Simon and the Dilemma

'She's what?!' Simon yelled.

'She's afraid of you, Sir' the chamberlain replied.

Had she really gone that far? Simon almost spat on the stonework of the bedchamber with the taste of it. Then he sighed and shook his head. Another ploy? Another small manipulation or just the manipulation of the chamberlain? The truth?

He looked into the chamberlain's rheumy grey eyes "I don't know what to say, other than it's ludicrous!'. A surge of frustration made him tense his jaw and grimace before he took his face in his hands and massaged. 'There are not enough rude words to accurately convey how fucking STUPID all of this is... AARGH!'. He then proceeded to curse a blue streak that raised the chamberlain's fluffy eyebrow. 'Sir, you are a wordsmith!'.

Reaching up to his ear he scratched it in thought. 'Well I hope you know better than that' he muttered. 'Indeed Sir!' the old man chirped cheerily, smug look on his face. 'How much do I pay you?'. 'Not enough for blind devotion Sir'. Simon grinned and shook his head.  'I've found blind devotion worthless and costly, not to mention troublesome and ....that whole line of thought makes me angry. So I guess that's easily solved. She can think what she bloody well likes because there's nothing the hell I can do to change her mind'.

'You could tell her Sir'. Even the tone of the chamberlain's voice expressed doubt.

'HA! and you're a jester!' Simon crowed.

'Indeed Sir'.

'Bring me a port please'. The chamberlain nodded and turning on his heal strode from the room. Simon was left alone to his thoughts, staring into the fire.

The chamberlain returned with a hefty charge of port in a crystalline glass.

'I KNOW!! I'll leave a message for her where she could only see it if she made the choice herself! That way she has NO excuse to be scared, even if she really is! Completely non-invasive, non-threatening!'. 'Brilliant Sir!' the chamberlain replied, straight faced'.

'I guess of all things she deserves, it's not to be afraid' Simon muttered softly as his eyes wandered back to the fire. Cedric placed the port on the sidetable before quietly retreating.