- Invitation Status
- Not accepting invites at this time
- Posting Speed
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Writing Levels
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- No Preferences
Mei
Ahyu
Naen
Ahjin
"These are all for the princess?" Mei's voice echoed through the wood and stone structure that was to be her residence, a whistle following as her hand glided over the smooth plaster that kept the structure together and gave it a polished look. "Even little Nana didn't get this grand of a welcome," she continued to remark ignoring the glare Ahyu threw at her.
"This is a real princess after all," Naen retorted instead, her chin wavering up in a slight tilt as she appraised the many gifts and offerings the Wanggiya tribe had managed to gather for the Aprainia royalty. "I wouldn't dare to compare someone as valuable as that, it is just a shame that she will marry the second son and not the first," she spoke airily. In the presence of anyone else the words of the Gingiya betrothed would have been taken as a snide towards the princess, but those present knew how to take differently.
"They kept your pride and honour in consideration after all, undoing the sacred vows that had you marry my older brother would shock your clan as much as offend our ancestors," Ahyu tried to console Naen who threw him a mild smile.
"I wish they would, just as I wish you didn't have to leave," she sighed in response, her hands extending to the young man that was set to depart as a warden for Aprainia. There was fondness in the eyes of Naen, more like a sister to Ahyu than any of his brothers had been his siblings. "A hostage, that's what you will be. At least you are sensible, for I can't trust Mei to be so for you," she laments, interrupted with a loud protest from Mei which the guard couldn't fight, for they rang true.
"Don't grieve too early, perhaps Yuyu here will love Aprainia so much with all their culture and supposed civilization that he can't bear our tribes anymore!"
The voice belonged to Ahjin who strode into the compact building meant for the princess he was set to marry, an easy smile on his face and a whip slung over his shoulder. The smell of the hunt was still fresh in his clothes, just as the fragrant oil lingered around used to wrestle his men.
"You already chose a 'civilised' name, didn't you? In the style of the eastern kingdoms, as if the name given to you by our ancestors is too vile to be used in their company?"
Naen held up an arm, stopping Mei from drawing her blade as Ahyu merely took the words, his eyes downcast as he greeted his half brother with a low bow. The remark coming from the second true born son came from a place of hurt, they knew that much. A marriage he didn't want, and the humiliation of having a warden brother more of a hostage than anything else. If the roles had been reversed Ahjin would have joked about the adventure, and the hell he would give the Aprainia courts, but he was too valuable to let go of so easily, basically an heir if the cards were played right, which angered Ahjin all the more, knowing his eldest brother and the disappointment of the Gingiya clan.
"You are making fun of me. I'm merely following orders, though I'm glad I was given my freedom in naming myself," Ahyu answered, smooth and dignified as Ahjin scowled, his expression darkening before cracking his whip on the floor.
"Stupid nonsense, and all for what?" Ahjin snarls, his frustration finally showing in the most ironic place of all, his dark gaze travelling over the presents gathered as another loathsome expression filled his eyes, "we're subduing ourselves to people too proud to do their own work," he spits.
The room falls quiet at that, two pairs of eyes downcast in wise silence while Mei defiantly throws her chin up, her arms planted into her sides as she lets go of a huff.
"But aren't you winning? A real princess as your wife, your place as the heir is guaranteed. The Gingiya are beside themselves knowing Nana will never be the matriarch!"
The remark is not wrong, but it hits a snare nonetheless as Ahjin's eyes lock with Mei's, his own temper flaring and only preserved at the quiet figure of Naen stepping between.
"Mei," she warns sharply, finally managing to have the guard back off as she rolls her eyes. Somewhere Naen worries about Ahyu being left in Mei's care, if he will be able to manage the boisterous guard while in Aprainia.
"You two should leave, the day is late and the road is long. Ahjin, be good, you won't see either for a long while, perhaps never," she commands, the air of regality and elegance oozing off as all present wonder what a waste it is that she will never be able to lead.
"Don't delay your own marriage, sister," Ahyu finally resigns himself, kissing Naen's hands in a sign of respect before he makes one last bow, "my only regret is that I won't bear to witness it," he tells her with a smile, but all know that if Naen has her way the ceremony will never take place.
"Keep an eye out on each other, Aprainia isn't like our tribes, where our elders solve our conflicts, or where we wrestle another to forge friendships," Ahjin mutedly tells the departing pair, finally pulling out the flask of wine he had brought for them. "I replaced a chest full of this stuff, you will miss it," he grins at both Ahyu and Mei who clasp his hand before they truly depart. The shift in demeanour doesn't go ignored as Mei is quick to sling an arm around Ahjin, her usual cocky smile reappearing.
"You know Ahyu, civilised since birth, with his fine manners taught by Naen. What about me though? I can't wrestle Aprainia, or at least, I don't think I should," Mei laments her fate before pulling Ahjin out of the princess manor, "so, wrestle me one more time before Yuyu and I leave. It will be the last time you have some challenge."
That would be the last time the four of them came together. Three days later, Ahyu entered Aprainia through Laria from the east, travelling light and swift on the horses provided for the journey. No carriages for the warden from Naragi, a conscious decision from the Wanggiya who wanted to show that their people could undertake the journey without the luxuries the Aprainia afforded themselves. As if wishing to remind Aprainia of their humble origins that they upheld back in Naragi. The differences between both places, and their cultures came stark. Where Aprainia commanded their lands, Ahyu felt that back home there was more unity instead, but he couldn't tell for sure. Home, after all, didn't have a true royal family permanently settled.
Back home Ahjin was still asleep, rather sleeping through the whole splendour and ceremony of the arrival of his bride. Naen, however, stood her ground, eyes cast over the wide fields over which their horses grazed freely, a fine dust of mist coming from the waterfalls and the heated ponds nearby, hiding the Wanggiya clan in a layer mystery for any trespasser that was to arrive.
"They dug up the ceremonial wine, for the wedding," a voice joined her from the early dew. Naen remained unstirred, her eyes cast into the distance from which the Aprainia princess was expected to come as she ignored he first born son of the Wanggiya clan, "could have been mine," the male continued, to which Naen only scoffed.
"Not mine," she answered, chin finally lifting to meet the older male with a smile, "but it could be yours," she tells the other without much elaboration. There was none needed, every one of the Wanggiya childes, as the Naragi tribes had come to call them, knew that the arrival of the Aprainia princess was just another competition between the many trueborn sons of the head.
@MaryGold
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