[b] [u]Astrid[/u] [/b]

Astrid sat at the end of the long table, legs propped up on it. Leaning back in her chair she watched the men fondle whores and drink themselves silly. What more could you expect from men, they were all the same. From her seat at the very end of the table, she could see everyone sitting along the table, ranking from lowest to highest, all the way up to the Queen. She was sitting at her own table, apparently convinced that she was better than any one of them. The stuck-up rich bitch. The sooner she got her money and was done with this place the better. In the mean time Astrid was going to sit here and enjoy the roasted pheasant with blackberry sauce. One thing she did have to admit, the food here was certainly better than anything she could get on the outside.

Jorrick stood up and gave a speech to the Iron Company. For the most part Astrid ignored it, she was here for the money, not the mislead ideas of religion heroism. She noticed it was done when the men around her began to shout and cheer, spilling alcohol everywhere. Wine from the man next to her flew into the air spraying all over her hair, turning the white-blonde hair red. Anger flared up in her stomach and she stood up suddenly, her chair sliding back, The man that had spilled the wine, hadnt even noticed her get up. Pulling back her fist she launched it into the man's nose causing blood to spray out and his eyes to water. 

His deep laugh was cutoff suddenly as he fell from his chair onto the hard ground. Through the combination of the punch and his massive intake of alcohol the man did not get up. He would be fine in the morning, except for his broken nose. Taking a deep breath as she stared the the sleeping body, Astrid reached up and swept back the hair on the right side of her head. It came away sticky and red. "Fuckin' drunk." The men around her had seen her knock the men out. Instead of what she expect to happen, fear to shine in their eyes and conversation to dip down, the men began to howl in laughter at the man who was now unconscious by a woman. Astrid nose crinkled in anger and disgust at the men, but did nothing except sit back in the chair she had thrown back.

--

[i]'Joachim, Theodore, Guinand and Wren! Get your ass out of bed and get in gear! Rand and Astrid, that goes for you too!”[/i] Eyes snapping open Astrid quickly rose from the hard bed she had been sleeping in, wondering why she was being woken up in such a hurry. She wasn't too bad after last night, but she could imagine that some of the others, especially the men, would not be happy about the rude awakening. Getting dressed, Astrid noticed an unusual amount of attention focused on her. Turning around she saw that some of the men were staring at her semi-nude figure. It wasn't like she was intentionally exposing herself. Face wrinkled in disgust, she hurried on her pants and shrugged herself into the shirt designed for a man.

Walking down the hallway, Astrid noticed Joachim walking unusually close to her. She turned to him practically growling, " 'Something you want?" Finally he spoke stuttering over his words in a sort of apology, [i]"A-Astrid, look, I wish to apologize for saying that your hair smells of blood. That wasn't very kind of me and I realize now that it was wrong of me to say it, regardless of whether or not it's true. Actually, um, I guess it's kind of true since you're a fierce warrior and all. So maybe it's a compliment.. I don't know, look, I'm just sorry I said it okay?”[/i] She was shocked at first by the mans outright apology. In this time of age, it was rare for something like this to happen. Thinking back to when the comment had taken place, Astrid could remember him stumbling over to him, half drunk, though not as bad as some of the other men. Blood and wine was in her hair from the man she had knocked out, so it was a fair comment to say that she probably looked and smelled like blood at the time. Not sure how to reply all she grumbled out was "Shut up."