ＯＵＲ ＬＡＳＴ ＨＯＰＥ

[-Starchild.Keith-]

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➳ Kai
Kai Saunders
20, male
assassin/guard

tagged: Alvere

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Once the Seulgehm guards were seated, Kai served himself. He wasn't really picky, and just took a bit of whatever was closest to him. He ended up with a few different pieces of meat, a vegetable of some sort, and something else that he couldn't really place. He wasn't a food expert- he only know what things could kill you. Nothing in the hall would do that, so he was happy to just eat whatever landed on his plate. After taking a small bite of what ended up being ptarmigan, Kai's attention was drawn to the man opposite him.

It was the guard from earlier, the one that had been riding alongside the prince. He was a captain, was he? One of four? Interesting... "I am Kai Saunders, personal guard for the royal family. I do not really have a rank." He nodded, taking a quick sip of wine. "We only have one captain, as you can see. The fact that you have four is rather... intriguing. What if there is an argument? Four of you means that there could be a split decision."

That was the one thing that Kai loved about being rankless, above all else. He took orders only from the royals themselves, and sometimes the captain if it was necessary. He was pretty much free to do as he wanted. From this point on, however, he would be tailing the princess. He trusted the Istoth family, of course, but the Seulgehms were a different story. Mainly just the prince, but he had seen nothing that made the others, excepting Val, seem appealing. He would definitely be staying near the princess.

[Keriae]

ＡＬＶＥＲＥ.
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[ male ] [ seulghem ] [ tagged: kai ]

The Guard paused, his fork half lifted towards his mouth as the Istoth man opposite him answered, seeming to be very intrigued in the fact that they had four captains instead of one. It had never seemed strange or unusual at all to him, but he supposed that because he had grown up with that, it didn't bother him and therefore he didn't really think about it. The other Kingdom, however, only seemed to have the one captain so it must be very strange to ally with a kingdom and then hear that their regiment of guards had four captains to command it.

"We are a large regiment," he began, and waved his hand absently down the line of the selection of guards with them, "we have many ranks. We need four captains to split the duties equally. Disagreements happen, but when we can not decide what to do, we have a poll with the regiment." Something such as a poll allowed the regiment to voice their opinion and then a decision was made on a whole. "Most of the time we agree, however. This is a system that had worked perfectly for many decades."

Now finally taking a bite from the food on his fork, Alvere glanced down the line to make sure the men were behaving. The last thing they needed was for them all to get drunk and cause a riot in the hall. What an impression that would have!

[Dark.]

Pʀɪɴᴄᴇ Aᴇʀᴏɴ ᴏғ Sᴇᴜʟɢʜᴇᴍ
currently;; getting drunk | tagged;; evan

More wine hit the back of his throat, perhaps his fourth brimming goblet. The stuff was so strong that it had taken him only the first goblet to overlook the pungent sweetness. As he began to refill it once again, Aeron had the funny feeling this wine was made to be sipped, not chugged. Although Aeron loved his drink, he would always get slightly more drunk when he was nervous - though he would never dare admit it. As a youth, on the eve of his first battle, he had drunk so much he had to miss the battle entirely. The physician had stated he was lucky to be alive.

Aeron scrunched his nose when she called him a 'predator'. Pretty soon his mind was filled with thoughts of himself with a human head and a lion's body. He raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a chuckle; transforming it into a weird giggle. As Evangeline continued, Aeron pouted slightly, lolling his head to the side so he faced her, "Well, I'm not proud of everything y'know. Between you and me..." he lowered his voice slightly, "Everyone thinks I'm an Adonis ... but I'm a bit of a dog. I also have like...a really low standard." He raised his eyebrows, "Like rockbottom." Aeron brought his freshly refilled goblet back to his lips, still looking towards her, "But that's good news for you because I just wanted you to know you have like one hundred per cent chance of getting with me tonight." He took another massive gulp of alcohol. He returned to eying the tables of people; the nobles, the guards, the maids...the ones who stood around in the corners. Such funny people. They all looked so small from up here on his mountain. Like little ants scurrying around for food.

His slurred thoughts were broken when the Princess grabbed his arm. He whipped his head around, his eyes wide. She was scolding him, he realised. Instead of saying anything, Aeron just nodded; an expression on his face similar to one of a child being told off by their mother. After she had finished, Aeron titled the goblet back to his lips; polishing off another cup. He barely took note of her warning not to drink too much, the colours already beginning to swirl a little in front of his eyes. For a moment, Aeron had a strange out-of-body experience. He looked at himself, starting on yet another goblet of wine. Was this a dream. Grimly, he internally sighed. Nope. This was happening. He had no choice but to sit back and ride it like a runaway horse.

Aeron chuckled at his thoughts briefly before he noticed the Princess eating out of the corner of his eye. Quickly, he put his goblet back on the table and reached over; grabbing a fistful of food from her plate and dropping it discreetly on the floor between them. He leaned closer, until his mouth was almost touching her ear and whispered, "Shhh. No. Don't eat the food. It's poisoned!"Aeron nodded enthusiastically as he spoke. He himself had an empty plate, and an empty stomach. He hadn't once touched the food. Instead, he'd filled the void with an intoxicating amount of wine.

[duckworth]

♛

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ＥＶＡＮＧＥＬＩＮＥ
Princess Evangeline "Evan" Blythe
female | eighteen | Isoth
tagged: Aeron
at the feast
amused at Aeron's drunkenness
no crush & single
❝ If we don't end war, war will end us. ❞
— H.G. Wells
format © vitality.

Evangeline desperately tried to ignore Prince Aeron, especially when he was a tiny bit tipsy, more than a tiny bit, really, and whispered at her with a pout on his face. Evan tried her best to tune him out, but she just couldn't help but hear Aeron say something about people comparing him to Adonis. A shadow of a smirk on her face, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but subtly slid her gaze towards Aeron, finding his mild drunkenness very amusing.
Reaching over to pat him on the shoulder, Evangeline replied in a very reassuring tone, "Don't worry, Prince Aeron. I never thought you were anything close to Adonis. And by the way, I just wanted you to know that you have, like, a one hundred percent chance of not getting with me tonight. Or ever, for that matter,"
Giving the drunk prince her most winning smile, Evangeline reached for a bit of her food, only to have Prince Aeron grab her food in a very drunken manner and drop it on the floor in what he most likely thought was a discreet manner. Hearing him hiss a warning that the food was probably poisoned, she began to laugh at how remarkably stupid Aeron was when he was drunk. She really should take the wine away from him, but Evangeline was rather enjoying herself, to be honest. Deciding to gift him a little bit with some logic, Evangeline reached over, took some bread, and bit into it hungrily, keeping eye contact with Prince Aeron the entire time. "First of all, I doubt they would poison their princess's food. Second, everyone else is eating the food, but no one is dying. And how do you know the alcohol isn't poisoned? You could drop dead any second, but that hasn't stopped you from being horribly drunk."
Still smirking, Evangeline turned away from Aeron, taking a sip of her alcohol-free fruit juice.

♛

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[Dark.]

Pʀɪɴᴄᴇ Aᴇʀᴏɴ ᴏғ Sᴇᴜʟɢʜᴇᴍ
currently;; getting drunk | tagged;; evan

Aeron listened to her words, his eyes staring at the table in front of him. She was right of course. How could he have been so stupid? The poison wasn't it the food, it was in the drink! Why else would she be drinking fruit juice instead of sipping fine wines. He had what..polished off seven or eight goblets, more probably. almost all of the silver serving jug was empty. A feeling of dread filled him. So this was what the end felt like - he was going to die. All because of his minor drinking problem. It must be a slow acting poison because he wasn't dead yet. Determination and anger turned his face in a scowl of defiance. If he couldn't save himself he must save his people.

Aeron steadily rose to his feet and observed the people below at the tables. So many of them making so much noise. They were all enjoying themselves; completely unaware that they were been poisoned. Aeron tried clearing his throat but it was to no avail. Why did he feel so strange? He had thought he was drunk earlier but no, no he was poisoned. It made sense now. Coiling his fingers around the silver serving jug, he raised it before slamming it back down on the table repeatedly until he was sure he had everyone's attention. His expression had turned to one that was cold and angry. Leaning forward on the table slightly he began to yell, "Stop drinking the wine! We were lured here to be culled like vermin! That's right - they think we're rats!" he paused, throwing a hand accusingly at Evangeline; whilst maintaining eye contact with his audience, "She did it. She poisoned the wine.." Aeron could almost feel the anger, shock and horror emanating from the older Royals. Aeron narrowed his eyes, still facing the people on the benches, "You want to know what I think of this false allegiance." The Prince traced his lower lip with his tongue before dropping his gaze, and flickering his eyes over the table. A small smile appearing on his face, he reached forward and laced his fingers around the handle of a carving knife.

[Keriae]

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[ male ] [ seulghem ] [ tagged: kai, aeron, evan ]

Loud banging caught his attention. The sound was unmistakable: metal against solid oak. He'd made a similar noise more than once in a tavern when calling for more wine or ale, and as such the sound made he raise his head and he saw Prince Aeron standing upright, swaying on his feet and calling for attention. There was no way anyone could trust anything Aeron said when he was drunk - once the Prince had proclaimed his undying love to him quite loudly in the middle of a rowdy tavern - Alvere's eyes widened and he barely paid attention to the words of being poisoned.

Aeron grabbed a carving knife. Alvere swore loudly and vehemently, jumping to his feet (and over the table, for that matter), narrowly missing Kai. He wasted no time in shooting across the hall, sword hitting his thigh with every moment. Women were screaming, men were shouting, but all the Royal Guard could focus on was stopping his Prince from killing the Princess of Istoth. Already he could have ruined all chances of a peace treaty, and started a whole new phase of the war. And even if he hadn't, what man would want to marry his daughter to a prince who got so easily drunk that he was prepared to make false accusations and murder?

Shoving his way through the crowd was not too difficult: while some women were clutching their husbands in tight grips and fanning themselves, eyes as round as moons, the men had enough sense to drag their wives out of the way of him and the oncoming storm of other Seulghem Royal Guards intent on stopping and protecting their royal family. Alvere caught sight of his Queen reaching out to grasp her husband's shoulder. The King was nearing old age, growing more and more fragile with every day that passed. He would not be able to stop his drunken son from sinking a carving blade into the chest of Princess Evangeline.The Royal Guard leapt over the main table, scattering food in every direction. "Prince Aeron!" He yelled over the racket, reaching out to knock the carving knife from his friend's grip as his feet landed on the floor.

[-Starchild.Keith-]

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➳ Kai
Kai Saunders
20, male
assassin/guard

tagged: Alvere, Aeron, Evangeline

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Kai listened to Alvere's response intently, taking a few more bites as he did. A poll within the entire group? Strange. While he liked the idea of taking into account the opinions of everyone, he felt that method would simply give people ideas about how much power they truly had. The captain of Istoth's guard had total power over them all, which is why they worked cohesively. "I find that very interesting, and yet, still very strange." Shrugging, he just let it go and continued eating.

As he ate, Kai scanned the room occasionally. The nobles and the guests seemed to be doing rather well, which he was thankful for. No one was complaining about anything loudly enough to be noticed, and the servants were doing an excellent job of keeping up with everyone. Seeing that, he downed the rest of his wine and asked for another cup full. The sweet but strong wine was rather good, though he had only ever had it once or twice before. Hopefully, it wasn't strong enough to make him drunk.

After a bit of scanning, Kai's eyes landed on Evangeline. None of the other guards were paying him mind, so he felt free to gaze at her from where he sat, at nearly the furthest seat from her. She had been forced to sit by the prince, who was now seemingly drunk. The way he was tilting and speaking to Evangeline, as if whispering, were signs enough. His eyes narrowed slightly and he didn't take his eyes off of her for a few more moments. He found himself being glad that he didn't.

The moment Aeron started banging the jug, Kai turned in his chair to properly face forward. He was beyond drunk at this point, and making a fool of himself. A wry grin found it's way to Kai's face as he watched the foolish man. As he spoke, however, the smirk gave way to a growl. He was accusing Evangeline of poisoning the wine? As Aeron's hand moved for the knife, Kai was on his feet. He had barely taken a step before he was nearly bowled over by the guard of the opposite squad, Alvere. Still, Kai sprinted up towards the table as well.

Reaching it only seconds before Alvere, Kai leapt clean over it and landed between the two young royals. Having no room to draw his swords, and not wanting to draw his dagger, he simply stood his ground. While some were screaming, others were silent as death or even fainted. It would have been more amusing to watch the nobles' reactions if it wasn't the life of the princess that was in danger. "Put down the knife, you ignorant fool! If you threaten the royals, if you threaten Princess Evangeline, you threaten me. And I don't take kindly to threats." His voice was nearly a growl, his narrowed eyes fixed on the blade. "Evangeline- please step back. I don't want to accidentally injure you while I detain this brute."

By now, more guardsmen had made it to the dias. Kai held up a hand, telling them to keep back. The captain and a few others, however, moved to guard their king and queen. While the Seulgehm royals weren't actively threatening the Istoth royals, they were naturally aware of them now that their son was reacting in such a way.

[Dark.]

Pʀɪɴᴄᴇ Aᴇʀᴏɴ ᴏғ Sᴇᴜʟɢʜᴇᴍ
currently;; disgracing himelf | tagged;; alvere, kai, evan

After Aeron had picked up the knife, things began to happen very fast - too fast for Aeron to keep up with. Blurs of people, yells and shouts. Confusion caused him to stay the blade. Guards were scrambling up from their seats as servants dashed to get out of the way. Some of the more frail ladies had fainted, or were sobbing into squares of cloth. A quick glance revealed his mother was one of them; eyes wide in horror as she held a silk square to her mouth in shock. All Aeron had been planning on doing was thusting the knife deep within the table, but obviously, everyone else had other ideas.

Aeron just had enough time to throw a shocked glance at Evan before that damned guard from earlier leapt clean over the table. Alvere swiftly followed suit, his hand reaching to knock out the knife. They couldn't be serious. Everyone actually thought he was going to stab the Princess? Sure he was drunk but he wasn't stupid. Then again...he had drank the poison, which he was beginning to think was actually just wine. Aeron was about to stand down when the guard began to talk. His tone of voice was challenging, and it took Aeron a matter of seconds to rise to the bait. Ignorant fool!? Pft. Who was this self righteous idiot! Evangeline? Aeron made note of this. So the guard and the Princess - on first name terms. Who would've thought it? For some reason the thought of the Princess and the Guard having anything more than a professional relationship made his anger soar.

Not thinking of the consequences, Aeron flipped the knife in his hand; so the blade pointed outwards for a clean stab. Raising his arm, Aeron lunged forwards; seeing nothing but red. His target was Kai and hopefully, if he was lucky, he just might slice an artery. Time seemed to slowdown. As he lunged, Aeron's foot stepped on the food he had dropped on the floor earlier. Slipping, Aeron staggered slightly. His balance was already off, and losing his footing caused him to rock violently sideways. The blade stuck. Aeron took the moment to steady himself, fingers still clutching the handle. Looking up, his eyes widened in panic. He'd stabbed Alvere. The blade was buried within his friends upper left arm. Aeron swiftly withdrew the blade; dropping it to the floor with a clatter. By now, everyone was silent in the hall. Aeron's mouth hung open as he searched for something to say. How the hell had he managed this one? Sure they'd been through a whole bunch of escapades together; but Aeron was almost completely sure he'd never actually stabbed Alvere before.

The unmistakable clatter of metal on oak cut through the silence that have cloaked the hall. This time it was not Aeron who demanded the attention, but his father. The King of Seulghem stood, his eyes filled with fury and disappointment, sights trained on his son. As he spoke, he was clearly trying to maintain his nerve, a voice filled with authority and rage, "Get out, Aeron. You are a disgrace. A DISGRACE. You have dishonoured our hosts hospitality!" The King paused. He was visibly shaking with rage. In twenty years, Aeron had never seen him so angry, "You try to attack the Princess?! Be thankful you are my son, otherwise I would have killed you myself. Now remove yourself from my sight." His tone was chilling. Aeron stood, a flush of embarassment appearing on his cheeks. For a brief moment, it looked like he might cry. Aeron cleared his throat and turned, averting his gaze to the floor and refusing to look at anybody. Slowly, he made his way around to the front of the dais, bowing in front of his hosts, "My...sincerist apologies..." Aeron turned and began to make his way out of the Great Hall; swaying slightly. Tensing his jaw, he ignored the dirty looks from onlookers.

The doors to the Great Hall closed gently behind him. The corridor was empty. Aeron's head felt like it was going to burst. What the hell had just happened? The Prince began to walk, somehow retracing his steps. Up the staircase, along the corridor. Instead of making his way to his room, Aeron staggered out onto the balcony, leaning heavily against the railing. The view looked different now the dark was beginning to role in. You could almost believe that the feilds were one large, rolling lake. That thought offered him some comfort as he began to lick his wounds. He'd done some truly stupid things when he was drunk - stripping naked, gambling away his father's warhorse, trying to kiss Alvere....- but this one.... Aeron sighed, nursing his newly formed headache.

[Keriae]

ＡＬＶＥＲＥ.
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[ male ] [ seulghem ] [ tagged: kai, aeron, evan ]

Kai reached the dias just before him and immediately placed himself between the two heirs. Breathing heavily, he narrowed his eyes at the angry tone of the Istoth guard. "Calm down." He warned in a rumbling tone. Kai might be speaking of threats, but his own tone of voice was a threat too and that was something he could not accept. But before he could react to anything, Aeron's rage had swelled and overspilled. Cursing a blue streak under his breath - anyone who knew Aeron knew he only got angrier when drunk (and it was a rather bad trait) - Alvere moved to stop the other man. Unfortunately, this proved to be a stupid mistake.

Aeron tripped on something on the floor. The sharp, long blade of the carving knife missed Kai. Shooting, blinding pain erupted in his arm. Jaw clenching to stifle the roar of pain from escaping his lips, Alvere's head shot downwards to see the carving knife embedded deeply within the muscle of his upper arm. His vision grew blurry and swam. There was two of everyone, but it was Aeron's apologetic look that drew his attention more than anything as the blade was withdrawn from his body. His clothes felt wet and warm as blood flowed steadily from the wound. A maid rushed over and pressed a cold cloth hard against it as his ears buzzed and he swayed a little. The makeshift bandage was covered in something - it stung - which meant it was probably covered in witch hazel extract.

He couldn't hear his King's words but from the next expression he saw, even through his pain-enhanced state, the Royal Guard guessed the King was very, very angry. Not a good combination with the festivities, definitely not. Another cloth was wrapped around his arm, higher than the wound. A tourniquet. Backing away a little from the group, Alvere allowed himself to lean heavily against the wall and more wine to be forced down his throat. Warm wine, not the same as before, but it helped to dull his pain. Aeron walked away, looking like a puppy caught chewing on someone's best breeches.

He was being pulled away. No. He couldn't let that happen. He didn't want to lay down. His arm was forced upwards to help stop the bleeding but Alvere pulled away. The King of Seulghem caught his eye and nodded his approval and confirmation. He could go to see the Prince. Shrugging off the maids manhandling him, Alvere was quick to follow Aeron, although his steps were unsteady and uneven. When he finally found his lifelong friend, he was leaning over the balcony from earlier. Now alone, Alvere allowed a groan of pain out as he sunk to the floor, back against the wall and feeling terribly dizzy. The pain from his arm was back with vengeance: it felt like fire was spreading through his body, decimating every single particle of his body. Alvere closed his eyes, trying to focus.

[Dark.]

Pʀɪɴᴄᴇ Aᴇʀᴏɴ ᴏғ Sᴇᴜʟɢʜᴇᴍ
currently;; feeling guilty | tagged;; alvere

Aeron tilted his head slightly at the approach of footsteps. The feet scuffled on the floor, sounding unsteady and uneven. When Aeron recognised Alvere, he turned - a little too quickly - and hesitated briefly, swallowing back the nauseous feeling that had risen from his gut in protest. As his blue eyes locked onto his friend's bloodied uniform, Aeron let out a few choice cuss words; his voice riddled with guilt. Aeron watched as Alvere groaned and sank to the floor, eyes closing in pain.

Aeron walked over to where his friend sat, a sway still in his step. Carefully, he crouched down next to Alvere, allowing himself to rock back slightly onto his heels. Blood had drenched the Royal Guard's sleeve, though Aeron was glad to see a rough tourniquet had been knotted just above the wound. He was not sure what else he could do. It was evident his friend was in pain, but Aeron had no alcohol to offer him; nor any healing capabilities at all for that matter. The wound would almost certainly need stitches, though even if he had the equiptment, Aeron's needle skills left a lot to be desired. Needlework was more Alvere's forte. On multiple occassions, Aeron had jested that his talents were wasted as a Royal Guard and that he would be more suited to becoming a Royal Dressmaker for the Queen.

Extending an arm, Aeron clicked his fingers in front of Alvere's face, letting out a low whistle from his pursed lips, "Hey, Alvere, wake up. C'mon. I didn't mean to stab you y'know. It was that goddamned guard! Alvere, buddy... don't die..." Admittedly Aeron was still drunk. The likelihood Alvere would actually die from his wound was an extremely small one, though the pain would be intense.