The Royalty gets a Bodyguard.

Taryn arrived moments after the water incident, walking into the tent. "My love, are you alright?" they asked generally concerned, looking around noticing the water and the armor. They glanced behind them, knowing Alice was somewhere there "Stay outside the tent," they said to her, unsure if she would hear or not. They then turned to the servant and dismissed them as well.

Wrung was not far behind Alice, his armor making him a bit more noticeable, but never the less was able to follow. He stood beside the tent once he arrived there, not even bothering to look at Taryn before they went inside.

Alice scoffed. As if she was going to stay outside the tent while they were inside with Vandyke. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him and wasn't going to wait around for something to go wrong. Vandyke was as observant as a potted plant. Alice wasn't concerned about him seeing her. She slipped inside the tent anyway, hid herself in a corner of it behind a loose flap.

Hayworth snapped around when he heard Taryn's voice, the scowl still embedded in his face. "Of course not, bloody scoundrel cheated me out of my wins, you wretch. Not that you'd know anything about that, princesses don't know shit about what it takes to be strong and compete in tournaments. Should've realized you and your kingdom don't know a damn thing about honour, fucking-" He grabbed his gauntlet and pelted it, not at them, but about six inches to the side of them.

Taryn took a step back, eyes wide at his tone and what he was saying. They had no idea how to respond. "I-I only meant to check on you," they stammered, flinching, and covering their head when the gauntlet went by them. They could feel themselves shaking, afraid of him, but tried to step foreword a little bit, trying to keep a calm look on their face.

Wrung was still waiting outside, watchingAlice for a moment when she slipped inside, but said nothing to her about it. He knew that scene in there wasn't going to be pretty.

Alice stiffened the minute he threw something near them and almost stepped out from behind the flap she'd concealed herself behind. She clenched her jaw and exhaled quietly, watching. Waiting. Now wasn't quite the moment for her to intervene. Not yet.

Hayworth snorted. "Yes I'm sure you want to revel in my humiliation. Bet you think it's funny, how that cheating bastard knocked me off my horse. Well I'll tell you, it's not and I'm going to make sure his sorry hide is tanned for his crime before he leaves the kingdom." He took a long drag of wine from the steel pitcher on the table, some of the drink trickling down the sides of his mouth. "Bunch of fucking lying cads it is, you hear me! Huh, you hear me, Princess?" He shouted.

Ah, Alice thought. And here's where I intervene.

Taryn froze, feeling themselves shrink at his voice. "You fought gallantly my love, I would never want to revel in any humiliation, for there is none. You did wonderfully," they said, their voice shaking rather badly now. Their hands twisted together again as they tried to appear calm and unafraid, but was failing at it rather badly.

Hayworth's face purpled with anger and he puffed up, looming over them. "How dare you mock me, wretch! Who do you think you are, coming in here and presuming to know anything? You're just a squalling little girl, you know nothing!" He roared, hands balled into fists.

Alice narrowed her eyes and stepped out, slotting herself in front of Taryn and pushing Vandyke back with a hard shove. "I don't think you should talk to Their Majesty like that, Lord Vandyke. They're of the royal court and deserve respect." She snapped, fierce and small compared to the height on Vandyke.

He made a strangled noise, furious, eyes almost bloodshot and face twisted gruesomely, when Alice shoved him. "You dare to touch me? You, an insignificant little whore of woman? I'll teach you your place you-" He cut himself off, lashed out with his fists and caught Alice across the jaw, sending her stumbling into the side of the table.

Taryn backed up, unable to hide the fear on their face now. They were utterly terrified of the man they were supposed to marry. They gasped when Alice stepped between them and Vandyke, now fearing more for Alice than themselves.

Taryn actually yelled when Alice was struck, a combination of fear and anger driving them foreword between the Alice who was on the side of the table and Hayworth. "Please, she did nothing wrong, your issue is with me. My love please do not hurt her," they said, the desperation seeping very clearly out of their voice.

Hayworth inhaled deeply, ready to start yelling again, but Alice pushed herself back up, the side of her face stinging, blood dripping down her chin from a split in her lip, down her cheek under her eye where one of Vandyke's rings had caught her. She put a hand on their arm and carefully pulled them back until they were behind her. Alice lifted her chin, stared Vandyke straight in the eyes, and spat out a glob of blood on the floor at his feet.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty." She said. "I'm alright. And certainly he would never strike you, fear not. You're to be his spouse and a good man doesn't hit the one to whom he's engaged." There was an implicit threat in her voice when she said that, a warning that Vandyke had best keep his hands off Taryn if he knew what was good for him.

Taryn stared at Alice, honestly surprised at her. They hadn't expected Alice to continue to stay, had either expected her to leave or kill Hayworth on the spot. They allowed themselves to be pushed back, although to be fair they really didn't have the will to fight back. "Lets just, go," they said, their voice shaking. "I'm sorry for bothering you, my Lord, I will go see my father joust," they said quietly, one hand moving to pull Alice with them if she didn't leave.

Alice pursed her lips but followed them when they pulled her away from Vandyke, prodding along her jaw and cheek to make sure nothing had been splintered, fractured, or broken. It felt like she'd just have some severe bruising though; Vandyke didn't know how to throw a punch correctly and didn't have enough strength to break anything. "Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

Taryn took a deep breath, trying to control the tears that were threatening to escape. When they excited the tent, they held their head high. "I am fine Alice, are you alright?" they asked, looking at her, stopping the urge to touch Alice's cheek. They were so incredibly worried about Alice, while Wrung came to take his place shadowing the two. Taryn didn't take notice of him.

Taryn sat down, as their mother got up to go see their father as he began to mount his horse so she could give him his favor. She would then stay down there, because the king liked her by the jousting ring so he could kiss her once he dismounted. This happened at every tournament.

Taryn was the only one other than Wrung and Alice in the box, and a wine bearer. They glanced at the two, eyes lingering longer on Alice.

Alice was too busy scanning the tournament for any suspicious activity to notice Taryn looking at her, hands curled loose by her sides and her cheek throbbing, an ache burning in her hands that told her she shouldn't have shoved Vandyke. If she looked down, she would have seen a faint, thin outline of red staining the white of her bandages.

Taryn smiled and clapped when her father was introduced, trying to keep themselves calm, although they always got excited when their father jousted. This excitement however, was much quieter than usual.

Her father was mounted on a large white horse with beautifully crafted and hand made armor. He positioned himself correctly as his opponent, who never showed his face and rode on a dark, even larger horse. When the joust began, the two charged each other, the king's shield smashing on the impact of the lance. The second time around the king nearly was hit, but managed to duck out of the way, crashing his wooden lance into the opponent who didn't get unseated. The third round began, as the two charged at each other, the tip of the opponents lance caught the sun, showing the metal, where it wasn't supposed to be. Before anyone could protest or say a word the lance's metal tip hit the space between the king's armor and the helmet, sending blood everywhere and unseating the king.

Hell broke lose, as the king lay there dying, people began screaming and running around. Taryn found themselves on their feet, staring down from the platform at their father as the opponent got off his horse and drew his sword to finished off their father.

Alice swore and pushed away from the fence she was leaning on, carefully grabbing their arm and dragging them away from all the commotion. The crowds were exploding in the stands and the riot building up was hardly the safest place for them to be. Never mind that in this kind of pell mell chaos, it would be easy for someone to slip a knife between Taryn's ribs and slip away unnoticed. But hell if Alice was going to let that happen. "Your Majesty, we have to leave. Now. Your father's guards will take care of him, but it's my job to take care of you, we need to get out of the field and into the castle."

Taryn shook their head, trying to pull away from Alice. "No, my dad, no, I can't leave," they kept repeating, pulling harder and harder against Alice, unable to take their eyes on the king who had a sword now thrust through his neck. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair collapsing next to her father, clearly her mother, but was she collapsing of death and pain, or of fear? They found themselves pushing even harder to get away from Alice, to get to their family.

Wrung grunted, looking around, this was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with if the little squirt got away. He sighed, and grabbed Taryn, literally picking them up out of Alice's grip and carrying them back towards the castle, despite Taryn's now screams of protest.

As much as she hated him, as absolutely incompetent as he had proved himself to be, Alice let it happen when he picked Taryn up and started to take them back in the direction of the castle, following doggedly behind him. She couldn't carry them herself and there'd been no other way to get them away from the riot, to get them safe. She regretted that it had to be this way, but it was her duty to protect them. The king and queen weren't her responsibility.

Wrung began to move faster, trying to get as far away from the field, as fast as possible, not wanting to deal with anyone who was following the brat's petulant whining. "Will you shut up?" he growled at them, who seemed to be determined to lose their voice.

Alice was right on his heels and she resisted the desire to kidney punch him when he snapped at them. "Move faster, Wrung, I've known feeble, elderly women with no legs who are quicker than you." She snapped instead, didn't shove at him only because he carried Taryn.

Wrung glowered at her as he picked up his pace. "YOu wanna carry this brat?" he growled, getting annoyed at the small assassin beside him. The castle was coming much closer, since they hadn't been far to begin with.

Taryn had finally yelled themselves hoarse, and was just watching the field fade away as they continued to be carried away.

Alice curled her lip, looking at him contemptuously. "I'd be faster than you, certainly." she snapped. "And don't speak about them like that. They're heir apparent, show some respect you incompetent toe rag."

"Watch it girl or I'll run you through with a sword like the king was,"Wrung said, but as he did, which he realized too late was a mistake, Taryn's wail ended his sentence. "Oh my god will you shut up?" he growled, but they refused to answer him, but did quiet down, shaking.

Alice scoffed, looked him up and down. "I'd like to see you try. I have more skill in my right hand than you have in your entire, mead soaked body. And if you keep disrespecting Their Majesty, I'll have your head on a pike."

At Alice's last words Taryn mumbled something that sounded more like a stifled cry than actual words. They were facing Wrung's back based on the way he was carrying them, in a sort of fireman's lift. Their hair blocking their face, the crown having fallen out at some point.

Wrung rolled his eyes. "You talk a lot for someone who got hit by a prince."

Alice smiled, sharp and biting, more like a baring of her teeth than anything else. "I talk a lot for someone who allowed your prince to hit me. You talk a lot for someone who can't even grasp the most basic concept of keeping your suspects alive until you get what you need from them like you're a wet behind the ears novice."