Prince in Peril - 1x1 with Consulting_Angel

[★ Faecoria ★]

Name
Ryuki Nightwind
Age
21
Gender
Male
Height
5'11 (180cm)
Race
Human
Appearance
Reference

***

Ryuki glanced over the piece of parchment that'd been shoved under the door of the apartment he was staying in. It was located in the slums, where everyone tended to mind their own business, lest they lose their nose by sticking it where it didn't belong.

Written on the parchment was his latest mission and it was certainly an odd one for an assassin.

“Isn't this what bodyguards are for?” Ryuki grumbled to himself for a few more moments and then sighed. He was supposed to report to the palace tomorrow morning, where he'd be acting as personal guard to the crown prince. The king was paying the local assassins guild a lot of money to fulfill this request. It was an under-the-table type of deal; no one but the royal family knew what he was.

To the rest of the palace staff, he was just some hired muscle—not that he had a lot of muscle on him to begin with—to protect the prince.

It was a smart move. If the king truly wanted to protect his son from an assassin, what better way to do that than to hire one to guard against such attempts? However, the kingdom at large might not approve of such methods, hence the secretive nature of what Ryuki really was.

Ryuki went over what he'd need to bring with him, went to bed, and then showed up at the palace the next morning.

It was the middle of winter, and so the air was freezing as he made his way to the back of the palace, where the entrance to the kitchen was. He was ushered in by the butler, who'd been waiting for him, and then taken to a plush and—in his opinion—ridiculously lavish sitting room where he was to wait for the prince to meet him.

[Consulting_Angel]

Name: Nicholas Arnault
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance: Very short, black hair and very dark brown eyes that have a dark ambery look in the sun. He has a more oval face shape, with a smooth, defined jawline. Nicholas stands at 6'1", accentuated by his formal, somewhat rigid posture. He has an athletic, well-toned build, and his dark skin doesn't have any marks or scars. His outfits are well-tailored and formal, consisting of tunics and doublets in the kingdom's colours of purple and gold, and black trousers and calf-height boots.

It had been three days since Nicholas had been allowed to leave his quarters. Ever since a threat against him had been made known, his father - the King - took action to have Nicholas kept in his quarters, guarded by shifts of knights, and all meals checked by two testers. Such protective measures, and it didn't help that his parents had struggled to even have him, so that made them extra protective. He never thought he'd grow bored of his royal life, but being stuck in his room for three days with no access to anything had done just that. Now, given the knights weren't actually experienced against such threats, nor did they have the immediate know-how to investigate who was actually behind the threat, Nicholas had overheard that the King intended to employ an assassin to be his bodyguard.

This had made Nicholas somewhat annoyed. He didn't need a personal bodyguard - why couldn't one of the knights just stick by him instead? Such thoughts he wouldn't express to anyone, of course. There had to be some reason... and Nicholas was not one to go against the rules. And at least it would mean he'd get to leave his quarters again.
That morning, two of the knights knocked on his door after breakfast, requesting that he followed them to meet someone the King had hired.

He followed them to the sitting room, where it was quietly explained that his father had hired him a personal bodyguard, intended to follow the prince around and protect him from any attempts on his life. At least until the person behind the threat was dealt with.
The door opened to the sitting room, and Nicholas entered on his own, the two knights remaining outside the door to stand guard. Inside, he noted the other young man that was in the room, seeming very out of place in the lavish sitting room.

The prince sat down, an elegant though not stuck up air about him, and wasted no time with introductions - there was no need for things to be awkward. "So, you're my personal bodyguard, I'm told. Prince Nicholas Arnault."

[★ Faecoria ★]

((In case you see this before my message, staff helped me get into my old account, so that's why I'm posting on this one now!))

Ryuki hadn't even been waiting for more than a few minutes and he was already bored. He leaned back into the couch, crossed his legs, and then rested both of his arms along the edge of the couch in a pose that wasn't refined at all. There was a silence to the room that would have been stifling if not for the soft crackle of the fireplace, which helped keep the cold at bay.

He had almost no knowledge of the crown prince and was going to have to spend the next few days getting to know not only the layout of the palace, but the prince's routines too. He'd need to memorize staff faces and names, schedules, anything that came into contact with the prince was something Ryuki needed to know about. There were hundreds of ways a possible assassin could get to the prince.

As he went over these things in his head, he came to the conclusion that protecting someone was a lot harder than killing them.

After what felt like an age, a door off to the side opened and the crown prince himself entered the room and then sat down before introducing himself.

As was usually the case with royalty, Nicholas looked the very picture of a prince, and was around Ryuki's age.

Ryuki made no move to stand, bow, or otherwise acknowledge the other man's station. “Ryuki, and don't expect me to call you ‘Your Highness’, because that's not happening.” Maybe if he was rude enough, they'd take him off this mission and assign it to someone else.

[Consulting_Angel]

Nicholas was surprised by the informality and rudeness of the bodyguard - Ryuki as he now knew him as. Had he been the petty sort, he would have demanded Ryuki be kicked out and replaced immediately. But Nicholas was the gracious, patient sort, and he figured that there was just going to need to be some time.
"I see. Well, Ryuki, I presume you've already been briefed as to why you're here and what's going on?" he asked, rather hoping that there wasn't going to be too much to explain. He hadn't even really been told the whole situation himself, just knowing there had been assassination threats made against himself and the solution was to hire a... rather unassuming bodyguard.

One thing that he did secretly hope was that if Ryuki was this informal and didn't seem to want to be here, perhaps he wouldn't be quite so overbearing. Nicholas was not rebellious in the slightest, but he also didn't think that he needed to be followed around by someone in the name of protection. He was quite capable of fighting, and he trusted in the security of the castle. So, perhaps he'd get at least a few moments of freedom without being constantly watched when he was out of his quarters. He knew that if he happened to be caught without his bodyguard, Nicholas was in enough good graces with his parents and the more serious members of the guard to innocently claim that he had thought Ryuki had been following.

"As to not drag this out, I do have a council meeting to attend in about fifteen minutes, so we should make a start to get there. Then you can start learning where everything is." Nicholas said after a few moments of quiet, and he stood up, smoothing an invisible crease on his doublet. Then, he went over to the door, leaving the room without too much of a glance to see if Ryuki was close behind.

[★ Faecoria ★]

As he watched the prince leave, Ryuki debated on whether or not he should be annoyed about the fact that Nicholas hadn’t blown up in his face or otherwise reprimanded him over his complete disregard for the prince’s title.

So much for an easy way out of this.

He rose from the couch and caught up to Nicholas, although he stayed several feet back. He could have turned this job down if he’d wanted to, but then he’d lose favor with the guild which in turn meant losing out on more lucrative missions. However, Ryuki was never one for rules and etiquette, so he wasn’t about to start now, even if it risked him being replaced.

The hallway they were in was much like the sitting room, overly decorated and a clear showing of wealth. He couldn’t help but wonder if everyone who had this kind of money would live like this or if some would still live on the down low. He wasn’t certain what he’d do if money wasn’t a problem.

Being an assassin was the only life he knew.

“Is this meeting something I need to care about?” he asked, his attention turning on the prince’s back. “And yes, I’m already aware of the attempts on your life.” There hadn’t been any details on who was behind the attacks, only that one or more assassins were suspected to be involved.

[Consulting_Angel]

He smiled to himself. So he was going to follow - it was a start. He was sure that, deep down, there was some willingness to actually take the job at least somewhat seriously. Nicholas glanced back over his shoulder to answer Ryuki, noting how he was several feet away.
"No. It's a general weekly meeting with council members and nobles from around the kingdom providing updates, raising any issues... that kind of thing. My father might inform everyone who you are, but you won't be expected to make some kind of speech or anything. I'm sure you could just stand there and tune out." Nicholas replied. He didn't really know if his father would address Ryuki being in the room at all, but he did hope to learn a bit more about what was going on. It was a little frustrating being kept out of the loop, especially for the past few days, so this was a great way to find things out.

Arriving at the meeting room, the guards at the doors opened the doors for him and Ryuki - the guards also giving Ryuki a very wary side eye - and Nicholas entered. They were the first to arrive in the room, which the prince had expected. Most others didn't turn up until around five minutes before the meeting was due to commence. His father would certainly not arrive until right at the moment the meeting was meant to start, or sometimes even be a few minutes late - a habit that was kept a secret within the castle walls, and no one would dare comment about it.

Unlike most other rooms, the meeting room was not quite as lavish and extravagant. A large table surrounded by chairs - three of the chairs being more elegant than the others, clearly denoting where the King, Queen and prince would sit - in the centre of the room, along with several portraits on the walls, but other than that, the room was quite empty.
Nicholas went to sit at his chair.
"I expect it'll be a few minutes before anyone else would arrive. Is there anything you'd like to know before then?" he asked.

[★ Faecoria ★]

Ryuki went to look out the windows to see if they were easily reachable by an adventurous climber. There were no rooftops directly below, just the stone window ledge. It'd take a very dedicated assassin to get up here. Not that he was expecting an attack right now, but familiarizing himself with the castle's exterior was just as important as learning the layout within. He needed to know the most likely spots for an intruder to try and access.

At Nicholas’ question, he turned to face the table. He knew there'd been two attempts on the prince's life so far. What he didn't know is if they'd told Nicholas or not, since both attempts had been thwarted before getting close to him. That meant the next ones would not be so easy to catch and would likely be carried out by a more skilled assassin.

“I just need a tour of the castle and grounds. Also, no one's told me where I'll be staying.” He could only assume it would be a room near the prince's. Because surely they wouldn't expect him to sleep in the prince's room.

That'd be weird.

[Consulting_Angel]

Nicholas watched Ryuki as he went to look out of the windows, wondering what he might be looking for. He highly doubted anyone would be stupid enough to try and break into here - especially as it wasn't exactly an easy thing to do.
When Ryuki answered his question, the prince nodded thoughtfully. He was a little surprised that no one had given Ryuki a tour of the place yet, nor even informed him where he'd be staying. Perhaps they were both just being thrown into this arrangement with very little organisation or notice.
"Very well. I imagine I'll be giving you the tour then. Lest I be confined to my quarters again while someone else does it. As for where you're staying... there's a guest room near to my quarters, so I presume you'll be staying there."

At that moment, the doors opened again, and nobles and council members began entering the room, greeting Nicholas and sending curious, if suspicious and wary, looks towards Ryuki, standing by the chairs around the table. Nicholas stood up, warmly greeting those that entered, but didn't provide any explanation as to why Ryuki was there, nor did he introduce him to the others. He figured that perhaps it would be best to not force any sort of conversation.

A few more minutes passed, and then the doors opened again. The nobles and councilmen stood to attention as the King and Queen entered the room, taking their places at the head of the table.
"I'm sure we're all raring to get started, but a few things first." The King started, and gestured to everyone to sit. "We are all aware of the assassination threats and attempts against Prince Nicholas, but fortunately, both previous attempts were thwarted before they got close. While investigations continue, I have hired Ryuki here to serve as protection for Nicholas until everything is sorted out. And I trust," the King stared towards Ryuki, "that he will be most reliable."

Nicholas raised an eyebrow slightly. He had not been aware that there had already been two attempts. And it seemed like the King was already somewhat aware of Ryuki's attitude.

[★ Faecoria ★]

Ryuki leaned against the wall near the windows, one foot resting against it, and his arms crossed. He studied the face of each person who entered. He didn't expect to get names right, but memorizing who was a familiar face around the castle was more important anyway. He didn't bother trying to hide his disdain for those in the room when they cast curious glances his way.

He was dressed very plainly and wasn't standing at attention like a servant or guard would have. It was natural for the nobles councilmen to be curious.

Once the king and queen entered the room, the quiet conversations ceased, and everyone settled into their places before the king began speaking. Ryuki would have tuned out then, except the king turned to address him, drawing all eyes to the nonchalant assassin turned bodyguard.

His mouth tilted up into a smirk, “I'm as reliable as they come.” Several in the room scowled at his lack of a proper address to the king, but he turned his attention away from them.

He hated rules, and the people in this room represented everything he hated about authority. He wasn't going to try to hide that. If they didn't like it, it was their problem. And if they wanted to make it his problem too, he could just vanish and then they'd have to scramble to find a replacement.

They needed him more than he needed them.

[Consulting_Angel]

The King seemed to internally debate whether or not to comment on the informality of Ryuki, but then seemed to decide that there were more important things to discuss, so he just said, "Excellent," before continuing with the rest of the meeting.
The meeting proceeded with no other mention or focus drawn to Ryuki, though there was discussion of the investigations, of which one of the nobles claimed that they were 'closing in on finding the source of the attempts', which sounded promising. A few others chimed in with various theories and suggestions - perhaps there was more than one person involved, perhaps they should start conducting full searches of anyone that enters or exits the castle grounds and even extend it to the city. The King seemed to take not of these, and had said that if things got worse, then stricter security measures would be implemented.

Afterwards, discussions of various happenings around the different districts of the kingdom started up. There was little to note, and all seemed business as usual. Crops were growing well, the fishermen and livestock farmers were also providing excellently. There had been a minor illness outbreak in one of the outlying villages, but that had been quickly contained and a healer had dealt with it efficiently. Nicholas was attentive, listening carefully, though he had no role in the meeting.

Finally, the meeting came to an end. All the nobles and council members left, leaving Nicholas, Ryuki and the King and Queen.
"Ryuki. The guest room next to Nicholas' quarters is being set up for your use." The King started, "Should you require anything, there's plenty of servants, knights and guards around. Otherwise, your role is to protect my son and report any suspicious behaviours you may notice." He explained, and with that, he and the Queen left the room.

Nicholas waited until the door closed and turned towards Ryuki again. "Well. I don't have anything else scheduled for the day. Aside from lunch and dinner. I was perhaps going to visit the stables as it's been a few days - but I guess that will wait until I've shown you around." He said, and started towards the doors of the meeting room, to begin the tour.