Luce stole a glance as the human ambassador walked past her, watching him out of the corner of her eye till he left her peripheral vision. She gave a soft snort of dissatisfaction. She didn't like him being here. Luce turned her attention to scanning the crowd, and it really was a crowd. People thronged the great hall, and despite the outsider a feeling of contentment flowed through the air. Luce smirked at the sight of a familiar face who would know more about this human. "Estra," she said in way of greeting, "what can you tell me of this human?"

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Estra glanced at Luce, a lady of Arlaith's court. She gave a short, graceful shrug. "King Redron sent him," she said simply. "I can only guess that Redron sends him as some message of peace, out of fear for our queen." She gave one of her glacial, amused smiles, which served to emphasise her cold, inhuman beauty. "If there is any trouble, there's far enough of our people here tonight to outnumber one human. Not to mention the faeries."

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

Razok strode in to the great halls, not marveling at their wonder as some would expect. He was an explorer, and as such had seen many wonders.

He headed to the Human ambasador. "Sir, I have a mesage for you," he announced.

He handed the ambasador a message from the king.

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A smirked wound its way on to Luce's face at Estra's words. True he was only one. She looked over her shoulder just as another human man walked up to the ambassador. So much for their just being one. "Now there are two of them," she muttered turning back to Estra.

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Ravion turned, looking at the man who had addressed him. He raised a dark brown eyebrow. He remained silent before he took the message. He looked at Razock. "I have not seen you at the court of King Redron before," he observed. "Have you very recently become his messenger?"

~~~

Estra followed Luce's gaze to the other human. She glared in Razock's direction. "Another one," she said, her tone quiet and venemous. "If he is sent by the human king, he will have to be brought before the queen. If he wanders in, however, alone, without purpose, then perhaps some other fate should await him."
Her words had a sly edge. Everyone knew how the faeries loved to amuse themselves by playing tricks and putting enchantments on humans. The starlight people would not harm them, but the faeries might, if angered.

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

"I am not a messenger of the king," Razok told Ravion. "I am an explorer, sir. I ran across the king's messenger on my journey. He had been attacked and was dying. He pleaded me to cary this note to you in this place. I know not what it says."

Razok handed him the note, bowed slightly, and then walked away over to a couple of starlight people who were watching them near by.

Again he bowed lightly before them. "I'm sorry for my intrusion into your halls, but I ran across the king's messenger who was dying. His last requests were for me to bring the note here to that man." Razok pointed to Ravion.

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Ravion nodded. "Grave news," he said. "Thank you for bringing me this message." He looked away as Ravock walked away in the direction of some of the starlight folk. He opened the message and read the conents.

I trust you have arrived at the court of Queen Arlaith by now. Once again I give you my thanks for taking this task upon yourself. Say nothing to offend anyone, make quite sure you get into no trouble. Report to me when you can.
King Ravion of Ruarth.

~~~

Estra raised her eyebrows as Ravock approached her and Luce. "Indeed," she said coolly. "Thank you for informing me of this. I am Queen Arlaith's sworn knight, and am therefore grateful I should know of your purpose here." Her tone held no hint of thanks. All there was in her voice was the usual cold, bored tone. Her smile was all ice.

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

Razok grinned at Esta's reply, with a bow of his head.

"Your dislike of humans is no mystery to me," he said casualy. "Kind thanks flow from your lips but bitter colds bite it's effectiveness. I will leave your dweling if that is what you wish. I have no quarel with any being."

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Luce did not have a chance to reply to Estra's statement for at that time the human began to walk towards them. Luce watched Razor cautiously as he approach.

"I am Luce, a lady in her majesty's court," she said as way her introduction. She couldn't be completely impolite. There was after all suppose to be peace between the two nations.

"Whatever our dislike of you is, I must say you are not a coward like the rest of your race," Luce told Razok. "As for your leaving, again whatever our dislike of you is, it is the queen that will decide if you must leave."

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Lauda raced through the forest, hopping from tree branch to leaf strewn floor and then back to the trees. As with the rest of her race she was quick, far quicker than any others that roamed the Earth they shared.

Her kind was different from the Starlight and even more so than the Humans. They were more...feral was the word Humans used, barbaric even. In reality neither words fit, they were more in tune with the nature around them and therefore conformed better to the standards set by the Goddess than those set by kings and queens. Her dress alone was testament to that. Short, and dark green - in any other place it would be unseemly and the leaves in her fiery locks would be deemed unkempt, but the Fae loved such things as bound them to the world and let them run free.

The breezes whispered in her ear of gossip brought from Aralith's court. She laughed - a breathy, surreal sound. Her time spent in the company of the Starlight and Humans would be interesting. Already they grated on the other's nerves.

Her goal was in view, and she stopped running. Her bare feet landing on the ground below with the slightest of noise. No need to astonish anyone yet. She giggled and stepped in through the entrance way, her feet padding softly against the stone as she looked for a greeter to take her to a room.

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Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

Firen, who had been watching the unfolding drama from a corner, turned to see Lauda, one of his own, slide into the court. In typical Fae style she was unkept, her hair wild and her feet unshod. Firen looked much the same, and though he often appeared in the Starkind's court, he never even attempted to rub off he dirt from his skin and clothing. "Lauda." He called, greeting her. "It is good to see a face so kin to my own." For the past two days he had been the only faerie in court. The Starpeople were interesting, but with a culture so different it was uncomfortable being by oneself.

Estra waited until Luce had finished speaking to reply to Razock. She nodded, her icy blue gaze very steady. "It is as Luce says," she said. "The queen and the queen alone will decide on whether you stay or take leave of our court. You will find she is kind but not soft-hearted; she will make her decision wisely."
Her gaze strayed to two faeries further down the great hall. She did not dislike them as she disliked humans. Interesting creatures, if slightly wild, but they intended no harm to Arlaith. She looked back at the others with her usual smile, which was entirely empty of warmth.

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

((Good grief, people! I go away for a couple days, and I come back and see you all miles ahead of me! ))

Lyvanna, lady-in-waiting to the Queen, sat upon a low chair relatively near to her lady, but back closer to the wall. Her large brown eyes, soft and luminous with their own burning, inner light, never drifted far from the Queen. She was dressed in a gown of pale blue, her hair hanging down around her delicate shoulders, a mild expression of dreaminess on her face. She had been watching the story unfolding below, and she was trying to untangle the meaning of it within her own head. After a moment she shook her head and rose quietly, the only sound being the rustle of her skirts as she stepped to her lady's side. "Your Majesty," she said softly, "have you need of anything at present?"

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Banner from Nellie

Razok noded slowly. "I've seen to much in my short life to be a coward, and I've seen enough of your people to know that your wisdom is sound."

Razok looked around for a bit at the grand halls, for the first time taking a moment to note their splendor.

"If it's alright with your queen, then, i should like to stay for a moment to see what I can of your great halls. I'm an explorer, and to me life is not but a task to see and experience new things. This is my first time to this city, so I count it amoung one of my acomplishments."

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Arlaith, hearing the voice of her lady in waiting, Lyvanna, glanced down at her with a small smile. "Nothing as yet, Lyvanna," she replied pleasantly. "Your company suffices me. At the strike of twelve we shall all depart into the gardens."

Estra raised an eyebrow and nodded after Razock had finished talking. "You shall have to go to the dais and ask Her Majesty," she said.

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

Razok nodded. "Certainly."


He headed in to the room where Arlaith sat and bowed slightly before her. "Greetings your Majesty. I am an explorer and fate has brought me to your halls. As an explorer I count it amoung my acomplishments to see your great palace and would request a short stay to see what you will allow."

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