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#Post#: 6186--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 11:03 pm
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The meal passed in tense silence.
Galene shoved down whatever it was she was supposed to be eating
without feeling whatever it was she was swallowing. When they
finished, her mother and father politely bowed and curtsied and
Galene dipped downwards as she was ushered into the carriage
that had brought them there.
She sat across from her mother and father in the large carriage.
It was not painted any extravagant color, to prevent it from
being seen as a target. It was instead a very plain brown and it
rocked back and forth. It was spacious, however, and Galene was
dozing on one of the long seats in the back of the carriage,
surrounded by pillows that didn't quite muffle her parents'
conversation.
"She's too young for him--" her mother began.
"They're good people. They've done well when it comes to these
things."
"They're going to destroy her," her mother said, her voice
filled with some emotion Galene couldn't pinpoint. "They'll kill
my baby girl before I can find her again."
"Shh," Raleigh whispered and there was the sound of fabric
rustling. "They won't. I'll make sure of it."
"You can't," Naomi said and Galene would have thought she
sounded almost like she was going to cry, if Naomi cried over
Galene.
"I can," Raleigh said firmly and Galene almost believed that he
could do anything, if the fact that Casimir always seemed to be
dying even though Raleigh promised over and over that he would
be fine, that he would be out in a second, that he would play
with her soon enough hadn't happened so many times that she
stopped believing in him. "I can and I will and they won't hurt
her."
"Maybe we should give her a sword," Naomi said, some bitter
amusement in her voice.
"She already has one," Raleigh reminded his wife. "And she'll
keep it."
There was a brief stretch of silence.
"They're going to take her away," Naomi murmured. "Before we've
really had her."
#Post#: 6227--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 11:11 pm
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Galene stared at the opposite wall of the carriage.
She had never had the best relations with her parents or most of
her siblings. True, she and Barrin were close only because
Barrin stuck out as well; the soldier that was good at what he
hated. Nataxie was the one that took her out and about as a
child and never really scolded her for being unladylike or not
at all royal.
But her mother and father were complicated.
Galene knew that they loved her. But they were also the king and
queen with five older children than Galene. They had to ensure
Wonder was prepared and Barrin and Nataxie weren't riling up
their partners and Casimir wasn't dying and that Nartai actually
knew what he was doing. Galene had fallen to the wayside
somewhere in there, the last child.
She had been told by most that they had kept close watch over
her when she had been born.
"Two months early, as impatient as ever," Wonder laughed. "You
were so tiny and sometimes, at night, father would think you
stopped breathing in his dreams and just keep watch over you."
It felt like he had always been watching over her.
Not necessarily for the same reasons anymore.
#Post#: 6267--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 10, 2015, 11:18 pm
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By the time they arrived back at the castle, Galene felt much
more awake and her parents hadn't made any progress, as far as
she could tell. They whispered about kingdoms, politics, trading
deals, whether or not the one offered was good or bad or too old
or too young or not compatible.
Galene swung her feet off the seat she lay on and scrambled out
of the carriage as soon as possible, impatient and ready to get
out of the confided space. She erupted out into the street,
where people were already hawking their sales and shouting at
one another. Dogs and cats ran underfoot, their yowls and barks
joining the chaos as exotic birds squawked at potential
customers. She soaked it all in, glad to be back in the midst of
chaos she knew.
"Galene," her mother said and she groaned out loud, turning to
follow her inside the large gleaming castle that was their home.
#Post#: 6966--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 11, 2015, 6:01 pm
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When she swept inside the gleaming building, her head barely
turned at the soft blue carpets before her or the stoned walls
or the servants running about, always busy. There was the sound
of footsteps and she turned her head to see her brother, a
rather thin man with something in his hand akin to a shovel.
Raleigh walked over to him and smiled, wrapping one hand around
Casimir's shoulders and leading him off somewhere, intent on
spending time with the fragile child. Galene swallowed and
folded her arms over her chest, refusing to look at him.
Why Casimir got all the attention, she knew. He was doomed to
die one day, far too early and far too weak. Part of Galene
hated him for being that way and still sapping the attention
away from her. It had never been Galene's time to shine, not
ever. Wonder would be a good queen. Nartai was a good negotiator
(and he didn't want attention anyways). Barrin was an excellent
knight and commander and would possibly start his own branch of
the family tree and make a noble house and have his children
rule the kingdom that they had had an alliance with when he
married June. Nataxie garnered the respect of the diplomats and
the figureheads and she would mother children that might rule
distant lands, or at least gain enough affection to love them.
Galene was just the last child, with nothing special to her name
except dirt stains and scraped knees.
#Post#: 6974--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 11, 2015, 6:12 pm
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"Galene," Naomi said, her voice cool like the queen she was.
Galene turned her head to look at her mother, frowning slightly
before following her.
"I know you're unhappy with us," Naomi said and she sounded
almost like she knew that Galene was unhappy about the family as
a whole, not just the marriage.
(Perhaps she was being too hard on them. Galene had had many
good memories. As she got older, they faded from view, her
bitterness taking center stage. But she knew that with time,
every princess learned where her great duties lay and hers lay
with keeping the kingdom happy.
And times were changing, she had been told.)
"And like I said, if there was a way to change, I would give
them a trade deal. Keep you here, in Vanguard, where you are
safe."
Safe.
"Safe?" Galene asked. Who has asked for me?
"Safe," Naomi repeated. She turned to look at Galene as she
walked down the stone halls, her shoes clinking against the
stone floors, her dress swaying. There were great stone arches
and wooden doors set with golden knobs and she could see the
walkways to the center gardens, where everything was lovely and
beautiful and belonged to Casimir (though it belonged to her,
too, her brother had promised).
"There are kingdoms that are powerful," Naomi said, waiting for
Galene to arrive alongside her before speaking again. "Strong.
With armies as large as our kingdom and with alliances to the
four corners of this world."
"Will they attack us?" Galene asked, turning to her mother.
"I don't know," Naomi sighed, looking at Galene with heavy eyes.
(She forgot, some days, how old her mother was. It felt like
Naomi had always been old, but never quite in that fashion. Old
as in settled. Set. Not ancient and withering away.)
#Post#: 8516--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 15, 2015, 10:14 pm
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"So I'm to be sent," Galene said slowly, putting together the
pieces, "so they have a reason not to?"
Naomi turned her face away from her briefly as they continued
walking. "Yes," she said finally, after the silence stretched.
"You intend for me to be traded like livestock, like some kind
of lock and key so that they won't attack us, so they won't kill
us," Galene stated, trying to comprehend the magnitude of what
was happening.
"In a way."
She stopped walking. The queen turned around slowly to look at
her.
"As I stated," Naomi said, voice worn, "if there was another
way, I would take it. It we offered them trade and money and
they said yes, I would go that route. But they want a marriage,
a blood bond to cement this."
#Post#: 8517--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 15, 2015, 10:17 pm
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"A blood bond?" Galene said, half-indignant. "A marriage is not
a blood bond. It's a hostage situation, if any. You can't attack
them lest I be killed. That's all I'll be. I will be worse than
livestock; I'll be a pawn piece, a key for someone to hold in
their pocket or even their bed," she said, her face contorting
into a sneer.
"That is not how this will go," Naomi said firmly. "They are due
to arrive within a month and we will prepare for the marriage,
see if we can't convince them to have the marriage here, to
possibly convince them to have their child and you stay here."
"Stay? Why would the heir want to stay here?"
"They are not the heir," Naomi said, taking Galene's arm gently
and pulling her along. "I requested that it be the third child,
like Barrin. Far enough down the line that only a miracle would
take you away and gods be good, let us hope that there will not
be one this time."
"There are always assassins," Galene said coolly, though she had
only read about them in books and heard Rhyan whisper about them
when he was around.
#Post#: 8518--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 15, 2015, 10:19 pm
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"Yes," Naomi said tersely. "There are always assassins. But I
would wager that there are none now and there will be none for a
while. Not here in Vanguard. Rhyan has been here a while and
there has been nothing like an attempt on his life yet."
"That we know of," Galene pointed out as Naomi continued to lead
her down the hallway. The queen sighed heavily.
"That we know of," she agreed.
"Or that they're aware of," Galene added. "Isn't it always said
that a target is never quite erased? Rhyan is a target and
always will be. if my betrothed is a target, they always will be
and I will be the bounty they collect when they are killed."
"You are Vanguardian," Naomi said sharply. "You will be no one's
bounty."
#Post#: 8519--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 15, 2015, 10:21 pm
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Galene felt a corner of her mouth lift up.
In Vanguard, women were not lesser than men and those that
identified as neither were human as well. She knew how to fight
with her fists and with a sword as well as Barrin, though she
was not as built for it as he was. At the same time, Nartai was
more suited for stitching clothes and cooking meals than
commanding armies and it was not expected of him to do those
deeds, so long as Wonder lived.
There was an old proverb, that all humans were born soldiers and
only Vanguardians bothered to train all that came into the world
as soldiers. The others simply wasted away.
#Post#: 8523--------------------------------------------------
Re: Vanguard
By: FloatingInSpace Date: December 15, 2015, 10:27 pm
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"The kingdom is called Autemiltis," Naomi began, pulling Galene
out of her thoughts. "It sits near the south, so the
temperatures are much warmer and they live in an area that is
mostly dry, far away from the river."
"They must live very far from us," Galene said as Naomi led her
into a room, fashioned for purpose rather than show. There was a
wooden desk, carved out of a great tree that was sturdy and
plain. A great bearskin rug lay before it, though it had no
head, as it was often believed that the head contained the
spirit, and that the dead wanted to return and not remain
trapped as ornaments. It was a silly thought, to Galene. But
then again, she thought many things were silly thoughts.
"Three months ride in a carriage I've been told and one and week
on horseback."
"I guess that they are coming in carriage?"
"That is their claim," Naomi said, though she appeared troubled.
"What is it, mother?"
"They claim it takes that long," she said, dropping Galene's arm
and going to the desk, rounding around the corner and opening a
drawer out of sight of Galene. "So then they are closer than I
imagined. This letter was written nearly three months ago but
was only received two weeks ago."
"When did they say they would come?" Galene asked, frowning. "If
it was sent three months ago, then they should nearly be upon
us."
"It is said that they will leave when the rays of the sun grow
longer than the lashes of the moon," Naomi said, her tone
implying that she disliked their way of writing. "Your brother
claims this means that when the days start to grow long for
them, they will come. Probably to hope that it is warmer."
"The weather has not yet turned warmer," Galene said.
"We live three months ride from them," Naomi said, looking up at
her. "Who is to say when the weather turns for them?"
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