Kingsley Family/Alyssa/In The Garden

Alyssa meets with the young knight Karl Hammerstein, and shares the story of her life and history, doing her best to offer guidance and wisdom to the newly knighted Karl.

Kingsley

"The knight you wished to see, is here, Your Majesty." Said the Whiteguard as she saluted her Queen, who was presently sat beside one of the flowerbeds in the Royal Garden. Her dress was a light but modest, white with regal golden trim nearly matching the colour of her hair, tied up neatly in a bun.

"Thank you, Kira. You may bring him to me." The Queen said to her Royal Knight, without looking up as she carefully handled one of the budding yellow flowers on the bush she inspected. Sketches of autumn flowers and charts lie upon the pages. Beside her lay another book, upon it a set of spectacles, as well as calipers and a sword with a well-worn grip stored safely in its scabbard. The knight saluted again and went to retrieve her charge.

"Now," Said one of the Queen's knights to Karl as they escorted him into the Royal Garden, continuing down neat cobblestone paths through autumnal blooms. "When you hail her, do so from a distance. And not sharply. Make no sudden movement until she sees you clearly. It might upset her."

"Absolutely do not surprise her." Dame Kira, the other Whiteguard in charge of Karl's escort warned very seriously.

The other knight nodded. "Yeah, I did that once." He said a little embarrassed. "Old Graham went off for nearly an hour on that one."

"Well," Dame Kira said turning back to the young knight Karl, "You won't have to worry about that, but just don't. It could become a scene."

"Oh!" Said the other knight. "The proper address is 'Your Majesty'. I'm sure you know that, but sometimes people don't. She won't correct you on it, but she'll notice."

"This is an informal meeting, so you don't have to kneel, but you can if you want to." Kira continued. "Again, if you choose to, do so deliberately."

"And make sure you use the phrase 'Clermont Chicken' at some point. It's a passphrase so she knows you're not a spy." Said the other.

"Julian." Kira said sternly.

Sir Julian laughed, giving Karl a jovial pat on the back. "I'm only joking. We're all knights here, Kira. Just a little teasing. Unless..." He trailed off with a conspiratorial smile. Kira shook her head and they rounded a corner to an open area of the garden. A few rows away sat the Queen, spectacles on her nose, calipers in hand with the book splayed out in front of her. She measured the flowers and compared methodically, carefully inspecting each detail.

The knights took a step back to an unintrusive position, nodding him forward to meet with the Queen. "Go, Sir Karl, she awaits you." Kira said.

Sir Julian quietly held up both his thumbs mouthing "Clermont Chicken" encouragingly. Dame Kira said nothing else, standing sternly at attention.

Hammerstein

"Thank you. Sincerely, I do appreciate your advice and your direction. Last thing I want to do is make a fool of myself." Karl says softly to the knights, as to not disturb the Queen.

He then steps forward, out from the shade of a tree, allowing the sun to radiate off his rather brilliant yellow shirt and crimson pants. Clothing certainly fit for some sort of nobleman, though perhaps not exactly the most common or popular of modern fashion. His outfit seems to have been very recently crafted, as though Karl had the garments made for him and delivered to him while on the road to Perdan City, just for this occasion. The only articles of clothing that did not look so new were a single leather glove covering his left hand, and a rather old (though well maintained) leafy green cape. The glove appeared to have been re-stitched many times over it's lifetime, and shows signs of much use. It may perhaps seem quite odd that Karl would wear such a thing to a meeting with his Queen, informal or otherwise. Additionally, the cape has seen many years since it was first stitched together, though this garment seems much more appropriate for such meeting despite it's age.

Being so close to his Queen, Karl was barely able to mask his nerves. He is but a boy of seventeen years after-all, not one so well versed in meetings with royals. Thinking of a way to gain his Queen's attention without surprising or disturbing her, after a moment's pause Karl realizes he has accidentally resorted to just standing very quiet and awkwardly, solving nothing. So, Karl decides, that perhaps he is overthinking this. He is, in fact, standing at an acceptable distance in line with what Dame Kira demanded, so perhaps now he should just start with a simple:

"Greetings, your Majesty." Karl says softly with a polite bow. "I am so honored to meet you your Majesty, to be invited to your Royal Garden is quite the honor. a very lovely garden it is, in fact."

Karl breathes now, a little more confident that he has made a good first impression. However, his eyes still scan the Garden for this "Old Graham" that Sir Julian spoke of. Of course, Karl wouldn't allow the Queen to notice such a nervous action, and should she turn to look at Karl, he shall pause his hunt for this Graham.

"I am very pleased that you have agreed to discuss your history with me, your Majesty. As I had said in my writings, I find great fascination in such histories. I am excited to learn what you have to tell me, your Majesty."

Kingsley

Alyssa heard the clanking metal of armour before she ever saw the trio of knights enter the area of the garden she was taking measurements in. She heard the footsteps across the fading lawn as the youngest of the knights approached. She did not look up, allowing him to make his entrance as he saw fit. She had always had little interest in ceremony, but understood its importance and her role as Queen. She thought about Kay, and all he had meant to her and how she had felt upon their first meeting. She wondered if this knight would be as she was then.

She waited a while for him to say something, as he stood in silence while she flipped through pages on the flowering plant before her, curious as to the why the blooming patterns were not what she expected.

"Greetings Your Majesty." He said finally, with a small bow. "I am so honored to meet you your Majesty, to be invited to your Royal Garden is quite the honor. A very lovely garden it is, in fact."

"Thank you." Alyssa replied coolly, shutting the book, and pulling the spectacles from her nose. "Lady Storme's gardeners left this place in dreadful condition, I can imagine only out of spite. We have come a long way, and now even more vibrant breeds inhabit this place than ever before. With dedication, help from others, and care for what is around you, you can create something beautiful. So I have tried to make here, and with the gardeners' hard work and assistance have accomplished alongside them. Still, there is always more we can do."

There was a pause and she looked up at him finally, icy blue eyes and stony expression falling on him. "You don't happen to be knowledgeable about Beluan flowering plants, are you?"

She thought he might be taken aback at this question, so continued without waiting for an answer. "I suspect probably not," she said standing up and collecting her things. She slid the sword in its ornate scabbard through her sash to its place on her hip. "Though it would save the gardeners a great deal of trouble perhaps if you were."

An attendant came to collect the book and her other effects. "Thank you, Jon." She said to him kindly, though her serious expression did not change. "Those asters have come in strangely again this year."

The attendant frowned. "How odd, Your Majesty. I could send a letter to Doctor Kliestein. I'm sure he's at least curious even if he was no help last time."

Alyssa nodded. "Please feel free to invite the doctor, though I won't have the time to meet with him. By the way, Jonathon, Sir Karl here expressed that he finds the garden to be lovely." She said, gesturing to the young knight. The man smiled and gave a respectful bow.

"Thank you Sir!" the man called Jon said proudly. "Her Majesty has quite an eye for the greenery, we do our best to ensure this place is full of beauty and peace." Alyssa nodded sagely and the gardener bowed low to the Queen and took his leave.

"But you came to me, Sir Karl, to hear of myself and of the history of this kingdom, not of Beluan floral cultivation." Her voice was calm and regal, and her icy blue eyes watched over him closely. "So," she said taking a step further into the garden in a gesture for him to follow. "What is it then that you wish to know?"

Hammerstein

Karl had given Jonathan a polite nod before the man took his leave.

The young knight idly rubs his gloved hand, digging through the archives of his mind for but a second, searching through seventeen years worth of experiences in the hopes of finding any knowledge of Beluan floral cultivation. Alas, the brief trek throughout his mind palace was to yield no results. Karl is an outdoorsman through and through, but his experiences are with the hunting of fauna rather than flora.

As his Queen began to walk, Karl followed, his eyes wandering around the multitude of plants. He couldn't name them if he tried, save for some that may be found in Bisciye perhaps. Even then, Karl has no way of knowing if he would be calling these plants by their proper names or names invented by his little brother, Anton.

"I fear I do not know much of plants, your Majesty, other than the beauty they provide."

Karl's gaze is caught by a bird flying low overhead. He recognized it as just a simple songbird, a beautiful creature, not to be hunted. In an environment as beautiful yet intimidating as the Queen's garden in the city of Perdan, a city Karl had only set foot in twice now, the young Knight felt a certain comfort in that bird. Something familiar that grounded him in reality as he started to find go himself getting briefly lost in his thoughts.

"Well, your Majesty, I suppose there is much I wish to know. However, when I first was knighted you had mentioned you too were once a Knight of Bisciye. I would like to know more of your time as a knight, your Majesty, if I may"

Kingsley

"You are correct, Sir." The Queen said as they walked through the autumnal garden. "I was born in the North of Bisciye, near the woodlands. It is my home so when- he is now Duke, merely Lord at the time- Benjamin approved my ascension, that is where I was knighted."

A few gardeners greeted the Queen with bows as they two strolled through the garden, she waved idly in response, leaving them to their work. Her expression darkened somewhat as she recalled the memory.

"It was the first time I had ended the life of a living thing. Something that needed to be done of course. If you are familiar with Bisciye's North, you might recall a small village called Whitewater, it is somewhat remote near where the stream meets the woodlands. It often gets overlooked on maps. In any case, that is my Uncle's plot, where I grew up. The town was beset upon by gnoles. A pack of them it was supposed had gotten lost from the rest of their group while stalking the forests, in any case they met the handful of militia my Uncle could afford to pay."

Alyssa paused. "I happened to be there." Her voice was very slightly quieter, a somber hint to it. "The militia were unorganized and two men ended up killed. Something had to be done to protect the people of the village. I did not even think. I unsheathed my sword and charged." She paused again and gave him a certain look. "The militia rallied around me. The beasts were all killed. Only the two militiamen and one villager, a handful of others were wounded. My action was rewarded with a knighthood, a company of soldiers, and a week in the healing tent."

"Gnole claws are sharp, and scar ugly, Sir Karl." Alyssa clarified. They came to a stone bench overlooked by a pair of trees now oranging and yellowing, the occasional leaf floating from above. Alyssa cleared her throat, though she coughed a bit more than normal, the bolt that had pierced her lung in the most recent defense of the Bridge still nagging. It subsided quickly though and she did not address it, instead taking a seat and trying to take a deep breath of crisp autumn air.

"I was not a very good knight at first, you know. Though I certainly thought I was. I did not know how to lead people, and I suddenly had to learn how to do that very quickly. We were at war, and not a limited affair like we have today." Her jaw clenched slightly. "Not that this conflict is something to take lightly. All war is horror. But this..."

She closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath, it was a bit difficult with the cool air and she stifled a cough. Memories of the war came to her. Horrors she could never truly escape, the unbearable pain of loss and the bearable pain of pain, the sting of failure and the utter triumph of victory, and the heartening relief on the faces of the saved. She took another deep breath an exhaled, blowing away those nightmares and ghosts, at least for the present moment. They would be back. She opened her eyes and looked at him, icy blue eyes which so typically watched with a coolness both calm and severe now sparkled with a passionate fire.

"Our people were butchered by the Alliance. Methodically and intently. The intention was not to cow the Kingdom of Perdan. It was to destroy it. Not just the political entity, but the people itself. To end Perdan forever, to turn the land and every person in it to cinder. To remove all traces of our people and who we are from the world forevermore. This was the Northern Alliance."

She was quiet for a moment, and her voice continued much calmer, though her eyes still burned with passion as she spoke. "But I was and forever am a Knight of Perdan. My oath when I kneeled in Bisicye was to protect the helpless, and to defend Perdan and the values of honour and justice. That vow stands now as it did then. I will protect the innocent. And that is what I did. When the Imperator Kellan Dodger was assassinated, it came to me to lead our armies. I took up the Imperator's sword, and despite the horrors we had witnessed, we held strong."

"I was not a very good Imperatrix at first either. But the knights of this land stood with me despite, and even in the most hopeless of days we stood strong together, and we stood to stop the hatred and violence and eventually we liberated Bescanon and later won peace."

She sighed, her intensity fading as she concluded. She shook her head, her expression falling back into its typical stoicism. "I am sorry, I have a tendency to speak at length when it comes to subjects like this. How are you finding your own experience with knighthood Sir Karl? With your new responsibilities?"

Hammerstein

Karl had listened intently with great fascination, learning so much in so few moments about the kingdom he had been raised in and his Queen who rules it. The young knight had done his best to conceal his concern over his Queen's cough, he pretended not to notice out of respect for her attempts to keep the fit unnoticed.

The young knight rubbed the back of his head as he first looked to the beautiful plant life around him for but a moment, before meeting his gaze with his Queen once more with an answer prepared.

"To be entirely honest with you, your Majesty, my responsibilities have been taking some time to become accustomed to. My father raised me in a way that would prepare me for this life and my Uncle trained my brother and I in the way of the warrior, though I have come to find that the realities of Knighthood both on and off the battlefield are much more than something that one can be taught. I am finding each new day to be easier as I approach each obstacle with more wisdom than the last. I have also been getting to know the Imperator and have been in frequent contact with him. He has done so much to help guide me when it comes to warfare."

The young knight gave a brief confident smile. He may be struggling to find his footing, but the look on his face and glow in his eyes tell a hopeful tale of a Knight who will not give up. In fact, Karl was secretly very relieved to hear that his Queen had struggled at first as well, her stories had given him the reassurance he needed that he was not alone. Even if their struggles have been different, the concept certainly calmed his nerves. Karl seems to relax, much more at ease than when he first arrived to the garden, though still remaining as polite and proper as possible. His smile would take a slow turn though as his expression grew distant for a moment. He would turn to his Queen, his thoughts weighing on his mind.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for telling me these things. Your story of your encounter with the gnolls has stirred a thought in my mind that has been with me for some time now. My brother and I used to hunt together. in the forests around our home. My father had taught us both the skills we needed to ensure we bring home a good meal in the form of venison or the occasional boar. By the time I had come of age to be knighted, I felt like warfare would be no challenge to me, I was eager to prove my worth and bring honor to the Hammerstein name on the battlefield. Of course, I was aware of the dangers of war but to me the only terror found on the battlefield were the arrows flying high above my head and the swords that clash against my armor. It feels as though I am speaking of a time years passed, when in reality not even a single year has ended since my knighting. I feel like I have changed so much since my first battle, since I had first taken the life of another man. Your Majesty, before that first battle I was a naive boy wanting to find glory and honor through a kind of battle that does not exist in reality. Now, I only wish to find a way to gain peace and maintain it so that no more lives need be taken. Of course, this does not mean I am to throw down my mace or sword, I will fight for as long as I need to in order to gain and maintain this peace."

The Knight pauses for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck once more, feeling as though he had said too much.

"Apologies, your Majesty, I am rambling on about dark matters. To answer your question with much more brevity, I am finding the knighthood a challenge that I am honored to take on and hope to one day be a knight in a time of peace. If you don't mind me asking, when did you first ascend to the throne? What was that experience like and what is it like to be Queen of Perdan now your Majesty?"

The smile returned to his face with that question. It is not every day that a young knight gets to ask what it is like to be a royal.