Steven
```
Anyanka Durkhan
The Ball, Tonate Proper.```


The evening had gotten boring, her dismissal by Maith was fine- if annoying. The gift he gave in return for her and Mikhail was passed off to a guard for transport, and she walked with Jax for a while longer before she decided she was tired of walking. 

She was tired of the festivities, in truth. 

Mikhail hadn't traveled on her ship to begin with, opting instead to travel on one of the vessels transporting Eclipse and crew, he had mentioned staying longer in the Isles to discuss something with Maith, and she assumed he was at the age where she didn't have to fawn over him. He was old enough to consider war, he was old enough to travel with his own guard. 

Anya paused their promenade, eyes sweeping over the crowd and towards the waters before reaching for Brightwater's arm. Her fingers curled around cool metal and she leaning into him, her cheek upon his shoulder. 

"I'm bored of this, want to return to the ship and see who can outlast the other on the way home?"
Antonio
She took the fore for them. He trusted her for the most part, but at the first sign of hesitance about naming their bastard half-sisters aloud, he cut in. ' This is Big Tits and Muffy, Your Grace .' And then he was so bold as to show the king a shrug and a sort of wry, rueful pout of a smile, as if to say, *Strange, I know, but it is what it is*. Their names told no lies, of course, Big Tits being the most buxom of their half-sisters, and Muffy being their ... Muffiest. They were blessed with pleasant countenances, where the traces of mother had barely squeezed past the broad, squat designs of their father's imprint, though their blessings paled in comparison to his own and his sisters. They were pretty in a simple, sound way. They would do.

He couldn't withhold a wince at Kelsafyr's remarks on their offerings. Drawing attention to the decadent uses that the Pirate King might find in their half-sisters seemed indelicate, lacking in tact. He was sure Kelsafyr did nothing indeliberately in the position they were in, however, and gave her not so much as a clearing of the throat or a cautioning glance.

' Hard-won jewels in there, Your Majesty.' His gaze fell on the King's many rings. ' And I can tell you have a taste. Hopefully a good one.'
Terence
Captain Jax Brightwater
Maith Mansion, Tonate Proper

The strange Captain ignored his offer to answer any questions he had about the newly reformed Eclipse, but considering he was the kind of man to give a skull to a little girl, maybe it was better he didn't get to ask anything.  He was watching the Captain of the guard and his subordinates, noting how lax the formation seemed compared to his own boys, until Anya pulled him from his thoughts, laying her head on his shoulder.

"I seem to remember you making a similar challenge on the way to Taemar."  He couldn't help but smirk, "A challenge I do believe I lost, numerous times."

His eyes continued to scan as more assemblies appeared to give their gifts to Bradai, who only seemed to be getting drunker with each passing minute.  The crowd of people was a sea of colors as each represented their family with colors and styles befitting their homelands.

"As you wish, My Queen.  Shall I fetch the Prince?"  He looked over his shoulder at his young squire.  "Aleksandr, go tell the others to prepare the carriages.  We're leaving."

Aleks wasn't paying attention to him, however, he was watching the most recent group to present themselves, eyes as wide as a rabbit who just realized they were being stewed.

"What's wrong boy?"  He asked.  Aleks shook himself free.

"Sorry, Captain, I was distracted."  His meek voice finally broke through as a whisper.

"Go tell the carriages we're leaving."  Jax repeated his instructions.  Aleks practically sank, as if a weight was freed from his shoulders.

"Thank you, sir, thank you so much!"  He saluted his captain, bowed to his queen, then began jogging out of the hall.

"That was strange."  Jax muttered to himself, before addressing Anya again.  "Shall we, Your Majesty?"
Steven
``` Anyanka Durkhan
Tonate Proper```

She grinned at the memory, her head dipping briefly to hide the smile and not draw attention to the pair. A queen beaming with a smirking captain looked suspicious enough. 

"You remember correctly, and yes," She raised her gaze, mirroring his smirk. "You did lose."

He asked about fetching Mikhail, and she pursed her lips before nodding. 

"We'll let him know we're leaving, he may want to stay, it's not often he gets to see Maith, but we can extend the offer for him to sail with us."

As if he knew what she wanted - and he tender to - he summoned Aleks with the order to prepare the carriages. He seemed off, but she didn't know the Eclipse or Jax's men to drink on the job, so he must have been lost in thought instead of drink. 

It cleared soon enough and he headed off to find Mika, and Anya watched him go, nodding when promoted. 

"We shall." She agreed, leading the way through the dancing and drinking crowd towards the edge of the gardens.