Victoria had sneakily gotten one of her maid, Anita's, dresses. She put it on, and snuck out of Court for the day. She had never really tried the common life, accept in the small village they had lived in when they were told not to come back to the Emerald Court until they had their money back. But that was a small village, not the larger town that surrounded the palace of King Marc.

So dressed in the maid's clothing, carrying nothing, other than a sharp knife, hidden in her skirt folds, in case she needed protection, Victoria went out to explore the town. She took in the many, pleasing, and not so, smells of the town. The sights were bold and new. She took in a deep breath, with a smile on her face.

She did not know of cart, and streets, all that well, so as she stepped out to the middle of the street she was almost trampled. "Watch it!" A man driving the horse pulled cart called to her. She stummbled backward, landing on her bottom a few feet from where the collision almost occured. Her heart was racing, and now she was a bit nervous about being here. But there was not a thing she could do about it, for she felt a pain in her ankle, as she tried to stand. She sat back down, trying to figure out what had just happened.

This morning he had went out for a ride, and now he was ready to return to the palace. His black suede riding jerkin was layered over a rather plain linen under shirt, and black embroidery accenting the cuffs. Hanging at his back was a fine Tartan backsword, making him stand out among the other men. Trailing behind him was his black Friesian stallion Eacharn.

Both rider and horse were at ease in the busy streets, but they were ever alert. The sounds seemed to drown out many of the conversations going on, and the smells were often not very pleasing. Michael was used wandering dangerous streets, with beggars, and pick pockets abound.

A bit of commotion ahead of him peeked his interest, and the Ambassador push forward through the surging crowd. Hearing the man driving a rather unstable cart yell, Michael almost did not see the woman who had fell. He held his pace, watching her with his steel blue eyes. Wondering if she might be injured, if not just stunned by the encounter. Stopping just short of her, but making sure he blocked the traffic flowing around her.

“Are you well M’lady?” The words gave hint to concern, and were made even more penetrating with his Tartan accent.

Men and women of all sorts, from every corner of the street, where coming up to her. More of to make a mockery of the girl, instead of help her. The throbbing of her ankle told her that she might have to endure it, for a little while longer that she thought might be necesary. She could feel the tears prepare themselves, if they were going to be needed.

Upon hearing a familiar accent, her heart lept for joy. But then, realizing the voice, she just mearly looked up, with a sorrowful look. She almost could not speak, as she was surprised he was concerned at all. She looked like some simple commoner, and yet here was this well dressed Lord, asking if she was alright. She stared up, speachless at first.

Then gaining her words back ,she looked back down at her ankle. "I.. I think I am alright." She tried standing again. She shook her head, falling back to the ground. "My Lord, I think it is sprained." She said, her Emerald accent obvious, even through the quivering in her voice. She tried not to cry, for it showed she was weak. Even if she appeared to be common, she did not want to appear weak. She could not help the one tear that fell donw her cheek, so she let it pass without a word.

As the tear fell off the end of her chin, Victoria looked up at the man again. "I need to get back to the palace. Or at least some place that I can fix this... er.. problem." She did not know what else to call her predicament. She had never been in this situation before, and did not know what to do.

Michael simply glared at the people who heckled her, and he voiced his distain. “I would watch your tongues, she is a servant to the King.” With the people dispersing now, the Ambassador could focus on the young lady. He saw the surprised look on her face, and she almost looked like she was familiar with the likes of him. He just smiled as comforting as he could, softening his blue eyes as he looked down at her.

Ready to lean down and help her, he stopped short as she tried to stand. “I think that you may be right.” He noticed her accent, and figured that she must be one of the foreign courtiers servants. Michael could tell that she was scared, and he let her be, not wanting her to feel any lesser for her emotions. He was not surprised when she asked to be taken to the palace, knowing that a courtier might be missing their servant. “I will take you back to the palace, if you don’t mind horses.”

Not waiting for her answer, the Ambassador move to pick her up. He handled her much like a father does a child, his hands gripping as firm as he could without hurting her. Lifting her frame with ease, Michael placed her atop his pitch black mount. Eacharn shifted as his master placed his new charge on the saddle, but Michael’s soothing voice calmed him quickly. Making sure that she was not going to lose balance, he fixed her skirts, keeping her decently covered. “Do I need to take you to the servants quarters?”

She would have laughed at his comment to the people, had she not been in pain. Servant... if only he knew. Even with how she looked, and felt, his smile gave her some comfort. She tried to smile back, but the pain in her foot distorted it, slightly.

"Horses? I can handle horses, just fine... unless, of course, you spoke to the knight who saved me from that one in the stables." She giggled slightly. Oops, there she was, thinking like her normal self again, to this Lord. To him, she looked no more than a mere maid to one of the Courtiers that she knew she was.

She did not struggle when she was lifted to the saddle, though she was a bit surprised by him just lifting her right up. She had quickly grabbed the riegns, as her father had taught her, when the horse started to shift. She smiled gratefully when the man calmed the horse. "Servants quarters? Heavens no." She said, just about blowing her cover. "I..I mean, the main entrance will be much easier for you to get to. I would not want you going out of your way just to help a mere servant." She said in a low respectful voice. She turned her eyes to her hands, which now rested in her lap, not looking at the Lord. She feared he would suspect something else of her, so she dare not look to him, possibly confirming it.

He was surprised to see her grab the reigns, and handle herself with an air of a Lady. Michael smiled up at the servant girl sitting atop his mount, and let his accent free again. “So you have been rescued before from a horse, maybe you should try a bit harder to not get trampled.” His piercing blue eyes looking up at her, trying to figure this strange woman out.Gently he took her foot into her hand, running his fingers over the bone. He had set a few broken bones, and he knew what one felt like. Moving quickly as he examined her ankle, Michael quickly determined that she was fine. He responded to her comments about where to deliver his new charge. “It is my duty to make sure the you safely back to the Palace, and if that means going out of my way, then so be it.”

When she did not return his gaze, his interest was slightly peaked. She was nervous, but then again a servant should not speak so forwardly to a courtier. He dismissed his suspicion, and took hold of the reigns. Leading his black steed onward, pushing through crowd surrounding them.

She gave him a bitter glare, back for his words. Then, once again remembering she looked like a maid, she lowered her eyes again. "I am sorry Your Lordship." She said, speaking just like Anita would have to any Lord she wronged.

With his words on where to take her, she had to speak up, and get him not to take her to the servants' quarters. The servants there would most likely recognize her, and Anite would, if that is where she was. "But, My Lord, I must not let you. You are new to the court, and I would not want you to ruin your reputation, and have you be a maid chaser. I know some of how gossip is around the palace. The servants' quarters is not a place for a kind Lord." She protested as best she could, hoping that she was not being too bold.

As he quickly felt her foot, she winced, and tried not to pull her foot away. She wanted to cry out for him to stop, but she did not. She kept herself up in the saddle, not noticing that those acts were more like the Lady she was, instead of the maid she appeared to be. She took in a few more sights of the town, as they passed through, after all that was why she was here.

He was not in a hurry to return the maid to her work, knowing she needed to rest, her lady might not be so forgiving. Leading his horse down the winding road, the many sights, and sounds stood out. It was much different then some of the highland villages, but all in all it was just as busy. “As you wish, I would not want to ruin my reputation. Thank you for your concern.” He smiled up at her, his accent quite thick. “I think you need a break from you chores, so we will wander the streets for a bit, if that is alright?”

Michael was trying to be as kind as possible to the woman, for his sister had once scolded him for being rude as a young lad. He had learned much from his dear half sister, but even more from his father. King Octavian was a notorious womanizer, and he had made it a point to be better the his father.

Victoria admired how the business of the streets reminded her of home. They did not have the same feel though. Yes there were theives in the streets, but not nearly as many people felt like they were out to get you, as they did here.

She was brought out of these thoughts by that deep tartan accent again. She gave him a slight smile and a nod at first. Then he brought up wandering the streets for a bit. "But... oh alright." She said, not wanting to protest at the man who had saved her from who knows what sort of trouble. Besides, he was kind enough, and she felt pretty safe with him. She was sure she could not get into more trouble.

His steel blue eyes glanced over the shops as they passed, and scanned the prospective goods. Nothing seemed to appeal to him, so he kept his slow pace down the street. Still on a course that would end at the Palace’s main entrance, Michael tried to push thoughts of his homeland out of his head. It had been to short of a time for him to be homesick, besides the fact his family was best served by his absence.

The last thing his mother had told him, was that King Octavian had killed her husband. It had crushed what small inkling of love he had for the false father, and now he was only his King. Octavian had played the part of proud father when the two were alone, but in the eyes of the court Michael was just another Lord. His link to the crown was a thin thread, and it could be cut as easily as a throat.

Her hazel eyes would scan the wares of one shop, then look back at the Lord. She could not help it, but she was curious about him. She ran over protocol that Anita had always followed, when talking with higher people. She had to think of just how to talk to him, the silence between them was biting at her.

"Your Lordship, my rescuer, might I ask your name, if it is not too bold? A girl does not feel quite right with strangers, you know." She smiled down at him, hoping her words were more maid like than she thought them to be. She bit her bottom lip, worriedly.

Meeting her gaze with his bold blue eyes, Michael smiled. “My dear girl, I am Lord Ambassador Michael Ammadon. May I have the name of the woman I have rescued, as a man does not feel right with a strange woman atop his horse.” His smile was more of a side ways grin, and his eyes were playful. Michael wanted to put the poor girl at ease, for he was the lost person that would hurt her.

She felt that his eyes could see right through her disguise, but she smiled at him none the less. "Ambassador Micheal!" She exclaimed in surprise. "Then your accent does you no wrong, you are of the land of Tartan." She was surprised that it was the ambassador. Now she has officially met two of the ambassadors, that should add her name in the ranks somewhere.

Remembering the assumed place, she looked back at her hands. Then she gave a slight laugh at his returning of the question. "I am La... Victoria. My name is Victoria." She said almost slipping up there. She smiled lightly, looking from him, as she spoke, to the people on the street.

“You seem to know of me, so I am not a stranger to you.” He smiled fully this time, and his eyes softened at the sound of her name. “Well Victoria, of the Emerald Realm. For I know of accents as well, and yours is beautiful.” Michael pondered her for a moment, knowing there had to be a reason she was in the streets on this day. “Is there something you were looking for Victoria.” The thick accent was welcomed in his words, adding to them instead of taking away

Victoria blushed at his comment on her accent. It was always very nice to hear someone liking it. Many of the people of the Sapphire Realm looked at her strangely, making her feel as though she were nothing more than dirt. In this attire, people ignored her much the same way, though. She could not think of how to reply, but she finally mustered enough of herself to say, "Gracias, senor."

As she had lost her thoughts in the sights of the town, Victoria almost did not hear Lord Micheal say any thing to her. "Huh? Oh, no I was just looking. I have never been to this town before, accept briefly passing through on my way to the palace." She admittedly answered. She again smiled at the sound of his accent, she like the sounds very much, they brought mystery to the words, at least to her.

Michael could not help but laugh at catching her of guard, before he spoke once more. “You are welcome.” Noting the way she answered him, and the fact she was well spoken. Not out of place for a lady’s maid, but still she held herself a bit to proper for a servant. “It is my first trip to the town as well, other then when I arrived.”

Victoria smiled at him, as he said that it was also his first time in town. "Then this will be a new adventure for the both of us." She said grinning. She did not mind any more what he knew, but she was not going to come right out and say it. Deep inside her he wished for him to guess it, though she did not know what she would do if he did.

As they passed a shop, her eyes lit up at the sight of an object in the window. She tried to look away, but the trinket in the window reminded her of home. A half smile crept across her face, and her eyes gre thoughtful.

“Aye so it seems Victoria,” his words were laced with a playful Tartan accent. He looked up to see her grin, and his own lips spread in a crooked smile. Michael could not figure out this woman, she held herself differently then most maids, more like a lady. Pale blue eyes searched over her, and he took in small details about her. Maybe she was not a maid at all, but only time would tell.

As they passed the many shops, his gaze shifted from windows filled with bobbles and other items, and then back to her. Noticing her distant gaze, Michael stopped his black mount in place. More then a few commoners had to redirect their paths, and find a new way around them. He followed her eyes to a window filled with trinkets of all shapes and sizes. It was no doubt a place where many different realms goods were sold, and he wondered at what had caught her eye. “What bothers you,” his words sincere as he asked the question.

She could not help but find happiness in his voice. She tried to ignore it, as she looked through the window of the shop. She had not noticed they had stopped, until the Ambassador spoke. "Nothing is a bother, my Lord. I just wish I had not left my money with Anita. That trinket in the window, at one time was something that every Emerald girl had to have. I remember it was after Dad had to help every one, so we did not have the money for one..." She stopped as she realized she was talking too much about her family, which would give her away.

"I doubt I would be allowed to get it any way." She tried to sound like a maid, again. She looked away from him, and the shop, so that she could try and regain her lower class appearence. She doubted it was working, but she had to try and keep her image, for now.

His eyes flashed over her as she spoke, he smiled as she remembered her past, and her family. The hints she gave him as to who she really was playing within them. He to longed for his home sometimes, but only to see his sister again. Michael had never really fit in anywhere, for he was always the King’s bastard son, and nothing would change that.

“Why should you not have that trinket, are you not a Lady,” his words were soft, yet still playful. He had known from the beginning that she was not a commoner, and now the way she spoke only verified it. A smiled played on his lips, as he admired her for the attempt at adventure.