𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕟

The young man hesitated in his answer, not really wishing to admit he had accompanied his mother, but not wish to lie to this man. “ I have come alone, for the most part. I do not believe I have crossed paths with such a woman, though my attention was possibly elsewhere if I did. ” He was trying to keep his answers ambiguous and diplomatic, but he had been hoping for a night where he could relax and not worry about such things. Most of his time was spent studying politics, history, and stratagem and had been since the passing of his father, making him the man of the family and the one whose shoulders the Carey name needed to be carried up in the world upon. “Tell me, what makes this woman such a muse to you? As that is the only term I can think of that would do justice to your apparent devotion to her beauty.”

There were two reasons Hal seldom attended these events, despite being able to engage in conversation easily. He preferred to study, and he was an absolute lightweight. On top of that he always had to prove his point when he was tipsy. And the Carey boy was far past tipsy. “Is it not though, m’lady ? It is a topic that has long since been argued by even the most notable of scholars,” the young man continued to try and argue his point and was about to take another swig of his wine when he noted his hand was now empty. He blinked, then shrugged. “Maybe you’d prefer to argue the legitimacy of Alexander the Great’s reign?” 

He continued to regard his companion with a studious eye, gathering details and hints. He was fairly sure he knew her identity, but also did not wish to spoil her fun. 

“However, this is not a night for politics, but rather one for festivities, and love. Pray, tell me m’lord, are you here with a special someone?”

Hal turned towards the new voice, welcome to an opinion that at least seemed to consider possible options. “It is feasible one such thing could be designed. You would, of course have to take in several obstacles into account before such a feat could even be attempted. Most notably how to engineer an entire ship to with stand the force of a catapult swinging forward without it overturning the ship, and how to store enough ammunition to make the whole journey worthwhile. And they are not light. or small. You’d have to give up space for sailors to account for projectiles. In my opinion, a stealth operation based more upon subversion would work better to overturn the government and pit the people against each other. No society can run if everyone is at each other,” the curly haired young man returned, most likely rambling. It was a topic that had inspired him as a lad, despite the actually reality of such a place ever having existed being dubious at best.

The night’s festivities were well under way, hours had passed, as had several goblets of wine. Spiced wine, foreign wine, traditional wine. And Hal had had some of each. “I do protest, m’good sir ! There is no way such a plan of attack could ever have succeed in conquering Atlantis ! It was supposed to be a sea culture surrounded by water, how would you have gotten catapults all the way out there ? ”

“Yes indeed, the Boleyns were quite close to your father the king. My mother was incredibly so, but I myself never saw him more than fleetingly in person,” the younger replied, tossing a few more coins upon the pile of currency. This conversation seemed to be leering towards the ever lasting question courtiers and nobility seemed to have about his legitimacy. One may think he would be well used to it by now but it continually irked him more and more. “I know mother still holds a place for your father, even if they had been separate from each other many a year even before his death, may he rest in peace.