502-12-23 Explosion in the Imperial Tower
From Crossroads Wiki
It's December 23, 502
A casual chat among certain members of court turns into a nightmare as the Emperor's audience chamber is terrorized.
Stepping in when told that she may, Annabelle dips into a far more graceful curtsey than she's done in many a long time! Sans Lsyander, she's finding it much easier to get around these days, and smiles at the Royal couple as she begins to make her approach. "Good morning, Majesties. How are you both?"
Rourke and Mena are seated at the couch, a dark contrast to it as they both still wear mourning garb. There is a stack (HUUUUUUGE stack) comprised of ledgers and documents on the table before Rourke.
The Emperor looks to the arrival and his lips quirk in a faint but welcoming smile. "Well if it isn't the lovely Princess Annabelle. Care to join us?"
Mena gives an echoing smile to Annabelle as she inclines her head. "We are fine, thank you, Highness. And yourself? You are looking much better, if I might say so."
"I'm coming along well, yes. You were right about the cook - she really never -does- stop cooking, does she? I'm looking forwards to getting back to my forge work soon as well; that will help get me back into shape again," Anna replies, moving on over to the pair -- and not without the intent of stealing a hug in her usual manner from Mena first, and then Rourke if he looks to be in a mood where he might accept one. "You're both looking well as well, apart from the huge stack of papers, that is."
Mena does return the hug from her seated position. "Gods, I know. The man is unstoppable. It took me a couple of months to run off all the weight I gained being pregnant with all he fed me. Of course, I /ate/ it, so it's just as much my fault. The man's a genius with food."
Rourke's got a patient expression on today, the sort where he'll endure a hug with good graces, if not exactly seek one. He glances at the paper. "Just reviewing tax rates," he says offhandedly. "What can we do for you?"
"Oh, I was hoping to just pop by and ask about some things for the university. I'm trying to get that up and running again, as you might have seen by some announcements I put out earlier," Annabelle says, still standing for now though she does then gesture to a chair and check, "May I?" Assuming she can, she'll settle herself down in the chair carefully. It's so great sitting without a pumpkin in front of you all the time.
"Oh, of course," Mena replies to Anna, gesturing to the other nearby seating. "Be comfortable. How is the University coming, then?"
Rourke fingers his opposite sleeve for a moment as he thinks. "I did see the announcements, and I'm glad to see things moving. Anything you're going to say relevant enough that we should drag another of the ducal figures in on it?"
"In some ways very well, in others there's a few stumbling blocks. I have lessons in from several people, but am waiting on others... so the availability of classes is still limited. -But- some is better than none, in my opinion," Annabelle replies to Mena, looking afterards to the Keeper. "Well, I was going to ask you if the letters I'd written pertaining to tuition fees were acceptable with you. I suppose if you wish to ask them to join us and see if they have any questions or objections whilst I'm here discussing this with you, I would be more than up to joining in with."
"You might as well just get it all out and done with now," Mena agrees with a nod. "Get it all taken care of while the opportunity is upon us."
Rourke rises and heads to the door to speak a few words to the knight, then reclaims his seat. "If we can have them here, it would be convenient. If people are occupied though, we can just give them a report on it. Care for a drink while we wait?"
"Oh, well shall I get some drinks?" Annabelle starts to stand up so that she can at least fetch something for herself if Rourke and Mena don't wish anything. "Would you like a coffee, Majesty?" that asked of Rourke, "and would you like anything as well, Majesty?" that last to Mena.
"Coffee would be excellent," Rourke says, and Mena says something about juice (player is taking the dog out). "I really do look forward to seeing the university grow."
"Two juices and one coffee then," Annabelle concurs, smiling as she hears Rourke say his last. "Me too. It's getting there. The mages are being rather slow at the moment in getting their classes together, but I've sent them letters out in the hope of giving them a nudge. Then I just need to get some open days scheduled and try to get as many of the professors and instructors to be around for that." She makes her way to the sidebar, pouring those drinks, then slowly, carefully returning to the table with Rourke's coffee first, then the two juices.
"I imagine the mages are trying to figure out exactly what they want to teach," Mena opines. "They are a rather secretive bunch."
Aileana gets her summons and arrives with pies in hand, "Apple and pecan!" She then dips into a curtsey for the Imperial trio, "And good afternoon."
When a knight shows Aileana in with a flourish, the imperial personages are seated at the couch area. A large stack of ledgers is on the table.
Rourke glances over at Aileana's arrival, his faint smile spreading. "Duchess. You certainly know how to earn the favor of the Emperor. Do come join us," he says, waving at a seat.
Annabelle grins over at Aileana as she comes on in; she's just put some drinks down upon the table for themselves - Coffee and two fruit juices. "Good day your Grace. Apple and pecan? That sounds delicious! You'll spoil us."
"Well, what's a meeting without good food?" Aileana chuckles as she walks in to find a place for the pies, "And congratulations, Your Highness. You seem to be doing fabulously."
The likely spot for pies is the sideboard, with the drinks.
Mena smiles in a welcoming manner to Aileana. "I love pecan pie," she comments. "Do we have to wait for anyone else to cut into them?"
Aileana shakes her head, "Of course not! You're Empress, so if you want pie, then cut away. You should come for dinner and we can do fried chicken and fried green tomatoes."
"Fried... green tomatoes? Aren't they meant to be red?" Annabelle asks as she takes up her glass of juice to have a sip. From the squint of her eyes, she can't quite imagine eating green tomatoes.
Rourke is clearly on Annabelle's side in regard to the tomatoes, his brow quirking as he sips at his coffee.
The Emperor gives Mena a sidelong look, expectant.
"Not if you are frying them green." Aileana grins, "And this year we can have corn bread again. I missed that so much last year." She sighs wistfully, "We should have a Green Fields food night when the menagerie opens."
Mena's lips quirk as she catches Rourke's look, getting up to her feet a moment later. "Well, yes. They are ripe when red, but if you slice them and fry them up green... they really are delicious. Does anyone else want pie other than His Majesty and myself?"
"Well, I probably shouldn't... but I can't really say no to a small slice? It does look - and smell - delicious!" Annabelle replies to Mena, glancing over in the direction of the sidebar where the pie's been deposited. After that, a glance towards the doors might show she's wondering if anyone else is going to join them as well.
Rourke relaxes back in his seat. "Thanks, Mena," he says to her with a quirked smile. He considers the green tomatoes issue. "I'm not sure I'd be convinced to like this..mm..delicacy. But I would be all for what you're talking about with the menagerie, Aileana."
"What sort would everyone like?" Mena asks as she reaches the sideboard. She cuts into the pecan pie first, of course.
"Mmm, a bit of the apple... no, pecan... oh, no that's even more naughty isn't it. I'll go with a small slice of the apple... and maaaaybe have a small slice of the pecan afterwards, Majesty." Annabelle replies for herself, offering after, "Do you want any help with that?" A second later she looks to the Keeper and asks, "I'm not sure if any others are coming? Do just tell me if you wish me to make a start on this matter?"
"I don't want any, but thank you. They cook a pie a day in our tower..at least." Aileana chuckles a bit as one hand brushes over her stomach as the babies begin their acrobatics.
"If they're not here, they won't be. Go ahead, Anna. We'll have them told later," Rourke says, waving his hand toward the princess.
Mena shakes her head to Annabelle as she cuts three slices of pie. Two of apple, one of pecan. She remains quiet in this endeavor as the reason for the meeting seems to be commencing.
"Oh, how are your babies doing, by the way? I hope you're not feeling too rough yet," Annabelle replies with earnest sympathy for the Duchess' situation. One was bad enough! "But yes, as for what we were going to be discussing, his Majesty suggested a scheme for tuition fees that I think would work wonderfully for those who aren't able to afford the fees off their own bat. I have written letters which are... in the works for approval, I think?" a glance to Rourke, "so you'll get the details formally stated in that regardless, but we thought this might provide an opportunity for you to ask any questions you might have. In a nutshell, if a person can't afford all or part of their fees, the idea was that their liege would be able to pay for them, and accept in return services given by that person towards the land or Duke, Duchess or Baron... Baroness in turn. So it would be repaid fairly."
"We won't /have/ to pay for someone, would we? It's if we are in a generous mood, yes?" Aileana asks for clarification.
"Oh, there shouldn't be any compulsion on your behalf either, no. But bearing in mind it's not a loan and is going to be repaid in terms of services, I would heartily encourage all nobles to support the scheme as much as they're able to." Annabelle glances at Rourke after speaking, hoping to catch in his expression if he approves of what she says.
Aileana nods to that, "I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't required. Thank you."
Rourke gives a nod towards Annabelle at her words. "Of course we're not -making- you do this, Ana. But I'd be somewhat surprised if a worthy student whose talents you could use later came to you and you were unmotivated. You're not the stingy sort."
With an easy hand, Mena does carry the three plates with pie over to where everyone is seated, giving Annabelle hers first before she sits back down next to Rourke. She hands him the apple pie and keeps the pecan for herself. "I think it's a wonderful idea myself."
"No, I'm not and like the idea. I'm just thinking of individual cases that I may not as charitable towards." Aileana smiles then, "I'm thinking extremely individual and not broad brush here. In general, I'm sure most would earn my favor if they wanted to better their lives."
Rourke looks down at the plate of pie that he's given, his brows drawing together. He turns a bemused look at his wife.
"Thank you so much," Annabelle offers, in response to getting her delicious slice of apple pie. She sniffs at it first before taking her fork and cutting off an edge of it, "I like to think of it as sponsorship in a way, though the difference is repayment of services. Oh, and by the by we are suggesting that tuition fees should be eight gold per term - of which there will be three terms in an academic year."
The Imperials and duchess are seated at the couch and chair area, eating pie and talking. The table near the Emperor has a stack of ledgers upon it.
Mena is just about to dig her fork into her pie when she catches Rourke's look. She looks at him, then his pie, then back to him. She offers him her pie.
"Your Majesties, Highness, Grace," greets the Mistian Duke in easy fashion as he moves into the Chamber. "I understand there is a wish to discuss the university, and it's affairs?" He looks curious.
Rourke takes Mena's plate and offers his own pie in turn, then nods to Annabelle. "The price seems reasonable to me. Care to recap for our most recent arrival? And good day, Duke Raziel." He inclines his head to the duke with something approaching a grin.
Aileana is just silent for now as the Duke gets caught up with what's been discussed.
Annabelle glances on over as she pops a mouthful of pie into her mouth and sees Raziel walk on in to the room. She refrains from eating it, instead smiling on over at him welcomingly. "Your Grace - it's good to see you. And yes. We were talking about a scheme we're hoping to initiate for the University. In essence," a nod to Rourke, "I was just explaining how each academic year is going to cost eight gold per term, with three terms per year. Some will be able to afford that, others not, and his Majesty suggested a wonderful scheme which I support wholeheartedly in that those who can't afford it can approach their liege and request to be sponsored by them. Except, the sponsorship isn't quite what you might ordinarily expect -- they will be expected to return the cost of their tuition in terms of services to their Liege and Liege's land, the conditions of which will be set individually by each Noble in question."
Mena does take the plate offered to her by her husband, her lips quirked in some silent amusement. But before she starts eating, she does greet Raziel with an incline of her head. "Would you care for some pie, Your Grace? Duchess Aileana brought them fresh from the Green Fields tower."
Duke Raziel nods towards Mena, "I'd be delighted. Thank you, Empress." He smiles towards her then glances back to Annabelle thoughtfully, "I see," he muses, moving to sit and stroke his chin, nodding a little. "It's quite a feasible idea, really."
Rourke begins to section off a bite of his pecan pie. "It seems a worthwhile investment on both parts, we hope. Her Highness has been doing an excellent job of getting the university ready."
A maid slips on in to the audience chamber then, the door opened for her by one of the Knights outside. A regular within the castle she dips a curtsey first to those within but stays quiet as a mouse, making her way on over to the sidebar. Her purpose here is clear, for she carries a tray upon which are several items. Carafes of freshly squeezed juice, freshly brewed hot coffee, milk, sugar and a book. She doesn't intend to interrupt the group but sets about her duty quickly, placing the items at the bar and taking up the old empites on the tray.
Mena places her untouched apple pie aside and drifts to her feet. "Apple, or pecan, Your Grace?" she asks toward Raziel as she walks toward the sideboard. She does give the arriving maid a warm smile.
"Well, the university holds a special place in my heart," Annabelle replies to Rourke, smiling at those all here. "I do hope that all the nobles might partake in this scheme, especially as it is so symbiotic in nature." Anna pauses a moment then says, "Her Grace did ask earlier if people would be obliged to partake in it. My answer was no - there is no obligation. But there is a hope that such a beneficial arrangement to both sides will be eagerly taken up. This way more people can gain a better education, and that's something that I can only see will benefit the whole Empire."
Aileana watches the maid come in though soon looks away to regard Annabelle again, curious to know the next topic if one can judge by the lifting of her brows.
Duke Raziel observes, "It is most likely you will see the least participation from Mists, however." He gives a small shrug to Annabelle, pausing to turn to Mena, and answer, "Apple, if you please, Majesty?" He smiles to her, then returns that smile to Annabelle. "By nature, Magi prefer their solitude in learning, and many prefer to remain upon Mists for a myriad of purposes. Still, for those visiting Gateway for other persuits and purposes, for nobles, and those who are drawn to Gateway, I've no doubt in Baron Moonshadow's ability to put together a sound, and worthwhile construct for the students to learn in. I find it a reasonable, and intelligent answer to the problem. Mists shall contribute to it."
It doesn't take long for the maid to collect up the empties and start to make her way on out after placing all the items upon the sidebar. This done, she starts to make her way on out, so as to not interrupt the gathering.
Rourke leans back on the couch. "Speaking of mists and curriculum, is this worthwhile construct you're talking about Baron Drake putting in going to be more than obscure propaganda, Your Grace?"
Mena nods and makes it to the sideboard to cut the Duke his piece of apple pie. "I'm sure even with all the want for discretion by the magic users of the Empire, something about it can be taught to those without any magic at all. Basic premises and the like?"
"I'm under the impression that there are special rooms for mages to have their practical classes in as well, so surely this might encourage mages to learn within the Gateway as well as within their own Isle and academy there? And whilst I say this there is no intent to take over from what is taught there - not at all. Merely that there are mages who spend a good deal of time on Gateway, and classes for them might be easier upon Gateway Isle than having to return to Mists? It's just another choice, another option, and I am optimistic that Baron Moonshadow and Mage Reverie will be putting an excellent series of classes together." Annabelle finally does take that mouthful of apple pie then, 'Mmmmm'ing when she tastes how wonderful she is. "D'lishous" she mumbles.
Aileana seems to take genuine delight in people enjoying the pies that she brought. One hand brushes over her stomach again, silent as Mists and the University are hammered out.
Seth slips into the door of the audience and remains near it. He bows to the emperor.
Duke Raziel pauses in his answer to Rourke, raising his right hand and itching his finger mildly. He says, thoughtfully, "It is my understanding that Baron Moonshadow has been elected the Dean of Magic within the University." Raziel shrugs, some then, "I congradulated him, and I believe he will serve the position well. The Baron prefers well-defined areas to work within, and he serves those areas with capability." He frowns, and itches the finger again, looking at it now to see if he'd been bitten by some random spider, or other bug that's flitted somehow into the chamber.
Carrie nods her head to Seth as she slips on out then, carrying her tray of empties with her. Job done. Only twenty others to do now before home time.
Aileana didn't bring in bugs! No way! Not bugs or fleas or..anything!
Mena's nose wrinkles a bit as she serves up the pie. "I think one of the kids might have left something under or behind here," she comments before turning and carrying the pie away from the sideboard. "Does anyone smell anything?"
"He was elected in that capacity, yes," Annabelle concurs, ready to cut into a second slice of delicious apple pie. She does notice Raziel's scratching though, and asks lightly, "are you alright, your Grace?" At Mena's question Anna shakes her head, frowning a touch, "Well... no. A prank of Dominic's perhaps?"
Rourke makes a mming sound to the words from Raziel and glances over to the knight at the door. He arches a brow and extends a hand toward Seth, his fingers curling into his palm in a silent bidding for the knight to approach.
Aileana shakes her head, "I don't smell anything." She sniffs at the air, trusting the ultra-sensitive pregnancy nose for any signs of...rotten. And then subtly, she sniffs under her arms and at her dress. What if it's /her/!?!
Duke Raziel remarks, "I'm fine," idily, flexing that itched finger some, and frowns as he sees, in fact, there is no bite upon it. He flexes it again, and eyes the pie, pausing, to just look at Aileana. A 'what the hell are you doing?' look. He clears his throat, mildly. And comments, then, to Mena, "I smell nothing, Your Majesty." His eyes then trail towards Seth and Rourke, curiously.
Seth crosses toward Rourke as bidden and pauses at the side of the monarch. He bends to speak something quietly to the Keeper.
Before there is even a chance to process in one's mind what is happening, the shock of an explosion hits people's bodies as well as their eardrums. The cracking sound is almighty as a thunderbolt, which might even lead someone to wonder if that is what has happened at first except that the weather outside is fair. As the shockwave hits all manner of objects within the room are shattered or thrown afar in the blast radius - a few metres for the intensity of the explosion. The twin glass windows that look over the village of Crossroads shatter into a myriad of pieces, those shards flying at high speed both inside and outside the room as the shockwave hits them. Bottles at the sidebar and china cups also shatter into dangerous flying fragments that scatter at high speed. The sidebar itself explodes into hundreds of wooden splinters and chunks, all of these adding to the projectile 'weapons' newly created within the Audience chamber, some of these coated with apple and pecan pie. The tapestry upon the wall is torn down, ripped in several places by both shrapnel flying and the sheer force from the shockwave, and even the ground and walls can be felt to rumble with the force. If there is any luck though it is in that the room seems to standsteadfast, apart from a few new cracks that have sprung up within the stonework from the shaking and rumbling. The whole explosion is ferocious and vicious but to its credit also over in but a few heartbeats.
Aileana sniffs at the air again and then she does cover her nose, or starts to cover her nose when she and the rest of the room are completely blasted! She screams and then at least attempts to duck behind...well...nothing, but she's at least aiming to protect her belly from being hit by anything by being as close to the floor as possible.
The whole castle trembles with a shuddering, booming sound that comes from eastern side.
Pie. It had to be the pie. Mena is, fortunately, a few steps away from the sideboard when it explodes, about half way back to the seating area. Of course, this means only her back is to the flying bits of everything flying around. But she is absolutely thrown forward with the force of the explosion, pie flying out of her hand. She lands hard upon the floor, remaining there as everything settles.
The boom goes off just as Seth is in the middle of leaning down to talk to the Keeper. His reflexes are those of a man whose life's purpose is lived to protect his charge, and when the explosion hits, he's throwing himself over Rourke with arms spread. He moves to take as much of the impact as possible.
With her back to the sidebar, Annabelle takes the brunt of the force from the back and is thrown clear from the table to near enough the other side of the chamber with the shockwave. A sickening crack comes from her shoulder as she strikes the ground on that side, her head taking quite a blow as well from how she lands. Shards of glass and wood pepper her back, and she seems to be fairly well knocked out upon landing.
Too relaxed and languid to be on his guard, Raziel turns to the exploding sound - but, not, certainly, in time to dodge anything. The plate set in front of him shatters with the rest of everything else, one piece impaling his forearm of his right hand, that hand he'd -thankfully-, as it turns out, been holding out in front of him and itching else it may have impaled his heart. Another piece burns through cloth and flesh at his shoulder joint, several pieces embed into the chair itself at his back, and yet another piece of flying shrapnel cuts through his right hand through his palm as he moves to block his face from everything coming at himself. The force of everything causes his chair to tilt back - or maybe it's his instinctive reactions pushing himself -out- of the way of the flying debris. Landing with a resounding gasp of pain, the Duke rolls over on his side, in agonizing flashes of pain. Yet, even in his state, he's to be counted lucky.
Aileana is just hit solidly along her back and head with debris from the explosion and bits of pie too! Bloody, unconscious and sticky with pie -- not exactly how the Duchess planned to spend her afternoon, but at the time she doesn't have much complaint. That will come after waking up.
A knight pounds into the room immediately after the explosion, looking about quickly. His first priority is the keeper, and it is there that he heads, ignoring all the rest of the carnage.
Mena does, of course, have plenty of little, and a few larger bits embedded all along her back side from head to heel. She too remains unmoving on the floor for the moment.
The explosion has flittered out quickly, leaving the carnage in its wake. Fine fragments of dust and sawdust settle about the place gently, fragments of paper floating down as if snow. It is the calm after the storm.
The first knight on the scene scans quickly and pushes Seth's limp form off of the keeper. He gives Rourke a fast visual once-over as he reaches a hand to the Keeper. "Majesty, we have to get you out of here."
Rourke has little moment to do anything as the first debris hits him and then the form of the knight across him. Any sound he'd make is muffled from Seth's weight. He struggles against it until the young knight is pulled off of him, then squints at the one on the scene. He clasps the knight's hand and looks about, near frantic. "What... oh fuck..." A moment is taken as he gathers himself. "I need someone carrying my wife, the princess, Aileana... get them here now. Keep Duchess Aileana under guard."
Annabelle is out for the count as she lies there on the floor, sadly unable to help with any rescue efforts. From her back small slithers of red make their appearance from the small shrapnel wounds that have peppered her back and legs.
Mena is certainly bloodied up as well. But after a few moments of no movement from her, there is a quiet and pained sound from her, one arm slowly being dragged in closer to her body.
Seth is unconscious and bleeding from a couple of rather bad wounds to the head. The color fades from him as breath slows.
Three more knights come into the room, though those present might not hear their approach at all. One's lips are moving obviously, though only a dull humming sound might reach the ears of those conscious to hear it.
"Fuck," is Raziel's first word out of his mouth. "Fuck," he rolls over, and tries to get up, wincing in pain. Then, "What?" A pause, as he realizes he can't hear himself speaking. "Fuck!" He yells, wincing in pain, and gritting teeth in anger at the same time. He scans the room, and seeing that Rourke is okay - and Anna, Mena, and Aileana all are NOT, he pulls himself first towards Mena. He glares at Rourke, and yells - yes, yells, though he's really only trying to speak in normal tones, "What?!" He turns, noting Mena's movement, and moves over to her. Damn the alarms. His left hand, as his right is currently held up against himself as if it pained him too much to even move, is placed upon her. "Klato, Veritci, Necktu," he recites, loudly. It does little to heal her, mind you - but, the spell cast is one all Illusionists learn - that of erasing away physical pain. The alarms will likely ring off a moment, until the power of the spell being cast dissapates, the product of it remaining upon the Empress.
The knight with the Emperor gives up trying to talk to him and finally reaches for his shoulder. A slight shake is intended to get attention, and he points to the door insistently.
Cool wind whips through the chamber from the shattered windows.
Glass and sharp fragments lie all over the floor as well, providing a hazard to people walking. Those entering or moving around had best tread carefully.
The knight by the Emperor snaps out instructions to the others, but the words just sound like vague tones at best. One moves toward Mena to check her over and carefully lift her, another towards Annabelle, and Ana. Another knight comes in and, after a brief exchange, moves over towards Raziel to try to assess the damage.
When anyone comes close to Annabelle, though she's unconscious from having landed badly on her side and head, it's clear that she's dislocated her left shoulder. It looks quite mishapen, and has possibly fractured her collarbone in the impact also.
Mena is still slow to come around from the percussive blow to her back, but the suddenness of the pain leaving her does seem to help that a bit. Like all of the others in the room, she is bleeding quite freely from the skin punctured by the shrapnel. She manages to push herself up slightly, since there is no pain to hinder it, blinking as if trying to figure out what happened. "Rourke?" she questions after, her expression filled with confusion and fear, which only worsens when she realizes she can't hear much of anything. When the knight reaches her, she doesn't fight being lifted by the man. It's a good thing she's feeling no pain, though, else there'd be a lot of ouch sounds.
Rourke's jaw clenches tightly as the knight points to the door, and he shouts in fury, "My wife, sister, duke and duchess. My WIFE!" The knight at his side does not indulge his yelling long, though, and pretty much herds him to the door. As the wind whips through and the cracks in the ceiling and walls groan, Rourke bites off a profanity and turns willingly to be led out. All the wounds that the Keeper suffered were a few scrapes from the first round of flying shrapnel.
The Mistian Duke appears, sadly, with a pierced left shoulder, right forearm and hand, to be the best out of the lot. He seems satisfied when the Empress is tended to, and makes an attempt to push the knight that moves to him away, more out of instinct and anger, distress, than anything else. After a moment, he nods, "I'm mostly alright," he shouts. Which, apparently is somewhat like being mostly dead, from the way he phrases it. Seeing that others are being tended to, he'll yell, for lack of being able to hear himself clearly, "Not sure I can push myself up." Concern, for the women is easily expressed in his eyes. "Get them to the healers," he shouts to the Knight. "I cast a spell on the Empress. Her suffering is eased."
Aileana is just completely out and being carried to the infirmary, I assume? This really isn't a good day for her! Nope!
The knight assists Mena up and glances at her back. He doesn't try to lift her into his arms, seeing the damage, but slides his hands under either of her shoulders from the front to pull her upwards.
Another kneels by Aileana, doing as bidden and looking her over quickly. He makes certain she's safe to lift up without driving any shrapnel further into her, then carefully hoists her aloft.
The third by Annabelle performs much the same inspection as Ana's, cradling Annabelle against his chest.
A panting Philip comes running in, looking around for either who's in charge, or how he may be of assistance. Or both.
The room is a mess of destroyed furniture and rubble, and freezing air comes in through the shattered windows. All of the nobles inside are wounded, and Aileana and Anna are unconscious. Knights are attending those two. One glances at Philip and says quickly, "Can you help carry your sister to the infirmary?"
Anna's being so good. She's just lying there still, out of it, unconscious. Not making a fuss at all, nope! The only thing is that the red stains from her shrapnel woulds spoil the blue dress she's wearing. Ahh well.
Within the room there is a scene of utter carnage. The place has been blown to bits, windows blasted out, the sidebar blown into shrapnel, the tapestry torn down from the wall... and everything is disintegrated.
Mena looks around groggily as she is so carefully lifted into the arms of the knight, tears springing to her eyes that she has no energy to fight right now. "Where is the Emperor?" she all but yells to the knight carrying her, since she cannot hear how loud she's being. And she's still bleeding a lot. The knight that carries her doesn't bother to answer her questions, instead getting her out of the room as instructed and taking her to the healers.
Rourke is just departing the Audience chamber with a knight at his side half-forcing him along. He's covered in dust and a little bit of blood. Behind him, the audience looks to be a mess.
The knight with Rourke answers on his behalf. "There was an explosion, he's deaf but fine else. Check on those in the audience, some are unconscious," he says, jerking his head toward the chamber.
The knight is guiding Rourke in one direction as another comes out carrying Mena and a third bearing the form of Aileana.
Empress Mena is carried out by a knight, not looking as if she's in pain, but she sure should be with the amount of bits sticking out of her back and the blood leaving her form because of them. There is relief that crosses her troubled and teary features when she sees the Keeper walking.
An unconscious Aileana is carried carefully by a hugely muscled knight, her back littered with small pools of blood and some apparent injury to her head judging by the cut and blood there. This poor knight has the unfortunate experience of having to figure out how to carry a pregnant Duchess with back injuries. The healers will have even more fun for certain. Oh, and another knight supervises the suspected unconscious criminal as the trio moves for the infirmary.
Seth is carried by one of the senior knights, but he's beyond unconscious. There is a stillness to him, an utter whiteness. The knight carrying him does not hurry.
"Everyone needs to get out of this tower," the knight carrying Seth says firmly. "The room's unstable, and that could make the whole thing unstable."
And the knight carrying the Empress moves on, to get her the medical attention she obviously needs, along with the rest that are in need of healers. Except for Seth, who was lost that day protecting the Emperor.
