De Haguns Family/Orpheu/Legacy of Haguns

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Part 1

The Knight was in in his chambers in the ducal palace, an amenity provided by the graceful duchess of the Perdan Mines, Aila Storme. What a refined and gentle lady, he thought!

He tried in vain to write his planned expenditures and expected revenues from Pelasgia in a blank parchment, in preparation for the next phase of the war. While most nobles might let scribes do this for them, as writing was troublesome and prone to cause accidents with ink, it was nevertheless a tradition of the members of the House de Haguns to keep an extremely tight grip over their own finances, not trusting others to do so. After all, even the slight corruption of stewards and officials could slowly grow to become uncontrollable. And Orpheu knew all too well how many old and proud Houses had fallen into absolute poverty by trusting cunning and scheming advisors that would divert money away through nefarious means, adding false expenses and creating the illusion of needs that should be satisfied, but were nonetheless only ways of siphoning gold and silver into their own pockets.

It was a very old family tradition, one that his brother Marcellus helped him with. They shared this burden, so it would be easier – while one brother managed the estate and family business, the other managed the military budget. Some intriguing nobles in the Mines, however, were eager to spread lies that the Haguns did so because they were but miners and silversmiths that had been long ago elevated into nobility due to their riches, and still clung to their old commoner habits.

Orpheu knew it to be lies purposefully spread by rivals against the paramount knight of the Perdan Mines, for his House was ancient and the legend was true. The founder and his direct ancestor, Metallicus de Haguns, was a brave warrior who had first braved a cave in Aurocastrum and slew the last dragon that inhabited the Mines. The dragon’s blood was then drunk by the forefather, the beast’s horn serving as a chalice. This imbued him and all his descendants with the divine rights of nobility, a fact well known by all peasants and nobles of sound mind in the Mines. The gold and silver that Metallicus had found the dragon guarding served then to establish the foundation of his House. Those were well represented by the Haguns coat of arms – the red blood that ennobled them, the gold and silver that enriched them, and the defiant dragon.

Orpheu, however, could not complete this simple task, his mind absorbed between his newfound hatred for Laststar, his longing for Thea, whom he deeply missed, and his anxiety for the coming meeting that he would have with the Queen. He looked at the summoning letter with unease, concerned by what the Queen wanted of him. Perhaps Laststar – he refused to call him by his title now – had made a formal complaint before the very Queen or pressed charges in the Court? If so, Orpheu would react accordingly and move his own pieces should he need…

A knock on the door. His wandering thoughts were interrupted and his eyes darted towards it, expectantly. He had stated he wanted no interruptions, for those annoyed him while studying the budget for his troops.

As the door opened, a young footman bowed his head and half entered the chambers. “Sir, a woman by the name of Theodora Oakshield, who claims to be your squire, is insisting on an audience…”

Orpheu almost jumped from his chair. “Let her in, now!”, he exclaimed, his serious face opening up in a smile.

As Thea entered into the chambers, the doors were closed. Before she could say anything, the Knight embraced her dearly, kissing his lover passionately. He had missed her so much ever since sending her away before the Battle of Woolton, and was now glad to have made such a sound decision. Thea hugged him tightly and then broke away from his embrace. She placed her hand on his face and kissed him again. Orpheu noticed, however, that her eyes were a hurricane of emotions, and he could not discern if she felt happy, sad, nervous, calm, comforted or afraid. To him, it seemed as if all those feelings were all one, despite their different and opposite natures.

They stared at each other as a complicit silence fell between them. After a while, Thea spoke. “I have missed you so much, so much, and was so worried after I heard of Woolton! I made my way towards Aix, and then went to the Mines. I heard you lost most of your troops and were missing… I thought I had lost you. But once in Pelasgia, your brother told me that you had arrived in Perdan, and I immediatelly rushed to the city.”

Part 2

"My love, I promised you. No matter what happens, I will always be with you. Even wounded, I could not stop thinking of you…”, he looked at her from head to toe and realized she seemed different, a bit plumper on the belly, despite the many fine layers of silk she had with her. Dressed in a larger gown than she used to, she looked different, as if trying to hide something. His face became puzzled as he tried to understand how did she get fatter so fast.

Finally, a realization crossed his mind. His eyes widened as he looked at hers, but soon they broke contact as Thea blushed, looking down towards her slightly swollen belly, smiling gently, and placing her hand over it. The Knight instinctively reached out his own hand and touched hers. “You… my child?”, he tried, uncertain.

“Our child. I… did not know you would react”, she said warily, uncertain on how to proceed. She feared Orpheu’s reaction, after all. She had resigned herself to just enjoy the short moments they could spend together, despite knowing that something like this could eventually happen.

She feared that the dutiful knight, bound to marry the Aumerle girl, could as well take over the man she loved and forsake her. She feared that by carrying his child, she had doomed herself to be another mother of a bastard, a child that would grow up between two worlds, belonging to neither. It was one thing to be the bastard child of a powerful and very wealthy House, but another of a lesser noble house as the Haguns…

Orpheu’s hand did not leave hers as he approached Thea. With his other hand, he took her chin and raised it slightly so their eyes could meet once again. All hatred, worries and fears he had before had vanished, and upon seeing his blissful gaze, Thea’s eyes brightened. There was fiery love and the Knight could not think of anything else. Honor, dishonor, duty, glory, war, all that concerned him before meant nothing to him now. How happy he was to know the woman he loved carried his child. All that mattered was now within his reach, within the very walls of these chambers, and there was nothing he wouldn’t dare to face or suffer so he could protect those he loved.

“This child is my legacy. He will be born out of love, will be raised with love. He is my treasure, Thea, just as you are.”, Orpheu smiled, trying to comfort her. Nothing else mattered to him.

“But he will be a bastard… How will Cerise react? Your family?”, pleaded her. “I love this child already, and you, but…”

“Nothing will stand in our way. Remember my words. I will always be with you; I will protect you… and the child. He… or she, will have everything”, he squeezed her hand gently, just as Thea affectionally caressed her belly. “This child is my legacy and blood, and will have my name. A Haguns, of noble birth. Marry me, Thea. I would abandon everything to be with you, I do not care about the Aumerles, my reputation… I will sacrifice anything and everything, for my child. Let the world be set on fire, if needed. I do not care what others might say, this is my true duty and there is nothing else more noble than the love I feel for you. Marry me.”

Thea looked deep into his eyes, that same emotional upheaval they had shared months ago in the Perdan badlands flaring once again. She stroked his raven hair lovingly, brushing a strand of hair that had fallen into his eyes. “We both know the consequences this could have, my love… I love you and I want you, but you must know what may awaits us through this path.” As a commoner, Thea knew things the young noble did not, and despite his reassurances, feared for their child. “Orpheu, my love, you must let any childhood thoughts and antics to the past, you must be a man, and stand firm, not only for me, but for our child. This… is all that matters now.”

As war rages on the continent, a newly anointed and young Knight of the Perdan Mines finds something to live and die for, and by making a promise to his lover, breaks another to his bride. Orpheu had Thea at his side, and his legacy growing within her, his most dear treasure, one that he loved like no other and would guard as the dragon in his House mythos. But could feel new dangers looming as a cold wind blew into these chambers from the open window. It was unusual for spring.