A Tale From Lanoria: The Princess of Barough

Chapter 3: Garden of Blood

Two months after the violent death of the King of Barough, the young princess still felt the sting of uncertainty about how to rule her kingdom efficiently. Oriana had also found out that she was unable to earn the title of Queen until she was married or performed a great deed, according to the laws of her kingdom. Until then, Oriana had to remain under the title of Princess. Even without the title of Queen, she was given regency over the kingdom as the only heir. This made a lot of the nobles in her kingdom wary, not wanting to support a naive girl who knew so little about ruling.

The way the region was set up made it even worse. The nobles were given governance over different areas of the kingdom. Each noble swore their allegiance to the line of Barough. The lords of the land each had their own army. Oriana lost more than their allegiance when nobles began to leave Barough for other kingdoms. The nobles took large portions of their armies with them. The more that trickled out, the weaker Barough's forces became. 

The nobles in the eastern portions of Barough left to join the forest kingdom of Ra'Kari. Some northern nobles continued to change their allegiance to Frost Fall. With a dwindling army and nobles hesitant to back her up, the loss of land meant less control over the trade routes in central Lanoria. Luckily, King Gerald of Dymoria in the south, and King Rylan of Florel in the west, maintained their alliance with Barough. They urged nobles to maintain their support of Oriana, even refusing any request from a noble of Barough to join them.

Prince Tyir had also been a godsend during that time. He had returned to Winter Haven only for a short period and had returned with about three hundred knights to join the ranks. Not only that, but there were at least five nobles willing to relocate to Barough. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. He had also promised to return and assist her in choosing a courtmage. He boasted that he knew just the sort of mage to look for.

During that time, she had sent a long letter to Medeis explaining the situation and begging for any mage to help. It was, after all, the only way to receive a powerful courtmage. All combatants were welcome, though they would be subjected to trials in order to become the courtmage of Barough. Those who would come were divided up into pairs and made to fight in Barough Castle's large courtyard. The winner of each fight would move on to the next trial. There were no rules for the fights, and many took advantage of that.

The first casualty was Oriana's courtyard. Her personal peach trees had been uprooted—the same ones that she had just been picking fruit from two months prior—and the grounds had been lined with fresh dirt. The green and bustling courtyard turned into a desolate area, so they could find someone to protect her.

When the day for the competition finally came, seeing her beloved courtyard in such a state wasn't even the worst part. Guttural screams and battle cries echoed from the courtyard. The sounds of a battle forced their way into the castle. It gathered a crowd of servants who came to see the event take place that very day. The combination of sounds wasn't easy for some warriors, let alone Oriana, who, at the moment, struggled to watch the barbaric display before her.

The mages were particularly ruthless. Often refusing to allow their opponents to forfeit, they instead killed them on the spot, without mercy or hesitation. Elemental mages turned their opponents into charred remains or shocked them to death with lightning. Some entombed their opponents in ice. Other mages used their magic to enhance their own strength or weapons. They would rip the hearts out of others. They even sliced their opponents in half when given the chance. Brutal displays of magic filled the courtyard. Heads exploded; others had their skin melted off. Even a few were turned to ash, leaving nothing but dust in the wind.

The young, sheltered princess couldn't stand watching such sights as the ground became stained with blood. Mages were generally trained killers, built to be heartless and ruthless. Finding a mage who was compassionate in Lanoria was proving to be an impossibly difficult task. In her heart, the princess believed she was right, but it seemed she was being proven sorely wrong.