In the Garden - Diana & Altariel Pt 1

Enforcer Creed had been granted both lands and power by Diarmad. Something that was blessing and curse both, with her limited boons she was still expected to bend knee to him when the time came. But still, she resisted in little ways, one of those ways was harboring the motley group that was currently getting settled into rooms. She had thought about going to see Laurie, but she needed time before that, a moment to compose herself.
The garden was lush and vibrant, full of plants that reminded her of home. Of a time that seemed so far away, Camelot. She walked the stone pathway, admiring her gardener's work.
A moment of reprieve.
“I don’t think that I’ve seen a place like this in my life,” came the sound of a voice - not unfamiliar, yet not familiar either, one of the strangers that came to this demesne granted to her while fleeing the wrath of the man who had been husband in another life. The voice was deep, though it carried the subtle melodies of an elven accent, carrying before the man it belonged to as he walked along the stone pathway - from the other direction, by chance.
The ivory-pale skin and hair of the tall snow elf marked him undeniably for what he was, his own utilitarian garments a stark contrast to hers. Worn leathers with fur edging, the cloak left behind for the slightly-warmer climate of this realm. At least here in the garden it was warmer, thanks to whatever magics might be in use to ensure these plants could live and grow.
“So much… green,” he continues, pale blue eyes gleaming with wonder as he looked over the lush foliage about them. The first real emotion she’d seen from him since arriving, previously met only as the reserved and defensive stranger standing with faces she found more familiar.
“It is one of the very few places that can sustain this kind of plant life, it took a great deal of effort, and I am immensely proud of it,” her blue eyes glanced over to him, it was clear she was taking him in, but what conclusion she came to was not given away by the carefully neutral face she held.
The notorious enforcer was slight, dressed in a gray gown that climbed high up her neck and down to her wrists, leaving nothing but her hands bare to those who saw her. Blond hair that had long gone white after death was pulled back from her face, several carefully placed silver pins kept it curled back in a neat bun. Diana Creed was very careful to ensure that her appearance, while not as harsh as the other enforcers, did not reveal anything more about herself.
“You keep interesting company, and have made interesting enemies,” it was not a question, merely a statement of his situation. “Several of your companions do not trust me,” she turned away from him, back towards the rolling green landscape of her personal paradise.
“Many of those who you travel with I already have a great understanding of what they desire, the lengths that they will go to,” she took a few steps forward on the stone path, assuming he would follow. “But you and the shorter ones I am not so sure about.” she glanced over at him.
“What would you desire to accomplish if I lend you my aid?”
That look of wonder faded for something more guarded as he drew closer, pausing nearby– though not impolitely near– to take her in with a sweep of eyes as pale and blue as ice beneath a clear day sky. Appraising her beauty, certainly, but also her manner, her stance, her movements and what they say about her.
“They have… lofty goals,” he admitted, moving to follow her unhurriedly down the path, hands clasping at the small of his back as he did so, “They want to change the world. They want to remake it, they want to cast down Diarmad, they want… so many things.”
The edge of a smile almost touched his lips, the ghost of it there and gone, “Before I answer that… why would you aid us? You have the power and wealth to create– this. You want, surely, for nothing in your position. Is this just you caring for friends of old, or do you want to replace him?”
“I am a slave,” her tone was flat, but that carefully posed mask was giving way to the venom she felt for the master of the enforcers, “My wealth, my power, it is all an illusion, it is to make a mockery of me.”
A carefully placed admission, if this man did not believe her aid was genuine then they would never manage to find a path forward. She could not withhold everything from them.
“More importantly than my wounded pride, I would very much like to see Diarmad’s head on a cold iron spike and outside of offering my aid to outside parties, my hands are rather tied on that matter,” she contemplated his last question, “I have no desire to replace him, the days of my desire to reign have ended. I lead my church, guiding the faithful to a path towards understanding. Politics had long since lost my interest,”
The woman’s words were flat, and poisoned, and yet the message within them seemed to bring approval from the elven man. He nodded slightly, watching her for a moment before looking out over the gardens they wandered through.
“We’re bounty hunters,” he said then - not answering her question, or at least not directly, “The three of us. We don’t work for any of the enforcers. We bring in bounties, take our pay, and then we leave. Because… we don’t want to be slaves.”
“So I understand that better than you might think.”
His arms shifted, and he lifted his left, regarding the construction of metal and wood that had replaced it at the wrist. “When Enforcer Oleander tried to make us such, that… ended our ability to exist between the lines.”
“Oleander is extreme, but perhaps you will find it a blessing that he drew you out of believing that you exist outside of the suffering of these lands,” She knew what mercenaries were like in Black Ice, paid well and often believing they would be left out of the fights between enforcers.
She turned a corner, moving off the stone path and into the garden itself, her feet were bare under her robe, not that he could see.
“You will need the aid of one of the Enforcers, and you will find me to be the most reasonable,” it was a fact, she did not need to prove it because she knew the bounty hunter had to have meet more than even just Oleander.
“Mnm. You aren’t wrong,” admitted the mercenary, though it clearly pained him to say the words. A sigh whispered past his lips, one hand lifting up to push back through the spill of snow-white hair, shoving it over his shoulders.
He moved to follow her into the garden, speaking quietly, “To answer your question? I’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep me and my own free. I don’t want to rule, I don’t care about //remaking the world//. If I need to kick some faerie bastard off his throne to do it, then that’s what I’ll do.”
He said it as if it were that simple. Maybe, to him, it is.
It was almost refreshing how easy he made it sound, as if by his desire alone he could topple what had held Black Ice together for so long.
But perhaps, she didn’t need someone with complicated ambitions.
“Perhaps, that will be enough,” she said after a moment of contemplation. “And in some ways I admire the simplicity of your desires, too often men come into the world wishing to own everything.” They both knew that all too well.
“But if you are to remake the world, remember to think of how you will ease all of those who have suffered as we have, not just those who you consider yours to care for,”
The edge of a smile came to his lips finally, then, as he looked sidelong to her. “I appreciate that you understand,” he said quietly, honestly, as most things he said were, “I think some of your… friends think me selfish for having so little ambition.”
“I gave up everything for people that I thought were mine, once, and they took everything in return,” the smile faded as he made the confession, turning his gaze back across the garden to seek some refuge in its beauty, “I would be… pleased if our actions eased the suffering of others, Enforcer, but I won’t cloak my actions in a veil of nobility.”
“We own nothing in this world but ourselves. Taking that away is the one thing I can’t stand for.”
That seemed to win some genuine approval from the Enforcer. “Honest as well it seems, it all your companions hold up as well as you perhaps we will be able to come to an agreement,”
They walked the path for a moment long before it led them back to the main stone path of her greenhouse.
“If you desire I will send a servant to collect you for dinner, perhaps we can speak on more details paths to move forward,”
“I can’t speak for most of them,” Altariel replied with a hint of wry humor, “Just the three of us.” The offer seemed to surprise him– a blink, drawing straighter– but then he smiled faintly, but genuinely.
 “I would enjoy that, I think. I’ll see you then, then.”