Avalon

Chapter 4

MARIAN

"I cannot believe you did that, Marian!"

Upon entering the Sister's dorms, Marian is surprised to see two ladies huddling around one of the Sister's beds. The one who had spoken was Sister Lily – a younger Sister who had been devoted to life in the Choir since birth, unlike most of the other Sisters there. She looks up, doe-like brown eyes wide as the other Sisters chuckle around her.

"It is very much like Sister Marian to flirt with the Prince in full view," one of the more medically inclined Sister announces. Her name is Elise, and she was the Sister in charge of attending the patients still left in their infirmary. Her eyes glitter teasingly at Marian as she comes into the room. "She did come from Marseilles, after all. Living there for years must have an affect on one's decency."

Marian chuckles at that. "As though you're one to talk, Yprosian dancer."

Elise's lips curl into a foxy, humorous smirk.

"I never knew Sisters could be so scandalous," Lily remarks, shifting over on the bed to allow Marian a spot to sit. "When I came to the Choir, I'd expected everything to be so proper and controlled. Like at the schools."

"The schools are always more proper than the Choirs," Elise replies, unbuttoning her habit from her robes as she takes the garment off. She loosens the braids of her curly black hair as she murmurs, "The schools are mostly for children, after all. They need to be strict, lest the Sisters run rampant as our Marian here."

"I was never that wild," the half-elv defends, eyebrows rising.

Elise rolls her dark eyes. "Oh please. I've seen what troubadours are capable of. I heard from Sister Helen that you were positively scandalous when you met the prince today."

Marian snorts. "Sister Helen believes eye contact to be scandalous, Elise."

"From you, with reason."

Marian doesn't reply, leaning back on her hands as she recalls her little meeting with the Prince. She couldn't deny that she had been flirtatious – though her reasons for her actions were justified. Ever since the Knights arrived, Mother Eira has worried over the presence of the Knight-Commander in Carlisle. The blond woman was always busy at work, and Eira could not seem to find a spare moment with the woman to talk about things like politics. Marian knew that Eira was only seeking to bolster the people of Carlisle's lives – whether by entrenching their position with a Knighthood, or perhaps establishing better trade routes and funding for the small village. Such constructions took the pull of royalty, and while Eiddwen was already looking to establish a Knighthood, the people of Carlisle did need insurance that the royal family would care for them in times of need.

And Marian is experienced in the art of persuasion. The Mother had no need to ask her; Marian would do her dirty work without hesitation.

"I'd thought that you were trying to catch the eye of the Commander..." Lily admits softly, her voice meek and soft.

Glancing at her in surprise, Marian's eyebrows rise at the sight of Lily dipping her head. Her cheeks are flushed red, her lips pressing together in an outright girlish expression of embarrassment. It is the look of immature love, of a girl harboring secret feelings being found out.

"Why would you think that?"

Lily turns her face away, admitting, "I...had seen you running off together a couple days ago. And I see how she looks at you from a distance."