The Royalty gets a Bodyguard.

Taryn smiled at him. "I suppose so, good night," they said, giving a curtsey as he kissed their hand. They really did want this to work, to be happy. Who knows, maybe things wouldn't be so bad?

Hayworth straightened up and walked away, knocking into Alice's shoulder as he strode down the hallway. She rocked off balance for a second and then steadied herself. Brushing off her shoulder, she turned to Taryn. "I'll be checking in your room tonight, as an extra precaution after earlier's assassination attempt."

Taryn glared after him. "Alright," they said, opening the door, wondering if their stash was still around somewhere. They let Alice come in first so they could check.

Alice slipped inside, casing the room, checking inside the wardrobe, underneath the bed, behind large pieces of furniture and behind curtains. She found nothing there worth concerning herself with. Glancing back over her shoulder, she said, "Your room appears to be relatively safe. I'll be outside, should you need me."

"No, stay, please," they said. Taryn went into the wardrobe, opening a small box and pulling out a bottle. "Have a drink? Be our little secret?" they suggested, smiling a little. They really just wanted to be around someone they could tolerate.

Alice hesitated, her hand curled around the doorknob. A drink was tempting, if only to purge the baby prince from memory for a few moments. But there had been an assassination attempt this morning, could be another one tonight. Is a drink worth losing my primary source of income, should something happen to them that I could have prevented?

The pause drew out, hung like a quivering arrow in the middle of the room while Alice contemplated their request for her to stay. "I... can stay, if you wish, but I'll pass on a drink, Your Majesty."

Taryn bit their lip, waiting for a response, nerves crashing over them. Had that not been okay, or was that weird? They weren't sure how this was going to .

When Alice finally said yes, they smiled, although being the only one drinking was kind of weird. "Taryn," they insisted, pulling out two glasses anyway, incase Alice changed her mind.

Alice sighed, but there was something softer to her at night, alone in the room with them. She was quite as hard, quite as unapproachable. "As you wish, Taryn."

They smiled, and quickly, and rather messily undid their hair, and managed to get the dress off. In a underdressed state, Taryn poured themselves a drink, setting the bottle down on their nightstand and sat down on the bed. "You're almost too professional," they joked, taking a sip of the drink.

Alice shrugged. "I can hardly afford to be anything else." She said, reaching up to press her fingers into the base of her skull. The tight, aching pull of her braid was starting to bother her. By this time of night, she'd usually undone it and found someone else to stand guard while she caught a few hours sleep. Tonight, she didn't trust anyone else to do her job adequately.

Taryn frowned,not sure what exactly to say to that. They took another drink instead of talking for a moment. "So...what do you think of my future husband?" they asked, genuinely curious. She was the only other person who really had seen him talk without court members.

Alice started picking apart her braid, combing her fingers through the long strands with a tiny soft little sigh of pleasure. She paused, though, when Taryn asked her about Vandike. "I don't think you want my answer to that, Your- Taryn."

Taryn watched her for a moment, continuing to drink the alcohol, cherishing the small burn. They really weren't supposed to drink much of it, but they really did enjoy it. "But I really do," said Taryn, really a little desperate to see that it wasn't just them. That there was something to legitimately to be upset over. "No ramifications, nothing leaves this room," they added quickly.

Alice wrapped the band she used to bind her hair with around her wrist, shook her hair out, and looked at them. "I think he's a useless, sniveling guttersnipe with an ego too big to hold inside his scrawny body and a disgustingly condescending attitude."

"Couldn't have put it better," they said, raising their glass to Alice's comment and finishing it, shuddering slightly. "Who knows, maybe he's just nervous," they added wistfully and hopefully.

Taryn poured themselves another glass, swishing it around a little. They really didn't want to necessarily get drunk, but a nice happy feeling was more the goal.

"Doubtful." Alice snorted, then covered her mouth, appalled she'd made that noise in front of another living person she wasn't actively mocking.

Taryn smiled in amusement. "That was sort of adorable," they said, sipping the drink again. The fuzzy feeling was starting to kick in, already beginning to wash away their worries.

Alice blinked. She'd never, in her entire life, been called adorable. Her mother didn't call her adorable. "I'm an assassin. I don't think I qualify as adorable, under any circumstance."

Taryn raised an eyebrow. "I have to navigate a court of people who all fake it to get ahead and get in with the royal family. They are the creeps, not you. At least you're upfront about things," they said. "So yea, assassins can be adorable." I don't even know if that made sense out loud...I'm a little drunk...whoops...

Alice nearly snorted again. "I see that the drinking has started to affect you."

Taryn's voice got a little higher when they protested. "Has not!" They giggled a little before going serious for a moment. "You might be right..." They said before taking another drink. "I don't get to cut loose very often."

Alice nodded, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "I know. I follow you all day for a living. And the courts are not kind to you."

Taryn nodded. "The courts aren't exactly kind to anyone," they said, drinking more at the idea. Taryn leaned agains the headboard, staring into the drink, before looking at the blanket underneath them which was embroidered with silk roses.

Alice hummed, tracing her finger around the soft, worn edge of the leather band around her wrist. "I suppose that's true. The nobility are not a particularly pleasing set of people to engage with."

"Everyone in court is an asshole, me included," they said, grinning a little in amusement. They took another drink, before setting it down. Taryn sighed very softly. "Maybe everyone is?"