Florian

Florian entered the garden with his arms held behind his back by my guardsmen.

“What did you find on him?” I asked, having already taken a seat within.

“His sword, a hidden dagger, and a vial filled with a clear liquid, Your Highness.” The guard who spoke held up said vial and shook it.

“What do you think it is?” I reached for it, but the guard pulled it back.

“Poison perhaps.”

“It’s cologne.” Florian said with a bit of a tired annoyance.

“I want both of you to wait out in the hallway.” I told the guards. “Far enough to not understand what we say, but close enough to come when I shout.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The guardsmen released Florian and bowed to me before vacating the room. I listened to the echoes of their footsteps until they had reached their positions. The distance sounded adequate enough for what I had instructed.

Florian spoke first. “I guess yesterday’s ending was not to your taste?” Beginning from when he had lied to me for a second time, Florian had been telling me of the unification war won by Triton and his seven daughters. We had reached the stories end just the day before.

“Quite the contrary.” I drew the sword I had brought with me. “I’m a fan of good endings. I hope this conversation has one as well.”

“I knew you weren’t taking my warnings to heart.”

“That’s not true; self-defense is nowhere near my mind. This blade is only a warning. I hope you can take it to heart the same way I took yours.”

“And what am I being warned of?”

“My people have investigated your story. The one about the duel.”

“Your people work fast.” He sounded serious, but I’m sure it was a joke. With the amount of time he had spent on the estate, he had to have assumed that there was some investigation into him by this point.

“You lied to me twice. I put my trust in you, but you lied to me about what is most important. Treason, Florian. Did you actually think you could hide that from me?”

“I can explain, Your Highness.”

“You can and you will. And let me tell you, the fondness that I’ve built for you will not keep me from shipping you back to Oremaris if you lie to me one more time. Now. Tell me why you have come to my kingdom.”

For a short time, only the sound heard in the garden was of the wind passing by. When the wind died down, he gave me his answer. “I tried to investigate the Age of Legends.”

My eyes shot wide open before I slapped my freehand over them. I never expected something so shocking, but with a moment of thought that shock became aggravation. “You’re a bigger fool than I could have ever imagined!” How could this man have been such an imbecile?

I could hear the guards sprinting down the hallway. “Stop running!” I said. There was enough trouble in this room already. “I only shouted from annoyance. I won’t do so again. Retake your positions until I call for you.”

Once the guards were back in their places, I freed my face from my hand and looked straight at Florian. “Come close and explain. Quietly.” What he had told me was something that could only be discussed in whispers. Florian had not betrayed his country, he had betrayed the Pact itself. Studying the Age of Legends is a domain only open to historians authorized by the highest authority of a nation. Those who seek to do so without approval are savages, cultists, or fools with a death wish. His actions were akin to declaring that all of the civilized world was his enemy.

“I wanted to know the truth.” He said as we stood shoulder to shoulder. I was almost upset enough to mock him.

“Are you insane? The truth is that the historians before the Pact told lies. You risked your life to confirm that?”

“If that is the truth, why does someone have to risk their life to confirm it?” The look I gave him was enough to tell him I didn’t understand. “If it’s all as true as the stories we tell children, why can’t I read the stories that they told?”

“Because those are the stories that start wars.”

“The wars will start whether or not we forget the past. Was making up a story all they had to do back then to start a war? Well, I’m afraid to tell you that there are still countries that do so today, Your Highness. That’s what Multis does right? Or are you going to tell me that Vallis owes them land?”

I glared at him, but that was all I could do. I couldn’t think of a rebuttal that wouldn’t be crushed the second it escaped my mouth.

“Look, you’re a smart girl, so I know you can see the problem now that we’re talking about it. There’s something hidden in the past that goes beyond make believe. Maybe it makes you crazy. Maybe that’s why the crazies are always after it. I don’t know, but I want to know.” He turned to me and looked me in the eye. “Don’t you want to know too?”

I had a sudden realization. “You really did come here for an adventure…” Even when he lied, he hinted at the truth.

“I came to run away. But, I am a man who takes the opportunities presented to him in the moment.”

“And look where that sort of behavior has gotten you.” I sheathed my sword. The man before me was a fool, but he meant me no harm. “How did they discover you?”

“I petitioned the government for authorization.” Yes, an exceptional fool was before. “They probably were watching me since then. When they rejected my request, I decided to continue with my plans to explore some ruins anyway. Someone tailed me to the first ruins I entered and I had to fight for my life.”

“Judging by the fact that you’ve made it here, I assume that pursuer is dead.”

“Yes.”

“So, you really did kill a man?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps, I should draw my sword again for my own safety.”

Florian immediately bent his knee to me. “Your Highness.”

I raised my hand and started towards the entrance. “I speak in jest. You’ve said some foolish things to me today, but I find your words sincere. Don’t worry about me sending you back to Oremaris. I currently have no desire to do so.”

Still kneeling, he called out to me. “I’m curious, Your Highness. Aren’t you too?”

“I’m not exactly sure of what I should be curious about.”

“Look at the castle just across from us. Aren’t there runes written on every wall? Isn’t the truth just within our reach?”

I didn’t bother looking. “Yes, and I’m sure if I throw myself over the railing, I’ll find death within my reach as well.” A much sooner death than if I betrayed the Pact and my subjects were to find out.

“So you’ve chosen ignorance.”

That stopped me. Pride was reason enough when curiosity wasn’t. There had been more than a few occasions where I ridiculed the willful ignorance of those who lived during the Age of Legends. After doing that, turning away from an inconvenient truth now would make a hypocrite of me.

I turned back around. “Fine. I’ll look into it. But I don’t want you poking around the castle before I’ve gotten things figured out. You won’t have anywhere to run if you get caught this time.” And I didn’t want his foolishness getting me caught and mistaken as the heir to the Dishonored One.

“Yes, Your Highness.” As far as I could tell, he intended to oblige. I offered him my hand and he stood up and took it. At least for now, our friendship will continue.

Mother's Grave

470 UC to 509 UC. The years of my mother’s life as they were written on her headstone. Above them were her name and titles, beneath them were the same dates in their Vallisian Calendar equivalents. She died a year short of her fortieth.

When I last came to her grave, I hadn’t come there for her, but now, I’d be willing to visit her grave everyday if it meant she would stop haunting my dreams. It had been bearable at first, but now, my dreams had become more frequent and in everyone of them she found herself a place. Once I had recognized her, just a glimpse was enough to have me wake in a cold sweat.

“Please,” I spoke solemnly. It almost sounded like I was begging. There was not a hint of the spitefulness that I had spoken with previously. “If you have anything to say, I’m listening.” Such a statement was proof enough of how far I had fallen. I had considered myself a Lady of Reason, someone who’d never seriously partake in any form of mysticism. But, in the face of this insomnia, that persona had proved to be only a facade.

I waited sometime for Mother’s response, but there was none given. The whistling wind and a raven’s call was all that I heard. I had heard a raven shortly before I saw Mother in the yard the first time. Perhaps it was a sign? She wanted to tell me that her response was waiting in my dreams? Looking back on it, I suppose this was how the cultists and madmen came up with their theories and superstitions.

I looked to my left. Mother wasn’t there, but the grave she had been standing in front of definitely was. I decided it would be worth reading the headstone before I left. The grave belonged to my maternal grandmother, Queen Cordette. For a moment, I looked to the right of my mother’s grave. There was an open plot of land. I took note and returned my gaze to Grandmother’s headstone.

The exact dates of Grandmother’s birth and death were of no importance to my study of the Dark Age, so until now, I hadn’t known them. 454 UC to 481 UC. At the time of her passing, she was only twenty-seven. Mother would have been eleven, an age that matched her appearance in my dream. Four years earlier than I had lost only her, she had already lost both her parents. I didn’t feel like that had brought me any closer to understanding my mother, but I pitied her. Judging by the way that she cried in my dreams, I’m sure her parents were much kinder to her than mine were to me.

That Night

That night, things were different. Well, different and the same. Just like my first dream, I was standing in front of Mother’s grave and I could hear crying coming from my left. Before thinking—I do wish I had more self-control when dreaming—I turned to see her. I was lucky the dream didn’t end the moment my gaze met her figure.

Too afraid to talk first, I waited for her to calm down. This was the closest I had gotten since the first dream, I wasn’t going to risk anything. Thankfully, there was no event to further excite me this time as her hair’s color was already her own.

When she had finally finished crying, she said, “I’m sorry.” Hearing those words from her again was very discomforting. My mother could apologize of course, but this way didn’t fit my image of her at all.

After much hesitation, I asked her a question. “What do you want?” A wave of relief washed over me when I did not awake at the mere utterance of a word to her.

She laid out her palm before me and I stared at it, waiting for something to happen. “Diane.” She said. We locked eyes and she pushed her hand further forward. “I want to help you.” At that, the ground shook so violently that I barely remained standing. “Let me help you.”

The ground ripped itself into two pieces and a growing chasm formed between us. “Take my hand!” Mother shouted, but it was already too late. I was standing at what had now become the edge of the graveyard and she might as well have been as far as the distance between it and the King’s Forest. “Please, let me help you!” She didn’t give up, but the ground beneath my feet did. I could still hear her calling out to me as I fell deep into the void.

From the darkness that surrounded me, I awoke in my bed. “Help…” I whispered it. I wasn’t sure if I needed it from her, but I definitely needed it from someone. Someone who could help me wake from the nightmare this had become.

Consequences

Diane is considering visiting a Seer in the capital.

Runic Intrigue

Florian had said that the truth was just within reach, but this wasn’t going to be as simple as he made it out to be. Yes, the meanings of the runes on the old castle walls can be inferred to some extent from appearance, but this sort of “translation” can only go so far without a reference. With such thoughts in my mind, I decided to consult the royal librarian.

I found him organizing records in the palace library. “Edworth.” I called out to him and he turned away from his work to face me.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Do we have a reference book for Runic Vallish?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Why do you ask?”

“If I am being honest, I’m worried about those with propensities towards the occult being emboldened by my mother’s death. I’d like to do everything I can to get a better understanding of them so that I can best deal with them.”

“It is understandable. I’ve found myself becoming worried lately as well. I think that the staff is becoming more familiar with the occult than they should.”

“I’ll do my best to reign them in.”

“It’s not a matter I think requires your immediate action, but I do think it’s something worth keeping an eye on.”

I nodded. “Then I’ll keep it in mind. As for the reference…”

“You should be able to obtain one, but you’ll need your father’s authorization first.”

Hearing that had me about ready to give up right then and there. If Father considered such a study worthwhile, he’d have already assigned me to it. There would be no convincing him to authorize this while I still had other things to do. And besides that, I didn’t want him to know that I’m studying Runic Vallish to begin with.

Edworth continued. “Once you have that, we’ll be able to get a reference delivered from the Capital Library.”

The Capital Library, that was my only chance. If I went there in person, then perhaps I’d be able to skip a few steps “I’ll try my best to convince him then.”

“Good luck, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Edworth.”

The Ballroom

The replacement glass for the ballroom arrived with the week’s end. No longer will the breeze rob the heat from the ballroom’s part of the palace. Perhaps that is a shame with the summer months coming up, but I’d rather leave as little room for trouble as possible with this summer’s gala approaching. In line with that policy, guards will continue to be stationed in front of the ballroom until further notice.