675-08-23 - Playing Games

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Playing Games
Summary: Jarvis Bainsworth has a talk with Princess Barbeta Brais, and questions her about her 'odd handmaiden'.
Who: Jarvis Bainsworth and Barbeta Brais
References: re:Esther
When: August 23rd, 675, after the small group has left on their mission to the North.
Related Logs: 675-08-23 - Horse Without Rider and others!
Date of RP: 27/08/2014
Where: Jarvis Bainsworth's Office - Mergorand Castle, Beresgond, Two Rivers
Room Desc: In the scene set


It is already afternoon when a servant, that had been positioned in the courtyard to wait for Princess Barbeta's return from whatever diversion she had departed for earlier, finally can complete the task assigned to him. Stepping closer to the younger Brais princess, the young man will offer a deep bow, and deliver the message taht Lord Jarvis Bainsworth would be honoured to receive her in his office as soon as she could be available.

When Barbeta arrives, after a sufficient amount of time to get out of her riding clothes and into some more proper attire, the man seated behind that huge desk will rise; a desk, on top of which piles of parchments, scattered books and maps create a chaos Lord Jarvis himself seems little worried about. "Your highness," the man greets with a bow, his manner polite and even a touch friendly, judging from the faint smile curling his lips. "How amiable of you to follow my invitation this swiftly. I hope your little excursion has proven to be quite diverting?" His hand gestures towards the chair opposite of him, and he smiles. "Pray have a seat. Would you like some refreshment? A glass of wine perhaps?" The pale grey eyes study the princess most attentively, as if he were assessing her in some unobtrusive manner. Gone is the light irritation on his part that had been obvious on their previous encounter in the morning.

Barbeta changed her clothes indeed. She took as much time as she was in the need of. The girl was not in a hurry to the man, who was quite rude to ger earlier. At least she understood his behaviour as rudeness. So, when she comes in, she once again looks more like a princess than just a simple hunter. Her black gown fits closely to the body until the midhip and then widens gradually to the hem. The neckline is shaped like the top half of a heart, stressing out her young forms. The wide and posh silver necklace attracts the gaze to her chest even more. The black as a burned stump stone is inlaid in the middle of the necklace.

The young Princess does not take a seat. She just steps closer to the chair and places her pale hands on the back of it. The girl starts tapping with her fingers idly on the wood, "So, you want to speak with me now? Or you decided to apologies for treating me like a child earlier?" Princess raises a brow and studies the man in front of her.

Her guards were left outside, but her handmaiden from the Kingdom of the Golden Lion came inside, and remains close to the exit.

The eyes of Lord Bainsworth narrow a tad, a bit of amusement dancing in his eyes as he shakes his head ever so slightly. "I want to speak to you, your highness, yes. But not on the matter you obviously expect, but another... So, with all due respect, you /are/ a child, seventeen years of age still, and I answer to Lord Urson Istivean and your father the King alone, so... forgive me for having my little secrets. And keeping them." He chuckles almost apologetically, whilst offering no apology whatsoever. "No, this concerns another matter, that occurred shortly after you had left. You may have seen the rider and the horse that was brought into the courtyard, while you rode out?"

Even if there was a smile in Barbeta's features, it fades quickly, it fades like stolen by a very talented thief. She withdraws a bit from the chair, clasps her hands on abdomen and straightens, raising her chin haughtily and even frowning. "This child is already of an age and can be married off. Doesn't that make me an adult? I definitely have to speak with my father about your manners..." Then she hears the question, the girl just shakes her head, "I didn't see them. Likely, as a child, I was too distracted by butterflies around me..." It is hard to tell if she actually didn't see the riders, or she won't speak so easily with the man in front her.

Her comment will be waved off with a slightly impatient gesture, when Lord Jarvis shakes his head again. "No, definitely not," he replies, before he studies her as she replies to his question. A slightly distracted nod the reaction to her explanation, which he obviously does not take as a jest. "Ah, yes, probably," he agrees, rolling his eyes ever so slightly. "Well. However, a horse without a rider has been recovered, it came from the North and was heading towards the castle. A brown horse, not a very remarkable one, but... the stableboy mentioned it belonged to 'an odd handmaiden of Princess Barbeta'. At least he said something of that kind." His pale grey eyes suddenly come to linger again on the princess and he studies her most attentively. "Do you have a handmaiden that has gone missing?"

Barbeta listens for the man not moving. Even when she hears his words and questions, she does not start moving. It may look like she is not breathing too. Though, the anger is obvious in her eyes. Likely, she is still more worried about the man's manners than the burning question about the horse.

It takes some time, before the girl answers, "My handmaiden is my problem. But I will be more polite than you and I will answer. My handmaiden is not missing. She went to pay a visit for her friends or siblings, or the woman, who took care of her, when she was a child. I do not remember who was it exactly. Though, that person was sick or something like that. Didn't have anyone to help out. So, I allowed her to leave. She will be back."

The Bainsworth will make note of the anger but does not look too troubled by it. "Your handmaiden is your problem, your highness?", he echoes with light amusement. "You are not worried that her horse returns without her? That the horse has some minor injuries? Just tell me, where was it your handmaiden was heading? As you are such a responsible adult, I am sure you can easily give a reply to my question? Where did your handmaiden go? Was it some kind of village, and if so, which one?" A sparkle has entered his gaze as he looks at her, with a slightly challenging glare, his lips curled into a teasing smile.

"Yes, I am not worried, because I do not choose these silly pretty handmaidens for myself. My handmaidens perfectly know how to use arrows, blades or even axes. That is why I am not worried. Her stud came back home. That means, she will come back here soon too. I would be more worried, if her stud wouldn't come back. It's not the first time. She was used to load her stud with lots of things and send him home,while she had some more business to do. So, it is not a first time. There is just one difference. Usually her horse came back from our city and surrounding areas. Now it came back from the North. I can't tell you exactly, where that village is. I don't know. Is that all? I have more urgent matters to deal with. Esther will come back."

"Now that doesn't sound like the typical handmaiden to me," Jarvis comments dryly. "The kind that shoots arrows. Aren't you worried that she may have been killed by bandits, or worse?" His brows are raised, pale grey eyes looking at her, studying her attentively. "Your lack of worry for your handmaiden does strike me as odd indeed." The name is noted, as the light flicker in his eyes clearly shows. "So, Esther is her name. And her friend lives in Granville?" The tone of his voice is flat, without sentiment, while Lord Jarvis Bainsworth seems to enjoy this game of questions and answers quite a bit. Despite or maybe even because of Barbeta's light irritation?

"I am not worried, because I trust in her talents," the young Princess answers, "Yes. Her village is somewhere in the north. I already said, that I do not know any details. I just can recommend, that you would forget this horse for a few days. If Esther won't show up in four days, then you can become worried. But now... Well..." She offers a polite nod for the man, "Do what you think you want to do. But I am sure, that there are more urgent matters. Talking about these matters, if you will excuse me, I need to leave."

Lord Jarvis raises his brows once more. "Oh? I can forget this horse, your highness? Is that an order?" He gives a light shrug. "If you allow, my princess, I will decide myself when I will become worried. So far I can only observe a remarkable indifference on your part when it comes to this Esther, your highness. Odd. Interesting. And very curious." The way he stresses those last words may sound ominous indeed. "Good day, your highness," Lord Bainsworth will say, bowing politely to the departing Princess, before he will return to his chair, an intrigued smile playing across his face. The door has already closed behind his visitor, when Lord Jarvis murmurs: "So... you want to play games indeed?" His pale grey eyes narrowing for a second before he chuckles, clearly amused, and starts to take some notes on a parchment.