- Messages
- 72
- Character Biography
- Link
The King looked as though he had just eaten something rotten.
"You... volunteered?" his mother asked, clutching at a locket around her throat as though it might bring her some small comfort. Wilhelm kept his face perfectly smooth but his eyes fixed on the figure at the other end of the table. His bag sat on the table in front of him and the King seemed unable to take his eyes off of it as his grimace grew worse. Oh it was so hard not to smile.
"Yes, mother. Lynus and Kezzie maybe content to flounce about the castle doing luncehons and picking out tapestries, but I am not. Our family need to stop walling themselves up in here and be seen."
"But this voyage--"
"Is a perfect opportunity to prove to everyone we're not weak puppets," he said firmly and his mother flinched as though he had slapped her across the face. He regretted his choice of words but the truth was harsh. The Anireth's appeared like nothing more than pretty dolls that could be paraded about when the Kingdom needed a shiny figurehead. If he was going to be forced to be a part of this family, then he was going to change it. The King said nothing and after a strained silence he picked up his bag and marched from the palace. When nobody tried to stop him he took it as his fathers blessing.
The docks of Vel Luin were a hive of activity. Once, when he had been a small child, he had uncovered an anthill and sat and watched for hours as they frantically went about their lives. It had seemed chaos to begin with but after a while he had worked out there was an order to the frenzy. He was reminded of the memory as he watched the men and women scurry over the docks now. The Dauphin was a beauty with with six sails, a bowsprit, foresail, mizzen, spritsail and two topsails, was one of the newest advancements in ship building technology. Whilst not designed primarily for speed, it had enough cargo space to be a good transporter whilst not sacrificing room for weapons to defend it from pirates. With war on the horizon not only with Cortos again, but this hulking Empire, the Guard were sending more supplies to the West such as weapons and food so that the barracks were well stocked when the time came.
The General of the West had mentioned the need for someone to oversee the voyage which would include some initiates and other guardsmen, and Wil had leapt at the chance to be away from his family for a month.
"Your Highness," Wil half turned to the voice, still uncomfortable with the titles that had returned upon his arrival back to the city, and offered the Captain a sure smile. "We're almost ready to leave. The initiates should be arriving soon."
"You... volunteered?" his mother asked, clutching at a locket around her throat as though it might bring her some small comfort. Wilhelm kept his face perfectly smooth but his eyes fixed on the figure at the other end of the table. His bag sat on the table in front of him and the King seemed unable to take his eyes off of it as his grimace grew worse. Oh it was so hard not to smile.
"Yes, mother. Lynus and Kezzie maybe content to flounce about the castle doing luncehons and picking out tapestries, but I am not. Our family need to stop walling themselves up in here and be seen."
"But this voyage--"
"Is a perfect opportunity to prove to everyone we're not weak puppets," he said firmly and his mother flinched as though he had slapped her across the face. He regretted his choice of words but the truth was harsh. The Anireth's appeared like nothing more than pretty dolls that could be paraded about when the Kingdom needed a shiny figurehead. If he was going to be forced to be a part of this family, then he was going to change it. The King said nothing and after a strained silence he picked up his bag and marched from the palace. When nobody tried to stop him he took it as his fathers blessing.
The docks of Vel Luin were a hive of activity. Once, when he had been a small child, he had uncovered an anthill and sat and watched for hours as they frantically went about their lives. It had seemed chaos to begin with but after a while he had worked out there was an order to the frenzy. He was reminded of the memory as he watched the men and women scurry over the docks now. The Dauphin was a beauty with with six sails, a bowsprit, foresail, mizzen, spritsail and two topsails, was one of the newest advancements in ship building technology. Whilst not designed primarily for speed, it had enough cargo space to be a good transporter whilst not sacrificing room for weapons to defend it from pirates. With war on the horizon not only with Cortos again, but this hulking Empire, the Guard were sending more supplies to the West such as weapons and food so that the barracks were well stocked when the time came.
The General of the West had mentioned the need for someone to oversee the voyage which would include some initiates and other guardsmen, and Wil had leapt at the chance to be away from his family for a month.
"Your Highness," Wil half turned to the voice, still uncomfortable with the titles that had returned upon his arrival back to the city, and offered the Captain a sure smile. "We're almost ready to leave. The initiates should be arriving soon."