In The Blood of Roses
Kenlei
Summary: It was a time when the code of chivalry bound even the strongest knight, in a land where only the savage ruled..
Bethrothed to a man she barely knew, in love with a man who had pledged to see her untouched across his untamed land…Yolei Inoue was trapped within the fiery coil of passion, and an icy shield of honor…
AN: The men and women in this story must fight, defeat and persue love before love destoys their very souls…
Part 2 / Missing Links.
Ken took in the sights with avid awe and loss of breath.
The rolling hills cascaded like green fire as far as the eye could see, now shivering emerald in the prescence of the glittering moon.
Water, shiny as newly born coins, split the hills into separate towers, cutting smoothly across the horizon.
It thundered gently down towards the keep, reminding him of oncoming, relentless cavalry.
The sky, black as tar, was thrown across the world like an ancient mariners net, capturing the gleaming stars within the folds of inky pewt.
The world was still for him, in this moment, and he closed his eyes to savor all he could.
"Beautiful, is it not?"
A shaky voice startled him from the solace, and he spun, hand upon sword until he espied the slender figure emerging from the shadows.
The moonlight bathed her features like the caress of Selenity, and he felt his mouth dry.
Her skin was a wash of ivory, the golden eyes shadowed and dark beneath the sky.
Hair, the color of summer lilac swept down her shoulders where it playfully escaped the breeze from the hills.
The Lady smiled timidly, her own gaze never leaving his face, which did unnerving things to his heart.
"Aye…Aye…"
He bowed quickly, not trusting herself to kiss the slender fingers holding her wrapper about her.
She glowed ethereal, reflecting the moonlight and the stars, and he felt like he was slipping off the brink of sanity, and he never wanted to return.
"Have…We met before?"
She shook her head, still smiling, but stepping closer.
"Never and always…"
Her riddle confused him, but he swallowed and quickly turned back to the view, escaping the vision that she was.
"We leave in several hours Milady…Why doth thou not sleep?"
She stood beside him, heedless of his effect on her proximity.
"I thought only to enjoy the sights I will not be afforded again."
He kept his gaze on the hills.
"Did you…Submit to this marriage? Was it of thy own choosing?"
She shook her head, sadly.
"Nay. I only found out this same morning, and I fear it…As I fear thee…"
His gaze snapped back to her, where she watched him steadily, snaring his own eyes with her amber vision.
"What fear have I placed within thee Milady?"
She giggled, the sound sending a shiver down his spine.
"A fear of a different text, Lord Kenneth…I've not met the man of my dreams before…"
He started, jerking himself from the stupor she had placed him in.
"Girl! Thy speaks from a fools mind!"
Yolei raised a brow slightly.
"Do I? I am not the only to feel it Milord Knight…"
He looked away, refusing to relinquish the answer. She continued.
"The moment I saw thee, I knew thy form, thy look, thy touch, thy taste…"
Her eyes smoldered in the darkness, stealing his breath.
She had not so much as touched him, but he felt like he had been stripped from the inside out.
"I can sense it, as I do many a thing…Thou hath felt it also…"
Laughing nervously, Ken flexed, his black armor clanking softly in the night.
"Thy speaks of nothing! Thy-Thee…"
He drifted off, looking into eyes that seemed to hold the world at bay in their laughing prescence.
"Why have I dreamt of thee? Is thee a witch? Doth thou practice arts blacker then this here sky?" HE gestured with his palm, encompassing the sky.
"Aye! I have seen those eyes before! Touched those lips before! Kissed that skin before!"
He quieted, his voice a harsh whisper.
"Who art thou??"
She nodded, smiling gently, before reaching up and placing a tender kiss upon his stubbled cheek.
"I am everything thou believes me to be."
Her simple logic, stated with such belief shook him to the core.
In a flicker of white silk and lace, she had disappeared.
Once again he was alone, but a thousand times more empty.
Haldane Castle
Lord Davis Motomiya stood in the armory, carefully selecting a sword to use against a nervous, edgy companion.
"Mayhap we should save the war toys for a later date Milord…"
The shaky, reluctant voice of the tall, handsome blue haired man echoed through the silent hall.
"Aw, come now, Joseph! I shall go easy on thee!"
The dignified Irishmen eyed the sword distastfully.
"Aye…Mayhap that is more of the problem, sir…"
With a laugh, Davis slapped a hand on the scholars shoulder.
"Come now! By thy nervous jitters, good sir, I fear thee a women"
With a sly, purple gaze, he raked the cool heded irishmen. "Or mayhap 'tis a women that sets thy nerves a jitter…?"
The man stepped away, adjusting his black tunic. "I know not of what thou speakest of, lordship."
A hearty laught greeted his ears, and he turned red.
"I know that the beauteuous, lovely, " He arced his sword, parrying and thrusting as he waxed poetic on beauty. "Resplended, magnificent, comely, unbeleivably rich maiden with her eyes set upon you…"
He looked at the now nervous scholar. "Is joining us in several days, and thee…My fine blue feathered bookman, have been requested to greet her!"
Joseph turned, adjusting his indigo hair in a nearby sheild.
"I have been requested by the lady on account of my…uh…Higher skills…"
Davis let out a bellow of laughter, grinning at the other man.
"Higher skilles, eh? If the ladies father were to hear of these, ahem…Skills…The I fear thy prescence would not be so sorely needed!"
Arms akimbo, the Lord Joseph, famed scholar and writter throughout the kingdoms, shook his blue head.
"Sir! I feel it is within the boundries of modesty to refrajn from such slanderous rumors! Why, if the Lady were here now, she would-"
"Lord Joseph!"
He stopped, and Davis smiled calmly. "Nay Joseph…Curb thy tongue…."
Replacing the heavy sword, Davis started towards the doorway.
"I shall let other tongues wag on that account, sir…We must think now of my impending nuptials."
He ran a hand through his spiked burgundy hair, the other man trailing,
"From the momen I spotted the lady fair, I knew my heart was spoken for. With Yolei Inoue bymy side, I think that I shall be complete…"
Joseph frowned, watching his friend and companion. "davis, come now…What if the lady is a shrew? What if she is a snobby child?"
Turning, Davis smiled. It was a warm and dreamy smile, set to the tune of a thousand singing faeries.
"Nay Joseph…Within this girl the light of angels breathes. If thou hath seen her, thou would love her. A truer heart was never born."
Confident in his assumption, He strtode away, leaving the scholar to mull over his own problems.
"I hope for thine own sake, that thy words ring faithful…"
She was utterly, divinly beautiful.
It was almost like angels had spun all the beauty of eras into one perfecct face.
And that face was the Lady Mimi Tachikawa.
The Tachikawas had stopped at the Peacock Inn just before dinner, bringing with them baggage and servents enough for ten men.
The lady in question had fluttered in like some errant, pastel butterfly, causing men to gape and women to hide their own faces in shame.
Her burnished, pale almond, hair was like waves of creamy bronze gold. Her eyes were the color of polished amber, set in a face the shade of moonlit, ivory orchids.
The body was equal to the face, with s slender waist and high, proud breasts. Petite and leggy combined to make her a vision of perfection.
Hers was a face men wrote poems and plays about, a body men dreamed about and a smile the ethereal envy.
The entourage was led by a blustery old man, Lord Tachikawa, her old and gentle father.
They ordered 3 rooms, all of which were the highest quality, in an Inn that was the finest in the Haldane kingdom.
"Milady?"
Sora was surprsed to see Lady Mimi waving her way over.
She stopped, nervously adjusting her modest yellow gown and braided hair.
"Can I help thee, Lady Mimi?"
A graceful smile was bestowed upon her, and Sora felt undeniably dowdy.
"Thank you, kind lady…Doth thou know my name already? Well then! 'Tis a welcome invite that I give thee now!"
Sora frowned, confused. "Excuse me, lady Mimi. But I fear I undcerstand thee not…"
Expertly, Mimi opened a pastel blue fan that matched the lace on her silk peacock blue and green dress.
"I love the color of your hair, Milady! "Tis likened to a fine red wine!" Smiling sweetly, she drew the flabbergasted Sora to a nearby table.
"What is your name dear?"
Relaxing, the barmaid smiled back. "I am Sora Tak chi, Lady Mimi…I own this establishment…"
"Heavens save us! A lady running this Inn! How exciting!"
Sora's light brown eyes widened, and she felt a bit more confident in her prescence.
"I am but a well oft maiden…But I would very much like to hear your story have you the time lady Sora…"
Grinning, the redhead settled in. A friend after all, is a friend.
Yolei said her good byes only to the staff that raised her, and the friends who bade her.
To her disheartening mind, she realized neither her father, not Kenneth Ichijouji were present.
A deep, burgundy velvet cloak shaded her gentle skin from the approaching storm spreading cross the sky and the silken yellow traveling gown beneath looked like cornsilk woven by faeries of the moor.
Her length of violet hair was raised atop her face, held by a thin circlit of gold which glimmered in the fading sky.
"Milady?"
To her side perched Maiden Kari, adorned in a fine raiment of silvery grey cloth. Hooked around her narrow waist was the keys to her ladies chests, and she wore them with pride. Her own mousy brown hair spilled down her back, caught in a thick tail. Eyes like spice and sugar gleamed with excitement as she searched the gathering crowds for Tk, the cleric.
"Kari…Fear not, he will come…"
Listless, Yolei felt her own honeyed gaze dim with sadness.
What man would not come to see his daughter off? Even so hated a child must be loved by some!
To any degree, she wanted to banush her father for kinder thoughts, but even then…Who would lay claim to her?
"He is here Yolei! Tk has arrived!"
The somber blonde lifted himself atop the fine mahogany steed that was appropritated for him. He nodded at Kari, smiling as if their secret remained one, before speaking to Yolei.
"'Tis time to beging your journay, Lady Yolei…Are you ready?"
At her nod, he turned and signalled to the lead. They nodded, and the rumble of carts and wagons begun.
"Priest Tk, I wonder if you know…Does Lord Ken come soon?"
An exchanged glance with Kari affirmed the maidens suspicions. They both knew of her dreaming.
It angered her that her confidence in Kari was ungrounded. She felt her blood heat and temper flare.
Seeking to banish this rage, she drew her white mare a pace away.
Let the two forbidden lovers have their gossip! It 'twas not as if they were not the center of it themselves!
Bah!
She glowered dismally at the encroachign forest, aware that this would be one of the last times she would see them in their green glory.
"Farewell…"
"My fair lady…I hope thou doth not bid me leave afore I even greet you…"
Her head turned quickly, and she found herself gazing into the darkest brown eyes she had ever seen.
"Sir! Prithee do not frighten me so!"
An awkward, half bow from upon his horse, followed by a chuckle greeted her senses.
"Forgive me, fair beauty! My name is Taichi Kamiya, sxibling of yonder Maiden Kari…No doubt shehas spoken highly so of me…"
Frowning to cover her humor, Yolei looked away.
"Nay sir, thou art mistaken…I had not heard Kari had a brother!"
Feigning horror, Tai turned to stare agape at his unaware sibling.
"Nary a word, Milady? I am cut to the very quick!"
She giggled, instantly charmed by this capering rogue, and cheering up at the thought of a new friend.
"Art thouu an archer of Haldane?" She gestured to the bow strapped to his back.
Shaking his wild brown head, Tai smiled. "Nay my mistress fair, I am famed archer of Clerid. Loyal to the knight who seeks thee out."
A gesture towards the back of the entourage had her face quickly turning in that direction.
Sure enough, a handsome knight astride an enormous black destrier claimed her full attention.
Her breath was lost as she searched the stoic face for the same warmth that had claimed her daydreams upon their prior meeting.
"Milord…"
She smiled, and he nodded curtly before continuing to the front, leaving her smile to fade to embarresment.
Tai felt his mouth hang open slightly after the dismissal of the maid from Ken's prescence. Never had he seemed so uncouth!
"Sir?" By now, Ken was to far from hearing, but with an apologetic smile to the Lady Yolei, he stirred his horse to action and trotted up to his younger friend
"Ken, I fear thy manners lack much in the way of gentlemen..Nary a once in all my times beside thee, have I witnessed so rude an act…"
A stiff frown halted his chastisment, and Tai waited, brows aloft, for some reason to be explained.
None seemed forthcoming.
"Very well Milord…But I shall apologize on thy own behalf to the Lady."
The blue hair jerked and icy eyes held him in his place when Ken glared at him.
"Nay! Thou feet shall be stalled forthwith! Cease thy prattle you addlepatted gagly lummox! Cease thy needless baffonary and hole thyself up with thy barmaid! My own actions shall never be questioned again! Hear!"
Tai's usually relaxed expression had hardened with the tirade, until his warm brown eyes were as cold as polished amber.
Without a word, he halted his horse and turned the way he had come.
Let the basterd stew in his foul mood! He had done nought to suffer this abuse!
Kenlei
Summary: It was a time when the code of chivalry bound even the strongest knight, in a land where only the savage ruled..
Bethrothed to a man she barely knew, in love with a man who had pledged to see her untouched across his untamed land…Yolei Inoue was trapped within the fiery coil of passion, and an icy shield of honor…
AN: The men and women in this story must fight, defeat and persue love before love destoys their very souls…
Part 2 / Missing Links.
Ken took in the sights with avid awe and loss of breath.
The rolling hills cascaded like green fire as far as the eye could see, now shivering emerald in the prescence of the glittering moon.
Water, shiny as newly born coins, split the hills into separate towers, cutting smoothly across the horizon.
It thundered gently down towards the keep, reminding him of oncoming, relentless cavalry.
The sky, black as tar, was thrown across the world like an ancient mariners net, capturing the gleaming stars within the folds of inky pewt.
The world was still for him, in this moment, and he closed his eyes to savor all he could.
"Beautiful, is it not?"
A shaky voice startled him from the solace, and he spun, hand upon sword until he espied the slender figure emerging from the shadows.
The moonlight bathed her features like the caress of Selenity, and he felt his mouth dry.
Her skin was a wash of ivory, the golden eyes shadowed and dark beneath the sky.
Hair, the color of summer lilac swept down her shoulders where it playfully escaped the breeze from the hills.
The Lady smiled timidly, her own gaze never leaving his face, which did unnerving things to his heart.
"Aye…Aye…"
He bowed quickly, not trusting herself to kiss the slender fingers holding her wrapper about her.
She glowed ethereal, reflecting the moonlight and the stars, and he felt like he was slipping off the brink of sanity, and he never wanted to return.
"Have…We met before?"
She shook her head, still smiling, but stepping closer.
"Never and always…"
Her riddle confused him, but he swallowed and quickly turned back to the view, escaping the vision that she was.
"We leave in several hours Milady…Why doth thou not sleep?"
She stood beside him, heedless of his effect on her proximity.
"I thought only to enjoy the sights I will not be afforded again."
He kept his gaze on the hills.
"Did you…Submit to this marriage? Was it of thy own choosing?"
She shook her head, sadly.
"Nay. I only found out this same morning, and I fear it…As I fear thee…"
His gaze snapped back to her, where she watched him steadily, snaring his own eyes with her amber vision.
"What fear have I placed within thee Milady?"
She giggled, the sound sending a shiver down his spine.
"A fear of a different text, Lord Kenneth…I've not met the man of my dreams before…"
He started, jerking himself from the stupor she had placed him in.
"Girl! Thy speaks from a fools mind!"
Yolei raised a brow slightly.
"Do I? I am not the only to feel it Milord Knight…"
He looked away, refusing to relinquish the answer. She continued.
"The moment I saw thee, I knew thy form, thy look, thy touch, thy taste…"
Her eyes smoldered in the darkness, stealing his breath.
She had not so much as touched him, but he felt like he had been stripped from the inside out.
"I can sense it, as I do many a thing…Thou hath felt it also…"
Laughing nervously, Ken flexed, his black armor clanking softly in the night.
"Thy speaks of nothing! Thy-Thee…"
He drifted off, looking into eyes that seemed to hold the world at bay in their laughing prescence.
"Why have I dreamt of thee? Is thee a witch? Doth thou practice arts blacker then this here sky?" HE gestured with his palm, encompassing the sky.
"Aye! I have seen those eyes before! Touched those lips before! Kissed that skin before!"
He quieted, his voice a harsh whisper.
"Who art thou??"
She nodded, smiling gently, before reaching up and placing a tender kiss upon his stubbled cheek.
"I am everything thou believes me to be."
Her simple logic, stated with such belief shook him to the core.
In a flicker of white silk and lace, she had disappeared.
Once again he was alone, but a thousand times more empty.
Haldane Castle
Lord Davis Motomiya stood in the armory, carefully selecting a sword to use against a nervous, edgy companion.
"Mayhap we should save the war toys for a later date Milord…"
The shaky, reluctant voice of the tall, handsome blue haired man echoed through the silent hall.
"Aw, come now, Joseph! I shall go easy on thee!"
The dignified Irishmen eyed the sword distastfully.
"Aye…Mayhap that is more of the problem, sir…"
With a laugh, Davis slapped a hand on the scholars shoulder.
"Come now! By thy nervous jitters, good sir, I fear thee a women"
With a sly, purple gaze, he raked the cool heded irishmen. "Or mayhap 'tis a women that sets thy nerves a jitter…?"
The man stepped away, adjusting his black tunic. "I know not of what thou speakest of, lordship."
A hearty laught greeted his ears, and he turned red.
"I know that the beauteuous, lovely, " He arced his sword, parrying and thrusting as he waxed poetic on beauty. "Resplended, magnificent, comely, unbeleivably rich maiden with her eyes set upon you…"
He looked at the now nervous scholar. "Is joining us in several days, and thee…My fine blue feathered bookman, have been requested to greet her!"
Joseph turned, adjusting his indigo hair in a nearby sheild.
"I have been requested by the lady on account of my…uh…Higher skills…"
Davis let out a bellow of laughter, grinning at the other man.
"Higher skilles, eh? If the ladies father were to hear of these, ahem…Skills…The I fear thy prescence would not be so sorely needed!"
Arms akimbo, the Lord Joseph, famed scholar and writter throughout the kingdoms, shook his blue head.
"Sir! I feel it is within the boundries of modesty to refrajn from such slanderous rumors! Why, if the Lady were here now, she would-"
"Lord Joseph!"
He stopped, and Davis smiled calmly. "Nay Joseph…Curb thy tongue…."
Replacing the heavy sword, Davis started towards the doorway.
"I shall let other tongues wag on that account, sir…We must think now of my impending nuptials."
He ran a hand through his spiked burgundy hair, the other man trailing,
"From the momen I spotted the lady fair, I knew my heart was spoken for. With Yolei Inoue bymy side, I think that I shall be complete…"
Joseph frowned, watching his friend and companion. "davis, come now…What if the lady is a shrew? What if she is a snobby child?"
Turning, Davis smiled. It was a warm and dreamy smile, set to the tune of a thousand singing faeries.
"Nay Joseph…Within this girl the light of angels breathes. If thou hath seen her, thou would love her. A truer heart was never born."
Confident in his assumption, He strtode away, leaving the scholar to mull over his own problems.
"I hope for thine own sake, that thy words ring faithful…"
She was utterly, divinly beautiful.
It was almost like angels had spun all the beauty of eras into one perfecct face.
And that face was the Lady Mimi Tachikawa.
The Tachikawas had stopped at the Peacock Inn just before dinner, bringing with them baggage and servents enough for ten men.
The lady in question had fluttered in like some errant, pastel butterfly, causing men to gape and women to hide their own faces in shame.
Her burnished, pale almond, hair was like waves of creamy bronze gold. Her eyes were the color of polished amber, set in a face the shade of moonlit, ivory orchids.
The body was equal to the face, with s slender waist and high, proud breasts. Petite and leggy combined to make her a vision of perfection.
Hers was a face men wrote poems and plays about, a body men dreamed about and a smile the ethereal envy.
The entourage was led by a blustery old man, Lord Tachikawa, her old and gentle father.
They ordered 3 rooms, all of which were the highest quality, in an Inn that was the finest in the Haldane kingdom.
"Milady?"
Sora was surprsed to see Lady Mimi waving her way over.
She stopped, nervously adjusting her modest yellow gown and braided hair.
"Can I help thee, Lady Mimi?"
A graceful smile was bestowed upon her, and Sora felt undeniably dowdy.
"Thank you, kind lady…Doth thou know my name already? Well then! 'Tis a welcome invite that I give thee now!"
Sora frowned, confused. "Excuse me, lady Mimi. But I fear I undcerstand thee not…"
Expertly, Mimi opened a pastel blue fan that matched the lace on her silk peacock blue and green dress.
"I love the color of your hair, Milady! "Tis likened to a fine red wine!" Smiling sweetly, she drew the flabbergasted Sora to a nearby table.
"What is your name dear?"
Relaxing, the barmaid smiled back. "I am Sora Tak chi, Lady Mimi…I own this establishment…"
"Heavens save us! A lady running this Inn! How exciting!"
Sora's light brown eyes widened, and she felt a bit more confident in her prescence.
"I am but a well oft maiden…But I would very much like to hear your story have you the time lady Sora…"
Grinning, the redhead settled in. A friend after all, is a friend.
Yolei said her good byes only to the staff that raised her, and the friends who bade her.
To her disheartening mind, she realized neither her father, not Kenneth Ichijouji were present.
A deep, burgundy velvet cloak shaded her gentle skin from the approaching storm spreading cross the sky and the silken yellow traveling gown beneath looked like cornsilk woven by faeries of the moor.
Her length of violet hair was raised atop her face, held by a thin circlit of gold which glimmered in the fading sky.
"Milady?"
To her side perched Maiden Kari, adorned in a fine raiment of silvery grey cloth. Hooked around her narrow waist was the keys to her ladies chests, and she wore them with pride. Her own mousy brown hair spilled down her back, caught in a thick tail. Eyes like spice and sugar gleamed with excitement as she searched the gathering crowds for Tk, the cleric.
"Kari…Fear not, he will come…"
Listless, Yolei felt her own honeyed gaze dim with sadness.
What man would not come to see his daughter off? Even so hated a child must be loved by some!
To any degree, she wanted to banush her father for kinder thoughts, but even then…Who would lay claim to her?
"He is here Yolei! Tk has arrived!"
The somber blonde lifted himself atop the fine mahogany steed that was appropritated for him. He nodded at Kari, smiling as if their secret remained one, before speaking to Yolei.
"'Tis time to beging your journay, Lady Yolei…Are you ready?"
At her nod, he turned and signalled to the lead. They nodded, and the rumble of carts and wagons begun.
"Priest Tk, I wonder if you know…Does Lord Ken come soon?"
An exchanged glance with Kari affirmed the maidens suspicions. They both knew of her dreaming.
It angered her that her confidence in Kari was ungrounded. She felt her blood heat and temper flare.
Seeking to banish this rage, she drew her white mare a pace away.
Let the two forbidden lovers have their gossip! It 'twas not as if they were not the center of it themselves!
Bah!
She glowered dismally at the encroachign forest, aware that this would be one of the last times she would see them in their green glory.
"Farewell…"
"My fair lady…I hope thou doth not bid me leave afore I even greet you…"
Her head turned quickly, and she found herself gazing into the darkest brown eyes she had ever seen.
"Sir! Prithee do not frighten me so!"
An awkward, half bow from upon his horse, followed by a chuckle greeted her senses.
"Forgive me, fair beauty! My name is Taichi Kamiya, sxibling of yonder Maiden Kari…No doubt shehas spoken highly so of me…"
Frowning to cover her humor, Yolei looked away.
"Nay sir, thou art mistaken…I had not heard Kari had a brother!"
Feigning horror, Tai turned to stare agape at his unaware sibling.
"Nary a word, Milady? I am cut to the very quick!"
She giggled, instantly charmed by this capering rogue, and cheering up at the thought of a new friend.
"Art thouu an archer of Haldane?" She gestured to the bow strapped to his back.
Shaking his wild brown head, Tai smiled. "Nay my mistress fair, I am famed archer of Clerid. Loyal to the knight who seeks thee out."
A gesture towards the back of the entourage had her face quickly turning in that direction.
Sure enough, a handsome knight astride an enormous black destrier claimed her full attention.
Her breath was lost as she searched the stoic face for the same warmth that had claimed her daydreams upon their prior meeting.
"Milord…"
She smiled, and he nodded curtly before continuing to the front, leaving her smile to fade to embarresment.
Tai felt his mouth hang open slightly after the dismissal of the maid from Ken's prescence. Never had he seemed so uncouth!
"Sir?" By now, Ken was to far from hearing, but with an apologetic smile to the Lady Yolei, he stirred his horse to action and trotted up to his younger friend
"Ken, I fear thy manners lack much in the way of gentlemen..Nary a once in all my times beside thee, have I witnessed so rude an act…"
A stiff frown halted his chastisment, and Tai waited, brows aloft, for some reason to be explained.
None seemed forthcoming.
"Very well Milord…But I shall apologize on thy own behalf to the Lady."
The blue hair jerked and icy eyes held him in his place when Ken glared at him.
"Nay! Thou feet shall be stalled forthwith! Cease thy prattle you addlepatted gagly lummox! Cease thy needless baffonary and hole thyself up with thy barmaid! My own actions shall never be questioned again! Hear!"
Tai's usually relaxed expression had hardened with the tirade, until his warm brown eyes were as cold as polished amber.
Without a word, he halted his horse and turned the way he had come.
Let the basterd stew in his foul mood! He had done nought to suffer this abuse!