Priscilla's Diary
It's back! All script sections have been replaced with prose so as not to break the site's rules. (Although I still maintain some humour is just done better inscript.) Happy now, admin?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Day 1
Weather: Sunny.
Location: Castle Carleon's stables
You know, I'm starting to wonder if Erk's ever going to show up. We were supposed to set of what? An hour ago? He went to grab some extra supplies after doing some calculations, and he hasn't come back yet.
Mariel's (my horse) already bridled, and ready to go. I have my pack with me, a Mend stave (dad gave me that for my birthday. Have to remember to thank him for it when I come home), and enough food and water for weeks. Erk got a Thunder tome from his master for this trip. (I think his name is Pants or something. Weird name), and he has his traveling cloak. Or had. He left it down here while he went off somewhere.
Never mind. He's back. Ran into a few palace guards on the way and didn't want to fry them. (He says) So, he had to take the long way round and ended up stuck somewhere in the garden maze. To this day, I still have no idea why Mom decided to make that thing. During my tenth birthday, half the invitees got lost inside and nearly starved to death.
Ah, well. Guess it's time we set off. Later.
Priscilla
Day 7
Weather: Sunny
Location: Somewhere in Etruria, near the border (Geography was never my strong point, okay?)
We were attacked by bandits last night. Fun. Erk managed to fend them off (well, if you count throwing kitchen utensils at their leader as "fending off") but he got wounded in the process. I offered to heal him, but he said he was fine.
I was halfway ready to believe that until he collapsed about an hour back.
So now I'm walking, Erk's unconscious body is piled up on Mariel, and I'm feeling grumpy. Hard to write at the same time as when you're walking. I guess I'll get used to it.
If I remember correctly (and that's a rather big if), there should be a border inn nearby. Hopefully we'll find it soon and Erk (and I) can rest.
(X)
Okay. Inn? Check. Found it after about an hour of wondering about aimlessly.
Mariel with me? Check. My pack? Check.
So why do I have this strange feeling I forgot something?
Ah, I suppose it'll come to me later. Right now, I want some sleep.
Priscilla
Day 8
Weather: Still sunny
Location: Border checkpoint.
Erk is still unhappy about the fact that he fell off Mariel while I was looking for the inn, and I didn't even notice. Of course, he's hasn't told me that in so many words, but I can tell.
The fact that he's not talking to me at all unless absolutely necessary is a big clue.
However, seeing as we're now at the border, and we have to figure out how to get past the guards, he's deigned to converse with me.
"Erk… please, wait."
The purple-haired mage halted at the request, and half-turned to face his employer. "Lady Priscilla?"
Priscilla flushed slightly. "We… we might have a bit of problem getting through the border."
Erk frowned. "How? I have my papers in orders, and if worst comes to worst, you can just tell them you're nobility."
The blush on Priscilla's face increased in intensity. "Erk… I… I didn't tell my parents I was going out on this trip. So, they might have alerted the border guard to be on the lookout for me."
Erk turned back to face the trio of soldiers covering the checkpoint, an unreadable expression on his face. "Alright, then. I have an idea. But you might no tlike it…"
So now I'm sitting in a bush, something is poking me in the back, and there are twigs in my hair. Erk said he'd go distract the guards, leaving me and Mariel free to cross. Then he'd lose the guards and hook up with me later. When I pointed out that he was a Mage, not a Thief, he got annoyed and asked whether or not I really wanted to get to Lycia in the first place. If the answer was yes, he said, then I should go wait in the bushes.
Edit: Erk just hit one of the guards with Thunder. Time for me to go.
Priscilla
Day 9
Weather: I dunno. We've been stuck in this inn the whole day
Location: Some inn in Lycia
After crossing the border, I made it to the agreed meeting point and waited for Erk. Three hours later, he showed, bearing several nicks and bruises but otherwise, he looked fine.
Well, other than the Javelin impaled into his stomach, I suppose.
After checking in and the nearest Tavern, Erk managed to crawl upstairs before passing out. Again. That's twice in under a week. And the wound doesn't appear that it'll stop bleeding anytime soon. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
Well, that was a messy business. I had to use over half my bandages, and the Mend stave, but in the end, the bleeding stopped. Erk woke up shortly after and thanked me for saving his life. I don't know why, but I think he feels a little ashamed of himself.
Ugh, what am I, a philosopher? The castle had enough of those. I'm going to sleep.
Priscilla
Day 14
Weather: Cloudy and damp
Location: Ostia
We reached Ostia today. Just as well. Mariel's getting cranky after four days of nearly continuous travel. Somehow the tent ended up with a hole in it, and it just had to start raining the four nights nonstop. I think I've forgotten what it feels like to be dry.
Erk went off to find a Vendor. Apparently he wants a Fire tome so the next time we get a rainy spell he can dry me off. He's neglected to mention that it would probably incinerate me as well.
Okay, I saw this huge guy with blue hair and a huge axe storm out of Castle Ostia, followed by another man in a red cloak. Both of them seemed to be arguing over something.
The blue-haired axefighter whirled around angrily to face his associate. "For the last time, stop putting tomatoes in my backpack!"
"But young master!" The cloaked man said with a cheery smile. "You far stronger than I am! It only makes sense that you carry the heavier loads, no?"
The axefighter's eyes narrowed. "I don't even like tomatoes! For the love of St. Elimine, you're the only one who eats them! Remove EVERYTHING that I don't use from my pack! NOW!"
The cloaked man ran a hand through his messy hair, a his smile turning resigned. "Very well, young master." He conceded as he knelt down and began digging through the packs of the axefighter. "Now… let's see… tomatoes, my diary, a batch of home cooked cookies, all 20 volumes of 'Lockpicking for Dummies' … shoot, which bag did I put my shiny rock collection, again?"
"… I am going to kill you, Matthew." The axefighter said calmly. Too calmly. Way too calmly. "Once we're beyond the city limits and no one else is around, I'm going to kill you."
Matthew nodded. "Of course you are, young master. If you can catch me, that is." An instant later he was up and running.
"COME BACK HERE!" The axefighter roared as he charged after 'Matthew'.
Is this just an Ostian thing, or is all Lycia this screwed up? Then again, I am originally from Lycia. Maybe it's just repressed from me living in Etruria and once I spend any amount of time with the Lycians I'll become like them.
Now there's a scary thought.
Erk just returned. Apparently, the shops were fresh out of Fire, but he managed to snag a Goddess Icon. Those things are rarities nowadays. Yay.
According to Erk (who's the one planning the timetable), we should set off sometime tomorrow. Meanwhile, he's found an inn room for me. Single bed, though. Which lent itself to the question of where Erk planned on spending the night. He wanted to sit down and lean against the doorway of my room.
I'm not very sure whether he took my stunned silence as consent or not, because he just raised an eyebrow looking at me. After finding my voice, I asked him if he thought that would be slightly embarrassing should any innkeepers happen to chance by.
He replied by saying that the only alternative was him spending the night in the same room with me, and he was pretty sure I didn't want that.
So the arguments settled, I'm lying in my bed writing this, and I can hear a heated argument outside my room door, about the rights of providing shelter to homeless wandering mages. The innkeeper isn't buying any of it, though, from what I can-
Never mind. I just heard the sound of a thunder spell being cast. Methinks diplomacy isn't Erk's strong point. But that's neither here nor there.
Goodnight, diary.
Priscilla
Day 16
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Outskirts of Laus
As I'm writing this, Erk is busy cooking supper for both of us. The fire's burning brightly and there's just enough light for me to be writing in this thing.
We should be through Laus in about two days, three for any unforeseen delays, and then, Caelin and House Cornwell!
Although that makes me feel a bit weird about my name. Priscilla Cornwell. Doesn't sit right for some reason.
Or maybe I'm just nervous. Erk glanced over and said I looked a little pale.
I guess I'll turn in early. After supper, of course.
Priscilla
Day 17
Weather: Sunny
Location: Village closest to Castle Laus
You know what I wrote yesterday? About unforeseen circumstances and all that? I figure this must be the universe's way of giving me the finger.
Shall I recant to you, dear diary, what happened this morning? We had just passed Castle Ostia when I saw a village up ahead. Erk agreed to a short pit- stop, and we entered. After a while, he decided to go take a look around.
"You will be alright by yourself, Lady Priscilla?" Erk asked one last time before walking past the gates.
Priscilla smiled and nodded. "Not to worry, Erk. I can handle myself for an hour or so."
Erk smiled in returned, bowed slightly, and left the village.
Reaching up to tuck a loose strange of hair behind her ears, Priscilla was distracted by the blaring of several out-of-tune trumpets.
"All assemble, for the Lord Darin graces us with his noble presence!"
As the hordes of seemingly-reluctant villagers trickled out of their houses, Priscilla heard one mutter, "Great. Just great. We're already working ourselves to the stinking bone and he comes to recruit more people for his army."
I didn't particularly feel like going to observe the proceedings, but several soldiers motioned for me to get in line. Considering the fact that I was a girl, I thought it'd be all right. HA!
Well, one guy there certainly drew all the attention. Apparently he's Lord Darin, Marquess of Laus. And I swear that is not his real hair.
"Hmph!"The Marquess snorted. "Is this lot the best you lousy mongrels can put up? At this rate I'll never fulfill my dream of ruling Lycia."
"Your what?" Priscilla blurted out.
"… Did I say 'ruling Lycia'? Oh, sorry, I obviously meant… uh… my dream of… um, leading all Lycia into a greater period of peace and prosperity! Aren't I a great ruler?"
"Sure…" Came the half hearted reply.
The Marquess glared at them. "Anyway, as I was saying, if these are the strongest men your village has to offer, you're useless!"
Priscilla pricked her ears at the sound of mumbling. "Try dealing with those fluxing pirates that keep raiding our village and then we'll talk."
"Did you say something?" The Marquess questioned.
No reply was forthcoming save the sound of whistling.
After that, Mr. I-gel-my-own-hair picked out a few men and told them to follow the soldiers. I assumed that was it for the day. Until, of course, he said…
"Now then, time for the next segment."
With a nod, the messenger stepped forward and proclaimed, "Hear ye, hear ye. The Lord Darin will now bestow upon one of you ladies the honour of being his next wife!"
"Next wife?" Priscilla asked incredulously.
"Every five years or so he gets a new one."
Priscilla blinked and turned back to face the Marquess, who was currently grinning and rubbing his hands together. "Um… okay…" She mumbled.
Around that time I had this really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Unluckily enough, I didn't follow it and instead opted for hanging around.
"Hate your hair…"
"He's one to talk." Priscilla mumbled wearily as the Marquess continued strolling around the town square.
"Oh, wait, let me guess, you have a great personality, right?"
I suppose opposite attract. Priscilla thought. She should probably be leaving, anyway-
"Ah-HA! You!"
At this point, I tried scanning the crowd, trying to figure which poor sap was unlucky enough to have to be that loser's wife. Then I noticed everyone was staring at me. It was approximately then that the bad feeling in my stomach became about ten times worse.
He exulted over his great 'find', and how this would show to all Lycia that Laus was best in everything. The best food, the finest soldiers, and now, he said, the most beautiful women.
I suppose mentioning that I was originally from Caelin would only have made things worse. Ditto that he was about three times my age (I'm fifteen. And so is Erk, according to Lord Pants). So, I just decided to refuse him.
Boy, you could have heard a pin drop after that.
The town square was silent. Absolutely, utterly, silent.
No one moved. It seemed as if no one breathed. A tumbleweed rolled by, disregarding the fact that tumbleweeds aren't usually found in town squares. Every eye was fixated upon the young girl who had dared turn down the Marquess.
Then it was broken. "Y- you WHAT?" Darin demanded.
Priscilla swallowed, fear apparent on her face. But she had an ounce more resolve than she had fear, and so she stood her ground. "You heard me. I said no."
An instant later the entire town erupted with cheers and applause as the people gave what could only be called a standing ovation to the unknown young woman.
ANOTHER instant later, all that was silenced by a loud shout from Darin. "How dare you! Guards! Guard the entrance of the village, and prevent that girl from leaving until she accepts my offer!" Even before the guards could nod their affirmation, he had already whirled around and stalked away in a huff. The intended result would have been a lot more effective if the Marquess had not tripped over a loose pebble on his way out.
Boy, that went well. The one bright spot is that the villagers agreed to grant me asylum for as long as was necessary. That's rather nice of them, I suppose.
Still, Erk approached the village an hour ago and found the way barred. We managed to hold a conversation using Etrurian sign language (It took me about an hour to figure out that he was not signing "Our chicken has measles"), and agreed that he should go off to the other villages to seek aid.
Meanwhile, I'm stuck here in this village for the foreseeable future. Guess I might as well turn in for the night.
Priscilla
Day 18
Weather: Still sunny
Location: Within said village
Nothing much happened today. Marquess Laus stopped by and asked if I'd changed my mind yet.
He told me that if I agreed to be his mistress, I'd get the finest foods in all the land, the protection of Laus' elite forces, the most comfortable lodgings this side of Lycia, and best of all (according to him), his company.
I replied by telling him where he could shove his lance.
After about another five minutes of yelling, he left in a huff. I feel sorry for the people who have to live under him. And according to the locals, his son, Erik, isn't much better.
I'm starting to think my theory that all Lycian nobles are, on one level or other, screwed up, is correct. I'm half afraid of what I'll find if I reach House Cornwell now.
Priscilla
Okay, that's entry one. I hope you enjoyed it.
And as a sidenote, I thank Ivanfanatic (Kate Sith) for her wonderful, wonderful expletive.
Either ways, review please!