The Yearly Crop

[Romulus Imbrex]

Romulus had been busy with some things, so Viola had gone ahead to the party herself. Romulus now had finished with business, so he quickly got ready and headed there.

Romulus stepped out of his carriage and scanned the crowd for his wife's golden blonde hair. It didn't take him long to spot her, and he also saw that her twin sister was present. The two of them looked quite similar, but Romulus could tell which one was his wife. He saw the dress she'd picked out, and he thought it made her look absolutely gorgeous.

He could see that she was rushing through the crowd to find someone, but he chose to intercept her before she could get there. Choosing a course to catch her, he caught up with her and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently, yet firmly enough to get her attention.

Once he had her attention, he slid his hand down her arm and grasped her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. Unless she tried to get moving right away, he moved in close and placed his other arm around her waist to draw her close to himself before giving her a brief but passionate kiss on her lips. Romulus totally didn't care if people saw them kissing; they were married, after all, so it was more or less expected, or at least not improper.

After giving her a moment to respond, Romulus asked, "Is there anyone here that I need to meet?"

[Lennox Lepidus]

Hand on Remy's forearm and a bright smile on her red lips, Lennox was very pleased with things. "My dear Prince, how we've missed you so! Come you must view some of these horses. I've even had a colt named in your honor and you must meet him." She gushed as she pulled him through the crowd, an short icy glare stopping just about every other woman in her tracks that tried to interfere. "It feels like it's been ages and we're so happy that you're back to civilization!" she purred. No criminals or thieves or those dastardly violent pirates anymore for the precious prince.

Remy didn't really say anything, sure there was still some hostility between the empire and the islands, probably more from the politicians and socialites at this gathering, but he still did care for the Sparkfyre girls. He kept his smile, as always. He would be as charming and cordial as any prince should, but a good bit of his heart wasn't in there though most ladies wouldn't guess past his smile. There was the game still waiting to be played, especially since he was back home and where he could do whatever he wished. There were a few whispers here and there that the prince had come back different, maybe a little more melancholy, but the ladies were completely sure that those came from battles of glory.

"I'll call for a rider to show that colt hmmm?" Lennox continued, as she caught her cousin's eye and moved that way. "Ahhh, Vittoria! I'm sure you can entertain the prince for a moment while I call for a rider, I do promise that she's very familiar with them." She said with a wink for Vittoria.
"I'm sure she's willing to indulge me," Remy said, mostly out of politeness. Then again, it was a nice thought that there was a fancy horse named after him. Perhaps he'd buy it, maybe even ship it to a certain girl.

@vittoria

[Sarai Valencia Alaric]

Sarai was late. Well, as a point of fact, Judas was late, but she would take the blame upon herself, seeing as he was still at work. It wasn’t like it was his fault that someone had decided to have a massive coronary attack right when he was due to leave on the biggest party night of the season, right? Assuming, of course, that was what he was actually doing. Although Sarai didn’t think he would purposely hide from her what he was doing, there was also the slight niggling doubt that Judas was slipping it to more people than he was willing to admit to her.

She had been dressed almost an hour before receiving the call that she should just go without him so, stifling a sigh, she stood back up from the chair that she’d perched on, rolled her eyes, and picked up her purse. It was a good job that the driver was on a retainer, otherwise she’d have had no way of getting to the Lepudis’ house either. Grabbing a thin shawl to drape over her shoulders, Sarai made her way, alone, to the Yearly Crop.

Moments later, they pulled up outside the party, and Sarai automatically smiled as she could already hear the music and laughter spilling out of the house. If nothing else, Lennox Lepudis knew how to throw a party. Accepting the help of the driver in exiting the carriage, Sarai gave him a slight nod, and a muttered word – to head to the hospital, as Judas would be requiring him there. Then, taking a deep breath, she checked her hair, smoothed her skirts, and strode confidently into the party, waving and calling to everyone she recognised as she made a beeline to the bar.

outfit

Caprice had greeted several people between departing from her client and finally returning with drinks, though she made sure that the time in between was not excessively long. She handed up the drink and he thanked her with a smile, kissing her cheek. She smiled in return, an action purely out of habit. He had paid her to be here so she would not disappoint by being a bad date. She hung on his arm, giving him plenty of attention and drawing the gaze of all of his friends. He certainly seemed pleased with the situation.

She had not failed to notice when the Crown Prince arrived and she watched with curiosity as he moved through the crowd, mentally make a note of each woman who approached (or attempted to approach) him. Shortly after that she happened to notice a lovely young woman moving towards the bar. She recognized her immediately as Mrs. Sarai Alaric and she glanced around to see if her husband was there, a regular client of hers. She didn't see him and was not particularly surprised. There had even been several occasions when he had had to cancel appointments due to his busy schedule.

Viola had been several feet from Vittoria before she felt a tug on her arm which caught her attention. She turned to see her husband standing there and she smiled. "Romulus. You made it." She said. She didn't pull back even a little as he drew her in for a kiss. Truly, their marriage had been bliss so far and she enjoyed the time she got to spend with him. She was not embarrassed by the kiss at all and met him with equal passion.

As they parted she could still feel a faint tingle on her lips. At his question she glanced around, it had reminded her that she had been trying to reach her sister. In a moment she spotted her and with glee found that she had already made contact with the Crown Prince. Lennox didn't waste any time. She bit her lip in excited delight, but didn't say anything about. She released her lip before turning back to Romulus. "No one that you haven't already met." She remembered Amelia and her face lit up.

"Oh, you'll never guess what happened...." She went on to explain how Felix was no engaged to the farm girl they had met on the day after their wedding. "Can you believe the coincidence?" She said.

Romulus Imbrex

[Osiris]

Osiris wore a pretty much black suit and stood in the shadows and watched the royals enter the party of Lady Falco. Lady Falco was a beautiful little thing and he wondered if he could possibly try to get her to loosen up a little. He took a drink of whiskey and watched his sister with a smirk as she talked to the princess of Toren until she was taken by the prince. He eyed her making sure to take Mira's word of caution of not doing anything stupid to make Nephy become a crazy woman and kill him. He had a lot of women in his life that wanted to kill, but where was the adventure in that?

Osiris finished his drink as he set it down. As Cassius swiped Elyssa from Nephy's side he took up beside her," Ahh Nephy, don't you look... he looked at her revealing dress and sighed,"dashing, but a little raunchy side if you ask me." He gave her a grin as his blue eyes scanned her face. He was taking a gamble, but that was fine with him. He knew she wouldn't do anything out in the open because then people would discover her. Where is the groom-to-be? He asked her just trying to make conversation with his sister.

His blue eyes caught a Black Rose and gave Caprice a grin as she draped herself on the mans arm. She was doing her job very well. That was probably the reason why she was the number one woman in the brothel. Plus she was apart of the brotherhood which was also a good thing.

[Romulus Imbrex]

As always, Romulus loved the way Viola responded to his affections. She clearly had no qualms about being publicly kissed by her husband, which of course meant that this wouldn't be the last time he would kiss her like that.

Apparently, there weren't any new people Romulus needed to meet, but Viola then went on to explain how Amelia was now engaged to Felix. Romulus replied, "Now that's an interesting coincidence. I will have to say hi to her. Shall we head over to her, or do you want to speak with someone else?"

Felix had to chuckle a little at her response, having noted the concern in his voice. He was glad that Viola had been kind to her. He smiled and nodded, placing his hand casually on the small of her back as she spoke, a gesture that he was glad that things were going well so far. It didn't remain there long though before he dropped his hand, listening to the rest of her story.

"Oh really?" He asked, slightly surprised that Amelia had actually met a member of his family before. "That's a funny coincidence." He said with a smile. "It seems that kindness comes back around in the end." They stood together watching the proceedings. The Crown Prince was getting a lot of attention and Cyprian was watching closely for any would be threats to him. Felix smiled in admiration at his training and bravery. It wasn't long before he spotted Viola and Romulus making their way towards them.

"Viola." Felix said with a smile, greeting his cousin with a peck on each cheek. "I've see you've already met my bride-to-be."

Viola nodded with a smile. "Yes, I'm sure she told you the story. Romulus wanted to come by and say hello." She said, speaking to Amelia.


Romulus Imbrex Amelia Marella

[Nephthys]

The appearance of her brother wasn't at all surprising to Nephthys who was starting to come to terms with the fact that he was now residing in Avalon. She might not have liked the fact that he was there but having him close by meant that she could keep an eye on him and make sure that he wasn't getting into too much trouble. He'd been rather behaved lately actually, she was starting to wonder what was wrong with him. She looked at him as he spoke, noticing how he was looking at her dress and couldn't help but smile. For someone who owned a brothel he'd always been rather judgmental of her dress sense.

"I am the seductress who brings kingdoms and empires to their knees, this is the sort of thing that is expected of me, it would be a shame to disappoint." The former courtesan couldn't help herself, she had a reputation to maintain and while she was loving and romantic to Regulus the rest of the world would see her as the seductress who was as cruel and untamed as the sea, especially if they were stupid enough to annoy her. Nephthys looked at her brother with calm eyes as she crossed her arms over her abdomen.

As he brought up Regulus she shrugged slightly, "The Emperor is dealing with matters of state. He's likely too busy to attend." As understanding as she was that didn't mean she wouldn't have been happy to see him here. "I'm surprised you're even interested, you don't usually bother about what I do, I wonder who it is that really wants to know, you or Mira." Of all the people for him to be the lap dog of it had to be Mira.

[Amelia Marella]

Amelia was surprised by the touch on her back as she jumped a little but never left his side. Even though it surprised by his touch she actually like it. She couldn't explaine how she felt, but it sent butterflies soaring through her stomach. She felt her cheeks turn and she felt herself smile. How could she be such a foolish child? Phillip always touched her on the back or on the cheek and she never once did flinched or tried to get away from him. Maybe it was because Felix was new to her? The amazing bubbly feeling she was feeling quickly left as Felix took his hand away from her back. She didn't try to show her disappoint as she gave him a smile even though she was frowning on the inside." Why yes, You could say that. She kind of giggled at the thought of the two showing up at her house looking like a mess, but it didn't matter to her family. They helped anyone in need even if they barely had anything on the table to eat themselves." My father was very worried they had come to take me away, but once he heard the last name he was fine. She gave him a shrug. Well my parents would give a shirt off their back to help a neighbor in need. She gave him a smile.


Amelia turned her attention to Felix and watched his eyes lingered on a man by the crowned prince and she raised a brow. Most men didn't watch another like Felix as watching him, but what could she say? Maybe they were close friends or something? She just let it go since there was nothing she was going to be able to say. She was suppose to be a wife and that means to be quite and not be heard. Amelia turned her ahead to the woman walked toward them. She noticed right away who they were and gave them both a friendly smile. It's nice to see you again Lord Imbrex, Amelia kept her arms at her side as she watch both Lord and Lady Imbrex and hoped that her marriage would be like theirs one day. I pray you haven't had trouble on the roads since the accident. She said with a smile hoping to make small talk.

Romulus Imbrex@felix

[Romulus Imbrex]

Romulus quickly spotted Amelia and Felix, and as far as he could tell, they seemed to enjoy each other's presence. He couldn't help but smile at that. It was good to see another couple that loved each other.

Romulus saw Amelia's smile directed at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. He couldn't help but remember her part in that day that he remembered so well. He had lost all the possessions with them except for the clothes on their backs, but he had gained his wife's love, which to him was worth more far than everything he'd lost.

He said, "It's good to see you again, Amelia. And no, no more trouble since that day." He pulled his hand out of Viola's and slipped it around her waist, pulling her close to himself. "Life's been good to me since then, because I have a beautiful wife to enjoy it with. So, how are you adjusting to being a noblewoman?"

Vittoria smiled at her cousin as she approached bringing The Prince with her. She had watched as Lennox kept every other woman away with a mere look. It made Vittoria incredibly pleased to have her on her side in that moment. Lennox could either make to go your way or ruin your life and you didn't want to be on the wrong end of that spectrum. But that was what she loved so much about her cousin. It was passion and devotion to who and what she really cared about that motivated her every action.  

As Lennox and Remy reached her, she felt her stomach tighten. Lennox had done her part and got The Prince here. Now it was up to Vitt to impress him. But what did she have that the Sparkfyres didn't. Her mind raced as she gave him a coy smile and winked back at Lennox as she went to find the rider. "Oh, I'm sure we can find some topic of disscussion to occupy the time." She said, heart pounding, hoping the noise of it was only in her own head. It had felt like such a long time since she had seen and certainly spoken to Remy that she was now terrified of messing things up. And the situation in Toren hadn't helped.  

"I was surprised to hear that you were back home. We all thought it would be a few more weeks at least before you returned. I'm pleased of course that you're here." She tacked on the last sentence as a quick afterthought, realizing how the rest of her comment must sound. She was also aware that she had switched between I and We, not sure which to use. She wanted to let him know she thought of him but didn't want to seem clingy either. Surly he must have feelings for the Sparkfyres, whether it was romantic or not she didn't even want to know. But she did know that she didn't want to have him think of her as less than them. She wanted him to be able to trust her at least. If he didn't love her yet, that would be a good start.  


(OOC: So sorry this took so long!! This month has been super busy for me and I really didn't want to mess this up.)