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Aneira looked at Magnolia and hoped her outward composure was more confident than the fear and apprehension she was feeling. She only just stopped herself from looking down at her dress at Magnolia's words. Frankly, she thought she looked good in green, and she wouldn't be taking fashion advice from Magnolia anytime soon, that was certain.
"You requested my presence," she said and was pleased when her voice came out strong and steady, if a little quiet.

* * *

Stan blinked at the young man, still lost in his worry and jealousy over the Dragon Knight and Julian. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Stan looked him up and down. Then he glanced over at two ladies who were down the hallway. "I'm not familiar with the castle," Stan said quickly. "You should ask them." Then he hurried away before the young man could protest. He had to make sure nothing happened between Julian and the knight.
Though it stung him with sharp-nettle guilt, Julian held himself stiffly and raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because from where I'm sitting, it's you who has no right to her, Knight." His heart was still beating too quickly for his taste, but there wasn't much he could do about that right now.

xx

Karl nearly fell off the wall at the question, grabbing onto the edge of the stable with both hands and slowly pulling himself back up. "Ow." He muttered, not looking at Ceath. "I mean, not often. Why?" Almost as soon as he asked the question, his eyes widened. "Oh my gods, Ceath!" He did fall off the wall this time, though it was slightly more gracefully. A second later he emerged from the stall, shaking straw out of his boot. "You went and fell in love with some noble, didn't you?" He asked, only slightly incredulous. "I can't believe you."

Kindle let out a sharp laugh at the comment. He could not believe the audacity that Julian had to address him in such a minuscule way. Kindle was the only heir to the throne—in fact he was the only one with any right to the god forsaken golden furniture piece that they pretended held the power of the cosmos. Though he did not feel the need to remind Julian of this, for a title of power over him meant nothing when it came to matters of the heart. Instead he simply shrugged it off and smiled broadly at the darling boy.

“You’re right.” He decided to agree with a small mischievous smirk. “I have not right to her, Julian. But then again, neither do you.” Kindle ran a hand through his dark hair. “You do have to get married, dare I remind you, and though I promise you she’d make a fantastic mistress,” He paused and smiled briefly at Julian before continuing, “I’m sure your lovely spouse would be more then offended to find you in bed with your human maid.” He shrugged, “But if you’re into that kind of thing so be it.”

xx

Badb hadn’t meant to run into Stan, he wasn’t exactly her favorite person and judging on the past three weeks of being under Julian’s care, she wasn’t exactly his favorite person either. But that didn’t change the fact that she needed to warn him of coming in between Lord Kindle and Lord Julian at the moment, even if she wasn’t supposed to address him.

“Stan, you don’t want to go in there.” She said in a strong calm voice. Her hair was a bit ruffled from running her hands through it too many times and her cheeks were bright red from the embarrassment Kindle had pushed on her.

xx

Ceath opened his mouth to protest but found that there was nothing he could say to convince Karl otherwise, for he was, in fact, in love with a noble woman. He held up his hands in defense and smiled sheepishly. "Where I'm from, I am a Knight." He attempted to remind but knew that his once title meant nothing in the elvish kingdom.

He winced as he thought of how Karl would take that and said, a little quietly, "I didn't mean to."

xx

Magnolia stared down the shorter girl for several moments. "I did." The woman said with such emptiness that she was sure Aneira would be afraid if she hadn't been already. The dark skinned woman smiled brightly and sat on one of her grand couches and patted the cushion next to her. "Sit with me dear." Her voice was acid hidden in honey.
Stan stared at the slightly rumpled woman in front of him. Surely they hadn't. Her flushed cheeks and the state of her hair said otherwise and for a moment Stan didn't know whether to feel sadness or anger.
"Don't you know your place," he hissed. Anger it was then. "You're a servant, a human, practically a slave. Don't. Touch. Julian." He brushed passed her into the room without another word. Where Kindle was lounging in his seat. As though he owned the place, Stan thought a bit spitefully.
Kindle's laying out of the facts battered Julian into a surly silence. He could barely see into a time when Badb and he did more than speak two words strung together, but if that time ever came…whoever he had married in the flurry of Magnolia's insane summer would demand her head, if not his as well.
The Queen would despise any mention of Badb or the knight she'd been captured with. It was only thanks to several interventions that the two humans were alive at all. The Queen would never hear of a marriage between one of her favorites and a hated human. "And you, Kindle?" He asked, staring into the tea cup and swirling it slowly. "You're certainly not getting married." Just the thought made Julian's lips quirk into a smile, just in time to see Stan walk in. "That was quick," he addressed the teenager with an immediate relaxation of temper. "Did the cantrip work out for you this time?"

xx

Karl sat down to pull his boot back on, rush of excitement and indignation gone at Ceath's reminder. "Yeah, I know." He muttered wretchedly. "I almost forget you're noble yourself, sometimes, the way you act. Friendly, and stuff." He clarified hurriedly, glancing up nervously at Ceath. "But still…what're we going to do?"

Lord Kindle kept his grin to himself as he watched Julian work the scenario out in his head. It was cute—watching Julian pretend he had a chance with the young human princess. But the subject quickly changed as Julian had another realization, one that Kindle was more then prepared for.

“Actually,” Kindle began lazily as he stirred his tea. “I was going to ask you, Julian.” He looked up at the dark skinned man with amused eyes. The dark haired knight wondered momentarily how far the Duke of Irisepensh was willing go for his blossoming love.

“Think about it,” He said in a soft, seductive tone. “You could sleep with whomever you wanted—as could I.” His eyes fell to his nails as he began to examine them. Casually he added, “You would never have to worry about having a man inside you. Or the Queen.” Kindle’s eyes looked up to Julian and the Dragon Knight smirked. “Unless, of course, you decide to beg.” He teased.

“I wonder how you would handle having a ‘man’ as a lover.” Kindle’s yellow eyes flashed to the young boy stuttering in the doorway. It had been more then expected that the young boy had feelings for his ‘master’ and Kindle was beyond pleased with this. Addressing Stan for the first time he asked, a little smugly, “What do you think boy? Would your Master Julian be satisfied with having a man as a lover?”

xx

Ceath stared at Karl for a moment, if the halfling had said anything offensive, the ginger knight hadn't noticed. Ceath was, by no means, the sharpest sword in the armory. So coming up with a plan wasn't exactly his strong suit. He was a man of action, he did things solely on the moment. He leaned against the wall as he looked at Karl with confused copper eyes and then finally said, "I don't know."
Stan nearly dropped the book when the knight addressed him. Then he heard the dark haired man's words and felt mortified. His cheeks grew hot and red and he could not help but glance over at Julian. After but a glance, Stan looked away, still blushing furiously.
"Why would you ask me that?" he asked quickly. His voice shot up and he winced. "I-I don't know," he said after clearing his throat. "Apparently both of you prefer human servants," he snapped. Then his eyes widened in surprise at himself. He continued speaking, almost without his own consent. "Judging by the state of her when she left the room." Deciding to roll with the burst of confidence, he shot a glare at the knight.
Julian's frustrations and anger grew into a heavy ball inside his chest, throbbing with his heartbeat. He couldn't deny that for half of a very brief moment he was tempted by the knight's offer. It would be hateful and awful, but it would mean fewer executions at the end of the day. And then Kindle kept talking. And talking. And talking.

The root of his anger lay in Kindle's smugness, but there was a streak of anger at the unfairness of Kindle's accusation. It wasn't as if he fell in love easily, and that was exactly the only time he was interested in lovers. A track record of two didn't mean he could never love a man. It wasn't like he was presented with a lot of wonderful options at this point.

Dragging Stan into this was beyond enough. Julian stood abruptly, glare alternating between the knight and his apprentice. "How dare you. Both of you!" He snapped, truly angry for the first time in some time. "As I said before, Kindle, you've wasted your morning. Continue to waste your day elsewhere, if you please." He bit off each of the last three words like drinking vinegar.

"Stan," he reigned in his temper, calming down the words to a dangerously toneless level. "This is the last time I hear you insult both myself and Badb," he said nothing about Kindle's reputation (already well established in court). "If you needed something you should have waited outside."

xx

Karl sighed dramatically, leaning back and looking up at his friend. "Well, I'll think of something. Master of plans, that's me." He grinned lopsidedly. "Just you wait." ((fades into the distance for now))

xx

Snow paused in the hall, glancing around as if to see if anyone was watching. "You have your map of the castle, my dear?" she asked almost conspiratorially. "I will leave you to find your chambers for the day. There is much to be arranged, and we simply must be the first to get married." She hurried away with unnatural grace, the white edges of her dress flicking around a corridor edge and vanishing.

Lord Kindle grinned, “Does it?” He looked over at Julian briefly and then back at Stan. He leaned on the palm of his hand as he grinned at Stan brightly. “Pray tell, young lad. I didn’t think I touched her nearly enough to be honest.” Licking his lips he stood up straight and added, “Perhaps I should correct that.” He glanced over at Julian. “Unless you’d prefer too, of course.”

At the dismissal Kindle merely shrugged and stood from his chair. “Like I said, if you don’t want to take care of her—I’d be more then happy too.”

xx
Julian felt a spell quivering on the tip of his tongue; in his clenched fists. He swallowed it down silently, knowing what the consequences would be. "Touch her, and I will have your head." He growled.

xx
Stan wanted to disappear the moment he saw Julian's expression. He clutched the book and focused on the ground as he was reprimanded. He rarely heard Julian like this, angry enough that his voice became dangerously calm. After Julian finished speaking, he left as soon as possible. No one needed to see the tears that were forming in his eyes. Especially not Julian, he thought as he walked as quickly as possible to his small room. He avoided looking at anyone over the short walk and closed the door quickly behind him.

Lord Kindle barely blinked at Julian's comment. It was a big threat for such an easily replaceable wizard, but Kindle kept this to himself and simply smiled. "As I'm sure Magnolia will have her's once she finds out the truth." The knight turned to leave the lord then, only glancing back for a brief moment and adding, "Keep my offer in mind Julian. Magnolia isn't much fun in bed." before slipping out the door.
Aneira sat slowly down on the cushion. She never took her eyes off of the queen, not even for a moment. She knew she probably had the air of a frightened animal, but there was nothing she could do about that now. Surely the queen had noticed.
"What did you want to discuss?" she asked. Her voice came out shakier than she would have liked this time. Magnolia had control over the situation, and both of them knew it. Aneira was more fearful than she would have liked. But, she thought with an internal sigh, wasn't that how it always was? Turning away from her thoughts, she turned her attention back to the queen.

Queen Magnolia grinned down at the princess, resting a hand on Aneira's soft shimmering hair. "Darling." She purred with a sudden taste for foreign princesses. Her fingers intertwined in the girl's hair casually, as if she owned it and had every right to touch her in such a way. "I wanted to discuss your thoughts on marriage." The comment seemed simple enough, but it only naturally wasn't. "I wanted to know who you'd be interested in marrying. And why of course for I must approve."
Julian hurled his half-full teacup against the shut door, ignoring the shatter. He'd fix it in a moment. In the meantime, he could barely breathe under the weight of his anger, fast turning into a despondent sludge. He didn't have the right. He didn't have the courage. He didn't have anything to say.

The wizard slumped back into his chair, muttering a few charms under his breath to carry the pieces of broken tea cup over to him and mend it. It didn't fix the spilled tea, but the cup was fine. He spun it lazily in his fingers, trying desperately to find a way out of this mess.

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