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She should have seen it coming. The hand touching her arm in a gentle gesture meant to comfort, but instead causing her entire body to lock up. Her breath stuttered, and she tried her hardest to calm down, before she could even say a word.

"I'm - " A sob interrupted her words, but it was a sharp, singular sound, and her hands lifted to cover her face when it escaped her. She waited until she could control herself, before finishing the sentiment behind muffled lips. "Fine."

And then she wasn't fine, because her worst nightmare had come from above like a vulture, waiting to feast on her pain and suffering. She dropped her hands and gave him a stern pout, furrowing her brow in dismay. "We are in the middle of a crisis, young man. Contain your malicious nature." Coincidentally, she did not actually answer his question. But neither would she deny her faith, so instead, he received a scolding. Bad Kostya. Bad.

He watched the spectacle with raised brows. This was the woman who rended wyverns to nothing? reduced to sobs, and from what? A touch?

"Is a hand upon an arm truly a crisis? Have faith, woman, and despair over problems larger than this." He laughed, momentarily letting himself forget that dark forces lurked around the corner. He should be on his way to stop those that would halt Morgan's efforts.

"Greetings, Noemi," Kostya offered, belatedly.

[ CHEL HAS BEEN CHALLENGED ] ]

So. Much. Treasure.

Chris's fingers itched with the reflex to take take take. When presented with so many riches how could he not? With the knights bickering and bitching at each other (incredibly agitating, to be honest) it would be so easy to just... pocket a few coins.

Just as he'd made up his mind to do so he watched a vaguely familiar figure disappear up the stairs. The same girl he'd seen in the banquet hall and in later fights. His eyes narrowed. Why the hell would she be leaving?

He followed her quickly, careful not to lose her. "You're suspicious as all hell, you know that?"

[ Chel is ACCEPTING the challenge ]

Chel had almost made it out when-

"Chris!" The sound breaks and and it's ugly but she stops in her tracks for him. There's a jingling sound in her pockets as her boots come to a skidding stop and whip around, armor and all.

Her expression relaxes into something more friendly- far more friendly than any look she's given anyone thus far. "What's more suspicious, one person or two people? You went an' made it worse," she said, grabbing him by the wrist and continuing to pull him up the stairs.

[ exit ]

It had been immensely gratifying to see the bridge give way under all that weight. Arrakis had, of course, hurried after Percival when he'd given the order, sparing only a backward glance at their handiwork with a surge of satisfaction. Of course, satisfaction was no match against the worry that he felt at the notion that one of the other Knights was doing something objectionable. Weren't the Great Knights supposed to be unified on this? Why weren't they? How was Morgan doing something Percival didn't know about--within reason of course--much less something he didn't approve of?

Arrakis was, of course, no Great Knight, so of course there was information he wasn't privy to, but... still. This did not seem good, or productive, for the leaders to be fighting among each other.

Oh, they were certainly, all three of them, fighting among each other. Arrakis was hardly going to attack any of the Great Knights. Not only did he, again, not understand the need for fighting, but he was pretty sure that any of the three of them were going to wipe the floor with him without even a second thought. He also didn't think they really should be touching the mirror, so he was with Gawain on that one, but... not where he advocated for disregarding the King.

Was there no option for not fostering internal unrest or assuming the King could be cast off without a second thought?

Well, even if there wasn't, Arrakis was going to come as close to creating one as he could. He was going to prevent anyone from touching the gate or mirror--he agreed with Percival on that one--but was too late to stop the two from being shoved together. ...Alright, new plan? He needed a new plan. He watched with a distinct sense of foreboding as shadows writhed within the gate/mirror meld. That shifted to desperation as he looked around him and across the area. What could he do? What could he do that wouldn't just make everything worse?

(Actions -- 0/3 )

[enter] [ 0 of 3 action points used ]
The bridge trembled and then collapsed as voices cheered in a somewhat small victory, there was also the thought they were now trapped in the castle and lacked anyway of getting out. This had less of a concern to Matt, there was a growing chance that he was not going to make it out of there, even more a higher chance that was merely going to end up slaughtered and left to rot on the floor of the castle. There was noise, there was movement as Percival seemed to charge forward heading somewhere in the castle.

Tagging in the back Matt followed down and down the winding staircase beginning to wonder more and more where he was going and what sort of things where hidden far down below. There was the quick thought of dungeons, but why would they have caught anything? Why would they keep something even remotely dangerous lingering down in the depths of the castle.

Reaching the end Matt could only see the edges of the treasure peaking out from the sides of the doorway, a treasure room. What good was treasure going to do at this point, paying the beast would be completely useless not to mention they have shown no interest in collecting bits and pieces of treasure when they robbed house and slaughter the occupants. The only interest they seemed to have was merely killing all of those around and bore some remote fear of fire, or maybe it was merely light.

It was hard to hear the voices as the great knights started to argue, all he could grasp was there was something about a door and some sort of creatures that had lurked beyond. He wasn’t sure; it was all rather confusing and it grew even more confusing as chaos seemed to erupt, knights fighting one another as the three great ones spurred on opposing.

A mirror, a door, creatures lurking behind, no more no more Matt wanted to scream.

[Matt is standing around confused, feel free to challenge?]

"I wish to challenge no one. I wish to help all of us leave her safely." She huffed out, clearly at war with her desire for peace, and that little nagging voice that told her this man deserved a bop to the head with her staff. She did not listen to it, she knew it was wrong. But it was there.

"We are one side. The side of life. You wish to split us apart just as they do. Look at them! LOOK at the way they bicker like fools, allowing the world to crumble around them just because they refused to work as one! That is what you want. That is the seed you sow, now."

Which was bad timing, of course, since she only just realized what Noemi was saying, and furrowed her brow in confusion. In the end, she had to believe that Noemi was trying to get them to stop fighting, and she was right. Riley couldn't pinpoint why it was so easy for him to rile her up, but she had the only appropriate response for such a problem.

She was leaving.

She turned, almost running into Sammy as she did so. The woman was trying to get the others to give her space, which she would have appreciated if Sammy wasn't doing so by talking about how much of a damsel she was not. That, perhaps, was the tiniest of straws, but still the last one. Riley let out one sharp, shaky sigh, and realized that she was doing no one any good. She tried to get away, to find somewhere else - anywhere else - but there was nowhere left to run.

"We're a bunch of... we'll fine, we are seven of one. But those three." She pointed to the three knights fighting the other apprentices. "I don't know why they started fighting each other, I mean I saw it start but I have no damn clue."

Suddenly Riley was trying to brush past her causing the girl to tilt her head, "R-riley what? I thought, I was just, that was a compliment? Y-you where unsure earlier and in the hall!" She pouted a bit, "I didn't mean anything bad by it..." At long last she turned to Lurks walking over patting the pile of rags on the shoulder. Ouch those rubies where a tad sharp.

"We wait little Pockets. We wait. The knights have gone mad, the gate and mirror have merged, we either just opened a portal to our dooms or salvation." She paused, "Do you have any of that bread you where gathering at the banquet?"