The illumination of Atys' bathing the palace windows of Yrkanis, this amber glow which calls to the soft melancholy and leads homins towards the comfort of their dwell-trees.
Liosta Be'Zephy lets out a sigh which makes Karae Tamiela Fera Fillia di Torani smile and Serae Ayala frown. The three of them are alone, the rest of the Court receded.
“So, Serae Liosta! To what do we owe this untimely demonstration?”, exclaims the Karae, deceptively severe.
The young Matis blushes, still too young to perceive the subtile nuance in the voice of the Karae.
“I was thinking, in a few weeks, that Jena will have blessed me with 21 years of life and I haven't done much with it. It makes me despair.”
“Come on, you are still young.”
“I'm sure that you'd already done great things at this age!” Liosta shakes her head.
“Twenty-one years old...”
“Oh yes, Nae Karae, tell us about it, naete!”
The gaze of the Karae, as caught by the twilight of the evening, becomes distant while she begins to reminisce her youth:
“I celebrated my 21st birthday with my father and family in the great hall of the Torani dwell-tree in Davae on 6 Harvestor 1st CA 2553. We danced and heckled with my friends and brothers. However, my fate was already sealed. The Nobles had decided. As you may remember, Serae Ayala, I was not the first choice of the Nobles, but I have never felt resentful nor grateful for that. My whole childhood immersed in this mix of feelings.”
The Karae shook her head before continuing:
“My father, although proud of his title and high responsibilities in the management of the kingdom, was totally lacking in political ambition. My mother had ambition for two. It was she who pushed me and educated me for it - to make a great marriage.
“Courses in deportment, dance, poetry, mateis, good-manners, Court composition.... My days were very busy, but my father had managed to impose a limit: every day, he took me from my mother and my governesses so that I could accompany him for two hours in his kingdom, the kingdom of hunting and the life of the subjects. There, with my elder brother, he would take us around our domain and it was during one of these escapades far from my mother's eyes that he gave me my first dagger and said: ‘Miela, you must know how to defend yourself! Even locked up in a palace, you must be able to protect your life and that of your children. The Great Swarming taught us that! So take this dagger, learn how to use it and wear it at your side at all times!’
Those two hours a day where my saving grace!
And how proud I was when I managed to beat my brother in a training duel.”
The Karae, as if transformed into a child for a brief moment, smiles in front of her ladies-in-waiting before her countenance regains its formal elegance.
“In 2544, things began to change. First, with the birth of my little brother. The late pregnancy was harsh on my mother. She never really got over it. Then, in 2545, rumors began to reach my mother's ears. The Karan Yrkanis wanted to stabilize his son and marry him off. My mother's dream was within reach. In spite of her weakened state, she insisted on my father getting me presented to the Court. No more getaways in the forests of Davae. With my mother, I no longer had to leave Yrkanis and frequented the court daily. At the tender age of 13, I was still a little girl, and despite the efforts of those around me, the procrastinations of Karin's were very convenient to my mother.
I still remember those long days. As my mother had never been part of Karae Lea's inner cicle, she had to put up with a lot to promote me. All this while her health was on a constant decline.
Although, after three long years, she finally received recognition. At the age of 16, I was presented to Filira Rodi di Varello who admitted me into the ranks of the young Matis who could aspire to marry the Karin. I was later told that he was very impressed with my dagger-wielding abilities.”
The Karae's displeasure erupts into a brief laugh, bordering a bark.
“So, I hope my mother wasn't aware in-before Jena called her back to Her. Because shortly after my acceptance, my mother was found lifeless in her bed. Was it the result of that painful pregnancy? Or the beginning of the accomplishment of a life-long ambition? Either way, she joined our Goddess before she saw me take the throne. Over the years, I've come to believe that the Goddess, in Her mercy, spared us by calling her back prematurely. For the cohabitation with Karae Lea would have been, at the very least, problematic.
Then I returned with her remains to Davae, where I resumed my former life with delight. But I was no longer a little girl and my brother had begun to assist my father in the management of our estate and its protection. As for the youngest, still a little boy full of life his housekeepers had hard time channeling. I could no longer find my place, so my father took matters into his own hands. He arranged a professor to teach me more about the art of war and entrusted me with the management of a portion of land that had belonged to my mother.
Many rumors circulated concerning my relationship with the professor. I should clarify that I was not yet 17 years old, that he was young and as beautiful as the day is born. He was of lesser nobility, educated at Court and of infinite patience. My heart mesmerized, but the strength of my first love could do nothing against the loyalty he had towards my father, nor, I confess, little against my mother's ambition which sometimes flared up inside of me. Though he was an admirable professor, he has ever been just a professor, and he was even the one who insisted that I would attend to the ball in 2550.
The rest is history: Maelya attempting to assassinate Karin, the attack on the Marauder's camp, the election of Nobles and the wedding which sealed my fate in 2554.”
The night had invaded the palace as Tamiela falls silent.