My Lady (Nirek & Cara)

Guest

Lady Caramarienne Florelle, Ward of the Clement's
Versailles, France
December 25, 1675

Caramarienne woke up the morning of her seven and ten name day with excitement in her chocolate eyes. She could barely think of anything else in the days prior to her birthday. She was becoming of eligible age to marry, that much she knew, which she often felt a foreboding sense of doom approaching at the idea of marrying. However, she pushed all that fear aside because today she asked for a request for her birthday leading up to the large ball to be held in her honor in the night; she requested that once her Knight returned, she be allowed unchaperoned time with him preferably in the gardens. Her Knight had taken a vow to protect her, so he counted as a chaperone, she added in hopefully.

Whenever Cara made requests, she was sure to only do so after being spoken to. She urged her mother to ask that she be allowed a request before her marriage. Her mother looked unsure, but still spoke to Lady Clement about it. When Lord Clement asked for her presence, and cajoled her into voicing her request, she kept her head down and her stance submissive so not to make him feel as if she were requesting too much or speaking out of turn. He asked, and granted her request. She gave him a small smile, thanked him far more than she would anyone else, bowed to him, and scurried off once dismissed.

Her servants cleaned her, dressed her efficiently, and had her ready and made pretty like other days. As she sat in at breakfast with the other members of the court, she ate only small bits and hid the rest in folds of her winter coat. The gardens were frosty and chilly, and she only hoped that her Knight would be suitably dressed. She left when she was given pardon too, gave a knowing smile to Elenore (who knew that the way Cara cared for her Knight was far too deep to just be of gratitude for protection) and headed back to her rooms to be changed into afternoon wear.

Her Knight would be arriving soon, and she couldn't help but want to look her best.

She couldn't pinpoint when she had first started to trust Nirek, but it might have been at the very beginning. Her older brother Joubert, a member of Lord Clement's army and heir to the Florelle fortune since their father passed away at the beginning of the war while her mother died on the birthing bed, suggested Nirek be her Knight as the war grew on. She was only two and ten name days, too young to know anything about the spoils of war and the dangers it brought. All she knew was that Nirek was around more often than not.

And because he was her companion quite often, she learned to trust him. And soon she felt comfortable speaking to him. Most days, as a proper Lady she was expected to only speak when spoken too; that her mouth was of no real importance and her opinion of less importance than of a male child's. She understood this, even if it stung the slightest. That sting always disappeared whenever he was around because he let her speak; she could say whatever around him.

He was a friend; a real and good albeit handsome and devilishly talented and brilliant man as well.

As Cara grew older and more joined the Clement brigade, Nirek was sent away often on more missions for his 'certain skills' which often left her a feeling of loneliness. Whenever he returned, she made sure to sneak him a letter of all he missed in Court. They were just small vignettes or summaries of factoids and strange goings, and she never expected a reply; never needed one. It just felt good to practice writing, something her tutors weren't too keen on letting her do. It was merely because why would she need to write? Who was she talking to that was not in court? They asked her skeptically, she merely lowered her head at those times and forced out an apology.

But as mid-day approached, Cara felt her heart begin to race in anxious excitement because finally, after so long...

Her knight was coming home to her.

She waited at the Gardens with her substitute knight, her heart pounding against her ribcage with her hands folded in her lap as she sat on a bench facing the white wonderland; he was to come here as soon as he arrived, she remember Lord Clement telling her. Once she heard heavy foot-steps, she turned with a happy gleam on her eyes, and a sincerely warm smile on her face as she stood up in respect; although he towered over quite a bit. She gave a nod to her substitute in acquiesce to take leave.

"Ser Kapoor," she greeted him lifting her hand up for him to take. "Shall we take to the gardens?"

Guest

My Lady (Nirek & Cara) Aditya-narayan-210_052912045847

Ser Nirek Kapoor
Member of the Clement Bodyguard

Nirek had joined the Clement guard at the age of sixteen. In the eyes of the law, he was only just a man, but in the eyes of anyone who knew him, Nirek had been a man since his eighth name day. On that day, he had lost his parents in an attack on the small village from a neighboring village. The only reason Nirek had survived the attack was because he had been down by the river, collecting water for that evening's dinner.

As the huts in which he'd grown up had burnt to the ground before him, Nirek had turned away from his home, and kept walking until he found the see. From there, he bargained his way across Europe, until he reached France. He did not know the language, nor where he was, but the boy had worked through signing what he wanted, and had been taken in by a nice enough man as a smith.

It had taken Nirek two whole years to master the tongue of the man he worked for. And longer still to work out the slurs of which he was being called by the man in question.

On his fourteenth name day, Nirek had spotted the Clement forces riding in to Lyon - the city that the Noir's held council at. Nirek had been fascinated by the black and gold armour of the liege lord of the Clement family, and had left his employ, following the army back to Versailles. The day after his name day, Nirek had signed up for the Clement army.

They had offered him minimal armour, then. A sword - which he had denied in place of a spear instead. He'd used a spear to fish when he was a boy in a small village, and knew of the damage he could cause with the pole instead. The next two years had gone swiftly, a number of jumps in ranks, until he had finally been brought before some lord that he didn't know and offered a place on the inner bodyguard of the family.

His 'different approach to combat' had been deemed 'inspiring', but Nirek had seen through the distasteful look of the others. His skin colour had been an issue from day one, but Nirek worked on the idea that if you did not listen to the comments, they could not hurt you. And how could you be hurt when your employ had the most exquisite beauty in the kingdom?

Meeting Caramarienne, four years ago now, had not been the problem. She had been a girl of no more than twelve name days, maybe thirteen, and whilst she was pretty, Nirek knew better than to look at her as anything but his employer.

Apart from the years had not kept Caramarienne from blossoming in to an unspeakable beauty.

Nirek had listened to her again and again throughout the years, not really offering anything more than an ear to talk at. He was her protector, and her confidant, but most of all, he was her friend. As a bodyguard, it was not one of his duties, but Nirek had befriended the witch anyway. The feeling was mutual, it seemed, especially with each letter that came on his return.

Except... he had no idea what they said.

Whilst Nirek could talk fluently in French (still with a very strong accent, though), he could neither read it, or write. Caramarienne had never asked of the contents of the letter, which meant he had never had to make comments on them. Perhaps she knew, or perhaps he wasn't supposed to answer, either way, Nirek had kept his secret for years now, and he did not know how to tell her of his deceit from those years.

Especially as another letter had arrived that afternoon. He'd only just returned to his chambers from the field, a small ambush had been his to take part in, and it had gone successfully, except for the three spiked knife that had come to his cheek. The wound had been cared for, of course, the Clement household was full of doctors, and it would heal except for a light scar. Shrugging his quiver from his body, and leaning his spear against the wall, Nirek was about to change from his uniform when the letter from Caramarienne arrived.

"Your presence is requested, in the gardens, ser." The messenger explained, leaving Nirek free from the worry of not being able to tell who the note was from - though the familiar shapes on the front gave him a clue the next moment. Tucking the piece of paper in to the inside of his robe, Nirek pulled his bow from his shoulder, and secured his sword in to place. One quick glance in the mirror to check he was not out of place, and Nirek was on his way to the gardens as instructed.

Upon reaching the gardens, he was not surprised to see Caramarienne. Only it was with great apprehension that he continued to her side, because he remembered now as to what day it was. His chest gave a small lurch as he realised he had not gotten his lady a present for the occasion, but he knew he could make it up to her. Tomorrow.

Giving a sharp nod to the substitute guard as he approached, Nirek gave Caramariene a bow, taking her hand as was offered and 'helping' her to her feet. An act, of the higher classes, that he had learnt very quickly to adhere to so that he could keep his job at the Palace. "My lady." Nirek responded, his words clear despite his social standing, because he made sure to pronounce everything correctly around Caramarienne.

"As you wish, my lady." He added to her question, keeping his hand out for hers. It would not do well for him to let go of her, no, such decisions were left to those who had control, and that would never be him. "Happy name day, my lady. I must apologise, for I did not have time to get you a gift. My travels were not kind enough to leave me with time for personal errands." He explained solemnly.

Not knowing what more to add, Nirek fell in to silence, waiting for Caramarienne to take the lead, as usual.

Guest

Caramarienne couldn’t imagine life without Nirek.

Or rather, she couldn’t remember life before him. She was young when they met, but she was aware that some girls her age were already marrying. It was the girls that couldn’t afford their youth and ‘purpose’ to slip from them. Lady Clement assured her otherwise: when girls of a regal status wanted to marry they wanted to. Though they weren’t to marry any time past the years of twenty. By that point if they weren’t married they were to accept life in a monastery or move away to save heathens. At the age of three and ten, Cara didn’t know much about the world.

Joubert assured her that it was only the best in guard (that a Florelle needed) for Caramarienne once she debuted into society. After he met Nirek, and after she met Nirek; once the initial curious wonderment of his strange clothing and race caused a flurry of questions to her forebrain, Joubert sat her down and let her ask away. First, why couldn’t Joubert just be her Knight? Why did Ser Kapoor wear such strange clothing? How old was he? Joubert laughed and took it in stride.

“I cannot be your Knight, for I am too quintessential to the army of Clement; we are theirs first and foremost before our own’s.” She made a sour face at that, to which he laughed and lamented: “All for good reason, sweet Lady sister, for you see once this war is over, and I forsee it ending in close years, we will be safe from all. The Clement’s have the power to protect us. They’ll keep us from harm. And it’s just you and I, remember, sweet Lady sister.” And she did. He went on to answer her next questions by explaining Nirek’s backstory.

She cried almost buckets knowing what he’d been through. It didn’t feel fair that the world was so ugly outside of Versailles. Still, she wouldn’t want to leave Versailles willingly. She felt a strong sense of empathy for him from that day forward, always trying her hardest to be as kind as possible.

As soon as Cara saw him she felt a deep sense of sadness as she saw his face. He was hurt and she wanted desperately to make sure he was alright, but she held her tongue. She was pleased by his touch on hers, and continued until they were further into the gardens. Once they were a safe enough distance by some petunias or other flower Cara gave no care for, her expression immediately changed to worry.

“Are you alright, my Knight?” She lifted her hand to his cheek, concern painting her every feature, “only temporary pain, yes?” She asked, with furrowed brows. “Worry not about my name day or a gift. Your very presence is my gift from Lord Clement and a marvelous gift indeed.” She smiled graciously then, letting her hand fall as her expression grew excited.

“Did you read my letter? The usual messenger is ill and I’ve not a chance to see how this new one fares, did the news reach you safely?” She asked, bright eyes and ecstatic. It was true, Ser Joeff, a lowly knight of perhaps the smallest decree was delivering her letters to Nirek and it made her nervous. Ser Arys was of a higher experience and did things efficiently and secretively. She hated to think that Ser Jeoff messed up; in all truth, she would react quite negatively and have him fired if it were in her power.

Guest

The day he'd been assigned to guard Caramarienne Florelle had been both an unbeatable honour, and something of a let down. Guard duties were not what Nirek had signed up for, and he'd thought that he was becoming a servant, a dog trained to fend off enemies from it's master. But with the guard duties, he'd been assured that he would still see action too. He'd been given copious amounts of gold over the years, not that Nirek knew what to do with it.

He had been fed and clothed by the Clements ever since his new station, and thus the money had been saved. Nirek didn't know, exactly, how much money he had, it was simply stored under his bed, under a loose floor board for later.

But, over the years, the let down that he'd first seen with the job, had faded, because he'd acquired something he'd never had in anyone else in his life, a friend. He could trust Caramarienne, he was sure of that much. Though, of course, he had no secrets that needed to be trusted in her.

As they walked deeper in to the gardens, Nirek's free hand moved to rest on the pommel of his sword, eyes never still as he checked and checked again the gardens. The grounds were relatively safe, but Nirek would not leave anything to chance. It wasn't his life that he was worried about, no, only the life of the lady walking beside him.

The moment Caramarienne turned to him beside the flower beds - Nirek had no background in the plants that grew in France, so they were all simply flowers to him - the worry was evident on her features. It pained him to see the worry, for the scratch was simply that. With her finger tips on his skin, Nirek gave her a small smile, Cara had always been so gentle. "It is but a flesh wound, my lady, no pain. The other man..." He paused, strictly speaking they weren't supposed to talk about the war with the ladies, they were deemed delicate beings - at least by the other men. But Caramarienne was much different from the air head ladies he knew. "Well, he came off much worse. It's but a mark of remembrance." He decided, his smile growing in that moment.

His presence being a gift from his liege lord could be taken as one of two things - one, that he was property that could be moved from one place or another, or, two, that he was actually somebody Caramarienne wished to spend the day with. Selfishly, he decided to believe the latter, and not worry about the rest. "All the same, my lady, I promise I will get you a gift. Today is a big name day for you."

With the question of the letter, Nirek forced a smile on to his lips. "It sounds like things have been very busy in my absence. I'm only sorry I couldn't be here to see if with you, my lady." Nirek replied, his usual reply by now because the lie about being able to read was too long in the making now, and he really didn't want Cara to distrust him. Or even send him away. "And the new messenger did his job, the letter was unopened, as always." He explained, adding mentally that all of them were still unopened.

"But, I'm sure you didn't summon me on your name day to talk about palace trivia." Nirek prompted, hoping to keep away from the letter's contents as much as possible. In truth, the letter was not as interesting as watching, listening and talking to Caramarienne, so he couldn't say he minded not knowing what was in the letters.

But then, that was the beauty of ignorance, he could pretend that anything written in the letters was not as important as Caramarienne's words, because he simply didn't know what was in there to start with.

» Pleasure to See Safe (Nirek & Cara)
» Through the Window Glass (Nirek & Cara)
» The Magic of Money (Nirek + Cara)
» Caramarienne "Cara" Florelle
» Obligatory (Jacques & Cara)