BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope grinned as Crow clicked his tongue disappointedly as she brought up the wager from Bellmare. At his teasing words, she rolled her eyes playfully at him in response. “Thank the gods I was able to get out of that.” she laughed amusedly. Looking away, the knight focused back on doing what she had planned before Crow had spoken up about separating a day early. Though in a better mood after joking with him, the knight was still quick to return to surveying their surroundings to make sure the group wasn’t being followed by anyone suspicious.

As the ride went on, she kept her guard up and chatted with Crow as they rode but also used the moments of silence in between to think over her argument for the barons to act defensively at the warfront. She wanted to act quick once she returned to her battalion and that left little time to plan aside from on the road. It would likely be easy to convince Mia, especially since she had accomplished getting the king to try for peace between the kingdoms. It was the other two barons that concerned her. Namely her uncle and brother. Surely at some point word would come out about her newly established relationship with the viceroy and once it did, the knight was certain the two would refuse to listen to her even more than they already did. She just hoped such information wouldn’t come to light until after she had the chance to ask for them to plan defensively.

As the group arrived in Wellspring, the knight felt more than ready to relax for the night. The travel and poor sleep the night before wore on her even though she had made it through most the day without issue. She dismounted her horse and dropped to the ground with a hint of soreness in her step. She thanked Preston as the attendant gathered her horse along with the others before moving over to join Crow and Naida. Penelope gave her back a stretch, earning a somewhat satisfying pop in response before turning her attention onto them, listening with amusement as Naida was less than impressed with the journey thus far.

“It’ll get more interesting once you’re in a foreign land. At least, the scenery will change a bit.” she assured her friend as she recalled her own trip to Younis in the past. As Crow turned to her, she gave a weary smile and nodded her head. “Hopefully. If not, at least I’ll know I can sleep in my own tent by tomorrow night.” she mused with a small shrug.

“Tent?” Naida echoed from besides them with a small frown. “I thought you were traveling with us all the way to the border.”

“Slight change of plans.” Penelope shrugged. “I decided I better just head straight back to my battalion since there’s a lot I need to do once I get back.”

“Oh,” Naida pouted slightly. “I guess that makes sense. But I wish you would have told me sooner! I wasted a day being quiet when we could have been spending time together!”

Penelope gave a small chuckle at her friend’s words and gave a hapless smile. “We were both tired. I think we spent the day just fine. But now that we’re here, let’s go get supper. I’m famished and I’m certain you’re probably still disappointed we missed out on a warm breakfast.” she smirked as she turned addressing Crow with a teasing tone. The knight reached to take his hand in hers, moving to stand a little closer to his side before beginning to lead the way into the inn.

(BuzzingBee) Shadows of the Past (Euphemia)

No worries! I get that, especially right now ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope was a little bummed at first xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope gave a small nod as Crow agreed with her sentiment about returning to the castle. The knight was just beginning to look away, thinking that the conversation would fall into a brief silence, to scan her green gaze over their surroundings again when the viceroy spoke up again. She tilted her head with questioning curiosity as he admitted to needing to ask a favor of her. It seemed to be of the private nature too as she noted how he eyed to make sure the others around them wouldn’t be able to over hear. In an attempt to keep their conversation private as well, she leaned a little more towards him, craning to hear his whispered words to come but also being careful not to lose balance.

As Crow brought his companions, the knight was quick to catch onto where he was going with this favor. Her gaze flickered away from his as she took in his words. It’d be lying to say she didn’t feel a bit disappointed. They had barely gotten much time together since they began courting and to give up an extra day of that wasn’t something she was overly fond of. But that was just her own selfish feelings. Despite the disappointment, she understood Crow’s desire to see his friend again, especially when there was no certainty of when he would have the opportunity again. We’ll have plenty of days to come after this. she reminded herself firmly. It was senseless to be disappointed over one day when they had so many more ahead of them.

With her initial disappointment gone, she met his gaze with a smile and reached over to rest her hand on his arm. “We can part ways tomorrow. You gave up that whole life for me, giving up one day is the least I can do.” she assured him in a lowered voice. That also meant she’d be returning to her battalion a day sooner than she originally planned. Though that wasn’t an issue, she was beginning to think a little more seriously about her plans to speak with her barons about only acting defensively on the warfront. Her task of convincing the king was done and successful but the knight still felt it was her duty to help establish peace between the two kingdoms in whatever way she could. Not to mention that acting defensively would also give a bit of relief to the outer villages.

Her smile curved into a teasing smirk as a separate thought pulled her away from thinking about the war. Looking back to Crow, a playful gleam entered her gaze.“However, this is going to count as your favor for winning our little competition in Bellmare.” she added with a wink. “Gotta make it worth it for myself after all and escape whatever else you may have been planning to trade that in for.” Penelope said jokingly as she gave an exaggerated shudder.

(BuzzingBee) Shadows of the Past (Euphemia)

Thanks! It’s definitely a lot right now ^^’ Glad you’re doing well though! And ok! No rush :)

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

She returned his frown with a faint one of her own and took another bite from her bread, chewing it with a bit of unease. Penelope let out a soft sigh as Crow admitted that he was still at least planning to tell the rest of the knights about the potential threat of mercenaries. She was glad that he still intended to tell them but she disliked putting it off. The situation wasn’t ideal since they might not believe him regardless but the group needed to at least hear the information he had to share. Even if they dismissed his words, at least they wouldn’t be completely caught off guard if an attack did happen. “It would..we both know how dangerous those can be when you’re not prepared.” she mumbled to him, her frown deepening.

Her green eyes swept away from him to survey their surroundings at the though. Now feeling a little more awake and aware, the knight was much more devoted to keeping an eye out for any possible danger around them. It made her slightly unprepared for when Crow reached over to take her hand. She blinked at the sudden touch and turned her head to look over at him. As he told her not to worry, she raised an eyebrow at him and a half hearted smile crossed her lips. “First off, you should know by now that telling me not to worry isn’t going to stop me from worrying.” she pointed out, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze.

Penelope’s smile dwindled and she let go of his hand once more. “You have good knights with you, so that does give me some peace of mind… but I also know how skilled trained killers are.” she added. The knight met his gaze and gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I just wanted to make sure you were still planning on telling them. I’ll still worry about your safety regardless but I’ll feel a little better once the rest of the group is aware of the mercenaries. After all, you and I are the only ones that know about it right now and I’m not even going to be on this trip with you for much longer.”

Her gaze lowered slightly at her own words. Her duties at the warfront could not be ignored but she really did wish that she didn’t have to part with him. Even if the mercenaries weren’t a threat to be concerned about, she still disliked having to go separate ways so soon after their courtship had just begun. “I’ll just be glad when we can both return to the castle after this.” she muttered to him.

New World, Old Friend [Bee + Buzzingbee]

Juliet glanced towards Adrian with a small frown as he gave a clear warning to the stranger in front of them. She was still reeling a bit from how much the man who apparently wasn't her John but shared his name looked so much like him. Of course, there were some differences. Small but they were there and big enough to make her accept that it wasn't truly him. Perhaps so much time had passed that the image she had of him in her memories was beginning to get distorted. The thought made her frown deepen. She didn't want that image to fade.

So lost in her thoughts, she almost missed him speak up again. Blinking, she finally came out of her thoughts and looked over at John with a rather blank stare as he tried to assure that he wouldn't be of any trouble. Brought back to the situation at hand, she gave a curt nod and crossed her arms over her chest. "I would hope not but you can never be too safe these days." she mused with a shrug of her shoulder. Her first instinct was to believe the words that came out of his mouth but past experiences had taught her not to buy so quickly into the words of people she didn't know. However, that didn't mean she wasn't going to give him a chance.

She offered John a smile. "Well now that we've got introductions out of the way, why don't we start heading back to the community? You don't have to stay with us if you decide you don't like it but I hope you'll give it a fair chance." she said before beginning to turn to walk away. Juliet moved to rejoin Adrian, who still had yet to lower his weapon. He sighed, clearly displeased with having the stranger accompanying them into their community, but unwilling to address it directly to Juliet. Instead, he moved forward to approach John.

"Hold up. Before you go with us anywhere, I want your weapons." Adrian grunted as he kept his gun trained on John. "Just toss them over to me and then you may come with us."

(BuzzingBee) Shadows of the Past (Euphemia)

For sure. I work in a grocery store soooo things are crazy there lol I only got lucky because I already had a vacation planned for this week so I got a week off from the madness ^^' Hope you're holding up ok!

(BuzzingBee) Shadows of the Past (Euphemia)

A u d r i e l l e M i s t m o u r n

Special Zone

---

_{With The Council}

Her gaze shifted away from Belmont as Simon suddenly chimed in. Her excitement dwindled down as the orderly source blood suggested that having his assistant create a list of eligible candidates for her to go over. While she wasn't exactly looking to pick the options Rene gave her, she was certain that Simon's options would be far more suffocating than the other source blood's. The whole reason she entertained Rene's proposal was to get the freedom she so desired. And that would be impossible to do with one of Simon's henchmen looming over her at every hour of the day. The lady sighed and rested her cheek against the palm of her hand, her excitement dying down slightly as she heard murmurs of approval coming from both Aida and Louis.

She was just beginning to give up hope when Rene butted in yet again. A glimmer entered her hazel eyes again as he offered his own solution, which involved a party. Parties weren't something the young source blood was able to enjoy very often so the thought of being able to attend one, even without a purpose, drew her in almost immediately. She didn't fully trust Belmont but he was entertaining to be around and suspected that his party would reflect that. And it might even give me the chance to find someone not nearly as stuffy as my caretakers... she thought with a burst of anticipation.

"That sounds wonderful, Rene." Audrielle responded, unable to suppress a grin from taking over her lips. "I think that's the best plan we have. At least it'd give me a real chance to get to feel out the options I have as far as guardians go." Having the party so soon would also limit the chance of Simon, Aida and Louis shoving their own stricter options down her throat. That was something she would gladly avoid at all cost. But it was going to be something she'd have to push for. Louis shifted uncomfortably besides her, glancing between Simon and Aida clearly looking for one of them to help stop the spiraling situation.

"Are you sure Audrielle?" Louis asked, pausing to purse his lips together. "This is quite last minute and it'll hardly give us a chance to round up our own suggestions with the party being so soon." His gaze flickered over to Rene, it lingered on the source blood for a moment before shifting back to Audrielle. "I would just hate for you to not have heard all of your possible options."

It wasn't difficult for Audrielle to tell that Louis was against the idea. The distrust in his expression towards Rene was obvious even if he was trying to mask it under the pretense of merely wanting to give her options. Unfortunately for Louis, his displeasure with the situation hardly mattered to the young source blood. She rolled her eyes at his effort to dissuade her from Belmont’s plans. “I appreciate the concern, Louis, but I still see no reason not to attend the party.” she shrugged her shoulders in a careless manner. “There’s no guarantee that I will even choose anyone from the party. It is possible that the party will not be a success in that department and then we can go over the other options who weren’t able to attend. That sounds fair enough, doesn’t it?”

Louis let out a soft sigh and looked over at Aida with his last ounce of fleeting hope that someone could talk Audrielle and Rene down. Aida, however, only offered a hapless glance. “I suppose that would work. Just keep in mind that you do have other options aside from whoever’s present at this party.” Aida advised her with a small frown. The caretaker was clearly concerned about the type of options Belmont would be presenting her at this party but like the others, clearly saw that Audrielle and Rene both wouldn’t be budging on this. She looked between Simon and Louis. “I suppose until then, we should just try to invite as many of our own candidates as we can. Hopefully some of them will be able to attend as well.”

“Of course, of course.” Audrielle sighed, expecting this much from them. They always made their voices heard one way or another so Aida’s insistence on reminding her that there would be other options than presented at the party was not surprising. She just hoped she could find the right person for the job. Someone that fit her as a guardian rather than as just another over protective caregiver. It mattered very little to her who the person was recommended by so long as they fit what she was looking for. “I’ll keep that in mind but if I find someone for the job there, don’t be surprised.” she told her caretaker firmly. Her hazel eyes swept over Simon before landing onto Rene.

“Well, I believe that’s settled then. I’ll attend your party as the guest of honor and hopefully, it’ll prove successful in my search for a guardian.” she mused with calm decisiveness. She leaned back in her chair and gave a thoughtful look as she asked,“If that’s all, are we ready to end this meeting?” The young source blood certainly hoped that was all Belmont had called them for. It had proven to be quite interesting but that didn’t mean she wanted to stick around for any other more boring reports that usually excluded her.

(BuzzingBee) Shadows of the Past (Euphemia)

Thanks! It's been crazy with all that's going on so I've either just not had the time to write or have just been too tired to write xD I'll try to get started on something soon though!