Difference between revisions of "Kingsley Family/Alyssa/The River War"

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==Dreams==
 
==Dreams==
  
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===Kingsley===
 
Alyssa walked through the halls of her childhood home. It had been almost 30 years since that manor near Aldburg had burned to nothing but cinder, but as she wandered easily through the sunlit corridors she had no trouble navigating, the exact layout burned into her mind. She made her way past the serving quarters where she spotted several of familiar figures, sitting on crates playing with tarot. As she peered in she remembered each of their names while they hunched closely over the cards, laughing. Vivian, Jennin, Mr. Borv, Kalis Rhee. They had helped raise her, helped her mind her manners, helped her get her clothes in the morning and even brought her sweets and played with her sometimes when her father was not watching. She loved them, and her heart jumped as she saw them, until they turned around and it plummeted.
 
Alyssa walked through the halls of her childhood home. It had been almost 30 years since that manor near Aldburg had burned to nothing but cinder, but as she wandered easily through the sunlit corridors she had no trouble navigating, the exact layout burned into her mind. She made her way past the serving quarters where she spotted several of familiar figures, sitting on crates playing with tarot. As she peered in she remembered each of their names while they hunched closely over the cards, laughing. Vivian, Jennin, Mr. Borv, Kalis Rhee. They had helped raise her, helped her mind her manners, helped her get her clothes in the morning and even brought her sweets and played with her sometimes when her father was not watching. She loved them, and her heart jumped as she saw them, until they turned around and it plummeted.
  
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With shaky uneven breath she whispered against her wife's shoulder.  "Next time I will too."
 
With shaky uneven breath she whispered against her wife's shoulder.  "Next time I will too."
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 +
 +
===Everlight===
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Frost sparkled, waving on the tips of grasses as far as Isana could see. The foxtail-headed plants stood almost as tall as she. In their masses they blocked most of the late autumn's chilling winds, so she stood warm in the long shadows of the late-day sun with only her cheeks feeling the breeze. A heavy fur mantle silenced the sighing wind as it approached her ears. In the distance she could see the shores of Kannoktet where the river met the sea. A sense of peace and purpose filled the woman as she hefted her bow and trudged through the thick grasses and snow in search of hare.
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A voice behind in the distance drifted to her ears. She shook her head. That voice somehow did not belong here. She felt love and concern as she heard it, and wondered at it idly as she walked. Who was that?
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Several more steps forward, Isana began to feel warmth, the heavy mantle weighing more on one shoulder than the other.
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The voice came again. This time familiar.
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 +
Alyssa!
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A blink and the vivid northern Beluaterran world around her fell away, sand under waves.
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 +
Her vision became darkness, the sighing wind silence. The soft experience of the dream was replaced with solid reality. She felt the heavy linen of their sheets, Alyssa's breath gusting over her shoulder, her wife's fingers clutching gently--so as not to wake her, Isana knew instantly.
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"Aly? Are you alright?" she murmured softly into the night, her own hand seeking to cover Alyssa's with reassuring warmth. She found the fingers clammy, sweat cooling on them. "Oh, love..."
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Without waiting for response Isana turned, rolling over to gather her darling wife into her arms. Strong limbs coaxed the blonde head under her chin, close to her heart. Gently she held Alyssa close, listening to the shallow breaths that told her Aly had been crying. Her heart twisted at the thought of her love in angst, alone in the night. She began speaking, the low hum of her voice soothing, punctuated with occasional kisses on Alyssa's soft, rumpled hair.
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"It's alright. Just breathe. I'm here. We're together. You are loved. Everything is alright."
  
 
==The Seal==
 
==The Seal==

Revision as of 06:22, 24 January 2022

The War with Eponllyn

Fear

Alyssa stepped back and forth across her study in the Palace. She idly tapped the pommel of the sword at her hip as she did, her face scrunched in consternation as she considered her next moves. Maron, her royal herald, sat lazily in a chair by the room's mantle, strumming quiet melodies on his lute, and looking up at the ceiling with a bored expression.

"You are pacing, Your Majesty."

Alyssa ignored the comment and continued in deep thought.

Maron took a deep sigh and continued. "If I may advise you, Your Majesty..."

"I don't recall you holding the title of Councilor, master herald." She snapped back at him icily. He merely smiled.

"You have never been adept at bluster, Your Majesty. And you should know by now that scorn shall never defeat my desire to see you succeed."

She shook her head. "I do not mean to snap at you of course, you are not the cause of my worries. But this situation sits upon a razor's edge and relies on a number of things outside of my control." She stopped and turned to look directly to the bard draped over the chair. "There could be war."

"Ah yes, but Your Majesty, there can always be war. Even for no reason. You should know that better than anyone perhaps. As for control, well from where I'm sitting you have quite a great deal of control. You hold the singular power in the realm to declare such a thing yourself, so I think if your intention is to avoid conflict, that should be quite easy for you."

Alyssa glared at him again. "There are other factors. You know very well what the Eponlli would be capable of with 5 cities."

Maron smiled a smile that Alyssa had often seen, the one he gave when she fell into his verbal traps. "There it is, of course. What Eponllyn would be capable of. What Eponllyn would be capable of."

"Yes. That is what I said."

"So," Maron continued with a scoff. "You are still pretending this is about Eponllyn and Perdan, and not you and Aila?"

"This situation is about Kalmar, not Aila Storme." Alyssa's face grew tense and if her look were given force Maron would be seven floors below.

"No, it's not. Because if it were, you would have nosed off quite some time ago, and gone back to Brive to water flowers and make tender looks at Isana Everlight. No, you can't let this go, Your Majesty." He sat up straight and leaned forward, meeting her eyes sharply with a challenging gaze. Her expression did not falter.

"You're afraid of her."

"You're wrong." she replied, holding icy blue eyes locked against his own. Maron laughed.

"Again, never adept at bluster. If you're not afraid of her, then simply do nothing."

"I cannot, sitting idly by while Eponllyn provokes us and takes through scheming puts more than just Perdan at risk."

"If you truly believe that, then do something yourself. Send an army to Kalmar."

"I cannot! We must give diplomacy a chance!"

"So you can't do nothing, but you also cannot do something. Aila has you exactly where she wants you. Off to the side where you are insignificant to her plans."

Alyssa closed her eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself from the impudence on display.

"You are so beautiful, Alyssa, in the passion of your fury." Maron said gently.

"Leave, please. I need to think." Alyssa asked calmly as she opening her eyes.

"Of course, my Queen is wise to-"

"Leave, Maron."

He bowed his head reverently and stepped towards the door, pausing as he set his hand on the knob.

"When was the last time you used that sword?" He asked, daring to peek his head around at her. She glanced at him with a hint of worry, but he said nothing and closed the door behind him, leaving Alyssa alone with her thoughts.


Family

(Contributions by Everlight)

The Queen put her head in her hands as she looked wearily over the several stacks of parchment upon her desk.  Very few of them bore good news and she turned to her own letters, ready to be sent out on another pile nearby.  Those don't have much good news either. She thought wearily.  A light breeze from the balcony ruffled the stacks slightly and Alyssa tried quickly to hold them down before the blew over, saving them at the cost of a handful catching the air and blowing across the room.  She weighed the stacks down with objects on her desk, before running out and reluctantly placing her crown to set down upon the final stack.  As the breeze blew threw from the balcony again, Alyssa sighed and stood up to cross the room.

As she slid the windowed balcony doors closed, she caught her reflection in the glare off the windows.  The bags under her eyes had grown larger over the past few days, and individual strands of her hair had come loose from the simple braid in which she wore it, flying off in different directions.  Her head leaned to the side and her eyes, half open and red, flitted around slightly in the reflection.

The nights of late had not be kind to Alyssa.  She had stayed in her office into the late hours of the evening, and when she did retire her nights were restless, she wondered if she could count the hours she had slept during the week on her hands.  Her breaths were deep and her head ached dully as it raced with the potential outcomes of the increased tensions that plagued the realms along the river.

"Alyssa?" A familiar voice came from behind her.  Alyssa jolted, her eyes springing open, heart beating rapidly, muscles tensing as she spun around, eyes widened and focused intently on the doorway where she saw Cedric, her wife's squire standing awkwardly in the doorway.  Upon seeing her reaction, he immediately bowed low and began profusely apologizing.

Alyssa closed her eyes and tried to settle her breathing.  She brought a hand to rub the bridge between her eyes which had moistened at the shock.  Breathe.  Think peacefully.  The words in the letters today ran through her head instead.  Alyssa opened her eyes, continuing her deliberate breathing.  She noticed the slight tremor in her hand.

"It's... alright... Cedric.  I was merely startled." She wondered briefly if by his sudden arrival or the sight of herself.  "Come... Come in.  What did you need, dear?"

He took a step inside as she asked. "Oh.  Um, well Alyssa, 'Sana sent me to check in on you, to make sure you were doing okay since she said you've been coming back late."

Alyssa sighed and sat back down in her chair, leaning her head back against the head of the chair.  "No Cedric, I am not, I'm afraid.  As you can see."

He grimaced slightly but nodded. 

"Come closer please?" She asked gently. He nodded and approached slowly and she forced a smile as he came near.  "Are you afraid Cedric, of the war to come?"

"I... don't know Alyssa.  I was only a page during the last war.  I've never fought truly."

"Of course." She replied gently before hesitating for a moment.  "I am, Ced."

He didn't seem to have an answer to that, but he looked at her worriedly.   "I... have seen so much death, Ced.  We've seen so much.  I don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing to do.  Or how much more death I will bring."

Cedric paused for a moment and took a step forward, hesitating before speaking.  "I don't know politics, not yet.  But I do know you.  And that you will do everything to keep us safe. And that whatever happens, you'll do it for the right reasons."

"You believe that?"

He nodded.  "And so does she.  And I think a lot of the rest of them."

A tear fell down Alyssa's cheek. "Thank you, Cedric.  Tell Isana I am better.  And that I will not be late this evening."

"Yes, I will." He said with a little bow before he turned to leave.  Alyssa stood up as he began to turn away, and put her arms around him, giving him a tight familial embrace. "You are right Cedric." She said, taking a deep breath into shoulder "I will do everything to keep my family safe.  All of you."

Dreams

Kingsley

Alyssa walked through the halls of her childhood home. It had been almost 30 years since that manor near Aldburg had burned to nothing but cinder, but as she wandered easily through the sunlit corridors she had no trouble navigating, the exact layout burned into her mind. She made her way past the serving quarters where she spotted several of familiar figures, sitting on crates playing with tarot. As she peered in she remembered each of their names while they hunched closely over the cards, laughing. Vivian, Jennin, Mr. Borv, Kalis Rhee. They had helped raise her, helped her mind her manners, helped her get her clothes in the morning and even brought her sweets and played with her sometimes when her father was not watching. She loved them, and her heart jumped as she saw them, until they turned around and it plummeted.

Their faces were burned away, charred flesh peeling over blackened bone, just enough left to see gentle smiles. Jennin nodded in acknowledgement as he looked up to her from his crate "Oh, Aly! Our little miss! Off to save the princess again?" Shocked, Alyssa choked for a second and managed a stutter. "Well, you should be in bed you know, Aly. Otherwise you'll get in trouble for burning us all to death."

"I didn't!" Alyssa cried out, her heart beginning to race.

"Oh silly Aly, you did this. Now you should be in bed."

Alyssa gulped and took a step back, retreating back into the hall as she stumbled on through the house, her mind racing until she came across the modest dining room. Everything looked the same, including the broken cabinet, glass littering the floor where she had landed all those years ago. Her hand reached over to the back of her other arm and traced her finger along the old jagged scar from where the glass had cut through during the impact.

"You did this." Said her father, stepping into the room. Her heart sank and her entire body tensed at the sight. "Because you lied."

"I didn't lie! I didn't know where your bottle was! Why didn't you believe me?"

"Because you made it up, girl." He said crossing the room and looking forward at her straight in the eyes. He looked at her with pure disgust, she reflexively turned her head away as he gestured to the broken cabinet.

"You did this."Said King Kay, his voice hollow and distant, resonating like brass in his chest. She looked up at the man in front of her. He wore the crown of Perdan, but his face was pale, and one of his eyes held a white stone in its place while black smoke leaked from his mouth. "Why did you do this to me? You were always my favorite, and then you went and did this?"

"I'm sorry..."She sputtered

"Are you lying again?"

"I'm not lying, Your Majesty, I promise!" She answered with a twinge of hope. The King slumped over to the ground as a tear rolled down Alyssa's cheek.

"Aly, sweetheart." another voice called out from another part of the house. "Aly? Will you come here my little dove?"

"Mother?" Alyssa said with a gulp. She glanced down at the body at her feet, and rushed off to follow the voice. "I'm coming!"

"Aly I missed you dear, were you brave while we were gone?" Alyssa followed the voice through familiar halls, all the way to the foyer and the front door. "I'm home, Aly-dear."

Alyssa tore open the front door, her heart still racing from the encounters before. She looked out over the porch onto a great battlefield. She recognized it instantly as outside the fortifications in Bescanon, where thousands of dead Eponlli, Sirion, and Perdanese lie. Crows feasted on eyes, organs and torn muscle, and as she walked among the dead they began to rise and pick up their swords before begining to butcher each other all over again. Suddenly, a helmeted soldier threw himself at her spear thrusting forward. She instinctively dodged, drawing her sword and slicing through him with a single swipe.

Then another came, slice. And another. They kept coming until she swung at nothing and realized they were all lying again on the ground. One of their helmets had fallen and off and to her horror she saw the man with the spear was Lord Druzil. The next, Duchess Delphine, then Daario, Miles. Her heart began to pound as tears welled. Ulric, Berwin, Dandro. "I'm sorry!" She cried out. A long dark braid hung out of the back of a helmet. "No no, Morning Star, you're never here. I forgave myself, like you told me."

"What about next time?" Father whispered in her ear.

--

Alyssa woke up in tears, her heart bursting through her chest, her head aching, a thin lair of sweat coating her. She gulped and tried to steady her breath like Isana had taught her.

"Not there." she whispered silently to herself. "Not her, she's never there. She's right here. Always" Alyssa glanced over to Isana's sleeping form, her light breath steady and rhythmic. Alyssa gulped and wiped the tears from her eyes with the sheet and slid over carefully to Isana, touching her shoulder gently with the tips of her fingers. I'm here. She closed the rest of the distance, curling up close to Isana as she tried to control her breath and the warm tears slowed.

With shaky uneven breath she whispered against her wife's shoulder. "Next time I will too."


Everlight

Frost sparkled, waving on the tips of grasses as far as Isana could see. The foxtail-headed plants stood almost as tall as she. In their masses they blocked most of the late autumn's chilling winds, so she stood warm in the long shadows of the late-day sun with only her cheeks feeling the breeze. A heavy fur mantle silenced the sighing wind as it approached her ears. In the distance she could see the shores of Kannoktet where the river met the sea. A sense of peace and purpose filled the woman as she hefted her bow and trudged through the thick grasses and snow in search of hare.

A voice behind in the distance drifted to her ears. She shook her head. That voice somehow did not belong here. She felt love and concern as she heard it, and wondered at it idly as she walked. Who was that?

Several more steps forward, Isana began to feel warmth, the heavy mantle weighing more on one shoulder than the other.

The voice came again. This time familiar.

Alyssa!

A blink and the vivid northern Beluaterran world around her fell away, sand under waves.

Her vision became darkness, the sighing wind silence. The soft experience of the dream was replaced with solid reality. She felt the heavy linen of their sheets, Alyssa's breath gusting over her shoulder, her wife's fingers clutching gently--so as not to wake her, Isana knew instantly.

"Aly? Are you alright?" she murmured softly into the night, her own hand seeking to cover Alyssa's with reassuring warmth. She found the fingers clammy, sweat cooling on them. "Oh, love..."

Without waiting for response Isana turned, rolling over to gather her darling wife into her arms. Strong limbs coaxed the blonde head under her chin, close to her heart. Gently she held Alyssa close, listening to the shallow breaths that told her Aly had been crying. Her heart twisted at the thought of her love in angst, alone in the night. She began speaking, the low hum of her voice soothing, punctuated with occasional kisses on Alyssa's soft, rumpled hair.

"It's alright. Just breathe. I'm here. We're together. You are loved. Everything is alright."

The Seal

The great hall of Riverwatch Castle was a familiar place for the Queen, though without a lady or knight to occupy it since she left for Perdan City many years ago its disuse had started to become apparent in the years since. The Queen's arrival in Water Town had been met with many cheers, and much of the staff had been busy to get it ready, but a few days was not enough time to reach everything and some of the great hall's furnishings still sat covered by white cloths, and some of the windows had yet to be fully cleaned, leaving uneven streaks of morning sunlight refracting through the large chamber.

The great hall was however, filled with people of all sorts. Perdanese and Caligan knights and lords, many of her own Whiteguard, as well as several capital courtiers lined the walls on either side of a long sturdy oak table which held nothing but a few tarnished old candelabras at points across the great length of the table and a few stationary supplies near where she sat at the head of the table: a quill, ink, wax and the Royal Seal of Perdan.

They all stood in witness of the event to take place momentarily. Alyssa's head ached fiercely from a total inability to sleep, and the horrific thoughts that had plagued her the night before. And she had forgotten how uncomfortable plate armour was, especially sitting feet forward in a tall wooden chair at the head of the table on the far end of the hall. The golden crown that sat upon gold and silver locks of blonde hair weighed even heavier today than it normally did.

This was an important moment, she had been convinced by much of the lower court, and should thusly be treated with gravitas. She hated making a show of things like this, especially something she was uncertain of herself in the first place, but such a thing was expected of a ruler, and she knew the kingdom was more important. She spotted the diplomatic staff approach the entryway and new things were to begin. She took a deep breath to herself and exhaled, before rising to her feet.

Every Perdanese subject in the room immediately rose to attention, placing their hands in a Perdanese salute. Maron, the Royal Herald called out to announce her.

"Her Royal Majesty, Alyssa Everlight-Kingsley I, Queen of Perdan, the Riverlands, Greater Oligarch, and the Grand Court of Aix!" The Perdanese fell to one knee in near unison, until she waved her hand slightly and tiredly and each rose again. The diplomats then entered the room carrying a great scroll, their footsteps echoing on the stone floor as silence filled the room around them, until finally the stopped before her and bowed deeply, setting the scroll down before her and taking their place in the crowd.

The Queen picked up the scroll, the official announcement of war. She would now be the herald, of death and the other horrors that came with war. She read it aloud to the crowd, who said nothing as she finished, setting the scroll down, and picking up a quill they had left for her from the table. After dipping it in ink, she hesitated a few moments, her heart racing before silently scribing her name to the bottom and stamping it with the royal seal.

No one else said anything as the diplomats reappeared and picked up the scroll, quill and ink and carried it off. Once they had departed, Alyssa looked around, musing if anyone could hear the heavy beat of her heart. But she knew they couldn't.

"Adjourned." was all she said before quickly stepping across the hall, and out of the great hall towards the master chambers. No one followed her.


Our Protectors

Thoughts of guilt, and sadness, and fear, and anger, and righteousness, and death, and pain, and worry, and loss swam around in her dreams. There was no image no sound, just vague feelings and fleeting thoughts swarming around like a flock of black crows in the darkness.

A prison. Of her own feelings and her own choices and her own making. You did this. A pang of pain, a pang of remorse, a pang of cold, then worry, then pain again. And then pain again. What about next time?

Then a bright light.

Then the Queen's eyes opened. And she screamed.


Her head ached as she slowly made her way through the temple. The Flames flickered brightly all around her, in large braziers lighting the temple brightly in the night. She gently touched the bruise on her head, it still hurt, though not as much as the burning coming from her chest where the bolt had struck her. She pulled the collar of her loose white shirt down to inspect the wound. Seared by holy light they had told her, by Leandra's blessing. There was not even a scar, but the skin there was different, a patch of pallid gray flesh above her breast, at the end of the long ugly scar by her collarbone, the last wound from an Eponlli she had recieved. She touched it, it was warm, just like regular skin, but she did not feel her own touch. Was this what Kay felt? Alyssa shuddered at the thought of the Old King.

It was then she stumbled upon a figure kneeling before an alter where dozens of ritual candles had been placed. A statue of a woman in courageous pose stood above the altar.

"Thea?" Alyssa asked softly. The figure turned around and changed the direction of her kneel.

"Your Majesty." Thea answered, her head low. "I am glad to see you are able to walk around. I had heard about the wound."

"Were you praying?" The Queen said in a low tone. "I did not mean to interrupt."

"I was just finished."

Alyssa nodded once and looked up at the statue skeptically. "That is not Leandra, you know. She is Riuna."

Thea merely nodded with the slightest of smiles. "I know, Your Majesty. But she is here, and she can protect us. Just like you and the Imperator, and Duke Daario who lies wounded still did today on the Bridge. And maybe Leandra too. I don't much care if it's Leandra or Riuna, or Queen Alyssa Everlight. The people need protection. Me, my son, countless others. My faith shall lie with anyone who will protect them."

Alyssa gave her a thoughtful look before turning back to look at the bravely posed woman above the altar. Are you my ally?

"Thea, will you take me to meet with one of the commanders?" Her wound was healed, but she was still recovering, and her head still hurt from the bruise and the steady burning on her chest was persistant. Still, she wanted to meet the man who had done her such favor and with Thea leading the horse, the pair reached Sir Seaglass's camp. His soldiers saluted her in the Perdanese style as she and Thea made their way through the camp, and Alyssa winced as she leaned over to dismount.

One of the Sir's soldiers bowed low and led her to his knight.

"Sir Seaglass. I do not believe I have had the honour to meet this knight in person. I am told you assisted Master Chance and Master Dani with the healing process of myself and my cousin our Imperator Lord Berwin. You have, Sir, my most deepest,