[Plot] The Price of Gold

[Narrator]

Jezabelle decided on the flag, since she actually had an idea of where Katarina and Nika were. She had a better chance of reaching them faster from outside of the castle than from inside, and less of a chance of the guards she encountered knowing about the state she had left the Prince in. She just hoped that the flagpole and mount would be able to handle her extra weight. After steadying her nerves she pushed herself out from the castle wall and forced herself to jump into the waving fabric, grabbing onto it tightly and trying to wrap her legs around it to slow her descent.

Jez's decent probably went a bit faster than she was hoping -- pesky gravity and all. But the mount held, and compared to jumping out of a plane, this was a comparative piece of cake. Jez might come down a little ungainly, but she would make it down just fine.

Back with the others, the "handmaidens" knew to keep their mouths shut and heads lowered. It was not their place to speak, and their identical nature might be more easily overlooked.

After a moment's confusion, the leader of the guards facing the escapees straightened up and saluted. "Yes, your highness. Yes, Lieutenant. Immediately. We'll...uh...yes." he said, clearly flustered and beyond confused. "We will... escort you to the garage. For...for Symkaria!"


Katarina leaned in and whispered a translation to Jez. "We are getting out of here. Look down your nose a little at them as we leave; you are House Karkov, and your word is worth it's weight in my Gold.

And we must hurry, before anyone more loyal to Alex than the country gets their head in the game."

Clearing her throat, she spoke up again. "Lieutenant Novak, if you would be so kind as to lead us? Show these...men how to properly treat royalty."

[Nika Novak]

Nika snaps a perfect salute followed by a slight bow before taking point once more and leading the escapee royal entourage out into the bailey of the castle and towards the garage.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jezabelle reached the bottom of the flag and clung like her life depended on it. She could PROBABLY drop now and be fine, for the most part, but it was still a dicey situation. Then she saw her solution. Moving her body back and forth she set herself swinging, starting to build up momentum.

-----

The Jezes took Katarina's advice to heart and raised their heads high. With another view of the bailey they had given the prime the information she needed for her escape. Just as they were about to round the corner one of them left Katarina's side and moved ahead to tap Nika on the shoulder.

"Pardon me, Lieutenant Novak, would you mind catching me?" She asked as she pointed up, giving the woman enough time to see the purple-and-red-clad form release the flag at the apex of her swing and fall toward them in a risky arc.

[Nika Novak]

Jez is lucky Nika's reflexes are sharp enough to catch the sudden Jez dropping in from above and she only gets startled (or perhaps flustered?) after Jez lands in her arms in a princess-carry.

"What the---!"

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina stifled a small laugh.

"Yes. Transportation for five should do nicely," she said, as if handmaidens raining from the sky were normal in her life. Perhaps they were.

She attempted to herd them all forwards quickly, as they walked down the path towards the garage, ignoring the shouts and yells from the higher floor behind them. Authority March and all that; as long as you act like everything's going fine, everyone else will fall into lockstep.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez stifled her shriek as best she could, coming down into Nika's arms and wrapping her own around her neck. One of the handmaidens gave a visible little shiver, only to be nudged hard by the other.

"Excellent work as always, Lieutenant. Thank you." She gave Nika a little boop on the nose with her fingertip before she slipped (or was dropped) from her arms, taking up position to her rear as they marched.

[Nika Novak]

Jez was, in fact, dropped as the boop shakes her out of her surprise and she snaps back into annoyance.

"Right. Carpark." she mutters as she leads on.

[Katarina Karkov]

With Nika and Katarina working overtime to convince the guards that they were in charge here, and the Jezzi serving the role of entourage, the group hit no other roadblocks on their way to the garage, where they quickly "borrowed" one of Alex's luxury SUVs - they'd experience no significant issues as they were able to drive away from the castle. Mission successful!


"Well. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Katarina asked the rest of her passengers. "Perhaps not the introduction to Symkaria I would have chosen, but water under the bridge. You must tell me how you found me so quickly; it was really tremendous, quite tremendous."

Katarina's calm voice was somewhat belied by shaking hands, as she attempted to pour herself a glass of champagne from the on-board refrigerator and champagne glasses. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows as she tried to will her hands to stay still.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

One Jezabelle say in the second rear seat with Katarina, while another sat in the front passenger seat. The one in the front shot a glance to Nika before the one in the back spoke.

"Well, perhaps we don't have to go back to the school immediately? It might not be a bad idea to go back to your home to recuperate. Being here for a few days might make it easier for you to mitigate whatever damage Prince Sabaloney might try to do. And if we get to experience some of your favorite places during that time, all the better. But I think that the how we got here is... a long story. You should get some rest, and then we'll tell you everything."

The Jez in the front made a little motion to Nika, silently indicating that the two needed to have a little chat before then.

[Nika Novak]

"Jezabelle is right." she says although she doesn't sound entirely convinced of that. "We should return to Aniana at least briefly to recuperate."

[Katarina Karkov]

"...Very well. To the palace then, Nika, and not the airport."

Katarina very carefully put the glass down, trying not to spill from her shaking hands.

"Is my father holding court at the moment, do you suppose?" she asked, with a practiced air of casualty -- one that might fool people who didn't know her well.

[Nika Novak]

"I would hope not, considering the news we're about to deliver." Presumably she's talking about the Sablinova's near-coup but her eyes in the rear-view mirror briefly dart to the Jez in the backseat with Katarina.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Yes, well, one can only hope, I suppose," Katarina sighed, missing Nika's other meaning and secret glance entirely.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The Jez in the back seat placed a hand on Katarina's arm, trying to give her some form of reassuring contact. What was coming probably wasn't going to be pleasant, but surely it would be less unpleasant than what had laid in store for her had she remained.

"Would you like to listen to some music?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"What I would like is a shower and to get out of these clothes the prince gave me, and to go home and just pretend that none of this had happened, that I am safe and still incognito at the university," Katarina huffed.

"But, sparing that, yes, some music would be nice," she nodded, placing her own hand over Jez's.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The console in the front was a little difficult to navigate from the passenger side, though that gave time for the Jez in the back to realize that there were controls on the backs of the seats as well. She tapped on one a few times until she eventually got something playing through the rear speakers, Katarina would probably recognize it as Bach - classical seemed like the best possible option for stress relief right now.

The Jez in the front spoke softly, gauging how well the music covered her words by listening to herself, speaking so low that even Nika might have difficulty hearing her.

"When Katarina is safely back in her home, I'm going to tell her about Doom and his arrangement. You have to tell her about your involvement in this before she asks too many questions."

[Nika Novak]

Nika simply shoots her an acknowledging glare. Or possibly just a glare, it's hard to be sure.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"I mean it, Nika. If she hears it from you she's more likely to understand. If she hears it from Prince Ska-bologna, or someone else, I don't think it'll go over as well. He got a figurative black eye today, he's gonna wanna try and sour this victory somehow." Funny how she left herself out of this equation.

[Nika Novak]

"Yes! I get it, alright!?" she hisses back not quite as quietly.

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina was too distracted to catch the content of the conversation, as she had commandeered a carphone (I know! So backwards, Symkaria) and began making arrangements for the trio's arrival...in Aniana.

(I don't mean to cut off the conversation here or anything; feel free to continue if'n you want; I just didn't want the new thread to get lost)