France: 2140

[Natalie Burr]

Natalie was, unsurprisingly, on a rampage. She'd awoken this morning to a Paris guardsmen knocking on her door, informing her that her father requested her presence at breakfast. She'd looked at the clock, then at the guard, 'It's five o'clock in the morning,' she said, 'What kind of breakfast is that?'

She watched at the guard became stoic, apparently not one for humor. 'Just my orders, mademoiselle.' She had laughed, 'It's Natalie.' she told him, though she'd done so many times before, but to no avail. She threw back the duvet, standing, readying herself for whatever it was that her father was to throw at her. The guard quickly averted his eyes, stepping out of the room and closing the door. He was barely twenty-one, and such misfortune as a maid walking by the door and seeing the guard see her when she was indecent (in the political world at least) would've resulted in his dishonorable discharge should anyone have found out.

She'd dressed and headed down to breakfast in ten minutes flat, and yet, her father was not there. He'd called her down at five o'clock in the morning! She'd gone back up to her room, storming past the guardsman, who now stood watch outside her door, like a five year old in a toy store.




Now, heading down to dinner Natalie wondered if the great Adrien Burr would grace his family with his presence. She doubted it. Oh, it could be so easy to hate him...and still she couldn't. She took a seat in the parlor, unsure as to whether they were having guests for dinner.

[Elizabeth Burr]

After sleeping in until seven that morning Elizabeth was rather in a good mood. She had no meetings that she had to attend that day and it was rather nice out side. She spent most of it with Teddy, her horse riding around the grounds and then she pulled some weeds out of her garden, she at last decided it would be a good time to come inside the manor of which she lived.

She headed up to her room to change for dinner. She hoped that her husband would be their. She didn't know if he would, she hadn't seen him all day. Before she woke up she heard him getting up around six thirty in the morning. She also had seen nearly no one except for the Gard's and people that for the life of she could not remember their names. Even if she did call some one by the wrong name it was considered rude to correct her. She would rather that they did then she might remember their name.

She changed into some clean clothes after showering and headed down to the pallor to wait for husband and any one else who might be joining them for dinner tonight. As she entered the pallor she smiled. Her daughter was sitting their looking a little irritated. Elizabeth made her way over to Natalie and sat down next to her.

"Bonjour fille, pourquoi semblez-vous irrité ?" she greeted her Daugher. And she also asked why she looked irritate. Elizabeth did not like to see her daughter up set. "Care to fill me in Nat?" she said calling her by her nick name that she had always called her by ever since she could walk, which was at a very early age.

[Natalie Burr]

"Bonsoir, maman." She replied. It was done automatically, as it had been practiced since she was a child, in preparation for guests. The right impression must always be made.

"Le père nous joindra pour le dîner?", she asked the question anyway, though she was doubtful if her mother knew if her father was joining us for dinner. She sighed, "The odds are against it, I assume. I suppose that's all as well seeing as I'm angry with him." She knew the question was coming, Why? "You know, this morning I thought I was angry with him because I was called down to breakfast, apparently at his request, and he wasn't even there. It was five o'clock in the morning." She sighed again, "But now I think that I'm just tired of not seeing him. He's only home and awake at ungodly hours of the night and the rest of the time he's off trying to save the world, or destroy it in some people's eyes, I suppose." Natalie, perhaps, had been a little melodramatic in her remarks to her mother, but if the older woman hadn't noticed by now then surely it was time for desperate, or near-desperate measures. Desperate would require something as terrible as potentially tarnishing her father's name, possibly by walking into seedy bars and accepting drinks from strangers; but desperate wasn't for right now.

[Elizabeth Burr]

"But now I think that I'm just tired of not seeing him. He's only home and awake at ungodly hours of the night and the rest of the time he's off trying to save the world, or destroy it in some people's eyes, I suppose." Natalie said continuing her ramble of why she was mad at her father. Liz tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of her raid behind her ear and smiled. She patted her daugther's hand softly.

"Nat, your father is a very busy man." she said. She have to have had this conversation with her daughter over a hundred times. Most likely she had told her self more to than that number, in the mirror. Substituting father for husband.

"I'm sure that he didn't mean for the miss commutation to happen, dear." she said and made a mental note to ask him what was the reason for her child's Early morning wake up call. She didn't like to see her daugther unhappy, but she didn't like her daughter mad at the ruler of France either.

"And to answer your question no, i am not sure if he will be joining us, or any one else that might." she admitted. Adrien was sometimes to paranoid or to preoccupied to tell her his plans for the evening. She sighed and looked down at her hands.

Looking back at her daugther she smilied and asked, "So how did the rest of your day go?" she chuckled a bit after the question. Her daugther could be a bit of the drama queen.

This post has been edited by Elizabeth Burr on Apr 26 2006, 03:49 PM

[Natalie Burr]

Natalie knew what her mother was thinking, and she was unsurprised by it. Of course Natalie had blown it out of proportion, but these days she felt like it was the only was to get anyone to hear her; that and her father made everything a big deal as well. She felt no shame.

"I'm fine, other than that," she told her mother, "it has been so quiet around here lately, no political debates over what to do about Japan and the States. The calm before the storm, I say."

Yes, it was quite possible that they were on the brink of something catastrophic, for the other side, naturally. She wondered if her mother knew something she didn't. And if she did, would she tell her? Natalie doubted it, it seemed like these days her parents treated her like more of a child than they did five years ago.

[Elizabeth Burr]

"it has been so quiet around here lately, no political debates over what to do about Japan and the States. The calm before the storm, I say." Liz couldn't have been any more proud. She had not raised a dumb one. But her husband was way to paranoid to tell her. She would have to catch him in a good mood. And well that was rare occasion.

"Nat even if i knew i would betray your father by telling you." she said and looked at her fingers. Yes it upset her to not tell her daughter things so that she wouldn't learn about what was going on in the place that she lived until she read it in the papers. It wasn't right. But it was done.

[Natalie Burr]

Natalie knew that in her father's mind not telling her things was protecting her, in the off chance that she were kidnapped or something as absurd - Natalie figured it would never happen, not with a four man guard detail following her everywhere. Still she humored him, most days.

In all likelihood her mother did indeed know, but she would never betray her husband's wishes to keep their only daughter in the dark. "I know, it's for my safety." she replied, but it only sounded sarcastic in her head. She frowned. "Let's go to dinner, maman."

[Elizabeth Burr]

"Let's go to dinner, maman." She said. Liz felt awful. She hated keeping Nat out of the loop, it was her father. But what she knew was little, and Adrian expected her to keep it to her self. And she did. She would never do any thing to loose that man's trust. Ever. She had worked to hard to gain it. She stood up taking her daughters hands in her own.

"Nat, i am sorry, that you are not informed on the going one’s of your father." she said and looked into her daughters eyes. "I am sorry that you were not allowed a Simi-normal childhood." Nat was deprived of a child hood. Liz knew it, and was guilty due to that.

"But i can't even if i knew." she said her eyes pleading with her daughters to understand.

[Natalie Burr]

Natalie listened, she had heard it all before, and she couldn't really begrudge her mother for it - her father, perhaps - but not her mother.

"But I can't even if I knew."

"Of course, of course, maman." She stood, waiting for her mother, "And don't be silly, this wasn't the life you chose, it was chosen for you - no need to apologize." She moved towards the door as she spied the clock; dinner was to be served soon and it would be in poor taste for her mother and herself not to be present if a council member decided to have dinner among the Burrs tonight.

Natalie's mind drifted towards later that night as she walked into the dining room, she considered visiting La Couronne, in hopes of running into Jude Beauvais, but she dashed these thoughts as quickly as they came - he was Resistance, and her father was his enemy.

[Elizabeth Burr]

"And don't be silly, this wasn't the life you chose, it was chosen for you - no need to apologize." her daughter told her, and then walked into the rather large dining room. Elizabeth sat back down and placed her head in her hands, she would have to talk to Adrian about keeping his daughter more informed. It was not fair to her. She sighed and stood back up. Then entered the dining room and sat down opposite her daughter. It was just another day in the Burr household.

[Natalie Burr]

"Maman, relax. All this frivolous political talk is as depressing to me as it is to you." She looked up to the maid placing a plate in front of her, I guess it's only me and mother tonight. Surprise, surprise. "Thank you." She nodded to the woman, who scurried off, looking like Natalie was going to behead her if she hovered for too long. "Seeing as daddy's not here I can assume that he's not going to announce any plans for tomorrow. We should go to the museum. Or the gallery." She wasn't hungry, she just pushed her food around her plate with her fork, it was bad etiquette she knew, but it couldn't be helped, "Tennis, maman? How about tennis?" This elicited no response, "The symphony then. Oui?"

Apparently their earlier discussion was bothering her mother; Natalie sincerely hoped that this discussion would ease her mind.

[Elizabeth Burr]

Liz was ignoring her daughter for the moment. She was not in the mood to decided what to do tomorrow. And her daughter pushing around her food was annoying and immature. She was growing agitated.

Not at her daughter but at her husband. He could at least have decency to come to dinner. But no! She would have to address this with him. Which had done many times in their marriage.

"Stop playing with your food and eat it." she said and put some Italian dressing on her salad. Liz was a vegetarian and tonight’s dinner was house salad.

"Tomorrow i have some things to discuss with your father, but after that we could go horse back riding or to the opera." she offered. She knew that she sounded agitated. But right now she could care less.

[Natalie Burr]

Natalie noted her mother's sudden mood change, no doubt she was cursing her husband. This, of course, was to be expected, the air around the Burr Manor had felt particularly overbearing as of the last few days. It couldn't be helped, she supposed.

Natalie ate, as per her mother's request, though she was sure she'd feel sick for it later. "Perhaps I should ask Brigette about the weather expected for tomorrow, I get the distinct impression it's to be chilly. And riding can't be done if that's so." She wished for her mother to say something, anything. She didn't. "I'd prefer the opera anyway." It appeared as though her mother was having one of the those days, Natalie stopped trying to make conversation. She faintly heard the maid ask, 'Red or white?'. She'd answered, 'White for myself, but mother likes red wine. Yes, red.' Natalie got the feeling that she was drowning in all this political nonsense, and as for her mother - well, she couldn't swim against the current.

[Elizabeth Burr]

"I'd rather have tequila." she muttered under her breath. "Red tonight." she said and pushed around her food like her daughter was doing before her. She pushed away her barely touched salad. And took a sip of the wine when it was brought to her. She pulled her salad back and bit into a cheery tomato. She chewed and swallowed. She hated that Her daughter had to grow up under the constant stress of her father, and what he was going to do. Her mother tried to shelter her as much as possible. But her daughter had her picture in the paper every now and then. And was among the gossip lately. Mostly about arranged marriage.

"Opera," she said and smiled at her daughter. "You are my child." she said and tucked her loose strand of damp hair behind her ear. The strand that had fallen out of her braid.