whiteoak academy

[oshibana]

The country of Esmos has a proud tradition of raising the children of its noble houses into powerful mages who wield all manner of control over the magic that runs through the world. To this end, the most magically adept (and, typically, richest and most well-bred) children are sent to the prestigious White Oak Academy. Here, they learn how to get along and more importantly, how to mingle and socialize in high society. Etiquette and history classes are held alongside magical theory and combat and it's impossible to tell just which is more dangerous – the magic the students are learning to control or the social circles they're expected to begin navigating. Still, White Oak is known through the land for a reason and with nobles and royalty in attendance, the security and care taken in protecting their students make this the safest place in all of Esmos. Surely nothing could go wrong in a place like White Oak.

Comments

Swords

[calyptroll]

Your highness. [As a member of the peerage, Dulcie could likely get away with simply addressing Thanasis as a peer. But just like she always has, even when she first met the twins as a child, she minds her manners properly.]

[It's a swordsman's bow she favors him with today, though, not her typical elegant curtsey- she's dressed in practical clothes, clearly out for her own usual strict regimen of combat training, her blunt practice blade strapped to one hip.]

It has been some time since we last sparred. Would you do me the honor of a duel?

[Normally, she feels most at home with a sword in her hand. But there's an odd tension in the way she holds herself today.]

[But she's been feeling strangely wrong for a while, now.]

[deadheading]

...Lady Calpiny.

[ he returns her bow with one of his own— a hair less deep, in quiet acknowledgement of their different statuses, but not disrespectfully so. unlike her, he isn't going to use dislike as an excuse to be uncivil.

...even if he is incredibly tempted to gracefully turn her down. would it be petty? yes— but her face doesn't exactly inspire graciousness in him, as of late. ]

If you wish. I would be honored to accept.

[ on the other hand, perhaps a victory against her would work as an outlet for some of the more protective feelings her antics inspire. it would be good to cool his dislike some—

after all, it isn't quite fair to her. ]

[calyptroll]

By your leave, then, my lord. [Her lord. There's something almost possessive in that, now- there always has been, to a degree, but it was "my lord" as in "my land", as in "mine, because I am yours by oath and by blood".]

[Any daughter of house Calyptra knows: it always, always comes back to blood.]

[This new manner isn't quite that. There's something more fervent to it, a quiet undercurrent of desperation.]

[She draws her sword smoothly and settles into a picture-perfect duelist's stance, blade held up in formal salute.]

All hits legal from sole to crown, 'til first blood or surrender. Do the terms suit?

[Translation: you are my lord, and I would never strike you without permission. But today I want one of us to bleed.]

/2

[deadheading]

[ his own draw actually pauses as she names her terms, his eyebrows going up—

but the smile he favors her with a moment after is far sharper than his usual cheerful smiles... and sharper than any smile he's given Lily, by far. ]

[deadheading]

[

—a blink later, and it's gone as he settles into his own stance, returning her salute. ]

They do. ...Whenever you wish, Lady Calpiny.

[calyptroll]

[And that's what she wants, isn't it? To have his attention, something that matters from him, no matter how harsh. It must be.]

[If she didn't want him to look at her like that, why else would she feel such visceral loathing for the girl who so easily holds his heart? Why would she lash out at her again and again, vicious little petty slights that appall her the second Lily is out of sight, only for the strange gnawing bitterness to come roaring back the moment she sees her again. There's no other rational explanation.]

[She's not quite desperate enough to accept irrational explanations, yet.]

[There's always been impeccable skill behind Dulcinea's swordwork. There's always been a certain idealistic devotion. When she surges forward today, there's passion in it, too.]

I would never insult you by holding back, your highness.

[She's not joking. Frankly, if she weren't confident in Thanasis' own sword skills, it would look more like an outright attempt to bludgeon him to death with the blunt end of her practice blade. Fighting an angry Dulcie is like being charged by an entire hive of furious hornets at once.]

[She expects it to be returned in kind. Please just look at me. Look at me like you look at her.]

[Then maybe this will finally stop.]