Elizabeth had never used the word knight. She knew what knights were, and he was very far from that. He drank too much, he had a temper and a tendency to be stubborn and bull-headed. But at the same time, he saw a kindness in him that felt genuine, under the layers and layers of gruffness. Even that night, he could have easily grabbed her and forced her to keep going, but he didn't. He helped her. That meant something to her.
"I spent my entire life imprisoned from...everything. Everyone. If you have ever wondered how I don't know things - that's why. Before I was nineteen, I couldn't even remember stepping outside the few rooms I was given to live in, nevermind all this. He was the one who got me out," she said, motioning around them. She was glad the roads were mostly devoid of people right then, between the early hour and the cold. It made it easier to talk. "I've never called him a knight. He isn't one, he'll never be one, I know that. Even saving me - I was a job to him when he first got me out of there. He's told me that."
She paused then, unsure if being truthful hurt or helped her. She supposed it was too late to worry.
"But things are different here. There's no reason for him to keep helping me the second we ended up here. There's no way to collect on the bounty, even if people showed up here, since there's no way to take me anywhere. He's honestly putting himself in danger more helping me than not," she continued. She had never really even thought about why she put so much faith in someone who could drive her crazy sometimes, but the more she thought about it, the more important it was to convey exactly why she wanted to protect him, too. Whether or not it convinced anyone, she couldn't guess, but it felt important to try. "When this place, this city brought us to - I don't know, something out of a nightmare, with monsters trying to kill us - he didn't just protect me, he protected two other people he had no reason to help. If he's that selfish and underhanded, if he only cared about money and himself, why would he have bothered with anyone else but me? He got nothing out of it. Those abilities you saw - they aren't infinite. He wasted them on protecting us when that happened, and he wasted them to the point I don't even know if he can use them anymore the night you saw him use it to protect me. There was never a moment he tried to stop me when he saw I wanted to help that person, when honestly it would have been better if he had for him. So no, I don't think it's an act. Or at least I don't think he'd ever do anything to anyone unless he had to."
And beyond all that, beyond the proof she saw, she always had a gut feeling he wasn't a bad person, just lost. A feeling she never could explain, but still somehow attached her to him in a way she couldn't understand and never tried to put words to.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-01-11 09:46 pm (UTC)"I spent my entire life imprisoned from...everything. Everyone. If you have ever wondered how I don't know things - that's why. Before I was nineteen, I couldn't even remember stepping outside the few rooms I was given to live in, nevermind all this. He was the one who got me out," she said, motioning around them. She was glad the roads were mostly devoid of people right then, between the early hour and the cold. It made it easier to talk. "I've never called him a knight. He isn't one, he'll never be one, I know that. Even saving me - I was a job to him when he first got me out of there. He's told me that."
She paused then, unsure if being truthful hurt or helped her. She supposed it was too late to worry.
"But things are different here. There's no reason for him to keep helping me the second we ended up here. There's no way to collect on the bounty, even if people showed up here, since there's no way to take me anywhere. He's honestly putting himself in danger more helping me than not," she continued. She had never really even thought about why she put so much faith in someone who could drive her crazy sometimes, but the more she thought about it, the more important it was to convey exactly why she wanted to protect him, too. Whether or not it convinced anyone, she couldn't guess, but it felt important to try. "When this place, this city brought us to - I don't know, something out of a nightmare, with monsters trying to kill us - he didn't just protect me, he protected two other people he had no reason to help. If he's that selfish and underhanded, if he only cared about money and himself, why would he have bothered with anyone else but me? He got nothing out of it. Those abilities you saw - they aren't infinite. He wasted them on protecting us when that happened, and he wasted them to the point I don't even know if he can use them anymore the night you saw him use it to protect me. There was never a moment he tried to stop me when he saw I wanted to help that person, when honestly it would have been better if he had for him. So no, I don't think it's an act. Or at least I don't think he'd ever do anything to anyone unless he had to."
And beyond all that, beyond the proof she saw, she always had a gut feeling he wasn't a bad person, just lost. A feeling she never could explain, but still somehow attached her to him in a way she couldn't understand and never tried to put words to.