Welcome to Aldrect! Here you'll see vast, towering buildings of pure alabaster and marble, and the business of the townsfolk. The religion of the Holy Triumvirate was begun here, and in the center of the city is a grand fountain of the gods. (+2 Defense, +2 Fame)

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[K34] [P34] [C21] [O8]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 1:01 AM

Seeing Caldwell getting agitated — not to mention the fact he was still only covered up by a towel — was making Oriole nervous. "Caldwell, I—"

"Maybe you should remind your Queen about our agreement, Oriole," Caldwell snapped, poking Oriole repeatedly with the same finger over the same spot on his chest — which was gradually starting to get sensitive. "If you want my help, then you need to help me back!"

He grabbed his head with both hands. "Do you even understand what I'm dealing with here?" he asked the other one. "I'm the right-hand man to the most feared tyrant in all of Chandra," he reminded him. "I'm putting my life in danger to help your kingdom! Do you even understand what that means?"

Seeing Caldwell quickly losing his temper, Oriole tried to stop him in his tracks. "Caldwell," he said, trying to get his attention, "I get it, I—"

"I'm a dead man, Oriole!" Caldwell cut him off, and Oriole clammed up. "Jivana and Chandra both might be after Prince Quacey, but who's conquering the cities? Who's executing prisoners? Who's spreading his terror through the kingdom?"
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[K34] [P34] [C22] [O9]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 1:20 AM

Caldwell stopped it there, and Oriole couldn't tell if he was supposed to listen quietly, or if he was supposed to answer back. "Me!" Caldwell snapped, and he grabbed Oriole's collar with one hand. "It's all me!" He glared at the Jivana butler for a moment, and the more nervous Oriole was getting, the more Caldwell became conflicted.

"You're talking like I'm better than him." He let Oriole go, and he took a few steps back. "You're talking like I don't deserve to die just as much as he does."

Their talks were usually calm and to the point — this was the first time he saw Caldwell get this agitated, and Oriole wasn't quite sure how to get the situation to deescalate. "Caldwell," he started with, "we've gone through this," he reminded him. "Queen Blondell vowed to put you under amnesty for what Prince Quacey has been forcing you to do."

He listened, but the words weren't enough to alleviate his fears. "I won't need amnesty if Prince Quacey finds out about these little meetings, now will I?"
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[K34] [P34] [C23] [O10]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 1:35 AM

"Caldwell," Oriole said, and he got up from the bed to try and gain some ground. "Don't worry about that for now. I'll talk to Queen Blondell about this, and I'm sure we'll be able to come up with a solution." As rough as the Queen could be, all of them wanted the exact same thing: for Princess Primrose to get back to Jivana safe and sound.

"Then for now tell the Queen to keep her army in Jivana," Caldwell instructed. "You know way too much for this next wave. If Jivana prevents the Prince's next invasions, he'll doubt something — and then I'll get the heat."

Oriole stared with his mouth agape. "You're telling me to ignore the invasions? To let them happen?"

"Not all of them," Caldwell clarified, "but if you prevent this many, not only will Prince Quacey become wary — he'll become even more aggressive to catch up on lost time," he explained grimly. "Do you hear me?"

Oriole looked away, eyes glancing this way and that as he processed this information. "I..." Ignoring the planned invasions and letting cities be conquered and civilians getting killed: it was all immoral. They had the power to prevent casualties, and they were supposed to turn the other cheek?
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[K34] [P34] [C24] [O11]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 10:23 PM

There was no other way: unless Oriole managed to get Caldwell some better information, then they had to compromise. He couldn't take all the heat while Jivana came out glorious. His life was already balancing on a very, very fine line. If anything, he had to keep the Prince satisfied.

He could see Oriole struggling to make a decision. "Well?" he pressed. "I need your answer. We need to be on the same page."

"You... you can't ask me to make that decision," Oriole said quietly, still avoiding eye-contact. "The Queen should make that decision."

Caldwell narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well, we both need to be on the same page, Oriole," he repeated. "So unless you can get the Queen's answer back to me on time, I need an answer now." This young one was so finicky: incapable of making decisions without his Queen standing behind him. It was infuriating.
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[K34] [P34] [C25] [O12]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 10:36 PM

Oriole continued to quietly fidget and avoid the question. The more time they wasted, the more Caldwell got agitated all over again. "For God's sake, Oriole," he snapped, "can't you make just one decision on your own for once?"

The question got Oriole by surprise, and he looked at Caldwell indignantly. "Maybe Chandra can afford that kind of unruly chaos," he said, "with the moral compass you have now. But Jivana can't." Caldwell didn't look pleased with that answer, but he didn't say anything. "You can't tell me about upcoming invasions and then tell me to ignore them and let them happen. We still have our conscience."

Caldwell stared for a moment; and then he laughed. "A conscience!" he scoffed, and he slowly clapped. "Congratulations! Mustn't it be nice," he spat. "Real nice."
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[K34] [P34] [C26] [O13]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 10:51 PM

"You know what it's like, Oriole?" Caldwell got closer, and he looked right down into Oriole's eyes.

Oriole tensed up, and it took every ounce of courage to not look away. "Wh... what?" he asked hesitantly, and he regretted asking as soon as he'd spoken up. This meeting had gone way out of hand way fast, and this was getting too real for Oriole.

"You know what it's like, to invade a city?" Caldwell started. "You know what it's like, to terrorize civilians? To terrorize civilians who used to look up to their kingdom? To their Prince?" He got closer. "You know what it's like, driving your kingdom down that road?" He got close yet again, to the point where their noses were almost touching. "You wanna talk conscience now? I'm a dead man, Oriole."

He looked down at the younger one, and then back into his eyes. "Why, I could kill you right now, if I really wanted to."
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[K34] [P34] [C27] [O14]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 11:06 PM

"Wh-what?!" Oriole yelled, and he scrambled backwards in an attempt to get away from Caldwell. In that split second, he'd forgotten that he was sitting on the edge of the bed; and as a result, he fell right off the bed, flailing about as he did. He landed with a thump after an undignified screech.

Caldwell had just watched the whole thing unfold, and he craned his neck a bit to take a look at the young man on the floor. Oriole was making small, pained noises; and then Caldwell burst out laughing. "Oh, your face!" he exclaimed. "Your reaction! I didn't expect you to take me that seriously." A little bit more, he would've shed a tear. "Oh, I needed that."

Oriole stared with an indignant and hurt look. "Y-You were joking?" Seeing as Caldwell was still laughing, Oriole's face turned from hurt to upset. "You're horrible! I thought you were serious!"

Caldwell took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "Hah, well, kinda," he admitted. "At this point, I'm pretty numb to all that in general." He shrugged and shook his head. "And I do like you, kid. You ain't all bad."
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[K34] [P34] [C28] [O15]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/06/2017 11:50 PM

At that point, Oriole had no idea what to think or how to react.

Well, things were still depressingly grim, but that had been a nice little time. Caldwell sighed and turned to the nearest mirror. Since the meeting seemed to be at a standstill, he figured they might as well end it here. He tapped his hair around some, and he frowned. "I look awful."

Things had gone from one extreme to another, and that had been way too intense for Oriole. He supposed that just proved why Prince Quacey kept Caldwell so close; the butler could probably wreak havoc wherever he went if he really put his mind to it. "Ugh," he groaned quietly as he pulled himself back onto his feet. "That was too much," he said as he rubbed his forehead.

Caldwell laughed. "Wouldn't it be nice to be young again," he said with a sarcastic whimsical sigh.
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[K34] [P34] [C29] [O16]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/07/2017 12:00 AM

What a strange thing to say. "What is that supposed to mean?" Oriole asked. There was no answer from Caldwell, an Oriole hesitate for a moment before adding, "Aren't you barely older than me?"

Caldwell was still trying to fix his hair into something presentable. "I don't know," he answered, his back still turned to Oriole, "am I?" He certainly wasn't old, but he wasn't a spring chicken anymore, either. If anything, that's what it felt like.

Oriole rolled his eyes and looked away, outside the window. It was a beautiful night out there; Aldrect looked positively sublime, and part of him wished he could go out there and enjoy the festivities. He'd heard only good things about this festival, but he had no reason to waste any more time here. He sighed. "I wonder how the Princess is doing."

"Well, she is here in Aldrect," Caldwell pointed out. "Why, I bet you could even go ask her in person."
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[K34] [P34] [C30] [O17]

Postby Jaykobell » 06/07/2017 12:22 AM

It took a moment for Oriole to process those words. "What?!" he exclaimed, gasping. "The Princess is here?!"

Caldwell could kind of see Oriole in the mirror, and seeing the kid being that legitimately surprised, he turned around. "Yes?" he said matter-of-factly. "Did you not pay attention to my reports from our last meeting? They were going to pass by here around this time," he pointed out. "Not that I'd expected them to stop for a full night, but the Princess got her way. As far as I know, they should still be here in the city."

Hearing that made Oriole's heart flutter. "Oh, that's so nice to hear; I haven't seen her since the wedding." A time seemingly long gone, one before the Prince did a complete turnaround almost overnight.

Caldwell was about satisfied with his hair, when Oriole's comments got his gears working.
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