the creature alliance - semi advanced discussion

Beowulf walked the hallways of the canine palace, his head down as he was looking over a few important papers and letters for the royal family that he was instructed to look over. It was similar to this every day with letters, battle plans, trade advisory, and so on; to be honest, it became mentally tiresome at times. Even for someone like Beowulf, and it made him more irritable then he already was most days.
He had gotten control of this immature behavior not long after becoming the royal advisor, and now, hid it under a blanket of cool and calm emotions. It kept that more hostile side of him at bay. A long tail swayed from side to side, and his ears were tilted forward at attention as he listened around him, that he didn't walk into anyone with his head down.

Anya tailed behind him, her eyes watching him suspiciously. It's not like Beowulf had ever done anything remotely odd, but Anya never trusted the people around her, especially those in power. It, in her view, was her duty to protect the palace and make sure no foul play was at hand. While the rulers trusted Beowulf greatly, Anya knew that meant nothing when a war was on the rise. She spied at his papers, attempting to read the words.

Beowulf knew that the female was behind him, he could hear her, since she wasn't half feline like himself; therefore her steps weren't silenced, like his own. Yet, he had nothing to hid in that moment, so he acted as if this was fine. Though her snooping did annoy him, since it was rude and they had always been told not to push into matters that weren't their own. The papers didn't have anything out of ordinary, since they were just noting terms and conditions about opening a trade route between the canines and the serpents, so of course it was given to Beowulf.
He stopped suddenly, and turned to face Anya. She was beautiful with her dark fur and stunning eyes, it was only natural that many males would often look at her, but he saw her more so as someone that could give away what he had been doing for years.
"Lady Anya, is their something I can do for you?" he offered, his voice deep and smooth.

Anya had a feeling he'd notice her given the soft echoes she gave. While she had trained to be as silent as possible, it was quite hard when every noise in the Canine palace was loud and echoed all throughout.
She hid the sudden surprise quite well, her eyes widening in fake glee and her lips pulling into a smile. "Sir Beowulf, I was simply walking in the same direction as you. You eye me with such suspicion at times that I myself feel like a spy! How are you doing?" she asked, her purple eyes innocent and hands clasped on her front. Her act had garnered many to underestimate her, but it worked in her favor for times like these. She thought it best to pretend to be quite fond of him as many of the ladies and even a few gentlemen in the palace spoke of his attractiveness. Anya could understand the appeal, but knew that judging based on appearance could lead to tragic outcomes.

Beowulf didn't noticed her surprise, but her sudden notation of actions, did leave him to believe she was following him.
"Well we can never be to sure," he stated, "And I'm quite well, yourself?" he asked, politely.
He walked over to her, giving her respectful distance at the same time, in his own mind he was thinking the same thing. Appearances could be misleading, and he unlike many acknowledged her strength and the fact that she wasn't as innocent and simple as others lead her to be.
Folding the papers he held them in his hand to his side, his slightly sharp nails were old, but could be easily let off as he perfected them that was for protection.

She gave a little chuckle at his first statement, seeing as she thought herself to be the most loyal to the throne in the entire palace, if not kingdom. "Doing well. As long as the king and queen are at peace, I am quite fulfilled," she said.
She could tell he was suspicious of her, distancing himself a bit too far from her. But she wouldn't do anything to him without solid proof, and of course wouldn't dirty his blood on the palace floors. His bedroom, perhaps.
She noticed him folding the papers and his oddly sharp nails. While Anya took them into account, she didn't mark them as anything more than him being unkempt. "Are those papers about the possible war?" she asked in a low whisper. While she hated how she was portraying herself, it was necessary if she wanted to gain any information. Her black curls bounced slightly as she inclined her head. "The rumors of war have been weighing on my mind ever since I caught a whisper of it. The Felines . . . they terrify me." Anya wasn't truly scared. She simply thought of them as an annoyance, but she couldn't seem so strong in front of Beowulf.

His left brow raised slightly at her small chuckle, perhaps it was something he had said but that didn't make any sense because nothing he had said could be taken as a joke. Beowulf to say the least wasn't the joking type, he never had been.
"Agreed," which was true, when the royal family was at peace all was well.
When she spoke about the papers, he wasn't all the surprised, having assumed that was possibly the reason she was following him; yet he couldn't be sure.
"Not entirely," "The serpent kingdom has offered to open a trade route between our kingdoms, and this is simply terms they would like in place, since we had sent our own."
He wasn't surprised away her dislike for the feline kingdom, though he didn't fully believe that she was scared of them, but instead would rather cut out their hearts and present them to the royal family. Which wasn't something he himself wanted.
"I see," he mumbled.

Anya was a bit taken aback to have gained information so quickly. That probably meant it wasn't important enough to hide.
"Ah, I see. The king was speaking of that earlier and I do think it'll benefit decently," she said and felt a bit of frustration that this conversation wasn't leading to anything new. Yet she kept her cool and maintained her face in a doe-eyed expression.
She smiled a little at him, hoping that if he was a spy that this would make him uneasy. "But no matter. The alliance is strong and I do believe fully that we can settle things . . . peacefully. After all, what reason does the Feline Kingdom have to wish harm upon the alliance? We are all mammals, I'm sure it will all be fine in the end." Anya hoped for Beowulf to tick, to give her some sort of information or opinion that would set her suspicions on the loose. It could be that he was simply a normal advisor just doing his duty in a rather calloused manner, but she couldn't let her guard down until she was certain. Until then, she would make sure to keep him close.

He looked at her with green eyes, one didn't work as well as the other, since he was blind in that eye from birth.
"Mhm, with more trade routes means more supplies for the up coming war," he concurred.
Anya's continuous smiles was off putting to say the least, not to mention strange, but it was the most confusing because he couldn't figure out why she kept doing it. His confusing may have been noticed in a small flick of his tail, but he didn't draw attention to it.
"That will be revealed soon enough I believe," Beowulf replied.
He knew exactly the reason for this war, but nothing would cause him to tell her, because he knew where her loyalties fell and it was far to close to the canine royal family for his liking. Beowulf was giving her answers, because he wanted her to trust him, and not suspect anything.

"Hopefully not upcoming! It would be such an expense only for them to lose. It would be a bit, er, embarrassing for the Felines." Indeed it would be. Anya believed that the war was nearly inevitable as cats always seemed to be the ones to start fights. But she felt herself capable enough to help take them down.
Anya clenched her teeth a bit and felt her wings twitch and felt a shot of pain, uncomfortable from being crammed in her tight outfit. "But yes, it will be revealed soon. And possibly we can cater to those desires? As much as I would hate for us Canines to suck up to the Feline Kingdom, it might be necessary simply to avoid the cost of lives from our soldiers. I would presume not much of an expense, but an expense nonetheless," she stated. "I'm glad they chose you as advisor. As someone who has been in this palace for years, I can tell a good leader when I see one." Anya would prefer it if her words were true as the death of the advisor would arouse suspicion from all sides. The death of the last advisor was not her doing, but she wished it had been. That man had always been mansplaining to her.

Beowulf listened to her as she spoke harshly about his people, he was part feline after all and no matter how much he wished she would stop he had a part to play.
"Yes, quite a shame to see them doing such pitiful acts."
He noticed her jaw tensed slightly, but didn't voice what he had seen, not entirely sure what it was about.
"Hopefully, and perhaps if we reply peacefully to them, they will treat us well," he noted.
Beowulf wasn't entire sure, he believed the words she had spoken, and didn't take them to heart. For all he knew she could be mocking him and he didn't want to show weakness to her, so he'd treat her like an equal for the time being.

She saw his gaze flick to her jaw, green eyes unrevealing and a stone expression on him. Anya felt a bit of embarrassment at him having seen that, not wishing anyone, especially someone she suspected, to know of her butterfly heritage.
"But war is such a dreadful topic. That can remain in official affairs. I suppose my life has been drowned in it as of late, but I don't want to give you anxiety about it either given your very important duties. What sorts of things do you do in your spare time?" she asked, deciding it better to gain his trust before hand. He was careful and immediately prying probably wouldn't get her any leverage.

His ears flicked to the left, having heard a bit of crashing from the kitchens, assuming it to be collision and nothing to important. But his head turned, so that he could get a bit listen of the voices, and concluded that it was nothing to worry about.
"War doesn't bother me, the art of it is impressive, to be honest."
When she asked about what he did in his spare time, he did his best to stay calm, since he never was free. So he decided to tell a partial truth that wouldn't give away much.
"I visit my mother," he replied, simply.

Anya turned to where his ears flicked, listening intently only to hear nothing. She turned her gaze back and gave a quizzical expression. "Do you hear something? My hearing only goes so far given . . ," she stopped herself quickly. She was about to end it with "my butterfly traits" but swallowed the thought. "Given me being born a bit weak in the ears. I wouldn't consider it being deaf, but I do not hear as well as many other foxes do."
She gave a sly smile. "Yes, I didn't think I'd find someone I agree with so well. War is an art, isn't it? I'm glad you think so." Anya was being honest. While she hadn't let her guard down, she felt that they shared a sort of bloodlust.
Beowulf seemed to pause for a moment, unsure how to reply. Anya's ears perked up a bit simply on instinct, curious to what he might say. "Ah, a mother. I have my sister, but that's it. She is agoraphobic, so I doubt she'll ever come to visit me here." Anya said it casually, but felt a prick in her heart at the thought of Nora's depression. She wished that the two of them could be like sisters and have her visit her often, but there was nothing to be done. She wondered if Beowulf's mother loved him or if she silently ignored him like her own mother had.

Beowulf's hearing was more advanced then the average wolf, so when she mentioned back a bit weak in the ears that covered what could have been revealed. He looked back at her, but her own hesitantly wasn't ignored by him and now he was curious, deciding to learn more about it later on.
"It is," he agreed, he was interested on her reasoning but didn't push the subject.
"I see, well she's lucky to have someone that seems to understand," Beowulf sympathized, though his tone never changed.
His own family was complicated, his mother was a traitor to the canine kingdom, having slept with and married a high ranked feline general. Who was Beowulf's father. His mother loved him, but mostly for what he could do for the feline kingdom.

"Actually, it's a bit hard to understand at times. That's because I suppose I just never understood her grief over her mother's death," Anya said, casually separating her mother from herself, only associating that word with Nora. To her, she had no family. It wasn't a sore subject for her, it was just a lack of anything. There was never any relationship to form or to grieve.
"I don't really have time to visit Nora as often anymore, though. The war preparation has caused me to have less days off. My little free time isn't really spent doing much other than training," Anya said. She enjoyed training, but their wasn't much to challenge her to her limits here. "It gets rather dull after a while."

As she spoke he realized he was slowly learning more about her, and though he assumed that she was trying to have him played into her hand, he had reversed this and she was playing into his own. He was certainly wasn't complaining.
"Hmm, well war does many things doesn't it," he states.
War was the only reason he was born and perhaps it wasn't a good thing, because the wolf-cat hybird was dangerous, and most certainly not trustworthy.
He nodded to her respectfully, before she could ask him questions he gave a slightly bow,
"I must go, I have announcements to make and work to do." He told her.

Anya internally groaned. She had given him information only to have him run off just as things got interesting. Well, maybe he was doing it on purpose. He hadn't seemed in a hurry earlier. A bit . . . odd. Her eyebrows raised just a bit and she smiled mysteriously again, hoping that it put him on edge. "Farewell, Sir Beowulf. I apologize for keeping you from your duties and I hope that we can talk again when you might be more free." It may not have been all for nothing. Her suspicions hadn't fully dissipated, still lingering on the thought of his sudden wish to leave. She bowed in return, but kept her dark eyes trained on him. If he was a spy, he most likely was quite dangerous. Even if he wasn't, it was important to focus her energy into finding out the truth.

His expression remain unwavering as she gave him an odd look, which now he realized was probably because of his sudden urgency to leave, but if he didn't go through with it he would draw more attention.
"I would love to," he replied.
He placed the papers in his pocket and walked down the hallway, Beowulf certainly was what she thought, and now that she was on his list to watch out from she would be one of the first he'd need to kill if it came down to it. Was he worried, a little. Yet he didn't look back or change his calm walking pace, since that was the most certain way to get himself in trouble, plus he actually needed to visit his mother and the papers were going with him to show her.

She smiled, nodded, and watched him go. She had a feeling he suspected her and she wasn't sure how to go about gaining his trust. Anya wished she could get it over with and kill him, but if he was who he said he was or proof wasn't found it'd be futile.
At the back of her mind she wondered why he was headed towards the entrance of the palace and filed it away for later. Remembering that her lie had been that they were walking in the same direction, she walked towards the nearest door and entered, scheming a plan in her head.

((end it here?))

(sure)

Lucas sneaked through the hallways hoping no one would see him and question where he was. It would look suspicious if the prince himself where sneaking around. Forgetting he was still in his human form he changed back into his wolf form, it was easier for him to hear someone coming his way anyways. He planned to go to the library since it was quite there, but he changed his mind at the last second to go to the Royal Gardens.