Queen Rhian sat in her impromptu bedchambers, watching the light of the candle flicker in front of her.
She'd been doing this for the better part of an hour, trying to predict which way the flame might bend at any given time.
Needless to say, she wasn't very good at it.
In truth, the Queen was hopelessly bored during the visit to Endsham. It had been a long time since she came to the further reaches of the Kingdom, especially in the West.
The lives of the people here, while cute, were tragically simple for her tastes. No excitement or bustle was to be beheld much, especially with her entourage of Knights smothering all of the fun.
They had interrogated that poor puppeteer for three hours after her show was stopped. She'd seen the wonder and joy in her son's eyes evaporate in the wake of his ensured safety. She, honestly, wanted him to go missing for a day or two.
For his own sake, so he could have some unrestrained fun. Sure, Rhian could also have fun while the guards went looking for him, but that was just a happy side effect of her son's enjoyment.
Definitely.
It was much sweeter when we were just simple nobles.
Rhian heard the steady march of footsteps, and the clamourings of a young woman struggling against retraints. The Queen studied the candle for a moment, preparing for its flame to kick backwards towards her.
The door flew open, and its powerful gust propelled the candle's light to snap towards her face, before suddenly extinguishing under the wind's command.
Held from under her armpits, hoisted between two Silver-clad Knights, was a familiar face. Unimpressed, tired, and grouchy, with a heavy frown and yellow eyes that held a defiantly low gaze, eyelids nearly shut from laziness.
"Welcome back, Ira."
"Mother."
Rhian crossed her legs. Her white, silken chemise-dress pulled up on her right leg as she pointed her toes and feet and fixed her posture. Appearances were to be kept in the presence of everyone, after all. Daughters weren't an exception.
"Was your afternoon fun?"
The rebellious young girl remained quiet, puffing some of her red-brushed blonde hair out of her face as she was unrestrained by the two Knights. She stretched her arms upward, easing whatever pain being escorted in that manner has caused her, and itched her face.
"Sneaking off and being alone... how dangerous."
Actually, Rhian was rather jealous of her daughter. She herself had tried to slip the attention of the watchful Knights on occasion, but had always been caught right as she was going to escape their view.
An afternoon of fun, how enviable.
Long gone were the days when Rhian could flee from her own Mother's watch and play in the garden, climbing trees and learning to fish with some of the local farm workers on their land. Similarly gone were the scoldings she'd recieved as a result. She was fond of those times: simpler, and more exciting than the rather mundane duties of a Queen.
Rhian watched her daughter walk towards the table where a glass of water was poured, waiting for her. She drank it and glanced at the neat stack of Silvers beside.
Fifteen in total.
Ira scowled, but still snatched the Silvers and palmed them into a coat pocket before finishing her drink.
"You really shouldn't underestimate the intelligence gathering of our Knights, dear. And... its not particularly hard to learn that you got arrested."
Rhian sighed, her rehearsed and playful sigh, intending to tease her daughter just a tad.
Ira's frown deepened.
So uncouth... So... adorale.
If there was one joy Rhian had now that her daughter had almost reached adulthood, it was teasing her for the little things. Her daughter wasn't exactly small enough to sit on her lap and hear bedtime stories, anymore.
Technically, Ira could likely kill Rhian without much struggle. She had most likely allowed herself to be dragged back to the Inn they were staying in. At least, she certainly wasn't in the mood to put up a fight against Marcus today. Oh, how time flies.
Her daughter's own rebellion was exactly silly, and lovely enough to bring excitement to Rhian's days. There were worse rebellions a royal heir could perform, after all. Ira, while somewhat difficult to control, was incredibly easy to read for her mother.
"With a boy, no less? Hmmmmm."
Ira's face dropped for a small moment, but immediately snapped back to its tired and annoyed scowl. She immediately let her distaste known.
"Ugh! Mother, I am allowed to talk to people my own age, aren't I?"
"Of course, dear. Just remember that when I was your age, talking to a boy, dining out, and buying gifts with him, could cause a unit of the most dreadful of your father's bodyguards to make his family disappear for a week. They always came back and wanted nothing to do with me."
Rhian let out another rehearsed, sarcastic sigh. It sounded quite harrowing, but she'd found it quite romantic at the time, the Crown Prince chase her so obsessively. It was flattering, and rather quite cute of him to go so far.
"Not much of a family to disappear this time, mother. His father's up and disappeared it seems."
Oh?
Mystery! Intrigue! Exactly what Rhian was hoping for. She leaned forward just a little, and tried to keep the pace of her speech measured and un-rushed.
"Oh? Why is that? Did his father find a lost love in the East? Is he fleeing from gambling debts? Tell me!"
...She wasn't the best at holding her excitement back.
I've been far too bored on this trip, it seems.
"He is unsure. Some guy named Drun."
Rhian stopped for a moment.
Coincidence?
"Pretty cool guy, apparently, though. A monster hunter, taught him everything."
...
"He also told me a lot about the Old Kingdom! He made claims I'll need to confirm when we return home, but I think I'll be able to answer all the travel assignments from Ydd pretty well!"
It was nice to see Ira talk so excitedly about something besides combat. When conversation was about anything other than the best way to throw someone to the ground, she would act rather aloof and disinterested.
Of course, Rhian knew all too well that her daughter was an excitable and energetic girl beneath the calm, scowling veil.
She really ought to learn from her mother a little, being calm both inside and out.
"And... what was your new friend's name?"
Ira stopped herself for a second, and glanced at her mother with a smirk.
"Not so great at intelligence gatering now, are we?"
...
One the knights slowly walked toward Rhian's ear and whispered to her.
"So, Welt sounds lovely! I'd love to speak to him sometime, if you'd care to introduce us."
Ira rolled her eyes and laid on the bed behind her. She tossed a wooden carving up in the air gently, catching it in the same hand and staring up at the ceiling. Her sturdy boots stain the bottom of the bed with dried, dusty dirt.
"Don't think I'll ever see him again; said he's leaving soon. But, maybe you can send those two to grab him by the armpits. They'll have a damn hard time carrying him here, though."
"Hm? I didn't get the impression he was a... large gentleman... from the report earlier."
Could it be... her daughter had that kind of preference?
Well, that certainly changed the marriage candidates she could present to her next year.
"Idiot. He just wears training weights, like me. I swear though, as heavy as anything! Even I could barely pull him to the side."
A shadow moved from the room, impercepitble, but certainly now absent. A small streak of red that had painted the dark corner of the bedchambers vanished.
Paranoid fools.
Rhian concluded their talk:
"I'm sure you'll see him tomorrow, Ira. As long as you manage to escape their vision yet again."
A small smile drew itself on the young woman's face.
Rhian, with the motion of a hand, sent the knights out of her bedchambers to stand guard, and went about preparing herself for sleep.
Friendship was hard to come by as a Noble. Even harder, it seemed, as a Royal.
Hopefully, this one-day friend will be a recurring appearance in Rhian's chats with her daughter.
She closed her eyes to sleep, letting the world fall away, and dreamt of an exciting life as a sailing merchant, high in the upper oceans and waterfalls of the North, plundering riches and fighting sea monsters with her hearty crew.
What else would a woman so bored dream of? Flowers? Love? Sea Monsters suited Rhian's tastes much better.