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long live the queen!(darkened and Hikaru Sakato)

Joined
May 23, 2010
Many years had passed since the independance war, its horrors had long been erased by time. The carnage and desolation that servitude embodied was barely a myth, displaced by the power of steam and progress. The only remnant of the old world was the throne and all the devotion it stired in the citizens. That love was well earned by its ruler, King Adalbrecht, he was one of the very few to remember what brought the war to pass. The king wisely learned the lessons of his predecessor and treated his people as equals, thus they treated him with great affection in return.

The land of Daggarfall had the custom that royal lineage should only pass on through the female child, so that a woman would shape the future, not a man. When Queen Frey gave birth to a boy first, he was given to the kings brother and advisor, Astor, who was unable to have a child with his wife. Astor raised the boy, Alphonse, like a son to be his successor.

As the years drew on, the kingdom flurished and gained the attention of a distant king who sought only power and wealth despite having amassed an inconceivable amount already. Fortunately, the greedy dictator couldn't find a quick way to extend his tendrils of control into daggarfall.
But as with all things, even the strongest granite has cracks, and so too did the kingdom.
 
"Alphonse! Come on, we're going to be late again!" Called out the first daughter of King Adalbrecht and Queen Frey.

Her Royal Highness, Princess Rhysanon (Rhys, for short) was the second child of the king and his wife. Her childhood was happy until she lost her mother at the age of five. The queen was killed in an accident while travelling to Helenia. Though the young princess was crushed, she found solace in her father, Adalbrecht. Her older cousin, Alphonse was kind and provided the companionship the girl needed. Tragedy struck the Royal Family once more when the kingdom discovered that their king had fallen ill. Some rumored it was due to his age. Others speculated that the sickness was hereditary. A handful of people suspected that the king had some rather unbecoming affairs in his years of loneliness. The last bunch concluded that someone in the palace had begun to poison him. Either way, the sickness was sudden and the princess was suffering.

The idea of possibly losing her other parent was too much to bear and Rhysanon had begun to grow a very hard shell. So much so that it was difficult for others to be around her. Still, everyone had to do their jobs and the best way to remain employed was to remain silent. That afternoon, the sixteen year old princess was prepared to head off to lessons. But first she needed to wait downstairs in the foyer of her uncle's home for her cousin.

"Alphonse! Come down or I'm getting in the car without you and you'll have to take a buggy!"
 
Alphonse bolted down the long stairway, dressed in his best formal uniform, toting a large bag filled with books. "Hey! Wait! Come on, you saw me on the stairs,Rhys!" He yelped as he dashed out the door next to his classmate and cousin. Since her father fell ill she had been a terror, but he had to stick by her--she was family after all.

Astor watched with a smile as his son loaded himself into the regal motorvehicle and the metal monster roared away in a bellow of smoke.
As soon as the the thing was out of sight, the old, rotund man pulled out a small transmiter.
"It is done. Our seeds are planted in the rotting tree." He said quietly into its microphone bud as he rang the bell for his servant.
"Lucien, would you inform the generals that I shall arrive within the hour? Tell them that they have to end their posturing and commit to the succession of the princess and I will expect their signed fealty oath when I arrive."

Minutes later, the advisor was dressed in fine robes and awaiting his carriage. He had always disliked the combustion engine, too much to go wrong...
 
Her belongings were in the cab waiting for them. Rhysanon was very unhappy that morning when the doctors tried to pussyfoot around her father's health. She knew that they were trying to spare her the news involving her father's condition. "Being tactful isn't going to help him, now is it?" She snapped at one of the doctors one day. From that moment forward they told her exactly what was happening. This morning was the worst news yet. The medics said that the king's health was deteriorating and it was only a matter of time before King Adelbracht would die.

Rhys looked outside of the window of the car with a very distant stare. She could tell people on the outside knew she was in the vehicle. They all waved into a car whose occupants they could not see. It was almost like greeting a big black cloud that would not respond. Rhys never made many appearances outside of the palace and into the city unless she had to. The biggest events (the ones with the most citizens) would have caused her to dress in traditional garbs. She called this: "Becoming the fantasy..."

"Behaving like a princess should, you become a beacon of hope, a symbol of dignity, and the representative of our city and our country." Queen Frey used to say.

It was one of the only memories that she had of her mother. Rhysanon had to wear robes that were not too comfortable at the time of her age. The older she got, the more mature and feminine the traditional clothing became. But Rhys would never forget her skin...and her eyes...and her perfume...
 
'How sad...' Alphonse reflected sadly as he watched the people blur by as the car passed through the city to the academy where the advisors board awaited. 'They pine for a smile where there is none.' He looked at his cousin with a compassionate smile.
"Rhys...there is no need to worry. I know your dad is strong, he will live no matter what the doctors say." He knew that she had gotten news that he would be dead soon, but the boy couldn't accept that. He didn't want to see the heart break on her face.
"Anyhow, he is very proud to see you growing into the queen he raised you to be, and the woman your mother was."

Shortly, the car stopped and the driver stepped out to open the door. "The royal academy, your highness." He said dutifully as he helped his princess out of the luxuriously appointed seat.

***

"Gentlemen. We find ourselves at the horizon of a new kingdom. King Adalbrecht is infirm, death is near. Yet we are lucky! We have had no war for over forty years, prosperity is the normal state of being. The name of the king is loved, as is his daughter." Astor smiled to the small gathering of men.
The five generals sat at a great oak table, their faces somber and drawn.
"Perhaps, but now would be the prime time for an enemy to show himself. Would it not be prudent for the military to assume control of the country till the Queen is well aquainted with the business of leadership?" A particulary gaunt, elderly man rasped with conviction.
The kings brother smiled with convincing pain on his face.
"Do you believe it pleases me to announce the death of my brother? That I wish to force such a burden upon my neice?" He questioned with outrage clear on his face."I do not revel in this, but it is what is right. She is the best name to put upon to the public. They will not bow to old men who fancy themselves warriors." He knew how to corral these men, they had no mind for the politics of life, only the order of war. Provide them order and they will follow.
The room was silent with consideration. Wrinkled faces furrowed with thought as dust settled.
"Very well. We shall pledge ourselves to the queen." Another, more portly yet still quite elderly, man rumbled soberly as he drew ink across parchment.
 
The royal academy was a very large building on the northern side of the city only a few miles away from Daggarfall Palace. Rhys removed herself from the car and walked ahead without waiting for her cousin only to stop when she reached the first corridor. The girl turned to watch the boy chase after and try to catch up. Rhysanon shook her head quietly and turned that corner to go up the staircase. Once at the top, she made her way to the first class.

"Good morning Professor Dobb, please forgive us for our tardiness. Alphonse was going a little too slowly today." The princess jested.

"No need for apologies, Your Highness. Please take your seats and we shall begin shortly." Said the short man in the glasses. Rodolph Dobb was an intelligent man but was underestimated often due to his stature. The man was portly and sported a large white mustache. Five minutes later, the teacher began his lecture on the economics of Daggarfall over the course of five years. But Rhysanon was staring out of the window at the smoke from the chimneys of her house. There was a system to tell whether or not a reigning monarch was dead or not.

If the smoke from the chimneys were ever black, then that would mean King Adelbracht had died. There was a hidden storeroom for just such wood that would burn black. It was not to be opened and burned until an hour after death. Rhys looked out everyday praying to herself that there would not be any smoke in the sky for that reason.
 
Alphonse listened with rapt attention as professor Dobb spoke, the workings of money and market had always fascinated him. He looked absently at his cousin, as usual she was paying no mind to the lecture. Usually, he would try and snap her out of her millions mile stare, but he knew what she was looking for. With a small sigh and an absent flick of his pen, the boy began to transcribe every word of the lecture as he read through the text book.
She would need those notes, so he was careful to write in long hand and not his usual scrawl.
He often wondered why he did this for her, but quickly dismissed the thought. It was his duty as her soon to be advisor to do what he could, that was the end of the story.

***
Astor returned to his home, parchment roll in his hand, smile on his face. A new kingdom was indeed on the horizon, and he would be there for it's first war...

Before the war came a heir to the queen's throne had to be secured. That would require a simple manipulation.
"Lucien, would you please invite the princess over for dinner, I do miss her company deeply." He called across the phone, modulated sadness in his voice.
 
Leaving the hospital room that afternoon with her father still inside was difficult to do. Princess Rhys was accompanied by four personal bodyguards. Just before the elevator doors opened, the girl noticed her uncle's right-hand man with a smile on his face. "Your Highness!" He said excitedly before stiffening up to hold his composure.

"Hello Lucien," She replied carelessly. The entourage continued to walk toward the front lobby.

"You Highness, Lord Astor has invited you to his home. May I inform him that you accept his request?" Lucien responded.

"I have not accepted his request." Rhys said with her eyes narrowed.

"Lord Astor has emphasized a great desire to see you. If you would please..."

Rhys stopped and sighed with a shaking head. The young woman turned toward the messenger and told him to tell her uncle to expect her. The princess kept walking on at that moment to the car waiting outside. She got inside and watched as one of the bodyguards got inside too. The others entered a separate car just behind the princess's. "To Lord Astor's residence."

"Yes, Your Highness." Said the driver and he went off into the city street.
 
A long, calm smile cut across Astor's face as Lucien reported his success to him.
"Marvelous, please have the cook prepare the largest duck in the iceroom along with a cranberry and peach pie with chocolate ganache." Everything had to be perfect for her arrival, so that she would share herself and allow him in. He couldn't advise her Highness if she did not trust him...

A scant fourty-five minutes later, the princess arrived to subdued fanfare and a somber greeting by her uncle.
"Rhys...it has been too long. I have missed you, let me just apologize for how distant I have been. Come in please and forget the troubles for now..." he said, the kindness in his voice was as heart breaking as it was fake. The long, lean and grey haired man sheparded his niece into his home, the gentle smell of food pervaded the grand house completely and wafted out the second his giant oak door creaked open.
---
"I understnd that idea sir, but certainly a more cautious stance would serve the country better?" Alphonse questioned his foreign affairs instructor pointedly.
The elderly teacher peered at him with a hawklike attention.
"Perhaps, but it might also inflame others to attack since we clearly have something to defend."
The empty lecture hall rang out with their arguments for what seemed like hours, until the young advisor noticed the princess departing without him.
While it wasn't unexpected for her to lose track of him in her thoughts, especially given her fathers dire condition, what did strike him as odd was the appearance of his fathers right hand shortly after. It didn't take much effort for him to infer that his father had invited Rhys to his home. The reason for his sudden interest, however, eluded him completely.
The fact that he could not discern the purpose behind his fathers actions worried him deeply, though he knew he could never bear malicious intent toward her. Alphonse worried for his fathers emotional state.
 
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