Kingdom of Knuffel

Knowing that his mothers response would be even worse if he tried to do something didn't make doing nothing any better. Kyle gritted his teeth, feeling his fangs cracking against the rest of them as he did so. Always an odd sensation, and usually the first thing that made his realize he was annoyed. Though in this case that feeling transcended simple annoyance. He tried to ignore his mothers attitude toward Helena, blaming her for the whole event, it would just make him even more angry. Getting Helena out of there, and out of harms way, was top priority right now, even if it meant pain in the short term for the both of them. Trying to distract himself from the situation he contemplated what he could have done to avoid this situation in the first place.

Locking the door wouldn't have worked anyway, his mother had the master key after all. While returning her attitude, and violence, was always tempting... no, next time he just wouldn't come. Yes, that was it. Like always, just avoid the situation and everything would be fine. Not that it ever worked, fate seemed to enjoy forcing him right back into it anyway, but it was a nice thought. Now, his mother's thought just then was not, and it pulled him back to reality. Calling Helena a whore in her mind was one thing, but forcing her to walk half naked through the halls was another. Luckily no one was around, it was quite early and the staff was preparing breakfast and such while his father and brother were currently on the other end of the house, well out of the way, for now.

Helena didn't know the house quite as well as he did, obviously, so hopefully she wouldn't try and find the kitchens, though in her current state he doubted it. Harold's room was closer, and luckily in the opposite direction from the rest of his family. After all, they wouldn't sleep near the help, a notion he always found absurd, but rather common amongst nobles. It was the same reason the guest rooms, where he and Helena had slept, were so far away from the main chambers, an odd sort of vanity. Of course, they weren't exactly right next to the staff rooms either, wouldn't want to offend some visiting noble. Regardless, as of now it meant Helena was unlikely to stumble upon someone on her way. He supposed it was lucky his brother had taken the room he had originally been intended to occupy, otherwise they would have been mere doors away from the rest of his family.

Helena was heading toward Harold's room, which cause him to breath a sigh of relief. There was no on between there and here, meaning she would be fine on her way. His mother seemed to misinterpret his sigh, causing a few comments he pointedly ignored, not that she cared much. Knowing Harold he would have Helena stay in his room while he took care of the rest, Kyle just had to deal with his mother in the meantime, a chore in and of itself.

---

Harold's only reaction to her current state was a slight pause before he spoke. "Of course M'lady, please come in." He stepped to the side to allow Helena to pass, and enter the safety of his room. It was smaller than the others, a simple bed on one side and a desk on the other, a small chest at the bottom of the bed. The desk itself was covered in papers, it seems he had been working before she arrived. There was a small fireplace in the corner, with a comfortable looking chair. Harold motioned her over to it, and had her take a seat in from of the fire. Pulling a blanket from the end of the bed he placed it around her shoulders as she sat down.

"Are you warm enough, M'lady?" Harold was clearly worried for her, but did not want to embarrass her further by asking more then that. "Do not worry, I will handle the rest. Please rest here until I return. I imagine you must be tired." Returning to his desk he grabbed a key from beneath a stack of papers. He headed for the door, bowing slightly to Helena before exiting, locking the door behind him. Harold quickly headed for the kitchen, where he might find something cool and spare his master the continued torment of being alone with his mother for to much longer.

Helena was grateful, when Harold invited her inside. She gave him a quick "thank you, Harold." as she entered his room, and felt her shoulders relax as she heard the door close behind her. Harold was safe. He wouldn't do anything bad to her. He had been the first person in her new life she had trusted, and the last person she thought would come on to her.

When she was asked if she felt cold, she shook her head. "These clothes are surprisingly warm." She said with a smile, trying to at least make this as comfortable as possible. She wanted to apologize walking in like this, but she had a feeling Harold knew what had happened. He had, after all, been there when she had decided to destroy the library. She wanted to say something, but before she could get more out, Harold had left her alone. She heard the door lock, and moved to the bed.

He was right in assuming she was tired. Having been so rudely wakened hadn't been fun. Still, she didn't feel comfortable sleeping in here. It was like she was intruding on someone or stealing their bed. She even seemed to have interrupted Harold in his work, giving the fact that there was papers all over the desk. Still, in the end she sat down on the bed, and pulled the covers over herself. Was it really okay for her to stay put here? What if Kyle needed her?

She bit her lower lip. This was the time where she needed to have a vision, not one for months away. Just one that'd tell her which decision was correct. She leaned against the wall at the head of he bed, sighing, as she looked up at the ceiling. Harold had told her to stay here. Her stubbornness was telling her that staying here was cowardess. Her heart was telling her that right now Kyle was alone with that bitch. She closed her eyes what should she do?

With Helena tucked away in Harold's room, safely out of harm's way Kyle could relax a little. He'd been constantly on edge as she'd walked through the halls, ready to rush out at a moments notice. Since they had to stay for at least a few more days he didn't want his mother targeting her intentionally which is the main reason he hadn't left already. If he did, she'd likely take that as a slight and direct that anger at Helena, much more directly then she had been so far. He'd seen how his mother handled being slighted, and it wasn't pretty. Though honestly it was tempting to simply leave, slight his mother and let his family deal with the hunters on their own, though it would likely end badly for all involved, and probably spill over into larger and farther reaching issues. So, since they were planning on staying at least until the plan was successfully executed he didn't want to give his mother reason to direct any more hatred at his wife-to-be. Knowing her she'd ruin the whole plan just to spit the girl.

He sighed again, thankfully Harold was almost there, likely with some perfect excuse to whisk his mother off to focus on some other task. He was eternally grateful for Harold, and had never once regretted taking him on when he left the house, in fact, he's basically threatened his father into doing it in the first place. Luckily his father wasn't specifically found of the man to begin with, he just liked getting in Kyle's way. While Kyle could likely come up with some suitable excuse on his own, Harold was much better at doing so quickly, which was arguably more difficult when one was also struggling not to strangle the very person they wanted to appease, as Kyle was doing right now. As the butler was now on his way to rescue him, Kyle had given up thinking on the topic himself, he trusted Harold to handle it after all, and at this point his mother's fawning was annoying enough he was seriously contemplating leaving again. He'd managed to change the topic away from his mother insulting Helena some time ago, though if she hadn't he might have left already, regardless of the consequences.

Harold arrived, carrying a cooled cloth wrapped around a small piece of ice chipped from one of the blocks in the cellar. He had knocked politely before entering, though did not give time for an answer, simply opening the door and stepping inside. After handing him the cloth, Harold turned to his mother, sweeping her up in a conversation about breakfast or some such, Kyle honestly wasn't listening in too great a detail as this part was less then necessary. It was simply the pretext for whatever reason Harold had come up with, though that he would listen too, as it could be useful in the future, small talk was something he'd mastered long ago. Eventually, while tidying up the room, Harold mentioned something about the soup being made, and turned to Kyle. "Yes, it's always been his favorite you see, he mentions it quite often. You've made it for him since he was a child, he's always complaining about how nothing quite compares." A lie, of course, but a good one. Kyle took this as his own queue and nodded, looking wistful. "Returning home just makes me want it all the more..." His mother's eyes seemed to sparkle, and Harold mentioned that the chef's just couldn't compare to a mother's touch, the last push. She stood up, absolutely delighted, cooing about how she'd make sure it was perfect and rushed off, as much as a noble lady rushed, toward the kitchen. He felt a bit bad for the cooks, but it wasn't like she didn't do this anyway, especially when they had guests.

Kyle could finally relax with his mother now gone, he turned to Harold and smiled, "Thanks." The old man nodded and continued to tidy up the room, though not before pulling out one of Helena's dresses from the drawers. "I believe this will fit my ladies' theme for today." He handed the dress to Kyle, and added pointedly, "Why don't you go check on her?" Kyle chuckled and nodded, once again amazed by how smoothly the butler handled everything as he took the key being offered. Harold simply nodded and Kyle headed on his way down to the servants side, toward where Helena rested. Hopefully she was feeling at least a little bit better, somewhere where his family couldn't harass her, at least for a little while. Eventually they'd have to venture out for mealtime, and finalize the details of their plan. He sighed, pushing the thought from his mind, no need to focus on the details now. What was important would be comforting his bride-to-be, and apologizing for his families behavior. Hopefully she wouldn't think less of him for it, though he wouldn't be surprised if this lost him all the process he'd made with her recently. He sighed, steeling himself for what he assumed would be anger.

Kyle knocked on the door to Harold's room, "It's me, may I come in?" He paused, glancing at the dress. At least no one was around to hear this part. "I- uh, have something for you. A dress."