[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/0Hh7rGs.png[/img][/center]
[color=00F8FE]Time: Morning
Location: Danrose Entrance Hall
Interaction: Wulfric [@Silverpaw]
Mentions: Queen Alibeth/King Edin/Anastasia [@princess], Zarai [@Rodiak], Mayet [@13org], Farim [@Lava Alckon], Hafiz [@Potter]
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[color=9FA1A4]Callum listened as Farim spoke after him; a calm and rational plea for Darryn’s life and made with no cries for some bloodthirsty revenge as punishment for what was simply a party that got a little wild. Cal often made swift and harsh judgments based solely on first impressions, and he rarely changed his mind from those impressions. For Mayet he saw her as embodying ever foul rumor of Alidasht itself; foul-tempered, bloodthirsty, vicious, and Caesonia was already filled with nobles like that. Hafiz only provided much of the same foul venom, yet another who claimed a noble title but whose words and actions were anything but noble. The son of the Vizier, however, provided a stark contrast; Farim was a good man, someone Cal could respect. He flash a small thankful smile towards Farim after he had spoken, and extended the same to Zarai who pleaded for Darryn’s life as well. In a crowded hall of nobles, all here due to their own choices, and yet, only a small handful cared enough to speak up when a stable boy’s life was on the line.

Hearing about Zarai’s injuries from her mother, even more so than seeing the bruises that marked her skin, made it abundantly clear that out of all of them, Zarai was the one that truly suffered injuries from last night. The rest of them, the oh-so-offended Alidasht included, were all more or less unscathed save for the embracement of having lost control of themselves. Zarai, herself, asked for no vengeance, only for Darryn’s life. It was clear to Callum that he owed her an apology later, for whatever had happened last night, for whatever part he might’ve played in it, and now also for the increasingly lecherous looks, Edin was sending her way. 

Cal had done his best to shift the blame towards himself, and even with Edin predictably backing him up, it seemed it was not enough to convince the rest of them. But it seemed he wouldn’t have to because Ana soon stepped forward to speak with more raw honesty in one speech than he’d ever heard spoken from the entirety of the Caesonian court. Callum wasn’t sure if he had tried to take all the blame to protect Ana or because he thought she might be complacent in their family’s plan to scapegoat another, but now he knew for sure, that Ana didn’t want to play these games any more than he did. For the first time in a long while, maybe even ever, he was proud of someone in his family. 

His sentiment was not shared by his parents who had Ana immediately sent to her room. It was predictable, she had brought up problems that reflected poorly on them and so they tried to dismiss and further hide those problems as they always did. Then a meeting that started with a lecture that led up to an announced execution of a man who had done nothing more than driving a carriage, ended with a break for breakfast and a promise of further interrogation of the already badly beaten Darryn. Except an interrogation was very unlikely to mean calmly asking questions and listening to answers, and far more likely to mean further torture for Darryn. 

There wasn’t a lot Cal could do about that, he had little power or influence over his family but little was a least a ways off from nothing. Speaking with Edin was out of the question, he didn’t have a reasonable bone in his entire body, and his mother, the side of her he’d seen today made him want even less to do with her than normal. Wulfric, on the other hand, might be willing to entertain a compromise. So he approached his eldest brother just as the group gathered in the hall began to disband.  

[color=00F8FE]“Wulfric, today has made me see just how important image is to this family. Especially when it comes to relations with our neighbors, and how much my words and actions could affect that.”[/color] He spoke quietly to his brother, leaving out childish nicknames and with no trace of sarcasm or jest in his tone.

[color=00F8FE]“It matters to you that this whole summer goes well, right? It matters to me that no further harm comes to Darryn and I’d be, [i]distraught[/i], if it did. Distraught enough I might forget how important image is to this family and I don’t want to be the cause of any incidents. So maybe you can help me, Wulfric, you make sure no more harm comes to Darryn and I keep my mind focused on staying in line with the image you want for this family. I can’t give you a name, but I can give you cooperation with just about anything else. I can be reasonable.”[/color] 

He knew better than to outright threaten Wulfric, but his brother was smart enough to know what he meant. Callum could be more than just a nuisance if he wanted to, he could put every bit of his time and energy into sabotaging his family in every way he could. He didn’t, because he knew someone else would wind up paying for it, but if they were going to torture servants for nothing more than driving a carriage to a party then he might as well not hold back. Maybe he was only digging himself deeper into the hole he already was in, but he was partially to blame for the outing; he encouraged it, so he couldn’t just do nothing and let Darryn suffer for it. [/color]