[center][h3][color=2E8B57]Einhorn Castle, Reiterburg, Dreiben[/color][/h3] [img]http://i.imgur.com/qU7ZuMO.jpg[/img][/center] Lothar had been listening to his daughter, Charlotte, when he had finally received a full picture of what had occured. She had been regaling him - with sufficient embellishment - on how House Amrothan could, if they so chose, claim to be House Practen due to how such matters of blood and bond had worked through history. She had a way, at least, of turning the dusty genealogical tomes that traced back through times ancient marriages and births and notes on such things into something that near resembled a fable. He respected her for her scholarly passion. Charlotte was a different kind of Amrothan to her older siblings, but she was still his daughter, and he loved her. She had been disappointed to end her tale early, but understanding in his need to process another Imperial drama. No, he thought, it was wrong to be so frivolous in matters of death. His House engaged in the politics and the dance as much as any other, but it retained a noticeable sort of distance, deferred to maintaining the status quo, voting with a tact that was seemingly random but at all times were intended to preserve such a balance. This was different. The loss of so many was surely a time of mourning even beyond that of the Emperor himself - who had, after all, not been the worst to sit on the Throne, at least when he chose to sit upon it - yet it was a time where the bickering nobility, further exasperated by the sure to come scandalous actions of those who would contend, concentrated their focus on one vote in what was sure to feel like a very confined space. And it was one vote he would have to be present for. He would need Deiter and his knowledge of the capital as soon as he arrived. On that thought, his mind returned his hands to action and he began to formulate a letter. ----- Charlotte missed her mother and her little brother and sisters, almost as much as she missed Adelheid. Adelheid was in Xandria, whilst her mother was at least still in Dreiben. Why Reimar insisted on spending so much time around Flusstadt she didn't know. It was a big city, she knew, and probably very interesting, but all he ever seemed to want to do was ride horses. It was a mystery. Why he had enticed everyone save herself and father there she couldn't quite fathom, but it was only fair that he would want to see them. Of course, it left her father with only one immediate option in who to drag to the capital. Take to the capital, she mentally self corrected. She wanted to go, it was true, and this afforded her father the opportunity to make it so, but it didn't mean she was particularly enthusiastic about the timing. All the same, she'd have some time to herself, though no doubt her presence was meant to advertise her availability to anyone who cared to investigate. Such was the order of things. She had risen early and dressed for riding. Father had insisted they leave early, although it would not take anymore than a few days at worst to reach the capital. He probably wanted to talk to Dieter as soon as possible for as long as possible - While Adelheid may of relished the prospect of being amongst assorted nobility for several days, she doubted that was her father's intention. She wondered if Adelheid would make an appearance, it was possible, of course, but she wasn't about to get her hopes up. Rounding a corner she arrived in the relatively, at least compared to most Amrothan decoration, opulent Bannerlord's stables. Squarely inside the Einhorn, it was pretty much exclusively stocked with the finest horses that Amrothan and Dreiben could muster - and the Bannerlord typically accepted nothing less than Adelpferd in the Castle stables - but several favourites of other breeds had made their home here over the years. There were a few figures making themselves busy in the dim morning light that broke over the ramparts, she noted her father's horse was prepared, as well as her own - though her Father was nowhere to been. She wondered where he could be.. "Ah Princess, I see you are as graceful a figure in the morning light as at any other hour." Came a voice, [i]that[/i] voice. She rounded on the spot, managing to conceal the small start she had given. "Lord Weiss, a pleasure, as always." She responded, smiling pleasantly at the man, all but four years older than her and as of recent, somewhat of a would be courter of her affections, though it was unlikely to ever come to pass. All the same, they both enjoyed the dance, it was a change of pace from the informality of family, at worst. "What brings you to the stables so early?" She asked. "Well with you and your father's departure, duties of regency in their absence would fall to the Chancellor, but with your Aunt and myself in town of course other arrangements have come to be. As such, it would of been terrible manners for me to at least not wish you well and that no harm should come upon you in your journey, no?" He flashed a smile, and she returned it. It made sense of course. If the Elder Lord Weiss and her "aunt", the now Lady Hermine Weiss, were present in Reiterburg that her father would entrust affairs of the realm to them. The Weiss family had always been loyal. Truthfully, Hermine was an adoptive sister of her father - a member of a cadet branch - she had been a boon to the family for some reason or another when Charlotte had been young. "Terrible manners indeed, thank you for your concern, Anselm. I shall do my best to not tumble from the saddle." She let a small, short, but pleasant chuckle accentuate the joke that Anselm returned in kind. It would be no small scandal if she did take such a fall, that was sure. "No doubt it would be the talk of the realm if you did, Princess. I believe I see your father at the western entrance. I shall leave you to your preparations. Do enjoy the capital." Anselm nodded his respect to rank to herself and a darkened figure that cut the shape of her father as she mouthed her own goodbye. She turned and approached her father, who greeted her with a raised eyebrow. "I know!" Was all she said, all that needed to be said. Her Father's brow dropped its accusation. For a moment, she looked at him, waiting for the inevitable transition to matters that were purely business. "We'll ride with some of the Patrol and then meet with a few of the Bannerguard in Sudreiten. We can then try our luck through the Herzpass. There shouldn't be anything to worry about, and you know how to ride as well as any Lady of Dreiben, so I'll save you the speech today. Only today. Come." He smiled at her as he approached, taking her hand and allowing her to ascend onto the back of her Horse, Geschwind, in a manner befitting the Lady he had just described her as. He double checked a few of the packages afixed to Geschwind, before he patted the beast and returned to his own steed. Charlotte breathed deeply and gently massaged Geschwind's neck, feeling the mane flow between her fingers. Like all in her family, like many in Dreiben, the bond between her and her horse was special. Geschwind was an Adelpferd, and that bond was on yet another level. The predominantly white horses were a uniquely Dreibene stock, and it had been schooled into her from a young age just how precious they were. She was no doubt sitting on something that could buy a reasonable guild enterprise - but to her, he was not wealth, he was an extension of her, even as a largely leisurely rider. Her Father had been doing the same, and now his own steed was moving forward, leaving Einhorn. Unprompted, Geschwind began his own trot. The capital wouldn't be so bad, she was sure.