Hope Only for the Best [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

Theofilus was nervous. The courts had always intimidated him. So many people and responsibilities flying around, he couldn't help but look at the courts in awe. His deep respect for them, however, was causing him to fidget beyond his normal level. His thoughts kept fluttering from place to place. Were his children terrorizing their babysitter, how much work had he left in his office, was his friend's marriage going as smoothly as it was originally planned? All of it was to distract him from the task at hand, even if it was making the situation worse.

He had found himself outside the gates of the Diamond Court without knowledge of his legs dragging him there. He had sent a letter a two weeks earlier stating his intentions of arriving at the court to possibly take a quest to become a Jack. Theofilus had gotten a brief response that his letter had been acknowledged and not much more. That was one of the reasons he was a bundle of nerves, or at least it was an excuse.

Several deep breathes were taken before he began to approach the guards. He put on the best and brightest face that he could muster with his nerves and asked in a cheery voice. "Pardon me, I've come to take a quest to become a Jack. My name is Theofilus, I sent a letter two weeks ago that I would arrive today."

Failure was never and option in his mind, but for the first time in a long while, all he could do was hope for the best.

[Nathalia]

The tallest guard looked him over quickly, he was a thick-set boar, a ten of Diamonds. He smiled quickly at the Sparrow, thinking he must be important from his clipped tone and equal number...he had not passed his Jack's quest...

Standing aside he ushered the other guard over and bowed the Lake dweller inside. "G'luck, sah! You'll want to go to the third floor, fifth door on the right. Knock three times sir, and ask for King Vestra, he'll help you with your quest." The boar saluted with a smile and moved back over after Theofilus passed.

The insides of the castle were tall and winding, taking up less ground space than air space, this castle jutted up into the air, spiraling majestically upwards, rather than sprawling across the countryside like the palace of Hearts. Thick slabs of nearly blue slate lined the halls and floors, beautiful and speckled, they were obviously imported from the Sorgaire Range. The walls were hung with thick scarves of light and dark blue velvet, intertwined, with small diamond patterns lining the baseboards.

The stairs looked formidable, but were carpeted with an especially soft material that made the climb more bearable, the openings around the spiraling staircase wide enough that one might even fly up, if desired.

The doors were actually carved out of thick, glossy slabs of speckled blue and white swirled marble, each embossed with a Diamond symbol and a gold plaque, detailing what or who lay within.

The first two doors were proclaimed study areas. The third was a five minute walk away. It stated that it was the basic library. A small staircase led up a little way further and led the Sparrow to two doors. The second of which was cracked open slightly.

A look on the door proclaimed it to be the chambers of The King of Diamonds. Quite suddenly, the door was whipped inward!

A booming voice greeted the Lake dweller.

"Well, don't just stand there, m'lad! Come in, come in!"

A large, Bipedal feline, of the Sorgaire Range stood before him. Rotund, bearded, and with a large smile and sleepy looking eyes, King Vestra beckoned him in.



"You'll be Theofilus, then! Splendid, I had hoped you would be on time, come and have some tea!"

Everything the King did seemed accompanied by an exclamation, from the way he smiled to the ever twitching tail, it was a marvel he wasn't thinner. The King moved in through the first door and shut it after his guest, welcoming im into a lounge like area filled with cushions and chairs. Throwing himself gratefully onto one, he smiled at the Sparrow.

"So, looking for a place in the palace, are you?"

[Kari Muffin]

Theofilus thanked the guard smiling and followed his instructions. He was at a complete loss for words as he walked through the palace. It was just so breathtaking when it came to architecture and the interior design. Elegant in a word...

But he reminded himself that he must not be late for his appointment. Making a bad impression wasn't the best way to start any business. After a short while he came to the proper hall, and spotted the door he was supposed to knock on.

He was taken completely off guard when it was opened for him, and he was ushered inside. Theofilus didn't to see what he did, or hear what he did, not that he knew what to expect in the first place. However, this was the perfect time to cover up his confusion with his interest.

He smiled nervously, "Tea would be wonderful, and yes, Your Highness, I am looking for a place in the palace. To be perfectly honest I'm not sure if I'm worthy enough for such a position, I only really know how to deal with accounts and bills."


Was he being too candid? Was he being too direct? He wondered as he carefully took seat on a few cushions, only to find that he sunk into them no matter which way he moved. He hoped that he didn't look like a complete idiot to the King, he felt like one.

[Nathalia]

"Accounts and bills, eh? What makes you think we have no need for such things?" He winked, clicking his claws together as he did so. A tiny ball of blue light appeared by the Kings' shoulder. he turned to it and said jovially.

"Tea for two, Kahmden wild berry, if you please. Bring a sandwich tray, why don't you?"

He turned back to the Sparrow, his broad grin ever present as the ball of light whizzed out the door, humming quietly.

"Dealings with accounting and bills is something that not everyone can manage, especially if you're using your abilities to influence someone else. Dealing with the Shopkeeps...especially that Ashwin, can be an odd job...convincing them of things that you need them to believe can be difficult, using numbers can make it easier, they don't understand them as well as we do, and the fact that you can use them easily and with confidence is excellent."

King Vestra plopped himself back down on the cushion, contemplating the Sparrow. "As your task for becoming a Jack in this Court, I would like to see your powers of persuasion with accounts... What would you do in this situation?"

He folded his hands as the small ball of light whirred back into the room, carrying a tray piled with sandwiches and a pot of tea with sugar. The King took a cup, saucer, and two of the sandwiches before waving the tray toward the Lake dweller.

"If Ashwin the Bander minder were to try to upgrade his shop we would need to tax him more heavily, I'm sure you know his personality...evaluate how you would convince him that taking up a higher account with our Court could better affect his business. You would be allowed to tell him that we could provide him with assistance in the building of his shops new additions, but he would need to pay us more and we would need to increase tax sold per Bander. How would you convince the money grubber to do this for you?"

[Kari Muffin]

It was good to know that they needed someone to deal with money. He didn't feel as useless now. Though he felt a slight pressure mounting on his metaphorical back. His nerves wouldn't likely dissipate until this ordeal was over. He had to work on that.

He focused on King Vestra, and watched in slight amazement as the king preformed magic to get them tea, of all things. His expression remained the same as the King spoke to him with the cat like grin on his face. He hoped that didn't mean the king was up to something, and was simply being cordial.

Ashwin? As in the snarky bastard who thought it was a wonderful idea for people to guess genetics of the banders for sport? Oh, taking his money would be fantastic. Theofilus looked thoughtful as he went through the details in his head.

Theofilus pushed his glasses up a bit before he began to speak, "It would probably be best to give him a grant, one large enough that he could build all of the things he wanted. Then charge him additional money per square foot of the addition in his property taxes assuming the court has the authority to do that." He paused to cover all grounds, "If the court doesn't have the authority to do that, we would give him a loan, and charge him a monthly fee depending on how good his credit is, and he would be forced to raise the tax on his Banders if he wants to keep making the amount of money he's making. Since I imagine it would be a loan large enough that he wouldn't be able to compensate with a simple guess that he would get more customer's out of thin air. Also, I can't imagine he can make Banders appear out of nowhere, so he would have to raise the tax on his current stock."

The sparrow took a deep breathe. That was a lot of talking, he really hoped it all made sense, it certainly made sense to him.

[Nathalia]

King Vestra practically exploded into loud laughter, clapping his hands together and grinning like a Cheshire. "Well don, m'lad! Handled nicely, if you'd like dealing with that vermin can be your first official job, one or two tweaks in your plan, and it'll be better than anything our conference could come up with."

He tapped his muzzle with a finger, the ball of light snapping back into existence and murmured something to it, winking at the Sparrow.

"We have the authority to pull your first suggestion," He said happily, settling back and sipping at his cooling tea. "Though I'd rather go with your second! A long and drawn out loan system for snarky, old Ashwin! I can't think of anything I'd enjoy watching more! I'm impressed with your speed, young master, it took our last accountant a good hour to come up with an answer to one of my questions...the fact that you actually gave me a good one off the top of yer head shows me that you're ready for more than I'd thought."

He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small, silver key, a tiny diamond set into the shape of a Diamond in the key top. He placed it on the table to his left.

"This is the key I was going to give yeh. A key to a nice room, sure enough, with some resources...but you've just shown me that you outrank our current accountant by far...I was going to tell him he'd gotten an apprentice this afternoon, turns out I'll be telling him he has a new boss!" The Cat crowed, looking delighted. "I've sent off to the treasurer...our head of environment departments to boot, she'll send us back the key to a room more befitting of your office soon, sir Theofilus."

He finished his tea, tipping the cup back to drain the excess of sugar he had dumped in, licking his lips with rough tongue as the small ball of light, turned the corner and rushed back into the room, something small and silver balanced on top.

"Ah! Here we are! This'll be your room key, and your palace "pass" as it were..." He smiled, handing the nearly identical key to the Lake dweller. The only difference being two diamonds set in the top instead of one. "Yer room'll be number 413 on the seventeenth floor...great view, wonderful set-up, huge space... Ideal for guests or..." He winked rougeishly. "Or any of our employees with family..."

He stood stretching ponderously, large belly swinging long after he stopped moving.

"If yeh want to move anyone in with yeh, just make sure they get checked in with either myself or Darla, head of Environments, have a good day, m'lad. I'll see you in the office; third floor, last door, tomorrow and we'll further discuss Ashwin, eh?"

((Haha! Good answer! Vestra's not fond of Ashwin, the pain of loans made him squee. <3 The room can be decorated however you desire and has within it; a large antechamber, two washrooms, and three bedrooms. Very nice view, you can see the Sorgaire Range on the horizon XD. I can't wait to see what Theofilus thinks X3))

[Kari Muffin]

Theofilus was completely amazed. There were no words that he could muster to describe how he felt. He did, however, pull himself together with a grin of accomplishment.

He took a sip of tea, he didn't want to be impolite, so he finished it as quickly and carefully as he could. He had no idea that he was more than was expected, he certainly never expected to be better than anticipated.

"I'm honored, Your Highness, I could never thank you enough," He accepted the new key. "Yes, tomorrow I'll have further information on loan rates and payment plans." He thanked the King again taking it as his queue to leave, he gave a half bow and departed.

Once outside of the room he took a deep breathe. He recapped what had happened. He had just impressed King Vestra enough to get a new accounting job. So his room was on the seventeenth floor, room 413? His office was on the third floor last door. He could stop there first, since he was on the floor, or he could run all the way to the seventh floor.

Curiosity got the better of him, as he found himself walking up the stairs, and shortly after that flying. It felt like forever going up all of the flights, but final, he came to his room. He slipped the diamond headed key into the lock, his heart pounding. This had to be too good to be true, there was no way any of this was real. He pushed the door open, revealing the undecorated room.

It was huge. Bigger than anything Theofilus was used to. He quietly shut the door behind him and slowly walked in. He looked out the window to see the Range. He whistled at the stunning site. Was this real? Did the place really have three bedrooms? Did it really have more space than any place he had lived on his own or with his children?

Enough questions, he needed to act. He had quite a bit to do before tomorrow. Check the few books he had brought with him for the standard loan rates, he had to send a letter back to his sons and their current babysitter, he had to send other letters out. He was here in the courts right now.

Maybe he should slip down to the office... no, first he should write a letter to his family. He slipped into one of the bedrooms--the one he declared as his--and found a piece of paper and fountain pen. He sat down on the small stool and quickly scribbled out a letter:

Ezekiel, Zane,

You boys need to pack up all of the stuff you want to bring with you. We're going to be moving into a nice new apartment. It had a grand view, and three bed rooms. I'm sure you know what books to bring!

Love,
Your Dad

P.S. Don't give Clari a hard time, she's going to help you move. If I found out you're giving her a hard time... It won't be as bad as your mother finding out.

He smiled as he slipped it into an envelop and sealed it. Now he would send it on it's way and slip into his office to do some work. No time for rest, as far as he was concerned.

[Nathalia]

Vestra smiled to himself as the delighted looking Sparrow hurried off. He twisted his thick body, trying to get more comfortable on his cushion and grabbing another sandwich off the floating tray.

The lad would do well, here...no doubt about that. But he did wonder how he would handle the way royalty could act sometimes...he sensed a change in the wind, something was going on outside the Court that was upsetting the only current Queen...a right old tyrant, he wasn't sure how another Queen presenting themselves would go.

Vestra sighed, appetite gone, and watched the light on the wall dance. He hoped all would hold well for a least a small while.

But he knew that "well" was a relative term.