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#Post#: 1262--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 9, 2015, 7:59 pm
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[center][font=Monotype Corsiva]Reserved[/font]
#Post#: 1768--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 9, 2015, 9:39 pm
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[center][font=Monotype Corsiva]The Message[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]It is always children that pay the price
of a man's war.[/font][/center]
Galene pulled up the thin scarf she wore around herself, her
gloved hands fumbling in the cold. Even though she was wrapped
up in thick furs, the chill still got to her. She blamed it on
living in a warm castle for most of her days; the common folk
that lived in Oding, at the base of the mountain and climbed it
steadily, hunting for the wolves in the winter, were used to it.
They wore cloaks thinner than hers and pelts that were of lesser
quality and they did not shiver in the cold night air. Instead,
they usually chuckled to one another, rubbing their hands to
stay warm and chattering about, moving with grace through the
snow while she fumbled through it.
She turned her head slightly to see her hunting companion, a
thin woman with dark wavy hair and flushed cheeks from the cold.
Her posture was erect and her bow was drawn, aimed at something
in the distance that Galene still struggled to see, even after
all her years of trying to.
"'S simple really," the girl said and let the arrow go. It
sailed across the night sky, a perfect arch that seemed to knock
the stars from their perch. "You just gotta know how they move."
In the distance, the arrow met its mark and Galene shuffled
closer, the clunky shoes that she wore making it difficult to
move. They had some kind of netting on the bottom, bound
together by wood that kept her from sinking into the winter snow
like a stone.
"And how do ghost rabbits move in the snow?" Galene asked as the
girl ran off, years of hunting in the wild making it easy for
her to maneuver, easier than it would ever be for Galene.
"Quickly," the girl shouted over her shoulder. Galene picked up
her own pace after the girl, churning up snow where the other
teenager had left mere indents in it.
"I still don't get how you people do this," Galene huffed,
stopping by the girl long after she had picked up the rabbit and
began carrying it back.
The other teenager grinned in response. "Not all of us were
raised in a stuffy castle, ya know. Some of us had to learn how
to survive out here without servants."
"I can survive without servants," Galene said in faux-distress.
"Gods Hecate, it's like you don't even believe in me."
Hecate laughed in response and patted Galene on the shoulder
with her free hand.
"Keep telling yourself that," Hecate said before glancing down
at the glowing cabins beneath them. She turned back to the
princess.
"Race you down?"
"You're on."
Their laughter followed them down the mountain side and into one
of the cabins, warming the air only slightly.
#Post#: 3846--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 2:24 pm
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The cabins before them were all rather quaint. They consisted of
at most three rooms with one main room serving as a multipurpose
area for meals and entertainment and work in some cases. Hecate
pushed open the door and led Galene inside. She toed off her
shoes and breathed in the smell of burning wood. The cabin
itself had been built of heavy limestone blocks hauled down from
the mountain to prevent any fires from appearing when they were
not wanted. It also had the side effect of keeping the building
warmer than if it had been wood.
"Your highness," Hecate drawled, poking fun at her royalty
again. Galene stuck her tongue out and laughed as Hecate rolled
her eyes, throwing the rabbit into a deep black pot and shuffled
over to a table carved from some ancient oak. She rifled through
the drawers and pulled out a skinning knife.
Galene edged forward, always eager to see how the food was truly
prepared. She knew that the servants cooked most of the food in
the castle and it disappointed her that she was never able to
see how anything was truly made, her mother insisting on Galene
being a proper lady and respecting the divide between the cooks
and the royals.
"But there is none," Galene would tell her. "Or there's not
supposed to be one."
"Galene Primordial," was the standard response from her father
or even one of her siblings, "respect your mother."
Occasionally, when no one else was around, Naomi would thread
her fingers through Galene's hair, pushing it back and away from
her shoulders. Her eyes would be soft and there would be sadness
in them.
"I know sweetling," she would whisper silently. "I know." Her
mother would touch the underside of her chin lightly and purse
her lips. "I wish it could always be that way."
#Post#: 3849--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 2:33 pm
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"Hey," Hecate snapped as Galene zoned out, watching her friend
wash the rabbit and peel off its pelt in an almost hypnotized
way. "The sun will rise in a few hours. Your parents will wake."
Galene swore under her breath and kicked off the shoes she wore.
Oding was half a day's ride from Prosa and her parents had said
that they wanted a quick start to the ride.
She thanked her friend for the night and quickly slipped out,
swearing louder as she saw the rays of the sun reach over the
horizon. She quickly turned and hurried towards the main center
of Oding, to the marble building where her parents slept.
It was a regal place, made of pure white stone that seemed to
glimmer in the sunlight. It had high peaks and was large for
something that Galene suspected wasn't used much.
The great wooden doors had a portcullis that was raised from
within by two soldiers. Galene waved at them and they relented,
used to the young princess' nighttime romps and general
disobedience.
"Your highness," they said automatically when she passed by,
though it was a popular secret that Galene would often sneak
away and converse with the common folk not as the princess but
as Galene, a girl that couldn't keep her nose out of anyone's
business.
Galene inclined her head towards them and hurried to her room,
shedding her furs as soon as she was inside and leaning against
the door as the sun began to show its light more fully.
Breathing a sigh of a relief at seeing that she had made it back
before she could be scolded, Galene congratulated herself on her
excellently executed escapee and gave herself a few minutes to
collapse on the bed and sleep.
#Post#: 3853--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 2:39 pm
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All to soon, a knocking was heard at the door and Galene
groaned, rolling over onto her back and stared up at the
ceiling.
In each region was a great building, meant to house the royal
family and the Parliament should they arrive for whatever
reason. Usually, the council members and their family occupied
it and at certain times, when there was the threat of war or
battle, the entire region would swell into it, cramming as many
young bodies as possible that were valuable within. The great
centers of the regions did see use of their main halls but
Galene still thought that they could be less grand. Less likely
to be seen.
"Your highness," a maid called out. "Your mother and father are
preparing for breakfast and then leave. They wish to see you."
Galene groaned and rolled off the bed, still in the clothing she
wore the day prior.
It was a pale blue shirt with the Vanguardian sigil printed on
it with silvery thread. The sigil was a shield, with a dragon
wrapped around it, one hand on top of the shield and another
grasping an olive branch. On the shield was a mountain,
representing Vanguard's duty to keep the peace between the
lands.
Galene was also wearing dull black pants, dragged out of the
closet at the last minute and earning a "tch" from one too many
people for her to even care about looking good.
She descended the steps, rubbing her tired eyes. Her hair had
been let down during the night and she had subsequently
forgotten to pile it back up. As a result, it flared out like
June's, but in a much less flattering way.
#Post#: 5905--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 8:47 pm
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"Galene," a voice said to her left and she turned to see her
father, shirt neat and crisp as if it had been laid out and
prepared for him moments ago and pants that didn't have a speck
of dust on them, peering down at her, assessing her appearance.
When she was younger, Galene had been free to do what she had
liked. Nothing had stopped her from escaping the castle grounds
and getting messy with the common folk. Nothing had stopped her
from running around in an over-sized tunic and breeches that had
mud splattered all over them. No one told her to sit still, do
this, do that. It was only when she turned seven, when her
father sat her down on his lap and told her her duty.
"You are to be the princess of Vanguard. You will rule one day."
"I won't rule Vanguard," Galene pouted, folding her arms over
her chest. She had learned early on that the older you were, the
more you would rule. "Wonder will rule and maybe Nartai but I
won't."
Her father only huffed and told her that she would.
#Post#: 5921--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 8:51 pm
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"Yes, dear father?" Galene asked, using the formalities that she
was supposed to use, or at least what she suspected.
"Daddy" had been out of the picture since she turned seven.
"Dad" had been something she wailed at him when she didn't get
what she wanted so that soon followed as well. "Your majesty,"
was said in the presence of formal heads-stuck-up-their-arses
royals and nobility that showed up and refused to walk through
the streets until the common folk bowed their heads to them as
they walked by.
"Father", by the time she was near ten years old was the only
term she would call him by.
(Something about it seemed to make him sad. Even Wonder
occasionally called Raleigh "Dad" but the word had long lost its
allure to Galene.)
#Post#: 6145--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 10:49 pm
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"You were out last night, weren't you?" he said, his tone grave.
"I was outside my chamber, yes," Galene said, "but only to use
the washroom."
Raleigh oscillated for a second, as if trying to decide whether
or not calling her out on her lie was a good idea.
In the end, he shook his head and ushered her into a large
dining hall, though there was only one round table with fruits
and pastries and other items prepared. There was bacon and wheat
mixes and oatmeal and Galene loved the smell of it all.
The queen was seated at the table already, chewing on some piece
of toast properly, or however one was supposed to chew toast.
Galene sat down and dragged over a bowl of oatmeal, pouring
sweet seasoning over it and using her spoon to dig in,
swallowing as quietly as she could to avoid her mother's
attention and therefore critique over her dress.
That day, however, her mother seemed interested in her for
another reason.
"Galene," Naomi started.
She looked up.
#Post#: 6148--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 10:51 pm
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"Yes, mother?" Galene asked, shoving another spoonful into her
mouth at the same time.
Naomi was dressed in a dark blue gown that sloped downwards,
covered in beautiful patterns of a white thread that seemed to
shimmer in the light. Her face was smooth despite her age and
her coarse hair was tied up politely in a bun on the top of her
head.
"You are nearly a woman grown," Naomi said. She had begun
rubbing her thumb with her pointer finger, a habit whenever she
had to tell her family something uncomfortable, like Barrin's
betrothal to June or Nataxie's to Rhyan.
"Yes," Galene said slowly, fearing the worst.
"You will be... expected to marry."
The spoon missed her mouth and landed on the floor instead.
#Post#: 6159--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 10:57 pm
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Naomi looked increasingly uncomfortable and Raleigh reached over
to touch her hand lightly, as if trying to give her the strength
to continue talking.
"If this was any other year, any other time," Naomi began, her
eyes flickering from Galene's face to the plate before her in
something akin to shame, if the queen ever let herself feel it,
"I would allow you to choose when and who. But this is not the
old times."
"I don't want to marry," Galene declared angrily.
"I know, sweetling," Naomi said, staring at her with a sad look
in her eyes. "If I could, I would let you run free forever. But
it cannot happen. There are already demands--"
"For what?" Galene demanded angrily. "For the opportunity to be
my betrothed? So that they can stick a baby in me and make me a
mother?"
Raleigh shifted, uncomfortable.
"They want an alliance with us," Naomi said, her voice only
slightly strangled.
"Then get a trade deal," Galene said, her eyes flickering from
her parents. "I won't be traded like a f***ing cattle--'
"If I could, I would," Naomi said, anger seeping into her voice.
Her eyes were bright and hard and glittered like they did when
Galene was younger and she had shoved Casimir down the steps or
pulled at his pants and ripped them or stomped on the flowers
sometimes by mistake and sometimes on purpose. "But that is not
how this works."
Galene clenched her fist and stared at her mother in response.
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