Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Valeria

Just before the Busch Rebellion came to an end, fourteen years ago, the two older Karvine twins, Harland and Valeria, were sent to Alessia by loyalists, such as a Knight named Lady Caira Vestarr, for their own safety, along with their father's Draconian army, half of which survived the war. The Alessian government was gracious enough to give them a large plot of land with a mansion almost as grand as a castle on a large estate to house them, but no one could have protected Harland from a sip of poison five years after their arrival in Alessia. Val sobbed over her brother's corpse for days, only assuming that it was Robar Busch who was behind it. She was enraged at the thought of Aetherian's King murdering her brother, and so was her Draconian army. King Robar was terrified that Val and Harland might march on him to retake the Dragon Throne, and he's right to be, especially now that Harland was dead. Valeria was nineteen now, with golden eyes, and her long, auburn hair grown out. She wore a black dress under a crimson cloak that had the Karvine's sigil of a golden dragon with a pointed tail and its wings spread embroidered into it.

"Your army is growing restless, my Queen," said Caira Vestarr. "Though I keep trying to tell them that we don't have the numbers to attack or the dragons."

"We have to be patient," Val argued. "We should wait until Robar is weak."

"Have you not heard?" asked Caira. "There was a war one year ago in the Sandlands. Aetherian is weakened, Your Grace."

"Well, like you said, we don't have the numbers," said Valeria. "We have half of what my father had, and we can only assume that Robar Busch is holding my younger brother and sister hostage." It's been so long since she last saw her younger siblings, but she could only remember that she had them at all. She didn't remember their names. They would both probably be fifteen now.

"Either that or they're both dead," Caira reluctantly suggested. Valeria had thought that herself several times, but she had an idea that Robar Busch would have them as hostages in order to keep her in Alessia. She refused to be intimidated by him. Thanks to the counsel of a seasoned warrior such as Caira Vestarr, she's held off on attacking Aetherian for the time being, until the country was weakened, and it was. Several houses were still fighting amongst themselves about whether House Busch should rule them, and the ones that didn't think so would gladly support Valeria's claim. With their help, she might have a chance, but the matter of getting to Aetherian was something else entirely. The ships that Valeria and her army used to transport themselves across the ocean were commandeered by the Alessians, and when she tried to take them back, the Draconians were pushed back, dwindling their numbers even more.

"How many Draconians do we have left?" Valeria asked.

"I'd say about four hundred thousand, Your Grace," Caira answered. It wasn't nearly enough to storm Mistral head on. Valeria needed allies, both foreign and in Aetherian. She had doubts about whether any other country would help her since Alessia clearly wouldn't, but soldiers weren't the only people who could fight.

"Where can we find a band of mercenaries?" she asked.

"Mercenaries?" said Caira. "I'm not sure if we have the money to pay them, but there's one that's supposedly five hundred thousand strong in Torriban."

"Do you have friends in the Tower of Magi?" Caira was a spellsword Knight who was trained in the Tower of Magi, who were powerful users of blades infused with magical properties that could only be used by whoever the weapon was attuned to. The entire Tower would be a powerful ally for Valeria when she marched on Aetherian.

"If I did, I don't anymore," Caira answered. "If you want more numbers, our best bet would be the Moonblade Brotherhood."

"The mercenaries in Torriban?" asked Valeria, and Caira nodded her head. "Can they be trusted?"