Not Your Average Emissary

[Karyan]

"You will not take another step on the sacred land."

Siavash froze in the process of doing just that.

"Neither will the beast."

Behind her, looking even more disreputable than was normal for him, Crow snorted and flicked his tail, unconcerned and happy just to be standing on dry, stationary ground. Siavash wasn't quite so unperturbed. She ground her teeth on the immediate hot retort that wanted out so badly, and with effort mustered a strained smile. "I've already shown you my ring of service, and the High King's seal. What else could you possibly require?"

[Diamond]

The Prince Regent of Amantsu generally had hectic mornings in any case - the sunrise invocations, the mist-raising rituals, the placations of the ancestors, the piacular ordeals, and also of course tea ceremony at which it was absolutely vital to make sure that none of the cousins murdered each other without due kata thereof - and it was not improved by information that an Elysian courier was making a nuisance of herself at the harbor.

Diamond envisioned a world in which everyone did his best not to annoy him.  It did not really allow for Elysian couriers. 

He sighed, and massaged his temples.  Out of the corners of his eyes he could see several minor priests scurrying away to begin the prayers that would beseech the gods to lessen His Divine Highness's bothers. 

"Have the messenger give over her message and send her away on her duties," he said finally.  "Byakuren will ensure the purification rites of those forced to endure the foreigner's touch, speech, or unholy ideas."

[Karyan]

"I'm sorry," Siavash said, down at the harbor, when His Divine Highness' wishes were passed on. "You seem to have mistaken my purpose for being here. I don't have a letter for him, and even if I did, I wouldn't be permitted by the bounds of my service to hand it over to anyone but the intended recipient."

She drew in a deep breath and again pondered the wisdom of having sent her here. Honestly, it was such a tiny island chain. Was it so important that there be an outpost here?

"High King Minos himself wishes me to meet with your prince," she tried to explain, intended as well to be a reminder to herself. It was possible that it was the one thing keeping her from turning on her heel and returning to the ship that brought her here.

[Diamond]

The pages on harbor detail were wishing they had never been born, or at least not into the royal servant tier.  The latest condition of the courier - condition, one did not dictate terms to royalty about how to receive one, one shut the hell up and did as told - was making Diamond wish that most of them had not been born, either.

"Well.  We all must pay proper obeisance to the High King of the Elysium, of course," Diamond said, "just as all under Our throne will pay proper obeisance to Us."  He drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair and considered dumping this off on Esmeraude.  No, that would entail raising Esmeraude to higher status in order to fulfill the courier's conditions - CONDITIONS - and this was frankly going to be more work than continuing to fob her against common good sense.

"Inform her that if she wishes to approach Us and deliver her message, she is going to have to conform to the correct protocols of this court," Diamond said.  He raised an eyebrow.  "One hopes she is well-versed in bowing whilst in kimono, of course."

The court, properly alerted, politely giggled at this.  The aether restored to harmony, the Divine Regent paid no further attention to the pages and turned his attention back to the matters in front of him.  The pages, faced with a royal fiat, looked at each other with agonized expressions and backed out of the royal presence to run back down to the harbor and courier with the latest news.

[Byakuren]

Byrakuren was being informed about the goings-on at the harbor as well, in his own way. Meaning there were sixteen well-meaning old biddies who'd been dead for umpteen years telling him that he should definitely get up now and get the fuck down to the harbor.
He squeezed his blue eye shut against the onslaught of voices assaulting his brain, finally putting down the brush with which he'd been attempting (fruitlessly) to write a letter. God only knows to whom, but it just was not happening today.
At least no dead emperors had been demanding his attention. But it was early yet, the day was young. So he murmured that yes, Revered Grandmothers, he was going now, they needn't worry.

They critiqued his choice of robe, and suggested he try wearing some color once in a while to bring out his eyes, and he tried very hard to ignore them despite how their words echoed off the insides of his skull. Which was probably the source of his headaches. Also they watched him change sometimes and that was what they called in Amantsu Really Really Awkward.

So it was straight down to the harbor he headed, his hands clasped below the billowing fabric of black sleeves and his presence nothing if not frightening. Really! The guy was seven feet tall, with his hair fluttering dark and silky behind him (down to his elbows) and his robes doing the same about his various long limbs. Also, freaky eyes. Let's not forget those. Even if his lids hid most of the color there it was still easy to see the discrepancy, the brightness of each and their bipolarity. His face was empty, a perfect mask of placidity, and while it was not at all obvious it was entirely because for the first time all day he had been left absolutely alone.

Christ, finally.

He arrived with little fanfare but a wave of silence spreading over the pages, long hands spreading overhead and invisible blessings fluttering down like rain, effortlessly purifying. So for a second there he was sort of badass, but mostly he was just.. tall.

The willowy priest dipped in an elegant bow toward the only foreigner present, who was surely the emissary, but he said nothing. Not yet. He was listening to the opinions of two samurai, a geisha, a (possibly crazy) ninja, and another priest. All of which were dead, and therefore invisible to everyone but the tall man with the half-empty gaze as they crowded around the woman and her beast. Which the samurai said was... a giraffe. Interesting. Apparently these elder ones had been given the news before him, and had been listening to the conversation. Useful, sort of. Provided they could organize enough to take turns speaking, and make some sort of sense.
Please let them start making sense.

[Robin Goodfellow]

This wasn't the oddest or even the most frustrating time she'd had trying to reach her end destination, but Siavash had to give the Amantsujin points for trying their best to throw more and more ridiculous obstacles in her path. The newest arrival was definitely a unique twist. If nothing else, she knew her captain was going to have a grand old time with her report, when she got back.

"For crying out loud, fine, yes, if His Divine Highness is going to take insult at this uniform, get me something that won't make him cry. Gods."

[Diamond]

The seventh ritual of the morning was generally dependant upon the auguries (if the omens were good, the invocation of the holy waking might be safely omitted; if the omens were bad, ceremonies would ensue).  This morning, the omens were extremely good and spoke favorably of the sun's journey from the morning-lands to the vales of evening.  (Even Saffir was observed to smile in some relief.)

This being the case, the Divine Regent did not feel moved to insult when word was brought from the harbor of the courier's imprecations regarding his tears and the causation thereof. 

"The priests will deal with it," Diamond said, and sipped his post-ritual tea (as prescribed by protocol, vaguely scented of almonds).  "We are surely gladdened by her forebearance and accordance to the ways of the Sacred Land."

It was not really well-done to hope that the courier would give up and go away, so he banished the thought and buried it somewhere where he could dig it up in triumph later should she in fact do just that.

[Byakuren]

We are surely gladdened by her forebearance and accordance to the ways of the sacred land.
"Yes."
His voice was the sound of a meditation bell, warm and low and placid as fading ripples over still waters. The priests will deal with it. And apparently 'deal with it' now means 'tell Byakuren because the scary foreign lady makes us cry.'
So here he was.

"Come."
One long, graceful hand rose drew from it's place within his voluminous sleeve, and he gestured her forward.

"We shall dress you."

Not personally. I mean. We have people for that. Also I am, despite most appearances, a male, and that would be awkward even if my fashion sense is way better than yours. What?
Right.
We shall dress you and keep you and make you look like a presentable human being, yes.
The geisha expressed her blatant disbelief that this could be done, and the samurai told her to shut her stupid face.

Byakuren said nothing, but let it be known he didn't really disapprove of this.

[Karyan]

"Does the horse need to be prettied up too, or can someone stow him away in a stable somewhere, so he doesn't offend your good senses?" Siavash growled. The muscle in her jaw was beginning to tick. She clenched her hand into a fist to better feel the pressure of her service ring, reminding her that she was here in the King's good faith, which meant throwing a fit was Right Out.

[Byakuren]

A horse. It was a horse. He cast a mildly raised eyebrow over at a spot of empty space that contained a very embarrassed samurai, and the rest of the invisible crowd tittered. The eyebrow lowered, and they turned back toward the animal, knowing better than to follow him. Thank the spirits for that.

"He will be taken care of." There, now. You're very small, did you know that? Those expressive eyebrows lowered faintly, but pointedly, at a courier, and the poor man scooted forward, apparently stuck with the unfortunate task of dealing with darling Crow. His hands slipped back into his sleeves and crossed gracefully before him, assuming, naturally, that the emissary would be following along beside him like a good girl-thing.

[Diamond]

There were pages and various maidens of the court vying to give him updates on the mysterious emissary and her progress through the proper protocols.  Apparently she was making a large impression. 

Diamond took a valuable five minutes to consider whether or not simple curiosity was allowable, because either this woman had a message that was very important, in which case it required his attention; or she was sufficiently civilized to recognize that servants of kings and princes obeyed the forms of servitude, and that piqued his interest, because as far as he had been aware, only Amantsu itself harbored people with such highly-evolved morality.

"Bring her in as soon as Byakuren deems her worthy of the inner gates," he directed, and went back to the rituals keeping the Portals in check and the court settled.

[Byakuren]

It was unusual to have a foreigner coming directly to the high prince. Very unusual. And by unusual I mean it had never really happened before, not on such short notice. Byakuren could feel the rage coming off the little woman in waves, magnified when his great hand came to rest across her shoulders, spanning something like three-quarters of the way across the width of her back.
The rituals were useless, the water did little but flatten the dust of travel on the blessee's skin and the spirits they brought clung tightly, staring in something like curious horror at the multitude of their kind that wandered so freely in Amantsu. This woman was free of such things, somehow, but she was surrounded by stink and he suspected it had something to do with the animal she'd brought with her.
So he made sure he was out of earshot before he spoke. Now, lady, in case you haven't noticed, "We are fond of ritual, here." And you stink. What? I mean. Um.
The path they walked was impeccably swept, free of any rogue leaves or twigs, and it led them through an archway gate, into a garden of sand and stone just as impeccably swept. The ivory grains were raked into the idea of waves, the silence here palpable and the reverence even more so. "Given the prince's propensity for white-" As I'm sure you've noticed- "Perhaps you would accept a bath." I'll be over here. Away from the naked chick. Getting the kimono and some chicks to show you how to put it on. Also, shoes. I don't even know what you're wearing now, but they're horrifying.
(ooc If this doesn't work, let me know. Byakuren is awkward. 8| )

[Helios]

Easily provoked temper for now quitened by rigid professionalism, Siavash followed the priest dociley enough. When he left her at a pagoda inside which she found a steaming bath and two attendants waiting, staring while giving every appearance as to being too dignified to stare, she reminded herself that servants - whether priests, maids, or pages - were rarely to blame for the demands they were made to carry out.
 
That, and there wasn't a swiftrider in service who would consider a hot bath after a long journey a hardship. Whatever update Diamond received next, it was sure to be full of wonderment at how easily the foreigner now acquiesed, allowing the attendants to assist as they wished, as she readily applied herself to cleansing away the marks of a hard sea voyage.
 
"Oh, wait," she did protest, at last, when she saw a girl about to make off with the tray on which she'd been urged to leave her uniform. With effort Siavash bit back the first impolitic remark that rose at seeing the way the girl held the tray gingerly and far away from her person. "I know this is all about cleansing, but I need those. They're King's issue, you can't just throw them away. Look, if you don't want to keep them around here, you can take them back to my ship, leave them there."

The girl looked dubious, but no longer like she was taking the clothes away to be tossed into a fire, and so Siavash let her go about her duty. The hot water was working wonders on tight muscles, and it was all very close to relaxing her.

Until she saw the kimono that was brought in, and her eyes widened. It was going to be... difficult, to feel very official or like a trusted representative of the king, wrapped up in that thing. There was a reason why, though she had many garments in traditional Jannati style, they mainly hung in her barracks closet, unworn.

[Diamond]

"Your Highness?  Your Highness, the foreigner is - she - "

Diamond felt that this was altogether too much.  First people went around distressing his daily schedule, coming perilously close to upsetting the delicate balance of the aether around the Portals, and now they were stammering at him.  Stammering was upsetting to the aether and his temper.  Stammering was not on.  Stammering was displeasing to the ancestors and the Lords of Heaven.

"The foreigner is tripping over her kimono, and she tied the obi as if she were a woman for sale," the court page said, finally.

"For heaven's sake," Diamond said.  "Then tell Byakuren to buy her passage to the inner gates."

This message from the Golden Elysium had better be world-shaking.

[Byakuren]

Byakuren heeded this message with a curt nod, as he heeded most messages. The page was still stammering but the priest was walking away, sighing under his breath in the way that only an Amantsujin really can. He would  buy her passage and he would FIX THAT STUPID OBI. Agh. He wondered why these maidens never thought to do the dressing for the foreigners, to save everyone the trouble of embarrassing screw-ups like, say, tying your obi wrong (oh noes!) or tripping over the ridiculous amount of fabric they had women wearing these days. He was glad of his own wardrobe's relative simplicity.

Also, he was approaching the emissary again, his hands clasped under his sleeves and his expression unimpressed. "May I?" His hands were visible now, flat palm gesturing toward her body. May I fix your robes, little thing. Don't look at me like that.