faderift | Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court

Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court

WHO: Select Orlesian and Fereldan Nobility and the Inquisition
WHAT: Josephine and Vivienne have orchestrated a good-will soiree in response to this dastardly rumor.
WHEN: Drakonis 15, Evening
WHERE: Skyhold Great Hall
NOTES:
- A list of nobles in attendance can be found here. The list was provided by the mods but there will be no npc support for them. Play away.
- A secondary outside party is being held in the valley in the tent town for anyone who couldn't/wouldn't attend and/or behave in the fancy pansty party.
- The goal of the evening is to clear up a spurious rumor about Cassandra and Leliana, with secondary goals of establishing the Inquisition as a respectable presence in Thedas (and fish for more money). Any major disruptions that would Game Over the court approval should probably be brought to the advisors and/or mods.

To say that Josphine has far outdone herself with this little soiree would be the understatement of the year. The Lady Ambassador has pulled out all the stops in providing a festive and yet elegant stage for this political intervention. Because sometimes gossip can be more deadly than a sword.

The Great Hall of Skyhold has been converted into a grand receiving hall, glittering with hundreds of lights around the room, in addition to the repairs accomplished to the original chandeliers. Of course, there has been artful placement arranged so there are a few shadowy corners for rendezvous of the more suggestive nature. Just in case. The majority of the floor has been cleared for dancing, and a fine troupe of musicians have been installed for the bulk of the evening's entertainments. Some members of the Inquisition have plans to entice attendees with their own artistic performances in addition to the group of mages performing illusory tricks to oohs and aahs.

For those who feel their energy flagging, there are chairs set against the walls, with a few tables interspersed between. Servers hired for the evening circulate the crowds with wine, fine Orlesian and Nevarran reds as well as crisp whites from Antiva. Refreshments are set out on buffet tables, tasteful and extravagant nibbles, including imported cheeses, spicy saucisson, dried fruits and nuts, and the highly sought after deep mushroom and anise petits fours that are all the rage in Orlais.

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"Well, that would make politics a lot simpler, I grant you. In a place like that, a ball economy could be made to work quite well." Norrington mused, as he continued to twirl Ariadne around the floor.

"Were all of your lands small islands?"

Ariadne shook her head, somehow managing to make it look just like any other step in the dance. "No," she said, catching up her hem in her hand, to keep from stepping on it. "And this was in ancient times, millennia before I was born. There are only three island kingdoms left now. The rest of them all washed away to nothingness centuries ago."

Or sank, if you believed the myths about Alastria.

And Ariadne wasn't sure.

"Every other kingdom is on a single continent, in the middle of the sea," she explained. About the size of Thedas, if I understand the maps correctly."

He raised his eyebrows at that, because that was rather startling. Still, three islands compared to an entire continent? It must be more peaceful than what they were dealing with. If only because the world was so much smaller, and probably so much less complex.

"Well, that explains why they would work well on a ball system."

"Unfortunately, I think the Red Dragon would have taken my suggestion about as seriously as you did," she said.

And she couldn't suppress a little shudder at the thought.

"Anyway," she continued, "I'm not exactly a royal adviser."

"... dare I ask who, or what, is the Red Dragon?" Because that sounded like something that one would not want to ask about in all seriousness.

Her shudder was a good indication that whatever it was, it wasn't human.

"What are you precisely, in your world, Lady Everdeen?"

Ariadne looked up at him, her eyes wide and sincere. It was funny. She was the master of using just such an earnest expression when she was telling a lie. But she had no reason to lie to him. Not about this.

Never about this.

"A refugee," she replied softly, keeping her voice just low enough to be lost to the ears of anyone eavesdropping around them. Not that she suspected anyone cared enough. Old habit. "That's precisely what I am in my world. And no lady. I doubt I could even qualify as a peasant."

Technically, she did live in North Castle. But under more than slightly unusual circumstances.

"The Red Dragon was a warlord. He leveled my home when I was a child."

"As I have said, my lady Everdeen, a lady is not where she is in station, but how she behaves." Norrington stated firmly, "As this soiree is in full evidence of, if I might be so bold to say."

He pressed his lips together, before he stated quietly, "My apologies for being so intrusive, my lady. I did not mean to bring up bad memories."

"They're not things that can be avoided," she said softly. "That's why they're called memories. They're there forever. And you have nothing to apologize for. I'm a stranger to your world. You have every right to be curious."

She would have asked just as many questions, had their positions been reversed.

More. Most likely.

"But, I suppose, now you see why I give everything I earn to the refugees here in Skyhold."

"That is so true ... " He sighed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Memories are forever. Perhaps, that is not such a bad thing, in some cases."

He was actually waiting for more questions.

"I do, at that. Which is why you are a lady, you realize." He said with a faint smile.

She smiled sheepishly. "That definition wouldn't go over so well in Valerian courts, but I appreciate the thought." The compliment, she supposed.

But really, it wouldn't do to have him so solemn on a night like this.

"What about you?" she asked. "I assume you must have been a child once. How was that?"

"I am glad you appreciate the thought, of nothing else." He paused at her question, and cleared his throat. "My ... younger childhood was fairly idyllic, honestly. I grew up in a wealthy merchant family, second son so I could have had any future I liked. Templar, soldier, scholar. Perhaps married off appropriately."

Ariadne blinked her pretty gray eyes in surprise. "I'm sorry. Appropriately?" she repeated. "What sort of marriage is appropriate?" She paused. "Or do you mean a marriage to further you politically?"

Such things were hardly unknown in Valeria. But then again, Princess Amanda's marriage for love was something of a...

Legend.

"Yes, married off to some noble lady to give our family a noble lineage or to another merchant family to increase trade ties." He stated simply, "Appropriate marriages are built for political reasons and more here. I would prefer to make a marriage of my own choice, and I have that option."

She smiled a little bit. "Lord Norrington, I think you're a romantic."

Which was a compliment, really. Not that Ariadne knew a lot about love and romance. But then, Alastrians mated for life, usually. And she'd seen the pure, unadulterated affection between her parents.

Whatever else they'd been, they'd been truly, deeply, madly in love. And that was how it was supposed to be.

Norrington's lips pursed for a moment, before a quiet smile passed over his face, "Lady Everdeen, you are absolutely correct."

He was, to his core, a romantic. A romantic in how he wanted to chose his life partner, how he wanted to pursue his life long goals, how he thought the world should be. Idealistic, slightly. Romantically pragmatic? Always.

Ariadne spotted her head in time to the music, scanning the crowd. All of the ladies looked so beautiful. Like flowers suspended in water, drifting around in a sea of color.

To say nothing of the scents.

She scrunched her mouth up thoughtfully, examining each one in turn. At last, she shook her head. "I give up. Which one is it?"

"Which one do I pick? Ah ... no one. Yet."

There was only one who had caught his fancy, and she no longer wanted his fancy, so he was just going to swerve firmly away from that area.

When people avoided looking in one particular direction, that generally meant that there was something to hide. She peeked out of the corner of her eye, but politely said nothing at all.

Curious though she might be, she did have some tact.

Instead, she gave him a polite smile. "From what I understand, you don't really pick," she said. "That special someone just appears. And suddenly, nothing will ever be the same."

It's not so much something to hide as there is something to simply avoid for kindness's sake.

He chuckled softly, "True enough. I am not entirely sure that wouldn't cover most of the women in Skyhold. You all leave a deep impression."

"I think it's more than that," Ariadne said. But she knew better than to ramble on too much about things beyond her comprehension. And love? Well, that sort of love?

Wildly out there.

She laughed softly, ducking her head a little. "If only people dedicated more time to the study of that than to the study of war..."

"Perhaps there is. I have yet to truly understand women, despite my thirty years." Norrington said, with no little humor.

"If we spent all our time studying the opposite gender ... well we would have a population burst, that much is certain."

"Oh, I highly doubt you're supposed to understand," she said, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

As the music came to an end and the courtiers clapped politely, Ariadne took a step back. She curtsied to Norrington, and started to chew on her lower lip. "There was a song back home. How did it go?"

For all of her birdlike qualities, all the jokes made at her expense, Ariadne did sing as sweetly as a meadowlark.

"The light in your eyes is my heart’s bane
One look from you and I go insane
You’re the beginning and the end of my pain
Now that I’ve seen you

Each word you say sends my heart reeling
The unfair cards that life keeps dealing
Mean I can’t escape this feeling
There is nothing I can do..."

"Hmm, perhaps." He laughed quietly there, before he clapped as well as the song ended. He blinked as she began to sing, and the others around her looked on with faint surprise.

Yet, as her voice went on, there were delighted noises and more clapping. Norrington himself was impressed, and it showed.

Ariadne cut herself off short, as soon as she realized that she'd gotten the attention of others beside Norrington. She certainly hadn't meant to make a spectacle of herself. Bashfully, she ducked her head, letting a few errant curls fall over her face, as if she could hide behind them.

"I apologize," she said softly to Norrington. "I'm afraid I come from a society where it's not all that strange to burst into song when the mood strikes."

Norrington waved one hand, his expression softening even more. "It is of no trouble. Your voice is quite lovely, my Lady. You should consider singing more in public."

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demonicbeauty - 2016-03-25 19:45 (UTC) - Expand

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