Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Elves of All Kinds (1x1)

They ended up leaving the market with a brush, a few different colored ribbons, proper fitting shoes (a pair for work and a pair to go with the more elegant dresses Arthur ordered), and a few other necessities. Once or twice during their shopping trip, Belle would spot someone she seemed to recognize, and would draw closer to Arthur's side, keeping her gaze averted. In public, she was a bit more jumpy than in private. The reason? Who knew. But as the day wore on she became more and more wary of the people around them, her calm expression growing anxious. But she never said a word, just following Arthur to wherever they needed to go in the marketplace.

Any time she drew near to him, Arthur put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes glancing around for her nervousness. This was her first public appearance, and so he had to stake his claim on her to make sure that all knew that she was his. He knew an elf like her would get attention, so he had to make sure that it was obvious that she belonged to him. When they had bought all they needed, he went to a nice little bakery and let her pick something out. "We need to get some weight back on you, it might as well taste good. Besides, I need to have an excuse to have one myself or Mary will scold me." he explained, chuckling softly as he picked out his own pastry. Once she had hers, he went to the carriage with her to return home.

Belle was practically salivating at the sight and smell of all the baked goods. She tried not to look too eager, but she almost immediately picked out a sweet roll drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar. As they sat in the carriage, she did her best to eat slowly, even though it was so delicious she wanted to devour it. After a bit, she spoke up quietly. "When I was a child, the festivals in my village would have apple pastries," she said. "My brother is blind, and my cousin would often try to take his... But he has a sixth sense about that sort of thing, and she would always get a good whack to the hand with his walking stick. She never stopped doing it, though, and he never scolded her beyond a quick reprimand." She laughed softly and went back to nibbling on her pastry, before glancing out the window a bit longingly.

Arthur was admittedly a bit surprised at the personal bit of information from Belle. She didn't seem like the kind who was very talkative about her home. He just gave a slight nod. He didn't pry into the lives of his servants because most of them had bad pasts. But, he supposed, behind every bad past was a little bit of good first. When they arrived, he got out and went into the house with her.

Belle offered nothing else about the subject, and instead was silent as usual. As they walked inside, she glanced up briefly at Arthur. "Thank you sir," she said hesitantly. "For these gifts. And the pastry. I liked it very much." Ah, there was her making sure he knew she was grateful.

Arthur nodded slightly. "You are welcome, Belle. You can go ask if there is anything you can help out with around the house. If not..come see me. I will be in my study, just knock upon the door." He left her then and went to his study, sitting down and thinking. She was interesting. Her backstory was becoming more and more curious. He knew poking into it could be dangerous, but he was indeed very curious.

Belle nodded, dipping her head before going off to find work for herself. She only had to work for a little bit until the house's work was finished, due to the woman whose name I cannot remember at the moment's work while Belle was gone. She came to his study, knocking lightly on the door before quietly opening it. "I'm finished with my work," she explained gently.

(I forgot too Let's go with Mary)

Arthur looked up from his work as she came in and he nodded slightly. "Good, good. Come in, sit down." He gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk and went back to what he was doing. He seemed to be signing documents, glasses perched on his nose. After a few more signatures, he put the quill pen aside and wrapped up the documents, setting them on the one side of his desk that had others like it. He took off his glasses and slowly set them down on the desk, looking at her. "Tell me of yourself, Belle."

{Sounds good xD}

Belle sat down in the chair he gestured to, and stayed quiet until he was finished. But at his question, she looked a bit confused. "Oh. Well... What exactly do you wish to know? I'm quite a bit older than I appear, so I wouldn't be summing up just a decade or two."

Arthur considered this clarification, and he 'hmm'ed softly. "Well, before you got captured. Let's start there. Tell me about yourself and your life before you got captured, hm?" He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, fingers threaded together, his hands hiding his mouth as he leaned it against them. His eyes simply watched her. Not judging, but inquisitive.

"Let me see..." Belle was quiet for a few moments. "I grew up in a natural elf village. My father is the chieftain. My mother, though, is a proper elf. They married out of an agreement to ally their two villages together. Ah... I have an older brother, but I am my parents' firstborn. My brother... He's a half-elf. During a war while my mother was pregnant with me, they found my brother stealing supplies. Since he was blind and alone, my mother took him in, and when my father returned from battle they decided to adopt him as they own. I would say that he looks a bit older than you know, but he's fourty years older than I am." She cleared her throat. "As for me... My mother was injured during the war when she did not yet know she was pregnant with me. As a result, my lungs never fully developed, I suppose. My family would often go to the sea to enhance my breathing, but always during winter I have terrible boughts of illness because of it. And... My mother taught me how to sing. She said I was born to sing, even with my lung problems. For some reason I can breath properly when I breathe to sing. It...doesn't quite make sense to me, but I'm glad it's so."

Arthur listened quietly to her story, and it was most unusual! A natural elf and a proper elf married, adopting a child, having a child. An injury during pregnancy certainly would harm the baby. He nodded slightly a little bit throughout the story here and there. It made sense that those would be the difficult times for her. But the mention of singing made him pause and lift a brow. Well, that was interesting. "...I see. Intriguing. Go on." He gave his hand a slight wave to encourage her to continue.

Belle took a breath. "There was a war, some sixty years ago. Humans always seemed to be lurking about the forest surrounding our home. My father is extremely wary of them, but back them he had tried to make peace. But when they came to sign a treaty, they betrayed him and ransacked our village. They... They burned down our village and stole everything valuable. I was very young at the time, just a child. My mother tried to hide me away safely, but while she was out fighting, humans came into our home and found my hiding place... So they took me as prisoner to sell. I wasn't the only one taken from my village, and there were others with me for a while... But after I was sold to my first master, I never saw them again, and I haven't heard of them or returned home since that day the village was ransacked." She shifted uncomfortably, looking down at her lap.

Arthur considered this information silently, and it would be a few moments before he spoke. "So you don't know if your parents are alive or not." he concluded calmly. After all, she hadn't seen them die, but yet there had been a battle when she was stolen away. He leaned back and pulled his hands apart, opening a drawer and sifting through a few scrolls. He finally pulled one out and opened it, spreading it out on the desk as best he could with the other things there. It was a map. Arthur looked over it calmly, his eyes scanning, careful and calculated. "It appears I have my work cut out for me..." he mumbled to himself. He stood up and stretched. "Well, houses are boring, Belle. They're just fancy prisons. So we'll be taking a journey." He rolled up the map and leaned over to tap her on the head with it lightly. "Go get packed, we'll be leaving first thing in the morning."

Belle perked up curiously, obviously confused. "A journey, sir?" She blinked at the tap on her head, and she stood as well. "A journey where?" It didn't even cross her mind that he might be taking her home. She had lived with humans far too long to expect such kindness, even out of such a kind man as Master Arthur.

Arthur turned suddenly and gave her a wide smile. "An exploration! An adventure!" He lifted the map proudly, then left the room. "Mary! Mary, I want my things packed immediately, Belle and I are going to the villages!" He walked down the hall, and Mary stopped by the door, staring at him. "Why, what in the world has gotten into him? He swore he'd never return there..." She glanced in at Belle. "Dear? Are you alright?" She glanced back to where Arthur had walked off. "...it's unusual to see him in such excitement. He's been so solemn with business, nearly all the time."

Belle blinked, pulling her braid over her shoulder to fiddle with. She looked at Mary. "I... I don't know. He just suddenly decided we were leaving..." She came to Mary. "...he doesn't mean... elf villages, does he? Has he...been there before?" She watched the woman curiously.

Mary gestured for the girl to follow her, and nodded. "Yes, of course he does. What other kind of villages are there? Come now, let's get you ready to leave too. He's certainly taking you with him." She walked up to Belle's room and nodded. "Yes, long ago as a child. His father went there, and Master Arthur went with him. Never again. He swore off elven villages. I don't know what could have possibly gotten into him to go back now..."

Belle quieted as they walked. "What happened to make him do that?" she asked, as she moved to begin packing her clothes. "I know relations between humans and elves are strained, but all aggression I've ever seen has come from humans."

Mary glanced at the girl for a few long moments, debating on whether to tell her or not. "His father was a general. A strong man, with his own little army. He attacked the villages of natural elves, saying that they were barbarians. He wanted Master Arthur to follow in his footsteps, and so one day he took young master Arthur with him on an attack. The young master was so horrified by the events that he swore to never lift a sword in his life."