Benzaiten

Writing Project - "Rowan Karnstein"

Pursuit of Power

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_{Mentions: @Aamaya • @sly13}

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Evangeline's thoughts were still spinning from the interaction with the Primfira princess as she headed towards her room. The dress around her body began to feel so wrong, too tight, too formal. But she forced herself to ignore it. As she turned around a corner and the door to her chamber came into vision, she was glad to notice the two guards still standing outside it.

"So Laurel did not escape your watchful eyes then?", she asked them as she came into earshot. "No, your majesty." They both looked proud enough as they assured her she had not left the room. "She has not attempted to leave once she heard it was your wish for her to stay safely put."

Hearing those words Eve gave them a look that clearly asked if they were seriously that stupid. She held their nervous gaze and watched as the younger one began to sweat on his forehead. "Leave now. You are clearly not capable of fulfilling my orders. I am not surprised that she escaped you, but I have to say I expect more wit from my guards. Take a look at Laurel Mith, because she's the standard you are expected to meet." She took in a deep breath. "You tell the Captain that the both of you are not to return to my service until you have reached the strategic thinking that is required from you. And if your combating and improvising skills are any like your strategic thinking, you better not let me realize that." She waved with her hand to send them off and the two men hurried away with scared faces.

The princess sighed. If she could convince Laurel to train the new kingsguard trainees, that would make a great impact. One of the things Princess Evangeline would change once she would take the throne over from her father was the training program of the kingsguard. She had different ideas and considered their methods slightly outdated. Of course their warriors were strong, fierce and skilled. But they lacked in certain areas. If I ever become Queen..., she thought. She had a feeling that her father was not fond of her being his heir, the next ruler of his Kingdom. He would surely find a way to keep her away from the throne. Perhaps marry her off to someone who was a better leader with more political skills than she had. Perhaps he considered Aamaya to be such a person.

Evangeline pushed the door to her chamber open and found it as empty as expected. She went to close the opened window, through which her friend had escaped, and was filled with pride. A smile played on her lips. Truth be told, Eve did not expect anything less from Laurel than to flee her direct orders without a second thought. She would have been more than disappointed if her friend sat waiting for her return like a trained puppy. That was one of the reasons the two had gotten so close. Their rebellious streak was something they had in common. And Eve wouldn't have it any other way.

The woman sat down on a massive arm chair in the room. Several things were going through her mind. She should talk to her father about what happened last night. Find out what his thoughts and plans are now. Would he reward the Earthica man that slayed the beast? In what way? She thought he deserved recognition from the royal family and a reward for his braveness. So did the rest of the men that survived, in her opinion. She had to find out what exactly happened, how many died, how many of her own. A conversation with the Caption of the Kingsguard was long overdue. Not only from princess to captain, but from friend to friend. She had known this man all her life. She would have to find Laurel later that day, make sure her friend was doing alright. Laurel had not been able to help during the fight and it was only natural for her to feel guilty about that, just like Eve did. She had to talk to her about Valeri as well, later, once things had calmed down. And of course there was Aamaya, she had to talk to the princess and express her sorrow. Eve wanted to let her know it had not been her fault, she was not responsible for the lives lost. But the same voice in her head that had warned her about Valeri was now whispering that she could not be certain of that...

Eve shook her head slightly, the loose strand of hair dancing in front of her eyes. It would be a long day. The festival days had so far not been coming along as accordingly. Trouble of one kind or another had occurred on both days for her.

She rose from her seat and began to write short letters. One to her father, asking to meet with him. One to Princess Aamaya, sending her sympathy and expressing her hope to find some time to talk to her during the day. Another to the Captain, but she never finished that one. She hadn't gotten past writing his name, she didn't know what to say. Calling for him to meet with her felt wrong.

Evangeline took both letters into her hands, sealed them into envelopes and began to wonder how long it would take her to find someone of her own people to task them with delivering those letters. But as she opened the door of her room she was met with two shoulders standing on each side.

"Oh!", she exclaimed. "I see." Her head peeked to the left, then the right. Two guards were standing on each side of her door. "They at least had the wit to replace themselves. Guess they had the minimum of intellect to accomplish that bit."

She stepped out of the room and closed the door, spinning around to stand in front of her new guards. She began to look them up and down. "Shall I run and deliver those to the king and to the princess of Exodus for you, your majesty?"

"I am sorry?" Eve wasn't used to her guards talking to her. Most of the time they silently prayed for her not to do something stupid, like trying to run and shake them off. So the young voice asking confidently to do a task for her was unexpected.

"The letters in your hand, your majesty. They are addressed to the King of Earthica and the Princess of Exodus. Would you like me to make a run and deliver them for you?" The confidence within the voice captured Eve's attention.

The princess stepped closer to the warrior that was now tasked with guarding her. "What is your name?", she asked. The other guard was starring bluntly ahead, trying to not lose his posture and looking quiet uncomfortable.

"Maiya Adisa, your majesty." - "How old are you, darling?" - "Nineteen, your majesty." - "I like you, Maiya..." Eve smiled slightly. "Most of my men fear to look me into the eye, they must think of me as Medusa. I guess they fear that it will encourage my rebellious impulsiveness." - "I do not fear. I solely respect your majesty." - "Oh stop calling me that!" - "Would you like me to deliver the letters, princess?"

Eve looked at the letters in her hand and shook her head. "No, thank you. I think I will have the statue next to you do it." She handed the letters to the perplex looking 40-something warrior. He did not seem to understand the world anymore. "Be quick. And make sure to get an answer for me from my father." The man looked at her with one more confused look, questioning if she was serious, but quickly beginning to hurry away when she raised her eyebrow at him.

As she looked back at the young Maiya Adisa, the warrior looked back at her. Maiya tried to hide it, but Evangeline could see that she was disappointed. She had wanted to do something more exciting than standing in front of a door all day, delivering two messages to royalty was certainty a little more thrilling than that, and it would have given her an excuse to move her body from this stiff posture. "Don't let your emotions show, young warrior. I can see that you are disagreeing with my actions and you are never to show your disagreement on your face. Understood?"

"I apologize, princess Evangeline. I did not mean to seem doubtful. I trust in your judgement completely."

"Oh but you do not, do you? You thought you did. You thought you knew me. And I have disappointed you. I have not acted as you imagined me to." Eve looked at the brown eyes of Maiya. They showed openly what she was thinking. "You have a lot to learn, Maiya. I find a liking in you. Which is why I send that old bloke to play fetch with my father. You are coming with me. I have to visit someone."

She began to walk and Maiya hurried to catch up to her. "But your chambers, princess, they are unprotected!"

"There's nothing valuable in there anymore. It does not need protection. Your skills would be wasted on an empty room." - "Intruders and assassins - " - "Will not be hiding in my closet or under my bed. It is risky, highly unlikely really." - "Poison." - "The statue will return to guard it. Does that sooth your worry?" - "By a fraction, honestly." - "It must do."

Evangeline requested Maiya to guide her to the chamber of a certain person and Maiya was prepared enough to know her way to their destination without a single doubt. They walked through the castle, down some stairs and Maiya led her through corridors, all while having one hand at the sword strapped to her side. Eve noticed that her sword was shorter and thinner than those of the men. She wondered if they had given her a lighter one because they thought a female couldn't handle it. But as she walked after Maiya she quickly began to notice how she moved her feet. Light and quick, with a definiteness that she seldom saw in her warriors. The warrior was aware of every step that she was taking. It reminded her of herself. Eve had always preferred weapons to be light and thin, so they would not slow her down on her feet. While she was trained in wielding a sword, she excelled in other areas. Daggers, throwing knives and her bow and arrow being her preferred choices of weapons.

She made a quick note to keep an eye out for Maiya Adisa. She seemed different. And Evangeline liked that.

They soon reached the chambers of the Captain of the Kingsguard and Maiya took her position at the side of the door. Evangeline knocked and waited for an answer.

Pursuit of Power

@Eric Horst There's definitely spots open. We're glad for new players :)
If you want to you can join the discord chat.

Pursuit of Power

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_{Mentions: @Lord Zee • @Jinxer}

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The sound of birds chirping peacefully awoke the princess on this morning. The sun was shining brightly through the wide windows, the warm ray of light sitting on her face, softly nudging her to open her forest green eyes. Evangeline blinked against the morning sun, the brightness not allowing her to keep her eyes open just yet.

She felt a comfortable warmth from behind her back and something unknown draped over her stomach. Wind was blowing into her ear, it disturbed her attempt to continue her slumber. With a turn of her head she managed to escape the brightness of the day at least by a little bit, enough to be able to keep her eyes open.

Another blow of wind hit her cheek. Or rather a breath, as she came to notice. Red hair framed the harmonious looking face. Laurel was still asleep, breathing onto her skin. Her body reacted to the situation quicker than her mind could analyse it, beating her thinking mind with a warmth spreading throughout her chest area and a tingling sensation building in her stomach. It was giving Eve a mixed feeling of unease and excitement. She turned her head away from the beautiful woman and was blinded once more by the morning sun.

The warmth of her chest continued to grow into a fastened heartbeat as the tingling sensation in her stomach spread through her legs. The unease overpowered the excitement quickly and Eve rolled away from the woman, resting on her stomach in safe distance. Frustrated she buried her face into her pillow.

After lying still like this, breathing into the pillow as best as she could, her mind got control over her body again. Her heartbeat normalized, her stomach lost the tingling and her logical thinking began to kick in finally.

Today would be challenging and draining. The event of last night had to be addressed. Brave men and women had to be buried, respectfully mourned and acknowledge, whoever beat the beast would receive a grand gesture from the Exodus Kingdom, the guests and the citizens would be awaiting a formal speech from the royal family, a few words of sorrow and encouragement. There were political aspects to be considered. How did the beast get so deep into the city without an alarm having rung out much earlier? Has the tragedy weakened the rows of Earthica guards enough to cause a serious danger to the royal family's safety? Would the Kingdoms be pointing fingers, blaming, accusing, while planning in the background? Evangeline hated politics and everything that came with them. The secrecy, the lack of freedom, the possibility of everything being a scam, being a trap, being a planned out scenario to take them down, harm them, cause them trouble.

A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. The princess pushed herself up from her position to take a seated one instead before she called out for whomever to enter.

The door opened quietly and a woman in her early 50s entered through it, closing it behind herself. Her hair, tightly in a bun, was gray already, her face had an endearing youthfulness to it, she had a tiny round nose and very warm honey eyes. The lady was rather small with a round body type.

"Pearl", Eve exclaimed happily.

"Princess", the maid addressed her respectfully. She raised a hand to show her a note. "The events for today, I hope you do not mind me having opened it?" Eve just gave her a soft smile. Pearl has been her maid since she could remember and she had been more like a mother figure to her. It was cliche, but they shared a special bond and Pearl never shied away from treating her like a daughter, if they were alone, sometimes causing her to overstep her boundaries, which Evangeline didn't mind too often. "The tragic event must have left you shaking, my darling. How are you feeling this morning?"

Evangeline looked at the face, those wrinkles around her honey eyes so familiar to her, the softness of her arms seemed so inviting. But she restrained herself. "I am indeed shaken, to say the least. Those poor souls surely did not deserve the end they found. So far away from home, protecting a Kingdom that was not theirs. And of course those poor families, broken hearted, I can not imagine. I shall pay my most respect to those fallen. If it wouldn't have been for my loyal guard, I would have swung myself at the beast alongside my men. Heaven knows they deserved my attendance."

"And she was right to interfere with your impulsive plans!", Pearl scolded her, arms crossed in front of her bosom. "You would not have been any good on the battlefield, Eve. Endangering your precious life. Warriors distracted by their honest need to offer you protection. You would have caused a mess."

Evangeline crossed her arms in front of her chest, mirroring Pearl. She felt hurt in her pride. "You do realize I am quiet good at what I do, aye?"

"I know you are excellent in what you do, my darling. And yet, a battlefield of such is not the place for a lady of your status. A slaughter might describe the scenery better, in fact." She left a short pause, but as soon as Eve tried to continue their disagreement Pearl interrupted her. "The note states a large feast will be held during night to mourn and honor the victims of the unfortunate tragedy. You are invited to get breakfast alongside other guests and take a stroll around the Kingdom, if you wish. I urgently recommend for you to stay inside the palace walls for the day. And Princess Valeri Andora of Primfira has sent a runner to deliver you the invitation to accompany her on a walk, she would be pleased to make your acquaintance."

The news of another feast didn't go well with Eve. She had expected a ceremony to be held, in respect to the ones who lost their lives, in honor of those who fought bravely, as an opportunity to show compassion and mourn over the tragedy. But another feast, late at night as well, concerned the princess. She was not used to this kind of socializing, so much buzz. She was unsure if she could make it through another one of Exodus' feasts.

The news of Princess Valeri asking for her company surprised her though. It seemed only logical that a princess like Valeri would want to stay away from the bad reputation that surely surrounded Evangeline, if any. But then again, it would be politically important to meet all Kingdom's royalty on such an occasion and attempt to gain a sort of new knowledge about them. Valeri, upon having seen her for the first time, did not give Evangeline a comfortable feeling. Something about the woman had warned her to not let her guard down. She would have to be careful. Another aspect of politics that Evangeline greatly disliked.

"Be so kind to send someone to let her know I will be meeting her in the garden in two hours. I am looking forward to our walk." A short moment of thought passed before she spoke again. "And have you, by any chance, heard from my parents? I am sure my father has a plan for the day already. He must be furious with the loss of men we have to face today."

"No, princess, no words from your parents. Although the tragedy has cost our Kingdom many good men, we still have to offer the one man that slaughtered the beast in the streets and ended the nightmare for us all."

Eve looked at her warm honey eyes with surprise. She had somehow expected the conqueror to be an Exodus warrior or perhaps a Primfira one. The thought of one of her own men having struck the beast filled her with a certain pride, but also with concern. She couldn't help but feel there was something odd about the entire situation. She gave Pearl a nod to acknowledge the information she had shared with her. Later in the day she would have to speak with him and show him her respect.

Pearl ended the conversation by waving with her arms and saying, "Now hurry to your bath, young princess. You shall look fine on this very day." Hurriedly the maid walked to the bath to prepare it for Evangeline.

The princess gave her sleeping friend a soft smile before allowing Pearl to get her ready for the day.

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One bath, one elegant dress and an up-do-hairstyle later Pearl was happy enough with Evangeline to let her go. The princess had allowed the maid to put her into a dark gown for this day, to show respect. Eve had figured that today of all days was the wrong one to be stubborn. The dress, which Pearl must have organized for her, knowing Evangeline would not have an appropriate gown in her repertoire, was of black color. It had a very low cut out backside and a slim fit that showcased Evangeline's hips perfectly. There were a few golden elements worked into the gown, that made it look very elegant, but still humble. The real eye-catch, making any accessories unnecessary, was her fiery red hair, shining even brighter in the contrast to the black dress. It was done in an elegant up-do, held by a gorgeous piece of golden jewelry that neatly matched the golden aspects of the gown. Evangeline looked nothing like the wild thing with a messy red mane, dirty boots and short pants that she was yesterday. She had been transformed into a stunning woman with eye-catching flaming hair, make up that made her deep green eyes stand out even more and a dress that didn't hide any of her curves. Pearl had done an impeccable job.

The whole thing had taken slightly less than two hours. Evangeline was already running a little late for her walk with Princess Valeri. Nonetheless Eve did not hurry in the slightest. She took the time to check up on her friend one more time, tugging her in as best as she could and giving her hand a soft squeeze. "It pains me to not be here when you wake up. Rest well. You do need it." She turned away from her friend and left the room. Two Earthica guards were positioned in front of the door with orders from the princess to let absolutely no one other than herself and Laurel inside. They had orders to guard Laurel and not take their eyes off of her for a second until told otherwise. A job that none of the men were happy about. Laurel was about as easy to guard and watch over as Evangeline herself. She would not make it easy on them.

Walking through the palace the princess received more than a few looks, most of which came from Earthica men and women. The sight of Evangeline in a dress was rare enough, but the princess having her hair up and done neatly and accompanied by two guards following her was quiet an unusual sight.

The princess calmly made her way to a wonderfully decorated room, art pieces across the walls, mahogany furniture with impressive details, food on tables everywhere. The latter being the most interesting part to her, obviously. Evangeline, although very hungry, only ordered a servant to make her a piece of bread to take with her, along with an apple. She waited standing while food got prepared and took the wrapped up provisions with her as she continued her way to the garden. She arrived only a little late for her walk with Princess Valeri.

Although the garen being a big place, Eve had no trouble finding the woman quickly. Her white hair was easy to spot from afar, the pale skin seemingly reflecting the sun. As Evangeline approached the princess she put on a soft smile. "Princess Valeri, please excuse me for keeping you waiting. I do hope it has not been too long?" She did not feel the need to give her an explanation for her late arrival. "It is so lovely to finally make your acquaintance."

Her first impression of Valeri from up close was distracted by the unique, special dress she wore. It looked a lot like a costume to Evangeline. But perhaps that was ordinary attire for royalty in Primfira. Other than her abstract dress, Evangeline noticed the way she held herself. With so much pride, confidence and ease. Her chin slightly upwards lifted, her facial expressions hidden beneath a mask of royal formality. Undeniably Valeri was a gorgeous woman, hard to read and hard to get behind her carefully build up walls. Evangeline wanted to peek behind them, take a look behind the curtain, she wanted to get to know the real Valeri. She doubted that she ever would.

Pursuit of Power

@Aamaya Who do we have on board still? Is our co-GM Silence still with us?

Pursuit of Power

@Aamaya Well this is disappointing. Was nice while it lasted. What a bummer. This was one of my favorites to RP

Pursuit of Power

I'm busy lately. I'm having slight trouble finding time. But it surely will slow down again soon.

Roleplay about being trapped inside a roleplay: Adventures from the Place Holder

Okay so, I was intending to join this, but sadly it doesn't seem like I have enough time. I haven't even been able to read the IC posts yet.

But since I've already worked on my CS for this and came to kind of really like it, I wanted to share it anyway. I hope that is alright with you all? Read it if you want to, otherwise feel free to ignore.

I wish you a lot of fun with this roleplay and may it last a long time.

Tristan Cambridge (WIP)

25 years • Male • Pansexual

Personality
Tristan first and foremost goal in life is to be a role-model to his daughter Kiana, who he is raising alone ever since her mother left when she was just a month old. [WIP]


How He Came To Join The Game
His best friend Ellia nudged him to get back into his hobby, noticing that he needed to do something for him that had nothing to do with his daughter Kiana. After he finally gave in, he stumbled across an ad for the RP and decided that it would probably do no harm to jump in on this.

Character: Reylah

9 years • Female

History
Reylah is an orphan. She doesn't know anything about her father. And the only thing she knows about her mother is that the woman was really sick, she birthed Reylah and struggled with her life for six months, trying to survive for her daughter and taking care of her, before finally passing away.

The last few days of her life the mother had spent lying in the bed of an orphanage in crucial pain. The orphanage had taken her in after her pleading, feeling sorry for the woman and her six-month-old baby. During her last four days on earth, the mother begged, made them promise several times, to care for her daughter when she would die.

And so Reylah found herself being raised in an orphanage. The circumstances were much less than ideal. The orphanage had barely-to-none money, making the life hard, sometimes barely having enough food for all kids, with raggedy clothing and only a few toys, which the kids would have to fight over.

Having been born to a deathly sick mother, Reylah never had a chance against the other children. She had no physical strength, sometimes could barely hold herself on her own feet, she fell sick often and the kids would make fun of her for her weakness. She would get beaten up several times, with no strength to even block a fist thrown at her, she could not even think of hitting back. Reylah was a victim and an outcast. No one wanted anything to do with the sick kid.

The girl attempted to run away three times. The first time she got caught in the kitchen, as she was trying to steal some food for survival on her journey, at the age of six. The second time she got caught on the stairs, having fainted from the heavy burden of a winter coat on her shoulders which she had stolen from one of the housemothers, at the age of eight. The third time Reylah did not try to take anything with her, she escaped during night, fled onto the streets and soon into the safety of the forests as to not be seen. Naively she thought she could handle herself just fine. The girl got deeper and deeper into the forest and stumbled across a crack in the world, leading to the underground. A very tiny crack no one had noticed. Out of that crack slipped a small demon. A creature similar to black fog, but they could not survive in such form, they needed a host to keep them alive on this side of the world. The sick, weak little girl was no match to the demon and so it attached itself to her soul to darken it.

Reylah found herself to wake up in the forest the next morning, feeling strong on her feet, no dizziness, no weakness. The newly gained energy formed into anger and hatred within minutes. All of the people that had done her wrong should suffer! She would pay them back for what they've done.

And so the nine-year-old went back to her orphanage with rage and with a her bare hands burned the whole place down to ashes, leaving every single one screaming and dying in the fire. As she walked out of the burning place with a blank face a crow came to sit on her shoulder. The demon's touch to her soul had been sealed.

Personality
Rey does not have control over her powers or the demonic touch to her soul, nor is she aware of the demon's presence. In her natural state Rey seems to be almost normal. She enjoys playing with people, drawing, beautiful plants such as flowers, pretending to sword fight and playing with her crow pet.

Her demonic features have a certain impact on her even in her natural state. She does not get scared easily, where most children would probably be afraid, she would simply keep a straight face. Rey doesn't like children and will not play with them, as she finds them to be childish and idiotic, she prefers adults. This may also come from being bullied and beat down by children all her life, only having found a little safety and rest around adults.

Rey has an easy tempter. She does not like getting no attention or even being ignored. This can cause her to erupt and burn something within her anger's reach. She can have a little bit of an arrogant attitude. Sometimes a numbness to cruelness in the world such as pain or death of people can be noticed in her.

Abilities

• Pet Crow: Reylah owns a pet crow, which listens to commands from her made by sounds or certain movements.

• Pyrokinesis: The psychic ability allowing a person to create and control fire with the mind. She is not able to control this.

Ideas Tossed Into This Mess

• The Underworld: A dark place where demonic creatures have their home, being trapped in that deadly place for eternity. It is a maze-like world, one of it's places being the stone city that's mostly ruins standing in the middle of a lake of lava, that a demon itself had produced in it's rage.

Stone City

• Bodyless Demons: These demons like like a shapeless black fog, needing a host's soul to attach to in order to survive outside of the Underground, feeding off of the bad intentions their host has and growing stronger as it convinces them to execute morally wrong and often cruel actions. Depending on the size and power of the demon, it might provide (or forces) certain abilities upon their host.

Bodyless Demon

Pursuit of Power

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_{Interactions: @Jinxer • @Sol Grim • @Lord Zee • @Raylah}

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It felt so good to be near her again. Her heart was slowly picking up the pace. The beautiful fiery red hair - oh how she adored it! And that pale skin that was so familiar to her - now looking even paler, concerning her - looked so inviting, she desired to let her fingertips move over the soft skin on her cheeks tenderly.

The hand beneath hers moved and with a grip stopped the motions of Eve's fingers. Her heart jumped and then relaxed. She softly squeezed her friend's hand. How glad she was that the woman was awake and seeming to do alright.

“You’re not to blame at all, Eve”, the Levonian warrior spoke. Her words hit Evangeline harder than she would admit. Her heart sunk a little as guilt poured over her once more, the heavy crown of responsibility invisibly resting on her head, reminder of just how much she was to blame. From a friendship point of view Laurel was right, she was not to blame. From a royalty point of view on the other hand she would have had to forbid Laurel from leaving her side during the festival. If she had just insisted on her personal guard, Laurel would have never gotten injured from such unnecessary cruelty. She felt responsible for her. Overwhelmed by those thoughts she couldn't bring herself to more than a shake of head.

“I gave my name out without thinking and this is the consequence of that. At least I can still carry out my duties. None of this is your fault, we both have things expected of us here”, she continued. Evangeline knew Laurel was trying to make her feel better, but she found it hard to accept that she had nothing to do with her friend's decision. Not only had she been irresponsible and naive enough to let her personal guard leave her side for such a long time, but the tournament had been rigged from the very beginning. The need to inform her friend about her discovery arose, but she had to postpone that to a time of day when they would have more privacy. Who was to say that Luthra warrior wouldn't wake up and eavesdrop on them?

Just as she had these thoughts another man entered through the door, interrupting their conversation. Tall and with an authority that filled the whole room. Undoubtedly the Father of Luthra, Evangeline recognized. She adjusted her posture to a more royal one, straight back, chin held high slightly. She did not want him to suspect anything other than a princess checking on her wounded guard, feeling that she had to protect Laurel from him, she moved away from her friend a few inches, turning her body towards him and pretending to be interested in his sudden appearance.

Evangeline spotted a hesitation in his movements, it was not more than a split second, but her gaze caught it and she made a note of it. He had not expected company. Something about his presence made Eve feel unsettled. While she did not let it show, she was alarmed and ready to pull out her throwing knives from under her gown should she have to. Her mind had already calculated all the ways in which she could use her environment to her advantage. Parcours was one of her strengths and so was using her environment in a sudden fight.

She kept her eyes on him as he hovered over his warrior. There was no worry in his eyes and surely no pride. If anything, it was cold despise. Without a doubt he had come to punish the warrior for his behavior in the tournament, for going against his own men, for saving the Earthica woman on the battlefield. Strangely enough Evangeline didn't care. And frankly she had expected him to show some faked respect towards her and greet her with a swift few words, but he had simply ignored each one's presence in the room, the first words coming from his mouth being meant for the injured man beneath his gaze. "What a pity."

To Evangeline's shock Laurel turned out to be the one to intend conversation. She sat up, causing Eve to instinctively reach her hand to her back in support - and quickly withdrawing it as she realized what she was doing. Evangeline's eyes wandered over her friend's face for a short second and she saw the need in her expression to fulfill her duty, to protect her princess. So Eve was glad when she did not jump up on her feet, ready to throw herself in front of her, but she chose words instead.

To say the least, she was very surprised - and even more so alarmed! - by the intention of those words. Her conclusion seemed to be of similar nature as Evangeline's, but other than Evangeline Laurel did seem to care. “You should be grateful to him, you know.” She was obviously at a loss of energy, still unable to sound as fierce and demanding as she was usually able to, still looking so unhealthily pale. ”Your other warriors apparently forgot the rule about not aiming for the head. Luckily he stopped them before they could break the rules and cause an incident.” She pointed to her own head wound. “Now it’s just the Exodus lot who’ve broken their own rules and you’re in the clear. To me it looks like judgement has already been rendered but not enough to demand uncomfortable questions.” Her great and rather foolish attempt to talk some sense into the Father alarmed Evangeline. Did she not know how dangerous her words could be? Did she not know that she could possibly do more harm than good? And why even did she feel the need to defend the man? Did she feel like she was in his debt? Did she think she owed him something? ”I’d like to thank him, once he wakes up, even if his attention was misguided.”

To her surprise Laurel then dared to ask her to fetch a servant for her. It was innocent and it was not a big deal between them, but it was something much else in front of a stranger, a politically strong enemy. Her father would have had her whipped for treating Evangeline like that. Of course not because he cared for his daughter's image, but because he cared for the image of the kingdom in general. And a personal guard speaking to her princess like that was not accaptable in front of Luthra's biggest scum, the Father. 'Or would you not, father? I hardly ever know your intentions, you so rarely speak to me.' Eve gave her friend a soft, but distant smile. "In a moment", she whispered.

Just then a scream came from the sleeping Thanatos man as he shot up to a sitting position in his bed. He took a second to notice Eve and Laurel at the bed beside him, but he quickly caught himself. His first words, beside his awakening scream, going directly to Laurel, no greeting to the princess. "You just had to see me again..." Disgust formed in Evangeline's stomach. 'Men are real scum', she thought to herself. A little fire began to dance in the pit of her stomach and not the good kind. She felt anger, yes possibly even hatred towards the man. Those seven words had ensured him of the princess' disliking of him, to say it kindly. Eve suppressed the need to grit her teeth as her jealousy rose together with the fire in her stomach.

He then attempted to approach the princess. But Evangeline had had enough of him already. "My lady, you should be proud of your fighters. I feel sorry for whomever stands across the battlefield from them. Who won, by the way? Eh, doesn't much matter, what's say the lot of us head back over to that fancy garden bar, eh? We could..." He stopped as his eyes met with the tall figure of the Father standing on the other side.

Eve's chin tilted upwards a tad bit more, as she looked at him sternly. She would not leave his comment go by unanswered. "I am not your lady. The proper approach is Princess Evangeline of Earthica. As for my warrior, she is the best and I never had a doubt in her. Your men fight unfairly, but I do not put any blame on them. You need to heavily outnumber a so much stronger opponent in a battle, I am aware." She did not mention them striking at her head, breaking a core rule of the tournament.

Eve could not be sure if he had heard her after spotting his leader in the room or if he was just choosing to be disrespectful, but the man would ask of her to thank the healer for him, calling her my lady once more. She shortly considered if he had been talking to Laurel instead of her, but that only made her anger worse. She would rather him being disrespectful to her than calling Laurel his lady.

The Father and the Luthra warrior then took some privacy to talk. Eve did not let it show on her face, but she hated these Luthra people. They did not seem to have any manners. 'And that coming from me means something.'

With no chance or even interest of overhearing their conversation, Eve used the chance to turn back to Laurel. "That was reckless of you", she scolded her, meaning her attempt to change the heart of the Father in order to save the Luthra warrior. "You have no reason to -"

But before she could say any more, the two men had finished their private conversation. Evangeline wished for nothing more than for both of them to disappear. She would insist on Laurel getting a private room, she should not be sharing it with anyone, let alone a Luthra attempting to be a womanizer. And the thought of the Father possibly returning to the room without Eve present unsettled her massively.

The Father shot a look towards Evangeline and said his first words directly towards her - "Princess." - and she responded just as cold and uninterested, "Father." He left. One down, one more to go until she could speak freely with Laurel and not as her princess.

Yet another scream pierced through the room and Evangeline shot around. The previously sleeping Thyrri had awaken in a state of fear, her mind clearly trying to grasp reality and let go of the nightmare she must have had. Her expression spoke of horror before she captured herself.

The Exodus healer confirmed Eve's thoughts lead by an apology, her voice trembling as she looked at Eve. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. Just had a bad dream.” If they had been alone Evangeline would have went over to comfort her. She wanted to let her know it was alright, tell her she'd be safe now. But she could not dare such a move with others present. 'But there we have the difference between men and women', she thought. 'Addressing the highest ranked person in the room first, even apologizing to me without having to. Very much unlike the men, who had all not seen me as worthy enough of their respect.'

Her mind traveled back to their first meeting, how quickly it had gotten intimate with the kind healer helping her into this terribly uncomfortable dress and even lending her the shoes she was wearing right now. 'Women are so much purer.'

Thyrri snapped out of her shaky state quickly, tending to the injured man and scolding him for getting out of bed. Evangeline didn't think he was worthy of her attention or skills. Her sudden mention of him moving to a new room made Evangeline appreciate her even more.

“And you,” she turned to Laurel, “I suppose you will want to stay near the princess? You should be fine provided you rest a lot and make no sudden movements, not even talking about running or jumping or similar endeavors. And of course, no alcohol.” The smile that formed on her lips enlightened Eve's heart and she had to smile as well. The princess lowered her gaze for a moment, fearing she would only blush if she looked at that smile of Thyrri for longer, the crazy situation they had shared replaying in her mind over and over again.

"Thank you", she finally spoke. "For taking such good care of my warrior. I would have not put her wellbeing into any other healer's hand." Eve turned to Laurel, her hand swiftly moving a red strand of hair out of her own face before looking at the other woman seriously. "And you", her voice was harsh, yet caring. "Don't you even think of going against the healer's words. That is an official order. Do you understand me?"

Pursuit of Power

Working on a post right now! :)