forum Kingdom of Spirits (4/4) (CLOSED)

Started July 01, 2019 by @ShadeStar

tune

Brecken shrugged and rejoined the line of guests. He stood there in silence his eyes flickering from their brown to a much darker for a few seconds, but then returned back to normal

Aureole stood quietly, unconsciously tapping her foot. She wanted to get this whole thing over with as quickly as possible.

Brecken and Aureole walked into the gala filled with ball gowns food and pompous people around. As soon as they entered, Brecken disappeared into the crowd to be lost among the many people.

Tamara finally was able to leave and enjoy the gala. She walked straight over to the food table to grab something to eat before she would have to dance with eons of suiters there for her hand.

Aureole went to stand near a corner as soon as she was left alone. Without any idea of what to do, she stood awkwardly and watched the people mingling, studying their features and mannerisms for later use.

Nathaniel was ushered into the gala, donned impeccably - cuff links and everything. He now stood on the sidelines, posture stiff, a poised, practiced smiling plastered on his lips. A hand at the elf’s back continued pressing on his suit, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles. Hissed instructions went in one ear and out the other. His mother quickly left after her words, flitting around the gala; his father was, likewise, now in deep conversation with several notable fae. Nathan prayed for no gold eyes. No Jaycee Winshine. Suddenly, he bumped into someone. Pale skin, blue eyes… the girl from the market plaza, his mind registered.

Aureole winced, looking up. "Um, sorry. I'm sort of getting in everyone's way today, and - oh," she said, her brain finally processing the visual information it had been given. "Hello, sorry, I'm not very observant, as you can see."

"No, no, it was my fault," the elf insisted, proceeding to apologize. Cordially, he bowed, eyeing her elbows and knees. "Are you okay?" Nathan rushed out in a hushed whisper, eyes darting around the gala. "From the fall, earlier?" If he was caught showing such compassion to someone not of royal or respectable significance… well, his parents would take care of that.

Aureole smiled faintly. "I'm fine. Probably. I fall a lot, unfortunately, so I'm used to it. I was just vaguely hoping I would arrive to the largest gala in my lifetime with bloodstains on my dress, but I suppose these things happen."

He quirked an eyebrow, smirking. "Now, now." Nathan took on a reprimanding tone, reciting lines, "That is no way to show respect to the Princess. Bloodstains? Do you want her to think you're there to kill her?" He fake gagged, before quickly regaining composure. "Sorry - I'm still a bit angry that my parents refused to let me bring my crossbow here… I digress."

Aureole crossed her arms. "First of all, why would you need to bring a crossbow to a gala? And second of all, I did not intend to come here looking like a zombie, it just happened. I just fall. It's what I do. Leave me alone," she pouted.

A shrug. "You never know, but a crossbow can be extremely useful." There was no embarrassment, only a comical practicality that Nathaniel enunciated his belief with. "And second, I never said you looked like a zombie. It can be refreshing to find someone not swathed in a hazard causing amount of fabrics." He gestured to everyone surrounding them. "Although you should really try to stop falling. It's not a good habit, you know."

Aureole rolled her eyes. "I DO NOT FALL ON PURPOSE. And the only reason I'm wearing this," she gestured to her dress, "is because I'm too poor to afford a good dress. I just borrowed my mum's and made some adjustments. Although, now that I think about it, it may have been better for me to have kept the original length. It might have protected my knees," she said thoughtfully.

Muffling a snort, Nathaniel retorted, "That thin cloth would not have protected your knees from that hard fall. You seem very prone to falling. In fact, why, do tell, did you even fall in the first place?" Sure, it was unprofessional to purposely aggravate someone like this, especially a lady at that. But he was too stressed about Miss Winshine to care about manners at the moment.

Throwing up her hands in the air in disbelief, Aureole stated, "A girl ran past me and I tripped over her. Or she accidentally bumped into me. I don't know. This girl ran past me and then I was bleeding and she gave me some medicine - which I just realized I forgot to use, and - you are such an ass," she informed him, crossing her arms.

He'd been called a lot of things in his life, yet an ass had not been on the list. The girl she was referring to must've been the pickpocket. Ah, yes, he still needed to get eight gold… "You should take that medicine," he prompted, surprised that the pickpocket had given the girl any.

Aureole shook her head. "I'm fine now," she assured him. "No thanks to you," her curls bounced as she sharply turned her head away with a huff.

Openly laughing, Nathan was going to reply when a soft cough floated from behind him. The elf whirled around, fully expecting his mother and her admonishing eyes, accompanied by a condescending tone. An excuse formed at the tip of his tongue - a reason he would be possibly talking to such a lowly figure. Instead, he met rich chocolate skin and shining golden eyes. "Hello, Jaycee."

Aureole froze. "Sorry, I should probably leave, um - sorry," she lilted softly, turning around and looking for another corner to stand in.

Nathan dips his chin, a subtle, discrete nod at her words. Leading the conversation with Jaycee expertly, he gently moves the pair further away from the girl. A small sigh escapes his body, visibly relaxing as he hones his focus onto Jaycee. This, this diplomatic, overly polite, masterful psychology of control was his forte. He analyzed Jaycee, another impatient girl eager to get into his pants - and more importantly, perhaps, his reputation. When would his mother see?

Aureole looked around, a few curls falling into her face as she did so. She impatiently brushed them aside, and tried to see over the crowd, which proved impossible. Even standing on pointe on the tips of her boots, she couldn't see anything. Why did everyone have to be so tall?

Brecken had stepped out to the center palace courtyard where the trunk of the tree was. He remained clam as he stepped into the trunk and up to the flame. Suddenly a red cloaked figure jumped down in front of them holding a staff. Quickly he was soon pinned up against the base of the tree with a staff holding him back. He growled at the figure, "What do you think your doing?"

There was no response and Brecken went to yell for the guards. Soon more gala comers were watching as the figure continued to hold the prince of Heilig to the tree. Guards rushed in to try and get her away from him, but only ended to further anger the small figure and cause a louder commotion.

Javier looked over to the ruckus and narrowed his eyes, What was going on? He pushed through the crowd towards them, eventually seeing a red-cloaked figure pinning a man to the tree. He meant to yell something but the words caught in his throat. He stood on his tiptoes to watch in between the heads of the other crowd members.

With a ridiculous amount of "excuse me"s and "pardon"s and a rather unfortunate amount of gentle shoving, Aureole made her way to the front of the crowd to see what was going on. "What the…" she trailed off in confusion.

Armed with a lucky event, curt bow, and expertise in conversation, Nathan quickly excused himself from the girl's presence. He towered over the chaotic crowd, which was exponentially expanding, brown eyes seeking the heart of the commotion. A flash of red and the Prince of Heilig… oh gods.

One of the guards finally pried Cicada away from Brecken. She pulled against them trying to get between the prince and the Everflame, not caring that her hood fell down in the process. She shouted, "Let me go!" only for the guards to pull her away further. The only thing she could do was watch in silent horror as the prince's eyes flashed black before he reached out to the flame and enter his body.

Brecken had only one thought in his mind, success. He hadn't come for the princess, he had come for the opportunity to take the flame for Heilig. Back to where it belonged. He glanced back at Cicada and grinned wildly as the human let out a blood curling scream and passed out in the guards arms. The guards then began to approach towards him with wary eyes and swords drawn. He had no time for them and simply slipped away into the darkness now there from the lack of what once was the Everflame.

One of the guards began shouting at the others, "Check on the King and Princess! The rest of you don't let anyone leave!"