The Kingdom and Its Dark Mage

Kartiel's gaze softened even further. For someone who made it clear he didn't want to get attached to anyone, he always seemed to be pitying those who he encountered. Not that he was going to argue - it was thanks to Kartiel that he had a home, and that he hadn't been shunned by the people of other kingdoms after he fell.

"It's been a weird day for me as well," Kartiel said. He continued to give him a warm smile. "I didn't expect that Orpheus would leave, and I didn't expect that he would return with people from other worlds."

Orpheus shifted uncomfortably. He was definitely going to be referencing that until they had an official talk, a clear sign that the talk itself wasn't going to be a pleasant one. He let out a quiet sigh.

It was hard not to look up. The king sounded warm and friendly enough. Almost like Taber, but more reasonable. Still, Kynan kept his head down; he was afraid he'd look up and find out that the king was only faking and was glaring at him or something like that.

"But he's back now," Kynan said. "So that's not a problem?"

"It's a problem that he left in the first place," Kartiel replied, irritation and frustration seeping into his voice. Not at Kynan, though Orpheus knew the hound was going to interpret it as being meant for him. He was looking right at Orpheus as he spoke. Take that into account, and it was pretty clear who was responsible for the response.

Orpheus took a deep breath. "You can't keep me here forever," he hissed, getting to his feet and sitting down beside Kartiel.

"I can try," Kartiel hissed back, now leveling an angry glare in his direction. "I told you not to go out."

"I had to," he argued.

"No, you didn't!" was the angry reply. Kartiel now had completely forgotten the fact that he was supposed to be putting up good appearances like any other king would - it was a bit ironic, considering why he was so furious about Orpheus leaving. "It's not safe for you to go out there yet, Orpheus. I know that you're impatient to leave, but they're going to destroy you if they find out what you are!"

His lip quivered. Shoot. He knew that Kartiel couldn't see that he was on the verge of crying, but it was going to be obvious once his voice started cracking and his body started shaking. "It's not right," he said. "I don't want to hide myself anymore. I just want to be me. I-I'm not a monster, Kartiel."

Kartiel's gaze softened.

"I know you're not," he softly said, "but not everyone sees you that way."

Kynan buried his head further, ears poking out to catch the conversation. It wasn't getting any better.

"I've had people judge me before," Kynan said, voice muffled. "I didn't live in the greatest place. Why do people think you're a monster?"

Orpheus and Kartiel stopped their conversation, both turning to look at Kynan. He looked even more upset than he had earlier, and the two felt guilty enough that they ceased their argument - at least for the moment. It had been too brief for Kartiel to truly let out his frustrations; Orpheus knew how he worked.

They exchanged a glance.

"It's because I look like one," Orpheus quietly said. He raised a gloved hand up and pulled back his hood. He couldn't tell if that was what Kartiel had wanted him to do, but there was no point in hiding it when none of the people present were human. His long black hair cascaded down his back, coming to a stop at his chest. A pair of glowing purple eyes peered out from a face covered completely in black scales. Wherever there should have been bare skin, there were those scales. "I'm one of the fallen."

Calfuray couldn't help herself- she let out a little shriek when Orpheus pulled back his hood. Her eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth. Though she knew that King Kartiel couldn't be as strict as her own father etiquette-wise, her face still burned with shame at her outburst.

Paq, who had been silent up until now, raised her eyebrows at Orpheus' appearance. It wasn't something she'd seen before, but it was far from the strangest thing she'd seen. He looked like a more human dragonborn.
"The fallen?" She blinked, momentarily confused. Paq had thought she was familiar with the types of non-humans, but perhaps there were different kinds in this world. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard the term before."

Orpheus looked in Calufray's direction for a moment, but quickly averted his gaze. He instead took to looking at Paq; at least she hadn't screamed when he revealed his true nature. "In this world, there's a group of powerful beings called the gods." He paused. "At least, they're slightly more powerful than the humans are, with a wider range of magical abilities. I would never go as far to say that they're a better race."

Kartiel glanced over at Orpheus. He was still mad about earlier, but, once you knew him awhile, Kartiel was an open book - he was concerned for him. And rightfully so. Talking about them was never easy, especially when it made Orpheus think of his mom.

"Sometimes the gods decide that they don't like someone," Orpheus quietly added., "so they tamper with their soul and then kick them out of Caelum. When they do, they become like this."

He gestured down at himself.

He gave Paq a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "For most of them, it's not a problem. They can just conceal it. But I never learned how to really conceal my godly traits before because I was too young, so I've been stuck like this ever since I fell." His smile grew a little bit. "But at least Kartiel's helped me with hiding my wings."

Now Calfuray was starting to get annoyed. These people were treating her so rudely! Dispelling all this information and not addressing her so that she could join in in the conversation! Her cheeks blazed red, and actually started to puff up in her attempt to hold back her words.

"Ouch," said Kynan. He'd gotten a glimpse of Orpheus's true form from a glance. Nothing particularly monstrous or scary, especially compared to the things that he'd run across. The explanation was weird - Kynan was more familiar with the idea of nice gods than mean ones - but nothing he could really reject. He wasn't even sure if he was in the same world. "I just thought you were one of the lizards or dragons or something. What's the deal with the wings?"

Calufray's growing frustration didn't go unnoticed, but neither Kartiel nor Orpheus had any sort of idea on how to deal with it. So, instead, they turned their attention back to Kynan, whose question had a very easy answer.

"Gods have wings," Orpheus explained. "Humans don't. If I...If I was still like I used to be, no one would be afraid of me. But my wings also changed when I fell, so they're much more terrifying now..."

"I know humans don't have wings," Kynan began, but hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do now was let his temper take control of him. Sighing, the hound shifted to something more respectful: "Yeah, that sucks. What do your wings look like?"

He looked over at Kartiel. When he gave a nod, Orpheus took a deep breath and let the magic fall away. A pair of large draconian black wings began to appear on his back, and Orpheus did his best to make sure that they didn't whack Kartiel in the face when they fully appeared.

Calfuray made a noise in the back of her throat- partly out of surprise, but mostly of frustration. With this, all of her patience was thrown to the wind. She stood quickly, almost spluttering in an effort to get all of her words out.

"That's it! I have never been treated more rudely in my life! What am I, invisible!? Are you enjoying taunting me!?" Throwing up her hands, she just about shrieked. "Excuse me, Your Highness," her voice dripped with sarcastic venom, "but if you are going to punish me for breaking the rules of ettiqute, remember how you insulted me first!"

Quickly turning on her heel, the princess stormed down the hall. She covered a few feet before realizing where she was and that she had absolutely no where to go. Turning back around, she aimed a seething glare, mostly toward Kartiel, and calmly walked back with her head high.

As Calfuray was throwing her temper tantrum, Paq was behind her mimicking it. She opened and closed her hands to mimic the princess' yelling, all the while making increasingly obnoxious facial expressions. It was only when Calfuray turned around that Paq stopped; dropping her expression in a split-second as if she were an actress.