[SRP] Bernese Ball

[Toogee]

Shad made mention of Ambrose. They were separated once they crossed into Bern. She hoped he didn't head back back to Lycia or worse, Tania. Last she recalled, Ambrose was against reviving the Black Fang, seeing it an icon of hate. She wondered what he would say if he were in this room.

"I imagine Ambrose would be about as much a fan of Black Fang as Cecily here," Paige whispered back while Satsume tried to temper Cecily's anger. Cecily reacted exactly how Paige thought a Bern noble would. Fortunately, Satsume was a voice of reason and made solid points about maintaining the secrecy.

"I agree with Satsume," Paige said in response, "Lita and Goldhardt deserve the benefit of the doubt. But...I still would keep quiet about your occupation."

[Cevian]

Lita sat there and listened as her newly met traveling companions began to react to what she had said. It was about what she had expected. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath as Cecily had what was unarguably the most volatile reaction to the information. Thankfully Satsume was trying to keep things from escalating. Opening her eyes she took back her sword but set it back down on the table, not quite ready to return it to wherever she was hiding it on her person.


“I understand that who we work for is a bit of a touchy subject and I am fairly certain that trying to wax poetic about the good nature of their ideals would only serve to inflame such ideas when some are already fairly set on not accepting them. I do hope you could see why I was trying to be coy with it? Some level of honesty would be needed to get you to trust us and yet that very honesty could and has driven a wedge into that trust. If you would like than Goldhardt and I could simply go on our way, the lord doesn't seem to have noticed we are even here yet, and as Satsume explained his guards wouldn't fair well in trying to catch us and I'd rather not hurt them on the way out. It would probably spoil the spirit of the ball. Still. I shared this with you as an attempt to build trust so I would like to at least see if that can happen.”

[Swift_Assassin]

"Cecily?!" Shad tried to chime in, but was drowned in by Satsume and Cecily's exchange. He pursed his lips, tilted his head to the side and just stared off as the conversations went on around him. He began gathering his thoughts for an arguement as Paige threw in her two cents. He let Lita respond to Cecily's ire and her explanation. When she finished, Shad stood up, looking right at Cecily.

He cleared his throat, both to get her attention and, well, clear his throat. "As someone who's had to fight for my home once already, I've got a word of advice for you, Lady of Laus," He specifically called out her title, as she did him before. "Beggars can't be choosers." He put his hand up, to acknowledge how basic that advice was. "Hear me out. If we can't secure some sort of alliance with Lord Faren or any of the nobility of Bern, then we'd be forced to look to mercenaries, volunteers, or worse. If Lita was already looking into Lycia's situation, then the Fang has interest there. Having a discreet group like that would be handy for smuggling supplies, gathering information or...I don't know, securing safe passage for mages and other refugees out of Lycia?! You may not like them. But, and forgive me for saying this Lita, USE them. Ignore their history and use and exploit them as a tool, if that makes the arrangement palatable. If you turn them in, we lose those resources. And, may I remind you, who in this room has a standing army that can't all fit in this room? I've got maybe 25 guys, not including a handful of spies and family, left after the castle fiasco. I'm not taking on Ostia in a fight. I'm stupid, but not that stupid."

He looked around at the group before continuing, even looking at Maria, who's actually listening intently. It was a bit unnerving actually. "Lady Cecily, take this from the the Baron of Arretium. You're smarter than I am. You should know that war makes strange bedfellows. It happens to Pharaen's all the damn time. Right Paige?" If anyone should know, it would be the librarian. Just the fact a librarian is part of this group should be the definition of the term to begin with. But Shad just stopped then. Without waiting for an answer, he sat down in his chair and leaned back a bit.

[Lavi]

Satsume's instant defense on Lita's behalf felt like a betrayal. Cecily made it clear from the beginning that she did not trust Lita or her companion from the beginning: she felt vindicated in her scorn.

She could not bring herself to trust Lita and Goldhardt, even with the added defense of the others present. But, as she collected her thoughts, Cecily was reminded that she had also placed her trust in Satsume on a single deed. But she would never admit to such hypocrisy, even as she delivered a look of betrayal in her retainer's direction as he offered Lita her sword.

Shad's interjection acted as a convenient out of her well of thoughts. It is perhaps the most befittingly aristocratic thing she has heard him say which, despite its low bar, managed to impress her nonetheless.

"I am aware, Lord Shad. If you believe that I would willingly submit myself to the muse of Lord Faren, then you simply have not been paying attention," Cecily said, her voice muted from her controlled breaths.

Cecily's address of his station is probably the most praise that she would let on. How a man this dense manage to hold a higher title than herself, she will never know. Or want to, for that matter.

"An incident this close to the ball may injure our chances to pursue our agenda. But," she looked straight at Satsume. "I trust you will continue to be at my side."

Opposed to fraternizing with threats, she silently added.

Cecily turned her attention to the drink in front of her to signal that she is finished with this discussion. She mulled over the clarity of her own plan, thanks to Shad's words.

War is inevitable. And she is about to add to the growing embers.

[WyvernSlayer]

Satsume merely sighed.  "Yes.  Yes, I will."

The tension was finally broken by a knock at the door.  Satsume looked at Cecily, who gave him a tiny nod.  He stepped past Lita and Shad and opened one of the double doors a crack.

"Yes?"

"Seamstresses, sir - is the Lady Cecilia available to be fitted for her dress?" came the reply from the other side.  Satsume peered over his shoulder.  Cecily laid her teacup down and began to move around from the back of the table.

"Let's talk about this some other time," said Satsume.  "Everybody clear on outta here."  He pulled the doors open, gesturing to his companions to vacate the room.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Later that evening...


Satsume groaned.  It was loud, it was colorful, and it was quite possibly the most uncomfortable scene he could imagine himself in.  The ballroom was opulent to the point of being aggressive to the eyes - all the gold, silver, and silk from the tables, to the loungeseats, stretching all the way up to the parapets.  Trays of food so exotic and luxurious, Satsume could not identify them.  And scattered throughout the room, hemmed in by a perimeter of decorated guardsmen, were all manner of high society - dukes, nobles, and minor lords from all over Bern, milling and dancing while wearing their most fetching costumes.

Everyone was dressed to impress.  This included Satsume.

Mainly at Cecily's behest.

Shined low-cut boots, tailored navy blue pants with gold trim along the outseam, and a white and red square-shouldered, double-breasted jacket.  At least I talked Cecily out of making me wear those ugly white gloves, he thought.  He caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection from an empty silver platter at the nearest table.  Repulsed, he reached out and flipped it face down.  What the hell are you doing here, Satsume?

He scanned the room again, picking Cecily out from among the sea of colors.  She was speaking with Faren.  He couldn't see the look on her face, but he could only assume it was that same fake smile she had been giving him since they flew in.  Heaving a sigh, he began to walk toward her, taking care to avoid eye contact with anyone.  The last thing he needed was to awkwardly explain what a man of his birth was doing so far out of his element.

With Cecily only a few yards ahead of him, Satsume felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned.  A young brunette in a beautiful green and gold dress stood before him.  Before he could open his mouth to speak, she curtsied and held out her hand expectantly.

"Oh... uh... sorry, miss.  I, uh..." Satsume gulped and looked over his shoulder to make sure Cecily was still there.  In the far corner of the ballroom, musicians had begun playing an upbeat tune.  He looked back at the woman who had approached him.  "Uh... I'm not a good dancer."

"It's easy, I can teach you!" she said with a grin.

"E-excuse me, miss!"  Satsume turned away from her and briskly made his way to Cecily's side.  This can't be happening...

[Swift_Assassin]

Shad and Maria(with Grey in tow) got up to leave, with Maria curtsying to Cecily on her way out. Grey led the way and let them in. After the door closed behind them, Maria spoke out. "War? I thought the phrase was politics?" Shad sighed and looked back at the young girl.

"It's inevitable. Paige doesn't want it and Satsume will do what Cecily commands him to. I needed to make sure we're on the same page on this. The Church is doing similar things to what happened at the castle, and it-"

"Very well then. Get working on it," Maria replied, anger seething in her voice at the mention of the similarity. She's not recovering well from the affair. Grey approached her and whispered in her ear. He saw her eyes dancing around and finally closed. She took a deep breath. "Let's get ready." This mood swing was concerning. Something was up. Shad looked down, knowing in his heart it was his fault. If he went straight for the Maria instead of traveling around Lycia with Paige and the others, none of this would have happened. No. It was the Emperor's fault. He forced Shad's hand and made him exile her to Burg Castle out of Lycia's reach. If it wasn't for him, they'd be home now, living a peaceful life. It was his fault. He looked up at Maria, with a bit of the same anger in his eyes that he heard in her voice. Only for Grey to wave him off to go get ready for the ball.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shad just stood looking around, taking in the opulence on display. No wonder Hyperion's don't do balls. They're eyesores! He did do his best to make himself presentable though. He attempted to tame his hair, it kinda worked. He was wearing his father's formal...coat? It was his father's normal coat but in white silk and lacking chainmail. He was also wearing his father's cloak, a faded teal cloak that went down to his knees. To finish the ensemble, his father's dark purple boots with white trim. Shad actually really liked the style of the boot. He might consider getting new boots like this. None of this was adequate for combat. With it's age, it was questionable if it was fit for this ball, but thankfully it held up well over the years.

Next to him was Maria, wearing an outfit he hadn't seen before. It must have been something Maisie made for her. A large dark purple bow adorned her head, a dark purple dress came to several points, almost like a lily flower when opened up. She had these sleeves secured at her forearms, with a dark purple and white design to it. It even had a collar, not attached to anything else. They must have had time to think it up. She didn't look any less angry than before, but her bangs always make her look angry. Her eyes sparkled a bit, but she had her restrain her excitement. There was protocol to follow, after all.

"You look like shit. Have you been sleeping?" A familiar voice asked, coming from his left. To their surprise, it was Baron Tyber Fen, Maria's former guardian and future father-in-law. He looked more down to earth than the other nobles here, wearing shades of brown instead of gold, silver, and white. It was his family colors though.

"Lord Tyber, why are you-"

"Lord Faren. My wife's cousins with one of his cousins. I'm here at her request. Trust me, this is all I get out of the relation. An invite to his events, nothing more." He paused, looking around the room. Shad recognized the look as a man wanting to die. He did not want to be there. "My wife always drags me to these things. But I digress. I heard what happened. My condolences. I knew those men were close to your father. They'd lay down their lives for you countless times if needed." The siblings looked down to the ground, both not liking hearing those words. Guilt washed over Shad, while anger became more prominent on Maria's face. Tyber back pedaled a bit at that reaction. "You can talk to me about it later. Mingle with the nobles. We'll need what alliances you can muster." He said before walking off.  

Both siblings just stood there, simmering in their thoughts. Maria looked around and saw Grey and left to meet up with her, leaving Shad to go back to blaming himself.

[Cevian]

Things were continuing to go about as well as Lita was expecting. Cecily just didn't trust the two of them and to that end there was little more she could say to try to change her mind. Not to mention the fact that since some of her companions were less weary of them was driving a wedge in the group. A knock came to the door and their serious discussion was brought to an end. Lita picked her sword back up and returned it to wherever it was she was keeping it.

"Well then we will be on our way. Come, Goldhardt." Lita stood and turned to leave with her armored companion clanking along behind her.

---

Lita had arrived in a rather stunning red dress that in many ways was a bit more modest than her normal attire. She had moved in and was mingling with various guests as if being at an event like this was second nature. Her current traveling companions had been told who she worked for and she wasn't going to let the fact that one of them wasn't too happy with her employer stop her from having fun and perhaps picking up some bits of information while she was there.

Meanwhile Goldhardt was standing over to at a wall looking over the evening's events. One might mistake the suit of armor for merely being decoration if it didn't move with every breath. Whoever or whatever inhabited it was making no effort to hide the fact that there was indeed someone or something inside of it.

[Lavi]

The dress cut and sewn for her was indeed pretty, but it was not to Cecily's taste. However, she could not deny that it had its savory elements. It glittered in harmony with the jewelry supplied to compliment it, drawing the gazes of the other patrons. The lines it drew with her body were exotic without exposing too much skin, the latter Cecily appreciated. She caught a glimpse of Satsume's discomfort and could not help but smile. A smile that was short lived, since Faren finally caught up with her.

"You look stunning!" Faren exclaimed, taking her hand. Cecily wanted to roll her eyes, but managed to close them to match her fake smile.

"At least your sense of fashion exceeds your choice of praise," she replied.

It was a calculated phrase: Cecily knew that Faren would take it as friendly banter (which he did). A slight ruckus from what sounded like a flustered Satsume turned her attention away from the Bernese lord. The distraction was welcome for shifting the subject away from herself, for once.

"I would have expected time in my company would have taught you a thing or two about treating a lady," she teased Satsume as he stood by her side. She beckoned him to lean in for her to whisper.

"You would look great without the face of an impending panic attack," she quietly consoled him. "Relax. I will shield you on this battlefield."

[Lavi]

Cecily's time with Satsume was short-lived, as it always seems to be at these social gatherings. Lord Faren's brother Albert cleared his throat as he approached her.

"May we speak in private?" Albert asked, offering her his hand.

Cecily did not like the sound of it. But, she had no means of avoiding the question.

"Of course," she answered, resting her hand in his.

The two broke from the crowd and proceeded down a hallway that quite clearly was meant to be off limits to the public. When Albert dismissed the guards from the entrance of a private study, Cecily knew that there was something going on.

Inside, the room was dimly lit; the room's fireplace provided much of the illumination. It has changed a little since Cecily was last in this room with Lord Faren. Numerous book shelves lined the walls, filled to the brim with various texts. Any average noble would not think much of them but Cecily's experienced eye was able to pick out spellcasting tomes scattered among the innocuous works. It would seem they are meant for self-defense, but Cecily wondered whether it was practical to pull one of those tomes from the shelf and cast a spell before being attacked by a sudden assailant.

Albert closed the door behind them and courteously offered Cecily a seat. She accepted it and Albert rested against the desk before it. Cecily could tell from Albert's grim face earlier that he was not happy to see her here and she could already guess that would be how he will open their conversation.

"It concerns me that you arrived here without invitation," he began. "Of course, custom would dictate that you be refused from the party, but Lord Faren was insistent that an exception be made for you."

"To which I am grateful," Cecily said.

"Yes, it would reflect badly for one of the celebrated heroes to be barred from her own party. Especially one whose face is familiar to this house," Albert replied. "But your presence here invites unwanted danger."

"Surely that danger is no greater than the refugees your country has openly welcomed," Cecily countered.

Albert shook his head. "Unfortunately, the nobility do not play by the same rules as the commoners."

He went around the desk, opened one of the drawers, and drew a letter from it. He held it up to the light and read:

Quote:Dear Faren, Lord of Geneva,

As you may be aware, the Empire of Lycia is undergoing great change. Various elements strive to rebel against our policies, sometimes with violent means. It is within the best interests of our march to assist our brethren in rooting out and arresting individuals suspected of inciting insurrections across the lands. It pains me to write, but we believe that Lady Cecilia has played a major role in spreading misinformation about the changes in Lausian policies as well as providing shelter from authorities. To our regret, she has managed to flee before being she could be apprehended and we believe that Cecilia may attempt to plead for asylum within Bern. I ask that you instead return her to us, since we are concerned that Cecilia may use her asylum status in order to instigate harm without reprisal. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Hannes, Marquess of Laus

Albert lowered the letter. "You can verify the seal of Laus yourself if you wish."

Cecily had no reason to doubt the letter. It certainly sounded like Marquess Hannes to lie if it meant that he could get what he wanted. In fact, for him to resort to a letter must mean that he could not continue using assassins to hunt her for some reason. She could only theorize that the previous assassination attempt at the refugee camp caused such a stir that further controversy would be politically untenable.

"And what will Lord Faren do now that I am here?" she asked.

"Nothing," Albert answered, returning the letter to its drawer as Cecily approached the desk.

"Do you object to his decision?" Cecily asked.

"Insofar as tempting the wrath of the Lycian Empire will cause immense bloodshed not seen since the reign of King Zephiel," Albert said.

"Like how Etruria 'invoked' the wrath of the Emperor?" Cecily said.

"It has never been proven that they were innocent," Albert glared at her.

"It has never been proven that they were guilty," Cecily retorted. "The Emperor does not play by the same rules that we have come to accept."

"Perhaps, but we are not ready to close our doors to refugees. Already public sentiment has become mixed following the incident in the refugee camps. The incident stirred by your presence," Albert said.

Cecily stepped around to the back of the desk. Albert admitted that he was willing to sacrifice her for the sake of maintaining Bern's current political stance. Although he kept much of her feelings in check, even she could not hide her displeasure.

"Is that all? Arresting me at the banquet hosted for myself and my companions? Appeasing Lycia? Delaying the inevitable?" her voice matched the chill of her glare.

"I was of mind to inform you ahead of time to not surprise you at the eleventh hour," Albert said. "But if you were to think about escaping..."

"No, that will not be necessary," Cecily replied.

She knew the nooks and crannies of the desk from her past time with Lord Faren. There was a hidden slot for a dagger, which Albert seemed oblivious to. Cecily was able to draw it from its hiding spot behind her back. She took a few steps towards Albert with the same stern gaze.

"I will not bleed for Bern," she told him coldly.

It only took one quick motion to plunge the knife into his heart, the other reaching for his mouth to cut off his gasp. Albert crumbled under the combined assault and shock, weakly struggling as Cecily pushed the blade deeper with the weight of her body over his. Never did she think that the lessons she had with handling a knife, thanks to Theodore, would actually be put to use. But it was surprisingly... easy.

Cecily took a deep breath, processing what she had just done. Despite having planned it in her head in the middle of her conversation with Albert, it seemed surreal compared to the political dances she had done for Laus and Lycia. But there was one more thing that needed to be done to cement the scene. She walked over to the nearby windows, opening them, then rushed back to Albert's body.

"Guards!" she shouted. "Get help!"

The thump of the heavy doors and metallic clank of the guardsmen's response came within moments.

"Assassin..." Cecily gave one of them a look of shock and terror.

One of them, presumably a captain by the difference in his garb, looked at her and then the open window and understood what she meant. He turned to his partner, barking out orders. The 'assassin' must be stopped before he left the premise.

"Let's get you out of here," the captain told her.

He offered her his hand, to which she took. With a sword drawn, the captain guided her out of the study.

[WyvernSlayer]

Satsume heaved a sigh, mostly out of relief.  She wasn't completely unsympathetic to his plight, after all.
 
Faren gave Satsume a hard look, seemingly put off by his presence.  But the standoff was short-lived - a third man approached, and requested to speak to Cecily in private.  "Of course," she replied.
 
"Wait," said Satsume.  All eyes converged on him.  Cecily put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring look.  Satsume nodded at her.  "...you know where to find me."  She and the other man walked away, leaving Satsume alone in the company of Faren.  Curiously, he did not seem troubled at the sudden departure of his... object of desire.
 
Faren cleared his throat.  "Well, then!  Tell me, Mister, uh... Saskatoon?"
 
"Satsume."
 
"Yes yes, Mister Satsume.  I could not help but notice that you are the Lady Cecilia's vassal, and not... oh, what was his name..."  Faren snapped his fingers in an effort to jog his memory.  A butler whisked by with a plate crammed with bubbling champagne.  "Theodore!" he finally exclaimed, before realizing his snapping had attracted refreshments.  "Is he well?"  Faren grabbed a pair of the champagne glasses and offered one to Satsume.
 
"I wouldn't know," Satsume replied, taking the glass from Faren.  "I only met him once, in passing."
 
"I do remember him fondly," said Faren.  "...which is odd, considering he was but an aide like yourself.  He carried himself with the utmost... professionalism."  He took a sip and peered at Satsume over his glass.
 
Satsume knew what Faren was doing.  And he didn't like it.  He lifted his own glass to his lips and knocked back the sweet champagne in one gulp.  "And I don't?" he smirked.
 
Faren's eyes widened briefly.  "Well, let's just say that you are... of a different upbringing.  An unusual one, given your role."
 
Satsume seethed at Faren’s passive aggression.  But he managed to smirk through his anger.  “I don’t know, Lord Faren.  I would argue that being a humble peasant allows me to see things that nobles can’t.”
 
“Such as?”
 
“Fascinating thing about your friend Cecilia…” Satsume stepped past Faren.  “She’s not into you.  And you’re the only one who can’t see it.”
 
Faren’s eyes narrowed over his shoulder at Satsume.  He grinned from ear to ear in silent rebuttal.  Satsume reached out to pat Faren on the shoulder in mocking sympathy, only to have his hand brushed away angrily.  Satsume raised his eyebrows, as if to say, “take that,” then left him in the middle of the ballroom.
 
That was worth it.  Satsume strolled triumphantly towards the hallway where he saw Cecily go with the other gentleman.  As he passed the food table, he set down his glass.  Peeking down the hall, he saw Cecily making her way back.  Strangely, the gentleman who had gone with her before was absent.  Instead, she was accompanied by a couple of the castle guards.  Cecily wore an empty expression, as though she’d seen a ghost.
 
“Milady!  Are you alright?”  He grabbed her by the shoulders to try and jostle away her look of shock.

[Swift_Assassin]

A man was drowning at this ball. This man thought he knew how to swim, how to stay afloat upon the sea of high society. He thought the Ostian who came with them would be the one drowning, but they knew he didn't know how to swim, and he was given a life preserver. Shad just stood where Tyber left him, thoughts swimming in his head. Thoughts on his fallen men, thoughts on the war to come. Thoughts on who to ask for aid and thoughts on how to do it. He couldn't muster the courage to just do it. His introduction to Lord Faren was so well disregarded that the rest of the rabble could very well do the same. He kinda stood there, paralyzed, unsure how to proceed. "Sir?" Shad barely acknowledged it. "Excuse me?" Why would someone talk to him? "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. A little distracted, is all," Shad replied, giving an honest answer. He turned his attention to the source of the voice and saw a man clad in white with a red leather chest guard on. His eyes were a bit sunken, but also a piercing blue. In fact, the shade of blue, matched with his shade of red hair reminded him of someone.

"It's nothing. I'm General Ruadri Ebner. You're...Baron Shadrach Hyperion, correct?" Shad narrowed his eyes. Something seemed off. He couldn't place it. "I've been keeping abreast of the goings on of Lycia. I've heard of string of incidents starting in Pharae that made it's way through to Tania and to your family's castle. I can't quite fathom why your family acquired Burg Castle, but that is not the point. I've heard you're a bachelor, or you not?"

"I had an arranged marriage set up when I was young, but circumstances led to my betrothed to marry a cousin of mine instead," Shad reluctantly replied. Is this going where I think it's going? Am I the one getting a Bern ally through marriage instead of Cecily?

"I have a sister of age. If you'd humor the idea, I think we can arrange a meeting. I might be able to offer you all the help my station demands. She might oppose the idea unless she meets you," the General noticed Shad's eyes glance off towards Maria. "Your sister, I presume. She can be there too, if you like. My sister is the youngest of the three of us, she'd love to have a little sister to dote on. She also knows how to fight, so she can protect her so what happened at Castle Burg won't happen again. "

"I...I don't know."

It was then that a man in black approached the general, his hair tied back but his bangs disheveled. He whispered something to the general. There was some visible agitation on his face. "Go help the guards, I'll be right behind you." He said to the man who ran off. "Sorry about that. Don't alert anyone, but apparently there's been an incident. Mull the idea over. I'm sure we'll see each other again." He said before walking off.

An incident? He looked back to Maria and saw she was still safe and looked around. It was then he saw Satsume walk away from a dumbfounded Lord Faren. Shad decided to follow after him. Before he caught up with him, he saw Cecily escorted by guards back inside. He ran, or the best approximation considering the occasion, over to help. "We'll take care of her from here."

"Satsume, please be a little more discreet. We don't want to cause a panic."

[Lavi]

It all weighed upon her. She killed a man and framed the perpetrator in one swift move. The blank expression on her face was equally as genuine as it was a masquerade. Even though it was all deliberate, the scene before her still felt surreal.
 
Satsume’s voice was her reality check, shaking her back to wakefulness. “I – yes, I am unharmed.”
 
A guard moved to separate the two, but Cecily signaled him away. “I need no more protection than my own bodyguard. Expend your energy on bringing justice to the intruder.”
 
The captain of her entourage gave pause for a moment, but Shad’s chiming in seemed to have tipped his opinion to their side. With quick order, the guards trotted off and left the three behind.
 
Cecily was sure that the other two would be bombarding her with questions. She would cut right to the chase if it wasn’t for the public scrutiny of the nearby patrons.
 
“I wish to retire to my quarters. Our companions may join us if they wish,” she told Satsume curtly. “I will speak more freely then.”

[Cevian]

Things were happening behind the scenes as Lita stood around mingling with the various guests at the ball. In the grand scheme of things it was interesting that the assassin was enjoying the party while her would-be companions had gone off and killed a a noble. From her current point of view however, it seemed like there was just a commotion happening. Excusing herself, Lita went to go and investigate what was up with the person she was ostensibly a guest through. On the way she motioned for Goldhardt to follow, who did so clankfully.

Catching up with the others she overheard Cecily explain that she just needed her own bodyguard and that she was going to retire to her quarters. That was settled without Lita needed to do much, despite her own bodyguard's intimidating presence. Approaching the group with the upper class veneer she had donned for mingling still in tact to keep up appearances in the open, she said, "Would you like for us to join you as well?" She wasn't going to imply anything about why she had asked that given Cecily's rather heated reaction to finding out about their profession and employer, but Lita still wanted to extend an olive branch.

[WyvernSlayer]

As he guided Cecily away from the castle guards, Satsume felt someone else come up from behind him.  "Satsume, please be a little more discreet. We don't want to cause a panic."

“Shad, you do your job and I’ll do mine, okay?” said Satsume in an aggravated tone.  “Go have a cocktail and rub elbows with your long-lost cousins or whatever.”  Cecily paused, resisting his gentle nudge away from the ballroom, and gave him a perplexing glare.

“I wish to retire to my quarters. Our companions may join us if they wish,” she said curtly. “I will speak more freely then.”

Satsume heaved a frustrated sigh.  “Very well.”  As he began to signal Shad, he heard armor clanking over the low din of the ballroom.  And again – that agonizingly familiar scent from before.  Lita and Goldhardt.

“Would you like for us to join you, as well?” asked Lita.

“Might as well,” said Satsume.  As he waved his companions away from the ballroom and down the hallway, he noticed that Cecily had already rounded the corner, putting herself out of sight briefly.  As Satsume quickened his step to catch up with her, he felt a strange… presence.  Like a pair of eyes staring expectantly at him.

Only this time, they definitely weren’t Cecily’s.

“Wait,” he said tersely.  “Miss Lita.  I would speak with you, privately.”  He could feel his heartbeat quicken, as the pieces all started to come together in his head.  He gestured to the nearest open door – a sort of trophy room for displaying hunted game and collected ceremonial weaponry.  As he ushered Lita and Goldhardt inside, his mind raced.

There’s no way.  You’ve got to be wrong about this.  But… the scent.  The walk.  The stare!  There’s only one person it could be…  He closed the door behind him, which prompted Goldhardt to stiffen.  Satsume quickly held up his hands.

“Peace!” he said quickly.  “I just… there’s something I need to know.”

Lita was staring at him quizzically.  Satsume could feel his heart pounding with dreadful anticipation.  He lowered his hands.  Slowly, he walked forward… until he was within arm’s reach of the towering suit of armor.  He stared, unblinking, into the helmet’s visor.

Goldhardt seemed to want to either step back or push Satsume away, but instead peered over to Lita.

Satsume took one final deep breath to settle his nerves, then spoke again, trying his best to keep up his confident front.

“Miss Lita,” he said, his eyes still fixated on Goldhardt’s featureless face.  “I believe I know what your walking suit of cats is.  Or rather…”  He raised his finger and pointed directly at Goldhardt’s chest.

“…who she is.”

"Oh!”  Lita’s expression broke into legitimate shock for a brief instant before returning to match her playful-sounding voice.  “Really? Hmmmm... Well who do you think they are? I can't confirm or deny anything until you've made a claim. That would be against the spirit of keeping it unknown."

Satsume took an audible whiff of the air.  There it was – that distinct, mildly musky, but floral aroma that he remembered from months before.  “There’s only one person I know who could keep up in that kind of armor, with that kind of walk… and that kind of perfume.”

This was it.  Now or never.  Come on, Satsume.  Say it.  Say it!  He lowered his voice further, and stared directly into Goldhardt’s empty void of a glare.

“Orica of Tania.”