{♕} All your little lies...

[paria.]

xx,,( M A T T E OxxV I T A L I ! ! )

x,{ ➶ age; twenty four } - { ➴ gender; male } - { ➶ role; head guard } - { ➴ location; glariss castle } - { ➶ tags; saelyra }━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

denthe sky was painted with streaks of orange and blue as the sun worked its way higher into the sky. normally, the head guard will have make his rounds around the castle and the grounds, but the miven group beackoned his attention the night they arrived. he had stayed up most of the night helping them to their rooms and making sure everyone was safe. there would be hell to pay, if someone, miven or glariss, was murdered under his watch. however, with matteo being so stubborn, he was running on little to no sleep for most of said night. now, he is sprawled out on his bed, snoring softly. a soft moan escaped him as he awoke, blue eyes blinking back what little sleep he had gotten. matteo gazed out his window wearily and got out of bed. he needed to be up and checking on their guests.

denmatteo ran his hand through his thick, black hair and sighed. man, he could probably use another six hours of sleep. but, he didn’t want to set a bad example for the other guards. they looked up to him not only as a superior, but as a well-known mercenary and guard. matt chose to wear lighter leather armor rather than his usual metal garb. he sheathed his sword at his hip and stalked out of his room, taking confident strides down the hall. he tuned a corner and was met with the princess, saelyra.

denthe princess was dressed in a simple garb that suited her, not that the head guard would ever admit that aloud. his blue hues studied her as she walked towards him. as she got closer, he noticed that she seemed a bit off-kilter. some small part of him wanted to reach out and make her feel more welcome in the castle, and the rational part of him wanted to just walk past her. matteo stopped in from of her and bowed his head respectfully before meeting her gaze. ”morning,” his husky, sleep adled, voice greeted her. his eyes roamed her face, trying to pick up on her facial expressions. ”you seem a bit tense, princess. perhaps some fresh air would help? the guards in training should be outside sparring, maybe you’d like to join in on the fun?”

[Pyra Ilver]

❝ERIS DEPRAYSIE❞
Glariss spy ♢ ♦ ♢ 21 ♢ ♦ ♢ hetero ♢ ♦ ♢ with ~ Raymond

He was up. About time too. The princess couldn't be allowed to have the upper hand here. This was a Glariss contract, and Miven were the ones who had to accept, Glariss if they so wished, could keep fighting this war. The issue was she didn't think anyone wanted that, even herself. The land had been consumed by this war for decades, and it was finally time for peace. If only everyone was working as hard as she was.

Eris slipped back into the tunnel, letting the darkness envelope her. No one actually knew who build these tunnels, the brick was different from the original walls, so they were clearly added later. Whoever had built them was a genius though (despite that one incident when they got infested with rabid mice, which although it didn't seem very scary, the sheer volume had been terrifying). They could get her pretty much anywhere in the castle in a few minutes unseen. Many a mystery had been solved in these tunnels.

She made her way out near the end of the corridor. He wasn't to know she had been watching him. Just waiting was enough. The Miven citizens would soon be looked upon- especially Darius- but for now it wasn't an issue. They were here and up, all she could do was wait. Horrific as that sounded to her. It wasn't long before she heard the footsteps she knew belonged to her Prince. It was an odd thing to recognise, but everyone walked differently, and most of the important people in the castle could be identified by their walks. Not to mention, her powers allowed her to hear them sooner then most people could.

When he came into her sight, she stood up of the wall. So much had changed since his accession to the throne, it was no longer Raymond and Eris, best friends until the end, but His Majesty and the spy. "Morning Your Highness, sleep well?" she called to him politely.

[crazy-in-wonderland]

Isabella Starr
Female| 22 years of age| Songbird| power; Charm speak (Unaware)| Tags; Darius, Lauren, Eris, Raymond

Isabella couldn't help but feel a tad unwanted by the two Miven characters, though she could hardly imagine why they would open up to a complete stranger as instantly as she had. She couldn't help but become over friendly at times something she had worked hard on but failed at constantly. "Ah, my apologises I've kept you talking too long you must have plenty to discuss now that it's a new day. I'll leave you two alone but if you ever need to talk or a tour you can always find me around these halls." she said, twirling her hair around her finger as she looked down the empty corridor. She waved at the two before walking in the opposite direction. Why do you have to be so overbearing at times? she thought as she made her way to the baths to freshen up for the day.

After she freshened up, Izzy headed to get breakfast. As she turned the corner she noticed the crown prince, Raymond with her good friend Eris. Izzy smiled as she walked up to them clearing her throat, "Good morning your highness, it's a beautiful day is it not? She said as she bowed before turning to Eris, "We must catch up one evening when you have the time, Eris!" she smiled. Though she was the older of the two Izzy felt that Eris was like her older sister. Eris was mature, intelligent and she moved with a grace Izzy felt she didn't have, she looked up to her friend.

Katherine Queen
Female| 23 years of age| Lady in Waiting| Tags; Saelyra, Matteo

Katherine gave her friend a small smile as she stepped into the simple room, "I slept well thank you for asking. How did you sleep? I know it's hard being in another's domain but think of all the good you'll do for your people." she tried to reassure her friend. Saelyra always thought she could hide her feelings from Katherine but she had come to figure out her best friend after a while. She knew she was exhausted and aching, just as Katherine was.

As Saelyra existed her room, Kitty followed quietly behind her, she knew that her friend would be on edge in an unknown place. Her warrior side would demand for her to know every inch of this castle by sundown. Kitty cleared her throat as she searched the corridors for other members of the Miven court, "Perhaps it would be best to get breakfast before continuing the search. You can't run around looking for our people, you need to act more to the Glirass standards if you want to survive here." she spoke, hoping that Saelyra would not take this as Kitty being harsh and cruel. She only wanted what was best for her friend and hopefully Saelyra would see it as Kitty cared for her and not the opposite effect.

Just as she spoke she noticed the head guard of Glariss approach them. She looked to her friend, "Sparing would be a good way to reduce your stress." she agreed. Kitty couldn't take her eyes of Matteo, he was so attractive to Kitty. "I don't believe I got your name? I'm Katherine"

[>Topaz<]

Lauren Adams
Miven Guard / Female / Homosexual / 22 / Kitchen + Servant's Quarters / Darius

Lauren eagerly followed Darius to the kitchen, her eyes dancing down the halls at every turn. She hoped that they wouldn't run into anyone else, at least not until she had had just five minutes alone with Darius. She knew by now that most of the people of Glariss's castle would be up and moving. She knew that her queen would be summoning for her at any moment.

Darting into the kitchen, Lauren could feel how flustered the staff were. Trays of food were coming in and out as the royals were served. Taking Darius's arm so she didn't lose him in the muddle of people and confusion, she managed to grab at some bread. She made eye contact with the cook as she reached for the ale, but he didn't seem to mind. She let Darius grab his food before pulling him out of the kitchen. At least now no one would be suspicious as to why they hadn't eaten inside. The cook would be grateful.

It wasn't a long walk to Lauren's room, and she sat down on her bed with a sigh of relief. She grabbed her chest and pulled it in front of her to form a makeshift table. She patted the spot beside her on her bed. "Something tells me you probably didn't hear what our little songbird had to say." She smirked a bit. "Isabella offered us a tour of the castle. I honestly think we could make some use of it." She grabbed a piece of bread, but with her thoughts running a mile a minute, she didn't take a bite. "There has to be more to these walls than what Glariss leads on. After all, you must remember the passageways in Miven. Don't you think there could be some here?" Finally, after getting out most of her thought, she started to eat and drink. "Isabella would be our best bet to get information. You and I both know how much she loves to talk, and not to mention that she's naive. The question is, how much about tunnels would an entertainer of the courts know?" She thoughtfully finished her meal. She knew that Eris and Matteo probably knew a great deal, but the odds that they would impart any information to her or Darius were minimal at best. Eris was impossible. But Matteo?

"I just don't like the thought that Glariss has yet another advantage over us," Lauren continued. "If there are tunnels, they could find out whatever they wanted from us. When we sleep, when we wake. When we eat. I don't like the thought of us being observed. Not to mention how unprotected that could make the queen." She just hoped Darius understood what she was saying, and why it was so important to her. And if they found a secret entrance, who knows what they might discover about their Glariss counterparts?

[Keriae]

ＤＡＲＩＵＳ ＮＥＡＬＥ！
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
xxxxxxxmale // 22 years // location: servant's quarters // tagged: izzy, lauren
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

xxxxxxxxWell, Isabella seemed to know they wanted to be left alone. Darius was honestly and truly surprised that she was observant enough for that - so far, it seemed that she thought mostly for herself. Obviously, she was kind, and generous, and would be easy to manipulate, but she didn't seem to spare a thought for when other people would rather be left alone. Darius was in that camp; the time on a morning was far too early to be interrupted by people he did not know.

xxxxxxxxSo he watched the singer leave, before he too turned on his heel. It really was rather easy to retrace his steps, though the kitchen was far busier than it had been when he broke his fast. The royals must be awake, then, and the courtiers would not be far behind. It was an intricate dance to step between all of the servants, but he didn't look up when Lauren wrapped her fingers around his bicep. He too managed to get some food - a small dish of beef dripping, probably from the night before. With their arms laden with food, the pair ended up in the Miven guard's room.

xxxxxxxxIt was much like his own - small, quaint, and just the basics, though he did note her window was bigger than his, and was in precisely the wrong place. At least the sun had risen high enough by now that it wasn't in their eyes.

xxxxxxxxWith smooth movements, somewhat catlike, the spy sat down on her little bed and immediately took her ale to have a drink while she spoke.

xxxxxxxxHe had to admit, the idea of using Isabella for their own gain was a good one. They were in a strange, new place, and were instantly at a disadvantage. They knew nothing of the layout, the courtiers, the servants. It was entirely possible that every single servant was paid to keep an eye on them - he wouldn't put it past Eris at all. He doubted she would have thought to use the young singer. Her trusting nature was all too genuine.

xxxxxxxxWhen his friend stopped speaking, as if she had run out of steam, he spread some dripping onto a slice of bread.

xxxxxxxx"I agree with you." He said slowly. "Even if she doesn't know much about any secret passageways, she could be useful. No doubt she's with the princes often, she must have some sort of knowledge we can use. And where one little bird is, more will follow." He had his own money - he could use that to sway people. Not to mention his lovely magic - he might not even have to pay her, or anyone else.

[`sappho]

__________________________________________

☆xＡＬＥＫＳＡＮＤＲxＢＬＯＭＧＲＥＮx☆
stable boy of glariss - sixteen - male - mentions: none - tags: remington
__________________________________________

xxxnights were never comfortable for aleksandr. he awoke, sleeping on a bed that he had constructed from putting two scratchy hay bales beside each other. the stable boy looked down onto the floor of the stables from his sleeping area up in the loft. he didn't have a house of his own, just the stables, which he shared with the horses he took care of. he had to remember that this was his punishment for stealing for his impoverished family. at least he got a meal each day. plus, he was safer here. he still always worried about his family, though. what if his little sisters, amelia and liliana, didn't get a meal this week? what if his parents just gave up?

xxxhe had to just pray to whatever was out there that his older siblings would be able to provide for his parents and siblings. for now, he had to worry about himself and his only friends, the horses. aleksandr climbed down the long, wooden ladder and onto the floor of the stables. he started by cleaning out each horse's pen, cleaning out and giving them new water and shoveling more hay into their pens. he would give them time to eat before he let them out to graze. "thanks, alek," the horses would say to him. "eat well, my friends," he said with a smile.

xxxhe had a beautiful and deadly gift, being able to speak to horses. in a way, aleksandr had committed more crimes because of this punishment. he had found out that he could use magic and he had gotten into a relationship with the youngest prince of the kingdom. aleksandr knew that the relationship wouldn't last. as soon as someone found out, he would be cast out and probably would get an even worst punishment.

xxxaleksandr turned away from the horses when he heard a voice calling from the door of the stable. he walked towards the door. "hi!" he said with a bright smile when he saw remington. "did you sleep well?" he asked kindly.

[`sappho]

__________________________________________

☆xＳＡＥＬＹＲＡxＡＧＩＡＲx☆
crown princess of miven - twenty-three - female - mentions: none - tags: matteo, katherine
__________________________________________

xxxof course saelyra knew this was all for the best of her people. if she didn't think this would help her impoverished population, why would she be here in the first place? she wasn't here to visit a big, fancy glarissian castle and taste the delectable oeuvres, she was hear to bind her kingdom with glariss through a loveless marriage. she was here to stop the fight and death. she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to snap at katherine. she needed to remind herself, it wasn't her friend's fault that she was so stressed out and annoyed.

xxxthe princess shook her head. "you can eat if you'd like, i have to look through this whole castle and make sure no one here it out to kill me. hopefully ill be able to find my blade as well," she said. she clenched her fist for a moment. they had to have some reason for taking away her sword, they wanted to make her feel weak and venerable. saelyra refused, as long as she had use of her arms and legs she was a threat to anyone who wished to harm her. she wasn't just going to submit to anyone like most of the women in glariss would. she was a warrior and the future queen of both glariss and miven. her face whipped around, ready to spit fire but she forced her mouth to stay closed. she took a deep breath. "if they wouldn't take me for me here then so be it, they may have the upper hand on their land but i could kill them all of i wanted. i could make this war even more dirty then it already is," she said through her teeth. "look, katherine, i know you are just trying to help me but i don't want to become some maiden trapped behind these walls. if these people can't look me in my face and deal with me then so be it," she said quietly, hoping no one else could hear her.

xxxsaelyra looked up as matteo spoke to her. she nodded. "morning," she said, ready to keep walking. she needed to chart this whole castle in her mind before she could feel at all safe or welcomed. she slowed to a halt when her offered to let her spar with the guards. she looked back at katherine when she spoke. she nodded. "very well, show me to the training area and we'll see how our skills stack up," she said with a smirk. somehow, she was back to normal with the thought of having a weapon in her hands. "oh, you may call me lyra if you'd like," she offered. she didn't really like it when people called her 'princess'. when katherine questioned about his name, she listened for a response as well.

[>Topaz<]

Lauren Adams
Miven Guard / Female / Homosexual / 22 / Servant's Quarters + Hall / Darius (mentions: Saelyra, Katherine, Matteo)

Darius was on her side! She nodded along, knowing how truthful his words were. If they played their cards right, they would be able to discover the secrets of the Glariss castle. If Glarissians tried to get to their queen, they would be one step ahead in the game. "Right, as you often are," Lauren said with a wink, taking a swig of ale and enjoying her meal.

When they had finished, Lauren pushed back her wooden chest and hopped up off the bed. Suddenly, she was light on her feet and ready for whatever came at her next. She felt her blade on the inside of her boot and felt secure by its presence. At the thought of protection, she thought of her queen. Saelyra had to be up by now. It would be very out of character for her to sleep in. She remembered some days when she would be up before Lauren herself.

"We'd better find Saelyra and see what she's up to." Lauren took a step towards the door before remembering who was always with her queen. She turned backward to look at herself in the tiny mirror hanging on the wall. No, she didn't look her best. But Katherine always did. With a huff, she went back to the door and opened it. "I'm not entirely sure where she would've gone? I don't even know where they took her." Taking a guess, she headed down a hall to her left and followed it on a ways.

Hopefully, Saelyra hadn't been up for long or had risen before Lauren. Suddenly feeling anxious about her promptness, she began to walk faster until she rounded a corner to see Saelyra, Katherine, and the head guard of Glariss all gathered together. She arrived just in time to see Katherine's expression toward him. She looked...entranced? Maybe beguiled? Whatever the word, but it was enough to ruin Lauren's cheery attitude. She felt a burst of jealousy explode from her chest and slowly make its way through every bone in her body. She could use a pint or two more of ale at the moment.

[xiao.]

╚»♕«╝ 𝓻𝓪𝔂𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓭𝓮 𝓯𝓵𝓮𝓾𝓻 ╚»♕«╝

[ role: crown prince ] [ age: twenty-three ] [ location: hall outside his room ] [ tags: eris, izzy ]

xxxraymond wondered if the princess was up yet, and when he'd see her. he sighed, walking as silently as possible. he was absorbed in his thoughts, worried about the marriage, the miven people in his castle, everything. he didn't notice eris until she spoke, and he jumped slightly, startled. "oh! um, i- well, no,
not quite. my thoughts have been... troubled lately." he replied, running a hand through his dark brown locks. he watched her, thinking about the last time they hung out as friends. it seemed like forever. now it would make him look bad if they tried to continue as they had. their relationship was completely professional now.

xxxthe prince sighed softly, opening his mouth to ask if she had slept well, but he froze when isabella came into sight. his mouth hung open for a brief moment before he realized, and quickly closed it. no one could know of his secret crush on the songbird, he'd be screwed. "g-good morning. it is quite beautiful today, indeed." he agreed, maybe speaking a bit too quickly. hopefully neither of them noticed.

xxxclearing his throat, raymond, glanced between both females. "i don't suppose either of you have seen the princess of miven this morning?" he asked. he felt like he should welcome her and her people, make them feel more comfortable and trusting.

[paria.]

xx,,( M A T T E OxxV I T A L I ! ! )

x,{ ➶ age; twenty four } - { ➴ gender; male } - { ➶ role; head guard } - { ➴ location; glariss castle } - { ➶ tags; katherine, saelyra }━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

denthe head guard honestly didn’t mean to ease drop on lyra’s adamant declaration of being able to kill everyone here if she wanted. he inwardly cringed and tried to make his face passive as to keep them from realizing what he had heard. he perked up in rememberance of the prince having a guard take all the miven guests’ weapons to the armory for safe keeping. he couldn’t blame her for feeling angry about her sword being confiscated. he’d probably be worse than she is, more violent and rueful. matteo nodded in response to her agreement to go spar and gazed at katherine when she asked what his name was. ”you probably don’t remember meeting me from last night, i was making sure everyone’s chambers were safe so you might not have seen me. i’m the head guard, matteo vitali, but you can call me matt if you’d like,” he replied with a smile. he gestured for them to follow and he started down the long halls.

denmatteo took confident strides down the path leading to the sparring area outside. he pushed open a door, revealing several pairs of guards sparring bare handed and with swords. he told them to stay there while he would be back in a moment. matt ran back inside and into the armory, returing to the girls with a well-made and familiar sword to lyra. he handed her the sword and shrugged at her surprised expression. ”welcome to glariss, princess. now, let’s see what you’re made of,” matteo moved to an empty spot in the sparring area and unsheathed his sword, his blue hues gleaming with excitement.