This was it, there was no going back. Ellory was pushed into a room by Antigone and as her enemy turned to close the door, Ellory had her wand out. "I trust that you will show decorum and follow the proper etiquette for our duel."

The room they had ended wasn't really big enough for a duel, but they would make do. Maybe they would have to vanish the bed first, that would get in the way.

  

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SET BY MJ

The walk from the ballroom to whichever guest room they were in had actually done wonders for Tig's temper, she no longer wanted to commit an actual murder but she still wanted to manhandle Ellory a little, both to make her feel better and to intimidate her.

That Ellory thought she'd dragged her off for a little private duel took her aback though. That explained why she hadn't resisted but did she really think Tig wanted to settle things with a 'proper' duel? It was almost laughable. "Who said anything about a duel?" Tig's eyes moved to Ellory's wand. Her hand moved to the pocket of her dress where her own wand was. "Put your wand away!"

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Why had Antigone dragged her to a random guest room if not for them to duel? What else was there for them to do? Play a particularly competitive game of chess? Exchange profanities in private?

"Why did you drag me here, then?" Ellory asked. She still held tight into her wand and she was in the ready in case Tig tried anything. She didn't think that she was that stupid, so as to put her wand away and willingly make herself unarmed, to be at Antigone's mercy?

  

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SET BY MJ

As Ellory ignored her demands, Tig slipped her hand inside her pocket and grasped her wand, ready to draw it should she need to. "Some things are best kept behind closed doors." She slowly started to remove her wand from her pocket. "You're not worth the trouble of making a scene." In a quick movement she raised her wand and pointed it squarely at Ellory. "I said put your wand away!"

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Did Antigone really think that she was going to fall for her trick? If she wanted to disarm her, then she would have to do it herself, not by asking her to put her wand away and expect her to comply like a bloody fool!

"No!" Ellory shouted and in fact raised her wand in a more combative stance.

The following 1 user Likes Ellory Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Ellory Lestrange's post
   Ursula Black

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SET BY MJ

And just like that Ellory had stoked her anger again. With a sudden, aggressive wand movement Tig cast a non-verbal disarming charm. If she wouldn't cooperate then she'd have to force her cooperation.
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Ellory's reflexes were quick, seeing that she was on high alert for the slightest of movement from Antigone's part, so she managed to block the incoming attack with a shield.

"Did you think I would fall for your trickery?" Ellory shouted in a slightly trembly voice, from all the adrenaline that had rushed to her body. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't feel her feet. With a slightly trembly hand, she cast some random hex, which missed Antigone and hit the wall behind instead, causing for a framed painting to fall on the floor and break.

  

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SET BY MJ

Tig didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that Ellory had tried to attack her and would have succeeded if she didn't have the aim of a cyclops. She'd only tried to disarm Ellory, she didn't want to duel she just wanted to smack her in the face and maybe pin her against a wall to give her a good scare. "I was going to disarm you, you fool! But now..." Now she had no choice but to fight back.

She had the incantation for a particularly nasty curse on the tip of her tongue when someone opened the door.

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| OUTFIT |

The following 2 users Like Antigone Lestrange's post:2 users Like Antigone Lestrange's post
   Jupiter Smith, Meta Lestrange

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Tiberius was less inclined to enjoy himself at a ball than he was at a reception. He was a passable dancer but got no particular enjoyment from dancing with silly young women with whom he would have to make small talk. He had decided to go and find his wife and force his company on her for a song or two, to get a bit of a reprieve from socializing. When he hadn't immediately seen her he'd made an inquiry, and the nearest guest had let him know that he'd seen Antigone and Mrs. Ellory Pendergast leave the ballroom together. It sounded quite innocuous when it was reported to him, but Tiberius had reason to be suspicious. Antigone and Ellory had never been friendly, after all, and the tone of his most recent conversation with his wife on the subject did not imply that was likely to have changed.

So he'd set off to find her. The last thing he needed was for his wife to go making a scene at an event like this, which had not only representation from many of the prominent members of society but also his entire family present. And Claudius hardly needed to find his wife murdered in a bedroom so soon after their honeymoon.

It wasn't hard to find them; he recognized Antigone's voice in the hallway which gave him the first indication of which way to go, and then a loud thud from one of the bedrooms alerted him to their exact location. Hopefully the thud had only been property damage and not anyone dying. He hadn't ruled it out at all; causing bodily harm when she had over-extended her emotions was quickly becoming Antigone's thing. Ellory wouldn't have been capable of inflicting much damage of her own accord, he didn't think, but Antigone might very well have killed herself by breaking her Vow without any assistance from her cousin whatsoever.

Tiberius drew his wand before he opened the door, and was relieved to see them both still standing with no blood in sight. He cast a disarming spell at them both, hoping that the surprise of his entrance would be enough to see it effective. He didn't particularly care to take either of their wands, only to disrupt whatever nonsense they'd been in the middle of. Then, as though he had walked in on nothing but a mundane chat, he said coolly to his wife, "You'll be missed on the dance floor if you wander off like this."

The following 2 users Like Tiberius Lestrange's post:2 users Like Tiberius Lestrange's post
   Antigone Lestrange, Jupiter Smith

The door opened and Tiberius entered the room, disarming them both. Ellory's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She had Tiberius just as capable as Antigone of hurting her, perhaps even more so. She was outnumbered, the two of them could easily murder her and then make it look like an accident. She liked to think that Claude would investigate what had happened and eventually find out that she had been the victim of a terrible murder by his own cousin's hand, but Ellory would be dead by then.

She was relieved somewhat when Tiberius merely spoke cooly to his wife. He hadn't addressed her at all, though. What if he hurt her, after all? For all that Ellory enjoyed talking crap about Tiberius, she was secretly somewhat scared of him.

"Can I have my wand back?" she asked sheepishly. Why couldn't it have been Claude who found them? Where was Claude, anyway? Was he looking for her? If Tiberius was going to make an attempt on her life, she wanted Claude to try and dramatically rescue her!

The following 3 users Like Ellory Lestrange's post:3 users Like Ellory Lestrange's post
   Antigone Lestrange, Jupiter Smith, Tiberius Lestrange

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SET BY MJ

Stupid Ellory with her nonsense about duels had completely distracted her from locking the damn door! Both of their wands were suddenly flying over her head towards the intruder. Tig looked angrily over her shoulder and oh it was Tiberius. Where was he earlier when she'd wanted an interruption?!

Surprisingly he wasn't scolding her for being caught in the midst of a fight, perhaps he would do when Ellory wasn't in the room. He could try though but he couldn't possibly criticize her for it this time, she'd even been discreet! He probably wouldn't let her follow through with Ellory though, not that she needed a wand and anyway, now that she'd been distracted her anger was starting to simmer down again. For the time being.

"She didn't even say 'please'," she directed this at Tiberius and then looked back to Ellory. "I thought they were supposed to teach you manners at finishing school."

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The following 1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post
   Cecily Gallivan

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"Antigone," Tiberius warned. Honestly, what was she thinking with a statement like that? She didn't even say please was needlessly petty; she was clearly just trying to incite Ellory's irritation. Judging by the fact that he'd found them with their wands drawn in a spare bedroom, she was fairly good at doing so. Ellory's skin must have been thin as tissue paper if little comments like that were going to bring her to the point of exchanging hexes. Tiberius was lucky he wasn't married to someone so silly — but then, Antigone was here too, so she wasn't doing much better.

Crossing to his cousin, Tiberius held her wand back out to her. The danger of her using it against his wife had passed, he suspected. "I might remind you, Cousin, that now that you're a married woman your behavior, good or bad, reflects directly on your husband's character," he said sternly. "I don't imagine your mother or sister were keen to see you involved in scandal, but I know Claudius would not be well pleased. Mind yourself."

Turning dismissively away from her, he crossed to his wife and took her arm in a gesture that may have looked natural but was a bit firmer than necessary. "Let's go."

  

Ellory shot Antigone with a bad look at her comment. She would have probably replied with something equally petty and childish, hadn't Tiberius intervened. He then proceeded to lecture her, as though she was a child. (To be fair, her behaviour was childish.)

"I would never bring shame to my husband, but I can't sit behind when I am being provoked. Because your wife is displeased with you, Cousin, she tries to ruin my happiness with Claude!"

  

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SET BY MJ

And there was her anger again. "I said no such thing you lying little harlot!" She strained a little against Tiberius' grip. "Why don't you tell Tiberius what you were saying to me earlier? You said it with such glee, you must be dying to say it to his face!" Unless Tig was wildly mistaken, Ellory wouldn't dare. She was stupid but she couldn't be that stupid, she was supposed to take it as the threat it was intended as rather than actually follow through. If she did she might just rob Tig of the chance of murdering her and that would really spoil the evening.

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The following 1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post
   Cecily Gallivan

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Merlin, what had he gotten himself into the middle of? Some sort of senseless catfight that these idiot women were insistent on continuing despite the fact that he was not particularly interested in hearing any of the banal pettiness that had lead them here.

"If your marital happiness is so fragile, it will likely prove short-lived with or without Antigone's help," he remarked, as he tightened his grip on his wife's arm. His patience with both of them was rather thin, and if they insisted on continuing to screech at each other he might be forced to intervene to magically silence them. He was not going to sit her mediating their little feud, that much was certain.

"We're done here," he said with a tone of authority, to both of them. Hopefully that was the end of the discussion. He started towards the door, intending to drag Antigone out if that was what it took and leave Ellory sitting around fuming in an empty bedroom.

(Maybe he'd lock the door behind them, just to ensure that Ellory didn't try to incite anything else on their way back to the ballroom. Someone would come and find her eventually).

The following 1 user Likes Tiberius Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Tiberius Lestrange's post
   Cecily Gallivan

Of course, Ellory didn't dare to say anything nasty to Tiberius' face. She would roast him with Cash or even Claude behind his back but she wouldn't dare call him the orphaned son of a murderer to his face. Tiberius scared her.

As such, she swallowed her pride at Tiberius' words. Instead, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at them both as they left the room. She would wait for them to leave and then leave herself, she didn't want to endure the awkward walk back to the ballroom with both Antigone and Tiberius. Then, she would find Cash, probably, and give him an extremely one-sided and biased account of what had happened so they could talk shit about both Tiberius and Antigone and get an ego boost.

The following 2 users Like Ellory Lestrange's post:2 users Like Ellory Lestrange's post
   Antigone Lestrange, Ophelia Devine

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SET BY MJ