Vitae Regni

Heather silently strolled the woven branches of enormous trees that made up the streets of Ivy Fang. She was taking her midnight walk. She often took a walk when she wanted to think. She glanced up absentmindedly at the street light. To be specific, a tall flower with a seven foot stalk and glowing yellow petals that lit up at night. Vinera was definitely an odd place. What was worse was the dangerous creatures that rested below in the bottomless black swamps.

Heather had been here for over two weeks now with her newly made partner, Andra, killing off monsters in the swamp. They weren't too fond of each other, but there was still a decent amount of respect. At least it was better then hate.

She pulled out the note of her pocket and read over it for the hundredth time. Andra and Heather both had received the same letter from the same person. All it was was a simple note asking for their services. Normally such a thing wouldn't be a very big deal to her. She completed missions by various clients all the time. They'd hire her to either kill a person, group, monsters, etc. Then she'd get paid for her efforts. Such the life of an assassin. This mission was no different. Had a job offer, objective, and reward. Nothing special except for the fact she was being asked to silence the King. Even then, that didn't matter to her. What puzzled her was the fact that her employer had no face. She had no clue who it was. That had never happened to her before. Her employers always gave her her missions in person. Strange.

Narrowing her eyes at the letter, Heather placed it back into her pocket. What else was strange was that she was being asked to work with this local Tracker girl. Why would she need the help of a Tracker to help her eliminate the King? On top of that, they were both Bearers. Was it just a coincidence? Or did this mysterious Employer know they were both Bearers? She sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere. The mystery behind her employer, Mr. Fang, would have to wait. For now, she'd just return to the inn. Couldn't stay out in the open too long without a cloak. She WAS a wanted criminal.

Alena Rose

Alena felt like going out but the sun was just starting to rise. She hated the dark, and everything that had to do with it. The moon gave her nightmares, the stars made her upset, and the darkness itself scared and sometimes angered her. She thought it was just because she lived where she did but nobody else loathed the dark as much as she did. That's why she figured it was her power. She got dressed anyways though. By the time she was fully ready it would be light outside and she could enjoy her day, try to keep her mind off of magic so the event doesn't happen again. Alena put on a black shirt and a white, stringy, cablelike sweater above it. Then she found some shorts and slipped them on. Most wpmen around here wore skirts because they were "lady-like" but truthfully somedays she didn't feel like wearing one. She went inot her bathroom and carefully brushed out her hair until it was completely smooth and braided a strand close to the front. Getting out she peered through her window again and saw the light was creeping up from behind the hills, it made her giddy. Alena half skipped down the stairs and went through the door, passing her mother and breakfast completely. Lately her mom had been talking about her "Baby being all grown up" since she had only one more year until she turned eighteen which had helped Alena's case that she should be able to go into town alone. Her mom had finally agreed and now she could go whenever she pleased as long as she came back before nightfall. Going through the door she could sense the darkness still lingering in the air, still clinging on to it's territory but the light was beating it. Soon all that was left was light and it boosted Alena's energy and mood. She walked into town joyful and cheery, not yet even thinking about the scars on her back or absentmindedly touching them.

A blinding light sent a sharp migraine through the blackness. Pale eyes opened to the dark world around them, waking the stomach churning dismay that had been there since the night before. The strong stench of liquor filled the smokey air, and although these eyes could not see it, pink lights fluttered a small room. A grogginess wrapped Sven in it's seductive grip, and though it took strength well known to him, his suited arm reached to a pair of black glasses, which were brought to the man's face to conceal his bleached eyes. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Sven sat up with a slothful grunt. After his mind had registered, and realized that this hell... this black void, was nothing more than a wake-up call, Sven reached over the delicate sleeping body of the woman that laid next to him, just barely bumping her naked arm as he snatched a bottle, dumping the unknown content down his throat. Tossing silk sheets off of his body, he stumbled out of the room, pushing open a steal door which revealed dozens like it. The bright sun showed it's strength as a pounding and stinging in the drunken man's forehead. Snatching a black walking stick and jacket from a broken coat rack next to the nearest door, he made his way down a dusty alley. Pushing a wooden door open with the cane, Sven was welcomed by a man in a bartender's vest, cleaning the inside of a mug with a white handkerchief. "Keading!" He cheered, setting the mug down. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. What happened to that doll you took home last night?" Sven replied with a husky groan, leaning on the bar counter. Without question, the bartender set a hang-over remedy in front of the blind man, who immediately chugged the disgusting potion. "So you leave town today, eh? Better shave before you head out." The bartender laughed, satisfied with Sven's reaction as he rubbed the 5 o'clock shadow that blanketed his chin.


Last night was his last stay in the town he had grown up in. A couple buddies of his decided to throw him a "party". In other words, they got him drunk, threw in a few prostitutes, and watched the night fly by. Though a rugged and irresponsible guy, Sven was, nothing more, than a priest. Burdened with a sickness that took his sight as a young boy, Sven grew up an Orphan. He was raised in the town Orphanage, where he later began to work for a place to stay and food to eat. He was, as some described him, the worst priest in the history of Aquaria. Though, once you got past all of the drinking, smoking, gambling, fighting, law breaking, adultery, and of course, arson, he wasn't such a bad guy. It didn't matter to him, though. He had been trapped in the same town for as long as he could remember. It was time to ditch the place. To find out what else was waiting for him.

After chatting for a few more moments, Sven threw his coat on, along with his walking stick and headed towards the center of town. Chatter was restless here, and it gave Sven a good idea of what he was missing. Every now and then, he came to simply sit and listen in on people's conversations, and that's exactly what he planned to do. He took a seat under small tree, which provided nice shade from the sun. Though before he realized, he had drifted off into the darkness that ruled his world, and fallen asleep, ears still open to the voices around him as they spoke of sights he'd never get to see, in a world that was one color. Black.

Ella's heart thudded hard as she weaved her way through people. A boy who seemed just a little older then her was running after her. "G-girl! Come here!" She had been careless. She had woken up in the early morning, long before anyone should be awake, and went to the ocean to bend water. The boy had seen her. If she could just loose him, then maybe he would convince himself it was just be his imagienation. Ella expertly bent around people, and this was the one time her slight build came in handy, she was hard to see. Another plus, this was a rather busy part of Aquaria. She had to be normal. She couldn't have people knowing who she was. To any other person, she should be just some orphan. And that's it.
Spotting someone tall in a dark coat, she quickly stepped behind him. The boy went by them, only glancing her way for a second. "Sven." she breathed, resting her hand on his arm. He was fast asleep, out away from the other people. She sat next to him, catching her breath. That had been way too close. Both of them had been raised in the same orphanage, although she was a few years younger then him. Some looked at her with sympathy, others with disgust. It depended on if you had heard -and belived- her mtoher when she said little Ella had drown her own father. It was ridicules, Ella was barley a third of the size her father was.
Ella glanced over at Sven. The smell of alclohol, but that ws to be expected. She melted a little ice into water, and let the water jump into Sven's hand and curl itself into a ball. The water swirled in his palm like a living animal. His fingers held Ella's darkest secrete- the thing that made her so much different then everyone else. It was a rather isolated feeling. It also made her keep people at arms distence away- just in case they found out and she'd have to pull herself away from them.
Bringing her knees up to her chest, she touched the bells she wore on her small left ankle. her mother had given them to her before she went crazy- so it was the only thing the had left of the woman. Ella figured her mom had given them to her because she was always wondering off. Either way, she never took them off. Which made it impossible to sneak up on someone. Her bells where a very sweet, soft sound. Very similar to her voice.

Damian always preferred to get up early, preferably before the sun rose. In fact, by the time the sun began to rise over the hilly countryside of Terranae, Damian was already fully dressed, and sitting in a chair - which he had placed on the best view of the sunrise - in the rooftop gardens of the Imperial palace. As he watched the orange rays coat the hills and lush mountains, Damian strummed his mandolin, humming a soft little tune as he mused over the events of the past few days.

The situation in the Empire was fairly typical. The Aquarian Praetors - the three soldiers, hand-picked by Damian, that represented him and watched over both the nobles and the military in each province - and officials needed to fill out the paperwork to move former Aquarian fishermen into their new businesses. There were several Core sale reports that came in, but none of them were any people of particular notice. Of course, Damian was looking for out-of-the-ordinary purchases of Cores, and most of these people were either artists, historians, or noblemen looking to expand their collection of particularly shiny objects, so none of the reports that came in caught his eye. Besides all of the boring paperwork, his day seemed fairly standard, aside from the speech that he issued to the public the day before. The Praetors had received scrolls with similar speeches on them, and were set to make the announcement during noon. The speech, naturally, was Damian's explanation to the public about his new law: People were no longer punished for mentioning magic in public.

Naturally, Damian's advisers - the ones that weren't "mysteriously" flung out of the castle's windows - objected to his seemingly-rash decision, and he waved it away, claiming that the people of the Empire should celebrate their history, and not forget about anything that existed prior to the Furore dynasty. Damian, honestly not giving a damn about his advisers' collective thoughts, spent the rest of the day practicing his magic, playing his mandolin, and spending some time with one of the maids. At least there weren't assassination attempts. According to both his grandfather and his father, those days were probably the worst days that he'd live to see.

Once he was done reminiscing over the past few days' events, Damian got back up and went back inside the castle. In a few hours, he'd have to deal with the boredom of the royal court. Sitting in the throne for so many hours at a time was, as far as he knew, a ridiculous ritual for the ruler of the known world.

Atolia stealthily sneaked around the palace hallways "This way! I could of sworn the thief went that way!" one of the guards set on kitchen duty yelled. She took a few more turns trying to shake off the guards and keep them from taking her precious treasure. She stopped in one hallway and listened as the guards began to corner her. They were about to enter her little hallway from both sides when she noticed the large door to her left. She slipped inside and quickly closed the door behind her. She stopped for a moment and waited, "Damn it! We lost her. Maybe she went this way instead!" They yelled. The sound of metal clanking on the granite tiles slowly faded as they ran off in different directions. Atolia smirked as she began to unravel her sweets from the small bag she had stored them in. "Suckers-" she began as she took a bite, but stopped when she saw what room she had stumbled into. The king's throne room, and of course it was his sitting hour. Perfect.

"Y-your highness!" She hid her stash behind her back. "Y-you seem well today! Did you write a new melody on your mandolin?" She continued with her praise, but dropped one of her pieces of cake. "Uh...... I was just holding them for a friend, I swear! Never seen it before in my life!" She denied, but by the look on the King's face, it didn't look like she was going anywhere...

"For God's sake, Atolia, do you have no sense of self-control?" said Lucas as he stepped out of the shadows.

"That's none of your concern, Lucas."

"Well, I think it is if it means the King can't enjoy a nice desert after his meal."

"I didn't take that much! Er, I mean.... umm.."

"So you admit it."

"I admit nothing!"

This argument continued for another five minutes with the King still sitting there.

The morning was particularly boring. From the seventh hour of the day, until the ninth hour, Damian was stuck sitting in the court and listening to nobles bicker amongst themselves, his advisers pestering him about his next move - which, truthfully, he had planned, but he simply didn't like his advisers - and one particularly bothersome land dispute. On the bright side, however, the court jester did put up a particularly good performance today, and Damian even joined in on his mandolin. When all was said and done, and everyone had left the court, Damian sat down upon his throne, watching the halls. However, his silence was soon interrupted by the clamor of the guards' boots against the granite floors, accompanied with an orchestra of shouts. The scene occurring outside the walls of the throne room didn't bother him. After all, they were a somewhat regular occurrence.

Damian sighed when Atolia sneaked into the throne room, and began digging out of her bag of sweets. When Lucas confronted her about it, Damian sighed once more and played a fitting tune on his mandolin. After their argument quieted down, the young Emperor silenced his mandolin. These shenanigans were pretty common, and Damian was probably going to increase the guard outside the kitchen - he might just leave the Praetors there, but they did most of his paperwork, so he guessed that they didn't deserve to put up with Atolia's schemes - after this, but he had known Atolia, Lucas, and the castle's head chef - a rather large man by the name of Eugene - far too long to know what would probably happen.

Damian stood up and walked over to where Atolia and Lucas were arguing, and stood before them. "Atolia, is it really necessary? The two of you have lunch and dinner with me, so you really shouldn't have any need to steal from the kitchens between meals. Besides, it reflects poorly on you. A general stealing from the kitchens like a petty thief. I've told the guards that you do it 'cause you've got a particularly nasty sweet tooth, but what do you think goes on in the back of their minds? Well, mind. Each guard has his or her own mind. Although, now that I think about it, a play about a guard with multiple minds might make for some particularly hilarious comedy...," said Damian, trailing off in his newfound train of thought. "Regardless," he started, interrupting the slight silence, "I honestly hope that you don't steal from the kitchens again. I could always ask Eugene to make more food, but that's really not worth it. Either way, though, we've got to get into our positions. It's time for the court

Alena walked around the town square, making sure no obnoxious guards were around. She had become infamous in a way to them. They had even punished her about four times because of some things she would rather not think about. She rubbed he side self conciously and went into the bakery. The first words she heard uttered were,
"Did you hear? King Damian revoked the law of speaking about magic!" said one man buying a loaf of bread. The other man he was talking about that looked rather beaten down said,
"There's no point talking about it anyways. Bearers don't exist and fairytales don't need to be discussed."
That infuriated Alena and she walked right up to the two, feeling her side where her "reminders" were. They were probably glowing right now.
"Bearers do to exist. Why else would they have banned the talk of them?" She heard the clunking of boots and cursed. The stupid drunk guard was back.
"Talking about bearers and magic again now are we?" He said, taking a step toward her. She could see his whip holstered in his belt, and he was just itching to use it. She stood her ground though and shot back at him,
"You can't punish me for it. King Damian revoked that rule."
The man scoffed acting like he could care less. Taking a step towards her she knew what he was going to do and tried to run but he grabbed her and brought her to the middle of the square, legs flailing. She couldn't take another whipping. Her first had not yet healed and she didn't need whip scars along with letter brands on her side. She gave one kick back and got a grunt along with loosened arms. She broke free and ran, but felt a whip wrap around one of her arms and held back a cry of pain. He pulled back and left a ring around her wrist. Just as he was about to strike again anther guard ran to the drunk and took away the whip. She was relieved. When they both left without even the slightest apology she thought about wiping her arm on her shirt to get rid of some of the blood but instead looked at her brands under the shirt. A, T, and R. All right next to each other and bulging reminders of her mistakes. Alena suddenly felt like just walking back home when somebody yelled,
"A fade!" she looked where the person yelled and saw a huge slash appear in the middle of the square. She saw something start to emerge and did what she could to protect herself without giving away what she had been hiding all these years, she ran. The one part she despised about running was that her small little home was in the very corner of Solia, right next to Lunia. She heard screams behind her but didn't stop until she was clear out of her home and entered another town. She could run a long time so she didn't even look or feel winded at the moment, but held back a face of disgust as she processed she was now officially in Lunia.

Conversations turned to a harmonic lullaby, whispering softly to the resting conscience of Sven's mind. But something fought back at the overpowering sleep that took hold of the rotton man. The sweet scent of a young woman. It gnawed at his slothful sleep, urging him to wake and converse with the one that smelled of sweet pear blossoms. Slowly his senses began to snap on, until he felt the luke-warm cooling of water on the very tips of his fingers.

"WHAT THE HELL!" He shouted, sitting up out of his sleep and crushing the sphere of water he held in his palm. "YOU TRYIN' TO TRICK ME, KID?!" He had already registered the fact that Ella sat next to him. Then the smell seemed all the more familiar. "God.." He grunted, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand. "And I was having such a nice dream.." With a sigh, he shrugged Ella off and took to his feet, carrying with him nothing but his cane. He made his way to the nearest stream, hearing the footsteps of Ella following shortly behind him. Sven dug his leather boot into the thick undergrowth of the steep trail that led to the water. Leaning forward, he skidded down the small hill, kicking up a tiny amount of dust in his wake. He had come to the stream often to ignore the voices of the world around him, and to allow the seductive whisper of the running stream to take hold of his mind, and lullaby his world to sleep where dreams would await him. If anything, it was the most important thing to him. He'd close his eyes and visions would take form, playing out like a movie in his disturbed mind. Dreaming was the only way Sven could see. He could remember the blue of water, or the green of grass, or the violett glow of twilight.

But once he awoke, the world was black once more.

He lifted his jacket off and tossed it to the stream, letting the water snatch it and bring it down into the cloudy un-known. He wouldn't be needing it anymore. After setting his glasses asid, he dipped his hands into the cool water and splashed it over his face as a quick wake up call. Reaching into his pocket and taking out a small knife, he raised the blade to his chin and dragged it along his skin, slicing off short hairs that had been neglected for no more than a couple of days. He looked like a mess, his tunic un-button, tie un-tied, and driplets of water hanging onto the tips of his dark brown hair. Of course it didn't matter to him, and the rugged look was a bonus for picking up ladies.

"So what'd you do this time?" His question was directed towards Ella. Whether she was actually there, he didn't know, but he could still smell the sweet scent of pear blossoms blowing his way.

She was surrounded by it. The dark, the people. She called them Lunies because Lunians sounds alot like it. How could they stand this? The buildings were black, the plants, well their didn't seem to be any around. The sky was dark. Everything was just so, dark. She shuddered and walked on. Maybe the new king wasn't so bad. If she went to the castle she could tell him about her town, maybe about herself even. Although she doubted the second one. She would go to the palace and act like a normal citizen that has never done anything wrong. She will pretend to be a perfect little citizen so he will help. The good part about htis was she would be able to visit somewhere out of her own town which she had never done before. Looking around she saw nothing good enough for her to ride on. So she walked. How far was it to the palace on foot? Probably long enough to need food. Her stomach grumbled when she thought of it. Looking at the stores she saw a fruit store and while the owner wasn't looking snatched some pears and apples. R for robber right? She hurried off and went straight ahead, hopefully going the right way. She didn't exactly know which way she was to go except that she wasn't going to ask a Lunian for directions. She didn't need their help.

Ella didn't seem surprised when Sven. She glanced over at him and raised one thin brow. When he stood up, she followed him to the stream. The bells she wore on her ankle chimed very softly with each step. "Why do you always assume I did something wrong?" He was right, of corse. Sighing, she leaned against a tree. "Someone saw me using water." Sven already knew about her powers- she told him a long time ago. The best person to tell? Eh. She was never the best judge of personality. "He chased me through town. I had to hide behind you. You don't think he couldn've recignized me, could you?" Ella was very careful only to have a few close friends, and try to not be noticed. But she still was kind to strangers.
Kneeling down, she put her hands in the water. The water ran over her palms gentley, caressing her skin. Her long blonde curls covered her face slightly as she leaned forward. She seemed comfortable in the presence of the rugged-looking man. Suddenly a bird flew down and sat next to her and sang obnoxiously loud. "Cute. But do you mind running off now?" The bird sang louder, and Ella splashed water at it. But the bird just shook off the water like he was in a birdbath. It's rare for Ella do get angrey, but she was starting to get pissed off. "Alright, you better stop that or i'll make that big bad man get you!" The bird looked over at Sven then back to Ella. It didnt' seem impressed as it sang. "You stupid bird. . . shut. . . up. . ." She growled, glaring at it. Before the bird had time to react, she quickly scooped it up and held him up, letting him go when he was high in the air so he'd fly. The bird flew upwards, then circled back and sat back down between Ella and Sven. He sung obnoixiously, and Ella seemed exasperated. "Shut up you stupid thing!!"

Sven

"For the love of god.. stop yelling." He growled towards Ella, reaching for the bird that had nestled it's self calmly next to him. His fingertips brushed the baby-soft feathers of the creature, who glorified with the praise, stopped his chirping and nuzzled his smoothed feathers against Sven's palm. Sven was easily reached by animals. He enjoyed their company far more than the company of humans. Lifting the little bird, Sven placed him on his shoulder where he perched, cleaning his feathers and singing a soft tune.

"Well, I'm off then." Sven declared, slinging his cane over his shoulder. The bird seemed reluctant to stay with Sven, who expected the creature to fly off when he started moving. The bird stayed nuzzled into the side of Sven's neck, cleaning the water from it's wings.

"Er.. we're off then." With a sigh, slightly annoyed with the quiet singing of the bird, Sven placed his glasses back over his pale white eyes and looked to Ella. "I won't be coming back to Nereid." After a quick pause, he turned back to the trail and began walking once more. "Come if you want, I don't give a damn. Just know we'll be passing through Blizzard Maiden, and I'm not carrying you when you're bitching that your feet are cold." He said it with a mocking tone, stepping on to the pavement of the main city street. He would leave the godforsaken island and head into the icy terrain. Though first thing first, he would need to stop by a tailor and get some cold-weather gear.

Damian's face turned bright red the moment Atolia brought up his childhood. "Hey, you can't bring that up! That was over twenty five years ago. But I'm still with Lucas, I'm glad I didn't turn out to be a thief that steals from the kitchens," said Damian, sitting on the throne with a grin on his face, which quickly faded away the moment Lucas brought up the subject of the next court meeting: Damian's plans for the Bearers.

"I'm not throwing anyone out of any windows, and neither will I toss any of my plans out, either. These nobles honestly don't realize how troublesome the current situation is. We've got Fades popping up left and right, and our guards are only normal people. We may have more than enough troops, but they can't deal with anything too dangerous. And then, on top of that, we've got renegade Bearers who attack our troops on sight simply because of these old-fashioned laws. We need the Bearers if we're going to deal with the Fades. You've got to keep in mind, though, that I don't plan on forgiving every last Bearer with a bounty. That's their own do-"

Damian was interrupted by the sound of trumpets, and the doors to the throne room soon opened. Nobles from all over the province were assembled in the area, and waited for the King's response. Damian set down his mandolin beside his throne, and leaned forward to speak. "My vassals, I have called you back here today to discuss the terms of my plans regarding the renegade Bearers. You all know why I ask this: I cannot stand idly by while the pirates ravage the coastal villages. I cannot stand idly by while Fades decimate villages and the soldiers that guard them. And now, over the past few years - ever since I took the throne, might I add - there have been increasing reports of Bearers that have evaded the Hounds. Everyone here knows, and understands that we cannot deal with another threat. We may have an economic surplus now, but once fighting intensifies - for example, if the Bearers got together and trained their powers, and used them to fight the Empire - we will be losing troops left and right. There is a reason, after all, that I lifted the ban on mention of magic. I mentioned to you that I wished to produce a play called The Sound of Magic, but that's only secondary to my real purpose. The more information we can get our hands on regarding renegade Bearers, the better. Now, keep in mind that I do not plan on giving all Bearers amnesty. No, I have the opposite in mind. Those Bearers that have committed no crimes against the Empire will not be hunted down, but those that have will gain an extra bounty on their head, a charge of 'irresponsible use of naturally-occurring power,' if you will. So tell me, then, will you agree to my terms?"

Ella Thorn

Ella stared as Sven coddled the bird, who seemed to just adore the man. It nestled itself against him, crooning softly. There was a short pause before she followed Sven. "Don't worry about me. I'm part penguin." When she was little she lived just outside the Blizzard Maidens, so the cold didn't faze her much. "Planning on taking anyone else?" She asked, sticking close to him as he stepped back into the steady stream of people. Ella wasn't really one for the city, although she did like being in the company of others.
She wasn't a very independent person- she needed company to flourish. Even if it was company like Sven. "So where exactly are we going?" You would think that she would want to know where they where going first, but Ella really didn't care. There was nothing strong trying her here. Her family was dead, and her mother had dragged her name through the dirt. She didn't have many choices, and she was up for anything.

Sven

"Don't know." Sven replied to Ellas question. To be honest, he really had no idea where they were going, but what did it matter. Both he and Ella were wasted breath in this hypocritical town on this useless island. He looked to the sun which was gradually pouring down more and more onto him the further he walked to the center of town. "Damn.. Can't wait to get out of this hell." He quickly snatched his damp shirt, nonchalantly un-tucking it from his dress pants in an effort to unbutton the collar, which failed epicly when the three buttons below it also snapped off. Sven cursed under his breath, knowing the only shirt left to his name was now missing the top buttons and he was heading into an icy terrain, of which the temperature would drop to a near 10 below.

He picked up his pace, hands in pockets as he made his way to the market place. Stopping in front of a wooden venue, he leaned over the counter and took a look at the thick furs that hung from the walls, or more so.. he pretended to look to avoid the handicapped judgement that would be pushed towards him. Taking out a bag of coins -origins unknown; Sven always had money laying around, but he'd almost never spend a dime unless it was on cheap drinks and a place to stay- he heaved the leather bag on the counter with a "clunk" and leaned against the wood, turning to Ella and taking out a cigar from the pocket his hand had stayed warm in. "Well whadya want?" He gestured, holding the cigar to a candle until it sizzled, indicating that it was well lit, before he brought the end to his lips and took in the sweet aroma, awaiting Ella's reply.

Rowan Sandor

Rowan Sandor walked through the city doing her best to blend in with those around her but only partially succeeding. She walked hunched over and kept her cloaks hood over her head. But the startled looks she cast around her showed, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, that she was unaccustomed to such a large city and was clearly a stranger here. The large grey Wolfhound that padded along beside her was perhaps the main reason she stood out from those around her. Now full grown the beast reached her ribs in height and had a powerful build. She seemed not to notice the surprised people around her as the wolfhound walked past them too busy was she in taking in her surroundings. She was lucky in that she was in Ivy Fang where animals were accepted more freely than anywhere else in the land.

This is dangerous A voice growled in her mind and she had to fight not to glance at the wolfhound beside her. We should not be here, we should be in the woods where it is safe.
Hush Grey She said firmly I need supplies and some plants I can only get in the city, we will not be here long
The Wolfhound grunted but remained silent but Rowan could still feel his concern and his irritation that she would not heed his words. In truth although being in such a large place was dangerous for her it was also exciting. Although she had been born in this very city her parents had moved her to Terranae when she no more than a babe and she had no memories of the place of her birth. The city was wonderful filled with nature in every part of it and she could not help but feel as though she had come home at last.

As she wandered the happy excited voices of the cities animal residents reached her and she winced at the cacophony of sound that assailed her but she did not scold them. They did not understand that their voices caused her pain and she would never explain it to them as she valued their honest and true friendship. She greeted them as she passed trying not to ignore any from the smallest mouse to the large birds that circled overhead. The plants too seemed pleased to see her and seemed to stand taller and grow brighter as she passed. Occasionally she would stroke a leaf as she passed and would feel the plants pleasure at her touch. Distracted by the sights and sounds around her Rowan had no idea where she was going and it took a gentle nudge from Grey to remind her of her purpose.

The city was huge and Rowan realised that wandering aimlessly as she had been would not get her very far and she would have to ask someone and yet the people around her seemed too intent on their own business to stop and help a stranger with theirs. She spotted a bench to one side of the bust street and she sat on it to rest whilst she decided what to do. Grey sat on his haunches but kept his head up eyes and ears alert for any sign of trouble.

Damian looked unmistakably angered by the nobleman's comment, which apparently seemed to offend him in some way or form. He passed a quick signal - a brief movement of his index and middle fingers - to the guards that were positioned around the room - "be ready for my orders" - before he stood up from his throne, and stared down towards the nobles.

"You moron. All of your years studying history and politics, and this is the best you come up with? We monitor the Bearers and imprison them like beasts, while our men are out there, being slaughtered as we speak? If you don't want them to get any ideas of revolt, you treat them like proper human beings. Which, as far as I am concerned, has completely eluded you. And, what if one of the children of a prominent noble in another province is a Bearer? I do not intend to offend anyone in the other provinces, and I fully intend on keeping it that way. Plus, your worry about a Bearer losing control is more-or-less unfounded. That only ever happens - with a mildly experienced Bearer - when someone seizes control of a Bearer's body from a long distance, which is already an impossibly difficult task as it is. If someone was able to possess a Bearer's body from a long distance, we'd have far greater problems. So, no, I do not agree to your conditions. I understand that this means that the law shall not be passed for now, and I accept that. We will meet, in, oh, I don't know, six months from now to discuss this," said Damian, eventually calming down and turning around to pick up his mandolin from its resting spot beside his throne. After grabbing his mandolin, Damian turned and left through the door on the side of the throne room, but not before gesturing to Atolia and Lucas to follow him.

Lucas glanced back at the group of flustered nobles one last time before running after Damian. Atolia followed after a bit more slowly. SHe'd been rather quiet up to this point.

"Sir... what are you going to do? Leeches? The very idea... it doesn't seem the Nobles are going to compromise either unless some sort of restraint is put on their powers... What a mess..." Lucas sighed. He looked back at Atolia, "Hey, you've been awfully quiet."

Atolia looked up from her train of though. "Hmmm? Oh, I was just thinking of possible solutions while keeping both parties satisfied. It seems as though the Nobles see the Bearers at the same level as the monsters spewing out of Fades. Perhaps it would satisfy the Nobles if we assigned an attendant, or two, to the Bearers. People that would follow the Bearers everywhere, and if necessary, detain them if they get out of hand. This way the Bearers would be kept under control while still retaining their freedom."

"Who would we assign as attendants?" asked Lucas.

"I know of a few capable individuals."

"Sir, what do you think?" Lucas asked.