“What a coincidence, mine also likes to call for heads at minor inconveniences. So we have mutually assured destruction to ensure this conversation stays at this table.” Callum offered, far more engaged in this conversation than he was a moment ago. He hadn’t expected her to stay or express a similar dislike for noble life. “It’s a pleasure to meet Ari.” He added and smiled sincerely the way he only did around people who talked to him without a mask on.
“Can’t stay I’ve ever been in a ravine, or too far from here really.” Cal added, not that he’d ever sought out those secluded parts of nature either. “But the gardens make me all sneezy and congested and so I guess I’ve never thought of myself as an outdoor person. Sounds beautiful, the way you describe it.” He took another drink from his glass, partially because it was there and because he didn’t know what else to add. Everything he knew about nature came only from books.
Ari smiled at his interest in the forest she mentioned “ Oh it’s lovely, and allergy free. There arn’t any flowers here per say, maybe a couple berry bushes. Its wonderful, you walk through a arch that a tree has naturally formed and push through some vines and leaves from the surrounding tree. Once you pass there its like a little secluded oasis. There is a river that runs through the little cove” Ari’s face lit up as she spoke about her secret place, her hands drawing a little image on the table as her mind sparked the memory of the place. “ On one side there is some berry bushes and a tree line and on the opposite side is a lush grassy area with a giant waterfall over looking the ravine. Me and the only other person who knows of this place, well we built a little fort out of twigs and dead branches we found. When you enter this oasis its forbidden to wear shoes and me and my friend will actually remove all the troublesome gowns and just wear what a servant may. “ she stopped as she realized she had started rambling. “ I’m sorry, this is likely boring you. If you do ever find yourself interested though, I would love to show it to you sometime. I wasn’t much of an outdoors person myself either until I was shown that particular spot where I could just be Ari.” She smiled “ That would mean you could just be Callum there and no one would be the wiser. “ She looked around nervously as her fingers twiddled on the table top. She wouldn’t tell him that it was actually Anastasia’s place that she shared with Ari, gifting it too her a few years ago. Since then they would run off during their political meetings at the estate and hide in the woods. “ What kind of things do you enjoy doing ? “ she asked actually interested in getting to know this not prince Callum.
Callum chewed at the edge of his tongue to keep himself from saying anything. Mostly things like he thought he might be allergic to the grass too, or that thinking about walking around without shoes on made his skin crawl, and that while it all sounded really nice in theory, he was pretty sure it also sounded like the kind of place where you got eaten alive by mosquitoes, or something worse. He didn’t interrupt because he didn’t want to keep being the Callum that was afraid of things just because they were different from all the familiar things he hated.
Instead, Cal tried to just think of Ari’s spot in the woods only the way she described it and it helped that she seemed to get lost in whatever bit of happiness that place brought her. Then being alone, or with a friend, in a place where everything was very real, even if it was barefoot, sounded a lot better than the palace ever did. “You’re not boring me. This place bores me, same shi-” Callum stopped and changed his wording, ”stuff all the time and none of it matters. So whatever you say that is different from what people normally say in palace ballrooms is way better.”
He took another drink and tried to think of things he enjoyed. “When I’m stuck here, my place is the library, more books than people, and it’s quiet, and organized, mostly. And I do like to learn new things but I never really liked doing new things. Which doesn’t even make much sense because I don’t even like most of what I spend my time doing. So, I guess, what I mean is next time you want someone to walk around barefoot in a ravine with, I’m in.” He was sure to be as honest as he could be in his response, he didn’t want to lie to Ari but he also wasn’t going to outright admit an interest in magic.
Ari listened in with ease to him opening up to her. She was surprised to find out that Callum was alot like her just before she met Anastasia. She had opened her up to so many possibilities she had even yet too try or dare to even try. “ I couldn’t agree more, so much focus on empty promises, money and status. My mother wants me to wed and find someone that can bring me wealth and status, I dont want to disappoint her but at the same time I sometimes wish I were a farmers daughter instead. Maybe then I could have more freedom, less restrictions and wouldn’t need to wear these blasted outfits. “ She bit her lip as she looked back up at him from staring at her fingers. “ Maybe actually be able to experience and live like the stories in those books that sit in the libraries. Sometimes I get envious of the characters.” She found it strange how quickly she was able to open up to him, she had never spoken to anyone so candidly. Even with Anastasia it took her a long time before she really got to know her.
Ari let out a gleeful smile as he accepted her offer to visit her secret oasis. She was excited to share it with someone. ”well..Since we both seem to be in similar situations, I’ll make you a deal. If you do indeed try something new then I too shall do the same, your pick. Name it and we shall do it. I for one have never really experienced anything either, mainly due to all the eyes on me but it could be fun.” she shrugged “ if I were really bold, I’d sneek out of here to escape this dreadful event…” she paused for a moment , since he seemed to be so open with her already she was curious about one thing. “ Is that why you did the whole onion bit earlier? Was it to make a statement of some sort? Onions wouldnt be my first choice but it certainly kept alot of the women away. So many were moving away from the table, and when I saw you struggling after a rather funny display I must say, I felt inclined to come over and atleast relieve you from the burns.”
“I didn’t think the onion would be half that bad. But it was there, and the woman here before you tripped over the chair, and that made a scene, so I made another scene.” He said, grinning that Ari had seen his antics as amusing rather than idiotic. But he also knew that wasn’t much of an answer. Since he had someone’s ear, he finished his glass of wine in a final long drink before leaning forward and speaking in a quieter voice.
“And Edin’s here, and he can’t stand it when things don’t go exactly his way. So I did the first thing that popped into my head because I knew it would make him mad at me, but that’s not anything new. So I guess, it’s only fair to warn you, spend too much time around me and it’s probably going to land you on the King’s shit list.” He leaned back in his chair, and thought about what else she’d said. It wouldn’t be fair not to warn people that he was a bad luck charm, but he also hadn’t tried very hard. He did need to do more new things, what he was doing now was amounting to nothing. So someone who’d push him to try new things had to be a good thing. Plus Ari saw it, at least part of what he saw. And it probably wouldn’t kill him to talk to more people.
“Sometimes I want a different life, I think about being a bird and simply go where ever and do whatever I wanted. Or a farmer and spend my days growing food and feeding people instead of doing nothing and being surrounded by everything I didn’t earn. But the way things are, it’s not right.” Callum paused, realizing he was going too far. A few drinks and his thoughts just leaked right out. Talking about social pressures and suffocating formalities were one thing, but he couldn’t start spouting off about his rotten bloodline that was suffocating Caesonia. Not here, not with someone he barely knew.
“But I have this life, and for whatever reason, my name gets to matter more than a lot of names, so I get to try and use that to make things a little better. Today I thought eating an onion would help, so obviously, not going very well.” He pivoted and twisted his words so that he still believed it, and he wasn’t going to lie to someone who was being honest with him, but most of the truth was closed off. “So here’s a new thing, if you’re still interested, we find something we can do that will make Sorian a little better and do that.” He offered.
Ari sat back and listened , each time he spoke she was just more and more curious about Callum. She watched as he finished back the wine and leaned in dropping his voice as if to tell her a secret of his own which he certainly did. “ Well , that does sound like a wonderful thing and I am for that if that is what you choose but…” she paused “ That is what Prince Callum would do. A civil duty to help make Sorian a better place, and it is a noble thing and one I would gladly partake in but what would Callum do? You don't need to answer now, perhaps save it for another day. Going to a pub with wigs on and different outfits pretending to be farmers sounds fun to me…” she smiled at him. “ Well I do believe I have taken much of your time Callum.” She said as she rose out of her chair. “ To say this was a surprise would be an understatement but it certainly was enjoyable and refreshing to have such a welcomed conversation with someone. I hope we can venture into that little oasis sometime soon. “ Ariella curtsied , her violet eyes fixed on him as she kept her soft smile that she had been holding the whole event. She turned and left the table , walking past the large crowds still forming waiting for their chance with one of the other princes. Ariella however wanted to leave the event on a highnote. Knowing the other two Princes would likely ruin her mood with formalities she decided to set out for a different event.
Callum only flinched at the mention of having fun in a tavern. He tried not to hold that comment against her; she wasn’t there this morning to see that sometimes what sounded like harmless fun ended with a carriage driver being beaten and nearly killed. He could only wonder who Alibeth might find to punish if he was then caught taking Lady Edwards to a seedy tavern while dressed as farmers. He only nodded, and rose from his seat when she did, bowing once more.
“The pleasure was entirely mine, I am the one now getting a trip to an oasis out of this. I’m glad I had the chance to meet Ari instead of whoever it is your family wants you to be.” He said, returning her kind smile and reverting back to a more formal posture as she left. Then he sat back down in his chair and noticed that she had left her wine glass still on the table and entirely full. He pulled that glass closer to him and the strange array of items that were now collecting on his table.
Time: Morning, 11 am Location: Athletic Arena Interactions: Mina @Tae
Leo watched transfixed as the execution began. The guards made a dramatic unveiling of the stake and pyre before the criminal was cuffed to it. It was clear why no offer of a pardon was presented, the only answer to high treason was death. But even stranger that the royal family didn’t see this as worth their time; they showed indifference toward a crime that attacked order and rule of law.
Why the criminal had been allowed to keep his treacherous tongue, and why the guards had allowed him last words, was beyond Leo. The traitor’s ravings were wild and mad as he was granted both stage and audience to spread his chaotic notions about the king and hidden power. Ideas that now spread through the crowd. Leo wondered for a moment just how long they were going to permit this lunatic to rant. Far too long it seemed.
There was a subtle chill as the executioner was beckoned and strode towards the pyre, gleaming torch in hand. He felt Mina’s hand on his arm and heard her say “something isn’t right…”, just as the executioner removed her hood and decreed it time for the traitor to burn. It wasn’t right, the entire execution was a bungled mess so far but at least the finale would be difficult to screw up. He glanced at Mina, noting her closed eyes and disquiet expression. It was a surprise, Mina did not strike him as being easily shaken. Leo remembered the first time he’d seen a man burn, the immense weight of dread and horror that time and experience had rid him of as he stood to watch another. There was a spark of envy and a sobering realization that he didn’t feel much of anything to watch this now.
The torch was finally dropped upon the pyre. Even stranger, as much as the doomed man struggled amidst the rising flames and billows of smoke, he did not scream. He laughed. And from within the flames, a flash of glowing red orbs that Leo mistook for rising embers, glowed. One of the guards, it seemed, had accidentally lit his own pants on fire. What an idiot. Leo shook his head, he had more than a good idea of the state of Caesonia now. His odd nostalgia, and burning curiosity, for the event, were far less important than Mina’s current state of distress. Leo was about to offer to escort her somewhere else when she took a weak couple of steps backward.
“Mina?” She was now a ghastly shade of pale. He moved to steady her, an arm around her waist with enough time to stop her from crashing to the ground just as her slight frame became only dead weight. He gently guided her down onto one of the seating benches in the area, unceremoniously pushing anyone nearby out of the way. “Mina?” He repeated softly. He knelt to her level and figured the event had all just been a bit too much for her, surely she’d be up in a few moments.
Time: 11:00 am Location: Ballroom Interactions: Ariella@Tpartywithzombi
Callum honestly expected the public interest in talking with him now to have dropped off. He certainly wasn’t expecting any interest in him from anyone perched at the top of the Caesonian hierarchy. So to find Ariella Edward’s violet eyes on him was a surprise.
Salvation walked towards his table, not in the form of the red-haired noblewoman, but in the glasses of wine held in her hand. He imagined quite a few mothers out there had advised their hopeful daughters that winning over Prince Callum was as easy as keeping a filled wine glass in his hand. Not bad advice either, but why anyone would view capturing his hand as a prize was beyond him. He wasn’t going to be a king, he wasn’t even liked by the current king or the crowned prince, whatever small gain they thought he could provide was already long gone.
" Forgive my intrusion, Prince Callum." She spoke, curtsied, and offered him not only a glass of wine but a cloth of cold water as well. It was a kind gesture. And it was so hard to tell whether people were being nice to Prince Callum or to just Callum. Either way, he still reached for the glass of wine as soon as it was placed on the table. The wine also tasted more like onion than wine but he didn’t hold it against the drink.
“Thank you, and you’re not intruding, anyone who brings a drink is always welcomed around me.” Callum replied flippantly but he’d still risen from his chair to bow to her before sitting back down. Cal leaned his head back and put the cloth on his eyes. It really did help. So he relaxed a bit and found it easier to just listen to Ariella this way; when he couldn’t see the extravagant efforts put into appearances and he could just think of her as a person and not one of the Edwards. She asked if she could sit as she made her introduction.
“You may, and I know who you are,” Callum added but he realized that wasn’t entirely true. “Well I guess I mean, I know your name and who your parents are, but that’s really not the same thing is it?” He’d hated being thought of as being like his parents, he wasn’t going to do that to other people, even if he had seen enough glimpses of Dutchess Edwards to know she was awful.
“I think I should let you know that if you're looking to talk officially with a proper prince who enjoys all of this,” Callum gestured with one hand to the entirety of the ballroom, “and is looking to end this summer with a wedding, then you’ve picked the wrong table.” He took the cloth off his eyes and sat it down next to the onion and the worm pot. Ariella came from the same sort of family as him, illusions surrounded both their lives, and if she wanted someone to feed into all that there were plenty of nobles around who would. “But if you still want to talk to the idiot who ate an onion off the floor a few minutes ago, he’s more than happy to share a drink. As long as you’re fine with dropping the titles, I’d rather just be a person right now than a prince.” Callum made his offer and waited, fully expecting her to leave to speak with one of his brothers.
Time: 11:00 am Location: Ballroom Interactions: none
"GUARDS! Get that onion woman away from my sons! NOW! And Callum, conduct yourself with some respect for the ladies if not for yourself!"
Callum made his way back to his seat, still staring at Edin, and loudly chewing that same onion bite with his mouth wide open. Now that he had a mouthful of onion he didn’t particularly want to swallow it. His eyes burned, his mouth was filled with onion-infused saliva, and he had to choke down this god-awful decision or give Edin the satisfaction of him acknowledging in any way that eating this onion was a bad idea. So Callum sat back down in his chair, continuing his show of preformative mastication until the onion that was in his mouth was entirely mush. Then he choked it down and chased it with what remained in his cup of coffee.
Another bad idea because coffee mixed with onion was not in any way better than onion alone. He realized he could have spit the onion into the cup but it was way too late for that. Everything still tasted like onions, but he didn’t let a single expression slip through to betray how disgusting he found the experience. He looked away from Edin, who had long stopped paying attention anyway, and looked ahead at whoever else was still watching. Surely no one here wanted to sit and chat with someone who just had his last visitor leave tripping over the chair to get away and who ate onions off the floor. Maybe he wouldn’t have to disappoint anyone else here, they’d already know what they were getting into.
Since Edin wasn’t looking, Callum tried to discreetly wipe the tears out of his eyes and drool from his mouth on his sleeve. Except it was the sleeve that contained the hand that had been holding that damn onion and now his fingers smelled like the onion. His eyes only grew redder and more watery. No longer discrete, Cal next tried wiping his eyes clear with the other sleeve, and any victory he thought he had over Edin from eating that bite of onion with a straight face was now lost amongst the frequent face wiping and occasional gagging.
Gods only know how long he was now going to be stuck here where everything smelled and tasted like onion. But maybe he’d spared Ruby something; Edin’s full attention, or at least when people talked about this, and they would, maybe they’d all laugh at Callum eating an onion off the floor and not at the clumsy girl who tripped over a chair. He was fine with that, people thought there was something wrong with him anyway.
He gathered the peeled-off bits of the onion from the table and stuck them in his now empty coffee cup and placed the rest of the onion on top. He wasn’t eating any more of it, and it was probably one of his least favorite ideas, but maybe it had done something a little bit helpful. He didn’t feel good about it though, not because it was entirely disgusting and not because he was probably ruining the whole regal air of the event. No Callum currently felt like a jackass because he had promised Wulfric he wouldn’t do this. And then he did it. On a whim. Just like he pushed buttons because he knew where they were and he was angry enough not to care what happened after that. So he’d looked at just about everyone in that room while he was making another scene but not Wulfric, he didn’t have the nerve for that.
He noticed that Ruby really had left the tiny worm pot behind and he moved it closer to him. He was going to keep it safe until she wanted it back, and he figured she definitely would still want it back since he was doing a terrible job at this whole prince’s court thing. He wondered if someone would bring him a drink if he asked for one now. Probably not.
Time: Morning, 11 am Location: Athletic Arena Interactions: Mina @Tae
“I know what you meant, it is just a tender subject, which I also know you understand. And, thank you.” Leo answered with a soft and careful reply. It was a matter he did not need to casually discuss. It wasn’t polite conversation and Leo knew better than stand around and discuss topics that he was unable to remain calm and rational about. if he spoke on it for too long and he’d say things that weren’t for public ears. Grief would unravel and he was doing pretty well at keeping it coiled and contained. It was his burden to carry and the only person he could share burdens like that with was gone.
Mina’s words on the execution were easier to hear and she now had far more of his attention than the event taking place. While Leo had noted the absence of any members of the Caesonia’s royal family, he had not considered its potential importance beyond them not finding this particular criminal worth their time. Mina made a solid point; the game of acting as if a pardon could be earned, that the monarchs cared even for those who had lost the right to live, was necessary to keep the common folk believing that the game wasn’t rigged from the start. Without that hope, people got desperate. The trick was dosing it out, too much hope, and people got greedy, too little and you’d have a revolution pounding on the door. The common folk needed to be given those few scraps of hope to keep them quiet and dreaming of something better rather than demanding it.
“Hope really does make the sturdiest cages.” Leo agreed with her statement, not entirely sure if Mina had meant her observation in the way he’d taken it but it hardly mattered to him, it was a valuable insight nonetheless. “Now witnessing history, sounds like a fantastic way to spend the summer.” Leo grinned and dropped his voice to whisper before continuing.
“Whether it’s here or elsewhere, Sorian feels far less stable than I remember. Take last night’s party, every single noble in attendance now has a very bizarre case of amnesia for the entire event. And those parties have been recurring around here for a while now involving the two youngest Danrose royals.” Leo offered up his knowledge of last night’s events, it was hardly a secret, and word of it would spread quickly enough with or without his help.
“Not to mention at some point last night a prankster managed to sneak into my room and had more than enough time to ruin every pair of shoes I had here. Which says nothing good about security. Even the palace servants are hostile and unruly. Which is to say, from one Varian to another, thrilling and historic, almost certainly, but potentially dangerous here as well. Not that I would imply you can’t handle it, but added caution wouldn’t hurt.” Leo left out the fact that the said prankster revealed herself to be one of the hostile and unruly servants. There was no way he was going to willingly admit he’d been bested by some impoverished miscreant. He offered what he thought would be useful to Mina because he thought highly of both her and her uncle and she had shared insights with him.
Time: 11:00 am Location: Ballroom Interactions: Ruby @SausagePat, Auguste @Inertia, Edin
“Oh I can’t wait to return to the worms.”
“Same.” Callum muttered though he doubted that was the appropriate response. Ruby’s entire demeanor had changed, she seemed in a panic to get out, or at least away from him. Both the chair and Ruby crashed to the floor, and for some reason, there was now an onion rolling around as well. Well, there goes staying out of trouble. He really had tried to keep his word to Wulfric, but if they had really wanted this whole event to go smoothly then they wouldn’t have included him.
Cal wasn’t sure what he’d said wrong, maybe he’d gone on about worms too much. Or maybe it wasn’t entirely the fact that he was talking about worms but that everyone here, Ruby included, expected him to act more like a prince and be able to think of something more interesting than worms to talk about. Then again maybe five minutes was about all it took for people to figure out he wasn’t someone they wanted to be around. It didn’t much matter why, it was his fault, and now Ruby had made a spectacle and he had to fix it because Ruby seemed far too nice to deal with Edin’s attention.
“Sorry I-” Callum got up from his chair but didn’t get a chance to offer a hand to help Ruby up as she was already on her way out. Probably for the best, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say. Sorry, I ruined this event for you. Sorry, I’m kind of a shit prince. That didn’t seem like a useful thing to add right now, and he needed to try and find ways to be useful rather than just apologizing for messing things up. Callum picked up the chair and sat it back. Then he grabbed the onion off the floor and grinned.
“Hey, Auguste, I got a gift and a snack, not too bad huh?” He asked, louder than necessary as he slowly peeled off the first layer of the onion and set the peelings on the table. Cal made no effort to hide a grin as his eyes found Edin’s. Callum lifted up the raw onion and took a bite the same way he would’ve if it had been an apple.
But it was not an apple and whiskey, coffee, and a mouthful of raw onion were certainly not the breakfast of champions. It took most of his will not to hurl at the taste and the unwanted amount of onion juice now in his mouth. He forced himself to chew the crunchy bits of onion with a smile as his eyes never left Edin’s. “Mmm, my favorite.” He lied, mouth still full of half-chewed onion as he spoke. Then just because it was obnoxious he continued to chew with his mouth wide open.
Time: Morning, 11 am Location: Athletic Arena Interactions: Mina @Tae
Leo was caught off guard by Mina, and by her comment even more. He cringed momentarily before his jaw tightened as the words or is it Duke Smithwood now, rattled around in his head. The immediate instinct to snap back and shout that his father was not dead, not until there was proof, still tried to claw its way out of him. But it had been over a year and every day it got a little bit harder to even hope there was a chance he was alive. Every time it was brought up, no matter how subtly, it cracked that delusional hope just a little bit more.
“Lady Blackwood, your face is always a delight to see.” He spoke with a polite but hollow tone, bowed as was expected, and a polite smile twisted its way across his face. Leo took care to ensure nothing else beyond the image of a proper nobleman was seen.
“Stravy remains in the capable hands of her Dutchess,” Leo said, purposefully acknowledging only the true Dutchess of Stravy as he spoke, “and after last night’s folly I’m more than sure my mother has pushed back any thoughts of retirement plans.” He forced a calm and friendly reply; this was not a bridge to burn over an imagined slight. He knew Mina enough to assume she wasn’t here to make light of his loss and he held no animosity towards House Blackwood.
The issues between Leo and his mother were entirely personal, but in her duties as a Dutchess, he found very few faults and he was in no rush to be named a Duke. It felt far too soon to hold his father’s title and he wasn’t ready to accept it either. Going to late-night parties that draw ire from a foreign monarchy and nearly losing all composure with random servants was only proof that was true. His attention turned back to the execution as he thought about the other half of what Mina had said. He made no comment on the men who ended their lives before they could face the executioner’s justice, he figured his thoughts on that matter would be unwelcomed.
“It is effective, for a while. All these people here to watch, get their fill of bloodshed, and they’ll all leave thankful it wasn’t them, thinking as long as they stay in line it won’t be them awaiting the executioner. Until it stops working and they will all look for a new way to satisfy a need for blood.” That was the way the cycle went; those in power used brutality to keep the order only to have everything fall apart beneath revolutions. Then came chaos and in that chaos, a new power rose up and the cycle began again. “Thank the gods Varian has moved beyond such displays.” He added with a smirk. He almost meant it but he was here all the same enjoying the spectacle of old-fashioned public execution.
“This one already feels different, the man out there doesn’t look like a doomed man awaiting his fate. He looks like rage, like he still has something left to prove. Should be an interesting one.” Leo did little to hide his excitement as he spoke, they were both here to witness it, and he saw no reason to feign shame at that.
Time: 11:00 am Location: Ballroom Interactions: Ruby @SausagePat
Callum, slightly confused, did his best to match the strange and overly zealous handshake from Ruby. She was dismissive towards his comment about the king, whether that was because she wanted a happier conversation topic or she simply held a general disinterest towards the king’s antics, he wasn’t sure. He stared at her hand as she left it lingering between them, eyelashes fluttering and fingers waggling expectedly. Callum obliged, less than gracefully, as he stood to politely kiss her hand, and knocked against the table which rattled and echoed in the room before the sat back down.
Her instance to turn the conversation back to pottery was more than welcomed. It was a topic so far removed from all the things he didn’t want to talk about, this day or any day in the foreseeable future, that Callum felt much more relaxed. He didn’t hate talking to people half as much as he pretended he did, he only hated how fake it usually was.
“Ten pots?” Cal repeated the offer, whistled, and shook his head. “That seems like a lot, wouldn’t know what to do with so many and I’d hate for them to go to waste. One sounds perfect. And I like purple or blue.” He offered, before he could think up something else to add Ruby was rifling through her things and pulled out a small, slightly dusty, teapot. She excitedly launched into a story about it and Cal listened with equal enthusiasm.
He took the tiny teapot from Ruby, holding it as she had; like it was a precious thing, and he was careful not to drop it as he looked it over. “Can’t say I’ve ever given much thought to worms.” Or pots but he didn’t mention that aloud. The teapot itself seemed simple and functional, well made but hardly meeting the standards for anything that would be found in the palace. He liked that about the tiny pot; that it was a mundane object decorated to honor an oft-forgotten creature. “And you, made a teapot that remembers them,” Callum said, nodding, “and to the worms we all return, whether we remember them or not.” Maybe that was just the whiskey leading him to ramble and find meaning in random things, but today a worm pot made perfect sense to him. Cal carefully offered the teapot back to Ruby. “A very fine piece, thank you for sharing it with me.”
Callum gave everyone he met snap judgments. They often weren’t fair, he was just as easily swayed by rumors and his own bias’ as everyone else was. But he really did try to see the good in people, and people he knew nothing about were much easier to see in a positive light. He could trust strangers inviting him to parties with lax rules, he assumed bakers who spent all day making cakes did so to add something sweet to the world, and today he decided that anyone who would make a pot to celebrate worms certainly had to be a kind person.
“If you are going to make me a pot, then I’m going to have to figure out something to make you in return. Sadly I’m not half the accomplished craftsman as you are but maybe you could help me think of something.” He offered with a smile. And he then thought about worms some more. How they were a small, seemingly insignificant part of a much bigger world, but one day, even Edin would become just another feast for the worms and his smile brightened at that.
Time: 11:00 am Location: Ballroom Interactions: Ruby @SausagePat
Callum was surprised at how quickly the fair-haired stranger made her way to his table. She spoke with a hint of an accent more common in the less-than-affluent parts of Sorian than with the nobility and she looked at him with hopeful, mismatched, eyes. He was pretty sure if she were one of Sorian’s eligible high-class and wealthy noblewomen he’d have at least heard of her. Edin certainly enjoyed listing off all eligible noblewomen and commenting on which features he approved and disapproved of during his insufferable marriage speeches. But Cal kept his suspicions to himself and simply went along with the ruse.
“That is a rather impressive pedigree Ruby. I’m Callum, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He offered the required polite smile with the greeting. Her boast of social status, wealth, and refinement did little to impress him, but the unusual offer of a handcrafted pot was far more charming. “No one’s ever offered to make me a pot, I think that’d make a wonderful gift.” Callum added. She had seemed more enthusiastic and earnest when she had offered him a pot than when she spoke of noble heritage, he tried steering the conversation back to that.
“As for hesitating to make my pick; the king was talking and my ears have this terrible habit of turning off when he does so, seems I tuned back in just in time though, eh?” Callum spoke with a grin. He tested the waters, waited to see her reaction to his small slight against the king.
“Ah look at my beautiful blonde-haired sons. Sons I’ve created.”
The comment barely registered a response; with every fiber of his being Callum rejected thinking of Edin as a father, and Edin had always mirrored the sentiment. There was no bond, no link between them, only mutual hatred and it remained a wound so old that it no longer carried a sting. It was only satisfying, to feel separated from the source of rot in his life.
I am no Danrose. I will be better. He reminded himself. But a quieter, more persistent, voice whispered how, and he had no real answer for it. Then it whispered when, and without the how he had no answer for that either, and he felt his stomach twisting. And then it asked, and for how long? How long before he gave up fighting them, everyone had a breaking point, when would he find his? Callum tried to ignore it, he placed what remained of his coffee further away from him, and tried to think about anything else.
He pushed all his thoughts away, good and bad, closed his eyes, and focused only on breathing. He found himself a few more precious minutes where none of this existed.
“You are doing well here, just going to give you some well warning of advice. You need to do your best to impress that woman from the Alidasht. I hear she is just your type. You will be thoroughly impressed…”
“Doubtful.” Callum muttered at Alden who had broken his focus and Cal barely bothered to glance in the advisor's direction. As if the once long-lost advisor knew enough about him to know his type. As if he’d ever trust the opinion or word of a man who was suddenly a part of Edin’s inner circle. No, Callum had seen enough of the Shehzadi at the ball last night; the whole better than everyone air about her, harsh piercing eyes, and the lack of warmth in her expressions that made him suspect her blood ran colder than the serpent that adorned her. If anything he guessed she was more Wulfric’s type than his.
Callum was entirely pleased to see that the Shehzadi was drawn into Wulfric’s orbit. A completely different Shehzadi from the one his brother had danced with last night. Gods, just thinking about Wulfric being the center of a love triangle between two sisters of a foreign royal family was enough to draw out a smirk. Scandals like that could really tear royal houses apart.
He glanced at the other two women before them. He gave a friendly smile at Zarai who he suspected, much like himself, was here only by her family's command. He didn’t recognize the other women, which was probably a good sign, as it meant she likely wasn’t a constant fixture at extravagant and pompous gatherings, and therefore someone potentially interesting. Either Zarai or the stranger seemed like fine options for conversation, so Callum gestured to the open chair in front of him and shrugged.
“Grab a seat,” he offered, “or bring your own,” he glanced at Zarai, “if you like.” Callum did his best to seem friendly and approachable, but he certainly wasn’t interested in forcing anyone to speak with him.
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