Medieval Fantasy RP IC

[Leslie]

Today was a very important day in the realm of eight Kingdoms. Today was the day that Ygritte Cerwyn and Zavier Silversong were to be married. Tons of festivities were planned and prepared ahead of time, and plenty of events within the festival. All for the very important wedding of the realm. People flocked from all over Dunwall to come to this event, to see Ygritte Cerwyn and Zavier Silversong be united together. Though, it was very likely that some people just came for the festival and events, and not actually the wedding itself. Or for the great beers, ales, and wines from all around Dunwall. There was plenty of things you could come here for other then just the wedding. It was even possible that some of the other royal families would attend, to socialize with one of the other houses, talk about important issues, and just have their knights compete in jousting and duels to see who has the better commanders or knights. To make the event even more perfect, the weather was even being polite to them, being relatively warm and clear. It helped that it was summer, so it wasn't as freezing anyway, but the day was still nicer then usual.

During the morning hours of the day, there was a lot of preparations going on for the wedding. The bride was getting all dressed up for the wedding, along with the bridesmaids. Also, Loras, Esbern, and Talisa were getting all cleaned up for the wedding, to Talisa's distaste. So was Melisandra and Mallus. Zavier Silversong and his best mate and whatnot would be getting cleaned up and dressed up somewhere else, so Zavier didn't see his bride until she came out for the wedding. Even the dress she wore would be a surprise for him. This of course would take hours of tinkering and making her look perfect, and trying to make the bridesmaids and Talisa look the best they could. Which, was rather difficult, when Talisa complained every 5 seconds. Also, their mother had to look nice too.

Outside, many people were waiting in anticipation to see their beautiful princess come out in her dress, and to see her handsome prince come out dressed all nicely. There was also plenty of anticipation for the likely beautiful and festive wedding that would follow. Some of them looked forward to seeing the entire royal family dressed beautifully, possibly from both the Cerwyn's and the Silversongs. The thought of seeing their little princess in a dress was an amusing thought, because it was known around the Kingdom that she hated the royal affairs. And to see their little prince in a cute, fancy uniform that fit him was an adorable thought. And to see their handsome young prince and future King come out in a fancy royal outfit was a sight of joy, especially for the girls of the Kingdom who secretly wished he'd propose to them and marry them, and start a family with them. And of course to see their beautiful princess in a lovely dress was a sight to behold, though sad at the same time because it was more likely for her to leave Markarth for Riften to be with Zander then for Zander to leave Riften and stay here in Markarth with Ygritte, just because that was how the royal affairs went. Then, to see the King and Queen come out in their royal outfits was always an amazing sight.

Meanwhile, where the ladies were getting ready, there was a lot of chatting and preparations taking place. Ygritte had been bathed earlier to make sure she was as clean as could be for today, then was helped into her lovely blue wedding dress. Now, she was busy having her hair brushed out and put up nicely for the wedding, while she just chatted with her handmaids that were doing all the work and staring into the mirror, and thinking about how her husband-to-be would look when he comes out all nice. Then, thinking about the whole wedding in general brought a smile to her face. Along with them making sure her hair looked perfect, they were also making sure her face looked as pretty as possible.

"I am so nervous" Ygritte said with a shaky sound to her voice. She put her hands up in front of her, showing her handmaids and anyone else paying attention how shaky they were. Her handmaids just chuckled, because they completely understood why she was so nervous. Her mother also chuckled, though Talisa didn't seem to pay it any mind and continued to act like a spoiled brat. Yeah, she loved her sister, and loved her for who she was. But her sister could at least behave properly on her wedding day.

"Why do I have to be so perfect? Ow!" Talisa complained as her hair was being brushed out. The reason she said ow was because of her hair being a mess, because of all the times she would get herself dirty, so it was a matted mess and it hurt when it was being brushed out. "Why can't I just wear what I usually wear?" She asked, and then letting out another sound of pain. When she had been washed earlier, it had taken longer then any of the others to actually get her clean. Now, while pretty much everyone else was just doing the last finishing touches, Talisa hadn't even been put into her dress yet. Or had her hair finished. The handmaids had been working on her hair for a very long time now. The handmaids were getting rather irritated with her complaints, especially since she had complained enough earlier, before she even started complaining more about why she had to be perfect and why she had to wear a pretty dress. Her sister simply said, "Because you are royalty, Talisa. You will have to get used to it if you want to be Queen some day". Which, had Talisa respond in how you would probably expect. "But I hate the dresses and the fancy parties and festivals! Why do I have to be all fancy just because I am a part of a royal family?" She asked, then ended it with a blunt "I don't want to be queen", which Ygritte responded by rolling her eyes. "Can you stop being a spoiled brat for one day and just be nice for my wedding? I want you to look nice for my wedding, and I want you to behave" She said to Talisa, which she automatically expected her to complain some more. Which was probably a reasonable assumption. Because Talisa shot her sister an angry glare, and said, "If I ever get married, everyone will wear casual attire and we will all jump in the mud at the end of the wedding", which actually got a chuckle from her handmaids and her mother. They figured she probably said that because she wanted to be different, and get out of the stereotypical ideas of a royal wedding. Her sister however just rolled her eyes playfully at her sister, and shook her head, dropping that conversation and hoping that she could get some peace and quiet from her sisters whining for 5 minutes.

Over at the boys side, Esbern had finished getting a quick haircut to clean up his messy hair, a shave, and a bath. Now, his hair was just being fixed to look nicer, and he was finishing getting his wedding attire looking as nice as possible. Loras was already completely done in a cute little outfit, his hair all neatly brushed and cleaned, and bathed. Now it mostly relied on Esbern and the others to finish up, or have their handmaids finish them up for them. Esbern was thinking about the idea of seeing Merril in a pretty dress, before he forced that thought out of his mind. He also thought the idea of seeing Talisa in a dress would be somewhat amusing, because out of everyone, he knew the most of how much she hated dresses. But, he figured that as much as she complained about it, she really would look cute in it, because when she wasn't jumping into mud and acting as if she brawled a grizzly bear, she really was a pretty young lady. He thought his little sister took mostly after his mom, and that Ygritte didn't really take after any of them, which was weird to him. Either way, he thought both of his sisters were pretty when they wanted to be, Ygritte more so because she actually tried most of the time. Not that he overly cared if they did try, being him and all. Besides, the girl he thought was pretty in the non family way was probably Merril, but because he was embarrassed by that whole thing he never exactly told Merril that. Which he beat himself up for before, because he figured that a comment like that might make her happy, as long as it didn't creep her out or something. Which was pretty much exactly why he never said it, because he was worried that she might get creeped out by that for whatever reason. Either way, he was just being a typical boy who avoided telling anyone his real feelings.

One of the messengers of Markarth wandered to wherever Zander was, which was presumably where all the boys were getting ready for the wedding. He looked like a fairly aged man, likely in his 60's, and in the early stages of really showing his age. He still got around fairly well, but you could tell that he was beginning to get stiff and worn out easily, and probably couldn't do his job successfully for much longer. His job was pretty much restricted to delivering letters to people around town, and delivering them directly to the royals of the family and visiting royals. Like Zander, for example. He walked up to the young man, and spoke.

"A letter to Zander Silversong, from miss Susan Avenicci of Ferelden" The messenger said, handing Zander a wrapped up piece of parchment. Esbern, being a bit of a tease, let out an "Oooohhhh" from where he was getting dressed up, but that was about the extent of his reaction to the letter.

The letter read:

Dear Zander Silversong, my love

I heard that your brothers wedding was coming up soon, so I sent this letter directly to Markarth in hopes that it would reach you. I am sorry that I could not make it to your brothers wedding. I wish I could be there for the festivities. It's been too long since I was last at Markarth. The last time I was there was when I was 13, I believe. We used to go there every year, but our traveling has become less and less frequent as father and mother get older, and with local troubles brewing worse and worse by the year, we just haven't had the time to travel so much in fear that everything would crash around us as soon as we left. I fear that we will have an uprising at this rate. The angry people here are getting restless and violent, the Miners have reported odd sounds within the mines, and the Natives that were here before us are getting more and more pissed as we take over more of their land. I hope all is well. Send my love to the King and Queen and their children, and the same to your family. Please don't worry about me. I will be okay.

I miss you dearly. I miss our talks. Even if they were a lot of times about nothing important, they were beautiful and lovely talks. It showed how much we love each other, to just be able to talk about nonsense and not get bored with it. Of course, we talked about important stuff as well, like possibly starting a family, problems at home, and each others family. There were also times when we would just share stories to each other that we heard that have been traveling through the realm, even if they sounded outright atrocious. I miss the way you smile. I miss singing you into a trance with my voice, or when I would just sing and you would smile at me lovingly. I miss the feel of your soft touch against my skin. I miss the feel of your sweet lips against mine. I miss everything about you

Love, Susan Avenicci

[Edenecho]

The whole Silversong Family was in Markarth for the royal wedding, and quite a lot of Riften Commoners, as well. Which made sense. It was a wedding that was bringing the Silversong family, which they all loved, together with the Cerwyn family, the most powerful family in Dunwall. The Thanors and Roths were also their, as well as some commoners from their holds. Lady and Lord Roth were a young couple, and didn't have any children as of yet, and were already all dressed for the wedding. The only real reason they attended was because it was a Cerwyn wedding, as they didn't like the Silversongs much. The Thanors were there to pretend like they cared, though all they really cared about was power. The Thanor family consisted of four people. The Lord, the Lady and their twin daughters, who were both very stuck up. The Thanors and Roths had both gotten ready separate from The Silversongs and Cerwyns.

In the area where the girls were getting dressed, Merrill sat on a stool, her mom helping her get dressed. She was wearing a nice dress, but nothing to complicated or heavy due to the fact that she was weak, and would have to walk in it, though Tallis was going to be helping her. She was just sitting quietly, listening to Talisa and kind of mentally laughing at how whiny she was. When Talisa explained how her wedding would be, Merrill said,”Can I go to that wedding?” jokingly. Her voice was very soft and quite, and it was kind of hard to tell if she was joking because of it. Her smile, however, was a good enough indication. Tallis chuckled softly at what her daughter said, then said to Talisa,”I bet you and Saulomon get along well.” She finished putting Merrill's Bridesmaid dress on and straightened up. She herself was already in her fancy dress, and it was certainly a dress for a Lady of a hold. “Now, let's see here,” She said, turning to Talisa, and the handmaids trying to do her hair. “I know just the thing,” she said, digging through her backpack and pulling out a perfume bottle, though it didn't have perfume in it. She then started spraying it on Talisa's hair. It helped make it easier to brush through, without making her hair slimy or greasy. “There,” She said before kneeling down in front of Talisa. “You think you could be a nice royal girl just for today? You've got the while rest of your time to be rebellious, just behave for today, OK? Just today, and then you can go back to being your normal self. I know exactly how you feel. I'm not one for all the fancy royalty stuff, either, but I put my opinions aside so that my son and your sister can have a great day.” After that she straightened up and went over to Ygritte. “You look lovely,” She said, smiling,”My son is going to be so happy.” She said it like one of her sons being happy was the best thing that could ever happen. Which, in her opinion, it was.

Meanwhile, in the boy's dressing area, Saulomon, Zander and Zavier were all acting like brothers. Mainly Saulomon and Zander, though. They both kept jokingly teasing Zavier about his outfit, even if it wasn't really ridiculous or anything, they were just being brothers. “By the nine divines,” Saulomon exclaimed,”Why did anyone ever come up with these outfits? Does comfort mean nothing to them?” Though his complaints were clearly light-hearted. “Yeah. I can't imagine how Zavier must feel in that,” Zander said, and set Saulomon off laughing again. Oghren just rolled his eyes while smiling, but Zavier said,”Saulomon, you're going to wear yourself out before the wedding even starts at this rate.” Saulomon scowled slightly at that. Sure he was still recovering, but he didn't get worn out that easy. “I'm not weak,” He said, giving up on trying to get his hair in order. The Silversong family preferred not to use handmaids or maidservents, and did most everything on their own. Which was why there were no handmaids helping them all get ready. Zavier turned to his brother and gave him an apologetic smile. “I know. I'm sorry, it's just I still worry about you. After almost losing you...” He trailed off with a sigh, and Saulomon nudged him with his elbow,”Hey, no being depressing on your wedding day,” He said jokingly, and Zavier smiled.

While he waited for everyone else to be done, Saulomon went over to Loras. “Look at you,” He said teasingly,”The girls are going to be all over you today.” To this, Zander playfully poked Saulomon in the ribs,”He's a bit young for that kind of stuff, Saulomon. Saulomon just laughed and leaned back against a wall. His eyes flicked to Esbern and away before he said,”I heard that Merrill's dress is beautiful, and compliments her well,” to apparently no one specific. “I never saw it myself, but I know she'll look very pretty in it.” Zander and Zavier just seemed confused about this change in the conversation.

When the messenger came and gave Zander his letter, he gave him a nod of thanks and rolled his eyes at Esbern before going on to read it. As he read the first paragraph, he looked worried, then by the end of it he looked kind of like 'how the hell am I supposed to not worry about you when you tell me about all that stuff'. Through out the second paragraph, he started getting redder and redder, to which Zavier and Saulomon both laughed. “I don't even want to know what she said to him,” Saulomon snorted. Zander quietly folded his letter and put it in his pocket without a word before finishing up with getting dressed.

Oghren just watched his sons joke around with a big smile on his face. He had finished getting dressed a while ago, and was now just watching he sons be brothers. He was hoping that maybe Saulomon would mature at least a bit more before he became Lord, but he didn't really hold out much hope.

[Alan Haskayne]

The delegation from the Nippon-Russo Empire walked through the streets, a sharply dressed man in front commanding "Make way for the Tzar. Make way at once." moving people out of the way of the troops who were defending the Tzar and the heirs to both thrones. Knights moved in front, wearing classic heavy plate metal, Samurai followed behind them, wearing equally stereotypical armour. Some of the knights and Samurai were women, but most were men, however the armour looked pretty much the same despite gender. They had rented an inn in the city, and the delegation stopped there, the Tzar himself retiring till the wedding itself, tired from the trek. The guards were of equal fatigue, and took their leave for the night.

The two heirs walked to the area where the bride to be was getting ready, Sekai wore her military armour, battle crest painted on the front of the armour to signify who she was. Natasha was opposite in terms of dress, having a dress of the finest dark silks, and having her hair neatly groomed. Sekai was frankly astonished at how she could do her hair while walking, and it annoyed her a little that Natasha had done her hair as well, though she wore her helmet still. Her Katana and Wakasashi were clearly showing, an essential sign of her nobility. Natasha had a small shoulder bag filled with gifts, and Sekai carried a long silk wrapped gift under her arm.

Natasha burst into the room first, well not burst, she was a great deal more polite than that, but entered none the less. She walked up to the bride to be "Hello, I'm Natasha Romanova, cultural representative of the Duel Monarchy of the Nippon-Russo Empire. This is my friend Sekai Maru, military envoy from our nation." she spoke fast and this was the first time she took a breath in talking. Both of them bowed and Natasha reached in her bag pulling out a silver and diamond necklace "Our Empire truly wishes to pass along its blessing for your marriage, so we have come bearing many gifts. This was smelted specially for your wedding so that we may present it to you as a gift. We have an assortment of other fine jewels for you, but Sekai would like to present her gift I'm sure." Sekai unwrapped her package, balancing a massive yet beautifully crafted bamboo bow. She bowed to the bride and said "We heard you like to practice with the bow, so I personally commissioned this for you. It is a Yumi bow, made of the finest bamboo and hemp in the Duel Monarchy. It was crafted by the finest craftsman in our lands and truly has no equal in this world." she remained bowed, waiting for her to take the bow from her hands.

[Leslie]

Talisa looked over to Merril when she spoke, and already liked the girl when she asked if she could go to that wedding. If she was willing to accept the idea of going to a wedding that would involve jumping into the mud, she liked the girl. But, really, she had no intentions of actually BEING married, and she was going to show it. "I wasn't serious. I will never get married. There's more exciting activities to do then dedicating the rest of your life to someone" She said. Her mom just shook her head, figuring it was just a child phase and she would eventually get over it, and marry a lovely young man around her age one day. Her sister also shook her head, but more was thinking in her head "Silly sister" then anything. The mention of Saulomon made her smile and she nodded. "He's like a big brother to me. He understands me better like Esbern does" She told Tallis, literally saying something that might be offensive to her family right in front of her mother and sister. They noticed, but decided against saying anything, because they were used to it by now. She seemed curious what Tallis was doing, and the handmaids just watched her to see what she was up to. When Tallis started spraying something into her hair, she said "Ew, what is that?", only because she thought it was something to make her hair look nice or perfume or something, not because it was something being sprayed on her. She could care less about having weird crap in her hair, with all the times she had come back with matted here that was full of plant particles. The handmaids nodded in thanks, and started to brush out her hair again, which made Talisa realize it was just some form of detangler. Which still wasn't exactly the most appealing to her, not really caring to have her long hair all brushed out perfectly and looking perfectly clean and all. Now, she looked nervous when Tallis looked like she was going to speak to her directly, and she frowned and nodded, feeling a little guilty for her behavior now. "Yes ma'am" She said in as polite of a voice as she could. Really, she felt she could, even if she didn't like it. To the rest, all she did is frown, and at the last bit about putting her feelings aside so her sister and soon-to-be brother in-law could have a good wedding made her feel even more guilty for her behavior. Didn't mean she wouldn't complain still, at least a little bit.

"Thank you Miss Tallis" Ygritte said to Tallis. Which, this was pretty much where you could tell that Talisa couldn't be perfectly nice, since she rolled her eyes at her sister being called lovely behind their backs. Part of her felt jealous that Tallis completely ignored her getting all dressed up nice to look pretty for the wedding, but payed attention to her sister. Though, she figured it made sense since it was her wedding and all. And it's not like she cared that much. Ygritte smiled brightly at the last part of what she said, and said "I sure hope so".

Her handmaids as they continued to work on her started to talk about random stuff. "We should of had you a red dress made, to match your beautiful bright red hair" One of her handmaids said. Ygritte just shook her head a little. "No, I think this dress is beautiful. It gives more of an elemental feel, and I like that. My red hair on blue can be like fire and water. I love it" She said while smiling brightly. Her dress was a beautiful, long blue dress, with some earthy colors on it as well. All of the elemental colors just made it the perfect dress to her, and her hair being the way it was just made it better.

Hearing the door open, everyone pretty much looked to the door, not really expecting more guests. When they saw who they were though, the handmaids and Melisandra all bowed briefly, though Ygritte didn't because she was sitting down and Talisa didn't because her hair was being brushed and she wasn't exactly very good with polite greetings like that anyway. "Hello Miss Romanova" Ygritte said politely, giving her a little bow nod. "Hello Miss Maru" She said politely, again doing the polite bow nod. Seeing the gorgeous necklace made her eyes go wide and her mouth fall open. "It is absolutely beautiful" She praised, smiling. Again, her sister rolled her eyes behind everyone's back at the whole fancy jewelry nonsense. "That necklace would be great to wear down the isle, so you can just put it around my neck" She commented. Now, when she saw the bow, she was again watching it with a look of amazement. "It is beautiful! Thank you Sekai" She said happily. "I will make sure to make great use of it" She continued, and instead of her taking the bow, her handmaids did it for her, since she was busy getting all perfect-looking still. Now, Talisa actually looked amazed herself at the bow, and even let out a somewhat quiet "Wow", because apparently she thought weapons looked cool but not fancy jewels. The handmaids working on Talisa were rather pleased with Tallis' hair product, because their painstakingly slow job of brushing out Talisa's hair was driving them insane.

Meanwhile, Esbern was busy laughing, smiling, and chuckling with the boys as they teased their brother, and chuckling when Saulomon jokingly complained about the outfits being uncomfortable. Mostly, he just listened to the brothers jokingly bickering. And to Zander, he said something himself. "Careful what you say Zander, because before you know it you might be wearing the same uncomfortable outfit for your own personal wedding to Princess Susan Avenicci" He said teasingly. Then, to be even more teasing, he said "I bet you are already imagining her in a beautiful dress on her wedding day". When Zavier got said, he sighed, and nodded in agreement to Saulomon. "Yeah, your bride doesn't want to see you depressed going down the isle" He joked. Apparently when it came to these 3 brothers, he felt at home with them and could let loose with the teasing and the joking, and it felt really good to be so open with the brothers. They felt like his own brothers, like they were always a part of the same family, and not just uniting the 2 families together today.

Loras gave Saulomon a funny look. "You are silly" He stated as a fact, and not jokingly. Though, he was smiling at him in response. "I think you should be telling that to Esbern" He said, pointing at his big brother, who looked over to his brother and seemed to half hear what was said because of being distracted with something else. "Uh, yeah, I suppose" He said in response to what Saulomon had said to Loras, and then Loras saying that should be described to him. He gave Saulomon a questioning glance when he started to randomly go on about Merril talking about her beautiful dress and how she would look very pretty in it. Because he felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing, he just simply said "Yeah, I am sure she will", trying hard to cover up his smiling of the thought of Merril in a pretty dress, and his embarrassment. Mallus noticed what seemed to be going on here after a bit of thinking, and he chuckled to himself, but that was about all he did as he finished getting dressed up.

The messenger scurried out the door and disappeared without another word, going back to his duties. Though right now, he was more interested in attending the wedding himself then doing his job, and nobody had any complaints about that at all.

Esbern watched Zander read the letter, and looked worried himself when Zander looked worried about something, but he didn't say anything in particular about it. Then, he noticed Zander get redder and redder, and he chuckled with Zavier and Saulomon. "I bet she was sending him kisses through mail or something. I don't know. I bet it was sweet though" He said to nobody in particular, and he gave Zander a grin.

[Edenecho]

“You act as if I was,” Merrill said when Talisa said that she wasn't being serious, “Not that I believe that you are never going to be married. You are to young to care now, but I am sure you will find someone some day,” After she spoke, she stifled a slight cough, before adding,”Who says that marriage means dedicating your life to someone? My mother doesn't dedicate her life Father at all.” Tallis smiled when Talisa started talking about Saulomon understanding her. “I'm sure he does, he's a lot like you, just less serious about his complaints. And he actually enjoys doing Royal stuff most of the time, even when he jokingly complains about it. But he doesn't like being all nice and fancy for long. He's willing to do it for his brother's wedding, but that's about the only time you'll catch him wearing 'fancy' clothes,” She said, seeming to not be able to shut up when she talked about any of her sons. When Talisa started complaining about what she was spraying in her hair, she said,”You sound like a spoiled Royal,” She said teasingly,”It's just plant oil extract, it will make your hair easier to brush out without making it gross.” After giving Talisa a lecture, she smiled when Talisa agreed to be good for today. “Good girl,” she said, smiling warmly at her. Apparently Tallis was kind of like a motherly figure to more then her own kids, it was just in her nature.

“You're welcome,” Tallis said happily. She was happy that Ygritte was shortly going to be a part of her family, though she probably would have been happy if every one of the Cerwyn children became part of her family, and maybe some of the other House' kids, too. “Don't worry, you look lovely, too, Talisa,” She said, smiling knowingly at Talisa. That was another reason people sometimes called her a witch, she had an uncanny ability to sense how people were feeling. “You don't have to hope, I know,” Tallis assured Ygritte.

I response to the handmaids, Tillis tilted her head thoughtfully. “I think a red dress would be to much red,” She told them, showing that despite the fact that she lived in the forest, she was still a Lady in some ways. “If it's elemental, then my beautiful Merrill is water and ice,” She said, lovingly stroking Merrill's white hair. Merrill's dress was also blue to match Ygritte's kind of, since she was a bridesmaid.

When the door opened and they saw who was there, both Tallis and Merrill bowed, though Tallis only have a slight bow, being a Lady of a hold, and Merrill was sitting down, so her bow was kind of awkward. They both just watched as Natasha and Sekai gave Ygritte their gifts. Tallis sat down next to Merrill while they waited for everyone else to finish up and gently stroked her daughter's hair. Merrill leaned her head on her mother's shoulder and swung her bare feet back and forth. She was the type who never wore shoes ANYWHERE. She found them more tiring then anything. If she wasn't ill she could probably have climbed a mountain barefood.

In the boy's area, Saulomon kept resisting the urge to laugh at Zavier's outfit. Zander smiled sheepishly when Esbern started talking about him wearing an outfit like that soon, when he gets married to Susan. “I hope so. I don't care how comfortable it is,” He said, referring to how he just wanted to marry her, no matter what uncomfortableness it involved. When Esbern said something about thinking about her in pretty dresses, Zander kind of spaced out a bit, looking kind of dreamy, which made Saulomon snort and start laughing again. Saulomon's snort in turn set of Zavier laughing, because it was kind of a silly sounding snort-laugh. Zander just turned slightly red and continued getting dressed. “I can't possibly stay upset today,” Zavier replied, smiling. It was probably hard to not feel at home around these three immature princes. It was a good thing they tended to act more formal when they were around people who they thought would care more.

“Really?” Saulomon asked Loras, with fake, joking, surprise, like he was pretending to not know that he was being silly. He then snorted slightly at what Loras said about it should be meant for Esbern instead. “Nah, he's not hansom enough,” he said jokingly. His response to Esbern's response to him talking about Merrill, he just laughed quietly to himself.

Oghren meanwhile was shaking his head and smiling. “How many pints did you boys drink before coming here?” he asked jokingly, which made everyone else kind of chuckle. “We're just excited,” Saulomon replied, putting his arm around Zavier, “Our brother's getting married!” Zavier gave Saulomon a sideways glance and said,”You act like this anyway,” To which Saulomong replied,”That doesn't mean I'm not excited,” while releasing Zavier. “I hope you behave better as my Best man, I don't need you ruining my wedding,” Zavier said teasingly, and Saulomon smiled,”You know I can be serious when I have to.”

In response to what Esbern said to Zander's response to his letter, Saulomon said,”She's a bard, it was probably much worse then just sending kisses,” while smiling. Zander rolled his eyes, but was still slightly red. “Come on, hurry up and finish getting ready. You're like a bunch of girls,” Saulomon teased anyone who wasn't ready yet.

Odahving had traveled to Markarth with the Nippon-russo people, though he stayed high in the air, where he could keep an eye on things but at the same time most people would think he was a large bird or something. For now he just watched.

[Alan Haskayne]

Natasha bowed and said "Of course madam." placing the necklace around Ygritte's neck, watching her face as she did. She smiled and said "You truly look beautiful princess, I mean if you weren't marrying such a lovely young man I would propose to you right now. Oh and if I wasn't already promised to the princess of the Nippon throne, isn't she beautiful?" she pointed to the samurai in the room. She smiled back at the princess and asked "So tell me, how long have you been with your prince? I mean such a powerful merger of nations coming together." she didn't really think they were in love, more just like a political alliance, like it was for the Nippon-Russo Empire. Royalty was not to marry for happiness, that's what her father had always told her anyway. She was looking around and noticed a girl had no shoes and said "People here sorely lack proper attire." though it was kinda under he breath.

[Leslie]

Talisa almost looked disappointed when she found out Merril was joking, because she wished someone would actually go to a wedding like that. So when she was joking, it made it sound like she really wouldn't go to a wedding like that. She didn't really say anything though, because she didn't care that much. In response to her saying that she would probably find someone someday, and that she was too young to really have an opinion on that, she made a face, showing that the very idea made her grossed out right now. Her mind wandered to the very thought of even kissing someone like she had seen her father and mother do, and her sister to Zavier, and she just let out an "Eww!", but didn't say anymore then that. To the next part of what Merril said, she just shrugged, again not really having anything to say on the matter. She smiled when Tallis described how Saulomon behaved, and how he didn't really care for the royal stuff quite as much as, say, Ygritte. "That sounds like the Saulomon I know" She commented. "I can't wait until the wedding is over so I can play with him!" She exclaimed excitedly, and Melisandra already had a disastrous mental image of her trashing her bridesmaid dress by jumping into the mud or having a mud fight with Saulomon, because she would rather trash her dress before taking it off so she would never have to wear it again. Both Ygritte and Melisandra had to avoid the urge to laugh when Tallis said Talisa sounded like a spoiled royal, because really she was a spoiled royal....in a different way then your typical spoiled royal. And to make it worse, Talisa seemed to take that more as a compliment then as something bad, and she smiled in a way that gave you the impression she wasn't smiling because it was teasing, but because she thought being spoiled was fun. The handmaids, when Tallis described the product used in her here, thought something along the lines of "She would probably rather it was something that made her hair gross", but Talisa just nodded.

Talisa seemed suddenly confused when Tallis responded to...her thoughts? Her expressions? As far as she was aware she wasn't even paying attention. But, after getting past the confused state, she just smiled at Tallis, feeling somewhat happier to be at least recognized when she was being forced to look nice. Ygritte just smiled at Tallis saying she knew, just really happy about today, and that her sister had calmed down now.

The handmaids thought about what Tallis said, trying to imagine a red dress on Ygritte and to see if it was overwhelming or not. One of them nodded, and simply said "Good point". The handmaids and Ygritte all smiled when Tallis talked about her beautiful Merril being water and ice, and Talisa responded how you would expect her to....which pretty much was not caring.

Ygritte smiled when Natasha put the necklace around her, then looked at herself in the mirror. "It is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much" She said politely to Natasha, and happily, smiling brightly. She then smiled again when she talked about how beautiful she looked, and that she would propose to her right now if she wasn't already getting married to Zavier, and she wasn't being married herself, despite the fact she thought the idea was...awkward, being her and all. Not that she cared a whole lot if they married each other, but she wasn't exactly an angel of rights for all or anything. She nodded. "Very much so. I hope for the happiest marriage for you two" She said, smiling politely. She thought about Natasha's question for a bit, then said, "About a year. I was betrothed to him when I was 16". She didn't really seem to catch on to what she was getting at with the fact she didn't seem to think they were actually in love, and just smiled about the part of two powerful nations coming together by marriage like this.

Surprising, Talisa heard what Natasha said, and let out a "Hey!", because she thought 'proper attire' wasn't important at all. In response, her mother hushed her, telling her to behave and not to get wild and angry at Natasha for a small thing she said like that. She just gave in, and quieted down again, going back to what she was doing.....Which was getting bored, impatient, and staring at a mirror or a wall.

Melisandra pulled Tallis aside to talk to her, and glanced over at Talisa to make sure she was distracted. Then, she started to speak in a quiet, hushed voice. "Thank you for calming Talisa down and making her behave. She can be such a pain sometimes. I have got to the point where I don't even know what to do to calm her down at times, and it scares me. I love her dearly, but I am afraid for her future. Afraid that her attitude will get her in a bad situation that gets her killed. Afraid that while she is out doing whatever it is she does to get herself so dirty all the time that she will get herself killed. Next thing you know I will catch her carrying a sword and practicing with someone, probably Esbern" She said, letting out a stressed sigh. Clearly, she had no idea Esbern actually had a sword made for Talisa and had plans to train her at some point. Though, the main reason he hadn't started training her already was because he didn't feel like he was a good trainer, and he knew anyone he referred Talisa to would decline her just because she was a girl, and they didn't want to "Waste their time" on an 11-year old learning how to fight. Probably because they would automatically assume she would get over that phase one day and be a 'proper lady', and their training lessons would of just been a waste of time. And probably just because they didn't want to deal with an 11-year old girl, because sexism and agism.

"Anyway, on a lighter note" Melisandra suddenly said, lightening up and smiling again. "I think my son Esbern likes your daughter. And I mean that in more then them being good friends. I already know that. Esbern tries to hide it, I can tell, but he doesn't do a good job at it, clearly. He talks about her a lot, and how he feels bad for her being so sick all the time" She said, chuckling slightly, and still speaking quiet so Merril didn't hear. "Do you think Merril knows or feels the same way? I am sure you know how young, blossoming love goes, where nobody makes any moves to show they like each other for the longest of time because they are both too nervous that the other will not feel the same way" She joked. Then, to make it clear, she said, "I am not by any means saying that your daughter and Esbern feel that way, though, I am just making conversation".

After a little bit, the handmaids stopped working on Ygritte, and the same with the ones working with Talisa. "You are done miss" Handmaid number #1 said to Ygritte, and she smiled and stood up, looking at herself closer in the mirror and then doing a spin. "How do I look?" She pretty much asked to everyone. Her mother responded with saying "You look like my lovely, beautiful daughter", which made Ygritte smile brightly. The handmaid just said "Lovely, ma'am", and the others nodded in response. Talisa reluctantly said "Like a Princess", but it wasn't exactly said in an overly enlightening way, but it was enough to warrant a smile from Ygritte to her sister. Which Talisa had to avoid the urge to roll her eyes at her sister clearly overly enjoying the attention upon her and the praise right now, and instead smiled back at her sister to try and be polite.

"You are also done miss Talisa" Handmaid #4 said, to which Talisa let out a sigh of relief because she was getting restless sitting there for hours. She was naturally full of energy, so she was someone who couldn't sit in one place for hours on end often. She stood up, stretched, and mentally complained about how the dress wasn't very comfortable to be in, and how she hated the tripping hazard of a dress, even if pain didn't really bother her that much. "You look lovely little sister" Ygritte said to Talisa. "Thanks for behaving for my wedding" She added, and Talisa gave her a forced grin to pretend she was pleased with looking lovely. Melisandra also smiled, saying "You look my lovely, pretty little daughter, Talisa", and again Talisa smiled, even if it seemed a little forced. The handmaids also nodded in agreement.

At the males side, Esbern was listening to the conversation, and getting ready to tease Zander some more. "Aww, that's so sweet" He teased with a mischievous grin when he said he hoped he would be able to wear that outfit soon, because it pretty much meant he couldn't wait until he got married to Susan. For Esbern, he started to laugh at all the laughing, then again when Zander started to look embarrassed. "I am going to die of laughter you 3!" He exclaimed through laughter, and Loras just shook his head and said "Older brothers", pretty much just referring to them all as older brothers, because they might as well be.

Loras shook his head at Saulomon playfully. When he said his brother wasn't handsome enough, he laughed. Esbern just rolled his eyes, and jokingly said "Some of the girls of Markarth say otherwise", shaking his head at the many girls who wanted his hand in marriage. Now, at the whole thing about Merril in a pretty dress, he seemed to be blushing a little, bit hid it well and moved on fairly quickly.

Esbern just listened to the whole conversation back and forth between Zavier and Saulomon, along with their father pretty much saying it acted like they all drank too much. "By the end of the wedding, we may all be drunk, with all the great wines, beers, and other drinks from around Dunwall that showed up here for the royal wedding" He told Oghren. "You included" He added as a joke. To the brothers, he just shook his head playfully, laughed, and listened.

It took Esbern a moment to realize why it would be much worse because she was a bard, then realized that she was probably trying to be all poetic because she was a bard or something. He looked at Zander, then jokingly said, "I need to see that letter now. This has to be entertaining", and jokingly stuck out his hand for Zander to hand it to him so he could read it. Pretty much by this point, the last boy had just finished getting ready, whoever that was. "I think we are all ready now" Mallus chimed in after a long period of silence from him, because he was looking around the room to clarify everyone looked ready. "Everyone ready to head out?" He asked.

Automatically assuming they did that, Esbern went up beside Saulomon and tapped his shoulder, and as everyone was walking to the wedding area, he lowered his voice to talk to Saulomon. "Hey, I have something I need to ask you" He said, and gave a nod to Mallus to indicate he can't know, or his siblings really. "It has to be a secret" He continued. In his mind, he came to the conclusion that Saulomon probably thought he was going to ask something related to Merril, since he figured that Saulomon knew by now since he seemed to be teasing him about it. "Do you think you would be good at teaching sword fighting? Talisa really wants to learn, but I feel like I would not be the best choice to teach her. And anybody I ask says they do not want to teach an 11-year old girl, because they believe it would be a waste of time and she would grow out of the phase in a couple of years, and lose interest in it. Either that, or they outright refuse to teach her because she is a girl. And the fact it would involve doing it in secret does not help, since they know it would be going against the king and queens supposed wishes for her" He explained to Saulomon. "I would repay you in any way I could. I just really need someone that could do this for my sister. I feel bad for her, and I want her to learn what she loves, which is a love for swords over the girly royal stuff" He said to Saulomon, just waiting for his answer and hoping for the best. Yeah, he automatically knew Saulomon couldn't teach her all the time, being in Riften most of the time and all. But at least it would be something. Maybe he could even teach him how to teach Talisa better himself, and he could train her that way. It was just a hopeful request.


Isengard, Red Palace, day of important message from the Lord to his people
Meanwhile in Isengard, the Lord of Isengard was getting prepared for a big important speech to the people. Word spread of this around the entire town, and flocks of people gathered in the plaza outside the Red Palace to hear him speak, from his supporters to people who wished they could throw stuff at him and get away with it. Some people expected and hoped for him to be resigning, but kinda doubted it unless he was actually dying. Then his son would take his place, and they hoped for things to be better, even if they probably wouldn't be. Then other people expected him to threaten war again, and expected it to be a load of bull. But his supporters expected it had to do with the royal wedding in Markarth, and probably war, and expected it to be truthful instead of a false promise this time.

The crowd was full of a mixture of cheering and booing, along with chants of "Rightful King, Protector, and Ruler of the realms!", "Death to the King!", and "Stand down and make your son King!", along with other various chants. So when the King actually gave his speech, there would likely be mixed opinions on it, and possible rioting and anger. Which is why there was a large chunk of the Kingsguard guarding all around the plaza right now. That being the towns guard. The actual army itself wasn't here, and were at various settlements all over the place, or other parts of the town that didn't involve guarding the king. That was the Kingsguards job. There were over 10 of the guards alone escorting the King to where he would be giving his speech at, along with his almost his entire family, some of them looking less then pleased about what was taking place. Specifically Emily. Arya was displeased for different reasons. Joffrey and Jaqen were just part of the group protecting their father from the insanity. Yara wasn't doing much of anything noteworthy. Myrcella was just smiling. Balon was commanding the kingsguard, so he wasn't there, because he was commanding the ones watching the plaza, not the ones around the King right now. The Outsider was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't technically mean he wasn't around. He might just be hiding in plain sight, with how he went about things.

"Quiet down, quiet down!" The king yelled across the plaza, his voice traveling across the entire plaza very well. That was one thing he had for him since he was much younger, was a voice that traveled very well. And general speech skills, even if he sounded insane. So he had the general ability for speech down very well. His supporters got quiet, but the majority of his enemies got fired up, and more angry, shouting even louder. "QUIET!" He shouted even louder, then added "Anyone who goes against the Kings orders will be punished severely!". That got them to simmer down and shut up....for now anyway.

"Now that everyone has calmed down, I will be giving my important speech to all of you. I am guessing you all know what today is" Ramsay said, which got nods from a lot of people and confused looks from others who weren't well informed or just didn't know what he was on about. 'Today is the marriage between Ygritte Cerwyn of Markarth and Zavier Silversong of Riften. Do you know what this means?" He asked, pausing for more nods and confused looks. People understood more, but then were lost when he asked what it meant. "It means that 2 important royal families in the realm are uniting as one. 2 acclaimed allies. This means that the strength of the occupation of Markarth is growing. That they are trying to get their strength up so they are unbeatable. They want to keep the throne and rule us all with an iron fist. It is time we rise up against them!" He shouted, thrusting his fist into the air, which was followed by a lot of cheering and some booing. Most of the people against the King hadn't even come to watch him speak, so the crowd here wasn't as busy as you'd typically expect, though it was still pretty packed. "They are probably getting married right this minute, and talking about how they can rule us even better now! How their little fortress called Markarth will now be impregnable! We all know that if war happens, Ferelden will likely side with the Cerwyn's and make it even harder to take Markarth. But we will succeed, no matter the challenges!" He shouted some more, to more cheers and boos. "This is officially a declaration of war! You may all be telling yourselves that this is bullshit because of my previous broken promises, but I assure you that it is true. We now have the manpower, the funds, and everything we need for an assault. You can expect us to march to war any month now! It may not even take a month, and we may start heading that way within the month!" He shouted, followed by more cheers and some shouts of "Liar!" and "Murderer!", along with boos. There was also some "Death to the King!", and someone started to throw rocks in the kings direction, though missing pretty terribly. This was why most of the Kaldwin's hated the speeches, because their King was so hated by a lot of the population....yet he seemed to think everyone loved him and wanted him to take over the 'iron fist' ruled throne and rule the entire place himself. Emily especially hated it all, because she just thought it was all insane and that the war shouldn't even happen. She protested the war, the craving for power, and the senseless violence. Which her father knew, and she knew it would lead to her getting in trouble later.

To make things worse, the King had already told his son what to tell the kingsguard to do, so one of the Kingsguard came up to the man throwing rocks and stabbed him through with a sword. A bunch of gasps echoed throughout the plaza, even from some supporters. But mostly the protestors. The protestors backed off more, and even the supporters got more cautious. "This is what happens when you try to insult the King, and threaten him with rocks!" The King shouted over the crowd. "I recommend all of you watch your tongues, or the bloodshed could get worse!" He shouted some more, and all the protestors shut up, and the Kingsguard guy looked like he felt guilty while walking off back to his post. "That is all! War is coming. You might as well consider all of you to be in a war zone now. There will be much bloodshed, but in the end it will all pay off for the better of the many! Good day to you all!" He shouted, and pretty only cheered this time, while the protestors seemed to already be taking off from the Plaza. After the speech was done, the entire royal family walked back towards the Red Palace without another word, except some talk to each other, specifically the King/Lord giving Emily a mouthful.

Meanwhile, one of the men that was in the crowd was taking off to the raven tower at a steady pace, trying to get there before the tower was watched every hour of the day. He knew the chances of guards checking the letters that were sent would be very likely, and he had to get a very important letter out as quickly as possible, before they got to that. The King may of acted insane, but he wasn't dumb when it came to things like keeping people from sending unwanted letters. And his letter was exactly that: Unwanted.

Eventually he got to the owl/raven tower, and took out a piece of parchment, frantically scribbling on the paper. Once he was done writing what he wanted to, he rolled it up and sealed it, then hooked it to the best and fastest owl in the tower (which he knew because he does this frequently), then threw the owl into the air and hoped for the best that it would get to Markarth safely. Then, before everything started going to hell at the tower, he ran off back to his home to bunker down for now, and just hoping for the best.

[Edenecho]

When Talisa looked disappointed, Merrill said,”I did not mean that I would not totally got if you actually had a wedding like that.” It was true, she thought it would be awesome, but she had said she was joking because she said it in good humor, not because she didn't want to go. She just kind of sat quietly throughout the rest of the conversation. “I bet he is thinking the same,” Tallis said in response to Talisa saying she couldn't wait for the wedding to be over, so she could play with Saulomon. She hoped Saulomon would have the sense to tell Talisa to get out of her dress before they went and played, though. When Talisa seemed to be happy with being called a spoiled brat, she said,”I meant the kind that do not like getting dirty.”

To most of everything else, everyone was quiet. Up until Natasha said something about there being a lack of proper attire. Tallis heard this, and said,”Before you start judging, I would like you to know that my daughter is ill and finds it easier to walk without shoes,” Though she didn't say it rudely, just like she was informing Natasha bout it.

When Melisandra pulled her aside to talk to her, Tallis smiled at her. “You are welcome,” She said,”In my opinion, unless something truly calls for her to be a royal, you should just let her be herself. It is how I deal with Saulomon, and though he does many dangerous things, there is no stopping them, and you can not protect them from all the danger in the world. If you would allow her to stay at Riften now and then, Saulomon could make sure she doesn't get herself killed. He's reckless, but he would not let her endanger herself to much while they got be crazy together.” She raised an eyebrow slightly,”I do not see an issue with her practicing with a sword. Merrill would learn if she was not so sick.”

“I have noticed,” She said, smiling. She gave a slightly shrug,”It is hard to tell with Merrill. She is so stoic, I think it is part of her being sick, she is just so mellow, she does not show how she feels with that kind of stuff very often. I would not be surprised, though.” She looked over at Merrill, who was swinging her feet back and forth and staring up at the roof. “I bet Saulomon would know, though, they get along very well.”

When everyone was done, Tallis said,”You both look lovely,” then went over to Ygritt. “Are you nervous? I was at my wedding, but that was because I was getting married to a Lord, mostly.” She then helped Merrill to her feet, and kind of supported her. “This wedding is going to be beautiful.”

(Boys area)
Zander just continued to look embarrassed, while Saulomon continued to laugh slightly. Zavier managed to calm himself down, for the most part. “At least if you are going to die, death by laughter is a good way to go,” Saulomon replied to Esbern. Zavier shook his head slightly,”I can not believe you are going to be Lord of Riften,” He said jokingly to Saulomon. “Who says a Lord has to be all proper and serious? Why can a lord not have fun, and get dirty? The people could relate better then,” Saulomon replied, also joking. “Nobody tell Talisa he said that,” Zander said, smiling.

Saulomon smiled mischievously at Esbern,”They just want to marry you for money and power, do not get the wrong idea that they actually care about your looks,” He said teasingly. He stifled a laugh at him blushing when it came to Merrill.

“Don't you know it,” Oghren said when Esbern said he would be drunk after the wedding. He was the type who liked to drink, and drink a lot, though it took a ton for him to get drunk. “I can not imagine what it will be like if my three sons get drunk, it is bad enough already,” He said teasingly.

In response to Esbern saying he needed to read the letter now, Zander folded it up and put it in a pocket on the inside of his jacket. “It is a private letter,” He said, narrowing his eyes playfully. He nodded when Mallus said they were all ready,”Yes, I think so,” He said, and Zavier took a deep breath, seeming to be trying to avoid having a huge grin on his face out of excitement. Zavier, Zander and Oghren all headed out, both Ogren stayed for a bit to answer Esbern's question.

“Alright,” Saulomon said to Esbern, raising his eyebrow slightly. He did wonder if it was something related to Merrill, but he didn't jump to conclusions. “Um, I do not know,” He said, confused by the question, until Esbern continued. “I am surprised they do not think more about wanting money,” He said, referring to the people not teaching her. “I will teach her when I can,” He replied, smiling,”You do not have to repay me, I would be happy to teach her, it will be fun.”

[Leslie]

To what Merril said, it made Talisa smile, because she was happy that at least someone would go to a wedding like that if she had any real interest to be married at all. Which, currently, was very doubtful. Pretty much the rest of it she had no particular response to because there's no real need to pointlessly drag on that particular discussion.

Melisandra looked thoughtful for a moment, before she sighed. "I just worry about her so much....I would not be surprised if the whole reason I keep being determined to make her behave like a royal and like a proper lady is because I am afraid for her, and I worry she will end up going down a dangerous road if I do not keep her under control. I know, you are probably right. I should let her be how she wants to be. If I keep forcing this stuff on her she will probably just be more rebellious and despise it all the more" She said, letting out a sigh and clearly seeming troubled by the whole thing right now. When she mentioned Talisa being allowed to go to Riften, she looked thoughtful for a moment. "Wait, that might be a good idea. She could use a good trip. She loves to see the world and travel, and I do not know if she remembers Riften very well. If it is okay with you guys, I could talk to Mallus about it and see if it is okay if she visits you guys for a while. Of course, if she wants to, but I seriously doubt she would say no" She said. Part of her thought that sending her with them would be a well needed break from Talisa and her craziness, but at the same time she felt bad for thinking that, and she knew deep down that she would miss Talisa dearly, no matter how long she would be staying. "It just seems....dangerous. With her, I know what it would probably lead to. And I do not want it to lead to that. She should stay protected, not go out and fight wars like an every day soldier" She said, sighing. But it was pretty clear that most of her complaints were just her worrying about her daughter. It all had good intentions.

"He really doesn't hide it very well, does he?" Melisandra said with a chuckle. She frowned when she talked about Merril and her being sick. "I know Esbern would take good care of her. If he likes her at all, it is because he likes her personality, despite her condition. He would be there for her as much as he could. Maybe we can encourage him to tell her his feelings and see how it ends" She joked. She nodded. "I guess we will see how things go before you guys leave in a few days, or how things go today" She said, just letting out a shrug.

Both Talisa and Ygritte smiled, though Ygritte more so, because she really seemed to enjoy the praise on her wedding day. Or all the time. But it seemed to be mostly on her wedding day, which was understandable really. Talisa just enjoyed the praise because it wasn't only being directed at her sister. Really, she would rather be praised for jumping in the mud or learning how to sword fight, not looking lovely in a dress and perfectly clean hair. When Tallis asked Yigritte if she was nervous, she nodded. "Very much so. I am so excited but so nervous at the same time. I am getting married to a handsome, kind, and sweet prince, that has to be as nerveracking as marrying a Lord" She said with a nervous chuckle. "I do not know if I am more nervous about seeing him looking handsome on our wedding day or coming out in front of so many people and possibly making a fool of myself" She said, looking again at her shaking hands. She smiled at Merril, feeling bad for her, then smiling at what Tallis said. "I sure hope so" She said with a bright smile.

This time, Melisandra pulled Talisa aside, while the others went out ahead of them. Talisa seemed worried she was going to be punished for her behavior, but stopped worrying when her mother didn't look mad or upset with her, and looked like she more had something interesting to tell her.

"Talisa, how would you like to go to Riften with the Silversong's for, say, a month at least? You could hang out with Saulomon more, and I think it would be good for you if you got away from home for a while." She said, chuckling at her daughters reaction and then continued. "I would still need to talk to father about it first, so do not get too excited yet. Though I bet he will say yes" She said, and added one last thing. "And if you behave good today on your sisters wedding day, it will be even more likely that we will let you go" She said, smiling at her.

Before her mother even finished speaking, she seemed to get more excited at the idea. "I would love that! Thank you!" She said in a strange change of mood to being quite happy. So happy in fact she hugged her mom. Her happy mood seemed to diminish a bit when she said she still had to ask father if it was okay, but knew that her dad would probably say yes. To the last part, she smiled, and said, "Yes mother, I will do my best". Anything to go on a trip, even if it required her to deal with these stupid dresses. She knew deep down that she would miss her family, especially on a month trip, but the idea of hanging out with the Silversong's, especially Saulomon, brought joy to her. And if she had any idea that Esbern had got Saulomon to teach her sword fighting, she would be probably twice as excited right now.

When the girls would leave the dressing room, they would be greeted by Grandma Cerwyn. She first looked at Ygritte, her to-be-married granddaughter, and currently her most likely chance to meet her great grandchild before she dies. "You look charming" She said with a big friendly smile. "Zavier will love you" She added. This made Ygritte smile even more. She loved her grandma. Though, she knew no matter what her grandma would of praised her. She had praised Talisa's appearance before when she was coated in mud. Which she knew was why Talisa probably loved her grandma so much too. "The rest of you look darling" She said, referring to Talisa, Merril, and everyone else. Talisa smiled brightly at her grandma too, and Ygritte finally said "Thank you Grandmother", and Talisa just nodded a thanks.

Boys Place
Esbern listened to most of their teasing and joking, not really joining in except by laughing. Even to the part directed at him about dying of laughter being a good way to go he didn't really say anything in particular. The only thing he did was to laugh some more. He laughed again. "If I tell Talisa that, she will want to rise up against her own father and put Saulomon on the throne" He joked. That was pretty much all he had to say related to that conversation, though.

"Yeah, I know that" Esbern said with a smile. "Though I bet you some only care about the looks. Most probably want the money and power, though" He said. "And it is not like I plan to marry some random commoner that only wants me because of my money, power, and looks. I am going to pick someone I actually care about, or is better suited for the job then that" He said, and his mind wandered to Merril for a moment, before he quickly got out of that thought before he got too embarrassed and made himself more obvious then he already seemed to make himself.

Esbern chuckled at what Oghren said. Pretty much to all of it. "I may or may not drunk. Kind of depends. If I start chatting with people a lot, I might just drink with them because, and get drunk. It is not like it really is a bad thing all the time, as long as you are not a crazy angry drunk" He said, shrugging. Mallus didn't care, either. He had already talked to his son about that stuff. "And yeah, your three drunk brothers sound scary. I may need to protect Ygritte from drunk Zavier" He joked, giving Zavier a grin of sorts.

Esbern was just jokingly being disappointed he couldn't see Zander's private letter, but that was about his only response to it, if only to avoid dragging conversations on forever.

Esbern listened to Saulomon's response with hope, and when he said he would teach her, he smiled happily. "Thank you, Saulomon" He said with a smile. "She will be so happy and grateful to you. Well, I hope. She may be mean at times but she is grateful to people when they help her." He said, smiling some more. "Should I tell her, or should I just let you surprise her with offering to teach her?" He asked Saulomon, continuing to follow the others to wherever they were headed at the moment.

Some Letter Deliverer of the Ruler of the Rohan Empire
The old man hurried over to the Daughter of Heaven as quickly as possible. He had this last letter he needed to deliver right now. He missed the days when he could actually do his job quickly, but due to his ever increasing age, his job was getting slower and slower. But he still could get places fairly well, and even with his age, he was very efficient with his job and delivered everyone's letters when they needed it. If he was sick, there were plenty of other people that delivered letters, too Really, here, he wasn't the one that typically did the job, he just was today.

"A letter to you from the Lord of Isengard" The old man said to the Daughter of Heaven, handing over the letter to her, while keeping his voice down because people would be pretty easily suspicious of why she was getting a letter from the Lord of Isengard, even in Rohan, where it may or may not be less likely for them to find it weird. It wasn't his place to judge that stuff, and he stayed out of the business of the letters he was sending. He was just the deliverer, not the one to judge what they were about. After handing the letter over, he left with a bow.

The letter read:

To Ruler of the Rohan Empire

I have thought about this closely, and I have decided that I would send you this letter directly. I have noticed how you seem to avoid the upcoming events, so I have sent this letter to you so we can communicate easier. I was afraid that if I sent it to the Emperor of Neuschwanstein, I would miss him because he would be gone, since he is more known for attending the events. So I have directed this to you.

I am sure by now you have heard of my threats of war against Markarth during the last 20 years. Well, I have finally decided to act on those threats. Isengard and it's allies have finally hit a state where we could actually stand our own while fighting in a war, along with upgraded equipment from bows, swords, ships, and siege weapons. But even with this much better force, more allies and forces is better. It would send a message to Markarth that the people are getting angry, and many leaders are ready to rise up against their rule over us. Maybe they will realize this, and give up the throne when they realize their ruling isn't loved as much as they thought. I know Mallus. If he realizes that the people don't want him, he will step down and let a new leader take over. Unless he is no longer the Mallus I knew the last time I saw him.

You and the Emperor of Neuschwanstein have never made it that clear to me what side you are on. I do not know if this is because you two are happy with each other, and are just staying out of the business, or if it is because you guys feel the same hatred toward the ruling of Dunwall as I. As you have probably seen, Mallus and his family have been trying to expand their influence more and more all the time. I do not know if this is because Mallus has changed, and he fears for his safety as the people get angrier at his ruling, so he is trying to build up his army, or if it is for another reason. A few days after you get this letter, I believe it will be the wedding of Mallus' eldest daughter to Zavier Silversong, which is exactly why I am sending this letter directly to you instead of the Emperor of Neuschwanstein. It is already known that Markarth is allies with Silversong, but this just confirms their influence they are trying to give even more. Then, from rumors I have heard, another Silversong is marrying a royal girl from Ferelden, which could mean that Ferelden would assist Riften, who would be assisting Markarth. We already know that, despite the fact Ferelden has not said they would ally with Markarth, that they would side with them in the war. And we already know that Cheydinhal is on friendly terms with Markarth, so they would likely side with him as well. So an alliance with you would benefit the war greatly.

This alliance of course would not go unrewarded. There are a few deals we could make, and I am open to negotiate. I would just like these negotiations to go as fast as possible, so we can all get this war moving sooner then later. First off, if we do this alliance, I would like to say that as the mastermind of this war, that you sacrifice Mallus' throne to me when we take it. That is not negotiable. I think letting you have Ferelden for yourselves would be a fair deal in trade of your men. They are the mining capital of the realm after all, and there is a lot of profit to be had there. There is also Riften, which could be another port city for you, and a great source of fish and other seafoods, along with whatever else they have to offer there. I will not trade you both however, just one or the other. My other allies, which I will not name right now until I know it is safe to tell you, need a good trade for their men as well. Markarth and the surrounding area will be mine no matter what you decide on.

I trust that you will make the right decision in the end, and that you will not share any of the contents of this letter to any unwanted people, especially any of the Cerwyn's or their guardsmen. I do not care if they know that I am coming for them. I expect they will get some word of it in one way or the other by the time we actually march North to claim the throne. I just would rather they did not know for as long as possible, and that you keep the contents of this letter away from any unwanted attention. Thank you.

From The Lord of Isengard

A Bit Later
A little while later, Zavier was down the isle, waiting for his wife-to-be to come down the isle and to him. People were gathered everywhere at the wedding, wherever they could fit to watch, except where the isle was, which was lined with guardsmen on both sides. Probably to keep people off the isle, and to protect everyone at the wedding, along with being a good way to line the isle. Talisa was already up there as one of Ygritte's bridesmaids, along with anyone else important for the wedding, like the best man. Mallus still had to walk Ygritte down the isle, then go into a position to stand up and watch. There were too many people for seats, so they didn't bother. They knew if they put seats out, people would probably just brawl for them to sit down instead, and violence wasn't wanted on a day like this.

A bit later after a fairly long period of silence, Ygritte came into view, followed by the people quieting down even more for the wedding itself. She smiled brightly, her arm locked with her fathers who was taking her down the isle. She was still rather nervous, but seemed better then she was earlier, even if she was where she could easily be more nervous. The rest of her family, with the exception of Talisa, were all standing at the front row of the people. Both Melisandra and Grandmother Cerwyn stayed out of being bridesmaids, to let the people closer to Ygritte's age be the bridesmaids, meaning her friends, like Merril, and her sister, Talisa. Esbern was with his little brother, along with the letter deliverer who had permission to be in the front row, with an assortment of other people, like commanders, and other important people. Mallus' helper to the throne, because the leaders of at least the main throne typically had a "Hand of the King", was his son, Esbern, instead of anyone else he thought was particularly good for it. Esbern had glanced over at Merril a few times, because he couldn't help himself, but always quickly caught himself and stopped looking her way. Though, once he smiled at her, but he wasn't entirely sure if she saw it. He had to say that Saulomon was right about Merril. She did look beautiful and very pretty today. In response to that thought, though, he quickly shook his head and focused on the wedding, instead of having his mind wander to Merril all the time and how pretty she looked today.

Ygritte made it down the isle when her father let her go, and went into the front row, smiling like a proud father to see his eldest daughter getting married. It was just a very happy day for him, and pretty much the entire family, except for Talisa. Though, even Talisa, despite the fact she didn't like being a bridesmaid, seemed happy for her sister, as much as she seemed to despise the whole thing. But at the same time, they were all sad, because they knew it meant Ygritte was growing up quickly, and that she might even leave with Zavier one day. Typically the females left with the males, not the males left with the females. Ygritte would be a Silversong soon after all, but Ygritte never really said either way if she was leaving with Zavier yet or not, or if Zavier was staying with her for the time being.

Ygritte came up to Zavier and faced him, smiling. "You look very handsome, Zavier" She said to him with a big bright smile. He could tell she looked nervous too, though. Talisa was just watching from the side, where the bridesmaids stood, and it actually looked like she may of been smiling for her sister, and her to-be brother in-law. The priest was standing there waiting to wed them, but he let them greet each other first, before he went on to the wedding ceremony.

Isengard
Once they got back into the Red Palace, the King turned to Emily, while both Jaqen and Joffrey went off to go train. Specifically to train to prepare to lead their own armies, since each one, along with their father, would get their own area of the army to lead when the war begins. Along with their older sister, since she pretty much just ended up learning how to fight instead of being like her younger sisters. Her younger sisters were more pushed to be the way they are: More lady-like, because their sister ended up being more of a knight then a 'proper lady'. So there was pretty much 5 people in the family who would lead certain sections of the army, or more specifically the King would likely direct the entire thing in some form or the other, instead of leading one particular army. He would likely direct his sons, grandsons, and granddaughter around. Arya had wandered off to where her husband-to-be was, because he wanted to talk to her. She was afraid of him, but she knew denying him would just be worse. He seemed to enjoy seeing her suffer, despite the fact she was to be his wife. Apparently he just felt that he was given a perfect opportunity to enjoy tormenting a girl, who was supposed to be his wife.

"Your behavior earlier was unacceptable. I'll need to talk to your father about an appropriate punishment" Ramsay said to Emily, who was now pretty much left alone with the King except for some guards still around the area, because well, her siblings apparently cared so much for her that they seemed to abandon her when the King seemed to get mad at her. She was quite pissed with the fact she just stated her complaints about something and suddenly her behavior was completely unacceptable. Apparently she couldn't even speak out against the war without getting some sort of punishment, because apparently speaking against anything her grandfather wanted to do was bad, despite how silly it was. She wished she was born to a family that let their childen and grandchildren express their feelings a little more, without worrying about punishment. Of course, shortly after Ramsay said that, Balon walked into the room, getting back from ordering the Kingsguard around.

Since the speech was over, he could come back to his father for the time being. He had witnessed a bit of Emily's 'bad behavior', but not the full details. But he could tell by the way his father was glaring his daughter down that something was up, and he had an aching suspicion of what it was. Which was confirmed when his father came to him and told him about what Emily did, and that he wanted him to give her a suitable punishment or warning. Emily looked worried and scared, and probably for good reason.

Before Emily could really react, her father had grabbed her by her hair, and he shoved her violently into a wall, letting go of her hair and just pinning her to the wall with his hands. She didn't exactly have the strenth to struggle free from her strong father, after all. "You better learn to behave young lady. You of all people should know better then to judge your King's decisions in front of him. You do not have authority to tell the King what he should or should not do. Nobody has the authority to tell him that. I come the closest, but even I do not get to decide what the King does or does not do. So even if you show distaste in what he wants to do, keep it to yourself or next time I will give you more then a warning" He said in a very stern tone of voice, right into his daughters face. He let her go, and because of the way he was holding her, she stumbled and had to keep herself up by leaning onto the wall more. Then, without another word, but only one last stare at her, he stormed off.

Emily was breathing heavily from the fear that flooded her when her father grabbed her by the hair and shoved her violently into the wall, pinning her there like he was more pissed with her then he ever was. But that wasn't the case, because she had endured some actual punishments before. But it was by far the scariest warning she had ever got. She just ended up nodding to him, before she stumbled when she was let free and her father stormed off. Right now she wasn't even in a state where she felt comfortable glaring at her fathers back or the King. She stood there in shock for a few moments. This just gave her more reason to try and run away. What made her most afraid about running away is she knew the world was dangerous out there for a child of her age, that she would not do well out there by herself, and that the punishment if she got caught and dragged back to the castle would be the worst she had ever endured. So because of all of this, she was reluctant to actually run away. She figured that she could just wait until everything went to hell in the war, where she would likely have the best chance of escaping. Which of course depended on how much her father and grandfather dragged her and Arya around with them while out fighting their wars.

[Edenecho]

Zavier stood at the end of the isle, looking clam and composed, but his eyes showed quite the opposite. He couldn't wait to see what Ygritte looked like, and to finally be married to her after all this time of delays. He glanced over at his Brother and Best man, Saulomon. He was glad his brother had managed to hold off on the pranks for today....At least, he hoped he had. Saulomon just gave him a smile back, but Zavier didn't exactly find that reassuring. At least if he planned a prank, he knew his brother would wait until the after party. He shook his thoughts of his brother out of his head and focused them on the wedding instead.

In the crowd, in one of the few seats, sat Grandma Jeanette, Tallis' mom. She didn't leave her home cottage in the woods very much, but she couldn't miss her grandson's wedding. She was dressed nicer then she had been in a long time. She never really dressed nicely, and didn't get into it very much. She was like Talisa in that aspect. Merril sat in a chair that had been set up for her in the bridesmaid's spot. She was smiling from ear to ear to see her brother getting married, and to be able to be a part of it. She caught Esbern's smile and smiled back at him, then focused her attention on Ygritte and the wedding.

When Ygritte came into sight, Zavier looked like he was having a hard time not smiling like crazy. He did want to keep some dignity throughout this, and smiling like an idiot wasn't a good way to accomplish that goal. He gave up entirely on not smiling like an idiot when Ygritte, spoke, however. “You look beautiful,” He replied, smiling happily. He took at deep breath and looked at the priest, signaling that he was ready to start.

Saulomon watched his brother happily. It wasn't often that Zavier smiled so widely, as he was generally a very serious guy. He was amazed at how well it had worked out between them. They had been suggested for an arranged marriage, and had actually fallen in love. And rather deeply, from what he could tell. Tallis was standing next to Oghren, and they were both smiling from ear to ear as well. They were both overjoyed to see their son so happy, and to see him getting married. They were glad they decided to tell him about the possibility of an arranged marriage between him an Ygritte, though of course they would never force him to marry someone. But if they hadn't told him about it, he may never have fallen in love with her, who knew.

[Alan Haskayne]

The Daughter of Heaven
The Empess raised her hand when the man tried to leave, and a guard immediately stepped in front of him. She slowly said "You understand that no one learns of this letter, so long as they live. I would like you to think about that while you admire ten shillings of Nippon-Russo silver, and a Shilling of gold." the guard handed the man the considerable sum, probably as much as a shopkeeper saw in a month. She gave the old man a warm smile and added "Please have the stable master give you any horse you desire, to ease your trips. I hope to see you back here soon, to carry a message back. I must speak to my Daimyos first." she motioned her hand to the door, which was clearly a polite way of getting him to leave her in peace.

She finally opened the letter once the man had left, and read it slowly, wanting to make sure she understood the full thing he was saying. It was treason without a doubt, but, she had never liked the leadership of Isengard or of Markarth and had stayed generally neural in the politics of the realm. The Nippon Russo Empire was the largest single land mass in the realm, having very tight relations between the two sides. She knew that helping either side would all but promise them victory. Of course, the duel monarchy did have a number of advantages, for one it promoted female soldiers, giving it a much wider pool to draw troops from. Another was its booming economy, though compared to Ferelden its mining was pitiful, it was more valuable metals, such as gold, silver, and copper. The last but not least advantage was its siege weaponry, explosive arrows, and advanced wall systems. She finally decided on the actions of the Nippon Russo Empire, once she knew everyone would favor, in time at least. She would deploy the bulk of her army to take Ferelden, but only after the Iseguard forces had taken the capital, effectively trapping their main army. Then her secondary army would move in and capture the king, cutting off the head of the snake, and forcing both kingdoms to surrender to the superior might of Nippon-Russo. She started to write a response.

Dear Esteemed King of Isengard
The Nippon Russo Empire, on behalf of which I speak, is above all a cool headed nation, and that is why we have never brought our opinions to light. Due to a general policy of non involvement, we have 'supported' our current rulers, however recent events have made it abundantly clear that we can no longer be guaranteed our safety in this regime. We are sure the same sexed marriage of Natasha Romanova and Sekai Maru is what they are waiting for to finally bring their true plans to bear on us. By forming such close bonds with the kingdoms to our north, we believe they are building an alliance against us. We were fearful to stand alone against such a powerful enemy, and thus kept quiet out of general fear.

To understand that you would befriend us despite our past history of non involvement, has brought me great joy. With you we finally stand a chance against their imperialistic coalition, and the control of the entire mining industry would be a bonus. We will allow you to move your troops through our land, but we must know how many, and how much of your army this represents, we wilsplit our forces into two groups. One will supply your forces with our legendary siege weapons, operating them under the orders of your commanders. The other will directly invade Ferelden, once you have the capitol territory we shall declare victory and establish you as the new rulers of the realm, as long as Nippon-Russo will gain Economic and military autonomy from your rule. We shall of course remain your steadfast allies, but we need assurances you won't abuse power like the fools of the past have. We know you are no fool, but my generals insist. You understand I am sure.
Sincerely The Daughter of Heaven

[Leslie]

Esbern felt himself twitch when Merril smiled back at him. He definitely could tell he felt something for her, even if she didn't feel the same. His reactions always made him feel like there was something there that he felt for her. It was probably a mixture of feeling bad for her being sick all of the time, and the fact she was just a nice, sweet person from what he had seen. After the wedding, he had an idea to do with Merril. Which was, if she was willing, for him to take her to the highest point in Markarth, which was a tower of sorts on the top of the castle that gave you a nice panoramic view for a long ways. He would go slowly, so she didn't strain herself or anything. It was just something he had been pondering through his head for a while. Something nice to do for her that would hopefully make her happy. That is, if she could really get any happier then she appeared to be already, which seeing her so happy made him smile. However, he quickly went back and focused on his sister getting married, and his brother in-law to be.

Ygritte smiled brightly and blushed when Zavier said she looked beautiful. "Thank you, my prince" She said to him happily. It seemed like she couldn't stop smiling either. She was just so happy about finally getting married to the love of her life. The whole day in general was wonderful, even though at times it was a little stressful getting everything together. She turned to face Zavier more directly, and also gave the priest a nod showing that she was ready too. Esbern, and all the children and adults of the family kept quiet, though it looked like Talisa was fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the lovey dovey stuff.

The priest clasped his hands together, and said "Today we unite Princess Ygritte of House Cerwyn and Prince Zavier of House Silversong together on this fine summer day. Let this be the start of a long and prosperous marriage, with many happy...." He said, continuing beyond what was said for a long time about stuff I don't really feel the need to come up with or type about. Then, he told them what to say back and forth, and they did, because if I have them say things back and forth, there would be like, a post for every god damned small thing being said, and it seems kinda pointless. Like typing out most of the wedding speech, because it doesn't really serve a whole lot of purpose in general.

"Now you may kiss the pride" The priest concluded, and automatically assuming Zavier didn't chicken out and not kiss her, Ygritte started kissing him back, and the crowd started to cheer wildly, along with Ygritte's father, brother, mother, and so on. Talisa rolled her eyes at the kissing part, and by the time they actually got to the kissing part, she seemed to be getting bored to death by the speech. She kissed Zavier for a little while, before pulling away and taking his hand instead, smiling brightly at the cheering crowd in front of them. Seeing her family, and Zavier's family smiling so brightly made her even happier.

"Thank you all so much for coming out here today for our wedding, especially you who came from other Kingdom's entirely to see us here today. I-we, we really appreciate it" Ygritte said, bowing to the crowd while smiling. She also bowed to the priest, thanking him quietly. The crowd cheered again. "Enjoy the festivities!" She exclaimed happily to everyone, which got the crowd going again. At this, they began to all disperse, and Ygritte squeezed Zavier's hand.

"Shall we go and join the festivities, my prince?" Ygritte asked Zavier, smiling at him brightly, while starting to walk down the isle that was now lined with the swords of the bannermen above their heads. Mallus had already gave them both a nod, before wandering off to the festivities himself, along with his wife. Esbern however, stayed behind and seemed to be heading to where Merril was. Talisa acted happy that the wedding was over, and "ran" over to Saulomon.

Esbern came up to Merril, and gave her a slight bow out of respect, since she was a Princess after all. He seemed to look over to Merri'ls mother nervously, biting his lip and turning back to Merril. He was having difficulties getting himself to say what he wanted to say to her. There were a few things he wanted to say, really. "You look beautiful today, Merril" He said, getting it out while he could. He seemed slightly embarrassed, but tried to ignore that feeling. "I also have an...idea.." He said, looking thoughtful and like he was thinking of how to put it into words. "Would you like to...would you be interested in visiting the highest point in Markarth? It is beautiful up there" He said, avoiding the thought that crossed his mind to say "Like you". "Especially during sunset and sunrise. I have been up there a few times myself during these times. The air feels so nice up there too, on the right day or the right evening or morning. We would not have to go up quickly, and I would help you" He said, smiling in an embarrassed way. "I just thought you might like that. I do not believe we are absolutely needed at the festival, but we can leave, if you want to do it, whenever you want to, Merril" He said, feeling like he really didn't do that well with girls. His expertise was in sword fighting, not offering to do something nice for a Princess he liked. At least, in a smooth way. It wasn't that massively hard for him to be nice enough to ask her if she'd like to do that, but doing it without feeling like an idiot the way he said it was another story.

Meanwhile, Talisa had come over to visit Saulomon. "Finally, the wedding's over" She said to Saulomon, but not too loudly. "That long speech got so boring, and that kissing....Ugh the kissing" She complained. If he had payed attention earlier though, it seemed like even with her complaining, she was happy for Ygritte and Zavier. "We should go play" She said, but then something popped into her head. "Wait! I want to go watch the jousting and the duels! That is the best part of the festivals. Would you agree Saulomon?" She asked him enthusiastically. Unlike some people, where they got enthusiastic about, say, a new fancy dress, getting married, or whatever, she was excited to watch stuff like jousting and duels. Nobody could say she didn't get excited about stuff, because that was clearly not the case. "Are you going to participate in the duels, Saulomon? I bet you could beat my brother with your eyes closed" She said, giving a mischievous grin at that idea, talking about her brother being beat by Saulomon and all.

Letter Stuff
"Yes madam, I understand" The old man said, bowing repeatedly. Seeing the sum of money made him stare at it in amazement, and he took it instantly. "Thank you, thank you!" He said happily, especially at the part related to the horse. Yeah, most of the time letters were sent by bird, but there were times when you had to ride places to deliver letters. Mostly small settlements that didn't really have good bird letter paths. With that, he left.

A few days later, another letter showed up. The day it arriving being the day of the wedding in Makarth. Of course, it was still sent to the previous address, it was just a noteworthy day. The man that gave the letter this time was a young man, who handed over the letter and gave a bow, simply saying "A letter for you madam", before getting back out of the bow and leaving the room.

Dear Empress of Rohan

About half of the foot soldiers would be heading through your land. The other half will be taking a route towards Ferelden. Our armies that are headed to Ferelden should meet together at (insert name here), a good crossroads for a military outpost to plan for advancement towards Ferelden. For our armies advancing on Markarth, they should meet at (insert name here) to plan. I will send my most trusted Commander's to lead the armies, while the least trusted Commander's will stay here to manage the guardsmen of my city, who not all will be going out to fight the war. Some will, but not all. You can focus on supplying our main attack on Markarth with your siege weapons, while the attack on Ferelden should be easy enough without them. Yes, they are in mountainous terrain, and that may prove difficult. But they do not have a very large military force, and with all the problems I have heard rumors about them having already, it should be a fairly easy task.

And rest assured that you will get what you desire. You will prosper greatly from this alliance. I understand your reasoning's entirely, and I can promise you that there will be no abuse of power under my rule.

Also, related to sea warfare, I will be sending most of my fleet around the mainland, down south, due to the frigid cold temperatures being too dangerous for us, to try and take Riften. I do believe I have heard good things about your sea warfare, and our Captain's of the fleets should work together on a plan of attack. All of this planning will clearly take some time, but the end result will be fantastic. The leaders of Caerlaverock and their military will have to fit in this somehow, clearly. It is now safe for us to mention our allies in this war. We will likely march together up north, and decide who goes where. Their ships will likely come with us, around the land mass, to plan an attack with your people on Riften. However, because we have already given you Ferelden, Riften will most likely go to Caerlaverock. I do not really know where Cheydinhal stands in this war, because I rarely get any news from their location, but I do not believe they will be much of a concern. If they end up being a threat, we should likely prepare for a surprise attack by them, just in case. Unless they already have their men with the others that is, then there would be no need to worry about a surprise attack.

The last mention in this letter is that we will be sending 4 ships to the north, to try and recruit the centaurs, and possibly the yeti's to our cause. Maybe even attempt to recruit the King's in the North to our cause, though I find that to be unlikely, since they tend to keep to themselves, and do not want a part of any of the politics of the south.

I believe that to be all. I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield soon, where the real planning for the war will begin, and not just idle discussion through letters. You do not need reply to this letter if you do not want to, as we shall assume if you do not reply that you agree to all of these suggestions, and we will mark to the designated locations soon. You may have to wait for a while to see us, or we may have to wait a while to see you, but it will all work out in the end. If you do reply, we will know there will still be more negotiations to be had before we start this war.

From the Lord of Isengard

[Edenecho]

Zavier smiled at seeing Ygritte so happy and exited. He was feeling the same, but he kept it contained a little better. Maybe. He clearly couldn't stop smiling, and he seemed kind of fidgety. When the priest started talking, he took a deep breath to calm himself down slightly, then got all focused on marrying his love. When the priest said he could kiss the bride, he did so. Once they were done kissing, he took her hand in both of his and smiled from ear to ear as his family cheered and whatnot.

He just let her talk as she thanked everyone for coming, and when she bowed, he bowed in sync with her. After she told everyone to enjoy the festivities, he gave her another quick kiss before Saulomon caught his attention. “Congratulations, brother!” Saulomon said, hugging Zavier. “Thanks,” Zavier replied, smiling at his brother. He turned his attention back to Ygritte as his brother darted off to go join the festivities. “Yeah. I mean, it is our wedding, we wouldn't want to miss the after party,” He said jokingly.

When Esbern came over to Merril and gave her a bow, she bowed her head back. Tallis looked back and forth between the two, then said,”I am going to go congratulate my son, I trust you can get Merril to the party, Esbern?” She gave him a knowing smile before wandering off. When Esbern said she looked beautiful, Merril smiled and blushed slightly. “Thank you. You look good, yourself,” She said in her quiet voice. She listened quietly to what he said, before giving him a smile. “I would love that,” She said,”I would like to congratulate my brother before we go, however, but I most certainly interested.”

Saulomon glanced at Talisa as she came over. “You know, you would probably enjoy stuff more if you tried,” He said to her when she sounded happy that it was over. He smiled when she said she wanted to watch the jousting and duels. “I couldn't agree more,” He said, then he nodded, “Yeah, I am. Did you know Riften's best jouster is going to be here today?”

[Leslie]

Ygritte smiled at Zavier when he gave her a quick kiss, and she kissed him back. She smiled at Saulomon when he came over and congratulated his brother. But she didn't say anything to him, and just watched as he headed away from them to go and join the festivities. "And the after after party" She joked, referring to the party after all the festivities that would involve royals only. It would pretty much be a big sit down at a rather ridiculously large table, and they would talk to each other, eat, discuss possible ideas to make the continent better, and so on. Ygritte also planned to give a more thorough thank you to all the royals that would be attending. "We will be rather tired by the end of this day" She said, feeling like yawning just thinking about the long day. She held his hand, and then finished walking off towards the festival section of town, where the jousting, duels, chatting, and so on would take place. Until she noticed Merril and Esbern coming over to congratulate them, then she stopped to talk to them.

Esbern looked at Tallis, looking a little embarrassed by her words. "Yes ma'am, I can get your daughter to the party" He said to her, giving her a reassuring nod. If she wanted him to take her to the party, he wondered if his idea of taking her somewhere to talk and show her the most awesome part of Markarth would really work. He figured he could just tell her that....Later, since he couldn't get himself to say anything before she disappeared. To what she said, he smiled, then look embarrassed himself. "You are very welcome, and thank you as well" He said to her, happy he could make her happy. Not that she wasn't happy today anyway. When she accepted, he let out a little sigh of relief, seeming relieved that she accepted. It would be embarrassing otherwise. "That is fine with me. We might want to tell your mother, too. Or maybe we should just wait until later, since people will likely be disappointed if I am not attending some of the sword duels" He said, giving her a smile and then offering her his arm, ready to support her if needed. Then he headed over to Ygritte and Zavier, but let Merril speak first.

"I do enjoy stuff!" Talisa insisted. "Like playing, and sword fighting, and watching duels" She said to him. She seemed to pretty much be saying that she can enjoy stuff fine when it was actually worth enjoying in her mind. Weddings not being on that list. "Cool! I will be rooting for you. I don't care if you are going up against my brother, I will still be rooting for you to win" She said to him with a mischievous grin. "No, I did not! That is really cool!" She said happily. Then she thought of something she was pretty sure Saulomon didn't know yet. "That reminds me" She started to say, "I don't know if you heard, but I am coming with you guys to Riften for a month! I am so excited! And then you can teach me to sword fight easier! Thank you for offering to teach me by the way!". It seemed like she was quite happy about all of that.

[Edenecho]

"I think that perhaps waiting until a bit later would be a wise choice. You can attend the sword duels, and we also will not miss the reception and after party stuff. Not to mention that by waiting we can also watch the sunset when we go," Merril said. She slowly got up and took his arm, letting him support her. She was light, skinny. When she was standing, she looked small, fragile, as if she could break apart at any second. With his assistance, she made it over to Ygritte and Zavier. "Congratulations to you both," She said in her soft, sweet voice. Zavier smiled at her,"Thank you, little sister," He said, stroking her hair. Just once, but it conveyed his love for his sister, and his concern for her health.

"Yeah, but if you tried harder to enjoy other stuff, rather then just resigning yourself to a day of boredom, you would probably enjoy it more," Saulomon said to Talisa. "Thank you," He said when she said she would be rooting for him. He smiled at her,"I bet you will like our jouster," He said, a secretive, knowing grin on his face. He was sure she would like the jouster because the jouster was a woman. Many people hated that, but Talisa was one person he imagined to love it. "I did not know that," He said, smiling,"I am eager for that. I do not remember, have you ever been to Riften before? And you are welcome."

(Hooded Stranger)
In the midst of the crowd was a hooded young man. Or rather, he looked young. In truth he was nearly forty. In appearances, however, he looked to be in his mid twenties at the oldest. His hood, however, hid his appearance. It was rare the Cathal left Kavatch, but there were times when he wanted to get out and attend the big events of the realm. This was one such time. He was wearing his normal mix of leather and chainmail, with a long black hooded cloak over the top. Under his cloak he held his staff. It was the Staff of House Kravash, but it was hidden from sight. It had been nearly 20 years since he had actually shown himself to people, and even now he kept himself hidden from sight. A lot of people didn't even know that he, son of the Last Lord of Kavatch was still alive, they merely knew that there was powerful sorcerer living in the ruins. Some people did know, just not many.

Glancing up, he saw the Dragon of Rohan flying in leisurely circles above the wedding. It was so high that it could easily be mistaken for a bird, but Cathal knew better. He could sense it. Turning his attention back to the bride and groom, he pulled his hood lower over his face. Making sure that his staff was hidden under his cloak, he walked up to Ygritte and Zavier, keeping his head down. Once he reached them, He went down on one knee in a deep bow. "Princess Ygritte, Prince Zavier, I offer you my congratulation on your wedding, and hope you two have a long and prosperous life together." He pulled both hands out from under his cloak, holding two rings out to them, seemingly pulling them from nowhere. Of course, they would probably think it just looked like that, and maybe it did, or maybe he really did pull them out of the air. All the while he was still on one knee with his head bowed. "May these rings bring you good fortune," He said.

Zavier looked at Ygritte, then took the ring that was held out towards him. "Um, thank you," He said, a bit weirded out by the guy. He slid the ring on to his finger, not having any reason to suspect anything bad from it, seeing as no one would guess that the only sorcerer in the realm was the one giving it to them. There really was nothing to fear from them. They were enchanted, but with a small luck charm, nothing more. Assuming Ygritte took hers, Cathal picked up his staff and stood up, walking away with his head still bowed. Zavier looked at Ygritte,"Strange guy," He said.