Kings and Queens/Esmeralda I

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Esmeralda

A horse whinnied outside of their carriage. Esmeralda snuck a peek outside the window. *Just a rider overtaking us. Nothing special*, she thought to herself. It was their final day of riding, a royal envoy of twenty men, along with Ser Dean Cunningham, had met them when they entered Mondrew's Lands earlier in the morning. They would approach the city, shortly. They were currently riding through the outerlands, where nothing stood still. According to the legends, the outerlands was the very first soil that the Doncaster's touched when they first found the unclaimed land now known to all as Fantasica. *They are all gone now, all wiped out by the Siegel's.*

Esmeralda forced herself to look at her parents. For the hundredth time since they had left Byde, they looked at her as if they had lost her. But they hadn't, not yet anyway. The day she learned of her marriage to Wilbert Cunningham, she had truly been happy. The Cunningham Clan was one of the best Clans in the whole of Fantasica. Not only where they off high birth, but the Queen Isolde was to be her sister-by-law. Growing up, she learned from a wandering Knight that Queen Isolde was forced to marry King Maurice, and theirs was a loveless marriage, yet they were pleasant enough, for their children's sake. And Esmeralda respected that. She had never met Wilbert Cunningham before, apparently he had visited Byde on his eight and oneth name day, but Esmeralda was only four then, so she had no memories of his visit there. Her lord father certainly did, however. According to her father, Wilbert got so drunk that he threw up over his Uncle Phillip. Esmeralda laughed out loud when she heard of it, she almost let out a small laugh just remembering the story, but she swallowed it down. She had been teaching herself not to show her emotions around her parents, she didn't want them thinking she was ill or some other crazy thing. She smiled curtly to her lady mother and lord father, both returning the smile.
Anabel and Charon were not in the carriage. Charon was riding on his own horse, and Anabel was sitting with Patra, her own handmaiden who was a year younger than her, on a transport cart. That left Esmeralda, Lord Helix and Lady Delena in the carriage, along with Reuben, her lord father's squire. Although recently, he had been doing a lot of cupbearing recently. For her entrance into Woesien, she donned the dress that Lord Atticus and Lady Gwyneth had sent to her. It was a delicate little thing, black being the main colour, with pink stripes through it. She also wore her bead necklace, the one with the Cunningham Clan's emblem on it. She purchased it from a trader years ago, when she was young and foolish. Now, she wore it like an achievement. She also had linen gloves, an early wedding present from her mother and father. It had her name sown into it. *But not my new surname, only my old one*. She couldn't not wear it, or her parents would be upset with her. But, she didn't want to insult her soon to be by-laws. Maybe she could cover it?

She signalled to Reuben to pour her another goblet of fruit water. Fruited water was her favourite to drink, next to fruited tea. Reuben handed her goblet back to her, curtly as always. She sipped at it, and then cupped the goblet with both her hands. Her lord father took a look out of the window, and then turned his eyes back into the carriage.
"We should be approaching Woesien any minute now. There are Knights standing patiently in the distance." He spoke in his usual somber voice.

Esmeralda looked out of the window, and sure enough, he was speaking truthfully. She could see around a dozen of the King's Watchers surrounding Isadora's Gate, the front entrance to Woesien. Watchers was the name of the King's own guards, dedicated to protecting His Majesty's royal hind and crown. Her soon to be brother-by-law, Ser Dean, was the Deputy Commander. When Ser Victor Hans passes or dies in battle, Ser Dean would be the one to replace him.
"Do you your brothers are there already?" Lady Delena spoke with great elegance in her voice. Unlike her daughter, Lady Delena married Helix for his love. *Dear mother loves love*.

Helix shook his head. "Mayhaps not, my lady. They will unlikely not be here until the night or day before the wedding." Lord Helix always spoke with great courtesy in his voice. Her brother, Charon, was exactly the same.
The rest of the ride into Woesien was peaceful and quiet. After another few leagues of The Outerlands, they finally reached their destination. As if their arrival was a cue, the Watchers raised their swords high up into the air, and a few trumpets hooted a welcoming tone. Esmeralda smiled and looked out of the carriage window. She could feel her father and mother's eyes on her, she ignored them, focussing on her grand entrance. *This is all for me. A simple farming one*. Byde was the head of the Farmlands, so she was surely surprised by all these fiascos. She looked out of the window as their carriage and men drove through the city. People waved to her, boys whistled to her like always, little girls threw flowers at their carriage as it passed them, and women scowled at the highborn woman hogging their street. *Let them scorn*, she thought to herself, *this is all for your pleasure, not for their displeasure*. As they climbed the hill to Belladonna's Steps, which ultimately led to the King's castle, Serpent Holdings, Esmeralda continued to endure the attention. She wanted this feeling to last forever. She didn't get this much of a welcome when she went to Greenbridge. *Ah, Vincent, you were foolish*, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling about Vincent's death. Vincent wasn't the "Good Lord" everyone thought he was. He was horrible, ill in his mind and cruel to those he despised. Esmeralda cleared all those thoughts out of her, quickly. It wasn't about him, never again.

The carriage came to a stop. She held onto the handle of the carriage door, to stop herself from falling on the floor. The Knights began to descend from their stallions, taking their positions on Belladonna's Steps. Esmeralda smoothed down her skirt, preparing herself for the next few moments. Ser Dean approached the carriage, donning his Watchers armor, along with a Cunningham Clan cloak attached to his armor. He opened the door and smiled sweetly to Esmeralda. He was quite a thing to look at. He had short cut black hair and green eyes, much like any other Cunningham's. His hair had recently been cut. He smelled sweetly of blueberries. He reached a hand over towards Esmeralda.
"May I escort my dear sister-by-law up to the staging?" He spoke with an Eastern lands accent, quite similar to one of her former handmaidens, Trixie. Trixie always had the best stories to tell. She had been everywhere - and according to some of the Knights, she *does* everything too.

Esmeralda returned his smile and took his hand. It was warm and firm from riding. "You certainly may." Dean helped her climb out of the carriage. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the mid-morning sun. She was glad to be able to walk. Her legs badly needed to stretch. Her gloves were on. She secretly wished that Ser Dean didn't see the name stitched to it. If he did, he didn't mention it. Dean looped his arm through her own arm, and both awaited until her parents left the carriage. It was customary for the Lord and the Lady of the land they hailed from to approach the King and his Queen first. Once they had finished their greetings, they would signal for the daughter or son to approach them. Her parents left, leaving Reuben in the carriage, looped their own arms together, and began the ascent up the steps. There were twenty three steps altogether that made Belladonna's Steps. Each step signified the years King Aladrew loved his Sister Queen Belladonna, up until her final days when she died birthing their seventh and final child, who died with her. He stopped making the steps after her death, dying several years after her. The Brother King and Sister Queen were of Doncaster origin, being the final Doncaster's when the Siegel's took the throne from them.
There was much silence as Esmeralda walked up the steps towards Serpent Holdings. On every third step she took, she would take a peek at the crowd below the steps and the castle, all were looking at her. She couldn't help but blush. She felt so honoured. They finally stopped at the top of the steps, she felt slightly tired and her legs ached, but she kept her worries to herself. Ser Dean bowed his head, and went to take his place beside his Lord Father. She took her gloves off, and beckoned to one of her father's Knights and forced him to hold them for her. Queen Isolde's mouth twitched into a smile, but it went away as soon as Esmeralda turned to face the King and His Queen, along with their family.

Esmeralda wagered a guess that the three children between the King and Queen were their children; Prince Wesley, Princess Jewel and Prince Lance. Princess Jewel was beaming up to her, perhaps astounded by her presence. Prince Wesley looked like he wished to be elsewhere. As for Prince Lance, well, he couldn't stop looking at Esmeralda's middles. She didn't know whether to be flattered or disturbed. She moved to the King. He had a mustache that badly needed shaven, but it clearly didn't bother him. He was wearing the Crown of Kings on his head, and wearing it quite proudly. She next turned to the Queen, who was just as radiant and gorgeous as herself. Isolde was wearing a similar dress to hers, but the pink stitches were missing from hers. She was wearing the Queen Crown, a simple little headband, which had an amethyst inside it. Unlike the King's own Crown, it was slightly small for her head, so it was merely sitting atop her head. She also had a brooch on her right breast, it was in the shape of a bluebell, the signifying flower of the Cunningham Clan. Esmeralda then turned her attention to the oldest looking man on the entire staging, who could have only been Lord Atticus Cunningham, the Queen's own father. He, much like his older son, Ser Dean, was nice to look at. His hair was a mixture of black and grey, a quite dark mixture. His green eyes were speckled with old age, and he was clean shaven. He donned an honourable cloak and wore greeting clothes. Esmeralda turned her glance back to her parents, who were now approaching the King and His Queen.
The greetings went fairly quickly, King Maurice and her lord father enjoyed a playful jest towards each other, being interrupted by the Queen. Esmeralda couldn't help but smile at that. *Just like the tales say, their marriage is loveless. And yet, she can control him in public eyes*. The King wasn't too happy being shunned by his wife, but nevertheless he stuck to his royal duties, greeting her lady mother on both cheeks and both hands. Her father then greeted the Queen, bowing lowly to her, and kissing her hand. She managed a stiff smile, and kept it on her face as Lady Delena followed Lord Helix. All their attention turned to Esmeralda. Smoothing her dress down, she walked through the space her mother and father made for her. She bowed as low as she could go, she was fully aware that probably all of the men were going hard at the sight of her bowing, but did not care. She then stood herself up. The King laughed.

"This one is beautiful! Welcome to Woesien, Lady Esmeralda." King Maurice spoke quite loudly, his voice thick and gleeful, much like any other man's voice from The Ice Lands. Esmeralda returned his smile, yet unlike his, hers was elegant.
Queen Isolde reached for Esme's right hand and kissed it, her warm breath shy but lovely. "You are certainly a looker, my lady Esmeralda. Welcome to your marital city." Her voice was soft and pleasant and welcoming. Esmeralda didn't recognise the look in her eyes, confusing her. She remembered her courtesies and smiled to her. The Queen smiled sweetly, then returned to her place on the staging.

Her father urged her towards Lord Atticus, although he was adamant while doing so. Lord Atticus had a thin smile on his face. Esme had just noticed that his wife, Lady Gwyneth was not present. Lord Atticus took her hand and kissed it, ever so lightly.
"My Lady of Byde, my name is Lord Atticus Cunningham. Although we haven't had the pleasure of meeting, I must say I am glad to be in your company." Lord Cunningham spoke with a similar voice like her father's, yet she was getting a sense of calm from him.

"I would like you to meet my son. Wilbert Cunningham, named for the four Great Cunningham's before our times." Lord Atticus gestured to his son.
*Time for the moment of truth*. Esmeralda smiled to Wilbert Cunningham. He was fair to look at, with his black twisting hair. It wasn't close to curls, it almost looked like he had it done himself. His eyes were lighter than his siblings own eyes, and his skin was lighter. He wasn't as fair looking as his father and brother, but he was still nice to look at. He was quite small too, perhaps standing at five and two. Esme was five and one herself, so there wasn't as much of a difference. *As long as our children get his eyes, I'll be pleased*. Wilbert smiled wilfully to her, and reached for her hand. His lips only grazed them.

"My lady Esmeralda, the honour is all mine." His voice sounded like a song, causing her to smile happily.
"The pleasure is all mine, my lord Cunningham."

"I am no lord yet, but you are gracious to say so." Wilbert replied, quite solemnly.
*And there it is, the start of our loveless relationship*. Esmeralda could feel the anger bubbling inside her. She thought back to hearing the Knights of her father's army, talking about how Wilbert would not love her, about how he only needed her to keep Clanton Gardens. *Use me all you want, as long as I get what I want, you can keep me for your precious reward*, Esmeralda thought coldly to herself. Snapping out of her anger, she returned to stand between her Lord and Lady parents.

King Maurice clapped his hands, and a few minutes later, two young girls, no older than sixteen, seventeen, exited the castle, carrying two bottles of what looked to be perfume. The girls stopped in front of Esmeralda, smiling and bowing.
"A gift from myself and the Queen, an early wedding gift from us. The darling young ladies are also yours. Hah!" The King bellowed loudly, lasting for a few minutes. Esme nodded to both girls.

Queen Isolde rolled her eyes, tirelessly. "They are called Lola and Hannelore. As for the perfumes, they were shipped from the Summer Isles. Both bottles of grape, with different recipes."
Esmeralda felt herself smiling. Grape was a beautiful fruit, and her favourite. But, how did the Queen know? Maybe she wrote to Byde and asked. Or, maybe she guessed. Esmeralda would have loved to try them on right then and now, but she couldn't. She had to remember her duties.

"My thanks, Your Majesty, My Queen." Esmeralda bowed to each of them in turn.
Lord Atticus cleared his throat, and took a step forward. "One more thing, my lady Esmeralda before you leave to your bedchambers. My lady wife wished to invite you to sup with us tomorrow morning in Nathalie's Nest, which happen to be our own bedchambers. We, along with our daughter and two sons hope to see there."

"You certainly will, Lord Atticus." And for the first time, Esmeralda felt a sense of power brewing inside her.

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