Red String of Fate (IC) (OPEN) (Courting)

[The Frozen Forest]

⭕ Red String of Fate ⭕
OOC
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The Palace, The Night Before

The Crown Prince Ari stood by a window and looked out onto the mass of people shuffling about in the courtyard below. Throngs of guards marched about on patrol, past gardeners working by candlelight to perfect every bush and blade of grass. Occasionally a butler or maidservant would swiftly cross the grounds with packages or letters or other objects in hand for their lords and ladies at court. The Royal Palace never slept and that was no less true tonight of all nights. No doubt the guards were also running thorough searches of the entire palace to ensure every single inch of it was secure and safe for the foreign suitors that would be arriving tomorrow.

Ari had to give props to his brother. If not for the Royal Beekeeper having overheard a private conversation between Ivan and one of his advisors, Ari may not have had enough time to plot his own response. Thanks to his foreknowledge of the event Ari had succeeded in preventing Ivan from packing the ball with his own sympathetic nobility and he had managed to secure invitations for Count Arrun of Stallheim and Count Torsson of Kirh, both allies of his.

There was a rasping at the door. Ari turned away from the window and a single guard entered the room before closing the door behind him. The guard gave a short bow and extended a plainly decorated letter to the Crown Prince. "Duke Solfo Bjerland offers his support." Ari took the letter and the guard disappeared back into the winding corridors outside the room. Ari opened the letter which contained the same uninteresting drivel that many formal communications held. He skimmed through the document until reaching the bottom where he found the words "...I and my daughter will be in attendance." It wasn't checkmate but it was one move closer.

Ari stashed the letter in his pocket and stepped into the hallway. From his left side a weight smashed into him and he felt himself topple over. "Gah!" Ari looked up at a young maidservant-Ivan's personal maidservant. Lucy Farehollow moved off of Ari and settled on her knees. "Please forgive me, my Prince. I didn't see you coming out of your room." Ari felt anger boil up inside of him but stopped short of having an outburst on the young maid as he noticed tears welling up in her eyes. "Be more careful from now on."

Ari stood up and made his way back to his room, leaving Lucy where she sat on the floor. In his room he took a seat at his desk before reaching into his pocket for the letter. Nothing. What? Ari felt his other pockets but the letter was gone.


Truvaria, The Morning of Arrival
Somewhere in the capital city a young boy awoke to the sound of breakfast being made. Little Roland Svärd rolled out of bed and into his duck slippers. A smell hit his nose and it smelled like bacon-Roland didn't need any more motivation and came springing into the kitchen. He slid to a stop in front of his mother who stood at the stove cooking. "Take a seat Roland, breakfast is almost ready." Roland's mother took hold of a remote and flicked the small kitchen TV on to the news.

A tall women appeared on the television alongside pictures of various young women. "...Yes Ira, but which of the King's suitors do you think has the best odds? Personally I'm a fan of Princess Eléonore from the Holy Solar Empire. As she herself is Catholic it wouldn't be difficult at all for the Forestrian Catholic Church to see their marriage as legitimate." Ira didn't seem to encouraged by her colleague Marcus's suggestion and the camera zoomed in on one of the photos, that of a giantess. "Princess Eléonore is a conservative option but I think that it's actually Khana Amina of Kyrenaia who has the greatest chance of capturing the King's attention. She's a bit older but has a lot of experience with governing."

Roland's mother scoffed as Ira began to give a short synopses of what they knew about Khana Amina. "A bit older? I can't see why good King Ivan could ever fall in love with someone so many years his senior. I don't think either of them are right. Mark my words the King will choose Princess Asha."

From in the living room the heavy male voice of Rolands father rang out. "You only say that because she looks like the woman on the cover of your romance novels." The voice was chased by the sight of a lumbering giant of a man who squeezed his way into the kitchen. "I'll tell you who the King will pick! He'll pick the one that any sensible man would pick! That Sartana gal! I mean think about it, she is Roman Catholic, she speaks like half a dozen languages..." Rolands father trailed off as his mother scooped heaps of eggs onto Roland and his fathers plates. "Well whoever the King picks, I doubt the neighborhood will shut up about it anytime soon. I can't even go to the grocery store without one of the cashiers asking which girl I think the King would be best with."

Sometime later Roland found himself walking to school alongside other children from his neighborhood. None of them understood what all of the fuss was about but they still parroted whatever their parents seemed to think. The parents seemed to think a lot of different things though, with just about every one of the suitors being mentioned-even that Nova girl who looked funny and was supposedly from outer space. The gossip didn't stop at school though as Roland noticed many of the shopkeepers along the way chatting with their customers over the subject. While Roland didn't know it, the ball that was happening later that day was an event of national importance and rich social gossip-especially in Truvaria where some of the residents might catch a glimpse of the young ladies as they traveled towards the outskirts of the city where The Royal Palace rested.

Guard Mess Hall, Royal Palace
"You lily-livered maggots better hurry up and finish before I personally shove my boot where the sun doesn't shine!" The Chief of Palace Security Ivar Friis shouted at the guards eating in the mess hall. While normally a tempered and fair individual the past few days had been hellish for him to say the least. He'd been at work preparing the Palace for the arrival of their esteemed guests and that meant a thorough search of most of the palace grounds to ensure there were no unguarded methods of entry or suspicious threats that could harm the safety of anyone present.

Ivar also had to contend with the guards gossiping. The rest of the nation had chosen sides for one suitor or another and his men were no different. A few of their most favorite were some of the girls that weren't even there to court the King, such as Irene von Wittelsbach and Adelheid von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon. Evidently their martial experience endeared them to the hardened men of the watch who protected the Royal Family day and night.

The important thing was that the Guards treated every lady as an esteemed foreign visitor and that they applied this respect equally to each of them. The last thing he needed was his own men conspiring with Ari or other nobles to try and influence which girl Ivan proposed to. Unfortunately for his men this meant that Ivar had to be a harsh taskmaster-if for no other reason than to show that no funny business would be allowed while the girls were in The Frozen Forest.

"You there! Go and scrub every inch of the 42nd Corridor. While your at it, take that joker beside you and have him clean toilets until ordered otherwise. Everyone else, GET OUT OF MY MESS HALL!" The remaining guards choked down their last scraps of food and hurried to deposit their trays to the Kitchen Patrol before racing away from their now apparently furious commander. Once the room was empty Ivar took a seat and began to enjoy his own lunch quietly.

A Nobles Breakfast

Elsewhere in the Palace was a massive dining hall filled with nobility from across the nation and even from some of the colonies. They ate heartily various foods provided by the crown and gossiped all the while. There was Count Arryn of Stallheim alongside various other nobles sympathetic to Ari's cause as well as many loyalists. If one watched and studied close enough it was incredibly apparent that the way in which the nobles sat among themselves was entirely intentional. The various factions of the court intermingled slightly but also very much kept to their own flocks, perhaps planning and plotting against one another as they so often did.

While the rest of the nation gossiped lightly about the subject of the suitors, the air was far more tense for those dining and discussing the matter in this massive dining hall. The future Queen would have a fair impact on the lives of the citizenry but it was a life or death gamble for many of the nobility. All it would take was a snap of the fingers for them to be arrested by the new queen if said queen was dissatisfied or distrustful of any one of them and surely other nobles were plotting to demonize each other at the first opportunity.

As the nobility ate their lunches and discussed it was apparent that the least likely candidates were weeded out from discussion. Nova for example, an alien from outer space who could not possibly catch the King's eye. There were a number of serious contenders and factions would form in support of one or the other. Directing this chaos from the corner of the room was the Crown Prince Ari, who was attended by an army of spies and servants.


The Arrival of the Guests

Many hours later in the afternoon the nobility and some servants packed into the The Royal Ballroom. There were hundreds of them, many wearing the latest fashions and some wearing fashions that had gone out years ago. Their plotting and planning had stopped at least momentarily as they waited quietly for the arrival of the suitors. Every eye was turned towards the doors which led into the room, it was the first time they would see the girls in person and many first impressions would be made in the next hour or so.

In the back of the ballroom sat a humble throne and on this throne sat King Ivan, attended by his most loyal maidservant Lucy Farehollow as well as a single guard dressed in a fine tuxedo. Ivan was not the boy he had been years prior when he'd first met with suitors for marriage. His youthful stupidity had disappeared and been replaced by a serious, mature persona. He'd survived much since that time so long ago and it had made it's mark on his personality. Yet despite everything he still felt a small twinge of anxiety as he and the rest of the court awaited the suitors and other guests. Ivan had done his best not to form opinions on any of the girls before he met them and so far he had succeeded.

Off to the side of the crowd stood the Crown Prince, Ari. He was surrounded by nobility who sought his attention wordlessly, perhaps begging to know what he had planned for the ball. While both Ivan and Ari were well dressed for the occasion, Ari had gone a step further than the King and looked quite his best.

There was a rasping at the door and a single herald entered the room. While not all the suitors would be joining them that instant, the first had arrived. All of the suitors who had arrived before the start of the ball had been given a room in the Palace which they could prepare and stay in until this moment, many had more than likely be accosted by dozens of maids and servants seeking to help them look their very best-perhaps offering expensive dresses or to do their makeup or offer them exotic perfumes. The herald raised a small scroll and began to read the names of those who would be in attendance before turning and announcing the entry of the first suitor.

[Scornerse]

Picking a dress was always a bit of a balancing act for Sartana, because the image of herself that she wanted to express was also balancing act. On one hand, she wanted to put her most elegant foot forward and look the part of a classic traditional noble lady. On the other hand, she was anything but traditional, being a not only a strong headed, determined, intelligent woman, but a strong bodied, physically intimidating and eager for a fight woman. While she took great pride in knowing she could intellectually and physically ruin nearly any woman she'd come across, the last thing she wanted to do was make that immediately obvious by entering looking like an warrior princess, or heaven forbid, a tomboy.

At the same time, she'd specifically sculpted her body in the gym to ensure her musculature added to, rather than removed, her feminine curves, which gave her a pair of shoulders worth showing off and a chest that tastefully accentuated her bust. So she considered a Grecian neckline that showed her shoulders off while still having a set of straps around her neck that visually slimmed instead of widened her body. Another option was to go strapless, if she had no straps, she didn't have to worry about them widening her figure. At first she decided against it due to the 'structural weakness' of a strapless dress, which is to say, in the probably, though not necessarily, unfortunate chance she found herself in a public tussle, a strapless would be easier to pull down and embarrass her. But, ultimately she decided that would be an asset rather than a liability. If someone was dumb enough to go for it, Sartana would have a better excuse to wail on them to protect her honour. In any case, a Grecian would conceal a rather attractive looking part of her upper chest and neck. After all, she exercised not only for the function it gave her body, but the form. As for the rest of the dress, she went with the traditional all white that's worn at debutante balls, with a skirt that reached the ground. The skirt it's self was removeable, below it she'd wear something that would show off stocking covered legs in a modest enough fashion, while not obstructing the movement of her legs, should she ever need to remove the skirt.

The skirt its self was designed to be wide enough to draw some, but not too much attention to her ample hips. Between her hips and shoulders, one could make out that Sartana had a pleasant hourglass figure. What couldn't be known immediately was that much of shape came from exercise, she having essentially made her self more hourglass by building her upper body and thighs. As for shoes, she wasn't wearing heels, though her skirt concealed that. Being rather tall, Sartana already exceeded the heights of those wearing heels, making it appear as though she was wearing them. While she knew how to wear heels well, one always walked more swiftly without than with heels. All in all, the outfit was specifically made for her by a particularly talented tribal designer and was made to fit her specific peculiarities. She loved it and she loved how she looked in it. She was looked elegant and sturdy, aiming to look approachable yet attractive to admirers, 'You may admire me or befriend me, I prefer the latter.', but an open challenge with a thinly veiled threat to enemies, 'You may bend to me or be broken by me, I prefer the latter!', her hair and make up following the same philosophy.

As soon as it became feasible to do so, Sartana had began paying close attention to her enemies, or more importantly what others thought of her and her enemies. Sartana didn't mince words with herself about the other women competing with for the king's love. They were her enemies, her success required their defeat and she had no illusions about this. As much as this was about romance and attraction, it was at least as much, if not more about politics and power. At the very least she needed to position herself so that romance could be the tie breaker. First she had to take stock of her own position. She played the roll of the cosmopolitan princess. Though her fair skin and blue eyes made her look well more than passably white, the reality was, that indigenous American blood ran through her veins and gave her the title 'chieftess'. She didn't see this as a liability, really, without that heritage she'd just be a Spanish speaking professional strata white girl from a socialist country.

That heritage combined with her education, made her more amenable to more liberal figures in both the nobility and the masses. She imagined she be at minimum tolerable to even anti-imperialist leftist types. At the same time Sartana was well aware of how conservative nobles and press could treat someone with even the slightest tinge of non-whiteness. To help neutralize this, she'd have to display a measure of conservativism, with how much being ultimately dependent on what her enemies displayed. Luckily, her very foreignness would give her a degree of maneuverability on that front without alienating her base, but she still had to be careful not the pivot away from that base too much.

As for her thoughts about her enemies, well, she had thoughts, but she'd have to wait for them to arrive before entrenching herself into any particular stance. Arriving before anyone else would allow her to set first impressions, while also allowing her to get first impressions of her enemies when they entered without having to mill around too much, allowing her to begin to pick out their strengths and weaknesses. She needed to know how to get them to bend to her, or how to break them. It didn't mean she dehumanized them or would have them know that she functionally despised them, but as long as it was good strategy to do so, she'd work to undercut them, by any effective means. This was zero-sum game. If she could harm someone's position without harming her own, she would do so without hesitation. She'd be vicious, but not cruel, she'd be willing to befriend and make amends with anyone the moment they seized being a threat.

It wasn't personal, they were just in her way, but if making it seem personal had to be done, she'd have no qualms about doing so, hell, she might even enjoy it. For one, she looked forward to facing any of them should they participate in the martial arts events and frankly would love giving a rival some serious but tastefully concealed under clothing, bruises, in an informal brawl away from prying eyes. On that note, Sartana, even as she introduced herself and watched the entrance, also passed the time and primed her aggressive instincts while waiting for her enemies by looking around the room imagining how she'd knockout anyone if she had to. Shove his head into that bowl, shoulder tackle her into that pillar, sweep his legs, swing her into that table, kick his back, knee her gut...

[The Saucer Pilots]

It was a hot day in Groom Lake, a USAF testing-range which would later colloquially come to be known as Area 51 though it was currently known as Paradise Ranch among those in the intelligence community. Near one end of the salt flat that gave the valley it's name, the so-called black planes were lined up and taxied near a runway. A U-2 spy-plane was making it's descent onto the tarmac, it's wheels screeching on landing. Far more secretive tests were conducted in the previous night with vehicles that were approximately 60 generations more advanced than any American plane. The R&D base's most zealously guarded secret weren't the spy planes visible in the open, but the craft within secret hangars that had been burrowed into the overlooking hills. Most of the disk-shaped vessels there were downgraded rubbish in the eyes of the Air Domain, whose leadership considered that they gave the US government the short end of a stick when they negotiated the return of a captured craft and crew, obtained a permanent base in American Territory and the rights to get genetic samples; and all of that for some old junk and some minimal technical assistance.

Also hidden from the desert heat, through a series of hidden tunnels and bunkers beneath the hills, were the quarters of a handful of the Anhu advisors, referred to as "the midgets" or "the kids" by staff, alien in origin but biological humans from the far-future; among these, was Nova, the Station Chief of the US Observation Group, a unit of Domain Air Fleet pilots and technical consultants whose services were leased to the United States government and it's Air Force. Though the title was imposing, it was fairly insignificant, Nova had been "promoted" because they were seen as a culturally-contaminated and disgraced annoyance back at home. They and their peers were also experts in managing vehicles that were soon being phased out and their jobs would soon cease to exist. However, that day, the crew was handling a sleek and new saucer from the night's demonstration, known as the "Sport Model", a vehicle capable of manipulating space and time around it, instead of just zooming around using super-conductive electromagnets like the "Export Models"; the Air Domain was generous however, and they leased the craft to the US for a few decades while stripping some durable components, just to be safe, perhaps as the Anhu Ruling Committee knew that their Earthling cousins couldn't make the exotic-matter fuel supply needed to fly it.

With a cup of coffee in one hand and a clipboard in another, Nova was admiring the new high-performance craft, a silver-chrome saucer, 5.8 meters tall and 16.8 meters in diameter. The saucer was plugged onto several Earth-made reactors to feed a voracious demand for energy even if they didn't recommend it to the engineers, an over-charge could do more than juice up the saucer for a flight, it could fry the down-graded hardware of the electronics system. Nova stepped into the vehicle, they had helped fly it to Earth, some luggage was there and they were checking every switch and function to see if it was de-activated. A delegation of big-brass Earthlings had been in it before and they could've adjusted some settings on the computer by accident: Nova could tell underlings to not touch but generals were another thing all-together and she wasn't there when they had a tour inside.

Nova looked on at Grimes, the CIA (or FBI?) "chaperone" that always egged her on for information and warned him, "Don't touch anything, 'kay Pops?" The grey-haired man in a flannel suit was taken aback from the scolding, he wanted to act offended but he actually did touch something on the computer guidance, inadvertently, just as power was flowing into the craft. In the blink of an eye, space and time curved around it. Sensitive electronic equipment was also over-charged and wires meant to fail...failed. With an annoyed grunt, Nova grimaced and snapped to Grimes, "you touched something, didn't you?" The federal agent and pencil pushed only raised his hands and dryly muttered, "you warned the new guys not to pump energy into this thing right now."

---

Nova and the kibitzer were sent decades into the future of another alternate Earth. After moving the craft around orbit , the pilot monitored the frequencies of the planet for several hours and found it not too distinct from Earth of 1957, relatively speaking. The space-pilot also learned of a courting ceremony for the King of the Frozen Forest. From that moment, the little extraterrestrial traveler hatched a plan: they'd enter the tournament to meet important people and maybe find the means to get the components to fix the saucer, secrecy was discarded as a giant space empire had sent a candidate there too if it wasn't a prank. So Nova consequently felt they had nothing to lose by sticking to the Air Fleet protocol that granted them diplomatic authority...even if landing the flying saucer right out of the capital on some vacant field near forest-like tree-lines proved to be a little expected. Nova prepared for days, mostly by trying to remember the etiquette of a few formal dinners they had been in before, though the current situation made all other meetings with pomp seem insignificant.

But now, the big day had finally arrived, it was the space-visitor's chance to make an impression, whatever it may entail. Nova entered the building with clothing of their own: a collared and short-sleeved cocktail dress, in the color black, with matching gloves, though a small pin with Air Fleet' seal and what looked like a star-shaped medal on the right side of their breast exposed that they weren't a civilian. It wasn't the most conservative attire as the dress ended at the calves, but it wasn't overtly revealing either, not that there was much to show off to begin with. A slim lapel belt showed that they barely had hips to contrast with an equally slim waist. In general, it could be said that Nova was an individual of lithe build and had long legs...or legs that were at least proportionally long when placed onto a body that only reached 145 cm into the air. Nova's height was probably their most defining physical feature as everybody in the Ballroom was a good three or four heads taller than them. Jet-black hair that reached their back contrasted with very fair skin, perhaps unnervingly pale as the tone made them without a doubt made them appear sickly by the beauty standards of those on Earth.

Nova had estimated that they had a low chance of courting the King or any noble, but that was a secondary or even tertiary objective in their mission to scout out the multi-verse and obtain the means to return home. They had a low view of their odds in regard to the other contenders, perhaps too cognizant of the fact they were first and foremost, a career button-pusher of no special social standing within their dogmatically quasi-egalitarian society. It didn't help that they'd be considered an existential nihilist and a communist using Earth's ideological labels, even if they were somewhat oblivious to this. Nova's bleak outlook towards their chances in the tournament didn't equate to a low self-esteem or morale.

Like most Anhu, a people molded by living in space for millennia, Nova lived between obeying strict protocol to stay alive in a harsh environment, while being very curious about things not seen in the dull and monotonous void. They saw this new situation as a win-win: they'd explore a new setting, gain notability back home and they'd be well fed and sheltered in the meantime, even if they'd most likely lose. With a natural sense of confidence but nonetheless burdened by the weight of representing the Air Domain, Nova walked towards the ballroom's entry after they heard their name. They had briefly thought of imitating Marilyn Monroe or Jane Russel, but they lacked the practice or grace for that, nor did their flat shoes permit it, so Nova judged it best to do what they do all the time: the space visitor walked straightly, perhaps too mechanically like a small soldier while scanning the room, they didn't stop to make eye contact with the crowds in the side as they fixed their sight to the walls behind to give the illusion they were making eye contact with the nobility while avoiding it all-together. The only exception to this was the King, Nova actually did stop to make full eye contact with him and saluted Ivan Bjork, stiffening their body and clicking their heels together before striding off to the side where the other suiters would presumably be in.

[The Holy Solar Empire]

---

Red String of Fate

It is the 100th century, and mankind finds itself deep within the mire of interstellar intrigue and merciless conflict. The Holy Solar Empire has stood above all others as the supreme authority of the Orion arm of the galaxy, the most prestigious collection of dirt and clay in an otherwise worthless section of the galaxy. A thousand worlds fall under the Empire's banner, many more pay tribute to the Heavenly Prince who resides above all others, and yet even more who oppose him. The Holy Solar Empire is a nightmare of byzantine bureaucracy and collection of disparate vassal states, each who play off each other to gain the favor of their Emperor.

The Empire finds itself alone against countless threats to it's existence; hundreds of petty states covet the many worlds within it's borders; Marauders, stellar nomads who move from system to system with no world to call their own, routinely raid and plunder the border regions of the Empire; from within, petty kings squabble over the various star systems in their fleets of retinues and conscripts, bleeding each other dry over ancient claims to land. With all of this chaos, it is sometimes understandable why there are many who wish to find a more clam and peaceful place to call home, but not all of the Empire is so anarchic, for as much suffering and chaos there is, there is joy and order among it.

Within the Imperial Interior, lies the ancient and prosperous Archduchy of Châlons-en-Astra, ruled by the La Chapelle dynasty for countless generations, it has been a beacon of light through even the worst of crisis the Empire has faced, and has produced some of mankind's greatest thinkers, inventors, philosophers, and nobles. Ruled by the tolerant Archduke Jean-François de La Chapelle, the realm has remained fair and stable even among the shifting interest of the various states which make up the Empire. Archduke de La Chapelle has sired many children, many who have become notable bureaucrats in the Empire, or renowned generals within the countless armies, or of his many daughters, have found themselves happily married to such virtuous men, all accept one.

Princess Eléonore Ariane de La Chapelle, born the 15th daughter of the Archduke, has yet to have been found a honorable and loving husband, most of her sisters having long since become wed by this point in time. Within the Empire there are few men who her father believe are virtuous enough to take her hand in marriage, and there are very few left who meet such expectations, and so the Princess has been forced to wait until she finds a man who can lift her off her feet. This has been the case for several years, but now things have changed; contact through the Shroud has lead to the discovery of an alternate Earth; primitive, disunited, and barbaric as it may be, this Earth is not without it's virtues, and one such man has impressed the Archduke enough to grant his daughter his hand.

This will not be a simple endeavor however, the King do the Frozen Forest, King Ivan Bjork, is seeking the perfect bride, and has found many potential suitors. Princess Eléonore finds herself against the odds, competing for the love of the King against many other women, some who will no doubt find her grave competition to the Kings heart, but the Princess must find her resolve if she wishes to become Queen, and find herself a most honorable husband. Contact with this Earth has been achieved, the Archduke has prepared his daughter and sent word of her attendance, and surely the Kingdom now knows who awaits them. It is here where two stories connect, where the daughter of an Archduke seeks to wed a King.

- C o m p l e m e n t a r y M u s i c -

---

RCS Normandie - Provence-class Battleship
En-route to the Kingdom of the Frozen Forest

---

In the great blue ocean of hyperspace, a behemoth flew, care free of what could lay before it as it traversed the heavens towards it's distant target. The ship lumbered in superluminal space with one goal in mind, to see it's precious cargo arrive within the the strange and distant realm of the Frozen Forest, a Kingdom from an alternate Earth; this "cargo" was none other than Princess Eléonore Ariane de La Chapelle, 15th daughter of Archduke Jean-François, and prospecting suitor for King Ivan's hand in marriage. This said, the ships captain had no intention of dropping off the Princess from the Battleship directly, but as with all blue bloods, it was always better safe than sorry, after all one may never know what lays on the other side when dealing with trans-dimensional travel. When contact was first made with this strange reality, little mind was paid attention to it, after all such events were not uncommon, but when an invitation was delivered to the Archduke by one of the planets petty Kings, an interest was found. Princess Eléonore has for the past several years been without a husband, all potential offers turned down, distances too great, or there was simply no one left to marry, at least no one to the Archdukes liking. But with the invitation for courtship by the Kingdom, things have changed, and now there may finally be a chance for the princess. Within the heart of the ships Keep, resided those who were to set planet fall and meet with the King of the Frozen Forest.

---

The keep was, like all others, a thing of beauty; pristine jewels and carved wood made for a very comfortable homely feeling. If it wasn't for the meters thick armor between the keeps interior and the void, one could almost be mistaken in believing them to be in some average manor, instead of a powerful Battleship. As most of the ships crew stayed focused on their duties, even the Captain having stayed on the bridge for the duration of the trip, the Keep was left for the Princess and her families retainer, Ser Léopold Guillaume, to use. Within the dining room of the keep, the loyal Knight was finishing a small meal while looking over simple data collected about this so called Frozen Forest.

Ser Léopold has served the La Chapelle family for years, was practically born into the role, as his father too served as a retainer to the Archduke. He was fiercely loyal, even paranoid to a degree, and was deeply caring for the Princess, he was an practically an uncle even, having aided in raising her when her parents were otherwise preoccupied. All this said, he felt rather justified in being cautious in this whole event, while the King was seemingly a true gentlemen, the political situation was all to familiar to the Knight. Prince Ari was immediately the center of his attention, he had the most to gain if he could direct how the proceeding courtship went, while Léopold has yet to properly become acquainted with the man, his reading of current events and even history has endowed him with a deep wisdom. Of course.

Ari wasn't the only person he had to watch out for, the other suitors would have to be watched, with the Kings hand in marriage on the line, he had no doubt such barbarians could steep to despicable lows to gain his affection. Léopold leaned back and stretched out before sitting up from the table, a maid was there to clean up his meal within an instant, and the Knight made his way up stairs to check on how his charge was doing, he knew that she could be... impatient at times, and knew that the wait must have been agonizing for her. As he made his way up the stairs, it didn't take long until the faint sound of music reached his ears.

"Well, at least my fair lady is preoccupied with interest, lest she go mad from some manor of wait." As he began walking down the open hall to her door. He stepped up before her door and gave it several knocks, there was no response, probably due to the rather loud music. Léopold waited a few more minutes before knocking a few more times, with a tiny bit of more force put behind it. "Mademoiselle, Eléonore!" He said, trying to shout over the young Princess's very loud and very unorthodox music. He didn't have to wait much longer before the door opened, and the loud "music" finally reached him with no further obstruction.

---

The day was almost upon her, the day she would land upon an foreign Earth and lay eyes upon King Ivan in person. It was almost all too much, and it surely couldn't happen soon enough. Eléonore found herself in a weird paradox of wanting to finally be there to see who she hoped to be her future husband, and wanting to delay it as much as possible out of sheer anxiety for the event. She was by no means new to social gathering,s she have attended plenty of balls before in her life, was even present for a courting like this, but it wasn't for a lack of experience that gave her the jitters, but the prospect of finally finding a husband.

Eléonore was the only one of her siblings to have not married, most of them were already betrothed when she was in diapers even! And yet for poor Eléonore she found herself living in a dry spell, as there just is not a whole lot of people who are eligible for marriage, not unless she and her father decided to dump any standards they have, or if she wanted to marry off to some far away prince away from her home, neither option was particularly pleasing, but until recently she was worried she would never find anyone.

Oh sure she had to win his affection, and compete against all sorts of women, but it was better than nothing. These other women made her slightly nervous; Eléonore had more than her fair share of interactions with other noble families, not all of them pleasant, but this would be different, before she dealt with her fellow citizens of the Empire, but now she'll be dealing with "Barbarians." She didn't really like thinking of them as such, it was unfair to them, and by the same margin her potential husband would be considered one as well, but sometimes it is hard to escape the environment of ones culture. Eléonore decided to deal with the boredom and anxiety by playing some music from a playlist on her scroll, nothing too special beyond some rock, but she found it to be fairly soothing, despite it's rather "energetic" nature.

She put on her favorite play list, layed back on the comfy bed she was given, and allowed herself to drift into fantasy, ignorant of the outside world. She was only able to stay like this for a few minutes before a faint knocking was heard from her door. No doubt her bodyguard and good friend Léopold; She really didn't wanna get up, but when she heard his voice call out, followed by yet more knocking, she knew that her presence was required. So she got up, calmly walked up to the door and opened it, meeting the taller gaze of her loyal Knight.

"Ah! I see you're are awake my lady, I apologize for so rudely knocking upon your door, but I was unsure if you heard me, your music is... rather loud you see." Léopold said, giving a slight bow in respect. "No need to apologize friend, I was but merely drifting away into daydreaming when you arrived, excuse me." Eléonore responded before quickly muting her scroll. "There, no my music shall no longer impede us, what is you wish to ask of me Ser Knight?"

"Nothing too serious, I just wished to know if you were keeping up with the time, if my hunch is correct we should be appearing out of hyperspace fairly shortly." His hunch turned out to be correct when a ship wide message from the Captain affirmed that they were not existing hyper space, and into the strange alternate Sol. "Your timing is impeccable Ser Knight." Eléonore quipped, earning a hearty laugh from her friend. "It would appear so, now if you will allow my leave, I shall prepare for the ball, I suggest you do so as well." He responded before leaving, allowing Eléonore to leave her room and travel to the dressing room.

There the maids stood waiting for her, quickly and expertly changing her clothes, doing her hair, and applying make up. When it was all said and done she had sported an elegant white silk gown, which nicely fit the contours of her body; puffy detached sleeves, a red cape, and plenty of jewelry further helped to frame her majesty and beauty. Fully dressed, she made her way back to her room to look over a few more things, particularly the gifts she had prepared for the King. The gemstone from her homeworld was accounted for, it was not only beautiful beyond compare, but it also had a utilitarian use beyond looking nice. The Power Sword was gifted from her eldest brother, who was the last person in the family to have it in their possession, he wasn't partially worried about loosing it if she was not picked, he was oddly confident they could get it back... The Yacht was not here yet though, it was to big to be docked in the hanger, and there was a wall of bureaucracy being filled out to have it be used for a gift for a primitive King, but she was determined to give the King that yacht no matter what, even if his heart falls for another women.

With all things accounted for, she left her room and went out to the foyer where Knight Léopold was already waiting for her. Unlike herself, he was dressed to fulfill his role as a protector, wearing his armor and with his power sword sheathed at his side. Léopold noticed Eléonore almost immediately, and upon seeing her figure, smiled proudly. "You look most fitting as a queen my Lady." He said with a bow, earning a small blush as Eléonore smiled. "I thank you for your compliment friend, I can only hope that the King agrees."

Without much more to say, the two made their way to the transport shuttle that would take them to the Frozen Forest, the journey being free of the average crew, they arrived with no issue and departed. Their shuttle left the Battleships hanger with a fighter escort, the massive ship remaining near Mars. By the time they had started to enter Earths atmosphere, the fighter craft broke off. And within no time they had arrived to the Kingdom of the Frozen Forest. Their shuttle landed in a designated location before they were guided to the palace, there the young princess took a deep breath and steeled herself.

"May God grant me fortune in this endeavor, may my ancestors guide my hand, and our family angel protect us from harm." She let out a prayer as they prepared to enter the ball room. Ser Léopold stood by, giving his charge room to make the first impression of herself without interference, but remained near by should he need to intervene. "Announcing to the court, and to his Majesty, I present to you; of the Holy Solar Empire, Princess Eléonore Ariane de La Chapelle of the Archduchy of Châlons-en-Astra."

Upon hearing of the announcement, Princess Eléonore walked out in front of the crowd, she has been in front of far larger, but it was still an impressive sight from her perspective. With an angelic grace, honed from a life of being raised from the best, and from years of practice in front of other courts, she made her presence known. Eventually her guard, not to far, made himself known and kept fairly close, but not enough to distract from her. Eléonore stopped in front of the King, and gracefully preformed a curtsy before moving to stand by the other suitors. Léopold would follow through with a courtly bow and would resume his role of watching over Eléonore from a safe distance.

---

Léopold's armor is a lot like this, perhaps more "sci-fi'y" and without the shield and mace, he has a cape like his charge, and is not wearing a helmet

[The United Anime Kingdoms]

S.S. Chimchuymaru Isekai. Close to Truvaria. April 22, 2021.

The House of Elric, the ruling family of the United Anime Kingdoms is a prosperous family in a prosperous kingdom. The family head, the immortal God-Emperor Edward Elric, has reigned nearly for a hundred years now and is still looking to expand both his family and foreign relations. Upon receiving an invitation from the Kingdom of The Frozen Forest, Edward thought it would be best to send one of his granddaughters to secure an alliance between the two kingdoms.

Enter Princess Anne-Euphrasie Blondeau Suoh Elric, a fine young lady of the royal court. She has an air of refinement with her kind and caring demeanor, one would never have expected that her childhood was spent in the gutter. She was born as an illegitimate child of a student who abandoned her and her mother. Her mother, unemployed, tried to find work in the Theateria Province. This was during a time of economic recession in the UAK. It was a trying time for many, but Theateria was hit the hardest. Unable to care for her child, her mother left her with an innkeeper and his wife to find work in the next town (the mother was found dead from tuberculosis months later). At that age, the young Anne was abused by the innkeeper’s wife. Forced into servitude, only fed scraps of the leftover food of the inn, and worn nothing but rags. It was a miserable life, to say the least. This all change when royalty was visiting the province, Prince Tamaki Suoh Elric and Princess Haruhi Fujioka. On a goodwill tour, the couple were staying at the inn and saw the poor unfortunate child being abused by the innkeeper’s wife. They asked where her parents were and when given the answer that she doesn’t know, they made the royal decree to adopt the young girl under their wings (which was fortunately lucky considering the family policy that if they can, members of the royal family are to adopt poor orphans into the household (As the emperor was an orphan himself)).

Once adopted, she was given proper meals, proper clothing, and most importantly an education. Though the state religion is Yaoicon, given the province she once inhabited, she is a practicing Catholic. As she grew older, she is now a proper lady of royalty and continues to be kind and caring to others, going around the UAK on charitable acts. Though she has grown up in the lavish luxury of the Imperial Palace, she does appreciate some of the simpler and humbler things in life. She has become interested in literature, piano music, and she is known for adventuring out of her comfort zone with horseback riding.

She turned out to be a fine lady, a lady of elegance, yet very humble and appreciative in simplicity. Perfect to help secure an alliance with another kingdom. Emperor Edward secured passage for her granddaughter to The Frozen Forest with hopes of marriage. She arrived in the morning by royal steamship, charted by the House of Elric as a home away from home for the princess. Princess Anne-Euphrasie prepares herself in her cabin for the afternoon. She doesn’t want to go out in makeup or anything too decadent. She is not for that. She instead focuses on being herself. She wears a simple grey-blue and white dress, blue dress shoes, and a pendant that her biological mother left her before she was abandoned. The only accessory she puts on besides that is a kokoshnik-shaped tiara, a feature that all females of the royal family wear. As she was finishing up, one of the servants came and knocked on her door.

“Come in,” she says. The servant opens up the door, bowing in front of her royal highness.
“Your royal highness, the carriage is ready for you”.

“Arigato gozaimasu (Thank you very much)”. The servant closes the cabin door. Once the servant leaves, she kneels down quietly on the bedside praying. As mentioned, she is a practicing Roman Catholic, being introduced to the religion by Prince Tamaki. She has become very devout. It was both Prince Tamaki and God who saved her from indentured servitude and poverty. She wants to repay that to God. After a short prayer for a good day and hopeful wishes. She leaves her cabin, the steamship, and heads onboard the carriage that is to take her to the royal ballroom where she will meet King Ivan Bjork, the other suitors, and the rest of the Frozen Forest nobility. She is joined by the Elric household servant.

The ride was awfully silent on the way there. Princess Anne was awfully silent as well, she seemed deep in thought.

“Your royal highness, are you alright?” the servant asks.

“Oh, yes,” Princess Anne says softly out of a trance. “I’m quite alright thank you”.

“This kingdom seems lovely doesn’t it, your royal highness?”

“It is quite lovely”. There was a silence in the carriage after that.

“I’m sure the king will find you suitable to marry. You are kind and caring to others, and he’ll most likely find you most loyal if he does choose you”.

“Do you think so?”

“I know so your royal highness”. They arrived at the entrance to the royal ballroom. The servant bids her farewell as Princess Anne steps out of the carriage, holding in her hands a vase with a mini sakura tree, a gift from her grandfather Emperor Edward Elric. The guards open up the doors for her as she stands quietly at the sight of the ballroom, covered and decorated in gold. A bit too lavish for her tastes, but it seems to be a part of her life, given her status. She walks down as the herald spotted her and shouted…

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Your majesty. I introduce Her Royal Highness, the Princess of The United Anime Kingdoms, Anne-Euphrasie Blondeau Suoh Elric!”.

[Brettenwald]

Asha Cärrino folded her arms, disdainfully flipped her fiery red hair and harrumphed. "Absolutely bloody not."

Her cousin the Crown Prince merely lit a cigarette and leaned his bulky frame back in the high-backed leather chair on the other side of his monolithic mahogany desk, giving her one of his patented looks. "Frankly, my oh-so-beloved father has both forced my hand and made up his mind already. Marlena and Meyhan are too young so they're out, your sister's married so she's very out, and sending Helena would be like bringing a grenade launcher to a knife fight and spoil the fun for everyone else so she's most assuredly out. Therefore we're sending you. Sending nobody is, as has been made very clear to me, not an option. I know it's a cold, mercenary approach to personal relationships, but that's politics for you. Besides, the Frozen Forest could use us. Enlightened monarchies like ours need to stick together, and we're bigger, wealthier and better equipped to prune any, let us call them diseased branches off the governmentally-related family tree. Cassadia's the most obvious, naturally. Astares Amauricanum's a perpetual wild card but I've never liked the vibe they give off and they're in the process of a land grab in the Malditas, and while we're in that geographic area there's currently something of a situation in the AHSCAn government, I think Marcella Villa abdicated or something and the whole thing's completely gone to shit, but that doesn't concern us. So, yes, as a matter of fact this whole thing is largely political, but wouldn't you rather have a bona fide King interested in you than whichever airheaded Knight Tarek of Lily Vale wants to get in your skirts this week? I thought so," he added, smiling at her involuntary giggle.

"Kirrin has a briefcase for you in the outer office with dossiers on His Majesty and his brother the Crown Prince contained therein. Preparation is half the battle, my dear cousin." He checked his watch. "Sadly, as enjoyable as this conversation has been I must be off. Five-year university reunion dinner for the class of 2016. I wouldn't be leaving so soon, but it's a long haul down to Temku and I need to pick the Rolls up from the motor pool's detailing booth. One of the Garda will escort you out."

And so it was that Princess Asha found herself in the Palace by her own curiosity (and she had to admit to a certain degree of romantic interest) about King Ivan as well as whatever geopolitical five-dimensional chess game the Crown and cousin Marco were playing, with her hair done back in an intricate though traditional set of braids and wearing a strapless white dress that managed to both hug her figure and whisper about how much of a knockout she was instead of shout it from the rooftops, accessorized with silver pearl earrings and a matched set of a silver torc necklace and bracelet with engraved gold wolves' heads at each end... and exchanging glances with her bodyguard at the sight of a powerfully built woman with black hair and an extremely tense demeanor.

Threat level currently unknown but presumed high, allegiance currently unknown, weapon possession currently unknown. Watch carefully, do not interact with unless approached first, keep your wits about you.

Sandor Heyling was damned good at his job given that he was one of Father's junior officers back in the Marines, had graduated Garda training with the highest marks in that year's crop of agents, and was unimpeachably loyal to the family with the bonus of being regarded by his charge of the past decade-plus as a beloved and raffish uncle, but he was the only one here with her now. Granted, the embassy could scramble over three dozen more like him and arm and armor them before getting them here in under ten minutes, but that wasn't a possibility either of them really cared to think about. For his part he was more interested in what or more precisely who Asha was up against: the aforementioned Amazon, a somewhat waiflike blonde girl whose name and title would have tied his tongue like a necktie- bloody Frenchies -and a ghostly pale slip of a thing in what appeared to be a flight suit. Poor thing hasn't got a prayer. Go home, lass, you're just going to embarrass yourself. He checked his watch surreptitiously. In three, two, one and with a discreet hand signal- "Announcing to the court and to his Majesty, I present to you; of Brettenwald, Asha Lisanne Cärrino, Princess of the Empire and Duchess of Marinhal and Berkenholm." The Princess stepped forth with the kind of catlike grace few aristocratic women of her six-foot height ever truly mastered and bestowed upon King Ivan a curtsy and a friendly, genuine smile before making her way to join the other young women and relax, imperceptibly to anyone but him. Great job, milady. It'll all be easier from here.

[Scornerse]

---

The first of the 'suitors'--Sartana Ninakatari could barely consider here an enemy, as her chances seemed improbable, though one could never say never--to arrive after her was the alien Nova, an incredibly small chalk white woman under 5 feet tall. Sartana was curious as to what her intentions actually were, given that even she must recognize the improbability that the king would find her attractive. Nevermind the fact that she was unlikely to have any specific political appeal to any significant group. Chances are, she'd just be lost among her competition. This however did mean that Nova was someone that she could establish friendly relations with simply for the sake of showing herself as a friendly person, there was no point in treating her with any hostility whether covert or overt at this point. That didn't mean that she'd immediately reach out to her though, Sartana had actual enemies to focus on...

---

Now Eléonore arrival on the other hand, was something to consider. She was someone who did have a chance of winning the king's heart, both for romantic and political purposes. Sartana's observation of the the political and media environment up to this point told her that Eléonore's base of support would be those that aligned with those who were associated with maintaining the status quo. A some what bland base of support, but the status quo was the status quo because it was good at enforcing and reproducing it's self. Based on that knowledge, Sartana could assume that if nothing happened to shake things up Eléonore would be King Ivan's choice. As such, Sartana most definitely had to ensure that things were shaken up. So even though, strictly speaking, Sartana was unlikely to draw much from those that supported Eléonore, at least at the moment, she needed to work to undermine her position almost more than anything else, so that those that could draw more directly from her base of support would be able to chip away at it for their own benefits.

Sartana reinforced her rational for her extensive plotting plans at backstabbing, it was not all that too difficult to do. Being a Queen was a position of immense political power, even beyond those directly excised through the king. People have fought brutal wars that have killed countless people in efforts to grab at power worth a fraction of this. It was extraordinarily restrained in comparison to mildly hurt the feelings, or, if Sartana got the opportunity, the bodies, of a few other women to get a hold of this power. Who was any soldier, commander, politician, or even simple individual, whoever supported a war for any reason, to say what she was doing was morally wrong? Beyond simply the scale, there were the characteristics of the 'victims' of the battle to consider. They were nearly all nobles who had known a life of little more than privilege and splendor, not that she was in effect any particular exception, but at least one couldn't as easily accuse her of jealousy. What did it matter if they were denied an even more charmed life if she took from them a chance at the hand of a king? Nevermind what they'd even do with the power of being queen, beyond simply act as puppet of whoever backed them into marriage, in addition to meeting whatever petty desires they had? No, she had no qualms at all about doing whatever it took to win Ivan and would even enjoy knowing she'd might get to play the role of being one of the biggest set backs and sources of pain in these spoiled women's lives. For those that weren't spoiled? Well, the were still minor casualties in the scheme of things compared to the power that was up for grabs. People did all sorts of things for love, and she did feel sincerely attracted to Ivan, nevermind what else was at stake.

---

Sartana didn't have much the work on with Anne-Euphrasie in terms of where her support may or may not come from, and as such, she was not likely to be major competition, but there were still things to be some what concerned about. Given what Sartana knew of her background, it was quite possible that some of those more bleeding heart types that were supportive of Sartana as an 'indian princess' could find themselves turning to back an adopted girl, especially if there were nobles that wanted someone that could be an empty vessel that could be filled with other's agendas, rather than someone who such as Sartana, who is capable of having her own agenda, which just happens to often align with theirs. Did they want a partner, or a puppet? If those types felt secure in their position, they'd prefer the latter, if they needed someone who knew how to mobilize their own planning and political capital, they'd want the former. In order to know what they'd likely be looking for, Sartana would need to know the situation between the nobles. But regardless of the scenario, Sartana wouldn't be helpless in leaning it toward what'd be helpful for them. After all, should the more liberal types be concerned about conservative types getting their pick, they might be more likely to rally around a partner than a puppet to secure their position. Of course, most of this was conjecture, there was still far more to observe.

---

Princess Asha was another person she had heard of, but wasn't able to deduce much about who or what her base of appeal was from how she was spoken of. But she could tell a few things from what she'd researched about her and what she could see in front of her. For starts, she was the only one of her enemies that she'd see so far who probably wouldn't immediately fold like a cheap chair to a sucker punch, which was another way of saying that she looked to be on the athletic side. It wasn't particularly hard to tell this either, she definitely looked to be around six feet tall and she moved with the grace of someone that was comfortable in her body. Not only that, like Sartana herself, she was wearing a strapless white dress that showed her shoulders and upper chest and was thematically, rather similar to Sartana's. Combined this all virtually guaranteed that they'd be compared directly against each other.

Importantly and likely relevantly, Princess Asha was the first of the suitors that had entered that Sartana had caught specifically looking her, before looking back at who Sartana could assume was her bodyguard. However despite the fact that she looked at her, it seemed as though she was avoiding her. That gave Sartana all the direction she needed for what she'd do next. Faced with someone who was clearly implementing a conscious tactic, Sartana's belief was that the correct course of action was to throw a wrench of these plans. But given that not only were they both the same "athletic' category of women and were wearing similar dresses, that Princess Asha was afraid of having to be directly compared with Sartana.

So Sartana's opening offensive move in this war for King Ivan's heart would be to force Asha into an engagement she was clearly avoiding. After ensuring she projected a demeanor of poise and confidence, she made her way directly towards Asha, walking with purpose, elegance and a 'friendly' smile.

"Hi, you're Asha. I believe? I love that dress, it's very brave of you to wear it!" Sartana said, immediately opening with a direct fire volley of backhanded compliment. Sartana wasn't one that made a habit of making snide comments for the sake of making them, but she had subtle provocation for a purpose in mind in this case.

[Kyrenaia]

Khana Amina bint-Karim.
Marla looked absolutely adorable.
That was helped by the fact, that she was twelve years old (or of twelve Springs, as the Selkie, her native culture, said). Her blue-gray hair had been braided by her Personal Handmaiden, her face covered in the lightest of light makeups, and she wore a dress fit for her age group.
This was not her debut, that had been at a small, informal occassion in 2018, when she even danced with Christopher Riescheid. For an eleven-year-old, she had performed well on the dance floor, the young gentleman in question had made it quite an experience for her as well. His girlfriend had been quite pleased as well... and I still owed him.
Though, as my ward swallowed nervously, I smiled.
"You might not be the most beautiful at this ball...", I told her in Kyrenaian, "...but you are the cutest."
She let out a bemused snort before covering up her mouth with a startled expression. She was not a born Princess, but adopted by me a few years ago. I had designing fashion as a hobby and one of my competitors and, honestly, friends had passed away together with his wife. I had decided to adopt the girl, making Marla Ribín of the Tribe of Cork into Princess Marla bint-Amina, my ward and, the Gods willing, heiress.
Setting her up with somebody was not up for discussion tonight, though.
She lowered her hand and smiled at me. "You are the most beautiful, though.", she told me in the same language. "Though I still don't get why you went for the heels..."
Now it was my turn to giggle. "You'll understand, when you are older.", I told her, earning a cute pout. I was a woman of 2.16 meters and wore heels of fifteen centimeters. "Now... you remember the plan?"
Marla nodded. "I enter with you, meet a few people, shake hands, listen to how cute I look, ruin your chances of that King to bone you by merely existing..." I turned to her, a slight glare in my eyes. She looked at me, craning her neck. "Come on, you read the dossier of Naval Intelligence as well." I raised an eyebrow. "Captain Jamkiya can not withstand puppy eyes."
"The Sultana would be well-adviced to seek a way in how to weaponize them.", I replied to her, "Continue."
"...and around ten, I'll excuse myself.", Marla finished, "You know, I don't get, why you are participating in this anyway..."
I was silent for a moment.
"...to be honest, I want to seek a husband.", I admitted, "Someone, who I can sleep next to and wake up, share life and joy..." She looked at me puzzled. "You are like my own flesh and blood, Marla. That will never change. But a husband... you'll understand soon enough. Especially when you finally get your little crush to look at you."
Marla blushed, as if caught - and in a way, she was. She had not known, that I knew, that she crushed on someone. Even cuter was, that it was not a Prince, but a classmate of hers.
I exhaled and looked ahead. The Interior of the Royal Palace was as splendid as the exterior and could very well stand the comparison to any of the Six Halls of Kyrenaia, the staff was very professional, despite this little courtship ball making quite a splash and causing quite the discussions within the local yellow press (not to mention the yellow press in Kyrenaia) and population (ditto).
I felt secure, if I were to be honest.
Walking with my head tall, I smiled. My white-blonde or platinum blonde hair was short, just as I liked it, my red eyes shone like rubies. I was not only tall, very tall, but also quite, shall we say, well-endowed, a fact my close-fitting black dress played a bit with. On my collarbone, a small, golden pendant rested, the inlaid gemstones intricately shaped to give the appearance of a Kyrenaian Lotus. My shoes were silver and black, fitting the dress. My black dress was shoulderfree, going down to my ankle. There was a side slit on the left, showing either a lot of leg or allowing me to move easily, depending on how one looked at it. I did not wear gloves despite wearing a shoulderless and sleeveless dress, a statement to my own origins as a Lasite - my mother had been from the mountain region, which was known for its women with fiery temper and very large sabres.
Speaking of which, walking behind us were both Dilara Turi and Aynur Naem, the Personal Handmaidens of either of us, carrying the gifts we had for King Ivan. Both Handmaidens wore the appropriate dress, the Altanafus min la Shay or Breath of Nothing, and had the veils up, so anyone knowing Kyrenaian Customs would know better then to approach either of the two. If one did, they would be met with calm and stoic refusal... and frisky hands would be met with the sleeve being taped to the next wooden surface with a very, very large knife.
Marla looked less traditional and far less exotic, yet a bit of a chromatic opposite to me: A white dress, which went over one shoulder with a bit of frills, flaring out a bit at her waist. Around said, she wore a black ribbon, a slim band. She, too, wore shoes in silver and black, yet not high heels like I did.
I placed a hand on her head. "See to it, that you share a dance with someone cute.", I advised her, she giggled.
Then, we reached the huge doors into the Royal Ballroom.
"Amina bint-Karim, Khana of Sheliak, and Marla bint-Amina, Princess of Sheliak!", the herald announced us to the assembly.
I indicated a short bow, Marla following my example, out Handmaidens following us in at an appropriate distance. Time to dance...

Hisa Kariken.
"I do not understand, why you have to whore yourself out like this.", I asked for what felt like the thousandth time in our native tongue. "Or why your Esteemed Father would send you out on this... thing."
My name is Hisa Kariken, a proud Migakemujara from Okunaratsuru. I am the confidant and bodyguard to Marihime Ingansu, Princess of Takayoden, my friend and my sister in all but blood. She was a Princess of one of the Lords of the Vixen's Lands, six centuries of age (not that I was much younger) and well acquainted in the ways of the world - much like her father, who was much, much older.
My long, purple hair was done up, held there by a long needle, while I myself wore a dark kiruno, a long-sleeved, long dress, which was held by a himo around my hips. This 'belt' was a golden rope, from which the sheath with my sword hung, outer sign of me decidedly not being the person one should talk to for pleasant conversation. My cat ears (yes, real ones), the outer sign of me being a Migakemujara together with the tail, stood tall in alerted caution.
My Lady wore a blue kiruno with a wide belt of silk, which brought out her own blue eyes. Her pink hair was done up as well, held in shape by a band and a needle of gilded steel. Two strands framed her face, though they did not hide her slim, graceful neck. Neither did the kiruno hide the fact, that she would have something to flaunt, if she wanted to flaunt her 'assets'. Her feet were clad in wooden sandals, which clicked on the floor.
She smiled a small, graceful smile.
"Because I am not, to borrow your phrasing, 'whoring myself out.'", she told me, using the same language. "I am a nadeshiko. I do not 'whore myself out.' And if we were to be honest, I don't get it either. I doubt, that King Ivan will choose a woman tonight or over the next few days... not even if it is a political decision. Or that I will be that bride, mainly due to the slight age difference." I snorted in amusement. I was not a nadeshiko, not a graceful or poised woman, I was a warrior. "Yet he is one of the short-lived ones. I have experience in dealing with them, so maybe Father wants to make sure, that it stays up to date?"
"Or he wants to have grandchildren?", I ventured a guess. Mari shrugged slightly. "Be it as it may, he might chose you still... after all, you have experience in certain areas."
Mari gave me a playful slap, giggling. "Hisa, don't!"
I smiled as well, then steeled myself. "Will you be alright?"
"I hope so.", Mari replied with a nod, steeling herself. "Let's get to it."
"Princess Mari Ingansu.", the herald called out. My Lady nodded at the assembly, I did not. And one the introduction was done, Mari led me towards the buffet.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Warsaw

"With all due respect, what the fuck, pap?"

Crassus sighed and took off his glasses. "Right, I think I should make myself clearer. Despite what the event is ostensibly for, you are not going to court him and if I find out you do...actually, I'm not sure if I would even be mad. That would honestly be impressive, but again, not what I'm sending you to do."

Adelheid's shoulders relaxed, and a smile broke out on her face, a smile that Crassus returned as he stood.

"That's a relief, pap."
"I'm not done yet, Heidi." The smile disappeared. "You still have to make friends with him. Get to know him. We have no relations with the Frozen Forest, and it's best, I think, that we at least meet face-to-face before we establish relations."

"...So, what's the catch?"

"Don't put anyone in the ER, please."

"Aw, pap, as if I would."

Crassus shook his head. "It's harder than it sounds. Foreign nobility are...varied. If they aren't pushovers, watch them carefully; they're either one of the good ones, or they're another Austrian painter in the making. Either way, those types are dangerous. Pay attention to how they speak, how they act, and try to figure out what they're after. Shouldn't take much more than some logical deduction; ask how their country's doing, and put two and two together...although, granted, it's a lot harder than I make it sound."

"Okay, let me get this straight. Do you want me to learn from them? Because if that's the case, I'd rather hang myself."

"Nothing of the sort, Heidi. I just want you to see firsthand what foreign nobles can do. Again, some are good; some are better than our own. I'd be friends with some of these people if I ever bothered to leave the country. But for the most part, you'll have to watch out for the pushovers and Austrian painters."

"Understood...is that all?"

"Two more things. First; If you meet a Cassadian, and you end up in a fight with them, please try not to kill them. Not all of them are child-diddlers, as improbably as that may sound. Second; no firearms. I've asked an old friend to make sure noone decides to try anything funny with you. Well, his daughter, but whatever."

"Irene?"

"Aye. Have you two met before?"

"Plenty of times, yeah. She's a good sort; when are we going?"
"In a few days. Get ready."

---

The Ballroom
To say that the Commonwealth was contemptuous of traditional nobility was an understatement. Traditional nobles had been the downfall of the original Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and it was not through their elaborate schemes that it's independence was barely preserved, but through the efforts of the citizen-soldier. Even as conscripts were proved to be obsolescent, the same ethos remained; Szlachta and Freeman alike had to do their part.

It was partially why both both Adelheid and Irene had joined the military; and why they now entered in uniform. Irene's was a khaki uniform with a tie and trousers, based heavily on the British No.2 Service Dress, while Adelheid's was the plain-black dress uniform of the Air Force.

Of course, Adelheid's current service wasn't the sole reason she had picked out the uniform. Like all the other attendees, she had an image to project; however that image was very explicitly that of a tomboy. A respectful, well-mannered, well-bred and attractive tomboy, perhaps, but a tomboy nonetheless and one in the military to boot. She had no need or desire to charm the King; she merely needed to ensure that he remembered her -- perhaps not fondly, but at least without rancor, annoyance, or, worse still, romantic feelings. Annoyance could be smoothed over; rancor could be repaired; but love was dangerous, especially given the capricious nature of an absolute monarchy.

Her uniform, hopefully, would help with that. It would turn off the King, who likely did not wish to court a military woman for fear of offending any traditionalists, and would hopefully remind the other attendees that she was not a competitor, and also warn them off from a brawl. She had no desire to fight today(or ever, really), although if it had to come down to it, she could throw a good right hook, and Irene's fists hit like a truck, to say nothing of the FB Vis pistol she carried or her backsword.

---

Irene von Wittelsbach

The herald cleared his throat, and called out; "Princess Adelheid von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon of the Kingdoms of Prussia and Poland, and her retainer, the Lady von Wittelsbach!"

After the two strode in and gave a short bow, Irene scanned each and every visitor with a poker-face. None of the guests seemed to be a serious physical threat to her charge(there was even a young child of twelve with the Kyrenaian, to whom she granted a slight smile before reassuming her poker-face), and ultimately, she was content with that. Adelheid was far better than taking insults than she was, and worse come to worst, any frustration she had would be cleared up with a game of chess or AC7 on the flight home. Adelheid, for her part, examined the attendees as well, although perhaps less with suspicion and more with curiosity.

For now, though, the two Prussian-Poles remained on the sidelines; Adelheid not quite sure of what to do, and Irene watching over Adelheid.

[The Saucer Pilots]

...

...

Nova thought of Princess Asha Cärrino as a counterpart to the formidable Startana Ninakatari and had noticed that the man who stared down at them must've been a servant or a body guard, as the man checked his watch when the new contender arrived. Nova was as confident as before, only stopping to adjust their meritous badge in the right side of their black dress, the fact that Heyling looked at her from up there meant they were as captivating as ever. Nova was used to male attention, even if it could get annoying: working in a base surrounded by men who don't see skirts for months on end made the Anhu visitor recognize that they were indeed a desirable individual; Heyling must certainly think so as well. Spellbound by my looks? Too bad for him, thought the diminutive diplomat, he's not my Charlie Kattenby, the swell guy I got to get back home to.

Nova's self-assuring thoughts were interrupted by the verbal fight occurring between giants. Nova mused, A crude comparison, but is this what happens when two alpha wolves meet? I guess there can only be one over-acheiving and physically perfect whiz-kid around here. Maybe a part of them wanted to see how the confrontation would come down, but they also didn't want to seem too morbidly interested, mostly out of consideration that the aforementioned behavior would reflect badly on their part. So the spacer simply pretended to be dis-interested in the nearby spectacle and continued to scan the room.

The small visitor glanced at Princess Eléonore for a moment, they also seemed to be from the far future if the rumors they heard were correct. It was intriguing but also a bit frightening. At home, the few million Anhu believed they were the only spacefaring human civilization to exist and Nova did not want to stand out too much in front of the princess from a galactic empire, much less one that was willing to potentially spread it's influence on this alternate Earth. Though Nova was shorter, they wanted to regard Elénore as a junior just by thinking of their age. The space-pilot definitely assumed that the princess was too young for the King, that perhaps the generational gap would prove too much for personalities to bridge, but they also remembered that these cut-throat unions were not just about emotional satisfaction but political power, and the Holy Solar Empire had a lot.

Then Nova briefly looked at Anne-Euphrasie Blondeau as they retreated towards a long table with refreshments...Another blonde, just like how the Americans like them, thought Nova. The young woman seemed inoffensive enough and Nova casually smiled at them to acknowledge the presenc of the princess from the UAK, but just as they were grabbing a drink but just as the Anhu spacer was contemplating getting closer to meet her, newer contenders entered and they lost interest, just as casually moving away to make it seem that talking to Anne-Euphraise never crossed their mind.

...

Perhaps if Nova was around their airmen buddies back in Area 51 they'd have cracked a joke about child marriages, but this place wasn't the place for such humor, at least not now. She couldn't have been a servant, the maids were trailing the girl and the very large and dusky woman that she shadowed. While sipping, Nova tilted her head around, thinking: The big one must be the suitor. Surely enough, the "scroll guy" announced Amina bint-Karim and the obvious dilemma presented it's redundant answer. Nova quickly imagined that Amina would easily win in all the tournament's sports events and could physically humble the big girls of Brettenwald and Scornerse. But Nova came from 1950s America and they took a moment to ponder if the people of Frozen Forest would be more accepting of a dark-skinned foreigner sitting beside their king. Perhaps not, nobles aren't exactly non-insular people. Perhaps so, the Kingdom had many overseas holdings and was a true cosmopolitan empire where cultures intermingled, whether its' leadership liked it or not.

...

Ever America-centric, Nova was unfamiliar with Adelheid's dress uniform, colored in black. She was probably Navy or Air Force, but she's not colored in blue, is she really Air Force? Nova was a flight engineer and a pilot, she thought that common ground could serve as a cushion should they ever talk. Now looking at the stratocratic noblewoman's retainer, the space-pilot's chattering thoughts turned to reflections the Anhu had over "Germany" or German-sounding things that could be associated to them. Those Germans seemed to be the Earth's troublemakers, or at least that's what all the radio and TV signals of most everybody else (that Air Fleet monitored) seemed to think during a global conflict that had happened when Nova was too young to comprehend. But lost in their internal monologue, Nova forgot about the two women that preceded them.

...

Nova looked on at Hisa Kariken and Marihime Ingasu when they got close to the buffet near her. The saucer-pilot was immediately baffled by their mere existence even if they retained a mostly calm demeanor; where she came from, Natural Selection did not produce homologies —similarities in form unrelated to anatomical functions— in animal lineages that don’t share a basic common ancestor: that is to say, the ancestor of mankind, a hominid, didn't resemble any cat-like creature in any way, so naturally, no hominid would end up with physical adaptations that'd coincidentally look the same some other unrelated line of animal life, especially if no reason for convergent evolution could be signaled out. More weirdly, was their hair actually in those odd colors naturally? Nova actually forgot about them being competition for a second or two, the spacer regarded them as an anomaly that needed to be investigated!

The political situation of the Frozen Forest could be sketched out through rumors or by picking up a newspaper or two, digital readings of their factbooks made Nova infer that though many things were radically different in comparison to the history of their timeline, other events seemed more parallel, even if somewhat divergent. In the present hour of the ball, the intrepid xenophile wanted to know more about the new and exotic situation, or better said, the new guests.

More covertly, Nova also subtly took note of what Ingasu bought to the table, privately registering: Marihime and her friend could give Diana Dors or Tura Satana a run for their money! They belong on those Playboy ad magazines the flyboys read all the time. Good thing that Charlie likes me how I am. Thus, Nova finally stepped out of the shell of aloofness and walked towards them, uncaring or oblivious to Kariken's not-so-subtle show of force, objects Nova regarded as flashy toys. Regardless of these prejudiced thoughts influenced by the American war-dramas Nova had been shown about the Pacific Campaign, Nova genuinely wanted to get to know them with an honest intent towards goodwill, if not an arbitrary thought out choice, as Nova simply found the newcomers to be of interest. After all, if not for social mores, Nova would have been tempted to prick them with a small needle to collect blood samples or wander around the buffet to scoop up saliva from their plates and dishes.

Stopping in front of the pair, Nova tilted their head slightly downward and straightened their pose in a quasi-salute. When they talked, they revealed something similar to a basic American accent, but not quite the same: "Quite the show, isn't it?"

[Brettenwald]

"Hi, you're Asha. I believe? I love that dress, it's very brave of you to wear it!" Sartana said, immediately opening with a direct fire volley of backhanded compliment. Sartana wasn't one that made a habit of making snide comments for the sake of making them, but she had subtle provocation for a purpose in mind in this case.

Asha:
Always the bloody same. Always one bad apple spoiling the bunch, Asha sighed internally before locking and loading for return fire. "Thank you very much, Chieftess Sartana," she replied smoothly. Catch her off guard, tell her you know who she is already. "Yes, I am Princess Asha." Ever-so-subtle emphasis on "Princess" to make sure she knows I outrank her here. "I've always been a firm believer in showing oneself to one's best advantage. If you've got it, flaunt it, as the Americanism goes." A seemingly absentminded brush of the hair with her right hand to flash the silver and gold on her wrist, set off nicely by the pearl on that side showed that Asha indeed had it in wealth as well as physical attractions. "Of course, to do that one must have it in the first place. I was just a touch worried about the dress, as it seemed a bit too much for such a traditional and blue-blooded environment, but I seem to have made an excellent impression." Unlike you was implied though unspoken, naturally. Asha wasn't a racist, but aristocracy tended to have a superiority complex the world over and Brettenwald was hardly different. Or so it would be convenient for Sartana to think. "You know, the Forestrian public is treating this affair almost like one of those X Games competitions. I do hope none of us here see it that way. It's almost insulting, frankly, most unladylike. I should probably begin the social aspect of our time here with everyone else, if you'll excuse me. Know thine enemy and all that. Au revoir, Chieftess." And Asha left her self-appointed foe in a faint cloud of Chanel no. 5 and a definite mood, giving Sandor a quick wink and a grin as if to say score one for the home team as she and him noticed Khana Amina and immediately thought the same thing. Goddess be good, that is a lot of woman.

Sandor:
Ever the vigilant protector, Sandor had been taking stock of the new arrivals. Nova was really more of a curiosity and seemed to have no protection at all, though at 44 with close-cropped black hair and a boxer's build with a face that betrayed his past career as one you'd have gotten him on the floor laughing if you told him what she thought he thought about her. He was strictly business on duty, of course, among manifold other factors Garda agents were selected for their likelihood not to start any James Bond bullshit. Irene's sword and pistol were something of a concern but she seemed utterly disinterested in the court's happenings, and combined with his size advantage she got classified as a secondary threat should she prove to be one at all. Khana Amina was big enough to be her own security detachment, but Kyrenaian Handmaidens were serious business indeed. The guy in the suit of armor was a curiosity, to be sure, but was behaving perfectly normally: relaxed but watchful, like him. Nothing to worry about... well, except for Sartana, but Asha wasn't scared of her. She could field-dress a deer with her bare hands, so conversational skirmishes were a piece of cake.

[Scornerse]

---

"À bientôt, princesse païenne." Said Sartana, with and tinge of sarcasm and a slight wave as Asha retreated.

A retreat it most definitely was, after all, while she left from her spot immediately to go 'Know thine enemy', watching her, it wasn't exactly clear to where she was going beyond it being most importantly away from Sartana. She'd have been fine responding to Asha's insults, which were a lot lengthier and less indirect than her own was (perhaps signaling a measure of frustration?), weren't it for the fact that she took flight the moment that she finished rattling them off. While she most definitely was willing to go a few rounds, her goal had been to see if Asha had the courage to remain close to her despite their similar outfit, as Sartana assumed that if she was confident that she matched up well with Sartana, she'd have been fine staying around and being directly compared. Seeing as her leaving Sartana appeared to be more important than where she headed, Sartana was fine with making the assumption that Asha was worried about being directly compared and that Sartana had in fact, successfully routed her. Whether or not that was the assessment of any in the court who were paying attention, was not something she could know for sure.

Anyhow, now wasn't the time to stick around, as far as she was considered, her first maneuver was at worst a wash and at best a clear success. She couldn't let that momentum go to waste and stay around as though Sartana had been left confused rather than victorious. So as soon as Asha fled, Sartana begun heading toward the recently arrived Irene and Adelheid. Neither of them, so they say, had any ambitions about marrying King Ivan, which means they'd both make excellent allies, in so far as that remained the case, for anyone who reached out to them, so it was critically important that she got there first.

Sartana arrived in front of Irene and Adelheid, having made sure to make a relaxed and friendly stride toward them. How she'd go about speaking to them would be very different to how she had with Asha.

"Princess Adelheid, Lady Irene, it's a pleasure you meet you both, I'm Chieftess Sartana of Sconerse. I hope the ball isn't boring you!" Sartana said with a pleasant, sincere smile. Though she didn't like tomboy types, and that was what both appeared to be, she also wasn't one to be hostile to others without purpose, either, nevermind if there was a benefit to being friendly, so it was not difficult to treat the two of them nicely.

[The Holy Solar Empire]

---

Léopold

When they first arrived, Ser Léopold remained close to his charge, but not enough to draw any unnecessary attention, his lady was the one who must draw attention, not him. He knew with full confidence that he could cross the room in an instant if she needed his aid, not to insult the host and potential future husband to the Princess, but compared to everyone in the room, it was he who was the best prepared for the worst. When he and his lady had finished presenting themselves he found a nice spot to keep watch and out of sight.

Léopold didn't need to wait before making a threat assessment of the room; first there was the King, who looked young for his age but presented himself well enough, an air of authority emanated from him. Léopold has yet to have any proper introduction to his majesty, but his first impression was positive so far. King Ivan was flanked by a guard in a suit and a maid, neither was a concern to him, he was actually more concerned of any more significant guard, which either spoke tot he Kings confidence or foolhardiness.

It didn't take him much longer to recognize the Crown Prince, visually he paid him no mind,but he was more than capable of reading him. More than a few times in the history of mankind has situations like this turn volatile; he could remember firmly of an ancient Kingdom which held an event similar to this, only to see the heir to the realm preform a masterstroke coup-d'etat that plunged several sectors into a war that lasted until the first Holy Solar Empire crushed all sides and brought the realms to heel. Léopold would have to keep a sharp eye on the Prince and anyone consorting with him, if not for the safety of his lady, than for the safety of this Kingdoms people as well.

Of course, the Princess was not the only one attempting to court the King; when they first arrived he had taken notice that there were tow people who have already presented themselves, something he considered unfortunate, since they had hoped to set the standard others to compare themselves too, but being 3rd to arrive was impressive nonetheless, given they had to travel the starts before reaching here.

Léopold first took notice of Sartana, having only passed his gaze over her briefly when he was first following his lady. The women presented herself fairly fine, but she rubbed him the wrong way, it was the brief look into her eyes that warned him. She would be in the back of his mind for a while, but there would be many more to appear. The other arrival before Eléonore was a rather short thing, an obvious human derived race, he didn't need to concern himself with her too much, but kept her in the back of his mind, there was a lack of knowledge on her species culture, way of thinking, and capabilities, and it was sometimes the "cute" ones who were the most dangerous.

The next women to arrive, Anne-Euphrasie was disregarded immediately; she was fairly easy to read, open like a good book, he sensed no ill intent form her. Asha arrived soon after and was otherwise not particularly noteworthy, she too came with a guard who much like himself was attentive and on guard, smart man. With the arrival of Asha, something unexpected happened, Sartana showed her hand prematurely. As soon as she could, she had decided to present herself to the Duchess and lash out with a thinly veiled backhanded compliment, of which was soon countered as the Duchess retreated in good measure. Léopold was right to be skeptical of the women, sure she could never have expected her verbal assault to be so thoroughly heard by him, but that is something the Knight was to keep to himself, the less anyone knew of what a Knight of the Empire could do, the more advantage she had should he need to protect the Princess. He continued to analyze the following suitors and any guards that came with them, all the while coming up with over a hundred different plans for if something was to go wrong.

---

Eléonore

When Princess Eléonore first arrived in the Frozen Forest, her anxiety was at an all time high, not necessarily for the ball, she has been to plenty of those before, rather it was the subject of her visit which had gripped her heart so tightly; this was the first time she laid eyes upon the King of this country, before she had no idea what he would be like in person, and upon greeting him she had a hard time holding back a blush. The King was quite handsome, more so in the flesh than what little pictures she had could show, they did him no justice.

Eléonore quickly took her leave to the side with her loyal Guard and patiently waited as more guest began filling in. She took notice of the people before her, Sartana and Nova were both intriguing individuals for their own reasons, and she was slightly peeved at herself for being ever so slightly late, she had intended to be the first one there but it seems fate was against her in that regard. Eléonore noticed a fairly kind looking soul arriving soon after she had, Anne-Euphrasie reminded Eléonore of her sisters, and she hoped that regardless of what happened they could potentially become friends, truthfully she had hoped that she could at least be friends to most of the other suitors, she may be here to wed the man of her dreams, but that was no reason to not make any new friends.

She overheard the brief trading of words between Sartana and Asha and had to resist rolling her eyes. "Oh, I see the first one here is one of those people." She thought to herself, she had seen these type of people fairly often, she couldn't judge the woman too harshly, but she knew that Sartana was gonna be a problem in one way or another. Regardless she wasn't worried about her physically, her safety was assured by Ser Léopold. But she knew how those type of people thought and acted, which is why she felt it important to plan ahead for when it was time to greet the Kings subjects. Soon the old ghostly hand of boredom began to scratch at Eléonore once again, or perhaps it was her stomach. Either way she was strongly considering finding some sweets, but she figured she'd wait a tad longer to see who else arrives, although she could only wait so long.

---

[Kyrenaia]

...

...

Nova thought of Princess Asha Cärrino as a counterpart to the formidable Startana Ninakatari and had noticed that the man who stared down at them must've been a servant or a body guard, as the man checked his watch when the new contender arrived. Nova was as confident as before, only stopping to adjust their meritous badge in the right side of their black dress, the fact that Heyling looked at her from up there meant they were as captivating as ever. Nova was used to male attention, even if it could get annoying: working in a base surrounded by men who don't see skirts for months on end made the Anhu visitor recognize that they were indeed a desirable individual; Heyling must certainly think so as well. Spellbound by my looks? Too bad for him, thought the diminutive diplomat, he's not my Charlie Kattenby, the swell guy I got to get back home to.

Nova's self-assuring thoughts were interrupted by the verbal fight occurring between giants. Nova mused, A crude comparison, but is this what happens when two alpha wolves meet? I guess there can only be one over-acheiving and physically perfect whiz-kid around here. Maybe a part of them wanted to see how the confrontation would come down, but they also didn't want to seem too morbidly interested, mostly out of consideration that the aforementioned behavior would reflect badly on their part. So the spacer simply pretended to be dis-interested in the nearby spectacle and continued to scan the room.

The small visitor glanced at Princess Eléonore for a moment, they also seemed to be from the far future if the rumors they heard were correct. It was intriguing but also a bit frightening. At home, the few million Anhu believed they were the only spacefaring human civilization to exist and Nova did not want to stand out too much in front of the princess from a galactic empire, much less one that was willing to potentially spread it's influence on this alternate Earth. Though Nova was shorter, they wanted to regard Elénore as a junior just by thinking of their age. The space-pilot definitely assumed that the princess was too young for the King, that perhaps the generational gap would prove too much for personalities to bridge, but they also remembered that these cut-throat unions were not just about emotional satisfaction but political power, and the Holy Solar Empire had a lot.

Then Nova briefly looked at Anne-Euphrasie Blondeau as they retreated towards a long table with refreshments...Another blonde, just like how the Americans like them, thought Nova. The young woman seemed inoffensive enough and Nova casually smiled at them to acknowledge the presenc of the princess from the UAK, but just as they were grabbing a drink but just as the Anhu spacer was contemplating getting closer to meet her, newer contenders entered and they lost interest, just as casually moving away to make it seem that talking to Anne-Euphraise never crossed their mind.

...

Perhaps if Nova was around their airmen buddies back in Area 51 they'd have cracked a joke about child marriages, but this place wasn't the place for such humor, at least not now. She couldn't have been a servant, the maids were trailing the girl and the very large and dusky woman that she shadowed. While sipping, Nova tilted her head around, thinking: The big one must be the suitor. Surely enough, the "scroll guy" announced Amina bint-Karim and the obvious dilemma presented it's redundant answer. Nova quickly imagined that Amina would easily win in all the tournament's sports events and could physically humble the big girls of Brettenwald and Scornerse. But Nova came from 1950s America and they took a moment to ponder if the people of Frozen Forest would be more accepting of a dark-skinned foreigner sitting beside their king. Perhaps not, nobles aren't exactly non-insular people. Perhaps so, the Kingdom had many overseas holdings and was a true cosmopolitan empire where cultures intermingled, whether its' leadership liked it or not.

...

Ever America-centric, Nova was unfamiliar with Adelheid's dress uniform, colored in black. She was probably Navy or Air Force, but she's not colored in blue, is she really Air Force? Nova was a flight engineer and a pilot, she thought that common ground could serve as a cushion should they ever talk. Now looking at the stratocratic noblewoman's retainer, the space-pilot's chattering thoughts turned to reflections the Anhu had over "Germany" or German-sounding things that could be associated to them. Those Germans seemed to be the Earth's troublemakers, or at least that's what all the radio and TV signals of most everybody else (that Air Fleet monitored) seemed to think during a global conflict that had happened when Nova was too young to comprehend. But lost in their internal monologue, Nova forgot about the two women that preceded them.

...

Nova looked on at Hisa Kariken and Marihime Ingasu when they got close to the buffet near her. The saucer-pilot was immediately baffled by their mere existence even if they retained a mostly calm demeanor; where she came from, Natural Selection did not produce homologies —similarities in form unrelated to anatomical functions— in animal lineages that don’t share a basic common ancestor: that is to say, the ancestor of mankind, a hominid, didn't resemble any cat-like creature in any way, so naturally, no hominid would end up with physical adaptations that'd coincidentally look the same some other unrelated line of animal life, especially if no reason for convergent evolution could be signaled out. More weirdly, was their hair actually in those odd colors naturally? Nova actually forgot about them being competition for a second or two, the spacer regarded them as an anomaly that needed to be investigated!

The political situation of the Frozen Forest could be sketched out through rumors or by picking up a newspaper or two, digital readings of their factbooks made Nova infer that though many things were radically different in comparison to the history of their timeline, other events seemed more parallel, even if somewhat divergent. In the present hour of the ball, the intrepid xenophile wanted to know more about the new and exotic situation, or better said, the new guests.

More covertly, Nova also subtly took note of what Ingasu bought to the table, privately registering: Marihime and her friend could give Diana Dors or Tura Satana a run for their money! They belong on those Playboy ad magazines the flyboys read all the time. Good thing that Charlie likes me how I am. Thus, Nova finally stepped out of the shell of aloofness and walked towards them, uncaring or oblivious to Kariken's not-so-subtle show of force, objects Nova regarded as flashy toys. Regardless of these prejudiced thoughts influenced by the American war-dramas Nova had been shown about the Pacific Campaign, Nova genuinely wanted to get to know them with an honest intent towards goodwill, if not an arbitrary thought out choice, as Nova simply found the newcomers to be of interest. After all, if not for social mores, Nova would have been tempted to prick them with a small needle to collect blood samples or wander around the buffet to scoop up saliva from their plates and dishes.

Stopping in front of the pair, Nova tilted their head slightly downward and straightened their pose in a quasi-salute. When they talked, they revealed something similar to a basic American accent, but not quite the same: "Quite the show, isn't it?"

Hisa Kariken.
The buffet was really something else and by a small look into her eyes, I knew, that Mari and I thought the same thing: It looked delicious. And, if Mari's expression on trying a nibble was any indication, it was delicious.
Something in the back of my head asked itself how many peasants had to starve to enable the nobility to feast like this. I shook my head lightly. This was not Krezuel and it was not 1730, so the answer was most likely a resounding none.
Still, while my friend was looking at the buffet like a child in a candy store, I watched my surroundings - and noticed the woman coming up. She seemed like no thread, so my hand stayed away from my sword.
She was a woman, not a child like Princess Marla, although she was quite short. Lithe, a bit like a warrior or a dancer, and dressed in a black cocktail dress. She was also very pale, which appeared to be natural and not makeup. Her hair was black.
"Quite the show, isn't it?", she asked. Her accent was not the one I was used to, but one could understand her easily.
Mari did so, too. She nodded, raising a finger to ask for a moment as she was currently chewing on a nibble. She swallowed and then said: "My apologies.", she said with her own accent, a calm and melodious accent, and nodded, "It indeed is quite an assembly. Many women and their retainers from far away lands came here in pursuit of the heart of a man, who they do not know..." She shrugged lightly. "...or at least they are pursuing the spot at his side." A beat passed. "I am Marihime Ingansu, Princess of Takayoden in Okunaratsuru. Who do I have the pleasure with?"
Of course she did not introduce me - after all, I was but the retainer.

"Hi, you're Asha. I believe? I love that dress, it's very brave of you to wear it!" Sartana said, immediately opening with a direct fire volley of backhanded compliment. Sartana wasn't one that made a habit of making snide comments for the sake of making them, but she had subtle provocation for a purpose in mind in this case.

Asha:
Always the bloody same. Always one bad apple spoiling the bunch, Asha sighed internally before locking and loading for return fire. "Thank you very much, Chieftess Sartana," she replied smoothly. Catch her off guard, tell her you know who she is already. "Yes, I am Princess Asha." Ever-so-subtle emphasis on "Princess" to make sure she knows I outrank her here. "I've always been a firm believer in showing oneself to one's best advantage. If you've got it, flaunt it, as the Americanism goes." A seemingly absentminded brush of the hair with her right hand to flash the silver and gold on her wrist, set off nicely by the pearl on that side showed that Asha indeed had it in wealth as well as physical attractions. "Of course, to do that one must have it in the first place. I was just a touch worried about the dress, as it seemed a bit too much for such a traditional and blue-blooded environment, but I seem to have made an excellent impression." Unlike you was implied though unspoken, naturally. Asha wasn't a racist, but aristocracy tended to have a superiority complex the world over and Brettenwald was hardly different. Or so it would be convenient for Sartana to think. "You know, the Forestrian public is treating this affair almost like one of those X Games competitions. I do hope none of us here see it that way. It's almost insulting, frankly, most unladylike. I should probably begin the social aspect of our time here with everyone else, if you'll excuse me. Know thine enemy and all that. Au revoir, Chieftess." And Asha left her self-appointed foe in a faint cloud of Chanel no. 5 and a definite mood, giving Sandor a quick wink and a grin as if to say score one for the home team as she and him noticed Khana Amina and immediately thought the same thing. Goddess be good, that is a lot of woman.

Sandor:
Ever the vigilant protector, Sandor had been taking stock of the new arrivals. Nova was really more of a curiosity and seemed to have no protection at all, though at 44 with close-cropped sandy hair and a boxer's build with a face that betrayed his past career as one you'd have gotten him on the floor laughing if you told him what she thought he thought about her. He was strictly business on duty, of course, among manifold other factors Garda agents were selected for their likelihood not to start any James Bond bullshit. Irene's sword and pistol were something of a concern but she seemed utterly disinterested in the court's happenings, and combined with his size advantage she got classified as a secondary threat should she prove to be one at all. Khana Amina was big enough to be her own security detachment, but Kyrenaian Handmaidens were serious business indeed. The guy in the suit of armor was a curiosity, to be sure, but was behaving perfectly normally: relaxed but watchful, like him. Nothing to worry about... well, except for Sartana, but Asha wasn't scared of her. She could field-dress a deer with her bare hands, so conversational skirmishes were a piece of cake.

Khana Amina bint-Karim.
I was not the only one, who had watched the slight... confrontation between Asha and Sartana, the Tribal Chieftess decidedly drawing the shorter stick. I had not heard a word, admittedly, due to the distance between them and us, but I had noticed Asha leaving her standing.
And then looking at me. I could not help but to think, that she looked startled and maybe a bit surprised.
I smiled in her direction and nodded. Good work., I wanted to convey nonverbally and then made a move with my hand, which invited her to join myself and my adopted daughter, who noticed it as well.
She smiled as well, though directed at me, craning her neck again. I placed a hand on her head and resisted the urge to rub said head, no matter how cute her reaction would be.

[The Saucer Pilots]

---

Nova smirked with amusement after hearing Mari's analysis of the situation, neither out of sycophancy nor at the fox-eared woman but at their conclusions, also revealing that behind a cutesy facade they enjoyed some more morbid aspects of humor. Cheerily, the miniature woman replied, "I am Nova, of the Air Domain's Fleet. As a pilot, something tells me that the seat besides the King already has a bulls-eye on it." As they paused to sip from some clear wine and looked around the ballroom filled with nobility that was surely eyeing which suitor to support, Nova added "and that throne probably has no warning system either. I was taught to avoid those situations." The last phrase in that sentence could've been meant to show that she had no intent in seriously competing for the King's hand, or it could've been a simple remark about their career. Nova wished they could be more straightforward, but was unsure if that would pay off right now.

As Nova came to the Ball to solicit help to get material that'd get their saucer up and running again...apart from being a diplomatic ice breaker...they had to concede that getting aid would probably be a transactional affair, even if friendship would help, but they did not know who would be the most trustworthy. Would it be the King when they had a chance to talk? Or one of the other suitors? Nova didn't even know what object or service they could offer, right now. Subconsciously, perhaps Nova was trying to familiarize themselves with the lady of Okunaratsuru first because they could have been the guests that stuck out the most among the people of Frozen Forest in their status as very obvious foreigners.

They also looked at Kariken briefly, Nova initially wanted to greet them too. Perhaps it was normal in the Air Domain to greet everyone around, even if courtesy demanded that they be referred to in the honorific of "han", a word that meant "companion" but which could roughly be translated as "comrade". At work, heavy in protocol, rank or occupation would precede the honorific. The alien cosmonaut definitely wouldn't be referring to anybody here in such a manner, it'd be suicidal even if they grew up to consider it courteous. It was certainly good that nobody here is Anhu, and I won't automatically be tempted to call them 'Comrade-Princess'. Nova instead stopped themselves, if it was in Kariken's role to stay silent, maybe it was for the best...speaking of which...Nova's own "bodyguard", Special Agent Grimes, was nowhere in sight. The nosy old man was messing around, they thought.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Anyhow, now wasn't the time to stick around, as far as she was considered, her first maneuver was at worst a wash and at best a clear success. She couldn't let that momentum go to waste and stay around as though Sartana had been left confused rather than victorious. So as soon as Asha fled, Sartana begun heading toward the recently arrived Irene and Adelheid. Neither of them, so they say, had any ambitions about marrying King Ivan, which means they'd both make excellent allies, in so far as that remained the case, for anyone who reached out to them, so it was critically important that she got there first.

Sartana arrived in front of Irene and Adelheid, having made sure to make a relaxed and friendly stride toward them. How she'd go about speaking to them would be very different to how she had with Asha.

"Princess Adelheid, Lady Irene, it's a pleasure you meet you both, I'm Chieftess Sartana of Sconerse. I hope the ball isn't boring you!" Sartana said with a pleasant, sincere smile. Though she didn't like tomboy types, and that was what both appeared to be, she also wasn't one to be hostile to others without purpose, either, nevermind if there was a benefit to being friendly, so it was not difficult to treat the two of them nicely.

Irene
Irene's eyes narrowed as Sartana approached, and she began to size up the Chieftess; namely, whether or not she could take her in a fight.
One of 'em "climbers" I was warned of, eh? she thought. Well, I can handle her if she decides to be funny.
She bowed her head slightly as the Chieftess spoke. "A pleasure, Chieftess. I trust you are well?" Irene replied, her broadsword clinking slightly as she moved.

Adelheid
Adelheid, for her part, smiled genially and held out her hand for a handshake. "Hello!" she replied, cheerfully. "I hope you've been doing well, Chieftess; no jet lag, I hope? And please, just call me Adelheid."

She glanced at Asha's departing form, and leaned in, her voice lowering to a whisper. "You know-" she said. "Just between you and me, I never got what was up with them. They look like peacocks at the zoo with how often they strut themselves. I hope you succeed, if only to send 'em home with their tails between their legs."

[Scornerse]

---

Sartana was more than familiar with the look that Irene was giving her as she approached, being someone who enjoyed getting into fistfights. Sartana figured that Irene might be the type to respect someone who could do serious damage in a fight, so she subtly clasped her gloved hands together in front her stomach, intending to bring a little attention to her tastefully robust arms by allowing them to flex somewhat, but in a manner that didn't signal aggression like a hand on her hip may have.

"I am well, thank you, Lady Irene" Sartana responded, Adelheid might have given her permission to refer her simply by her name, but Irene hadn't. She wouldn't assume that Adelheid spoke for her in that regard.

"If you prefer that I call you Adelheid, I will and I'm fine with you addressing me simply as Sartana, that goes for you too, Lady Irene." She nodded in Irene's direction before looking back to Adelheid.

"Also, thanks for the good wishes and that's definitely a good comparison, Adelheid." Sartana then turned to Irene with a smile "I wouldn't mind plucking some of those feathers, if you catch my meaning, eager to meet a few in the more pugilistic tournament events." Sartana, laughed a little and while keeping her clasped hands at the same height, quietly punched her right fist into her left palm.

"As for jet lag, I arrived in the Frozen Forest days early to get that out of the way and used the time to get myself familiar with the locality and it's media. Need to scout out the battlefield before hand to know how to defeat your enemies, that sort of thing. Can't let my two years of National Service in the Scornersean military go to waste." Sartana said, intending to get across to the two military uniformed women that despite her attire, she was a fighter at heart, much like they were.

"So, neither of you two are here to vie for the Ivan's heart, I hear. That's a relief, either one of you would have been my fiercest competition and I don't say that just to flatter you. King Ivan's both a proper soldier-king and an egalitarian, I don't think it'd be all that surprising if he wanted a soldier-queen by his side, particularly since I suspect that might be the leaning of the military men, who's views he most certainly values."

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Sartana was more than familiar with the look that Irene was giving her as she approached, being someone who enjoyed getting into fistfights. Sartana figured that Irene might be the type to respect someone who could do serious damage in a fight, so she subtly clasped her gloved hands together in front her stomach, intending to bring a little attention to her tastefully robust arms by allowing them to flex somewhat, but in a manner that didn't signal aggression like a hand on her hip may have.

"I am well, thank you, Lady Irene" Sartana responded, Adelheid might have given her permission to refer her simply by her name, but Irene hadn't. She wouldn't assume that Adelheid spoke for her in that regard.

"If you prefer that I call you Adelheid, I will and I'm fine with you addressing me simply as Sartana, that goes for you too, Lady Irene." She nodded in Irene's direction before looking back to Adelheid.

"Also, thanks for the good wishes and that's definitely a good comparison, Adelheid." Sartana then turned to Irene with a smile "I wouldn't mind plucking some of those feathers, if you catch my meaning, eager to meet a few in the more pugilistic tournament events." Sartana, laughed a little and while keeping her clasped hands at the same height, quietly punched her right fist into her left palm.

"As for jet lag, I arrived in the Frozen Forest days early to get that out of the way and used the time to get myself familiar with the locality and it's media. Need to scout out the battlefield before hand to know how to defeat your enemies, that sort of thing. Can't let my two years of National Service in the Scornersean military go to waste." Sartana said, intending to get across to the two military uniformed women that despite her attire, she was a fighter at heart, much like they were.

"So, neither of you two are here to vie for the Ivan's heart, I hear. That's a relief, either one of you would have been my fiercest competition and I don't say that just to flatter you. King Ivan's both a proper soldier-king and an egalitarian, I don't think it'd be all that surprising if he wanted a soldier-queen by his side, particularly since I suspect that might be the leaning of the military men, who's views he most certainly values."

Adelheid laughed, and resisted the urge to slap her knee. "Pluck 'em? Aw, nah, that's too kind. I hope you trounce 'em. I'll even help you if I get the chance. But glad to hear the jet lag's not hitting you too hard...and as for competition, bah, humbug. I feel like he'd like someone more...how do I put it. Someone who's good at keeping their cards close to their chest. Someone more flexible, like you."

She cracked a smile. "In fact? I actually wore my uniform as a way to make sure he wouldn't be tempted to go after me. And besides, being a queen would be a bore for me. I couldn't handle it. Can't fly or run CAS if you're a queen, now, eh? It wouldn't be proper."

Irene smiled slightly, although it wasn't quite clear if it was from amusement, Sartana's display of strength, or the realization that she, too, was 'one of the boys'. "Well, I'm here to guard Lady Adelheid. And besides, I think I have too much dirty laundry, so to speak."

If Sartana had done her homework, which she presumably had, she would know that the Lady von Wittelsbach had had a mental breakdown after being sent to a finishing school. The resultant fistfight she started and won had attracted considerable media attention, and soon after she was expelled and sent to one of Prussia-Poland's military schools instead.

[The Frozen Forest]

First Impressions

The ballroom was silent as the Herald skillfully announced in a booming voice the name of the first suitor. It was a name that had been tossed around a lot by political commentators and power-shakers over the past couple of days. What kind of person was the young and beautiful Chieftess Sartana Ninakatari? Intelligence revolving around her was slim at best and that left a lot of unknown variables for the nobility, which meant that her appearance to the court was all too important as they formed their first impressions of her. As Sartana entered the room remained silent with the exception of the clacking of her shoes.

The silence was broken by a quiet, excited murmuring near the back of the room and then by the characteristic noise of a camera snapping a photo (courtesy of Seraria Fyllerion the Court Photographer). The subject of all of the excitement wore an expression that almost seemed to scream "You don't want to be my enemy!" Perhaps it achieved the desired intent as Baroness Melonie Cressida and Countess Olena Kolsdottir's expressions changed from those resembling hungry predators to that of creatures assessing a newfound threat. About six other noble women of lower status, those who were aligned with Countess Olena and Baroness Melonie were similarly cowed.

This wasn't lost on King Ivan who had become acutely aware of the many scheming factions within his court over the past couple of years. While Chieftess Sartana approached to be introduced to him, his eyes flickered around the room as he registered the reactions of the court. It wasn't until the Chieftess was in front of him that he let his gaze travel to her for the first time. His eyes traveled down her body quickly, taking note of her height and clothing choice. She was an objectively attractive individual but Ivan felt himself pulled into her eyes. Wordlessly he understood that this wasn't a naïve maiden. She's definitely a she-wolf, someone that isn't afraid to play at court intrigue.
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After Sartana came an...interesting individual. The attention of much of the crowd shifted as the next arrival was announced. It was a girl named Nova who supposedly came from an alternate dimension-which made a lot of sense given her chalk white skin and stiff, almost inhuman demeanor as she crossed the floor. Ivan noticed her driving her gaze into the wall, a tactful illusion that he himself had mastered long ago. It was a decent hint that while this Nova was perhaps not well versed in court manners, she did have a measure of control he could respect. Ivan held her gaze as she shifted it to him and Ivan was caught of guard as Nova stiffened up and saluted him. Okay. That wasn't normal but neither was it disrespectful. Ivan allowed himself to find Crown Prince Ari in the crowd and Ivan raised his eyebrows delicately as though to say Well brother, I think I just found you a wife.

The rest of the court had erupted into raucous discussion. Baroness Melonie and Countess Olena were emboldened by the display whereas others seemed confused or amused or even worried (on account of whether Nova's behavior was some sort of ruse). That is to say with two exceptions, those exceptions being the Court Astrologer Mary Tinsell and Major General Louis Akession.
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Princess Eléonore Ariane de La Chapelle of the Archduchy of Châlons-en-Astra arrived next and the room's chatter stilled. She was another space-faring foreigner, a Princess of the stars who also just so happened to be Catholic. Ivan once again allowed his gaze to fall across the room as the young Princess crossed the floor. Duchess Isabella de Tarton of Tarton, an aging bird whose time had passed made her way to the edge of the crowd so as to get a better look at Eléonore.

Crown Prince Ari's eyes passed over the Princess and instead fell on her bodyguard, specifically his well-made armor. He felt a small bout of envy for such a piece of work, which demonstrated clearly the prowess and wealth that the Holy Solar Empire. His reaction was no doubt noted by much of the other nobles in the room and while it wasn't said it was clear that Princess Eléonore had sparked the interest of most of those in the room.

Ivan kept a cool expression as Princess Eléonore approached him and curtsied. She was collected and graceful if nothing else, but what was she like as a person? How would she interact with the rest of the court? A twinge of worry nagged at him though as he considered Princess Eléonore. While she would be an acceptable bride for him based on just the political ties that would be made, she was also an incredible threat to him. If Ari was able to influence her to support him in his bid for the throne the situation could become bleak fast. Keeping Ari away from the Princess would be the wise decision.
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Princess Anne-Euphrasie Blondeau Suoh Elric of the UAK entered the room after Princess Eléonore. Whereas the others who had arrived managed to provoke extreme reactions one way or another, the response of the crowd to Princess Anne-Euphrasie was much more controlled. She was by no means a controversial lady to the court. She was Catholic, she had royal blood, she was connected to another Kingdom where The Frozen Forest could benefit from an alliance and she even wore rather conservative attire. She could easily the first choice of the conservative factions of the court.

It was therefore no surprise that Duke Ragnar Cederblom had focused his attention on Princess Anne-Euphrasie. While there was no true leader of the conservatives, Duke Ragnar was about as close as you could come. He also happened to be the Duke of Hasfeld, one of the larger and more powerful duchies in The Frozen Forest.
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If Chieftess Sartana was a she-wolf, then Asha Lisanne Cärrino was a fox. She was a Princess and a Duchess from Brettenwald, a monarchy with friendly relations to The Frozen Forest. It was a nation that had an embassy in the capital and it was a nation that the Crown thought highly of. The nobility weren't strangers to Brettenwald as close relations had meant that at least a rudimentary history and understanding of their culture had wormed its way into the education of young nobility in TFF. Out of all the suitors Asha was one of the best understood prior to her arrival and for once speculation and rumors proved correct.

One of Asha's more imposing features was her height. At 6'0 she was taller even than the King-which made for good blood in the eyes of the more superstitious nobility. Ask them and they might make wild guesses that Asha had the blood of giants, surely not a women to tangle with if true.
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For those who did believe in the blood of giants, there was another whom shared the same advantages as Asha. It was none other than the next women to enter the ballroom, a woman who could match Asha in stature and surpass her with ease. In fact this competitor was likely the tallest person in the room, standing at 7'0 tall. Khana Amina bint-Karim stole the show away from Asha as she made her entrance alongside her ward Princess Marla bint-Amina, both of which hailed from Kyrenaia-a nation that also had warm relations with TFF. The pair were quite a sight for the gathered servants, guards and nobility.

A collective awe spread across the crowd at the sight of Marla. It was quickly followed up by chattering about Amina. There was of course her interesting choice in dress, her unusual height and burning ruby-red eyes. They were a sight to behold the pair of them, though some like Duke Ragnar Cederblom wouldn't approve of bringing such a young girl to such an important national event, others like the so called "Tigress of the West" Duchess Arissa Eklund of Ebrin could admire the decision. Even if it was unintentional, bringing Princess Marla along would naturally increase the likability of Khana Amina and would help her get the attention of King Ivan if for no other reason than curiosity.

The King would have been lying if he said that he was unfazed by Amina, though his face didn't betray his thought process. Amina is a bit older than me and still unmarried. Is it just because of her height or is there something else?
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Marihime Ingansu was yet another unusual sight to the court, though perhaps not so jarring a sight as Nova had been upon entrance. What set her apart from the other suitors was her non-human features. If asked a significant majority of the general population couldn't say what a
Migakemujara was, but the nobility had some time to prepare themselves. While still a bit uneasy at first, Mari's graceful movements and sharp eyes were endearing in a strange sort of way. What was certainly more difficult to get over was the idea that Mari was much older than her appearance would suggest, and there was always the question over whether she could even have kids with a human like King Ivan.

Being non-human put her in a similar predicament as Nova, they were wildcards for the nobility. Those who gambled on them and succeeded would benefit massively more than likely, but it was a risky thing. No one could say how the rest of the day and following tournament would go, so should they take a chance on someone like Mari?

Ivan didn't know what to think as she introduced herself. She's hundreds of years old so she'll probably outlive me. What would that look like? Me growing older while she remains unchanged, and what if we had children, would they also live for hundreds of years?
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After Mari came two guests from The Polish Prussian Commonwealth. Neither of the two were there in order to court Ivan but had been admitted anyways in order to build formal relations between The Frozen Forest and Polish Prussian Commonwealth. One was a Pilot and the other was a Free Knight and both of them had managed to accidentally capture the interest of The Frozen Forestrian Military, especially the guards in the Palace. While they weren't there to court Ivan, it hadn't stopped the gears of politics from turning out "what if's" as people prepared for any eventuality.

This support could only grow as Princess Adelheid von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon and Free Knight Irene von Wittelsbach appeared in uniform, cementing their military image to the court. The conservatives no doubt wouldn't care for them, more than likely they'd put forth an effort to prevent any sort of attraction from developing between the King and either of the pair. Unfortunately the militarists would only benefit from a marriage between Princess Adelheid and King Ivan.

Admiral Aron Fältskog an eccentric naval commander stationed in the colonies stood close to the throne and clearly showed his stance on the matter based on a wide smile that spread across his face as the girls introduced themselves to Ivan.

Ivan knew of their intentions though and was thankful that he didn't have to worry so much about another potential threat, another girl that Ari could potentially influence. Without missing a beat they proceeded on with the others and the ball could begin. Ivan stood and the room fell silent.
❀❀❀❀❀
"Welcome to The Kingdom of The Frozen Forest. It's been several years since we've hosted an event of this size. Thank you all for attending, you do me and my people an honor. I look forwards to meeting each of you as the night goes on. With that said, let the ball begin!" Ivan's speechwriter looked annoyed as Ivan cut the speech short by over a hundred words. The people gathered looked satisfied with the length of the speech though and began to spread out across the ballroom and away from the throne. Ivan stood and was immediately approached by lists of people with all different manners of grievances.

His usual routine was to deflect and come back to their issues at a later time but this time he felt a pang of anxiety about mixing with the different suitors. For once he stopped and began to address his nobles and servants grievances, one by one as the women began to spread out and mingle among each other. After some time Ivan was able to make his way into the crowd and music began to play-the typical kind that you'd expect to find during a ball.


Lunar Kingdom Theme

The Lunar Kingdom, an ancient Kingdom dominated by The Frozen Forest for centuries. Once primitive it was elevated and civilized but while they are now modernized they remain under the Forestrian thumb, with no control over their own foreign affairs and limited control over their domestic affairs. Corruption runs rampant through the Kingdom and shows no sign of slowing down as the people are exploited for the gain of their overlord.

This is the situation that is faced by the 11th King of The Lunar Kingdom, Garaemarys Tarlaeris. Simply getting an invitation to the ball had been a struggle with bureaucracy and personal calls to the King of TFF himself. It was insulting the way he was treated and the insults showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. Petitioning The Frozen Forestrian government had failed, but he still had one last throw of the dice. The Frozen Forest would soon have a new Queen, a direct influence on King Ivan-if Garaemarys could align himself with the right suitor he may stand a chance of freeing his homeland.

But where better to start than arguably the most powerful of the suitors, Princess Eléonore? With the other girls spread out and talking amongst each other, Garaemarys had the perfect opportunity to speak to Princess Eléonore. So he did, approaching subtly and doing his best not to catch the Princess off guard.

"Princess, may I say that you look lovely this evening. My name is King Garaemarys Tarlaeris of The Lunar Kingdom." Another insult, he had been denied a personal herald or even bodyguards for the event, which meant that except for the maids and staff provided by The Frozen Forest, he was alone. That was to say alone, with the exception of the dozens of snakes that surrounded him.

"You've made quite an impression on the court. I'm sure soon you'll be whisked away to dance with the nations nobility so might I ask if you would do me the honor of a dance, before the opportunity is stolen away?" Garaemarys extended his hand to Princess Eléonore, tactfully ignoring the presence of her sworn-shield Léopold.
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Meanwhile the eyes of at least two dozen nobles were watching. Among them were Countess Tulia of Nullinger and Count Arrun of Stallheim. The pair had a well known friendship and possibly something more than that. Tulia took Arrun's hand and as the music began to pick up they began to turn. Like two birds in a dance the pair took control of the floor, other nobles parting for them. All the while Arrun and Tulias attentions were not on themselves but instead on everyone around them. When they came to a stop the pair lingered, their hands touching and their eyes searching. It was a ruse but one that only the most perceptive would notice. They were spiders the two of them, weaving illusions and webs among their allies and enemies in the court.

They separated and stepped aside to new partners. Arrun stepped in to join none other than the Tigress of the West, Duchess Arissa Eklund. The two began to dance carefully at first but with growing speed and intensity with the flow of the music. "I see you're just as poised as ever. Tell me, what do you think of that little firmament from the skies, Princess Eléonore?"

Arrun offered only a small smile. "A radiant beauty in her own right, defended by a powerful knight. No doubt a great prize for his majesty, should he choose to ask her hand. One has to wonder though what other powers conspire to prevent such a union."

The music slowed and Arissa broke away without response. Arrun wasn't so careless as to imply his own schemes, especially to a rival like her. What did he have to gain by warning her?

"Who cares what's proper when you're the Queen? Still it's a shame to hear that you two won't be courting His Majesty while your here. Your past military service isn't lost on those of us serving in The Royal Army and let me tell you this, there are a lot of people who think you would make an excellent Queen, myself included. If you should change your mind about the whole affair, please know that you have my full support." Major General Louis Akession stuck his hand out to Adelheid, tactfully ignoring Sartana who stood not even an arms length away from him.

It was rude of him to interrupt the ladies and even more so since he obviously eavesdropped on their conversation. Perhaps court manners weren't the Major Generals strength, or perhaps it was an intentional display. Either way the Major Generals attendants, both Captains paid no heed to anyone, merely waiting for their leader by the sidelines.

[The Holy Solar Empire]

The Lunar Kingdom, an ancient Kingdom dominated by The Frozen Forest for centuries. Once primitive it was elevated and civilized but while they are now modernized they remain under the Forestrian thumb, with no control over their own foreign affairs and limited control over their domestic affairs. Corruption runs rampant through the Kingdom and shows no sign of slowing down as the people are exploited for the gain of their overlord.

This is the situation that is faced by the 11th King of The Lunar Kingdom, Garaemarys Tarlaeris. Simply getting an invitation to the ball had been a struggle with bureaucracy and personal calls to the King of TFF himself. It was insulting the way he was treated and the insults showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. Petitioning The Frozen Forestrian government had failed, but he still had one last throw of the dice. The Frozen Forest would soon have a new Queen, a direct influence on King Ivan-if Garaemarys could align himself with the right suitor he may stand a chance of freeing his homeland.

But where better to start than arguably the most powerful of the suitors, Princess Eléonore? With the other girls spread out and talking amongst each other, Garaemarys had the perfect opportunity to speak to Princess Eléonore. So he did, approaching subtly and doing his best not to catch the Princess off guard.

"Princess, may I say that you look lovely this evening. My name is King Garaemarys Tarlaeris of The Lunar Kingdom." Another insult, he had been denied a personal herald or even bodyguards for the event, which meant that except for the maids and staff provided by The Frozen Forest, he was alone. That was to say alone, with the exception of the dozens of snakes that surrounded him.

"You've made quite an impression on the court. I'm sure soon you'll be whisked away to dance with the nations nobility so might I ask if you would do me the honor of a dance, before the opportunity is stolen away?" Garaemarys extended his hand to Princess Eléonore, tactfully ignoring the presence of her sworn-shield Léopold.
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---

Léopold

The brave Knight was known for many things, one of such being his ability to essentially blend in as a living statue, you could essentially through a punch and stop just an inch from him and you would get no response, he was utterly stoic when on duty. All of this said he nearly corpsed when he witnessed Khana Amina arrive to the ball, the women was taller than even he was! If he didn't know nay better he would have assumed her to be a Paladin; Léopold wanted to direct his thoughts away from such a ludicrous idea, but he was temped to at least ask her of her life, if ever given the chance, although he'd never put his curiosity above his job.

Speaking of which, when the King had made his declaration for the ball to begin, it didn't take too long for someone to approach his charge with the intent to talk. Léopold allowed a small smile to escape him, if for a brief moment; Eléonore may not naturally lean into political intrigue, but she is far from inexperienced, as long as she doesn't lose her nerve and stick to the same court dealings she grew up in, she can at least annihilate a good chunk of competition, she just needs to keep her eccentricities at bay.

---

Eléonore

"Welcome to The Kingdom of The Frozen Forest. It's been several years since we've hosted an event of this size. Thank you all for attending, you do me and my people an honor. I look forwards to meeting each of you as the night goes on. With that said, let the ball begin!"

Upon hearing the Kings words, Eléonore felt like she could deflate, a good deal of the stress she was feeling was now gone, there was now no turning back. She noticed that the King had found himself swarmed by his subjects, no doubt dealing with their complaints petty or otherwise, which meant that a bold meeting was out of the question, which left either meeting with the nobility or her fellow suitors.

Immediately she put Sartana as the greatest threat, and gave a private prayer to the woman's soul; it was clear Sartana would be a dangerous individual given how she approached Asha, the women would likely begin crafting her intrigue soon, and if what she heard of is true in regards to the woman having been in the Kingdom days ahead, then she likely already has. Thus sorting out some sort of alliance with Asha would be desirable, she could always try and lean on what her retainer hears, Léopold's augmentations have granted him hearing beyond the average man, but the problem would be that anything he hears could be hearsay, and she was far too honest a soul to act like some rat and lean on anyone he happened to overhear, and given the size of the ball room and all the conversations going about, it would be unreliable at best. As she thought about her options, it would seem that fate has opened a path for Eléonore, as a fairly pretty man of clearly high birth approached with a calm but direct purpose.

"Princess, may I say that you look lovely this evening. My name is King Garaemarys Tarlaeris of The Lunar Kingdom." The now apparent King introduced himself as. The first thing Eléonore noticed was his rather obvious status as a King, was he an ally of the Frozen Forest? Could he be a subject even? She didn't quite know yet; one of the blind spots she has in her endeavor to win the Kings heart, is the simple fact of being largely ignorant of the greater political happenings of the realm, however she also knows she can use this ignorance as a benefit, it just requires meeting the right people and asking the right questions.

"I thank you for your compliment, sincerely." She responded, of course she knew that wasn't all he wanted, it was never that simple. Many times before she was given similar compliments from her fathers subjects, it didn't mean it wasn't honest, but often there was something attached to such honesty.

"You've made quite an impression on the court. I'm sure soon you'll be whisked away to dance with the nations nobility so might I ask if you would do me the honor of a dance, before the opportunity is stolen away?" He was still attempting to butter her up, back in the Archduchy, it wasn't unheard of for a suitor to dance with the subjects of the person they are attempting to court, as long as clear boundaries were respected. Eléonore could only presume that such was true here as well, she doubted this was some attempt at a faux pass, but she did know the foreign King was attempting to control where the conversation went, she needs to take control, but it wouldn't be hard to grant his request.

"I'd be honored, on the grounds that you'd be so kind to entertain any inquiry I ask of you? Nothing too great or personal I assure you, but if I am to become Queen, it would be best to know of the people I shall treat with as the Kings consort."

---

Ambitious
This character knows what they want, and they are not afraid to try and get it.

[The Frozen Forest]

King Garaemarys Tarlaeris narrowed his eyes at Princess Eléonore as he considered her conditions. There didn't seem to be any way that accepting could backfire on him, that is unless she already knew who he was and was merely playing him for the fool. Garaemarys guessed that wasn't the case though as Princess Eléonore didn't look to be the sort of person to knowingly insult other royalty. Then again what did he actually know about her? What's to say she wasn't the type to backstab and scheme? Nothing ventured nothing gained, I suppose. Garaemarys proffered as confident a smile as he could muster and offered his hand to Princess Eléonore. "Any question you wish to ask of me Princess, you may. Understanding the tendencies and sufferings of your future subjects is important for any ruler, perhaps i can even give you some insight into the others here at the ball?"

Count Arrun of Stallheim would no doubt try to plant bad ideas in Princess Eléonore's head about me, the scheming rat. Best to warn the Princess about him before he has the opportunity to warn her about me. Garaemarys thought to himself, though it wasn't as though his own goal wasn't righteous. How could he convince Princess Eléonore to support him though? From the perspective of The Frozen Forest it was a foolish move to relinquish control of The Lunar Kingdom. He could always try to strike a bargain with her. He could apply at least a little pressure to King Ivan if he threw his support behind the Crown Prince in the current power struggle. On it's own it would never be enough to convince him, but it could be enough to swing him towards proposing to Princess Eléonore.

Garaemarys gently took Princess Eléonore's hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. He stepped forwards and began to dance slowly. Let her think she has control of the conversation for now. Once she let's her guard down, then I can see about securing her support.

[Scornerse]

-----

"Well, Lady Irene, it seems that military uniform isn't doing anything to dissuade him from thinking that Adelheid would be someone worth having by the king's side.

With Adelheid having been whisked away from in front of her, Sartana moved beside Irene and continued speaking, but in a more hush tone.

"If the dirty laundry you're referring to is what I think, I should tell you that I imagine others, see it a bit differently. You flooring a bunch of pupils and staff with your fists at a young age is just evidence of your natural physical strength and combat instincts. Characteristics that must have been disciplined and improved for you to become a stand out student-leader during military schooling." Sartana explained.

"So you're not just a leader, but someone capable and willing to get your hands dirty and personally deal with your foes, even physically. The fact as you're here as reinforcement for another military woman in her own right adds to your being rather formidable. Which is exactly why I'm grateful that you're not here for the King's hand, those are excellent traits for a queen in a court that might have a few, troublemakers, shall we say, that might need to be brought in line." Continued Sartana

"Additionally, This nation also seems to be of the opinion that physically strong women make good breeding stock, so you'd have that for going for you at least." Sartana chuckled.

"Besides, the fewer people who want the king's hand that can take me on in fisticuffs, the less I have to look over my shoulder when I'm out of public view." Said Sartana with a smile.

As Sartana spoke, she caught notice of Eléonore' being asked to dance by someone that struck her as rather familiar from her research from before being in the country and following it's news a few days early. It was in that moment she was struck by an idea, but she needed to act quickly.

"I might have said too much. I might be up for sparring, but I'd rather not deal with a motivated Lady Irene. So I'll leave you for the moment, before I change your mind, was nice talking to a woman here who isn't some kind of waif, Lady Irene"

With that, Sartana made here self as swiftly as she elegantly could towards a person of interest at the ball, Seraria Fyllerion, who, she had seen taking pictures earlier. She made sure she approached from an angle that wouldn't interrupt with any pictures she might decide to take.

"I don't mean to bother you, Seraria, if I can call you that, but I just wanted to tell you that I love your work. In a time like this, I believe there's quite an underappreciation of expert photography. I imagine an event like this has all sorts of interesting subjects for you, a 7 foot tall woman, aliens from another dimension. Speaking of which I believe there's been one particular lady from another dimension that's got quite a bit of attention, Princess Eléonore, who's that fortune individual dancing with her?"

[The Frozen Forest]

Seraria Fyllerion snapped away with her camera as the ball began to unfold. Sometimes events like balls were just distractions from her normal work documenting state visits and nature and court happenings but this particular ball had already proven to be more than a treat. It wasn't everyday that she got to take photos of giantesses and aliens, but even more than that she was able to capture the vast range of emotions that had spread across the faces of the crowd gathered as the suitors had entered. It was a beautiful thing really, to be able to capture a persons micro gestures. It was Fyllerion who was responsible for photo-taking at events like the ball, so she was expected to try and only capture tasteful photos and to avoid embarrassing those present if they drank too much or flew off the handle for whatever reason.

Seraria leaned into her camera and adjusted the focus before snapping a side-view picture of Khana Amina and Princess Marla before turning and looking around for the subject she most wanted to capture, that being the alien from another dimension that was Nova. Seraria had managed to capture her salute, but she'd disappeared afterwards. Nova was particularly interesting to Seraria. How did people live where Nova hailed from? How had she managed to cross into their dimension? Was she truly after Ivan's heart?

"I don't mean to bother you, Seraria, if I can call you that, but I just wanted to tell you that I love your work." the words barely registered for Seraria, it wasn't until she felt a presence beside her that she was compelled to stop snapping photos and refocus her attention. The girl speaking to her was one of the suitors, Sartana. She wasn't often approached while working and to be approached by one of the more popular, more beautiful suitors immediately peaked Sartana's interest.

Seraria was no stranger to court politics, though it was a rare thing when she herself was involved. Where others might have suspected intrigue, Seraria was entirely flattered. I wouldn't have thought Sartana would be interested in photography. She said she was a fan of my work!. Seraria turned in time to see what it was that Sartana was pointing out to her. Across the hall she saw King Garaemarys Tarlaeris dancing with Princess Eléonore.

"That would be King Garaemarys Tarlaeris of The Lunar Kingdom. Once in history the Lunar Kingdom was independent and powerful, but that was a long time before any of us were born. Things have been getting worse for him over the last couple of years. I heard that his nation is becoming poor and corruption is running rampant. It's a wonder he even decided to come given the animosity between him and King Ivan. That's not to mention that most of the court refuses to associate with him. Poor Eléonore probably doesn't know any better."

Seraria was content to jabber on, seeming genuinely concerned for Eléonore. She didn't try to hide her own disdain for Garaemarys, who had at one point in time cracked down on the free press in The Lunar Kingdom. Seraria had lost a close friend back in those days.

[Scornerse]

(Image)

Seraria Fyllerion snapped away with her camera as the ball began to unfold. Sometimes events like balls were just distractions from her normal work documenting state visits and nature and court happenings but this particular ball had already proven to be more than a treat. It wasn't everyday that she got to take photos of giantesses and aliens, but even more than that she was able to capture the vast range of emotions that had spread across the faces of the crowd gathered as the suitors had entered. It was a beautiful thing really, to be able to capture a persons micro gestures. It was Fyllerion who was responsible for photo-taking at events like the ball, so she was expected to try and only capture tasteful photos and to avoid embarrassing those present if they drank too much or flew off the handle for whatever reason.

Seraria leaned into her camera and adjusted the focus before snapping a side-view picture of Khana Amina and Princess Marla before turning and looking around for the subject she most wanted to capture, that being the alien from another dimension that was Nova. Seraria had managed to capture her salute, but she'd disappeared afterwards. Nova was particularly interesting to Seraria. How did people live where Nova hailed from? How had she managed to cross into their dimension? Was she truly after Ivan's heart?

"I don't mean to bother you, Seraria, if I can call you that, but I just wanted to tell you that I love your work." the words barely registered for Seraria, it wasn't until she felt a presence beside her that she was compelled to stop snapping photos and refocus her attention. The girl speaking to her was one of the suitors, Sartana. She wasn't often approached while working and to be approached by one of the more popular, more beautiful suitors immediately peaked Sartana's interest.

Seraria was no stranger to court politics, though it was a rare thing when she herself was involved. Where others might have suspected intrigue, Seraria was entirely flattered. I wouldn't have thought Sartana would be interested in photography. She said she was a fan of my work!. Seraria turned in time to see what it was that Sartana was pointing out to her. Across the hall she saw King Garaemarys Tarlaeris dancing with Princess Eléonore.

"That would be King Garaemarys Tarlaeris of The Lunar Kingdom. Once in history the Lunar Kingdom was independent and powerful, but that was a long time before any of us were born. Things have been getting worse for him over the last couple of years. I heard that his nation is becoming poor and corruption is running rampant. It's a wonder he even decided to come given the animosity between him and King Ivan. That's not to mention that most of the court refuses to associate with him. Poor Eléonore probably doesn't know any better."

Seraria was content to jabber on, seeming genuinely concerned for Eléonore. She didn't try to hide her own disdain for Garaemarys, who had at one point in time cracked down on the free press in The Lunar Kingdom. Seraria had lost a close friend back in those days.

"Oh, dear, that's the world of political intrigue, I'm afraid. No doubt he's trying to gain favour with her and she's likely none the wiser for it. It's an old tale, the unscrupulous noble tries to take advantage of a pretty kind hearted but naive noblewoman for his own corrupt ends. In such cases the woman often isn't only being manipulated only on one end, their families and retainers are often working with the unscrupulous local while the good woman is none the wiser. Part of my interest in photography, if you're curious, comes from my interest in history through the lens of politics, my field of education. " Sartana begins, catering to the photographer's satisfaction with being noticed by a woman such as herself.

"I can say for a fact that there are countless examples in history of a powerful external force projecting their power through a locally despised proxy, as they know said proxy will end up owing everything they have to them and carry out their will without rebellion. Not saying that's the plan here of course, but even when it isn't, those sorts of relationships can develop quite naturally. In any case, Seraria, I can tell you for a fact that one of the strongest guards against any such conspiracy in history has been the press and the words they write to inform and convince. Of which you play a critical role in, being a photographer, for as they say, pictures tell a thousand words."

[Kyrenaia]

---

Nova smirked with amusement after hearing Mari's analysis of the situation, neither out of sycophancy nor at the fox-eared woman but at their conclusions, also revealing that behind a cutesy facade they enjoyed some more morbid aspects of humor. Cheerily, the miniature woman replied, "I am Nova, of the Air Domain's Fleet. As a pilot, something tells me that the seat besides the King already has a bulls-eye on it." As they paused to sip from some clear wine and looked around the ballroom filled with nobility that was surely eyeing which suitor to support, Nova added "and that throne probably has no warning system either. I was taught to avoid those situations." The last phrase in that sentence could've been meant to show that she had no intent in seriously competing for the King's hand, or it could've been a simple remark about their career. Nova wished they could be more straightforward, but was unsure if that would pay off right now.

As Nova came to the Ball to solicit help to get material that'd get their saucer up and running again...apart from being a diplomatic ice breaker...they had to concede that getting aid would probably be a transactional affair, even if friendship would help, but they did not know who would be the most trustworthy. Would it be the King when they had a chance to talk? Or one of the other suitors? Nova didn't even know what object or service they could offer, right now. Subconsciously, perhaps Nova was trying to familiarize themselves with the lady of Okunaratsuru first because they could have been the guests that stuck out the most among the people of Frozen Forest in their status as very obvious foreigners.

They also looked at Kariken briefly, Nova initially wanted to greet them too. Perhaps it was normal in the Air Domain to greet everyone around, even if courtesy demanded that they be referred to in the honorific of "han", a word that meant "companion" but which could roughly be translated as "comrade". At work, heavy in protocol, rank or occupation would precede the honorific. The alien cosmonaut definitely wouldn't be referring to anybody here in such a manner, it'd be suicidal even if they grew up to consider it courteous. It was certainly good that nobody here is Anhu, and I won't automatically be tempted to call them 'Comrade-Princess'. Nova instead stopped themselves, if it was in Kariken's role to stay silent, maybe it was for the best...speaking of which...Nova's own "bodyguard", Special Agent Grimes, was nowhere in sight. The nosy old man was messing around, they thought.

Hisa Kariken.
When we entered, several had taken special note of us.
Generally, however, I believed, that we had left a positive first impression - or at least not a negative one. In this contest, that was an advantage. But in the world of courtly intrigue, positive first impressions mattered little. What mattered was which person could give whom which advantage.
Mari and I were aware, that we were wildcards at best: Very great advantages if it paid off, complications if not.
The King, meanwhile, seemed to be unsure. Maybe the age-gap was harrowing for him?
Be it as it may, Nova introduced herself, my Lady bowing her head lightly.
"Never walk into a valley if you can see the flags of the enemy on the cliff above.", she agreed, "It is wise to not put oneself needlessly into harm's way... however, sometimes, there is the need. The question now is, if there is a need. I guess, that also depends on personal preferences."
We both noticed the first suitor, Eleanore, going for a dance with a man. Who he was, I did not know from the top of my head, but the two seemed to have fun.