[center] [b] 5:45pm, Last Seed 16 Royal Garden, Evermore Castle [/b] [indent] [indent] [hr] [/indent] [/indent] [/center] [indent] Already, the castle grounds were buzzing with activity. Administrators and guards admitted the early attendees (and occasionally turning away citizens trying to fake their way in), senior staff members shouted orders for their subordinates to finish the final preparations, while performers fine tuned their instruments. Swathes of ornamental lights lit up the courtyard even before sunset, and flowing banners of all High Rock states gently waved in the late summer wind. There were also tables and stages being set in the royal garden, where the early half of the event would be enjoyed when the air was still warm. The air was currently fragrant, of crafted scents and nature, and sprinkled with the occasional wafts of cooking emitted from the castle kitchens. Gathered just beyond the main gate, where metal bars formed the raven crest of Evermore, the first wave of guests were being introduced to the royal garden. Gustav and most of the mercenaries were present, to get an early impression of various people before the crowd became difficult to sift through. There were just over two dozen people right now, being led by a Redguard gardener through marble arches and seas of summer flowers. Behind the group were two royal guards, one of whom checked off names from a wooden clipboard. Every few minutes or so, some new faces would be added to the tour. Most of these people wore the finest and carried themselves like they were the finest. However, as far as Gustav could see, none of the monarchs and generals appeared thus far. Ariane strolled at the front of the group. She held Maj's right arm in her left, to make it look like Maj was her date. Her silver-quilted coat didn't quite match well with Maj's green dress, but compared to the fur-clad Bosmer "spinner" behind them, it was hardly unfashionable. Ariane held her head high, despite being one of the shortest person around. She followed the gardener with a slight sense of amusement, but mostly the detached boredom that was typical of the nobles around her. Gustav ordered her to stay vigilant, but Ariane hardly looked around. When she did, she saw none other than her uncle (and Keegan's debt owner), Horace Fontaine, joining the tour. "Excuse us." Ariane said quickly, and took Maj's to a gazebo nearby. Thankfully, Horace didn't notice them in the process, and even better for Maj, the person behind Horace, Quyon Cox, didn't either. "Sorry, that's-" Ariane apologized, suddenly appearing unsure of herself. "That's my uncle; we had a bit of a disagreement when we last met. Let's wait a bit here." However, Maj wasn't paying attention to her; there's something of note about the man behind Horace. "Are you alright?" Ariane shook her. Turned out, it wasn't just Ariane and Maj seeing familiar faces. Comfortably standing in the middle of the crowd, with Sadri by his side, Gustav had been studying a peculiar pot of purple columbine. The plant smelled faintly of rotten meat. The gardener claimed it was the result from decades of meticulous breeding, but for all Gustav could see (and whispered to Sadri), it was a waste of money. He would have invested in something more substantial, like the patch of moss-like alchemy plants they passed by earlier, or those Ayleid marble arches they were walking under. Gustav remembered reading about the Duchess' interest in Ayleid architecture in the Gazette, how she renovated much of the castle in the style of ancient "flesh gardens", and speak of the Gazette... "Hello there!" Someone suddenly appeared Gustav's left. It was Janne Swiftsong, one of the Swiftsong twins and editor of the Gazette branch in Skyrim. That meant... "You are bold one, Gustav!" Jens Swiftsong practically jumped in from the right. "Right, heh, hi." Gustav looked back and forth between them. One of them was sketching on a clipboard, while the other was writing in a notebook. "Heh, didn't expect to find you two here." "Why not?" Jens spun his quill in between his fingers. "Breaking news of this importance requires a bit of personal touch!" "Plus, we have to fill in for Madura." Janne added. "We know you're his biggest fan, but hey, give us a chance!" "Uh, actually-" Gustav tried to say, but the sibling's enthusiasm didn't give him a chance. "Anyway, what brought you here?" Jens asked. "Weren't you organizing a mercenary company?" "There's a change of plan." Gustav shrugged. "Ah, I see." Janne nodded, then she pointed to Sadri. "Anyway, I believe we haven't been introduced to your friend there, yet." Towards the back of the group, Wylendriel and Niernen found themselves looking at glowing mushrooms imported from Redoran mines. Next to the mushrooms were hummingbird mint from Greenshade, Valenwood. The entire section was part of an exotic collection featuring plants not found in High Rock. The labels suggest most of them were actually consumed in some form; the mushroom as alternative light source and mint as flavoring in cocktails. Said cocktail was soon served as the tour ended. Several servants, one of them being Sagax (whom had passed the checkpoint), brought out beverages for the guests sip on. A bell ring signaled the formal start of the evening. People started to mingle with drinks in hand, and the first person to approach Wylendriel for conversation was Aries Machella. It was at this time did Relyssa emerge with Alim in tow. There had been a quite few attendees picking up their attendants from the servants' quarters. Some of them were elderly, some of were injured war veterans, and some just wanted to boss the people around. Whatever the case, the attendants had to go through a painstaking orientation process on etiquette, safety and restricted areas. Nothing that wasn't known beforehand was said. For the hosts at the castle, it was their way to assert authority over third-party servants. For the attendants like Alim, it was a boring hour listening to self-righteous harping. For guests like Relyssa, their attendants were late by five minutes. [/indent]