viceofvoices | Of Courts and Courting

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hild,
roleplay

Of Courts and Courting

Traveling beyond enemy borders is no easy feat no matter who you are. It takes some finesse and knowledge and maybe even a generous amount of luck. And if you're trying not to be found? Doubly tricky! But Hild managed. After all, her love life was on the line.

Since their botched wedding, Hild and Krichevskoy went about life much the same way they did before, only now the tensions between their two clans of demons was focused primarily on a third threat: the monsters and lesser demons who had risen up much earlier than anticipated thanks to Hild's secret meddling. And while that meant Hild and Krichevskoy no longer had to get married, it seemed she had less and less time to even spend time with him out of her own free will. War councils and spell preparations, magic training and scouting missions...really, all she wanted to do was sneak away and spend time with...

Pausing under a tree in the forest lining this border of Krichevskoy's kingdom, the cloaked Hild paused and grinned to herself, swept up in the memory of their last encounter. He'd actually kissed her back, which was more than he'd ever done before. Hands to her cheeks, one of the most powerful demons in the universe squirmed in bashfulness as she recalled the event, oblivious to her surroundings.

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Hild remained silent before turning her body towards him, putting her other hand over their linked hands. There was no disguising the light of adoration and desire in her eyes. "No...it's not unpleasant." She remained gazing at him in the quiet of their room before she slid her hands away from his and stood up.

Her back to him to hide the renewed rise of color on her face, she cleared her throat. "Ah, here I am taking up your time when you must still be exhausted. Rest some more...I'll be on the lookout for a response from your friend."

"Very well," Krichevskoy replied, smile lingering on his face. "If I am asleep for more than a day, would you wake me up. I only wish to take a short nap."

Luckily, Krichevskoy's friend was quick with a response, and before the day was out, there came a knock at the door, and Krichevskoy, still waking up, peered through the peephole before opening the door.

"Good evening. I hope I didn't wake you. Would this be where Mr. Krichevskoy is staying?" Krichevskoy didn't recognize the purple-haired, yellow-eyed individual at the door, but it was clear that the man wasn't a demon. His white robes clearly visible (and clearly the women's uniform), the angel didn't seem to even be bothering to hide his appearance.

"Er, yes, that is me."

"The Seraph sends his regrets that he couldn't come in person, but I've been sent to give you this message." The angel held out a golden scroll case with an easygoing smile. "But I guess it would be more accurate to say I volunteered. The Netherworld is so much more exciting~"

Hild, lounging on the window sill with a book of black magic spells in her hand, looked up with interest at the door. It had taken her some time away from Krichevskoy to gather her queenly dignity once more, but she was more or less back to that friendly, safe distance. As much as she would have liked to pursue the mood they'd had going previously, she wanted it to occur when he was entirely himself.

"Oh~? Aren't you going to invite our visitor in?"

"Oh, yes," Krichevskoy said, passing one last strange look in the angel's direction before stepping off to the side to let the man in.

"Oh? Another person's here too? Well, as long as Mr. Krichevskoy doesn't mind, I'm sure the Seraph wouldn't mind if you both read the letter," he said cheerfully.

Krichevskoy shut the door behind the man, opened the scroll case, and began to read.

"Krichevskoy,

I apologize for not being able to come directly, but if I interpret what you said correctly, it would be best if I remain in Celestia for the time being. It is against Celestian law to aid demons, and I am bound to that more than any other here. Even if I could, I fear Celestian aid would only make matters as they are worse. Our people regrettably carry extreme prejudices against one another, and though you and I have done our best to change that, we still have a long road to travel.

I wish you the best in regaining your memory and hope the courier I have chosen helps in bringing back at least a few. From what you have told me of your brother in the past, the two of them carry some similar qualities. You have no need to worry about him divulging any information. I trust him to keep all of this to himself.

When you are feeling better, please come by for tea. It's been too long since we have had lunch together. You are welcome to bring Lady Hild if you wish.

Regards,
Lamington"

Hild had moved to loom over his shoulder and look at the letter as he read. Once he finished, she clapped her hands together girlishly. "My~ What an elegant hand this Lamington has. And so polite." That he had called her "Lady" obviously pleased her.

"I had no idea you had connections with the divine realm of your world. How surprising!" She then moved to the angelic courier, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing her cheek against his face.

"And such cute angels too~!"

Frankly, Krichevskoy was just as surprised as Hild. He thought that vision of sprawling fields of flowers didn't suit the Netherworld, but he didn't think it was Celestia. A clearer picture of the Seraph filtered into his mind as he poured over the words again in his head. "I think he is always that way."

The purple-haired angel, meanwhile, looked to be very uncomfortable with Hild's show of affection. "Is this how demons normally are?" he asked with a heavy note of disappointment.

"I'm a unique specimen, I assure you," Hild chuckled, twirling the angel's hair in her fingers before relinquishing him to join Krichevskoy once more.

"Well...more memories stirred?" she asked him quietly, her eyes questioning as she took in his expression. "And what of our angelic visitor? Does he indeed remind you of anything?"

"I remember things about Celestia now. I visited there often. ...Usually in secret. I should have been more careful with that letter," he said thoughtfully.

As for the angel...

"Why did you say you volunteered to deliver this letter?" Krichevskoy asked.

"I've heard demons do all sorts of excited activities," the other man said, smiling. "Fights break out in even the quietest of places, you can blinked and end up mugged, people will pick fights with you so much as look at you..." He sighed, eyes practically shining at the thought. "I've been thinking of putting in an application to be a senator. If I vote "nay" enough, maybe I'll be able to experience a real Persuading By Force~!"

Krichevskoy went very quiet and cringed.

Hild arched a brow as she watched Krichevskoy's reaction. After a moment, she addressed the angel. "Well, for one who's never been to this realm, you seem to have a lot of information about it. Where did you hear all this?"

"Rumors, mostly," the angel replied. "Others talk about demon brutality and viciousness all the time. I just pressed for details. If you know of any Netherworlds more dangerous than this one, please let me know. I already plan to poll everyone here."

"Ohh~ So that's what it is," Hild murmured softly, casting another look Krichevskoy's way. She'd always known the simple details of the relationship between his demons and the Celestial realm of his world -- in a word, bad.

Hild's kind and the gods they opposed were like two sides of the same coin -- outwardly opposing one another, but all for the common goal of balance and order. It was not unheard of for a demon and a god to be friends, though it was always dressed up in rivalry or something strictly business like. Despite the competitions and grudges, there was always, at least, an ancient understanding between the two sides. And often a mutual respect.

But the Netherworld and Celestia did not have such a close relationship. Generations of ignorance on both sides, along with a passionate desire to live up to their cultural ideals, lead to an animosity that seemed built on nothing but hearsay and rumors.

It seemed this angel arrived merely to confirm an already biased opinion. Hild wasn't sure if she felt irritated on Krichevskoy's behalf or amused. Instead, she quietly watched Krichevskoy to see how he would handle this.

Edited 2012-12-29 21:17 (UTC)

Really, it wasn't what the angel was saying about demons that bothered Krichevskoy so much as the way he was saying it. There was a complete lack of disdain in his voice, no sense of distaste, and even a bit of, dare he say, eagerness. And currently, he was too wrapped up in that tone to react or disprove anything the angel said.

"I would offer to bring back a reply, but I don't think I'll be going back to Celestia for awhile. If you'll excuse me, I have a senatorial application to put in. I hope you have a good day, sir, miss." The angel bowed politely and walked out of the room.

The moment the angel was out of the room, Krichevskoy let out the breath he had been holding, shuddered, and ran a hand through his hair. "Well... I suppose the Seraph was correct. They were not too similar, but the similarities between that man and my brother were... unfortunate. If not embarrassing."

Hild chuckled quietly, eyes closed. "I've never spoken to your brother. He kept his distance during the we -- ah." She broke off, eyes flying open. Turning, she walked back to the windowsill and sat, composing herself. "Well, there's never been much opportunity to get to know him. Is he so eager for brutality as well?"

"My... My brother is a masochist," Krichevskoy said, shaking his head. "It made the childhood duty of sibling rivalry extraordinarily awkward when we were young. I believe we came to an agreement not to fight one another, or to send vassals to fight in our place in order to get around that hurdle."

Hild's initial statement caught up to him. "You have seen him before?"

She lifted her hand to her lips and laughed coquettishly. "My~! How could I ever forget that cape of his? Thank goodness you inherited better fashion taste. Pink is not your color."

"I think I attempted to change that several times in the past, but I don't think anything ever came of it. Where did you meet him? Was I there?" he asked.

...so he wasn't going to be distracted. Hild sighed and leaned against the window frame. Arms crossed, she looked out over the courtyard of the town's central square. It would be nightfall soon.

"Yes...I suppose you'd had to have been there. I couldn't get married without my groom."

Krichevskoy could only stammer incoherently for a moment, unsure how to respond to Hild between visions of her in a beautiful white dress speaking to him on the balcony of a large cathedral. His gaze slid to his left hand. "No ring...?"

"Did something happen?"

"It was not out of love that you went through with the ceremony," she explained quietly, still looking to the town outside. "For once, our two clans worked together instead of actively trying to sabotage one another. The idea they come up with: an arranged marriage between their leaders, with all the red tape and contingencies needed to make sure both sides were kept in check."

She closed her eyes, leaning her head back with a small, humorless chuckle. "One thing our peoples have in common is a love of contract and beauracracy, it seems. And you, ever the noble, righteous king, went along with it, to spare further blood shed and battle."

Hild's eyes opened again, and her profile was cold, noble...and very lonely. "I have not survived and clawed my way to the top to become a bargaining chip. And that they would dangle you in front of me, like a carrot on a stick, was insult to injury."

She finally turned to look at him, impassive and distant. "And so I made certain the wedding would not be a necessity."

Krichevskoy frowned. "That does not seem right." Certain details, yes. Speaking with the Dark Assembly and with Hild's people, passing bills--occasionally by force--to further cement the marriage and hopefully forge a closer bond between their people, vassals and family waiting in the wedding hall and watching the proceedings, a group of demons bursting in and interrupting the ceremony...

He folded his hands and rested his chin upon them. "You speak as though it were solely a matter of business, but... it all seems too fond for it to be that way."

Hild looked to the side with a frown. "I'm sure that's your poetic, romantic heart skewing the matter," she said, her voice low and somewhat rough. "I assure you, your marrying me was not out of any desire to be my husband."

"What makes you so certain?" he asked. "Did you ask me directly?" Hesitation... He remembered hesitation and nervousness at first, but sometime when he met her on the balcony something changed. "Or... is that how you felt about it all?"

She shot to her feet, temper flared. "How could it --!?" Then she caught herself, crossing her arms and scowling to the side. "You don't understand. You didn't even with your memories." Hild sighed, turning her back to him.

"...I have loved you for you so long," she whispered. "To be with you like that was like a dream." She hugged herself tightly. "Which is why I could not stand for it to be for obligation. I would rather be alone than be pitied by you, of all people."

For awhile, Krichevskoy was silent. "Trust," he finally said. "It was not pity, it was trust. To do as necessary and to stop what was not. You are a woman of many machinations, but you have become someone I put my deepest trust in."

He stared down at the floor. "I would not have said yes if I did not mean it."

She lifted one hand, curled into a fist, over her heart in an effort to stop its racing. When she spoke, her voice trembled with the effort to remain composed. "H-How do you know...you have forgotten everything. And even if that were true, I still needed there to be not a...a shred of doubt."

Hild shut her eyes against the warring emotions of hope and doubt inside her heart. "The next time we are to be together, I will only have it for love. No other reason."

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