Worried about how she appears to the warriors she's recruiting, Cecily tries on as many fearsome looking suits as possible to impress the ever stoic Ned.
Deceiving Looks
"What do you think, Ned?" Cecily asked, appearing from behind the curtain in yet another suit of armour. Unlike the last two, this suit had a visored helmet with a tall purple plume to match the colour of her shield's intricate crest.
"'Least yer head's protected in this'n." He shrugged, seeing no more difference between the armour she wore this time to the last two. Still seeing no reason for her to wear armour at all, honestly. After all, she was only a sponsor, a fighter's representative, not a fighter herself. If pressed, Ned suspected she'd hesitate a little before identifying a blade's flat from it's point.
At least, she'd hesitate in front of those she wished to sponsor. She'd bat her eyelashes and play the part of the ditsy, giggly young woman as Ned stood ominously behind her to entice them before revealing her harder side as they negotiated prices. Over the last few months as Ned's wound healed, the two had brought in many a client, many a warrior to fight under their colours at the next tourney, and yet…
"You could be a little more excited, you know." She said, raising her visor and flopping into one of the deep divans that seemed to be in every room of her town house.
"Apologies," Ned shook his head, shifting slightly in his chair. While his wound was fully healed now, he still had more than his fair share of aches and pains. "I'm... unclear 'bout why yer dressin' up like this int' first place."
"Ned..." She sighed his name like she often did, exasperated yet again that he couldn't keep up with her newest strange idea. "I'm tired of our clients thinking I'm just a pretty face! I want to fight! Or, at least look like I could take them on."
Fighting back the urge to remind her that she was already a skilled mage who'd very much looked the part in her usual robes, Ned nodded. "I understand Cecily, but, remember what Sir Olberic said:-"
"A title and a crest do not a swordsman make."
Caught off-guard by the booming voice of their old friend, Ned drew his axe instinctively at the intruder.
"Ned!" Cecily shouted at him, rising from her divan about as elegantly as anyone could in a suit of armour – which is to say, not at all. "Put that thing away! Sir Olberic! Wel… What brings you here?"
Sheathing his axe, Ned lowered himself back into his seat as Olberic chuckled. "My journey is now complete. ...However, do I truly need a reason to stop in on old friends?"
"I suppose not..." Cecily mumbled, returning to her seat as she pulled off her helmet, letting her hair fall about her shoulders freely. "Still, can't say I was expecting to see you again this soon!"
"Nor can I." Ned agreed, watching as the knight inspected Cecily's gaudily painted shield.
"I… May have been untruthful when I said I had no reason to visit." He admitted, lifting the shield and raising an eyebrow in surprise at it's heft. It might've looked strange, but Ned knew it was the real deal, he'd been with Cecily when she'd picked it out after all. And had been as surprised as the warrior was to see the slight girl hold the giant thing with relative ease.
Snatching the shield from the knight, Cecily lent it against the small table her helmet was sat on. "So, if not to see our lovely faces, what brings you back to Victor's Hollow?"
"During the course of my travels," Olberic briefly sat down in the spare armchair, clearly uncomfortable with how many cushions were crammed into it as he stood back up immediately. "My fellow travellers and I met a young lad calling himself Kit."
"Can't say I know o' th' lad..."
"Nor can I."
"I would have been surprised if either of you had," Olberic smiled at the pair, shifting his weight between feet in rare nervousness. Whatever he'd come here to ask, Ned expected it wasn't an easy question. "However, we have reason to believe the lad has been… fooled by dark forces and is now being lead down a dark path to reawaken the ancient God Galdera."
"Oh no!" Cecily's hand flew to her breast in surprise, creating an ungodly noise as her gauntlet hit her breastplate.
"And, loathe though I am to ask, we need all the help we can get should the Dark God rear it's head."
"I will happily go with ye, friend." Ned stood and banged his fist against his chest – which was thankfully not coated in metal and therefore made not an awful noise – as a sign of respect and agreement. "Even t' the gates o' Hell themselves."
"The Gate of Finis, lore calls it." Olberic said, sighing slightly as he saw his newly healed friend so ready to give his life for the cause. "Located in former Hornburg."
"I see..." Cecily nodded in understanding then stood herself. "Wait a moment."
Turning on her steel heel, she once again retreated behind the changing screen.
"...How fares your wound?" Olberic asked after a moment of wait.
"All healed up now, milord." He nodded before giving him a wicked grin. "If the end o' t' world wasn't close at hand, I'd challenge ye to a duel."
Olberic matched his grin with an equally wicked one of his own. "Perhaps once this is over..."
"Okay." Cecily reappeared from behind the screen once again dressed in her robes, a sword at one hip and an axe at the other as she tied her hair back up with her ribbon. "I'll give it my best shot."
"Are… Are you certain you want to journey with us?" Olberic asked in surprise, shocked at seeing the young woman with weapons by her side for the first time.
"What? Just because I'm small and a woman I don't know how to fight?" Tilting her sworded hip up a little in anger as she crossed her arms, Cecily looked away. "Alright, fine, I suppose. Why would you need a woman warrior gifted in the art of weaving runes on your side against Galdera when she could sit in her town house and look pretty? After all, what good would little ol' Cecily be-"
"He gets the point, m'lady." Ned cut her off, a smile hidden behind his hand.
"I did not doubt your prowess in battle for a second," Olberic agreed. "I only worry that… This is a fight from which we may not return, are you sure you wish to come?"
"You'll have a better chance at survival if I'm there." She said, sauntering between the two warriors before pausing in her doorway in thought. "At least, I hope so. And, besides, I can't let Ned have all the fun!"
Smiling to himself as he watched her eagerly drag Olberic out of her house by the sleeve, Ned was glad to see her self-conscious worry once again replaced by her usual unwavering confidence.
He only hoped she felt as confident as she acted, after all, a God – even a recently reawakened one - was sure to be a fearsome foe.
