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[Colette Hasting]

Lady Colette Hasting strode through the entryway of Keep Hasting, servants scurrying to get out of the way. One look at her face was all most of them needed; if any of them hesitated, a quick tug on their fear of her sent them packing with the rest. She didn't have time to deal with their bootlicking, and she had run out of patience before the day had even really begun.

First, of course, there was the fiasco from last night - the ball on fire, Eliza and even Marceline rebelling against her, and worst of all, the bastard coming out victorious! - and then, today, her opportunities to gain some ground in administrative matters had been brushed aside by the Lord Ruler and his infuriating executions. Oh, she could have used her sex to her advantage and stayed home to make a world of progress - and allowed the bastard to represent Hasting by himself, as if he had any right whatsoever to do so. No, as the true heir, she was obligated to attend, no matter how inconvenient.

But as a result, of course, her entire day was now thrown off schedule. She was supposed to meet with her girls for tea this afternoon, and before that, with her dear Ferrah. But the streets would be clogged for hours with travelers trying to get here and there, trying to catch up with the rest of their day after the executions, and it wasn't likely that any of them would be nearly on time.

They would pay, though, if they failed to keep the appointment. Colette had tolerated more than enough insubordination already.

Her first order of business, though, would be to change out of the drab getup she had worn to the executions to hide the ash. So she swept into her rooms, barked an order to her maids to see Lady Ferrah in the second she arrived, and then slammed the dressing room door behind her.


((OoC Note: Even though this is a thread for all of Colette's Posse, Ferrah needs to be the first one to enter the thread. We'll let you know when it's time to start bringing the other girls in. Thanks for your patience!))

[Ferrah Brehaut]

"The room is satisfactory," Ferrah said, her lips pursed. She had been in the process of ensuring the venue for this afternoon's tea would meet Colette's standards when a servant had informed her that Lady Colette had returned from the executions. "You know better than I what the consequences will be if the place settings are not perfect when Lady Colette's guests arrive. Ensure she is not disappointed." Ferrah did not wait to hear the servant's assertions that the room would be ready in time. It would not do to keep Colette waiting for the sake of a mere vassal.

As she glided gracefully through the halls, Ferrah did her best to compose herself despite the constant anxiety that had been gnawing away at her since the disastrous Casuana ball. How could she have let things get so out of hand? It was times like these she envied Colette's ability to control people seemingly effortlessly. How did she do it? More importantly, how could Ferrah do the same or similar? She knew as well as anyone that her station within the group, and within the Luthadel social scene, was only secure as long as she enjoyed Colette's favour. If she was no longer of use to the Hasting heir, all that she had worked for could be jeopardized, and her dreams of marrying a handsome suitor from a house more wealthy and powerful than her own could all be lost.

Finally, she reached Colette's chambers. At her knock, a servant ushered her in immediately. Evidently, Colette had been waiting for. Ferrah cursed herself inwardly. Hopefully her friend had not been kept waiting for too long.

"Preparations for tea are almost completed," she explained as she entered the room where Colette was preparing. "I was sure to remind your servants of the penalties of failure before I left," Ferrah smiled at the thought of the terrified servants, despite her inner doubts. "It's almost adorable how well you've trained them. Whether or not they are capable of perfection remains to be seen, but you've certainly secured their best efforts."

Ferrah crossed the room and took a seat, crossing her legs and arranging her dress just so before she continued speaking. "How were the executions? Oh, and I'm just dying to hear about what you have planned for this afternoon." Ferrah had no doubts that Colette already had something in mind to deal with the insubordination of the previous night. She only hoped there would be something she could do to refine or help implement the plan, so that she would at least be of use to Colette.

Also, having a direct role in making Eliza Fathvell pay for her actions the previous night was too tempting an opportunity to pass over.

[Colette Hasting]

Oh, Ferrah. Dear, dependable Ferrah. Of course Ferrah of all people would have everything prepared, ready and waiting for her. It was refreshing, especially after the morning she'd had.

"I'm afraid I haven't had much of a chance to decide how to handle our little rebellion," she explained, trying to coax the strain out of her voice as she looked over her choice of dresses for the day. "Hasting has been framed for the murder of the Elariel heir, and my bastard cousin has decided it's his place to handle the situation. I spent the whole of the executions trying to take control of this mess."

[Ferrah Brehaut]

Ferrah's eyes widened in shock. Mikhail Elariel had been murdered? And Hasting had been framed? Suddenly the issue of Eliza's insubordination seemed trivial in comparison.

"Lord Mikhail is dead? But Elariel is neutral, who would risk such a thing? And why would Hasting be blamed?" With holdings in both the Southern and Western dominances, Brehaut could be a prime target for the Elariels to revenge itself upon, should they decide Hasting really was responsible.

Furthermore, Ferrah could not imagine what kind of pressure Colette must be under, first the attack at the ball and now this? It would seem Caden would use anything and everything to his advantage to try to supplant his cousin as rightful heir. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

[Colette Hasting]

"There is," Colette said as she laid out a pleasantly pink tea gown and began changing out of her dreary execution suit. "I've been so preoccupied with the Elariel disaster that I've been entirely unable to finalize my plans for the Fathvell and Dumont girls. I want to hear your ideas."

Colette was, of course, perfectly confident that Ferrah would already have everything in order. There was a reason, after all, that she trusted Ferrah and no other with the well-being of their social circle - not even Lysette. And that consistent performance and loyalty was exactly what Colette needed right now.

[Ferrah Brehaut]

Ferrah smiled, happy to be needed. "I did have a few ideas, though I haven't had much time to develop them." It was hard, to admit such weakness, but she knew Colette would understand. Besides, the plan they came up with would be much stronger with Colette's input. "For Marceline, I think a gentler hand might be required to reel her back into the fold. She'll need to know she's done wrong, of course, but now that the panic of last night is gone, she's likely already worrying over what the consequences of her actions will be. I say we give her a warning, and then an opportunity for her to make things up to us and the rest of the group. Then, we can use Eliza as an example to scare her back into line."

Ferrah let a momentary frown mar her complexion at the thought of the defiant Fathvell girl. "Eliza will be more difficult, especially if we allow her relationship with the bastard to grow. I think she's a bit taken with him, so we could use that to our advantage, perhaps stringing her along with a few well placed rumours and then setting her up for heartbreak. I suppose we should also consider some ways to prevent Caden from getting himself involved. In that regard, a some gossip about an alternative love interest might nip things off before they get out of hand."

Ferrah stood to help Collette with some of her buttons, feeling more in control by the moment. Alone, with Colette by her side the world didn't feel so unmanageable. Suddenly, the disaster of a ball the previous night, and even the vengeance of the Elariels did not seem so troubling. "What do you think?"

[Colette Hasting]

"That could work," Colette said thoughtfully, gratefully letting Ferrah work at her buttons. "But at the same time, this little liaison with Caden might prove useful to us, so I'm hesitant to throw it out too soon. If he starts trusting her, he might confide in her, and between the two of us, it shouldn't be too difficult to coax his plans out of her. Not to mention, it would be nice if he found himself a suitable distraction while we regroup and press forward.

"Perhaps both? We let him chase her around for a while, get what intelligence we need from the girl, then destroy their little fantasy. Eliza will be suitably cowed, and the bastard will be left licking his wounds and wondering if it's worth trusting anyone again."

That last thought made her smile. Caden would pay for his arrogance. It was just a matter of time.

[KChan]

This is a placeholder post to notify the rest of the Posse that the duet portion of the thread has ended. Mozy, Eclipse, you guys are welcome to bring your characters in whenever you'd like! I'll delete this post once we've established a scene transition. Bring your ladies in to the parlor and we'll really kick off the fun!

[Marceline Dumont]

Marceline attempted to take deep, calming breaths as the carriage she hired pulled up in front of Keep Hasting. She knew that Colette would be angry with her and on top of that she was late. She'd tried to get there on time, but it had been so incredibly hard to find a carriage that would take her. She had spent all morning worrying about it and now her nerves were getting the best of her. She knew that the carriage had stopped, but she sat for a few moments longer, trying to grasp at some semblance of calm before she went inside.

"My lady?" Her steward, Zaryk, asked after a moment. "I believe we have arrived."

Marceline nodded and took a final breath before motioning for him to help her out of the carriage. "Stay here with the carriage. I do not want the driver leaving before I am ready to go. Promise him whatever you think I can pay him, but please do not make it overly outrageous. You know what my parents give me as an allowance. I want to still have some left for shopping." She attempted to smile but failed miserably and so she sighed. "I do not know how long this tea is supposed to go."

Before her steward could reply, although he didn't look like he was about to, she turned and hurried into the keep. She knew where she was going. Maybe the others had been delayed too and she wouldn't look so terribly late. Even so, she was careful not to run, but she walked at a brisk pace and arrived at the parlour very nearly out of breath. The servant who had followed her to the room opened the door for her and she was happily surprised to see that Lady Colette was not in the room yet. That gave her a few more minutes to calm down.

As Marceline walked quickly to a seat in the room she knocked into the tea table and nearly screamed. There wasn't much on it, but what was there was terribly displaced and Marceline hurriedly put everything to rights, making sure it was exactly as it had been. Or, well, exactly as she assumed it had been. She hadn't gotten a very good look at it as she entered.

Marceline sat shakily and attempted to regain the small amount of composure that she had had before. She just needed to not focus on the previous night. She needed to apologize for being late, of course. Perhaps she could avoid the terrible subject of the ball by complaining about the difficulties of getting a carriage right after executions. That might work. Of course, it wouldn't work for long, but it would give her something else to think about. She straightened her purple skirts as she thought and then smoothed the front of her dress. She thought it was too low cut, but she hadn't wanted to have it made with too high a neckline or she thought that she would be berated for being self conscious. However, she really did think she could have gotten a little more cloth put there... Marceline shook herself out of those thoughts and then smoothed her hair. It wasn't the best, as she had been too flustered to let her lady's maid do much about it, but about half of it had been braided back intricately. It was okay, but still. It could have been better.

[Celestine Beliveaux]

"Ronyl, how late are we? Do you think Colette will be mad?" Celestine adjusted the ruffles on her dress, a dark green outfit with long sleeves and a high neckline. She needed to look more serious than pretty, and while she had been told she looked beautiful, it wasn't the primary goal, for once. There were no noblemen to impress, only consequences to be dealt with. Colette had just been challenged openly, and she needed her faithful to stand behind her. Hopefully she won't be mad at me for being late, she needs to direct her anger at those who deserve it. Celestine looked over at Ronyl, and realized he had been speaking while she had been lost in her thoughts.

"Could you repeat that, Ronyl?" Ronyl didn't miss a beat:

"Of course, my lady: Colette shouldn't be angry with you. We're approaching the keep now, and I see Marceline just getting out of her carriage now. Marceline was the one who lost control of herself and showed that she wasn't as loyal as we had thought, remember. You haven't done anything wrong."

Celestine nodded,"Of course, thank you Ronyl," remembering the night before. The fire, the masses of people attempting to run, Caden leading them out. Marceline practically yelled at Colette. What was she thinking? And Eliza! She'll have to answer for abandoning us to cling to the Bastard's arm. Does the girl not understand loyalty?

The carriage stopped, and Ronyl exited, helping Celestine out of the carriage. He trailed her as she walked towards the entrance to the Keep. Celestine took a deep breath. This is going to be the most interesting tea in a while, I believe. A servant opened the doors for her on the way to the parlor. When the door to the parlor proper was opened, the only member of the Posse Celestine saw was Marceline. This should be enjoyable, Celestine thought sarcastically.

"Marceline! It's so nice to see you!"

[Marceline Dumont]

Marceline looked up as Celestine entered and she smiled. It was not a real smile, but that was hardly evident now. She knew that Celestine was on Colette's side completely, and would probably take this opportunity to berate Marceline for her choice of companions the previous night. As if having to deal with Colette's anger wasn't enough of a punishment. "Celestine! How lovely. I was worried that you would be horridly late. There is nothing worse than sitting alone here with no one to talk to." Marceline said, slipping easily into her usual manner. She was not so worried that she couldn't act properly.

Marceline took in Celestine's dress quickly, knowing that she had to appear to be her usual self even if she wasn't really in the mood for it. What else could she do but this? This was what was important to her. If she failed at it, she wouldn't be accepted anymore and considering her previous actions, it wouldn't help her to not be on top of her game. Besides, it was Celestine. She already had too much practice critiquing Celestine's clothing.

"The cut of your dress is lovely, if a bit modest. However, I would caution you against such a dark green. It makes your face look so pale." Marceline said in a friendly tone. Just because she was bad at lying didn't mean she couldn't be like the others. She had definitely had more practice at it than Celestine had. Although she didn't particularly enjoy it. She had never enjoyed insulting Celestine. However, after seeing how Celestine had been treated in Austrex, Marceline had no desire to be cast out of the group. Nor did she actually know how she would have friends if that happened.

[Celestine Beliveaux]

You are in the right, Celestine, don't let her get to you.

"You are right, there is nothing worse than sitting alone, with no one to talk with. Thank the Lord Ruler we have Colette to bring us together! I don't know what I'd do without the girls."

Remember, she's the one who has something to worry about. Let her worry about it.

"The dress may be a bit modest, but the Ball had quite the troublesome ending. I decided that I should dress to the occasion. I wouldn't want to be immodest! And the dark green is for the same reason. I wouldn't want to be wearing a bright orange on an Executions day, it just wouldn't fit, now would it?"

Let her squirm, with her low cut dress and Bastard crush.

Edited by Eclipse, 22 December 2014 - 06:01 PM.

[Marceline Dumont]

Marceline hesitated as she nodded a sort of agreement. It wasn't her fault she couldn't get dressed to look modest on her. The only way that she could get modesty to work for her was when the neckline went all the way to her neck. Or at least got closer than she thought was fashionable right now. She determined to push that comment out of the way and focus on something else.

"Too bright would definitely be odd on a day like this. However, blue would look good on you. The cold color would match well." Marceline said, intentionally not mentioning what it would match well with. Celestine could use her imagination, if she had one.

"Was it very hard for you to get here? I would have expected you to be here first." Marceline said casually, thinking it was best to change the subject before she ran out of things to say. It would show weakness, and Marceline didn't want Colette to find out. She wanted Colette to still like her. "In such a situation on a normal day I would have assumed that you merely had a previous engagement, but as that cannot have been the case today, I can only imagine that you had more difficulty getting here than I did."

Edited by MozytheHealer, 22 December 2014 - 06:26 PM.

[Celestine Beliveaux]

Cold color would match...what exactly? My cold heart? Just let it go, Celestine, she'll get her due when Colette arrives.

"I'll remember that the next time I go dress shopping," Celestine said with a slight smile. She was attempting to seem friendly, but she wasn't sure how well it was working out.

"As for why I got here after you: The sheer number of people and carriages on the streets today was unbelievable! My carriage driver attempted to take a shortcut to avoid the masses, but they were even clogging the shortcut! By the time he had gotten us back onto the main road, we were behind schedule. I was worried I would miss tea, but luckily I was only a bit late. You weren't on time either though, since I saw your carriage arrive as I neared the keep. Did you get caught in the same predicament as I did?"

[Marceline Dumont]

Marceline wasn't sure if Celestine was attempting to be kind or condescending. If it was kindness Marceline didn't know why and it made her feel guilty about approaching this conversation with hostility. However, the idea that it might be condescending made her more than a little defensive. But maybe Lady Colette would like it more if she was humble. That was definitely a possibility, but she couldn't be certain.

Marceline supposed that it might do her good to be kinder to Celestine, but she didn't like that Celestine had pointed out her own lateness. It wasn't her fault that her parents hadn't given her a carriage. She made a small mental note to write to them and see if they would give her one, but that, sadly, did not help her current predicament. If anything the fact that she didn't have her own carriage made it worse. Marceline didn't enjoy admitting those kinds of things, even if Celestine already knew. And so she didn't.

"Yes, the traffic was awful. However, I thought that it might be and planned ahead." Marceline lied, knowing that she had merely gotten lucky. "I thought that it might be...unhelpful if I was late. Of course, I knew full well I might arrive early, but that is easier to remedy than being late."

[Celestine Beliveaux]

"Very true. My carriage driver assured me he would get me here on time, but I guess my trust in him was misplaced. Either way, Colette and Ferrah aren't here yet, so it would seem we're early!"

When will they get here? I can't make nice with her much longer, and I do abhor awkward silence!

"Speaking of Colette and Ferrah, when do you think they'll arrive?"

[Marceline Dumont]

Marceline hoped never, but she knew that would never happen. "I am sure that Lady Colette had a busy morning, but I was surprised that she was not here when I arrived." Marceline was also glad that Lady Colette had not been here when she arrived. That would have been awful.

"I am sure that they will be here soon." Marceline said, beginning to wonder if she was correct. She didn't really want to be wrong because making conversation with Celestine wasn't all that easy, but at the same time she didn't want to face Lady Colette. It was a rather difficult predicament to be in.

[Ferrah Brehaut]

Ferrah glided into the tea room, pleased to see Celestine and Marceline were already there. "Welcome here, ladies." Beneath her smile, Ferrah noted that the tea set she had supervised being arranged so carefully had been displaced. "Wonderful, I'm pleased to see you've made yourselves comfortable." Ferrah took a seat, raising a displeased eye-brow momentarily at Marceline, who had already chosen to seat herself. She made no motion to invite Celestine to join the table. She could stand until Colette arrived for all she cared, or take the initiative to seat herself. Either choice, and how it was taken, would indicate where Celestine's loyalties lay, and how much use she would be in the discipline of Marceline and Eliza.

"Colette will be joining us shortly," Ferrah smiled, delighted to be in the loop while the other girls were out of it. "Until then, did I hear you two exchanging fashion tips? Because if so, Marceline, I really must object to your current choice of ensemble. That cut does little to accentuate your figure, and you really must spend more than a few minutes on your hair if you wish to be presentable. You know I don't mean to be cruel, but it really is better that you hear it from your friends than have others whispering about you behind your back." The comment, of course, contained a veiled threat, and Ferrah was trusting Marceline to catch on to it.

[Marceline Dumont]

Instead of meeting Ferrah's comment with one of her own like she had with Celestine, she met it by looking at her lap and shifting nervously in her seat. "My tailor said that the dress looked lovely on me." She said softly, aware that she was making excuses that would not be met with kindness. She knew that she probably deserved it, but she also hated it. She didn't want to be insulted or threatened. She had made a mistake, but she didn't deserve what she believed she had coming to her.

Marceline shifted again and shrugged. "I shall have to remember not to trust her opinion. I thought it did not look incredible, but she assured me I looked wonderful. I should have known my opinion was better." She casually ignored the comment about her hair. It wasn't her fault that she hadn't been able to decide what to do with it.

[Celestine Beliveaux]

Celestine hesitated as Ferrah entered. Should she sit down? Should she wait for Colette? Would it be rude to sit without asking? She decided that there was no need to risk it by making the decision for herself. Marceline was the target right now, and there was no reason to change that.

"I must say, the only ones to trust with fashion advice are yourself and your closest friends! Tailors may be amazing at making a dress, but they don't know how to match the dress to a personality like close friends."

Celestine paused for a moment, gathering her confidence.

"Ferrah, should I sit?"