The Dying Light: Latveria

A Princess's Undoing

The King and Queen were indeed, not happy.

"Why is honesty one of the most important traits of monarchy?"

The air itself seemed to reel away from the Queen's icy words as she laid her golden hazel eyes on her eldest daughter. Princess Eowyn winced, seeing her mother's hand maiden still brushing her hair, even now in the study. The King and Queen hadn't even had breakfast yet when the news had arrived to them, and had obviously chosen to postpone it until afterwards. As with many people, the Queen in particular was prone to ire when she hadn't eaten or had her black tea in the morning. The princess felt a sudden surge of hope rise to her chest with an idea

"Mother, Father, I can make breakfast for you personally perhaps before-

"Why?"

The young princess then knew there was no getting out of this, nor making the conversation any easier. Best to get it on with. Princess Eowyn straightened her back, looking her mother in the eye but trying to keep her expression soft.

"It's of the utmost importance the members of the royal family of Latveria maintain steadfast in their truthfulness, lest the other types of nations within Latveria as well as their neighbors and those who choose to serve find them untrustworthy." the words came out as the perfect memorization they were.

"Have you upheld this, this morning?" The King's tone was sharp, his bright green eyes narrowed.

Princess Eowyn gulped, then replied softly. "No, my King." She hoped the honorific would help, even if just a little, to save her.

"And what was the cost of your lack of honesty?"

Princess Eowyn hung her head. "Above all, when hunting, we are to avoid killing the leaders of the herd. The leaders of the herd ensure the safety of future generations of their kind and protect their mates, and this assists in predator/prey balance of Latveria so all can thrive long term. Each sentient species of Latveria understands and abides by this. This morning, because of my dishonesty, the leader of the biggest elk herd in our area, the Sunborn herd, was sacrificed to protect me from harm."

"And why did the leader of the Sunborn herd attack?"

Eowyn winced, having had the shameful realization come after she had made the mistake-of course.

"The leader of the Sunborn elk herd attacked me because I did not follow the guidelines given to us in hunting training. I was a lone hunter, so therefore was an easy target as my horse and I were much smaller than the leader, and I angered him by taking the life of the buck who had been in line to take the herd after him."

This too, could have been realized if she had simply taken her time looking at the herd. While grazing, deer and elk herds in Latveria always take their 'places' by rank in formation.

"As well as this, the leader of the Sunborn herd did not receive a painless death, as was his right by dignity helping maintain the balance of Latveria. Sir Grislin had to attack quickly to save my life, and as such the leader of the Sunborn herd died after three bolts instead of one, and felt the first two.""And are you the only one who now has to make amends for this?" Queen Rowanda was stern, though her eyes had slightly softened.

"No, Your Grace. This is one of the balancing rules known throughout the land. In order to restore the balance I corrupted, the herd will now need to be protected day and night until a new Herd Leader is either brought up or claims the remaining herd as his own. I can not do that on my own."

"Exactly. Continue." Eowyn's father's deep voice was still stern.

Eowyn shuddered with the next statement to come.

"With the loss of the Leader, if a wandering bachelor claims the herd, the bachelor will systematically kill or drive out each youth that isn't his own. If the mothers protest they also will be killed. This is why we do not hunt Leaders and those in the immediate line to take over our prey herds. A Herd Leader ensures that his herd is not slaughtered by his own kind, as is their culture."

"And what species of the lands will this effect?"

This time, in turn, it had been the Queen to ask the question.

Eowyn took a deep breath.

"The Sunborn herd of elk helps to sustain the local fire-cat clan called the Zebeel, the local gryphons, the local DireWolf pack called StarRise, our local Hydra named Serfiora who helps ensure we and the land for the next thirty leagues all have enough water, and many other more common beasts. They also help sustain the local hunting elf communities."

"And what are the names of these elf communities, Princess Eowyn?"

The princess almost groaned. Her dad ALWAYS turned everything into a lesson.

"We have three local small elf communities, the northern most one, named the Vindr, or "Wind" clan, made their homes in the sides of the mountain facing our castle. To the east of us, living in houses made of sand and clay, are the Gath Clan, or "United" clan, and to the northwest there are currently the Vrangr, or Clan of the Wandering, and they do not have a home base, but travel with tents throughout the desert and mountainside. We trade gems with the Vrangr clan in exchange for secured sleeping sites on the lands of our castle because they often have rare gems only elves or those with flight can reach, the Gath clan makes most of the dishware for the surrounding community and ourselves in exchange for common coin, and the Vindr Clan assists us in training the lower class magical beasts we have won the loyalty of."

"And what does the Vindr clan get in exchange?" Queen Rowanda prompted. "Mind your expression, princess."

Halfway through unconsciously rolling her eyes, Eowyn snapped her gaze forward and straightened her back again, trying to look as serious as one who had lived only twelve summers could.

"The Vindr clan trades their services for our dairy products, often requesting cheese for our personal goat and cow herds."

"Very good. We can almost pretend you haven't been skipping out on your studies."

A high, young giggle from the doorway sounded, and Princess Eowyn turned to see her youngest brother, Liam, with his blond mess of a moppy head dart back out of sight.

King Brennus cleared his throat, bringing Princess Eowyn's attention back.

"Can you estimate what Rowanda and I decided would be the work to rectify your mistake?"

Princess Eowyn thought simply "I'll be a part of the group overlooking the Sunborn herd until one of the youth grows and overtakes the role as Leader, or until all the calves become yearlings and therefore much harder to kill for an invading male-

"Not quite." Queen Rowanda's eyes were almost empathetic. "You will be working alongside the sewage cleaners of the community around the castle for the next moon cycle outside of your book studies."

Princess Eowyn's jaw dropped. "But-

"There will be no archery, no horse riding, and no recreational book reading until your rectifying work is done."

With King Brennus's commanding tone finalizing the decision, the giggles behind the door turned to outright childish guffaws.

Eowyn realized both her younger brothers were hiding behind the door, not just Liam.

"But princesses don't-

"The Royal family of Latveria serves their kingdom, in whatever way is necessary." Queen Rowanda's voice was as final as her husband's.

Princess Eowyn groaned, losing the "proper" composure.

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading so far! I am still waiting super excitedly for a first review. will it be you? We will dive into Alegasia some next chappie.