((I am terribly sorry for the wait. Life had caught up with me for a bit, and I was in the middle of working on another RP. I hope I replace the previous prince sufficiently, please don't hesitate to let me know if I have to change anything. ))

Leto turned to see the seeming luminescent eyes of the wolves as Akira spoke. "Yes, make sure the stables are shut tight, these wolves seem to be out for blood, one way or another." He said, an edge of anger and contempt in his voice as he shot a venomous glare to the nearest set of eyes. He then turned to Ethan as the deer declined, and frowned slightly, giving a small huff at the humor. "Fine, but move as fast as you can, the sooner we get out of the woods the better." He said, folding his wings and moving a bit closer so Ethan could lean on him before they continued on, going as fast as the man's wounded leg would allow.

(( I'll be able to have longer posts once I am more familiar with the character, don't worry.))

((That's fine. I'm just happy to see this back up and going. And whatever post length is fine. As long as we don't get a whole page of one liners. Which I highly doubt.))

Ethan smiled slightly before leaning on his Prince. When they made it back he noticed they were at the door to the kitchen. Before they walked inside he stood up straight and moved away from Leto limping. He bowed as well as he could. "Thank you Prince. I am sorry I have caused you so many problems. If you will excuse me I should have my leg looked at. I think I will grab some food and go some place without meat eaters. I think I might find it a little harder then normal to deal with it today."

Normally he would have waited for his Prince to give him leave but Ethan knew Leto was hungry and that the blood still dripping from his leg could not be helping. He turned and limped into the kitchen. He looked for Max and upon seeing her he walked over. "I believe you wished to talk? If you would mind grabbing some bandages and following me. I think it would be best to not stay in a room full of predetors smelling like the next meal." He looked around and finally grabbed a head of lettuce and a few carrots. He waited for Max to respond feeling like he should flee.

Rolling her eyes, Max picked up a pile of bandages and stood with a slight wince as her arms protested. Her heart beat terribly fast as she walked to one of the kitchen doors. Nervousness was not a trait the young woman was used to. She snapped a little harshly at Ethan, cranky because of the day's events. "Well? Are you coming or not!"The moment the words left her mouth she regretted them. Max looked to the ground and uncharacteristically felt guilt for her harsh words. "Look today has definitely been stressful, so... I... Sorry for snapping at you." Apologizing was hard, yet she still forced the words out of her mouth as she regarded Ethan.

Ethan watched as Max picked up the bandages. He could see she was still hurt. He looked down when she snapped at him. "I'm sorry too. This was all my fault." He quietly went to the door she had started to leave by and moved through it. He made his way to a side room and carefully sat down in a chair and waited for Max. He took a quick bite from the carrot as he looked down at his leg.

Wild hair in tangles, the young woman followed the man into the room. Before saying anything she grabbed a bowl of hot water, a cloth and some of the salve Dash had used upon her arms. Max set about cleaning his wounded leg carefully, so as not to harm Ethan even more. "I never would have said anything you know... If you hadn't decided to throw yourself to the wolves. So I guess one good thing came out of this, no make that two. Leto actually called the palace home." Glancing up she smiled a little, her brown eyes filled with relief that everyone was safe.

Shifting slightly Max began wrapping the leg in question with shaking hands. "Will you tell me then, what needs to be said? You know what I feel for you, it's only fair you tell me too." A grin flashed across her face when Max realized she had rhymed. Calming down now, she was better able to take care of Ethan's leg. The young woman did so with an amount of care and delicacy completely unrelated to how she usually did things.

Ethan looked away when Max started cleaning his leg. He once had eaten meat and even hunted but with this form he couldn't stand meat. Even now it didn't bother him to see others eating it though. He looked down at Max and brushed back a bit of her hair. "I suppose so. New revelations are wonderful as is Leto's new understanding of home."

He looked away then back down at her. She was doing very well on his leg. It didn't hurt much anymore. "I've... I've never been that close to any of you guys. As soon as I was made the head servant I knew I couldn't get too close to any of you for fear of favortisim. But that broke down when this curse happened. I didn't get to spend as much time with the rest of you at the beginning as I would have liked because I was always watching Leto. But I've gotten closer to all of you." He paused thinking of everything. "I have always admired you. Your so strong and vibrant. I think I could grow to care for you... to love you."

With a small twist of her hands Max tied off the wrappings and examined her work with a critical eye. He would have to go see Dash later on to make sure everything was going well, just as she would. Quickly she stood after that so she could look into Ethan's eyes without having to tilt her head up. "Well with the curse nearly over, you can get as close to us as you want. I'm sure no one at all would see anything amiss with that! We all know you treat us fairly, no matter what your relationship with any of us. It's one of the many reasons why I like you."

Staring at the ground for a few moments Max's bravado slipped under the surface for a few moments as she spoke next. "So I actually stand a chance then?" Shaking her head to shake herself out of it the young woman laughed. "O dear, you'll have to watch yourself Ethan, because this lioness has found her prey." Max winked at him, and waited for his reaction with a grin on her face. The uncertainty was still there, but she was shoving it aside like she always had when she was around Ethan.

Ethan moved his leg around. Now that he wasn't bleeding anymore he was feeling better. "Thank you. Yes, it hardly matters now." He smiled at her. "I do try to be fair but you guys do make my job easy." He rarely had to worry about any of them. In fact he had left most of them to their own devices since the change. He had been acting more as the Prince's servant then the head servant.

He laughed at Max's remark. "Oh, dear. I'll have to be careful but I am a deer. I've been told they are very fast runners." He looked at her and smiled. "But yes, I think you do. More then anyone else."

Blythe's foot was tapping on the ground as she waited for food to arrive. She knew there had been a commotion about wolves, but didn't know the details. Because of this she wasn't too worried. She turned to eye her fellow dinners. "Is anyone else as famished as I?"

Moving forward Max planted a kiss on Ethan's cheek, then backed up to offer him her arm for support. "But Ethan, a lioness stalks her prey quietly before going in for the kill. You may not even know what's happening until it's too late." She smiled at him brightly, doing her best to be herself and win him over at the same time.

Max didn't care what the others were going to think of her strange demeanor around Ethan. The young woman was going to be acting very differently around him, full of smiles and teasing words. It would be such a great change from her usually morose behavior. "Why! I could be winning you as we speak, and you wouldn't even know it until you were already mine." For a few moments she stopped, uncertain if she had gone too far or not.

Lily looked over at red haired woman. "I'm not that hungry since I didn't travel that far. I am interested in seeing what kind of food is served here though. Never had anything fancy just stews and flat breads." She looked over at Levi and waved at him. "Once a year we might get something from a bakery but that was it."

"Well she might not be hungry but I am. I packed bread and other baked things to eat on the way here and it rained on me. So most of it was ruined." Levi told Blythe.

Ethan laughed again. "That is true. And it would be nice to have a lioness taking care of me. I've read that lions do very little but look pretty. I think I could handle that." He carefully took hold of her arm and pulled himself up. As soon as he was up he let go worried about hurting her. He put a little pressure on his leg then sighed. It hurt but he would make do. Maybe I can try healing it later?

"Ah, but I won't be an easy prey. If I fell so easily I wouldn't make a good leader. And I'm not one of those young deer that fall for those tricks. I've been around before." He winked at her then looked down at himself. Well these pants are ruined and I should go change but I don't think I have the energy for it. He looked over at Max and looked her up and down. He realized that now that look could mean more then it used to. "Well your maid's outfit is ruined but it will have to do for now. We should get back to our guests I suppose." He started to turn away then stopped. "Thank you for coming after me." He turned grabbing his lettuce. In a more authorative voice he continued. "Go see if they need any help in the kitchen then take the other maids and get the rooms ready for the guests to sleep. I think I will have everyone retire early tonight. Tomorrow will be a lot of fun."

(Yay! I can reply now.)

Akira quickly ran for the stable to make sure none of the wolves decided to head there for a snack. It seemed the animals were a bit jittery with the wolves so close by. I'm going to have to stay up all night to make sure they stay away from our guests. The girl made sure everything was shut tight so none of the wolves could get in before heading back to the manson. She stopped when she heard one of the guests shouting out a name. A name of a horse she presumed.

Cheri wandered around the castle, not exactly sure what she should do. Maybe return to her room and sleep for a bit until someone came to wake her up.

Without further ado, Max walked to the doorway past Ethan. To say she had mixed feelings about their talk was an understatement. "Of course I'll go do that Ethan." She was slightly hurt that things seemed to be resuming their usual course, but ignored the feeling. Still, Max was glad she had managed to get the man laughing again. It was a relief after seeing him so depressed and sad. "And you're welcome, even tough I was being selfish. I just..." She stopped and said no more.

Max did as she had been bid and went to run towards the kitchen despite her wounds. On the way she ran into Cheri. "Hey, would you mind coming to help with feeding the guests?" The lioness waited for the cat woman to answer, her usual dislike of the woman not apparent a the moment.

Alastaire was content to listen and remain silent. His thoughts were far from the conversation, and not even close to food. He wondered what had become of Snow, and hoped she was alright. All this talk of wolves made him want to go out in search of her. Which reminded him that Addison had probably gone to help also, which brought on another wave of worry for both of his friends.

Blythe nodded to the two and regarded Levi with a frown. "So tell me, what are the both of you exactly? It's a relief to know it's not just nobles here. This gathering would be quite boring if that were the case." She supposed the man had been following the young woman all night, since she hadn't once seen them apart. Blythe tried to find a way to ask the red-head if the young man was bothering her, politely of course.

Levi smiled at Blythe. "I am a baker's son. I've been told we have one of the best shops in several towns. I belive this young lady said earlier that she is a farmer's child. Which means we are the farthest things from nobles."

Lily broke in before he could continue. "Yes, my family are farmers. I've never really left the farm before so it will be interesting to be here. Though I have to admit it is kind of nice to have another commoner nearby. Makes me worry less about the dirt I washed out from under my nails." She laughed, "Though I guess he worries more about the flour."

Ethan watched as Max ran past him. He smiled for a moment then smoothed his face into the look of a good head servant. He slowly walked, with a slight limp, to the dining hall. He stepped into the hall and looked around for a moment. It looked like most of the guests were there and he saw Snow standing in the back hidden in shadows. He stepped forward and stood up straight so as not to show weakness. "Thank you all for being patient. The food should be out soon. Sorry about the earlier problems. We are going to ask that when everyone is done eatting that you retire to your rooms for the night. I am sure many of you are tired from your travels. Breakfast will be ready all morning. It will be simple things that keep well." He looked over at Snow and waved her forward. "The maids will help with dinner and then will get your rooms ready for the night. If you request anything please tell Snow." He nodded at Snow then stood silently.

Snow slithered forward when Ethan called for her. She smiled but kept her face down. I'm glad something finally broke through to him. She scented the air with her tongue and could still taste the blood in the air. Looks like the wolves got a good hold on him.