She looked back and forth between Thomas and Gareth again, knowing beforehand that they were going to be split apart didn't make it any more comfortable. Although she didn't have much to base her feelings on, she had hoped to go with Gareth who, while still a stranger, did not have any scandal known to her hanging over his head. She fidgeted, even as they walked, playing with the buttoned cuffs of her jacket. Her head snapped up with Thomas addressed her, she figured there was no one else that statement could have been referring to. "Feril Tatchet," She said, brittle voiced and locking eyes with Thomas to answer. This wasn't so terrible, it didn't have to be anything bad, and it was something any true messenger had to be prepared for. She listened as Sophia accepted their situation in the same stride, and looked over to her in time to catch her departing glance. The courier nodded her head in reply, saying goodbye with just a faint smile. The nervousness had begun to subside. This was the job. She'd collect her proof of detainment and return with it as a badge of honor, she knew plenty of older employees who found morbid entertainment in handling controversial parcels.

Gareth looked at Feril with dim eyes and pursed lips as he turned away with Sophia on his side, his gut feeling a degree of sinking concern, but he chinned up and sighed as they distanced themselves from Thomas and Feril. "Um... I beg your pardon, but..." His blues darted left, and to the floor in a fleeting blink, then they focused forward on the path ahead of them, Harker awkwardly skittish however comfortable he was with Sophia. This time around, any subject matter worthy of conversation escaped his mind, too scattered. And all the while, he still had no clue, so he stifled out quickly, "Where are your quarters?"

Sophia followed Gareth as they left the group, too engrossed in thought to realize they had gone the wrong way. She looked up towards the young man when he spoke, being jolted from her internal ruminations. "Oh, oh right, you've never been there." She giggled halfheartedly, still a bit worried about what exactly was going on. She put on a smile and motioned down a hallway. "It's this way." She spoke a bit softer than usual, but otherwise seemed as though she were holding herself together. She kept reminding herself it was just an investigation, everything would be fine. The pair meandered down the hall way for some time, until eventually the room was in sight. "There it is." She motioned towards the large door a bit farther up the hallway. She glanced towards Gareth nervously. "Gareth, do you know what all of this is about?" She knew very little about what exactly the investigation was for, but the fact that Redwyne had been killed earlier that day suggested that was likely the cause. But why would Thomas even begin to think she or Jezin were involved? "... and what would Thomas need to ask me about?"

Thomas watched with a slight smile as the seemingly hesitant Gareth walked off with Sophia, whom was doing a fair job at masking her nervousness. Once they were out of earshot, Thomas turned to Feril, "If you'd be so kind as to follow me, Miss Tatchet." Thomas' voice was surprisingly soothing for man donned in full plate armor, and bearing a fearsome longsword fastened to his side. It didn't take long for the pair to reach the metal door that opened up to the prison cells. With a flourish, he produced a key, opening up to the thin and cramped hallway. Thomas then led down the length of the hallway, until he reached the 4th one in the line, slowy unlocking the door, and opening it up, revea`ling the same accommodations that Jorun and Jezin had received, "My lady." Thomas said, motioning with his hand for her to enter.

Feril followed behind Thomas with a completely refreshed demeanor, fighting to keep her head held up high and not bothering to question whether her bravado was from the long nights or the drinks. Her eyes, light blue-touched green, searched around the hallway, idly and automatically taking stock of what halls lead where. Before her mind could turn to anything else, they were upon the stockade. It was certainly a prison, far removed from the few holding rooms she'd seen in her life and it was clearly built for detainment. She looked past Thomas as he ushered her into the cell, and after walking into the room immediately turned a quick half circle to take stock of her surroundings. What a dingy place, she felt looking at the hay and its accompanying raggedy cloth. It was a scornful appraisal, coming from someone who had ridden a horse three days full tilt before arriving at the castle. It was going to be home, for at least a few hours. She took off her jacket, and laid it upon the floor before sitting down on it. The blue shirt underneath was warm enough for the palace interior, and maybe wouldn't mark her as a courier in the future. The courier pulled her knees up to her chest to rest her head and close her eyes, and started the waiting.

Jezin had been sitting in his cell for a while now, staring down at the manacles around his wrists. Despite his best efforts, he had been unable to find a comfortable method of sitting on the glorified bail of hay in the corner of the room. He leaned his back against the stone wall, pondering over the fact that a knight of the Brass Hand, a sworn soldier of the Lyoki Empire, now sat locked in a cage. He wondered if this was a roundabout act of vengeance for Thomas. After all, he'd had him locked in a very similar cage the night before. He hadn't heard any sound from the cells down the hall, and imagined the two servants had fallen asleep. He doubted that they had managed to get any rest with all the commotion the night before. He was half right. Jorun had faded off into unconsciousness a few minutes before. Alia, however, laid on the bedroll in her cell glaring into the ceiling. After a while, he heard footsteps outside and the large door to the prison creaked open. Two people. "One more for the stockade, eh, Thomas?" The bodyguard smirked as he called through the door.

"No, I don't." Gareth looked at the floor, and stood by the door where he waited for Sophia to unlock the door and enter. While admittedly he had suspicions that the interrogation would include serious questioning about the snake, he couldn't give her a definite answer. Thomas's motives in extracting information from Sophia eluded Gareth, who knew the Lyoki party likely had nothing to do with it, given Sophia's seemingly honest nature even though he couldn't verify it with evidence. "But it might concern the murder today." In all honesty, it still laid in the back of his mind, and he still felt very distraught over the ordeal, materializing as a single tear. He saved his own skin from judgment, and now he had to assist Sophia through hers.

Noah had arrived earlier that day, with only a small entourage of guards arriving with him. They had been caught up at the gate to the Palace for quite some time now, while the captain of his guard talked to the palace guard who was watching the gate. Noah shifted himself, uncomfortably, in his big cloak, that had wolf, and fox, furs layer around it's shoulders and necks. Such a cloak in a southern country made it uncomfortably hot for the boy prince, but Noah figured he'd rather be hot and uncomfortable, than have his missing arm showing. Exactly the reason why he wore the cloak so often. Noah doubted the new King of Keilaudrin, Bard II, would be impressed with the boy prince coming instead of the father, especially a crippled boy prince. 'Although' Noah mused, 'I am my father's only child.' Maybe that would earn a little more respect for his arrival. 'Father gave me one sole mission. Make a good impression, and attempt to form a friendship with the king.' Noah thought, imagining how he would go about making an adult man his friend.

Sophia frowned as she opened the door, nodding. "You're probably right..." She opened the door, revealing the sunlit foyer area that connected the rooms for herself and her entourage. A small table sat near the window, and Eva rose from her seat when they entered. She had evidently been sewing something. "Oh, Princess, back so soon." The servants paused for a moment, her orange eyes scanning over to Gareth as he entered. "Oh, Mister Gareth, nice to see you again." She looked to the princess questioningly. "Eva, we'll have to stay here a while, the Order of the Thistle wants to ask us some questions." The lady-in-waiting looked nervous and blurted out "So did they take Jezin, too?" Sophia nodded. "Probably." Eva sighed. "Then they got Alia and Jorun too." Sophia sighed, walking across the room and taking a seat at the table, pouring herself a glass of water from a pitcher sitting on the table. She motioned to a nearby chair. "You can sit, if you'd like, Gareth."

"If this was a stockade, I can assure you that you'd be far more uncomfortable." Thomas replied, shutting the door to Feril's cage, locking it. He walked up to Jezin's cell, pulled back the vision port, so he could see inside the cell, "I'm on my way to question Sophia in her quarters, Jezin." Thomas said, closing the vision port the moment he was done. He then exited the hallway, shutting and locking the door behind him, and making his way to Sophia's room. After a little bit, he made it the room, shortly after Sophia and Gareth had arrived. He entered the room quietly, not saying a word for a moment, as he unfastened Harmony, and placed it on the ground, "First, Princess Sophia, I need you to do something for me before we begin questioning." Thomas said, politely, taking only a small bow, "I need you to write a letter to your mother explaining that you are unhurt in Keilaudrin, and are currently under investigation by the Order of the Thistle. The Order, along with the Palace guards will risk their lives to make sure no harm comes of you. Once the investigation is over, the Order of the Thistle will personally see the safe transit of you, and your entourage, all the way to Lyok." Thomas added, pulling off his stark white gloves, and placing them next to his sword, "If you wish, you may also alert them to the events that have transpired, but I prefer no specifics of the events to get out, for investigation reasons." Thomas finished, smiling towards Sophia, as he stood in the door way, waiting to be invited in and to take a seat, "I plan on placing four Order of the Thistle knights at your door for protection, Princess Sophia. I have decided to release you from room arrest, but I insist the four knights will follow you around, and protect you. I will give command of the guard to the most skilled knight I believe we possess. Your safety and return to your home is the Order's second priority, right now. Right after the King's safety." Thomas took a couple of steps in, and turned to look towards Gareth, and nodded. "Thank you for leading the Princess to her quarters, safely, Gareth." Thomas smiled brightly as he thanked the young man.

Jezin had remained seated on the bail of hay in the corner of the room, but looked up at Thomas when he spoke through the vision port. He chuckled slightly at the stockade comment, but his face darkened when Thomas mentioned his intentions. He bolted up from the hay bail, seeing the vision port shut as he did so. He swung is manacled hands against the metal door, and felt the hard steel connect with his knuckles. "You lying bastard..." He growled out the words, slamming his fists into the door again. He heard the outside door shut. There was nothing he could do now. He stumbled back to the ground, glaring in the darkness.

Sophia turned to face Thomas as he entered. "Oh, Sir Thomas, hello." She listened to the man's demands with a nod, trying her best to keep her composure. "Right, that seems reasonable. Eva, paper, please." The Tauran woman walked across the room, returning with a piece of parchment and a quill, as well as an ink well. Sophia drew the quill from the ink and began writing. The letter detailed that she was being held for questioning due to 'suspicious events' in Mullen, and was completely unharmed. She added a few details about the Order protecting her, and reasserted that she was unharmed. She signed the parchment at the bottom, before motioning to Eva again. "The seal, please." The lady-in-waiting brought her a stamp and a bit of wax. She showed the letter to Thomas to prove nothing too sensitive had been revealed. She folded the letter and sealed it with the emblem of the Eternal Serpent. She frowned as she looked at the letter, handing it to Thomas. The stamp seemed to be upside-down, likely a mistake by the nervous princess. She nodded again when Thomas explained what her situation would be. "I appreciate that, Sir Thomas." In reality, she felt uncomfortable with the idea of being constantly followed about by the knights, but it was unavoidable at this point.

The guards at the gate had little desire to let an armed party within palace grounds, not to mention the scarcity of ways in and out of the palace at the moment. The backup wooden door beside the main gate had been sealed by the guard even with the gates broken the way they were, guests had been leaving through the handful of checkpoints they had established through the night at other points in the wall. The guardsman left to speak with Noah's captain had been in the process of explaining this when Wallace Canti strode into view within the gateway. Apparently the court's proceedings had gone quickly if he was already making his rounds of the wall. "Mister Brefford," he called the attention of the guardsman, "I am certain the situation is stable enough to allow a respectable foreign dignitary to visit the palace grounds. Open the door, and get back to doing something about this gate," He said, standing back and watching with slight amusement. In short order, the handful of guards had popped open the secondary door for the other party to enter through, although its size meant they'd be doing so single file.

Thomas smirked, to himself almost, as Sophia stamped her letter. Thomas took the letter, in one hand, and place into a small hole in his belt, the fitted the letter perfectly. "I appreciate your cooperation, Princess." Thomas said, with a smile, while taking a seat, "As soon as I finish my questioning with you, I will move onto Jezin, whom has been detained. Once questioning is over, I will assure you that you will be able to safely leave the country, and will paid for all expenses on your way back to Lyok." Thomas reassured, sincerely, "The letter was important, because we rather not the Empress of Lyok do anything rash. While we trust the Empress, we have heard stories of what she did to Taura, and we have to make sure she knows her valued daughter is safe." Thomas added, smiling, "I suspect you'll be on the road by tomorrow afternoon, and no later." Thomas then turned his attention to Gareth for a moment, and smiled, "You may take your leave now, Gareth. I can handle the situation from here." Thomas then turned back to Sophia and rested his elbows on the table, "Were you aware that Sir Redwyne Cole the Morningstar was killed by a snake native to Lyok? The package that carried the snake arrived early this morning, and I witnessed you talking to a courier in the Great Hall. I also caught Jezin attempting to gather a boat in order to leave Keilaudrin, in a desperate manner. While I admit the events that have transpired may warrant panic, I have to do my job and take a look into any suspicious activity."

Gareth nodded to Thomas. "I'd rather not leave Sophia unaccompanied." His words sounded a little friendlier, and clearly Sophia would be less insecure about having Gareth and Jezin around than four Order knights. Four Order knights, not to mention, felt over-the-top to Harker. Sophia would be getting the dangerous criminal treatment rather than the foreign princess one. He took his seat in the chair in silence, allowing things to proceed. When Thomas excused him to leave, he declined, saying, "Ah, it will be fine... I have nowhere important to be."

Noah grinned as a man of definite importance strode up to the gate, finishing the problem between the two guards rather quickly. Noah was escorted into the courtyard, quickly, by his lot of guards. Once inside the courtyard, Noah turned to the man who had no doubt saved him a lot of time. The small boy, with a big grin, looked very queer in a fur cloak that nearly engulfed his whole body. This did not look like a prince, but sure enough, the small symbol on his clasp, a black bear with a white crown, signified that he was indeed part of the royal family of Cressen. "I thank you, kind sir." Noah pulled his left hand out from under his massive cloak, striking it forward to shake the older looking man's hand. "I am Prince Noah Ardian, heir to the seat of Cressen, first born son of King Guymon Adrian." Noah introduced, dutifully reciting his titles, his eyes shifting to the side, and his words taking slight pauses, as if a child attempting to remember a problem in class.

Thomas smirked, as he turned his gaze to now face Gareth, "I am Acting Commander, Gareth Harker. While I have let your astounding lack of respect for superiors go unabated until now, I have given you an order, not a request." Thomas said, his voice now far from the friendliness, now turned more into a serious tone, "You are a squire of the Order of the Thistle, and I am Acting Commander of the Order of the Thistle. Unless you wish to take this further, I suggest you take your leave now." Thomas finished, his voice retaining it's deadly seriousness throughout the entirety of the ordeal. It was somewhat amazing how fast Thomas' face went from approachable friendliness, to stone-cold seriousness in the matter of a couple of seconds.

Gareth nodded. "Very well then, I shall take my leave." Under his breath he cursed Thomas's name, wishing Thomas had been bitten instead. Unfortunately, the one humble commander he could hold sympathy for was dead. Harker stood abruptly, turning and leaving the room with feet moving briskly to signal spite, and he shut the door behind him quietly. Who the hell put Thomas in charge? He shuddered at the idea. For now, he needed to find Sir Walden again, and so he ushered himself to the other end of the castle.

Wallace stood and watched the boy give his introduction, searching his mind briefly for the relevance of the emblem the boy carried. Cressen, that put him a long way from home. He wondered how many weeks the road had been for them, but for what it was worth they didn't seem particularly travel weary. He had to remind himself that no matter the age, any boy who had weathered the harsh north was plenty man enough for whatever politics they had sent him to do. No matter the case, he wasn't the first young noble to show their face at the palace. Canti stuck out his left hand to shake with the boy, figuring it was merely his custom. "Welcome to the palace, your grace. I am Wallace Canti, regent and servant of the peace. It does me great honor to welcome you to what's left of our celebration." His expression sobered as he finished his speech and looked away for a moment over the remains of the tent city, spying the various work crews along the walls. "There has been some terrible goings on, but you have thankfully arrived just as things are safe again. Shall we retire to the great hall?" The regent nodded towards the palace proper, standing alone in the deconstruction.

Sir Walden was walking along the Great Hall, a giant mug of what appeared to be brown ale in one hand. He seemed to be examining a few people who were conversing at in the Great Hall. He eventually made his way down the entire aisle of tables, and took a seat at the head table, exactly where Wallace had seated himself earlier that day. Once more, an audible creak could be heard when he sat down. The wall of a man then pulled out a small notebook from his pocket, and flipped through it, examining various things, before looking up and scanning, nodding his head once he found what he was looking for.

Noah frowned for a moment, at the revelation they had made it late to the celebration, but his frown then turned to a grin at Wallace's invitation to the Great Hall. "I would be glad to join you in the Great Hall, Sir Regent." Noah responded, as he turned back to his guards. All of them looked visibly concerned at the mention that their had been nasty trouble in the Palace grounds not to long ago. "Massey, I want you to take the rest of the guards and enjoy a night in the tavern. I'm sure Sir Regent will take good care of me." Noah ordered, with a boyish grin. Massey, the captain of the guard, nodded, and turned on his heel, leading the entourage of guards back through the gate. Noah turned towards the man named Wallace Canti. "I apologize for our tardiness. We have traveled for nearly 3 weeks, so that I may visit the King and congratulate him." Noah felt slightly remorseful at their tardiness. Many didn't consider Cressen an actual Kingdom, and the fact that they constantly failed to act as one only served their opposers. "Where is King Bard? I'd like to meet him."