The Next Queen of Ranthrok!

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"Oh, how silly of me, I almost forgot... I'm so very sorry, Miss Ember..." Renna bowed and glided to her room. Once inside, she located the correct shoes immediately but took an extra moment to compose herself, making sure that her powders had not been smudged by tears and that her eyes were quite dry. It was foolish of her to get so upset. She wished that she could help it and would give up all she could think of just to end this torment. But I'd give anything up to be queen if I thought that I could make Dmitri happy, too...

Collected, Renna slid once more from the room to present Ember with the shoes. "I forgot to mention it, Miss Ember, but the dress really does look most lovely on you. Here are the shoes to match, as well. As my gift to you, a welcoming gift to the kingdom I suppose you could say, you can keep the dress and shoes. They fit you ever so nicely in color and the dress seems to be tailored for you." There was some satisfaction in seeing Ember so beautiful - the king surely could not keep his eyes away from the newcomer and that meant that at the very least, Serazel would not be the new queen.

"Your mind is most pure and charming, Miss Ember. You'll be a vision tonight. I cannot thank you enough, Master Vellious. You've really done something remarkable with this if it works. Ember will draw the king's eyes with her fair looks and win his heart with her charm. You've done a superb job helping find a new queen after all. I'll surely credit you to anyone who doubted you."
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"I'd love to join you, my lord-liege," Gawain announced flambouyantly as he stepped out from the deep shadow of a tree, it's branches hanging low to the ground. He made an appearance not several meters from the pair of King and Princess. His voice was clear, carrying itself out melodically for both of them to hear.

With a flourish, he crossed a leg behind him and bowed something of a half-curtsy. Gawan was once again being both melodramatic and insulting, all while meaning to be and hiding it behind his title of Jester, Court Bard, and whatever else he might call himself that day. Fool was something he was used to as well, and a title he whole-heartedly embraced. It let him maneuver just that much easier.

"I see my King is out for a stroll, doing his best not to look so droll, but here comes a girl, all fancy in pearls, to take her place a-head of the trolls!" Gawain flashed a bright, toothy smile then, his eyes sparkling mischievously as he let his cheeky little limerick flow out.

"To speak for the girl at your arm: you are as handsome as ever. Shall I dress in my finest for you as well, my lord-liege, and do what I can to sway you off your feet at this fanciful ball?"
 
The walk was fairly silent for Dmitri and the princess on his arm. In all honesty, he considered that a good thing. Silence was far better than being criticized, insulted, fought over... Did anyone once think of what he wanted. Such was the life of a King, he supposed. The happiness of the people mattered more than his own. His situation would be far less stressful if there wasn't a girl who wasn't even from their era, in his castle right now.

The quietness was disrupted by the familiar voice of Gawain, the castle's well known bard. Serazel probably wasn't thrilled about him showing up, but Dmitri enjoyed the man's company. He could be rude a lot of the times, however the King couldn't get cross about it. During the darkest days, Gawain could shine a ray of light with his voice and instruments.

While the limerick was amusing, he didn't want Serazel to go undefended from the bard's shenanigans. "Gawain, behave yourself," Dmitri demanded with a smirk.

With his free hand, he let his index finger trace along Gawain's jawline where there was facial hair, simply as an excuse to charm him when he said, "Aye, dress nicely. And keep this short."

Dmitri then looked to Serazel, "You're ready for the banquet? I can summon a maid, if you wish, so you can select a new dress. Not that I'd need to. You look stunning enough already!"
 
Vellious inhales proudly, nodding. "Oh! Just a second..." With a 'pop' noise, the helmet clatters to the ground. The voice of Vellious comes from an a point a good deal lower, now. "There we go!" With a chuckle, the voice directs itself at Ember. "As long as you think of calm, pure thoughts you're a sure-win!" He grins, clapping his hands, "Avoid any other sort of thoughts, though. Confusion, anger, envy, depression... all will alter a person to better portray this emotion. Even simple things like joy and hunger! So... watch out for that, okay?" He chuckles, proud of himself, as the footsteps begin to plodding away a few steps.

He stops, blinking to himself. "...I... uh, think I'd better avoid the ballroom tonight, myself." His invisible ears droop, but one can easily tell the man's melancholy, "I've... I've got business to attend to." A bold-faced lie. He just didn't want to see the King - his crush - to go googly over another. He scratches the back of one ear animalistically. "BUT," he changes the attitude, "I'm sure everyone else will be there! Maybe I'll keep my invisibility spell on, yeah?"
 
Ember looked back to Vellious and blinked a bit, her expression rather confused.

"So...I'm not allowed to feel...anything?" She questioned softly as she looked between Renna and Marcus before clearning her throat a bit. "Um...Vellious? I don't think it's physically possible to stop a person from feeling...anything. I mean, I can supress negative thoughts easily but things like hunger and confusion...Well I don't know about you but I'm not that good at controling feelings." She said.

Ember was starting to get a little nervous now. Maybe Vellious's spell wouldn't be as helpful as she thought it would be...She'd just have to do her best and worrk with what she got. She'd at least be a little better off than the other women who would be at dinner, she could only imagine the horror that they would become with their nasty thoughts and uncontrolable emotions.