T - Harps, Lucca

[Nathalia]

The Capital has been cold, empty, and odd-smelling lately...almost as though the air was full of spice...
Dania and Joel meet up in Dania’s bookstore; Joel has finally begun looking up some research. Dania is sent a missive from Colin in the Court of Spades to update the Spades Court library, and requests that she bring an assistant to help with the updates.
Once there, they find that the current Queen is absent and that an odd air of pessimism and paranoia seem to be hovering about the Court.
How they act toward one another and what their actions to this odd situation may be are up to you entirely.
Do Dania and Joel decide to explore the Palace at night? How does Colin react to the fact that Palace staff begin to vanish into thin air?

(Your goal is to get everyone to the Palace, interact and take library inventory, and explore the Palace... More will come once this has been done.)

[Lucca]

Colin didn't like it. He didn't understand it. One moment, things were going great, he had his title and was working diligently at whatever tasks, minor or major, the Court required of him, and suddenly...suddenly...

What? Everyone had gone crazy over night? That's almost what it felt like. It was affecting him badly, Colin knew...he found himself a lot more worried about everyone's motives than usual. He kept checking over his shoulder, metaphorically and literally, when even the tiniest thing seemed out of order. He eternally felt as if he were one small crisis away from losing his mind. Of course, with all the training he had, the Cardinal was able to hide these feelings and be his normal, polite self to everyone...but not all in the Court had the same training and will he did, and tension was high.

It had only worsened when the Queen left for who knew where. No one told him anything, at least not now. Colin found himself spending more and more time alone in the music room, practicing with all his soul. But there was still work to be done, and Colin refused to let the Court fall into disarray! Not on his watch! He barely slept or ate, pouring all his energy into working, pretending stubbornly that every little task was of utmost importance to the normal functioning of the Court.

And so it was that he waited impatiently for the book-seller he'd hired in to check on their library, pacing back and forth in his small office.

[Harpsdesire]

It was only because of her mother's worsening health that Dania was even at home when the summons came. She was pleased at first by the request: performing an update to a court library was a prestigious assignment, and this could open many doors to her. The pay would probably not be too shabby, either. She thought it odd that the court would not contract with one of the bigger bookstores in the capital, or even prefer to hire a Spade for the job, but who was she to argue with a royal summons?

She could only assume it was her proficiency with the delicate work of repairing rare and ancient bindings that singled her out for the task. Perhaps she had made some remote contact with a spades royal librarian in the process of seeking out the aged copy of Tales of Torquehelm Once Lost that still sat on her desk as a reminder of her adventures.

Although apprehensive both about leaving her mother (who had taken a sudden and inexplicable turn for the crazier) and making a trip to the distant court alone, neither of those things were problematic enough to leave her wringing her paws as she sat her her writing desk. It was the matter of finding an assistant that drove timid Dania nearly to distraction. She would have to interview people! Make decisions! Take charge! None of those were activities she felt especially comfortable with.

Luckily for her, an answer soon presented itself in the form of a customer.

[Harpsdesire]

It was an unusually subdued Joel that entered Paige's that foggy morning. Research had not been going well. In fact, it had been going so poorly that he had resorted to scouring the smaller, specialty bookstores in outlying realms. Because of the non-scientific focus of the materials in this particular store, he would have skipped over it altogether if not for a tip from the proprietor of a shady-looking used bookstore in the capital. There was a card working here, the man had said, that would do anything to track down a rare book.

It was her help Joel sought. "Um, hi!" The boy perked up when he saw a card who matched the shopkeeper's description right down to the look of melancholy on her face. In the all too direct way he tended to do things, Joel cut right to the chase. "I'm Joel. I heard you can find rare books. I need a copy of Physiology of the Insect Breed by Kurt Devin. There was only one printing, and most copies are held by private libraries. Do you think you can help me?"

Dania was both taken aback and instantly comfortable with the straightforward teen. Children were, overall, easier to interact with than her peers, less intimidating. Even though this particular one was on the verge of entering the awkward in-between stage, she found his wide smile disarming and obvious zeal for books heartwarming. "I can try... but it will be a bit expensive to do the legwork, not to mention the cost of the book itself, if I should manage to find it." Joel looked so crushed that Dania relented. "If you pay the cost of the book, I'll help you with the search for free." She hesitated before she added, "But I'll need a favor in return..."

Just a short time later, Dania found herself and her makeshift assistant being ushered into the presence of one of the spade court's titled Jacks. She bowed politely before Colin, nudging Joel to do the same.

((OMG Contrivance Fairy at work. Sorry if it's bad, trying to also do NaNo and you know, also work.))

[Lucca]

As frantic as his pacing had been just mere moments before, as soon as the haggard servant announcing the arrival of the bookseller arrived, Colin composed himself in short order. He took a deep breath and seated himself behind his desk, forcing his feathers down (they did seem to be horribly fluffed up lately by default). So it was that a perfectly calm and smiling Cardinal greeted Dania and Joel as they entered the room and accepted their shows of respect with all outward graciousness, though it brought none of the usual inward puffing to his ego.

"Welcome to the Court of Spades. Miss Dania I presume?" He inclined his head to her and gestured for them to make themselves comfortable before turning his polite (and very faked, but WELL faked) smile onto the younger visitor. "And who else do I have the pleasure of making the acquaintance of?" Already, Colin felt the familiar calm take him of mundane distraction. Far from his mind at that moment was the strange atmosphere and absent Queen.

[Harpsdesire]

Colin's well faked smile was returned by Joel's usual megawatt grin, while Dania's expression was more cautiously pleasant. "I am Dania, your excellence. This is Joel, he'll be assisting me." Dania was always uncomfortable speaking to those in power. It was reassuring to know that someone was running the kingdom and holding things together, but she generally made an effort to avoid those people who had the power to make her life more miserable than it already was. "It's an honor to be able to serve the court."

At least this was Spades, where her suit and rank would merit a reasonable amount of respect. Unlike the hearts, the black suits seemed to be more subtle in their expression of suit pride. Still, her Spade companion couldn't hurt in that regard. She was grateful to the powers that be (whatever they were) for Joel's fortuitous arrival in her hometown.

Joel, who had been to court before with his parents, was less overwhelmed by the experience. He had no political leanings, nor did he care especially about the preservation of old books, except where it directly impacted access to scientific works. He was good natured enough not to begrudge Dania the favor (and wasn't really doing anything else, anyway, since his research had seriously stalled) but he considered it unlikely that he would continue on as her assistant once his precious scientific volume had been obtained. In the mean time, he was happy enough to fetch and carry, exercise his surprising strength to move stacks of books Dania couldn't otherwise manage, take notes in properly scientific detail, and generally make himself useful.

[Lucca]

Colin nodded. "Very well. Would you two like any refreshment before we attend to the library?" Though it was going to be harder to get tea and food than it normally was, given how tense the servants were. Especially around him. Though Colin knew himself to have a wonderful self-restraint, there were times he unfortunately let his temper run away from him, and when a servant had served him completely the wrong dinner the night before he'd flipped out a bit. And no matter how profusely he'd apologized about it afterwards, there was still that wild, terrified look in the young Mouse's eyes.

Still, it was only polite to offer, and Colin could at least pretend there was nothing at all wrong currently with his Court. Even if it was only a guise put on to make the visitors more comfortable (and Dania didn't look all that comfortable in the first place) Colin was going to maintain it for the entirety of their stay here.

[Harpsdesire]

Dania shook her head at the offer of refreshment, oblivious to the slightly crestfallen look on Joel's face. "Thank you, that's very kind, but no." The over-sized young man was constantly hungry, even when, as Dania told Colin, they had eaten just a few hours before arrival. He thought better than to contradict the older card, and remained silent.

Joel would have been happy to delay the inevitable work with a snack, but Dania was eager to get started, and he wasn't one to complain. No doubt the library update would take more than the afternoon, and he would have a chance to sample court fare before too long. In the meantime, he would do his best to act as a properly respectful assistant.

"I'm ready to start work at soon as you please, your excellence." Dania thought she might feel better once in the familiar surroundings of a library than she did the Jack's personal office. Here she had the vague feeling of being back in school and summoned before the principal. (This had happened to her only once in her school days, and was traumatic enough to the timid and impressionable young rat that she made very sure it was not repeated.)

[Lucca]

Colin didn't quite leap out of his chair when Dania declined his offer of refreshments, but he was up to his feet in mere seconds. There was no sense wasting time in his office if they were eager to start the task, and though on a normal occasion the Cardinal actually quite enjoyed the normal back-and-forth of small talk, today was nothing like a normal occasion, no matter how much he wished it were. But the Jack kept up the facade, smiling and nodding. "As you wish."

Even distracted as he was, his extensive social experience alerted him to the fact that the oddly-silent assistent Joel was less than happy with being spoken for by Dania. But, to be honest, Colin wasn't entirely comfortable around children, although this one seemed well-mannered. He was a rather bulky sort of boy, so he had a hard time guessing at his exact age, but he seemed to be into his teens,

"Then if you will please follow me," Colin intoned politely, and gestured them out of the office and towards a staircase. The library was only a short walk from his office, which was good as Colin felt the weird pressure of the Court worse when he was in the halls. "Here we are," he said, opening the door and walking in. The Spades library wasn't as grand as some of the other Courts, but it was still at least twice as large as many such institutions in the Capital, and it was currently empty of any Cards whatsoever.

Perhaps their librarians were just on lunch.

Yeah. Sure. He believed that.

[Harpsdesire]

The longer she was in the palace, the more Dania began to sense a mysterious something, some strange heaviness or tension in the air. The atmosphere was almost like the gloom of her home realm, although stronger and somehow denser, making the air around her feel thick and hard to move through. It was as much that as her discomfort around nobility that was giving her such a feeling of misgiving and disquiet. Even the usually exuberant Joel seemed somewhat quieter and more reserved than usual. She noticed him shake himself discreetly a time or two, as if his fur was damp or was was trying to shake off a crawling feeling on his skin.

She was glad to enter the library, for a job to do meant she would have less time to contemplate why such a large, populated building should be so deathly silent in the middle of the day. Joel had seen the library before, but it was Dania's first sight of the large collection. She noticed right away that it housed at least a few valuable manuscripts, that it was decently well organized, and that it was furnished rather grandly. "This is very lovely. I'm sure it is a great credit to your suit." There was an almost loving look on her face as she gazed up to the high galleries of books above, accessible by sliding ladders.

Joel just noticed that it was empty. "Hey, where is everybody?" He broke off from the group and looked down an aisle of bookshelves, and behind a large credenza, but to no avail. Dania also thought it was strange that such a collection would be unattended in the middle of the day, but perhaps the spades just trusted the palace's inhabitants not to make a mess of things.

If that was the case, this would probably be an even bigger job than she expected. "Any, ah, special instructions or anything I should know?" She asked Colin. She was determined to be thorough on her first big job, and her violet eyes were already scanning the area, trying to determine the layout of the area and where best to begin.