The Queen's Companion

The Beginning - Where all good stories start

I wasn't anyone before I was six.

Well, maybe that's being quite dramatic.

I was someone.

My name was Loria. I was a poor child left orphaned when my dear mother, a whore, died from one of the hazards of her trade. My father was some noble or the other that had knocked my mother up one night whilst rolling in the hay in my grandfather's stable.

He was her first and he left her to become a whore to feed me.

He only returned when she died. A handsome man who walked into the orphanage one cold afternoon when the snow had just started to coat the ground. He had knelt before me, introduced himself and apologized. He held me in his arms and rocked me as I stood stiff and shocked.

That day changed who I was. In two days I went from the daughter of a whore to an orphan and finally to the daughter of Duke Aden Coron of Walworth. He had taken me to his mansion, had me dressed in a fine silk gown and declared me Lorian Marie Alora Coron of Walworth

That day started a journey.... One that led me to war.
But first, my friend, you must realize one important truth, there exists many types of wars.

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My first brush with royalty was with Princess Angelica Victoria the second. She was my age and fairly kind for a royal. My father was a duke and fifth in line for the throne, a throne I would not be apart of because of my illegitimacy.

I later found out, years after, that father had not told them I was his daughter. He told everyone that I was a child he had seen on his his trip through the county and had thought me to be too delicate, too beautiful and too innocent to be another unfortunate victim of poverty. He claimed he had seen a gentleness in me fit for any noble child and wanted to give me a life of purpose. Pretty words for a man who made a monster.

Perhaps monster was too strong a word.

In any case, when he brought me to the castle, Angelica was the first child of the  king I had met. We were both, as the youngest children in care of the royals, assigned to Princess Amelia Tarsia Selene, the eldest of the royal children. She was 10 at the time and wholly fond of us. Along with Angelica and Amelia were Dorrian and Daniel, the twins, who were a year younger than Amelia.

I had spent most of my days with this lot and received the same education all noble ladies were expected to. Over the next few years I would excel at the arts, mastering several instruments and painting and dancing. I also learnt history and geography, soaking up knowledge on my kingdom, Welleston, and the others surrounding it. I was level headed and learnt all I could, soaking up knowledge as would a sponge.

On my twelfth birthday, I was told my fate. I was to be Amelia's companion when she became queen, up until I was married. Father wasn't one to dictate me but I hadn't much of a choice and besides, I rather liked Amelia's company. As her companion, I would be her adviser on all her private affairs, a friend to ease her woes and her last line of defence if ever her life were in danger. For these duties I underwent special training. I was at Amelia's side throughout all her royal lessons and I was also intensely trained by a general in the art of combat. As a companion to the queen I would need specific skills in order to be useful.

I was taught to use different blades, to conceal weapons in specially made dresses and close combat techniques. I even became handy with a bow and arrow.

By the time Amelia had been married off at eighteen, I was the perfect assassin and body guard at fourteen years of age. I was primed and ready for a job I had to take when she became queen.

I didn't mind though, Amelia was a wonderful soul and a happy and beautiful friend who had been matched with the son of a king from a neighboring kingdom. He was ninth in line for the throne and they had been promised to each other since birth as a sign of unity among the kingdoms. I wanted to protect her and happily swore to do so, an oath I would keep to my last breath.