ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍ ᴏꜰ ᴀꜱʜᴇꜱ: ꜱᴇᴍɪ-ᴀᴅᴠᴀɴᴄᴇᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏ discussion

 

Sneaking into a tiny unkempt hole in the sculpted rectangular bushes, Yasmine slipped into the castle gardens. She had found the secret entrance some time ago when she used to visit the castle during Queen Evelyn’s reign.

The woman was pleased to know that even during the crimsons tyrannical rule, the hole had not been closed.

Yasmine walked cautiously, cloaked by a long hood, looking around to see if anyone was patrolling the area. Once she felt she was alone, the woman knelt down next to a rose bush, a small woven basket in hand. She lifted the hood of her cloak off her head, revealing her long chocolate brown locks cascading down to hit her shoulders.

The woman gently plucked the roses form the bush, placing them into the basket. She felt no shame in stealing from the crimsons. In her opinion they had stolen her entire life and so much more. The least joy she could attain now was having beautiful flowers in the shady loft she lived in above the bar.

Stopping to admire one beautiful flower, it’s petals so bright red she thought it mirrored her own painted lip. Yasmine smiled contentedly.

Aldo had been in the garden sitting by the water lilies before perking up at the sound of leaves rustling. He quickly stood up and reached for his sword and made his way over to where he heard the noise. "Who goes there!" He shouted before pointing his sword at the woman he had saw before slowly lowering it.

Shrieking and accidentally throwing the basket of roses in the air, Yasmine fell back from her crouched position onto her rearend.

’Shit, this is it! They found me!’ she thought in a panic.

Playing her hands up to shield her, she shut her eyes tight when she saw the blade of a sword pointed at her.

“I’n sorry I- I mean no harm, please forgive me!”

Gulping and sighing, Aldo slowly moved his sword away from the woman and bent down to pick up her basket. "I am so sorry ma'am.. I thought you were someone else." He muttered before handing her the basket while trying to help her up onto her feet. "I-I didn't mean to frighten you too much." He said

Squinting up at the man, she could feel her heart start to slow its beating. Perhaps she hadn’t been caught just yet.

Cautiously taking his hand to stand up and retrieving her basket, Yasmine tried to regain some semblance of poise.

“Ah well it’s alright, I mean I understand its your duty as a guard to watch over the area so,”

She glanced up at him, trying to figure out if he would be susceptible to a bit of flirtation. It was the only way she could think to talk her way out of trespassing.

“I may have lost my way a bit, should I make my out of the castle gardens? I wouldn’t want to bother a strong guard like yourself with my milling around.”

Letting her eyes flutter a bit, she tried to seem as innocent as possible.

Aldo watched as the woman had tried to fancy him which made him sigh. "Don't waste your time trying to flirt with me, I am a lost cost to you women." He said while guiding her out of the garden. It was hard enough that he had to find his missing brother, Remus but also dealing with his job was tiring. So dealing with a woman's flirting was just so uncomfortable to just stand since he wasn't into women.

The bluntness of his refute made her chuckle. She certainly appreciated the honesty of it.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying can you? Just trying to make sure I don’t get thrown in a cell for taking a few flowers.”

Walking with the guard out of the garden, through the maze of hedges, she stared up at him. Now that she was less on edge, she started to notice more and more that he seemed quite… familiar…

“I hope you don’t mind me asking but were you… a guard for the fallen crown?”

Scolding herself for asking such a risky question she quickly added on “Not that I care for them of course!”

"Hm? What? No, maybe? I don't know anymore, my brother used to be the head guard when the king was in his prime I guess." The taller said with a sigh and a shrug. He had no idea where to start with anything but he could just answer this woman's questions and things like that.

“Huh, I see…”

Yasmine felt a rush of excitement. Perhaps they were still loyal to the fallen crown? She had no clue if that was true or if they had turned, and not wanting to give away her indenting so quickly the woman tried to appear like an ordinary nosy villager.

“So your brother is still a guard then too? Must be fun working with your sibling. I’m just a barmaid so, except for the drunk bedfellows it gets a bit lonely without your family around.”
She wondered if she’d ever met the man’s brother as well during her time as a dutchess. She knew he seemed familiar, and wondered if he could notice too. That would be danger for her, having someone know her identity. Still, if they could be allies, then Yasmine felt she would have a secure way into stealing power back from ghe Crimsons.

"I uhm.. I don't know.. He was missing when I joined the guards. I tried to find him but he was just gone. But yes, it does get lonely by yourself all the time." He said while looking around before looking down at the woman with a slight head tilt.

Yasmine expression turned somber. She felt such a sadness for the guard, having lost contact with someone so close.

“I’m very sorry for your loss, that must be so difficult not knowing if he’s alright…”

Glancing around as well, she tried to see if there was anyone around eavesdropping on their conversation.

Looking back up at him she continued,
“I don’t mean to speak too harshly of the new rulers but, I lost some people too, when the Crimsons took over…”

Her eyes began to well up with tears as she thought of her slain friends, loyal maids and knights murdered and jailed for their support. She could only wish that she could curse the wicked Crimsons outloud. But she didn’t. She stayed calm.

“I guess what I’m saying is, you’re not the only one, you’re not alone.”

Aldo stopped for a moment before closing his eyes and balling up his fists. "Remus is not dead, I just know he isn't dead, did you realize that prince Lynx the next crowned king is also missing?" He said while opening his eyes and sitting down on a bench. He continued to ramble off about his theories of the missing people to the woman who probably didn't want to hear about it.

Hurriedly seating herself next to him on the bench, Yasmine listens with bated breath as he spoke of Lynx and Remus, and others who had gone missing.

She nodded with increasing intensity.

“Yes, yes, they very well could be alive you’re right. But we are all so separated it’s just-“

She heard herself slip up and immediately choked on her words. The simple mistake of one word, we, like a fully stated admission.

Yasmine shut her eyes tight.
“Sir… I don’t know you well and I fear for my life as I speak but, I feel that your loyalties may not align with those who I am hiding from… those you speak of who have gone missing, the ones that the Crimsons are searching for to destroy, I know of them more than you realize. May I confide in you as to who I really am?”

((hi hi :) whenever you’re ready))

((Bumping ya, but I may move on to a new rp with her if you’re too busy, no worries))

((Oh shoot! I'm so sorry! I'm forgot I thought my response sent through-))

Aldo turned to the woman before taking in a deep breath. Everything seemed so hard on him at the moment, listening to what the woman had said before nodding. "Tell me what you'd like me to know, I'll keep it just between us." He said while folding his hands on his lap as he felt the breeze against his face.

((That’s ok! I just didn’t wanna hold you up at all))

Smoothing out her dress nervously, the woman prepared herself to tell the truth. She looked into the guards eyes, trying to find any sign of deceit. But all she could see was a deep sadness in him, and it drove her toward confidence that she could reveal her secret.

“Before the Crimson uprising, before the bloodshed and the destruction and the confusion… I was once someone quite powerful.”

She swallowed, her throat becoming dry, the overwhelming anxiety of it hitting her all at once. The woman had not spoken her true name in so long she wondered if she could even say it right. And what would it do to speak it aloud? Would a hundred Crimson swords be at her neck in an instant. Finding her courage, she continued;

“I am Yasmine Ilta Gille. I was a dutchess, holding authority over Renoa. I am in hiding. I am looking for my family too.”

When she spoke her name, she half expected to faint. How ever speaking it gave her a strong sense of strength. She felt a power in it, in her identity. Sitting up straighter, her expression one of confidence, Yasmine placed a hand over her heart as she spoke.

“The prince you mentioned of is a distant cousin of mine… and I’m sure at some point I met your brother as well, being that he was a guard. I wonder… I wonder if we can help eachother?”

Aldo's jaw physically and mentally dropped when he heard the woman say she was a duchess, and that she was related to Lynx. He stood up quickly, a bit way too quickly as his mind made him a bit woozy but he didn't mind it at the time. "Of course we can help eachother out, you knew my brother so you must have some type of clue about something." He said, spouting out the words quickly to the woman.

Standing up after him, she placed her hands up as of to soothe his excitement. She was so relieved that he responded in a positive manner, but her worried were not yet gone.

“Yes yes of course, but that’s the problem sir! I’ve been trying to find out where my family is, the past queen the princes, even members of my court but I can find nothing!”

Looking around in a sort of panic, she tried to see if anyone was watching them.

“I’ve had to be so quiet. I’m sure you know being a guard hard harshly they would punish me if they found out who I was. But with your help, your inside knowledge maybe… maybe we can find them? Rally everyone together!”

With so much hope in her eyes, she instinctively reached out to hold one of his hands in hers, steadying him. How badly she needed a friend now, amongst all the Crimsons chaos. She was so tired of hiding. This day, finding an ally of the fallen crown, it was what she had been waiting for for so long.

“Sir, I’m not sure I gathered what your name was yet?”

Aldo nodded to all her words before grabbing onto her hand and started to shake it slowly as he needed someone to help him find his brother. But knowing there is other people who has gone missing made his gut all squeezy. "Sorry, my name is Aldo Septimius, I'm glad I have a friend who can help me out with this missing person case." He said with a smile on his face.

Yasmine smiled warmly.

“It’s wonderful to meet you Aldo. Oh look at me! Coming in to steal some flowers from those Crimson gits and leaving with a new confidant!”

She laughed heartily, but then cut her joy short as she remembered they were still on Crimson ground.

Leaning in as she spoke in a whisper, she asked,
“So what have you heard about the Crimsons plans to locate the fallen royal family? I tried to get in close with one of the Crimson heads, Venus, but she wouldn’t give any information. If we know where they’re focusing their search, perhaps that will give us a start?”

Nodding to herself, thinking, Yasmine reached a hand up to tug at her brown curls.
“I’m willing to bet wherever the rest of the royal family is, your brother would be there too… it’s highly likely they escaped together with him protecting them.”

"Well, they haven't told us anything about going for searches to locate the fallen royal family members. But when they do tell us I'll let you know about it." Aldo said while he shifted around on his feet before opening his mouth again. "There's a big chance Remus would be with the Royal family since he was really close with Lynx and another member of the family. He always used to ramble off about running away with someone to the far end of the kingdom. But it didn't make any sense to me." He said while turning towards some bushes as he rambled off about the former head knight.

Yasmine tapped her chin with her finger as she thought. If the Crimsons didn’t know where to start looking then… perhaps there was no one to look for at all?

She shook her head at that grim thought. No. There was no way she was the last of the royal blood left alive. Even her standing there with an ally to the crown like Aldo was proof of that. There was hope.

She reached out and gently pat the troubled guard on the shoulder.
“We will find Remus. And we’ll find all the rest of the royal family and our allies too. We’ll just have to stay vigilant. And careful. We don’t want to be found out, I certainly wouldn’t want you being called a traitor by those Crimson fools.”

She knew what she would have to do. Keep working at the bar, sleep around, try to get in close with higher up Crimsons and find a way to infiltrate their network. Staying in touch with allies like Aldo and getting the inside scoop would be a great asset to her.

Reaching into the basket of flower she was holding, Yasmine took a plump red rose and offered it to the man with a beaming smile.

“Here, a token of my thanks for not arresting me on the spot and a sign of our new alliance. If you ever hear anything, or if you want to talk to the old days, you can find me at the bar in town. When I’m not working there, I stay in a loft on the second floor. Ask for Vada, that’s my name in hiding.”