Chapter 24: I am not just a pawn (Aurora)
"Young lady come back here!" The words rang through the lavish halls of Castle Aath, the stronghold of House Mert in the Northern Free Plains. The head of house was in no mood to deal with the rebellion of a daughter unwilling to do her duty for her people. The lord Mert had brokered a peaceful resolution to the potential chaos that would have engulfed his lands and the lands around Aath that rely on the winged knights of the Mert for their protection and safety. This was a paramount choice for the lord to make as he knew the size and power of the Bruin force and the ability to call upon even more soldiers without much of a lag time behind it. The people of his realm were calm and loved the coastal lowlands for fishing and fresh salty air for the lungs. He knew they would not be able or interested in enduring the sour days of warfare and sieges. He desired to in no way see the flush fields turn to cinder and ash or even latrines for camping soldiers. He wished the walls and aqueducts of his fore fathers to remain in place and stay intact.
"Father I am not your pawn!" Aurora returns to her father's sight after storming off after the news of her marriage was announced. She was easily one of the most beautiful women physically in all of Wiera and as such men had been seeking her for passion since as early as her 11th birthday as nobles from her peer group and older men alike could all see that she would grow into becoming the vision she is today. Her skin was milk without curding or blemish, her hair though shorter and never braided which was an odd choice for a high born woman was perfect for her sword craft. Years ago her father saw her through more than just the eyes of a father adoring his beloved gift from the heavens. He saw that she would become the very woman that stands before him today. Her mother was a Valkyrie rider of Mert, the specialty fighting force of the Mert, women and smaller frame men whom ride atop flying Pegasus into combat. A force that allowed the Mert to become suzerain over much territory without breaking fully the annexing laws of the free plains. With the heritage of her mother at her back it was easy to convince Aurora to take up sword play. Of which she was no slouch. She had a natural talent and her slender frame allowed swift motion and a fluidity that was like the waters that were channeled throughout their prominent homes and edifices that adorned the land her family.
"You're not a child anymore Aurora, please stop acting like one." The words were truth, lord Mert sought only to protect his people and those under his care and believed a peaceful submission was the best course of action to ensure their collective survival. Aurora was nearly 30 years of age and while still sought after by nearly every known bachelor and lord of the lands the lord knew that his years of being patient with his daughter's refusal to marry all that put forth their name or offered boundless riches to the house were nearing an end. Lord Mert had no other children and while there were secondary families ready to claim the head of house behind him the effects of a plague long since passed had ravaged their family lineage, lord Mert saw this as also a promise for their name to live on, even if it meant for Aurora to no longer smile as she often had.
"I am not being childish, you're scared!" She screamed back at her father. She believed that the right thing to do was not to bend the knee to Chile Bruin and offer herself to his son but to stand for the people and the liberty of the realm. She had heard the repots fly in about the sacking of the southern cities and the turmoil in the south central plains, most notably being the decimation of Jule and House Savoy. She feared the whips and the chains of such a tyrant ruling over her favorite places, the coastline devoid of life as industry and strip fishing to fed the Bruin mouths absent fair trade, the hills covered in forts and angry soldiers, women of peace becoming nothing more than tavern wenches to feed their bastard children. Aurora saw this in the incoming demand of her father, and wept as she felt him a coward for not standing with the other Houses challenging the Bruin.
Lord Mert placed his hand upon his treasured daughter's cheek, she had never truly seen the terrors of war unlike he had decades earlier. He wiped the tears away with his finger, and kissed her forehead before pulling back and steeling his resolve. "The trade and treaty is made, you will be escorted to Dol in one week's time to marry in a fortnight beyond that Vespasian Bruin, heir to the House and perhaps the realm. THIS IS FINAL!"
Aurora could tell there was no reaching her father and that her efforts in this front would be nothing but vain and moot. Both decide to exit the halls, the lord back to his main chambers of discussion and audience to consult his advisors, and Aurora to the outer walls to find a place to let loose her emotions. She could tell that her father wanted to protect the people and wasn't truly a coward and yet the lack of drive to keep a wolf from their hen house enraged her so.
She moved with purpose, her sword at her side though no one in the lands would ever seek to harm her, gripping the hilt firmly in moments of harsh emotions comforted her, or at least kept her balanced enough to continue. She passes the market stalls and the pubs and the smiling faces of the people of Aath, all whom she had known for her whole life, and she feared for both their future and hers in a land foreign to her, more crowded and foul smelling as unlike Aath, the city of Dol was not well known for their proper sewer system and hygiene.
She finds her way to the top of a watch post where her and her friends had spent many a glorious day and full moon sharing stories and discussing all the wonders of life, it was where she felt most calm in the city to cool down her fiery heart.
"There you are sister." The voice called as the sound of wings flapping filled the air around the woman. As the Pegasus emerged and another young woman dismounted the flyer, she then embraced her dear friend. The two were not actually sisters but merely lifelong friends whom were raised alongside each other in the halls of Aath under the same tutors. She was Isla, a rider of the Winged Corp and the trusted bodyguard for Aurora at the request of her lady. Aurora smiled at her sight. She was always thrilled to see her good friend and though she was ill suited to be a bodyguard as her combat ability was nothing special she was a trusted friend and her Pegasus, helped the two get around the castle and city lands much easier at times.
"So you heard the news, Father seeks to sell me off so that Bruin can slowly strip us of everything for the benefit of his glory and kingdom that is forming south."
"He just wants to keep people alive doesn't he?" Isla was troubled by the news of course, but she did understand the fear the lord was displaying. "Besides I hear Vespasian is a really handsome young man! I'm sure you two will make wonderful angelic children that I can play with." There was a hint of real joy and sadness in her voice with that comment. Isla wasn't a well-known lady from the most prestigious house in all of Wiera. Her family were long time stable keepers for the past series of generations to house Aath. And while this did allow the members of the family to have the best of overall education experiences and live a life better than many of the other peasants in the realm even by the elevated standards of Aathian society, Isla, was more of a tomboy and being 30 years of age as well, she stood a woman absent a husband. While this was something that was a choice for Aurora, this was something Isla hungered in her heart for herself. She wanted to have little babies and teach them all about Pegasus and the skies. She wanted a husband who adored her and called her name sweetly in loving embrace. Yet there she stood, a happy soul with a best friend whom she adored engaged to a top lord in the whole world who was also known for being very easy on the eyes. Her dream, and yet it wasn't the dream of Aurora.
"Isla, I wish it were you in my place sister." Aurora hugged her friend tightly.
"WHY are you so opposed to being married?" Isla genuinely could not understand all these years how Aurora could sit and decline marriage proposal after marriage proposal from nearly everyone of value across Wiera.
"It isn't that I am not interested Isla. I just….I see these men who have clamored for my heart for decades now, even back when I was barely ten years old they were lining up. Some saw me only as a way to secure my father's lands so I feared they would assassinate him after the marriage. Some looked at me with too much lust in their eyes as though I were a fatty piece of cooked meat. And others I could just tell saw me as a goddess, but I could tell they were blind to see the person I am. I am not some goddess or some political pawn. I am Aurora Mert, and I feel no one through the years of courting and attempts at marriage has ever been able to look at ME and not around or through me." She says as she stares upon the green hills of the open country around them. She isn't selfish in her staying of marriage she just wants the right one to give her father's lands and herself to. Someone honorable and worthy, who steals her heart while also safeguarding it in his arms.
"You are looking for a myth." Isla says as she turns away from her friend.
"I know." The lady replies as they both are looking down in hurt unable to in the moment look upon each other.
"Vespasian will be a good husband. I know you don't want to hear this but he will be. I know it! And I'll be there with you to make sure that he is exactly as I hope he is for you."
"And I promise to find a man out there worthy of my beloved friend." Isla turns back toward her friend and hugs her from behind silently thanking her, hey both hated how the other in their own ways was jealous or at least envious of the other's situation in life. Yet, they truly cared for each other.
"Isla, since I only have one more week in these lands, let's go visit the coastline, like we used to every summer, and stay in a cottage out near Kale Wharf the fishing town."
"WHAT!" While the rider enjoyed the idea of getting out of the city for time and relaxing to let this upsetting news settle for Aurora, she feared their absence would upset lord Mert. "We can't do that there is still much to do here in preparation for the journey to Dol." As she was explaining this Aurora had already jumped from the rampart to a hay bale below as if she were still a small child at heart. She smiled as she lay in hay looking up at her frustrated and bewildered friend.
"We're going Isla, besides they can't have a wedding without, so they'll just have to be patient while we're gone. Besides maybe time at the coast will help me better see things or at least accept the view my father has toward this whole arrangement." The woman slithered off the hay and then quickly brushed herself off before darting toward the coast lands in the far distance beyond eyesight to the West. It would be a long run but Aurora saw it as a chance to clear her mind further and see the people of her realm perhaps for the last time as Aurora Mert, unencumbered.
Isla still atop the wall was thankful that she was dressed in her bodyguard soft leather armor and all she needed to do was swing by the stables and grab her canteen, travel pack and her lance. She was upset at the sudden action by her trusteed friend but smiled in her heart as she knew this was more like the Aurora she always knew and cherished. Also she loved the coastlands, the cool salty air just made her and her Pegasus feel free. So she was more than happy to hustle behind after her friend. "I'll catch up eventually sister. After all it isn't like you need me for protection."
As Aurora sprinted with purpose through the paths toward her favorite place, she shed thick watery tears that she allowed to adorn her cheeks and become her new makeup as with each paced step she knew these lands were perhaps lost to her forever, though in supposed protection of them.