Masquerade - These Masks We Wear

[Channelknight Fadran]

"Then I guess I'll just have to look all the time."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

He sighed and sat down against the wall. "Didn't want to disappoint Reyna. I wants her to like me and now..."

[Channelknight Fadran]

“Well she shouldn’t be liking you like that.”

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"But I... I just feel bad, miss. Reyna's a nice girl, she don't deserve... Oh, curse it all. I can't do nothin' right, can I?"

[Channelknight Fadran]

“Hey. Why don’t you get some sleep—by yourself—and cool down?” Wendy patted him on the shoulder.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Yeah, that-that-that might do me some good." He looked up at her. "Thank you, Wendy."

[Channelknight Fadran]

“Alright. No problem, Nico.” Wendy blew him a friendly kiss and left.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Nico got to his feet sluggishly and began wandering through the castle. 

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You wanna have Wendy talk to Allivia?

 

[Channelknight Fadran]

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Sure, though we might want to get some other folks active here... I think the two of us back-and-forthing might get a little annoying

 

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

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Well, let's see. Caden is doing his thing and then he needs to have dinner with Riva. The execution needs to happen, people can attend that. That'll happen after Caden and Riva have dinner. And then it would be fun to have another ball. 

 

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

With his feet squelching in the mud, Caden dismounted his horse with little care for how filthy his boots got. He walked through the door to his fortress, the piece of parchment secured in his tunic for further inspection was he was in a secure and dry place. Just thinking back on being forced to wait for that hunter while he rummaged through the Raveness's stuff caused him to glance over his shoulder anxiously. He shuddered, shoving away that thought as he locked the door behind him, and marched towards his personal place of work to dissect the report and write up a request to the King as quickly as possible. He was absolutely certain that nothing and no one would stop him, with the few members of his serving staff being sure to keep clear of him as he stormed through the hallways, and the Raveness herself being nowhere in sight, fortunately. Nothing could distract him, not even changing out of his sweaty and filthy clothes. 

He opened the door to his working room, and found it empty as it always was, save for the single desk that occupied the center of the chamber. He pulled out the chair, and placed the parchment on the table onto to discover that it was a set of parchment, instead of a single sheet. Grunting in surprise, he readied a blank letter to write up for the King as soon as he was finished with what that hunter has provided for him, and he began to read furiously. He did his best to avoid skimping on details, but he prioritized certain bits that looked more important than others, especially the part on what the hunter had witnessed for the traitors' method of moving their base of operations, and where potential new locations were if they were forced to move again. Caden smiled, every bit of discomfort from the hunter's "payment" seeming to have been paid back for in full. He continued reading, taking quick notes on what he wanted to tell the king.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Riva poured the contents of a vial into a steaming pot of tea. She'd chosen a some cinnamon herbs for this particular pot; cinnamon burned a bit on the way down and she had a feeling her steely husband would enjoy it. Riva took a long, deep sniff of the pleasant-smelling fumes before placing the lid on it and pouring more of her potion into the cream. 

The plan was in motion.

The odorless, tasteless serum was an old recipe, one she made large batches of quite often. Its effect loosened the tongue by making the consumer more inclined to speak their thoughts aloud. Rather like alcohol, only it didn't cloud your judgement; people were still loathe to discuss things they knew to be out of character. She usually injected it straight into the vein in its most condensed version, almost taking away a patient's haven of thoughts entirely by forcing them to speak everything that came to mind. (as one might imagine, she'd heard some... interesting things from people under the serum's influence) But Caden couldn't know about the potion, or he'd... Well, she didn't know what he'd do and that was precisely what frightened her. 

When she ran into a maid, she called the nervous thing over. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Caden. Do you know where he is?"

"Uh..." The woman couldn't meet Riva's eyes and trembled slightly. "He just got back, Your Raven-ness. He's in his study."

"Why thank you. Could you direct me there?"

The maid nodded and did so. When Riva got to the study, she didn't bother to knock, but let herself in with the tray of teacups. "Well, well, well, good evening, Caden."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

Caden glanced up, no small amount of annoyance on his face. "When I'm in my work room, I don't want to be disturbed. Leave, I'll deal with you later."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Riva was not perturbed. "But I made you tea," she said. She set the tray down - thin limbs trembling with effort - and then hopped up onto Caden's desk. "It's been a long day for you, surely you want some."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

Caden glared at her when she sat on his desk, noticing her trembling from such a trivial effort, but too distracted to comment on it. "If I wanted tea, I would have asked for it."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Riva sighed. "I'm just trying to be a considerate wife. Please, I spent time brewing it for you and I to share."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

"We have a serving staff," Caden said as he gave Riva a strange look.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

She scoffed, folding her arms. "Yes, and they're stretched paper-thin. Hasn't anyone ever done something nice for you?" I know for a fact they have. 

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

"What does that have to do with any of this?" He gestured to his desk, "I'm working, woman, leave me be. Besides, you likely poisoned the tea to give me a dreadful gut ache tonight."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

She pouted. "Now why would I do something like that? Here, I'll prove my intentions are benign." With that, she poured the tea into one of the two tea cups she'd brought and drank the whole thing down. She was not immune to the effects of the potion, but she knew very well how to resist to small amounts and had the advantage over Caden that she was aware that it had entered her system. "See? Now you try it. It's good." As she poured him a cup of his own, she said, "And it's a fine precursor to dinner as well. You will join me, won't you?"

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

With a glare, Caden slowly picked up the tea cup, watching the Raveness closely for any signs that would tell him that something was off. He took a sip, the heat slightly burning his lips as he downed a small bit of the tea. He coughed softly, not expecting it to burn on the way down. "What did you put in this?"

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"It's just cinnamon. Is it too strong for you? There's cream and sugar if you need it, I wasn't sure if you took it with your tea. I don't."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

Caden took a much larger drink from the cup, nearly draining it. "I don't drink tea regularly," he said, placing the cup onto his desk.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Mm. I do." She refilled his cup, trying not to appear too eager to do so. "Cinnamon is one of my favorites. But you didn't answer my question, Caden. Will you eat dinner with me? I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday and I'd like to repair some of that."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

He turned back to his papers, "I must deal with this now." He didn't reach for the cup, instead picking up the pen and trying to continue to write his notes.