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Somewhere in the world (Candira and runawayninja)

Candira smiled. "I do have those sometimes. I think we should let the horses rest a little while. Keep a slower pace. Then we can push a little more and get further in daylight." She continued to discuss options for inns and the like with Lionel while Nora considered Rafe's quiet question.

"It's hard to explain really. In some ways, it's a wonderful life...but in others, it's not. We never seem to have to worry about food or clean, safe shelter, though with the recent attacks that has changed. We always have clothes that are made for us and fine. And we have the opportunity to be educated in a number of different fields. My brother chose military training. I chose priestess training to be a healer and protector. In those respects, our life is wonderful. Idyllic, even. But politics and strict manners, even the way you speak is constantly under scrutiny. Every little thing you do is watched and judged. It's very difficult to do anything simply for enjoyment. It's quite stressful, actually. I'm always nervous about making mistakes." She shrugged and looked at Rafe, smiling softly. "Just curious? Or is there a reason?"
 
Rafe shrugged softly, but smiled. "I was simply curious. I've found that...things bind people. The lower class is bound to the land and their oaths to it. Knights are bound by service. The clergy are bound by their gods. The nobles, it would appear...are bound by each other." He looked at her. "It's just an observation, not anything personal. I was...mostly just curious about how nobles and royals live." He looked at Candira. "I don't know much about my liege lady either, truthfully..."
 
Nora chuckled. "Well, Lady Candira is definitely one of a kind. I don't think there's another noble like her anywhere. I look up to her for her dedication and focus..." She smiled at Rafe. "But I can tell you more about her sometime, if she won't tell you."

This seemed to pull the redhead in question out of her conversation with Lionel. "What now?" she asked, confused. "Did I hear my name?" she asked.
 
Rafe brightened up and nodded. "Oh I'd love to hear about her. She knows so much about me, but I didn't even know she was a priestess. Tell me, please." He gave a grin, pretending not to hear Candira. Lionel cocked an eyebrow, wondering what this game was about.
 
Candira laughed and squeezed Rafe a little, leaning against him as Nora chuckled. Lionel's curiosity only added to the fun of the game. The brunette priestess grinned and glanced at the redhead a little before going on. "Well, Lady Candira has a bit of wanderlust in her. Despite the way she loves her home and people, she's always wanted to travel. Priestess training for her, was a good excuse to get to do that--or so she told me. She used to collect maps and ask all sorts of questions to the other girls training with us." Candira chuckled and listened, remembering those days when she could hardly wait to learn more about the world. Nora continued with a laugh and the redhead blushed a little. "I caught her sneaking out a few times. She went to the cities nearby at night by herself. I could hardly believe she never got caught. It took me awhile to realize that the sleep spell was a part of priestess training too."

Nora smiled and leaned over a little to Rafe. "I followed her one night and I caught up to her. All we did was walk through the streets to see what it was like. But she found the best street performers. She's quite a singer, actually. That night we earned quite a pile of money together. I danced and she sang. She can dance too, but I'm better," Nora said, earning a laugh from Candira. "Anyway, we were both tempted to be gypsies for awhile. We decided against it in the end though. When we came back we both had a little stash of gold that we used to buy little things now and then. Candira mostly bought souvenirs to take home with her or to send to her family. I bought silly things like candies and stuffed toys."

It was a fond memory for both of the women. "I can tell you more too, but I figure I'll let you ask some questions too."
 
Rafe gave a hearty laugh. "I knew there was a rulebreaker in there somewhere, Candira! Hehe, that's...so funny!" Rafe could feel his mirth putting the Raven Lord into a deeper and deeper sleep. He felt good like he hadn't in a while, which was wondrous considering what had happened that morning. "Questions umm..." He looked down in thought and smiled softly. "Was there ever a man?"
 
"Hmmm...that's a good question," Nora said, thinking back. "While I knew her, Candira didn't really have access to any men," she pointed out. "Priestesses are cloistered away from any priests in training. On her trips out, she was so focused on sight-seeing, I don't think a man could have stirred her." She chuckled and looked at Rafe. "We used to talk about what we might like in a man some day though," she said with a grin.

Candira, for her part, just laughed and blushed softly, burying her face in his back. She sincerely wished that Nora wouldn't tell this particular story. But it was past the point of no return. Nora smirked and continued.

"I had my own list of course, but Candira had a few things on hers too... Would you like to know what she wanted?" she teased.
 
Lionel looked over at them, himself interested. Rafe grinned and nodded intently. "Oh yes! This is really good to know!" He was having a great deal of fun, teasing her. He didn't want to hurt her, of course, but there was not harm in seeing her blush so cutely.
 
Nora chuckled at Rafe's excitement, noticing that Candira was going beat red. She thought maybe she ought to cut back a little but she couldn't hold back now that she'd pulled the story out. This might be the last one for a little while. "Alright then, I'll tell you. Candira told me she wanted someone who was taller than her because she was actually pretty tall for the priestesses there. She wanted someone who came from far away so he could tell her all about that place. Then again, her notion of far away was pretty distorted when she was younger...the Capitol might have been just far enough for her," she said with a chuckle. "She wanted a musician, or some kind of artist, after meeting the street performers. Someone who could make her smile. She hoped for someone handsome, of course."

Candira was pretending she didn't exist at this point. Honestly, Nora could have been describing either of the men in her company, but Rafe seemed to have all of these qualities. Nora wasn't ignoring that fact either.

"And you know she once told me that he would have to be dedicated and focused like she was. That he had to care about the people. That he had to be strong to help her protect the people she loved...Yup. That about sums it up."
 
Rafe chuckled softly. "This is all really good to know..." Then he decided to do and some teasing of his know. He simply couldn't get enough of how she was behaving right now and how cute she was acting. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "It can't be me then...I'm really none of those..."

Lionel rolled his eyes at the obvious ploy.
 
Nora laughed and just guided her horse, keeping them going along. "Hmmm, hey Lionel, you were pretty good at singing just awhile ago. Don't you do that more often?" she teased him, driving.

Candira nudged Rafe playfully in response to his teasing. "Okay, enough now," she said, still a bit red in the face, though she was getting herself back under control. "I bet Nora's list would surprise both of you," she said with a devious little grin. It was Nora's turn to go rosy.

"Nope, I think we're all still stuck on yours," Nora said, playfully deflecting the comment.
 
Lionel abruptly spoke up. "Oh, I wanna hear this...Candira, if you'd please?" Rafe chimed in with a wide grin and fervent nodding.
 
Candira laughed at the reactions of the men, never having been one to peg them for this kind of gossipy fun. Still, who was she to judge. She'd enjoy hearing the kind of woman either of them imagined, but she was sure neither would spill the beans on their own. "Oh? Wanting to see if you fit on both our lists? Isn't that a little greedy?" she teased, putting off the sharing of Nora's list to tempt them even more. "I don't know if I should tell now," she said with a chuckle. "Do you really want to hear?"

Nora merely blushed softly and kept the horse going straight, focusing on that task. Well, payback was something she really ought to have expected.
 
Lionel scowled playfully. "Please...?"

Rafe smirked and leaved over, whispering to Candira's ear. "If you tell us...I'll make it worth your while later...I promise..." There was something in his voice that told her he meant in private when prying eyes were not about.
 
Lionel's face was really too priceless. Even Nora chuckled, though she was turning red now with all the build up. Candira kept smiling as Rafe whispered into her ear a promise of something a bit more...sensual in exchange for the information. Well, who was she to turn down two men?

"Alright then. Nora was very rebellious in the convent at the time. She was always finding some way to bend the rules without anyone noticing. Of course, there were times when she got caught and times when she didn't. But because of her rebellious streak, she didn't want anything to do with royalty. Even nobels were a stretch on her list. What she really wanted was a knight," she said with a grin. The brunette was suddenly very occupied with the reigns and the leather they were made of.

Candira grinned as she continued. "She wanted a strong, loyal knight with an adventurous streak to him. But she wanted him to have manners too. In fact, she wanted him to be a bit like her--tranquil and obedient on the surface but rebellious and free inside. And of course a handsome man is always what a woman wishes for. But she had a thing about men who weren't quite so polished. I wonder if that still holds true..." she teased, leaning into Rafe a bit.
 
"Let's quicken pace..." Lionel said abruptly as he spurred his horse on, trying to keep the red in his face from being seen. Rafe laughed out uncontrollably as he followed him, pushing his horse on.

"Guess he heard something he didn't like...or something he really liked!"
 
Too bad for Lionel that he couldn't get away from the one person he might have wanted to put some distance between. Nora held the reigns and leaned forward to keep her balance. Their poor horse was going to be very tired by the time they stopped. She was glad that they weren't talking about those silly lists anymore. Turnabout was fair play, but she couldn't help but think that maybe Candira was enjoying it a bit more.

The princess could feel Lionel turning red behind her, and she wondered if it bothered him a great deal that he had many of the qualities that were on her little list...then again, so did Rafe. Maybe that bothered him? It was hard to tell with men. One thing was for sure, if he didn't want to be close to her, he'd picked the wrong path to doing so.

Candira chuckled as Lionel brought the horse to a run, and she had to wonder whether he liked or disliked what he'd heard. She held Rafe close as they followed suit. She leaned up a bit and kissed his neck gently, since that was all she could reach. "Did you hear something you liked?" She was clearly referring to her own list, and wondered what he really thought.
 
Rafe smirked a bit as he relaxed a bit and leaned back into the attention. "Mmm, heh, well...it was pleasant and flattering, but I wonder if you made that up just for my sake or if it's really true..." He teased just a bit, but he figured she wasn't lying about it. "I just wonder if you're anxious to know what I meant with my offer..."
 
She smiled as he leaned back a bit, clearly a more confident rider than many. His relaxation was entirely more appealing than his earlier attitude. She had to hand it to Nora, the girl knew how to work a crowd. Candira wasn't half bad at it either. She blushed a little as he teased her. "I promise it's all true. Both of those lists are really what we wanted at the time. And I have to say, I still want it all," she said leaning into him, bouncing as the horse galloped along. "I would be interested to know what you meant by your offer, but I don't know if anxious is the right word for it. Care to share what you had in mind?"
 
He smiled softly. "Nope...you'll have to wait to find out...anticipation makes it all the more lovely once you get what you've been waiting for." Rafe pushed his horse to keep up with Lionel's until they had to slow down again. The day was quickly burning, but they were making good progress towards Windfall. Rafe looked to the right at the forest. "Hmm...thought I saw someone watching us in the trees back..." He smiled and shook his head. "Maybe a tree spirit." He grinned. "A sexy Dryad allured by the handsome, foreign stranger."
 
She pouted playfully as he told her she had to wait. She didn't mind so much as long as she got to be close to him in the end. When they slowed down she noticed the sun was at high noon. She glanced at the forest when Rafe started talking about someone watching them. "Hmmm, I don't know. I didn't see anyone...But if it was a dryad, she can go find her own handsome foreigner. This one is mine," she said playfully hugging him to her.

"I think we should let the horses rest a little and maybe grab something quick to eat," she suggested once the group was back together.
 
Lionel slowly nodded. "Alright, but not for long. He need to move hard cross-country, I don't want to get caught too late at night. Windfall is isolated land, so if we get in trouble, we won't see any help until the castle." Lionel spotted a river some ways off the road and motioned to it, guiding his horse that way and Rafe followed suit.
 
Honestly, Nora was thrilled that she'd get a chance to rest and stretch her legs a bit. She wasn't going to complain in front of the people who were doing it for her, however. The last thing she wasted was to seem ungrateful. Once they got to the river, Nora got down first and stumbled a little because her leg was falling asleep. "Oww..." she said shaking it a bit to get some circulation going. Now that food was brought up, she was a bit hungry too.

Candira climbed down with ease, more used to this kind of long-distance riding. She pulled out some bread and cheese from her pack, passing it around to everyone, preferring to walk around a little as the horses drank from the river.
 
Rafe didn't dismount, guiding his horse to water as he pet the stallion softly and leaned down to his mount to nuzzle the neck and whispered something in his native tongue. Lionel passed around some jerky. Rafe smiled and rolled a bit of cheese in some jerky and started to chew on that. Lionel made a bit of a sandwich and started to eat it that way.
 
Candira and Nora walked around together eating as they did so. They each silently apologized for embarrassing each other and walked around arm in arm until they were finished eating. "We should top off the canteens while we're here," Nora suggested. It wasn't clear when they'd be near water like this again in her mind, and it never hurt to be prepared.

While the princess asked Lionel to help her, Candira came to Rafe and hugged him close to her, just enjoying his presence.
 
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