“Clamour for Glamour” [Akantha]

[Rhydian ValKor]

“Clamour for Glamour”
2 Searing 124
The Eilranoikos

Despite the princess’ busy social schedule, Akantha made time for Rhydian despite a rather last-minute invitation on the morning of Searing the Second. It was possible that this was due to his recent trip abroad and not having seen her in over a season, whilst having been a regular fixture in her household for over a decade. Perhaps he just rates that sort of favour irrespective of the recent absence, but he certainly wouldn’t flatter himself to think so.

The crimson-haired Prince of Val’Kor, awaited the golden-haired princess of Sol’Eilran in a corner of the palace gardens he particularly fancied. Arriving early, he was able to sit in silent appreciation of the verdant vista and steel himself for social interaction. Where Akantha relished and sought out the company of others, Rhydian was a solitary creature who preferred to frame his social exploits on his own particular terms: Familiar faces in familiar places, much like this scenario he’d orchestrated with an old friend in beloved environs. That he liked the princess and typically enjoyed Akantha’s company played no role in his personal peccadilloes. It was just his nature to need to push himself a bit more than most people to engage.

As she approached, Rhydian rose from the bench on which he’d been stiffly perched and, wearing a faint smile, took a few steps forth to embrace her.

“Your Royal Highness.” He intoned, “I’d hoped to see you before I visit my family in Aerion. Thank you for making the time on such short notice. How have you fared throughout the Glade social season whilst I’ve been away? I’ve no doubt I’ve fallen afoul of the fashion of the day and will be duly reprimanded for my negligence.” Stepping back, he gestured down to his current attire: A simple, if well-tailored black robe with crimson accents that matched both his hair and his house colours.

[Akantha SolEilran]

Akantha had been looking forward to Rhydian's return. When they were younger, her father's cupbearer had also served as a dress-up mannequin and companion from time to time when he was not busy with his duties to Ailuin. She had also been quite jealous for a while of the time they spent together, though her mother had discouraged that sort of behaviour and tried to make her firstborn see that Rhydian wouldn't ever take over her space and time with her Tata.

Even now that they were older, she was still able to play dress up with him. There were more restrictions - no more ball gowns for him now that they were adults, alas - but she found plenty of outfits and sometimes had pieces made for him and set aside for when the opportunity came. It wouldn't be unusual for something to find its way to his rooms from one of her servants, and the Princess might call on him for a visit or invite him when he had time himself.

Akantha entered the gardens and her blue eyes, enhanced as they permanently were now through her first osprey totem, found Rhydian where she expected him to be. Now it was just a matter of making her way over there as she walked along the elegant pathways to the gardens. She had spent a lot of time out here as a child, playing with her siblings, and she often sat and meditated or practiced one of her Runes in the shade of the trees on the elegant benches.

There was no mistaking her - even if she was dressed fairly casually for the Princess of Thorns. Clouds of chiffon were cinched with a wide belt that resembled gold feathers, and there was a similar adornment at the neckline that formed the sleeveless dress, with delicate sandals peeking through as she walked. Her long blonde hair was braided on both sides and swept into a bun at the nape of her neck, and dainty gold rings winked in her ears. Her usual aerolyth dragonshard bracelet encircled one wrist, and she smiled when the two of them came into view of each other and he stood up.

When her father's Nightshade offered his arms, Akantha hugged him, leaning into the embrace. "So formal," the Princess teased. "Our parents are not here, you know. You needn't use titles, Your Serene Highness," she chuckled. She squeezed his hands, looking him over as he mentioned he may have fallen behind with his attire. "There is something to be said for tradition, isn't there? But... we can dress this up a bit, wouldn't you say? I've got some outfits for you, though, and they're not all gowns. I'm going to send you to this tailor that I visited in last season, too. He's got a military background and he's been working with some soldiers as well." She released him and gestured to the bench so that they could sit. "Glade went rather well, some new people came from Kalzasi... Starfall is their ancestral home, but one of them is a female Avialae. The first and only, and she made a rather good impression, not only on my father, but on Prince Salmakis. I quite liked her, really... and you missed my nameday party," she made a show of frowning mightily at that. Still, such an event was hardly Rhydian's scene, especially as late as the parties went with her now.

"All the same... welcome home, Rhydian, I did miss you. How was your trip? Was it a productive one?" she wanted to know.

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Rhydian ValKor]

Rhydian had always erred towards formality, even as a child. He'd always been one to welcome clearly established rules, routines and restrictions. Perhaps it was simply his nature, or perhaps it was due to his upbringing in a house where chain-of-command was paramount and where regulations had truly life-or-death stakes. Even in peacetime, always prepared. Was it, then, strange that Rhydian should apply battlefield logic to social interactions? Not to him. Both were unpredictable and, though the stakes were different, there were stakes at court. He tended to begin with a formal greeting, but those tended to be dismissed and so, by the rules of his understanding, he could be, as they said in the military, 'at ease'.

As Akantha spoke of her stylish schemes, Rhydian nodded. He tended to trust her fashion acumen, at least at the brainstorming stage. Sometimes at the fitting stage he would need to veto some of her more esoteric preferences, but she had free reign at the outset, just as when they'd been children.

"Ah. Perhaps my trip to Kalzasi was something of an exchange, then. I certainly saw no paucity of Avialae, but... As you indicate, of course, none of the female bent. Or at least none with the telltale wings. What, I wonder, was the purpose of their visit?"

Rhydian bowed his head slightly in mea culpa for the social slight though, being gone for a season, he was doubtless going to miss at least one of Akantha's milestone celebrations, so she surely knew it was unavoidable. He took it for teasing, though he tended to find such things difficult to read without Semblance.

"Productive, informative, but all in all, it gave me an even greater appreciation for home. I'd recommend outland travel for that, if nothing else."

[Akantha SolEilran]

Akantha understood it was just Rhydian's way. In some aspects, it had been helpful to watch and emulate the older boy when they were children - and now that they were adults (even young ones), his formality was an excellent habit to have. She may have teased him here and there, but there was no sharpness to her tongue. There were those that may have earned it from the Princess of Thorns, but the Knight certainly hadn't, and wasn't likely to ever do so. He was Ailuin's favourite, and she knew that he meant a great deal to her father. Even if they weren't good friends, his position within the council and his standing as a Prince of the realm would have curbed her severity all the same.

"I've never heard of any either, and if I'd not seen her with my own eyes, and she was Sembled rather thoroughly... I'd have doubted it, too. But Lady Kala is apparently the first and only. She and her twin brother, Kaus, were visiting. She is the junior minister of finance for Kalzasi, though their home is Starfall. She was here with regards to trade agreements, and Kaus accompanies her, as I understand, on her travels. He was quite popular with our winged soldiers, and spent considerable time with them training and flying," Akantha recounted. "Father did not detect anything amiss with them. Soren liked them well enough. I quite enjoy her company; it's just a shame her ears are so... human."

When he inclined his head, she nodded magnanimously, but she was smiling in order to assure him it was all in jest and she was not at all put out by the fact he had missed a party. It couldn't be helped; duty was duty, and they all served their Kingdom however they could. She could perhaps throw him a homecoming bash, but that was also the right of his mother to host such a party if she was of a mind to do it; the Val'Kor tended to be a little more austere, after all. When he said he would recommend outland travel to at least help them appreciate their home, the Princess was thoughtful as she studied the brilliantly-blooming shrubs across the pathway. "I suppose it would. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home, is there? I don't suppose you've heard any theories during your forays abroad about the new moon that has appeared?"

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Rhydian ValKor]

A cool, gentle breeze wafted through the courtyard, setting leaves to rustle and branches to creak with nature's subtle background music and Rhydian listened mildly as Akantha delivered her account of the Kalzasern envoy's visit and, as the telling culminated with a bit of distaste at the shape of Kala's ears, the prince smirked ever so slightly and said:

"Nothing that couldn't be concealed with the right hairstyle, I should think." Though such things were far more Akantha's province than his own, and perhaps such styles weren't in fashion these days. He'd worn his hair the same way for many years, though the princess had at least seen to it that he no longer had the basic bowl cut he'd had upon his arrival at court all those years ago.

Rhydian arched an eyebrow in amusement,

"I'm not certain The Eilranoikos was what they had in mind when that adage about humble homes was first coined, Princess..." He chided, playfully. One could say many things about the royal estate in Silfanore, but he'd never heard it regarded as being remotely modest. It amused Rhydian to imagine that Akantha was so privileged a princess that she might actually image her family home to be anything but ornate. Still, his smirk fell away and his eyes rose skyward as the question of the moon was posed.

"'Oh, Fortune, like the moon with an ever changing state, always waxing or waning...'" He quoted an old bit of poetry, while pondering an answer. "Nothing worth repeating. Merely idle speculation. And what have you heard here in Silfanore?" He turned the question, and his gaze, back on the princess.

[Akantha SolEilran]

"Her hair isn't very long, and it's quite straight," Akantha mused. "Maybe a brooch containing some Masquerade, or some earrings. That should be easy enough for any apprentice Runeforger worth their salt to do... Ah, ear frames. There we go. I think something in platinum would suit her colouring quite well." But she would let that topic go. She knew full well how some might not appreciate the finer details and points of such things, but she was fortunate that Rhydian would humour her.

Usually.

She did raise an eyebrow and smile when he chided her. She supposed it really wasn't; the Princess knew well that she was privileged and that her experiences were quite far from just about everyone else in the world. She was not going to be one for slumming it; and if she ever did leave the capital to go stay somewhere, she was going to need that mobile Akanthoikos that her father had mentioned before in jest. She did like her creature comforts, be it in Silfanore or in Vallanar, where her mother's family had their throne in the City of Stained Glass. "They probably were not, no, but the point still stands. No matter how grand or how humble, there's no place like home."

She listened to his comments with regards to the new moon, her gaze following his up at the sky. "Father said that our auguries have not found anything conclusive about it. Nerix has provided no answers, either, and when I asked the scholars, they say they are not yet certain." Which was, perhaps, the hallmark of a good scholar; the wisest would say that they knew nothing, after all. Still, Akantha did ponder why. "In any event, we know it became visible from the Eclipse, and whatever caused that may have had a hand in its creation... if a moon can be created in such a way. That seems more like the province of a deity... but there has been nothing from Nerix." She pursed her lips, considering as she looked to the sky and the sun that was shining down. "It would be nice to know... but I suspect there may be trouble coming from it. The effects on the natural world remain to be seen."

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Rhydian ValKor]

“As ever, I defer to your keener eye in such matters.” Rhydian dipped his head slightly as Akantha came to a summary decision as to how the Lady Kala might best conceal her heritage from them who disapproved of it. Rhydian himself took no such umbrage. Lesser races were to be pitied, in his eyes, not scowled at. It was enough that they were born with the misfortune of being less than Hytori, he saw no reason to compound that curse with social disapproval.

“As you say.” Rhydian smiled faintly as the princess supplanted one adage with another more fitting axiom. Humble, though it was not, there was no contesting that this was home to both of them.

“I hardly place full faith in the assessments I heard abroad, but I expect to be briefed on the Hytori interpretation anon, now that I am returned to court. I will likely attend the council when I return from Aerion, but whatever the origins or implications, I’ve no doubt your father will have things well in hand. One thing I learned abroad is that many realms felt far more of the Eclipse’s blight than did we in Silfanore. We are a bastion shielded under the aegis of a wise and powerful warden.” A beat of silence hung in the air before he spoke on.

“Pray, tell me what is the next social event that is not to be missed? I should like to mark it in my diary in all haste as not to miss the next as I missed the last.”There was also the added benefit of being able to prepare himself for a good long time In anticipation of the function, as to mitigate his discomfort in particularly public settings.

[Akantha SolEilran]

She nodded as he mentioned he would be attending the Council meetings again now that he had returned from abroad, and while Akantha accompanied her father. There wasn't a whole lot to be gleaned, it seemed, on that subject. "Understandable. Our wards did quite well. I know of one other place that managed to replicate the process, but on a much smaller scale," the Princess was thoughtful. The world at large had many problems, and those that would come from this new moon remained to be seen... but they would reveal themselves in time. He was right, though, in that her Father and the rest of their homeland would manage.

She inhaled the scent of the greenery around them, though her attention was on Rhydian. "Well, the next one, obviously, is going to be a garden party held in your honour for your return, Nightshade," the Princess of Thorns smiled. Even if that might be the sort of province of his Princess mother, Akantha did so love her fetes, and the logistics would be fairly easy for her to come up with... especially with her legion of planners. She was already redressing him in her head in an outfit that might well fit the theme while keeping in mind his own preferences. "We'll have it in... oh, three days' time." She could pull it together for tomorrow, true, but that did require a number of their cohort to swiftly adjust plans that may have been long-held or risk the hit to their reputations. And that could be a double-edged sword. A few days gave people time to make arrangements with their schedules and to get the word sent out. This could be a relatively intimate party, and that would of course allow Princess Achiroë to host one if she desired, and the size wouldn't necessarily step on her iron slippers.

Of course, this was about Rhydian, and therefore, she wanted to take her friend's opinions under advisement. "What would be your preference? Afternoon or evening?" There was plenty to be said for both, but the time of day helped set the menu and any additional decoration...

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Rhydian ValKor]

“Oh? And what other place was that?” Rhydian inquired, curious at the princess’ uncharacteristic reticence on the details. He knew that other realms had their methods of mitigating the effects… those that had the prowess and forethought to make such preparations at least.

The Val’Kor prince’s eyes widened observably and a light sound of caught breath could be heard behind the bob of his Adam’s apple. He consciously chose to settle himself back into tranquility.

“Ah yes, of course. I might have anticipated.” He replied with a downward glance. His lip twitched slightly to hear it would be upon them so soon. Of course it couldn’t wait over long or it would quickly wax obsolete, but it still felt sudden.

“Evening.” He replied promptly and without hesitation. He was very eager to return to his routines now that he was back in Silfanore. An afternoon fête would interrupt those where an evening event would not. It was a challenge even now not to rush back to his preferred patterns, but it didn’t really make sense to start with his impending visit to Aerion poised to upset the flow of the thing in a day’s time. Perhaps it had been good that he’d been forced to break his routines for a time and get out of his comfort zone, but he’d long since proven his resolve in so doing and was ready for a bit of relief.

“And let us keep it small, prithee.” Rhydian wasn’t close with many people, and keeping it reserved to those for whom he had a stronger affinity would lighten the burden and make it easier to resign himself to in the paltry amount of time allotted.

[Akantha SolEilran]

"Starfall. In the mountains of Karnor. It's to the east of Kalzasi, as they showed me on the map," Akantha had to admit that world geography was not her strongest point. She had been making a point to learn about Starfall for when she next invited Kala and her retinue, or at least, her brother, back to Silfanore. "As I understand, they didn't have as much success as we did in making sure that our citizens were not affected, and they covered a much smaller area... but they did enough to get the job done and keep everyone alive." The younger races had come through there, at least; there were not many others that could say the same.

She heard that swallow, and she didn't address it. She understood full well that Rhydian did not like sudden surprises, and this was simply a very sudden plan, but the Princess knew he would warm up to it. Any sooner and it was verging on rude with the intended guests, any later and it would be somewhat pointless. That aside; three days was enough to prepare, especially if it was kept small with a familiar guest list. She did know what treats he seemed to like, and their chefs would go from there. The gardens would require very little, considering the efforts of the woodsingers who kept them; but magical lanterns and such would be arranged.There were others would see to the nitty gritty details that brought Akantha's ideas to life, but it all had to start somewhere.

"Evening it is. That works out well with this outfit I had in mind, actually." Because of course she did. She might have seen something somewhere that inspired her to have something made, or saw something on a mannequin in a shop while she was looking for something else, but Rhydian's own wardrobe did leave much for him to choose from... with new additions being brought in all the while. "The gardens will be perfect. And of course, I figured to keep it to our cohort," Mostly their families and the royal houses. She was not about to invite their generation from the other houses without the present heads; it would be an insult. They may only come briefly, or respectfully decline, but she couldn't very well leave them out. Keeping it small also allowed Princess Achiroë to throw something larger and more wide-ranging if she chose to do so without that being redundant. "I will of course make sure His Majesty is informed. Can you think of any others you'd like me to invite?"

"There is no rose without a thorn."