#kit:threads

[thornsxcrowns]

who: kit & open

where: hyde park

Kit was not used to feeling watched when riding. She had been planning to get some exercise, some fresh air after such a long journey trapped within their coach. When she asked, the housekeeper had told her Hyde park was the best place in London to ride. The housekeeper had not mentioned that in Hyde park riding was less about speed and power, and more about being seen looking attractive whilst moving at a slow trot.

Kit was considering turning around and heading home when her mount suddenly reared away from a person she had not noticed. She pulled quickly on the reins, nearly being thrown as she tried to bring it back under control.

Catching herself she dismounted, calming her horse as she pulled it aside "My apologies!" She called, "I didn't see you there. He's been restless all morning and I hoped taking him out would calm him. I think the slow speed has only made him more unsettled." Finally she turned, able to get a proper look at the person she had nearly trampled. "Are you unharmed?"

[thornsxcrowns]

She heard the catch in his voice, unsure what it meant, but finding she could sympathize nonetheless. She too knew the experience of being on the outside looking in - had feared it would happen once more with her mother's marriage. Instead she had been welcomed into the fold, with her brother-in-law in the position she had thought she may occupy.

"Do you want it?" She asked, a genuine question. "If you could snap your finger and make it so, would you want to be brought into the fold. To live the life our father planned for you? To give up your chosen family for your birth one?" She suspected what his answer would be, but people surprised her more often than she guessed right.

"Do you truly believe our experiences will be the same in this matter? Perhaps my mother, and our sibling are safe in his affections. Perhaps he would never publicly denounce me - but there are other ways to show dissatisfaction in my choices. Little ways to push me out of a family I have been in for such a short time."

This family dynamic he saw was not by chance. Kit had maneuvered and plotted to earn her adopted father's affection - just as a young woman may maneuver to show a suitors family that she was fit to marry their child. She had played the part, assessed what he wanted and delivered the image of a daughter he had in mind. She had fought to dodge marriage arrangements which could have led to her being shipped away before she had time to make a home at Thorne house, all the while ensuring it was not seen as a slight by Lord Thorne nor a condemnation of his own choices.

She was surprised by his praise - frustrated that their conversation made him seem more human to her, not less. "And yet, I fear there are so many in the Ton who would not agree, who see people making something for themselves as a threat to what they perceive as the 'inherent class structure'. Even the rise in station we gained from our parents marriage has led to accusations of us as being 'upstarts'."

He described himself as a rake, and she wondered at the phrase. Were the gender roles around them less structured she might have found herself drawn to the life of a rake. "I do wonder at the use of that term - rake - we use it both for men who flirt, men who avoid marriage, and men who cause genuine harm to others, who lead them on and endanger their prospects in the future. I do not think these things should be captured together. If you are a rake, which category do you fall into?" If it was the latter he would lose any respect she had for him, but perhaps she would also have another tool in chasing the downfall she had already revealed too much about.

"I want control over my own destiny" she said, it was so simple, and yet so unattainable.

"Home has never been a place for me. I have been pulled from place too many times. Even in my childhood home I could feel the world my mother had left behind, the pieces she tried to find, perhaps to ensure we did not completely leave China behind..." Pieces which are now in the house they both live in. "Home is the communities we build. The people my mother surrounded herself with, the times our halls were filled with people she loved. The community that surrounds Shrewsbury - the people we serve as our vassals."

"Each time I have moved I have had to leave that community behind. Doing that again will feel like the third home I have lost - the third time I have had to rebuild. I am not willing to do that again lightly."

The stress between them was palpable and he wouldn’t have been surprised if anyone around them felt it too. The two of them trying to hold onto something or some sort of upper hand that probably didn’t even exist anyway. There was one person who held the power in their family, and it wasn’t either of them.

“I do?” The surprise is all over his face that fades more into contemplation as he listens to the rest of her words. “I don’t fear you or your mother and it’s not that I don’t see there’s a space for you in the family, it’s quite the opposite. You all fit so perfectly together.” The first thing he noticed when he was forced back into their family home was how different it was. Warmer, for certain. Not to say it wasn’t when his mother was around, as much as it could be, but it was different. Even more jarring was the emptiness of his room. In his youth, he never felt like he fit into the Thorne house and the expectations but when he returned that feeling was only deepened and shown more by the four new siblings that appeared.

There was one that she didn’t say but he thought there would be time for that. She had the ones that counted, and he knew they were such an important type. “Still? You’ve lost some?” That was interesting. “Trying to make a life you want. Whatever our feelings towards each other, that I admire.” It was as close to a compliment as he could get. “If you do it in the context of society, I’m sure Lord Thorne will be ecstatic.” Despite the compliment, there’s an edge to his words.

“Loving is easy, but I disagree on it being overrated. You have to trust to love and risk it too but I’m a rake, I know its different for many people. Here, in this place, there’s not much of either. The only thing people worry about risking is their family’s reputation and money. Sometimes the wrong person you trust is yourself.” Mr Thorne, he gives a small, very subtle chuckle at that. “A lot to gain from our downfall,” he tuts. “I don’t think of you or your downfall but how curious you think of mine. Are you planning on taking me down Miss Rowley?” A jab that he can’t help but do.

“If you think he’ll sour on you or your mother then you do not have eyes. He dotes on the two of you. We share a blood sibling because of them. If, by whatever reason, he sours on your mother, or you then he won’t abandon you. You could dishonour him, enrage him, disappoint him and he would still keep you in the family. People can change but the man is staunch in tradition and family honour, so he won’t toss you aside if that is what you’re worried about. Enjoy his generosity.”

Hearing her voice crack, he knew how much it all must mean to her and how difficult it would be to live just to be the value of someone else. It was how he felt as an heir but nowhere near to the extent she did as a woman. “What is that you do want? A title in your own right and to be the head of some family so you don’t have to work for other peoples whims? He won’t make you head of this house; he has an heir already.” Even if the heir didn’t want it. “Maybe if I’d died at sea,” Tobias laughs but it’s a dark joke.

“Fine,” he huffs. “You probably know already from the whispers of our servants and whatever the lord and lady have said. I lived on a ship for years. I had a bunk in a crowded room below deck that got extremely cold on the water but that was home for ten years.” Nothing of the two years that followed before he was returned to his father’s control. “Your turn.”

[thornsxcrowns]

"I am becoming even more disappointed to have missed it! I would have loved to have seen the faces of the nobility when it was announced. To witness them realize that their titles and money do not make them better than all the others in society. That perhaps relationships should be about more than power and prestige."

Kit themselves was not particularly enamoured with the idea of a love match. They supported it in principle but they did not see themselves as much of a romantic. They did want choice, however. The ability to marry for compatibility, based on their own desires, and not the Ton's idea of what was 'propper'.

"An interesting theory" they were as susceptible to gossip as any in the Ton. It was what made Whistledown so successful - sparking speculation and hypothesising across society. "Do you think Mr Howell had his own ambitions of being named this season's bachelor?"

Kit has been shocked by just how full their social calendars were in London. It was a never ending cycle of social visits and events. "I hate that you're right. I've only been here a couple of days and I am already exhausted!"

"I could imagine so. First an American as the Diamond, and then a common man as the Bachelor. It should seem that Her Majesty is not happy." Virginia said that, but she didn't at all look down on those who were not aristocratic like her or Kit. Rhys was not rich, and she loved him deeply even three years later. Virginia gave Kit a nod, agreeing with them. "Yes, change is inevitable, even in our circles. I'm sure something will happen soon."

She hummed softly at the other person's words as she pretended to think. Showing too much emotion was not good, as she had learned. She needed to be discreet. "I can only imagine. Perhaps it was a fight over the Queen's announcement. It is all said and done, now. I am sure there will be more brawls to witness in the future." Virginia said with a soft smile.

"Should we be heading back home soon? I imagine there will be an event we will need to get ready for." During the season, there was always something going on. Whether it was a ball, a tea party, a promenade, a horse race. There was little time for comfort and relaxation.

[thornsxcrowns]

"- Thorne" Kit supplied, the name still sounding foreign on her lips. They had spent so many years a Rowley. So much of her identity had shifted, yet the name was the last sticking point, the element that just didn't seem to fit. "Not the most conventional way of making someone's acquaintance, but I am pleased to meet you nonetheless."

"It really is the least I can do - it seems I am not yet used to how crowded London is. I am making a terrible habit of running into people." She was aiming for a self-deprecating tone but instead came across as frustrated.

"It is my first time, so I am keen for your recommendations!"

Vera had her head over the clouds as she was walking. She thought about Princess Sophia’s words and what possibilities she would be thinking about. The idea of someone of her status matching with someone so high in ranking was beyond belief.

The idea was almost laughable, but there was probably more to the intentions that were placed ahead of her. She had been observant of how things went, with the diamond and the bachelor, separate but chosen to forge the same path, if not together. For now, she could always just help her own family gain favor.

So her mind was elsewhere. “No, no, I wasn’t paying attention either,” she said. “Miss—” her head tilted to the left, realizing she did not have the other’s name yet. “But if you are offering more as well as company, I’ll happily oblige.” Vera’s lips curled up into a smile as she nodded and turned back to the counter again.

[thornsxcrowns]

There is a tension between them, so taut it could snap at the smallest tug. It was the result of their fear, their vulnerability - their knuckles are turning white with how desperate they are to hold onto whatever tether they think it is the other threatens.

"You didn't, but you treat our presence here as something to be feared, something which has more to do with you than it does with a widowed woman seeking happiness. You may not see love as finite, but you do not see space for me or my mother within your family." And he was not alone, she knew that. If their father died without a will there would be nothing for them, only a light societal pressure on the new Lord Thorne to consider their wellbeing.

"It would be a very sad life if I did not have people who I think of when someone says the word love. My family, the friends I have outgrown and the ones who stand by me still..." Everything but Eros, but that had always seemed like the least important type of love to Kit. "All of the small actions I take to be a person I could love. To craft a life worthy of celebrating..."

It was frustrating, when his words rang true with her. They spoke of love and of trust, one given, captured in so many unique ways for unique people, the other forged, earned. "Loving is easy, overrated. A fact that we spend to much time worrying about. Trust is different - I can risk loving the wrong person, it would simply be an emotion recovered from in time. Trusting the wrong person could destroy everything. Someone, Mr. Thorne," She is deliberate in her use of 'mister' instead of his courtesy title. "I doubt you and I will ever trust each other. Not because of any stories, heard or inferred, but because whatever we tell each other, what ever we do not know, we are both far too aware that the other has a lot to gain from our downfall."

She had not meant to speak more, yet she found herself spilling, letting the fears which were constantly pressing at her seep out. "Does it really count as security, when it is so reliant on another. Were your father to sour on my mother we would have no recourse, no legal action, to advocate for ourselves. Security and reliance are not the same thing, as we currently stand all I have is reliance. Reliance on a man who has accepted me as his own, yes, but you should know as well as anyone that people can change quickly, even the ones you thought you could trust."

Her voice was cracking now, "I have whatever he gives me, and that is all. All I will ever have. A dowry set aside so that a husband may one day subsume it into his own estate or business. Something attached to me to make me even more attractive to men who get to make something of themselves."

Brother-sister bonding, somehow she doubts they could ever have such a thing. "And in return? Will you tell me of your own? Reveal where home is to you? Risk showing me a weakness I could eventually use against you?"

There were times in his isolation that he heard the most unusual sound coming from his father. Laughter and that the man sounded happy as he could hear him playing with the two youngest of his sisters. An odd thing for him to hear in the walls that he never felt or wanted from the man. Both disappointments to each other.

“I never said it was finite,” he says too hastily snapping at her and he knows its not fair to be that way to her when she was just answering a question he asked. Trying to calm his mood, he continues listening to her and can’t help but feel his mood lessen at the Greek words he’d known and felt so deeply. It all flashes across his face. Eros, he sees the face of his lover lost. Philia, the crewmates he’d regarded as brothers. Agape, the moment he decided to leave the safety the ship for love and storge, the mother he’d ignored to continue his selfish adventure. All at once they come to him and he can’t make numb his face to it but instead tries to hide it with a drink of tea and wishing it were something far stronger. “You sound as if you know what you’re talking about. Is there anyone that you attach to those words or are they something you read from a book and only know from reading stories?” That existence making their own meaningful rang true deeply to him and he never thought he’d hear that from a stepsister. In his limited information about her, he thought her just someone who wanted to play societies games and thrived in it but know he could tell there was a deepness that he failed to attach to her for his own ignorance.

“I heard someone once say trust isn’t given, it’s forged. Earned, even. Neither of us have done anything to each other to grant it.” He can’t help the smile on his face at the later part of her comment. She was right. “I don’t expect you to trust me at all. I can only imagine the stories you’ve heard or that you’ve come up with about the wayward heir, chasing the sea.” His voice mocks and tries to do an impression of their now shared father as if to emulate what he thought the man would have said.

Security was a decent enough reason. It wasn’t vain or materialist and made it harder to judge when instead he understood it. He’d never understand it to the extend she needed it, not even close, but he liked the reason enough and did believe her. “I would have thought Lord Thorne gave you and your mother that security unless you want it on your own.” Again, something he could relate to in a vague sense.

“Then tell me of your sacrifices.” He doesn’t think she will and doesn’t expect it either. It was hers to keep or tell as she so chose but given that they both said trust wasn’t there between them, he thought his words came out more as a challenge than anything. “Call it brother-sister bonding if it eases you.”

An eye roll fights him. “You have protections of an Earl and your family is tied to his in more than marriage with him and your mother having a baby in Dianna.” It was still so strange to have an infant in the home. “You’ve been given a home from the one we shared in Shrewsbury, the London one here, the family name, the status of it and no doubt he has a exuberant dowry for you. You need only ask him and you have anything. I can see that he wants his wife and daughters to want for nothing.”

[thornsxcrowns]

It was so easy not to consider what Tobias's father had done to him. She was too clever not to suspect - to realize that her adopted father had acted in a way which would disturb her if she let herself dwell on it. The man who had stepped up as a father to her evidently had not done the same for his son. She survived by not thinking about it, and part of her hated herself for it.

"Love is not finite. There isn't a limit to how much we can feel and for whom." It was a strange thing for her to try and express, particularly when her feelings on romance were so conflicted "It is an individual relationship we have with the people we care about. Eros, Philia, Agape, Storge - different words for the people we are willing to sacrifice for - whose existence makes our own more meaningful. Our parents love does not have to come at the expense of their love for another..." It was what she told herself, when she thought of her father. In those moments when she wondered what he would think of their new lives.

"Then we cannot trust each other." It was not a revelation. They were not allies, and never could be. "And you cannot expect me to risk trusting your intentions."

Her desired outcome was so simple. A home of her own, an identity which could not be traded or lost at the whims of the men in her life. "I want security. I want to no longer feel as if I have to prove I belong." And that was all he would get out of her. Her desires she would share, her goals and plans she would not.

"You're right. I know nothing about your sacrifices, nor you of mine. We are too different to ever understand each other." She truly believed that, unable to admit that in reality there was so much common ground between them. Ground neither was prepared to tread.

"Given to me? I own nothing in our home. Have no rights, no protections. Like every home that has come before me staying is completely reliant on the whims of others. I have been given nothing."

Tobias simply nods at the answer. More than a year seemed like a decent enough time but the stony expression on Kit’s face and the words that followed struck him harder than he wanted to admit and his own expression turned hard, the beginning of a glare. “Keeping people locked away until he deems it suitable would be a typical action of Lord Thorne,” he snipes but quickly tries to cover it. “And how do you think love works?” scoffed in her direction.

He remembered first seeing them all when he returned. It was only a flash, a glimpse of them in the hallway as he’s ushered to his private room to be made to look like the heir his father expected. He wasn’t even sure what he must’ve looked like to them. Long hair, thick stubble on his face and dishevelled in a state from being locked below deck on the journey back to London and no doubt a crazed look in his eye.

“That’s my own desire not to share.” He wanted to be back with the man he loved and live a life together, away from being this heir and crushed by his fathers’ expectations but he didn’t want someone unknown to him taking more of his family away. The house had changed; he could barely see his mother in it. “And what is your outcome?” Coming out of his mouth it sounded like an accusation. A snicker comes out of him, a shake of the head at the mention of sacrifice. “You think I don’t know that or that I haven’t sacrificed? You don’t know what I’ve gone through, you don’t know what I sacrificed or what I’ve sacrificed against my own will.”

There was some part of him that understood her and saw her way but his impulsive, suborn, and hot-headed nature got in the way. “You say that as if it’s an unknown concept for me. I gave up this home and made a new one twice over. This one was given to you.”

[thornsxcrowns]

The princess was eloquent in a way Kit admired. Painting a vivid image which instantly piqued Kit's interest. "It certainly can, although I am not sure respectable ladies of the Ton are often exposed to dirt. Unless of course you suspect someone may start slinging mud." It was not out of the question - there was nothing the Ton loved more than gossip and scandal.

It seemed the princess was no different, although Kit was beginning to suspect what she craved was not gossip, but chaos. Kit found she could not help but agree. "A rumored fight between the Queen's bachelor and Mr Rhys Howell. Unfortunately I was not there myself and cannot confirm if it was over some dramatic, passionate disagreement, or simply an overblown description of a perceived slight."

There was a twinkle in Kit's eyes at Sophia's words. "I can always make time to cultivate some entertainment. Do you already have something in mind?" Kit was curious to know just how far a princess would be willing to go in her hunt for entertainment.

Too many times, those Sophia had been ordered to surround herself with those who feared repercussions and simply went along with what she or her majesty said. It was incredibly predictable and frustrating as it did nothing to entertain the princes or those around her, but there was something within Kit that made Sophia look twice at her. “A diamond can dull with dirt can it not? Surely the same can be said for Miss Bennett should the right scandal stick. If only there was someone who was worthy enough to replace her.” Sophia’s eyes glistened with a spark of mischief, not quite blazing but there was something there as her lips slowly curled into a smile. She was calculating wrapped in charm itself and how her mother would be proud, had she not been so determined to ruin her. “And what altercation was this and please let it be something other than a young lady enraged that her fabric was no longer in stock, I simply cannot take any more of that!” Sophia’s laughter rang out which had made those around them turn to face the princess though she had suspected they were looking because the new Thorne had arrived in such a dramatic fashion. “I think this season will require a bit of both, to find it requires cultivation but if I need to create it then at least I shall have a bright mind to help, unless you have other things to occupy your time?”

[thornsxcrowns]

She is aware of the awkwardness of the question. It was a fast turnaround between marriages "More than a year." Long enough for it not to be improper. "How long do you think he should have waited?" Kit asked, her expression stoney. "Would you have preferred he hide my mother away? Keep her as a secret after they fell in love, as if meeting someone new precludes him from mourning his first wife? I do not think love works that way."

Tobias had been a looming force in her life over the past 3 years. A myth, then an unknown threat. An out of sight opposition and now the unavoidable man in her way.

"And what is the outcome you seek." They may both want change, but she doubted they were chasing the same outcome. Kit did not just want to be the face of their family, she wanted to be the future of it. To lead and shape, to pass on her position to children of her own. "You cannot just give up the parts you don't like. Change will mean sacrifice, giving up a sacred part of yourself. It always does."

She knew that feeling. Her first home was gone, just as her mother's first home had been stripped from her. It was the way of women - to one day give up your name and your home in service of another. Kit did not want that, would not give up another home to be engulfed by a partner. "Very few of us can keep our homes forever. It is a privilege often unappreciated until it is gone. For most of us homes are made, not given."

“Funny,” he repeats confused and with a curious, examining, look at his stepsister that isn’t quite friendly as it is unsure. “How long after my mothers death did Lord Thorne move you all into your new home?” The words fall out of his mouth faster than he can catch them and seeped in bitterness. Its nothing but utter deflection on his part. He chose not to return home and selfishness prevailed in that time of his life. Even worse, he didn’t regret it even now.

His eyes never leave her. Its like he is waiting for someone to pounce, an element of possible danger between them with words or with observations of each other. There was also a curiosity about it. For the past year he’d been kept away from the other household members to be re-educated in the ways of society or, as he saw it, to tame and punish him from his time away. He wondered what his stepsister thought of him in that time. Did his appearance disrupt their life and what did the servants whisper to each other when it all happened?

“If it takes something big to change it, then I’ll find it. I’m a stubborn man and I’m not afraid of exploring places that could lead to danger.”

The question catches him off-guard. It might be asked in kindness, and he thinks it is, but something about someone with the same last name as his asking it sets a fire inside his eyes and a scowl upon his now darkened face. “It doesn’t matter where. It’s gone.”

[thornsxcrowns]

"You are very observant!" Kit praised. It was not a difficult connection to make, but so many in the Ton would be too caught up in their own world to contemplate. "I only arrived in London a few days ago. I managed to completely miss the diamond ball which was a particular disappointment and I suspect has not helped with finding my feet in the Ton!"

Perhaps he was right, there must be some helpful people out there, but Kit found it hard to trust anyone's intentions. "I admit I do sometimes feel as if there is a secret language people are speaking which I have not yet mastered. I have always been a quick study however, I will get there."

She smiled at his introduction. "Miss Kit Thorne." She provided in return - "still trying to find my feet, just as my horse is trying to find its hooves."

FROM THE DIAMOND BALL, Piet had seen many faces and made a point to remember them all in his mind should they meet again to save being left unawares. Lack of preparation was always the root cause of danger or situations that he would not allow himself in or rarely so yet looking on the young womans face, he was certain that they had not met.

“A horse not used to this environment sounds as if you are both new to this place or this situation. Not an uncommon thing and I’ve found as a new stranger that the people here are most keen to help.” Quickly it was discovered that people did that to find information to gossip on while he did it to find information to use. “Peter Drake, new to London but without a horse to give me away.” Its an attempt at light humour without his normal wicked streak that sometimes crept through from the past life now dormant and kept hidden away.

“Speaking of your own experience? I have found this place is quite slow in its pace and that could be difficult for a steed used to more lively environments but animals and people alike can adapt if they have the willpower for it.”

[thornsxcrowns]

"That may be your problem!" Kit said with a laugh. "Shadow loves a treat. and he always seems rather disgruntled if he thinks I have been feeding with other horses. If he can smell apples upon your hands he may have taken it as an extremely personal slight!" It was certainly a nicer idea than accepting that perhaps she was not as accomplished horseperson has she had thought.

"So you are telling me I have embarrassed myself on a horse in front of an expert?" Her laugh was partway between self deprecating and genuine. "It takes a certain talent to embarrass oneself so completely." His smile is warm in a way which makes it very easy for her to feel at ease, "A smart choice, horses make far more enjoyable companions."

She watched, impressed, as Rhys handled her horse, his experience evident. "Too many people want horses to be easy - an accessory that bends to their whims. My father was never like that. He felt you needed to work with them, to respect them the same way you would the humans you work with. He told me to worry less about breaking them, and more about finding a common goal with them." She smiled at Shadow as she spoke "I hope so, it would be nice to know there are others who miss him... Is that terrible of me? To hope another is grieving."

Horses and their care had been second nature to Rhys. There had been times when he felt as if he knew the creatures better than he knew himself, their temperaments included. “Maybe it’s the apples I sneak them, but normally they’re a little more affectionate in their greetings.” Rhys took a moment to observe the horse, his job coming to the forefront of his mind. Its gaskins and forearms looked strong and healthy. It was clear this was a well-looked-after and much-loved horse. “I’m a stable hand and trainer at the Royal Ascot,” he said with a prideful smile. “I’ve probably spent more hours with them than I have humans.” Rhys laughed to himself at the thought. Even though it was true, he could still charm either beast.

Rhys didn’t hesitate to take the bridle, not before giving the horse’s muzzle a quick pet. He laughed at the description of the lady’s horse, purely for how often he had described his own like that. “Mine is spirited, but he was a dream to train.” Rhys said, not meaning to sound boastful. Llŷr was his pride and joy; he raised him since Rhys’s own eighteenth birthday and refused to sell him, even when times were hard. “Your father sounds like he was a wise man.” Rhys offered her a sympathetic smile. “I’ve seen too many horses be broken at the whims of men.” The same could be said for people, but that was another conversation. “They are emotional creatures; he probably grieves him as you do.”

[thornsxcrowns]

"Funny," Kit mused, "I feel exactly the opposite." Her words didn't quite ring true. She wasn't entirely sure she could name a place that felt like home. Still, if that was the case Shrewsbury was as good as anywhere. "6First time I saw it was... Well, it was more like a homecoming than I had felt before."

She had to bite her tongue at Tobias's mention of the potential illegitimate child. The temptation was there to snap at him, to state strongly that Mister Harrigan certainly did count. It wasn't out of a sense of loyalty to her potential brother. It was the knowledge that, when talking to others, he might group her in the same category. She could hear it 'and a sister, if you count my mother-in-law's brat'. She wouldn't even blame him for saying it. So often she felt little more than a fool playing dress up as part of the Thorne family.

"I think we both know it's not that simple." Kit said bitterly. "Wanting it is not enough. The world will continue to see you as the face of our house, and me as half a branch of it. It will take something big to change that." She still has to figure out what.

Still something stuck with her, a curiosity she should not feel but could not shake. "Where is it?" She asked, dropping the facade for only a moment. "Home I mean, if it's not London or Shrewsbury, where is it?"

He’s used to eyes being on him, but it doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable. When he was forced back to their family home, he’d been shut away from everyone in a mix of his own choice and the Lord’s instruction. It meant he didn’t know how to take his new familial additions.

“London was never my home, neither was Shrewsbury.” Its too quick out of his mouth to pretend a warm or playful tone but when its out, he can’t take it back. Anyone close to his father, he didn’t trust and someone who the man bought into the family had even less of his trust. ��I left an only child and come back to three sisters. And a brother if you count the bastard.”

It seemed daft but he never considered that his actions would have repercussions on himself or his sisters. If anything, he thought them too young to be affected by whatever was written about him or what he’d do. She had a point, and he didn’t want to admit but his face betrayed him and showed the understanding he felt. “You can be the beacon of the house if you want it. Something to give the Lord pride in his children to counteract my actions. Do you want that?” He wasn’t sure what she wanted, she was a stranger to him like the rest of the family.

[thornsxcrowns]

Shadow had calmed as quickly as he had reared, as if it was a completely different horse who had just been spooked, or that pretending nothing had happened would somehow guarantee forgiveness from Kit. Perhaps he just knew that Kit did not have it in herself to stay mad at the beloved steed for long.

"That is very kind of you," Kit said with a grateful smile, "but I should have known that a horse like this would not fair well in such an environment. When I heard this was a common place for riding I expected less... performing. I fear you will think me a terrible seat."

He was correct, both her and Shadow had lived most of their life on the open acres of a family estate. "It is not only the animals who occasionally struggle to adapt to the speed of London life."

THE PARKS AND GARDENS OFTEN HAD HORSES AND PEOPLE RIDING THEM PRETTILY. Quickly it became obvious for this to be a typical occasion in society and depending on the creed of the horse, eyes would wander to it and to the rider. Never did they show skill or speed but preened to capture the eyes of available suitors.

Suddenly, attention was stripped from the performing people wanting to entice a match when a horse reared close to him. It took a lot to startle Piet but the horse had done it, spiking an anger in him aimed at himself for becoming what he perceived as docile.

“A horse spooked does little to harm a man such as myself and with no harm or injury fallen upon me, there is no need for apologies. Animals can be tricky to tame and when they are not used to the slowness of this area, anything can startle them.”

[thornsxcrowns]

It was not proper to contradict a princess, but Kit had never been good at holding back their opinions. "I worry there is a difference between shining and blazing. One tends to last, a diamond whose glow cannot be dimmed. The other is likely to go up in flames and leave nothing but a pile of ash. I have always been better at blazing than shining."

They could not help but smile at Sofia's words, evidently they shared a lust for entertainment. "I said something very similar to Miss Windham, although we spoke of a different altercation. What is a ball without passion and excitement? Drinking punch, dancing, flirting - is it not an event where we let ourselves be free for a night, regardless of status or birth."

It was a fine line. Kit had both more and less freedom than the princess. Far less expectation, but a far more precious position. Yet they could not resist the temptation of the offer. "Do you wish to find entertainment, or create it? I myself have always been fond of a mix of the two, but one is far more dangerous than the other."

Family compositions were complicated at the best of times but to throw in a loss of a wife, a new family and a wayward son returned there was no doubt in Sophia’s mind that the Thorne’s would be the source of her much-needed entertainment. Further confirmation was given the moment she saw the new Miss Thorne ride in such a way that many would have fainted at and yet Sophia was utterly fascinated. “You have certainly made an entrance and perhaps it will show everyone in London that you shall not be ignored, perhaps you shall shine the brightest among us all.” As quickly as the horse came barrelling towards her, an idea formed in Sophia’s mind. If a diamond was so precious to her majesty, why shouldn’t the princess have her own? She loved jewels as much as her majesty did and yet she was not permitted to pick a favourite debutant, which didn’t seem entirely fair. “If he did not make such a scene then I would be more disappointed. The presentations are awfully dull at the best of times so he offered something new and for which I am thankful.” Her majesty may not have been but entertainment was not on her short list of requirements and yet it was on Sophia’s. Lady Whistledown had questioned the queen’s choices, it seemed improper for Sophia not to uphold these allegations and add fuel to the fire. “I am starved of entertainment as I am sure you will come to understand, but I think two bright young ladies such as ourselves can make sure, can we not?”

[thornsxcrowns]

Kit's eyes do not leave Tobias's face. It is so tempting, to simply avoid their brother-in-law, to pretend he does not exist and continue on as they had been before he returned. Doing so would not help, it would send them backwards - back to being a nobody looking in on a society which would not accept them.

So they play the long game.

"It must be hard to come back, after so long away. I cannot imagine London feels like home anymore. So much has changed." Their tone is soft, although the kindness in it is not reflected in their eyes. "I cannot judge you for getting... carried away. Some of us are swept up in tides, other create the waves. It is simply the nature of things."

Kit nodded along, they too had read and reread the section concerning Tobias. Another weapon to include in their arsenal. "And something about an icy chill, if memory serves." They tutted at the description. "What is most upsetting is how she links your... reception to the reputation of our entire house. I say my name did not appear in the sheets, but your name is mine now. In a way we have all been named, when people read Thorne they will think of you, me, our father, my mother, our sisters..."

It takes everything in him not to respond with a roll of the eyes being referred to as brother from someone who was pretty much a stranger still. There wasn’t much he knew of his step-sister or the other siblings that appeared when he was away. Leaving an only child and returning with three sisters and a possible illegitimate brother was quite the shock that he hadn’t yet gotten used to. “This feels like my first time in London,” he says back cooly with a strained smile on his face as he watched her slide into the chair opposite him, “and I think getting carried away is one of the many things I’m know for.” The bitterness teased at the edge of his words without his control.

Whenever he was in their family home, in London or Shrewsbury, he always felt a cold chill in the air not from the temperature but from the way he and his father conducted themselves around each other. There was warmth in the home but from the latest Thorne additions, he thought. “I don’t know what’s true of everyone else but there’s no lie on my feature.” He picks up the pamphlet and goes straight to the section he’s mentioned in as if he hadn’t already memorised it. “Rambunctious, insatiable manor and spirit, a speedy presentation. All true.”

[thornsxcrowns]

Kit was pleasantly surprised. The man kept a cool head, even when he was nearly trampled by a rather large horse. There were not many people who could smile so easily after such an occurrence. "Not your usual way?" She repeated, returning his grin, "It sounds like you ride! You are far more comfortable around Shadow than most!" The horse stomped one of his hooves at the sound of his name, as if showing off for the stranger.

Kit stepped back, allowing him to take the bridle. "Spirited is a good word for him, and perhaps kinder than he deserves." She said this with love, Shadow was a great horse. The spirit a small price to pay for his power and speed. "It became obvious very early that he would not be completely tamed. My father said we would always have to work with him, not command him. Although his behavior has worsened since my father died. Perhaps it is my own projection but it is almost as if he mourns him."

You could tell a lot from a person and how they treated their horses. Most of the ladies in London didn’t do anything but have a gentle side-saddled ride while promenading, but they missed out on so many things. From the wind in your hair to the thrill of going full speed on a horse across an open field.  He stood with an unhurried ease as the horse came barreling towards him, stepping out of the way just in time. “There’s no harm done,” he said with a crooked grin as he looked over the horse and rider. “But it’s not my usual way of being greeted by a horse.” 

Rhys stepped forward, his hands steady as he reached for the bridle. He could calm most horses, no matter their temperament; some just needed that extra time. “You’ve got a spirited horse; is it safe to assume that was a nightmare to train?” He glanced from the horse to its rider, his gaze amused but still respectful. Efficiently, Rhys checked over the horse, patting the horse's flank as he did so. Thankfully, there were no injuries, and the horse had put weight on its hooves. 

[thornsxcrowns]

Kit had missed the first ball of the season. The travel down to London had taken longer than expected, instead of arriving the morning of, she had instead rolled into town half way through the evening. She was likely the only person in London without a headache today.

"Brother," Kit said as a greeting, a tight smile on her lips. It felt strange to use that term, for a man who was essentially a stranger to her. "Beginning of the season I suppose, people are excited - surely you remember your first time in London, how big it all seems. It is hard not to get carried away!"

She gave him a soft smile, "Still, that doesn't mean they aren't extremely annoying. We can only hope they will calm down as they settle in."

Kit slid into the chair across from Tobias, eyes roaming over the publication he indicated. "Thankfully not, our parents likely would not react well to me becoming the topic of gossip a day into my time here. Although it would certainly be an achievement. How much of it do you think is true? She does not have much nice to say about your presentation."

OPEN EVENT STARTER | OPEN TO ALL LOCATION | OUTISDE CAFE

The night had gone exactly as Tobias wanted, nobody called his name for the title of Bachelor and some other unlucky man would be hounded by families eager to match their children. To celebrate, he’d spent the night at a gentleman’s club drinking until all hours until he found himself in a tavern not too far out of the city, the rest of the night spent in the intimate company of others as a way to pass time. He didn’t care for their names, their faces or their gender. It was just people to pass the time with and leave behind the next morning. It was exactly what he did and on his return into Mayfair, the harsh light that burned his sensitive eyes as he stumbled his way through the street still in the clothes of the night before.

“I know its early but must people be so busy and loud?” he moans to himself as he takes a seat outside the little café but straightens up as best he can when someone approaches, looking as if they’re after a seat but he took the last table. “You can sit here if you’d like. I’m not waiting for anyone.” On the table was a copy of Lady Whistledown left behind by the last inhabitant. “Are you in this edition? I have yet to read it but I can imagine there was quite a stir caused from the announcement.”