Private Tales The Siege of Salesia

[Blair Rennick]

Blair kept quiet, as she often did when a conversation did not need her input. She didn't pretend to busy herself and try to ignore what Kristen and Fabien spoke of, but the subject of the Academy had intrigued her.

She had been too sickly as a child to attend the Academy, and by the time she began to gain strength, Revolution had passed and Blair decided against attending. What if her magic was stunted just as her height had been from her illness? Perhaps she would better serve the Pirians as a Stormguard than Dreadlord, forget the ice that waited for her brush of will to wield it.

"Remedial courses?" The inquiry was out past her lips before she could sink her teeth into it and stop it.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Eva could hardly have let me not, the way she fawns over you.

And what a great surge of warmth and affection came from this! Evangeline was one of the Dreadlords Kristen admired, and in whose footsteps she aspired to walk. She knew of course that Evangeline cared for her, but always did hearing it said wield prestige over a tacit knowing.

Blair's question brought to the fore Kristen's quite humble beginnings in the Academy. Fabien, like almost every other one of Kristen's "peers" (oh how she lagged behind them!), might find it amusing to hear about.

"Oh yes," Kristen said, face flushing as she recalled many an unflattering episode in her first year. "I was upon my enrollment into the Academy the furthest thing from a warrior one might imagine. How unused was I to any test of physicality! Proctor Magomo liked to call me 'doughy', what for my want of even the most basic of strength and endurance expected of the common soldier. Often would he pinch my stomach and frown with disapproval, then assert that his remedial courses would 'burn the blueberry muffins out of me'. He was right, and sorely did I need a Proctor like him. I suppose I did have my hands full."

Fabien 'King' D'Amour Blair Rennick

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

"That definitely sounds like Magomo..." King said with a smirk. "I hate to say it, but I think the coordinators picked right. Eva might have been to soft on you. I hear Magomo whipped you into shape nicely."

It was quite impressive that a silver spoon-fed noble had managed to be trained well enough to graduate from the Academy in just three short years. King had not expected her, when hearing the stories about her late entrance, to make it nearly so far. Most initiates had taken the stunt for what it was: an opportunity for good publicity, a political play on the Great House's behalf.

Many an intitiate was gobsmacked to see how far Kristen had come in so short a time. For some it had earned admiration, for others, ire. King was just pleasantly surprised.

"Meanwhile, Eva runs me ragged any chance she gets. Always 'drills this, drills that' with that sister of mine. She could do with a boyfriend if you ask me, might help her remove the stick she's gotten so firmly lodged in her digestive tract these last few years."

He laughed, unable to really imagine his big sister dating much of anyone. She was much too committed to work, such that he wholly believed she'd remain single forever. King looked towards Blair as he continued to put his best effort up at conversation.

"I'm sure the Stormguard can relate. I've heard the Pirian training regimens are not nearly as kind as the Pirians themselves."

 

[Blair Rennick]

Blair frowned, letting her thoughts on what she heard be seen so easily. Perhaps she was too shocked to hear such a thing, for she fell into a silence that allowed Fabien to continue on with his own anecdote of training.

If she had gone to the Academy, would she have been able to withstand the special attention and training of a Proctor? Before she had joined the Stormguard, she had been a skinny thing to the point it had been pointed out so much it ruined her motivation. A Dreadlord that served House Pirian had done a kindness to her and the Rennicks by teaching Blair on what to eat, how to train. Within eight months, she had put on a healthy weight that also gave her the strength she needed to know she could do it, she could become a Stormguard.

Blair had thought making the cut would be the hardest hill to climb, but what was a hill in comparison to the mountain's trek before her? Even now, Blair still had a ways to go.

It seemed even Fabien knew of the structure she was training in.

"I think the loss of sleep is what I miss the most. We are only permitted five to six hours of sleep and must train under exhaustion. You get used to it, and it is effective. While the enemy enjoys a full rest, we are already moving and awake." But that wasn't all that demanded so much from her. It was the repitition, the tiresome routine, the discipline. Blair would not admit to Kristen and Fabien how she would sometimes cry herself to sleep at night because of how exhausting her days ended up.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen simply couldn't hide the shock which sprang up once Fabien let his regard of Evangeline become known. She had been meaning to ask Fabien that very thing, or something like it, and now to her chagrin she knew. Certainly her established image of how Fabien and Evangeline got along was shattered: how could Fabien be so disparaging?

But Kristen stowed her shock, for politeness insisted. And Fabien's opinion of his sister would not change in one night.

Blair spoke in her turn, recounting as prompted by Fabien a small piece of the training of the Stormguard.

Kristen sat down fully on her bedroll and unclasped her cloak from her shoulders. "A commonality, then, in all matters of a serious military aspect—saying 'farewell' to the very idea of a satisfying night's rest!" Gods, there were days drenched in drowsiness, courtesy of Proctor Magomo, that Kristen well remembered. Such great loathing and doubt at the time, and she feasted on self-pity as though it were a sweet confection! But now she was glad to have endured those trials. As Blair said, it was effective, and this in many regards.

"Speaking of 'military', soon, Fabien, you will face the choice all Initiates are now given," said Kristen. "You mentioned your promising career. Are you intent on joining the Guard?"

Fabien 'King' D'Amour Blair Rennick

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

King allowed himself an exaggerated stretch.

"Well, the lightning weapons must be a nice payoff at least," he jested. More than a guardsman, less than a Dreadlord. That was the nature of the Stormguard as he understood them. Paramilitary, in truth, and one that King was surprised House Pirian had been allowed to keep in the transfer between systems of power. It was a concession, it seemed, for the house that likely staked the most upon the Anirian Revolution.

Luana initiated, certainly, but they were the masters and mistresses of propaganda; to spin the blame away from themselves in the event of the Revolution's failure would have been child's play for them. Virak did not join until they believed they had something to gain, and that the odds of failure were slim enough to justify such a turn in their nature.

House Pirian, as King recalled from his siblings and parents, had never been allowed to take the edge in the political game the Great Houses played. Should the Revolution had failed and remained a simple rebellion, the number of Great Houses would have been forever reduced to six. The Pirian holdings divvied among the others.

Now their House stood near the top. Not Sirl, nor Bannick, nor Weiroon, nor Urahil could rival the position that Pirian had seized. Only Virak and Luana, their co-conspirators, stood as equals. King did so admire that reversal of fortune, that the meek and gentle Pirians could be so bold as to wrest true power from their contemporaries.

Kristen's question pulled him from his daydreaming, though a smirk still rested upon his mien.

"For a time, yes. I would pledge to House Pirian if the option were still available to me, but alas. I would hardly choose to face exile, and the Anirian Knights are, eh...shall we say 'not my style?'"

 

[Blair Rennick]

Blair feigned a smile at Fabien's words, "Yes, the lightning weapons are... certainly something." But the blade leaning against her seat on a log was only ordinary in make. It felt foolish to admit to two Dreadlords that her touch of magic made it difficult to work with that gifted to the weapons imbued with the Pirian's gift.

She did not speak any more on it in hopes to not reveal just how unremarkable she was as a true Stormguard.

At first, she had been too weak still to handle weapons, but once Blair began to exercise her ice, it allowed her to feed off her magic and bargain with it for strength. Once they reach Salesia, Kristin and Fabien would see the potential and future of Stormguard Rennick.

Kristen Pirian Fabien 'King' D'Amour

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"I wish it were an option still," Kristen agreed. "Alas, I understand the reason."

Even if, as a Reservist, a Dreadlord could in all but official capacity pledge to a House's service, it simply was not the same. That official capacity, however small a thing it might seem, meant everything. A Dreadlord's true master would under the Republic always be the Anirian Guard, whether they had entered into full service or the Reserves.

Speaking of.

"I would suggest the Reserves then, Fabien, if it is your wish not to serve indefinitely. The Republic and its restructuring is still quite young, yes, but I have not heard of a Dreadlord who has transitioned into the Reserves from full military service."

She paused for a moment and thought. And she mused aloud:

"Surely, I imagine it must be quite welcome the other way round: for a Reservist to enter fully into the military."

Fabien 'King' D'Amour Blair Rennick

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

A soft hum of a laugh escaped King's throat.
"Ah, a slight correction: it's less a lack of enthusiasm for service and more that my sights are set a fair bit higher," he clarified. To serve as a soldier was all well and good, of course; it was the foundation of all dignity within the Dreadlord ranks. However, there was always more to aspire to.

"I imagine you of all people must know the plight of my dear sister, yes? I would gladly fight anyone who would dare call her anything less than an exemplary Dreadlord, yet under the old system she was not permitted to advance above Second Level. In the pinnacle of tragedy, an insufferable heathen gave her a permanent injury that earned her an early retirement to proctoring--suffered during the heat of the Revolution, no less," King continued on, the irritation over his sister's ordeal plainly audible in his tone and visible on his countenance.

"What I mean to say is that Evangeline was denied something she quite deserved. Something I will seize in her place. I will be the first of my name to take the title of Archon, my Lady..." a resolution not to be taken lightly. After a moment King brushed his fingers through his bangs and offered a genial smile. "...But I do agree, the Reserves are an excellent starting place."

 

[Blair Rennick]

Blair wondered if her eyes widened too big, but she stared at Fabien in astonishment.

"Archon!"

A feat she knew she could never dream reaching! Not that it seemed all that achievable for Blair, but for him to be so young and aiming so high... and spoken with such confidence, she wondered if such a highly skilled rank was within reach of Fabien. If what she had heard about his magic was any indication, Blair was to say he was well and truly on the right path.

"Do all Dreadlords wish to reach such heights?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Not I," said Kristen in reply to Blair. "Goodness no. Though I wish to serve Vel Anir admirably, I fear that rising too much in the ranks will by necessity take me away from the concerns of House and Ladyship."

Of course, she didn't think she was in any great danger of rising through the ranks. Her magic, so she thought, simply did not have the potential of other Archons she had heard about. The traitor Gilram's magic was horrifyingly powerful, as it so happened.

She looked to Fabien. "But for you, Fabien, I wish you the best in your pursuit. It is a laudable goal to which you aspire, and it will bring great prestige to the name of D'Amour."

And now Kristen's tone took on a more effervescent air as she asked:

"Say, do they still have regular dances at the Academy? Surely the Proctors have not done away with them, past mishaps or no."

And, in truth, Kristen asked less so from interest in Academy dances, and more so from interest in seeing if Fabien had come to fancy someone special, or even court said someone. The pursuit of the rank of Archon was laudable, yes, but so was continuing the name of D'Amour.

Fabien 'King' D'Amour Blair Rennick

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

A proud smirk stretched its way across King's lips. Yes, dear Blair, Archon.
"Many have aspirations, few have the mettle to actually achieve their goals."

His attention shifted onto the young Lady in the circle.

"And that, Milady, is a worthy endeavor," King commended Kristen. There were times in Vel Anir's history where there were too few initiates to support the need for the nation's mightiest warriors, and so all magic children were taken from their parents' homes, be they prince or pauper.

Those times were long gone, however. The Academy had a wealth of initiates, and their culling practices had been abolished in the wake of the Revolution. There was no need for noble houses to continue offering their children any longer...well, except for political and social clout. But where did that leave Vel Anir? Deprived of future generations of the highest echelons of their society!

"And you have my thanks. It is my destiny, of that I am sure."

Suddenly Kristen shifted the topic, however. For the first time since they'd met, Kristen had managed to put King on the backfoot, for he generally found the Academy's social events to be grating. He would simply have to seize the initiative back for himself.
"They do indeed. You were present at the first, yes? Where that banshee girl dropped a chandelier on the attendees?"

 

[Blair Rennick]

Blair choked on her very breath. How foreign this all sounded to her, that Fabien could speak so casually of a banshee or even for the Initiates to attend any dances at all. She had thought they were reserved for those of nobility and out in societal events. Blair could barely remember the last time she had dressed in a skirt or dress.

"Do you dance with many pretty girls?" Despite how perplexing it all was, the Stormguard could not help the teasing grin that found it's way onto her face. "I figure between the both of you, there would have been quite the line to get a dance with either of you."

Kristen Pirian Fabien 'King' D'Amour

 

[Kristen Pirian]

She should have anticipated that might be mentioned. But she didn't, even though she herself had spoke the words "past mishaps" into their conversation and summoned the specter of embarrassment. If that story about Chasmine was still going around, the other details of the Ball surely went around with it. Snickerdoodle!

Kristen smiled thinly, her cheeks flushing bright red with that selfsame embarrassment, and she said, "...yyyyyes...I was. It went...well enough, for a first attempt."

Surely these events would get better and better, and proceed far more smoothly, the further the old way retreated into the past and the more settled the Republic's reforms became.

Blair asked her question, and Kristen, her thin smile now flaring with delight, seized the moment and focused on Fabien. She said to him, "Surely it is so, else you, mayhap, are saving your dances for someone...special?"

Blair Rennick Fabien 'King' D'Amour

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

King quirked a brow at Kristen's apparent embarrassment involving the dropping of a chandelier by some spiritually-endowed initiate of years past. That was as much as he'd heard, and so far as he knew she had nothing to do with it. Then again, there were surely many curious tales to be told of the Pirian girl's early days at the Academy.

It didn't take long for both Blair and Kristen to turn the conversation back on King once again, and to badger him more about girls no less.

"I am frequently approached, yes," he said, scratching his cheek and only barely hiding his slight discomfort at the topic now. "And while I am not one to turn down such a request for a simple dance, I've yet to find someone...shall we say, 'suitable' to my standards."

Of course, he did have someone in mind, but he could not help but feel a fair bit of shame over precisely whom. That the feelings were undeveloped and likely not mutual anyways helped little. Deflect!

"And you, Lady Kristen? Is there someone near to your heart? I can't imagine the beautiful, Darling Daughter of House Pirian is without suitors."

 

[Blair Rennick]

It was a freshness of conversation that had Blair so nosy. Never had she thought of romance or even dances! It was much too easy to get caught up in the lives of others. Now, grinning widely, she looked to Kristen eagerly.

"Nobody is interested in me, I can admit that! I am afraid my brothers make anyone nervous at even approaching me." But she did not say what she always worried about. There were people that still believed her to be sickly, as if she would one day drop dead than having fulfilled her service in the Stormguard.

"Did I hear a rumour you had a beau, my lady?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

I've yet to find someone...shall we say, 'suitable' to my standards.

And at this Kristen was elated, and her face bore her elation easily and clearly. This was good! Quite good! Fabien held himself to high account, and in turn held those who approached him, as he said, to the same. In truth, 'twas not a race to courtship, to betrothal, and to be wed, and to act as though it were such was folly. Even though it had been Kristen's curiosity if Fabien had begun courting a young woman, he certainly did not need to be. And if he found no one at the Academy, there would be no worry, for greater would his opportunities become in the freedom from the Academy's strict regimen. Also—it had to be mentioned, sadly—that a disquieting number of the young women at the Academy were...unfit choices for a promising young man.

Soleil Verdane came to mind.

Blair had a remark after what Fabien had to say, and though Kristen turned her attention to the Stormguard and prepared to console and encourage her ("Oh, but you are fair, and a jewel of the Rennick name, and any man would count his fortunes blessed to have you!"), she got none of these words out. Fabien kept the conversation going without delay after Blair's remark, and he asked of Kristen much the same question she had of him. Blair then seconded the question.

Kristen once again flushed red, yet this time for a different reason.

"Yes, Blair, what rumor you have heard is true." Her reservedness failed, and a smile, ever growing, broke through, and her eyes gleamed with joyous light. "His name is Alistair. We have been in courtship for a while, and...I do long to see him again. Yet it is that now with my Ladyship, and with pressing matters such as ours in Salesia, our meeting again is frustrated. But it shall come. It shall come."

Fabien 'King' D'Amour Blair Rennick

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

"Well," King said shortly, more than over the conversation and longing for an excuse to be done with it all. He raised a simple cup of water he had at his side with a smile he'd long since practiced into looking genuine. "Here's to all our good fortunes then. To Kristen and Alistair, to Blair and her future partner, and to me as well, in love. And to the three of us, in our endeavors in Salesia."

He drank from the cup and say it aside and wiped his mouth.
"You will have to excuse me, Lady Kristen, Dame--Stormguard Rennick. The hour is late and the day has been long. I think I shall retire for the night."

With that, King stood and walked away from the fire to bed down for the evening. In solitude, he hoped.

 

[Blair Rennick]

Blair gave Fabien a polite smile, bidding him a good night and watched as he disappeared into the darkness beyond their campfire. She turned her pale eyes to Kristen, the smile still living on her face. "Perhaps he has the right idea. You should get some rest too. I can take the first watch."

After all, it was trained into Blair to do such a service. She didn't need that much sleep either, and would get what rest she could when they moved forward to continue their journey to Salesia.

"You need as much rest as you can get before we are to assist your friend in Salesia." Blair did not know much about her own magic, but she knew it would be unwise to try and wield it when she had not yet rested. It had been awful one time, and Blair had frozen one of her gauntlets in the midst of summer. It melted, of course, but the cold damage had already turned parts of it to rust.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen could but match King's toast with her waterskin only. She did, and drank heartily to the well-wishings. And on that note, yes, they could not persist in conversation through the full turning of the stars and moons, and so needed their rest. They had much riding to do on the morrow.

Kristen said to Blair, "You have my gratitude. But do not delay in rousing me when comes my turn—I insist."

And she bid the Stormguard a good night, and set about preparing to sleep.

* * * * *

OSTIA ANIR​

It had been a long time now since Kristen had last been to the Banick stronghold of Ostia Anir. When last she had departed it, the city and its inhabitants had been spared the wrath of the Republic by the slimmest of margins, and crucial had been her and Alistair's intervention. And, as it so happened, Kristen's return to this particular city had something of a poetic quality to it.

For it was more than merely a port in close proximity to the Academy. And soon would she tell Blair and Fabien of it.

They rode their horses on the road that approached the main gate of the city. Kristen looked and remembered that outside those very walls nearly the whole of House Banick had been encamped, forbidden from entering the city, while Walter resisted the will of the Republic. She could, if she imagined them, see with clarity those tents again, symbolic as they were of the dilemma at the time. Kristen could only hope she had at least as much fortune in Salesia as she had here in Ostia Anir.

"From here we will set sail," Kristen said, as her horse walked alongside Blair and Fabien's own. She looked to each of them with a smile, as one might when a plan proceeded well to one's wish.

"For I have made certain to secure for us a vessel all our own, with due discretion for our endeavor in mind."

Fabien 'King' D'Amour Blair Rennick

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

The road thus far has been more than a little dull, with nothing more than idle chit chat to pass the hours. As the group approached their next stop, King couldn't help but wonder exactly how far ahead the noble girl at the helm of the operation had prepared.

"One of those quick clipper ships that House Pirian is so proud of? Or something less glamorous?" he asked, curious. He'd heard tale of the Storm's Grace. A ship like that would cut the travel time in half. Something told him they would not be sailing on a ship like the Storm's Grace.

 

[Blair Rennick]

Blair had never seen a ship before, nor had she seen the water and the port. Her eyes flicked to everything new, as the poor Stormguard had yet to see much of the cities within Anirian territory. Her eyes even whipped to Fabien as he made mention of this ship, pale eyes then transferring to Kristen with muted enthusiasm.

"We are to sail from here to Salesia?" She inquired. The more she asked questions, the more she doubted her role in this, but then memory served her best when she recollected that the Lady Kristen had been the one to choose her amongst the many others of her station. Blair had purpose here, and she was welcoming the chance to prove to herself why.