Chastershire

Anna would hear, "My wife died four months ago,"  and her heart would break for him. She just wanted to keep telling him that she was sorry, but there was only so much that words could say and she'd already tortured and killed the bitch that had caused him that amount of pain. What else could she really do?  Right, she could try not to get into his personal space, while drunk or sober. Hopefully she remembered that little note to self when she woke up. After Aodh would leave, she would climb out of bed to snatch up her two daggers, her sword, and her staff, and then return to the bed with her weapons. She would climb back under the covers and sleep with her weapons nearby. It was the only way she could sleep right now.

-*-


Anna would wake up with a massive headache and not much memory of the night before. She grimaced as she recalled attacking Aodh, and that his wife had died only four months ago, and that she needed to never drink again or be too close to men.  She would get out of bed and discover her clothes were clean, so she would pack them and put on another pair of similiar clothing that she found in her satchel. She rubbed her forehead slightly and pulled the top half of her hair back into a ponytail while the under layer still hung loosely about her face and kept her tattoo covered.  Once she strapped her weapons upon her person, as well as the satchel, she would exit the guest chambers and start to wander around.  She had been too intoxicated last night to keep track of how she had gotten from the dining room to the guest chambers, so this might take awhile.... though the first passing servant, she had every intention of asking them for directions for breakfast.

Anna would stare at Aodh when he found her, and then offered breakfast and an easy way of getting there.  She would fall into step a few paces behind him, the better to learn her way about the place by picking up on landmarks and such."Mornin'," she would say politely in reply.  It was actually a bit painful to see him this morning, since she didn't remember most of what had happened and what she did remember wasn't exactly pretty. Though her facial expression never changed once. "P'rhaps somethin' for the drums in m' head? If'n ye have anythin', please," she would inquire politely.

She would sigh softly, still following his back. She could not shake the feeling that somehow she had seriously messed up. "I... do nae remember a lot, but I am sorry about last night. It will nae happen again." It was easy to stare at his back while she followed him, though that is not to say that she did not pay attention to the details around her. On the contrary, she was filing everything away to memory, now that she was no longer intoxicated.  She reached a hand up to rub her forehead once more, finally letting a grimace overtake her features briefly..

Anna would let a frown take over her lips when he chuckled at her, and she would pointedly direct her frown at him. He could laugh all he wanted, she probably deserved it, but that did not mean that she had to like it. Though he then said he had something to fix her problem and she would let the edges of her lips tease into the beginnings of a smile. "Ach, if ye have something for it, then m' new best friend ye will be." Her tone was light and calm and strangely lacking her usual teasing tone, though perhaps that could be chalked up to her hangover. She refused to ask about what silly, or horribly inappropriate things, she had done while intoxicated. The way she felt this morning, she was sure it would be better if she did not know and just leave it at an apology,and  keep her distance for awhile. That is the tentative plan after catching up on some much needed rest before leaving to head back to the Guard.  She would sit where he offered her a seat, though it would feel like a strange gesture to her. Wasn't that only something you did for a Lady? She did not mention it though, as she was a guest and had caused enough trouble with her choice of getting drunk for the first time in ages.

Anna watched the servants put the food on the table, all before Aodh moved back over towards her again and offered her salvation from the pain in her head. "Can nae be worse than whiskey," she cracked dryly, lifting the concotion of herbs in his direction as if to toast him before downing it like a large shot of something unpleasant. Thankfully he had laced it with mint, which made it easy to go down. Though she still grimaced a bit. She eyed the food, but her stomach had other ideas, so she closed her eyes briefly and leaned back in her chair. She decided to let her head and stomach both calm down a bit before trying anything, so she would murmer, "After you. I just need a few minutes."

Anna would take that time to focus on her breathing: slowly and deeply, as if in meditation.

A smirk would tease at her lips after focusing on her breathing, and finally she would open her eyes.  "Aye, I suppose ye already were, but this will seal the deal," she would say in amusement and then she would wink at him. "Fastest elevation to best friend status, ever," she would say with a soft chuckle.  He had put up with her being intoxicated and she'd killed and tortured an evil woman for him. Indeed, she probably had given him a strange look when he pulled out the chair for her, such was the level of her reaction to it, and she had not noticed that. She might not be intoxicated anymore, but she was still recovering, in her defense.  She would wrinkle her nose slightly, her stomach already starting to ease, but she would reach for a plain water to try and get rid of the horrid taste of the concoction he had given her.  After drinking some water she would shake her head, "Positively foul, though I think it is starting to help." She would eye the food laid out and then finally start putting stuff onto her plate.  She would notice his tentative smile, followed by a shrug, and one of her eyebrows would raise in question.  For herself, she was going to ignore whatever happened after she became drunk since she didn't remember most of it anyway, thankfully, though at first it had been painful to look at him, and his pretty face, after realizing she had probably been a complete idiot.  She noticed that she made him laugh and that he also seemed a bit awkard about her at the same time.  She pursed her lips thoughtfully and considered that it probably had something to do with the fact that his wife and unborn child had only been dead for four months, or that she had done something last night that had caused it.


Anna started to eat a little bit, and very slowly, so as to not get sick from the combination of the horrible hangover drink, the alcohol, and the food. She considered thoughtfully, then asked, "Do ye have a place around here for sparring? An' if ye do, do ye have like, a dummy set up or only just other people to work with?" She would glance at him curiously while she nibbled at the food before her.  "I would also like to take Nightshade out for a run later, let 'im stretch out his legs. Hoping yer horrid drink will have me feelin' up to that after awhile."  Yeah, she was so not ready to mount her stallion with her queasy stomach, even though she was starting to feel better already.  She figured a good sparring work out would help her to feel more like herself. She wanted to ask what a normal day for him was like, but did not want to remind him of the title that he was not fond of, so she might save that question for later.

When he laughed at her comment, Anna would just smile. Then he tried to look innocent, and not believing him for a moment, she would reach out and lightly punch his forearm in a playful manner. "Brat," she would accuse him. Though the foul tonic was helping her feel better, in any case.  "Hmmm, I think I'll go there after breakfast, if that's alright with you. I will try to not bloody too many of yer people," she would say with a fierce grin, already starting to feel more like herself. She would eat a bit more, still slowly though.  She would tilt her head slightly and look to him. "I am nae trying to take up all of yer time, though I would feel much more comfortable riding with ye.  No offense t' yer people, I jus'..." she trailed off, not sure how to explain it. So she ended up shrugging, which seemed a popular gesture of his. "Jus' do, I guess," she finished lamely.She would then work on finishing her plate of food. "Er, has everyone here heard of me?" she asked a bit more quietly. She was wanting to know if she could pull her hair back, or if she had to leave it down to hide her tattoo.  She was not used to anyone knowing of her, but since meeting Aodh she was a bit more self concious about that now. She would much rather it not get back to her knights where she had been as they would be sure to tease her for spending time with an Earl.

Anna would laugh when he told her that they could use some roughing up and then asked her to try and not kill anyone. She would offer him one of her fierce grins, "Alright, but only 'cause ye asked so nicely."  When he said that he would be the only one, she would nod and then finished her meal. Then she would pull her hair back into a ponytail, revealing her teardrop tattoo. It was easier to spar without hair in your face, after all. She would chuckle softly at his comment of beating up on his men, as she intended to do exactly that.  She was definitely feeling like herself now. Though she would shake her head, "G'luck, Aodh. I think ye will need it more than I," she said in a teasing tone.  She would then stand and stretch, checking her sword at her hip and putting her staff once more on her back.  "Until we ride," she would nod to him with another of her fierce grins.


Then Anna would make her way to the area he had indicated for sparring. She would watch the few men that were already practicing and beating up on each other. She would retrieve her staff from her back, holding it like it was an extension of herself.  She did not see any other women present, and a fierce grin teased at her lips. They would underestimate her, that was a given.  In fact, after she was watching for a few moments, a man said, "Well, look what we have here. A girl that wants to play at being  a man."  Anna merely smirked and then walked forward, her eyes alight with excitement. She would incline her head to her staff and challenge, "My stick is bigger than yours."  Some of the other men would stop and laugh at her forward comment, but she was used to much worse talk being that she trained knights.  The man grumbled, then reached for a staff of his own.  Anna would grin again, "Challenge accepted!" She would then proceed to "roughen him up" a bit.

The first man that Anna had fought was not made to bleed, though he probably sustained the most bruises as well as a black eye. After that, the others were a bit hesitant to engage her, though at the same time their egos were raging in full force and each man wanted to be the first one to 'best' the woman in combat. Much like Aodh had said, none recognized that they were engaging the Captain of the Western Guard.  Even though Anna had her sword at her hip, it did not hinder her movements in the slightest, and she continued to use her staff, as it was her preferred weapon for sparring. There were less accidents with it, and she was less likely to cause someone to bleed if she was using her staff as opposed to her sword.

Anna was working up a sweat, and at one point she was sparring with more than one man at a time. Feeling much more comfortable now as she forgot everything else but the surge of her staff against another, or her movement to avoid a swing and press into another man's comfort zone and trip him. She lived for moments like this, with the adrenaline and sweat coursing through her. For a really short time it helped her to forget the loss of her father and she could almost imagine him watching her, like he used to do when she trained. Often times after a sparring session he would offer advice.

By the time Aodh returned, she had lost count of how many of his men she had 'roughened up' with bruises. For her own part, she had a few bruises, but not anything that bothered her over much. She was currently engaging two men, though one of them did not seem much more than a boy.  Her blue eyes flicked to the boy and she barked out, "Nae, hold yer weapon a little closer, make sure yer grip is firm and loose at the same time. Ye want a fluid movement but ye do nae want an opponent to knock it outta yer hands." While she was talking to the boy, the man swung at her and she knocked her staff into his without even looking, preventing him from landing a hit on her, then she whipped her staff around and followed her movement up with tapping the man's knee. She would then offer a fierce grin to the older man, "Better luck nex' time, darlin'." She would then approach the boy and swing her staff against his, then she would nod approvingly. "Much better."  The boy would smile brightly at her, appreciating the training she was sharing - after all, this woman had continued to beat every man she had faced so far. The older man huffed and shook his head in disbelief,  and it was clear that he was thinking, "Who is this woman?"  Anna would crook a finger, her grin expanding, "Next?" she would ask with a bit of a cocky tone.