Open Chronicles The Start of the Season

[Wilhelm Anireth]

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Wil was what he would begrudgingly call 'in trouble'.

Instead of returning to the welcoming, adoring arms of family upon his return from his unpleasant hosts in the Falwoods, his parents had treated him like a petty criminal. They acted as though he had chosen to be kidnapped, to have his boozy tour of the outer territories ruined and to be flung into some forgotten run down elven dungeon. His mother had insisted on extra guards, his father had forbidden him to leave the palace, and both of them had started to speak of how a marriage might 'make him grow up.' No amount of gentle pleas - or shouted words - had changed his parents minds. So he had languished in the palace, alone, whilst his siblings ran about doing... well who knew what. The only pleasant company he had had for the past month were the servants, and they were only pleasant in that they didn't shout at him. So when his mother had announced they would be opening the Season - whatever that was - with a ball, Wil had been thrilled. It was a testament to just how broken he had become in his grounded state that he was actually excited for a Royal Affair.

The Season, as it turned out, was what some noble in one of the Great Houses had come up with calling the particularly hot months Aniria enjoyed. They were to be filled with balls, breakfasts, tea parties, and hunts as a chance for the nobility to mingle with one another and find suitable matches before they apparently went into hibernation for the cooler months. Wil had never heard of anything so ridiculous but if it gave him an excuse to drink and talk to someone that wasn't a portrait of a long dead grandfather, he wasn't going to complain.

Tonight the youngest nobles who had just turned 18, and those who had never attended a Season before, would be presented before the the Court. The change after the revolution meant that that now included several Dreadlords who had officially graduated this year. This year, it would also include the Princess.

His sister.

Wil tugged at the stiff collar of his shirt with a grimace, trying to pull the cravat looser. His father had done it up so tight the Prince had genuinely wondered if his father planned to kill him and claim it was an accident. It had only been that morning his mother had informed him it would be his job to 'present' his sister as a debutante. So there he stood, in the line with several other excited looking girls and equally uncomfortable looking men whose task it was to parade the young women down the room towards the Queen and King, and without a single drop of blasted alcohol.

"It is dreadfully hot in here, I wish they would open a damn window."

Kassandra​

 

[Catherine Urahil]

For years, she had been educated into being the perfect lady of a Great House, had been tailored into being sufficient in varying activities expected of young ladies. She had been happy to do them all, to be honed into an exemplary member of the Urahil house, but she had done all that with the comfort of not dressing to fit into society. She had preferred clothing more suited to making her unremarkable, easily forgotten, but tonight's event had called for something far beyond her idea of attire.

Her cousin, Felix Urahil, had equipped Catherine with a seamstress to dress her in the season trends, but none of which were the no nonsense stylings Catherine would have picked herself. Tonight, her short and pale hair had been left as is, save for the sapphire barrettes pinning her bangs to keep the hair out from her face. Plain, and simple, it was done to her approval. It was the dress however, that she had to keep herself from frowning as she loitered nearby the refreshments table. Gold, entirely gold with dark gold embroidery that glimmered in the mage lights. Placing her in Urahil blue would have made her blend in, said Felix after she insisted on representing the House like any other. To be dressed in gold was the perfect way to announce the newest Urahil into society.

For a young woman like her, standing out was not something she particularly liked.

She would have turned invisible, blending in with the wall if it meant she could observe and not partake, but Catherine would be lying to herself if she did not wonder what it was like to live and be among such finery and company.

 

[Kassandra]

Kassandra was about as happy to be here was Wil.

She had returned to the hallowed halls of the Anir Keep practically screaming. Throwing open the front door and immediately accosting her father as she demanded to know why she had once more been pulled from the front lines. Arryn Cross had practically needed to hold her back from thrashing her father when the answer had been 'A Ball'.

Her rage had hardly calmed as the Queen explained the importance of the event. Kassandra quickly countering with the fact that many members of the Forty Forth Western army did not have the luxury of such leaves, nor the ability to simply walk away from what was looking to very quickly become a full-scale war.

In one fell swoop, her parents had once again proven that she was indeed not simply another member of the Anirian Guard. No. She was the Princess of Vel Anir, a special and delicate flower who needed to be protected, pulled away from the front-lines and thrown into a pretty dress for the world to see. She had practically seethed as the maids had dressed in her in silks and lace. Her clothes radiant in the colors of House Anireth and speckled with gems that would have made a Dwarven King jealous.

Kassandra stood radiant, regal, and still more than a little pissed off.

Though she allowed none of that emotion to show on her face.

Despite her best efforts at a change of image, she knew well the role which she was to play here at this ball, and despite her anger; she knew it's importance as well. Kizzie was no naive duckling. She knew the truth of Vel Anir, even in the age of the Republic. The Royal Family could not afford a misstep, not when things were so precariously balanced.

So she would do her duty, as a Princess of Vel Anir should. Whether it was on the front-lines of a war, or in the midst of a gaggle of girls who could hardly fathom the life she had been living the past few months.

Lost in her own thoughts, Kizzie barley heard Wil's words. "Hm?"

The Princess intoned, standing besides her brother. Lips pursing as the back of her mind puzzled together what he had said.

"Oh." She said, her hand casually waving to the side. A spark of her magic running forth as suddenly every single within the hall slid open. A cooling breeze floating through almost immediately. "Is that better?"

Kizzie asked, doting on her brother.

 

[Constance Krixus]

Contrary to others in the room, Constance was ecstatic to be here. Her beautiful purple dress with accents of gold starkly contrasted against her dark hair and blue eyes, all the colors of House Krixus. It was the nicest dress she had ever worn in her life, compliments of her guest. She had absolutely begged to be introduced at this ball, expecting far more resistance. Thankfully, Aunt Natasha had convinced her son of the necessity.

"Thank you for being here," she whispered to her cousin who looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. Yet, he had agreed to present her with the expectation that after this event Constance could go to most of these events in House Krixus's name leaving Alistair to his own devices.

"It would be unbecoming of you to be here alone for your first time."

Alistair was a mystery to Constance. She had only met her cousin after his graduation and the untimely death of her uncle. The young man was a strange individual, especially his eyes. He was clearly blind, but in the most random moments, he showed vision even beyond a strong-sighted individual. She supposed that was the frightening power of the Dreadlords.

However, even with that mystery, Constance could tell he was not interested in enjoying himself...how sad.

Constance cast her gaze at the other members of the line designated for those others being introduced to high society. They all looked so beautiful and poised. The insecure part of her started to worry whether she was supposed to be here.

Alistair must have sensed her worry as he whispered to her. "Stand up straight and smile. It's all about faking confidence here."

 

[Aelita]

"As you know, Lord Segrob frequently lends his ear to my advice."

Aelita heard as she blankly stared at the wooden floor at her feet.

"Of course, after I single handedly felled a swarm of elves, it's only right the nobles took notice."

A few recently graduated Initiates seemed entranced by the braggart's words. She finally turned away and quietly fled from the annoyance.

A sharp, new military uniform adorned Aelita. The badge of a lieutenant in the Guard could be seen. It was her sign of being a recent graduate of the Dreadlord Academy.

Along with a few others of the Guard, Dreadlords included, Aelita found herself assigned to protect the nobility of threats within and without. She slowly walked down the one of the dimly lit side-halls of the venue. The "help" used it to shuffle back and froth between places such as the cellar and kitchen back to the main ballroom.

As Aelita slowly walked forward, she suddenly stopped. Her head perked up. Eyes darted around - despite there being nothing out of place for her to see. A few servants took pause to after seeing the uniformed Dreadlord's sudden movements.

Aelita's eyes panned over toward a split in the hallway and began to make her toward it with apparent purpose.

Just coincidentally at a few moments prior, Kassandra ended up using her magic to force a lot of windows open.

 

[Arryn Cross]

His first task since his promotion, and the Captain of the King's Guard had been all but forced to attend this.
He'd only just spent days in a cell dwelling on the prospect of hanging for the killing of his predecessor, he'd faced his trial and been absolved of the crime, only to be thrust into the uniform and sent here. This was worse.

He was also quite sure Lynus was still quietly angry with him for upsetting the woman he was so fond of with his honest words, that he'd found the perfect punishment. He loved the Prince as his brother, at least he had, until now. He'd not quickly forget the small smirk he wore when he gave him his first order as Captain.

There was absolutely nothing that could hide his displeasure at being subjected to such torture, but he would do his duty and ensure that he and his men, of which there were several dotted around the edge of the room, ensured the safety of the Royal siblings..

 

[Wilhelm Anireth]

Annoyingly, it was better.

Wil huffed as his one thing to complain about without complaining about the real thing bothering him and potentially upsetting his sister, vanished. Why did she always have to be so nice? Sometimes he would much prefer it for his siblings to just yell back. Like a real family. It would have helped him to realise he was not so alone in the feelings he felt if he knew his siblings felt a little of the same.

He leant back against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, dark curls falling across his eyes, and finally took in his sister. As always she looked perfect, not a hair out of place, but for once she didn't have that practised winning smile on and she didn't greet the other girls as she normally might have.

"You look a million miles away from here," he commented begrudgingly. Wil had not properly spoken to either of his siblings since he had arrived back in Aniria but that didn't mean he didn't care. Deep down. Deep, deep down.

 

[Jiya Luana]

"I hear a congratulations are in order."

Jiya could only dissuade her Steward from signing her up to so many balls. She had managed to come up with an excuse for the past three; helping Elspeth start the paperwork at their new hospital, an important trip to Vel Vara to deal with her mothers complaints, her younger siblings graduation... And now she had run out of excuses. Or rather, her Steward was fed up of hearing them. The start of the Season ball - this debutante - was apparently a secret favourite of her dour looking right hand. There had been no arguing with him over her attendance.

He'd practically driven her here himself to ensure she did not slip off to go chase some lead on the sjælden.

It was thoughts of the sjælden and the heart pumping adventure she had taken with one Guardsman - now Captain - that had her eyes scanning the room as soon as she entered for an all too familiar face. Jiya had apparently spotted him before he had spotted her. It looked as though he was too busy trapped in some thunder cloud of his own creation to notice anything beyond his assigned job and the Head of House Luana was more than happy to take advantage of that. She slipped up behind him until she was practically at his shoulder. She had to rock onto her toes to murmur in his ear, hoping to make him jump.

"It's Captain Cross now, correct?"

Dressed in the style of her house, Jiya wore a beautifully woven red and gold saree that fit and flared with every dip and curve to her body. Her wrists, throat and ears were adorned with golden jewels from the far West and her face and been lightly painted in the more modest fashion of the time. Her hair, usually in braids, was loose in delicate waves that pooled to her lower back, pinned back at one side with an intricate golden comb in the shape of a lily. She might have fooled anyone into believing her a true lady. That was, until, her nose wrinkled as she tried not to laugh.

"You certainly look like Captain Cross glaring a hole through the Prince's head right now."

 

[Kassandra]

Kassandra let out a long sigh. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

The Princesses lamented, ignoring the fact that anyone but her brother would likely never have been able to tell anything had been amiss. Though she'd missed out on the brutality of the Academy, she had learned in Althhaven how to hide her emotions as well as any diplomat.

Her head shook as she glanced out the window, staring for a moment towards the west before she turned to look at Wil.

"It's probably because I wish I were a few million miles away." The Princess snarked, though kept her voice low enough that only her brother would hear the complaint. "Or at least a few hundred."

Kizzie remarked with a sigh, then took a step closer to Wil. Her palm folding gently over her brothers shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be complaining. It is rare we get to spend time together now."

The Princess said with a shake of her hand.

"Mother told me how much this means to you." Kassandra continued with a smile. "And I'm happy to be here."

Even if it meant being away from the front.