Stranger At The Door

[Daine Merton]

(Ooc - Tis intentional Daine post this time! XD Anni, hope you don't mind me Godmodding Alice here... I wasn't too sure if I was meant to reply to the rainy days post! lol Can you post next please? *puppy dog eyes*)

The horse slowly brought them up to Merton Maner, the smell of Maggie's cooking wafting out and reminding Daine at just how hungry she was. In the rush of things, what with meeting Sebastian and everything. She also hadn't noticed how late things had got. She could hardly see the floor below, and her horse wasn't a particularly tall one.

Upon arriving in the stables she saw another horse tethered there she didn't recognise. Daine cast a confused glance to Alice, not that she'd know why there was a stranger's horse there. But then again, word travelled quickly through Nottingham and she may have heard something Daine hadn't.

Dismounting her horse, Daine took in a deep breath. "God that smells good! Let's get inside so we can eat!" Daine said, with no dignity or grace. She walked round to the front of the house streching her hand out to the doorhandle. She didn;t bother knocking, why should she, it's her home! When the door swung open, however she did not expect to see what she did.

"What the?" She yelled, the sharp edge to her voice prominant. "Excuse me!"

[tom]

Thomas still keen on getting his information because hood knew how to get to the sheriff and maybe this man knew how to get to the sheriff " All right then maybe you don't know " he paused. He then yelled “ Or Maybe you’re lying to me!!! “He said with cold dark eyes gazing into his soul. Thomas was sweating he needed to kill the sheriff and all of the black knights for the safety of his land for if he killed the sheriff he would cripple johns power in england and make his country safer
" Don’t get in the way of us lass I just need to find robin hood and in turn kill the sheriff for all the wrong he has done my family "Thomas looking at her with his cold and dark eyes. Thomas pressed the sword against his neck but only using the handle of the jewel encrusted blade. Thomas was now sweating from all that had just transpired and after a few moments of tension Thomas punched him the belly and ran out the door and onto to his horse into Sherwood forest pursued by the guards.

[Alice Brandon]

Alice had gone and changed into a dark red dress. Her dark brown hair was brushed down and she wore a heavier cloak around her shoulders. She followed Daine on her horse. She was looking forward to dinner as she was hungry and in need of good company. Living in Nottingham wasn't great. In fact she almost hated it. Once at the manor, Alice followed Daine in and removed her cloak. She had not thought to take note of the other horse, though she quickly agreed that the smell coming from the kitchen's smelled delicious.

Alice stopped herself from letting out a gasp when she saw an older man, looking very angry suddenly turn his attention toward them. He was talking, though she couldn't make sense of it. It was all very strange for her to come to a home she sort of knew and find a hostile stranger demanding information. Alice held her breath, backing toward the wall as the man pressed his sword against Merton's neck. She didn't have a weapon with her and she didn't think Daine was armed as well. Her eyes were focused on the man.

[rainy day thread is open to anyone, and it's alright ]

[Daine Merton]

Fire burned through Daine in th form of anger. She hated her brother, but no man put a sword to his neck - not while she was around. Fears suddenly went out to Maggie, if he'd harmed her at all then he was a dead man.

"Don’t get in the way of us lass, I just need to find Robin Hood and in turn kill the Sheriff for all the wrong he has done my family."

"The Sheriff has done wrong to all familys! He killed my father, but that is not a cue for you to kill my brother! There is only one person that is allowed to hit my brother and that," She grabbed one the decorative pieces of weaponry upon the walls. Her father may have been a pacifist, but that didn't mean he couldn't appriciate the finery of some weapons. And the elegant staff she wielded right now was a present, passed down the generations of her mother's family. "is me!"

She pointed the weapon at the large intruder in a menaching manner. "Get out of my house. You are not welcome in the lands of Merton. Woe betide you if I find you here again." A glare littered her face and the next thing she knew was the large man pushing past her and Alice after he'd punched her brother.

Her gaze followed him out until she could no longer see the fleeing man as darkness enveloped him. She hoped she'd never see him again, for his sake. Even if their fight killed her, she'd take him with her.

She leaned the staff against the wall before she felt the energy drain completely from her. She closed the door and the room gradually got its warmth back.

[Lord Merton]

Merton almost sagged with relief when the strange man who had entered his house agreed that he might not know anything about the location of the outlaws. He gave an almost imperceptible nod, trying not to move his head too much for fear the blade at his neck slipped and sliced his skin. "Or Maybe you’re lying to me!!!" He shouted all of a sudden, eyes burning with a cold fury and his grip on Merton's collar tightening and cutting off the air supply as his shirt cut into his throat.

Out of the corner of his eye, his vision blurred due to the tears still streaming down his cheeks, Merton spotted the door swing open and he thought he recognised his sister's figure standing in the doorway. He certainly knew that loud obnoxious voice. He felt like calling out to her, telling her to save him but he could barely breathe now, let alone remind his sister to do her duty to him.

He was almost touched when she did defend him, although the punch to his gut because of her words wasn't appreciated. Merton bent double, holding his stomach and coughing weakly, still short of air from his recent strangulation by Scottish mad man. He tried to regain his composure now that the man had fled their home, just as he had predicted would happen when Daine returned home he thought slightly smugly.

Merton put one hand on the wall to steady himself and used his other hand to wipe the tears from his face as discretely as possible. He didn't want to give his sister's acidic tongue more ammunition against him and she would be the kind to mock him when he had almost died. It didn't even occur to him to thank her for saving him.

[Alice Brandon]

Alice was a little scared when Daine suddenly grabbed a weapon, but at the same time she wished she could have been as brave. Alice was brave, but when faced in front of immediate danger in a not so familiar place made her frightened. But she was immediately relieved when the action scared the man away. And just as she was relaxing, she saw Daine hit Merton. Alice nearly jumped from shock and almost went to assist him, but then remembered how Daine didn't like him much.

"What had happened?" she finally asked, looking at Merton. He had seemed somewhat recovered.

[sorry for the short post.]

[Daine Merton]

Daine flopped into a seat, letting out a long sigh. "Yes, Brian. What on earth happened here? I thought you were working, not being pummelled." She said coldly, eyes glaring at her brother who was bent over double. She let a little smug smile creep over her face, one that would tell her brother 'If I was in that situation, I wouldn't have let him push me around.'

"Who was he?" She asked on a more serious note. Though she couldn't help part of her mind being on the smells that drifted out of their kitchen. She pushed the plate in front of her further onto the table, it had been hanging precariously over the edge. Her brother must have been sat here before his 'guest' had gone for him.

The girl leaned her head against her arm, now propped upon the table in an undignified manner. She never bothered with etiquette at home, unless there were important guests. Alice was a guest, but a friend she need not 'impress'. And her tiredness threw manners out of the window too. She was too busy surpressing the anger she still felt to care about appearance right now.

And what she was about to say, well, she couldn't believe she was about to. "Do we warn the Sheriff about him?"

[Lord Merton]

"I was working!" He protested imperiously, straightening and taking his hand off the wall now that he was feeling a little steadier on his feet. It was typical of Daine to somehow make it his fault that some strange man had decided to threaten him in his own home. In truth he didn't need to explain himself to either of the girls, but he felt like complaining to someone. He was under no impression that his rotten sister would have any sympathy for his situation, but Alice... Well she had always been nice to him in the past.

”He came knocking at the door and seemed to know who I was.” Merton put a hand to his neck, feeling the tender skin there and wincing. He was probably rubbed raw and he would no doubt have bruises in the morning. ”He had the...” He paused, struggling to find the right word to describe his outrage at the situation. ”Audacity to barge in and demand to be fed!”

Turning, Merton began to pace, ignoring the twinge in his stomach where Sir Thomas had hit him because he was too agitated to stay still. He stopped momentarily to glare at Daine. How was he ever going to get her married off if she couldn't even manage simple table manners? ”Anyway,” He said, not letting his irritating sister distract him from his telling of the events. ”He just suddenly went crazy! Started accusing me of knowing the whereabouts of Robin Hood! Then he took a sword to my neck!” Instinctively Brian's hand went up to his neck as if to protect it from a phantom blade and his voice rose an octave as he relived the panic that had settled over him before.

”We will do no such thing.” He warned Daine, his glare returning in full. ”If I deem it necessary to inform Vaysey I will do so.” Merton's tone was pompous and he straightened, trying to tower over his sister's seated position in an effort to intimidate her. He knew it was a pointless exercise, she had never had any respect for her elder sibling. He could not have Daine telling the Sheriff, she lacked tact and would no doubt put a spin on the story he had just told to show him in a bad light. Besides, as much as he hated his sister he did not want her hung for insolence.

(OOC: I hope I'm playing him ok? I'm still trying to get a hang of the character ^_^;

[Alice Brandon]

Alice followed suit and sat down, listening to the siblings talk. As much as she hated the Sheriff, Alice thought that perhaps it was best to inform him as the man seemed dangerous. "The man should be stopped," Alice said quietly, afraid to be too out of line. After all this wasn't her home, and she wasn't the one who had a sword at her neck. She was only a guest, and a female one at that. She waited to see if Merton was going to sit down before she began eating. It was in her nature to be good natured and polite. Even if she had grown up poor, Alice probably would have been well mannered. Perhaps people would call her meek, or introverted, but in her head she wasn't, and her thoughts were far from being considered shy. In fact her thoughts were quite bold and brazen, but she normally kept them to herself.

"I would be wary tonight, he may come back looking for revenge or for the answer he did not find," Alice added, her big brown eyes wide, hoping that she didn't sound silly or stupid as sometimes she thought she did. She fidgeted slightly in her chair as she looked from Merton to Daine. She was still thinking about the man. Perhaps it was safer living in the castle, but if he was on the loose, then she wouldn't be safe as he had shown a desire to kill the Sheriff. That wouldn't be good.

[sorry for taking so long )

[Daine Merton]

Daine couldn't agree more with Alice, but her attention was on the food Maggie had just brought in. Daine thanked her for the meal before tucking in. She cast a glance over to Alice, wondering why she didn't just eat too. Daine understood ettiquette, but there was a time and place. Coming in after berating a large Lord wasn't a time for ettiqutte. Though life at the castle must be hard, having to be on your best behaviour all the time.

"I would be wary tonight, he may come back looking for revenge or for the answer he did not find."

"I'd like to see him try!" Daine scoffed, though she took the warning in. No matter how scary a face she could pull, would it be enough to ward their ex-geust off? Though she continued, to annoy her brother if anything. "If he came back, I'd make sure he wouldn't leave in one piece." Anything to make her brother feel inadequate and shown up.

She allowed herself a smug little smile aimed soley at her brother, with a quick rise of her eyebrows for emphasis. She waited for him to squirm. He'd yell at her later, for showing him up in front of Alice, but she didn;t care. She wanted a littlefun after her stressful day.

[Lord Merton]

Merton offered a smile in Alice's direction. It was nice to hear her speak as she was so often smothered by his sister's domineering personality. He didn't for a moment want her to become a spoiled woman as Daine had by having too many opinions, but Alice was sweet and she was always kind to him.

"I agree," He said, eyes flickering to Daine who was in the progress of wolfing down her food in a most unladylike manner. Allowing himself only a moment of disdain he returned his attention to Alice. "I've a good mind to call in some guards from the castle and have the area searched." He would certainly sleep easier if he knew the crude Scotsman had been arrested and imprisoned.

Merton took a seat a little way up the table, next to Alice, as Daine seemed to have been quite content to take his previous place. He politely shook his head as Maggie asked him if he'd like anything else, while he'd barely touched his food the evening's excitement had unsettled his stomach and completely destroyed his appetite. In fact watching his sister eat with such enthusiasm was making him feel a little ill, although it could just be that he found all aspects of Daine's personality distasteful.

Her next comment riled him. She always had to do one better and it was typical of her to believe that she could take on the intruder. He would have snapped her like a twig. Merton was also bitter, he'd seen the way Daine had taken up arms despite her obvious disadvantage. It had been reckless, but she still had a courage that he lacked. "I assure you that won't be necessary Daine." He told her with a suitably patronising air. "The guards we have posted around the Manor are quite adequate protection. Besides you've done more than enough damage to your reputation, and in turn mine, without brawling with intruders in your own home."