The Gauntlet

Perspective

Within a week, Nara was well aware of the fort's lay out. The kitchens and the dining hall were in the ground floor with the ballroom and the bedrooms and library were above.

She familiarized herself with the servants she would be speaking to often. They were thin girls with light hair and pale eyes, they seemed clean but the subtle smell to their skin meant they weren't given access to regular baths. In fact, even the Furess family seemed to bath at infrequent intervals. It drove Nara crazy that she was seen as odd for taking a bath.

While she couldn't make the Furess family less disgusting she demanded that her personal maids be bathed every morning before attending to her. She set up the proper arrangements and had them with enough clean water to do the job.

Her guards were her only solace. Before coming to Farlane she didn't speak much to the servants, why would she when she had her brother, sister, and friends for conversation? Without anyone else who spoke the language around she felt starved for conversation. Luckily her guards had spent enough time in the palace to pick up the royal dialect. That wasn't all she learned about her guards.

She learned Deí Mah was a third son, with two older brothers in her father's military. Kokoa, the male archer, was an orphan who used to hunt. He was fostered by the Teitr and the recruited by the military. Oma and Zera, Oma was an archer and Zera was a sword master, were both cousins and were trained by their mothers.

She learned more about them than she ever thought to know. They were just her guards after all.

Two weeks pass and Nara finally decided to stop hiding in her rooms. She left to the training yard to watch her guards train. They too were seperated from the residents of Fort Furess. Though their stations were different in society, they were the same in circumstances. Unlike their princess, they would return home after the wedding.

"Ah you're here. I was hoping it was all a bad dream." Marq said dryly beside her. Nara tensed and for a breif moment considered jumping from the wall she was watching her guards from.

"Trust me nono, the nightmare is just beginning." She said, using a common word she picked up from Oma. Nono meant someone who was ignorant of something, Nara was glad to have such a word on hand.

From the corner of her eye she saw how Marq's fist clenched. She was now well aware of his actions when she spoke him her mother tongue.

"Why do you always do that?" The tone of his voice surprised her, not sounding as hostile as he usually did when addressing her. Marq sounded almost, petulant? Nara turned to the young lord and there he was, pouting. Well, pouting for one who was lived their entire life politics.

"Do what?" He never asked her anything before, he had no interest in her or where she came from. The curiosity was new and a bit suspicious.

"Always using that language of yours. I can understand your guards not speaking commons, they look about as intelligent as the goats. You're supposed to be royalty." Nara wasn't proper, she spoke to her servants. She spent her time stuffed in her room, not that Marq was particularly upset about that, it simply confused him that rather than be in the courtyard sitting and gossiping like a lady of the court, she instead leaves to watch her guards train.

Marq had heard of girls like her, the ones who wish to be men. They were right to wish to be better but they needed to accept their roles in the world, Nara especially.

"The language I speak is the royal tongue in Korva. My guards speak in the royal dialect when speaking to me. They know commons but believe it below me to use it when speaking to me. They are not here to communicate with you and your kind, my dear." It was the most Nara had spoken to him in a month. Her sarcastic drawl on the pet name she had made his face heat up.

"Stop calling me that." his voice was quieter that she was used to hearing it. The words like the hiss of a snake. Nara turned her large dark eyes to him, looking as though she didn't understand his words.

"What ever do you mean, my dear? We are to be married after all." Marq grimaced and walked away sharply, the cour equivalent of stomping away in anger. Nara weighed her options before following after her betrothed. There wasn't much for her to do at Fort Furess anyway.

Marq noticed her foot falls following him. They were lighter than he expected. "Go away."

Nara gave no reply, even as they came upon the horses. "Go away." Marq said again, this time more forcefully. Nara still did not respond. Finally Marq came upon his horse and turned around to face her. "Go away Nara!" He was shouting at her. No political facade. There in from to the horses stables Marq Furess shouted at the princess of Korva and used her name for the first time.

The dark princess blinked at him for moment, the world was silent save for the sound of horses and Marq's rather heavy breathing. Nara took a moment to notice how deep the color of Marq's eyes were, how human they were. She hadn't really bothered with the thought before. "No."

Marq turned a bright shade of red and scowled at her fully. "Fine then princess since you are so insistent on following me, the you will do as I do. My dear." Nara narrowed her eyes and then nodded, curious as to what it was that Marq did. He didn't seem the type to do anything.

Marq entered into the stables, the strong smell of the horses hitting him fully. It was unpleasant but he handled it well. He was a bit surprised to find Nara following behind him still. Most in the court stayed away from the stables, instead calling on a servant to bring their horse.

Marq quickly went to his horse, Storm. Storm was a dark gray stallion, standing at fifteen hands. Like Marq, Storm was sired by the best and strongest of his family line. Marq was beginning to calm as he stroked the horse's muzzle. He saddled Storm and lead the royal stallion out of the stables. Not long after mounting the stallion Nara came with her horse. It was one of her guards horses. Easily eighteen hands black as night with white feathering at it's hooves. Surprisingly, Nara was not dwarfed by the horse. She was a large girl so the proportions fit well.

She mounted the behemoth, opting not to sit side saddle on the beast. She hefted her shoulders back and looked to Marq. "So where are we going, Marq?"

The pale boy's expression was a mess of emotions as he thought over the answer. "I'm going to show you Farlane."

"I have already seen your pale country." She wished not to see any more pale country side. Obviously, she believed, Marq had no plan.

"You have not seen it as I see it." And they rode off, leaving the guards and the fort behind. Nara could feel it, this was to be the beginning of something big. Something far bigger than Marq, Farlane or her wedding.