The Damaged Queen ((Group Thread, Join!))

[Namari Lovelle]

She didn't know what the time was when she awoke. Maybe a few hours after she faced Steele, maybe a few days. She didn't know anything had even happened as she slowly drifted into consciousness. She was in pain, but figured it was because she might have slept uncomfortably. And as her eyes slowly opened, the Queen furrowed her eyebrows. Why was she in the infirmary?

Those few seconds of peace in her mind went away as Namari remembered the whole ordeal. The storm, getting arrested, trying to get into the castle. It all hit her, and she soon got a headache. Now the Queen lay there, frustrated and upset at herself. Those people had died because of her. She had murdered three guards, a child!

And what of her friends? Walter, Ethan, Roe, the remaining citizens, the Elite. Was Roland still in jail? Where had Xavier been? Were the werewolves alright? Did her faithful dragon get caught up in the storm? And where was Steele? Was he still changed back?

Namari tried sitting up, but slumped back down as pain etched into her. That's when she remembered the many wounds she had gathered. Reluctantly, she slid down the sleeve of her arm with her teeth. On her shoulder an ugly scar rested. Namari herself had no clue what magic could do about it, but she shook it off. She didn't even want to see her stomach.

The room was empty, completely white. The door closed. She felt alone, deserted. And she wanted nothing more than to get up and find someone she knew, someone that was dear to her. More than anything she wanted that person to be Steele, but at that point she would take anyone.

The Queen felt so guilty, so powerless. She was filled with sadness, and a rage towards the ones who did this to her city. And yet, even the slightest, she felt a bit happy. They were gone, for now. She had done everything she could to save as many as possible. And Steele was back. And he loved her. And that made her have the strength to try and get up.

Certainly even the strength of love has limits. Namari Sat up very slowly, biting down on her tongue as the pain skyrocketed. The elven woman was in no position to be doing this, her body too weak and tired. She needed rest. But in her mind she needed to know that everything was alright, and that no one was being killed. She grabbed at her chest in pain, but continued, beginning to swing her legs over the bedside to stand up.

[Deleted]

"Lay the hell down." Roe said as he was leaning against his bedframe, reading a book Ishin had brought him. Speaking of Ishin, he and Exen were both here next to Roe. The infirmary was full, but Roe and Namari had been the first two there so they occupied the two beds closest to the door on the right. "It's not good to move with those wounds, even if you're worried. As far as I know, Steele is in jail for now. The infirmary is full, and you've been out like a light for a couple days. Now please, lay down." He pleaded. He turned a page and chuckled. "It's been too long..." He muttered. Ishin sighed, then stood and walked over to the queen.

"Please Namari, stay in bed for now. Roe promised he'd get Steele to you and he will, but he'll have to take him back as well. Just, please." He asked of her.

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari pursed her lips, happy to see those she knew but unhappy to be ordered around so soon. "My first priority is my people, no matter my condition. I'm sorry, but I've got to get to the castle and do my work."

The woman hopped up onto her feet, and was soon sitting down on the bed again, her legs too sore to walk. She clenched her teeth, before letting out a shaky sigh.

"Fine, fine, but as soon as possible I want the Knights, Kim and Ralof in here! And I want to see Steele the second I'm out of here. And if that isn't today he's coming here," anyone could here the determination in her voice as she slid back into bed as carefully as a one armed elf could. She slumped back down against the pillows with a sigh. "A few days? Really?"

[Deleted]

Roe laughed as she made her efforts. "Yep. I'm all wrapped up in bandages right now, too, but I can move fine. I'm only here to look over you." He feigns a cough and an ache, then laughs. "But I could get Steele here if you wanted me too, I just don't want that Ralof any angrier at me than he already is. I swear, you guys couldn't do anything without me." He looked at Ishin, knowing they had discussed this earlier. "Which is why I've decided to stay..." Roe coughs and sets down the book, then hops up and walks around to Namari's side that has a hand.

((And here comes the moment that I've debated on for weeks, so I'll do this as in character as I can. Hope it turns out well 0.o))

Roe took Namari's hand gingerly and knelt. Exen sighed loudly and Ishin put his hand on the back of his head. "Er... Not entirely sure on how to do this... Um... Fuck, here goes nothing..." He clasped her hand and bowed his head. "Here in front of my brethren, I leave sole control of the Bloodeye people in control of Ishin Halybrook, my brother, and swear fealty to Namari Lovelle of Avaleur and only to her, to serve in the darkest of times and do her bidding as it pleases her with the exception of harming innocent people." Roe paused for a breath. "I swear this on my life and that of my mother's, and I will make this oath complete upon the release of my people from my father's control. This I swear on this day, to forever more be the faithful servant of the Queen of Avaleur until death take me, or consequence take her." Roe kissed her hand, then sighed and stood, stretching and cracking his back.

"Fuckin' idiot..." Exen grumbled. "Just a foolish, arrogant idiot..." Roe turned on him.

"Ah, fuck off Exen."

"I don't have to. You aren't in control anymore."

"I am til dad's gone!" Roe announced joyfully. Exen swore many more times. Roe looked over, seeing the nurses and doctors making their rounds. He jumped back into bed and snatched up his book, then pretended as if nothing had happened.

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari stared at Roe for a few seconds, before holding in a laugh to no avail. She burst out laughing.

The Queen held her stomach in pain as she laughed, but she just couldn't stop. "Jeez Roe- ow- I thought you were about to propose to me or something!" she continued to laugh, a tear in her eyes from the pain and just laughing so hard. "Wow that hurts..." she slowly calmed down laughing, wiping away the tear before grinning at Roe.

"Thank you, my friend, though I hardly know why you would do such a thing," she tried her best to keep from laughing again, this time with success.

[Deleted]

Roe waited for the doctors to walk by and check on Namari extensively after her outburst, then laughed himself. "Because, I'm not fit to rule. I've lost all sense of what it means to be an elf in exchange for a neutral position on everything. I'm wise, I think, and Avaleur is much more of a dangerous and underprivileged place than my people are. They will be fine under Ishin, and I can act as an envoy to everywhere for Avaleur now as I have BEEN everywhere. I have and always will go where I am needed, and that right now is Avaleur. Until you release me from my oath sometime in the future or until one of us dies, then that is how it will be." Roe had been getting more and more solemn and serious as he talked, until he was speaking low and almost frighteningly.

"If these 'Dark Ones' ever attack again, they cannot be aloud to get you as easily as they did, or Steele. As long as you two are together, Steele is technically a part of my oath as well as him dying would injure you further than any sword can. I can't do everything, but as long as I am here I will serve under you and make up for everything you can't do. I will complete the parts out of your reach, what you cannot be held responsible to do or what you won't do. That is what this oath is for; to help everybody by helping you." He explained, hopefully she would understand.

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari thought, before nodding slowly. She liked that it would be helping everyone. That it would be helping Steele. "Thank you very much Roe...it means a lot to me. I don't know how I co9uld handle going through that again to be honest."

She leaned back before thinking. "I do hope that staying in Avaleur will not be a burden to you. I know it can be, it really can be."

[Seth]

(Damn that moment you post and then you realize someone posted before you lol)

Two knocks came from outside the white door before it slowly opened. Seth poked his head through it and smiled. The door fully opened revealing part of the hallway on the main floor. He wore a white doctor's coat.
"Hey Phillis-Uh I mean Namari, er queen." He looked to the side thinking to himself on what he just said, but then shrugged it off. Last time Namari was here for more than a few hours was when Philis got amnesia.
"Hey there." He waves to Roe. "Namari how are you feeling?"
He walked into the room with a clipboard and then looked around
"Just let me no if you need anything I'll-. Suddenly he gritted his teeth and sighed heavily. He turned around to the hallway.
"Arlene! Get in here!" He yells.
A nurse quickly walks in very annoyed. It wasn't that she hated her job, she just had a thousand other places she'd like to be. She sits down next to a wall with a cigarette.

"What?!" She asks.
"Why isn't the queen listed down on the list for post-surgery treatment?" Seth asks.
"Because she didn't go through any surgery." She rolls her eyes.
"She has fresh scars the size of Tetra on her stomach and shoulder, the swelling alone would-" He facepalms. "Why isn't she on morphine right now!?"
"Okay you know what? I've had enough of your crap. The only reason you're even a doctor was because you knew the king."
"Better than you're history! You've been here what? For two years and you can't even pass the intern exam."
"You jerk!" She kicks the chair and pokes Seth in his neck, which causes him to shift into his lupine form.
"At least I passed the part about pressure points! I'll get her the anesthetic fast!"
"Good!" Seth growls. He'd been learning how to talk in each different form.
"I know!" She yells.
"Have fun getting it!" Seth says.
"I will!" She goes to the door. "I have to close this door quietly because some of the other doctors are preforming surgery. Can you just pretend that I slam it?" She asks pretty much to everyone.
"Sure." Seth says.
She closes the door quietly.
"You don't have to be so rude!" Seth says and then shifts back to normal.
"Well alright. Sorry if you're experiencing any discomfort Namari, we'll fix that right away."
He looks at Roe. In his mind he thought 'Ah! Racist Elf!' It was a common stereotype in Paineston.
"Does anyone have any questions?" He asks.

[Namari Lovelle]

She succeeded once again in trying not to laugh.

"When can I leave?" she asked, eagerly waiting the reply. "And who's in charge in my place right now? And why haven't I seen you in so long you brat?" After a short pause, she added, "And just call me Namari, you're used to that and I doubt you really want to call me 'Queen'."

[Seth]

"Whatever you say Queen." Seth says looking over the clip board again. Now he'd become accustomed to calling Namari, Queen.
"Right now Mr. Slade is in charge..." He bursts out laughing. "Just kidding, that guy left the city weeks ago. Just a little office humor.." He still snickers. "Oh yes uh.. You see, no one really knew who would be the ruler of the kingdom since well the ELITE are supposed to be a secret and Commander Roland has gone missing again...So a few things got screwed up and well....Lianne Whitemore is the Queen of Avaleur right now." He scratches the back of his head embarrassed to say.

In the throne room.
"And we need lots of jewls on the crown, I want it to be the best of them all!" Lianne shouts. "And I want another dog, something no one else has." She gasps. "Bring me a werewolf!"
Mr. Whitemoore shakes his head.
"Sweety do you really need all these things?" He asks reluctantly.
"Daddy....if I'm going to own a Kingdom, it must be perfect! Guards! Bring me my daily jewlery and apple cider! I must take my leave." She puts her arms out and guards come and carry her.

Back at the hospital.
"Yeah..." Seth says. "Sorry you haven't seen me for awhile. But with the serial killer and riots I could barely leave the house. Do you have any idea what it's like trying to sneak past a shapeshifter mom? Picture hand ball only ten times harder." Seth says.
"And as for you leaving.....probably not until the swelling goes down. We'll need to run some tests to see if your wounds hold any case of infection.....oh and I was kidnapped. If you saw me..it probably wasn't me."

[Namari Lovelle]

"...Lianne? Oh gods I have to get out of here," she attempted to get up once more, and once again to no avail.

"Though I never saw you, sorry to hear you were kidnapped," she managed to huff out as she grabbed her stomach, one eye closed. "What of the knights? What's Walter and Xavier doing?"

[Seth]

"No one has seen Xavier ever since the attack....we fear he may be one of its victims. No body has been found, but that's understandable because he was last seen with Steele...Demon Steele.."
He sighs.
"As for Walter, He was thrilled to know you were alive. He and Private Ethan thought you'd been killed. He sure gave all the Crux a piece of his mind though. Apparently he made them feel so bad they've been sending apology gifts for the last two days."
He covers his wrist watch with his doctor's coat, no doubt he got the gift from the Crux.
"Which doesn't help their case much since they practically destroyed their whole village with that insane yet awesome party....Gabriel never got me that autograph...."
He looks down for a moment and then back at namari.
"As for Steele...well it's not good. Everyone's more afraid of him now then ever before. He's been moved to a prison guarded by guards. They have him chained down in a dark cell. Even though you can't see it, there's an ELITE guarding his cell as well. Lianne thankfully won't order for his execution though citizens are demanding it. It's grim... I know it's not my place to talk about politics but I've been most of the races in that prison. It's no place for someone like Steele. I fear the guards' actions are provoking another attack rather than trying to prevent it."

[Deleted]

Roe sat and listened to everything, not having a chance to reply to anything yet. "Namari's wounds can be healed with magic if the doctor's really wanted them to get healed quickly." He set his book down. "From what Exen told me when he was looking out for the city, there was a man that left a while ago. Tell me, did this man hail from Tetra, this Roland?" He asked. After waiting for a response, Roe then aims for the tender subject of Steele.

"Steele in his normal werewolf form looks nothing like his demon form. It would be simple to explain to the populace that the werewolf that demolished everything wasn't Steele but was a demon morphed into a werewolf that was named after him. That would repair damages, at least, some of them, with the people. However, the people won't stop doubting werewolves until they prove themselves to be good and not evil. The war, the raid, this business, has thoroughly destroyed any shred of respect werewolves had. With the return of the were I fought, Balius, this is only sure to get worse until his death. Again." He paused to breathe. "If it suits the queen, I would have four of my best warriors fight alongside me to rid the world of this 'Balius', or at least drive him away from Avaleur. I also must uphold my promise to get Steele to the queen, for however brief a time. I will do so under her orders, and her orders only, because burden it may be it is a burden best shouldered by me rather than ten souls. Avaleur will not falter as long as I live." He flipped himself out of bed and tore off the bandages he had on, revealing his bare chest. He had on only his pair of battle tights, as he had refused to leave them off. His normal form was healed perfectly thanks to Ishin's magic, except for the smooth yet bumpy scar where he had taken Namari's wounds and the werewolf claw marks on his back.

"I would get Steele now, should it suit her." Roe said. He had been prepared for this for days, but now that he had sworn most of his oath he didn't really know what to do. "And by the way, human, I see the distinct characteristics of Painseton in you. You're particularly biased against elves it seems, as I saw the look on your face just now. I am not like other elves, so don't judge me as such." Roe popped his knuckles, Ishin standing up next to him.

[Namari Lovelle]

"I want to be with Steele, right now," Namari looked to be in pain, but not from her injuries.
"He's either coming here or I'm going there, and he will not be in any sort of discomfort. He won't be behind bars, or in handcuffs."
Anyone could tell the woman was determined. All that raced through her mind was Steele in a cage once again.
She remembered how badly it turned out the first time. It wouldn't happen again.

"And if he isn't coming here I'm going there, forcefully if I have to," she smirked at Seth, sending him the look she always gave him when she was close to kicking his ass.
Not that she was going to, it was more of an automatic response.

[Deleted]

"Well... I guess that's an order." Roe said. "Ishin, let's go." Ihsin had spent the majority of the last couple of days using magic to scope out where Steele was being held and knew it like the back of his hand. Ishin nodded, then took Roe by the shoulder. "It wouldn't do to have him in the middle of an infirmary where he did this to most of them." Roe held out his hand to Namari. "I can only give you a minute or two before the doctor's come back, but it's better than nothing. When you take my hand, I want you to picture a place in your mind that you and Steele consider special. As much detail as possible, and I can do a half teleportation to that place from your memory with Ishin's help. Again, a minute or two and then both of you are going back to where you have to." He said, gently clasping the queen's hand. "Picture it, then tell me when you are ready."

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari pursed her lips, thinking for a moment.
A special place to her and Steele. She couldn't think of anything. Until she realized a very special, obvious place.
The island.
Where they first met.
She gave a smile, before nodding. "Yeah, I've got the idea in my head. Though, I don't want to waste any of your energy...I'll only do it if Seth over here refuses me to go there," she grinned at Seth, slightly asking, slightly demanding.

[Seth]

"Wha-what are you nutso!?" Seth is bewildered. "How can you even think about walking around after what you've been through? You need rest, we can have the sorcerers heal you."
He gets in front of her bed.
"Namari it is my sole purpose to see to it that you make a full recovery, I refuse to let you go on this trip. And Steele is scary. What if he changes again? And the air this time of year can just set off your alergies, what if you sneeze and your scars open and-" He rambles on and on on what ALL can go wrong.

"And there's no way the guards will let you take him out of there without at least one guard following. Even with a queen's order. You'd be freeing a prisoner, that's a crime." He goes over to Namari's arm and tries to handcuff her to the bed, but he fumbles it and accidentally handcuffs himself to the bed.

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari sighed, giving out a slight chuckle. She ruffled Seth's hair, "I'll be fine. So, either let me leave for half an hour or I do what Roe's planning on doing. your choice if you pick in the next ten seconds."

[Seth]

Seth thought hard for a moment, this was a very bad idea.
"Alright, alright alright." He says. "You can go, just don't say I didn't warn you. Just tell me what you're going to do if things don't go as planned."
He looked at Roe, the thought of Racist Elf still ran through his mind.
"What? Me think you're a racist elf, pfffftt never...." He lies horribly.

[Namari Lovelle]

Namari chuckled, looking at Roe.
"Alright, your decision. Your way or the traditional way. Though, I'm sure you're set on sending me off with magic," she smiled, her smile large. She was going to see Steele soon!