The Princestrial (Meillur Only)

[Colfico]

He nodded, and without hesitation, he spoke.

“On the matter of Lady Theodosia, I cannot help but feel that she is being treated as…back up plan in all of this, if I am the one to loose this…contest, I ask that she not be forced to take my hand. If she is willing and does so of her own accord, then that is a different matter, however, otherwise I simply cannot accept her hand, I would rather leave here empty handed than with the hand of a fiancé who love I have not earned.”

He knew that there always the possibility that this might be subverted, so he decided to put an end to any such plans where they lay.

“It is a matter of importance to me, as to do anything else would be a violation of the Visari Codes, and if I am asked to choose between being obedient to a Queen, and following the Code, then I am afraid that I cannot compromise on what is a fundamental belief to me.”

[Royal Genes]

Queen Louise listen with an expressionless mask on her face. She nodded slowly as he finished speaking. She looked over at her granddaughter and nodded. She could not imagine how Queen Adriana dealt with this man when it came to his words. No wonder the Colficoan monarchy was so weak.

“Your words are noted.” The Queen said with a smile. “I shall see you all at breakfast.”

With that the Queen waved at the trio as the bearers turned the palanquin around and began marching down the path back towards the palace. Prince Antoine lingered for a moment, looking between Prince Angemar and Commander Skotnicki, but his eyes ultimately fell on his granddaughter.

“You should get some rest as well Helena. I think you will require it.” With that the prince consort turned and followed after his wife, leaving behind the footmen.

[Colfico]

Felix nodded, although he carefully noted the vagueness of her response, he would have to tread carefully, and he would stand his ground if he had to in the morning, however, for now it seemed he would have a time to rest before the mornings trials.

He ga e the Queen a short bow, before turni my to follow the servant who would lead him to his room. He knew he had likely drawn unwanted attention from the Queen with his request, so he would have to be careful with his next few decisions.

[Caraintos]

Prince Angemar watched the exchange between his competitor and the Queen, and not following along, instead looked at Helena. He took her hand into his and bowed to her. “It was really nice to meet you, Your Royal Highness. I look forward to seeing you again, and hearing you talk about agriculture,” the prince said the word slowly trying to remember how to say it correctly.

Angemar hesitated for a moment, then, deciding not to think too hard about it, all the better fit him, he kissed Helena. It was not a real kiss, not like he might have wanted. It was quick, gentle kiss on her cheek, stolen in a pair of seconds. He pulled away quickly with a grin and a wink. “Goodnight, princess,” Angemar said as he followed after the footman to his room.

[Royal Genes]

Helena blushed as she felt Angemar’s lips against her cheek, even if it lasted only a second. The words didn’t find their way to her mouth in time before he was gone, following Jean-Guy out of the garden. Helena spun and watched them both leave. Neither one of them was quite what she had expected. She smiled, flicking open her fan and strolling deeper into the garden as the sky grew dark. Tomorrow would be interesting.

Felix and Angemar were lead back into the palace. They passed under the grand Valois Gate back into the central courtyard, cleared of nobles and bandana sells men alike. Instead of heading into the main palace, which was where the governance of the country took place and royal family lived, they directed them to the Eastern Wing, a one story curve that formed the eastern side of the central courtyard. It was painted a bright baby blue and lined with a colonnade.

The rooms themselves were nice, though modest by royal standards with a medium bed, sofa, low ceiling, a dressing room, bathroom, water closet and a desk. They sat right next to one another, it had been decided to keep the contestants close so that they could more easily be watched by the their audience, the Court. At their doors both contests found gifts.

Felix’s door had a basket with a bundle of sandalwood, a fountain pen lined with gold among others including several finely made Genoise suits, all with dark forest green ties and handkerchiefs, and a luxury watch from the Count of Savona.

Angemar’s door had a basket filed with cookies, several boutiques of flowers, miniature portraits of the Lady Begromo, Lady Marianna di Sugarella and Lady Beatrice dei Fratiborro, along with several ibori all in shades of sunset orange from the Count of Rapallo.

[Colfico]

Felix walked inside his room, bringing his gifts in with him. he had certainly slept in worse places, his memory drifted to those terrible nights he spent in the swamps of the river delta during the war, barely getting any sleep for fear of a loyalist soldier slitting his, or his comrades throats in their sleep. He looked at the gifts laid out in front of him and smiled, and said a silent thank you to those who had given them, before picking up the watch and analyzing it, and carefully, and with great finesse, placing it on his wrist, and closing the band around it, and nodded in satisfaction at the way it fit. He then turned his attention to the fountain pen, his eyes tracing the golden lining like one would a form of art, of the cuts of a diamond.

He noticed that his suitcase of clothes was already here, and nodded, he was glad to have brought it, it would have been unfortunate for him to have to rely on formal clothes alone.

However, he turned his attention to preparing to rest, and so he unbuttoned the jacket of his uniform, and carefully slid it off, and hung it on the chair of the desk, revealing the white button up shirt that was worn under the forest green jacket of the uniform, and then he unbuttoned it as well, and hung it side by side with the jacket in a similar way, revealing his torso, shoulders and arms, all of which had been tempered by decades of Visari training, military service, and war, while not as refined and artistically crafted as a body builder, there was nothing that did not need to be there either, a body built for stamina, endurance and speed, rather than raw strength. He then removed his shoes and socks, and placed them besides the bed, neatly sitting next to each other, with the socks laying inside each shoe.

He then opened his suitcase, and removed from it a simple, felt training pad, and laid it flat on the floor of the room, careful to give enough space away from all of the furniture. He then stood in the very middle of it, and took a stance, before he began to move with extreme grace, as he went through the motions of a Visari martial art, his motions quick and fluid in equal motion as he went through each motion which the precision and expertise that only someone who had practiced it for decades could.

[Caraintos]

Angemar smiled as he grabbed the gifts and gathered them up in his arms and stepped into his room. They were nice. Angemar had been born into the lap of luxury, though Lajaz standard of finery was nowhere near to match that of the opulent Genoise. Angemar had also been forced to live in crammed lodging on boats when Lajastine fell and he and his family had to stay in Caraintos before his sister opened the Tasario Palace doors to them.

Taking a bite of a cookie, Angemar set the flowers and other gifts down. He sat on the bed and tugged off his boots and trousers and then pulled off his ibori, revealing a thick head of glossy black hair that fell in short wavy curls. Running his hands through his hair, the prince admired himself in the mirror. Angemar was well built, and over time had shaped his natural swimmer’s body into a carefully curated piece of art. His cocoa brown skin was relatively unblemished. He had a thin scar that ran the length of his right foot from a horse-riding incident.

Angemar went to his bags and began pulling out his clothes, thinking of what he would wear to breakfast. After tossing several things aside he selected an outfit and moved on to bathing, and his beauty regimen, cleansing himself of the day rigorously and hydrating. Satisfied the Prince fell back onto his bed, shutting his eyes.

[Royal Genes]

The sun rose over the Summer Palace and with it came to life. As dawn crested, the palace staff swarmed the grounds and halls. Hundreds of maids, butlers, footmen, and more, all dressed in pristine white uniforms, were in charge of making sure the massive palatial estate was kept to look its best, particularly with their guests. Gardeners trimmed and watered and weeded the grounds while the kitchens were well on their way to making meals.

Most of the court wouldn’t wake till hours later, but as the sun steadily rose more and more members of the royal family got up. Queen Louise found her husband already dressed as she got out of bed. Antoine had always been an early riser. He waved in a maid who entered wordless crating a tray of food and placed it in a miniature table for the Queen to dine on while staying in bed. She looked up at her husband.

“You’re going to breakfast with them?”

“Of course. One of us needs to keep an eye on them and you need time to cleanse your bias.”

“I am not biased.”

“You are.”

The Queen quirked her lips. She had been… displeased by Felix’s display in the gardens. She had been ready take Helena and Angemar to a chapel then and there and ship the chamberlain back to Queen Adriana.

“Maybe I am, but you are no better.”

“I just don’t want our Great-grandchildren to be idiots.”

“At worse they’d be half idiot,” said the Queen with a laugh. “Half-wits if you will.”

“That’s not funny,”. Prince Antoine said with a smile creeping up his lips.

“It so is and you know it. Now, come back to bed. If I am to miss the show, so are you. Besides, I already have Eyasu as our spy. I shall be curious as to what he reports back. If they can survive breakfast everything else shall seem easy.”

Jean-Claude had returned last night to Felix’s with a tray of a platter of rice with tomatoes, onions, scotch bonnets and chili peppers along with a sweet tomato and bean sauce and chicken smothered in a creamy peanut sauce with dill and a mixed variety of spices. He had quietly deposited the evening meal before leaving again. Jean-Guy had returned with the same dish, but for the Lajaz prince sleeping and had decided to leave him be.

Now they returned, and standing outside of the two candidates doors they rung small but sharp bells to wake them.

[Colfico]

Felix opened his eyes as he heard the bell ring, he had already awoken earlier, and had been undergoing his morning meditation when the servant had come to the door. The Visari promptly took a quick shower, and, in a change of pace, dressed himself in one of the Genoise suits that had been given to him as a gift. He inspected himself in the mirror briefly, sighing s he noticed how much less it hid his figure than his uniform had, however, even he had to admit it looked good. He straightened it before nodding, and making his way to the door, notably leaving his blade and handgun behind in the room, and opened it. He carried with him the dishes of the nights meal, which he had enjoyed greatly, and said “Please be sure to give the chef my gratitude, it was excellent”

He then said “I am ready to go.”

He already knew that he likely had an up hill battle to face at breakfast, he knew that the Queen had likely not been pleased with what was likely considered an outburst. However, he was determined, and a Visari that was determined was not scared off just because the odds were not in his favor.

[Caraintos]

Angemar rolled in bed as he heard the servants ring the bells. He had had a strange dream where he and Helena had been chased by a herd of half-horse half tiger creatures into the ocean. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign. He yawned and stretched as he sat up in the bed. Awake, he showered, washed his face and hair and rubbing a thin layer of aloe vera over his body.

Traditionally the Lajaz wore several layers of linen in order to insulate from the extreme hot and cold of their arid climate, though as they had been scattered to different countries and climates they had to adapt. Loose long pants, a long sleeve shirt and a embroidered vest, along with the ibori were a sure way to point out most Lajaz men across the continent.

Angemar decide he would adapt to the climate of both Genes itself and its people. He then dressed, pulling on a pair of loose white trousers, held in place with a orange silk belt and an open short white vest with gold embroidery in simple looping lined that left most of his upper body on display. He then put on one of the new iboris that had been given to him as a gift, carefully wrapping the fabric to cover his hair and frame his face.

Angemar’s stomach growled, he shouldn’t have missed dinner last night, but at least he had built up an appetite. He went to his mirror, admiring himself once again and then the prince stepped out of his room with a bright smile, ready to conquer the day and win Helena’s heart. “Ready!” Angemar said to the footman. He noticed his competition was also up and dressed and ready to depart. Angemar waved with a smile. “Morning!”

[Royal Genes]

Jean-Claude and Jean-Guy both bowed to their respective candidates.

“Her Royal Highness has invited you to break fast with her and the Petite Maison, please follow us.”

With another bow the two footmen turned and lead the two would be consorts across the central courtyard and into the main palace. They went through a gallery lined with portraits of queens and kings past: the meek Queen Juliana with her husband at her side, the warrior Frederick I looking victorious, the beloved Queen Adela in her old age like a heavenly grandmother, the playboy Frederick II with a smile on his face and the stern Frederick III scowling down at all those who entered. There were others. The three weak Emanuels and the unfortunate Charles, but they had ruled as sovereign princes and were typically left out of the royal canon.

They reached the grand staircase and went up two floor before turning down a small hallway that seemed to lead to a dead end. But Jean-Claude stood next to one of the sides and whispered something into the wall. A second later there were several clicks and a small secret door on the opposite side opened next to Jean-Guy.

“Right this way gentlemen.” The footmen lead them up a few more steps, turned down two more halls before stopping before a pale yellow door with gold engravings of cherubs. Behind the door one could hear a clamor of voices all talking over one another. The two footmen nodded towards the door. “Right through there.”

[Colfico]

Felix smiled at the prince and said “Good morning and good spirits.”

He then nodded to the servant, and followed him, all the while admiring the architecture and art around him, analyzing each detail the best he could while on the move. He watched a secret door open, and found himself noticing that this was the second time in less than twenty four hours h had he told to go through one. The Genoise certainly had a certain fascination with them.

He nodded and went through, not quite sure what was going on, but he knew better now than to take it at face value.

[Caraintos]

Prince Angemar smiled and followed after the footman. He quickly realized just how large the Genoise palace was. He didn’t think the Tasario was nearly as large. He stared wide eyed as the place seemed to go on and one forever, he was actually excited when they reached the door. He was mildly worried by all the noise. And a small part him wondered if this was another test. His stomach told those parts of him to shut up and go towards food, so he followed in after his contender, eager for breakfast.

[Royal Genes]

The Petite Maison was the name given to the Valois' collection of younger members of the dynasty or otherwise unmarried group. This, technically, included everyone from the youngest of the Queen's grandchildren to her unmarried brothers. And they ate breakfast together in the Yellow Dining room on the north side of the palace. It was a long, but relatively small room painted in yellow and lined with gold engravings, a line of tall windows looking out over the field of fountains that lined the front face of the Summer Palace. Not that any of the people inside were interested in the view. Servants lined the room, standing still as statues, only moving to refill drinks or otherwise fulfil a wish of a royal.

At the long table, there were fifteen chairs were set around it. A baker's dozen of those were already filled with Princess Helena and her siblings and cousins. Hence the noise. Helena sat at the head of the table, wearing a simple teal dress, her cornrow braids pulled into a ponytail with yellow trumpet flowers in her hair. The seats directly to her right and left were left empty. Along the right sat her brothers and sister and three of her cousins. Along the left sat Theodosia, her brother, and sister, and Helena's aunt, while opposite of Helena sat Prince Eyasu of Genes, eldest nephew of the queen.

The various attendees were speaking quickly and all at once as servants placed down glasses rimmed with gold of orange, apple and pineapple juice.

"I can't wait to meet them," said one.

"This whole thing is bloody ridiculous."

"I can't believe grandpa went through this."

"I cant believe grandmama did."

"Do we have to wait for them? They are taking forever."

"Be patient."

"You be patient."

"Are they handsome?"

"I heard one of them caused a riot in the central courtyard."

"Can you please just pick one and be done with it?"

"Shh, they're here."

There was a lull in the conversation as they all turned to the door as the prince and soldier stepped inside. Helena smiled and rose from her seat. "Ah, gentlemen, welcome. We were just about to start breakfast." She gestured to the seats on either side of her. "Please, join us, come sit next to me."

[Colfico]

Felix observed the attendees for a moment as he entered the room, that they were already here, and had already been ready for some time already gave him cause for suspicion, however he did not let it show, instead, he gave a simple smile and took one of the seats offered.

“Good morning, and good spirits everyone.”

The Chamberlain did not recognize most of the people that were in the room, so he could not place any names, however, he was sure that was a problem that would be resolved soon.

[Caraintos]

Angemar blinked as he stepped into the room, clear even to him that they’d arrived in the midst of a conversation about him and his fellow competitor, though it was hard to follow more than that. He didn’t know who was who, but he agreed with the one who seemed the most ready to eat. He smiled and waved as he walked over to the other empty seat next to Helena.

“Good morning everyone.” said Angemar. He bowed to Helena and brought her hand up to his lips to kiss it softly. “Especially to you, Your Royal Highness.”

[Royal Genes]

Next to Angemar, Helena’s brothers looked at each other and made a gagging motion to each other, much to the annoyance of their other sister, a petite young woman sandwiched between them. She grabbed a cloth napkin, monogrammed with a V for Valois and hit the two of them.

“Cut it out!” She whined before curling back into her seat. Helena ignored them, smiling at Angemar as he kissed her hand.

“Good morning to you too gentlemen.” Helena looked over at Felix, smiling as she looked at his clothes and sat back down. “You clean up very nicely commander.”

With all the expected attendees for breakfast there, one of the butlers rung a bell. One of the maids pulled a lever and the floor slide back, pulling all the participants back from the table as it descended into the floor, disappearing a pair of secret doors with the emblem of the Valois, a large black peacock shut over it. Seconds later the doors opened and the massive table rose up from the floor as quickly as it had descended, though now the table was covered with platters of food. Each person had a plate of fried yams, slices of plantains and potato frittatas with Condé cheese, with large plates of Deritain pastries in the center: samosas, brioches, jam filled overturns and cheese danishes, along with shots of espresso and bowls of fruits: mangoes, pineapples, pawpaw, star apples and melons.

“Please, eat,” said Helena, “I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

[Caraintos]

Angemar chose to ignore the mocking of the his affections for Helena as he took his seat, but if he’d wanted to all thoughts were gone as he watched the table disappear and then repair covered in a spread of delicious smelling food. He stared at Helena in surprise as she seemed to not have notice the phenomenon in the slightest.

“Uh, princess,” Angemar whispered to Helena, “are you aware that your dining table is magic?”

[Royal Genes]

Helena pursed her lips as she forced back a laugh. “It’s not magical,” said Helena as if she were giving lessons to schoolchildren. “It’s mechanical. We are located right above the kitchens. A series of gears and pulleys lower the table down there and the staff place the food on it and then it lifts back up. It’s much faster than having them carry all the food from the kitchen up to here.”

[Colfico]

The chamberlain smiled, and though faint, he blushed slightly at the comment, and said "Thank you, some of the audience yesterday was very kind to gift me a few sets of clothes similar to this, it wouldve been rude of me not to wear it after being shown such generosity." while noticing the behavior of the attendees across from him, although he paid it no real mind.

He watched the mechanisms at works and simply smiled, it was intriguing, but he was a mused by the prince next to him calling it magic, which it wasnt, in fact, if his understanding was correct, the technology was actually relatively simple.

"It reminds me of the pictures of hydraulic lifts that were often used at music concerts before the collapse, If I had to guess, the technology used in this system is not far off from those systems as far as how it functions."

However, before he started eating, he clasped his hands in front of him, and closed his eyes, as if he were going to pray, and said a simple set of words.

"Thank you for the food."

[Royal Genes]

Helena smiled at Felix, nodding. “That’s actually where the idea came from. Music and theatres with trap doors. This system is in fact over a hundred years old, making it well before the collapse, it was part of the original palace.”

[Caraintos]

Angemar frowned. He didn’t entirely understand, but he got that it was some time of machine. He also noticed how Helena kept smiling at the older man. He looked down at his food and started eating. Maybe that dream had been a bad sign.

“The food looks delicious. Is this what the Genoise typically have for breakfast? It’s very different from Lajaz food.”

[Colfico]

Felix opened his eyes, and lowered his hands before he looked her in the eyes as he spoke, a hard to break habit he had formed from both the Visari Order, and his time in the military, however, he spoke genuinely.

"Very impressive, there used to be a few stadiums with a similar system in Colfico, but unfortunately, most of them were destroyed, but the three that remain have been carefully preserved using blueprints from the archives, its actually a huge spot of pride for the Visari Order, as it helps to maintain two of the most advanced stadiums in Colfico, which otherwise may have fallen into disrepair."

He took a bite of his food, and hid did nothing to hide that he liked the food, a look of satisfaction showing clearly on his face.

[Royal Genes]

“You should pick that one,” said the younger of Helena’s brothers. “He is boring like you.” He spoke nonchalantly as he stabbed a piece of fruit with his fork.

“I am not boring,” said Helena. She looked back at Felix. “That is my brother, Gitte. He is the baby,” she shot a look back at the younger prince, who was just sixteen. “And he still acts like one.” Gitte stuck his tongue out at her as he bit into some mango. Helena rolled her eyes before continuing, “I think that is quite interesting. A lot of blue prints have had to be redone in Genes many of the originals were lost in fires. It’s important to preserve certain things cause it would be near impossible to fix them if they were lost too.”

“Yes, it’s quite a popular dish,” said the older of Helena’s brothers, directing his attention to Angemar.

“That’s my other brother, Frederick,” Helena said, “not to be confused with the half a dozen other Fredericks our family has.”

Frederick shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a popular name.” He nodded his head to the far end of the
tanle to another young man. “Thats our cousin Frederick. We call him Rigo. Say hi, Rigo.”

Rigo leaned forward and waved. “Hi.”

[Caraintos]

Angemar bit into a piece of yam and let out a low moan of delight. He ate as he tried to follow the ping pong game that was conversation as Helena introduced her siblings and one of her apparent limitless supply of cousins. He waved and smiled between bites and sipping from a glass of juice. The food not only looked and smelled delicious, but it was delicious.

“It’s nice to meet you,” said Angemar, though he wasn’t sure he liked Gitte with his comment. “The food is great.”