[Rated M] Wicked Nights (NekoInk and Jacogos)

[Jacogos]

Rated M for language, suggestive/sexual content, and possible excessive violence

The Tindus residence was a far-cry from the Yoricson Manor in size and sheer amount of gold invested into it, but then there were few estates in the whole kingdom that could match the Yoricson Manor. And no one was here for the sights, of course. Tonight was supposed to be a celebration, though honestly Jonah had had enough of that a few minutes after arriving.

Jonah was here to 'escort' his sister Linette, whose suitor was celebrating his thirtieth birthday. Marcus Tindus was the heir to a rather wealthy mine owner, Yuri Tindus, and was obviously a fair choice for Linette if he wasn't such a meathead. If only he had the muscles he was so fond of thinking with, Jonah thought with a chuckle. One of the ladies nearby looked at him oddly when he seemed to laugh at nothing, but a sour look from Jonah put her off enough to move on with her business within the moment.

Of course, Linette was too smitten to care about Marcus's personality. Jonah had always thoughts that Lin was in for the money when she went after boys as a child, but now he was obviously right. And hated it. But then, there were other things for him to hate that night. This thought came along just as one of a certain family strode into sight.

William Black had been persistent in his pursuit of Linette's hand in marriage for quite a long time until he had realized that she was a Yoricson. That had put him down quicker that a hatchet to the neck. There had been a blood feud between their families ever since Jonah could remember, and what irked him about it was that no one had every explained what exactly the feud was about. But he willingly followed the hate his parents had instilled on him, as it was only obvious by the way the Blacks treated him that they were worthy of the hate. William foremost of them, Jonah believed.

The eldest of his generation, Jonah was told, William was only three years older than Jonah, which meant that there wasn't much that he knew that Jonah didn't. Which allowed Jonah to get away with a lot...

"Hey, Black," Jonah sneered, a sinister look on his face as he spoke. "I heard that someone saw a monster hanging about your manor the other day. I went to check it out myself, but apparently they mistook your mother for a hairy brute with three eyes." Jonah paused to let the words sink in for a moment, then... "But hey, they weren't far off!"

[NekoInk]

William looks up at the insult, and glare, but recovers almost at once "Good one! Perhaps the "monster" returned to her home in your mansion..." He stops then says, clearly linking the two together, "I hear your sister will be married...Good luck to her husband on the wedding night! If he survives, I owe him a drink." He calls and smirks before gasping and looking to his left. Whoever he is talking to is hidden behind several people, but William looks very annoyed and waves his hands about as he talks. He storms off, leaving the person behind, his face livid.

Isabella Black smirks as her brother storms off. She had kicked him hard in the leg when he was yelling across the room. "Idiot! You know we are here to be civil! Not start a brawl. Now shut up and go and wish the happy couple well." An argument had followed, as it always did before he left. Isabella smooths her dress (http://upload.ecvv.com/upload/Product/20123/China_Renaissance_Gothic_Velvet_Dress_Ball_Gown_Lo lita20123311421205.jpg) down and smiles before walking through the crowds, watching people talk and drink. Her silky dark hair bounces in light curls around her shoulders with each step she takes. From across the room she hears her mother talking with a woman. Isabella walks slowly over, making it seem natural, she pauses behind a statue and listens to her mother.

"Well of course I would like William to be married by now...But the truth is, I am so busy with offers from many prestigious families that I cannot bear to choose!"

"He is very handsome...And so clever. It's a wonder you can cope with the amount of attention." The woman replies. Isabella hears the slight tone of annoyance in the woman's voice...Her mother seems oblivious and carries on.

"I am...Of course, my Celeste is also unattached. But I've a little plan for her, very hush hush though, so forgive me for not talking of it. She's a darling daughter, the perfect child I've always wanted." Anne Black's voice is full of sickly, sweet honey whenever she talks of Celeste. Isabella listens, her heart thudding in her chest.

"What about your youngest?...What's her name again...Oh yes, Isabella, is it? Is she to be married soon?"

Anne Black coughs and there’s a clink of glass against teeth as she takes a drink before saying, her voice harsh and empty of interest. "I'm sure she will marry at some point. She has little beauty or charm...So it will not be a grand match...Anyone who wants her can have her....Well, I must go and find Celeste, there's a charming man I want her to meet."

Isabella stays behind the statue, even after her mother and guest have moved on. She sighs softly and thinks "I have more beauty than you ever had, Mother. And mine will last longer than yours...that insult was spot on...She is a monster." She looks around, to make sure Anne Black has definitely gone, before walking into another room of the mansion, there’s a lot of paintings. Most of family members with golden names printed below the frames. The room is empty and quiet, the noise of the party stifled by the thick walls of the house.

She walks along the wall, touching the names and reading them in her head. Isabella looks up at the faces of the people, it appears they are staring down at her, stern faces disapproving of her presence. She stops in front of a painting of a woman in a grand dress and looks up at her "What was your life like...." Isabella says aloud softly "Were you happy?...Or miserable?...." The intoxicating scent of her own perfume swirling around her as she moves to touch the name then looks at the black lace that is wrapped around her own wrists...her left hand holds her right wrist as she remembers...

The screams filled the mansion...followed by crashes and yells from the top floor nursery..."Make it stop! For God's sake! Make her stop!" A voice screams from the room... The 6 year old Isabella is dragged into the nursery by her nanny and mother. She kicks and screams, struggling in their arms "Let me go! Let me go!" She yells desperately as her mother ties strong rope around her wrists and ties her to the solid coat hook, which sits low on the wall. Isabella tugs violently at the hook, the rope biting into the soft skin of her wrists. Anne Black looks down at her daughter, breathing hard, her hair dishevelled. "Leave her there to calm down!" She snaps at the nanny and leaves the room, her curses ringing through the mansion. The nanny scurries from the room, slamming the door shut. The breeze blows out the candles by the door, plunging the room into almost darkness. The only light filtering in from the moon outside the window. Isabella stops screaming and tugs at her restraints, her eyes on the moon, which illuminates a fresh bruise on her cheek. "I hate you....I hate you...I hate you..." Isabella whispers....

Isabella gasps and is snapped out of her reminiscence when she hears foot steps behind her, she whirls around to face the person, immediately on guard.

[Jacogos]

"You're the attentive one, aren't ya?" Jonah chuckled to the girl as he walked up with a smirk on his face. "Been standing over there for the past few minutes wondering why you were staring at that portrait." He dropped the smirk as he finished, wondering what had possessed him to mention that he had been staring at her, but disregarded his slip immediately. She had been acting just as weird, so they were even. Right?

In any case, he found it interesting that she had been staring at Marcus's grandmother, Melinda Tindus. The woman had disappeared a few years back following the death of her husband. Jonah had almost wished that woman's fate upon his own grandmother once or twice. Almost.

"So I assume you're here to wish the birthday boy luck in his marriage, right?" Jonah asked, looking up at the portrait nonchalantly. Might as well get to the point, no? "Then again, why would you be here otherwise? I don't know your face, so I assume you're not in his family, right?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella watches him carefully as he moves to stand next to her, gazing up at the portrait.
"I didn't expect anyone else to come in here, most people enjoy these events. A chance to judge their rivals and flirt with one smothers husbands or wives..." she pauses then says "The birthday boy looked very smug next to his bride...like he'd won a prize."*

She looks back at the woman "And no, I'm not from this family. I was just looking...she looks sad. Very sad. Her eyes are not looking at the painter at all, but passed him" Isabella smiles a little then looks at him "I've forgotten my manners, nice to meet you, my name is Isabella." she bows her head a little in respect as he is older than her, and a man.*

[Jacogos]

Jonah shrugged off her comment about most people's enjoyment of these events. He wasn't like that. Most of the time he avoided these events altogether, but his parents had forced him to 'escort' his sister this time.

"As if she needs escorting," he muttered, then started, realizing he had spoken aloud. He bit back a swear - Not in front of a woman! - and chuckled lightly. "Yeah, he tends to look that way, it seems. Honestly, it could be debated which is the bigger catch in that relationship," he said with a snicker, wondering if this girl knew who they really were, since she said she wasn't of the Tindus House.

For a moment, she spoke of the painting, and Jonah began to actually look at it now that she had mentioned it. She was right, though, the woman wasn't really looking- What am I saying? How are we to know where the damned painter was sitting?" he thought with a glower. He didn't let the face stay for long though, as he put on a small smile for her introduction.

"Jonah," he said simply, noting her omitting her family name. True, most simple and informal introductions didn't include them, but he had an odd feeling that she had forgotten it on purpose. "Nice to meet you as well."

"Do you not like these kinds of parties?" He asked suddenly, then continued. "I don't. Too overbearing," he finished with a grimace, watching as one of the servants hurried past with an empty tray of what probably had been wine. Poor soul.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles softly, watching him his face change as he hides his true thoughts. “He's conflicted...And tense...To much under his parents control perhaps? I suppose being disliked by your parents had it's advantages...I'm free to act as I please...To an extent. He must please his parents and act as people expect him to.” She stops that thought quickly and listens as he talks then nods “I'm sure the match will be a happy one...Though I heard a nasty little rumour about the groom...” She smirks then changes the subject.

She turns to look at the painting again and says, as if she read his mind “It's clear she is not looking at the painter, you can tell from the shadow. See?” She points to a faint shadow that is easily missed, as it runs across the woman's splendid gown “That is the shadow cast by the painter. The woman is looking to the left slightly.” Isabella smirks “Possibly to her lover who stands in the door way. I've heard that many woman in the Tindus household had lovers...aside from their husbands.” Isabella turns away from the painting, as if bored and walks to the next as he asks her about the parties however she stops...And turns to face him.

“I hate these parties and gatherings.” She says simply, with a shrug. “They are not my thing. Though mother does insist now I'm old enough...She likes us all to listen into people's conversations and report back to her. She's like a giant spider in the centre of a web...The web being her social connections. And we are her little spiders who run around, gathering information.” She sighs and brushes her hair from her neck, allowing a burst of perfume to surround her.

“When did you start coming to these gatherings? I was not allowed to come until I turned 14. My mother didn't want people to see me...I used to stand watching my brother and sister leaving in their best clothes...For a party. And I used to feel left out. Then when I was allowed to come I realised I would have rather stayed at home with our beastly nanny.”

She laughs softly walks the few steps to an open door, it leads onto a marble balcony, over looking the darkened gardens. Isabella leans on the marble railing and looks up at the sky, listening to see if Jonah follows her, or goes back to the party. “I wonder if that rumour is true?...It wouldn't surprise me. Mother said he was always a strange little man.” She thinks when remembering the soon to be married couple inside.

[Jacogos]

Jonah listened to her talk, looking carefully at the painting where she had indicated there was a shadow. The girl must be insane, he figured. Artists painted shadows... Was there any reason that that shadow was anything more than that? Wouldn't a skilled artist remember to remove any trace of his own shadow from the picture? Or maybe he wasn't skilled enough for that?

Jonah stopped himself with a mental shake of his head. Now she had HIM doing it. The lover's comment was also uncalled for, if probably true. He had heard that the elder Tindus, Yuri had... Shaking himself free of another off course trail of thought, Jonah tuned himself back into what she was saying.

"So you're mom's the spider, eh? I was wondering who let the giant arachnid in..." He said sarcastically with a small smirk, not knowing who she was referring to at all. This Isabella was very free with her information. Apparently she didn't care what he thought of all she was saying. At her question, he shrugged lightly.

"My sister's been dragging me along since I was... seven, I think? She was the social butterfly of our family, and with my older brother always busy being perfect, I was the one she had to take along with her to appease Mother," he said with a laugh, remembering the first time Mother had let Linette go to a party. She had expressly stated that Linette was never to go to a party without her little brother Jonah to 'watch out for her'. Being three years older, Linette thought this was absolutely horrifying, but eventually she figured out that she could just leave Jonah somewhere in the house the party was at and he would get along just fine without her. It was a thrilling if sometimes scary endeavor for the young Jonah, who eventually outgrew the fear and settled into a solemn dislike of the ordeal overall.

"So you have a nanny, eh? Was it just for you, or did she watch over all of your siblings?" he asked quickly, latching on to the subject change. He realized then that they had stepped basically outside, the gardens below them. He vaguely remembered a time when he had gotten lost in those gardens playing hide-and-seek with a Tindus child roughly his age. Never the best idea to play that game in another child's garden; they always knew the best spots to hide.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles as she listens, her eyes on the stars glittering above them. “Since you were seven? I'm starting to thing I really was lucky to escape until I was the age I was.” She laughs “My mother hating me seems to have come in handy several times now-” She stops and looks away, not wanting to mention her mother.

Isabella turns and walks down the few steps and onto the soft grass of the garden, her dress making no noise. “My elder siblings shared a nanny and governess...And my brother had his own tutor; to teach him how to be an arrogant ass.” She smirks then carries on, turning around to look at him “I had my own nanny, governess and wet nurse. As well as my own nursery and playroom...Separate at all times from my siblings.” Isabella looks up at the sky, her right hand touching her left wrist and stroking the lace around it. Then she laughs softly and says calmly “I guess that's why I can be pleasant to people without expecting to gain something from it. Unlike my brother, sister and mother.”

“It's beautiful here...The garden's at home are dark and gloomy, with only huge trees and hedges. There's no colour or anything different...Similar to our family I suppose.” Isabella holds back a smirk before smiling at him, her eyes seeming to sparkle in the faint light spilling out onto the grass from the manor above.

For a moment she is silent, simply listening to the soft music that is playing indoors which they can hear now they are outside. She then smiles and looks at him “I suppose you think I'm strange? Talking about my family without caring who knows or hears it? I learned from a young age the value of information...And decided that my place had been made clear in the family...So why shouldn't I tell everyone what they want to know?. If someone asks, I tell them. Much to my mother's horror.” She laughs again “Though of course, I have my secrets that I cannot share, as does everyone I'm sure.”

Her hand once again goes to her wrist, though she seems not to notice it, as if it is an unconscious reaction, to seek comfort perhaps. “Why am I telling him?...” She thinks “I've never spoken to anyone like this...why him?...the rules are different with him...I know how to play this game...but...he's different. Like me. He doesn't completely accept all he's told...Or maybe he does and he is just a good actor...Either way...He's something new...” She sighs then has an idea and suddenly looks straight at him, a smile beginning to play across her soft lips “Dance with me?” She asks calmly, as if his answer will not affect her either way.

[Jacogos]

Her mother hated her? Must be a touchy subject, as she had shut up about it immediately after the slip. Jonah found himself continuing to follow the girl, which surprised him to no end. She was pretty, there was no doubt there, but Jonah had never been a woman-chaser. He figured that was something to be left to his pompous brother, and if there was ever a woman for him, they'd find each other someway.

"Always separated? Must have been a lonely life," Jonah said simply. Luckily he had had Daniel since he was three, at least, though it wasn't the same as having a real friend. No one liked playing with the 'pompous Yoricson kids'. They were 'too stuck up' and such. Jonah held no idealizations that he was like the other kids. He was spoiled by their money, and he knew it. Why was that bad?

“I suppose you think I'm strange," she said then, giving him a look which he was glad she couldn't see made him shiver. "Not nearly as much as you seem to think," Jonah replied, watching her hands touch the lace at the mention of secrets. That made him curious, but secrets were secrets for a reason. He wasn't about to press. All of a sudden, she went quiet, as if lost in her own thoughts. Jonah took the moment to look back at the light coming from the balcony, making sure no one was there. People had a nasty habit of snooping where they weren't wanted.

She asked him a question while he was turned around, and it startled him enough that he swung around with a wild look on his face. "Wha-?" he almost choked, but then caught himself and regained his composure. He must have looked like a fool, but he hoped he made up for it by recovering easily. He then had a thought; If there was ever a woman for him, they'd find each other someway... A small smile crept on to his own lips and, moving over to her, he held out a hand. Maybe those awful hour-long lessons his mom made him and Daniel do would pay off after all.

"If you insist, madame," he chuckled, listening to the music that drifted in the air around them. It was much softer than if they had been actually in the ballroom, but then, it made it more personal. He shivered slightly as he gently put an arm around her waist and began to dance with her, step one-two, step one-two...

"You didn't strike me as a girl who liked to dance," Jonah said briskly as they twirled about the garden, wondering what she was thinking.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles as they dance slowly, their feet moving in time with each other and the music. For a few moments the only sounds are the birds in the trees and the soft, distant music, however, after a moment Isabella smiles again and says “So...what kind of girl do I strike you as?” She smirks as they dance, wondering what answer he will give.

“Don't worry about insulting me. Be honest. If I strike you as a insane person who should be locked up tell me.” She laughs softly. “Teasing people is fun...” She thinks “Though...he's the first person I've ever met who does not simper and flatter me...or in fact any woman around, besides their wife...It's a refreshing change to be treated as a person, rather than an object to look at...who has no thoughts or opinions.”

She shakes her head, making it look as if a insect flew near her, but in fact she thinks “What am I saying?! He could simply be acting this way. He's been taught, like me, to treat people a certain way...He may not mean anything he does or says...Neither may I...But...he's handsome and charming...” Isabella Black for the first time in her life, blushes. The sudden rush of colour to her pale cheeks makes her look younger suddenly, like a laughing child. She stops dancing and covers her cheeks with her hands, shocked at the heat. “Oh sorry...Its...hot.” She says, though the night air is cool.

Isabella turns away from him, to hide the blush and bites her lip. “He made me blush...without trying.” She fans her face and laughs then turns back “Forgive me...These corsets are just a nightmare.” She fans her face again, giving a reason as to why she is suddenly flushed. She hopes it works, not wanting him to know he made her blush. “Shall we go for a walk instead? I'd love to see more of the gardens.” Isabella starts walking, hoping that the rush of cold air to her skin will get rid of the blush, as well as going away from the light of the house which if all else fails, will hide it.

Isabella walks calmly along a little stone path until she comes to a large pond, with marble benches at the edge. She stops and looks at the water, the moon shines down onto the surface of the water, bathing the area in soft silvery light. She smiles and sits down gracefully on one of the benches, before subtly touching her cheek with the back of her hand. Its cool again. “I always thought men were like my brother...or father...Jonah...He is completely different. That must be why I blushed. Something new. That's all.” Part of her believes that, and is relaxed a little, Isabella looks up to see if he followed her, wondering if she is what he expected from a young woman.

[Jacogos]

"Well you are.... different," he said with a laugh. "Not like any other girl I've met. I don't think I really know you yet, though. You say you tell me whatever you wish, and yet still there's not much I know about you." Jonah smirked and shook his head as well. "No, not insane. Different." Then she surprised him by blushing.

He didn't really know what to make of it, other than what she said; “Oh sorry...Its...hot,” were the words, though it was hardly so outside with the cool night breeze. She blamed it on the corset, which struck a chord with him. His sister did the same thing on many an occasion, but usually when some boy was flirting with her and she started to get red in the cheeks like Isabella was right now. What had he said to cause such a reaction, though? He had no idea.

With their dance suspended for the moment, he was happy to take up her offer to walk about the garden, though he knew it was simply a distraction. The blush made him curious, though, and he wanted to know what had caused it. Following her deeper into the garden, he quickly pushed down the thought that he needed to get back to the party. Hell, he was twenty-two, and still four years younger than his sister. She could take care of herself.

Sitting lightly on one of the stone benches was Isabella, who was pristine in her carriage now. All awkwardness in the wake of her sudden cheek-heat was gone, replaced by graceful beauty. Stop that, Jonah said to himself. You just met the damn girl. Which was true enough.

"I never would have thought the Tindus's could afford this much land," Jonah commented absently, moving to her side to look out over the lake as if nothing had happened before. Truthfully, he was watching her face for another blush. He was still curious as to what had caused it... Very curious indeed.

[NekoInk]

At the remark about the Tindus estate she smirks a little “Well...I do not know much about the family, apart from what my mother told us, but I know they have a clever habit of marrying into families of higher social standing and those of great wealth...meaning their brides come with large dowerys...So that money comes in handy for making the mansion seem grander than it should be...I guess.” She shrugs “I wonder whose daughter paid for this..” Isabella gestures to the pond and surrounding shrubs and flower beds.

She falls silent then and looks at the water, watching the moonlight flicker over the surface of the pond, lost in thought. “Seems a little like selling your daughter really...That could be why mother hates me...I was born a girl. She already had a daughter. She didn't need another one.” Isabella smirks to herself “And then I robbed her of the chance of another son. Serves her right...She is not a good mother to the children she has...Blessing her with more would be cruel.” Isabella stops and blinks, surprising herself at her own malice towards the woman she was suppose to call mother.

She looks at Jonah, realising she was miles away “Oh, forgive me. I was just thinking to myself.” She smiles then says “Do not think you have to stay...If you have things to do at the party. I didn't think to ask...Don't let me keep you from more important things.” Isabella brushes a lock of hair away from her neck, suddenly shy. She replaces her hand back on the cool marble of the bench, her fingers brushing Jonah's...Just for a second her eyes meet his, and look deep into them...

“Oh! Sorry!” She says quickly, coming to her senses and removes her fingers, not looking at him. Her heart rate quickens a little at the touch and she blushes again. Isabella turns away, not wanting to embarrass herself by showing him her blushing. Again. She stands up quickly “I...Should get back to...the party.” She stammers, trying to keep her head down, as if shy, to hide the redness in her cheeks. “Oh Gods...I blushed again! Twice in one night...I barely know him...So why...” She turns to go, her hand slightly behind her as she turns, very close to Jonah as she moves....

[Jacogos]

Jonah smirked at her mentioning the Tindus family marrying into richer girl's families... She had no idea about this one, he thought with a silent laugh. "If my memory serves right, the most recent girl was a Lady Janette Kurtus... Not too rich, but a well endowed family in any case." He shrugged, not quite sure he should clarify what he meant by 'well endowed'.

The girl fell silent for a moment, and Jonah was happy to let the conversation fade for the moment, as she seemed too lost in thought to bother for now. Forgetting himself, he sat on the bench beside her, staring out over the pond with his hands placed on the cool marble to either side of him. All was quiet for a moment...

“Oh, forgive me. I was just thinking to myself,” Isabella said, breaking the silence. She continued to speak, but Jonah waved off her comments. "No, no, I came out to get away from the party, too. The clenching of far too many assholes was much too much for me to bear anyway," he said with a laugh. He then felt something brush his hand, and he turned to look at her, and was captured by deep emerald eyes.

She broke the trance by exclaiming her apologies, and they both rose to their feet in a swift motion, as Jonah, too, began to try and apologize. "I, uh.. Sorry about that," he said quickly, trying to calm her down. She stammered something about returning to the party. Panicking slightly about upsetting someone he barely even knew, he reached out to stop her from leaving.

"Hey, hey, calm down, it was... uhh... it's okay." Not an accident, Jonah? How was he supposed to know? He just met the girl, and already she was freaking out about a slight touch. That SHE had started. No, no, don't say that, that makes you sound pompous.

Gently taking her shoulder in hand, he prevented her from going to far, but he wouldn't force her to stay if she shook free. "Do you have to go so soon?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles a little then looks down and says “Sorry for my reactions…In our family…touch was never a gentle thing. Never. Forgive me, I didn’t mean to worry you.” Isabella looks up at him and smiles again, shyly “My mother only laid a hand on us to hit us…Our father the same. I’m not used to anything else…”

She looks down at his hand then smiles again “Thank you…” She then looks up at the roof of the mansion, and sighs “I don’t really want to go back to the party…It’s such a bore and full of people who hate each other but flatter them anyway…only to stab them in the back. I don’t belong in that world…” Isabella turns back to the lake and smiles then says softly to him “Let’s stay here…Away from that world; until we have to go back...you can tell more about the Tindus brides and their endowment." She laughs happily.

“Or until Mother starts yelling…and drags me back to that hell hole.”

Isabella laughs softly then says “Shall we go for a walk; away from the house? I don’t want my brother or sister to find me.”

[Jacogos]

Jonah smiled a little, repressing a sigh of relief. It was good to find someone who wasn't a prick like the rest of the people at the party; it would have been horrible if he had scared her off so quickly. It was wrong that her family mistreated her like that, though, and he said so.

"Why would they do that?" he asked, more than a little concerned. He knew not every family was a good one, but among most upper class families, abuse was scarce, at least among the families he knew. Sure, there was never much 'love' like he saw in the peasants, but abuse was seldom heard of...

As far as talking of Tindus brides, though... "Hah, you'll be disappointed, then," he chuckled. "I'll just stick to the basic stuff." He didn't mind not going back to the party, honestly. His sister was old enough to take care of herself, even without her boyfriend there. He nodded at her offer to just go on a walk, offering an arm for her.

"Anywhere in mind?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella starts walking, her steps graceful as she moves to walk onto the small gravel path that leads away from the mansion.

“Why did our parents mistreat us? It’s a long story.”

She smiles a little and takes his arm “Well…Father is heir to our family, after my Grandfather. But he is only heir because he was first born…Not because Grandfather chose him. Father was always a disappointment to him, and he used to beat my Father for any little misdemeanour…This of course meant he grew up to be a bitter twisted man, my father, not my grandfather…although he’s also a…”

Isabella stops and laughs then carries on “Father started drinking when he was about my age, heavily. And he’s carried on ever since. When he drinks, he gets angry at everyone…including Mother, who I know he loves deeply. It’s his fault she miscarried at least once. Though I wouldn’t rule him out being the reason that she miscarried a second time and had a still birth after my birth.”

She falls quiet, walking in silence for a moment then sighs “And mother? She is just a cruel woman, who enjoys inflicting pain. Mostly emotional…Though she has hit my brother and me. If we refused to do as she asked, she would slap us or have the maid beat us. She demanded our loyalty…and believed that the only way to get it was to hit us, or threaten us.”

“Mother never beat my older sister though…She was always perfect.” Isabella laughs again and shrugs slightly “Other people have it worse off than me, I’m not looking for sympathy…Nor do I deserve it. Mother is an evil witch, Father is a drunk control freak…as for Grandfather…well the less said about him the better.”

Isabella smiles at him then says “Enough about me…What about you?” They walk into a shady grove of trees with several benches and a fountain. Isabella goes to the fountain and trails her fingers in the cool water, smiling at the feeling.

[Jacogos]

Jonah listened to her talk for a while, silently wondering how she had turned out sane if these folks were as bad as she said. Maybe he was taking things for granted. His own family, while not abusive, was not much of a family per se. It was really just a bunch of strangers living together, for all the interaction they had.

At least she knew what it was like to have a perfect older sister... He could relate to that at least, he thought with a grim smile. "Yeah, I know what the sister thing is like..." He looked back towards the estate, but all that could be seen now was the faint silhouette of the building against the night sky. The music had faded away, the lights could no longer be seen, and they might as well have been alone in the world.

"Me? My family... doesn't really deserve the term. None of us really speaks to each other, besides me and my brother. Younger, that is. I can only assume Mom and Dad speak to each other, if only because they still share a bed, for however long that lasts..." Jonah trailed off, looking at the fountain. It seemed familiar, somehow. Maybe it was the generic, not-so-grand make of it. He never really walked his family's gardens, so they could very well have one just like this and he wouldn't even know.

"I guess it's worth mention that I didn't really know my Grandfather... He died when I was... young," he hesitated, not able to remember the exact age. The old man had not been very... kind to Jonah, or to anyone but his eldest grandchild, so fond memories or otherwise failed Jonah at the moment.

"Like I said, not much to comment on," Jonah finished, watching her trail her fingers in the water. He then became aware of where they were and looked around slowly.

"Does anyone know we're even out here?" he wondered aloud.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles and listens to him talk, not wanting to interrupt him. “He even sounds different…his voice are not smug like theirs…he sounds…normal…” She laughs softly and smiles again then turn around, drying her fingers on the expensive satin of her dress.

“I doubt it…” She looks up at the darkened shadow of the house and sighs “No one has even noticed I’m gone I’m sure. Perhaps they have noticed you are gone, I wouldn’t know.” She smiles a little then walks over, a little closer to him. The scent of her perfume floats around them. “We can go back to the party if you wish, I guess we have lost track of time…It could be late.” Isabella looks up at the sky and watches the sky “Mother normally stays late at parties so she won’t be ready to leave yet anyway.”

Isabella has an idea then smiles “I could test him…I wonder how he would react…” So she looks at him then reaches up and brushes a lock of hair from his forehead “Your handsome….you know that? And…you’re not like the other men…They are arrogant, selfish and…well spend every moment flattering women in the hopes of getting somewhere…” She blushes then laughs softly and turns away “Forgive me…I shouldn’t voice my views. Mother always told me to sit and look pretty…or try to. And never talk about such things. My husband will do the talking for me, if I marry.” She sighs and stands by the fountain, looking at the water rippling. “Sorry…I shouldn’t have said that.”

[Jacogos]

Jonah smirked and shook his head. "No one misses me for now. If they do, they'll wonder for a moment, then put it from their minds. There's more important things to worry about for now, for them." He looked at her for a moment, realizing she was moving closer. And perhaps for me as well.

"You're handsome... you know that?" she asks, which caught him off guard. There had been a few girls in his time who had said so, but more than half the time that statement was followed up by 'So when can I meet your brother?' That was always referring to Kiel. Isabella went a little further than the 'other girls' though... He might've blushed.

"Forgive me…I shouldn’t voice my views," she said then, doing a complete 180, in a way. He paused for a moment, about to say that there was nothing to apologize for. Then he remembered a small gleam in her eye directly before she began to compliment him. Gears whirring, he repressed a smirk and smiled slightly.

"I forgive you, Isabella. I can understand a girl letting slip her mind every so often," he did his best to put on the air that his older brother had whenever he talked. It sickened him, but the look that she had now was priceless.

"Now what I wonder is... if you marry? My dear, you must be mad if you think that no one would marry you! Just look at you, as beautiful as God could make a woman, with a mind to speak what she thinks! Granted, that might have to be kept in reign for anything to work out, but I can appreciate a woman who practices... self-control." He finished with a barely restrained laugh.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smirks to herself, her back to him then says “I wonder when I will have an honest conversation with someone…” She turns back “You are handsome. I admit it. And yes, I said it to test your reaction…” She laughs softly “Forgive me for it, but my mother trained me far too well I think…As much as it sickens me to say it. I hear her sometimes when I speak…it’s her words…”

She removes a hair pin from her hair and lets it tumble around her shoulders “As for marriage and not speaking my mind…Hmm…I would need to marry a man who can think for himself…Who answers to know one, but is also able to respect other’s views and who respects his wife…I won’t be a doll to be dressed and prettied for his and his friends amusement …” She laughs “Men in “our” class of people are not like that. They are doubles of their fathers…Grandfathers…and so on and so on…” She laughs softly “So if you know any young men like that, do give them my name.” She smirks at him, watching his every movement.

“And self-control? Where is the fun in that? Have you never delighted in…Oh…say mixing inching pods with your sister’s perfume and hearing her yells?” Isabella laughs happily, almost like a child, with no cares. She turns to face him and smirks “Sometimes…I even go swimming…naked in our lake at home.” She watches him, laughing and smirking.
Isabella then becomes serious and says calmly “Shall we be ourselves tonight? Rather than what we were born to be?...Speak our minds, not our parents?” She smiles shyly, the concept of honesty being new to her.

[Jacogos]

Laughing lightly, Jonah holds up his hands in feigned defeat. "Yeah, yeah, you got me," he chuckled with a grin. "If you keep speaking your mother's words though, you might find people will start treating you as such." He knew that rule all too well. As soon as Kiel was old enough, their father began pampering him to the 'life of the head', as the elder Yoricson liked to refer to it. No one else got the treatment that Kiel IV did. Jonah's brother began to see things exactly like their father did. There were points when Jonah could swear that his brother treated their mother more like the house maid than his mother, simply because... well, that's how Kiel III treated her...

"You, a doll? I find that hard to picture," Jonah commented lightly, listening to her mirror his thoughts in her words. "Yeah, that's my brother all right... Dad never bothered imposing his image on me and Daniel." He had to admit, she looked good with her hair down... He blinked in surprise at his own thoughts. Where did that come from?

"I don't think I've ever been that mischievous, really," Jonah said with a laugh. That DID sound like fun, though... Her next statement caught him off guard, though. "Naked, eh? I..." he stopped himself then. He had been about to say 'I'd like to see that' when he realized exactly what he was saying. A blush was barely contained, then, his face heating up all the same.

Picking up on her serious tone, though, he managed to cool off. "Have we not been until now?" He asked innocently, chuckling a little as he nodded. "I think that'd be nice."

[NekoInk]

abella laughs softly and looks at him. “I do believe I saw a blush perhaps there?” It was too dark for her to have seen if he blushed or not, but she picked up on his slight change in tone of voice so chanced her luck. She smirks “Yes…let’s be honest. We are both trained to seek out information from other people and to use it against them…Acting comes easy to people like us…So let’s be ourselves tonight.”

She smiles at him “What do you like to do? I like reading, painting and swimming.” Isabella laughs again, unable to help herself.

“My god I am talking to him about me…proper me…not…well my mother’s me.”

“I’d like to have a…real conversation with someone…I’m tired of all the pretence. Imagine that…two people, like us, talking about ourselves...” She smiles softly. Isabella stands in front of him, looking at him, her face calm. “Wouldn’t it be fun to be peasants? Living free, no rules about who you can and can’t talk to…or who you have to marry. I often thought I would like to swap with a peasant girl…”
Isabella laughs and says softly “You must think me mad to say such. But it’s true.”

“He is handsome…and charming when he isn’t acting…”

[Jacogos]

He coughed, almost choking when she said she saw a blush. There was no way... So acting came to her so easily? Trained to gather information... She might as well have been the noble, and him not at all. Maybe it was the lack of interaction he had grown up with. With her, she was taught, if in a rather... abusive way.

She liked simple things, it seemed... But him... He hesitated for a moment, but then, they wanted to be honest with each other... "I... well, when our parents aren't looking... Me and my brother used to go off exploring in the woods," Jonah said. "But... well, for Daniel, it was all about the freedom. I guess it was for me, too, but... For me, I liked the adventure. Sometimes I would imagine we were searching for lost artifacts... You know, like the explorers do in the stories." There had been a distinct lack of those as a child until he had been old enough to go to town by himself, too.

"Speaking of the stories... I always loved those... supernatural stories, if you know what I mean. The vampires and ghosts and such. Me and Daniel would always go down to the village and sit around Old Man Prikkets's place while he told stories to the younger kids. Even when me and him were in our teens, the stories would fascinate us..." He felt like he was revealing a carefully kept secret, something no one was supposed to know... Danny knew, but he was Jonah's brother, so...

"I often thought I would like to swap with a peasant girl…" Isabella said, and Jonah stared at her for a moment. Her reasons were fair, but the idea of it... "You'd give it all up? Really?" He was stunned for a moment, but as he began to think about it... Whenever he went down to the village, people always looked at him and edged away, always put on an air that something was different about him. It was only when he got older when he realized what it was.... He was... more important than them... It was a silly notion, in his mind, but they truly believed it. The other kids wouldn't play the same with a Yoricson as they did with each other. The baker wouldn't give little snippets of his bread to a noble boy; he was expected to pay for it himself.

"Maybe you're right, though..." he said wonderingly. "I don't envy them the field work, at least," he said with a laugh. "But in any case, we are very well stuck as nobles." Looking at her again, he wondered again why she was talking like this to him. They barely knew each other... Well, until now.

"Have you ever heard the story 'The Tale of Two Houses'?" he asked suddenly.

[NekoInk]

“Exploring? I’d have loved the chance to do that…And to go to town...I was never allowed to.” She smiled a little. “I did all my playing in my room. Away from my siblings...I’d have liked to have played with them.”

Isabella smiles at him, a warm genuine smile. “Yes…I liked stories to, living in an old house like I do, the stories of murders and ghosts the maids would tell me always fascinated me.” She laughs softly “Till I realised…real life was much more scary than a ghost or demon-“ She stops and coughs slightly before carrying on.

“Of course I would give it up…to be free? Of course, I would love a simple life…but, as you say, we are nobles; and stuck with it.” Isabella laughs a little and smiles at him “It’s not so bad…”

“Two houses?...I may have…Care to elaborate on it?”

[Jacogos]

"Well, this was actually one that my grandmother told me when I was young. It..." he hesitated for a moment. She still didn't know he was a Yoricson. Most people looked down on the Yoricson-Black feud.... "It justified her point of view. Anyway, it's basically an old folk legend about two families way back when. The two families had a falling out and hated each other, until two of the kids met each other and became friends." He paused there for a moment, then continued. "That went on for a while in secret until it came out and the parents tried to separate the two. When the kids fought back, the parents realized that the feud was pointless then and stopped the fighting."

"It would've lasted, she said, only the two kids got in some fight which sparked the feud again... Grandma always said it was just a point that humans are fickle by nature." And that you can never trust a Black... Jonah always wondered why they even hated the Black family anyway... No one ever wanted to explain the reasoning.

"Anyway, it just kinda popped in my head and I wondered if you had ever heard it. I only heard it from my Grandma," he said quickly, ready to change the subject. "So tell me, Miss Isabella..." he put some emphasis on the 'Miss'. "If you were a peasant... Say you were a peasant, right now. What would you do?" his head tilted curiously as he waited to see what she would do.

[NekoInk]

Nods as he talks “Yes…it sounds familiar…” She stands looking up at the stars then says “So…two friends united the families…for a short time. Nowadays a marriage would have happened; to seal the friendship.”
Isabella smiles a little and says “Perhaps some families are just destined for feuding…” She also stops and is happy to change the subject.

“If I was a peasant…right now…Hmmm…in the presence of aLord?” She laughs “Well…I suppose I would blush, and curtsey. And say something to complement you. Then depending on handsome you are…perhaps I would allow you to seduce me.” She smirks at him, her eyes almost daring him. “A simple peasant girl has little fun in her life…to be seduced by a Lord…well…that would be something.” She moves closer to him, so their bodies almost touch. "And you?...my Lord?...what would you do...if i was a peasant girl..."

[Jacogos]

He caught a bit of... something in her voice when she spoke of the feuding as well. Did she know? Perhaps it was obvious by the way he brought it up... Who knew. There was something else there, too, though, something he couldn't quite place. My, how she liked to talk about marriage, though. He supposed that that was what the girl's were taught, though... Linette certainly portrayed that well enough.

And then she was closer, her eyes flashing in the moonlight. He felt heat burning his face, and his tongue didn't want to work correctly anymore. "I... um, I... I don't..." He started to move back, but something else told him to stay. He looked down at her, met her eyes, and that probably only made things worse.

"Uh... I-I..." He stammered, trying to form words correctly. "I can't say I..." Would he? Looking at her now, would he not want to play the dashing lordling for a pretty little peasant girl? Especially one that was looking at him like that... "I don't think I should answer that," he managed, an honest answer. They only just met! It was not proper! ... Right?

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs softly “I understand…If I was a peasant girl, I would let you seduce me in a heartbeat.” She gives him an honest answer in return. “It’s a shame then that we are nobles then is it not?” Isabella remains close to him, looking at him.

“Maybe…I’d let him seduce me even if I wasn’t a peasant girl-“

Isabella blushes and smirks a little, trying to dismiss that thought. “It would be fun to be free for a night…no worries…just a couple having fun…Mother would kill me…And besides…He seems shy.”She smiles at him “Don’t worry. I won’t force myself on you, my lord.” She laughs and turns back to the fountain. “I don’t think he has had much experience with girls…maybe that’s why he is shy.”

[Jacogos]

Still feeling the heat on his cheeks, he managed to laugh as well. "Yes... damn shame at that..." And you mean that, don't you? he thought to himself. Looking at her, meeting her look for look, he had this odd feeling that she did, too. She can't! That's just... Hell, you've never been this close to a girl! Sure he had kissed one or two when he was a teenager... They were kid-friends, playing around, nothing meant by it, one admitted it was out of sheer spite against her parents for trying to set her up in a marriage. But this...

He moved towards the fountain as well, but instead of just standing, he turned around and sat on the stone railing, looking over at her. "Force yourself on me, eh?" He said with a smirk, trying to drown the blush in humor. If only it were that simple. "I thought I was supposed to be the one seducing you?" he said with a chuckle. Thinking about what he just said, he realized that things might be getting out of hand. I wonder if Linette would leave the party without me...

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs and watches him, her eyes shining with the sudden excitement of the situation. "Well...Seduce me then." She looks at him. Go on...I dare you to be free... Isabella smirks and leans back, resting on the fountain railing, her eyes on him. "Have you ever...seduced anyone?" She cant help but laughing, a slight blush across her ivory cheeks. "I'm sure for a handsome boy its easy..."

Isabella thinks for a moment "Mother would be mad...I dont want to do this just to spite her.Its cruel...Maybe we should stop this..."

"Or we could go back to the party?...."

[Jacogos]

Yeah... She... definitely meant it... He felt himself shake, whether out of intimidation, fear, or just plain excitement, he had no idea. He hoped it wasn't noticeable, though. Every instinct was telling him they shouldn't be doing this, not here, not now... Especially not here... Maybe back home, in a proper bed... came a thought that made him shake even more.

"Have you ever...seduced anyone?" she asked, which made him feel like his bones were trying to jump out of his skin. "I'll be honest... No," he said shortly, meeting her eyes again. Maybe I'm dreaming... I mean hell, I've never seen this girl before... Have I?

She mentioned something about going back to the party and suddenly something took hold of him. Sliding down from the railing, Jonah moved over to her and, with sudden fluidity, placed a hand on the small of her back, pulled her close, and kissed her. He didn't know if it was a proper kiss, but hell, anything worked right now. After a few seconds, he let off his hold on her and broke the kiss, breath escaping his lips in a rush.

"N-.. no... Stay here..." he said breathlessly, wishing he hadn't fumbled over his words. Where was his calm, now?

[NekoInk]

Isabella gasps at his touch and closes her eyes as he kisses her. She has no more experience than him but nature takes its course and she kisses back.

“We shouldn’t…be…doing this…” the thought pops into her head and goes just as quickly.

When the kiss stops she stands looking at him, her eyes wide, cheeks flushed with the shock. “That…was…my head says it was a mistake…but…” She blushes and looks at him “Why did you do that…I….” Isabella pulls him to her suddenly and kisses him again, a proper kiss this time, filled with unspoken questions.

“I don’t care why…and I’m sure he doesn’t either…”

[Jacogos]

She was quite cute when surprised, he decided then, though he really couldn't say she wasn't otherwise. He smiled slightly when he noticed her blushing, but then, he could feel the heat on his own cheeks as well.

"I guess.. I jus-" He was going to finish his sentence, but was cut off when she kissed him again. Somehow, he was prepared though, and reciprocated immediately, slowly putting his arms about her waist.

We only just met... Why is this happening? Why... Why me? Why her? I've never met anyone like her before, though... Head spinning, Jonah decided he didn't want the kiss to end, and pulled her closer. He had no idea what he was supposed to do other than what his gut was telling him, which was just to keep kissing. Eventually, though, he had to breath, and he pulled back ever so slightly, breaking the kiss while staying close to her.

"I... Uhh.." he stammered, wondering what he should say. "You... Is this real...?" He asked, immediately feeling stupid for saying that. He did wonder that though. Why do I feel like this is just a dream...?

[NekoInk]

Isabella leans against him, her forehead against his. “Well…if it’s not real; or a dream…then we have a duty to experience it to the full…” She kisses his neck then smirks and looks passed him to the fountain. “I’ve an idea….a really wicked idea.”

Isabella then smiles again and wraps her arms around him before stepping sideways and making them fall into the fountain, still fully clothed. When they are under the water, Isabella kisses him again, eyes closed, following her instinct; her dress pools around them in the water, her silky hair now flowing around like fluid.

She comes up from the water, laughing and brushing her hair back from her face “Still feel like it’s not real?” Isabella smiles and stands, soaking wet, water dripping from her hair, looking strangely beautiful. She looks at him then walks over to him and embraces him.

“I’ve never felt so…free. I don’t know him, but…it feels like I’ve always known him…”

[Jacogos]

"What kind of id-EEYAH!!!" his question turned into a yell as she pulled him into the fountain with her. He felt her press her lips against his, and while the surprise still held him tight in its grip, he managed to kiss her back somehow, though the effort caused him to splutter water upon surfacing.

Finally finding his breath again, Jonah manages to laugh as well, though the sound is covered by him coughing up bits of water. "Okay, okay, NEXT TIME, I get warned, alright?!" he managed, still caught between laughter and choking. He felt more than saw her move up to him again, water still streaming down his face and past his eyes. Wiping them free of the liquid, Jonah smiled at the girl who was now in his arms.

"Alright... This... this is real, alright," he said quietly, still laughing a little. "Now, if you were a peasant girl like you wanted, you would never have done that and ruined most likely your only good dress..." he said with a chuckle, smirking through his bangs at her. His dark hair lay matted about his head, and the length of his bangs that had been brushed back before now lay rampant about his vision.

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs softly in his arms and says “Ruined? It’s water! It will wash.” She smirks then continues “Well…mother may kill me for getting the satin wet…and if you let go of me, I could drown. Satin and my bodice are very heavy.” She laughs softly before brushing her black hair from her face and smirking.

“I’m guessing you did not expect this to happen at the Party?” Isabella looks around the silent garden and smiles a little “I know I didn’t…I expected the usual-“ She is interrupted when a shout rings through the still air.

“ISABELLA?!”

The dark haired girl in his arms rolls her eyes and looks up “Oh by all that’s holy…” her tone makes it clear that whoever shouted is not welcome…At all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few moments before, back at the party, Anne Black, Isabella’s mother walks around sipping wine and laughing with her so called “friends”-other wealthy women who spend their times spreading malicious gossip.

Anne comes across her eldest daughter, Elizabeth Celeste Black, called Celeste, and embraces her. “My darling daughter, are you enjoying the party? I hear you have caught the eye of many eligible young suitors.”

Celeste, a pretty light haired young woman of 21 years, stands laughing watching people walking by. Celeste may be pretty but there is very little going on inside her pretty little skull. Anne knows this well, so always asks Celeste to sit quietly, so others do not know that she is simple…
Celeste looks up at her mother and smiles “Yes, Mother, very enjoyable.” She simply repeats what her mother asked. Anne smiles a little and says “So, where is your sister? I have misplaced the little urchin. It is almost time to depart.”
“No mother, I haven’t seen her. She was talking to brother.”

“I shall ask him then, thank you. Go and fetch your father, it is time to leave; as soon as I find her.”
Anne walks off, looking annoyed. “Isabella?” She calls; her voice full of fake love. Various people shake their heads and say they haven’t seen her. Anne becomes more and more annoyed; she does not like to be kept waiting…especially for Isabella. Finally she storms out onto the balcony, realising that that is the only place her youngest daughter can be.

“ISABELLA!” She yells for a second time, her voice sharp and angry. “ISABELLA! WE ARE LEAVING IN FIVE MINUTES; WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!”

Anne then turns on her heels and storms back into the party in a flurry of silk and satin to meet her waiting children.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back at the fountain, Isabella smirks “Mother has a way of screeching that is just uncanny…I suppose I had better go and meet her.” She looks at Jonah and smiles.

[Jacogos]

"No, I'll admit, this kind of caught me off guard..." Jonah said, which was completely true. He had expected chatter, a few glares at the Black family, wine, maybe a cute girl or two to flirt with and forget about later, but her... He hadn't expected her. That one girl who could flip his mind and night upside down and have him wondering if he was sane or not, wondering if he was just imagining it all.

"ISABELLA?!" came a screech from what was presumably the direction of the Tindus Estate. Jonah tensed, thinking they had been found out, but after a moment, Isabella said she should probably go meet her.

"Must we part already?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his voice. He knew he shouldn't ask her to stay and disobey her mother, but even if they had just met... "Very well, I'll let you go," he said, helping her back to the edge of the fountain. He even helped hoist her over the railing; she was right, that dress was heavy!

Standing on dry ground again, Jonah hesitated before pulling her into another kiss, then letting her go. "I suppose I'll see you again, soon?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles at him and kisses back “Of course, I doubt I’ll be freed from these parties anytime soon…So we can see each other than…and whenever you are free.” She smiles and looks at him then sighs sadly “Sorry about my mother…she has a knack for interrupting…I…private…moments.” Isabella blushes and laughs.

She turns and starts walking back to the mansion, now just realising how wet she is and how much yelling her mother will do. She pushes through the roses then looks up at the mansion…Anne has gone from the balcony so Isabella is able to walk up the steps and slip into the portrait room without being bothered.

She takes a breath in the portrait room and sighs then looks around for Jonah, wondering if he will come back to the mansion…or if she will be going into the main room; alone and wet…and going to face her mother who will no doubt be fuming.

[Jacogos]

Jonah watched her go with a sad look on his face, though he made no move to follow. For a moment, he simply stood there, trying to figure out what had happened in the past hour or so. He had met a girl... and apparently they had hit it off so well that there was at least some carnal attraction... Shaking his head, he realized he was more confused than when he had first met the girl.

And then something hit him.

"I still don't know her family name..." he murmured with a grimace. What, should he expect to find her at another party purely on luck? She was gone now, and that was exactly all he could do unless someone still at the party knew who she was... Based on the way she talked and the way she carried herself, most people wouldn't, he would wager. And he couldn't just go about asking for an 'Isabella'... Their village wasn't the smallest, and names were commonly repeated in it.

So what am I to do? he asked himself, making his way back towards the Tindus manor. Instead of going back in the way they had come out, though, Jonah made his way towards the front of the estate, where the Yoricson carriage would be waiting for him and his sister.

However, instead, he found simply the last remnants of guests that were deciding to leave the party. While he and Isabella had been away, apparently the party had been slowly winding down, and now only the stragglers were left. This did not seem to include Linette Yoricson, who had apparently gone away with the carriage having been unable to find her brother. Sighing slightly, Jonah figured the time to his manor would be enough to dry his outfit at least a little.

Resigning himself to it, Jonah began the twenty minute walk towards the Yoricson Manor.

[NekoInk]

Anne black stands by her carriage, which bears the Black family crest; a black shield with 3 silver spiders decorating the top of the shield and a silver crescent moon in the centre.


She sighs and taps her foot as her daughter Celeste gets into the carriage, followed by her brother and her maid. “Do hurry up Isabella. The world does not revolve around you…”


A still wet Isabella looks around, looking for someone before sighing and getting into the carriage. Her mother glares around then follows, slamming the door loudly and shouting “Drive on!”


The carriage trundles away from the mansion. Isabella sits by the window, looking out at the passing trees. “Will I ever see him again? Or was that it?” She sighs and rests her head on her hand as she passes the road.


“Isabella, do stop that. Look ladylike. You will never find a husband! You must look cultured and respectable. Like Celeste. Just look at her.” Anne says, looking at her youngest daughter with a look of sheer disappointment.

Isabella sighs again and looks over to her sister, taking in her perfect posture, rich blonde hair and smudge smile. “Forgive me mother, sorry to be such a bitter disappointment to you. Why can’t I be more like you, Celeste? It’s just awful mother is saddled with such a disgrace of a daughter.” She turns away and looks and of the window, her tones both angry and upset.


Anne glares and leans over before suddenly slapping Isabella across the face “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, young lady! I wish I’d never had you, you know that?!”


The others in the carriage ignore the conversation, having learned early on that Isabella would be the one abused by Anne and to interfere would only mean they would suffer her abuse to. Isabella looks at her mother, her cheek red, and eyes dry. “Things have changed mother…Hit me again…and I’ll make sure it is the last time!” She stands up and pushes open the carriage door as it slows down at the crossroads and gets out, slamming the door.


“Get back here, young lady!” Anne screams, but Isabella keeps walking, tears wetting her cheeks now as she stumbles away from the carriage, which moves off. She stops walking and stands still, in the dark, listening to the faint rattling of the carriage wheels as it vanishes.

“I’ve done it now…She’ll kill me when I get home…It was worth it though…I’m not a child anymore. She can’t hit me anymore…”

Isabella looks around, now realising that she is alone…miles from home or the small local town…or anyone as far as she can see in the dark. “What do I do now?...” She shivers in her damp dress and wraps her arms around herself, her cheek throbing painfully.

[Jacogos]

Jonah watched as the carriage moved away, wondering why that emblem seemed so familiar to him. For some reason, it just wasn't clicking, though he felt like it should. In any case, he felt like the carriage would have floated out of his mind had not he heard a very familiar voice only a minute or so later.

“Get back here, young lady!” the voice pierced the air, rather than drifted back towards him like any other voice would have. It was the same screech that had called for Isabella only a little while ago, or so it felt. He quickly moved forward, wondering what was going on. After a moment, he caught sight of the carriage, but nothing about the transport suggested anything was wrong. Feeling slightly confused, Jonah looked around, then caught sight of a figure in the dark.

"Hello?" and then, on a whim and half-hoping, "Isabella?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella, who was sitting on a stone by the edge of the road, wondering what of earth she was going to do no, looked up at the call.
“Hello?...” She calls out into the dark, half scared. “Oh god…now I’m hearing things…He couldn’t be out here. I left him by the fountain 20 minutes ago…”
She holds the lace on her wrists and swallows as she stands up slowly, looking around and willing her eyes to see through the dark. As she stands there, a memory comes back to her, of another night in another place…

“No one will ever love you, Isabella; just me. I have to, I’m your mother. So you had best be respectful and nice to me or I can make your life extremely difficult. You hear me?”
“Yes mother, I hear you. Thank you for all you have given me.” Isabella had replied, sarcasm dancing off every word.
Anne had looked at her daughter and glared “Do not use that insolent tone, Isabella. Now get outside and wait for us to come out. You will not ruin your sisters night.”

Isabella had gone outside and sat by the steps, waiting for several hours…Her mother, father and siblings had gone out of another door and left her behind. She sat there, all night, even after she realised they had gone; dry eyed and plotting revenge”

Isabella looks around again, taking a step back slowly. “Hello?” She says softly, ready to run.

[Jacogos]

Jonah smiled slightly when he heard a familiar voice answer his call.

"Who'd have thought I would be so lucky to meet you twice in one night..." he said quietly, moving closer to her form. He approached cautiously, making sure she knew who it was before doing anything crazy.

"What the hell are you doing out here by yourself, girl?" he asked with a small chuckle, looking her over. Nothing changed from before, though obviously she was a little drier than she had been. Looking at her hair, his mind acted like it wanted him to know something, but whatever it was vanished in a fleeting moment, gone with his way of thought.

[NekoInk]

Isabella looks at him for a moment, shocked to see him again out here. "I....had a disagreement with my mother." she gestures vaguely, as if she doesn't want him to see it, *to her red cheek where her mother struck her.*

"What are you doing here? I thought you would be miles away and home by now...not wandering around in the dark!" she smiles slightly and walks over to him before embracing him. Then stands, resting her head on his shoulder.*

"I'm glad I wasn't hearing things, I hated the thought my mind had conjured you up just now...you are real right?" she asks with a soft laugh. *

[Jacogos]

He put a gentle hand to her cheek, slightly put off by the fact that her mother had hit her. Well, she HAD said that the woman was a monster... He didn't truly believe it until now. He then realized that he was caressing her cheek and quickly pulled his hand back. he didn't mean to be so... forward.

"I was actually walking home. Turns out my sister left me a long time ago, and I have to hoof it, apparently. It's okay, because I actually don't live that far from here," Jonah explained, smiling slightly at her. He hugged her back, once again revisiting the fact that they had only just met not even a few hours ago. He wondered, then forgot about it.

"I'm real... And you laughed at me when I asked that before," he said with a smirk.

"How are you going to get home, Isabella?" he asked then. Though his home wasn't more than a mile or two away, he couldn't ask her to walk all that way and then spend the night! That would be... far too odd. Right?

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles at his touch and says softly "Oh, I thought you lived further away...it's lucky I ran into you." she winces a little at the pain in her cheek.*

"Home?...I...I guess I'll be here till my mother sends a carriage for me. She'll let me suffer here for a few hours. I'd walk but it's several miles...and the gates will be locked." she sighs a little then smiles at him "Please don't let me hold you up, your family will be worried I'm sure."*

Isabella steps back and watches him "It's funny...we barley know each other...but you don't feel like a stranger."*

[Jacogos]

"A few hours?!" Jonah exclaimed, staring at her in bewilderment. How could a mother leave her child in the wilderness for hours on end?! It was outrageous! Jonah shook his head in amazement. And Isabella was apparently just fine with that! Or at least used to it, he supposed. He looked at her for a moment, expecting an explanation.

She stepped back, looking at him, commenting about how he didn't feel like a stranger to her. He realized that he felt the same way, though it was hard to explain why. It just... She felt like she had always been there, somehow, fitting onto his life like a well tailored coat.

"I can't just leave you out here, Isabella. I..." He paused, deliberating whether he should actually ask this or not. His parents wouldn't really care; hell, they might not even notice she was there, depending on how things played out. "Come with me. I know its sudden, but I really can't just let you stay out here all alone, and the manor is only a mile or so away. We'll be there before you know it," he finished with a small smile, half-hoping she'd accept, half-worried she would.

[NekoInk]

Isabella looks a little taken a back at his suggestion and smiles shyly “Well…I’d hate to intrude. I’m sure your parents would mind a strange girl in their house…And…well, it would start a lot of gossip.” She smirks a little “What are we waiting for?” She laughs then sighs “No, really…I couldn’t intrude…I wouldn’t want to get you into trouble. I’ve already caused you to miss your carriage and forced you to walk home…I do not deserve your kindness.” She smiles at him and looks around.

“Well…I…It is dark. Ok…I’ll come…And if we get caught, I’ll take the blame…I’d really like a hot bath, if it’s not too much trouble.” Isabella shivers a little and touches the now damp and heavy fabric of her dress. “Mother won’t worry if she doesn’t find me here, if she even comes back tonight. She’ll simply say “That selfish girl! I come all the way back here and she has left! Wait until I get my hands on her! I’ll teach her respect. Oh why can’t Isabella be more like you, Celeste?” Isabella says, in a remarkable imitation of her mother.

[Jacogos]

He smirked slightly at her imitation. From the few moments where he had heard the woman's voice, Isabella was a surprisingly good mimic. "I'd love to have you. And don't worry about my family... They usually stick to themselves anyway, and Linette's brought home stranger people than you," he said with a laugh.

"No need for you to take any blame. If only there was a way to send a message ahead, I could have Phillipah prep you that bath..." He smiled slightly, then blushed a little, his mind wandering. Stop that! he berated himself, then returned his attention to Isabella.

"Come on then, we have quite the walk ahead of us," he said, offering an arm for her.



It took only about thirty minutes before the forest gave way to an iron-barred fence (http://image.yaymicro.com/rz_512x512/0/342/fancy-black-fence-in-winter-3424e9.jpg), which they walked along for another minute before the entrance was found. The large black iron gate had a stylized figure situated around the lock, but in the dark it was nearly impossible to make out. Moving to the right side of the gate, Jonah bent down and shifted one of the bricks that made up the fence foundation, then removed the key that lay hidden behind it.

"And now you know how to get in if you need to," he said quietly, looking at her for a moment. "But I trust you, so there won't be a problem." That said, he moved to the gate, unlocked it, then returned the key.

Though the manor's (http://hookedonhouses.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/haddonhallderbyshire1.jpg) front door was most certainly locked, Jonah led Isabella around the left side, where the hedges began to grow a little more disheveled than the ones out front. It had been a while since Opal had trimmed them. In the wall of the building, an indention gave way to a hidden door, placed so that you had to look at at least a 50 degree angle before you could see it. Jonah opened the door with ease, greased hinges making no noise.

"Here we are... home sweet home, I guess," Jonah said. The hallways were dark in the Yoricson Manor, though a candle lit every few yards so you could find your way around. Immediately, Jonah turned left into a room, which was modestly decorated, though tidied up by the obvious hand of a maid. "And here's my place. That little door has always been a convenience that my parents seem to have overlooked." To the right, there was another door, much more obvious than the entrance to Jonah's room they had come in. It was actually a doorway, as when Isabella had entered, Jonah slid the door shut, an almost seamless wall left behind.

"Neat, huh?" Jonah said. He then seemed to realize the circumstance again, and blushed, much more obvious in the lantern-lit room. "You probably still want that bath, right?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella spent the walk taking peeks at Jonah as they walked along. When they reached the gate she laughed when he said he trusted her “Of course, I won’t abuse the privilege.”
She followed him silently into the manor, looking around. “It’s amazing…they must have a set plan for wealthy homes…ours is very similar. Well…it differs a little but similar.”

“I love your manor; very stylish.” Isabella smiles at him and looks around, pretending not to notice the blush. “Oh, yes please. I’d love a bath.”

------------------------------------------------------

A few moments later, once the bath has been run and Isabella has excused herself to the bathroom, she unlaces her dress, letting it slip to the floor. A maid unlaces her corset at the back and helps her finish undressing before Isabella says “I’ll be fine now, you can go. Thank you.”

Isabella slips into the hot water of the bath and sighs happily. She lies back, her head resting on the fabric covered edge of the bath. She then reaches over to her dress and picks up a small vial of light, golden liquid before pouring it into the water and smiling. She remembers her grandmother telling her about the liquid; “It’s a very expensive substance and very valuable. It softens the skin beautifully and makes it feel like satin.”

“I wonder if it will be noticeable…though men do not tend to notice things like that…” Isabella sighs a little and closes her eyes, relaxing in the hot water, and the scent of the oil surrounding her. “I must be dreaming. Isabella Black is taking a bath in a strange young man’s house…” She laughs softly and opens her eyes before looking around the room then slipping under the water to rinse her hair; when she comes back up, her hair lies around her shoulders and chest, once again silky smooth and beautiful.

After a while, Isabella stands up, watering trickling down her body. The maid returns with a warm dressing robe. Isabella puts it on and stands looking out of the window at the dark landscape below. “I wonder what Mother is doing right now…Probably trying for another child…Grandfather always said there would be another child…Though he did not say she would…Celeste will no doubt be the one who has that “special child”…”

Isabella sighs and walks back into Jonah’s bedroom, wearing the dressing robe that although not see through, shows the contours of her body clearly enough.

“Jonah?” She calls “I was wondering if you had…well, something to wear.” Isabella laughs.

[Jacogos]

While Jonah waited for Isabella to bathe, he took the time to change from his sodden dress clothes into a more relaxed robe, dark green and of a modest make, perfect for relaxing around the house. He still wore his smallclothes under that, though, as he was used to. His father and brother seemed to have a fascination with walking around with only the robe, which was great fun for the maids whenever the ties got loose.

Sighing at that mental image he had conjured up for himself, Jonah sat on his bed and took the book that had been sitting on his bedside table in hand, leafing through the pages until he found the one he had left off on. It was a history on an ancient group of warriors who attempted to face down a tyrant king by slaughtering his army. Though they were vastly outnumbered, they still managed to hold their ground, which fascinated him to no end.

He was so engrossed in the book that he didn't even notice Isabella coming in until she spoke up. He paused when he heard what she said, half-expecting... No, that... He turned slightly, taking in her appearance with a slight heating of his cheeks then averted his eyes, even though she was, for all intents and purposes, decent.

"Um... I don't think I do... That does for now, I suppose, until we can.... um..." He stammered, managing to sound somewhat decent before standing quickly and moving to the door.

"Phillipah!" He called, not too loudly so he did not wake his folks. The maid who had ran Isabella's bath returned, looking rather tired, but not at all flustered by all this late-night attention. "Could you possibly see if you could find one of Linette's old nightgowns?" The maid looked confused for a moment, then realized why he needed it.

"Of course, Master Jonah," the obviously foreign woman replied, curtsying before hurrying down the hallway. Jonah sighed quietly, glad that he had a sister, then turned back into the room, feeling the heat on his cheeks again. "Um.. Ah.. I hope you don't mind using one of my sister's old gowns... They're of good make, obviously, its just... ah..."

He had lost where he was going with that, suddenly very unsure of himself. What was it about her that set him off so easily? He felt like a child who had... no, that wasn't a good metaphor... Honestly, there was no metaphor for this. He felt like a young man who had invited a beautiful woman into his parents' house, late at night.

"... Its not a problem, is it?" he asked finally.

[NekoInk]

“Of course its fine” Isabella smiles at him then winks “Unless you would rather I wear this?...” She waves her hand down her body, a smirk playing across her lips before she smiles again and sits down at the bottom of his bed. Isabella combs her hair back from her face and looks around “I like your room…its interesting. And the entrance must come in handy for sneaking in other women…” She smirks at him.

“Teasing men and boys is quite fun really…”
She thinks and lies back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“I wonder…if he will kiss me again…or if he now regrets that and is only being gentlemanly by inviting me here; in case I cry rape when I go home. As if I would be so spiteful…Celeste on the other hand…”

“Do you often have people over?” She says “people” rather than “women” this time, to broaden the question to include his friends and family.

[Jacogos]

Jonah blushed furiously at her offer to just continue wearing that. She looked good in it, but... It was improper. He kept telling himself that, but what had they done that night that was truly proper? He needed to get over this silly obsession with doing what was expected of him in this situation. He needed to just...

"I.. uhh... You're the first woman I've ever had in my house," he said shortly, sitting on the bed from the left side, at a 90 degree angle from her. He felt her lay back in the bed, and suddenly he was struck by the thought that he had planned for her to stay in his bed... With him. He felt his flesh had been set on fire, but somehow, it did not redden his cheeks. It had gone past that point, he figured.

"I actually do not... The few friends I have I usually meet at the tavern. We usually keep to ourselves, the quiet bunch in the corner, if you will," he said with a small smile. "They're good friends, but few. We never go out and do anything crazy. They're all upper class, though... No peasant wants to be friends with noble bastard."

He sighed, remembering the one time he had mingled with the 'common folk' during the annual Festival of Lights. He was young then, but it still stung when the poor kids threw rocks at him and called him an 'upper class snob'. Most of the kids didn't even know what the word meant, it was just a meaningless name their parents had taught them. Sighing again, Jonah turned on the bed to look at her.

"Do you have any good friends?" he asked, curious. Phillipah came in briefly and left two nightgowns she had found on Jonah's dresser, then left with a quick wink towards Jonah. He managed to restrain himself from stuttering this time, but his face still reddened. One was a snow-white, trimmed with lace around the collar and short-sleeves. The other was a forest green, with black lace trimming its cuffs, hem, and collar. It had longer sleeves, fitting to Isabella's mid-forearm. Jonah didn't say anything about the gowns. He didn't want to, preferring to just let her decide.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles at him and listens as he talks about his firends and social life, such as it was, with apparant intrest.
"I've a few friends, one or two from the "upper classes" but I'm not popular in that set. Mother and her rumours have ruined that. You know, she once told Lady Emila Gregory that she knew i was free and loose with men and she was disgusted. So of course, Lady Emila told her daughters, who told others...and my repuation was damged...Even though i was 10 at the time." Isabella sighs then stands up and walks over to the nightgowns, smiling a little as she touches the fabric; she chooses the white one and walks over to a dressing screen. Before she goes behind it she undoes her robe and lets it open a little, as her back is to Jonah he doesn't see much; only her bare shoulders as she disapers behind the screen.

"I've several friends amoung the common folk though." She calls from behind the screen as she slips on the nightgown, finding it a little tight across the chest...making her breasts look larger than they are. She blushes a little and looks down at them before tugging the nightgown into place and hoping it looks presentable. Isabella comes out from behind the screen, the gown giving her an impressive clevage and walks across to the bed before sitting back down.

"Yes, I've some friends in the common folk. I guess because they know I'm not accepted in my own set...or maybe they hope to gain standing. I do not know. I get on very well with the family of my nurse maid; she always treats me as her own...My mother refused to hold me as a baby...The doctor told her, after my birth, that she would not have anymore chidlren...and for her to grow great with child again could kill her. So i was fostered out for much of my infancy...Then she put a stop to it when i was 3." Isabella lies back, a hand resting on her stomach as she looks at the ceiling. "I write to them a lot...as i said before, I am not allowed out much, only into the town on rare occasions so we do not see each other as much as I'd like...Emma, my wet nurse as a child, keeps asking when i will marry and have children. I told her I'm not sure I ever would...Mother is set against it and poisons everyone against me...She's already ruined my repuation in most houses...and...I would not want to be a Mother like her...I would worried that my child would be exposed to her...and the other...less...pure areas in our family."

Isabella's face darkens for a moment as she remebers back to her early childhood.

"Hurry up! I don't want the child. He can have her and that will solve my problems! He likes fresh meat doesn't he?"

A low, almost mournful growl had sounded then, Isabella had clutched at her mother's dress as he father shouted.

"No! The child stays here. I will not have it Anne! Do you hear me? The child stays. Send a common infant to him, I will not have one of our blood sacrificed."

Isabella shivers visably and looks at Jonah "Sorry...I've never had someone to talk to...I guess I got a bit carried away..." She blushes a little and looks down, noting that her clevage looks quite stunning in the white gown...

[Jacogos]

"You were ten, and your mother spread a rumor about you being... well, a harlot?" he asked incredulously, disbelief obvious on his face. Who could do that to a child? Furthermore, who could believe that a ten year old...? Regardless, it was obvious that this woman that Isabella called her mom was not worthy of the title...

She continued to talk as she moved over to to the nightgowns, even as she began to change. He made himself look away at that, that glimpse of her shoulders a little... Even behind the screen, she made heat come to his cheeks. He needed to get over himself, just let himself relax... He had invited her, anyway! .. For some reason that didn't help.

With the gown on, she looked very... impressive, he admitted to himself. This time without blush, he noticed. Perhaps it was the... Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Jonah looked over as she sat down next to him, still talking about her childhood. All in all, she had it rough... But she turned out well, apparently. He was glad for that. When she shivered, he mistook it for her being cold and gently put an arm around her, not sure why he thought that would help.

"Its okay... If you wish, I'll pretend you never told me a thing, alright?" he said with a small smile. Then he looked down a little more and promptly blushed. Then gave in and leaned in to kiss her.

[NekoInk]

Isabella leans into him when he hugs her and does not object when he goes to kisses her. She kisses back, infact her hands resting on the bed, to stop her falling down into a lying position. As they kiss, her breathig speeds up...making her breasts heave a little in the tight gown.

"It's fine...I'm glad of someone to...talk to." She whispers against his lips, blushing herself. She bites her lip and looks at him, dark hair tumbling around her face.

[Jacogos]

"I am, too..." He said quietly, kissing her a little more. For a moment, he stayed that way, kissing her and forgetting everything else. For some reason, everything else seemed to vanish when he kissed her. Nothing else mattered...

All of a sudden, he realized he had brought her down on the bed with him, laying on their sides. He could have sworn she had been propping herself up a second ago... He pulled back a little, finding that he was breathing much too hard for the little amount of work they were doing. This was all foreign to him, this feeling, this.. everything!

He looked at her for a moment, something in the back of his mind telling him what to do. He hesitated, then gently put his arm around her and pulled her close, pressing himself against her. It felt... right... Why?

[NekoInk]

Isabella reacts on impulse and presses herself against him to, their bodies held tight together as if their life depended on it. She gently kisses his neck, lavishing his skin with attention and gentle kisses...that hide a deeper passion and desire.

"Should we be...doing this?..." She whispers and lies still, breathing against the skin of his neck, waiting for him to tell her they should stop...or...not.

"Should we stop?...And...even if we should...do...I want to?..."

Isabella blushes and looks up at him then kisses his lips softly, her hands against his chest, feeling his heart beat through his skin. "Are you scared?..." She whispers and looks into his eyes, her glinting, emerald eyes filled with the mischief that comes naturally to her.

[Jacogos]

He shivered slightly under the shower of neck kisses, feeling something primal stir inside him, much stronger than it had been before now. It made him pull back for a moment, looking into her eyes with worry. Only... She was reacting positively. She wants it, too... he realized, though he heard the worry in her voice when she asked if they should stop.

Should they?

Did he want- That was a stupid question... Of course he didn't want to.

It was all about if they should... Why shouldn't they, though? That was always the reasoning whenever his friends asked him to do something with them. He would ask 'Why?' and they would respond 'Why not?' And he couldn't argue. It worked well here, too...

"Should we? Who cares....?" he reciprocated quietly, returning the kiss. It was then that he caught a hint of... naughtiness in the look she gave him. Smirking slightly, he couldn't lie in answer to her question.

"Honestly... Yes... I've never been this close to a woman before..." He kissed her again, looking back at her with his own spark of mischief reaching his eyes. "Can you say any different?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella smirks and rests her head against his neck, breathing in softly, allowing her perfume to wash around him.
“I’ve never…been this close to anyone. Man or woman.” She blushes and sits up slightly, looking down at him, her dark hair falling around and framing her pretty face. “And…I want to be close to you.”

Isabella goes to brush her hair back but stops and smiles a little then places her hand over his heart “Your…heart is beating very fast...Are you scared…No…I don’t think so….so you must be…excited?” She blushes once more.

“Gods…I am acting like a wanton lady of the night…He’ll think me loose and never wish to speak to me again once he has enjoyed himself…Maybe I should stop this. It would ruin my future…What man would have me after…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah shivered slightly, breathing in her scent as she leaned up to look at him. He smiled a little, looking down at her hand when she placed it over his heart.

"Nervous, more like it," Jonah said quietly, returning his gaze to meet her eyes. She was beautiful... So why did he hesitate? Was it because she might think him too eager, only wanting her for her body? It was possible... He didn't want her to think that, he simply wanted her... Her blush was cute, and it made him want to kiss her again, which he did, pulling her close again. After a moment, he rolled, placing himself above her with his arms keeping him elevated over her. Heat colored his cheeks as his dark hair fell about his face.

"Yes or no...?" he asked lightly, suddenly feeling breathless. He hoped he wouldn't have to clarify himself. If she felt what he was, she should know. She had to know.

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs softly when Jonah appears on top, his arms either side of her head to hold him up.
“Yes or no…” She thinks, remembering what he said. “It’s a tough decision…one that could affect both of us for a long time to come…me more than him most likely…it would ruin mother’s plans to marry me to someone of her choosing…”

Isabella leans up and kisses him suddenly, much deeper than before, one hand goes to the lacing on the front of her borrowed nightgown and begins to undo it. This loosening on the ties causes the soft curve of her breasts to become visible. The black lace around her wrists, which had gone nicely with her black ball gown, now does not go with the white nightgown so its more noticable...and because most people would remove such adornments before going to bed...yet Isabella still wears the lace...

“I don’t care about her anymore…I’m doing this because I want to…Not because it will ruin her. And me.” She adds that last bit to the sentence with some regret.

“No man wants used goods, Isabella. Remember that. It will be hard enough to find someone to marry you as it is, so please, do not do anything to destroy the chance of a good match.” Anne black had drummed this into both her daughters since they reached the age of 13.

“And I am about to throw it all away…” Isabella thinks as she kisses Jonah deeply once more, trying to block out all thought from her mind. “I wonder if he will care…afterwards…”

Isabella whispers softly, against his lips, the word that could destroy her entire future…Or open up a brighter, happier one….

“….Yes.”

[Jacogos]

Jonah kissed Isabella back with a quiet grunt, caught off guard by her sudden forcefulness. Some part of him knew she was at war with herself, almost as bad as he was himself. And why shouldn't they be? No doubt all her life, she had heard the same old song 'Save yourself for the one you marry', the same tune that his own parents had, briefly, given him.

They weren't kids anymore, though. Hell, Jonah hadn't been a 'kid' in almost four years, but somehow the old kid taboos still stuck... Why? It was maddening to think that he was still trained to think like an underaged child. And yet, here he was, fighting with himself over whether or not he was going to have sex with a woman he had just met....

Maybe that was it. Maybe it was the suddenness of it... Right? Her hand between them, fumbling at her own clothing made him shiver and lose track of what he was thinking about. One hand supporting him, he moved his other hand to help her, his fingers exploring her body, slipping into the gown and gently touching her skin.

This wasn't wrong... Perhaps to his family, it might be. What about hers? Was that why she hesitated? What if... No, she would have said if she was already promised to someone. The way she talked about her mother, though, you'd think her family would never allow such a thing as marriage to whisk away her 'daughter'. Would he...?

That was not a thought to be having right now. I just need to lose myself... he thought. That might have been his last coherent thought for the night. No sooner then that thought crossed his mind than her lips formed a single word: 'Yes'. Everything else seemed to vanish, and Jonah Yoricson lost himself in the body of Isabella Black.



Awwww, you perverts thought there was gonna be a sex scene xD Jacogos is much classier than that :P



Jonah awoke slowly, a little unsure of where he was. Small bars of golden sun trickled in from his mostly shut curtains, thick enough to keep most of the sunlight out but not all. That amount of light framed his form, hidden under covers that he and Isabella had-

Jonah's mind snapped back a few hours, pleasure, sensation, ecstasy and more all flooding back to him in a rush of memory. He shivered, a small movement that allowed him to feel the presence of another body in close proximity to his. Naked like he was, Isabella still slept it seemed. Her face was gently nuzzled into his chest, arms curled up between them as her body and mind struggled between wanting to get closer and needing space to stretch. For the most part, the blankets covered them, but enough was pushed down to allow the light to illuminate her ivory skin and ebon hair, which was rather frazzled from the previous night's play.

Moving his arm from around her, Jonah gently brushed the girl's hair from her face, revealing her serene features, beauty multiplied by the calm of sleep. It was an interesting feeling, waking up in a bed with a girl you had only met the night before... He supposed most mothers were like his and warned their sons to never find themselves in such a situation, but for some reason, Jonah liked it. Maybe it was because of the girl herself. She was special, that was certain...

Judging by the light outside, it was still rather early, maybe only 8, so Jonah gently pulled Isabella closer as he returned his arm to its position around her, closing his eyes once more. He wondered what would go through her mind when she woke... Mind busy, he stayed awake, wondering many things though his eyes rested.

[NekoInk]

Isabella had not known such a restful and deep sleep since she was born, 17 years previous…And for the first time, her dreams seemed solid, fitting together like a puzzle…rather than the jumble of flashes and images that usually haunted her. Her dreams were all of him…close to her, holding her, their bodies joined together perfectly…


With that image floating in front of her, she awoke with a start, as if someone had shook her. She blinked a few times as the room came into focus; then looked up, without moving her body, to see Jonah, eyes closed, breathing softly. Isabella smiled and shifted a little to look at him properly. He was handsome…more so now than last night, she thought with a small smile which changed to a blush as she remember what had gone on last night. Isabella black smiles happily, remember the pleasure and excitement of last night…She even smiles at the clumsy moments, owing to their inexperience.


“Well…there is no going back now…” She bit her lip and blushed again before something that had been at the back of her mind, until this moment floated to the front…Isabella looked at Jonah, making sure his eyes were shut before lifting the covers a little and looking. She swallows as her eyes find the obvious splash of red against the white sheet. Isabella replaces the cover and thinks.


“Oh Gods…If he sees that…” She starts then stops “Wait…I mean…it proves…but…Oh it’s embarrassing…who am I kidding? He will see it and there is nothing I can do…How he reacts is up to him…I mean…he must have known last night when he…” Her ivory skin is once again flooded scarlet as a certain memory drifts into her head.


Isabella lies back down slowly, not wanting to disturb him. It’s at that point she realised she was naked…and with a quick glance at her wrists, she realised, with a pang of fear….


“My lace…did he see?....No…It was dark enough…and he was…otherwise engaged…” She stifles a soft laugh of happiness and childish innocence. “I must find the lace though…No one must see…”


Isabella goes to move, to try and cover her wrists before Jonah sees the once deep scars around her wrists, now white and healed…but still a blot on her smooth arm.

“He’ll think I’m mad…they tie mad people up….Oh Gods….He’ll see…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah faintly felt her stir against him, his mind on the fringes of sleep. Bringing himself back into consciousness, Jonah opened his eyes slowly, readjusting to the sparse light. He noticed that Isabella wasn't just stirring in her sleep, but actively moving, awake. He smiled slightly and gently squeezed her in his arms, kissing her neck lightly.

"Good morning, Isabella..." he said quietly, letting her go again so that his hand now rested on her side, lightly. His eyes trailed down her body, then blushed when he caught himself looking, somehow feeling that wasn't appropriate despite what had happened the night before.

Then he realized something was wrong, her eyes troubled when he returned his gaze to them. "Is something wrong?" he asked, wondering if she regretted their deed. Surely she wouldn't, but then... hindsight had perfect vision, so they said. Then he noticed she was going out of her way to hide her hands from him.

Something came back to him from the night before. As their clothes began to slip off, Jonah also removed her lace from about her wrists, their lips locked as he did so. He vaguely remembered feeling something... off, but he never paid it much mind. Taking her arms gently in his hands, now he realized why. Concern flooded his eyes as he looked from her wrists to her eyes.

"Who did this to you...?" he asked, worry thick in his voice.

[NekoInk]

Isabella closes her eyes when his lips touch her neck, memories and sensations from last night swirling around her head. “Mmm…” She whispers softly then swallows when he asks the question she was dreading.

“Who?....I can’t lie to him…”

Isabella brushes her hair back from her face and brings her eyes to meet his “I…I did, Jonah.” She swallows and looks down to her wrists, one hand closes around the other wrist, gently running her delicate fingers over the faded ridges. She realises how it sounds then looks up sharply “I mean…I didn’t…cut myself…I…My mother and my nanny tied…” Isabella’s carefully constructed wall beings to crumble and she falls against him, her face hidden by her hair as she sobs softly into his chest, unable to finish.

She cannot, however, block out the memories of those nights.

“Ma’am! We must stop this, it isn’t helping! She still cries and screams and fights!”
“No! Let me go! Mama, please!” a cry rings through the still room.
“I want her restrained! I will not have her untied. She’s a wild animal! Just like the others…If she doesn’t grow out of it…She will have to be dealt with, severely.”

Isabella manages to stop crying and stays resting against his chest, her breathing soft and calm. “Forgive me…” She whispers “I didn’t mean to loose control like that…"

[Jacogos]

Jonah's eyes widened slightly. She did this to herself...? No... She was about to say they tied her... tied her down? He didn't know, for Isabella was now collapsed onto him, crying. He gently held her and stroked her hair, unable to form comforting words with this new information buzzing in his mind. Eventually, she calmed, and he gently placed a kiss on top of her head.

"It's okay, Isabella... It's okay..." he cooed quietly, leaning back into their original place on the bed. He took his hand and gently brushed her hair from her face, his eyes full of worry as he met her gaze again. He didn't want to ask anything more about it, not wanting her to have to relive that again, but he hoped she would be willing to open up.

That surprised him, slightly, and it all came back to the 'just met her' thing. He was genuinely concerned about her, hoping she would let him in so he could console her and help her in some way. He knew it might be too much to ask for, but he still hoped... And that surprised him.

Returning to the real world, Jonah gently thumbed her cheeks dry of the tears that stained her skin, leaning over to kiss her afterwards. "Are you alright...?" he asked quietly, returning his gaze to her wrists.

[NekoInk]

Isabella looks up at him, a smile on her soft lips “Yes…I’m alright. Just being foolish.” She leans against him, her head on his chest. “You know…we are…naked…in bed together.” She laughs at the strangeness of it. “I didn’t think this would happen when I left for the party!”

She lies still, their bodies close to each other and blushes, concentrating on the feeling of being this close to another human being…aware that he has a full view of her slender form with all her assets on show.

“Last night…was…it…”Isabella tries not to blush once more as she asks “enjoyable…for you?”

Isabella’s only sour memory is of the slight pain when the nights adventure began…Everything else was…perfect.

[Jacogos]

"Its not foolish to have bad memories..." Jonah said quietly, sympathizing with her slightly. While he had never been tied down so tightly that ropes dug into his skin, he couldn't forget.... No, no need to think about him right now. Put it out of your mind, you fool... Jonah told himself.

Her laugh caught him off guard, and he smirked slightly, running a hand along her side, feeling the smoothness of her skin. "I can't say I expected it either... It was a surprise for both of us," he said with a chuckle, then took in her words completely. "Do you want to put your clothes back on? I'm sure Phillipah cleaned your dress..." Looking over at where the other nightgown had been, he smirked a little. "Or, she might have brought you something else. That woman..." he finished with a shake of his head, gesturing to the more casual dresses that were laid out for Isabella, presumably.

"She must have come in.... after..." Jonah commented quietly, blushing slightly. So there was little doubt that she knew... which meant half of the other maids knew already, and the rest within the hour. Wonderful. Trying to distract himself from that thought, he gently kissed her on the lips and held it for a moment, then pulled back as she asked another question.

Blushing, he tried to laugh it off. "It was... unlike anything else I've ever done, for sure," he said, looking away for a moment. "You were amazing, though its not like I could compare you to anyone." Chuckling nervously, he returned his gaze to her, memory washing over him. "I didn't... hurt you, did I?" he asked, remembering.

[NekoInk]

“Maybe I should get dressed…” She laughs softly then kisses his neck and slips out of bed, having pulled back the covers. Isabella blushes and pulls the sheet around her, preserving a bit of decency…She moves over to the dresses and looks them over before smiling a little. “They’re nice.”

She stops then looks over at him, blushing shyly “I…no…I mean…it was uncomfortable at first…but…it was only for a moment.” Isabella smiles shyly then picks up a deep blue gown with black lace trim around the neckline and short sleeves.

Isabella then walks over to him, holding the sheet around herself and smirking as she leans over him to whisper against his ear, her breath strangely cool on his skin.

“Care to join me in the bath...”

[Jacogos]

He smiled slightly, nodding and turning his head away for some reason. He supposed that was the gentlemanly thing to do, right? As she did that, he moved to the side and picked up his robe from before, which had been, he remembered with a blush, tossed aside rather... quickly. Donning it, he was about to turn around when he felt her breath in his ear. He shivered at her voice, turning slightly to her and lightly kissing her neck with a smirk.

"You know how to play, apparently..." he said quietly, standing in unspoken agreement to her idea. He met her at the door and, peering outside to make sure there was no one around, beckoned her to follow, in case she didn't remember where the room was. He didn't object to her taking the sheet if she so wished, though he highly doubted anyone would be about his little section of the manor this early.

Entering the washroom, he drew the water and turned to Isabella, suddenly unsure of what she wanted him to do. He sighed mentally, wishing he had more experience in this aspect. All he could think to do was draw her into a quick kiss. Which he did, ever enjoying the touch of her lips.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smiles and kisses him back, before whispering against his skin “Can you give me a moment? I just want to pretty myself up.” She smiles again at him and watches him go. Once she is alone Isabella turns to the mirror, a rare item that only the most-wealthy can afford to look at her-slightly distorted- reflection. Her hand brushes lightly over her lips and her cheeks, noting that a tint of colour has not left them since this adventure began…

“I was always pale white…sickly looking, they said…Now…” She smiles shyly, the girl in the mirror smiles back, “I…look…normal.” The word sounds alien on her lips as she says it silently. Isabella runs her fingers through her silky hair and laughs softly at its slightly dishevelled look “God I look such a mess! How he did not laugh is beyond me…”

She looks down when she notices something on her shoulder, her hand brushing over a slight bruise. “Maybe we go a little overexcited…” She laughs softly before turning around to the bath and smiling.

Isabella slips into the warm water and sighs happily as she washes herself clean, leaving her skin soft to the touch. Knowing Jonah will return in a moment or two she makes sure any trace of last night’s activity is gone.

“I should return home soon…Grandmother will want to continue her story…Though much of it cannot be true…those…creatures…It cannot be…I know of…what our family is, but that particular bit…cannot be true. No one would allow such a creature to be created…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah quietly slipped back into the bathroom and blushed slightly when he saw Isabella, wondering if he'd ever get used to the sight. You planning on seeing that more often, Jonah? his mind teased him, causing him to blush more. Moving next to the bath, Jonah clumsily undid his robe and removed it, slipping into the tub facing Isabella. He had never realized that the polished stone washtub was large enough for two people, but then he probably never had thought to be sharing it with someone.

He sighed happily as the warmth rippled over his skin, the water almost steaming from its heat. He settled in the tub and peered over at Isabella through his now wet hair, smiling slightly to himself as he unconsciously watched her bathe.

Catching himself doing so after a long moment, he blushed furiously and focused on cleaning himself, of which there wasn't much to do beyond soaking in the water. So, alternatively, he smirked slightly and poked her back with his toe, an innocent look settling on his face immediately.

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs softly and wriggles away from him for a second, then moves closer so she is kneeling between his legs.

“Have you no manners, my Lord?” She smirks, using a formal term to tease him and to bring up their joke last night at the party, her being a peasant girl. She places her hands on his chest and kisses him deeply. As she kisses she lets her right hand drift down his stomach and below the water… (Do I need to elaborate? xD)

She laughs softly at his face when she touches him, before kissing his neck. “Do you want me to stop?...” Isabella smirks a little, brushing her hair back so it lies like a dark curtain down her back.

Isabella reaches up with her free hand to touch his cheek “Are you blushing, my Lord? It suits you…Maybe you will be able to look at me without blushing one day…”

“If my mother doesn’t kill me…it would be fun to do this again…I must not expect anything though…He will be betrothed soon…to another girl…and I’ll never see him again. Until then…we still have this moment.”

[Jacogos]

He laughed a little at her reaction, slightly surprised that she was moving between his legs now. The smirk was still plastered to his face, even as she called him 'my Lord' like she was some... Oh. That. His skin reddened noticeably.

"I have manners, when I wish. But I do not need them when dealing with mere peasants," he said, putting on his best impression of the airs his brother had when speaking so. Only the smirk on his face betrayed the voice's inflection. His lips met hers, returning the kiss deeply, but what he didn't expect was her wayward hand doing... things. His reaction must have been obvious, for she laughed lightly.

"Do you poor folk have a teacher for this sort of thing, or are you just picking it up on your own?" he asked teasingly, moving an arm around her to pull her back into another kiss, feeling her hand on his cheek now. He didn't want her to stop, but if her hand stayed where it was, she'd realize that soon enough.

At her next question, he could have sworn his face turned into a nice shade of apple. "Perhaps. You plan on allowing me to continue seeing you this way?" The blush settled soon, as he smiled slightly and pulled her by the ass towards him, letting her feel the result of her playfulness.

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs as she is pulled closer, her breath against his neck “Oh yes…We have special schools where we girls are taught how to…please…” She runs her teeth lightly over his neck “men…in many ways…” She smirks and moves her hand skilfully, her bright green eyes suddenly on his, glinting with mischief at the reactions she is able to get from him.

“My Lord is blushing red! I must be a good student to learn so fast…” She smirks then laughs and leas her head against him “As to your question…if you wish it, you can see me like this…whenever it takes your fancy…Maybe I should attend parties like this!”

Isabella looks up at him, her hand moves once more, her eyes on his “As for just now…Shall I show you what else I’ve learnt...” She smirks and sinks under the water…

-

Isabella laces up her corset and looks over to him, a smirk playing across her lips “Care to help me?” She turns around so he can finish lacing up the back of her corset. Once that is done she slips her dress over her head and ties it quickly before turning to the bed and fetching her lace. Isabella holds it for a moment, looking down at the scraps of cloth…She shivers then goes to tie it around her wrists, ashamed of the deep white scars on her skin.

[Jacogos]

Jonah has only just finished putting on his trousers when Isabella, with the voice of a mermaid, asked for his help lacing her up. He smiled slightly as he obliged her, walking over to her as she showed her back to him. His hair was still wet from the 'bath', if you could call it that, ebon locks dripping water onto his bare back and chest. With the way things had gone in there, he thought with a smirk, he had a feeling they might have come out dirtier than going in.

"You women must dress in pairs if you're all this helpless when putting these on," he said jestingly, chuckling slightly as he finished tying the lace. That done, he turned back to his own dressing, donning an undershirt and lightly embroidered dark green coat. He turned back to Isabella, who was now replacing he lace on her wrists, which made him frown worriedly. Moving to her, he gently wraps his arms about her waist.

"Do you always hide them so?" he asked quietly, peering down at her wrists as she covers them up.

[NekoInk]

Isabella smirks “Yes…of course we need help! I may be flexiable…As you know…But I cannot tie the back of my corset! And besides…Women have to suffer to appear proper as their menfolk expect. Read your history.” She laughs softly “My Grandmother once told me…”Proper is a word used by men who seek to control us.”

She turns away as she ties the lace around her wrists…She grows quiet and swallows “Yes…I always keep them covered…Always. Ever since I was a young child…No one needed to tell me that to be so scarred was not normal…So I covered them.” She turns back to him, brushing her hair from her face “Please…don’t worry. It’s just my life…You shouldn’t worry about me.”

Isabella walks over to him once more and smiles shyly “I should get home…Mother will be worried- Well no she won’t…But I should go anyway…I’d love to see your home though, before I go…if that’s OK.”

[Jacogos]

"Suffer, do they? If you so insist, then so must it be," Jonah said with a smirk, watching as she finished tying the lace about her wrists. He frowned slightly at her words, meeting her eyes for a moment. "Is it so normal that I should not worry about it? Is this a usual thing, children being strapped down?"

He moved up to her and embraced her about the waist slowly, holding her there as she said she needed to leave. She was right, but... He didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay there, be with him, escape whatever hell she lived in at home... He couldn't do that, though... Kissing her gently, he nodded his approval.

"Sure, I'll show you around..." he said quietly, offering an arm for her to take. "Come along."

He led her out the room and down the hallway. The first room they came to after a left turn was a small room, what looked to be a sitting room with a rather large window to their right. There was a single chair and endtable there, and a small bookshelf to their left that had about fifteen to twenty books on it. On the close wall to their right held a few more, much larger books.

"Those ones over there," Jonah said while gesturing to the left. "Are what few pleasure reading books we have." 'Few' though it was about as many as existed at the time, or at least copies of them. "Those ones are histories, documents, and the like," he stated, indicating the left shelf now. "No one else really comes in here, so its mainly just a room to myself."

[NekoInk]

She looks at Jonah and bites her lips then sighs softly “It…may not be normal to tie a child down…but…it was the only way they knew how to control me.” Isabella doesn’t elaborate and smiles “Come on then, let’s go for a tour.”

As he walks along, Isabella looks around, showing intrest in everything, almost like a child does. Isabella looks around the small room when they arrive and smiles “It’s cute…My favourite type of room is an empty room…I don’t know what it is about an empty room.” She walks over to the book shelf and runs her finger gently across the spines, looking at them.

“Do you have any books on monsters and things? I find them fascinating.”

She thinks back to the night of the party and the conversation she had with her grandmother;

“So…How where these creatures made?” Isabella had pointed to the picture in the ancient book.
“No one knows for sure, my dear, but they were frightful creatures…screaming and shouting, always violent. I remember seeing one as a child, tied up stairs in the attic of this very house. My mother believed I should see it, to know what can happen when-“
“Stop this now, mother. It’s time to go.” Anne Black had interrupted, hands on hips, glaring at everyone.
“But mother…”
“No buts. Get in the carriage. Now!”

Isabella bites her lip, thinking about those strange pictures…”Those…things, they looked so…monsterous…yet..human…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah was genuinely surprised about what she asked. "Monsters and things? I... don't really think we do, Isabella," he said slowly, moving beside her and trying to remember which book was which based on the spine decor and colors. He had read almost all of the books they had, in what relatively little time he had to do so, so you'd think he'd remember any book along those lines, but he didn't.

That one certainly didn't look familiar, so he pulled that one out, but it was just a short philosophical book by one of those ancient thinkers that Mother liked... He replaced it and shook his head. "No, we don't... But here, there's still-"

"I was wondering if the maids were making up stories again," a rather frail voice came from the doorway opposite the one they had come in. Jonah turned to find his grandmother Grenelda shuffling over to him with a rather large black book in her hands, her eyes fixed on Isabella. She was a little stooped with age, with her wispy white hair just meeting Isabella's eyes, but she still seemed strong enough to get around by herself.

Upon standing before the two, Grenelda immediately shoved the book into Jonah's hands and reached up to take Isabella's face in her hands, no question or permission asked, and peered intensely at the girl's face. She turned Isabella's head this way and that, as if looking for some tell in her features, then quickly let go of her, as if stung.

"I know your looks, girl..." Grenelda hissed, her eyes almost seeming to pop out of her head and bore into the girl at the same time. She then swung her gaze over to Jonah, who felt as if a great weight suddenly settled upon him.

"Grandma, what could you possibly-"

"What is this girl's name, Jonah?" the elderly lady demanded, her eyes returning to the girl with a look of intense distrust.

"This is Isabella, Grandmother... Isabella, this is-"

"Full name, child," she cut him off, her words pointed like daggers. Jonah paused. He realized for the first time in quite a while that he did not know her family name. What could Grandmother be getting at...? His heart suddenly raced, turning to Isabella. Grenelda understood immediately, or so her looks gave away, and she also looked to Isabella, a knowing gleam in her beady black eyes.

[NekoInk]

Isabella gasps when the old Lady touches her, it feels like a fire of pain is surging over her skin. She stares at the woman, not letting on how much pain her touch is giving her.

“Who is she? This pain…” The fire ripples over her skin and vanishes as soon as the woman lets go. Isabella glances at Jonah then to the book. “She knows my looks…”

Isabella takes a step back, her green eyes on the woman; her own stare is one of unease and suspicion. The pain has gone but the uncomforted lingers. She rubs her arm slowly, watching the woman then turning to Jonah. Their eyes meet.

“She knows my looks…who is she?...Mansion…wealth…the party…Oh God…is he a member of that…family…”

“My name is Isabella...Elena…Black.”

[Jacogos]

Jonah's eyes widened in disbelief. Black?? his mind screamed at him, cowing him into mental submission. I.... with... but she... A Black... Jonah unknowingly took a step back, as if bracing himself against a physical blow. How could I have...? How would I know...? He turned to his grandmother, shock and disbelief threatening to overwhelm him.

Grenelda Yoricson nodded at the look, having been completely unphased by the girl's revelation. She had already known the answer. "Get. Her. Out. Jonah," the woman hissed, gesturing towards the door she had come in, which entered out into the front hall.

Absently, Jonah registered his grandmother's command, but he still could only stare at the girl he had... been with. Of all the girl's he could have fallen for and brought home... Of all the girls he could have... A Black? Jonah, still stunned, made for the door in a daze, beckoning to Isabella to follow. He said nothing.

The front hall was grand, in a way. Two sets of stairs lined the left and right walls (from the perspective of the front door, which was on their right as they entered the room), both leading up to the second floor that was mostly a catwalk in this room. The rest of the room continued on to their left, but Jonah simply led her to the door, opened it, and waited for her to go.

"... Go..." he said quietly, unable to look at her.

[NekoInk]

Isabella needs no engorgement to leave. “He’s…he must be one of them…Oh god what have I done…” She glances at Jonah, her eyes wet with tears... then runs down the steps of the manor, as she does so her lace around her wrists gets caught on a railing just by the door.

“He didn’t even say anything against her…just threw me out…was everything a lie? He just…” She runs faster, her tears running down her cheeks. Instead of going home, which she can’t face just now, she runs into the town. The people going about stare at her, shocked to see someone dressed so grandly in the town. Isabella runs to the house of her wet nurse and knocks on the door.

“Molly…Molly please let me…Its Isabella.”

-

An hour or so later, Isabella sits at Molly’s kitchen table, dressed in a plain peasent dress.the one Jonah gave her she had Molly burn.

“I didn’t know who he was….but…even if I had…it wouldn’t have changed things…He was different…I thought he was. He just threw me out the moment he learnt my name…Like a cheap whore!” Isabella hugs herself and looks at the table, the fire in the grate making flickering shadows on her face.

Molly, sitting opposite sighs “Men are all the same, my dear. He clearly believes in his families honour more than his own…Now he knows who you are…and you know who he is…you cannot think of him.”

Isabella swallows and brushes back her hair “But…I thought he was different…He seemed so…”

“They always do! Now, go and have a bath…I’ll go out to the market to get some herbs.”

She looks up “Herbs?...Why?”

Molly stands and squeezes her shoulder “Don’t worry. Do not think of him. He is not worth it.” Molly leaves Isabella alone.

Isabella sits still at the table, staring the fire “He used me…and kicked me out…how could he…He’s a Yoricson…I never believed anything mother told me…Now…I’m not so sure…maybe she was telling the truth…Oh God what do I do?...If he tells…I’m ruined…Mother and father will kill me…”

[Jacogos]

For a long moment, Jonah stood there, holding the door open though Isabella's footsteps had long since faded away to silence. He fought back hot tears, too proud of himself to allow such weakness to show. No... Isabella Black now... he reminded himself, though part of him still didn't believe it. He didn't resist when Grenelda came over to him and shut the door, looking at her grandson with a look mixed with pity and disgust, though he wasn't sure who those emotions were directed at.

"By your reactions, I guess I can forgive you for honestly not realizing it, but I thought you had better sense than that, boy," she said in a slightly reprimanding tone, her gaze adding at least two feet to her height. Jonah didn't look at her, still struggling with the knowledge of what they had shared versus what he had just learned.

"How long was she here?" the elderly woman asked, peering up at (yet seemingly down upon) Jonah.

"I brought her here from the party last night..." he said quietly, not about to lie to his own grandmother.

"Ahh, I see..." she mused, still looking at him. For a moment, she seemed poised on the brink of asking another question, but instead said, "Well, I'm going to go back to making sure the maids aren't just chatting away about the young master's girl, still. Off with you," she finished with a dismissing gesture, though she was the one to walk away towards the back of the manor, hell bent on whipping some of the women into line.

Jonah absently meandered back into the sitting room, his mind going at a speed much faster than anyone at that day and time could comprehend, and jumped about ten feet when he realized he was still not alone.

Bending over to pick up the book that Jonah had dropped in his shock was a tall, pale, and rather spindly man dressed in the black suit of a butler. A hooked nose jutted out under piercing blue eyes, his mouth permanently turned into a pompous scowl, and platinum blonde hair was actually of a length with some women's. After grasping the book and returning to his rather impressive full height, the man acknowledged Jonah coldly, his gaze able to chill a man's soul if they weren't careful.

"Good morning, young master," he said slowly, almost sounding like he was bored. That was possible, as he rarely seemed to do anything useful, that Jonah had seen. But that was beside the point. More to the point was the thickness of his accent, distinctly foreign and decidedly French.

"Morning, Gérard..." Jonah said quietly, holding a hand out for the book. "Sorry, I dropped that, so I'll put it back."

"If you insist, ser..." the man said dismissively, handing Jonah the book and making as if he was about to leave. However, he seemed to pause, then turned back to Jonah. "Am I wrong in asking if you had a lady in the house last night?" he asked in a rather roundabout manner.

"I did..." Jonah admitted with a grimace. So everyone knows...

"She's gone now, though, it seems..." he mused, almost to himself. Patting Jonah on the shoulder, he made as if he was going to be friendly for a moment. "Ser, if I might advise, it is more worth it to find a more... steady mate than go about for any that strikes your fancy... Just an old man's wisdom, I suppose," he finished, turning about on his heel and going back towards the front hall.

Jonah stood there a moment, shaking his head. The way that French bastard made it sound, he might as well have brought home a whore... She wasn't a whore... She was.... He wanted to say 'a Black', but he knew there was more to it than that.

He had been brought up with the knowledge that the Blacks were a sinister family that might as well have been hellspawn on Earth, with very incarnate of evil and hatred. The Yoricsons held a fine tradition of honor in their line, but these Blacks threatened to upset that balance and throw the entire village into chaos and poverty. Or... so he had been taught. Hell, he had even been ingrained with each and every one of their appearances. He should be able to name every one of the Black family and recite what they looked like so he would know them at the tip of a hat.

So... why didn't he realize who she was?

Putting the question from his mind, Jonah looked about for something to take his mind off things, which is when he realized he still held the book his grandmother had been bringing back here. He peered at the title and his heart skipped a beat.


In the Dark Corners
A History of the Creatures of the Night

Jonah shivered and placed the black-bound book back onto the casual reading shelf. His first instinct was to run, run out the door and follow her, hoping beyond hope that she had gone somewhere where someone could tell him where she went. Only it had been too long now... Surely she was home, forgetting about the filthy Yoricson boy like he should be about her...

Only... How could he? She was amazing and... not at all like any of the Blacks he had been told about, he realized. He had been told that all Blacks were evil and shady, that they would all stab in you in the back before you even had the decency to turn around for them. They had tongues like snakes and lied until you went deaf. She... was none of those things, though she made her family out to be somewhat like the 'truth'...

Was there a connection there? He had never heard of her, though his family knew all things about the Blacks (supposedly) and she was also nothing like her family as he had been taught...

Leaning against the bookshelf, Jonah looked out the window on the far side of the room, contemplating what he had just done to that girl...

.... He knew where the Black residence was. It hadn't taken long for 'the house that you are NEVER supposed to go to' from his younger days to be given the name of the 'Black Manor' or whatever it was called. He could go there, ask for Isabella... No, no, no, that would never work. If they were anything like us (which his parents and grandparents would never have him believe) then they would also know each and every one of the Yoricson's descriptions by hearts and probably put an arrow through his head or axe in his chest on sight.

What could he do?

What should I do...? he asked himself.

"What the hell can I do...?" he murmured aloud.

But no one answered him.

[NekoInk]

“She turned up at the house late last night, my Lady. I gave her a bed for the night and thought I should bring her here as soon as she awoke. Forgive her clothes; she was soaked to the skin.” Molly Aspin lied softly with a gracious bow of the head.

Lady Anne Black surveyed her youngest daughter with distain and sighed before saying almost courteously “Thank you so much, Mrs Aspin. I hope my daughter did not impose upon you. She should have returned here; still no harm done.” Lady Anne signalled to a maid to take Isabella away.

“More harm has been done than you know…mother.” thought Isabella as she followed the maid.


“I wonder if Jonah is in the bath right now…scrubbing his skin raw to get rid of my touch. The look on his face…as if I had the black death…” Isabella shivered a little and dismissed the maid when they reached her small room on the 4th floor. She went inside and looked around, breathing in its familiar dusty smell-her room was the one below the attic and always smelt dusty, Isabella found it comforting- before going to the window and looking out on the gardens. Unlike the Tindus household, the gardens of Black Manor were wild and untamed; the weeds grew to waist hight, the trees gnarled and ancient stretched into the sky, moss covered statues haunted the lonely gardens...sinister in their silent stares. It was easy to get lost in the gardens, and according to the legends of the house…many had…and some had failed to return. Isabella’s room was the only one to look out onto the garden; the rest of the family had rooms facing in the direction of the town.

There was a creak outside the bedroom and Anne Black entered, her face livid.
“How could you bring her here?! She is a commoner and look at you! Dressed like one of them! Get those clothes off this instant! You bring shame on this Noble house dressed like that! Do you forget who you are?”

Isabella turns to face her mother “No mother, I am not likely to forget who I am. I’m your unwanted, failure of a daughter who you wish was never born!” She did not know where this anger came from all of a sudden, she was upset, hurt and scared…and now her mother had awoken something deep inside her.

“How dare you speak to me this way! I am your mother and I demand respect!” Shrieked Lady Black, taking a step towards her daughter.

“Respect? You do not deserve respect! What have you done to earn if from anyone in this family? This family is a joke! Father is a drunk, I know your to blind to see it! But he is. A worthless drunk who beats you and beds the maids…How many bastards does he have, mother? 3? 4? More? And you, playing at being the perfect wife and mother when really you wish he was dead and you free of your children-“

Anne black struck her daughter across the face, so hard it knocked Isabella to the floor. Lady Black glared down at her daughter, anger ruining her once pretty face…but there was fear in those eyes...

“What is going on here?” A musical voice rang out through the pressurised silence of the bedroom. Isabella’s Grandmother stood in the doorway, looking from one of the other. “Anne, we have guests downstairs. Go and see to them. I will see to Isabella.” The tone leave no room for argument and Anne, with one last look of hatred to her daughter, sweeps from the room. Arabella looked at her Granddaughter then went over and gently helped her to her feet. “You should not provoke her…” She says softly and checks to see if the blow to her face has done any serious harm.

Isabella nods slowly “I know…I cannot help it…I just get…so angry. All the time…It’s like…a constant roaring in my head and every now and again it explodes in pure rage…” She sighs and sits down on her bed, one hand on her cheek. It’s then she notices that she is missing one of the lace bracelets.

“I must have left it at Jonah’s…”

Arabella watches her, worry in her kindly old eyes. “How long have you had this?” She asks, keeping her voice calm.
“Ever since I was a child…and mother used to tie me in the attic.”

Arabella nods a little and picks a dress out from the wardrobe “Here, get yourself dressed and do your hair. Then come down and apologise to your mother.” Upon seeing Isabella’s glare she laughs “You do not have to mean it, my dear, just say the words. Otherwise you will be confined here. All day. With her.”

This has the effect Arabella wanted and Isabella gets up, takes the dress, hugs her grandmother before going into her private washroom.

“I’ve done it now…Mother will kill me at breakfast…” She laughs softly then slips out of the peasant dress to wash.
“Jonah…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah sat on the steps leading up to his front door, in his hand Isabella's wrist-lace. Something in his mind had conjured up the sound of someone knocking, and he had hoped, for some reason, it was her. Possibly requiring her dress, perhaps to return the one she took, his mind didn't care for the reasoning, only that she did...

But sadly, it was only a figment of his imagination, though it did lead him to discover that her lace had been caught on the railing leading down from the entrance. It fluttered in the wind, which was heavy enough to signal a storm was coming. Jonah sighed heavily and took the lace in hand, sitting down on the steps, bringing us about full circle.

While there, Jonah was debating his possibilities. One, he could go into town, asking the locals (if any bothered to talk to 'the lordling' in the first place) if they had seen a girl, most likely tear-stricken, run past and where she had went.

Completely dismissing that idea as impossible, Jonah moved on. Two, go to the Black Manor and ask for Isabella. An insane idea, simply for the reason he had already given himself; they would kill him on sight even if they didn't know he was a Yoricson. Well, so he believed.

Three, attend every get-together, party, and gala in hopes that at one of them he'll find her so he can apologize. As hopelessly romantic as that was, he doubted that was any sure way to find her. She looked fit to lock herself in her room for the rest of time when she left, the thought of which made him feel even worse than he did. He marked that as a 'maybe'...

Four, find someone, anyone who knew her and find out how to get in touch with her. While this was a long shot by simple logic of 'how would he be so lucky?' there was also the fact that she said herself that she wasn't allowed out much... So, as sad as it was to say, she might not have friends...

I'm thinking this over far too much... Jonah thought, looking down at the lace in his hands. Getting up slowly, Jonah made his way towards the Yoricson Estate gates.



"Oh I wonder where he could possibly be going to..." an astoundingly French voice commented to no one, its owner peering out the window of a third floor drawing room (belonging to Linette when she actually tried to paint) at the receding figure of Jonah Yoricson. Gérard tapped his chin thoughtfully before closing the curtains and turning about on his heel.

[NekoInk]

Isabella sits at the breakfast table in the Black “family” home. She watches her mother wwhispering to Celeste and sits back to look out of the window. “Soon as I’m free from breakfast I’m going into town. I need to relax. I had fun last night. I made a mistake. Yes. But it was fun…” She sighs a little.

“Isabella? You’re not eating. Are you well?” Celeste asks; her voice like honey. The elder girl smirks and folds her napkin neatly.

Isabella looks at her sister, sickened by her natural grace “I am fine, sister. Thank you for asking.”

“You look pale…These late nights are taking a toll on your health…Perhaps mother was wrong to think you are ready for parties. They are not for everyone. Perhaps you should stay at home with the maids.” Celeste smirks and sips her drink.

“Perhaps I should sweet sister. After all, with me there…your chances of finding a match are very slim, men do not want old meat.” She smirks at her sister and stands up “Please excuse me.”

Celeste, who is extremely self-conscious about the fact she is still unmarried gasps and turns to Anne who glares and says “Do not listen to her, she is just jealous that she is…” Isabella doesn’t hear anymore as she leaves the small dining room and walks across the marble hallway and out of the door. Isabella stands on the steps, looking out at the wild gardens then smirks before running down to the gate to the gardens...instead of going to town.

“To hell with them all.”

She pushes open the gate to the garden and looks around, it grows darker almost at once in this place…She looks around, hearing strange bird calls. Shivering she walks into the garden proper…and begins to wander deeper….

--------------------

Molly Aspin, Isabella’s wet nurse is well known in the town as a healer, wise woman and mid-wife, having saved many mothers and babies over the years with her knowledge. Molly is always kind to others and is known for being a good soul. However, today she seems distracted at market, where she sells charms and offers advice. She keeps drumming her fingers absent-mildly on the stall and looking around, her mind clearly else-where.

“I should have fought and kept Isabella here with me…She should never have been returned to Lady Anne after her birth…The woman didn’t want her…Oh that poor child…Anne will kill her one of these days…This Jonah…How could he use her and throw her away as such? Or perhaps it was not like that…Isabella was understandably upset…I’m sure by now she has taken it with her normal stride of things…That girl…She’s a strange one…” Molly’s thoughts jump around like this for a while as she scans the crowds, wondering about Isabella and her mysterious lover….

[Jacogos]

Of course no one had seen her. He had waited for a bloody hour before coming out to town, and everyone who didn't look at him askance replied with a sad 'no, I haven't'. It upset and frustrated Jonah to no end. It was only as he was about to give up that someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it...?" he asked irritably before turning to find his younger brother Daniel Yoricson. His grin was boyish and mischievous at the same time, which was usually how he was, though his hotheadedness tended to balance Jonah's conservativeness.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Daniel asked, jabbing his brother in the stomach with an outstretched finger. Jonah smirked and knuckled him in the arm, shaking his head.

"Nothing, Danny, just...." Jonah paused, debating what he should tell his younger brother. Though only three years apart, Jonah couldn't help but feel like Daniel needed to be protected, but that instinct was usually overridden by Daniel figuring out things before Jonah. What was more, Daniel had actually lost his virginity a while ago. Go figure.

Sighing, Jonah decided to quickly tell his brother about what happened the night before, though carefully leaving out any suggestion that he had had sex with the girl. He finally concluded with his grandmother's revelation, or rather her prodding for Isabella to reveal it.

"Well that explains why you didn't come home with Linette last night..." he muttered, still not allowed to go to large parties until he learned to hold himself in high standing, at least in public. "But a Black? Really, Jonah? I thought Mum and Dad had driven their images into your mind well enough that you wouldn't make that mistake. Though I could've sworn the Black girl's name wasn't Isabella..."

"That's what I said, idiot," Jonah said, shaking his head in frustration. "She's not one of the ones they described to us. I would know, I probably learned them the best. There's just the son and the daughter, but apparently there are two daughters... The one I met wasn't... Elizabeth? I think that was the other one."

"And now you're in love with her and you're going to go make up to her, is that it?" Daniel snickered, thinking it was a romantic (and thus foolish) idea.

"... I don't know..." Jonah admitted, looking around hopelessly. "I just... need to talk to her at least..."

"You're smitten, aren't you?" his brother stated more than asked, peering through the crowd.

Shaking his head, Jonah turned towards one of the stalls, thinking that perhaps the store owners kept better watch on the crowd than the actual crowd did. The charms that hung and lay about the table were actually very pretty, but the woman didn't really stand out from any other on the street.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but-"

"You're going to ask the charm lady, Jonah?" Daniel interrupted, not quietly at all. "What makes you think she's been paying any attention?"

Growling at his rudeness, Jonah elbowed his brother in the stomach. "I apologize for him, he's not usually so rude," he said, emphasizing the last word with another jab to the stomach. Daniel just smirked as he beckoned Jonah to follow.

"Come on, I know who could help find her," the younger boy said as he began to go off into the crowd. Sighing, Jonah turned to follow his brother.

[NekoInk]

Molly notices the two boys talking but doesn’t pay much attention until the older one talks to her.

“Jonah?” She says quickly “Are you Jonah Yoricson?” Molly leans over the stall; her kind face is open and friendly. “Do you know the Black family? I heard Elizabeth’s name…Could it be you? Forgive me for being so forward, my Lord." Molly bows her head a little.

-

Isabella sits by an old, gnarled tree thinking about everything that has happened “Maybe I should go see Molly…Mother was so rude about her…” She stands up and looks around the garden, biting her lip. “Which…way did I come?” Isabella starts walking through the mass of weeds, trying to find her way back to the garden gate.

[Jacogos]

Jonah paused when the woman repeated his name, though knowing his last name was slightly more troubling. He hesitated, needing to at least let his brother know that he was staying to talk to the lady, but figured the twit would realize he wasn't following a few moments from now anyway and come back.

Jonah was slightly put off by her question, but only because of one major flaw in her knowledge. "You must not know much about our families if you ask that... The Yoricsons and the Blacks have been in a blood feud for at least three or four generations now," he stated, though he almost immediately wished he hadn't. Why did he say it anyway? There was a more important matter here.

"But, um, yes, I'm Jonah Yoricson... How do you know me?" he asked hesitantly, unsure of what the woman knew or how she knew it. Meanwhile, Daniel had come back, apparently about to grumble at Jonah about not following, but he realized that the older boy was talking to the woman now, and assumed there was something going on and simply settled in to listen.

[NekoInk]

“Forgive me, I did not mean to seem forward .When I heard the Black’s mentioned and your name, as Jonah, I just assumed you must be…” Molly swallows and looks around, knowing that people will listen in…her talking to a Lord is much more interesting that the normal market conversation.

“Yes…I know about the feud” Molly says simply, seeming unfazed by it.

“But that is none of my concern. That is for higher people than me. I care only for their youngest daughter…is that who you look for? Not Celeste, I mean, Lady Elizabeth…But the younger daughter?” Molly is not used to speaking to Lord’s, only to women, so appears slightly flustered and begins to babble a little towards the end. She swallows and bows quickly. "My Lady spoke of you...that is how i know you..."

“He does not seem a bad lad…Then again, who can tell…”

[Jacogos]

A sparkle of hope enters his eyes when she speaks of the youngest daughter. Daniel was a little put off by her dismissal of the feud so easily, but Jonah had realized a while ago that it didn't really matter to anyone other than the two families.

"You know her?" Jonah asked hopefully. "Where...?" he trailed off when he registered in his mind that she had said 'my Lady spoke of you'... Connecting the dots after a moment, Jonah looked at Daniel and gave him a short look, one that Daniel frowned at and gave a snort at, turning about and leaving after a second's debate.

"She spoke of me...? No doubt horribly, I presume?" he asked quietly, wondering what she had said to this woman. He had no idea who she was, only that she was an apparent friend to Isabella and a charm-seller. Whatever else she was, Jonah was slightly worried to find out.

[NekoInk]

“She was upset, I cannot lie, my Lord. But she takes everything in her stride and after having a cry she was resolved to move on… I gave her some adivice, but she will do as she will do.” Molly bows once more and looks around “You need not worry about me, my Lord. I was her wet nurse as a infant…That’s all. She comes to me when she needs comforting or advice..”

Molly sighs “It may not be my place, Sir, but what happened should not have happened…But it did…and the aftermath could have been handled better…Do you wish to talk to her?” Molly asks, eying him.
“And…she did not speak of you badly…She said you understood her.”

[Jacogos]

A wet nurse... Well that explains... a little, he supposed, after all the horror stories he heard of her real mother. He had never had anyone but his brother, which showed how well he had turned out, he thought with a mental smirk. However, Jonah was inclined to believe the woman, if only because she knew what she was talking about with having to react to him saying anything first.

She let on that Isabella had told her basically everything, something Jonah could have done without, but oh well, he couldn't blame her... Finally, the woman asked what he had been waiting for, though. "Yes, madame, very much so..." he admitted, hope still glowing in his eyes. "Can you help me?"

Then she said that Isabella hadn't spoken badly of him... Which set him at ease. She doesn't hate me, then... Though she might by now, what with how long it's been... Resigning to whatever the girl thought of him, so long as he got the chance to make amends, he'd be alright.

[NekoInk]

Molly nods ”Yes, I can help you. You will not be able to see her at the Black Manor however…But I do know that Miss Bella goes riding every day up in the mountains behind the manor. She is normally chaperoned by a maid and the groom, but it would be your best chance to talk to her.” She smiles slightly then looks around before saying softly;

“Do you care for her? She refused to admit it…but I could see she felt something for you…Isabella had a hard childhood, she was never accepted…Then she met you…and you rejected her.” Molly turns away and begins packing up, her tone is neutral and she gives the impression that she is not judging or rebuking him…she is simply stating what happened. “Here, show this to her and she’ll know I told you where to find her…It may make her more likely to stop and talk.” Molly hands him a charm of a strange symbol hanging on a leather strap. “For luck.”

If you get lost, ask anyone and they’ll tell you how to get into the mountains.” She turns back to packing.

--------

Isabella finally finds her way from the garden and head to her room to change for riding. The house is quiet and peaceful; Anne being away with some of her cronies watching her father and his friends shooting, as for her siblings Celeste (Elizabeth goes by her middle name normally) is attending a friend’s wedding and her brother left with a young made an hour ago.

“Poor girl…If she thinks he will marry her if she gets in trouble, she is in for a shock!” Isabella thinks as she changes into a simple riding dress (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JaiZhsz4uks/SqA733MRa_I/AAAAAAAACr4/OXPt4ZBm9YI/s400/a%2Bnatungrinnarg08%2B2.jpg) and riding boots. She heads out to the stables and finds the young groom Antonio…busy with Susan, one of her Ladies maids in the back room of the stables. Isabella laughs softly, knowing that the pair are engaged to be married and are very much in love, and doesn’t disturb them; saddling her horse and ridding out.

Her horse is a strong dark coloured mare named Micah, who she has ridden since she was 15 and knows well. Isabella rides up into the mountains, following a well-worn, tree lined road, going ever higher at leisurely pace. This is her time to think and relax and also to enjoy the countryside. For years this was the only freedom she was given; she could ride once a day, only in the mountains and only with two chaperons. Now however her mother seems more lax and she can snatch slighty more freedom.

“Do I care for Jonah? I do not know…I thought he was different…I did not care that he was one of them…why should I? That feud has nothing to do with me…Maybe I misjudged him. He obviously thinks that I am just like my family…Maybe what mother said was true.”


“All Yoricson’s are tricksters, they lie, they cheat, they steal from more worthy people. So common and arrogant to believe that they are in the same class as our Noble house! It’s ridiculous that their ugly daughter should presume that she will be married before my dear Celeste. The girl has no grace or poise…Just looks at Celeste! Does she not glow?” Anne black had said proudly at a dinner party a few months ago.

“No. I cannot believe anything that woman said. This feud is childish. And it is ruining lives…They cannot see the damage they are doing to each other…I refuse to take her side on anything. I will not make up my mind until I have learned about the Yoricson family myself…As for Jonah…If he wishes to treat me thus…that is his choice.” Isabella thinks and looks around before riding over to a steep slope, covered with thick trees and plants. She looks down the slope to the Manor far far below and sighs.

[Jacogos]

Jonah beamed, ecstatic that she was going to help him. He mentally tried to figure out where she meant... He knew where it was, in fact, he and Daniel had actually been through most of the woods that surrounded Yoric's Crossing. The only problem was that she may or may not actually be there now... It was worth a shot. Riding was a good way to get the mind off of things...

The woman continued to speak, though he was raring to get going and see Isabella, make up... Jonah nodded slightly at her question, curious as to if Isabella thought the same... "I do care for her...And I didn't reject her!" he added furiously, his eyes flashing as he met the woman's. "I... You wouldn't understand how deep that feud runs in our blood..."

A little put off, Jonah accepted the charm without a word, studying it for a moment before pocketing it. He then bowed slightly, smiling a little. "Thank you, miss." Then he turned and left. Daniel was outside, waiting for some reason.

"I would have thought you'd be off on adventures by now..." Jonah said with a smirk. Daniel chuckled and lightly punched his brother on the arm.

"I gotta help you get your girl back, even if she is a Black..." he said with a smirk, causing Jonah to shake his head in mirth.

"You always were more rash than me... Come on then. We're goin' on a hike."



Around fifteen or so minutes later, the duo were deep in the woods near the Black Manor. The rather impressive building could be seen between the trees every so often, sitting rather ominously below them as they climbed the foothills.

"How will you know where to find her, if she's even out here?" Daniel asked, one of the only times he said anything the whole hike. Jonah shook his head, not bothering to answer. He didn't honestly know himself, but he had to try, hope she was around...

After a few more minutes walking, they broke free of the scrub and came out to the grassy hills that overlooked the Manor. With any luck... Jonah absently fingered the charm in his pocket, hoping she was around...

[NekoInk]

Isabella sits on her horse, watching the Manor, her face expressionless. “If it burnt down right now…Perhaps…It would all end…” She sighs and shakes her head before turning her horse around and back onto the path. The horse however rears a little, sensing something nearby. Isabella calms him and looks around, seeing nothing but feeling the horse’s unease. “I know there is game in the woods…and the odd mountain lion…but…” She casts around, keeping her horse steady. Micah however is unsettled and rears up violently. Isabella loses her grip of the reins and is throw backwards when Micah bolts suddenly.

"Micah!"

She yells in shock as the ground slides away beneath her; she is too close to the slope and it gives way. Micah vanishes back the way they came, running at a full gallop. Isabella tumbles down the slope, trying to grab onto anything to stop her plummeting over the edge. As she slips down the tree lined slope her head comes into contact with a low lying tree and she is knocked out. Finally coming to a stop about 20 metres down the slope. From the path she is invisible; the only sign something isn’t right is the disturbed ground and hoof prints higher up.

Birds fly out from the trees above her, a sudden cascade of black wings against the grey afternoon sky…

[Jacogos]

Jonah blinked once, swearing that he had heard someone in the distance. Looking around at Daniel, the younger man's concerned look told Jonah that he had heard the same. Meeting each other's gaze, they nodded in unison and began moving hastily towards the noise.

For a few moments there was nothing special about the landscape, still grassy hills and scrub, but the monotony was quickly broken when a horse, wild with what Jonah assumed was fear, appeared sprinting towards them. Foam lathered its mouth as it sped towards them, which added to its rather unnerving appearance. Riderless, the horse sported a saddle, though, which told them that the beast belonged to someone. With the yell from earlier, Jonah had no doubt who it was.

"You grab the horse, I'm going to look!" Jonah yelled, launching into a full-out run immediately afterwards, not bothering to wait for Daniel to acknowledge his command. The younger brother did acknowledge him, though, immediately moving into the way of the horse. While not the best rider in the world, Daniel was quite good at breaking horses, something he did in his spare time when his father allowed him to go out of town to areas where horses roamed wild. He was sometimes paid well for it, too, which made the deal all the better.

While Daniel was busy jumping on to the horse in an attempt to regain the reins, Jonah was already backtracking the animal's tracks, following them to a path that suddenly dropped off into a slope. The dirt was kicked up, which told Jonah this was where she had lost control of the horse...

Peering down the slope, Jonah called out her name, worried about what might have happened to her. Upon getting now answer, Jonah swore and paced for a moment, trying to decide what to do... After a moment, he shook his head and made up his mind. Trying to get the best idea of which way the horse would have thrown her, Jonah found the best spot and slowly began to slide down, keeping a sharp lookout for her.

[NekoInk]

Isabella lies on her side, half way down the slope, a few meters from him. Her hair falls across her face like a silk curtain, hiding the bruise on her forehead and the scratches on her skin from the thorns in the foliage. As she lies unconscious she begins to dream.

“She wakes up in a misty forest, a handsome man extends a hand to her and she takes it, rising to her feet gracefully. The man smiles and strokes her cheek before leading her along a path in the forest. She wears a deep emerald velvet dress; a pearl necklace adorns her neck. The couple walks along in silence, just looking at each other, as if trying to memorize every detail of each other’s faces…Suddenly the sky darkens and the man lets go of her hand, his face grim. He pushes her away hard, the girl stumbles backwards and plummets over the cliff face…”

Isabella murmurs softly “Jonah….” As she begins to wake up…

[Jacogos]

Finally catching sight of her among the scrub that dotted the hill, Jonah came to a slow halt next to her, careful not to pelt her with dirt and such. Gently taking her in his arms, he was struck by a gentle yearning for her touch which he grimly pushed aside. Brushing the hair from her face, he checks to make sure she is breathing, which she is, and gently feels her arms and legs for any protruding bones.

"Isabella, can you hear me...?" he asked quietly, hoping she would wake up and see everything was alright. He wondered how she would react... If he'd have to immediately pull out the charm just to prove to her he meant no harm. His hand absently stroked her cheek, hoping she was okay, that nothing was broken as she slowly came to.

[NekoInk]

Isabella winces, stars swimming in front of her eyes for a few seconds. “Oh…Jonah?....Are you…real?” She mumbles, feeling as if she is wading through syrup. Her head throbs painfully each time she blinks but she begins to feel better as she breaths in slowly, trying to relax. “Jonah…you…cannot be…here...I…” She closes her eyes and slips out of conscious again…

“Jonah…he…he found me…Or…am I dreaming…”

------

Molly Aspin looks out of her front door, staring up at the mountains “Gods I hope Isabella is OK…”

[Jacogos]

"Yes, yes, I'm here, I'm real..." he said quietly, looking around warily. He didn't know why he was paranoid of the land suddenly, but something had spooked that horse... Isabella had slipped back into unconsciousness, leaving Jonah to figure out what to do himself. The hill wasn't quite as steep as it could be. He could carry her up there... right? To hell with it, he had to try.

Picking up her rather limp form, Jonah slowly began to make his way back up the slope, careful of his foot placement on the loose dirt. At first, everything was alright, but the feeling of accomplishment died down when he began to feel her weight, light as she was, on his muscles. A misstep sent him to a knee, nearly dropping her in the process. However, he recovered and began to ascent again.

"Jonah!?" came a voice from near the top of the slope, a familiar voice.

"Danny! Down here!" Jonah called, hoping his little brother had managed to reign in the horse. After a few moments, Daniel's head poked over the side of the hill, worry melting from his face as he realized his brother was alright.

"How the hell did you- Oh," he cut off as he realized his brother was carrying someone. The two stopped their exchange until Jonah was back up on the path, gently laying Isabella on the grass beside the path. The horse nickered softly at the sight of Isabella, obviously her horse.

"The horse give you too much trouble?" Jonah panted with a grin, noticing his brother's rather ragged look.

"Piece of cake," the younger man replied, dusting himself off for the first time since. With that done, he saw Isabella for the first time and promptly tilted his head in admiration. "Well, at the very least I can tell what you saw on the outside," he commented, which received a light punch from Jonah.

With that said, the elder brother moved to her side and placed his hand gently on her cheek. "Isabella...?" he called quietly, trying to rouse her.

[NekoInk]

Isabella breaths softly then wakes up, blinking against the sudden light on the path; “Jonah?...I…wasn’t dreaming? Oh god…Why are you here?” She sits up a little to fast and gasps when the world spins rapidly. She grips his arm until it slows and finally stops.

“I…” She looks up then sees another man and stops then turns to Jonah “Thank you for helping me.” She swallows and stands up, brushing the leaves and dirt from her dress. Isabella has forgotten about the bruise to her cheek from her mother this morning…and with the fresh one to her forehead and the cuts…she looks like someone has beaten her.

She stands looking at Jonah, unsure of what to say. Instead she bites her lip and walks over to Micah, gently stroking his head and looking around. “Something spooked him…I didn’t see what.” She says to them, slightly annoyed with herself for becoming what she hates; a damsel in distress…Or her sister. Isabella looks up, her eyes on the trees above them…this forest has always been eerie. “Jonah…I…” It’s clear she wants to talk, but does not wish to discuss it in front of the other man. She winces a little when she brushes her cheek and feels it sting.

[Jacogos]

"I..." he started, only to stop himself for Daniel's sake. He realized that his brother being there would only be awkward for her, particularly seeing as she didn't even know he was his brother.

Daniel took the unspoken hint, though. "I guess I'll see you back home, Jonah," he said quickly, immediately turning to head down the trail. Jonah trusted him not to get into any trouble, and the paths around here weren't so strewn with wild animals that he should worry anyway. Turning back to Isabella, he sees her beside her horse, which makes him glad Daniel was able to soothe the animal. Moving to her side, he starts to reach for her, but something tells him not to and he simply stands there.

"Isabella..." he started again, trying to pick the words he needed. Of course he hadn't actually been thinking about what he wanted to say the entire time he was coming here, but it had seemed trivial to do so at the time... Now... "I.. I'm sorry..." he said simply, not knowing what else to say in its place.

"I let my upbringing blind me to what I had already experienced was the real truth..." he continued, hoping it would be enough. "The feud was hammered into me from birth... How else was I supposed to react...?" That sounded like an excuse. "I mean.. I... It was stupid..." he finished, wishing he was better with words.

[NekoInk]

She looks at him, half of her wanting to throw herself into his arms and forget everything…the other half is tempted to hold her head up and sweep off. That one is dismissed quickly.

“Jonah…I…I understand. I do not blame you…I…I did; but I realised that you were brought up differentially than me. I had no reason to believe anything my parents told me. I never accepted their views. I…I do not hate you.” She swallows then takes a step towards him, unsure of what to do.
Isabella looks down, unable to keep eye contact with him in case he changes his mind.

[Jacogos]

She doesn't hate me... came a thought that lifted everything off of Jonah's chest. It was like someone saying they understood that you had murdered their pet dog and weren't upset, for all Jonah had painted himself out in her eyes.

Smiling slightly, Jonah moved closer and embraced her, not caring whether she wanted to or not. "This feud won't stop me from caring about you, Isabella... They were wrong about the Blacks... You're not all bad," he said with a small smile, moving back a little to look at her and bring a hand up to her cheek again.

Suddenly, he was struck by their situation, now. Our families would never let us be together... he thought, that an obvious insight from what his grandmother had done. What would they do? Where would they go? Would they simply have to meet in secret now until they could move out and have a secret wed- Jonah stopped himself there. No reason to be thinking of that now.



Meanwhile, on his way back home, Daniel stopped suddenly when a rustle in the bushes drew his attention.

"Who's there...?" the youngest Yoricson asked, drawing his belt knife anxiously. There weren't usually feral animals around.... Even if there were, they never attacked humans this close to the village...

Right?



A knock came from the door of the Black Manor, determined and quite resolute in its three clear soundings. Whoever opened the door was greeted by a cloaked figure, leaning lightly on a walking cane of oak.

"You might want to visit the young one that is out on the trail... A friend of yours told me that it was urgent..." the raspy voice came, before the figure, without closure, turned and hobbled back the way he had come.

[NekoInk]

Anne Black looks up when the maid enters the room, bowing low. “My Lady…There is a messenger…”

“And why should that concern me?”

The maid swallows “Miss Isabella has not returned from her ride…She is 2 hours late. She has never been late before, my Lady.”

Anne glares and stands up “Why was I not told?! My daughter could be associating with anyone!” Anne, of course, was not worried for her daughter’s safety. It’s more a matter of disrespect. “Have that idiot in the stables saddle my horse! And tell William he is coming. I am fed up with this. Isabella will learn her place.” Anne storms from the room.

A few moments later, Anne stands in the grand entrance hall, wearing a rich, heavy velvet gown of midnight blue and black. She also wears a heavy black cloak, the hood pulled over her hair. William walks down the stairs, looking bored.

“Mother, what has she to do with me? Why do I have to come?”

Anne glares at him “You will be head of this family. You must learn. Isabella has shown me and our family disrespect; again. I will not have it.” She turns on her heels and marches out to the waiting horses.

--------------

Isabella embraces him and whispers against his chest “Jonah…I love you. I’m not afraid to admit it. I do not care about our families…I care about this…” She puts her hand over his heart.

“Isabella!” Comes a screech. Isabella looks up sharply and gasps when she sees her mother on a horse, several meters from them. “What do you-“ Anne suddenly regonises the man her daughter is standing with “You! Isabella! How could you?! William! Bring that rat we found, I’ve just found his brother.”
William Black rides up, a smirk on his face of pride and arrogance. Behind his horse; hands tied to his saddle bag via a length of rope is Daniel Yoricson who has a bloodied lip.

“Well, Well, Well…Isabella has fallen for a rat…How sweet.” He smirks and jumps down from his horse, grabs Daniel and pushes him forward so he lands at the couple’s feet.

“Mother! What are you doing here?” Isabella cries, her voice laced with anger and hatred.

“I am here to fetch you back to where you belong. Get away from that….thing and get on your horse. I will deal with you later. Gods help you when your father gets home. I am ashamed I ever gave birth to you. How could you sully yourself…with him! He’s inbred scum!”

William grabs his sister’s arm, holding her so tightly she feels her skin bruise. He glares at her and goes to strike her across the face “Whore.” He says just before he strikes.

[Jacogos]

Daniel shrugs off Jonah's help as he gets back to his feet, spitting blood from his lip toward's the Black's feet. "They got the jump on me..." he admitted sourly, glaring at William with unrestrained hate.

Jonah, meanwhile, had refused to release Isabella from his arms. The sight of Anne Black had chilled his blood, realizing what this might mean for Isabella, but the sight of William returned the heat to his life-flow as it boiled with hatred. Of all the Blacks, William was the one he and Daniel had picked on, and resultingly got picked back on, the most. It was easy for the Black to get the upper hand, simply because he was older and, among the village people, better liked.

This hate released rather easily when William decided he would put his hands on Isabella. Forgoing any logical course of action, Jonah barely waited for the man to finish his infuriating label of Isabella before the Yoricson boy's fist struck William clean in the face, enough force behind it to send the man sprawling.

Daniel, in the meantime, had loosened himself out of the rope and was now beside his brother, hell bent on defending him from whatever was now coming. Only, now, there seemed to be more than just Blacks to worry about.

"JONAH?! DANIEL?!" came two voices as the rumble of hoofbeats filled the air. Three other riders joined the little gathering, riding purebred horses that snorted upon coming to a halt. Kiel III and Jenna Yoricson took in the scene with a mixture of disgust and disappointment, most of it aimed at what was obviously Jonah attacking a Black boy. The third rider was Gérard the butler, his overall unbothered look accompanied by a gleam in his eyes that was rather unexplainable.

"Father? Mother? What the hell are-" Jonah started, before Kiel overpowered him through the sheer sternness of his voice.

"What I want to know, son, is what exactly is going on here?!" the man demanded, dismounting with the ease of a man who had been born in the saddle.

[NekoInk]

William leaps to his feet, about to hit back when Anne dismounts and slaps him “Stop this.” She looks at the new arrivals, hatred in her cool eyes.

Isabella stands slightly away from Jonah as he pushed her away when William went to strike her. She looks from her mother, to her brother, to the newcomers…and finally to Jonah. “Your parents?...” She whispers softly

Anne Black draws herself up to her full hight in the saddle “Well, how nice of you to join us…” She looks at her son, her eyes warning him to stay his hand. “I’m glad you’re here.” Her tone suggests otherwise “I interrupted your son, attempting to seduce my daughter and destroy her honour. I’m sure he acted on his own…however…one can never be sure where children get their ideas.” She glares at Jenna, woman to woman. “No doubt if my heroic son had not come across them, he would have raped her. I hope you will punish him…if not, I shall take appropriate action.” She nods to

William who walks over to Isabella and takes her by the arm, to outsiders it looks like he cares for her, and is gently escorting her…However, he is gripping her tightly and as he passes Jonah he mutters “You’re dead you bastard…”

Isabella pulls herself free of her brother so violently he cries out and doubles over, clutching his hand “You little-“He starts before Isabella interrupts “Jonah did not try to rape me mother, and you know it well!”

Anne glares “Shut up you stupid girl. This is far more serious than your happiness. Now, get on your horse and go with your brother…or so help me, I’ll drag you back home myself.”

“No mother. I’m not your slave anymore…And brother...I am no whore."” She walks over to Jonah and stands beside him, looking at him, a small smile crossing her lips. She knows that Jonah could easily reject her once more…

William clutches his hand, one of his fingers is dislocated painfully. He walks over to his mother and looks at her “Mother!” He says angrily. “Do something!”

[Jacogos]

Kiel didn't even bother listening to Anne, dismissing her with a "Be quiet, you damned filthy witch," before turning to Jonah and gazing at him sternly. He was about to speak when Isabella's outburst interrupted him as well, making him pause when she returned to Kiel's son's side.

"So... The witch speaks an ounce of truth, at least..." Kiel admitted without much change to his face. The man's dark complexion drew out the depth of his dark brown eyes, piercing and swallowing in their intensity. Though he was dressed grandly enough to be the ruling Lord of this province, it wasn't the clothes that gave him that presence that demanded you listen to him.

"Explain yourself, Jonah," Kiel demanded simply, ignoring the cries of the Black son. Swallowing in slight fear of his own father, Jonah looked to Isabella for a moment, then steeled himself.

"I've fallen in love with this girl, father. Though you claim to know every member of the family down to the core, you do not know Isabella Black, and none of you ever mentioned her when you mindnumbingly hammered every Black's features into our skulls." Daniel took a moment to register this, then nodded slightly to himself once he saw the truth in Jonah's words. He had certainly never heard of an Isabella Black before his brother had mentioned her to him

Kiel listened, for the most part, then cut Jonah off with the simple raising of his hand.

"We do not associate with these devil-worshipers, Jonah," Kiel said in a grim, quiet voice. "Move away from that girl and get on my horse. We are going home, and you are going to forget about this woman. Now come." He did not yell, but he also did not expect rebellion. He was to be obeyed, like it or not.

"No, father," Jonah dared, not moving an inch. He looked to Daniel for support, but the younger man was already beside his mother's horse, giving Jonah a look that said 'I can't help you here'.

Kiel, on the other hand, rounded on his son and grabbed him by the shirt, lifting him a full foot off the ground.

"I will not 'be patient' with you, boy. Get. On. The. Damn. Horse," the eldest Yoricson commanded, placing his son down away from Isabella and pushing him not-too-gently towards the beasts. Gasping, Jonah stumbled and fell near the horse, never remembering his father to be violent towards his family.

[NekoInk]

Anne sneers at her daughter and rides off, leaving her children. William, clutching his hand climbs onto his horse and looks at Isabella. “Sister, get on your horse; now. You are a whore…But you’re a Black. So you come with me now…Or I will drag you.”

Isabella looks from one to another then walks over to Jonah and whispers “Do as he says…If we fight them now…we’ll lose any chance of being together…We must play this game…or they win” She says it quietly so only Jonah hears. She then turns to Jonah’s father, takes a breath and looks straight at him “I am not my mother, Ser. And I worship no devils.” She looks at him, amazingly calm despite her fear, her green eyes on his.

William watches, slightly unnerved by her courage to talk to the Lord Yoricson…who he himself would never talk to directly. “Isabella…Come. Mother waits.” Isabella however is still staring at Jonah’s father, seeming unable to draw her eyes away from his.

[Jacogos]

Jonah nodded slightly at Isabella, aware that, even though their words were hidden from the others, the fact that they shared them was not. "Stay safe, Isabella..." he replied quietly, brushing himself off as he moved towards his father's horse.

Kiel Yoricson regarded Isabella with a cold stare, lidded eyes hiding what might have been a slightly interested look. My, my, what backbone... She's almost unnerving... he thought momentarily before turning back to his horse, putting the Black family from his mind. As soon as Jonah and Kiel had mounted the sturdy stallion, the Yoricson's made off towards their manor, Jonah the only one throwing a glance back towards the retreating family.



"I find it rather interesting that the blood has accumulated so.... thickly in this one," a voice commented to itself in the depths of the Yoricson manor. With no one else to speak like this to, it might be thought that the owner of the voice was mad, but no madman could so easily infiltrate a house as this one had.

"No matter, though, this only gives me more reason to wipe those accursed ones from the face of the earth. Soiling our blood with their... filth. I'll show them. I'll show them all. The seeds of worry and discord have already been sown... I simply need to show them care and water them..."

Walking over to an image of Jonah and Isabella, the owner of the voice studied the two with a malicious grin painted across its face.

"And these are just what I need to soil the dirt with the blood of the nobles..."

In the darkness, so deep under the manor, there was no one around to hear the menacing laughter.

[NekoInk]

Michael looks at his sister and glares “How could you do this Isabella? You shame your family, your mother…and your very blood. Mother’s party is in two days’ time! She is inviting every noble from every family! If they hear of what you have done it will spell ruin for me and Celeste! Our sister is a whore…”

Isabella looks at her brother, her face calm “Oh dear brother…before this feud is over…what I have done here will be the least of our families worries.” She mounts her horse and looks at him, her eyes pityingly “As for you and Celeste…I do not care. We’ve never been siblings, brother. What happens to you and her…couldn’t interest me any less.”

William rides over to her “Come. Mother will wish to deal with you.” He glares and goes to ride off but Isabella rides passed him at full speed.

“Jonah’s father…he was so imposing…my father is a drunken ass.” She sighs and spurs her horse on, thinking of Jonah and trying to think of a way her and Jonah could be together. “The ball, It’s a masquerade ball…perhaps…”-

Anne Black stands in the entrance hall, hands on her hips, her face livid. She surveys her youngest daughter with loathing. “Well…Well…Well…the little whore returns home.” Anne walks forward and slaps Isabella across the face. Isabella stands her ground and looks at her mother, her eyes deviant.

“Hello mother.” She says with equal hatred “You do not approve, I can assume?”

Anne chokes back an insult and sneers “Get. To. Your. Room. I will deal with you later.” Isabella walks passed her mother and walks up the stairs, taking each step slowly…with each click of her shoes on the marble…she mentally cuts all of the already frayed connections with her family. Distantly she hears Anne saying to William “Thank heavens I have you and Celeste…My beautiful heirs…you are the future of this family.”

Isabella turns when she reaches the top of the staircase and watches Anne and William walk away…a glint in her eyes.

----------------------------------------------------------

An hour or so later, a maid sneaks out of the Manor, under the guise of fetching some more ink for Anne to write more invitations. The girl in fact hurries to the Yoricson Manor and leaves a letter in the stables for Jonah, praying for Isabella’s sake…Jonah finds it.

Isabella meanwhile writes another letter;

Dear Doctor Roberts,
I have need of your help. Many years ago, one Lady Anabella was committed to your fine institute due to an incurable mental defect. When she was so committed, all her personal effects were placed in storage, to be claimed by her family. I know this has never happened. My mother, Lady Anne Black, was very close to Lady Anabella and I know she loves her still, dearly. My mother’s birthday is in two days’ time, and I would be eternally in your dept. if you could send me a certain item in Annabella’s effects. A beautiful black enamel box that is sealed and locked. My aunt often spoke of giving this to my mother, and I know she would wish to do so still. I would like to gift this box to my mother for her birthday, from my aunt of course. It would make her extremely happy and do something to reassuring her of her dear friend’s health. Please could you send the box to myself and I will pass it on to my mother at her birthday celebrations.

Your humble servant,
Lady Isabella Elena of the Noble House Of Black

Isabella reads back the letter and smiles softly before addressing it and giving it to a maid to send. She sits on her bed and looks out of the window at the mountains “This is a dangerous game…And losing is not an option. Mother has made that clear.”

She lies back on her bed and sighs "Poor Aunt Anabella...Locked away in that asylum...Just because she had a child out of wed-lock...Its not a crime against anyone. And i doubt God, who has an entire world to worry about cares about a person's marriage status or lack of it when they have a child..."

[Jacogos]

The family had rode in silence, with the silence broken only once by Gérard, who made an absent comment about the thunderheads creeping up on the village. There would be a storm that night. Indeed, the wind blew furiously enough that most of the Yoricsons had to grip their reigns harder to keep from falling. Not Kiel III, though. His grim silence kept Gérard from continuing his train of thought.

Once back at the manor, the family dismounted in silence, leaving Gérard and the stableman to take the horses and unsaddle them. The family went inside, but before Jonah could disappear to his room, his mother tapped him on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow her. Daniel gave his brother a pitying look, then disappeared as Jonah had wished he could.

Jenna Yoricson led her middle son to the reading room, where Isabella's family name had been revealed not even a half-day hence. She sat in the chair slowly, leaving Jonah to stand as she gazed at him sadly.

"A Black, Jonah...?" she said after a long pause, letting the words sink in for a moment. "Surely you knew when you saw her for what she was...?"

"No, mother, I didn't," Jonah said without hesitation, fixing her in his gaze. "I didn't learn until this morning, when Grandmother saw her and figured out who she was immediately..."

"And how long have you been in the dark about this girl?" Jenna asked, a roundabout way of wanting to know when they began this 'nonsense'.

"At the Tindus party last night."

"And yet you say you're in love with the girl?" Jenna scoffed, her face showing just how preposterous she thought that was. "Child, forget about her. At your age, all you're thinking about is whether you will be able to sleep with her or not, and don't you argue it. If she was here this morning, you must have brought her home overnight, no?" She paused, waiting for Jonah's answer that did not come. "If she spent the night here, you slept with her, did you not?" Again the pause. Again, no answer, even as Jenna's hazel eyes pierced him to his soul.

"Of course you did..." she said breathlessly after a pause. "Jonah, if that girl turns out pregnant, we will not claim her spawn as our house. We. Will. NOT!" She slammed her fist on the chair's arm, her face serene while her eyes blazed. "Pray to God she is not, Jonah. I do not want to lose a son." Standing slowly, Jenna regarded him for a moment before smoothly exiting the room, leaving Jonah with his thoughts.

So... now she knows... and Father will know, and most likely Linette and Kiel will soon. I should probably go ahead and let Daniel know... But... Jonah broke free of his thoughts, shaking his head in despair. What was he to do?

He went to his room and tried to get his mind off things, removing his belt and knife. However, the knife was not there, and Jonah sighed as he realized he probably dropped it while dismounting. Hurrying off to the stables, Jonah wondered when he'd be able to see Isabella again...

Once there, Jonah only had to search for a few moments before the metal touched his skin and he had found his knife. Once he had, though, he was suddenly aware of a shuffling behind him that wasn't one of the horses, and immediately turned around in a defensive position to behold not an attacker but a servant girl, scared witless of his sudden movement.

She wasn't one of his family's women, which made Jonah extremely curious and cautious at the same time. "Who are you?" he asked.

"A-a-are you J-Jonah?" she asked hesitantly, fear shaking her voice. "I-I was told by... Lady Isab-bella that you.. Here!" she finished frantically, shoving a letter into his hands and scurrying off, about fit to faint. He chuckled slightly and shook his head, looking at the letter with wonder.

What in the world is she up to...? he wondered as he read the letter. A masquerade? Well... That made some sense. Crumpling the letter and stuffing it into his pocket, Jonah turned and began to think vaguely on what he would wear.

Oh lord, I might end up having to ask Linette... he thought with a grim chuckle.

[NekoInk]

The night of the Masquerade Ball dawns crisp and clear. The Mansion is decorated lavishly, Anne Black’s chance to show off. Lord Gregory Black took no interest in the party but he did stand beside Anne as she greeted the guests, smiling stiffly, his mind on his Mistress not his wife. The Party is in full swing by the time the youngest Black appears from her room, tucking something into her bodice before walking to the landing and looking down.

Isabella stands at the top of the grand staircase, watching the nobles milling around below her like ants. She has made a special effort tonight for her mother’s birthday party; she wears a midnight blue gown embroidered with –real- silver threads (http://www.roxx-online.com/roxxonline/viewProducts.cfm?mode=select&newSelection=y&dep_id=12&proId=102&cat_id=20). Isabella also wears a beautiful masquerade mask in silver, tied behind her head with silver, satin ribbons. (http://www.maskitalia.com/assets/images/masks/fulls/farfallinaluna.jpg).

She takes a breath, knowing that once she descends these stairs…there is no going back. The wheels will be set in motion; the deed done. Isabella Black places her hand on the marble banister….and takes a step, then another. She walks down the stairs, elegantly, several young men in the room look up and she smirks to see their eyes on her as she reaches the bottom of the stair case. Everyone in the room is masked; free from their normal selves…Anne Black has managed to create a new world for her party. And many are making full use of this. Isabella watches Lord Downey, he is obvious from the way he holds himself, whispering to a young woman, defiantly not his wife, who is currently carrying his 7th child. She watches as he kisses her neck and they disappear into the garden. She rolls her eyes and wanders through the party rooms, watching others flirting with various people; no one is with their older halves so to speak.

Isabella catches a glimpse of her Mother, who wears a deep gold dress and mask. “Tonight Mother…I will give you the greatest present you’ve ever received.” She stands by the door way to the largest dining room, watching her Mother laugh and flirt with several young men. Her father is nowhere to be seen, which does not surprize her. Once Anne Black could have no more children and had given him a son and heir, Gregory believed her purpose fulfilled and largely ignored her. They shared a bed every now and again, but there was nothing romantic about it. He had his life. She had hers. And neither missed the other. “Is this how all noble marriages turn out...Without love or even cares? If Jonah and I…” She stops and shakes her head, watching as her mother laughs and embraces William, who holds his mask but does not wear it.

“Isabella! I am so pleased to see you.” A voice calls softly. Isabella turns and sees Lady Harriet, who has a mask on stick rather than tied on. The woman smiles “It’s so nice to see you looking so healthy. Your mother said you may not attend.”

“How did you recognise me, Lady Harriet?” Isabella asks, she is not particularly interested, but feels like it would be rude to deny the tiresome woman the chance to talk.

Harriet laughs “Oh that. I know your style, my dear. It’s very modern, your dress. The colours are so vibrant; Simply exquisite!” She smiles “I hear your brother is soon to be named official heir to the estate. You must be so proud! Though it’s a shame there is only one boy in the family…if anything were to happen to William…” She shivers and sighs, knowing full well that a family without a male heir is doomed.

“Yes. It would mean the end of our family line. My father’s brother has one son, Juan, but he was born blind so he is not allowed to inherit…not that he would anyway. And there are only girls after that…So yes; William is the Black family’s only heir, and the future.”

“It must be a worry for your parents, having only William?”

Isabella shrugs “I am sure it is. But soon enough he will marry and have a son, so unless the worst happens before that, our family is secure.” Isabella looks at Harriet and smiles…the smile has an edge to it that Harriet cannot interpret “Excuse me, Lady Harriet.” She says and walks off, wondering if Jonah will really turn up…or not.

[Jacogos]

Jonah meandered through the crowd of people in the Black Manor, never attracting the least bit of attention though everyone here would most likely completely lose their minds if they knew who he was. A mask (http://origin.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0/187/3/AAAADOwY3boAAAAAAYc7Ew.jpg?v=1316228353000) as common as his shouldn't have kept others from knowing who he was, but with it and his hair slicked back in a more 'fashionable' style, he might as well have been a different person entirely. Add that to the suit that wouldn't have stood out in any party ever, and he was completely incognito.

I have to admit, this was probably a good idea... he thought to himself as he continued searching for Isabella. While that in itself was nigh impossible, all he had to do was find her and no one would ever know the difference...

The lone Yoricson man found himself getting slightly lost in the Black Manor, which, while not as large as the Yoricson estate, was unfamiliar territory and he had no idea where he was going. Luckily, he didn't really need to know where he was going, as he didn't even know where Isabella would be. He just needed to find her...

A familiar scent buffets his senses as he brushes past someone, and he turned quickly, just catching a glimpse of her as she moves through the party-goers. Smiling slightly to himself, Jonah quickly follows her and, with a slight husk to his voice, whispers in her ear from behind.

"Miss Black, may I have a word?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella stops dead in her tracks, her heart doing a back flip. She bites her lip and closes her eyes, saying softly “Are you really here...” The people around the couple ignore them, too busy seeking their own pleasure.

She turns slowly, scared if she whirls around he’ll vanish and reveal himself to be a dream, when she sees him, recognising him at once-you tend to remember the mouth you spent almost an entire night kissing- and as she turns everyone else seems to vanish. “Of course you may have a word, my Lord.” Isabella stays formally, just in case anyone is listening.

Isabella looks around then walks passed him, knowing he will follow. She moves through the party rooms knowing where they can snatch a few moments alone; the grand library. They reach the library and quickly go inside. As soon as the door closes Isabella embraces him, whispering against his lips as she kisses him softly “Jonah…you came…” She kisses him again, her chest rising and falling making her cleavage visible with each breath.

The grand library of Black Manor is extremely grand; large mahogany book shelves that stretch up to the roof all containing ancient leather bound books, around the room are also dark mahogany desks with brass reading lamps. Around the middle of the room is another floor of sorts, a kind of balcony with several spiral staircases leading up to it where yet more books sit on yet more shelves.

Isabella pulls back slightly and looks at him then reaches and touches his cheek “It is really you. I thought for a moment I had strayed into a dream…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah smiled slightly at her reaction, though it faded to a more serious facade as he remembered he shouldn't be attracting attention. As she moved around him, he was once again taken by her scent, which he breathed in slowly, following her almost hypnotically.

Once they had arrived in the room and Jonah had shut the door, Isabella threw her arms around him, an embrace he quickly returned along with the kiss. He smiled wide once she let him pull back, surprised by the happiness he could find just by being around her. It was almost unnerving, but it didn't bother him that much anymore.

"Of course I came... I wouldn't miss your mother's birthday party for the world," he replied sarcastically, smirking at her as he felt her hand stray to his cheek. "If this was a dream, we'd be somewhere far more pleasant, Isabella." Kissing her once more, he wished they could escape right now, though he knew she at least would be missed.

"So was there any particular reason you wanted me to come, or is this the feature of our night?" he asked, his right hand moving to gently run through her hair.

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs softly “Yes, you and my mother get on very well…I am sure she would welcome the chance to see you again.” She leans against him, her head on his shoulder as she is not as tall as him. “Oh Jonah…” She kisses his neck softly and whispers “Well…I have some ideas of what we could do…in a room…alone…”

Isabella looks up at him and smirks softly, her eyes glinting; her lips meeting his in a soft but seductive kiss. Isabella places her hand on the large desk beside them to steady herself as she kisses him. The close proximity of the desk gives her an idea…but she decides to remain quiet, to see if Jonah also has that idea.

Neither of the young lovers notices the figure moving about on the balcony, watching them and pacing as if agitated. “Together again…all lust and love…To be young again…” The figure moves, its Isabella’s grandmother, she sighs softly and watches them then turns away, leaving them to their snatched moment of happiness.

---------------------------------------

Back at the party Anne Black is sitting on a raised platform, playing the part of the Queen, which she does well. She smiles regally as she is presented with her gifts, first the ones from her family.

3 magnificent horses, purebred and extremely expensive from her husband Lord Gregory Black.
A diamond brooch surrounded by beautiful pearls from her son William.
1 heavy silk gown in deep green, embroidered with gold birds and 1 sapphire blue ball gown with lace trim from her daughter Elizabeth Celeste.

Anne looks up expectantly at the announcer “And from my youngest?” There is an edge to her voice that only the family picks up on. The small man who is announcing her gifts swallows nervously and checks the parchment in front of him, relief spreads over his face and he says softly “From the Lady Isabella a gift of a ceremonial dagger, encrusted with pearls, rubies and a sapphire on the hilt.” Anne takes the dagger and holds it; looking at it closely…she seems to take a meaning from it that no one else does but she smiles graciously and hands it to a maid.
This goes on for some time until the announcer rolls up the parchment and bows. However, just as he goes to move away a younger man runs over and whispers something to him. The announcer listens then nods and looks at Anne “My Lady, a final gift has just arrives this moment.”

Anne, who was thanking her two favourite children, looks up and smiles “Another gift; from whom?”

“It is from…” the man checks with the younger man, who whispers something. “from the Lady Anabella Black, sister to Lord Gregory Black…A black enamel box containing…” the man looks blank as the box is handed to Anne. She looks slightly taken a back…and put off. She hates her Anabella; she shamed herself and the family name.

“I…I shall accept it.” Anne says and opens it. Inside is a bottle of wine, from the Black families own personal stores. The bottle is over 300 years old…and worth…an uncountable amount. The whole room, Anne included gasps in shock. “My god…I thought it had all gone! How strange that my dear friend, Anabella, should have some. I had thought of waiting…However, this is a sign!”

Anne stands up, smiling “I am overjoyed to announce that my beloved son William is now betrothed to Lady Jane Hemingway.” Anne claps loudly and everyone follows suite. William smirks proudly, knowing his young bride will be arriving in an hour or so.

“We shall open the bottle then…”

[Jacogos]

Jonah smiles a little and lowers his head as well, breathing in her scent as she speaks. Her lips on his neck make him shiver slightly, returning the favor as she whispers in his ear, which against all odds leaves him aroused.

"My, my, someone has been busy plotting while I've been away..." Jonah said with smirk, anything else he was about to say interrupted by her kiss. He felt her adjust, which made him realize just how close that desk was... Pressing forward, Jonah smirked into the kiss as he pushed her against it, almost making her topple over, but his arms around her waist preventing that...

For now.

Even as they continued to kiss, Jonah found himself fumbling at the ties of her dress, his mind completely surrendering to its more carnal desires. Compared to the awkwardness of the other night, the two were much more in sync and straightforward this time, completely oblivious to the other people in the house. For now, it was just them, finding pleasure in each other's bodies.

As the clothes came off, the two lost themselves in the moment.



As Isabella led him through the house to where the ceremony was taking place, Jonah was lost in his thoughts as to what had just happened. I think I should invest in getting a desk like that in my own house... he thought vacantly, blushing momentarily after he realized what had just crossed his mind. For a couple who had just fornicated in the other room, they looked rather clean and unruffled, which Jonah found impossible.

They arrived mere moments after Lady Black had received her wine, leaving Jonah with the startled realization that the Black heir was now betrothed. Interesting...

“We shall open the bottle then…” Anne Black continued.

[NekoInk]

Isabella watches her mother, her eyes on the wine…a smile flickers across her lips before she turns to Jonah. “We have a little while before the big celebration…” He tone is uneasily calm “Would you care to dance?” She smiles at him, this time it’s a genuine smile of happiness. She kisses his neck softly and whispers "I love you, Jonah...Remeber that..." She smiles.

She looks around, her eyes dance over the wine that her mother is holding. “Tonight mother…” Isabella is about to turn to Jonah so they can dance but she doesn’t get a chance as William barges through the crowd to the entrance way. There is a great deal of laughing and loud voices before he returns, a blonde girl on his arm. Everyone watches as William leads Jane but the stairs to the platform where Anne smiles and embraces her like a daughter. “I suppose I better go up there…” Isabella says softly to Jonah “I’ll be back in a moment.” She smiles then walks over, a purpose in her steps.

-

Anne looks at Isabella, knowing she is being watched she smiles and gestures for her to stand beside Celeste, who pointedly ignores her sister. William smirks at her then turns to his mother, holding Jane’s hand tightly…as if he is worried that the girl will rethink this proposal and run.

“I am so happy to announce that my dear son, William Black will marry Jane Hemingway on the 24th of November.” She smiles and claps loudly. Isabella keeps her eyes on the bottle…Her eyes seem to glint. Anne is oblivious and carries on “Now, as I promised, we shall open this very rare bottle of wine and my son and his new bride shall be the first to taste it…” Anne hands the bottle to a servant who opens it skilfully and pours it into two glasses.

William takes one and hands it to Jane, he holds the other one. Isabella watches, like everyone else, but she is the only one in the room who is staring at the glass that William holds, rather than the “happy” couple. Jane seems lost and stares around shyly, holding the glass as if she has never held one before.

“Go on, take a drink.” Anne says, smiling. “She looks so happy…I’ve never seen her so happy. I am glad my gift could make her this happy…” Another strange smile flickers across Isabella’s lips as William takes a large gulp of wine. Jane simply wets her lips, not drinking anything as her father has always instilled on her that wine is sinful.

For a moment, William stands smirking proudly, glass in hand…Then he begins to cough. Anne rushes to his side, thinking he has swallowed it too fast. She pats him on the back, taking the glass from him and handing it to Isabella roughly. William keeps coughing then the blood comes. He gasps in pain and coughs; blood spurts from his lips and splatters his white shirt. Anne screams and clutches at William as he sinks to his knees, blood still flowing from his lips.

“William! No! My boy! William!” She shakes him, clutching his face. “Get the doctor! Now!” She screams at no one in particular. Celeste, never faring well at the sight of blood faints and falls to her knees. Jane watches in shocked silence, she is so scared she does not even manage a scream.

Isabella stands looking down at the scene. Her eyes glazed. She slowly unties the mask and holds it. Everyone stands looking at the sobbing Lady Black, who holds her son. William appears to be clinging onto life; just.

Suddenly it’s as if Anne remembers Isabella, she turns her head, staring up at her youngest child, and her eyes are wet with tears. She is silent but her eyes say it all….

Isabella looks back at her mother, the world seems to stop. (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-75IVNyUeDvc/TvD_jKGiEBI/AAAAAAAABRM/mlM4zZF5hn0/s1600/full-image.php.jpg) It is just Anne Black and her daughter; staring at each other, a kind of understand flows between them. Then its gone and the Doctor is there, examining William who is still breathing but it sounds ragged.

“Take him to his room! Now! Hurry.” The maids take charge and begin to shoo guests out as graciously as possible. Isabella walks down the steps, she is shaking. She swallows and stumbles into the crowd of people trying to leave. “Jonah…Jonah…” She whispers so it’s barely audible. A man trying to leave the party barges into her, knocking her to the floor hard…The glass she was still holding smashes on the floor.

“My son….” Anne Black sobs as William is taken from the room, his mother hurrying after him.

[Jacogos]

"I love you as well, Isabella," Jonah returns, slightly upset that their dance was cut off. It was quite refreshing to see her smile, after all she had been through. If only, if only, he thought... Letting her go sadly, he watched the youngest Black move through the crowd and up to the platform.

As the Black matron speaks, Jonah's eyes take in the scene pointedly wondering what that look in Isabella's eyes was. His brow furrows as Anne pours the wine, the gears of his mind whirring as he watches Isabella closely. The couple each take a drink from the wine, and for a moment all is as it should be. That all is ruined as William begins to cough, which at first doesn't really attract much notice. He probably just drank too fast, the stupid bastard...

That idea, however, is sunk immediately when the Black bow begins to cough up blood, which causes most of the crowd to gasp in horror. Jonah's eyes widen, but like most of those gathered here, he simply stands there as the scene plays out before them, like an audience to one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies... But instead of the whole troop, Jonah's attention was focused on Isabella...

That look... Did... Did she know...? his mind thought slowly, not willing to believe it.

As the girl comes back down from the platform, Jonah cautiously moves towards her, trying not to attract attention still. He swears quietly as she falls, cursing the man who knocked her down, when a firm grip and a hushed voice stop him in his tracks.

"Your parents know you are here..." the female voice hisses into his ear. "Go out and meet Gérard by the stables... He says he will cover for you... Go!" came the final command before the grip and voice disappeared. Rounding about, Jonah tried to find the person who spoke, but they had been swept away in the crowd. It was a familiar voice, one he might have placed to one of the Yoricson maids... But that couldn't be right...

Turning back to Isabella, he hesitated, then moved to her side.

"Isabella..." he whispered, looking down at her. "I have to go. My parents know I'm here... I..." he hesitated again, wanting to know... yet at the same time scared to ask. If she knew, what does it gain me by knowing as well...? Putting the thought aside, he gently helped her to her feet. "I love you. Stay safe." With a quick kiss, he disappeared into the crowd, hoping beyond a hope that he could make it to Gérard in time.

[NekoInk]

Isabella watches him go, his name on his lips, as always. “I love you…”She whispers softly. She looks down at her hands and winces a little; they are cut and bleeding from the broken glass. Most of the guests have left and the maids are quickly cleaning up the blood that William coughed up. Isabella looks around, seeming lost before her ladies maid touches her arm.

“My Lady…Come…let me see to your hands…” Isabella lets the young woman lead her to her room and sits down at her vanity desk. The maid fetches hot water and washes her hands gently; she checks for glass inside the cuts and finds none. “They are clean cuts, my Lady…They should not scar.” She looks at her Mistress and swallows.

Isabella sits staring out of the window, holding her hands up for the maid, her eyes glazed (http://geeksyndicate.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/s03e05_morgana.jpg). She whispers softly “My brother…will…will he live?” To the maid, Isabella seemed very worried for her brother; and why shouldn’t she?

“I shall go and check, My Lady....” She bows and leaves the room. Isabella waits until she has gone then stands up slowly, blood pooling on her now wet hands. “Happy birthday mother…” She thinks then turns back to the window, looking out at the last of the guests as they hurry down the pathway. “Jonah…I…Would he hate me…if he knew…William is evil and cruel…he would have used that girl and thrown her away…Oh yes, she would have been called wife…but…what would she have suffered at his hands…” She stops and places her bleeding hands back in the bowl of water, watching it turn into a pretty pink colour “Who am I kidding...I did it for my own reasons…I pray…Jonah will understand.”

The maid returns and bows “My Lady, the doctor is still with Lord William. I could not find out much but he is still alive. But it is grave…” She bows and then dresses Isabella’s hands gently. “Do you need anything Ma’am?” She asks softly.

Isabella looks at her and nods “Yes…I…I need a horse. Have Antonio saddle my horse. Tell no one.”

[Jacogos]

Since there were a few nobles who would recognize the Yoricson horses, Jonah had decided to forgo riding to the party, a decision he now regretted. Though he had doffed the mask as soon as he was out of sight of the manor, Jonah realized that he needed to hurry if he wanted to get to the stables before Mother and Father came to seize him from the Black house.

He wondered if they'd even do that, as they would probably be more content simply waiting for him and calling him out when he got home. He had no idea what Gérard had in mind to cover him with, but he hoped the elder butler knew what he was doing...

A bare twenty minutes later, Jonah slowly made his way into his own stables, the large wooden construct rather empty at the moment, save for the horses. They were all there, so no one was out riding at the moment. That both relieved and worried Jonah. There was an excess of shuffling, and suddenly Gérard was by the doorway that led into the house, his eyes bright in the dusk.

"Here, young master," the Frenchman called softly, beckoning. Jonah nodded, questions on his tongue as he entered the doorway, though they all died as a darkness enshrouded his mind and he knew no more.



Jonah woke slowly to a buzzing noise, pain, and bright lights that threatened to blind him through his shut eyelids. As he regained consciousness, he was aware of himself lying down on something soft, a bed he assumed. What he was also aware of was a piercing headache that reminded him of being kicked by a horse when he was younger. Luckily, that had only been a glancing blow, yet this felt like a brain-damaging hit. He tried sitting up, but that proved to be pointless, as his body didn't want to comply to his actions.

It was then that he noticed that the buzzing noise was his parents' muffled voices, his mother's concerned face looking over at him every so often as she, his father, and Gérard seemed to be in conversation, about him if the glances by his mother and father told him anything.

"Wasgonon...?" Jonah mumbled, trying to make his thoughts and speak coherent, but failing at that, just said something that vaguely resembled a question.

"Oh, Jonah, you're awake," Jenna Yoricson said, moving to his side. "Are you alright? How's your head? Oh, my boy-"

"Would you calm down, Jenna? You act like he's going to die from a hangover," Kiel growled, motioning for Gérard to check the boy. The butler checked Jonah's temperature and breathing, much as a doctor would, and nodded.

"As I said, it is just a hangover. He'll be back on his feet in a few hours," the Frenchman said, moving back to the side of the elder Yoricson. Jenna breathed a sigh of relief and stood again, her face concerned yet trying to be irritated as well.

"Next time you go out to a party, Jonah, have one of your friends who didn't drink as much help you home. You could have fallen off your horse or hurt yourself! But, in any case, we have to thank Gérard for getting you inside safe, else we might have never found you." There was a few more words exchanged, mostly Jenna and Kiel arguing about how they could be handling this, a few more reprimandings of Jonah, and then everyone had left his room (where Jonah finally realized he was at after a few moments of consciousness).

Everyone, that is, except Gérard. The butler sighed as the Yoricson's left, then fixed Jonah in his gaze.

"I apologize for the pain and lack of explanation, young master, but if I had stopped to explain, you might have blathered something incriminating in your sleep. When you got inside, I knocked you out and gave you a dose of a rather rare herb around these parts, which gave you the rather convincing persona of being drunk. After explaining to your parents that I found you stumbling in with your horse from the party you went to, we put you in bed and here you are. Surprisingly, it's only been a few hours, which is much faster than I remember the herb lasting, but that could just be a mistake on my part..."

Moving over to Jonah's side, he placed something into a cup of water that sat on Jonah's bedside table, then turned to leave. "That's another herb, which when mixed right, counteracts the herb I gave you before. It doesn't work on actual hangovers, though, so don't ask if you ever do get one. Sleep well, Jonah." And he was gone.

Grunting in effort, Jonah slowly moved over and grasped the cup, downing the water without question or hesitation. The headache cleared up within a matter of minutes, leaving Jonah satisfied and, surprisingly, very very tired. Settling back down into his bed, Jonah fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, dreamless and carefree.

[NekoInk]

Isabella lies in her bed, watching the sky outside her bedroom window, thinking over the conversation she had with Molly last night when she snuck out.

“William…He is gravly ill. I didn’t…I thought the dose would-“

“Stop right now, Isabella. Do not speak of it. The deed is done. Your reasons are your own, but do not mention it to anyone. Not if you want to live beyond tomorrow.” Molly sighed and touched Isabella’s hand. “Now…What of Jonah?”

Isabella blushes and sips her tea then says “I…I love him Molly. I know I have only known him a few days…but…I love him. He is so different…And…loves me too..”

“Are you sure, dear? I mean, young men often mistake love for lust. Are you sure it is not just…the perks…he gets from ”loving you”?” Molly watches Isabella carefully. As Isabella swallows and stands up;

“I do not know…I have to trust him. I love him. That’s all I know.”

Molly looks worried then swallows “Have…have you thought of…what could arise from this...I mean…Did he…” Molly looks embarrassed, as does Isabella. Molly coughs “Well…did he…inside?”

Isabella blushes redder than she ever has and walks to the door before saying softly “Yes…And no, I hadn’t thought of what could happen. No one has.”

-----------------------------------

Isabella sits up in bed, stretching sleepily before slipping from the bed and pulling on a dark blue cloak with hood. She shivers a little in the chilly house then walks out onto the landing, looking around. The house is quiet as death.

“What have I done…” She shivers once more before going down stairs. Her father sits at the table, staring into space. He looks up when she enters, his eyes sweeping over her briefly.
“Good morning, father.” She says softly and takes a seat at the table. Lord Gregory looks at her again and says;

“Elizabeth” Lord Gregory always calls Celeste by her first name “And yourself will have to marry; soon. With William’s affliction, it is vital. If rumours spread about his illness…” He glares at her “and your indiscression, it will be impossible to find a match for either of you. And Elizabeth is getting no younger.”

Isabella remains silent, knowing that to disagree with her father would mean a severe beating…She has managed to escape any for her liaisons with Jonah, but knows her father is looking for any excuse to take his anger out on her.

“Elizabeth shall marry the eldest son of the Hemingway family. It is arranged. We must secure their family to us…and as the girl, Jane, now refuses to marry William. Another match is to be made.”

He looks at Isabella then gets up and walks over to her; he stands behind her and grips her shoulders “As for you…” His nails dig in painfully “you will marry whoever I say. If I hear one word of argument…” He leans down, his voice sinister in her ear “I will have you locked away with Aunt Anabella and you will never see that inbred brat again. You shame my family name, girl.” He glares at her and his hands close around her throat “Do you understand me?”

His youngest daughter nods; once. “Yes father.”

Lord Gregory’s hands tighten slightly “You are a whore. Just like her. Listen to me, girl, you will marry my choice. You will keep quiet. Be respectful. Give him sons. Let his family line carry on…As you and your whorish ways may have destroyed mine!” He lets her go and stalks out. Isabella shivers and rubs her neck…Her eyes on the window.

“Jonah….God help us…”

[Jacogos]

Once again, in the lower catacombs of the Yoricson Manor, a figure stalked back and forth in the manner of someone pondering a rather difficult question. There was another figure in the depths as well, though, one who was standing just out of the light that the single candle in the room gave off. The candle was set atop a table, where the image of Isabella and Jonah sat as well. It was a ghostly image, not made of any solid material, but rather conjured by the pacing figure.

"If the girl is not the one... Then who?" said one.

"Why are you asking me, Master? I have never been so close to the Blacks as that day..." the other answered

"I was not asking you, slave!" the other one snapped, tapping its foot now. "Jonah and this... Isabella... they tempt fate, copulating like rabbits in the woods."

"Would her becoming pregnant... complicate things, master?"

"Perhaps..." the first voice mused. It would certainly complicate things for his adversary... But that was a worry for another time. "The Black boy is dying?"

"Indeed... They are not sure if he will make it or not."

"... Oh he won't..." the first voice hissed, chuckling slightly. The candle went out suddenly, and all was darkness again.



"... which would mean complete ruin for their family," Kiel III was saying as Jonah came into the kitchen for breakfast. His brow furrowed as he was about to question what they were talking about when the younger Kiel spoke up.

"Jonah... I assume you haven't heard the news?" his brother asked snidely from his place on the opposite side of the table. He and Linette sat to Father's left, as he sat at the head, while the younger two sat to his right. Mother sat at the other end.

"What news...?" Jonah asked slowly, taking his place next to Daniel, who looked like he was ready to explode. He probably wanted to shout it out, but some loose form of respect made him wait for Kiel's answer.

"William Black fell ill at Lady Black's Birthday party last night... He might not recover," he answer, a merciless grin plastered to his face. "It's quite... tragic." His tone and smile might suggest he was saying how tragic it was for a despot to be executed for his crimes.

"Nevermind that, though, I want to know what the hell happened to you last night, Jonah," Linette chimed in suddenly, fixing her younger brother in her level gaze.

"Leave him alone, Lin, Mother and Father already gave him enough hell..." Daniel muttered into his soup, what was usually served for breakfast during those times. Linette promptly ignored him, waiting for Jonah's answer.

"Had too much to drink..." Jonah answer acidly, focusing on his own food. Linette was about to say something else, when-

"Quiet, all of you!" Kiel III snapped, slamming his fist to the table. "We eat in silence." Jenna brought her eyes up to her husband for a mere moment, then returned to her quiet eating, apparently having been quietly eating the whole time.

Not another word was exchanged as the family finished their breakfast and went their separate ways for the day.

I need to see her again... I need to know... Jonah thought to himself as he downed the last of the soup, the last one sitting at the table. He stared at the bowl for a long moment, thinking of how he could talk to her again, then slowly got up and left.

[NekoInk]

Isabella sits in her bedroom later that day, looking at the ivy that is being blown against her window. It gives her an idea. She rises quickly, goes to the window and opens it. The ivy is old and thick…

“Jonah…that could take a man’s weight…I’m sure it could.” She smiles slightly then writes a letter to Jonah, explain about the ivy and asking to see him. She also adds a last line…

“I want to explain.”

Isabella then returns to her bed and sits down, rubbing her forehead. The maid comes and takes the letter, bowing slightly before leaving. Isabella lies back on her bed, thinking of Jonah…However this happy though is snatched away as pain lances through her skull, blocking out everything else. She gasps and clutches her head when an ghastly image appears in her head.

The thing…a creature cackles…a scream…the slurping of blood and the crunching of bone.
“More…I want more…” Another scream follows…a terrible crack…silence.
The agony vanishes as quickly as it came and Isabella is left breathless and sobbing.

“Miss?”

A timid voice says from the door. A maid stands there, looking worried. Isabella recognises her as the maid her father is sleeping with. “Lord Gregory wishes to see you in the drawing room.”

“I’ll come…

-

Lord Gregory smirks and looks at his youngest daughter over his wine glass “I have made you a match, my dear daughter.” He regards his wife, who sits in the corner, her eyes on the fire burning in the grate of their personal study. “You have met him several times I believe. This match is vital for our family…to think, you of all people would save our family.” Gregory glances at Anne who remains silent then carries on “His current wife is sickly and has given him little; a daughter and a blind son.”

For a fleeting second Isabella entertains the thought of marrying Jonah…Standing beside him…holding his hand…his lips on hers…Until her father snaps her from her daydream.

“A blind son…Father you cannot mean that I marry Uncle George?!” Isabella exclaims, her voice laced with fear. Everyone in the village knows that George has a sadistic side and that his wife, Sophia Black, Laurence as she was before her marriage, was often seen at church with bruises and cuts…And is always sobbing. Sophia lives in constant fear of her husband’s vicious rages…everyone knows; Including Lord Gregory.

Gregory smirks and stands up “Yes. I do. I need a strong heir with my blood. Your offspring would have such. It will be arranged. George is planning to ship his wife off to the Asylum. She is weak in mind as well as body. He wishes to have a new wife; and more children.” Gregory walks over to his wife, tension in every step he takes. When he reaches her he leans down and whispers something. The effect on Anne is instantaneous; she rises and quickly leaves the room, hiding her tears for William with her sleeve.

“Now…where was I? Oh yes.” Lord Black returns and stands in front of his youngest daughter “You will marry him as soon as his current wife is removed and his children rehomed with their godparents.” He looks her up and down and smirks then sits, and takes a sip of brandy. “Your first male child, which if you know what is good for you, will be your first child and will be healthy, will become heir to this family; Our branch. Not my brother’s. Any sons after that will be George’s heirs.” He drains his glass and refills it, the amber liquid slopping onto the rug at his feet as he stands once more “You may keep the boy until his 5th birthday, at which point he will be moved her. To be raised as per my instructions to be my heir. You are to have no contact with him. And the boy will not call you mother, you will be his Aunt. Anne will be his mother.” Gregory slurps his drink, his eyes on Isabella.

Isabella sits silently, her mind working quickly. “I cannot marry him…It would mean the end of everything…If father thinks I would allow that brute into my bed…How can I get out of this…Uncle George will get rid of Sophia…and I’ll be shipped off to his prison.” She swallows and looks at her father, who she quickly realises has had far too much to drink…Brandy is not his drink and he cannot hold more than a few glasses before his anger begins to surface.

“Father…I…Thank you for this gracious proposal but…I…cannot accept. I have insulted this house far too many times to have such an honour given to me. Celeste should have the honour of giving our house an heir.” Isabella prayed to anyone who may have been listening that her father believes this lie…otherwise he will punish her.

Lord Gregory downs his 3rd glass of brandy and tries to focus his eyes on his child “Eh? I’m giving you the chance to undo all your wrongs, girl. You’ll grow to love your husband. Marriage isn’t about…about…l-love.” He begins to slur his words. “Your children will want for nothing…And…and your son will…be…” he rubs his head “Be…heir! Yes, heir.” Gregory slumps back into his chair and beckon her over. “Stand in front of me.”

Isabella swallows and stands up gracefully and moves in front of him. “Father?” She asks softly, praying once again that he will be in a good enough mood to be lied to safely.

Lord Black keeps staring at her, making her feel very uneasy before he lurches to his feet and slaps her across the face, putting everything into the slap so Isabella falls at his feet, gasping in shock and pain. “You think I am a fool…” It is not a question “Well I am no fool girl. You’ll marry your uncle and be happy. And if I hear you are not being a dutiful wife…” He glares at her, eyes burning with intense emotion “I will deal with you…severely.” He steps over her and walks from the room, the stink of brandy swirls around her…Isabella breaths in sharply, feeling nauseous.

“I cannot…I will not marry him. I can never…”

She stumbles to her feet and goes to her room, shivering in the cold air. “The window…I didn’t think I left it open…” She looks around the room, wondering if…Jonah…

[Jacogos]

Jonah awoke to darkness, hand to his head as his brain tried to process everything that just happened. The stables... another maid... Isabella... someone... hit him? Why? In the darkness, Jonah couldn't tell where he was, but the heat of the room or whatever it might be was oppressing. It was like a huge animal was breathing down on him, its fetid breath swallowing him whole.

"So he awakes..." came a voice from the darkness.

"Wh-what?" Jonah stammered, trying to get a fix on where the voice was. Only, it seemed to come from everywhere. "Who are you?"

"Oh you'll find out... after you reveal it to your little plaything..." the voice chuckled, before its voice rose to a cackle that drowned out all thought. Jonah couldn't even question what the voice meant before it consumed him.



"My, my, but aren't you a pretty little thing..." Jonah said, slowly approaching Isabella from behind the door. Something about his tone is off, as was the look in his eyes. Something seemed to.. swirl in his irises. His lips slowly twisted into a small smirk, one of a man who had just won a great victory but didn't want to show off too much.

[NekoInk]

Isabella whirls around, her deep blood red gown furls as she does. Her hair falls in soft waves and ringlets around her cleveage. She at once senses something is wrong....Her eyes glue onto Jonah's..."Whats...that..." Her eyes follow the swirling patterns until she shakes her head quickly and looks at his face.

"Who are you?" Her voice is calm, though she doesn't feel it. "Answer me."

She takes a step back slowly, the breeze from the open window making goosebumps spring up along her arms and clevage. Isabella swallows, her eyes looking around the room for anything she could use.

[Jacogos]

"Why, I'm Jonah!" he said, smirking slightly more as he moved closer to the girl, as if she was going to accept that and run to the safety of her lover's arms. As he drew near, he had to swallow to keep from salivating. So powerful... The other would not have her...

"Don't believe me?" Jonah asked, still smirking as he watched her draw away again. "Of course not. You would be sensitive to this kind of change," he continued matter-of-factly, regarding her with what might have been hunger.

"Obviously I am not Jonah," the not-Jonah said, holding his arms aloft. "So who am I? Do you not know girl?" He tilted his head slightly, curious to see if the blood would tell her...

[NekoInk]

Isabella mirrors his steps, each one he takes forward she takes one back. "Why should I be sensitive...It's clear you are not Jonah...I..." She looks at him, her head is telling her that it is Jonah...

But something else is screaming at her that she mus be careful. Isabella swallows and watches the...Person?....Thing?...Being in front of her with caution. The way he looks at me...Is that lust or...something else?

The something inside her that warned her is extreamly faint...as if someone is shouting at her through glass...Isabella takes a breath then takes a step forward...and another...noticing the effect she seems to have on this being. "I'll see what happens...when i am closer..." The closer she gets the clearer the something becomes....

"Do....not trust...Do...not...trust....Evil...Demonic...Do... not...trust..."

Isabella swallows then looks at the being, her emerald eyes glinting...something flashes across them briefly "You are a...demon." She says, unsure if she has gone insane or if she is dreaming...

[Jacogos]

Jonah chuckled, a deep resounding laugh that seemed much louder than it should have been, yet no one outside the room would hear it. "The blood does sing, then," he mused himself, suddenly behind her. His hand came out and rested on her shoulder, completely preventing her from moving.

"And sing it does... quite loudly at that..." he said quietly, still talking to himself it seemed.

"Do you know what you are, girl?" he suddenly asked, his person reflecting across her so that he was in front of her, his hand still on her shoulder as it had been. Those dark eyes bore into hers, an ancient power present behind what would have normally been Jonah's eyes. "Listen to your blood sing. What does it tell you...?" he hissed, his hand clamping down harder on her shoulder.

[NekoInk]

Agony rips through Isabella's body as if she is one fire when he touches her. She bites back a cry of pain but it lurks just below the surface. He will not see me scream... Something corses through her veins, filling her body....She gasps and whispers "My name is Isabella...And i love Jonah...I know nothing more." She swallows, trying to focus on anything but the agony that burns through her.

"You know my name...Yet i know nothing of you..." Her breath ragged.

Let go....Let...go...Let go!

A pulse of something radiates from Isabella, freeing her from his touch and the pain. She gasps in relief when the pain eases, her head no longer feels like it was about to explode. She turns around quickly to face him, unsure of what just happened....She is unaware that her eyes have changed....No longer glittering green...they seem to glow white hot.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me." She says calmly, her voice is not her own...It's...laced with power. Then as suddenly as it came her eyes fade to green and she is left gaspsing, her chest rising and falling, eyes glued to the demon, a tingling in his shoulder where he touched her bare skin.

[Jacogos]

Not-Jonah grunts as if burned, holding his hand as his eyes fix on the girl in front of him. Instead of fear or wariness, though, those eyes are filled with hunger.

"Yes... Such power!" he cried, letting go of his hand and watching the girl release from the blood's influence. "You truly don't know, do you...?" he questioned, now circling around the girl as if studying a prize animal. Of course, this also brought him back next to the window.

"I won't spoil the surprise then..." he said, grinning wildly. The night air that flowed in from behind was cool on his skin, welcoming. "Just know that I, Sicyonor, will punish your family for its crimes. And maybe I'll have to start with you..." he finished with a wild smirk, laughter filling the air as Jonah's expression suddenly relaxed before he collapsed. A shadow filled the window and was gone before the laughter finally began to fade.

"Is...ab..ella..." Jonah muttered, unconscious.

[NekoInk]

As the demon circles her, Isabella keeps her eyes on him, watching closly. Know what....I...I dont understand... She covers her face as he vanishes, the cold air chilling her to the bone.

"Jonah!" She runs to him, falling to her knees, her hands holding him. "Jonah...Please..." She cups his face and looks at him, releved to see all trace of...that creature gone from his face. She winces slightly and looks at her shouder....a deeo red burn mark in the shape of a hand print shines painfully on her skin. Isabella covers it absentmindedly, more concern for Jonah.

She rises quickly and fetches her maid "Help me..." Between them they move Jonah to the bed. "Bring me ice water and milk of the poppy..." I do not know what he will need....when he wakes.... A small voice at the back of her head whispers if.

"And cloth, bring me cloth. He burns..." She touches Jonah's forhead and swallows "Go. Now." Her tone leaves no roomfor argument. When the maid returns Isabella wets the cloth with the cold water and gently baths Jonah's neck and forehead. "Please...Jonah...come back to me..." She shivers slightly then takes a sip from the small bottle of milk of the poppy. It soothes the dull ache from the severe pain and relaxes her.

Isabella stays awake, bathing Jonah to keep his fever at bay. She grows tired but refuses to sleep. "That...creature...he nearly took Jonah from me...He thinks to scare me by threatening my family...He clearly does not know that I would gladly burn every member...of my wretched family to save this man..."

Something flickers inside her....

Born of the blood...Born in...sin...Clouded...Wrong...Their Blood...your veins...

She shakes her head riding the feeling from her and winces, then places her hand on Jonah's chest, feeling it rise and fall slowly "Come back..." she whispers softly.

[Jacogos]

For a long time, Jonah was lost in his dreamless state, dead to the outside world. He breathed, but that was all. It was only after an hour or two that Jonah finally coughed and opened his eyes, looking up at Isabella in wonder.

".... Am I dreaming...?" he asked quietly, thinking he was still at home in his bed. Then, suddenly, memory of his possession comes rushing back. What the demon did as him, what he said, what Isabella... Gasping in the shock of it all, he sat up quickly, then flung his arms around her, holding her tight against him.

"Isabella, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." he whispered, caressing her hair. Gently, he pulled back and looked at her shoulder, lightly brushing his fingers across the mark.

"What the hell... was that...?" he asked hesitantly, unwilling to believe that he had just been possessed by a demon.

[NekoInk]

"Jonah!" She embraces him, hard, as if she is scared to let go. "I was so worried...You looked...." She closes her eyes and whispers, her voice barley audible "dead.."

Isabella cups his face and looks into his eyes "Don't say sorry...It wasn't you...It was..." She stops, unsure how to answer "It was...I...at first i was scared. Then...I felt so..." She bites her lip, trying to recal the feeling "It felt like i could...do anything...Jonah, what did i do to him?"

She shivers and leans agianst him, her skin tingling at his touch "I scream him my head for him to let go...and...then...It felt like my heart stopped for a fraction fo a second then...bang!" Isabella grips his arms, wanting to feel close to gim. "I was so scared for you...you wouldn't wake, your skin burned...I feared that the..." She stops and looks at him, her eyes bright "It was a demon...Jonah, it was a demon. I remember..."

Isabella sits back, her eyes on the window "We must be careful...That demon is powerful...and...appears to have a grudge against my family..." She hugs him tight "I do not care about them...But if he hurt you..." A small sob runs through her, the emotion she kept back now bubbling to the surface. She sobs gently into his chest "Did...did what I did to that thing...harm you?" her voice full of worry.

[Jacogos]

He hugs her tight as well, trying to get the feeling of disgust out of him. Being able to see everything, yet having no control... Feeling her flesh give as he hurt her... It was hard to deal with. But he listened to her and tried not to blame himself... It was hard, but he tried. Holding her close as she leans on him, he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

"It's okay, Isabella... I have no idea what you did, but it didn't hurt me... Beyond the sick feeling in my stomach, I'm perfectly fine..." he said, which was the truth. Her words sent chills down his spine, though. A demon... But they... they're supposed to be myths... he thought, meeting her gaze with a small shiver shaking his body.

"I understand... I'll be okay, Isabella... I just hope I can keep you safe..." Jonah mumbled, worried about what the demon said. He felt her tears stain his shirt, and he cradled her gently, holding her close. "I love you, Isabella... we'll... we'll find a way to escape this madness..." he told her, kissing her forehead gently.

[NekoInk]

Isabella cries herself out then rests agianst him, her breathing soft for a few moments until she whispers "That thing...isn't the only problem we will have to escape from..." She looks up at him, her green eyes shining with her tears "I...I am to be married..." The look of disgust that flickers on her face tells him at once it is not by her choice or to someone she loves.

"Father told me...only a few hours ago...I felt my heart die when he told me. I cannot go through with it." She shivers and looks up, into his eyes before her lips find his "I love you...Only you."

She falls silent for a while, running everything through her head, as she does so she remembers something "There...I remember something...I was only a child...little more than 4 or 5, i think. Perhaps younger. My mother was angry, again. She pulled me down some stone steps, it was cold yet it felt so hot...like I had a second skin, clinging to me. I heard moans of pain and crunching...Mother was stumbling, as if scared..." Isabella closes her eyes, trying to get the faint memory clearer "She tried to push me into a room...It felt like a furnace...But father stopped her. He hit her and...We left."

She shivers once more then looks at him "I think there is a lot more to our families than we know...And...That...thing is just the start....Oh Jonah, what are we to do?" She asks as she sits back on the bed, wincing a little at the burn on her shoulder. "Why can't we just be left to ourselves...to be happy..."

[Jacogos]

Jonah felt his heart sink as her words struck home. Married...? he thought in horror. Of course, he should have known the Blacks would try to tear them apart... He was only slightly surprised his own parents hadn't tried, but then they had only just paired Linette off. He gently kissed her back, gazing into her eyes when she pulled back. He knew she wasn't lying, though Lord only knew how.

"I... What do we do, then?" he asked her, shaking his head. "How soon? How long do we have...?"

She continued, and he was struck by the oddness of her memory. He tried not to think on it too much, but it almost seemed like the Blacks were going to.. sacrifice her? Kill her? He had no idea. He banished it from his mind and laid back with her, pulling her close with one arm.

"I don't know Isabella..." he said quietly, looking over at her. "Run away? Pah, it would accomplish nothing... Maybe get us written out of the village chronicles... I just want to be with you," he continued, kissing her gently. There was a moment where he was simply content with that, but he made himself pull back. "What do you want us to do?"

[NekoInk]

Isabella shakes her head "I do not know how long...A month...maybe 2. My Uncle must make some changes first; his wife is to be locked away..." She is quiet for a moment then relises that she hasn't told him who. "I...I am to marry my Uncle George...Now William is..." Isabella swallows "Well....Father wants an heir...and...He plans to get one via this marriage. He plans that the first son I should have by my new husband will go to him and be raised as if he were born to my mother..." The gilr in Jonah's arms shudders in disgust.

"I will not marry him." It is not a scentence...It's a promise, her tone leaves no room for any doubt.

She kisses him back softly then shakes her head "We cannot run away...This...demon will never let us go. We may have a few days of freedom but...they would find us." She sighs then kisses him again before saying "I want to be with you...Always. I love you."

Isabella hugs him tightly then whispers "I forgot to ask before...What did your parents say when you go home? After they found out about us in the woods? The look on your father's face..." She shivers.

[Jacogos]

Jonah shook his head. And they called his family inbred... It didn't matter who she was 'supposed' to marry, though. He wanted her to himself, and... well, he'd find a way to do that. His only wonder was how on earth they'd get out of this... Leaving your family without their blessing might as well be writing yourself off as being excommunicated... Your only chance was to find another village that would take you in, and most villages didn't deal well with strange runaways...

"How do you know...?" he asked quietly, looking at her. The demon... Well, Jonah couldn't say what it wanted. Maybe it would spare her if... He could almost laugh. When had he ever heard of a demon showing mercy, in any story? They were ruthless, bloodthirsty. Most likely this demon would find a way to bring down the entire village along with the Blacks, the Yoricsons included...

"I love you as well, Isabella..." he said as they broke another kiss. "Maybe a few days would be enough..." he said with a chuckle, shaking his head hopelessly. Surely someone could help them... Perhaps if he went to the local priest... In secret, of course... At her question, he looked up and smiled slightly.

"Father disappeared as soon as we got home, but Mother... Well, she figured it all out. Knows about what we did..." he blushed slightly. "It was a gentle berating, but still. They don't believe that I'll come back. They think me a good child, as I've always been..." he chuckled, showing what he thought of that image.

Hugging her close, he wondered what might happen to them if she married... Would he be able to see her in secret? Could he stand knowing another man had touched her...? He shuddered slightly, kissing her. He didn't want to think about this anymore... Hell, he didn't want to think.

[NekoInk]

"I cannot blame your mother...It must have been a shock to them.." She laughs softly at his blush and strokes his cheek gently "She is worried for her sons wellbeing...Like a mother should." Isabella looks at the bed, her mind on her own mother then smiles a little "And worried about her family. What we did could have...could still ruin your chances of..." She swallows, knowing it has to be said "A...happy marriage to a...girl of good standing." Isabella feels her heart stop at the very thought but knows it is selfish to think that if she is married off...that Jonah will remain unmarried for her.

She shakes her head and hugs him tightly "Never mind parents and family...or demons...We have something stronger..." Isabella kisses him deeply and whispers "We have tonight..." She rests her hand on his chest, over his heart "Tonight we can be ourselves....togeter...just us. Forget about everything..."

If...If i married, would he move on? Forget me. Marry another girl...I love him so much...Could I live if he forgot me...

[Jacogos]

Her speech pattern made him smirk. "Are you scared I'll move on...?" he asked, kissing her back just as deeply. "That as soon as I can no longer have you, I'll give up...?" He turned towards her, cradling her cheek in his hand as he smiled towards her. "No... I wouldn't. You are who I want... No other... I fate forces its hand and we both must marry someone else, I will still be yours. I swear that..."

Holding her close, Jonah looked down at her hand on his chest. His own hand covered hers slowly as he moved to kiss her again. As he pulled back, his eyes met hers. "Alright then... You are Isabella, and I am Jonah. No one special, nothing important about us. Just two lovers left alone to do what they please...." he said almost theatrically, pulling her back into the kiss.

He went slow that night. Lust didn't drive his passion, but love, slow and forgiving. Long into the night they touched and experienced until both passed out from exhaustion, leaving their clothing strewn where it may be. In the morning, Jonah would be gone, leaving with a kiss and a whispered 'I love you' so that he would not be missed by the Yoricsons nor seen by the Blacks.

[NekoInk]

Isabella wakes the next morning, she lies still, thinking of last night, a smile playing across her lips. Then she thinks back and sitsup slowly, her dark hair falling across her bare shoulders and chest "If he married someone else...Could I go on, day after day...knowing he...with someone else." She shivers "Then...his wife would give him a child...and....He would have responsibilities...I would loose him."

As she dresses after her bath she recals something her Grandmother told her as a child "Young lovers are always doomed, my girl...Destiny is never swayed by love...I love another before I was married...There was nothing physical, such things are not done! But we loved each other...I would have married him in a heartbeat...But of course, I was married to someone else, as was he. And we never saw each other again. That is how it goes. How it will always go." Isabella doesn't remember why her Grandmother had told her this, perhaps the elderly Lady wished to get it off her chest...and telling a child who no one talks to was a safe bet to keep it a secret.

"I never see Grandfather..." Isabella thinks suddenly "He is always in the west wing...I wonder why. Grandmother does not talk of him either...Perhaps he is sick." She chooses a dress of dark blue and black; the blue goes beautifully with her dark, silky hair.

Her maid enters and bows "My Lady, your Lady Mother asks you to acompany her to Mass today. She wishes to pray for Master William's health."

Isabella groans inwardly but nods "Tell her I will come, thank you." As the maid leaves Isabella sighs and pulls on her cloak, checks any sigh of Jonah is gone, in case he left any shread of clothing behind then leaves the room. On her way down the grand stair case she hears her father having an arguement with someone.

"Send the damned letter! That fool Yoricson will expect it! We each say our piece, say how ashamed we are of our childrens vile acts and how we shall beat them into submission...I'll gut that boy though...you mark my words...I ask one thing of my daughters; virtue! And she gives hers up to the first rat to flatter her. There is little in her pretty skull, at one time I thought she was clever...No more. Send the letter! I will say no more!" Isabella had paused on the stairs to listen but she quickly decends when a terrified looking butler scurries from the drawing room clutching a letter. He bows to Isabella as she stops in the entrance way, before running out the door to deliver the letter.

She hears her father slam the drawing room door, her eyes glancing out of the window as she waits for her mother. Eventually Anne Black decends the stairs, dressed in a jade coloured dress which makes her look pale...and aged. Isabella bows her head to her mother who ignores her while her maid fusses with her hair, only then does Anne look at her daughter "We go to pray for your brother's health. While we are out, your father wil try to repair the damage you and that...Jonah have done. He invites the rats father here to talk about it..." Anne sniffs in disgust "Him...in my house! The shame!" She breezes passed her daughter and out into the sunlight.

Isabella mutters darkly "Prayer will not save him mother...there is no antidote...It's a wonder he still draws breath. God has nothing to do with this family...as well you know." She follows her mother out to the carriage, her mind on Jonah and more pleasurable thoughts than a day with her Mother in church.

[Jacogos]

Jonah watches with a frown on his face as the Yoricson carriage exits the estate's gates. His father and elder brother were heading off somewhere, though Kiel III's expression told him that it was nowhere he liked. Jonah worried about that. He hoped he was just imagining the Black symbol on that letter...

Sighing in hopelessness, Jonah turned back to the door of the sitting room and went back to his room. He hoped Isabella was okay... For now, all he could do is try and find a way to see her again... Perhaps he'd try that ivy again...



The Yoricson carriage pulled up to the Black estate, the driver hurrying off of his perch to knock on the door and announce their coming. Kiel III and Kiel IV descended from the carriage like a king and his prince coming to a rival kingdom to discuss diplomacy. The elder was all stony features and unreadable expression, while the younger had nothing but uncontrolled hate plastered to his face.

Kiel IV thought about spitting on the ground, but one look at his father prevented any such crude action. The carriage driver returned and bowed, leading the two towards the manor, and into the house of Black.

"Gregory..." Kiel III acknowledged, peering about the house. "You've done well with the place," he said, his voice even as if commenting about the weather. Obviously he was trying to remain civil, knowing the reason that the other man called him here.

[NekoInk]

Lord Gregory appears from the larger drawing room off the entrance. He looks Kiel III up and down then nods in greeting "Kiel." He says simply then glances at the younger man "This must be your son. He is like you. Same grim face." Gregory smirks slightly then turns and walks into the drawing room "Care for a brandy?" He sits down, waving his hand for a maid to fetch the drinks.

Gregory looks slightly uneasy, he is not used to having to talk civily to anyone...Not even his wife. "Well...Shal we talk about this bad bussiness." He takes the glass of brandy the maid offers, she bows and offers drinks to Kiel and his son. She bows then leaves. "Extreamly bad bussiness this...I would like to blame your son...However" He says, taking another mouthful of brandy "my daughter is a troubled young woman. Worst mistake I made fathering her. Not that your son is blameless of course...I am sure you would agree. Lust and young men go hand in hand." Gregory smirks at Kiel.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isabella sits in the large church, watching the candles flickering around the walls. Anne is praying on her knees a little way from her. She sighs then stands up and walks over to the confessional where the priest stands lighting candles.

"Hello, Father Julius." She says calmly, he was always kind to Isabella, as if he saw some good in her where her parents saw only evil. The priest turned and smiled.

"Ah, Lady Isabella, I pray for your brother daily...Your poor Lady mother...She has suffered so much." He sighs and watches Anne praying.

Isabella agrees with a nod, not trusting herself to speak about it. "I...I have a question, if I may father." The priest nods for her to continue and walks a little way off to leave Anne to her prayers. "I wanted to ask about marriage contracts. I was told that once if a couple make a promise to be married in the future, and both make this contract of their own will in the eyes of God...That is is as binding as a marriage?"

The priest nods slowly "Yes, child. That is correct. If a couple make a promise to each other in writing and in the eyes of God...And if this contract has a..physical element. Then in the eyes of God, they are man and wife in all by legality. And to be married to someone other than than each other is not a legal marriage...Why did you wish to know?" He frowns at her, his old face showing a slight confusion.

"Oh, I was curious thats all. My sister is due to be married and she wished to make a contract with her betrothed in the eyes of God." Isabella lies easily and smiles. The priest smiles back, believing her at once. "Thank you Father, I wish to go and pray for my dear brother." She bows her head and leaves him.

Anne sits back in the pews now,tears wetting her face "Oh William....William..." She holds a scrap of lace to her eyes, sobbing softly. Isabella watches then walks over to her mother and touches her hand. Anne grips it and looks up at her "Will he live?...He's my only boy..."

Isabella is taken by surprise at this and swallows "Mother...It is in Gods hands." Anne nods, almost like a child...believing anything she is told because she is scared. My God...She is broken... Isabella looks at the woman beside her, unable to feel anything for her.

She sits down besides Anne, her own mind drifting back to the demon "Why did he look at me like that? His eyes...filled with lust." She shivers "He wants me...my power...What power? I am just a normal young woman...Perhaps he is simply a insane person. He cannot be a demon...Demons are not real....Are they?"

[Jacogos]

Kiel III waved away the maid, though the younger one accepted the offer graciously. The older man had never been a drinker and, though he was apt to drink socially, wouldn't bother with it while on business, even such as this. His son, however, was of age and allowed to drink if he so wished.

"So it would seem..." Kiel rumbled in answer to the other man's last statement. He watched the other man down his brandy, remembering that Gregory had had problems with alcohol before. He wondered if he still had those problems... "Neither child is blameless, I'd suspect, simply from the way your daughter stood up for him when we met out in the woods before..." he continued, his memory flashing back to when Isabella met his gaze for those moments. A troubled young woman indeed... "But as it stands, neither of us wants our child to see the other. That should be the end of it, yes? I assume you can keep your daughter in line long enough to marry her off as I do the same with my son."

Kiel IV watched the exchange with feigned apathy. In truth, he was taking in ever look, motion, word, and tone inflection. His father had brought him here to learn how to talk civilly, even with your enemies, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

[NekoInk]

Gregory downs his glass, his eyes already blood shot "Yes, Yes of course. I can keep all my children in line, thank you." His tone is icy. "I will have her married in a month if I can. Her chances of a good match may be slightly damaged." He glares slightly "As your son has taken her maidenhead...However, the match will do. My eldest daughter has also made a splendid match..." He falls silent, his thoughts on William. He does not bring it up however, not wishing to discuss that blow to his family with his enemy.

"She stood up for your son? In front of her mother and brother?....Well I never." He seems midly impressed "The girl has a backbone, I'll give her that. However, she is a simple girl. I doubt she has any brains...Or talent. She should make a pefect bride." He laughs and pours more brandy, taking a large gulp before carry on "You will marry your middle son before your elder then? Or is this young man already married? Forgive me, I am not one for keeping up with politics...My wife on the hand..." He laughs heartily, the drink making him relax...He seems to have forgotten who is talking to.

Suddenly the door opens and his wife, Anne, breezes in. All trace of tears gone from her face, which is set in a hard stare. She sighs then walks over, fake charm plastered on her face "Lord Yoricson. How...nice to see you...And your offspring." Isabella stands in the entrance hall, wondering if she can escape without being introduced to Lord Kiel again.... "My I present my daughter. Isabella." Anne says, glaring at her daughter who walks over to the little gathering.

She curtsies gracefully, looking as pretty as ever in red satin "My Lords." She says calmly, her eyes sweeping over the younger man. "That must be Jonah's elder brother...Funny...They do not look alike."

[Jacogos]

"We've been allowing Kiel to work on his own marriage plans. As of yet, he seems unwilling to share them with us..." he gave his son a withering look before returning to the topic. "But I trust his judgement. Jonah will simply have to be kept on a short leash until his time to marry comes, though a boy with his... audacity might have to settle for a strong woman instead of a brainless girl..." Kiel continued, his tone at the end telling how he felt of raising a girl to be stupid.

As Lady Black returned, Kiel III rose smoothly in polite greeting, his son mirroring him with a pleasant smile. "Lady Black... And young Isabella. Your father and I were just... speaking of you," Kiel said slowly, wondering if the girl had known her father was asking him over for this chat.

Kiel IV returned Isabella's gaze with a thoughtful look on his face. Well she's certainly pretty enough... And I'll give Jonah the benefit of the doubt; she doesn't look like any Black I've been told of, though comparing her to her mother... The look passed as Lord Yoricson reclaimed his seat, waiting on Lady Black to either leave or join them before doing so. Kiel IV followed suit, his eyes wandering to the young Black girl whenever they could.



Back home, Jonah was restless. Laying in his bed, he stared up at the ceiling, contemplating all their options. He desperately wished they could just run, leave all of this nonsense behind. There was a knock at his door, which tore him from his thoughts.

"Who is it...?" he asked, boredom lining his voice. In answer, Daniel crept inside, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Alright, so what are you going to do?" Daniel asked. Jonah looked at him for a moment, not quite understanding. "About Isabella, you dolt!" Daniel exclaimed, throwing his hands up. Jonah swore and leaped out of the bed, pushing past Daniel to peer out the door.

"If anyone-" Jonah started, before Daniel cut him off.

"You know me better than that. Mother and Linette went out to market, so with the other two gone, it's just us and the servants. So what are you gonna do?" Sighing, Jonah went back to his bed, resuming his previous position.

"I... don't know..." he said hopelessly. "Anything I try to do will either get stopped or get me disowned..."

"Why do you care?" Daniel asked, cause Jonah to sit up with a half-offended look. Daniel just stared him straight in the eye. "You love her, don't you?" he didn't wait for an answer. "Then be with her. Talk to one of the priests, I'm sure they'll marry you..."

"Danny... Are you trying to get me killed?" Jonah asked, remembering last night. "The... Blacks would hunt me and her down, even if Mother and Father simply let me go."

"Then get away! No one's going to leave the village for more than a day, not nowadays," Daniel said dramatically. "They'll leave you be, and then... You just have to find somewhere else, I suppose... I'll miss you, brother, but isn't that what love is about? Being with someone no matter what?"

Jonah opened his mouth to speak, then stopped and shook his head. Daniel spoke some sense, but... Would he be able to take care of her if they fled Yoric's Crossing? Would he be able to keep her out of danger...? He didn't know. What scared him the most was what the demon would do to his family if he stole Isabella away... Could he tell Daniel about that? Would anyone believe him...?

He just didn't know.

[NekoInk]

Lady Black takes a seat next to her husband, her eyes flicking to the glass of brandy. She remains silent on it but her tight smile shows her disaproval. "We do not share knowlegde with our children that they have no need of knowing...However, I think Isabella should hear this." She looks at her daughter "Sit." Is all she says.

Isabella sits down on gracefully, her eyes on her father, she appears to be judging how competant he is before she says "I am very grateful Mother." She smiles sweetly...the smile does not spread to her eyes however, which remain unreadable.

Gregory coughs then sits forward a little "I can't but agree Kiel. Women are weak creatures, even those who appear strong are still weak, due to their sex. I must admit, I envy you your sons..." he looks at Isabella as if she is the cause for his lack of heirs... "You are lucky to have three, I had hoped for more but...well, nature was not to deliever."

This time its Anne who gets a glare. She looks back at her husband with a cool expression, but does not speak. "Isabella. I want you to apologise to Lord Yoricson for your actions, you could have robbed him of his son." Gregory says to his daughter, his tone suggesting he doesn't care about Kiel's son...its about his own honor.

A flicker of something crosses the youngest Black's face as her father was talking, however it vanishes as soon as he looks at her "As you wish, father." She looks at Kiel, this time she does not seem afraid to face him "Lord Yoricson...I ask forgivness for my actions. It was a mistake. I am deeply sorry for what I did. I did not mean to give offence...And regret that I caused pain to your family and son." Isabella, with each word, proves Kiel and her father wrong. She is no brainless girl...She understands much more than they believe and knows how to use her words. "I care for your son, this will not change, my Lord. However, I am resolved to be a good daughter...as well as a duitiful wife to my future husband, whome I hope to wed within the month." This of course has another meaning...Isabella hopes to wed Jonah...Her father hopes for her to marry George.

She turns to her parents "I am deeply ashamed of the actions that followed the Tindus party...Mistakes were made."

You made mistakes Mother...It cost you...

Isabella bows her head "Please forgive me, My Lord. I wish with all my heart to move on from this, marry my true husband and give him sons...I do not wish to dwell on this unhappy memory of the pain caused from my actions." She looks at Kiel, her eyes calm and respectful. She has said what she is expected to say...and knows that people believe what they want to believe. Her eyes drift to the younger man, trying to see any resemblence to Jonah.

The pain of almost loosing Jonah and having to fight for our love...If you think I will lie down and let you walk over me...you have a fight ahead of you...

[Jacogos]

Kiel didn't bother to comment on the other man's self-pity. He had always taken it in stride that God had provided him with sons over the Black's one. Just another point of their superiority. While the Black's died out from their lonely bloodline, the Yoricson's would flourish with every branch that was planted in the roots of another family.

The younger Kiel was more interested in the family, rather than the Yoricson's obvious superiority, however. It was obvious Gregory believed firmly in male superiority, which the Yoricsons did as well (as did nearly every man of that day), but seemed to have a special case of it towards his wife and child. You could blame your lack of son on your wife, but what control does she have? Kiel IV thought to himself, his face still thoughtful, even as he continued to gaze between the three Blacks.

When Isabella was commanded to apologize for her actions, Kiel III almost stopped it, believing that it would be a pointless waste of breath, but instead he was overcome with a curiosity of what the girl would say. Staying quiet, Kiel III waited. Isabella spoke, and for the process of it, the two Yoricsons stayed quiet. After a moment, Kiel III chuckled, a rich hearty sound.

"Either you made her rehearse more than Shakespeare's actors, or she has more brains you give her credit for, Gregory," Kiel said, shaking his head as the traces of his chuckle faded away. In his mind, he grudgingly admitted that he might allow this union had it not been for her bloodline. However... "I accept your apology, as long-winded as it was," he continued, then returned his gaze to the drunkard. "Unless you still have need of me, Gregory...?" he said, assuming he could leave now. Being in this filthy place was beginning to give him an unclean feeling.

Kiel IV, in the meantime, was smirking to himself. My my, what a strong girl Jonah picked out for himself...

[NekoInk]

Lord Greogry shakes his head "No, no, thats all I believe." He shrugs at the comment about his daughter "I doubt it. She's a fool. Isabella...Escort Lord Yoricson and his son out, if you can managed that." He smirks at his comment and sits back, playing the arrogant Lord.

Isabella looks at her father...Everyone in the room knows that a butler shows guests out...Not the daughter of the family...This is simply to shame Isabella. She stands and bows her head anyway "Yes, father." Then waits for their guests to stand before she walks into the entrance hall, hearing her father say softly to Anne "Inteligent! Her!" Then a great laugh.

Isabella thinks to herself "Thank you father..." before bowing to Lord Yoricson and saying softly "My Lord...I hope my father did not cause insult. Forgive me for saying so...But he is a drunken fool." She looks calmly at Kiel III, aware what she has just said is extreamly disresectful to her father. "He is drinking more and more since William's accident. The worry of loosing his only heir is a great stress." Isabella knows that this has been kept hushed up..from everyone. She bows her head, in achknowlegdement of what she has just said...letting Kiel III know that she understands the serious nature of what she has just told her father's arch enemy.

Her eyes flick to Jonah's brother and she bows "Thank you for honouring our family with a visit, Ser." She seems intrested by the eldest Yoricson. He is like his father...they have the same...stare...

[Jacogos]

Rising, Kiel III paid no more heed to the blithering idiot that called himself a Lord. He didn't wait on Isabella to lead them, as he realized what Lord Black was doing. There was a line that could be crossed, and this was it... As Isabella spoke to them, Kiel thought about reprimanding her for saying such things. It might not be his place, but were it any other child he might have. He considered the girl before him, then shook his head.

"Were you my own child saying this to anyone, I might discipline you..." he said quietly, those deep eyes taking her in like a whirlpool of brown. "Since you are not, I'll leave you with that. Keep away from my son, girl," he continued. "Your family may not have a strong hold on you, but I'll turn in my grave before I allow a Black to bed one of my children." With that, the man exited the estate and headed towards his carriage.

Kiel IV stayed behind for a moment, though, watching Isabella's reaction. "A pity such a pretty face has to be fueled by such bad blood..." he murmured to her, his gaze level and calculating. "I'll be keeping an eye out for you, Isabella Black..." And he was gone as well.

[NekoInk]

She swallows and watches Kiel III then bows as he leaves. Isabella has a few seconds to think before the younger man speaks to her.

"I thought he would repremand me...It's a little harsh...Turn in his grave. And I think it is Jonah is beds me..." She smirks inwardly "It's a good job he does not know what we did last night..." Memories flood back to her, making her blush.

Isabella smiles at the comment from Kiel IV and whispers "Thank you, Ser." before turning and heading to her room, thinking about the demon again.

I wonder if he can take other forms...He must be able to. Just people? Or animals too? How can we fight something which could be anyone...If I had stabbed him when he was controling Jonah...would it have killed Jonah?...Gods...this thing is very dangerous." She shivers slightly and pushes open the door to her room. There is little going on in the coming days...She knows in a weeks she is going to be presented to George so they can become offically bethrothed...

"We must find a way to be together before I am married...I want him so much..."

Isabella sits down on her bed, her hand brushing over the soft embrodiered silk coverlet. "Last night was amazing...We seemed to...connect on such adifferent level. Like...I was made for him." She blushes scarlet and lies back, her hair fanning out around her. "I cannot work out his father...He is gracious and polite. Then...he can be so cruel and harsh." She sighs softly and closes her eyes "I wonder why his brother will watch out for me? I'm a Black. An enemy. I thought he would be a copy of his father...yet...Oh I do not understand! Have we all been lied to? Jonah is nothing like what my mother says..."

[NekoInk]

There is a soft knock at the door and a voice calls out "My Lady? May I come in?" It's her grandmother's maid, and close friend, Harriet. Isabella sits up and quickly smooths her dress.

"Yes Harriet?" She calls, after a moment the door opens and a middle aged woman with greying hair and a kind face enters and bows.

"Miss Isabella, your grandmother wishes you to come and have tea with her in her wing of the house." She looks questionly at Isabella who in turn knows that it is not a request. The only time her Grandmother sumounds her is when something is amis...or she has found out some piece of information concerning their family and wishes to impart it before she forgets.

"Of course, Tell her I will be along in a few moments, I would like to change clothes and make myself look presentable." Harriet bows and leaves with that message. Isabella looks around the room, as if it contains some way for her to avoid tea with her Grandmother, who she loves dearly...But "tea" is always a very long, drawn out affair that lasts hours and is normally followed by a lecture about Anne Black...Which Isabella would kill to avoid. However, she selects a simple yet elegant green gown, one which her Grandmother has often commeted on (http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=10387019).

A few moments later she knocks on the door to Lady Arabella Black's appartments, which are extreamly grand. After a short pause Harriet opens the door and bows "Miss Isabella, Do come in." She leads her through a drawing room to Lady Black's private sitting room which is gloomy because of the expensive drapes that decorate every window. Her Grandmother sits at the table, sipping tea and looking at a book in front of her. Harriet leaves Isabella at the door, who bows "Grandmother."

Arabella looks up, her face grim "Come, sit with me. We have much to talk about! I hear you are to marry my son..."

"Straight to the point then..." Isabella thinks as she sits down gracefully and accepts a cup of rose tea, a thing she detests. She sips it politly then places the cup down and says slowly "Yes...Father has arranged it..."

Lady Black looks at her youngest Granddaughter, her old, yet bright eyes watching for any sign of emotion "Are you please with such a match? Or would you rather bring discrace on the family name by marrying that...Jonah character?"

"I..." She pauses, wondering if her Grandmother's heart can take the truth or if she should say what Arabella wishes to hear. "I...I am honoured to be chosen to provide an heir for our noble house, Grandmother...It's just...I do not love Uncle George."

Arabella sighs and pats Isabella's hand "Marriage, my dear child, is not about love. Love comes after marriage, not before. If we all married the person we love...Well what would the world be like?" She laughs and takes a sip of tea before continuing "Do you think I loved my husband before marriage? Of course not. I married him because he was my destiny, It was a good match, and would please my Father. Love came a few years after that..." The eldery lady looks at Isabella and smiles sadly then leans forward a little "I shall tell you a secret to marriage, child...You may never love your husband...These things happen...I know your mother bears my son know love...However, you may not love him, but you will love your children by him..." She smiles and sits back, as if this solves Isabella's problems.

Her Granddaughter however, looks even put off by the marriage "I know not all marriages are based on love...But...I have a chance of happiness...Why can't I take it?"

"Your father would never allow you to marry that boy, Isabella. Forget him. Forget what you feel for him...It will pass. When you have a child by George, all the memories of him will leave and you will settle down and be a duitiful mother and wife."

"No. That is Celeste's future. Not mine. I do not want to be that! I want love. Freedom...Happiness. I do not wish to become just another Lady, attending parties and arranging dinners for other, equally as miserably women!" Isabella has no idea where this sudden passion has come from but it shows on her face. She looks alive with it, her cheeks flushed, eyes bright.

"Silence!" Her Grandmother stands up, shocked at this outburst. "Happiness? Freedom? Love?" Arabella tuts in disaproval "These are not things you are in a to ask for. No woman is. We are weak creatures, born to be subserviant to our men folk. We bear sons and keep silent. That is your future, sweet girl." Her voice softens "Once you are with child, all this fire will go, dear...Things will be better. Now go back to your room and think on what I have said. And prepare for your destiny." She smiles and leaves Isabella sitting there, seething quietly.

"God forbid I become like her...or mother...I want more. I may not have a right to want more...But...Do I deserve to be punished because of who I am?" She sighs and leaves her Grandmother's apppartments, thinking and plotting to herself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Isabella steals away at midnight, leaving behind a silent and dark house. She sent a letter to Jonah earlier that day, asking to meet him at the Church, which is always open, that night. She has no way of knowing if he got the letter or if he will be able to get away...But she will not miss the chance to see him.

Isabella looks around as she slows her horse to a walk, the town is silent, everyone alseep. Shivering slightly in the cold air, she dismounts by the church and goes inside. Thankfully candles are always burning inside, so she has no need to light any....which could draw the priests from the nearby monestry to investigate. Shivering still she pulls her cloak around her and walks down between the benches to the alter. Isabella looks up at the statue of Christ and sighs then crosses herself before turning away...It's then she notices the book on the alter; the records of every child born in the parish area to Highborn families.

"Odd...Why is it out?" She thinks and looks around before opening it to a random page. She reads softly outloud. "Marcus Hemingway, Born 17th Of December in the year of our Lord. Red of hair and fair skinned. Died 19th Of January of the same year due to illness." Isabella stops then turns the pages until she finds her own house. She skips down the lines of names until she finds her sister and brothers names...Then her own.

"Isabella Elena Black, Born 21st December in the year of our lord. Black of hair and fair skinned." She is about to turn the page when she notices another name under hers...She looks then gasps in shock and reads aloud, her voice echoing around the small church, fear clear in her shaking voice...

"Brandon Charles Black, Born 21st Decemeber in the year of our lord. Black of hair and fair skinned. Died 21st of Decemeber of the same year due to complications during his birth which was that of twins..."

[Jacogos]

"You had a twin...?" Jonah asked quietly, having entered the church mere moments before she had read that line aloud. He had hoped the door opening would alert her, but she seemed too engrossed in the book she hovered over that she might not have noticed. He gently embraced her when she turned to him, kissing her when she gave him the chance.

"I got here as fast as I could," he said with a smirk. It had been a pain to escape the Yoricson house. His back door that he had led Isabella through that first night had been sealed shut, so sneaking out the front door was... difficult. He had managed, though, though how he was going to get back in without being caught was beyond him. He didn't truly care at the moment, though, so long as he had this moment with Isabella.

"Well enough of that... Why the church?" he asked, peering around. Though always open, Jonah had the distinct impression that coming here this late wasn't well accepted. He had no idea why, but he supposed that he just never had need to come outside of service or confessions.

[NekoInk]

Isabella turns and kisses him, smiling against his lips "It would seem so...I wonder why he was never mentioned...Though it does explain a lot." She leans agianst him, her head on his chest "I missed you...it seemed so long since that night..." She blushes and looks up at him through her eye lashes "You were...amazing, by the way."

She smirks and kisses his neck, her lips soft against his skin, before looking around "The Church? I knew we would be alone...Who comes to a church at night?" She laughs softly "Apart from forbidden lovers who want some peace....You do not mind do you? We can go somewhere else...I didn't want to risk my room at the moment...Mother has stopped sleeping and since yesterday has mad a habbit of stalking my floor like a harpy." She sighs softly and rests her head back against his chest, happy to be close to him.

Her eyes flick to the book "A twin...I can't believe it. I know my mother hated me...I was told it was because she could have no more children...Now I see it is because I lived...And the son she wanted to give my father did not...She blames me...But why was it a secret?" She asks softly "I suppose it doesn't matter. Thinking about it will not give him life...or make Mother forgive..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Black Mansion an old man sits in a high backed chair, staring into the flames of the grand fireplace. "So...She has found that she was a twin...The death of the boy was such a gift...Both children carried the blood...Then...When he proved to weak...The blood rejected him...flowing into his sister..." He laughs then coughs, the wheezing in his chest echoing around the dark room "The girl was born....with the power of two cursed children...So...much power..." He leans back as if in pleasure and sighs happily "I will have her..."

[Jacogos]

He blushed slightly as well, smiling back at her. "I don't do all the work, you know..." he said, his smile turning to a small smirk. He shivered slightly at her lips on his neck, a feeling he didn't think he'd ever get over, then stole another kiss on her lips before holding her to him, enjoying the moment.

"I just thought it an odd place to meet... No, we can stay, cause you're right, no one else comes here at night... Though I feel like someone would come tonight just to prove us wrong," he said with a small chuckle. "It's okay, Isabella, we'll be fine."

At her mention of her twin, his gaze shifted to the book as well. "It would make more sense that way, for sure... It doesn't pardon it, though. You did nothing wrong, Isabella," Jonah said, kissing her forehead lightly as his hand ran through her hair. He held her head to his chest for a moment, not hard just.. protectively almost, then pulled back a little to look at her.

"Come away with me, Isabella..." he asked her, dark eyes intent on hers. "We'll find another village, one that will take us in..."

[NekoInk]

"I killed my twin...Thats what mother thinks...She thinks I robbed her of her son." Isabella sighs softly "It explains so much...But surely she knew the dangers of a twin pregnancy? Not many women live through it. And Doctors always try to end such a pregnancy...because of its dangers." Isabella looks down at the book "I wonder why it was out...The Priest keeps the books in his private study."


She looks up at him, her green eyes filled with hope...and a little fear and gasps "Leave the village?...And be together?" She bites her lip softly then smiles "Yes...Of course I will!" She hugs him tightly, before her lips meet his "Would your parents come after you?..."

Its then she rememebers her marriage and looks down, her eyes filling with worry "George Black...He would never let me get away...He would hunt us down...Kill you...and drag me to his bed." She shivers with revulsion "No matter where we went...His wrath would follow us...Oh God Jonah...We will never be free...And...what about...the demon?" Another shiver runs through her body "I want nothing more than to run away with you...I would do anything to get away...But...How can we?"

"Jonah..." She whispers softly against his neck "Even if...we escaped...How would we support ourselves?...I doubt your father or mine would wish us well and give us plently of money..."

[Jacogos]

His heart rose at first. She wanted to... They could just leave, never have to look back. Start anew, be together without... Her next words brought him back down to earth, though. Of course.. her horrid family would never let her go... His might just leave him be, though they'd hardly wish him well... Maybe Daniel would give him some money from his horse-breaking fund, but that still would hardly be enough...

"I... I don't know... My parents would not care... If only there was a way... Is there no way for us to marry without their consent? Surely there is a priest somewhere that would marry two lovers without parental consent..." Of course they wouldn't though. No priest would agree to that...

"Regardless, it has to be better than sitting here waiting for the inevitable... It has to be... right?" he asked, looking to her for assurance. Staying here, in his mind, was giving up. There was nothing they could do to fight their parents...

"If we found another village, we could work for food... Find someone to apprentice me, or something..." It wouldn't be impossible to support themselves... Peasants seemed to manage just fine... But how the hell would they be able to adapt to that kind of living?

[NekoInk]

Isabella stands silently in his arms, shocked into silence "I...You want to marry...me?" She sounds complelty taken a back. "Me?...I can't believe it. Oh Jonah!" Hugs him tightly then kisses him softly "I love you so much...If anything happened to you..." She shivers softly in his arms. "We cannot stay here..." Isabella agrees "We would never be free...or happy..."

"Wait...I know a priest who would marry us...I knew him before he joined the church. I am sure he would...We grew up together, his parents never showed him much love...like mine, so we had something in common. He was born sickly; his father wanted strong son to help him in the fields...But Thomas was a weak child and often sick. When he turned 7 his father left him outside the Monestry and forgot about him..." Isabella looks up at Jonah "He would marry us...I am sure. He would keep quiet as well..." She stops and bites her lip softly "Are...Are you sure about this?...Marriage...it would...well your family would disown you. You would loose everything...Are your certain you would give up...everthing...for me?" She looks down, knowing that it is selfish to want him to be with her...but wanting it all the same.

"If we marry...Before we can run, we have to have money first. I know Molly would help, she knows a lot of...people...who could sell off items for us. It would give us a little money at least."

Isabella thinks of George Black and swallows "What of George? He would hunt us down, Jonah. We may not be married yet, but he thinks of me as his right now. He believes he owns me in all but body...I saw the letter he wrote to father yesterday. It seems Father had been planning for me to marry him for a long time...Our relationship only brought it forward. I did not know until earlier today that he thinks that we are pre-contracted. I never agreed so I do not think it is legal. Yet. But...He would claim that you married his wife. He could destroy us..."

She kisses his neck softly, her arms around him "I want nothing more than to be your wife...To wake up next to you each morning...Always to be in your arms..." She sighs happily, putting George from her mind. "I want to marry you...as soon as we can..."

[Jacogos]

He smiled slightly and kissed her back, slightly surprised at her shock. Surely it was obvious... "Of course I want to marry you, Isabella... I couldn't imagine anyone else I'd rather be with," he said, squeezing her tight. "I'm glad you agree."

As she talked about the priest, Jonah was surprised at the convenience of it. With any luck, her friend could marry them and Jonah and Isabella could be gone before anyone realized they had left... He actually chuckled slightly at her last statement, though. "Disowning me would be a kindness... I'll miss Daniel, perhaps, but he'll get along fine... I can imagine you feel the same way," he said, gazing into her eyes with a smirk. Her family... Her family would be troublesome.

Then came money... He hoped that Daniel might be willing to spot him some cash for the first few days, during which time they would be searching for another village... Of course, that would mean a very sparing supply of food... He wished there was another way, but sadly there wasn't... And Isabella had a good idea. With what they had in their rooms, there might be enough to sell to keep them fed for a month.... Perhaps.

Something flashed in his eyes when she mentioned her uncle. "Let him hunt us... He won't have you, Isabella..." he whispered, holding her close. Perhaps the swordplay lessons he had fiddled with as a teen would help him out there... Could he really kill the man, though? Maybe... He couldn't be sure.

Kissing her back, he put the thoughts from his mind as she did. "As do I, Isabella... You are the only thing that matters to me anymore..." he said, planting a firm kiss on her lips. "I love you..."

[NekoInk]

Isabella hugs him tighly "If George ever tries to touch me...I swear...I will kill him." The force in her voice dispells any doubt that she is joking. "I hate him...I've always hated him. At family get togethers...He was like a evil presence of my childhood." She shivers then puts him from her mind. Her lips finding Jonah's.

Isabella laughs softly suddenly as a thought comes to her "How many months of confession would we get for...Well..." She blushes and kisses him again "Here." Isabella laughs again as the image of Father Harris coming in and seeing them like this comes into her head. She kisses his neck softly, smiling against his skin "So...If we are going to marry...you had better ask me...Oh and of course, ask my father's permission." Isabella looks at him seriously for amoment before lauging at his expression "Can you imagine his face if you did?!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lady Anne Black sits by William's bed, her hand clutching his. "William...My boy...Please...come back to us." A sob wracks her body as she grips his hand tighter "Please...God return my boy to me...If I lose him...I'll lose everything...Gregory will divorce me..." She cries harder, her nails leaving imprints on William's skin. Anne jumps when the bedroom door creaks open, she looks and sees her husband, Gregory, standing in the door way, looking slightly drunk.

He half walks, half staggers over to the bed and places his hands on Anne's shoulders, nails digging in. "This is your fault...You failed to give me more sons...If he dies..." His hands move around Anne's throat "This marriage is over. Done. Finished. I consented to marry you because you swore you would give me sons...And yet, you gave me nothing. One brainless girl who no one wants to marry as for Isabella...That child was always...abnormal. And now the only thing of worth to come from your womb...lies broken." Gregory tightens his hands around her throat once more "You best pray he doesn't die...Otherwise, you and my sister will be sharing a dank room in the Asylum." He releases her and storms from the room.

Anne gasps as she takes a breath "God...Help me..." She whispers, her eyes on William's pale face.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

George Black stands on the steps to his mansion, watching, with a smirk on his face, as the dark carriage pulls away...Inside his wife sits sobbing, knowing where she is going and that she will never see her children again. George smirks as he turns and goes back inside his large mansion; smaller than his brothers, but still grand.

He walks into his study and sits down behind the mahogany desk, steppling his figers togther on the desk. "Well...That's her gone. Now nothing can stop me having Isabella. Such a beauty...It's a wonder no one has claimed her...Though her father said she is unstable." He laughs softly, brushing his long dark hair back "That is easily remedied..." His eyes flick to the riding crop that has pride of place above the grand fireplace. George smirks again "Though I think more force is needed with her...I refuse to have her defying me the way she has her father...Asociating with one of those inbred rats....It's disgusting."

He shudders and pours himself a glass of brandy: he can hold is drink. He is also a better type of man than his brother; yes be beats his wife. However he knows about money and how to handle it...Gregory spends money like water. Which in this high class society...is all that counts. His actions towards his servants and wife...Well...That is his concern. No one else.

There's a soft knock at the door. "Enter, if you must." George mutters and leans back in his chair, dark eyes on the door as a young maid enters and bows her head.

"My Lord...A messanger arrived from St Jonh's Bording school..." She swallows.

"And? Is the boy settled?" George says softly, his voice unreadable.

"Yes, My Lord. Master Jaun is settled and begining his studies...And Miss Alicia is now employed as a governess in the Westerling household." The maid bows.

Lord Black nods "Good. Have the maids clean the house from top to bottom. And prepare Lady Sophia's bedroom sealed up. My new bride can have..." he thinks then nods "The large bedroom at in the east wing. Have it cleaned and ready. Also, the nursery should be prepared." He smirks proudly then waves his hand, dismissing the girl, who leaves at once...clearly happy to be free from his presence.

Lord Black stays in his relaxed postion, his thoughts on Isabella. He laughs softly "She. will. Be. Mine." He says aloud, arrogance filling his voice.

[Jacogos]

He found himself blushing as well. The very thought of that in the church made him feel like he should be struck down on the spot. "Isabella!" he gasped with a slight laugh. "I would like to imagine that they would simply condemn us as possessed on the spot!" he continued, still laughing. He felt her lips on his neck again, though, and almost forgot what he just said. My, but she could drive him crazy...

"I have no ring to propose to you with, Isabella," he said sadly, then completely froze at her next words. He opened his mouth to reply, though nothing came out, and he was that way for a moment before she continued.

"Can you imagine his face if you did?!" she said.

"Before or after he murdered me on the spot?" Jonah said with a chuckle. Shaking his head at her silliness, he kissed her again lightly, his mind now on things that should not be thought in a church. However, he gently pushed those thoughts aside and broke the kiss, looking at her with a small smile.

"Will you marry me, Isabella?" he asked quietly.

[NekoInk]

Isabella laughs softly "I jest Jonah...If you want to ask my father for my hand...Be my guest...But as you say, i doubt you will live longer than 10 seconds." She leans against him, smiling to herself.

"I don't need a ring Jonah...I want you...Not a simple bit of metal that tells everyone I'm yours..." She places her hand over his heart "I want this..." Her lips find his and she kisses him softly, She decided to get the unpleasent subject of her father out of the way first.

"Of course I'll marry you!" Isabella hugs him tightly "I love you...I want you beside me...always..." She stands in his arms, blushing shyly, her mind distracted by being so close to him. However, a small part is still distracted by the book beside them. "Jonah...What now?" She laughs softly "We are standing in a church...at...midnight..."

A twin...Did I really kill my brother...No, No don't think about this...Think about Jonah...About being his wife..." She blushes softly, her ivory skin turning a soft pink because of what Jonah makes her feel. "I feel alive with him...I want to be his...always..."

Isabella turns from his arms and goes to the book "Maybe you should find your family in here...It's intresting." She thumbs through it till she reaches a section at the end entiltled; "Noble Ladies and their offspring." Isabella looks at it then up to Jonah "Well I never...Look, my aunt's here." She points to a line on the page and reads "Claudia Black-my cousin- child of Lady Anabella Black. Father not stated..." Isabella brushes her soft hair from her face and sighs sadly "I often think about Claudia...It's not her fault she is a baseborn child...Though no one thinks of that."

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A childish giggle comes from the mouth of Edward Black. He sits in his chair in front of the fire, smirking at the flames. "A shame the weak boy died...He would have been a tasty little meal...The sister...Isabella...She will be mine...Perhaps...I can make a body from her...The magic is strong...Perhaps...Perhaps I could..."

He speaks again, this time a completly different voice...Laced with malice and hate "We could...Couldn't we...That fool son of yours...He thinks to marry her to that other fool of yours...It cannot happen. The girl must not have a child by that fool...It would ruin my plans...Such a child would be sickly and weak which could endanger her...How am I to utilise her if she dies in childbirth?! I cannot risk her becoming pregnant...It could ruin everything!" He laughs softly, eys glinting in the fire light.

"What of...the other?...It has awoken. Like us, it smelt her blood...heard the song when it began..." Edward Black mutters, his eyes flowing the flickering flames "Funny...the blood sung faintly when the child was born...Very faintly. She would thrash and scream and fight...Gods I smelt it once or twice...Then suddenly...gone." Edward coughs, his body wracked by the coughs before he can continue "It was strange...I nearly had her once or twice...The blood was faint, or so I thought, but it would have done. Then...It vanished. I felt nothing more from her. No song. Or power...And yet now...Gods...can you feel it...rippling out from her...raw power..." He moans softly and closes his eyes "I want it. Only me."

The childish voice bubbles once more from his lips "And we will. We will have her. Give her time though. The power must grow and flame in her...If we took her now...It may shatter and we would lose it...Let it happen naturally." The voice giggles "And I am intrested in this romance...Sweet is it not? A child of your house...bedding a child of theirs..." The voice giggles once more before falling silent suddenly...All candles in the room go out...

"Silence. I will not have you mocking me."