Announcement

[royal_obligation]

Edarial makes a list of necessities for a wife. He has Zevros check it over, who promptly rips it up and throws it at him. He is of the opinion that if Edarial doesn't actually want to marry a specific person, he shouldn't, and Zevros will have nothing to do with any of it. Edarial sighs, rewrites it, and keeps it and a copy of it away from his twin in the future.

He makes the announcement to various interested people that he will be looking for a bride. Just saying it makes him feel sick. Edarial manages to keep it together long enough to give a list of the qualities he's looking for before he flees. He says he's busy, no one will look twice at him being curt and disappearing to get work done. So no one comes after him when he hides in his room and locks the door.

Face buried in his pillow, he realizes that there's no way he can be personable to his - whatever they are. Potential brides, suitors - whatever, he doesn't care. He'll hire someone to vet them, so he doesn't have to torture himself dealing with women trying to persuade him to marry them.

Comments

[aestrix]

"Okay," he shrugs.

[come_midnight]

Iobel stalks down the hall. If all she gets tonight is a decent layout of the palace that'll be something, anyway.

[aestrix]

Layout planning past midnight! It is a big palace. Pretty, too, but the size is the important part. Lots of places to hide, lots of places to hide things. Or cats.

The guard follows her - like a bodyguard, except immoral and holding her hostage.

[come_midnight]

Iobel uses every mnemonic she's ever tried to force a spellchart to all hold together in her head, attempting to memorize the maze of the place. She doesn't have a notebook proper in that room, she didn't bring one with her when she expected to be able to dunk Cricket and go back to her boxes and stacks of things at home, but her memory's not a slouch unaided.

She walks and walks and walks. She whistles a song Cricket'll recognize, if he's awake. If she hears him answer her this guard is going to be floored with her quickest charging emergency magic and she's going to get him back.

[aestrix]

It's a big palace.

But not so big that Cricket can't hear her, from his closet.

[alicornucopia]

The highest, thinnest mew possible emanates from just - there.

[come_midnight]

Iobel doesn't break stride. She shuts her eyes to hide the white glow of a charging spell, and when the forty-one seconds this particular spell takes are up -

the guard following her falls unconscious unceremoniously. He'll have a nasty headache all day tomorrow.

Iobel breaks into a run, and charges up another of the same, ready to abandon it if the closet's unguarded but suspecting that it's not.

[aestrix]

It's not. The guardswoman from earlier is present, along with the scratched up one that grabbed Cricket earlier, still bearing his multitude of scratches, and a third that Iobel doesn't recognize.

Well. That'll make this interesting.

[come_midnight]

Iobel drops the unfamiliar one as an unknown quantity and instantly starts charging again, for the static deterrent that will apply if the others touch her on top of its release value.

"Here I am," she says in Cricket's language.

"I'm intact and pissed off lemme out!" howls Cricket in the same.

[aestrix]

"Fuck!" says male guard. He goes to retrieve his sword - but his companion stops him.

"Nonlethal," she barks. Then she retrieves a hexed bauble, and says calmly to it, "You were right."

That was probably her calling for backup.

"I am not touching that fucking cat again -" says the male guard.

"Then go," she growls at him.

Lady guard will stay and protect the closet door, larger male guard is going to tackle Iobel.

[come_midnight]

Iobel dances backwards, keeping out of reach as best she can while she charges.

[aestrix]

That's really not fast enough to avoid a guard running at full speed at her. She is tackled to the ground.

[come_midnight]

The wind's knocked out of her, but her eyes don't quit glowing. Twenty-four seconds in. She struggles, trying to kick him somewhere soft or claw at his eyes.

[aestrix]

The guard's got armor for the kicking, but attempts at clawing do just fine. "Augh! Fuck, you and your fucking demon spawn, lady!"

He grabs at her hair, trying to slam her head into the ground and stop her from charging.

[come_midnight]

And he can do that! She's knocked dizzy, ears ringing, eyeglow sputtering out. She's still conscious, but now her skull's killing her. She lets out a little whimper.

Cricket's speaking Marlese, now, he knows a little of it, interspersing his own language where it fails him: "Fucking [scratch] your fucking [eyes] out and fucking eat them I will I will -"

[aestrix]

"Oh shut up, demon cat!" yells the guard to Cricket. Then he focuses back on Iobel. "Now! What'd you do to Joal?! Is he dead?"

[come_midnight]

"Uuuungh -"

The ability to charge actually requires less wherewithal than the ability to speak.

[aestrix]

He is not a spellbinder, so he doesn't know that. He shakes her, a little. "Oi! Answer the question!"

[come_midnight]

Her head clonks on the floor again. "Augh!"

[alicornucopia]

Cricket is beyond Marlese at this point. "[I will bite your throat out I will strew your intestines around the whole city you let my Iobel up you let me out you do it right now and maybe she'll heal you after I've had at you fucking poisoner kidnapper bastards!]"

[aestrix]

"I asked you a -" begins the guard again, but he's interrupted.

"Nonlethal," growls the female guard.

"She ain't dead!"

"Stop it, all the same."

He sighs, then stops shaking Iobel, releasing her hair.

[come_midnight]

Iobel's head gradually stops spinning -

There is a man on top of her and Cricket's shouting -

She starts charging again.

[aestrix]

"Son of a-" growls the man. He shakes Iobel again. "Stop that, we fucking won!"

[come_midnight]

She loses the charge. "Nnnng -"

[alicornucopia]

"[THE CANALS WILL RUN RED WITH YOUR BLOOD BEFORE I'M DONE WITH YOU,]" roars Cricket.