Mystery? In a Royal Court?
What price do you pay to protect someone? What cost to yourself do you pay to make sure tender dreams are not crushed?
There are no dragons (not on this planet, everyone is glad about that). Dungeons are generally fo...
At the Annovae Kingdom, Princess Yva (a child about seven years old even after ten years kept unchanged) naps.
The King and Queen of Annovae take time for themselves in the royal hall. They practice the dances of formal events. For the ten years their daughter was hidden within a sleeping protection spell, they had not danced.
They needed to learn the new dances and practice the older ones. Ten years would fly by and Yva would herself go to formal events. Some might even be host here.
A small thin item appeared in the air and fluttered down. Both King and Queen both have small daggers lifted and poised before it landed.
The king gives the queen a reassuring look as hundreds of them flutter to the smooth polished floor.
The queen finds the first one. Holding it she puts away her dagger. Her hand comes close to her mouth with a mild tremble. She calls her attendant.
A little portrait shows Lady Violet and the magic decoy girl. The girl wears exactly the same chain mail armor (bikini) as her forbearer (same as Princess Yva's used for a sigil). Both in the portrait find it hilarious.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She will place this one into a special box. A box where she keeps gifts for Yva. Little Yva had so many questions about the decoy and woman that gave up much for them all. This portrait would be very special and helpful.
Both the King and Queen hand back and forth the portraits.
The king comments 'I feel like these span a time much longer than two weeks. I might even think this covers years of time. The place is always the same, but the items behind and around them are never anything like. We should be sure to notify the Mage's Academy.'
The Mage's Academy has gotten its own delivery of the little portraits (almost two hundred). The mages have reactions that range from mild chuckles to loud outbursts of laughter. The two women in these little thin portraits are certainly having fun.
A fourth set of portraits arrives in a private residence within the Castle of the Central Kingdom. These are tied together with a ribbon and a note is attached. They are to be delivered by the woman's daughters to the Prince of the Central Kingdom. She inspects the portraits and finds some of them a bit too revealing of the feminine body.
She informs her daughters of the 'gift' that has arrived and suggests that they allow calamity to destroy these before they reach the Prince. Yet, She thinks her daughters should to go to the prince. One daughter being just older than he, and the other being just younger than him. Both daughters of a royal house where the king died leaving no male heirs.
In the carriage ride to meet the Prince at Castle Dominus, the daughters decide that 'the noble obligation to be good stewards' means the item should be delivered as requested. They both seem to know that this task was in part given by the Sprites. Quite a few tutors and instructors caution about being lax regarding the Sprites.
The Prince receives them into Castle Dominus pleasantly. It is empty, except for the few attendants both groups brought with them.
They remove covers off some chairs and sit to look over the portraits. Some portraits show clothes that reveal more than is 'the manner of the royalty'. The prince is the first to observe that often there is writing in the back.
Descriptions that show which famous woman was being honored. It clarified how some portraits were set. The two in the portrait nearly doubled over in giggles at a thought 'can you imagine wearing this into battle.'
The ladies and the prince keep their attendants nearby and tour the castle (in a manner quite unusually relaxed and conversational).
After the ladies leave, a mage appears and asks to have the portraits for review. The Prince agrees quickly being a bit more mindful the pleasant time with those two ladies.
The mage surprises him with a comment. There might be over seven hundred portraits delivered just today. Nearly two years if one portrait was created each day.
The Prince was mindful of the one portrait that was different. The young princess laying in an exhausted slumber on a cot. The 'walker in light' seated and resting a hand on the far shoulder.
It made it even more real to him. He had very briefly met that girl at a party. She had a faraway look of childlike curiosity. Somehow two years seemed conclusive, an end.
Still, he really enjoyed very much the two sisters that visited him today. They seemed very nice.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
