Knowledge is Power (Adrienne)

[Adrienne]

Adrienne could feel her senses being increasingly muddled by this conversation and her temper being stretched by this boy's refusal to help himself. First he's asking about her heart's desire then he's point blank refusing to let her do what she was sent here to do; tutor him. He was so infuriating! So determined to be the bad boy, the villain, he couldn't see that maybe just for once, someone was trying to help him. The french girl had never given up on any student of hers as of yet but by god was she close to it now. She took a deep breath to try and quash the serious inclination to rap him over his insolent head with the textbook.

She used the time to consider his question, what *was* her heart's desire? Instantly she knew her answer. Knowledge, power and true love. All at once, if she was very lucky. It had occurred to her on more than one occasion that not all prince's were as forward thinking as her father had been, and anyone she was betrothed to (when the time came) may insist that she take a back seat in ruling her land. Well, Adrienne was not having that and would happily rule alone in preference. But maybe, just maybe, she could have it all.

The princess was hesitant to divulge this very personal wish to this boy she barely knew. The other princesses would probably laugh at her for such a thing. Heaven knew they already thought she was a little strange for learning so much. Instead she simply stated "I want to be like my mother" and blushed instantly as she realised how childish a request that sounded.

To cover her embarrassment, she jumped to his refusal to continue his assignment under her watch. "That's alright, you can complete it in your own time and hand it to your teacher. But if you miss your deadline, I refuse to take the blame, and you will be repeating the year."
Adrienne knew that her veiled threat would have little to no bearing on the actions of the "villain" but it was her small attempt to derail the conversation.

[Louis Facilier]

Adrienne may have been sent to help Louis with his grades, but she should have known it was a losing battle. Louis didn't need any sort of help, especially when it came for a gem. He was just fine thank you very much and his problems stemmed from his lack of time, not his desire to not pay attention. The last few weeks he had just been busy taking care of her little friend, the precious fish prince. He recognized that angry look she had in her eyes, it made him wonder would she be so mad at him if she knew that Eli wouldn't be eating tonight because she was keeping him from bringing him real food. Not whatever the fishes ate. Also don't think for a second that Louis did it out of the little goodness in his heart, instead he needed all the good deeds he could get for once that prince came out of the lake, or god forbid the heroes find him before the talisman was drained. 

Speaking of the talisman, Louis's hand instantly flew to the amulet around his neck grasping onto it as if he needed a physical reminder that it was still there. It still glowed a bright red and had only lost a portion of the blood in it. At the moment Louis was the only one who could wear it since it's magic didn't work on him. If it did then not only would he look like the fish prince trapped under the waves, but the magic would be gone in a day or two. If he was the one to wear it, the magic would last for quite a while. He didn't know how long exactly, but he knew it was a while.

He smirked though when the gem revealed what she wanted from life, and how sweet she wanted to be like her mum. Louis wasn't stupid and he knew exactly who her mother was, since after all how many princesses were there that spent their entire lives behind the pages of a book? Her mother was Belle, the gem who donated the library and was the only princess that broke the curse on her prince if he remembered correctly from his studies. She wanted to be pretty, brave, and book smart. He wanted to laugh, that was so much easier than what Eli had wanted to be and that took barely any effort at all!

"Ah ma cherie," He started to say with the words feeling like poison in his mouth as the image of Isla that day in the cafe flooded his mind, "That's nothing to be ashamed of. It's only natural to want to be like your parents." He tried to reassure her with a smile that was obviously fake to anyone who knew him. Adrienne didn't though so that was a good thing so he continued by saying, "You know as a humble miracle worker I can make it happen at this very moment if you wish." He finished with a devious grin as he pulled from his coat pocket a little baggie of bright pink powder--not his idea, but whatever-- and placed it on the desk in between the two of them. It was his father's and although it may not be as powerful as the amulet, it was enough to do simple little things. Like changing appearances and giving someone more knowledge. If Adrienne was truly wise she would tell him to put it away, if not then she really did honestly need it. 

He was tempted to roll his eyes at the notion of the school holding him back for another year. As if that was a concern of his, the school was based off of age, not grade level and he knew the moment he turned twenty one he was out of this place permanently. It was a prison here, he wanted to go back to the streets of New Orleans, which was more of a home to him than this place will ever be. Not wanting to give the gem the satisfaction of having the last word he also muttered under his breath with a hint of his southern accent, "Oh wouldn't that be tragic. You'll have to deal with Louis Facilier for a whole 'nother year."

[Adrienne]

"You can? Just like that?" Adrienne was no fool, but she was a teenage girl, and not as worldly as she would like to have thought. The pink powder intrigued her. The colour actually worked in Louis' favour, as the princess didn't know many boys that would willingly carry something of that particular hue.

However, she was not completely naive either. She just had to ask; "What's in it for you? Why would you do something like that for someone you just met?" She was going to add "Especially since you think so little of royalty" but she thought better of it. If he really could help her be a better Queen, then it might be best not to push her luck, lest he turn Rumplestiltskin on her.

There was clearly more to this boy than met the eye but Adrienne had no idea what it was. She did know better than to mess with magic but she was so tempted. It was for the good of more than just herself after all. She couldn't imagine how that could go wrong.

Out of manners, she ignored his muttered comment, simply shooting him a look that plainly told him that she had heard him, but refused to dignify it with a response.

[Louis Facilier]

"Well, not exactly princess." Louis said with a devilish grin on his face as he pulled the little bag filled with the pink powder away from the gem's grasp. Did she really he would just hand it over like that? Ha she had forgotten who he was. Though to be fair not many people knew who he really was. To some he was the forgettable Louis Baptiste, penniless street rat who fell into the wrong crowd a long time ago. Others knew him as Louis Facilier, the son of the evil Dr. Facilier, but his dad was no doctor, nor was he truly evil either. He was just an unfortunate man who tried to make a living, but was brought down by a pair of ungrateful brats who ended up falling in love and all that mushy gushy stuff that made Louis want to puke. So nobody really knew that side either so that left the titles. He was the voodoo bokor, but that didn't count because only Louis really knew what his "friends" were capable of and even then he was just a puppet. Which only left the con man. That was something everyone knew and Adrienne was a fool to forget that. 

However Louis had already learned that Adrienne was no fool. She was a smart girl and he could tell that she knew that he would pull the bag away. Louis could see it in her eyes and he cracked a small grin at that. At least there was one princess around here who could actually think and realize what was going on without letting such stupid feelings as love get in her way.

"I don't require much." He said in response to her question as to what was in it for him. He was acting so nonchalant about the entire thing, but that was only because he knew she wouldn't once he named his price. "I heard that you royals tend to bring quite a number of gems with you from home. Those earrings and bracelets would be a nice start." He said eyeing the jewels the girl was wearing. He knew that he was asking for quite a bit of gold, but he also knew he had her trapped in a corner. If she really wanted to be just like her mother, he knew she would do anything for the pink powder. If she wasn't willing to do anything then she really didn't want it. 

Little did she know though that the powder was going to do very little for her. She mostly already had what she wanted she was just too blind to see it. 

[Adrienne]

"This is a little too easy" the princess thought to herself. She knew her folklore and dealing with magic very rarely got a princess what she wanted. But it was so tempting. It was all Adrienne had wanted for as long as she could remember: to make her parent's proud. She, as a woman in her society, couldn't take charge fully like her father, but she could learn to be an effective ruler in other ways, ways that showed wisdom, fairness and compassion. Hopefully her future husband would take care of the rest. She knew it would be a little too much for her kingdom to handle a Queen without a King as things stood but maybe her children would have that option if they so wished.

"There's no side effects, clauses or anything like that, is there?" she asked aloud, eyeing the powder. Unconsciously, however, her hand slid to her bracelets, ready to slide them off. They weren't sentimental, just day to day jewelry and a small price to pay for something that would affect so many people.