[hr][hr]Belle looked less than pleased to find opposition to her words. It was clear she had expected more support; she had nodded fervently along with Maya's words, but she was immensely disappointed with the general response to their argument. She didn't miss how nonchalant Lucas had been about the majority being in his favor for once.

She straightened up at Renault's introduction, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. [color=turquoise]"A pleasure to see you again, Your Holiness. I believe I didn't have the pleasure of introducing myself as your ceremony was cut short: I am Princess Isabella Rosaria, Scion of Water and heiress to the Rosarian throne,"[/color] Her quick response came, but she didn't let it dwell before immediately jumping back to the topic at hand. [color=turquoise]"Then do you truly believe inaction will get us anywhere? Because our lack of appearances has already spread doubt like wildfire on dry leaves--soon all will think of us as cowards unwilling to defend ourselves, content with cowering behind our knights and protection and unwilling to [i]act[/i]. Why wait until they strike again and take another of us out? And even with a new Scion of Lightning, we are still one fewer after the loss of our Scion of Shadow. Surely the enemy must be aware of this!"[/color] 

Sonia let out a long sigh, a product of her previous neutrality. She rose from her seat as well, giving Renault a bow. [color=rosybrown]"Templar of Light Sonia, Your Holiness,"[/color] Her mannerisms were much more formal than her tone, but she couldn't hold herself back any more as she took her seat again. [color=rosybrown]"I find myself agreeing with my fellow Templars. The sly eagle doesn't kill at whim."[/color]

[color=turquoise]"The eagle won't have a perch if we roll over and do nothing,"[/color] She shot back immediately.

Sonia visibly bristled, but it was more because she was finding Belle irritating as opposed to actually getting mad. She took a glance aat the silent Abram who found the sandwiches much more deserving of his attention. She scoffed. [color=rosybrown]"You accuse people of cowardice but you're letting your emotions run you,"[/color] She stated. [color=rosybrown]"Then what happens? You get yourself into a huff and march right into their trap. I'd bet my good eye that that is [i]exactly[/i] what they're counting on."[/color]

Meanwhile, Princess Rosemary had all but ignored the conversation at hand, her attention on something much more important: the return of Ionna's cookies. Her ponytail and dress looked comical as they bounced from the mad dash the little girl made to them. She took a second to read the message before her tiny hand grabbed a pair. [color=lemonchiffon]"Sonia is the best in the world. Sonia has the coolest eye in the world,"[/color] She stated quietly to no one in particular, already reaching for a third. [color=lemonchiffon]"Sonia is super strong and punched a hole in the wall once and Daddy wasn't happy but he said it was okay. It was cool so I'm taking two cookies for that one."[/color] She swiftly returned to Lucas' side, nudging her way under his arm. Rather than let her struggle, he turned his chair and let her sit on his lap. The girl immediately got comfortable and proceeded to devour the sugar cookies.[hr][hr]