WAR, BLOOD AND DRAGONS

Chapter 2: By order of the king

20 years later the baby had grown into a fine young woman, she was given the name of the woman who birthed her and was put into the servitude of the princess; Marilyn Caine, her powers hadn't manifested yet but the scholars confirmed that magic hadn't skipped her, the king had the bonesmith make a collar of 2 layers carved from dragonbone for her, it was held together tightly by metal rings and couldn't be removed unless cut and as such a second one was made when she outgrew the first, the castle halls became her home ever since she was made a maidservant but prior to this her home was the dark dungeons beneath the white castle.

Today was a special day, The Lady Matar Hearst had been on the road for over a week and would be arriving the capital today, this is the first time Lady Hearst of Stoneworth would set foot in the capital, the last time a Hearst set foot in the capital was over 30 years ago when Balon Hearst attended the coronation of king Greymon Caine, today Matar would meet that King, the same one who slaughtered her father and her entire family, it was a thing of shock for many when she accepted the King's offer to marry his second son; prince Greyson Caine.

"The King doesn't seem very happy with you eating outside again" Leah said as she loaded the food basket into the royal carriage, she wore a rough black tunic that reached just below her knees and belted at the waist, a clear contrast to the elegance of princess Marilyn's blue flowing kirtle with floral embroidery at the hems and the neckline low revealing the frilled chemise underneath, a few gemstones also decorated the dress and a pearl necklace to complimented.

"He worries for my safety, still I mustn't endure having breakfast trapped inside four walls of a cold, damp and drafty hall listening to my brothers bicker vaingloriously" She answered resting on the carriage and chewing a fig.

"There's always the garden" Leah suggested

"No, the flowers attract bees but the Meadows does wonders for my appetite, be it the fresh breeeze or the equanimity, I could eat to my fill and just lay on the soft green grass and soak in it's healing charm....I would bring you along but father forbade you movement past the city gates and also you stink" a jab clearly intended to herold the daily quota of insults Marilyn could hurl as required to elicit a meltdown, a draconian feat these days, before now Leah would weep in front of her abusers or aggressors, scared and trembling as fear was all she ever knew but lately she's come to discover a new feeling; rage.

"Oh, are you vexed little worm?" The princess taunted further noticing Leah's change of composure, Leah simply smiled and asked:

"Will there anything else Princess?"

"Yes worm, be a dear and fetch my dress from the seamstress in the city" Marilyn said as she went into the carriage, Leah shut the door and Nina Sat with the coachman at the front as the maidservant to serve the princess and off they went with a detachment of 6 kings guards on horseback, claded in their usual dragonscale amour with a hauberk underneath, pauldron and vambraces made of bronze, a steel helm and a white cloak with the red dragon sigil of house Caine painted on it.

Leah did as told and went into the city to fetch the princess' gown and as it was forbidden for her to leave the gates of the white castle without the oversight of atleast 4 royal guards wearing dragonscale amour, she asked sir Darkin for an escort which she got, the seamstress' workshop was at the far eastern end of the open market square, Leah could recall the last time she went through the sqare, how the market went silent as a crypt, how the butcher and the shoe cobbler's apprentice left their work to come witness the last Dragonsbane.

Today was no different, the chatty market women, the men bargaining at the stalls, the beggers pleading for alms at the mouth of the streets, the hawkers and wine merchants.....it was as if death itself had passed, everybody gave way, everyone was quite and usually it would remain that way but with no member of the royal family present this time, it emboldened a few to hurl comments; witch! whore child! bastard! Hang her!! Then came the onions and the tomatoes lobbed through the air at her, only then was Sir Darkin of the royal guards moved to act in retaliation, aside that he quite enjoyed the castigation.

Moments later the whole square was packed, even peasant farmers who had no business In the market today came to see the Dragonsbane girl, children lined the street, prostitutes left their brothels and apprentices stood in wait, all to behold the daughter of Eylon but once Leah picked up the princess' dress, she followed a back alley that led to a forlorn narrow path sandwiched by the abode of well-off merchants and artisans at the North-east side of the city and that road led West to the main city road, North of which led to the northern city gate and South led back to the castle but to avoid the likelihood of another blockade on that road, Leah chose to cut further west towards the temple of the gods and circling back South to the castle gates going in a circle, an inconvenience Sir Darkin didn't appreciate and communicated by way of grumbling, further inconvenience arose when it happened that a group of young men gathered in a muddy space beside the blacksmith's workshop, taking turns in light-minded duels using blunt steel swords, they jested in cheer and amongst them were the two princes Greynor, the King's first born son and a spitting image of him from the short golden locks down to his towering height and full build to the green eyes, and then the King's second and youngest boy; Greyson, he had longer locks of brown like his late mother but green eyes and tall like his father, he is 20 years of age, his brother 24 and leaving the white castle to fraternize with peasants such as the blacksmith's son and the stable keep's hand wasn't the norm for members of the royal family, they weren't even dressed as royalty, they wore regular shirts and pants, the king would be furious seeing Greyson out in the city and dressed as such on the day his intended bride would arrive.

"Well isn't this a surprise, Leah Dragonsbane gracing elf Street" Prince Greynor called out in cheer, prompting Leah and her escort to approach and offer greetings.

"My Princes" Leah curtseyed whilst the guards noded

"Why are you outside the castle?" Greynor inquired, his smile still enduring.

"The princess requested that I pick her dress for the feast from the seamstress in town" Leah answered, her gaze fixed at his chest to avoid eye contact, Greynor brought his own gaze down to the dress in her hands, wrapped in soft silk then back up at her.

"And you had to drag Sir Darkin along?" He argued, his smile vanishing like dew under sunshine.

"By order of the king I'm not suppose to leave the castle...."

"His father Sir Warren Darkin was a knight in the Kings guard and he served this kingdom well until your father murdered him in the battle of the golden gorge.....and now you insult his legacy, dragging his son behind you as if you were of royal blood, as if you're anything other than filth"

"You're the bastard daughter of a madman and a craven whore, you deserve a beheading not a bloody detail" Greynor spat, his eyes shooting rays of disgust at her of which she knowingly avoided, bending her head and staring at the ground like a whipped dog, Sir Darkin found the Prince's words somewhat melodious and sweet and although his face betrayed no emotion, his eyes concurred and his head was held up high.

Greyson, as with his companions found it quite depressing, their exuberance had withered in the face of the Prince's harsh words, however the King's adviser; Yadrick Dover arrived with the good news that Hearst men had been spotted, this was followed by an eruption of cheer and praise from the young men who flanked Greyson, giddy with songs and chants about his 'fair bride' and wishes of marital bliss.

"Get the worm to the castle" Greynor said to Darkin and he obliged, Greyson and Greynor would then return to their chambers to get prepared to receive Lady Hearst whilst Leah delivered the princess' dress to her chambers, she then sat on the floor to observe her regular calming ritual where she observes a moment of tranquility and allow her mind wander aimlessly, this was a crucial exercise in the struggle to stabilize her emotions and navigate past the chaos around her, she would bury the horrible darkness of her childhood, the absence of family, the rejection and fear from even the servants and stewards and focus only on the things that made her smile and feel hopeful, a herculean task most atimes but imagining the royal family dying horrible deaths helped but so did history and poetry, then there's the dreams she keeps on having of things that sometimes felt overwhelming or exhilarating, often times it was her using magic, honing her command of it, other times she was marrying a king claded in a robe decorated with little stones of emerald, some of the time she's fighting off a dragon, running away from armed men or simply doing things she never had the chance to, like ride a horse and frolic in a flowing stream, last night however was something different, she saw someone in her dream, moribund due to an injury in spite of being tended to by physicians, his blood ran black and although the faces of people in most of her dreams are blurry, she saw his as clear as day, she recognized his visage and seeing him like that made her smile.

She hissed in discomfort, tugging at the dragonbone collar girdling her neck, the rash from underneath stung more on hotter days, even with the balm she got from Lord Bent applied unto it, Leah got up and emptied the princess' chamber pot, swept the floors, changed the white sheets on the bed, scrapped the candle wax off the candle stands and sorted the books on the table, one of which had a quill in-between, Marilyn was still on that one; "The second cleansing of the North", Leah was familiar with it but she never read the book, it gave an ominous account of the events that led to one of the most horrendous slaughter of mage-kind and the non-mages generally known as stakes that fought beside them, it was a war that split the North and almost brought about the end of house Tane which later became known as house Dragonsbane, this was over 250 years ago.

Leah never understood why men fought wars over religious beliefs, taking the life of another because some ancient texts written by men demanded it seemed fool-hardy.

Leah, made obstinate towards faith by the cruel conditions of her childhood and perhaps even the King's decree that forbade her entry into the temple of the gods had always been skeptical of prophets and even the gods themselves, worshipping the main gods wouldn't even be proper as house Dragonsbane never kept the main gods, like most stakes and mages, Terra; the goddess of rain and fertility and Rahz; the god of storm and balance are the gods house Dragonsbane served, these are considered foreign gods in verynia albeit even the main gods namely Jupitar; god of the seas, Mars; god of might and steel and venos; god of fire and gold are all foreign gods aswell, regardless, the second cleansing wasn't entirely without benefits, in fact it was a pivotal event for mage kind and the stakes because they eventually won that war against the fair men and for the first time, a mage became king of the northern kingdom, seizing power from house Belmond thus ascending the throne in Rodinia and since the reign of the northern king; Merrik Tane, a Dragonsbane always had a claim to a throne until Eylon Dragonsbane, as it is known, left a bastard girl as his only heir.