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 Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:09 am
Kelbora remained silent, she had no desire to see this so called "Savior of the War"...as far as she was concerned this war would end with the elimination of one or more races, or with some kind of compromising negotiation...and the last seemed less realistic then it should have been.
War was her art, trade, and fancy when forced to choose between being a true noble lady or a knight. She was much more like her father then her mother, but unlike other noble family's her's never discouraged her from her path. Her mother was proud to see that her only daughter was as strong an independent as she...her father was even prouder.
Kelbora felt more so then she saw or heard the Wolf Queen enter the hall, the Queen had a very distinct presence that filled the air with the slight perfume of the forest and the cool dampness of dew upon the earth. It was the smell of a wolf without the muskiness of its natural odor; plus her being permeated the air with authority and age. Though a young Queen, leadership often adds to the aura of age...kind of like wine; the older the cooler and more bitter.
Kelbora did not turn around to greet Gelir, she assumed that they had come to some mutual understanding by now that neither of them could see the other as higher or equal until they had built a foundation of respect and trust between the two. It was the way Kelbora saw the world: Unless you wore the emblems of the Vampiric Monarchy or of the Holy Church, she would not bow to you; and unless you earned her trust and repsect, she did not show submissive behavior. Gelir wanted a high class Guardian for her younger brother? Well she got one of the most independent, hard wrought, and tough-a** bitches in the entirety of the Dark Elven nation. Tch, hope she got her money's worth.
"Gelir." Kelbora said evenly, acknowledging her presence with an informal stating of the woman's first name. She figured that since Gelir was a hater of formalities, she wouldn't bother with the title if it wasn't necessary.
Throughout the entire time, her eyes never left that door the dark haired elf was guarding. For what lied beyond was a being not meant...to exist.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:01 am
"Kelbora." Gelir put simply.
Ignoring Fael, she turned to Elenath. "Ah, young Rusc heir Elenath, pleased to meet your acquaintance. I suppose you are here to pay your respects?" Fael's mouth began working soundlessly in protest. "Acharn does get a bit lonely with just us two ladies to keep him company," She shrugged in Fael's direction. "
I needn't ask what you are doing here Kelbora, I suppose you just decided to take free reign with the floor, however, you weren't denied such, so I won't suffer you a lecture. And if Fael has given you any notion to the contrary, she is misinformed. Sometimes she doesn't realize her place. "
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At this, Fael growled, lower lip mashed in her teeth and went back into Acharn's room, making sure nothing inside was visible, yet managing to make a lot of noise in doing so.
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"You'd think that child had never graced her hundredth year," Gelir winced at the sound, the vibration of the door reverberated across her most outstanding and weakest shield, as if to say, 'Hey there's something over there!' No really?
"I'm going to have a pot of miruvor (a heartening, heavy liquid), if either of you would like to join me, just knock, kay?" Gelir entered the room, opened too slightly for anything to be seen, more out of practice than suspicion, and quickly shut again, this time with almost complete silence.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:18 pm
When the Headmistress came within a ten feet distance Elenath bowed respectfully, as she had been taught to do, but still disliked. A fox had to have her pride. She was startled that the Headmistress knew her name, for surely, though she was in line for the throne, the Headmistress had much more important things to do, such as ruling a country, watching a school, and most importantly protecting Acharn, than to know her name. Throughout this whole exchange the only expression her face showed was the widening of an eye maybe 1/8th of a centimeter. Hardly noticeable and very well controlled on her part. Elenath nodded as a way to get out of the trouble, taking the Headmistress' way of escape.
She chuckled slightly, albeit a bit uneasily, as Fael entered the room and closed the door with a resounding slam. That was surprisingly... Childish? Her pride must be as great as her prudishness. Really, was that search that necessary? And so thorough? Was that even a word? Elenath thought to herself. Shrugging to herself she concentrated on her surroundings. I'm in a hall with a guardian whose deadly as hell and the Headmistress, one who could kill anyone I know with her pinky finger... Lovely. At least the two weren't like Thala Miel and herself. She snorted at the thought. Thala and herself would be like two cats thrown in a bag and tossed in a river. Horrible analogy considering she would never lower herself to that of a cat.
At the sound of the drink Elenath shook her head, she hadn't really ever liked miruvor. It sat in her stomach like a stone. But she would like to meet the infamous Acharn. He wasn't like what she expected from the brief flash she had seen of him. Glancing at the woman, she shrugged her shoulders as a sign of indifference and bowed in acknowledgement and respect of elders. It was polite, and better not to make enemies. She walked silently up to the door, knocking politely, a light rap three times on the hard wood.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:51 pm
Gelir walked over to the small dining area of her room, summoning water to boil and lighting the flame with a small tap to the burner.
Smiling to herself, her ears registered the light tapping on the intricate wood. Without bothering to rush, she walked up to the door, and opened it gentle.
"Ah, Lady Elenath, as expected.
And..Kelbora, if it's Acharn you do not want to enter for, no worries, our rooms are like yours. Guardian up front, important personnel to the back, you'd still be a room away.
Now now, Elenath, step inside and have some miruvor, I just set it on."
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:05 pm
Elenath smiled slightly, actually, it was more of a smirk. Of course she would have come to enter, the Headmistress had probably peaked her interest on purpose. Besides, she wanted to meet Acharn in person. "Ah, Headmistress Draug, I only wanted to meet... Master Acharn?" She asked questioningly, not sure of the way to address him. "I've heard stories and rumors but did not believe in them. I've always found rumors to be a bit... Strayed."
Elenath entered the room slowly, looking around. "Headmistress, I don't really have much of a taste for miruvor though, so I needn't a drink. Thank you for the thought though." She smiled uneasily. "May I meet Master Acharn then?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:17 pm
Gelir laughed. "I thought cats were the curious ones?" She teased, knowing the reference would spike Elenath's temper, despite her non-ability to anything about it. "Make sure you sign up for a few Etiquette and Dictation classes, you'd shame your parents at every outing with that mouth, eh?"
With that, she curled a finger in Elenath's direction, and dispelled the spell locking Acharn's door. "Mind if I call you Elle? I hate formalities." It seemed less of a question and more of a statement as the room was unveiled to Elenath.
Fael sat sullen and completely unremorseful in an ebony-colored chair, leaves and bows carved into it delicately.
Acharn sat on the bed, silver-blonde hair hanging loose around him, brushed only out of the way of the tome in his lap, his fingers pressed carefully and almost timidly against the pages. He had a distinct regal air about him, classic Serimf angles and sharp brooding blood red eyes. His mother's features crossing in the cute pink slightly pouty lips; the fullness of his cheeks; his fine, light colored hair; and of course, his ability to wield dreadful volcanic magic. He seemed almost lost sitting there, not belonging in any word, trying to dissect the strange scrawl the ancient book was written in.
"Acharn, you have a visitor." Gelir said simply. His eyes immediately drifted upwards, lightening considerably, a slight smile gracing his features, making them that much more pronounced.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:39 pm
Elenath's eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't care if they don't like my tone or the way I speak. And I'm not curious. I only want to be knowledgeable." She stated the last part with a sniff, giving it a slightly injured tone. She was joking of course. "But I will sign up for Etiquette and Dictation just to make you happy." She said that sarcastically, with a tinge of a smirk splayed upon the corner of her lips.
A slight vein twitched on her forehead with the nickname Elle. She liked her name, for it meant Star. And stars were beautiful and always burning, as she was usually with passion and fiery temper. "Elle would be fine." She said to appease the headmistress.
As she entered the room in which Acharn was she started in surprise. He was young, and handsome. She could see his Serimf and fey features clearly, her eyes piercing and taking in every minute detail. Then she spotted the tome he was reading. "Fire magic? I like you already." She smiled playfully. Inclining her head she clarified, "As a friend if you don't mind? I have a certain affinity for fire myself. I have a temper to match it it is said."
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:43 pm
Kelbora had lingered outside the door for a moment, looking in and seeing the Queen as she sat casually in her chair sitting the hot herbal liquid with that regal grace of nobility. The Fox princess had rushed through another door to apparently meet the "Child of Two Bloods"...that abomination.
Kelbora made no sound as she entered Gelir's room and properly took a seat opposite to her at the small sitting table she inhabited. The Vampire crossed her arms and one leg over the other as she sat upright in the chair with an equally appropriate yet unrelaxed appearance. Beyond this room was the bane and supposed savior of the two great races...he's birth was accepted by neither side and his existence is denied by both to keep the great shame from tarnishing the royal family names further. Apparently someone was indeed in that room beyond, needing to be guarded, and conversing with the young Fox Elf...but as to whether it was the "Blood Child" or not had yet to be determined in her mind.
Instead of staring at the opened door with the enthusiastic female adorning the frame, Kelbora's deep green eyes flashed back to the calm and pristine Gelir. Her eyes narrowed...was she mocking her? Testing her? Seeing what she would do in the presence of the most detested soul in her nation besides her, Gelir, and the Feyian royals themselves? Perhaps this was a trap to make her do something that merited her extermination...illogical in some respects, yes, but she had always been a cautious and analytical person from all angles of a situation.
Its what's kept her alive for so long.
Kelbora then looked down at the hot cup of miruvor that Gelir had summoned upon her request for company, and she frowned. She never had been fond of the stuff...it was a strong drink she only drank out of politeness during council meetings or to partake in its remedy like effects when necessary. She gave a closed mouth sigh of annoyance, but surrender, as she kept one arm around her abdomen while the other properly lifted the mug as she took a sip. She had to suppress a cringe as the scalding liquid left that all to familiar bitter taste in her mouth as the smoothness of the creamy substance helped it slither down her throat. She then placed the cup back down and replaced her arms back into their original position.
She had to admit...it was a filling and relaxing drink...She almost gave into the urge to lean back in the chair. Well...almost.
"You're treating me awfully well for someone of my station. In my country, Prisoners of War who refuse to serve in the army and are made slaves are treated with the poorest of standards. I do not say I condone it...but this certainly was not what I was expecting." She stated and looked back at Gelir again, suspicion and calculation, thick in her eyes. "...It makes me wonder what your real motives are." And now it was time to be bold, "You have not received political pressures from my country in regards to my detainment, I trust?"
Yes, she and more so her family were in very high standing with the King and Queen of the Vampiric Nation as a whole. She was one of the standing High Lords of Parvanthious, the...once...greatest territory in the lands...and even though her family, home, and armies were gone, she was still a ranking noble lady and military commander loyal to the monarchy. She would expect nothing less then immediate demands for her release and return, or at least and exchange of prisoners.
Well...that was if they knew she was still alive. And this was where her heart sank, for she highly doubted they or anyone else did.
"...Yes...I trust...you have not."
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:24 pm
"Hmm" Acharn thought aloud. "Isn't it a bit early in the semester for you to be coming on to me?" He teased gently, putting a blank piece of parchment in his tome and placing it on the nightstand. "Come, come," he said, patting his hand against the bed. "I don't bite...well...I won't bite you, how about that? Though our fire magics are quite different, we may find some camaraderie anyway?"
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Gelir frowned slightly. "I can see where you might get that idea, however, even if they knew you were alive, I cannot say that a messenger would stay alive long enough to make demands. Our peasantry are rather enflamed against your people. Excepting Prisoners Of War of course. Half are broken and near soulless, another large percentile gain acceptance to their position, whereas the smallest portions either commit suicide, or rebel and we are forced to kill them. I won't pretend to imagine which you shall be.
Honestly, you wouldn't ask my motives if you knew more about me, or at least I should hope not. To believe such and know me is to believe me stony and cold. And well, I'd like to think otherwise." She took a long sip of the miruvor and sank back against the counter, as if feeling the weight of the day for the first time.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:43 pm
Kelbora remained with her upright posture, but her shoulders sagged a tad. She resigned herself to find a spot way from the Queen and looked away from Gelir to a place more towards the floor. She was suddenly tired and trying hard not to let the foreboding feelings of 'home sickness' take hold...it was a lot more difficult then imagined.
"...I do not suppose you would go out of your way to send word that I was still alive? ...No...I may not know you, but I know politics...To let my people know I was alive would start another enflamed contest of headbutting and strife to see to either my return or death. I do not pretend that my Lords would think it best for my death then to remain a prisoner, they would be afraid I would talk." She scuffed and her eyes narrowed bitterly, "I would never do anything to jeopardize my nation, but the fear for them is always there. Everyone has a breaking point, though some are easier to break then others." She then moved her eyes to give Gelir a sidelong glance, "Do not be mistaken, I will not prove easy by any means to break."
That said she returned to looking at the floor deep in thought. If she could somehow tell the council...or at least her comrades in arms that she was still alive, she had no doubts that they would try some way to come after her. There was hope of returning...hope of being found and rescued...but what if the conspiracy that destroyed her beloved city went beyond that Man and his allegiance's understanding? What if other cities had helped plan it? It was a solemn and terrible thought...but one she could not dismiss.
"...Tell me something, what word have you of news from my people? How their affairs progress and information of their internal networks?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:51 pm
Gelir sighed. "As you are not well-versed in elven culture, I am equally lackluster in Serimf news. Honestly, between running a country, a school, and caring for brat-one and brat-two, I don't have time for sleep, nonetheless international politics. There are people whom would know, but good luck finding audience with them, and I don't have the time to take a week or two's journey."
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:55 pm
Damn. If the Queen of this land did not know the happenings abroad...then no one would. The Head-of-State knows all the events of her lands and the surroundings...so either she was lying, or telling the truth by admitting her own lack of knowledge. Gelir didn't strike her as stupid or a liar...but a Queen...hmm...
"...Then let me ask you something else...how much do you know about me?" Now Kelbora turned her eyes once again upon the Queen...often the body betrayed more then the tounge.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:12 pm
Gelir's shoulder's slumped. "I know from the party that 'rescued' you that your name is Kelbora and you were found half dead on jagged rocks. I know from Fael that you are a Serimf High Lord. Or were in any case, perhaps you still are, I don't know enough about your customs. I know that you dislike Acharn, and I believe you haven't met anyone here thus far whom you've liked in the least. And I can also tell this concept of living you are under chafes at you. That you feel as though the choices in your life are being made for you, and you have to follow through or give up, but neither prospect is appealing. And your pride would never let you give up. You feel as though the weight on your shoulders from guilt or betrayal is making you crumble. You wish there weren't so many lives on your hands." Her eyes lost focus somewhere in the midst and it seemed as though she wasn't quite talking to Kelbora anymore.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:22 pm
So far, so true. But why did Kelbora get the feeling that Gelir wasn't talking about her anymore? She decided to keep this observation to herself...but decided that information sharing between the two would not go farther until each gave a little to the other in turn. But how much information to give...was the question.
"...You are a very observant person, but it surprises me how little you know of me yet you took me on despite this lacking in knowledge." Kelbora stated, her head now turned and giving some leeway to her prideful demeanor. "...Do you know of the main Vampiric religion? Or the Holy City...called Parvantious?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:31 pm
Elenath grinned impishly at Acharn, "It's never to early, and of course then it's only cuddling!" Wagging her finger at him she joked, "Now I don't get into the bed with a guy until he's at east courted me for awhile!" Elenath was an interesting... Character. Yes, that's the right word. She was tempermental, yes, but extremely playful, mischievous, snarky, sarcastic, and impish. She was also fiercely loyal and protective.
Stretching her arms out from inactivity, hearing a pop as they cracked, she languidly moved over to the bed, sitting and looking at the tome closely. She had read some of the book, knowing it's title, from the library at the fox clan's domain. A Lot of the books were 'borrowed' and extremely expensive. "I was lucky enough to have a fair tester. He allowed me to keep Water, Air, and my native Fire magic. Unfortunately I have no skill in Earth magic. Do you like anything other than magic? Hobbies perhaps?"
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