House of Scarlet Fury

Diagram

Rushing back into my room, I beelined towards the desk, retrieving the notes I had quickly scribbled onto the paper from the false bottom of a drawer I had discovered. I took my frustrations out on it, scribbling over Cassion and adding Rhysand to the list, only to scribble over his name even more aggressively.

Oh, how honorable you are, Rhysand, a knight who really does his job just oh so well. You're just the same as those knights of yours, petty and annoying; seriously, Rhysand you're as stupid as a fish in a desert, oh that's actually not that bad, so what about it Sandy? Yeah, seriously Sandy, what'd Briseis even do to YOU?

I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts, but I must say the name Sandy fits him like a glove. Bitchy and whiny, I couldn't have found a better name for that know-it-all. I smirked down at the subconscious scribbles I had made. Cassion with devil horns, a cow next to Sandy, and even Darius had a kick me sign on his forehead. A low chuckle escaped me before I heard the door open again, I scrambled to hide the paper in the drawer of the desk. Marin stood there dumbfounded as Darius made his way into my room. I made my best attempt at a friendly smile, but it came out way more lopsided than I hoped. "What was that?" he slowly strode over. Shit. "Oh, uhm nothing." I averted my gaze quickly, but he definitely caught the guilty look all over my face. "Sure." He reached towards the dresser I just barely managed to shove it into. Before I could block his hand, he had it open and grabbed it. Shit. He looked at the paper, my only saving grace the number of scribbles that crossed out any of the important words, but well my drawings were definitely still there. He studied the paper, his expression not changing, before he called for Sandy. "Rhysand get in here." So that's why Sandy was in the House, he was meeting with Darius. I shifted uncomfortably in the chair as he walked in, "Sure, what can I do ya for?" 

That way of talking, well Sandy was born and raised in the countryside before he was brought into the Edryth Duchy to become a knight. Around my brothers his accent tends to slip through, but I don't remember anything about Briseis ever giving him an issue about it. So, the reason for the hostility towards her? Still no idea.  

I got up quickly and tried to snatch the paper out of Darius' hands. He moved it right out of my reach as Sandy strode over and took the paper from him. He scanned over it for a minute as his eyes widened. He stopped at one part and smirked, turning the paper towards me, "Is that me?" he said incredulously, pointing at the cow drawing with a big arrow labeled SANDY. Well shit. "I-well n- okay maybe, but you weren't mea-" I stopped myself short, my entire face on fire; please for the love of God just drop it, I promise I'll even become a devout follower, PLEASE. "What does 'kick me' even mean?" I stared at the floor, not able to look Darius in the face, how embarrassing is this. I quietly breathed in and out before grabbing it from Sandy's hand and crumpling it in my own, "What can I do for you youn- brother?" I attempted to put on my best smile, but I could feel the heat radiating off my ears. "I'll answer that when you answer my question." If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed he was joking with me, but the dead pan look on his face gave away his boredom. We stared at each other for a second before my own embarrassment levied off and my gaze soon turned into a glare, "Well forcing your way into a woman's room is pretty rude, no matter how little you care about her." His eyes slightly twitched as the air around us soon became quite icy, the smirk on Sandy's face disappearing as well. "I need you to tell me about what you and the Princess were talking about during the tour" he huffed as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Oh, so you didn't need to barge in here and rummage through my belongings then?" Childish sure, this back and forth would never go well between us like it might with Cassion, but are you fucking serious, you caused a fuss over a conversation of mine? His eyes narrowed, "Yes, who knows what you might do to harass someone like Marin again." My eyes darted over to Marin who froze up immediately, before looking back between Darius and Rhysand, both of which stared coldly back at me. I scoffed at him, "Yeah no problem, next time I'll drop my evil plan off at your door. To, you know, save you the trouble from seeing me in person." Rhysand looked almost amused at the comment while Darius bristled at it, "Can't you be slightly more dignified, you'll be an adult in three months." 

Shit it was that close? What have I even been doing to get myself out of here?

"Keeping track, are we?"

His eyebrow twitched, "You never fail to infuriate me, do you?" 

"Well, you never fail to be a prick." I froze as I said the words, unable to keep them from spilling out.

His frown deepened as his favorability gage flicked down to 3%. 

Oh God, well, I can't take it back now, can I?  I stood up straighter as Darius and I stared at each other, the comment settling between us both. 

He gave me a final once over before turning towards the door, "We'll be going then." Sandy stood there for a moment more glancing between the two of us before silently following my brother. I watched them as they left, with Marin trailing behind them. I teetered back into my chair, the scene of the gauge flicking down to 3 replaying in my head, "Fuck."

---

"That sure was somethin' else." I whistled at Darius, "She seems a bit off compared to last week." He only glared back at me, obviously riled up by that last comment. Even earlier she seemed strange, anxious rather than obnoxious, and not completely in the wrong either with Luca and Graham. Still a high-strung priss though, "So, why did you even go to her room anyway?" A short pause, "I told you both, I wanted to hear what happened between her and the Princess." 

"Yea, reckon so, but why's that, you've never had much of an interest in her anyways."

He sighs, "I'm not sure how much you've been actually paying attention, but there have been quite a few incidents with the servants and her recently. We don't need an issue with the imperial family."

"What do you mean by incidents?" I huffed, with a second passing before another voice comes from around the corner.

"Wow, how far up is your head in your ass Rhysand?" with a snort.

"Oh, how you wound me Cassion" I say melodramatically.

"So why are we even talking about, her?"  he hisses.

"She made quite an interesting little diagram, and I'm pretty sure she called Rhysand a cow." As Darius smirks at me.

"Yeah, well she definitely called you a prick, and how do you even know it's about me?" I huff.

"Did you not see the arrow with the bold letters that said 'SANDY,' even you asked if that was you." 

"Yeah, I did, what does sandy even mean anyways?"

"Pretty sure it's a rip off your name, you know Rhysand, Rhy-sand." He chuckled.

"That little-"

"Wait hold on what are you even talking about? She called you a cow and you a prick?" He said incredulously.

"Yeah, she gave you devil horns as well; she was pitching quite a fit on that piece of paper." I smirked.

"Did she act- Who does she even think she is, it's not like she's even a real Edryth." Cassion fumes. 

Darius came to a full stop as the mood shifted and I looked down the hall toward the approaching princess. She stares blankly at Cassion as she approaches, "Hello your highnes-" she cuts Darius off with a flick of her hand. "That isn't a very nice thing to say about your sister you know." She says pointedly at Cassion. He stares back silent, before bowing his head, "My apologies, princess." She scoffs, "Once again Cassion Edryth, I'm not the one you should be saying that to. Well, I'll be off to see the art gallery, my, should I ask for Briseis once again, she seemed quite knowledgeable on art during our last conversation" She smirks at Cassion before wishing her farewells. 

"How in the hell did that woman bewitch the princess." Cassion hissed down the hall.

"Well maybe you should be more cautious with what you're saying and around who." Darius sighed dismissively.

"Oh, so you're defending her now too?" 

"Oh, come on, y'know that's not what he meant" rolling my eyes, and the faint sound of heels came clicking from somewhere down the hall.