The eclipse was about to fill the sky above. Darkness was about to consume the world for a time. The lunar eclipse was a significant time of their era. Of course, the start of the eclipse meant one thing.... the start of the succession ball, which was known to last for several or more days and nights. Royals, nobles, and citizens from all over would gather, arriving to be part of the festival, the ball, the ceremony. There was one true importance to it. At the end of it all, on the very last night, the king himself would choose amongst his heirs, amongst his children, who would succeed him. It would be known, far and wide, who would become the next ruler, the next king or queen. That is the start of the story that was about to begin.......

Elizabeth managed to prepare for the day ahead. The day had been a busy one for her. From the arrival of sunrise, she had to be present at meetings and any decrees her father had made. She had settled disputes and various other arguments. The dress makers kept asking about what clothing she was to wear for the ball. Citizens asked for favors, for help with various matters. The princess had to be involved with whatever matters of state were to be dealt with before the ball. Her day was quite the busy one. But now, with the arrival of the lunar eclipse and the start of the balls' first night, things would finally settle down. A sigh would escape her as she made to prepare for the ball. The first night was predicted to be chaotic, and that very prediction was her own. Men were already pursuing her in order to have a chance at being king, should she be the one chosen by her father to be the crown heir, the one to inherit the throne.

"I can only hope that they let me be, if only for tonight."

With that thought spoken out loud, she looked at herself in the mirror one last time. Her dress was fine. Her hair was done up well, not a hair out of place. There was not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. Nothing in regard to a mess upon her person was to be found, to be noticed. Elizabeth cleared her throat, and she made to truly calm herself. The princess had to save face in front of others after all. She could only hope that her siblings would do the same, but she did not count on that happening anytime soon. With another sigh, the young woman, the female royal, left her chambers and made her way down to the main hall. The princess was to be present when the guests arrived, to greet them all, along with the others, with her siblings. The candles just barely kept things from being too dark to enjoy themselves, noted the princess as she entered the main hall, where she would wait.

Victor sighed, he knows that a busy evening is coming. The entire day he had to attend meetings, vows and decrees. He had attended with a smile. But in his heart he know he wanted to be home. In his room he would have enough quietness to think and plan ahead his next month of travels. But his uncle wanted him here. On a merry pursuit for the title of crown heir. He gave himself a look in the mirror with a sad smile. He know being adopted by the king there was probably little change for him. Not that he wanted it. He rather travel the world with his personal servant, assistent and friend David. Together they would travel around en search for places to use his instadraw. The trinket his mother had left him. One of the few things he had left off her.

Well al least he would have a change to talk to his siblings. He didn't had the time yet to speak to them much. But he know he would like to talk to Elizabeth and Beatrix. The others would be there as well of course. It lifted his hart for a moment knowing that there would be some time to talk, laugh en dance together. If they were not hunted down by suiters. He sighed again turned around and looked at David. David looked puzzled at him.

"please try to stay close to me if you can. Most likely we only get one shot at this, if we get any at all. Lets hope we can get outside to take a moment to try and make a instadraw of the eclipse." Victor and David walked out of the chamber, making there way down hall. He rather not be here, but duty called and he had to provide.
Victor started smiling warmly as the little try hard Elizabeth was already there. He advanced on the group of suitors and addressed his sister. "Princess Elizabeth you look breathtaking" Victor said as he made a small formal bow for here. "can I offer my arm and a little salvation from those man for a moment?" He extended his arm for here to grab if she wanted to. "have you seen Beatrix yet?" As his eyes scanned the room.

The day was long- decrees, meetings, favours, preparation, an excessive amount of washing, tasting food and more.

It might have been a little better is Bea hadn't stayed up late again. She just had to see the night sky before the eclipse, which ended in her dragging herself out of bed before the sun came up. She had been bombarded with questions about the ball while outside, but at least had an excuse to ignore suitors for the day- 'I must be ready for the ball.'

She span around a couple of times, laughing. The dress she chose was beautiful (to her at least), a shimmering silver gown with gold trim,
off-shoulder sleeves and a full skirt. Her hair had been curled, and had flower-like decorations in it, drawing attention to her ears.

One last spin in front of the mirror, and she was ready. She lightly walked to the ballroom, trying to look as graceful as possible, before entering the ballroom, and whipping her head around, searching for her siblings.
On the other side, she spotted Victor and Elizbeth, and laughed as she attempted to sneak up on them.

"Well I would expect here to be here any minute now. Hopefully she wil come soon as it would be great to see her AAAH!" Victor turn around sharply as something poked him in the back. He looked directly in Beatrix smiling face. He opent his mouth to start talking, stopt, signed loudly and started speaking. "Alright this one is yours but next time I will be prepared and know the game is on. I thought we didn't play our games on such formal moments but I should have know better." He started smiling and made a little formal bow. "You look very beautiful tonight Beatrix, I love your dress. Would you like to walk with us? Let get some drinks" He extended his other arm as he saw some suitors homing in on his sisters. He leaned his head towards Beatrix and spoke softly to her. "You know I do want revanche for you startling me. I'm challenge you to a sparring match tomorrow after lunch if you are not to afraid to be beating by your brother." He knew that if she accepted she would bring her A game and he would have his work cut out for him. But he loves play fighting with her. Especially because she would try very hard to win. He looked at both his sisters smiled and made ready to move.

Elizabeth managed to be patient. Guests would arrive one at a time, or in droves. She just barely kept herself from sighing. The young woman would avoid a bit of eye contact from her father for obvious reasons. Anyway, the princess would notice Victor as he arrived. She was about to give a polite greeting, as she was supposed to, when she suddenly thought she heard footsteps behind her. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to glance behind her. This was done just in time to see Bea trying to sneak up behind her. A frown would appear on her face, and her arms would soon be crossed. She cleared her throat a bit.

"Um....Excuse me?"

She turned to face her, to face the other princess. Those eyes would be narrowed for a time as she spoke.

"What are you doing? Being silly?"

Elizabeth turned towards Victor.

"I suppose this answers your question?"

When the offer of drinks came up, the princess shook her head. That frown was upon her face once more, her emotions showing. Her arms were no longer crossed though. Elizabeth took a breath and spoke once more.

"I am afraid I must decline. I do not drink, if you recall. Plus, guests shall be arriving still, and we cannot simply ignore them all. I am certain you must understand that much, am I correct in this?"

She hoped that she wasn't assuming. Her eyes widened for a moment when one challenged the other to a sparring match, something she did not approve of.

Bea looked at Elizabeth, rather annoyed.

"What, can't I have any fun? The ball is starting and I just want to have a few more moments of fun before the competition starts."
Turning her attention to her brother, she replied
"You don't look to bad yourself 'Prince Victor'."

Next, she leaned in and whispered softly, "You're on pointy."
She had called him 'pointy', for a long time. It was a joke towards his ears and him being a elf, despite being half elf herself.
After Elizbeth declined the drinks, Beatrix decided she was right.
"I'd love to get some Vi, but Elizabeth is right. We must think of the guests."

Taking in a breath, she attempted to compose herself.
"Anyway, we don't want to get too drunk and make a fool of ourselves, do we?"

She put on a false smile, and said:
"We're all equals in this contest right? We have as much chance as any of our siblings do, so let's try our hardest!"

She wanted to say- "I'm going to win this, and when I rule the kingdom, I'll protect it better then father ever could.", but that wouldn't be a very good thing to say, especially to her competition.

Even as his siblings went about their business, preparing for the ball or doing what few duties that had been thrown their way to keep them busy and out of trouble, Nos had largely treated the day just like any other. He had risen at a reasonable hour, gotten dressed, had a fine if simple breakfast and then proceeded to the office of the Steward to get started with his work for the day.

He hadn't started off as his father's Steward. Such a position could easily be offered to one of his father's vessels in order to placate them and keep them loyal to the Crown, so Nos had needed to prove above and beyond doubt that his talents at finance and overseeing matters of construction were so great as to offset the political benefits of granting the office to someone outside of the family. It had taken over a decade to do, but as he ascended the small staircase built into the chair on which he sat as he walked and dealt with those under him there was a sense of pride in that he had been successful.

As far as business days went it was somewhat hectic. The Eclipse Ball was a rather expensive affair as His Majesty was not sparing any expense for the occasion. But while His Majesty might have been happy to empty his coffers to cement the event as a legendary one, there always had to be someone keeping tabs on what the money was being spent on, where it was going and who it needed to go too. Thankfully he did have a number of trained scribes to assist him with the book keeping of royal affairs, but as the Steward all matters made their way to him in one form or another sooner or later for his final review and approval.

There were also the normal stream of those requesting royal coin, debtors being called in, tax payers who had refused to pay what they were owed and thus needed to have guards drag them out of whatever estate they were hold up in and take them to the dungeons to be tortured until they got the message and paid up what was owed. A brutal practice to be sure, but Nos found that one only needed to rake one or two idiots across the coals ever few years or so to make sure that the rest got the message. The work of a tax collector was never ending.

Normally he would have stayed on long into the night in order to make sure that everything was in order. However, considering what was at stake for himself personally he left the remaining work in the capable hands of his staff before he retired to go clean himself up and dress. A lack of hair and the ease in cleaning and polishing scale into a pleasant sheen made the cleaning part of affairs rather simple, through dressing required a little more time and thought.

In the end, as his claws clinked against the floor while he walked towards some of his taller siblings (shoes were simply not something he was comfortable wearing, considering the nature of his clawed feet), Nos lifted his chin to look up at them proudly while he wore an orange tunic that matched wonderfully with his dark green scales. "Sisters." He offered in a rather neutral tone.

He did offer Victor a small nod of acknowledgement.

"We can have fun, but duty goes first. We will have our fun later this evening. You're right Elizabeth we should attend the guest first." He leaned again towards Bea. "May the most pointy elf win" and he gave her a wink. "Before we move ahead, can I ask for a moment for an Instadraw? As we're still allies at this moment, before you start backstabbing me and become the crown heir. It will not take long and I will have a nice picture for a few days. After that it will start fading away unfortunately." He looked towards David who was standing at the ready. "Remember you have to pose like before a painter but it's doesn't take many days to complete. It's done in an instant.

David approaches the heirs. "Prins Victor if you don't mind. I think I found a nice spot a little to te left off where the three of you are standing already. If you move towards the left the dress of Prinses Elizabeth will have a perfect contrast with the wall tapestries behind you. The flowers in the hair of Prinses Beatrix will add towards the scene on it. I believe it will make a perfect image." Victor looked to the left and back to his sisters. "I think you have spotted that well. Dear sisters can I take a little off your time? I promise I will follow you to our guests right away after the instadras is taken. David will see to the rest." He looked pleadingly from Beatrix to Elizabeth and back.

He heard "Sister" from a familiar voice. He turn around and received a small nod from Nos. Nos also stood out of the siblings. He returned a nod in acknowledgement as he now Nos preferred. But he was relieved Nos is there too as Victor himself was a little bit of an odd sibling.

@Marmalised Junk@Bright_Ops@Minvix
Elizabeth looked at Bea. She sighed and shook her head.

"Father may be nearby. He could be watching as we speak. Do you truly wish for him to be angry with you NOW of all times, sibling? The ball is more than just that. A successor shall be chosen at the end of all this. If you wish to remain a possible one, and not be eliminated early, please calm yourself."

The princess, then, glanced at Victor, before her eyes landed on Bea again.

"That is something we can agree on, yes."

The young woman truly hoped the sparring would not happen. They could not risk a fight, she thought. That was when she noticed Nos there, nearby. She greeted him properly.

"Nos, welcome, greetings. I see someone has finally lifted his nose from his work and has come to greet the guests. Hopefully father does not become too unhappy with you not showing up at important matters such as this on time. I am glad you have arrived regardless. It is truly a relief you have arrived right as the first guests have. Now, shall we give the guests a proper greeting before the first evening truly begins?"

Elizabeth subtly gestured towards the guests in question as they arrived. She did her best to be as formal as possible. There was quite the chance that their father, the king, was somewhere nearby, watching them, keeping an eye on them and all that. That was what she thought anyway. She hoped that was not the case as the moment though, for obvious reasons. The princess took a breath and did her best to remain calm as well.

"May father choose the best possible successor to the throne."

@Vampiretwilight@Minvix

"It's Elizabath, correct?" Nos answered with a mock seriousness. If she was going to jab at his 'lateness' he was going to make fun of just how forgettable she was among the tides of their father's half human children. "I do confess it has been rather hectic in the treasury as of late. Clearly this party is more important then making sure that our kingdom's people can be fed or the troops get paid. But since I have already ensured that those two situations and a dozen others do not come to pass for the next few days at least, I have allowed myself the leisure that is the company of my peers..." There was a brief moment, before he added with a small smirk "...And yours too, I guess."

Considering that Bea hadn't said anything to insult or annoy him yet, he was happy to keep that tend going. Victor however actually got a small smile. By all rights he should have disliked his cousin... and in fairness he did, but Victor tended to be much less entitled or rude then his standard half sibling and the dislike stemmed fully from the fact that he was a contender for the throne rather then anything personal. "How are you holding up Victor?"

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking. Reports on the places I inspected for you are ready. David will bring them tomorrow I think. Or whenever this competition is done I guess." He turned towards Elizabeth. "I think the king already made up his mind and all of this is more a kind of big show off. I don't think I really have a change being only adopted and not off his blood." He shrugs and continued. "I hope to have some fun tonight and I'm happy to see all of you. Of course this means we have to perform our duty so let's do so." Victor start moving towards the guest to welcome them. He walked past a servant with drinks and took one. He looked back if the others where following him.

He felt relieved that he finally said what was on his heart. He knew he never had a change of being crown heir. He knew as long as he would be use to the king he would be save and have a luxurious life. He could travel, work and have his own fun at the same time. He was only not sure who to support, Liz would be a good ruller for being there to lissen and counsel the people. They would love here like someone loves their mother. But a king of queen couldn't always be loved. Bea would outshine the current king with here plans and put the nation forward but at the cost of the people. She would be know for here strive to greatness, but who will pay the price for that? Nos would make sure that everybody would be treated the same fair way. He would be know as something like a fair judge, but Victor thinks that he would go to war easily to get his right.
It was not an easy decision to make. But Victor thought that the king would manage. Could this be so much harder than keeping his children and nobility from stabbing him and taking the title and crown?

The thing that puzzled his mind was to become useful to the crown heir.

For the past minute or so, Beatrix had been staring at nothing, seemingly lost in thought.

When she finally 'woke up', she noticed her half-brother had arrived.
"Nos, how kind of you to join us."
She always watched herself around Nos- he intimidated her a little. He would be a very powerful ally if she were to be crowned, but there would have to be a few strings pulled before they could get along like good friends. She had no idea how he felt about her, but Nos at the least seemed to tolerate her.

Turning her attention towards Elizabeth, Beatrix simply responded with, "May the best of us win."

Being unsure of what to do next, Beatrix just stood where she was, and peered down at her shoes, forgetting about appearing good for the public for a moment.

@Marmalised Junk@Minvix@Bright_Ops
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at Nos. Clearly, she was not pleased with his words. She was more than simply not pleased. However, she did her best to continue to remain calm and formal, even as she spoke with her half-brother.

"Excuse me? First of all, this ball is not some mere 'party'. The right of succession ceremony is to occur by the end of it all. That attitude could easily make it so you are not even close to chosen if you are not careful. Besides, second of all... do you think you are the only one who cares about our people? What if one of our less caring siblings were to be chosen, and eventually take the throne? What then? We cannot take any chances. You know this, of all royals. Making father angry shall not help matters. I do not wish for you to be firewood in the flame that is his anger, so to speak."

There was no denying the sincerity in her tone. She truly seemed to care. For a time, it sounded like she had been worried when he was seen coming in late. That was the case. She truly had been worried. After that, the princess took a breath, and she just barely kept herself from sighing.

"And please do not be rude. I was going to confirm you were working, or at the very least, keep father from noticing you were late, you know."

Elizabeth turned towards the others. She spoke to Victor first.

"I doubt if he has. The successor is finally chosen, and announced, at the end of this entire affair. It has been a tradition for many generations. I doubt if father shall go against it. Besides, the rules behind the tradition never said the heir had to be directly related to the king. Also, son or not, you share blood with him. That is what counts, Victor. What I mean is... you are family, no matter what."

Before she could say more, Victor had left. She frowned when she saw him take a drink from a servant.

"He is drinking already...."

Elizabeth sighed. She turned towards Bea after that.

"....................."

The princess almost narrowed her eyes again. She gave a shake of her head and managed not to do so. That was when she finally spoke to Bea, if only for a brief time.

"Do not try to fight over it. Once he makes his final decision and announces it, there shall be no changing his mind. It shall be official and permanent from then on... unless something were to happen to them, which I highly doubt will happen. "

She turned towards the other guests as they arrived. The princess did her best to greet them all. One guest in particular looked towards Nos and winked at him. She seemed to have taking a shine to Nos, and this did not escape Elizabeths' notice. She whispered towards boss.

"Seems you have already caught someone's eye. Careful though. I believe that is Lady Emmaline Nightingale...the daughter of the Earl of Wolflight. She is rumored to be power hungry, and her father IS looking to marry her off. Be on guard. However, I shall not stop you from associating with her if you wish to see for yourself."

@Vampiretwilight@Marmalised Junk@Minvix

Truth be told, Kindness was a rare thing for Nos to be on the receiving end of. Part of that was simply the nature of their family; While Nos was far from the eldest of their father's children, there was something of a generational gap when it came to some of his younger siblings. Despite them being taller then him, Nos had about a decade or so on Beatrix and Elizabeth and the older generation of his half siblings were... rather more jaded and cut throat then his younger siblings. Victor was much more aware of the kind of people Nos had to grow up dealing with... and they both shared traits that made them easier targets to be bullied or undermined; Victor because he was an adopted cousin and Nos because he was half kobold.

Shame he was already starting to drink, but people dealt with stress in different ways.

Still, since it appeared that the concern from his younger half sister was genuine, he could reward her for it by being a bit less... pointed in her direction. "I am very much aware of its important, sister. Do not worry about me. As dear Beatrix has said... may the best of us win."

If Elizabeth wanted to personally greet every guest as they arrived, she was more then welcomed to do so. He already had a mental list of people that he needed to have conversations with in order to sway them into supporting him. Not all counties were created equal after all and thus some Earls and Dukes were simply more powerful and important then others. That isn't to say that someone could be made Monarch without the support of some of these people but... Nos doubted that it would be a very long reign if they disagreed with the King's decision.

Of course, before he could excuse himself in order to start doing so, Elizabeth pointed out Lady Emmaline Nightingale. Despite his little sister's dislike of Lady Nightingale, Nos offered her a small smile and a nod before he softly answered to Elizabeth "I'm sure she is. I'm not against the idea, but right now I've got people to mingle with and if a more suitable pairing can be found I would be remiss not to seize it. Take care."

As Victor walked away he met a few friends from his fencing class. "A welcome my friends" he said warmly "I'm happy to see a few friendly faces as this night is getting more interesting with every second that passes." He grinned. They talked a little about what everyone of them was up to at the moment. Most of them would try to find a good match this evening. When it was up to Victor they where surprised to hear that you would give up that easily. They told him what Elisabeth told him before and that every Sibling would have a fair change. "I suppose you're right" he said will pounding his mind. "But tomorrow I challenged my sister Beatrix to a sparring match. I would like to invite you all to come and look. Maybe one of you would like to spar with her even? If she is still improving as hard as before she is gonna give the all of you a run for your money." He felt very proud of her as he challenged them.

In the back of his mind he was wondering who to speak to and who could be his allies. Maybe a deal with one of the others would help him forward? Would there even be a few good matches for him to speak with? He discussed this with his friends and they gave him a few names for a good match. Maybe a few good allies? At least they would help him and Victor was glad for that.

The old king passed his room. Servants where walking around with clothing, scrolls and massages. His informants kept coming to tell him what guests arrived and how his children where doing. When he looked in their eyes he could read it. They all thought him being very old. He was only one hundred and ten years old and was planning on living another decade. But like his mother did for him it was time to pick a heir to the throne. The coming ten years the crown heir would be prepared for when he past away. Bah, dying "hambug" the king muttered. "I'm sorry my king, I believe I misunderstood you" his adviser replied. "Dying my little brother, dying". He tasted the word and found nothing behind it. It was something that would be done and nothing would be done against in.

The kings younger brother looked confused and wondered what was going on in the head of Theodore. His older brother had a quirky way of thinking sometimes. But is was probably the heavy weight of the evening he could imagine. His brother let the country for almost seventy years now. The elven blood of their mother helped them to live a long live. His brother Theodore had planned a very big and speciale evening like their father did eighty years ago. Theodore outsmarted any other sibling and took the position off crown heir with his fathers blessing.

"My king, all guest have arrived" a servant informed Theodore. "In that case you will announce that I will be down in ten minutes. Theodore smiled, he had planned this evening for the last few years and tonight his children and guest where in for a surprise.

@Bright_Ops@Minvix@Marmalised Junk
Elizabeth almost narrowed her eyes at Nos again. She did give a single nod, though. She just barely kept herself from sighing.

"Very well, dear brother."

The princess would watch him leave. The last of the guests would arrive soon enough. She would be asked to dance multiple times, and with each request, she would politely decline. The princess was in no such mood. However, Elizabeth did not wish to offend the guests and so she would find whatever excuse, or reason, that she could to decline any requests to dance. The search for her father would begin soon enough. The young woman would keep a close eye on her siblings for the time being, though. One may never know what could happen, or so she thought at that moment.

"Hopefully things go according to plan. We cannot afford any mishaps."

Quietly speaking her thoughts out loud, the princess began to explore the ballroom a bit. She and her siblings had since parted ways apparently, after all. She had guards keep an eye on the sparring siblings and even put an end to it if it came down to it. Elizabeth wished they would not take so many risks like that. Doing so was one such reason why they were among the least popular in the royal family, according to what she has been told by citizens and servants.

"Where is father?"

Stating that question out loud, but mainly to herself, Elizabeth gave the room another sweep with her eyes. Suitors had soon started to approach, but she managed to avoid them all, one by one. She was not in the mood for fake smiles and handshakes at the moment either. The princess was worried, very worried, and for good reason. Elizabeth could only hope things stayed on track, that nothing went against their plans that night, hers... and her father's even.

For the amount of stern looks Elizabeth had given them, her face might have frozen like that, Bea thought.

Shortly after her siblings left her, she began to pace the ballroom, greeting a couple of people on the way.
Beatrix noticed Lady Nightingale following one of her siblings. She was rather annoying,and obviously after the throne. It seemed every time they met she had a new dress to show off, or something expensive and rare.

Bea began to look for Elizabeth, somewhat frantically. She only stopped when offered some food, which she took before continuing her search.

She probably wasn't looking very far, but with guests rushing in at the entrance, she didn't have much choice.

"Elizabeth! Lizzzz!! I need you!"

@Marmalised Junk@Minvix@Bright_Ops
Elizabeth continued the search for her father.

"Where is that man?!"

She was almost rather loud. Her eyes continued to scan around the room. The princess blinked, and almost stopped in her tracks, when she thought that she heard her name being called. But when she looked behind her... she saw no one there. With a sigh, she turned and continued on her way. Elizabeth was not in the mood for games.

"...................................."

Artemis ducked into the ballroom, hopefully going unnoticed as he obviously had arrived late. He quickly made sure to make it look like he was here the entire time and looked around. It seemed that guests had already started to arrive.

The prince would also search the room to see whether his siblings (and father) were present. Elizabeth was searching for someone, Beatrix was greeting the guests, Victor was… talking with his classmates from his fencing class. Oh dear. Nos, bless him, had already gone to go start making connections. Artemis supposed he needed to go do the same.

As he started to slowly work his way across the ballroom, greeting guests with a small (fake) smile and striking up friendly conversation with those he wanted on his side, he couldn’t help but wonder where his father went.