Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sophia Darrington



Sophia held her hands at her sides as her eyes looked around the room. She wondered why this place had been decided for the two of them to meet. Lifting her hand as she pushed a hair strand from in front of her face. Soon thoughts of how to end this conflict to get out of this marriage entered into her mind. Hearing the Prince’s voice as she turned her head to see him dressed with military metals to show his accomplishments in battle. Even now she kept her heart locked away keeping her title as the Princess of Ice. She was quiet about the compliment he had given to her. “Let them… Clearly you haven’t heard my name around the royals.” She spoke softly. She took her seat across from Absalon. Her eyes went to the waiter hearing they wanted them to write down their order.

Reaching over she had written down what she had wanted to eat before handing her paper to the man. Hearing that he wanted to know about her as she hesitated on what to say. Sitting before her was once her enemy so how did she know she could trust him. “What do you want to know?” She asked him softly. At least then she could start to gather what she would allow herself to tell him.

Absalon Fice

"Oh I know,but I'm not exactly anyone," Absalon said with a smile in response to her speaking of how she kept her heart locked away from anyone else. He didn't try to act like he was the same in any way,not to say that he has broken many hearts,but more that he didn't see the point in being so cold hearted due to a past relationship,but in order to keep the night going smoothly and the tensions at a low for the moment,they'd have all their lives to argue with each other once they were married after all."So I hope you'll give me a chance to earn a special place in your heart."

Absalon interest piqued when she mentioned that she aspired to be a great ruler and provide a great sense of security for her people,as well as their morale. When she mentioned her interest he raised an eyebrow. "Really, a distant friend had published a collection of poetry a couple years ago,one piece in particular mentions the liberation of a now Zale territory not too far off the coast from its previously owned tyrannical rule and in that work speaks of a young nineteen year old and I quote: 'Whose grin would hide the atrocities man has brought upon this day with blood and viscera as its tools,but at the same time ensuring it would not happen again,' Absalon quoted. "That was the battle where I earned this medal," Absalon said as he lifted a golden trinket in the shape of an upside down delta with a purple gem in the middle of it. "Not to brag,but to mention that it was nice to be mentioned in the publishing among other great works.I believe the name of it is called Caucus Calamity." Absalon had thought about his interest after speaking."I enjoy telling stories and training the most,but I like to try just about anything. As far as my aspirations,becoming ruler of my kingdom is a given,but it is not something I will have to worry myself with for quite some time,the current objective is to reach the rank of Paladin,despite all my accomplishments,I am a major class squire,just a few ranks from knighthood,but don't let that fool you,my combat experience is astonishing," he said

Absalon Fice

"Well it looks like I have a lot to make up for,and I agree but in some cases it is our words that indicate our actions," Absalon said calmly,he wasn't phased by her doubt in him,or rather her lack of hope in him. If he was one thing he was determined to show her now as he had seen her from another angle in a way. He didn't know much about her before today and within it she had shown him that she was not one to sugar coat her thoughts,and to him that was an admirable characteristic in a woman's personality. "And all I ask for is that one chance Sophia," Absalon said before the waiter brought their orders to him. Absalon had two large grilled chicken breasts,steamed carrots,and a baked potato,the chicken seasoned with a fin mixture of fresh herbs and rather hot spices.

"Interested in my glory are you?" Absalon asked with a smile before taking another sip from his wine. "Well to start off you won't hear of me fighting any of your people due to the lack thereof.Also it would be disrespectful to bring something of that nature up when we are trying to make peace between our kingdoms," he added before cutting into his food and taking a bite,he spoke again once his mouth was not full. "This medal right here came with the braided material," he said picking up a more shiny silver metal with a lion sitting at attention on it under his kingdom's flag. "These are rewards for bravery,I was at sea recently and our vessel became surrounded by pirates when we were three days away from our home port one night. There was a total of three ships,two smaller vessels carrying somewhere between twenty and thirty men give or take. The main ship was a stolen war ship and we're in a lightly armed glorified merchant ship,tasked with picking up imports. It was pitch black and I took advantage of this with the help of a few shipmates we decide we'll board the main ship and break apart the smaller vessels afterwards," he said and took another bit of his food

"We jump overboard and swam to the enemy ship and managed to scale the back of the ship. We get on and take out at least twenty men between all of us without any armor mind you because we had to swim and we only had time to grab our blades. We see that there is no ammunition for the weapons and the entire show was to scare us into immediately surrendering. After we're done with our enemies we get our ship to steer clear and we crash the ship into one of the smaller ones,sinking them both before moving to the final one,clearing it of enemies,and setting it ablaze before returning to our ship and clearing out any remaining forces. We return home,report our encounter,get rewarded and acknowledged for our heroism and the worse thing to happen is that I was bedridden for two whole months,the water that night had to be the coldest I ever had the pleasure of swimming in

Absalon Fice

"You are too kind,I just want to set an example,not just for my people,but for anyone who thinks times are dark and all effort looks hopeless.No particular reason behind it,I do it merely because I can and I want to," Absalon said simply with a smile to her. He picked up another medal,this one glistened a little more than the others and had two small emeralds side by side."This has to be the medal with the most odd story." he said before taking a couple bites from his food and another sip of wine to wash it all down.He wiped his lips off with a napkin before speaking again.

"This one was given to me by an allied kingdom,you see I don't like the idea of a convoy when escorting someone from kingdom to kingdom,too many people will know about it,leaving the possibility of a betrayal and an ambush showing up when you're too far out to possibly get assistance from a town's guards or anything of the sort. But,due to my father insisting that I join along in the journey to escort the Princess and her new husband back to their land,I had no choice in this mission. It also basically paints a target on the one being escorted by showing that someone or something is worth so much they need so many people on their trips,this is one of the reasons I hate travelling with my parents,but that is a story for another time.We are about a day's journey from the nearest viable resting town and these bandits ambush us.They wreck the carriage's wheels and surround the thing so there's no way to go but through them.I reach for my sword,and there's a dagger pressing against my temple. Turns out the husband and all the present company had planned this all for months,they'd get stopped at a specific distance away from any civilization and they'd rough up the husband and kill the wife.Everyone but me and the handmaiden knew about this and the only thing running through my head is that I will be executed by bandits because of my father. They take us both out and their leader starts going on about how he'll kill a prince and a princess today and he'll be remembered forever and such.I volunteer to be beheaded first and they all just laugh it up,asking if I'm just that cowardly while laughing up a storm and helping themselves to our food and drink.I bow my head as they ready an ax and tell them that they have one chance and exactly one to leave us to the remainder of our journey and then they won't feel death's embrace and they all start laughing at me.The executioner raises his ax and as swiftly as I can I get the dagger I hide in a strap along my leg,it's razor sharp,I go for the executioner,getting him right through his throat before grabbing his ax and lobbing off another bandit's head with it and grabbing his sword. 'I gave you all a chance,now this road shall be painted with your blood!' I screamed at them,all I could feel was an immense sense of adrenaline flowing through my body,I dispatched their forces one by one,dismembering,decapitating and coating my armor in the blood of those who opposed me.It is down to just me and the husband at this point,and he has his weapon drawn and charges me.With a dodge and a swift uppercut I knocked him down and raised my sword to deliver the final blow.He tossed his sword away,I could not kill an unarmed foe in such a pathetic position so I tied him up and escorted the princess,the maiden,and him to the next town on foot.There was so much blood to where I couldn't tell what was my own and what belonged to the bandits. Upon arrival to the nearest village I visit the doctor and they patch me up,and against his advising we leave town that night and acquire new horses,resupply on food,and for the next two days we made our way to the princess's homeland,I didn't sleep the rest of the way there and I saw to it that the husbands plans were disclosed to the king and queen and his actions were punished," Absalon said and drank more of his wine before having it refilled.

"They were so grateful they made this medal just for me and gave me they told me that this would be the only medal of its kind.I still to this day wonder if it was anything more than a stroke of good luck on my end,or did the gods give me the strength to slay all those men and carry on my honorable task.Either way I am just glad to have been there,there are too many wicked people in this world and a true act of evil would have been committed had I not been there"

Absalon Fice

"Your kind words flatter me Sophia, but I would not be able to do such things had it not been for my teacher and the regiment I follow whilst training. I am truly humbled by your generous words," he said before he was finished with his food and drank the rest of his wine before wiping his lips. Absalon poured himself some more wine before taking another sip. The waiter came and took their plates before offering them each a bowl of ice cream they made in house at the restaurant with white chocolate shavings and a cherry on top. "I will have to say I am not the best with my archery however, my hand is steady with the sword and shield but not the quiver and bow. I'm getting a little better, but so far I can hit the very outside of the target." Absalon said a little embarrassed

Absalon soon realized he had been running his mouth the entire time and hadn't given the lady the chance to speak of herself. "What about you Ms. Darrington? I'm sure you must have a tale or some interesting fact about yourself that you wish to share, other than your passion for keeping your people happy that is, which I must say again is a very selfless and honorable conviction." Absalon said as their eyes met, he found himself lost in her eyes for a moment, he found her bright blue eyes to be..beautiful actually, and upon thinking over how well he felt the night was going, maybe they would actually find likable characteristics in each other and make their although forced coupling a happy one.

Absalon Fice

Absalon was drinking his wine when she spoke and was interested in a stories, he found her even more fascinating as she made it clear that she had nerve, especially enough to tell the truth. "The more an more time we spend here,the more amicable I see you and I to be with each other," Absalon said after finishing the wine and pouring another glass, finishing the bottle. The waiter almost immediately came back with another bottle after Sophia had declined the ice cream, but Absalon would try it. He noticed that the wine was definitely getting to her, but he felt it wave over him gently as well, he tried his best to keep his composer as well. His face started to turn a little red when she complimented him on his eyes. His met hers and he couldn't help but glance at her entire ensemble, it was as if they really were looking at one another for the first time.

That was the first time anyone had complimented him on his eyes and it made him smile. "Thank you Sophia, your compliments...or as you said, honesty is greatly cherished, and I want to say that your eyes shine and sparkle brighter than any of the most precious metals and jewels," Absalon said before taking another sip of his wine."I also want to revisit my compliment from earlier by saying that your face is flawless, just as is your fair skin and shapely body, your beauty is beyond perfection," Absalon said with a smile to her. He noticed her smile and grinned more, the effects of the wine was starting to wash over him as well. It almost seemed as though the staff's plan was to get them both intoxicated all along, but he was having such a good time. "To answer your question, I would gladly hear any tale you'd wish to share with me tonight," he said and even winked at her, he was feeding off her actions and getting more brazen as well.

Absalon Fice

Absalon smiled at her again. "Can't it possibly be both the drink and the fact that we're getting along swimmingly?" Absalon asked her with a smile before she started to show herself off to her, he felt his pound in his chest, the intensity of it was so much to him, he could hear his heart race in his chest. "I...um.." he said and his slightly red face flaring up and he was getting a little warmer. He took a mental breather before he would respond to her suggestion. "If you keep this up Ms. Sophia, I'm sure we'd both like to see 'more' of each other," Absalon responded smoothly as he too finished his glass. He poured her another glass of wine as well as one for himself as she told her story.

Absalon couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at her tale, especially the conclusion. "Well paint me impressed, it seems as though I did have wrong impressions of you, you have the most raw nerve I have ever seen in a woman, I find such characteristics to be very, very attractive. I'm just a little upset we haven't met each other sooner," Absalon flirted as he drank from his glass again and had the waiter clear the table by taking the plates and the remainder of his ice cream, he shouldn't have accepted it in the first place he thought. He moved his chair a little closer to hers to close the distance between the two a bit. He leaned in a little and motioned for her to come a little closer. "Come here, I have something to tell you that I'm sure you'll love," Absalon said with a grin