Post by Lady Mage on Oct 25, 2005 19:33:23 GMT -5
The Goddess, the Swineherd, and the Knight
Chapter One: In which we meet all the characters
Kalmia chewed on a stem of grass. She hated tending the pigs. Of all the worst jobs to do, like scrubbing out the chamberpots, and scouring the flagstones in the courtyard, this was by far the worst. The noisy things rolled in the mud, emitting loud noises, and splattering her with mud. Oh well. she thought Its not as if I was clean anyways…
“Kalmia Mendrysra! Come here this instant! You forgot to clean the chamberpot in Assa’s room! No lunch for you today!” yelled a cross sounding voice. Kalmia winced. ‘Assa’ was her stepmother’s pet name for her daughter Cassandra. Her stomach growled as she ran to get the offensive chamberpot. No lunch or dinner today! She hadn’t eaten in ages, except for a quick secret much while she was preparing the meals. So much for not dying of hunger Kalmia thought and poured the yuck out of the chamberpot, hating her stepmother, and wishing that her father had had better judgement in picking out his second wife and that he had never been killed in the war…
Flashback:
“This is Gertrude, Kalmia. Say hello to your new mother” Mendry, Kalmia’s father said to his eleven year old daughter. A large, cross-looking, coarse, obese woman pushed forward and crushed her in a bone-breaking hug. “Oh its so nice to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you from your father” the Gertrude woman purred. Kalmia fought to get away from the reeky woman who smelled like beer, but found she couldn’t. “This is my little angel, Cassandra…”
The next day:
“Well, I’ll leave you three to bond- His Majesty is calling for men, and I must respond to the call of my country” Kalmia’s father said, checking to make sure he had everything.
The minute he was out the door, Cassandra and Gertrude retired to their rooms complaining of headaches. Before Gertrude had entirely left the room, she said in the fake sugary sweet voice she had that reminded Kalmia of poisoned honey, “Oh, and Mia? Will you be a dear and go feed the pigs? Assa has too delicate a complexion, and besides, she’s feeling a bit under the weather…”
And that was how Kalmia Mendrysra became the slave of her step-mother and step-sister. Her father had never come back- some army sergeant named Namud Smythsson had told them that he had died. Over the years (and it had been six-she had counted) Kalmia had grown to hate whenever her step-mother called her ‘Mia’ this usually meant that she [Gertrude] was going to make her do something awful…
“Will that be all, mi’lady? Our dragon allies are all ready to command the wyverns to leave” Raymond Boon set her sword and quiver of arrows next to her on the table, and began to help her put her armor on. The lady was Lady Knight Juliet of Queenscove, and she was in command of a bunch of other Lady Knights: Lady Knight Emma of Stone Mountain, Lady Knight Margaret of Trebond, Lady Knight Elizabeth of Oleu, and Lady Knight Alliane of Naxen.
Right now, they were about to fight against Tusaine for the possession of the River Drell, and the only reason these ladies had been allowed to become knights was so they could help defend their country: Tyra was attacking them with pirates yearly, Scanra was sending what little forces it had to attack their northern border, and Carthak was busy playing double agent- they pretended to be on the Tortallan’s side, but was daily sending immortals like wyverns to try and catch them off guard. And the worst thing was, only Tusaine had officially declared war- all the other countries had their ambassadors at the tortallan court, telling King Jason that they had problems in their countries, and couldn’t keep a tab on every one… and on they would go.
“You must watch over her.” the Sun God Mithros told the young goddess of protection, Kythrin. “She will need you to protect her. She has many dangers ahead. She does not know yet of the dangers that await her. You must tell her of them, and give her your token. For she alone, working together with a new creation, stormwings, can get all the wars to cease in the mortal realms. You must leave in a month on Midsummer’s Day. Go tie up your affairs.”
“Your wish is my command, my lord Mithros” murmured Kythrin, aware of what was expected of her
“Good Luck on your journey, Kythrin. May you succeed” Mithros said
“So Mote it Be” murmured the other gods and goddesses.
Chapter One: In which we meet all the characters
Kalmia chewed on a stem of grass. She hated tending the pigs. Of all the worst jobs to do, like scrubbing out the chamberpots, and scouring the flagstones in the courtyard, this was by far the worst. The noisy things rolled in the mud, emitting loud noises, and splattering her with mud. Oh well. she thought Its not as if I was clean anyways…
“Kalmia Mendrysra! Come here this instant! You forgot to clean the chamberpot in Assa’s room! No lunch for you today!” yelled a cross sounding voice. Kalmia winced. ‘Assa’ was her stepmother’s pet name for her daughter Cassandra. Her stomach growled as she ran to get the offensive chamberpot. No lunch or dinner today! She hadn’t eaten in ages, except for a quick secret much while she was preparing the meals. So much for not dying of hunger Kalmia thought and poured the yuck out of the chamberpot, hating her stepmother, and wishing that her father had had better judgement in picking out his second wife and that he had never been killed in the war…
Flashback:
“This is Gertrude, Kalmia. Say hello to your new mother” Mendry, Kalmia’s father said to his eleven year old daughter. A large, cross-looking, coarse, obese woman pushed forward and crushed her in a bone-breaking hug. “Oh its so nice to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you from your father” the Gertrude woman purred. Kalmia fought to get away from the reeky woman who smelled like beer, but found she couldn’t. “This is my little angel, Cassandra…”
The next day:
“Well, I’ll leave you three to bond- His Majesty is calling for men, and I must respond to the call of my country” Kalmia’s father said, checking to make sure he had everything.
The minute he was out the door, Cassandra and Gertrude retired to their rooms complaining of headaches. Before Gertrude had entirely left the room, she said in the fake sugary sweet voice she had that reminded Kalmia of poisoned honey, “Oh, and Mia? Will you be a dear and go feed the pigs? Assa has too delicate a complexion, and besides, she’s feeling a bit under the weather…”
And that was how Kalmia Mendrysra became the slave of her step-mother and step-sister. Her father had never come back- some army sergeant named Namud Smythsson had told them that he had died. Over the years (and it had been six-she had counted) Kalmia had grown to hate whenever her step-mother called her ‘Mia’ this usually meant that she [Gertrude] was going to make her do something awful…
“Will that be all, mi’lady? Our dragon allies are all ready to command the wyverns to leave” Raymond Boon set her sword and quiver of arrows next to her on the table, and began to help her put her armor on. The lady was Lady Knight Juliet of Queenscove, and she was in command of a bunch of other Lady Knights: Lady Knight Emma of Stone Mountain, Lady Knight Margaret of Trebond, Lady Knight Elizabeth of Oleu, and Lady Knight Alliane of Naxen.
Right now, they were about to fight against Tusaine for the possession of the River Drell, and the only reason these ladies had been allowed to become knights was so they could help defend their country: Tyra was attacking them with pirates yearly, Scanra was sending what little forces it had to attack their northern border, and Carthak was busy playing double agent- they pretended to be on the Tortallan’s side, but was daily sending immortals like wyverns to try and catch them off guard. And the worst thing was, only Tusaine had officially declared war- all the other countries had their ambassadors at the tortallan court, telling King Jason that they had problems in their countries, and couldn’t keep a tab on every one… and on they would go.
“You must watch over her.” the Sun God Mithros told the young goddess of protection, Kythrin. “She will need you to protect her. She has many dangers ahead. She does not know yet of the dangers that await her. You must tell her of them, and give her your token. For she alone, working together with a new creation, stormwings, can get all the wars to cease in the mortal realms. You must leave in a month on Midsummer’s Day. Go tie up your affairs.”
“Your wish is my command, my lord Mithros” murmured Kythrin, aware of what was expected of her
“Good Luck on your journey, Kythrin. May you succeed” Mithros said
“So Mote it Be” murmured the other gods and goddesses.
