action / text ; un: starkov

[sankta]

ACTION

( the performance begins before Alina even appears before the court. curtains are drawn at her request, and light extinguished throughout the room. it's not total darkness, the hour isn't late enough for that, but the darkness is well enough to be almost discomforting in a group as large as this.

that's when the only source of light in the room appears. two pinholes of light, bursting through the eyeholes of the mask Alina wears. a bright glow that illuminates her masked face in a nearly fearsome way. yet the glow slowly blossoms out underneath the mask, flowing to Alina's cheeks, down strands of her, across her neck, and filling out along her body. Alina stands as a bright light among the crowd with her light flowing all amongst her.

then suddenly the light is out again.

one ball of light appears in Alina's hand. then a second in her other hand. she spreads them apart and a third feeds off the first two to form between them.

with careful movements, Alina presses the lights out above the crowd. the three lights orbit each other in slow succession as they move over everyone. until finally they reach the center of the room. Alina spreads her arms wide, and slowly the small orbs begin to grow in size. they expand from bright, concentrated orbs, into dissipated spheres of light that begin to cover the crowd.

then finally she pulls her hands apart abruptly and the lights burst brightly over the crowd. without wasting time, Alina disappears before she can be harangued about her performance. )

POST

Please tell me we've done enough for Odile. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather not repeat that performance again.

Does anyone actually care who Macaluso ends up choosing?


( feel free to respond to the action or the post for this one! )

Comments

un: dappled pearl of the parted seas [voice]

[beitangmoran]

I don't suppose it matters much in the end, but I do not think he has made his choice yet.

That was quite the impressive display.

voice ;

[sankta]

( saints she really does hate attention. )

It'd be nice to know if our efforts weren't for nothing.

Thanks. It's not my first time performing for royalty, so it was easy to put together.

[beitangmoran]

In this kind of political marriage, flashiness can sometimes woo, but he will probably have people around him vying for other candidates.

At least the young lady seems willing.

[sankta]

Willing and wanting tend to be two different things.

I didn't think I'd end up in court politics again here, but since we are involved might as well do our best.

un : deft hand of little deaths [voice]

[scrapgege]

Oh, so this is why you could lend me a lot of power! That was great!

voice ;

[sankta]

That's very nice of you. Really.

I prefer to put my abilities to use than on display, though.

[scrapgege]

I guess I can understand that. They didn't even ask me if I wanted to perform or anything .....

[sankta]

I volunteered. Maybe you could do the same?

un: absterge

[downswing]

Two should give equal chase in courtship.

[sankta]

i don't think that's how it always works with royals.

[downswing]

Affection cannot be enforced.

[sankta]

affection isn't needed for marriage.

@taken for granite

[rumorate]

The people don't. And I'm not sure he does either - it feels like it's more about the idea of her as a member of foreign nobility than it is about her.

[Which is a shame for Odile, if she's honest. Also possibly why she's forming her own plans.]

[sankta]

that happens a lot in political marriages. i'm not surprised if that's what he's looking for most right now.

[rumorate]

Neither am I. But it sucks for her.

[sankta]

it sucks for everyone involved.

un: tender core of the waiting spring blossom | text, after lady rodriga confirms things.

[corvis]

looks like you're in the clear. Nice work.

[sankta]

thanks. i hate doing that, but Odile needed the extra push.

[corvis]

not into showing flashy performances?

un: a civil serpent

[inferus]

I do not believe even Macaluso cares. He simply wants a potential marriage that can gain him political favor.

[ in some ways, this all falls too close to home. hell is a bundle of politics, of arranged marriages, of power plays. people make moves based on these power plays and not on true choices of what they really want. ]

[sankta]

i wonder if Odile is okay with that, too.

or if she's even the best fit for it.

i don't really know her that well.

[inferus]

I cannot say I have spoken to her at great length, but few are ever happy with arranged marriages if it is arranged.

If it is her choice on the other hand, she may be choosing it for any number of reasons.

action; /eight years late

[somebadnews]

[ Five has only been tangentially aware of what's expected of them, and plays along to the extent that he's believably miserable, but even in all his suffering he does notice some things. The light gets his attention while he's still finding his way around, and he's curious enough that he blinks in to watch the tail end of her performance, just beyond the crowd.

Even with the mask, he can tell who it is. He hasn't yet seen everything she can do, but the amount of control she has is something worth noting. When she disappears in the darkness, he doesn't clap, but he lifts an eyebrow and teleports into the next room before the crowd disperses to see if she's going to suddenly appear again back there.

If he misjudged her exit point, he'll carry on and still count this as socializing for the day. ]

late too it fine

[sankta]

( Alina uses the darkness to slip out readily. she hasn't mastered the darkness like a certain someone she's come to know, but she knows it intimately enough to keep to the shadows as servants light up the main room. she keeps quiet long enough to slip into the next room...

and find Five.

she looks a bit chagrinned behind her mask. ) Did you just... see all that?

[somebadnews]

[ Well, look at that, he guessed right. Five takes a moment to be satisfied with himself when she walks into the room, up until her question throws him. He studies her before answering. ]

I missed the beginning. [ He shrugs. ] It was a big crowd. Did you just decide to take one for the team?