Once Upon A Time {Arranged Marriage} OPEN!!

[confliction]

Tristan looked away as Nick spoke with the prince. "Aiden's gone." he said softly, raising his eyes to KC's. "The rouges you sent out troops for? They killed him. We got there too late." He surprised himself by keeping his voice strong. We had run into them on our way here. But there was only two of them. There must have been, what?" He looked at Nick. "Ten of them?" Taking a deep breath, Tristan shook his head. "Anyways, that doesn't matter. What matters is that Aiden is gone. He's not coming back, and.." he paused, not wanting to sound selfish. "I'm supposed to be the eldest prince now." he whispered, his eyes avoiding the two princes.

{ Yep, fonts are fine now. Probably just my laptop being fussy earlier..

Kaleb froze, the casual grin on his face melting into a look of surprise, then shock, then anger. Aiden and he had been close friends when they were younger. KC was always the more outgoing of the group of princes and princesses. He had made many friends with the other kingdom's royalty, especially with Rena.. But now was not the time to think about her. Pushing Serena out of his mind, Kaleb sucked in a deep breath. "We'll have to let everyone know. Avalon, Elyadon." he muttered. "Oh God, why Aiden?" he screamed, tugging on the ends of his hair. KC had been looking forward to meeting his old friend at the masquerade, but hadn't seen him show face. And now he knew why. The prince ripped his mask off, crumbling it to pieces and threw it to the ground. "Conference. Everyone needs to meet in the conference room in one hour. Your sisters, parents. I'll round up my siblings and parents. Oh God," he muttered, setting off down the hall.

[Tianuki]

Nickolas Nathaniel Jonathon Charles ~ Prince ~ Elyadon ~ Age 15

~Born when the first star appeared in the night sky,
This boy will never lie.
And no matter how they try,
This curse will not die.~

~But when he turns eighteen,
It has been foreseen,
That the curse will be lifted,
And he will be one of the gifted.~

Nick stared at the ground as Tristan continued, only looking up when Kaleb announced that a conference had to be held. "We shall have to send a messanger to fetch Father and Mother. Our sisters may have gone home already so we need them to come back... hopefully they were smart enough to have guards with them." He walked towards a door which seemed to lead into a study, it wasn't locked so Nick went straight in. He scribbled a letter and then tore off a piece of his cloak to tie around the letter, before heading back towards Tristan. "Shall I take this myself or send a messanger?"

[confliction]

Send a messenger. We can't afford to lose you right now." Tristan said quickly, stepping into the ballroom for a split second. He gestured at the man (Sir Tyler Black) Kaleb had been talking to before. Surely they could trust him. Tristan interrupted the young man, who had been speaking with a young woman. "You there, you're a knight, yes?" he asked, leading the man back into the hall. "We need you to deliver this message to the King and Queen of Elyadon. And find the princesses if you can. This is an utmost priority right now." he explained, motioning at Nick for him to pass the note along to the knight.

[Tianuki]

Nickolas Nathaniel Jonathon Charles ~ Prince ~ Elyadon ~ Age 15

~Born when the first star appeared in the night sky,
This boy will never lie.
And no matter how they try,
This curse will not die.~

~But when he turns eighteen,
It has been foreseen,
That the curse will be lifted,
And he will be one of the gifted.~

Nick nodded at Tyler and handed over the letter. "Please, go as fast as you can. These are a few coins of gratitude." Nick took out five coins and placed them into Tyler's hands. "Be careful out there. There have been several incidents with rogues roaming the boarder. If you must take a guard with you." Nick turned to Tristan. "Now, I suppose, we can only wait." He walked wearily over to the wall and sat down, leaning back on it. His wound was hurting and the cloth was already stained with blood but Nick was much too tired to do anything else. He closed his eyes and listened to the band playing.

[confliction]

Tristan leaned against the rough stone wall, resting his eyes. It was amazing how well the orchestra could pick up a song again, and put everyone in a cheerful mood. But it wasn't working with the princes. Lazily fluttering his eyes open, the prince sighed heavily and stood. "Come on, Nick. We should get you to the infirmary. For your arm." he said, helping his brother up from the floor.

[Tianuki]

Nickolas Nathaniel Jonathon Charles ~ Prince ~ Elyadon ~ Age 15

~Born when the first star appeared in the night sky,
This boy will never lie.
And no matter how they try,
This curse will not die.~

~But when he turns eighteen,
It has been foreseen,
That the curse will be lifted,
And he will be one of the gifted.~

Nick opened his eyes and accepted Tristan's help. The orchestra had now switched to a different song and Nick could hear the merry laughter from within the ballroom - the merry laughter from all those oblivious of the shock they would feel when Aiden's death was announced. He turned to one side and coughed before walking with Tristan towards the infirmary. He sighed, hating to be in the centre of attention and when you were in any infirmary, the nurses would fuss over you, especially if you were a prince.

[Komaniac]

Tyler Black
Knight - 17 - Avalon
Tyler bowed his head. "Good evening, pri-" he was interupted before he could finish his sentence. He apologized to Aria for leaving so soon, but the princes seemed to be more important. He followed the Elyadon prince out, seeing the mood had descreased badly. He took the letter, putting it away safely as he took off his mask. "Of course, Sire." he replied. "I will go as fast as I can."Tyler bowed before leaving the hallway, heading towards the stables. He took Ren out and didn't really bother to saddle his buddy. Tyler took out his sword and placed it in his belt, before wrapping his blue Avalon cloak around his shoulders. After fastening all of his equipment, Tyler got on his horse and left Avalon quickly after finding two other knights which could come with him. He rode the road through the forest as fast as he could.

About half an hour later, he caught sight of a carriage. Probably from one of the princesses.Tyler stopped his horse in front of the carriage, causing the driver to stop. "Does one of the Elyadon princesses travel with this carriage?" he asked the man.It would surprise him if he did, there were no guards around them. The driver inspected Tyler closer as he held his lantarn in front of him. "Her brothers and Prince KC want all the Elyadon royals to get back to Avalon. Please turn around and bring her back." Tyler continued. The driver nodded. "I will bring Princess Serena back to Avalon." he reassured him. Tyler nodded gratefull and turned towards one of the other knights. "Drive back with them. They should have a guard while traveling." The other knight nodded and rode next to the carriage after it had turned around, before Tyler and the third knight continued their way towards Elyadon.

After another few hours of travelling, they arrived at the castle. Tyler spoke to some Elyadon knights and explained whatever he knew to them, after which the other knight took the letter and promised Tyler to send the other princesses back to Avalon if they could be found. Tyler nodded and sighed softly, raking a hand through his black hair. That was easy.

Serena Alice Jones
Eldest Princess - 18 - Elyadon
The girl was still sleeping in her carriage, not really noticing what was going on, or that her carriage turned around, back to Avalon. She wrapped the cloak tighter around her in her sleep, frowning slightly as she was soon woken up by a knight knocking on the door of her carriage. "We arrived, princess." the knight told her. Serena frowned and looked out of the window, seeing the Avalon palace back again. "We weren't heading here..." she muttered, pressing a hand against her head as she tried to remember. The knight soon told her that her brothers wanted to see her, and that it was urgent. Serena got out of the carriage with a slight frown, already feeling what was coming. Her brothers had found Aiden, alive. Or they had found him dead, or they hadn't found it. Biting her lip softly she walked back into the castle, wrapping her dark blue cloak around her as she was still cold. She searched around for her brothers, sighing mentally.

[confliction]

After asking around for the infirmary several times, the princes finally stood in front of the hospital ward. Women, young and old, were chatting over tea in their uniforms. Bold red crosses were placed in several places around the room, scattered on the women's aprons. An older woman approached them, pushing her spectacles a centimeter up the narrow bridge of her nose. "How may I be of service, young sirs?" the woman humbly asked, clasping her frail hands. Her voice wavered slightly, as she gestured them over to a clean, white cot.

"My brother, Prince Nickolas," Tristan said, flicking his eyes towards Nick, then back to the nurse. "His arm got sliced while we were.. fencing." he lied, not wanting to hint at any of the horrifying events of the early morning.

"Fencing was it? Looks rather deep.. your highnesses." the nurse said, eyes crinkling as she gently unwrapped the bloody strips of cloth and examined the wound. "My name is Fernia, Head Nurse of the infirmary here. You two must be from Elyadon, then." she spoke, waving her hand at a young woman who then brought a cart over. Fernia took a roll of bandage off the cart and unwrapped it, placing it on the bed. She then turned to Nick. "Shirt off, please. And how old are you, my boy?" she asked, ignoring the common courtesy and respect for royalty. Tristan liked this woman.

Kaleb hurried down the hall, brushing past yawning servants and giggling guests. He stopped at the balcony, which overlooked the marble foyer. Rena was down there. Biting his lip, the prince rushed down the white marble steps and slowly stepped towards the princess, his face pale and concerned. "Rena. I'm sorry." he whispered, clasping her hands gently as he spoke. "He's," KC shook his head sadly. "Aiden's gone."

[Komaniac]

Serena Alice Jones
Eldest Princess - 18 - Elyadon
Gone? Aiden was gone? Like dead? No! That couldn't be true! Serena watched KC's face for a second before looking away, her eyes filling themselves with tears. Not Aiden. He hadn't deserved it to die. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she pulled her hands out of his, only to hug herself. She knew she should control her emotions, but she simply couldn't anymore. "N-No...." she stuttered, not wanting to believe it. She had been close to Aiden. Very close since they were going through the same. He was the only one who understood her and... The girl prevented herself from screaming out of frustration. She just stared at her feet as salt tears rolled down her cheek, repeatedly murmuring 'no'.

[confliction]

KC stood helplessly watching the tears drop down to the glossy floor before pulling the distraught princess into a hug. He knew it was improper, but now was not the time to be worrying about things such as that. The servants would stare, but this was an important moment. A sister had just lost probably her closest brother. Kaleb didn't say anything, he just held her close and closed his eyes, stroking her hair softly. He had no more tears to cry, as they had all been washed out in his earlier frustrated bout. He held Rena in his arms, listening to her short breaths and her continuous claims of denial.