The day had dawned bright and clear, perfect weather for a tournament. A light breeze ruffled the courtier's hair, and Theodore could feel the sun beating down on his back. As a Marchefordian, he was clad in the lightest of silks, in cream color. The embroidery was a teal color, and he felt very royal sitting in it. Being a cousin to the Duke of Marcheford helped you be dressed better. He had arrived at the tournament, seeking out his cousin, but had given up. There were hoards of people running around, children shrieking for their mothers. It was all a bit much for Theo who much preferred calm and rational talk.


It seemed as if he wasn't going to get much of that, until he happened upon a group of young women who positively giggled with delight at the sight of him. He knew he was a striking young man, unmarried and of a good wealthy family. But they didn't know about his family. All they knew that was a handsome young man was looking at them! At them! Many of them blushed and turned away. He passed by, sweeping them a bow and shooting a wink at a shyer one. He was as sure footed as a mountain goat when it came to the subtle - or not so subtle in his case - art of flattery.


It was this man that momentarily lost his balance, and the impact made him stumble a foot, his shoe snagging on a young woman's dress. Immediately a dozen apologies came to his lips. His eyes cast downwards towards her dress. No extreme damage, perhaps a bit of dust. He was in the mood to demonstrate his carefreeness. So in celebration he used the cheesiest compliment he had. "I'm so sorry, my lady. Your beauty blinded me, and I seemed to have lost my balance. My apologies."


He settled back, sweeping a bow, with a casual smile on his face. He was in a good mood.

For the most part her father could not care less about tourneys, but since the king was from Benthey catholic or not, Benthey would come to celebrate him. In truth Lia would much rather be somewhere else. Large groups of people were never really her forte, she left the socializing to Nonah and Gavin, and simply preferred to fade into the background. One would think with her striking looks, it would be more difficult a feat to manage, but that never seemed to be the case.


Gavin was off somewhere probably watching a match, or discussing something of the utmost importance with one or another of his boring friends. Nonah, had chosen to stay close to their father, which was odd in and of itself, but Lia wasn’t going to complain, with her maid in tow she had gone off to investigate the tourney grounds, silently slipping between the groups of people, catching snippets of conversation as she practiced the art of being invisible. She had been standing off to the side of the gaggle of giggling girls who were constantly swooning over every man under thirty who walked by, and shaking her head at them.


Yet another man came upon the group this one preening under the attention of the other girls. He was dressed in cream with embroidery and trim in teal, which showed his residence of Marchford, and his decent color sense. As the color was one shade off from white he most likely was upper nobility. Most of the people had chosen to represent their duchy’s in their clothing, with a few exceptions, so it was much easier to pick out where a person belonged.


Lia almost laughed aloud when the man walked straight into her. Not that it hadn’t happened before, and she probably should have been used to it by now, but she had been standing right there, most people saw her if she spoke or got close to them, her hair was kind of hard to miss, with the dark red locks peeking out from under the silver net.


"I'm so sorry, my lady. Your beauty blinded me, and I seemed to have lost my balance. My apologies."


Liana rarely spoke loudly, and most often, that was when she was trying to get Nonah to shut up and listen to her. People would say that her voice, while sweet, was something you had to pay attention to ever hear, given that he was so close to her that his foot was still on the hem of her dress, she knew he would have no problem hearing the deep chuckle and soft tones of her voice. “Tis no matter, my Lord, there is naught any damage to speak of. Although I might suggest looking where you are going in the future, but then this is not the first time I’ve been run into, and certainly will not be the last.”

Theo balanced back on his feet, smiled as he heard her response. Well, actually, as he barely heard her. She spoke so softly, but it was a voice that he instantly loved. Sweet and soft, with soft undertones, he instantly was under the charm of her voice. More than looks, he loved the way a woman sounded. Her voice was what drew him to a woman, and this woman was no different. He could feel the charm and poise instantly coming to the surface of his being.


"I shall take your advice into good use my lady." he replied, sweeping her a bow, a cheeky smile on his face. "Lord Theodore Dalton at your service. May I request that we take a walk? I assure you, you shall only be forced to endure me for a short while."


Why shouldn't he invite her for a walk? It was perfectly acceptable. They were two attractive young people going on a walk. It wasn't as if at the exact right moment, he was going to jump on top of her and steal away her innocence. Honestly, by the looks some people gave Theo, you'd think that they thought he was some undercover rapist. But he supposed that a woman's virtue was to be protected at all costs. Most parent's believed that a soiled daughter was no good to them at all. Theo only gently seduced the women into his bed. Really, it was their own choice, whether it be a foolish choice or not.


The people milled about, laughing and Theo found himself facing some friends whom he had met when he had been exploring around Adesia. He had stopped at the tournament, but soon he would continue his tour of the country. Ah, the joys of travel. Theodore adored travelling. It made him feel like a drifter, with no fixed place to live. That in itself was nice. No obligations. Never look back, never lose track. That was his moto. No regrets. He extended his arm towards the woman with a smile. Who could resist that smile?

Liana smiled as she looked at the lord in front of her. He had an easy smile, and it was obvious that he was seeking to charm her. This was something new to her, as back home few people really wished to brave the Generals attention to truly pay court to his daughters, and the idea of bringing down his wrath for anything untoward was unheard of. It probably didn’t help that Liana was not like Nonah, and faded into the background far too easily.


“Tis a pleasure to meet you Lord Dalton.” Liana said her voice a bit louder, but just as rich in her tone. Unlike most women of the court, her deep contralto voice was not what most expected out of her. “Lady Liana Alix of Benthey.” She dropped a deep curtsy as she spoke as was proper as she mused a bit on his proposal. “I don’t suppose a walk could be misconstrued…” She motioned for Penny to follow them, ignoring the old woman’s withering look at the Lord she was accompanying. Lia knew she would most likely hear quite an earful later. She sighed; it was not so much like having a maid as having another mother.


Lia took his arm, feeling a bit odd once she did so. She was rarely escorted around like this, and then only by Gavin on one of the friends he’d brow beaten into escorting her so that he could escort Nonah, or once in a great while some woman he was interested in. The warm sun on her face lit up her dark blue eyes, allowing the color to be seen clearly as she turned her face to him.


“Are you enjoying the tourney, my lord? I must admit, that watching fighters battle loses it’s appeal when you are used to seeing it every day, but they are dressed very nice, and I hear even the King plans to compete. “

Theo felt the shivers run down his spine as she began to speak again. What was it about a woman's voice that he found unbearably attractive? This woman's voice was not what he had expected. He had expected a spitfire, as he had often associated that trait with redheads. She seemed different at the moment. Well, he would see what happened later on before he formed a judgement about her. Theo was one of those men who judged immediately, but refined their judgement as they spent more and more time with the one they were judging.


"I assure you, Lady Alix, the pleasure is all mine." replied Theo, once again struck by how he liked her voice. But then again, he had not heard a voice he didn't like. Well - maybe he didn't like you, if your voice was high pitched and screechy, he might find himself backing away from you, not very slowly at all. "If people do talk, they shall be talking of your beauty, for it far outshines myself." he replied lightly. It was true, she was quite a beauty. He had always been partial towards blondes, but recently redheads were turning his head. But then he did like a raven haired woman, as well as a dark haired woman...Let's just say that he had not yet met a woman he didn't like.


As she took his arm, he tightened the crook of it slightly, so that her body was slightly closer to his, by the way of her hand. It was still in the crook of his arm, but if she moved ever so slightly to the right, then she could easily - easily - brush against his tunic. He smiled down upon her, for he was quite a bit taller than her, and noticed her eyes for the first time. Dark blue. "I am enjoying the tournament, though it does become tiresome." here he paused, as they walked, noticing that the old woman who was with Liana was giving him dirty looks. He shot her what he hoped was a charming smile. "Indeed, that shall be a match I do wish to see. See if this new king of ours has got it in him."

Liana rolled her eyes slightly at his comment. Beauty had never really been important in her household. The mirror told her she was attractive, but compared to her sister Nonah, she seemed to lack a sparkle, or a fire that would have drawn people to her. That was fine though, she had long accepted that she would never be the bright person her sister was. Lord Dalton was certainly not the type to skimp on the flattery though, and it certainly seemed sincere, but she still had a hard time accepting it as the truth. She smiled softly in response, quite effectively keeping her from having to respond.


He tightened his arm pulling her a bit closer to him in the process. It was rare that anyone showed such interest in her, most never even noticed her, and in all honesty, she was flattered by his attention, but she tried not to show it. The idea of turning into one of the giggly girls she spent so much time scoffing at, made her shudder. She caught his smile to Penny and snickered. He was really wasting his time with that, Penny hated men in general, let alone anyone paying attention to her ‘baby’, as she still considered Lia to be. It was honestly a wonder with the woman’s glares that anyone dared speak to her at all.


“He is a man of Benthey after all, I’m sure he knows exactly what he is about when it comes to fighting. My father had nothing but complimentary things to say about the cousin of the Duchess. I am looking forward to seeing how he competes against the Duke of Harleston. I’ve heard that his grace is quite the wrestler.” She knew her father would be curious as to what they thought of fighters from other duchies. He could not help but get opinions from every source imaginable, and his own children usually had many opinions to give… especially Gavin.


Liana sighed as she thought about the trip home, where every bout would be talked to death… every fighter’s form dissected until their flaws, and the flaws of their trainers were known. It was a process she had been through a thousand times, and it was one she would probably hear a hundred more before someone was found to marry her, and take her away from the constant military talk.

As she rolled her eyes, Theo couldn't help but smile just a bit. She clearly didn't like to be complimented. Well, that was just fine for Theo. He'd just bring her beauty up once in a while, and she would never remember that she didn't like when people looked at her. Well, there was also another possibility. She could just not believe the compliments. But she had to know that she had a truly unusual beauty about her. The red hair, and the eyes, and her voice...she was beauty personified. Theodore was skeptical that she didn't know she was pretty.


Theo was more than confident about his appearance. He knew that the rugged lines of his face, and his well muscled body were what many women found attractive. He knew that even if you didn't like his personality, you had to find him quite handsome. His eyes were rather average, but if you were shallow, his body was beautiful by itself. He didn't mind much what people thought about him, simply because..well he didn't care.


"Well, I know many men of Benthey and they could not fight to save themselves." replied Theodore rationally. It was like assuming all people from Pemberton were shallow and all they knew was how to have a good time. Of course, it was not true. "But I'm sure that our king is quite the fighter." here he paused before adding, conspirationally - "For one has to be to have the audicity to claim Adesia as his own." There was a bit of resentment in Theo's voice. He didn't think that Adesia needed a king.


A king was just another pawn, who didn't do much but decide when the country was to go to war, and when it was to stay neutral. Other than that, what did a king do? Adesia had been ruled by five people, the power shared equally amoung the duchies, each with their own distinct...style. A king just complicated matters. A king had no place in Adesia, and as much as Theo wanted to be accepting, he knew that he would never regard the king with much respect.