"Father! Father come look!"
A young girl around ten skipped into a large study holding a sketchpad. She had shiny black hair and a pretty face that wasn't afraid to show pride and strength. The room was decked with luxurious linens and tapestries. An enormous fireplace blazed and crackled along the wall sending shivering shadows along the floor from the furniture.
At the far end of the room stood a wide desk with hundreds if not thousands of papers neatly stacked and organized.
*skratch skratch skratch*
Behind the wall of papers sat a middle aged man with a stern looking face and strict aura. He ignored the girl's outburst and continued working as if she were not there. The girl unfazed by his reaction pranced around the desk and thrust the sketchpad out toward the man, her face was overflowing with pride.
"Father! I drew a sail boat look! It's really good!"
Again no response
"This time it's SUPER good, it has sails as white as snow and I even drew the floorboards!"
Finally her father reacted and he looked her in the eyes. However these were not eyes of caring or compassion, instead the man's eyes shown with annoyance and loathing. The girl flinched when she received this glare, but she had not abandoned hope just yet.
"Father I made it just for you aren't you hap-"
*Slap*
The notebook fell violently to the floor creasing some of the pages within. The girl looked back at her father's face. The fire reflected back through his irises. His long shadow rose along the wall and shook along with the dancing flames. Her father took the sketchpad in his hands, flung it into the fireplace and strode back to his desk.
The girl watched her boat pop and crackle in the inferno.
"Why are you still here?" he growled. "Don't interfere with a man's work."
The girl still stared at the charred remains of her sketch pad. After a bit she turned and quietly walked out the door without looking back.
_____________________________________________________________________
Bran looked out over the castle ramparts. The vast blue-green ocean greeted him and the faint cries of gulls could still be heard. It was a sunny day and he couldn't help but feel in high spirits. There was nothing like good weather to garnish an afternoon of procrastination.
A vast city sprawled out from the walls to the ocean which was about a mile or two away from his position. The City's name was Onus and it was the capital city of the great Alden kingdom. In the past, the continent of Maru was split by separate rulers and war was prevalent for almost a full century. Yet one faction led by the land's righteous savior King Alden, stormed down its enemies one by one to overall victory.
His successful campaign was facilitated by the Alden family's discovery of magic powder. At that time in history a crude gunpowder- like substance was used to fire cannons at castle walls. With King Alden's discovery they condensed the magic power into stones of various sizes and shapes.
The magic stones were then used to fire projectiles (from large cannons) replacing the iron balls they used before. The only defense from magic was magic itself. When made in the shape of a plate a magic stone depending on the size and purity would produce a shield and dissipate any incoming attacks let alone just magic. The shield was only temporary in oncoming fire, after prolonged abuse it would break and time would be needed for it to charge back up through manual application of magic powder or "lum" as most now called it.
People treated King Alden almost like a god. He was the one to unite the continent and bring the first peace in 100 years. No longer would there be tragedy and meaningless death through war.
"Praise the true savior of the continent !" was a chant commonly heard at the mention of his name.
Bran continued to look out over the ocean. He held a happy grin on his face as he was just appointed to be a captain of a small force consisting of around 30 men. It had been his dream to protect his kingdom and family from danger after the long wars concluded, nah that was a lie. He was just happy to sustain himself and live with a steady income in peace.
The King needed new men after the bloodshed as they had suffered heavy losses. During peace time a job in the guard seemed like free income to him. He signed up for training at the barracks in town and unbelievably the officers in charge deemed him worthy of a place in leadership.
-jackpot
he smirked as he heard the news.
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-this is even better than standing around all day, now I get to order people to stand around all day, and on top of that I get paid for it! hahaha
Being only 19 years old he was the youngest captain in the history of the kingdom. However his acceptance was no fluke, while he lacked physically in combat he excelled in battlefield tactics and strategic ability. Yet he had a bored attitude toward most military tasks that had been given to him. The other officers quickly noticed that their new comrade lacked motivation or was even lazy in most cases. He had much to prove to those who doubted him and he wasn't too concerned to surpass their expectations.
A guardsman then strode out of the tower from Bran's right
"Captain Bran, the King's meeting is about to commence I recommend you head there immediately"
"Thanks for the heads up"
"Just doing my job sir"
Bran casually made his way to the meeting chamber, going down an endless number of stairs from the tower. He avoided the many servants and soldiers bustling through the corridors and halls. While Onus was the capital of the Empire, its location was actually situated off the southern shore of Maru.
The city rested on a large island that was only accessible from its northern shoreline. The rest of the island's perimeter was secured by sheer cliffs. Only a madman would dare approach or climb the treacherous rock faces.
Finally Bran reached the meeting chamber, most had already arrived and there was a slight buzz of conversation filling the air. Bran silently moved along the wall and stood waiting for the meeting to begin.
-hmm there's a high turnout today the king must have an important announcement.
Often, many lords prepared messengers to attend assemblies such as this one. The time it took to travel from the mainland was the main reason for this, however today many made the trip in person. The chamber itself had 30 seats organized in rows of 10, lower ranked officers such as Bran had to stand along the wall at the back. At the front of the chamber was a throne surrounded by long majestic red banners. In the center of the banner was the symbol of the Alden family, the face of a lion staring out at you with a clear, diamond shaped magic stone, stuck in its jaws. The gem itself was tinted slightly green.
-man I hope this doesn't last too long my legs are going to give out if he has a speech
Bran decided to sit with his back to the wall until the meeting started to conserve his energy. His reputation preceded him, many inside the castle walls had already begun to refer to him as 'the lazy officer' or 'sleepyhead'. His fellow captains and officers saw his sitting figure and shook their heads with disgust.
Bran wasn't even aware of this, he ignored most idle chitchat and kept to himself only keeping record of the important details. This was one of his strengths, being able to keep record of the straight facts and making quick decisions. Yet he hadn't really joined to for this reason, instead he waltzed around the castle relaxing and enjoying peacetime as a captain keeping his overall thought process to a minimum.
At that moment 4 burly looking knights made their way down the main entrance.
"All become silent in the presence of your king!" they bellowed
The king was loved all around the continent yet he rarely made any public appearances and only those close to him actually knew his true nature. Bran stretched a bit and slowly rose facing the entrance. This was his first time seeing the king and also for the first time that day his face showed slight interest.
King Alden took commanding strides across the chamber. He gave a stern look straight ahead and didn't glance at any of his subordinates. Alden stood at the throne and faced the audience of high-ranking officers that made up the foundation of his kingdom. His face held something like a frown and air around him seemed to grow colder. Next his children entered. The prince Edwin and the princess Grace made their way to the throne where they sat at either side of their father.
"Praise the true savior of the continent !" chanted the crowd
Bran could have sworn he saw the princess roll her eyes dramatically as the meeting finally went underway....
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