Coils of the Throne (Shyone x Raeona)

[shyone]

Kurosawa Ryou frowned as he shifted in his sleep, curling his body up closer to the pillow that he held close to his body. The prince's dreams had taken to places that were well away from the planning of war and the shifting nature of the political battlefeild. It had been quite awhile since the young man had found himself able to rest soundly, without the sights and sounds of battle ringing in nightmares. It was all the tossing and turning, combined with cold sweats that continued to gravely affect his ability to sleep, but such things were somthing that the heir to the throne had to push through. Why they had happened, only Ryou knew, and he was scared to admit the reason. Because he knew that his ability to be the next heir to the throne was already in question. So with this in mind, the young man had done as always and slept as best he could only to be slowly pulled from his dreams... by the feeling of the sun on his skin.

Slowly Ryou opened his eyes and blinked a few times only to curl back up under his covers, clinging to the pillow he had been holding close. At this point the tired young man only wanted to stay in bed, but the sound of the workers starting up the day outside brought on the relization that any further thoughts on trying to postpone the day was completely useless. Sitting up in bed the prince's long raven colored hair hung down in fornt of his face, with only one of his black eyes revealed to the morning sun. The male laughed softly to himself in his usual manical manner as he swung around and stepped off the bed, and walked over to stare out the window. He didn't react to the quite noises of his concubines picking out his clothes and starting the bath water. Ryou trusted they would make a better choice than himself, especially when it came to what looked nice. Strecthing out his body the prince could hear them getting the water ready for him. Sometimes Kurosawa actually entertained the idea in his head if one wanted to join him, but at the same time... there were many factors controling his reasons for not doing so. One simply being that unlike his brothers he saw them more in a more plotonic fashion than what they were really for.

Standing there for a moment he wacthed the sun come up with a soft Cheshire-eqse as he waited until he was sure that the ladies had cleared the room and he was alone again. Then slowly he turned and heading towards the bath that they had prepared. The prince had always found it a little silly all of the time that they took to make the bath just right for him. He wasn't so foolish though, as to not understood how things worked though. So the prince went into the bathroom and settled down into the tub and softly began to relax as he looked up at the roof. He was thankful that he was at least given this time to relax alone... since the young prince was going to be busy the rest of the day anyway. Plus he didn't normally like people to be around when he bathed, with only one exception and even then it made him nervous though this was mostly because of his shy nature. After sitting their as long as he thought he could get away with Ryou stood up and cleaned off his body before dipping back under the water and making sure that everything was cleaned off. Before getting out the bath and drying off. The future Emporer wanted to make sure that he was completely dressed before he went back in other room wondering were his favorite advisor was at this moment.

As he was dressing Ryou thought about the day that he had ordered his troops to protect the Lamia villages. Their had been only one tribe left at the time, and the bandits to the north had been trying to wipe out the Lamia. So dispite his fathers wishes Kurosawa had extended his nations protections to the Lamia tribes by those actions. It had not exactlly been the smartest policitcal move that the young man could have made. Though such a close alliance with the Lamia had been a long time coming... his internvention had simply forced things to happen a little faster. Why the prince had done such a dangerous thing... only he knew, and only time would tell if it would pay off. All the male knew was at that moment it had earned him the only true friend he had ever had, beyond his generals. He really never admited to his Advisor why he had done it, and the people of the palace were good at keeping on facade from those they felt as an outsider. Still... the Lamia had been there since Ryou was young... given that the protection of her village had been the first thing he had done politically, and that had not even been his intent.

Coming out of his thoughts the male stepped out of the bathing room, and into his chambers and stood there looking out the window the prince waited. Wacthing the busy nature of grounds keepers as he wondered wethier he should go on to see what the first item of the day was or would the Lamia be here any second. He knew how picky his guardian could be sometimes, especially consider how every day drew closer and closer to him potentially becoming the new Emporer.

 

[Raeona]

~{Figured I'd give you a picture. =3}~

Nia Armentay made her way through the halls of the palace, thinking back on how she'd come to live here. During the attack she'd lost everything, her family, her home, her friends. Not everyone had survived, and when she was found, she was brought to the castle to work for the prince and keep him safe. She did her best to do as much as she could to help him out, but sometimes she felt like there wasn't enough she could really do.

Shaking her head of the thoughts, she made her way to his room and lightly knocked before opening the door and peeking her head inside of the door. "Oh, you're actually awake highness" She said, smiling softly as she slithered inside and shut the door behind her. "You have lessons today, apparently you've been signed up to do swordplay with one of the knights." She explained as she glanced over to him.

"If you want, I could bring some treats and water for you, maybe you'll be able to take a break part way through" She suggested, wondering if he even knew about the 'training' that his father had requested for him to go through today. She knew she hadn't expected it, she always felt like she would be enough to protect him, but maybe she was just being selfish.

 

[shyone]

(Good job... I like her )

Nodding his head slightly he turned looked in the Lamia's direction with large grin that crossed over his face when she came in, "Well my my my dear Nia. It isss so good to sssee you thisss morning. I did miss your presssence last night. I had another nightmare. Though it was particularly bad one last night, essspecially sssince... Well since I couldn't sssave you thisss time." The way Ryou said it was with a certian note of acceptance and with a tone that showed he didn't let his dreams get him down all that much. He never mentioned it to anyone, even Nia, since he didn't want her to worry. She wasn't allowed to stay in his room with him at night anymore. His advisors wanted to make him a appear more aviliable to a potential queen, and plus thier own Xenophobic viewpoints brought on a certian fear of Nia having control over the prince in her care. As she slithered over into his room the prince did as he was always prone to when she was around and that was to let out his more childish and affectionate side. Not that he always acted this way with her, but Kurosawa was one who enjoyed play.

Laughing in a bit of manic like nature the human turned on a dime and quickly ran across the room. Then after suddenly slipping his arms around Nia's wasit in a hug Kurosawa gently nuzzled his face into her shoulder sweetly. If there was one thing the young man seemed to enjoy, it was his gaurdian's psychial contact. There was certianly a comfornting feeling in the strength that the human could feel in Nia's coils. "Yesss the morning did come a bit sssooner than I had expected. I misssed your favorite wake up call." The prince enjoyed finding himself awoken form a nightmare by the gentle squeeze of Nia's coils, yet such an event was usually the result of luck... as well as stealth on his Gaurdians part. He could only every trust his concubines to keep her presence in his room secret... always teasing him about how cute of a couple the prince and the Lamia seemed to be.

"...but I guesss that can't be helped. At leassst the planning of the day hasss been laid out to focusss on improtant thingsss. War and sssuch is so much more improtant than thessse silly matter of playing ssstate." Kurosawa was just as Machivallian as the next politician or else he probably would not have survived so long. Even with Nia at his side, the prince was still vunerable... and even the Lamia herself was a slight political weakness. It was balanced out though by the fact she was such a good protecter, friend, and just general confedante to the slightly unbalanced heir to the throne. The idea of having snacks and such things during his training sounded like a nice touch, though he knew depending on who it was... he might not be allowed a break. Their were also other dangers when it came to training, but those had usually been handled beforehand, but Ryou himself still liked to make sure. Because when he fully admited it, beyond his generals, and the Imperal Gaurd... Nia was the only person in the palace he trusted.

Pulling his head back so that he could look into her eyes Ryou asked the Lamia, "Ssso do you know who is going to be the warrior training me today? I believe we would be sssafest if it is one of my own commandersss or even better yet on of my own Imperal Gaurd sssoilders. If not though just make sssure to stay on the look out for anything sssuspsious." Letting out a sigh he let go of his gentle embrance and walked away from Nia for a moment as he said, "Sssorry Nia... I don't mean to dissstrub you with my sssilly paranioa. I must admit my recent nightmaresss have had more of an effect on me than I thought. The sssight of your death wasss indeed... tramtizing to sssay the least." For a moment the male just faded out, standing there for a about five mintues without saying anything. His face covered with a frown, before that large grin of his suddenly returned as he said in a blutrous tone, "Well no need to worry about the sssilly sssilly stuff now... off to sssword practice we go."

 

[Raeona]

"Yes, I'm sorry that I couldn't be here. Some nights are harder than others to sneak through your father's servants." She said simply as she saw him come over and hug her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him too, gently resting her forehead against his and closing her eyes. His warm skin felt nice against her, especially since she always was cold. Nia was drawn to heat, she loved everything about the warmth and sun which was part of the reason she was eager to go with him during the training session. It would mean at least an hour out in the warm sun.

"As for who's being the trainer, I'm not sure" Nia replied, shrugging her shoulders passively. "I didn't bother to ask" She added in as he stepped back and apologized. "Don't say you're sorry, you can't help it" She said, ducking her head down slightly and resting a hand on his cheek. "Hey, nothing's ever going to happen to me, I promise. You helped to save me, and now I'm returning the favor by being your protector" She said softly, giggling softly as she heard him mention that he was ready to go to practice. "Alright, you run along, it's in the courtyard. I'll grab snacks and a drink just in case you have a kind enough trainer"

With that, she smiled at him and left his room. She made her way down the halls of the palace, gently running a hand along the wall to feel the smooth walls on her fingertips. With a smile, she got to the kitchens and asked a few of the servants there if they could make something quickly for the prince. They agreed and quickly got to work on a few sandwiches and cut up cheese and other fruits and vegetables. When it was finished, it was set up on a tray with a glass of water.

Thanking them, she took the tray and carefully made her way towards the courtyard, setting the tray down on a nearby stone. She smiled and lay on the grass, curling up a bit and propping her head up to watch the training.