Blasphemous Rumours (Cleo/Adara)

[Cleo Frost]

"I feel that I can" Cleo responded absently. She felt that she had gained Adara's trust now, something important if she was to assist Herr Snow, now she needed to work the conversation round to Emilian. "Likewise I am very good at holding secrets, and am always here if you need someone to confide in or offer advice, I know it's not always easy talking about things" Cleo said softly, edging closer to the topic of Emilian. "Is there anything at the moment that you may want a friendly ear for?" she questioned, wondering if Adara would trust her and tell.

[Adara Snow]

Adara looked back down at her hands, only half watching the motion of her fingers against her skirt. There was much in her mind, but she did not know where to begin, nor how anyone might help her sort her thoughts. She had only ever shared the barest details with anyone other than Emilian himself, and as for her current troubles, no one other than herself, Emilian, and possibly her father, knew. "I am sure...I would not wish to burden you," Adara said, though she didn't sound entirely convinced.

[Cleo Frost]

Cleo smiled encouragingly at Adara. "They always say a problem shared is a problem halved" she said gently. "I feel it is something similar to my own troubles?" she said, testing the water. "It is always about love I think. The boy said he loved me, he craved my affection but I could not give it" she broke off and sighed, this wasn't about her, it was about Adara. "Sorry, I want to help, I feel that maybe I can" she said softly, hopefully Adara would just accept her kindness and not question her knowledge.

[Adara Snow]

Adara chewed her lip in thought, debating, but still unsure. Considering all that had happened, all that was happening in Hogsmeade that she had learned of, it seemed almost dangerous for Cleo to become involved. But still, the temptation was overwhelming--everything was overwhelming--and Cleo seemed so genuine that Adara could not resist.

"My trouble is similar to yours," she admitted, glancing up at Cleo. "My father wishes me to marry a neighbor, to join our properties, and at one time, I would have been content to give myself for such a cause." She watched her fingers pick at an imaginary piece of lint on the fine linen of her skirt. "I have never before defied my father, but in this, I must, as I have given myself willingly to another, and he to me." Some day. Those words echoed in her mind, and she clung to them.

[Cleo Frost]

Cleo listnened, her expression grave. She thought before speaking her words carefully chosen so she did not give herself away. "Our parents have similar wishes, marriage for connections wealth, convenience. A marriage like that is worthless a gilded cage with no lock or key. I refuse to enter such an arrangement, I will have my freedom" she paused, returning Adara's gaze steadily. "You would have been content, as so many before you, but then you found love" she said softly. She knew she was repeating what Adara had just said, but she was commiting the words to memory, trying to draw together the pieces to create the picture.

[Adara Snow]

Adara looked up at Cleo from beneath thick, ink-black lashes, and nodded. She had found so much more than love, but she knew no more powerful word, or perhaps it was only that love itself was so much more powerful than anything in life or books might have hoped to prepare her for. "Father has forbidden me from seeing him," Adara confessed, dropping her gaze again. "I am to stay in the castle and await his decision." And still, she did not know what had happened that day after she had left Emilian and her father alone. She did not know if her father believed that she and Emilian were only good friends. And she hadn't the courage to tell him anything more.

[Cleo Frost]

"It must be very hard" Cleo said sympathetically. She had never been in love, of that she was sure, but she knew it when she saw it and that wistful look in Adara's eyes told her what she needed to know. She sighed, how could she try and break them apart, when her own troubles were for the same reason. "Have you heard from his at all?" she asked, careful to not say Emilian as Adara had not identified him yet.

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded, giving no thought at the moment toward the secrecy behind her communication with Emilian. At the moment, she was focused on the relief of talking, and of knowing that Cleo, as new to the school as she was, would not know Emilian's reputation, and would not know even that it was Emilian she was talking about. "I sent him an owl the first day, the moment I returned to the school, and a note through a friend. He was very brave, and had brought me a note from Emilian as well. Aside from that note, though, I have heard nothing, and if I thought that an owl might reach Emilian undisturbed, I would send him another."

[Cleo Frost]

Cleo contemplated her options, should she come clean? Or keep her mouth shut. "Who is it?" she asked gently, hoping Adara would provide her with the answer. She knew that she was taking a risk in what she was going to propose, but then Cleo had never relished playing by the rules.

[Adara Snow]

Adara blinked, her gaze meeting Cleo's and focusing. "The friend?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. She had already mentioned Emilian by name, so it could only be so. "Dare is his name," she supplied, "a friend of Michael, who is in turn a good friend to myself and Emilian." She thought nothing of the question. It only made sense to want to know who one was talking about, after all.

[Cleo Frost]

Cleo nodded, commiting the names to memory, she was sure she hadn't met either of the two boys yet but their names could come in useful. "So Emilian is the one?" she asked softly, she only too clearly recalled the visit to his shop, his absent mindedness and behaviour.

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded, smiling inwardly at Cleo's description; the one. Yes, Emilian was the one, the only one, no matter what her father might wish. Adara might have been surprised at herself for such blatantly rebellious thoughts, but her feelings for Emilian, and their relationship, were established fact in her mind, and there was nothing that could change them.

[Cleo Frost]

Cleo drew in a deep breath. "I've met him" she said quietly. She toyed with a blade of grass, letting her gaze focus on the distant forest. Inwardly she pondered about what was the best way to handle the situation.

[Adara Snow]

Adara's immediate response was a smile that brightened her entire face. "Have you?" she asked, almost breathless at the thought. If Cleo was so very new to the school, and she had met Emilian, then it must have been recently, and so Cleo would have seen him more recently than anyone else that Adara knew. As she looked at Cleo, however, her excitement tempered with concern. Was Emilian all right?

[Cleo Frost]

Cleo smiled at Adara's reaction. "Yes I went to the jewellery shop in Hogsmeade." she explained. "I spent rather a lot and got some very nice jewellery, he has a good eye" she said, although she knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear. "He was ok when I saw him, though he seemed a little distracted" she said gently.