The war of the twelve realms - Book 1 - Of squires and scholars

Chapter 6 - Faeryssa

Chapter 6 - Faeryssa    

Faeryssa Derryn was bored. She was bored most of the time now, since her father had gone off to war and then to chase another knight to death. Her mother was pleasant enough company, but lacked the adventurous spirit that her father and she herself possessed. When her father was in the castle, she was allowed to train in the yards under a watchful eye, but when he left, her mother was always telling her to go inside and talk with the ladies of the castle.

Of course, the only one worth talking to and even close to her own age was her cousin, Ceiley Fullarch. Ceiley was the daughter of her mother’s brother, and of a similar although slightly more timid spirit than herself. The two nine year olds were as close as sisters, and seeing as both had only brothers (and older brothers to boot), they had no alternatives, not that they would wish for alternatives. Unless you counted Faeryssa’s two week old sister, there were no other girls in the castle that were suitably highborn to be allowed to talk to.

It was with Ceiley that her mother found her on the day that the news came. She was playing Knights and Monsters, and it was her turn to be the knight. She swung a stick that had been used in countless other games and pretended to fight off Ceiley’s attacks whilst sitting on a sewing bench that served as a gallant steed.

“Hah, take that, you ugly monster!”

“Broooaaaaaaaarr!”

“You are no match for Faeryssa the Fearless, now avast and I may yet allow you life!”

“Graaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!”

The stick bounced off Ceiley’s head.

“Haaaaaaa-ow! That hurt!”

“Monsters don’t feel pain, Ceiley. They’re horrible creatures that eat people alive.”

“Monsters may not, but I do. Can’t we play something else?”

“Faeryssa, Lady Ceiley?” Faeryssa’s mother stood in the doorway, her newborn babe of two weeks in her arms.

“Yes, mother?”

“Aunt Helien?”

“A bird has come to Venerant Fullarch. It would seem that Sir Arvas and his company are coming home.”

“Daddy’s coming back? Oh good! I’ll be able to train again without having to play silly games!”

“You said you enjoy our games!”

“I do, but using real swords is so much better, don’t you agree? When will father be back, mother?” enquired Faeryssa.

“Venerant Hollin writes that they will be home before the next moon’s turn.”

“Not long then, that’s good.” Faeryssa became so excited that she quite forgot about playing a new game with her cousin and ran out of her tower and to the walls, half expecting to see her father’s banners come over the horizon at that instant. I haven’t seen him in almost a year. It will be so good to talk with him again and also to use a sword. She breathed deep, taking in the fresh air that always came from the mouth of the valley of winds and blew along to the castle at the end of the small valley.

Tyras Fullarch, the lord of the castle and her grandfather, joined her on the wall. “No doubt you are excited about your father’s return, child?” he asked.

“Yes, my lord. I have missed him very much in the time he has been at war.” she replied, wary of what she said. She loved her grandfather, but even so, he sometimes made her feel uncomfortable.

“Oh, of course. I think we all miss people that leave to fight, knowing that they will not return for many months, or even never. I have sent five sons to this war, and only four came back. It may have been two years ago, but I still miss my youngest and most innocent as if he had died only yesterday. It is joyful that you do not need to endure that at such a tender age, but I wonder how many people have felt that at the edge of his sword.” The old lord seemed to be talking to himself more than her, but when Faeryssa turned to leave, he turned to her, “You have the beauty of your mother and grandmother, and yet the spirit and courage of your father. I think that I shall watch with interest as you grow to womanhood.

Faeryssa murmured a quick, “Thank you, Grandfather,” before walking away quickly. What did he mean by ‘watch with interest?’ she wondered as she made her way back to the floor on the steward’s tower that her family occupied. Being the daughter of the lord’s steward did have advantages, and absolute privacy whenever she wanted it was one of them. She sat in her stool by the hearth picked up the book she had been reading; ‘The GodKnights’ Interventions and Other Chivalrous Tales.’

As she read of the famous intervention of the knights said to serve only the gods, she wondered more on her grandfather’s words; had he been mocking or complimenting her? Did he approve of her father’s spirit? Clearly that was so; he had let him marry her mother by winning some tournament long ago. Why make a tournament for your daughter’s hand if not to test the spirit of her suitors. That and that it was tradition for an unmarried woman of eighteen years to have a ‘betrothal tournament’ in order to ensure that she got a husband.

Faeryssa closed the book – she hadn’t been reading it anyway – and went down to the main hall where the evening meal would soon be being served. She sat by the fire at the end of the long table where the relations of the lord sat, and thought about all of the things that had happened in the last few years.

Six years after the devastation of the Kavallan war, the last king in the Serpesse dynasty had died, aged only twenty three. That had started a debate on succession between the Redcrest and the Tharos families that had escalated into a succession war in one year. Her grandfather was a loyal bannerman to Ravess Redcrest, and had joined his fifteen thousand spears to the Redcrest cause. Her father was the steward of an old lord, and so had the duty to represent him in battle alongside the lord’s heirs, and so had left to fight in the war. Faeryssa had only been five or six at this time, so had had much of it told to her, both by the people in the castle and her father on the occasion that he returned to the castle for respite from the war for a month between months. Over the last year, the war had gone well with the Redcrests and the Tharos forces had been driven back, but refused to yield. Her father had the chance to come back more often then, leaving what was left of the war to his lieutenants and sons so he could return to his wife and, recently, two daughters.

It could be counted as fortunate for both sides that the Godknights had decided not to intervene. The Godknights were the best warriors in the kingdom; men who had proved themselves time and time again in combat. Both young and old, and pious to a fault, the Godknights would only intervene in the affairs of the kingdom if their leaders believed that it was the will of the gods for them to do so. And if the Godknights did intervene, then the side that they fought on was almost guaranteed to win the war, such was the military strength of the ‘knights. Two thousand of the best swords, lances and archers in the kingdom, without fear and without remorse for those that they believed to be godless. This went to such an extent that they once attacked both armies in one battle, believing them to have all forsaken their true masters. However, the intervention of the ‘knights was rare and rarer in recent times.

The sudden noise of the doors opening and what remained of the men of the castle interrupted Faeryssa’s thoughts. She snapped upright and sat at her seat, and when everyone was within the hall the food was served. She went back to being a normal nine year old girl for that time as she ate.