"I -am- female." She glared at him, her anger at what she still felt was betrayal. "I'm sorry if you don't like the fact, but I can't exactly change what the primes made me." She was pissed, and it felt good being able to vent at someone who she wouldn't feel like -had- to listen to her rant, but also would go out and tell everyone her secret.

"I'm too different people, and I have no choice in the matter, so when I have to make a choice, it's hard to decide whether to answer the choice as a princess or as a paladin. Can you even begin to comphrend how...torn I am?!" She slammed her fist into the pillow, the sprites scattering in a flurry and then poofing out of existence.

"Oh trust me, I know you're female. Kinda hard to miss those assets of yours, and I doubt a guys lips would have been as soft as yours, though I wouldn't know."

Yeah, not exactly the right thing to say, but maybe the comment and reminding her of the kiss would make her blush some. And hopefully shut her up long enough for him to get the next part out, as he looked at her seriously.

"Listen. Right now, you are the target, right? That means that unless thier focus changes, when you leave Eiros, so will the threat. It might follow us to Chiazu, but it won't be here, at least not as actively."

She blushed slightly, the pink tinge making it's way across the bridge of her nose. She refused to admit it affected her, although she let him speak, her small body still trembling with a bit of withheld rage.

"Why me, though? Why not Anastazi? He's the prince regent. Even if I were to go to the throne, I'm female, relatively easy to kill off according to most people's beliefs." No comment on how she'd survived two death attempts in less than one day, of course.

"Simple. Judging from what I've seen...they know how attached Anastazi is to you. So they know that if he thought Chiazu had killed you, he'd go to war, and the rage of a brother can be a lot worse than the rage of a king or prince. It would make peace talks impossible, as even if Chiazu gave proof denying it, they think Anastazi would be to enraged to listen to the proof."

Marlon had to admit, too, that if anyone hurt his sister they'd be in for a painful shock. It was a good thing that Duvah wasn't considered one of the two major powers, or they'd likely have external assassins attacking as well as internal ones.

"I suppose." She didn't really want to see Anastazi like that again. Of course, if he was, she'd be dead and unable to see it anyways, but still; seeing him after Mother's death had been bad enough for Serefina's state of mind.

"Chiazu it is then." She didn't like it, but it had all but been a command from her king as well as her brother.

"Unfortunately...it's still a few hours until dark, and then we have to wait until the distraction if we follow Anastazi's plan. So we'll just be sitting ducks for a while longer, especially as you don't look well enough to move yet."

Here, he'd look down at her kind of concerned. He'd hoped that the antidote would make her all better, but...he supposed that was too much to ask for, with something as strong as what had been used on her had appeared to be. Damn, but he didn't like her seeming this weak, when before she'd seemed so full of energy.

Forced from the place she loved by necessity, yeah, 'Fina wasn't doing too great. She looked up at Marlon, and how close to the edge she was, was easy to read for anyone used to reading people. "I understand."

She was retreating, back behind that wall of formality that was her only comfort. She'd thought she'd found a friend, but he'd also lied to her, her life was in danger, and if she stayed, possibly so was Anastazi if not more people. She knew several who would give their lives for hers. She couldn't allow that.

She turned her face away, and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her body like a small child. She refused to cry, no matter how defeated she was. Paladin she may be, but still a relatively unbloodied one.

A sigh, and Marlon would sit down on the bed behind her. And, if she didn't just jerk away, he'd end up wrapping his arms around her some from behind in an attempt to be comforting. Oh, and to flirt too. But mostly to try and comfort her, maybe reestablish some trust if he could. Marlon needed Serefina to trust him, if he was going to be keeping her safe.

"Listen, I know I haven't been doing that well so far, but I'll be doing my best to make sure that you, and anyone else who might be a target, survives as unharmed as possible."

She nodded, but didn't turn towards him, merely drawing tighter upon herself. "So despite dressing as a paladin, I am to be treated as a princess." She understood the necessity of keeping her safe, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

"Maybe I should have just married that Duvah Pr--" She cut herself off, she'd forgotten for a second that so despised prince was the one with his arms around her currently.

"...no offense, your highness."

"Hey, did I ever say I wasn't going to put you to work? You'll hardly be treated like a spoiled princess. But that doesn't mean I can't try and keep you out of danger, like I would any other guard of mine."

He'd pull her a bit closer, so her back was pressed against his chest, and his head was resting on top of hers, trying to get his arms insinuated some between her and her knees. So she'd start holding onto something other than herself, and not try and draw back into herself. Hold onto something like...him, maybe.

She let him wrap his arms around her, so that was one thing in his favor. However, she didn't lean into him, in fact her back arched slightly so she wouldn't. "I appreciate that Master Gale." Might as well get used to calling him that like his crew did. "I just hope your crew is as enlightened as you."

"Considering my crew won't know you as a Princess, but just a lady fighter, I doubt they'll be all that protective."

He wasn't even going to tell her that the two guards weren't coming along at this point. He needed them to get his other guards from Duvah, alert his parents as to what was going on, and try to take care of the insurgents. Marlon figured he himself should be enough to protect Serefina, especially on a ship.

"And...please don't call me 'master' or anything like that? I am your equal in position after all."

"Hmph..." Serefina snorted, a very unladylike sound as she turned and looked at Marlon. "You're the heir...I'm the spare. You still one up me." She scooted forward, as much as his arms would let her to try and escape, without actually trying to escape.

"Eh, I'm only the heir until they get tired of my escapades and pass me over for my sister. They like her better anyways, as she actually listens to them, even if she is a bit spoiled."

To counteract her trying to escape, Marlon would just lean forwards some instead, resting his chest against her back. Hard for her to avoid it too, what with him having his arms around her, meaning she could only escape so far away.

"Then, I'll be a spare, and able to live my own life for the most part. I just have to hope nothing happens to my parents before that."

No, Marlon didn't actually believe he could succeed. But hey, he had to try. And it would push the womens rights movement forward quite a bit more to have a female inherit for once instead of a male, too.

"Strange to be a monarchy, and yet to 'choose' your successors.", it was easier to focus on politics, than to think about Marlon's arms around her body, seh thought with a bright pink flush to her cheeks. "There are times I think that Anastazi would hand the throne over to me if he thought he could get away with it. He's a strategic genius, but he loves his books and magic."

Ever since they had entered the Queen's dressing room, Aria had gone quiet and solemn. She hadn't laid her eyes on these outfits in years, and each one brought memories and thoughts.

She wondered if Anastazi or Serefina ever walked through here, and felt the memories sewn into these special clothes.

Originally Posted by seripha

"Will these do?"

Aria turned, and gazed slowly and strangely at the three dresses in Mariah's hands. Then she nodded. "Those will be very good, I think." Those might suit Mariah very well - she wasn't the stiff kind of personality and that was very refreshing.

And the unresisting Heath, was brought before, not Prince Anastazi, but instead, Lord Captain Adrian of the Royal Guards. The tall blond man sat at the head of a table and waited, he'd been alerted to the capture of one of the assassin's and decided to deal with it, himself.

As Heath was led into the finely appointed room, he would shoved down in one of the seats, across from Adrian, whose blue eyes watched the entire time. "I'll make this short and sweet, why did you try and kill the Princess Serefina?"

"I didn't. The most I have done was slay some men in the harbor who attacked myself, and a friend of mine. My friend escaped to deliver news of the attack to my employer, while I stayed to hold them off so he would be able to."

Heath showed no fear here, even without his sword missing. He looked straight at Adrian as he said all of this, not letting his gaze shift to either side. He wasn't going to even let Adrian think that he might be guilty.

"And you're employer would be?" He had, of course, the men's records as well as the dock's records, so he knew what ship they'd been on, and would shortly recieve an eye witness account from the man on the ship they'd just left. But Adrian was curious about this man who showed no fear of him.

"And your nation of birth, since I think, even if you are found not guilty that you attract too much trouble, and we should just deport you."

"I am a personal guard to the merchant Marlon Gale, from Duvah. And considering that I am supposed to be assisting him in escorting the lady Reinelle, it might be frowned upon if I am deported, as that would put my master and the lady in possibly more danger."

Still no fear, mostly because he knew Marlon wold get him out before anything really happened to him. The port was closed so he couldn't be deported yet, and he knew that the young master would come and pull strings to get him out. If he was actually going to have had a chance to be found guilty or deported...then there might have been a problem, but he trusted Marlon.

As Heath spoke Marlon's name, Adrian's brow furrowed further. This man was tied to that merchant. This did not make the Lord Captain happy. "I see." was all that he had to say at first, as he mulled things over. "So you think you have diplomatic immunity, then. I see that Duvah may treat their own kind as equals, but they care not for other country's laws. He was being irrational, and he knew it, but he also knew Serefina...or rather Reinelle...and if...No, he refused that line of thought.

His fingers stroked the fuzz on his face, he hadn't shaved in a few days, and still he had only peach fuzz. "Now what to do about you..."

"Well the last that I studied the laws here, defending yourself against people who had the intent to kill you, especially when outnumbered, was not a crime correct? Therefore it isn't that I believe that I have immunity, but that I have done nothing more than defend myself."

Heath...could tell that Marlon wasn't well liked by this man, and it was all he could do to keep from sighing in disappointment. He'd always been telling Marlon that he needed to not antagonize people as much. But ah well, it still wasn't like much could happen before Marlon bailed him out.

"Mhm" Other than that, the man was quiet for a moment, pondering heavy thoughts. One could easily tell this wasn't his day job, but perhaps something he had taken upon himself. Then an almost evil grin crosses his face, but it looked so out of place on the normally jovial man that even one of the guards standing next to Heath took a step back; he'd been watching Adrian too closely.

"Yes, but if those citizens were simply trying to apprehend a criminal, and you killed them..." He trailed off, letting Heath fill in the line of thinking. His eyes were shocking in how ...almost fervored they were. Like a fanatic.

"...then you would be twisting the truth law to your own purposes, and breaking your oaths as a knight. As well as abandoning any honor you might have and shaming the country which you serve. Besides, those who attacked me were citizens of Duvah, not of Eiros. I could tell by their accents."

Now, Heath was losing any sort of respect he might have had for this man, at this point. Obviously, his dislike of Marlon was so great that this man was willing to put the royal family in more danger to get some measure of revenge. Because if people thought the assassin had been caught, their guard would lower, putting the royal family in more danger again.

"Yet we only have your word for that. That they were of Duvah descent, and that they are the criminal, not you." Adrian was very careful here, even as he shook his head, trying to free his mind of something. He paused, and for a moment simply began rubbing his head. "Somethings not right here...", but he wasn't speaking to Heath, but of something else.