The Yacht and the King (Meillur Only)

[Greater Monera]

King Mark Higgens has been king for a long time, ever since he had become of age, the nation had been his responsibility. He was well aware of the fact that he was the last of his line, and that he needed to do something about it, so he had. He had arranged a royal ball, to be carried out aboard his massive personal yacht. The official reason for the ball was simple, to introduce himself to the world after having been so focused on his nation for so long. He also had made sure to have several marketable items, namely wines, bourbons, brandies, cigars, etc, ready to be sampled. His own Yacht was, to a much lesser extent, a sample as well, as his nation had a considerable shipbuilding industry, and even produced several models of super yachts.

He looked over the water at the slowly descending sun, it was just short of sunset, and he was watching for his guests to arrive, and he could only hope that things would go well, and if they did, the future of his nation, and his dynasty, would be assured.

[Selesburge]

Prince Philippe of Selesburge and his wife, Princess Nikolina were happy to attend the ball being thrown by King Mark of Greater Monera on his yacht. Philippe, the youngest son of the Grand Duke of Selesburge was a avid yacht enthusiast, and he loved boating and yachting almost as much as he enjoyed a well planned fitness program. Philippe himself was in the midst of purchasing a Moneran built yacht, a small one that was affordable, as affordable as yachts could be. He hadn't wished to pay too high a price, even princes had only so much funds, plus he planned to tinker a bit with it for his and his friends' yacht races. Nikolina walked with her arm looped around Philippe's as they stepped aboard the King's yacht.

[Greater Monera]

Mark gave a warm smile as he watched the prince and princess walk onto his boat, which he had ordered custom built for his own specifications. He then spoke with a thick Moneran accent (very similar to a Scottish accent).

"Why hello, and welcome aboard, It is a pleasure to be your host tonight, I hope that you will enjoy the event tonight, please feel free to help yourself to the food, drinks and other treats that have been made available" he then said "And we have a lovely sunset to backdrop the evening as well, so things should, hopefully, go smoothly"

[Selesburge]

Philippe returned Mark's warm smile as he listened to his, Mark's, accent, which he found startling similar to that of Scottish, which made him thing of the number of Scots who lived in Selesburge. Mark seemed nice and Nikolina smiled widely at their host in Monera. The two of them looked around the ship, admiring it, especially Philippe, who was very much in love with yachts.

" You must be King Mark. What a magnificent yacht you have hear, it is absolutely marvelous. She is such a beauty I am almost jealous. Where are my manners, I am Philippe, and this is my lovely wife, Nikolina."

"It is very nice to meet you." Nikolina said in a soft voice. "The sunset is so lovely."

[Greater Monera]

The king chhuckled and said "thank you, however the credit for the ship goes to the shipwrights who built it, i simply paid the bill" he then said " And it is a pleasure to meet you as well"

He then said "Feel free to take a look around the ship, and there are drinks, food and other treats, all of Moneran origin, there is even a bottle of four hundred year old wine availible if you would wish to try it"
he then said "Though i would personally suggest the Honey Brandy, though i do warn that it is a bit strong"

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Princess Estelle Eva-Stina stepped onto the yacht of the King of Morena, dressed for the occasion in a black and white striped blouse and white linen pants and white flats. Estelle wore her long black hair free save a golden circlet on her head, the former dark as the light in the sky grew fainting while the later was dazzling and bright in the sunset. Estelle was a tall young woman, with pale skin and light blue eyes. The second youngest child of Auguste of Serbia, Estelle was a sister of the Kaiser of Rhine-East Berlin, along with several other monarchs. She had been offered an invitation to the ball and had been happy to accept. She carried a small clutch purse as she walked across the deck towards the King of Monera.

[Selesburge]

Philippe and Nikolina laughed at Mark joke about paying the bill. Philippe and Nikolina had been very careful in their budgeting of their purchase of one of the Moneran yachts. Boats themselves were difficult enough to take care of and yacht would be even more and Philippe had no desire to trap himself such a important an significant purchase.

"I will be happy to try some of your Moneran treats." Philippe said, looking around. Nikolina nodded her head, though she wouldn't be having any wine as she was eating and thus drinking for two. The couple made their way over to have some snacks.

[Greater Monera]

Mark nodded as the two walked away, but then was surprised when Princess Estelle arrived, and he had to admit that she was definitely a looker. He gave the princess a short bow and said “My lady, it is a pleasure to meet you, on this beautiful on evenings no less” he let his accent slip a little, something which he tried his best not to do most of the time. He then kissed her hand and said “You look lovely this evening, I do hope the trip was enjoyable”

[Cinyras]

Enríkos II, King of Cinyras smiled from behind his sun glasses as he and his two companions boarded the yacht of the King of Monera together. Enríkos had heard that Moneran boats were going to be quite fashionable this summer, as someone who was a natural trend setter he had simply had to get on it. If Philippe of Selesburge could get a yacht, then Enríkos could get an entire fleet. Though while checking out the ships of little Monera were Enríkos’s personal, and in his opinion the most important reason for him to be in the little speck of a nation, he did unfortunately have a political reason. Little specks could be good allies, apparently.

On either arm of the young King of Cinyras stood a beautiful woman, Enríkos never home without at least two such beautiful women to keep him entertained should they get board. On his right arm was his official royal mistress, Enrieta Auriane de la Brassuer de Bombelles, Mademoiselle de la Vasseur. Mademoiselle de la Vasseur had been made a Duchess by Enríkos. Enrieta was gorgeous, it was why she was his royal mistress, and she was as pious as a saint, which was why she was a Duchess. Tall, taller than Enríkos even, with dark caramel skin and long chestnut curls and hazel eyes, she was a vision of beauty, the king’s second favorite muse.

On thé other arm was Lady Enrieta Panagou, cousin of Enrieta de la Vasseur. Lady Panagou did not reach the same heights, in status or in stature, as her cousin, but she was witty and playful where Madamoiselle de la Vasseurs was gently and holy. Petite, pale and blond, she looked the opposite of the King’s royal mistress. Despite this, the two women both wore the same outfit, white dresses liked with pink that hung off her shoulders and dangled loosely to their knees, pink jewelry decorating their arms, ears and heads in the forms of bands, earrings and diadems. The two Enrieta’s walked in unison in four inch white pump heels.

Between them stood Enríkos, quite the sight to see. A bit on the shorter side for men, he still stood tall, not in fact, but in his air of unchallenged confidence. His blond hair was swept up and to the side like the crashing of a wave, and though he wore no crown he still carried an heir of regality, as if he were the sun gracing the boat with his presence. He wore a thin white crop top that showed off his biceps and abs, the pink Cinyroite Garden logo stamped on it. He wore bright pink dolphin shirts that barely came to half way down his thighs, showing off his well sculpted legs. On his feet were traditional leather boat shoes.

As Enríkos looked on at the King of Monera, he admired from behind his sunglasses the lovely angel that he was talking to.

[Greater Monera]

Mark watched as Enrikos boarded the boat, and had to hide a mental sigh of disapproval, thankfully it was something he was good at. He braced himself for the likely stressing conversation ahead and said “Greetings, you must be King Enrikos of Cinyras, I have read quite a bit about you, it is an unexpected surprise to have you attend this event”

Mark wasn’t very tall himself, only standing at 5 feet 6 inches, and he was dressed in his normal, custom fitted suit. He also had a Mantanra, a traditional Moneran sailors knife, hanging from his belt, it’s curved, razor sharp serrated blade made for use cutting fish and fighting on board a ship. Hanging next to the blade was a black Kevlar holster, containing within its satin silver inlaid Model 1996 K Revolver, a powerful .357 caliber handgun built to punch through body armor, passed down to him by his father

[Cinyras]

Enríkos was slightly caught off guard by Mark speaking to him, so focused on Estelle he had been, that he now had to tear his eyes away from her to look at the King. From behind his shades. Hmm. The King was even shorter than Enrikos. Enríkos’ blue eyes scanned the King, accessing him. Hmm. King Mark was about a 6. Enríkos approved on Mark’s clothes, even if they were a bit stuffy.

Lady Panagou released Enríkos’s arm and with that he shook Mark’s hand, the scent of Enríkos’ personal made cologne lingering in the air, leaving a an invisible cloud with the scent of roses and Enrikosvilla, the flower that bore his name. Lady Panagou curtsied to King Mark meanwhile, Madamoiselle de la Vasseurs doing the same, still holding into her king’s arm.

“I do love to be a bit surprising. You’ve read about me? All sensual things I hope.”

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Estelle curtsied in turn to King Mark after his small bow to her, though surely the roles should have been reversed, she should have curtsied earlier. She smiled at King Mark as he kissed her hand, a very sweet gesture, especially from a king. She was about to say something as she rose from her curtsied but then the King of Cinyras and his two concubines arrived. Estelle could not help but stare as King Enríkos, though that was probably the point. He looked as if he belonged on the cover of a naughty kilobook rather than aboard the vessel of a fellow king. Estelle looked away from King Enríkos’ midriff instead focused on the blade at King Mark’s side, throughly scandalized.

[Greater Monera]

Mark smiled and said “Very sensual things indeed” he withheld wether they were pleasingly sensual to him or not. He also had to resist the urge to cringe at the overuse of cologne, and the urge to grab one of his cigars.

He then said “While they may not be sensual enough, I do hope that you will enjoy the drinks, snacks and other enjoyable items available in the ballroom, and I hope that you will enjoy your time aboard my vesssel” He then turned to Estelle “My apologies, what were you about to say to me?”

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Estelle looked horrified at King Mark, startled at the idea that he had read anything sensual about King Enríkos. Luckily her horror was kept in check into a facade of blankness, though it could have been worse. She had to quickly give a small smile to try and combat this shock, though she only half succeeded in this.

“I-I,” Estelle stammered slightly. “I was saying it is a lovely evening, and you look quite handsome yourself.”

[Cinyras]

Enríkos smiled Mark, very much pleased with himself. He like to see that other people enjoyed him and his work. He assumed naturally that anything written about him was to be received positively by everyone. It it never would have occurred that Mark may not have enjoyed anything that had to do with Enríkos.

Enríkos smiled at Estelle as she stammered to Mark, giving him a compliment. On either side of the King of Cinyras, the two Enrietas curtsied to their king and made their leave of his side, making them way further along the ship and to go and find the drinks. Enríkos however lingered by Mark and Estelle, his eyes once again on the princess.

Pushing up his sun glasses to look at Estelle with a devilish smile. “Another as sweet as that to say to me?”

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Estelle shot a glare towards the pink clad, barely clad, King of Cinyras. She had hoped that King Enríkos would go, as he had been all but dismissed, even the perfect exit by King Mark, and even his two concubines had departed, and yet he remained. He did have lovely eyes though. Estelle clutched her purse tightly, annoyed by his wish for a compliment as well. She had to consider that he was still a King, even if he didn’t look like it. Estelle thus, against her wishes, curtsied to King Enríkos and tightly pursed her lips.

“You are as radiant as the flower that bears your name.” Estelle paused, her time growing a bit harsh. “Let us hope you are not as harmful.”

[Cinyras]

Letting his shades rest on his head, Enríkos laughed softly, impressed by Estelle’s sharp tongue and excellent wit in her comparison. He rather liked being compared to the aphrodisiac flower, it fit him rather well. He shifted on his feet, like the pose of a relaxed ancient Hyperiene god, for whose statutes and art of his nation was famous for.

“Ooh. Prickly.” Enríkos said, his impish smile remaining on his face as he took a step forward towards Estelle. “I heard that Sverge blood runs cold. I see that is true.”

As naturally as a river flowing down its narrow banks or clouds blowing across the sky, Enríkos took another step forward and in a single movement kissed Estelle. It was a short kiss, lasting little more than two beats of the heart, though it was down quite skillfully, as Enríkos had a great deal of practice, his hand gently brushing a dark lock of the princess’s ear as he pulled away.

“I do hope I will be able to warm you up.”

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Estelle was blinded by Enríkos’ action and for a moment her entire mind went blank, unable to truly believe that the King of Cinyras had actually kissed her. As he pulled away her mind struggled to catch up to what was happening, her eyes left blinking as if she were coming out of a dark tunnel and into the brillance of day.

Estelle’s pale face was turned apple red as a deep blush bloomed across her cheeks like ink in water. She stared at Enríkos, this smug little king and felt her heart pound in her chest like two thunderclaps. The scent of Enrikosvilla drifted off of him and she felt her body shake down to her core. Her blood certainly felt hot now.

There were a number of things she wanted to say to the King of Cinyras, but her heart pounded so loudly that she didn’t dare speak against the handsome monarch. He was a great kisser, but how dare he? Her mind told her to be furious, but a voice growing louder and louder told her not to. Estelle was left stunned and silent and horrified, pleased, upset, and slightly awed.

[Greater Monera]

Mark narrowed his eyes and let his tone lower, his accent outlining the seriousness of the tone as he spoke
“ King Enrikos, While this event I meant to be fun and enjoyed, I do expect a level of manners and etiquette while you are aboard this ship” he then pulled a small cigarette from the pocket of his suit, and lit it with a small lighter, and tools a small puff before saying “There is some really nice wine in the ballroom, I hear that it is absolutely delectable” his tone having switched from serious to suggestive at the turn of a hat.

He then thought quickly and said to the princess “ my lady if you would like I could give you a tour of the ship” he gave her a look that said that it was more of an excuse for them to walk away than it was to actually see the ship.

[Cinyras]

Enríkos barely looked at Mark. He did not respond to such seriousness, especially not from a man. It wasn’t in his nature to be commanded, save on rare occasion. This was far from one of those occasions. He looked at Estelle, admiring her blushing face. She looked cuter with her flustered look. An 8, perhaps, though some of that came from his appreciation of Estelle’s sharp tongue, which as he had discovered was not quite that sharp.

“I fear there will be no wine aboard this ship that shall ever be quite as delectable as what I have just tasted.”

Enríkos winked at Estelle mischievously.

“I pray that I may be graced with seconds.”

The King of Cinyras turned on his heels and walked off the way that his two Enrietas had gone in to find the ballroom.

[Les Etats Connuriste]

Monera - it was yet another place that people had literally never heard of, though in all fairness the same had been true for much of the Eucasian nations before the war had brought international attention to the region. In all fairness, it was not a bad thing to be relatively unheard of in Connuriste, as if you had been heard of it typically meant that at sometime or another you had been embroiled in significant controversy. For Princess Charlotte, half of the countries she knew a lot about was purely because she felt like they had wronged her family at some point or another. On the other hand, for her oldest sister Emily, the countries she knew little of were just an opportunity to find out more about them - as the future leader of the country it seemed silly to know nothing of the other countries and world leaders that they were stuck with on this planet. Whilst her father probably would have liked to have been here himself as a former yacht owner, it wasn't deemed significant enough to divert his attention away from the upcoming events in his own country. There was a grand celebration to organise this year to commemorate 25 years of his own reign, not to mention his other ambitious projects in the stars and the particular plans he had in motion concerning the revival of an ex-nation elsewhere. So, when there were events that piqued the interest of the royal family it was often the Crown Princess who found herself with the duty of attending them. Emily had encouraged Charlotte to come along with her so she wouldn't be on her lonesome, as well as the fact that there weren't many excuses she could find to drag Charlotte away from her obsessions and spend time with her as a sister and just catch up.

Emily was very much aware of her father's brief affinity for yachts, for several of the wrong reasons. Whilst many of her siblings had been too young to notice particular things in the family, she had been aware that once upon a time he had spent so little time with his own family owing to his mid life crisis, for lack of a better phrase to explain it. For a couple of years there had been few things the Emperor of Connuriste enjoyed more than a yacht party, though today's event was likely a completely different kind of party than he had been accustomed to. She knew about that because her father had not been shy of admitting some of the errors of his ways to her - something she appreciated as it would have been much worse if she had found specific things out through other sources, not to mention that it left her in a good position to avoid falling into some of the same mistakes.

The trip had been kind to the pair of them, it was not as far as travelling to see their sister Adela in Espana and it certainly felt closer than Selesburge. It wasn't like a yacht was quite exactly a palace, and the temptation to abandon some of the stricter guidelines of a royal dress code was encouraged by the fact that a yacht in Monera likely had far less cameras than any palatial event anywhere - at least if only because there was a more limited amount of space and less places the media vultures could lurk in wait. Both Emily and Charlotte had their own relationships, though Charlotte's was not on the same level as seriousness as her sisters, who had been taken for what must have been five years now, and so Charlotte had pushed the boat out a little further with her outfit choice. Not that she was looking to replace her current partner, but more so that she wasn't opposed to a bit of harmless toying with others. She already felt underdressed when she couldn't carry some sort of killing instrument so if she was going to feel like that, she might as well have worn something that showed off her long legs and svelte figure. Of course, should the need arise, she was sure she would be able to improvise and find some kind of weapon on the yacht itself. But who was she kidding - whilst she liked the idea of always being able to be in a fight, but the number of fights she had actually been in was still very low. Charlotte also wore two inch heels, not because she felt that she needed extra height, but instead she felt that flats simply didn't just look as good. Meanwhile Emily did not wear the same kind as outfits like her sisters such as Adela and Charlotte often did. Part of that was because she had more belief in modesty - why dress like a model when you're not a model - and another part of that was because if she was a model, she didn't think she'd belong on the very front page. Though her red haired sister had opted to wear black, Emily had settled on a sky blue piece that was a little more conservative and was only very slightly guilty of drawing some attention towards her chest. She had paired it with flats and she was just looking forward to sharing a few drinks with her sister and gossiping if nothing else.

As the pair of Princesses actually boarded the ship, however, it immediately became clear this event was somewhat more casual than what they were typically accustomed to as their eyes fell upon the half-dressed radiant King of Cinyras, with whom Charlotte of course had some prior experience with. So it was interesting to process watching him getting close with... one of their mother's sisters? Charlotte didn't want to look at much more of that and instead her attention diverted from that scene to Enrikos' side pieces, who were nearly equally as pleasing to stare at, and from there to the host of the event himself. He didn't cut a chiselled, almost god-like figure like the other King present, but he was still relatively handsome, even if he was almost comically short. The sisters watched the King light his cigarette, who was probably mildly stressed that he was possibly being overshadowed at his own party, at least that's how their own father smoked - not for recreation, but purely after those moments where he sighed loudly in discontent, although of course, far from every man was like their father. Enrikos and his entourage had then moved on, which seemed to present a less awkward opportunity for Charlotte especially to approach the King with Emily.

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Estelle looked at the two kings with stunned silent. She was shocked by Mark’s smoking and Enríkos perversion. One could be remedied, the other could not be tolerated. She felt her face grow hotter as Enríkos walked away, not convinced that he was real. She looked at Mark, but took a step away as the smell of smoke mixed with Enríkos’s cologne.

“Thank you. I, didn’t know that you used cancer sticks.”

[Greater Monera]

He nodded and said “If only to help me keep from developing far more pressing diseases of the mind” however he took note of her displeasure of him smoking and put it out in a nearby ash tray, and settled for a piece of nicotine gum. He then offered the pack to her and asked “want a piece?”

He noticed the two conurite princesses and said “Greetings, I apologize for the smell, apparently some of us don’t have a working nose”

[Rhine-East Berlin]

Estelle bowed her head and and graciously accepted, taking a piece of gum from the pack. She then turned and was surprised to find herself facing Emily and Charlotte of Connuriste, her nieces. A strange thing to point out as Estelle was younger than both of the princesses on account of her mother’s lively romantic life. Estelle smiled politely. It seemed that they were to be constantly bombarded by new arrival.

“Perhaps I should excuse myself...”

[Les Etats Connuriste]

Emily and Charlotte were not quite on the same page as the King for half a second, it must have made more sense if they had heard some of the earlier parts of the conversation he was having with their... was half-aunt the correct term? Confusing relations weren't anything new to the royal sisters - the family trees of many respectable families were intricately interwoven in a manner even a spider would have difficulty keeping up with. Crown Princess Emily and her partner Rafie, if she was remembering everything correctly, well her grandmother had shortly been married to his mother's dad - which made her father and the Dutch Empress stepsiblings - and her sister Adela had recently been married to her boyfriend's brother. It was a headfuck, but they were relations purely through marriage, whereas they were connected to Estelle by a small amount of blood via their other grandmother.

"A little bit of smoke never killed anyone." piped up Charlotte, no hint of irony of her face as she acted dismissively towards caring about something of such little significance.

Her older sister looked away for a second as she chuckled silently for a split second, there was something about the way Charlotte interacted with others that always entertained her, she never ever chose the sensible thing to say and unless she was doing nothing at all, rarely the generally socially accepted way to act either. She waited to see if the King had anything to say in return to Charlotte before she would take her first turn in the conversation, Charlotte was not the best conversationalist ever and Emily didn't need to make the King handle another conversation happening at the same time just yet.