↘↘↘ let there be -- war ♞♥♚

[zombliez]

Violete simply smiled at Royale. The young elf woman was very pleased with his informalities; it made her feel at ease. She could tell that the young lord was just being nice, sweet even; she assumed he meant no disrespect by it. When asked about her standing she gave him a curtsey as she was told it was custom in the realm she was currently in.“My name is Princess Violete of the Xheniakk Kingdom. Sixth daughter of the great King of the Indigo Sands.” She cocked her head to the side and asked, politely, “And you?”

xx

Badb stared at Stan for a long moment before letting out a sigh. She had no desire to fight with him and no desire to attempt to reconcile. When she had first met Stan she had been hopeful that they could perhaps be acquaintances. She knew that friendship was out of the question but civil relations seemed more then plausible. He was just a nervous boy and so there hadn’t been anything to lead her to believe that he would shun her so outright.

But he did and she still hadn’t known what to make of it. She wanted to believe that his disgust earlier was due to something that had been exchanged between Kindle and Julian and nothing she, herself, had actually done. But there was no way for her to ask that, no way for her to know without making him more displeased.

“Lord Julian,” His name slipped from her lips with a strange bitterness that was unknown to her. She looked to Stan for a half a moment before continuing, “Asked me to make sure that you’ve had something to eat.”

xx

Magnolia stiffened at the response she received from the princess. She hadn’t expected the young woman to admit to mourning still and she had the right mind to disbelieve her. But instead of pressing the matter as was expected of her, she just smiled and kissed the young elf on the cheek. “I do hope that the blossoming of a new marriage shall fix that wretched mourning, my dear.” She lifted herself from the couch and looked at Aneira with dark smiling eyes. “That will be all, precious. I do hope that you will come and see me once you’ve made a decision. I find that I might be very, helpful, when you’ve had time to think it over.”

[gingerprincessannie]

Stan's heart had lifted when Badb said Julian's name, but it dropped again when she finished speaking. "Oh," he replied, disappointed. Part of Stan had hoped that Julian had requested his presence, but the other part of him was relieved that he hadn't. . "No, I haven't had anything to eat."

* * *

Aneira's heart sank at Magnolia's words. It was clear that she wasn't going to be put off so easily. After enduring the kiss on the cheek with a straight face, Aneira stood and brushed her hands down the silky green fabric of her dress. "Of course, maybe you're right," she said, a little shorter than perhaps was necessary. Fear ate at her heart and all she wanted to do was get away. "I will come see you when I've thought on the subject and made up my mind. I'm sure you will be most helpful."

[Darkargo]

"Well met, your majesty," He bowed in response. "I am Lord Royale of Crahelw." Royale suddenly felt embrassed for his previous language and judgement. He had believed Princess Violete was a Lady of the court and thus felt he was on more or less equal terms. The Lord hoped he hadn't offended the princess in any manner.

Royale smiled pleasantly and extended his hand to take the map. "I take it you are here for the same reason I am, unless I am completely wrong." He tapped his chin as he examined the layout of the castle. "Her Majesty summoned you here, didn't she?"

[Darkargo]

"It's good to see you, Julian." Kai rose from her seat to greet the wizard. "I was afraid I wasn't going to have a chance to speak with you, seeing that the new decree was issued. I thought for sure you were going to drown in potential suitors, and I'm quite glad that you haven't received such mobish attention." She chuckled. "Well, not yet at least." The half elf waved her hand as if to dismiss the topic. "But enough about business, how are you?"

Her husband entered a few moments later, muttering sharply under his breath. It took him a few seconds to realize that Julian was in the room and Faron relaxed considerably. Faron may have not been on the best of terms with Julian, but Kai was friends with him. He didn't want to spoil her happiness by making a few snide comments, so he cooled his temper. "Well met, Julian," He flashed a rare smile. "Come to hang with us 'heathens' for a while? Not that I blame you, the whole, bloodly castle is rampant over this blasted decree." He huffed.

[zombliez]

The ex-knight blinked at the boy as he momentarily seemed to swoon over his master. It was in his oh too hopeful eyes as she spoke of him that made it obvious that there was something she had been missing. A strong part of her told herself to deny any feelings on the matter she might have had and did just that without a word. Once he informed her that he had yet to consume anything she gave him a short nod, expecting him to tell her what he would’ve liked to eat. After a moment of silence she asked him in a flat (perhaps irritated) voice, “What would you like to eat?”

xx

The queen only smiled at Aneira’s attempt at a compliment. It wasn’t a compliment—not a real one of course. The pretty girl in her pretty little dress had no real desire to tell Magnolia of whom she wanted to be wed too. No one wanted to tell the Queen whom they wanted to be wed too for she had no desire to let anyone marry for love. The silly Lord and Lady of Crahelw were the only people at court who’s marriage would involve such and that was strictly due to their marriage being approved by her late husband, King River.

But the younger elf had attempted regardless of her transparent lie. Even if she had lied well, the Queen knew very well when she was being lied too. The dark skinned woman claimed it as her divine gift and the ginger princess was hardly a good liar. Though there was a small (very small) part of Magnolia’s heart that was impressed on the courage Aneira had to even dare try. In Magnolia’s reign, it was punishable by death to lie to the Queen and yet so many times she allowed the little princess to get away with it. The cruel woman saw a strange sort of entertainment in it.

But instead she simply gave the other woman’s shoulder a small squeeze and said, “Of course I will be.” Confidence was oozing from her wretched voice. The Queen turned the young elf around quickly and pushed her towards the door, “Now hurry a long then—I have other’s to cater too sweet child.”

xx

The princess smiled grandly at him, “Lord of Crahelw? I must say, I thought Lord Faron and Lady Kai’s son was much younger.” Her eyes fell to the floor and her smile thinned, “I do pray you’ll forgive me.” Her voice was soft and sincere—her vibrant purple eyes looked up to him shyly. He had a nice strong jaw and a pair of laughing eyes. It was only when he spoke that she could think of anything other than him and felt more than discouraged from this.

“Why yes, I assume we are.” She said in a clear, even voice. She knew the politest way to keep the conversation going would be to ask if he had sought out a suitor but Violete was well aware that she had no desire to know if he did.

Her passing of the map was much slower then needed, she accidently (deliberately) grazed his hand and felt her heart swell. She let the map from her hands and pulled them away quickly. She could not deny how beautiful she found him and knew that it was becoming a growing issue.

But she did not allow herself to leave his presence; instead she began to walk, fully confident that he would fall in step with her as he looked over the map. “Her Majesty did in fact summon me—it seems I’ll play an interesting role in her political games.” She looked over at Royale, “Which I’m grateful for of course.” She knew that her speaking ill of the Queen would not be tolerated even if she was confident that the boy next to her would not bother to say a thing about it. The walls had ears; she knew that much from growing up in Xheniakk.

[Winterling42]

Julian smiled a little at Kai as he came in, a little of the tension in his shoulders relaxing. "I'm not sure about mobbish," he said with a sigh, "But I've had my first offer and it's barely been a day." He left out who the offer had been from; he was quite sure Faron would only find it amusing. "I didn't come over here to talk about my problems. I'm doing well, or as well as can be expected." He shrugged, not willing to say anything specific. "I'd wonder at Magnolia's summons, but I'm sure she has her sight set on making sure Royale was caught up in this. Do you think he'll do alright?"

[Darkargo]

"Well, you know Royale," She sighed. "He wants to marry for love, not because someone forced him to." Kai rubbed her jaw with her palm. "And I thought this year would be prefect to introduce him to the court. Now that I have to get him married straight away, we are going to skip over several things and rush him through the process."

Faron cut in, "We have to throw our poor son into the roaring currents of the world, and I'm not sure if he's ready for that. But, if that's the fastest way for him to learn, then we have no choice."



Royale wasn't really sure what to make of the decree. It all sounded pretty silly to him, but who was he to talk? He was fresh off the boat in this environment, so he couldn't make any judgments. "I'm sure this whole thing will be really dramatic. I hope no one gets hurt during the whole ordeal." He looked up at smiled at Violete. "Well, I found where I needed go, but where do you need to go, milady?"

[Winterling42]

Julian nodded in agreement with the pair's assessment, sighing. "And we thought everything would get easier after River died." He muttered, at least attempting to keep his voice down.

xx

Karl was unusually quiet all day; every time Ceath asked about it Karl would shush him, or just glare a little. "I'm thinking," he would mutter.
Only once the two of them were lying around in the hayloft, having finished every job they could possibly do until an overseer walked by and caught them napping. "I figured it all out." The halfling said smugly, putting his hands behind his head any laying back into the straw. "I have some friends in the castle that'll whisper into all the right ears. And we'll have every noble trying to get away from Magnolia out here swarming the place." He grinned over at his tall friend, hope creeping into his features. "How's that for a plan, then?"

[gingerprincessannie]

Aneira stumbled and lost her balance as Magnolia pushed her harder than she had expected, staggering to the door in a most ungraceful manner. She caught herself before she became too tangled in her dress and half turned around to look back at the other woman. Her cheeks were burning from the embarrassment and her shoulder still ached a bit from where the queen’s fingers squeezed her. The touch had felt just tight enough to make Aneira’s heart stutter nervously.
“Of course,” she replied. She curtseyed and quickly left before her nervous actions could give away the lies she dared to tell despite the consequences of which she was well aware. For a moment, she wondered at how the queen had not discovered her dangerous practice of concealing the truth, then she pushed the thought away before worry could invade her mind. The important thing was that she hadn’t been caught...yet. She shook her head and hurried down the hallway, fear quickening her steps.

* * *

Stan looked past her. He was filled with disappointment and her presence there was only making him feel worse. “I don’t care. Just bring anything,” he said. He closed the door and walked back to his bed where the book was laying open accusatorially.
He looked at it for a moment, and in that moment, with the thought of Julian in his mind, he flipped the book shut, causing it to slide off the bed with a thump. Then he threw himself down on the bed and buried his face in the pillow.

[zombliez]

Violete gave Royale a small smile, she didn’t realize her time with him would be so short. The dark haired woman hadn’t really known what to expect would happen, she imagined he would’ve mentioned her beauty to her, his desire. But the realism of her situation was that would never be and he was not fond of her as she was already too fond of him.

Princess Violete looked at the map carefully, her eyes searching for where she had been told she would reside until her marriage. Her index finger slid hesitantly across the map airily. After an awkward moment of confusion she pointed at the far right tower she was almost certain now belonged to her. If she had guards at her beck and call like she did in Xheniakk she would’ve had no need for the map at all. For in her father’s kingdom he demanded that their be at least six guards with his daughters at all times, but in the grand kingdom of Impestieee, the Queen kept her guards and servants almost completely invisible. But despite their lack of appearance Violete knew that they were always present, something that made her more on edge as her eyes flicked up to Royale.

“It appears I’m further off then I thought.” She blushed, “I’m sorry for keeping you.”

xx

Ceatherine had been antsy ever since Karl had said that he would think of a plan. His copper eyes would watch the Halfling attentively as the day’s work dragged on and on.

The ginger prince wasn’t really sure what he should’ve expcted when Karl told him he had figured it out. Perhaps he was hoping that Karl would suggest that Ceath declare his love and then whisk her off to his home kingdom, so that they could marry and have a fairytale ending like all the great tales that were told to him as a child. But Karl hadn’t suggested that, instead, he suggested to bring out all the nobles.

Brining out all of the royal court would be difficult—it would make Ceath getting alone time with his lady difficult but the knight was sure he would figure something out. Looking at Karl, Ceath nodded, “I mean, it’ll be a little risky, but what’s life without some risks.” He gave the Halfling a light shrug. “Let’s see what we can do.”

xx

Amelia wasn’t surprised in the least by Stan’s behavior and as the door met her face she abruptly turned on her heel and headed towards the end of the hallway. With a strong reluctance the curly haired woman stormed into the kitchen. Without asking any of the other maids in the kitchen she began to make something simple for the mage apprentice to eat.

After about forty-five minutes she finished and headed towards Stan’s room. She knocked on his door cautiously.

[gingerprincessannie]

Stan was still lying on his bed when the door quivered with a knock. He shot up, his heart leaping in spite of the knowledge that it would only be her again, just the human servant. Despite himself, he jumped from the bed, hands shaking and eyes shining with naive hope. Maybe this time.
When the opened door revealed Amelia, he wasn’t able to force words through his swollen throat. He snatched the plate from her hands and closed the door again, putting the untouched food on the small wooden table beside his bed as he flopped back down again.

[Winterling42]

Karl shook out his hands theatrically, without standing up."Crowds are the easiest to hide in," he assured the half-elf. "Trust me. I'll be back later." The stable hand still took a minute to sigh and haul himself back to his feet. He was gone with a quick grin and a hop down to the barn below, barely touching the ladder as he went.
~ ~
servant/slaves of his ilk (the stable) weren't exactly welcome in the main castle, but Karl had a surprising amount of experience sneaking around. And like any good castle, this one was chock full of secret passages and hidden doors. The Queen's spies were hard at work, as always, but they were even easier to fool in the dark side-corridors. It just took confidence, which Karl had plenty of. Confidence, and a little bit of luck, brought him right to Princess Aneira's door. Or more accurately, to the maid who worked for Princess Aneira.

Somebody (probably Magnolia) must have thought it amusing to see that all the elfin princess's servants were halflings. Normally it would have gotten a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head from Karl, but for once he was really, really pleased that it'd worked out this way. Lady Luck was definitely on his side for this.

He knocked on the door, knowing it wouldn't be Her Majesty Aneira who answered it. "Hey," he grinned crookedly at Daela, whose eyes widened when she saw him. "You've got to tell her it's a message from Lord Kindle to go hunting tomorrow."

"What?" Daela's grip on the door was tightening alarmingly, and Karl glanced at her hand, his confidence cracking just a little.

"I'll go tell the Knight it's an invite from her, and then lots of people will come."

"Where did you get that impression?" The maid asked, her words stiffened by nervousness. She glanced back into the room, where presumably Aneira was waiting.

"The Dragon Knight won't go alone with the Princess, he doesn't like her enough. And the Princess is sure to invite other people so she won't get bored, but she won't turn down an invite from Kindle. It's foolproof."

Daela glanced down either direction of the hallway, trying to see if anyone'd spotted him. "You could be killed just for walking in here to talk to me." She hissed. "And now you want to risk it on some half-baked scheme to go hunting?"

"It's for a friend," he said defensively. Daela rolled her eyes, but couldn't stay to argue. "Well, now you've started it, so you might as well see it through." She whispered. "Get going, before you're caught." Still keeping one eye on the princess awaiting her inside, the halfling maid touched her fingers to her lips and pressed them against his cheek. "Go on."
~ ~
"It was just a message, Your Majesty," Daela spoke a little more clearly, closing the door. "An invitation, to go hunting tomorrow with Lord Kindle." The maid turned, unsure why she hoped so fervently the princess would be open to the idea. She'd only gotten roped into this scheme a few moments ago.

[gingerprincessannie]

Aneira had waited anxiously inside while Daela answered the door. She twisted her hands in front of her and paced the width of her room. The sound of her dress brushing around her ankles was somewhat soothing as she listened in on the conversation as well as she could, which was not very well at all.
At Daela’s words, the red haired girl felt her heart slow and a sense of relief rushed over her. “Thank goodness,” she muttered under her breath, a shaky hand reaching up to clasp a strand of her long hair. Then she processed what exactly the halfling had said.
There was no way she could turn down an invitation from the Dragon Knight. Her eyelashes fluttered as she thought of how he looked and the sound of his voice. She had no romantic interest in him, that she knew for sure, and so she kept her physical longing tamped down. Flings in court happened, certainly, but the rumors that went along with them were never kind, and she would never salvage her reputation. A sigh escaped her pink lips. Still, she could not turn it down. A hunt would be tedious though. As much as Aneira liked nature (and she did, though it didn’t show often), she wasn’t fond of hunts.
“Let him know that I accept the invitation. That’s all for now.” The comment was dismissive, and Aneira turned away from the halfling. For now, she wished to be alone. She needed to figure out what she was going to say to the queen the next time she was summoned, for it was sure to happen again.

[Darkargo]

Faron shrugged, "In some sense things did get easier and in some sense they didn't. Not much we can do about it, Julian." He laughed bitterly. "But when were the King's or Queen's subjects ever had their own free will? Even in the most peaceful of times, I assume individuals were still used as pawns or playthings."

Kai almost slapped her husband for his pessimism. "We have it better than most, Faron."

"I didn't say we didn't." The Lord huffed at his wife. "I am just saying some things will never change, even if the power switches hands. The faster you accept this notion, the easier it will be for you to go on with your life and to go undisturbed." Faron said defeatedly.


Royale smiled and shook his head. "'Tis not a problem, milady, I am happy to escort you." His cheeks were dusted with a light shade of pink. "To be honest, you are the best company I've been with in quite some time. You don't seem to mind my informality, which bothers so many." Royale needed to hold his tongue. This wasn't the time or place to gush over a individual, but he couldn't help it. The little Lord felt drawn to this Princess like a moth to a flame. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if they grew close, after all, the court was a vicious place. He could at least help her out if she was in a tight spot. Royale offered his arm to Violete. "Shall we, milady?"

[Winterling42]

Daela pursed her lips a little at her dismissal, but she only curtsied deeply. "As you wish," she muttered before taking her leave. She had a feeling Karl's plan would require more people than just the Princess and the Knight. Certainly a hunt with just the two of them would be quite dull (and dangerous, if Magnolia didn't approve).

Outside the door, the maid paused, tapping one foot against the tiles. She couldn't very well inform the Knight of Aneira's acceptance, since he hadn't been the one to invite her. And this was already delicate enough that she didn't want to involve any other nobles unless it became necessary. She could just imagine the way that conversation would go. After another moment of thought she set off along the corridor in the direction of the Knight's quarters, hoping to run into Karl before she got there. He had a little bit more explaining to do.

xx

Karl told himself he didn't hesitate outside Kindle's quarters; he just took a moment to prepare himself. It was unlikely he'd get a servant to answer here. Taking one more deep breath, he had raised his hand to knock on the door when–

"Karl!" Daela hissed from down the hall. He glanced at her, startled by the vehemence in her voice. The maid dragged him into an alcove, away from the door. "Did you think you were going to fool the Knight? You wouldn't even have fooled Aneira, if she'd seen you properly."

"Well somebody's got to ask for him to go," Karl tried to protest, but Daela just shook her head.

"I'll ask. You stay out of sight someplace, and then you can tell me why exactly this is happening."
When he nodded (a little relieved) the maid went and knocked on Kindle's door, bracing herself a little for the lie.

xx

"I wonder if an 'undisturbed' life will even be possible after this summer." Julian smiled grimly. "At least your family doesn't have to be at court full time. There is that."