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Isadora hadn't been excited for days, with the arrival of the Princess of Graecia looming. She knew little about the other girl, except that she was also a princess. Isadora had little opportunity to meet others of her station; she'd visited Camelot a few times, but while Arthur was a prince, he was also a boy. Noble children occasionally visited the castle with their parents, but otherwise, Isadora had little opportunity to mingle with children of the aristocracy.

"When will they arrive, father?" Isadora asked her father for the umpteenth time today, earning herself yet another exasperated sigh. Today was finally the day, and she had spent most of the morning fidgeting and making the maids crazy. It had taken them almost an hour to brush and dress her hair, between her fussing and her insistence that it had to be arranged just so. They might have complained if she weren't a princess, but she was, and such vanity was to be expected.

Finally, a messenger brought word that the royal party from Graecia was crossing into the city, and she rushed down to the courtyard to meet them. Her father was already there, and he smiled brightly at her before he took her hand, watching the castle gate for their guests. They didn't have long to wait before the carriage rolled inside, and footmen and stablehands rushed forward to see to the carriage as the door opened and the royals stepped down. Isadora smiled at them as her father stepped forward to greet his fellow king.

What were the interesting things people did in Camelot? We-ell...she wasn't quite sure. When she was little, she mostly just played with Arthur while her father did kingly things. Now that she was older, she was usually the one who did the kingly things, and honestly, those were not a ton of fun. But what could two princesses get up to that would keep them busy? Without leaving the ball, even. "Do you see that woman there? Wearing the violet, with the scandalous neckline?" She glanced towards the woman in question, a redheaded noble chatting with several men.

"Apparently it's not the only thing scandalous thing about her." She hinted, smiling mischievously and hiding it behind her cup as she took a sip. When there was nothing else to do...well, how could they resist indulging in a bit of harmless gossip? It was more interesting than propping up the wall. When Vivian admitted she liked dancing, Isadora raised an eyebrow, glancing towards the dancefloor. It didn't make sense until she explained that her father wouldn't let her dance with other men...well that seemed slightly preposterous. And it gave Isadora an idea.

She giggled when Vivian explained about her servants, amused. She leaned in conspiratorially when Vivian spoke in a hushed voice, her smile spreading across her cheeks as she learned of Vivian's secret amusement. "I swear, I shan't tell a soul!" She promised, she might enjoy gossip, but never if it was something she promised not to spread.

She smiled when Vivian asked about Gwent. "Gwent is the greatest kingdom in the world," she said without an ounce of humility; Isadora loved her country, and was very proud to be its princess. "The city is built around a bay, for trade. There's always the scent of salt in the air, and people from distant lands gather in the markets to buy and sell their wares." She got a distant look in her eyes as she spoke about it, a wistful smile on her lips. She shook her head a little bit to clear those thoughts, before she smiled at Vivian again.

"But enough talk of that," she reached over to take Vivian's drink from her, placing both of their goblets onto the tray of a passing servant, then she offered her hand to Vivian, the mischievous glint from earlier returning. "May I have the honor of this dance?" Surely her father couldn't object to her dancing with another woman!

Isadora raised her eyebrows, she wasn't used to people saying she would 'do'. She was tempted to say something catty in return, but she had a feeling Vivian wasn't trying to be malicious, just thoughtless. She wasn't sure whether that was better or worse, but her own manners prevented her from commenting on it either way. "I suppose I'll just have to do my best to...rectify that. I'm sure we can find something more interesting than the treaty to pass the time." Because even Isadora could acknowledge that talking about land boundaries and resource exchanges got real old real quick.

She smiled with genuine pleasure at Vivian's excitement when speaking of Trickler, well at least there were some things that could make the Princess of Lyonesse light up with glee! She raised her eyebrows with incredulity at her tales, a smile still upon her lips. "He sounds positively marvelous! I'll be certain not to miss his next performance, for I'm certain I'd regret it." She regretted not seeing his first, but hopefully his repeat performances would be something to wonder at.

Isadora giggled a bit at Vivian's bored statement, amused by her lack of interest in any of the party goings-on. "I didn't think the party was half-bad...but you must have some very inteeeereeeesting things to do in Lyonesse, if you're so bored. What do you spend your time doing back home?" Isadora was genuinely curious what it was she usually did that made the banquet seem so utterly dreadful.

Isadora nodded when Vivian seemed to welcome her introduction, although not before looking her over with some scrutiny. It was not unusual, but rather the norm for nobles to judge one another so before striking up a conversation, such was simply the way of things. A look of some surprise came to her face when Vivian was so starkly critical of the banquet, before she quickly covered it with a more amused smile. She wasn't used to someone being so...upfront.

"I can see why you would deem it so, secluded so with no one to pass the time." She replied, looking out over the hall herself. She didn't think that the party was quite so dull...in fact, she was quite enjoying herself. It was infinitely better than poring over documents of law and trade in order to maintain peace and order of her kingdom, not to mention dealing with the headaches that came with trying to enforce them.

Isadora's face lit up when Vivian mentioned the earlier entertainment, and she smiled with some envy. "You speak of the jester, yes? He seems to be on everyone's lips tonight, yet I fear I missed his earlier performance. You must regale me with your accounting of events." She insisted with a smile, she had heard that Vivian had experienced his tricks firsthand, so where better to hear about his performance than the source itself?

Isadora had been looking forward to this gathering for some time now. Not only because of the treaty signing, which would usher in peace and prosperity for all their kingdoms, but for the opportunity to mingle and rub shoulders with others of equal status. Lately Isadora had taken over some of her father's responsibilities, traveling in his place when necessary to meet with their allies and such, and while that did afford chances to interact with other nobles and royals, rarely did they gather in such numbers to attend a single function.

Therefore, it was no wonder that she was enjoying the banquet, idly chatting and making nice, and being very careful not to offend anyone of note, of course. Her father had taken his place at the King's table and was being attended by a trusted servant, so while she found her eyes wandering up to the head table from time to time to ensure all was well, she felt relatively confident that all would be well. Even if it wouldn't be, she'd have to pretend it was, for the benefit of their allies. It would not do to have it known their king was ailing.

Amidst all the merrymaking and carousing, Isadora found her eyes drawn to the one somber spot in the whole hall...the Princess Vivian. Known only to the princess of Gwent through reputation, Isadora wondered why she watched with such melancholy when everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves. That was when her eyes fell on a figure only a few feet away from her, King Olaf, her father. Aw, yes, now she remembered. Her father was known for his slightly overprotective nature, and therefore, conversation was all but forbidden with anyone of the male persuasion, hence her solitude.

That was no reason for Isadora not to say her greetings, and perhaps exchange words with the other princess, of course. So Isadora approached the Lady Vivian with a smile, nodding to her respectfully as she drew close enough to speak. "I beg your pardon, Lady Vivian, is it not? I fear we have yet to be introduced, a state I would see absolved. I am Isadora Theirin, of Gwent." She introduced herself politely, a hopeful smile upon her lips.

Ruby closed her eyes as she leapt towards the object of her affection, bracing herself to collide with his warm, hard body, only to be met with...air? She blinked as she flew further than anticipated, and realized too late that the King had moved, and she scrambled to get her arms underneath herself as she fell to the cold, but still hard, stone floor. She gave a yelp of surprise and pain as she hit the ground and then blinked as she pushed herself up into a sitting position slowly, wondering what could possibly have gone wrong. Did she launch herself in the wrong direction? It was the only possible explanation for her King's absence where he ought to be!

Curling her lithe legs beneath her, she turned towards the sound of Arthur's voice, surely he must have an explanation for this...misstep? But his words made no sense. Cease her efforts to entice him? He spoke as if he weren't already enticed, and Ruby knew full well that could not be the case. Every man wanted her...what wasn't there to want? But his words filled her with such profound sorrow, that it blackened her heart and carved a pit as deep and empty as an endlessly spiraling abyss into her very soul. He was...committed to his wife? What kind of nonsense was that?! She looked up at him from the floor as tears welled up in her big, blue eyes, her lip quivering. "But...Sire...you can't mean that!"

Ruby gave him a somewhat confused look when he stumbled backwards, surely the King of Camelot should have better coordination than this! She certainly hoped this was no indication of his performance in the bedroom, because given his physical prowess, Ruby was definitely expecting a better showing than all this fumbling. Perhaps it was just nerves...yes, that must be it! Well, he'd get over that soon enough, Ruby was sure enough of that, once they got down to business.

She smiled intoxicatingly as he thanked her, getting back to her feet, batting her eyelashes as he went on to tell her it was unnecessary. "It's just that I seek to please you in all ways, my Lord." She told him unabashedly, she was certain they were on the same page now, and she giggled slightly as he went on about how 'inappropriate' her behavior was. "I certainly hope not," she confirmed his suspicions, and feeling that the moment was just ripe for the plucking, she moved forward to embrace her King, although the motion was perhaps something akin to a lunge, or perhaps a pounce, or something in-between.