eswareinmal | (no subject)

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Characters: The King and his Worried Subjects. Oh yeah, and some heroes.
Open? Yep!
Where: The King's lazy throne room. You know, the one that looks like a rich person's den.
When: GHB6
What: Someone made a bonfire of the White Forest so the King is holding audiences to try and calm the crowd.

The cluster of townspeople in the audience chamber is at an all time high. There's never been a forest fire like this before... at least not one that anyone can remember, even if Old Man Signchanger did try and point out that one time way back when he was young (because every one knows that that man was never young!

Heroes who want to speak with the King, however, are assured an audience. If anything, they'll be all but pushed up the line. This may be the most worried anyone has seen the normally bubble headed townsfolk...

The Thorns are too far off for the average person to worry about, but this? This was in their own back yard. The pending destruction of the world as they know it is nothing compared to a giant forest fire you can see!

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Selene frowned as she met the King's eyes. She pressed her lips together, and turned to the crowd, slowly, schooling her expression. She shook her head.

"Not here," she said, sharply. "The stables. There isn't time to waste. Can anyone here handle a horse? I'm no good with them, I'm afraid, and we need to fetch the child quickly. You all know where the Monastery is, I hope."

She turned back to the king, crossing her arms. "I believe that he should be taken to the Hero's House, rather than the castle. We will require some of your guards until he has required, of course. After all, this is the young man who brought us to this kingdom, isn't it?" She tipped her head to the side. "So I'll have to speak with whoever is in charge of them while your captain is away."

She was met with a blank look before realization hit the King's expression. "You want to move Kori?"

A hush fell over the crowd.

"He's going to be pissed when he wakes up...." spoke an older male voice from the group.

"My dear-- Kori is best left in the hands of the monks at the monastery," the King assured, looking oddly ruffled.

Her gaze didn't waver from the King. Without looking back, her back straightened. "His turn to know what it's like," she said, voice just a touch cold. She stepped closer to the king, leveling a finger at him.

"You know what is happening," she growled, voice low. "If the monks were so very capable, I would not be here. I'm guessing that fire was looking for the child, yes? I don't know why, I don't really care. But your monks are no longer the option. At least while he is unconscious. Or would you rather leave it up to chance? Did any of your, and here I use the term loosely, 'guards' see which way the voice went after the fire, sugar?"

She bared her teeth at the king, and it was not a smile.

There was a silence for a long moment before the King rose to his feet. "My people, if you would leave us for a short time, I would like to speak to our dear Princess alone," he addressed the crowd.

There was a hushed wave of whispers, glances exchanged as the room slowly emptied, the King silent, expression oddly serious until the heavy doors were firmly shut.

"It is because I know what is happening that I must insist that you leave him where he is," he finally spoke, turning to look at her directly. "The monks are not what guard him, even if one has become his guide. To bring him further in will only make matters far worse."

Selene half turned, watching the others file out. She took a few steps away from the king, mostly due to a few looks from the guards (had it been even a day later, she would have ignored them outright, but the new moon still troubled her). As the door closed, she turned her attention back to the king, who seemed, well, almost regal, all of a sudden.

"I've no patience for your cryptic nonsense," she snapped. He may have been putting on a surprising show, but she regarded him with very little respect. Alone, that meant she had no intention of even pretending to be polite to him. "So why don't you sit down, since I'm sure you're probably winded from standing up, and explain it to me. What possible reason would I have to leave an unconscious boy laying outside the strongest walls in the kingdom while something capable of burning down an entire forest is hunting him?"

Now, she stepped towards him again, holding her dress with one hand, and the 'curse' she carried filled the air around her. She was dangerous, it said, and she was also protecting Kori, even if she had never met him. He was a child, he was hurt and in danger, and now some bumbling fool wanted her to back off? He'd have to do better than a bland assurance like that.

"Because he is not what is being sought."

The voice that spoke from seemingly nowhere and everywhere at once was female, somehow sounding both old and young at the same time.

The King frowned slightly. "Must you come so directly in here?" he half muttered, a touch of annoyance in his voice as he sat, arms crossing.

Selene growled at the sudden voice, lowering herself slightly. Already upset, she bared her teeth, settling her eyes on the King as he sat. She forced a slow breath and stood, dismissing the man with, "Be silent if you do not intend to help me save your people." She glared at him for a moment longer, and then turned, slowly scanning across the room.

"But he is linked to it somehow," she observed. "Or do you suggest that it is only coincidence he fell ill after the forest was burned to the ground?" Her tone made it clear that was hardly an option she would even consider.

The barest hint of grey smoke curling in the corner of the throne room was the only hint of any presence.

"Of course he's linked. That much is obvious," came the disdainful reply. "But his role is coming to an end as that which was forced upon him continues to lose hold. Order's Great Failure will not long be."

Selene considered the words, and then shook her head. "I've yet to hear one reason not to go out and help the boy." She looked at the king for a moment, before turning towards the doors. But she stopped after only a couple of steps.

"What was forced upon him...is that what is making him ill?"

"And how would you help? You know not what has befallen him, yet you seek to move him to where you feel he belongs?" The reply was dismissive. "He is not ill. He sleeps to recover."

Selene growled again.

"You brought us here! And yet you assume we all know exactly what it is you need us to do." She spun around, looking at the king. "Instead, we have this fool sitting here, chuckling to himself, and a gaggle of peasants that fell out of a bad comic book." She started to pace in front of the throne.

"We have to do something about the forest, and yet you seem content to leave things as they are, since you already know what happened there. But you're incapable of telling us anything that might actually be useful, God no. That would defeat the purpose of whatever this is."

She marched up to the king, teeth bared. "Tell me, what would happen if I throttled him right here? Left your king dead on his throne? No one is coming in to stop me; I'm a princess, and their king asked to be alone, after all." She was standing over the King, now, glaring at him. "What is happening to this...Kori? Why did the flames burn down the entire forest? What was it looking for that the child isn't? What is the great failure?"

"You assume too much," game the dry reply. "This puppet you see before you can no more act than the shells who walk about you, and you can no more extract answers from him than you could a rock."

The King looked distinctly uncomfortable, but made no move to get out of the way of Selene's glare, instead looking up at the rafters. "You aren't being much help, you know," he pointed out. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

The sound of a snort was his only reply.

Edited 2012-11-14 03:52 (UTC)

"Any assumption is too much," she replied. "But since you won't say a damned thing, what do expect me to do?" She rubbed her eyes. "If this is just a puppet, what are you?"

She looked around the room again.

"What would it mean if you were just to be told? Many tales have been spun from nothing around you, one more would be as meaningless as the rest."

The smoke hovering around the rafters had grown in volume, but there was no scent to announce its presence.

Edited 2012-11-14 04:10 (UTC)

Selene shook her head. "You are actually serious, aren't you?" She turned back to the King, curling up her fist. "God forbid you tell us enough to prevent us from making some manor of horrible mistake. What if I had simply ridden out and taken Kori on my own?"

"There would have been one cranky little White Mage likely blowing a hole in the city," the King half joked. "Besides. Would you have believed me even if I had told you? I'm not such a fool as to not be aware of my reputation among you heroes!"

"Well, now we'll see how cranky he really is." She turned away again and started for the door. So far as she was concerned, she hadn't heard anything worth not going out to see to the boy. Even if he wasn't the main target, his connection to whatever the voice of the thorns was seeking made him a target, whatever he actually was.

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