For the future of Aytolis!

However, if the combatants are going to move around so much, then perhaps Sanaki could indeed bend her own rules a little to honor their fighting spirit. With another flick of her hand, the circle of flame moves to surround Rowan and Innes by the wall, instead of locking around the bystanders. 

Hopefully the two don’t make any movements that are too erratic, though, or there might be another candle incident on their hands yet.

“…I daresay you’re right!” the empress replies, brows raised in surprise. “Goodness, I didn’t know Innes had it in him. At the mock battle, he merely managed to wave his arrows around uselessly and call Rowan names. Do you know if he’s been attending Gauntlet seminar recently?”

Rowan when he got into it truly could be unstoppable but from what he's come to know of Innes, he would never back down on his convictions or even slight suspicions. "It certainly seems like he's aiming for a quick end to this." Darios' flute is tilted back and the champagne downed. With more of the room open to him with the flames having moved, he stands a bit closer to Rowan and Innes both. How does it even come to this in the first place?

"I find myself increasingly displeased with my brother's actions," she sighed quietly under her breath. "Can we please break this up before someone gets seriously hurt, please. We're at the Monastery, not on a battlefield."

Innes could ignore all other voices; the chatter of the court is normal for a man like Innes. Ewan, however, has a certain voice that Innes cannot ignore. He looks over, only to find Ewan, Darios, Sanaki, Bruno, and that boy's sister. None of it is important.

"Only pigs and the despondent resort to fistfighting," Innes says, "and I am neither. Go on, lay your hands on me, and prove me right. You are more angered by me than I could ever be by you."

Would he react differently if eyes weren't on him? No, he very much doubts it.

“Boy he’s definitely getting punched.” Ewan said through a wheezing laugh. Innes had such a way with words. If “a way with words” meant an uncanny talent to spike people’s cortisol levels. He was really funny about it too.

Looking around, he assumed nobody else was quite as familiar with the man as he was, so he decided to give a little info. “But Innes’ buttcheeks are permanently glued on that high horse, I don’t think even a punch would knock him off.”

She wanted to drag Rowan off by the ear again. Anything really to stop him from making a fool out of himself. Gods, why was he doing this. Lianna was stopped, though, by Darios guiding her to the side.

"But, Darios—" She cut off her own protest though. Rowan was king now. If he wanted to be foolish, that was on him. She couldn't step in to save him. Neither would Darios. Unless it started going to far. So Lianna sighed and picked up a champagne flute of her own.

This year, finding a place to relax in the company of others was easy. The room was furnished with a fair amount of chairs and plush couches to rest upon and there was even a table set up with drinks and a few of the staple finger foods. More than likely, it's a spare room for the staff to relax... but people will recover wherever they can recover. Intentions of the space be damned

Well, most of them did.

You went to my sister about it?

Darios feels his blood run cold. Though his back is to the door and subsequently their new arrivals, he would be deaf before he failed to recognize that voice. Who in the gods names got Rowan of all people so riled up? The champagne flute between his fingers is emptied a bit quicker and he keeps his back turned. Rowan is older now, he can handle these things properly. So long as it wasn't with someone else of too high a status, then it should be easy enough to manage...

With only three words exchanged, not even she could expect any listener to read her intonation clearly. So she continues, to the entire room at large, uncaring of how her voice carries---

---because this quarrel, escalated to such an unbelievable scale, is now public news.

"On the left in yellow is Rowan, king regnant of Aytolis. On the right in green is Innes, crown prince of Frelia. They first clashed at the Battle of Eagle and Lion earlier this year, where Innes called Rowan disgusting for scattering boogers----ah, my apologies, crumbs---all over his robes, and Rowan minted Innes as 'goober-head' in retaliation." It is rather funny, now that she thinks about it. Has it really been so long?

Sanaki takes a sip of sparkling water. "Now, their fight continues at the Ethereal Ball. Innes spilled his drink on Rowan, and Rowan then sneezed into Innes's shirt, offering him a spit-soaked flower as recompense. Clearly, Innes has appealed to Rowan's sister, Queen Lianna, with some success....?"

None of these words are in the scripture, not of the Church of Seiros or otherwise. Steps lighter than perhaps they should be, the empress heads over to the refreshments table, exchanging her water for champagne.

She was coming over because she had spotten Darios after Rowan had walked away from her. Lianna's frustration at her brother hadn't faded yet, and was apparently to grow more. Her brother was being petty, that was what she was hearing. Still, she could only sigh in defeat at this point, Rowan had stopped listening to her the moment he got it into his head that Innes had told her.

Completely disregarding that maybe she had SEEN what he did.

"I am so sorry my brother is causing a scene..." she sighed. "I swear he knows better."

She wanted to be insulted for her brother by the tone this man was using to talk about him. But she couldn't. She had just watched....! Gods, her brother was an idiot!! Bowing deeply in apology Rowan, I'm going to kill you Lianna offered her apologies.

"I am so sorry about this," she said. "I swear he knows better. Mother taught him better than this! Please, allow me to deal with him and here, have a few of my roses instead."

She took a handful of her roses and handed them to Innes before she rounded on her brother.

"ROWAN!!" She marched over and grabbed him by the ear before walking off.

A bit too soon actually, because before he even began figuring out a way to disappear into the crowd a firm tug on the ear marked Lianna’s location: Right there.

“Oooowwwww! Sis- I can explain! Just- wait a minuteeeee!”

"Brother, look over there," Lianna murmured with a small smile, pointing. "I hear the lords of the Alliance aren't happy with the state of the celebrations this year because of that."

“The what?” Rowan turned around with his face full of sweet treats that he had grabbed from the table- to the point he didn’t even know what exactly he was eating. He just mixed it all up and shoved it in his mouth because he felt too hungry to care. Stuffy parties sucked, but the food was pretty damn good! “You mean the whole murder thing going on? I mean…I get it, but it’s just one night…”

"They accused me of one of the murders, you know," she hummed. "After they asked me to guard one of their nobles."

Her gaze went back to the nobles she had pointed out for a moment before looking back. Then with her other hand she reached out and wiped the crumbs off Rowan's face. Gods, he could be so messy sometimes!!