Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 18: Grand Ballin'

[Ether]

"Then, I suppose if she garners the approval of a... connoisseur such as yourself, then surely I have made a good decision." Damian replied, to humour the man.

He was then approached by a woman, who appeared to be a little over twenty years old.

"Yes, that is correct. I am Damian Kleine, son of Bethold Kleine... can I help you?" Damian replied, wondering if he had met this woman somewhere before and forgotten. <- Retconned

As Harold made his remark about "bagging" her, Aiya only felt like meeting Harold had become a worse idea by the second.

'How does anyone manage to respect a man like that? I mean, sure, he helped defeat the Lord of Azure Flame, but...'

Edited August 29, 2010 by Kleine

[Phoenix]

Alone In The Dark

As soon as Kelas spoke, Iso had a feeling something very bad was about to happen. Just as he was bracing himself to be tugged along, Kelas let go of his arm and vanished into the torrent of voices and music!

Iso: ... ... oh sh*t.

He didn't have time to decide what he was going to do next as a random nobleman bumped into him! Then another!

Nobleman: I say! Watch where you are going! You must be a spoiled uneducated nobleman's child to be wandering around aimlessly like this!

Iso: (What?! I haven't moved an inch! Gah! Kelas help ... please ...)

Nobleman: Too embarrassed to even look another man in the eyes I see. Well then, I shall respond in kind. Good evening to you.

The nobleman disappeared. Iso couldn't tell where he'd gone either. He couldn't move. He couldn't risk falling flat on his face or upsetting anyone else. He couldn't do anything he thought.

Iso: (What do I do now ...? What the hell do I do now?!!)

Not far away Duke Von was heading over to greet Lord Harold. Kamilla quickly saw Isotov and gasped!

Kamilla: (The fire mag- I mean Isotov. Why is he here?! Wait ... that means ...) They got away with what they did?!

Von: Who got away, Kamilla?

Kamilla: Umm, Duke Von, may I say hello to that man in the red coat?

Von: ... hmmm he looks lost. Why would you want to meet that man?

Kamilla: He's ... um ... (The person that tried to be nice to me while I was under that spell. I really should see what's going on. He might know what happened to Tessa too ... and Eric.)

Von: Meh. Go ahead, Kamilla. I'm not interested but you clearly are. You have one minute to speak with that man and then I want you back at my side. Not a second later, understood?

Kamilla: Yes.

She nodded and then headed over. Isotov was still standing there, his hands balled into fists. He couldn't figure out how he was going to get out of this mess. Just then he felt his right hand grabbed by ... someone.

Iso: Who's there? Kelas?

Kamilla: ... Um ... no. Isotov, it's me. Kamilla.

Iso: What?!

Kamilla: It is. See? Open your eyes.

Iso: ... urgh.

He turned his head away from her. Enough people already knew that he was useless. Besides, was it really Kamilla, or was Shanice back for one final yet strange insult before killing him?

Harold

Harold: Oh I do have an eye for women, Damian. Just look at these, hahah!

He smirked confirming and gladly accepting the man's complement. The women on his arm merely giggled and cuddled with him more. Other nobles near by were staring in sheer admiration even then.

[Snowy_One]

Taking the hint and gladly following it, the Headmaster moved away with Ixion as well; trying to distance herself from Harold. "Uggg... The man has at least twenty children and he STILL is unmarried. I would probably force him to marry someone if he wasn't such a damned hero."

---

"Yes. That Damian." replied Esphyr. "Why? Do you know him? Did he conquer you as well?"

[Ansem]

"No. I might have met him once when I was a kid. There have been some nasty rumors flying around about him too" She replied simply. "Say.... is he your boyfriend?"

Edited August 29, 2010 by Kai

[Inactive Account]

Arriving at the table, Kelas quickly realized that Arrin was snoring. "Gah, scared me," she chided, shaking him a bit. "Wake up."

"Don' wanna," Arrin mumbled, swatting at the hands on his shoulders.

"Oh for--" Now that the initial panic had faded, Kelas found a new reason to worry: she realized that she'd let go of Isotov. "Gah, I'm an idiot-- look, wake up, be right back--"

She turned and ran back, provoking some scandalized looks and muttering from some elderly noblewomen. "I'm sorry-- I'm an idiot--" she began, taking Isotov's hand again. "Arrin fell asleep at the table, looked like he was-- wait, who's-- Kamilla?!"

[Snowy_One]

"Yes, he is." answered Esphyr honestly. She didn't want to go into detail, like how she had almost slept with him while drunk (and even then had not gotten away scot-free) or how she was likely to be his second wife however.

[Ansem]

"Why didnt you say so?" She said grabbing Esphyr by the wrist again as she approached Damian. "Kleine, how could you leave your girlfriend alone like that?"

[Dark Sage]

"Bah. Bored. I wanna *hic* eat some more," said Alferis, who stopped dancing.

Good. I'm so tired of dancing. And Heinz isn't doing anything worth trying to follow him about on, Reika thought to herself, following Alf to the food, her stomach growling.

"Man I can go for a bite," said Reika picking a pastry and chewing on it. "Mmm. Not too bad. Need a drink though." I'll need a thousand drinks to get through this mess.

Poruing some Sake into a wineglass, Reika drunk it all down...and gagged a bit. It was stronger then she expected, having never tasted Sake before.\

"You ok?" asked Alferis, chewing on a large piece of sausage.

"Fine," she said a little sharply, the taste of Sake still on her tongue. "Need some more," she mumbled, taking another glassful. She drunk more slowly, this time getting more used to the taste.

"Meh. Not bad. At least good enough for me to get through this garbage," she growled.

"Garbage? My dear what are you on about?" said a noblelady behind Reika. "It's the one of the best autumn nights of the year, we get perfect food, drinks, and that dashing Lord Harold visiting us. What could possibly be wrong about it?"

"For starters, random people barging into conversations and the amount of snobbery here," she said sharply, backing away from her.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am? I am the Duchess of Tredemos, and one of the highest nobles here you tramp," said the duchess in great shock.

"Whatcha *hic* call her?" said Alferis, his expression darkening. The burns on his face enhanced it, making it look quite terrifying.

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh nothing!" she said backing away and walking as fast as she could away from them.

"...Bitch," he muttered under his breath.

[Ether]

"Eh hem... yes... it seems you do indeed." Damian replied, trying to seem interested. At that moment, a woman approached him, seemingly in her early twenties.

"Hmm? Uhh... do I know you?" Damian asked, as the woman began chastising him. Seeing Esphyr, he spoke to her.

"Oh, there you are Esphyr. I was wondering where you had gone, I hadn't seen you since we got here."

[Phoenix]

Ixion

Once they were far enough away from the chaos to be heard clearly, Ixion turned back to the headmaster as she ranted.

Ixion: Huh. A human bull wyvern. I don't understand exactly why you would want him to marry anyone in the first place actually. Would that really stop him from doing these sorts of things? Two women at the same time? Are they drunk or from Halton?

Isotov and Morgan's Old Victim

Iso: Kelas? You're back! What happened?! Was it Arrin?

Kamilla stayed silent for a second. She wasn't sure what to say exactly. She knew she had about thirty seconds left before Duke Von would be expecting her and that wasn't nearly enough time to do much of anything. She decided to head back early!

Kamilla: Um, sorry I bothered you! I-I should go!

She quickly hurried away from them and headed back over to the Duke!

Iso: Was that ... really Kamilla?

Krinkov Hates BS

The two brothers continued to pulverize each other with loud head butts, vicious tail swipes, body slams, wing flailing, and floor wrestling! Kiev held his own, but Krinkov had grown much much stronger than any wyvern his size would be thanks to the extra loads he'd been carrying! Eventually Kiev was taking knockout capable hits that had him dazed and confused! After one last tail swipe that landed on Kiev's cheek, the wyvern went down with a loud thud!

Krinkov snorted at him, then at the holsters, then at the pink wyvern, and then went back over to his pen and lied down. The pink wyvern squawked at him trying to get him to let her out, and he hissed at her before putting his head back down and dozing off. He was not going to let another incident involving either of them take place. The humans didn't respect them as it was. There wasn't need to add to it. Kiev needed to sit down, shut up, and wait, and the female just needed to shut the hell up.

The hostlers weren't sure if they should come any closer. Kiev seemed to be unconscious and the pink wyvern had put her head down feeling that her calls had been rejected. This is why she wanted the rudoberry. Krinkov would have helped her if she had that, but it was still in the crate and the crate was next to Krinkov. She couldn't possibly down any of it before being beaten down by him. She whined a bit before Krinkov woke up and loudly hissed at her again! He didn't want to hear another sound out of her for the rest of the night!

[Ansem]

"So. Ask her out already!" She exclaimed. "Your her boyfriend, how could you forget."

[Script]

Count Luc Altair

When Luc returned to his original spot Tess had vanished. Luc was willing to let the girl have free reign over her own actions, she was trust-able after all. Luc went back to his usual spying work, and centered his attention on Harold. Damian and his date Aiya were there, chatting with the man. As expected of the son of another hero. Alferis swaggered up to the group shortly after Luc began watching--more and more he looked a poor choice for that reward, Luc would have to confront him afterward. He was dragged away by Reika after a few exchanges, something Luc was grateful for. Luc looked back again at Ixion and his mysterious date. The woman rang familiar in his head, but he couldn't quite piece it together. The angle was of no help either. Damian continued to chat with Harold, something Luc might have to revise his opinion of the man for. If he could keep Harold's attention away from other things, it would be a huge boon. Regardless of Damian's intentions or not.

Luc shifted his gaze back to the entrance, Kelas led Isotov into the ballroom. Odd, that a blind man would dance, but Luc had no doubt that Charlotte could convince someone with one leg to if need be. Shortly after they arrived, Kelas ran out, leaving Isotov alone. More concerned for Isotov's nature than wherever Kelas had vanished off too, Luc followed the blind man's movements. He was constantly knocked around by those with sight, until someone lent him a helping hand. Kamilla. Either she was the nicest girl ever or, well there wasn't really an or. Though that firmly added more evidence to Luc's reasoning that she wasn't of a higher caste. Most nobles would ignore someone like that except to jeer. Kelas reappeared from out of nowhere, garbing Isotov's other arm. Kamilla ran off shortly after. Now, what was all that about?

[Snowy_One]

"No. But then she could assault him with a frying pan every time he brought home some strange woman. I know if a normal man did that to his wife he would be in jail, but considering the double standard in society, at least I get the satisfaction that he's being hoisted by his own petard for lechary." she said sighing. "I had to put up with his advances for the entirety of the war. Every week he would peek in on the ladies bath at least twice, sneak into my tent four times, and steal my undergarments at least once. I took the blasted 'distract the enemy' mission in the final battle just because it meant I wouldn't have to stand by him against the Lord... As well as other reasons. Bad ones in hindsight."

---

"Damian!" exclaimed Esphyr, almost springing out from behind the queen at the sight of her lover. One slightly more dignified step later, she had stepped out from behind her. "Please. I desire your acquaintance for the ball tonight. Will... Will you have me?"

[Inactive Account]

"Yeah, I'm back... sorry about that," Kelas replied, still mentally kicking herself. "Yeah, Arrin's fallen asleep at the table, but when I saw him slumped over I thought-- well, he's all right, and we should probably just wake him up and get out of here now." As she began to walk again, she added, "And that was either Kamilla or a remarkably good substitute. How the hell she got here I don't know, but..."

[Ether]

As Esphyr stepped out, Damian sighed.

"We... aren't in Halton anymore, Esphyr. In most places, it wouldn't matter, but a man having two dates is frowned upon in Septimus, unless you are someone with status such as Harold's. Surrounded by folks such as the nobility, there is naught I can do for it." Damian replied, squeezing Aiya's hand gently.

[Psych]

Rita and Cess:

"Oh, sorry. My name is Rita. And no, he's right over there near the buffet." Rita pointed over at Cess, who had a drink in both hands, walking over to Rita.

"Here you go. It's a bit strong."

"Thanks."

[Snowy_One]

"..." No response came from Esphyr for a long moment. Then, at last, she turned about and simply walked away from them.

[the_whistler]

"Makes sense," Heinz mulled. "I remember Ivanko mentioning he had never trained his wyvern properly." Go figure, that she would go easy on her wyvern, sitting normally in his seat now. Too kind for her own good, and the wyvern's. "Lev's wyvern- Krinkov, right? Is he actually related to Kiev? I don't know much about wyverns, but being too overprotective of Kiev might be bad for him," he reasoned, speaking quietly. Not to mention he's stronger and tougher than you.

"At least he's loyal to you though," Heinz added quickly, not wanting to make her upset again. "Just go ahead and eat for now, I promise I won't watch," smirking slightly. Moving his chair to the side on purpose, Heinz noted the Halton colonel and his woman talking to the shaman as well, while the fighter was butting in.

"He looks more than a little drunk," noting his unsteadiness and lack of balance. What does the Halton colonel want to do with a shaman anyway? Perhaps the group met him in the past? Looks like the headmaster certainly doesn't like Harold's attention, smiling amusedly. Heinz watched Esphyr walk away from the colonel, with the other woman staying by his side.

Lazily scanning his eyes, Heinz debated whether to walk up to the group. Being tied down is a hassle, he thought wryly.

Edited August 29, 2010 by the_whistler

[Ansem]

"So the rumors are true!" Jen said pointing her finger at Damian accusingly. "You have two lovers! Oh my god that is so tacky. I mean how can you satisfy them both? Not to mention disgusting." Watching Esphyr go away, Jen was gonna follow when Sayer appeared and stopped her. "My queen, she needs some time alone." The queen started to protest. "But I..." She stopped.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Kai

[Snike]

Potential Homicide convict if thrown at Harold

"Of course," Dani said, pulling the mage closer. As they began to dance, she smiled, happy, for the time being. "You're really good, Heli."

Derek

"Showing her up would be fun," Derek admitted, slowing down to the pace of the music. "Just, let's not let it end up in a fight. No need to be thrown out, tonight. ...And Harold the swordmaster is here. With his sword. ... Yeah, let's try to stay out of his way," he said, spotting the hero as he turned with Viveka. "Well, the rest of the ball looks to be interesting, at least."

Eric

"Blessing and a curse," Eric said, smiling as he took Charlotte's hand. "Oh well. At the very least, the first arrow will be aimed at me, and not you, Princess." As the music slowed down, the princess's escort led her out onto the floor, beginning to waltz with her.

Jace + his daughter

"... Yes, I'm aware of that. I'll call her," the Brute said, before stepping back inside his manse, for a moment. "Allie! Your date is here! She'll be out in just a few minutes," Jace said, reopening the door. A few minutes of silence passed, before he spoke again. "Prince, relax. I'm not going to kill you, just because I have problems with your parents. Though, I might if you hurt Allie," the added, smiling. Before he could add anymore, Alex was right out of the door, in a ornamented satin gown, along with a gleaming silver necklace, with an emerald gem as the centerpiece. Her hair was tied up in a bun, making the woman look more lady-like.

"Alright, let us go, your Highness," she said, to Tristan as she passed the door.

"You two have fun! And Allie, watch out for Harold," Jace said, smiling as he went back into the manse, inevitably plotting.

[Dark Sage]

"*Hic* I wonder how Esphyr is holding up," said Alferis, finishing his sausage and walking away from the bar. Reika finished her third glass of sake and suddenly had an idea.

"You know...neither of us are really up to this anyway, so why don't you run along and see how she's doing and I'll just wander about."

"You *hic* sure? You're me date *hic* it'll look improper for us *hic* to split up. And what *hic* will you do?"

"My own thing. Now as long as you don't say anything stupid about me, just do whatever the hell you want," she said giving him a light shove.

"Ok *hic* ok," he said, seeing Esphyr walk away from Damian. He followed after her, wanting to see what was wrong.

Now then. I can truly devote my time to my work. And some more alcohol. Gonna need it.

[Ansem]

Heli =D

"Thanks, Dani. I had a little help from a certain green haired thunder mage." He replied enjoying himself as well.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Kai

[Phoenix]

Ixion

Ixion: Amazing. You actually seem almost level headed in comparison to him. These marriages you keep talking about ...

He shook his head a bit.

Ixion: I'm not seeing the point. Old traditions and practices are just that.

Harold Logic

Harold: What the? Damian Kleine, what the hell are you doing?! Quick lesson for you, never turn down a good thing. You're partying with me now, Damian and what I say goes! Now go over there and drag her back! Tonight, we're partying like we're in Altia! You want an extra girl, an extra ten, you take'em! That's what I say!

The hero waved his arms up with his flask in hand gathering a lot of attention from the area!

Harold: But there's just ... one rule.

He looked around eying people as if he was speaking specifically to them.

Harold: Start parading around more women than me and I'll take you down right quick!! Now party! Go go go!

Isotov

Iso: So that was her? She seemed fine. Like whatever Morgan did to her wore off. ... grrr, Morgan. Kamilla's just another example of how far she'll go. She's just like Ixion. Well if you want to get out of here, I'm fine with that. There's not much I can do really.

Irina

Irina: Uh yeah. My Uncle's using Victor as a way to make himself stronger. It's hard to not be ever alert when there's a giant wyvern waiting for a chance to kill you ... and you ride him everywhere. He even tried to kill me once. But yeah, Kiev and Krinkov are brothe- ... err ... half brothers. Krinkov's mother died during one of the round ups but I think Kiev's mother might still be out there somewhere. The only way to tell who a wyvern's parents are is to see how they behave together. It's hard to tell but Lev's "the master".

She hung her head a bit at his overprotective comment. She knew he was right but, he got hurt so often and tough or not, she hated not coddling him at the slightest injury.

Irina: I'll admit, Kiev's a big softy but he's still a wyvern. He'll totally beat the crap out of somebody if they tried to hurt me or anyone else he likes, and yeah. He is pretty loyal. He used his head to block a magical attack and save me. It's not as common as you might think.

Viveka

Viveka: Alright then, as soon as we get some faster music on, we'll take them.

As they continued dancing, she too saw Harold, and all the madness surrounding him.

Viveka: Oh what the hell is Harold doing here? He's a paradox. He's like fifty years old, but he screws everything that moves and he's faster than anyone in this room. That's discouraging. Hopefully he'll drink himself to sleep or something. Safer for the girls I think. (Ball dances aren't really my thing but I can't start grinding with him in a place like this. At some point, we are going to a regular party. Hmm ... then again ... I don't think he'd like that.)

The Good Duke and Kamilla

Von stood there not looking in the direction Kamilla had run off in. He sighed in slight annoyance at the thought of all the time the red clad man was getting.

Von: ... ten ... nine ... eight ... seven ... six ... five ... four ... three ...

Kamilla: I'm back!

She tried to act as humble and friendly as possible even though she dreaded the thought. She noticed that the spell had faded and the Duke looked normal again. Oddly enough he hadn't noticed and that was good enough for her. She didn't want to be seen stuffing her tome under her dress and balancing it between her legs so she kept it out hoping no one would mind.

Von: Ah there you are. So care to share with me exactly what was so pressing about meeting that man?

Kamilla: I ... know him. In fact ... he's the whole reason I got mixed up with those people in the first place. If he hadn't burned that inn up ...

Von: Hm ... sounds like another hoodlum. Burning inns. Such a lack of class.

Kamilla: (I wonder why he wouldn't look at me.)

[Ether]

As Esphyr walked away, Damian had no idea what to do. He wanted to go after her, but knew how the Septimians were. Septimus and Halton had squared off enough in the past about relationship customs, and as much as he hated to admit it, there was nothing he could do about it. He was in Septimus, and had to play by the rules set down by Septimus.

'She always tells me to give my priority to Aiya... but she is only human... she was hurt... I could tell.'

Then Harold started making a ruckus. The morality behind the speech was... rather faulty, but no one would be willing to argue with Harold the Swordmaster.

"Thank you, Harold." Damian said to the man, and turned to Aiya.

"I'll be back in a minute... don't let anything happen to you while I'm gone." He said, and she squeezed his hand to say she understood.

Then, Damian took off after Esphyr.

Seeing her ahead, he called out to her.

"Esphyr! Wait!"

Edited August 29, 2010 by Kleine

[Snowy_One]

"What?" hissed Esphyr, turning about as she neared the door. "Are you going to rub it in or something?"

---

"Usually when something has been embraced by every culture for many thousands of years, it's not a mark against it Ixion." said the headmaster.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Snowy_One