Royal Blood will spill!

[Tarieles]

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

When Bronwien had recovered from her happiness, and the slight blood loss, she returned to some festivities. While she avoided alcohol for now, she did take some desserts as a little reward for such a triumph. Her siblings stayed around her for the most part for now. She still didn't like the sound she had heard earlier, and from the looks of it, Arien and Theredir had heard it too. They both looked a little uncomfortable. "Now, is there anyone with whom I should speak before this is all over?" She questioned her siblings. She hoped they were being good children and had gotten her some potential allies.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

Theredir was extremely pleased now that their name was on the treaty. This meant that they would be in peace with at least the ones who signed. However, now he wanted to leave. The thunderous noise made him uncomfortable. He knew it was probably nothing, but something inside him ticked and he felt anxious. Like something bad would happen.

When Bronwien asked about people she needed to speak with, he perked up. "Yes. The Karva of House Vanlithe would like to speak with you about mending ties with our houses, and we could likely talk about creating greater trade between us. I know father and you have wanted to maximize trade with other houses." He too wanted that to happen. He loved the culture it brought. He scanned the crowd, searching for the Elven girl. At this point, however, she was nowhere to be seen. He immediately became worried.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

Duvain was oblivious to the sound. He heard it, but wrote it off as a storm. No reason to worry. He did notice his siblings' discomfort, but also didn't think much of it. "Well, I'm going to get some food. I haven't eaten much yet." He announced scurrying off to find something that appealed to him. It didn't take long for him to find some human food that looked really good. It was fish with some rice, and the fish was raw. That struck him as odd, but he fell in love as soon as he tasted it. It was so natural and clean. No spices or salt to be had. He took a few other varieties before wandering off to find something else.

As he walked, he noticed Victoria, with a man he could only assume was her brother. He waved at first, smiling, hoping she'd notice, and he could keep talking, but was a bit crestfallen when he overheard their conversation. He didn't know people felt that way about Elves. He'd never heard those things from Elven mouths about humans. He turned back to the food, now kind of hoping they didn't notice him, as he stuffed another fish and rice thing into his mouth.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

Arien feigned gladness at the treaty. She wasn't opposed, but she didn't know enough to actually be happy. However, she knew it would make Bronwien happy if she was happy. When Duvain wandered off, she could only feel concern. Maybe she should go with... She shook her head. That noise was nothing. It definitely wasn't dangerous. She internally laughed it off, and turned her attention back to her siblings. They had started talking about a House Vanlithe, and she just kind of wandered off. She wanted more desserts, but knew she probably shouldn't.

 

[JJ]

Devin reached out as if to put a hand on Renee's arm to steady her. She looked faint. But he seemed to think better of it, and instead, pulled his hand back. He didn't want to overstep his bounds, and from the expression on her face he'd already put a foot in that direction. "My apologies, princess. I was merely worried." He flashed a charming smile, blue-green eyes sweeping the area. The servants all seemed to have disappeared, leaving the heirs alone in the ballroom. That didn't seem right.

"Where did all the servants go..?" He wondered aloud, not particularly talking to her. "This seems strange, does it not?" Eyes once again searched for his brother's familiar shape, and once again they came up empty. He scowled, momentarily forgetting the servants' absence. He was more concerned with his irresponsible kid brother. But no, Nathan wasn't going to ruin this night for him. Tonight he was the heir. Tonight he was in charge.

Turning back towards Renee, he offered a half-shrug. "Perhaps just all taking a break at the same time? No matter. Let's get to that balcony, yes? Plenty of fresh air out there." He extended his elbow for her to hold on to should she be so inclined, and then strode towards the balcony.




Nathan furrowed his brow. "Do you always follow strange dogs down deserted corridors?" He queried. The words were not spoken aggressively, but he had to admit that he was a little bit irritated. Something just didn't feel right, and it was grating on his nerves. He'd been expecting his brother, not some elven princess. The young prince shook his head, breath escaping him in an agitated rush. "Listen, you need-"

He clipped the sentence short as movement caught his eye in the form of Princess Renee's steward. He'd seen the man standing behind her while she read off her father's letter. He expected the steward to demand an explanation for why they were out here, and realized too late that it probably looked very inappropriate. But the man hardly glanced their way, instead brushing past them and damn near pushing Felicity to the side. Nathan turned to watch the steward continue on down the row, mouth slightly open in surprise and confusion. That was... suspicious.

He started to follow, then paused, obviously conflicted, back towards the elf. "I think he's up to something - I'm going to follow him. You should... you should get back to the party. It might not be safe out here." He turned to leave again and then paused once more, remembering that she said she'd gotten lost. "Actually... why don't you come with me? It will be safer if we stick together." This one didn't seem too well versed in the art of combat, but he wasn't about to outright insult her, and he wasn't about to leave her here, either. Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along as the steward disappeared around a corner. "I'm Nathan, by the way - Nathan Caldwell." That would probably put her at ease if only a little. Make this feel less like a kidnapping. Maverick stuck to Nathan's side, eyes and ears trained forward, sensing his master's intent.​

 

[Gillyman]

[For the sake of getting to the god damn action already, I'm not gonna allow any intervention, simply you observe what the Steward is up too and yada yada]
[TL;DR - A massive explosion happened inside the citadel that EVERYONE hears, no alarms have been raised as everyone is confused on what exactly happened and are not sure its a attack or a mistake...until the head of King Hale IV comes flying into the ball room after crashing though one of the windows]

The steward continues on his way down the corridor, taking various lefts and rights, seeming to know exactly where he wants to go in this maze of hallways in this gigantic citadel, never he makes his way out of the service tunnels and into the more "Military" part of the citadel where most of the equipment is stored, its also where some of the Soldiers are having their little party as bonfires burn in the distance. Even here the Steward knows where he wants to go. The only time the Steward ever stops is when they cross paths with never two drunk Soldiers. One from house Ishii and the other from Rivtdal "Well lookie here..Looks like one of you brain dead peasants is lost..Think you are int he wrong place here boy should be back up there with those snobby Heir fucks...Hic!" The Rivtdal guard speaks in a slurred tone, clearly under the influence of something. The Ishii soldier walks behind the Steward to sorta trap them, probably looking to blow off some steam on some poor lowly peasant. The Steward does not seem to show any fear and simply walks foward and bumps the Rivtdal soldier as he pasts by.

The Rivtdal soldier then becomes furious at this and grabs the Steward by his left arm "Where the fuck do you thin-", The steward quickly retaliates by reaching into his robe and pulling out a handheld crossbow with his right hand and turns around and fires the bolt into the Soldiers stomach and then drops the crossbow to pull the sword out of the Soldier's holster and finishes him off by stabbing him in a more vital part. he pushes the now deceased soldier off his own blade and looks at the Ishii soldier panic for a second before unsheathing his blade and lung to attack, the Steward parries the druken swing and slash at his throat for one quick clean kill. The steward takes the sheath from the soldier and recovers his small crossbow to reload it, he pulls out another bolt from his robe, loads it and returns it to his robe.

He leaves the two corpses there and carries on with whatever he was planning, he then makes his way up a few sets of stairs to a large building, signs you past say "armory", so its sfae to assume this building is a armory. The steward walks up to the front to see a very board soldier who only has the basic uniform on with no armor, nobody figured someone would try to attack the armor and whoever was unlucky to be assigned guard duty might as well got comfy while erveryone else was celebrating. The soldier looks up to see the steward who slighty has a bit of blood covering his face of his recent vitcims "Um..Sir are you alr-" Again cutting someone off mid sentence the Steward pulls out a small crossbow and shoots the soldier directly between the eyes. as soon as the soldier slides down the wall the Steward searches his corpse for a keyring to open the armory door.


Inside the Steward looks around for a minute before moving several barrels into the center of the building in various spots but mostly in the center of the armory. He then picks up a smaller barrel and stabs a hole on the top of it and walks back over tot he cluster of barrels. You can see that one of the barrels is labeled "gunpowder" Which must be stored around to reload the Citadel's cannons with, the smaller barrel must also be gunpowder as he begins pouring a trail all around the center, mostly having lines lead to each barrel. after pouring the entire barrel he tosses it aside and reaches over for one of the mounted torches around the room. he walks over to one line thats away from the main door and takes a deep breath before dropping the torch on the very end of the line, as he watches the flame reach its halfway mark he makes a mad dash for one of the windows and does not hesitate to jump out of it..almost as if he planned for this...therees nothing around for you snuff that flame out with, and not enough time to improvise...You should probably run.

Renee takes notices of how Devin reaches out as if to grab her but retracts his hand before making contact, she shrugs it off as its seemed like some typical thing a man would do, but he showed restraint surprisingly "Oh! its no problem...You seem to mean well so I'm convenience you were not planning anything...Bold" she returns the smile a bit weakly.

Then Devin comments on the sudden disappearance of all the staff members "..This is a bit odd..." her nervous gut feeling returns. Again maybe she just needed some fresh air to clear her mind, Maybe they are in the kitchen preparing something or off elsewhere cleaning. Devin then extenders his shoulders to which the Princess cautiously accepts, not to come off as rude to the man who is being so nice to her. As they make it to the balcony Renee lets go off Devin and looks over the Citadel, seeing the massive walls and troops in the area puts Her back at ease, its safe here...Nothing to worry about "...Lovely isn't it? A symbol of our unity, Designed by some of the most clever minds and built by the most skilled hands....If only father was here to see it...Today was going to be the day he sees it in its completed form." She looks out to it one more time before returning her attention to Devin "Sorry..I tend to ramble on about such things, no need for you to hear my nonsense." After whatever Devin replies with (if at all) a giant explosion is heard and a bright flash is seen in the distance near the front of the citadel...

Music to set the mood

At the bottom of the mountain Huan stared at the Citadel endlessly as if he was in a staring contest with the damn thing, anxiously waiting for the signal, if the man failed then they would still attack, if he took too long and the deadline was reached then the Armies would begin converging without the signal. As soon as he saw the bright flash in the Citadel Huan raised his blade and cheered along with his troops "This is it my friends! Move out!" Huan shouts aiming the tip of his sword at the citadel. Jikkinon spearmen take up the front as a bulwark of sorts for encoming arrows, they are also equiped with Tower shields. Behind them are Orcish Men and women armed with axes, ready to get into battle. the Jukkions would take the frontal hits while the Children of Veran emerge out of their formation to flank their foes. Behind them are Yaken troops to act as a backbone for their Orcish allies and the Fol'a swordsmen cover the army's flank.

To the east resides a forest in which the Overseer Heem-Tulm is asleep laying up against his tree, bored with waiting for the signal and a bit exhausted from drinking a wee too much. his forces are also a bit relaxed but not at all drunk, just equally as bored. When the bang of the armory going up echos out to them the Jikkion commander walks up a bit pissed off "Keep it down you no good fuc-" he then notices the flame in the citadel and rushes to his feet "Ah Sheit, OK GET UP! LETS GO!" the overseer then shouts at all his troops who quickly move into their formation, much simailar to the one of Huan's forces and mounts back up on his horse and begins the march of his troops.

To the west another camp was set up, here the Orcish war master "Bo'gash" patiently waited for their moment to strike, he sat peacefully in his tent and mediated to collect his thoughts before battle and also to connect himself spiritually to his eternal Father Veran. His tent is a shrine that is decorated with various tribal relics and candles with a altar to offer tributes to their father. The candles in the tent all get blown out at the same time as the Armory explosion, a odd way of Veran telling him that its time. Bo'gash slowly gets up and reaches over for his war axe before leaving the tent and rallying his troops.


Back at the mountain base the young director was pacing back and forth about the attack entirely nervous that he is responsible for their support fire, maybe he bit off more than he can chew? Maybe he should had been more modest when getting into Military politics. He just prays he does not fuck up with this. Untop of that he is given a odd task and is reminded of it when the Armory's explosion stops his train of thought. As soon as he sees the explosion he rushes over to the engineers "Is it ready?" he queries "Yes Head Director!...Took some time but we think we can accurately fire this thing after weighing it, testing the areodyna-" Aberas then interrupts a bit impatiently and tells him to just do it, wanting to get this over with already. The Engineers take the head of King Hale IV with the note and Knife still in the back of his head and loads it into the catapult, the Engieners take about 10 minutes adjusting it and making it sure its juuuuuuuuuuuuust right...after which they fire the catapult and send the man's head flying into the sky towards the citadel. Aberas uses a spyglass and watches one of the windows to the ball room a bit nervous. his nervous feeling fades away as soon as he sees something crash though the window.....


@Greenie @JJ @Squee @Aria Valle @JinxMonster @Raven Haruka @Tarieles @CylciaAlyann @Lucian @Akatsuki Gremory






​

 

[JinxMonster]

"Do you always follow strange dogs down deserted corridors?"
At the boy's question Felicity was forced to hide her embarrassment. When it was said like that the young Karva could see how this wasn't the smartest idea. Felicity was about mutter out an excuse, but before she had the chance she was pushed out of the way. How Rude! Crystal blue eyes narrowed at the steward, who continued on like he didn't just shove pass the Karva. "How rude. He could at least been helpful and directed us back towards the ballroom." Lost in her own little rant Felicity had missed what the boy had been saying. She was only pulled out of her thoughts, when she felt her hand being grabbed and she was being pulled along. "He...hey what are you doing?" Felicity was beyond confused, she tried to pull her hand back but the boy's grip was to tight.
"I'm Nathan, by the way - Nathan Caldwell."

Caldwell, Felicity had heard of the house name before but she didn't really know that much about them. "Well Nathan Caldwell, I am Karva Felicity Vanlithe and I request to be returned to my siblings (unharmed) as quickly as possible." Felicity said using the most respectful yet demanding voice she could muster up. Waiting for Nathan's response, secretly hoping he would just agree to escorting her back to the ballroom. She was once again surprised when the boy pushed her against one of the carriages they were passing and covered her mouth. Felicity started panicking and started to struggle, keeping his tight grip on her Nathan pointed towards around the carriage. Once Felicity calmed down Nathan removed his hand and placed a finger to his lips. The universal sign to stay quiet, confused Felicity made her way next to him to see what was a head of him. Up a head from where the two were hiding, they spotted the steward and two soldiers standing out in the open.

Felicity watched concerned as she watched how the soldiers were treating the steward. Yes, the steward was rude but she didn't like how he was being treated. The two soldier's were obviously under the influence of something but that was no excuse to how they were behaving. This was suppose to be a day of peace and they were blatantly ignoring that fact. The young Karva was about to step out and confront the rude soldiers and report them but once again she was pulled back by Nathan. Getting very tired of being flung around like a child toy. Ready to give the son of the Cladwell house a piece of her mind, her long ears picked up the sound of a crossbow. Having been raised around all types of bows her entire life the young Karva able to pick up on the sound instantly. She also could tell the sound of the arrow hitting a target.

It almost felt like everything was moving in slow motion as she turned around and saw the scene in front of her. The steward plunged a sword into one of the solider's that had an arrow to the stomach. Then he quickly turned on the other soldier and slashes across the soldier's throat killing him instantly. Felicity stood there frozen, but once again she was pulled against the carriage and had hands covering her mouth. Without knowing Felicity had screamed and as if Nathan knew what was about to happen, he took actions to muffle the sound. Tears fell down the young Karva's face as the scene kept replaying in her mind. Felicity had never seen someone be killed before. Yes, she had seen many animals killed but this was different and it terrified her. Felicity was jolted out of her thoughts when an explosion went off in the armory building.

Felicity screamed in surprise, even from their distance from the building she could feel the intense heat radiating from the building. The worst part was the deafening noise the explosion had caused. The young Karva was laying on the ground gripping her long ears in pain. Why was this happening? This was all wrong, this was suppose to be a peaceful treaty signing and now it felt like everything was going to hell. Felicity looked around the area was being covered in smoke and bits of flaming debris.

"Nathan, we have to get back to the others!" Felicity called out as she pushed herself off the ground. The young Karva winced as she gripped at her ears. They were ringing and she was disoriented. "Nathan" Felicity called again as she started to look around again. Was young Caldwell had been right next to her. Was he injured?

Alanna and Ashton had been searching through the crowd looking for Felicity when the sound of an explosion rings through out the ballroom. Everyone is still, some in shock and others in pure confusion. Alanna looks around the ballroom, spotting Ashton looking just as concerned and confused as herself. What was going on? Then it happened, an object came crashing through one of the windows. People moved to avoid being hit as the object hit the marbled floor. Alanna watched as whatever it was roll across the floor. A ball? No that wasn't it. The elven woman moved closer to see a streak of color across the floor from where the object had rolled.

Was that blood?

Alanna stopped and looked at the red color for a second longer before her mismatched eyes looked toward the object that was on the floor. "This can't be" Upon closer looking at it Alanna could make out hair on it...It was a Head. The room was still in utter silence and watching. She was sure everyone was thinking the same thought she was. 'Who's head?' Taking a couple more steps Alanna picked up the head and was shocked to recognize it as King Hale IV. "It's King Hale the IV." After saying those words Alanna could hear the ballroom be thrown into a panic. She wanted nothing more then to drop it and find Felicity right then and there. But her attention was drawn to the feeling of something in the back of the king skull. Flipping it over Alanna spotted a note pined there by a dagger. Her mismatched eyes scanned over the note.​

 

[Calypso Major]

[fieldbox=Neima, #57cdff, solid]

Neima took the linen, patting the dampened spot on her clothes as she watched the elven girl cursty once more in apology. Hadn't she already forgiven the girl? If so, then why apologize even more-so than necessary? It was a very confusing thing to the young Varis, and so all she could do was smile.

"O-Oh, my name is Arien. Er, Tadaranel Arien Vrannoth, of House Vrannoth. Very nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, hopefully our houses can manage to get along in the near future."

Neima's heard of the Vrannoth house before, or at least she thinks she has. Wasn't that one of the oldest elven houses on this continent? If that was the case, it would probably be in everybody's best interests if she were to not offend the poor girl, but then again, it would be best if she were to not offend any of the royal heirs and heiresses, along with any of their siblings. This was a time of peace, after all. Before she could think anymore, she heard a male voice.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. The lot of you just looked like you were having a great time, and I was feeling rather lonely by myself." Breaking from her thoughts, she noticed the blonde youth who introduced himself. Now, if only he would introduce himself, things would be much simpler for the girl. "Kayden Vandiir, and would it be alright to join in the conversation?"

Giving a polite smile, she realized this was useless, and instead gave a bow of her head, placing the linen back onto a nearby table. "Of course." Quickly realizing how rude this short response sounded, she introduced herself. "I'm Neima of Aello House, nice to meet you." She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder, her protective brother no doubt. Saying nothing, she noticed a few minutes later that Arien had disappeared somewhere, most likely returning to where her siblings were, seeing as she heard the name Vrannoth being called a few moments ago.
Soon enough, she was called upon, and with an act of grace (or at least as graceful as she could be) she walked up to where the treaty was, zero hesitation within herself as she quickly sliced a small cut into her forearm, using her blood to sign the paper quickly.

Happy and content, she walked back to her brother, emotionally drained already and not really wanting to o anymore socializing. Suddenly, she heard a loud boom, automatically clutching her brother's arm in confusion."What was that?" She spoke quietly to her brother, not getting a chance to see the bright flash that came from the citadel, since her brother was currently blocking the closest window they were standing next to. What came next shocked her, as another crash came from the window, and all of a sudden she felt something bounce off of her head, landing in a small clearing close by. Clutching her head with one hand, she was lucky that the other was covering her mouth when she realized what exactly had hit her. She saw somebody pick up the head, announcing who exactly it was with a tone that sounded much like shock.

"It's King Hale the IV."

The man's face was open in some sort of mixture between shock and fear, eyes wide and mouth open as if he was screaming when he died. It was a look she was all too familiar with, but of course none of the other royals knew that, so in order to play the part of an innocent bystander she did the only thing she thought of, unleashing a loud, high-pitched scream into the ballroom.
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox=Yerik Clete, #1d4e89, solid]

Yerik cursed himself as he watched Arien give Neima a linen. He should've already had one at the ready, after all this was probably one of the most common type of situations oneself ends up in at a party such as this. But now was not the time to criticize himself, for a very suspicious looking guy had just walked up and introduce himself. Upon hearing the name Vandiir, he placed his hand on his shoulder. "I suppose you wouldn't be from the kingdom of Unalithia, correct?" He, unlike his sister, actually remembers what the tutors teach them when it comes to the other kingdoms, and if he knew one thing, it was that the kingdom of Unalithia was not a kingdom that his younger sister should be in association with. But, of course, they had already learnt of his future ruler's name, so the least he could do was maintain an act of civility and prevent the hands of this certain heir from corrupting his sweetly innocent Varis.

Luckily, the encounter only lasted for a few minutes at most, for soon enough he heard Neima's name announced. Following his younger sister, he watched from the sidelines once more as she forced the blade of the knife given to break her skin, the redness of her blood becoming the ink for her signature on the treaty. Honestly, he didn't like the idea of the treaty, after all what would a piece of paper do when the time came that somebody decided that they were bored and wanted to burn the kingdom next door?

But his sister seemed content, and honestly that's all that really matters to him. Right as she made it to Yerik, there was a boom, and he saw the bright flash of an explosion come from the citadel out of one of the windows. As his sister quietly asked him what was going on, the crash of glass shattering had him quickly backing away from the window. Then came the scream, causing the Wasi to turn around and notice what had broke the window in the first place. While he didn't know why exactly his sister was screaming, he did think that he knew exactly who the decapitated head belonged to. When a blonde elf picked up the head and confirmed his suspicions, a sinking feeling hit his gut. While his sister played the part of a confused damsel, he decided to play his own part, the part of a Wasi whohad just realized that the windows are not safe, and that he needed to get his Varis out alive.
"We have to go. Now."
Grabbing his sister, he started to lead her towards the exit, hoping that this was just a warning from somebody, though who exactly he wasn't sure.
[/fieldbox]
Interactions/Mentions:
@Tarieles @Aria Valle @JinxMonster

 

[Gillyman]

Alanna and Ashton had been searching through the crowd looking for Felicity when the sound of an explosion rings through out the ballroom. Everyone is still, some in shock and others in pure confusion. Alanna looks around the ballroom, spotting Ashton looking just as concerned and confused as herself. What was going on? Then it happened, an object came crashing through one of the windows. People moved to avoid being hit as the object hit the marbled floor. Alanna watched as whatever it was roll across the floor. A ball? No that wasn't it. The elven woman moved closer to see a streak of color across the floor from where the object had rolled.

Was that blood?

Alanna stopped and looked at the red color for a second longer before her mismatched eyes looked toward the object that was on the floor. "This can't be" Upon closer looking at it Alanna could make out hair on it...It was a Head. The room was still in utter silence and watching. She was sure everyone was thinking the same thought she was. 'Who's head?' Taking a couple more steps Alanna picked up the head and was shocked to recognize it as King Hale IV. "It's King Hale the IV." After saying those words Alanna could hear the ballroom be thrown into a panic. She wanted nothing more then to drop it and find Felicity right then and there. But her attention was drawn to the feeling of something in the back of the king skull. Flipping it over Alanna spotted a note pined there by a dagger. Her mismatched eyes scanned over the note.​

The parchment pinned to the back of the man's head is a bit damp from the blood coming from his knife wound. You notice that the knife is a bit foreign in design and not really a native look to a dagger in Alderia, the writing on the note is still visible but the note itself seems to be written in some red ink...Or blood. It seems to be a nursery ryheme at first glance, a short one that goes like this...Should you choose to keep it to yourself or read it out loud is your choice

"You Royalty think you're all safe.
Protected by the King's grace.

Silly people, You should know..
You shall reap exactly what you sow..

The Celdrin union has come back,
Destroying all that stand in its path

Shifting though the ruins and crimson flood
The Union has come to spill your blood..."

-Huan Irow

[I'm gonan let this post sit in before advancing any further with the attack, so everyone can catch up and react to the current situation]

 

[Aria Valle]

[Just going to put my characters together]

"Ouch." Althea had spoken rather plainly, blood dripping from her pointer finger. As she and her brothers signed the supposed "peace" treaty. Clarence heard Althea's soft voice of complaint and said,"Will you please lessen your verbal complains?" Althea simply rolled her eyes as Kayden smiled with a gleam in his eyes."I'd bother you Clarence but I've got news. Before we had to sign this treaty I met the future ruler of House Aello. Aren't I just the best?"

Before the trio could continue their conversation a circular object had crashed through a window. Gaining the attention of all of them. So instead of proceeding to socialize with the other royals, they surveyed the place. They saw a citadel aflame and that was enough to get them moving. Clarence and Kayden both being tall chanced a look at the peculiar round object and found it to be King Hale's head with a note. They spoke of their findings to Althea because from her view she wouldn't be able to see it. Although curious, Althea ignored whatever could have been written on the note and decided she valued he life more than what was on that note.

"Come on, the other royals are still in shock. In a few more seconds and it'll be mayhem. Let's go, before we get caught up in a stampede of panicking bodies."

Without a moment's notice the trio ran, headed for the exit and to their weapons. They didn't want to feel like easy prey. So even if they were running, at least they had a sense of protection.

 

[Gremory]

"Hahahaha, of fucking course. It would be none other than the so called 'honorable' Celdrin Union." The note was pretty clear. Now all he had to do was try and survive this mess. Even though the situation has turned for the complete worst Kusanagi was still smiling. Finally something really interesting to tame his boredom for a good while. He met up with the leader of his bodyguard and got his sword. "This thing wont stop anything. Toss it, I'll have to find a real weapon. Now grab the rest of the unit and get a number on the enemy, check if were surrounded. Also have people search for an exit. Find me after your done."

While surveying the room he noticed Althea and her brothers bolting out of the room. He got the bright idea of following them, for some odd reason he had thought they had a plan. Even if they didn't he wouldn't mind, he thought the situation was getting more exciting by the moment. The usual suspects, death, murder, war. He chased after them keeping a distance away as to not get noticed. The mind of an elf is a mysterious thing, nobody really knowing how they think or what goes through their mind it was a great opportunity to see how they react to a dire situation, and that he rather fancied Althea. Now it's time to get a weapon and try to get out of this damn citadel.

 

[Tarieles]

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Bronwien flinched when she heard the explosion. Out of instinct, she grabbed for the sword at her waist, only to find it wasn't there. She looked at her siblings, who looked frightened. Glass shattered, and the head of King Hale IV rolled in, a note on the back. The Celdrin Union. They were behind it. The explosion was definitely them. Taking action, she turned to her siblings. "Duvain, Arien, you two stay here. Duvain, protect your sister and yourself." She ran to a banquet table, picking up a carving knife and serving fork. She gave Duvain the knife. "Keep this for protection. I need to run back to weapon check with Theredir. Once we get back, we're leaving." She took the serving fork for herself. It wasn't much, but it was something. She could poke out eyes if she had to. She gestured for theredir to follow her, and ran to where their weapons were taken.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Explosions were something Theredir was not accustomed to hearing. He gasped as he heard the earth shattering noise, and grabbed onto Arien's shoulder as she screamed. The head rolled in, and he made a face. This was quite a turn of events, and he was having none of it. When Bronwien took charge, he nodded, agreeing with her. "Stay safe." He told the two, before running after her. The only one who didn't have a sword with them was Duvain, because he wasn't trained enough, so at least three of them would be safe and they could protect the fourth very easily. As they ran to where their weapons were confiscated, he kept an eye open for danger. On the way, he grabbed a candlestick for some shoddy protection.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Explosions and heads rolling through the window was enough to get the poor Elven girl screaming. Arien let out a high pitched screech, as well as crying a little as Theredir put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Bronwien, sniffling and nodding. She felt safer knowing these two were here to protect her. She saw Duvain was given a weapon, and felt a little safer still. "Be careful." She whispered as they left. She couldn't bear the thought of losing one. But the nightmare would be over soon, they'd escape with their guards and be home safe.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]Duvain wasn't sure what to do. A knife was thrust in his hands, and he nodded when Bronwien ordered him to keep Arien safe, but he was scared. He didn't know what to do in this situation. He kept the knife up, and backed Arien and himself further into the wall. It would be easier to avoid back attacks. He was shaking, he didn't know what was happening. People were running outside, some were screaming, and almost everyone was panicking. "Just... Just stay by me. I'll keep you safe." He didn't even believe his own words, but she seemed to cheer up just a little.

 

[CylciaAlyann]

Just before Finna could sign the treaty, a large explosion shook the ballroom. An accident? No. An attack. Of course. Finna chided herself for not expecting it before. Here, all the future leaders of Alderia were, together signing a peace treaty. And Alderia wasn't the only land in the world. It was the perfect chance for someone to destroy us all.

She looked around to assess the situation. Many heirs were already running while some were frozen in panic and shock. At that time, a head flew thew the great window and rolled to the feet of one royal, who picked it up to read something on the back. How important was it to read the note? Not very, Finna decided. She knew they were under attack, and the foe must be incredibly strong to dare attack such a group of individuals, even if they were currently unarmed. Which led to her next thought, what to do next. Find our weapons? That would be ideal, but Finna knew when a cause was useless. The strange disappearance of all the servants before now made sense, they were in on it. Their weapons were likely long gone. This meant their best hope was to stay together. They needed to gather and find the best place to bunker down and evaluate the situation.

"Everyone stay calm!" she shouted. "We need to stick together!" Of course, not many people were listening to her, the girl with a baby-face and a light blue gown on. She had no power.

"Antony," she turned now to her guard, "We need to get Princess Renée's attention. It was her father who brought us together, and now he's dead. Everyone will turn to her for leadership now."

"Princess!" "Your highness!" They both shouted waving their hands above everyone's heads and wading through the crowd in her direction.

"Where should we go?"

@Fendisteel

 

[JJ]

"Your rambling doesn't bother me." Devin smiled, raking a hand through his hair with a charming smile. "I think it's-" He had been about to say "adorable", but the whole building shook from the explosion, and he was saved from putting his foot in his mouth. The prince stumbled forward, catching himself on the railing and righting himself as dust and mortar crumbled from the ceiling. The explosion had been relatively far away from where they were currently, but even so the smoke from the fire was making its way upwards. Devin waved a hand in front of his face to create a pocket of clean air, releasing the railing and taking a step towards Renee. "Are you okay?" He asked, voice tinged with fear. "What was that? Are we under attack?" Where were his guards?



Fire. Fire and smoke and pain.

Nathan groaned and rolled over on to his back, pain spiking up and down his left arm with every movement. The last few moments came back in a rush. Following the steward. The dead soldiers. Felicity screaming. Felicity. Forcing himself to his feet as best he could with one arm, he staggered through the smoke.

"Felicity?" He called, coughing as smoke seared at his throat. Bits of flaming debris littered the ground, and he stumbled around them. He whipped off a leather glove and held it to his mouth, attempting to breathe through it and filter some of the smoke. He called out for the elf again. Now that the steward was gone, his only thought was about getting her back to safety - he had been stupid to follow the suspicious man, and even more stupid to drag the elf along. If she died here, it would be on him. He couldn't have that.

And then a bark split the air. Once, twice, then rapidly. Maverick. Pushing his way through the splintered remains of one of the carriages, he kicked apart a larger piece, and from beneath it sprung the shepherd, seemingly unharmed for the most part. He didn't have long to check before the dog was off, barking to ensure Nathan could follow him through the veil of smoke and fire. And then he heard his name. It was Felicity. Breathing a sigh of relief, he finally found her. She looked rough, but not injured too badly. "Let's get out of here. We have to find our siblings. And our guards." ​

 

[JinxMonster]

Once Alanna had finished reading the note, she ripped the dagger out of the head and tossed it towards a nobleman. The elven woman meant know disrespect in this, she just had higher priories to handle then worry about her manners. The citadel was under attack and Felicity was still missing. Alanna pushed her way through the crowd an over to her brother. "Ashton, Felicity obviously isn't in the ballroom. Let's retrieve our weapons and then search the building for her." Once Ashton nodded in agreement the two elves started to make their way through the panicking crowd.

Alanna and Ashton were sure to keep their eyes peeled for the young Karva as they made their way back towards the main entrance. "Ashton, if anything has happened to her..." Felicity had been missing for so long that Alanna was starting to think the worst. How she wished that they had just went up with their sister when she signed the treaty, instead of letting the girl out of their sights. Alanna was sure where ever the young elf was she was scared. Felicity had never been one for fighting or violence, she was the type to cry over anything she wasn't able to help.

Ashton ran along side Alanna down the corridor, they needed to secure their weapons as quickly as possible and locate Felicity. Once they did that they would need to focus on finding away out of the citadel and getting back home. Ashton was able to pick up on Alanna's distress, it was only normal for the elven woman to feel so. Their sister was missing and some deranged army had decided to attack when everyone was at their most defenseless. Clouded with the thoughts of peace the Alanna and Ashton had left the young Karva alone, when they were suspicious of the sounds they had heard.

Finally arriving to where the weapons were being held Ashton followed after Alanna. Watching as his sister grabbed her bow, arrows and her dagger. She then tossed him his spear along with the Celdrin dagger she had taken with her from King Hale's skull. His long ears twitched as he heard noises coming from behind them. Turning quickly, Ashton gripped his spear and braced himself in case of attack. He also heard Alanna drawing her bow and aiming for whatever would come towards her brother.

"Vrannoth?"
Ashton said as he saw Theredir and his sister that he had earlier pointed out to be the heiress of their household. Letting out a sigh of relief, Alanna lowered her bow before she stepped forward. "Mernil Theredir, you wouldn't happened to have seen Felicity in passing would you" It pained Ashton to hear just how worried and broken by this his twin sounded. Alanna would do anything in the world to protect Ashton and Felicity.

Felicity stumbled through the smoke, she had her sleeve up to her face to filter the smoke but the cotton was to thin and she was still coughing. "Nathan!" She called out once again as she tried searching for the boy. Stopping in her tracks, Felicity watched as a figure started to approach her through the smoke. Panicking, she took a few steps back. Felicity placed her hands up in front of herself aiming at the figure, she wasn't even closed to mastered in her fire magic but it would be enough to give her a chance to run if needed. Waiting, Felicity kept her eyes trained as the person got closer to her.
"Let's get out of here. We have to find our siblings. And our guards."

Felicity sighed in relief as she saw that it was Nathan and Maverick in front of her. "I agree, we should be able to make it to the main entrance from here." Seeing how it would only take more time for the two to go all the way back towards the stables. The main entrance was closer and they young Karva actually knew how to get back to the ballroom from there. This time Felicity grabbed Nathan's hand and dragged the boy along with her. She wanted nothing more to find her siblings, she was sure they had heard the explosion and were worrying about her.



​

 

[Gillyman]

[Just gonna take a liiiiiiiiiiiiiitle push, checking in with others in this RP whos been rather inactive and idk how long it will take me to get a response from them]

Chapter 2: Axe to grind

&:20pm​

The princess is startled by the sudden explosion happening inside the citadel and looks down at the fireball with fear, the first strike was INSIDE the citadel's walls. That armory housed Half the military's equipment, now its all literally up in flames! Poor little Renee was on the verge of having a anxiety attack from what was transpiring before her, the sudden crash though the ball room's window was not helping either! But she took a deep breath and tried to clam herself down, majority of the nobles behind her were panicking and it would not help make progress if she was also panicking. She heard one of the Female heirs call out for her, Renee tried to hide her pressure as she turned around to walk in the middle of the crowd to address all of them and smooth out the situation. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Please remain calm...t-t-there is nothing to fear, our soldiers will take care of every-" Renee is stopped in her tracks as she hears the heir Alanna say her father's name while looking at a old battered head of a man. After seeing her remove the knife and tossed it aside Renee stepped forward with her heart racing to gently take the man's head from Alanna as she walks away ((not sure what you did with the head so i don't hope you mind i do this)) and slowly turns the head around to revel the face. She feel to her knees as soon as her eyes made contact with the cold lifeless eyes of her father, her worst nightmares have become a living reality. She says nothing, utters not a single noise and sheds not one tear as she holds the head of her father close to her in the middle of the crowd who just stare at her a bit speechless before some begin screaming and others rush for the exit to get the hell out of here...However some are stopped as they look out the window to see flickering flames in the far far distance.



The Citadel's first line of defense in case of a attack are its six Stongholds placed in the North, east and west directions of the Main Citadel. Theses towers act as miniature citadels in that they have a decent sized army inside them with proper defenses to fight off any vile Ruler from launching a attack on the citadel. Added to this is that the Towers use a signaling system to alert the citadel of its current situation without having to relay on sending a messenger back and forth from the tower and the citadel; because of this, every high up room in the citadel can pretty much look out any window to spot the towers. There are four large banners hanging on the walls of the towers that are unmarked, no House logo on them. When one of the banners is set on fire it means "Engaging in combat", the second banner ablaze means "Taking losses" the third means "Situation critical, send reinforcements!", the fourth means "Abandoning!" and in under extreme conditions a fifth banner will be brought out (Under the tower's Marshall's order only) to alert the citadel that this force is far too massive to take on and that they need to begin evacuation, to prevent some lone force from signalling that if they so happen to take the tower; 4 other towers would have to also burn a fifth banner for evacuation to commence.


"Marshall! Marshall!" a young Elven scout shouts as he rushes into the war room of the Northeast tower, obviously out of breath from making a mad run from his post to here. a human male dressed in full plate armor grumbles as he directs his attention to the elf "What is it..Longear.." The man mutters in disgust, hating to have to work with theses frail elfs. The Scout struggles to speak the words he wishes to say "Union..Attacking, big army marching our way!". The Marshall rolls his eyes at the Elf "Celdrin Union? Weren't they some lowly mercenaries? What some house thought it be cute to interfere so he bought them to attack us? Bah..." Another soldier then calls over to the Marshall to come see something at the top of the tower. The indifferent Marshall makes his way to the top of the tower to be handed a spyglass and is told to look towards the mountain. What the man saw changed his whole view on the situation, thousands and thousands of Orcs, Jikkions, Yakens and Fol'a were marching towards them with weapons at the ready, outnumbering them vastly. "Fuck!...Burn three banners! NOW!" the Marshall barks out to the soldier beside him who rushes off to alert everyone else. he suddenly feels his stomach curl as he looks out to four other towers who also have 3 banners burning.

Back at the artillery base Aberas awaits for the next phase of his orders to kick in as he looks over a battlemap with points of interest to have the catapults to aim for when hes que is given. A Engineer calls for his attention to look out to see three banners burning on 4 towers; Aberas then shouts so that all may hear him "Team 1 - 5 focus fire on Tower Red!" The map that the engineers used to coordinate their hits had all the towers colored differently so orders can be given more rapidly, "Red" is the tower closest to the mountain and is the one where Huan's forces are most likely located. The rounds the catapults use are classic flaming boulders, crash though walls and burns whats ever is inside them, as soon as Aberas shouted his order the Engineers got to work quickly preparing the rounds and firing them on que of a fire sergeant who waited for EVERY team to prepare their shots. "Team 6-9, Tower Yellow is your target!" Yellow is in the east and is where Teem-hulm's forces are currently fighting, as much as Aberas disliked Teem-Hulm he still had his orders to engange...But deep down hoped he got crushed by a shot "10-15! Teal is your target!" To the west is Bo-gash's first challenge, Aberas never really interacted much with Bo'gash, hopefully this will impress him. the Fire sergeant stood in sight of every Catapult team and made sure all where prepared before pull out a sword and aiming it at the battlefield "Fire!" as soon as that word was spoken a flurry of balls of fire fly from the top of the mountain and crash into the foundations of the towers, every shot hit its marked and caused some serious damage.

Meanwhile inside the citadel another problem is arising as heavy fighting it breaking out near the main entrance of the citadel. About a hundred human Stewards, maids and other types of lowly staff members have taken up arms and have launched a assault on the main entrance to the Citadel, troops from every house are in this engagement fighting against this platoon of oddly well skilled peasants who are fighting in a defensive formation to make up for being outnumbered. Some of them are slain but for everyone of theses peasants that are slain, at least 10 soldiers meet their end. The "peasant" force then has some squads move in to clear out the guard towers and take them over while the remaining stay outside to clear out the soldiers. its not long before a commander calls for a tactical retreat, underestimating this threat and taking them on as if they are just pissed off serfs looking to start trouble...No they are something more, thus they retreat to come up with a new battle strategy.


The Staff members cheer in victory as they turn and run and return to their odd professionalism once one of them calls out to them in some foreign tongue, not any language heard on Alderia. Some of the peasants rush over to giant hay stacks and begin digging in them for some large barrels of something...Its unclear what is in them but they are hauled inside the guard towers while some watch their backs in case of a sudden counter attack.

To make the situation a bit more unsettling, the stewards begin hanging a banner from the guard towers.

The banner of the Celdrin Union....

@Greenie @JJ @Squee @Aria Valle @JinxMonster @Raven Haruka @Tarieles @CylciaAlyann @Lucian @Akatsuki Gremory

​

 

[Lonewolf888978]

Victoria
Victoria felt her ears ringing with the explosion, and as the head of the king sailed through the window, she felt faint. Would she die here? She had so much to do in her life she had yet to accomplish. She glanced at her brother who was cursing himself for letting them take their weapons.
No she would survive. Her brother would protect her, and she would protect her brother. Her brother yelling brought her back to reality.
Victoria! Did you go deaf? We have to find Uncle!
Uh.....He is probably with the soldiers already. We can meet him there.
Celthric nodded and spoke quickly pulling her along through the chaos.
Once we get to the army, stick by Uncles side. He will take care of you. I will be there soon.
Victoria felt herself being pushed out of the room, towards an exit. As she walked into the sunlight, two Rivtdale guards ran to her, one carried all of Celthrics weapons, and the other his armor.
Thank goodness Dutchess! Lord Ven is looking for you and your brother, is he alright?
She nodded and quickly said as she pointed back inside.
He is still inside. I think he will be heading to the Princess.
They nodded towards her and ran inside, Victoria hurried and made it to the ranks of the Rivtdale calvary, which were starting to mobilize into formation. In the distance, five towers burned three flags. She gulped and tears rose to her eyes. The sound of combat exploded nearby, and it appeared a group of commoners started to fight the troops of the royal houses?
A group of unmounted guards of the Rivtdale ran to flank the group.


Celthric
Celthric glanced around at several nobles passing by in a hurry, some looking for weapons, some looking for family, but all appeared to be looking for safety. Celthric felt at least one of the houses were working with the Union. He knew he shouldn't have let his sister come. Hell at least the best of their Calvary was here. She spotted the princess, and strode towards her. Before he reached her, a girl in a dress and her guard started to try and shout over the noise.
"Princess!" "Your highness!" "Where should we go?"
Drake butted in hearing the comments and grabbed the guard by the shoulder.
We need to be pushing back at the Union! We must form our houses armies together and push a hole through the Union line, so the nobility that cant or shouldnt fight may live on.​

@CylciaAlyann

​

 

[Squee]

A small shiver of disappointment found its way into Setis emotions as Celthric went to search for Victoria. All was fair and well for him, though, as ones siblings could only be held special. She'd never had any siblings, her father was unable to provide her and her mother with another child to join the family name. Either it, it was as it was and nothing could be done about it now. For the moment it would be best for Seti to wait for her name to be called. It was quite odd to hear that familiar sound, yet the princess had pinned the blame on the weather. The skies were clear when she had arrived earlier this day, something was amiss. Hopefully none attending here had the intention of betraying the treaty.

Seti had initially been expecting to be amused at the sight of other heirs wincing in pain when they cut their hands open, however she found she was sorely disappointed as most of the royalty going up to fill the bowl with their blood held their posture quite well. She had hoped in this way she might have been able to stand out, being one of few to handle knife-slices as though it were a prick in the finger. Still, this would do just fine. Unfortunately there was a certain feeling of dread going through her mind, this treaty meant a double edged blade for her council of warriors. Who would a nation of soldiers fight if they had no enemies? But this was all for the better, they did have soldiers but just as few as the nations near them.

There was, however, the sight of most heirs approaching the treaty with their siblings. A flicker of jealousy, was it? Of course, this old feeling. She'd wanted a younger sibling to look after at one point in her life, but these days it was little more than a dream she'd have occasionally on long nights. Overall everything in her life was grand. Being the Shahzadi was a feat worth mentioning, after all.

In anticipation of her name being called, Seti began to navigate through the crowd of nobles and heirs, some clearly recognizing her because of the colors she wore. Purple was the color of her nation and one she'd learned to adore as it was. Such a beautiful and elegant color. However, before her name was to be called the sound of igniting gunpowder flooded into the area with an intense sonic ring. Due to her training, she instinctively moved for her sword, the companion she'd put so much faith into only to find that it was gone! Taken from her by a guard that had clearly failed to do his job. Who was the attacker? How did they manage to infiltrate the citadel? The panic that filled the room had made it difficult for Seti to focus, resulting in the unwanted flood of questions into her mind rather than answers.

A deep breath, inhaled then exhaled. Seti calmed herself, she could get through this, that was the way of the warrior, and a strong warrior she was. The crashing of a window took her focus from the general area and onto the head of a man that had flown through. How in the hell was anyone to manage that? The precision in in launching a human head into the citadel in such a way that it would land in the ball room...Terrifyingly impressive! Pinned to the skull of the king was a note that was read aloud to the entire area. Royalty was to reap what they sow? Exactly what was it that kingship had planted into the Celdrin union that was worth reaping? Though admittedly, while most people panicked about, Seti found a slight smile on her face. An enemy. The thing she'd feared losing had presented itself once more, but in an entirely new form this time. A form that this unity could possibly take arms against together and show a new type of war. She'd be lying if she said she was terrified. Though intimidated, she had felt an odd sense of anticipation, blood would shed on the stage of her triumphant dance in fields of her enemies blood. But first, she needed a sword.

Seti heard one woman tell everyone to stay calm, though not many would listen to just one person in such a time of panic. She had the right idea, though likely for the wrong reason. Shortly after, the princess had also requested everyone to stay calm, ironically showing an inability to do so herself as well as she was stopped mid sentence. Though in fairness, it was unlikely the guards would truly be able to settle the situation at all, they had failed already in one great way. If they guard were any form of competent they'd have prevented this entire event from happening in the first place.

 

[CylciaAlyann]

The person addressing Antony was right. We needed a unified force against the invaders if anyone was to survive, that was for certain. Though, while Finna was in no position to fight herself, she wasn't fond of the concept of saving all the royalty and forcing others to fight on their behalf. Wasn't that what got them into this mess? Nevertheless, she was unarmed and underskilled. Just as well, it was not time to worry about appearances and debate this person on the ethics of war. She chose to ignore that part of his suggestion for the time being.

"You're right," she said, turning next to the man in front of her instead of the stunned princess. "We need to unify these people. We need a leader." Finna had all but given up on Princess Renee now, though she deeply understood her pain. "Step one: unite the Houses of Alderia. Step two: arm ourselves."

The question was, if the common enemy was not already uniting the houses, what (or who) possibly could?

Glancing through the broken window, she saw banners lit across the citadel. She didn't know what that meant, but she knew it was not a good sign.

 

[Tarieles]

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Bronwien found where they had collected their weapons. She let out a sigh of relief, grabbing her sword. It was mostly ceremonious, but it still had a sharp edge. Its hilt was gilded, and covered in emeralds and mother of pearl. It was a sword that she adored, and was a gift from her mother for her coming of age ceremony. She strapped it to her waist, while Theredir grabbed his own and their sister's. She returned to the main room with Theredir, seeing the panic. She kept the fork with her, as it would still be a good weapon in dire circumstances. Her siblings were exactly where she left them, and she ran over. "Everything will be alright. We just have to get out of here, the guards will be taking care of us." She assured them. She couldn't even convince herself of this, but it was the best she had to offer.

"Just stay together. No matter what, everyone has to stay together." She told them. "Duvain, keep that knife. It'll be a good weapon for you for now. We'll help you if you get in trouble." She told him, holding out her hand to him. He took it, and the siblings walked forth.

She looked around, raising her voice above the clamoring. "We need to arm ourselves!" She yelled. "Grab anything that could be used as a weapon! Raid the kitchen! Find knives, candlesticks, any decorative swords adorning the walls. We need to keep together! We can't be separated!" She hoped people would listen to her, as sticking together was probably the best shot they had of getting out alive.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Theredir was trying his best to not be scared of this situation. He knew if he were to be panicked, then his younger siblings would start too. He gave Arien her sword, and equipped his own, keeping the candlestick handy. This was not going well. Many people were panicking. He followed Bronwien, who had taken charge of the four. When Alanna approached, asking for Felicity's whereabouts, he nodded. "I saw her following a dog earlier before this happened. She left, went outside." He looked at his siblings, who also looked concerned for the girl (they didn't want anyone hurt).

He thought he heard the sounds of battle, and happened to look out a window overlooking part of the entrance. Guards were dead. Peasants were up in arms. His eyes widened. "Oh Vaphion..." He muttered, looking back at the two, then his siblings. "We can't leave." He muttered, pointing outside. He shook his head, looking back to the two. "I'll come help you find her." He decided. He turned to his siblings. "I'll be back. I should've stopped her, I'll find her with them." Bronwien gave him a rather nasty look. "Don't worry, we just need to find her, then we'll be back."

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Arien was in a haze at this point. She didn't know what to do. Her siblings left, Duvain was keeping her safe, but she was terrified. The feel of cold steel in her hands invigorated her, and she came to her senses. She gazed down upon the simple sword in her hands, suddenly feeling a sense of urgency and determination. "Right." She agreed with Bronwien. They all had to stay together. They'd be safe if they were in a group. Of course, Theredir was the one to challenge that. He said he had to find someone. She grabbed his sleeve. "No. Stay here." She said, in an almost Bronwien-like demanding tone. "We have to keep together."

She was having none of this. This was not going to end badly for this family. Theredir was not leaving, they were staying together until this whole thing blew over. Everyone would get home safe, and they'd be back to being a super happy family, having dinner with their parents, having a wonderful time with the breads and cheeses and wines, all laughing about how this was such a close call.

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]
Duvain suddenly felt inadequate. He looked down at the knife and at the swords of his siblings. He wished he could have a good weapon. He'd feel a lot safer. He listened to his siblings talk about Theredir leaving. He agreed, that wasn't a good idea. He didn't want him to get hurt. Especially when he pointed to the scene outside. He shook his head, indicating he didn't want him to go.

"We should stay in here, look for somewhere we can keep down. This place is huge, we should be able to find somewhere to hide long enough to have the guards take care of things." He suggested, though even he wasn't sure if that was a very good idea.

 

[JJ]

As the elf grabbed his hand and tugged him forward, Nathan winced. Every step caused pain to spark up and down his arm, shoulder throbbing dully with the heart currently beating a tempo against his rib cage. Maverick danced around them in circles, anxious whines splitting the air as they headed towards the main entrance. It certainly was closer, that was for sure. But before they rounded the bend that would reveal the entrance, the sound of sword-on-sword and grunting of fighting men brought the young prince to a grinding halt, his good hand tightening around Felicity's so she couldn't pull away from him and continue forward.

"Stop." The word was uttered quietly but with an undeniable authority. Maverick paused, going prone on his belly and slinking after them as the pair moved backwards. "That's not good." He whispered, gaze sweeping the shadows around them. "The Citadel is surrounded." The horror in his tone was evident. "That steward... it wasn't an isolated incident. This was planned. This is war."

Ignoring the fresh pain as he twisted around, Nathan pulled Felicity back in the direction from which they'd come, stormy gaze narrowed in concentration. Sure, he could probably hide, or disappear into safety. He had a knack for not being seen when he didn't want to be. But Felicity didn't, and he was not the type of man to abandon someone to fate. Pausing to catch his breath, he turned to the elf, hand clenching around hers in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. He could tell she was freaked out, and doing her best not to panic.

"Hey." He said softly. "We're gonna get out of this, okay? We're going to be alright, I promise. Just have to stay calm and think with clear heads..." Easier said than done, admittedly, but when you didn't have any other option he found that it came quite easily. Maverick brushed his hand, the one that hung limply at his side, and Nathan hissed in pain, causing the dog to recoil with an apologetic swish of his tail. Clenching his fist with a grunt, he looked to the elf once more. "My shoulder is dislocated. If I talk you through it, can you help me fix it?" It would hurt like a son of a bitch, but if it came down to a fight, he would be next to useless with only one arm. ​

 

[Gremory]

Kusanagi had a feeling of almost exhilaration. Not only are most of the heirs and heads of major houses for both the humans and the elves, were being attacked and trapped by the Union. "Just a bunch of savages looking for justice in places they shouldn't" He murmured. He needed to find a weapon if he was going to try some of that training out. He wanted to see what it was like to take the lives of his enemies in a true battle. This sense of adventure may be misguided and get him killed but he didn't care in the least, simply pushing his way towards his goal. Kusanagi knew he needed to find the armory and get suited up, this wouldn't be a battle he would survive easily with hardly any experience. He always kept his ear out on what the troops were doing and how they were moving throughout the citadel.

"Fight or die. Just like it should be." Kusanagi said while making his way towards the armory. He got quite and only thought of the battle ahead. He needed to find out where the Union was entering and he wanted to try and reinforce the positions of some of the peasant groups. Although he wasn't a huge fan of peasants he was going to hold his tongue and if it helps his image that would also help him. The adrenaline was pumping and he just wanted to fight. Since he left the main ballroom as the commotion with the King's head coming through the window he got to the armory. He got suited up and grabbed his black long-sword. War is want they want and war is what they will get.​