Looking for Advice (Grace) - Panther's Lair

She held her drink in her hand as she relaxed into the plush chair.

"Why should I allow this?"

For a moment, Chase was silent, simply looking at Griselda. A smile creased his visage. It was an honest smile that reached his eyes. When he looked to the ancient priestess to answer her, that smile was still there.

"You should allow it because we love each other, because we've loved each other for a long time, but more than that, from my side of it I want to share my life with her, and I want to do it in a way that honors her and her faith. I love her," his smile only seemed to brighten, "and there's literally almost nothing I wouldn't do for her."

She nodded.

"Ye say almost. What wouldn't ye d'?"

"I can't think of anything, any circumstance I would have to commit the most heinous acts conceivable for her. I would kill for her, live for her, die or her... I would torture someone to find her... I say 'almost' nothing because I'm a finite being, because there is a limit to what I know and have experienced. Do I know what I won't do? I won't murder an innocent without cause. I won't betray her to save myself. Beyond that, I haven't experienced, or conceived of, anything I won't do for her."

Grace could hear the conviction in Chase's voice. Really, aside from committing the most heinous acts conceivable, there was nothing he wouldn't do for Griselda. And even the most heinous acts were circumstancial.

She nodded.

"An' wha' d' ye think this process be?"

"Griselda has given me... A very brief summary. She's told me that the ceremony will be a week long endeavor, that there will be the cerimony, a celebration, a hunt, an orgy, and that our union will be consumated... Well... In front of you."

From the sounds of his tone, he might have been a little shy about consumating their union in front of Grace... Or anyone else for that matter. But he didn't seem to have an issue with anything else.

She nodded.

"But first, there be th' testin'. Because, as she kens, but ye may not, this is nay up t' ye. I decide if this happens or nay."

She smiled at that one. She had been silent through the entire thing, but there was a reason for her silence. She wasn't permitted to influence Chase's answers in any way -- just like Chase wasn't going to be permitted to influence her own at all. And now, rather than actually say anything, she simply reached out with one hand, slipped her own small hand into Chase's, and gave it a tender, affectionate squeeze.

He smiled softly to Griselda as he said to Grace, "Alright. When do you wish to start?"

She laughed.

"Already ha', laddie."

Chase couldn't help but laugh softly with Grace, "Oh, well then..."

After a moment, he said, "I know that we can't do this without your consent. Griselda's told me that you and she are the only two priestesses she knows of. I know that I have a lot of stigma against me, especially in the eyes of Jamie and most of the Scots in the domain," he looked over at Griselda and instantly that smile was back, "but I love her, Grace. I love her with every fiber of my being and there is no other woman in the world that I would rather share a life with."

She nodded.

"I'm aware. An' ye're Englishness does nay hold sway o'er this decision, 'cept tha' it be part o' who ye are. Now, how long d' ye wish t' be handfasted t' th' lass?"

For a long moment he looked at Griselda,p before answering Grace, "My natural inclination is to say for a long time, a decade, or a century. But I know that she's prudent, and I know that she wants this to be done right. So let's start with the traditional year and a day. And if everything is good then, Gods willing, then we'll discuss something longer."

She smiled.

"Tha' would be best."

He gave a brief nod and took a sip from his whiskey.

Because Grace was, by all rights, her grandmother -- she just kept her trap shut and sipped from the glass in front of her. Because fuck all if she would speak until spoken to.

She nodded.

"So, we'll d' th' testin'. This will take time t' set up. I was nay expectin' t' e'er d' this again."

"Somehow, I think Griselda is still very much full of surprises," he said with a soft smile.

Her brow rose when she smirked, but she still didn't say a word. She was, however, snickering quietly.

She nodded.

"Aye."