Kingsley Family/Alyssa/The River War

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."