Hiding from What Is to Come [Open]

The past few weeks could be best described as... well, crazy. Nidalee being found, checked out, and found to be for the most part alright - although a little underweight. Catching up with her on everything that had happened, and then attempting to explain to her about her own life as much as possible, plus time spent as she waited and waited for someone to show up trying to start trouble.... well, it had all flown by pretty quick.

However, she had finally heard something. She had received a rather official looking letter from her mother of all people. In it she described in detail how very disappointed and upset she was with Demi, along with several mentions of her half brother coming to have a private chat with her, and that she was to obey his words and wishes. She wanted nothing to do with it; and the words themselves had put her on edge. This had to be what had dawned on her weeks ago that her brother was coming to speak about, and so she had kept the letter no secret - nor her complete avoidance of the issue.

Even now she wasn't where her brother had demanded he meet her; she was still in her room, the door thrown wide open. And... in an almost child-like fashion she was currently laying underneath of her bed, hidden by the sheets that draped down the side with a fancy flourish. She never left her door open when she was in her room, so she was hoping everyone would take it as a sign that she wasn't there - she doubted it would work, but it was worth a try. If anything it would further delay her meeting with her half brother.

As she laid there, violet gaze staring up at the wooden under side of her bed she found herself thinking back to all of the reasons why her brother couldn't just take her spot - and it all came down to him being a bastard in the literal sense. Her mother had had an affair with her brother's father. Of course, the man had been killed by her mother's previous husband since it was a crime, but still... she would have been glad with handing him that pointy, god-awful, looking crown and the title that went with it. She kept herself silent, listening closely for the sound of footsteps - her brother always wore boots with a slight heel to make him taller than he was, and the noise they made as he walked was always noticeable, but so far she hadn't heard the sound.

Technically it should have been one of his men doing this; really, he should have been far too busy for such a simple errand. Fetching a guest was below his status, below his rank; or so many of the nobles in the guard would have said had he ordered one of them to do it. It was bad enough the older, retired guard officers called him lazy; but shit, he wasn't some controlling nut job like his predecessor was. The last Captain of the Guard did EVERYTHING himself, micromanaged the guard into panic attacks on a daily basis all because he couldn't stand having anything happen that didn't reek of his hand. Good, or bad; that just made it worse. It all had to be his doing or else he would throw tantrums that would make the barracks shake for hours. His personal style was much more hands off; delegate the work evenly so that everyone had enough to keep them comfortably busy and able to take more when needed, but not so overworked that he had nothing to do himself. He did just as much, if not slightly more, then his men; so the entire regiment was functioning smoothly for the first time in three generations.

Instead of telling one of the junior guards to do it; he wanted to do it himself; mostly because it would give him some time to talk to her; he hadn't seen her for more then a few seconds since the night that Nidalee had appeared, and that wasn't sitting well with him.

He was in uniform for once; which wasn't saying much given he rarely wore anything more then loose pants or a formal robe if he had too. Furry tiger was furry, and that made clothing too warm most of the time; least while he was inside. Up in the mountains near his family lands it was cold enough to require decent layers of clothes. For now, just the formal pants the majority of the guard wore; plus his white nobility sash looped around his waist loosely, a single loop hanging below the rest and a long end trailing behind him like a second tail. The top vest of the uniform was worn open across his chest; his shoulders were so wide that without having the ancient thing tailor adjusted to fit him, he couldn't close it; and given it was generations old, he wasn't even sure that a tailor could adjust it anymore. The badge of the guard captain was wrapped around his left arm par usual; the damn thing was supposed to be a belt; but holycrap he was too big for that. It barely fit his arm comfortably; and that was after he'd replaced the band with something larger. Goddamn stickly avians; it had been at least half a dozen captains since there had been anything but a bird in command. Twiggy bastards.

He came upon the open door and for an instant considered that she wasn't there; he knew her patterns well enough to know that she wouldn't have it open while there unless she had to; but the scent in the air was all wrong. Her scent was far too fresh and thick on the air for her to be far away; they had excellent ventaliation after all, so smells were usually thin at best in the place. No, she was nearby, she had to be. He knocked gently on the doorframe, as much of an announcement as he was going to give; he had a feeling that she was hiding for some reason and didn't want to scare her any by suddenly speaking. At least a rap on the door was expectable enough not to come as too much of a surprise.

Demi heard the arrival of someone, and the knock only made it more so. For a moment she thought about not responding at all; it was bad enough she had to wear the stupid white dress that marked her for exactly the status she had among the Moors - compared to pants, or her worn-torn clothing she preferred because it was comfortable, flexable, and worn in enough to be softer than most things. It was even worse her hair was in braids so that she looked presentable for the Moor that was arriving. But no, her hellish torture couldn't have ended there; it had to be her mother of all people coming - not some lacky sent to do her bidding, but her own mother. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to keep her mouth shut and not respond at all.

And, had Flynn's scent not reached her hyper sensitive nostrils she likely would have done just that: but even without the "mine" flashing accross her mind she knew she couldn't ignore him and pretend she wasn't there - hell, she figured he likely knew she was somewhere.

A sigh escaped her and she shuffled over to the edge of the bed, pulling up the fancy skirt that decoratively went around the thing enough to peak her face out of. "I'm not here.", she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper - but she wasn't worried about him not being able to hear her. "I'm working on becoming invisible...", she added as her own round-about way of explaining exactly why she was hiding under the bed like a child would - all without having to state the obvious: that her mother was coming and she would much rather disappear than have to face her and whoever else the woman had likely dragged with her to act as her guard while she traveled.

Invisible? That wasn't going to happen hiding under a bed. He'd have to introduce her to a cloak or two that would help with that. Wasn't like they were banned technology or anything; you could buy one in the main market for enough coin. Glancing up and down the corridor, he satisfied himself that it was empty far enough in both directions for him to slip inside the room without being seen; only his men knew where he was, and not a one of them would tell anyone unless it was an emergency or a direct order from one of his superiors. So, no one, basically.

Closing the door behind him, he slid his giant paw over a hidden panel in the doorframe; a special secruity lock system that only the guardsmen knew about normally. It would erase all trace of their scents from the room, erase thermal signatures, and sound dampen the walls to the point that nothing would escape the room; as well as overriding the secruity codes and replacing them with his personal locks. He'd as good as locked down the room to anyone but himself; so they could have a few minutes to talk. He'd have to drag her out eventually, but at least this way they wouldn't be bothered as badly.

"Much as I'd rather not go myself, we both must. You know that. They will just keep coming for you until they either win, or... something else happens." He'd almost said something to the effect of 'until I maul someone for bothering you so badly'. That, while completely true, was not something he should be saying while in uniform and on duty. It just looked bad on everyone. He was supposed to be impartial afterall; he was basically the second highest ranking member of the military after all. Playing favorites in cases of politics was just asking for problems.

Then again, fuck politics; he was so far from impartial in all of this it was a miracle someone hadn't said anything yet. It was damn obvious he was so far beyond to close to Demi to be rational in all this that it was almost criminal for his men not to bring it up.

He walked up to the bend, taking a moment to lower himself to the ground; balanced on palms and knees in the closest to a fourlegged stance could could get without shifting forms; his arms might have been long, but so where his legs in a way that would make getting at eye level with her in a proper four legged stance impossible. This way he could lean down to the ground in a modified pouncing position; slipping his head under the bed enough to see her, but without trying to shove his giant form into the tight space. "You could feign illness. I would be more then happy to... convince, one of our doctors to delcare that you need rest and to be left alone for a day or two. Make your mother wait until she is so frustraited that she gives up."

She watched Flynn curiously as he looked up and down the hall and then stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. All before joining her over on the floor.

"I wouldn't mind if it was one of those old men she sends to speak for her... they're easy enough to get rid of with the right words and polite enough because they're afraid of offending me. But... ugh. Each time I see my mother she tries getting in my head and under my skin: all while knowing that if I even so much as raise my hand to strike her she can have every single Moor hunting for my head. It's the only reason she brings anyone with her when she comes; their purpose isn't to protect her it's to act as witnesses. So she knows she can insult me and disrespect me till she's blue in the face and I can't do a damned thing about it.", her words were spoken softly, but the underlying anger towards her mother could still be easily heard - she obviously felt the whole situation was unfair and just plain wrong, but she couldn't do anything about it unless she took up her mother's offer and stepped into power and then changed things.

She thought about Flynn's offer; pretending to be sick might've worked if anyone else was showing up, but her mother knew enough about her to know her vampire blood would keep her from being sick. The only thing that would even make her seem semi-ill would have been going a prolonged period without feeding: but, that was something her mother would have likely stuck around to see the aftermath off. A bloodlusting Malkavian on the loose? Her mother would cook up a bag of popcorn, snatch up a lawn chair, and watch the whole thing like it was some sort of game. Demi shook her head. "My mother already knows I can't become ill - no poison, sickness, or disease can touch me because of my vampire blood. I suppose I have no choice but to face her... something just tells me this isn't going to go so well...."

She glanced back to the under side of the bed; her little space of safety, or so she had told herself. Really, had her mother come looking for her personally she likely would have found her, but it had been a little illusion she had given herself for the short period of time she had been under there. She shifted her form, and then by using the bottom of the bed frame for leverage she slid herself out from underneath of the bed enough to stand. She glanced down at her overly bright white dress and dusted it off in a half-assed fashion before sighing again: it was time to face her mother, she really couldn't delay it anymore.

He could understand that; there were very few illnesses in the world that could bother his people; they'd long ago developed natural immunities to almost everything, and with their level of medicinal science they could create vaccines and cures to anything new within days of it appearing, usually. Not always; but they hadn't had a cataclysmic level disease outbreak in a thousand generations. When he realized she was shifting to move out form under the bed he pulled himself back; easily shifting to sit on his heels without much fanfare. His vest was a little dusty from the floor now; but he really couldn't be bothered to care. Some lacky would get that before he moved his men to position when the bullshit started later on, so why bother with it now, really.

"It would be amazing if it did. That's part of why I tweaked protocol some; by all rights there is no reason for me to be on the floor for this. I 'should' be up in the seats with the other nobles on the council; since I am the representative from my clan, and while we're not the most important over all, we are rich and all that. Should just be my second in command down there." He shrugged over the comment, the action causing ajoint to crack loudly; sounding like concret breaking apart almost. Thick bones, tight joints. Weeee.~

"I'll escort you, yes? That way no one will bother you. At least none of my people. I can't speak for the outlanders."

Demi nodded: the idea of Flynn escorting her calmed her somewhat. At least she wouldn't have to worry about her mother just grabbing her and attempting to pull a disappearing act. By all rights she could - but only if she was fast enough to get to her before anyone stopped her or before Demi took off, either or was likely to happen, especially since Demi wasn't about to let her guard down with her mother being so close by. She didn't trust the woman; she didn't trust any of the Moors. She did however trust Flynn, and would follow him anywhere.

"Alright, we might as well get this over with so I can get out of this dress.... I hate dresses, they're not good for... well, anything.", she grumbled towards the end. It was just one more thing about this whole royalty thing that had her agitated: the Moors believed woman should be in long gowns at all times, even when they had nowhere to go. Woman were to be presentable, beautiful, at all times, and beauty meant dresses, make up, and hair done at all times.

Sicarius had gotten herself into trouble to say the least: it was her mouth really, and her inability to control it when listening to her family members be bashed that had caused the whole issue. She had gone searching for Demi, and even though she had figured she wasn't with the Moors, she had chosen that exact place to look first. Which of course had meant she had come face to face with Demitria's mother - who was an absolute bitch. The woman, when done trashing Sicarius for "not having royal blood and therefore being beneath her", had started on Demi. And that... well, it had caused her to snap. So, Sicarius had backhanded the woman right across the face in a roomful of her guard and hadn't thought twice about it.

At least... until she was arrested and sentenced to death. Who knew that attacking the queen of all people would land such a punishment? Well, Sicarius had, but she hadn't been exactly thinking about that when she had snapped and slapped the woman, resulting in not only a hand print bruise across the woman's face but scratch marks - and the Moor didn't heal nearly as fast as Sicarius would have thought she would.

So, as Sicarius was likewise escorted into the room by several of the Moor queen's guard, the Moor queen walked in with a nice remindered on the right side of her face of what had happened only twenty four hours ago. Sicarius had been sure that she would have been slaughtered on the spot, but the Moor queen had simply grinned and ordered her guards to snag her, and told them all that she was to be brought with on the trip.

Sicarius still wasn't sure of the motivations behind it all, but she was beginning to see the bigger picture as she was thrusted to the front with the queen, obviously put where Demi and everyone else would see her: though the man holding her never released her, he wasn't stupid enough to do that - at least not yet.

The Moor queen, as always, had her nose up in the air and a look on her face that spoke quite plainly that she thought she was better than everyone else present - likely everyone in the world. The look she threw Sicarius spoke deeply of loathing hatred, but that sly grin that spread across her face also spoke of a plan that the female had in mind, something that obviously involved her.

"Agreed. Soon as this is over I my duty shift for the day ends; once we finish we can go do something to forget about this stupidity. The level of formality these outlanders practice... as a child I thought our nobility was strict, but what I have seen of the Moors is insane. How they can function as a people with all these restrictions is beyond my understanding."

He rose to his feet easily; seeming to less move then just melt upwards, the grace of a tiger always in play, even with his impressive size. Feline genes were lovely that way. Back to the door he went, palming the hidden panel to unlock the door, taking the moment to open it manually and offering a little bow; amused smirk on his face the entire time. He was playing, obviously; for some reason he felt like it was appropriate, an attempt to cheer her up some. Even the wink, he was really going for it there. "After you, my lady.~"

He was planning to take up an almost guarding position, in the moment he'd opened the door he'd checked the hall and found it to be safe enough for her to exit first; and given how traffic would be flowing down the corridor, if at all; he was best able to protect by leaving after her and staying a hair behind her. His body was so large he took up most of the hallway anyway, so he would be shielding her from behind by walking that way, and perfectly able to protect her from the front at the same time.

Demi watched him and snorted softly, rolling her eyes playfully before she chuckled. She knew he was playing around, and it for a moment caused her to forget all about the fact that she was going to see her mother; that in just a few minutes time she would be face to face with the bitch and have to deal with all of the taunting.

She walked out of the room, still chuckling, knowing already the way to go - it was funny really, she knew more about here than even her own home with the Moors. Then again, she liked it here, and preferred to stay, where as the Moors could rot in hell as far as she was concerned.

And so she led the way to where she would meet her mother; however the sight that her violet colored gaze took in was not one she had been expecting at all, and it caused her to gasp. Her gaze had gone first to her little ten year old sister in chains and guarded, and then to her mother who clearly had a hand print and scratches on her face - a handprint that was far too small to belong to an adult. It meant her sister had slapped her; something she knew her sister wouldn't have done unless she was provoked.

This changed everything... her sister's life was on the line, and she finally understood why she had felt like this was going to go badly. Her mother was going to present her with a bargaining chip she knew Demi wasn't going to refuse: Demi's servitude as queen and her mother's puppet in exchange for Sicarius being allowed to live, she just hadn't said the words yet.

"Mother....", one word finally spoken as she came to a stop near the room, keeping herself at a good enough distance not to be grabbed. The single word was entirely emotionless - she had to be more cunning than her mother if she was going to resolve this without bloodshed, or accepting her mothers offer, and so she detached herself from the situation as much as possible... hopefully, it would work, if not things were about to get seriously bloody.

Sicarius looked up from the ground as her sister entered, ears twitching slightly as she listened to the way her sister spoke: there was no emotion in it at all, which caused Sicarius to want to reach out with her mind to her sister to figure out what was going on, but she knew better - with so many Moors around, and their own mental abilities, she wasn't about to chance anyone finding out if her sister was up to something or not.

Just as she was about to turn head to look to see what Demi's mothers reaction was going to be she felt a rather large hand on the back of her head that jerked her head back downward - no words were spoken to her, but the action was clear: she was to stare at the floor only, and nothing else.

----

Demi's mother looked to her as she entered, and a wicked grin spread from ear to ear across her face. The word her daughter spoke caused her to pause, but her smile didn't faulter. She took in her daughter's appearance and just clicked her tongue in a disapproving fashion. "My dearest daughter, is that really the proper introduction for a mother you haven't seen in months?", she taunted.

The woman threw an obvious glance to Sicarius and then slowly back to Demi, as if trying to drive the point home that the child was in chains, and lucky to be alive. "You and I have much to discuss: it would seem your sis--", she paused, looking as if she were about to choke on the word. "It appears this child that you seem so fond of has decided to attack me, it was horrible really... but, perhaps she doesn't have to die. Maybe we can come to a deal... I have brought a proposal for you...", she trailed off, obviously trying to drag this out, as well as enjoy the reactions her words might get her.

He'd managed to keep the slight grin on his face until the last moment; he needed to leave her to enter alone, he would slip in the side door and join his men lining the walls. Too many nobles around not to have the Royal guard around, and having the entire officer chain save for the skeleton crew of jr officers it took to keep the non-attending guardsmen running was enough to stroke the egos of the nobles and keep them quiet. Ancient old bastards, they complained up a storm if someone didn't do something to preen their sense of self-worth at least once a day.

Slipping in was easy, even with his bright coloration he faded into the shadows with the best of them; the perfectly cut and polished onyx face of the obsibian blades adorning the guard's ceremonial halberts absorbed light, making it darker then the shadows itself and not noticible unless you looked for it. He appeared at the far end of the line of guards, right were he would be normally if there was to be any sort of ceremony that he needed to lead for; otherwise the officer standing in that spot was nothing more then the figurehead for the duty shift.

Now, this was new. No one had told him the outlanders were bringing a small child. Given the way they were treating her, she was a prisoner of some sort. That was too cruel for anything else; at least to his mind. Given his mind was that of a feral beast, cruel was a barely registering concept, normally. The words of the... Queen; that word didn't fit the woman in his mind, and the concept of a beast like that ruling a people made the fur on his neck rise in an almost challenging way; controlled only sheer force of will and his feeling for protecting Demi. Better to not start problems. Yet, anyway.

He was mind blind, but he didn't need to be psychic to see the walls coming down, Demi was shutting down and he did NOT like it. The bubbling urge to run to her and pace around her protectively was rising like a building storm; and for the first time in a very long time he had to stop and check his feelings, actually consciouslly wonder about this. That was an odd reaction, even from a protective spirit like himself. It was almost claiming in nature; almost the way he would have reacted in the same position over a child or mate. Strange.

The base of his halbert rapped gently against the stone floor; the sound no louder then a whisper, but enough for his men to hear. It was a warning; be on guard for the trouble they could all smell coming. To much tension in the air, and too many of their people too close by. It was almost enough for him to step in right there and declare that they move this to a more private space; but logic told him to keep witnesses around that wheren't his own men. Plenty of the nobles in attendence hated his guts; but they would not lie about what they saw, less they lose face. The perfect witnesses in case something happened and he had to step in.

So, she had been right in her thinking. Her mother was going to use her younger sister as a bargaining chip, a sort of game really. But, that was alright because Demi knew enough on how to play this game - and she was about to destroy the one bargaining chip that her mother had. "Seeing as I share no love towards you, as you're well aware of, that is the only greeting you will receive from me, mother.", the words were smooth and cool as she spoke, with still no emotion attached to them at all.

Her gaze flickered to the man that had forced her sister to look down to the ground, and for a moment she imagined herself skinning every last ounce of flesh from the mans hand in a slow and painful process, something odd for her since she wasn't exactly the type of person to go straight for the violence. Then again, this was one of her family members the man was rough handling, and the fact that she could sense he had enjoyed being able to use a little bit of his power, of having someone to control, only increased her urge to be violent.

However, this wasn't the time or the place, and she had to keep her head in the little game that her mother wanted to play. So, she kept her focus.

"As far as my sister, Sicarius goes...", she made it a point to announce the child was her sister for two reasons: she knew it would agitate her mother further for Demi to associate herself with someone her mother obviously thought beneath her, and it would also make it clear to everyone else who the child was. ".. I believe I already know where you're headed. You wish to force me into being Queen by being willing to spare her life if you do so. However, according to the laws which you live by you have no control over her. I have read the Shadow Death Lexicon back and front, and all of it states that the law governing the death of anyone who strikes the queen only covers those of Moor blood. Sicarius, while my sister, is not a Moor - she is a Malkavian and an angel. Therefore she is out of your control and your judgement as the law states."

Finally, emotion showed across her face, a very devious grin that slowly spread itself across her face. Demi wasn't finished by far.. "Also, she is under my own protection by being related to me by blood. Another rule our lovely governing has given me: which means you are touching royal blood and have a royal locked and chained like a common criminal: which is a direct insult and threat to me by default. If you do not release her then you will be punished... and I can get very, very creative...", her gaze had moved towards the guard who had her sister chained as she finished speaking, the words obviously a command. It was one of the few times she was willing to use her position, it was also a threat that she was going to enforce the law she had spoken of and punish him if he failed to comply. The guard looked from the queen to Demi and then reached forward and with fumbling hands released the child...

To say that the Queen was pissed was an understatement: her face had filled with so much redness it was a surprise that steam wasn't shooting out of her ears. Veins popped out on both of her temples as Demi so flawlessly used the Moorish law against her and took away the one bargaining chip she had had to use against her. With Maximillian out of reach, and now Sicarius being released by a guard who looked ready to shit on himself out of pure fear alone, there was nothing left for her to use to force her daughter into this.

The guard, as quickly as possible, finished removing the last of the shackles from Sicarius and then took a step back and away from the child, wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and the girl: he could only imagine the sort of things that the Malkavian would have mind to do to him if he got near the little girl again - none of which he was willing to witness first hand, or second hand for that matter.

-----

Sicarius blinked in amazement as she watched her sister assert her authority and use their own laws against them, and even more so as the shackles were removed from her wrists. When she was free she took one last look at the guard, wondering if he was going to attempt to stop her, and then went to run over to her sister - wanting to put as much distance between herself and the Moors as possible.

-----

The queen, perhaps on impulse, or perhaps out of sheer stupidity, or maybe wanting to have some sort of sense of revenge, reached out at the last moment and grasped upon the child's tail - knowing full well unlike the rest of her guards that the tail and ears were very much real and likely a result of Maximillian playing with the little girls genes when she was much younger. Her fingers curled around the tail, causing her to yank on it hard as the child attempted to flee. She released her right after with a smirk, hoping to see her fall.

----

Sicarius felt the hand close around her tail as her momentum pushed her to her sister. The quick yank caused a small scream of pain to escape and tears to instant well up in her eyes, even after the woman released her and she caught herself before hitting the floor. She ran the last few steps to her sister, sobbing once, as she hid herself behind her, little arms wrapping around her sister as if she were afraid someone would remove her.

The shadows the guards stood in was enough to hide the slight grin appearing on his face once more. She'd played the game of politics masterfully; far better then most would have in her position. Convoluted rules were the easiest to use against someone; they made it impossible to remove loopholes and left holes large enough to shove an airship through without problems. Watching the male holding Demi's sister nearly shit himself almost had a soft chuckle escaping his throat; almost; but baring was something drilled into his being almost since birth, and control was something that, at the moment, he had in droves. It was tempting to send one of him men to escort the child to her sister; but that was against all kind of protocol, and he had to maintain some level of detatchment for the moment.

Or rather, had needed to. The explosion of rage filled growls and shocked gasps from his men and his people was enough to break the tension in the room; likely enough to royally confuse the outlanders present. Daione laws were few and far between; the freedom of their people was tantamount to having a functioning society filled with so many different bloodlines and peoples. A peacefully functioning one at that. However, it was one of their highest cultural taboos to attack a child at all; yanking of tails, ears, wings, and the like was punishable by jailing in most instances. He could hear the whispers of the nobles screeching for the guards to step in; it was their job after all. And oh, was he about ready to cackle for the perfect opportunity given to him by the female's stupidity.

A quick rap on the floor had the shadows seeming to ripple as his men fanned out; they were moving to block all exits on the floor, and the nearly silent swish of owl wings in the air told of the guards near the ceiling moving to block the upper exits as well. His large form melted from the shadow; almost appearing as if by teleportation in the brightly lit area that the outlanders stood in. There was no emotion in his expression, however his eyes shone brightly with suppressed anger and not a small amount of glee over being able to step in at all. This was a warning; they respected the nobility of other races, this was true; but their laws superceeded all outside laws in this place, and there would be hell to pay very soon.

"Violation of Daione laws in this place will result in... dire consequences. Respect our laws, or leave. This is your only warning."

He could have, he really could have. He was going to later; even if it was nothing more then banishment from their lands. But he knew that Demi needed this time; needed to end this here and now; so he followed the least-best line of action he could. It would sooth his people's rage, they knew that the warning given that way was just a polite way of passing banishment on outsiders. It was good enough to keep anarchy from exploding just yet.

Demi had almost snapped: almost. However, she kept herself in check only because of her sister reaching her and wrapping her little arms around her. She was scared, and that took precident over her own burning rage to go over and rip her mother limb from limb repeatedly - such a lovely thing that Moors grew back anything that was ripped off outside of their head, it meant she could have done just that.

Instead, admist all of the gasps and growls she simply turned slightly and glanced down to her sister, looking her over for any sort of marks outside of the tail pulling that she was sure had hurt - it was her sister's weakness, something she had confided in her once about. It was the equivilant of a baby having a soft spot on their head - an area that had to be protected because it could easily be damaged or lead to far worse things.

She leaned down slightly, knowing her sisters hearing would pick up her whisper easily enough, "Did they hurt you while they had you chained up?" As she waited for a response she looked over to Flynn, noticing that he was in front of the group of Moors - she was surprised he hadn't torn her mother a new one right then and there, but figured there was likely a good reason behind it, even if she was sure he would have much rather handled the situation other ways. She had nothing more to say to her mother: she wasn't going to play her games, as she was sure her mother now knew, and that meant that her mother's time as ruler was limited at best, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Sicarius's grip tightened around Demi's waist at all of the gasps and growling - apparently tail pulling was a no-no, or so she assumed, among Demi's friends. Which meant people were likely pretty pissed off at what they had just seen. She peered around Demi for a moment while making sure to keep her hold on her, and saw that someone was in front of the Moors.

She then tilted her head and looked up at her sister as she was asked a question. She looked back down to the ground, not wanting to answer but knowing that she had to. After a second or two she looked back and spoke softly, "They broke my tail.. but it healed itself...." With that said she reached over to her tail, which was up next to her where she figured it was safe from anymore pulling attempts, and removed the bandage at the end that had been hidden beneath one of the many decorative chains. "Right there... that guy who you scared did it when your mother told him to... She gave him a hammer and he...", she stopped speaking, not wanting to go into anymore detail about it, or remember it for that matter, her tail was fine now, and she was with her sister - the rest she could do with forgetting.

-----

From red in the face to pale as a corpse in a second flat about summed up how fast her change in color and reaction had happened. She hadn't really thought about her actions before she had preformed them - sure people would have been likely pissed over what she had done, but that sort of reaction hadn't been what she was expecting to get. She blinked, caught off guard.

And then she heard the child talking about her broken tail. It had been true, the child had refused to answer questions and she had felt that more drastic aspects had been needed at the time - she hadn't expected her actions to be told in a room full of people who could also likely hear her speaking. She looked to her guards and huffed. "I'm not leaving without Demi, I demand she come with me!", she finally settled on.

Broken tail... yep; that was enough to send anyone close enough with keen ears into a fit of rage. Given how many of his people relied on their tails just to be able to walk properly; balance was an odd thing for the reptile and avian members of the race; causing damage to another could create memory reflex reactions. Painful memory reflex reactions. Enough for some of the less tact nobles to call for action. Not that he heard any of it, really. He was too busy snapping the handle of the halbert in his hand. No small feat, given it was solid ironwood core and nearly indestructable by most standards.

Taking Demi away? Not likely.

The moment one of the outlander guards moved he snapped out of any pretense of civility and protocol; in the time it took the sound of the wood snapping to reach ev the closest ears he was moving; tiger leaping and chaning midair into the full body of an animal; landing directly in front of Demi and her sister; back to them and facing the Moor Queen with lips pulled back, ears flattened, and heckles raised in an obvious challenge. He was daring her to try it; any of them really. She was going nowhere. No one wad going to lay another hand on Demi or her sister so long as he was there; and given not a being in attendence could match his sheer power; it wasn't likely that was going to be a problem. Now it was just a test to see who would tease the tiger.

Normally, speech in his tiger form was difficult at best; at least anything but the native dialects of the Daione. It was a common language among all animals, one long lost to most of the 'higher' races; but as they had never forgone their animal roots, they maintained the knowledge of it. In this case however, he wanted them to understand him; forcing his throat and mouth to work the akward syllables and such needed to produce the common tongue of the civilized races. "You have been warned once. No more. She is under my protection. A hand on her will result in death."

A specific growl was given then, obviouslly a command, even if the only ones that would understand were his men. The command was simple; take the one that had been holding the younger female into custody; he would be made to pay for the violations of the laws they had blatantly made. Ignorance was no excuse, it was impossible to be anything but willfully ignorant of their laws when travelling in their lands. At this moment he chose to move again, circling around the two females the way he'd wanted to earlier; an obvious staking of protective claim; anything within the circle he made was off limits. the circle was ended when he moved to stand beside Demi; body half curled around them and facing the Moor with a a pulled expression that keep up the angry, protective tiger appearence. "You have caused enough damage. Leave, or I will force you. Your poeple have no power here, do not test me."

.....

What... what did her sister just say?

Mental processes were normally lightning fast; she was a Malkavian, mental working were in her blood. She was portable chaos, madness, and pure mental control when she wanted. And yet, now she found those mental processes not working. Refusing to work more to the point. Her sister couldn't have just said what she thought she had, she couldn't have just admitted that the man who had unchained her sister had previously, at some point since she had slapped the queen, broken her tail with a hammer.

She had to be dreaming, right?

As she snapped back into focus the "Apparently not" floated across her brain as she took in the reactions of so many who had heard what her sister had said. Yeah, she had heard correctly then. She wanted to make the woman hurt for the order she had given, an order she knew no one would have dared disobey because each and every Moor feared death: and death would have been what they would have had to face if they had failed to comply. Still, it was pathetic, harming a child willingly just to save your own ass. The man deserved... well, she really couldn't think of what the man deserved right now, but it was bad, very very bad.

She turned her focus back to her mother and then to Flynn, taking note of his reactions to all of this: the way he had changed so quickly and landed in front of them, facing the Moor queen and the rest of her people in obvious challenge, daring one of them to try it: it made her momentarily forget about her own rage, especially as she kept her hands on her sister. If they were smart they would all turn around and leave and never, ever, dare to show their faces around here again, or bother Demi at all for that matter, or anyone else. If not... well, someone was likely going to be dead and pretty fast too. Only time would tell how smart they were. For now she kept her hand on her sister, listening to Flynn and then watching as he circled around her and her sister before coming to a stop next to her.

Sicarius hid her face against her sisters side when all hell seemed to break loose: apparently everyone had sensitive hearing - she should have figured such, but she hadn't thought that far when she had honestly answered her sisters question. So, she kept her face hidden, not wanting to see what was likely about to happen, and kept her arms wrapped around her, especially since she had heard Demi's mother demand that Demi come with her: she wasn't leaving her sister's side willingly anytime soon.

-----

The Moor queen took a step back, her fear now too great to hide. That hadn't been the reaction she was expecting at all, far from it in fact. She had thought she would simply show up, make her bargain, and if that had failed to demand Demi comply. She had never expected to be challenged; and it was a challenge she nor her people could win. Ordering them to die for her was pointless too, it would only delay things, or likely put her in harms way. She valued herself far too much to risk that any further. No, the damage here was done, and it was time to end this. Maybe she could figure something else out in secret to keep the title of queen, a way that no longer involved Demi.

In a final attempt to save face she squared her shoulders and looked past Flynn and his protective actions to Demi. "Fine, we'll leave. But, know this. You're no longer welcome in our home, Demitria. Nor, are you considered my child anymore. I want nothing to do with you from here on out. If I catch you near my home, you will die." With that said she turned, more than ready to leave as fast as possible, as were the guards who likewise knew they couldn't take on Flynn, or likely anyone in the room.

Oh, how he wanted her to do something stupid in that moment. He really, truely did. He just needed a reason to do it; to leap and rip her face off. It would be sweet, sweet victory. They could all attack him at once and he'd never even notice; not even be bothered to care. It would have been perfect. Instead, the coward's way out; turning tail and running. Too bad; but he'd have to leave it at that; much as he didn't want to. War with them... wasn't even a war really, but not on the agenda today. Sad.

"Do not return. Your people will leave our lands. Banishment is the judgment for your crimes."

Seriously to good for them. Far too good. He could just... slip away... ambush... a bloody hallway no one would bother to investigate... so easy...

Instead he just moved to brush against Demi's hand; a soft growl that was almost a purr rumbled in his chest, he was almost begging her for permission to do it; he had to much control over himself to snap like that, but he wanted to so badly. Just... maul them all, let the one his men had dragged off already be the messenger to the rest of the Moors that they would be unwise to return to Daoine lands for any reason at all. Yes... lovely thoughts.

Demi listened carefully to her mothers words and another show of true emotion showed on her face as she smiled: it was the smile of someone who had finally become free. Her mother, despite the words likely only being spoken in anger, had just given her a free pass to avoiding ever having to worry about her forcing her to be queen: or Demi having to deal with her at all or the people she sent to her. In a room full of witnesses she had denounced her as her child, and that automatically made her mother unable to control her - even if Demi could still become queen in other ways if she wanted. No matter how many times her mother claimed she wasn't her child she was, and blood trumped all. However, she had no urge in ruling a bunch of lowly cowards who harmed children instead of facing death or punishment, so she didn't voice it.

She watched her mother turn and walk away, her people joining her, before feeling Flynn brush up against her hand. Her fingers lightly moved through his fur, the simple touch causing her to calm the rest of the way. Despite how much she wanted to tell him to just do it, or even kill them all herself, she knew it wasn't worth it in the end. Softly she spoke, "Their destruction will come at their own hands soon enough. She has days left as queen, I double checked the calender. Soon there will be unrest and no ruler, and they'll collapse from the inside out and destroy themselves in the process. It will be slow, and it will be painful." It was all true of course; civil wars would start, blood would be shed, and the last remaining Moors would likely destroy themselves in their rush to want power and position. In the end the whole problem would solve itself and all without them having to get their hands covered in blood.

She looked from Flynn to her little sister, looking her over once more for injuries. While a broken tail was bad she knew the Moors could have done so much worse - likely the fact that the child was a Malkavian and therefore her mind was a bad place to try and be had kept her from being mind fucked into oblivion by them. Still, she worried. "You need food, and likely sleep... if they kept you in one of those cages I'm sure you didn't sleep, and I'm very sure you weren't given food." Plus, it would be enough excuse to leave the room - her sister wasn't leaving her side, of that much she was sure, and her sister needed care after such a horrible ordeal... and well, Demi wanted to avoid being around large crowds of people until she got her own emotions in check, especially since Flynn and Sic were the only two people keeping her sane right now and keeping her from attacking her mother and slaughtering her.

The Moor queen paused at Demitria's words, almost ready to turn around and address what she had said. Almost. But, she valued her life a little too much to give in to the words that were absolutely true and which predicted the likely fate of the Moor people. They would tear each other apart fighting over a new leader to take over, and given how few of them were left it would likely end all of them..

Still, she planned on being gone by the time that happened. So, as long as none of her or her people were stopped they all but left the building as quickly as possible; while avoiding as many people as possible.

-----

Sicarius finally stopped hiding her face in Demi's side and peered around, noticing that Demi's mother, or what had been her mother before the woman disowned her, leaving with all of her people in tow. She stuck her tongue out at them for a moment, only showing more of her child-like nature before she put her tongue back into her mouth and peered around Demi to Flynn curiously.

She looked from Flynn to Demi and then back again, brows furrowed as she began to put two and two together. She knew her sister was a Malkavian, it was how they were related after all, and it gave her some insight into her sisters thoughts: at least enough to notice that it wasn't just her keeping her sister calm right now: it was also the male beside her who she kept having an odd "mine" thought about. She wasn't about to ask, she was sure she didn't want to rack her brain trying to think about all of it. So instead she focused back on her sister and nodded, her stomach grumbling softly at the mention of food. "It was dark and cold, and there was no food.... only bugs, and bugs don't taste good."