[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/UTPkRs4.png[/img]

[color=#758173][H1]Mina Blackwood[/H1][/color][/center]



[color=#758173]Time:[/color] Evening
[color=#758173]Location:[/color] Banquet Hall
[color=#758173]Attire:[/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/fhncIJ0.jpeg]Dress & Hair[/url]
[color=#758173]Interaction:[/color] [@Helo] Callum/Clarence, [@Reusable Sword] Roman, [@FunnyGuy] Alexander, [@Tpartywithzombi] Violet, [@SilverPaw] Wulfric, [@princess] King Edin, & Queen Alibeth
[color=#758173]Mentions:[/color]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/BCGMDwO.png[/img][/center]
Mina's fingers trailed the stem of her wine glass like a bored cat with a string, her gaze drifting lazily toward the front of the room. Wulfric's voice cut through the ambient hum like a needle through silk, and she tilted her head just enough to catch the weight of his words. Her lips parted into a slow, syrupy smile.

[color=#758173]“A touch freer?”[/color] she mused aloud, voice languid and warm with amusement. [color=#758173]“That’s one way to describe it. I’d say I’ve just remembered how to breathe.”[/color] A beat passed. [color=#758173]“Terribly scandalous, I know.”[/color]

Beside her, Sebastian remained perfectly poised, though she could feel the disapproval radiating off him in waves. His knuckles whitened subtly against his glass, and his silence said volumes. She didn’t need to look at him to know he was furious—and, for the moment, she didn’t care.

Then came Callum’s voice, and her name on his lips sent a cold ripple through her chest, despite the heat that still lingered in her limbs. The wrongness of it still hadn’t settled, even if his face now wore a different expression, a different life. She turned toward him slowly, lips parting, but not for a sharp retort. No, she wouldn’t show her discomfort. She’d already learned to smile through worse.

[color=#758173]“Oh, Prince Callum,”[/color] she exhaled, placing a hand gently against her chest in mock remorse. [color=#758173]“You wound me. Of course you deserve a good evening. In fact…”[/color] Her eyes traced him with a slow, deliberate flicker as she took in the crown, the tailored coat, the bearing that didn’t quite fit like it once did.

[color=#758173]“When I first looked up and saw you—"[/color] she paused, lashes fluttering as if in confession, [color=#758173]“I couldn’t recall ever seeing you in a crown before. You were striking. It made my heart flutter, I’ll admit. I forgot how to speak.”[/color]

A knowing smirk curled on her lips, lips that wrapped around a sip of wine like punctuation. [color=#758173]“So you see, my silence was not insult, my Prince… only awe.”[/color]

The lie dripped like melted sugar, too sweet to be taken seriously, but dressed up just well enough to pass as sincere. She knew it, he’d know it…and still, it would do.

Mina's attention now turned back to Alexander as he chastised her for the improper introduction. She laughed lightly at his reply, the sound a delicate thing wrapped in mischief. [color=#758173]“It was perfect,”[/color] she echoed under her breath, her gaze dipping toward her lap as if the memory had briefly warmed her from the inside out.

Sebastian, however, did not share in the amusement.

His jaw tensed at Mina’s casual mention of the carnival, and even more so at the familiarity in Deacon’s tone. He had remembered the emotions he felt from her through the blood bond that night and it had taken everything in him not to go after her, to check on her. He had promised to give her space, however, and so he had honored that. It hadn't kept him from asking about it later, though, and the reply he got from Mina that she had made a new friend was only more frustrating to him at the time.

[color=#792A31]“Alexander Deacon,”[/color] he repeated, as though trying the name on his tongue and not particularly liking the taste. [color=#792A31]“Yes, I recall hearing something about the festivities.”[/color]

[color=#792A31]“Count Sebastian Blackwood, as I'm sure you know thanks to our lovely Mina.”[/color] His voice remained civil, but not warm. [color=#792A31]“I’m pleased to finally meet the man who’s been… occupying my niece’s time.”[/color]

Mina didn’t even flinch, she took another sip of wine and leaned back in her chair, legs crossed and expression delightfully unreadable. [color=#758173]“I do keep excellent company,”[/color] she said, flashing Alexander a slow smile. [color=#758173]“It was only a matter of time before you two crossed paths.”[/color]

Sebastian, meanwhile, had already decided the conversation had taken a direction he had no desire to follow. Mina’s tone, Deacon’s comfort, the subtle thread of tension hanging in the air from others around, it all left a sour taste in his mouth. There was no sense in lingering in it.

Instead, he shifted slightly, angling his body away from the others as his eyes landed on the foreign woman beside him. A diplomatic and quite charming smile curled across his face, practiced and smooth.

[color=#792A31]“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure,”[/color] he said to Iyen, extending a hand with far more interest than he’d shown Alexander. [color=#792A31]“Count Sebastian Blackwood. And you are…?”[/color]

Mina’s wine glass hovered midair, her fingers frozen in a delicate grip as Alexander’s words sliced cleanly through the table’s tension. Her head tilted slightly, expression unreadable for a beat too long, until a soft, almost amused huff left her lips.

[color=#758173]“Careful?”[/color] she echoed, her voice low and silken, with the faintest edge of disbelief. [color=#758173]“Darling, I may have the manners of a countess, but I wasn’t raised to tremble at shadows or men. So if you think I’ve ever needed a man to protect me from another man, you haven’t been paying attention.”[/color]

Still, as she turned her gaze toward Roman, something in her sharpness softened. No judgment. No anger. Just a quiet crease in her brow and a flicker of concern in her eyes. It was small, but unmistakable. She searched his expression for some unspoken truth, some hidden regret or denial. Then her eyes slid to Violet, just as measured. Just as curious.

[color=#758173]“I’m not in the habit of taking court gossip as gospel,”[/color] she continued lightly, swirling the wine in her glass as she leaned back. [color=#758173]“So I think I’ll wait to hear it from the ones who were actually there… assuming they care to share. Then I shall pass my own judgement on the situation.”[/color]

She took a sip, slow and unbothered, though her eyes remained watchful beneath lowered lashes. [color=#758173]“After all,”[/color] she added with a faint smile, [color=#758173]“you can tell a lot about a person by what they don’t say.”[/color]

Beside her, Sebastian's fingers drummed once against his wine glass before going still. He said nothing at first, letting Mina navigate the storm herself—she was no child, after all—but his gaze had flicked to Alexander with veiled distaste. The boy had a sharp tongue and no concept of timing. Dangerous traits in a man so quick to speak and so slow to think.

Roman, though…

His eyes found the young lord across the table, lingering a moment. There had always been something promising in him, something real. He’d hoped, in quieter, more private corners of his heart, that Mina might someday see it too. But that hope came with a silent expectation: that Roman prove worthy of it.

Sebastian’s voice was quiet, but firm. [color=#792A31]“Let us hear the truth, then. From both sides.”[/color] A pause, and then to Wulfric, a polite, diplomatic nod. [color=#792A31]“Before anyone decides who deserves what.”[/color]

Then came the King's words and Mina felt disgust and irritation boil beneath her skin. Her smile twitched, as if teetering between amusement and disbelief. She turned her gaze to Edin, eyes gleaming like a polished blade.

[color=#758173]“Goodness, Your Majesty,”[/color] she said sweetly, lifting her goblet in a delicate toast. [color=#758173]“I do hope that was a jest. I'd hate to think a man of your stature still believes a woman can be struck into sense.”[/color]

Then, with a graceful pivot, she turned toward Queen Alibeth, giving her the softest, most deliberately sympathetic smile. [color=#758173]“Her Majesty the Queen must have the patience of a saint. Or the reflexes of a swordswoman.”[/color]

She gave a gentle laugh, light as champagne, and took a sip of her wine as if she’d simply complimented the table’s centerpiece rather than set it on fire.

Sebastian didn’t look at her, but his voice came low and clipped, just loud enough for her to hear over the table’s din.

[color=#792A31]“Mina.”[/color]

One word. Warning wrapped in steel.

Then, almost like nothing had been said at all, he raised his glass politely toward the King and Queen, his expression carefully blank—but the tension in his jaw made it clear: she was toeing a line, and he wasn’t going to let her dance across it.