Larita's Kingdoms: Dawn of a New Age [O/F]

Adviser Enguerrand Urbain Armistead

From afar Enguerrand watched briefly as Roland, Gregory and Rosalind conversed. Clearly Roland was aware, or at least was suspicious of Rosalind and Gregory’s relationship. It made Enguerrand wonder if he knew about their late night meetings as well, though if he did know he did not seem to care. He shrugged it off and turned back to Kiana, trusting that Rosalind could keep social company with Gregory this night. It was not as if Enguerrand would be any better company than Roland, considering he would most likely spend it whining about how dull this gathering was.

As the two returned to their dance, the overweight advisor faced Kiana. From how her eyes had followed the sausage, it was clear she was hungry. Yet she hesitated momentarily, clearly interpreting his stance by the two platters as some sort of guard to the sausages. In fact as she spoke, taking note that the citizens of Didlington seemed so educated knowing how highly science was valued, she picked at a sausage like a hesitant mouse, terrified a large cat would pounce upon it. But he just watched her with those same relaxed eyes, his lips unmoving until it was time to speak. This time the topic moved to animals, mainly how they could successfully digest raw meats and not suffer the consequences.

“I have done some research.” He admitted, not afraid to discuss this topic point in the open. Only because he had already published a paper or two on the specialized digestive tracks and immune adaptation in domesticated fauna. “If you are interested, I can give you a copy of my paper on that topic?” He offered, always willing to pass out his research when complete. “In the simplest terms it is a combination of their immune system adapting to the destruction of said volatile organisms, and their specialized guts capable of breaking down such organisms.” He sipped his drink and once again tossed a tiny sausage into his mouth. At this rate he was going to be too full to eat dessert, though that never stopped him.

As he chewed on the juicy meat he listened to Kiana ask if they could talk trade and other subjects related to their careers. A reasonable subject, considering it was his job. In fact his interests peaked ever so slightly when she mentioned that the discussion to be had was related to him, and that it might be wise to relocate. This Enguerrand was already prepared for, and grabbed for the two plates. “I believe there is a study down the hall from here which should be unoccupied.”

And with on that scan of the room, eyes falling upon Gregory, Denton, Cid and Erin, he turned to leave expecting Kiana to follow. He walked out of the ballroom, down the hall as said and opened the door. The room was spacious, offering two large couches to sit upon, a table to plate their drinks or papers, and a desk which served for storage. It was not his office they were in; his was located in the cellars near his laboratory. It was just a spare room they used for large meetings with visiting nobles, since his true study was a mess with papers- both relevant and irrelevant to his role as advisor.

“So, what do you wish to talk about?”


It was to Denton mild relief that, from the corner of his eyes, he observed his faithful advisor Cid and his equally loyal knight Erin stand close enough that they could clearly listen to their conversation. It felt as if they were with him right now, even though they were far enough to be unnoticed by Roland- or so he thought. His eyes hazard a look to Roland, still avoiding true eye contact. Should he stare directly into Roland’s eyes, he might collapse into a garbled speech of whines, whimpers and incomprehensible words. The fellow noble was talking about the ball celebrating his wife’s conception, noting in a cheerful voice that he was quite happy.

“That’s good to hear…” He nodded ever so slightly, wondering if the happiness which Roland show was honest or just a show. The man reminded Denton of his late sister, capable of putting on a happy, sincere smile but secretly plotting her next move to total power. As he eyed his drink the mention of marriage got the tiniest of a yelp from Denton, and he almost moved to cower behind his glass. “W-well I mean- I don’t know anyone I could…” Marriage was one of the many topics he would have to deal with inevitably as King, and it was by far the worst of the bunch. As just a prince he could certainly marry who he wished- yes it might bring shame, but he was once the youngest of eight children. One child wilfully ignoring tradition to marry who he pleased would not bring the Lywood household to ruin,

But as King and the sole heir, that right was lost. Now he was expected to marry whoever would benefit the Kingdom best and usually such marriages were rarely fruitful and happy. Of course marrying would definitely bring some joy to the Kingdom, there was no doubt there. He tentatively shifted his glass about in his hands, relieved to have the topic move on to asking if he would stay the night and hopefully meet with him. Roland also wanted a favour from Denton; one which he promised would be repayable. Before Denton could ask what it was though, Roland assumed without so much as hearing a word from the King that the deal was set, and with a quick farewell he slipped away moving towards Rosalind and Gregory. He sighed, both relieved and upset. Roland was no longer talking to him, but now he was expected to meet with him for lunch tomorrow, most likely alone.

Cid and Erin rejoined their King, discussing what was said between the two royals. Erin had heard the promise, but also noted that Roland’s sudden disappearance without so much as letting Denton speak a single word was the result of him attempting to get away from Cid. A smile graced Denton’s lips and he, despite knowing better, gave a slight bow to Cid and Erin when both promised to try and be there for him tomorrow.

“Thank you.” He stood straight once more shrugging when asked if he was enjoying himself. “You know large gatherings like this make my nervous. That and Roland reminds me too much of Lisette…”

Moving his cup gingerly to his lips, he moved to sip but found himself almost spilling it when suddenly Gregory, King of Twyford, approached. He had not spotted the man since his little dance with Rosalind, so it came as a surprise that he reappeared again. With shaking hands, Denton took a second to calm his nerves before speaking.

“Alright…” He mumbled, looking to Cid and Erin. Still requiring some time to relax he stayed silent, giving Gregory time to apologize to his advisor and knight for ignoring their presence initially before suggesting they all meet in private for a plan. Now this was concerning- first a party, now a favour owed to Roland and a plan he had to be part of for Gregory. Was his night ever going to end? “Ah, y-yeah.” He always let Cid do the talking, just nodding and agreeing. It was the best he could do.

Kiana merely smiled politely when offered a copy of the published work since she already, most likely, had it. The advisors of her kingdom often received copies of Enguerrand’s published works, but they never seemed to care about the content that it presented which was how Kiana found herself with the majority of them to read on her own time. She was rather interested in the discussion of the biology of the animals, but she still had her own work to do. Suddenly he offered to take her to a study to talk business, and Kiana nodded her head in agreement that it would be a fine place to conduct such things. She saw him grab two plates, and decided it would be worth it to join the feast with him by picking up a plate of assorted deserts that had just been placed down. She followed after Enguerrand before remembering her king.

As she stepped over to the open doors, Kiana did a quick turn back to search for her king before spotting him. She felt better for only half a second before she realized who he was with. She found herself hesitating as she stared at Cid, the labeled ‘selfish advisor,’ speaking with Gregory. However, Kiana took a deep breath and turned away from the strange looking group. Even if her king managed to get himself in a bad situation, there were always ways of undoing such things. She would have to visit him later to see what the conversation between kingdoms was about, but for now she was much more interested in the sweet smelling deserts in front of her nose as she picked up her pace to where Enguerrand walked into a room. She took in the appearance of the room before closing the door behind her with her foot and stepping over to the table near the couches to set the plate of food down on.

“Business, of course.” She answered him as she looked around the room before spotting the cart to mix drinks. She stepped over to it and began moving liquor bottles around until she found the water. “I hope you don’t mind speaking a little less formal now since it’s just the two of us. This dress is killing me, and it makes thinking twice the effort it should be. Being a woman is a hard thing.” She joked with him as she poured herself a glass before taking a large gulp of it. She released a relaxed sigh before stepping back over to where Enguerrand was and taking a seat on one of the couches. “So this offer is especially for your consideration. The Kingdom of Twyford would like to offer you a place in our kingdom, not as an advisor, but as a scientist free to do as he wishes. I’ve read many of your publications, and talked it over with King Gregory who agreed with me that our people would benefit if they had scientist that could help educate them…Which will also be apart of our deal.” She said, speaking with ease as if it were another plan on the table that advisors spoke about.

“In compromise for our offer, we only ask in return that you take on two or three aspiring scientists under your wings to teach them the tools necessary to conducting their own experiments. Twyford, sadly, does not have many success stories when it comes to this, but we want to change that for the better.” She explained before grabbing a chocolate covered fruit and taking a bite from it. She chewed it over as she allowed her words to sink in before continuing. “It’s just an offer, and we understand if you decline. I’m sure being an advisor here in Didlington is a useful title.” She commented before finishing off the fruit in her fingers, her eyes looking for the next delicious thing she wanted to try.

Adviser Enguerrand Urbain Armistead
Sat across from Kiana, Enguerrand happily gobbled down a few more sausages, pleased to see she had brought with her a tray of sweets. If he could he would happily sit here till the party was over, but he was expected to return eventually. Nevertheless, if they were going to sit here for a while he would like it that there were sweets to access. At any point the food could be swallowed up by the crowd of party attendees, and then he would not have his dessert. Well at least not right now, and Enguerrand was not going to wait till later today when the chefs were done cleaning to bake him his own set of treats.

Without delay she got to the topic at hand, first apologizing for not being as formal thanks to her dress. Enguerrand snorted, in his usual manner, and eyed her from head to two. “If it is so uncomfortable, don’t wear it.” He noted ever so bluntly. Unlike many in the room Enguerrand was wearing his usual attire- if he was going to attend some drab, dull, drawn out party then he was going to be comfortable. To Kiana’s luck Enguerrand did not go into some long rant about formality as he often would, instead just leaving the subject there to hear what Kiana had to say.

The Kingdom of Twyford was offering him a job as their leading scientist, the king believing that someone of Enguerrand’s level could definitely educate young scientists and give their people equally skilled scientists. The offer did not come with a price tag yet, and clearly it was a bit of a jump down from his current status. Famous as Enguerrand was, his contributions could be happily ignored by politicians if it did not suit their agenda since he lacked the power and influence that, say, an advisor had. So at the moment the only promise was educating men or women to become scientists, everything else about the offer were not all that promising.

“You are right. Stepping down from advisor to educator would leave me with less power and thus, less influence.” He sipped his drink, grabbed for the last of the sausages and gobbled it down. “I see little reason to accept this offer. I leave my home, lose my title, I don’t see promise in altering my career.” Blunt and cruel, as he usually was. “But if you require scientists, I can accept two or three as assistances here, to learn the trade. Then when they are ready, they can return and fill that gap?” Enguerrand saw little to fear in offering to train some scientists here and then send them back home. “I would have to put forth the idea with Roland, inquire about having assistants.” He made no mention of telling Roland where these assistants would come from, or bringing up the offer to Roland. But that was because Enguerrand was still suspicious with Kiana, and he would do this later in private.

For now he would pretend that her offer was to be kept secret. If she so wished it to be, of course.


“Y-yes, of course.” Denton, being one to prefer seeing everyone happy, agreed to speak with Gregory. It was not as if this King was malicious, not as unsettlingly malicious as Roland at least. Plus his trusted advisor and knight were by his side, he could handle a quick conversation with the King of Twyford. Before they could begin however, Gregory turned to look at Rosalind and mentioned how the Queen of Didlington deserved better.

Denton’s eyes widened and he stared at Gregory, the statement both left field and startling to him. He had hoped and preferred to believe that the earlier dance was just two nobles being humble to on another, but that statement could not be interpreted as anything else. Not even to the naïve Denton, who was not entirely blind to affairs and secret loves. “Oh, well if we have too…” Already he was being sent to a private room to talk, something which Denton did not want to do. But Cid had agreed to this, and trusting Cid Denton followed. He tried his best not to panic as he sat down, placing his drink onto the table before he could make a mistake such as spilling it.

Gregory did not delay in speaking- he mentioned Rosalind’s miserable marriage to Roland, and that he cared enough for her that if he could he would happily kill Roland to put her on the throne instead. At this Denton dreaded the word- they were going to kill Roland. That was what Gregory wanted. He just confirmed that he was having an affair with Rosalind, what else could he be asking for other than to kill Roland? Denton squirmed in his seat, not once looking Gregory in the eyes. This was too much, far, far, far too much for him to handle. In fact he finally broke past his efforts to stay quiet and gave out a loud squeal when Erin toppled out of her chair. He was on his feet and pulling away, staring at Erin who noted in a calm voice that it was a spider.

To her luck Denton was not afraid of spiders and he relaxed, but by now his nerves were frayed for the day. When Merek walked into the room he spun around and faced the other, almost expecting Roland to walk in and declare them all traitors and usurpers. With an exhausted sigh he slowly sat down, saying not a word until Cid spoke. The only words that came out of his mouth was when Gregory mentioned his loyal knight, to which Denton replied with a quiet and barely audible.

“Ah, yes…”