Xenologue 1 - The Departure
Alrest was, at the moment, quite peaceful. With Denzer preoccupied with Centai's forces, the country of Alrest may of been assumed to be preparing to mobilize their troops, yet...they were not. The king was a smart man, but perhaps not a generous man. Perhaps this was best for the time, but was a rather selfish choice in the end. Not everyone was silent about this decision, particularly one young man."S-Sir, I do not understand," Said Kiran, "Centai is our ally. If we do not help, who will? T-They were caught off guard, and have been struggling from what I've heard..." The Prince of Alrest walked down one of the castle's numerous halls, right behind his Father and King.
"From what it sounds, you have still not understood Kiran. I've explained it to you already- we have soldiers located on our borders. They will mobilize out once they get the word or if Denzer invades us. But, I will not send that word out." King Othello answered sternly. "Because Kiran, our military is not the strongest in the first place. If we were to be overwhelmed out there, our kingdom is next to fall. Not to mention the copious bandits that have been running wild, keeping the soldiers here busy! Every day a new group pops up and starts causing trouble..."
"B-But sir, surely if we attacked alongside Centai, we would be victorious. Two kingdom's combined might would certainly overthrow Denzer! Why are we going to horde-"
"Kiran." Othello stopped in his tracks, shooting a gaze back at his son. Kiran too stopped, because of that very gaze. "I've made up my mind and told you my reasons. I will not be changing it. If this truly concerns you that much, you can personally go down to the border and tell them to mobilize. Show some gumption for once." And Othello left Kiran out in the hall, alone.
"...That's not a bad idea." Kiran told himself.
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Kiran had to find his bodyguards. And he knew at this hour where one would be- the training room. Not as impressive as the massive library in which the other bodyguard spent her time, but was still a perfectly acceptable training room. The telltale sign that Sarah was here was a clunking noise from the target range."Sarah," Kiran called. She didn't hear him. As he walked toward the target range, the clunking continued. "Sarah, may I talk to you for a moment?" Still no response. He finally reached the target range, and there she was- tossing hand axes at a wooden target. "Sarah?"
"Just a moment." She told him. Sarah tossed the hand axe, landing it lopsided on the wooden dummy, joining some others stuck to it imperfectly. "Dammit, thought I had it that time. What didja need me for?"
"Well, we need to go on a little...trip." Kiran said. "Towards the border. We are going to assist Centai."
"Huh? Us?" Sarah almost looked dumbfounded. "Isn't that kinda why you have an army in the first place? If anyone should be chargin' down there, it should be the boss."
"Y-Yeah, well..." Kiran ruffled a hand through his hair. "He won't send out a message to mobilize the border guards. So that's where we come in. I'll go more into to detail when we get Priscilla...err, where is she?"
"Knowing her? Out on a walk, or in the library. And I'm gonna say library, since she finished the first book on Alrest's birds yesterday."
"Alright, let's go." And so Kiran and his bodyguard left the training grounds.
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Priscilla was hunched over a desk in the grand library, reading a book entitled Birds of Alrest: Volume 2. She hadn't even looked up from her book when she spoke up. "What needs to be done?"Kiran always found Priscilla a tad uncanny. She was his friend and protector, but seriously...there was something to be said about how aware she was of everything. "We, well, we are going on a trip. To the border. To help out Centai."
"As you say." She said, shutting her book and tucking it away in her cloak. Unlike Sarah, she didn't push the question further- after all, she wasn't being paid to ask questions, she was being paid to protect Kiran no matter what. She would catch on as they went. The library wouldn't miss the book either- they had extra copies of everything, and Priscilla wasn't even intending on keeping it.
As Kiran and his bodyguards left the library, sonething caught his eye above the Library's fireplace mantle. A lance hung up, with a plaque describing it.
KING OTHELLO'S GOLL
This lance was used to strike down a vile Bandit Lord who terrorized Alrest's plains by the king himself
Hung to dedicate the crowning of King Othello
May it be a sign to Othello's dedication to his country, for now and ever
It was the most recent addition to the mantle, joining the coat of arms, along with a sword and axe that were far too old to be of any use. But the lance was newish, still well maintained- still useful. "Hey, um, Sarah? Priscilla? Could you give me a hand getting something down?"This lance was used to strike down a vile Bandit Lord who terrorized Alrest's plains by the king himself
Hung to dedicate the crowning of King Othello
May it be a sign to Othello's dedication to his country, for now and ever
"Like what?" Sarah asked, "A book or something?"
"Not exactly, um, I was thinking more the lance up there."
"Why are we stealing that?" Asked Priscilla, in her same monotone voice. "It's no better than any other lance. Won't your father get upset?"
"I mean, no. He wasn't using it, was he? I-It's just hanging there after all. No worries, let's get it down." Kiran said. King Othello wouldn't be mad! He had his own new lance anyways. Of course, maybe his sister wouldn't like it...But she wasn't exactly concerning.
"Alright. Sarah, you can reach it? Because I know I can't." Priscilla said, turning to her fellow mercenary.
"Let me see what I can do..." Sarah could barely reach the lance, but she managed to unhook it from the wall. Unfortunately, grasping it was a little trickier than it seemed. Only held up by the palm of Sarah's hand, it began to topple."Whoa whoa, Kiran, Priscilla, grab it!"
Before the lance hit the ground, Kiran managed to grab it. "Ah. Thanks Sarah!" Observing it closer, the blade at the top was a golden color, adorned with a red stone in the center. The handle was silver, smooth and engraved grooves coating it. It was, indeed, quite a lance. "Okay, great! Now let's go get ready to goooooo-" As he turned around, a familiar face greeted him "Um, hi Elizabeth! We were just taking the lance down to, uh..."
"Clean! We were going to clean it." Chirped up Sarah.
"Yeah, clean it! We are going to make sure father's lance looks great." Princess Elizabeth was the last person he really wanted to see right now, and that excuse wasn't really the greatest, but hopefully it would get her off his back. If not...It wouldn't be optimal. At least she wouldn't tell Othello...probably.
