Princess in a Tower

[roseline]

Diana was the type to feel more nervous when a plan went just as intended. All her life she'd been told to always have a backup and double backu plan because certainly the first plan will always run into snags. Like the square with her daughter and that.....bodyguard. Really, if Rose wanted to have a consort that was one thing, but why she insisted on referring to him as her 'bodyguard' was anyones guess. 

But she needed to reign in her wayward daughter and that's what the assassins were for. Initial attempts at negotiations had fallen flat however. Harlequin seemed disinterested in her schemes, which was fine he was skilled enough to be choosy, but considering he knew her reputation for scheming he never should have let his guard down. Now Ellie sat in the dungeons of her castle (not all her property belonged to the king thank gods...) and she had sent a page ahead with her 'condolences' with Ellie's trouble with the law.

Kidnapping Ellie and passing the buck for the kidnapping to Aldari seemed so simple, but so far, it was ridiculously effective. The girl had howled like a banshee when she first arrived, but seperated from her poisons and her lover, she was merely a girl and easily subdued. All it took was a blatant lie to her face that Harlequin was dead and she crumbled into submissive numbness. Really it was embarassing how easy this was getting but, then again, assassins are hardly known for their scheming and insight, just the sharpness of their blades.

The white queen had made her first move on the chessboard, now, how would the black king play?

[Lance]

Harlequin burst through the doors to Diana's temporary abode, two guards attempting to halt him...and getting a blade through their eyes for the trouble. The blades sprung forth from his palms and sent the two men screaming and crawling on the ground, blood and vitreous humor leaking from the eyeholes of their ornate helmets and onto the thick silk carpeting of the villa.

The assassin was followed by his other bodies, the forms moving a bit jerkily as nearly invisible threads of mana connected them. Harlequin wasn't too good at making multiple puppets move, that...that had always been Ellie's expertise. The thought of his lover only made Harlequin more furious, and with a snarl he kicked the door to Diana's office open, the doorknob clanging across the floor as the assassin stormed in. "What...HAPPENED!?"

[roseline]

Well....make that a check for the rumors being true. To the public the Harlequin and Helliquin were just a pair of assassins. But just like that oni and her daughter....she knew. She also knew exactly when the assassin in question had arrived by the screams of her poor guards. She made sure to give the assassin a reproving look when he stormed in, he didn't scare her right now, she had information he very much needed.

"Your Hellaquin was accosted at the apothecary by fire kingdom guards. I guess with the palace being frozen solid right now they're a bit paranoid, and a strange face buying poison was an immediate red flag. They detained her and she didn't like that very much," Diana couldn't help but smile bemusedly as she recalled the report her men had given, the report that was practically kingdom wide news at this point, so she looked up at hm and said the damning words.

"She fought back, killed two men and attempted to flee, they chased and cornered her at the inn, backed into a corner she dropped your name in some sort of intimidation attempt, now she's being questioned....or tortured in whatever seedy dark place the justicars now use to conduct their buisiness with the palace gone," she said before kicking a chair out for the man to sit in as tea was brought out for the both of them.

"That is what happened, and as it also happens, I have little love for the fire kingdom right now so let's help one another,"

[Lance]

If Harlequin had teeth, he'd have been grinding them right now, his joints clicked and cracked ever so slightly as he stalked up to Diana. towering over her by a good 4-5 inches. He glared down at her through his unshifting face, and his words came out short, forced as if hissed through grit teeth. "How...will we...HELP...one another?"

[roseline]

"Well there aren't many people who would know where she's being held. Only those close to the royal family or the royal family themselves. And you'll need leverage to get anything out of Aldari because he's horribly stubborn. So do what you do best and assassinate, kidnap, blackmail, or whathaveyou He's grown quite fond of my daughter, you could start there," she pointed out with a nonchalant shrug.

"You want your lover and I want Aldari to learn what happens to people who mess with me, this way, we both get what we want" she encouraged as she met his gaze for a moment before getting a ponderous look upon her face as she lost herself in thought.

"Also, is your real name Solis, by chance?"

[Lance]

Harlequin's mind was already turning with ideas, plans and strategies. He hadn't gathered intelligence on his foes by himself in a long time...but he didn't have much choice now, did he? He turned away from the woman, ready to storm off and begin his work, and then she mentioned his true name.

Harlequin halted, and turned to look at Diana, "And what...might I ask, makes you think that I would tell you if it was?"

[roseline]

Diana knew she didn't have to do this, she'd already pointed him in the direction of her enemies, she could just sit back and let him work at no charge to her now. But she refused to let it be that simple. Diana's greatest strength....and weakness was her love for toying with people in body and mind.

"At the inn, she was calling for a Solis, before she got cornered. You're lucky as most people are too dumb to put the pieces together. But i'd bet my remaining fortune that's your true name....and that she was calling for you," she said with a casual shrug as she looked up to meet his gaze with a steely one of her own.

"You don't have to confirm or deny it, but just thought you should know, she was calling for someone and i've never heard of her teaming up with anyone else,"

[Lance]

Harlequin resisted the urge to plunge a dagger into Diana's face, his hands trembling before he suddenly relaxed and turned around, walking up to the woman and staring at her for a moment...before delivering an ear ringing slap right to her mouth.

He paused and looked at his hand, tilting his head and chuckling. "My apologies, I thought I saw some stains on your lips madam, thought it was leftovers from how you secured your remaining fortune. I'll take my leave now, but thank you for the information..." Harlequin turned on his heel and walked out of the room, drawing his blade from his hip and jamming it hilt deep into the ostentatiously decorated walls.

He then proceeded to drag the blade through the plaster as he walked, destroying the wall and covering the floor in bits of plaster and dust before finally pulling the blade free and plunging it into one of the half blinded guards he'd maimed on the way out, slooowly drawing it through the armored man's throat before pulling it free with a spray of blood that painted the carpet.

He wiped off the dagger, and then walked through the door, slamming it behind him hard enough to crack the wood. He talked through the streets of the capital, his mind swirling with dark, hateful and murderous thoughts...and all the while, a young man watched from above, perched like an owl on a nearby rooftop. "Well...things are becoming quite complicated around here, aren't they?"