The Royal Advisory

[Queen Camellia]

Deep within the mountain, in a cave secluded from the rest by secret door after secret door, was a room full of gemstone flowers. The vibrant hues of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and of course, diamonds, glittered all across the cavern, creating a myriad of color and beauty, each shining with its own unearthly light. In the middle of the main chamber there was a small frame of a seat, a bench for those fortunate enough to see the room.

A trio entered the room, each cutting a strikingly different figure amongst the glowing gem-flowers. The leader of the trinity, a tall woman, wore a dark green outfit, with a flare around the neck resembling the two sides of a clubs, her head making the third. Her face was one of worry, the light of the crystals illuminated the frown from all angles, giving it a ghostly look of focus. behind the trio came a tall, green pokemon, who closed the secret door behind them. once closed it was impossible to tell where the exit was, save remembering where the door had been mere moments before.

"Thank you, Clovis." Camellia sat at the bench, taking the middle, so there was no room for her guests. "After today's jailbreak, I was worried about the people who live in the nearby caverns. What if the prisoners had attacked them? There would have been so much death..." The young queen turned to her confidants. "At least I have you, my trusty friends. Had you not acted so quickly, I don't know what i would have done..." Camellia let her tears flow, showing a soft side that no others were allowed to see. The tears are a nice trick, Cam. I must say, you're truly good at what you do. Camellia ignored Clovis' thought-speak, knowing he would not project his thoughts to anyone but her, unless she told him to.

[Kane Rafferty]

Currently not caring about posting table. I'll do it later.

Nothing could be more fake then the woman crying in front of him. The tears, comment, and sadness were all fake. If anything the queen was probably furious at the situation at hand. And they were all too real to him. Everything seemed to become more real every time he sang. Especially the queen and her secrets. But his job was not to point that out or tell the queen how he really saw her. For the queen may or may not know his weakness, but unlike her subjects Kane Rafferty was not to be tricked.

There was a jail break and there was no doubt who the escapee had been. It was nearly impossible to get out of their prison because of special precautions that were taken to prevent that. Warmweed was one such precaution and there was only one would be smart enough and strong willed enough to not take the warming drug all together. Though no one survived that long without it. He often wondered how that one did survive.

Kane stood in the room silent as he watched his queen cry for a few moments before reacting. A ghost of a smile traced his lips then and he moved to kneel directly in front of her. "Lady... You know where our loyalties lie and what we would do to please only you. They were just petty prisoners, who couldn't even think straight. They were too engrossed in being free that they didn't even realize they were in trouble until they no longer saw the sun." There was a glint in Kane's calm eyes as he spoke in his normal, soothing voice. "Therefore... They weren't much of a danger and we're taken down quickly."

The man's voice was so gentle and calm, despite the darkness around them and the situation, that any sane man would have shivered from the creepy feeling it gave them.

[Odette Nevermore]

After they had walked into the room Odette stood a little to the side. She wore a simple white trouser and shirt. She had two daggers on her, one hidden within her boot the other in the typical belt hiding spot. Her long red hair was completely messy and in need of a brush. She was not really one to worry about appearances, at least not most of the time, when she was required to wear a nice outfit she will any other time no care in the world. She would never admit it but she actually enjoys dressing up for plays, balls, and just anything; but she had little ability with hair and little patience to wait for a maid to dress her up. The queen can be the perfect beauty, she was there just to take orders from the Queen.

Watching the Queen crying in tears Odette felt conflicted on whether to comfort the queen or watch. She honestly almost believed every little tear, she was actually on the verge of crying herself. What if the prisoners really did attack and kill people? What if they caused havoc on the kingdom? What if they had killed the queen? Though at same time she had memories, memories of horrible deeds, murderers. They were for the good of the kingdom, yet where the truly? She knew what could happen if she disobeyed, while at the same time she wondered could the Queen truly care for her as much as others?

Odette herself was once a prisoner of that place, but she held no true memories of the imprisonment... She honestly could not recall a thing, it was almost as she herself was never there... She does not understand the warmweed addiction, the need to escape, or anything. She herself truly never lived there, it was another... another odette, more accurately Odile and Odira, they have the memories, not her. She of course knows nothing of this. She never knows of her sisters, others do, but not of her. Maybe she will never know of the sister of chaos, and the sister of redemption. When she looks at the prisoners she believes they should live out their required time and then return to society perfectly fine. Not escape just to murder more, what horrors that was. The mines were a great place for Slaves of crystal kingdom to become free, why not just mine a few jewels and live within Diamond kingdom? What was hard about that?

The adviser spoke to the queen his wisdom, his words sounded calm and soothing, Odette found herself calming. She also found herself no longer wanting to sling herself upon the queen and start to cry with the queen. If this was truly what it meant to be ruler, to worry of others so strongly, it was a great honor. One that Odette will happily protect for the queen, one that she will happily share with the Queen.

[Queen Camellia]

Kane's response was, as always, deathly calm. Sometimes it seamed like his voice could calm a snowstorm, should he try. It was so infectious, as though it was trying to make Camellia herself calm...Except she already was, under the mask. But she sniffled, wiped the tears from her eyes, and made a troubled, 'attempted' smile, pretending his words had effected her. "That's true, I suppose..." There was a strange glint in the adviser's eyes, reminding the young queen of her suspicions that her adviser wore a mask of his own, though if he did it was at least as good as hers...Camellia mentally shifted attention to the pale shade standing next to them.

The royal assassin had made no move, and in fact didn't seam like she had responded at all, save for the slightest of glistening in her eyes, telltale mark of almost-tears, giving away her insides. The girl was like a broken toy, her mask cracked just as badly as her mind, but Camellia didn't mind, it wasn't Odette's job to pretend, it was her job to kill, and she did so with great efficiency, even before the ritual had brought her under sway.

Camellia realized that while she had drifted in thought, she had continued to stare into Kane's eyes. Quickly disguising her lingering gaze, the young queen sat up straighter, and looked back towards the central palace, allowing her cheeks to blush ever so slightly. Let him mask that "What else is going on with the kingdom? The chill of winter has begun to creep into the mountains, and when the great snows hit, the passes will become blocked, so we need to make sure the stores are ready to feed the kingdom for the whole of winter, and resources will need to be differed to fix the hole the prisoners made..." Camellia pretended to be amused by her round trip, returning to the subject she had been pretending to avoid. Using the silence, she waited for her adviser to answer.

OOC: Camellia isn't directly asking questions, so much as she's playing the game "let's change topics". If she wanted an actual meeting, she'd have one with the guild masters present. Although, if either Kane or Odette have anything in particular they wish to say in private, or if Kane has a subject to advise the queen on for her to be dealing with next, now's the perfect time. Else, she'll probably return to the palace to help plan for the aforementioned winter hoarding. (big deal in a country that makes most of its food via trade routes!)

[Kane Rafferty]

The Royal Advisory

What was Kain’s Job as an advisor again? He wasn’t sure anymore. Because his Job always seemed to be changing with the queen in the state she was in. It didn’t take long for her to get ahold of herself despite her earlier tear fest. But after a moment of calming herself he found her staring back at him. Which, to him, wasn’t too big of a deal. So he didn’t move. If it was what the queen wanted, then it was what she was going to get. He gazed right back at her. It was soothing for him. It had been so long since he had found himself lost in someone’s eyes. Especially her eyes.

When she looked away, his eyes fell to the ground and he stood up. Back to Professional and sturdy. His hands slipped to behind his back and his back straightened as he thought back to what else needed to be spoken about. There were a couple things that came to mind, but not really something that needed to be spoken about in private. After a couple of milliseconds scrapping his brain he thought about what it was he needed to speak to her about.

“Majesty… Though winter is quickly approaching the Kingdom, now that we have a lull in important events, other than getting supplies to the people, do you not think it be a good idea to visit the new Crystal Kingdom King? We could leave at the beginning of next week, you and me, and we could be back on the Night before winter hits Diamond Kingdom. We could renew the treaty that was made with the last king and make sure that our two kingdoms stay peaceful. I could even get some of the local magicians to teleport us to the border with a carriage. If that would please the Queen of course.” He said then bent his waist slightly and placed his right hand on his left shoulder across his chest, his head bowed respectfully. Then he said, “Odette can maintain the supply stocking and preparation.”

[Notes;; Yes the image gets annoying Fenrir. X3 I like it!]

The second Alice was a fragile man of the Diamond

credit Delusional, Tags, Odette Nevermore, Queen Camellia

[Odette Nevermore]

The girl watched as the Queen gently dabbed the tears from her eyes, oh how she wished to be the one to dab them away... To dab away the Queen's pain, she found herself wanting to reach out, but sorrow and truth pulled her back. She felt herself pulled even more back... Almost like everything was darkening around her... She found eventually found her mind soothed to a numb sleep, a numbness created by a shadow within her own mind. a Shadow that snuck in at the moment of weakness to take over. you may not ave control during these times, nor any other if I was given the choice. Sorry sister, but you are a careless fool. course these words will never reach the girl for the white swan was already locked away into the depths of her innocent mind.

The dark swan ad entered at the point of the Queen staring into the eyes of the adviser, silly royals this will not end well... you better be careful your 'highness'. Quick after the slip of the eyes both the queen and the adviser attempted to reappear professional and hide the truth of their moment of weakness. The black swan cared naught, for what could she do? She was trapped within a body tat was trapped under a curse, even if she broke free of one thing she would be trapped under another. She would merely enjoy her freedom moments and not start wars inside the very kingdom her otherselves supposedly called home.

The black swan attempted to keep her face and feelings sad as the other white swan would have felt... But she only felt cold... nothing but a blank mask... something that hides everything... Something that could not act on her own... something that secretly depended on the other swans to be human. She listened to the queen talk about the stores and such, she knew the queen did not care, why should she? She had worked hard to earn her position and there were other officials that could take care of everything. Why else have hired them? Why else feed and care for them?

The adviser seemed to ave grasped te situation and decided to slip a plan of his into the conversation. The black swan truly did not trust the guy, nor she ever will. Then she really did not trust many. especially so called blood bond queen who could control her body. A mere moment of weakness on her part... She could still taste the drugs.. still crave the drugs, oh how they can break the wisest and damnedest of the swans. The adviser made a mistake, he said that Odette could take care of the stocking and supplies. This "Odette" was no fool she saw he planned something.. Wanted to meet someone... She refused to be left behind, he could be planning to the Queen... She would have let them go, just the Queen dies, so will the swan. "Queen, I believe the adviser has a brilliant idea to visit the Crystal Kingdom, it is but of importance for Royal relationships. However how happy I am to make the preparations for the storage, I believe your hired officials can handle it all. I would like to come along with you to your journey to the crystal Kingdom. You never know your majesty... When danger is around the corner." The swan gave a bow, then she made a pointed glare toward the adviser, how much she loathed the man. She of course did not realize she broke Odette's true white swan character of insecurity, excitement, and stupidity. A simple action that with one simple observation could easily be figured out this was not the white swan.

[Queen Camellia]

Camellia could tell the assassin had replaced the child, the air of competence and hostility barely contained. It would not do to give her what she wanted too often...but she was right that she wasn't needed to oversee the preparations. guild masters could take care of that.

"Yes, the guild masters can handle that, I suppose. But what I really need you to do, dearest Odile, is to make sure that my brother is still in his cell." Camellia made no qualms with using the black swans name amongst this private meeting, where none would hear who shouldn't know.

"If he is, you should have plenty of time to join me and Kane before his contacts teleport us to the border. If he isn't, I want you to find him and stop him from causing more pain and suffering. You may use whatever means you feel necessary." Camellia wasn't going to lower the mask that easily, and made a point of not outright asking for her brother's murder. However, given Odile's tendencies, she was confident that the young girl would do just that, given the choice...

"Clovis and the usual guard will be more than enough, if you prove unavailable due to this mission. Thank you for your care, though." Clovis remained silent, his pokemon face unreadable, as he watched the sociopath at work...

[Kane Rafferty]

The Royal Advisory

Kane raised a simple eyebrow at the girl, who he knew had changed quite awhile ago. He honestly had nothing against her and didn't mind if she came or not, there were just few things that he wanted to talk to the queen about without swan ears. Of coarse he knew she wouldn't care or have the ability to tell anyone else, but he had to take the chance. He knew he would be able to talk to her on the way to the Crystal Kingdom. Telling Odette would be an obnoxious liability. He sighed softly to express slight carelessness, an almost amused emotion hovered on his normally calm face. He knew she absolutely hated him. He didn't care, not in the slightest. Though he didn't mind her company, depending on which Odette it was.

When Queen Camellia suggested she go check on Justice. Kane bowed in agreement. That was a much better idea. He already knew that the higher officials could take care of stocks and things, he just didn't really want Odette to come along. It wasn't like he was going to kill his queen. That would be suicide. Unless he wanted to his power to take her out and become king himself. But that would be a waist of time and Kane wasn't one who liked to rule outright. He didn't like public areas all the much and preferred the area of politics. Which he got enough of being head advisor of the Diamond Kingdom. He truly needed the Queen to be in the place she was in. If not, his plans would fall apart. Did I say plans? I mean dreams. Yeah… Dreams…

Anyway He turned back to the queen and spoke again. "I got a message last week from one of the elders in the Crystal Kingdom council. He asked if we could come and have a time of peace between the two kingdoms. He also asked if I could meet with the head advisor over there to set things up. With your permission I shall leave tomorrow and hopefully be back within the next two or three days depending on how quickly and how well the magicians work. If you agree My Lady."

He was half hoping she would agree. He would have liked to try out his skills within the kingdom and feel around it to try and get a better hold of it. Kane was indeed familiar with the traditions and facts about the Crystal Kingdom, but he wanted to be sure he could be comfortable within a public area while there. It wasn't his normal setting and he knew that discomfort could mess everything up if he wasn't careful."

The second Alice was a fragile man of the Diamond

credit Delusional, Tags, Odette Nevermore, Queen Camellia

[Odette Nevermore]

She listened to the queen speak, and of course mention her name like it was alright for her adviser to know. Why could she not act better as the white swan? Was it she was just to tense or something? Receiving the new orders the black swan gave a graceful bow, "Yes your majesty, would you like me to leave now? Or wait till your leave before heading out?" She rouse and waited calmly for the Queen's reply, her whole mind filled with anger. The brother would certainly become a promise, Odile did not know how the Diamond Kingdom's royalty system worked, but from what she knew from Crystal kingdom, the males become Kings and can over throw their own sister. If this was true then the Queen's protection of power and life required her brother to be brought down. As well, Odile could feel the that queen meant for her to kill him. Something in the blood link seemed to follow that command. Odile knew she must obey, no matter what, so she will follow the orders if the brother of the Queen happened to escape prison. Otherwise, he was where he needed to be, out of the queen's site and out of the way.

[Ginger]

-Nice job everyone this thread has been completed-