ayzrules

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

M A I M E I

---

Mai turned at the sound of her name, the delicate champagne flute dangling from her fingers as she finished taking a dainty sip of the bubbly liquid. Her eyes alighted on none other than Prince Leonard Ford-her betrothed. He was in a vaguely familiar gray uniform; Mai recognized it. She had seen him wear something similar, before.

She smiled a polite greeting at him. "Prince Leon, it is a pleasure, as always. My trip went well enough-a bit on the longer side, of course, but it was...pleasant. And yours? I trust that it went smoothly as well?"

Something in Mai's gut twisted as she took in his choice of attire. Of course Leonard had chosen to come decked out in full military regalia; would he really be a prince of Krieg-Konigreich if he did not? Mai knew that there were other princes and princesses in attendance who were either currently serving in their kingdom's military or had done so in the past-take Erik von Rothschild, for instance. He was a captain in the Veredunian navy, but he hadn't shown up in uniform.

Mai forced herself to let it go. She had known from the start that Leon would indeed show up wearing his uniform, so any subsequent judgement on her part was just useless pettiness. Besides, she would marry Prince Leon one day in the not-so-distant future. Might as well start getting used to it.

Well, at least he is not obviously much younger than I am, anymore, Mai thought to herself, wryly, as she took in the rest of his outer appearance. When the two of them first met, she had been sixteen, while Leon had been eleven. It had been more than just a little bit awkward; Leon was but a child, at the time, and Mai...well, Mai was not legally an adult until she was eighteen, but she felt that she had been more or less an adult by the time that she and Leon interacted with each other for the very first time, in more ways than one.

Turning her thoughts away from such, ah, unpleasant things, Mai carefully assessed the people who had arrived so far. She could not find Princess Mila Ford, but she was sure that Leon's younger sister was around, somewhere-the two of them would have come in together, Mai presumed. Princess Genvieve had disappeared with the prince from Du-Wassi, and out of the corner of her eye, Mai noticed the two princes of Talulia, Aito and Akio Bai, the younger prince and the princess of Polemos (Dafni and Elias Kokinos), as well as Princess Isabella del Reyes of Evalusia and Princess Raven Willow of Mirenia. Whether or not there were any other newcomers, Mai could not say-they were not within her line of sight.

Prince Elias Kokinos, of Polemos, Mai mused to herself. Why do I feel like he and Alejandro....know each other? Alejandro has mentioned the Polemesian prince before, that I am sure of, but other than that...Hmm. I do not remember why I know that, but I can ask Alejandro later, I suppose.

Mai gave Prince Leonard another polite smile. "Is your sister here, as well? I have not seen her yet; do tell her that I say hello, in the event that I am unable to find her during the ball."

(Interacting with @alexfangtalon)

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

<Snipped quote by ayzrules>

Thank you! And the answer to your question is, unfortunately, yes. One of my best friends does, but it's quite possible she was brainwashed via the it's-an-acquired-taste route.

@lady horatio

omg im shooketh

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

@Bloonewb @lady horatio nice collab!

also, legit question: does anyone ACTUALLY like sparkling water???????????????????

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

A L E J A N D R O A G U Í L A D E A G U S T Í N

---

"Well, what's the verdict? Did I impress the mighty eyes of Prince Alejandro of Castilya?"

Alejandro grinned widely at Erik. The two of them had become acquainted with each other, yes; having the Veredunian prince around at parties was great fun, even if his taste in alcoholic beverages was less than...fashionable.

"Oh, Erik darling, surely you know that you can make anything work, with a face like that," Alejandro's grin widened as he winked cheekily at the other prince. So what if Erik was 1) probably straight, 2) rumored to have a girlfriend (according to a couple of his birdies, anyway), and 3) betrothed? A little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. In fact, if Erik was indeed as straight as Alejandro thought he was, then a bit of flirting was less than harmless. And Erik was attractive.

"I myself would not have gone with something so deliberately...simple, no, but I must say, Erik, it works delightfully well on you," continued Alejandro, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "I am, of course, of the opinion that a little more jewelry can never hurt, but I see that you have your own kind of sparkly accessory." Alejandro nodded at the medals pinned to his jacket. "Very shiny. I approve."

"The journey to Aciras was pleasant enough, I suppose," Alejandro said in response to Erik's question, casually inspecting his nails (which were painted with a light sheen of gold, to match his eye-shadow and suit). "Dreadfully boring, though. Would it be wrong of me to assume that you came by sea?" Alejandro gave him a questioning glance. "I, unfortunately, was in an airplane for a few hours. The trip itself was fine. But it is terribly difficult to nap and keep one's hair in order at the same time, as I am sure you are aware of."

Alejandro winked playfully, taking a sip of the bubbly gold liquid in his glass. A few more familiar faces had appeared-namely that of Prince Elias Kokinos, and his younger sister, Princess Dafni. He caught them entering the ballroom out of the corner of his eye, and he reached up, almost instinctively, to adjust the rubies dangling from his ears. He had worn those same rubies the first time that he and Elias had...the first time that they spent time together, if one understood his meaning.

Alas, their short-lived fling was a thing of the past. Alejandro had broken it off because it simply would not have worked, one way or another, and he knew that the two of them had changed since the last time they had been together. Still, though-Alejandro could not help but to remember that single wondrous month of cool water and humid air and heady Pólemesian wine.

Forcing himself to return to the present, Alejandro discreetly swept his eyes across the ballroom once more; Princess Venera had arrived, as had Prince Leonard and Princess Isabella. He was sure that he was missing a couple, but from his vantage point, he couldn't see any others.

Alejandro re-directed his attention to Erik. "So, you are enjoying yourself thus far, I presume?" he asked, a slight smirk on his face as he gestured towards the empty champagne flute in Erik's hand. "I must say, Princess Lea knows how to throw a party. Though I am sure that you and I have both attended parties that were more, well...loud."

(Interacting with @madmonarchist)

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

I S A B E L L A D E L R E Y E S

---

Princess Isabella Cotilla del Reyes of Evalusia was not happy, to say the least, to be stuck with Doña Augustina.

Augustina Dominga Eleuterio was formally there to make sure that the attendants that had been set with Isabella to Aciras were doing what they were supposed to do. But Isabella was no fool, and some small part of her was offended that her father thought she was stupid enough to believe that story. No; Augustina's husband was a sniveling brat that had somehow wormed his way into King Gabriel I's good graces. Isabella knew that her father knew that Don Eleuterio was less than useless; she suspected that he only kept him around because he liked hearing his every word parroted around. Or something like that.

In any case, his wife was much smarter than that, though she hid it well; as any good Evalusian wife should, according to her father. Isabella had no idea what King Gabriel I had said to Doña Augustina, but she imagined it was something along the lines of "make sure that my daughter doesn't find away to overthrow me so that Evalusians can have actual individual freedoms and so that we will continue doing everything like they did two thousand years ago when Jesus died for our sins. Oh, and if you fail, I'll kill your husband and have you banished."

So, yeah. Having Doña Augustina around would make things considerably more difficult, but Isabella would manage.

The navy-blue gown that Isabella had picked out for the occasion had been sewn by hand back in Evalusia. Although it was certainly not conservative enough to be ever worn at home-and here, Isabella resisted the urge to let out a bitter laugh at the word "home"; that palace, with all its unpleasant memories, was the only home she'd ever known-Isabella had fought tooth and nail for this gown, and she intended to make good use of it, thank you very much.

The long sleeves and expensive blue satin were nothing too far from the norm. Nor was the delicate, understated embroidery and beading that decorated the sleeves and bodice, or the high collar.

What had almost gotten her kicked out of the palace was the narrow, plunging neckline. Isabella had insisted that the seamstresses add it in, based on images she had seen from the most recent Fashion Month using the atrocious Evalusian internet connection (even in the palace, they were not afforded luxuries such as Google Chrome. They were still on Internet Explorer, and if that wasn't a sign of how damn backwards Evalusia was in terms of modern technology, then Isabella had no idea what was).

Her father was not supposed to find out about the neckline. But he did, and they argued for hours. Isabella eventually won him over, spinning a bullshit story about how the world already viewed them as a Catholic backwater and her showing up in a nun's robes would do nothing but reinforce that image, while her father basically confirmed that they were indeed a Catholic backwater by yelling about how no "respectable woman" would wear something of that sort, how she was showing the entire world that she was nothing but a sinful whore, or whatever.

Anyway. Point was, Isabella had won that argument, and it was very rare that anybody won anything from her father, so she cherished the victory, even though it was tiny and insignificant compared to the victories he had won over her.

The rest of her outer appearance mostly adhered to Evalusian standards of stuffy conservatism; her hair was pulled up in a simple but elegant bun and decorated with glittering diamond hairpins, although her make-up was heavier and bolder than what she would have worn at home. Her father would have never permitted such a dark shade of red for her lips, for instance, and Isabella had a feeling he wouldn't be too keen on the bold eyebrows and mascara that she had decided on. Whatever.

Doña Augustina had protested the entire time that Isabella was getting ready, fussing over the neckline and the eyeliner and the heels, but Isabella ignored her, for the most part. Five hours of hearing "your father this, your father that" was more than enough to make Isabella lose her patience, however.

"Doña Augustina, just blame it on me if my father throws a temper tantrum," Isabella snapped, not bothering to look away from the mirror as she added a couple finishing touches. "Dios mío. Is a little peace and quiet really so much to ask for?!"

Doña Augustina shut up, and Isabella let out a long, slow breath. It would do nobody any favors if she showed up at the ball already irritated.

Isabella opened her jewelry box-the same one she'd had for her entire life-and drew out a pair of diamond earrings that matched her dress. Her fingers lingered on the jewelry box for perhaps a moment too long as something inside her gut twisted violently.

Against her will, she remembered the note she'd found in that very same jewelry box, the day after Elena allegedly committed suicide. Wait for me, was all it said. Isabella could remember her older sister's neat, immaculate handwriting with painstaking detail, even though she had immediately ripped the note to shreds and then burned those shreds, because if her father suspected that Elena was alive and if he suspected that she was in contact with revolutionaries the way that Isabella suspected, then he would stop at nothing to kill her.

Isabella had long known that her father cared nothing for her or Elena. Elena was worth less than nothing to him after they discovered that she could not speak, and Isabella was only worth as much as whatever alliance she could secure with her hand in marriage. But her father doted upon their older brother, Gabriel II.

Isabella rarely saw her brother, these days. He was some kind of commander in their father's military. She supposed that it was easier, this way. As far as she knew, Gabriel II had nothing wrong with Gabriel I. Which would be a...problem in the future. Probably.

When Isabella deemed herself presentable, she picked up her silver clutch-chosen to complement the diamond earrings and hairpins that she was wearing-and took one last look in the mirror before turning towards Doña Augustina. "Stay here," she ordered coldly, in a voice that left no room for argument. She was a spy, a spy for her father, and Isabella had no intention in letting her follow her around wherever she went. "I will be back in a few hours."

"But, Princess-"

Isabella ignored her and strode brusquely out the door.

Of course, she couldn't guarantee that Doña Augustina wouldn't slip out during the ball, but she knew that the first thing the other woman would do was search through her belongings. Isabella thought she was a fool, to think that she was careless enough to leave anything potentially incriminating lying around in her luggage. She destroyed any form of written communication almost immediately, after all. The only reason why the aristocratic revolutionaries that were plotting a revolt right under her father's nose had not yet been discovered was because they were very, very careful.

She arrived at the ballroom. Princess Lea, in all her sparkly pink-ness, immediately beamed at her. "Princess Isabella! You look so gorgeous," she gushed as Isabella dipped into a slight curtsy directed towards the Aciran royal family.

Isabella smiled politely, though she knew that there was no way the expression reached her eyes. "You are too kind, Princess Lea. You are as lovely as always," she murmured in response, stepping past her and into the ballroom proper. Isabella was aware of her lilting accent as she spoke-the r's too drawn out, the s's too soft, the vowels too breathy-though if Lea or Queen Cecilia noticed, neither of them said a single thing.

Isabella took a deep breath and steeled herself, letting her gaze flit from one end of the ginormous room to the other. Isabella had never met most of the people in the room-why would any of them want to associate themselves with a dictator-king who forced his citizens to live according to the word of a book written two thousand years ago, after all?-but for all his shortcomings, King Gabriel I knew the value of digging up dirt on potential friends and foes. And so Isabella would have wagered that she was just as, erm, educated about the other invitees as they were about her.

Rhiannon Cadfael of Wales was near the main entrance, as were the princesses of Notia. Isabella had no opinion regarding the three of them; all of them had been coddled since birth, with everything they could have ever wanted handed to them on a silver platter. She might have been interested in Rhiannon, had she been male and therefore a potential husband, but alas, she was already betrothed to Prince Quentin Houston of the Texas Sovereignty.

....Who was, as Isabella soon deduced, not here yet. She could not say that she was surprised; everything that she had ever seen about the prince made her think that he was the complete opposite of her in every way, shape, and form.

Princess Alexandra of Castelleve was dressed in a black suit, and Isabella thought she was remarkably similar to the protagonists of the few absurdly popular Aciran young adult novels she'd been able to get her hands on when she was thirteen or fourteen. Elena had adored those heroines, all spunk and stubbornness, but Isabella thought that they had neither substance nor subtlety. And, quite frankly, she found them stupid.

Yeah, okay. Princess Alexandra would probably not appreciate it if Isabella said that to her face.

The two Lusitanians were together, a bird perched on the shoulder of Liviana. Isabella arched an eyebrow at the suit of armor that Domitia was wearing, but made no further comment on the matter.

A red-haired princess rushed past her, towards an extremely tall prince. She guessed that the princess was Genevieve Anders, and the prince Hui-Bawa, whose country was in an analogous situation as that of Evalusia's. He had her sympathies.

She recognized the platinum blond hair of Prince Yu Liang of Weifang, talking to a red-haired prince whose features Isabella could not make out from her viewpoint. Prince Diederik Isidor seemd to be conversing with a member of the palace staff, Princess Mai Mei was standing by herself with a glass of champagne, and Isabella thought that she recognized Prince Alejandro's annoying voice as she walked past a couple paintings hanging from the wall. Was she just imagining it, or could she still hear the Castilyan lisp in his voice, despite the fact that he speaking English instead of Castellano?

The person he was talking to, however, made Isabella pause. It was Prince Erik von Rothschild of the Veredunian Empire. Her sharp, sea glass-colored eyes quickly flashed in their direction. Was he aware that his grandmother provided most of the technology needed to censor the Internet in Evalusia?

Was he aware? And furthermore, did he have any power over that sort of thing? Isabella could not be sure-she guessed that he did not. But she would watch, and wait. It was the only thing that she could do.

Isabella ignored Prince Anastasiy Romonova and the two Talulian princes (who seemed to be almost identical) in favor of Princess Venera of Rustavya; blonde, blue-eyed, and wearing what Isabella thought was an ostentatious amount of jewels, Princess Venera was one of the other invitees who gave Isabella a reason to pause. Her father, Isabella recalled, had sold a massive amount of weapons and tanks to King Gabriel I. Weapons and tanks which were still in use, Isabella knew, enforcing his oppressive polices over all of Evalusia. She clenched her jaw, almost imperceptibly, and forced herself to move on.

Isabella found herself near the main entrance, again. She procured a glass of champagne for the sake of keeping up appearances, and glanced to her left to find Princess Hye-ri of Haneul. Isabella knew of her; another princess who had been coddled from birth, whose popularity was evidenced by her frequent television appearances.

There was nobody who was more different than Isabella in the entire world. Nevertheless, she gave Princess Hye-ri a polite smile, and tried to quell the uneasiness stirring in her gut.

(Interacting with @Garden Gnome)

Isabella's dress

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

A L E J A N D R O A G U Í L A D E A G U S T Í N

---

Prince Alejandro Álvaro Aguíla de Agustín of the Kingdom of Castilya was perfectly aware of how long his name was, thank you very much. Yet his best friend and most valuable source of gossip (as well as one of the most promising reconnaissance officers in the Castilyan military), Vhalery de Mirabel, insisted on reminding him of this fact every single day.

"Mirry, my darling, deadly pearl, you simply must lay the matter to rest," he said to her. Most people could not fathom calling Vhalery de Mirabel a "darling pearl", for she was quite possibly the most accomplished operative that had served the Castilyan military so far-and very, very deadly indeed. However, nothing was 'unfathomable' to Alejandro, save for perhaps a leopard-print miniskirt (those were old-fashioned by 2010, for heaven's sake) or wearing white at a wedding one was merely a guest to (a huge no-no).

Vhalery gave a noncommittal shrug. "I am merely suggesting that it will be a mouthful to say, when you are introducing yourself to the other royalty in attendance," she answered, arching an eyebrow.

Alejandro sighed dramatically. "Well, Mirry, consider this: since when has that stopped me?" he asked in a lightly teasing tone.

Vhalery shrugged again, as if she were saying there's no helping you at this point. Alejandro grinned widely and continued filing his nails. Alejandro was going to be late, of course, but he was going to be fashionably late, and there was quite a world of difference in between that and just plain late, thank you very much. "I am so looking forward to the ball tonight. Perhaps you would be amenable to refresh my memory on who shall be in attendance, my dearest jewel?"

Vhalery scowled. "You insufferable piece of shit," she answered him. Both she and Alejandro knew full well that Alejandro knew exactly who would be at the Aciran ball.

Alejandro's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Mmm, indeed, but you love me for that, don't you, my dearest Mirry?" Vhalery did not deign to respond to that. Just imagine it-Vhalery de Mirabel, a woman who could kill a man in ten different ways with her bare hands, being called the flowery bullshit that Alejandro called her? Any person with a modicum of common sense would see how, well, contradictory of an image that was. Alejandro, being Alejandro, thought nothing of it. He inspected his nails. "Princess Lea will be there, mm? I've met her before. She has such a brilliant taste in fashion. Prince Elias too, mm. He and I are...acquainted. As you are aware of. And Mai Mei of Liang, yes, my dear?"

Vhalery rolled her eyes skywards. "Yes, my prince, Princess Mai Mei of Liang, soon to be Queen Mai Ford of Krieg-Konigreich, 'Mai' spelled m-a-i, 'Mei' spelled m-e-i, Liang being the large country located in the eastern part of the world. Do you understand my meaning?"

Alejandro grinned. "Splendid, absolutely splendid!" he exclaimed. "I do recall that she and her cousin visited a few years ago, with her uncle. That beautiful weapon of a woman, hmm?" he thought out loud in a slightly more serious tone of voice. "If I recall, she was quite charming, and her cousin, oh-what a headache he was to my poor, dearest brother. Though I look forward to the wedding. Princess Lea is the only person in the world with more energy than Prince Zhou, I would imagine." Alejandro popped a compact mirror open and checked his reflection. His honey-blonde hair fell in waves down a couple inches past his shoulders, though for the welcome ball, it was tied back in a neat little ponytail. Alejandro had left a couple tendrils of hair hanging loosely in front of his face, in the same way that a woman would leave a curl or two out of an updo to frame her features. Alejandro was mightily proud of his hair, in fact. It was soft and silky and shiny, and he'd be damned if there ever were a man who had better hair than he did.

"As for Mai's betrothed...he seems like a military type, Prince Leon, if I am correct. Reminds me too much of my brother. Oh, how awkward they shall look, standing together-can you imagine a drab old military uniform next to Mai's wondrous ball gowns? It's unspeakable, such a thing, simply unspeakable." Vhalery largely ignored Alejandro's rambling. She had learned the hard way that it was the best method to preserving one's sanity when he got into a state like this.

Vhalery rubbed her temples and prayed that this would be over soon. The two began walking towards the ballroom. "Oh, how wonderful...we've arrived, and we are perfectly, fashionably, late!" With that, Alejandro stepped gracefully towards the ornate doors. He wore a rather flashy ensemble of metallic gold brocade, decorated with copious amounts of floral embroidery-simple, but impossible to miss, and perfecting complementing the gold eye-shadow that shimmered over his eyelids (okay, so his parents would have a minor heart attack when they saw the eye-shadow, but Alejandro just could not help himself when it came to make-up). His polished (and heeled!) dress shoes were decorated with sparkly gold hearts, and ruby rings adorned his fingers. A pair of unduly large ruby studs adorned his ears, and strands of rubies glittered around his neck. The added height that his shoes gave him did nothing but emphasize the tight cut of the gold trousers and jacket.

As he approached the herald and the entrance to the ballroom, Alejandro's decidedly unusual manner of dress garnered quite a few looks. Alejandro responded to these looks by flashing people a wide, cheery smile, breezing past them-like he was walking on air-and towards King Landon and Queen Cecilia Lynton, the hosts of this big gathering

Alejandro pranced up to them and made all the proper greetings, albeit in a slightly, er, outrageous manner. He turned to Princess Ayleanna-Lea-and grinned. "Hello, hello, Princess Lea," he sang out, pecking her on both cheeks. He glanced at her gown, and his eyes lit up. "And oh, what an exquisite gown you are wearing tonight, my friend!" he exclaimed. He leaned in closer, giving her a mischievous grin. "Now, pray tell, who are you wearing? I do love that color."

The Aciran princess grinned at him. "People Tree," she said, and Alejandro chuckled. "And how are you, Prince Alejandro? I see that you look as awesome as ever tonight," she replied.

"I couldn't be better, Princess Lea, couldn't be better!" And with an exaggerated flourish, Alejandro sailed away, in search of someone to talk to.

"Tastefully decorated, wouldn't you say?" Alejandro commented as he took in everything-the chandelier, the paintings, the people, the gowns. He skillfully wove his way through the crowd, Vhalery close on his heels, as he searched the room for someone...interesting.

Alejandro's eyes alighted on the familiar profile of Mai Mei. her back was to him; she was conversing with a shy-looking red-haired princess, likely Genevieve Anders of Maris. A flash of amusement flickered across Alejandro's face; both of them had such wonderful tastes in lipstick. They would get along swellingly.

On the other side of the room, Princess Liviana Viriatus of Lusitania was dressed in a dark blue gown, and her long hair was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Beside her was...Domitia, her niece. In a suit of armor.

Well, Domitia and Prince Edwin will make a perfect pair, Alejandro thought wryly to himself. A suit of armor and some undoubtedly ostentatiously traditional Britannian get-up, likely in a bright shade of red. I cannot wait to see it.

Princess Rhia Cadfael of Wales was sporting the most wonderful ensemble, and just a ways from her were the Notian princesses. Alejandro made a mental note to compliment all three of them on their outfits at some point during the ball.

Alejandro's gaze passed over the outspoken princess of Castelleve, the rather belligerent prince of the Ivunate Empire (who was currently talking to the considerably more mellow prince of Weifeing, Yu Liang. Alejandro liked his hair), and there was Princess Hye-ri of Haneul, dressed in pinks and purples. Prince Diederik Isidor was conversing with a blue-haired member of the Aciran palace staff (Alejandro quite liked the Argenyonni prince's outfit, especially the pants)...and ah, there was Prince Erik von Rothschild of the Veredunian Empire, casually sipping champagne. Alejandro took a moment to admire the cut of his sleek black suit from afar. Erik had the reputation of being a partier, and, well, Alejandro loved parties. The two of them were friends, of a sort, and they had definitely spent some time together in the past, after Erik joined his kingdom's navy. Though Alejandro was always quite scandalized by the other prince's inexplicable love of beer.

Alejandro's eyes slid from Vhalery, and then to Erik. He glanced back at his friend's chocolate-brown eyes and tilted his head ever-so-slightly in the direction of the Veredunian prince. Vhalery's eyes shifted imperceptibly, and Alejandro knew that she was rolling her eyes without actually rolling her eyes, if that made any sense at all (he guessed that it didn't to most people, but whatever) in response to Alejandro's unspoken shall we?. A pang stabbed Alejandro in the gut. The way that Vhalery immediately knew what Alejandro was saying, and vice versa...he had shared that with Eduardo, too. Alejandro's features tightened at the thought of Eduardo, and his beautiful hazel eyes, flecked with gold and brown, and his fine, chestnut-colored curls, and his sweet, soft mouth....

No. Alejandro thought ruthlessly, shutting down that line of thinking, mercilessly crushing the longing inside of him. That does not matter right now.

Vhalery, god bless her heart, was as perceptive as usual. She crinkled her brow at him, and Alejandro gave her a little half-smile before prancing off in the direction of Prince Erik. Vhalery didn't follow, instead melting away into the crowd to better observe everything that was going on.

Alejandro's trademark wide grin fell over his face as he glided over to the Veredunian prince. "Well, hello there," he greeted, his eyes twinkling with mirth as they flicked downwards to the delicate champagne flute in Erik's hand. "I see that you are busy keeping yourself, mmm, hydrated," he continued, grinning mischievously. "Though I am quite surprised at your chosen method of hydration." He lowered his voice, leaning in conspiratorially, his voice full of playful mischief. "Disappointed that there is no beer to be found? I am sure that our lovely hostess would be quite willing to accommodate your preferences."

Alejandro withdrew, slightly, taking another moment to admire Erik's outfit. That suit really did, ahem, suit the Veredunian prince. Alejandro found a glass of champagne for himself and took a dainty sip, turning back to Erik. "I trust that your journey to Aciras was pleasant enough?" he asked, examining a painting on the wall in front of him. "It must have been quite long."

(Interacting with @madmonarchist)

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

M A I M E I

---

At Princess Genvieve's comment, Mai let out a light, tinkling laugh. "Oh, but of course," she said warmly, letting her eyes linger on Genevieve's lipstick. "It is not often that I find someone who appreciates lipstick as much as I do." And then it was Mai's turn to incline her head as Genevieve complimented her gown.

"You are much too kind, Princess Genevieve," Mai murmured, smiling at the other princess. "And, well..." Mai trailed off in the middle of her response to Genevieve's comment regarding her nickname, laughing softly. "Yes. I certainly have no reason to object to it, no?" She flashed her a mischievous grin.

Mai's gaze flitted discreetly across the room, making note of some new arrivals, as well as some princes and princesses that she'd missed the first time around. Princess Alexandra Bonnisseau of Castellevé was dressed in a sleek black suit-Mai found the look to be quite stylish, even if she did not particularly care for how...childish Princess Alexandra came off as-while Hye-ri, who Mai had met on a couple occasions in the past, was in the traditional dress of Haneul. Erik von Rothschild of Veredun had a few medals pinned to his black blazer, and although she tried to ignore it, her stomach twisted at the sight of them. Her eyes quickly flicked to Prince Diederik Isidor of Argenyonne, dressed in a rather carefree, cavalier manner, chatting with a member of the palace staff with blue hair. Mai thought that Zhou might have liked the dark-haired prince. Neither of them were particularly...conventional, one might say.

Mai stifled a giggle as she contemplated her cousin and Prince Diederik next to each other. She would have paid to see Zhou in pink pants, honestly.

Finally, she noticed Prince Elijah Rothchester of the Ivunate Empire, dressed in a black trench coat. He was talking to Prince Yu Liang, from Weifeng, whose platinum blond hair raised eyebrows no matter where he went. Mai thought that although it was a rather unusual look, Yu made it work very well.

She re-directed her attention to the red-haired princess of Maris, a slight smile playing at her lips. "How are you enjoying Aciras so far? I must admit, this is my first time in the kingdom. It is quite different from what I am used to, though that is certainly not a bad thing." She laughed, a tad sheepishly. "I will freely admit that the food took me a little bit of time to get used to, although the palace chefs seem to be nothing short of geniuses, of course. And our hosts seem to have a wonderful taste in foods of all kind...especially desserts. Princess Lea does love her desserts, or so I am told," Mai continued, grinning as she gestured vaguely in the direction of the tables lining the walls-which were, for the most part, filled with pastries and chocolates and sweets of all different shapes and sizes (complete with fancy labels detailing the ingredients and whether or not they were vegan or not).

Mai turned back to Genevieve. "The weather here is not too much different from my home in Liang, though I imagine that this may not be the case for the others. Is it very different from Maris?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Prince Alejandro Aguila de Agustin making his grand entrance with all his usual flair, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes good-naturedly. The blond Castilyan prince was truly something else.

(Interacting with @lady horatio)

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

@Bloonewb @HaleyTheRandom both of ur stuff looks good to me, so long as @shylarah has no objection!

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

@OfWindAndRain cool cool move them over

@darkwolf687 move edwin over too please

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

Fareeha Isis Amari of Mamlakat Asslahra

Fareeha Isis Amari of Mamlakat Asslahra

"Stop staring and mind your own damn business." -Fareeha Isis Amari

💎𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮
――――――――――

Fareeha Isis Amari :: "Snake Queen" :: "Faree"

💎𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
――――――――――

Crown Princess/Heiress

💎𝓐𝓰𝓮
――――――――――

24

💎𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻
――――――――――

Female

💎𝓢𝓮𝔁𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂
――――――――――

Bisexual

💎𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮
――――――――――

Fareeha is a 5' 8" tall woman with what was formerly a slender physique-- now, it is muscled, toned, and weathered. With a dark bronze skin tone, smooth complexion, and unremarkable midnight-black hair, her basic physical traits are rather average for her people- it's her somewhat delicate jaw and cheekbones that suggest her royal heritage. She's got an average nose, and her eyes are a dark brown-- often mistaken for black, unless the light shines on her eyes. Her gaze is equally dark, oftentimes unfriendly or, at the very least, judging. The only colorful thing of her gaze is the golden flecks in her dark eyes, difficult to see without looking closely, and are again a sign of her heritage.

Her hair is often cut to shoulder-length, and she currently has a third of her head shaved in a somewhat popular style in the modern day, with the rest of her hair slicked over to the opposite side.

Her ears are pierced, and are the only parts of her that are.

Her arms and legs are scarred from small, straight lacerations, her hands are rough and weathered, and her shoulders bear larger scars. On her right hand, in the center of her palm, is also the only snake bite that didn't completely heal-- two small spots of scar tissue bracketing either side of one of her veins.

💎𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂
――――――――――

Exceedingly confident, self-assured. Driven by her duty, certain ambitions, and dedicated over anything else.

Thick-skinned, and while she personally can ignore even the most grievous of insults, anything said against her people or her family are taken extremely personally-- they are her people, her charges, and therefore must be defended accordingly.

Fiercely sovereign, and expects others to be so as well, including close friends-- while she comes to the aid of her allies and friends, she doesn't do so without being asked too. She expects those that she likes, admires, or otherwise is friendly with to stand up for themselves.

Is also a very casual and fun-loving. She can flip the switch and focus on enjoying herself and relaxing, in part because of her past-- and when she does, she cares very little for rank, title, or reservations.

💎𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓼 + 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓼
――――――――――

LIKES:
Reptiles, sweets, challenges, combat or fighting in any form, thunderstorms, other animals such as horses or elephants, being top dog, shiny and expensive things, and her people.

But most of all, snakes and thunderstorms.

DISLIKES:
Stupidity, disrespect, ignorance, llamas, dishonesty, sandstorms, people who think they're superior (regardless if it's true), and being ignored or dismissed.

💎𝓑𝓲𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱𝔂
――――――――――

Was born, spent many years exploring her palace, home city, and surrounding desert, up until her wilderness guide and guard died to a snakebite. Then she went out alone after that. Grew up being privately tutored, because she was expelled within a year of going to the private school all the upper echelon kids grew up in, and gained her GED early, at the age of 16-- a mixture of the best teachers, best study methods, and a determined mind.

Three years later and Fareeha Amari has completely university courses for general education, and enters the military, applies for special forces training program. Meets the minimum requirements before her parents realize what she's done, and goes through almost the entire training course before her parents realize just how uncontrollable their child would be if she actually entered the military, much less the nation's special forces. While she does technically graduate the basic combat training for her people's special forces, she's pulled out before she can gain an official rank and promotion. Afterwards, she spends her time hanging out with off-duty fellows from training, being tutored on everything she needs to know about ruling her people and nation, and building up the largest park containing the largest variety of exotic and venomous creatures- and is the single largest owner of any sort of snake in the world.

💎𝓕𝓒 + 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻 𝓒𝓸𝓭𝓮
――――――――――

::salmon::
Binx Walton

💎𝓑𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓣𝓸
――――――――――

TBD/N/A

💎𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻
――――――――――

A king cobra, colloquially referred to as 'Sun,' or 'Sandy'
A ball python, colloquially referred to as 'Farih,' or 'Princess'
A fully black hyena, slightly larger than average, colloquially referred to as 'Fangs,' or 'Cackler.'
-- Is also immune to venoms, and most poisons. This is due to a weekly practice the royal family participates in, where they inject themselves with small doses of a variety of venoms to strengthen their immune systems.

The Mamlakat Asslahra

Official Kingdom Name

Insert caption about picture here

💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮
――――――――――

Mamlakat Asslahra -- Empire of Sand or Oil

💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷
――――――――――

--- Emperor Abasi Abdel Nasser
--- Empress Ana Amari Nasser
-- Princess Fareeha Isis Amari

💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓼
――――――――――

Shiny oil black circle, ringed with gold, on a white backdrop with the bottom half of the backdrop being red.
Oil black, golden yellow, white, red.

💎𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓲𝓼 𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓕𝓸𝓻
――――――――――

Primarily as the largest exporter oil, gas, diesel, biodiesel, and oil-related products like that. Also produces a high quantity of glass of various sorts, the single largest source of venomous and harsh wildlife, and exotic pets, the rarest and most expensive of furs, and of a family line that those of its blood are reportedly resistant to nearly any and all sickness, disease, and venom.

💎𝓡𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽/𝓡𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂
――――――――――

The Kingdom of the Desert began when PsuedoAfrica, PsuedoEurope, and PsuedoMiddle East realized it existed. Then they sent their exiles, rebels, or other unwanted parties there.

Two hundred years later and it had become settled.

Four more hundred years and the first emperor rose, a man with roots from Egypt, a rebel whose name had been struck from the history books.

The atrocities he committed on Mamlakat Asslahra similarly struck him from the history books when he was revolted against and slain. In his place rose a new Emperor, the first of the Amari line, reportedly a Snake Whisperer.

Twelve hundred years later and a small, respectable nation had sprouted up, one that was hardy, and strong due to the harsh wilds of the island nation. Whales were big back then, and they were mainly a fish nation, up until the early 1800s, when oil was discovered...

About two hundred years later, Mamlakat Asslahra has one of the richest monarchies in the world, and is the largest exporter of oil. Using deals with Konigreich through Athens, and the Sovereignty, they are a major member of the global oil market.

💎𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻
――――――――――

N/A

Quentin Houston of the Texas Sovereignty

Quentin Houston of the Texas Sovereignty

"insert character quote here" -Quote author

💎𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮
――――――――――

Quentin Ronald Houston

💎𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
――――――――――

Prince of the Texas Sovereignty

💎𝓐𝓰𝓮
――――――――――

23

💎𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻
――――――――――

Male, female, etc

💎𝓢𝓮𝔁𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂
――――――――――

Heterosexual

💎𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮
――――――――――

6' 2" hunky muscley beef-man, with an almost arrogant poise, self-assured and vaguely superior air, and forever looking down on those around him- even managing it to those he's shorter than. Probably about two-hundred-thirty pounds of bone, sinew, muscle, skin, a few brain cells, with a slightly tanned complexion on normally pale-warm skin, with blue-green eyes and short, downy-soft brown hair. Strong jaw and facial bones, straight nose. Moderately roughened hands, with his proportions definitely favoring his shoulders and upper chest, though he does possess a set of long, powerful legs.

💎𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂
――――――――――

(bullet form or paragraph)

💎𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓼 + 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓼
――――――――――

Likes: Singing, almost all music with the exception of any sort of music that he finds degrading or blatantly disrespectful to anyone, whether an individual, gender, or ethnic group. Finds larger animals interesting, loves the internet and all that goes on in it, any sort of freedom from anything, loves fruits of almost any kind, though he definitely prefers kiwi and strawberry. Greatly enjoys memes of any sort, as well as art and literature- also enjoys like-minded people who are similarly open-minded and wide-eyed. Enjoys early mornings and active days, and relaxing in the evening. Cooking and multitasking are two things he's become very familiar with, and he has a soft spot for cobblers, beef, snake, and soft hair. One thing sure to warm his heart is a close bond of any sort, whether it be between a person and an item, pet, family, or friend. Cocoa Cola, Big Blue, Mentos NOW Mints, and sweet tea. Streamers, memes, gaming, and board games. Cattle, livestock, agriculture, and hard work are also things he approves and enjoys.

Dislikes: Disrespect, pretentiousness, arrogance, superiority complexes, inequality, debts of any sort, wild animals where they don't belong, Also hates cabbage, tea that isn't sweet, people with sticks up their bums, laziness or uncertainty, and jobs left unfinished. Can't stand those who don't give an effort with something, nor can he stand narrow-minded people, or people who aren't willing to share his point of view- he's somewhat narrow minded, ironically, in that regard. Doesn't like being ruled, or controlled. Finds issue with greed or ambition, and genuinely doesn't understand the need for major politicking.

💎𝓑𝓲𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱𝔂
――――――――――

Born to the Patriarch and Matriarch of the Texas Sovereignty, Quentin Houston is the second of five children- three brothers, and the last two are sisters, twins. He grew up in a modest mansion of a household known as the White House, which was because it was literally a very large white house, on The Houston Ranch outside of the capital city- Dallas.

He grew up shooting, exploring, being tutored, ranching, and helping with farming. He learned how to work his hands and his mind, and while he prefers his hands, he knows the importance of what's what. He's grounded, down to earth, and proud of his people, because as a ruling member of one of the largest agricultural producers in the world, he knows just how hard his people work to accomplish what they do.

By age 18, he was taught what was deemed important enough for him and his brothers and sisters to be tutored in- the three older brothers and two younger sisters- which included basic math, and more advanced world history, government, and economics stretching into university-level. At the same time, he could woodwork, farm, do basic mechanicwork, ranchwork, and more.

By age 20, he had found a new side of life: one of the modern day. After his first eighteen years as a very hands-on, isolated 'prince,' he was allowed to go off on his own for a few years to find himself, learn about his people, and occasionally act as a government agent in settling disputes or the like. Accompanied by one of his uncles, and a series of bodyguards, he spent some time in New Houston, a trade city that sprouted up around the Trans-Oceanic Canal, the single route to go from the Atlantic to the Pacific without sailing hundreds of miles out of one's way.It's here that he joined society, and began exploring the city for all sorts of things- museums, art galleries, gaming lounges, even briefly taking time to give speeches at the local university to students who have never had money, or had ever worked with their hands.

He briefly tried to get into the streaming scene, but he failed epically-- he was too unfamiliar with games, and wasn't naturally good at them. Instead, he turned to vlogging. For the next two years, Quentin Houstin has become one of the largest vloggers in the world, regularly taking short trips across the world just for the sake of content-- and was able to do so, both because of diplomatic missions his parents required of him, his own bank account, and his own status as a prince.

💎𝓕𝓒 + 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻 𝓒𝓸𝓭𝓮
――――――――――

FC: Channing Tatum (specifically in the 2nd Kingsman movie), color code: burlywood

💎𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮 𝓢𝓸𝓷𝓰
――――――――――

What Is My Life - Artist
_{A Few Lyrics here}

💎𝓑𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓣𝓸
――――――――――

Princess Isabella Cotilla del Reyes of Evalusia

💎𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻
――――――――――

-- He is a practiced mimic, which is sometimes part of his vlogs' content
-- His family's herd is some of highest grade of cattle in the world, second only to special herds of cattle that create Wagyu beef, or of similar grade in a few special farms in the Sovereignty or Aciras.

The Texas Sovereignty

The Texas Sovereignty

Insert caption about picture here

💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮
――――――――――

Texas Sovereignty; the TS

💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷
――――――――――

Patriarch Jamison the Third Houston, and Matriarch Sarah Houston, are the two leading members of the monarchy that technically controls the Sovereignty. They are supported with several close family branches, and their five children: Jamison the Fourth, crown heir at 26 and married, Quentin, at 23, Joseph, at 20, and the twin girls Jamie and Amie, at 17.

💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓼
――――――――――

Sky blue, wheat gold, cotton white.

💎𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓲𝓼 𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓕𝓸𝓻
――――――――――

Agriculture, most notably cotton/beef/grain, for being a major distributor of product from Atlantic/Pacific and vice versa, and for being the youngest nation of 90 years or so.

💎𝓡𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽/𝓡𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂
――――――――――

The Soveriegnty began with the memberstate of the Aciras Monarchy known as Texas, which, after nearly a century of local government bickering, eventually came to the conclusion that they'd like to break away from Aciras, and strike it on their own, so to speak. While the reason why never came to the public, rumors suggest that there was actually a burgeoning revolutionary movement in Texas-- one that included many members of the local government. Instead of a violent revolution, however, the local government petitioned the monarchy for independence. After many years of debate, a close alliance was guaranteed, many people disappeared from both sides, though no one really important, in what Aciras doesn't really acknowledge but the Soveriegnty calls the Quiet War of Independence.

Eventually, the TS broke away and formed a new government... and then revealed that there was a sizable militia-turned army ready to go, and began to conquer/annex the Central Aciran countries of low prosperity and population, creating the TS.

💎𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻
――――――――――

New Houston; the Trans-Oceanic Canals

It is here that the Texas Sovereignty, which conquered the land not even a century beforehand with a mixture of force and economics, finds most of its trade and diversity: all sorts of people live in New Houston, and it's the single largest port in the world, with hundreds of cargo and warships passing through the multitude of canals and into port every day, from both oceans. While there are other nations that facilitate trade and the like, the Sovereignty produces massive amounts of agricultural products and ships it worldwide, with top exports being chicken, beef, corn, grains of various sorts, and cotton.

Here, the Texas Sovereignty also stimulates the world economy by buying up goods and the like from one part of the globe, running them through their cities and peoples at home, and then through the canals to the opposite side of the world; they do so without major markup, and making very little money off of this normally impractical approach to economics. However, in doing so, they increase demand for oil, products on both sides of the world, and enrich the lives on either end, and passively improve relationships that foreign people have with the TS, making the TS's agricultural sales to increase.

They are not a rich people, and their intention never is that of one.

Ethics and Wages

Something that sets TS apart is they don't necessarily have ethics or the like. Where the majority of the world has, at this modern point, decided that any form of slavery is bad and should forever be avoided, TS makes its business rather cost-efficient by employing indentured servants. Laws about one's rights are actually looser in TS than almost any other first-world country, and it shows in that debt is often bought up that belongs to foreign people, when they come to TS, so that they can become indentured and work of their debt to their new Texan owners while the Texan owners profit by having a relatively cheap labor force. While they aren't abused, it isn't necessarily ethical; however, it is accepted by the populous. Normal citizens, when finding there to be debt, can and will sell themselves into indentured servitude to pay it off without having to worry about all the finances themselves; it's part of the culture, and even though it's somewhat new, in that it's been part of the Sovereignty for its short lifespan of nearly a century, it has become something accepted due to the almost largely reasonable treatment of people; basic human rights for being cared for and treated respectful exist, rather than an unalienable right for freedom.

Even when Texans are indentured, they don't see it as slavery- just something they have to do so they can remain truly free, of either debt or of servitude, depending on whether or not they're indentured.

@OfWindAndRain

they look good but pls add quentin's personality :D <3