forum A Dreamer, a King, and a wolf. // Romance & Adventure // OxO // closed

Started July 09, 2019 by @croccin-champagne

tune

Soren raised an eyebrow slightly. I know? Is something wrong? He tapped quickly. "Is there something you need, Duke Kaer?" He asked.
The Duke shrugged. "I heard you put her in the fiance rooms, rather than the ones I advised."
The muscles in Soren's arm tightened. "Yes. You know very well that Alana's rooms are off limits, Jacos. You overstepped your authority." He said in a warning tone.
"And why is that? Your sister has been dead for five years now. Why not put her rooms to good use?" The duke said in an infuriatingly calm voice.
Soren's fists clenched. "Because I said so." He said in a dangerously low voice. "I am the king, and you need to remember that."

Thinking. Was Celeste’s response, and no further explanation came. She stayed quiet, watching the conversation with that same calculating look that didn’t match her smile.

She cut in smoothly, before things could escalate too much, an oddly believable and persuasive tone to her voice. “Actually, it is a very good thing I didn’t end up in those rooms. I’m terribly allergic to a plant that was in there at some point, and though I’m not sure how recently it was, my familiar warned me of the plant’s presence. It really would be a disaster if I had ended up having an allergic reaction. I’d hate to throw a wrench in planning for the upcoming festival, just because a plant doesn’t get along with my genes.” It was almost lighthearted, the casual way she said it.

Soren took a deep breath.
The duke smirked lightly. "Oh, maybe that's why you moved her? Or is she here to warm your bed?"
Soren stiffened. "Get out." He growled at the duke. "Before I throw you out on your ass."
Captain Mikhail made his way over, quickly taking the duke by the arm. "Come with me, sir." He commanded, leading the duke away.
The duke was smirking.

Deep breath, count to ten, rinse and repeat. Celeste tapped to Soren, repeating the phrase a few times like a mantra. I know I shouldn't have spoken out of turn, but- The duke had seemed entirely too familiar. His personality was one she'd seen plenty of times before, and he was a man unafraid of anything, under the assumption that nothing could touch him.

It's alright. He just knows exactly how to get under my skin, and he does it every time he can. Soren replied. I'm sorry for my overreaction. He sighed softly.

Captain Mikhail came back. "The duke has been escorted out. But, sir…you can't always fix the issue by making him leave. It's making you look…"

Soren looked down at the floor for a moment. "I know, Captain. I…will try to be better." He said.

Don't apologize. It's not your fault. Celeste tapped, while listening to the two men talk. A small part of her had almost expected to be punished for speaking, habitual fear that followed actually being punished for even breathing too loud. Mentally shaking off her worries, she patted the fabric of her skirt, before slipping her hand into one of the folds, where she'd found a pocket while re-hemming. Thank you Ailisha. She thought to herself, sending out a prayer of good fortune to the witch that had given her the skirt.

Captain Mikhail sighed softly. "It it not your fault. But the court…you know the court." He said.

Soren nodded. "I do. I need to figure out something that will appease them, but…" It may not be my fault, but the court sides against me. He tapped back.

"Short of marrying one of their daughters or making someone else king, I don't know what you can do." The captain said gently.

Soren nodded. "I know. We can talk about this more later." He said.

Captain Mikhail bowed, and assumed his normal position a few feet away, silent.

And yet, you blame yourself for that, too. Celeste didn't even register tapping back, too focused on searching her pockets for whatever she was looking for. It took her a moment to withdraw a green banded stone, holding it in the palm of her hand as she studied it. "I can't offer much, and I hate it." Fixing was one of the few things she considered herself good at, so not being able to fix things was something she hated. "But…here. I remembered I had this in one of my bags. Malachite, the warrior stone, to help with wisdom and transformation. It's connected to instinct, and has a history with royals in the desserts my mother hailed from, as it's supposed to help them make better decisions. I don't have much to offer right now, beyond this."

Perhaps I do. He tapped. He looked at the stone, hesitating for a long moment. "And you are…giving it to me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked down at her, those strange blue eyes studying her carefully. "I don't see…why. You owe me nothing. There is no reason for you to help." He pointed out slowly, eyes searching her still. He wasn't sure…why she would help him. Why she would try to help him fix this court. It hated him because he wasn't letting them do whatever they wanted as his father had. He was trying to hold them accountable. They didn't like that very much.

"I have things to make up for, and a bit of a bleeding heart." She said, by way of explanation. And that was true enough. She felt like she owed a penance to the world, for what her father had done, and what she had done to him. Paired with her innate desire to be good, helping people was almost required of her. She met his eyes, the colors in her own swirling rapidly. "I'm giving you the stone, yes. If everyone in the world only helped those they had a 'reason' to help, what kind of world would we be living in?"

Soren hesitantly took the stone. "…alright. Thank you, Celeste." He said softly, looking at her carefully. He tucked the stone in his pocket. "And…if we only helped because we had a reason, we would be living in a world full of nobles." He observed wryly. "Because that's how my court works." He shrugged slightly, eyes flickering around the room for a moment. He frowned slightly, abd gestured to Captain Mikhail, gesturing to someone and speaking in a low tone.

Captain Mikhail nodded, and slipped into the crowd.

"Which is exactly why that's the last thing we want." Celeste stated, furrowing her brows and frowning slightly. Her eyes flickered between Mikhail and Soren, the too-calculating look returning as she did so, before turning into a worried frown as the captain left. "Is something wrong?"

Soren didn't look at her, eyes following Mikhail through the crowd. "Not yet." He replied vaguely. "But if the captain can't take care of the issue, we might have to get out of here faster than I'd want to." His eyes flicked to her for a moment, then back to Mikhail's progress. I don't know how that one escaped. But I don't know why they're here, either. He thought, chewing on his lower lip anxiously for a moment.

The guards at the doors both straightened, also keeping their eyes on their commander.

Celeste's eyes flickered down, meeting Pluto's, and a moment later he, too, was disappearing into the crowd. The weight of the knife in her boot was comforting, though the witch watched the people around them warily, not quite sure what was going on, but knowing it was worth being careful. For your own safety, it might be best if we slowly and innocuously make our way in the direction of the doors. She suggested, tapping instead of speaking.

Not yet. Mikhail should be able to take care of it. Soren tapped back.

There was a commotion as Mikhail grabbed the arm of a man in the crowd, and the man fought back.

Soren winced. "Shit." He muttered. "Excuse my language." He said, starting to edge back towards the doors. Now we should go. He tapped, eyes flickering over the nobles, who were turning to stare at the commotion.

Celeste clucked her tongue twice, as though signalling someone, before nodding. Though instinct told her to go help, to minimize damage, because that's what she was good at, she stayed with Soren, guiding him towards the door. The guards were busy making sure the commotion didn't get too out of hand, leaving Soren open and vulnerable. This has to do with earlier, doesn't it?

There was a shout. "Soren!" Mikhail yelled, voice sounding slightly panicked.

Soren turned just in time to see something flying straight for him and Celeste. "Oh for the love of-" he broke off, pushing Celeste out of the way, and dodging to the side. The thing impaled itself into the wall, after hitting one of the guards and sending him to the floor. Soren jumped back to his feet, checking on the fallen guard. "Are you alright, Zavan?" He asked.

The guard coughed, bleeding from where his armor had been torn open along his right side. "I'll live, sir. I think." He replied, coughing again.

Soren nodded. "Good." He gestured to two others. "Get him out, take him to the healer's, and then come back." He looked at Celeste, walking over and helping her up. "Sorry about that." He said, eyes darting over to the crowd, where Mikhail was busy trying to wrestle the man to the ground. "You should leave." He said. "Get to your room." He looked at her for a moment.

Celeste still looked startled, but as her eyes landed on the injured guard, something flashed in them. "Absolutely not." She said, turning to Soren. Her eyes were hard, and she almost looked angry, like the guard being injured made her upset. "I will not leave when I can be of use here. Stay with Pluto, and don't leave his sight." She instructed, obviously too preoccupied to remember her manners when talking with the King. Pluto nudged Soren's leg, appearing out of nowhere and gently guiding him towards the door.

Meanwhile, Celeste turned to the fight with the man, shoving up her sleeves as she pushed her way through the crowd. A skirt wasn't ideal for a situation like this, but all she needed to do was make contact with the man's skin. "Captain! Try and immobilize his limbs!" She called, her tone oddly commanding. Though she usually looked more like her mother than father, times like these drew out certain similarities. Her father had been a leader and a powerful man, and his daughter carried those traits, no matter how much she hated them.

Soren looked down at the wolf for a moment. "Celeste, don't." He said firmly. "This isn't your fight. You don't know what you're interfering with." He warned, ignoring the wolf's attempts to get him to leave.

Mikhail glanced up, and pinned the man's arms. The man growled, and snapped something in a different language. Mikhail gave a shout of pain, letting go as blood dripped from a puncture hole in the right side of his chest, stumbling slightly.

Soren's eyes widened. Mikhail was his best friend, and closest advisor. "Mikhail!" He shouted. Without paying attention to the guards reaching to stop him, he went to his friends side. "Come on, please be okay." He exclaimed.

Mikhail's eyes widened. "Soren, get out!" He managed, clutching his wound with his hand. "I'll be fine, get your ass out of here!"

At the same moment, the attacker sent another weapon flying at Soren, shouting, "This was for the ones we lost to you monarchs!"

Soren's eyes flashed to the man. "I am not your enemy!" He roared. Suddenly, something snapped. Almost audibly so, as flames flickered up from Soren's hands.

Mikhail cursed. "Soren, put it out. Now. You know what that does to you!" He hissed, grabbing at the king.

(Sorry for such a long-ass thing. I didn't mean it to get so long XD but apparently conversations make it longer)

Soren was right, Celeste had absolutely no clue what was going on. What she did know, however, was that innocent people were being hurt, and more would be, if this continued. A Soren's palms lit up, following Mikhail's injury, that was something she was sure of. Especially as she caught the captain's hissed words to the King, vague, but worrying enough to someone who knew very well what magic could do to people.

She didn't even register shoving through the rest of the crowd, nor did she register placing herself directly between Soren and the man, her back turned to the former and her eyes on the latter. The markings on her chest writhed angrily as something cold and powerful flooded her veins, the dreamcatcher on her neck glowing an eery purple.

"Everyone needs to calm down." It wasn't just Celeste speaking. Magic coated her words, the Sleepspell powerful enough to carry over everyone in the room. It wasn't supposed to do that. She was supposed to touch someone, and use enough energy to drain her, just to put one person into a normal sleep. Something was off, but it was working, a calming energy washing over the room and making people almost drowsy.

Many of the nobles fell asleep, or at least yawned and sat down, leaning against pillars and such sleepily. A lot of the guards did the same, except for Mikhail, who hauled himself to his feet. "Soren, put it out." He hissed, wobbling unsteadily as blood dripped down his armor.

Soren shook his head quickly, taking a deep breath. Heat radiated from his body. "I can't." He said softly. "Not until the trigger's gone." His eyes landed on the man in front of Celeste, and the flames mounted again, crackling and snapping, devouring everything they touched.

The man took a step back from both Soren and Celeste. "Magic won't work on me, witch." He spat. "It doesn't work on Witch Bloods like it does on these normal humans." He said proudly.

"Soren." Celeste said, struggling to keep the magic out of her voice as she addressed him. She wasn't sure if her magic would work the same on him, but the longer the power-high lasted, the harder it was to control the magic. And if she wasn't careful, she could put someone to sleep for good. Just like you did to your father. "You have to try and keep the flames at bay, or you'll hurt someone." She tapped out the mantra on her leg, deep breath, count to ten, repeat, hoping it might help him somewhat. And then she addressed the man in front of her, the power slipping back into her voice with her anger.

"Whether my magic works on you or not doesn't matter." She said, her voice chilly, incredibly different from how she'd spoken to Soren. "What matters is that you stop. You have a voice, don't you? Use it. Not the violence you seem inclined to. You have something to say? Say it."

"Saying things don't get through to these nobles. Death does." The man replied with a sneer.

Soren took a breath, jaw tightening. He pushed past Celeste, fire licking up towards the man. "You have been attacking me ever since i took the throne. Why? You have no argument with me!" He demanded.

“Soren.” Celeste didn’t continue speaking, leaving his name as a warning. She was fairly certain he’d understand that she was telling him to be careful. She stayed where she was, wrestling for control from whatever was causing her to lose it, and making sure she was close enough to get in the way if things went wrong. I won’t stand by and watch someone else die.

The man sneered slightly. "Really? Had I known it was this easy to unbalance you, we would have overrun you a long time ago." He taunted.

The flames raced up, catching the man's clothes on fire. Soren was swaying slightly.

Mikhail swore, and lunged forward, slamming his hand into the back of Soren's head hard. "Soren!" He hissed.

Soren crumpled, the fires slowly extinguishing.

Celeste flinched as the man caught fire, already halfway towards him by the time Mikhail had made Soren stop. If she could just find it, gods, where had she-

Celeste crouched by the man, who had hit the floor as soon as his clothes had caught fire, slipping a vial full of dark liquid from one of the pockets of her skirt. The overpowering magic, combined with just the scent of the contents of the vial, would have put any normal human into a coma. “Lady of dreams hear my prayers…” she muttered, pulling the cork from the vial and waving it under the man’s nose as she used her free hand to keep his arms from knocking it away with his thrashing. Directing the Sleepspell was hard, with the amplified magic, but she managed, and the man was unconscious a few moments later.

Soren threw up, holding himself up with one arm. "Oh my God…" He mumbled, raking a hand through his hair, chest heaving.

Mikhail touched Soren's shoulder. "You need to see that healer again. Get that block fixed before you kill yourself." He said in a pained way.

Soren nodded. "Uh huh. You need to get to the healer now, Mikhail." He said. His voice was a little weak, and he rolled onto his back, holding himself up with his elbows. "It wasn't as bad…this time." He said. His face was drawn as if in pain, and he started coughing.

Mikhail nodded, and spoke in a low tone to one of the few guards still awake, then left the room, leaning on the walls as he went. Two guards grabbed the unconscious man to take him to the dungeon.

Once the immediate threat was over, Celeste’s fingers found themselves twisted into her hair as she curled in on herself somewhat, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. This was wrong. But it had happened twice before, and each time had ended the same.

“Are you-are you alright?” Her voice wavered, breaking slightly as the waves of pain wracked her body, almost overwhelming. Pain was something she was used to enough to not let it control her completely, even if this was, in so many ways, different. And yet, oddly familiar.

Soren took a deep breath, almost throwing up again. "For now." He said softly, looking over at her. "You?" He made no effort to get off the ground. "That was a lot of magic…" He took another deep breath. This time he really did throw up again, and muttered a curse afterwards. His head was spinning like he was going to pass out. It was likely he might, too. He rubbed a hand over his face, breathing slightly ragged.

“Too much magic.” She grit out, as another wave of pain subsided, allowing her to look over at Soren. “I’m fine. But you aren’t.” She didn’t ask about the flames, or what he’d done. Only if he was okay. Because she got it, on some level. She understood.

“The captain said you need to get to an infirmary.” Painstakingly, Celeste managed to stand, only to almost fall over as she was struck with another wave. Breathing deeply, she rode this one the same, shaking as she did.