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Noble Pursuits II; Murder Most Regal
Topic Started: Oct 31 2013, 04:35 AM (1,004 Views)
Shamooga
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[ *  *  *  *  *  * ]
The old stone archway soared above the shadowy figure, secreted in the early morning shadows of the church. An equally covert figure made its way towards the church, cloak rippling as fog billowed around them, making the twilight murky and somber.

Julie pulled the hood of her cloak down, exposing the top of her breastplate as she inspected the man pressing himself into the joint of the church wall and the arch that shielded the door from the weather. "It's time for you to talk, I won't give you another chance to reschedule."

"Yeah, no, I know, it's just..." he said, squirming in discomfort.

"People are dying. Powerful people. If I don't put a stop to it, things might be bad for me. And if things are bad for me, I guarantee they'll be worse for you." Julie said, face neutral.

"Alright, no need to get prickly." He said, almost meeting her gaze. "The nobles being killed off. They're the line of inheritance to the king."

"No they're not," Julie scoffed. "You don't think we'd checked that? Succession used to be a bloodbath."

The man sighed, but cut it off at a glare from the Captain. "It's impressive actually. A mother here, a son there, a few extra bodies, and even the great Captain of the Guard doesn't pick up on it, not to mention all the rulers of Wysteria."

"You'd better start making sense of this drivle soon." She said, face dangerously neutral again.

"Alright, alright." He sighed to calm his nerves. "You know as well as I do the succession is over complicated. Some people have a direct line to the throne, but some only have a claim through a relation. Blood over marriage, but rank factors in too. And it'll all look like a campaign against the nobility when it's really a campaign for the throne."

Julie's eyes moved back and forth in thought. "I understand now. I'll have to get a historian on this." She palmed him a bundle of golden coins, "I suggest you get out of town. You're one scrawny disgrace of a drunkard I don't want to pull out of the canal."

The man scoffed and scurried off into the mist without another word.

Julie pulled her cloak back over her head, striding thoughtfully back the way she came.

* * * * *

Sorella rubbed her eyes as she strolled into the castle. The servants had only gotten started preparing for the day, but she had been ordered by Captain Julie to be at the practice yard, so that's where she was headed. The thought had occurred to her that in truth she outranked Julie, but she hadn't felt it was wise to bring that up. Especially not in the castle. If Julie was scary, her mother was terrifying. She had barely pulled out of her reverie when she saw Julie appear swiftly from around a corner, drawing her sword. Before Sorella's hand could do more than twitch, the long luminescent blade passed from her shoulder to beneath her ribcage on the other side. Pain blossomed across the cut as she crumpled to the ground. With great effort she craned her neck up to look into Julie's face, "Why...?"

"Oh get up you weak-kneed flower maiden." Julie barked, looking bored. "You're not even bleeding."

Sorella pulled her hand from the wound and it came away clean. Startled, she saw that her clothing wasn't so much as torn. "But... I saw- I felt-"

"You felt this Soulsword." Julie said blandly. "The magic users have been deciphering some ancient tomes, and they whipped up some of these."

Sorella just stared, still nursing her 'wound.'

Julie sighed. "The enchanted weapons attack your energy or some such witchcraft. Look, I told you you needed to learn to defend yourself at a disadvantage, and I can't have you dying in the process, so we'll be using these."

Sorella's face went red, "I was only at a disadvantage because you leapt out at me in the palace."

"You should always be ready. And you're at a disadvantage with that cumbersome pole of yours. Any halfway decent sword wielder could gut you like a fish before you angled that thing anywhere need them if you give them a chance." Julie responded laboriously.

Sorella huffed, finally recovering from her strange mugging enough to stand up.

Julie started leading the way towards the practice field in the inner courtyard. "I'll be training you to withstand swords, axes, arrows, trebuchet, and sassy ginger nobles."

Sorella blinked at the last, but before she could respond Julie interrupted, "I've been having tea with your mother."

Sorella's face turned a brilliant scarlet, but she was too apalled to get a word out. "W-well, how would you like it if I had tea with your mother??"

"Have at it, princess. She'll eat you like a crumpet." Julie said, chuckling.

Sorella quickly reconsidered the idea and stayed in a silent huff the rest of the way to the practice yard.

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After the great guild journey, Sorella thought Julie and herself were on rather friendly terms; in fact, Sorella valued Julie higher than many others in her life and counted her among family. She thought the two were becoming friends, not that Sorella had much experience in the matters of friendship.

After the training session, she would have sworn to the King that Julie despised her.

Every opportunity Julie had, she "pierced" Sorella's flesh with a variety of sharp objects such as arrows, swords, daggers, and the worst of all being a spear. The feeling of being pierced with the spearhead and feeling the pole slide into the rest of her body was a feeling she was likely to suffer repeatedly in nightmares.

"How can I possibly continue stabbing my enemies with a spear now that I know how wretched it is?" Sorella risked asking.

"Tch," Julie scoffed. "You won't."

Sorella looked up in surprised, but was stabbed quickly with a glowing sword.

"You'll be stabbing with a variety of far more suitable weapons. Your pole is better suited to be strung across your closet to hang your shimmering gowns from... or better yet, may-hap a curtain to cover a window."

Sorella frowned, flexing her sore fingers. The rest of her body ached from the multiple, magically harmless wounds, though that didn't detract from the pain of being stabbed repeatedly. Her eye even throbbed because Julie aimed a dagger at her head and it connected with her face. However, Sorella didn't expect her fingers to hurt so much from training with multiple types of weapons.

"I suppose," Sorella finally admitted, now understanding the limitations her spear had and the hassle it was to wield it.

Sorella's favorite of the day was the bow and arrow, along with the thin sword she used with the curly, fancy hilt. The arrows allowed Sorella to have more fluidity and she could imagine felling a great number of Pegasus warriors with the weapons. A well-aimed arrow could down a Pegasus quickly. The sword, however, was swift, could block more easily than her spear, and was far more easily manipulated in her reach.

"Julie," Sorella asked after the two took a break, sitting among the glowing weapons in the grass. "Why are you investing so much time in honing my skills?"

"What do you mean?" Julie asked, sipping her water.

Sorella turned her eyes downward, rotating her finger along the class rim of her cup.

"I am not to go on any other guilds or quests for the kingdom," Sorella whispered. "I know how to defend myself accurately enough in case someone attempts to abduct me, or threatens me as a high ranking noble. I can wield a dagger proficiently enough to protect myself and others. However..."

Sorella took a breath, casting her gaze about the weapons, lingering especially on the ones she had fun wielding and longed to become more proficient with them... but knew it was all for naught.

"However, after my wedding, I shall move to Veracim and be crowned Princess of the country. I cannot take any other missions. I cannot venture beyond the castle. But you know this, so I suppose I am questioning your motives."

Julie's eyes became sharp and Sorella scrambled to rephrase before Julie took further offense.

"Not that I misunderstand your excellent intentions, of course! I greatly value this training and I'm glad I am learning it before I am wed and move to Veracim, but I..." Sorella sighed, setting her empty glass down.

"Forgive me and my inquisitions, Captain. I let my curiosity get away from me," Sorella said hurriedly with her forced noble smile back on her face. "Let us continue the training you graciously provided me with. I appreciate any knowledge you are willing to impart to me."


Author's Note: ...................... uuuuuuugh, I feel like this stiiiiiiiiinks... but here it is...
"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." ~Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore/ J. K. Rowling, GoF
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KerReal
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[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Christian carried the the pile of logs down the wooden path and murmured to himself.

"Damnable old coot. 'train' he says, 'become better' he spouts. He justs wants a foolish errand boy and I fell for it."

He stopped just log enough to adjust the logs.

"Life on the streets was better than doin' his cursed chores."

With a humph and a cautious glance around to make sure he wasn't being watched, not that he could tell if he was; Christian hurried on his way.

--

An elderly man sat alone in a cluttered room. To most it would appear that was that was happening, but if one was special. If they had the sight, then they could see the truth. Images and sounds spiraled around the man.

"Will you just answer my questions, vagrant?!" Sorella snarled, her lady-like demeanor slipping away with every ounce of patience that vanished. "I am going to save that boy, and if you die in the process, so be it!"

The scene was swept away and replaced by a new one with the swing of a pendulum.

Sorella's eyes rounded with surprise and looked into Lucian's with vague wonder. Her stomach felt warm and wet, and Sorella had a hard time understanding why. She pulled her gaze with great difficulty back to Lucian's face. His eyes were narrowed with pleasure and his lips curled upwards in a leer. Her hands fluttered at the sword piercing her stomach, unsure of how to place themselves to address the foreign object that shouldn't be in her body. She gasped, a delayed reaction, at the sword in her stomach. He jabbed the sword further into her body, causing more blood to splatter from the wound and stain her clothing.

The scene changed again, though there was no pendulum. Just the dull sound of it as it swung through the air.

Julie's eyes moved back and forth in thought. "I understand now. I'll have to get a historian on this." She palmed him a bundle of golden coins, "I suggest you get out of town. You're one scrawny disgrace of a drunkard I don't want to pull out of the canal."

Christian slammed open the door of the hut, “'EY OLD MAN! 'Elp me bring in this wood!” He walked into the hut and through an armful of wood down by the fire place. When he didn't hear Thrall get up he turned around a saw Thrall channeling in a corner. "Ya can see anywhere, anytime, but not righ' next to you. What 'elp is that?”

"More help then you would think actually." Thrall said; Christian attempted to jump out of his skin.

"WHERE YOU AWARE? HOW LONG WHERE YOU AWARE?!" Christian shouted.

"I was not aware. I was watching you." Thrall replied calmly as he stood up.

Christian glared at his mentor "I knew it."

"Enough, hand me my staff if you will." Thrall said and stuck out his hand.

Christian got the staff and started to walking to Thrall.

Thrall pointed to a painting and asked, "What do you see?"

Christian handed the staff off to Thrall, and looked at the painting. It took him a second to locate the exact painting Thrall was pointing to as Thrall had hung up a plethora of paintings on the wall. There were not there to look nice, no they were to haphazardly stacked on top of each other for that. Rather each painting served a purpose to the old wizard. The painting that was being called was largely grey, but towards the corner sat a large chair, a throne. Christian then saw the old man for who he was. "It's the Westerian Council Room. There sits the King."

"Ah, correct you are. Visited there before?"

"Tried to steal the crown once or twice. Some angry woman always got in my way."

"Well," Thrall said picking up a small eye-glass. He tapped it to the metal top of his staff and handed it to Christian, "What do you see now?"

Christian eyed the old man wearily, but did as he was instructed. Holding the eye-glass up he looked at the painting again. It didn't seem like anything had changed, but then he noticed something was off with the torches above the king.

They were billowing. The painting was moving. The king then made a "come hither" gesture with his hand and two people walked into the center of the room, one grey haired and one black. The black haired man turned and looked over it's shoulder. Christian threw the eyeglass away from him. He recognized that face.

It was him.

--------

Christian turned his head back towards the King to listen to him and Thrall.

"-Is why I came sir. To look up some historical facts."

'Ha! historical facts. You are a seer. There is no historical fact that you need to look in a book for.' Christian thought and the Kings face scrunched up, 'He thinks the same thing.'

The King held his hands together in front of his face and thought for awhile.

He finally came to a decision and put his hands to his side, "So be it. You will have access to the historical records. Though," he paused and his brows scrunched together, "Find Guard Captain Marcoh if you will. I can not.. just intrust the historical records to just anyone."

"Of course, your majesty." Thrall said and bowed. When Christian didn't follow suit, Thrall's hand slipped and his staff bounced of Christian's head.

"IO!" Christian blurted out and then quickly realised his mistake, "Ah, righ'. Your Majesty."

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"How long do you plan to hang around here sulking...? You're driving off my customers, and unlike you, I don't have a side job as the world's most notorious thief..."

Kumara snorted, lifting his head up from his arms to half glare at Shigen. "What customers? As far as I know, I'm the only one to come here." He grumbled before flopping his head down again.

Shigen whapped the back of his friend's head with one of the blank scrolls he was currently restocking a shelf with. "You come here after hours, of course you'd be the only one here... Are you even mad at Sorella, or are you just mad that you can't dig into her life like you do wi-"

"Shut up, I am not mad!" Kumara huffed, glaring at Shigen again. "I just feel a bit betrayed! I mean, she knows two major secrets about me that, until now, you were the only one to know! I think I'm entitled to her life story!"

"You're an idiot..." Shigen sighed, before looking to the door as its bell jingled. "Welco-Oh, Lord Bharata..."

Kumara shot up from the chair he'd been sitting on as if he'd been electrocuted. "Dad, what are you doing here? How'd you even know I was here?" He demanded as his father strode in.

Karuzen grinned. "Oh come now, where else would you be, son? I'd honestly be surprised if I found you sulking somewhere other than Shigen's store!"

Shigen shot Kumara a smug grin, to which he earned a rude gesture.

"What do you want? If it's something trivial, just make Keiji do i-"

"Oh no, your mother sent me to come get you." Karuzen interrupted, the grin falling from his face. "And you know how she is."

Kumara groaned, looking to Shigen for help only to see said merchant helping a customer that had walked in at that moment. "You're no help!" He grumbled at Shigen, only to receive another smug grin. "All right, fine... We'd better not keep the hag waiting."

"That's your mother you're talking about, son." Karuzen said, though by his expression, he wasn't serious with his scolding.

Kumara rolled his eyes, but followed his father to the exit. "I'll be back later to bother you!" He called to Shigen.

"Take your time... No rush..." Shigen said, though he was smiling slightly.


ooc: yeah i kinda bs'ed some of this post so
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Sorella limped into her house, crossing through the opulent entrance hall into the barren residence wing. She sighed at the empty hallway and dragged herself to her own living quarters.

"Ester!" She called from the sitting room. "Draw me a bath, I've had a trying morning."

Nobody answered, so she sighed again, heading into her bedroom. she opened the door just in time to see a black-clothed figure stab at a sleeping figure in her bed. The figure rolled away, and the stab sent up a puff of feathers.

Sorella took advantage of the distraction, and charged forward, drawing the dagger that Julie had her wearing on her side at all times. Before she knew what was happening, the dagger was jerked from her hands, and the figure was smashing through her bedroom window.

Her knife clattered to the floor, and she rushed to the blood soaked windowsill to see where the intruder had gone, but other than some additional blood on the plants under the window, there was no trace of him.

Sorella suddenly remembered the figure in the bed and wheeled around to see Ester making the bed, tugging the torn blanket over the bed's stab wound. "Who was- Why were- What were you doing in my bed??"

"I was not in your bed, mistress." Ester replied, focusing intently on the blankets she was straightening.

"Yes you were!" Sorella screeched indignantly.

"Mistress, assuredly a level of quality must be ascertained in terms of furniture. If an occasional servant must take upon themselves the burden of laboriously testing your furniture to ensure maximum comfort."

"W- Don't you use your words at me! I just stabbed a man!" She snapped, "Who, may I remind you, was attempting to stab you!"

"So perhaps taking a nap in the bed of the most wanted woman in Armendor was a poor choice, but you have a nice bed, and I have a mid-morning break." Ester said, leveling her hands diplomatically.

Sorella let out a big sigh and her shoulders drooped. "Ester, draw me a bath so I can be presentable when I report to Captain Julie that there are men out there looking to stab lazy maids."


* * * * *


"...that's right, I came home and the intruder was attempting to stab Ester in my bed." Sorella relayed to Julie.

"And what was she doing in your bed?" Julie asked incredulously.

"Oh, you ask her as you two get along so well," Sorella snapped. "I think she was just taking a nap while she was supposed to be working."

"Well, we'll have to put the castle on alert," Julie said, furrowing her brow. "We can't know if there were further targets."

She snapped her fingers at the nearest Palace Guard and he trotted over. "Send messengers to the King, as well as the other guard stations. We are going to be on alert tonight, and we need to check every room in the castle for intruders and suspicious individuals."

"Yes, Captain." The man replied, saluting smartly and jogging off to get the process started.

Julie turned to Sorella, "If you'll come with me, my first duty is to secure the royal heir, then move on to the other members of the Royal Family."

Sorella nodded her assent and they set off to the magnificent Royal residences in the center of the palace.


* * * * *


As they reached the living area of Prince Richard, Julie stopped cold. She held a finger to her lips as she saw the door cracked open. She quietly drew her sword, and inched into the room.

Richard's nursemaid lay on the ground with a bleeding head wound. Julie gestured Sorella towards the woman and moved quietly on to the door in the back of the room.

She peered into the room to see a shadow fall over Richard's sleeping figure. She kicked hard with her armored boots, splintering the thick wooden door, and shocking the would-be-assassin. Julie crossed the room in two long strides, swinging her sword in an arc that neatly intersected the man's chest above the guard of his small, curved knife.

Blood splattered from a wound that crossed the right side of his chest and finished on his arm just below the shoulder. His eyes were the only flesh that showed from beneath his black garments, but the pain was evident from the wince and the muffled groan.

The assassin grabbed for another knife in his belt, but Julie's sword was already in his abdomen, only half the blade visible sticking out from beneath his ribs. As the man collapsed, Julie shouted for Sorella to call the guard. She scooped up the Prince and headed out of the room now occupied by the killer's body.

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"She's alive!" Sorella called to Julie, checking the nursemaid, and the guards entering the room, swords gleaming.

Julie followed shortly, towing Richard with her. It was clear she didn't want to risk his life by putting him out of her site- no one was to be trusted. She set him in the corner and turned him firmly into it, facing away from the dead body.

"Stay," she warned in a growl before heading to the assassin.

"The nursemaid is still alive," Sorella repeated in case Julie didn't catch it.

"I can not say the same for this fiend," Julie declared scathingly.

She nudged the profusely bleeding foe with her toe, perhaps a bit too hard, and causing more blood to gush from his abominable wound. Sorella lifted up her skirt scandalously above her ankles to avoid her gown getting bloodied. She wrinkled her nose, frowning.

"I am glad our training session carried us beyond the lunch hour, Julie," Sorella said, sighing. "After such a morning of stress, I'm afraid I can not eat a bite."

Julie knelt upon the floor, the blood thickening on the stones. She outstretched her hand to whip off the foe's mask. His features were unremarkable with absolutely nothing interesting about them. His skin was a pasty yellow, his teeth with a considerable amount of wiggle room between them, and his eyes were a boring shade of brown.

"Any idea as to whom he is?" Sorella asked.

"No, but this is something I plan on discovering," the captain hissed, rising to her feet.

Sorella pondered, peering at the dead man on the floor. "Why would this man attempt to kill me and then progress immediately to the Prince?" she asked in a hushed voice, glancing Richard's way.

Julie turned her purple eyes to Sorella,and the thoughts within them were too deep to wade through. She lowered her voice to match Sorella's, lips only just barely forming words to hurl softly into Sorella's ear: "This man is not the one whom you attacked earlier. That man, you retaliated against, delivering him with a stab to his arm, you said. This man..."

Julie yanked up his black sleeves, exposing both pasty-colored arms, free from blemishes, bruises, or stab wounds.

"Has no such injury."

Sorella gasped, eyes wide. "Then he must still be among the town!"

"And no doubt searching for his next targets," Julie said gravely, turning to the guards. "You there! Come!" she commanded imperiously.

Sorella watched as he guards scrambled about, attempting to regain order amidst the chaos. Julie was redirecting the guards to protect the royal family members, particularly the king, as well as to round up those that have regular close-contact. Interrogation was one of Julie's favorite things, and this was a prime moment for it considering no one was to be trusted.

"Next targets..." Sorella mused before her lungs exploded from the sharp breath she inhaled.

Sorella whirled from the room, hoisting her skirt even higher still to loosen space for her legs to take longer strides. She shouldered the doors open and swarmed into the street, ignoring the stares of the other nobles and citizens at her undoubtedly obscene behavior. She let her mind drift, allowing only her body to carry her the route she had memorized to Shigen's store, The Black Market.

Shigen's grey eyes were hopeful when she entered his shop, the chiming of the bell usually signalling a customer. Sorella watched (with a background tinge of annoyance) as his expression fell with a heaviness connected to the thought, "Oh, it's just you."

"Kumara!" she gasped between lung-fulls of air. "Where?!"

Shigen pointed to his left and Sorella turned, startled to see Kumara at the counter. His posture was peculiar, as if he had been slumped against the counter and had only just risen at her abrupt arrival. She let out a sigh of relief, starting towards him, but she froze at the coldness that seeped into his features as he realized who the sudden arrival was.

"What do you want?" he asked, voice dripping with acidity.

Sorella felt wounded, indignation taking place of concern. "I needed to talk to you about-"

"About how you're selling yourself to some pompous prince from a different country because you were told to and cut me off like I was a dead limb? Yeah, well, sorry to tell you, but that usually doesn't inspire people to talk BACK with someone," he sneered.

Sorella bristled angrily, all concern definitely gone now. "Well, excuse me for wanting to warn you about an assassin!"

"A what?!" he yelped, not expecting that.

"And forgive me for coming to warn you first after I was nearly assassinated myself!" she shot back, in full fury now.

"You were nearly assassinated?!" he gasped, rising from his stool to approach her, red eyes glancing over her body as if for wounds. "Are you-"

"Hurt? Yes, but not physically!" she said in a superb voice of coldness, reverting back to her stony self; she turned on her heels and snatched her arm away from his outstretched fingers. "Just be careful, Lord Bharata. It would be a shame for an assassin to have killed you... though at the moment, I might think it would be a blessing!"

Kumara looked to Shigen for help, but he was standing behind the counter with a bowl of nuts in his hand, munching away while watching the spectacle unravel. Kumara shot him a glare before turning back to Sorella.

"Sorella, I'm-"

"It's Milady De Luce, if you please," she hissed, and Kumara's eyes hardened, but Sorella was turning to Shigen instead. "You have a great fortune for being so unimportant that no one wants to kill you. It's rather trying, especially when you try warning others about it and they practically spit at you! Good day, gentlemen!"

Sorella turned to leave, bundling up some of her skirt into her fists as a way to keep them from shaking. She was determined to walk from the store without setting her eyes on Kumara again, sure that her rage at what had just transpired would push her to attempt to punch him.
"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." ~Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore/ J. K. Rowling, GoF
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KerReal
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Christian and Thrall had just entered the front doors of the castle when the commotion started.

"So something's up," Christian said mostly to himself.

"Well I figure so, the assassination attempt just happened, just as I prophesized." Thrall commented pointedly.

"Wait you foresaw of the assassination attempt, but not the commotion?"

"Of course I saw the commotion attempt."

"So you saw everything, but not the downed tree that took out the bridge and added four hours to our arrival time?" Christian asked, again indignant with the seer's seeing.

"I did see that as well, but could imagine if we got here 4 hours earlier. How boring would that have been?"

"Someone one was almost murdered! That's fun?"

"Two people actually. The most recent assassination attempts have been within a rather short order of each other."

"Well if we came earlier we could have stopped the attempts!" Christian argued.

"In the long run we would have only delayed them. Assassinations have been being planned for quite awhile now, they've only now made an attempt on the prince."

"Wait, if the prince was almost killed, how have we gotten so far into the castle?" Christian suddenly realised after some guards ran in front of them.

"Why we are walking in between the patrols. Even now as they increase their patrols, there are still set patterns and we've been weaving between them of course." Thrall said as if it was completely simple.

"Oh, oh yeah, of course. What else would it be." Christian snarkily replied.

The hallway that the two were walking down ended and forked into two separate pathways.

"I will be back later," Thrall said and started to turn left, "follow that hallway and you will end up where you need to be."

At this point in time Christian was used to the strange and and inept commands that Thrall gives him.

- - -

Christian had continued to walk until he reached an large foyer of grass. There stood a woman about his age barking orders at the castle guards.

"You! Who are you? What are you doing here?" She called out and pointed at Christian.

Christian of course flailed around while searching for something to say, "Ia, um.. a, person.. told to go here."

Before Julie could say anything Sorella had made it back up to the castle and see if she could help out in anyway, but she stopped when she saw Christian. "You!" she hissed, "This man helped help K-" but she stopped, which caused to Julie raised an eyebrow in question.

"Helped who, do what?" She asked.

Sorella sighed and shot a daggered glare at Christian, "Nothing."

It didn't take Julie's experience as the captain of the guard to know what was up, but she let it drop for now, "Well what are you doing here?" She asked Christian again.

"I came from the outskirts of town to help.. by order of the king, yeah." Christian said just a little bit to rushed.

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"And why has the king ordered somebody from the outskirts of town to wander the castle during an alert?" Julie demanded skeptically.

"Well, not me exactly, I apprentice to someone who the king previously ordered to come to the castle..." he trailed off as Julie's expression grew stormier.

"Erm, that is to say, I came here with master Thrall to meet with the king." He corrected.

"Ah, you're with the mad man. Well, that's reassuring." She sighed at the additional complication to her ever more complicated day. She picked up Richard under her arm and began carrying him down the hall. "You will accompany me with the prince and Lady De Luce to the throne room. If you so much as look as if you'll do something, I will cut you down."

Christian swallowed nervously and fell in step behind the others. He stepped to the side as Julie turned the corner and Prince Richard's feet swung out at him.

Christian breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the throne room and his head was still attached to his shoulders. This broad is crazy, I can't believe I made it in one piece.

As they entered, Thrall turned and grinned. "There you are, I knew you'd make it."

Christian fumed as he saw his insane mentor standing there waiting. "What?! If we were going to end up in the same place, why couldn't I just follow you?"

Thrall looked him with a puzzled expression on his face. "Well if you'd followed me, don't you think they'd have asked you to wait outside? I thought you would want to take part."

Christian just stood there. Unsure whether to be flattered or outraged, he settled on bewildered.


*****


Sorella walked into the room behind Julie. An older man she'd seen around the palace before started speaking with the suspicious boy they'd brought along, but the sound muffled in her ears as she saw Kumara leaning against a wall on the other side of the room. He was deliberately avoiding her gaze, and she flushed with a mixture of irritation and emberrasment.

She realized that Julie had finished reporting what had happened, and the king had begun speaking. She shook her head to clear it.

"I'm glad you've all wound up here. I would like to task you four with something very important." The king intoned, gesturing at Julie, Sorella, Christian, and Kumara. "The near disaster with my son has shown me how few people I can trust, and your recent success in Runaea has shown me you are among them. I need you to get to the bottom of this coven of assassins. You will have whatever resources you need at your disposal, but watch who you trust. What little intelligence we have says that these assassins have unpredictable reach."

"Sir... why us?" Sorella asked. "Why not someone more experienced?"

"I think if you were to ask around, you'd find that you are rather uniquely qualified." He replied, raising an eyebrow. "There haven't been a lot of conflicts in the world lately. The few experts I have around are needed here."

"As you desire, my lord." Julie said, bowing her head.

Christian looked at Thrall, and Thrall looked blankly back at him. "I... me as well... I think..."

"Yeah, whatever." Kumara said, bowing his head and waving his hand flippantly.

Sorella nodded, looking unsure. "Of course, my king. As you command."

The king smiled. "I will have one of my advisors supply you with all the relevant information later today."

The king rose and they filed out of the room.

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Kumara noticed Sorella leaving, no doubt to head back to her manor and decided to follow behind her at a distance. He figured she'd still be mad at him, and didn't want to risk a confrontation in the middle of a crowd, or in front of the staff in the castle.

It took a long while to finally reach her manor, especially after losing her three times, but he managed to slip inside. Going in normally would tip Sorella off that he was here, and he was in no mood to be chased away again before he could apologize.

Kumara walked down the hallway of the manor, and noticed Sorella hurrying off down a separate corridor.

Where's she off to in such a hurry...? Kumara thought, glancing around to make sure no one was watching him before silently following behind Sorella.

He had to duck behind walls and columns every once in a while, as Sorella paused to check her surroundings as well. When she ducked into her room as quickly as she could and locked the door, it made Kumara even more suspicious.

Glancing around once more, he pulled out a lockpick he always kept on his person and opened the door. To his surprise, Sorella wasn't in the room.

"What in the world...?" Kumara muttered, shutting the door behind him and glancing around the room. It seemed to be in order, and there were no signs of anyone having been in the room for a while. A faint noise caught his attention, drawing his gaze towards the wardrobe of all things.

The wardrobe was large and seemed to be slightly plain looking in comparison to the rest of the room. And at the foot of the wardrobe, Kumara could barely make out a sliver of light shining through the cracks of the doors.

Taking a chance, Kumara opened the wardrobe, finding dresses and other gowns hanging on hooks. His experienced eye caught a hairline crack in the back panel of the wardrobe. A secret door.

He pressed his ear against the door lightly, hearing Sorella's muffled voice behind it as well as another person's voice that he couldn't identify.
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Unbeknowest to the occupants of the suspiciously hidden room in Sorella's closet, Kumara could hear most of what was being said within. Despite Julie's training, Sorella was unaware of a certain ginger haired noble eavesdropping- something that, if Julie ever discovered, would land Sorella in an ancient torture device.

"I do not see why you haven't eaten your soup," Sorella grumbled, stirring a spoon in a bowl full of broth. The wooden utensil clacked emptily against the ceramic bowl. She gazed downwards at the cheap utensil, wishing they had better...

A small girl huffed from the comfortable looking bed she was resting on. She was the only thing in the secret room, which was scarce considering its size. The only thing decorative on the wall was a painting in the form of a window, showing a sunny day. If one looked more closely around the room, there was a pile of other paintings in the corner, each one a different scene of weather from the same window.

Sorella pulled her eyes upwards at her and grinned. The girl was frail and her skin was whiter than a waxy moon, but it was not healthy. It was as if she had never seen sunlight, the impression being a wilted flower smothered in darkness. Her mousy brown hair hung lank about her face, cut short to her chin for health's sake rather than the fashion of noblewomen wearing hair long. Her limbs were thin, the skin barely covering the glass bones that threatened to disintegrate at the touch of a whisper.

"I'm fine, Sorella," the girl wheezed, noticing Sorella's worried expression. A laugh left her lips in a breath. "I was stung by a bee today while skipping in the garden, but other than that..."

"That's not funny," Sorella huffed. "I wish the truth of that statement could be true... You SHOULD have been able to be stung by a bee while dancing in flowers!"

"But I'm in here, so I'll just make due with being pricked by cuddly blankets," the girl giggled.

"And eating soup," Sorella said sternly, hovering the spoon over the girl's mouth. "Rita..." she added sternly.

The girl named Rita gave a might huff, puffing her hollowed out cheeks in mock annoyance. Her lips parted and Sorella winced seeing beads of blood bloom as Rita's dry lips stretched, cracks forming. Rita licked the blood away, the taste hidden by the broth that dribbled down her pointed chin.

Sorella laughed, scooping the drip with the spoon and plopping it on Rita's outstretched tongue. Sorella continued spoon feeding Rita, keeping up a stream of steady conversation.

"I was summoned by the king today, along with a few others," Sorella said, hoping to spike Rita's interest. Stories of Sorella's adventures brought an excitement and energy rarely seen in Rita considering her frailty.

Sure enough, patched of rarely-seen color blossomed on Rita's palid cheeks. Her brown eyes, the only lively thing about her entire body, grew even more illuminous.

"Really?!" she gasped, excited. "Is it a new mission?"

Sorella grinned. "Something like that."

"What is it?!"

Sorella leaned forward a bit, rubbing her nose on Rita's and then wrinkling it: teasing. "Guess!"

Rita pouted, but jumped at the opportunity. "You have to... find a lost treasure of the kingdom! A crown of the first king that grants the wearer a never ending amount of knowledge!"

"Nooope~" Sorella sighed, waving the spoon a bit tauntingly.

"Hrm... you have tooooooooo..." Rita paused, eyes staring at the bones in her lap that were meant to be hands. "You have to assassinate someone in cold blood, plunging your sword into-"

"HEAVENS NO!" Sorella squawked. "Where... how... what... WHERE did you hear such a thing?!"

Rita smirked, but she was too sweet and gentle to really pull the snarky smile off. "I have many secrets..." she said in what she guessed was a deep, sinister voice- though it was really an unimpressive grunt.

Sorella burst out laughing, her chest hurting. Rita joined in, though her laughter died quickly from a lack of strength in her lungs. Sorella wiped some tears of mirth from her eyes, and then gently from Rita's. She set the bowl of broth down (it was now mostly empty), and dragged her chair closer to Rita's bed. She curled up next to her sister, Rita, petting her brown hair from her cold forehead.

"Any others? Or is your mind dryer than an old man's knuckles?" Sorella snickered, her language less proper than ever.

Rita stuck her tongue out at Sorella. "And become a failure?! Never! Is it a... joint mission?"

Sorella grinned. "Joint mission?"

"Like the one to Runea!" Rita bubbled, voice popping into non-existence as her strength left her for a moment. "That's my favorite!"

"Why?"

"You know why!" Rita said impatiently. "It has adventure, mystery, intrigue, romance, secrets, lo-"

"Romance?!" Sorella laughed. "Between who? Lucian and a mirror?"

Rita gave Sorella a look of one knowing something dreadfully obvious. She sighed, snuggling deeper into her pillow with an infuriating air of also knowing something the other person didn't and wanted to know.

"You should read more, Sissy," Rita said, giggling. "Like me. Then you might have a clue about romance."

Sorella blushed. "No lecturing me on love! Not until you've had some experience!"

A sparkle flared in Rita's eyes, and she was no doubt daydreaming about her own romantic experience for when she wasn't ill and out in the world. Sorella kissed Rita's forehead, nuzzling her face.

"You'll have it. I promise, and when have I ever-" Sorella broke off mid-sentence as a cool breeze curled against the exposed skin on her arm.

Sorella whipped a dagger out from her sleeve and twirled so rapidly that Rita was still daydreaming while Sorella was fending off an imposing attack. Fears of who followed her, why they did, and the assassination attempts earlier unraveled the peace that had been cultivating in Rita's presence.

The blade was at the man's throat before Sorella's stopped dead. Her breath, which she had held in her moment of panic, now rattled through her teeth in panic. Kumara's red eyes stared into hers, wide with uncertainty, confusion, and also a glimmer of, "What the HELL is going on here?"

Apparently, he had been listening at the door, and at the mention of something in her conversation with Rita, he had attempted to slide open the secret door discretely and hide in the room. Unfortunately, Kumara didn't know there wasn't anywhere to hide and it was too late for him to take back the action without being caught.

He held his hands aloft, trying to appear harmless, and Sorella was in half a mind to slaughter him there. She couldn't bring herself to speak. She couldn't bring herself to breathe!

"WHAT-" she began to demand, but a gasping cry withered behind her.

A new kind of fear flooded Sorella's face and she dropped her knife to the ground with a clatter. Kumara watched Sorella fling herself back to Rita's side, petting her hair and speaking softly to her in low whispers. Rita was staring at Kumara in terror; one, she'd never seen anyone other than her family, and two, the way Sorella reacted led Rita to suspect Kumara as a danger... and this was bringing about some sort of panic attack.

"Rita, shhhh, it's okay," Sorella said softly, but her panic was making the words harsher than she wanted them to be. "This is... Kumara... he just surprised me; there's nothing to fear..."

"Kumara?" Rita asked in her tiny whisper. "From the Runea trip?"

Sorella grimaced, now having wished she disclosed less of that trip, and less in particular of Kumara, to Rita. Now her overactive imagination would jump to conclusions, especially with Kumara visiting in the final rays of light of the day and the early morning shimmers of the moon at night.

"Yes," Sorella unwilling admitted. "Though why he's HERE, I have no idea."

She turned and he took an instinctive step backwards. The look in her eyes was nothing but death- if she could kill him, she would have, and he knew it. He slowly lowered his hands and was surprised how calm his voice was, and how little it trembled.

"Um... nice to meet you?" he ventured.

Rita blushed deeply, and it made her look even more ill by the two contrasting shades of no color and red. She wiggled a few fingers at him, suddenly shy. Sorella smiled in spite of herself, but the flinty mixture of rage and terror found its way back onto her face. Sorella fixed her golden gaze on Rita's face, busying herself with brushing Rita's hair softly and calming her down.

"Ooooooooooooooooo!" Rita suddenly said, voice wheezing into lifelessness before she could finish her girly gasp. "YOU'RE the one Sissy told me about! The sassy one that never shuts up, but can twirl his sword more beautifully than-"

"Ooooookay, thanks, Rita!" Sorella squealed, putting a finger to Rita's lips. "Shush."

Rita looked back at Kumara, her gentle brown eyes scanning over him as if drinking in his appearance- it was as if she was planning on never seeing him again and was determined to drink in as much as possible. Sorella coughed, rising to her feet.

"Sorry, Rita... there's much Lord Bharata and I have to discuss," Sorella said, pointedly glaring at Kumara and the secret door.

"Lullaby first?" Rita asked.

Sorella smiled. "Of course. We can't break our rituals, can we?" she said, shooting another glare in Kumara's direction.

Kumara blinked, still in a daze about what he was seeing, and slowly backed up. He kept his eyes on Sorella and rita though, for Sorella had moved close to Rita with a gentle look on her face. She brushed Rita's hair away from her forehead repeatedly and in a soft, soothing motion. Kumara could hear Sorella singing a song, but she kept her voice so quiet that he could only faintly hear the melody.

"Thank you," Rita whispered, eyes drooping. "I love you..."

"And I you," Sorella said tenderly, leaning forward to kiss Rita's forehead. "Forever and always."

Kumara tensed, recognizing the motion being identical to what had transpired in the healer's tent when Sorella was delirious. Sorella shooed Kumara back into her room, but not before blowing out the lantern and plunging Rita's room into darkness. With a heavy sigh, Sorella closed the secret door and slowly backed out of her wardrobe, locking that as well.

Her elegant fingers lingered on the wood for a long moment, thinking about the darkness Rita was forced to live in or else someone would notice the peculiar glow should a lantern be left alight in her room. Sighing again, Sorella left her sadness in another place within her, replacing it with terror and rage.

She whirled to face Kumara, eyes narrowed, "What are you DOING here?!"

"I was coming to apologize for what happened in Shigen's shop," Kumara explained, eyes lingering on the wardrobe door.

"Well, now you have MUCH MORE to apologize for!" Sorella whispered, voice hissing from between clenched teeth.

Kumara's shock slipped away, replaced with hostility. He pointed accusingly to the wardrobe, red eyes flashing in the dim light of Sorella's dark room.

"What the HELL is that, then?! You have much to explain!" he hissed, taking a threatening step closer. "And this time, you WON'T be able to avoid me!"

Sorella glared at him, debating on whether or not she could risk a scene and getting him tossed out by some staff, but thought better of it. Kumara would then just return each night, or worse, threaten to expose her secret unless she tell him. She turned from him sharply, running a hand through her long hair.

She weighed her words carefully...

"The promise you made me swear on Loki's discovery equally applies here..." she said, turning to stare Kumara in the face. "You must swear on your secret of Loki that you will speak of this to NO ONE."

Kumara's eyes narrowed a bit. He surveyed the tightness of Sorella's eyes and the barely contained panic within them; he took note of the tightness in her muscles, coiled and prepared to launch her body forward and kill him if necessary.

"I promise," he said, and the anger and shock had temporarily left his face, leaving only sincerity. "I swore to protect you, and I will extend that oath to Rita, whoever the hell she is. She seems important to you, enough to risk your life on an adventure where you nearly died."

Sorella relaxed, but only slightly. She sighed once more, turning slowly to drop into the comfortable looking stool before her vanity. She turned her face away from Kumara, though he could see it reflected in her vanity mirror. It was heavy with emotion and despair for needing to speak to him, that much he knew.

"The girl within the secret room is my sister, Rita..." Sorella admitted in rushed words, wanting to rid herself of them quickly.

"Your sister?!" he said incredulously, suspicion worming its way into his eyes. "Why-"

"She's ill," Sorella explained stonily. "She was born ill. It has cost my family our entire noble fortune to keep her alive. We... we struggled to find antidotes to cure her, but none worked, until recently... however, the hag that sells it... it's a potion that needs to be administered in three. We need to buy three sets of the potion, and our entire fortune, dismal as it was, ran out at the second."

"The De Luce family is BROKE?!" Kumara gasped.

Sorella nodded stiffly. "We have only enough money to keep up appearances."

He folded his arms. "Why haven't I heard about Rita before?"

"Because of delicate affairs between my family and the king that I shall not reveal, no one but the king knows of her, and even he doesn't know of her illness. He thinks she was sent to another country's boarding school to keep her safe."

Silence filled the room for a long moment and Sorella waited, sensing an explosion about to happen. She kept her back to him, unable to look him in the eyes. She figured he'd see the connections between everything soon enough and had no desire to look at the accusation in his eyes. She did, however, hear a deep inhale of breath.

"If you're going to yell at me, please do so quietly so no one else in the home knows you're here..." Sorella said wearily, rubbing her face and looking aged beyond her years.



Author's Note: Kayla and I are going to try to get this scene done between us so the revelation can be done and the thread move forward. It can't without this revelation, so we'll try to get it done so everyone else can start posting too. ^__^
Edited by Smileyone1, Apr 25 2014, 03:14 AM.
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