Eloise Agthoven's Story

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Eloise sat across from a balding man, legs crossed as she sipped from her cup of tea. It was her first time meeting the foreign ambassador, he seemed to be a rather happy man, though it was quite obvious he was hiding something. His palms were sweating profusely and he wasn't able to sit still in his seat. Though she hadn't really been paying attention to most of his ramblings, his sudden change of tone grabbed her attention. "If I've heard correctly, you don't yet have a suitor. My son woul-"Refusing to let him continue any further, she slammed her hands onto the table in front of them. A teapot tumbled off of the table shattering into hundreds of tiny fragments.

"I take it you're aware of the authority I hold?" Receiving a fearful nod from the quivering ambassador, she took it as her cue to continue. "I'm the most powerful person in the universe, I have enough military power at my disposal to destroy a planet." A twisted grin played across her lips. "I hear you have a son?" Looking over to her assistant Naomi who was holding up two fingers. "Oh, so you have two sons. It would be a tragedy if they were to meet with a freak accident, wouldn't it? You're no more than ants to me, the moment I feel irritated or bored I can and will dispose of you. There's no way I would even consider the hand of an ant, plus, I don't want bald children."

Standing up from the table, she left the dumbstruck ambassador. Turning back when she reached the door, she sent him the same gentle smile she had for the cameras earlier that morning. "If you have any sense at all you'll stay out of my way." With that she exited the room, Naomi just a step behind her. "What did I miss? She questioned her black haired assistant.

"Well there was a minor robbery outside the gates, but the guards handed it. The rebel you had ambushed was captured, he's in one of the holding cells now. Your advisers think he'd be a good fit."

"I'll have to see for myself then." Eloise smiled at her younger companion. They spent the remainder of their walk in silence until they reached the elevator. Naomi had a slightly worried expression on her face, but said nothing. "Wait for me here, I'll be back soon." She said to the girl who appeared thankful for being spared the trip to the holding cells.

Stepping into the elevator, Eloise pressed the button for the holding cells. The button reading her finger print to verify her identity before descending down towards the cells. Stepping out of the elevator she began to walk towards the only occupied holding cell. Entering without bothering to alert them of her presence.

A small giggle escaped her lips, which quickly evolved into a full out laughing fit. Eventually she was able to calm herself down enough to speak. "Is he dense or something?" She questioned the officer. Everyone knew who she was, many knew her face before they even knew her name, this man seemed to be an exception. Unless of course he had a death wish, which seemed highly unlikely. Deciding to play along to see how long it would take him to figure out her true identity. "Sorry to disappoint, but the chancellor has been rather busy today. You'll have to reschedule your tearing apart for another day." Grinning, she continued. "Why does anyone do anything? I have my reasons, for being here just like everyone else."

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A smug smile planted itself on Eloise's face as her captive finally figured out her identity. It had taken him a moment to make the connection, but after a moments pause her name slipped out from between his lips.

"Ding ding ding, someone get this man a prize." She grinned, watching him begin to panic was quite amusing. Nodding along as he pointed out the fact Eloise was chancellor not once, but twice. Despite her intense urge, she held back her laughter to the best of her abilities. First impressions are everything when you're in power, something as small as a laugh could ruin one. She had finally found a candidate she didn't completely despise, not yet at least.

"Well you see." She spoke, beginning to pace about, the heels of her boots clacking against the floor. "Due to some recent threats to my safety, I've been advised to take on a bodyguard. My officers can only do so much after all. To be completely honest most of the people who would have my head are diplomats who can already get close to me without suspicion. I can't have just any imbecile who can hold a gun guard me, so we've been carefully researching our candidates for months now. I'll have you know you're one of them, so far you're my favorite." Sending over one of her signature smiles, she cut to the chase. "So I'll extend the offer to you. Serve as my bodyguard and I'll haveyour charges dropped. It's entirely up to you." The lie rolled off her tongue in the same fashion as the hundreds that had preceded it. She had no intention of allowing him to decline her offer. When she wanted something she got it, though it was better to let people think they had some choice in the matter before forcing them into complying.

"Of course..." Stopping dead in her tracks she turned towards the man. Her voice taking on a much darker tone. "We have our ways of persuading people, I'm sure you're familiar with them."

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Eloise laid still in her bed, her silk sheets tangled around her like vines on a trellis from a restless night. A familiar hand fell upon her shoulder, giving it a gentle shake to rouse her from her slumber in the same fashion they did each morning. Releasing a loud yawn, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, and rubbing her eyes. A drowsy voice slipped out of her mouth. "Good morning, Naomi." She addressed her assistant, who had somehow managed to be wide awake and prepared at this hour. A feat she performed each morning in order to wake Eloise on time. "What do I have to do today?" Still partially asleep, she stretched her arms out above her head in an attempt to make herself more alert.

"You have a lunch meeting scheduled with some of the council members at twelve, and a noble requested your presence at a party tonight. It's not until five though, so we should be able to fit it in." Eloise listened intently, nodding along as she went. Pulling herself out of bed, she did a couple stretches before walking to the bathroom and stepping into her shower. Emerging ten minutes later with sopping wet hair and wrapped in a plush white towel. Positioning herself in the chair in front of her vanity, her attendant wasted no time. Beginning to comb and dry her hair the moment she was seated, she was finished just as quickly. Grabbing the white and red dress that had been left out for her, she began to dress herself. Slipping it easily over her lean frame, it only took a moment for her to get dressed.

"Your taste is perfect as always, Naomi." She complimented, admiring her dress in the full length mirror hanging from her wall. "Shall we go?" After receiving a curt nod in response, Eloise swung open one of her twin bedroom doors.

"Good morning." She greeted her newly acquired bodyguard, a smile painted across her pale lips. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

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The council meeting was the as long and uneventful as usual. The council members had long since learned not to test her, though every word that they spoke was like was like talking a step blindfolded in a field of landmines. One moment she would be listening contently , and the next she would be shouting with little to no warning in between. There wasn't anything too major that needed to be discussed, just updates on the councilor's projects. Wrapping up early, she sent the council members on the way. Seeing some of them off with a handshake or short casual conversation before packing up to leave herself.

When she had finally left the meeting the party was fast approaching. Naomi, punctual as always, had rushed Eloise into her personal transport the moment the last councilor left. Though the two women were normally took their travel time as a time to speak in a more relaxed manner, the one typical of friends. With the addition of the guard the trip was so quiet you could hear a needle drop. After the relatively long ride, she was eager to get out into the party. Anything was better than being stuck in a transport without so much as saying a word the entire time. Before she had time to realize her mistake, her attackers weapon was on the ground.

It took her a moment to process what had happened, just blinking in slight disbelief. The attackers were getting more bold. An attack in broad daylight, and at a party at that, was practically begging to be caught. "These parties tend to attract nothing but it." The people in attendance were mostly nobles, though some would occasionally bring someone of lower status along as a guest. The flamboyant reputation of the upperclass was no surprise after attending a party of their's. As she entered the ballroom, the crowd parted around her, making room for her and her companions to navigate the floor. The exception being the towering man who appeared out of place in his wrinkled suit and bright green tie that was only partially done up. As his eyes landed upon her, she had no choice but to stand her ground while he squealed like a child on Christmas.

"Ellie!" The man shrieked, squeezing the unimpressed chancellor into a hug. Ensnared in his arms, she had to kick him as reminder that she needed to breathe.

"Finnick, I stopped going by that years ago." Eloise sighed, he was the only one who'd still dare to call her that. "Look at yourself, your mother'd be rolling in her grave if she saw you like this." Leaning in to redo his tie, she took her chance to speak without being heard by prying ears. "Were you able to get rid of that senator?" His father was her highest ranking adviser, and a family didn't move up in the Valsir by playing by the rules. In between council meetings and parties, his father was the leader of the Black Owl Syndicate. They were prominent in the galactic underground, and the two families close ties made it easy to keep control over those who might wish to overthrow them.

"Have I ever disappointed you?" Finishing her adjustments, Eloise pulled away. "Who's the new addition?" He questioned, gesturing towards Na'ari.

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Eloise noticed her bodyguard's sudden change in behavior, he had became much more serious and polite in front of Finnick. He tended to have that effect on people. Despite his lack of care for his outer appearance, he was still a large man who easily intimidated those who weren't one of the lucky few to be in his innermost circle of friends.

"Ah, I see. Poor little Ellie can't protect herself." He teased, earning him a kick in the shin from Eloise. He was quite possibly the only person in the universe she would let get away with teasing her. Their fathers having worked together closely, the two were as close as siblings having spent numerous trips and parties without anyone else anywhere near their age. As he was three years older, he had practically adopted her as the little sister he never had, and she in turn adopted him as a brother. "In that case, you might as well have something to drink." The taller man said, grabbing two glasses of champagne and handing one to her.

Though she rarely drank, Eloise saw no harm in having one or two, gladly accepting the drink. In five minutes Finnick had downed his drink and was reaching for another, only to repeat himself several minutes later. He was well known for his love of drinking for a reason. After half an hour or so he was beginning to feel rather tipsy, reducing himself to a giggling child. Soon growing bored of standing around chatting with his friend. He latched on to the daughter of a wealthy businessman, disappearing into the sea of people that had crowded together on the dance floor.

Now without entertainment, she decided to have a little fun. A wide grin plastering itself onto the chancellor's face, she whipped around to face her bodyguard. "Care to dance?" She offered, though she gave him no chance to respond before she dragged him out onto the dance floor.

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Eloise was rather impressed with her bodyguard's skill. Despite expecting him to be a horrible dancer from his description, he was rather good, though nothing compared to her past partners who were all of high status. She was rather enjoying herself, parties like this were normally rather boring to her. Just an endless line of people looking to do anything they could to get close the Agthoven family, well the only remaining member. Whoever was close to the chancellor was guaranteed to stay at the top. It was obvious what they wanted, some people were just more forward about it than others. Most parents were eager to suggest she marry their children, as if they thought they were any different than they other power hungry fools. They're all in it for their own selfish needs. Her own mother who was the daughter of nobles, ran off shortly after Eloise's birth with some drug lord from another Galaxy with millions of dollars taken from her father.

Absorbed in the music and her thoughts, Eloise neglected to notice the man as he approached her. It was only when he practically shouted into her ears she acknowledged his presence, whipping around to face him. She braced herself and closed her eyes, waiting for the dagger to pierce he flesh, but it never did. Whipping her eyes back open, she saw Na'ari standing in front of her. It happened so fast it was almost a blur, but soon her attacker was on the ground lacking a leg. Naomi had rushed to her the moment it was safe, putting her arm around her in a partial hug. In shock, Eloise couldn't even string together words to respond to the questions of the worried girl beside her.

It took her a moment, but she did manage to respond to the man who had just saved her life. "I'll have to take you up on that one day." She said in a voice that was just barely audible, accompanying it with a meek smile.

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Having sent both Naomi and Na'ari on their ways, Eloise worked her way through her night routine. As she exited the bathroom her breath hitched as she noticed the raindrops falling outside. The dreary appearance didn't help the feeling of dread that was growing inside her. Pulling her curtains shut violently, she attempted to slow her breathing back to a regular pace. A moment later the roar of thunder outside sent her stumbling back into a stand, falling to the ground with it and the vase that had sat on top of it. Attempting to clean it up, she picked up one of the pieces. Another clash of thunder vibrated the walls of the room, with a yelp, Eloise squeezed the glass. A large cut appearing across the palm of her hand, ignoring the blood that was staining the white floor, she scrambled to get to her safe spot.

The closet had been her place to go ever since she was young. It had taken a while for her father to notice her regular disappearances during storms, but once he did he quickly figured out her hiding place. Instead of chastising her for being afraid, he had made it a much more comfortable area, piling up pillows and blankets by the dozen. The two would sit together in there drinking hot chocolate and talking until the storm was over. It had been a few months since her father's death, but this was her first time without him there to comfort her during the storm. So she sat in the closet, a blanket draped across her, knees drawn up to her chest. Ineffectively using the blanket to muffle her sobs.

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Eloise wasn't surprised someone had come to check on her, she hadn't been all to quiet. Knowing they were there was of little use though. She was still hysterical, unwilling to move from her spot to see who it was that came to check on her. There was the sound of footsteps outside the closet door, and a few moments later a knock against the closet door. It opened to reveal the last person she would have expected, Na'ari.

It made sense that he would come, it was quite possible someone had broken in. Still, most of the people who worked for her wouldn't even dream of helping her when they weren't required to, excluding Naomi of course. Yet there he was treating her injury without so much as a word from her.

Opening her mouth to thank him, Eloise was cut off by yet another clash of thunder echoed through the room. Pulling her knees even tighter against her chest, and burrowing her head between them. It was pitiful sight, the person with just about the entire cosmos under her thumb, trembling in a closet just because of some storm. She was well aware of this, but she had no choice in the matter. Partially expecting him to mock her for her embarrassing, she was both surprised and relieved when he sat with her. Listening to him speak had helped to calm her down slightly, no longer quite as frantic. Her tears had slowed as well, so when he suggested leaving she panicked a little.

Latching onto his wrist, she almost shouted at him. "Stay!" It took a moment for her to realize what she had done, but the moment she did her face flushed red. Jerking her hand away, she spoke again, this time in a much quieter voice. "I mean, if you don't mind." Avoiding eye contact, ashamed of her rash actions.

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Luckily for Eloise, Na'ari agreed to stay with her, even going as far as to offer up his time in the future. "Thank you." She smiled gratefully at him. For the next few hours he stayed with her, just speaking of little things with no real importance, distracting her from the storm outside. After a few hours the storm had passed them by, after helping her into bed, N'ari had slipped out of the room just as fast as he had come in.

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Eloise woke up that morning in a rather foul mood. She wasn't all too happy when she didn't get her normal amount of sleep, having stayed up so late because of the storm, she had missed out on more than a few hours of sleep. However it wasn't long before she shook this off, or it least concealed it. While rushing her through her regular morning routine, Naomi reminded Eloise of the appointments she had today. One of which she couldn't possibly have forgotten. She had a meeting with the president of Azura Inc. today. For the last few months their relationship had been rather rocky to say the least. She had even heard some rumors he had been selling weapons under the table to people who would wish her dead. She would have to make it clear that if he was indeed doing this it wouldn't be tolerated.

Within in minutes of her waking, Eloise was seated in her transport with Naomi and Na'ari. The later of whom was acting peculiar. Something was quite obviously bothering him, avoiding looking at them by staring out the window, and he was fidgeting a bit. It was quite obvious he was worried about something, as to what that was, unfortunately she had no idea. She was about to ask him about this when they arrived at the meeting place. Shrugging it off, she exited the transport making her way into the meeting place. This time it was a high end restaurant, though they had the foresight to book the entire place so they wouldn't be disturbed.

The President had arrived before them, and was already seated at a table towards the center of the room. As they approached, he stood up to great them. "Mr. Azura." She addressed him, extended a hand which he took and promptly shook before both of them sat down across from each other. "My apologies for the delay, we got a bit held up. I'm sure you have other appointments to get to, so shall we start?"

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As Eloise had expected, the elder man admitted to the under the table dealings. Having already written up a list of the board members who had been dealing under the table. He must have had the insight to not bother to cover it up, that would only be worse for him in the long run. Eloise wasn't all too fond of being lied to, especially when it came to business like this. If he were to choose to cover this up instead, it was more than likely she'd have him put to death, or imprisoned at the very least.

Eloise was about to start negotiating with him about how many of her agents should be sent, when her bodyguard had a rather violent outburst. She was startled at first, but it soon began to fit together when she realized they were related. Though it was amusing to think of Na'ari in one of those silly outfits bellhops wore. As soon as the image popped into her head she was unable to get it out. While internally she was laughing at this, she was on official business, so she refused to allow her face to reveal her emotions. Maintaining a stoic expression, though she was tempted to keel over laughing.

"My apologies for my bodyguard's behavior. I believe it's about time we leave. I'll have a single convoy sent your way in compensation for this list. How you direct it is completely up to you."

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Eloise nodded along as Na'ari vented. He had obviously been fed up with his uncle. At his question Naomi began to recite the days schedule she had memorized that morning.

"When we get beck we have to interrogate that Wolf's Fang member you captured. We have a dinner scheduled with the Royal family of Avalon, they arrived earlier today, if all goes well hopefully they'll finally agree to cooperate with us." The Avalonians had long been troublesome, as one of the few planets that still refused to unite under the chancellor. Eloise had been notified of their visit a week prior, but they showed up a day earlier than expected.They would have to wait though, she had other matters to deal with first, and that was her priority. The Wolf's Fang Syndicate had been troublesome to say the least, the sooner they were disposed of the better.

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Eloise tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for them to finish questioning the prisoner. She had never enjoyed interrogations all too much, but she soon realized that it was much less exciting when you weren't the one doing the questioning.

'Someone could use a lesson in manners.' Eloise thought, the insult had done little more than bother her. Na'ari on the other hand made it clear his patience was wearing thin. Once he was done threatening the prisoner with his sword at their throat, Eloise stood up and left the room so they wouldn't be heard while discussing their plans.

"I'll have my best men get on that right away, though I can't say for sure how long it'll take them. It all depends how well they've covered their tracks, if they're anything like the guy we caught we shouldn't have any problems. Glancing at her watch, Eloise realized just how late she would be if she didn't get going right away. "I should start getting ready for dinner, Naomi is waiting for me. Dinner starts at 5:00, meet me in the dining hall."

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Having been fussed over by Naomi for several hours, Eloise made her way to the dining hall. Just a few minutes after her arrival the royal family entered flanked by about a dozen guards. Concealed behind what was practically a wall of guards, she could barely see them until they were seated. The whole family was there, so chances were they wouldn't be discussing anything too important. The King and Queen were in their early fifties, though they were still dressed as if they were in their twenties. The Prince seemed disinterested to say the least, simply stared off into space. The Princess, who couldn't have been any older than 13, was a little too interested, clinging intently to every word that slipped out of the chancellor's mouth.

"Lord and Lady Carrington, how lovely to see you. I hope your trip was nice, I would have greeted you upon your arrival, but I wasn't expecting you until later this week.