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Luna looked over towards Peter as she listened to him as he started to come up with a plan, biting her lower lip she didn't want a war to occur at all. That was the last thing that she wanted to happen, she just wished that the princess didn't act so rashly and fired on her sister. Then Puck spoke up, blaming the Port Witch Coven would probably be the best bet to hopefully sweep this tragedy under the rug Luna however had a feeling that it would be something that would come back and bite them. She eyed her sister she was the soon to be queen now and it was ultimately her call.

Luna stood up turning to face Valda looking directly towards her sister sighing slightly. "This is your call sister, if the Eastern SnowPlanes finds out what really happened it would turn to a war." Luna said to Valda and eyed Puck to see what the smaller man would do next, she didn't trust the man very well but as far as Luna could tell this was probably the only way to try and make sure that this didn't get out at all.

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Cuyler reached out and stabilized himself with the wall nearest him. The dizzy sensation passed over him quickly but he still felt a mild disoriented at having being transported from one place to another. He was vaguely aware of Ayra speaking but didn’t hear much of anything until she said his name. He nodded simply and watched her leave with Rowland before looking to Atkin.
Thia gave an excited bark and then she ran off, scattering a grouping of birds she had targeted and then began to chase after one of them. She would be at it for awhile but it didn’t worry Cuyler. Thia always found him again and he didn’t think bringing her into the Palace would be the wisest.
”Does she usually make you sit on the sidelines?” Cuyler asked Atkin. Although the boy looked younger than Cuyler he guessed they were closer in age than what appearance suggested.
Cuyler took the opportunity to sit down on the steps to the Palace while they waited. He assumed it would take awhile for the Wizards to make their way through to secure the Palace and with their late coming, who knew what else they would come across. As it was, people were already making their way to the Palace steps, waiting to be allowed inside. He watched the people approach with mild curiosity. You could tell a lot about a person by the way they walked or how they dressed. Like who lived outside the Castle walls, who worked the land or stayed inside. Who was a witch. The eyes of course were the dead give-away but Cuyler made it a habit to observe other things first to determine who people were. Take Atkin for example, there were many things to notice just by the way he was standing.

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Fleur ignored the hunger she detected from Malekith. Today's events were too important to be caught up in trivial matters. On any other day she would explore that avenue further, but today had to be free from distractions. Both Nera and Malekith brought up fair ideas. "Yes, I believe a Call spell shall do nicely in case something occurs. As for names, Esren Carlan sounds hideous, but it will have to do."

She swept over them. They all looked presentable and delicious. The castle would have no idea what hit them. "As we depart, remember who we are. We are witches and warlock. Powerful. Strong. Feared. Let us show the world what true power looks like." With those final words said, she opened the door and made her way to the barge.

It was not the most glamorous of travel means, but it would get them to their destination in time. Fleur would ignore the looks from the locals in the port. She had little time to spend on them. Her mind raced with ideas on what today's festivities would be. Who would she see? What would she do? The choices were almost endless.

She stepped on board the barge and waited to get things moving. Hopefully the others were just as exxcited as she was.

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Take Atkin's stance for example. He was visibly irritated. Although in an ostensibly neutral expression, there was a tenseness in his jaw, like he was clenching his teeth and all the muscles in the upper half of his face seemed to be ever so slightly scrunched up, about 20% of the way to a furrowed brow. He had his arms crossed firmly in front of his chest, effectively blocking himself off from any errant small talk. And although his feet were wide apart, indicating confidence or stubbornness, they rarely stayed in place.

He didn't like this situation. Not one bit. Getting ditched and left alone with this... guy. Cuyler if he heard correctly. Atkin looked over the guy, sizing him up. He was tall, dwarfing the apprentice by a good 7 inches, and definitely built as far as his upper body went. Maybe he was some kind of dock worker? No, the guys that worked there had legs like logs, what with all the heavy shit they had to carry around onto and off of boats of all shapes and sizes. But assuming he was any good with his fists, Atkin guessed the guy would clobber him in a fair fight. The more surprising thing to him was how young his fellow dumpee was. By his guess, Bryon was probably a few years older. And he didn't have Magykal eyes either, so how he knew Arya was beyond him.

When asked if he was always sidelined, Atkin merely looked at him, but didn't answer. Yeah, he wasn't just going to hang around here with this guy for the next hour. It was bad enough when he expected to be hanging around Arya and Rowland the whole time, but getting babysat by this schlub who seemed content to just sit like some dog at the palace's doorstep? Nah.

Without warning, the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice turned away from Cuyler and headed inside the Palace proper. He had no idea what he was going to do here or where exactly he'd be going, but anywhere would be better than sitting tight outside. As long as he remained cognizant of the time, and the activity of those walking the halls, he was confident he'd be able to make it to an appropriate place before the Coronation actually began. Not like it'd be a big mystery on where it'd actually take place. Perhaps he'd run into some foreign diplomats. They'd be interesting to talk to, and in his dress robes they may even give him the time of day.

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Lyra's lips thinned slightly at the look of disappointment on Emperor Taj's face. She truly wished she could've been more helpful, but alas, even her perceptive mind could only recall so much detail after so many years had passed by. She nodded her head slightly in response to the Emperor before her thoughts soon began to wander. She mentally reviewed all that had just occurred and the new information she had gained. Murder. Queen Meliscente was murdered. The queen's death had something to do with the Тиме Стоне. And somehow Lyra could feel the remnants of it, more yet it wasn't even the first time she had felt it. Then there was also the бесконачни каменци, which they didn't elaborate much on, that had something to do with all this as well. Lyra's lips pulled down into a small frown as she went over everything, and she absentmindedly fiddled with her necklace while the other still stroked the dragon egg.

The question is who or what did this to the queen? What person would so cruelly rip a mother away from her children? What sick, depraved soul would turn children into orphans, who now must also rule a kingdom unprepared?! Lyra thought to herself, with each thought only growing in intensity. She could feel her metaphorical hackles raise at the injustice of it all, and a storm brewed just beyond her blue green eyes. Her hand tightened into a fist around her necklace as righteous fury threatened to boil to the surface. Yet all thoughts on the matter quickly fled as she felt something stir below the hand that was still rested on the dragon egg. "It moved!" she gasped, whirling back around to face the egg fully. She rested both her palms on it, feeling for anymore movement, before pulling them away and instead putting her ear to it. She frowned slightly. She didn't feel anymore movement or hear anything inside it stirring, but she was certain that she hadn't imagined it all.

She straightened back up, glancing over at the others. Yes, the coronation. We must get to it. She knew she had a duty to perform, and yet she felt loathe to abandon the egg. She couldn't abandon it to hatch in a dark, dusty crypt. She couldn't, and she wouldn't. Her chin rose as a stubborn determination filled her. Her steady gaze turned to Prince Myrus. "Prince Myrus, may I be so bold as to grant your permission to care for and protect this dragon egg," Lyra boldly addressed the prince. This probably wasn't the time or place to ask this of him, but nevertheless, she was deadest on the endeavor.

Meanwhile, Lyra's Night Transformer Aurora came out of the woodworks. The black coonhound plowed her way through the crowded streets like a runaway freight train. She may have taken out a person or two in the process, but who's counting. She practically tripped over herself as she exuberantly ran back towards the palace, with her tongue lolling out of her mouth and her giant ears flopping in the wind. Her deep bark echoed off the walls of the palace as she barked excitedly at the sight of Thia and Cuyler. At the last possible minute, she finally turned on her brakes, coming to a screeching halt that nearly plowed over Thia in the process.

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Malekith's gaze turned to Nera with notably less interest than he had shown Fleur. Sure, the other witch was indeed an attractive woman. He would be blind to not see that. However, she had this god-awful tendency to spoil her good looks with that big mouth and big head of hers. Needless to say, he didn't like her, and neither did he trust her. He saw her as a threat to his supremacy, and if it weren't for her close relationship to their Witch Mother, he would have disposed of her a long time ago. For now, he would have to express caution and bide his time. He would have to tolerate her presence. Unfortunately.

Glancing back at Fleur, he barely held back a snicker at her comment of the cover name Esren Carlan being hideous. The corner of his lips quirked upward slightly with amusement. As he returned his gaze to Nera, there was a glint to his eyes, a glint that could perhaps only be perceived as spite. Yet it was there and gone so quickly that one could think they had simply imagined it. Petroc Heap. He committed the cover name to memory. When she stated her cover name next, his lips formed a harsh line, which he promptly tried to smooth out with an arched brow in question. Emmie Heap. We both have Heap as a surname. What the hell is she getting at?!

"What, are we brother and sister or something?" he almost scoffed. Almost. He didn't wait long for Nera's reply before he turned back to Fleur. He nodded his head in agreement to her empowering words. They were the words of a leader. An easy smirk came to his features before he followed in behind Fleur. Malekith remained close to Fleur but still slightly behind her as they made quick work to the Port Barge. Once there, he courteously offered his arm to help her up the steps and onto the barge, as any noble gentleman would. That's not to say that he was either of those things, but nevertheless, appearances matter.

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Rhys ignored Ernie's words, stalking through the crowd as he resisted the urge to turn around and gut the wizard. Doing so here, would not bode well at all. Though it was sorely tempting. However, his urge quickly turned into outright frustration and fury. A woman stood before in a fit of tears and terror. But a concerned frown formed on Rhys's face as a cruel smile formed in his mind, as the rogue wizard listened to the blabbering of the hysterical woman.

So the ExtraOdrinary Wizard's Apprentice had been eaten in a cloak shop? That he highly doubted, but the thought pleased him. Perhaps that would be the end of the next wizard he killed. To dump them into a chamber with some deadly creature, then when the creature had killed the wizard... Why not let it lose on the populace? He held no love of the people of this city. In fact he loathed most of them, just having them around meant he had plenty of entertainment when he got bored. Deciding to not interfere with this brewing trouble, Rhys traced his steps towards the coronation with a 'excited' air about him. Excited at the thought of Arya Rincewind's body in the maws of some creature or other, that was.

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She hadn't meant for any of this to happen, she hadn't meant to accidentally kill anyone. The girl had a gun pointed at her, and she hadn't been able to think of anything to say to quiet down the situation. Now it might result in a war? Just because she had defended herself when the Princess had tried to kill her? None of this was making any sense to her, but she never had been a very diplomatic person in general, all of this was still relatively new to her, and now if they weren't careful, she might have just started a war.

Listening, she heard the suggestions that were being made as what to do. Valda was not totally against the idea of blaming the Port Witches for it. After all, they would want to cause as many problems for her as possible, since she was a Wendron Witch. "That might be for the best... I didn't mean to cause any sort of problems, I didn't expect this to happen at all," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "We'll see about pinning this on the Port Witches... It is the only idea that we have right now..."

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@LadyRunic: His walk to the Palace is relatively uneventful. The crowds are larger than they should be outside the Palace grounds this time of day. After a few minutes, he'll be able to overhear why. Apparently, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard was behind schedule and had not yet finished securing the Palace grounds Magykally. Only the most important guests were being allowed through at the moment, until the ExtraOrdinary Wizard was able to give the all clear to the guards and allow the general public through. Rhys will be able to spot Fleur amongst the crowds waiting to gain entry.

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Arya and Rowland were both hard at work setting up various protective Charms and warding. Even with two ExtraOrdinary Wizards on hand, it was a difficult job - further complicated by the arrival of some of the guests who were milling about the grounds, looking for seats they wished to take. It was to be an outdoor Coronation and while it made it beautiful, it also made it just as challenging. It was a full fifteen minutes before Arya and Rowland finished, with both of them looking a bit out of breath as they went to rejoin Cuyler at the front of the Palace.

"Thank you for...Where is Atkin?" Arya asked Cuyler, her emerald eyes widening with concern. She clenched her hand slightly with worry. She understood Atkin felt a need to wander and that perhaps he felt slighted by being left with Cuyler, but she and Rowland had needed complete concentration to cast their Magyk so quickly and efficiently. Atkin didn't know nearly enough Magyk to assist as well. And of all the days for Atkin to decide to wander off, it was when his life was potentially at risk due to the Queste and the бесконачни каменци.

Rowland performed a simple locater Charm in order to search for Atkin. "Ah, he is not far, my dear - no need to worry," he reassured Arya. "It seems Atkin has wandered down the Long Walk..." The Long Walk was a relatively famous location of the Palace. It led to the throne room and was lined with treasures from various lands and eras. Centuries ago, Queen Cerys' husband had decorated the halls after they had been made barren, with the Long Walk receiving the most care and attention.

"Thank you, Rowland," Arya told her mentor with a strained smile. The stress was beginning to get to her slightly.

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Nera turned her face to hide her irritation with the comments on the choice of aliases. She held her tongue, resisting the urge to berate Fleur and Malekith for their complaints. While they all had their own areas of wisdom, neither of them had spent as much time in the Castle as she had. Esren Carlan was a respectable name and while not the most gorgeous, certainly not hideous. As for Malekith's protest, Nera understood his initial knee jerk reaction to it yet it helped to have an established relation when going undercover in such a manner.

"Kao da znaju koja je stvarna moć...," Marya whispered to her sister, who nodded in agreement with a bit of a giggle. "Treba li da ih pitamo da li bi prava moć volela knjigu ili nešto čitati?" Medea whispered back, prompting snickering from Marya. Nera raised an eyebrow at the pair, wondering if they'd realize that speaking that ancient tongue in public would only draw attention to themselves.

"Girls..." Nera warned them softly. Marya - or perhaps it was Medea - rolled her eyes but the two of them quieted down. The rest of the ride on the barge was uneventful and it was a relatively quick one. The barge let them off at the docks by the South Gate, with almost every passenger getting off and making a beeline for the same entrance. The guards were talking amongst themselves, randomly stopping individuals in the crowd to ask for their name and occupation. The twins got off the barge, glanced at the others, and shrugged a bit before one of them grabbed Nera and they vanished in the blink of an eye, only a gust of wind signaling that they had been there.

Malekith ended up being stopped by one of the guards, who looked him over. "Name, occupation, reason for visit," they grunted at him. The other guard had a pad of paper out, writing down a rough description of Malekith and preparing to record his responses.

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"Yeah, sure thing Lyra," Myrus replied, giving her a bit of a smile. He figured that the dragon egg had been abandoned in a dusty crypt for this long that it was Lyra's right to keep it. No one in his family had even been aware that it existed and he didn't feel particularly attached to it. His mind was more focused on other matters - his mother's murder and his sister's coronation that would begin rather soon. They were supposed to have had more time to plan and prepare for it this morning, but that had all changed. His entire life had changed.

"Come, we must not be late," Asha insisted. Myrus nodded and began to lead the way to the throne room. Once there, his eyes widened as he spotted the dead princess on the floor. It wasn't the first time that blood had stained the throne room in Castle history, but it unnerved him to say the least. His mother's death had been bloodless. He practically stumbled his way over to his sisters. "Valda, Luna...Are you two alright?" he asked nervously. There was a small tear in Valda's robes from where the bullet had been, but Jadis raised her hand and whispered a spell, repairing the robes.

"Prince Myrus," Wylie greeted, giving him a slight bow. Myrus gave him a bit of an odd look but he nodded. Most foreigners tended to refer to him that way, though hardly anyone in the Castle did. To them, he was just Myrus Silvers - or perhaps Myrus Marcellus on special occasions - the brother of the Queenling. "Princess Snaera accused Princess Valda of murder and in self defense, this tragedy occurred," Wylie explained.

"Do not fret, Myrus," Puck reassured him. "My sister and I will attend to these sorry affairs. Please, go with your sisters and the other delegates - the Coronation will begin soon."

Myrus hesitated before nodding. Jadis instructed most of her coven to go outside and get seats for the Coronation, with a few remaining behind to tend to the mess in the throne room. Emperor Taj approached Valda with his sister at his side, extending his hand to her. "My condolences and congratulations, Princess Valda," Emperor Taj said simply. "We have much to speak of together - after you are crowned." His sister was glancing at Jadis and Puck. She then whispered something to Valda quietly.

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As upset as she was about the name, it was good cover and she could appreciate it. Having someone who had been involved with the Castle before had always been invaluable, in her mind. Still, she couldn't have found a more attractive name? Ah well, it mattered not really. The goal was in sight shortly as she stepped off the Barge.

It seemed the others had the same idea as she noticed a large following of people all make their way to the Castle. She turned to look at the Twins who accompanied them. Aware that if they continued to speak in that tongue, they would surely get caught. However, the two of them seemed to get it from Nera and grabbed the girl and vanished. "Huh. That's concerning..." She trusted Nera to handle herself and those two. If they knew what was good for them.

She walked briskly to the gate, aware of the guards. She could only chuckle as Malekith got stopped and they paid her no mind. Men were silly creatures if they didn't consider her a threat. Was it the dress? Either way, she whispered in Mal's ear, "Play nicely with them. We can't draw attention to ourselves just yet." She sashayed her way past them and towards the Castle.

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Luna gave her sister a soft smile and nod, she was glad that Valda had gone with the mutual plan to blame the Port Witches for the death of Princess Sanera. It was a load off of her shoulders, now she just hoped that once the story was out it didn't come back to bite them later. "You were only defending yourself sister, there was no other way around it.." Luna said softly as she tried her best to try and reassure her sister. That's when she turned her head and saw her brother Myrus along with his own delegation in tow, she quickly went over and gave Myrus a very tight and loving hug.

"We are fine deer brother." Luna finally said letting out a slight sigh as she took a step back looking at Emperor Taj and Asha as well, she gave the two of them a very friendly smile and bowed. "I am sorry you have to see this, it all happened suddenly.." Luna said towards the delegation. Luna gave Puck a slight nod while looking over towards Jadis she didn't trust the witch, but they did need to prep for the coronation as well.

Luna stared at her brother and motioned for him to follow her, she needed to tell him what the messenger rat she had received earlier, when they were out of earshot of everyone else Luna decided to speak about the message to him. "Earlier, before I went to tend to the Eastern SnowPlains delegation I got a messenger rat from someone named Golds, saying that he had some information on mother's death, and gave me a place to meet him at sundown." Luna said quietly towards him.

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The apprentice stared at Cuyler with a less than impressive look before he turned and strolled into the palace. Cuyler stood quickly, having the instinct to follow and keep an eye out for him when he heard a commotion behind him. He knew he should follow Atkin, he wouldn’t involve himself in whatever the young apprentice got into but Arya was counting on him.
He turned around however and saw another dog slide and nearly take out Thia but she jumped up the step at the last minute and growled at the intruder. It was Aurora, Lyra’s Night Transformer. Cuyler grinned and shook his head.
”Come here Aurora, before Thia yells at you,” he said sitting back down. With Aurora’s grand entrance, the birds Thia had been chasing had promptly scattered leaving her without prey. Cuyler scratched and rubbed Aurora’s head, shaking his head at the large animal.
”Still causing mischief when Lyra isn’t around I see.” Lyra was Cuyler’s closest friend. They had met during childhood, through their fathers and reconnected once Cuyler began traveling back to the Castle. The two friends quickly rekindled, reminiscing about their childhood and discovering where their paths had led them. Without warning Thia pounced on Aurora and they rolled to the ground, barking and growling as they played.
Ayra’s voice triggered Cuyler’s attention and he stood quickly. He looked apologetically at her and was about to explain his incompetence when Rowland assured them both that Atkin was fine. Cuyler relaxed and focused his attention on Ayra, letting the noise from the dogs playing fade into the background. The ExtraOrdinary Wizard looked relieved when she was informed of Atkin’s whereabouts but still there was stress lining her face, more with every intake of breath it seemed.
”Let us get through the coronation today, after we can discuss how to keep Atkin safe; and you,” Cuyler added pointedly. He still remembered the Alchemist’s warnings on her safety as well.
He may have been overstepping but Cuyler was valuable in his own way.This problem was Magykal by nature but the young man had become exceptional at finding things and figuring out ways to survive.

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Lyra's jaw promptly fell wide open. She honestly hadn't expected Prince Myrus to so quickly and easily relinquish the dragon egg to her. After all, she was merely a servant asking to have a priceless artifact of the Crown. Granted, from what she knew of Myrus, it was clear that titles meant little to him in comparison to the type of person that held them. Nevertheless, this was a big deal whether or not he saw it as such. Once the initial shock wore off, the corners of her lips pulled up into a wide grin. She bit her lip to keep herself from letting out a girlish scream of excitement. She quickly regained her composure. Now was not the time for that.

"Thank you, truly," she replied sincerely, nodding her head in thanks as a small smile played at her lips. Her gaze lingered on him, taking in his features and demeanor in seeming assessment. After a few moments, she finally pulled her attentive gaze away and smoothly turned back to face the dragon egg. She wrapped it in the linen and satin that it was rested on and carefully scooped it up into her arms. She then followed in behind the others out of The Crypt and back to the upper levels of The Palace. "I will meet back up with you all in a moment. I need to drop these off at my quarters," she explained, before breaking away from the group to head to the servant's quarters.

Once in her room, she gently rested the egg on her bed, which was still partially covered in her weaponry. She then quickly looked around her room to find a small chest in which she could put the egg. Once found, she unceremoniously dumped the chest of its contents and replaced them with the precious egg. With a soft smile on her face, she reverently stroked the egg one last time before closing the chest. For now, that was the safest place for it. She then pulled the book, which she was still meant to give to one Mavis Moll, out of her satchel and deposited it on top of her chest of drawers.

The smile soon slipped from her features as she turned to face the middle of her room. Today was meant to be a day of celebration, but more and more it was feeling like anything but. Queen Meliscente was murdered. That was nothing to celebrate about. More so, with that knowledge, she felt that the danger to Valda had only increased. And Lyra didn't like that. She didn't like that one bit. Well, if they want to get to Valda, they will have to get through me first, she thought to herself. Her expression hardened as she was filled with resolve. She marched over to her bed and grabbed her sword and sheath before strapping it on. The desire to wear a fancy gown at the coronation had long since fled. Right now, she was going for practicality, and perhaps an outward representation of the fierceness she felt in her bones. She couldn't care less if she didn't look "presentable." Screw that. Tonight she would be more than just a servant or a patron. She would be a warrior.

She briskly left the servants' quarters and headed to the Throne Room to meet up with the others. Voices wafted to her as she walked down the hallway with a cool expression trained on her features. But that coolness was most certainly short-lived. She felt the blood in her veins turn to fire as she stumbled upon what was more or less a crime scene in the Throne Room. Her hand instinctively went to the hilt of her sword, and her nostrils flared slightly as her gaze landed on the dead body of a noblewoman. Her heated gaze then came up sharply and picked out her mistress Valda in the assembled group. "What the hell happened?" she bit out.

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Malekith's gaze swept over to Marya and Medea as the obnoxious twins began publicly jabbering on in an ancient tongue. Oh, that's just splendid, he thought with utter disdain, his lips thinning at their foolishness. They had only just begun their mission, and they were already risking blowing their cover. He arched a brow at Nera before averting his gaze and purposefully turning his back to them. He had no desire to be associated with them, even in the slightest. It wasn't really any wonder why he preferred to work alone. More people meant more liabilities. It was as simple as that. He spent the remainder of the ride on the barge contentedly ignoring them.

Soon enough, the barge pulled up to the docks by the South Gate of The Castle. He kept by Fleur's side as they stepped off of the barge and entered the crush of people swarming towards the same entrance. He casually glanced over at the others of their small group, more or less just keeping tabs on them. It's not that he actually cared about them, far from that actually. He just wanted to know if they were caught so he could head the opposite direction. He ended up doing a doubletake when the twins and Nera suddenly vanished by Magykal means. His eyes narrowed slightly before relaxing as he looked back at Fleur. They're deadweight, he thought to himself, opting to hold back the snide remark. He gave a simple nod of his head in response to her before continuing onward.

Malekith felt irritated rather than alarmed when he was suddenly stopped by a guard. He refrained from rolling his eyes at Fleur's clear amusement right before she unceremoniously ditched him. Women. He refocused his attention on the guard and the matter at hand. "My name's Petroc Heap. I'm craftsman, leatherworking mostly," he replied in a relaxed manner. "I'm here to see the coronation and to see old friends and old places. You see, my family moved away awhile back, and I've been itching to see the place I grew up in once more."

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There was something about walking through a hall of his country's most beautiful treasures and artwork that was extremely... underwhelming. He wasn't sure why he didn't feel nearly as affected going through the long walk as he felt he should be. Perhaps he had gotten a bit desensitized to awe and wonder after going through so many radical changes and being exposed to so many new things recently. Or he couldn't really take things in due to how many different stresses were wearing down on his mind at that moment. Or perhaps there were so many wondrous things that they diminished their own individual impact, by proximity. Like trying to look at an entire Abstract Expressionist painting at once. There was too much going on at once, so the impact wouldn't be immediate.

So he stopped trying to take it all in. Instead, he'd just see what his eyes would fall upon. Perhaps that would get his curiosity piqued. There was an ebony flute. It looked nice, but he felt like he'd be able to learn a lot more if he could get his hands on it and study it. Was it here simply because it was pretty? Was it owned by someone famous? Perhaps it was Magykal? Then there was a necklace covering in a variety of sparkling gemstones, as if the creator had reached up into the sky and turned a rainbow into a fashion statement. It was very pretty, but again, he couldn't really inspect it past the superficial.

Towards the end of the hall, to the right there was another case. This one contained a great gauntlet, a massive thing of gold. The enclosed fist was easily the size of his head. The thing must have been made for some kind of giant, the size of it. Assuming it was even intended to be worn in the first place. Curiously there were several indentations for some apparently missing component in the artifact. One slot for each knuckle, including the thumb and a much larger one in the center of the back of the hand. What a curious thing, must weigh a ton. If only he could actually get his hands on it and try it on himself. He was starting to notice a bit of a trend here.

Fed up with not being able to touch any of the toys on display, Atkin walked into the Throne Room proper to find quite the scene. Princess Snaera lying on the floor, apparently dead from how off she looked and the blood that was splattered across the floor. Not to mention a bunch of nobles, the Grand Magician Peter Wylie, a gaggle of witches along with their Mother Jadis and to top it all off, the leader of the Young Army himself, Puck. What a lovely scene to walk in on.

Perhaps on another day he would have been more shocked or sympathetic, but today, seeing yet another horrible catastrophe again before the Coronation could even begin only pissed him off even more. It took most of his self control to not just begin shouting at everyone for things they may or may not even have done. He was going to end up yelling his head off at someone or punching them some time today. He could feel it. But that would hopefully be much later.

Biting his tongue, the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice marched on over to the one person he was certain was at the center of this: Princess Valda. She appeared quite busy at the moment, but why not give her one more thing to do? Having to multitask was certainly a skill that any Queen would need to learn. At worst, this would just be some training-on-the-job.

"Valda, what the bloody hell is going on here?" The others in the room might think him as breaching courtesy or whatever, but he didn't give a damn. Besides, they should all be able to put two and two together and figure out who he was. If they couldn't, fuck em. There were also about 10 other ways he could have described the current situation (one that springs to mind is "A Carnival Freak Show of the Castle's Least Liked Individuals), but he wasn't letting his tongue fly completely free. He could show at least that much restraint whilst he knew nothing of the situation beyond the immediately obvious.

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Rhys glowered at the crowd about him. He despised people, and while already in a horrible mood he was sorely tempted to let the streets run with blood. Wizard blood. If innocents got in his way? What of it? The royal family, the Extra Ordinary Wizard and all of them, Rhys would enjoy to see them die. Slow deaths mind, deaths that would give him the power and control he sought. Shoving his hands in his pockets he kept the air of a impatient town folk. Looking about the sea of faces for any familiar ones.

And he was rewarded by noticing none other than Fleur. The one woman who left his home alive, and the few who left whole and intact. Sliding through the crowd and casting charming glances at women who looked his way, the rogue Wizard made a wandering, meandering path towards the infamous woman and possible solution to his problem of Ernie. He didn't want to kill the man, just persuade him that helping was the best- and only- option. Upon drawing close enough he kept trailing after the woman. "Well, well. Hello there my lovely minx. A fair day to see a fair woman like yourself."

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Valda gave her sister a smile, glad that she was trying to reassure her. It had been an accident, but that didn't stop her from feeling horrible about it. Someone just died on the floor of the throne room, not long before the coronation too, and she was the one who had caused it. She nodded along with what Luna had said, but she couldn't help but keep thinking about everything. The day was definitely a crazy one so far, and they hadn't even gotten to the more difficult part of the day, that being the coronation itself.

She smiled and nodded towards Emperor Taj, "Of course," she replied as she accepted his hand. Valda leaned in, listening to what Asha was whispering to her. The thought had occurred to her, but she hadn't known what to think about it. She nodded at her, with a small smile, telling her that she understood what she had told her without giving her a verbal response, since the ones she was mentioning were really close by.

Recognizing Atkin, she shot a glare at him. "Excuse me apprentice, but usually you do not get to demand anything. Also, you are being rude, so why should I tell you," she snapped at him. She was in a really bad mood due to the events of the last hour or so. She had been accused of murder, nearly killed, and ended up killing someone by accident, she was not going to let some whacked out ExtraOrdinary Wizard wannabe be rude to her.

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There was a hint of a blush to Arya's cheeks as Cuyler fretted over her safety. Yet she was the Castle's ExtraOrdinary Wizard and that was not a position that was awarded without serious consideration. Of all of Rowland's apprentices, he had selected her to be his successor. She was the strongest among them, with the most innate Magykal talent and ability. "I am flattered, but you do not need to protect me, Cuyler," Arya said with a slight smile. "I am more than proficient in protecting myself. The others in the Castle...They are who we need be concerned about. There is much we do not yet know - and I believe a visit to Alchemie Way is in order."

Rowland nodded, the events of the day weighing heavily on him as well. In his time as ExtraOrdinary Wizard, he had never felt such imminent peril facing the Castle. It made him regret electing to retire when he did, as the responsibility fell on Arya's shoulders. The Queenling was young and inexperienced, meaning that Arya wouldn't receive much help from Queen Valda. Sure, he supposed the Alchemists could be of aid - and in this situation, they seemed quite necessary - but he still did not wish this stress upon her. With such a new apprentice as well, he would be impressed if Arya made it through the coming weeks without more than three mental breakdowns.

Rowland then glanced over, seeing the guards letting people enter the Palace lawn now. The seats were filling up quickly and he wanted to be able to have a decent view of the Coronation. He always enjoyed events like these, of course, but he also knew it was likely that some tragedy may occur. A Witch Princess was about to be crowned, after all. "Cuyler, would you care to accompany me?" Rowland added.

"We will talk more after the ceremony," Arya said, giving Rowland a hug and then pausing as she looked at Cuyler. She stared at him for a few seconds before she settled on just giving him a smile as she headed inside the Palace, going down the Long Walk in search of her apprentice and the others involved in the ceremony.

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The guards nodded at Malekith, writing down his information. They gave him a smile. Heap was a strong family name in the Castle - in fact, Queen Jenna had been raised by the Heap family. One of their finest ExtraOrdinary Wizards had been a Heap as well - the Seventh Son of the Seventh Son. For better or for worst, the guards would not forget Malekith's face. (It was like he had just told them he was a Kennedy or an Obama or a Clinton). "Enjoy the Coronation, Mr. Heap," one of the guards said as they let him pass.

Marya and Medea had already grabbed seats, with Nera sitting next to them. Nera blinked rapidly, turning a bit green from the speed they had just traveled at. "It'll pass - happens to everyone," Marya said with a snicker. Nera just closed her eyes, gripping her seat for a few minutes before she no longer felt like she was about to vomit. The twins were incredibly useful, if not immature - and while she knew few would believe it, they could easily grow to be the most powerful members of the Coven. Nera would not be surprise if they attempted to unseat Fleur as Witch Mother in the next few years. They could only be controlled to a certain extent.

"You see the front, girls?" Nera said warmly. Marya and Medea both nodded, looking towards the small stage area with boredom. This flash and substance didn't really impress them as much as it could have someone else. "That's where the ceremony will begin - and once it's over, I need one of you to snatch Princess Luna," Nera whispered. "Do either of you know how to CradleSnatch?" The twins shook their head. "Very well - bring her to Fleur as quickly as you can, but not until after Valda is crowned. Understood?"

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Myrus followed his sister off to the side, listening to what Luna had to say carefully. The message didn't sound incredibly trustworthy to him, yet he knew that its content held some truth to it. According to Emperor Taj and Asha, their mother had been murdered. Someone out there in the Castle had to know how it had happened - how someone had managed to murder the Queen and make it appear that she had died of natural causes.

"You shouldn't go to meet with Golds, Luna," Myrus told her quietly. "If something happens to Valda, you'll become Queen," he added. Queen Meliscente hadn't had any sisters for the throne to pass towards. Valda and Luna were potentially the end of the line, unless one of their uncles had a female child. Yet given that none of them had had any children yet, Myrus wasn't holding his breath. "I'll go and meet with Golds," he then said with a slight smile.

"Nothing that a servant such as yourself need concern yourself with," Puck told Lyra coolly. He then looked at surprise as the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice appeared, speaking so rudely to the Queenling. Had he been in the Young Army, he would have received fifteen lashes for such a remark. "Would you like me to escort the apprentice from the Palace, your highness?" Puck offered, smiling a bit cruelly at Atkin.

"Brother, we have business to attend to," Jadis reminded him. The Wendron Witches had left the Throne Room and headed outside, with Emperor Taj and Asha nodding politely at Princess Valda before heading outside as well. The Coronation ceremony was due to begin any minute and all those not directly involved needed to take their seats.

"We'll talk more about this later," Myrus told Luna, giving her a hug before he headed outside as well onto the Palace lawn.

Arya entered the room almost just as Myrus left, looking down at the body with shock. She then glanced up at Atkin. "This is why I asked you to carry a SafeCharm," she chided him lightly.

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Luna looked over her shoulder when she saw Lyra coming into the throne room, just as she was about to leave along with the ExtraOrdinary Wizard Apprentice coming in. Both of them were asking what had happened, she stopped for a moment to turn to face them, seeing Valda's expression towards Atkin when he asked what the hell happened. Which was a rather rood way of how he went on about it, she nearly had been killed moments ago. She decided to speak up, to fill them in on what had actually happened, Luna still felt partly responsible for everything that had happened in the Throne Room.

"Princess Saneara had accused Valda of murdering her father, Valda doing the only thing she could do, and was merely defending herself from being shot by the princess." Luna said calmly, looking at the time she knew that the coronation was going to be starting extremely soon now. "It's going to be taken care of soon." Luna told them before turning around and started to follow behind her brother until they were on the Long Walk.

Luna looked at her brother, biting her lower lip for a moment and gave him a slight nod, he was right Valda had nearly been killed just moments ago. And if there was another assassination attempt, she'd end up being the next Queen in line sighing slightly and nodded at Myrus. "You are right dear brother, you are more than welcome to take my place at the meeting. Though you may need a bodyguard, just make sure you are alone during the meeting. The meeting is at Sally Mullin's at dusk." Luna said towards her brother, before leaning over and gave him a loving hug. "I shall see you after the coronation dear brother." Luna said softly before turning around going her own separate way to get herself ready.

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Fleur took in the castle. From this one room in particular, it screamed wealth. Power. Authority. She wanted it. Soon, she reminded herself. Soon. So far, apart from Mal being questioned by the guards (which she assumed he handled quickly), things were going according to plan. The Coronation should begin soon and she didn't want to miss it.

As she glided across the room, she felt eyes on her. She expected as much. People would surely talk and spread rumors. She would play into it for now. She would have to breakaway after the Coronation though. Nera and the sisters would be in place by now surely.

And then she saw him. One of very few men she had the pleasure of spending time with and allowing him to walk unscathed. Rhys. It tickled her that he was here, but she shouldn't be surprised. A hint of amusement traveled across her eyes to her lips. "My, truly it is a small world. A fair day to you as well, sir." She curtsied playing off her role. She had to be careful. She hadn't expected to run into anyone she knew here and she didn't want him giving her away. Not yet.

However, he could be useful. A solution to her problem, perhaps?

"You are here for the Coronation as well, I assume? I am positively shaking with excitement. I believe it is starting soon. Shall we go find some seats?" She would not await an answer, she walked outside and found seats towards the back. Enough for her and Mal, and maybe Rhys if he wished to join her.

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Nuh uh. Nope. No way. Not taking this today. No siree. There had been so much bullshit today already that there was no way that he was going to be talked down to by some girl who'd only managed to be set up to become Queen in about half hour purely due to being in the right place at the right time. He was all set to punch somebody when he walked in, and the Queen-to-be was making a very inviting target of her face. There were many, many reasons that hitting her would be perhaps the worst decision of his life, most of them were quite obvious to anyone with clarity of though. Yet at that moment, none of them were factoring into his assessment of the situation. What did stop him was ingrained training at the hands of his mum and older siblings.

"Atkin! What did I tell you about hitting girls?" WHAP. Although he really, really wanted to lay into her, he managed to settle for simply tightening his fists to the point of nearly drawing blood. His Pavlovian instincts wouldn't let him do otherwise.

"Yeah, 'escort' me into that 'army' of yours so you can try to schmooze her up more? What, figured that your luck didn't turn out so good with the last Queen that you'd just keep at it with each new royal who finds herself sitting on the throne? Eventually luck's gotta go your way, right?" He wouldn't be making a friend of Puck with comments like that, but the pipsqueak wasn't the kind of person he didn't want to associate with anyways. He'd seen the type on the streets plenty of times, usually as leaders of petty gangs: well-mannered when dealing with people they wanted things from, but unmerciful and cruel with those they saw as beneath them.

"Thank you, Luna" he said, audibly grateful that somebody today wasn't being either cryptic, difficult or both. "Princess Snaera's body is lying in the middle of the room and you're getting uppity about me usin' some crude language. Not letting people know what's going on is how people come up with crazy rumors. People already think you killed Queen Meliscente. Wouldn't be too hard for the wrong person to stumble in and think you and your witch friends killed Snaera so you could use her body parts for some weird Magykal ritual. Then go and gossip about it to their friends, who gossip to their friends and their friends."

"Next thing you know, you step out the door and there's a crowd of people yakking to each other about how before your coronation, you'd cast a spell in the throne room that would plunge the Castle into Darkness for the next 1,000 years using all the foreign delegates as sacrifices." Having been able to vent a bit of his anger at Puck, and actually receiving some answers from the younger Princess he'd managed to cool off enough to be somewhat more civil and level headed than a few minutes earlier. But he was still sore over how the bookstore goers had exaggerated everything while ignoring the reality of the situation.

"Like it or not, but we're going to be seeing each other a lot. And we're going to have to be able to work together; part of that is tellin' each other what's going on. Gotta look out for your own, after all." Then Arya came in. He figured she'd track him down sooner or later to whisk him away to the ceremony, so her arrival was just part of expectations. Her finding him this soon was a bit of a shock, however. What absolutely was not out of expectations was her chiding him over not wearing the damn Safe Charm.

"Oi, this one has nothing to do with me. Seems like I'm not the only one with people trying to off them every half hour. According to Luna, Princess Snaera thought Valda killed her pa or something and got killed trying to get revenge." He wasn't going to put it on, no matter how much he was told to. She'd have to force him to wear it, if she was that deadset on it. Most of his motivation was not wanting to communicate weakness to whoever was watching, but he was starting to build up a not insignificant amount of good old fashioned stubbornness.

Arya's face furrowed in concern, although she tried to hide it from being plainly written across her face. She looked away from her apprentice towards the body, biting down on her right thumbnail.

"I see," the ExtraOrdinary Wizard uttered upon returning her attention to Atkin. "Yet we cannot allow this to delay the coronation. Come." That said, she turned back towards the entrance and walked away at a pace just a smidgen more quickly than it was normally.

Following behind his teacher through empty castle halls, Atkin couldn't help but notice how lifeless the place felt without servants and officials bustling through them. It reminded him of a knocked over beehive that was abandoned by its insectile workers. If stone had the ability to wilt and rot it would complete the picture. However, as they approached the site of the coronation itself, that lifelessness was replaced with a different sensation. The sound had begun as a far off thing. Less of something you heard with your ears, closer to a feeling your brain picked up. Then it grew to a buzz that was filtered through a sturdy wall. With every step it grew closer and closer. The raw sound of conversation and people evolved from being mere noise into something of a picture, a pointillist portrait of the Castle, with the spoken word replacing paint.

It was so overwhelming that the apprentice was glad when at the last moment Arya moved into a room just a few feet away from the courtyard where the Coronation would take place. The door blocked out just enough of the noise so that thinking, let alone conversation once again became popular. It was rather plain, akin to a broom closet, yet here is where the last items for the ceremony were, namely a couple of extravagantly decorated pillows, upon which sat a ring and a circlet.

Atkin walked over to the one with the ring and picked up the little piece of jewelry. Emerald and gold, with the faces of two men where a gemstone would normally go.

"So this is it? The real thing." he asked looking up through the hole. It didn't seem all that special. Just kind of creepy, but otherwise unremarkable. Curiosity took ahold of him and he slowly began to move it to his finger, only for the ring bearing hand to be lightly slapped aside.

"Don't put that on, Atkin. That ring may only be removed in reverse. You'd have to remove your finger to take it off." Sheepishly, the apprentice apologized and returned the ring to its resting place on the pillow. Alright, game time. After the next 15 minutes, Valda would either be the new Queen of the Castle, or things would go horribly, horribly wrong. He couldn't say that his bets were on the former coming to pass. But he'd just have to bite his tongue and do his best here. Maybe this morning wasn't an indication for how the rest of the day would turn out.

He sincerely hoped so.

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He returned Ayra’s smile fondly before turning to Rowland and simply nodded. It was true Ayra was more than capable of looking after herself. If anything, he may prove to be a problem and end up in her way but he was determined to provide any assistance he could. Perhaps his need to help was being driven by the lack of help he gave when his family was taken from him. He didn’t wish that empty feeling upon anyone and he would help in any way he could to keep Ayra from feeling that way.
Cuyler walked with Rowland until they found a couple of seats and took their spots for the ceremony. With everyone in place now, he was sure it would start shortly. He was amazed with the amount of people who had turned up for the ceremony. Everyone seemed eager to place their eyes on the lost princess who was now a witch and about to be crowned. It was a unique situation to say the least.
”What are your thoughts on the Crown Princess?” Cuyler asked Rowland while they waited for the ceremony to begin. The Queen’s shoes were large ones to fill and Valda had not been raised in the Castle and had very little training for this moment. This rule was going to be very different, for everyone.