What to expect? [DONE]

[Greenie]

Dysthymia was unsure, but not of himself--his ego, while not massive, was strong enough to prevent that--but of what the hell he was getting himself into. He wanted to be a King, he had no doubt of that, but the fact that he had to go through Varestes and Lysaras made him wary of walking into that office. What would he have to do this time?

Parade with aces and try not to get shot?

Find a joker and make pies with it?

Maybe he'd just have to find five corvie fives of spades and make them dance for him.

Seriously, the ferret had no idea. He had to spend two days in a crazy kitchen for his titling and had been sent off on various interesting tasks since; Mia was prepared to do something completely and totally odd. He wasn't sure if Varestes was actually going to be there, but if he was...

.. DOOM in the form of a hisstor!

The ferret stopped in front of the doorway and eyed it evilly, half expecting it to burst open and to get dragged into the room by scaly, slimey tenticles that would then thrust him into a crazymad quest to prove his worth to the court.

Perhaps his imagination was getting the best of him, but he'd seen some weird shit happen in these hallways over the years--slimy, grabby-hand tentacles really wouldn't be too far over the line. Gross, but not far. After a minute he sighed and resigned himself to the fact that if he didn't open it within another minute, he was going to be late, and there would be even more hell to pay. Maybe they'd go light on him.

Maybe?

Mia straightened his back, adjusted his bindings, and knocked.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras jumped a little at the sound of the knock, who could that be? She wasn't expecting anyone...was it an emergency? Or just a problem? What had happened?

Standing quickly, she moved over to the door, nearly tripping on the hem of her gown and rearranging her tail as she walked. Pulling the door open she stared around quickly, ears perked...and then her gaze fell on Mia.

"Dysthymia? Oh! Oh, your quest, I'm sorry, my mind had wandered as far as time goes. Please, come in, come in."

She was glad to be in her Biped form or her blush would have been a dead giveaway as to how embarrassed she was. How could she have forgotten that she was testing a new King today? Especially the son of Vessatha? Her friend, ugh Lysaras wanted to kick herself, hoping Vessatha wouldn't think any less of her for the slight.

The little ferret looked so much older and self-assured than she had last seen him...and a new King certainly would be welcome...she needed the help badly. It took all of her willpower not to just give her friends' son the position right away...after all, if his mother was such a dedicated worker...he would be too, right?

"Well, let's get started, shall we?"

She asked him, smiling and patting a chair as she reseated herself.

"Tell me, Dysthymia, what is it you think you could bring to the palace of Spades as a King?"

[Greenie]

Dysthymia fidgited a bit while he waited for the door to open. Were they delaying the inevitable to see how nervous they could make him? That was a cruel, cruel tactic. After a minute the door opened and he was met with.. a confused, alone Lysaras?

Hmm.

"Your Majesty," He said immediately, with a bow.

She'd.. forgotten. Well. That was certainly better than what he'd been expecting! Cruel, sadistic quests were difficult to come up with on the spur of the moment, so the ferret didn't see her doing something strange. He blinked a bit, watching what seemed to be an array of emotions fly by on her face before it settled into it's usual mostly-peaceful expression, so he shrugged internally and set his somewhat doubtful thoughts aside.

He followed her into the room and seated himself, trying not to be too self-concious or aware of his surroudnings, as he was apt to be when nervous. Now was not the time to analyze and re-analyze everything he said. The ferret nodded in response to her statement, and paused a bit at her question.

Basic much?

"I'm dedicated, hard-working, and am willing to do whatever this Court needs me to do. I don't hesitate once I've made a decision, and I work well with just about anyone," he replied within the minute, unknowingly responding in a similar manner to his mother--very straightforward.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras smiled at the bow, just as polite as his mother, the dear...he even looked like her...it was quite endearing and helped to calm her ruffled nerves.

Once they had both settled and Lysaras had listened to his response, she smiled. Good! Good, now with the basics out of the way...

"Well, that's certainly good to hear, though I must admit that it's easy enough for anyone to say that. I'm sure that any son of Vessatha would do just as you say though."

She gave him an encouraging smile and sat up a little straighter.

"Just a few more things, then. Where would you be willing to travel to, if at all? I will be needing assistance in the future regarding some...political necessities and it may require travel...and some risk. I will also need to know what it is you think your duties to me will include, they may be far more than you're looking for." Especially considering that Varestes avoids work like the plague... She thought, wondering how the Ferret would answer the questions.

Once he had, they could move on downstairs and she would be able to test whether this potential King would also suffice as what she needed most in a King...

A friend...

[Greenie]

Dysthymia barely stopped himself from raising an eyebrow in question. His mother? What did his mother really have anything to do with it, other than the fact that he was more alike to her than he wished to be? Vessatha had little ambition, was satisfied to be where she was and doing what she did--Mia wanted far, far more from life than she. But whatever, if it made Lysaras happy to think them completely alike, he wasn't going to protest.

So he nodded and smiled, then answered the question. "I would love to travel--I have only been afar with Harlequinn, and she wasn't allowed to take us far from home, so my experience is limited, but I would be willing to be an ambassador.. of any sort." He paused, then shrugged. "Risk isn't a problem." Mia fully knew what he could potentially be putting himself into as a King--danger. In his opinion, Kings were the most likely to be stuck into a dangerous situation: Jacks generally didn't travel, and while the second or third Queen might travel, it was most often left to Kings.

Hence, risk.

But what did he think his duties were? Uh, whatever she told him to do..? "I don't know that I have a specific list of duties in mind.. Whatever it is you'd need me to do, really?" He said in a more assured voice than he felt, then shrugged. (It wasn't his fault she was relaxing him enough that he was answering nonchalantly!) The ferret thought her questions were a tad bit easy, but wasn't about to bring it up. Vessatha had scared all of them as children with what Varestes had done to her on her Jack quest--dancing, for crap sake--so he'd been expecting a bit more for his King quest. But maybe this was just a prelude?

[[He's so confused XD]]

[Nathalia]

[]

Lysaras smiled at the response. He was such a dear, just like his mother...oh how Lysaras treasured her help...one of the best things to happen to the palace in a long time...if she didn't know that she was taken by that otter... Ah well, such is life.

"That's certainly good to know, as your first time abroad may involve some travel...and to some less...desirable places..."

She winced slightly, hoping the poor boy wouldn't balk at the idea...she certainly would have.

She smiled at his last answer...so he was still a child...but at least he was willing...and fully able she was sure. Any child of Vessatha's must be...

"Ah, now there's where you'll have to be careful." She said with a smile as she stood. "You must never assume that someone in power has your best interest at heart...or that what they ask will be fair to you. Think a bit harder on what you would truly expect your duties to be... Why with that answer you could have Varestes throw you in the lake and claim you had informed him he could!"

She said with a small smile, motioning him to follow her as she moved off into the hallway. She turned once to make sure he was following before simply moving off to the back of the palace, stepping out into the statue garden. She gazed at it for a moment before walking up to one and tapping it lightly. It was a very large statue of a flowing Selkie Feline, poised in its Biped form to shoot an arrow from its bow.

"I want an arrow from this statue...but you must retrieve it for me without breaking it. Feel free to enlist the help of others if you will, but try to use your powers creatively. Bring the arrow to me by tomorrow at noon, and thank you, Mia."

She gave him a bow of her head and walked off without another look.

[Greenie]

[[I'm still cracking up about that first paragraph... mostly because I didn't get it at first. XDD I was like.. otter? Lysaras? Wait, what otter? ... ..... oh. OH. OMG. XD]]

Dysthymia could only shrug again. "If I intend to see the world, I can hardly skip places because they're not as nice as the rest." He didn't care, really--as naive as it sounded, danger would at least make his life a bit less monotonous.

He stood as she did, and coughed a bit to cover his snicker at the idea. Varestes throwing him in the lake? Well, the idea did have it's merits.. but he took her point. It would probably be a good idea to figure out what Varestes did (if.. anything..) and compare it what needed to be done, and see if he could come up with some idea.

The ferret followed her out, and stopped when she did. The statue garden?

... Retrieve an arrow?!

"What?!" He said, but she was long gone by the time his ears and brain had connected with his mouth. He stared at the statue, blank as to how he was supposed to get a piece of rock off of another piece of rock without.. breaking the rock.. but finally went up to it and tapped it.

Yep.

Rock.

Perhaps this was some sort of magical, sentient rock. ... Or perhaps not. He wasn't getting diddlysquat from his necklace and the pool of water a few feet away, so it was a pretty safe bet that this was just ordinary, boring, stupifying rock.

After a few more minutes of his thoughts wandering in circles, the ferret finally stood up and propped himself up against the statue in order to examine the bow and arrow more carefully. It looked as if someone had chiseled a massive piece of rock into this statue--it hadn't been assembled in parts, and therefore wasn't going to be removed in parts without magical assistance.

Meaning, nothing he had. And here came the downside of being holed up in a court his entire life--he knew no one with any powers to help him, so unless a stranger walked up and managed to have a rock-shifting power, he was screwed in the magic department. Mia could convice the rock he was a wonderful, kind person all he liked, but it wasn't going to get the rock to give him an arrow.

But then again, the rock didn't have to give him an arrow.. it just had to be from the statue, which was a different wording entirely. What if he got an entirely different arrow, "gave" it to the statue, and then took it back? It would then be from the statue--she hadn't specified that it needed to have been there originally, now had she? The only problem was whether or not Lysaras would count it.. but if he did it before noon, maybe he'd have a second chance.

Or would fail entirely. Either way, it was his only idea.

[[Meaaann XD Also, I'm not sure if you want me to break this up into pieces, have him talk with someone that makes arrows or something.. so I'll end it here for now <3]]

[Nathalia]

Lysaras walked away feeling fairly horrid. What had the poor boy done to deserve a task like that? She chided herself as she walked sedately back toward the castle, the Ferret’s shout of What?!? still ringing in her ears making her wince with shame. She should have just given him the job...what would she do if he came back tomorrow with nothing? Now that she had made this his quest she couldn’t just take him if he failed....Varestes would have her head....and giving him a second task might just insult him further....how could this get any worse?

Mind filled with anxiety, she trudged up the stairs and out of sight.

A single yellow eye, lined around the edges with age watched the boy with strong interest. A sound halfway between a cough and a snigger left the owner’s lips as he shuffled slowly forward. So, her Majesty was pulling the arrow trick again, was she? This ought to be fun.

”You, boy. Whatcha doin’ in tha’ garden, eh? Ain’ seen you before, s’posed to be here, are ya?” He asked, showing yellowed teeth and black gums.

Murlow had been one of the Queens’ gardeners since he was twenty...and he was far beyond that age now...he did sometimes suspect that the Queen only kept him around now out of pity, but he wasn’t about to complain. A partially crippled, hunched Selkie Equine as thin as himself wasn’t going to find work anywhere else...especially not a Three...

He watched the Ferret’s face, waiting for a reaction, maybe he would help the boy, maybe not....depended fully on what this boy could do for him.

[Greenie]

Dysthymia finally sat down at the base of the statue at it, staring, contemplating over his idea. He had quite a bit of time, afterall, so there was no use rushing into things--he could only hope something more feasible would come to him in the meantime. The ferret had already forgotten (or simply stopped caring) about the sheer impossibility of the task, and Lysaras was the furthest thing on his mind; instead, he was cursing himself in particular for not having any sudden bursts of inspiration to lead him on his way.

Where was Quinn's spontenaity when you needed it?

Just when he was about to heave himself to his feet and trudge off to the palace's armoury, he was approached by a very old and (mildly) suspicious-looking... gardener? Hm. The man looked as though he could barely walk, crippled as he was, and he was, not surprisingly, asking what Mia was doing there. The ferret pushed himself to his feet, and greated the equine with a nod. "I apologize for stepping into your realm, if the gardens are yours; I'm on my King quest, and Lysaras has led me to this statue for an arrow. I'm... searching for ideas." He ended somewhat lamely, since he obviously hadn't been doing anything actually productive, the truth was the best.

[Nathalia]

((XD *Hugs* Whee! Murlow's a whack job!))

Murlow grinned again, baring his teeth as he gave a short, hacking cough.

"King's Quest? 'S wha' I thought. She's told yeh ta' either get tha' arrow, or ta' get her that fish from the outer wall, ent she?"

Taking another step forward, his back hunched painfully as he leaned on his blackthorn walking stick. He let his breath hiss between his thick, blocky teeth, his ridged hooves clicking on the flagstone.

"Not a very imaginative creature, our Queen. Oh, good Queen she is, aye...but not much thought put intae her quests...most people fail 'em. I only steps in ta help iffin' I think the creature's worth a little somethin', you hear?"

He gave a curt nod when the Ferret treated him with aplomb. The last man had snorted and kicked mud in his face...told the Queen about that one, so he had. Gone by the next morning...it was good to have such a trusting Queen...granted he never lied but...it was good to know she listened...

"Good...th' arrow, then. 'S not as hard as the fish. Now, what I'm gonna ask you ta do is fer me, 'n me alone. Yeh willing tae do whit I ask yeh? Ifiin' yeh do...I kin guarantee tha' arrow in yer paw by the time the clock strikes four this afternoo'...iffin' yeh go fast enough. Up fer it?"

His smile broadened and his ears flipped back as he watched the boy's movements greedily...he couldn't get what he wanted unless others were to get it for him...and Varestes had been gone for so long, and before that only available at such odd times...so unlike the King...he hadn't been able to for weeks...