Let's do this thing, Alex! :)
Alright. I am going ahead. Again with The lesser Evil.
🍎 Share a scene where a character is tempted by something/someone
"I wanted to talk with you once more," the king said. "Just the two of us without the temperament of your one companion."
"Of course, my Leash," Adrian muttered.
"He is not a knight, is he?"
"He is not," Adrian admitted.
"I thought so." Much to Adrian's surprise the king got up. "It was quite unwise of you to attack my most honored mage."
Adrian bit his tongue, to not confront the man about the mage's madness. He would not get through to Corvinus and he knew it. No, he needed to play his cards right. "Maybe not. But even you have to see that sending a demon army out onto Europe will have disastrous consequences."
"Frederick should've thought about this, before he broke his promise," the king said, as he went over to the window to look at the moon.
There was something about him. He smelled of magic. Not of brimstone, as the mage had done, but not good, either. It was the smell of bloody meat, fresh from the slaughter. But magic, no doubt.
"I wanted to talk to you about Wallachia," Corvinus now said, turning around to Adrian. "About your original… proposition."
"What original proposition?" Adrian frowned. He had the feeling he would not like, where this was going.
"What you have told is the truth? It was you, who killed Dracula?"
"It is. Me and my two companions stopped him." Because there had been no other way.
"That makes for a fine story, you know?"
"That is not what I mean." The man turned around to him. "Wallachia has no more king—and not many members of the noble families either, from all I hear."
Adrian stared at Corvinus, not quite able to follow his logic.
"The poor people of Wallachia have suffered so greatly under Dracula's attack," Corvinus continued. "So many dead. So many starved. And now they are being governed by the godless people from the East. Those filthy Ottoman's." He spat out the name of that empire. "Even though the good people of Wallachia deserve peace, as you've said. They should be freed, should they not?"
Adrian hesitated. It was of course the story under which's guise they had even gotten to the court in the first place. The truth was, of course, that Ottoman rule was as good as any. To the people it did not really make a difference, especially as the Ottoman's had not really fought for the land, had just taken it, as there had been no one left to defend it. "I suppose," he still said.
A smile played around the king's lips. "I don't think the campaign against their 'Holy Roman Empire' will take too long. By the end of winter, Austria-Hungary will be reunited. I was thinking, we could indeed help you afterwards. Help you to retake the land of Wallachia. You see, King Radu had been a close friend of mine, may he rest in peace. And without barely anyone of noble blood remaining in Wallachia… The land needs a king, don't you think?"
It was only slowly that Adrian understood. He shook his head in disbelieve. "You want me to be king?"
"It would make for a good story," Corvinus said. "The man who killed his own father to save the good people of Wallachia. A true hero." Corvinus returned to his throne. "You would of course swear your fealty to me, of course, give some of your taxes to the Hungarian throne."
🥝 Share a scene where a character fails at something
The attacks did not even touch the man, Trevor realized. But how. He had no fangs. He had not pointed ears. The guy wasn't a vampire. So how was he keeping up with Adrian's speed? How was he keeping up with Sypha's magic to top it all off?
A cough rose in Trevor's throat as maybe it shouldn't surprise him, that he was coughing blood. Just a minor internal injoury. Nothing to worry about.
Somehow he managed to get back onto his legs, though he was still staggering. Shit. What were they supposed to do now?
Then something glittering creeped across the ground. Ice. Another spell. This one the mage had not seen coming, as his feet suddenly struggled for purchase. He was loosing his balance, just as Adrian's next attack hit him right in the head, sending him flying. Adrian was not letting off, though, jumping after him, hitting him again, again and again, just as the wall behind the man was starting to crumble. Only when blood started spluttering onto the ground, Adrian stopped, floating in the air like a deadly angel, while the mage fell down.
"Ouch," Trevor muttered, as he saw what was left of the mage's face. Then Adrian was by his side.
"You know me," Trevor grunted. "I am one sturdy bastard." Even though he was still tasting blood in his mouth. He looked over to Sypha, who was back on her feet as well, coming over to them.
"So, I guess this is done," she muttered.
But it was not easy like that. It never was, was it? There were heavy steps on the hallway floor. Several heavy steps coming towards them and Trevor knew all-too well what that meant. "We're gonna get some company."
He was right, of course, as several knights entered the hallway from both sides. Had they been waiting this entire time? Because otherwise they had the most awful timing. Their gazes only briefly flickered over to the clearly dead mage, before they raised their weapons.
"You are under arrest!" The man with the most badged shouted. "For attacking Lord Bluebeard."
Trevor chuckled, knowing fully well this wasn't the right situation for that. "And killing him…"
It turned out, though, that he was not the only one chuckling. There was a deep chuckle coming just from behind them and as Trevor turned around, he found the mage back on his feed again. His face was still bloody bashed in and yet he was standing, that what was left of his lips curved into a smile. "Did you know?" he asked, just as his face was slowly plopping back into place, once again getting the flawless appearance of the man with the icy blue eyes. Though his steps were not as powerful as they had been before, he walked over to them, disappointment showing in his eyes. "It is too bad, really. I thought you might understand," he said to them, before nodding towards the guards. "Take them to the dungeon."
Walking through the standing guards he shook his head. "This continent will burn. I all has to burn…"
🍉 Share a scene where your character is happy or excited
As the sun was rising, the English were fleeing over the river towards the city, as the people were throwing down stones. They had taken the English fort, had taken the bridgehouse as well. She had let them, had lead the people into battle, into victory. There were not many places the English could run and they very well knew it.
She was holding her sword in one hand and the banner in the other. The rain clouds had drifted away during the early morning hours so that her white banner was once again catching the golden rays of the sun. A shining beacon for all who believed.
Her gaze was directed towards the fleeing English, as her eyes once more were sparkling with determination. She raised her sword as if calling to battle, only that she did not call.
She did not need to, as in the next moment the timbers that had been used to enforce the bridge were breaking. One at first, then the others. There were screams, as the English were falling to the water, in their armor utterly unable to swim. There were screams as the men were drowning, just as the French were standing by the rivers side.
It was as if God had decided that this battle was finally over. It was as if she had been right all along.
The shout came up between the peasants at first, but quickly spread through their ranks. "We've won! We've won! Long live France. Long live the holy maiden."
And she, she was standing there, her banner reflecting the sun. Determined. Pure. Couragous.
On that Thursday morning Gilles knelt in front of her for the first time.
