Royal Wedding: round 4, episode 3

Soon after Tirunedeth’s return to Erlenstar Manor, Lady Eriel of Ymris received a royal summons. Her heart fluttering, she rode, escorted by her brothers, to pay her respects to the Prince. If she was harboring hopes of romance, however, they were soon dashed.

The Prince received her graceful obeisance with distant courtesy. Stiffly he explained that although they barely knew one another, they must formalize their betrothal as soon as possible, before the autumn campaign began.

Although he offered her his mother’s ring in perfect style, it was clear to Eriel that his heart was far away.

Much later, Eriel was to say that it was hard to tell, during those next whirlwind days, whether the wedding or the war took precedence. The halls were filled with men in armor, speaking in lowered voices and conferring urgently with messengers and men-at-arms. Lord Astrin was frequently seen in disguise, a cap pulled low over his ears in a vain effort to conceal them.

Eriel grew accustomed to vehement discussions which broke up suddenly as she approached. She couldn’t help overhearing some of the arguments, and knew that there was one faction which was advocating that they move back to the South and make a stand, reclaiming their father’s lands for their own.

Prince Tirunedeth, however, did not support this view. His studies made it clear to him that the Sea Folk would oppose them with great and malevolent power.

“My father gave his life so that the last children of the Earth Masters could escape to Erlenstar Mountain. I will not make a mockery of his sacrifice by returning South to die. Until we can master our own magic, we will defend our homes and try to assist our friends in the South—but we will leave our wives and children here in safety!”

At last the hour of the wedding had arrived. Prince Tirunedeth asked the Abbot, Reverend Father Aloil, to officiate at the ceremony.

Aloil agreed, and, after deep prayer and contemplation, made the decision to tell the Prince some of what he’d learned from Baron Awn prior to the Baron’s death. Although shocked at what he heard, Tirunedeth knew that desperate times called for desperate measures—and that he himself might have to stoop to behavior that he would have deplored in better times.

Lady Eriel prepared for her wedding, wondering what the future would bring, and whether she could even learn to like the distant stranger she was marrying.

The ceremony went smoothly, and everyone agreed that the young couple, although perhaps not ecstatic, looked wonderful together.

The Prince and his new Princess kissed for the first time at the completion of the ceremony. They had never been alone together. When they retired to their room later that night, Eriel wasn’t the only one wondering if things should have been different.

In deference to his young bride’s modesty, the Prince did his marital duty completely under cover.

And when it was done, he lay beside his sleeping Princess, reflecting that he had never felt so alone in his life.

While the new bride was sleeping upstairs, Duchess Raederle found herself in a very different position in the hall below. The evening was almost over and the guests retiring sleepily to their chambers, when suddenly Lord Spirel appeared in the doorway. Although he was too late to observe the ceremony, it didn’t seem as if either he or the Duchess much cared.

There was one other unexpected guest at the wedding—but perhaps no one noticed the Prince’s housekeeper surreptitiously handing a cloth sack to the mysterious visitor. What was going on?

With the wedding over, the time for talk had ended. The noblemen gathered their forces and rode south almost at once, leaving only enough men to help bring in the harvest and to defend their homes if their plans should fail.

And Princess Eriel, wandering rather sadly through the halls of her new home, wondered if she would have news for the Prince when—and if—he returned to Erlenstar Mountain.

Next episode: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/07/army-camp-round-5-episode-1.html

A Woman of Wisdom: round 4, episode 2

Aster Corbett had arrived in Erlenstar Mountain as a tiny child, crying for the mother she had lost when a huge wave, driven by the Sea People, swept through their seaside city. Her father, brother, and sisters did their best to care for her even while trying to establish their new home in the North. As time passed, Aster, as the youngest in the family, was a little indulged by the rest. Times had grown easier, and her father permitted her to sit and read in the corner, rather than working in the fields or weaving with her sisters. She attended school at the convent with Reverend Mother Grania, and continued to study even after she became a teen, unlike most peasant girls who left school when they put their childhood behind them.

As she approached womanhood, Aster felt no desire to marry or have children like her siblings were doing. Although a loving aunt to her nieces and nephews, her own desire continued to be to learn and study. Her special interest was in herbs and medicines, and she was becoming known, even at her young age, as a competent nurse and midwife.

However, when she was grown her father, indulgent as he had been, put his foot down. She was no longer a child, and either she needed to help with the house and the farm as they all did, or she must marry and make a home of her own. Despairing, Aster sought advice from her teacher.
To her surprise, Grania had a proposal. The work of running the convent and teaching the neighborhood children was becoming too much for her to handle on her own. If Aster wished to join the convent as a lay sister, taking over the physical labor of cleaning and gardening, Mother Grania would continue to teach her and guide her medical studies in the evenings. Aster was not enthusiastic at first, since it sounded to her as if this life of housework and farming would be little different from remaining at home with her father.

However, she trusted and respected her teacher, and in the end decided that it would be a fair bargain. She did insist that, since she felt no vocation, she would not be asked to take vows in the order, and that she would be free to leave when she was ready. It was harder than she expected to say goodbye to her family and the cosy farm where she had grown up.

Through the summer months, she spent her days working hard, scrubbing the flagstone floors on her hands and knees, preparing food for Mother Grania, and laboring in the convent gardens.

In her turn, Grania kept her word and tutored the eager young woman in the evenings. It was a pleasure to see how quickly Aster learned, how clearly and logically she reasoned.

It was a great help and relief to have someone else to share her hours in the big convent, and to sit in quiet prayer and contemplation with her in the chapel. As Mother Grania watched Aster grasping at knowledge with both hands, she came to feel that the community would benefit greatly from the help and advice such a wise woman would be able to offer.

As the dog days of summer approached, the weather became heavy with thunderstorms.

Back in Caithnard, Prince Tirunedeth was also studying feverishly, taking advantage of the last opportunity to solve the riddle of the Sea Folk.

At length, it was time to stop studying and begin to take action. Laying aside his scholar’s robes and setting down his books, Tirunedeth boarded the boat for the trip home to Erlenstar Mountain.

He returned quietly and without fanfare, walking up through the farms from the river on his own. No one, seeing his purposeful stride, could doubt that their child Prince was now a man, and prepared to go to war.

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/05/royal-wedding-round-4-episode-3.html

Summer Strategy: round 4, episode 1

Within days of her marriage to Spirel, Duchess Raederle had to bid him farewell. It was hard for the young bride to see her beloved go, knowing the dangers he would face in the South and the risks he must take in order to carry tidings and plans to their allies.

She found herself moody and depressed, wandering purposelessly through the lonely halls, not even bothering to dress some days.

Only confiding her misery and sense of injustice to her faithful friend and housekeeper gave her some consolation.

Lying alone in the big bed at night, Raederle sometimes wondered if her happiness had been nothing more than a dream. Would Lord Spirel return safely, to hear the news she longed to share with him?

As the summer wore on, it was time for yet another wedding. Lady Auber of Meremont attained her majority and her wedding to Baron Heureu was celebrated in the gardens of Ymris Manor. Although Auber and Heureu didn’t share the blissful passion that their brother and sister had found, they were united in their goals and plans for the future, and felt that they would be happy together.

Prince Tirunedeth traveled back from the College of Riddles in Caithnard to attend Baron Heureu’s wedding, taking the opportunity to meet his own intended bride, Lady Eriel of Ymris, for the first time since their childhoods. Even during this festive event, the Prince and the Baron found time to share the information that each had been gathering, and to lay plans for the next steps in the war.

A few days after the wedding, Baron Heureu met with his brother, Lord Astrin, to tell him what he and the Prince had planned. Intelligence brought by Lord Spirel in the spring had indicated that the Sea Folk were making use of a network of disaffected humans in the South, smugglers and thieves for the most part; for what purpose, none knew.

To Astrin’s horror, his brother and the Prince had decided that he should try to join this network, to ferret out what was being planned. Lord Astrin was appalled at being asked to masquerade as a common thief and smuggler.

Much to his surprise, however, his wife seemed amused by his new role and costume, kissing him goodbye in the evenings with their newborn son in her arms, and welcoming him back warmly each morning upon his return.

Although Astrin couldn’t help savoring the enthusiasm with which his wife responded to “My Lord Thief” in their bed, he did wonder what he would tell their son when the boy was old enough to question his nightly absences.

Perhaps, he hoped, all this would be over by the time the boy left his toddler years; the best explanation, he felt, would be no explanation at all!

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/05/round-4-episode-2-woman-of-wisdom.html

Another Traveler: round 3, episode 3

The young Duchess Raederle of An felt a little isolated in her quiet castle, and longed for romance and excitement to find her, as they had her friend Kia. The spring days passed slowly, even though she tried to fill them with painting, spinning, weaving, and other womanly arts. Finally she had had enough of her solitude.

“What can I do, Clover?” she demanded of her faithful housekeeper and friend. “If I don’t see some new faces soon, I believe I shall go mad!” Clover smiled at the girl’s spring fever, but suggested that she consider riding into Kyrth to commission some new gowns, since she was now a young woman, and should dress as such.

The very next day, they set off together, accompanied by a man-at-arms for protection. Reaching Kyrth, they left their horses at an inn, planning to walk to the nearby seamstress’ establishment. Just then, Raederle saw a young man, armed and clad in mail, hurrying out of the inn. He stopped short at the sight of her, staring so hard that she blushed and tripped over her train as she almost ran into the shop. Later, telling the story to her friend Lady Auber of Meremont, Raederle couldn’t stop rhapsodizing about the stranger’s wide shoulders, his eyes, and the way he had gazed at her, as if regarding a vision.

At her description, Auber was able to tell her that the man must be Lord Spirel of Hlurl, recently arrived with messages from the South. He was a friend of Baron Heureu's from the College of Riddles in Caithnard, and came bringing tidings for Ymris, although no one knew the exact nature of the news. However, his armor and soldierly bearing left no one in any doubt that war was resuming along the coasts. Lady Auber was to meet Spirel when he and Heureu came to Meremont to confer with Lord Astrin.

In a couple of days, a messenger arrived with an invitation—would Raederle like to visit at Meremont for a few days? There would be entertainments, a traveling troupe of jugglers and musicians—and Lord Spirel would be present. Duchess Raederle lost no time in sending her acceptance, and rejoiced that her new, grown-up gowns had arrived from Kyrth just in time for the festivities.

The visit went wonderfully, with feasting, walks in the spring gardens, games of chess in the great hall—and soon Raederle and Spirel were inseparable. When it was time for Raederle to return to Castle An, Lord Spirel begged to accompany her, to "ensure her safety on the ride." When they arrived, he kept her outside for a few moments after Clover had gone in.

Quickly, his voice trembling a little, he told her that he must leave soon. He had conferred with Heureu and Astrin and it was his responsibility to take their tidings and plans to allies in the south. Yet, he had lost his heart to Raederle and couldn’t bear to leave without telling her of his love, and asking her to marry him.

Their future would be uncertain, with separation coming upon them almost at once, but Raederle did not hesitate to say yes.

So in the earliest days of summer, when the roses were blooming everywhere in the castle garden and with her friends around her, Duchess Raederle of An wed Lord Spirel of Hlurl and gave her heart into his keeping.

And during the feasting and rejoicing which followed, the community could not help noticing that at least one noble house would be welcoming a new member before too long. Duchess Raederle could not help hoping that although her new husband would be leaving all too soon, perhaps she, too, would soon be anticipating the birth of a child.

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/05/round-4-episode-1-summer-strategy.html