The Princestrial (Meillur Only)

[Royal Genes]

Helena stared at Angemar, utterly dumbfounded. The Prince consort was at a complete lost for words. The Queen for the time being was too stunned to speak. There was for a moment complete silence until it was broken by a shout of

“Helena!”

The Princess looked over the railing of the bridge to find Theodosia on the other side of the canal, having not been able to squeeze through the crowd of nobles. Theodosia waved her hands to get the Princess’ attention.

“Helena! Things got a little… out of hand.”

Helena took a deep breath and then exhaled. “Thank. You. Theodosia.” The Princess looked between the prince and the soldier. “To be clear. There is no sports competition.”

[Caraintos]

Prince Angemar leaned closer to Princess Helena, dropping his voice back down to a whisper. "Are you sure?"

[Royal Genes]

Princess Helena stared at Angemar her mouth half open as she tried to process the audacity of this man. “Am I—?” Helena shook her head. “Of course I’m sure. There is no sports competition.”

[Colfico]

The chamberlain was about to simply nod, but then watched the Prince lean in and start whispering to the Princess, and decided to intervene, although not physically yet. Instead he decided to bring things back on track as much as he could

"well, as much fun as it sounds, I do believe that there are things that her majesty had planned, I do not believe it would be wise to delay it any longer with these hijinks."

Felix stared holes into the Prince, making it perfectly clear that he was indeed aware of his behavior.

[Caraintos]

"Hold on," the prince raised a finger to his competitor.

"In that case," Angemar said, going back to whispering to Helena, "hear me out: have you thought about adding one? It'd be pretty fun, and I'd probably win it, I mean look at me," The prince gestured to his abs. "I'm pretty fit."

[Royal Genes]

Helena felt her face burn with heat. It was probably a good thing she had dropped her fan. She was certain she would have snapped it in two at that moment. She opened her mouth to speak, but again before the words could form in her tongue she was interrupted. This time by a laugh. The Queen’s laugh. From her palanquin the Queen of Genes cackled hysterically, till the point there were tears.

When she finally stopped, wiping away a tear, she sat straight and boomed over the bridge. “One point… Safar!”

Princess Helena and Prince Antoine both spun to look up at the Queen, yelling “What?” In unison.

Antoine walked up to the palanquin, hissing in a whisper. “The boy didn’t even know what sport he was going to play.”

“Exactly.” shot back the Queen, erupting into a another round of laughter. When she finally caught her breath she spoke loud enough for them all to hear. “That young man in a half an hour turned our court, who have known nothing but silence , prayer and the wrath of God for forty years, from spectators into a force willing to charge down upon us like an army, and he didn’t even know what sport he was going to play!”

The Queen turned her attention to Felix. “Meanwhile you completely sidestepped the court, and fled it.” She clicked her tongue. “The court is important. They are our diplomats, our governors, advisors and most importantly, our leaders of industry. The strongest corporations in Genes are own by families that provide jobs to tens of thousands of our subjects. The Condés alone have kept the cosmetics industry in Genes strong for the last five decades.”

The Queen raised her voice. “How do you feel Conde?”

The elderly Prince de Conde lay on his back in the grass next to the canal. He lifted a thumb. “I feel alive Your Majesty.”

Helena gasped, rushing to the railing to see her other grandfather, through her father (called Condé as his name was also Antoine. It was a popular name). “Grandpère?”

“I’m fine darling!”

“Listen to Condé, Helena.” The Queen said. “Prince Angemar navigated the Royal Court with both both leadership and charm. That is required in a prince consort.”

The Count of Rapallo cheered and the rest of the pro-Safar faction did as well.

“That being said,” Queen Louise’s voice turned as dark and unforgiving as the vacuum of space, dropping till it was painfully quiet. “Never. Do. That. Again.”

The nobles all fell into bows, murmuring apologies and asserting that they had simply gotten carried away. The Marquis de Magnelli was sure to stay as far from the Queen as he could, hoping she wouldn’t see him. The Queen smiled and clapped her hands. “Excellent. Now shall we get back to things?”

[Colfico]

Felix raised an eyebrow at what took place in front of him, however, he recognized the reason why his competitor got the point this time. However he showed no sign of worry, or of shock, or even of being concerned about it, after all, it didn't really matter at the end of the day. If she ended up marrying the prince, then it would give him the possibility of avoiding such a marriage himself. He had not been given the period of courting he had wished for, and he already disliked the idea, the National Assembly was already fortunate enough that he had not refused outright, but they had insisted that he at least give it a shot, and he had, reluctantly and after much convincing, agreed.

However, now he saw the nature of the game, and could not help but find himself frowning somewhat in thought, he would need to change his game plan if he was going to have a good shot. He simply nodded, deciding to go along with it. The damage was done, and it was time to continue on with the event. Even if there was still a small part of him hoping that the prince would be chosen instead, and he could go about his life without being involved in a dynasty, although he knew that hope was quickly coming to a close.

[Caraintos]

Angemar smiled and bowed to the Queen. A lot had just transpired before him and he was still a bit confused as to why there wasn’t a sport competition and now he was very confused as to why there had been bandanas involved in he first place. But he had gotten a point that was good so he diedcisecvto take it and not ask further questions, which, now that he thought about, had worked out fir him so far.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Angemar looked to Princess Helena.

“So, Your Royal Highness, if not a sports competition, what did you have plan? Or do you have plan?”

[Royal Genes]

Helena took a deep breath and punched the bridge of her nose. She looked away from her splayed out grandpère and was greeted again with the sight of Angemar. She still couldn’t believe what had just happened. She wished that she could disagree with her grandmother, but if one looked at it one paper, ignoring the pure insanity that had sparked it, what he had done was a bit impressive.

“I literally said it. I wished to promenade, to just walk and talk.” Helena took another breath and started to regain control, returning to her normal self rather than the ball of shock and stress that Angemar had turned her into. She glared at the Count of Rapallo and the others. “I think it best if the court stay behind.”

“I will of course be accompanying,” said the Queen. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Princess Helena nodded and stepped off the bridge smoothing her dress as she started a leisurely stroll down the main path. The princess took in more deep breaths. Finally things were back on track.

[Caraintos]

Angemar nodded his head. He hadn’t known what promenade meant. Bur he could totally walk and talk, even at the same time. He started to follow the princess off the bridge but then noticed some on the floor board. He plucked up the magnificent fan that the princess had been carrying and had dropped when she’d saw him. Which was honestly kind of flattering. Angemar raced off the bridge and to Helena’s side and spinning so he stood in front of her.

“Hey, wait,”Angemar smiled offering the fan to her. “You dropped this.”

[Colfico]

Felix watched the exchange in front of him carefully, and purposely decided not to comment on the matter, and instead simply followed behind, from what he could gather, she likely would not wish to speak much, and so, unless she made it clear she wished to, he would not. He instead quietly observed the garden around him as he had earlier, although unlike before, his hand managed to stay away from the holster at his hip.

Instead he started an internal dialogue with himself, discussing many things, some of them mundane, and some of them not even related to the situation surrounding him, to someone observing, it would seem as if he were spaced out in deep thought, keeping a general awareness of his surroundings, but otherwise seemingly not paying serious attention to any one thing. However, the biggest thing on his mind, was whether he was doing the right thing or not by continuing as he was. After all, the Visari creeds dictated specifically that one should marry only for love, and by following this path, wasnt he defying that Creed? Yet the Visari Masters had not, at least not as far as he was aware, objected to his coming here. That alone gave him pause for thought, as he gave the creeds of the Order a deeper look through, but found no clear answer, clearly a read through of the creed was in order, perhaps if he could find a quiet moment. He had a copy with him, and it was clear that he needed to revisit it.

[Royal Genes]

Helena stopped short in front of Angemar and glare up at him, her face burning with heat. She took the fan and snapped it open, proceeding to fan herself and side stepping the prince and continuing down the path.

“Are you sure you don’t wish to procure a shirt Prince Angemar?”

The princess noted Felix’s silence and was grateful for it at the moment. Though she wondered what he was thinking. He seemed to be a very introspective kind of man. He seemed to have more thoughts than words, which left her to consider what lay in his head. She began formulating questions to ask.

[Caraintos]

Prince Angemar smiled and shook his head, spinning around again to walk along side the princess in the same direction.

“No,” said Angemar stretching his arms and curling a bicep. “I have to say, going shirtless is actually quite freeing. It’s too hot in Lajastine to do. And Caraintos is pretty cold in comparison. Genes has the perfect climate. It’s nice and warm. I should go shirtless more often don’t you think?”

[Colfico]

Felix couldnt help but notice the prince peacocking about, and showing off in front of him, however, so long as he did not do anything overly physical, there was no reason, yet, to intervene, however, he decided to keep an eye on the situation, before returning to his internal discussion, although now with some of his attention on the prince and princess. He could not help but feel that this mans priorities seemed...misplaced, he couldn't help but notice his enthusiasm for things that benefited himself and his bloodline, however, it seemed to be about his throne, rather than his country, and his people, and it was the ultimate goal of a monarch to protect the people and country they ruled, however, for the moment, he decided to keep this opinion to himself. He also felt no sympathy for the prince complaining about it being too cold or too hot, especially since it was Colficoan and Caraintonese soldiers who were on the front line fighting to liberate Lajastine, the man should be there helping in some capacity, maybe trying rally support, or inspire the people in Lajastine to form partisan groups against their Turandan occupiers.

Instead he turned his attention to the princess, whom was a bit harder to get a proper read on, however, it was clear that she did defy at least some of the expectations one might have of a princess. He knew that he would need to get to know her better if he were going to even attempt to understand her, and how she thought, however, it was clearly not the best time, especially with the Lajastinian prince around.

[Royal Genes]

Princess Helena let her eyes drift over Angemar’s body for a moment before she looked away, fluttering her fan to hide her face. The prince certainly was unabashed of his exposure. She entirely mind, but it felt odd to try and talk to him with him dressed, or rather undressed as such. She noticed his praise of Genes though. She had thought it a calculated form of flattery in the throne room, but now she didn’t think the prince was capable of calculating anything. Maybe he just genuinely liked her country.

“I find it a bit… distracting. And I don’t think it best for people to see their leaders eschewed from their attire.”

Queen Louise and Prince Antoine trailed after the princess, the prince and the soldier, twenty or so paces behind, staying just in ear shot but giving the trio some semblance of privacy. The rest of the court had started to disperse, clearly noting that the princess had been less than pleased. But still they had every desire to see the contest continue to unfold. They broke into groups on the far side of the canal and walked its edge trying to watch from a distance. The odds had turned again, Angemar now the favorite, though the Count of Savona argued that Skotnicki was bound to do better in the promenade, something which the Count of Rapallo wholeheartedly disagreed with.

[Caraintos]

Angemar smiled. She used a lot of words that he didn’t know the meaning of, eschewed couldn’t be a real word, but he saw her eyes, which he decided to pay more attention to thanks to his contenders’ observation in the throne room. He caught her looking at him. Looking at him, looking at him. He held his head high.

“Your people seemed to think otherwise. I got a ton of compliments.” Angemar flexed, posing like a classical statue. “One person’s liberation can inspire others. Plus,” Angemar winked at Helena, striking a new pose. “Some distractions are welcomed.”

Angemar grinned, dashing ahead a few feet to stand next to a tree or flowery bush and pose like a line of living statues as Helena and his competitor walked, letting them pass as if he were an exhibit in a museum before dashing ahead a few more feet and repeated the whole process over again.

[Colfico]

Felix watched the prince posing, and did his best to fight back a shake of the head, the display was ridiculous, how someone couldn't be embarrassed to act in such a way was beyond him, however that really was not for him to decide. Instead, he decided to distract himself from the display in front of him, and reached into his uniform jacket, and retrieved the book he had been reading earlier, and somehow, began reading it while he walked, his eyes darting from the words on the pages in front of him, to the path in front of him.

The books title was written in Deritan, and it was dated back to the mid 1800s, making the book more than two hundred years old, and it was in phenomenal shape for its age, courtesy of its preservation, and of several more copies of it, within the archives.

[Caraintos]

Angemar, one foot planted on a rock while he curled his arms and fingers into fists, like a explorer venturing off into the unknown, noticed that his contender had fallen completely silent and appeared to be reading a book. The older man had brought a book with him? Seriously? Books weren’t exactly Angemar’s style, but he figured that Helena, with her choices of words, liked books. Angemar jumped into a new pose, going into a hand stand.

“Princess,” Angemar asked, “what is your favorite part of the garden?”

[Royal Genes]

Princess Helena noticed Felix pull out the book she’d seen him reading when she had found him on the bridge. She recognized the language, the Genoise spoke and wrote in Deritain, on account of most of them being direct descendants of Deritains. Helena looked over at Felix, trying to decide if she should be annoyed that he seemed to be more interested in a book than in her, or relief that there was an opening in the conversation from Angemar, who seemed more interested in himself than in her.

She was about to open her mouth when, not for the first time that day she was stopped by someone else speaking before her. She looked to glare at Angemar then gasped in surprise when she saw him upside down. Behind her Queen Louise laughed. Prince Antoine didn’t.

“Um,” Helena kept walking, tearing her eyes away. “The farmstead. I’ll show it to you later,” she got out quickly. She turned back to Felix. “What are you reading?”

[Colfico]

Felix looked up from his book when he heard the princess speak, apparently his patience had paid off. He smiled and said "It is one of my favorites, it is the Count of Monte Cristo, an original publication, I usually keep it with me on such adventures as the one I am on now."

He could not help but glance at the prince for a moment, but swiftly returned his attention to the princess, and carefully marked his place in the book with a small, simple wooden place marker, before he offered it to her and said "It is not a fake" His own green eyes met hers for a moment, wondering for but a moment what she might be thinking, although he did have a few guesses.

[Royal Genes]

Princess Helena met his gaze, her own eyes a deep dark brown. The book’s name didn’t ring any particular bells. Her great-grandfather had been more interested in the Holy Bible and psalms, and her grandparents in scientific journals. The Count of Monte Cristo struck as neither. History perhaps? “So you think this to be an adventure?” asked the princess with a smile.

[Colfico]

The chamberlain smiled and said "Yes, I am here seeing a new country, filled with new, food, sounds and sights, new things to learn, and people to meet." he then said "And now I am here competing in this event too, to be frank, if you asked me five months ago if I would be doing something like this, I would not have believed you, although at this point, the unexpected happening is par for the course, it has been one unexpected adventure after another since I left the Temple on my Peacekeepers Pilgrimage."

However, the book itself was not a nonfiction book, but rather it was a fictional book, about the adventure of a man in the Mediterranean during the early 19th century, it was a story he loved very much.

[Caraintos]

Angemar frowned as the princess slid past his question and did the very think he hoped to avoid. Angemar leg himself fall backwards onto the grass, rolling up into his elbows and then his palms, smithing launching himself up to his feet, dashing down the garden’s stone pathway to catch back up to the princess and his competitor.

“I like adventures,” Angemar added. “Who couldn’t say this is one?” He swept his hand over the gardens around them. “Stunning sights.” He rolled his shoulders with a smirk, showing off his back to the princess, “dashing hero,” he spun, walking backwards in front of Helena, and bowing, “and the most beautiful of princesses.”

[Royal Genes]

Angemar was persistent, Helena had to give him that. And she started to take his flattery differently now. Though flattery could only get someone so far.

“Life is full of unexpected events. The possibilities of what one has to deal with is an extensive list. They can range from small matters to the fate of millions, a simp misrepresentation to diplomatic faux pas to full blown war. As future Queen I have been training my entire life to navigate those possibilities whatever they may be, calmly and with wisdom, decisiveness and grace.”

“I expect,” continued Helena, “similar attributes in a consort. Does that sound like your Lajaz heroes or your Count of Monte Cristo?”

[Colfico]

The chamberlain listened to them both, the story of the Count was...more complicated than that, and really had little to do with international politics, instead having more to do with personal issues. However he had to resist the urge to make a comment on the actual 'heroism' of the Lajastinian prince in front of him, even though he knew he very well could, instead he decided it was probably best not to, after all, it was an easy, cheap shot to make at the prince.

He thought for a moment, he could list his experiences both in the military, and with governmental matters as chamberlain, but he decided not to, if the Princess was the woman he thought she was, she likely already knew all about it, instead he made a simple statement in response.

"A leader is not necessarily a hero, a leader must be prepared to do what is necessary to protect those whom entrust them to lead, and to ensure their well being. Sometimes that entails doing things of extreme mundane and boring nature, and other times it can mean simply taking a chance, and rolling the dice when there is no other options left."

He made the last statement from experience, and his tone demonstrated as much, there was no doubt in his voice to be found. There had been many situations during the civil war where his decisions resembled gambling as much as they did logic, such was simply the nature of the war.