forum The Strangers in the Palace (Closed)(Fantasy)

Started October 31, 2021 by @LovelyRose

tune

Rin laughed at Honey's teasing, shaking his head a little bit and smiling softly at Honey and then Arquis. "Alright, that works." he replied, in response to Honey's words about having Lovey bring him clothes. He snickered when the blond took Ari's food, unable to hide his amusement at that little interaction.

Ari stared at Honey for a moment, blinking in confusion when the scone was taken straight from his hands. "I, uhm…what?" he said, slow and confused at Honey's theft of his scone. "You thief!" he started to laugh, eyebrows arched as he stared at the other man.

"Thief?" Honey cried after he swallowed the last of the scone. He gave Ari a look of mock hurt. "That's a rude thing to call the man you're trying to court. Be kinder with your words. I'd say I'm less of a thief, more of an, uh, opportunist. An opportunity arose, and I took it. It being the scone, of course."

A bubbly laugh sprang from Arquis's lips before he could stop it. Honey startled and turned towards him. Surprise flickered across his face, but it didn't stay. He burst into a lopsided grin.

"Never heard you laugh quite like that before. Not gonna lie, it was kinda cute." He tipped his head to wink playfully at Rin. "You take too much time out there, and I might just have to steal your man. Huh. Maybe that does make me a thief. Oh well.”

"I do not consent to being stolen!" Arquis wailed. "Do not listen to him, love. Take as much time as you two desire. I will fend off his advances."

"Reluctantly, I'm sure," the blond added cockily.

Ari was still laughing, shaking his head at everything. He gave Honey a slightly pouting look. "First you steal my scone, now my best friend's partner? Whatever am I to do with you?" he arched his eyebrows, laughing and shaking his ehad at the blond young man. "I really have no clue what I shall do with you."

Rin kissed Arquis's cheek, laughing as he looked over at Honey. "Don't steal my man, Honey, or I'll have to steal yours." he gave Ari a teasing look, though Ari just rolled his eyes in response. "You can't have them both, you know."

"Looks like I've been given an ultimatum. This is a cruel, cruel world," Honey sighed. He smirked at Ari to show he was teasing—this whole thing really was just a bit—before dramatically sweeping Arquis into his arms. The nobleman flailed helplessly. He tried to reach out and grab Rin's hand, but Honey rolled with him to the far edge of the bed.

"Sorry. I won't give in, not even for a bard and their extremely handsome best friend. From now until the rest of the day, this nervous gentleman is in my possession. He's been completely stolen."

"Nervous gentleman?" Arquis repeated, grimacing as if he'd eaten something sour. "I think I might actually prefer one of your other, ah, terms of endearment. If that is what these are. Am I meant to feel insulted?"

"Calm down. Don't give yourself an aneurysm thinking about it." Honey yawned and kicked one of his legs over the other. "Well. Like we've said. You know where to find us, if you need us. We're gonna be here. Hanging out. Won't leave the room, I promise. Unless it's an emergency, in which case, I swear to carry him out bridal style."

Arquis covered his face with his hands and groaned deeply. Somehow, Honey knew exactly the worst things to say. It was almost like some sort of anti-superpower. If he hadn’t already known the blond’s ability, he might’ve thought that was it.

Rin laughed a little, blowing Arquis a kiss. "You'll be fine, darling." he said, laughing as he looked over at Honey and Arquis. "Promise. Thanks, Honey. See you guys later." he grabbed another scone, and then started to head out of the room after putting on a pair of shoes.

Ari just shook his head and tried to suppress his own laughter, taking a scone and tucking it in his pocket so Honey couldn't take it again. "How shall I ever mend my broken heart?" he said teasingly, shaking his head mournfully as he followed Rinlos to the door. "I shall have to find some way to soothe the pain away."

(I can do that time skip after your next message if you'd like?)

Arquis watched his partner and their friend head to the door. There was a part of him that wanted to beg them to let him join, but he squashed that urge down. Spending too much time together was unhealthy. It'd make them extremely codependent and cause Rin tons of unnecessary stress. They needed to be apart for a while. The nobleman blew a kiss back to his partner right before he left, but he didn't say anything else.

Honey, on the other hand, was a little more vocal. He’d laughed when Ari had said that stuff about his broken heart, though he was honestly kind of sad that he was leaving. To cheer himself up, he called, "Stay out of trouble out there! Don't do anything or anyone I wouldn't do, no matter how fun it, or they, might look.” He punctuated that thought with an over-the-top grin before glancing down at Arquis. The nobleman looked less than enthused that the blond was still holding him. "So. Wanna have that tea party? We've got the scones for it."

"I suppose," Arquis sighed. He sent one last pitiful look towards the pair by the door before reopening the picnic basket.

(sure!)

Rin and Ari headed out the door together, the bard carefully closing the door behind them. They headed towards Ari's room so that the young man could change, talking quietly together as they walked. To tell the truth, they truly had not had time to really catch up in a while. They had both been so busy, respectively, that even their regularly exchanged letters had not been able to cover everything. Plus, a true, in person conversation was much more bonding and fun than simple letters written back and forth to each other.

"Rin, how much of the truth have you told Arquis?" Ari asked, once they were in the young man's room, the door closed against eavesdroppers. "Or does he think you are only a bard?"

Rin hesitated, sitting down on the bed and grimacing. "He…doesn't know. I do not know what he suspects, if anything, but I have not told him. He knows there are many things I haven't told him, but I haven't really told him what they are. He, ah, knows about Lysander, but…" they trailed off, looking over at Ari. "I don't know how to tell him. Or when. It's…it's a lot, and…" and it was dangerous. The more people that knew, the more dangerous it was for Rinlos.

(okie dokie! I'm gonna time skip to that night, then!)

The day passed more quickly than Honey would've anticipated. After Ari and Rin left, he and Arquis actually did have a tea party. He'd asked Lovey to bring him some dry clothes as well as an old, antique tea set that was missing a saucer or two. While he'd changed and toweled down his hair, the nobleman had gotten to work cleaning and setting everything up. They'd filled their cups with very sweet cinnamon tea and drank in mildly awkward silence for a while. Then, as was bound to happen, Honey made a bad joke. The tension faded. The two got to talking. They'd split a couple of scones during their discussion, and then Arquis had begun to feel tired.

That led to the present. Honey was propped up on some pillows. Arquis was sleeping soundly with his head on the blond's stomach. One of his arms was draped loosely around his side. Honey, who was also a bit sleepy from taking a short nap, was rubbing absentminded circles into the other man's shoulder. In just a short while, he'd become quite protective of the strange, anxious man that was using him as a bed. It was hard not to grow fond of him when he'd spoken so openly of his love for Rin and his family. He practically glowed whenever he talked of them, beaming with pride.

(thanks!)

Rin and Ari spent plenty of time discussing so many things. Arquis and Honey and the past…just everything that had been happening. It was nice, to be able to catch up. They spoke in Kevran, knowing that that way if they were overheard it was less likely that they would be understood. By the time they were done, it was evening, and they began to head back towards Rin and Arquis's rooms, still talking and laughing together. They quieted when they reached the door, and Rin slowly opened it up, a soft smile taking over their face when they saw the way Arquis had fallen asleep on Honey. "Hey, Honey." he greeted, smiling lightly. "How long has he been asleep?"

Honey put a finger to his lips when they walked in to indicate that they be quiet, though he dropped it when he heard the question. He gave the nobleman's arm a very gentle squeeze. Arquis shifted in response, mumbling something incoherent, and squished his face further against his chest. Other than that small movement, he looked very peaceful. His breathing was nice and even. He'd also lost that grim, nervous look that often plagued him, making him seem more his age than usual.

"Few hours," Honey murmured in response. Feeling as if he should probably explain the situation, he added, "He gets all cuddly when he's tired. One minute, he's over on the other side of the bed. The next, he's like this. I didn't have the heart to move him."

Rin smiled a little, sitting on the edge of the bed and staying quiet so as not to disturb their sleeping partner. "I know he does." they replied with a quiet laguh, eyes on Arquis for a long moment before he looked over at Honey again. "You two got along alright without Ari and I?" their question was half-teasing, half serious. He did want to make sure everything had been alright, though it seemed clear that was the case considering Arquis's position.

Honey smiled, mostly to himself. "Yeah. Got along just fine." He glanced over at Rin and cleared his throat, which made Arquis stir. After waiting a moment to make sure he hadn't woken him, he said in a low voice, "I made sure he ate. He had two scones, give or take. Also had Lovey melt some chocolate into his tea, just for the extra, y'know. Sustenance or whatever. Don't think he realized."

Arquis hadn't explicitly told him anything about what had happened earlier, but he hadn't needed to. It was pretty obvious what was going on. He hadn't wanted to bring it up to either of them because it didn't really seem his place, but the nobleman had slimmed down a bit during their stay at the inn. Which seemed dangerous. He'd already been rather thin when Honey had searched him upon their first meeting.

He reached over, took Rin's hand, and lowered it so that their palm was against Arquis's back. The nobleman seemed to relax even further. He made a soft, happy sound in his sleep.

Rin's gaze softened as Honey spoke, and he gently rubbed Arquis's back, nodding slightly. "Thank you, Honey." he said softly. He didn't quite know what to add. "Food has been a, ah…difficult subject." they wondered if Arquis had fought Honey less out of a desire to not be embarrassed. They knew it was quite possible that Arquis felt more comfortable expressing their feelings about food to Rin, which was both a good and bad thing. Good, because it meant that Arquis was comfortable around them. Bad, because it meant that them pressuring him to eat was actually slightly less likely to work, sometimes.

"Yeah. I mean, it was still hard for him, I think. He didn't really seem to be that, uh, hungry. But when we started talking about stuff, he kinda got distracted, and he let me split some scones with him." Honey had tried to phrase it as lightly as possible, but it was very obvious what they were talking about. He offered Rin a reassuring smile. Just because Arquis had eaten this one time with him didn't mean that Rin was doing anything wrong. These things were tricky, and they didn't always make sense.

Arquis stirred. All of that talking had finally affected him. He blinked his heavy eyelids open and yawned. Honey bit back a grin as the other man stuck his arm out and scrabbled uselessly for the blanket. When he actually did manage to get it, he tried to pull it over his head. It only partially worked.

"Aw, looks like someone's still sleepy," Honey teased, and Arquis swatted him sluggishly. "Rest well? I sure hope so, 'cause you've got guests."

"Guests?" Arquis tensed until he looked to the side of the bed. His eyes lit up when he saw Rin. He broke into a very soft, sleepy smile, then pushed off of Honey to roll into their lap. He cupped his jaw and traced it with his thumb.

Rin nodded a little, then smiled when Arquis woke up, gently holding onto Arquis when the nobleman rolled into their lap. "Hello, darling." they greeted in a soft tone, leaning into the hand on his jaw. "Sleep alright?" he turned his head a little to press a soft kiss to Arquis's palm, smiling down at their partner. They loved how soft and sleepy Arquis was right now, loved that sleepy look in the nobleman's eyes.

Ari smiled as he watched the two together, moving over to sit down next to Honey.

"Oh, yes. Wonderfully," Arquis murmured. He yawned and curled himself around Rin, mentally debating the pros and cons of going back to sleep. On the one hand, he truly did want to spend time with them. On the other, they were so warm and cozy that he could already feel his eyelids growing heavy.

"Yeah. Slept like a rock the whole time. Surprised we were even able to wake him up," Honey piped up. He threw his arm around Ari's shoulders and ruffled his hair. In a whisper that only he could hear, he said, "Hey, handsome."

Arquis lifted his head. He squinted at Honey, as if a realization had just struck him. His expression morphed into one of humiliation and horror.

"I fell asleep on you," he choked out. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I should not have been so impolite. To assume that you would be fine with-"

"Hey, now, sweet pea. Calm down. It was fine. You were a fantastic blanket."

"Oh. If you insist, then- wait. Sweet pea?" Arquis repeated. Honey winked. The nobleman's nose crinkled, and his cheeks went hot. "That is the worst one yet."

“I know. I just wanted to make you blush.” He grinned over at Rin. “Pretty sure your bard thinks it’s cute.”

Rin looked down at Arquis, smiling and gently rubbing his shoulder with a hand. He laughed at Arquis's embarrassment at Honey's nickname, bending to kiss the nobleman's cheek. "I do, yes." he agreed, giving Honey a slightly mischievous smile and hten looking down at Arquis. "You have the prettiest blush, darling." they gave him another soft, sweet, teasing smile.

Arquis went an even deeper pink and brought his hands to cover his face. Honey smirked. It was obvious that while the nobleman was probably used to being the center of attention—he did host a lot of events, after all—he wasn't quite used to that attention being positive. Not genuinely, at least. There were a lot of wealthy folks who liked to fluff the egos of others so that they could get into their good graces. Their compliments were almost never real.

Thinking about all that attention reminded Honey of something. He'd talked with Ari earlier in the day about it, but he needed to tell Rin and Arquis as well. They deserved to know.

"Hey, not to break up the happy moment here, but there's something I've been meaning to talk to you guys about." He sighed. They'd been having a decent day. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it was necessary. "When I was working the front desk the other day, I overheard some people talking. I normally don't eavesdrop, but, uh, they were talking about a rich kid going missing. And that there was a reward out for anyone that could bring him in. Or provide information on his whereabouts."

Arquis's hands dropped. He looked alarmed. "Provide information to who?"

"I don't know. Maybe the Anvillean guard, maybe, uh- well, uh, they mentioned- I'm not- don't take this the wrong way. Don't freak out. But I thought I heard something about a court."

There were several small, very easily bribed courts in Anvillea, each of which presided over a certain location. But over those courts was the highest court, appropriately named the Anvillean High Court. They saw a very small percentage of cases, and only those that were a direct threat to the nation. Arquis relaxed. Sure, him nearly being poisoned was a serious issue, but it didn't pose an issue to the country as a whole. The High Court would have no reason to get involved.

"It is probably a local one. This is to be expected. There was always going to be an investigation performed; they likely need me to testify. This is not a concern." He took and kissed Rin's hand. Surprisingly, he was smiling. "Everything is going as planned. This is actually wonderful news! Quirisa would not be able to send a letter if the Palace is under intense investigation. And if there is no other news, then it likely means she and Marsiquia are alright."

Rin looked worried almost immediately, eyes narrowing and shoulders tensing, body pullinh up into a conerned, tense line. Even when Arquis spoke and seemed less concerned, his tension did not completely abate. "Darling, I…" he trailed off, taking a breath and trying to think of what to say. Was Arquis right? He wasn't sure. "Are you sure that this is not a problem? That nothing…that this will not change anything? I am…I am a bit worried. We have not been as subtle as we could have been."

Arquis's smile wavered, and the light in his eyes dimmed a little. He'd really been expecting for them to be excited. This was supposed to be a moment of celebration, not another thing for the two of them to worry about.

"Well," he said, disheartened, "I suppose that is true. We have not been very subtle. But it is not as if anyone has recognized either of us directly. Besides Honey, of course. That means that nobody knows where we are. We should still be as safe here as we were before the reward was decided upon. All is well, my love."

Honey didn't look too convinced. "What if it is the High Court, though? Then this would be a pretty damn big problem." The blond's gaze darted between Ari, whose hand he'd taken to hold, and Rin. "You two know what the High Court is? How that whole thing works?"

"They hardly take more than fifty cases in a year, and those cases are always very rare and urgent," Arquis interrupted. "There is no reason why they would be interested in my situation. As such, I do not see a need to discuss them. Let us not get caught up in highly unlikely—near impossible, if I am being honest—hypotheticals.”

“Listen, Rin should at least know what they are,” Honey argued back. “We don’t gotta go into detail, but I don’t want anyone kept in the dark about anything.”

"I know a little bit about the High Court, but not…not enough." Rinlos replied, gaze flicking between Honey and Arquis with a concerned look on his face. He did not know too much about how Anvillea worked. How its government functioned, what it did. He knew a few basics, but not details. To tell the truth, when he was learning about the government of neighboring countries to Kevra, he had not been paying the closest of attention, and so had missed details and things that they rather wished that they knew now.

Ari was quiet, gaze moving to Rin for a moment before returning to Honey. He knew that Rin could pull the foreign prince and therefore diplomatic immunity card, if they needed to, but he also knew it was a card Rinlos would be loathe to pull.

Honey looked at Arquis, as if asking him for permission to reply to Rin. The nobleman sighed. It didn't seem like there was a good way to avoid this conversation, so he nodded reluctantly.

"Well, uh, it's just like it sounds. Top court in the land. Their decisions are final; nothing can override them. We have a lot of local courts and governments and that kinda thing, but yeah, this one is real serious. It's scary stuff." He cleared his throat and brought his nails to his lips to bite, then changed his mind. "The way they run things is, uh, pretty harsh. The accused is guilty until proven otherwise, and that's 'cause the person that accuses them is putting their life at risk. The punishment for losing a case is death. Always death. And so if someone accuses a person of something and calls the High Court out, it means they're pretty damn confident they're gonna win. Which gives them an advantage in the eyes of the law."

Arquis was honestly impressed. Honey claimed not to be very well taught, but he had an extremely solid basis of understanding of how the Anvillean court system operated. His surprise must've shown on his face, because the blond added, "I used to have a lot of money problems, and I got kinda anxious about it for a while. Did some research on all this stuff."

"Well, thank you for explaining, but none of that matters in this instance. It is as I said. They take very few cases, and mine is not a matter of national importance. Therefore, it would be absurd for them to have an interest in my situation."

Rin listened quietly, taking the information in. At Honey's words about death, his eyes widened slightly. "Oh. I…" he trailed off, taking a deep breath. "So if your mother takes us to court, you could die?" he asked softly, slowly, voice quiet as he considered that idea. "Or she could die. Either option has…well." he swallowed faintly and ran their hands through their hair. "Obviously I would rather you didn't die, and if your mother did, that is…that would have it's own problems."

"No. Neither option is possible," Arquis insisted, "because she could not call the High Court. She has no legitimate reason to do so. And smaller, local courts are not granted the option of the death penalty. We are safe, my love. Nobody is going to die."

"It's not impossible. You should be realistic about the situation," Honey argued. There was a crease between his brows from frowning. "Your family is, like, a pretty big deal."

"But they are not involved with the security of the nation!" The nobleman hasn't meant to stand, but he was so upset that he'd pushed off the bed. He crossed his arms, feeling suddenly vulnerable.

Honey held his hands up, like he was speaking to a cornered animal. "Calm down, sweet pea. I'm just saying."

"Well, you should stop saying- you should stop. My family is influential, certainly. We have wealth. But this case is entirely personal. We have not demolished any crops or water reservoirs. We are not involved with major tensions in other nations. We have not stolen anything of great value from other families. We have not burned towns or kidnapped high-ranking figures. Those are the types of cases that the High Court gets involved in, not family drama."

At the words "kidnapped high-ranking figures", Rin and Ari exchanged quick glances. Rinlos was a high ranking figure, from another country. While no one in Anvillea knew that save for the two of them…if anyone found out, it could quickly propel this case into something that the High Courts would be involved in. If Arquis's mother could spin this into Arquis seducing and kidnapping Rinlos, then the High Court would indeed become involved, and it wouldn't be pretty for anyone involved.

Rin took a deep breath. "Are you sure, darling? That they would not become involved?"