This thy golden time (Andrei)

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

January of 1559

Normally Elizabeth disliked the winter months as everything died; or at least everything beautiful died. This winter was different; this winter life was going to happen. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach and knew it to be true when she had gotten word that the once Princess Elizabeth was going to be Queen! How grand!

Elizabeth knew good daughters would eventually be rewarded and Elizabeth's time to be rewarded was now. It made the small woman absolutely giddy inside to know that good things did happen to good daughters and since she was a good daughter to Reynold (even if he wasn't always a good daddy) that she would have something very good happen to her soon. Elizabeth of course knew she would never be Queen (nor did she want to be) but maybe one day and one day soon she would get what she wanted and had been looking for. Her mate of course! She just had to behave just a little bit longer and wait patiently like the Princess Elizabeth had to.
And she would.

Elizabeth had decided years ago that she wasn't going to go to court ever again, but she had never forgotten the Princess child, their similarities and so she would return for her coronation. Now that a woman held the power of the country, courts would be different; Elizabeth could feel that in the pit of her stomach as she dressed in the outfit she had made for the occasion one month ago. It arrived two nights ago and she was absolutely tickled pink at how the it had turned out, so much Elizabeth had wanted to put it on the second she saw the gown. Elizabeth had of course had many of wonderful garments given that her maker always bought her some when he went away and bought her more when he didn't go away, but this one she had picked out and had made given her own taste of style.
Wasn't what this Era was supposed to be about after all?

She wore her hair loose as she had no worries that Elizabeth would be threatened by seeing someone with the same color hair. They were women and they had to stick together and in a sense they were kindred souls. The Queen would know it once she met Elizabeth, she was certain of it. The head-dress was simple with random embellishments of pearls and green gems; elegant to let others know that she came from a family with money as well as the design of the dress and it's color. The kirtle, gown and corset all complimented the other just right. The gown was gold in color, while the corset and kirtle were a sage color. While most women started to wear other sleeves, Elizabeth was still fond of the bell sleeves which allowed her to conceal a small blade within them. The sleeves were gold until they met her elbows and belled out with a green imprint upon the gold color. At the nape of her corset was beading that matched her headdress gems to complete her outfit for court.

----

She arrived late in the evening, but so did many others. Elizabeth blamed her driver and brought the new Queen a gift of jewels to show off her respect for the woman as well as her adoration for her. Once her gift was given to the woman, adoration over how pale she was drew the attention of many of the nobles, so much that Elizabeth soon found herself enjoying the company of many women and even some men. She of course enjoyed conversation when it was needed with both and danced when asked to be the appropriate guest of the court. After what seemed to be hours, Elizabeth finally sat down and watched instead of doing. She loved to watch people; humans and vampires alike as it let her see everything everyone else failed to see.

She didn't miss the stunning Queen and the way her subjects loved to serve the woman. No one loved to serve Henry if Elizabeth could remember right, which made her eyes move to the spot she had first seen the princess (at the time). Elizabeth wondered if the Queen remembered standing there looking for her daddy and how lost she had looked. Now look at the woman; she held an entire country at her feet! It made he cackle quietly until a male voice from behind her caught her attention and stole the very laugh from her lips.

"You remind me of a woman I knew when I was a young man." Elizabeth turned around to give the man a smile and reassure him that she was not when she saw the small look of recognition in his eyes. "The way she moved on the floor...you must be her daughter." The man eyed her as he waited for her to speak, which had Elizabeth stand up and take a step backwards. Clearly she had made a mistake by coming here, assuming most were either dead or no longer part of court anymore. "I'm sorry. You must have mistaken me for someone else, perhaps my mother." Elizabeth lowered her head and swept into a courtesy to the man to excuse herself from his presence. "She did the same to me when I first conversed with her many years ago. Her name was the same as yours. I heard them announce you earlier in the evening." The man followed her slowly, as Elizabeth continued to shake her head and assure the man that she was not the same Elizabeth he was thinking of. He grabbed her wrist, which drew attention to the two by others that were close to them. Some came to her aide, others to his and soon he was mentioning the Elizabeth he danced with when he was just barely a man and this Elizabeth now. Eyes started to pick her apart with every word that passed his lips, her own doubling in size as she looked for someone to speak on her behalf.

[ava]

Being a lover of politics and a holder of various acres of land, Andrei found no excuse to hold him back from attending this important ceremony when England finally had a chance to rebound from the destruction and complete chaos. Things improved over time and while his complaints weren't as bad as many years previous, he found himself dissatisfied with the laws and other details of the general way of the land. So carefully dressing himself in the finest of clothing and up to date in the most fashionable, Andrei quickly ordered the carriage ready and soon hopped in, only to get out in the miserable weather of winter. Unlike years before, his skin easily took the harsh conditions; in fact, he hardly felt cold really. The winter used to arouse a sense of unnoticed fear within him; it was when young children died and the elderly, and those who were weak to begin with. Now Andrei hardly ever thought of death; since all those close to him vanished with the passing of time, he concerned his own thoughts with himself--he who was now an immortal and had no cares for what could kill him. Today made him feel a jolt of excitement that he had missed for so long; perhaps something to look forward to in the coming years.

While still a strict individual who walked with a rigid posture and a grim expression, his eyes lighted in delight for the opportunity of a social gathering. There were times when his taciturn personality gave way to a more social Andrei. Today was one of those days. As he entered, he felt the heat prickle his skin as he thawed out and took his seat, talking about the only thing he knew about: politics. For the most part, he conversed with various individuals, some of whom he knew their families before they were even conceived. It was interesting how features were similar to those before. Aside from his immortal observances, Andrei enjoyed his time with the occasional simple chatter. Among the crowd were many beautiful women who he admired from the sidelines and considered dancing, which he eventually participated in although a bit rusty, but Andrei gracefully pulled it off. Excitement bubbled throughout the room and even the vampire was moved by the swirling emotions that made his own self smile and replace his grim appearance with a softer one. For the first time, he was enjoying himself.

The evening grew closer to night and by the end of it all, or nearly the end, he chose to take a seat and talk with other gentlemen of the future hopes and aspirations the country of England would soon receive if this new Queen did a better job than her sister who burned nearly everyone at the stake. Just thinking of that sent a shiver up his spine and he noticed the concealed worry on some faces who thought the same thoughts. But pushing that aside, he decided to rely on hope, perhaps the only thing that continued living within him since he was turned a vampire. It was during the end of the ceremony when some were already leaving that he picked up a voice sounding somewhat uncomfortable. His gaze slowly drifted to two individuals that others were now aiding to. Andrei slowly got up and cautiously moved toward the center, eyeing the man who spoke to the young woman and to the woman who he heard earlier deny most of what the man said. Tension dripped in the atmosphere and Andrei imagined everyone stiffening at the bold actions this man took. Ridiculous; he was probably drunk if Andrei had any assumptions. "Surely the wine hasn't gotten to your head," he finally spoke, ending the silence of the onlookers.

Aggression never impressed Andrei, at least in these situations. "Perhaps it would be wise you remove your grasp from this young lady and leave her be. The ceremony is ending; you should go home and give your head rest. Wine gets to the best of us." The last sentence was only tacked on at the end and instead of sounding reassuring, it sounded the opposite: somewhat threatening and daring. The vampire held no patience for incompetent fools who resisted self discipline. His eyes never averted to the female, but instead bore holes into the man who seemed very confident in his story. Andrei tried his best to appear pleasant, but a darkened look came over his appearance; it wasn't easy standing there patiently when a fool in his folly stood before him. The vampire huffed a breath and gave a daunting smile that, trying to conceal the mockery. Finally he glanced to the lady giving no judgment, or at least he easily hidden. "Are you all right?"

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

With each word that was said against her, Elizabeth's eyes grew in size as she searched for her creator. She of course knew that he wasn't here because she had made it a point to not tell him where she was going. But now she suddenly needed him to protect her, but naturally he couldn't. This of course only agitated the woman more and as the man's grip tightened on her wrist, Elizabeth's face started to contort into one of rage, fear and regret.
She shouldn't have came. She should have stayed away from court like she had intended.

The hold was released upon her arm when someone mentioned something about wine, causing the attention that was on her to be shared with a man who had spoken seconds before. Elizabeth snapped her head around, crimson colored strands of her hair whipping around as she did so, temporarily blocking her view of the man until her fingers tucked her loose strands behind her earlobe.

A small smile fell upon her lips as she looked at the man, though he had not yet acknowledged her; acknowledging the situation in which Elizabeth had found herself within. The man who held her arm seconds ago, looked from the man to her as he tried to think of what to do next. "Any person could have made the same mistake good sir." Elizabeth kept the smile upon her face as one of her hands went inside her dress sleeves, readying herself to use the blade that had been concealed within. Not many would suspect a lady to carry such a thing on her; it wasn't proper. But Elizabeth knew that not even the men of the courts were proper; she dare even say kings were far from proper.

"Please forgive me. An honest mistake my lady." The man bowed quickly, turned on his heel and departed for the evening. The crowd that had gathered around her had started to slink their way out or to random corners of the room to gather those they had arrived and accompanied. Only when the crowd started to fade did the man directly speak to her, causing Elizabeth to focus her attention on him completely as her fingers slid out of belled sleeves.

"I am. Thank you my lord." Elizabeth grabbed her gown, dropped her gaze and gave a large curtsy to the man to show her appreciation for the man who had in a sense saved her life. Had the Queen's sister still been the Queen, Elizabeth was certain no matter what the man had said or done, her fate would have been different. Elizabeth rose a few seconds later, her eyes locking on to his facial features as she tried to see what others had failed to see. "I see with the changing of Queens, perhaps weeds may have been plucked and do not exist anymore." Elizabeth shifted her weight as she spoke and kept her voice low so that he would be the only one to hear her. Her head tilted to the right as she took in his entire features, from clothing to posture to better understand the man and his intent. Was he like so many other men before him or was he perhaps different? Time would only tell, but she was never one to wait for the answer to reveal itself. When she wanted something, Elizabeth wanted it now.

"I'm Elizabeth Canon." Her smile grew in size as she planted the seed of introduction that would keep the man by her for a little while longer while she finished figuring him out. "And we both are in ruse this evening my lord." Elizabeth was certain he was like her because as she watched him she noticed his lack of breathing and the way he rarely moved. Humans moved too much for her liking, something she had come to understand as needing to circulate their blood; in her opinion. Vampires didn't need to move their limbs as often unless they pretended to be human for various reasons. Even Elizabeth had to remind herself to move more than she normally did because she could just watch her prey for minutes,even hours before she moved an inch. "But isn't that the game of life my lord?'" Elizabeth laughed as she took a step backwards to show him that she meant him no harm before she spun around once and clasped her hands together in delight.

"Shall we depart before we draw suspicion upon ourselves?" Elizabeth kept her distance at the same length as she took light skips past and around the man. Clearly she wasn't waiting for his answer as her skips started to fade throughout the length of the building.

[ava]

In all honesty, Andrei didn't know what to expect, although he did think the situation would turn into something a little more dramatic. When it twisted the opposite of his assumptions, the vampire barely smiled, thankful for the outcome. The swirling emotions calmed down as the offender stalked away and Andrei noticed curious eyes slowly retreating to their own corners, no longer giving many glances their way. Finally, he directed his attention to Elizabeth. To her curtsy, he bowed strictly. "Most welcome, my lady," he responded.

From the century or so--Andrei quit keeping exact count--he learned various tricks of the trade and knew how identify certain aspects of an individual so that he could correctly guess their species. The important details he quickly encountered and responded to with the first flair of personality in his image; a small, knowing smile, but not overly confident. But he knew by this point. "Perhaps." He easily kept up with her soft, low voice and understood the need of privacy. Too many ears still strained to hear the conversation at place; Andrei never appreciated eavesdroppers.

He continued with the charade with an easy adaptable skill, although he soon noticed how rigid he stood. The strict lifestyle he lived he only exaggerated in his abilities now, something that he always reminded himself of. Andrei inhaled a sharp breath, probably too forced and easily noticeable. The air nearly hurt his lungs but he showed no discomfort and tried to loosen up his shoulders to appear more comfortable and ultimately mortal. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Andrei Crowley." He chuckled at her comment that managed to light up his eyes. "And yet, I believe it's not something we can help." He found himself under the gaze of scrutiny, but instead of saying something, he fell quiet and merely allowed it. A fellow vampire had rights to inspect the details of another vampire; perhaps she fell into the category labeled new to the species. It only made Andrei wonder and more curious at the same time.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Andrei Crowley." His eyes lit up as she mentioned the ruse. "And yet, I believe it's not something we can help." He shrugged, not carelessly however. For now, he found himself under her scrutiny but found nothing uncomfortable about it; she seemed younger than he was at perhaps it took her longer to figure the details out. Even so, not even Andrei concealed the creeping smile upon his lips. Another one like him; there seemed plenty around the place, but he usually encountered the mortals. "I suppose it is."

The suggestion made sense, but before Andrei had any given opportunity to respond, Elizabeth already made her way past him and out of this entire scene. With the event coming to a close, Andrei decided to follow although he made no rush to catch up to her, at least not yet. Not until the fresh, cool air of the night greeted him did he quickly make up the lost space. "You appear to be a very determined woman," he remarked offhandedly. "Do you believe this new queen will do England justice?" Unable to stray away from the topic long, Andrei considered the mind of a woman for once, something he rarely did. Perhaps the promise of this new queen brought his subjectivity to his attention, although he wasn't trying to reconcile himself yet by any means.

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

While Elizabeth took leave of the grand estate of the Queen's, she thought about the man's name. Andrei Crowley. His name was rather ordinary, but it wasn't recent in her opinion. His first name wasn't common, but his last name reminded her of the winged bird that was a pest in nature. The birds that used to spend their days in her garden stealing her hard work when she was human. Still, his hair matched their wing color and so she associated him with crows, hoping the man wasn't as much of a pest as they were.

The cool night air hit her tiny frame, but Elizabeth didn't know just how cold it was given that it didn't affect her any. With the occasional breath she took (she was slowly understanding that breaths were not needed for her survival, even though she had been a vampire for thirty years now) and exhaled out into the night air, Elizabeth knew that it was cold given that she could see the smoke of air that escaped through her painted lips. She turned and saw that Andrei was next to her, which surprised Elizabeth. She had made it a point to make quick haste from the building and hadn't heard him until he spoke. Reynold wasn't even that stealthy and Elizabeth was used to being faster than most given that she stalked the streets at night and had to flee more occasions than not.

A laugh passed through her lips as she slowed her steps to a halt and turned to face Andrei completely. "I know we have all the time in the world Monsieur Crowley, but even so, you and I can miss so much. All it takes is just one blink and our whole world can be transformed into something neither you nor I wish to remember or be part of." That was certainly true. While King Henry was a pig in her eyes, nothing compared to the life everyone was forced to live when Mary took the throne after her brother, the boy king died.

Elizabeth nodded her head at the question posed to her, without a moments hesitation. Anyone who knew the Queen as well as she did, wouldn't have asked such a question, but England had seen years of disaster and so one would be cautious about their country. "Fear not my lord! When the path of the sun is not easily seen, will a flower not adapt to thrive in any way it can?" Elizabeth twirled around on one of her booted feet, laughing as her hands shot into the night air. "The man was not wrong when he professed to have seen me years ago. I met the Queen when she was just a young child and her mother was stolen from her one eve." Elizabeth stopped twirling to face Andrei completely.

"She has endured much, not only because of her title but who she is. She has to be better, she has to succeed because she is a woman. She is under more scrutiny than any before her because she is a woman and because of her terror of a sister. They will want her to fail, they will want to pluck every petal off her to reveal her stem and embarrass her, but she knows she cannot allow this to happen." Elizabeth nodded her head again and stepped closer to him. "She will be glorious. You shall see Monsieur Crowley." Elizabeth's tone was quiet, but clearly excitable as she spoke about the Queen; one would almost think she knew the woman intimately given that she spoke so highly and so certainly about the woman.

"Have you seen much of the world, my lord? My creator likes to stay in one place for as long as he can. Do you know Reynold? I've not seen you before, I would remember. Do you come to court often, my lord? Do you find keeping a pretense exhausting at moments?" Elizabeth put her hands behind her back as she asked question after question about him. Once a moment of silence filled the air, Elizabeth stepped away from him, indicating that she hadn't planned on staying in one spot for too long.

[ava]

There was something admirable about her, a quality which few women possessed in these times, one he associated with intelligence and a deeper embedded knowledge. "You speak truly," he replied. "Although I doubt we can do much to keep the world from transforming into what we dislike. Times will come and the power will slip through our very hands. I try not to fight destiny so much." Time, Andrei considered already beaten. "Whether I wish to be a part of it or not, I suppose we all already are." Past memories easily came to mind, those he thought were long forgotten, like dusty books left to rot on the bookshelf.

Andrei chuckled aloud, but it sounded hollow like the winter winds that swept by London. "Unless that flower is a weed, in which case it will destroy everything in its path and take over." Andrei remained hesitant about the new Queen. The fact that she had yet to take an offer of betrothal concerned him to say the least. He always referenced the last queen, the crazy, murderess one that even now made a tingling crawling sensation creep up his spine and would have stopped his heart if only it still beat. He tossed the thoughts aside and turned his attention back to Elizabeth when she confessed the truth about the man that approached her earlier. It came to no surprise to him; mortals could be quick to catch on to certain details, the one thing dangerous about them.

"Best be careful about your cover then," he cautioned. The very thing happened in past years to Andrei. And this was the reason he stayed on the move; luckily he held plenty of land from generations past and through his own work, his own mortal work. Elizabeth's high praise and trust in the Queen made Andrei shy away from the thought even more. To say his faith disappeared completely over the years would not be far from the truth. Hope betrayed him many times already, so had optimism; the only two choices left were pessimism and reality, both taken with precautions. "Have we all not endured much?" Rhetorical question that slipped out, revealing a rougher edged side of the strict vampire. He quickly took back his words with a step to the side. He believed it true though. "I am not among those who wish her to fail. My adoration of England is too great for me to be as shallow as her critics. The foundation of this country rests upon her shoulders." Not all hope had been abandoned, but Andrei understood the current situation with great detail. The fall or the flourish of the country resided in her. "I will hold out hope that you are right."

Andrei walked along and heard the long thread of questions. He assumed this vampire was relatively young. In fact, he regarded himself as a fairly young vampire, but she appeared more recent. "Indeed I have. Most of our neighboring countries." Going across the ocean or using the ocean as means of transport stayed closed to his options. "Your creator understands the ways of mortals. Unfortunately time passes as quickly as the seconds, so it seems." Reynold. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but Andrei could not place the name to a face. "I do not." Her questions continued and he laughed softly. "More often than I have in years. I returned to this part of England recently. And you?"

Pretenses, yes, Andrei would admit that he found them very exhausting, overdone, and frankly annoying. To constantly change stories around, continue the lineage that others remembered in the back of their minds was hard work. Keeping stories straight turned into hell. "I do. I assume you do as well. It only gets worse with time. Keeping stories straight, making sure people who knew you are gone . . . You have to keep working at it. Keeping up with the changes and getting rid of lifelong habits even worse." He paused on his rant, not realizing how tedious the details had been in the near past century. "Trial and error I suppose teaches you the most. You will make mistakes." Andrei detested mistakes with all of his might; he found himself less perfect as a vampire than before the drastic change. "And you and Reynold, how long have you resided here? Or plan to?"

[/font]

[Elizabeth Moriarty]

Elizabeth enjoyed the vampire's company that she saw and met this evening. He spoke plainly and followed her words well. He was like so few men of their time, allowing her to state her opinion and not laughing at her. He was unlike most humans who bit their tongues out of fear of what might happen to them when another disagreed with them. Not only was Andrei's company enjoyable, but it was worthwhile to the young vampire.

Their opinions differed when he spoke of them not being able to do anything and power slipping through their fingers. Elizabeth never allowed anything to slip past her if she knew about something. She believed that if one wanted something done, she should do it. Usually her methods were more extreme than others, but there would be no contenders who could ruin Reynold's power he held in the small town because of her. No one would destroy her new found family because she would not allow such a thing.

Her eyes doubled in size when he spoke about flowers being weeds and how they destroyed everything. Yes, weeds did destroy everything to survive. Which was why she destroyed them at every opportunity she could. Weeds that survived grew over beautiful things and transformed them into the most hideous of things. That she didn't allow either.

Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder how much time had slipped by for Andrei, knowing now that he had to have been older than she. Maybe not in terms of human age, but when it came to their vampire age, there was a sense to the man that could only be described as elderly.

Elizabeth knew it then when he mentioned her watching her cover. It seemed as if he was offering her a suggestion, but the tone in his voice indicated that he had been in her predicament before and he was trying to save her from the same thing he had endured. It was a gentle warning.

At his question, Elizabeth titled her head as she thought about everything that she had endured. Her eyes flitted from his face to the ground as thoughts of her human life invaded her immediate thoughts about the vampire next to her, the evening itself and the new Queen. A frown formed on the corner of her lips as she nodded her head quietly. She supposed everyone had endured something; some more than others of course.

A smile appeared upon her face again as she heard how Andrei spoke about his own desires about the Queen and how he didn't want to see her fail. His reasons were different from her own (again), still they both wanted the same outcome. For the new Queen to succeed and for life to be better than it had been the years prior.

Elizabeth tried to imagine what life would be like outside of England and Paris, feeling slightly jealous that Andrei had been able to find out first handed. Elizabeth's steps changed as she listened to him, not so lithe and carefree anymore. She wished she could travel more than Reynold had allowed her too, but knew that someone had to stay at their 'garden' to make sure that everything was being taken care of. He always brought back the most wonderful of presents, though she would like to see the places her jewelry and dresses came from.

"I'm always stuck here, but Reynold found me in Paris years ago. He travels from time to time, but we've lived in the same place for almost my entire creation." Elizabeth sighed, knowing now what Andrei was referring too. She had always wondered if it had been dangerous, but any dangers she might have had in her mind had been taken care of by brute force. She never knew how old Reynold was, but she was certain he wasn't much older than she because he missed his land when he was gone for too long. Elizabeth didn't miss her human family at all; in fact she rarely spoke about them. Part of her liked to pretend as if her human life never existed because of all the loss she had endured during her years as a human. It was like a nightmare that she had been saved from when Reynold created her.

"I suppose I will stay with him forever, though I think I shall go to America one day. He's a good creator even if he doesn't let me accompany him on trips around the world." Elizabeth pouted for a moment before she hopped once excitedly. "You should come for a call one evening, or many evenings! Reynold loves talking about his travels and showing off all the things he knows about the world. Though I think we always have much to learn even if we think we have seen it all." Elizabeth nodded her head at the statement. She was a curious one, always wondering how the world works the way it does and why humans (and vampires) do the things they do.

With another spin, Elizabeth was almost in Andrei's face, her eyes lighted with excitement and eagerness. 'Do you enjoy the hunt Monsieur Crowley?" Elizabeth spun away as quickly as she came, her feet stepping away from the man as her eyes swept the immediate area for a form of entertainment for her.