Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
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Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 1:46:42 GMT
A massive, red gold room flanked by pillars, with a red carpet leading to a dias upon which rests the Draeyva's mighty iron throne. Forged by dragons and blessed by the spirits of fire and power, this room emanates of everything that the Draeyva stand for. |
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Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
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Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 1:48:10 GMT
Kieran took a breath and looked down at his hands. He knew he was stalling, but his mind was drawing blanks from every recess it could find. He knew what he wanted to ask, but not how to ask it. It was not as if there was a manual on how to ask someone on their missing son's whereabouts. Still, h had to try. For Adrian's sake.
He pushed open the double doors and stepped inside before pushing them closed behind him. The throne room was dark. None of the lamps were lit. And the windows did not help either, only opened to a sky darkened by the ashen clouds. He approached the throne, knowing his father was here. In the stillness and silence, he could hear breathing and soft sounds of movement.
Once he was within ten feet of the throne, he bowed. "Your Highness, it's Prince Kieran Draeyva. I have come to request an audience with you, though I apologize for not presenting it first."
There was no reply. It gave Kieran pause. He slowly stood up again and looked. "Your Highness?"
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized no one was sitting in the throne. He cursed himself for being silly, but then he noticed the dark shape on the floor.
"Your Highness?" he asked the darkness, slowly approaching the figure.
It was when he was close enough that he saw it: the glint of metal flashed in the darkness. He dropped to his knees and felt warmth soak into his pants.
"Oh spirits, your Highness, what happened?"
But when he reached out to his father, he felt a rapidly cooling form in his arms and when he pulled away, there was blood on him.
"Dad..?" Kieran's voice was barely a whisper. He pulled the knife out of his father's chest and clutched it in his bloody hands. "Who did this to you? WHO DID THIS TO YOU!?"
The doors suddenly flew open, and Kieran twisted around to see a small squad of the King's Guard, headed by none other than the Royal Guard, Razka Falgarith, leading them.
The guards looked at the body of the King and the blood and the knife, but while they showed shock, the General did not. "Kieran Draeyva, Prince of the Draeyva and all Cinaed, you are under arrest for murdering the King."
Kieran was struck dumb for a minute. "Wh-what? That's insane! I would never kill my father!"
"Take him away!" Razka shouted. The men walked right up to Kieran and grabbed him roughly, wrenching the knife from his grasp.
"It wasn't me!" Kieran snapped as Razka came up to him.
"Oh? It wasn't?" he asked. "Then why were you holding a knife over his dead body?"
"I... I wanted to..."
'Wanted to what? Take the throne? Was Adrian next? We have eyes and ears everywhere, little Prince. Don't think we haven't known of this plan for some time." He looked at the King's body. "A crime we were too late to stop you." His hateful eyes turned back to Kieran. "Take him to the dungeons."
Kieran snarled, lunging at the General. The guards dug their fingers into his arms and held him back. Another hit Kieran right in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. He coughed harshly, gasping for air as the guards dragged him out of the throne room.
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Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
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Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 1:48:30 GMT
Two days after that horrible incident, the throne room had been arranged to accommodate the court that would be held there for Kieran. General Razka sat in the presiding seat with the other officials flanking him.
"When will the Prince and Princess arrive?" one of the officials asked. "We need to begin these proceedings."
"Momentarily," General Razka replied.
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Celeste
Hippopotamus Hair Collector
I don't always break the fourth wall... But when I do. I beat the living sh*t out of it. XD
Posts: 269 
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Post by Celeste on Sept 8, 2014 1:49:48 GMT
Alice walked in quietly, trying not to be noticed that much. She hadn't been doing so well after hearing about what happened. It was somewhat fishy that Kieran would kill their father.... it didn't fit with everything. She let out a quiet sigh and looked around for Adrian.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 1:55:06 GMT
Having decided to stick around for a while longer, Adrian entered the throne room. He went and leaned against a pillar, towards the back of the room. He still had his backpack on, just in case he changed his mind and decided to suddenly leave. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the officials.
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Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
|
Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 1:56:01 GMT
Razka noted that the prince and princess had arrived. "We are all gathered then? Let the trial commence."
Kieran was brought in and set down in the prosecuted's chair. He shot a glare Razka's way, then looked at Alice and Adrian. Well, at least someone decent showed up, he thought to himself.
"Tribunal will now commence. Prince Kieran Draeyva for the murder of his father, the King Garsif Draeyva two days prior. How does the defendant plead?"
"Not guilty," Kieran's lawyer said.
"Will the King's side present?"
The opposing side, the one determined to prove Kieran's guilt, stood. "We have irrefutable proof that he killed his father, including first hand accounts of premeditation."
They presented a rather overwhelming amount of evidence. It was his knife. He was there, kneeling in the blood, alone in the darkness with his father's body. Then they showed personal things he had written, and though Kieran admitted to writing them, he did not see why they proved his guilt. But it appeared that there was too much stacked against him. He had always resented his father, he had no alibi for where he was during the murder.
His own supposed lawyer, some appointed official who probably didn't know much about law anyway, tried but failed to do much of anything.
It was all over in a matter of hours. "Prince Kieran Draeyva, you are found guilty by military tribunal. For your traitorous actions against the Draeyva and the city of Cinaed, you are cursed to the Exile's Mark.."
Kieran could feel his hands shifting claws. It seemed his old circumstance was still there. But he kept back his rage, and the fire he wished to breathe on all of them.
Two guards came up to Kieran and shackled his hands to the arms of the chair. He glared at them through narrowed eyes black as coal. "I hope you all fucking burn in hell," he snarled.
A different guard brought out the small chest of the marking tools and set it down on the floor. He opened it and pulled out the knife first.
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Celeste
Hippopotamus Hair Collector
I don't always break the fourth wall... But when I do. I beat the living sh*t out of it. XD
Posts: 269
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Post by Celeste on Sept 8, 2014 1:56:47 GMT
Alice's eyes widened in horror. She tried to hold back tears but she just couldn't. Kieran was going to be killed. "N-No..." Alice whimpered, trying to keep her composure. "N-No..."
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 1:57:22 GMT
Adrian stared at Kieran for practically the whole trail. He zone in and out of the actually conversations taking place, not caring much to hear what they had to say against his brother. He blinked, frowning when they sentenced Kieran as guilty. Pushing himself off the pillar, he ran. Leaping up onto the guard's back, he wrapped his legs around him, while tightening one arm around the guard's throat and tried to pull the knife out of the guard's hand.
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Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
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Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 1:58:03 GMT
The guards, and even Kieran, were rather surprised by the outburst. Quickly overcoming it though, the guards grabbed Adrian and tried to pull him off. There was a lot of shouting going on too, as if the officials still seated were trying to be part of the fray without getting physically involved.
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Celeste
Hippopotamus Hair Collector
I don't always break the fourth wall... But when I do. I beat the living sh*t out of it. XD
Posts: 269
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Post by Celeste on Sept 8, 2014 1:58:37 GMT
Alice stood there frozen. She had no idea what was really going on at this point other than Kieran was going to die. Something was up about this now. Something was very wrong. Alice slowly backed away to the door, still facing the fray going on in the throne room.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 1:59:36 GMT
Adrian's grip tightened when the guards tried to pull him off. His fingers dug into the guard's neck and wrist. Growling, he bashed his head into the guard's head, refusing to give up so easily. Jerking his body forwards, he hoped to unbalance the man, as he twisted the gaurd's wrist in hopes he would manage to get the knife away from him.
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Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
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Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 2:01:14 GMT
A different man came up and stabbed a needle into Adrian's neck, injecting the contents as quickly as he could before pulling the needle back out. It was a medium strength sedative, only because he was too young to take full strength. "That is quite enough!" Razka shouted over the din, and everyone started quieting down. "Prince Adrian will be held in contempt of court. Take him to his room to rest off the sedative. Guard, continue!" he sat back down with a huff.
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Celeste
Hippopotamus Hair Collector
I don't always break the fourth wall... But when I do. I beat the living sh*t out of it. XD
Posts: 269
|
Post by Celeste on Sept 8, 2014 2:01:49 GMT
Alice snuck out of the room, not wanting to see this go down. She quickly began walking towards her room, nearly losing her lunch just imagining things in her head about her poor brothers.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 2:02:11 GMT
Adrian swung out, and tried to hit the one that injected him. He had half a mind to shift, change and try to get Kieran out of there....He slumped to the ground, having lost his grip on the guard. He crawled over to the chair his brother was bound to, and he was pulling himself up when the sedative completely took over and he passed out on the floor.
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Niitari
Seal Clapping Analyst
What am I when I am meaningless? What are you when you mean everything?
Posts: 763
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Post by Niitari on Sept 8, 2014 2:04:34 GMT
The guards dragged Adrian back to his room as ordered.
"Continue," Razka ordered, once the din had died down and everything had been situated. No one seemed to have noticed that Alice was no longer present.
The guard picked up the knife again and went up to Kieran who stiffened in his seat, feeling very much like a cornered rabbit, unable to escape but unwilling to admit defeat.
The guard set the knife to Kieran's face and cut a jagged line down the left side from above his eyes to below it. Kieran tensed in the chair, making the arms creak as he strained against the cuffs, but to his credit, he made no sound.
This was only stage one. Making the cut. Stage two was much worse.
The guard pulled out a lopsided, metal oval of what looked like dark iron. He held it to Kieran's face before pressing it over his left eye.
The disc began to glow till a symbol appeared that had not been there before. Then the glow spread, the telltale glow of melting metal.
Kieran screamed as the disk burned its way through his eye and spread itself out through his face, till there was nothing left but a charred eye socket and what appeared to be raised, metal veins underneath the skin, spreading out from that place.
"Let it be known that Prince Kieran Draeyva has hereby ben stripped of all titles and ranks bestowed to him, and has been branded with the Exile's Mark. Take him to the dungeons. In a week's time, he shall be executed."
Kieran, unconscious, was shackled and dragged off to the dungeons.
"And now for the second matter at hand, concerning Crown Prince Adrian."
"He must be established as King soon," one of the officials said.
"No," a major replied. "He is far too young and inexperienced. He can hardly even keep his anger in check. A child cannot sit on our throne and be trusted to rule over us safely."
"This is absurd," the official said. "Children have ruled before."
"After having proven that they are mature enough," Razka said. "We will need time with Adrian. He is too inexperienced."
"What of Princess Alice? Perhaps she could rule for in his stead for a while?"
"She is no better. Both children are not fit to rule. Kieran would have been a good choice, but that is out of the question now."
"If it wasn't a matter of Adrian's mental state, then there would be no concern in putting him on the throne, even though he has been rather emotional of late. But the doctors even voiced their doubts before. He has a severe mental imbalance, possible schizophrenic tendencies. We cannot afford to have a mad king on the throne, specially after everything that has happened."
"Then until then," the official said, standing, "martial law shall have to be put into effect. General Razka shall take over until the Princess is eligible to take the throne from her brother, or if Adrian shows improvement."
The members of the tribunal all nodded solemnly in agreement, except perhaps one or two who were smart enough to stay silent about their thoughts.
court was dismissed, and the tribunal broke up, the deed now done with.
"Everything's going according to plan," Razka whispered to the official once the room was empty. "The power has easily been slipped to my fingers. Now, to dispose of the princess."
They left the room, none the wiser, save perhaps, a pair of eyes in the shadows. The figure vanished.
Nearly two days later, the throne room was already under martial control, as was the whole city whether it knew it or not. The man who sat in the throne now was General Razka Falgarith. Enethar did not like the look of the man. When he entered with Alice, the only feeling he felt from that man was hatred. Or no, he felt greed too. Plenty of that poisonous greed slipping through the cracks and crawling across the minds of the serious looking men that sat next to him. "Your Highness," the General greeted Alice, "so good to see you safe and sound."
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