Roleplay from Selenia JeVondair
THE SON OF BLADES
Selenia quietly, calmly folder the Redwing banner, placing it in an oak chest in her quarters in the Palace of Oligarch. The former Xerarch was still covered in the dirt of the road, armor splashed with patterns of mud and darker substances that could only be guessed at. She hadn’t even had time to enjoy one of the cities’ famous baths. There were bandits all the way from old Alara roaming in Commonyr and beyond, within site of Oligarch’s very walls.
The very nearness of the enemy, to say nothing of the loss of her crown and the reasons that had to be so, moved her to action. Strife always moved Selenia to action.
“Summon my sons†She said aloud and to no one in particular. The sudden, frantic pattering of booted feet informed her that she was being obeyed. She waited, staring out the window towards Commonyr wear raiders were no doubt looting tax offices only to find that she’d had them all emptied scant hours before, having foreseen their move. Their audacity irritated her ferociously, and she lost herself in her brooding until a polite knock at the door sounded and her sons entered the Room.
HOGNI OF HOUE JEVONDAIR. NEMEAN OF HOUSE JEVONDAIR. A liveried footman announced as the two young men were ushered into the room. Selenia did her best not to role her eyes. It wasn’t as if everyone in Redhaven didn’t know these two, much less her of all people. Despite years of practice, she failed, prompting a low snicker from one of the boys as the door closed behind their advance.
The offender was her eldest, Hogni, the older and larger of the two. His smile was broad, despite appearing just as tired and dirty as she. It had been a hard ride getting the Fearless to Oligarch so quickly. The entire Sygardian ARMY had appeared in Greatbridge as if to ambush them, but thankfully Selenia had the foresight to scout ahead, allowing them all to circumvent the trap by adding a LOT of miles to the trip. She stuck out her tongue at him, brushing his apologetic hug aside in mock pique as she focused on the youngest member of her family.
Nemean JeVondair, or more properly Nemean JeVondair Renodin, was her son in name only. He was technically her ward, as his mother Ayden had been. In actuality, he would be closer in stature to a grandson of the once-Xerarch, but the magic infusing the Phoenix Queen’s body had kept her appearing as though locked in her thirties. He couldn’t very well go around calling her Grandmother, but Aunt? Aunt Selenia could stomach.
As Hogni protested in a tone that mocked his mother’s mockery of him, she planted a calloused hand in his face and pushed, rocking him back on his heels and deftly avoiding the obvious bite he snapped her way. It was an old dance between the two, and Nemean had taken a period to get used to the fact the Selenia was nothing at all like he’d expected as a boy listening to stories at his mother’s knee. Selenia’s face grew sad as she thought about the Duchess of Blades, the child of war she’d adopted and raised as her own, only to bury her after she fell in battle years before. When Selenia looked at Nemean’s face, she saw the features of both his parents, and she grew sadder still, the burden of loss and re direct responsibility for it weighing heavily upon her.
“Come here, lad.†She ordered. He did so. Like his brother, he was dirty from the road. He wrinkled his nose at her, finally comfortable enough to poke a little fun of his own, and she pushed the heel of her hand on the top of his head in gentle reproach. “Your no bed of roses yourself, you know. Teenage boys are the direct product of the gods below who seek to frought the goodly peoples with your stench alone.†That got a smile from both of them. She allowed hers to grow before it faded again as she considered her next words.
“Ever since you could cry, you’ve been your mother’s child. But ever since you could walk, you’ve been mine.†Selenia said as her voice took on the tone of Edict, the tone of a Queen. “I have cared for you, instructed you in the ways of war craft and state craft alike. You have been my squire through several major battles, victories and defeats both. You have seen what it is I expect of the nobles sworn to me, sworn to Xavax and the ideals, traditions, and aye memories that bind us to this war. You have seen it. You have lived it. And now, my boy, I believe it is time for you to join it.
Nemean’s pupils grew wide and his mouth gaped with understanding as he shot an accusing glance at Hogni, who simply shrugged his own ignorance and smiled as if to say this was none of MY doing. Nemean’s eyes snapped back to Selenia at the hiss of drawing steel. Selenia’s kukris, her weapons of choice winked sunlight at him as she moved to lay one on either shoulder. He knelt.
“I am sorry, my lad. You are young, perhaps too young. But I need you. We need you. And before you ask, no, Hogni is not being knighted today. He must remain close to me, to take up my sword and banner should I fall. His destiny is not yet come. Yours, however, is. So I want you to hear me now, and remember my words well:
“For the blood of my countrymen, I will give of my own and take of our enemies.
By the strength of my hands will greatness be wrought.
For the honor of my family, I will not break faith
By the blades of my forebears, I will fight.â€
She spoke. He repeated, and the boy seemed now more man than ever as she used her blades to nick light cuts on either of his cheekbones. Cuts that bled, but would heel well and hardly scar. Selenia had never done this before, not for anyone, and the import thereof was not lossed on either of them.
“I stand and do bare witness†Hogni said solemnly into the silence after Nemean had finished repeating the Oath.
“I stand and do bare witness†Selenia replied to him, though her eyes never left Nemean. “Rise now, Knight of Redhaven. Rise and learn, Rise and fight. Never stop rising, and never ever forget the Xavax blood spilled to bring you to this moment.â€
And with that, the newest knight of the combined realm of Eponllyn and Redhaven was made his entry into the greater world.
