NationStates Jolt Archive

Snow had made the whole country strangely beautiful. The rivers were reduced to blankets of ice and snow with channels of steaming slush now and then cutting through them. Frost patterns formed on the windows. Everyone agreed that in southern Lavenrunz it was the coldest snowiest winter in generations.
The Autumn Palace was surrounded by orchards and hedge gardens that had turned white, and which created a strange stillness at times. Sentries stood like statues of men and women frozen in ancient times.
Empress Aurora liked walking out on such days, when her footprints were among the very first to be seen.
Loneliness was strangely sweet even as it was bitter.
She had never been close to her uncle Carl, now her guardian, nor to her cousin Amadeus. Raven, her adopted sister, was just that; a stranger brought into the family.
Ghosts reigned around her. But she had learned a bitter lesson. Her mother would never save her again. Her father would never advise her. Her older brother and sister--one was dead, the other in a foreign country.
Once she had been able to play, as a child, with other kids on the Imperial Estates. Now, she only received bows and obeisance, and knew she could not really trust them.
Thus, she was happiest on those days when the only foot prints were hers, and she seemed to be walking alone in a peaceful world of snow and ice.

*tag and begin to form a idea of a rp char*

Aww... the poor dear... :cry:

~Siri

OOC: Even I am moved to tears... :cry:

At times like these, I feel like a real jerk for trying to interfere in Lavenrunz.

In the stables near the palace, the horses lived like kings. Aurora's favourite was her pony. He had a grand pedigreed name, but since she was a few years younger she had called him Spotty. He was a middle aged pony now, dappled and grey and inclined to stoutness, but she loved him dearly, and he would snort and toss his head and approach eagerly when she came, whether she brought a treat or not.
When you are lonely, you can count on animals to be trustworthy, loyal and unchanging.
And so she found herself going there, carrying some apples in her pocket, feeling sad but eager to see Spotty. The day wasn't too cold; she thought she might take him for a ride as well.

Vanse frowned at the faint hint of grime left on his shirt cuff - there wasn't much to do about it, though, it was thoroughly ground in. At his feet, staring moodily at the snow, his husky Wagner lay on the doormat. The dog's breath misted in the snowy morning, sending little streams of smoke into the chill air.

Well ... thank goodness it's Tuesday, at least, now where are my gloves? The boy - just short of his majority - patted the pockets of his grey greatcoat, and swore loud enough to make Wagner's head turn to look at him.

Must be in my room, and no way am I going to unlace these boots just to go upstairs for them. Sod it, it's not that cold.

"Heel, Wagner," he muttered as he stepped out into the palace grounds, shutting the gamekeeper's cottage door behind him. Two keen whistles and the husky was off, running along the path, sniffing at whatever scents he could find.

Keeping poachers of Imperial property wasn't generally hard work, but Vanse got paid a decent amount, and so he didn't begrudge the walks through the grounds whatever the weather.

<tag and f'ing hell not fricking again>

<tag 'till I can talk to Jo>

<tag 'till I can talk to Jo>

<tag 'till I can talk to Jo>

(tag as well)

The cold was bitter, biting all the way to his bones. chilled as he was he was on. Cold as he was he had a small reason to be happy. Since the fall of the Lee royal house in western might his family had been set free from their service to the high lord. But with that his service in he royal guard had been no longer needed. Not that he was disapointed by that. He had spent 9 yeara in it and noe of them were pleasent.
But that was the past and he was moving on with his life. As a start he had moved away from Western Might to Lavenrunz. an set up shop as a engineer, which was something he was good at besides not being a soldier. A strong wind picked up them biting deeper. "darn this cold"

Usual TAG, I'll contact you if Princess Aliria decides to pay a visit to the new regent, the ArchDuke Carl, her dance partner...

Aurora had been riding for some time, and noticed that Spotty was getting a bit steamed up. She ruefully patted him; it wasn't fair to take out frustrations on a beast. She got down to walk him and sank into snow up to her calves. They trudged through a little wood in the park and then she heard barking. Spotty pricked up his ears; he didn't mind dogs but he probably didn't know one, since he gave a discontented grunt. Aurora moved closer to his head and patted his nose. There was a husky moving towards then, looking interested and excited. And a person following behind.

Trespassers, even in this weather, he thought as he saw a wan, fair-haired and pale skinned woman - no, girl, she was younger than him - walk her pony towards him. Hard to see much of her, she was dressed properly for the winter weather. Wagner bounded up to them, barking warningly but keeping a shrewd eye on the pony for any stray kicks.

"Excuse me, miss," he called. "Private property. I'm going to have to escort you off this land."

Aurora was actually kind of amused, and then realized, disappointed, that he wasn't joking.
"I know it's private property. It's mine." she said. He was like a recruiting poster of Lavenrunzian manhood, almost ridiculously so. She remembered one from the war over the Channel Islands, "Knights of Modern Lavenrunz!" with an absurdly blonde resolute looking tank officer gazing into the distance, his torso sticking out of a Grendel tank. She couldn't help but giggle.

He looked at her non-plussed. I wasn't told Aurora was in residence here ... and it's too cold ... and out by herself? After all that's happened? No way. It could be under all those wrappings, but ... nah

"You'd be amazed how often I hear that, ma'am. Anyway, the Gameskeeper's Lodge is just this way, I can give you a lift down to the main road and wherever you parked. Well, I could if you didn't have a pony, anyway."

He looked more closely at the pony. He didn't spend much time around the stables, they stank of horses for one thing; he liked to keep alert and sharp on the job. It could have been a stable pony ...

Aurora sighed and pulled back her hood and unwound her scarf. The air was crisp around her face and nose immediately. She gave the youth a very direct look.
"We are your Empress; you are Our servant." she said quietly.
She was a little wary, but she knew that Thirty Camellias always prowled near, no more than a few bounds away, and must have avoided being scented by the dog. Suddenly she felt very foolish, she should from now on just keep the avatar right nearby...

OOC: You know, you're a very powerful writer to capture such imagery :) Awesome stuff. 8)

Oh ... was Vanse's thought, as he hurriedly bowed low as he had been trained to do. He studied the snow, with the occasional dead blade of grass poking through for the requisite number of seconds. What is it with these empresses running around without guards? Don't I feel like a fool ...

He straightened back up, then. "My apologies, your Imperial High ... ah ... Majesty." Use her old title, why don't you? Muppet. His cheeks, already red from the cold, went slightly redder. The husky growled around before returning to sit at his feet.

"Is there ... ahm ... anything I can do for you, your Imperial Majesty?"

Taking a particular joy in stealth, the great cat refrains from tagging nearby trees as she watches from nearby. That, the dog would smell.

Empress Aurora nodded in response to his bow. "You must be the new gamekeeper. Tell me: are you content in your situation? And how did you come to be in your position?"
Listen to me. I sound exactly like Mama talking during a review. Involuntarily, a sad little smile came to her. In a brief moment...
Empress Joanna strode up to her and took her in her arms, in the presence of admirals, marines and sailors, as though all that mattered was her daughter.
"Can we go home now, Mama?" Aurora asked.
"Yes, liebchen, I think we can." her mother replied.
Only later did she know how much her mother had been through.
It seemed the sun had gone out after--and been replaced by winter.

"Darn the cold. Why did i not move to a warmer climate?" Dervan brought the coat collar higher up on his neck as he walked dwon on of the many streets of the city. He had just fiished the 'job' he had set out to do that morning and his left coat pocket heavy with the paymen he had recieved. Living as a engineer thus far was not going to well at the moment so he took odd jobs, which happened to require his training as a soldier. "I hate to do stuff like this" he muttered to himself." He kept on walking even walking into the woods though a small part of his mind was saying he was still in he city.

Vanse frowned. Is she trying to catch me out or something?

"I'm quite happy, thank you, your Imperial Majesty. And I just ... um ... applied for it and got it. There was an interview with a housekeeper ... Count von Chemnitz."

He reached down to pat Wagner on the head and ruffle the husky's fur as it looked suspiciously around the clearing. It growled and stood and turned to look at something, and Vanse followed its gaze. Saw nothing, and gave a little growl in the back of his throat that quieted the dog. He turned back to Aurora, and noticed her distracted.

"Ah ... do you need an escort anywhere, your Imperial Majesty?"

"No. I think my pony is sufficiently rested for now." Aurora said, still distracted. "You may carry on with your work." she easily mounted the pony and went trotting off through the trees. She was a bit embarassed at showing such feeling in front of a servant she didn't even know--but she distracted herself by giving Spotty his head when they reached the snow covered lawn, letting him dash through sprays of snow, snorting with the joy of exertion.

Vanse watched as she rode off, and rubbed his hands together as the cold started to bite again. With a shrug, he walked away on his patrol, husky at his heels.

Oh dear.

"Darn the cold. Why did i not move to a warmer climate?" Dervan brought the coat collar higher up on his neck as he walked dwon on of the many streets of the city. He had just fiished the 'job' he had set out to do that morning and his left coat pocket heavy with the paymen he had recieved. Living as a engineer thus far was not going to well at the moment so he took odd jobs, which happened to require his training as a soldier. "I hate to do stuff like this" he muttered to himself." He kept on walking even walking into the woods though a small part of his mind was saying he was still in he city.

"Hey, you!" a voice barked.
He could see two soldiers in greatcoats with submachineguns moving towards him. "Get away from here," one ordered, "This is not public property, understand?"

A majestic white owl sat on a branch of a tree, watching the scene with curiosity, as it could understand it. Suddenly, the nocturnal bird noticed a large cat nearby and started to feel nervous....

[yep, this is a badly-disguised tag :wink: ]

Dervan looked p he had been in deep thought and had just heard the voice. "What?" He looked at the men. "Oh Sorry. Wasn't thinking were I was going." Not turning his back to them, he angled away, Hoping ha new direction would ge him out. Never turn your back on anyone He made sure he had the knives in his sleeve and could feel the pistol he had in the shoulder holder under his coat.