Crown Princess Leonore, heir to the queendom of Dranath, likes women, obviously. The Queen Mother Carmilla marries her off to Sir Gabriel, obviously.
So when she finds out Sir Gabriel is a woman...
Dranath; queendom of mystique, bordered by jealous...
Leonore insisted to ride out firsthand, to see for herself what devastation had occurred. Neither reason nor Gabriel could stop her, so the latter rode out with her.
She had retrieved the unread letter to confirm the fishing villages' sightings of black flag ships skirting the coastline. Leonore dreaded to face the reality that Aurune had finally gotten their hands on better ships and were now attempting seaborne invasions.
Leonore and her retainers arrived to see entire communities razed to the ground; shacks reduced to splinters, floating homes sunken and burning.
The village head met them. "Your Grace, have you brought men?"
"Yes," said Leonore. "What do you need?"
"Triage and people to carry them away. Quickly, please."
It was much too late for retaliation—the ships had retreated far away, their white sails taunting in the distance—and at any rate they had no arm for vindication. Irve—and Dranath as a nation—had no navy to speak of, only a collection of small townsfolk fishing boats. While coastal and with one great lake within, the nation never turned to the waves. Leonore thought it was a shame and a lost opportunity.
Amidst the destruction, there seemed to be little casualties. The head told them, "Three people died. They were struck when the balls blew through their home. The rest of us managed to run, but the pirates kept launching at the village."
"Balls?"
"Yes," he said. "Iron balls chained together. They're studded all along the coast, from the attacks."
Gabriel said, "What kind of catapult launches that?"
Then she looked at Leonore, and Leonore looked at her. The princess said, "Give me a spyglass. I want to look at the ships."
They situated themselves on the beach, removed from the evacuation proceedings. Gabriel muttered, "Has Aurune replicated Rahim cannons? Already? Kabran made an estimation of thirty years."
"Not if they stole it." Leonore hummed. "Or it was sold to them."
"Why would Raham give up a weapon that could destroy them, to their greatest enemy?"
"There's something I'm missing, I'm sure of it." Looking through the scope, Leonore watched a billowing black flag fly high on the mast. With no other colors in sight, she turned her attention to the people on the deck.
Sailors at sea, after a long enough time, all begin to dress in the same loose clothing. The only indication of origin is the fabric or the color, but she spied something else. Handing Gabriel the spyglass, she said. "Look."
Gabriel looked. Leonore continued, "Gunports. There's gunports, Gabriel. It's cannons."
The knight stayed glued to the scope, aghast. "And that's a Rahim ship."
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