[center][color=dimgray][h1]Tʏʙᴀʟᴛ Gᴜʟʟʏ “ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Qᴜᴇʟʟ Sᴇᴀ”[/h1][/color]
[img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/50e69e5e92335526a515d72f8e8e7ee2/tumblr_miqhxp49121rjd3hyo1_500.gif[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/xk6Gp0A.jpg?1[/img]
[color=thistle][h1]Lady Grey Coulbourne[/h1][/color]
[sub][i]Location: inside the castle.[/i][/sub]
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[center][i]Lord Tybalt Gully and Lady Grey Coulbourne have small talk and then discuss the Hyland family, detailing both Tybalt's experience with them as well as Grey's reasons for asking about them - they are interrupted by Grey's escort, whom promptly recognizes Tybalt from a former tournament, before taking Grey with him again back to the stands of the Coulbourne family, leaving Tybalt behind. [/i][/center]

[hider]Tybalt listened carefully to the lady, and was surprised to find she had outmaneuvered him. It was seemingly becoming all too common place for people, in particular women, to outmaneuver him in the heat of a conversation, but the lady he was talking now seemed to do so in jest, and not to insult his honor, unlike certain others at the feast. 

[b][color=dimgray]“You are right, my lady. It would appear I have put myself in quite the hypocritical situation, have I not?”[/color][/b] he said, looking at woman. She caught him out and now he was paying the price for it, by looking like a dumb oaf. But Tybalt was not above himself. He knew he wasn't the smartest man, and by extent that already made him a lot smarter than most people present at the party. When she gave him her name, Tybalt pleasantly found himself surprised by her surname. A Coulbourne? Those had been good people, the few times he'd met one. [b][color=dimgray]“A noble house, I must admit.”[/color][/b] Grey smiled politely but didn't respond. Yes, her family [i]did[/i] work hard to keep up its noble appearance. Selling her to the Hylands was proof enough of that.

She went on, and Tybalt did not interrupt her any more until she finished speaking. He found himself preoccupied with looking around the feast. Somehow his duties as a knight of Lhivoria found him scanning the area for people that might be out of place or up to no good. When Grey mentioned her guard might worry she was up to mischief, he laughed again. It seemed like lady Grey had a sense of humor, or perhaps she didn't recognize it. 

[b][color=dimgray]“Mischief..?”[/color][/b] he asked curiously, looking back at Grey now. [b][color=dimgray]“I'm sorry, but running off without your assigned guard does sound like a bit of mischief..”[/color][/b] She had the cheek to actually [i]wink[/i] at him, looking almost proud before taking another drink of wine. Tybalt looked away again, finishing his wine and placing the goblet down behind him on the table without looking. A casual gesture if anything. His words had been serious, but he did not feel any ill will towards Grey for being irresponsible. He couldn't blame people for not having the same sense of duty he had. That had been something he experienced regularily with Ithobal and Lucien.

Tybalt took a moment to reply to her question, not sure if he could even formulate an answer on his own. Frankly he wasn't sure [i]how[/i] he had found himself alone. He decided to just tell her what he thought was the reason, unsure if it was true. 

[b][color=dimgray]“Hm, well. I was accompanying my uncle, lord Arthur, but his son, lord Ithobal, returned and I found myself without purpose. So.. I went to speak to the Hyland family, asking them which of them were going to participate in the tournament. [i]But[/i] I quickly found my honor insulted, and the Hyland family closing in with their many sons and daughters. I took my leave, and here we are.”[/color][/b]  Grey perked up, turning fully to him at hearing the Hyland name.

Tybalt decided against telling her precisely how the conversation went, not wishing to talk of boring things like that. And perhaps it was also because he did not wish to talk around the back of the Hylands - he might've been insulted but he still had his honor. [i]Could the Hylands say the same?[/i]

[color=thistle]"The Hylands?"[/color] she said, putting down her glass. [color=thistle]"And… how were they? Did they seem a decent sort? Kind?"[/color] Grey couldn't bring herself to care how forward she was being, openly asking for gossip about one of the great noble families at a festival they themselves were attending. No, she was too curious, too preoccupied with plans on how to bring her girls to her. Or failing that, go to them herself.

Tybalt found himself quite surprised with how forthcoming Grey seemed to be. This woman knew no shame, it seemed like. Still, Tybalt did not care. While he would not speak ill of them behind their back, he felt it wouldn't be quite as bad if he were to just.. [i]give his opinion.[/i] 

[b][color=dimgray]“They seemed to be filled with pride,”[/color][/b] he opened, thinking back to how one of the ladies had insulted him, as if he were some lowly peasant. [b][color=dimgray]“One of the ladies had no qualms about subtly insulting me, and the lady Julia, while she was more courteous, was also quite hostile. However.. that might be because I am a Gully. They seemed to dislike me from the start.”[/color][/b] Grey tilted her head to the side as she listened, her eyebrows drawing slightly together in thought.

For a moment he glanced at Grey, wondering why she was interested in them at all. As far as Tybalt knew, the Coulbournes barely dealt with the Hylands. Did something change? [b][color=dimgray]“As for the men.. they were quiet. The two of them eyed me with a certain disdain and made sure to hold on to their weapons. As if I'd be so stupid to draw a blade. I'd reserve that for the tournament, as you'd come to understand. And even then.. to harm one of them? It's a tournament, not a war.. but they are young, and still stupid.”[/color][/b] Grey looked down, her eyes darting this way and that as her mind wrapped around this new information. Hostile. Proud. Defensive. Quiet and quick to their swords. These were not the traits of a family who would welcome two foreign-born bastards without Hyland blood into their house. But… perhaps this reaction was reserved for outsiders? Maybe once she was married to the Sky boy they'd be warmer – more inviting. Grey could only hope this was the case. Bringing Fayne and Linara to the mountain would surely be an easier task than escaping it all together.

Tybalt realized too late that Grey was also quite young, and made quick way to right what he had said. It would be a bad idea to insult the lady Grey, who had seemed quick witted and smart beforehand. Tybalt did not realize but he was rather enjoying the conversation, so he was not afraid of giving her the information she sought after.

[color=dimgray][b]“Of course not to infer all young people are stupid.”[/b][/color] Grey's eyes snapped back up to him, remembering that he was there. [b][color=dimgray]“It's just that Hylands are filled with pride, and so it causes them to act recklessly.. speaking of that.. one of the ladies did seem to behave more lady-like, like a true woman. I was impressed with her.. I think her name was Juliana? She seemed friendly. However, I feel it might be considered a bad idea if I were to speak to her at a later hour. I fear I might have the swords of her brothers in my neck merely for asking her a question. They seem.. rash like that.”[/color][/b] Grey gave a laughing smile as she realized the knight was trying to backpedal out of inadvertantly calling her stupid. What a charming man, he was – an enormous battering-ram of a knight, tripping over his words like a gangling boy. Grey decided then that she liked him.

[b][color=dimgray]“And what about you? You seem intent on finding out more about the Hylands. Are you planning on something? If so, my lady, might I advise not to do it at a feast? Anyone could hear us speak. I would not wish to incriminate you.. nor myself.”[/color][/b] Grey faltered and looked down. It was her turn to be awkward, it seemed. 

[color=thistle]"…No,"[/color] she answered, hesitant for the first time since speaking to Tybalt. [color=thistle]"No, I'm not planning anything, I…"[/color] She sighed before looking up at him And lowered her voice a bit to keep others from hearing. [color=thistle]"I'm to marry one of the Hyland sons,"[/color] she confided. Grey was too naive to not be honest, but she knew enough to keep the fact that she was marrying a bastard to herself for now. [color=thistle]"I've hardly been outside the forest, let alone up to Mount Promonon. This festival is the first opportunity I've had to even [i]meet[/i] the other nobles of Lhivoria. I just… hoped to know something about the family I'm to become a part of. I apologize. I didn't mean to… implicate you in anything."[/color] She looked down again, worrying her fingers.

Tybalt turned his head away from Grey, contemplating the situation he was in now. Well, as long as Grey kept her mouth shut, nobody would have to know. And if she ever did open her mouth, she would implicate herself too. So it was unlikely that she would talk about Tybalt telling her his thoughts on the Hyland family. 

[b][color=dimgray]“Marriage? Well. Best of luck. You don't seem like someone that would fit into the Hyland family, but that could also be said of anyone that is to marry princess Madeline - marriage is much less about fitting in and much more about politics.”[/color][/b]

As Tybalt looked around him again, he noticed a particularily angry looking man approach himself and Grey. Slowly he raised himself from the table which he had been leaning on, and put his hand on the pommel of his sword. [b][color=dimgray]“A friend of yours, lady Grey? Don't tell me I need to champion for you so soon. We barely met, ha.”[/color][/b] Although he said it like a joke, Tybalt did seem like the type to champion for anyone that he respected, and deemed worthy of championing for. However, it seemed more likely that this was the 'guard' that Grey had with her. And from the look of his face it seemed like he thought differently about Grey escaping to cause 'mischief' as she'd called it. A small voice came from beside him.

[color=thistle]"Uh-oh."[/color]

[i]"My lady!"[/i] the man said when he reached them, quielty enough to not cause a scene, but forceful enough to demand her attention. Grey almost seemed to shrink under his disapproving stare. If one looked closely enough, they could see her backing up behind Tybalt ever so slightly. The man, a middle-aged, armored fellow with graying hair and a noble stature finally seemed to notice that she wasn't alone. Immediately, he reigned himself in, not wanting to seem like he was dishonoring his lady and house by scolding her. 

Grey risked a glance up at him. 

[color=thistle]"Hello Sir Jory,"[/color] she said in a meek voice, [color=thistle]"have you been enjoying the festival?"[/color] Sir Jory's eyes snapped back at Grey at her audacity. 

[i]"[u]Yes[/u] my lady, the festival is very enjoyable."[/i] His tone was clipped. Grey's eyes went down again, looking to all the world like a child being disciplined.

[color=thistle]"Sir Jory, this is Lord Tybalt Gully,"[/color] she said, holding out her palm to introduce him though she was still looking down. Then the corner of her mouth quirked up then. [color=thistle]"Of the Quell Sea."[/color] The old knight seemed to finally force his anger down at hearing the noble name. He gave a crisp bow. Tybalt would respond with a smirk and a similar bow, though nothing too extravagant. 

[i]"An honor, my lord,"[/i] he said. [i]"I've heard many stories of the valiant Gully knight. You competed in the Summer tournament two years ago. An impressive show. I thank you for keeping watch over the Lady Grey. She is… an adventurous spirit."[/i] His obligation to show respect to the lord completed, he turned back to his charge. She risked another glance up at him, before shrugging a shoulder and attempting a shy smile.  Sir Jory sighed. [i]"My lady, I think it's time to return to the Coulbourne banners."[/i] She gave an obedient nod.

[color=thistle]"Of course,"[/color] she said. Then she turned to look up at Tybalt. [color=thistle]"It was a pleasure meeting you, Lord Tybalt. Thank you for keeping me company, and speeking with me."[/color] She curtseyed to him and gave a bright smile, though it was still a bit dampened by Sir Jory's presence. [color=thistle]"I hope we have opportunity to meet again,"[/color] she said. And then she turned and walked forward to her family banners. Sir Jory gave another bow to Tybalt and then followed diligently after his lady. Grey glanced over her shoulder at Tybalt one last time with a smile.[/hider]