The Capitol of Barcea
The Prince was slightly startled by Lyrena's voice as they came to a brief stop because of a gathering crowd, having not expected it after she had been quiet for so long. He looked back and then down as she dismounted, surprised initially by her interactions. Briefly, he considered requesting her to come along anyway, but he didn't have the heart to. He simply nodded instead.
"Very well then, Lyrena. I'll have someone sent by tomorrow morning, so be ready. Rest well.”The group made up of the very few who knew the dark days that would be descending upon this apparently very happy kingdom continued their way towards the center of the Capital. Beyond the inner set of walls the highest spires of the castle could be seen briefly as they approached, though they would soon disappear behind the walls due to a matter of angles. As they continued along, the people would continue to stare, a small crowd continuing to form around them of adoring citizens clamoring to see the royalty, despite the massive Deathcrawler that seemed to be travelling with the Prince and Princess.
As they passed one of the curving roads that ran around the entire Capitol, the crowd following the group suddenly merged with a larger one, forcing the group to come to a stop from the sudden mix of people. Pulling back on the reins, Cyril blinked in surprise and brief confusion, though everything became clear very quickly as his older sister and her entourage came into view. His hand came up, and despite the dire nature of the situation that was clouding the back of his mind a brief smile appeared on his face.
"Kori!"The Queen's eyes briefly flitted over at the sound of his voice before she turned her gaze fully upon him and the group, a warm smile making her graceful features even more so. She brought her hand up in a gentle waving motion, but she didn't have to say a word for the crowd to part out of respect. This allowed the group to move closer to the Queen, and her smile or eyes didn't waver in the slightest even as the Deathcrawler that scared so many got closer.
"Cyril, Ayano. You're back, and you have company." As the Prince and Princess' horses got closer, the Queen's hand went out to the already outreached hand of her sister, gently taking it and giving a squeeze.
"Isn't it a little early? I thought you might spend the night in Hillsborough."The brief smile, which had already been weakening, disappeared entirely from the Prince's face in that moment. To speak fully of what had happened here, in the middle of a crowd that had no idea, was foolish, so he spoke as generally as he possible could.
"Something came up unfortunately, so we had to come back early. There's a meeting we can't miss."Slowly the Queen blinked, and then she gave a small nod. She glanced beyond the Prince to those behind him, taking in their appearance and their expressions, before she smiled a slight bit more and gave a nod to them all. Letting go of Ayano's hand so that she could turn her horse to once more face the inner walls.
"Come along, then. There's someone we can pick up along the way."The group was able to fall in behind the Queen directly as they began to move once more, the main part of the entourage that was with the Queen before falling behind the group, though two guards remained on either side of the Queen. As they moved along the crowd continued to follow, though the Queen's gaze remained focused ahead. Together they made their way towards the gate that led through the inner walls.
Before reaching the gate, though, the Queen brought them all to a halt as she simply stopped in front of a flower shop. Though the guards tried to help her, she simply waved them away as she gently dropped from her horse to the ground. She made her way up the stairs on the side of the building that led to the apartment up above, where she brought up her hand to place a light knock on the door, waiting afterwards with her smile still on her face.
The light knock on the door saved Ennis from drowning in the whirlpool of his mind. The letters he had been penning were drenched in ink from his absentmindedness, soaked beyond repair. It was rare for him to get one unexpected guest; to have two in one day was an auspicious sign. He almost yelled for Yan before realizing his man had been sent on an errand earlier. Pushing himself up from his desk, the ambassador leisurely made his way across his quarters into the small entrance way. Cautiously he open the door, expecting to perhaps be greeted by a wall of spears and a warrant for his arrest. What he saw caught him so off guard that his immediate gut reaction was to yelp like a tiny pup whose tail had been pulled and shut the door with a slam.
Outside, the Queen simply blinked as her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. She hadn't had even enough time to utter a word.
Within, the following incredibly happened in just a matter of seconds. First, Ennis did a full spin and a half to look at the mirror in his foyer, straightening his attire, smoothing his hair and adjusting his hat, and lamenting his large nose. Second, he immediately broke out into a cold sweat and panicked breaths having realized that the most powerful person in Barcea was outside and he had just slammed the door on her smiling face. Third, his mind raced as he tried to rationalize why the Queen herself had come to his home. Fourth, he realized that he still had not opened the door for her. Fifth, he spun back to the mirror and readjusted everything. Finally, he opened the door calmly as if nothing had happened, the only hint of his grievous error being the tint on his cheeks that rivaled the roses in the shop below.
"Your Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure?" asked Ennis, his voice and stupid grin betraying his nervous excitement. He didn't even give her a chance to speak, prattling on.
"I imagined it'd be different when you came to my door." He sputtered over his own words, the red hues on his face deepening into a severe scarlet as he realized the possible illicit implications.
"I, I, I mean, it is different for you to come to my door. Ha ha," he said, his voice shriveling,
"because normally I'm the one who, oh, never mind. Oh, how rude of me, come in, come in, come in." He bowed deeply, and then shuffled to the side as he realized he was blocking the doorway, directing her towards his living room turned office. All the while, he still kept talking:
"Can I get you anything? Would you like some tea? I can reheat, no, no, make some fresh. My friend was just saying how great it was! Will you stay for dinner? Yan doesn't look it, but he's an excellent cook. Please, please, have a seat. Where is he, anyway? Oh, not that seat, it's not very comfortable, take mine. Sorry my home is so small. Ah, not to say that I do not appreciate the hospitality you have shown me with housing me! I meant it was smaller than what you'd be used to. Not to say that..."Ennis stopped, give a small cough into his hand, and chuckled slightly. When he spoke again, it was in a calm and collected tone.
"I apologize, Your Majesty, I am making a fool of myself. How may I assist you this fine day?"The Queen continued to give her calm, kind smile, simply nodding in Ennis' direction. Though he had offered a seat, she made no move to take it as she stood with her hands folded in front of her, waiting for him to come to a stop on his own. With the moment finally presenting itself for her to speak, she calmly said,
"We won't be able to stay today, Ennis. Please, I need you to come with me to the castle now. My brother has... brought news, and I would like you to be part of the discussion." Her tone remained calm throughout, not betraying anything she may have suspected.
"Oh."The red fled from the ambassador's face as quickly as it had set on, replaced by a distinct paleness. He could not get a read on her, but he was a smart enough man to piece it together nevertheless. The Queen of Barcea may like to visit with her subjects, but Ennis imagined that even someone as benevolent as her would not stop by a former foe's home for simple courtesies. If the Prince was involved, it likely meant news from the borders. Ennis double checked to make certain that the letter from his father was still on him; it might serve as evidence to provide that he had no former knowledge of the attacks. The thought that it could very well condemn him did not cross his mind. Former enemy or not, he trusted the Queen.
He realized he had been awfully quiet.
"Of course, I'd be honored. After you, Your Majesty."She gave a nod in response with her smile warming ever slightly, and then she turned to lead him out. Outside the door she stopped for the brief moment needed to allow him to lock the door, and then the two made their way down the stairs, where the group and crowd were waiting. Her hand came up as she reached her own horse, but it went out to one of the guard's instead, resting lightly on his horse.
"Please, make your way back to the castle at your own pace. The Ambassador needs your horse.""Of course, Your Majesty." The guard removed himself from his horse and stepped to the side for Ennis as the Queen stepped up to her own.
Ennis had expected to see the Sentinels. He had not expected to see the train of, ahem, unique individuals with them. His eyes passed the downtrodden vagrant, paused on the ribbon wearing diviner (he had heard a story here or there about her work), but lingered on the Deathcrawler and its rider, more intrigued than nervous. If the circumstances had been different he would have peppered them with a thousand questions and then some, but today he just gave them a nod and a warm smile. A smile that only slightly dampened when his eyes met the Prince and gave him and his younger sister all the proper greetings. He thanked the guard for his horse and mounted it, not thinking that the man only ceded his ride because it was the will of his Queen.
"H'kelan dog," said someone under their breath. Ennis first thought was that it had been the guard, but the voice was too feminine and the Queen's men were too well-mannered. He decided to ignore it; he was certain he'd be called worse things in the coming hours.
With the Ambassador with them, the group began to once more move with the Queen. As they approached the inner walls, the crowd finally began to drop away, knowing that they would be prevented from following through at the moment by the guards that stood at attention at the raised gate. Stopping to give one last wave of farewell to her people, the Queen then continued on under the gate with the group.
When they were beyond the gate and it dropped shut behind them, they were able to see the castle fully for the first time since they had entered the Capitol that day. A slight green slope of well-kept grass rose up from the walls to where the castle was, the road they were on leading straight up to it. Set in two circles, one within the other like the Capitol itself, the white stone that made up most of the structures was accented by dark stone on the roofs and spires. Within, the outer circle was reserved for more public spaces and living spaces for guards and servants, while the inner circle was kept for more private spaces for the royal family, and whoever they might be offered to. In between both circles, where hallways did not connect the two, were gardens and courtyards. Though some may have known the details of the structure of the castle already, those who didn't would only know the outside from what they had seen, though they would figure out the rest soon enough.
To the main entrance Kori led them, where they would dismount before the steps that led up to the tall and ornate wooden doors. Servants that were waiting made their way forwards as everyone began to dismount, each one to a horse to take the animals away to the stable. However, there was clear hesitance as a few looked to Sir Mauls-a-lot even as Calypso easily dropped from him and gave him a happy pat, looking to the servants with a confused blink concerning their apparent fear afterwards.
Shadar stared at the poor man who was to take away Sir Mauls, the hesitance and fear easy to see and understand. With a sigh, he walked over to the boy, looking down at him coldly.
"Listen here, cause I'm only going to say this once, take him to either the stables away from the horses, or some other area of similar size and function, bring him a cow or some other form of life stock, and then turn around. Trust me when I say you don't want to see a Death crawler feed. They tend to be quite the messy eaters," Shadar said, turning around and preparing to walk off, only to remember that he should probably give the servants another helpful bit of information.
"Oh, and if you value your lives, don't touch him. Lead him with your voices, as he can understand most of what you're saying. Just make sure you feed him 2 or 3 animals of decent size and he should be docile enough for the rest of the day."Shadar walked off without another word to go with the other guests, leaving the servants to look at Sir Mauls as he stood there, eyeing them in a way similar to how a cat eyes mice, the soft clacking of his mandibles making for an unnerving reminder of how hungry a creature like that must be after such a long journey with not that much too eat.
The servant who Shadar spoke to paled even further, looking to the Queen briefly out of sheer desperation. She smiled comfortingly in return, giving him a gentle nod.
"Do as he says exactly, and you should be fine.""Y... Yes, Your Majesty." Swallowing, the servant began to carefully approach the Deathcrawler, raising his voice some to speak to the creature while the Queen turned once more to face the tall double doors up the steps, before she led them up and through them into the grand entrance way. Behind them, the Deathcrawler would suddenly begin to clatter, but despite how the servant flinched the creature made no move to attack... In human terms, Sir Mauls-a-lot was simply chuckling.
Kori led them through the entrance way at decently quick walk, towards another set of tall double doors. Though they were only briefly within the entrance way, its appearance of being clean with floors the color of soft white and walls a warmer, neutral color with decorations in the form of paintings, tapestries, armor, and plants, all accented with blue, was typical for the hallways throughout the entire castle.
The next set of doors led to the throne room, set like a long hallway that connected the outer circle of the castle to the inner circle. A long blue carpet stretched from end to end, from the doorway to the throne, and there were tall columns on either side. The throne was of decent-size, made with wood, blue fabric, and gold, and it was on a higher level than the rest of the throne room. There were guards standing at attention, and doors on either side behind the throne.
To the throne Kori went, the group following along. While they stopped a little away, before the rise, Kori calmly stepped up and turned around to sit. She sat up straight, but was not rigid, and looked down to them calmly. Briefly, she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before focusing in on Cyril.
"Is it finally happening?""... Yes." Cyril stepped up, crossing over to her. As he did so, he brought around the wrapped up helmet that he had been carrying. When the helmet was uncovered, Kori's hands went up to gently take it from her brother, pulling it to herself to look over it. Her expression, while not frowning, did not seem pleased.
"Gartian has finally snapped... We hoped it wouldn't happen, and yet..." She shook her head, before looking up once more to the group as a whole, gaze still gentle but serious.
"I would like to hear from everyone. Please, tell me who you are, where you are from, how you are involved, and what you experienced." She smiled a little more at them, the smile as warm as ever despite the situation.
“For those of you who may not know or may not be certain, my name is Kori Serio, and I am the Queen of Barcea. Please, make yourselves as comfortable as you possibly can.”
Izurich