One held a few clothes and a small amount of supplies, while the other was her gift to Aodh.  It was a simple sack, though perhaps a bit dirty from travel, and she would then offer it to him to untie at his leisure. "I s'pose ye kin just peek in an' decide for yerself, m'friend."  Anna's blue eyes were alight with excitement and anticipation, and she was completely focused on Aodh's face.  Though she would pat and nicker softly to Nightshade as the servant led him away, her attention was focused on the man near her. Her legs still felt a bit unsteady, so she leaned into his grip for a moment more before he decided to pull away..

Anna enjoyed every moment of watching his face as he realized that she had made good on her promise to him. A soft chuckle would escape her lips when he said 'Holy shit' twice. The strength of his reaction was enough that she was able to forget he was an Earl, at least for a little while. He was once again just the man that she had bantered with in the pub. She would tilt her head slightly, "Ye seem to be talkin' jus' fine," she teased him when he said he didn't know what to say. A grin teased at her lips and amusement sparkled within her blue gaze. Then he hugged her, fiercely and quickly, and she was so startled that she did not even try to resist. The last person to hug her had been her Da before he was murdered. Though this hug felt entirely different, particularly as it was from a man that she was not related to and she had never been that close to a man that she wasn't fighting. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. She did not know how to react to as one of her gut reactions had been to go on the defensive, while another had been wanting to melt into the hug as it had been such a long time since anyone had been affectionate with her.  Since it was over so quickly, she didn't really have time to react in either way and ended up just standing there a little startled. Then he informed her that she was his favorite person in the world and a tentative smile would tease at her lips once more.  "What are friends for?" she would reply with one of her fierce grins, and then he grabbed her arm and started steering her towards the main house of the estate.  She would make a face, her legs trying to disagree with walking, but somehow she would manage.  Usually she would object to someone holding onto her, but from so much time spent in the saddle, she wasn't sure she would make it to their destination without the assistance, though she would not mention it as she did not like feeling weak. "Mmmm, tha' sounds divine," she would murmer softly.

It was probably a good thing that he did NOT scoop her up, because it would sting her pride just a bit and she would have most likely freaked out and hit him. Anna is used to "being one of the boys" in that sense and would not know how to respond to anyone treating her like a lady instead of a knight, at the least.  She allowed him to lead her to whatever chair he wanted and she did not argue because soon afterwards he asked about how it happened. She grimaced slightly, thinking her adoptive mother would be having a canary that her daughter was filthy and sitting at an Earl's table, near the head of it no less.  "I am near as dirty as a pig in ..." she trailed off and pressed her lips together as she was about to say 'shit' and she knew her poor knight father would have rolled over in his grave.  She figured Aodh could tell what she meant even without her saying the word. "Are ye sure ye want me to sit here?"  She looked to Aodh, who probably wasn't much cleaner than she was, as she could tell he had been in the stables. Either he did not care, or he really wanted to feed her and hear the story as soon as possible. "Ach, ye do nae have t' go t' so much trouble," she would object softly, feeling sorely out of place. She would let her eyes take in everything, particuarly the people, as she did not know or trust any of them, though Aodh was possibly the only exception as she was starting to feel a bit comfortable around him.  She would whisper, "Do ye wish to speak openly about it here?"  Granted, no one here would know whom she was unless they saw her tattoo, and then only if they had heard of her. She would just prefer Aodh to say that it was okay to do so, otherwise she would not spill any secrets, particularly when she had not told anyone what she had been up to while taking leave from the Guard.

Anna would narrow her blue eyes at Aodh when he laughed but then a smirk would tease at her lips at his return comment. She could tell that he seemed different, like a weight had been lifted from him. He seemed almost like a different man. "Ah, I like the sound of that. Ye win this round," she would say in a teasing tone.  Anna would listen to what he had to say, and it calmed her enough that she felt comfortable in telling the story.  If Aodh said it was alright, she was going to trust him.

Once the whiskey arrived, she would take a big swig of it to prepare to tell the story. "Not sure where to start, but I looked into her and found out some information.an' then I took leave. When I arrived, I took up working in her guard."  She would offer Aodh one of her fierce grins and then take a bite of bread and cheese. After she finished chewing, she would continue, "It was easy to keep track of her schedule and to work my way into the rotation of her personal guard. There were nae too many of them, an' soon enough I had the opportunity to have her alone. Once I had her alone, I hit the back o' her head and carried her out the back door."  She would smirk at this, leaning back into her chair and stretching out her sore legs. She would also take a moment to eat another bite of bread and cheese and follow that down with a swig of whiskey.

Anna would then continue, "It was easy to see how she treated people, as though they were less than dirt an' not even worth the skill they performed for her."  Anna's face clouded over at a particular memory of how the woman had treated one of the worker's children and her eyes glowered with a hint of anger, her fists clenching. "I tied her up and gagged her," she said a bit more softly. "I jus' kept thinkin' about how she treated that child, about how she must have treated ye, how she was the cause o' all yer pain, to be the cause of so much pain for so many."  She took a deep breath and exhaled it, then did it again to try and calm herself down. "Ye can judge me if ye want, Aodh, but when she opened her eyes, I made her bleed. I made her beg. I told her that ye had a bounty on her head and that I intended to collect it. I tol' her that is why I was ne'er goin' to touch her ugly face, but I gave her scars to match mine, to match the child she had beaten fer bein' hungry an' taking food that wasn't even bein' eaten."  She closed her eyes a moment and took another huge gulp of whiskey, then she opened her eyes and looked to Aodh, letting him see the raw pain there. "I started to think about what I would do if'n it were my Da's murderer," she murmered softer still. "About what I would want t' happen to him. She might as well have been. So I started cuttin' pieces off, startin' with her fingers so she could ne'er touch another person again. Then her hands an' feet... to never walk or crawl away."

Anna would start to shake a little, and then she would down the rest of her mug of whiskey, as her mind was in a dark place. She whispers, "I let her die, bleedin' out, and then I cut off her head for ye."

Anna would start on her second whiskey, drinking it quickly. "Fuck," she murmered softly when Aodh told his story. There really was no word better as a reply to what he had said; he had gone through a ton of shit. Though her sense of guilt has now evaporated as Aodh basically confirmed what she had seen first hand with Evelyn. Anna still felt stained by the death, unclean somehow. She finishes the second whiskey, and she has not had much to eat, so her lips are a bit more loose than otherwise. She still trembled a little bit, so she wrapped her arms about herself. She shifted her staff to sit beside her. She lets her blue eyes fall onto Aodh once more and she whispers a confession, "I think the King had m'father killed, but I can nae prove it." She blinked back unbidden tears that were the result of their conversation and all the death and destruction that seemed to be around them.  "I think tonight... I need t' get good an' drunk. I do nae often have the opportunity to do so. Is that alright?"  She felt like shit warmed over. She was sore, still a bit hungry, dirty, and full of emotional turmoil.  She sighed softly, having started on her third drink now. "I am so sorry that ye went through all that, but at least now... it is over. She can nae do anything to ye anymore."