Ravens are twice as big and live four times as long. Both are quite intelligent.
That said, 'murder of crows' is a hell of a name for a group whereas ravens tend to come in pairs.
Noblesse Oblige [Znt/SI]
That said, 'murder of crows' is a hell of a name for a group whereas ravens tend to come in pairs.
CaesriusPolybius
Worldgate Mechanic
- Location
- United States. Ish.
"Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven "HALPING."" (Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, slightly modified)
Because my first thought when reading this was "oh you cute thing. How is this going to go wrong?" I'm glad it didn't, yet, but that was still my first thought.
Guessing that the day this happens is the day that Henry grows to Triangle from sheer rage and sadness, and starts experimenting with using air magic to form a vacuum.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
From personal experience, I can say that Crows are respectable gentlemen, willing to return respect that is given to them. Ravens are just dicks.
- Location
- America
Well now I have the image of the Raven turning essentialinto a harpy girl... With the same tone as pickles pea crow girl from dark soul 3. Shady bird ship is a go
Though in Henry's case, he has a minuscule shipping weight limit of a kilo and a half.
Too bad Raven can't carry novel manuscript, eh?
...maybe give him a year to see if he does grow up to the size of that Firelink Airlines Raven.
Last edited:
- Location
- Kansas
I'm taking bets now, when Henry goes home next time, how long will it take his twin sister to bribe embarrassing stories out of his familiar?
Last edited:
What would have been the bad results if he had just gone and bought some coffee beans in front of Wardes? Not sure why there was all the need for secrecy on that item. It's not like they would have been on any "forbidden" list.
- Location
- United States
I say two weeks, one if his sisters bribe the Raven with treats.
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop.
In an earlier chapter Shade went to the capitol with Wardes wherein they entered a shop that sold items from the desert and beyond. One of those items was a jar of coffee beans which the shopkeep said were addictive, kinda implying that they might as well be a drug.
I am without internet for half a week and when I finally return it is to find roughly 15k words of Shade fluff. Shade, if you do not get around to killing a character soon the suspense is going to kill me.
PseudoSim
Intentionally Obfuscating
- Location
- Beating my muse with a bat for being a pain
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Me suspect it can do more than that once it grows.
Oh my. How terribly Byzantine of you- I approove wholeheartedly. (history refference)
Just wait till you wake up with it in its little girl form and snuggling with you in bed.
Last edited:
Chapter Forty
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Forty
There was one particular festivity that was coming up soon enough. The Sleipnir ball was a masquerade ball that required one to keep a cool head, a nice sense of self, and most importantly understand that the young and pretty lady you're dancing with might just be a third year who is secretly laughing at your woes. It was a day in which Princesses Henrietta blossomed, in which the king and the queen multiplied. It was a day in which the cute loli girl that spent hours looking at her underwear was brutally thrown out of the window by the rest of the teaching staff.
It was a nice, fun day.
Of course, if it couldn't be ruined, then my life wouldn't be so absolutely shitty.
Wardes had been pretty clear on it. I was to await a surprise on that day. As far as surprises went, I knew even before the bell rang six in the afternoon. The royal carriage of Gallia could not be so easily hidden, after all. Not from my familiar's eyes, Raven perched as he was out of the window. Escorted by the royal griffin corps, the young princess of Tristain had decided to participate in the ball herself, accompanied by her playmate Louise Françoise -joy of joys- and the foreign princess Isabella de Gallia.
This was definitely a diplomatic accident just waiting to happen.
"Raven," I said as my familiar flapped his wings, landing on my extended arm. "I have no mouth, but I must scream," I said.
"Scream!" Raven exclaimed, "No mouth, scream!"
"Exactly," I groaned. "Why, oh why," I mumbled. "Let's go about this day as if I had not just seen what I just saw. Maybe it will go away?" I murmured to Raven, who cawed sympathetically, flapping his wings and gesturing to the window.
"Fly away! Fly away!" he suggested most kindly, but I shook my head.
"No, my friend," I said firmly, "Noblesse Oblige," my throat dried up considerably, "Noblesse oblige."
The servants that helped me put on the best of uniforms did so with surprisingly more care than usual. It was clear they had been told, and this was definitely a surprise meant for me. Joy, the ball of Sleipnir was going to end up so badly, it wasn't even a joke.
The moment the servants left, Wardes stepped inside.
"I saw from the window," I pointed out quite flatly. "So...there's a plan?"
Wardes blinked, and then nodded with a smile. "I thought I would have to convince you."
"Please, Jean-Jacques. I might grumble, but I'll uphold my responsibilities. If you're fishing for what I'll transform in, look no further. I haven't altered my appearance last year, and see no reason to do so once more," I pointed out. "I might go for an older look, but the basic substance remains the same."
"Ah, very well," Jean-Jacques said. "Be on the lookout for a blue haired woman then. Though I apologize, they seem to have devised quite a cunning game concerning you."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"
"They will try to vie for your attention before revealing themselves, should you fall for such tricks I think a public shaming will be in order," Jean-Jacques smiled awkwardly. "Which is why, ensure you do not fall for such tricks. I will come in with princess Henrietta, appearing as professor Chevreuse-"
I shuddered. "Jean-Jacques!" my eyes widened, "That's-That's truly obscene! No, it goes against the law-it must go against-"
Jean-Jacques simply laughed. "Sure, sure-"
"Obscene!" Raven yelled from his perch towards Jean-Jacques, "Obscene!"
Jean-Jacques stared at my familiar with a sigh, "You'll have to go without your familiar-will you be able to withstand the separation?"
I chuckled, and shook my head. "About that, I had a brilliant idea-"
"Familiars aren't allowed," Jean-Jacques said. "Also, the mirror wouldn't work on them. It needs a creature capable of thinking about a new form for it to work-animal intelligence just doesn't work that way."
I huffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "It means you don't know how smart my Raven is. He'd totally be able to use the mirror."
"I'll be waiting for an older version of yourself in the ballroom. If possible, I'll try to point you towards the correct lady, though in regards to your sister, I think you'll be able to recognize her pretty easily," with those words, and an imaginary -on my side- menacing written in purple hovering behind his shoulders, Jean-Jacques walked out.
Raven flew right into my arms, emitting a set of Kurk! Kurk! Craa! sounds that seemed awfully like insults towards Jean-Jacques' back. I rubbed my Raven's head, letting him free to fly out during the time I'd spent dancing, and then waited patiently until it was finally time to head downstairs. The students had formed a neat line, and as they began to enter slowly, I was pretty sure many would go as their parents, or uncles, or famous figures of history of which they had seen an image in a book.
There were many bright haired paladins of history, for example, that would live once more in image alone in such a ball.
Camille Du Tremelle was looking awfully determined, which didn't bode well. Josephine by her side, I knew this reeked of trouble. "You'll see Josephine, Lord Valliere and I are meant to be together-I'll dance with him, no matter what."
"Camille, are you sure it's wise?" Josephine whispered.
"You'll see-he won't refuse a friend's offer," Camille said quite firmly. "You remember to play your part-"
"But I don't want to go as a boy-" Josephine mumbled. "Can't I go as Henriette?"
Oi, if you have the time to memorize the name of my friends, why don't you just come join us when we speak? I swear, I'm not cutting you off-you can join us, really! In the end, it was my turn to enter the room hidden by twin curtains on both sides to prevent others from discovering our real identity. Headmaster Osmond was sadly in the guise of a young girl once more, but a stern looking man by his side was keeping track of his every movement. The man in question was someone I had never seen before, but it was clear it had to be someone from the teaching staff.
I stared at my reflection for a moment, and then nodded, closing my eyes and focusing on my new form.
Jean-Jacques, traitors will be punished. They will be punished most severely.
Come on then, the game is on.
Come find me, I, the master of stealth-field tactics.
Once I crossed past the curtain, there were barely any signs of recognition going on. I was, after all, one in a hundred.
I was the King of Tristain, Henry de Tristain, and like me more than a dozen other students had thought the same. Thus, as I smiled, I made a beeline for the closest girl I could find. "My darling, may I say it's wonderful to see such a sparkling young princess-" as I mimicked to perfection Anthoine's mannerisms, I merged into the crowd as just another silly king Henry. Real Anthoine, please forgive me. Should you find yourself slapped by Henriette tomorrow, I'll gladly keep my mouth quiet.
What. You didn't expect me to come to your aid now, did you?
Meanwhile, I could see professor Chevreuse look at the curtains with her eyes narrow as student after student filtered in. Oh, he was catching on, wasn't he?
Near the buffet, a healthy Cattleya was smiling and trying her hardest not to reveal her true age to quite the persistent adulators -it couldn't be anyone else but Louise. There were surprisingly quite a few queen Marianne, thus making it obvious that one of them had to be Henrietta, unless she had come as someone else. But there was just one blue haired woman standing in a corner, with a group of equally narrow eyed girls that screamed bodyguards even though they appeared as schoolgirls.
I could feel it, the shame of being a grown-up man having to use camouflage magic to appear as a young schoolgirl because you have to protect your charge at all costs.
Proud knights of the Parterre -whatever cardinal direction and flower you might belong to- I salute you.
I had myself two full glasses of red, unadulterated wine, and then proceeded to reach the balcony and dispel my camouflage, returning inside taking great care to stand by the walls. I grabbed two goblets filled with watered down wine as I went by, my skills second to none.
"Well," I said as I appeared right from behind the gaggle of schoolgirls, who honestly did half a step back from the surprise of seeing me appear from behind their tightly knit formation. Seriously guys, you might be feeling shame at being with a skirt, but at the very least do your best to look behind you. "You look like you could use a drink, my lady."
"Ah! But-" she blinked, and then looked at professor Chevreuse who, in turn, stared at me with a gaze that could pretty much murder the heavens. In answer, I simply smiled at him.
"You don't drink?" I replied quite carefully, "Oh well," I passed the twin goblets into the hands of two schoolgirls by her side. "Then, without a doubt, you wish to dance?" and as I extended a hand in her direction, making a half bow, she looked at professor Chevreuse one last time, who in turn nodded firmly as if to signal it was indeed I, troll extraordinaire.
"You did not even ask for my name, sir," the woman said, her blue hair in curls as she accepted the offered hand. "Nor did you present yourself. Don't you think this is quite rude?"
"Do women not love a mystery? A good one at that?" I replied, "Is the Sleipnir ball not about the mystery, the intrigue, the discovery of who truly hides behind the magic?" As we began to dance, my feet died. They died a bit at a time, but still, they died. The young woman was doing a sort of whack-the-mole thing with my feet. Thankfully, the shoes were quite reinforced just in case something like this happened. I must thank the tailor. Whoever the tailor, or leather worker is that made this shoes, you have my thanks.
"Maybe it's for the best...if you don't know who I am," the young woman was cringing. "I'm making a mess, am I?"
"No, I don't think so. Think of it this way," I hummed, "No one will judge you here tonight, I least of all," I continued. "So...don't worry about making mistakes, because they happen."
"Little Helene doesn't-" she bit her lips, "I mean, my sister Helene, she's younger but she doesn't make these mistakes."
"And?" I remarked as I raised her chin slightly, since she was looking downcast. "You are not your sister, my fair lady. You are your own person, and I am sure you have qualities and abilities that far surpass those of your younger sister," I smiled gently, "Just like mine is that of having keen insight, but I fail absolutely in my studies when compared to my older sister, and perhaps my twin sister too," I grinned. "We aren't perfect. We can only strive to be our very own best."
The young woman swallowed with a grimace, "Aren't those pretty words? But-when it comes to this sort of things, I still fail and people still judge me for failing."
"Then let them judge you as a terrible dancer," I answered honestly enough, "But does that make you a terrible person? Does that make you a terrible woman? Does that make you a terrible noble? There are nobles who can't dance, but I am sure they have their own spotlight elsewhere, be it as pianists, or artists-" I chuckled, "Personally, I wouldn't care if someone were or not capable of dancing. I'd rather care if they had an earnest and honest approach to life. If someone tries hard, but fails...at the very least he should be respected, because he tried."
"You really are a kind man," the young woman said with a giggle, "seems like I made the right choice in coming here. Now, I am sure this will come as a surprise to you, but in truth-" she smiled, "I am your betrothed!" and as she opened her arms wide, I blinked.
Right.
Uhm...
"What a pleasant surprise!" I said with my soul dying inside a little bit at a time as I spun her around once, making her giggle and attracting the attention of everyone else in the room at the same time.
"I knew you'd be surprised, but it isn't over-" and as she said that, she puffed her chest up in pride as she gestured to Cattleya with her open hand, "That is your sister-" my smile began to twitch as I saw a beautiful blond-haired man with impeccable teeth and glittering skin hold Cattleya's hands delicately, her face sheer crimson red.
Oh my. Oh my. Wait a moment.
"Anthoine," I snarled, "Get your hands off my sister!"
In answer, Anthoine -who had come as Gascon, apparently- made a triple backwards jump and knelt down, both hands clasped together. "Forgiveness!" he yelled. "I plead mercy in the name of the Founder!"
"I will ensure your screams are heard by the very heavens!" I snarled, only for a slender hand to stop me.
"Please, do not worry," a raven haired woman with quite the abundant qualities said. "I will take care of him," and with her wand out, she began to walk towards Anthoine, sulfur leaving the tip of her wand.
On one side, I now understood why Anthoine had aimed at Henriette, if Henriette's mother was anything to go by.
On the other side...run Anthoine, run. Whatever I might have done to you is nothing compared to what Henriette will do.
I, at least, as a fellow man, wouldn't have hit your family jewels.
"Shall we head for the refreshments, my dear?" I asked as I linked arms with the young blue haired woman that was definitely Isabella, if with a dozen years tackled on.
"Oh," Isabellla said, blinking. "Right! Of course," she added with a slight stammer.
As we went forth, there was a light skip in her step that I could hardly miss.
"B-Brother," Cattleya said. "I-well-it's me," she stammered out. "The princess'-" she looked around with a cringe filled expression, "I lost her."
"Louise," I sighed and shook my head, "I hope your wine is watered down," I pointed out. "Well, the princess of Tristain isn't my responsibility," I added, "It's Jean-Jacques' so...up to him," I remarked with twitching lips, offering a glass of watered wine to both Louise and Isabella as I watched professor Chevreuse look around for one amidst the many Queen Marianne. Poor man, if it weren't for how he had regularly burned my dreams to the ground, I might have felt pity for him.
But I didn't, because I was a horrible, horrible person deep inside.
This night was starting to look up.
There was one particular festivity that was coming up soon enough. The Sleipnir ball was a masquerade ball that required one to keep a cool head, a nice sense of self, and most importantly understand that the young and pretty lady you're dancing with might just be a third year who is secretly laughing at your woes. It was a day in which Princesses Henrietta blossomed, in which the king and the queen multiplied. It was a day in which the cute loli girl that spent hours looking at her underwear was brutally thrown out of the window by the rest of the teaching staff.
It was a nice, fun day.
Of course, if it couldn't be ruined, then my life wouldn't be so absolutely shitty.
Wardes had been pretty clear on it. I was to await a surprise on that day. As far as surprises went, I knew even before the bell rang six in the afternoon. The royal carriage of Gallia could not be so easily hidden, after all. Not from my familiar's eyes, Raven perched as he was out of the window. Escorted by the royal griffin corps, the young princess of Tristain had decided to participate in the ball herself, accompanied by her playmate Louise Françoise -joy of joys- and the foreign princess Isabella de Gallia.
This was definitely a diplomatic accident just waiting to happen.
"Raven," I said as my familiar flapped his wings, landing on my extended arm. "I have no mouth, but I must scream," I said.
"Scream!" Raven exclaimed, "No mouth, scream!"
"Exactly," I groaned. "Why, oh why," I mumbled. "Let's go about this day as if I had not just seen what I just saw. Maybe it will go away?" I murmured to Raven, who cawed sympathetically, flapping his wings and gesturing to the window.
"Fly away! Fly away!" he suggested most kindly, but I shook my head.
"No, my friend," I said firmly, "Noblesse Oblige," my throat dried up considerably, "Noblesse oblige."
The servants that helped me put on the best of uniforms did so with surprisingly more care than usual. It was clear they had been told, and this was definitely a surprise meant for me. Joy, the ball of Sleipnir was going to end up so badly, it wasn't even a joke.
The moment the servants left, Wardes stepped inside.
"I saw from the window," I pointed out quite flatly. "So...there's a plan?"
Wardes blinked, and then nodded with a smile. "I thought I would have to convince you."
"Please, Jean-Jacques. I might grumble, but I'll uphold my responsibilities. If you're fishing for what I'll transform in, look no further. I haven't altered my appearance last year, and see no reason to do so once more," I pointed out. "I might go for an older look, but the basic substance remains the same."
"Ah, very well," Jean-Jacques said. "Be on the lookout for a blue haired woman then. Though I apologize, they seem to have devised quite a cunning game concerning you."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"
"They will try to vie for your attention before revealing themselves, should you fall for such tricks I think a public shaming will be in order," Jean-Jacques smiled awkwardly. "Which is why, ensure you do not fall for such tricks. I will come in with princess Henrietta, appearing as professor Chevreuse-"
I shuddered. "Jean-Jacques!" my eyes widened, "That's-That's truly obscene! No, it goes against the law-it must go against-"
Jean-Jacques simply laughed. "Sure, sure-"
"Obscene!" Raven yelled from his perch towards Jean-Jacques, "Obscene!"
Jean-Jacques stared at my familiar with a sigh, "You'll have to go without your familiar-will you be able to withstand the separation?"
I chuckled, and shook my head. "About that, I had a brilliant idea-"
"Familiars aren't allowed," Jean-Jacques said. "Also, the mirror wouldn't work on them. It needs a creature capable of thinking about a new form for it to work-animal intelligence just doesn't work that way."
I huffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "It means you don't know how smart my Raven is. He'd totally be able to use the mirror."
"I'll be waiting for an older version of yourself in the ballroom. If possible, I'll try to point you towards the correct lady, though in regards to your sister, I think you'll be able to recognize her pretty easily," with those words, and an imaginary -on my side- menacing written in purple hovering behind his shoulders, Jean-Jacques walked out.
Raven flew right into my arms, emitting a set of Kurk! Kurk! Craa! sounds that seemed awfully like insults towards Jean-Jacques' back. I rubbed my Raven's head, letting him free to fly out during the time I'd spent dancing, and then waited patiently until it was finally time to head downstairs. The students had formed a neat line, and as they began to enter slowly, I was pretty sure many would go as their parents, or uncles, or famous figures of history of which they had seen an image in a book.
There were many bright haired paladins of history, for example, that would live once more in image alone in such a ball.
Camille Du Tremelle was looking awfully determined, which didn't bode well. Josephine by her side, I knew this reeked of trouble. "You'll see Josephine, Lord Valliere and I are meant to be together-I'll dance with him, no matter what."
"Camille, are you sure it's wise?" Josephine whispered.
"You'll see-he won't refuse a friend's offer," Camille said quite firmly. "You remember to play your part-"
"But I don't want to go as a boy-" Josephine mumbled. "Can't I go as Henriette?"
Oi, if you have the time to memorize the name of my friends, why don't you just come join us when we speak? I swear, I'm not cutting you off-you can join us, really! In the end, it was my turn to enter the room hidden by twin curtains on both sides to prevent others from discovering our real identity. Headmaster Osmond was sadly in the guise of a young girl once more, but a stern looking man by his side was keeping track of his every movement. The man in question was someone I had never seen before, but it was clear it had to be someone from the teaching staff.
I stared at my reflection for a moment, and then nodded, closing my eyes and focusing on my new form.
Jean-Jacques, traitors will be punished. They will be punished most severely.
Come on then, the game is on.
Come find me, I, the master of stealth-field tactics.
Once I crossed past the curtain, there were barely any signs of recognition going on. I was, after all, one in a hundred.
I was the King of Tristain, Henry de Tristain, and like me more than a dozen other students had thought the same. Thus, as I smiled, I made a beeline for the closest girl I could find. "My darling, may I say it's wonderful to see such a sparkling young princess-" as I mimicked to perfection Anthoine's mannerisms, I merged into the crowd as just another silly king Henry. Real Anthoine, please forgive me. Should you find yourself slapped by Henriette tomorrow, I'll gladly keep my mouth quiet.
What. You didn't expect me to come to your aid now, did you?
Meanwhile, I could see professor Chevreuse look at the curtains with her eyes narrow as student after student filtered in. Oh, he was catching on, wasn't he?
Near the buffet, a healthy Cattleya was smiling and trying her hardest not to reveal her true age to quite the persistent adulators -it couldn't be anyone else but Louise. There were surprisingly quite a few queen Marianne, thus making it obvious that one of them had to be Henrietta, unless she had come as someone else. But there was just one blue haired woman standing in a corner, with a group of equally narrow eyed girls that screamed bodyguards even though they appeared as schoolgirls.
I could feel it, the shame of being a grown-up man having to use camouflage magic to appear as a young schoolgirl because you have to protect your charge at all costs.
Proud knights of the Parterre -whatever cardinal direction and flower you might belong to- I salute you.
I had myself two full glasses of red, unadulterated wine, and then proceeded to reach the balcony and dispel my camouflage, returning inside taking great care to stand by the walls. I grabbed two goblets filled with watered down wine as I went by, my skills second to none.
"Well," I said as I appeared right from behind the gaggle of schoolgirls, who honestly did half a step back from the surprise of seeing me appear from behind their tightly knit formation. Seriously guys, you might be feeling shame at being with a skirt, but at the very least do your best to look behind you. "You look like you could use a drink, my lady."
"Ah! But-" she blinked, and then looked at professor Chevreuse who, in turn, stared at me with a gaze that could pretty much murder the heavens. In answer, I simply smiled at him.
"You don't drink?" I replied quite carefully, "Oh well," I passed the twin goblets into the hands of two schoolgirls by her side. "Then, without a doubt, you wish to dance?" and as I extended a hand in her direction, making a half bow, she looked at professor Chevreuse one last time, who in turn nodded firmly as if to signal it was indeed I, troll extraordinaire.
"You did not even ask for my name, sir," the woman said, her blue hair in curls as she accepted the offered hand. "Nor did you present yourself. Don't you think this is quite rude?"
"Do women not love a mystery? A good one at that?" I replied, "Is the Sleipnir ball not about the mystery, the intrigue, the discovery of who truly hides behind the magic?" As we began to dance, my feet died. They died a bit at a time, but still, they died. The young woman was doing a sort of whack-the-mole thing with my feet. Thankfully, the shoes were quite reinforced just in case something like this happened. I must thank the tailor. Whoever the tailor, or leather worker is that made this shoes, you have my thanks.
"Maybe it's for the best...if you don't know who I am," the young woman was cringing. "I'm making a mess, am I?"
"No, I don't think so. Think of it this way," I hummed, "No one will judge you here tonight, I least of all," I continued. "So...don't worry about making mistakes, because they happen."
"Little Helene doesn't-" she bit her lips, "I mean, my sister Helene, she's younger but she doesn't make these mistakes."
"And?" I remarked as I raised her chin slightly, since she was looking downcast. "You are not your sister, my fair lady. You are your own person, and I am sure you have qualities and abilities that far surpass those of your younger sister," I smiled gently, "Just like mine is that of having keen insight, but I fail absolutely in my studies when compared to my older sister, and perhaps my twin sister too," I grinned. "We aren't perfect. We can only strive to be our very own best."
The young woman swallowed with a grimace, "Aren't those pretty words? But-when it comes to this sort of things, I still fail and people still judge me for failing."
"Then let them judge you as a terrible dancer," I answered honestly enough, "But does that make you a terrible person? Does that make you a terrible woman? Does that make you a terrible noble? There are nobles who can't dance, but I am sure they have their own spotlight elsewhere, be it as pianists, or artists-" I chuckled, "Personally, I wouldn't care if someone were or not capable of dancing. I'd rather care if they had an earnest and honest approach to life. If someone tries hard, but fails...at the very least he should be respected, because he tried."
"You really are a kind man," the young woman said with a giggle, "seems like I made the right choice in coming here. Now, I am sure this will come as a surprise to you, but in truth-" she smiled, "I am your betrothed!" and as she opened her arms wide, I blinked.
Right.
Uhm...
"What a pleasant surprise!" I said with my soul dying inside a little bit at a time as I spun her around once, making her giggle and attracting the attention of everyone else in the room at the same time.
"I knew you'd be surprised, but it isn't over-" and as she said that, she puffed her chest up in pride as she gestured to Cattleya with her open hand, "That is your sister-" my smile began to twitch as I saw a beautiful blond-haired man with impeccable teeth and glittering skin hold Cattleya's hands delicately, her face sheer crimson red.
Oh my. Oh my. Wait a moment.
"Anthoine," I snarled, "Get your hands off my sister!"
In answer, Anthoine -who had come as Gascon, apparently- made a triple backwards jump and knelt down, both hands clasped together. "Forgiveness!" he yelled. "I plead mercy in the name of the Founder!"
"I will ensure your screams are heard by the very heavens!" I snarled, only for a slender hand to stop me.
"Please, do not worry," a raven haired woman with quite the abundant qualities said. "I will take care of him," and with her wand out, she began to walk towards Anthoine, sulfur leaving the tip of her wand.
On one side, I now understood why Anthoine had aimed at Henriette, if Henriette's mother was anything to go by.
On the other side...run Anthoine, run. Whatever I might have done to you is nothing compared to what Henriette will do.
I, at least, as a fellow man, wouldn't have hit your family jewels.
"Shall we head for the refreshments, my dear?" I asked as I linked arms with the young blue haired woman that was definitely Isabella, if with a dozen years tackled on.
"Oh," Isabellla said, blinking. "Right! Of course," she added with a slight stammer.
As we went forth, there was a light skip in her step that I could hardly miss.
"B-Brother," Cattleya said. "I-well-it's me," she stammered out. "The princess'-" she looked around with a cringe filled expression, "I lost her."
"Louise," I sighed and shook my head, "I hope your wine is watered down," I pointed out. "Well, the princess of Tristain isn't my responsibility," I added, "It's Jean-Jacques' so...up to him," I remarked with twitching lips, offering a glass of watered wine to both Louise and Isabella as I watched professor Chevreuse look around for one amidst the many Queen Marianne. Poor man, if it weren't for how he had regularly burned my dreams to the ground, I might have felt pity for him.
But I didn't, because I was a horrible, horrible person deep inside.
This night was starting to look up.
Last edited:
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
And now I expect Raven to walk around the ball, illusioned as Henry.
As someone with a bird familiar, Henry really should know better.
- Location
- Elsewhere
The most important heretic fire spell you will ever learn: Roast Coffee Bean
- Location
- U.S.A.
Raven isn't a boy? Plus the bird girl pics are from Dark Souls.
The wonders of having a trained Manticore as your noble steed.
- Pronouns
- she/her
If Wardes didn't manage to identify Henry from this outburst he deserves every black mark this incident leaves on his record.