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Like vultures to a fresh corpse. (Taly)

Started by Xphy, February 05, 2010, 09:19:14 AM

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Xphy

Celesti's arrival in Ketra was as quiet and uneventful as any other she had made before it. A simple flash of her documents here, a little hush money there and she was inside of the city; certainly not the grand entrance that so many with her level of wealth and influence seemed to prefer. Then again traveling in caravans surrounded by guards had never really been the princess' style. Even as a child she had preferred to travel with a small group of attendants, if any at all. Sure it was a bit more dangerous, but at least it drew less attention.

And the last thing she needed was more attention being drawn to her...

She had more than enough problems blending in with most crowds as it was, standing over the heads of most men and looking like a foreigner from who knows where. Oh, and let's not forget the flutter of ethereal butterflies riding in her hair. Those tended to draw more than their fair share of stares wherever she went. Fortunately for her they were pretty close to transparent in the sunlight, so for the most part they weren't really noticeable at a glance.

Her reasons for being in the capital while similar to so many other nobles that were either on their way or already in town were somewhat different. Word of the King's passing had already spread throughout the land, and with no clear heir apparent more than a few noble houses were already angling to increase their power, if not take the throne for themselves.

Celesti too had come because of the vacant throne, but unlike the others she actually had very little interest in seeking it. The title of Queen would never agree with her and she knew it. She simply did not have the patience to tend to the duties that came with it. She had merely come to observe the bickering and the fighting between the other nobles; to see which of them had the balls to declare themselves King first, and to see if they had the strength necessary to actually hold onto that title.

To be perfectly honest she didn't really care who was triumphant in the end. As long as the events to come were as interesting as they had been the last time a monarch had neglected to leave an heir behind she would be happy.

As she walked she couldn't help but smile as she watched more and more people filled the city streets. The city had changed a fair amount over the years, but there were certain things about it that seemed like they never would. It was still as active as it had been when she was a child. Aside from her butterflies she hadn't bothered to bring anyone else with her on her little morning stroll. There was no need to since the creatures had always done a good job of protecting her. That and she hadn't intended to go too far from the inn she was staying at...or at least that had been the plan anyway.

For some reason the further in town she walked the more she wanted to go even further. It was as if she was being drawn in by her nostalgia. Everywhere she looked she saw something that brought back memories from her youth, and by the time she had caught herself the sun was already overhead. She could've only imagined how worried her escorts were by now; her daughter would have had their heads for letting her go out alone if anything happened to her. They were probably already out franticly searching for her.

On top of that her stomach was also beginning to growl as well. She had set out before breakfast so she hadn't eaten since the night before, and with her mind no longer distracted by old memories it was almost instantly brought toward her hunger. Fortunately for her she had spotted a small tavern out of the corner of her eye not too far back, so she decided to stop in on her way back.

Tally

A thunder of hooves drummed behind Celesti and grew cacophonous as the horsemen galloped past her, a dozen of them riding hard and shouting war cries into the air.  They waved spears and bows and swords over their head and drew up hard at the tavern.  Their passage kicked up a dust cloud all along the hard-packed dirt road that engulfed both the horsemen and Celesti.

One of them wheeled away from the front of the pack instead of dismounting and trotted his horse back to the princess.  He sheathed his sword at his back and tried to wave away some of the dust in the air.  As it settled, it revealed the horsemen more clearly.  Instead of the Serendipity-inspired fashions that were popular among noblemen of the cities they wore Adelan tribal clothing—leather garb with no armor, with brightly-colored accents and talismans honoring their tribes.  Few of them hailed from the same place.

The one before Celesti bore long red hair and war paint upon his face.  As soon as he saw that she was attractive he swung down from his horse and gave her a bow befitting the most pampered courtly prince, but the affect was spoiled a bit when he then coughed and attempted to wave more of the dust away.  "Apologies, my lady.  I am Akkiel, of the Archatia, and I dearly hope you will allow me to make amends for this unfortunate display of boorishness."

Xphy

Needless to say Celesti was quite taken aback by the sudden spray of dust in her direction, her arm instinctually rising over her face in an attempt to shield her eyes and nose. She had heard the horses approaching, but hadn't had anywhere near the time to react effectively. Even her butterflies had been slow to act though the transparent creatures still fluttered their wings about her trying their best to disperse the cloud of uplifted soil.

By the time she had caught herself there was man dismounting his horse in front of her, no doubt one of the men responsible for the commotion. He was dressed in attire common among the more traditionalist Adelans and yet if his fairer skin and red hair were any indication he wasn't Adelan by birth.

How odd.

When he bowed in front of her her eye cocked a bit in surprise, though his apology and introduction did explain a lot. So this was prince of the Archatia, the commander of the Adelan army she had heard so much about. Handsome man though a little different from what she had expected, especially with him being a foreigner. Of all people she thought that he would have adopted the Serenian look, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you young prince. I am Celesti of Morovine," she replied, returning his bow with one of her own. She saw no need to hide her identity. He would find out eventually and it probably was better to just get it out of the way sooner than later. "And it would be rude of me to refuse such an offer, even if it is unnecessary. A little dust never did anything a good bath couldn't fix."

Tally

"I am graced by your presence, my lady." Morovine, Morovine...he was so terrible at remembering all these sons and daughters of the nobility.  They swarmed about the empty throne like flies about a corpse.  Too many of them sought to wield his army for his will but he would have none of it.  He would serve only himself until someone worthy rose over these sheep and took hold of the throne.

"Have you ever been inside the Red Ghost?  I wouldn't call it an establishment fit for a lady of your station, but there is always mead flowing and a song in the air. And we have reason to celebrate today.  We have crushed a vanguard of the Dread Army and must give the spirits their praise for sending us to victory."

He offered his arm to her, dusty though it was.  "And if a good bath is what you need, I'm sure we can see to that as well."

Xphy

"I can't say that I have, but I've grown quite accustomed to places below 'my station,'" Celesti replied with a polite smile, taking his arm when he offered it. She had never had a problem with inns and taverns, not even the more seedy ones. Then again she didn't always have a lot of options when she moved around, especially when she was running low on money.

"And I would be honored to join you and your men in celebration," she continued, looking over to his men before her eyes returning to the prince. Truth be told she wasn't all that surprised they had had success against the Dread Army. The Adelan army wasn't exactly known for being weak after all.

"Lead the way."

Tally

Lead the way he did, taking them through a chorus of cheers and laughter.  The unrest that consumed the castle and all of its frilly nobility concerned them little if at all.  War was their arena, and the war went well.  Akkiel could scarce have asked for better from them.

The innkeep had broken open a cask of mead for them.  Akkiel poured the Lady Celesti a man's share and clacked his mug against hers.  "To Adelan victory!  May it always be thus!"

Xphy

"As it always should," Celesti added as they clanked their mugs against one another. She was a bit surprised by the amount he had poured for her. Not that she minded having a man's share, but most men would have been a bit more conservative with her portion. Interesting... Her father had always told her that you could tell a lot about a man from how they poured their drinks, but unfortunately she hadn't paid enough attention to know what exactly it meant. Part of her did wonder if he saw her as a woman though.

"I must admit Akkiel of the Archatia, I am curious about your success today. Perhaps you would share the tale with me? If you don't mind of course."

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