[IC] Something Wicked This Way Comes

[Skittles]

G'davening, he'd said. Juliette's laughter pealed through the morning breeze, bright and hearty and not at all unkind. Hector the Cook had stricken a good chord with her already. Once again, he reminded her of the newer performers in her troupe, especially of the littlest one who had been riddled with a most intense case of stage fright. Little Eggs would freeze up as soon as he stepped foot onto the raised platform, and he looked just as Hector had in front of the Emperor, stiff and awkward, seemingly ready to melt into a pool of uneasiness and evaporate away. It took Eggs hours of mental preparation to feel comfortable enough to perform, but soon after, he transformed into a powerhouse of singer, his voice deeper and more powerful than his tiny frame belied. It made her wonder what surprises the cook had in store for them. His chiding caught Juliette by surprise, and another bout of laughter escaped her lips. This time she was reminded of Talberon and his desperate attempts to drill proper etiquette in her. He might have said the exact words to her once before. She gave the cook a playful salute in response, allowing him to drag her away as she did him just moments before. "Aye, Mr. Cook," she said, smiling cheekily. "By the way, have I introduced myself yet? I'm Juliette. Performer. G'davening to you!" The emperor's voice boomed out then, cutting any remaining chatter, sounding properly commanding and clear, as well it should. Still, his words whizzed by her ears unheeded. Juliette's attention lingered upon the ruler of the empire all of two seconds before her thoughts predictably drifted. The man in the ivory armor was all rough and hard edges, but she spied softness in his eyes whenever his better half was involved. He looked at her as though she was indeed a Goddess incarnate. Here was a man most fearsome, one who carried enough power and influence in his little finger than most would have in their lifetime, yet Juliette was certain he would lower himself to a beggar if it meant saving her. The thought made her sigh dreamily, and the corner of her lips tugged in one giddy, lopsided grin. Theirs was a love she hoped to one day attain for herself. Before she realized, horses had come out in the garden, as varied in their looks as the emperor's small group had been. Juliette did a double take, wondering whether she was still caught up in her fantasies. Horses were often part of them; although, there was usually just one, with the object of her affections riding it, galloping toward her to sweep her away and take her to his small kingdom by the sea. She pulled herself back before she drifted into another flight of fancy, redirecting her focus onto the young cook still latched onto her arm. He was watching as the other recruits dispersed, each one going over to a specific mount as though selecting one for themselves. Oh. Was this what the emperor was going on about? Juliette looked over the remaining horses, quirking her lips in thought. Beyond their appearance, she hardly saw a difference between them. Which was fast? Which was sturdy? Did it matter? Perhaps the most important question had been whether she should be allowed to take the reins. The Goddesses know the troupe had taken her horse riding privileges long ago, ever since she had ridden a horse to exhaustion, all the while ruining their encampment for the week. It was a long story. The gist? She and horses did not mix well. Just as she was about to inquire about a different means of transportation, the female mercenary from earlier approached them, offering some fairly good points about weapons, or their lack thereof. Juliette looked over her once, already with a mare and infinitely more prepared for the journey than she ever would, and smiled approvingly. She felt safer with her around. "I'll have you know, I'd nearly killed someone with a handstand once," she said, leaning closer to whisper conspiratorially, even though her eyes lit up in jest. It was true; one of their routines had her coming off a handspring onto a handstand on top of another performer's shoulder. She exerted a little more power than she meant to, and she ended up breaking his clavicle. On his way to a healer, he almost fell off the mountain, which meant she could have killed him indirectly! "Of course, I could also kill everyone with my stew without even trying." In all seriousness, receiving a weapon was rather tempting. Juliette wouldn't mind toting a shiny sword or a scary-looking lance that glowed prettily like that noblewoman's; if anything, she was certain she would pick up the basics quickly enough. It shouldn't be any different from learning a new acrobatic stunt. "A sword does sound nice," she thought out loud, before clenching a hand, as if to test it. "But I think I'll fare better with just my hands." She turned to Hector, who was considering the mercenary's advice as well. It seemed he would benefit more from a weapon than she. Perhaps a knife. Cooks were handy with those, weren't they? He could fillet those pesky creatures that were rumored to be sent by the Goddesses! "Are you getting one, Hex?" she asked, as casually as she would an old friend. Juliette hadn't minded that he still held onto her, but when she felt the warmth radiating from his hand, she moved to sling her arm around his shoulder instead. "I might ask for some greaves and gauntlets. Might help me pack more of a punch, yeah?"

[SanaChan]

"Well then!" Balan raised his brows at Logen's introduction, but nodded, "Hopefully that latter part isn't going to be necessary. I will say I'm surprised to see such armor on you, good fellow, as I recall that particular group people was even undesiring of travelling as they were visitors," He said, "But another able hand is always needed in matters such as these, so welcome aboard. There might be another destrier left in the line up to carry you along," he said as he motioned over to the horses. He heard a gentle voice addressing him and looked over towards Pythia and smirked, "If she does, it is something that my daughters came up with. These horses are smart, though. You could address it in just about anyway you see fit and she would most likely answer seeing as she's aware that you are going to be her rider for this venture. Osanne, you've ridden her before, what's her name?" he looked towards his knight captain who made a blank face. "She was indeed name by the Lady Adralyn. I do believe her name is Sophie or something of the like. It's better than that poor one there," he pointed to a horse near the front, "His name is Big Boy because aside from Percival he was the biggest horse in the stables for awhile. And even Percival's learned to respond to Percy by her," she said as she looked at the large steed and his braided main "Knight Captain," The Emperor looked at her and she immediately turned on her heel to face him, "Make sure this lot is properly prepared for the journey and then have them meet over by the gate. We need to be underway soon," he said and Esmeralda sighed as Osanne bowed her head before walking over to the lot by the horses. Balan looked at Esmeralda, tilting her chin up, "I'll be back before you know it, my love, and perhaps all these nasty rumors of you being the evil Twin will stop as well," he said, kissing her forehead lightly. "I couldn't care less about those rumors, Balan, and you know it. All I care about it you coming back. You should take a trainer to help the ones who are clearly less than trained for this kind of thing," Esmeralda insisted. "I do have a trainer. Two. Myself and Osanne," He put his finger to her lip as she started to argue, "Go inside. Relax. Go check on the children. I will be fine," He said, giving her a small smile before turning her back towards the castle. He on the other hand walked over to his own horse, sliding his foot in to the stirrup which was at the shoulder level of most of the people that answered his call, and hoisted himself up and over so that he was sitting in the saddle, "Alright, Percival (I added his picture to the "Anything extra" part of Balan's profile). Since you've been dressed up, let's show it off," he patted the horse's neck, getting a head bob in response and the massive stead started forward, "Let's go quickly, ladies and gentleman," he called to those who were still being indecisive and started his steed over towards Vyros and Latulla, checking to make sure his spear was held in tight enough that it wasn't going to just topple out of its sheath but loose enough he could draw it in a hurry. Percival stopped next to the young nobles and he looked down at them. "Welcome," he said, "I hadn't expected to see your families sending you two along, but I've heard enough about you and your capabilities to know that having you aboard will be an honor and a privilege, though I hope the fighting will be at a minimum and by that I mean with the monsters. You two, however, seem to have a history with each other. Anything I should be concerned about?" He asked raising a brow. Osanne cleared her throat as she heard the conversation about weapons, "A fine point," she said, nodding to the apparent mercenary, "We can't have you go out there completely empty handed. If you're more comfortable with your hands then we can, indeed, get you some gauntlets, but I would still appreciate you having even a small blade, perhaps just in the horses saddle. You never know when a blade will prove to be your life saver. As for you," she looked at the cook, "How heavy a blade do you think you could hold? I'm afraid butcher's knives are not a valid type of weapon so we have to give you something so that you don't even up dying within the first days ride should we be ambushed," she knew she was coming off as rather hard, but she did not think that these children belonged out here, same as with Pythia, and even Thomas, "Pick a horse already or I will put you on one," She said sharply seeing how indecisive he was being, "And if you don't have a weapon with you then you need to come over here once you have your horse," she looked to Pythia at that moment, "Is there anything you need or are you prepared well enough?" she asked, not as sharp as she had been with Thomas but for the Goddesses sake this was a child. She couldn't help but be a bit annoyed seeing this was the turn out. Thank the skies that there were at least two nobles and their platoons to help them out. She hadn't seen the platoons, but there was no way mommy and daddy sent their little babies off without enough bodyguards.