Vec — Roleplayer Guild

Layna Marie Farwynd

A slender body shifted under the soft bed sheets. Eyelids closed against the dim starlight coming in from the window and her breathing deep and relaxed, all the muscles in her face and body were totally at peace, like a baby in its first throes of slumber. Not a twitch, not a spasm, barely any movement of her breasts rising and falling with each intake of air; such was the depth of her oblivion. This was a body totally at peace, at rest, at one with itself, rejuvenating the mind and muscles before the onset of yet another difficult day.

The sound of steps awoke her. "Mmh,  who's there?" She called out, half-asleep. Her eyes opened slightly and caught sight of a blurry figure standing a few meters away from her bed. Then she saw the dagger. 

Her grogginess immediately went away as she grabbed the sheets with a sweeping motion and threw them to the direction of the man that was already charging at her, brandishing the dagger in his right hand. Hurriedly, she searched under her pillows for her own dagger. "Oh no," she whispered. It wasn't there.

*riiiip* Millions of thoughts were passing through the mind as she turned her attention to the man. He had already ripped through the sheets and was now inches away from her. It was too late. Before she could even call for help, he had already lunged at her. The last thing she saw was the glittering edge of the dagger under the light of stars.

*stab*

Layna awoke to the sudden rocking of the carriage. Her eyes shot open as she gasped for air a few times before realizing it was all a nightmare again. She coughed ruggedly a few times and the sound of the coughs prompted the carriage driver to stop. "My lady, are you alright?" The driver's head poked through the window curiously. "Yes, I'm fine," she said sharply. "Why did you stop the carriage? Do you think the king will wait forever?" She added, slightly irritated.

"O-of course not, my lady. I'll continue right away, my lady!" The old driver immediately said and made for the reigns, quickly regretting his actions. "Wait," Layna's voice was heard once again. "Bring me the small leather flask from the top of the carriage. I think it's inside the smallest chest," she said. "Yes, right away my lady," the driver quickly answered and climbed on top of the carriage. After a brief search he came down again and passed a medium-sized leather flask to her.

"Go on, now." She said as she took the flask from his hands. She looked at the Imperial Palace standing atop the small hill at the center of the capital city of Emperiat, Riadan. "We're quite close to the palace so hurry up!"

The man returned to his seat, grabbed the reigns and with a sharp whipping, the horses started trotting down the road. Layna slumped back into her seat and sighed. She examined the flask in her hand for a brief moment before pulling on the cork. The sweet scent of Meda-Chaban wine filled the carriage compartment. She stayed still for a moment, letting the scent assault her nostrils before gulping down a couple of mouthfuls.

Her father didn't know about this little hobby of hers. No one knew. Not even her supplier knew the who was the person buying his wine. It was her little secret. The wine was the only thing capable of making her forget that night. Fortunately, her dagger was there and the assassin was dead. The mental demons harrowed her, though. Subconsciously, her hand trailed off to the scar under her eye, touching it. Realizing it, she brought it down and clenched it tightly while gulping down more of the wine.

"Ugh, what am I doing? I'm going to meet the young king soon. I can't be drinking like this..." she thought and put back the cork on the flask, sealing it tightly before storing it inside her bag.

The carriage abruptly stopped again. The sounds of horses neighing and the driver trying to calm them down could be heard. "Make way! Don't you see the sigil on the side of the carriage? Do you know who this is? Make way!" Layna heard the driver shouting. She poked her head out the window and realized they were already at the Paragon Path, as evident from the multitude of statues of the Paragons of old. Layna slowly made a cross over her chest before shouting at the driver.

"Why did you stop again? Who's blocking the way?" She asked, her tone showing her displeasure. "Eh, It's nothing, my lady," the man said nervously. He knew the personality of his liege's daughter so he couldn't very much say to her that a bunch of Khargat savages were blocking her way to the palace. Alas, he rolled his eyes when her voice sounded once again. "Then why are you shouting?" She said and poked her head out the window once more.

Now, you got to understand that all self-appreciating Belintashians, with the exception of the traders - they are forced to keep up appearances for the sake of trading. They all immediately spit when they come in contact with Khargat savages. The Khargat invasion is still fresh in the minds of the people of Belintash so it's understandable that they would harbor deep resentment towards the Khanate.

Layna is, of course, amongst those people. She, however, much like those traders, has to keep up appearances whenever she comes across the savages. Her line demands it from her. Her hatred runs deep, yes. But the face of her House is more important than a couple of barbarians.

She threw an ice cold look at the fur-clad, axe-wielding man in front of her carriage. "What do you want?" She gnashed her teeth and said. The man rubbed his thumb and index finger towards her. "Of course, that's all you lot want..." She said mockingly. Layna glanced at the driver and made a motion with her head before retracting it back inside the carriage. The driver got her message and, after fishing through one of his pockets, grabbed a small pouch and threw it at the armored Khargat.

The man weighed the pouch in his hand before sneering and walking to the side. He made a bowing motion and held his hand towards the road. The driver growled before once again whipping at the horses and dragged the carriage away.

The rest of the ride to the palace was uneventful. They passed in front of the half-completed statue of the late King Anderis. Not even a year had passed since his death and the church had already declared him a Paragon. Layna didn't think much about it. Ever since that night, she had stopped coming along with her father to the capital and so she didn't have much contact with the late king. She was with her father, discussing some things regarding the management of the mines when suddenly a messenger barged through the doors of the meeting room and made the announcement of the murder.

Her father was devastated, to say the least. King Anderis was a close friend of his. They even fought together when they were young. The only thing she could do at the time was to just sit beside him, holding his hand while he was mourning. When the letter came, announcing the ascension of the young Elendin to the throne and ordering her father to send an advisor to the young King, she jumped at the opportunity. She had long taken note of her father's slowly degrading mental and physical state.

It took her some time until she persuaded her father to send her in his stead, but in the end, she succeeded.

The driver stopped the carriage, climbed down and opened the door for her. She walked out and looked at the long flight of stairs ahead of her. She tidied up herself a little; She wore a simple traveling outfit native to the northern lands. Layna looked over at the driver and said "take the horses and the carriage to the palace stables. Take this," she fished a small insignia of her House from her bag and gave it to him. "Show it to the guards if they ask whose carriage it is. Also, take this pouch" she gave him a pouch filled with silver coins. "Find an inn. Treat yourself to some ale. It has been a long way from home and we'll be staying here for some time," she finished saying. The man nodded as he received the insignia and the pouch and, after bowing, he climbed up the carriage and left.

Layna turned her attention back the stairs and, after letting out a sigh, she started ascending them.

It didn't take her long to reach the peak. She showed another insignia to the guards in front of the palace gates. The originaly questioning guards relaxed and bowed while making way for her. After a couple of minutes, she reached the doors to the throne room. Suddenly, shouts and curses came from inside the throne room and she motioned the steward to wait before announcing her arrival. 

"How dare you even enter this precious city, you Khargat scum! This is a blatant insult to our beloved emperor! There is a reason we didn't send your Khan an invi-..."

"More barbarians? *Peh*" she spat, much to the surprise of the steward. But then she heard a young voice calling out to the previous person. "Uncle! That's enough."

"And that should be the young King Elendin..." she thought and continued listening.

"What my uncle meant to say was that it would have been nice if we warned ahead of time of your approach. While Riadan is large, we do not have the space to house all your man and they are currently blocking important routes of our beloved city. I must ask you to camp your cohorts outside of the city gate. North of lake Riadan there is a patch of land you can use for this. This is not a request, it is, in fact, an order, lord Chugo. If you are indeed willing to take a place in the council of advisers, then show your utter loyalty by following it."

"Heh, at least he has some common sense. Must have taken it from his father..." she thought and smiled. After that, she didn't hear anything else and so, she nodded to the steward to finally announce her arrival as she entered the throne room.

Layna walked through the middle of the room, past the barbarian emissary and knelt down on one knee while taking off her cotton cap. "My condolences Your Grace, for your loss. The late King Anderis was an honorable man and a stalwart leader, much deserving the title of Paragon that has been bestowed upon him. My father, Basil Farwynd, sends his apologies for not being able to personally come and be your Your Grace's advisor. His health has not been the best as of late and as a result, he sent me, his eldest daughter, Layna Marie Farwynd, in his stead. I hope my services will prove to be worthy of the title of advisor to the King" she said with her soft but loud and clear voice.

After receiving the signal, she stood up and, after glancing at the Khargat emissary with a look of disdain, walked to the side, taking her place next to the little boy standing beside an old man.
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