golden ribbons, porcelain dishes ; pafp

Arthur Morgan · Jul 15th 2019

^{this is a wip at the moment but this thread will be a mid evil, royalty type thread with a bxb romance}

^{this will have war, heart break,treachery , bloodshed, torture, romance & more! this plot will center around a king & a knight;}

^{a few ideas for the lose plot is that king harlem is currently in a bitter feud with a neighboring country, threats of war & blood shed is all that has been brought to king harlem’s table and he isn’t sure what to do. everything that he’s provided has been shot down, burned to the ground. along with that, there have been people plotting behind his back to try and remove him from his throne.}

^{the king feels as though he can’t talk to anyone, fearing that they are spying on him or betraying him; the only person he confides in is his loyal knight; who he’s had his eye on for a few years now. considering harlem has never been happy with his current marriage, having never truly loving her simply being with her for political reasons & producing an heir.}

^{the concept of this thread is about how king harlem is on the brick of war, having his throne taken from him through lies & traitors, dealing with an unhappy marriage, a court that doesn’t listen, invaders from far away lands. like i said i haven’t written up the whole plot yet because i’m not sure how without it sounding weird. i’ll establish more soon don’t sorry}

rules

the muses

“mini” plot ideas

^{*honestly i say these are mini plots but really these are gonna be centered in the main plot; i just didn’t know how to write out this whole plot without it being weird so i’m just writing it in sections lmao*

harlem & his wife are constantly fighting; they don’t really love each other, it was simply for political stature, producing an heir & for his wife she simply wanted power. at some point, i want harlem’s wife to try and kill him; if she kills her husband, their oldest son will be appointed the new king & she will remain in power as the kings mother (which is still a highly powerful position) & she’s also very manipulative when it comes to her eldest son & in turn is basically controlling the kingdom through her son. anyway, i want king harlem to get pretty sick but not die from her attempt to kill her husband; this is a point where your character & mine can begin to bond more, your character wouldn’t want to leave his kings side since his own wife tired to kill him.

by the time harlem’s wife is taken away and executed for trying to kill the king; harlem doesn't really grieve the lost of his wife. he puts on a show for his children & the public, but honestly it frees him from the unhappy marriage he was bound too. (i would like the idea of his wife never liking the knight, always being rude towards him & ordering him to do servant things for her when her husband isn’t around. it might be a plotting point for our two characters is if harlem finds his wife being cruel towards the knight & ends up defending him and basically calling out his wife?) but anyway, since harlem isn’t married anymore & his free of marriage, this might be a point when he tries to flirt with the knight (it’s up to you what kind of reaction he has; disgust, confusion, enjoyment; whatever you want!); side note, at the point where these two are actually “together” i like the idea of harlem giving the knight some kind of authority and or turning him into a lord? idk i saw a picture on tumblr that have me an idea

trust me

imagine the knight kneeling in front of his king, but harlem puts a finger underneath his chin and makes him look up at him and says his name & has him stand up & basically says “you don’t have to kneel for anyone anymore” and the knight is confused but harlem just kisses the knight
“i’ll give you a crown and a ring to match”
i got the idea from this; click

another idea could be the knight gets injured at some point; how he gets injured is up to you (protecting the king, protecting a citizen from being robbed, a fight between another knight or whatever!) and he gets hurt pretty bad & harlem basically allows the knight to stay within the castle & heal. this would be out of the ordinary of harlem to do something for a simple knight, but not many question him about it. maybe a few nobles grow a pair and try to humiliate the king, questioning his intentions with the knight & so forth but harlem just bites their heads off. his wife could probably poke at him about it, maybe even go and visit the knight & intimidate him (she could have a feeling that harlem has hidden feelings for the knight and could threaten to harm the king if he didn’t stay away from her husband; which when the harlem actually gets hurt the knight could feel responsible about it but harlem tells him it’s not his fault.)}

the kingdom

king harlem

^{name & origin harlem peach van royce | the origin of his name isn’t for certain, but he was named after his father, the previous king of abireniel. harlem is third in his name, as he grandfather was also named harlem. harlem will never understand his mother’s reasons, but she managed to get her way & give him a middle name of peach.
-nicknames; king harlem, king of kings, protector of realm abireniel, your grace, your majesty, daddy(dove & callisto), peach, king peach(behind his back) peachy, royce; whatever nickname gavin wishes to call him
age forty six years old
gender cisgender male
sexuality bisexual; while harlem is closeted by his own sexuality, he’s never denied the attraction of other males.
position king of abireniel

personality traits; humble, guarded, crude, strategic thinker, clever, cunning, respectable, scary, kind, honorable, loving, peaceful, cutthroat and to the point, bluntly honest, intimidation, hotheaded
summary of personality;
harlem is scary guy, no doubt about it but he’s only scary when needed be. although his presence alone could make a lion shake in fear, harlem is a mellow & kind hearted man who wishes nothing but good fortunes upon his kingdom. while he is a strategic thinker, harlem does tend to wonder to much about how others think about him & takes people’s harsh words to heart sometimes, but he’s learned to move past it over the years. crude and rather crash, harlem doesn’t sugar coat what he’s thinking no matter how rude or uncomfortable it might be. he has no time whether or not someone will find himself offensive, normally what he says is true and honest; but he could learn to be a little more sensitive.
-likes;
sweets, harlem could be considered addictive to sweets. there isn’t a time when he isn’t eating them, surprisingly he hasn’t had any issues from having such a diet of pastries & desserts. any form of crème brûlée or chocolate croissants seem to be the king’s absolute favorite type of sweet.
nature, the deadly silence of the woods, soft sounds of waves rolling up along the sandy shores. birds chirping and the devilish crackle of coyotes, harlem would spend all of his time out in mother nature, to be away from the company of lords & ladies that bicker to what it seems to be an eternity. when the king is no longer needed, harlem goes out & sits at the same spot he always spends time at; along the edges of a smallish size lake that he would consider to be far more precious then any gem he owns.
animals,harlem has a massive soft soft for anything with feathers, hooves or paws. the king sees these creatures as pure beings, innocent compared to humans. most of his children own a pet, wether is he a horse, a hound, a bird or some form of exotic creature. the walls within the kingdom are always busy but the assortment of animals that live within it also contributed to the madness. currently, harlem owns two bullmastiffs that he’s named andromeda & minerva. besides his two hounds he owns a black spotted (Knabstrupper) stallion he’s named magnus.
cooking/painting/writing, very much an artistic person, harlem loves to cook & paint the most. he started painting when he was only six years old and has advanced his skills for over 40 years, it’s a form of relaxation & stress relief. besides that, cooking is another skill he’s developed over the years; while he is king & doesn’t have to cook his own meals; rather it’s tradition that he doesn’t; harlem has been known to be seen within the kitchen, creating something new that many people do enjoy.
-dislike
the queen, on his list of dislikes, his own wife is on the top of it. they’ve never liked each other, not even when they were children. being married to such a vile woman made his heart turn to stone, harlem didn’t wish to let himself get hurt by florence & allow her to ruin his own kingdom. the queen is known for putting her nose in affairs that do not concern her and tries to assert herself as, well, the king. florence is his own worse enemy, the marriage hasn’t never been stable and hatred is what binds the two of them together.
political affairs granted its part of his job as king to handle all political affairs, listen to all the issues that his lords & ladies have to give, but honestly he would rather shove horse shit then having to deal with it. most of the time all that is brought before him is the useless information or the lords are complaining about things that don’t involve him & expect him to solve it.
alcohol, generally speaking harlem doesn’t drink. he finds it be far to bitter for his liking and doesn’t like to have an altered mind. the only way he will drink wine is if it’s a rather sweet.

family; the royal family consists of one queen, two princes & two princesses. all of which he holds dear to his heart, some more then others. harlem could be considered as a great father; a nurturing, loving dad who wants nothing but the absolute best for his babes. while on the other hand, harlem isn’t a very good husband towards his wife. don’t get him wrong, he’s a complete fool for anything romantic & finding true love; but when it comes to his wife, it’s nothing but for political gain.
-status; married, unhappily married. harlem & florence don’t see eye to eye at all, they don’t give each other any form of affection unless it’s in the public’s eye. they were engaged to be engaged, harlem was four years old when his parents & florence’s parents decided the two would wed when they became of age. on his 15 birthday he was married to florence and they’ve been together ever sense and it’s no happily ever after that’s for sure.
infatuation; while harlem isn’t fully invested in the knight just yet, gavin has certainly been brought to the king’s attention. it’s a foreign subject for him, harlem’s never truly brought himself to “crush” on a man before, or fall in love with one. he’s learned to accept his unknown feelings and admit to himself that he has some undefined feelings towards gavin; wether it be just lust or actual love is uncertain. (he does love gavin to a certain extent, but harlem isn’t sure what to do lol)
-children; four children in total, harlem is a proud father of two sons & two daughters. ranging in age between twenty five to twenty, they’ve all achieved so much in their short life, but they’ve made their father absolutely proud of them. although, florence & harlem had seven children in total, but three of them died. one was a stillbirth & the other two died of freak accidents. harlem still misses his forever gone children, but he’s learned to get over the grief. florence was no help as she would blame her own husband for her children’s death, accusing him of being associated with their death but that was soon debunked & florence was punished for speaking ill words towards him.

family

name; florence eve
nicknames; royal bitch (unofficial nickname, behind her back), flower
gender; female
position; queen of abireniel
age; forty two years old
sexuality; heterosexual
personality; vindictive, mellow, cold hearted, motherly, observant, materialistic, manipulative

name; arlo
nicknames;
gender; male
position; oldest prince to queen florence & king harlem, heir to the throne of abireniel
age; twenty five years old
sexuality; heterosexual
personality;

name; bernard
nicknames;
gender; male
position; second oldest prince to queen florence & king harlem,
age; twenty three years old (twins with callisto)
sexuality; bisexual
personality; quiet,

name; callisto
nicknames;
gender; female
position; princess to queen florence & king harlem
age; twenty three years old
sexuality; homosexual
personality; assertive, proud, ambition, adventurous, desire to rule, loving, short fused, protective

name; dove clementine
nicknames; little bird, little dove, clem,
gender; female
position; youngest child & princess to queen florence & king harlem,
age; twenty years old
sexuality; bisexual
personality; sweet, peaceful, quiet, shy, loving, bubbly, stubborn, charismatic

headcanons;
- roughly based off of tyrion lannister(GOT), gemma teller morrow(SOA), jon snow(GOT) & wolverine(LOGAN)
- vegetarian, well harlem will eat chicken & fish but won’t consume anything else.
- wow is this man romantic? isn’t afraid to show his affection to the one he truly loves and will do it all shapes & forms
- as an aroma of rustic cologne, dark chocolate and a misty forest
- often seen wearing darker colors; black, dark grays & blues, brown and occasionally red
- always wears a golden chain around his neck, it once belonged to his deceased, eldest son lincoln}

^[sup]

Sketched Dream · Jul 16th 2019

_{This sounds like a roleplay I have been dying to make. Can I join it? c: Only cause Charlie Hunnam portrayal of King Author (but as a knight of course) would fit perfectly in my head}

Arthur Morgan · Jul 16th 2019

you can totally join it! c: ~~tbh i see it as well lol~~

Sketched Dream · Jul 16th 2019

Probably the picture I'm gonna use more of :)

Sir Gavin Louis

— —

Loyalty — Devotion — Love

Sir Gavin Louis Captain of the Guard

Personality; best known for having a slight temper while sparring with the other knights. Most of the time will grow quiet and cold when he gets in one of his tempers. When he does blow up is when someone has actually injured him during the practices. Usually when he is among squires the monstre is quite livid. Often he wonders who the hell allowed the boys to become squires in the first place. Besides having the personality of a raging bull, he does come off quite charismatic. Often finding a woman or two around his table at dinner, or perhaps when among the villagers. He tends to always draw their attention, what confuses most of the women is his ability to steel himself away from the tempting pleasures. People have yet to see him snogging up a whore in the corner, or having a heated eye for a lass, this is mainly because of his duty to the King and his country. A distracted knight could often mean a dead king. Without a king he would be out of a job, and thus no money to spend on luxurious items.

Likes; His one obsession that many don't know about, is his obsession over dogs. On the farm he owned many dogs, and often trained them to heard the sheep. If one was lucky, they would spot the captain sitting on hay patting the hunting hounds. Coddling them with treats, and talking to them as if they were humans. This site would probably leave you blind, as he would cut your eyes out and feed it to the pigs if he were caught in a weakened moment.

-Books are one of them as well, although he doesn't read the best, he likes to look for the art.

-Sir Gavin's family are known knights, but when it comes down to it, the feel of hard labor on a farm and the quiet fields of wheat would beat having to spend hours upon hours with men. The politics of the kingdom made Gavin bored, so he would often treat himself to hard labor with a trusted family friend on his field.

-By no means is a weak man. Fighting and sparring is one of greatest pleasures, unless it is with a weak squire who cant hold his own against Gavin.

Dislikes;

- The courts. He hates having to stand guard at meetings. Listening to Lords and Ladies talk about their own issues they were having makes him want to rip out his hair.

-He has an odd fear of rats. When he was a boy in the barracks with the other squires he had felt a rat run up his bed along side him. Ever since then, he has a nightly routine of checking every dark corner for them. In order to act normal he says that he checks every crevice for enemies which works as a great excuse.

-And fish. The taste of fish makes his spine shudder with hate.

Preferred Killing Technique; strangling is known to be quite intimate. Nothing beats watching someone's breath leave their body to meet the creator.

this is just a little "fun-fact-sheet" for Gavin :)

Sketched Dream · Jul 17th 2019

Also I forgot about James Dornan who played wonderfully in once upon a time that could work. But its whatever you prefer :)

Arthur Morgan · Jul 17th 2019

oof i love gavin?? but i also love james dornan as a face claim? although it’s up to you which face you want to go with, they are both good choices c;

i’m still working on harlem’s form and i decided to change his face claim (but if you liked the original fc i used i could go back to that one lol)

Sketched Dream · Jul 17th 2019

Hm I might stick with Gavin then! And I saw that you had changed Harlem! I loved the other one, but the new faceclaim fits so well ! And the queen looks amazing! By the way would you like me to play any certain characters, such as lords or ladies so you're not swamped? :)

Arthur Morgan · Jul 17th 2019

Idk i’m on the fence between keeping henry as the face claim or going back with linus roache cause i’ve never used him? ~~i love them both but i’m still debating lmao~~

& thank you!! she’s definitely not going to be a very nice queen that’s for sure; the people call her “royal bitch” behind her back simply because she’s just a materialistic, spoiled asshole who tries to get involved with things that she knows nothing about & really is just a pain in the ass ~~gavin will love her lmao~~

you can totally play lords/ladies if you wish! whatever you feel will work best for the plot, you can do whatever you like c: maybe even a spy that could be playing the role as a servant?

we could develop some more plot ideas along with the thread since i said the main plot is still being fleshed out??

Sketched Dream · Jul 17th 2019

well the fun thing about roleplay is you can always change it up whenever you feel like it! linus roache gives the king a weary, but playful touch to the king. Where as Henry gives it a more kingly serious nature, but I can also see some playfulness. Both are really good :)

And yes! I was hoping that a spy would intrude! Allowing secrets to go back to the enemy, and perhaps even catch the two together that way there is blackmail and rumors. I love when rumors spread!

Other plots could include wars, and I did like the idea of the Knight getting injured, but I also like the idea of the Knight and the King in a very intense moment where the Knight has to escort him away from a riot or fighting. Like a moment of chaos when the people riot against the king for a bit (until the king is able to come up with something to get the peoples trust again) and an attempt at assassination is a beautiful idea.

Involving the wife will also be a blast, cause I like the heartbreak of the knight avoiding the King to save them from their secret like you suggested

Arthur Morgan · Jul 18th 2019

hmm i’ll probably stick with henry then for now c: i can always use linus in another roleplay in the future

oof yes please, i wanted a spy or assassin to appear at some point within the roleplay & the idea of the spy finding out that the two are secretly together definitely will fuel the fire of people wanting to have over thrown (i’m debating on whether if homosexuality would be considered sin within this plot, it gives more room for drama don’t you think?) & maybe even before they are together, the spy could some what find king harlem being rather affectionate towards gavin and tell the queen, which could be how she puts the piece together as to why gavin & harlem are so close.

more then likely war will happen, the opposing side of this war doesn’t really share what they want to harlem; but in reality the reason for this soon to be war is that they want harlem to be thrown from power & have his thrown be ruled by a man who’s been helping the opposing side (this could be one of the traitors within the kingdom, maybe a lord or even a right hand man to harlem? it could be why the opposing side knows so much about their plan so of attack & everything?)

the idea of the knight getting injured i love & maybe he could get injured WHILE helping to escort the king to safety? but i’ll let you decide on what you want to do regarding that, either way the knight shall be injured lmao

yeah the queen isn’t a ray of sun shine at all, i was gonna have her be a real dick towards gavin whenever he’s around & by the time she finds out about her husbands infatuation towards the knight (honestly she wouldn’t really care since the two don’t actually love each other; she just doesn’t want harlem to be happy with anyone else’s or be with anyone else.) she will definitely make the knights world a living hell; and i also like the idea of the knight and king never really doing the common respect thing, like he calls the king “your grace” or “your majesty” type stuff, so maybe while the knight is dealing with the queen blackmailing him, he reverts to doing that and not going to met the king in private as much as they normally do? and the king would begin to be concerned and ask him &

and the knight can’t tell him what’s happening bc the queen will spill their secrets & he doesn’t want to be the one to ruin the marriage between the king & queen as well as causing the people to not love their king anymore so the knight could brush it off and tell the king that they can no longer see each other in private anymore; he could give a cold attitude towards the king to show how serious he is (no matter how much it hurts or how heart broken it causes the knight) and the king in turn will also be super heart broken?? (at this point in the relationship the two of them are pretty damn close & do care for one another, but aren’t fully in a committed relationship but they are so invested towards each other they basically should be so that’s why it hurts them so much??)

i’m sorry i’m writing so much i just have so much muse & plot ideas that i don’t know what to do but keep on writing lol

Sketched Dream · Jul 18th 2019

these idea get me so excited!! And having homosexuality as a sin really does help create drama. I saw one of the daughters was gonna be homosexual! I feel like she would be a favorite Haha.

But if the queen was executed for treason, I have a feeling Gavin would definitely have a few choice words to say :)

Arthur Morgan · Jul 18th 2019

alright then lol & yeah i figured i’d spice them up a little and make a few of his kids not straight (not that he would care anyway lmao) and it might even cause friction for the kids & their mother cause i’m gonna make her non accepting when it comes to that stuff & yes i have a lot of ideas for this thread cause i’m in love with it already lol

i was planning on having her trying to kill her husband (paying someone to put poison in his food & what not) & having her executed so i’m on my toes as to what gavin would day go her lmao

Arthur Morgan · Jul 20th 2019

i’ve roughly finished harlem’s form, but i’ll put more into it later on since i wanna get the ball rolling!

Sketched Dream · Jul 20th 2019

awwww! His nickname is peach! Adorable as hell. Love him even more <3 but if you're ready would you like me to start off a post?

Arthur Morgan · Jul 20th 2019

I can start a post if you wish c: and yes i love him as well, didn’t think peach would work but it seems too lol

how would you like for this role play to start off?

Sketched Dream · Jul 20th 2019

hmmm we could possibly start it off as the the lords had finished introducing Gavin to the king perhaps? Like, with the threats of war hanging in the war they need to heighten security. (But of course with gavin being the captain of the kings guard he is fairly familiar with the king on a professional level) queen could also be there to already start judging the knights capabilities if anything as well

Arthur Morgan · Jul 21st 2019

^{ooc; my first posts aren’t always great but my next post will be much better! the ending is kinda shitty but i figured you can just introduce your character and so forth c:}

^{bickering was all that harlem could hear, it poisoned his mind as the shrieking voices began to turn his brain to mush. it seemed like this was all harlem heard now a days, there wasn’t a moment that went by that someone wasn’t complaining to him; wether it be the lords of his kingdom or his god awful wife, harlem could never get away from it. the throne room was filled with different assortments of lords and ladies, soft hues of what could only presume wealthy fabrics captured the eye. chains of gold and diamonds on fingers, there wasn’t a person in this room that didn’t shout expensive as everyone was doused in gems in some form. that’s where all that money has been going towards, spending it on useless jewels and fabrics. but no matter, it wasn’t harlem’s concern on what they spend their money on. although the sight of these lords & ladies might seem in poor taste when the subjects of abireniel set their sights on them, thinking that their king is allowing them to spend his money on jewels, trashy parties & whores while the people on his kingdom starve on the streets. there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his people, they were the ones that kept him on the throne and the only thing he wants for his people is for them to thrive in this world. no matter how much good he spreads across the board, there’s always a handful of people that end up destroying the good he creates. wether it be negligence oh their behalf or the spreading of rumors, creating drama among the people to cause uproar. harlem has been in power for over four decades and he’s never had any problems, the peaceful yet stern king was well liked & loved.. but it’s only been in recent years that the favoritisms of his people had begun to change.}

^{it’s been five years and the kingdom of abireniel has been on the brick of war. bitter battles have waged across the board as the years progressed, each one bloodier than the last & for what? harlem did not know as the kingdom of virien would shed no light upon their reasons for threatening war against king harlem. what was he to do? the last thing he wanted was for full fledge war to a-cure, risking the lives of his peaceful citizens & the destruction of his beautiful kingdom; all for what? the king of virien was no help, he was silent on what he wanted from harlem & brought no effort in trying to find a solution. years of constantly having to be on his toes in case of war, watching as his beloved knights came back wounded or dead. destruction of villages & the slaughters of simple farmers, their blood drenching the fertile soil. the last war that washed upon his shores was over twenty years ago, as he rode on horseback with sword in hand ready to defend his country and people. being struck by a flying spear resulted in his falling, but a battle was won and sent their enemies running with their tails between their legs. this king would die for his people, he wouldn’t dare hide behind his castle walls as others fight for him. against the protest of his royal advisors and high ranked officials, harlem did his own bindings that could be considered risky for a king.}

^{”your grace, it’s come to our attention of the recent attacks on the northern towns; kilead, larton and acomb.” words that came with a thunderous drum, harlem’s attention was soon brought onto one of his elder advisors. the older man stood tall with grace, his grey hued eyes caught the attention of many as his salt and pepper hair was neatly tied in a tight knot. as sirius took a few steps forward as he bowed in the presence of harlem. ”me and my fellow royal noble advisors have come to a conclusion that you, your grace, need extra security in case we find ourselves in the mist of war.” he said softly, yet his words were laced with utmost seriousness. ”these attacks have started to become more frequent yet more reckless, while we’ve been able to apprehend those that wish harm upon your people, it can only be a matter of time that they begin to act boldly and come after you, king harlem” he said once more, his grey eyes locking into harlem, which in turn caused him to nod his head slightly. crystal clear blue orbs locked onto sirius, a gentle grumble escaped within his throat, the sound that of a hungry grizzly. “yes i’m aware of the ruthless slaughtering of my towns people, i’m more concerned of their well being then my own. shifting his gaze as he spoke, letting his blue eyes fall upon everyone within the room. they all seemed to fidget around uncomfortably as they felt his stare upon their skin as if a wolf was on the prowl. ”i don’t need any extra security, i have enough. my people are who need protecting, without the people i have no one to rule.” a thick and scratchy voice exploded from within his chest, flashing a set of porcelain canines.}

^{”dear, you’re king of abireniel. without a king the people don’t have anyone to follow. if something where to happen to you, we won’t be able to win this war.. if we are to have one.” florence said as she placed a hand upon her husbands shoulder, causing him to look over at her. there wasn’t any love in harlem’s eyes, all that looked back at her was cold bolted orbs. ”please your grace, it’s only an extra guard, who we had picked out of the best. you’ve done everything you can for the poor citizens of those towns, you’ve given them everything they could possibly need. now you need to worry about yourself and your safety” sirius spoke once more, gradually stepping closer to harlem. with a simple sigh, harlem just nodded towards sirius. while the king was against the need for new guards, he felt as though his knights should be out protecting his people rather then focusing all their resources towards himself. but, sirius was right. harlem gave everything he could to the people of the towns that were recently attacked and those that were responsible for the death of those poor towns folks were hung. without a moment spared, sirius raised his hand up within the air and motioned for the two guards at the entrance of the throne room to open the massive doors. ”i would like to present sir gavin louis, captain of the guard. he’s got an excellent record of successes and is one of the best, we beilive he is the best for protecting you, your grace.”}

Sketched Dream · Jul 22nd 2019

_{ooc;; your post is beautiful :)}

^{Gavin hadn't expected the offer from Sirius . In fact it made Gavin hesitate to even accept the offer as a personal body guard. The man fought well, and gave orders to the men bellow him. In fact the embodiment of a leader, anything he had to do alone wasn't his forte. Although, many of his fellow knights didn't stand a chance at his abilities with a sword, but that didn't mean he liked to do things on his own. It was a beautiful afternoon, and he was out training the new ones. All shaken from orientation, and it was Gavin's duty to scare the hell out of them. That way he could ween out the cowards from the courageous. Gavin couldn't put a number on it, but the times men went out into battle and he himself had to cut his own men down for abandoning their posts were too many. Gavin was no squire to men too coward to stand and die with their fellow brethren. After knocking a particularly small, but stubborn squire Sirius' messenger had interrupted the training to inform him of a special request him and the other elders of the court had suggested.}

^{"A word, Sir Gavin." a messenger had spoke just as Gavin knocked the boy down, the sound of groaning made Gavin hesitate, but the squire easily stood back up ready for more.}

^{"Are you not aware that I'm busy?" Gavin had let out an annoyed growl. There was never a time Gavin was in a bad mood, but today had to be one of the worst days to bother the knight. His body was glistening with sweat, his shirt had been ripped as these particular group of boys was able to take and give a hit. This would be an excellent group of boys fir the King's army.}

The messenger didn't budge. His neatly pressed tunic, and trousers made him look like one of the nobles, but his eyes looked rather nervous. Whoever sent him probably told the messenger to stay firm knowing Gavin would be stubborn like this. As Gavin eyed him, he made the conscious decision that he shouldn't get the messenger in trouble. Letting out a bark, "Marick," A fellow knight who had been lounging and laughing at the squires, "Get in here and practice while I'm away." Marick gave an innocent look, but hopped off his perch on the cobblestone wall, and shouted out, "Alright, ladies! Time to learn how to curtsy!" His boyish attitude and relaxed nature would help give the squires a break from the wrath of Gavin. Shoving the dull sword to the side, he followed the messenger who looked relieved he didn't have to prod the lion some more.

Once they were out of the training yard, and towards the trough of water the messenger began speaking in a hurried manner, which annoyed the knight more. If he couldn't get water without being interupted with someone chatting in his ear, he was gonna hang someone. And the closest man would be the messenger. As Gavin dipped his hand in the water and pored it over his head the messenger offended said, "Are you even listening?"

"No." Gavin murmured and pored more water over his head letting out a satisfied groan, "But I am now," He turned around to lean against the wooden structure. His blue eyes steeled his anger as the messenger ran his mouth. Apparently he was called to be the personal guard of the King. He didn't take orders from messengers, if nobles couldn't meet him in person to deliver orders, why would he listen? The messenger was obviously flustered by the rudeness and lack of interest from the knight. "This is certainly an honor for a low life--" The Messenger began insulting till a modulated smooth voice spoke, "It's alright, Amos. I'll speak with him." Both eyes of the men looked to see a noble, Gavin was more familiar with. Gavin may have been Captain of the guard, but there were many people higher than him. Luca and him grew up alongside each other. Though Gavin's family weren't of noble birth, he still grew up along side a nobles son who fought in many battles. Gaivn had saved Luca's ass a few times, and they had immediately had become friends. The Messenger bowed and Luca gave a childish grin.

"That messenger was about to get a beating if he didn't retrieve you." Luca pushed away from the pillar, his clothes not at all what a noble son should be wearing. He was in a simple white shirt, with plain brown trousers. He would have stood out for a servant if it weren't for his reputation. "Sirius and a few others are really in need of your skills, Gavin." Starting off with the conversation. "abireniel has enemies everywhere now, you and I have fought off many of our enemies. But the elders fear that there might be a rash plan to attack his majesty."

As he was lectured on his duty from his friend, he couldn't help but wonder if there really would be an attempt to attack Harlem direction. The King certainly was losing lack of favor from the people, but aside from politics, Gavin knew the King to be gracious. From a military point of view, attacking Harlem would serve in breaking down Abireniel. Rubbing his temple trying not to think more of the subject, he shrugged, "Who would take over for me as Captain? You?" Gavin snorted out sarcastically. "Yes" Luca said with a straightforward answer. Almost threw Gavin off for a moment, but he would recover.

"Or at least until the threat is cleared and then you can go back to shoving squires to the ground like you always do." Luca offered, "And think of the noble ladies. You get to pick from the lot as you will be a lot closer to them at court." Luca grinned, and Gavin rolled his eyes. Women were a distraction. In his earlier days all he could think of was finding a wife who would give him little boys or girls. But growing up in the army of the King, he gave up a dream of finding love. He could die at any moment, what would he need in a woman anyways? He had a younger brother, who was doing all that stuff. So Gavin wouldn't be the last of his bloodline. "I'll do it, if you promise to buy me drinks any day I want until it is over."

Luca only shrugged, and with a wave of his hand stated, "Yes, I'll do it. Now, get all prettied up. You'll need to present yourself to the king." Gavin winced, he didn't think he combed his hair in weeks. Why would he need to look good for squires?

--

^{Gavin wondered if he was making the right decision. He would have to listen to politics all day instead of sparring. His ability to move about as he pleased would be limited, and he would have to watch over one person. How long would have to stand there a day listening to royals bicker? Listening to gossip from the servant girls made him want to rip out his hair, but here he was. Making his way down the isle to where the King and Queen sat. The nobles looking at him quizzically, some even gave him looks wondering if he would be able to fend off any attacker. It made him puff his chest out even more, he hated being doubted. His kills with a sword couldn't be matched. Gavin had fought in too many wars to be doubted by prude nobles. Today he wore his armor that shined to perfection, the light reflecting off of it almost like a mirror, his hair had finally met a comb and slicked backed. His blue eyes alerted to everyone's expressions. He also didn't want to look like a snobby knight, after all there were several knights who looked the part, but couldn't swing a sword well enough. As Sirius introduced Gavin. This would officially be the first time Gavin would get a good look at the King, he wasn't the general of the army, only a captain, but he sure as hell never got a chance to examine the king from this close before.}

^{He stood there, forgetting his manners. Eyes went to the Queen and gave a short bow, "Your highness," It was curt. Most men would grovel at her beauty, or give more lies to fuel her ego. Gavin was an honest man, but his ability to be formal was lacking in many cases. When his eyes went towards the King, however, he wavered. The King certainly was much different from this distance A man who looked harsh, but looked... calm. In his head he pictured a raging beast with a piss poor attitude. He even had imagined the King as a fat drunk (even though he saw the King from some distances and could tell he wasn't fat) his imagination didn't prepare for a man such as Harlem. "Sir." He gave a bow, but as he did, from the corner of his eye he spotted Luca amongst the other nobles with wide eyes and scowling as he mouthed words to Gavin. Scowling at himself he stated, "Er- Your Majesty ." Luca gave a better nod. Sir probably wouldn't work for the King, and Gavin looked back up with no shame.}

^{"Isn't that the knight who lost at Water's point?" Called out a noble and others snorted or laughed. Now that got Gavin a little pissed. If it was anything, it was Water's point. The small skirmish at the river had been the most embarrassing battle, instead of it being enemies, it had been an ally camp. In which they still lost after Gavin lead out a charge of a small 30 man group. In his defense, he was 20, and he was just following orders at that time. The captain had given him inaccurate information, and the camp consisted of innocent allies. Due to the loss he had been mocked at, but after years of successful wars, the knight had proven himself. Why the noble would make a point of that made him upset. Gritting his teeth he finally got onto one knee, (like he should have done at the beginning,)}

^{"I am here to be at your disposal."}

Arthur Morgan · Jul 24th 2019

ooc; thank you dear! your post amazing <3 tbh i can’t help but think about the love & heartbreak these two are going to have lmao i feel like luca will definitely be gavin’s shoulder to lean on when he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place

from the day he was born, harlem was trained to be a ruler. through harsh scoldings and beating from adolescence years as a way to embed his wrong doing into his brain, the silencing of physical abuse that was brought upon the young prince was brushed under a rug. who was brave enough to go against his father at the time? who was willing to expose their fleshy neck towards a ravaged wolf? no one, that’s who. harlem’s father was a ruthless king who saw his son as simply as an heir, an heir that he could corrupt and manipulate into what he was; a monster. it’s honestly surprisingly that harlem never turned into a cold, frigid beast as that of past rulers. the van royce lineage was littered with harsh dictatorship, hundreds of years worth. harlem wasn’t going to allow his father’s wrath it change him, to follow his father’s footsteps that led only a path of distraction. when it was time for the young prince to consume the throne, many believed that the little wolf would lead them in that same direction that the previous king did, and the one before him and the one before him. but, the young prince didn’t. the first two years of his rule he spent trying to win his people over, to learn to trust the van royce family once more. through hard work and dedicated, harlem has been able to win over the people of his beloved kingdom as well as making alliances with the netherlands and greece at a young age. harlem looked exactly like his father but he couldn’t have been more different.

watching as gavin made his way down the throne room, parting the assembly of nobles straight down the middle like moses did with the great sea. cocking his head slightly to the left, harlem couldn’t help but let a small grin grow upon his chiseled yet prickly face. it didn’t take long for his nobles to begin making sneering comments, sticking up their noses at the man. no matter who it was, no matter how important they might be; no one was every good enough in the eyes of some of these snobbish nobles. the soft whispers began to sound like an agitated hornets; his head being the nest. swarms of angry, nasty hornets began to swarm around his head, the humming of the pests started to become louder and louder. gritting his teeth, harlem tried his best to ignore the sounds of hornets, allowing his firm yet gentle ocean hues upon the knight. in his own “professional” opinion, gavin was a sight for sore eyes and harlem definitely had sore eyes. having to look at the woman he called his wife constantly seemed to give him pink eye, figuratively speaking that was. either way, harlem half expected to see heavily scarred, rough looking man but the sight of gavin was a pleasant surprise. from the corner of his eye he couldn’t help but notice the crude look on florence’s face as soon as gavin spoke. whatever reason it was, he couldn’t wrap his brain around it, many that first meet florence end up trying to kiss her ass. inflating her massive ego as if it was a party ballon, it made her feel better about herself and gave her an unspoken confidence. ”bit of an informal greeting, sir gavin. you’ll need to work on that when speaking to the king. as well as me. you do understand do you?” she said rudely, causing harlem to roll his eyes.

ignore my wife words laced in a bone chilling trance, his head looking back towards his wife. daring her to challenge him, bared wolf teeth that threatening to sink into her diamond encrusted neck. she said nothing more, slinking into her throne as she turned her attention else where. shaking his head slightly, harlem looked back towards gavin i’m pleased to meet you sir gavin. i’ve heard much about you. he said with a slight grin. while the idea of having knight watching his every move, hovering like a fly towards shit; harlem wasn’t exactly to thrilled about. it made him see like a child that needed supervision, like he couldn’t protect himself. precautions are always instructed during times like this, but he’s never enjoyed them. all in good intentions, harlem couldn’t necessarily complain about the newly found company.

”Isn't that the knight who lost at Water's point?” an uproar of laughter consumed the throne room, snobbish pig like snorts and cackles made the hair on his neck stand. faint, critter like scratches began to run up and down underneath his skin as the laughter continued. an icy, deadly stare was brought upon the noble that rudely shouted the comment. a deep, bone breaking snarl began to form within the center of his throat i will have silence! he shouted towards the crowd of laughing nobles, his words were laced in a thick venomous paste that could thicken water. it would make a pack of wolves bow in submission, cause an iceberg to crack down the middle. when harlem was pissed, it wasn’t a sight to see. one could compare him to the devil himself, it wasn’t common to see the king in a state of rage as he’s so calming. ”honey bring up a good point, what kind of knight could screw something like that up? florence snarled, her tone was that of a spoiled child which didn’t give her any brownie points on his good side. ”i don’t think he’s the best choice of personal gua-“ when i said silence it included you as well harlem cut off his wife bitterly, not even looking at her. shifting slightly harlem pushed himself up from within his throne, his golden chain that he held around his neck made a clanking like sound. soon enough his nobles began to wither like a worm under the sunlight, their heads bowed to the floor as they couldn’t bare to look at their king in the face. growling deeply harlem allowed his hand to run through his chocolate brown hair there are many things i’m willing to deal with, but i’ve begun to have a thin patience with my nobles horrible nature. he said, his porcelain canines shinning within the light you might not see backlash, but i do. the way my nobles act is reflected upon ME and ME ONLY the hound snarled don’t think i haven’t noticed the things you’ve committed; abuse, blackmailing the poor? just to name a few of things that i know about his eyes landing on everyone within the room, a gentle sigh leaving his lips. don’t you dare stand here and try to shame another for mistakes out of there control; especially when someone risks their life to protect this kingdom. looking down at gavin, silently indicating for him to come back upon his feet.

harlem felt like he was scolding one of his children, but it was a point that he needed to make. their foolish actions reflect upon him as a king, it caused him to look bad in the eyes of his people. there were things he was willing to turn an eye upon, but abusing his people was a fine line that they’ve crossed more times he can count (he isn’t completely aware of how many times it happens or how frequent it is. they try their hardest not to get caught) there’s only so many punishments he can bring upon someone until they’ve forced his hand to do something more drastic. remember this conversation and remember it well, if not i’m more then willing to put heads on spikes to set an example. leave us. his voice was that of a command, harlem wasn’t known for making these kind of speeches but lately the nobles have been causing the king problems. as he allowed his ivory hues to soften, he watched as the nobles bowed towards him and quickly begin to flock out of the throne room, tails stuck between their legs. looking back gavin he met out a quiet sigh apologizes sir gavin, i didn’t expect the need to scold my nobles as if they were children. he said quietly as he looked at gavin, his tone completely different from what it was before.

Sketched Dream · Jul 25th 2019

ooc;; also had a small idea of Luca having a crush on Gavin;; and could possibly see whats happening and get jealous sort of. Im still working with Luca's character so its just an idea for now

The queen had barked out his inability to be respectful and show proper submission to the king and the queen. It felt as if he was meant to be mocked instead of applauded for volunteering to be the personal body guard to the king. His bones aches at the snorts and laughs, but he wasn't embarrassed, nor was he regretting his decision. When he became a knight, it was to do his duty, no matter what others thought of him. His father was a good man, a simple knight, but also captain. He wasn't well known, but Gavin looked up to his father. He knew that his father would have taken no shit from the nobles, and kept on his way. And that is what Gavin would do, when the Queen pointed out his flaw, he only stayed on his knee and bowed his head lower, but he didn't say a word. He had tried to correct himself, and just because he didn't flaunt her so called "beauty" didn't mean he was in the wrong. Giving nobles the proper titles was boring-- names were more unique. Anyone could be named, "my lord" but some had very unique names and that was why Gavin didn't give two shits about royal titles. He would respectfully use them, if the situation deemed it necessary, and if he messed up that was fine by him. His eyes, however, met the King as he greeted him... instead of judgement in the man's eyes, he saw what the other nobles didn't... approval. That was all he needed, and he tried to hide the cocky grin, but he knew that Luca saw and if Luca saw he probably would get a talking too. Luca liked gossip and liked it when Gavin didn't follow what regular knights would. However, the situation of the Water Point had brought up renewed anger that he had buried a while ago. Memories of the mockery, and his own father taking the blame for Gavin. The endless nights of him getting harassed always played in his head over and over again. His poor father had tried so hard to keep that topic of conversation away from Gavin's ears, but Gavin had to learn to mute out the noise a long time ago.

When he had lead the men of 30-- he had several younger soldiers with them. They were just kids. He lead them straight into the supposed enemy, only to have them fire back with a bigger troop. Men on his side... and if it weren't for one of the opposing "'enemies" recognizing Gavin, he would have died as well. The humiliation, and the trouble he obtained from that skirmish would haunt him. If no one had died-- and it was a simple misunderstanding it would have been fine. But he got people killed because of it. His blindness to the colors of allied flags, and the familiar formation, he should have known better. The queen even had spat out her distaste for him, and already Gavin didn't have a good relationship with the King's wife. If he were to be stuck guarding the king, he possibly would have to hear them in their bedroom at night-- see her at the dinner table, see her everywhere the King was. If he didn't build a reputable friendship, he would be in hell for the rest of the mission. The snickering continued--- his ears felt like they could bleed and he wished he was deaf. He wasn't ashamed for anything, but the faces of the boys who died for absolutely nothing made his heart ache. There had been fathers with no sons that day-- and mothers who mourned . Every battle he fought and lost someone was always a stab to his heart, but he had to walk through it. No matter what emotions ran through him. It was all in the name of peace, and as long as he was a step closer to peace the better his future of being able to sleep with no nightmares was just fine.

The King... like a big wolf had stood up. The snarl of anger had shocked everyone-- including Gavin and Luca. Gavin had noticed the look on his friends face, and he knew that Luca was feeling guilty. After all Gavin knew how much Luca loved jewelry when it came down to it. Though he loved simplton clothing, he was like a lot of the nobles. Spoiled. Luca's father, Rowin, was guilty of what the King spoke of and he saw the look on the old man's . The nobles were being preached too, and the deadly threat on the King's lips made Gavin-- satisfied. The words, " especially when someone risks their life to protect this kingdom" filled Gavin with pride. The King had acknowledged his hard effort, and it was true. Every time he was sent away on a mission, he would risk his life and others. It was a life no nobles would dare turn to due to the risks. Gavin may never father sons or daughters, but that was the price he would pay. Gavin was good with kids-- but if it meant protecting the king above all else, he would do so.

The nobles all shuffled out, and Luca brushed passed him muttering, "Remember titles, ya twat." And Gavin hid a grin under a bowed head. Luca would always be there to help him remember the important "politic" information. Especially since Luca was no longer in military, he always gave Gavin a run down on any political situation that he could gain from. Sometimes learning a two or thing about nobles helped Gavin learn the outer layer of the social circle. Watching his friend's footsteps walk away, and the room growing oddly quiet, he quickly looked to the Harlem, and he shuffled to his feat. He tried to keep his body posture professional and not so lazy. The speech Harlem had given to the nobles made Gavin feel more motivated, and absolutely ecstatic. He had never experienced a scowling from the king, and he rather enjoyed it. Seeing the faces on the nobles-- ESPECIALLY the queen. Oh, she definitely did get what came to her. If anything, Gavin felt like a satisfied cat at the way Harlem treated her crudeness towards Gavin, as if Harlem was Gavin's own shining knight in armour. The apology was the icing on the cake-- though really unneeded. Even if he was on the edge of slicing heads, Gavin had thought to just ignore the nobles himself.

Keeping his stance ridged, he put his hand on his sword, and let loose a smile, "I am quite use to it."

Then quickly added once again, "Sire."

Luca would have to take time out his busy schedule to help Gavin back into practice. After all, he never used "My Lord," in front of Luca. Normally it was "bastard" or simply "Luca". Especially with Rowin, he would simply call him by his name. Even now, he would have almost called the King, Harlem, if it weren't for him clutching his sword so hard, it kept him in focus. He was a knight, but not a foolish knight. The King had already instilled fear in Gavin's heart, only because he knew how angry the could get. But it wasn't the kind of fear that made Gavin back down-- now he loved it when something scared him, because it meant a challenge to overcome. "They are right though," He spoke honestly, "I did fail at Water Point. That should be noted, but I swear on the crown I will not let you down."

He was confident-- yet at the same time he felt like he was just trying to make a show to the king. In all honesty, he was hesitant to also protect the king, because his freetime would have to be spent watching the king at all times. Sleep would have to be arranged where he couldn't be too far. Leaning on his foot, and relaxing his stance he couldn't keep up the respectful posture anymore. It tired him, and he leaned his arm on the hilt of his sword. "Perhaps if you would allow me to slice one of their necks, I could prove my abilities to kill." He offered, more of a jest. However, he quickly bit his tongue. A low life knight had just offered to kill a noble. Not something a knight should be saying, and he certainly wasn't talking to Luca. But his loose tongue got the better of him. He loved to jest, and play. Being professional at all times was a bore.