(okay. Just wondering!) The rings caught her eye and she looked up at you. Raz had wandered off and so she followed Thorne as they walked. "And where pray tell are you from then?" She inquired, and ate the tea cake, finished her champagne, and sent the vine off. Before you have time to answer a man grabs her hand and asks her to dance. "Oh ah actually I was just about too-" Before she can get in a complaint, she's roughly waltzed away towards the dance floor. He was stealing her first dance of the night, which meant that now there would be competition and men and women alike clamoring over to dance with her. Oh how she now wished she was wearing shoes. Instead, she kneed him in the parts that no man shall ever be kneed. "You should learn to LISTEN to royalty sire! I was not finished talking with the person I was hoping to dance with. Now if you would please learn a little respect, that would improve the lives of everyone." She then walked off and looped her arm with yours. "So we may continue speaking without being interrupted." She said with a nod.
"Oh, well." Thorne looked at Crystal in appreciation. "That was very… interesting, Crystal." They looked back at the man and discreetly snapped their fingers at him. Instantly, he gasped, looking around in obvious terror. Thorne narrowed their eyes at him and he screamed, sprinting out of the ballroom. "Anyways." They looked back at Crystal. "I'm from a small village in the forest. You probably haven't heard of it."
"Hmm. I spend almost all of my time in the forest dear. It's my favorite place!" She said, wiggling her eye brows with a laugh. "Do you dance?" She asked as the two found themselves back at her throne, and she walked off in a different direction, before finding a small table for the two too sit at.
"I see." Thorne was impressed that she hadn't commented on the commotion they'd just caused. "I do dance, just… not often. I'm usually very busy." They absentmindedly twist one of their rings- a simple gold band set with a single black stone- around their finger.
Raz had wandered off. She had a tendency to do that. She got distracted quickly and couldn't stay focused. She often needed someone to keep her focused but her attention was brought back to the princess when a scene happened on the dance floor. She waltzed back over. "You have quite the confidence, your highness." She said walking up and taking her other arms. "Hello, Thorn," She greeted. "Nice to see you again. I'm sorry I wandered off. I tend to get…distracted."
"That's alright dear, the world is full of beautiful things to look at. Keep your feet in the ground and head in the stars. And, thank you Raz. No man should ever disrespect a woman like that. I hope he has learned his lesson." She says with a nod, her arm wrapped around both. (Did I mention Crystal is bisexual? I didn't? Well she is)
(Yesss!!! But does her mother want a prince?)
"Hmm! I do think you are right but have the others?" Raz asked, looking around at the other princes, who eyed Crystal hungrily. "How does it sound if Thorm and myself keep an eye on you tonight to make sure no more princes try to make a move?" She asked, tilting her head slightly causing a strand of hair to move out from in front of her eyes, revealing her deep purple eyes.
(yes she does ;) SO FUCK THE SYSTEM) "Are you posing a little Win The Princess competition? I accept. Loser gets to be the flower girl or ring bearer or whatever position you want at the wedding."
"Wait, what?" Thorne looked back at Crystal in confusion. "Are you proposing Raz and I… Compete over you?"
Raz chuckled. "I never said that I was trying to win your hand, your highness. I'm nowhere close to royalty and I wouldn't be the best person to be with." She explained. She shook her head, causing her hair to fall back in place.
(Yes! Just to let you know, Raz does want to be with her but doesn't see them as equal counterparts for status and likes to get to know people before relationships, both friendship and romantic.)
"It sounds sort of what Raz is in a way, imposing. Not exactly, but I can see where this is going. Two suitors protecting the princess throughout the night from rude lords and air headed princes. And the more you flirt, the more competitive you get." She says. "Or am I wrong? I am known to be that."
"Protect you? Oh, I can do that." Thorne smiled. "And flirting? Well, I guess we'll see how that goes."
(Sorry for the short replies, I'm not in my computer currently)
(Totally fine!) She nods and grins. "I am a lady who can care for herself, but. I thank you both oh so kindly."
Raz chuckled. "Oh, you have made yourself very clear of that, your highness. Though, I may need to be going soon. Your mother doesn't look too fond of me being around you." She said, pointing out Crystals mother, who was giving Raz the evil eye. "She's never been fond of me."
(Ahck.) Scarlet sat there with a sigh. Her mother was actually sort of crazy but heavily entertaining. Crystal gave Raz a look. "You said you were staying by my side. So your staying, by my side."
Raz looked at her blankly for a bit before smiling. "Well, I did say that, so by your side, I will stay." She said chuckling. "So are your parents aware?" She asked.
"Hm?" She asked as she looked between the two. "Well,mum doesn't care to much as long as their is some male heir to the throne. Even though my father is always off chasing skirts and my mother rules here practically on her own. But without a male to represent our strength the whole city would complain."
Raz nodded. "Isn't it funny how men can do whatever they want and go almost unpunished, yet if a woman does the same thing she is punished severely?" She pointed out. "I mean, half of the men chasing you here already have wives. It's disgusting."
She nodded. "Yes, anything to be a spot on a throne. But my mother never loved my father, simply married him because the people liked him. So then she can do as she pleases and be educated and rule. Father doesn't even know about the peace treaty we're setting up to end the blasted war over seas. It's all anyone can talk about anymore. I'm right tired of it! And sometimes if the breeze is blowing right you can hear the cannons going off which right scares my animals in the forest!"
"Oh, yes. The war." Thorne sighed and shook their head. "I managed to not get into the army on the grounds that I'm not technically a man." They frowned. "But my best friend had to go."
"Hm. Well, hopefully we can bring our troops home yes? So then you may see your friend." She patted your hand with a smile. The war was over a new piece of land just a ways away, both sides claiming to have seen it first. Soon fighting broke out. It was fertile lands with strange beasts and beautiful flaura, some of which Crystal had brought home from of visits there.
"That would be nice." Thorne agreed, their face troubled. "Anyways. You like the outdoors, yes? I've heard you talk about the forest a few times before."
A teenage boy appears in a cloud of like sucking black smoke, unnoticed for now.
"Interesting," he mutters to himself.
On his back is a normal-looking brown cloak, but strange wisps of smog escape from the bottom of it until all the smoke are gone. He carries nothing and looks very unthreatening and uninteresting, except for his peculiar eyes. They are almost black, the only texture in them being small streaks of gray. He pulls his hood down to make them visible and wanders off to an empty place to maybe change and passes by the Princess and her company.
She watches him go, her eyes narrowing. "What a strange person…they seem to be normal but all that smoke and smog…" She coughs a little, and then a little more. "Let's go sit back in our little corner. See what happens from afar." She walks off head strong, her arms still linked with the others. "And yes Thorne. I am not your average princess. In fact, tell you a secret?" She grins from ear to ear, leans in, and mutters to the two of them. "I'm not wearing shoes, nor any sort of stocking. It's why most of my dresses sweep the ground and are so wide. I hate heels of any sort. They hurt my feet and I am not willing to suffer for anyones pleasure." She nods once. "I hate this dress too. Yes I look wonderfully beautiful, but it's impossible to get on and off, and the corset is hurting my rib cage. All so my breasts rise like air and my waist is cut down a little more, and what for? To be a woman of walking lies forevermore. I would much rather be outside in my nightgown, singing to my roses and listening to the orchestra of cicadas and crickets." She says with a sigh, looking out at the starry night sky through a huge window. "Instead I'm in a stuffy room, with drunk men and to many busy bodies I don't know and may never know again."
"I'll agree with you. The war is the most troublesome. I feel like a have soldiers knocking on my door every other day anding for my services." Raz said with a sigh. "No matter how many times I tell them I'm neutral they still keep trying. But nature is an easy way to get your mind of it."
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