Raymond
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If the Majordomo registers your fear, he is polite enough not to comment on it.
I believe, Sir Raymond, that Michael wishes to favor you for your bravery and loyalty - though you know as well as I do that the King often keeps his own council.
The Master of Etiquette is, put simply, a windbag. He smiles politely when you arrive and bows at exactly the appropriate angle for someone of his station to greet someone of your station.
You're not sure how a man can spend three hours talking about a twenty minute ritual, but he manages it. The jist of what he says, however, is as follows;
The crowning will take place on a platform. You'll be expected to stand there before the King makes his entrance, in armor with a ceremonial sword. When he turns to face you, you are to take a knee and say "I, Sir Raymond, recognize you as my true and rightful King. I offer you my sword for you to command unto the end of my days." You offer him the ritual sword, hilt first. He'll place his hand on the pommel, say he accepts your service and bid you stand.
The ritual continues for a while longer, but the extent of your duties during that period is to stand to the side and look regal and imposing (which you do well, if you do say so yourself).
The only really interesting moment of your conversation comes when the Master of Etiquette leads you to the Royal Treasury and places the sword in your care. The pommel is a simple, sturdy, double-sided affair - it's the sheath that really catches your eye. It's carved of a solid piece of oak coated in dark stain that makes it feel smooth as well as heavy. Set into its side as if grown there are rare jewels in a pattern that resembles the House of Daniel's family crest - a tower against a grey sky.
The Master of Etiquette very gently reminds you that you are to carry this sword and no other weapons - to do otherwise is bad luck and bad manners, symbolic of a Knight who is withholding some portion of his loyalty. He also requests that you not draw the weapon, but that's more practical than anything else as you and he are inside in a rather cramped room. The ceremony, he notes, also doesn't require that you draw the weapon. There is no reason to go swinging a naked blade about.
Edward
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Queen Jessica seems to take a great deal of comfort from Queen Ahaziah's presence. She hands the old woman the wailing toddler and, after a little coddling from her grandmother, Princess Ashley stops crying (you think for the first time since that morning) and falls asleep.
Queen Ahaziah, for her part, seems to grieve less when she has the baby in her arms.
What a little angel she coos. Fussy, but her father was much the same. She calms right down if you stroke her cheek like this.
It doesn't work when I do it Queen Jessica complains. I think you must be using magic.
This elicits a smile from Queen Ahaziah, though you don't think anything could make the poor woman laugh right now. It's always a shame, when a mother outlives her child. I could take her tonight, if you want. I won't be going to the coronation in any case - I don't think my poor old bones could tolerate that much standing.
That's understandable, you think, and the girl would certainly be safe with here in the temple.
Footsteps from outside alert you before a large man pushes through the temple doors. He walks past you with a sneer and goes to kneel next to Queen Ahaziah.
Your Majesty he greets her with her head bowed. I came as soon as I could. I am glad to see you - and Princess Ashley - safe.
Master Edward has been taking care of us, haven't you Edward? Queen Ahazian smiles at you. Have you met Commander Sebastian of the City Watch?
You've seen him before and have an overwhelming impression of him as a brown-noser to his superiors and a bully amongst those in his charge, but you must confess that you've never spoken to the man for more than a moment. If Queen Ahazia seems so taken with him, it's possible that you've misjudged.
You should kick that guy's face in. Seriously. Save someone else the trouble.
Iria
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I realize, Lady Iria, that the subject of legitimacy might be a... well, a sore one for you.
To your knowledge, that is the most allowance he has ever made for your parentage
But I urge you to think not of the symbolic meaning of the flowers, but rather of whom is typically asked to fill the role that is requested of you. King Michael's mother has been dead thirteen years, and now his father as well. He finds himself an orphan far too young. You've been there his entire life, and have had an active role in shaping him as a man. I assure you, my lady, that neither he nor I meant any insult in asking this of you. the Majordomo's words are, as before, filled with sincerity.
As for the Etiquette lesson - well, the ceremony its self takes less than twenty minutes, and your role in it would be over in less than three but the Etiquette Master is a through man
Windbag squawks Thought, catching you by surprise. Williams smiles slightly.
and it might be better to see him sooner rather than later, as the Prince has also requested that Sir Raymond be instructed of his place in the ceremony and he is prone to Stage fright.
Michael, for his part, doesn't truly have a schedule this morning. He finds himself needing to do everything at once, and it is no small accomplishment, I think, that he seems to be doing just that.
Icarus Smith
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You're going mad, you're sure of it. You managed to hold it off for centuries and centuries but, nope, the solitude is going to do you in.
Wait. That thin, bespectacled guy who talks to himself all the time is in the treasury again and... Who is that? That guy is a frigging walking BRICK! The bespectacled guy is handing you to the walking brick and... He's got his hand on your pummel.... Yesss....
What? No! The bespectacled guy is telling the brick not to swing you! He's got to swing you, or you wont be able to talk to him!