The Truth of Luxphalia (closed; started)

Countess Wilhelmina; At the castle

The young steward led me hurriedly through the castle corridors, after my insistence on speed. I was walking as quickly as I could, my annoyingly poofy formal skirt bunched in my hands to keep from tripping.

The thoughts turned round and round in my head as I worried myself to bits. Why, why, why, why, why? Why was the dragon attack so strange? Why had it even happened? What was going on?  I paused for a bit in the hallway as a chilling thought hit me. What if it wasn't a real dragon? The steward, confused, stopped and looked at me, unsure of what to do. I shook my head, smiled, and took off again, shaking the preposterous thought from my head.  The startled boy continued to lead me through the maze of stone corridors, until we arrived at a familiar set of enormous wooden and gilt doors, with two stony-faced guards on either side of it.

The steward boy went up to one of the guards, said something in a low voice, and the guard nodded, gesturing to the other guard.  They moved to open both heavy doors, opening to what I knew well as King Balik's throne room. I straightened my dress and my back, trying to organize my thoughts.

The doors slowly levered open, and I stepped into the great hall.  

King Balik was on his throne, but not in his usual lounging state. Along with the various courtiers around the room, he looked fidgety and nervous. When I entered the room, all heads turned to me.  Balik's face whitened a tinge.  Then he cleared his throat.

"Countess.  I see you have made it." 

I nodded politely, then strode closer to the throne.  

"Your highness," I started, curtsying gracefully, "I am...shall we say, a bit in turmoil. As I am sure your Grace is as well." I paused. The king nodded, eyebrows furrowed. I continued.  "You got my message before. And now there is this terrible tragedy that has befallen the capital." I paused once more, looking at him.  He motioned to continue, with a tired, almost beaten gesture.  I took a deep breath.

"There is something much, much bigger going on, I'm afraid.  I don't know what, or why, but there is." Finally, I had collected and aligned my thoughts. Taking another deep breath, I concluded, "That was no dragon, Your Highness."

Spoiler

We can still make this interesting. Please discuss plot ideas on the DT, and maybe tell me kind of what you're planning on with your evil characters, Aquestioning. Alright guys, let's rock and roll!

Warren Falderan; In the village

I already had a plan. My jaw was set, my thoughts sure. We just could not stay here. I had to keep Ashen safe. Keep Ashen safe. Keep Ashen safe. I closed my eyes for a split second, then turned to look at her. Except. She wasn't there anymore.

I gave a startled yell and started to call her name frantically. Somewhere in my mind I knew she was probably somewhere safe, just wandered off a bit, but still. I could not lose sight of her anymore. I don't know what gave me this weird obsession, liking, even...loving of this girl, but it was there and I couldn't lose her.

People started to look at me a little strange, but I still looked everywhere in the square, looking over heads, ducking past the crowd. The square was in disarray, everyone wondering what they were going to do, what they could do. Still I couldn't find her.

Finally, I stopped to think. Where would she go? Where would she slip off to that she would forget to tell me? What would she have done......? I frowned. She probably would not have just gone home, we would do that anyways. She would have at least told me. No, this had to be something different. What would she have done after hearing the news, what was happening?

I closed my eyes, going on pure instinct, and headed towards the Hurill caravans.