A story about the decision to walk the path of destiny.
Cidolfus Telamon x OFC
- Erie Murdoch has witnessed the power that has brought the Duchy to ruin and plunged Rosaria into political turmoil. Stripped of everything she once knew, now a fallen p...
Erie didn't know how she imagined Ash, but it was different from Rosaria, Sanbreque, or even Dhalmekia. While Dhalmekia consisted almost entirely of sand, the fauna there was numerous and the sky blue. On Storm - at least that's how Erie felt - everything was alive. Ash seemed like the complete opposite to her. True, she saw animals here and there, but the blight had affected much of Ash. It seemed to her almost as if the rays of the sun did not reach the ground properly, everything was as if bathed in twilight, the ground dry and mostly lifeless.
Only the plain in front of Stonhyrr, close to the Mothercrystal Drake's Spine was a bit friendlier. There Erie saw laughing people on the main road, the vast plain was green, and the wind played gently with Erie's hair. Stonhyrr itself stood directly on the coast, its gates separated from the mainland via a long bridge. The capital seemed almost like an island.
Erie felt foreign and uneasiness overcame her as she walked through the city and finally through the gate of the castle. So much seemed familiar, the soldiers training in the courtyard, the nobles striding through the castle with and without maids, the servants trying to carry out their orders unseen. And yet everything seemed out of place, as if a shadow suddenly loomed over the world. What had she gotten herself into?
"The best thing to do is to tear off the band-aid as quickly as possible and bring word to the king. These are your chambers," Cid announced as he pushed open a door in front of her.
Behind it was a room much like the one Erie had lived in during her time at Rosalith's court. Only slightly smaller. Directly across from the entrance stood a small desk, with a plain bed next to it. On the other side a long wall led out onto a small balcony, and right next to it a closet. In an outgoing alcove to her right, there appeared a wash tub as well.
"Clothes should be hanging in the closet. Freshen up and I'll meet you downstairs outside the throne room. You accompany me."
Erie nodded and began to settle into her new temporary home.
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A little later, after washing up, doing her hair, and putting on one of the plain dresses that had been hanging in the simple closet, she strode down the stone steps that led to the throne room. Erie had been able to identify it as soon as she entered the castle, even without Cid's introduction. The entrance to the throne room gladly revealed itself at ceiling-high doors, guarded by two or more soldiers.
Erie had shaken out the dress she was wearing a few times before putting it on, but it still smelled a little musty - it must have been hanging in the closet for a long time. Except for a strip of purple fabric tucked into the collar area that Erie had tied in front of the neckline, it was made of black, somewhat scratchy fabric. Nothing like the fine dresses of silk fabrics in red, white and other bright colors she had worn in Rosaria.
Cid stood at the bottom talking to one of the guards. When he caught sight of her, his expression lightened and he held out his hand to her. Except for the first grip on her wrist, the two had never touched, but Erie knew she was now at a royal court and had to play her part. So she put her hand in his and let him lead her down the final steps. She came to a stop in front of the soldier Cid had been talking to moments before and let her hand slip out of his again.
