Halt! Thief!!

[Carlotta]

The coming of night brought with it the increased winds that
drifted inland from the sea. Tonight, however, the usual frigid nature clung not to the gusts that passed, though was far from the splendor of spring, as the
chill remained yet. As many headed home, the market would increase with it's
activity. Last minute purchases before calling it a night, or making way the
brawly taverns that littered the area. Many to seek drink, and others that
night of debauchery to sait their loins. It was also a time when the darker minions of humanity would take to the streets; thieves, murders, kidnappers ... many simply called them pirates for short. Vendors were shouting out to the
passing crowds, staking claims their items were top quality for little coin. One
thing can be said about a port market area, here almost anything could be
gained; for the right price. This would be one of the areas she'd always
visit before heading to the King's Ale House, or home. Looking over the wears offered from afar, although brief would be her attention on bobbles and cloth. Books, always the books that drew her attention forth, as it had again at this
moment. Though, not just a typical novel or the like, all information she sought had to do with the Church, laws, and information about certain lands that had
gained her attention as of late. The book presently in hand, was one written
about the Emperor Called Charles, or more so his family history in which he's
been mentioned; making the book written after his birth. Slowly she thumbed
through the pages, judging whether the leather bound volume would be an asset
to her present study and cause.

Not entirely sure why, though Rhiannon had ventured forth
from the warmth of castle walls to stretch her legs. Like a bird from a
gilded cage she wrapped herself in the warmest feathers she could find, that
of course being her winter cloak, and decided the markets were calling her
name. The air was much more brisk outside than it had been in the past few
days. Clouds overhead blotted the stars from view and threatened of more
snow. Though most had melted there seemed to be a crunch to the ground as feet settled upon the land. She'd been asked if she required a carriage and had resolutely turned the idea away as she seemed to need the walk. Bringing her hood up against the slight breeze she headed toward the dockside markets. Once
approaching she could see a bustle of activity and with a resigned sigh she
plunged her way into the crowd. Stopping at this or that cart, taking in the
make of a few bolts of cloth she began her scavenger hunt as she thought to call
it. Nothing she really needed but much she found appealing, she too found
the book cart and took notice of the woman that perused the piles. Glancing
her way she offered a warm smile. "My Lady...." A greeting of respect as she
found a volume less appealing than the one the other held and began looking
through the pages. (d)

The greeting from the woman who now stood at her side would
have focus upon the pages of script redirect upon her. The polite and kind
nature of her smile would greet the woman first. "Evening to you as well."
Spoken loud enough for the woman to hear her over the shouts of not only the
vendors, but the crowd. Glance over at the book the woman had chosen "You
don't look the type that would be tied to a kitchen, if I may be so bold."
Taking note of the volume of recopies from various chefs. Although, she knew a particular Frenchman who might have interest in that, but she wasn't even sure if the man could read. The volume in hand would be closed and tucked beneath her arm, as she found the contents to quite helpful to what she was needing. While awaiting the woman's response, she'd take to glancing over the other titles that rested before them and was quick to snag one that had large silver
cross of Celtic design upon its cover. How she found that nearly a laughable
thing, for the Church persecuted the Celts as being pagans and heretics, yet
they utilize their art to incorporate with that of their religious icons. This
would now be opened to glance through the pages, it would seem it spoke of the Holy Order, its rankings and positions of power. Now this was something that
definitely captivated her attention.

The words of the Lady at her side brought laughter and she
nodded momentarily. "No, you are right I'm not one for the kitchens but it's
a gift for my cook. Christmas sadly passed me by what with my own studies
and I failed to get things for a few people that mean most to me. I am sorry I
should have introduced myself at least, sometimes my manners fail me."
Turning toward her she curtseyed just as the woman chose the book with the
cross embossed upon it and spoke her name. "Rhiannon Kendrick, Duchess of Suffolk...it's a pleasure my Lady." It was interesting and very comforting to find another that seemed to enjoy the fine works of literature. Not many women
took it upon themselves to hold such interest. Standing fully again she glanced to the book and nodded slightly. "You have an interest in religion?" Both hands now gripped the recipe book as she'd decided to purchase it for her cook, it had
a large variety of dishes created from afar and would likely come in handy at
gatherings, plush she was sure the elder woman would be delighted. Rhiannon
treated the people that attended her kindly, it was likely why she had no
high turnover in servants. (d)

[Carlotta]

"HALT, HAAAllllTTT!"-The words were exclaimed as a young lad ran
through the crowd with a most agile grace and dexterity. Weaving and darting
amongst the people twice his size, even once or twice he'd notably dive
between someone’s parted legs. A short distance behind the darting lad was a man
who looked to be of Spaniard descent. His long mane of sable black locks
bounced in their looseness upon the cloak at his back. The hood capturing
most of the thick tail as it as well bounced to the rhythm of his demanding boots below that clapped upon the England streets ground almost as quickly as that of a steed with his enraged sense of visage and voice that was loosed, bellowing over the heads of those who were in the markets that day. A gloved fist was in the air to declare who it was that was making all the demanding commotion. The black fist contrasting against the cleansed white sleeve that puffed out at his wrist, and bellowed out from a bracer at forearm where velvet streaks traced the length of his arm in a few lines to become entombed in the vestion that clung wroughtly to the broadness of his built physique. At his side
people he passed by would become weary of the duo blades that were bound together at the sheath and attached upon his belt. One a rapier, the other a Spaniard long sword. There was of course an obliging dagger on the other side of his belt. Unfortunately there was something missing on that wide length of
leather. A money pouch.-d-

With the woman's introduction, the book was slowly closed
and added to the heft of the first. Turning now to face the woman, her smile
grew somewhat more in finding another scholar of gender. She too would offer
a bit of a curtsy to the fellow noble. "A pleasure indeed Duchess. I am
Carlotta Basinstoke, Barrister to the King." This was a title she offered
proudly, for a woman to claim such was a rarity as it was. Not that the
position came by easy, as so many wagging tongues liked to proclaim, she worked harder than all others to prove her worth. Standing with a smile. "What sort of
studies are you involved in?" Glancing to the book, then a sheepish smile to
the woman. "Yes, I'm in process of learning the differences in the nature of the
Church verses State. The laws, hierarchy of positions, and how they meld
together." Simple and truthful enough answer, without exposing her true
cause. It would be the uproar not far that gained her attention next, to see a man chasing a lad through the streets. She had to softly chuckle, seeing the
young whelp outrun and maneuver the man. Inwardly, and secretly, she was
cheering the boy on to make his escape. Glance back to the Rhiannon. "Never a dull moment in the market place." Said with a chuckle just as she felt herself get bumped, then the cool rush of air that entered beneath skirts. Eyes widen,
even more she felt those cold hands upon her calves. It would seem the boy was using her skirt and cloak as a place to hide. So very still she remained and a soft cough as she attempted to recover. Thank goodness she wore leggings beneath
those layers of skirts tonight, or this could be quite embarrassing indeed.

"Oh.. nothing near as important as you are I'm sure, just
social status and the affects of such. I guess you could say I study people?"
She laughed lightly and dropped her arms so that the book was loosely clasped
in front of her and caught the title quite easily already she was thinking
that she just might need her someday. The truth was Edward Cunningham the
Duke of York was being ousted and looked upon for the possible murder of his
own wife and Rhiannon believed completely in his innocence, her own studies
revolved around finding clues that could possibly exonerate him should it
ever come to trial. "Well I must say it is indeed a pleasure to meet you
Lady Basinstoke... I..." She use ships for that purpose." There was a smile on her face that she could not help because the situation was becoming quite humorous. However she did look toward the place the man had been running and wondered if he'd taken notice of where his thief had gone. (d)

-It was rather difficult to keep a direct eye on the lil thief.
The crowds movement though, made it easier to trace such movement as they
would, like a wave, ripple away from the rushing child. Some individuals even
made gestures here and there, the vendors in particular. The vendors themselves
loaaathhed the thieves since they were one of the main targets of thievery
themselves. It was thus that Corothius' tracking would pause as two well
dressed ladies were standing before a vendor of books. Eyes would narrow as his
breath would begin to ease back into his lungs from the air that it had so
been exhumed into behind him. Those suede gloved fists returning to his hips
in fists as a thumb would trace the steel embedded with gold enscribering hilts
of the rapier at his side. A lip was tugged in as these two beautiful women
were given a look-see over. There of course, was nothing else to do at the
moment, and those rather appealing emotions that women drew from deep within
him..and well, rather lower on his physique, persuaded him to join them at
the bookstand. If nothing more than to gain the knowledge of their aromas.
Some women held rather mesmerizing scents, especially when they grew rather...hot. When he'd speak, his tongue would roll about with the words, playing the syllables about with that Spaniard tongue. His eyes of course, feasting greedily upon whatever cleavage this day and age's dress' would allow him to prey upon.-"Ahem..good evening ladies, how fares your shopping this eve?"-d-

[Carlotta]

She had heard of the Dukes ill fate, from more than one
source, even the gossip of it being by his hand to take on his lover. A slowblink as focus was upon the woman, she could feel the heat upon her cheeks
starting to rise. It would then be the arrival of the man that gained her
attention next. Poor man, she was adorned in that heavy cloak, thus no
cleavage shown here. Quickly she'd recover and offer him a polite smile.
"Good evening, MiLord. I must say it's been a fruitful visit." Trying to maintain her stance with the movement of the child beneath her skirts. "Seems you are having an active evening." Holding those books low to try and hide the movement of skirts.

At this point, for Lia and Aiden, it was a waiting game. They'd made port, secured lodgings and had yet to present themselves to the Royal Court. Catching the scene playing out before them, Lia smothered the amused gleam and nudged Aiden softly with her elbow, in order to garner his attention. It seemed several of the nobles had gathered, for whatever reason, and a thief of no importance whatsoever had taken refuge underneath one Lady's
skirts. It would be interesting to see exactly how this scene played out, and if
they could use it to their advantage.

Instantly upon seeing the man approach she chose to act as
though nothing at all was amiss and one might say she even moved a bit closer
to Carlotta as though to help shield the child from possible mishap. "Evening
my Lord... our shopping seems to be going quite well but I must say you
are a bit out of breath yourself. Is there something wrong?" Sinking into
another graceful curtsey, before he could answer she gave her name. "I am the
Duchess Rhiannon Kendrick of Suffolk and my companion is Lady Carlotta
Basinstoke... the King's Barrister." Rising yet again she still kept her
purchase upon the recipe book, both hands clinging a bit harder now and it
would seem if she pressed any more the letters might melt and run like liquid from the pages to fall upon the cobblestone below. There was no doubt the accoster of this man was quite young and she'd hate to see him come to harm even if he was a petty thief. Sue her for having a soft heart where youth was concerned. Taking in the way he presented himself she could not help but notice his almost desirable gaze and immediately guessed he'd be a man of great
interest where the ladies were concerned. The accent no doubt Spanish and it was this that caused her to be interested. Another one for the books perhaps? (d)

-A few more men, not his, merely vigilantes who had followed the
occurrence this far down the street arrived a moment or three after he stepped
up to the vendor. Seeing that he no longer was giving chase, they took it
upon themselves to head further down the street to look for the sprouting lad.
Meanwhile, Corothius would nod to the lady with a warming smile. Though the
hindering of her cloak led his lips into a slight length of narrowness as he
had nothing save the intricate beauty of their dress's weavings, and beauty of
their features to look upon thenceforward. It though, was perhaps mores
suitable for the courts, whereas here, upon the streets, many a drunkard
would be given such a sight of two duchess' of such high rank...perhaps it was an honor of a sort, or show of respect? The English cultures were known to some degree nonetheless. The taller man would thus most gracefully stoop at his waist in a relinquishing bow before them. He nearly coming below her knees
in the bow's deepness before he'd rise back up. Fortunately the boy had
remained completely still at that moment, and not a sign of movement was
traced. The dress though, was in some apparent disarray at the bottom of it, in a way that was not normally logical for a woman who walked to a vendor...and
was now facing such a direction.-"It is an honor to meet two such high
officials of the English courts. I am Lord Corothius Encinosa, acting ambassador
from Spain. I am out here today to tend to some mercantile affairs upon one
of our ships. Unfortunately my..coinpurse was stolen by a young chap of a
lad..do tell me, do they cut off the left hand's here as they do in Desert cities? I heard they even practice such upon the youth.."-d-

[Carlotta]

Turning his attention from the crisp red apple in his hand,
his dark blue eyes wandered to the commotion noted by Lia. She had convinced
him to drag himself from bed, even though it was the first real rest he had
taken since fleeing Venice. The stolen waist coat and trousers were thankfully
a perfect fit and lent him just the airs of Nobility such fashions afforded
those who had the means. He also had the talent to hide his Scottish birth,
as an actor it came naturally. Dabbing at his lips quickly with the back of his
hand, he swallowed down the apple before speaking close to her ear. "Cut off
hands indeed...he should try the Turks." He could not suppress the grin that came with his own jest, and he chuckled low into his pretend sisters ear. (d)

"A pleasure MiLord Encinosa." That name sounded strangely
familiar, one she had heard before but just couldn't place the when and
where. No curtsy could she offer, that would definitely make the present
position more embarrassing than it was at the present moment. A glance cast towards the hunting men, then back upon the Spaniard as his comment about the removal of one's hand caused her to cough slightly, even paled a little bit. She knew quite well of such punishments, that was still in practice within many lands. "I fear I'd not stand by to watch a child lose a limb, just because he's
trying to feed himself or his family." Bold her words maybe, but those who
came to know her, would come to learn the Irish woman was feisty indeed and spoke her mind often. She felt the grip on her legs tighten, as well as the sound of a gasp come from between her legs. The threat had frightened the child,
that was evident by his hold. She would cough again, hoping to cover that gasping from the man's hearing. "Just how much was within your purse MiLord?" Perhaps if she offered to repay his loses, he'd forget about the child.

A soft, distracted nod met Aiden's words, as her full lips
pursed in thought. Whenever she readily agreed with him, she wasn't really
listening. "Come, Aiden. You must take me over there at once." Ever since
stepping foot on English soil, Lia had adhered strictly to the code of ethics demanded of Ladies, despite the fact that to do so set her teeth secretly on edge. Now, ice blue eyes found her faux brother's darker profile. He had yet to
full understand the nature of the game they played, but...he was so lovely. She
sighed softly. "We need to introduce ourselves."

Completely had she forgotten about the fact that with the
boy hiding beneath Carlotta's skirts she could not curtsey and so readily she
made something up that would perhaps suffice so as not for the absence of
such to seem odd. "Her knees, my Lord.. they are quite bad with the weather the
way it is and it positively pains her to bend them." A glance to Carlotta
as she spoke and her face as well had turned quite pale with the thoughts of
the poor lads hands being removed over a coin purse. Glancing down slightly so
as not to be noticed she could see the skirts wiggling again and moved closer
still to Carlotta. "Yes... how much?" She too would give at least half if
need be in order to compensate him and save the boy from injury or worse. Her
eyes staying upon him she kept her stance and offered still another smile as
though to try and distract him as much as possible from the.. layers of
cloth. Oh, how she did wish the child would be still. (d)

Taking another bite, He frowned at her beckoning. Resisting
the urge to speak with his mouth full, he again put the back of his hand to
his lips while he painfully swallowed down the large bite. "Introduce
ourselves? Are you sick with fever woman? Shouldn't we let them come to us this
time, draw as little attention as possible? Or have you forgotten, our world
has gotten quite small?" He looked back to the women and Spaniard cautiously. He had to admit, the English women in the market have been quite easy on the eyes despite what the barman in the German Tavern had said.

[Carlotta]

-Upon rising from the bow, he did not obtain any scents from the
woman’s' skirts that my have arisen from his joined company. It was thus, that
he decided she was not viably the sort to be turned on by him, and in the
same, not one he would flirt with. His eyes thus narrowed as both women then joined in upon the questioning as to what his wealth was all of a sudden. His brows thus tightened all the more with paranoid fury. He though, would then lean in towards the barrister, and gently pull at one of the books, to guide it in twisting around, and in the same to give him a reason for looking straight at her dress which the other women scooted even closer to. Perceptibly, he could presume she wanted to be as close to him as Carlotta was...which drew a egotistical curl to his lips as he thus
became a lil more full of himself. The books though were attempted to be
examined to decipher the names on them.-"You ask me such because you are in need of more coins to purchase some books for you? I give m'word there was enough to
do so, yet unless you both are going to invite me to some tea to compensate I
do not see how else you would repay me...I have heard many tales from m'visiting
countrymen as to what happens when tea is shared.."-A rumbling chuckle awoke
from within the depths of his chest to such an teasing humor. -d-

When the books were being pulled from her hands, a blink as
she glanced over to Rhiannon, then back to the Spanish Lord. He would find
one book was on the history of the family of the Emperor Charles V, and the
other writings on the hierarchy of the Church. A deep breath taken as she tried to remain still where she stood, and due to this, when he came closer to examine
those books, very close were they indeed. She had to do something to keep his
attention above the waist, and she knew exactly what to do. "I swear, I do
believe it's getting warmer out tonight." Hand lifted to fan her face slowly,
other hand moved to open that cloak enough to give the man a good view of
what he wanted to see. Guarantee he would never be able to recite what color
her eyes were when she was done. A deep breath taken, as if a sigh of relief.
"Much better." Such a pretty smile to form now, perfect in it's showing, a
stage actress she could have been herself. "Perhaps it was the mention of
tea?" Glance towards Rhiannon then, and did that devilment appear for the
woman to see in it's brief showing? Back to the Spanish Lord attention
returned. "I'm sure you'd just love to wrap your lips around some crumpets, wouldn't you MiLord?" Oh yes, highly suggestive were those words, and stated for that purpose. Yes, the Barrister knew when bad was good, and good was bad.

Narrowed eyes, the ice blue of them barely visible through the
thick dark curtain of lashes, pinned the Scot where he stood. "I am well
aware of how small our world has gotten." The words emerged as a huffy
whisper, through gritted teeth. "How else to you propose to correct that, without assistance? Really Aiden. I do wish you would think ...before..you speak." She shook her head, lifting her skirts high in one hand as she stepped out onto the street without the benefit of an escort. If the man was afraid, then she would handle the situation on her own. Almost with a decided purpose, she moved to where the Lord stood now with both Ladies. A consummate actress for many years, she could flush on command; combine that with a small pant, and voila! Instant importance. "Milord. I do believe the men who followed you have
captured your thief.." The words came with a gesture in the vague direction
of left, blue eyes guiless and wide. It paid to know when to make friends.

The audacity of the Spaniard Ambassador astounded her to
the point she could barely speak at all. Staring at him as though he had two
heads she glanced over at Carlotta and tried sublimely to keep that liberal
tongue of hers still. Listening to the reaction of Carlotta she took her cue and
sought to make things right as well. "Yes.. indeed crumpets and tea after all
it was in our markets that you lost your coin and you being a foreign
diplomat of course we could show you a bit of compensation by way of English
hospitality. What say you perhaps meet us at the King's Alehouse in about an
hours time... besides I'm sure that you'll not find your thief now. They
have a tendency to vanish quite quickly." Though as she said this another Lady
joined them and seemed to be intent upon helping as well. Her gaze swung
toward the new arrival and she curtsied in that respectful way yet again. "My
Lady.." Waiting now to see if the Encinosa would take the well provided bait she kept her place and releasing the book with one hand tried to become slightly more relaxed. (d)

Hearing the man's pitiful attempt, he scoffed and rolled his
eyes. Were these really the caliber of Noblemen he was trying to emulate?
Looking back to Lia, he took in the note of annoyance. He was sure she was getting tired of fleeing in the night, taking only the clothes on their backs. This time however, it would be different, the plan could not fail if they were cautious. With a slight growl to Lia's retreating back, he threw
caution to the wind and followed her closely. A dark blond brow rose at the
smooth lie she told to the gathered party and he could not stop the slight
smirk that he hoped was hidden from the Spanish gentleman.