Private Tales The Lady of Vel Numera

[Kristen Pirian]

(Art Credit)​

No brighter sun, no fairer sky, could Kristen ask for on this day of fateful return. The country air was refreshing, cool to the skin and invigorating to the heart. Sparse clouds gave large deference to the sun, and they marred little the sea of afternoon blue in their drifting. The Jades rose peacefully to Kristen's left, humble in their height, the plentiful greenery of their cliffs gleaming with vibrant life. Fields upon fields she had passed through. Now she approached the eastern edge of Vel Numera itself, and its very sight seemed the last glimpse of a dream fleeing from wakefulness, so long she felt she had been away.

She had wished to return here after earning the title of Dreadlord. Yet it was that she would be called elsewhere, to Mount Dincia more than half the world away in the towering ranges of the Spine. But that time was past, and she had been now homeward bound for many moons. At last came the bliss of the journey's end.

There would be much to do. Much to say. Yet for Kristen she wished only to see again the many faces whom she could only behold in her mind's eye as she was away. This, and the embrace of family, friends, loved ones all, these were what she desired most.

Kristen rode along the easterly road until she came before the two Pirian-sworn guards flanking the entrance.

These two men, bless their hearts, looked upon her with a dumbstruck awe which stayed their tongues in the first moment. Kristen sat on her horse patiently before them and they stood before her, regarding her as if she were a mystical and prophesized creature having arisen from the very words of tales from ancient times.

"The Darling Daughter," said one at last, his voice hushed by amazement.

The other guard with his quaking hand fumbled his grip on his spear and it fell, clattering then onto the road.

Kristen looked to him, smiling and saying gently, "Pick up your spear, Pirian-sworn."

The guard nodded quickly, said an affirmation which he was unable to raise above a small mumble, and bent down to secure his weapon and stand back up.

Kristen turned then to the guard who had spoken. "Tell me, are there any of House Pirian present in Vel Numera this day?"

"Y-Yes, my Lady. The Lord Pirian himself, in fact, has visited, and is here now still."

"And what of my father? Neil Pirian?"

"No, my Lady. I do not know of Lord Neil's whereabouts."

"Very well then. May you go to my Uncle Tobias, and tell him that his niece Kristen has arrived by the eastern road? I long to set foot in fondly familiar territory, but first I would receive his embrace and give him mine in kind. With his welcome do I wish to return home."

"Yes. Swiftly, it will be done!"

And the guard turned and ran with no purpose ever so clear into Vel Numera.

Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

"M-my Lord! Young Lady Kristen, she's...*wheeze*...she's back! Here! In Vel Numera!"

The guard had pushed his way into Tobias' study without ceremony, out of breath and red as a beet. The Pirian lord glanced up from his novel and looked at the man o'er the top of his spectacles. He folded a ribbon down into the pages and snapped the covers shut.

"Indeed? Is she on her way here now?" he asked calmly.

"N...no! She requested that you meet her by the eastern gate! My Lord, Sir!"

With a knowing smile and a hum Tobias rose and began to walk past the quavering guard. An attendant stood by in the hall looking quite haggard given the manner in which the guard had burst in. Lord Pirian addressed her.
"Very well then. Miss Sofia, have someone ready my carriage, will you please?"

The woman give a quick bow.
"Of course, milord," she replied before scampering off, Tobias in relaxed pursuit.

---

In short order the carriage arrived at the eastern gate, and out stepped Lord Tobias himself sporting the warmest of smiles.
"Kristen, my dear," he said, as close to beaming as his reserved nature would permit. "It has been entirely too long. Welcome home."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen had since dismounted her horse and was presently standing by it, hands clasped before her, waiting patiently. Surely it was unorthodox, in the gentlest of terms, for a younger noble to summon an elder in this manner, but she did so not without deference to Uncle Tobias's station. At his word and by his grace would she be welcomed back home, and so would it be wrongful, by Kristen's lights, to enter Vel Numera of her own accord, without his leave to do so.

It was the first step in making right that which her sudden departure may have set awry.

And she saw the carriage approaching. She stood there at the precipice of Vel Numera, clad in her armor, cloak of Pirian red billowing gently with the renewed breeze, weary from many long days of travel. Yet prior to the day of her approach toward Vel Numera she had done all she could to make herself as presentable as possible.

The carriage stopped. Lord Tobias Pirian, her beloved uncle, stepped out, and with joy there came a shudder of weakness, as if all the energy of her body were needed to fuel the flames of sheer delight. But she hardly needed to will her legs to move. Already she had gone to him, arms wide, and embraced him and set her chin on his shoulder. She felt a wetness clinging to her eyelashes.

Welcome home.

"I am sorry," she said. "Sorry for leaving in such manner as I did."

Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias welcomed the hug with open arms, comforting Kristen as she felt what could only have been a cathartic release.

"You've nothing to apologize for, dear. You are your own person, and you are free to walk the path you choose," he said calmly with a gentle pat to his niece's back. "Even so...I am glad to see you again."

With that he loosed her from the hug, arms still on her shoulders as he took in the sight of her, a smile on his face.
"But surely you have more business here than to merely say hello. What brings you to fair Vel Numera, Kristen?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

To hear his voice again was a comfort as well as a joy. And to hear what he said, even more so. There had been some woeful intrusions of bad thoughts during her journey home, bringing restlessness to a fair few nights. Kristen had feared that Uncle Tobias, her father Neil or her mother Josephine, cousin Val, any number of her family might be angry at her. It was good to see her fitful worries proven wrong in the first instant of her return.

"I wished firstly to," she laughed guiltily, "however belatedly, complete my journey from the Academy and to stand before you, the Lord of House Pirian, as Dreadlord Kristen Pirian."

Now, certainly they might have a little chat about that, the rank assigned to her upon graduation. Kristen suspected a bit of foul play there, and mayhap Uncle Tobias had his own insight into the matter.

"I know as well that my mother and father had wished to meet me here in Vel Numera, all those months ago. A gift for my graduation to bestow upon me, so father had said. Though it will take some time to summon them, I should like to see them, to give them that chance which fate had denied us all then."

Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias had, of course, heard some time ago that Kristen had graduated. He'd wished to make something of a celebration then, but her sudden departure had made that an impossibility. Now, however, there was nothing to stop that from happening. Tobias beamed.

"You do our House proud, Kristen. One of our name has not stood among the Dreadlords in generations. It is a great honor that you should be among the first graduates in the wake of the revolution."

Kristen spoke then of her parents. What a fine idea a summons would be!
"I shall see to it that Neil and Josephine are informed you are here. I shall send for Percival and his new fiancée as well. Your aunt is here in town, and I am sure she will be most excited to see you. I'm also sure she'll be quite set on marking both your graduation and your return with a party of some sort...as would I."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

That her Aunt was in Vel Numera along with Uncle Tobias nearly went missed, for the news before it came as a delightful shock.

Kristen's face lit up with no small excitement. "Val!? He is betrothed!"

Near speechless was she, save for starts of joyous laughter here and there. She came in time to clasp her hands over her nose and mouth, but her wide and shining eyes still told all about she felt of the good news.




Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Lord Tobias chuckled softly, equally aware of the unlikeliness of such an event occurring.

"Yes, it's true, hard is it may be to believe. Henrietta and I attempted to arrange a union between Percival and the young Miss Perrine of House Urahil, but fate is a whimsical being, it seems," he explained with a wistful smile. "When we moved to break this news to Val it turned out that the two were already seeing each other. I believe they are presently on something of an early honeymoon in Dornoch."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

At the mention of Perrine Urahil, Kristen, as though a bit faint with excitement, briefly bent her knees and dipped down to below Tobias's own height before standing upright once more.

"Proctor Urahil!?" she all but squealed, nearly all of her Dreadlord bearing gone and replaced in that moment with the full measure of the Darling Daughter. Her face, what was revealed still outside her steepled hands, was reddening more and more with giddy delight. "My cousin Val shall marry Proctor Urahil! Oh, but never would I have guessed! She is charming! He has done so well! My gods, my gods, my gods!"




Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Amber eyes followed as Tobias' niece dipped for a moment. Again, he smiled at her antics. It was nice getting to see her have the chance to act like a young woman instead of a politician or a warrior, even if just for a few minutes. The smile burbled into warm laughter.

"Yes, yes indeed, my dear niece, the very same. I am quite proud of both of them. I imagine Percival might've wanted to share this information with you himself, but it will be some time before he is able," he told her, quite pleased with himself. "Perhaps just try to act surprised when he does tell you, hmm?"

The last tidbit he offered with a wink.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen took a small moment to contain herself (though the smile she bore which did most of said containing struggled mightily in its task). "I think I will manage. I've plenty of jubilation yet!"

She glanced then to the carriage.

"Shall we go now to the Pirian Manor, Uncle? I would tell you my story of Mount Dincia...perhaps over a cup of tea?"





Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Satisfied with her answer, the Lord of House Pirian turned to make for the carriage.

"Tea sounds wonderful, dear niece. Henrietta will be delighted to join us as well, if I know my wife," Tobias replied.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Once they were both inside the carriage, and the shutting of the door granted them a moment of privacy, Kristen turned a touch grave.

She asked, "Uncle...has my friend Zinnia St. Kolbe...has she contacted you, or House Pirian, at all?"

An offer, a promise, Kristen had made to Zinnia in the far northern city of Elbion, concerning just this. Through her time spent at the Temple atop Mount Dincia, through her journey back home, this attendant worry proved an endless source of restlessness. As she had with Alistair, and with her father and Uncle Tobias himself, the urgent haste with which she had departed Vel Anir left room for only a letter to be sent to Zinnia. But for Zinnia she had a fear which she did not have for Alistair, Father, Uncle Tobias, or anyone else—for Zinnia had a circumstance like none other.

And Kristen knew she would never forgive herself if something terrible happened while she was gone from Vel Anir.

Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

Tobias tugged at his beard as he sat across from Kristen in the seat of their carriage. Naught but the sound of clopping hooves and rolling wheels filled the air for a few moments.

"'Zinnia St. Kolbe...' St. Kolbe, St. Kolbe..." he repeated thoughtfully, delving for a memory of the name.

"Ah!" he realized at last. "I do recall, the young woman you brought along with you from Bluecott, yes?"

His smile of recognition quickly faded as he mulled over the rest of his niece's question.
"I'm afraid I've not heard hide nor hair of young Miss St. Kolbe since last the three of you visited here together. Is something the matter?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

No news, in this case, was perhaps good news.

"Merely the fitful worries born of a prolonged absence," Kristen said. "I shall of course endeavor to reunite with friends as soon as I am able."

She blushed slightly, and added: "What can I say? Our shared profession concerns the sword, and therein no attending peril is spared. Even without my absence, I suppose then I would have cause to worry regardless."




Tobias Pirian

 

[Tobias Pirian]

The carriage rolled onwards, rocking occasionally as its suspension tried to deal with the odd bump in the road.

"I am certain they have missed you just as you have them," Tobias assured her. "And I am sure that they are safe. If the horrors of the Mad Legion could not bring them low, then there is little that I imagine could. You will see them again, in time."

The Pirian lord peaked from the carriage window, noting the approaching face of the Pirian manor. They'd be arriving soon.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"You are right, of course, Uncle. And the coming delight will be made all the greater from so lengthy a period apart."

From the Academy onward had Kristen come more and more to appreciate the time spent with friends and loved ones. Never was it a problem in her childhood, or did not seem to be in that more idyllic and uncomplicated time of her life. Those years spent in the Academy away from her mother and father, whose company she had never been truly deprived before, did much to temper her feelings of longing and loneliness. Still she felt the cold clutch of each, but by necessity she overcame them, and let neither rule her.

The carriage stopped at the Pirian Manor, outside of which a small crowd, having caught word at least of something happening with the Lord Pirian, had gathered. Departing from the carriage sparked much elated rumor and murmurings among the people, seeing the Lord Pirian now accompanied by Kristen, of whom speculation in her absence had abounded. Gods, though, it was good to be back home!

And at the door they were greeted by:

"Aunt Henrietta!"

Swiftly as with Uncle Tobias Kristen went forward in embrace.

"I have missed you so!"

Tobias Pirian