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Post by seraaches on Mar 15, 2009 0:37:09 GMT -5
"Why would I spring out of a beanstalk?" the woman asked in confusion as though El's sudden hostility was nothing to fear or even think about. She tilted her head at the man and eyed him thoughtfully. "You've seen me plenty of times," she answered instead, finally putting an end to the unknowing crypticness she had previously been using. "Rai kept me with him always; what kind of man would go anywhere without his weapon?" Even then, she didn't necessarily look much like a whip, but being who he was and the tone the woman was using, it was unlikely he would be left in the dark any longer.
Enyo whirled, managed to rise to her feet and turn to face the intruders with her hands raised before her as though she knew how to defend herself with hand-to-hand combat; which she didn't. "Ellie!" the woman spotted the younger woman and then, suddenly, placed the rather obvious Queen. "Oh. It's Ader."
More voices. Familiar. It hurt to breathe. He tried to move his chest as slowly and little as possible to minimize the pain.
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Post by Trebias on Mar 15, 2009 1:02:10 GMT -5
Elias stepped forward, not sure quite who he was protecting, but to take any responsibility. But hopefully not punches.
"That would be His Majesty Aderlass, Enyo. You'll do well to remember it." He turned to his Queen, bowing. "Queen Aderlass, greetings." He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. He didn't suppose talk of the weather was appropriate. He could tell just by looking that asking after the Queen's health would be equally fruitless.
He went with some slight deflection. "You seem a little surprised, Your Majesty. I would guess that you haven't quite been told who is in here yet. That isn't NEARLY as big a problem as the fact that you don't seem prepared for this." It was a failure of Iggy's that El wasn't exactly surprised with - how exactly does one tell their Queen and father that they have a plan which at best will probably result in injuries to one of their best friends, and at worst could end in their death or mutilation. He'd speak to the happy couple about this, and they would probably have to make it up in some way. He had some thoughts.
"I'm sure you have better questions than what I've answered, Aderlass. I just hope I can give you the answers you need."
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 15, 2009 1:24:29 GMT -5
The mouse gave a blink of confusion. Great, now he was only more confused. Turning his attention back to his Queen he met and with great effort tried to hold his eyes there, at least for as long as he could before he was forced to glance away again.
"So it would seem. I think a quick summary is in order here." Something important was going on here and he was starting to get the sense that it involved the person he still could not see that was laying on the bed.
Elyse stepped forward and laid a hand gently on her father's arm.
"Maybe you should sit down, Papa. There is quite a bit that we should tell you and not all of it will be easy to take. You are already aware of most of it . . . it is more of a matter of truth that concerns you now."
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Post by seraaches on Mar 15, 2009 1:36:38 GMT -5
Enyo fought to not roll her eyes at Elias' correction; she didn't really understand all of the tension in the room, and thus attributed it immediately to the fact that her master was still lying comatose on the bed. She tossed her head, causing the long, cream-coloured forelock to dance one way then the next before it resettled in the exact same position it had been in previously.
When Elyse began to talk, the whip gave a low sigh and carefully dropped down onto the bed, unknowingly jostling the man there a bit more than she meant to.
SUITS, PAIN. It shot through him like fire through his bones, and all he could manage in response was a soft moan that couldn't accurately relay the agony that was eating him now. His hand clenched on the bed, tightening on blankets that he was still unaware of.
Enyo gasped at the soft sound, jumping from the bed and away from the still man. "I'm sorry!"
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Post by Trebias on Mar 15, 2009 2:24:41 GMT -5
"Yes. Explanation is in order and is richly deserved."
Hmm. There was a lot to explain, and it didn't not escape El that keeping this information from almost everyone, including the Queen to whom he owed fealty, was a sort of insult and definitely a betrayal. Many people would see it that way. Quite possibly his powerful and dangerous rulerfriend.
Preliminary explanations came through his mind: "I'm sorry for the deception, Your Majesty, but I'm a powerful magical healer, and I was able to bring Rai back to life." No, that was a bad lie.
"I'm sorry for the deception, Your Majesty, but the truth is, I'm a powerful necromancer and I've brought Rai back to undeath." That was even worse.
"Look, Your Majesty, a pile of fresh muffins!" No, where would he get muffins at this point?
Finally, he had to settle for truth. "I'm sorry for the deception, Queen Aderlass. Shinrai has been alive the whole time. We've been prepared for this for at least a month." He bowed his head contritely.
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 15, 2009 2:34:41 GMT -5
The mouse was about ready to comply with his daughter's suggest when both the movement and explanation from Elias hit his ears. Coming to a complete freeze his head jerked back and forth from the bed to the Queen.
His brain simply could not comprehend what was going on right at that moment.
"Papa." Elyse murmured softly, worried about her father and his reaction.
With a deep breath the mouse seemed to pull himself together some, at least visually. "You all mean to tel me that my best friend has been alive this whole time while I have thought him dead?" He was not quite sure what to make of the realization and he also realized that it would not sink in till he saw with his own two eyes.
Knowing what needed to be done he made his way over to the bed and standing there simply starred down at his friend.
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Post by seraaches on Mar 15, 2009 2:40:37 GMT -5
There wasn't a lot to see, not just yet. His face was drawn, pale despite his very outdoorsy nature, as though the grievous wounds that marked his body, almost simple in appearance, had sucked the very life from him. His brow was furrowed slightly as the pain from the jostle just moments earlier receded only slowly from his awareness.
Dimly he thought there might still be voices sounding around him, but he couldn't focus on them, not yet.
Enyo was swift to step nearer the bed as well, watching the mouse almost distrustfully. "Se stuck the dagger in his heart," she said flatly, as though daring the Queen to try to injure her master. Still, her eyes trailed quickly back to the still man's face and she reached out to gently touch her fingers to the tense hand. "I couldn't save him." Her words were for herself, though Aderlass could almost certainly hear her. "I thought he would die."
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Post by Trebias on Mar 15, 2009 2:47:07 GMT -5
"We can get to the why of you not knowing Whip is alive later, Your Majesty. You were to know, and we can discuss that as well, after the stress this time has put on our emotions has passed. And believe me when I say that I'm no happier about this than you are." Less so, probably, but this wasn't a contest.
Elias realized he'd been holding his breath in, and been keeping stiff, from fear that Enyo or Ader would jostle Rai again. Only when he exhaled and moved did he realize he'd been doing so, and he tried to force himself to relax.
"I did take as many steps as I could to keep things from getting out of hand, short of interfering in the official challenge." Elias was facing some self-doubt, though. He wasn't sure he could take on Perseus without some serious training or without gaining some powers. "But crazy is hard to overpower, and Se is a lot crazier than we used to suspect."
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 15, 2009 16:51:06 GMT -5
At Enyo's jumping up and apologizing she rushed from her father's side to come to the other side of Rai. "You did everything that you could," She replied to Enyo as she rested a hand gently on his chest. "Queen Shinrai, it is Elyse, Ader's daughter. Rest easy and do not try to move too much, please. You are safe now at the Club Court."
Starring down at is friend his eyes glanced over the man taking in all the damage that had been dealt him. There was obvious scrapes and bruises, but the two things that really caught his attention and made his stomach drop was his friend's left arm that was missing from the elbow down and the thick bandage that was wrapped over his heart.
"You can fill me in on past matters a little later, those will not help us right this minute. Wot is his status?" He asked his daughter.
"He was stabbed in the range of his heart by a dagger from Se, though instead of killing him as everyone was led to believe he was only put into a coma-like state. I have started to heal and bandaged him up, though I had to stitch up his chest." She motioned towards the large wrapping with a nod of her head.
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Post by seraaches on Mar 15, 2009 17:57:58 GMT -5
The re-telling did nothing to distance the truth of the story from Enyo and she managed to look ill at even Elyse's precise explanation. The whip fought off a shudder at her remembered fear and terror and instead began to stroke gently at the still clenched hand.
Elyse was here at the Court? It was in a dull haze that the rest of that phrase sunk in. At the Court of Clubs. Why was he at the Club Court? He needed be at his Court because something bad had happened. Wot had happened?
The stallion tried to relax his hand as he tried to fight off the remainder of his pain. Finally his right hand relaxed and that lasted only until he caught Elyse's explanation of his injuries.
Suddenly, it all flooded back and the pain that lanced through his heart then had nothing to do with the wound that had come so close to that organ. Amazingly, the Queen of Hearts paled further and made a sound of horrible despair.
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