Nathaniel Cummingham's Story

Nate was hiding away in one of the castle's libraries, he enjoyed the view from one of the benches near a window and often liked to look out it. The view was one that stretched across the greenish landscapes of the back property to a lake. He watched the water the waves rolling in and out. It was calming for him, he loved the sea, even more when he was able to go out on it. It was always one of the better missions, when the queen sent him out on his ship to go get something or do something that required getting across the water. Although he missed his friends, as all of the boys had quickly become friends, and it wasn't hard to see, they worked alongside each other every day and were all quite similar if you looked hard enough. He planned on waiting until most of the others had finished before going to see the queen. He was determined to soak up some enjoyment in his last moments of peace for the day. Once he saw the queen she would give him a task and then probably another once he was done the first and generally none of the tasks were all that pleasant. But she was his queen and he served her loyally.

He was just contemplating going up to see her and get his job for the day when he heard commotion outside in the hallway. By the time he looked back to the window, the weather outside had changed and it almost looked as though a storm was coming. He groaned and headed out into the hall. "What's going on?" He asked one of the many people rushing by. "It's the queen, my lord. She has summoned us all to the grand hall." He answered quickly before ducking around the next corner. Nathaniel made a face and followed the hall that he knew would take him straight to the Grand hall. When he arrived he smoothly joined the huddle of the others. "Do you guys know what's going on?" He asked in a whisper, he figured maybe one of the other workers would know what all of the commotion was about. He hadn't really ever seen the queen this stressed out and she never called them all together like this unless something big was happening.

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Ella sat in her class. It was her last class of the day. Now that she was nineteen and a senior, she had a few spares saved up. This allowed her to take the afternoon off of school. It was the perfect situation for her as she worked part time as a maid, cleaning the homes of the wealthier families in her neighborhood. She went to school in the mornings and then worked in the afternoons and evenings. She was trying to save up some money to be able to send herself to college or even just move out of this town and go start over somewhere knew on her own. Why wouldn't she? There was nothing tying her down to this town, she had no real family left alive, her parents were dead, no grandparents, she had never had a boyfriend, nor any friends. She dreamed of a new life, somewhere far far away, somewhere away from her awful step family and somewhere where she could finally be happy again. As she sat in class, her mind drifted off to a daydream of what her life could be like. She stared blankly out the window and absentmindedly fiddled with her necklace, twirling the small light blue stone around in her fingertips. She had no idea what the teacher was talking about and probably wouldn't have even snapped out of her daydreaming until the bell rang.

It wasn't the bell that brought her back to reality, however. Instead, it was the sudden warmth building against her fingers. Instinctively, she dropped the pendant, causing the pendant, which seamed to be rising to a nearly scorching temperature, to swing back to its usual spot against her collar bone. She barely had time to freak out about the fact that the pendant she'd worn since infancy was beginning to feel as though it's blistering heat might start to burn her, before her vision started to go foggy. Her vision went black, her sideways sitting position had caused her to slip out of her desk and onto the cool tile floor.

When she opened her eyes again, she was outside. She could see from across the grass a man in an old fashioned suit and a preschooler in a baby blue dress. The man smiled as he set down a small bloodhound puppy in front of the little girl. "There you go my princess. A puppy of your very own. Now what shall you name him?" The man looked concerned, as though he was worried about something far behind the sweet moment. The small blonde stared at the puppy, making a face. After a few seconds she looked up to her father and exclaimed her choice. "Bruno!" The man, probably her father, smiled. "Bruno and Cinderella, what a wonderful pair you two make." As he watched the girl and her dog play, he smiled, a smile which soon turned to a more somber expression. And with that her vision faded once again. This time, she opened her eyes to the shoes and ankles of someone standing in front of her.

"Ow"
"Oh Ella, are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse?" Her plump teacher asked.
Ella tried to focus on the woman as she forced herself to stand up. "Yes please, I think I hit my head." She said. The teacher nodded and gestured her off. Partially mortified, Ella stood up and headed towards the nurses office. When she got there she noticed it was unusually crowded today. She sat down in one of the chairs outside of the door. Her head hurt and she figured she probably had a concussion or something, I mean, what else could have brought on such hallucinations.

Cale

Cale starred at the man who had barged into his room, irritation winning over common sense, he cocked his arm back and threw his tea cup, smashing it right next to the mans head, a devious smile crossed his face. "Richard my good man, I would recommend you knock the next time you enter a man's room." Cale slowly got out of his bed and with but a thought, sent the room into motion, walls shifted and the floor moved sending Richard out of earshot and behind a large bookshelf. He carefully looked through his lab until he found a pinch of horse hair, belonging to Little John, the less vexing of the two Richard's horse and tossed the vial he had placed it in, casually over the bookshelf. "Please make haste out of my lab, her majesty is waiting and it would be a shame to keep her for very long. Cale broke our into a fit of laughter as he opened the door and stood waiting for his guest to leave.

Chris

Chris laughed heartily at Altair and Lance's comments "It seems they ran out of Women and villages before I ran out of desire my friend." Chris looked down at his shackles and grumbled "Her majesty is getting wise in her later years, this time I can't move my wrists to unlock these, Altair, would you be so kind as to help a friend out, after all, what is an artist without the use of his hands?" He winked at his two friends and looked past them to see all of the other men entering the room,Dao, Corwin,Eric,Nate and even Mayur. " You two do know it has been ages since we last spoke and yet there you are huddled by yourselves instead of joining us all in a one in a lifetime event. Worry not we are not measuring manhood or speaking of deeds long forgotten, for I am sure our good master Eric would defeat us all!"

((Okay time for my boys, and that includes my own Richard. If it makes things clearer, some of the guys can call him Locksley too since he was called that in several Robin Hood movies.))

Richard Locksley

Richard was not a happy camper. He got a message return back to the castle with all haste and he had just got back home too all drenched. Still, a command was a command and he had no choice. Something must have been wrong if the queen was summoning him back this quickly. Well, there was no way he going back into the rain with his already soaked clothes, he would catch a chill for sure. He quickly changed and went to get another horse. Wanting a fresh horse, he took one of his quickest horses, Scarlet, a feisty amber coated mare. She also could ride well in any type of weather. Mounting her, he left his mansion for the palace.

Corwin Huntley, Mayur Bishari

One by one, Corwin watched as several others showed up. They were still missing Cale, both Richards, and several others. He grinned a bit at Altair and Chris's antics. Those two and Naveen were definitely three of the most 'playful' of the workers. He would have counted Richard Locksley and Cale with them, but something didn't add up right to Corwin with Richard and Cale was a bit more strange than funny. Lance was also a clown too so Corwin would include him. He decided to speak up.

"It might have something to do with the weather. I have never seen a storm come up so quickly before. It wouldn't surprise me if magics were involved here and that might be what's concerning the queen." he said.

Naveen listened to the others and agreed with Lance about distractions and listened to Corwin's comment. For once he was a bit serious himself.

"Well, I just hope that her majesty doesn't get too irritated that she decides to take her wrath on us." he said before turning to Lance.

"It's a darn shame we don't have any fair demoiselles here entertain us hehe." he added.

Dawn Trudy

Dawn looked at the dark skinned girl.

"Yes it did. I also saw something, like I was briefly someplace else. It looked like I was inside a castle and there was a couple there. They looked like a king and queen and the queen was holding a small bundle. I think it was a baby because I could hear them talking about it and the man called the baby Aurora. I know it sounds crazy, but I saw it. Did either of you see something like that?" she asked them, awe still in her voice.

Corwin Huntley and Mayur Bishari

Mayur frown at Dao. The man was too serious for his liking and never seemed to know when to have fun.

"I am just trying to keep the mood light, Dao. Do you have any suggestions to pass the time before her majesty gets here?" he asked a bit rudely.

Corwin didn't want things to get out of hand here, so he spoke up.

"Mayur, there's no need to act that way, and Dao, I don't think Mayur meant any harm in what he was saying about the fairer sex." he replied.

Lance rolled his eyes when his friends began to argue. Rather than trying to intervene, he just sat down on the cold tile floor. Upon seeing the confused expressions on the faces of his companions, he sighed. Looking up at them, he replied, "I'm really not in the mood for listening in on some stupid argument." Nodding in the direction of the door, he continued, "If you really can't put up with each other, then just leave. It's not like she can do anything if she's not here." There was silence for a moment. Lance scoffed, "I didn't think so." Despite everything that he and the other princes said about the queen, all of them were powerless to do anything to oppose her.

Sighing, he decided he'd been a downer for a bit too long. "Anyways," He continued, "I'm not sure that our beloved queen would be able to handle having Mayur and Chris in a room filled with young ladies." He smiled a bit. "We are all too aware of their talents in that particular field."

Cale

The door the the great hall swung open and Cale looked at each of the princes one by one a very large grin crossing his face. He made his way to a cluster of unused chairs, meant for conferences of diplomatic relations between the village leaders and the Queen. Picking the one in the best shape he sat in it, crossing one leg over the other, rested his elbows on his leg, interlocked his fingers and watched the rowdy group with more than a little passing interest. To have all of the Queen's favorites in one place meant that the situation that Richard had described was more pressing and certainly more dire than he once thought...how interesting.

Chris
Chris saw the door open and Cale walk in, something about that man always gave him the creeps, he once lost a game of lairs dice and was forced to give Cale a part of his sleeve, for what purpose Chris had no idea. Letting the man fade from his mind he saw Lance sit on the floor with a concerning look and placed a hand on his head to ruffle his hair. "Would you like to hear a joke Lance? Dao having a sense of humor for one. and let us not forget the last time Mayur and I had a contest about who could bed the most women. I do believe we were even, until we came about those twins...then it was a tie one apiece!" Chris exploded into laughter, he moved in front of the other men and strutted like he was a fair maiden. Then changed roles and acted out Mayur and his brilliant compromise, to keep the other men entertained.

Lance watched as Chris strutted about, telling tales of the many women he'd seduced. Unable to to contain himself, he burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter. Not only was he amused by the humor brought to the dull situation, the laughter of his friends was contagious. Even the seemingly rigid Dao seemed to be enjoying himself for once.

Although Chris and Mayur were the two men known for their antics with the ladies, it didn't mean that the other workers were devoted entirely to the queen alone. Lance had been known to sneak a glance or two at a passing servant girls. It wasn't so much that he wanted them in a way that Chris might. It was actually much more complicated than that, at least in his mind. He, like the others, had been denied by the queen the right to engage in any sort of romantic relationship. Knowing that he would never be permitted to love another, that was precisely what he desired.

Yet for now, he would forget all of that and just have a laugh with his friends.

Bella left her secret place, returning to the palace interior. Quickly, she hurried her chamber. She had to ignore the strange looks she received from her guards, considering she still held the appearance of a young girl. They couldn't tell the difference. Regardless, she managed to return to her room and resume her own identity. Looking into her mirror, she couldn't help but feel proud. Despite the great youthful beauty of the other face, her own had a much more refined feel to it. Much more fitting for a lady of her standing. Throwing her cloak across her bedspread, she stood tall and proceeded down the corridor leading to the great hall.

When she arrived, she noticed that her men had made themselves rather comfortable. All of them with the exception of Cale hadn't even noticed her immediate arrival, for they were too busy laughing at the antics of Chris Pierce. "Ah Chris," She muttered through gritted teeth, "It truly is a pleasure to see you again after so long." She made no effort to cover up the fact that she was lying through her teeth. If there were any of her former princes that she absolutely could not stand, it was Chris. Something about him, whether it be his uncontrollable personality or his womanizing ways simply disgusted Bella.

Richard Locksley, Corwin Huntley, Mayur Bishari

It was at that moment that the doors opened in marched a very wet Richard Locksley. For one of his rare times, he wasn't in a good mood. However, he kept silent as the queen was already there. The same went for Corwin and Mayur. Both men stood up straight when the queen entered, obviously in a bad mood herself.

Mayur actually took the situation serious for he never seen all the queen's main workers in one area before. He honestly hope it wasn't a bad thing for him and the others. Of course his gut feeling told him something was wrong; otherwise, they would never had been ordered to gather like this. Corwin was thinking along the same lines. He was concerned that something was endangering his homeland also. As much as he disliked the queen, he still loved his home.

All three men waited patiently to see what the queen would say.

Eric ignored most of the men's ramblings. He was more worried about why they were there in the first place. It was extremely unusual for all of them to be there at the same time, let alone Chris. He crossed his arms, watching the men joke around. As soon as the queen spoke, however, he turned to her, bowing low, glad that he hadn't been the only one who hadn't noticed her immediate arrival. Everything else had been forgotten, and only their loyalty to the queen was important at this moment. He only hoped that the reason they'd all been called together wasn't a horrid one.

Chris
Chris danced about the room until a voice ran a chill up his spine. "Ah Chris, It truly is a pleasure to see you again after so long.". Chris spun around into a low flourish, both hands going wide to show he was freed from his chains. "Your majesty they say lying causes wrinkles, but it is an absolute pleasure to be in the presence of the fairest of them all again, but don't tell Corwin or it will go to his head." Chris knew he was pushing his luck as he spoke, he was determined however to face down the one woman who had always spurned him and kept his friends under her iron grip. "Then again if you did maybe Eric might crack a smile."

Cale
Cale noticed her grace enter and he allowed himself a wide smile as he watched her glace his way. He then shook his head as Chris talked, the entire time studying his emotional threads, silver and yellow, daring, but afraid of what would happen if he pushed her majesty too far. He took his hat off as he rose bowing low, his curiosity rising at what all of the men in the castle were doing in the same room. It looks like our future has become quite interesting

Bella was silent, an unreadable smirk plastered across her face. Even as Chris spoke to her with such disrespect, it remained the same. "Oh my," she muttered, "If I didn't know any better, I'd assume you weren't happy to see me." Advancing further into the room, she was delighted to see many of her princes take a few steps back. It pleased her to know that they feared her, for fear is often the most effective method of control.

"Now dear," she continued, noticing that Chris had been freed, "When I ask my guards to restrain a worker, you aren't supposed to free them Altair." The queen sighed. "Men like Chris need to be taught to control their urges." Bella clucked her tongue, almost like she was addressing a child. "As the queen, it is my duty to ensure that he learns quickly." Her hand drifted towards her hip in a threatening manner, reaching for her wand. She looked at all of her other princes.

"One of you should replace his chains," She said, more of an order than a suggestion. "That is, unless you want to upset me. The choice is yours." She looked expectantly across the room at her other workers. There was dead silence.

Eric stood up, walking towards Chris and pulling his hands behind his back, holding him firm. "I'll hold him here, your grace. He won't escape from me. He himself has joked about my strength tonight, and I have no doubt that he will cooperate with me for fear of my executioners axe."
He made the threat, knowing in his heart that it was an empty one. He would never be able to hurt any of them men in this room, not even for the queen. He felt as if they were his brethren, whether he was close with them or not. He only hoped that she would be pleased with Chris' restraint, and his own willingness to serve her.

Bella folded her arms, an act that only rarely occurred. Looking at the pair of troublemakers, she stuck her chin in the air and let out a shrill, humorless laugh. She wanted desperately to hide her frustration with the situation. Here she was, a queen with supreme rule over a massive kingdom, and even her workers weren't addressing her with the respect she so deserved.

I bet they wouldn't speak to my sister this way, she thought. The idea angered her immensely. Why should her sister be the privileged child? After all, it had been Bella that had to deal with the indifference from both her mother and father. She'd been the one deserving of the position of queen since the moment she was born. This was her kingdom. She wouldn't let a few rebels ruin her perfect vision for the sake of a laugh or two.

All hope of controlling her anger was lost.

Her face contorted into a horrendous expression, so intense that one might think that she could kill with her eyes alone. Her fingers clenched her wand, her arm swinging out at full length in front of her. Not pointing at anyone in general, a blast of air flew out from the tip of her wand, powerful enough to knock even a giant off his feet. Every single person in the room flew backwards. "I am the queen, dammit!" She shrieked, her voice harsh enough to put a crack in glass. "You will respect me! With God as my witness, I will end every one of you myself before I allow this sort of blatant impiety go on!"

The room once again was dead silent. Nobody dared even to breathe. Taking five large steps back, she found herself standing at the entrance to the great hall. She stopped, glaring once more at her workers. Sure, some were loyal, but it only takes the error of a few to ruin an entire batch. She closed her eyes for a short second, then addressed them once more, in a calmer voice. "You are not to leave this room." She ordered. "Do I make myself understood?" Her beady eyes darted across the room, checking every man to ensure that they knew the correct answer. "Well?"

((Oh I love Bella. This should interesting seeing a room filled with all that testosterone quivering with fear hehe. I can't wait for the girls to meet her actually. CAT FIGHT!!! lol))

Richard Locksley, Corwin Huntley, Mayur Bishari

Corwin wanted to groan at Chris and Altair's behavior. The idiots! They were only going to make the queen angry and what was worse, she would probably take her anger on all of them. As if the queen could read his thoughts, that very thing happened. When she unleashed her magic, Corwin felt himself being thrown backwards and hit the wall. Cursing under his breath, he tried to gain some composure. Even though he was in pain, he did his best not to show it. He looked and saw the other guys in similar positions. Locksley was trying to stand up and Mayur looked like he crashed into the nearest person. When the queen spoke again, Corwin tasted fear again. This was why all of them were loyal to her, because she had the power to destroy them all. Corwin managed to get up and come forward before simply kneeling before the queen.

"Understood your majesty." he said, even though he hated to do so.

Richard was right next to him and did the same thing. He secretly hated submitting to the queen this way, but what choice did he have? What choice did they all have? Mayur managed to get up and wanted to get out of the room, but his loyalty to the men in the room was too great for him to try and leave. So for the sake of his comrades, and not the queen, he knelt down as well. Inside, he felt inner turmoil and wished that a miracle would happen that they would be set free.

Lance's heart raced as he found himself thrown to the wall by the blast of air. As if it couldn't get any worse, Mayur had done him the kindness of toppling on top of him and making movement practically impossible. Wiggling his legs, he cringed both in pain and fear. The queen truly was someone that was not to be fooled with. As he tilted his head upward, Lance noticed her icy glare focused on the pile of men. She was expecting an answer from her workers.

He breathed heavily. He hadn't heard the question, but he thought it unwise to leave the queen in suspense, especially given the situation. Everything became a bit easier when his "extra baggage" pulled himself to his feet and bowed in her direction. Finally able to react, he mimicked the actions of Mayur and bowed. Listening intently, he echoed the words of Corwin, determined not to be noticed as a rebel.

"Understood your majesty."

One thing common to all spies: they were all masters of camouflage, whether it be in the wilderness or a bustling marketplace. Don't try to be an individual, he told himself, You are a minion of the queen and one of many. You serve her loyally forever and always.

"Ella St. Tremaine, senior." She recited along with the other girls. She stayed out of their other conversations but listened to what they were saying, until yet again her head screamed in pain and throbbed. The worst migraine she'd ever had was beginning to take over her entire head. She couldn't even think straight any more. She squeezed her eyes closed in an attempt to numb some of the pain. This was when yet another of her dreams took over her entire mind.

This time instead of seeing the small blonde girl, it was as though she was the girl. Except in this dream she was older.
She was in a large ballroom, the most spectacular room she'd ever seen. Music played and the sound of her own laughter filled her ears. In front of her stood one of the, no, the most attractive man she'd ever seen. He laughed too as they spun around in circles and eventually drifted out to the patio. The beauty of his smile nearly made her melt. They danced under the stars and she was having more fun then she'd ever had in her life. Their perfect moment was interrupted by the chimes of a clock. Ella watched as she spun her head to look towards the clock. In a panic she broke their contact and ran towards the stairs.
"I'm sorry but I have to go. " She called as she picked up the blue ballgown enough to run down the stairs.
"Wait!" She heard the stranger call from behind her. "I don't even know your name."
But Ella continued running, even when she tripped over a stair and her shoe fell off. She contemplated picking it up but the male was chasing after her. When she turned, she noticed the building she was running from was a castle. She ran until she had reached a small garden like place, like magic, the beautiful gown she was wearing disintegrated under her hands and became a torn dress over a slip.

Ella opened her eyes. That dream had felt so real yet she still couldn't believe that. "Yeah, I had the same kind of dream. There was a boy, he was... and...I think we should get out of here. There's something going on. The drugs in the air theory is sounding more and more plausible.
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Nathaniel flew backwards with the burst of air. He picked himself up off of the ground in time to see the queen slam the doors and order them not to leave the room. She had never so much as order them not to leave the castle let alone one room. There was certainly no way that Nate was going to stay there. He loved the sea far too much, it was familiar it felt like home. Still he nodded in agreement with the others. The last thing he wanted to do was defy her majesty and piss her off even more. He had never seen her this mad before which meant that something serious was definitely going on. He wondered what could be going on. He wasn't sure if it was a good sign or a bad sign that she was locking them all up in here. He was going with bad. "What do you think is going on?" He whispered[quote][/quote]