The battle drums could now be heard, for all men to prepare to leave their homes, and take up with the army of the Casterly to gather on mass in Vaas plains, to be ready to defend the homeland against the Evil hordes that would attempt to cross the borders on their march for Haven Castle. Already there would be families now being torn apart, wives and mothers, children weeping as their loved ones don their armour and collect their swords and bows. This was happening right across the Kingdom, and not just in Haven Castle. But it is here, that men must make choices, and one such man was Ira. He handed the scroll to Metia, who was now the Sovereign, while the King was away in battle.
“My Queen, I leave you Rashna to protect you and your child. She is a Throne of God and in her own right one with great power should she chose to wield it. The death of my Brother, Orion; has made me realize that I cannot stand idly by and watch my Brother go to fight a war in his name. So, I am to join them in this quest. May God’s light shine upon you both. And if I do not return…it was a pleasure to have met you both.”
The Throne turned to Rashna, who was shaking her head, imploring him not to go. She ran to him and took his hand, bringing it to her lips. “I can’t lose you too. Please..!” Rashna begged. Ira looked down at her fondly, and then stroked her cheek. “Have a little faith in me, Sister. Even if it is only in your dreams, I will see you again. Take care of the Royals. Please. Do this for me.” Ira withdrew his hand from her hold, and headed off after his brother, Henry, to prepare for his place in the Angel army.
Royal Courtyard
Klaus was panicky. He could see the swell in numbers as Knights were getting their horses ready, and the beating of war drums to signal all to join the cause. Sirus finally exited the building with a stern expression, and he was then approached by one of the King’s squires. “You need to wear the right armor, Sir.” Thinking that Sirus was a Knight of the realm. Klaus was mouthing “No” to the young Prince, but Sirus knew that there was no way out of this. He resigned himself to the fact he was now part of this war…without knowing who or why. “Show me where I might be fitted.” Sirus asked, as the squire bowed and gestured to to the stores. “This way, Sir.” Klaus wrung his hands, and followed along behind. Sirus piped up. “Better get a kit for my squire, he is coming with me.” You could see the blood drain from Klaus’s face as he heard this. “Help..” he whispered…knowing no one would save him now.
Sir Wayne and Sir Reginald were already down with their horses, and the stable hands were helping get the horses ready, as Sir Wayne raised his head to hear the pounding of war drums. This was not to be an ordinary war, but the very fight of good against evil. What was pleasing to see, was the many Knights and soldiers that were arriving on mass. A sea of men, armed to the teeth. Those that had fought in the last war, now rising to take up their swords in the name of the King. It was a certainty that many would not return, and give their ultimate sacrifice in the name of the King. Sir Wayne had never been more proud, than to see King Henry declare he would ride alongside his men, and fight on the front lines. It was a show of solidarity, and good leadership.
Sir Reginald came up to Sir Wayne, and clapped his hand on his back. “Do you feel it too, Brother?” Course he meant the swell of pride and the feeling that God himself was there amongst them. Sir Wayne smiled back, and placed his hand on his brother’s arm. “God has not ever forsaken us….and yes I feel it. I feel her too.” Course he meant his late wife, Ambrosia. The sword in his sheath hummed, and this signaled she was with him. Sir Reginald smiled affectionately. “Though a human she may have been, I believe she is one of the great angels now.” Kinder words never before said, brought a tear of joy to Sir Wayne’s eyes. “Aye..indeed.”
The King emerged, dressed resplendently in his chain mail and armor, with the banner of Casterly upon his chest. His hair mostly obscured by the chain mail, but his crown worn proudly. Sight of him brought a rousing cheer from his men, and he took the reigns of his horse and mounted him, with the flag bearers standing either side of him. He looked majestic upon the horse, and every bit the King. Close behind him was Ira, who though not used to wearing the armor of a Knight, he did look the part, and was given a horse to ride, alongside his brother, Henry.
“My Knights, my country men….we ride for the battle fields. TO VICTORY!”
All raised their fists and cheered, as the army started to leave the courtyard and join up with others that were swarming across the lands, and making their way to the border, to protect its people.
<3>
(Thread change – Vaas Plains)
A very long line of knights and their squires, soldiers of all shapes and sizes were now marching out from the castle grounds, and many others were joining in the procession. Coming out of the Castle stores, Sirus was now dressed as a Knight of the Casterly, and looked rather dashing. It suited him well, but of course, when the fitter noted his ears, he did raise a brow, to which Sirus simply said. “I have a bad habit of…tugging at my ears.”Klaus simply rolled his eyes and course his ears were the same. “Mine grow each time I fap.” Sirus socked him one, to which Klaus mocked being hurt. Klaus looked well, stuffed into his solider’s outfit, and kept tugging at the chainmail. “This must weigh one hundred pounds. My poor legs.” he exclaimed. Sirus uttered “Your poor horse.”
It was the moment to leave and the young fae Prince took up the reigns of his horse, when he noticed someone crying in a beautiful garden, just off to the left of the large gate that led to battle. Curious, Sirus walked his horse over, while Klaus had three servants trying to now lift the hefty soldier onto his mount.
Walking through the arch gate, it soon became clear who was crying…..Tempest.
“Well, this isn’t really a good time to say this…but I guess…uhm…what are you doing here? Aren’t you like…the enemy?”
<3>
Tempest looked up in shock, her face red and blotchy from crying. She turned her back on Sirus and wiped her face with her handkerchief.
“This is the home of my grandparents. My mother is their daughter.” she answered in a near whisper. “Now please…leave me alone.” This wasn’t the spitfire he’d encountered on their first meeting. This was a broken Tempest. It was as if the spirit that made her who she was upped and disappeared, leaving this pitiful shell of a woman in its place.
She got to her feet and started to walk away from him, her head bowed low as if it were a heavy weight upon her neck. She had been shuffling through her thoughts, trying to come up with ways to stop this war before people lost their lives and couldn’t come up with a viable solution. And her heart broke a little more.
The tears she thought she had stopped, formed in her eyes once more and she slumped heavily against a tree, pressing a hand to her mouth to keep the sobs from reaching Sirus’s ears.
Sirus could hear her loud sobs from where he was standing. She filled in the blanks….sort of, and now at least Sirus had a clear picture of what was going on, though from the sounds of it, Tempest was one of the main causes. Could this have all steemed from her running away when she was told to marry by the King of Brax? If it was, then…he really felt for her. The guilt must have been overwhelming. The war drums were still sounding, and Sirus knew that he didn’t have much time, before he had to follow the rest of the army.
Tying off his horse, Sirus followed her over to the tree where she had her hand covering her mouth trying to supress her sobs, though she was doing a shocker job of it. Then he realized something. It was him outing her at his realm that made her flee back….
“Oh…wait a minute. This is my fault. If I hadn’t done you into my mother. Oh shit.” The Prince now felt the guilt hit him, and it showed on his face. “God, I am so sorry.” Now he knew..he had to fight for the Casterly. He moved to touch her, then dropped his hand to his side. He didn’t know what to do, she might strike at him. It was a mess.
“Guess…I better be going. It was nice…nearly knowing you, Princess.”
That said, he turned to go untie his horse.
<3>
At those words, she turned to face him. “What? No! This isn’t your fault at all! This is all on me! You didn’t know this would happen!” she exclaimed. “My parents found me in the mountains after I left your kingdom. My mother’s reaction wasn’t the best and my father…I turned him away.” she bowed her head, taking some breaths to stave off more tears. “You didn’t know…no one knew…”
She didn’t know what else to say. She saw Sirus move his hand, as if he wanted to touch her but refrained from doing so. He turned back to his horse.
“Guess…I better be going. It was nice…nearly knowing you, Princess.”
“Sirus…” she called to him. If he turned back to her, he would see her staring at him, some unnamed emotion in her eyes. She walked toward him and stopped a few steps away. She pulled a red satin ribbon from her hair and reached out to tie it to the hilt of his sword at his side. “Stay safe, Sir Knight. My heart would break were something happen to you…and your mother may never forgive me for drawing you into my family’s problems.”
So saying, she leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to his cheek before moving around him to set about returning to her mother’s side. Her lips tingled where she had pressed them to his skin.
Tempest called out to him, and he looked back over his shoulder, while in the distance, you kept hearing the dull thud of Klaus falling off his mount, and swearing. Torn from wanting to laugh at Klaus and then seeing Tempest, just standing there, he turned around to face her, as she walked up to him and tied a red ribbon around the hilt of his blade.
“Stay safe, Sir Knight. My heart would break were something happen to you…and your mother may never forgive me for drawing you into my family’s problems.”
“I’m not really a Knight, you know. Just a fae Prince that can ride and swing a sword.” The Prince admitted, least he was honest about it. But then, she kissed his cheek, which left him feeling… well tingly.
Being Sirus, he went and did what…you would expect from the fae Prince.
“If I’m about to go die for the cause. I think a proper kiss is in order, Princess.” That said, he swept her into his arms, and kissed her….properly. Enough to take the very air out of her lungs. When he released her, he smiled crookedly and said.“You needed a good kiss.” Now he was ready to join the Knights of Casterly, and headed back with his horse, so he could help Klaus onto his….and they could join the other members of the army, go off to fight the Brax.
<3>
It was the very first time a man other than her father had kissed her and it set her blood on fire in a whole new way.
When he released her, he smiled crookedly and said. “You needed a good kiss.”
She was dazed and confused, and when she pressed her hand to her lips, there were no tears…but her body was tingling all over. She watched him climb into the saddle and ride away.
Her knees gave out and she sat heavily onto the ground, staring after him as his form grew smaller and smaller the further he rode away.
“What just happened?” she murmured to herself. There were a whole new set of feelings running through her body and now she was worried for Sirus. “Please stay safe.” she whispered.
Sirus rode his horse towards where Klaus as he was still trying to get on his horse. His horse was not all that happy about it either. Klaus was packing an extra hundred pounds of armour. One of the stable hands snapped his fingers and went to find…another horse as the legs on poor Klaus’s horse gave way finally…defeated.
“Well that won’t do, Klaus. I am sure you don’t want to walk into battle.”
Klaus gave Sirus a “Oh ha ha ha” look, and then sighed outwardly, before then asking. “Where have you been anyway?’
“I kissed a girl….and I liked it.”
“Great…he kisses a girl and my ass kisses the ground…repeatedly.”
“Sad how that keeps happening to you.”
Just then the stable boy brings out a monster of a horse. A Clydesdale to be exact. It was simply enormous, but then again, so was Klaus.
“I’m going to need a step ladder.” and wouldn’t you know it, they had one. One step carefully at a time, he managed to swing his leg over the behemoth, and was at last ready to join the rest of the army.
Sirus glanced back at Tempest and then saluted, before kicking his horse to go, and the pair then galloped out of the castle gates.
<3>
(Now…thread change. <3)
-As Ryo stood in front of the thrones,he could not help feeling awkward as they spoke about their family matters. He listened to all of them as they spoke, and began to feel a little more at ease as they started speaking of war.-
The King: “He then unsheathed his Angel sword, that glowered brightly, radiating the power of Christ, and his guiding light.”
Ira: “The war has begun. Intelligence reports, have indicated mass movement within the Night lands. A grand army under the control of King Brandon himself. Orc, Vampires, dark elves, goblins, trolls. Hundreds of thousands have started their march, Brother. There is no time to lose now. We must prepare now….or face most certain defeat.”
-His skin crawled as Ryo heard the man speak. He pulled his hood over his head a little more as he stepped over to the side of the room against the wall. He stood there as they began to walk out, so he looked for a place to sit down and walked over to it. He knew that he should not leave, they could think that he was a spy sent by this King Brandon. He sat and watched over the room, quietly taking a sip from his flask.-
Selene watched as her daughter rejected to sit with her and storm off yet again. Her lips tightened as she fought for composure. It seemed all Tempest was good at these days was throwing tantrums and storming off. Hadn’t that been her husband’s downfall to begin with? But the princess said nothing as her daughter left the throne room. She too had left Joffrey…but she had done it to seek council, not act like a spoiled child. Selene was realizing she was losing control of Tempest, and there was just nothing she could do about it. Tempest did what she wanted and didn’t always take others into consideration before acting. Turning to look at her mother as Metia also observed Tempest’s behavior, she blushed with embarrassment at her daughter’s actions and sighed “No, it isn’t. She certainly doesn’t make it any easier for me.”
Leaning back on her throne of roses and other flowers, the angel princess tried to remain calm. Her husband was waging a war with her own family, and her father himself was leading the troops. It was a royal mess and she was helpless to stop the impending war. Turning to look at her mother again, she whispered “Is there nothing I can do for Prince Joffrey? Will Father truly kill him?”
