The light of the early morning began to flood the central hallway, drowning out the princess' subtle features. She stood there, smile still on her face as she watched the human and minotaur head out for a morning pint. Despite her polite refusal, she desperately wanted to join them, all of them. Her entire guard always seemed so fun and jovial, full of life. Of course, her sister would never allow it and Being queen, she could do that. Deny her sister the right to have a life.
"It's not right and proper." Luna mocked to herself, it's exactly what she would say. She knew because her sister had said it before.
Luna had never asked for this life, this existence. She never wanted to rule, or live forever, not that she even did much of either. Every night, the night court was open, a time for those less welcome in the day to come with grievances and to discuss the more minor and trivial matters of state that maybe she could lend an ear to. It was created just for her, 600 years ago after her sister was crowned queen. In the though, the only ones who ever came were the late arriving dignitaries and nobles seeking more an audience with the Queen instead of her. Some thought they could bypass the normal process and get to her sister through the Princess. Others would try and force what limited power she had into making decisions that were beyond her station. That never ended well, for either of them.
What could she even do in end? Her authority was so limited, she could maybe approve someone’s request to stead a home or business, maybe. Assuming there wasn’t anything major stopping them. Of course, if that was the case why would they even need to come to the court? Matters between the dark races could sometimes be handled by her, but a lack of trust from most others made her rulings less then binding. It all felt so useless, she felt useless.
This wasn't what she wanted even in part. Some 750 years ago, she did have a choice. No, she couldn't deny her immortality any more than a bird could deny its own wings, but she could have refused to fly and sealed herself away until the coming of the next age when maybe, just maybe she'd be able to live a normal life span. No one knew when that day would come or even how close they were. This wasn't something she would bring up to others, but she had doubts if it would ever come. Some nights, she still wondered if that wasn’t an option, just disappear.
"Excuse me princess, the queen calls for you." Behind her stood one of the morning guards, a well-built elf, hair golden and flowing, sky blue eyes, and though the armor hid it, he was hardened with muscle and no doubt could keep even a minotaur on their toes. "The delegation from the Crystal Queen is arriving as we speak, our Queen insists-"
She waved away the comment with her hand, "Yes, yes. My sister wants me there before Queen Venustas shows up. I know." She did her best to suppress a yawn. "Thank you Solaris."
“Of course but Queen Luminis insists I accompany you since your guard is… indisposed.” He was polite, he could have just said they were out drinking. Which, while true, wouldn’t have been completely fair. If she had asked, Sable would have commanded himself and a few of his squad to stayed till the afternoon, and even later if need be. Luna didn’t think it was necessary though. Nothing was gained by fighting with swords or fists. At least not today. Although, it would probably be preferable then spending the day with either of them.
Closing her eyes, she tried not to grind her teeth. She didn’t need protection, particularly from the false and so called Crystal Queen. But with a new forced smile she would still agree, just to keep the peace between her and her sister if nothing else, “I think my sister is being overly protective, but I understand. Please wait for me in the conference room. I’ll be there shortly.” The morning guard was going to protest but she wouldn't let him, "I insist, I will be there in a minute." He gave a deep bow before running off to await her in the large space down the hall.
She rubbed at her eyes, this was the time she would retire to her quarters and relax. An hour later she would usually be asleep. That wasn't an option today, her sister insisted that she was present at these… talks.
Maybe she’d have the time to at least grab some tea from the kitchen staff. But before she could even move a single step towards her promised drink, her body froze.
"Speak of the devil and she'll appear." Luna whispered to herself as Luminis approached from the same conference space. Turning and running might have seemed an option, Luna far over powered hitter sister in terms of magic. Even if she tried, Luminis couldn’t stop her. But the rest of the Solar Guard could, as they had once before. Luna didn’t feel like spending another five centuries locked in a magic crystal cell just for some tea. Though she couldn’t deny the temptation was there.
Her sister’s face was radiant, golden like the sun, with the subtle tan of a life being in the sun. Her bright and warm yellow hair, like her sister's was streamed with whisps of white and silver, it was as if looking at strands of thin clouds in the morning sunlight. Her eyes were blue, deep blue, the color of a sky filled with water as she smiled at her sister. It was as if she were truly glowing.
Luna was often described as pretty, and even cute, but her sister was a true goddess next to her. At least, Luna thought so.
Having just woken up, Luminis had far more energy than her clearly exhausted sister. "Good morning sister, I've asked for some strong tea to be brewed for you. I hope that will be sufficient?"
Again, she rubbed her eyes. "Thank you Luma. That will be fine." It was hard to feel excited for this. It just seemed so unnecessary.
"Are you ok? You seem out of it."
"Just tired. Don’t forget. I'm usually in my room at this time getting ready for bed."
"Yes, well… I need you at these talks. You and Coruscis."
She stopped rubbing her eyes. She liked the rabbit but why? "I understand why you may think she should be there but-"
"Good. I'm glad you understand. I'll make sure several cups of tea are made and I'll see you in the main conference hall in ten minutes." Luma didn't give her sister a chance to do anything as she turned and walked away.
Luna could only watch as the sun seemed to eclipse the moon once more. Her sister never listened, only told. But it didn't matter really, her sister's word was law at best Luna's word would be a suggestion. She had to be there, even if the talks felt pointless, she knew that, but Coruscis? That was more questionable choice, the rabbit wasn't really good with large numbers of people.
Coruscis and her were the ones who stopped the Crystal Queen in the first place, at the time called by her other name, the Ice Queen. Then her sister swopped in like angel, sparing Venustas and exalting her to a Queen against both of their protests. A large section of the northern territories was cut off and 'given' to the new Queen, to rule. In exchange, Venustas would be… cooperative with Queen Luminis, and the new kingdom subservient to Illania.
Her sister had logic of course, a twisted logic that could only make sense to an immortal. 200 even 300 years, was nothing to Luminis, after which time Venustas would be dead, and the territory returned to Illania proper. It was insane, and yet, almost no blood was spilt, and no war was fought or would be. Perhaps her sister had been right, but it still felt wrong to give that tyrant power and Luna couldn't help but worry for the people there. She had long dead connections with the north, but the embers of memory were still warm to her.
As for today, this was the second meeting of the crowns for the year. They would meet seasonally, and this was spring's meeting. It was a day when Luminis and Venustas would talk with their combined advisors, ensuring their rulership’s were aligned. Luna and Coruscis would be present this time, for what Luna would guess was some kind of leverage, though she never did anything useful. It was even more strange to have Coruscis there. If there was thing Luna had that her sister didn’t, it was her overwhelming magic potential. Despite being younger, she was far stronger than her sister and Venustas combined. Coruscis was also exceedingly formidable and an equal match for the Ice Queen. Her magic aptitude was a very rare trait for the rabbit race.
Inside the large conference hall, Coruscis was already inside at the table, Luna could tell from the bluish rabbit ears sticking out of the book. Her nose was buried deep in said book as she hunkered down in her seat doing her best not to be seen or noticed. That was how you were most often to see her, and normally it wouldn't be unusual. But, Luna had learned to read her morning assistant well over the years. She didn't want to be here anymore than Luna did. However, unlike Luna, Coruscis was terrified of crowds and her instincts told her to hide. What better, safer way than in and behind the books she treasured.
The table was large, the cloth draped over it held a mixture of colors on one side the green, blue and golds representing Illania or more specifically the Solar Guard. On the other side white, blue and silver representing the Icy North Kingdom. Venustas’ flippant nature had already changed the name of her Kingdom several times, from the Ice Kingdom, to the Snowy Planes, now too the Crystal Kingdom. Who knows how long that name would last though.
Walking past her borrowed guard, Luna made it a point to sit next to her assistant eliciting a light squeak from the rabbit satyr. "I want to go back to my books… I was in the middle of important research."
That brought a momentary of chuckle from Luna. Important research likely being some completely esoteric and frankly useless. "What was the last research you worked on? The magic potential of… wolf fur? No wolf dander." Luna mocked in a friendly tone.
One of the best ways to engage the rabbit was to question her research and ideas. Coruscis couldn't help herself as she put the book down. Her face was simple, much like what you might expect a librarian’s, right down to the glasses on her nose, through which the dark circles under her tired brown eyes showed though. It seemed as if Luna was not the only one who had been up late. Her hair was shorter to just above her shoulders, clean, but not well taken care of. Like her ears her hair was a shade of blue perhaps darker though, the frizzy ends made it hard to tell.
With a frustrated sigh, the rabbit began her dissertation. "All body parts have mana potential. Hair, skin, eyes, blood. We know wolf fur has certain mana energies, so does wolf leather, they're not the same though! Studying the dander would tell us if-"
Thankfully she was interrupted by one of the royal guards, one that Luna didn't recognize. Given the icy blue and silver armor, they were probably part of Venustas’ new Guard. "Announcing the arrival of the Queen of Beauty, Queen Venustas!"
Luna’s eyes rolled slightly at the Ice Queen’s new name. The younger elf couldn’t ever seem to settle on a single name for anything, even herself.
Upon entering the first thing you'd notice was the subtle glow around her, as if a subtle spell of light was in use. The gown she wore was long and flowing, like water made of silk. The crown on her head was extravagant but still small and dainty, designed to accentuate her looks rather than take from them. The long strawberry blond hair flowed much like her gown did and almost sparked with her golden yellow eyes. As her name insinuated, she was extremely beautiful, and like her unmentioned name, cold and hard like ice crystals.
“Ice Queen.” Coruscis whispered to Luan. Who quickly, and subtlety kicked her assistant, “Owe! What was that for?”
Leaning over she whispered back, “Don’t say that you’ll make her mad. Neither of us want to deal with that today.” Speaking of dealing with things, Luan looked around for her promised cup of tea to help deal with her exhaustion. This meeting would be insufferable without something to stay her sleeplessness and smooth out her nerves. It was about to be made worse by Venustas’ attempts to befriend or goad the two of them.
“Well if it isn’t the Princess Luna and Mage Coruscis! How are my two favorite people doing?” Her voice was almost as beautiful as she was, it sang and swam its way into your heart and your head, or at least the magic behind it did. Like most deep forest elves Venustas’ was a naturally powerful mage, given more magic than any other race at birth. Their tribe in particular was stronger still. The Queen of Beauty, or Crystal Queen or Ice Queen whatever you called her, used all that magic in her various charm spells that floated around her. It was her most powerful weapon, the ability to bring others to her cause with a whisper and sometimes just a glance.
Luan forced a smile, “Queen Venustas. You look well.” Even Luna could tell her own voice was flat, it made it easier to hide her emotions and keep from saying something unforwarded. You don’t have to mask your emotions with another, if you don’t bother showing them at all.
The Ice Queen walked up next to Luna, closer than her sister’s royal guard liked. “Oh come now, dear cousin! It’s been nearly ten years now, there shouldn’t be any more animosity between us.” Being of the same tribe, they were technically both cousins, all be it very distant ones separated by centuries.
With a hand, Luna told her temporary guard to relax just a bit. Solaris was the first to comply, followed by the rest. It was a ridiculous show of force from them anyway, the Ice Queen was a powerful enough sorcerous that the guards wouldn’t even have been able to pull their swords before being struck down or worse. That was the main reason she was there, she and Coruscis together had more magic potential than ten of her. At least she assumed that’s why she was there. It wasn’t like she ever had any real part or interest in these talks.
Venustas crept closer to Luna, as if beckoning her to do something. Whether that something was aggressive or amorous probably didn’t matter to her. The Queen of Beauty hated not being the center of attention. Fighting or flirting so long as she was at the center, she’d be happy with either.
Luna could feel the subtle tendrils of charm magic sneaking around her, trying to entice her into doing anything. But the Queen never learned that magic had no effect on her, nor would it ever. A gift or perhaps a curse of her own magic potential. “Queen Venustas, my sister will be here soon, perhaps we should all take our seats?” A very subtle smirk crossed her face as she spoke. A slight slap to Venustas power games.
With a sigh the present Queen gave in, and wandered to her side of the table, making it a point to smile and slightly brush against one of the guards. Given the eleven guard’s sudden love-struck face, it was clear her magic worked on almost anyone else.
“Slut.” The word was whispered so low that even Coruscis sitting next to her could barely hear it. Barely.
“Ow!” It was Coruscis’ turn to kick Luna.
As the two argued with their feet, one of the morning guards quickly marched into the space, “Announcing the arrival of Queen Luminis!” his voice boomed, even louder than Venustas’ guard. Possibly a power play, it was hard to know anymore.
Luminis slowly walked in behind said guard. Her radiant appearance from early on had changed, and quite substantially. Rather than a gown or other regal wear, she instead wore her armor, which was more ceremonial than anything. This did two things; it significantly reduced her appearance, making her own beauty stand out less to the other Queen’s and helped imply the seriousness of the talks. A seriousness that Luna doubted, given prior meetings.
As soon as Luminis' sat down, she began the talks “Let us begin the 39th meeting of the crowns. Queen Venustas bowed just barely before taking her own seat. “To start, lets discuss the grain shipments to the north. We will be short a few wagon loads, our arsumuth harvest are far less than predicted. But we can make it up with our overly abundant winter fruit harvest…”
As the meeting began in all its dull insignificance, Luna felt like she was about to cry. This was useless to her, why did she care about grain shipments? Why did she care about the ore shipments after that? What was the point of taking another census, they just did one 5 years ago. But even more than that, she wanted to know where the hell was her tea?
Given the muffled sound of bells from outside the room, three hours would pass before a break would finally be called. "We will adjourn for an hour and return to finish for the day."
A subtle pain in the back of Luna's mind had been growing for the past two hours. The meeting was insufferable, and she couldn't wait to stand and get away from this place for a few minutes. Venustas didn’t seem to take it seriously, and her sister more or less allowed her to do as she wished.
Looking to the side, Coruscis had already disappeared from space, in the distance, her overly long robe dragging behind her as she half jogged towards the castle library. No doubt she was off to find another book, or three.
Meanwhile Luna, was off to find tea or anything that would help her stay awake. Tea, is eventually what she found, in the castle's main kitchen were drawers and drawers of various blends and types. One in particular, was full of jet black and silken leaves, the aroma, was bitter and spicy. Just the smell alone was enough to open her eyes.
"Princess, please let me-" One of the cooks in the kitchen tried to protest at her presence in the space.
But, Luna held her hand up to silence the morning kitchen staff, who were less familiar with her tastes. "I insist on making this myself." She knew the staff meant well, but they would insist on only using a tiny pinch of these potent leaves in an equally tiny cup, that would be quickly strained leaving only twilight of what was possible behind. What she wanted was much more intense.
The staff watched wide eyed as she dropped a full spoon of the leaves in a very large mug, five times the size of a normal teacup. Brewing time for this tea was supposed to be short, a minute, two if you'd liked it strong and bitter. Walking out of the kitchen with the leaves still in the hot mug implied she was going to let it brew for much longer.
Though not fully brewed to her tastes she risked an early sip. The dark bitterant was already strong enough to tingle the tongue, drying it out ever so slightly. It was strong and overpowering like the darkest night without any moonlight. Floral essences behind the darkness moved like shadows in the night, barely preserved but still present out of the corner of your eye, or nose in this case. The dark night of sensation was awakening for her, just like morning would be for someone normal. It was exactly what she needed, and it was, perfect.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
As she savored the first few sips, she noticed how disarrayed the kitchen was. Like they either hadn't finished cleaning up from breakfast or perhaps were working on something else. Both seemed odd, but that was for the kitchen staff and the chefs to work out.
She had about fifty minutes before the meeting started up again, and she did not want to spend any more time than she had to in that stuffy room or this one. Which is why she was now going in the opposite direction, towards the wide-open castle courtyard, the so-called courtyard of sleeping dreams. It was there that statue after statue stood, mixed with the greenery of bushes and trees, lush grass, and flowers and also, the occasional oddly kept pile of rocks.
Each statue was in various levels of disrepair and neglect. Some were still occasionally taken care of, but it was fate of all that stood here to eventually crumble back into the ground. The people of Illania or at least it's capital city of Collisviridis all thought the same thing, that the statues were meant as an honor for the fallen and the brave, the heroes of Illania. And, while that was true, it's not the only reason. They were also there to remind them that is her and her sister the supposed immortals, that nothing lasts forever.
There was one statue in particular that she sought with the rest of her free time. Immediately Left and then right, right again and straight just a bit more ahead. It was nearer the edge of the courtyard, not easily found, he wasn't that important to anyone but her.
Behind some bushes, that needed to be trimmed back, was where he stood. Strong, bold, and stone cold. An elf, slightly taller than most, he was about her own height in fact, with strong features. You couldn't tell from the stone, but his hair would have been almost pure white, like the snow, like his name Nives. Aside from the ears, and his hair, he had a striking resemblance to Neal, at least in the face. Perhaps that was why she had shown him such favor, despite him being a human.
The statue was fairly well taken care of. Despite being over 500 years old, it only had the faintest of cracks, but it was missing one finger. The stone elf smiled to the distant sun. The cold eyes warmed in the sunlight that they couldn't see. Some weeds had and grass had grown just a bit too high for her tastes, and putting her cup down, she began to take care of what no one else would. What none of the staff were allowed too.
The custodial staff took care of the gardens themselves, the trees and bushes, the grass areas but the area immediately around the statues were to be left alone until they were so overgrown, they'd be mistaken for foliage. It was the way of the courtyard. People were allowed to adopt a statue and work on it in their own time, like she had done. You could hold a memory, a dream, for as long as you wished, for as long as you could. But eventually, they were all to return to the void and mist from where they came.
Her cleanup didn't take much time or effort, not that she'd mind if it did. A small shimmer caught her eye as she pulled the weeds. It was bluish and cloudy, less like window glass, and more like a poor-quality gemstone. It was oddly shaped, like it had been broken off something larger. It took her attention far longer than she wanted before she tossed it over, her shoulder and forgot about it.
When she was done with the cleanup. Her hand raised up to the statue's face to a very faint and smooth patch on the elf's cheek that was lightly stroked by Luna's own fingers. Adding a minute amount of new smoothness. How long would it take before she forgot him? It was a question she didn't want to answer but just couldn't help asking to herself.
"My dear sister, you keep stroking at that statue, and it will disappear sooner." Luma had wandered out to find her sister, exactly where she expected.
Luna wanted to be alone right now, with her thoughts, with him. But her sister wouldn't let up. It was always what she wanted. A slight gasp overtook Luna as she was embraced by her sister. She still wasn't used to it. 500 years ago, her sister would have ignored her or at most insulted her, like she did on that fated day long ago.
Yet ever since she awoke from her prison, the prison her sister made for her, Luma had been different to her. No, different in general. Obviously, she was still her sister, but her personality, even her memories were different. Before she went asleep in prison, Luna could remember started forgetting things, they'd had been alive for 300 years at the point, so it was only natural, but it was so different now. The time shift scared Luna because she knew that's what awaited her too. A false immortality, a lie that would eat at her so long as she lived, and she would live a very, very long time.
Breaking the embrace, Luna tried to ignore it and went for the cup of tea on the ground that was beckoning her. This new relationship she had with her sister still wasn't comfortable. It was just too different.
"It's, not healthy to stay trapped in your memories Luna. You remember-" Luma couldn't finish, Luna wouldn't let her as she held up a hand.
"You aren't our mother, sister. Nor are you our father! They died hundreds of years ago, when we were still young ourselves." The power inside of her trickled around her skin like electricity. She needed to take a breath, she needed to breathe and calm herself. What happened last time would not repeat itself, Luna would not let it. "Don't tell me what to remember or how." Her mind was her own, as were her memories. Sipping at the tea, helped to calm her nerves as they spent a moment together in silence.
Luminis couldn’t stand the quite, "Well, I remember when you were… When we were younger, you followed me around out here. Chasing me around the statues. The old Queen was not amused by that. Then you stole the crown and…"
Again, that was a memory she didn't want to remember "I never asked to be princess of the night! You forced that on me! I just, wanted to wear the crown too. I just, wanted my future to be something too. More than just, the dimmer light controlled by you." It was hard not to yell or cry. But she didn't, it wouldn't have done anything. "You know, I would never have given that… false queen her own throne. I mean, I don't even have a throne. Just, a chair."
Luminis pulled back a bit further from her sister, she wanted to keep hugging her, holding her close. To return to a distant time, that never really existed in the first place. "Are you ok, Luna?"
Shaking her head no, she wasn't ok. But she would focus on what mattered most now, the Ice Queen. "You didn't face her like me and Coruscis did. Her mind is, twisted. Giving her territory was a mistake."
"It's been 10 years, she's been following our arrangement, even seems happy with it. It's only 200 maybe 300 years. That's all, after that she… her territory will return to us. No one will die, quite the contrary, they will become even more loyal thanks to Queen Venustas."
"I understand your logic, it's just…" Luna trailed off, she did understand it was just.
"You don't think like that." Her sister filled in the rest.
"I mean, the people that have to live under her. Their lives are going to be-"
Luma wouldn’t let her younger sister finish that statement, "They'll live, probably better than they would have otherwise. Luna, the northern territories aren't what they used to be. It's been hard trying to run this kingdom alone. Traditionally, the previous queen would stick for a few hundred years, to help till we got the hang of it all. But there were two of us, this time it wasn't seen as necessary, and the old queen was so very tired. Venustas won’t kill them, at least not without reason or cause."
Luna could help but shake her head at the contradiction. "She's a tyrant." It was the last protest Luna had left but knew the outcome of this talk. It would be the same as it always was.
"Luna, you don't know her like I do. She grew up under me, she was… Venustas thought she was destained for the throne or at least a seat next to it, but then her future was taken from her, just like her childhood was. She is not as bad as you think." It was a conversation they had before. Luminis and Venustas had become close for the decades they had spent together. Her sister must have seen the future queen as a replacement for the sister she lost long ago.
"Yes, she was the little sister you no longer had. You know, after you locked me away for centuries." That wasn't fair. Luna knew she never gave her sister a choice, if Luma hadn't done that a lot of people would have died. Maybe even her. Still, it hurt. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
The two stood in the yard, silence broken only by the occasional bird song. "The world was full of Tyrants at one time. Long before either of us." Luma forced a smile, "You have a good heart sister, you always have, but the bigger picture requires more than heart."
A bell in the distance started to chime. It was time for the talks to resume. Luminis headed back first, giving her younger sister a bit more time.
The next three hours went about as slow as the first three. But, at least Luna had her tea now, and Coruscis had a small book fort set up next to her. How that rabbit could carry that many books, let alone read them was a mystery to her.
As noon came and passed, the talks began to wind down, culminating in Queen Venustas seemingly getting everything she wanted. "This has been a productive meeting. Thank you, cousins. I think I will retire till this evening. I understand you have a banquet planned for us?"
Of course, Luna knew they didn't, and Venustas had to know that. It was another one of her power plays. Queen Luminis seemed perturbed by the sudden request but ended up nodding in agreement as the other Queen got up to leave. "Oh, Coruscis! Your cousin wanted me to wish you well! You really should come up to visit us."
A shiver went down the rabbit's spine, her cousin and her had grown up together after her parents died, they were more like brother and sister. Only with much more animosity. After defeating the Ice Queen, Coruscis' cousin was requested by name, by her, to serve in her new guard. Luna, Coruscis and Luma all knew it was one of Venustas's games, but it was hard to see the exact motivations. Beyond trying to get closer and under Coruscis furry skin.
Every time Illania dealt with the other queen it seemed like they came out behind. Why then did Luminis seem so happy with the day's proceedings? A question Luna asked her sister before she could leave.
Luminis almost smirked, "Why wouldn't I be happy? We got everything we wanted and gave up far less than I expected."
Her eyes blinked as she tried to process that statement, perhaps it was just her tiredness, but it didn’t seem to make sense to her. "How can you say that? She got triple the grain shipments you were giving her. Like you said, our late fall gain harvest was much less than expected. Then the ore shipments, were-"
Luma's smile was massive, like a cat showing their freshly caught prey to their owner. "The exact number I wanted. And for the ore, we couldn't possibly have used all that. We still have warehouses full of it from decades ago. Even before she took over the north they were over producing, it was the excuse I needed to keep them fed. As for the grain, Coruscis you have the numbers?"
The rabbit perked up, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "Like I briefed Queen Luminis earlier, we're only short with our fancy arsumuth strain. Our other grains, particularly oats, are well over expected harvests. There's nothing saying what grains to send her, and Queen Luminis insists she won't check. So, we do come out ahead. At least, compared to what we originally partitioned out."
Luminis smiled and nodded "Exactly. Like I said Luna, I watched her grow up, I know how she thinks and what motivates her."
A pain pulsed in Luna's head. Whether it was from the sleeplessness, the overly strong tea or just the stress of the conversations she's had today didn't change its presence. "I'm going to take a nap before this… banquet. Again, she's p Luminis laying you." With that, Luna stood.
Continuing to smile, Luma further explained her plans, "She thinks she is, but like I said, I know how she thinks. As for the banquet I asked the chief to start prepping this morning and to keep it quiet. It's a lot of work, but they have plenty of time, and I don't think they'll be many in attendance since it was short notice, but notices went out to all the nobles in the city."
Luna didn’t like to admit she was wrong, particularly to her sister. As it was, she still wasn’t convinced anyway, "As you say sister." With that, Luna left the conference space. Her sister sat back at the table, as if lost in thought.
The echoing of Luna’s footsteps was soon followed by the patter of another. Behind her, a rabbit seemed to follow her carrying what looked like a small library.
For a moment, the two walked next to each other. "How's Neal doing? I haven't seen him much since he started being a Guard." Coruscis' voice held a pang of guilt. She still blamed herself for what happened to him.
"He's doing fine. I do think my guard captain is too hard on him but, I should stay out of it. Both need to learn to work with each other, and it's wrong for my station to direct such a lower level." Smiling she glanced at her feet, as if embarrassed to admit her next thought, "I think, one of his fellow guards might be a little bit… friendly with him."
The rabbit’s glasses bobbed slightly along with the curious twitching of her nose. "Oh. Is that allowed?" Coruscis wasn’t much for personal interaction, but she did enjoy studying how other’s handled it. It was almost a form of research to her, purely academic of course. At least, that’s the excuse she would use.
"Depends on how friendly she gets. But again, that's a matter for the captain and maybe my generals to determine." Shaking her head and yawing, Luna held her hands up as if admitting defeat to an invisible enemy. "Well, I hope you get some rest Coruscis. I know I will, and we have to do this again tomorrow. Hopefully she doesn't want another banquet.” Her eyes burned at the thought of another sleepless morning in the near future. “I take it you won't be in attendance tonight?" Luna asked with a waning smile.
"No way. To many people. Even if it's only a tenth the last one. Still too many." A shiver ran down the rabbit's body straight through her tail.
Coruscis headed off, likely to the small room she had in the castle. Luna's remaining smile turned bittersweet; she'd miss the rabbit one day. Not quite like she misses him but similar enough.
Quickly Luna headed off to her room and dropped into her bed. Time didn’t even seem to pass, when a knocking at her bedroom door awoke her. Luan still wore her court dress from the previous night, she hadn't bothered to swap out for her night gown before laying down. Just not enough time. As it was, she had maybe fout hours of sleep. Rubbing her eyes, it would have to be enough.
Leaving the guard waiting, she quickly wiped down lightly using’ the room’s wash space. She was fast, barely a few minutes. Considering her closet, she quickly settled on one of her nicer gowns but one which was far from her nicest. It was white and silver, with just a thin strip of gold. The length was just above the floor, not long enough to drag.
"Princess Luna…" The guard outside her door knocked again as he spoke, reminding her that it was time to go. Outside the door was one of her guards, in the same purple, blue and silver colored armor reserved for them. It was in immaculate condition, like most of her castle guards were.
She recognized the wolf, much lighter in color than Sable, with deep brown eyes. "Guardsman Hastam. Are you my escort tonight?"
The wolf bowed in response, "I am princess, shall we go?"
At first the castle seemed strangely deserted. It was early evening, so one might expect to still see some of the solar guard about, and other castle visitors. Everyone was probably gathered elsewhere for the night’s festivities.
The sounds of music were the first indication of an event going on in the great hall, followed soon after by the chatter of people, many people. As they came into the space, the sheer number surprised her. Earlier she expected maybe fifty to a hundred guests at most. But this was closer to a thousand.
Many of those in attendance were unknown to her, though she was sure she had seen them before.
"Princess." A very fancy elf greeted her, before going back to his previous conversation.
"Princess." A white lion this time, who went back to eating a rather large chunk of meat.
Again, and again. Minor pleasantries by those who didn't care about her, not even her station. Bells tolled outside, six count, it was 6PM. Time for her guard to start her rounds. Sable would handle it without her presence. Night court would be on hold, not that it really mattered. Hastam would remain present in the Ballroom, off to the side seen but not seen at the same time.
In the distance her sister the queen gave a short wave, followed by Venustas who was also with her. Her wave was much more energetic. Luna couldn't understand her sister's attachment to the other Queen, even if she helped raise her, The Ice Queen was capricious and deceitful. Whatever they were talking about, she had no interest in and made her way elsewhere.
The food table on the other hand, seemed quite inviting. Many items were laid out, more than half were sweet, likely to please the Ice Queen who was known to love such things. Luna on the other hand, was quite a bit more interested in what was at the end of the table. The drinks, in particular, a large jug of very black tea, with a subtle floral fragrance. It was far weaker than she would have liked, but it was drinkable at least. Some of the salted meats and bread went well with the dark brew as she pecked at the offering.
Most of the conversations around her blended together, but one seemed to stick out as she ate and drank of her tea. Two rather funny looking creatures, halflings also sometimes called hobbits. They were like a cross between a human and eleven child. Their voices in particular were quite amusing. The tone of a child, but speaking in the context and subjects of an adult.
"They stole it!" The halfling woman protested.
The halfling man rolled his eyes, and shook his head, "Oh it was useless junk you know it, and I saw it."
"It was not junk; it had been handed down in my family for generations." She protested and even pouted.
"Your father found it in a flea market!" Luna tried not to laugh at the bluntness of his comment.
"Well, it was handed down in someone's family. Anyway, the point is someone stole it from me!"
"Yes but… Oh my, look over there…" The halfling man’s head turned to watch as a guard walked down the length of the space, some of the others quickly followed.
"Unfathomable that they'd let them serve."
Luna wasn’t sure which uttered the phrase, her eavesdropping was interrupted by a passing guard that caught their attention, in his hand was a bucket. It was someone she was quite happy to see. Suddenly finding the two halflings company and conversation unpalatable, she walked towards her guard recruit. With a wave and a quiet voice she called out, "Neal! How are you!"
He smiled and blushed slightly as he stared at her for a moment longer than necessary. "Princess Luna. I'm technically on duty."
"And what exactly is your duty?" She looked in the bucket at the brushes inside and a bar of what looked like cheap soap.
"Well, Sable wanted me to clean the walkways leading into the castle. He told me to avoid this area, but I thought it would be fast. Sorry, I didn't realize there was something going on, otherwise I wouldn't have come through." As Neal became increasingly aware of the stares, he tried to lower his head into his armor.
With a slight laugh, Luna tried to disarm the recruit "Oh, it fine. It's a silly banquet for the Ice Queen."
"Ice Queen?" Neal blurted out, causing a few more heads to turn in their direction.
"Sorry, Queen Venustas.” The princess turned her head a few times, looking to make sure the false Queen didn’t hear them. “Don't repeat Ice Queen to her, she hates it."
She gently put her hand on Neal’s back, pushing ever so lightly in the direction away from the prying ears and eyes. "Let me at least walk with you, it will give me an excuse to leave this party for a while." The two walked the length of the great hall, entering the long hallway that headed outside towards whatever it was Sable wanted clean.
"Coruscis was asking about you."
Neal’s face twisted into something that between gratitude and annoyance. "Yeah, she's an interesting one. You can tell her I'm fine."
"You still haven't forgiven her."
"No. Not fully, but I get it wasn't her fault. You can tell her I'm fine. Honestly, this world isn't so bad." The glare of a passing Lion implied the opposite. "Pretty sure my life was over in my old world anyway."
"You don't need to do this you know. If the guard isn't for you, I can get you a bigger stipend. You were in a college back in your world I could pull some strings and get you into one here."
The man smiled and laughed at the suggestion, "You've mentioned that before. But, college isn't for me; it was just something you were expected to do by in my country. I need to do something else, to make my own way." A passing elf smiled at Luna but sneered toward Neal "I still don't get their hatred of humans."
"Didn't you read that book Coruscis gave you? It's been nearly half a year."
"I'm working on it. It's hard you know full of big words like 'the', 'a' and 'it'. Like I said, I'm not a scholar."
His jokes were as bad as could be, but the way he told them, as if they were just a part of his speech, made him seem like he had confidence he didn't have, and a plan that never existed. It also caused Luna to smile. A part of her wished she could continue to follow him outside, and even get her hands dirty assisting him. Anything would be better than that stuffy celebration of nothing.
Yet, it was not a choice she could make as she whished Neal good luck on his mundane duties. She took has her own useless expectations to attend to as she made her way back to the various murmurs and conversations that held little interest to her.
It was nearly midnight when the banquet was finally over. Surprisingly, a few of the nobles actually stayed around hoping for an audience with her night court.
Originally, Luna was planning to skip this evening and retire early. But the thought of people seeking her council gave her a certain fire and energy. After spending some moments to set it up she was disappointed that they wanted her ear to discuss, something only her sister could do.
Her throne, the throne of the moon sat next to the throne of the sun. Like the moon her throne was smaller, simpler. It wasn't as soft as her sister's, the throne of the sun. No matter how she sat in it, it just never felt right.
Once the nobles left, disappointed but understanding, she continued to sit on those cushions that were just a bit too hard. She watched as the evening guard went off of their nightly duties.
Neal and Mithril passed a few times off in the same direction, as usual. As usual, Sable would have had another menial task for them. Perhaps, she should have a talk with the captain and see if he couldn’t let up on the recruit just a bit. It was technically beneath her station, but she still felt partially responsible for the whole Neal situation in the first place. It wasn't even her decision to have him in her guard. But she couldn't convince either Neal or her General otherwise.
With no one else waiting for Night Cort, Luna considered tht maybe it was time she retired, a few hours early. It wouldn’t be much sleep, but it would be something.