Barbara
The moon hung high in the sky by the time Princess Irezora dragged herself back towards the epicenter of action in Thyseer Castle. By then so many hours had passed of pacing and dictating that few pins remained to hold stray wisps of hair back from the edges of her face. Surely they had made their way back to her room by now, along with her shoes and more cumbersome layers. While such occasions generally demanded formality of dress, the circumstances of the day gave reason for the Princess to discard with more tedious hinderances in favor of a more practical uniform. Gone was the lavish purple gown fit for a festival, replaced at some point in the evening with a day dress of muted pink selected by one of her ladies. Of course, replacement slippers had come down with them, seeing as there had hardly been time for Zora to travel all of the way back to her rooms in order to change. 

It was those worn pink slippers that covered her toes as they pulled up beneath the Princess on a stone bench to the far side of the ballroom. Most of the commotion had cleared, but following the conclusion of her diplomatic attempts Zora had returned to the place her sister was last seen in the hopes that she might be looped into... Well whatever was going on. The Eladrin's fingers tugged gently at the last few remaining pins securing a diadem of silver and garnet in her hair, tucking the object into the folds of a shawl bundled atop her lap. The night had brought with it a chill that Irezora had been unable to shake. The Princess' second nature to call upon fire to offer reprieve from the cold remained overshadowed by exhaustion from the day. At least, that was the explanation that sat most solidly. The alternative, that the lingering feeling of a call falling upon deaf ears when she pulled for water earlier, cast a shadow too dark to offer hope of coming warmth. 

Her sister was obviously no longer in the ballroom. She had confirmed as much several minutes ago, seeing as the room

Was more-or-less empty. A servant here or there polished or swept in an attempt to restore the gallery to it's former pristine status. None paid any mind to the Princess as she took a moment to herself, head dropping backwards enough to press against the cold marble walls. Slowly, her neck rotated back and forth to offer some relief to her scalp.
Estella
*In through the doors of the ballroom stumbled a knight clad in armor, finally making his way back from wading through the sea of people that had come for Sorevelle, and stayed for the mysterious voice. It had been a hell of a night, he thought to himself, and lucky he had been out there to help corral people. Thieves had lurked within the chaos, and a fair few of them had been arrested thanks to the crocodile's watchful eye.

The man was absolutely massive - standing at a well-muscled six feet and eight inches, with a few crocodile scales peeking out from his shoulders, he cut an imposing figure. His eyes were a sea-green shade, his hair a tawny brown. The man was clad in steel armor of high quality, which bore the emblem of the royal family of Alynthi on it, etched in black and gold.

His hair was cut short, practical to fit into a helm or other headwear, and he carried with him a steel mace on his hip beside a dagger of plain make. As his oversized sabatons clanked across the ballroom floor, he spied a noblewoman taking down her hair, the rest of them perhaps absent from the scene. He could have sworn his king was in the ballroom last, and he didn't know where to go from here. Well, best not to waste time.*

"Excuse me, uh... My lady?" *He tried. He didn't speak like a nobleman, and his deep, rumbling voice and massive height contrasted greatly with the apparent youth of his face. It was a harsh clash of appearance and sound.* "Do you know where the king is? I gotta report back to him, and I've been gone a little while, so I was hopin' to find him here..."
Barbara
Footsteps. Loud ones too. Definitely not Delsandra, that was for sure. The Princess warred between hoping that she would go undisturbed and the idea that the newcomer might be an interesting reprieve from the long day. Blue winter eyes snapped open to reveal a towering figure of green, gold, and black. Alynthi, a Knight most likely, and based on his statement he had no recognition of her identity. Wonderful. Though he might be considered a gentleman, his accent indicated this was not by birth. More likely, this man rose through the ranks to secure a Knighthood rather than being given such an honor by virtue of his blood. Always impressive, but this still told Zora little else about the man. 

Not that it mattered. She did not have the answer to his question any more than she knew where her sister was. That didn't mean she could get away without responding. It was possible they might be able to find both of their queries if they put their heads together, but Zora was quite tired of problem solving at the moment and his request did not seem to be riddled with a sense of impending doom or urgency. Rather, he seemed a little on edge still. 

Expected for a knight given the day the events of that day. Though she did not recognize him from any of her earlier endeavors, the Alynthi Knights had not hesitated to join their own in securing peace and restoring order to Thyseer castle. A pang of guilt washed briefly through the Princess as she recalled leaving behind a sleeping Aspen earlier, but she waved it away, brining the back of her head away from the wall. 

"I don't, sorry," She replied, taking on a tone more akin to those she practiced in childhood when playing pretend. While a girl it had been fascinating to mimic the speech of others. While now she understood that to be quite embarrassing, it was still a useful skill every now and then. Revealing herself to be anything more than a lady of the court would bring embarrassment or even shame to the Knight that had

Done nothing to deserve such. It had taken a moment for Zora's senses of sight and hearing to align, hearing the man with her eyes closed had not prepared her to see a boyish face atop a mountain of a body. Quite interesting indeed. "I assumed they'd come back here when finished, but it's been quite some time. I'm sure they're alright though, have you seen anything to indicate otherwise?" Concern creased her brow at the notion that not all strings had been tied up.
Estella
"Sh-..." *He trailed off, realizing that it probably wasn't proper to cuss in front of a lady.* "Sure is inconvenient." *It came so hard to him - the practice of etiquette. Edvard had been drilling it into him as hard as he could, but he still felt awkward when actually talking to these people born in castles of stone as opposed to houses of wood and straw and brick. They didn't talk normal, they didn't act like they weren't... Ah, hell.*

"Uh, I hate to ask this, but... What are they done with?" *He had no idea. Maybe it was some kinda noble thing, like a council or something. They were always having councils for one reason or the next, and they usually needed guards for those, but the knights of Alynthi had been a little busy cleaning up the mess outside to get called in on their king's account. Besides, the guy could take care of himself most of the time. He was a warrior prince first, and honestly, with the stick up his ass, he was probably constantly checking the room.

The king was one stressed motherfucker, that was for sure.*

"And no, I haven't seen anything weird, I just..." *He shrugged.* "I last saw them here, so here's where I came back. If you know where they went, I could probably go and... You know, do my job, report on what's happening outside..."
Barbara
At the hint of a curse slipping from her mouth, Zora pressed her lips together in an attempt to hide the amused smile threatening its escape. His discomfort conversing with nobility was apparent from the way he shifted and hesitated. The demeanor stood in stark contrast to the man's gargantuan size and rumbling voice. The Princess squeezed the bundle in her lap a little tighter as she attempted to redirect her attention. 

A much softer smile pushed its way to her lips in place of a mischievous one. With an absentminded wave of her hand she responded, "I'd assume they're off huddled to discuss whatever it is the rest of us can't know about." The words were unspecific and her tone neutral. "You might be able to search the castle, but it is quite large and I'm not sure how much luck you'd find, Ser..." The woman's chin was tilted upward in an attempt to glimpse the man's face.