Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (open)

[sheriff_vaizey]

Who: Open to Michaelmas partygoers
What: An after-party brunch
Where: Nottingham Castle, Great Hall
When: 30 September, late morning

Comments

[elle_isabelle]

Isabella laughed incredulously. "Not possible. We are nothing alike." There might be some slight resemblance--they both had dark hair and blue eyes--but anything more than that seemed unlikely. And their temperaments were completely different. Isabella had manners and patience; she knew how to function in civilized society. Guy was thoughtless, hasty, and uncouth.

"If Guy gets upset, I'll see what I can do. Allan couldn't know--I tried to make sure no one did. But if Guy doesn't know I met Allan, we don't have to tell him." She smiled. "I did try to find him when I first got to town, but he'd already left for Locksley." Of course, she'd waited a day or two, but Guy hardly had cause to blame anyone else for not being aware that she was in town.

Isabella sipped her wine as Lucatz responded to her question. So there was a brother here--family intrigue was certainly a plausible motive. Dangerous to do it here, though, if the former Earl was allied with the Sheriff. And if this Geoffrey was behind it and Elizabeth was right, how could he have known Robin Hood would be at the ball to pin the murder on him? There were so many possibilities, but so many ifs, too. Too many to voice her suspicions to Lucatz. And anyways, he knew the family; if there was cause for suspicion he would already know it. He could have many reasons for not wanting to say anything, for using the official line that Robin Hood was behind it. Anyways, the maid hadn't offered any alternatives to Hood, and servant's gossip often carried the truest story. Who knew what had really happened? Isabella just hoped that if Lucatz did know something, that he had someone to confide in. Carrying knowledge alone was heavy, and he already had much to bear.

On impulse, Isabella reached across the table and pressed his hand. "I'm glad you were with friends last night. If there's anything I can do, please let me know."

[lucatz_of_arun]

Lucatz nodded in false agreement as Isabella protested her resemblance to her brother. She reminded him much of the way his brothers thought of their resemblance to him. All of his father's children had the same skin, nose, eyes, hair, and general look, and they would proudly compare themselves to each other- but never to Lucatz. He wondered if Guy would be as hurt to hear Isabella laughingly distance herself as he'd been to hear his brothers do it.

He ate quietly while she spoke about Allan. It was kind of her to imply she would avoid mentioning their association to Guy, but she was missing the issue. She'd given him a good opportunity to broach the subject of coordinating some lies about how they came to be together on the portico.

"I'll be fine, thank you. All that I would ask of you is that you remain my friend, even if your brother tries to come between us," Lucatz spoke softly to Isabella and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I think he will. You see, the reason that I worry Allan may get in trouble is not because he met you, but because I met you. Allan is a dear friend, but he is Guy's man, and was mean to, well, report on me."

[elle_isabelle]

The corners of Isabella's lips turned up in a hint of a smile before she drew her hand away. Reflexively, she glanced out over the room, but there was still no sign of Guy.

She lifted her chin when Lucatz stopped speaking in a nod of understanding. Guy would have been busy with Hood last night, so there was still the possibility that he hadn't spoken of her to Allan. If that were the case, she and Lucatz were free to make up a history of their choosing. "So if we had, say, met at the ball, Allan might not have known I was here," she said suggestively. Isabella pursed her lips. Such a story could be problematic for her, though. Consenting to be alone in the dark with a man she'd only just met would make her look like a loose woman. Guy wouldn't be happy. She didn't actually care what he thought, but she'd rather avoid making things worse between them if possible.

And there was another problem. "You spoke to the guards when we came into the city. And we met Allan then, too. Do you think they would be able to put everything together?" Isabella didn't have the greatest confidence in the Sheriff's guard after Robin Hood and his men had just waltzed into the castle, but being overly confident would be foolish.