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Gawain The escort turns towards Tamamo, tilting his head. "Ah, is that so? A quest is quite important." Gawain steps forward at this time, as she mentions a central figure. "I am Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun, Warden of the Paladins, and I am on a very important quest."

"A very important quest- by the one and only Sir Gawain? Why, the Sun Prince will want to speak with you, most certainly!" The escort seems starstruck. Seeing as this is a Sun Court, Gawain is probably a celebrity here.

And so, he turns to Mordred, and nods. "Why, I'll take you there immediately. Come with me." He talks as they do so, walking up the solid beams of sunlight that makes up the stairs. Before he gets all the way up, he turns to Ben. "Leave your horse here - one of our stablehands will bring it to the stable, and it will be returned to you when you are done here."

"Of course, of course." Is the response to both Rean and Lilian. "It is my hope that our court can help you with your quest, even if I am just a soldier."

He moves to push open the great big doors, revealing the inside of the massive castle. They're brought directly into a grand hall.

Even in here, it's as if the sun is still shining. Gawain stretches an arm out, as Tamamo would still feel her sun-based powers active. The hall itself is not as exotic as the exterior - white marble walls and polished floors, long tables of feasting courtiers, and at the end of the long hall - three thrones.

At each sits a man in regal golden garb, of varying ages and accessories. On the left, a young boy, no older than ten, with an ivory dagger. In the middle, a young man, in his twenties or early thirties, with a polished flute. And on the right, an old man, in his sixties to seventies, with a heavy gilded tome.

The escort, as the party enters, moves over towards what appears to be a herald, and whispers into his ear. The herald's eyes widen, as he grabs his horn and blows it, drawing the intention of the entire hall.

"Hear ye, hear ye! We have grand guests today! The legendary Sir Gawain and his companions have arrived on a quest, seeking the aid of the one and only Sun Prince!"

The crowd erupts into gasps and cheers. The three in thrones all look at him and nod approvingly. There's a gesture from each, an acceptance of them coming to an audience.

Their escort turns to them excitedly. "Come! Partake in the feast! Or, come straight to the thrones! It is your choice. I wish you the best of luck in your quest, however, and hopefully in turn, you can assist us. For now, I must return to my duties." And then, the escort is off, closing the grand doors and allowing the group to head in whichever direction they wish.
Maya Well, it seems progress has been made she keeps the rules that they were told in mind.

Do not lie, do not ask someone their name and finally do not break hospitality. They are here to recover Gawain's mount and not pick a fight. So she takes a deep breath and will follow on as their guide leads them onwards.

She looks to them for a moment. She nods slightly to the soldier before they enter the grand hall and she takes a moment to take it all in. She thinks for a moment breaking hospitality.

"Thank you for your assistance."

Maya notes to the solider and then she turns to quietly note to Gawain.

"With the rules I think it would be unwise to say no to the offer of the feast before we continue onwards. What says, you Sir Gawain?"

He knows this world and the Fae here better than she does after all.

She will look to the rest of the party, in turn, to see if they have any comments to make about this situation.
Mordred      Following the escort, Mordred seems rather pleased with the welcoming party. Why wouldn't she be? Adoration, vague amounts of assistance in the quest to find Gawain's horse, and nice decor... What else could she ask for?

    Some more recognition, perhaps, but that's neither here nor there. The escort's comment to Rean and Lilian gets an eyebrow raised in return, though. "'Just a soldier' just needs to stab the right person to become more than that." After offering that odd bit of semi-encouragement, it's time to meet the Sun Prince!

    Mordred has no idea which one that would be. She looks from left to right slowly before dipping into a light bow, putting on her ROYAL FACE instead of looking like a scowling smug asshole the whole time. The cheering does bring a bit of that out, of course, but she maintains her composure as the escort takes their leave after suggesting some things for the group to do.

     "You can eat up if you want. It's been a long trip, so dig in." She laughs in response to Maya, shifting over to Gawain and giving him a knowing nudge with her elbow. She doesn't say anything further, though, instead turning to the three throne-sitters. "Thank you again for showing us such hospitality. Before we go on about what we're looking for, though..."

     There's a long pause as Mordred puts on a more refined tone that would almost sound convincing to anyone that didn't know what a massive asshole Mordred was outside of here. "Are there any tasks you require our assistance with?"
Rean Schwarzer "Thank you very much." Rean says as the escort leaves. A light smile crosses his face as the escort leaves. The atmosphere here was nice, at least. But, they had a job to do.

"Sounds about right." Rean says to Maya, thinking the same. "I am pretty hungry, anyway."

He looks to the thrones with a bit of headtilt. So there were 3 people sitting in the throne...were /all/ of them the Sun Prince? He doesn't ask this of course, that probably leaked into 'asking names' territory. But it's interesting, at least. Mordred suddenly going full on polite knight causes him to do a bit of a double take. Then again, why else wouldn't she know how to do that?

He turns to face the thrones completely, and bows. "Yes, Thank you very much." Rean says, following Mordred's lead. "I'm sure there's plenty we could do to aid your kingdom, and your escort did suggest you might ask for our assistance later..." Unlike Mordred, Rean's tone is actually genuine.
Tamamo     Tamamo ascends the light arm-in-arm with Lilian. This may be habit-forming. Into the hall they go, and she continues to politely decline the food, both for having no need of it and for the usual matters of fae feasts. It's simply simpler to avoid entering the center of any spotlights, saving that honor for Gawain.

    On the way, she repeats Janet, in part. "The prince, the stablemaster, the quartermaster, and the steward. Would any but the first sit upon a throne? How peculiar."
Lilian Rook     Lilian has her holographics up for just a moment. This time, only her eye movements seem to correspond to the windows swapping around and small amounts of text being entered. She says something to herself about "There's been no washing of feet and question of gentleness. We've no sponsor either. The Prince would count as 'ruling kin', no doubt, so . . ."

    She closes it up like a tour brochure. Having no further use for what she'd brought, or perhaps anticipating exactly that, she removes the collection of arranged and preserved roses from her bag and firmly shoves them in the arms of the escort, staring at the thrones the entire time. "For the Prince." she says, managing to affect a look of overwhelming polite contemptuousness, as if she had shown up to a special interests gathering and found nothing but complete amateurs. It is almost shocking how easily readable it is, with almost nothing else to it, entirely unlike how she usually is.

    In that vein of tacitly assuming idiocy, she gives the escort a "That means he gets to keep it. It's a gift. Hurry up." Then, with a flicker of some other kind of recognition, she says to Maya in very, very 'specific' tones, "If you're going that way, would you kindly bring me something of the meal our host has graciously provided to us." It sounds intensely legalese, somehow. But food isn't exactly complicated right? "And one of you see to the stables already. That should have been the most obvious one for you."

    "Peculiar is the way they've decided to go about this." she replies to Tamamo. "That's probably to be expected." She of course goes straight to the thrones. She's not here to waste time with lunch. She also does not kneel or bow or even make any sign of respect, adding what'd already be a third contradiction to web of plausible hospitality law here.

    She is, in fact, measuring the faeiries sitting on the thrones to gauge how well they understand, keeping her eyes on the escort's actions especially. "That would be correct. We are here on a quest, in the name of the knight Gawain." she finally addresses them directly, now in a mix of 'condescendingly amused' and 'extremely specific and measured'. "Gawain is in search of an old friend and has thought that the Sun Prince may be of some help. I assume you recognize the name 'Gringolet'."
Gawain As the group approaches, Gawain asides to Maya. "Ah, no, I'm not very hungry." It's true, but it's also a glance to the food. It looks and smells delicious. But it's like Gawain knows something about it.

Instead, he approaches with the others to the three thrones, and bows in greetings. The three in regal garb each look over him, then to each other, and then back to the group.

Gawain introduces himself once more. Mordred and Rean ask for quests. "Ah, what brave knights, to immediately ask to assist." The old man says. "While I could use your help in the upcoming war against the Court of the Moon, you must have come for a specific reason, have you not?"

Lilian approaches and has a Plan. She offers a gift of flowers to the escort to bring to the Prince, who stops to look at them. "Ah, ah..." There's a glimpse that he doesn't want to do that, and is actually considering refusing - something that would likely bring punishment on him, based on fear, but his self-preservation kicks in.

"Of course."

The escort steadies himself, smiles, and walks down the hall with the assorted roses. He brings them straight to the central, young man...and then veers off, kneeling before the young boy and handing the flowers over. "My prince."

The young boy hmms, takes the flowers, and then chuckles. "Well-played." Is what he mutters and thinks, before speaking aloud. "What beautiful flowers. Thank you. In return, allow the assistance of the Prince. Gringolet, you said?"

Instead of continuing, the young man in the middle is the one who speaks. "Ah, Gringolet! The famous steed of Sir Gawain. The Prince does not see to the horses, but the Stablemaster would most certainly know whether or not we've come across such a stallion. Please, head to the stables as soon as you are done partaking in the food, or earlier, if it would please you."

Gawain nods. "I appreciate your assistance. I will see to him at once."
Gawain While the others can stick in the front hall, Gawain is led by the escort to the stables, as well as are any others who come with him. There's many, many horses, of every breed and patterning you could think of. Particularly, beyond the Obvious Stablehands, is one stablemaster - an older, bearded man, leading a reddish-brown horse by a bridle. When the horse pulls back, he grabs a rod from his side and lashes at the horse, causing it to whine and push forward as requested. Gawain winces immediately.

And then, the Stablemaster stops and pauses. "Ah, you must be Sir Gawain and his companions. I take it I can help you in your quest?"

Gawain nods, and is about to say something, when he makes eye-contact with the horse. There's a long pause. And then, his eyes widen, once he sees past the bridle.

"Gringolet!" The knight exclaims, but before he can touch the horse, the Stablemaster moves in the way. "What do you think you're doing? This is my horse. Please keep away from it, you'll teach it bad behaviors." Gawain just stops, and stares. He has no idea what to say.
Maya Maya will heed what Mordred has had to say it has been a long trip now that she thinks about it. It would be a bad idea for them to refuse it and she will accept the offer of food she is pretty hungry as she thinks about it. Also, Food from the various iterations of Earth was to this day a bit on the exotic side for Maya so it was always something to enjoy. She would happily accept the invite to join the feast but she will follow up with Rean throwing her hat into the ring.

She will bow slightly.

"Thank you for the welcome and I would agree with have a fairly wide array of skills that likely could be used to assist you in the future should you need it."

The then takes note of Lilian act and seem to get shat she might be up to, clever. They were very fortunate to have Lilian along, now to see how this plays out. The Fae are playing games but it might just be their nature-given how these alien creatures are. However, Maya's playbook on Fae for this world is empty more or less. So she's going to have to follow the more experienced people like Gawain, Mordred and Lilian's leads as they continue. With Gwain's wariness about the food, she's going to trust that and keep with him.

Lilian's plan plays out wonderfully as they find the prince without breaking any of the rules and seems to have entertained him a bit too.

They are also given an out to go find Gawain's long sperate companion so she will go for it.

Then the Stablemaster runs some unexpected interference. Maya will ask in response to that.

"What does the horse Gringolet have to say about that?"
Mordred      "A war, huh? That could be fun to look into..." Mordred strokes her chin lightly while murmuring "Court of the Moon" to herself quietly, nodding after a moment at the old man's question. She leaves the more detailed explanations of their task to Lilian, even grinning slightly at her ploy with the gift.

    They get a name, and another offer to eat. Like Gawain, Mordred skips the food and follows the escort right to the stables. She does a fair bit of scouting herself, looking over the horses in the stable, sizing them up as potential acquisitions, glancing over slowly when Gawain shouts his horse's name.

     "Oh. That was quick." Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Mordred approaches the stablemaster as he stops Gawain in his approach. "Your horse, huh? Where'd you find him?" Unlike Gawain, Mordred's not so keen on stopping even with the Stablemaster there, and she strolls right on up to look the horse over, sizing it up, squatting to check it out from below, all to see if she would actually recognize the horse herself.

     "Hell. How'd you get him here? You don't see something like this every day, so... Be thorough." She keeps her hands on her hips as she looks from the horse to the Stablemaster, maintaining constant eye contact from there.
Tamamo     Seeing Gawain be led away, and Lilian's visible impatience with fairy games, Tamamo doesn't spend any more time in the hall than necessary, pleasant as it generally is. They're better than the last set of fae she'd come across, or the set before that, for that matter, but partying is unlikely to help with the quest.

    At the stables, they are met with what is, apparently, the very object of the quest. Tilting her head to the side, Tamamo asks Gawain, "If only to be quite certain, I must ask. Is there any possibility that you might be mistaken, sir Gawain?"

    If, indeed, he cannot be, the next question follows naturally, but she'd ask it in either case, of the stablemaster. "What claim do you lay to this horse?" Partially echoing Mordred, "and from where does this claim originate?" Tilting the opposite way, another question, "Have you named him?"

    By way of verbally giving some space, she adds, "Oh, yes, of course. We have gotten rather out of order, have we not?" Ahem. "The Sun Prince did send us to meet with the stablemaster, in finding whether Sir Gawain's horse, Gringolet, has been seen by any of the court. You will, of course, honor this request."
Lilian Rook     There's another flicker of tiny glowing windows. Something entered. A little smirk on Lilian's part. The aura of sheer 'go ahead, make my day' oozes from her a little less strongly. "So you're 'that sort'. Well then, best for you, no doubt. I'd wondered if we might be here all day. If it's all just fun and games though, I'll try not to mind overmuch." Once again, there is so much an Implication to that tone that it may as well be telepathy.

    If Maya actually goes anywhere near the feast, Lilian will literally slap food out of her hands and then also slap Maya for good measure. "You're unbelievably fortunate you're with the Paladins, so I can't just leave you behind." Those are the words she spares for that occasion. "A host cannot force anything on a guest but courtesies paid in kind. Use your brain. Hospitality is a tradition about protection of travelers. If you could force them to eat your food, how well do you think that'd go? Don't make work for me." Maya is of course a fellow guest and not the host, so it doesn't count. "Also, now that you've started, don't answer any questions. It's ninety percent likely here that the host can't ask you anything until you've finished the meal they've provided. That's why I asked you to bring something."

    At the stables, however, Lilian first only repeats "'This is my horse'." in pensive, roundabout tones. "One. You shall not lie. But that's rather specific, isn't it? Perhaps you're not all on the same page?" She quietly snaps her fingers. "Well let's hope you don't make too much trouble for the prince, hm?"

    Lilian is familiar with faerie glamer bullshit. Presenting Gawain with exactly what he's looking for, then no doubt making him bargain for it, would be pretty textbook here. She intends to ascertain the veracity of whether it actually is Gringolet or not, drawing its attention with the tip of her finger and then literally reading the horse's thoughts through its eyes. If it is, then Tamamo is already setting her up for the second punch anyways. If it isn't, it's even easier.
Rean Schwarzer Everyone heads off to talk to the stable master, and Rean follows suit, not wanting to be left beside. Also, the people who knew more about fae stuff seemed to be giving it a pass, so hungry as he was, it'd have to wait.

Once at the stables, they find the Stablemaster and...Gringolet?! but...something's weird.

Rean puts his hand to his chin and lets out a light hum. Gringolet didn't seem to respond  to Gawain at all, not even letting out a whinny, or glancing at him when they came in.

"Wouldn't Gringolet recognize you on sight, Gawain?" Rean asks. "After all, it sounded like you two were inseparable. Surely he wouldn't forget you that easily?"
Gawain As people head out to the stables, there's checks first. Mordred is sure this is Gawain's horse. /Lilian/ is sure this is Gawain's horse. There's no trick here. Lilian, specifically, can tell this is a sapient creature as well. The thoughts are intelligent, and the horse could hold a short conversation, should he possess the ability to speak, which he does not.

Maya gets brushed off IMMEDIATELY by the Stablemaster. "Why do I care what he thinks? He's a steed. His job is to serve."

Gawain responds to Tamamo. "Those eyes. They're unmistakable. That is my horse, Gringolet." Gawain sighs to Rean. "It's been..."

The Stablemaster interrupts and laughs. "You died fourteen centuries ago. This horse, who I have named Greer, was the survivor. I found him wild in the forests two centuries ago. I've had a much longer claim to him than you ever have. He doesn't even recognize you!"

The horse does not seem to immediately recognize him. But Lilian, still reading his thoughts, can sense something odd, as the Stablemaster turns to Lilian. "It's not a lie. This is my horse."

Gawain is, meanwhile, looking down. And then, he shakes his head, and looks the Stablemaster in the eyes, pleading. "Even so, he doesn't deserve such abuse. I want to take him back with me. I will compensate you for such a thing. Please, give me my horse."

The Stablemaster just laughs, and turns. "No, I don't think I will. The Court will need as many strong horses as possible in order to reclaim the world." He grabs the rod, and moves to strike to get Gringolet to follow.

Gawain suddenly steps forward, lifting his arm. "Get the FUCK away from him!"

If Gawain isn't stopped, he may actually swing at the Stablemaster.
Mordred      That all but confirms it. Mordred may not have the same connection to Gringolet that Gawain does, but she'd recognize him (almost) anywhere, and she certainly recognizes him now. Standing up from her brief sprawl on the ground, Mordred dusts herself off as she listens to the Stablemaster, nodding slowly while clenching and unclenching her fists a few times. She glances towards Gawain, her expression darkening when he pleads with the Stablemaster and is refused.

    She sees the Stablemaster strike the horse, and the Knight of Treachery is on the move. She doesn't take any swings at anybody, though, instead moving abruptly to stand in front of Gawain, as if trying to stop him from doing anything particularly rash.

    "Greer, huh? Cool, cool. Great horse you got there... I got a better idea than returning the horse or buying it. How about..." She waits a moment, both to make sure Gawain's cooled down enough and that the Stablemaster actually acknowledges her first.

    Once things seem calmed down enough, Mordred makes her move. She leaps onto the horse, shifting a bit to get just comfortable enough before spurring it on suddenly with her heels to try and get it hurtling out of there. She might not be wearing her armor, but Mordred's knows how to ride a horse well enough into battle, and she's probably pulled this stunt a few times with other horses. "Bye, assholes!"
Gawain Mordred jumps on the horse. As soon as she does, a bell rings throughout the court. Someone has broken a law.

EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH

Mordred's hands go numb. They begin to bleed profusely all aroun, from the wrists to the fingers, and are basically painful and currently unusable. It'll probably go away. For now?

Steering a horse is going to be difficult, especially as the Stablemaster and all the stablehands want to chase after her!
Mordred      Mordred can't quite seem to guide Gringolet all that well, finding that the reins aren't quite there at first. It's only on a second look that she notices the bleeding, shaking off her hands a few times to try and regain feeling to no avail.

     In retrospect, this was probably not the most well thought out plan. Still, it's a work in progress, and she'll just have to try using her legs to steer instead while bleeding all over the horse's mane. "Come on, Gringolet. You must know your way around here, yeah? Let's get the hell outta here!"

    She will probably need an assist to finish the job here.
Rean Schwarzer Rean steps between Gawain and the Stablemaster, raising one arm to try and block Gawain's swing and another to try and stop the Stablemaster from hitting Gringolet, even if it means getting hit himself in either case.

"...I know people who raise fine horses." Rean says to the Stablemaster. "Known for being the finest in the country, in fact. I can introduce them to you, if you allow us to take Greer with us-"

He's interrupted by Mordred just deciding to /steal/ Gringolet.  "Wha-" Rean shouts as she rides off.  He looks between the stablehand and Gawain...And then bolts after Mordred, trying to give her that assist.
Maya It's fortunate Maya had caught on to Gwain's wariness about the food and will pass on it. She dodged a bullet here but Maya's fairly direct nature may have got her into trouble here. She gets brushed off pretty quickly and she's left thinking for a second.

The Fae lays down things pretty hard about how it's his Horse. Maya had forgotten Gawain had died once long ago and the summoning ritual had dragged him back to the land of the living.

They keep going at things diplomatically for a moment then it all goes to hell when the stable master goes to strike the Horse.

Gawain is rightfully angry, hell Maya's not happy either, yet she sees what's about to happen and will try to grab Gawain from behind and loop her arms under his.

"SIR GAWAIN! Don't! The court's Rules."

Even if she fails to get ahold of him or even hang on to him for long she'll still give her warning.

Then Mordred happens, whatever happens with Sir Gawain and Maya? Mordred freaking happens with a little grand theft horse. Maya curses and then sprints after Rean and Mordred.
Lilian Rook     The stablemaster had actually answered. In telling Tamamo, he'd of course explained exactly why he believes, in his head and heart, that Gringolet is his horse. She looks like she already knows where to go with this. She's already taking a breath, as if scheduled two minutes in advance.

    Lilian holds it. "Did Gawain just--?"

    And then she has to occupy herself with getting behind Gawain and grabbing his arm from behind, having to use both of hers to prevent him from successfully striking the stablemaster. Passing right by his ear in the process of getting in front of him, she whispers, just for a moment "Believe me; I'd like to as well. Not yet." For once since coming here, she sounds dead serious.

    Yet, when she gets to stroke two of her plan, it seems the other knight in the party (though Lilian would never dignify her with it) has lost patience already. Leaping on top of the horse and attempting to ride away, though likely to be unsuccessful on its own, still dashes the more structured of her plans on the metaphorical rocks, and so this time she's getting in the stablemaster's way instead.

    "Where do you think you're doing? I'm your guest, aren't I? These stables are yours, are they not? And it's part of the Sun Prince's polity, isn't it? I've rendered unto the court a gift, haven't I? And I haven't received one in turn. I've not eaten, drank bathed, rested, and now you're ignoring me to chase after somebody I don't even know. You're leaving me alone in your household and running away, aren't you?"

    She reaches into her bag again and pulls out one of the things she'd spent her time occupied with on the road, tossing a thick and valuable hardback print treatise on Prima Materia into the stablemaster's hands with a flick of her wrist, heavy enough that he'll have to catch it (and thus accept it) unless he wants to get smashed in the windpipe. "Is that still not good enough for you? When am I going to get any kind of treatment at all?"

    If Mordred straight up keels over and dies in the effort, that's fine by Lilian. What matters more is that, now that she's invoked the hospitality she's initiated her end of already, the stablemaster should eat shit for starting a chase for her without giving her something of value to get her out of the way, going by the magical effect she'd just seen. And what does he have around to give, when pressed so severely for time?
Tamamo     "Sir Gawain, please hold. That is no manner for a knight to take." And then Mordred happens, and Tamamo is at an uncharacteristic loss for words. The punishment is swift and arguably proportional. After several silent attempts and visible effort, she gets out, "Your family situation was... complicated, was it not?"

    Any hope of returning to more civilized tact is destroyed when Gawain shouts. "Very well. If you must. Sir Gawain, would you please take these healing talismans?" A stack of indecipherable strips of paper is offered to him, any one of which would normally be quite sufficient for mysteriously bleeding or paralyzed hands. "Use them for whatever injuries impede your quest. I shall remain a little longer."

    Having thus taken all due care for both knights, she walks over to the stablemaster, already being accosted and force-gifted by Lilian, and continues, "Now, now, were we not already mid-conversation? You have claimed right of discovery, is this not so? And yet, you have given to this horse, already named, a *new* name. The matter of your gamble is thus made clear. Though you have claim over Greer, you make no claim over Gringolet. If the horse should still be so named as under its prior ownership, then your own claim is as morning dew. If any particular of this was difficult to understand, I would be pleased to explain at sufficient length." And argue into the ground.
Gawain The scenario collapses into chaos. Gringolet rides, even as Mordred is having trouble steering, remembering a familiar, yet not quite accurate feel. Perhaps this is...no, can't be. Too small.

Several move to stop Gawain from striking, but it's Mordred and Lilian's actions who most stopped him, lost in his anger. He doesn't force his way out of grips, and Lilian's words help, but things have already devolved.

Rean and Maya can push past the stablehands and move to help Mordred steer. The problem is: where to go. Guards aren't moving to attack, but moving to get a bead on positioning.

Lilian and Tamamo move to stop the Stablemaster. Gawain watches. Their legalese would work. They can tell, as he's fuming. He looks like he's about to give in - when he remembers something.

"You think I am a kin of games, who allows kinless to steal my property and treat me like a fool? To cheat me? Hardly."

He looks up into the sun directly. "I call upon the favor you owe me, prince. Remove the law of hospitality. So says the Rose Knight, greatest of kin warriors."

There's a twitch. Everything goes silent. The Rose Knight pauses, and then...

The bells ring thrice. The laws have changed. There is no replacement law.

"I will kill every last one of you for your disrespect."

The rod is whip-cracked again that moment. But where it cracks, it transforms into a long thin sword, covered in rose petals, which start spinning around him. In the moment after, the sword strikes out, to lash into Tamamo, Lilian, and Gawain in that order. He's prioritizing 'physical toughness, in order of weakest to toughess' in his eyes.
Mordred      Mordred's starting to get used to steering without her hands. She's got leg strength! She's also lsoing quite a bit of blood, but she's not about to let that look like it's hindering her at all. She certainly won't stop Rean and/or Maya from helping get Gringolet on course, though, and she takes note of the bells ringing in the distance.

    Based on who's with her and who isn't, she'll just have to assume that Lilian and Tamamo had something to do with that. "... Hm. Gawain's with 'em, so they'll be fine." She mutters to herself with a quiet snicker, oblivious to what's actually going on behind her as she works to keep Gringolet out of fae hands.

     Mostly oblivious. She doesn't let the fact that she hasn't seen the rest of the group around concern her visibly, at least. After a moment longer, she finally speaks up again. "Once we're on a straight shot outta here, go back and... Just say that I got away or something. If the Sun Court wants to make a thing of this with Britain or the Concord, let 'em. Not like any of you were in on the plan, right? Right."
Lilian Rook     Lilian remains staunchly in the stablemaster's way. She's got her arms folded. Her foot is tapping. There is no sign whatsoever of nervousness. She doesn't glance back to the horse. Just look at her. She isn't stalling for time. She's looking to him. Expectant. She expects . . .

    She isn't stalling for time. She isn't stalling. A look too late.

    The law is repealed. The annoyance and grievance of the lord towards the guests who've slighted him but within the rules of the household, so long as they sacrifice one of their own, begun the very moment she'd thrown the flowers. Lilian laughs. She laughs loud and long and very, very sincerely. It's *ecstatic*.

    "Oh you nasty old faerie fool. How fat and soft you are, suckling on the teat of a self-named prince of your kind, cradled by mere whims and games. And you think yourself ready to go to *war*." As Tamamo moves to hand off the healing talismans, Lilian releases her arm, bringing her fingers up to her collarbone, brushing the half-hidden black necklace. He can see the black floral pattern spreading across the back of her hand. A triskelion of interwoven branches and roots and flowers in the abstract, little more than faintly ominous celtic art to most, but no doubt all-too intelligible to Old Fair Folk of the Woods.

    The coils and blooms of fir, elder, and heather, sprung from vine. Surrounding it, down from her fingertips up her arm, as she clutches the pendant in her fist. Yew, fir and oak. Yew. Ivy and spindle. Rowan, aspen, yew, elder. The extreme subtlety would only ever be recognizable to a creature of nature in the first place, and the language they correspond to would only ever be to a creature of the Isles especially.

    "You've made a mistake." says Lilian. She pulls the cruciform pendant from her dress, snaps it from her neck, and black fire springs from her hand out to her side, solidifying into a blade of mirror-like magnetite, with the same pattern of interlocking knots and recursions glowing scarlet up its length. There's no way to mask what it is from one of the faerie themselves. "Though it means little to you, I'll say it all the same. I am Lilian Isabelle Rook. Dame Commander of the Scarlet Cross of the Ring of Solstice, sixteenth bearer of the Uncanny Sword, Dubh-Ceothan Marfach. I will have my due."

    The stablemaster swings at Tamamo first. He swings at Lilian first. His blade crashes against a thing that is pure, unadulterated anathema to everything about him. The air of the faerie court itself blackens and burns to its touch, ruby embers constantly running down the length of the edge and dripping from the tip. Bits of the stable unravel around the length of movement it takes to parry his weapon with hers.
Lilian Rook     Lilian flicks her blade free of the clash with her wrist, bringing the point smoothly down and around until it all but touches the ground, the blade trailing behind her rather than put up in guard, one palm resting loosely on the top of the pommel. "God your kind are so predictable. As per the rule of three, here is my third gift. Cleasa o Skye -- Gaoth Caisleán Taibhse" she exhales.

    She makes a blinding lunge towards the stablemaster, turning up the flat of the sword and slamming down on the pommel, and sending the point about into a sudden wide and shallow arc counterclockwise across the stone floor, spewing crimson embers and sparks into the air like arterial spray. The cut goes from the stablemaster's hip up to his opposite shoulder and out, yet seems to have no effect. The sword essentially ghosts right through him, like an illusion.

    It's his stewards, his stablehands, and his horses, which are in trouble. Ribbons of black wind tear through the stable, carrying the sparks with them. They split and flow around obstructions and corners exactly as easily as wind does, seeking out fae behind them, chasing down any who run, and where the sparks land on faerie flesh, the cut that should have happened to the stablemaster erupts across them instead.

    Unless they have some extraordinary means of defending themselves like their elder fey master, it amounts to a wholesale slaughter of every horse and every servant he owns.

    The sword halts at Lilian's own fourth quarter. She snaps it by the hilt and turns it back on the stablemaster. "Care to be next?"
Maya Maya keeps running as fast as she can go after Mordred she has faith hat Tamano Gawain and Lilian can handle things on their end. Right now it's time to get Rean the horse and yes Mordred the heck out of here. She'll attempt to run any interference. Maya will palm a few spell cards ready, to cause interference to assist in the escape of Mordred, herself and Rean. How did the whole mission end up transform into stealing a horse from a /Fae/ Court?!

If they get jumped she will start casting spells as they move, hopefully, it will be enough combined with any efforts Rean takes.
Rean Schwarzer "ARCUS, activate! Chrono Drive!" Rean shouts. The sound of turning gears and ticking clocks fills both his and Maya's ears, accelerating both of them enough to keep up with the runaway horse. Once they catch up, he drops a healing spell on Mordred's hands, though whether or not it'd help given the magical nature of her wounds had to be seen.

The bells ring again. Did they do something else to the rules,or...? Not like he can check right now, given the runaway horse.

"Not sure that'll work..." Rean says to Mordred. After all, they were all here trying to get the horse. There was /some/ plausible deniability, yes. but it'd all depend on what happened next.
Tamamo     A sneak attack would be one thing, but there's hardly any bigger forewarning possible than 'you think you can beat me?' followed by a request for a judge to change a ruling. Tamamo is already stepping back. Her enormous mirror was somewhere else, but now it's here, manifesting out of the plentiful sunlight. Her eyes don't show quite the same warmth as to which one might become easily accustomed. By the time the bell has tolled thrice, she's not only drawn a new set of talismans from her coat pocket, but tossed them to land--harmlessly to all, and therefore no bother to any--at points on the ground and stable structures easily encompassing herself, the Rose Knight, and anyone who hasn't rushed anywhere else.

    It's only after he strikes that Tamamo claps her hands, and the barrier activates. The meaning is fairly esoteric, this time, yet simple, for that. All it does is twist the recognition of the space within it from being 'within' the Sun Court to being 'outside,' without obstructing any motion, physical or magical, between the two. It's only a change of ownership, from the Sun Court's to that of its new claimant. For those unbound by rules, and whose magic ignores such particular distinctions, this wouldn't mean anything.

    The mirror is a good shield in itself, and she has some other means of dealing with attacks, but for the most part, that is left entirely to Lilian. For Gawain, knowing his power, she has little present worry. These are far from the ideal conditions one would need to assassinate him, letting Tamamo focus on her opponent.

    "Dare you speak of disrespect? With full sincerity did I seek to preserve your unworthy honor." Though her pain tolerance is honestly not that great, she won't let being struck by mystical weaponry interrupt her speech. "Know that you trespass against the bunrei of Amaterasu-omikami, Goddess of the Sun, and your Prince shows complicity. You possess no right to stand in my presence. Your court exists at the Sun's whim. Your sin is without question."

    There's no need to question what she says. The veneer of mortality falls away as she speaks. One would need to be utterly blind to mistake her, even if a close look would see that her connection to the heavenly body follows a route that, while wholly legitimate, would damage the sanity of anyone attempting to fully validate it. Ignorance of the name may be confusing, but it doesn't deny the truth of her words, even without the Law. She is, with certainty, a heavenly deity in the flesh, distinct from those of the Earth. The outward signs, the luminous glow, the rising fire at the tips of her hair that fails to burn her clothing, those are just the side-effects shown to the slow.

    "I pronounce judgment." She ignores what happens to everything else, as if Lilian were only slicing leaves in the wind.

    "I will forgive your master his part in your disrespect, on one condition." As she's been speaking, the glare of the Sun has changed within the barrier. The atmosphere is hotter, heavier, enough for stray rose petals to spontaneously dry and shrivel. It's the feeling of an imminent disaster, waiting for the spark that sets the fire. It's a curse, a real and tangible one, sapping the will and strength of those targeted, though there only needs to be one target.

    "With the last of your honor, take your own life."
Gawain At first, Mordred is about to be aimed down by arrows. Rean and Maya's spells help them escape. But then, something happens in the stables.

Because the Rose Knight strikes, and his sword singes from the pure fae bane. It wilts and burns as if it was a flower, as the slash suddenly moves up his body - and phases through him.

Horses and stableboys drop dead, their fairy bodies crumpling away into leaves and petals of flowers.

The Rose Knight grimaces. He looks as if he's going to strike again, but suddenly pulls back, as do the various guards, who are panicking, moving to secure the Sun Prince from the menace.

"A cleasa...a mortal hero. I'll take pleasure in killing you when we next meet." There's a twinge. As if he knows either she'll pursue him, or he'll pursue her.

And then Tamamo's power rises. No, the bunrei of Amaterasu. She issues an order, a curse, a mind melting effect. The Rose Knight's sword and hand rises, and moves to slam the blade into his shoulder, even as he screams in pain. He starts carving, moving to strike it through his heart. He's going to die.

The court is under the control of Tamamo. He shouldn't be able to resist. Yet, there's something there. Something he does.

"I REJECT THE FEALTY OF THE SUN PRINCE! I FIGHT ONLY FOR MY LOVE!"

His hand moves to fight the other, as his very words pain him. As he moves to try and stop the blade.

"I FIGHT FOR JANET!"

His eyes turn blank white, as he suddenly rips the blade out of his chest, even as he's nearly crippled and one of his arms is barely working.

"I AM TAM LIN, THE ROSE KNIGHT! I WILL NOT DIE HERE! HEAR THESE WORDS, GODDESS!"

"I will not take my own life for you! For only she may break my bindings!"

Tam Lin starts to limp, and then, before someone can finish him, slams his blade into the ground. There's a cracking noise, and then, he turns into rose petals, and drifts away, even through the intense heat.

But, Tamamo's power has done something. The sun grows hotter, and some of the fae actually kneel to her. She could probably hold strong negotiations over the Sun Prince just after what she has shown, and exact retribution or reward from him. And Tam Lin...

He will certainly be seen again.

Gawain frowns from the stress of it all, and then turns to the two ladies. "I must see to my horse. Come with me, unless you have further business here. We'll track him down in the end. Don't worry."