A/N: For those of you who do not enjoy doing math, with all the ages in here, this is around Elestra's fifteenth birthday. Probably not much after she turned fifteen. This makes Alaerec around nineteen or twenty, and Ermliana sixteen, as her birthday is around two months before Elestra's and she's fourteen months older than her.

And I just found out I've been spelling Alaerec's name wrong! ::sobs:: Why didn't anyone tell me????

Also, here you find Elestra is just a little…bitter. And possibly OOC. However, I say that she's OOC because it is around, in my reasoning, fifty years before Crown Duel. Fifty years is a looooong time to change character.

Prelude to a Revolution

I was at the first Name Day ball of Lestran and Liselia's first child, Shandra, when Alaerec asked me to dance.

I loved to dance. It was possibly the only time these days that I was graceful, and it was very relaxing. Unfortunately, while Alaerec was a decent dancer, he was around eight inches taller than me. This, and the extremely stiff, jeweled fashions of the day, made for some very interesting dancing, but I suppose that was what made it fun.

As we danced, I watched Liselia be congratulated by all of Court. Marscopa stood there, congratulating Liselia and smiling at the baby. Ermliana, who, as part of the family, was sitting with Lestran and Liselia, glared daggers at Marscopa.

As a tartelande, a version of a very old dance with a similar name, began, I noticed a small girl next to Marscopa. "Oh…no."

Alaerec, who had had his eyes closed and his face tilted slightly upwards and he blandly hummed along to the music (which had made me want to laugh badly), looked down at me. "What is it, Less?"

"Look over at Marscopa." I said dully.

His eyes narrowed as they flickered over the Queen, but when they settled on Arthal he frowned. "Her? Oh, damn."

Arthal was now seven years old and a palace terror. She was cold, calculating, and tended to get the servants in trouble. Her brother, who was four, was worse, simply because he was pure evil and enjoyed breaking things. I often pitied young Derec Toarnevdar of Orbanith, who was three, and equally pitied young Timerius Astiar of Tlanth, who was eight, for they were the only children around the palace who were near the Prince and Princess' age. Thus they were designated as the official royal children's playmates.

Both Liselia and Ermliana looked ill when they saw Arthal. Alaerec murmured, "I think they need support," and we danced over to them.

I curtsied as I neared the Queen, and Alaerec bowed next to me. "Your majesties," I said coolly, "it's a pleasure to see you."

Marscopa grabbed my chin and tilted it up so I was forced to look in her face.
At first I stared in her eyes, but they were mildly hypnotic pools of cold gray-blue. I looked at her nose instead,for her eyes seemed to stare into my soul wickedly. She smiled rather hungrily, as if she wanted something of mine. "It's Elestra of Savona, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yes, your majesty."

Her smile widened. "And how is your darling mother these days?"

My mother was marvelous. She was happy and popular and quite a leader of Court society. For the Court society, actually, she was quite young. I swallowed. "She's just fine, your majesty. Have you heard otherwise?"

"Oh, no," she said. "I was merely…wondering."

Alaerec touched my hand quickly behind my back warningly. Ermliana, whom I could just see out of the corner of my eye, gave me a Be careful, Lessie look.

I swallowed. "It's been nice to talk to you, your majesty," I said. She let go of my chin. "Hello, Lady Arthal," I added.

She looked at me. I looked back at her, eyebrows raised. Then, she smiled (which was just a tiny bit scary) and said, "Hello, Lady Elestra."

The seven-year-old then proceeded to have a civil conversation with me (while Marscopa talked with Liselia and Alaerec watched me and Arthal, looking stunned) about Queen Thearez's memoir The Queen from the Plains.

I have to admit, I was quite stunned myself.

Marscopa suddenly turned from Liselia angrily, and said sharply, "Come along, Arthal."

Arthal smiled at me coldly, and said, "'Twas a pleasure talking with you, Elestra. Perhaps the conversation will not bore me to tears next time."

"I feel quite the same, Lady Arthal," I responded, feeling my face heat up. "Do talk to me again sometime; perhaps when you're more awake it will be more interesting."

We smirked at each other, and then she turned and ran to catch up with her mother.

Alaerec was giving me that one assessing look he had, eyebrows raised. Liselia was talking to my mother. Ermliana was giving me her own look, in which one eyebrow was raised almost to her hairline.

I responded by waggling my eyebrows at both of them and then as I turned to walk over to the table where I could get food, I was stopped by someone around my age.

"May I have this dance?"

He was a half a head taller than me, and had what looked like a permanent sneer on his face. I asked, as politely as I could, "Who are you?"

He bowed, a little jerkily. "Nenthar Debegri. I'm Prince Galdran's cousin. My father, Inclenius Debegri, is Marquis of Merindar. My latemother, may she rest in peace,was the King's sister." He smiled arrogantly at me.

Ermliana touched her fan, which was hanging from a ribbon at her waist. I pulled up my own fan and waved it in Sarcastic Pleasantry Mode. "I'd be delighted to dance, your grace."

He looked at my fan with an boredom. "Oh, you are one of those women who indulge in that female foolery?"

Alaerec, who didn't carry a fan but used his fingers in the same way, motioned On Guard to me. Ermliana was doing the same with her fan. I shot a glare at both of them, and replied, my fan in the position of Giving Oneself the Lie, "I find that a fan is an essential tool for keeping myself cool after dancing all night."

"No code, eh? Somehow I don't believe that."

I attempted to smile at him, but I think it came out like a grimace. "Oh, no, sir. Just a way to cool off in the warm air."

He really was a foul fellow. Venal, and power-hungry, and definitely hated Arthal for being the one who would inherit the Merindar lands, instead of him.

He wasn't a very good dancer, either.

The ball itself might've been interesting, but it was the week afterwards when all chaos broke loose.

Of course, Debegri, who was staying in Athanarel for no apparent reason, seemed to follow me around for awhile, looking like a lost puppy and making stumbling, horrible conversation with Ermliana, Alaerec, and myself.

Ermliana could barely control her contempt. Alaerec didn't like him, but one couldn't tell due to the fact that he constantly wore his Court mask. I was somewhere between the two of them.

But, of course, I was the one who messed everything up.

Debegri was as horrible a swordsman as he was everything else. However, he thought he was an excellent swordsman, due, I suppose, to the lack of good swordsmen at Merindar (Merindar had a bad militia, bad lands, and a bad debt. In fact, the only things they really had were the Kingship and a long stretch of South Mountain River, which had very fine fishing, and supplied most of Remalna's fish.). So, naturally, the first morning he was at morning practice, he challenged me to a bout.

We were, surprisingly, equally matched. Several times I even managed to use his size against him, and was one hit up on him by the time we tired, twenty minutes into the fight.

We circled, breathing hard, and I noticed that the bout had drawn a crowd.. Debegri adjusted the grip on his practice sword for a moment, and Alaerec, standing behind Debegri, motioned for me to strike. I lunged quickly, thrusting my sword into his ribs, in what would've been a fatal move, had we been using real swords.

(Of course, the move was not a part of any strategy whatsoever, but I figured that whatever worked, well, worked.)

Alaerec, Ermliana, and several others cheered. I grinned triumphantly; it was the first match I'd ever won. Debegri spit on the ground and threw down his sword angrily. Ermliana snickered. "What's wrong, Debegri? A little sore about losing?" she taunted.

I lost control of my own façade as well. "Is it because I'm smaller than you or because I'm a girl?"

Debegri glared at me, his eyes so full of hate I was momentarily stunned. I shrugged it off, and continued. "Found out you're not such a fine swordsman, eh, Nenthar? You think I was good, but Alaerec over there could trounce you in an instant."

Debegri snarled at me, "I thought you were a nice girl. A polite girl. Not an arrogant bitch so ecstatic over winning a stupid bout for the first time that she ridicules her opponent. You'll get it, Elestra. You just wait."

He turned and stalked off.

I sat down in the middle of the court, stunned. Alaerec and Ermliana walked over to me; Ermliana looking triumphant, Alaerec's Court mask gone.

I read in his eyes worry, fear, and a single sentence.

You shouldn't have done that.

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Reviews:

Stargirl98: Thanbk you for the title suggestions!

Wake-Robin--Sorry, this chapter didn't have much romance for you in it. I had some problems getting it to come out correctly and then I had writer's block and then my computer froze and I lost like half of it, and then I washopeless, and then my 'puter (or Snookums, as I fondly call him) recovered it for me, and so I kinda just cut off the chapter short. If that made sense.

FelSong: Thanks for the title suggestion! I make up lame titles, too, as is the reason I started the freakin' poll in the fist place, but trust me, yours are much much better.

OK. Here's the update on THE UBER-GRAND TITLE COMPETITION AND POLL:

I have some new titles, and a vote.

Here are the suggestions:

-Life of an Elder, from Moonsong

-Sign of the Second Derivative, from aussiegirl of sunshine.

Don't understand what the hell the above phrase means? Aussiegirl says: "I don't know how good you are in maths but to find the second derivative you have to differentiate an equation twice and by doing that it allows you to find out a whole lot of different things that you didn't realise at first just by looking at the original thing. But if you hate maths dont worry."

--Times Past from FelSong

--Legend in the Making

--Budding Sovereign

--Presage to Righteousness, all from StarGirl98

Feel free to offer more suggestions--there's still two more chapters before I close the suggestion box.

I hope to have this all sorted out by chapter 10.

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Also, I have recently decided to come out into the open. ::deep breath, bursts into tears:: I admit it!!! I am a review whore!!! ::sobs:: Please review and tell me what you think...I'll give you not one, not two, but three whole cyber-cookies!!!! Now that's an offer you can't resist!

Signing off, /br> nebulia