Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Phoenix]

Main Entrance

Once Blake answered the door and revealed Raquel, Reign felt relieved. "Hey," he replied to Blake's greeting. "Raquel, I'm getting ready to head into town to visit my folks-" "Oh, they live in Europa, now?" Raquel interrupted. "Things change," Reign said with a shrug. "It's still a long walk from here, so I wanted to ask you if I could borrow Sandrock or Riley for awhile."

Raquel didn't mind the idea, but she delayed in answering in order to try and figure out which of the two horses would be best suited for the job. Sandrock was docile and obedient, but normally resting by this time of night. Riley was energetic and more than capable, but lived up to his namesake and sometimes ignored directions. "I'm fine with it, but I'm not sure which of them to lend you. Maybe Sandrock ... she's probably tired but at least she won't fight you. Just be sure to be gentle with her and make sure she gets plenty of rest," she decided.

"Understood," Reign answered with a nod. "Nice dress by the way. Good luck at the ball." Before turning to leave, he looked to Blake and added, "Make sure she gets back here okay," with a smile that barely held together.

Nadya seemed to be fine with having extra people along, an indefinite amount even, at least if she was being literal with that 'the more the merrier' line. Figuring it best to follow the lead of the other men, Haythem thought to hurry off ahead of Nadya and Gytha in order to open the door for them, but the driver, being the closest, beat him to the task and opened the door to let all three of them into the carriage before he even began to pick up his pace. Haythem wasn't sure whether to be bothered or relieved, but he certainly felt a mixture of both.

In the meantime, he listened to Gytha's explanation about the game, invitation to that game, and details about the latest one. He wasn't sure he would be particularly good at this game, and so didn't say anything right away, choosing instead to see what Nadya thought about it first. His guess was that she wouldn't be interested in this sort of thing unless she could use it to give Luca some exercise ... of course then it would likely have to take place outside and then she would be victorious no matter what. He chuckled at the mental image of Luca trotting along the grass with his head held high and Nadya smirking at the defeated, who were exhausted from hours of running and practically crawling around by that point. "Heheh."

Meanwhile, in the carriage Shadrak and Mushirah were using, the two conversed about the darkness. "Uh-thanks! Hahah. I appreciate your trust." Trust? I sound like some kind of creep, now ... "So ... assuming we get a choice in the matter, what did you want to do first when we get to the ball?" If all there is there is dancing and snacks, this is going to look like a really silly question later ....

[Snike]

"I don't plan on coming back without her safe and sound," Blake responded, as Reign made to leave. "Good luck with your family." He waited a moment, then closed the door again and returned to his seat, silent for the time being.

***

Ethan, wearing a light grey suit today, arrived at the carriages with a care-free expression on his face. While he was grateful that Weyland had allowed him to attend the ball, the prelude to it wasn't very exciting. The man made his way to the back of the carriages, and entered the second-to last one. If he was lucky, he wouldn't be alone on the way back..

[-Cynthia-]

"I used to play a game like that when I was a kid...although there weren't any pistols involved. Did I hear ya correctly that ya shot Amon?" Nadya asked Gytha for clarification. Gettin' shot sure ain't my idea of fun...

[Mercakete]

"Me pistol wasn't loaded, a'course. This was basicalla a sort o' form o' tag," she explained. She was sure that she'd mentioned that earlier, but it was entirely possible that she hadn't, so she just decided to make that clear.

[ReformBlade]

"Fresh... caramel, and chocolate..." Aneda said in a daze, quickly taking them, eyeing them closely with an inquisitive stare, making sure to probe every milometer of its surface with her discerning gaze. Without warning, she popped one of them in her mouth, eyes lighting up as she was enveloped in a sweet taste sensation. "Good... good! No, it's great, fantastic, uuugh, they're amazing!" Popping the rest in her mouth and chewing like crazy, her words became a bit slurred but if you listened hard enough, there was a human in there. "Hokay sho, how mushch, er, how lonshg do theshe thinshg lasht? And how musch you got?" chewing followed by a powerful gulping swallow that was clearly a practiced maneuver get your mind out of the gutter, and then, "And what price ya looking for?"

"I'm... not too sure what we should do when we get there." Mushirah admitted in not really a defeated tone so much as a matter of fact tone. "I'm honestly just assuming things are more or less planned from the start, but I don't know much about these sort of get-togethers, living in a port town and all." Which got her thinking, "Now that I'm on that subject, I'm wondering if I'm gonna stick out like a soar thumb... I don't have any expectations here, I don't know what to expect, I only got a brief introduction before any of this. If you're truly asking me, I'd probably just like to sort of... keep to ourselves I guess? I'm not one for crowd mingling, so maybe we can just sort of eat, talk about... stuff. I mean, if you wanted to do something else, please tell me, I'd gladly join you."

[-Cynthia-]

"Oh that's a relief," Nadya said, glad to see Gytha wasn't randomly shooting people. "Not really my thing though, I'm not much of a runner or good at sparrin' and playin' tag on a horse would be rather unfair I think."

[Phoenix]

Main Entrance

They're always trying so hard to protect me, even with these powers I got from the emblem. I'm starting to feel like I did back when they still didn't know about my magic. Well, I guess this situation is pretty different. None of us are armed, so if something goes wrong in there, we'll be at a horrible disadvantage, Raquel thought to herself.

I'm inclined to believe otherwise, Discovery. The guards at this party aren't just protecting the royals, but the nobility as well. 'Noble men and women are the highest quality of shield a man--or woman--may possess~' or so that conniving saying goes.

First of all, you're assuming the guards aren't going to arrest us on Desmond's say so, Raquel countered, scowling at nothing as she did. Second, why would they protect us when the first thing Desmond is going to do is point to us as the problem?

If you can assume they're under the Head Wrathite's thumb, can't I assume otherwise?

Go right ahead if you want, but the only people I trust are the ones who've been fighting with us.

Meanwhile, near one of the carriages ... "Unfair? Sounds like an understatement to me. You would ride circles around everyone else," Haythem insisted in a somewhat encouraging way.

Elsewhere, within the darkness, Shadrak thought about Mushirah's offer. Was there something he wanted to do at the ball? He had an easier time thinking of things he didn't want to do, like talking to the wrong people or going out onto the dance floor. "Nothing's really coming to mind at the moment, but I suppose I could always speak up if anything good comes to mind. I just want to make sure you have a good time. This is a once in a life time opportunity, after all," he answered.

Stables

It didn't take Reign long to get to the stables, but there were more people around than he had been expecting. The stables also seemed to be short on actual horses. That explained where at least some of the horses for those carriages had come from, or at least Reign concluded as much. He was suddenly hoping that they hadn't taken Sandrock and Riley and used them for any of the carriages behind Raquel's back. It seemed unlikely, at least at first, but given how long it took for him to find the two, he figured they might have mistakenly tried and relocated the horses to the stalls with the least through traffic.

"Hey you two," he greeted them. Sandrock looked fast asleep until he spoke up, but Riley had his eyes on Reign since the nomad entered earshot, which was pretty far off for a horse. "A black horse would suit me better, but Raquel says you'd give me trouble, Riley. That true? Must be because you weren't gelded. Seems like Jethro's got plans for you, Riley, heheh," Reign said with a smirk. He spoke to Riley while he carefully prepared Sandrock for their departure.

Once Sandrock was ready, Reign began leading her out by her reins and waved farewell to Riley, who remained in his stall, staring at him curiously. "Borrowing your partner for a bit, okay? See ya later, Riley."

[ReformBlade]

"I know you do, and I'm pretty grateful for that, I just can't really think of anything to really do since I kind of suspect things will be planned out... sort of." Mushirah started, already dreading anything involving moving around a lot. "I think we'll be fine if we just have an open mind." Relaxing against the seat, she let out a sigh. "We'll have to wait and see, unfortunately, hopefully i'm wrong and we do have a bit of free rein on this."

[Mercakete]

"Heharr, that's fine. Malik didn't want t' play either," Gytha chuckled before turning her attention more to Haythem, "Hoy, what about you? Yer ridin' that wayvern a lot, so yer probabla not as fast on foot as Amon 'r Fizza, but ye look like ye can hold yer own if ye get cornered. That r'minds me, I'd still like t' spar ye at some point. Yer th' captain's son, so I'm curious about how good ye actualla are in a fight. 'Sides, been wonderin' how I'd do since ye r'fused." She frowned as she went on a bit begrudgingly, "A'course, if yer still against fightin' women fer whate'er reason, it's not like zi'd force ye. I'd just be disappointed. Can't be b'cause o' where yer from since even Amon's sparred me b'fore."

[Ether]

"Knowing how things tend to go when you're around... both." Angelica replied with a smirk.

[Snike]

Raquel all of a sudden scowled, which was odd. Perhaps she was thinking about the upcoming meeting?

"Is something the matter?" Blake asked, frowning now as well. He'd may as well inquire, rather than be left in the dark.

[Phoenix]

They Aren't Hitchhiking Anymore; They're Riding

"Yeah ... hmm." Shadrak began to think about the ball and how it would be handled. He wasn't sure if there was some sort of structure to the party, a schedule or other planned events, or anything else that would limit their ability to do as they pleased. "Let's be sure to ask someone about it once we get there," he replied.

Meanwhile, Gytha put Haythem under the spotlight and asked him not only to join the next game but also to spar with her at some point. She seemed to have her doubts about it being a cultural thing, since Amon had sparred with her before, but Haythem doubted Amon had ever really been that eager to point his weapon at her, even for practice's sake. "I'll join in the game, I suppose, but I must respectfully decline the duel," Haythem said, stiffening up as he did. He wasn't able to make eye contact with Gytha either, which only made him feel worse about the whole thing.

Close by, Raquel realized she wasn't hiding her feelings very well; Blake seemed to be onto her. Best to just be honest, I guess. "Hypnos thinks that if something goes wrong the guards won't necessarily side with the wrathites. I'm not assuming anything. The only people I trust are the ones I'm bringing with me."

The people you bring with you have betrayed you before as well, Discovery. Don't forget.

Suddenly Raquel winced. "... f-for the most part." Zel was an old, well healed wound that she had done well in forgetting until Hypnos brought it up.

Get the Ball Rolling

Eventually, at around the same time Weyland's patience ran out, the line of carriages got moving and began leaving the estate grounds. About halfway to the gate, Reign passed up the entire line, riding with Sandrock. Raquel watched him from the tiny window until he was out of view and then relaxed in her seat and sighed. there wasn't much to do for the moment and it would be a lengthy drive to the ball.

Later on, they finally arrived at the estate where the ball was being held, but they were figuratively only about halfway through their journey, now. There was a long line of carriages pulling up and it was a ten minute wait, with each carriage stopping off to unload its passengers right at the main entrance to the event. To speed things up a bit, or simply to cope with impatience, some of the occupants of those carriages got out farther from the entrance and walked the rest of the way. Some of the drivers took that chance to get out of the queue of carriages as carefully as they could and stand by.

"Bloody hell, there's a lot of people attending this evening. It's to be expected, but I have a bad feeling I'll be shaking hands and pretending I remember faces and names as often as breathing," Weyland scoffed.

"Well I'm your date for the evening. If you want help, just say so. I can be as unapproachable as you'd like," Chie offered.

"That's nice ... I'll consider it," Weyland said while looking out the window. He then glanced back at Chie without moving his head. "Wait a moment. You didn't bring the snakes did you?"

"I did."

"For the love of-! What use could you possibly have for venomous snakes at an engagement party, woman?! Do you really think they won't find those things when they search you for 'weapons'?"

"We'll find out," Chie replied indifferently.

Weyland sighed and shook his head. His date was bringing snakes to a ball ... like it was no one's business. After a moment, he said, "Well then, I've had enough. Let's go. We're on foot from here. It's really not that far ..."

Noticing that Weyland had stepped out of the lead carriage, Steinn grinned in amusement and then went back to sitting normally. "I think we'll wait for a few more minutes."

Shadrak had nearly fallen asleep in his and Mushirah's carriage and so wasn't entirely aware of his surroundings.

Haythem had fallen asleep and was completely unaware of his surroundings.

By the mansion's main entrance, couples were lining up to get in by the dozen, so it appeared that they had arrived on time, but it would still be a short while before they actually got inside. There were plenty of guards right at the door, some better armed than others. A few just had their own copies of a massive guest list, and others were lightly armed and were checking for weapons or taking other measures for the sake of a party without incident.

[Mercakete]

On the Way

It was a bit of a downer to hear Haythem only accept the invitation to play the game almost begrudgingly but what was more upsetting was the other bit of what he said. He sounded like he was trying to be gentle with his decline to spar, which indicated something that they'd talked about before. Trying to be polite about it but still offended at the notion, she asked, "Ye don't want t' spar with me b'cause I'm a woman. Is that it?"

[Snowy_One]

Weyland's Librarium

Tia sighed sleepily as she flipped through yet another book. Beside her was a small pile stacked taller than the tip of her pointy hat containing all the books she had picked out and still had yet to touch while, on the other side, was all the books she had chewed her way through... which was a lot smaller than one would expect knowing her as it was only a few books high. She had spent most of her day with Zach, talking with him, helping him with his dragon problem as best she could, and other such stuff and now... she was tired. Soon she would probably go to bed, but not before she did some more reading. With her brain so overloaded from all the magic-talk earlier, Tia was not focusing on the harder subjects, but rather, now, on something to ease her mind. Philosophy.

"Heh... The very idea that a singular nation could operate on its own with everyone being given equal amounts of every resource for the good of the commune. Such a thing would require too many conditions to be valid, like the ability to leave if you felt the system was being unfair as well as an equal amount of needs for every person within the system." she said with a small smile before thumbing through a bit, noting the titles of the chapters. "Doesn't look like he addresses such a thing either. Oh well. Mmmm... Zzzz... Buh!"

Tia quickly sprung up, almost jogging in place. "Been here too long. Need to wake myself up!" she said to herself before taking her own tome and promptly slamming her face hard against the cover.

"Owwwww! Awake at least. Maid, can I take some of these books back to my room? Or do I have to leave them all here in the library? Where is my room anyways?"

Edited September 27, 2013 by Snowy_One

[ReformBlade]

Hoping to strike up a conversation about something they were both interested in, or at least one person was interested in and one was acquainted with, Mushirah began asking questions about dark magic, unfortunately she never really got much out of it as she was feeling some violent undertones from it. First half of the ride was all talking, the latter half was spent looking out the window and wondering what was going to happen at the party. When they finally arrived, Mushirah couldn't help but feel a bit giddy, "Oh gosh, we're here, we're here!" and then the nerves set in, which left her in a bit of a bind in her mind... how kind. So instead of fretting, she decided to alert the almost asleep man next to her, "Shadrak, come on, we're here! Oh wow, look at the line, this is gonna be so packed, isn't it?" Please don't make me go and be social to an extreme, no no no

[Snike]

En Route

"I would have to agree with Hypnos, with regards to the guards intervening. The Royal Guard does not serve any order, and they almost undoubtedly will be the ones serving as inner security," Blake said, as he returned to smiling a bit. "I'm more worried about when we depart the ball than during the meeting, to be honest, since they can have weapons outside the manse, after all. But I feel like we can come to an agreement with Desmond, beforehand, so I am not too concerned."

Then, Raquel winced and amended her trusting everyone she brought to the ball statement to be 'for the most part'. That was almost definitely Hypnos' doing.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Hypnos, assuming you can hear me," the Ursian said sarcastically, before returning to addressing his employer. "I mean he may have a point in that it is a good idea to be wary of others, but right now, that is only serving to make you even more on edge than before, which is not ideal for this meeting."

En Ligne

And there they were, just a few minutes away from actually entering the ball proper. Blake had spent a good part of the trip mentally preparing himself for the event, and so didn't notice initially when the carriage had stopped. When he finally realized that they had arrived, their carriage was a few minutes' walk away from the entrance, or only a slightly longer wait in the vehicle if Raquel wanted to wait.

" Would you like to exit here, or shall we wait until it pulls up, milady?" Blake asked, as he returned to being all smiles. "Your choice.".

[Phoenix]

They Have Arrived ... Sorta

Haythem had been rather evasive of Gytha's question, wanting to instead focus on the upcoming ball. There was no telling if they would ever get to enjoy themselves while so vulnerable again. Still, he felt guilty not explaining himself properly to Gytha. He decided that he would at least try to address it later, after he got some much needed information from Amon. Frankly, he was surprised Amon had apparently been willing to spar with her. There had to be more to this, and he planned to find out ... eventually. For now, the ball was his focus ... at least once he began to stir in his seat. <"Mmmgh, are we there yet?>"

In the wagon of darkness, Mushirah snapped Shadrak out of his daydreaming. "We're here? In a line? Yeah ..." he sighed. "It's going to be packed, alright, but look at the bright side ... if it's even half as big as Weyland's mansion, we'll still have plenty of room and won't get stuck in any crowds or anything like that. They had to be planning for an enormous turnout since it's the princess' engagement party," he reasoned before opening the door. He stepped out first and then offered his hand to help Mushirah out while the driver sighed at them.

"Sorry I can't get you there any sooner," he apologized.

"It's okay. Some fresh air is ... in order, anyway," Shadrak replied with a nod.

"Enjoy the party," the driver waved farewell. It would be awhile before he could pull the carriage to the side of the road, but he assumed the couple would be heading on up the line within a moment or two.

Meanwhile, Raquel was now facing the choice of whether to approach the scene on foot or wait until the carriage reached the front of the line. She wasn't sure which options was more proper, but assumed the latter. She assumed waiting was the appropriate thing to do since nobles tended to wait on their servants to complete their assigned tasks, patiently if they were so humble. Going on foot might have been a slap in the driver's faces, or a welcomed relief, but that wasn't affecting her decision, much. She wanted to do some thinking, and she did her best and quickest thinking during walks, so that was her choice in the end. "Let's get out here ... but I don't really want to rush in there. We should just walk at a normal pace ..." What am I saying? Why would we walk any faster than normal in this situation? It's not like they're running out of seats in there or something.

They might.

Time Spent

There was no response to Tia's inquiry at first, since the maid that was there was outside and had to enter the library first. Fortunately, things were so quiet in this part of the manse that hearing someone raising their voice, even a little, was rather easy. Approaching Tia, the maid answered, "If you haven't been seen to or picked out a guest room yet, I'll gladly take you to one. As for the books, you may borrow them for the duration of your stay, but they are not to leave the property under any circumstances."

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya decided not to comment on Gytha's invitation to spar with Haythem, figuring no good could come of her interference. Haythem then decided to take a nap which made the rest of the carriage ride rather quiet. "Well we're stopped, so...probably?" she replied to Haythem, figuring he must be sleepy to be speaking in Rexian around Gytha. She opened the door and hopped out of the carriage. "Looks like the other people are headin' out too so let's get goin'!"

[Mercakete]

Though she didn't appreciate Haythem's dodge of her question, she did respect it and leave the matter be. The Sancturan nodded off as they traveled while Gytha looked out the window. It was a little wondrous to the mariner, watching the land seemingly float by like that. It was a bit different from riding Raquel's old wagon or the Dauntless. When they arrived, Nadya was the first to exit and though she was excited to see what it was like at the ball, she figured it was only polite to wait for Haythem to exit the carriage first. After all, he and Nadya were supposed to be sticking together, or so she figured. While she waited, she began going over and over in her head to remember to speak without her accent. It was an easy thing to forget to be careful of.

[ReformBlade]

Well yeah... I guess that would be true. It's a big event so of course the wouldn't celebrate it in some cramped fashion. Mushirah surmised, accepting Shadrak's hand with a big smile. "We will, thanks for bringing us here sir!" she quickly responded to the driver, but then she turned her attention elsewhere as she stepped out, taking a rather deep breath. "You ready for this?" she asked in a lighthearted fashion, hoping to lighten the already not dire mood.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

And then they were there. "I suggest we just wait until someone else tries something," Gar suggested.

[Snike]

"Very well," Blake said, as he got up and exited the carriage. The man got down to the ground before he turned back and extended an arm, ready to help Raquel down.

[Phoenix]

Back of the Line

Haythem had a feeling he'd missed an opportunity to play the role of a gentleman due to his sleepiness. Maybe it was because Nadya was the first one to exit the carriage. There was nothing to be done about it now, and he supposed that none of that formal stuff would impress her anyway. "Alright, coming," Haythem replied, stepping out of the vehicle next.

Meanwhile, Shadrak offered his arm for Mushirah before heading for the entrance to the manse. Weyland and Chie were already way ahead of the rest of the group, and he was curious about Steinn and Gabbie, since they hadn't gotten out yet. Were they trying to be fashionably late or what? "I've got to be honest, I feel a little naked going in without my books. I can't take any notes in my notebook, and I can't do much if a fight breaks out without my tome. I'll try not to think about it and just enjoy the party, heheh ... yeah ...."

Once Blake was ready to help her, Raquel stepped out of the carriage and attached herself to his arm again. "I guess it's time, then ... huh ...." She kept her head down for a moment, as negative thoughts about the upcoming meeting ran rampant.

Meanwhile, by the entrance to the party, Weyland and Chie passed up the entire line and approached those screening the guests. The man with the unfortunate task of overseeing that screening operation was none other than Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Taylor, Ursium's 'Red Wolf'. His favorite subordinates had been called inside momentarily by Colonel Langley which left him feeling a little bit lonely. He wasn't nearly as close to the others with him. Fortunately, the gang would be back soon. When he saw Weyland approaching, he smiled pitifully, saying, "You're not trying to cut in line, are you, Mr. Weyland?"

"No, I just need to be here first to make sure our guests get through without any trouble," Weyland explained.

"Ah. Well they can still come inside, even if they aren't on the official guest list, but you assume responsibility for all of the guests you bring here. As I'm sure you're aware, guests are not permitted to carry any weapons on their person while inside. Violators will be forcefully removed, imprisoned, and fined. You might want to pass that along if you haven't already, Sir."

"They should know full well by now, but they aren't all my guests. Some of them are Raquel Valcyn's. I trust she's on the official guest list?"

"Raquel's here? Nadine'll be happy for a change. Can't wait to see what she's wearing. It's bound to be breathtaking. Now, let's see here ..." Miguel started going down the list he was carrying and didn't find Raquel's name until he reached the third page. "Ah, here we are. Yeah. She can bring any guests she wants, but she assumes responsibility for them, as I said."

"Yes, yes. Now to wait for them to catch up."

"Since you're here, we might as well get the screening done," Miguel suggested with a shrug, causing Weyland to wince. When they found Chie's snakes, would she be apprehended or just gawked at? He wasn't sure, and it had him worried. She was certainly an intelligent woman as far as he was concerned, but it was times like these when he really wondered what was going on in that mind of hers. She seemed as unfazed as ever.

[Mercakete]

Now that Haythem and Nadya had exited the carriage, Gytha exited it herself. "Thank you again for letting me ride with you!" she cheerily thanked Nadya and Haythem as she passed them, jogging up to the line. People were all waiting so orderly that she figured she should do the same, and so got in line to wait.

[-Cynthia-]

"No problem. We should spend some time together at the party too, ya will make better company than most of the stuffed shirts in there I bet," Nadya said to Gytha. Also next to Gytha I won't stick out like a sore thumb as much, she thought to herself.