Pawns of Royalty: Emerald Visions

by Aster Williams

Note: this is still Spring of 1393. Also I decided I would update on the weekends (that includes Friday), though it kills me not to update as soon as I finish a chapter. I will always have some music listed at the bottom of each chapter for the music during the story. All songs can be found on youtube (I OWN NONE OF IT) Also, when it says "Rook of the North" in the last chapter I meant to say "Rook of Green", minor change that I don't want to change.

~ Aster Williams.

Review Responses

mariches: Haha that's interesting. I've seen many chessverse fanfictions, but they were only for the allies or the axis powers. I felt the Nordics needed some love too, since they have their own chess royal pieces and outfits.

minoriY: Thanks, I actually like writing this story.

Athena's-Dragon-138: Thanks, I hope you think this chapter is as interesting as the last one.

Chapter Two

My father, mother and I were riding in the small royal carriage that picked us up earlier this morning. It's been a few days and we wanted to be sure we were prepared for the festival. The Royal Festival would be taking place tomorrow, though I wish we were never invited. That dream of dancing with the King occurs every night and it haunts me even in the day. I know it is all my imagination but it was so real, so life like. I shook my head mentally as I stared out the window to forget about the dream. The journey from the small village to the castle was unique. It went from a dull greenish grey town to the enchanted green of the forest to high towers of grey bricks that bore emerald green flags.

When the carriage stopped the coach man opened the door for us as three men stood at the entrance. As I stepped down from the carriage with some royal garments on I noticed the three that stood before us. I ran up to them with excitement as I hugged my two cousins and cousin-in-law. With a smile on my face they led us inside to show us where everything would take place since we were unfamiliar with the castle's structure. The castle was a very clean place with sleek walls of white and green. Many royal flags hung from the high ceilings and there were flowers of diverse colors but were mainly yellow with luxurious green leaves.

As we went through out the castle we made it to the garden. The garden was the same as my dream; it was a filled with wild flowers and the walls were covered by ivy. Many colors of flowers filled the area and it was gorgeous. When I turned around I found myself alone, did they really go on without me? Wondering the garden a bit, I gave up and sat down next to the fountain hoping someone would find me. Thoughts brewed up as I crouched on the fountain rim and rested my head on my knees. With right hand supporting me I leaned a bit to the side to touch the water. I smiled a bit as my finger created a few ripples in the water, making some of the lily pads to move up and down. A shadow loomed over me as I was staring at the water. The reflection was of me and a tall figure clad in a white, gold and green. My eyes met his as I felt my body begin to fall backwards before everything became a blur.

I was standing in front of the castle walls. The solid walls of marble reflected the image of me standing next to a tall man, the King. I looked up at him as he was staring forward with his stern face. My gaze went from him to the wooden walls before me, I wanted to run but I didn't allow myself. A gentle hand grabbed mine as I glanced to see the King's hand holding mine. I chewed on my lip as the door opened, a chorus of music echoed throughout the walls as we began to move forward. As we entered the room, I took notice of the surroundings. To the sides were rows of people applauding and waving flags of the Kingdom of Green. In front of us were two empty chairs of white and gold; we were walking on a green rug with gold trimming. As we drew closer to the chairs, I looked behind myself to see Matthias and Emil walking side by side. Once we walked up the small stair case the King and I took our seats while Matthias and Emil stood by our sides.

As my vision started to come back together I looked up to see my family surround me. The dim lighting of the room created many shadows; my head started pounding as I tried to sit up. Putting my hand to my head I sat up and blinked a few times. My family was sitting at both sides of my bed as Emil got up to turn on some more candles. I tried to figure out what happened during the time everything was confusing but nothing came out of it.

"Son, are you okay?" my father asked me as his concerned face looked tired from staying up too long.

"Y-Yes, but how long was I out?" I asked as I looked around trying to find a window.

"You've been out for the whole day, you even missed dinner. You should have been there, Lukas was-," Matthias said as he was cut off by Lukas slapping his cheek.

"Do you remember what happened?" Emil asked as he walked back from lighting up the room.

"All I remember was sitting on the fountain's edge and then seeing a tall man behind me," I said as I bit my lips, talking too much doesn't seem to help a headache.

"Ya, he was asking if you were okay," Lukas said as another headache took over my head.

"He was worried about me?" I managed to ask as I leaned back and closed my eyes.

"Yes, he wanted to apologize for scaring you at dinner but you weren't there," Emil said slowly.

"I think Tino wants to have some rest," my mother said as I nodded.

"But he just slept through the whole day!" Matthias complained as he was once again slapped by Lukas.

"Let's go, goodnight Tino," Lukas said as I smiled weakly before I got another headache wave.

My mother blew out the candles and closed the door as she went to her room. Alone, I stared up at the ceiling trying to get rid of the headache though it wouldn't go away. To make it worse, thoughts of the King plagued my mind. His emotionless greenish blue eyes and the stern face, somehow I wonder if he feels anything at all. I heard the news of how he is a great leader that cares for his people, which I don't doubt, but I always thought he would be the man of great charm. He rules by himself with no queen by his side and I thought the reason was because he was a flirt and didn't want to settle down but everything I thought was different. Sighing I closed my eyes as I tried to drift off to sleep.

I blinked to face the crowd of people. The music continued on as I looked around, it was just as last time. The music continued as a muffled voice began to talk; I leaned forward to see Lukas in his Royal uniform. His lips were moving but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I looked at Matthias who stood by my side with his family axe in his hand. Emil stood with his swords at his side with his face forwards. As I turned forward I saw Lukas standing in front of my adorned with the clothes of the Royal Bishop. His words were of an ancient language as his voice was muffled by the music.

Sitting up with my hand over one eye I sat up from my bed; last night was foggy but yet to clear. Getting up I slipped on the festival clothes I was given and walked out the door. Everyone was running around, preparing for the Royal Festival this afternoon. Wondering around aimlessly, I found myself following the rich aroma from the kitchen that made my mouth water. One of the women who worked in the kitchen smiled at me and gave me a small piece of bread for a small snack. Thanking her, I decided that I should go back to the garden, since that is the only place I thought I would find my family. As I passed the pallid walls, I made my way to the garden to find my cousins Lukas standing pointing at the sky. He was talking to some older men with glasses and scrolls, they looked like festival planners. As I approached closer, I saw the rest of my family.

Many royal family members filled the private garden as I walked up and down the tables of food. Picking up a small piece of fruit, I plopped a grape into my mouth as I caught some young girls looking at me. They took notice and batted their eyes at me before fanning themselves with their golden laced fans. I smiled sheepishly as I wasn't use to having girls take notice of me. As the music filled the area many young lads asked girls to dance with them, I even saw Emil asked girl of age nine to dance. Deciding that I shouldn't stand awkwardly I walked up to a young girl with curly red hair; she looked around the age of twelve.

"Would you care to dance with me?" I asked politely as I offered my hand with a charming smile.

The young girl smiled cheerfully as she took my hand gently. Her friends started to chat amongst themselves as I took the young lass to the dancing circle. We laughed together as we danced to the music along with the other people. As I looked behind her I saw Matthias and Lukas dancing together, though Lukas seemed a bit embarrassed to be dancing with the energetic Rook. I laughed silently to myself at the thought of Lukas being led by Matthias. The song ended and I kissed the young red headed girl's hand before letting her run back to her friends.

Walking away from the dance circle I saw a purple tent with a few people lined up at the entrance. Letting my curiosity get the better of me I stood at the end of the line and asked some people around what was attracting this much attention. After minutes I learned that this was a gypsy that was told to see the future and many people wanted to ask her about their own future. This struck my interest as I was always one of the boys who were interested in magic; when I was younger I would often ask Lukas what it was like to be able to see magical creatures.

As the line decreased I found myself sitting in front of a surprisingly young lady. Her dark brown hair was curled and her skin was slightly tanned. Her dark brown eyes stared into my own purplish blue ones. She asked me if I wanted to know anything in particular but I shook my head; she then asked me to close my eyes and try to relax. Doing so, I took deep breaths in and out. I didn't know what would happen until I heard a soft voice of some ancient language; it was almost like a whisper of the breeze. As the entrancing words filled my mind I began to go into a trance. My eyes opened when I felt the smooth fingers of the gypsy.

"You do not realize what you possess. The power within you has just been awakened but yet you deny it. As you become more aware of what you are gifted with my child, you will become stronger and will lead a path of gold. Though I do warn you, gold is a not only of riches and glory it is also of corruption and deception. You will understand when the time comes," the soft voice of the gypsy said as I furrowed my eyebrows together. Her riddle was puzzling to me as I stood up and thanked her with a smile and some money.

Walking out the door I pushed a finger to my lip trying to figure out what she meant. Nothing really has been out of the ordinary, well except for the fact that the King decided to sleep in the same bed as me. Sighing, I heard the bagpipes begin to play as they were soon accompanied by drums and flutes. Looking up, I saw the King walking down the castle stairs; he was wearing his green and white uniform. The glare from his crown twinkled as the crowd cheered for our king. From far away I couldn't get a good glimpse of him, though I wish I could possible sneak up closer. As I pushed the tight crowd I finally made it to see my cousins standing next to the king. I gasped in surprise as I my mind connected some dots together. My mind swirled around as I felt myself begin to lose my vision.

The memorizing light of the blue sky was there when I fluttered my eyes open. I was lying down in a bed of leaves in the warm colored land. The music from the festival was playing softly in the background as I felt my lips curl up into a soft smile. The peacefulness of the forest was calming as I slowly stood up. A gust of wind picked up as I held my hand to the top of my head so my hair wouldn't fly into front of my face. The crunching of the leaves caught my attention as I turned around to see a small boy clad in red with another man that seemed to be an older version of him. Hiding behind a tree I stared in confusion as I stared at both of them. I couldn't hear their voice as the music once again blocked me from hearing. They seemed to be arguing about something; as I continued to watch them the older man left the small boy crying by himself. Feeling the need to comfort the boy I walked up to him and was about to touch his shoulder he disappeared as red leaves.

If anyone was interested in what music was playing during the first two dream scenes then it is "Celtic Music - Wild Flower" by ArianvonZiegler.

The music playing during the dance and last dream scene was "Celtic Music - Breath of the Forest" by ArianvonZiegler.

Also, the music playing for the King's entrance was "Celtic Music - For the King" by ArianvonZiegler.

NOTE: I do not own any of this music, it belongs to ArianvonZiegler.