Ch 6 - Demacia - Crownguard House
Lux fiddled with her steel chestpiece as she walked down the main hall of the Crownguard house towards the study. She was dressed in a light suit of armor adorned with the Crownguard's trademark yellow and blue flairs. It had been tailor made for her by her family's armory in preparation for her assignment.
She had requested this meeting herself. She was due to leave with the relief battalion in a few hours, and she thought this might be the best chance to see her father and mother again. As she approached the thick oaken doors to the study she drew in a deep breath. She remembered when, as a child, being summoned to the study was just about the worst thing that could ever happen to a Crownguard. It was where one would be sent, for example, after one were caught red handed holding her father's fancy new ink pen after the completion of a veritable masterpiece on the walls of the dining room. Her parents never were one to appreciate the "fine arts"... more importantly, however, it was also where one was sent to when the Crownguards deemed one of their children ready to be "sent off".
The Crownguards were one of the most pretigious military families in Demacia, and thus their children were expected to train to be soldiers and officers at an extremely young age. She had been just a young child, barely thirteen years of age when her parents had decided to send her away. She had been summoned to the study to find her parents waiting for her, bags packed with her clothes and supplies laid out on the floor. It was there that they introduced her to Anne, her new maidservant, and subsequently sent her off to live permanently in Demacia's Royal Military Academy, to be trained in the arts of war, magic, and command. Though she had been their only daughter, her fate was no different from the boys.
Lux pushed the door in and peeked into the room, wondering how she should present herself. She really wished she had rehearsed what she planned to say a bit more. She saw her mother Lilia Crownguard, a slender, pretty woman with streaks of gray in her hair sitting on a desk, calmly writing on a piece of manuscript. Her father was absent.
"Hi mom," Lux said.
Her mother looked up from her work and stared at Lux, an amused look on her face. "Hi mom? Really?"
Lux pursed her lips in disdain, but stood at attention, puffing her chest out and putting her hands to her sides in a formal military stance. "Good morning ma'am, Lieutenant Lux Crownguard requesting permission to enter."
"Granted. You may enter," her mother replied, a slight smile forming on her lips.
Lux relaxed her posture and sighed. "Did we really have to go through all that? I haven't seen you in months, mother."
"And yet you know how your father insists on it. And I agree with him," her mother replied curtly. She got up from her desk and slowly approached her daughter, appraising her from head to toe.
Lux watched her mother from the corner of her eye. She hated how her mother always seemed to scrutinize her like this, like she were just another soldier under inspection. But she supposed this was how parents were supposed to behave. It didn't help, though, that her mother attained her current military rank through academics - nearly two decades worth of experience teaching military history, strategy, and traditions to cadets and battle worn soldiers alike. In this way she rose in the ranks similarly to Lux's magic instructor Lilith - the main difference being, of course, that Lilith taught quintessence and arcane theory while her mother, Lilia, concerned herself with more "practical" matters.
Her mother finally came to a stop in front of her. "That armor looks good on you, Lux. Almost like a real soldier. But I can't help but wonder if you're really ready for war?"
"If I'm ready?" Lux blurted out, feeling a bit indignant at her mother's question. "Mother, they're sending our battalion to Landus, a dingy little border town on the edge of the swamp. And what's more, you and father didn't do anything to protest it. With all your influence, you could have at least suggested they assign me to something a bit more important!"
"Oh, hush already, Lux. Every action taken in a war matters, whether it be the vanguard that charges into the depths of the enemy lines or the lone scout that maps out the supply routes for an army caravan. Your assignment was due to your merits and behavior, Lux, and nothing else."
Lux bit her lip, feeling a bit frustrated. She wished she had more supportive parents. She wondered for a moment whether her father would agree with what her mother said. He probably wouldn't even care...he seemed to dote more on her brothers than her anyway, she thought bitterly. "Where is father by the way? He couldn't be bothered to meet me for just a few minutes?"
Her mother frowned, walked back to her desk, and stared at the manuscript she had been writing earlier. After a while she looked up at Lux, seeming to have finally decided on something. "I may as well tell you. I suppose you're not a child anymore. Your father is with the queen. And do you know where the queen is, at this very moment?"
Lux was a bit surprised at her mother's question. Demacia's queen, Claudia Lightshield, had chosen to remain out of the public eye since the death of her husband and her son's ascendancy to the throne. "The queen? Umm...at the palace, I assume?"
"Yes. That's what everyone thinks. But in truth, she left the city weeks ago."
"She's left? What do you mean? There's been no news of her leaving Demacia at all. Everyone would have known if she did."
"That's right," her mother affirmed. "No one knows, because we were ordered to keep quiet about it. In fact, it was your father who was chosen to smuggle her out of the city. And how could he refuse? As a Crownguard, our family duty has always been to protect and serve the sovereign of Demacia."
Lux puzzled over this. Why was her mother telling her this now? Why would the queen leave Demacia in secret? To seek assistance in the war? No...that didn't make sense - she would have just sent an envoy. And then it hit her. The sovereign? That was Jarvan IV now, wasn't it? "I thought that Jarvan took Demacia's throne after his father's death?"
"He did, but only as a ploy to appease the masses. A Jarvan has sat on the throne for over a hundred years, so that's what the people expect. In truth, the royal succession falls to the queen, and then to the prince. In the past, the queens have always either voluntarily given up power, or their sons demanded it, and the nobility backed them. But that didn't happen with Jarvan IV. He's completely under the sway of his mother." Her mother stared seriously at Lux. "The noble houses can't do anything either, because Jarvan supports his mother's rule."
A chill ran down her spine as Lux suddenly understood why Demacia was having so much trouble in their current war. "So the nobles...they're divided?"
Her mother nodded. "There are many nobles who do not believe in Claudia's ability to lead - House Vayne and House Varretus in particular. And I can't fault them. She has never fought in a single war, never even participated in Demacian politics up until the death of her husband. If they were to find out that she's taken off on some foolhardy sojourn to who-knows-where in the middle of a war, it will cause absolute chaos among the houses."
Lux slowly began to realize what was really happening in Demacia's war with Noxus. Why they had suffered so many uncharacteristic defeats, why their armies were being pushed back. It was Claudia Lightshield - the real ruler of Demacia at the moment - who had been keeping most of the Royal Demacian Army inside the city - not to defend against threats from the barbarians of Fjeljord as had been claimed, but to keep order amongst the nobles and defend against a possible coup. With most of House Lightshield's armies being kept in reserve, it fell to the Crownguards - the only other house capable of fielding a true wartime military - to bear the brunt of the war alone.
How could she have been so stupid? The thought had never occurred to her that Demacia could actually lose the war with Noxus, all because of something as asinine as politics. And what was her own role in this war? A "relief" battalion!
"You say you're ready to lead, but you're still as naive as any common soldier. Do you really think you could handle a burden as heavy as what your brother Garen is shouldering right now?" her mother said. "Garen proved himself long ago."
"I..." Lux felt her fist tighten up in anger. Why did her parents always treat her like some stupid child? She couldn't stand it anymore. She was tired of always hearing about how "heroic" and "amazing" her dumb brother was. And here she was, being sent to some border town to do what basically amounted to garrison duty.
"Screw Garen! I don't care what he does!" Lux shouted. "It'll always be like this with you, right mother? I didn't ask to be born a Crownguard, but I've tried the best I could. But you and father, you'll never believe in me, will you? If you'd only let me show you what I can really do!" Lux felt herself turn her body around, ready to storm out the door. And in fact, that's what she did. She was too angry - at both herself and her mother - to really care what else her mother had to say. As she turned the handle and opened the door, she heard her mother cry out, a tinge of both frustration and desperation in her voice.
"Do you really think we're sending a thousand men to Landus because it's not important? You treat war as if it's just some game. Lux! Don't you dare walk out-!" The door slammed shut with a resounding thud, and the rest of her words fell upon empty air.
Lilia Crownguard leaned a tired hand on her chair, looked towards the door where her daughter had just been moments earlier, and sighed heavily. After all was said and done, she was nothing more than a mere teacher, wasn't she? Only if she failed at her job, people died. People she cared about and loved. But there was nothing she could do. She had her duties to Demacia, and her children had theirs.
"Please be safe, Lux," Lilia whispered to herself. "And...give those Noxians hell."