"Oh, forgive me, Sir Knights," the eldest of the three girls began, curtsying as she did, "I am Angenese Tulburn, and this is Tenessa Heinlein and Violette Scarnsbek."

She gestured to each of her companions in turn, Tenessa curtsying and Violette looking rather disinterested as she followed suit, holding a drink in one hand.

"My, these bandits sound positively dreadful," she continued, excitedly. It was only obvious that these girls had been raised on tales of chivalric romance, hardly uncommon when it came to children of their age, and thus there excitement to meet Iron Rose Knights should not have been unexpected. Indeed, if one were to look across the room, Sir Gerard and Sir Sergio were hardly alone. For example, Sir Dunnelt was being spoken to by a noblewoman and her young son, who was excitedly asking him questions, and Dame Thalia appeared to have caught the attention of a pair of twins.

"I heard they were terrors! Ah, both of you are ever so brave, facing them for the sake of the common folk!" declared Tenessa, brightly, "Coming to the defense of those who cannot defend themselves..."

Violette was the only one who had yet to comment, simply quietly sipping her drink and looking away.

"A giant... was he really a giant? My friend Erezebet said the bandits were led by a monstrous man, eight meters tall," Angenese looked between the knights eagerly. Removed from the realities of battle was they were, all they knew was the tales of heroism.

"I heard he was almost like a fallen divine," commented Tenessa, "Like the Witch-Queen of old! Did you know they say she's still out there?"

"A fallen divine? Tenessa, that's a bit much, isn't it?" Angenese replied, with a slightly apologetic chuckle, "There's no-one like that roaming the countryside, let alone with a bunch of brigands."

"Don't be stupid," came Violette's flat and rather blunt opinion of her own, "He was just a bad man with too many muscles."

[@HereComesTheSnow][@VahkiDane]

[hr]

It was the impossible-to-read, hidden features of the knight in black that first turned to face Serenity as she approached, the subtle clanking of their armor only barely audible over the sounds of the party. Then the silvery head of the Cazt heir followed, golden eyes falling upon the approaching knight's form.

The blue dress she wore shimmered slightly as she moved, the Cazt family sigil displayed proudly upon her breast in red in contrast. It was a many-pointed star that bore a sword upon it. It was said Veilena did not see her own father as a member of her family. Perhaps this display of pride in her lineage was meant to be a symbol of that fact. After all, there was no shame in your bloodline if the traitor was no longer considered a part of it, was there?

Perhaps that was how the Cazt heir felt about it.

"Dame Arcedeen," she acknowledged the other young noble before curtsying, "Good evening."

She paused a moment, glancing briefly at her bodyguard before continuing to speak.

"You can't possibly be surprised that you're the first of my fellow guests who wanted to approach me, can you?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side, "Not that I mind, of course. The mere fact the Princess invited me here when so many others would rather not have seen me is satisfying enough."

A smirk crossed her lips, likely at the thought of how irritable the nobles who did not trust her, hardly few in number, were at her mere presence.

"In any case, I was hoping for a chance to speak to the Princess herself tonight, so I've been waiting for her to arrive," added Veilena, "In the meantime I'd rather not be privy to whatever idiocy some blowhard decides to spew at me, so I decided to enjoy the sunset through this window instead."

[@ERode]