I sank down into my bed, exhausted after a very long day. Life had not yet slowed down from the headlong pace begun after my ball for Bran and Nee. The Court was in a flurry of activity, for Vidanric had finally announced the day of coronation would be a scarce month after Mid-Summer's Day and my brother's wedding.
It seemed that the Court was mad with social gatherings, perhaps due to the fact that since the Merindar threat that everyone suspected (though no one ever spoke of) was finally gone, the courtiers finally felt the freedom to gather with friends and make up for time lost to Galdran.
This particular day I had joined Bran, Nee, Elenet, and Vidanric for a goodbye breakfast for Elenet. She was departing later that day for Grumareth, for now that her uncle had been killed, she had officially become the Duchess of her lands and felt that needs drew her back to her lands to calm her people after their former lord's latest folly. Another, underlying reason for the group gathering was to informally congratulate Vidanric on his decision to finally take on the full responsibility of the Remalna crown he so well deserved. Nee, being the observant person she was, also was interested in the true reason behind Vidanric's sudden decision to be crowned, for she knew he had been waiting for something more than the Merindar threat to come to conclusion.
I spent the entire breakfast not speaking, and even though my brother found this unusual he elected not to speak of it in front of everyone, though I was positive he would call me out on it at a later, more private time. It seemed that the time he spent with Nee had given him a greater sense of tact than he had possessed prior, which I was eternally grateful for. In my own defense, I had spent the entire meal quiet because I was trying my hardest not to seem to obvious about Vidanric's and mine change in social status, as I was sure he was trying to do also, but he was obviously having a much easier time of it because he carried on as normal, talking and laughing and acting completely normal. We had chosen not to yet tell anyone at Court of our new relationship until we had worked everything out ourselves, for we both knew that unless things seemed at peace between us, many other court women would latch on to any possible reason to try to wedge between us, and I want to spare myself the hours I knew I would spend plotting the painful deaths of many court ladies. So for the time being, Vidanric and I kept a secret between only ourselves and Mora, for she knew all my affairs whether I wished her to or not.
When breakfast had finished, I took my leave, as did Vidanric and Bran, to let Nee and Elenet say their goodbyes in a more private setting. I hurried to my rooms to change into a different gown, for I had intended to spend the remainder of the morning studying in the library and my afternoon was claimed by Geral for a horse race between various members of the Court, which I would be participating in. I donned on of my less formal gowns and started through the elaborate hallways and corridors towards the library, where I knew I would most likely find a specific blonde man answering mail and waiting for me.
As I had expected, Vidanric had retreated to the archive almost immediately after breakfast. I suspected that if he did not think it would arouse concern from his mother, he wouldn't have changed out of his morning clothes, which were less than proper for our informal breakfast; he would have headed straight from Nee's rooms to this very archive. He glanced up as I batted aside the tapestry and entered the room, smiling as I came over to give him a quick kiss before going book hunting in the shelves.
"Am I less important than books now, my dear Lady Meliara?" Vidanric drawled in his most cynical voice, amused at my preoccupation with the books.
"Currently, yes," I responded, causing laughter to appear in his eyes as I poked my head out from between shelves.
"Can I assist you in finding a specific book then, so I can return to admiring your beauty whilst you sit next to me and read?"
"Not really. I am not looking for anything specific, just something from a recent queen, so I can study up on how to correctly go about courting the future king in public. I wouldn't want to cause either of us embarrassment before our wedding day."
Vidanric stood up and caught my hand, an anxious look deep in his eyes. "Does that mean you want to be my queen?" I could tell he was nervous, for his breathing had become slightly faster. I was quickly learning to read his extremely subtle emotions and see through the court mask I had once though impenetrable.
"Yes, Danric, I want to be your wife, and I suppose if queen must come in the package, I can live with it," I replied, my eyes dancing. Vidanric caught me in a hug that was disturbingly like one of Bran's exuberant embraces, catching me off guard. 'He's spending entirely too much time with my brother,' I thought, laughing as he set me back on the floor and caught my lips in a soft kiss.
The kiss, originally soft and romantic, rapidly became fierce and passionate, our minds following the same though pattern – we were soon to be husband and wife. Yet, before it got out of hand in such an open place, Vidanric came to his senses and broke away from me, breathing heavily, but smiling nonetheless. He grabbed my hand and lead me through the shelves to, handing me a small book written by a largely unknown queen.
"She was much like you, well, kind of. The only true parallel is that she came from a small family with little power and refused to come to Court until generally forced," Vidanric explained. "I don't know how much it will inform you of how to properly court me, but for your information, I truly don't much care exactly how you go about it, just simply that you do." He kissed me softly once again before returning with a sigh to his work at the desk.
I walked over to sit next to him, reading the farthest thing from my mind at the time. "What is wrong, Vidanric?" I asked softly.
"I'm just a little tired, that's all. Its nothing you need to worry about, love. I'm sure whatever I may be coming down with will dissipate once all this work is done."
After a more through look at my fiancé, I was angry at myself for letting him get into this position. 'Calm down,' I though to myself. 'I've only decided to realize his existence about two days ago; there was nothing I could do to stop this.' Out loud, however my thoughts ran in an entirely different pattern. "Vidanric, you and I are going to take a trip," I declared.
"A trip? Where? I am afraid I simply do not have the time. There are only a couple of months left before the wedding and our coronation. I have too much work to do," Vidanric said, looking more tired than ever, while looking over the overflowing bag of mail he had to plow through in only a short amount of time.
"I really do not care, darling. You are ill, you are always ill, don't tell me your not. As your future wife, I prescribe a two week long trip to Tlanth with me as your escort. We can leave tomorrow and be back in plenty of time for my brother's wedding. And an added bonus, we would be there by ourselves…" I winked and let the implications hang in the air.
"Do you not think it would seem a little odd that you and I, who apparently only recently got past hating one another, or more to the truth, you got over hating me, take a trip, alone, to your county where there will be none but ourselves? I know I am usually the subject of Court gossip, but I rarely ever freely let myself walk into that sort of pit."
"Well, that's simple. I had been talking to you of the Hill Folk, and you believe, after such a spectacular show of power in the Throne Room, that no good king should go without any type of introduction to those magical creatures. So you questioned me about it, me being the only person you know that is familiar with the Hill Folk, and I agreed to escort you to my mountain to teach you what I know of them so you could be a better king. Of course, you and I will have already told our closer friends of our relationship, as not to worry them about me cutting your head of at Erkan Astiar, but the entire Court will be largely unawares until we come back and elect to inform them. Do we have a deal?"
"I think," Vidanric replied, trying to hold back a very un-courtier-like grin, "that you will make a fine queen."
"Does that mean you'll go?"
"How could I pass up an opportunity like this?" He kissed me and then went back to his work. I glanced at the sun through the window and realized it was almost midday.
"Oh no! I must go! I am supposed to meet Geral for the horse race this afternoon and I still need to bathe! Sorry I couldn't spend more time with you this morning, Danric. I love you, and I hope I will see you tonight?" I quickly turned and walked to the tapestry, turning back to see Vidanric nod his head and wave goodbye, before turning back to the letter on his desk.
*************************************************************************************************************
As I rode up to the starting line with Geral beside me, I surveyed the course we were to ride that day. Since the early summer rains had only stopped a week ago, the ground was still thoroughly wet, though not wet enough to stop a race. Due to the ground being wet, much to my disappointment, the course selected was a simple track, flat with no jumps to spare the horses injury. I enjoyed the tougher courses because they were easy to win on due to my experience riding mountain trails. These courses, however, denied me my advantage and set me on a level playing field with my other friends who were to ride. This day there were not that many, for most courtiers do not fancy getting splattered with mud, but the tried and true horse-lovers were mounted up – Renna, Trishe, Bran, Savona, Geral, and I were the select few who would brave the mud.
I won the race, though not without a tough fight to the finish with Savona, who rode his pure bay Warmblood, Antigo. Antigo was one who had beaten me before, but this day I had elected to ride Fjorta, a mare by Vidanric's own fast grey, Gothic Prize. Fjorta did me proud and I won the race with half a length to spare.
The racers and spectators then retired to Trishe's room, where most of the competitors changed into clean clothes, and ate and talked of this race and past ones. The remainder of the day went agreeably, and I walked back to my rooms with Bran as my escort.
Author's note: I've had this idea in my head for a while, about exactly how Bran and Nee, and subsequently the rest of Court, discover Mel and Danric's romance. I, in fact, wrote it a while ago, but I lost that one so I rewrote it. Unfortunately for me, this one seems like it will take a while longer, for I can't seem to make Meliara do what she is supposed to, and now she's gone and planned a vacation I will apparently have to type up…:: annoyed look:: Anyway, I will put up the next chapter as soon as I figure out the best way to write it. Hopefully it will be in a couple of days! Reviews always help me speed things up, and you might give me an unknown idea of how the rest of my story should go.
It seemed that the Court was mad with social gatherings, perhaps due to the fact that since the Merindar threat that everyone suspected (though no one ever spoke of) was finally gone, the courtiers finally felt the freedom to gather with friends and make up for time lost to Galdran.
This particular day I had joined Bran, Nee, Elenet, and Vidanric for a goodbye breakfast for Elenet. She was departing later that day for Grumareth, for now that her uncle had been killed, she had officially become the Duchess of her lands and felt that needs drew her back to her lands to calm her people after their former lord's latest folly. Another, underlying reason for the group gathering was to informally congratulate Vidanric on his decision to finally take on the full responsibility of the Remalna crown he so well deserved. Nee, being the observant person she was, also was interested in the true reason behind Vidanric's sudden decision to be crowned, for she knew he had been waiting for something more than the Merindar threat to come to conclusion.
I spent the entire breakfast not speaking, and even though my brother found this unusual he elected not to speak of it in front of everyone, though I was positive he would call me out on it at a later, more private time. It seemed that the time he spent with Nee had given him a greater sense of tact than he had possessed prior, which I was eternally grateful for. In my own defense, I had spent the entire meal quiet because I was trying my hardest not to seem to obvious about Vidanric's and mine change in social status, as I was sure he was trying to do also, but he was obviously having a much easier time of it because he carried on as normal, talking and laughing and acting completely normal. We had chosen not to yet tell anyone at Court of our new relationship until we had worked everything out ourselves, for we both knew that unless things seemed at peace between us, many other court women would latch on to any possible reason to try to wedge between us, and I want to spare myself the hours I knew I would spend plotting the painful deaths of many court ladies. So for the time being, Vidanric and I kept a secret between only ourselves and Mora, for she knew all my affairs whether I wished her to or not.
When breakfast had finished, I took my leave, as did Vidanric and Bran, to let Nee and Elenet say their goodbyes in a more private setting. I hurried to my rooms to change into a different gown, for I had intended to spend the remainder of the morning studying in the library and my afternoon was claimed by Geral for a horse race between various members of the Court, which I would be participating in. I donned on of my less formal gowns and started through the elaborate hallways and corridors towards the library, where I knew I would most likely find a specific blonde man answering mail and waiting for me.
As I had expected, Vidanric had retreated to the archive almost immediately after breakfast. I suspected that if he did not think it would arouse concern from his mother, he wouldn't have changed out of his morning clothes, which were less than proper for our informal breakfast; he would have headed straight from Nee's rooms to this very archive. He glanced up as I batted aside the tapestry and entered the room, smiling as I came over to give him a quick kiss before going book hunting in the shelves.
"Am I less important than books now, my dear Lady Meliara?" Vidanric drawled in his most cynical voice, amused at my preoccupation with the books.
"Currently, yes," I responded, causing laughter to appear in his eyes as I poked my head out from between shelves.
"Can I assist you in finding a specific book then, so I can return to admiring your beauty whilst you sit next to me and read?"
"Not really. I am not looking for anything specific, just something from a recent queen, so I can study up on how to correctly go about courting the future king in public. I wouldn't want to cause either of us embarrassment before our wedding day."
Vidanric stood up and caught my hand, an anxious look deep in his eyes. "Does that mean you want to be my queen?" I could tell he was nervous, for his breathing had become slightly faster. I was quickly learning to read his extremely subtle emotions and see through the court mask I had once though impenetrable.
"Yes, Danric, I want to be your wife, and I suppose if queen must come in the package, I can live with it," I replied, my eyes dancing. Vidanric caught me in a hug that was disturbingly like one of Bran's exuberant embraces, catching me off guard. 'He's spending entirely too much time with my brother,' I thought, laughing as he set me back on the floor and caught my lips in a soft kiss.
The kiss, originally soft and romantic, rapidly became fierce and passionate, our minds following the same though pattern – we were soon to be husband and wife. Yet, before it got out of hand in such an open place, Vidanric came to his senses and broke away from me, breathing heavily, but smiling nonetheless. He grabbed my hand and lead me through the shelves to, handing me a small book written by a largely unknown queen.
"She was much like you, well, kind of. The only true parallel is that she came from a small family with little power and refused to come to Court until generally forced," Vidanric explained. "I don't know how much it will inform you of how to properly court me, but for your information, I truly don't much care exactly how you go about it, just simply that you do." He kissed me softly once again before returning with a sigh to his work at the desk.
I walked over to sit next to him, reading the farthest thing from my mind at the time. "What is wrong, Vidanric?" I asked softly.
"I'm just a little tired, that's all. Its nothing you need to worry about, love. I'm sure whatever I may be coming down with will dissipate once all this work is done."
After a more through look at my fiancé, I was angry at myself for letting him get into this position. 'Calm down,' I though to myself. 'I've only decided to realize his existence about two days ago; there was nothing I could do to stop this.' Out loud, however my thoughts ran in an entirely different pattern. "Vidanric, you and I are going to take a trip," I declared.
"A trip? Where? I am afraid I simply do not have the time. There are only a couple of months left before the wedding and our coronation. I have too much work to do," Vidanric said, looking more tired than ever, while looking over the overflowing bag of mail he had to plow through in only a short amount of time.
"I really do not care, darling. You are ill, you are always ill, don't tell me your not. As your future wife, I prescribe a two week long trip to Tlanth with me as your escort. We can leave tomorrow and be back in plenty of time for my brother's wedding. And an added bonus, we would be there by ourselves…" I winked and let the implications hang in the air.
"Do you not think it would seem a little odd that you and I, who apparently only recently got past hating one another, or more to the truth, you got over hating me, take a trip, alone, to your county where there will be none but ourselves? I know I am usually the subject of Court gossip, but I rarely ever freely let myself walk into that sort of pit."
"Well, that's simple. I had been talking to you of the Hill Folk, and you believe, after such a spectacular show of power in the Throne Room, that no good king should go without any type of introduction to those magical creatures. So you questioned me about it, me being the only person you know that is familiar with the Hill Folk, and I agreed to escort you to my mountain to teach you what I know of them so you could be a better king. Of course, you and I will have already told our closer friends of our relationship, as not to worry them about me cutting your head of at Erkan Astiar, but the entire Court will be largely unawares until we come back and elect to inform them. Do we have a deal?"
"I think," Vidanric replied, trying to hold back a very un-courtier-like grin, "that you will make a fine queen."
"Does that mean you'll go?"
"How could I pass up an opportunity like this?" He kissed me and then went back to his work. I glanced at the sun through the window and realized it was almost midday.
"Oh no! I must go! I am supposed to meet Geral for the horse race this afternoon and I still need to bathe! Sorry I couldn't spend more time with you this morning, Danric. I love you, and I hope I will see you tonight?" I quickly turned and walked to the tapestry, turning back to see Vidanric nod his head and wave goodbye, before turning back to the letter on his desk.
*************************************************************************************************************
As I rode up to the starting line with Geral beside me, I surveyed the course we were to ride that day. Since the early summer rains had only stopped a week ago, the ground was still thoroughly wet, though not wet enough to stop a race. Due to the ground being wet, much to my disappointment, the course selected was a simple track, flat with no jumps to spare the horses injury. I enjoyed the tougher courses because they were easy to win on due to my experience riding mountain trails. These courses, however, denied me my advantage and set me on a level playing field with my other friends who were to ride. This day there were not that many, for most courtiers do not fancy getting splattered with mud, but the tried and true horse-lovers were mounted up – Renna, Trishe, Bran, Savona, Geral, and I were the select few who would brave the mud.
I won the race, though not without a tough fight to the finish with Savona, who rode his pure bay Warmblood, Antigo. Antigo was one who had beaten me before, but this day I had elected to ride Fjorta, a mare by Vidanric's own fast grey, Gothic Prize. Fjorta did me proud and I won the race with half a length to spare.
The racers and spectators then retired to Trishe's room, where most of the competitors changed into clean clothes, and ate and talked of this race and past ones. The remainder of the day went agreeably, and I walked back to my rooms with Bran as my escort.
Author's note: I've had this idea in my head for a while, about exactly how Bran and Nee, and subsequently the rest of Court, discover Mel and Danric's romance. I, in fact, wrote it a while ago, but I lost that one so I rewrote it. Unfortunately for me, this one seems like it will take a while longer, for I can't seem to make Meliara do what she is supposed to, and now she's gone and planned a vacation I will apparently have to type up…:: annoyed look:: Anyway, I will put up the next chapter as soon as I figure out the best way to write it. Hopefully it will be in a couple of days! Reviews always help me speed things up, and you might give me an unknown idea of how the rest of my story should go.