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Ridashippu
Ibaacuine turned and greeted the new group with a smile and a slight bow in response to theirs. She looked them over as their leader spoke. She then flashed a quick grin at the skydancer.
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Empress. We are grateful that you could come join us here on the island for our celebration. I am sure that we can work out an alliance between our two powers." Her gaze shifted to the imperial whom the empress mentioned. The queen's eyes narrowed slightly as she surveyed him. An artist? It was not the sort of person she had imagined would be put forth for her daughters. Typically it was heirs or clan leaders themselves. She eased back into a warm smile once she was finished looking him over. Perhaps he would prove himself valuable given time to evaluate him. Although his nervousness was rather telling at present.
"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Tyviar. If you wish, you may ask after my daughters later, should you wish to get to know them better. They are a bit preoccupied at the moment, but please, make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the festivities."
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Kalistys
Lohnai blinked, caught off guard by the question. When was the last time that she had been asked her opinion on this whole debacle of marriage? Never, as far as she could recall. Though her father did express a slight bit of worry at the whole ordeal and what his daughters felt.
"I..." she began, but stopped herself, remembering that it was best not to speak until she had her thoughts clear; it saved face that way, and people couldn't twist her words later. She pondered a moment and then sighed, saying, "I honestly do not have any idea or opinion on where I will end up. My mother is, honestly, the one who will be making the decision, with only menial input from me and my sisters. So, even if I had an opinion, it would hardly matter. As for friends...the only one I will miss is Ilanei, merely because she is the only person who has ever truly understood me. I suppose I will miss Nimué as well, because she helped to care for us when we were small. And Taanyth, for she was another steady presence. All in all, I have little to leave behind here at the clan as far as personal connections go."
She paused a moment, dwelling on the emotions brought on by just thinking about leaving her sister. But she then cleared her throat and said, "What about you? Do you have any opinion on being arranged to marry someone you scarcely know?"
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Nanobot87
The queen gave Lisil a smile and a slight nod in the midst of speaking with another guest who had approached her, not seeming to miss a beat at moving from one conversation to another. Nahein, behind the matriarch, gave the party from Gimar a slight bow of his head to acknowledge their departure and watched as they walked off.
Meanwhile, across the room, Nimué had been thinking to herself, rather drowning out the noise about her. She rubbed a finger absentmindedly back and forth along the body of the tall glass nestled in her hands. It wasn't until another skydancer was a mere foot away from her that her attention was dragged back to the present.
"You have quite stunning colors," she said quietly, almost as if it had meant to be under her breath but was instead audible. "Where are you from?" She tilted her head slightly to the side as she examined the skydancer before her. The pigtailed hairstyle was an...interesting touch to bring to an event so formal and typically dreary. Although some nobles insisted on dressing themselves up to the point of gaudiness. Emlyn seemed like a person who dressed herself according to her own style and personality. How nice it must be to not have someone dictate that element of expression for you.
"Oh, pardon me," Nimué said suddenly, remembering her manners. "I am Nimué, the matriarch's...prodigy. I am set to inherit care of our clan shrine, to be more precise."
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Toonetta
Taanyth nodded as Makoto spoke, listening with keen interest. She smiled slightly at the mention of where Aeolia was located, waiting for him to finish his description before she said, "I hadn't had my heart set on the steppes, to be perfectly honest. And, even if I had, who is to say that I would be accompanying your party back to Aeolia? Are you that certain of yourself and the offers of your clan?" She was being cheeky and she knew it fully. It was something her mother had warned her against, for some might take offense at it, but she couldn't help herself. There was something about the guardian's confidence that was charming enough to make her speak more like a person and less like a prize.
She was caught off guard by his sudden step forward and proposal of a walk. Without thinking about it, really, she glanced at her two sisters, father, and then to her mother. Surely she wasn't expected to stand stock-still for the entire night. However, if her mother wished her to stay close, it would be best not to go against her desires. And yet, nothing had ever been spoken to her about staying within a specific range of the other delegates. And so, she made an assumption.
"I suppose we can...meander through the crowd," Taanyth said, reaching out to rest her hand gently atop his. Nearly as soon as she had, she wondered what sort of picture it would paint of her for the other suitors, but it would be far more damaging to retract the action now that it had been done. She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and smiled, nodding towards the rest of the ballroom. "Shall we?"
~
Ilanei wished to fidget with the hem of her dress, or her gloves, but she had been scolded against such actions too many times as a child. So instead she stood almost completely still. Which might have been more disconcerting than visible nervousness.
"How...far would you say your clan is from here? A few days' journey, possibly more?" she asked, scrambling for a topic to keep the conversation going. She saw movement from the corner of her eye and watched as Taanyth made her way off into the crowd with the other suitor sent from Aeolia. How could she?! Mother had mentioned in passing that the three of them were to be watched by one of the delegation at all times so as to prevent...funny business from occurring. It had seemed silly at the time, because who could possibly want to harm them in the presence of such masses? But now that the crowds were present, possible threats seemed more than myth.
She realized she had begun to fidget with the glove of her left hand and had been too-visibly been following Taanyth's departure with her eyes, so she snapped back into place, looking at the paladin once more.
Meanwhile, the queen had also noticed her eldest daughter's movement away from their delegation. She frowned inwardly and sent a glance towards Nahein. The skydancer nodded in understanding, as if he had noticed as well and had been waiting for word from his leader, and stepped over to Haramios. The two exchanged a brief conversation before Nahein was once again at his queen's side and the gold-bedecked tradesman had vanished into the crowd.
