T - Jenn, Nako, Xenon, Bee, Lucca

[Nathalia]

A summons has arrived for the Queen of Spades, Donalda.
Sophia decides to secretly follow her mother, she keeps hearing odd whispering voices that are just too far away to make out...how strange...
A small, Avington/Selkie Finch delivered the note first thing in the morning, also requesting the presence of the Court artist, Mikael, to accompany her to the celebration of the opening of a new oil well discovered in the Selkie.
The Mayor extends his finest wishes of welcome and offers to get a carriage to her once she arrives in the Capital; she’s to make her way with any servants and the artist to the Blooming Avenue on main street, where she will find a representative waiting for her along with Ilariya who is getting a quick lunch.

(Your goal is to make your way to this Highland/Villa themed restaurant with Mikael and to find Mr. McDuck, he's been invited to the event as well.)

[The Jenn]

Donnie reviewed the missive, her eyes skimming over a few details before focusing once more on the meat of the message. The mayor of the Selkie Lakes requested her presence for the grand opening celebration of a new oil well in his realm? It would bring prosperity to the land, a new wave of jobs, increased output for use by the Courts, the Capital, and outside realms, blah blah blah...

The man was a Spade, so she supposed it made sense to summon the head representative of his suit for a taste of the success. She had received similar summonses in the past, some of which she accepted and others of which she had to delegate to less busy members of her Court. This looked like an excellent public appearance opportunity, however, and the Lakes were a good, clean realm. A popular vacation spot, too. If she decided she liked them well enough, she might even decided to take the girls there on holiday come summertime. Leona would appreciate submerging herself to escape the heat, she was sure, and Sophie could run around to her heart's content. If everything checked out.

She had sent the messenger to the kitchens not long after the finch's delivery, to take advantage of Court hospitality and rest weary wings over a good meal. Vessie could take care of them, if she had a mind to interfere in the messenger's business. If not, the staff would know well enough what to do. Then she would send her reply in the affirmative, inform her traveling party, and... well. Be off.

What a good opportunity to get herself some air, away from the recently more frustrating politics of the Court. The shortage of qualified personnel always loomed.

First things first - she sent a note for Mikael. Wouldn't the young man be flattered to know that he had been requested so specifically?

[Nako]

Michael had been busy with paperwork when the messenger came to his door, the usual runner that brought any notes between himself and the Queen when she was too busy (or perhaps didn't feel like) coming all the way to his office to relay a message. He peered up over the document he was proofreading when the parchment went across his desk.

Careful and thorough, he read it from top to bottom in his usual manner.. though his eyes grew increasingly wide as he realized what this note was about. For a half second, he wondered if Vessie was playing a particularly cruel joke, but there was no doubt that the handwriting was that of the Queen herself.

Mikael found it hard to believe he was asked for specifically. In a way it made sense; if any art was needed to be done, then a Court Artist would be the most logical, right? Mikael hastily wrote his note back to the Queen, careful to keep his handwriting neat despite his enthusiasm. There was no word of 'accepting' or some other arrogant term, but rather stated how he was honored to be invited to such an event. To say anything to the way of accepting invitation would be arrogant on his part; it was assumed that he was not being asked, but rather ordered by his Queen. No matter how delighted he was to be chosen, it was always prudent to stay professional.

Oh, but he had to pack! His paints needed to be tested to make sure none were dried out, and everything placed inside his travel case; when it was time to leave, he needed to be ready.

(omg I'm so rusty; I'm sorry ;_; )

[carcinoGeneticist]

Something... strange was going on.

For a while, Sophie felt as though she might have been the only one to really notice it. But at night, when things should have been quiet, she could hear whispers down the hallways. Once or twice, she decided to investigate, but every time the noises remained at the same volume, growing no louder or softer. This might have been frightening to some, but Sophie only felt a vague feeling of unease, accompanied by a very strong urge to investigate more.

Beyond the whispers, there were other things that just felt... off. There was the strange visitor who appeared one day. Maybe there was nothing off about her to the rest of the members of the Court, but Sophie didn't like her much. It all had to be connected... right?

Her mother seemed a good place to start her search, so she began by snuffling around the Queen's door. When someone left the room with a note in hand, her curiosity only grew, though it was masked by a rather stoic expression. Slowly, she swung her head back towards the door, and after a moment's consideration she pushed it open and walked inside.

That same flat expression remained on her face as she looked up at Donalda, ears pinning themselves back against her head as she tried to figure out what to say. She never had any of her sister's grace, physically or socially. Which was saying something, she often thought. "What's going on, Mother?" She asked, a hint of curiosity creeping into her tone. Maybe she could have said more, but she didn't see a lot of point in doing so unless the Queen needed more information. Surely, she wasn't the only one who had noticed the various odd occurrences around the Palace.

[The Jenn]

((No worries, Nako! <3 We all sorta are. I haven't played Donnie in a while. xD))

When Donnie heard the door open back up, she half assumed it to be the messenger coming back to request clarification on... something. Who knew what? Or possibly a member of staff she had alerted to the monarch's imminent departure. Instead, she found herself looking into the serious eyes of her daughter.

Mildly surprised, she shifted the summons to the side and leaned back a little in her chair. "I'll admit that I'm a bit surprised you heard already. I'm taking a trip out to the Selkie. I'd like to depart by this evening, but it's likely that I may have to wait until tomorrow. Before you ask, no, I would rather that you and your sister didn't come. I've never visited the Lakeland mayor before and I want to get a feel for everything before bringing more of an 'entourage'. Mikael will be coming, though, so if you need anything from him then you'd best approach soon."

That expression was a strange one on Sophie. Was she hoping to go? Anticipating her mother's refusal? Or was this something else entirely? Sometimes the woman really had trouble reading her more colorful daughter. The girl was an odd duck, to be sure. A very loved and royal princess of an odd duck, but still.

[carcinoGeneticist]

A little stiffly, Sophie sat. It was less sitting, though, and more like letting her back half flop down. One talon clenched, a slightly nervous movement, and her tail feathers shook themselves back into order.

Some people might have flinched away from the gaze of a Queen, regardless of familial status. The wolverine hybrid did no such thing, just held that serious expression, her brows lowering just a little further in response. One of her ears twitched. Ah. Confirmation. So her mother was leaving. "I guessed." She said simply. Then, her ears pinned themselves back, and her gaze intensified. That should have been predicted, but... an invitation, at the very least, might have been nice...

"Oh." She shifted, glanced away and mulled over her next action. There was clearly no arguing it, she knew she couldn't win a match like that against her mother. She'd have to figure something else out. "Okay. Do you want help packing?"

Slowly, Sophie's mind started to put a plan together. She would help her mother, if the Queen wanted help. Then, she would know which carriage they were taking, and she would climb into the storage hold in the back of it, along with the luggage. By the time they arrived, it would be too later for her mother to do a single thing about it but accept it. Leona wouldn't be able to go with, but that was a small sacrifice. She would have to come up with some way to keep her disappearance from seeing too odd - a flower left on Donnie's seat might just do it, though.

[The Jenn]

"Actually, if you could go and tell your father about the summons, I would appreciate it. I haven't seen her yet today and it just arrived a few minutes ago. If you'd like to help me pack, I certainly wouldn't mind. I'll probably be out for a few days, maybe a week and a bit at most." An affectionate smile softened the somewhat blunt delivery of Donnie's words. Really, Sophie had always seemed to prefer plain speech, which she appreciated in a way. Dancing around concerns like she had to with Leona got old relatively quickly.

Completely unaware of her daughter's intent to accompany her, the Queen turned her attention back to clearing a few matters from her desk that wouldn't wait for the duration of her absence. She would call on Mia and Vessie later to appraise them of the situation, and Wulfram if he was in attendance. What else needed doing...? Probably a host of other things that would occur to her as she moved from one task to another. The morning and afternoon had suddenly become intensely busy, hadn't they? Damn. Heh. Rarely a dull day in the Court.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Hmm. That threw a bit of a wrench into Sophie's original plans, but she could think on the fly. She gave her mother a small and (she hoped) agreeable nod. There was no reason to completely ruin her plans by giving the Queen any indication of what it was that she had planned. The way the little hybrid saw it, the more she said, the more likely she would be to accidentally let something out that would give her plans away, so she just kept her mouth sealed.

Well. Except for one thing. "I told Jayce I would help in the gardens today. I dunno when we will be done." She shifted her weight from one side to the other, hoping the lie didn't show too clearly on her face. "If I don't see you, have a nice trip." The girl pressed her snout against her mother's hand, an awkward little show of affection.

Then she trotted off down the hall to speak with her father. That went relatively quickly, giving her a lot of time to plan.

There was a carriage waiting to be loaded up outside, and Sophie cast a furtive glance around. She didn't see anyone around, for the time being... But it looked as though a few bags had already been piled into it, and that was promising. She scampered off to the area that she was supposed to be working in, and plucked a flower. It was purple, which reminded her of Donnie, so that was good. A little sign of her daughter's love and sadness at not being able to say goodbye.

Gently, she tucked the flower into the handle of the door. Then she climbed into the back, nestled in amongst the luggage, and pulled a canvas over her head. There. Perfect. Now, she just needed to wait.

[The Jenn]

Donnie reached for a strand of her daughter's mane affectionately as the girl turned to leave. She remained entirely unaware of any agenda besides her own and reflected that the girl had actually taken things rather well, with how hopeful she'd looked initially.

Clearing her desk of "emergencies" took a fair bit of time, as did going around and speaking to the necessary individuals. She checked on Mikael once before departure, but he remained in such a state of preparation that she decided to leave him well enough alone until it was time for them to be off. She gave him a set hour, just to make sure, and went to finish her business.

Servants stowed the last of her luggage and she approached the pair of carriages, eyes flicking between them. The small purple flower, undisturbed on the foreward coach's handle, instantly caught her attention and she went to pluck it from its resting place. A smile twitched at her lips as she guessed that it must be from either Sophie or Raina. Probably Sophie, if she'd been spending time in the gardens. The Queen tucked her blossom away inside a pocket of her coat, made sure that all of her party looked ready to head out, and stepped up into the waiting carriage.

[Nako]

Funny, how little a quadruped really had to pack; his art supplies were the brunt of it. The most important aesthetics would probably be a case of cleaning solutions which kept his Boggy stench in check, or at least appropriately masked.

Freshly showered, his normally slicked back fur floated oddly off of his body. No doubt the Queen would be thankful for his precaution. He figured the Queen would be quite annoyed with him if he embarrassed them both by smelling like dead things at the bottom of a swamp.

He arrived soon after the Queen, moving toward the carriage that the driver gestured him to. He should have known that the Queen would get a carriage to herself, but admittedly he would have liked the conversation on the way to the Capital… not that he was really on that sort of speaking terms with the woman. Blah. He shrugged his insecurities off as he jumped up into the carriage. At least it meant he had plenty of room to stretch out. Hell, at least he didn't have to fly!