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Fabula Ultima [IC]

"To the throne room, then?" Zairee suggested.

She knew it was important that the king himself took over now. If she was seen as the one organizing it all, and leading the rally, and the king merely tagging along like some clueless nitwit, that would irrevocably damage his authority. He had to be perceived as the one in charge, and decisevely so, at least now that so many guards and soldiers were involved. Hence she kept her tone just like that, a suggestion.

Hoping that Her Majesty would lead the assembled forces back to the throne room she took a step to the side, but kept her eyes open and remained vigilant and alert for any further unexpected dangers cropping up at the last moment.
 
The king, having had the time to let his mind absorb the truth of what was happening, knew that he must lead now. "Captains," he addressed a few of the higher-ranked guards, "one of you with me. Two of you, to the western wing library-that is where the traitors are. And the rest, secure the castle. Our first priority is to keep the innocent safe, followed by catching the criminals."

There was a chorus of "Aye-aye!" and "Yes sir!" from the assembled troops.

"You have your orders. Move!" he shouted, his voice firm and decisive.

The captains looked to one another, and quickly determined who would be best suited to the tasks. They set off, with one and their battalion staying near. "They will expect me to retreat to the throne room-but I will not be a coward. To the main hall-let them come if they dare!"

Victory! This encounter is won.

I'm leaning towards saying this is worth a level up, since it's a 50 level game system. Any complaints about that?
 
After dispatching the guardsman to check on her brother, Solfia followed the rest of her soldiers back towards her father. She slipped in just as the king was ordering his men to focus on protecting the innocents, and on hearing that she swelled with pride. This was the man she believed in. Her father was sure to make everything right.

Pride and hope alone would not be enough to carry the day, however. As the king set off for the main hall, Solfia fell in behind him, clutching the book she'd taken from the library like it was a sword with which to defend herself.

"Is there anything more I can do to prepare, father?" she asked uncertainly. "The baron seemed to want to catch us off-guard; do you think he'll still try to challenge us, or flee?"
 
"If he is smart, and I am afraid he is, he will retreat to strike another day. Why make your move when the odds are that stacked against him?" Zairee chimed in as she walked besides Solfia to escort theking to the main hall.

This was also her biggest concern. Right now the king was protected by a small army, and as safe as he could be. But this was not a sustainable situation. What if Mot - or one of his secret and as of yet not unveiled allies - just waited until the king was no longer surrounded by that many guards, and then tried to get to the king, maybe enthrall him with dark magic? What could they do once that was done?

But these were concerns for another day. There was still a battle to be won now, even though it looked good.
 
The king shook his head to his daughter's words. "No-the cowardly sort would never strike without an advantage. Lieutenant-" he addressed another soldier, "assemble a team to track Baron Mot wherever he goes."

"Yes sire."

The next bit of time was more than a little nerve-wracking. The king exuded an air of confidence and serenity, and the presence of the loyal soldiers helped put you at ease, but all the same, who knew what the traitorous baron would attempt?

Ten minutes.
Then an hour.
And then...

"Sire," a lightly-armored soldier approached the king's guard, stopping a good distance away. "Baron Mot has left the capital. He had with him one of the other nobles, but the rest are in custody."

There was palpable relief from the assembled people. "Good. Would that we could've caught them all, but we will not let our guard down," the king said. Solfia could tell he was thinking about dismissing all the guard, but a quick glance at his daughter made him reconsider. "Captain, I'd like to keep a squad with me and the Ladies for now. For the rest, return to duties, but stay alert."

With the immediate crisis done, the king led you all to a study, and left the guard just outside, including Edna. He faced the two noblewomen. "Tell me everything that has happened. We must be vigilant."


The explanations and recountings took some time, but it was all on the table for the king. "I understand. Lady Zairee, you have my greatest thanks for keeping my daughter and my people safe. We will discuss an appropriate reward soon. For now, I invite you to stay here in the palace, just next to the royal quarters."

If there are any details you wouldn't want to share with the king about what happened, let me know.
I'm assuming you skipped over the sex scene when explaining to the king, but other than that shared honestly and openly.

Time skip is now, methinks.
 
Day turned to night, and while the palace was on guard, sleeping still occurred. Edna and Zairee were both given temporary rooms near the royal chambers, for their exemplary service.

Morning came, and with it some notes in the king's hand.

For his daughter, he had written...

I will be leading the people for now. Please do not leave the palace without informing me first, and stay with those you trust.
I have ordered the kitchen staff to prepare your favorite breakfast as well.

For Zairee, he had written...

This is not a message from a king to his subject. This is a message from a father, concerned for his daughter's safety.
Please stay with Solfia for now. While I am ascertaining who is fully trustworthy, I know I can trust you.
Thank you.

The two nobles and Edna, at some point in the morning, made their way to the royal dining room. True to the king's words, for Solfia there was a grand spread of her favorite foods-plenty enough to share as well.
 
With all that had happened that day, Solfia was certain that she would struggle to fall asleep. Her mind was still awhirl with thoughts — questions of what they had learned, fears of how things could have ended, and the satisfaction of knowing that she and Zairee had brought about victory, if only for now. Despite all that occupied her, however, her body had other ideas. Exhausted by the day's events, she fell into a deep sleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow.

She awoke the next morning chipper and rested, the anxiety which she had carried with her the previous morning now only a memory. She was at home once more, awakening in the comfort of her familiar bedchamber, with friends nearby and her newfound enemies far from sight or mind. Her good mood carried through to breakfast, where she greeted Zairee and Edna with a cheerful wave as they joined her.

"Good morning! I trust you slept well?" She called out brightly to the pair of them, from across the table. The princess was wearing a new dress, a light sky-blue affair, and the dining table before her was spread with a variety of foods, primarily various kinds of sweetcake — though Solfia herself was occupied with a slice of fresh bread from the palace's own kitchen, and a selection of exotic jams, some made from local fruits and others far away. She had always loved fancy jams; they made her think of travel and distant shores.

"Lady Zairee, I was thinking that we might speak with my father about your situation when he has time later today," she said, turning towards the noblewoman. "Have you had a chance to think about what we might to say to him?"

Solfia had other plans in the mind for the day, as well, but she wanted to see what Zairee was thinking first.
 
"I honestly do not know. " Zairee admitted as she placed two boiled eggs and some fruit on her plate. She was in a somber mood today. The threat of baron Mot had been thwarted for now, but they knew not what he was scheming next. And for all she knew her parents were still in the palace. She could run into them any moment now, and she had no idea how to react then. Her instinct would be to flee, but the king had literally asked her to stay.

Those thoughts had plagued her the whole night, and as she had lain naked in her bed she found it hard to sleep. She almost had wished some stranger would enter and attempt to claim her, just to distract her from those dire thoughts.

"If what my parents are asking me to do is within their legal rights, what can your father do without appearing as a tyrant who bends the law as it pleases him?" And right now, with the treat of an insurrection looming, that is not what the king wants.

"However ..." she put a strawberry into her mouth, chewed on it briefly and swallowed "... he has asked me to stay and watch over you, as good as I can." She knew not whether the king intended his daughter to learn about this request, but she considered it wrong to keep this from Solfia whom she was starting to think of as a friend. "Maybe he is not aware of my situation, but if he is that means he also has a solution in mind. It seems we will have to trust him and his ingenuity on this."
 
"Y-yes, I suppose that's so..." Solfia admitted, in the face of Zairee's reasonable fears. She slumped back in her seat a little, disappointed, as she considered it. The princess trusted her father, but she wasn't so certain that he would be aware of her friend's betrothal — or, at least, of how strenuously Zairee objected to it — and she knew that he preferred not to interfere with the nobility, at any rate. This was a special case, given all that had happened, but what if Zairee was right and his hands were tied?

Her bread sat in front of her, forgotten, as the princess' lips curled into a frown. The truth was that she hadn't spent much time over the last few days thinking about Zairee's problem, either, and she felt a little guilty for that. She'd promised to help.

"If you had a title of your own..." she started to say, but she almost immediately stopped and shook her head. "No, that wouldn't work. You'd have the right to choose your own partner, but if your betrothed wished to fight, he could argue that any prior with your parents was still valid." And he likely would argue, knowing Berenbach; if Zairee had lands or wealth of her own, that would just make her a more attractive prize. They needed something else. "If you were sworn directly in service to another... they would not be able to break your betrothal, but their approval would be needed before you could actually be wed. Perhaps they could force the marriage to be postponed indefinitely?"

It felt like there was something there. The princess considered it a moment longer, pulling a face as she thought, but this sort of legal minutia wasn't something she'd studied in detail. She couldn't be sure she was right — and besides, they would need to find someone willing to make an enemy of both Zairee's parents and Count Berenbach, and with the legal strength to stand up to them. That was no small thing.

"Well, maybe my father will have an idea," she said, with a sigh. That hope gave her some comfort, at least, and after a moment she brightened. "In the meantime, when you've eaten, there's someone I would like to introduce you to. Especially if you'll be staying for some time."
 
Edna ate alongside the two noblewomen. She stayed quiet, her knowledge of the legal intricacies quite limited.

Not a ton of input from GM right now.

Let me know when you feel like the two PCs' talking is done, and we'll go ahead.
 
All the potential ideas that Solfia was offering did not sound all too appealing to Zairee. It all felt just like trading one dependency for another, and still being reliant of the goodwill of someone she would consider a stranger. Why was there no way for her to remain independent and free? Probably too much to ask from a young noblewoman.

Unless the king had a good idea. He has been running the country for a while, so odds are he is a smart man and might indeed be able to come up with something. That seemed like her best bet.

At the last remark Zairee looked up from her plate and right at the princess. "Oh, and who would that be?"
 
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"That is a surprise," the princess replied, turning her nose upward in an expression which she hoped was both secretive and mysterious. She refused to say anything more on the subject while they shared their meal, preferring to keep her new friend guessing.

Of course, someone who knew Solfia well would probably not find it hard to guess what she intended. She had always had a close relationship with her youngest brother, Welian; he was a quiet and sensitive young man, even in comparison to Solfia, and growing up she had been both his confidant and protector. After the confrontation yesterday she had confirmed that Welian was safe, but the pair had not had a chance to talk yet. She intended to rectify that as soon as possible — and she couldn't wait to introduce him to the swordswoman who had saved her life. In her mind's eye, Solfia was certain that Welian and Zairee would hit it off at once.

When they were done eating, the princess stood eagerly and gestured to the door that would lead them from the hall. Welian tended to eat alone, and had a tendency to neglect his food in favour of working on his art. She suspected that at this time of morning they'd find him in the gardens, taking advantage of the light. "Shall we?"
 
"A surprise it shall be, then ..." Zairee gave a smile - and a brief shake of her head at Solfia's gesture - as she continued eating.

Her mind briefly wandered wondering who the princess would want to introduce her to, but she came up completely blank. So rather than waste more mental energy on that task she would simply wait for the inevitable reveal.

Finally dabbing the last crumbs of food from her lips with her napkin she rose to her feet as well.

"We shall."
 
Edna took her spot just behind the two as they walked for the gardens. The trek was short and simple, and the gardens that lay before them magnificent. The plants were carefully maintained and grown with love. Welian was exactly where Solfia had predicted-seated on a bench in front of an easel, brush in hand and with a barely touched meal next to him. The painting he was working on was far from finished, but even in its preliminary state, the expertise and craftsmanship was apparent.

He set his brush down for a moment, and shifted the easel to stand. As he did, he spotted the newcomers. "Oh! Hello there," he said before he took a proper look. "Hello sister!" he added. "Are you well? And I recognize Miss... Um... Edna! That's your name, correct?"

"That is correct, sir," Edna responded, and a small smile touched her lips. It was nice to be remembered.

"And who is your other companion?" Welian asked. "Is she someone interested in being painted?"
 
It was clear, from his polite, measured greetings, that Welian had been drilled on etiquette and decorum in the time Solfia had been gone.

It was also clear that the princess was having none of that.

"Welian!" Solfia cried, in delight, as she barreled towards her brother. It was a good thing that he'd set down his brush already, because she pulled him into a tight embrace the moment he was within arm's reach. "It's been far too long! I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find time to track you down yesterday, with all the chaos. I have so many stories to tell you..."

When they'd parted Solfia had been slightly taller than her brother — a fact that he'd been rather self-conscious about — but Welian had obviously experienced a growth spurt in the past two years. Now he towered over her, with all the awkward height of a young man, but that didn't stop her from reaching up ruffle his hair affectionately before letting him go. "Why, I can hardly reach anymore," she laughed, as she turned to her companions. "Lady Zairee, this is my youngest brother, Prince Welian. Welian, this is the Lady Zairee de Camirelle."

With introductions out of the way, the princess beamed at both parties before turning excitedly back to her brother. "We've been on quite the adventure to get here," she told him. "Lady Zairee helped to save me from a kidnapping! And I am sure that she'd be delighted to be painted."
 
"Kidnapping?" Welian's eyes went wide. "Solfia, what has happened? Yesterday, my attendants told me to stay to my room, that was there was some kind of danger. But I know we're safe here-I wasn't worried," he added, rather oblivious to the fact that yesterday they were far from safe.

Let me know what details, in broad strokes, you'd like to share and what you don't want to.
 
"Oh!" Solfia replied, in surprise. She hadn't expected her brother to know about the kidnapping, of course, but to have not even been told about what was happening yesterday was...

... entirely normally, she supposed, after another moment's thought. Like her he was neither politician nor warrior, and quite below their siblings in importance and succession. Would she have been told about what was happening, either, had she not been so directly involved?

And for that matter, how much should she tell him? The princess glanced sideways to Zairee for a moment, remembering her companion's warning that they should keep things secret... but that hardly seemed to matter now that the Baron had openly made his move, and besides, this was her brother. He could be trusted, if anyone could...

"It... it is a long story," she began hesitantly. "You see, a man came upon me in a garden..."

And so she laid it out for Welian, in broad strokes, both the kidnapping and the conspiracy. She did not shy away from the details, for the most part, but she did leave an important one out: she did mention the name Palkter, or the things they had learned about his dark magic in the library the day before. She also tried to speak around the exact identity of the nobleman acting against them, and his connection to Zairee.

And, of course, she nothing about the events in their room aboard the airship, or of the couple they had discovered on arriving at the castle. Some details were simply private, even from siblings.
 
Welian nodded along. "Gods above... You're so brave, Solfia!" he said. "I don't know how I would have handled the same things. Not nearly as well, that's for sure."

Before he had a chance to say more, there was a gentle rap rap rapping from the cobblestone path. A silver-haired man approached Welian, a small frown on his face. "You know you need to eat, Welian," he berated gently.

"Sorry sir! I was just sketching, and then my sister came with a fascinating story. She's been through a lot, recently," he replied. "Sister, Lady Zairee-you're familiar with my tutor and guard, Sir Morden, correct?"
 
Delighted to be painted? Zairee was not as sure as Solfia about that. She still remembered back when her whole family had to be painted for the big picture that now adorns their estate's entrance hall. All of them having to stand close together and holding perfectly still for hours. It was not one of her fondest memories. And for what? Even back then her position in the painting reflected her standing in the familiy. far to the left side, almost like an afterthought.

But this was the princess' brother, and he seemed a genuinely nice person, so she held back with the truth. If Solfia wanted to she would endure and let herself be painted, although she did not see the point. He would not want to paint her in the nude, would he?

Fortunately the two siblings were so caught up in their conversation that no input was required from her, and she was perfectly fine standing there and listening in. Until the tutor showed up.

She nodded her head and have a hint of a curtsey. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir Morden"
 
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"Of course. Good morning, Sir," Solfia said, greeting the elder gentleman with a curtsy herself. "Please blame me for my brother's forgetfulness. I'm afraid that I have quite distracted him from both his meal and his art."

The princess had known Sir Morden for years, of course, though he had never been one of her own teachers. The knight had been brought in specifically to protect her tutor Welian, at the recommendation of her eldest brother, Renault. The man's influence had always seemed good for Welian, and so Solfia looked upon him fondly even if they themselves were not close.

"I trust that my brother has been taking care of himself and keeping up with his studies while I have been away?" She asked.
 
"He's been managing," the knight replied. "Your brother's a good head for anything not useful, but when it comes to what matters..."

Welian protested, and said "I am right here! And art is a valuable subject-as is music, dance, and-" he stopped when Morden gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, sir. I... You know how some of the other family's young ones can tease."

"I'm sorry to you too, young man. I jest, but I shouldn't forget how you feel. I simply hope that the day never comes when you will regret focusing your studies on the arts," Morden said. He turned back to face Zairee, and added "And an apology to you as well, Lady Zairee. I should introduce myself properly. I am Sir Morden The Bold, Knight of the realm and loyal retainer to the crown family. I trained Renault when he began his military honors, but since my injury, he asked if I could tutor his youngest brother."

Said brother piped up. "You've still not told me the story of how you were injured, sir."
 
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