[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/IvC7ksl.png[/img][/center]
[color=#B39700][color=#D7CCC8]Location:[/color] Castle Dining Hall
[color=#D7CCC8]Interactions:[/color]  [@Lava Alckon] Farim [@Rodiak] Nahir [@Potter] Kira [@Helo] Rohit [@Citrus Arms] Stratya [@JJ Doe] Hala [@Oso] Killian[/color]
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The moment [i]her[/i] voice rang out, Hafiz stilled with narrowed eyes.

Captain Stratya Durmand had called his name like a challenge, like she had a right to summon him, as though “Grand Vizier Hafiz Kadir” were a title to be barked across a banquet hall like a butcher calling for scraps. The audacity of it crackled in his mind. His name was not meant to be hurled in anger. It was meant to be breathed, cautiously, in reverence or fear. And yet this... soldier, this knight in costume, dared to brandish it like a weapon.

His eyes didn’t move at first. His hands remained clasped, the curve of his mouth untouched by expression. But beneath that mask, the rage bloomed as the foolish woman spoke.

She spoke of laws. Caesonian laws. As if they applied to him. Still, it was a clever attack.
The publicness of it. The theatricality. She had turned him into a villain before an audience, stolen the narrative before he could spin it himself. That alone made his blood run hot.

But worse than her tone, worse than her accusations, was what she had implied: that he, Grand Vizier of Alidasht, should be held to the standards of peasants. 

And she used the word disgusting against him? He had killed men for less.

His gaze finally shifted, slow and exacting. His smile remained absent, but his thoughts turned dark and fast as she hurried off to coo at an animal that was not her property. 

Taken Nadim as though she had the right. As though the property of a noble house from Alidasht could be seized like some mistreated orphan in the slums. And not just any noble house.

Nadim belonged to Hala.

To Hala Sami, the child of Vali Malik Sami, one of the Sultan’s most loyal and dangerous men. A child he had personally trained, personally protected, and personally invested in.

[color=red]“My father is the second wisest man in Alidasht, right behind the radiant Sultan, himself. But it is a weak and foolish man who mistakes violence for strength.”[/color] Hafiz glared with irritation hearing Rohit's voice and watched as he followed after Stratya. It was... astonishing.

And disappointing in the most specific way.

Because Hafiz had not entirely dismissed Rohit. He had, privately, believed the boy had potential—if he could be shaped. If he could inherit his father’s wisdom rather than just his charm.

But now Hafiz saw it clearly: Rohit wasn’t Navi Amar’s son. He was his shadow. And his shadow would rather stick up for a woman who stole someone's animal rather than his own countrymen.

[color=#4DD0E1]"Her, disgrace [i]you?[/i] "[/color] Hafiz’s head turned sharply, the motion too fast, like a scythe through tall grass. His eyes locked on Kira not with shock, but with a seething contempt.

She had spoken as if she mattered. And worse—she had spoken to him as if he did not.

[color=#4DD0E1]"There have been more rumors and talk of you than her.Throwing that in her face is rude and unnecessary. It goes to show everyone who you are inside. I’m sure the talk of you hitting a dog will be in the paper, so everyone in Caesonia knows who you are,”[/color]

[color=#4DD0E1]"Nahir is ten times the person you will ever be. "[/color] Hafiz glanced at his pathetic, trembling niece, who had been unmasked ever so easily, and found himself unconvinced. [color=#4DD0E1]"Looks like you’re the one flailing in this dinner. How many scandals are you involved in now? Nobody is like you because they don’t want to be; you’re cold, cruel, and lonely. The sands of Alidasht have told tales of your misdeeds, Hafiz, and they’re not good. Nahir will always be better than you.”[/color] 

Her voice still hung in the air. Rumors? Papers? Lonely? She dared imply he stood beneath his own niece?

Then, ever so slowly, Hafiz tilted his head, a small, venomous smile curling at the corner of his lips before the two of them could quite depart. [color=#B39700]“Do tell… [i]pet[/i].”[/color] The word slipped from his tongue like poison dripped into wine. [color=#B39700]“Just what rumors?”[/color]

He let the question hang in the air, daring her to answer, then began to whisper just for Kira to hear.

[color=#B39700]“That I am cruel?”[/color] he offered very softly into her ear, smiling wider.
[color=#B39700]“That I do not love?”[/color] He chuckled then—low, dry, and humorless.
[color=#B39700]“That I drink poison for breakfast and slit throats before prayer?”[/color]

He straightened slowly, his tone only sharpening. [color=#B39700]“I do. And I have.”[/color]

And now his voice dropped even lower than before. 
[color=#B39700]“Because where I come from, little girl, [i]rumors[/i] are not slander.”
“They are [i]warnings.[/i]”[/color]

The sound of his Farim's voice then found his ear before he could say much else. [color=D2691E]”What was that about wisdom and restraint again? Shall I have the artisans capture the moment you get an entire room full of potential allies in a frenzy? Come now, even I think you are better than this. A man only rules through fear for as long as people are willing to be afraid. A ruler who feeds ego over humility begets only one thing…rebellion with passion. And passion…. Has killed more empires than it has built. But you knew that already, did you not?”[/color]  The Grand Vizier did not turn to face him. He did not dignify the interruption with a scowl, nor a sigh. No, he remained still. 

Hafiz had bled for his empire. Had whispered nations into obedience, and survived a thousand court intrigues while Farim was still learning to tie his sashes. And now the boy spoke to him as though he were a [i]fool[/i] caught mid-tantrum. As though Hafiz Kadir—the Grand Vizier of Alidasht required moral correction from his son?

It was almost funny.

Almost

And like all bright, wayward students, Farim remembered the lecture—but never the lesson.
He spoke now like a critic, not a son. Like a foreign diplomat, not blood. And that, Hafiz would not abide. But Farim had not given Hafiz time to reply as he left rather quickly and there were other matters for Hafiz to attend to now. 

A simple, crooking of his finger summoned one of the servants that had been brought along for his bidding. His expression remained unreadable, but the chill in his gaze was enough to silence even the murmurs nearby. He leaned in, speaking low enough that only the servant would hear.

[color=#B39700]“Find Hala Sami.”[/color]He allowed that first command to settle, as though it were an imperial decree. [color=#B39700]“Tell them that Nadim”[/color]— his voice grew even softer, darker, laced with cold amusement, [color=#B39700]“was used as a weapon by my niece, Nahir. She pushed him upon me at the royal table… in front of foreign royalty. A spectacle of disobedience and petulance.”[/color]

He watched the servant’s face pale, then continued, slower now. [color=#B39700]“Then a Caesonian knight seized Nadim as though he were an orphaned beast. Stole him away from our table. Lied to the court. Claimed I had struck the creature. Bey Rohit Amar supported it uncharacteristically. ”[/color]

A smile curled at his lips—something that might have passed for amusement if not for the hatred that simmered just behind it.

[color=#B39700]“Tell Hala to come immediately. Their pet has been [i]kidnapped[/i] by a fool and traitor, and paraded like a martyr to earn applause from children.”[/color] 

[color=#B39700]“If they value Nadim’s dignity… they will come now, before the dog becomes a [i]pawn[/i] in someone else’s game.”[/color]

He waved a hand, dismissing the servant with the finality of a judge lowering the gavel.

[color=#B39700]“Do not delay. "[/color]

Then he rose and made his way toward the King and Queen.

However, he paused and slowed his movements as the doors creaked open. A stranger entered not with force, but with precision, dragging a spectacle in his wake. Hafiz did not sit again… but neither did he move forward. He watched. The game had shifted, and he intended to learn the new rules first.



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