[b]Tristan and Nin[/b]

Mort's face darkens, though not at you. Distant memories trouble him. Some past trauma most likely. Abstractly, the answer to your questions is that he needs to trust you and feel safe speaking to you because King Pellinore's anger problem is clearly quite bad. It's not that she would harm you, but she may well harm her knights for their incompetence, most likely when they're alone so that rumors don't spread. But that very atmosphere of terror, lurking just under a genial exterior also prevents Mort, or any other knight, from truly confiding in you. Asking how do people create trust with one another has a million answers. Perhaps the most obvious, if the most frustrating, is time. Ride with them, eat with them, hunt with them. Share stories and laugh together, and surely he will open up to you, intentionally or accidentally. If you're looking for something faster: save Mort's life (or at least do him a great service), swear him a favor and your secrecy with a binding oath, or find him alone and intimidate him with threats worse than what you think Pellinore may be doing if you don't mind losing his friendship afterward for that last. 

None of these can be done now, riding amidst the King's other knights. Instead, you come to a break in the forest to find the king standing beside her horse, gazing outwards to the treeline. The Questing Beast is nowhere in sight and its trail abruptly ends. 

"Fae magic" she seethes, loudly enough to be heard over the clopping hooves of horses, and you realize that this hunt will not be a short one.

[b]Constance and Robena[/b]

The name falls into a silence louder than a shining knight at full tilt. The world is still, save for the tiniest motion from Cath, the black and white cat, who steps quietly forward on little paws to nuzzle into Constance's leg, offering a little warmth in a cold land rapidly growing colder. 


*****END SCENE*****