Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 18: Grand Ballin'

[Dark Sage]

"WHAT?! AGHHHHH! SHE'S MY...FRIen....d," he said, before falling unconscious, his flesh burning away.

[Inactive Account]

"Indeed," Arrin replied. "Anyway, thank you..." He also trailed off, thinking. Of course, the group would likely be able to move more quickly without him, even if they were down a weapon... they'd manage, certainly. Kelas wouldn't have to look after him, would be able to leave the group and go somewhere safer. Tessa wouldn't have to worry.

As he thought, he realized: despite the logical impact, and despite the possibility that it would make things easier for the others, despite attempts to face it... he really didn't want to die.

He curled up in his chair, wishing that Tessa or someone had time to sit by him: he was afraid.

-------------------------------------------

"That way," Kelas said, lightly taking hold of Isotov's shoulders and spinning him around to face the door again. "After you're done, I guess we... I dunno, find somewhere to sit or something. We probably don't want to go back to the others if Charlotte's still trying to teach them dancing..."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Without saying anything, Iso went back into the changing room and shut the door behind him before taking off the overcoat and the shirt. He quickly reversed it before putting it back on and then stopped for a moment.

Iso: Huh. Well that does feel more comfortable. I guess she was right.

Then he put his the overcoat back on and came back out of the room.

Iso: *sigh* Okay is this better? If it's uneven I ... I'll need you to fix it for me.

[Snike]

Meanwhile, at the Manse...

It was still a while before Tristan was supposed to pick her up, so, before getting into her ball gown, Alex was in a black shirt an black pants, just in case she was required to armor up. All of a sudden, a scream came from near the city gates. Sighing, the general quickly put on her armor and necklace, and rushed out of the manor, sure that no one saw her. Jogging up to the scene, she found the mercenary that had assaulted her, a knight, the Queen of Tora, one of her retainers, and a blond-haired man that was alight and on the ground.

"... Queen Tora, step away from here," Alex said in her magically altered voice, turning the bandit over. "Guards, detain the woman and the knight, And get me a cleric, Stat!"

[Inactive Account]

"Looks fine to me," Kelas replied, straightening Isotov's collar slightly before taking hold of his sleeve again. "Lessee... looks like there's some benches down the hall, we could sit there, or we could go outside... I dunno, what do you want to do?"

[Ansem]

Queeny

"Oh." She said getting up after hearing a voice. "A knight of Septemus? Yay!" Sayer withdrew his blade. My queen. I dont think you should be so happy.......

Edited August 27, 2010 by Kai

[Balcerzak]

Like Tessa had suspected, there had been a general mention of having hair done up, though it hadn't seemed to have been directed to anyone in particular. In that case, she wasn't going to bother with it; her hair down, and tucked back with her favorite ornament would simply have to be good enough.

Shortly thereafter the dance lessons had started up in earnest, with Rita and Cess starting things off, mostly by example, though that was decidedly unhelpful for the troubadour. The cleric came to the rescue though, with an in-depth discussion of the proper dance steps for the waltz. Tessa listened and watched intently, and began to hope that this was the most complicated of the dances they'd have to learn, as it certainly seemed involved. She thought she'd overheard some of the servants talking about gavottes and minuets though...

Her hopes were soon dashed on this matter, as Charlotte gleefully mentioned that this was just the first run on the ladder, as it were, and there were indeed more complicated affairs lying in wait, hoping to trip her up and make a fool of her. Well, what was it that Dani had said, you have a partner to keep you from falling? She glanced over at Luc, and was about to approach for some hands-on practice, to try to quell the butterflies rising in her stomach. The princess must have seen this, as she came over and nearly drug her over to him, clearly a little concerned at the slow pace they were taking towards actually dancing.

After a brief assertion that, indeed, he had previous dancing experience, the count took her hand and they began. Tessa wasn't sure quite what to do with her other hand... she only remembered Charlotte going over footwork... this was bad. Quickly glancing around at what the other ladies were doing, she settled for holding onto Luc's shoulder, in what appeared to be the appropriate fashion. Nodding as he explained of an injury from long ago. "I understand, I don't think that will be a problem. Long enough that my looking at it now would be no good I presume?" she asked.

She really oughtn't have done that though, as concentrating on conversation, she had apparently mis-stepped, and almost drug the two of them to the floor. For some strange reason though, the count was the one that began to apologize. "No, no! I'm sure I was the one at fault here. After all, this is my first time. While I wish you to bear with me on this, please feel no obligation to delicacy to spare my feelings on the matter! Just... let us try it again, and hopefully it will work out right this time."

With a small bit of a sigh, she leaned in and with a soft voice asked him, "Does it get easier when they play the music?"

[the_whistler]

"Impressive," he murmured, watching hyperactive girl drag Cess onto the dance floor and force him into a simple waltz. Heinz looked at the shaman's feet, trying to imprint the steps into his memory. The princess quickly stepped in, explaining the steps in greater detail. Watching the thief girl practice the steps, Heinz followed Charlotte's instructions as well. Though his steps were ungraceful and awkward at first, after a few more repetitions Heinz figured he had gotten down the dance as best as he could within one night.

Glad I'm not going with her at least, watching other members of the group try out the steps. So the fighter took the ceremonial armor eh? And Tessa's going with the Captain..... probably means she took the dress then, after that fight. Not sure who took the other set of armor, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Not hard to guess who most people are going with either, scanning over the group again. Irina's tolerable though..... even if she gets upset easily. Might as well ask before I go search the city, once she gets back, sitting down lazily again.

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: Some fresh air would be nice actually. I say let's go outside while we can. We'll be harder to track down that way as well.

As usual he had no idea where he was or where he was going or even going to end up so he relied on Kelas for support.

Irina

After her bath she came back to the changing room or whatever that place was that doesn't have enough details about it for proper contextual based navigation and hurried into the backrooms. Once the seamstresses were finished, Irina began changing.

Levski

Levski stood around watching the dancing lessons. There was nothing else to do so he simply relaxed, and enjoyed the show. Keeping it real.

Viveka

She quickly arrived and rushed to the cases to find that her favorite outfit hadn't been snatched up by what would then be a very unfortunate lady and ran into the changing room area with it in hand!

[Script]

Luc Altair

Luc smiled as he listened to Tessa still try and help. "Yes, sadly. Even the most senior healers have had no major success with healing it." It was a shame, a disgrace really. But Luc had felt it was for the best. It was always a constant reminder of the dangers of going to far.

Tessa had apologized to him for his own failure claiming it as her own, and Luc bite back the bitter feeling in his mind at even letting her say that. "No, the flaw is with me. I may have experience with dancing as I have said, but I was never good at it. As my disastrous movements have shown." Luc turned his head away, part in shame, part in anger at himself.

"I," Luc began to answer her question about the music but found he had no solid recollection of it. He could remember watching others dance with song, but never himself trying. Maybe that was it? It seemed a silly thing, but Luc had to admit with his poor skill in dancing anything was possible. "I have seen others, grow more confident, more bold when the notes of music begin to flow. But I have no recollection of becoming better myself once the songs start."

[Inactive Account]

"Well, I don't want to get too far, in case..." Kelas paused, wishing she didn't have to complete the thought: "...in case anything happens to Arrin. But there are some benches out here, we can sit..." Leading Isotov over to the mentioned benches, she sat down with a sigh. "...I know that Charlotte's got her duties, but the others... I don't see how they can just, just stop and wait like this..." She stared at the ground. "Man, I feel useless."

[Snowy_One]

A harsh glare was the only welcome from Esphyr for the 'salvation'.

"Altion. Carry Alf back to the others." she instructed. "Punch Charlotte and get her to heal him up. Madame. I don't know who on earth you think you are, but there was no need for your injection into our conversation."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

After they sat down Iso's ears got most of his attention again. Kelas seemed almost as down and possibly as frustrated as him. The word "useless" certainly didn't fit her though, he thought.

Iso: Don't feel that way. We're just at the mercy of the consensus for the moment. It's kind of pathetic though. For all we know we'll be attacked at the ball and without our weapons we don't stand a chance, yet everyone's going along with this as if we killed them all and are going to this ball to celebrate or something. I'm not always right about this, Kelas, but ... I have a bad feeling about this ball.

She Who Has Pegasi

As Stephanie led the pegasi back to the castle, one trying to coddle the other, and said other shaking like a maraca, she heard the sound of a scream down the road near the castle followed by a burst of fire and several more screams.

Stephanie: ... *sigh* ... Mother Goddess ... give me strength to deal with this loathsome insanity.

With that she headed toward the disturbance to find several people, one of them she recognized.

Stephanie: Hey ... you there! Woman with the red shirt and white pants! Aren't you traveling with Isotov Levski, and Irina?!

Edited August 27, 2010 by Phoenix

[Dark Sage]

"Aahhh! Kill you bitch...kill you................" Alferis got out before he fell unconscious.

[Snike]

She who has Authority

On the generals' words, the guards immediately went forth, seizing Altion and Esphyr's weapons, and restraining them, effectively making the two prisoners. Turning to the bishop, Alex said, pointing to Alferis, "Sister, could you heal this man? There appears to have been an altercation between him and these two, and he was burnt severely."

[Inactive Account]

"What could possibly go wrong?" Kelas said with a bitter grin. She ran her fingers down the length of the little knife tucked into her sash. It wouldn't do any good at all in a fight... "It's the perfect opportunity, really... big open space, lots of others to hinder escape, everyone's unarmed... might not even be us that's targeted, but we'll get involved anyway." She kicked at the ground a bit, the unfamiliar shoes again reminding her of the current predicament. "Or maybe nothing will happen, but I don't care, I want to get out of here." She scowled as the wind picked up a bit. "And dammit, it's getting cold out, too," she added, trying to lighten up and failing.

[Snowy_One]

Esphyr grunted in disgust as she was seized. Unable to respond to the question, and it being of almost no matter, she instead looked the newcomer in the eye. "Just whom do you think you are?" she hissed. Meanwhile, Altion had turned over his lance willingly, though he had refused to dismount his horse. Mainly because that was a complex matter and he was unwilling to go through such a thing without an appearent need.

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: ... ... we're dead if they attack. We need to at least come up with some kind of plan. Is the ball being held in this castle or at a grand all somewhere in the city?

OOC: Iso's in plot mode because he does not want to die like an unarmed rich wanker in an action movie.

Irina and Levski

Once Irina was done getting dressed she looked at herself in the mirror and was stunned! The adjustments made the beautiful red gown fit precisely and she felt almost comfortable in the restrictive dress. She'd decided to wear her hair completely down for a change. It was neither braided up in the back, nor died leaving the rest to flow. Every last strand ran down her back and those in the front flourished. The dress itself was long and frilled in many places with slightly flared up shoulders. The gloves fit her nicely and she was a bit amused by the fact that she could still manage to fight in such a state if only she had her lance. Just then the seamstresses pointed her to the last part of the outfit. The high heels.

Irina: ... ... darn it.

After a few more minutes of trial and error walking in the shoes she exited the room walking wobbling and using her arms for balance. She appeared to be walking on a tightrope. Levski tilted his head in amusement and appreciation of everything else he saw. She came to an abrupt stop and composed herself.

Irina: So ... how do I look?

Lev: ... in all honesty?

Irina: ... yeah.

Lev: ... tasty.

Irina: >_>

Lev: Hey, give me a break. You wanted honesty. Besides, I didn't ask you what you were wearing underneath now did I?

Irina: >_>

Lev: Ah fine, be that way ...

Irina: >_>

Stephanie

Stephanie's mood quickly faded into agitation as Esphyr snapped at her!

Stephanie: I am Stephanie, head priestess of the church in Redwood and dedicated assistant to Ivanko's mercenaries. You have no reason to take such a foul tone with me! I merely asked if you were with Isotov, Levski, and Irina!

Suddenly she remembered that she was there to heal and not argue ... a miracle.

Stephanie: Wait! This man was burned?! I'll get right on it! Please keep these pegasi from running or flying away, would you?

She handed off the reins to Alex and put down the bags of clothing she had been carrying and rushed over to Alferis with her staff.

Stephanie: Are you awake? Oh dear!

She quickly called upon the power of the goddess and the orb on her staff glowed a bright white before Alferis' most recent burns began to fade away! Stephanie was surprised to see that there were still burns and came to the obvious conclusion.

Stephanie: ... this is not your first encounter with fire it seems. *sigh*

Edited August 27, 2010 by Phoenix

[the_whistler]

OOC: Slight timeskip forwards to about an hour or so before the ball for both places.

At another house:

"Is that armor fastened properly yet?" he questioned. "There are other things to be done before me and the madame can arrive at the ball you know!" he thundered proudly, trying to stride off mightily before almost falling off his feet again, his servant still not done adjusting his armor properly. Grumbling to himself, the General was about to start off on a tirade when the panicky man finally finished tying on his armor, bowing quickly before running out of the room with a rushed "Finished, sir!".

"Humph. I shall have to teach that boy some better manners later, as only a lady befitting of my and your station would deserve," bowing down before the madame and offering his hand. "Are you ready to go, miss?" kissing her hand. The woman giggled. "Of course, my lord," swooning in his arms a bit before standing up properly and holding onto the General's proffered arm.

"Sir! Ready at your command, General Richard!" The two guards saluted, each trailing a few paces behind the couple as they walked out the door. As the General began another tirade on the abuse of military power by others, the two men sighed and exchanged a glance. "Let's get a drink after we finish escorting them to the ball," one of them muttered. "Definitely," the other one replied.

At the place where the Grand Ball is held:

"Hee hee!" the man chortled, bouncing around happily as the servants rushed around, doing last minute touch ups and additions to the decor. "Sir, please help sir!" One of the chefs yelled out, coming to a skidding stop before the officer. "If you wish to do your, er- modifications as you did last year, now would be the time," quickly running back into the kitchen to whip up a number of other pastries.

"Very well then," the man smiled, skipping over to the tables laden with drink and food as the servants continued to work around him. Though it was well known that the General enjoyed his particular brand of drink at the party, few knew exactly how much control he had over their actions at the ball. With an addition of a little powder here or liquid there, he had made last years ball what he would term an overall success. And also been chastised for it by royal family themselves, the man wincing a bit at the memory.

"I'll have to settle for something a bit simpler this year," handling off the specially prepared spotted candles to a few of the servants, who had all been paid earlier. Finally, he took out a few bottles of various proof liquor, dumping them at random into the punch bowls. "All done!" He chimed, quickly hopping back to his seat and sitting down with a huff.

Edit: Added a word.

Edited August 27, 2010 by the_whistler

[Inactive Account]

"It's here, in the castle." Kelas thought for a moment. "The hall itself will probably have a weapons ban, but everywhere else will be swarming with men-at-arms-- none of those nobles want to get assassinated, let alone the royalty. If we're the target, they'll probably help out. If it's some noble, then some of them are likely traitors... either way, we'll have a mass of panicking, unarmed nobles on our hands. Fainting ladies, that sort of silliness." She tried to visualize such a fight. "...If there's any sort of attack, we don't fight, we run, we get hold of our own and dodge out while everyone's panicking. I'll make sure I know where the exits are..." A sigh. "Some of the others are probably mad enough to try and fight, but I think we can get most people to run if we have to. Once we're out of the building itself, we know where the stables are, and can be out of the city right quick."

The sounds of activity from indoors increased. "We should probably go back, let the others know, if they'll listen," she said finally.

[Dark Sage]

"Uhh?" said Alferis, waking up as somebody got a waterskin out and put out the fire on his face. He felt great pain all over and clutched his face, trying to scream but nothing came out, he was so tired.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Script]

The Fargo

Fargo had been forgotten in all the more important matters so he took his rare free time to go out and start drinking and eating all around. The capital had some damn fine cuisine! After sampling a half-dozen places, Fargo waddled back to the palace. He couldn't find anyone he recognized, so he shrugged and sat down somewhere he had been before.

Paul

Paul was off getting some actual intelligence, and that mostly consisted of sitting somewhere random in town and watching people run around. So he was sitting around, munching on some things when he saw some of the party old Luc was supposed to be watching randomly start freaking out. So once that little incident had started, Fargo had to put the food in his foot down and watched with rapt attention. Oh, such tragedy! Such drama! Why, this would be perfect material for his new spy novel! If he ever had an old one.

Once the little trite grew too boring for his tastes Paul once again dove away. It was about time he showed himself to old Luc.

[Snike]

Alex

"Watch your tongue," Alex snapped at Esphyr, annoyed as she held the reins of the pegasi. After the man was healed enough to be awake, the Comet turned to Stephanie, and said, passing the reins back, "Much obliged, Sister. I shall handle these three from here." As she said this, the guards began to escort the mercenary and the cavalier back to the palace, with Alex quickly moving to the front of them. Further back, Queen Tora and her retainer followed.

[Balcerzak]

Tessa had to stifle a giggle at the admission of guilt, "Oh, so it really was your fault? I'd never have known and you could easily have gotten away with it. I guess it's good to know you're an honest man, though perhaps a poor dancer. It would have been beyond my place to hope for someone with great talent, though hope I did. Still, I'm in no position to complain, for you're still surely more skilled than myself."

Luc's answer with respect to the music was... inconclusive, so she continued to maintain some hope in that respect. "Well, this time, you shall have to pay attention, and see whether you perform better with, than without, I suppose. I will assume that I am one of those who grow more confident... at least for the moment." If only because it's hardly possible to become less confident, she thought, but didn't voice.

As they began another go at the dance, trying to get it right, the troubadour struggled with trying to let the man lead properly, and caused quite a few missteps of her own. However the count was also true to his word, and not entirely blameless on some of the occasions. Still after some time, Tessa found herself feeling a little better about things, even if it was in the end nothing more than wishful thinking.

OOC: I totally didn't have any idea what to do here. Or where to go next. :S I hope you have better luck with things.

[Snowy_One]

"Let me go! Why are you even detaining me? Do you make it a habit to detain random civilians?" asked Esphyr as she struggled against the guards. Though this would have normally been easy enough for her to accomplish, she decided to keep herself on the tamer end, lest the sword decide to make another appearance.