[werewolf AU] A long night

[tiltingwithlips]

King Henry is ill, most likely dying, and the kingdom has known so for some time. For now, at least, the English are thinking more about succession than about rebellions, past or future.

The palace in London is still and quiet tonight. The air is heavy with tension, thick with the smell of worry.

Comments

[tiltingwithlips]

"Nay, not with such a one as thee! A man might be blind and deaf and have no more nose than a fish and still know thy humours."

[valiantrebel]

"And should a man mince and smile and hide what he is? Has the world patience for such womanish men?"

[tiltingwithlips]

"It has patience for such women," she snarls.

[valiantrebel]

A door falls back into place, which had only lightly been cracked.

Hal stands with both hands on the handle, head canted.

"I'll not trouble you, Lord and Lady, if the moment should not allow."

[tiltingwithlips]

Kate whirls, her lip curling to bare her teeth before she can stop herself.

[valiantrebel]

Harry grabs Kate by the arm.

"Your majesty," he says flatly.

Hal shrugs. "God save the king."

[tiltingwithlips]

It's actually embarrassing to lose control of her instincts that way -- though, she supposes, as she ducks her head and presses her lips together, better to be embarrassed in front of other wolves than caught out in front of anyone else.

[valiantrebel]

Hal, for his part, watches her with numb interest: is he doomed to such?

He glances at Harry, marking again how much of his stance he ascribes to this bite: the stiffness, the hostile stillness. "I have come alone," he says, and closes the space between them, palms raised. "Confirm it thyself if thou wilt."

Harry looks to Kate, then glowers at Hal. He has naught to say to him; better to be sure of him. He stalks away.

[tiltingwithlips]

Kate looks up at Hal, her breathing even again. (If her head tilts a little to keep Harry in the corner of her eye, well -- that comes from being his wife, as much as from the hunter in her.)

"I am glad to see so, lord."

[valiantrebel]

"I'd have us all begin anew. It shall soon enough be the time for it." He tries not to track Harry with his eyes, but he is so worn thin (so bruised beneath his brow) that he cannot but appear anxious. "My thanks to you both for staying to meet me."

[tiltingwithlips]

Kate's eyebrows go up.

"Can such things be, lord? There is many a hurt given our families by yours."

[valiantrebel]

"And thou'rt here because of a duty incurred to me, art not, Lady Percy? Of a hurt bestowed which I did not seek out."

[tiltingwithlips]

She sighs and inclines her head.

"Even so, sir, I confess it."

[valiantrebel]

Harry Hotspur huffs from the dimness. Hal ignores him, his focus all on the wife.

"They will make me king in the morning, my lady. They will lay the ropes of office 'round my shoulders, and crown me some days after."

[tiltingwithlips]

"And tomorrow night, will you slip off into the streets of London?"

She's watching him closely, now.

"It is not impossible to wait the night in one's chambers, though I grant you 'tis unpleasant."

[valiantrebel]

"More unpleasant than the smell of London, which I have loved?" He shakes his head. "I had thought a wolf would be much observed in a city such as ours. God laughed at me yet again, for I was no more marked than a common stray."

He hugs his elbows. "And you? Open fields for the Percys come moonrise?"

[tiltingwithlips]

"That decision would seem to lie with you, your majesty. If you spake true, and would have us start afresh . . ."

[valiantrebel]

"I need your trust, my lady. I need your help." He feels Hotspur behind him, smells him (will it ever feel natural?). "We both have much to offer the other."

[tiltingwithlips]

Kate considers him for a long, long moment.


"My help, you will have," she says at last. "And, I pray, my trust you will earn. and I pray I shall deserve yours."

Given that he came here alone, after all, it would seem they have some measure of his trust already.

[valiantrebel]

"And my lord of Northumberland?"

Harry makes no answer. He glares past Hal's shoulder at Kate.

Hal thins his lips. "My father offered thee a royal pardon, Harry. Your uncle Worcester paid the price for misrepresenting him."

Still Harry says nothing.

Hal sighs. "I'd not revoke that pardon, for all the battle took place."

[tiltingwithlips]

Kate's eyebrows go up.

"Harry? My lord."

[valiantrebel]

"I like it not," he says shortly. "And I've little enough to offer thee. It is my lady wife has the most to teach thee, as I've not seen any inclination to learn what becomes a king."

Hal bows his head. "I have a little honor, sir, and more than I confess I've shown. Yet let me prove myself." He turns back to Kate. "Lady Percy, on the battlefield, I had some words for thee, if memory serves us both."

[tiltingwithlips]

Dry: "A very few."

[valiantrebel]

"Did you not wonder how it was I recognized you?"

[tiltingwithlips]

". . . Not then," she says, warily, "for there were other matters on my mind."