"To your lair?" Iris snorts, unintentionally, much to Aurora's embarrassment. "What are you, an evil dragon?" She muses, wringing her hand away from Arcel's grasp and interlocking her fingers behind her back.
Arcel turns with a frown and stares at her with cyan condescending eyes. His thick brows meet in a furrow, lips puckered up, ready to bash Iris with his words. "You cannot just call Dragons evil!" He starts whispering, throwing an arm around Iris' shoulders and pulling her closer before he continues to whisper awfully close to her earshell, "They are Gods! Don't you know?"
Goosebumps overcome her. The ravenette, caught off guard, shakes her head with wide eyes and puffed cheeks. Why was this child so touchy-feely?! Man had no concept of personal space!
"There's Temples of Virae all over the world! I went to one a few days ago! My best wish is to meet a Dragon," Arcel grins as Iris pokes him in the ribs and uses his flinch to step away.
"My bad, I'm awfully jumpy today," the girl chokes out awkwardly, eyes roaming everywhere around the hallway illuminated with lumines. It was darkened with navy tapestries and decorated with occasional pots of flowers and statues, of people whom Iris didn't know, at alternating sides. Huge renaissance windows, pushed open, letting in a chilly wind of winter. Though, Iris spotted all trees littered over the grounds in quite a lush and fresh bloom. She wondered what season it was here.
The brunette shrugged, not even realising her assault and Iris promptly questions again to avoid confrontation, "Who is Virae? Are they the God over here? You guys have a dragon religion or something?"
This world had magic, apparently, so it wouldn't be a far fetch if they had dragons as well...right? Very Harry Potter-esque, if she relates it to that. The scenes painted over the tapestries...they might have been myths of this land. But why idolise them?
Her conflicted mind wasn't set to ease for Arcel's reply was cut null by a figure racing toward them, crying, "Young Master!" repeatedly. She was clad in a simple rose gold dress, ruffled around the hem and sleevelines with lime green. A black apron covered her front and the woman continuously used it to wipe her hands over it.
"Young master! You mustn't run in the corridors! It's ill-etiquette!" She gasps, reaching the young prince with a whole trail of maids behind her. In an instant, she falls to her knees, in front of the Prince.
Iris' jaw hangs in the absurdity of her promptness. What was this- absolute submission or something?! Was this boy a tyrant?!
But, the woman reaches her hand out only to settle down Arcel's fumbling curly hair into a sleek perfection.
"You worry too much, Lady Crimson," Arcel giggles just as the woman begins to fiddle with his collar buttons, sleeves, cufflinks and whatnot. Aurora stared at her with dead eyes, memories of her stylists brimming in the back of her head.
"Then you must maintain the dignity of a Prince, young master! Back in my days, Princes wouldn't invest in such follies—" she steps back and frowns upon finding something odd. She tilts her head in scrutiny and gasps when she realises. The missing cloak! And suddenly, a turquoise presence catches the attention of her peripherals.
"You!" She points an accusing finger at Iris, all but seething. The ravenette still had Arcel's turquoise coat wrapped over her shoulders. If Iris didn't know better, she'd believe this woman to have breathed fire at the mere sight of her. Good heavens, her navy eyes held a passionate fury within them.
"Oh you make me want to claw my eyes out," lady Crimson shivers, eyeing Iris' dirty brown frock and chunky black shoes hidden underneath the facade of Arcel's excellent, embroidered, turquoise overcoat. An embarrassment to hygiene all around universe. "Take it off off her shabby frame, please, the sheer sight pains me!" the blonde cowers with her words.
The trail of maids jump into motion, about attack Iris with hands again—
"Stop! It's alright, let it be. I shall be changing into my nightgown soon." Arcel interrupts, slithering through the circle of maids as he reached Iris' side and patted her back. Quite in a manly manner.
The ravenette coughed out.
Lady Crimson scoffs.
"Young master, who is she?!" The woman all but whines out, pacing up to Arcel and making a spot for herself between him and Iris. The young ravenette scowls at this obvious discrimination, scrunching her nose she begins to introduce herself when—
"Oh, she's the one I told you about!" Arcel exclaims, circling behind Lady Crimson to pat Iris' shabby looking head. The older woman grimanced.
"Oh- so it was a person?!" Lady Crimson mutters, quite looking like the mere sight of Iris was causing her physical pain.
The ravenette wanted to scoff at that. Who is gonna tell her that people used to pay thousands of dollars just to be able to hold The Aurora Harper's hand?! To be standing so close in her presence was a arrest warrant waiting to concede! And how had Arcel even described her as— pfft, the whole place was frustrating!
Iris jerks away from their presence, staring Lady Crimson in her eye, the ravenette grins a soulless grin, "I shall get going now, before you swoon too much in my presence." Where to? She has no place to belong. None, that she remembers, at least.
"Yes please," Lady Crimson sighs with obvious relief, clutching her chest.
"No! You cannot go away! I bet you a breath to play with me!" Arcel suddenly shouts.
Iris breaths.
"Ha! You lost! Now you'll have to play with me!" The brunette declares, face wrapped in a smug smile, hands folded over his chest.
Say what—?! Iris scoffs. "No can do, I never agreed to such a bet," the ravenette shrugs.
Arcel turns to face Lady Crimson with withering eyes. "LaDy CrImSoN," the child fake sobs so obviously that it makes Aurora's skin crawl. He needs professional help! "She isn't keeping her pRoMiSe!" the brunette points a finger at Iris.
"What promise?!" Iris whines, quite like a five-year-old.
"Young Master, you mustn't be pointing fingers at others. It is ill-etiquette," the blonde chides, rubbing her hands over the apron before touching Arcel and opening his clenched fingers. "Now that's better!"
Iris mocks a laugh as the brunette pouts like a brat being disciplined.
The blonde then turns to Iris, facing her with hollow eyes. "A Prince's word cannot be taken back by a peasant like you. You are in no position but to concede with the bet offered by Young Master." She explains while walking up to Iris' small form and bending down to her height. Her cold, slender finger curls a dirty raven lock of Iris' behind her ear, before she whispers in her ear, "It would be easier for you if you know your place and accompany him till he is bored by the likes of you."
The woman stands up straight and smiles down at her Prince. "Let me escort you to your room, Young Master," she begins but Arcel shakes his head in denial.
"Don't mind that, I shall get going with Iris!" Arcel was about to grasp the ravenette's hand again but Lady Crimson stops him halfway through.
"Beware of her, Young Master, she was accused of theft no mere minutes ago. She wouldn't have escaped such obvious claims if not of your favour," the blonde sneers, eyeing a scowling Iris from her peripherals.
The ravenette rolls her eyes, about to speak up, but Arcel avoids Lady Crimson's obstacle and holds the ravenette's hand again. Oh this boy-!! Both Iris and Lady Crimson look like they were about to throw hands- but for entirely different reasons.
"You think too much, Lady Crimson. Just check up on grandmumma please! She got into a coughing fit again, at the court. Didn't you hear?" Arcel informs, with wide eyes and lips pushed in an oh-so-innocent pout.
"What? Dear Virae, have mercy! Not a soul informed me! I must take my leave now, young master!" The blonde panics, quickly scramming with her trail of maids and a cloud of lumines in tow, while Arcel shouts to her hastily retreating figure, "You've been losing your touch lately! Hang in there!"
"Who does she thinks she is, walking around like she owns the place. So obnoxious," Iris begins to grumble as soon as silence consumes their presence again.
Arcel laughs at that. "She's grandmumma's lady-in-waiting. She's been with her all her life! Grandpapa tells me that she was a gift from the Imperial palace," the brunette informs, much to Aurora's displeasure. Why must someone hanging around a woman as brilliant as Duchess Arabella be so snotty and awful tempered?! Aurora could bet all of her soul that Lady Crimson does not treat Duchess Arabella right. Hmph.
Silence consumes them as they begin walking again. Across the allure would be Arcel's tower and Iris couldn't hasten enough for peace and warmth.
"About the plan, that we made on Mercy Bridge, was it true? Did someone really hit you?" Arcel suddenly questions with a sheer lack of tact which only a child could possess.
Iris shrugged, subtly pulling her hand out of Arcel's grasp and rubbing the back of her neck. "About that, thank you for helping me then. And yes, there was someone...," Iris looks up, wondering if she should come out clean to the boy. She thought of no immediate cons and gave in. "It was a boy, I confronted him— and he had the necklace. It has an opal in the middle, right?"
The brunette nods.
"So, he really was the the thief. I demanded that he return it to me but he jumped off the bridge— yes, i know, sounds whimsical but I promise, he really did! There was no other way to escape! And when I had looked down— no one was there! I wonder if he escaped with magic..." The ravenette concludes unsure of the Prince's reaction. He'd surely think that she's a liar and send her away — right?!
Iris clenched her eyes shut, waiting for a word of disappointment or betrayal, but none reached her.
"You cannot use magic in the orient wing, at least not life saving one. It's laden with anti-magic talismans and only a potency as negligible as lumines can work within the barrier." Arcel informs calmly, much to Iris'surprise. "You mustn't have noticed...he would have climbed up. We must go up!" Arcel suddenly exclaims, grabbing Iris' hand yet again and pulling her to the closest window ledge.
"What do you mean by go up!? And why do you believe me so easily?!" Iris gasps as Arcel pokes his head out into the cold, looking up and down, left and right.
"Well, you tell good stories. Makes me want to believe," Arcel turns and smiles another one of his gummy smiles. It made Iris cough with awkwardness. Why was this child so smooth with his words?! Must have gotten from his grandmother. Eloquence runs in the family.
So much, honestly. Iris shakes her head.
In the meanwhile, Arcel seats himself over the ledge of the window and jumps down.
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