A King for a Queen

Arielle opened the bag with trembling hands. Upon seeing its contents she stifled a scream and sank into a nearby chair, all strength gone from her limbs. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as an immense feeling of guilt and grief crashed into her. Kolton, the king of Pelon, was dead. He had traded his life for hers. The life of a king for that of a lowly guard.

She sobbed quietly for several minutes, head in her hands before she registered that her name was being called. She looked up through bleary eyes to see that General Ravenore and Counselor Chi had joined Grand Minister Bhenod. All three were looking at her, grief stricken expressions on their faces.

"Arielle," GM softly said, "these are for you." He handed her an envelope addressed to her. "In know you must be feeling but we need you to read these immediately."

Confusion mixing with her grief, Arielle took the offered envelope. The script and seal revealed it to be from Kolton.  She opened it and removed several sheets of lightweight parchment and a sheet of heavier weight, the kind used for official documents.

She looked at the lighter weight sheets first. Scrawled on them in a neat, but hurried script was:

Dearest Arielle,
      I cannot begin the express the honor you have done me and the kingdom of Pelon by serving as my guard for so many years. You have performed this duty admirably and with greater conviction than anyone could have asked.
     When word came to me of your capture and Jhaeros' condition for your release I knew, without hesitation, what I would do. There are those who will view the exchange as a foolish king throwing his life away for that of a lowly peasant, but they are wrong. It's that of a king, exchanging his life for his queen. A man trading himself for the woman he loves.
      I love you Arielle. I have for some time now. I regret that I never told you, but the knowledge that such an admission would drive you from the Raven Guard and my side was too much to bear.
      I wish I had more time to explain, but I have one last request of you. This request comes not from your king, but from your friend. Enclosed you will find a Certificate of Marriage. It is dated for several days after we returned from our ordeals in Susal (so it will seem to validate the rumors that already drift through the castle). It is signed by myself, General Ravenore, Grand Minister Bhenod, and Counselor Chi, all it needs to be valid is your signature.
      My last request is this: sign the certificate and assume the throne of Pelon. Petition King Ehrendil. He will stand with you. Unite the armies of Pelon and Iselon and crush Jhaeros. Avenge my death and the death of your father. Take back that which is rightfully yours. You are the lost daughter of Ar’undale, rightful queen of Kamor. Never forget that.
      I know this not something you ever wanted, and I'm sorry I must ask it of you. As you consider, remember that I am not asking this of you as your king, but as your friend. It is a request, not a command. Follow your heart as you always have.
     I must go now. I have a narrow window of time in which I will be able to slip out of the castle and come for you. You can trust the three men I have mentioned. They have been true friends. I wish you all the best.
              Your friend,
                 Kolton

Arielle didn't even bother to look at the certificate. She sunk back into the chair, one hand over her mouth, the other limply clutching the papers.

"These have to be fake." She eventually muttered. The words rung hollow even as she said them. She knew Kolton’s handwriting. The documents were authentic.

"I can promise they are not." Grand Minister Bhenod answered. "While no one knew of his plans to trade himself for you, the three of us were fully aware of the certificate. The king had it drawn up in case something happened to him before he married. It was always his intention that you should become queen in that situation."

Arielle ran a hand over her face and muttered "Damn him. He had no right to ask this of me." She covered her eyes, bracing her elbow on the table before her, once again muttering the curse.

After several minutes she asked, "What happens if I refuse to sign?"

"Then Lord Mourndane will assume the throne." General Ravenore answered.

Arielle looked up sharply at the reply. Lord Mourndane was a tyrant. He would run the kingdom into he ground and all the work she and Kolton as well as Kolton’s father had done to improve the lives of half-elves in Pelon would be undone overnight.

"He is the closest surviving relative." Counselor Chi added.

She ran her hand over her face again, suddenly tired. “This will never work.”

Grand Minister Bhenod chuckled. “I believe I said as much to him when he had Counselor Chi draft the certificate.”

“I wasn't even there! How can I agree to a marriage I was never present for?” She asked, tossing the papers onto the table.

“Well actually-”

She looked up to see the three men look at each other sheepishly.

“What?”

Counselor Chi looked back at her. “You were there, standing by the door mind you, but you were there. It was quite obvious that you were uncomfortable with our arguing.”

Arielle’s memory flashed back to the moment he was referencing. Kolton and the men before her had been in a heated argument over something she had been trying not to eavesdrop on. There had been no obvious reason for her to be in the room, but Kolton had been insistent, telling her to stand by the door. At the time she had though he was being paranoid, but apparently he had been being devious.

“This is what you were arguing about?” She queried, not entirely believing their insinuation.

“Yes.” Grand Minister Bhenod replied. “As I said, this plan has been in place for some time.”

Arielle sat back in the chair again. She sat for several minutes staring at the papers strewn across the table, trying not to eye the dark spot that was growing on the bag which was also there. All her life she had wanted to be a beacon of hope to her fellow half-elves living in Pelon. She had become a Keeper, a city guard, to achieve that goal. Circumstances had eventually led to the then prince of Pelon, Kolton, to convince his father to change the law to allow her, and other half-elves, into the Raven Guard, the elite guards who served the royal family directly.

Now, she was presented with not only the opportunity to go beyond that achievement, she was being presented the throne of a powerful kingdom. The throne of a kingdom that had done its best to belittle and demean people like her. She was being given the ultimate chance to embody the hope she had always desired to be. It would be a fight, inside and outside, and while she did not know enough of her father and his kingdom to strongly desire vengeance for him, she could not let Kolton’s progress be in vain.

“Damn him.” She sighed, once again running a hand over her face. She looked back at the three men, “ Who has a pen and ink?”

The Humanity Problem

"And what's that?'

"You're human."

.................................."I don't get it. How is being human wrong?"

"It's not wrong to be human; but it's what's wrong with you. Tell me, if you were there was nothing wrong with you, what would you be?"

"Perfect?"

"Exactly; and if you were perfect, you would not be human. Humans make mistakes. Humans feel emotions. They lie, cheat, steel, abuse, fight, and all sorts of bad things. We're not perfect. We never will be; well, not until The King returns, but that's something else. Anyway, humans are wonderfully flawed creatures. No, it's not right what we do sometimes and we should always try to do and be better; but when you make a mistake, don't beat yourself up over it. You're human. When someone else makes a mistake or does something bad, don't beat them up either. They're human. No one is perfect."

Locksley, Potter, and Athos 2

David bent over and laid the blanket over Sara's sleeping form. She had finally fallen asleep, the events of the morning dragging her into unconsciousness. Her sleep was peaceful at the moment, but he wondered how long that would last. He knew she occasionally had nightmares before this morning's incident, and now they would probably only get worse.

The door behind him opened and he turned to see their fellow co-worker, Lucian, poking his head in. David straightened and exited the room, making sure to shut the door as quietly as possible. Once outside the room, he noticed that another co-worker, Alice, was also outside, her face a mask of worry.

"How is she?" Alice asked.

David sighed and answered, "She's sleeping. Peacefully, for now, but that probably won't last." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Why did he call her 'Robin'?" Lucian asked.

"What are you talking about?" David replied.

"That guy, he kept calling her 'Robin', which is not her name; but he acted like he knew her."

"Yeah," Alice chimed in, "and she kept calling him 'Potter'. I thought his name was Harry."

David looked at them incredulously, "You two heard all of that?"

"Yeah. Sorry, boss, but we had to know what was going on in there." Lucian replied.

David sighed again, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the wall. He stayed that way, for a moment, not uttering a word. Lucian and Alice stayed quiet as they waited for him to answer. Finally without opening his eyes said, "What I'm about to tell you never leaves this hallway. Under no circumstances is anyone to know what I tell you, even Sara. Got it?"

The two replied in unison, "Got it."

"Before Sara came to work for us, she was a student and Patton Academy. She, along with two other students became friends. They did everything they could together. They were the top of their individual classes, but they were even better as a team. Any team exercise they dominated. They were unstoppable.

Subsequently, a government agency took note of them and offered a job as agents. Each of them shared a love for ancient literature, and that was reflected in their code names. Sara, a fan of the tales of Robin Hood, was named Locksley; but the other two just called her Robin. Harry, as joke, was named Potter, after a children series that had a character with that name. And the third member, the leader, was named Athos. His name came from the tale, The Three Musketeers, and the brooding character suited him.

Years went by and they did a great service for the Alliance; but something happened. During a mission that went south, Athos was killed in an explosion. At least, that's what everyone thought. Potter refused to believe it. He was convinced that Athos was still alive; and that the mission had been rigged from the start. He went of the reservation. Eventually he was branded a criminal. Sara, now without her two best friends, was discharged from her contract and hired soon afterwards by Mr. Reynolds. The rest you know."

He opened his eyes and stared at Alice and Lucian for a moment, gauging their reactions. They were both staring at him. Lucian, he could tell, was still processing the story. Alice, on the other hand, was staring at him with a look of comprehension and horror.

"You're him. That guy was telling the truth. It all makes sense now." she muttered.

Lucian looked at questioningly, "What are you babbling about?"

Alice pointed at David, "He is Athos. He must have had reconstructive surgery or something."

Lucian glanced at David. "What makes you say that? You don't have any proof. You didn't even know the guy."

"You didn't see them when Sara first met him." Alice countered, turning to face Lucian, "She acted like she didn't know him, because as far as she is concerned, she doesn't; but he had this look of concealed recognition and relief on his face. I always thought it was odd, and now I know why."

Lucian pondered this for moment. Then they both looked at David, who had stood quietly the entire time. He was staring at the floor and looked very tired.

Lucian spoke, "Is she right, boss?"

"Yes." was the whispered reply. "and heaven help you if I ever find out you tell her."

Insubordination

"That's still not an excuse for her behavior."

"What behavior, sir? She did what was needed and saved lives."

"She disrespected a superior officer, disobeyed a direct order from said superior officer, assaulted an unarmed civilian, blew up a building thereby endangering civilian lives, and freed a criminal from custody."

"That's one way of looking at it, yes sir."

"One way of looking at it?! What in heavens man! How else should her actions be looked at?"

"Well, the criminal she freed was a wrongly accused man who was instrumental in today's success, for it was a success mind you. The building she blew up was an enemy stronghold that was more of a danger the lives of those civilians if left standing that it was being blown up. The unarmed civilian was an assassin sent to kill our Council Leader. Sir."

"What about her disrespect and disobedience of a superior?"

"Since you asked, sir, if the superior had been so superior, he would have taken her actions himself instead of leaving them to be carried out by a junior officer."

Snow and Ash

"Look, Mommy! Snow!"the little girl squealed as she stared out the window. Her mother, in the kitchen, made no reply.

"Mommy? Mommy, come look!" she continued. "There's snow!" Still no answer. She left the window and went into the kitchen. Her mother was chopping potatoes. Her father sat at the table reading, papers and pens scattered across the table.

"Mommy, can I go play in the snow?" she asked, tugging on her mother's dress.

"No." her mother replied without stopping or looking.

"But Mommy, it-"

"Amy!" her mother said with force, stopping her work. "You cannot go outside. Don't ask again."

"Why?" she asked, trying not to cry. Her mother never raised her voice like that. "It's just snow."

At her statement, her mother looked over to her father. They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Her father gave a small nod and closed his book. Her mother went back to her chopping.

"Amy, come here." her father said. His voice was gentle. Amy walked over to him. He picked her up and placed her on his lap.

Amy sniffled and said, "Why is Mommy so upset? I just wanted to play in the snow."

Her dad looked at her with a sad, tired expression. "I know, sweetie; but that isn't snow. It's ash."

A Change of Heart

"Well, what can I say. Love changes people."

"Love?! You, a self-proclaimed 'scoundrel and bachelor'? You think you're in love?"

"Yeah, I do. So what?"


"This is hilarious! Does she know what you do? What you used to do? Does she have any idea who you really are?"

.........

"I'll take your silence as a resounding, 'no'. Why haven't you told her? Are you afraid of what she'll say or of what she'll do?"

"Both."

"I see. So, you believe, in that tiny little lovesick brain of yours, that if you sacrifice yourself she'll see you for who you want her to believe you are; that she'll never have to know that you are everything she hates and despises. You also believe that even if she finds out that she will still 'love' you, provided you sacrifice yourself first. That sound about right?"

"More or less. Can we get this over with?"

 "Why? You in a hurry to die? Because that's what the deal was. One of you sacrifices themselves and the others go free."

"I know what the deal was."

"No pleading? No 'last minute deals'?"

"No."

"Would you like to write a farewell letter for her to cherish when you're gone?"

"No."

"Very well then. As soon as your hearts stops your friends are free to go."

Untitled Vamp Story (scene-shot 1)

"There's nowhere else to run, girlie" he said as he stared at he two figures in front of him. A girl, short, maybe twenty-one, and a boy- tall and pale, obviously a vampire and obviously injured. The girl was injured too, a gash in her side; but she didn't seem to care, even though she was backed into a alley and the only way out was through vampires.

She was supporting the boy, as much as she could anyway, with the height difference. As Viktor and his people approached she pushed him behind her to lean on the wall and took a defensive position in front of him. She drew the knives that had been fasted at her back and assumed a ready stance.

"You're not going to take him. He's not one of you." she replied defiantly.

"Yes, he is." Viktor replied. "Besides, we don't want to 'take" him. We are here to offer him, and you, sanctuary with us. If we really wanted to take him we could. All we would have to do is wait a few more minutes for you to pass out from blood loss."

At the mention of her passing out, the girl paled a little, but stood straighter and gripped her knives a little tighter. She spoke, "How do I know you won't let your people eat me if I go with you?"

"You have my word." He help up a hand as she started to reply, "I know, I know, "word of a vampire" and all that; but that's all I can give you." he added. He stared at her quietly for a moment. "Honestly, I'm rather surprised your friend there hasn't already tried."

A flicker of worry crossed her face as she processed the statement, only to be replaced by her earlier determined look. She obviously trusted this boy, vampire or not. That was interesting.

 She looked back at the boy standing behind her, not turning her back on Viktor, but not directly facing him either. He look back at her, pain and hunger on his face. An unspoken conversation took place between them, and then the girl turned back to Viktor. "Fine. We'll go with you; but so help me, if anything 'non-healthy' happens to either of us, you won't like the repercussions."

"Fair enough." Viktor made a motion with his hand and two of his companions stepped past the girl, giving her a wide berth, and assisted the boy, on one each side. As they helped him past her, the girl took a few steps and stumbled. Viktor used his supernatural speed and caught her before she hit the ground. Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the alley.

Thanks and a Plot

Hi all. I hope all is well with your lives. I want to say thanks to all of you for reading.

If this is your first time here, I hope you enjoy your stay and that you will return. I try to update every week day (Mon-Fri) so feel free to check back in.

If you are returning, I am glad to know that you have enjoyed yourself here enough to return. Thanks for your continued interest.

Today, I am deviating from my usual "stories" to bring you a plot. At work today, I was trying write 9/18/15 I wrote down 9/18/25. So, after discussing the random ten year jump with my co-worker, we came up with this plot:

     A person is gifted through "lightning strikey" magical means the ability to travel through time. He/She does this by writing down the date that they wish to travel to. (Maybe they should find a book that lets them do this? anyway...) The catch- he/she can only travel to a particular date once. They cannot write down, for example, 5/4/1945 then 6/15/1999 and then 5/4/1945 again. There is the ability to travel to the "future" (defined as any date before the ability was discovered or any date beyond that that the character has not lived through), but because the future is not written, it carries great risk. Also, the more he/she travels to the past, the harder it will be for them to return to "their time" without someone noticing gaps in their memory (because they can only return to the "current date" once).

Sound fun?

Bribed by the Poisoned Cookies

*phbbbbt* "P-p-poison!?!?" *hack* "You poisoned me?!?!"

"Yes."

*cough* "Let me get this straight, You- the supposed 'good guys"- have poisoned me- an innocent bystander- so I would do what you wanted?"

"We never said we were the 'good guys' as you put it, you assumed; and, you, of all people, are not 'innocent'. Everything else, though, is correct."

------- "What happens if I just let myself die?"

"You won't. You love living too much to consider that; but if something were to delay you and you died, we would just move on to someone else."

"So you'd just move on and poison someone else."

"Not necessarily. Just because we poisoned you doesn't mean we would poison the next person, or even that we poison all our recruits. We apply pressure where it's most effective. For you, that's dying. For someone else, it may be a friend dying, or the threat of a secret getting out. Get the picture?"

"In other words, you guys want what you want and you're willing to do whatever, absolutely whatever, it takes to get it. Is that right?"

"It's close enough."

The Letter-Spectrum

"Hey, I can't find... Oh, wait.... Sorry, I was looking at the wrong end of the letter-spectrum."

"The letter-spectrum? Why can't you just say 'the alphabet' like everyone else?"

"Because that would be boring. Boring and ordinary. Why be like everyone else when you can be unparagoned."

"Is that even a word?"

"Yes it is. It means, 'having no equal, superior'."

"Whatever."

"Don't be jealous just because my cerebral lexicon is larger than yours."

"Right. I'll try to work on it."