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The gate guards couldn't see who the girls were just yet, but the fact that they appeared out of thin air was enough to warrant an arrest--King Simon was not fond of magic. "Halt!" called someone from atop the barbican. "Halt in the name of the king!" As he issued the command, five guards emerged from the gatehouse, all armed. One carried a lantern as well. Without her royal attire, the guards didn't recognize Lilim or Elesa, and fanned out to surround the three of them. "Come on, kittens ... time to explain yourselves ..."

((I'm leaving this open ended so the girls can escape if you want! If not I'll keep NPCing the guards ))

---

The Hanged Man turned to face Merthyr, heart thundering in his chest. Just one slip of the tongue and this entire web of lies would come unraveled too soon. Then again ... the prince was of kinder heart than the king.

"A-ah, my liege ..." The knight bowed immediately, trying to stall as long as he could, for the girls' sake. "The, ah--you must gather as many of your men-at-arms as you can and take them down to the dungeon. The Biblian royalty have been abducted ... and--and Voletta with them." Even though he was lying through his teeth, he couldn't bring himself to put blame on Lilim, and instead opted to invent some mysterious kidnapper. He knew his ruse wouldn't last too much longer. "I--he--I don't know who it was who took them, my lord."

As for the fate of King Simon, Crow was none the wiser ...

Voletta would do as she was told, and she would grab the sheets off the bed, and she would sling them over her arm as she takes The Hanged Man's hand and she would close her eyes, taking a deep breath as she tried to prepare herself mentally for the freedom she so desperately longed for. She would remain utterly silent, and she would be shaking almost as she waited for whatever Lilim was going to do to happen. Even with her eyes closed, she could see the blinding golden light through her closed eyelids, but that would soon become irrelevant as she felt hands jerked out of her own. She reached around, desperately trying to find The Hanged Man's hands, to no avail as they were teleported to the yard.

When they were in the yard, she would open her eyes and blink, taking a moment to take in everything that had just happened, before flinging the sheets into the wagon and running over to the gates, clinging to the bars as she cried, shouting out to deaf ears as nobody could hear her in that moment.

"Damn you Crow!! Why!? Why would you do something so foolish?! I was counting on you...your going to get yourself killed!! I'll be back for you! That's a promise!!"

She says before the guards starting rushing out and telling them to halt. She would step back, until she bumped into Lilim and Elesa, tears streaming down her face.

"G-Guys...we have company....if were going to leave, we need to do it now..."

Lilim nods to Voletta, "You and Elesa get in the wagon. I've got these guys. And Hun... No more of those outbursts, ok? Keep him in your prayers tonight." she whispers as she gives Voletta a scoot toward the wagon with a hand gently cupped to Voletta's butt. Lilim herself would move closer to the guard with the lantern and holds up her hands surrenderingly, "My apologies, gentlemen! The three of us are simple farm hands from the village, I promise you. I admit I'm guilty of executing a spell and practicing magic, but I swear it was only a spell to find our lost mule and cart here. I believed it would becon our beast home to us and that was all... As you can see I am unarmed and in my nightly attire, and I was not expecting to be brought here... Please forgive us. All we seek is to get our mule and cart back home. I beg you to forgive our sudden appearance, we didn't mean any harm." Lilim says with a worried and attemptingly cute frown to her face, giving a convincing appearance that she was scared and trying to explain that their appearance in that area at that time of night was all her fault.

Elesa would climb aboard the front of the cart with Voletta's aid, taking the reins and moving to try and help Voletta climb up too, "Big Sis might not sell the story she's telling. In case they come to check our faces, we need to make you look different temporarily... If they recognize you, we're in trouble." Elesa whispers as quietly as she could and grabs a charm from her belt, "Seal of Darkness... Illusion..." she whispers as she uses her magic to make Voletta's hair, skin, and eyes change to different colors than their normal shades.

Seeing as Lilim had green eyes and black hair and Elesa had blue eyes and red hair, she'd give Voletta the appearance of Lilim's green eyes and Elesa's red hair, changing her complexion from pale to tan as she takes inspiration from Lilim's story and tries to make Voletta look like a farmers daughter with a deep tan from working in fields all day. Voletta's tiredness would almost fully sell the illusion if it was checked. As Voletta now looked to have features in common with Lilim and Elesa, the three could almost pass as sisters if the gate guards bought Lilim's story.

(Playing this based on Tus's idea for Lilim's magic to be more based on cleverness rather than actual might. Believable? I'll leave say in that to the others in the RP.)

Merthyr's jaw dropped as he gasped horrified at the news.

"Abducted? from the royal palace? we better find them and fast, before this unleashes a war with the neighbouring kingdom of Biblia, granted it is a small realm but, for one they do practice magic openly over there and secondly, we must prevent all wars at all costs." feeling gutted

"This is all my fault, I should have sent additional guards and knights rather than let you bear the whole burden of three damsels to safeguard and care for all by yourself, my apologies sir Crow. There is so much a single knight can do after all" prompted Merthyr apologizing to the man

"Come... let's go, sir knight. I will bring as many knights and guards as I can muster quickly" prompted Merthyr turning on his heels to face his bodyguard.

"Sir Pentre gather the men" instructed Merthyr watching the man bow before the prince and leave, making his way to guards stations and rest rooms barking orders.

"All men at arms! All men at arms, by command of the prince, report to the gates!" barked Pentre watching everyone hastily go gather up armor and weapons and rush around.

Once Pentre was sure that all men had heard the others and relayed them to one another he quickly jogged to the front gates in a bid to help Merthyr and Crow find the girls and the culprits.

"You lead the way sir Crow, I will assist in any way I can" assured Merthyr letting the older and more experienced knight continue in charge of the operation, offering his support and backing as much as possible

The Hanged Man cringed at the prince's agonized reaction to the news. He hated lying like this, but it was for the greater good. "Nay, sire, please do not concern yourself with apologies ..."

When Pentre began ordering his men to the gates, Crow was quick to interject. "N-nay! Not to the gates! H-he--he took them down to the dungeon ... perhaps he seeks to escape through the drainage tunnels ... take everyone down there!" He didn't know for sure if the girls had gone to the front gates, but that was where their wagon had been left, so it was a safe bet. The only thing he knew for sure was that they hadn't gone back to the dungeons. Never again.

Hopefully both Merthyr and Pentre would heed his word and take the men at arms downstairs. Tactically it wasn't really the smartest move. "Quickly, there's no time to lose!" Crow added, trying to urge them along so they wouldn't think too hard about it.

---

"King Simon's not fond of magic," the head guard said, approaching the wagon. Lilim was lucky that he wasn't one of the guards who had been at the banquet--he theoretically would be able to recognize Voletta, but not the two mages.

He stepped up to the wagon and shone the lantern in Elesa and Voletta's eyes. The older girl's facial features reminded him of someone. "There's aught familiar about you ... very familiar." But try as he might, he couldn't place her--rarely did he see Voletta, and he was used to recognizing her by her distinctive hair. Finally he took a step back and returned his eyes to Lilim. Word of their escape hadn't yet reached the gates, so while they were watchful of their noble charges within the castle, he had no reason to suspect these girls. Lilim's charm also had an effect. "... alright, lass. I'm feeling generous. And if you're getting that dratted mule out of here, all the better--it's been milling around all evening. Go on. Hurry, before I change my mind."

"Why yes of course... perhaps these kidnappers were thugs from the dungeons... I should have left more guards down there" scowled Merthyr wincing at the thought his own prisoners could have taken his lady love and placed her in danger, after all Voletta often when there for the wine barrels.

"Come on Sir Pentre to the dungeons right away" insisted and urged Merthyr taking charge and leading the way himself.

"Change of orders, everyone to the dungeons search every cell, every entrance and exit, every sewer passage" urged Merthyr not one to shun duty no matter how unpleasant

Prince Merthyr removed the cover and venturing into the sewage tunnel himself, bringing his manservant Taff, lord knight Pentre, and other knights with his as he descended to lead the search personally, disregarding the human waste and the foul smell, torch to hand and sword to hand following the tunnels



Admittedly it was dark and the stench made him gag to the point of struggling not to throw up, but if his fair maiden had been taken this way, he would give chase all the way through to the forest outside the city where the tunnel exit lead them to.

By the time they did exit the sewage, it was evident that the effort had been in vain, they had been unable to find the girls nor was there any sign of struggle. By now, Merthyr, Pentre and the rest were covered head to toes in excrement, mud and other unpleasantries.

The search would take quite some time more so if they had to return to the palace on foot, caked up, unsuccesful in their search. Tired from effort and all the more exhausted from the disappointment and wasted time.

Merthyr did his best to remove the dirt using the cloth from his cloak and approach the gates, far from happy.

Despite his best effort to clean himself up, the face remained overall unclean for lack of water and the smell, well, that could have killed the Mercians at close proximity.

The scowling faces from the peasants who were pinching their noses to not take in the stench was proof enough of that.

Merthyr stood still by the gate waiting to be given entrance back to the palace, disheartened at the failed quest. The only hope left for Merthyr being that Sir Crow had managed to find the damsels or a trail that lead to the missing women



"Open the gates" demanded Merthyr in a brief dry voice not at all in the mood to talk much, keen to meet up with Crow and put his mind at ease if at all possible regarding the girls whereabouts.

If Sir Crow had not found them either, he would have to consider immediately starting a door to door search, perhaps with his father's approval, perhaps Crow would agree without requiring such royal consent, but he had to keep going until the girls were found.

Voletta would nod to Lilim, wiping her eyes, and flinching a bit as her rear end was cupped. This would cause her to quickly scoot over to the wagon and climb up, taking a seat and letting out a long sigh. Though her guard would be up as the guards approached them. She would gently turn around and help Elesa climb to the front of the cart, and lets out a silent sigh, before turning to Elesa and raising an eyebrow. She listened to Elesa's plan on how they needed to make Voletta look different, and would just blink at her momentarily as she mentally questioned how they were going to do that.

Voletta would sit still, almost frozen as she felt her body change. It was a weird sensation, and when she finished she would look down at herself, her eyes widening at her tan skin. She would stare at herself in disbelief, and quietly shuffle in the front seat, looking for something. When she found it, she held it up to her face, and her eyes widened in disbelief. The mirror she was now holding would reveal her temporary looks. She would gingerly bring a hand up to her face, staring into her now green eyes and fiery red hair. She would slowly turn to look at Elesa, her voice in a quiet whisper.

"H-How long does this last..?"

She would blink and hold a hand up to her face as a guard approached Elesa and herself and shone a light in their face. Her heart beat would quicken as the guard mentioned that she looked familiar, but she would remain quiet. She would fear that the guard may recognize her voice. She would silently sigh in relief though, as the guard was letting them leave, and she would hope that Lilim would come to the front of the wagon quickly so that she could drive the mule out of here.

Elesa would squint her eyes as the light was shown in them, but did her best to let the guard see her deep blue hues. Her charm stopped glowing and just looked like a fancy stopper for a wheel and axle, hardly anything to be taken as a dangerous weapon.

Lilim would smile and bow to the guards as they told her to hurry along, "Thank you, thank you kind sirs, thank you." she says in a tone that conveyed her gratitude, backing up toward the cart slowly and taking the reins to lead the mule back toward the village, "Come, Alphys." she says to get the mule to follow her.

Some distance away, Elesa's spell would wear off and Voletta's body would change back to normal, "It just wore off." Elesa would say quietly and with a soft smile, moving to put her charm away before leaning back into a long and heavily tired yawn, "Miss Voletta?... I'm sleepy... Can we sleep now, please?" the child asks as she motions to the blankets in the back of the cart.

Lilim would smirk and looks back to Voletta and Elesa, "You two go ahead and get some sleep. I've got things from here. The guards bought the story hook, twine, and sinker. We're in the clear, Voletta. As of this hour, you are a free woman. No longer do you have to do anything that is demanded of you. But... I hope you won't take that too harshly and close your heart to requests and favors." she says calmly, giving Voletta a gaze as she gestures with her eyes toward Elesa, using her request as a case in point to what she meant.

Word spread quickly through the castle of the kidnap of the three girls. When it reached the gatehouse, the head guard--the one who had questioned Lilim--ordered half of his men down to the dungeons to assist the search. He couldn't leave the gate unguarded entirely, after all. It didn't occur to him that the three girls who escaped might be the ones everyone was looking for. Whether it was the disguise, Lilim's charisma, or his own naivete, he didn't think to mention a word of it to anyone. He remained at his post, twiddling his thumbs and watching the road in front of the castle.

---

The Hanged Man hadn't slogged through a sewer in years, but it wasn't his first time. He expounded on his experience as they searched, hoping it would somehow distract them from the stench. "Aye, I myself was fleeing, that time--from a s-smitten s-sorceress, of all things. She was too proud to follow me, but I still had to learn t-to navigate that putrid labyrinth ... in truth, my liege, all one must do is, er, follow the flow ..."

Eventually, he took a different tunnel that split him from the prince. He made a show of searching so as not to rouse any suspicions, but of course they would find nothing. When they finally emerged, they carried the smell of it in their clothes and hair--never before had he wanted to bathe more, not even after he had escaped the sorceress. Unfortunately, this particular drainage exit dropped twenty meters into a gulch, so he had to backtrack all the way through the dungeons to meet Merthyr at the rendezvous point.

Crow approached the gates from the inside, gesturing for the guard to open it and allow the prince entry. "We found naught," he said, bowing deeply. "I-I am sorry, my liege--the blaggard must have given us the slip. P-please, sire, t'is into the wee hours now. Perhaps you could let the men-at-arms do the searching, while you rest?" Any mere minute I can give those girls is worth the effort.

A boy came stumbling towards the group holding a long roll of parchment. As a mere page, he dare not speak directly to the prince, and instead opted to address Pentre. It was clear he was trying his very best not to pinch his nose or gag. "Milords, sirs, I've news--after the kerfuffle I was reading this here guest list, sirs, and, well--" He waved the scroll at them. "--well, it was said that the Biblian nobility was kidnapped, sirs? But, see--and, sirs, I've triple checked this and even asked Mirre and Wenck to cor-corro--back me up on this ..." He cleared his throat. "... we wasn't expecting no Biblian royalty, sirs. Not one. I don't know who those girls was, but ... well, sirs, they wasn't invited."

Crow's heart thundered nervously in his chest. The delicate house of cards was about to fall, he was sure of it--all it would take is Sweeney and Garrold to show up and recount their experience in the dungeon. But ... while he wasn't sure how long they had spent down in the sewers, surely it was a couple hours ... long enough for the girls to be well into the city or beyond. Or so he hoped.

---

In the flurry of activity after the girls went missing, the dining hall hadn't yet been cleaned up. Finally the attendants crept in to clear away the plates and leftover scraps of food that would go to the pigs and the servants. The candles had all burned down to nothing, leaving the room dark and cold. A girl brought in new candles so that they might see what they were doing, but stumbled over something lying on the floor.

"Ach, someone's knocked over a chair ... wait ... BY GOD!"

Her shriek drew the attention of the other attendants, who gathered around the fallen form of King Simon, his lips flecked with foam and his eyes glassy and vacant. "We ... we must tell someone, anyone," said one woman, while another whispered furtive prayers under her breath. None of them could quite decide how to proceed.

((Just let me know if you guys wanted this to go down differently, and I can tweak me post))

Merthyr sighed disheartened at the news

"Well in that case the threat of war against the kingdom of Biblia has been averted" sighed Merthyr as if he had the air knocked out of him leaning tearfully against the wall



"I must say we were completely fooled with this trickery. Though in all honesty, I must confess that I saw the three girls dressed in more humble attire, maid-like manner at the stock room with Sir Crow, perhaps, the maids thought my invitation to attend the ball applied to all three of them despite I was addressing Voletta in particular.

They may have been too embarrassed to admit to their lowly origins and chosen to usurp the title from Biblia knowing no such guests were expected. One cannot fault them for this crime of impersonation, I myself would not want to be of humble lineage and admit to that openly at such important celebrations, among such distinguished guests. Being maids it would also explain why they were never appointed proper guardians and escort" excused Merthyr good natured and merciful as usual

"Nonetheless if they have been kidnapped, we must continue the search and double the efforts to have the three maids found and, if possible, arrest the kidnappers as well. Perhaps door to door search is in order.

For now, we freshen up and change attire and reconvene here within the hour or sooner. Sir Pentre have all the guards lined up at the gates, Sir Crow and I will question each one of them on the three maids personally, someone must know or have seen something" remarked Merthyr wiping his filthy hands into his cloak to read the parchment in detail and ascertain that Morgana of Mercia was indeed listed and yet no Biblia representatives or damsels had been sent.

"We need to get to an Inn at the village....It's not safe out here..."

Voletta would continue staring off in the distance as Lilim led the cart forward, her sleepy eyelids struggling to stay awake. Though at the mention of her looks going back to normal, Voletta would quickly grab the mirror and hold it up to herself, seeing that she indeed looked like herself again. Her pale skin, blue eyes and violet hair were all back. She would smile and set the mirror down, yawning shortly after Elesa did before looking at her and seeing how she motioned to sleep in the back.

"U-Um..."

She mutters, before looking towards Lilim. The fact she was free hadn't fully registered yet, and it would take some getting used to for sure. It would be hard to break the habit of not doing everything she was told, but it could be done...with some help. Though listening to Lilim's speech, she didn't quite understand what it was she meant at first, but then realized as she motioned to Elesa. Voletta would just nod before climbing into the back of the moving cart carefully, and reached her hands out towards Elesa's, grabbing both of her's in order to help her climb in the back as well. Once Elesa was safely in the back, Voletta would lie Elesa down and take two of the pillows, placing them both underneath Elesa before taking two of the blankets and tucking them ontop of Elesa. She was still used to putting others before herself, so she was making sure Elesa would be warm and comfortable. She would take one pillow and one blanket for herself, while making sure Elesa had the other two. She would lie down and get situated, putting the pillow under herself and the blanket over herself before burying herself in the singular blanket and falling asleep just as quickly as her head hit the pillow.