He probably should have invited Lyric. The opera was a good place to make an entrance. A little bit of time, before and after the performance. Intermission. He could have been by her side all night, taking pains to make every introduction easy. Smoothing over anything strange that she might have said.
But Tiberius hadn’t. There was so much still wrong with House Umbra and with everything else. The country as well, a serpent coiled tighter and tighter upon itself. He’d been careful so far but he was going to make a mistake eventually. Say something flippant about superior Orlesian wine and get his entire family into deep shit. Or at least, that was the fear.
Social appearances were important, though. Look guilty or scared and people might imagine that you were. So, he’d come alone in the same warded carriage that he’d made the trip from Orlais in. Same undead, demon-possessed horses too, somewhat worse from the wear. It drew a few odd stares to be sure.
Tiberius had taken care to dress the part tonight, though not necessarily to current fashions. His coat was tailored to hug his body, vaguely military in style with fringed epaulets and frog closures on the breast. It was all in shades of black, a wool-silk blend that suited the spring evening. The back and collar dripped with shiny black beads in a starburst pattern. His nails were lacquered a pearly white, with tiny purple garnets along the cuticle line on his thumbs and ring fingers only. Black kohl liner accented his eyes.
And for a moment, all that finery was all for naught. He spotted the House Pavus carriage and nearly decided to turn back. But how would that look? Besides, they were already pulling into the queue, the idle rich of Minrathous disgorging from their vehicles in sparkling clusters. Tiberius joined then, vacillating wildly between excitement and fear.
This could not possibly be good for him. He found himself looking for Enzo anyway.
But Tiberius hadn’t. There was so much still wrong with House Umbra and with everything else. The country as well, a serpent coiled tighter and tighter upon itself. He’d been careful so far but he was going to make a mistake eventually. Say something flippant about superior Orlesian wine and get his entire family into deep shit. Or at least, that was the fear.
Social appearances were important, though. Look guilty or scared and people might imagine that you were. So, he’d come alone in the same warded carriage that he’d made the trip from Orlais in. Same undead, demon-possessed horses too, somewhat worse from the wear. It drew a few odd stares to be sure.
Tiberius had taken care to dress the part tonight, though not necessarily to current fashions. His coat was tailored to hug his body, vaguely military in style with fringed epaulets and frog closures on the breast. It was all in shades of black, a wool-silk blend that suited the spring evening. The back and collar dripped with shiny black beads in a starburst pattern. His nails were lacquered a pearly white, with tiny purple garnets along the cuticle line on his thumbs and ring fingers only. Black kohl liner accented his eyes.
And for a moment, all that finery was all for naught. He spotted the House Pavus carriage and nearly decided to turn back. But how would that look? Besides, they were already pulling into the queue, the idle rich of Minrathous disgorging from their vehicles in sparkling clusters. Tiberius joined then, vacillating wildly between excitement and fear.
This could not possibly be good for him. He found himself looking for Enzo anyway.
04-28-2024, 07:50 PM
