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xxxxxxxxxxxxixxThe Moon Court































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xxxxxxxxxxxxixxThe Ironguard

the empress, also known as nemain, is the incarnate of storms, triumphant of the night. she is the alpha of all gods, favored and worshiped above them all. she is seen as an overarching queen, mother figure, awesome and terrifying in her power. she is not actually seen by the lady - a black lion is usually there in her place. at each person's death, if they are worthy and have remained loyal to the queen, she will lead them to the Lunar Realm.

the emissary, also known as sovtia, is the god of judgement, strategy, the court and political cunning. sovtia is said to be the younger sibling of thenrus. he is also the god of the forest and foreigners. he prefers to show himself in his incarnate form, but if he for some reason he cannot make it, he most likely will show himself in the form of a rufous hummingbird. he is seen as a gray tabby tom with pale amber eyes.

the maiden, also known as chairnor, is the youngest of the gods. (probably about the age of a young paladin give or take a few moons.) while she has the tendency to be overlooked, young cadets, kits, and newly minted paladins tend to pray to her. she is the goddess of assigned mateship, blood purity, youthfulness, the sun, and success. a white peacock will usually greet the caliphate or seer (and the acolyte if one just happens to be present) in the goddesses place, but sometimes if she is seen, she is a lithe light brown tabby with bright green eyes.

the sentinel, also known as iskossa, is the watcher of the forest. iskossa is the god of guardianship, luck, ceremonies and the sun. He is responsible for alerting the queen and the emissaries if there is danger within the court or on the borders. iskossa, like thenrus, is remarked to have been extremely taciturn and enigmatic. usually if there is a shadow in the forest, even if you are alone, than iskossa is watching the area around you, keeping you safe.

the crone, also known as mindirra, is the medic and caretaker of the gods. she is remarked to be omnipotent and maternal, full of warm advice. due to her age, she is sometimes overlooked although the royalty know how important she is.

the dreamer aka tias is the second-youngest out of all the gods, and inevitably the most approachable and kind. he is named the dreamer because he is the one who walks through the dreams of the Court. he wards off nightmares in the kits and apprentices, and cavorts in the daydreams and pleasant reveries. tias is a rather mischievous as well; he sometimes causes young cadets and thorns to go into a daydream for no apparent reason, which annoys their mentors to no ends. that being said, he is not above causing terrible nightmares to those he feels have done injustice in a day; these dreams work as warnings. that being said, the dreamer is the official messenger of visions to the caliphate.

the darkbringer, also known as ketsiah, is the warbringer. he is the general of tactical fighting & murderous fight moves & nobility. he is about nemain's age and presumed to be nemain's right hand. he is responsible for determining with the emperor whether or not a kinsmen deserves to go join the blackguard in the sky. when the moon court goes to fight or to wage a war (with anyone) the clan prays to the darkbringer for strength.

the rogue aka astaroth is not a god you want to run into. he's the god of chaos, war, death, disorder, violence and evil. he has nothing but hatred and malice in his heart. astaroth was the brother of thenrus, and when both were young adults, astaroth challenged thenrus's right to become the pantheon leader. when his 'polite' request was denied, he tackled thenrus to the ground trying to kill his elder sister. storms tore across the land, freezing it with merciless frost.

The camp is set in an old yet wonderfully well-kept japanese-style castle. the castle is a few feet up on a hill, the grass forming a smooth meadow underfoot. The camp entrance looks like this, and it opens up to a marble hall. xxx The area directly up front is what is referred to as the 'common area.' This is where the kinsmen can hang out and socialize. Going up the stairs and taking a right, you find this archway xxx, marked by two of the maidens angels' statues. This leads to the areas where the ecclesiastes and neophyti reside and preach. The Neophyti study and pray in this room xxx and they sleep in a separate room down the hall. The room on the very other end is the quarters of the high caliphate and the high seer. The moon court priestesses sleep in a large room (similar to the neophyti room) on the left side of this commons area. Leaving the spiritual area and going back to the commons, to the left are the separate barracks for the guards and paladins. If you go past that room, you come to a rather small white room with dual doors. This is where herbs and prey are kept (left and right respectively) Going to the very end and left will take you down a marble hall, which leads to where most of the opulentos reside. Again, there is a split. To the right is a small white bedroom. That is the bedroom of the equerry. To the right is this. The door directly across the entrance is the Veldheer's quarters. Otherwise, the room on the far left houses the accountants, the adjacent doors on the far right house the queens and elders respectively, and the stairs to the right lead down to the servants quarters.

Outside the castle - territory wise - the territory is essentially a wide plains area that leads to a densely wooded forest xxx. During the warmer seasons, such as spring and summer, the forest is both challenging and bountiful, since the prey always find ample places to hide. Since the forested grounds are much below the castle, there is actually a series of stairs that lead to the back entrance to the castle and thus the food cellar. However, at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, the resulting snow can make finding food extremely difficult.

To the west, the light level dims until the world leads up to a pitch black tunnel entrance. The tunnels will lead to the catacombs that the Ironguard soldiers call home. Court-bloods are highly ill-advised to go into these tunnels unless you are an ironguard since it's extremely easy to get lost - and thus become easy prey to an ironguard sentinel. The actual staircase looks like this. Opening up, the commons looks like an abandoned palace, dark and brooding just like the inhabitants. Going down the hall, they come out to the 'barracks' or sleeping quarters for the combatants. Leaping upwards, the tunnels go up to den of the mogul xxx. The actual sleeping place is beyond the coils of the snake. (note that the snake is the only statue left standing). The sable blade(s) sleeps in the largest den in the combatant area.

───────────────────────
ICY SPLENDOR

xxxxxxxxxTwenty four years after the war, we are rebuilding.
xxxxxxxxxTwenty-four years after the war, when all that lay around us was bloodshed and ruin. There was, of course, nothing to be salvaged. To pick up at all...is a messy affair for everyone. Each court. Families lost, wealth so meticulously agglomerated all those years before...now gone or taken away. It would only take a fool to think that it had been distributed evenly. That war left us smoldering, weak.
xxxxxxxxxWe were now embers in the ashes. What should have been burning bright now lay dead. Fallen. Gone. Sage and incense piled high, and those pyres burned long into the night. Longer than when the grieving kinsmen had at last gone to sleep. There were too many; their melancholy wails and cries bleeding into the night and howling so loud that the moon shan't fall asleep.
xxxxxxxxxThe Empress did not sleep that night. Nor did most of her court; or on the following days when she allowed for a memorial to be held. Not just for the soldiers. But for the innocents too. Her loyal subjects who had gone to the grave for such a bloody and foolish war.
xxxxxxxxx"It was called the First War; because that was the first time in which the harmony had been broken in such a manner." Mother's words echoed in her daughter's ears, her head. Even old age had not erased it. "May you make it the last.”

xxxxxxxxxIt shouldn't come as a surprise that even decades later - when there was no war, only halcyon peace - darkness still remained. It lurked and sidled past every nook and cranny, spreading like poison; targeting the vulnerable. It grinned with the smile of a snake and the face of an angel. Lady Death still waited around each corner, waiting to reap her predestined rewards. And there was still the topic of the Ironguard, which after a long-drawn-out agreement, had been forced to stay in the catacombs. Lest the Empress takes her legion to wipe them all out permanently. Self-preservation rose up on top, keeping them away from causing trouble.

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[ Adelaide Veturius | 41]

xxxxxxxxxThere was a red envelope on her desk.
xxxxxxxxxThe missive had likely been delivered by her equerry while she had been taking a small break from the absolute mountain of paperwork on her desk. Truthfully, Adelaide thought that she knew what it was like to be busy. But no. Even working from day to night straight with only periodic breaks for meals, the paperwork just kept on growing. And growing. Most of the missives were expressing their delight and best wishes for their new queen. Judging by what her parents had been like, they expected great things from Adelaide. Bloodlines made an impact on your image, believe it or not.
xxxxxxxxxAdelaide - no Queen Adelaide as of four years ago - had been very well-received from her people. Granted, her sometimes questionable morals and icy demeanor were needless to say very intimidating in conduct, but the Captain - she had been captain at the time - always acted in the best of her people's interests. Ten years after the last of the war's traces had disappeared completely hadn't changed that. Her generation, and the next, had no information on the war besides what her diligent accountants had written down.
xxxxxxxxxSetting another finished document aside, and taking a sip of water next to her, Adelaide caught her appearance in the mirror. What stared back at her was a white-haired woman, of a powerful yet slender build. She looked tired, somehow. As if being on the throne was slowly chipping at her. And even if she knew she'd never admitted it, Adelaide did feel a little overwhelmed.
xxxxxxxxxThe letter, even if it was buried amongst all the paperwork, stuck out like a sore thumb. Adelaide gracefully swept aside the pile of files and letters before picking it up to examine it. It didn't take accountant-physics to figure out exactly who wrote it.

xxxxxxxxxThe ink and font was a dead giveaway; blood-red on parchment whispered secrets from Arlaekh's cold but clever heart.

𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆
𝗔𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘂𝘀

xxxxxxxxxImmediately, the Empress set it aside, aiming to concentrate on more pressing documents. Perhaps what little silver lining lay in managing such a large court is that there were always other things As for why the Ironguard Mogul, why Arlaekh of all of the Ironguard kinsmen, would send a letter to her, Adelaide didn't know. It was an unnerving statement, not to mention the blood-red ink. Adelaide frowned darkly, a brooding aura coming over her. She and Arlaekh had never been on good relations. Most of her subjects thought her mad, and while the repugnant encounter that had started their relationship had left its own imprints on Adelaide, she did conclude that Arlaekh was sane. There were even intervals when Adelaide saw herself in Arlaekh, if not briefly.
xxxxxxxxxAdelaide released the letter from the scarlet hand-woven ribbon binding it together into the scroll. The scarlet silk was arranged with surprising care as she opened the top flap, exposing neat handwriting.

xxxxxxxxxIt was just as tedious as it last was. Clearly, Arlaekh's biting sarcasm had a way of bleeding out into whatever she touched or wrote. As if her day couldn't get long enough. Adelaide let out a whisper of an annoyed growl, her blazing blue-grey optics narrowed in a way that would certainly imply she was running low on patience.

【Ｋａｒｄｉａ　Ｐａｎｔａｚｉ－Ｖｅｔｕｒｉｕｓ】
xxxxxxToday was a bright day, a day fit for training and sweating, to yell one's heart out as blades clashed and fists flew. Yet here she sat, Kardia Pantazi-Ventrus, the proud warrior who swept across the battlefield with poison running through her veins and red dying her olive skin, bested by mere paperwork. Slamming her head on the desk before her, Karda let her woes be heard throughout the empty room, her wails of displeasure bouncing around the opulent white walls. Here she sat, writing up the official statement for a few reassignments among the paladins and the guards, but paperwork was such a bore. She didn't know how Adelaide put up with all of this work, sitting down to dutifully write out paragraphs upon paragraphs of neatly documented proposals and outlines. Stretching as her joints popped in a satisfactory manor, Kardia hopped out of her chair and decided a break was in order. Clearly, she wasn't going to be making any more progress with this particular draft so it would do well to take a quick stroll.

xxxxxxThe sunlight streamed through the windows as Kardia trudged down the hallways, greeting those she knew as she let her legs take her wherever they wanted. It was mindless exercise, a small thing to keep her occupied until she found the motivation to return to her own office but instead she found herself standing outside her dearest mate's office, the grandiose door staring the proud warrior down. Not one to lose against an intimate object, Kardia knocked twice, waited a few seconds before bursting into the office. "Oh my dearest Adelaide, how my heart has longed for you~" She bemoaned dramatically, moving around the stacks of paperwork piled upon the Empress' desk, draping herself over her mate's shoulders. She let out a small sigh as soon as her mate was in her arms, a sense of calm coming over her. Embracing the woman who had swooped down from the heavens and given her a meaning to life, Kardia glanced over Adelaide's shoulder to see the letter she was reading and scowled immediately, souring her cheerful mood. That was a letter from the Mogul herself was it not? What did she want?

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺

Sαƙυɱα Rιƚʂυ

xxxxxxThe forest separating the territory of the Moon Court and the Ironguard was peaceful today, the slow waving of trees providing an ambient noise which drowned out any signs of human life. If one was to walk around towards the back stairs leading to the castle's cellar's, they would find a sleeping figure, cloak tightly bundled around his form and a hat pulled over closed eyes. Under the dappled shade of the trees slept the High Seer, held captive among the familiar hands of lethargy and unconsciousness. Today The Dreamer did not come to play as Ritsu's slumber was deep and peaceful, no images coming to him. The feeling of something heavy landing on his limbs made Ritsu's nose twitch with annoyance, cracking open one eye to glare at the small animal that had decided that his lap was the perfect place to sleep upon. Picking up the squirrel the the scruff, Ritsu grimaced at the tiny woodland creature. The animal's bright eye'd innocence, made Ritsu's own blood red eyes scrunch up as he released the mammal. If there was one thing he despised more than anything, it was needless things rousing him from his slumber and now with his rest disturbed, he was starting to feel the affects of the sunlight again, lethargy pulling at his limbs. Letting out a yawn, his sharp canines glittering in the faint sunlight, the High Seer nestled back down on the bed of roots and dirt that he had claimed as his own and closed tired eyes again.

---

Cerise had several books on the table next to her. The sunlight filtered through the windows and onto the table, making interesting shapes on the table. She flicked through a book, scanning the pages for bits of information. It was a book on history, specifically the first war. She hated reading about it, but she must know. She flinches a little as she reads, but keeps her eyes firmly on the page. Her red hair braided and lying on her back. "I wonder what Mother is doing." she murmured, allowing her attention to wander for a few seconds before reining it in. She fingered a necklace that lay across her skin, silver and gleaming.

---

A bird may chirp, but yet may also sing.

The sounds of the afternoon echoed through his head. His head... No, Kirin's head. He stood up, realizing he'd been missing the supposed hell of his training. Glancing around the area, he muttered something about missing the heat of battle, the fire of his soul being let loose. The barracks, his shelter and home, the fuel of the Paladins, stood nearby. He groaned, stretching, then settled his body in a more appropriate manner, his back straight and his stance battle ready. "Time to finish another mediocre day, eh?" He sighed, missing the thrill that had come from training.


We beat the metal until it grew strong enough to pierce bone and sever flesh.

The sounds of metal against metal echoed around his building, the pop and crackle of the fire attempting to slip into his ears between the clangs of progress. The metal was red hot, the blade radiating heat, filling Olag with joy. The blade was almost done, it just needed two more additives; He grabbed his cold brand, pressing it into the blade near where the pommel would go, engraving his signature of quality into his masterpiece. Pulling the brand away, he set it down to cool, then lifted the red sword and slowly dipped it into the water next to him, stepping back as a hiss of steam engulfed his gloved hands. Pulling the steel from it's waterlogged sheath, he set it down once again, allowing it to dry.

They cannot kill me, for I have no soul to steal.

Urukunova sat on the ground, his skeletal body resting, supporting itself. He wished to strike someone, to break their nose and tear their face. His fists clenched in delight at the thought, his mouth barely tipping into a smile. "May chaos reign over this forsaken hell, and may the Great Duke rise and greet it." He was forced to stand up, another assignment being tossed onto his back, spit landing on his foot. His rage grew, the fire in his stomach becoming wild.

"Not having fun ay?" Reyana says, coming up from behind Kirin. Her pretty black hair twisted into a bun at the back of her head. Her dark eyes glimmer with amusement, teasing. She has with her her blades, as usual, but they aren't drawn. She seems to be watching the others, and not focusing on what she's supposed to be doing. Her sun kisses cheeks crinkle when she smiles at him. Her usual black jacket tied around her waist. A golden chained necklace shines on her neck.

---

When a bird sings, it will never die, but when a bird chirps, it is ready to fly.

Kirin turned and looked at Reyana, his smile growing. "How'd you guess?" His sword was strapped to his waist, his casual clothing making him look like a civilian. He had no need for his armor or formal clothing, but he still wore the feathered accessory on his cheek, the black tips of the plumes contrasting his blank white hair nicely. He gave her his full attention, as doing nothing was much less fun than talking to her.

Our blades became our friends, the brothers and sister guiding us to one victory after another.

After retrieving a pommel, Olag began to attach it, fusing it to the fresh blade he'd just created. Slide the handle on, heat the metal pins, insert them into their slots, and then let them melt to the blade. Then after that, just to make sure no other bladesmithes saw his little secret for perfection, fill the holes left with wooden pegs, inserting them, snapping them off, then sanding them down so that they didn't interfere with use of the mighty weapon. He set down the finished piece, then retrieved another slack heap of raw ore, tossing it into the second furnace, the ore stove, and let it melt, cleaning the impurities and preparing it for use. He sat down on a stool, his old joints creaking.

When they drag a blade across my throat, I shall simply laugh, by black blood spilling, corroding their armors and shattering their blades.

All the people around him... All the fodder for his hatred... And yet he couldn't strike them down because he was carrying.. Whatever this was. Heavy, bulky, and useless to him. He began to mutter again. "Astaraoth, I beg you, give me the strength and iron will to crush someone, to annihilate them in your name, and then allow me to serve you forever more..." His rage was unparalleled, but his face remained neutral. The pit of his stomach wanted him to kill, to banish their bodies to the ground, but the rest of him simply muttered back: I can't.

─────────────────────────────────────────
[ Vanity | 41]

xxxxxxxxxThe guards were tedious this morning. Maybe it had something to do with the upcoming celebration that would take place on solstice...or perhaps they were always this way. Having only spent a week under the 'hospitality' of the Moon Court as an Outcaste, Vanity's patience was already beginning to fray. As if he'd had any, to begin with. He'd never thought of himself as a very amicable person anyway.
xxxxxxxxxWell, it was this or going back to the hell that he'd come from. This, or being forced to endure a target on his back. Or even multiple. However, it didn't take long for that thought to dull in his chest as he was forced, whipped rather, to carry loads of painfully heavy pieces of coal and silver down deeper into the mines; to be smelted into the furnaces. Occasionally, he would throw a dark glance back at his captors; his bright ice-blue eyes narrowed with contempt.
xxxxxxxxxThree days in and the guards already had a very good idea of Vanity's dangerous temper. And he knew it

─────────────────────────────────────────
[ Arlaekh | 41]

xxxxxxxxxpost for her later

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[ Adelaide Veturius | 41]

xxxxxxxxxpost for her later

Cerise just sighs. She decides to go see her mothers, and puts the books away. Along the way, she stops to talk to some other people. Its a full hour before she gets out of the library alone. She keeps on her way, stopping only to admire a statue, or to say a polite hello. She nods to a few (npc) paladins that were chatting in a hallway. She takes a deep breath before she finally gets to her mothers living quarters. She knocks on the door (entry way?) and holds her breath.

---

─────────────────────────────────────────
[ Adelaide Veturius | 41]

xxxxxxxxxAdelaide's ears perked up when she heard the tell-tale knock at her door and un-entangling from her mate, just so no one could see them that intimately together. So much of the Court visiting me in one day. She muses quietly to herself. Theoretically, most of them just tend to send letters, and even then her Equerry dealt with most of them. Only the most vital ones came in. Getting up, and stretching her stiff limbs, she went to answer the door and found a very tense Cerise Veturius waiting there. Looking for one, like Adelaide had called her here in much tenser circumstances.
xxxxxxxxxHere was the strange thing. Cerise looked nothing like Adelaide. She was Kardia's spitting image; same russet hair, same face-shape, and same inner defiance and casual flouting of rules. The letter could wait. "Good afternoon, Cerise. Come to visit for idle chatter?"

Sαƙυɱα Rιƚʂυ

xxxxxxAs the sun crawled over the sky, so did the shadows, dancing from one edge to another as the day progressed. Ritsu groaned as light sparkled over the back of his eyelids, searing his eyes even though it was closed. Rolling over, Ritsu huffed and sat up, yawning. The forest floor was starting to get uncomfortable, the welcoming warmth that had lulled him to sleep turning into a stifling blanket of uncomfortable heat. Getting up and dusting off the dirt that clung to his robes, Ritsu decided that the next best place to take a well deserved nap would be inside the castle. Mounting the steps, Ritsu stumbled through the thickets and undergrowth to wander into the forges. Ah, he loved the forges, the warmth that rivaled the sun that emitted from the furnace would never fail to lull him to sleep. Waving to the ferrariae's who were somewhat used to his presence, the High Seer settled down where he wouldn't bother anyone and closed his eyes.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺

【Ｋａｒｄｉａ　Ｐａｎｔａｚｉ－Ｖｅｔｕｒｉｕｓ】
xxxxxx Pouting at being ignored by her mate, Kardia picked up the letter and took the chance to thoroughly read the contents over. It infuriated her slightly, her hot blooded nature screaming to take up arms and storm down and beat an answer out of the arrogant mongal. However, if there was one thing that she had learned over her four years of being Adelaide's right hand woman was that sometimes, you had to talk first before punching. Even, if you just yelled out a war cry before attacking.
xxxxxx Walking around the desk to stand beside Adelaide, she smiled down at her daughter, one hand snaking around to be loosely put around her mate's waist.

---

Cerise shrugs a little. She holds out a piece of paper she had found in a book. "I don't recognize the hand writing." she says timidly. Cerise had an amazing memory, and was a bit obsessed with hand writing. She knew all of the member's of the court, and her mothers hand writing on site. "It looks old." she added helpfully, handing the paper to Adelaide. "It doesn't look like any of the member's of the courts handwriting. I asked a paladin if she recognized it, and she said no."

---

─────────────────────────────────────────
[ Adelaide Veturius | 41]

xxxxxxxxxHandwriting even you cannot recognize, Cerise? Interesting. The Empress frowned slightly as she took the piece of paper from her daughter. The handwriting was old indeed, the parchment crackling with age under her fingers. Adelaide, upon ascending to office, had been 'forced' to recognize the signature penmanship of everybody in the Court, regardless of rank. Smiling as her mate, Kardia Veturius, snaked a warm arm around her, Adelaide not so subtly leaned her head on her mate's shoulder as if she had suddenly tired, while she inspected the contents of the paper slip. It would seem that the writer was deceased; Cerise couldn't be expected to recognize anyone's handwriting if there was no prior written record.
xxxxxxxxxOddly enough, Adelaide found that she was blanking out as well. Again, unusual. But, even if Adelaide did span some forty years into her life, she supposed that it wouldn't be odd if this was some old archived record.
xxxxxxxxx"I would assume that this person isn't in the clan anymore, Cerise." The empress mused thoughtfully, "You're right about it being old; I would say that this writer isn't alive anymore."
xxxxxxxxxShe passed it back to Cerise, but not without noting the contents of the note. Most of it, she skimmed through idly, but her eyes did catch on the last few words. Namely, those that concerned a mysterious note on the Alabako forest to their left. An ancient tomb, if anything, that should remain undisturbed. "One thing, Cerise." Adelaide inquired curiously, her piercing grey-blue optics meeting her daughter's, "Where did you find that?"

The fierce jerk of the pair of chains made Trinity stumble. She hadn't figured out any tricks to keep her balance yet.

"MOVE!" One of the Paladins roared.

Trinity mentally rolled her eyes as she found her balance and continued staggering along. As if she could move if she was at risk of falling over every other second! Still, her considerably fragile physique didn't matter, right? Because she was an Outcaste and she could do anything, right? Gosh, some people were so...

She let her line of thought trail off as they reached the mines. Stepping in, she was pointed to a row of carts. Well, better than actually mining, at least. She gave each a scan and began to heave one along.

---

"Off to work!" a shout was heard from the Paladins forcing the outcastes to their daily duties. Samton was traveling to the Palace with a message from the Solitaires. While riding his horse, he also observed the land around him. This came as second nature, from the years of training it took him to become an emissary. Hearing the shouts made him roll his eyes internally, and he gripped the rein on his horse, rushing through to the castle.

Upon reaching the emissaries' office, he set his bag on his table. The office was quiet, as usual. Why would it not be? The emissaries spent most of their time in one foreign territory or the other. Samton sat himself down and took out the stack of letters he brought with him. It was quite unusual to bring those in too, but the message to the Queen had to be delivered rather urgently. Samton took the letter out. He then called for an accountant's apprentice, who rushed in from the next room. The apprentice bowed, and Samton smiled and nodded. He handed the letter to him and ordered it be taken to the accountant, who would record receiving the message and then send it to the equerry.

He put the rest of the letters out, stacked in the orderly fashion he was known for. He picked one up from the top, opened it, and started reading.

Cerise suddenly turned pale, a blush bright on her cheeks. "Oh um, in a book." she says. "In the library." she adds helpfully. "Yeah, in a book. In the uh, adult section." she says, her words tumbling out like she was embarrassed. She quickly pulled her red hair out of her face and left. Once she was out of her mothers eyes, she ran. She wrenched her door open and dived on to her bed.

---

【Ｋａｒｄｉａ　Ｐａｎｔａｚｉ－Ｖｅｔｕｒｉｕｓ】
xxxxxx Watching the exchange with a fond smile, Kardia sighed and rested her head atop Adelaide's. "They grow up so fast." She laughed at Cerise's abrupt departure. The kids were getting older now, and it would probably be around the time when teenage hormones would hit them like a truck. Perhaps the two of them would have to round up their children and sit them down for The Talk. Cerise was definitely getting a head start, if her light reading was anything to go by. Although Kardia too was required to learn the handwriting of previous rulers, that information had only stayed with her for about a month at most and at this point, she could only really tell what had been written by her mate.

---