Casper gave a soft, breathy laugh and placed a hand gently upon Adeline's shoulder. [b]"It is not a burden, Lady Adel, I assure you. A knight of your talents..."[/b] He took a moment to run a hand over his bangs as he looked up at the array of color spraying across the room from the stained glass sun-roof. [b]"I need you to do something very important for me on this trip. But I would prefer not to discuss it here,"[/b] He said, gesturing subtly to the milling knights and servants, [b]"The walls have ears, they say. Walk with me, Lady Adel?"[/b] Through the crowd he spotted his wife, Solandria, walking in the direction of her chambers. He wished that he could have more time to speak to his warrior Queen, however Casper knew that Solandria was busy with her own duties that claimed all of her attention and devotion. 

He hoped very much that he could manage to pin down his dear sister, Lia, before they left for the Round Table. It was pertinent in his mind that she meet Adeline. Casper spotted a servant, a rather frail looking boy with brown hair, shambling past them who seemed lost in his own world. Though he hated requesting anything of the servants and definitely preferred the maids, he called out to the boy. Unfortunately for the boy, it was Jeffery Woods who gained the attention of King Casper. [b]"You, servant boy. Fetch the Princess."[/b] His voice was no longer soft but brusque, and took on a zero-tolerance cadence. Casper's visible eye seemed to flare as he looked at Jeffery. [b]"Now."[/b]

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A dove lit upon Alatus' finger, and the angel placed a gentle kiss upon the snowy-feathered avian's head as it whispered sweet nothings to the bird. It seemed to be completely absorbed in the birds and the flowers springing up in the few flower boxes placed around the balcony. The angel's attention was only brought to Valentine when the knight set the dove he held back down on the balcony. [b]"Yes, yes, patience poppy. What have we without feeling the air in our hair? Take a breath, breathe in the aroma of the hydrangeas, stretch your wings,"[/b] Alatus opened it's wings wide, a smirk playing on it's face as if it knew exactly how much of a pain it was being, [b]"Oops, you don't have 'em!"[/b] It's laugh rang out like chiming bells, and the dove on it's finger flew to the other side of Valentine in it's surprise at the sudden noise from Alatus. [b]"Though we do see your patience declining, so we will spare you with all our rhyming. You have been summoned to the Round Table with our Queen, she believes you to be good with your words, though perhaps not as good as we, we see - or rather, heard!"[/b] It hopped gingerly down from the balcony, now having thoroughly lost interest with attending the doves. [b]"Now she wishes we, meaning we and you, to gather in her audience chamber before we head into that pit of pettiness."[/b] Alatus smiled brightly at Valentine, looping it's arm around his and snuggling in close to the knight. [b]"Shall we, poppy?"[/b]

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Ellesian could feel the shaking fingers of the maid who was now tying the last few laces of her corset, and she had to take a small breath to calm herself. Every single one of them was incompetent and unable to keep their cool, and she had better things to be doing than to wait for the unprofessionalism of twaddling pansies. Ellesian heard the maid whisper an oath underneath her breath as one of the corset laces came undone. [b]"Really? [i]Really!?[/i] We're down to the last few, so steady your hands woman! I must go meet my husband before the Round Table address, I have no time to waste here."[/b] She said through clenched teeth, trying to bite down most of her impatience with this maid. From behind her, she heard the maid stutter another apology. [i]'If I had a doubloon for every one of those I heard.'[/i] Ellesian thought sardonically, rolling her eyes. 

With a final tug on the strings, the maid finally finished five minutes later. The other maids swept her up into her outer attire, layers of silk and velvet sprawling to the ground. Her feathered cape was placed over her shoulders, the collar flaring out to impressive lengths and framing her head entirely. She bent to pick Eirenarch up off of a nearby table; nobody was allowed to handle her scepter except herself, Ephraim and Alatus. The penalty for doing so was death, and she had dealt that card to a number of servantry who dared to try to steal away the precious thing. They had figured out it's secret and coveted it for their own. They should not have. Now they could [i]never.[/i] She smiled as she brought the rod close to her bosom. 

A maid with slightly less shaky hands finished her attire by placing an impressive platinum crown upon her head, detailed with birds of prey descending upon a snake made of emeralds. Each of the twelve tips of the crown spiraled upwards and was adorned with a precious gem at the top. She had ordered the thing crafted when she ascended the throne, casting aside the old crown. The old one was too meek, too humble, to impose the Kingdom of Raphael's majesty in her foes. [b]"Leave me, I can reach Ephraim on my own. Oh, but you,"[/b] She singled out the maid who was in charge of her corset, [b]"I hope that peeling potatoes for the next month will steady your hands."[/b] The maid in question looked flabbergasted, but Ellesian turned away from the woman dismissively and began to walk headlong for the exit. The two maids nearest to the double doors rushed over to open them for their Queen to stride through, lest they be included in the other maid's punishment - or worse. 

Ellesian's march through the halls nearly caused panic within the servantry and knights who had the misfortune of standing in her path. Her stride was imposing and she made no move to slow down or stop for anything, or anyone, in her way; she was a force to be reckoned with. Her march ended when she arrived just outside the throne room where her husband, King Ephraim, was supposed to have been last she heard from the maids. Her eyes flicked to the nearby wall, which had a gouge cut into it the size of a grapefruit. Her brows furrowed. The smallest thing could cause an upheaval within Ellesian, and this managed to piss her off. 

She swayed to the nearest servant whose back was currently turned towards her, and brought the bottom of Eirenarch down onto the ground with a resounding [i]CRACK![/i] causing the servant to jump nearly out of his skin in surprise. [b]"You know, I don't roll out of bed thinking to myself, "Yeah, I'm going to tell every last person in the Kingdom how to do their job today" but here I am. See that?"[/b] She swung Eirenarch around to indicate the gouge taken out of the wall. [b]"Fix it for the love of Raphael, my god man, take some initiative."[/b] Ellesian left the dumbfounded servant and came to the doors, which the guards stationed there had already opened to allow her entry.

The throne room was gorgeous, but it was nothing in comparison to the angel who sat upon his throne atop the dais on the far side. [i]He was the one person alive in this world who could make her feel like herself...[/i] She swallowed down a surge of emotion and hardened herself once again. There was no time, no time for anything except her revenge. Not even time for the sweet boy, now a man, who she had grown with. [b]"Ephraim,"[/b] She called out across the throne room to address her husband. [b]"Have you met with Cain Argus yet?"[/b]