June
Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

A baby was being _fussy_. At one point, a toy ball was thrown at Eric as the child revolted against the idea of going to bed, despite a very loud yawn.

"I know you're tired. _Just lay down_." Eric grumbled as he tried to swaddle the child in the crib, it thrashed anyway. 

"Nahhh! Rahhh! EHHHHHHHAAAA!" It cried, just as frustrated as Eric was.

"_Stop_." Eric said, through gritted teeth. Eventually, the child was restrained as it emitted increasingly demonic-frustrated whines. "You're going to be okay. You sleep every night. This isn't any different than any other time."

The baby didn't quite agree, offering a rather convincing rebuttal in the form of another whine followed by a yawn and a flutter of eyes. 

"I'm winning, Marcus. Just go to sleep."

Marcus whined faintly before eventually slipping into sleep. All of the rebelling against sleep had, in fact, put the child to sleep. Eric breathed a sigh of relief and turned to his wife, who had decided to watch Eric put their child to sleep. "And that's how it's done." Eric whispered, beginning to creep out the door so Marcus could sleep without interruption.
Alex
Angelica Stafford
Stormalong, South Feyshore

Her husband may have been a master on the battlefield, but she could help but take pride in how he fumbled as Marcus protested. It was a battle she had fought throughout the first few months but he hadn't been around as often for that, so he had yet to learn the tricks. 

Soft toys were key, so anything being lobbed at you wouldn't actually hurt. Also it was generally better to hold the babe, and lay a blanket over him so that when you did try to lay him down, you were practically half way into swaddling him so he wouldn't fuss as much. 

Marcus also just had better manners in regards to his mother, when Eric was home he just wanted to play with him, and Angelica understood the child's fascination. 

She stood from her chair when Eric announced his victory, moving to the cradle to assure the boy was asleep. A long lingering glance kept her a moment longer in the nursery before she eventually followed her husband out. 

"He's surprisingly strong, isn't he?" She teased, tapping her finger to where the toy had hit him.
June
Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

"Quite an arm on him. I don't think even _I_ can throw that hard. He's got a temper, wonder where that came from." Eric questioned, walking with his wife. 

"Now for him to decide to wake up at midnight and be wide awake forever." Eric said, predicting exactly how his night was going to likely be spent. "He needs for cloth animals. I don't think he should have anymore blocks until he stops throwing stuff. He thought it was _hysterical_ when it hit me."

Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

"Not a whole lot, though, I've been admittedly too busy for letters. Have you heard anything?"

Eric had been gone for sometime to visit all of the outlying villages to survey them, hear out their issues, and to see how plague resistant they could potentially be. With him, Eric had taken more physicians and medicine people than he had taken guards. Eric came back frustrated and worried, he didn't share his findings and only expressed he was going to 'Try to remain optimistic'. 

It wasn't great. He'd ordered certain preventative measures, but he doubted it would help them much in the event of an epidemic. He essentially left village elders with instructions to quarantine sick people, if they perish, burn their house. Come the spring or once the illness passed, damages would be repaired.
Alex
Angelica Stafford
Stormalong South Feyshore

She moved into the bedroom, closing the door behind her husband as he entered as well. 
"Yes, a letter from Anya. It seems she's considering sending Mikhail to Vincentien." As she spoke, she moved towards the vanity, reaching for a small cloth and wetting it from a small container of water she kept beside her rouges. The used it to wipe away what she assumed was jelly from a sweet cake Marcus had shared with her and then proceeded to smash. 

"It seems her original plan to retrain Amalthea didn't go so well."
June
Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

"I wasn't fully in on the plan, can you brush me up on what she did? And why is she sending Mikhail _there_?" He asked, taking a seat.

The games going on in Astoria were always something Eric had struggled with. All of the intricate plans and pieces being laid out to do some goal Eric wasn't fully aware of.
Alex
Angelica Stafford
Stormalong South Feyshore

Angelica scrunched her nose, examining the cloth briefly to confirm the sticky substance she had felt on her neck was jelly, then folded the cloth and set it aside. 

"Amalthea Victor is too valuable an asset to just kill, and from what Anya told me, death was too quick and painless for what she put herself and Mikhail through." Angelica didnt think that was a wrong assessment. 

"I mean, the woman ran us out of Vincentien with swords looming over our heads. We _had_ to take up arms with Storm just in hopes we would have a place to live. "
June
Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

"Right, sorry, all the different figures of current events gets sort of crossed for me." He admitted, shifting his seating to a more comfortable position. "So, what was Anya's plan then? The one that hasn't gone very well."
Alex
Angelica Stafford
Stormalong South Feyshore

Angelica nodded, and moved to take a seat on the corner of their bed beside him. "Basically the goal was to break her and use some type of magic to see if she could control her." Angelica explained, though she herself was missing a few details. 

"Harmattan has spent-" She paused, trying to think of just how long they had kept Amalthea underground. "Gods, almost two years trying to break the woman. I think he managed, and I know Anya preformed some sort of ritual, but it was around the time of the wedding and I was intentionally kept in the dark about it because Anya was worries about my stress levels. All she told me was that it was successful, and in a few months they would send her back to Vincentien as a puppet. I guess it hasn't worked."
June
Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

His expression darkened for a moment and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. 

"So, why would she send Mikhail into Vincentien then? Wouldn't that be the last place we'd want him?" He asked, wondering how many different ramifications this adventure could potentially have.
Alex
Angelica Stafford
Stormalong South Feyshore

Angelica leaned her head to the side, pushing her hand along the back of her neck. "It gets... Really complicated." She sighed. Before she continued, she features for Eric to move with her,wanting him to place himself against the headboard so she could put her head in his lap.And he could play with her hair while she spoke. 

"So Vincentien operates on an elected official system when there is no heir. And since Anya was ousted, Mikhail is _technically_ the heir, right? But Amalthea overthrew them both, and so with her gone it would fall to who?" She left a beat but continued "Her son, Robyn. But Robyn left Vincentien when his mother went missing and went to the only family he knew, and where might he be you ask? In Astoria, with Mikhail and Anya. Training under Harmattan, who -by the way- is his father." 

She started to hold up fingers now for each point. "So we've got Anya, ousted. Mikhail wrongfully thrown from what he was raised as his birthright, Amalthea in Astorian dungeons, and the second contender to the Vincentien throne has no idea his mother is being held."
June
Lord Eric Stafford
Stormalong, S. Feyshore

Eric smiled halfheartedly and climbed into bed with his wife and let her lay her head on his lap. His hand lazily started to play with her blonde hair. 

"This is some politics. So who is our preferred horse? Do we want Mikhail on three thrones? Astoria, Feyshore, and Vincentien or do we want this Robyn child to have Vincentien and to be sort of a puppet through Harmattan? This sort of cloak and dagger stuff isn't what I'm good at."
Alex
Angelica Stafford
Stormalong South Feyshore

His hand moved through her hair, making her close her eyes in delight at how he was careful not to pull on accident. Hee fingers laced together and laid across her ribs as she spoke with eyes closed on her back. 

"I think the goal is an isolated region to see how Mikhail handles power. He has a legitimate claim, Venjamin Victor _raised_ him to rule Vincentien one day. He was never given a trial on Vincentien, he also shouldn't really be made to suffer for Anya's "Crimes"." Her fingers made air quotes briefly. 

"And to test our the bonds of the new court he'a build for himself. Robyn will probably be given the reigns in the end when Mikhail returns.." She trailed off for a moment, her eyes lingering on the ceiling when she opened them.

"Gods, some day there might be a Durkhan empire at the rate they're going, Hm?*