After the holidays come the deadlines and a nasty bout of flu. And while many in the Western countries have moved on since celebrating the New Year, I live in Singapore, where preparations are being made to welcome the Lunar New Year. Naturally, many of the shops will be closed for about a week, and people within my work circle are demanding updates and giving deadlines that are sometimes difficult to fulfill given the circumstances.
Have I bored you guys enough with my rantings? Oh, by the way. Check out the new anime called Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Run with the Wind). It's such an awesome anime, with catchy background music, and that ending for Season 1! I love it to bits. It reminds me of the anime Prince of Stride: The Alternative.
Title: Quomodo poterat Dominus meus es?
Inspired by: Chapter 50 of the Manga Akagami ni Shirayukihime
Character: Izana Wistalia
Rating: General
Status: Beta-ed chapter by RyuuNoOkaasan. Please check out her profile and support her works.
I perused the list of guests invited for the coronation for what seemed like the 20th time in the past three weeks, and felt a headache coming on after I finished reading. The list was more tedious than the one for the Ærra Jeola ball we held a few months ago.
The Castle went into a full-frenzied mode as soon as the news of the impending coronation was let out and then proceeded spread like wildfire. There were nonstop congratulations and well-wishers from the advisers and ministers, the members of the military and the guards, and even the household help themselves.
Maruko and Iyasu were both busy handling the official invitations to be sent to different parts of the kingdom, as well as to neighboring countries. It is imperative that none of the allies of Clarines and the crown are missed.
The replies from the invited are also coming in, burying us in a lot of paperwork, and in the logistics of accommodating them. Members of neighboring royalty will be housed within the Castle, where small private apartments will be allocated for their use. Accommodations must also be found for the servants and aides accompanying them. Some high-ranking aristocrats were chosen to accommodate the lesser neighboring nobility that will be coming, while diplomats and special envoys will be housed in separate houses and apartments within the city.
Security will be tight, and the city is anticipating a crowd. Already, there are plans for local festivities to be celebrated to coincide with the coronation. Visiting theater troupes and circus performers will be making detours to the city for extra coin, as audiences are guaranteed to line their pockets with money.
Kingdom of Cyrias
Kingdom of Asturia
Kingdom of Lothrien
Kingdom of Tanbarun
I lowered my pen. The Crown Prince of Tanbarun himself will attend the ceremony. A year ago, I would have welcomed this brat just because of my eagerness to get rid of Shirayuki. But now that I find myself torn by my attraction to Shirayuki, I find it unpleasant when I see familiar men who have once coveted her. Still, the prince has made amends - more than what I would have predicted - although I bristle when I recall how this brat bungled up her safety when she was visiting.
"Protocol dictates he must be escorted by someone of high rank.," Maruko murmured, jotting down Prince Raj's name in the list where accommodations must be made for him within the castle.
"Mistress Shirayuki would be ideal.," Miyoshi mused. "She's the Lady of Lunels, after
all." I saw Maruko shoot him a warning look. The youngest of my aides clammed up.
"Have The Lady of Lunels informed. She has a duty and obligation to host the Crown Prince. After all, she has been granted the honor of Peeress by the Prince himself." I drilled my instructions to Maruko, assigning the head seamstress to slot in extra pairs of hands to produce two week's worth of wardrobe for Shirayuki's use and disposal.
Absentmindedly, my fingers brushed the beaded coral and lapis lazuli grazing the side of my neck.
A grand ball will be held in the evening after the morning's coronation ceremonies. There is a high chance that Her Majesty, the soon-to-be Dowager Queen, will announce my engagement to Lady Haki during the coronation ball.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
I looked up. The hour for lunch had come. I signaled for my aides to have their much-needed break. With rustling of papers and ink bottles carefully being covered, they all scrambled about to quickly enjoy their free time, leaving me alone. I waved at Maruko that I would be joining them for lunch in a while.
As soon as the door closed behind them, I reached under my desk and pulled the drawer open to take out the thick and heavy parchment bearing a direwolf seal. The parchment bore traces of being folded and unfolded many times. Even though I've already read the contents and know them by heart, I often find myself reading this whenever I need to be reminded of my duty.
The House of Allulion humbly accepts thy offer of marriage. May the Gods bless thy Royal house an hundredfold for the honor bestowed.
Below, a series of signatures followed. I recognized Lord Makiri's craggly signature, followed by two of his Uncles and their seals. Protocol demands that there are at least two witnesses who knows of the offer of marriage. This is to prevent any misunderstandings and confirm that the lady is not being forced to marry. The two witnesses are answerable in the event the lady doth protest.
Smoothing out the document, I grabbed the ink stand to weigh down one corner and used a bundle of folders to weigh the bottom corners, before turning my attention to the enclosed smaller piece of paper.
It took me only moments to unfold the paper which was painstakingly creased to precision. Lady Haki loved folding papers into geometric patterns. She taught Zen how to fold paper cranes and paper boats. For a time when we were growing up and I would be busy with lessons from the palace teachers, she and Zen would manage to fill the main fountain with folded cranes and boats.
Lady Haki is precise with her work,. I can almost imagine her wielding a scalpel with the same dexterity as when Garack Gazelt assists the royal surgeons with their patients.
The letter only contained a sentence followed by a question mark. Quomodo poterat Dominus meus es?
Notes:
Quomodo poterat Dominus meus es? (Latin) - roughly translates to How could you, My Lord? It took me a while to find the correct phrase to match Lady Haki's mood when she wrote the letter. I watched more than 5 videos on famous Latin phrases, and read half a dozen articles on Latin phrases that are still in use today.
Researching this info brought back some childhood memories. My paternal grandmother was a devout Catholic and she took care of me when I was growing up. We didn't often attend masses together because she also took care of my sick grandfather, but when we did, she would often teach me Latin phrases that are used during Mass (the old priests used to perform Mass in a mixture of English, a little Latin, and the local tongue) I still remember phrases such as In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti (In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit); Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus (Holy, holy, holy); Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you), etc. Now, I'm not promoting religion here. I mostly appreciate hearing Latin sounds, or even other foreign languages - it's fascinating and interesting to me to listen to how people talk with different sounds and accents. Sadly, I do not pick up a foreign language so easily, but I am learning some during my travels.
Reading through manga chapters 48 to 52 a few times, I noted that Hisami Lugis (Lady Kiki's former suitor) is the vice-captain of the Sreg Knights circle. Out of curiosity, or perhaps to make things easier as I progressed through this multi-chapter series, I researched a little on the Knights' hierarchy during medieval Europe. The Knights are always found on the lowest tier, before the peasants; governing them are the Lords (vassals), and members of the nobility who support the current King. Depending on the how the order of knights are formed, their duties vary: protections of holy sites/places, protection of their liege, etc. It also got me thinking that in Clarines, there would be a lot of Knights and soldiers involved in supporting the Kingdom.
Details about the Sreg Knights are vague in the manga. Again, for ease of writing, I am exercising some creative license on their use and hierarchy, as well as creating some order to the people that will serve under Prince Izana. I decided to come up with 3 levels of Knighthood.
Sreg Knights Circle – obviously, the highest order of knighthood. Members of the nobility are sent to the Circle to be trained. It also includes skilled knights who have leveled up from the bottom. Mitsuhide came from this circle. I'm not sure about Lady Kiki's background training, though I'll assume that she also took considerable training from this circle as well. Sreg Knights are often candidates to become aides for members of the Royal family (Mitsuhide and Kiki serving Zen and my OCCs Maruko, Miyoshi, and Iyasu serving Izana). I would assume, therefore, that the other recurring characters who regularly communicate with the royal family have also been trained with the Sreg Knights. In addition to this, Izana's shadow guards are the special elite force of Sreg. The handful of these are under the direct control of Prince Izana.
Drake Knights Circle – This is created for my own practical reasons. Drake Circle comprises most of the low rank knights and soldiers who are assigned to guard the boundary walls, outposts, royal properties, Castles and the royal family of Clarines. They are divided into two: land and sea. Many of its members also undergo training at Sreg, and, if selected, are nominated to enter the Sreg Circle provided they have passed a series of grueling exams.
Zaffre Knights Circle – Not necessarily the lowest of all, but these are where the soldiers start their basic training. Many of the citizens are encouraged to undergo training for a few months and should they wish to have a career in the service of the Kingdom, they would undergo a series of physical exams before being elevated to the Drake Knights Circle. On special cases (like epidemic outbrakes), the Zaffree Knights are called on to support the Kingdom (even those who have left the training to pursue other interests).