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Draxus Versaw The XI, The Prince of Light

"Everything must be balanced. Even balance itself..."

Draxus walked forward on his own two feet, the trek had been long, but he had refused help such as a mount, saying it was better suited to be put to the fields and help harvest more food. The mount of course had not been put to such work, but the sentiment was understood. Draxus looked as the sun rose, and he covered his eyes at the first glint of light. After that, his body relaxed significantly as the pain from his stumps dissipated, and his wings of pure radiance sprouted from the mangled flesh. While he could dissolve them and then make them reappear throughout the day, they always appeared when he first saw the light, whether he like it or not. After a moment the wings faded again and Draxus continued to walk forward. His father was most likely already at the capital of the Fifth Kingdom. The day dragged on and soon Draxus saw the glinting city, closing his eyes and breathing inwards slightly before continuing on. This was the place he had lost his wings, but it was also the place where he had given his people a chance.

A carriage rolled by and Draxus stood aside, trying to get a good look inside. Inside was a woman, or what he perceived to be a woman due to the veil across their face. It held an air of mystery, but due to the light, it was also somewhat of an ease on his vision. As it rolled by him, Draxus simply smiled and waved at the carriage before following up behind it, shifting his Nodachi on his back slightly by rolling his shoulders. His knapsack was hanging off the hilt of the blade, after all, even though it was meant for combat, there was no war, or any real danger inside of the Fifth Kingdom, so it was for show, and a reminder as to who he was for the King and Queen of the Fifth Kingdom.

Draxus soon reached the line, and he gently made his way through the crowd, explaining who he was and to any that were doubtful, he politely flashed his royal signet ring. He thanked everyone that got out of his way, and was very humble when people of lesser birth apologized to him for not recognizing who he was immediately. By the time Draxus was at the front of the line, the guards had already received word due to how lines and grapevines worked. He of course acted to be treated like those behind him and that he be searched, just for equality's sake, and while the search was done half-heartedly, they guards did so before they waved him on through. The process was repeated again at the castle gates, but with far more digression, and when they asked for the written letter, Draxus politely gave the guards what they wanted before, again, he was waved on through.

Finally, he was here at the castle once more, and overall, Draxus had very mixed feelings about the place. What he did notice however, was the same carriage from before. Another royal from a different kingdom then, that was the only thing that made sense. Draxus approached slowly, and with a smile he spoke calmly. "Good morning M'Lady, the castle is a bit imposing at first, isn't it? The inside is of much finer taste, trust me on that, I've been here more than once."

".. The world is cruel, but also kind. We must give it the same treatment."

'She sat on the steps of a marble staircase her hands raw from scrubbing the steps with the harsh plant chemicals, her nose burned and her eyes watered from the stench. her nails had started to peal from being exposed to so much water. Standing, her hands shaking as she picked up the metal bucket, half dragging half carrying it across the throne room, but just as she was about to reach the doors they opened and her mistress, the lady in charge of all the staff in the castle burst in, her overweight mass ripping the seems of the gorgeous fuchsia dress she had managed to buy with her high wage. The door slammed into her and knocked her over, covering her in the wretched smelling water, The Mistress screamed at her telling her the room smelled horrid, the Mistress picked up the metal bucket and started hitting her with it, telling her to move faster or she would be fired, but she couldn't move under the buckets blows. She screamed for the Mistress to stop, begged her, and just as the bucket was headed toward her face...'

Magdalenia woke up in a night sweat, a rapidly beating heart, and shaking hands. Her past seemed to haunt her tonight. Slowly she swung her legs out of the bed, gently putting them on her cold bedroom floor and standing. She pulled the rope and a bell chimed below her. In under a minute three young women ran into the room, picked out a red dress, her symbol of royalty- her crown, and a chair. Magdalenia sat as one of the women brushed her hair, another washed the night sweats from her body and the last started to arrange her make up. Within half an hour she was standing again being stripped of her night dress and undergarments, quickly washed again and being redressed in her newly chosen red dress. The dress clung to her every curve and valley, flaring out into a full skirt once it got passed her hips, a small dip in her neck line showed her large bosom, and long red sleeves went tight just above her elbows and flared out just as her skirt did covering her arm down to her wrist.

Holding out her hands the servant girls quickly decorated them, her ring finger with her wedding ring, her pointer finger with the fifth kingdom's insignia ring, her pinkie with a small gold and ruby, and on her left hand was another gold pinkie ring with a ruby in the center. and in her left middle finger was the ring of the Queen the band was made of melted down and reformed onyx, the gem in the center was a Diamond that had been melted down and reformed around a pearl, to each side of the Diamond was a smaller pearl, and from their two rubies on each side after the pearls, inside the band was carved the words 'Queen of the Realm, Protector of the people, regent of her young.'

By the time her servant's where done styling her hair, placing her gems, putting on her shoes, finishing up her make up it had been an hour, and the first carriage arrived...it was time to meet the guests. Slowly rising from her chair she made her way down the long hall at the top of the castle and down the flights of steps. She didn't need to make any noise as she walked, the servants all opened the doors as soon as she was seen coming. The main doors opened and Magdalenia stepped out onto the top step. She looked down at her first two guests, towering over them from the top of the grand stair, Her hands clasped in front of her, her ruby lips pierced tightly together, her crown sturdy upon her head, her fan held in the hand below the dominant one. Her white hair hardly moved in the breeze, her condescending eyes watching the slow progress of the Queen of Bellris and the Prince of Abraxos.

Victorianna just laughed "Intimidation is the whole point of the capital." she said to him, frowning as the Queen of all hell came into view "They have been in power for 200 years, not once as anyone taken up arms against the capital" she said as polightly as she could since she didn't know if the queen could hear her now. She stopped several steps away and managed to say "even if we stopped giving money to the capital they have enough stored up to hold out for decades. Seriously though, they have money in over flow, can have dresses made of pure gold while us out provinces...." Victorianna coughed "My bad 'Kingdoms' if we can call ourselves that with what little pride we are aloud, must give our reserves to them" she said softly. She nodded her head when she herd his name "yes...I rightly guessed that You where A Draxus, the lack of height comes from your mothers side I presume since your father is so.....tall" she said to him. That wasn't acutally true, Victorinanna had known of his lineage to the Versaw line because of his ring, none had really cared about a 'dark kingdom' before, and then all of a sudden a Dragon is cutting off his wings to make a point to the capital, that caused an uproar in all the kingdoms and made the Versaw coat of arms recognizable everywhere outside of Abraxos.

Victorianna stopped and glared at the Queen from under her veil, glad for once that no one could see her eyes and the hatred she carried for the high crown, for if it had been seen she would have been executed on the spot. She Curtsied to Queen Magdalenia "You summoned everyone to the castle, High Queen Magdalenia?" she said in as polite a voice she could muster. She then stood back up straight and said, without looking at Draxus "Very well then....Guess if you must" she said, after all she did not wear a ring of power as he did, nor was her seal on her carriage, though she was one of the few in the kingdoms to cover her face, so it narrowed things down a bit.

Draxus Versaw The XI, The Prince of Light

"Everything must be balanced. Even balance itself..."

Draxus, again stood behind Victorianna and allowed the two to exchange, waiting for his turn to speak. Even if he was a man, they were Queens, and that meant their words always came first. He would guess when the time is appropriate, for now, Draxus simply bowed his head towards Magdalenia. There wasn't much for him to do, other than check his appearance and brush off small bits of dust from the road. He was glad that his father was well known, however at the mention of his mother, he frowned. Draxus hadn't really know his mother, nor did his father talk about her. In fact, Draxus didn't even know his mother's name, let alone where she was from or what she had done before giving birth to him. It was all a mystery. His 'Mother' was a woman who had cared for him all throughout his childhood as a stand-in, and even if she wasn't royalty, Draxus respected that woman's word just as much as his fathers, if not even more so. She had taken care of him when he wasn't her child, and even if he was the prince, it still must have been hard for a woman of any age or lifestyle to take care of a baby. That was why the woman held so much of Draxus's respect when it came down to talking.

Draxus caught the name Victoria, and immediately recognized it. His kingdom was watchful, and they had spies everywhere. They had fingers in all sorts of pies so to speak. Victoria was the shortened name of the Queen of Bellris. Her full name was Victorianna Bethany Renee Bellris, also known as Victoria 'The Silver Phoenix' due to her one remaining wing being that of a platinum coloring. She was the only phoenix with a silver wing, so Draxus had made the assumption the woman was a dragon. Draxus was not racist, but at the mention of the name, He did move away slightly, as the woman was known for her superb hatred for dragons. Maybe that was why she had never made the journey to this place? At least, that was what the High Queen was suggesting.

".. The world is cruel, but also kind. We must give it the same treatment."

Magdalenia just stood their, taking the insults as Victorianna slew them, but she played the mature one and didn't go chopping off heads....yet. Though her smile slowly faded into a firm line. Her hands became tighter on her Tessen fan as she took each and every word in. Finally she flipped up her fan, fanning it out and holding it up to her face and slowly fanning herself just below the nose, it was their to keep her frown from showing. As the insults went on she almost lost her temper, at the mention of peasant queen she pressed a small unseen button on the inside of her fan and small razor sharp blades appeared as if in warning.

When Victorianna finally managed to walk on passed her, Magdalenia kept her fan up to her nose, she looked over to Draxus and said "Would you like to see your room?" she said politely as she could, but one of her eyes had managed to go blank, and thats when the servant behind her moved. The servant girl took a dagger out from the folds of her robe and ran after Victorianna, the servant girl screamed as she jumped into the air, the dagger aiming for The Bellris Queen's body.

Draxus Versaw The XI, The Prince of Light

"Everything must be balanced. Even balance itself..."

Draxus's mouth slowly opened at the passive aggressive insults being traded between the two queens. After a moment of recovery, Draxus closed his mouth and turned to Magdalenia, cautious of what he was going to say. "A small rest would be much appreciated High Queen Magda-." He heard the knife draw and the scream. He did not notice the blank eye as Draxus drew his sword but saw Victorianna quickly dispatch the servant. Slowly, the Nodachi was sheathed, the black blade gliding without a sound. What he saw of the Queen of Bellris was a beautiful woman hiding beneath a veil. However, it confused him slightly that she would look so young considering how old she was supposed to be. He shook his head clear of thought and once more remained silent. He did not wish to interfere with something that was not of his doing. That and he wasn't exactly sure how he should react. He had come to Magdalenia's side in his attempt to prevent the combat from happening at all.

After a moment, Draxus was able to move, and he did so swiftly. "Please excuse my rudeness High Queen Magdalenia, but I am sure you will understand what I am about to do." He walked forward and quickly took the rope that was holding his knapsack away, effectively dropping the small bag onto the stairs, simple travelers clothes pouring out. He knelt down and gently took the woman's arms and spoke to the girl, not sure if she could understand or not. "I am sorry for this miss, but please, don't resist, it will only further prove that you are guilty. I am sure you will have a fair trial, but I think all of us here know the punishment for attacking a member of royalty." The rope was wound slowly around the woman's hands and then formed a knot. It was strong enough to hold the woman's arms in place if she didn't struggle, but he did make it so they didn't rubbed the skin raw at every movement. During the entire time, Draxus was very gentle with his procedure.

((OOC: Whoops, Draxus is gentle, not a torturer had to edit in that the rope would not rub the skin raw >.<))

".. The world is cruel, but also kind. We must give it the same treatment."

Shenaiya had been left at the castle when her Grandmother answered the summons and refused her plea to go along. She sighed as she was still expected to go along with her lessons. At least until the second carriage was deemed fit to take her to the high castle, hours after her Grandmother had left. She had been flawless in those lessons for years. Trying harder and harder to get her grandmother's praise. Even if only slight. But the princess was hated, and she knew. Her beautiful mother died shortly after Shenaiya's birth, and Shenaiya had odd colored wings. For a phoenix, red or orange were the common... But Shenaiya had blue colored wings. It wasn't much people knew about her. No one seemed to know. Except her grandmother and her father. Her father, who she was only allowed to see once a month. Twice if she dared go against her grandmother... And since her grandmother was no where within the kingdom, Shenaiya had seen him every moment since. Including before she had left the castle.

Shenaiya was still running her mind over what her Father had told her the day before. The brunette ran her green eyes around the garden, looking for the blue roses that he kept in small areas for her own small part of the garden. She soon found him, and sat on a bench near him. "Father... I'm upset. I don't understand still why Grandmother hates me so. I try so hard to please her... I wanted to go with her. To see the High Castle... But she refused... I'm to leave in a few hours so she won't have to deal with me..." She said bringing her knees to her chest and leaning on them. She had had the same conversation for several days now.

"Shenaiya, don't worry so much. She'll see how amazing you are. Just takes some time. I won't tell you to go against your Grandmother, but maybe you should do something for yourself." He had said this several times now. And each time Shenaiya had been confused as to whether she should...

She sighed as she sat in the carriage waiting to arrive. She wasn't even allowed to spread her wings without her Grandmother's say so.

(Edited)