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1200+ Years Ago
Gus Ghenli
Head Knight of the Order of Hazel
The Velvet Kingdom was made up of a single small city on the edge of the Velveteen Woods. The forest was a blanket of white birch and metallic golden fir trees that began in the impossibly tall mountains to the east and cascaded westward over the foothills, tapering off into grasslands.
Velvet was a young kingdom, only three generations old. The kingdom had come into being because of an alliance between two desperate species: humans and kanins, a rabbit people.
A wave of humans had emerged from the Curtain to Drearia. Like all such population waves to emerge from there, the humans had been driven out of the region by the elves living around the Curtain and had left to fend for themselves. The forest elves are no friends to a species too often violent, short-sighted, and greedy for their tastes.
Wandering northeast, the human wave had crossed a mighty river and found themselves in the grasslands beyond. Here, they had met the kanins. Kanins are about two-thirds the size of humans, and while they usually walk on their hind legs and are vaguely humanoid, they have more in common with rabbits than humans. They have short fur in a variety of colours, puffy tails, tall ears, large front teeth, and thick legs and hindquarters that allow them to move quickly and strike powerfully when cornered.
The kanins had been in a precarious position at the time, hunted nearly to extinction by roving packs of lupus, a predatory wolf people who were far larger and more dangerous. While the rabbit-like kanins were very fast runners and excellent at hiding, they were less well adapted to fighting and had never developed much in the way of weapons or defences because the tribal people had never settled down into cities and industry, only digging themselves underground burrows that could be abandoned if necessary. Unfortunately, no matter how fast you are, you can only run for so long.
The newcomer humans, on the other hand, were well-experienced in matters of industry and warfare. They knew how to handle spears as well as plows and could build with stone so strong that no wolf could blow it down, no matter how much they huffed and puffed.
It had taken a desperate year to fence the first joint human-kanin camp with a wooden palisade made of tree trunks sunk into the soil in a ring, working while fending off lupus raids. It had been another decade for the first stone wall to be completed. And while lupus had attacked in force, both humans and kanins had somehow managed to survive—together.
Today, that first stone wall marked the boundary of the kingdom’s Watership Castle and its grounds. The castle was half above ground, with an extensive warren below. A second, much larger wall had been built further out, a ring of iron-rich granite that was so reminiscent of dried blood that the citizens had taken to calling it the Redwall. The project had taken nearly fifty years to construct as the community grew, something it had done rather quickly. It turns out that both humans and kanins are virile and very enthusiastic breeders, both within their species and with each other.
By the time the third generation was producing the fourth, the two species were already becoming quite mixed, the strengths of both humans and kanins found in their offspring. The kingdom’s population was exploding.
Gus Ghenli, Head Knight of the Order of Hazel, came from pure kanin stock. Not counting his long, black ears, he was only as tall as a human woman and probably weighed less without his armour. He wore that armour now, a steel breastplate dinged from blows both in training and in real battles against lupus. He casually leaned against the wall, fur that was graying from age now sweaty from drilling. He watched the other knights sparring in the training grounds outside the castle.
Next to him stood Rahjur Rahbit, his nephew, a young boy whose father had been human and his mother kanin, leaving him with mixed features. Rahjur loved coming to watch his uncle and the other knights train.
Their eyes were drawn to Yaz, a young human who faced off against two older, more experienced knights. The daring smile on his face and the way he played the aggressor made it clear that he was undaunted despite being outnumbered. Fast and sure-footed, his blade flashed in the sun as it fended off both of the other men.
Gus grunted. “Amazing.”
Rahjur was in awe. “How does he move so fast? It’s like he knows what they’re thinking.”
Gus’s lips turned up in a half smile. “Yaz has a lot of skill. He’s very athletic. If he survives long enough, he could become the most skilled of us.”
“The best of us, you mean?”
Gus hesitated. “Hmm. That depends on how you define the best.”
Rohjur’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Doesn’t it mean the best warrior?”
“We’re knights. That means something more than just being a good fighter. Anyone can learn to become better with a sword or bow. But being a knight means pledging yourself to something bigger than ourselves. Something worth sacrificing yourself for.”
“Like how the Hazel Knights pledge themselves to the Velvet Kingdom.”
He turned his head to Rahjur and patted his shoulder. “Exactly. For us, beyond our combat skills, our values and actions matter just as much, if not more. Loyalty and dedication, integrity, courage, and self-sacrifice; all of these are important qualities that make knights different from mercenaries or adventurers.”
Rahjur slowly nodded in comprehension. “So, who’s the best knight?”
Gus threw back his head and laughed. “Ha! I’d like to think I am, being Head Knight and all. But that’s a hard question to answer. It’s about what’s on the inside as much as what’s on the outside, and it’s a lot harder to see who someone really is on the inside than what they can do on the battlefield or in a tournament.”
“Is Dir Yaz a good knight?” Rahjur used the honorific attached to both male and female knights.
Gus grew serious at that thought. Things had been brewing at court, and Yaz was right in the center of them. “Nephew, that’s a good question. And I have a feeling we’re going to find out what kind of knight he is very soon.”
*
Epheria
Princess to the Velvet Kingdom
Epheria stood in the empty hallway connecting the castle to the quarters used by the knight order. She quickly went over her appearance, checking it before Yaz saw her. Part-human and part-kanin, she most mostly human in appearance but not entirely. Her body was pear-shaped, slimmer up top and much wider at the hips. Her arms were slender, and her thighs and backside thick. She’d been anxious about that when young, but Yaz’s enthusiasm over the course of their relationship had gradually reduced much of her insecurity.
She had dun-blond hair and furry rabbit ears. The irises of her eyes were solid black rather than the textured style of a human. Her feet were longer, her toes larger than human ones, to the point where she preferred being barefoot like most kanins and only wore slippers at her father’s insistence.
Her dress, the dark green of spruce needles, was fairly simple in design, with voluminous sleeves, hem below the knees, and tied in the back with a large, drooping bow. She smoothed the fabric out, plucked an imaginary piece of lint off, and took a breath.
Yaz exited Hazel Hall, saw her, and smiled wide. “Hi!” He’d bathed, dressed in black leather pants covered by shiny steel greaves and a black leather jacket covered by a dark-green tabard that matched the colour of her dress. Her human girl friends told her he wasn’t considered classicly handsome by human standards, but he was handsome enough to her.
And she liked his blond mustache and beard, even if she giggled to herself because she knew he only grew it to appear older and more manly, both for her sake and to help earn the respect of the other men in the order. Silly insecurity, as far as she was concerned, but he probably felt the same way whenever she complained about the size of her thighs.
She fought her own automatic smile and knew her ears were upright and facing him, betraying her eagerness. “Oh, don’t act like you’re surprised. You knew I was watching you practice.”
He scooped her into his muscular arms and lifted her off the ground, eliciting a yelp from her before putting her down and kissing her, facial hair tickling her skin. “Doesn’t mean I was expecting you to be waiting for me.”
Epheria cherished the warm, comfortable feeling of being in his arms and slid her own around his waist. She laid her head against his chest and sighed.
He tilted, trying to get a look at her face. “Something wrong?”
“No. Are you tired?”
“I’m…a little worn out at the moment. Looking forward to lunch. Why?”
“Maybe we should go for a picnic. Just us. Sleep the afternoon away under the sun.”
He stroked her hair. “Sounds nice.” He leaned back and looked down at her. “What’s really going on?”
“Father wants me to go to the Heart Kingdom. Make an appearance. Remind them we’re here.”
“But…”
“He’s using me as bait. Hopes someone with a royal title will take a liking to me and sweep me off my feet. And give him money or soldiers.”
Yaz’s voice turned grim. “Well, he is the king. Finding allies and resources is his job. Our people created the position so that we had someone to negotiate with others. Wish he would come up with a better way to do it than selling his daughter. Or anyone’s daughter, for that matter.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Epheria pressed into him again, her expression turning to misery and rebellion. “Let’s just run away and live our own lives. I would give up being a princess if it meant I could make my own future.”
“You say that without ever having lived any other kind of life. How would you fare sleeping under the stars?”
She spoke defiantly. “I’d say, how beautiful!”
“In the rain and cold?”
“I have you to keep me warm.”
“Would you be happy in a shack on the edge of a pitiful farm, barely able to feed ourselves?”
“As long as we have enough to feed our children and have enough love for them and each other.”
His head tilted, and his eyes softened. “Epheria…”
She frowned, offended. “You doubt me. Pity me? Why? Do you think I’m such a spoiled little girl that I couldn’t live like anyone else?”
“No!” He struggled to find an answer. “You would give up the chance to be queen one day?”
A dismissive wave. “That will never happen.”
“Your father isn’t getting younger.”
“He’s never named me his official heir. When Mother went too many years after having me and not getting pregnant again, he convinced her an official consort was necessary for the good of the kingdom and tried very hard to have another child with his new woman. And when she failed him, he tried it with another woman and another.”
Yaz sighed. “Sounds like the problem is him, not them.”
Bitterness caught in her throat. She hated that her father saw so little worth in her just because of her gender. It was so short-sighted. “It just has to work one time and produce a boy. Because that’s what he really wants. I’m only a placeholder until someone more appropriate comes along.”
“Which could be lost to a miscarriage or any number of childhood illnesses.”
“One healthy boy who lives, and I’ll be traded off and shipped elsewhere. Or Father may bring some prince here, marry me off, and crown him king. Honestly, the way he’s been talking lately, I think he’s very seriously considering it.” She crossed her arms and bowed her shoulders, upset.
Yaz pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Most people aren’t this sexist. Why is he so obsessed? How can he not appreciate you? You’re smart, capable, positive. People love you. I love you. You’re a fantastic princess and would make a wonderful queen.” Frustrated, he growled.
Her spirits returned, and a smile accompanied it. She placed a palm on his chest and gave him a peck on the cheek, happy that he saw her that way. “Thank you. But I’ve made my peace with it. I’m twenty-four. I’ve helped found the university and helped build our first real hospital, all without any support for him, fighting him for funds he wanted to spend on the military. And you can already see the benefits; people are healthier and happier. We’re stronger in a way he doesn’t want to see. If he hasn’t come around to the idea of me succeeding him by now, he never will. And his breeding schemes and lack of support prove it.”
“I’m sorry, Epheria.”
“It’s fine. I know he loves me, even if he doesn’t respect me. Besides, I have you for both.” She pulled him close with a smile and kissed him.
A voice broke in. “It’s unseemly for a princess to be doing such things in public.”
Epheria recognized the voice and inwardly groaned. She and Yaz pulled away but didn’t let go of each other. She took his arm in hers and faced the speaker, her tone no-nonsense. “Go bother someone else. As I’ve said before, this is no business of yours.”
Kree, official Court Wizard of the Velvet Kingdom, was giving Yaz a cold look. Kree’d arrived in the kingdom three years ago and immediately gained a post with the kingdom because of his magical abilities. He’d been named by her father to his current post only six more months after that. Half the population of the Velvet Kingdom was human from Drearia and non-magical, and the kanin people weren’t much more naturally able, so they were desperate for magic users of real ability, of which Kree most assuredly was. Her father thought very highly of the wizard.
Epheria had readily become aware of Kree’s personal interest in her. Whether it was purely lust for her body or for the throne through her, she wasn’t entirely certain, but despite multiple attempts to build a relationship with her, she’d never sensed any real affection or sentiment from him. Her deep love for Yaz made it even easier for her to continue rejecting him. Not that those rejections seemed to dissuade his interest.
Kree turned his head to her. “Hasn’t your father already made his feelings clear on this relationship?”
Her ears tilted back, revealing her anger. One of her father’s criticisms was that she didn’t do better in controlling her emotions, or at least how her ears so publicly expressed them. “My relationships are my business.”
He gave her a challenging look. “You are the princess of the kingdom.”
She lifted her chin, defiant. “A kingdom the age of a toddler. Our grandparents lived in the wild. I think it’s a little ridiculous for us to pretend to silly rules and traditions like we’re some ancient regime. And I don’t see the value in such pretension anyway. Being a princess doesn’t make me any different from any other woman. I’ll love who I want and kiss who I want, and it’s no concern of yours.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yaz opening his mouth to speak. Before he could get into yet another argument with the wizard—for the two hated each other—she tugged on his arm to lead him away.
Once out of earshot as they stalked down the hallway, she made a little growl of her own. “I’m so tired of his meddling.”
“Your father wants to speak with you. That’s why I came to find you.”
Epheria almost jumped out of her skin. She stopped in her tracks and turned her head.
Kree stood next to her, looking cold but also smug. He’d obviously heard her; they hadn’t left him behind at all.
Yaz released her arm and took a threatening step toward him, interposing himself between her and the wizard.
She raised a hand. “Yaz…”
He showed no fear at all. “Speaking of inappropriate behaviour, hasn’t it been made clear how inappropriate your own is?”
Kree smirked. “Hmph. You really don’t understand how intimidation works, do you? Hit one too many times in the head, perhaps? You have to be stronger than the person you’re trying to threaten.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I am.”
Kree sneered. “As if a grunt like you would stand a chance against an accomplished wizard like me.”
Yaz laughed, apparently with genuine amusement, showing no trace of fear, despite everyone knowing that Kree was a person of very powerful abilities with more than a little lupus blood on his hands. Yaz grinned at the magic user, his energy suddenly restored, as if he hadn’t just spent two hours swinging steel. “Want to test it?”
Kree grinned back, chest-puffing. “I’d like noth—“
Epheria thrust an arm between them. “Enough.” She pulled Yaz away, feeling protective, even though she was pretty sure he would hold his own against Kree. Probably. Maybe? She nervously eyed the magic user, though she hid her emotion. There’d always been something odd about Kree, something dangerous underneath his normally calm and studied behaviour. Probably one of the qualities her father liked about him which is how he’d gotten his position.
She decided to give in and see what her father wanted.
*
Epheria’s father, the king of the Velvet Kingdom, was fully human (her mother, Biantha, was mixed kanin-human). He stood in front of his wooden throne, beard gray and head balding, but with fire in his eyes, and impatiently scolded her. “I have told you, privately, time and time again, that this relationship is done. You didn’t listen. So I will tell you now, for the last time, you will cease having any relationship with this knight. Ever. Or there will be dire consequences.”
She tried not to allow her own anger to rise in response to his, though it wasn’t easy. “Father—“
He snapped back, “It’s over!”
She bit back an angry retort and tried to stay calm. “I’m not—“
Her willingness to stand up to him only made him angrier and he took a step forward and shouted at her. “You will marry who I tell you to marry!”
Adrenalin flooded Epheria’s heart, and it fluttered with anger and panic. It was not easy to stand up against a parent, especially when they were really upset. But she firmed her voice and stood her ground. “I won’t be your pawn. I’m a person, not a game piece or furniture. You have no say in who I fall in love with.”
“I am the king!” he shouted at her. “My word is law!”
Yaz stepped forward. He looked far more deferential than he had when challenging Kree earlier, but he still didn’t show any fear. “Please—“
The king dragged his gaze off Epheria and threw a look of scorn at the knight. “It’s Sire, to you! Remember your place.”
“Sire. Epheria is—“
“Don’t you dare question or talk back to me. I am your king. You swore an oath to serve me!”
Yaz raised a hand in protest. “To serve the kingdom, sire.”
The statement seemed to throw the older man. “I am the king. I am the kingdom.”
Epheria recognized how badly this was going and reached out to touch her love’s shoulder and restrain him.
Reluctantly, Yaz spoke anyway. “No, sire. My loyalty is to the princess as much as to yourself, and to the people as much as the rulers.”
Her father grew suddenly calm, in a very dangerous manner. All his attention zeroed in on Yaz. “That sounds a lot like treason, boy.”
“No, sire. I mean no disrespect. Only that I swore to uphold the laws and values of the kingdom and the welfare of the people above all. I obey your commands, but I could not do so if it meant being unjust or hurting a citizen of Velvet. If it meant hurting our people. Including Epheria.”
Epheria watched with dread as her father’s hand twitched, as if he was too full of emotion to control himself, a rare thing. “We should—“
The king snarled. “You would dare defy me? Or admit that you would be willing to betray me?”
Yaz wisely took a step back so that he was beside her again. “I’m only trying to say that Epheria—
“Princess Epheria!”
“Princess Epheria loves and respects you and surely wants you to be happy, as I do, as any citizen of Velvet does. But forcing her to marry against her will would be an act of cruelty. If there is something about my character, a worry that I won’t treat her right—“
Her father barked a nasty laugh. “You are just a lowly knight. A tool. She is a princess, and she will marry who I say, when I say, for the benefit of this kingdom. And it will be to a prince, someone worthy of her station, someone that will bring with them the finances and power necessary to help us hold off our ancient enemies. You, peasant—
Yaz blinked in surprise. “Peasant?”
“—will stay away from my daughter, or I will have you drummed out of the order and cast out of my domain.”
Epheria nearly shook her head before stopping herself. Notions of class were uncommon in the kingdom, and her father’s insistence on creating such distinctions, with the royal family and himself at the top, was something that had only begun in earnest once he’d been given the throne and this form of government established, a reflection of his personal interests. Yet most people of Velvet, like Yaz and Epheria both, found the idea of class unappealing, to say the least.
It seemed as if Yaz had had enough of treading carefully. He straightened, and his voice grew harder. “Respectfully, sire, though you can exile me, only the order itself can dismiss me from their ranks.”
Seemingly taking that as insolence, her father’s eyes widened in rage. “You—!“
“Please, sire! I do not wish to fight with you. I only ask that you consider your daughter’s heart! Perhaps her life-long happiness is worth more than a temporary treaty or purchase of land our rivals will simply fight us over later.”
“You truly forget your place, boy. I’ve had enough—“
Epheria jumped in, alarmed at the purple tone her father’s face had undergone. “Father! Let’s not be rash. We shouldn’t say or do things when we’re upset. Any of us.” She motioned for Yaz to quickly leave.
He looked at her and hesitated but must have realized the wisdom of her actions. With a deferential bow to the king, he backed away and left the throne room.
Epheria spent another hour trying to calm her father and prevent him from ordering Yaz’s execution. It was not easy to cut through his fury nor to ignore her own. But she had to, for Yaz’s sake. And her own.
That night, as she dismissed her maid from her bedroom and climbed into bed, it was with a heavy heart. Her relationship with her father had always been fractious, and without the kind of love and affection she yearned for from him. It seemed as if things were finally coming to a head. Her father was forcing her to make a choice she didn’t want to: keep her parent or the person she wanted a future beside. She was going to have to lose one of them.
And that was a really lousy choice for anyone to have forced on them.
A tap on the glass of one of her windows caught her attention. Assassins wouldn’t knock, and only one person ever dared climb up the side of the castle to see her in the middle of the night. She threw the bed covers aside and ran to the window to draw back the curtain.
Yaz hung outside the glass. He gave her a sad smile.
She slid the window open sideways, drew him in, and they wrapped their arms around each other. Her ears drooped and hung down the sides of her head. She struggled not to cry.
Yaz patted her ears and head and hugged her close to his warm body. “I’m sorry, Effy. I shouldn’t have spoken up. I just made things worse.”
“No. It wasn’t your fault. I’m glad you stood up for us. And me. My father’s unreasonable.”
They stood in silence for a long while, just holding each other.
Eventually, emotions having calmed down, she tilted her head up and looked into Yaz’s brown eyes. But when she opened her mouth, he spoke at the same time.
“I’m not giving up on us.”
They both grinned at each other.
Yaz squeezed her tight. “I love you, my bunny girl.”
Her ears straightened, and she crinkled her nose and touched it to his. “I love you, too.” Her sadness melted away, as it so often did whenever she was with him.
This led to some more squeezing, some heavy petting, a lot more kissing, and activities that meant any foreign prince hoping to marry a virgin princess of Velvet would have to wait another generation for one to show up.
*
The next day, Yaz returned to the practice court with renewed vigour that led him to take on three men at once—and give them all a thrashing. The display of martial skill impressed even those he’d beaten, and plenty of praise went his way from the two dozen knights training in the yard.
When Dir Ghenli noticed the high spirits, he waited until Yaz had a moment alone and came over with a touch of surprise in his lowered voice. “Heard the king was involved in quite the conversation with the princess yesterday. Didn’t think I’d see you this fiesty this morning. Figured you might be angry.”
Yaz turned a youthful grin on the head knight. “I guess I had my faith boosted.”
Gus found that puzzling. He frowned. “Faith in what?”
“In my oath as a knight.”
“Really? But the king…”
“I didn’t swear an oath to the king. Like I told him yesterday, I swore an oath to the people of this kingdom. All of them. And that’s who I fight for.”
A slow, proud smile spread over Gus’s lips. He reached up and clapped a hand on Yaz’s shoulder. “You’re going to be a great knight.”