Roania
01-04-2008, 23:44
"And so you see, Your Angelic Majesty, with cuts in personnel at these key locations, we can increase our budget exponentially for transfers to... Your Majesty, are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?" Grand Vizier Prince Daray Karon tapped his wand against his magic board. "This is important!" Then he realised whom he was talking to and blanched. "I mean, if you don't mind, your majesty, I would like to have your attention for a few moments. Please."
Alessa hummed and looked up from where she was playing with her string. "Oh, I'm sorry, Daray. I was just...distracted." She put her cat's cradle aside and leaned forward on her hand. "So, we get rid of these jobs..."
"Cut the personnel, yes."
"So, what happens to the people?" Alessa asked, rising to her feet and walking to the window. "With the economy in parlous states, according to Raphael, we can't afford to put people out of work."
"Oh, they're just Desertkin, your majesty. Hardly important." Daray didn't notice his employer's eyes flash and continued on. "Now, we're... What is it, man? Can't you see I'm in the middle of an important discussion with her majesty?!"
"Y-yes, My Lord. But Justiciar Radmiel said that you would need this holo-projection orb." The servant held it out.
"Oh, what does that buffoon want now?" Daray grabbed the orb and sent the servant flying with a burst of wind. "Now, how do I... damn this newfangled technology."
"Here!" Alessa snatched it from his hand and fiddled with it, humming to herself. "Ah!" She dropped it as Radmiel's face appeared in the air above the ball.
"Daray! It looks like you might need some help convincing Her Angelic Majesty of the righteousness of your cause! So, I've compiled some important information for you that could very well save your evil aim." Radmiel said, before his holographic image froze, with a massive red button sticking out of his forehead.
"Aww!" Alessa said, smiling happily. "And I thought he hated you! See? Here he is, trying to help you prove your case to me." She sat on the edge of her seat, for once putting her string away. "Show!"
"I counsel prudence, your majesty." Daray murmured. "I know not what that buffoon has done, but I don't believe that..."
"Daray, I order you to press that button." Alessa commanded him, gesturing imperiously.
With a long suffering sigh, Daray pressed the button. Radmiel's voice continued. "The most important thing to know is that..." Suddenly Radmiel began to sing. "We're no strangers to love... you know the rules, and so do I...a full committment's what I'm thinking of, you wouldn't get this from any other guy!"
"Ooh!" Alessa giggled and started to shake back and forth on her seat, stopping when Daray shot her a death glare.
"How do I shut this damn thing off..." Daray shook the cube, but that only succeeded in switching the video from Radmiel's cackling head to some strange human dancing.
"I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling, gotta make you understand..." And then Radmiel's voice resumed. "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you."
Alessa began to wiggle on her seat again, and then suddenly she slid off it and began to dance, copying the moves from one of the girls she had seen dancing in the picture earlier, showing herself to be very light on her feet. There was a shimmer of fabric and she was suddenly dressed in a light outfit best described as a cheerleader uniform. Her precognition kicked in and she began to sing along too, giggling when she caught sight of the frustrated Daray. "Come on, Daray! Dance with me!"
"Thank you, your majesty, but I would prefer not to. It hardly seems dignified to..." Despite himself, Daray began to dance. "What..." Alessa's eyes stopped glowing and she smiled at him. "Your Majesty, I protest this!"
"Lighten up, Daray!" Alessa commanded, twirling on her feet. "This is fun!" The song continued, and Alessa kept dancing even while her grand vizier managed to break free of her spell.
Eventually, the song ended. Daray breathed a sigh of relief as Alessa sat back down on her throne. "Alright, now, what were you telling me?" The Lady-Empress said, leaning forward and resting her head on her hand.
"Well, I was going to tell you that..."
"I'm carrying your baby, Daray." Radmiel's voice came from the cube once more.
"Uh..." Alessa's eyes looked at the machine. "What's this?"
"I can't keep living a lie. I love you, Daray, and have ever since that night at the Winter Ball. This song was my only way of telling you the truth." Radmiel's voice had a brokenhearted, totally sincere sound to it.
"What?!" Alessa stared at Daray.
"No! It's a trick!"
"I know we've been trying to hide it from Alessa, but I can't do it anymore. I love you, Daray Karon. I can't keep pretending to be something that I'm not. I know right now that you're telling her it's a trick, but I had to come out to her, too. It's not honest. Especially not now that we've both been stealing from the treasury for me to have that operation."
Alessa's eyes started to glow and she appeared to grow taller. "Daray Karon..." Her voice took on a deep, booming quality and her hands began to become more and more talonlike. "What is the meaning of this?"
"My lady, please! It's all a trick! A trick! Played by Radmiel, no doubt, to try to humiliate me!"
"There's but one more thing I have to tell you, Daray. April fools!"
Alessa frowned and tilted her head on its side once more, staring at Daray and the cube. "It would appear you're right. Strange man. He almost had me..."
Then a new voice came out of the hypercube. It was Daray's own. "Well done, Radmiel! Just like I told you to say it. She'll probably be believing it, the stupid girl. Then, when she finds out it's a lie she'll probably reward me for my own honesty, and I'll use my new position to reward you for your part in this joke. Huh? Wait, the recording light is still on."
Alessa's eyes flared and she roundd on the hapless Daray, who backed against the wall. "It was a trick! A trick! That's not me! That's never me!" Daray squeaked and scrabbled against hard brick, trying to find a door that wasn't there as Alessa began to stalk towards him, her hands glowing with killing magic. "Your majesty, please believe me, I would never call you stupid. I mean, you are... I mean, you're not.. it's not like you aren't... oh, dear."
The explosion could be heard all the way on the other side of the palace complex, where Radmiel was waiting with a large net and a few of his aides. "Now?" One of them asked him.
"Not yet." Radmiel tilted his head skywards. "Okay, hold it out."
Daray came flying down through the air, his wings burning and his skin scorched, angled right towards the net. At the last possible moment Radmiel's assistant pulled the net away, leaving Daray to splash right into the palace's main fountain.
"April Fool's, Daray!" Radmiel called down to him.
"You're...despicable..." came the answer.
OOC:More details on Daray and Radmiel's constant battle for political supremacy can be found here: Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HrSN7176XI)
Alessa hummed and looked up from where she was playing with her string. "Oh, I'm sorry, Daray. I was just...distracted." She put her cat's cradle aside and leaned forward on her hand. "So, we get rid of these jobs..."
"Cut the personnel, yes."
"So, what happens to the people?" Alessa asked, rising to her feet and walking to the window. "With the economy in parlous states, according to Raphael, we can't afford to put people out of work."
"Oh, they're just Desertkin, your majesty. Hardly important." Daray didn't notice his employer's eyes flash and continued on. "Now, we're... What is it, man? Can't you see I'm in the middle of an important discussion with her majesty?!"
"Y-yes, My Lord. But Justiciar Radmiel said that you would need this holo-projection orb." The servant held it out.
"Oh, what does that buffoon want now?" Daray grabbed the orb and sent the servant flying with a burst of wind. "Now, how do I... damn this newfangled technology."
"Here!" Alessa snatched it from his hand and fiddled with it, humming to herself. "Ah!" She dropped it as Radmiel's face appeared in the air above the ball.
"Daray! It looks like you might need some help convincing Her Angelic Majesty of the righteousness of your cause! So, I've compiled some important information for you that could very well save your evil aim." Radmiel said, before his holographic image froze, with a massive red button sticking out of his forehead.
"Aww!" Alessa said, smiling happily. "And I thought he hated you! See? Here he is, trying to help you prove your case to me." She sat on the edge of her seat, for once putting her string away. "Show!"
"I counsel prudence, your majesty." Daray murmured. "I know not what that buffoon has done, but I don't believe that..."
"Daray, I order you to press that button." Alessa commanded him, gesturing imperiously.
With a long suffering sigh, Daray pressed the button. Radmiel's voice continued. "The most important thing to know is that..." Suddenly Radmiel began to sing. "We're no strangers to love... you know the rules, and so do I...a full committment's what I'm thinking of, you wouldn't get this from any other guy!"
"Ooh!" Alessa giggled and started to shake back and forth on her seat, stopping when Daray shot her a death glare.
"How do I shut this damn thing off..." Daray shook the cube, but that only succeeded in switching the video from Radmiel's cackling head to some strange human dancing.
"I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling, gotta make you understand..." And then Radmiel's voice resumed. "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you."
Alessa began to wiggle on her seat again, and then suddenly she slid off it and began to dance, copying the moves from one of the girls she had seen dancing in the picture earlier, showing herself to be very light on her feet. There was a shimmer of fabric and she was suddenly dressed in a light outfit best described as a cheerleader uniform. Her precognition kicked in and she began to sing along too, giggling when she caught sight of the frustrated Daray. "Come on, Daray! Dance with me!"
"Thank you, your majesty, but I would prefer not to. It hardly seems dignified to..." Despite himself, Daray began to dance. "What..." Alessa's eyes stopped glowing and she smiled at him. "Your Majesty, I protest this!"
"Lighten up, Daray!" Alessa commanded, twirling on her feet. "This is fun!" The song continued, and Alessa kept dancing even while her grand vizier managed to break free of her spell.
Eventually, the song ended. Daray breathed a sigh of relief as Alessa sat back down on her throne. "Alright, now, what were you telling me?" The Lady-Empress said, leaning forward and resting her head on her hand.
"Well, I was going to tell you that..."
"I'm carrying your baby, Daray." Radmiel's voice came from the cube once more.
"Uh..." Alessa's eyes looked at the machine. "What's this?"
"I can't keep living a lie. I love you, Daray, and have ever since that night at the Winter Ball. This song was my only way of telling you the truth." Radmiel's voice had a brokenhearted, totally sincere sound to it.
"What?!" Alessa stared at Daray.
"No! It's a trick!"
"I know we've been trying to hide it from Alessa, but I can't do it anymore. I love you, Daray Karon. I can't keep pretending to be something that I'm not. I know right now that you're telling her it's a trick, but I had to come out to her, too. It's not honest. Especially not now that we've both been stealing from the treasury for me to have that operation."
Alessa's eyes started to glow and she appeared to grow taller. "Daray Karon..." Her voice took on a deep, booming quality and her hands began to become more and more talonlike. "What is the meaning of this?"
"My lady, please! It's all a trick! A trick! Played by Radmiel, no doubt, to try to humiliate me!"
"There's but one more thing I have to tell you, Daray. April fools!"
Alessa frowned and tilted her head on its side once more, staring at Daray and the cube. "It would appear you're right. Strange man. He almost had me..."
Then a new voice came out of the hypercube. It was Daray's own. "Well done, Radmiel! Just like I told you to say it. She'll probably be believing it, the stupid girl. Then, when she finds out it's a lie she'll probably reward me for my own honesty, and I'll use my new position to reward you for your part in this joke. Huh? Wait, the recording light is still on."
Alessa's eyes flared and she roundd on the hapless Daray, who backed against the wall. "It was a trick! A trick! That's not me! That's never me!" Daray squeaked and scrabbled against hard brick, trying to find a door that wasn't there as Alessa began to stalk towards him, her hands glowing with killing magic. "Your majesty, please believe me, I would never call you stupid. I mean, you are... I mean, you're not.. it's not like you aren't... oh, dear."
The explosion could be heard all the way on the other side of the palace complex, where Radmiel was waiting with a large net and a few of his aides. "Now?" One of them asked him.
"Not yet." Radmiel tilted his head skywards. "Okay, hold it out."
Daray came flying down through the air, his wings burning and his skin scorched, angled right towards the net. At the last possible moment Radmiel's assistant pulled the net away, leaving Daray to splash right into the palace's main fountain.
"April Fool's, Daray!" Radmiel called down to him.
"You're...despicable..." came the answer.
OOC:More details on Daray and Radmiel's constant battle for political supremacy can be found here: Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HrSN7176XI)