Time: Morning Location: River Port-Beach Interactions: Arn@Omni5876, Rue @Potter, Eris and “Valerie”(Raven)@Tae, Annya @princess, and Inori @Shard Equipment: 1 hunting knife, a flask of alcohol, a backpack, small tent, blanket, waterskin, rope, fire starting kit, lightmaker, cooking pot, a bar of soap, some drugs; skaula (8 grams) and zemak (a bit less than an ounce), rolling papers, and 191 amas.
Bowyn didn’t even bother to hide his groan as Annya began trying to talk to Raven. As if talking to a storm could stop its destruction. He glared over at the light elf princess, the one who was supposedly old and powerful, who had helped summon humans here, and who was the one responsible for keeping them under control. Raven was building a tornado, causing a storm that was only building power and that with time had the potential to bring death and destruction to River Port. The fact that she wasn’t knocking the wind out of that storm, out of Raven herself, immediately was both baffling and infuriating.
And she expected him to drag Rue off, by himself, in the midst of a tornado?
“Annya. STOP HER.” Bowyn shouted, desperate anger evident in his voice. He struggled as the barrier of ice continued to warp and crack. Everything was so loud. There were so many people on or near the beach. This could not continue. This was a town, not some dark elf infested war zone and they had no right to bring this here.
Annya was out there rambling on about breathing exercises again. The strange blue guy was just standing there mumbling about how he didn’t know the demon Pride. The last thing he needed to see right now was Arn, but there the dwarf was running up out of almost nowhere.
“Arn.” He hissed under his breath. Bowyn’s concentration was slipping, chunks of ice were being dislodged and flying off and away from him. But Arn was concerned, it was written all over his face. He was also a medic. Arn had to help Rue, right, this was what medics did. And dwarves were strong, Bowyn couldn’t carry Rue out of here, but Arn could.
“It’s the heat. You’ll get her out of here, right? Help Rue.” Bowyn stood up from Rue and locked eyes with Arn. He had to trust him; there weren’t many options and time was running out. He couldn’t just leave Annya and Eris in the middle of a tornado, and with Inori who they’d yet to figure out if he was friend or foe. He couldn’t leave while so many other people might get hurt, or worse.
Bowyn stood up, looked away from Arn, gave the dwarf a small amount of trust, and continued forward in the same direction as Annya. His ice moved with him, protecting him and the elf, his increased focus barely holding it together. But it was his backup plan, to throw it at the human with everything he had if Annya couldn’t get this under control. Inori didn’t seem to be helping, and he knew next to nothing about Eris. Someone had to help and he couldn’t just do nothing.
“Heat up her air, dry it out, help stop the storm.” Bowyn spoke with more control and tried offering a way to buy more time before Raven lost all control over this.
Time: Early Evening Location: Caesonia Castle-Ballroom Interactions: Lady Thea@Tae, Prince Felix@Mole, Verrick @Aerandir, Prince Auguste @Inertia, Shehzadi Nahir @Rodiak
Leo kept a warm smile, bowed dutifully, and greeted those who greeted him. His gaze was a bit colder as he looked at Verrick, a man who had once worked for Leo’s father up until the day the unhinged man pushed his father from a window. Why Princess Beatrice put up with such a deeply disturbed servant was beyond him but he respected Verrick’s position amongst the Varian royals enough to remain cordial. He did appreciate the bodyguard's kind words to Thea, smiling brighter when he saw Thea’s spirits lifted.
It was not Verrick who displeased Leo, but rather Prince Felix. He caught sight of the grip the young prince had on his sister’s hand, far too tight for his liking. He noted the way Felix nudged his sister into bowing as well. As if any child of a Duke lacked the knowledge and instinct to offer a proper greeting? This man was insulting Thea, pecking at her the same way his mother did, and he felt his ears grow red and hot as the idea simmered in him. He kept quiet for now, as Prince Auguste approached, bowing and offering a genuine smile.
Thea appeared to have had more than enough of Felix’s heavy-handed measures. He gave her a small nod of approval as she scolded the prince and walked away. The outburst in front of the Caesonian prince was a bit inappropriate but he understood his sister's frustration.
“Certainly not, your highness, there are few things more pleasurable than a Danrose event. Though, I hope our stay here this season offers the chance to witness another of your duels. Every year your artistry with the blade reaches closer to perfection.” Leo offered the compliment he thought would most please Auguste, as he often did around those who ranked above him, this time it also happened to be genuine. Having watched Auguste spar in contests was like viewing a work of art, only far more exciting to Leo.
Servants soon arrived holding the bowls of numbers to hand out the randomized dance partners for the evening. Leo grabbed his number after the two princes had reached for theirs. Just before Prince Felix departed Leo took the opportunity to lean in towards Felix and speak with him in a quiet voice.
“Your highness, you will use a gentler hand when dealing with my sister, and I hope we do not need to revisit this conversation in the future.” Leo then held up his own paper, indicating his number had been summoned, and headed off to the front of the ballroom.
Leo soon found himself yet again in front of Shehzadi Nahir and made no attempt to hide the look of delight. He offered the traditional Alidasht bow again before offering his hand. “Shehzadi, if it pleases you, may I have the honor of a dance?”
Callum was used to being denied the random dance partner, accepting the number handed to him for a dance handpicked by his father with a defeated sigh. He’d have much preferred the chance to draw something unexpected but his father was not one to loosen his control over his sons.
Except, it would seem for his favorite son, as Prince Wulfric stood before Auguste’s watchdog Wystan. A full night of rebellion Wulfy? I suppose it’ll be nice to not be the only one getting an earful later. He thought. He wondered how Wulfric had managed to free himself from his father’s handpicked dances and entertained the idea of asking about it. Then he spotted Anastasia, giggling, and knew she was the cause of the tiny bit of unexpected chaos. He offered her a rare genuine smile, approving wholeheartedly of her tiny sprinkling of chaos in the midst of his father’s order.
He barely glanced at the piece of paper, he already knew who he was dancing with based on his father’s speech; Lady Violet Damien, whose father was already lurking about pestering the Vilkenas. He finished a glass of wine just as his number was called, and walked slowly up to the front, intentionally slow just to further irritate Edin. When he finally found his way to Lady Violet he offered a bow and soft smile. His quarrel lay solely with his father and the count, but not with the count’s daughter. He forced himself to relax some, temporarily forget his annoyance at the situation, and ensure his own misgivings did not sour Violet’s night.
“Lady Violet, fancy a dance?” He asked offering his hand.
Time: Morning Location: River Port Interactions: Rue @Potter, Eris and “Valerie”(Raven)@Tae, Annya @princess, and Inori @Shard Equipment: 1 hunting knife, a flask of alcohol, a backpack, small tent, blanket, waterskin, rope, fire starting kit, lightmaker, cooking pot, a bar of soap, some drugs; skaula (8 grams) and zemak (a bit less than an ounce), rolling papers, and 191 amas.
Bowyn only let out a tired sigh at Raven’s outburst. Hadn’t he agreed to be civil, to agree to disagree but still cooperate? The outburst, mainly the shouting, seemed more than a bit extreme. So her words grated on his nerves. Even more so when she went on pointing out his own flaws as if he wasn’t well aware of them. Mostly he was angry at himself, for thinking he could even have an open conversation with the lot of them, other than Rue, these were not his people. To trust anyone outside of his village was always a mistake. Gods, he needed a drink right now.
Bowyn remained unaware that Raven, who he knew as Valerie, was a human rather than a demihuman. Her desire to go home sounded like a bizarre tantrum, only later did he realize that he might have just pushed a terrified and confused human to her breaking point. He had been about to say something to Annya, regarding Inori, when Rue fainted.
Bowyn was immediately at Rue’s side, fear tapping into his magic with ease. He felt the frantic pulse at Rue’s neck, the heat on her skin. She was a winter fairy, like him, but he doubted she’d been this far from the north for very long, not used to the heat and sun here. Cold terror at seeing Rue fall was an easy thing to channel into his hands. Cold hands frantically began to turn both moisture in the air and the sweat that beaded upon Rue’s skin into fresh snow.
Bowyn barely watched the broadcast, only heard the demon speak and awful screams in the background as his focus remained on Rue. But it wasn’t hard to understand what was happening, and it only fed the fear and the anger that gave his magic strength.
He packed as much snow as he could create around Rue, letting it melt and cool his friend further, then willing it to lightly frost. He would’ve called for someone to grab water, but the wind picked up with violent fury. His concentration broke from Rue just as violent winds wrapped around a screaming Raven.
A human. A human with no control over emotion or magic, about to let loose enough power to devastate River Port. Wind and sand and raw power whipped and blew away the snow and sent swirling sand flying.
Bowyn dug deeper, tapping into every bit of buried rage and terror he held on to. He focused his attention on pulling the moisture from the air away from the area directly around Raven and her tornado. Bowyn raised his hands, reaching out for the water in the air and freezing it. His magic seized it, pulled it down from above Raven and towards the ground, before continuing to pull and gather it towards him. Bits of hail moved through the air and around him, combined and reformed as he began to build a shield around the group. The air around them became colder and his every exhale left a puff of condensation. His intention was to both pull the moisture from Raven’s tornado, limit her ability to intensify her storm, as well as keep Rue cool enough to gain her strength back.
More and more ice formed, an amorphous shape that took all of Bown’s effort to hold and maintain as it took the brunt of the debris and protected those around him from sand and winds. Every hit from debris knocked bits of ice from the shield, every haphazard repair left it weaker.
Bowyn knew two things, they could neither kill Raven, nor could they let her destroy this town. He looked towards Annya, as a leader in a time of crisis.
“Can you stop her?” He struggled to shout over the wind. His concentration on his magic wavered slightly both as he spoke and as he briefly considered trying to move Rue to safety and leaving the rest of them behind. But he’d already given his word to help protect them, and he couldn’t waste any energy on anything except the task in front of him.
Time: Early Evening Location: Caesonia Palace-Ballroom Interaction: Auguste@Inertia, King Edin & Queen Alibeth
Callum had been gravely mistaken to think that Sultan Kadir had spared them from hearing the entirety of their father’s speech. As soon as the Sultan left, Edin resumed from exactly where he’d left off, speaking as if his vitriol contained any pearls of wisdom. It was bad enough that Auguste and he had to suffer through it, but in front of mother too? For a man so often referred to as ‘your grace,’ King Edin surely contained none.
His immediate reaction would be to associate only with those his father disapproved of. But that, ultimately, would only bring him to his father’s level, using others as pawns had always been Edin’s game. Being the constant thorn in his father's side, a constant blemish to perfection his father craved, was for Callum a worthwhile pursuit, but to drag others along with him would only get them hurt. While Callum had limits to the lengths he would go, his father had none.
Lady Mina was a well-read and strong-willed woman. It was no wonder his father disapproved of her. His eyes followed as his father pointed out the crimson-haired woman, he noted her wrapping a Shahzade around her elegant finger with ease. The two made a striking couple and the young prince could only wish them the best of luck.
Similar praise could be said of the kind Lady Charlotte, an exception to the nest of vipers that slithered about the Caesonian court. Callum avoided her all the same, that family received more than enough of Edin’s foul temper and his presence could only add to it.
Callum was not opposed to either marriage or love, in concept, but his life was not one he wished to share with another. His options remained; marry someone he actually cared for so that his father had a new target to use against him or find himself trapped in a mockery of the union to the type of person his father approved of and he couldn’t stand. His best hope was that his brothers would find suitable wives, his father would be appeased enough, and maybe, just maybe, he could spend his life in a peaceful monastery far away from all of this. Sometimes a pipe dream was enough to stave off utter hopelessness.
There was Count Calbert, summoned like a wretched specter at the mention of his family name, dangling praise to King Edin the way a nanny would hold up a rattle to an infant. And just as said babe would delight at a rattle, so did his father at the count’s words. Callum could not stop the eye roll this time, how his father couldn’t see how easily the count used honey to hide his poisonous influence, was beyond Cal. While he held no grudge against the lovely Lady Violet, such a match would only strengthen the bonds between two men he hated above all others.
“What an inspiring speech, enjoy your fluttering.” He spoke to Auguste once they were dismissed and out of earshot of Edin. He chose a path through the ballroom that kept him close to the walls, out of the way of most who were mingling, and headed towards the wine tables. The music that played through the ballroom was just enough to lift his spirits, soft and joyous melodies that helped block out much of the chatter. Few in attendance dared to stand in the way of a prince and so finding a spot at the somewhat crowded wine tables was easy enough. Mandatory dancing would begin soon enough and smiles and polite conversation were so much easier to fake once the warmth of inebriation had set in.
Time: Morning Location: Aboard The Harem Interactions: Helio @princess, Rellen@FunnyGuy Equipment: A cutlass, 2 knives and a dagger strategically hidden, a spyglass, a wayfinder, pouch of amas, various jewelry.
Nym’s nostrils flared wide as the scent of more blood hit the air. Sweet, intoxicating, fresh. Blood called to him, sang to him more sweetly than any siren’s voice. And Helio with his fresh wound was taking far too long to finish this fight. Helio was crew, but more than that, Helio the fairy prince wielded dark magic along with the typical fae control over plants. A creature of rare and interesting talents, and that was something Nym placed a high value on. He stalked closer to the dark elf Rellen, closing in on his prey with soft, careful footsteps. His intent was to offer help, to finish this quickly and cleanly. Until he reached striking distance and his hand no longer rested on the cutlass at his side, intent changing in an instant.
A dark elf relies on magic, that is the source of elven power. A demihuman is a different breed. A mix of man and beast; the man that was Nym was a calculating one, but the beast within Nym was a powerful one, a creature of constant, primitive, hunger. The man fought with blade and cannon, fought to gain, and wanted to live. The shark thought of nothing but meat and blood, no fear of injury, no concern for death; only instinct, and instinct screamed that food meant survival. The will of the shark overpowered the will of the man.
Striking distance. Hunger. A need for food, for blood. He lunged forward with speed and power. The dark magic that coated the elf was sure to cause pain, pain that would be felt when the man returned. But the shark felt nothing but the hunger. The elf was meat and meat was food and he was hungry.
Nym’s teeth were on full display, sharp and deadly, his maw opened wider than a man should be able to. Gnashing and snapping, wanting to tear and shred and feed. His lone eye was wide and wild, with no trace of anything close to humanity. The flesh was so close, everything smelled of food. Hands grappled and seized what they could. Teeth, desperate to sink into flesh. The shark would not be satisfied until the teeth found their meal, it would not cease until one of them lay dead.
Time: Early Evening Location: Caesonia Palace-Ballroom Interaction: Auguste@Inertia, King Edin & Queen Alibeth, Sultan Raif Kadir Mentions: Wulfric @SilverPaw
Callum only let out a tired sigh when he heard Duke Vikena had angered the guests from Alidasht. He’d been hoping for news that some minor faux pas would leave his father stopping around the palace later that night, nothing that could truly hurt the already tragic duke. He had flinched slightly as his brother gave him a slap on the back and offered advice. Cal corrected his posture, it sounded like Edin was already well past his low boiling point, and now would not be the time to make things worse. Then he followed silently, lost in his own thoughts and worries about how tonight would play out. He only shook his head as Auguste volunteered to take the blame for their tardiness. He knew his father would blame him no matter what was said, and Cal would have it no other way.
They entered the den of vipers and many turned to watch the pair of spare princes as they headed towards the Caesonian monarchs. The overwhelming mix of scents hit him first like a stampede had gotten loose in a perfume shop. It immediately churned his stomach, and it was at that moment that he realized he’d left his whiskey in the library.
Oh dammit. He thought as he bowed in unison with Auguste before his parents. He caught the glare from his father, and it took every bit of self-control to keep his face neutral, neither returning the stare nor glowing with smug pride.
Then there was his mother; someone he resented, often disliked, but loved dearly. Like many of the judgments he held against others, his resentment of her was unfair. The Queen had little say over his father’s actions, and it was hard to tell how much of them she truly condoned. Like most nobles he was familiar with, it was difficult to know what was sincerity and what was an act. He returned his mother’s hug with the warmth he could manage, whispering a ‘thank you’ to her ear. He’d never had it in him to try and break his mother’s heart.
Then came the find a wife speech and Cal bit down on his own tongue to keep his eyes from rolling. Don't fidget. Don't fidget. He kept reminding himself as he resisted the urge to loosen the damn cravat once more or adjust the stiff, itchy, formal clothing. How long is this damn speech? Cal was pretty sure he'd heard this one last season. Oddly enough the familiar speech ended early, and it was certainly not because his father was feeling merciful.
Cal turned to look at Wulfric as his father did so, a small bit of excitement to see what Wulfric could possibly be up to that had stopped his father’s glowing praise. There was Wulfy walking with an Alidasht woman and a tiger. The edges of his lips began to form a smirk and he had to bite his tongue harder to stop it.
This is almost too good to be true. Cal knew how much Edin despised animals, especially in the ballroom and here their guests had gone and brought a zoo with them. And there was Wulfric, the golden child, flirting with one of the culprits right in front of father. A bit late to try and steal the mantle of biggest disappointment Wulfy. He thought, but he doubted Wulfric had the follow-through to utterly disappoint Edin.
“So a good bloodline, beautiful, and obedient. Sounds like I’m looking for a dog rather than a wife.” Cal muttered before he grew even paler than he already was as he realized he had spoken rather than thought that remark.
Maybe he didn’t hear that one. Callum didn’t look to see if his father’s face had grown any redder, though he could swear he felt the dagger-like stare upon his back as he turned to greet the approaching Sultan with the customary Alidasht bow.
“Your majesty, Caesonia is honored by your radiant presence. Peace be upon you.” He spoke, his tone respectful towards the Sultan, who approached just in time to hopefully spare him an earful for his last remark. How long do their introductions usually take? He wondered, he was already feeling overdue for a trip to the wine table.
Time: Early Evening Location: Caesonia Palace-Library Interaction: Auguste@Inertia
As was often the case, Callum’s peace was interrupted by someone who bore the name Danrose. At least, this time, it was neither his father nor his eldest brother, but Auguste. Out of all his family, Auguste was the most tolerable, generally decent, and not outwardly cruel like most of the family. But when watching his brother’s duels, Cal had noted what he would call bloodlust in the other man’s eyes, that coupled with his brother’s desire to please their father kept him on edge around Auguste all the same. As a rule, Callum didn’t trust anyone who willingly served his father, even while understanding why Auguste might simply choose the path of least resistance. He sighed, and placed a piece of paper inside the book before, dramatically, snapping it closed. He stood, placed back on a bookshelf, and made no effort to smooth the wrinkles from his clothes.
“Managed to tear yourself away from playing with your own sword to run errands for father?” He asked an eyebrow raised as he approached his brother. In typical Callum fashion, he resorted to snide remarks that he immediately regretted. He didn’t think Auguste wanted to be fetching him for the ball any more than he wanted to be fetched.
“Has Duke Vikenzo brought a new rodent to court?” Rather than apologize he tried to pull some of the coldness from his tone. While he sincerely hoped Lorenzo hadn’t gotten himself in worse trouble, he did love the way the Duke wound up King Edin. The fact that Lorenzo managed to make Edin’s eye twitch and the veins of his neck pop with anger, made the Duke one of the few nobles Callum liked. He grabbed the waistcoat from the chair, tightened the cravat around his neck, before adding the coat back to the outfit. At least this was a sign he had missed all the grand entrances and forced introductions.
“Best to get this all over with.” He added as he gestured for Auguste to lead the way. He loosed up his jaw as he walked, preparing himself for a night of fake smiles and meaningless exchanges.
Time: Morning Location: Aboard The Harem Interactions: Tigerlily @Potter, Tesoro@Infinite Cosmos, Lizzie @Tae, Barboda @Alivefalling, Helio @princess, and a rival ship and her crew @FunnyGuy Equipment: A cutlass, 2 knives and a dagger strategically hidden, a spyglass, a wayfinder, pouch of amas, various jewelry.
As Barboda, Lizzie, and Tesoro dealt with those who had dared to try and board The Harem, Nym lit a cannon for the second time, this shot aimed directly at the mast of the enemy vessel. The riflemen were all dead, no enemy remained standing up the deck of The Harem, and aboard the other ship, was a lone dark elf locked in combat with Helio. There also remained at least one enemy below deck. Nym grabbed one of the grappling hooks from the side of The Harem, used his teeth to rip away the cut rope, and quickly re-tied it with rope aboard The Harem. He gave the grappling hook a strong tug to ensure the knot was secured and swung it towards the other ship, locking on and tying the loose end to The Harem.
The lone dark elf should be distracted enough by Helio that Nym was not worried about his own attempt to board the enemy ship. But if today his luck took a turn for the worst he had no fear of the ocean below him. Upon the other ship was surely something to be gained; guns, supplies, and perhaps even a snack if he found an enemy to take a bite of. Once he finished the climb over to the enemy ship, he’d leave Helio to finish up his fight with the dark elf. Nym’s plan was to keep the grappling hook secured so that anyone else from The Harem heading over had cover just in case any more enemies came from below deck on the enemy ship.
Time: Morning Location: Myriamor Plaza Mentions: Slick@FunnyGuy, Aurora@Mole, Sophie@princess, Caelen@Alivefalling, Equipment: The clothes on his back and a pouch of amas.
The skies above Leaf shifted, no longer a peaceful clear day with few clouds and the welcoming glow of the sun. From above a horrible scene played out, a collective of identical dark creatures that were all sharp edges, horned and tailed, with glowing embers for eyes pulled a man apart. It spoke only in boasts and of violence, nothing about the strange creatures were familiar, utterly un-Avalian in every possible way. And the human, the human shrieked for mercy, and his bones popped from joints while skin tore with wet sounds until the screams stopped. Then the creature that called itself sin and Pride, laughed.
Leaf gripped tightly to the reins of Champ, pulling them to keep the horse from looking up at the scene; no innocent beast should witness that. The young cat felt everything inside him turn sour, both of his breakfasts threatened to curdle back up his throat. His tail fell from its confident up high position and his hackles rose from the freight. He looked at Slick first, then Sophie and Caelan, three humans who were a combination of decent, sweet, and fun, and who had been full of joy playing in a swimming hole. They had seen this too. The creature that called itself a sin wanted those humans, all humans here, to share the same horrible fate as the man who had been torn apart.
Had Aurora known of this? Was that why she insisted on keeping them all together? Why hadn’t she warned them? Did those who had left to walk the desert know as well? These sins, they scared Leaf more than dark elves could, this was something far worse than just dark elves. He, still walking with Champ, headed closer to the swimming hole, wanting to keep as close to the humans and Aurora as possible. Leaf’s eyes kept scanning through the crowds, Myriamor’s streets now filled with shocked and horrified faces, looking for anything that seemed not of this world, searching for threats. The whole war felt more real, more pressing, and he knew staying out of it was not an option. Leaf, who was neither a soldier nor a warrior, wanted to protect these humans just the same, it was the only right thing to do.
Time: Early Evening Location: Caesonia Palace-Library Interaction: Thankfully alone
The Danrose palace in the capital of Sorian was sparling, and every effort had been made to ensure it was nothing short of grand. To Callum, this meant that room for just about everything. If one must live in a cage, he supposed a cage with dozens upon dozens of rooms was the best one could hope for. His favorite room was the library, filled with books and antiques, all of which really ought to be dusty, but the strict cleaning schedule of the palace never allowed a good amount of dust to collect anywhere. Other than the sheer amount of books to choose from, the best part about this room was his parents rarely stepped foot in here, they preferred to simply order someone else to fetch what they wanted for them. Thus it became Callum’s favorite place to lurk about. He knew the layout well enough that he could probably find whatever he was looking for while blindfolded if such a situation ever arose.
Cal, playing his favorite game of semantics, had followed his father’s instructions for the day to tee all while exploiting any loophole he could find. He was both dressed and ready for the ball at a prompt time, he had simply neglected to enter the ballroom itself. He wore dark dress shoes, new and not yet broken in, so they were unpleasant. Just as uncomfortably as the shoes, were the overly stiff trousers and dress shirt. The stuffy waistcoat was left behind on the chair because Cal hated it too, and his cravat was loosened as it had already been threatening to strangle him not ten minutes after he’d put it on. All of it was either black or a dark gray, chosen so that he would not draw more attention to himself as currently, the youngest Danrose prince preferred not to stand out whenever possible. Even worse than how uncomfortable the mandatory formal wear was, was the knowledge that all of it together equaled a substantial amount of money for anyone who actually worked in the damn palace. And that fact made him feel like shit for wearing it, hating it, and wanting to complain about it.
Cal could neither help the fact that almost every aspect of royal life made him deeply unhappy, just as he couldn’t help the fact that his father’s word was basically the law. So, he had followed the letter of the law, ignoring the spirit of it. Since ol’ King Edin had neglected to add actually show up to the ballroom on time, likely due to the king’s preoccupied mind with everything going on tonight, he spent his few remaining moments of imaginary freedom in the only room in the palace he actually liked, the library. He sat, back against the wall, on the floor, allowing his fine and fancy suit to get wrinkled, reading a book concealed behind one of the many rows of bookshelves. He found a small sense of joy knowing that his parents would disapprove of something as simple as sitting on the floor. Cal knew eventually he had to go to the ballroom, he had also been told that he would ‘dance, behave cordially and with manners, and greet the guests respectfully,’ but being on time, that was his loophole.
The library held no overpowering perfumes, only the comforting scent of ancient tomes, and no idle chatter or gossip, just simple silence, and best of all, in place of dozens of insufferable nobles, it held only one noble, himself, and stacks of books. Callum planned to miss all the obnoxious introductions and awkward hand, and ass, kissing that kicked off such events but arrive about when the good drinks came out to replace the wines. Next to him, on the floor, was a glass of whiskey, and it was far from his first one of the day. No one should endure his parent’s events, or company, sober, least of all him. So he sat, and drank, and read, and stalled for time, alone, in the very best room of the palace, until eventually, he forgot all about time and was lost in a book about a farmboy destined to stop a great evil.
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