Thread: Spoils of War (Decay&Maria)

The guilt that Princess Maria woke up with every morning was sickening, leaving a heavy pit in her stomach. Each morning, she slide out of her bed and crept over to the window, gazing out and watching her kingdom's soldiers practice or prepare for another battle. Prepare for another battle in the great war between the Cardon and Ranoc kingdoms. Once great allies that fell apart, which happened to be partially the young Cardon princess' fault herself. It was hard for her to remember the other reasons why this war between rival nations were occurring except for her so called selfish ways. A few years ago, the Ranoc king and queen arranged a marriage between Maria and the Ranoc prince, Tristan. Her parents were hesitant to agree to such a big move, knowing that it would permanently connect the kingdoms together for most likely ever. The two kingdoms had a few light feuds about land and tactics of ruling their kingdoms, but the Ranoc's rulers assured them it would only make each kingdom more powerful. Maria was nervous to be married to this man. Not because she did not like the Ranoc prince, she had nothing against him but she hardly knew him. The main reason was that the pressure of making sure her marriage went well was too much for her. With her parents still hesitant about the arrangement, the Cardon princess called of the marriage a few days before the ceremony. The Ranoc kingdom took this as a major insult. The wedding being called off was the match that started the great flame of disagreement and bitterness between the nations. Issues about land, trade, and ways of ruling had been brought up. Not too long later the war began. In the beginning, it was an evenly weighed war. In the past few battles, the Ranoc nation had taken the lead with their surprising powerful leader, Prince Tristan himself. Maria heard rumors of his great skills with his sword but also of his tactical genius. The Cardon faith in their general had began to weaken as the death till raised with each tragic lose against the Ranocs. This general, Sir Max, was experienced in the battle field, winning many battles against invading nations. He was also the same man that trained the princess herself. As a youthful child, Maria was always fascinated with sword fighting. Being the only child of the Cardon king and queen, the nations rulers had Sir Max teach her the ways of the sword in private. With her one-on-one training with the general and a natural skill, Maria was amazing with the sword. Of course, it seemed useless. With her royal status, she had to keep her hobby secret to keep the image of a princess safe. This specific morning, Maria rose from sleep with a new mind set in her mind. She would sneak into battle to help defend her beloved nation win this bitter war. It felt right to her seeing as she truly believed it was partially her fault. Before the sun peaked over the hills, she snuck down into the armory room in the castle where the extra armor and weapons were held. She stole the lighter armor so she would be easily able to move in. Lastly, she grabbed a helmet, the key piece to hiding her womanly features. Maria was known as one of the most beautiful women in her kingdom. She was only 5'5 and had grown into her womanly curves perfectly. With her training, she had loner body that many men desired. Her long, wavy dark brown hair accentuated her bright baby blue eyes. She tied her hair up and threw on her helmet, grabbed her silver steeled sword, and headed to the stable. She mounted her horse and lead her stead off with the rest of the Cardon army. The princess in disguise stayed in the far back of the army, afraid of being caught. Luckily, no one noticed her. The ones that did chuckled quietly to themselves about her small size. She smirked to herself, confident she was a better with the sword the anyone in the army. As the made their way into the field, her eyes locked on her target the Ranoc army. With a battle cry, the Cardons made the first move into battle. Maria stole her chance, weaving through her own men with agility and speed and made it up the front line. With each man she challenged, she easily defeated with a few strokes of her sword by either knocking them off their horse or injuring them. Her size meant nothing as she defeated men twice her size with ease, drawing in some attention from both nations. Combat clearly came easily to her as men from the Ranoc army either tried to challenge her and failed or avoided her.