Kingdom of Spirits (4/4) (CLOSED)

His eyes drifted slowly between the pick-pocket and his watch. If only he had his crossbow, a problem this simple could be solved easily. However, bringing a crossbow to the Princess's Gala wasn't exactly a show of peace. "Not more than it'll take to buy a new watch," Nathan stated.

"Then pay the gold up," Cicada responded holding her free hand out, "Then you can get your watch back. Don't know why ya followed me anyway."

"How much would you get on the streets for a watch? I can't imagine the purpose is extremely useful when there's a clock in the plaza," he mused, grinning. "And lower-class folk wouldn't waste so much money, anyway, I presume."

"Oi!" Cicada contested, "Lots of people would pay good money for a watch. Around 5 gold if I'm r'memb'rin' my prices right. People buy this shit to make themselves look richer."

(about how much is 5 gold equivalent to in our world?)

(Ehhhh, let's say 50 dollars. That sounds about right.)

(Hm, okay.)
Five gold. He shook his head in sadness at the low value, suddenly pitying the girl before him. The watch had to be worth forty gold at least, where he came from. "I can get you eight gold by the end of the night… say, are you coming to the gala?"

Cicada could practically hear the pity in his voice. She scowled mentally, but kept her carefree manner, "No, but I'll be around. I don't need ya pity anyway."

Of course she didn't, he thought sarcastically to himself. "I still need my watch, regardless of how you'll manage," Nathan reminded, not knowing who the words were directed to. "Ten gold, by the end of the night. I can meet you somewhere after the gala?"

"Fine," Cicada tossed down the watch and stood up from the ledge, "If I don't see you tonight, I'm coming after you. So don't think you're getting out of your payment."

"Mhm…" Nathan acted unconcerned, even taking his time as he strolled down the alley. He lingered before leaving, calling back, "Eight gold!" Making sure his watch was banded securely around his left wrist, the elf dove back into the market plaza.

"Ten gold!" Cicada called back as she made her way across the roof tops to one of the lowest branches to the large tree that spanned across most of the city. She climbed up and felt the welcoming sensation of being back in the tree before continuing to make her way to the thickest part of the branches right above the palace courtyard.

Any second now. Any second now. He spotted gold eyes and rich skin, pointed ears, shit - you couldn't deny that she was gorgeous. Ducking and pulling a maneuver that would've had Life reeling, Nathan avoided detection from Jaycee Winshine's searching gold eyes. Any second- an arm tugged on his, pulling him away from the female elf.
"There's only an hour until the gala!" A familiar voice hissed in his ear.
Nathaniel let his body be conformed to his mom's tugs, as he debated the irony of the situation.

(Should we skip to the gala now?)

(Yep)

(K, let's wait for the others to respond before starting.)

Night fell upon Flaren and Cicada was sitting atop the inside of the hollow trunk of the Everflame tree. She sat silently watching, almost waiting, for the right time to leap down and take action.

Princess Tamara was in a deep red pink ball gown and adorned with plenty of gold jewelry. A simple tiara rest on her head as she stood by the entrance greeting the guests that entered. Her father, King Xavier, was stood next to her doing the same as her. Most of them richer folk with a few chosen townfolk or business men trickling in after them. This wasn't her original plans for her twenty-first, but she had done most of those earlier on in the day. A gala was fine to end this special day for her.

Aureole was standing a ways away from the entrance to the gala, debating whether or not to go inside. On the one hand, her parents would kill her if she didn't go. On the other, she didn't want to make a complete fool of herself in front of actual royalty by showing up to the princess's gala with blood all over her. After a moment, she shook her head and started to walk away, then stopped and stood frozen again with indecision. Dammit, this shouldn't be this difficult for you. Just make a decision and go.

A taller looking gentlemen with rich black hair that fell naturally to his shoulders and skin almost as pale as snow walked up to the young maiden with blood splattered slightly on her skin. He had planned to enter, but instead took time to walk up to her, "Are you alright madam?"

Aureole nearly toppled over, catching herself just in time. She looked up, eyes wild, at the stranger and managed a smile. "Um, yes, I'm - I'm fine. Just… thinking," she laughed nervously.

“My apologies for startling you,” he returned with a slight bow, “You simply appeared to be slightly hurt, and I was wondering if I could help in anyway?”

"Oh, um, thank you. But I'm actually - I'm fine, just feeling rather stupid," she laughed lightly. "I was debating whether to go in or not. I really don't want to be seen like this," she admitted.

“Well then let’s clean you up,” the man replied, “My name is Brecken and you are?”

"I'm - I'm Aureole," she told him, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Aureole,” Brecken responded before offering her a hand, “Shall we go?”

Aureole looked down for a moment, thinking. "Yes, I suppose we shall," she decided with a sigh.

Brecken nodded and began to lead her a little ways away before opening up one of the doors to a seemingly empty house, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Aureole tipped her head in confusion, but didn't move. "All right, then, I suppose," she muttered to herself.