Private Celebrations

The bonfire roared in the courtyard of the palace. The greatest battle of the entire country had been fought and won, driving off a vastly superior force that had threatened to snuff them out. After this, anyone would think twice about assaulting land owned by the Feathered Kirin. But it wasn't time to think about that, it was time to celebrate life, and victory! The dead had been buried and the whole of the capital city had gathered to both mourn and celebrate their passing. They were in the presence of the Mother of Flame now. Their god. And they would receive glory for their sacrifice.

The Queen Chief, Nuria, stood among her people, all happy and smiling, singing songs and dancing. Sport fighting and playing games. It was the largest celebration the city had ever seen. And yet, Nuria still felt she needed to rid herself somehow of a stress that wouldn't leave her. It wasn't any particular thing she was worried about, but her blood still boiled from battle, like an adrenaline rush that wouldn't go away. She stood in her typical robe, silken, but thick to counter the cold air. She had a few more ornamentations in her mane than usual, and lovely jewelry to match. She watched and cheered as one of her commanders fought with another warrior, both being on generally equal ground.

During the celebration, a figure that had become a familiar sight among the Kirins struggled to get by the vivid crowd while wearing a basic honorary set of local armor to temporarily replace his own while it was reforged after the harsh battle. But even with the intent of moving by, the unicorn stallion found himself dancing, cheering, and more than one butted heads and horns with the others along the way as a show of good spirits to the occasion. One in particular, a Commander, challenged him to a sparring match outright. He grinned and accepted as he had plenty of tension to burn away still.

And so it was, that the warrior Nuria saw as well was Market, showing that his lack of wings, scales, and claws did not make him a lesser challenge by any means. He still had his own imposing size for an equine, and plenty of muscle to go toe to toe with his foe, snorting, grunting, and kicking with powerful legs and refusing to go down while butting heads with the other. He had originally meant to go see Nuria herself, but he was having far too much fun at the moment.

Nuria laughs as the commander is continually held off by Market. The commander does as much as he can to subdue the unicorn, but he just can't seem to accomplish the task. "Having trouble, Commander Rork?" Nuria teases from the crowd. The commander rolls his eyes in amusement and continued to try and subdue Market, but to no avail, and would eventually lose the match altogether. There were hardly anything in the way of hard feelings. The commander congradulated Market on his win and embraced him as his newest shield brother, even going so far as to toast to it.

Nuria would drink to that. Anyone that would stick with her for as long as he did was more than just a friend. He was family now. Honorary kirin even. "Congradulations, Mr. Market." She says to him, offering a cup of wine to the unicorn.

Once the match was over, Market was pleased with the results yet still felt a rush that didn't quite clear away yet, even after the camaraderie of embracing a fresh sparring partner. But at least the matter of finding Nuria had been accomplished by then. Smiling to her, he somewhat hesitantly accepted the toast in his name and the wine, drinking it steadily with a light wince since he was generally the sober type, but wasn't about to reject an offer of goodwill. "Agh... Sour, but easy on the throat. And well met, Ma'am! I've been meaning to talk to you in private. Can you spare a moment?"

Nuria laughed a bit at Market and took a drink from her own cup after him. Celebratory wine was always good. "Of course." She says, looking around for a moment before finding a more empty part of the courtyard and gesturing over to it. She saunters over, the spot being by a tall pillar where nothing of real interest was happening. "What can I do for you? You've already done so much for all of us."

Once the duo had taken to a quieter spot away from the main celebration, he took a moment to breathe the fresher air and sigh wistfully. He also looked to her in brief silence, thinking of what it was he had to say to her, as well as taking a brief moment to actually admire her elegance for a change. "I'm glad you feel I've pulled my weight here. That's part of what I wanted to talk about... As you may or may not remember, I volunteered to join the cause to lend my aid in exchange for basic sustenance... But with the enemy army soundly defeated, and the days going by with peace, I feel I'll have to move on eventually... Unless, of course, you intend to hire me for real; Don't get me wrong, I'm not leaving just yet. I'll continue to lend my aid as I have for at least another few weeks to make sure rogues don't suddenly attack again so soon, but I gotta make a living as is... I meant to tell you later, but something about the party made me feel I've done my job as is..."

Nuria could see where Market was coming from, but she partly found his concerns to be silly. She gave another laugh. "For as long as you feel you need to stay. I'll be glad to have you well compensated for your services." She says to him. "And if I were you, I might want to think about looking for a larger pocketbook. Actions in defense of this country are more than adequately rewarded. And I'm not just saying that. I really do appreciate everything you've done." She gives the unicorn a smile and a friendly, if not rough, pat on the shoulder.

She let out a groan and then another laugh, taking another drink of her wine. "It's been days, but my blood is still going from that battle!" She says, visibly unable to keep still. In fact, up to this point, she's had far more energy than she knew what to do with.

Market chuckled heartily, both at the generous sounding offer, and her gratitude. It was followed by even more chuckling when her complaint was shared, and he gave her a cocky but earnest stare. "You too, huh? I don't blame you, that battle was fierce! Even sparring the others doesn't take the edge off just yet, I keep expecting we're gonna wake up and see another army waiting for us... How about it, Ma'am? You up for a spar right now, or are you content looking clean and beautiful?"

Nuria looks at Market with a bit of impressed surprise. "I accept your challenge wholeheartedly!" She says, turning back to the crowded area and clearing a small area for their spar. The other kirin looked on in anticipation as Nuria stripped herself of her robe, tossing it aside and waiting for Market to enter the impromptu ring. "I warn you, I didn't become Queen Chief by birthright. I took this position for myself."

Market followed suit in the same manner Nuria did, by removing the armor and respectfully placing it aside as he began to stomp and snort while stretching for a likely tougher spar. "I don't doubt that, but I didn't survive as a Mercenary by being a wimp either! En Guarde!!" He'd give her the courtesy of having an opponent come to her as he charged for a shoulder tackle outright.

Nuria charged Market as well, though she side-stepped away from his tackle. Her tail swung around and would swipe at his hind legs, looking to trip him up before she went in for her first assault. Whether or not she managed to do so, she would then turn around and tackle him herself.

Market mostly avoided the tripping but not the tail itself as it hit him in the legs while he kicked back at it. He winced from the direct blow, but rather than limp, he endured the hit and turned around with a grin to try and intercept her tackle with his own by aiming at her legs to make her lose her balance.

Nuria met Market's tackle, grabbing him with her claws when they collided and pushing back against him as her hind claws dug into the stone of the courtyard. She tried to lift him up and topple him over to pin him on his back.

Again he grunted and winced when grabbed by the claws, but his spirit was far from waned as he struggled with her strength. When he felt her body heave to toss him, he used the chance to punt her hard in her stomach and chest on the way up with his hind legs, mostly to try and knock the wind out of her and make her lose balance than hurt her outright.

Nuria takes the hits to her gut, but backs off on the her assault to keep herself from faltering. She growled with a smirk and released her grip on Market, bringing her head down to slam into his.

Once Market was free, he kept going as he met Nuria's headbutt with his own hard horned head as he relied on his legs to push upwards... which he near instantly would regret as Nuria was probably the most stubborn -and hard headed- of the Kirins there when he staggered from the brief blunt impact they both imparted on one another.

Nuria uses this opportunity to body check the unicorn, tackling him with her whole self. Not only was the action reckless and possibly a bit overkill, it was just plain fun. And fun was what she was having right now, sparring with Market. He wasn't a bad fighter. He'd proven that on the battlefield already, but facing him, she could see his skill. It was exciting to experience fighting with a unicorn. Equestrians didn't typically come around to her country, and if they did, they were hardly looking to fight.

Market was a bit too preoccupied with a large mare of scale and muscle suddenly jumping at him before he got his balance fully to appreciate the cultural values of the fight, instead sluggishly trying to use her weight against her as he felt the impact to try and have her momentum used against her as he took her falling with him against the ground as well. Either way, he was grinning from the rough play.

Nuria laughs and stands up again, pulling herself off of Market. She helped him up and dusted him off a little bit with a giggle. "Oh that was too much fun!" She says, going to grab her robes again while the crowd cheers and applauds the fight. She quickly redresses herself, looking back at Market with playfully admiring eyes. She fire she felt inside burned even more than it had before now. An energy that she just couldn't rid herself of. But at least she had fun. Market was strong... Very strong...

Market got back up with a good laugh eventually, retrieving the armor he wore soon after while looking over to Nuria with a grin. "Aw, we done here already? We were just getting to the good part! Good warm up though..." Right then and there, a simple concern hit him, and then he walked close, though he couldn't help but notice her somewhat different than usual gaze. "Hey, Ma'am? Did you rest well today by any chance?" Even now, he was still concerned over her recovery, having been right by her side along with a brave few willing to keep going head first into the toughest fights again and again.

Nuria chuckled and shook her head. "As well as I could." She said. "I've just been so antsy for no reason. Though I should be fine in a few more days." She hadn't noticed, but she didn't pull her robe on all the way, as it was starting to slide and fall off her shoulders. Not that she would have cared much, it was just a silly piece of cloth anyway. Granted an expensive piece of cloth. "I don't know how I'll ever get to sleep now, though. That just re-lit my fire!"

He chuckled at her spirit, and was glad to know it wasn't her injuries making her stop the sparring earlier than expected. "That's great! I mean... What do you plan to do now then? Go for a trot? Fly? Swim? Exercise? Dance?" He was certainly willing to keep his own fire going, not feeling tired in the least.

Yes... Exercise... That's exactly what she was thinking. She looked him over again, he looked pretty good in that armor, even if he didn't have the scales to match... Yes, he was plenty strong enough. She took a full cup from a tray and forced it on him, getting intimately close and whispering in his ear. "Drink up, and we'll have our own, private spar." She says, backing away and turning to a couple of her peers. "I think I'll be retiring for the night. It was good to see you all, but I really should be getting to my chambers." She gave her farewells to a few more before walking up the steps of the courtyard, entering the castle with one final glance back at Market, meeting his eyes and passing through the large doorway.

Market's first thought about Nuria was that she wanted to party hard when she gave the wine to him all of a sudden, until she came unusually close to him and whispered in his flickering ear... And it seemed he guessed right, cause it sounded like she just invited him to a bedroom party as she walked off and glanced back at him.

He was stunned to say the least, and mildly aroused at the prospect. Some might say he gave it a lot of thought, but the simple reality was that he took a quick sip of the wine, gave it to another, and ran after Nuria's royal scaly flank since he was now far too pent up from all the recent tension to even mildly consider refusing her. Indeed, she had piqued his curiosity as he sought her chambers...

Market would find the way unguarded and relatively easy to find. When he reached the entrance to Nuria's chambers, the door was left slightly ajar, allowing for what little light there was inside to seep through. When he would enter, he would see the stone walls, trimmed with etching into the stone at various levels. The etchings depicted dragons of many shapes and sizes, along with what appeared to be kirin. Tapestries covered most of the walls though, large red banners with the country's symbol, a dragon curled into a circle, radiating like the sun. There were lavish pieces of furnature scattered about, all styled similarly, but the centerpiece was the bed. Well, less a bed and more a nest. Instead of coming up from the floor, it depressed deeper into it, ordained with what was clearly and expensive silken material. And sitting in beside it, in the light of the few candles that lit the room, was Nuria herself, her back to the door.

She hadn't even had enough time to undress, as when the door would open, she would peer back at her guest, robe only halfway down her back. She would smile at him, flicking her tail to and fro and would say "Close the door. And lock it."