[center][h3]Juniper Delorano[/h3] [i][sub]"lets cooler heads prevail."[/sub][/i][/center]
[hr]

Juniper’s fingers dug into the tablecloth as her knuckles turned white and ached; if not for the cloth surely her nails would’ve bitten and drawn blood from her small, sweating palms. She could feel her teeth grinding together as Meldyr suggested that he have his men escort her back to her room, her eyes burning a floor in the carpet as Lucien offered to do it himself. Did they think she was incapable of walking down a hall and taking a flight of stairs by herself, images of her tripping and snapping her neck on a step running through their minds? Or did they know that she had no intention of going to her room, let alone staying in the manor, at all? That couldn’t have been possible. Unlike some of Lorenzo’s girls, she didn’t wake up the whole household in a fumbling attempt to sneak out discretely.  

Her head snapped up as someone dared to utter the word “no” in response to her question, her anger apparent in her narrowed eyes as she fixed her best withering stare upon Dr. Engel. He had no right to speak to her like that, the thought that he even believed he could tell her “no” was nearly as laughable as the thought that her father was in a better place. Even a child could see that being alive was better than being dead; only an idiot would say otherwise. A quiet huff came from the girl as she turned her head, unable to even look at the doctor anymore. Suddenly it made more sense why her mother had passed and why she never had the opportunity to meet Vincent. Like Meldyr, who had failed to protect her father, Otto had also failed. Both of them were ineffective, incompetent, and in need of a reminder as to who could and could not speak to her  with such patronizing tones. They weren’t her father. They weren’t her family.

Her tongue had no opportunity to lash out as her sister rapped the table in a successive one, two, just like how father would do to grab everyone’s attention when he had an announcement to make. Juniper was unable to meet her sister’s look as the older woman seemingly peered into her heart and tried to settle her woes. A wave of panic rushed over Juniper; obviously Juniper didn’t want Lorenzo to be Nalia’s stand-in, there was no way the young lady could hide that, but why did Nalia have to bring that up? Even though she didn’t outright say it the implication was strong enough, and the suggestion that Nalia would’ve chosen Juniper if not for father’s word? Juniper knew when she was being teased; the red on her cheeks intensified. 

Fearing any further embarrassment, Juniper slowly walked around the table, her eyes focused on her feet. There was no stomping of the feet, no grumbling of quiet curses, just a dejected, sullen girl listening to her sister, her hand clutching the letter from father tightly to her chest. As she took her seat next to Lucien her eyes accidentally met Lorenzo’s and another jolt of panic coursed through her. Thanks to Nalia stripping her bare, she had to apologize now, didn’t she? Perhaps Lorenzo wouldn’t even give a damn what the girl thought, but she knew her aunt would expect one and, as much as she hated to admit it, life would be easier if Aunt Fiona wasn’t out for her blood.

“I’m sorry for behaving like a child; it’s just...it’s been hard for me,” she said to her cousin, swallowing back a choke as tears welled up in her eyes. “Hard for all of us, I mean.” She glanced away and wiped her eyes, taking a moment to think before speaking again, her words coming out as heartfelt and sincere as she looked back at Lorenzo.  “If Father believed you to be the right choice then so do I. I know you’ll take care of us, cousin. I trust you.”

Having said her piece, Juniper returned to whatever it was that she saw on the floor that was so interesting. It was not until the shot of the musket rang out that the girl looked up again; it hadn’t come from inside the manor, but it was close. Scarily close. Juniper’s eyes, wide with worry, fell on the balcony door as it began to rattle before it burst open with a cold blast of air. A scream was caught in her throat and came out only as a choking gasp as she reached out and grabbed, not for her brother Lucien, but for Pieter next to her. She stared in horror at the feathered figure as it moved into the room, Meldyr already acting to intercept it, but as it spoke the fright began to fall from Juniper’s face. Instead, the girl found herself intrigued by what the intruder had to say; perhaps not fully trusting, but curious nonetheless. 

“Or what,” she added, her eyes not moving from the mask’s two dark holes.

[hider=Rolls][url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/1839][b]Grace Roll - 11 (Success!)[/b][/url]

To honor her father's will, Juniper attempts to make a genuine apology towards her cousin and aunt for her rudeness...and to save face.[/hider]