Arabella DeGrey's Story

Arabella sighed. Today was the day her eldest brother James would be crowned king or Avalon. King James of Avalon. Of course as long as she lives she will disagree with James being king. He is too unprepaired to be king and anyone in there right mind would know that. So she can't support James, which broke her heart not to be able to support her own brother but it was for the good of Avalon. Wasn't it?

She looked around for Sir Tomas Blackthrone but had no luck, so she just took her seat. She looked around at everyone one more time, then spoted Gwen. She gave her grin and then turned her attention away from her. It wasn't that she didn't love her sister, it was just that Gwen supported James, so she must have no clue on how to run a kingdom at all. Even if Gwen was one year older Arabella knew her nation better. In her option that is. Gwen most likely has her reasons why she supports James, but Arabella never asked.

Prince Hadrian grinned cheekily, nodding to Walter Cartwright, the Duke of the southernmost provinces, and the Luxorian ambassador, whose name Hal had not had time to catch. Tradition dictated that, so long as there was a truce between Avalon and Luxor, an ambassador would be present to witness the coronation of either countries rulers (King and Sheik respectively). The Duke, a fat, jolly old veteran, had been entertaining the ambassador, no doubt regaling him with vastly exaggerated tales of the battlefield and his time abroad as a mercenary. Hal's parting joke had left the Duke bellowing with laughter, whereas the reserved ambassador merely smiled, mirth lighting up his eyes. The duke's young attendant on the other hand had turned a bright red, clearly unsure whether to be shocked or to laugh. Clearly new into the Duke's attendance, Hal thought wryly. The Duke was a good man, but was still far too boisterous for his age, and he needed barely any mead in him to tell jokes that would curl the toes of even the roughest of sailors.

Certainly, James's coronation caused Hal far more concern than jubilant, but now was not the time for that. No, now was the time for celebration, and Hal played his part masterfully. His smile was warm, his eyes filled with humour, and he flitted around the room seeing to it that everyone was well supplied with laughter, rich food, and fine drink. The merriment was infectious, and soon Hal was feeling it himself. But still, he could not indulge too much. The speech he'd given before James's coronation had been promptly followed by invitations from many of the soldiers that knew him well to various bars and parties that were being thrown in honour of King James, and he had promised to make an appearance. Though he would certainly be thoroughly legless before the night was out, he could at least make it out of the palace before losing his head.

Walking across to one of the calmer pockets of the hall, Hal spotted Gwen idly wading through the crowds, a polite greeting here and there but, for the most part keeping to herself. He glanced back at the Royal table, where the DeGrey family and honoured guests sat, and spotted Arabella and James still there. The conversation was still polite, but was growingly increasingly relaxed as the wine started to have it's effect. Hal smiled to himself. Everything was going well. Good. No matter his own thoughts on the matter, James should enjoy his coronation. This moment was in honour. Turning his attention back to Gwen, Hal strode over grinning broadly.

"Aah, my fair sister, what are you doing all the way over here? Is the party not to your likin-" The smile faded from Hal's face as he spotted a hint of sadness in his sister's eye, quickly hidden as she realised she had company. Concern furrowed his brow slightly and he put his arm around her in a half-hug, turning their backs to the party and whispering so none would hear. "Is everything alright? You seem a little forlorn for the coronation you've been looking forwards to."

Rivera couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Indeed it is, Arabella. I see you have attempted to drive off the wine. Not a bad move, if I do say so." She thought about her engagement to Thomas. "So tell me, how is the wedding arrangements coming along?" She wndered, honestly. With Thomas all but avioding her, surely things couldn't be easy. Her eyes trailed along the crowd once again. She couldn't help it. She was restless in this dress, away from Hadrian's side.

Rivera sensed Arabella's discomfort, and decided against pushing the subject. She smiled. "I detest wine, you know that. Still...perhaps getting drunk will make all the drunkards coming after me seem less revolting." She hardly believed that the words were coming out of her mouth, and at the same time, she could. She desprately wanted to talk to Hadrian, or anyone for that matter, about what she was feeling. But she couldn't. She was too afraid of the truth.

those thoughts swriling around her head made Rivera highly uncomfortable herself, so she hailed the nearest servant, and took a glass of wine, dowing it and two more within the space of perhaps ten minuets. She could already feel a slight buzz begining to come on. "I detest parties...you know that, don't you?" She said to Arabella, truthfully. She truly did, she always had. She felt only completely comfortable with a blade in hand and on the battlefield, either training or in battle, it didn't matter which. Social events, and she was out of her element.

Thomas excused himself and walked away from the ambassador, more convinced then ever before that the man was fishing for sensitive information about the state of the Royal family. He let his eyes roam over the crowd, briefly catching Gwen's look and feeling the familiar warm glow spread through him. He let his gaze follower her, wondering if he would get a moment alone with, hoping for it and dreading it all at the same time.

Suddenly Hal was on a table and Thomas envied his casual manner and ability to break the ice in most any situation. It was almost as if the entire room let our collective sigh of relief and he could see the masks people wore falling away to reveal true warmth in their smiles. He once against looked around for Henry Devalin and was unable to find him though he did see Katherine speaking with King James. At least she had showed up. He would have been more concerned if not a single member of the family had turned up.

The mood in the room was certainly improved now and he felt less self conscious as he made his way through the crowd, catching sight of Arabella tucked away in a corner talking with Riveria. He knew that appearances must be maintained and though he did not love the woman he would take his promise to his friend seriously and try to be a good man to his wife to be. He straightened his back and approached the two.

He bowed low and smiled at Arabella, allowing the feelings he felt for Gwen to warm his smile and give the impression of passion he did not secretly feel. "My dear Princess. Would you honour me with this dance?"

Now this was more like it. Hal whirled through the crowd, dancing and joking and putting in a smile and laugh with everyone he came across. As he moved through the crowd he came across more than one girl making eyes at him. He danced from one to the other, growing bored and moving on when another caught his eye. He could feel the buzz of alcohol working it's charms, and was thoroughly enjoying himself. He quite liked the little game of dancing from girl to girl, and he was rarely ever turned down. It wasn't that any of them really grabbed his attention, no, they were all too easy. Far too willing to fall into his arms, though they barely knew him. Besides, most of them were true women of the court. Beautiful, but little more than a pretty face. Well, a beautiful body too. Can't forget that. But outside of the bedroom, they would hold little interest to Hal. Of course, there were always the devious, user bitches as well. Snakes, wanting to ensnare him only for his wealth and status. Because of this, he kept it all friendly. He never got too close, never made any suggestive moves. Just danced, and entertained.

Unfortunately, the party was suddenly interrupted by a minor hitch. Some indignant woman had slapped a now equally indignant lord. Good of her to stand up for herself, Hal thought. Some of the lords could be real asses. Not that I would ever let any of them think I hold such an opinion of them. Such would be bad politics.

Then Arabella ran over to him, insisting he go speak to Rivera about what happened. Wait, Rivera? Was that her? Dammit! Hal's party mood was forced aside, irritation and tiredness taking it's place. He was low on sleep, and had been looking forward to this party. A chance to relax, not to think about any of his worries. The past week, he'd been spending far too long sorting out everything to ensure James's coronation went smoothly. Sure, the housecarl's could take care of the arrangements for the parties, but it was Hal that had to work the political circuits, smoothing tempers and easing worried minds to make sure no Lord was in opposition to James. At least, not openly. Not as if James would know anything about that, Hal thought bitterly. But of course, father's wisdom, as always, is infallible. Clearly, there must be some higher meaning to crowning the son that had done nothing but desert his duties since birth, the one that knows nothing of running a kingdom. Hal stopped that thought before it went any further, clearing his mind. Sarcasm would help nothing.

Hal strode towards the balcony Rivera had run to, keeping a warm, genuine smile plastered across his face, unfazeable as always. As soon as he was out of the ballroom, onto the balcony, the smile slipped. Thank the lord that this balcony has a door. I don't know if I could keep this damned smile plastered across my face through this. He walked over and leant on the balcony next to Rivera, not bothering to mask the tiredness from his eyes. For a while, he said nothing, nor made any move to comfort her. He looked across at her, saw that she was near tears. For a moment, he softened, angry at the man for what he did to upset her. But then irritation won out, and, as much as he wanted to sympathize for Rivera, he knew that he couldn't let her get away with such an outburst. He sighed, a deep exhalation of air, then spoke. Quietly at first, but increasingly revealing of the anger and stress he felt, little of which was actually towards Rivera.

"Rivera, what happened back there? How many times have I spoken to you about this kind of thing? Whenever we force you into a dress and you so much as sip at a glass of wine, you end up yelling at some overly forward man. Once even, a woman you deemed to touchy. You know that there are already those that question your place as my bodyguard. Ridiculous, true, but all you do is give them further cause to deride you. So what was it this time?" Hal's words were whispered, but harsher than he intended. But that was the alcohol talking, and the stress and tiredness did nothing to help.

To tell the truth, despite his kind words and uncharacteristically vocal support for his brother, Prince Lelinus DeGrey was decidedly not enjoying the party. He would much prefer to get down to work at this point in time. He had noticed Duke Henry Devalin's conspicuous absence along with that of his dependents and vassals. They claimed that they were unable to pay their respects because of a pirate attack, but Leo's spies were everywhere, even in Caerwyn and the Emerald Isles. There was no pirate attack. The Duke's absence was a subtle challenge to James' authority and throne and almost everyone in this party had picked upon it.

Dressed in a dark sea blue doublet, black leggins, and a naval blue cloak along with a couple of daggers hidden up his sleeves, he nodded in agreement with Arabella to go talk with his oldest friend, Ser Rivera. To be honest, he was glad to have the chance to talk to her. He tired of playing the boisterous fool and blind loyalist to his brother. Both he and Rivera both knew that James was a fool and would make a weak king, which had already given that upstart Devalin the gall to rise above his station. He would have to take care of the Duke while simultaneously keeping his brother from making any stupid mistakes. It was a daunting task and he would probably have a fever in the end, but Lelinus would do his duty. Besides, he didn't get that sick anymore. He had been born sick and not expected to survive past childhood, but he had proven them wrong, something which he had Rivera to thank for.

He smiled slightly and offered his friend a bow and his hand. In these functions, he treated her as an equal, something that rankled a few nobles, but earned him esteem from the other knights. He didn't regret offending those type of nobles. They were often little help beyond court politics and could be easily won over or neutralized behind the scenes and the knights were far more influential among the common folk and were excellent fighters.

""It seems that Lord Calabar proved to be an... incompatible dance partner," he commented politely, though he knew that only Rivera could catch the humor in his tone, "You look well in that dress. I believe I heard a few ladies wondering aloud about your secret. The thought of physical activity never crossed their mind, I'm afraid."

He took off the white mask he had been wearing for the party. It was made of ivory reinforced with leather. The perfect battle helmet for life at court should things turn violent. He frowned, "My dear cousin is up to something. A pity he does not take more interest in his wife."

Rivera had said not a word the entire questioning, her eyes merely trailing from one lord to the next, finally rest on James once again as he spoke directly to her.

"This may be your last opportunity to speak."

The words angered her. A part of her wanted to remain silent, and another part simply wished to explain why she refused, and yet another part of her wanted to lash out. It would be the latter to win that internal battle, for better or for worse. Her eyes burning, she glared at the man who stood before her as King of Avalon. She started out in a normal tone of voice, but with each word her voice grew, until she was actually yelling.

"My last opportunity to speak? Truly? So that's how it ends, is it? Is my fate already decided? Why then, pray tell did you drag me in here in the first place? Why should I have to say anything, James?! I grew up with you, you, Lelinus, Arrabella, and Gwendolyn, you have been the only family I've ever known! What would have to gain by betraying you, any of you? Nothing! But I can tell you exactly what she has to gain from it!" She pointed directly at James. "That harlot has plenty to gain from my supposed betrayal and execution, the least of which being your good favor. Are you truly that blind, James, that you would think that I would actually do something like this?"

She finally stopped, her head down, and in a calmer voice said, "You know what? This is exactly the kind of decision you would make. You always were brash, and tended to act on what you wanted rather than what you should do. You want to send me to the gallows? Fine. Go ahead. No, I have nothing to say in my defense, because frankly I don't think it would make any sort of difference. These Lords are all thinking the same thing, it's written all over their faces. Go ahead, write me off to death's door. Frankly, I just don't give a shit."