1x1 with hollyglow and Consulting_Angel

[Consulting_Angel]

Ashton Rouleau
Shrugging slightly, Ashton replied, "It's fine... I don't feel up for a fight," he let out a quiet sigh, hoping that they would not be spotted by anyone. He didn't want to anyone to think that they were probably romantically involved with each other, and he knew how quickly rumours among the staff could get around. Thinking about it, though, it would mean that he could use it as 'proof' he liked girls - which he knew would be a lie anyway, but the last thing he wanted to do was admit that he was gay. He nodded at the brief explanation, sort of understanding what Elsa meant, and he added, "It is kind of nice, I suppose," and he fell silent for a while before asking, "Do you want to go for a walk? There's a nice walking path that starts not too far from here. We might have to take a guard as well, but it'll beat being stuck in the palace grounds,"

Loralei Waverly
Getting back to her home, and going through a short list of things that she had to do, Loralei hummed under her breath, quite contently. She liked having her mind occupied, and if she didn't have anything to do, then she'd probably go mad. As she finished up the last of her responsibilities around her home - and within the community as well - she decided to spend a little bit of time going treasure-trawling in the area. She liked finding interesting, mysterious objects - once she had even found an actual, human-crafted spoon with a nice handle - and it also gave her an excuse to 'clear up' the area.

[hollyglow]

Elsa Alina Asbjornson

Ashton seemed to understand exactly what I meant. I smiled at his suggestion. "That sounds...lovely, actually. I could use some space from..." I waved a hand vaguely, "everything." It was true, since I had arrived here, I had felt constantly overwhelmed by the nonstop bustle. It was no different from my home, but without all the familiarity. The only person I knew, besides the guards who had traveled with me and I never saw anyway, was my maid, Valka. Without that familiarity, everything was louder, brighter, and more intense than usual.

Jem Laceburn

(No post because I'm rushed)

[Consulting_Angel]

Ashton Rouleau
Glad that Elsa agreed, Ashton smiled slightly. "Excellent. I think that I need a bit of space as well," he said, then he stood up. He loved his home, of course he did, but taking a brief change of scenery always helped him to relax and calm himself down. He did pause, wondering if he should clarify that he didn't want the walk to be taken as anything more than them just being friends, but he figured it would be worked out anyway. "Come on, then," he said, starting to walk, then stopping for a moment to glance back to see if she was following.

Loralei Waverly
As she trawled the area, Loralei was joined by a few younger merpeople - all of whom she allowed to join her. She put to organising them as well, giving them specific places to search first, and keeping a close eye on them. She was pleased that she was trusted enough by the others to take care of them - though, admittedly, she never really considered herself too fond of children.

[hollyglow]

Elsa Alina Asbjornson

I followed his lead, standing almost in unison with him---yet another breach of protocol. Princesses were often expected to wait for everything, to wait for someone else to finish, and that included standing. With Ashton, though, I felt like it didn't matter. He didn't seem to care. I fell into step with him, and, after a moment of thought, slipped my hand into his. "I know it's strange," I began, "but if I seem---confused? Strange? Panicked? If you hold my hand more tightly, it will help." It was a difficult thing to admit. Erek and Valka were the only ones who knew about it. Erek would often slip his hand into mine, and Valka would disguise it as a hand massage. It was similar to the pressure of sitting close next to someone. And if Ashton was to be my husband, then he should know. We walked for a while, out of the palace grounds and walls, the guard trailing behind us.

Jem Laceburn

Most of the crew stayed in the room at the in. Natasha, Amber, Flynn, and I all set off towards the palace. We expected this to be a fairly long operation. We would need to get into the castle and find a chance to be alone with the prince. It would take time and careful action, but it could be accomplished. We'd been walking for quite a while when---I nearly laughed out loud. There was only a guard and two people easily recognizable: the prince of Gwildor and the princess of Iceland. The crew exchanged disbelieving looks. "Natasha," I hissed, "guard. Go." The prince and princess were deep in conversation and didn't notice us as we blended into the trees. Natasha tugged at the plain brown dress she wore and sauntered forward towards the guard, looking at him through her dark lashes. "Pardon me, have you seen the castle? I'm afraid I've gotten myself...quite lost." Her voice was low, deliberate, and sultry, while still seeming innocent and sweet.

[Consulting_Angel]

Ashton Rouleau
Hardly seeming to notice the timing of them both standing up - he didn't particularly care much for the 'proper protocol' anyway, he thought it had some ridiculous rules - Ashton walked alongside Elsa, pretty much right next to her. When she slipped her hand into his, Ashton looked a little confused, but did half put it down to keeping up appearances - though for who, he wasn't sure of. Though he also listened to her explanation, glad that she noted how unconventional it was. "Oh, like a sort of coping or grounding thing?" he asked. He didn't mind too much, and he was appreciative of being told this as well, especially as the two of them didn't really know each other that well to start with anyway.
As they walked, Ashton stopped, noting that a woman had approached the guard. He turned around, watching carefully. If he wasn't mistaken, then she seemed to be trying to distract him - which was working incredibly well. Undeterred, Ashton cleared his throat, in an attempt to get the guard to refocus - this didn't work, the guard being more interested in the woman. A shiver ran down his spine, and he carefully squeezed Elsa's hand.

Loralei Waverly
(Will write for her next post)

[hollyglow]

Elsa Alina Asbjornson

I nodded at his understanding. "Exactly." Seeing the woman walk up to the guard, I narrowed my eyes. It was incredibly suspicious; after all: if I were to plan an attack on a guarded target---which I'd never done, not officially, anyway---the first thing I would do would be to distract the guard. Interesting, though: there was no indication of weaponry anywhere on the woman. Unless she planned to kill him with her bare hands, which seemed unlikely, she seemed to be only a distraction. Therefore, I could draw the conclusion that it wasn't a direct attack from another kingdom. More likely, it was some sort of bandit or pirate, looking to rob us or kidnap us without actually doing the kingdom any other harm. Thieves and murderers could be, I reflected, quite weak in actuality. By the time I'd reached this conclusion, the guard had been pulled into the woods with the woman and yes, more people had appeared from the trees to circle around Ashton and I. Ashton squeezed my hand, and I took a deep breath, imagining my focus was a steel blade.

Jem Laceburn

The pair had figured the plan out in seconds, it was clear. As soon as Natasha had moved the guard away, I flicked my hand forward in the signal. We formed a circle around the pair and paused for a moment. From there, as always, things happened remarkably quickly. Flynn stepped forward and simply put his arms around the princess. She was too small to do anything but struggle, but she didn't seem inclined too. Rather, she said, "Ashton. They want you. You have to go." How had she figured us out? It didn't matter. The prince was shorter than I was. Amber and I moved forward to take him.

[Consulting_Angel]

Ashton Rouleau
Seeing the guard wander off into the forest with the woman, Ashton had to draw the conclusion that they were definitely not alone. This was pretty much confirmed as they were quickly surrounded, and he tensed up slightly, looking around for a way out. However, things happened very quickly for his liking, and before he knew it, Elsa had been pulled away from him, and two of the other people were advancing on him. "Me? But why?" he asked, attempting to keep his voice steady, but then he started backing away from the others. "Nononononono! If any of you lay a hand on me, I will scream," he warned. He would not be going quietly, thank you very much. He didn't care who they were, and he was going to stay true to his word, letting out a terrific scream the moment anyone so much as put a finger on him.

Loralei Waverly
After they had finished looking for treasures, Loralei looked over everything they had found - a couple of pearls from clams, a half-buried anchor with a broken chain on it, among other things. Making sure that the treasures found were not dangerous, she allowed for the younger merpeople to take what they had found off home. The anchor, though, she decided to leave where it was. It made for a good landmark for travellers, anyway, and she could always ask around to see what should be done with it - if anything.

[hollyglow]

Elsa Alina Asbjornson

Despite all that was happening, I could appreciate the irony in this situation: I was pressed against the man behind me, and I should be terrified, but rather, the pressure focused me. What could I do? The guard was completely useless. I would have to speak to someone about that. We were outnumbered. "Leave him alone!" I snapped. "You can take me instead." I didn't know why I did it. Maybe I thought I could escape, maybe I wanted to buy us more time. I wasn't sure. But it didn't seem to matter, anyway.

Jem Laceburn

The prince was clearly quite dramatic. Did he really think screaming would do any good? But it would be a hassle that we didn't need, so I nodded to Amber. He moved faster than should have been possible, and his fist connected with the prince's jaw with a dull thud. I stepped forward and caught the prince as he fell, unconscious. He hardly seemed to weigh anything. "We'd best leave," I said. "Leave the princess." Flynn raised an eyebrow slowly, but held the princess at arm's length and said, "alright, woman. Don't even think about trying to follow us. Stay here until we're out of sight, then walk back to the palace. Understand?" She bit her lip fearfully, then nodded mutely. Flynn nodded. "Good girl." We turned away and started away, Amber checking over his shoulder to make sure the princess did as she told.

[Consulting_Angel]

Ashton Rouleau
Briefly stopping his scream - which he had made just one, long, continuous note - Ashton said, "Leave me alone!" to the person that was fast approaching him, and he made an attempt to maneuver backwards. However, he was hardly a match, and couldn't even get out much more before he felt a sharp pain in his jaw. He tried to keep his balance, trying hard to keep stood and conscious, but before he knew it, the world went dark and he felt himself falling forwards.

Loralei Waverly
(Writing for her next post)

[hollyglow]

Elsa Alina Asbjornson

I waited until their backs were turned to sink to my knees. I knew what I needed to do, but the idea was terrifying. To leave, after just beginning to get used to my new home. But I got to my feet and slowly started after the group. When I got into town, I kept my head down. What was I doing? What did I need to do first? Clothes. I moved into a nearby store and selected a blouse and trousers. The man looked at me askance when I held out one of my rings as payment, but took it without a word. I changed, then looked around. Now I would need to hire a crew...and it was easier than I expected. It was easy enough to find a young man, my age, with a small ship. I offered him my necklace as payment, and he was all too happy to accept. He promised we'd depart in the morning, but I was welcome to sleep on his ship. I decided to look around the town for anything I might need.

Jem Laceburn

We stopped by the inn to tell the crew that we were leaving, then left right away. I carried the prince to the spare room on the ship, a small but well furnished cabin, and laid him gently on the bed. Above deck, Amber was shouting instructions to the crew, and I felt the ship begin to move, rocking with the waves. I sighed and took a seat at the foot of the bed, waiting for him to wake up, although I didn't know how long it might take. But I wasn't willing to leave the prince alone.