Someone was talking to her. Anton? No, not Anton -- she couldn't rely on him here. Someone else. Her thoughts skittered over each other, insects thrown into chaos when someone overturned the log sheltering them. She made a strangled noise when someone grabbed her hand, and yanked it away. She couldn't let them find her. If they caught her, she was dead. She needed to hide, but she couldn't move. Couldn't run, couldn't think, could hardly breathe. When was the last time she'd inhaled?

Start with breathing.

It was hard to do, but Val made herself suck in some air. Someone was still trying to take her hand, and she tugged it free again, pulling it close to her chest. With the breath a shred of logic penetrated the haze of terror. She wasn't a child hiding in the palace ruins anymore. She shouldn't be in any danger. Emotion insisted, however, that if she took her back away from the wall they'd get her.

Where are you? Focus on the details.

A ballroom. There was a curtain near her, and glass doors leading outside beyond that. One of the wall held paintings. And someone was with her, someone in a green suit who kept trying to take her hand.

Her hand. She'd cut it. It wasn't even a deep cut, and she'd totally panicked. She'd managed to deal with worse -- but not while under so much stress. Reminding herself of that detail didn't make her feel any better, and she lowered her head so that she couldn't see Prince Akio's face at all. Finally some of what he was saying registered, and the offer of going outside earned him a small but earnest nod. She pulled her hand away again, but this time took the kerchief with it and used her other hand to put pressure on her cut fingers. She let Prince Akio lead her outside to a bench, but when he sat next to her she scooted away, squeezing herself against the arm and trying to make herself smaller. At least she wasn't crying, though she felt like she might start at any moment. She'd thoroughly botched the evening, and it had only just started.

Akio watched Valentine. He recognized the panic in her face and as she continued to pull her hand away from him he sighed. He had to take this another way. She was obviously having a panic attack or something similar and that was a subject he actually knew well. His brother and him had developed anxiety and depression after the death of their father and they both had frequent panic attacks in the following years. Akio began his usual pattern of words that he spoke to Aito when he was in this state. ”Hey Valentine. It’s ok. Breathe. Breathe. In and out. In and out. You are safe. Nothings going to hurt you. It’s ok. Just breathe. In and out. In and out. In and out.” His voice was soft and comforting. He kept it low and quiet, knowing that calmed his brother and him when they were in a panicked state.

As she agreed to go outside he let her pull her hand away as she held onto the handkerchief and kept pressure on the cut. As he sat down beside her and watched her scoot away, he did the same, wanting her to be comfortable on the bench even if it meant that he wasn’t. He then looked at her and smiled small. ”Do you mind if I have a look at your hand? I don’t need to touch it and you can look away. Will you just show me it, so I can make sure there isn’t any glass in the cut?” he asked her softly. He wanted to be gentle with her and take it slow. She obviously had no trust in him yet but he wanted to show her that she could trust him.

When the attendant came out with the first aid kit he looked at Valentine while stopping the attendant from advancing. ”Someone has to disinfect and wrap your cut. I can do it or the attendant can or I can go get someone else if you can find a way to tell me who you want. he looked at her and smiled small. ”Just point at me, the attendant, or the door so we know who you would feel comfortable touching your hand and wrapping it up.”

He honestly just wanted to help Valentine and he knew that after her hand was bandaged, the best thing he could do was leave her alone to process her night and hopefully go to bed. He didn’t need to make her like him tonight. He had years to achieve that objective. All he had to do tonight was make a lasting impression on her and he was sure that this night would leave an impression on her that would last forever. Sure it wasn’t necessarily pleasant but it was ok. Hopefully they could look back on it one day and laugh.

Prince Akio was trying so hard to be helpful, and yet he was hardly helping at all. He was right about looking after her cut, at least, though it took a few moments to work up her nerve and let him. While he did, Valentine fixed her gaze firmly on the ground in front of her. Her thoughts were a flurry of shame and self-recrimination, but at least they distracted her a little.

The arrival of an attendant brought her back into sharp focus. Prince Akio wanted to know who she'd be comfortable with. She wanted Anton, or Ianos, or Melissa, none of whom were really available -- and that assumed she could manage to communicate her desire. At least he's trying. And he's doing better than I am. Valentine sighed internally and held her hand out to Prince Akio again, feeling like she'd let everyone down. With a mental wrench she pulled herself away from that line of thought, though it lingered in the back of her mind.

The cut was a small one, somewhat deeper than a papercut but still superficial. Having Prince Akio fuss with it hurt a little, but that was a welcome distraction from her thoughts. She still hadn't managed to say anything to him. She really should fix that. Valentine took a deep breath, closing her eyes to focus better on the words.

"Th-thank you."

They came out wavery and quiet, but at least she'd said them.

Genevieve, mind still whirling, was pulled out of her half-formed plans by the reappearance of Princess Ayleanna. She had to smile at the other girl's enthusiasm, and she was sure it wasn't the carefully-curved smile that peeked from under the cover of her bangs or broad-brimmed hats in her social media photos.

But that was all right. Princess Lea was naturally disarming—and, at this point, the person Gen was least worried about embarrassing herself in front of.

"I don't think you talk too much," she said, "and you have so many guests to attend to, I'm honestly just grateful we get a chance to speak." With a self-conscious flick of her fingers, Genevieve indicated the rhinestones pasted beneath her eyes like a scattering of stars amongst her freckles. "I see we have a shared love of sparkles."

Gesturing to the wide variety of dishes spread out on the nearest table, she added, "Lord Hui-Bawa and I were just admiring the feast you've put out. You're an amazing hostess."

It was then that a diminutive young woman—looking all the tinier, standing so close to Hui-Bawa—appeared in Gen's field of vision. She recognized her as Princess—or was it Lady? the titles were unclear—Liviana Viriatus. Feeling a swell of sympathy for the other girl, but—not sure how much English she had (and therefore, how uncomfortable she might be with a lengthy conversation)—Genevieve offered up the warmest smile she could, and a small nod and curtsey of greeting as she joined their party.

“Lady Genevieve, I hate to interrupt, but are you going to introduce us?” Hui-Bawa asked. He stretched a hand out to the new woman. “Pleased to meet you. I am called Hui-Bawa Du-Butha Hui-Hooseng in my home. And you?” How curious. This woman was of a colour with himself, a stark contrast with the pale faces that dominated the party. “I hope I am not intruding upon this conversation too much. If I am rude, you must forgive me truly. I was not raised with an understanding of such things as . . . etiquette.” At the very least, he congratulated himself in knowing enough to fast-talk himself into and out of situations like these.

Another woman joined this rapidly-growing company they seemed to be accruing. It seems, despite Lady Genevieve’s previous claims to otherwise, she seemed a rather popular figure, at least in this party. The new lady called away the first, and seemed to have little interest in interacting with himself. He certainly does not fault her for it.

Lea grinned cheerfully at Genevieve. “What can I say? You can never have too many sparkles. And aw, you guys give me way too much credit. I mean, I can’t cook for the life of me! All I can do is taste stuff and be like ‘wow this is good we should have it at a party’, you know?” Lea giggled and rolled her eyes playfully at her own culinary incompetence.

Lea then turned to Liviana, who had just arrived. Her eyes quickly took in the other princess’s appearance, diminutive as she was, before-

-Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. Is that a bird on her shoulder?! Oh my gosh, that’s so freaking adorable and I love love love birds so like...I am here for this?????

“Hey, Liviana!” Lea responded, beaming at her. “I love your gown, by the way. And your hair-how do you ever have the patience to grow it that long?! Oh oh oh also, your bird is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!!! Do you mind if I take a quick pic?” And before Liviana could object, Lea had whipped out her phone (which had a sparkly pink case-you know, to match her nails, which were almost always painted sparkly pink) and snapped a picture of Liv’s bird with her Snapchat camera. She saved the original image and put a cute sparkly heart filter over it, before captioning it something like ‘shoutout to Liviana V. for bringing the CUTEST bird EVER!!!!’ and posting it onto her story.

Once that was all taken care of, Lea put her phone away and re-directed her attention to Hui-Bawa. She shook his hand, grinning. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well! I’m Lea Lynton. And no worries, you’re definitely not intruding on anything!” Lea gave him a sheepish smile. “If anyone’s intruding, it’s me.”

“I hope you all are having fun, by the way,” Lea said brightly to the entire group. “I wanted to do like, a water slide or something. Or a moon bounce. Wouldn’t that have been so fun??? But my mom and sister said no.” Lea mock-pouted. “Oh well.”

Liv had exactly half a second to figure out who she was speaking to before she was suddenly bombarded by the whirlwind of excitement that was Lea. At least the Aciran princess didn’t even blink at her awkwardness, just plowing right through it with more enthusiasm than should be entirely possible. And asking far more questions than Liv could hope to answer, even in her native Latin.

After several seconds of blinking hopelessly in the direction of Lea’s phone camera flash, and internally panicking at the thought of being featured on Lea’s Snapchat!!!!, she managed to straighten her thoughts out into words enough to reframe her focus to the conversation. The greeting died on her lips, though- of course Lea was already onto a different topic, she always was, and in this case the topic was socializing with the mountain of a man standing beside her.

Nervously, Liv peered up at him, offering a slightly terrified smile. She had not been close enough to hear his introduction, but his accent and overall appearance suggested he might well have been from one of the southern kingdoms - she struggled to remember places and names from the textbooks she’d once fumbled through, but could not come up with anything concrete. And she certainly wasn’t about to ask him his name, afraid he’d take it to be offensive. She vowed she would do nothing to cause him offense - not when it looked like he could crush her in one fist if she angered him!
Lea’s chipper dialogue was nothing short of confusing, as ever. Liv barely managed to puzzle it out, getting quite tripped up on the notion of a ‘moon bounce.’ Seriously, what’s a “moon bounce?” she wondered. But she didn’t trust herself to say it out loud, instead murmuring something in Latin that sounded vaguely like an apology and pulling her ancient Papyrvs phone out of her clutch, quickly thumbing into Alopix (the firefox knockoff that Athenian electronics came with, complete with a cute fox icon) and typing in the words ‘moon bounce’. As one would expect of Athenian search engines, further “refined” by Lusitanian content restrictions, very few results were returned. Specifically, only one that wasn’t total garbage- a sped-up video of some Aciran moon satellite launch from literal decades ago.

That made perfect sense. She snapped her phone case closed and frowned slightly, wondering what kind of party Lea had been planning on where there would have been an actual rocket ship.

Genevieve thanked every god she could think of that Princess Ayleanna—Lea—was one of the least pretentious, most easygoing people she’d ever met. Gen had barely had time for a flash of secondhand mortification and a scramble to figure out how to help Hui-Bawa before Lea had cheerfully introduced herself, without offense or fanfare. And then she was on to the next thing.

Next to Hui-Bawa, Liviana looked not only tiny, but genuinely petrified. Genevieve decided to let Hui-Bawa field Lea’s questions for a while, stepping around him to come up next to the smaller girl. “Christopher,” she murmured, “may I have my phone please?”

Smoothly, Christopher produced it from an inside pocket, and Genevieve held up a finger in what she hoped was the universal gesture for, “One minute, please,” offering up an apologetic smile. One quick Google search confirmed her guesses about the native language in Liviana’s country. Gen used the translate function to type out what she wanted to say and hoped it wasn’t too garbled.

She held out the phone to Liviana. The message on the right said, “Latine Non est bonum esse meum doleo. Spero te non puto me rude et hoc modo loquitur ad vos. Quod est nice est in occursum tibi ago, Filia Reginae. Nomen meum est Genevieve.”

In English: “I am sorry that my Latin's not better. I hope you don't think I'm rude for talking to you this way. It is nice to meet you, Princess. My name is Genevieve.”

Hui-Bawa considered Lady Lea’s words for a second. Nobody seemed much interested in responding, so he felt perhaps he ought. “Both sound delightful, Lady Lea,” he said, stroking his chin with an idle finger. “But think of the poor guests. They make such an effort to arrive at your lovely estate dressed in fineries of cloth and metals. A waterslide might ruin their hours of hard work!” He tilted his head back and laughed at his own comment. “Apologies, truly. My brother tells me I am not humorous. He is in no capacity incorrect.” He glanced over at Lady Genevieve. She seemed at the moment occupied with their new acquaintance. That leaves him with their excitable host. “So, this party is yours, then? I am honoured that you found the time to speak to a humble man such as myself. This home, it is the size of a village in my home, and so magnificent besides. You must tell me everything about it.”

Lea threw back her head and laughed at the point that Hui-Bawa made. “I mean, you’re not wrong,” she said, chuckling. “But a girl can dream, ya feel? And your brother is wrong! Who says that you aren’t funny? I think that you’re pretty funny.” She flashed him a mischievous grin.

“And yep! I mean, normally I’m not all about balls and fancy schmancy tea parties and whatever-I would have totally preferred a moon bounce-but this is aight.” Lea paused for a moment and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I don’t understand why it’s always fancy shmancy like this, by the way. Like, I’m getting married, so what? But don’t worry, we’ll have some less formal stuff later on.” Another cheerful grin.

At Hui-Bawa’s comment about the palace, Lea rolled her eyes with the same good-natured humor, again. “Oh, gosh, this place is pretty much a village in and of itself, not gonna lie. Like, my sisters and my parents and I obviously don’t need this much space to live. But you know, we’ve got some boring meeting rooms and stuff. The first floor-the one we’re on now, actually-is basically a museum at this point, though obviously it’s closed to the public right now thanks to the ball. I think our libraries are pretty dope, but holy cow it’s really easy to get lost in them if you aren’t careful. Hit me up if you want, like, a map or something.” Lea laughed, more to herself than anything, wondering how in the world she’d be able to draw up a map of the libraries. “But yeah, I think my favorite part about living here is the fact that we’ve got enough space on the palace property for animals! My mom and sister let me make some cool animal refuges and stuff by the forest. It’s dope.”

Liv peered up at Genevieve, quirking her mouth as she studied the words. Latin Google Translate was known to be absolutely dreadful (as she had once found out, by trying to ask Edwin to pass the salt at a state dinner - and instead inadvertently asking him about a dead relative!) but having the English written out as well was very helpful. That said, she was still hopeless at verbalizing her thoughts. It took her several seconds before she dared open her mouth, testing the words awkwardly as she spoke them.

“It - is okay. I - I.. the fault is of me - didamnate, verba? - English. I - reading is more easy, of English, sed-” She cut herself off, shaking her head and very nearly burying her face in her hands as her cheeks flushed.

Gods damn it all, why was she so stupid?! Everyone else was doing just fine with the language of Aciras, and here she was, her accent so thick and awkward and the words not making it out of her fat ugly mouth without being horribly butchered. It was no wonder no one would want to marry her. Gods. Father was going to be furious, she just knew that some reporter or another would call her out on her lack of spoken eloquence and then it would be hell to pay when she returned home. All the words were there, they just would not get out of her head and onto her tongue and out into the air in an orderly fashion. Which of course would mean that no one else would see them forming, and would rather just assume her an idiot.

She just prayed that Genevieve would understand. Picking her own phone out of its clutch for what felt like the hundredth time, she flicked her text size setting to the biggest possible, then opened a note document and started typing. It was awkward and slow, but the words laid themselves out much better when she didn’t have to worry about pronunciation and inflection too.

Apologizing, the English to me is ... unkind. Such it is that I can hear and understand; speech is nonetheless challenging. I do learn but slow. To read is best. Apologizing again - I am happy to meet you, Genevieve.

She prayed that the other princess wasn’t judging her for needing to look back at her phone for the spelling - such letter patterns simply didn’t happen in Latin and the last thing she wanted to do was offend someone by misspelling or pronouncing their name! - and also prayed that the judgement didn’t extend to her intensely concentrated expression.

Dammit, she was trying her hardest. To friends I am called Livi or Liv, and I should like to be called a friend of you. From which kingdom are you? If it is permissible to ask.

(Collab between: @lady horatio @ayzrules @Amethyst @Bloonewb)

Akio couldn’t help but feel bad. The princess was obviously nervous and frightened. He wondered if he just made it worse, even if he was trying to be as kind and respectful as he could be. He just had tried to make a good impression and get to meet and know the girl who he was engaged to. He felt incredibly unlucky in these moments but he would still try to be kind and collected. Maybe if he could show her that he was gentle and nurturing, she could begin to open up to him a little.

He examined the cut on her fingers looking as close as he could for any glass. After not seeing any, he smiled small before delivering the good news to Valentine. He knew the cut wasn’t very deep. She definitely didn’t need stitches but it would still be best to disinfect the cut and wrap it in band aids to prevent infection in the future. She would only need it for a couple days and then the cut would scab over and heal on its own.

As the attendant came out, he kept a careful eye on the princess, trying to make sure that she was comfortable and not stressing out too much. As she gave her hand to him, he thanked her before grabbing the first aid kit from the attendant. He pulled out an alcohol pad and looked at her with a smile. “This will sting.” He told her. He decided though that before cleaning the cut that he would tell her something, hopefully to distract her at least a little from the pain. “My brother actually wants be a doctor. He has been training for years and he is applying to the medical school in Talulia. Without him I would probably be freaking out in this situation.” He wipes the cut with the alcohol pad, disinfecting it. He then grabbed some bandaids from the first aid kit and wrapped one around each finger that was cut until it was covered. He heard her small thank you and he looked up at her and smiled. “You’re welcome Valentine.” He told her. He then let go of her hand and began to close the first aid kit. “Keep the bandaids on for a day or two, and a bit longer if you think you will pick at it or scratch it.”

He handed the attendant back the first aid kit before standing up and smiling at Valentine. “Well I think that is enough excitement for one night. Can I walk you back to your room Princess or do you wish to stay?”

Valentine reclaimed her hand and tucked it in close to her body. Prince Akio was still talking, but she could tell he was trying to be helpful. She wished, briefly, that he was something other than kind. If he wasn't so kind then perhaps she could have found it within herself to hate him, but with him trying so very hard she instead felt guilt for that wish, guilt that she couldn't reciprocate his effort properly, guilt that she was inevitably going to let him down.

And then he asked if she wanted to stay or leave, and a fleeting sting of anger flitted through her heart. Did she want to leave? She'd wanted nothing else since her arrival! But how dare this stranger decide what was "enough excitement"?

The anger didn't last. She couldn't maintain it for long, not here. But she couldn't leave either. She'd made a promise, to Anton and to herself. Valentine shook her head no, that she didn't want to be walked back to her room, and made herself uncross her arms and fold them neatly in her lap. She fixed her gaze firmly on her clasped hands, and did her best not to look as miserable as she felt.

---

Lea had gotten up early-ish the day after the ball because she was simply too energized to stay in bed any longer. The welcome ball had been fun, and Lea was definitely looking forward to getting to know some of the other princes and princesses better!

Brunch was scheduled for 11:00 AM (though Lea was supposed to get there at 10:00 AM, to help with setting up). So that meant Lea had a couple hours before she had to be anywhere. Yippee!!!

Just in case, though, Lea pulled up the official itinerary on her phone, her eyes skimming past the official welcome stuff (the ball had been so fun!!!!!) and down to the second day. Yep, there it was-"dressy casual" (as in, don't look like a total slob but nice jeans and tops were chill) brunch at eleven. Nice.

Still in bed, Lea began her daily routine of checking half a dozen social media apps, starting with Facebook and ending with Snapchat, with Twitter and Instagram and who knew what else sandwiched in between. The hashtag "#ThatHat" had blown up overnight, thanks to Prince Quentin's outfit-Lea giggled out loud at all the photos-and she quickly scrolled through pic after pic from the night before as she responded to Snapchats (right after she sent a few silly selfies to maintain her streaks, of course. She had multiple 200+ day streaks, and there was no way that she was ever going to break them!).

In the 'subscriptions' section of her Snapchat stories, Lea mindlessly flicked through the article posted by the Lynston Daily, not really absorbing the words as she skipped straight to the photos. There were some nice candids, and she had to stifle a loud bark of laughter at the sight of Quentin's hat in the background of a photograph of her. She screenshotted the pic and posted it to her story-#ThatHat strikes again, she captioned the picture, adding a couple "LOL" emojis afterwards.

Once she was done with that, Lea figured that it was time to get out of bed. She quickly brushed her teeth and fixed her hair (which didn't take that long, since she liked to keep it short). Her make-up was mostly pretty lowkey (though all vegan, of course); lip gloss, a bit of mascara, a touch of highlighter, and sparkly, bubblegum-pink eye shadow. Skipping over to her closet, Lea selected a pair of light blue jean-capris and a flowy floral top. She completed the ensemble with a lavender-colored cardigan, a pair of cute wedges, and some fun jewelry (hoop earrings and a pretty necklace, to be specific).

Lea hung out on her phone and laptop for a short while, sending her usual barrage of "OOTD" Snaps and posting some very extra pics/selfies on Instagram before she decided that it was about time she headed downstairs. The brunch thingymajiggy was happening in one of the larger tea parlors, as opposed to the fancy-shmancy dining room or whatever. It would be a casual, buffet-style thing, because Lea was never one for being super duper formal, and she was already excited to get her hands on some vegan ice cream. Whoever said that you can't have ice cream for breakfast can fight me, right here and right now, Lea thought to herself, wryly.

The parlor was near the back of the palace, close to one of the secondary libraries. The far wall of the parlor featured pretty French doors that opened up into a small courtyard, with a stone fountain and bird feeders and trees and daffodils and conveniently placed benches. The parlor itself had a really fun color scheme, in Lea's opinion-the wallpaper was a warm, teal-greenish color, decorated with a white floral pattern. The gleaming wooden floor was a deep brown color, polished until Lea swore that she could see her reflection in it. There were some fun rugs spread across the floor as well.

The furniture of the parlor was pretty old-from the late-nineteenth century, if Lea was remembering it correctly. The sofas, settees, chaise lounges, and chairs had this lovely blue silk brocade, and they were super comfy, too. The small side tables and coffee tables were scattered throughout the room, and there were paintings of flowers (as well as vases of real-life flowers, most of them a hella pretty pink color) lining the walls. All in all, the parlor was sort of reminiscent to the vintage tropic-punk vibe from the Young family's mansion in Crazy Rich Asians. Though the Lyntons didn't have a giant stuffed tiger mounted on a pedestal in a corner, unfortunately.

Lea watched as people began bringing in covered platters and trays and setting them down on the sideboards against the wall. One of the kitchen employees brought out the chocolate fountain, and Lea squee-ed in delight-she L-O-V-E-D chocolate fountains, and besides. Contrary to popular belief, many varieties of high-quality chocolate didn't have milk in them! There were also scones and pastries and oatmeal and tea, plus eggs and bacon and stuff. And smoothies, and fruit, and cakes, and tarts, and bagels, and muffins. Yum!

Lea snagged herself an apple and helped direct the set-up process with the event manager. Once it was 10:45, most everything was ready. Lea sat down and made herself comfortable, before whipping out her phone and taking some pictures and videos for her two dozen social media accounts. She couldn't wait for everyone else to get there!

The welcome ball had been relatively enjoyable, as such things went. She'd done some mingling, talked with her cousins and with the Brittanians and some of the others. Of course, Rhia knew she'd also had more to eat than she should've, and that meant she hit the gym early the day after. A few miles on the elliptical made her feel a lot less guilty about the upcoming brunch too.

Once she was done working out, Rhia took a quick cool shower and changed into nicer clothing, a loose black skirt and a bright asymmetric top that made her think of butterflies. She tied her hair back with a folded kerchief sporting a rainbow butterfly pattern on a black background, grabbed a butterfly wrist cuff and matching earrings, and headed out to find where people were at.

She found Lea waiting for people in the tea parlor designated for the brunch, and Rhia took a seat next to her. "Heya cuz," she said with a wide grin. "Sorry we didn't get more time to chat last night, but such are the hazards of hosting." She looked around to be sure she wouldn't be overheard and lowered her voice. "You seen the news yet? That Hat is the latest in photobombing. Between his height and the Hat, Quentin is visible in a full third of the photos from last night."

Ivelynne ended the day of the welcome ball with a shower and basically flopping into her bed after saying goodnight to Talya. She'd wished she'd talked to more people but there were so many and it was a little daunting. She wasn't exactly shy, but she'd always found it awkward just kinda walking up to a stranger and saying "Hi." Once she got to know them though, you could have trouble shutting her up, especially if she got to talking about games or something else they shared an interest in. She already missed her Twitch community at home.

Ivy woke up at 9 AM to get ready (and help her sister get ready). Since the brunch was mostly pretty casual, or at least as casual as nobles could be, she didn't spend nearly as much time on her makeup this time. That said it was still a good bit. She also decided on a much less...old fashioned? attire, deciding on a cute dark blue, short summer dress with flowers and butterflies with matching heels, although much less harsh ones than the ones she wore at the ball, and flower shaped earrings.

She decided to let Talya arrive when she wanted to and headed there alone. Apparently, she was an early bird, only Lea and Rhia were there. She hadn't met the latter woman yet. She supposed now was as good a time as any. She walked over next to the other two and smiled and giggled, gesturing a little at Rhia, "Good afternoon. Look, it seems we decided on similar styles this time. We didn't get much time to talk yesterday. It's nice to meet you!"

Ivy looked around, trying to decide where to sit, at least until her sister got here. "Um, do you mind if I sit next to you? I don't mean to intrude it's just....no one else is here yet, you know?" She smiled at them.

---

As was his habit, Alejandro was up by eight or eight-thirty in the morning, though he would not be seen outside his chambers until at least ten-thirty, of course-there was much to be done in terms of getting ready for the day.

He slipped into a pair of black skinny jeans, paired with what would have been an elegantly subdued sheer silk shirt (albeit one that hugged his lean torso a little too tightly), except for the fact that there was a bubblegum-pink floral pattern hand-sewn on top of the sheer, almost-translucent fabric. A pair of sparkly silver studs that brought back memories of citrusy shampoo and a morning spent with a certain Pólemesian prince went on his ears, and a simple golden watch went around Alejandro's right wrist. Finally, he brushed out his long blonde hair and curled it ever so slightly, so that it fell in sleek waves a few inches past his shoulders. He opted for a pair of black heeled boots (embellished with pink topaz gemstones that complemented the flowers on his shirt in the most delightful manner), and applied a light layer of foundation. There. That was just about as "dressy casual" as Alejandro ever got.

At precisely nine-thirty, Vhalery de Mirabel strode into his rooms. He grinned cheekily at her. "My darlingest Mirry!" he greeted, kissing her on the cheek. Vhalery said nothing and bore it, clearly used to the Castilyan prince's overwhelming extraness.

There was a tray of fruit-raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, mango-all wonderfully arranged in a rainbow of deliciousness. Alejandro nibbled thoughtfully on a strawberry as he gazed up at Vhalery's impassive chocolate-brown eyes. Once they were well and truly alone, Vhalery began to speak. "How was the ball?"

"Oh, the ball was absolutely divine," he replied.

Vhalery gave him a hard look. "I see. I suppose you enjoyed getting to know everyone?"

Alejandro studied his friend for a moment, before the realization hit him. "So you overheard my conversation with Ronny, then?" he asked, grinning cheekily. "I must say, he was not the most articulate of people. And flirting with him was like talking to a brick wall, mmm." Alejandro rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Better than Prince Edwin, I suppose. Now he would have taken everything much too seriously, and then given unnecessarily verbose replies." He threw a playful wink towards Vhalery...

...who was not buying his act at all. She arched an eyebrow at him, knowing exactly who and what he had been thinking about while he was speaking to Andronikos. She said nothing, of course, but Alejandro knew. And Vhalery knew that he knew.

He bit down, hard, on the inside of his cheek. Damn Vhalery de Mirabel for looking so much like her brother, he thought, almost painfully.

The two of them gossiped for a bit, and although Alejandro did most of the talking, he valued Vhalery's insight almost just as he valued, well, his own. Vhalery had been many things in her life-soldier, spy, almost-bodyguard, friend, and sister, to name a few-and she offered a different perspective on things. Though Alejandro found that the two of them usually agreed on what mattered the most.

During a momentary lull in their conversation, Alejandro pulled out his phone and flicked through Twitter. "I have to say, my dear Mirry," he began thoughtfully, glancing up to meet her brown eyes, "I am quite impressed by the...skill, I suppose, of these Aciran journalists."

"How so?" Vhalery questioned, unimpressed.

Alejandro shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I cannot imagine that many of the writers were invited to the festivities. Certainly not anybody from the tabloids. And yet, here they are, printing stories like they were watching the entire time." A delicate pause. "Of course, reporters at home have nothing on our network, but this is Aciras, not Castilya."

Vhalery understood immediately. "I can look into it today," she answered smoothly. "I have an idea of where to start."

Alejandro beamed at her. "Splendid, my darlingest Mirry, absolutely splendid."

They gossiped for a bit longer. Vhalery and Alejandro finished the fruit. The clock read precisely 10:28 AM.

Alejandro stretched, luxuriously. "Well, I think that's enough for now, Mirry," he remarked mildly. "The day is only getting started." Vhalery nodded, gathered her things, and left. Alejandro stayed within his rooms, thinking, for another seventeen minutes before prancing out into the corridor at exactly 10:45 AM.

The parlor where brunch was taking place was evidently located on the first floor of the palace. When he arrived, he took a quick glance around the room, noting who was already there, as well as the decor. I like the color scheme, he mused to himself as he walked inside.

He found Lea Lynton, Rhiannon Cadfael, and Ivelynne Burnley already present. "Good morning, good morning," he said, flashing them a wide, cheerful grin. "I do hope that you all slept well." He breezed past them and helped himself to a cup of tea before sitting down in one of the vintage loveseats, at the edge of the small circle that the three princesses made. He took a sip of tea and discreetly positioned himself so that he would have an excellent view of the entire room.

(Interacting with @shylarah and @Ezmeralda)

---

The morning after the welcome ball, Mai called her uncle.

"Uncle, it's me," she said, smiling when she heard his familiar voice on the other end of the line. They spoke in the obscure dialect of the mountain village that Mai had grown up in. Needless to say, even if someone managed to listen in on their conversation, it would have been difficult for them to decipher the words...unless they themselves knew how to speak the dialect.

Which was, for all intents and purposes, highly unlikely, given that the village had been burned to the ground by socialist forces not long after Ming had come out of hiding.

Mai had thought that the call would be alright, as did the adviser who had come to Aciras with her. Besides, it wasn't like they would be talking about anything of great importance, anyway. Mai just wanted to say hi.

"I hope you aren't busy," she said.

She could hear her uncle's smile in his voice. "No, not at all," he said. "It's already nine here. I was thinking about going to bed, actually. I'm getting old."

Mai giggled. "Uncle, you are not old!" she protested lightly.

"Oh, yes I am! I have white hair already," Ming replied in a completely serious tone of voice.

Mai rolled her eyes. "How is Zhou? How many people has he inadvertently offended since I left?"

A rumble of laughter. "Oh, none at all, mei mei," he answered, using his own pet name for her. When the two of them had been traveling across Liang, they had taken on numerous different identities, and it got to the point where it was just easier for Ming to call Mai xiao mei mei, which translated roughly to "little girl" or "little sister". It was a generic term, and did not have to be used in a familial context, and it just stuck. "Everyone he has offended was one-hundred percent...advertent."

"Uncle!" Mai exclaimed, unable to keep the laughter from spilling out of her lips. "You are just as bad as he is."

"Now, Mai," he said teasingly, "I'm not as bad as your cousin. I have never taken the si gua slices out of si gua and egg soup."

Mai's eyes widened. "No. He did that?"

"Oh yes," said Ming, amused. "This morning."

"Heavens above," Mai breathed, rubbing her forehead. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was, mei mei," Ming intoned gravely. "I wish I was."

They moved on to other things; the ball from the night before, for example.

"How was it?" asked Ming. "How was Prince Leonard?"

"The ball was fine," answered Mai. "Same with the prince."

A pause. "That's good to hear. And how is Aciras?"

"Good, I suppose. The palace is very nice, though I do prefer the one at home. I do not understand Westerners and their...proclivity of blasting the air conditioner at frigid temperatures twenty-four hours a day. It is always so cold! I'd imagine Princess Ayleanna has already tried to do something about this, given her interests, but to no avail."

Her uncle let out a low chuckle. "Well, I should let you get on with your day," he said, mock-yawning. "It's late. I need to go to sleep."

Mai laughed softly. "If you say so, uncle," she replied, and she bade her uncle farewell before hanging up.

Figuring that it was as good of a time as any to get dressed, Mai first brushed out her hair, deciding that she would put it into a messy (but artful! Very artful) bun. She curled the ends of her hair, slightly, so that it wouldn't be boring and stick-straight for the entire day.

Next, she slid into the shirt she had picked out-an off-the-shoulder top of black velvet with long sleeves that hugged her figure becomingly (Mai was never making the mistake of wearing spaghetti straps or a strapless anything in this frigid icebox of a palace, ever again). She put on a high-waisted pleated skirt of crimson satin, and a pair of black velvet heels with bows at the ankles. Finally, to complete the ensemble, Mai put on a pair of dangly gold and ruby earrings and a thin red choker necklace.

Mai kept make-up light, or her version of "light", anyway, applying her usual mixture of foundation and concealer before brushing on mascara and a hint of pink blush. She skipped her customary smokey eyeshadow today, instead opting for only eyeliner, though the rose-red lipstick remained.

Mai examined herself in the mirror, and frowned, slightly. She found a pair of razor-sharp hairpins with pretty red beads dangling off the ends and arranged them in her bun. The burgundy-colored clutch that she carried had a nail file that was much too sharp to be just a nail file, as well as a slew of make-up products, a compact mirror, spare tissues, and her phone.

Mai decided to get some food, since it was still kind of early. She ate as she checked her phone. The fresh fruit was absolutely delicious, and the fruit smoothies were simply divine. Mai hadn't really had many fruit smoothies in Liang (they just weren't that popular, you know?), so she took the opportunity that morning to try as many fruit smoothies as she possibly could (though she'd limited herself to half a dozen out of pity for the kitchen staff, who were probably up to their ears in work as it was).

Mai wandered out of her room at around ten-thirty, knowing that the casual brunch was not for another half-hour or so. With nothing to do, Mai explored the palace a little, before she spotted the parlor that brunch was taking place in. Enticed by the prospect of tea, Mai slipped inside.

Lea Lynton and her cousin, Rhiannon of Wales, were already there, as were Alejandro and Ivelynne Burnley. Mai smiled a greeting, murmuring a soft "good morning" as she sat down and made herself comfortable at one of the couches, examining the array of pastries laid out on the coffee table. Shrugging, she picked up a teeny-tiny cream puff and popped it into her mouth. Ooh! It was good.

Next, Mai poured herself some oolong tea (there was a big table filled with teapots in the back), admiring the dainty tea cup that she had picked up. Everything in the room was just so pretty, like a dollhouse. She took a sip of tea, then turned to the person sitting diagonally from where she was.

"I do apologize for being forward, Princess Ivelynne," Mai began, smiling warmly at her, "but I love the dress you are wearing. As well as your jewelry."



(Interacting with @Ezmeralda)

The gala was finally over, and it was a relief to shut the door to her room behind her and just sag against it for a minute. She wanted nothing more than to peel off her dress and collapse into--

Bed. The sheets. The sheets she hadn't dealt with earlier, that smelled like fresh linens instead of dust and mothballs or people or grass or anything tolerable. Valentine bit back a sob. She did not have the energy to deal with them now. She should have known she wouldn't, but she'd just wanted to get the damn party over with. Three months of this! How the hell was she going to manage?

She grabbed her small bag with the essentials and left the room and its lurking horror behind. Anton was in the adjacent suite -- a shame they weren't adjoining, but what could you do? A soft tap on the door and Ianos opened it. The manservant took one look at her face and stepped aside to let her past, relieving her of her bag in an unintrusive motion and shutting the door behind her.

Anton had removed his jacket and shoes, and unbuttoned his shirt partway, but he'd not had time to actually change. Valentine didn't care. She darted in for the hug she desperately needed, knowing he'd catch her and pull her close and hold her while she broke down and cried.

It was some time before she could manage to say anything. By then she'd been coaxed into taking a seat on the sofa, still huddled against Anton's side, her own shoes discarded on the floor and her feet tucked under her. In bits and fragments, Valentine tried to explain why she was so upset. She didn't want Anton angry with Prince Akio, after the man had done nothing but try to be kind. But in its way, that was even worse than if he'd been absolutely loathsome. She felt guilty for her inability to reciprocate, to talk about...anything. And while he tried to understand he didn't really, and she could see that she was upsetting him. She didn't know what to do about it. She didn't know how to avoid that. And she didn't want to hurt him -- and she was going to eventually, if only by backing out of the engagement.

She didn't manage a great deal of coherence, but Anton pieced together most of it, listening and soothing her as best he could. Poor Blue was emotionally exhausted, crying as much from the release of stress as anything else. She'd stayed for the length of the party; even if she had retreated to somewhere quiet for most of it she hadn't actually left. He felt a twinge of guilt over that. He'd pushed her to go in the first place. Had she stayed because of that, or for some other reason of her own? It could be hard to tell with her.

He said little of importance, mostly the sort of inane things that worked to calm skittish horses and skittish children. And when Val was done talking and the pattern of her sobbing breath had evened out, Anton gave her a hug and pulled away a little. "It's late, 'Tina. I should be getting ready for bed. And so should you."

She froze, and immediately the prince knew his mistake. She'd brought a blanket and her "travel pillow", the ones that never saw the inside of a dryer in an age when hardly anyone hung things out to dry. Usually that was enough to keep her nightmares at bay.

Usually they had adjoining rooms, and nobody expected Valentine to play the dutiful fiancee. Usually she hadn't already pushed herself to her limit and past it. Usually she'd put them out right away, to help get rid of the inevitable clean-linen scent. Had she found the time for that earlier, between the shock of the news and her tardy preparations for the evening? Judging by her reaction, he doubted it. She'd make do if he asked. He didn't even need to lie and tell her she'd be fine -- and if she wasn't, she was old enough that she no longer sought him out every time she had bad dreams.

But the memory of little Blue at half her current age came to mind, the brittle and haunted expression she'd had so often then and the pain in her eyes when she'd woken from nighttime terrors. Anton couldn't inflict that on her, and tonight that was what it amounted to. He knew that.

They all knew that, if Ianos' raised eyebrow as he quietly held up Val's bag was any indication. "Tell you what," Anton said, cutting right through her soft plea as if he hadn't heard it. She was ashamed to be asking, so he'd spare her that as well, though he couldn't help with her self-criticism over needing it. "Why don't you go get changed and ready. By the time you get back I'll be done too, and then we can sit a little longer. ...Bring your blanket." He didn't extend the invitation in as many words, but it was there, and the flash of relief in Val's eyes told him she heard it and accepted.

It was harder than she expected to get up and go back to her suite to take care of evening toiletries. Even so, they were things she ought to be doing, so Valentine wiped off her eyeliner and brushed her teeth and took care of the rest of it. Then in slippers and pajamas with her pillow in her arms and her blanket draped over her shoulders, she made her way back to Anton's room. He let her in himself this time, and together they plopped down on the couch.

"I meant it, Niko," she said a bit later, after they'd arranged themselves comfortably and few minutes had passed. She'd ended up lying with her feet propped up on the couch arm and her head leaned against Anton's leg. "I don't want to hurt him, if it can be helped." She'd said it already, sort of, but it bore reiterating. "He seems kind. He was trying so hard." She paused, lifting her eyes from her examination of the upholstery to meet Anton's gaze. "He doesn't want me. No one with any sense would. But he tried, and he was kind." Val blinked sleepily, slipping from Greek to Luxèmi. "If...if I absolutely must be married to someone...I would rather they be kind...."

"Do you want to marry him?" Anton asked, now in Luxèmi as well. He'd have to make sure Prince Akio was better than just kind, but letting the marriage go through would be considerably easier than trying to call off the engagement.

"No...I want...."

"What do you want, Tina?"

Valentine didn't answer, and after a couple more minutes Anton dared to lift her head enough to replace himself with a pillow, and carefully teased enough slack out of her balled-up blanket to achieve some semblance of tucking-in. He brushed her hair out of her face with a small smile. Sleep was the only time she ever let it stay that way. "Sweet dreams, Tina," he whispered, before taking himself off to bed as well.

~~~~~~

The morning after the party, Akio had woken up to his brother knocking on his door. He quickly got up and went to the door and opened it for him. He smiled small at him as he walked in and went over to his bed, he flopped down on the cushy sheets and smiled at Akio. “So how was your betrothed last night?” He asked him. Akio walked back over and flopped down next to Aito. “I don’t know how to say this nicely so I’m just going to say it, it was a disaster.” He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand. Aito sat up and looked at him with a frown. “What was wrong with her?” he asked him.

“She didn’t talk. She said a total of two words the entire night. And then at some point she got so freaked out that she broke a champagne glass and cut her fingers on the glass. I tried to help her and I ended up getting it disinfected and wrapped up but it took a lot of work. I came back to this room right after. It was enough excitement for me.” He said and then let out a groan of frustration.

Aito looked at his brother and sighed. “Well you have to marry her in a few years Akio. You should try to get along with her. I don’t know, try buying her a gift or something? Maybe flowers? Girls love flowers. Oh and you could get white lilies since it's one of the flowers on our flag and its prized by Luxieme!” He said with a smile.

Akio nodded and looked at him. “Ok I will do that. Now get out so I can change and go buy some flowers.” Aito nodded and quickly walked out of the room and back into his own.

Akio got dressed into a blue and white sweater and some white jeans. He threw on a pair of his black shoes and made sure his hair was nice and tidy before he went out to find the palace florist. When he found the man taking care of some bouquets of flowers, he walked up and quickly found a nice arrangement of white lilies and pink carnations. He paid the florist and took the bouquet and set it in a vase which he also bought. He then made his way back up to his room and found a small card in his room. He then grabbed a pen and wrote down "I hope your hand is feeling better. I’m sorry for anything I did to upset you."

He then signed his name on the bottom in both English and Talulian. He set the card inside the petals of a carnation, so it stuck up and was noticeable. He then went to the room that he knew that Valentine was in and he knocked on the door. The door swung ajar at his knock. There was no sign she'd ever returned to the room the night before; a navy suitcase stood unopened near the entryway, and there was not so much as a paper out of place in what could be seen of the room beyond. He could tell that the bed was unslept in and he was a bit worried. He turned and saw a butler at the end of the hall and he called for them. “Do you know where Princess Edelessa is?” He asked them. As they shook their head no Akio let out a sigh and thought to himself for a moment. He then thought about the prince who had been seen with Valentine again and again. He knew that they must be friends. He also knew that the prince had a nickname like Valentine but he couldn’t remember it. He searched his mind for that name. “Do you know where Prince Ant- Andro- Adrien- Androniko’s room is?” He asked not only questioning the room but the name as well. He then saw as he pointed to the next room over and he nodded. He smiled and thanked him and then went to the door and knocked on it and stood there waiting for someone to answer.

A manservant opened the door promptly after Akio's knock, just enough to see who it was. When Akio asked for Valentine, the man bowed politely. "I will ask his highness if he knows where she is. Please excuse me." With that the door shut again.

Ianos knew full well where Valentine was, of course. The young lady was up and dressed after her night on the couch, but showed no sign of wanting to seek out breakfast. Instead she'd taken a seat by the window and was very determinedly focusing on her phone. But even as he turned to address Prince Anton, Ianos knew better than to think she wasn't aware of the knock, or to believe she wasn't listening to every word. He was speaking as much to her as he was to the Athenian prince, who started at once to tell him to send their visitor away.

Valentine closed her eyes at the mention of her fiance's name, gathering her nerve. As much as she hated the mess she didn't hate him. "No," she interjected in soft Greek. "I will see him." She took a deep breath as she turned off her phone and slid it in her everyday purse, trying to stand straight though her shoulders inevitably drew inwards. "Ianos...thank you." It was a quiet dismissal, and he bowed and stepped out of the way.

---

When the door opened again it was not the servant but rather Valentine herself there, making an effort to look Akio in the eye even though that also let him see her own face. She was still scared but she was trying, at least. She had on a pair of loose, comfortable black slacks and a simple shirt in pastel rose, the impression one of someone just sitting around the house than planning on entertaining ranking visitors.

As a manservant came to the door, Akio asked for Valentine, hoping that Anton knew where she was, if she wasn’t in there with him. As the door shut, he looked down at the flowers in his hands and sighed. He was hoping that this would go well and that Valentine and him could get a fresh start or have a better relationship. When the door opened again he smiled at Valentine, seeing how much more comfortable she looked in her own clothes. “Good morning Princess. I got you these flowers, hoping that I could make up last night to you” He told her moving the flowers in the vase a bit closer to her.

She'd been in the middle of pulling the door open and letting Prince Akio in when she spotted the flowers. No, not just any flowers. Valentine froze, the knob slipping from her loose fingers under the door's momentum as it swung wide, and a thin, whimpering noise escaping her. The color had drained from her face, and her blue eyes were wide and glassy.

White lilies.

Anton wasn't exactly eavesdropping, but he noticed Val freeze and was already making his way over when he saw disaster. With a curse he knocked the offending vase from Akio's hands and shoved the man back, putting himself between Valentine and any glimpse of the flowers. She didn't move, staring through him at a scene only she was privy to.

White lilies, covered in blood.

It was one of the things she remembered in painful clarity. The palace always had flowers in vases all over, particularly lilies of pure white -- some silk, but many of them real. Most of the vases were knocked over, the flowers trampled beyond recognition. But she'd found one, large and ceramic, tipped against the wall from where it stood on the floor. A crimson stain edged in a browning crust cut across the white of the petals.

Just beyond she'd found the first of the bodies.

"Blue? Blue, focus." Carefully Anton put a hand on her shoulder, prepared for the gasp, the flinch, the look of heart-wrenching terror as she tried to move between memory and reality and didn't quite make it all the way in the first go. "Listen to me, Blue, you're not there. You're somewhere safe" -- if "safe" included "where idiot princes will shove flowers in your face"; it was debatable -- "and no one is going to hurt you." He kept talking in the same level voice, watching her face until she focused properly on him and her expression started to scrunch into misery before he drew her into a tight hug, letting her hide her face against his chest. She was shaking, unsteady enough on her feet that he took a moment to make sure he wasn't going to have to catch her before turning a searing glare on Akio.

It was a few minutes longer before anyone was comfortable handing Valentine off to Ianos, who escorted the still-trembling girl back into the room to sit down. Anton waited for the door to swing to behind the pair before rounding fully on the other prince. "What the hell were you thinking?"

As Prince Anton knocked his flowers out of his hands and pushed him away, Akio fell onto the ground. He glared up at Anton before he crawled over to the now broken vase, he picked up some of the glass pieces and put them into a pile with the flowers. Every now and again he would look up and he could see how scared Valentine looked. What had he done now? How would him trying to be nice go wrong this time? Of course it had to go wrong, it always did with Valentine. In his mind Valentine was just seeming to be more and more like a brat. Would she not accept flowers if they weren’t her favorite? Would she whine about it to Anton later and then not tell him anything so he could learn? Probably. She was frustrating and stubborn and he was so tired of having to try and deal with her and her problems and it was only the second day. He cleaned the glass as much as he could, knowing that Valentine might be dumb enough to run out in bare feet and cut herself again and then when he would try to help he was sure that Anton would yell at him again. He sighed and let out a groan of anger and frustration as he piled all the flowers and glass on top of each other. He could probably save the flowers and give them to Aito or his mom or just leave them in his room. He then stood up as Anton closed the door and he looked at him. “What do you mean? All I was thinking was doing something nice.” He then gestured towards the vase on the floor with the flowers and shook his head. “I paid for those. I paid for those flowers and the vase and you just broke them. What the hell?” He was already a tall and large person especially compared to Anton but he tried to broaden his shoulders and seemingly look bigger just to appear threatening.

Righteous anger flooded Anton. Had the idiot prince seen nothing of Blue's reaction, that he was so upset over the loss of what had caused her panic?! He grabbed the taller man's shirt and pulled hard, bringing Akio's head down where he could get at it. And then he punched the other prince in the face. "Are you blind as well as stupid?" he demanded. "Or did you just have your head up your behind while making your assumptions?"

The moment was quick as Anton pulled him down to his face and punched him. His head snapped back and he felt his face for a second as he listened to Anton and shook his head. “I'd like to point out that I am very smart, it's kinda the whole point behind our kingdom.” He said and removed his hand from his eye. “Secondly have you ever considered that Valentine is a little spoiled brat who obviously has some pretty terrible mental problems?” He asked him, he was partly distracting the other man, trying not to be too physical yet. “I'm no doctor but my brother is. I can go get him now and we can diagnose Val with insanity right now.” He said to him.

Anton could not believe what he was hearing. "If you're so smart," he snapped, the words hissing between his teeth as he tried to keep from shouting, "then consider doing your research! And perhaps a little thinking! Or were you just going to step up to the throne in two years without knowing a lick of the nation's history? Edelessa D'Argent was present for the first of the Lumerie massacres. She was found weeks later in the palace wreckage, where they were still in the process of recovering the dead. It's on godsdamned Wikipedia! And if you think for one moment that every effort hasn't been made to help her, then perhaps your brother can educate you on how trauma works."

“Maybe I didn’t do that much research because I wanted to get to know this girl from her and not what the media says. We all know how terrible they are and how they twist words. Maybe I wanted to get to know her but I'm pretty sure that I could learn a lot more about her from the internet then I ever could from her. I've dealt with people with post-traumatic stress disorder and guess what, if she really has gotten treatment then she's not talking because she’s a little brat who would rather just be quiet than try to get to know people.” He said with anger in his words, pointing at the door as he called Val a brat. “I spend my free time preparing to rule my country, not looking up information on a girl I'm going to meet in person anyways.” He then shook his head and looked at the flowers. “And I'm sorry that she saw a massacre and dead bodies but I in no way see how that relates to flowers. And even if it did, you didn’t have to be a dick and knock them on the ground and break a vase. I guess both of you are just spoiled brats.”

Anton swore and swung for Akio again, but the taller prince dodged out of the way and tripped him so he went sprawling. He scrambled back to his feet, still furious enough that he wanted to strangle the buffoon before him but recognizing that he'd at least need to go about it a smarter way. And the gall of the man, to imply that he'd been preparing to rule when everyone knew his brother would inherit -- unless there was truth to the rumors of his abdication. That could be useful to know.

"You have a lot of nerve," Anton said, his eyes narrowed. "If she was a brat, she wouldn't have gone at all last night. She wouldn't have turned up at my door after the party, in tears because she'd pushed herself as hard as she could and still saw it as a failure. She wouldn't have made the effort to see you this morning. And she certainly wouldn't be so worried about hurting you." He glared at Akio. "Here's some advice, so you stop making her so miserable. No white flowers. No lilies. The more people there are, the harder it is for her. You're still a stranger, and all the smiles in the world won't change that overnight. Pay attention to when she's tense and back the hell off instead of badgering her." He paused, looking the Talulian prince up and down. Valentine didn't deserve having to deal with this lout. "You have no idea how hard she's worked to get to where she is now. And she might not want to upset you, but know this: if you keep upsetting her, I will find a way to make you regret it."

Akio shook his head with a smirk and looked at him. He then stepped closer to him and looked down at him, shadowing over him. “That girl doesn’t give a damn about me. She would happily watch me struggle to try and make any connection with her in the next few years and then call it all off at the last minute. I backed off last night when she seemed tense. I tiptoed around her and tried to make her feel comfortable. When she hurt her fingers I lead her out of the party and to a quiet place so don’t you dare suggest that im not trying.” He then pushed Anton and glared at him. “If you know her so well then why don’t you marry her? I think she would be much happier with you than she would ever be with me. If I married her she would freak out about every little god damned thing. I wouldn’t be able to get one bit of work done because every moment would be ‘Oh Valentine's freaking out about living in a cave’ and ‘oh Valentine is having a panic attack because she saw a flower’ and ‘Valentine doesn’t appreciate anything that anyone does’ because it always has to be about her and how she’s messed up. If you don’t fix yourself to work with Valentine than her best friend will beat you up until she is the center of the universe.” He then looked at him and bit his lip. “I don’t have time to cater to her every want and need. I’m not her servant. I think everyone would have been happier if she would just let her broken kingdom collapse into oblivion.” He then backed away and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if we get married or not. I can’t help her or her kingdom when she doesn’t want help. If she keeps going on this path then Luxieme will fall and she will be out of a job.”

"She is sixteen, you entitled bastard. She found out yesterday that a marriage had been arranged for her. So you're right. She doesn't want to rule and she doesn't want to be forced into a marriage, and if you and your harmful kindness don't want to deal with the issues she has to fight through every day then perhaps you should just break things off now and go crawling back to your hole in the ground.”

“Exactly! She is sixteen. I am twenty-one. She knows nothing about what is actually going to happen in this world and to her and her country if she doesn’t get her shit together. She was allowed to act like the victim for a few years but she has to stop pulling that card eventually.” He then grabbed Anton and pulled his fist back like he would hit him but he didn’t. “You can talk bad about me but if I hear you call Talulia a hole in the ground or something worse I will not be so kind. Remember that my country can buy out your entire country in a minute if we wanted to and we also haven’t lost lives to wars since the 1500s. You can have your problems with me but you can’t say that Talulia doesn't have some of the best politics in the world based off of how we are running. I can’t say the same about your country or hers."

Anton snarled as the other prince grabbed him, bracing for a blow that didn't come. "If you can't handle one frightened girl then I shudder to think how you'd manage in Luxemi politics, because they are--"

Anton cut off suddenly, for Valentine had slipped out of the room and grabbed his hand. "Stop." Her voice carried in the sudden quiet of the hallway. "Please. ...Both of you." She looked over at Prince Akio as the two men separated, and guilt chased misery across her face with a flinch when she saw the damage Anton had inflicted. She took a deep breath and held out a folded slip of paper. "I'm sorry. Y-you should go. ...Later?" That was all she could manage to say, and she didn't quite look at Prince Akio as he took the paper from her quivering fingers. Even if she was able to say more, what else could she say?

He stared at her in shock as she began to talk almost normally. As she looked at him, he quickly covered his eye with his hand knowing that it must be bruising and red. He then looked at the piece of paper that she held out and he gently took it from her hand. He kept it folded in his as he looked at her and nodded. “I'm sorry to upset you Princess. Yes we can talk later.” He said softly before he bowed. He walked over to the pile of glass and flowers on the floor and picked it up before walking back to his room. He then set everything but the paper down onto a table. He then sat in a big cushy chair that was next to a window and he opened the note reading the words from Valentine.

I am sorry. I appreciate your gesture, even if I reacted poorly.
~Valentine
PS please forgive Anton. He--

The note ended with a crossed out portion, and the sentence was never finished.

((first part is written by me; second part, me and BurningWaterfa(ll). Amethyst consulted for both parts))

Ivy smiled at Alejandro, "Good morning, Lord Alejandro. You seem in good spirits."

She turned again as someone addressed her a newcomer she hadn't noticed it seemed, Ivelynne returned the smile, "Good morning, Princess... Mai, was it? We didn't get to talk last night either. I'm glad we're getting the chance now! Please call me Ivy. And I don't think that's too forward at all! You look lovely as well. I love those heels. They're very cute! And that lipstick really makes them pop."

"Can we talk about makeup? Do you think there's such a thing as too much? I often use my makeup as more of....art I suppose so I tend to use a lot in my designs, and I think some people just see it as a big glop on my face..." Ivy giggled. Excited to talk to someone about her passions.

@ayzrules

---

Rhia was the first to arrive, and Lea gave her a cheery wave as she entered the parlor.

Rhia was wearing a black skirt and a colorful kerchief in her hair. As always, her jewelry was on point. "Oooh, I like your earrings," she told her.

When Rhia lowered her voice, Lea instinctively leaned in expectantly, and when she mentioned Quentin's hat, Lea laughed out loud. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, trying (and failing, probably) to keep her voice low. "I know, right? It's already trending on Twitter. I can't believe it." She grinned. "I wonder if Quentin would let me try it on. Like, I could totally rock a cowgirl outfit, I think. Oooh, I wonder if they have high-heeled cowgirl boots. I'm sure they do. That would be so fun!"

As Lea chattered away, she pulled out her phone and expertly entered the passcode with one hand, bringing up the hashtag. "This is actually really hilarious," she said. "Like, I feel bad for people who were trying to get, like, super official and nice-looking photos. But this is really funny." Lea stifled another giggle as she scrolled.

She gave Rhia a sidelong glance. "Hey, speaking of pictures," she began, tapping out of the Twitter app and pulling up her camera. "We look way too nice for us to not take a picture together." Lea held up her phone, angling it so that they could take a selfie (which she would then post on Snapchat, her Instagram story, her Facebook story, and Twitter. Not all at the same time though!). "Say cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!!"

Next came Princess Ivelynne, Prince Alejandro, and Princess Mai. Lea put away her phone and beamed at them as they walked in. "Yeah, of course you can sit here!" she said to Ivy, waving at Alejandro as he breezed by and returning Mai's more subdued good morning with a chirpy one of her own.

Lea nibbled on a pastry, watching Elias and Dafni Kokinos walk in. "Yo! How's it going?" she called out as they passed by on their way to get food. She quickly checked out Dafni's outfit-that top was so cool. Lea turned to face Rhia again, a cheeky grin on her face. "You should ask Dafni where she got her outfit. I could totally see you in something similar."

(Interacting with @Ezmeralda @shylarah @Morningstar1399)

"You'd look good in a cowgirl outfit, I think," Rhia told her cousin. "Pleather fringes, plaid shirt...oh you would insist on wearing heels, but I'm sure tricked up boots exist. Not for proper riding, of course, but just that style. Although you know a bit of a heel helps with the stirrups. Cheese~" She grinned for the camera.

"You're more than welcome, Ivelynne." Rhia scooted her chair into a more open position than it had been, so as to include the newly arrived princess as well as Lea. Alejandro joined them soon after, and Rhia favored him with a tolerant smile. "Well enough, yes. But then, I've had long enough to adjust to Aciran time. The benefit of arriving early."

Interesting that Elais greeted Prince Alejandro by name and no one else -- but then again, Alejandro made an impression. Besides, Lea was suggesting that Rhia could pull off Dafni's outfit, and that required she turn an assessing eye on the ensemble. "Mm~ It's nice, and I love how it sits, but you know me. Thrift store wh-- uh, fan, right here." Not the complete truth, but Rhia didn't often wear designer labels.

"Dafni, Elais -- why don't you join us?" she called across the room. "There's plenty of chairs. Pull some over."

---

Mai laughed softly at Ivelynne's apparent excitement, even as she continued to discreetly scan the room as the others arrived. "Yes, Mai. And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ivy."

A genuinely pleased expression spread across her face at Ivy's comment about her shoes. "You are too kind," she murmured, lips curving upwards into a gentle smile. "And I would love to talk about make-up." She considered Ivy's question for a moment, taking a small sip of tea before responding. "I think it would depend on the situation," she said, thoughtfully. "And I do not see why it should not be an art. There are many make-up artists who use it as a way of self-expression nowadays, no? I have seen some quite spectacular make-up looks online, and although I think it would be considered 'too much' for everyday wear, there's nothing wrong with it, no?" Mai laughed, softly. "At least, that is my take on it."

Mai took note as Alejandro pranced into the room, followed shortly after by Elias and Dafni Kokinos. She smiled politely at each of them, rolling her eyes slightly in Alejandro's direction, and took another sip of her tea before popping another cream puff into her mouth. Those things taste too good to be legal, she thought to herself, wryly.

Mai turned to Ivy. "Do you want one?" she asked, offering the other princess a cream puff.

(Interacting with @Ezmeralda)

The morning started poorly for Valentine, and while Prince Akio's unfortunate gift was some time prior, she still felt jittery and on-edge. It was to the point where she didn't trust her composure around other people, even after skipping breakfast to deal with the sheets and unpack the essentials. The sun through the window made her hands itch for the comfortable weight of her camera. She'd promised to find Prince Akio at some point, but surely he could wait until afternoon. A quick change of clothing into worn jeans and a tshirt with an ivy design and she was out the door, pausing just long enough to shove a few important things into her camera bag.

However, instead of heading outside, Valentine went for a wander through the Aciran castle. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, just looking. Some of the rooms were done in older styles, and there was artwork scattered through the halls. There were servants, but Valentine did what she could to avoid them. Down one of the corridors she heard piano music, and out of curiosity, she followed the sound.

She didn't recognize the man in the shorts and tank top, at least not well enough to put a name to him. Val suspected he was one of the visiting royalty, or at least someone related to them. That made her nervous, but it didn't stop her from admiring the clean lines of his movement. The morning sun came through the south-facing windows just enough that he was backlit beautifully. Before she'd even thought about it, she had her camera to her eye and snapped a few pictures, standing there in the doorway. She couldn't post them anywhere, not without asking -- and she didn't dare enter the room to talk to the dancer. She didn't want to interrupt him, on top of being shy.

---

Alejandro was content to simply sit back and listen to the others chat (Lea was always so entertaining to be around, he found. And he highly approved of her taste in fashion. Same with Rhinnon-Rhia- though he did not know her as well).

Alejandro turned towards the door as he caught a flash of long, dark hair and a turquoise suit. His eyes followed Elias and his sister as they helped themselves to some of the food, and a sudden pang of longing twisted in his gut. He and Elias...well. It was a long time ago, he reminded himself. And we are both very different people, now. Still, Alejandro's hand went instantly to his earrings as Elias looked his way and greeted him, formally. He probably doesn't remember the jewelry I was wearing, each time we were together. But I do.

Alejandro shook himself out of his reverie. It was no fun to be stuck in the past all the time, at least not in his opinion. Although, as much as Alejandro knew that he and Elias would never work, there was still some small part of him that couldn't help but admire the way that the turquoise jacket fit the other prince. Mmm, he has a good tailor, he thought, idly.

Rhia broke away from her conversation with Lea to invite Dafni and Elias over. Alejandro's lips curved up in a wicked grin as he looked in their direction, as well. "Yes, do pull some over," he called to them. "How am I ever going to compliment you on your outfit if you are all the way over there, Princess Dafni?" There was a hint of playfulness in his eyes as he took another sip of tea.

(Interacting with @MorningStar1399)