The peace that formerly reigned in Terra Nova has eroded, now little more than a memory. War ravages the continent. Disputes divide kingdoms; ideals divide families. The quest for power consumes absolutely and indiscriminately. None are immune to its allure.
Who will rise and who will fall? Only time—and ambition—will tell.
UPDATES
05.26.2023
2 month character creation hold for all existing members begins 6/5/2023. Ended 8/5/2023.
10.29.2023
Change in how times flows. Was 4 IC seasons, now only 2 IC seasons per 1 OOC year.
5 whole years of Heir Apparent goodness! When I started the site, I knew I was hunkering down for the long haul, but I never could have predicted the numerous twists and turns this roleplay site has seen. Hundreds of plots, characters, and members have come and gone, all leaving marks on the site. I am so very thankful for those who have invested. Because you keep coming back, keep getting on, and keep writing, Heir Apparent has the legacy it does today. Three cheers to us!
So far rather than subtracting kids she had just added more to the mix. Her three own were now a part of the Van Zant bundle. There was zero chance she was leaving them with any of the Winters nannies, not after her dear husband offed himself. Clearly they didn't know how to raise someone right, but the Van Zant's had all turned out just fine. Clearly.
Smacking her opponent with the pillow, Kat laughed, smiled, and relaxed. Probably for the first time since her husband had left her to deal with everything on her own. Including being a Winters, because that name wasn't going anywhere. But she wasn't some proper lady, thank goodness for that.
"Truce, truce." Flopping back on the floor she propped up on her elbows and took another sip of the whiskey in her flask.
He laughed and set down the pillow to throw himself back on it with a relaxed sigh, stretched out the length of his long body and grabbed the whiskey bottle. Raff flicked off a few feathers from it to join the white fluffy mess on the floor around them everywhere. Rolling onto his right elbow he lifted the bottle in his left hand and tilted it upwards to take another sip, the warm comforting liquid soothing something within.
The place was a mess now, but hearing that laughter was totally worth it. Raff honestly wondered if Kat ever really got to laugh like that often? With a husband who'd offed himself and three kids, siblings and work, he knew that her workload probably came close to matching his own.
"I'll give a short truce, but I can't promise fer how long.."
Raff grinned evilly with a glint in his blue eyes.
Last Edit: May 22, 2023 14:37:29 GMT -5 by Deleted
Kat flicked the feathers around her. She probably should have thought about the mess it would make, but she just thinking in the moment while she was drinking with Raff. It was easier to just occasionally take a break and the brunette with just as many responsibilities made it easier.
And it made it even easier when he matched her energy. "I would expect nothing less." Blowing some feathers in his direction she laughed and remembered the bottle once again, holding her hand out with a devious smile.
"Does this truce include sharing?"
Last Edit: May 22, 2023 22:29:23 GMT -5 by Deleted
Raff grinned lazily, looking totally relaxed as he slid over the half-full bottle toward Kat, leaving a cleared trail of fluffy white feathers behind and around it in a path back to her.
"I suppose. Since ya brung it an' all."
By now the whiskey was doing what it was meant to do and he propped up his head on his hand, watching her. The rare peace and quiet was something he could with a helluva lot more of. Pretty sure Van Zant could too.
"I was wondering how much ya could fit in that flask." he smirked.
Catching the bottle that rolled her way, Kat propped up on her elbows and took a swig. She had brought it, but it really had been a gift. She apparently wasn't very good at gift giving with her recent track-record. At least this time she hadn't thrown booze on the ground.
"Come now Raff size doesn't matter." Swigging down more of the bottle she scooted towards Raff and gave the bottle back, laying down in the feathers again. "Maybe when it come to booze it does though."
It was a damn good thing that Raff wasn't drinking anything or he would've choked when Kat made her comment and he roared with laughter.
"Size always matters! No one wants a small .... cup of coffee." Raff finished with a knowing smirk.
Fully relaxed and stretched out on the floor, he thought back to her earlier offer and decided to accept it. It was nice of her to even mention her contacts to him.
"Ya know, thinkin back on it, I will take ya up on that good word with the Princess. I ain't got no clue how ta deal with royalty so any help is good in that department."
Van Zant's gift was working its magic and by now Raff had a nice buzz going which had him letting his guard down almost entirely. In reserve however, there was always the night time work knowledge that stayed sharp and silent. He'd withstood extended torture before and no amount of alcohol would open the doors to those secrets.
Last Edit: May 25, 2023 13:08:48 GMT -5 by Deleted
Kat shook her head and rolled over onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows. "See all you men think we care about the size when we really care about how satisfying the coffee- oh for fucks sake, what that dick does matters." Kat hated metaphors and shit, she'd much rather be brutally honest, and it's not like she was talking to the King, this was Raff. Who clearly had no plans to judge her for what she said.
And life was better lived that way. She had shut up for long enough when she was Fabian's wife, and shutting up was a stretch. But it hadn't been how she wanted to live her life. This was it though, laughing, drinking, and protecting and providing for her family. They were all the mattered besides herself.
"Of course, and you know while you're gone if the kids need anything, the Winter's estate and is plenty fucking big for extra guests and the Van Zant's are known for helping strays. Just if they need something." She had been able to leave her younger siblings with older siblings and Winter's kids with... Well that part was a mistake but she hadn't realized how shit Fabian had been at the time.
"Aw no ya don't!" Raff wagged a finger at her as he laughed. "I was talkin 'bout flasks and coffee-yer the one that made it 'bout dicks Kat!"
He shook his shaggy head and laughed again, "Why are you chicks so obsessed when all I did was bring up coffee?! I like my coffee as much as you like whiskey--and dicks apparently."
It was damn good to share a laugh with her. After all she'd been through, she needed to let loose and just be herself. She worked damn hard at caring for her family and being a good officer at work. Hell she was even reaching out an offer to help Red. Part of Raff wished that more people could see that Kat was a good person. But the other half liked things just the way they were. She had as much right to privacy as anyone else and he supposed he wasn't exactly Mr. Friendly in the barracks either. Come to think of it--neither of them were. If a soldier wanted a nice sweet hug and a pat on the back, they could go to Captain Woodwick for that. He was everyone's favorite dad. Personally Raff thought the guy was a little too nice to the soldiers, but everyone had their styles.
"Extra guests huh? Room for a twelve and thirteen year old? Coz Denzul and Ewan are gonna need a place ta be. I'm havin Alan and his wife stay here with Cady while I'm gone. They're newlyweds so it'll give Cady a chick around but they couldn't handle the two youngest plus Brent stoppin in a few times a week. I'd really fuckin appreciate if ya could put up Denzul and Ewan at Hotel Van Zant if ya can..."
It had worried the hell outta him what was gonna happen to the kids once he was deployed. He still needed to tell Red and Raff wasn't looking forward to it. He took a long swig from his cheaper bottle of whiskey and tried not to think about it too much.
Last Edit: May 27, 2023 11:29:15 GMT -5 by Deleted
”I’m to blame? Nah, kick rocks.” Laughing Kat rolled her eyes at the utter audacity of his insinuation. She was usually the one to bring up what some might consider an awkward conversation but in this case he had done it all on his own. She’d just said it aloud like she did with most of the thoughts that entered her head. ”They’re usually wrinkly and nothing to talk about anyways.” She was pretty sure men thought they were much more important than they were. A prick was a prick and there was nothing special about it, and she knew just about no one that talked about them as much as men did.
Shrugging her shoulders, Kat didn’t offer help as a joke usually. ”Doubt two or three extra mouths would even be noticed in the grand scheme of things.” Half the time there was a friend or cousin over anyways, the Van Zants were really a pretty generous bunch. They just also took a fair amount, but that’s just the way the world worked.
She opened her mouth to offer something else but changed her mind. Technically she wasn’t supposed to be talking about or using her portals on a whim. Emergencies, if something went wrong with the kids she’d pop in on Raff and drag him back. It was tempting to let someone else in on it, but for now she kind of liked keeping it to herself. ”Think we can finish this bottle between us then?”
Raff laughed hard and put out a finger to mock scold Kat,
"Now now don't talk that way about him--he's always been here for me and I can rely on him no matter what!"
He looked down and continued on in the same tone, "He's my best friend and ta be honest witcha, he's made a lotta important decisions fer me!"
When her tone turned more serious, he watched her through a damn good buzz, his eyelids getting heavy.
"I really appreciate that, seriously. Denzul and Ewan had a great time visiting last summer and I know they'd love ta hang out there again. I think they're growing up as good friends and at twelve and thirteen, they need the right place ta be right now. Ewan's so goofy, he licked the flagpole on a dare last Heims"
She raised up the barely quarter of a bottle of whiskey left and Raff grinned as he answered,
”And that’s why men will always die sooner then women.” Thinking with a thing that filled up at the sight of breasts was an idiotic way to live. She had thought with her nether areas and ended up pregnant and married to a noble. It was almost always a mistake, something you could be told a million times but never learn until it goes wrong.
Kat arched an eyebrow at him however at the mention of his brother licking a flag pole. She hadn’t often heard about that as a dare, but it was good to know the youths of Nevermere still had a little mischief in them. ”Did you have to pick the splinters out or did you make him do it himself?” That would be a great lesson, but of course not everyone thought he’d parenting ideas were genius. Probably for the best if there were to be any well balanced kids out there.
And with that she took a massive gulp of the whiskey and passed it on over. ”Let’s do it then.”
"Nope. Men die sooner than woman coz we get nagged to death by women." He smirked at her. Not everyone liked or even understood Kat's unique brand of acerbic charm, but Raff and most of the other Paired's certainly did. Having strong women around like Kat, Merk and Curran, had given him a respect and admiration of strength and smarts. The double edged sword of it was that they were the three that Raff compared all over women to. So if they didn't measure up to that brand of physically, emotionally, magically and mentally tough, he didn't pursue any further acquaintance with them. He'd be civil but the women that were weak, mercurial and unreliable, simply dropped off his radar and he had no wish to know them any better.
"Nah neither. I put warm honey on his tongue and it drew out the splinters. I'll tell ya, it was funny watching him sit there holding his mouth open and drooling while the honey did the work on his tongue! He's a good kid, just not one to turn down a dare." He laughed, and watched Kat as she spoke.
Taking the offered whiskey he got down a few swallows, but the motion of throwing his head back to do it, had him getting dizzy. Raff's leaning on his his elbow turn to a resting his head on his arm along the floor. But he set down the bottle and slid it back to Van Zant with a lazy smile.
"Nagged?" Kat shook her head and scooted across the floor. "More like stabbed." Pulling her dagger from her belt she leveled it at his chest, sticking out her tongue like a child might. She was a bad bitch about a lot of things, but with drinking she could flip between a hard ass and a joking idiot on occasion.
Taking the whiskey she looked at it, squinting at the small amount remaining and taking it as a challenge of sorts. She could definitely finish it off. So she swigged it one down, before smacking her lips together in annoyance. "Oh gross that was all the backwash." Wrinkling her nose she pretended to gag, not that she'd even waste the shit she had just swallowed. It just didn't taste as good, blegh.
"Ya know I love it when ya talk dirty.." he laughed, knowing he'd left her the worst last bit in the bottle. Raff managed to get up his left arm in half protest,
"Ok ok, my whiskey treat next time! I don't mix weapons and whiskey Van Zant!"