[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/RsPNCur.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/TdjdX26.gif[/img][/center]
[color=lightgray][color=#6C72C6]Time:[/color] Evening
[color=#6C72C6]Location:[/color] The Ball
[color=#6C72C6]Interactions:[/color] [@CitrusArms] James [@AuthenticTomb] Sylvia
[hr]

Marina was startled by Sylvia's entrance, whipping around so quickly that her wine nearly sloshed out of her cup again, then her face lit up at the sight of her little sister. [color=#7D7FDB]“Sylvie!”[/color]

Her delight lasted until Sylvia looked between her and James and immediately decided to make it weird. [color=#7D7FDB]“What? No. Literally just met him.”[/color] Marina said, offended. [color=#7D7FDB]“This is not romance. This is an investigation.”[/color]

She leaned closer to Sylvia, lowering her voice. [color=#7D7FDB]“Someone is spreading ugly rumors about Askel and Ranya, and this is Lieutenant James Clearwell. His most important use to us is that he's helping us. Don't get distracted by his cuteness.”[/color]

Marina’s eyes narrowed with purpose as she spoke more loudly now. [color=#7D7FDB]“So congratulations. You have been recruited.”[/color]

Marina then went quiet as James spoke, which was never a good sign.
Her gaze stayed fixed somewhere past his shoulder, but the hand near her thigh had drifted toward the fork she had tucked there. 

She did not draw it, even as if on cue, a conversation of girls nearby them began in the backdrop of James' voice.

[sub][color=#C27BA0]“I am only saying what everyone else is thinking.”[/color]

[color=#8FAADC]“Careful. That is still a princess you are speaking of.”[/color]

[color=#C27BA0]“Oh, please. Did you see the way she looked at him? Like a lamb following a wolf.”[/color]

[color=#A9D18E]“Prince Askel does seem rather… practiced.”[/color]

[color=#D9A066]“Practiced? Darling, he looked ready to devour her right there on the dance floor.”[/color]

[color=#8FAADC]“It was atrocious behavior. Absolutely no restraint.”[/color]

[color=#C27BA0]“And she did not look as though she understood half of what she was inviting. That is the worst of it.”[/color]

[color=#A9D18E]“Or perhaps she understood perfectly. ”[/color]

[color=#C27BA0]“I heard they have been going at it like rabbits since they met.”[/color]

[color=#8FAADC]“Gods. Already?”[/color]

[color=#D9A066]“Well, look at them. If her family had any sense, they would drag her away before Varian’s prince makes a spectacle of her innocence.”[/color]

[color=#A9D18E]“If he has not already.”[/color]
[/sub]

[color=#7D7FDB]“Steady,”[/color] she repeated after James. Her nostrils flared as she said once more.[i][color=#7D7FDB]“I am steady.”[/color][/i]

[color=#7D7FDB]“I am a very steady person. I am the picture of steady, and no one is being stabbed with a dinner fork.”[/color]

Then her eyes finally moved back to James. [color=#7D7FDB]“They are trying to make Askel look like a beast, and Ranya look like a fool.”[/color] Her voice had gone low again. [color=#7D7FDB]“That is not gossip. That is an attack. And don't worry, I won't let Captain Durmand get dragged into this. This stops here.”[/color]

Her gaze flicked briefly toward Sylvia, searching her sister’s face, then back to James. [color=#7D7FDB]“Should we start with this Grand Vizier character?”[/color] she asked, her eyes narrowing. [color=#7D7FDB]“He is the one who announced it, yes? Why draw attention to their courtship when there are approximately a bajillion courtships happening in this room?”[/color]

She put her hands on her hips, already looking about the room for him. [color=#7D7FDB]“Maybe he did not start the fire, but he certainly pointed everyone toward the smoke.”[/color]

Then she saw him.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Marina did not wait for anyone to add their two cents to the conversation.

She simply went marching straight toward the Grand Vizier.

[h1][color=#7D7FDB]“HEY! YOU!"[/color][/h1][/color]