Dinah was quickly awoken and told to pack. She began gathering various herbs and clothes. She carefully picked several masks and books. When she opened her room she was great by the others being ushered in.

After the events unfolded she took a moment to take in what had happened. Then she followed up Herlewin's comments with her own.

"So... In addition to what he asked, I don't know anyone of you... other than the drunken pervert who we caught going through Sophie's things. Like why is he here? Was there a mix up?"

Mitra conspicuously placed herself between her charges and the strangers that had congregated in the forest outside of Emeldia's capital, arms crossed. As some of the group took turns speaking, the reaver felt her knuckles tighten. It was certainly a strange situation they'd been thrust into, with even stranger company, and nobody had been in a particularly good mood to begin with. To make matters worse, the possibility of a traitor being amidst the party weighed heavily on her mind. With her temper rapidly on the rise, Mitra turned her attention to Herlewin.

"If you ever try to make a demand like that again, performer, it's not your clogs that'll get cleaned. The fact that you're even here is cause enough for suspicion." She sneered, fixing the young man with a fierce glare. "There's no evidence that supernatural or subversive methods were used to locate Prince Tobias in the village. The prince's guardian knight owned a golden wyvern. Amelia, Jax, and myself were able to find him just by asking around about a giant, flying lizard, and a band of opportunistic marauders would have had little trouble doing the same. As for Imaldor..."

Mitra sighed and cast her gaze absently to the ground. "Well, you heard the queen. There was likely a spy in the court, perhaps many. I'd bet the Sun that this is the work of the same person or organization behind Prince Mathias's assassination. So much royalty all in one place... The city must have been an irresistible mark. As for how the prince and princess were located, perhaps all it took was a few choice pieces of information. However, it would be prudent to assume that we're being tracked using divination. Queen Leah wasn't the only seer in Imaldor."

Mitra uncrossed her arms and placed a hand on her hip. Her appraisal of the situation concluded, she finally addressed the group as a whole. "We can debate these points later. In the mean time, we need to decide our next move quickly." The young woman looked at Dinah and Sophie as she spoke, her eyes carrying a hint of concern. "I will defer to Princess Amelia's decision in this matter, but I am of the opinion that we should flee southwest and attempt to reach Remora.

Tobias stayed to the side as the group began to question the intentions of their journey and the general lack of information that they had been provided thus far. Pulling his hood lower over his face, he looked back and forth between each individual as they spoke. He had to admit, the archer certainly had a point, even if he was largely out of line by speaking to his sister so brashly. In truth, he liked it; growing up in the palace there were so few people who spoke so openly to the imperial children.

He turned to Amelia expectantly, wondering what she would say in response to the group’s demands, but Mitra swiftly stepped in to put everyone in their place, while still answering the bulk of everyone’s questions. The prince arched an eyebrow, impressed with how she had summed everything up so concisely. Though it troubled the prince to think that there were traitors in the Emeldian royal court.

Amelia sighed. Once again, Mitra had saved her hide.

“And the…cleric?” Amelia looked in the direction of Sophie who had nodded in the direction of Barrett.

Sophie eyed the man with an air of skepticism in the man’s title. She had never met a dedicate of the Holy Light who was so...repulsive? Foul? Unsavoury? The list could quite well go on. She had only briefly met the Lady Mitra the day before, but she certainly found her quite bossy. Sophie’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she considered glaring at the Qulmari woman, but then she focused on the young prince standing behind her. Remembering how she had essentially taken on a role of mentorship for the young practitioner of magic, she held her tongue; for the moment at least.

“Ah yes,” replied Amelia “Introductions are in order. Barrett is a cleric we met on our way to Imdalor, he graciously helped us when bandits attacked the village” The princess had to grit her teeth as she said ‘graciously’ before she continued to the rest of the group “Likewise, Helle and Herlewin came to our aid as we fought the bandits. Sir Jax, is a knight of Alvaris who joined me in my quest for my brother with Lady Mitra. Lastly, I am the Imperial Princess Amelia, and this is my brother the Imperial Crown Prince Tobias the second. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance” she said to Dinah and then looked to Sophie expectantly.

Still skeptical of the ‘cleric’, Sophie looked at Dinah and shrugged. “Ma name is Sophie” she said with a rustic accent that shocked the ears of Amelia, Toby and Mitra who had heard her spoke in a very aristocratic voice the day before. “This here be Dinah. Ah canna say ah trust yeh cleric, but ma nan and pa saw fit tae join ye an’ ah’ll dou wit they ask o’ me”

“Very well” replied Amelia still confused about what she believed to be a sudden change in the princess of Emeldia “Alright” she said turning to address the group “I trust in Mitra’s counsel; we should head south to Remora. If the Light is favourable, we may gain an audience with the Archduchess.” She looked up at the sky, taking note that it was quickly becoming brighter as twilight faded into the morning.

“We must hurry and make headway while we can” she said “The King and Queen will surely catch up with us shortly”



The Sage-King smiled a sad smile as he looked at the young man who had entered his study. As Lord Ambergard spoke, he had confirmed his greatest fears true; it was his own sons who had plotted his demise. His wife had been having frightful dreams, but her scrying had revealed no such treachery. They had both hoped that she had been wrong, but in the end, she never was. The future rarely unveiled itself to the Queen, and when it did, often in riddles unable to be deciphered, but this had been foretold quite clearly. It had happened only twice before, the arrival of the Alvarisian delegation at the gates of Imdalor and the whereabouts of his granddaughter Sophie.

“I fear you are right, Lord Tristan” spoke King Edmund in a low voice as he stood up from his desk “Though I fear you have already sealed your fate” Just as he spoke, the doors to his chambers opened once more as armed guards and three men burst into the room as if expecting to interrupt something about to happen. Prince Caleb stood at the front of the group, while Prince Lucius and Prince Warwick stood on either side. Prince Caleb looked about the dimly lit room as if expecting to see something until his eyes fell on the King Edmund and Lord Tristan. His expression wavered from annoyance to s****.

“Let me assume” began the king “Promise a young lord great power” he raised one finger “Have the young lord assassinate the king” he raised a second finger “Have the young lord arrested and hung for said assassination” he raised a third finger. He stroked his beard with a bemused expression “All this, so that you can be king yourself, Caleb? Come now, I raised you better than this.” He turned to his other two sons “All of you”

“You are a fool, father!” Snapped Caleb “Can’t you see? You have made your bed with the enemy! There are forces at play greater than you or I! Greater than Emeldia! You’re stuck in the ways of old, but you put us all at risk in doing so. I must sit upon the throne to guide our people to safety in the coming times of turbulence.”

“Speak clearly, boy!” commanded the King “Say what you wish to say!”

“No Torbican shall sit upon the imperial throne of Alvaris!” exclaimed Prince Caleb.

“Are you so foolhardy so as to let your own prejudices blind your judgement!? You dare to betray the imperial dynasty?!” roared the Sage-King.

If the Light could smile, then this night, it had smiled on Barrett Ansgot.

He had spent the day fiddling with the prize of yesternight’s escapade; as expedient as it would have been to have them identified at one of Emeldia’s various specialty shops, he couldn’t risk connecting himself to the spectacles in the self-same city in which he had… acquired them. Nonetheless, he had noticed that his pair of staves gave off a distinctive – albeit faint – glow whenever he looked at them through the lenses. If this was a device useful for identifying magical items, as this observation led him to believe, then it was the perfect tool to facilitate the further acquiring of interesting toys. He just might have to start a collection.

Barrett was a man of simple taste, and such a gift – the unmatched cunning that had allowed him to get away with the glasses – was enough to render him content for at least a few days. But as he walked silently in the line of somber figures that made their way through the underground tunnels of Emeldia, he couldn’t help but smile. Prior to this moment, the imperial-laden princess had tolerated him. Desperate times, desperate measures and all. It was likely, however, that had they spent any more time in the city, she would have realized that there were surely a handful of more pleasant clerics whose services she might engage. Or who – darkness take them – would be willing to accompany her and her sorry lot free of charge as fulfilment of their sworn duty to all things lovely and good. Pfeh.

But now, she needed him. No longer could the warm smiles of strangers be trusted. There was treason afoot; behind every smile a plot, behind every back a dagger. But Barrett Ansgot was a known quantity. She hated him, he wanted to rob her blind. They understood each other. Therefore, at present, he was a more prudent engagement than any other cleric on the face of the whole darkened earth. It was a beautiful thing. There was little more a con man could wish for than to be needed, and the lauded status had practically fallen into Barrett’s lap.

Truly, Barrett Ansgot was a blessed man.

***

“Aye, it was naught be the sworn duty of His Holiness Barrett Lightborn, Favoured of the Dawn, Apostle of Apogee, Banisher of Shadows, Lustrous Giver of Life, etc., etc., may the Sun never set on His Name, to aid the poor princess in her hour of need,” Barrett saw fit to add to his introduction after Amelia had finished speaking. He smiled at the reaver as he continued: “But seeing as we are all friends here, you may address me using only two or three titles at once. No need to be formal.”

“I will follow her blessed highness wherever she sees fit to lead us. And should any of your souls be wearied and burdened by the gravity of this journey on which we embark, I offer solace in the reminder that I will always accept donations to the glory of the Light, no matter the hour.”

Mitra’s glare was met with Herlewin’s own, as the boy took every ounce of ire he’d built up overnight and poured it back at her through his eye sockets. The scowl softened into simple disappointment, however, when the reaver’s discourse shifted away from menacing implications and on to... addressing his concerns anyways! By the Light! Herlewin had looked up to Mitra as one of the skilled leaders of the party, but here she was getting her knickers in a twist when the group clearly didn't have a destination before she suggested one. If the girl was going to throw (uncomfortably believable) death threats at his head, he’d really prefer she give him a better story to tell in the afterlife than asking a question she meant to answer in the end.

As for the less-familiar companions joining their ranks, Herlewin had trouble getting a read on any of them. Sophie and her masked friend were suspicious, of course - they’d met up with the group before news of the royals’ arrival in Emeldia could have trickled down from the palace - but that wasn’t grounds for an accusation on its own. Barrett for his part was now apparently a permanent fixture, bringing his usual insufferable self as sole contribution to their cause, but the cleric’s behavior was admittedly relieving in its own way: at this point it’d be fishier if he wasn’t irresistibly drawn to being a pompous numbskull.

All-in-all, the archer could trust only Jax and the imperial siblings themselves for the moment, and Amelia in particular he could trust to lead the group head-long into danger if past experiences were any indication.

“If ye’ll simmer just a minute, princess, ‘n if I ain’t oversteppin’ the vast ‘n belevonent bound’ries of her Grand Impetuoussness’ grace” - he grimaced at Mitra - “I’d rather not have ‘ny more banditfolk sneak under our noses. A moment n’ I’ll be back down.”

And at that the acrobat shot his hook towards the forest canopy and scampered upwards, a routine he’d practiced a hundred times before. If his Keen Eye picked anything out from this vantage point, he’d be sure to inform the others.

"If you had the spine to rule this nation Lord Caleb, perhaps it would have been you in this room instead of I." Tristan snapped. This disgrace would have more than done his house in, it would have shamed his nation further.

"The weight of the crown will snap your neck, you are unfit to rule." If Tristian didn't break it first. "In any case, why waste our breath speaking further. I need not give you monologue practice for when you speak to your people- No, you'll just delegate that to another."

Tristan had at least prepared for the possibility of needing to escape. He had traveled with a satchel bag, full of more than a few wonderful surprises if someone had actually caught him. So he more than just reached for it, he lobbed the entire load ahead of him. With a hand extended he focused his magical might upon it. He'd detonate the entire load.

"Sage-King. I am the master of my fate."

Active Skill: Fiery Fingers – A red mage can start small fires or melt certain objects without the use of a tome. (3 turn cooldown)
OOC: Expending Mine, Bomb, Oil for something.
Sorry for the wait.