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(no subject)

Who: Elizabeth

not_apriest
Where: Gardens
When: Sunday, June 9th
Rating: PG
Summary: Elizabeth goes for a walk in the gardens and finds a priest. Might be some Bioshock spoilers depending on where the conversation goes.

Elizabeth has wandered the grounds here and there since her arrival, but there's still plenty to see. She hasn't gone far beyond the grounds and certainly not as far as the woods. She should go to the beach soon to have a better look at the ocean. Maybe she'll take a picnic basket with her and invite Mr. Dewitt. That guy could probably use a break. Elizabeth isn't sure, but she figures he's poking around all over the place looking for a way out. It's not likely he'll leave her behind, so until then, she occupies herself however she can.

Today, she goes to the gardens. There are so many interesting trees, plants and flowers for her to see. Many of them are entirely foreign to her, so she often examines them carefully and returns to the library to try and learn their names. Who knows, knowledge of the exotic plantlife here could come in handy one day.

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Aramis often went to the gardens to pray in the morning. If nothing else, it generally offered a degree of solitude; he found many of the people he was trapped with thought devout Catholicism to be quaint at best and laughable at worst. Philip, in particular, had been scathing in his criticism of faith. Aramis shrugged it off and sought quiet places to indulge his faith instead.

He noticed her before she saw him, kneeling at a low stone bench.

"Good morning," he said, getting to his feet and trying not to startle her with too sudden an appearance.

Elizabeth was a bit startled despite it, but she thought herself alone, so it couldn't be helped. When she saw Aramis though, she smiled and curtsied a little.

She's spoken with Athos several times already and D'artagnan even taught her how to ride a horse.. sort of. This particular Musketeer is one she hasn't gotten to know yet, but she finds him very interesting being a man of faith.

"Good morning, Monsieur Aramis. I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" It looked as though he was having some alone time before she arrived.

The curtsy was interesting. It was a gesture he was familiar with, and so seemed out of place here. He offered an incline of his head that was just short of a bow. "Miss Elizabeth."

He brushed grass off his knees.

"No, you're not disturbing me. I was just about done for the day."

"Were you praying?" She smiles a little. "Is it difficult to hold on to your faith in a place like this? This seems to go against most conventional things." Or maybe Aramis attributed this place to another working of God. It would really take something powerful to bring them all together like this.

She hoped her questions weren't prying too much. She just had an interest in learning about all sorts of things. Religion is something she's read a lot about.

"I was. And no, not really. I've held on to my faith through worse." He paused. "Oh, but you've read that book. You've some knowledge of my past with the Church."

"I have read it, but I'm trying not to attach you all to those characters too much. If you.. want to explain, I'd like to hear about it."

Wow, she feels very lucky all of a sudden. She can hear the story from the mouth of an actual Musketeer. But no, calm down, Elizabeth! She isn't going to pressure him into talking about those things. They are very personal, after all. If he wants to talk, she'll be glad to listen.

"That's kind of you," Aramis tells her. "I suppose I could sum it up by saying that the Church and I had a difference of opinion on what it means to be a man of God."

He watches her face for her reaction. So far, everyone he's met here knows of the Church and what faith is, more or less, about. Most have tended to look on it as quaint or even laughable, but they knew what it was.

"The Church, as an institution, is very corrupt in my time. More so than I realized as a novice."

Elizabeth most certainly knows what the church and religion are, but she's not laughing. She looks curious, more than anything.

"And you joined the church for the right reasons. To be a man of God." Obviously, he's a good person, so that must have been the case. "Sometimes, religion can be a tool used by others."

"Columbia, the city I came from, was founded by a man they call prophet. Father Comstock. I don't know much about him, and I've never met him, but I don't think he's a good person. Still, the people follow him. They think he's a savior."

Father Comstock, and selling himself as the new Saviour. That's exactly the sort of thing he's talking about.

"What makes you think he's not a good person?" Aramis asks curiously. He knows why he has suspicions, but he's interested in her opinion, if she's as sheltered as Athos has led him to believe.

She's told her story, or at least the beginning of it, to many people by now, so she's not entirely sure if she told Aramis or not. The reason for her thinking is obvious when one considers it.

"Well, he rules everything in Columbia. I don't think a good person would lock me away in a tower all my life. I just.. wish I could ask him why. What did he have against me?" The question is asked a little emotionally but then she calms down. Aramis can't give her the answer to that.

"It certainly doesn't seem like the sort of thing a good man would do." He frowned. "He locked you up having never met you?" Aramis questioned. "How did you escape?"

"I've been in that tower for as long as I can remember, Monsieur. Since I was a child. I've never met anyone until recently. Things would be delivered to me by a large mechanical bird. Everything from food to books were brought to my window."

As for how she escaped, "Mr. Dewitt rescued me. He just.. dropped into my library." Literally. "He had a key. I'm not sure where he got it. We never had the chance to talk about it."

"You... You never met anyone?" The story is horrifying on a very primal level. Everything he's ever done has involved a human connection. "Dear God. There's no possible sin that could warrant that punishment and certainly none a mere child could commit."

Elizabeth tries to remain composed in the face of his reaction. She knows it's sort of unthinkable.

"I'm sure when I was too young to care for myself someone must've cared for me, but I have no memory of it." She was too young at the time.

Unless it was also by a large mechanical bird.

He cocks his head slightly. "How did you learn how to speak?" he asks. "Who taught you how to read?"

There are many things that remain mysterious to Elizabeth when it comes to her own life, that's for certain.

"Much of it is self-taught. I had nothing but time. And there were film strips, audio, music, all sorts of things to immerse myself in."

"You learned speech from films?" He's only just learned what those even are. "And how are you adapting to life here? The mansion is increasingly crowded these days."

"Mostly audio. The film strips only have music, but they do have writing." It was a combination of things.

"Whoever put me there wanted me to learn how to speak and read and all sorts of things." She supposes someone was raising her, even if she never saw them.

"Oh, I love it here. It's all I've ever wanted to see people and try new things. I talk to people all the time here, and I'm doing things I could never do before. D'artagnan taught me how to ride a horse! If you can call it riding."

If D'Artagnan were present, he'd make a joke about not being sure that 'riding' is the word for what D'Artagnan does, but there's no point if he's not there. They tease the boy, but he's one of them; they don't make the comments to run him down. And certainly not to others.

"Yes, horses do have quite the minds of their own, do they not?"

"They do. But now I'm talking so much about myself when I had hoped to hear more about you."

She finds him entirely fascinating. He is a Musketeer, after all!

He laughs a little self-deprecatingly. "And what would you like to know about me? I'm not sure my story will be as exciting as the dramatization you've already read."

"Like you said, it's a dramatization. I want to know the truth."

She still loves the book, of course. It will always be among her favorites. Especially now that she's met the men who inspired it.

"How did you become a Musketeer?"

He shrugs. "I studied fencing from a young age, I was quite proficient. When I left the Church, it seemed the way in which I could best serve the King."

"Why did you want to serve the king? Is he a good person?"

Not all people in charge are actually good people.

"It's not about..." He pauses. "Elizabeth, I left the Church because it was failing people and it was failing the service of God with corruption and secrets and double standards. The monarch... the monarch is chosen by God. It's a more direct sort of service. There's a certain amount of faith and a certain amount of patience in waiting for the grand design to be revealed that's required. I don't think the King is a bad man, but he's a boy right now. In time, we'll see what sort of man he becomes."

"I envy your patience." She smiled a little. Aramis was obviously still strong in faith, even if he has left the church for a different path.

"With your help, I'm sure the king will become an excellent monarch."

"He doesn't take advice from us, but with our protection he might, at least, live long enough to become an excellent monarch," Aramis told her.

"You and Monsieur Athos are very smart. He should listen to you. A king should listen to those around him." Still, she supposes a king when always do what he wants.

"He has advisers for that." Not well-chosen advisers, and he doesn't trust the chiefest of them as far as he can throw him. But still. There are many in line before them to give advice to the king. "But we would be pleased to serve in any way that we can."

"I'm sure you would." He has been forthcoming enough in their conversation.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your business. I'm sorry for interrupting." Though she would stay if he wanted to speak further.

There's a bit of a self-deprecating smile. "I told you it would bore you."

"Oh no!" Has she offended him?

"Not at all! I just.. I don't want to pry too much. I know it must sound terribly odd, but I feel very comfortable around you and the others." She never knew people; all she knew were books.

"If there's ever anything I can do to help you, please ask. Everyone's been so kind to me. I didn't know what to expect when I got here."

"You're not prying," he assured her. "But I won't keep you. Perhaps we can speak again another time."

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