Kingsley Family/Alyssa/A Tale of Two Lions

Content Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Emotional Trauma

The Crow II

The Queen bid farewell to Sir Dandro and Sir Orpheu as they reached the gates of the palace. The journey back had gone much smoother than the way there, a fact for which she was grateful. As she was grateful for additional company on the road.

"Sir Dandro, Sir Orpheu, we will begin our march soon. I shall have chambers prepared for you in the royal wing of the Palace. You will be mine and Isana's guests this evening. I wish I could offer you some more time to rest before war sets off but I am afraid circumstances being what they are we do not have such luxury. Still, with the end of our journey, I hope I can at least offer you one more evening of peace before war finds us again.

She bid the knights follow as she turned and took Isana's arm, walking together up the marble stairs towards the Ducal Palace.

After dinner, the Queen set off alone after wishing the knights a good evening, and giving her partner a kiss on the cheek and a promise to return soon. Her only companion was a large black dog, Shadow who had been her companion for nearly a decade. He was beginning to age now, but still kept up easily with his Queen as they walked through the gardens of the Ducal Palace. It was cool as the winter breeze swept through the garden, but Alyssa did not shiver. Instead she sat quietly on a marble bench near one of the hedges and watched as her loyal companion trotted off to sniff some bare bushes or leafless trees in the hopes of catching the trail of something interesting.

Alyssa sighed, lost in thought about what was to come. She wondered if there were any other way, any hope of keeping war from her gentle people. She began to write a letter in her head, wondering if she might find the perfectly correct combination of words to put an end to the coming war before it began. She rubbed her face, feeling the warmth of her cheeks against her cold hands. Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of another, a serious-looking messenger carrying a small envelope. It was marked like any other report, and she quickly opened the letter and read the short message inside, folding it up and placing it back into the envelope.

"Thank you. Please inform the Imperatrix and the Small Council, and then inform my partner I will be later than I anticipated."

The messenger bowed deeply to his queen as he rushed off to obey her command and spread the dreadful news those few words contained. Alyssa's mind blanked as the letter she had been drafting so meticulously in her head was set atop a candle and burned to ash in a second. It was sinking in that it was real. That war had come and she would once again lead it. She stared silently into the hedge across from her, until she was interrupted once more, now by a loud squawk.

Just to her left stood a large black crow looking up at her from the ground. It stared at her furiously and squawked again."Caw! Caw!" She knew what it was saying. What it had always said to her. "Die! Die!" Alyssa watched the crow suspiciously as it squawked again and again. Her expression pressed into a thin line, and her gaze tightened.

"Die! Die! Die! Die!" It cawed and squawked over and over again, louder as it hopped a step towards her. "Caw! Caw! Die! Die!"

With a jolt Alyssa gritted her teeth and leaped up to shoo the horrible black bird away, but it leaped only two steps away and squawked agian. "Caw! Die!" it called out again. Alyssa marched to it, but it flew up onto a garden tress just above her. The rickety wooden tress she knew was too flimsy to give chase. So she looked around and found a few pebbles which she flung uselessly at the bird which stood there squawking at her, eyes full of hate.

The birds calls were relentless as she collapsed to her knees, trying to breathe deeply like Isana had helped her with. "Let us live." she muttered to herself, fistfulls of dead brown grass in her hands. A tear had rolled down her cheek as she relaxed her clenched hands, her heart racing quickly. The crow said nothing more but stared at her viciously with eyes full of hatred. More deep breaths. While we live, let us all live. The crow did not answer her thoughts but gave her one spiteful look before taking off and settling in a distant tower. She could see only its shape from so far but she could feel the creature watching her steadily. Alyssa collected herself and returned to the bench where she sat continuing her breaths as her faithful dog returned to her side. She gave him pets as he sensed something wrong and comforted his mistress.

"We must go boldly, my dear. I will stay true to my heart, just like you do. And I will protect them all if I can, just like you do. Will you help me?"

Alyssa marched towards the council chambers, as the entire palace seemed to be waking up and dizzying in a hubbub and commotion. She wore no expression having a half hour to herself in the garden after her encounter to gather herself and her thoughts. Fear is death. She remembered the old sergeant had told her so long ago as he trained her in swordcraft so many years ago. Once you pick up that sword, Miss Kingsley, there is no hesitation. Only instinct and resolve. The hour was late as the ministers and chamberlains rose from their slumber and rushed past the Queen with quick bows as they hurried on towards their posts. Guardsmen rushed to posts as the contents of the little envelope she received spread all throughout the palace. What happens when the sword is in your hand, that's for after. When you wield it, that should be all there is. Or else you'll die.

The old sergeant's words echoed in her mind. She didn't know what he truly meant, but she was more than familiar now. The die was cast, and there was no room for hesitancy now. They trust in you. She reminded herself. Trust in them.

She stopped just before the door to the council chamber where two royal knights saluted. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And as she trusted in each of them in that moment, there was no hesitation. Only instinct and resolve. The Queen opened her eyes and stepped through the door to the council chamber, where the Small Council of her most senior advisors awaited her arrival. She spoke clearly and succinctly.

"Let's begin."

Woolton

Afternoon:

The Queen's escort quickly pushed their way through the cacophony that was the Perdanese camp, as Perdanese defenders rushed to grab their weapons and armour and muster at the palisades upon hearing of the rapidly approaching army. The Queen stood within her bubble of metal knights, clad in her own shining plate armour as they quickly rushed her through to her destination. The golden circlet that crowned the Queen of Perdan felt heavier than it usually did, her heart quickening at the sight of anxious soldiers rushing to the front lines. At my command. Alyssa had grown accustomed to the familiar dread of uncertainty and the death that she would bring to others and that would just as likely come to her or the other nobles under her care.

Knights and Lords of Perdan saluted her or kneeled as she passed them, and she returned each with a solemn acknowledging nod, aware of each of their duties, and aware of her own.

The knightly escort of her Whiteguards came to a halt as they reached the Stormfront encampment, as close as it could be to her own, saluting as she entered the ring of tents where Captain Henrik stood at attention before his Knight-Commander, as the rest of Lady Isana Everlight's men came to muster before her. They were exchanging brief words, when he caught the Queen's icy blue eyes and somehow went stiffer, which caused Isana to turn to see her Queen, arrived in full shimmering plate. She gave one final command to Henrik who saluted and took the men at his side off to their positions.

Alyssa took a deep breath as Isana approached, and abandoning her typical stoicism for the anxious uncertainty that faced the two of them, she rushed forward too, wrapping the Dawnstar of Perdan in plated arms and holding her tight, and releasing the air she had held in just as tightly. Leaning back to see her face, Alyssa touched gently behind her partner's ear with a gauntleted hand and gazed intently into the blue-green oceans before her, touching their foreheads together in affection.

"My dear..." She choked. "I will see you upon the sunrise. For you are the Star of the Morning, and dawn cannot begin without you." Alyssa placed all the love and worry she felt into their kiss, holding tight the former, and replacing the latter with determination. They held each other's heads close together as war horns blared in the distance, and the enemy army began to muster on their end of the field some distance away. "I love you." Alyssa reminded Isana intently, and they parted with hesitation as each took to their part of the battle field, and the sun crested low across the horizon.

Dusk:

Alyssa killed two people very quickly after the battle began. The first soldier she killed had her sword run directly into his throat. She did not watch the blood run spray from it onto her shoulderplate, as she had no time before the next blow came from her other side. She did not really process that soldiers death, only swung her sword instinctively towards him, feeling the connection between the hard sharp metal and the softness of flesh as the blade passed through his armour.

From there, she made very few conscious decisions, her body reacting automatically from the years of training and decade of countless battles she had lived through. A step, a lunge, a spray of blood, next. A block, a step, a slash, a spray of blood. At one point she ended up shoved into another person, knocking them down onto a broken spear which burst through their stomach. The Queen couldn't hear his screams over the sounds of the others. As she watched the battle take place through the eye slits in her helmet she wondered briefly if her knights had taken control of the field yet.

That thought was interrupted when a mace from her blindside struck her in the face, the metal denting hard beneath the force and knocking Alyssa to the ground, where she landed in a pool of blood.

I remember this pool of blood. She thought curiously to herself. She wondered if she had dreamed of this pool of blood before, or if this was one of the real pools of blood she'd been knocked into in a different battle. The King! She thought, trying to get to her feet as the world through the metal slits in front of her eyes spun around. He was wounded! I saw him fall. Or... killed. No it was the Queen. She was struck by a mace. As she tried to push herself back up she was knocked down again with a different force, a very sharp and metallic force that slipped through her shoulder plate and sliced against her upper arm. She didn't hear herself scream over the sounds of the others.

She did feel blood spray onto her face through the eye slits in her helmet, and someone was shouting something, but it was difficult to hear over the sounds of the others.

Alyssa removed her helmet, her blonde hair now a tangled mess, and her head throbbing painfully, nearly much as the stinging on her arm. She saw a familiar looking man shouting "Your Majesty" at her as he grabbed the helmet and inspected it before grimacing and tossing it aside. He reached to grab her, but it hurt to get up. Still, he was strong and slung her arm around him and began to carry her somewhere. As the retreated through the torrent of horror in front of them, a few others shouted something about a Queen, but Alyssa didn't know which queen they were shouting about. Suddenly she became concerned about this man who had grabbed her. "Who are you!" She demanded, beginning to struggle.

"Sir Hendrik" He replied, holding her tightly. "Lord Daario is covering our retreat."

She looked at him confused. "What is a knight doing here?"

Night:

The ride to the border was mostly a blur. The knight had brought her to a big empty camp covered in Perdanese regalia and banners. "Big place." Alyssa muttered as they arrived and several men who were not knights rushed to her aid. They exchanged some words with the knight who had told her his name was Sir Hendrik, and as she looked at him now in torchlight, he seemed much worse than she. His face was pale and an arbalest bolt stuck through his armour which also leaked heavily with blood. Several men grabbed him as well and put his arms over their shoulders, but Alyssa had stopped paying attention as she realized it was now dark outside and the ground was spinning and also her arm hurt and was wet with blood.

"Is there a battle going on? People are hurt, we need to save them." She realized everyone around her was in white robes and they stared at her cautiously and then looked with concern at each other.

"Yes Your Majesty, we shall take you where you need to go." And they did carefully helping her into a private cart, drawn by two big fast horses. As she lay in the cart, a few of the men in white sat down next to her and began to take off her armour. She tried to brush them away but her arm hurt very badly and also her head was spinning and the stars were bright above. "Is it almost morning?" She asked as the cart rushed off towards its destination. "I'm to be married in the morning." She noted with fond thoughts of Isana as her eyes began to grow heavy and she began to slip into pain of blood gushing from her arm and the night sky. A splash of canteen water on her face brought her out and she struggled briefly until the pain made her stop.

"Your Majesty, we recommend you lay still. You are concussed and have a slashing wound across your upper arm. It is not serious at all, but you cannot let your mind slip."

Alyssa looked at him confused, wondering why he would not let her rest. He was a healer, she realized, healers always tell her to rest when she is hurt. Grimacing at her confusion and displeasure, he continued, glancing with some concern at his colleagues. "The err... realm requires your vigilance, Your Majesty. It's only for a few hours. Lady Isana will be there soon, and you will be able to return to your duties as well, but for now we must get you to safety."

"Did we win the battle?" She asked somberly as the world continued to spin.

"I don't know, your Majesty. The most important thing right now is to get to the border where we can stop and the surgeons can take a look at you."

She glanced down at her arm, the breastplate and the rest of her armour had been removed and she could see the wound clearly. It did not indeed look serious, but it still certainly hurt. "Only a few hours?"

"We feared it would be more serious, but even the concussion is not as bad as it looked at first, but you'll likely still experience some disorientation for another couple of hours. You should knight whoever made that helmet. Any lesser one, you might be dealing with a fractured skull. As it stands now, once the initial swelling goes down, you should be fine to resume command."

"I see..." She said, trailing off as the cart rushed on to the border.

"Did we win the battle?"

Hearth

Alyssa watched the fire carefully, burning hot in the hearth of the royal suites.  She sat in her chair, staring lost in thought at the stack of letters piled the floor nearby.  Shadow, her faithful black dog lay curled up on her feet, a subtle hint to his Queen that she should not move.  She couldn't if she wanted to, pinned to the chair by her thoughts.  War, The Realm, Jacelyn.  A twang of guilt at the last one.  This war was partially her failure as much as it was Perleone.  She ran it in her head over and over what she could have done differently to prevent war.  She sighed and set the letter down upon the stack, removing her reading spectacles and folding them, sliding them onto the neck of her tunic.

Glancing into the darkness of the room behind her, she looked towards the sofa where Isana had been stretched out some time ago, reading a book.  She must have retired some time ago.  Did I say goodnight?  she wondered with a little concern.  She shifted uneasily in the chair, in confirmation that she was alone with only her thoughts and a dog.  

Knights leaving, knights dying. Is there anything I can do?  Things had spiraled out of control both within the realm and without.  Knights and lords bickered with each other while valiant heroes died and more and region by region the realm was shrinking.  And each step she took only seemed to be met with stronger resistance, the cracks becoming deeper.  Her position with Perleone slipping more and more by the day, as regions now began falling.

Alyssa took a deep breath which seem to alarm the canine companion at her feet.  He looked up at her with a curious concern.  She met his eyes with a somber look, as she reached down to pet him gently.  "I only want to protect them."

It was what she had always wanted, from the day she was knighted, though in this moment as well she wanted her lady, to wrap her arms around her and tell her that things will get better.  But Isana had gone to bed, and she had already stayed up later than normal, likely waiting on Alyssa to finish reviewing the correspondences for the day.  She looked around at the dark study, and then back into the flames, watching the fire burn the wood.  A memory she hadn't thought of in a while entered her mind, a little girl on a hillock just outside her home, watching silently as a blazing inferno roared.

What hope is there?

She did not know what hope it was.  But it had to be somewhere.  It always did, that much she knew.  And she would need to turn over every stone and cast light into every dark place to find it.  And she would find it.  Alyssa turned down once again towards Shadow, and pulled her feet out from under him, to his protest.  He met her eye and she tapped two fingers her open palm with a serious look.

Fetch was a useful trick for a dog, and with Alyssa's rigorous discipline and care, Shadow had mastered even the most advanced forms, as he trotted off to obey the silent command his Queen had given him, returning a minute later with an attendant.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" The young girl muttered with obvious nervousness while Shadow took his place at Alyssa's side.  She set her hand upon his head, scratching his ears and turned to look at the attendant on duty that Shadow had found just down the hallway.  Alyssa turned to her, recognizing the voice of her newest attendant.  She wore her usual stony expression, though it faded quickly at the look of terror on the girl's face.

"Thea," The Queen spoke gently, trying to put her at ease.  "I need you to ensure that a message gets taken to one of the Royal Couriers.  Will you go and send for one?"

Thea nodded dumbly as Alyssa rose from her seat.  She immediately fell to her knee in deference to the Queen of Perdan.  Alyssa paused for a moment and walked past her towards the desk at the other end of the study, where a lantern sat neatly on the desk.  "As you were." Alyssa said sternly as she passed and snapped her fingers.  Thea hesitated and began to leap to her feet, when the dog dashed past her to Alyssa's side.

"And Thea," Alyssa continued, grabbing ahold of the lantern. "Bring more lantern oil."