Joe is the first born and real heir to the throne, but he doesn't want it. He's said all along that he wants his younger brother Dominic to be king. Duke Hagen de Gleis, the Queen's brother and Joe's uncle is the madman fighting Joe's brother Dominic for the throne. We haven't been properly introduced to the Duke yet. But it's the war between Joe's brother and the Duke that Joe wants to stop, by supporting his brother. I guess this is all about as clear as mud. Edited to say: Oh, thanks, Michelle. Did I speak too soon?
OK, I know Joe comes for Ania or I would not be speaking to you right now!!! Etienne is wrong. He just has to be ... :( We all posted at the same time!! It's pretty clear to me, Lynet. Joe is good, Dominic is a weiner.
OK, OK, Etienne is wrong. Sheesh. But it sure makes for a dramatic last line, doesn't it? LOL Edited a second time to say: Dominic is a weiner all right and I tried to make him look like one. Maybe more pictures later will make it more obvious.
my bad, I just figured one of Etienne's men betrayed Joe, because he barely escaped when Joe was captured, thats all because they were the one's that hauled off the money.
Years ago I worked hard to keep my anger under control and I have not for a long time allowed myself to act first and think later. And because as a young man I earned my reputation as a fighter, others rarely risked making me angry. Etienne and his men did not know me then and did not know me now. We had fought once, but they had reasoned among themselves that they had lost only because they were unprepared. This night they learned it made no difference. Maybe I was more angry with Joe than I will admit, even now, sitting here with you who care for him. He said he would not go without me but he broke that promise and he was gone, maybe even dead. I stared into the faces of those bandits and felt a foul darkness rise up from the very ground beneath my feet, engulfing me in feelings of frustration and anger more terrible than anything I'd known before. Release seemed inches away and took the form of Etienne. I grabbed two fistfuls of the front of his jacket and heaved him far over the table, across dishes and food. His men charged me, toppling chairs, throwing aside the table. Six men and Etienne, I fought them all. My armor protected me from their knives and fists. My own fists, encased in hard iron, connected solidly with any face that came within reach. For them, fortune smiled long enough to save them from broken necks but I cannot swear no other bones were broken in that melee. Beaten once more they gave up the fight and fell away, watching me closely with any eye that wasn't swollen shut. I grabbed Etienne by the arm and pulled him to his feet. "Where is Vassily?" I said. "Take me there." "With pleasure," he said, wiping a sleeve across his bloody lip. He looked around at the mess made of his hideout. "Clean this up," he snapped at his men. He pointed at one who was unconscious behind the upset table. "Him, too." Then I heard the sneer and the warning in his voice as he said, still speaking to his men, "and since I'm not going into Vassily myself, you can expect me back real soon." We walked out into the hot, damp night, and Etienne said to me, "Understand this, I warned him. King Dominic sees an enemy in every face, even in the face of his own mother, the Queen." "But you went anyway. And nearly got caught yourself, or so you say. If I find that he is really dead you know that I will be back for you." "You go into Vassily and you're a dead man, too, my friend. But suit yourself. I tell it exactly as it happened. I did not conspire with one brother to kill or imprison another. I only went along with Prince Konstantin's plan because of the gold. I can get a farm of my own now, and grow vegetables, and find a woman to marry." Then he stopped talking, thinking of his farm, I suppose, as we quickly saddled a couple of horses and headed down the road. Sure, in my days as a thief I had plans, too. Lots of plans. Emil knows, don't you, Emil. I am lucky there are no hangmen where I come from.
I'm just adding a couple more pictures. 1) Ironsides' return to the hideout. 2) Ironsides hearing about the capture of Joe 3) Ironsides attacking Etienne (This story is really getting violent, isn't it? ) And these two are very slightly premature--haven't written about getting to Vassily yet. 4) Ironsides and Etienne arrive at the walls of Vassily. 5) Another picture of Vassily.
What a very realistic looking castle. Looks a bit easier to play than the other one, not so big, but still very impressive. I feel like I could step into the picture.
Thank you. And I have so many pictures of the action within the castle I've even thought of posting a sequence of pictures without narrative. Doubt I'll be able to hold my tongue that long . However, while my oh-so-patient husband reads the paper and watches TV tonight... I will spin my yarn...:spin:
Goodie! You know, I was looking at a picture of Ania and I think she's quite lovely the way she is. She does have a rather large nose, so if you wanted to play with her look I'd say, put some blush on her that accents her cheeks and maybe a slightly darker lipstick. Try an updo or glasses to draw attention away from her nose as well. It's hard to say without experimenting, which you'll have to do. But I think she's quite nice the way she is. (Don't know if you were serious about your request for makeup tips, but thought I'd give you my two cents.)
Yes, I was perfectly serious about makeup tips for Ania. I've been taking the poor young woman to the mirror on regular occasion, trying out different hairdos and makeup. Actually, I like the way her sister Edith looks with the short curly hair and glasses but since they're identical rolleyes: because I didn't do the randomization business in CAS before Edith was born ) I have to be careful what I do with Ania. You're advice is very welcome. I'll play around with it tonight. (I'm at work and should be working.)
Ooh, don't you hate that? Olivia and Piper are the same person, too. And now Olivia's sons seem to be identical as well. Grrrr. Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing the results. I'm at work too so I'd better get back at it.
*Lynet is unable to hold her tongue or stop herself even when at work. Shhhh...and pictures will indeed be forthcoming tonight...* Ironsides stopped speaking for a few minutes and placed his metal hands on the table, fingers spread. His camera eye examined the heavily scratched and dented knuckles. Then it rose to survey his listeners, pausing on the face of Viola. He nodded slightly and continued his story, but it seemed as if he spoke only to her-- There is more than the blood that binds us to our family. There is the love, and it is as strong as the arms of the woman who held you as a babe close against her heart. If you go against that love then you are lost. That is why civil war is such a monstrous thing. It is always the story of brother fighting brother and it is the story of Joe and his brother. I did not know what I would find inside that castle at Vassily. I did not want to believe that one had killed the other but that is what Etienne believed and he had been there at Joe's arrest and had seen the face of Dominic. Etienne and I arrived when it was still light and we lay down in the scrub, watching the castle. It was the only structure in this shallow valley between low hills. There was no village up against its walls or anywhere in sight. I asked Joe why and he said that it had originally served as a hunting lodge for the nobility and that there had once been thick forests and large, wild animals. All of that was gone and the land itself was too stony for crops. The fortress, however, was large and impressive. And it was clear to me that Dominic or someone had added to its defenses because it did not suggest a hunting lodge in any way. Soldiers moved atop its walls and they were alert to everything on the bare ground around the castle but I decided to inspect those walls more closely while it was still light. I turned to Etienne, "You'd better get back to your men. They may be stealing your share of the gold." A smile spread wide on his bruised face. "No, they aren't. I brought it with me. But I would like to see their faces now as they sweat, looking for it and expecting my return at any moment." He scratched hard at his neck and chest. "I am done with lying on the ground in a nest of biting ants. There is a gully that runs near. We can get closer and I'll go with you as far as the walls. You'll want to wait until dark and then climb because the only way in is over the top. There are no tunnels." He laughed quietly, "I've spent years looking." "Years looking? Years digging would have been better spent." "Sweeter pickings elsewhere with less labor. No more talk as we are too close to the walls and sound carries to well. I will say only that if you find our Prince alive and are able to win your way free then you are welcome to stay with us again in the swamp." He shook my hand as left me there, "Although I am well covered with bruises from knowing you I am hoping against all hope that you succeed here because you are both better men than his brother."
After dark I climbed the wall and then climbed further to the top of a corner tower. I saw a great many soldiers, patroling and talking, on the walls and in the courtyard. They may have been alert to what happened outside the walls but not to what happened inside. Perhaps it is because that I, too, am in armor, that they did not notice me. I ran along the wall to the main gate and found stairs to the highest battlements above it. In that high tower I believed I would find Joe. I cannot tell you why I felt that way. It may only have been the attention paid to it by the soldiers, the way their eyes moved to look up at it. Once there I glanced over the parapet toward the great building that occupied most of the area inside the walls. It was well lit but I did not see anyone on the balconies. No one was around to see that I was here for Joe. Except for the guard. He discovered me standing there and started to call out but I struck him quickly and hard, leaving a dent in the throat of his helmet, and he collapsed. I went to the iron door, hoping to see Joe on the other side.
I find it difficult here to speak, to describe my feelings. I will only say that I saw Joe inside the tower room. He was alive and stood up from the cot when I whispered his name. With a force I did not even know that I possessed, and perhaps it was only because of my desperation to touch him to prove to myself that he was real, I broke the lock on the iron door and pulled it wide. Joe had only been in the hands of his brother for a couple of days but he looked terrible. It was clear he had suffered a great deal but no bones were broken and he was not too weak to run with me, to escape. I did not want him fighting, though. You run, I told him. I'll fight. You must escape. That's all that matters. We were not so lucky in getting away as I had been in finding him. We were seen. I leaped onto the soldier who tried to block our way. Joe hesitated but recognized that he was not fit enough to fight and so he ran as I had insisted. He explained later that it was one of the hardest things he had ever done, leaving me behind.
Dominic must have heard the shouting and the commotion because he was soon in the middle of it. The soldiers came from every direction. I fought them with all my strength and wit, as I had never fought for my life before. I wanted to survive. A soldier fell away, an opening appeared and I charged through, shoving them aside. I ran around the castle walls into the shadows, looking for Joe, and was almost brought down by a runaway cart. Someone was in it but I didn't know who at first because suddenly Joe was with me, grabbing my arm and pulling me down toward the gully. The soldiers were confused by the cart. The chased after it but it disappeared down the road faster than they in their heavy armor could keep up. "That," Joe said, "was Etienne. He'll meet us later, much further down the road. We'd better get going before those knights get their horses saddled."
