War Has Come While Night Hath Fallen –
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Chapter 17: Abandonment Issues; The Seer's Gift
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Princess Richard rose to a wince by his navel. The steady thumping of a horse's hooves and the scent of cold air on the hilltops of green mist, it all had Richard bolting from where a recovered Selene held the boy prince from flying into the dirty. "You awake, dear!"
"My lord….what…..what did you…..where are you taking me?? I was drugged upon –
"That attitude is not meant for a future wife to a king." Selene smirked as the horse's dual trot, then stopped. The rider dismounted from the carriage as Richard's whole body tensed. Slade in his furs with his armor replaced to cover him fully was there and coming in through the door as the boy hitched a breath, clutching his stomach. Another kick, this travel to another kingdom was under oath, yet he was no consensual to whatever the king might plan to do. Slade entered only his head, the man's one eye and tied back white hair letting the boy know that his plan was always to run back to the king's halls with a willing wife.
If only she had not regret her decision. "Your choice was to have Selene's curse spare our bodies. It has come to this, young prince. The child will be born, and you will not reject the offer your father gladly took on your consent."
"I didn't….Selene said that if the pregnancy ended…prematurely, I would die. That there would be no hero for our story. My father does not need to know this. He will surely come searching when the time doth arrive."
"And if it does, should it?"
Richard frowned at the question. "If the babe…what are you saying?? I'm not to remain here. Once you have your heir –
"You do not understand, child." Snorted the king. "That child born to us, will be the thing to keep you to me; its mother, and there you may even look to enjoy your new life. Should King Wayne think to exact his vengeance and come to the mountain keep with sword in hand, you will have then only decided to fight for your new family."
"N- never! I'll let the child return to my father and –
"She or he has no right to the throne. Either it remains dead, or dejected as a bastard child. There will be no love for a babe born between warring clans."
"My father has no clan, he has a capital." Shot the prince, "And he will come. Jason is next to the throne. I will join a –
"Would the dear mother hope to give birth on this cobble – trail, then?" Wondered Selene, making the boy button his lips at her thoughts. "I – he would never!"
"The longer you sit and fight your fate, the likelihood the pregnant mother goes into labour before her time." Selene sighed, petting the boy's head. "Wi…whu….wit…..ch….." He let his eyes shut as Slade nodded and left the witch to her enchantments. He mounted the front of the carriage as they went on their future journey back to Defencia. The boy would have to change his views of Slade's people. Barbarians did not cut down forests and allow their numbers to fester as easily as Wayne's "capital." The had very little to offer him now that Grandl was dethroned on his first day.
It served him, for trying to kill the king's unborn, newborn.
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Stefania was sure that her involvement with the rebels was over, yet she'd seen her father weeping at his throne as she didn't have the courage enough to ask why all of his courtiers were tending to his mourning period. In that state, Alf and Jason worked with the court remaining to repair any damage that Wirlon had done upon his rise. Less thann a year and a half, the king had nearly slaughtered every boar from their lands. Imprisoned hundreds for transgressions against the new king's rule. Even the policies in place made Wayne's stomach churn. He had much to do and little time to cry for his stolen son. Plans were underway to see to Damian's growing security; that should Wirlon pull what he had out of vengence before Bruce, there would again be a bloodbath. The streets were cleared of soldiers and civilian bodies; strewn up as straw beds, one atop the other and burned to sacrifice to the god of their faire country.
Jason, in the instance Bruce held no control and took his reign to stop the mad man too far, was appointed next in line unofficially. A role Richard might have had, had he stayed to allow that chance – yet, Selene sensed a king in that boy's belly. She went to collect and surely would betray others as she was willing to. Her sisters were confined to a place that the great oracle had deemed naturally the best solution. Princess Stefania asked Alf who this person was, and he claimed she was a lunar ally to the bat god.
Stefania rushed out of the castle to seek this oracle, for they had to be the very person she had heard in rumor. She wished to know so she went to Royland with a proposal.
"I will…..give you a many of my gems from my mother, if only you take me to the oracle of lunar rites! I must speak to her."
There, Royland instead took her hand and with a bold bit of hubris, he kissed her upon her cheek. Smiling as she gawked back as he grinned and pulled away. " That will be payment, plenty. You must not be a stranger. Ollie will be of no help. We'll go it all as we want; I know an entry to the tunnels below the city where she is said to dwell." She agreed as they left the meeting place. A hand to her lips, she recalled how both her father and Oliver shared a history of knighthood together, until Oliver lost his way to the pint.
Yet, without his aid and kindness, her family might have never found each other.
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Jason moved to the kitchen where a glutinous princess was falling to remember her standing. Later, he learned of her custom and her people were very different, even their eating habits. "Eating with much gusto shows that the food will not spoil. You must partake! This is called, cake? It is rather round for a sweet morsel."
"More so for the ones to wish to consume it. You must tell me, Kor'anna…" Jason got to one knee as she continued to eat her fill, shocking the cooks and making the chef throw up his hands in a fit. "She will rob us of our resources, lordship! This is unacceptable!"
"We shall survive one time, I will speak to our guest. Please. See to the bread for the people harmed by the enemy. They must be fed as well." Jason was aware of the face of Wirlon and how Grandl had been far worse to leave the city into a state of unease. War was the only thing that would have put them in a place to never return…
"The enemy is vanquished, yet your elder brother is in the clutches of that mountain troll." Sighed Kor'anna as she wiped her fingers onto a cloth napkin. "Will the king not locate his " bummmrofgkill?"
"Come again, princess?"
""A son, a young care -taken since they were small." She translated. "You care for him as well, do you not?"
"He is securing us, the king of Defencia will not attack if he stays and…." Jason curled his fists. "He will fight, we will not let his efforts and memories vanish. Once a child is born, there will be a raid to return the prince and his new children here. We will not kill the innocent."
"Oh, that kindness in your heart, I do truly wish to one day meet the man who is your supposed rival one day!" She smiled with a bit of cake still at the top of her lip. Jason's face turned to the reddest rush as he rose and cleared his throat. "Will you join me, to see to the recovery of the people? I….wish for them to have the honor to recognize our newest ally to the kingdom."
The cooks started to gossip and THAT made both turn to blush too red.
" Aww, he's in head over for that princess. Such a sweet dear. I believe it should be the case –
"That ruffian? Prince Jason has always been meant to no one worthy! He isn't even a king yet."
"I hope he proposes. They look adorable, don't they?"
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The two made it out, running and laughing to the gardens as Barbenthal however, was not one to a happier end. Richard was her betrothed, and now…she looked at her body. Mangled as she wept from a distance. The stained glass reflected her pain in a million tiny refractions of shaded hues of color. Red, orange, the passion she had once missed.
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King Bruce did wallow.
He did so when the man had been able to recover by Damian's mother, Lady Talia.
He did so when his kingdom was taken from him, his family along with it thrown into rooms and cages as beasts, the beasts being those who had done harm to the king's good citizens.
He cried endless tears upon the death if his parents; had it not been fir Luke's father's last wishes and Alf of the Elfhilm, he would have never had the sole duty again of protecting that which he cherished.
And now, s society run by his hated foes was to blame for it all. Sekene was a part of the cult of the Great Fowl and the realm of the Nyygt Hauk. Whatever the reason, she was going to be tried for treason and banished to Lord Knoll's domain for her transgressions with the other witches. How had they ever gotten this far? Temptress, yes. They were….yet Bruce knew how to overcome such need he had Lady Valerie, all to his own want of her to be a part of his rise before and to the end of their days. She was beautiful, knowledgeable and kind. There was nonetheless…. Talia.
If Damian stayed, there would be want for an alliance with the dessert country's ruler. Ra's had done an honor by releasing the bat within Wayne, yet he'd abused the gift. He had lost.
His son…
He, his son. Now partly with the parts of a woman. Never borne for such things, Slade would pay dearly for making not only Richard, yet his father suffer so greatly. He raked upon the sad and told them in a voice while they stayed at one knee, "YE HATH NEW ORDERS. Scout the world if you must. My son will be found and Defencia will know the might once more of the country she raped and dethroned in only moons – we shall be by daybreak and set upon the mountain keep when the time in then nigh. We shall eradicate Defencia from the globe should she stutter. Should our brother Richard come to us as his former self. I will have none of it. Here, your orders are given."
He would war, if only hos son was harmed in any way.
If ever Slade grew unwise, Bruce would end him with one blade down the back of his immortal spine.
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Back on the caravan trail, up a mountain and behind a great construction of stone; there stood twin idols. Stone in a great blue hue as Slade pointed to the opening that remained sealed. "Only those committed to the Goddesses of War and Prosperity may enter." He told the now drowsy, yet awake boy - prince. "Hail, for Defencia is the home of warriors and the strong willed." He seemed quite well in fact, while nausea saturated the bed spread that Selene had propped up to have this king's wife reassured of her agreeing to be here. ''Then, if Defencia holds such power, why hath ye not conquered for more than an era. Sir, knight -
"Are you mindless, ingrate!" She hissed as Richard watched the door bang open. Selene pulled back as a horse and bridal came into view from outside the carriage. The king stood there, mind made as Richard growled, swallowing his words back down for the right moment. "Selene, take the reins. "We'll be walking outside for the rest of our journey's duration."
Richard budged but not before Selene shoved the sleepy mother to be into the king's arms. Richard kicked and yelled, yet the barbarian king only moved to their other horse. The ride the king had promised as the stone gates parted for only he. "I hath conquered now. The gods do not lie." He smirked as Richard yelled and let out a shrill shriek – The man however was not without tools. "Selene?" He called back, and magic gagged the rest while tying up the bloated package over the king's shoulder. "You should behave." The king told his tired bride, "Or lest you harm the child we've produced before we've ever to enter the great walls of a true king's fortress."
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Princess Stefania went with Royland not a place fit for those with a strong set of nostrils. She plugged hers as Royland as she descended into the dank tunnels of stink and prayed to the great bat that no dis – ease could touch their skin. "How much farther much we go, Hudd?" Stefania said with a nasally breath; still holding her nose pinched shut. Her cloak from the castle now ruined beyond a simple wash. "Whence my brother Jason becomes king, I shall tell the oracle to dwell in the day, not in the dark."
"She hath chosen to be here, majesty." Royland told the child. "She is a creature of dark futures and, to ask something of a seer that way brings nothing but strife."
"How so?" Stefania cocked her head at the comment. "There is the moon, is there not? She is human –
"Only just." Royland gulped as he told Stefania the tale of the oracle's birth. That she was in fact not of this world and stayed closest to her god to gain the messages she did. Far below. She even sent the very wicked to a place called the kingdom of Knoll, where a dragon king was cursed to consume all of Wayne's enemies – so sayeth the one to summon the dragon ever to their world.
"Knoll, I wonder how well acquainted she is with other countries…. Defencia??"
"SHHH!!" Royland put a finger to his own lips. "You'll wake the dead –
Smoke and fumes bubbled up as the two walked faster. "This tunnel…it is truly under the earth. How deep –
"We're about to find out, highness." So, they went deep below the soil and to rock, where steam billowed out and even Roy had to keep his mouth and eyes covered from the toxic fumes.
A chant had the characters sneaking into the lair of a witch, to watch and stop. They saw a woman in white robes and a white cloak, red orbs upon her waist, her skin in numerous red marks and her eyes shut as she sat cross legged to the ground. The vortex she had opened was closing, and another image had Stefania watching as –
Alf?
"Thank you, kind seer. Once more, I shall alert the king of your continued aid."
"I receive no thanks. Go, I have guests to attend." Alf looked at her not to question, but bowed and headed to a separate location and a tunnel on the other side of the room. She opened her eyes to reveal darkness inside until, they reverted to a dark, violet. "Come hither, my children." She said nothing else as she sat and shut her eyes. Her mind aware of their presence even while asleep.
Stefania puffed out her chest before Roy could stop her. She stood before the mysterious, violet haired oracle and took in an inhale quickly. "I, am Princess –
"I know of you. The girl who sided with a rebel army. King Wayne's young daughter. He has many, yet I have lived below to guide my children for eons."
"How can that ever be?" Stef ignored the fact that Roy had just face palmed himself.
"You look to be no older than my eldest ally. Katherine. How do you say this when I can clearly tell you are nothing more than of age to be a seer at all?"
"In my realm." The woman opened her eyes and splayed out her fingertips to the air as pictures formed. "I did not choose my fate. To live in darkness gives me what I wish, what the king deserves for saving me. You, wish to save someone precious. Is that right?"
"It…."
She turned to see Roy coaxing her on, so she nodded to him, then to the young seer. "I do, my brother was taken far off to a country called "Defencia." The gods of war would bar us from entry, and the city is well hidden. I want to aide my brother Prince Jason and my father in finding how to break the man who took from us."
"I condone not this, vengeance is great. Too great, I fear. The boy must birth an heir, if he does not…. he shall perish." The oracle shook her head.
"Then, can we not avenge and go after the witch that took his life from us??" Stef begged. "He was not meant to have anything nest where it doth not belong?? What of your curses? Can you not fix the cat to hand over our prince?"
"I have not the power, only he must." She spoke sadly. "Whence the child is born by the last change of seasons, then only must the prince be sure to escape by the god's mercy."
"No…" Stefania stood back and her fists shook at such hogwash! "There is a way to break it, why was my father's advisor here?? Was he after the same cure?"
"He seeks a future for your brother, Prince Jason. The king is now let free to his pain, should this occur –
"Father is not insane, seer!" She said it like an insult, before her eyes brimmed over and the girl was…forgiven. "I was once as you. I wanted to be close to those I cared for and in the end, my homeland was destroyed. It was your father then that took me in. Yet the people long ago, feared witches. I was banished against his orders to leave me be by those afraid of my predictions. They sent me to leave, yet here I remained and the king proposed I be well tended to. That my word be that which could save worlds. So, I tend to be in secret. To only act if dangers arise. You know of the vortex?"
"T- t- the one with the d- d- dragon l- lord?" Royland stuttered. "Y- y – yes…."
"Yes, that dragon is my long-lost betrothed." She smiled. "He takes the warriors and judges those fair, to those rotten for the king and I. The executioners here still are paid well, yet torture is un-allowed. The Great bat willing."
"Father…. did this for you, or for his image?"
"He did so, because there can be none other as worthy, but a half – goddess." The oracle smiled. "Your brother will not end his own life, and in time he will come to us as a stronger warrior than you can possibly imagine."
"Please…." Stef looked into the seer's eyes to know the truth. That she would have to wait until she was old enough to start off on her journey. "If your prediction is so, then will father be devoured by his pain? Will Jason take to his throne and…. will, will Richard's child be a better one than us all?"
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