Old habits were hard to break, you can beat those urges down with a stick but sometimes they just crawl up and get to you. Walking through an alleyway, Artoria smirked to herself knowing this would be a perfect pick pocket spot. In less than a hour these passages would be used by all different sorts of people, those passing through to get home, to go to another tavern or even someone trying to get a bit of quick pleasure. The sun had started to set not that long ago, grey eyes watched as the shadows started to cover the walls, it was all a waiting game now. Leaning against a wall she seemingly disappeared into the darkness as it grew, almost flattening herself against the bricks. People hurried through the alleyway unaware of her presences. Soon enough the sky turned black, offering no light aside from the low sparkles of the stars. A drunken woman giggling to herself as she walked through the alley made an easy target Artoria. Minutes later she was sitting in a tavern with a small pouch of money, placing some on the bar she counted the rest with a grin on her face. There was a certain kind of rush when it came to stealing, of course her father wouldn't be pleased. It had been some time since Artoria had stolen anything, she had made a promise to stop but fingers were always crossed during those promises.
Of course if she had known it was her last night in her home she might have partied a little more, stolen something worth while but in stead it was spent singing drunkenly in the tavern with strangers. Each person her arm found itself around her other hand found their pockets. Several hours later no one was none the wiser as she made her way home her own pockets filled happily with all sorts of things her fingers wiggled away from others.
"Is that you baby girl?" A soft voice called out when Artoria entered the villa, there was no reason for anyone to be up but it seemed lately her mother wasn't able to sleep. Walking into the sitting room she smiled to the frail woman. "You smell terrible!" She laughed as she motioned for her to come closer, Artoria laughed as well as she staggered her way to her mother. Sitting on the floor she laid her head on her lap, closing her eyes when she felt cold fingers pull through the strands of white hair. They remained like that for a while with out speaking a work between one another until finally her mother leaned down and gently kissed the top of her head, 'You should go to bed, I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be hectic my child."
"Yea yea yea, You say that all the time." Sitting up in her spot, eyes narrowed and lips pouted the best she could before she started laughing, knowing that it was fairly late and she was a little too drunk to remain awake, "Good night mother." It took a few tries but she was finally on her feet which guided her to bed. Her mother had a habit of knowing when something was going to happen even though during the years her feelings had always proven true Artoria still didn't believe her. Sleep came fairly quickly, every part of her planned to sleep in but things never go as planned. It took a while for the knocking at the door to even make Artoria roll over in bed, it got louder and quicker until finally whoever it was just swung the door open. The heavy wood cracked against the stone wall causing her to jump in her bed, a knife in her hand as wide eyes looked towards the opening where one of her brothers stood. "Give me one reason not to give myself a sister."
Edward laughed at her threat, shaking his head with his hands up in defense, "Father is calling for us." Artoria groaned in response before throwing the knife onto the side table. Motioning for her brother to leave she slid out of the bed, shivering slightly as her feet touched the cold ground. She made herself as presentable as possible before heading towards what they considered their grand hall even though it wasn't all that grand. It was a decent sized room with a large thick wooden table in the middle that sat their unbearably large family easily. It seemed that she was the last to arrive, muttering a sorry she hurried past her brothers keeping her head down as she slipped into her seat. Everyone spoke while her father rubbed his chin, she was sure if he could he would be staring off into space.
Her father spoke suddenly, almost scaring her out of her chair, "I want you to go Artoria." There was no argument she could give her father that would change his mind, she didn't even try. The promise she made all those years ago still stood and plus it was her duty as a Cresces. Art sat in her seat, looking down at her hands as they pulled at the fabric of her pants oddly nervous about the whole thing. The others continued to talk about the plans for the immediate departure and any other details her father demanded to know. The morning had been fairly quiet aside from her brother's offering their services in response to the call that came from Ivar. An unfamiliar man sat across from her father at the other end of their grand table, he had been sent to deliver the summons and to explain the details of the situation. There had been rumors about the king of Ismir being murdered by his heir who had since been missing. Of course no one ever expected he would travel to Ostia looking for aide but then again no one expected any of this treachery, according to the messenger it had been the younger prince who did the deed. Honestly none of it meant anything Artoria, she had no views when it came to politics or kings, it was all above her and for the most part confusing. "Go pack a few things, you should get ready to leave immediately." Foggy eyes looked in the direction of her as she slowly rose from her seat. There was something about the way he spoke that Art always hated, gritting her teeth a bit she bowed her head before leaving the room and going to her own.
Artoria didn't start packing when she reached her room, instead she went to sit in her window staring out at the courtyard. It was still fairly early and it would take almost no time to reach the castle, she felt no reason to rush though she was sure she should. Part of her didn't want to leave her home but knew that there was no turning down the request or her saying no to her father. She wasn't a child anymore and wouldn't be able to get away with such things. Thankfully her head didn't throb nor did her stomach feel like the ocean, so there was at least a bright side there. Some time passed before she watched as her brothers walked out onto the grass, tossing weapons between one another as they spoke. She knew one of them would be better suited for this but it was her turn in a sense. Moving away from the window the last thing she wanted to do was to watch them train. It was easy to hear their laughter before the sound of the swords clashing against each other even on the other side of her room. There was only so much time she could delay the inevitable and she'd rather be prepared than forget something rushing out the door.
Thankfully there were no tearful goodbyes. With her bag strung across her shoulder, each person was given a hug with some words of how they would celebrate her return. Then they were off. It took no longer than a hour to arrive at the castle, Artoria noticed that there were two individuals standing near one of the doors but paid them no mind for now as hurried their way to where they were to be meeting with everyone. The man stopped outside a set of doors motioning for her to continue inside. With a deep breath she moved inside, looking between the faces that had already gathered inside. Now she knew nothing about how the titles worked, her mother tried to teach her as a child but none of it stuck. If there was one thing she was fairly sure about it was the fact she had to wait to be spoken to...right?
RPG
