Exile Imprisonment
Freedom
Part III of III IC with Sneaky feat. Greatslayer
She had been in Azeratii for a few days now, the city was immense, even though she could only observe it from her room, as she was not allowed to leave the castle. Yet again she had enough books at her disposal for a life time, reading through about three in the time she's been there. She had been given a proper quarter, a few rooms, well decorated, comfortable, a large bed and two servants to take care of her needs. Two days ago the tailor had been there, taking her measurements. It had been made clear that she had to wear something proper, and not appear as a peasant. The new dress had been delivered to her rooms, the servants ready to help. Along with it had been a box, inside of it having jewelry. She reluctantly put on the dress with the help of the servants, it had more layers than she was used to, going from undergarments to a kind of cover. Then over that was the dress itself, an azure blue, over that a tunic in the same azure blue however with a golden trim around it, her sister would've probably loved the dress, the quality couldn't be met by any tailor in Thaanos, but Malisa couldn't care less, in fact she kind of despised being dressed up like this, it was not in her nature. They were not even done yet, she also had to don the jewelry that came with it, it was once again high quality, expensive, shiny jewelry. It seemed to be pure gold, with a sapphire to accommodate the azure dress. She also had to wear earrings, fashioned in the same way. The servants also made sure her hair was in the best shape, her auburn hair contrasting the blue nicely. It seemed like an awful amount of work to put into a meeting she thought, did Varian want all his visitors to play dress up?
Some time passed before she was brought into a larger room, escorted by guards once more. Varian was sitting at the end of the table, goblet in his hand as his wife sat to his right, and his mother to the left, the servants standing ready to serve the food as Varian’s stomach growled, getting rather irritated with the waiting, his fingers ticking on the table. Lower down the table sat Eylinn, the Queen-Dowager, and ruler of Thaanos northern neighbour the Green Chasm in Galadriel. She stood, looking over at her with a radiant, warm smile, glistening as bright as her white, gilted dress.
She moved forward with the two guards escorting her, looked across the room till she was near the table and looked toward the King, Queen and Queen-Dowager. She felt rather inferior compared to them, their dresses and jewelry even outshining that what she was given. The jewelry they were wearing was probably worth more than the treasury of her family. It still seemed rather weird as well, that one of the most influential people in Agorath, if not the most influential was their next door neighbour, so to speak. After her fathers death the connection between the Thaanosians and Elves became practically non-existent, as with nearly all connections within Agorath, Eylinn's beauty had not changed from last time she met her however. She greeted the King as well as she tried to remember from her lessons. ‘’Greetings, Your Grace.’’ she bowed.
Varian looked at her, “Your Highness.” Even if her manners lacked, his would not. He motioned for her to allow her to take a seat as his wife stood up and nodded to Princess before sitting back down. Varian spoke up “We hope your stay here in Azeratii has been more pleasant than what preceded it.”
She returned the nod to the Queen, sat down and said ‘’It had been rather pleasant already, weirdly enough, exile shows you how to enjoy the little things in life.’’ she smiled. ‘’I am glad you received my message. My dear... ‘’ it felt rather stupid to say in this company ‘’...sister needs the truth, as do I, to what happened. I have heard countless rumors which point the blame towards your Kingdom, they are often wild accusations.’’ she was fumbling nervously with her hands under the table, it was probably disrespectful but she could not help herself, she suddenly felt so powerless, even though it was not in her nature.
The food was brought in, much to Varians joy as selected the food he wished to eat, the carver's knife cutting thin slices of meat which they placed on his plate. “I am most alarmed to hear that, for we have never wished such a fate upon the friend of our father.” He said as he cut the meat, the juice flowing out as the knife cut it off. His queen had likewise gotten her food, as she took small bites, looking towards the guest with a suspicious look.
“If I may be so bold as to ask…” Eylinn began treating, as she helped herself to carve her own dinner, waving the carver off with a dismissive gesture. “...have any of your leads made you any wiser about the true origin of duke Balfour’s assassin? Ecclestius is a large realm, yet the West is even larger. And hardly do I believe the Dwarves having any motives to encroach upon Thaanosian soil, and neither has Elf-kind.”
She felt the pressure build up, anxiety even. ‘’I… I am not sure, most of my sources are from Westmarch, dukes, lords, barons, the lot, those who fought against Ecclestius in the first place. The only proof I know for certain is that a sword, styled after Ecclestian designs, was found near my fathers body, covered in his blood.’’ She felt judged in this company, it all seemed so stupid, every word leaving her mouth. She tried looking them in the eyes, luckily Varian seemed more interested in his food, that left the suspicious stare of his Queen and Eylinn’s glazing looks. She herself could however not bare thinking of food at this moment.
“So in truth you have nothing?” Varian said as he looked up to meet her gaze as he took a piece of bread and tore a bit off, the crumbs falling on the table. His wife simply shook her head as she began eating, looking away from her. You could hear a slight snickering coming from the Queen, as if to mock her even more so.
‘’I had books full of notes… except the Baron ordered his men to burn those.’’ In fact she knew even those notes wouldn’t have helped anymore. She felt even more embarrassed after seeing the Queen shaking her head. ‘’All we want is the truth, somehow.’’ whether is be good or bad news, we need it.
“Did he now?” Eylinn said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “Know at least that from the Chasm you will receive full support in your investigation should you need it. I do so regret how contact seemed to near seize between our neighbouring lands after that gruesome event.” She leaned her cheek upon her palm as she studied the young princess with a compassionate gaze. “Tell me, how does your family cope? I cannot imagine the difficulties you must have been through.” Varian simply looked at his mother, unimpressed with the question as he pointed to the roasted pig and the carve set to his work before the king continued eating.
Somehow she did not know whether to find Eylinn’s look and question comforting or intimidating. ‘’Our mother probably had the toughest time, she stood regent until me and my sister reached the age of sixteen, she had to lead us through the last year of the rebellions in Westmarch, there were a lot of people that lost their homes during that war, looking for shelter within our borders, my mother could barely handle it and decided to shut it down, basically closing the borders, for everything. Meanwhile my sister and I were trained for court, more focus was put upon my sister as she was to become the Duchess, as the older one.’’ It all seemed like it had just happened yesterday to her. ‘’By the time she became sixteen the people of Thaanos had changed, the people feared the outside, even those of non-Thaanosian descent still within the borders… I wished it all had not gone this way. They started crying out for a Queen, someone to pull them through the hard times into better ones.’’ She became quiet as she once again was afraid to face judging looks. She could still feel the Queen-dowager’s gaze enduring, however, still looking on with interest.
“I doubt not your sister will be that queen they ask for, as will you be the sister that she so direly need. Come now, child. Do not feel fearful. You are among friends. And myself, I’ve heard…” Eylinn smiled. “...have long ears for listening to what more you’d have to say.” Had she made it so apparent she felt intimidated? That's all she could think about for a second, as for her sister, she might be who they asked for, but she will lead Thaanos into ruin, if this continues.
Varian leaned back with his goblet in hand, enjoying the rich wine as he looked at the young Princess, she certainly seemed less secure of herself than what he remembered when thinking back. “You doubt, cast uncertainty and reluctance, why is that?” Varian asked as he finally took some interest.
‘’The events of the past have portrayed suspicions and uncertainty on me, those years have not been easy. My sister and I used to get along very well, now we couldn’t be more distant, she is the one that exiled me, I did not just want to believe her side of the story about our father's death, so she sent me away. She had been changing Thaanos even more in her two years of reign, that I have heard of.’’ she slowly gained back some confidence she had lost by talking to Eylinn and Varian, the Queen’s suspicious looks kept burning upon her face however. Varian placed his hand over that of his wife, which at least made some of the burning gaze cease, perhaps she was jealous of her in some way, it seemed a silly idea for it to have been that way however.
“Then perhaps we need reminding your sister she isn’t to feel threatened by us at the very least. Perhaps an envoy to Thaanos is in order? To break the ice?” Eylinn said while tapping her chin.
“And the point, mother?” Varian asked, as he began eating again, some fish this time. “Shall we send a message saying that we wish friendship, happy memories and fun fridays? I fail to see what such an envoy would do. If the Queen is paranoid, what would an envoy change?” Malisa couldn't even fathom reacting to her own mother like that, however being King of Ecclestius probably requires more respect than being an elder, it seemed to her.
Eylinn snorted, and took a bite from her meal. “If that is what you think than let so be it. I spoke for the Chasm, not Ecclestius.” Malisa sensed a bit of tension between them, perhaps quite a bit of it.
‘’Perhaps there is some solid proof I could bring back with me to Thaanos, we can worry about envoys later, I just need to show my sister she is looking in the wrong place.’’ She looked toward Varian, who was still feasting, of course, was this how it went every day?
He looked back at her, “Will she believe you?” the Queen cast her eyes upon Malisa once again as well with a look of disgust.
‘’I mean this with no offense, however I do believe my sister needs the words to come from my mouth rather than a messenger. It would only make her more suspicious.’’ It could just as well end up with her being imprisoned back in Thaanos, but she was willing to take that risk.
“Then I believe you have a clear task ahead of you.” He said as a servant refilled the goblet, Varian taking another piece of bread. “As for your father, I truly do not know what happened to him, my father sad to hear of his passing, but beyond that I know very little of those events.”
Eylinn shrugged her shoulders. “Perhaps my sister’s reports could lead to some clues for her to trace.” Eylinn stood and walked slowly over to Malisa, approaching with a determined yet dignified pace. In her knees she had held a letter, with a mark noticeable only to well from its image of a still lake under a canopy of trees. The sigil of Mirrorwater hold. “Take this. Read it. Maybe it will set you on the right path” It had seemed odd that Eylinn waited up until this point to give this to Malisa, she quickly forgot about that as she opened the letter however, astonished by its contents.
She asked if she could be pardoned and rushed off back to her room. She saw her bow laying there, returned to her as well as her clothes. She quickly changed into them and rushed out, some of the guards were surprised by this, someone rushing out of the palace.
She had to return, return home quickly.
((Malisa learns about her fathers death, quickly traveling back to Thaanos in an attempt to explain it to her sister.))
((Th Princess is seen travelling through Ecclestius bound toward Thaanos alone in a hurry.))