"Oh my no!"

No sooner had Octavien uttered his last word, than Mercy declined his offer, loud and clear, causing him to raise his eyebrows ever so slightly. Apparently, she didn't need a doctor to feel better. She merely needed the mention of one. Though in all fairness, Octavien could understand her aversion to having one examine her, as either they found you to be perfectly healthy when you were feeling quite ill, or they found one affliction after another, when really you felt just fine.

"That is not to say your magesty I am not most grateful for your offer", she continued, obviously not wanting him to think she was being rude or dissmissive of his concern, and then continued to prattle on; "I just do not feel in such a jaded a condition as to need one. And I understand your worry... Look at me I should go and clean up I have been requested to have lunch with the Queen and this certainly will not do, I shall have to have Helena have a look at this cut as well."

She gave a deep bow accompanied by a humble "Thank you again your highness". And with that, she was off, hurrying along the hallway without Octavien having gotten a word in edgewise. He felt almost dumbfounded as he stood there, watching her disappear around a corner.
Baroness Mercy Flight... Funny, how whenever he saw her, she seemed to be in a great hurry.

Smiling to himself with amusement, he shook his head lightly, and then stepped aside as the servant girls now returned to clean up the mess he had claimed he'd caused. Though it didn't seem like they had believed him, as they kept glancing up at him every now and then with shy smiles adorning their young faces, almost as if they knew he had simply done what any gentleman should have.
Or was it something else...?
He couldn't help but to wonder, as when he himself started down the hall, he saw the two of them exchange a look, and could hear the faint sound of restrained giggling as he turned the corner from which Mercy must've come, before her accident. Was this what Isabella had been talking about last night? The giggling servant girls?
Well, be that as it may, he had other things to think about at the moment. Mercy had said she had heard Adalita and the Duc talking, which would mean they would have to be somewhere in this part of the Palace. Unless, of course, they had already moved on. But it was a place as good as any to start looking for them, as even if they had moved from the spot where Mercy had heard them, they weren't likely to have made it very far.
But, as it would turn out, they had. Passing by one of the windows and glancing outside at the beautiful, frosty view, he saw the two of them outside, Adalita on Silvius' arm - of course - and walking towards the stables.

Well then. He would have to talk to them at a later time, as he would certainly not be seen chasing after them. Searching for them and seemingly casually coming across them in the Palace was one thing. Following them, and outside no less, was another. Hell would have to freeze over before that happened.

And so, Octavien simply turned away from the window and continued along the hallway, deciding that since for the time being he had nothing that demanded his attention, he would explore the Palace further. He had been here for a few months, and had already ventured down many hallways. But far from all. There were still some left, along with a few public rooms he hadn't been to, not to mention the entire basement floor. He did realize that it was far beyond uncommon for the royal family to venture down there, but... He was curious.


(((ooc: Approachable, just about anywhere in the Palace.)))

Mercy turned sideways and looked at the mirror, the dove grey dress with white trim was clean and neatly fitted, it made her look respectable, it's sleeves covered most of the bruise on her arm and a thin film of gently applied make-up covered the rest, indeed thanks to Helena's tireless work from the neck down she looked like nothing abnormal had happened to her.

Even her hair had been carefully washed and repinned in a manner more befitting of a luncheon with the Queen. The only problem was the blood red line down the side of her face, she had no doubt a scar would form, but save cleaning it Helena could do nothing more for her.


Mercy arrived at the Queen's salon and bowed as the servant opened the doors, she entered with her head down, "Good day your Highness."

((OOC: Where is everybody?? The Palace is spooky when it's so empty!!)

Isabella had not been in her Salon long when a set of doors opened on the other side. Isabella looked to them in anticipation of seeing Baroness Flight. She did indeed see Mercy, however, she was surprised to see an obviously fresh wound on the woman’s otherwise dignified face.

Just as quickly as she spotted it, her eyes left it. She had been quite successful in the past, of training her eyes not focus upon things, no matter how bad they called for attention.

“Good day Your Highness.” Mercy addressed her.

“Good day Baroness Flight.” Isabella returned her greeting. “I have been looking forward to our lunch ever since our last one proved to be so fruitful.” Isabella spoke as the two women made their way to the table where their lunch had been set for them. “How have you been since we last met in the gardens? Have things gone better with your daughter?”

Isabella hoped Mercy didn’t see her as being nosy, or as simply being polite. She really did have an interest in the woman. She felt as if looking upon Mercy, was in a weird sort of way like looking into the mirror of time. Her gut told her that Mercy lead a lonely life, much like she herself. Well, until recently. As she did have the company of the newly crowned Prince, but that was a matter only she and he knew.

(((ooc: Thanks stylequeen. Will RP tomorrow, as I'm heading off to bed now. Besides, GeeWay should be given a chance to reply before I do. But yeah, thanks. Appreciate it.)))

"My daughter? Oh I have no doubt I shall not see her again for many years. However my life is looking up, my brother remains in our Family's home in England and he wrote to me to make me aware our youngest cousin has left to get married and they wish to offer her suite to me yet again." Mercy smiled at the Queen and settled into the chair, she folded her arms carefully as not to smudge the make-up on the underside of her arm.

"But it is rude of me to go on I should have first inquired how you were you highness and how everything is going with the Prince." She smiled, she knew she'd get a good response form the Queen about having Octavien as her son, afterall they seemed to be good freinds, he was even teaching her to play the most wretched of intruments, the harpsichord. But even if she knew the response that was coming it was still only fair to ask.

(((ooc: Well, since it seems GeeWay hasn't even been on, I'm gonna go ahead and reply. Sorry GeeWay. And sorry x 2. This post turned out a little longer than I had intended... )))


The human mind and body were indeed peculiar things. There were times when they would be sharp and alert one minute, and then all of a sudden overcome by fatigue the next. Though most of those times, it would all have a perfectly simple explanation; it would be the natural effects of disorderly sleep, or even no sleep at all. Octavien's case was no exception. While he had been quite sharp and able as long as he had something on his mind or hands, the slow, investigative stroll along the hallways of the Palace soon had him yawning, and he realized that no matter how interesting he found the surroundings to be, he was just not focused enough to fully enjoy them. After no more than half an hour, he decided to retire to his suite for a while, for a much needed rest. That way, come nightfall, he would hopefully be fully refreshed. Because, considering his plans for the evening, he wouldn't get much sleep the coming night either.

"Gilles" he said as he entered his suite, and didn't even bother to look up from the front of his coat where his fingers were just unfastening the few buttons. "Please notify me when my dear wife has returned from her ride."

Within moments, Gilles had appeared by his side, and started towards the window to pull the curtains, as he could see his master's intentions in his slow stride towards the bed.

"She has, Your Highness."

Raising his head, Octavien stopped and looked at his servant, as if awaiting an explanation.

"I saw the Princess and... Duc Peitou-Charentes enter the Palace just a little while ago", Gilles said, hesitating ever so slightly before speaking the name of the man that had accompanied her, knowing exactly where Octavien stood on the matter.

"And is she in her suite?" Octavien asked.

If she was, he would hope to have the thing that had been on his mind since the wedding, over and done with. He would just have to request (or, if she turned out to be as unsympathetic to that wish as she had proved herself to be to his other ones, to demand) that she meet with him for a few minutes, as he really did have something of great importance, and considering her behaviour, urgency, to discuss with her.

"I shall inquire, Your Highness", Gilles said, nimbly changing his course from the windows to the door instead, in order to cross the hall and find out if Adalita was in her room.

In the meantime, Octavien sat on the bed and buttoned the coat once more, ready to head over there himself and share his discovery with his wife, should she happen to be there.
Something, however, told him that she wouldn't be.
And true enough. Just a a short while later, hardly even a minute, Gilles re-entered the Prince's suite, and when the Prince looked at him for an answer, shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness", he said regrettingly. "She has not returned to her suite. Do you wish for me to look for her?"

At that, it was Octavien's turn to shake his head. He doubted Gilles would dare to look in the place that was Octavien's first guess for where to find the Princess.

"No, thank you, Gilles", he said firmly as he stood from the bed. "I shall find her myself. I think I have a good idea of where she might be."

With a stride filled with purpose and determination, he left his suite, and headed down the wide carpet-covered marble steps. No longer was there even an ounce of weariness about him. He would put an end to this scandalous behaviour of hers, right now. She had agreed to be careful and considerate, so she would be careful and considerate, dammit. Even if he had to see to it that she was himself. All she had managed to be, was the exact opposite. Rumours had already started flourishing due to her and the Duc's behaviour. Octavien had married her because he felt it had been the right, noble thing to do, to save her from a devastating scandal. Not to be humiliated.

As he started down the hallway in which the Duc's suite was located, he saw a servant girl just leaving that very room, carefully closing the doors behind her, as though she had wished not to be noticed or disturb whoever was in there. Quietly she began walking in Octavien's direction, but she had only made it a couple of yards when her eyes fell on the swiftly approaching Prince. Abruptly she stopped, and it almost seemed as though she wished for a hole to open up in the floor infront of her, so that she could disappear. Her feet seemed frozen to the ground, her face had turned oddly pale, and her mouth was slightly open. And had none of that been, Octavien still would've known his guess was a correct one, by the look in her eyes alone.

"Is the Duc in his suite?" Octavien demanded, still approaching the terrified girl, who had now come out of her frozen state, and was giving a low curtsey.

Though it seemed those very words sent her right back to staring at him, anxiety visible in her every feature.

"N-No... Yes, Your Highness," she started stammering, apparently deciding that it would not be a wise decision to lie to a member of the royal family. "But, but, you can't... Your Highness!"

Without slowing for even a moment, Octavien swept right past her and headed for the doors she had just exited through, leaving the panic-stricken girl to turn after him, and almost having to run to keep up.

"Please, Your Highness!"

But Octavien didn't listen. Calmly and yet forcefully, he shoved the doors to the suite open.
And entered.
Almost immediately his eyes landed on the young couple on the bed, just in the middle of sharing a tender embrace, which was cut short by Octavien's dramatic entrance. Needless to say, it seemed to have startled them.

"Well," Octavien stated as he continued further into the room without even a moment's hesitation. "This was hardly a surprise."

There was no sign, not a hint of anger or even shock or embarrassment in his voice, let alone his face. Only pride and cool determination. Dignity, with just a tiny tinge of distaste. It was as though the scene infront of him - his own wife in the arms of another - didn't bother him.
And quite frankly, it didn't. He didn't care about what Adalita did and who she did it with. His only concern, was how she went about it.

"My, my", he continued, and only then glanced towards the door to wave a dissmissive hand at the dumbstruck servant girl, to leave them alone and close the doors behind her once more. "Adalita, my darling wife. You have been keeping yourself quite busy since our wedding, haven't you? In two days, you and your beloved Duc have managed to make the three of us the most popular topic in court. Did you not think I was serious when I requested discreton on your part? Or are you truly under the impression that your actions have not been less than subtle?"

There he paused, but only for the briefest of moments while his gaze started wandering to take in the rest of the room. Then he continued once more before either Adalita or Silvius had a chance to say something,

"Do you wish me to shame you, as you have me?" he said, still seeming far more interested in one of the paintings on the wall than the couple on the bed, but then turned to look at Adalita. "For I assure you, my dear, in this court there are many beautiful young women that might easily tempt a man. Something that I trust you, Duc, are well aware of, seeing as how it was only two mornings ago you were seen leaving the suite of a certain Baroness."

((OOC: Technical note: In HP's new RP rules she asks for hosts of RPs to create new threads for their RP once they've gone over the 1000 posts mark. (See #6) This RP is past that stage. So I will be working on posting a new thread, kind of recapping where everything is.

I currently have active characters as this:
Queen Isabella, Princess Adalita, Prince Octavien, Duc Silvius, Baroness Rosaline, Baroness Mercy and Princess Lillian. IF your name is not listed, and you are still wanting to be active in this RP... Please post here, or PM me. I will be going through and stating who is who and all that for the new thread. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas you'd like to see included in the new Thread's initial post.

Thank you! ))

(((ooc: Maybe re-open apps for staff/servants? We had a couple, but thay all disappeared in the beginning. And since they wouldn't be candidates for the position as advisor, it wouldn't be unfair. Or even just other relatives, etc, that won't compete either?)))

((OOC: I think that's a wonderful idea Atropa.))

Isabella listened politely as Mercy spoke of her brother’s request that she join him in England. The whole mention of it made her curious to Mercy’s story of her life. Certainly she had heard plenty of things through the grapevine, but she would be most pleased to find out what was true and what was fiction.

Before she could mention it though, Mercy continued on, asking how things were with “The Prince”. Isabella smiled her usual royal gentle smile. “Ah yes, the newly crowned Prince. I shall say he seems to handle himself well. I’m sure far better than the Duc ever would.” Isabella exchanged knowing glances with Mercy. The fact that the two of them alone managed to save the kingdom from great embarrassment was one that bonded them together.

“Speaking of such wretched people, I am eager to hear your reaction of the morning announcements. The fate of a certain Duchess in particular.” Isabella raised her glass to her lips while maintaining eye contact with the Baroness, curious to see her reaction.

Mercy placed a hand on her cheek without thinking then quickly withdrew it when she felt pain throb through her body. "Well let us just say my dear Queen that the Duchess was a woman far to self-important, in fact in those stakes even I realise my meagre part within the life of this castle and indeed for such a well bred woman she had very little manners, indeed she was a most terrible person."

Mercy smiled at the other woman "However I do feel I have exacted the correct level of..." Mercy paused and searched for a word "humility upon the woman today." Mercy stopped and reached for her glass, she doubted the Queen would probe she seemed to honour peoples secrets. Nevertheless Mercy trned her mind to finding a suibtable answer to and question could find on the matter.

As Mercy reached up to her face, only to then quickly recoil, Isabella felt she could not continue to ignore the fact that the woman had obviously had some misfortune of some type. But the words she then spoke, of exacting some humility upon Duchesse Marie interested her. A brow raised making her curiosity obvious. Perhaps the Duchesse had been a common foe they shared, much like the Duc.

But before she could allow herself to prod Mercy further she had to finally acknowledge the elephant that was in the room. “Baroness, I hold you in a high level of respect, however I just have to ask about the obviously fresh cut upon your face. Has someone in the Palace brought harm to you?”

Mercy bit her lower lip. "Indeed they have, a rather daft woman of a certain age..." Mercy paused and laughed nervously "by that I of course mean myself i tripped on a table and fell to the floor, I insist you allow me to, in part, make reparations for my carelessness by replacing the vase i smashed in doing so." She reached into a fold in her dress and retrieved an embroidered white hankerchief, she gently unfolded it and placed on the table a large section of the porcelain baring the pattern from the vase.

"I ask only thast you let me know of just how valuable this particular article was before I go out of my way to try and replace it with something obviously inferior." Mercy blushed profusely and looked intently at the shard lying on the table, she had of course already searched the whole of the castle for a matching vase and had a highly regarded local potter look at its duplicate to see if an Identical copy could be produced, he had said he would try but could make no promises, this had Mercy seriously worried.

Isabella leaned forward, picking up the shard of vase. There were so many valuables all over the Palace, she was doubtful she’d be able to note which one this piece was from. The only reason she noticed the missing painting in the dining room was because it had been one of her. As she looked at the piece in her hand she noticed the color of what appeared to be a flower petal. It was a pale coral hue, the favorite of the Queen before her, King Edoard’s first wife.

A small, amused smile came upon her face. No doubt the vase was extremely valuable, Isabella thought it was perhaps worth more than a lowly Baroness, newly titled at that, could afford. However for her, it was absolutely meaningless.

“Firstly, I am most sorry to hear of your fall.” She leaned forward placing the broken piece back on the table. “I do believe I recognize the piece, as I think the vase in question has a twin around here somewhere. Please, do not fret over replacing such an item. I assure you, I shall not miss it in the slightest. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have ever discovered its disappearance, if you have not told me yourself.”

“Anyhow,” Isabella’s voice was light, “back to the topic we were on. Yes, the Duchess was a rather bold woman, far to bold for her own good. She had approached me the day of the wedding and seemed quite concerned that you and I may have a relationship building. It seems she had a rather few spies planted in the palace, and she wished to know what it was you had told me of her.” A slight laugh came through her lips, “I reassured her I had other things far more important to tend to than her, a comment which, judging by her remark, she did not seem to appreciate.”

Isabella sat back in her seat. “I do not know what dirt you had on her. Judging by the King’s actions behind closed doors, I do have my inklings as to the nature of it. But she was quite scared of you, there’s no doubt about that.”

"Mmm yes well let us just say she did not adapt well to losing power, in deed she was quite horrible to me and i cannot say I will be sad to see the back of her." Mercy paused and smiled at the Queen "I did however give her a reason to remember this court quite vividly for the rest of her time, not that there can be considerable amounts of that left considering her age..."

((Vague reference to fact the character was beyond her life expectancy, sadly Mercy is coming perilously close too but it was in fact mainly child birth that caused untimely deaths in women and pulled the figures down.))

Mercy turned her attention to the table, it was beautiuflly laid out and there was a vase full of beautiful flowers whose name escaped Mercy at that time, "these flowers are truly beautiful, are they a favourite of yours?"

(((ooc: How long until we move on to the evening? *biting nails*)))

((OOC: Hmm... that depends. I'm kind of thinking 48 more hours. I'd like to start the next day with the new thread I mentioned earlier. So I need time to put that together and I was hoping we'd get a reaction from Adalita or Silvius (*nudge nudge* you two). And Isabella and Mercy are still talking. If 48 hours is too soon, I could do three days, but I'd like to move on after that.

Completely open to suggestions though.))

(((ooc: Okay, good. Was afraid I'd have to wrap up the whole thing myself... Still am, considering GeeWay isn't responding to my PM, but I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong...)))

((Just wondering if we are going to open applications for people to work in the court should we come have some new courtiers as well, people who are sadly too new to qualify as the advisor but still very much part of our hierachy? And to make a point we now only have two people cabale of becoming the advisor anymore... Roseline and silvius))

((And proven wrong you shall be))

"For I assure you, my dear, in this court there are many beautiful young women that might easily tempt a man. Something that I trust you, Duc, are well aware of, seeing as how it was only two mornings ago you were seen leaving the suite of a certain Baroness."

Adalita turned to stare at Silvius. Something caught her eye as she did so, and she looked at the ring he had gotten her. Her eyes then travelled to the ring she had given him. Give him a chance, said the rational part of her brain. Her eyes travelled to his face, and she opened her mouth.
"What?" Was what came out in a whisper. She swallowed, before continuing.
"Who was it? And why?"

((Sorry it took so long. Had an asthma attack and my mum thought it was really, really serious and took me to hospital, and I had to stay there for a while.))

((OOC: Glad to hear you're okay GeeWay. *claps enthusiastically at the coming drama*

Fayreview... that's exactly what I was thinking. Then when an advisor is chosen it can be noted by a big ceremony and what not. Bringing an end to the compitition, but I'd like to see the RP continue free form for those who would like to keep going. Rules and the dynamics would have to change, but that could be worried about when the time comes.

Yes, right now the advisor position only has two candidates. Who shall it be?....))

((Well as the host elect it is up to you to find how the descision will be made.... but i certainly have an opinion XD))

(((ooc: Shall reply in a little while. Have another post I need to finish up first)))

((OOC: Discussions are being made via PM (I don't want to clog up the board) about how things can be tweaked to make this RP open to new players without loosing the backstabbing, secretive plots and drama that is so key to this RP. I plan to start a new thread along with the new guidelines and new day on Wednesday. So... if you have any ideas, please PM me. I'd like to find something coherent and exciting to hopefully keep this RP going strong. Thanks!))

*edit*
Oops... Just realized that I had said a new day would be brought on Wednesday. Actually, we'll move into night on Wednesday.

Also, just so everyone knows, I'm pretty sure I'm going to change the title of the RP when we start a new thread. It is still going to be this RP continuing, but a different name to go with slightly changed rules, open apps and different host. I shall do my best to not dissapoint!