Kingsley Family/Alyssa/The River War

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The War with Eponllyn

Content Warnings: References to Abuse of a Child, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Imprisonment, Major Character Death, Emotional Trauma

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."

Kingsley

Alyssa shuddered as Isana's arms wrapped around her, but accepted the warmth and closeness of the other clinging tightly to her wife and cuddling into her chest, still shaking slightly. Isana kissed the top of her head and Alyssa closed her eyes to take in the gentle words spoken softly and soothingly in her ears.

Gentle sobs escaped her lips as she slowed her breath to meet the calm, resting beat of Isana's heart. They were quiet for a while, just holding one another, interrupted only be the occasional comforting word whispered by Isana softly into waves of golden hair.

"You were there..." Alyssa said quietly, her breath slowed, though still tense and resting her head against her wife, curled up in her arms. "You're never there..."

"I'm here, Aly." Isana answered comfortingly, softly running a hand soothingly across her back, running along the scars across her shoulders with a gentle rhythm. "We're here."

"I know..." She said shaking her head lightly. "I just... War... Even in the name of righteousness... Even if we find victory... People on the winning side still die."

She paused for a few moments and listened to Isana's heart. It was the most comforting sound. "Tomorrow, people will give speeches about how righteous I am, how glorious our kingdom is, and how victory will secure an everlasting peace. And they'll have said all of those things because I told it to them and they believed me. Then I'll sign a piece of parchment, and a lot of people will die. It can't be you. It can't."

She went quiet as tear ran down her cheek. "It's hard... To forgive myself..."

"You're never in those dreams..." She whispered, trailing off, her words drowned in her ears by the steady beat of Isana's heart. It was the most comforting sound.

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.

A Simple Disguise

Kingsley

Aides bustled about back and forth in the Queen's command tent, passing messages and reports along. Armed knights stood in the four corners of the tent and at the entry way, standing still at attention, their hands resting on the pommels of their swords.

The Queen's hand also rested on the sword at her hip, though hers rested idly, her eyes instead focused on the stack of papers she held in her hands detailing the troop placement and scouting reports of the enemy armies. She moved her hand to push the reading spectacles she wore back up to the bridge of her nose. She chewed lightly at the inside of her lip as she read again over the deployment notes.

"Commander." She said to one of the military aides on the other side of the large table containing maps, notes, and reports. "This setting is correct?"

The aid bowed low, the braid in her hair sliding over her shoulder. "It is your Majesty, I confirmed it with Lord Berwin myself."

"Very well. Please let me know when the confirmation from the Marshal's command is received. And ensure my armour is prepared for the battle." She set the papers down and pulled off her spectacles, setting both down on the table and turned to one of her knights. "Mydame Kira."

The knight stepped forward and kneeled. "Your Majesty." Alyssa motioned for her to stand and she did so, her eyes focused intently on the Queen's own.

"It shall be as you say, My Queen." She said, looking up at the Alyssa with intense determination.

"My Queen," Said a newcomer, bursting into the tent taking the knights by surprise. Kira quickly interposed herself protectively between the soldier and the Queen, before Alyssa bid her stand down. "There has been some development with Ambassador Miles and his current whereabouts." he continued.

Alyssa was taken aback by the display however. "Speak your news at once."

Guilotine

After bursting into the war room with a slight smile under his covered helmet, knowing full well that this will be either one of the best moments of his life or one of the worsts as he continues to play the part of a common guard. “My queen, as you wish.” Forgetting all pleasantries, Miles walks to the front of the table to get close to Alyssa as possible. “Some men from my unit found what appear to be a journal that from what record is provide is his hand writing.”

Miles reaches inside his bag to pull out a leather booklet bound close. “To summarize what has been written, Sir miles left for Yssrgard under the disguise of one of Adrianna’s personal guards, though it seems that what he considers his friend Patricc Hiwit didn’t tell her about the plan and almost got him killed, though in the long run he did get asylum for a little while at the very least.” Laying the book on the table for Alyssa herself to look at it after this discussion, Miles slight grin wides ever so more. “We have reason to believe that inside this journal, it also states his eventual walk back to perdan city under a traveling priest convoy of the Flame from temple to temple, he may be already here.”

Our Protectors

Kingsley

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,


Weisz

Seaglass slept fitfully in his camp after the days exertions. The Steward's attendants made frantic efforts to get the bedraggled noble in a barely presentable state as the royal visitor approached. He kneeled uncertainly but respectfully as the Queen arrived.

"Your majesty it is a great honour to be presented before you," he stammered nervously, "I have been pleased to serve quietly in the ranks for a while. I have had, erm, some interest in studying ancient texts and practices in my spare time. Good lady Isabel was gathering some people to lament the Imperator's m-mortal injury and I attended to see if those texts might help. The frantic events were quite overwhelming but I felt compelled to see if arcane texts could assist either... recovery..."

The Steward trialled off, but realising the Queen's regal nod spoke more graciously than anything he had managed to say, he resolved to bow low again as a sign of respectful service.

Kingsley

Alyssa stood straight as always while she listened attentively to the knight, her expression tired from her recovery and the pain upon her chest from her wound.

She considered Sir Seaglass wearily as he bowed low again. But her eyes held an intensity. Her icy blue gaze considering him with intent and a sparkle of hope and pride.

"Thine heart..." The Queen said gently as he rose. "It is true." She paused a moment before glancing back towards where she came.

"I won't interrupt your evening further, Sir. But your actions deserved gratitude in person, from the ones you have helped. It may be wise for both of us to rest. Though for different reasons we have both had a difficult few days. And our vigil has only begun."

She turned to leave but gave him one last tired glance. "Please have a restful night Sir."

The Queen's assistant Thea bowed before Sir Seaglass and moved alongside her back to the horse while two Whiteguards fell in behind them. Alyssa idly touched the pale gray patch of skin upon her chest as she returned back to Bescanon Castle.

Her Eternal Service

Kingsley

Dani checked over the small patch of gray skin where Alyssa's wound had been. She had poked it a few times and rubbed some poultice on it with no change. Everything seemed healthy, just the discolouration to the skin and the lack of feeling. Her mind raced about Berwin. Kay's hollow voice and pained expression flashed into her mind. Dani just shrugged, telling her she was healed and to inform her of any changes. She muttered something to herself about magic as she cleaned and gathered her instruments and tools.

Thea helped her lace the top laces of her dress back up, and the Queen stood up and gave Dani a graceful nod. "Thank you, Dani. As always."

Alyssa departed and sighed heavily as she and Thea stepped out into the corridor. "Have you seen Lord Berwin?"

The young woman shook her head. "Master Dani said he was still being looked at down the hall to make sure everything was well. But that he was in good spirits... considering." She looked away from the Queen as she finished.

"Right." Alyssa said, taking no notice of the hesitancy and continuing down the temple corridor to meet with Berwin. Her Whiteguards that had been assigned to stand guard over the Imperator's recovery stood aside as she approached, and her hand wavered a moment before grabbing the door handle.

She took a deep breath as Kay's pained and somber expression flashed again.

She opened the door and their eyes met. She stood up straight with regal confidence, but fiddled awkwardly with her hands, her bright blue eyes welling with worry and guilt.

"Berwin." She said through a deep breath. "I am sorry."

Guile

Standing ram-rod straight, Berwin turns to face the door as it slowly opens, locking eyes with his cousin and Queen as she enters. Noting her fidgeting hands and emotional eyes, the Imperator stands quietly.

"Berwin." She said through a deep breath. "I am sorry."

The shattered irises of Berwin's eyes show a mix of soft grey, darkest black, stunning emerald, and bone white as he looks at his kinswoman and tilts his head curiously.

"M'lady, what on earth are you apologising for?" he asks quietly. "I am still here, by some miracle. My service to you is not ended, not even in death."

Kneeling with a dexterity that the now-not-so-gaunt giant did not have before, he flourishes his golden cloak and presents the device emblazoned on it... his very own death shroud printed with his personal crest of the Lion and Fox.

The Cell

Alyssa's shackles clinked together as she was escorted to her cell. She had only the light clothes she wore beneath the pads of her armour during the battle and a chain between her wrists. Blood stained the light tunic where it had seeped through her armour and the padding as she fought. A small cadre of guards led her through the dungeon, far more than would be necessary, though the Queen imagined Aila probably had decided to take no risks.

When they arrived at the cell, one of the guards pulled out an old iron key, jamming it into the lock and opening the creaky door. Another shoved her hard and suddenly into the cell, and she stumbled forward before catching herself on the wall. She turned and gave a defiant glare, but the guardsman's expression did not change, only his eye twitched slightly in contempt as he led the others off to leave her alone in the small space. She looked up to watch them leave and caught one's eye who stopped and gave her a look of worry. Alyssa's expression softened and he looked away and followed his compatriots.

--

Alyssa had said nothing for two days. The common guardsmen had tried to taunt her, laugh at her, make crude remarks, speaking with inflamatory words or in anger and rage. Alyssa simply watched them with a detached expression, sitting up straight and still against the wall, her hands resting gently in her lap. She tried to focus her mind on other things, breathing slowly and rythmically like Isana had helped her with, or lost in thought about what she could do to fix this mess, when that became too much her thoughts turned to her goddess, and she prayed for strength both to defend her people and to forgive herself. Those silent prayers she mouthed were the only word that crossed her lips.

The final guard shift on the second day she recognized as the young guard from before. He sat uncomfortably in his chair outside her cell, keeping watch on her while she prayed or pondered with her head leaned against the wall or practiced her breathing. After a few hours he broke the silence.

"You're not what I expected." He said politely, scratching the back of his head. Alyssa looked over at him from her spot in the corner, but said nothing.

"I just mean, we are told you are trying to conquer and take from us by force, but you seem... calm. Your Majesty."

Alyssa looked at him curiously at the use of her title. "No. I am not here to take or to conquer. I only wish for peace along the river. True peace." She glanced solemnly at the floor. "I only hope it can still come to pass."

"Maybe it will."

A tiny smile crossed over her lips.

--

"Your Majesty." Said the friendly guardsman as he came in the next morning for another watch shift.

"Ardo." She acknowledged, having learned his name during the previous evening's conversation.

"How are you holding up?" He asked thoughtfully, taking his seat on the wooden stool outside her cell.

"Only three of your comrades have attempted to spit on me from across the cell, so it is an improvement from yesterday."

Ardo grimaced. "They shouldn't be doing that to a Queen."

"None of us should disgrace one another, regardless of stature." Alyssa sighed. "But it is hard sometimes. You know a great hate has endured for generations between your people and mine. We must try our best, and recognize when we falter, when we have hurt one another, and then try to be better if we can. I had hoped that hatred would end when the Riverlands were liberated, but we have not yet ended it."

"Could we end it now?"

Alyssa flashed a smile, before it faded once again into solemnity. "Maybe, but it is beyond what any one person can do, Ardo. Forgiveness from those that we have hurt is never guaranteed. But to even have that we must first forgive them ourselves. And that, sometimes, is just as difficult."

"Do you forgive Eponllyn? Queen Lorelai and the Council?"

Alyssa sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, taking another deep breath. She looked at the gentle-hearted Ardo with hope and regret.

"I am trying."

Kingsley

Arthur (4 Days ago)

Dark clouds loomed over the city of Perdan as the rider approached the city gates. Trickles of raindrops began to fall lightly on his hood, his own black coat matching the beast he rode upon. The cold water began soaking through to the bare skin atop his head and he shivered to himself as the horse's hooves splashed in the mud. He was halted by the city's guards as he approached.

"We're at war traveler. Gate's closed after dark." one of the guardswomen called out to him.

The rider wiped the raindrops off his glasses and held out his hand, opening his palm to reveal a silver ring, slightly tarnished with a carving of a wolf. The guardswoman inspected it looking up at him with surprise. "Lord Kingsley. We received no word of dignitaries expected."

Lord Kingsley said nothing and with a gulp the guards looked at one another and guided the old scholar to the gatehouse.

--

Lord Kingsley handed his coat to the bank attendant as he stepped in out of the rain that now poured thickly outside. The attendant bowed respectfully to him and motioned him to the bank proper. Lord Kingsley nodded and moved to head inside when he heard the click of wood on stone approaching.

An elderly man with a long white beard, his left eye covered with a white patch, the side of his face mangled and scarred from some ancient wound. His hand trembled as it leaned upon a thick brown cane.

"My letter was timely, I hope, my Lord."

"Faithful as always, Sir Graham."

The old man lowered his head as much as he could. "Your niece delivered us from hell itself, My Lord, my service pales in comparison."

Lord Kingsley nodded and headed into the bank's lobby, which was mostly emtpy save for a few clerks and bankers busy dutifully counting, scribing or speaking hushedly about some financial matter or another. As he approached a mousey looking clerk behind the large counter, Sir Graham following as best he could behind, Lord Kingsley once again produced his signet this time alongside a packet of papers which he handed to the clerk who accepted them happily.

"Good evening," the clerk said picking up the signet ring and inspecting it carefully, his initial surprise at the insignia quickly covered by interest. "Lord Kingsley." He glanced at the forms and shook his head. "I'm afraid the Royal Treasury is not accessible at this time, as all withdrawals must be approved by Her Majesty, a Treasury Member, or a recognized minister on behalf of Her Majesty."

"We are aware of the situation." Sir Graham croaked from behind the old lord.

Lord Kingsley nodded and continued. "This request is not a withdrawal, nor is it from treasury funds."

The clerk merely raised an eyebrow and began leafing through the packet on the counter. "A transfer... This account is in Westmoor..." He raised his eyebrow at that, giving the knight and the scholar a suspicious glance. I'm not familiar with the other account. One moment please, my lord." The clerk gave a respectful bow to the two old men and grabbed from under the counter a thick book, setting it on the counter between them and putting on the pair of spectacles that hung around his neck. Lord Kingsley adjusted his own glasses without thought and watched as the clerk flipped through pages of accounting. Graham cleared his throat, his cough loudly echoing through the vast and nearly empty lobby

The clerk stopped upon a chosen page and ran his finger down the ledger before pausing, scrunching his face in curiosity. "Lord... Arthur," he said glancing at the scholar's submitted paperwork. "This is a Colonial account."

"It is." He replied flatly.

"The executor of this account is one Caleb Kingsley?"

"I believe that is correct."

"Hm." The clerk mulled. "We'll need to send a copy of this request to our branch in... Portion City, where it will need to be signed by the executor. With the present instability among the Colonial realms, and the dissolution of the Senate, this could be difficult. Financially."

"Your Queen needs you, dammit!" Graham growled.

The clerk grinned bemusedly. "Of course. I'll see what I can do."


The Crossing

Half-sleep was most of what Alyssa had been able to achieve during her stint in the dungeons of Westmoor. It was something she was used to, but typically it was at least assisted with a bed, a pillow, and her wife. In the cell she had none of those, her best solution to curl up in a corner leaning her head against the cold stone.

She shifted restlessly in the corner until the familiar thuds of boots against stone echoed down the corridor leading to her cell. She wondered if it was Ardo, the young Eponlli soldier whom she had befriended. She hoped it was, he was kind to her and seemed willing to dream of what the world could be, something she herself had perhaps lost somewhere along the way. Replaced with mistrust and regret. She had plenty of time to consider it.

Ardo was among the several guardsmen that now stepped in view of her cell. They all stared at her grimly, except Ardo who flashed her a quick smile as the guard captain pulled the keys from his belt and unlocked the door. Ardo gently pushed his way to the front alongside another guard who both entered the cell. Ardo helped her up and they guided her out of the cell and down the corridor towards the dungeon's entryroom.

"I am being released?" She asked. "I am surprised by your lady's generousity."

The captain snorted derisively. "My lady ain't generous. Your family pledged the ransom. Some Lord Arthur and some Sir Erik or other."

Alyssa was surprised to hear her uncle's name off the tongue of an Eponlli soldier, but she did not recognize any Sir Erik.

"Then I am grateful your lady abides by the honourable traditions of our station regarding such things."

A grunt was all she got in return, though she glanced to Ardo who was admired her fondly.

There they were joined by another half dozen guards, and seemingly content that that level of escort outweighed her alleged danger, the captain pulled his keys out once more and unshackled her wrists. She immediately rubbed them as they began to escort her up the stairs and outside.

The prison's courtyard was a lush green with several trees, the sight outside was quite lovely, not that she had gotten a great look at it with the rough way she was delivered amidst the chaos following a bloody battle. But now it looked almost serene and the birds fluttering around the trees seemed like there was naught but peace in the world.

Before her a horse was saddled, with most of her belongings, though she was aware that Aila had robbed her of the coins and of the totem that represented Isana's love for her, and her sword was slung across the prison watchman's back. He handed it to one of his subordinates who gave her a spiteful glare as he took it and motioned Alyssa to walk as he mounted the horse.

The trip was far and took some hours, but finally she saw the familiar sight of the Bescan Bridge and the Perdanese castle beyond which overlooked the river and the vibrant town of Bescan. Home, she thought to herself.

Her feet aching from walking and from adjusting to the disuse from her cramped cell, she was more than glad to finally reach the bridge where she spotted a delegation of Perdanese waiting halfway across the river to accept her. The bridge was long so she could not make out precisely who they were. She hoped Isana was among them.

As the Queen stood before the bridge's first steps she turned to see her captors. Ardo gave her a bittersweet smile, while the rest scowled. The guardsman with her sword approached her and skeptically handed it to her. She accepted the blade and without looking back began to turn towards the bridge and begin the walk across to her people on the other side.

A Reception

(by Pryde)

Duke Benjamin lowered his hand and the band began to play a joyous song of celebration loud enough to echo off the other side of the river.

His Queen was returning.

The band played, and Benjamin walked forward to meet her. He was not alone by any means, and almost certainly was not the face she most yearned to see.

But she was entering his land, and he would welcome her. It was going to be most brief of course. It is what he would want if he was in her position.

Benjamin met her below the gates of the Bescanon Wall and bowed.

"My Queen," he projected loud enough for those on the wall to hear. "Welcome home!"

The band began to play the national Perdanese anthem, and Benjamin came back up with a smile.

"And that, My Queen," he said under cover of the band, "is all the time I think I dare take out of your schedule. I do believe there are others eager to welcome you home."

And with that said, he stepped to the side and waved his arm towards the other welcomers, the Bescanon Wall, and Perdan beyond.

A Return

Everlight

Shoulders squared, one dust-caked boot followed the other resolutely up the last rise to Perdan's grand western gates. Despite the joy she felt, Isana could hardly muster a smile at her love's familiar banner caught aloft in the breeze next to the rampant lions. Two steps behind her, a lanky young man followed, his eyes firmly on the cobbles, sandy hair and stubble uncharacteristically unkempt.

"Ced?" she said gently. "I'm going to find Aly. Take a few days off. We'll meet on Monday to see about recruiting."

The young man stopped and tilted his face up, shoulders yet slumped as though he carried gravel. "Hm?" Brows crinkled upward as his gaze met hers. "Won't I see you at home?"

Tears welled suddenly in the countess' eyes. She closed the distance between them in a blink and gathered him to her, hugging his dejected frame. "Of course, Ced, of course! It's been such a trip... we need some time to not think of military matters. Just... to say I won't be calling on you for work. Your time is your own. And..."

She held him tight, then leaned back a bit to look at him, still wearing his Royal Everlight Stormfront tabard even as the rest of them had been discarded by the deserting soldiers. "I am so thankful for you."

His lip trembled and he straightened, nodding. "And I, for the fortune that brought my brother and I to your service, 'Sana. To your family." Like the sun finding a path through heavy clouds, one corner of his mouth turned up.

They lingered a moment there, alone, then she put an arm around him and together to find their quarters in the palace.


The morning sun warmed the sandstone floor and radiated comforting heat in the corridor. Having left Cedric at his private rooms Isana exhaustedly sought her wife. Her left hand felt light, empty, without the precious gift of her wedding ring. Tension knotted her stomach even as she was too tired to think of much other than making sure her love was here, safe, and a bath and sleep.

Peering around their quarters, voices drew Isana to the study. There Alyssa was in consultation with a handful of advisors and scribes around the desk. The dark-haired knight caught the doorframe and held it in one hand to steady herself. She knew she looked like hell, and she accepted that; all she needed right this moment was her person, her wife.

"My apologies for th'interruption," Isana began, voice pitched just strong enough to reach the group. Alyssa glanced up immediately and her chair toppled behind as she leapt to her feet, blue eyes full of the worn visage of Isana. "...but I require th'Queen, an' privacy, please."

In moments warm arms were around her and Isana's eyes fell closed even as her heart sang to feel familiar lips meet her own. She mumbled into the kiss. "Mmm. I miss'd you. Aly love. M'sorry, I needa bath. 'N I don'trust myself t'stay awake n'there. Come with me?"

Kingsley

"There is nothing I would desire more, my Star." Alyssa said sweetly, nuzzling Isana's cheek with open affection. She glanced towards the other side of the room where the ministers and aides were filing out at Isana's request. She gave her weary-eyed wife a fond look as she pulled a few steps away, running her hand across the length of Isana's arm to grab her hand and approach one of the retreating aides, asking him to please inform her staff of the Queen-Consort's return. He nodded and hustled out the door.

With a quick and graceful movement, Alyssa returned the short distance in a single motion, once again embracing the woman she loved. "Shall we go darling?" Alyssa asked, tucking her hand into Isana's.


The steam from the heated pool began to fill the Queens' lush private bath chamber. Alyssa stepped back into the room from a quick conversation with an aide outside, sliding the door behind her. Isana sat on the bench by the wall, her head leaned back resting against the wall her eyes closed. Alyssa closed the door with just a little extra force to make a noise that seemed to bring Isana back to the quickly heating room. Isana smiled at her wearily, which set Alyssa's heart aflutter, her own smile mirroring without a thought. Their eyes locked, Alyssa removed the pin from her hair, golden waves with subtle streaks of silver fell down to her shoulders, and she shook her head with a slight dramatic flair, wearing a playful smirk as she crossed to her wife.

She gave Isana's leg a little pat. "Come now darling." And she helped her up, the other letting out a soft, tired murmur as she rose. Alyssa undressed, the occasional glance at Isana as she did the same, before folding her clothes neatly and setting them on the bench. She grabbed Isana's hand and together they took light steps into the steaming warm water, sighing nearly in unison as they lowered themselves in the heated pool. The warmth was heaven and Alyssa could scarce bring herself to pull away from the softness of Isana's skin on hers to reach for the fanciful soaps set out for them at the pool.

As Alyssa gently ran her hands over Isana's shoulders, soap in hand across her body, she remained somewhat tense despite the calming heated water inspecting Isana carefully for any bruise or scar that was previously accounted for as she went, an assurance of her wife's proper treatment at the hands of the enemy. Satisfied, her demeanor relaxed once more, smiling lovingly as she moved on to help Isana next with her hair.

They said little as they bathed needing nothing more than their proximity and touch to communicate the trust and purehearted love they shared. They spent some time in the shallow edge of the pool, just being close to one another, each grateful for the moment of comfort and simple intimacy after so long apart. Isana leaned forward resting her head on Alyssa's shoulder. Alyssa smiled, letting her linger for a few moments before pushing a light splash at her.

"No sleeping yet! We must get you dry first!" She said as they both giggled and Alyssa led her back up to dry and change.

Alyssa took a deep breath as she led Isana back to the royal quarters, hoping her staff had had enough time. As she opened the door to their bedchamber, she sighed in relief at the cozy sight. Their bedsheets had been replaced with soft silk, a warm, inviting red, light sleeping clothes set out for them. On the table by the inside wall, a small tray of meats, cheeses, fruits, and honey had been set out alongside a bottle of wine. The hearth had already been set and crackled warmly while in the window beyond the sun slowly crossed the horizon.

Alyssa took a step in and spun around looking sweetly at her wife. "Welcome home."

The Heart of Caligus

Alyssa looked over the balcony attached to her office, a view of the garden sunset below.  The spot had begun to be a place of contemplation for the Queen, a peaceful place where no one would disturb her and a calming view to inspire her.  Today she contemplated the difficult days prior.  Pasquale was not the first Caligan ruler whose fixation had brought difficulty for her people.  Old King Rowan's obsession with the destruction of the Vixen state had once spilled into Perdan, and now Pasquale's infatuation with Aila stood in the way of That Old Alliance as well.  It Rowan's hubris that destroyed him, she worried for Pasquale as well.

"Your Majesty." A voice said quietly behind her.  The Queen brushed her dress down and turned to see the Whiteguard that had been standing guard at the office door had approached.  "My relief has arrived.  I'm going to let her in now." These knights were aware of their Queen's difficulty with more sudden forms of entrance, and she appreciated their efforts to avoid surprises, not just with regards to matters of her protection but in their daily duties as well.

Alyssa nodded.  "Thank you, Sir.  Please have a restful evening."

"It shall be as you say, Your Majesty."  He replied with a bow.  She heard the door to her office open and a few mutterings followed by the clang of sabaton on stone as the new knight arrived and stood before her.

"Mydame Kira." Alyssa acknowledged with a typically neutral tone.  The knight kneeled and bowed her head.

"Your Majesty, I am at your service."

The Queen merely nodded and turned back towards the garden.  She heard the light scraping of metal as the knight rose behind her.

"Is it wrong to question another's love, Mydame?"  Alyssa asked musingly.  She heard the other make some motion and turned to see the knight with a surprised look on her face.  She blinked once and stuttered at the seemingly unexpected question.

"Um.  Your Majesty, it is not my place to say of course."

The Queen frowned at this.  "You are at my service?  A knight is more than a sword after all."

"Ah... of course, Your Majesty.  My apologies."  Kira bowed again.  "I truly do not know.  If the love brings joy to the person, then there is no reason to question it."  She looked away in the direction of the office door.

"And if it does not?" The Queen returned, tilting her head attentively.

"It is still love." The Knight said returning here eyes back to Alyssa's own.  "In my experience.  Is..." She hesitated.  "Everything okay, Your Majesty?"

Alyssa sighed and turned back to the garden.  The knight stepped to her side.  "It is the Patriarch." Alyssa replied  "I do not believe he truly cares for that woman.  And I do not know how he cannot see it.  And now he has harmed both of our realms in pursuit of it."

The knight was silent.

"You don't have any thoughts?" Alyssa asked curiously.  The knight stood still, glancing over at the stacks of papers on The Queen's desk.  

"I'm... afraid I don't know what to say.  I-"  She cut herself off, though Alyssa looked at her expectantly.  "I believe that he is likely in a great deal of pain."

Alyssa thought back to the days away from Isana during their capture.  How her heart had ached and fluttered in an unsteady rhythm.  The nights of little sleep for concern over her wife.  "I think I see.  Thank you, Mydame.  That is a great help."

The Knight bowed again and moved to take her place by the door.  Alyssa waved her hand dismissively and stepped back into the office as the sun began to crest over the horizon outside.  She neatened the stack on her desk, picking up and folding the spectacles that were set upon it.

"But I think it will be best to sleep on this matter before addressing it."  She looked over at the knight who stood at attention by the door, her eyes focused on her charge, the Queen of Perdan.  Alyssa continued, "I have mine own love after all.  And that love I know is true."

The knight said nothing, but opened the door for the Queen, stepping out behind her and shadowing her protectively as Alyssa retired for the evening, leaving a partially drafted letter to the Patriarch of Caligus to be finished in the morning.


The Winter March

Snow had begun to fall across the Kingdom as the winds of Winter began to blow up from the south and west.  The air had chilled and the forests of the Western core of the Kingdom.  The army train moved slowly through the Western Woodlands hampered by the falling snow and temperatures.  Still they pressed on further west into the darker gray skies beyond.

The Queen herself pulled her cloak tighter around herself to keep warm, swaying lightly in the saddle alongside her horse's movement while gentle snowflakes melted into drops as they stuck upon her gold and silver bun.  The jeweled circlet she wore shimmered with faint little droplets half frozen on the cool metal.  She looked up at the sky through the trees, grey and grim as if the world knew what awaited them upon their arrival in the Grand Court.

"Lovely day, Your Majesty!" said Maron, the royal herald who trotted his horse up next to her.  Drawn from her thoughts, Alyssa glanced back at the two knights shadowing her for her protection.  Sir Raymond wore a grim expression and stared off into the canopy, seemingly lost in thought.  Dame Kira glared violently at Maron who maneuvered his horse casually up to the Queen's side, speaking familiarly.

"We are walking into a blizzard, Maron." Alyssa said flatly without looking over at him.

"Indeed, but we are alive today!"

The Queen gave him an uncertain look.  "I'm not sure why you are even here."  Maron smiled the usual smile he gave in this sort of situation.  

"How many times do I have to tell you, Your Majesty.  It's a very simple fact about people.  They want to be with the ones they love.  Even if it's dangerous or stupid.  Especially if it's stupid and dangerous."

She shot him a look and he smiled knowingly.  "Still too soon?" He asked with a chuckle.

"If it's danger you're after, Maron, I could knight you right now and you could join us in the charge."  The Queen replied dryly.

"Oh you know that threat has never worked.  Because you'd never do it."

Alyssa narrowed her eyes.

"We've talked about your bluster, Your Majesty." the herald replied grinning ear to ear.

"That's quite enough."  Called a stern voice from behind, rapidly approaching.  Kira, one of the Queen's Whiteguard guided her own mare up to Maron's other side.  "You should not speak as such to our Queen."

Maron laughed again.  "Oh dear Dame, in the presence of Her Most Eminent and Radiant Majesty, my heart can only bear its honest truth."

Kira looked to the Queen whose eyes had fallen on Sir Raymond still staring off in thought.  "Shall I escort him to the back of the column, Your Majesty?"  She turned her eye to him and glared viciously.  "Or the front?"

Alyssa waved her hand dismissively at the two of them, frowning at the usually alert Commander of her Whiteguards.  Maron gave an eloquent bow in his saddle as Dame Kira leaned over to grab his reins and lead him away.  As they departed, the Queen slowed her horse's pace to fall in with her knight.

"Are you well, Commander?"

He glanced over at her, giving a weak smile and nodding.  "Yes, my apologies, Your Majesty.  Thank you."

"Worried about the raids?  Or the weather?" She asked attentively.

"About Clermont.  My family's holdfast is very near to Aix; if it is suffering enemy attacks then my people could be in danger as well.  Calico Rock, Wolfden, Rice, Angefield.  The enemy could reach all of them in less than a day.  And we are still days out, Your Majesty."

Alyssa lowered her head solemnly.  "You are correct of course, we were not prepared."  Sir Raymond sighed alongside her. 

"But," she continued, looking back firmly into his eyes with a fiery blaze of determination burning deeply in icy blue eyes.  Tiny droplets of water on the jeweled circlet crowning her head ran down, emeralds catching light through them as they sparkled with light that shone upon them through the gray and unfriendly skies above.

"We will save them.  We will not fail them again."

Raymond

"What do you imagine she's thinking about?" Sir Raymond asked his follow Whiteguard.

The pair of them stood at ease by the door to the Queen's office, the pale moonlight spreading out across the floor, outlining the stacks of paper across her desk in a soft white glow. Not nearly as bright however as the glow emanating from the Queen herself, as the light from above framed her, the light surrounding her matching the white of her flowing dress. She leaned forward against the railing, head in a gloved hand lost in thought as she gazed out over the moonlit garden below. Backlit by the moon the Queen looked ethereal. Like a beautiful ghost from a somber poem, or a sweet and bitter memory fading away.

"I cannot say, Captain." The other knight said without looking at him, her eyes still locked onto the Queen on the open balcony across the room.

"Really, Kira? No ideas?" Raymond asked, shooting her a look. Either she did not see him, or pointedly ignored him. He smiled at that potential.

"No sir. Our place is to protect and serve Her Majesty." The other knight replied flatly. A silence fell between them as Raymond supposed she did not wish to continue that line of thought. Too bad.

"She'll be the first to tell you you're more than a suit of armour, Mydame." No reply.

"Well I imagine she's probably looking over the river, dreaming of crushing our enemies underfoot in the name of the realm." Sir Raymond continued provocatively with a flourishing gesture.

"Queen Alyssa does not crush or conquer." Was the quiet reply from the other knight. "It is not in her nature."

"Ah... you disagree then?" Replied Sir Raymond with a smile.

"Likely something of great importance to the realm." Kira replied succinctly.

"Crushing the Eponlli would be of great importance-"

"Not. Crushing the Eponlli." She turned to him skeptically. "How were you chosen to be captain of this knightly order?"

"Technically Sir Graham is the Knight Commander of the Whiteguard."

"Sir Graham commands from a bedside in Brive, and my question was rhetorical." She noted shaking her head slightly.

"And mine is unanswered."

Kira sighed. "She is possibly thinking about... I'm not sure. Justice. For our people? I don't know, I am not a Spellmaster, I cannot read minds. And the Queen does not speak familiarly with many people."

"She doesn't speak familiarly with you, Kira. Because you stiffen up anytime someone of a higher station looks at you."

"I don't stiffen up to you, Captain."

"I'm not a higher station. I'm just a knight that tells you what to do. Her? What would you even do if she asked you a personal question?" Raymond raised his eyebrow, nodding in the direction of the Queen on the balcony.

"I would answer it directly."

Of course you would. Raymond rolled his eyes. "Ever dutiful. Have you ever asked her about herself?"

"It is not our place, we are here to serve."

"So you don't understand her at all then. She is not an impenetrable wall. She cares about her people, all of us, even lesser knights like us." Raymond finished, nodding sagely. Silence overtook them, the Queen still watching over the garden lost in thought. She glanced up to the full moon, the pale light brushing across her face, and turned to face them.

"It is getting late, I would like to retire before Isana falls asleep." She said gently. Raymond nodded once and reached for one of the lanterns on the wall lighting the room's interior. Kira said nothing and the two fell in behind their Queen as they escorted her through the dim corridors of the palace to her Royal chambers. When they arrived, Raymond bid the Queen farewell, the Queen wishing them a good night.

As he turned to leave, Kira spoke up as the Queen turned to close the door.

"Your Majesty."

"Yes, Mydame?" The Queen replied tilting her head curiously.

"May I ask what you were thinking about on the balcony?"

The Queen paused for a moment to consider the question. "I was... thinking about justice. What that truly looks like for our people."

"Have you... found the answer?"

"I am not certain yet. But I do know what it is not."

"I see. Thank you, Your Majesty. Good night, Your Majesty."

Unlife

Alyssa unlatched the latch on her helmet and pulled it off, golden hair flowed out of it down to her shoulders as she took a deep breath, feeling the cool autumn breeze against the sweat dripping from her forehead.  She closed her eyes and allowed her heart to slow, relaxing her shoulders and letting the helmet clutched in her hand clank against the plate armor that covered her.

She breathed through her mouth to avoid the familiar scent of death, this time made worse by the already well-rotted flesh of the re-dead that now lay motionless on the ground before her.  The dead and foul air upset her cough and she held her head as she tried to bring herself back from battle and recover her breathing at the same time.

She glanced down at the doom around her feet, and her most recent salvation from the cold and unfeeling jaws of unlife.  The man was strikingly average.  Like any of the hundreds of dead men she had seen in the course of her life, no different than any of the hundreds that now lay scattered across the fields of Lorient.  And yet she knew differently.  This was a person. Someone who dreamed, and loved, and feared. Each of the bodies that now lay in the chopped and bloody remnants of the undead horde that had so recently terrorized their fellow townsfolk.  My people.

She lowered herself to her knees, the plated greaves giving a small squelch as she sank slightly into the brownish-red doom that surrounded her and the dead. She said a prayer, silently while the wind blew her hair around. She prayed for the dead, for their families and victims and for herself. For forgiveness both from them and from herself.  She felt their death and suffering on her, not solely, for the blasted war certainly played its part, but the guilt of not having done enough, not gotten there quicker...

She heard clumsy footfalls approaching and rose to her feet, snapping her head around as her senses leaped into action at the sudden noise, heart jolting as her eyes shot immediately to the source of the noise.

"You alright Your Majesty?" Called Sir Julian, one of her Whiteguard, as he nearly tripped over a fallen undead.  He recovered gracefully, without seeming trouble and approached her.  Her eyes darted around the battlefield in search of another danger, but found none, only the silent dead and sights of soldiers beginning to pile them up in the distance.  Her focus faded, her mind playing the scenes of the dozens of other battles she had fought and bled at and killed during.  They looked similar, though this one was browner and more rotten.

"Your Majesty?" Julian said again, as Alyssa realized she was coughing, the stench of dead blood becoming too much for the lingering wound in her chest from an Eponlli arbalest a few months ago.  "May I escort you, Your Majesty?" the knight asked, his usual shimmering smile replaced with concern.  Alyssa waved him off, recovering, and pulled her sword from body of a fallen undead, stepping purposefully towards the edge of the battlefield. "I always thought it was a curse, isn't it?" Said one of Alyssa's knights on the edge of the battlefield as they stood around talking to one another. Alyssa could tell they were hypothesizing on the fate of the undead.

"That's superstition. I hear there's a philosophical doctor in Partora that's said it's caused by a plague, but he doesn't have any proof."

"Pfft. Philosophical doctor, not real doctor.  You read too many books, Mikhail." said another knight dismissively.  Sir Julian had led her to the safety of her knights, and she already felt better away from the rotting dead. They saluted as she approached.

Alyssa merely continued the discussion. "The Prophetess believed they were incited by violence, stirred back from death to do battle by the fear and hatred of mankind."

The knights looked at each other, some of them with sturdy faith others skeptically while a few muttered "Perhaps your Majesty"'s fell in between them. One knight spoke, changing the subject, her voice stiff with concern.  "Are you alright, Your Majesty?" Kira Verall asked stepping forward, her eyes focused intently on the Queen of Perdan.

Alyssa coughed once as she nodded. "I am fine.  Simply... too much death." she said, gently stepping through the group as they filed into formation around her.

Always too much death...

It must end. How do I end it?

Long Walk Home

Pandorium

It has been done. The battles raged on between two prideful forces, and there was only one possible outcome.

Arxex begins to fall asleep. It appears that blood loss and minimum sleep is not the best combination for this young Marshal.

"Are you alright Sir Arxex? It seems like you are unaware of the situation. There is no time for sleeping!" exclaims Arxex's mighty captain Erika as she attempts to converse to the beaten knight. "Ha ha...you know if it were my decision I would not be sitting here, but I greatly value the humor. I am in need of anything to distract me from my god awful wounds." As Arxex begins to hold his side, "I shall say if I was a healer too short I would imagine these stab wounds would be insurmountably worst." Erika replies, "Ay, I agree sir. Once in the shoulder and another in your side?! Queen Alyssa and her guards do not restrict themselves in combat. True warriors" "True warriors indeed. To think in my first altercation with Perdan I was shaken, mortified even, by the battle. The bodies were endless....my men were scattered or dead....then I was imprisoned. Perdan has shown me much, and the greatest thing they could have shown me was experience. My blade yearns for the day I can get one stab back in. Is that a bit much?" Truly enlightened to hear these words from Arxex, Erika sits down besides him. "You have grown so much in a short time Sir Arxex. These experiences shall keep shaping your knighthood and shaping your being as a man, and I do not think that is a bit much. You are a warrior! A knight! Second son of the Pandoriums. Striving for total excellence with pure passion seems to be hereditary. Please get some more rest. I do not mean to bother you. Only to keep check on your mind."

The victory does not go to the ones who win battles. That is reserved for the ones who have won the war, and time only tells when that becomes a reality.

Rizz

As the Perdanese warriors march down the winding passes of the Mines, they eventually come upon a perhaps unexpected sight: a cadre of heavily armed and armored warriors standing at attention in ranks, and at their head, a lone warrior, quite taller and broader than average.

They are a fearsome sight, bearing multiple weapons apiece and some of the thickest and most finely-crafted steel armor any has witnessed, and some among the Perdanese may have misgivings initially. An Eponli trap, here? -- but these are dispelled quickly as the commander of this force removes his conical war helmet, burnt-gold curls cascading forth, and approaches alone.

The look on his face is unmistakeable, though he tries his best to hide it - concern, and mourning.

"I am Tetraxian of Rizz, Knight of Ibladesh and Marshal of the Blazing Swords of Perleone. Some of you know me, or may know of me. I come by the will of King Marchusson to speak with your Queen, and any other who would have words with me, if I may approach in peace and friendship."

Kingsley

As the Perdanese warriors march down the winding passes of the Mines, they eventually come upon a perhaps unexpected sight: a cadre of heavily armed and armored warriors standing at attention in ranks, and at their head, a lone warrior, quite taller and broader than average.

They are a fearsome sight, bearing multiple weapons apiece and some of the thickest and most finely-crafted steel armor any has witnessed, and some among the Perdanese may have misgivings initially. An Eponli trap, here? -- but these are dispelled quickly as the commander of this force removes his conical war helmet, burnt-gold curls cascading forth, and approaches alone.

The look on his face is unmistakeable, though he tries his best to hide it - concern, and mourning.

"I am Tetraxian of Rizz, Knight of Ibladesh and Marshal of the Blazing Swords of Perleone. Some of you know me, or may know of me. I come by the will of King Marchusson to speak with your Queen, and any other who would have words with me, if I may approach in peace and friendship."

Rizz

Tetraxian attempts a smile as he approaches the Queen, but he gets only about halfway to one before sighing and pursing his lips with a look of grief and regret. He looks away from Alyssa's mournful and haggard visage for a moment, composes himself, bows politely, and begins in a hushed and somber tone.

"Greetings and hail, your Grace. If I may correct your... knight? here, I make no claim to speak for King Marchusson. No man can speak for the King but himself. For he is a King whose mind is subtle and turns often, often and again, until it alights upon a choice; and once he chooses, there is no return. I pray you remember this.

"What I did state," he continues with a brief and steady glance at the Queen's guard, "Is that I come to speak to you by the will of King Marchusson; he has bid me come and pay you respect and speak to you of matters of importance, the first stop on a longer journey of diplomacy. As I have mentioned before, I enjoy the sunlight of the King's esteem, and he values my assessments and advice on a variety of matters. I am here but for the purpose of investigation and discussion, upon which I shall make a recommendation to King Marchusson."

Tetraxian gestures to an attendant, who comes jogging up with his horse. Tetraxian lays a hand upon its high and proud neck as he continues. "I realize you did not expect me so early, and so I will ask but a little at a time of your time; the rest of my party is days behind, and so we have some time to speak at your leisure. If I may, it is my desire to accompany you on your march to Perdan, to share in this journey of sorrow; for indeed my heart breaks with yours, your Grace, at your loss at the Altar of Flames."

He mounts his proud steed and looks again at Queen Alyssa. His eyes soften as he regards her ragged and injured condition, and he sighs softly. "I hope you recall, your Grace, my demonstrations of friendship in the past; rest assured, they were but the beginning. Let us ride a ways..."

After a few paces, Tetraxian looks about to confirm their privacy, and continues in a hushed tone.

"Your Grace, allow me but two questions and I will leave you to your solitude until you call upon me again.

"You mentioned in your letter that some of the peace terms specified by Eponllyn were 'absurd' - which terms do you consider so?

"And tell me - do you feel your realm has the will and resources to fight on a bit longer?"

Kingsley

The Queen watched exhaustedly and without words as as the knight corrected Sir Julian's introduction. She had little interest in the specifics of the language at play. The Sir was here, he had asked to speak to her, and now he was. She was too exhausted, filled with worry, and in pain for the correction to mean too much to her. But the Sir was here, and he wished to speak with her, so she listened with intent and nodded actively along as he continued, giving him as full of her attention as she could, appreciating instead the insight into Marchusson. I have much to learn from him. She considered.

Alyssa took a deep breath of the cold winter air as he finished, and turned her head as she coughed hard a few times, the lingering pain in her chest from the defense of Bescanon a few seasons ago still troubling her. Then she shook her head as he offered to turn off from the main column.

"I'm afraid not Sir. I do not intend to leave the side of this cart." She said, nodding in the direction of the healer's cart nearby where Lord Ulric was being tended to. "The man in that cart has stood with me at every possible moment, even when I have failed this Kingdom and when I failed him personally he was at my side. I will not take a step from his in his moment of anguish." She finished firmly and resolutely, her eyes livening as she spoke of her friendship with Ulric Hawk. "If you wish you may call me stubborn."

She waved a hand idly, relaxing and taking another breath. She coughed again. "And in any case, these Whiteguards would not bear it lightly if I were to vanish upon the arrival of a knight they have never seen." Another Royal Knight had approached by this point with a stern look, the white cape of her order draped across her steed's back as she steered it between Tetraxian and the Queen of Perdan.

"Even for a moment." She said severely.

"Sometimes I feel I cannot raise a shield without hitting one with it." Alyssa continued, seemingly unaffected by the other's intense demeanor.

Sir Julian merely smiled at the Queen's comment. "Indeed, Sir Tetraxian. Sometimes I feel I can't stand anywhere without running into a shield." The corner of Alyssa's turned upward slightly at the knight's jest, for only a moment the smallest of smiles flashed across her face. Her mind turned to Isana and the typical cheer she so often brought even in dark moments as this retreat. She missed her. Alyssa's tiny expression faded just as quickly as it had appeared. We'll be home soon.

Julian gave a polite nod to Sir Tetraxian. "My apologies by the way for misspeaking. Normally we have heralds do this sort of thing, but the battle is no real place for a herald." His friendly face straightened somewhat. "Best they stay where it's safe." He concluded with gentle seriousness.

"Indeed. Jests aside," She said looking with a raised eyebrow at Sir Julian. "Sir Tetraxian has ridden for quite some time to meet with me. And is as he says my friend. You need not guard so closely." Alyssa finished, turning her attention to the other knight who merely saluted in acknowledgement of the subtle chide and command.

Finally, the icy blue eyes of the Queen settled again on knight from Perleone. "I cannot move from my wounded friend's side, Sir Tetraxian." She made a gesture to the Dame who gave a holler as the column ahead of the Queen picked up, and the column behind slowed leaving a relatively large gap between. The Whiteguards took positions spread far enough from the Queen, Sir Tetraxian, and the healer's cart to give them privacy. "But for him, and for youI can move an army."

"You may come near, Sir, my horse is accustomed to walking close."

Kingsley

The Queen tilted her head curiously as the knight made his inquiries, nodding when he had finished.

She gave a small "Hmph." at the mention of Eponlli war goals. "Tell me, Sir. Would you consider a personal insult against a peer to be an acceptable aim for something so serious as war? That thousands of innocent lives be upheaved or destroyed to force someone to accept your insult of them? What about to build a statue? What is the level of death and suffering required to do such a thing?"

Her teeth clenched a little tighter at the thought. "These things are pursued for the safety, prosperity, or wellbeing of the Eponlli people or their realm. They are meant to satisfy the personal egos of a small handful of people who seized control of a power vaccuum after they failed to seize it in this Kingdom. As personal desires they have no place in legitimate negotiations between peoples. The goal is peace, not proclaim Aila Storme's supposed greatness or build statues to Lorelai's horse."

She was quiet for moment to allow Sir Tetraxian time to appreciate it.

"Take away these and you have their true goals. Steal our land and extract wealth from their neighbors. The largest realm on the Continent grows larger. I want peace, they want conquest. You ask if my people have the will to fight?" She said with steel in her voice. She nodded forward to the direction of the army. "Do you see defeat on their faces, Sir Tetraxian? If so, please look closer. You will find determination in the hearts of my knights, an unyielding desire for peace yes, but also for the defense of their people. Our will is without question."

She frowned slightly before continuing on to the next thought.

"Materiel... We are managing... Bureaucratic reforms and clever accounting can be a real wonder, but gold is not infinite, and Eponllyn is without question the largest and wealthiest realm on the Continent. By the grace of our friends across the Continent, yourself included, we have been able to hold on this front as well. Without that support, our situation might be much more difficult."

Her head tilted slightly in interest for his response. "Does that clarify our position, Sir?"

Rizz

Tetraxian smiles patiently, listening attentively with little indication of any reaction upon his broad and rough-hewn face. When Alyssa finishes, he nods and looks ahead briefly, pursing his lips as he composes his response.

He turns back to the Queen as he begins. "Your Grace, I think I have made clear my views on the Eponli before. You need not convince me of the justice of your cause or the injustice of theirs. My opinion on those matters is of little enough consequence anyway.

"To make myself quite clear, your Grace, I am not here to discuss feelings, but facts. Facts such as peace terms, so that when I go to Eponllyn and have similar discussions with their leadership, we can begin to develop an idea of terms of mutual agreement upon which peace may be founded.

"The question I asked, your Grace, is which specific war goals you consider to be absurd. I gather from your response that the matter of the statues is one. You mention a statement of Lady Aila's greatness; I saw no such thing in their war goals. An apology was mentioned; perhaps this is what you are referring to.

Tetraxian shakes his head slightly, his pronounced brow knitting for a moment, and he looks back at the ragged lines of Perdanese soldiers. "Will to fight... is an important matter, your Grace, indeed. Continued ability, frankly, even more so. If you say you are ready to fight on, I am glad to hear it. For peace may be hard to secure quickly with such animosity between your realms.

"By diplomacy, at least," he states flatly, looking Alyssa squarely in the eye and arching an eyebrow meaningfully before looking ahead again.

"Facts, your Grace: Eponllyn is nowhere near the wealthiest realm in the East. Perleone is, by far. Eponllyn may be larger, but our pockets are deeper, our nobility united in purpose and led with a clear vision, our army like a well-forged sword held in the iron grip of King Marchusson's strong right hand." With this he looks back to Alyssa with the same meaningful, level gaze.

"To be clear, and to be perhaps more frank with you than I should, for you do have my admiration, and I desire that you should approach these matters with clear eyes. King Marchusson's interest in Perdan and Eponllyn is mainly a matter of grain, your Grace. It is truly that simple, that mundane. It matters little who is right and who is wrong, who started what and who took power how.

"All of that is immaterial to us in Perleone. The grain must flow, and thus peace must be had. All else is but window dressing. Any other conclusion is... unsatisfactory."

Tetraxian's gaze for a moment turns dark and cold, and he looks from Alyssa's face off toward the east and back again. But the storm passes quickly, and he looks downward, and when he looks up his eyes have softened, and he continues gently with a sad half-smile.

"But I see that you are weary, and mourning the loss of your army and your stronghold. So I leave you to your grief for now, with my personal condolences and hopes for a better future for your noble and proud realm. I will ride on to Perdan city, where I will await the rest of my party.

"And," he says, gathering his reins in his hand, "I hope you will be so kind as to allow me the pleasure of one audience with your Grace before I leave. For I must have facts, your Grace, simple facts. Please consider which terms, in specificity, of the stated Eponli war goals you consider 'absurd'.

"And if you find that there are several, I do suggest considering what might be alternative offerings you can make to the Eponli." He sighs before concluding. "For certainly you are in a position of needing peace more than they do, and much in regards to our efforts may come down to your willingness, or at least perceived willingness, to compromise.

"Safe journeys, your Grace, until we meet again."

He rides off, and with a wuick signal with his right hand, his soldiers fall in and follow.


Chaos

Chaos.

That was what the Alexandrians named this place when the old temple crumbled leaving only the foundation rising high on steps above the now verdant delta where the rolling seas once crashed again cliffs of Perdan. When the fires from the tumultuous reshaping of the Continent made the place she now stood had emerged from the blackness that had engulfed the world from that distant mountain, it was this place that stood as the first light in that awful darkness.

Alyssa had been fortunate, she had Isana, and Ced with her when the darkness had fallen. She had stood vigil for them beside that little fire somewhere in the Meusan woods, one arm protectively around Isana, the other rested on her sword, waiting for whatever the darkness would bring them.

It brought them this place. Where there was once was a distant temple, made of dark stone and surrounded by the unrestrained and relentless crashing of waves, now was in ruin, all that remained was the temple's Altar, high above a hundred black stairs and the dark stone walls that once made up the temple. Chaos had remade this place, and the Alexandrians named it aptly. But the chaos had subsided, and the Altar and its thick high walls of black stone now stood strong and sturdy. A silent and stoic bastion against whatever came before it.

The Queen stood on the walls overlooking the lands below. The Perdanese army was busy mixing with the locals, hanging up banners, handing out food and taking stock of the local administration. Some still seemed skeptical, some resentful of the Perdanese who had not been able to drive the Eponlli out weeks before.

I will earn your trust. I will protect you. The Queen thought to herself as she watched over her people.

"Quite the sight, your Majesty?" Said her Knight-Captain Sir Raymond. She turned to look at him.

"I mean," he continued, "These people will finally know peace again."

"Ah. Hm.." She said nodding once to herself. Would they? Even with the letters from Lorelai, things still seem -

"A bit chaotic down there isn't it?" Sir Raymond commented watching the soldiers bustle around. "I'll go to assign some more knights to help." He gave a salute and departed, leaving her in the hands of the several other Whiteguards that were scattered around nearby, at least one eye on their Queen.

She leaned against the dark stone wall, her white dress shining brightly in contrast. She thought about a lot of things, and worried about a few more.

Battle of Perdan

"Gates up! Make way for the Queen of Perdan!"

Heavy hooves echoed through the cobbled streets that led through the main gatehouse. Carts carrying wounded soldiers rattled as the huge iron gate protecting the great city opened. Alyssa's horse slowed to a trot as she passed through the gates, Whiteguard knights surrounding her and soldiers rushing quickly into the safety of the walls. They had retreated from Bescanon with the enemy in pursuit to the security of the higher walls of Perdan City. The Queen found it curious that they intended to follow her army to the gates of the city. The walls were high and the enemy had few siege engines.

Alyssa wiped the sweat and grime of battle from her forehead, taking a moment to catch her breath. Her armour was heavy and hot, but the enemy was not far and would arrive soon. There was no time for rest. Troops and supporting personnel dashed around in a chaotic flurry while she scanned the scene.

There are fewer soldiers here than there should be, the reports should have arrived by now, where is the rest of the guard?

She handed a squire her shield and dismounted, a groom quickly taking the large white warhorse to stable. Her knights quickly followed suit falling in behind her as a militia Captain approached and saluted.

"Your Majesty, you honour u-" He began with a bit of nervousness in his voice.

Alyssa ignored the formalities. "We are only an hour ahead. What is the situation, why haven't the guards from the West Wall been moved." Her eye was briefly captured by a palace guard dodging her way through the crowded scene towards the wall. "Where are the rest of the palace guard?"

Wide-eyed the militia captain looked worriedly at her. "All personnel have been been moved, your Majesty. Including the palace guard."

The Queen blinked.

"This is all we have." His voice cracked slightly.

"Damn the Duchess... She has left us with nothing." came a grumbling from behind her. Alyssa turned sharply, her eyes sparkling with blue flame. A young Knight of the White Order shook her head in frustration.

"Silence." Alyssa commanded sharply. "We are one kingdom, each of us responsible for all our fallings. Damn me as well, Mydame, for what I could have done, or did not see."

The knight straightened and saluted with a gulp. "My apologies, your Majesty I meant nothing."

"We have what we have," the Queen replied cooly. "Wishing for more is purposeless. We will defend this city with it, or we'll die." She turned back to the watch captain. "Move the crossbow regiments to the upper ramparts, resupply the gatehouse openings if they aren't already. Designate a supply officer for each battalion. Find a civilian volunteer if you need to."

She turned to her knights. "Mydame Aislinn, she said to knight who had spoke previously. "Come with me. And Sir Raymond." She nodded to the Knight-Commander of her Whiteguards. "We'll organize the command on the walls. Kira, Julian, set order to this chaos." She said to two other knights and motioned to the hectic scene playing out around them.

"It shall be as you say." the knights said in unison. Alyssa made her way up to the wall.

Sacrifice

The sun had just set over the City of Perdan, the quiet winter night settling in over the Ducal Palace where the Queen's import council departed the council chamber for the evening. When all that remained were her and the Whiteguards at the door, she took the golden circlet from her head and sighed, letting her hair down from tight bun and letting golden locks fall to her shoulders, running her fingers through her hair before returning the circlet back to its place.

Her guard followed her first to her office, as she had a few correspondences to look over before settling in for bed and made way to grab them. Kira Verall, the Queen's first bodyguard clicked open the lock with a key and opened the door, scanning the room quickly before stopping suddenly and marching furiously into the office.

"HOW DARE YOU!!" She cried out furiously, and Alyssa quickly rushed in to see, her hand instinctively rushing to the sword at her hip as she rushed in behind.

Sitting on the railing of the balcony that connected to her office that overlooked the Royal Garden, leaned against a pillar sat Maron, Queen Alyssa's Herald, gently strumming a lute with a playful smirk on his face.

"These offices are off limits to anyone but the Royal Whiteguard!" Kira called out accusingly pointing her sword at the grinning bard.

"It's no use." Alyssa said calmly, drawing her hand from her sword's hilt. "He has always found a way to trouble me."

"That ends today, Your Majesty." Kira answered with focused, narrowed eyes, her gaze unbroken from her target. "At your command."

Alyssa simply waved her hand dismissively. "He is harmless, Kira. Though. He should be careful where he sits." The Queen said narrowing her own eyes. Marrow opened his arms graciously while Kira sheathed her sword and moved to return to guard the door.

The Queen approached the balcony, standing beside the herald as they together looked over the waning sun over the garden. "What do you want, Maron?" She asked with a regal softness.

He gave a little laugh at that. "What do I want? Well what I would want more than anything is for you to finally fall in love with me together sail off on a boat into the sunset."

"Absolutely nothing about that is palatable to me." Alyssa replied flatly. Maron laughed again over the gentle strumming of his lute.

"Well, what do you want, Alyssa?"

She gave him a look at the familiarity. He merely met her gaze with a knowing smirk.

"I want what I've always wanted, peace."

He laughed again. "I actually believe you this time." Alyssa shook her head, but Maron just continued. "It is miserable. This whole debacle that is. I certainly don't envy you." He glanced into the office at the desk where large stacks of papers sat. "I don't know why you put up with it, frankly. Would be much nicer on a boat with me."

She ignored the last part but looked up at him wearily. "Because I love this place and the people in it. They are wonderful, caring, thoughtful people, the land beautiful and varied, the only home I have ever known."

"And what would you sacrifice for it?"

"Everything." Alyssa answered automatically.

"Hm.." Maron replied and was quite for a moment, a gentle riff of somber music playing on the breeze. It was cold outside. "You still really do believe that." He noted with a warm smile. "Just checking."

He stopped strumming and swung his legs back on to the balcony, hopping off the railing with a little push before heading towards the office door.

"Have a good a night, Your Majesty."

Over the River

The Queen arose before sunrise, as was her typical routine. Nights had been less late the past few weeks, so she even felt mostly rested. She stepped out of bed quietly and quickly dressed in a light shirt and trousers, tossing blonde locks up into a messy bun before grabbing the sword that leaned against the nightstand at the bedside, hooking it into her belt. Her eyes fell on Isana, still sleeping peacefully. Alyssa lightly ran her thumb over her hand and gave a gentle kiss to her forehead before departing.

  • * *

The sun began cresting over the inner courtyard of the Royal Gardens, allowing Alyssa the first rays of daylight to begin her training. She focused on her breaths as she went through her well practiced footwork, sword in hand following the same exercises she went through each morning at dawn. Her thoughts wandered as she conducted each movement automatically, she wondered how many others in the city were doing the same thing she was today in preparation for the tournament that would take place throughout the day. Focus. She chided herself as she turned her attention back to the movements.

Her sword was an extension of her body as her movements quickened and intensified, introducing feints, lunges and pirouettes amidst the fundamental movements. Years of daily practice, training, and experience in the hell of warfare were displayed to no one as her breath sharpened and her heart beat with the intensity of combat. The private garden courtyard was battlefield was around her, and she an agent of graceful violence against the empty air.

She was interrupted mid swing however by a sound from behind her. Her body tensed suddenly as she spun around on one foot, firmly planting the other with her sword brandished towards the noise, her eyes scanning quickly, her body on the highest of alerts. Leaned against a nearby wall was the Royal Herald, a bard who had been in her service for nearly two decades and followed her across the Continent.

"Maron." She said sharply as her muscles slowly relaxed.

"You're slowing down, Your Majesty." He said with rare genuine concern, though it was quickly replaced with a warm smile. "But still, watching you move with your natural grace... it mesmerizes me as it always has. It is the truest beauty, and touched so elegantly by the morning light."

Alyssa shook her head and sheathed her sword, shooting him a warning look. "I do belong to the Morning Light, after all."

Maron laughed at that, while the Queen glared at him. "Of course, Your Majesty, though my god-given duty is to display the world as it is." He changed subjects as they began to walk through the garden together.

"Are you ready for the tournament? We have introductions to give."

"Indeed. I have been thinking much about what it means."

Maron gave a skeptical look. "What it means is people hitting each other with blunted swords and patting themselves on the back for it. And drinking. Certainly was a lot of that. I'm told the Morning was in full cheer during the festivities last night."

Alyssa couldn't help but flash the briefest of fond smiles at the last comment but shook her head. "Indeed, but it is more than that. It is a step, towards normalcy, what could be. We are a community, Maron, and we are stuck with one another, even if we don't like it.." The meter of her voice began to pick up as she continue "And... sometimes it is hard and sometimes it is painful and sometimes you feel like tossing it all aside and..."

"Run off to Brive to enjoy planting flowers with a pretty woman?" Maron finished with a smile.

"Indeed. But it doesn't have to be that way. We are a community and we can heal from the wrongs we have caused each other. We just... have to let ourselves." Alyssa finished as she trailed off. They had reached the edge of the gardens that lead to a battlement overlooking the city and the distant river beyond.

"Are you talking about Eponllyn or yourself?" Maron asked. Alyssa looked over the city of Perdan, the first rays of the morning casting out over the great, waking city.

"Both, I suppose."

"I don't think you've done anything wrong, Alyssa. All you've done is protect your people."

"It's hard to tell sometimes."

"Heavy is the head?" Maron finished with a smirk. Alyssa said nothing.

"You can't go back, Alyssa. They won't let you."

"Perhaps, but maybe we can go forward." She said, allowing herself a little hope as the sun rose over the quiet river, so far away.

Kingsley

Excitement filled the air as nobles from across the Continent gathered in King's Square at the grand steps leading up to the hill to the Ducal Palace. Seasonal decorations and banners of nobles houses from every corner of the Continent gathered to begin the contest, while the High Council of Perdan and other important figures and dignitaries sat upon a stage that had been set up in preparation for the opening ceremonies of the tournament contest.

Alyssa looked over the crowd, idly scanning for familiar faces. For public events such as this she wore the True Crown, a heavy and pointed thing, covered with jewels of all sorts in comparison to the simpler golden royal circlet she wore every day. It strained her neck a little and she very much looked forward to the end of the opening ceremony when she could change them out to spectate the actual contest. At least she enjoyed Isana's hand in hers, she would have to go without later on while her wife competed. She had been training with Isana lately in preparation and Alyssa felt very good about her wife's chances among the best of the Continent.

Some officials gave typical diplomatic remarks or well-known histories at the podium, sandwiched between admittedly remarkable choreographed performances from some of Perdan's finest artists. Overall Alyssa was well pleased with the presentation, though she was distracted by going over her own upcoming delivery. Finally, the Royal Herald, Maron got up from his chair across the stage and gave her a wink. She didn't like his winks, as it usually meant he was up to some sort of trouble or intended to do something that he knew would annoy her.

"Nobles of the Continent!" Maron cried out at the front of the stage. "It is my humble and incredible honour to present to you the hosts of this of this marvelous contest! The Queens of Perdan! Alyssa and Isana stood, Alyssa still holding Isana's hand in her own, gloved in elegant white and crossed to the front of the stage. They smiled and waved regally as triumphant music played. Alyssa's elegant white dress flowed behind her as they crossed, and her hand rested on the pommel of her sword in its polished scabbard held to her hip by a golden sash. To her surprise Maron said nothing else as he gave them both a bow and departed. She couldn't help but still get the feeling this was a feint of some sort and that there was indeed something annoying incoming. But that thought quickly faded as she stood before the Continent, gathered in the ancient city of Perdan. Stood in a regal stature she spoke:


Nobles of the great houses of the East. I have invited you all here to celebrate. For generations this land has known war. Spite. Hatred. Petty grudge and disdain. Our lands have been ruled not by Queens, Kings, and Voices of the Republics, but by contempt. We have pitted ourselves against one another in pursuit of selfishness, out of fear, and out of pride. But here now we have found ourselves with an opportunity. While tensions still hold among us throughout the Continent, we find ourselves in a rare moment of calm. And in that moment we have the chance now for understanding, for hope, and for forgiveness. Today we will pit ourselves against one another again, but now in the pursuit of bettering ourselves, bettering each other, and celebrating the Eastern Continent as a community of nobles.

So I have invited you all here to celebrate. Not the end of war, but the hope of peace. Maybe it will not last... But right now we have it. Right now we are a community, united in our passion, in our strength, and in our ability to look towards a better future together.

Thank you, for coming.

She paused for a moment, releasing Isana's hand and taking a step forward, pulling the sword from the sash around her waist, raising it high in one graceful motion to the bright blue sky above.

"From the power entrusted in me by the Kingdom of Perdan, as Queen of the Realm, I proclaim this contest to be open!"

Everlight

A wide, easy grin lounged upon Isana's sun-kissed cheeks as she laboured her way slowly up the stairs to the Royal viewing box. Silken banners spun long into the breeze on either side of her: green, white, and black of their royal family heraldry under the gold of the Perdanese flags. A shimmering golden sash crossed the Countess' armor from shoulder to waist. The simple decoration denoted a top-5 finish in the event below. Sweat still cooling on her skin, Isana wasted no time rejoining her favourite company.

Light from the landing above--reflected sun off Alyssa's white dress, her blonde hair, and that blasted heavy formal crown--spilled over onto the stairs she climbed, a literal light at the end of the tunnel. Isana stood straighter and defeated the last few steps more lightly, to catch a glimpse of her wife watching the games before she was noticed.

Alyssa's discerning gaze was fixed on the bout below, her squared shoulders leaned slightly forward with interest. As Isana watched, a subtle tisk told her the Queen had noted a misstep. Moments later a cheer spoke of the end of another match. She peered around the corner to see Dandro's hand held aloft as the victor in the semi-final. Fitting that a Perdanese would be in the final match, she thought. They had a few minutes while the final competitors got set up.

Alyssa leaned back from the view and stretched her neck side to side with a small grimace of discomfort.

"Aly-love," Isana called out softly. Bright blue eyes snapped up to meet hers, startled and happy in the same instant. She closed the distance and knelt before her Lady, taking both of Alyssa's hands in her own.

Alyssa's eyes met Isana's on equal level as Isana kneeled before her and took her hand. Isana was quite dashing in her armour, and the affectionate smile she wore turned the Queen's full attention from the tournament ground. Smiling fondly, Alyssa leaned forward to kiss her wife's forehead. "Darling." she said, giving Isana's hand a single gentle squeeze. "I must say your match was much more exciting, I think you may have flustered that Sirion knight, he did not fare well this time."

Alyssa pulled one of her hands away, placing it affectionately on Isana's cheek. "You were brilliant."

Isana's heart thrummed. She leaned into the warm touch and wrinkled her nose cutely. "Mm, you might be right about Willy. I used one of your charging moves on him right at the end and he blinked like he didn't know where I'd gone. Reflex may have won the day. He's fast though..." She turned her face to kiss the palm. "And really, I wasn't brilliant, love; I was inspired. My Lady's favor was shining upon me from above, and in my heart." She squeezed the other hand still in her own.

"Now, we've got a few minutes until you need to be presented again. Hold still--" She stood up, one knee wobbling a bit until she got to her feet. Carefully but decisively, Isana lifted the deadly-looking True Crown from Alyssa's brow and set it gingerly on the side table before Alyssa could protest. Not that any protests would be terribly vehement.

Her love thus freed, Isana stepped closer and looked down at the incredible warrior angel that was her wife. Slowly, her fingertips found the curve of Alyssa's jawline and tilted her face up. An expectant smile greeted her as Isana leaned down to kiss her.

Alyssa affectionately nudged her head lightly against Isana's as their lips parted. The weight of the ornate crown left an impression in her hair but she ran fingers through it to even it out.

"Thank you." She whispered before glancing over to the pack of handlers, courtiers, and Whiteguard knights who joined them in the booth to the side. One of Alyssa's event organizers was looking at the pair with deep concern. One of the knights looked at her with some confusion, while another pointedly cast her gaze away towards the tournament grounds.

"They're going to put that right back on the moment you leave." Alyssa said shaking her head, though still wearing a proud smile. She could already see the organizer begin conferring with some of the others. "So make sure you don't."

Isana grinned and dropped into the chair to the Queen's right side, and took Alyssa's hand firmly in her own. "As you wish, my love," she said, loud enough for all to hear. A hubbub began below as the final competitors took the field.

"Ooh, here we go!"