Konsutorakuto

[Kirin]

Maira rose her fingers up towards the sunlight. She lazed on the shoulder of her construct. Her eyes closed as she allowed the warmth of the sunlight to shine on her face. Maira was beautiful. She was thin like her mother and shared many features as her mother. Unlike her mother, she had an interest in building gigantic constructs. She was told to meet the Prince here in the garden. Maira brushed her black hair from her face and sat up. There was movement. She slid down the construct's arm and landed safely on the ground. Maira adjusted the sword on her belt and walked confidently through the garden. Her lips curved upwards into a mischievous smile.

Tamotsu walked out of a tea house to greet Maira. "Hello. That..is quite impressive." He said to her.

Maira waved a hand dismissively. "This thing? It's nothing. You should see what I'm working on back at the forge. Woo!" She was grinning.

For a girl so pretty, she was not really into wearing the prettiest silks or the delicate hair combs. Her hair was just pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a simple workman's outfit. Maira only desired to dress up whenever Chizuru invited her to the palace for some sort of formal this or that.

Tamotsu bowed to Maira. "Oh, yes. The Prince is expecting you. Just wait here, all right?" He went to go fetch the Prince.

Maira was fully aware that the Prince was studying the tea ceremony and that this was supposed to be just practice. In other words, it was another way for Maira to be bored and another day that could potentially be wasted. Perhaps there could be an outing later. She was sure the Empress wouldn't mind.

Chizuru stood still, shooting arrows until her eyes wandered to the massive construct in her garden. She rushed out of the shooting range with a body guard to yell at Maira. Chizuru's face was red with anger.

"THAT'S MY GARDEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THAT THING IS SQUASHING MY PLANTS!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Maira blushed sheepishly. "I..There were a bunch of rocks there."

[Thorin]

Thorin peeked out of his forge, to hear the flustered voice of Chizuru. Her anger was an every day occurrence, so the sight mostly amused him. Stepping out of the forge, he brushed the soot off his body and neglected the katana he was forging for the Prince. The Prince had become demanding as of late, but it wasn't something Thorin couldn't handle. He saw the Prince as a spoiled palace brat, but he was Trydian and Chizuru's son. They were like old friends and they were family after all.

“She was just helping you get rid of the weeds...right, Maira?” Thorin had sauntered up the path to the garden, where the commotion was coming from. His daughter was usually the cause of the chaos, so seeing her in the thick of it didn't surprise him. Tweaking something with the construct, he forced it to become immobile.

Glaring at his daughter, he pulled her aside and whispered something private.

“I thought we agreed that you were to take that away from civilization? If this happens again, I will take it apart myself.”

With her pouting face, he could hardly stay mad at her for long and Chizuru knew it. Handing Maira a strange device, he instructed her to test it somewhere “safe”. The Prince usually took his time, so at least it would keep her away from Chizuru.

Feeling awkward, he shrugged at Chizuru and glanced at Maira. “Kids...what are you gonna do?” Motioning toward Chizuru, he ordered Maira to apologize for demolishing her precious plants.

“Apologize, or you'll be sent to the teahouse with the Prince.”

Maira would rather die, than take lessons like the Prince. He knew that threat would get her to behave a little...at least until sundown.

[Trydian]

The commotion outside wouldn't interrupt Trydian's tea ceremony. His son was already in trouble for being late and he was quickly losing patience. Yelling at his son never seemed to work. The Prince was going into his teenage years and that would be Hell for both Trydian and Chizuru. Lately, the Prince was distracted by Maira and her ability with manipulating metal. Not wanting his son's studies to falter, he kept the two separated for days at a time.

Remembering his own lessons from Tamotsu, he instructed his son to clean and set up the ceremony. Trydian would know if something was out of place. He had spent days with Tamotsu, just to learn the ceremony to impress Chizuru.

Sitting down comfortably, Trydian folded his arms in his kimono and waited for him to finish. The Prince had already failed the tea ceremony four times that day. Trydian was determined to help his son master their traditions. If anything, it helped with his patience and he was seeing some improvement in his son's normally reckless behavior.

“After the tea ceremony, we will begin training you in the dual sword technique.” Trydian wasn't going to allow the Prince to train in combat, but he had to be prepared and he wanted to be the one to teach him. “...Provided you don't fail this time.” He was the hardest on his son and his wife acknowledged that fact.

“This is nothing compared to the trials. You can't even properly set up a tea ceremony, yet you think you are the rightful heir? You will have to strive for perfection.” Trydian knew his son was determined to prove himself and he was usually caught practicing the ceremony late at night. The Prince even trained his combat skills in private, but Trydian always knew what his son was up to.

“The Empress may be your mother, but during the trials she will be your judge and relations will not matter.”

The trials were something of a sacred passage to determine the next heir. Trydian didn't know all that was involved, but he had been told of deaths and he wanted to make sure his son wasn't among the dead.

“If you want to prove yourself, you have to focus and let go of all outside distractions.” Trydian mostly hinted at Maira, but their son was known for rebelling and doing his own thing. Shaking his head, he wondered if he was even being heard.

“Begin the ceremony..”