Chapter Text
The setting sun bathed the clear sky in shade of orange and yellow, the light which shone through the bedroom windows of the recently crowned Queen Orla who was currently sat at her dressing table while her auburn brown hair was being brushed by her best friend and Lady-in-waiting Sahar.
As she watched Sahar brush her hair through the mirror as she let out a sigh. “Still nervous about it then.” Sahar asked softly while keeping focus on the task at hand. “Yeah.” was the only thing that Orla replied with as she was currently thinking a lot about the upcoming event.
“At least you know who some of the men are, and regardless there are 9 of them so you're bound to get along with at least one of them” a friendly and crisp voice came from the lady standing guard by the door. Orla looked over at her personal body guard from the corners of her eye as she responded with “You’re right about that Blair.”
“Though I don’t blame you for being somewhat unsure of the men who are going to be your consorts as you had no choice in who was picked, anyone would be a bit anxious about that.” Blair would add on with sympathy for the Queen's situation.
Sahar would add in with a “Anyway, if you decided you don’t like one you aren't obligated to keep them as a consort.” just as she placed the hair brush down onto the dressing table. “Mmm, thank you two I feel a bit better about the consort ceremony.” Orla expressing her gratitude for her two friends' reassurances.
The room would go quiet for a moment as Orla thought back to the meeting between her, Lord Heddwyn who was her late fathers and now her own adviser, The Noble Council & the Religious Council. That long meeting that happened all caused because she to ask if it was possible for her to have a set of her own consorts like her ancestors once did.
Orla vividly remembers the chatter between those within the meeting, and how Lord Heddwyn announced that: she would be allowed to have a set of consorts with no fuss from any of them, but only if a man was selected from the top noble families of each province was selected and she would ask for no more consorts later on.
Snapping back to present she would say “Though if I’m honest I’m more just irritated at the whole circumstances of me being allowed to have consorts, then the men who wore chosen.” even if this was something she had admitted to the pair a few times before in the past.
“I really should have stood my ground and pushed back more during that meeting back then.” Orla lamented, with Blair telling her reassuringly “You had just been crowned Queen and your fathers death was still fresh, so don’t blame yourself for not acting like your usual self.”
Sahar agreeing with Blair would add on with “It’s not like you had much room to argue anyway, as you had to accept the set terms for them not to fuss. Plus the part about the men being from each of the top noble families just makes sense anyway.”
“I know, You're both right but why did I let Lord Heddwyn pick who specifically would be my consorts.” Orla said before letting out a groan of frustration. “I trust that he’s made a good selection, and the fact that some of them men choose are ones you know, tells me he is attempting to pick from people you have shown a liking for.” Sahar expressed her trust in Lord Heddwyn.
“Well yeah, but Lord Heddwyn is your father, so-” Blair started to question just before she would be cut off by Sahar rebutting with “Yes he may be my father but, I value Orla’s happiness and well being more than siding with him.”
Blair quickly realizing she had hit a nerve swiftly apologized, but before anymore could be said a giggle from Orla would be heard before she said “I’m definitely feeling better about the consorts now.” The duo of Sahar and Blair would be a bit perplexed by the laughter before accepting that at some point they did something to amuse their friend.
“Anyway, I’m feeling a lot less anxious now, and we really should start to make our way over to the meeting room for the ceremony.” Orla said as she composed herself with her ink black eyes meeting with Sahar’s eyes in the mirror. Sahar would pick up the crown from the dressing table and then place it on the head of the Queen.
Now ready for the consort ceremony Orla would stand, as Blair opened the door for her as she exited the room, Sahar then grabbing the door to let Blair follow the Queen just before she would then gently close the door and then quickly catch up to follow the other two down the hall.
Within the room in which the consort ceremony would soon take place almost all of those men who would become consorts not long from now wore there, with them spread around said room. A group of four of the men were chatting with one another, a few of the men were already sitting in place waiting, then one was just walking around the room looking at the decor.
Just then a servant entered the room and said “Queen Orla is on her way, if you would all take your assigned places now.” and so those who were not already sat down would make their way over to their seats. Just before the servant would be too worried about the missing man he would enter the room much to the servants relief.
With everyone of the men accounted for, the servant exited the room only to see the Queen, along with her Lady-in-waiting & Body Guard just up the hallway. The servant stood to the side of the door and waited for the trio to make their way over to the room.
When Orla and her friends reached the room she took a deep breath, “Ready?” Blair asked with Orla replying with a confident “Ready as I can be.” just before Blair told the pair of servants that were standing at the doors to open them.
The servant holding the left door open would then announce to the occupants of the room "Sovereign Knight of her Majesty Orla, Blair Solomon.” Who with her name announced would enter first and take her place to the left of where Orla would be seated.
Next to enter as the servant announced “Lady Sahar Heddwyn, Lady-in-waiting to her Majesty Orla.” who took her place on the right side and across from where Blair was now standing.
Lastly the servant then announced “Her Majesty Queen Orla of the Viola-Carmine Dynasty.” and so with her title said she entered the room, her golden wings half open like she had been taught to do when entering as a Queen must make her presence known.
As she then took her seat her golden and black tail elegantly curled itself into place as her wings dramatically stretched out fully before returning to rest, the fact that she was sat on seat atop a platform already guided the occupant attention but the moments she had just done fully caught their gazes.
Orla looked at the row of men sitting across from the room in front of her, some faces were familiar, and those who were not she had a vague idea of who they wore based on what she had been told about them before this moment.
“Now let the ceremony begin, we will start from Right to Left.” Orla said in a stern voice before she would ask Sahar “If you could please.” as she handed over a list of the men's titles in order to Sahar who carefully took it from her hands.
Sahar would glance at the list for only a second before she would say “Count Oswin Rathnati of the Sugilite Province, please approach the steps.” and so the man from the far right stood up. This man was someone familiar to the 3 ladies as he was often at royal events with his family.
As Oswin walked over to the set spot he adjusted the golden framed sunglasses he still had on. As he took his place in front of the platform where Orla sat she took note of what he wore: golden jewelry, the large pure white fur mantle that obscured his figure, the purple trousers and high collar dark purple top.
Orla quickly thought back to the times she had interacted with Oswin, and while he seemed charming from initial introduction she quickly learned that he was a tricky one, always kissing up to those more powerful while often lying through his teeth to get what he wanted. She wondered to herself whether Lord Heddwyn noticed this about Oswin or not.
Oswin would bow down, dark purple wings folded and tail curled, as a bit of his light blonde hair fell from where it was tucked behind his ear. “It’s good to see you again my dear.” Oswin said in a somewhat hushed voice towards the Queen in front of him.
Not lingering on her own thoughts for two long she would ask him what she would ask all of them "Count Oswin Rathnati as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.”. “Yes.” Oswin swiftly answered. As Oswin replied Sahar noticed the end of his tale twitch slightly when he gave his answer.
“Then, take a sip from this drink.” Orla instructed as she took a cup on the desk to the side of her, Oswin approached, took the cup and drank from it. “Quite a nice flavor.” Oswin quietly said as he locked eyes with the queen. Orla was surprised that he said the drink was pleasant as it’s a very bitter mead, but she didn’t have time to ponder if he genuinely liked the drink or was just lying to appease her.
“You can return to your seat now” Orla whispered to Oswin with him just smiling as he gave her the cup back, took a step away from her before turning around and going back to his seat. Oswin would push his glasses back up, as his posture and smile would stay polite though who could say when his eyes are obfuscated.
Sahar would then call up the next men with “Count Kane Muri of the Lapis Province, please approach the steps.” with the man whose name was called standing up even before his last name was said. Kane was one of the men before her that she had never met beforehand, but when he was selected to be a consort she was quickly made aware of his popularity.
Even before he had been called up Orla had noticed a few things about his appearance, including that one of his blue horns was broken and instead of covering with a decorated horn cover he instead left it for all to see. As he stood up it was made very clear that the statement that he had a good looking body wore not mere exaggeration.
As Kane approached Orla took note of his outfit, it was all shade of blue form fitting clothing with silver jewelry that brought attention to his toned physique, thought he wore a pair of form fitting bottoms he had wore a pair of in style baggy trousers made out of Wyrm Shed on top of the form fitting pair.
Orla herself could not deny the fact that Kane was quite good looking, and it was clear that he knew as such as well since he was obviously leaning into that fact with his clothing alone. Unfortunately Orla had been told of gossip about him being a very self, even if she was not one to listen to such rumors she had to remind herself not to get charmed by appearances alone.
Kane would take his place bowing down to Orla, his blue and silver wings only half folded as he looked right at her with his peacock blue eyes. Orla keeping eye contact would then ask him “Count Kane Muri as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.” Kane would reply “Yes, my love~.” in an almost melodic tone.
Before she could say anything Kane stood up without breaking his eye contact, quickly going with this Orla would hand an untouched cup as she told him “take only a sip.” As Kane took the cup he purposely brushed Orla’s hand before then taking a quick sip from the drink. The bitterness of the drink caused Kane to lose his composure for a small moment as his face scrunched up, before he would then put the cup down as his gaze returned to the Queen.
Orla who had to keep herself from laughing at the face Kane pulled put on a soft smile as she quietly told him “you may return to your seat.” Kane would for only a few seconds step closer to Orla before he would swiftly turn away and take his seat, this action would puzzle her and she wondered if he was going to say something else and just chose not to.
Sahar would look over at her friend waiting for her to give her a signal that she was ready to continue. It would only be a couple of seconds for Orla to notice and give a nod. With confirmation to continue Sahar called the 3rd man up “Count Dion Kemp of the Coral Province, please approach the steps.”
With his name called Dion moved from his chair and made his way over to the designated spot. Orla did notice beforehand that this man was somewhat on dainty side with him not being much taller then Sahar who herself was on the shorter end.
Now that Dion was standing up Orla got a better look at his outfit, the mix of silver accessories with orange and purple coral beaded jewelry paired well with his over mostly light orange and vermilion outfit, But most notably his top that was clearly made of Wyrm Shed, had a deep plunge neckline making no part of his torso covered up at all.
Orla did notice his top before Dion had stood up and she found his choice to wear a top still made his torso visible a bold choice especially for this ceremony, she guessed that he most likely chose such an item to try to get her attention, and well it did sort work as it was not hard to miss.
When Dion got to in front of Orla he bowed down, with his light vermilion wings folded and tail curled to his side as his head and eyes looked at the floor. Orla then asked him “Count Dion Kemp as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities and r…” but before she could say the last word Dion responded in a slightly too eager tone “Yes, whatever you need.”
Orla choosing not to bother with telling him off for interrupting her, instead chose to just move on as she told him “Then, take a sip of this.” holding out a cup with the mead in it. Dion would stand up and move closer to the Queen as he took the drink from her and drank it all in one gulp.
Dion would wince from the flavor for a moment before looking at Orla and whispering to her “I’d like to drink whatever juices you make.” It took a second for Orla to process what he just implied, and all she could think was “did he really just say that, we’ve only just met and have yet to spend any time together, yet he just asked for intercourse.”
While what Dion said made Orla a little flustered it was more that she was caught off by such a comment and then it was being anything she found particularly interesting to her. Dion on the other hand placed the now empty cup on the small table before walking back over to his seat, as he got a few looks from others within the room.
Orla took a deep breath to recompose herself, before nodding to Sahar to call up the next name, and so Sahar called out “Vice-count Cadell Ward of the Cinnabar House, please approach the steps.” The man that stood when his name was said, only started to move towards Orla when Sahar said to approach.
Orla thought that the style of his outfit was familiar, it was the same style of the uniform for the royal army, though his outfit had very different colours, the sash he wore did not have the royal army’s crest on it. Most notably thought was the few bits of armor he wore, a pair of fore-arm guards and a shoulder piece on his right shoulder, all of which wore in the style of armor worn by the ruling clan of the Garnet Province.
It took a moment longer for Orla to remember that she knew the name Cadell and that she had met him before, though it was a long time ago back when both were children and he was quite different now. From what she remembers Cadell was shy, like a nervous deer but before her was someone who held himself with stoicism.
The thing that did make Orla wonder how Cadell had been since they had last seen each other was a scar down the right side of his face, she was happy to see that it wasn't so bad as to have his eye out or at least she hoped that was the case.
Now at the steps in front of where Orla was sitting, Cadell like those before would bow down to the Queen but the way he moved was much more swift and felt like it had been practiced to perfection. It was then that Orla was able to see how damaged his wings were with many scars and small cuts though the red webbing.
Knowing now was not the time to ask, Orla just continued on like usual asking “Vice-count Cadell Ward as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.” with Cadell awning in clear “Yes, your majesty.” while staging bowed.
“Then rise, and take a sip of this drink.” Orla told him softly, with Cadell standing and taking the few steps to take the cup from Orla’s hand. As he took a sip from the cup Orla paid attention to his reaction. Initially it seemed he wasn't bothered by the bitterness of the drink but as he handed the cup back, It was then she caught the anger in his eye as it was also then she released that his right eye was a false glass eye.
Orla dismissing the spiteful look as simply him being upset about having to drink something unpleasant told him “you may return to your seat.” Cadell swiftly turned away and walked back to his seat, and once he sat he glared at her with a hateful look. Blair had noticed his reaction and lightly gestured to Orla if she should change positions just in case, Orla subtly waved her down as she didn’t believe he was actually any course for concern.
Sahar then call up the next of the men with a clear “Count Fergal Paige of the Emerald Province, please approach the steps.” The man who stood up was of the average height 7ft 2In thought his dark green horns added about 2 inches to his height. Orla could swear the name was familiar but she could not remember wear form and if she is being honest with herself Fergal was the least visually appealing to her out of the lot.
As he approached Orla did take note of his appearance like she did with the men before him, his outfit was pretty up to date with the current trends of men's fashion with his outfit consisting of: a pale green high-nick sleeveless shirt, the arm covers made of Wyrm Shed with a long finger loop, the dark green baggy trousers, the silver Torch & the bright green belt shash placed in the middle.
When Fergal went to the steps in front of Orla she did notice that he had a few piercings, including a long Helix piercing on his left ear, a piercing on his right eyebrow and a horseshoe nose ring on his septum. As he bowed down the long braid his hair fell forward over his shoulder, and with Fergal ready Orla asked “Count Fergal Paige as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.”
A moment of quiet that went on a bit too long before Fergal replied with “Yes, of course.” in a voice that had an undertone of snark to it. Orla took this tone as just him being impatient as she continued on with the ceremony telling him calmly “Then take a sip from this cup.”
Fergal rose from the bow and walked up the steps to Orla and the cup she was holding for him, He then took the cup from her hand and sniffed the drink with his nose scrunched up at the smell before he took a sip of the drink. His whole face scrunching at the bitter flavor as he passed the cup back to Orla.
Just as Orla thought this was another part gone by without any comments, Fergal bluntly told her “If you're willing to serve such a horrid drink to your consorts, I worry about future meetings." His tone of voice made it clear to her that he took the bad teasing drink as a personal offence.
“In that case You're free to leave and someone else can take your place.” Orla whispered to him in a firm tone. Fergal’s eyes narrowed, before he spun around and walked back to his seat. Orla found it a bit amusing that while given permission to leave and let someone else take his spot he chose to sit and sulk.
Orla thought back to the night before this ceremony, when she was picking out what drink to have them all take a sip off as a part of the ceremony. She had deliberately chosen something that was bitter, as a quick little test of character for all the men that wore to be her consort. So far this choice was a good one as it had already given her a small insight on each of her soon to be consorts.
Sahar called up the next man “Count Aydin Dáire of the Golden Province please approach the steps.” which broke Orla from her thoughts as that name was very familiar. Aydin Dáire was someone who Orla was quite familiar with, in fact out of all the men in front of her right now he was the one she knew the most.
Orla was happy to see a familiar and friendly face among the bunch, in fact she was not at all surprised when she learned Aydin was chosen as a consort considering he is part of one of the most wealthy and powerful families within the kingdom, outside of the royal family itself.
Aydin wore a familiar outfit made up of a black dress pieces & arm covers made out of Wyrm Shed, vibrant blue baggy trousers, a pair of purple shoes, a matching purple sash with a golden pattern, and many golden pieces of jewelry that wore encrusted with sapphires and emeralds.
The golden jewelry matched his golden horns and wigs, but Orla was less caught up in his many shining accessories but rather the familiar face that was framed by long white hair. As Aydin approached Orla noticed he was wearing a golden circlet upon his head, which she found amusingly presumptuous of him to be wearing something so crown-like at this moment.
Now at the steps in front of her, Aydin looked at Orla with a friendly smile before kneeling down to a bow. Aydin in place Orla asked him “Count Aydin Dáire as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.” Aydin looked up, agreeing with “Yes, as long as you wish for it.”
With those words said Orla would pick up one of the untouched cups before she said “then take a sip of the drink from this cup.” Aydin would rise from the bow, take a few steps up to Orla where he would carefully take the cup from her hand.
Aydin took a sip of the bitter drink, mildly repulsed by the flavor but letting out a quite little laugh to try and not let himself get caught up in the bitterness of the drink. As he handed the cup back to Orla he quietly asked her "You're not cheeping out on us today, are you?.”
There it was the part of Aydin that always gave Orla pause, his spoiled attitude. It was no surprise that someone who grew up with such wealth would be a bit greedy, and while Aydin was otherwise a nice person he constant need for luxury and comfort always came off as inconsiderate to her.
Orla would respond to the question with “Everything in this ceremony was picked for a reason.” Aydin catching on to what she was saying would reply with “Ah, well take care in future you don’t want the consorts thinking you're cheeping out on them.”
Then with a playful smile on his face Aydin would step back from Orla and then turn around as he then walked back over to the line up of men and took his place in his chair. Orla would look at the set of men before her, there were now only three left, and only one of them she had met before.
With a wave of Orla’s hand Sahar called up the next man “Count Grant Sorcha of the Amber Province please approach the steps.” The man whose name was called was someone Orla was mildly familiar with, the first thing anyone would notice about him is that he was very tall, easily in the upper 7ft range,
While Grant’s solid build easily caught the attention of others he was actually fairly down to earth looking compared to the rest of the men in the room. He had curly dark ginger hair which his short light brown horns could’ve easily gotten lost in, as his honey orange eyes were framed by brown glasses.
Taking a look at him Orla saw that his outfit was made up of a matching pair of dark brown jacket and trousers, paired with a light brown leather belt, and an orange base sash that had a golden Wyrm Shed over sash that also went up over his left shoulder. He also lacked jewelry, with the only accessory he had on was the glasses necklace that wore made of a string of amber.
Reaching the steps in front of Orla, Grant would bow down with his light brown & honey orange tail rested on the fool. “Good to see you again, Prin…Queen Orla.” Grant would say almost slipping up on Orla’s title.
“And the same to you.” Orla would respond quietly before then asking aloud “Count Grant Sorcha as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.” “Yes, your majesty.” Grant answered as he looked up at her.
With a cup already in hand she told him “then take a sip from this drink.” Grant would stand up and take the cup from Orla without going up the few steps as he was able to reach from where he stood.
Grant then took a sip of the bitter drink, before going quiet for a moment to then ask “Is this Sunrise Mead from the Emerald Province?” with Orla quickly responding “Yes it is.” Grant replying with “As I thought, I do recommend trying it with some lime juice mixed in.” as he handed the cup back to Orla.
With their small conversion over Grant would politely bow his head to Orla before turning around and strolling back to his chair in between Aydin and the next man who was about to be called up and sitting down.
Now with just two more to go Orla hoped that the ceremony would go on as swiftly as the rest had been, and like she had before Sahar out the next name “Count Idris Sorcha of the Aquamarine Province please approach the steps.” but no one stood up.
Sahar once again said out aloud “Count Idris Sorcha of the Aquamarine Province please approach the steps.” This time with his name being said again and the aid of Grant nudging him lightly, Idris was jolted awake as he said in a drowsy tone “yes?” Sahar sighs before repairing herself “Please approach the steps.”
Idris then stood up as he replied with a “oh. yes, sorry." This led to murmuring and hushed laughter from a few of the other men who wore presents. Orla quickly shushed the room as she wondered to herself how long Idris had been asleep through the ceremony so far.
As Idris approached Orla did notice his more casual outfit with the high neck sleeveless top, the dark blue trousers that wore left straight cut instead of being bound at the ends of the legs to make them the popular baggy style, the very simple pair of slip on shoes, along with the simple light blue shawl.
The only part of the outfit Idris had on that was not simple was the light turquoise sash with a silver parallel pattern down running across it, and the silver brooch that he had pinned on to his shirt
As Idris got to the steps in front of Orla she took note of his celeste blue and dark teal wings and tale that almost trailed behind him, luckily it seemed that Idris must have been awake long enough to see what one of the other men did as he then bowed down at the steps in front of Orla.
Orla would ask Idris what she had asked the rest of the men “Count Idris Aisling as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.” Idris with a drowsy tone answered “Yes, of course I do…” as he did his best to hold back a yawn.
Trying her best not to giggle at the endearing moment she moved her focus to the next part of the ceremony, as she told Idris “Then stand up and take a sip of this drink.” to which Idris did as he took the cup from Orla’s hand and took a small sip from the bitter drink.
The horribly bitter flavor almost caused Idris to spit it back out but instead he did his best to just gulp down as he tried to calmly hand the cup back to Orla, which was placed back on the table to the side of them. Idris was definitely fully away now that he had to drink something so bitter.
With that over and done with, Idris would quickly ask “This whole thing is not going to go on too late is it.?” with Orla setting his concern as she replied telling him “no, only one more to go, then the meal and that's it.” “I see, thank you.” Idris would reply softly as his golden eyelashes fluttered.
Idris would then softly smile at Orla before turning around, walking down the few steps and making his way back over to his seat, which he promptly got comfortable in as he sat up straight now that he was awake for the time being.
“Just one more to go now.” Orla thought to herself as Sahar called out to the last man with “Count Thane Ceilan of the Morganite Province please approach the steps.” and with his name called Thane quickly stood up though as he walked past the table he was sitting his foot hit one of the legs cursing him to take a pause for a moment as he re-balanced himself.
Orla had noticed that this man was wearing a quite out of fashion outfit since he had walked into the room, as he wore a rouge short sleeved shirt, boot cut trousers, a cropped peplos made of Wyrm Shed, and a wide lavender sash with a fringe on the end.
Even Thane’s accessories were a bit outdated as he wore a pair of simple silver pins on the shoulder parts of the peplos, thick woven beaded bracelet, as well as a layered necklace of morganite beads. In all honesty this fashion style was like that you would see of the elderly who dressed in the style they wore more familiar with.
As Thane continued to walk over to Orla she noticed that his pink horns wore dull like they had not beep polished in a while, which something that even children knew was important so Orla found it odd that he was lacking such a basic form of self care.
Now that Thane was before her Orla asked for the final time “Count Thane Cailean as one of the men chosen to be my consort, do you accept this role with all of its responsibilities, and rules.” Thane would respond with a shaky “emm…Yes your Highness.” before pausing for a moment to then ask “and…what are the responsibilities, and rules?”
What Thane just asked earned a quiet chuckle from a few of the other men, as Orla did make sure that when they wore chosen they had received a letter of what was expected of them as well as all having Lord Heddwyn briefing them on what they would be agreeing to before the ceremony.
Orla would point this out as she asked “Were you not told before this ceremony?” Thane thought for a moment before he would reply with “Oh, yes. Sorry.” This prompted a sigh from Orla as she would tell him “then stand up and take a sip from this drink.” then explaining “this act will cement your role as a consort.”
Thane lightly took a few steps up to Orla as he then received the last untouched cup from Orla’s hand, as he then gulped before taking a sip with eye closed as he tried his best to ignore the bitter taste of the mead. Once the drink had gone down he breathed out loudly as he held the cup out, to which Orla took and placed back to the side table.
With that done Thane would ask “That is a very bitter drink, you sure it is not out of date?” with Orla explaining “No, that is just how it tastes.” Thane then questioned her with “Are you sure about that?” Orla would just reply with a plain “Yes, I’m sure.” with Thane then shrugging his shoulders.
Theme would turn around, walk down the steps and make his way back over to his seat left of all the other consorts, this time he did take note to be careful of the table leg though as he did so he almost tripped over his own feet anyway.
Now that each of the men before her had agreed to their new role of consort Orla would have to make some kind of speech before they could all move on to the meal. Orla was never any good at speeches and while she, Sahar and Blair did workshop some ideas they never did land on proper speech so Orla chose to just make it up.
Orla stood from her chair as she spoke to those in front of her telling them:
“All of you were chosen specifically to be a consort. You have now agreed to this new role and whatever expectations you must fulfill. Do remember that while you live here within the castle as a consort your life will not just be fun and luxuries, as there are rules You're expected to follow, and do not think it easy to gain favor to evade discipline. Even so I’m an understanding and forgiving person, but don't mistake that for weakness or you will swiftly find yourself a disappointment to your clans. Though I expect all of you to know better and that our future day together will be good.”
With that said Orla looked over to Sahar to gauge what she thought of the little speech, with Sahar just doing a light head sway side to side as to communicate that she thought it was good but could be better,
It was then Orla looked over at the line up of men, and the reactions were mixed as some wore calm, others had a polite smile, a few seemed unsure but tried to play it off as okay, and a couple others seemed irritated.
Orla sat back in her chair as Sahar got the servants organised before they left to bring in the dinner as one of the servants took away all the cups and another moved the table from the side of Orla to in front of her for her food to be placed.
Form there the meal started and when on with not much bother, and while eating Orla observe a few things including: Kane teasing Dion about his petite stature and if he could even eat all the food on his plate, then followed by Kane spending the rest of the meal talking about himself as Dion halfheartedly asked him the odd question, as Dion listened in.
Cadell seemed to keep to himself throughout the whole meal as he focused on the food and sat quietly when done eating. Fergal on the other hand seemed to be muting a lot to himself while Aydin and Grant chatted on with each other.
Idris would seem to almost doze off a few times but would quickly catch himself as he would shake his head to try and keep himself properly awake. Then next to him Thane was often stopping to see how others were eating their food as he looked very unsure of himself.
As soon as the meal was over Orla felt tiered and excused herself as she made her way back over to her bedroom with only Blair in tow as Sahar stayed back to overlook the cleaning up of the meeting room. It was a fair bit early for her to go to bed so she would quietly read for the next hour before the exhaustion would set in, so she would change into her sleep were and go to bed for the night.