[centre][h1][color=f9ad81]Laurel Mith[/color][/h1]
[@Sol Grim][@Raylah][@KahleenCuthald][@Lord Zee][/centre]

[color=gray]With fuddled memories, Laurel slowly came to. She was not sure whether she had truly passed out or merely become so concussed by her injury, and the ensuing blood loss, that her mind had fallen into a temporary state of inattentiveness. Either way, it was dangerous and a foolish error on her part, being surrounded by potential enemies in a foreign kingdom when she was supposed to be responsible for a high ranking official’s safety.

On instinct she attempted to sit but firm hands pushed her back to the bed. Her mind cleared and she recognised the face of the Freyjan Princess, Thyrri, the one whom Eve seemed to have brefriended. 

[b][color=fff200]“I am sorry, but you really need to stay in bed for at least a few hours. If you get up, you might faint again and injure yourself even harder. I will let princess Evangeline know where you are.”[/color][/b]

With reluctance she yielded to the healer’s instructions and did not attempt to rise again, instead mumbling a thank you although it came out so quietly and hoarsely she could not be sure Thyrri heard, especially as the woman seemed exhausted and soon fell asleep in a chair set against the wall. Before she did, she checked on the other patient in the room whom Laurel had not noticed in her dim-witted state. With surprise she recognised the face, and clothing, of the Lutheran warrior who had struck down his comrades while protecting her. His face was abnormally pale and she could hear how faint his breaths were, indicating he was severely injured. She wondered who had inflicted such harm on the talented warrior but her thoughts were interrupted by Eve who had swept into the room, now wearing the dress she had spurned earlier.

If she were more alert, Laurel might have been more surprised by the Princess’s sudden change in heart with regards the vestment but she had grown accustomed to Eve’s rapid changes of heart over the years. She was not so inconsiderate to be called whimsical but she often acted before thinking and often found herself regretting her words or actions, working backward to correct her mistakes after the fact. It was a sometimes frustrating trait her friend possessed but it made her all the more interesting and attractive, at least in Laurel’s eyes.

[color=82ca9d][b]"Hey..."[/b][/color], the princess whispered, fingers caressing the back of Laurel’s hand, [color=82ca9d][b]"are you okay?"[/b][/color] There was guilt that did not belong in Eve’s eyes, roaming over Laurel’s face and darting to the stitched wound on her head. [color=82ca9d][b]"I did not want this to happen... I should have said something, done something, stopped you -"[/b][/color] Laurel shook her head but her mind was still foggy and the words she wanted to say formulated slowly in her head. [color=82ca9d][b]"I am sorry."[/b][/color]

With an effort she clasped Eve’s hand, the gentle touch igniting emotions she was in no fit state to examine and understand and, at times, made her feel uncomfortable. Focusing as much as she could she stared into Eve’s eyes.

[color=f9ad81]“You’re not to blame at all, Eve.”[/color] The words, though simple, felt heavy in her mouth but with every effort she felt some small sense of normality returning to her body; she had always found that ‘resting’ made her feel sluggish. Movement was her natural state of being. [color=f9ad81]“I gave my name out without thinking and this is the consequence of that. At least I can still carry out my duties. None of this is your fault, we both have things expected of us here.”[/color]

She stopped as a huge, mountainous man entered the room. Levonian people were not small but this man made Laurel feel so, his size and presence a weight on her body with every instinct she had screaming that this man was dangerous. His eyes had a threatening stare to them and she could almost smell the bloodlust and rage rolling off of him as he saw the wounded Thanatos warrior laying in the room. Disappointment was reflected in his posture when he noticed them, the man becoming more guarded as he approached the resting man of his kingdom.

[color=brown]"A pity."[/color]

Laurel forced herself up despite the banging raging inside her head and the shocks of pain the movement sent shooting through her body. Hiding it as best she could, she looked to Eve. Her protective nature wanted to send her away, knowing that this man was here with murder in his mind but the part of her that was slowly coming to, the quick-witted young woman who had become used to politics despite her distaste for them through her friendship with the princess, told her that having two princesses in the room would be enough to thwart this man’s intentions.

Although her memory was dim she had finally identified him by reputation as the Father and pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place. The potentially fatal wound that had been inflicted on the Thanatos warrior, his actions on the battlefield, Luthra’s reputation as an unforgiving people and the Father’s presence all drew her to a conclusion that, by protecting her, the warrior had condemned himself to a quiet and discrete murder by his own people.

[color=f9ad81]“You should be grateful to him, you know.”[/color] Lacking the energy, she found herself forgetting the deference which she should be showing toward the Father but he was not [i]truly[/i] royalty so it was not a proper grievance or lapse. Her mind was too preoccupied, racing to keep ahead of her mouth as a desperate, and pathetic sounding, solution crystallised in her thoughts. [color=f9ad81]”Your other warriors apparently forgot the rule about not aiming for the head. Luckily he stopped them before they could break the rules and cause an incident.”[/color] She pointed to her own head wound. [color=f9ad81]“Now it’s just the Exodus lot who’ve broken their own rules and you’re in the clear. To me it looks like judgement has already been rendered but not enough to demand uncomfortable questions.”[/color] Laurel looked pointedly at the almost still figure of the Thanatos warrior, totally in the Father’s shadow.

[color=f9ad81]”I’d like to thank him, once he wakes up, even if his attention was misguided.”[/color]

Her mind strayed a little, vague memories of her short loss of control returning and seeing the shocked face of the man, a boy really, who had inflicted the injury which weakened her so upon her. She doubted that he had meant to do so, probably lacking in experience and forgetting what little training he had in the heat of the contest. Later she would need to find him and make sure he was not executed for his mistake but for now she forced herself back to the present.

[color=f9ad81]“Princess,”[/color] she spoke to Eve, using her friend’s title now that they were in the presence of strangers,[color=f9ad81] “could you send someone to find the warrior who hit me? I want to speak with him, before he is punished. This was only meant to be a friendly contest, after all.”[/color]

She felt exhausted, knowing that she had overstepped her bounds as a mere bodyguard and warrior but she would regret feeling that she had done nothing to protect others in front of her. Perhaps she had the wrong sense of affairs but she thought that this entire festival was meant to bring peace and build alliances and, although it was above her station to think she could impact anything, she wanted to at least make sure she did not cause that well meaning intention to be turned on its head and start unnecessary bloodletting.[/color]