please reblog from the primary blog !

Though the queen had not forbidden their hunt, the little sense of urgency - of belief in the traditions and history his sister passed to the fae - had been hinderence enough. They watched on as if the Dragomir family and all those who arrived with them were the problem - or worse, a fantastical delight. He couldn't tell which felt worse. "I give it three days before it's over run."

“My apologies, am I interrupting? I wasn’t looking where I was going,” she admits, before the words slip past her lips almost without her permission. “I was actually considering how to approach you with a rather odd query, frankly.”

" lord  martin ...  what  a  pleasant  surprise . "  the  spymaster  just  barely  hides  the  annoyance  in  her  voice  at  the  lesser  lord's  presence  once  more .  it  had  only  been  a  few  weeks  since  the  last  time  he  had  dared  to  demand  answers  from  her  and  now  with  their  new  guests  in  their  midst ,  it  seemed  he  had  decided  it  was  time  again .  " let  me  stop  you  before  you  even  start,  if  you  have  questions  or  concerns  regarding  our  new  guests ,  then  by  all  means  approach  them  yourself .  perhaps  you  will  find  one  that  is  more  than  willing  to  answer  your  questions . "  she  catches  sight  of  her  retreat  as  they  round  the  corner ,  " now  if  you'll  excuse  me ... "  she  barely  offers  a  bow  of  her  head  before  heading  to  the  one  whom  had  caught  her  attention ,  " good  afternoon ,  let  us  pretend  we  were  intending  to  meet  so  that  lord  martin  believes  i  am  busy . "  she  inclines  her  head  and  gestures  for  them  to  begin  to  walk  with  her .

in  all  honesty  with  their  newly  arrived  guests ,  the  castle  had  begun  to  fell  a  bit  cramped  for  the  monarch .  she  needed  to  get  out ,  the  gardens  were  not  enough  anymore .  and  so  the  queen  had  decided  to  venture  out  into  the  city  a  bit ,  finding  herself  within  the  markets.  of  course  her  royal  guard  were  in  tow  ensuring  her  safety  above  all  things .  there  is  no  rush  in  her  step ,  gliding  through  the  various  stalls  and  with  the  energy  of  her  guards ,  most  leave  space  around  her  to  allow  her  to  pass  through .  the  commonfolk  may  not  know  her  name ,  but  they  recognize  she  is  someone  of  importance .  saranya  stops  at  a  stall  selling  trinkets ,  baubles ,  jewelry  as  it  catches  her  eye .  she  picks  up  a  necklace,  eyeing  the  ruby  pendant  upon  it ,  " i  usually  can  discern  if  something  is  real  or  fake ,  but  i  must  admit  i  am  a  bit  puzzled  on  this  one . "  she  says  lazily  to  the  one  already  at  the  stall ,  " may  i  ask  your  opinion ? "

draeven  wasn't  prepared  for  the  letter  at  his  door  to  be  warning  him  not  only  of  being  a  continued  target,  but  also  additions  to  the  gated  city  they  were  still  being  asked  to  remain  inside.  not  normally  one  to  enjoy  confinement,  the  competitor  was  attempting  to  keep  himself  busy,  and  not  paranoid.  it  didn't  help  that  each  corner  he  turned  he  expected  to  see  a  creature  of  the  night  either  after  his  blood,  or  after  those  seeking  his  blood.  fear  was  a  weird  emotion  he  wasn't  sure  he  was  feeling,  but  perhaps  a  whisper  of  it  had  settled  in  the  lord's  chest.  all  the  same,  each  day  at  first  light  the  warrior  made  his  way  to  the  training  grounds  to  work  alongside  others  who  were  hopeful  to  keep  their  skills  honed,  and  perhaps  work  to  tune  up  if  they  had  been  slacking  as  of  late.  as  drae  approaches  the  grounds  he  slows  to  a  stop,  eyeballing  where  he  wishes  to  go,  who  he  wishes  to  spar  with  first,  or  if  he  wishes  to  just  observe  for  a  short  bit.  when  someone  comes  to  his  side  the  warrior  doesn't  move  at  first,  slightly  somber  given  recent  events  as  well  as  the  hour  of  the  day.  "  is  it  just  me,  or  do  these  fields  seem  more  packed  each  morning  ?  "  he  didn't  think  it  was  a  bad  thing.

it  could  be  misconstrued  as  spying,  but  in  truth,  sitara  was  avoiding.  she'd  crawled  into  her  shell,  she'd  resorted  to  skulking  around…  she'd  walked  into  corridors  that  creatures  of  the  night  may  be  stalking  in  as  if  she  were  invincible.  toying  with  her  necklace,  sitara  doesn't  move  when  she  hears  steps,  breath  stilling  as  she  attempts  to  figure  out  if  this  is  someone  she  knows  or  not.  the  nymerion  princess  sighs  softly,  deciding  not  to  be  accused  of  lurking.  "  this  hallway  is  taken.  "  it  wasn't  her  castle,  the  lack  of  tiara  on  her  head  didn't  even  mark  her  as  a  princess  today.  sitara  pushes  off  the  wall  and  turns  to  face  the  echoing  steps,  brow  cocked  when  she  finds  the  source.

they  had  hardly  been  within  the  grounds  of  the  castle  of  house  aurelis for a few days  and  yet  the  mixed  reactions  from  the  fae  around  them  were  to  be  expected .  showing  up  when  they  thought  their  kind  long  since  gone  with  history  but  to  give  them  the  answers  as  to  why  their  nobility  were  missing  and  turning  up  with  a  bit  of  blood  in  their  bodies .  it  was  greedy  of  the  rebels  she  felt ,  to  seek  out  the  fae  and  try  and  turn  them  in  the  hopes  that  it  would  make  them  more  powerful  over  the  blood  queen,  but  that  would  never  come  to  be .  not  if  the  princess  had  anything  to  say  about  it ,  her  senses  are  strong  as  a  vampire  and  she  hears  them  long  before  the  wander  into  her  path,  she  turns  offering  a  graceful  nod  of  her  head ,  " i'm  afraid  you  should  know  you  won't  be  able  to  sneak  up  on  us ...  we  can  hear  you  from  far  way . "  she  reaches  out  to  a  rose  to  pluck  it  from  the  stem  before  bringing  it  to  her  nose ,  " you  must  have  questions ,  i  would  be  surprised  if  you  didn't . "

✧˚ · . ─── Esai had tried to use this time, with each court and royal stuck within the palace, to his advantage. The games were often a prosperous place for him to work his magic - never as a competitor - but one who worked the crowd for the advantage of Aurelion's crown. Esai never garnered much interest for the genuine sport of it all but as more disappeared it only further provoked the wonderance of why rather than the who when it came to blame and responsibility. He cared little for who embodied the opinion and reasoning of their pursuits, but it seemed they did not intend to stop until each court was pulled apart to the point of collapse and undoing. This was something he should have seen coming - and it annoyed Esai greatly that it had snowballed to such catastrophe already. He nodded as another approached, feigning concern as he danced around the topic many had already exhausted, " Good evening - are we to talk in circles with trivial small talk of empty woes or are you to tell me how you really feel ? " Esai smiled then, the action meant to be somewhat ingratiating in comparison to the charged candor of his words.

the  high  lord  didn't  enjoy  things  not  going  to  plan  –  it  was  little  surprise  that  he'd  taken  the  first  opportunity  to  ride  the  streets  of  aureth  and  survey  for  himself  what  was  happening  outside  of  the  palace  gates.  surprised  he'd  been  allowed,  thankful  he'd  not  needed  to  resort  to  logic  and  reason  to  manipulate  the  guards  to  his  will.  he  supposed  more  trouble  may  have  been  encountered  at  the  edge  of  the  city  should  he  have  tried  to  actually  leave.  handing  the  reigns  to  one  of  the  stablehands  awaiting  him  in  the  palace  courtyard,  lucian  made  quick  work  in  swinging  from  his  mount  and  turning  to  face  the  other  looking  upon  him.  "  i  can  certainly  compliment  the  aurelius  family  for  ensuring  this  city  is  easy  to  navigate,  though  i  can  hope  all  this  gets  resolved  before  i  learn  it  that  well.  "  he'd  not  been  to  visit  in  at  least  a  century,  nothing  had  seemed  to  change.

there  was  a  tense  feeling  amongst  the  halls  of  the  court  that  she  had  always  called  home .  the  merriment  of  the  night  and  anticipation  of  the  upcoming  games  should  be  the  only  feelings  they  felt  and  yet ...  fear ,  tension ,  and  apprehension  of  what  was  truly  going  on  was  instead  mixed  amongst  the  nobility .  as  many  last  night  had  been  forced  to  retire  to  their  beds  early ,  yukiona  had  set  her  spies  and  herself  to  the  task ...  to  figure  out  what  was  going  on  and  why .  a  minor  noble  of  the  aurelion  court  had  approached  her  one  too  many  times  already  this  morning  and  it  was  grating  on  her  nerves  to  say  the  least ,  " no  i  do  not  have  any  new  information  lord  martin  and  when  i  do  i  will  report  it  to  the  queen  first ,  certainly  not  you . "  still  the  man  continues  to  harass  her  and  she  looks  to  another  approaching ,  a  look  in  her  eyes  of  annoyance  and  a  call  for  help .

she'd thrown a god damn star when she found out. ripped it from the heavens, threw it down until a small crater formed in the gardens. no matter, that was hardly a problem that the earth users in her court couldn't fix for her. a problem she couldn't seem to fix, however, was the missing noble. she knew of them, had heavily considered them for one of her competitors. yet no matter how high and low her guards searched, they seemed to have vanish as if the star goddess herself had snatched them from earth. "i don't care what you need to do, find them! " she snaps at a guard before scoffing, hands clenching her hips as she fumes.

she can't quite hide the panic lurking under her skin. sylvani hadn't slept well at all last night, that scream that rang out through the dining room ringing through her head and haunting her nightmares. then she had stepped closer, seen the face of a lord she knew well, covered her mouth in horror as tears fell down her cheeks. these kinds of things didn't happen anymore, not like this. not since the days of old when there were high queens and kings everywhere. it leaves her rattled, ill at ease and clutching her tea cup far tighter than need be as she turns to her companion. " it's just awful, all this. i don't know why anyone would do such a thing. "