HER MERCY [PK]

[Capt_Chief26 1205]

R

Edited January 20, 2022 by Capt_Chief26

[zuziee 3219]

Nikoleta rolled over under a woven blanket, unable to sleep. An eerie silence filled the desert during night. Eventually the Morovar gave up. She turned over to plant a quick kiss on the forehead of a sleeping figure then leaving the tent. 

 

The moon was bright that evening, and the wind soft. As she traced the sandy beaches a vulture drifted through the sky overhead, a familiar creature as well as a familiar feeling encompassing her body. Then a letter dropped, her spirits following.

 

It was the news of Petra, sent to her by her troublesome eldest. Her reaction was first pure confusion. Then anger. 

 

She didn’t return to bed that night, racking her brain about all the times she interacted with the Princess Royal. Lighting up a cigarette 
 

“I’m afraid, life is so fickle.” 

[1_Language_1 1671]

            Ser Abraham quietly recalls the years of shenanigans that Princess Petra got into. The sneaking around with Oleksander, or being afraid to write love letters to Yvo. The time Petra wore pants to adventure into the snow for wonderous creatures, like the Rijka or the brave Bokolos, or even just to sneak into the Hunter's Inn to talk with her sweetheart. Not to forget all the times, that Princess Petra refused to hide during conflict, she refused to stay behind, and burst into the midst of battle equipped with a medical satchel to help the injured. 

 

           The princess of sunflowers and peaches and the color yellow, a young girl who just had too many dogs but could argue that she didn't have enough dogs; though loved Clover, Peaches, and Mousulina all the same. Prinzenas Royal Petra Emma Mondblume nee Barbanov-Bihar, the Prettiest Princess of them all; the most resilient royal princess and Duchess of Karosgrad, no matter whatever the crow Adalia ever said. There's too many memories to forget, too many to recall all at once; like how Reinhardt(@Capt_Chief26) and Klaus(@Fionn__TWG) used to fight between themselves over Petra like boys do, how young Reinhardt jumped from the roof and descended on Klaus to break his arm. Or the gift young Abraham put inside the palace for her birthday: the handmade telescope, a stationary telescope that would allow Petra to gaze at the stars. Abraham always liked to believe that, perhaps, Igor Kort had become one of the new stars in the sky that could be seen with that telescope. The Southeron knight regretted nothing except one thing: He accidentally made three-year-old Petra cry. Abraham had never been one to be readily violent, until a street urchin threatened to stab the young princess on the palace stairs. That was the only time that a small Abraham acted with such force, tackling him by the knees and managing to knock the older urchin out.

 

      All in all, while Abraham quietly mourned the loss of his friend, he knew that Petra lived a full life; so, instead of weeping that she was gone, he rejoiced that she had been.

 

           "He took Petra's life, and gave her peace in its place.. He takes, he takes, but.. he gives."

[Xarkly 12614]

 

The world will move on.

 

That was not a though that would occur to Sigismund - now, or ever. The duties of King were not easy ones, and with those duties came solitude which only a few could truly ever ease. Despite those precious few, fate seemed to have been deliberate in leaving them dead -- it had started with his firstborn son, the one person who was meant to grow up and inherit Sigismund's burden; then it had been Marus, his innocent and beloved, if foolish, younger brother, left dead right as he had begun to understand what it meant to be a man instead of a boy; and now Petra. His older sister, who had been the one to hold Sigismund's hand when he first left the Palace, when they walked down Crown Avenue and were given dolls of their parents as gifts. Petra, who had coached Sigismund into making friends, and even meeting the first woman he had loved. Petra, who had been a constant in his the brief days of freedom and fun before he had been forced to assume the Crown. Now, she too, was dead.

 

As he heard the news, Sig's face was utterly still, but the leather of his sword-grip creaked audibly as he clenched it with a bone-white grip. He wanted to use that sword on someone.

 

He was not sure who yet, but he did.

 

Someone deserved to pay.

[garentoft 8353]

The sun was setting over Krusev, and a quiet breeze flew over from the far eastern seas. The leaves of the trees rustled quietly, yet the memorials to the fallen stood proudly still, unwavering and unyielding. They began their normal walk down from the ruined castle, and down to the river, stopping to fill the wooden watering can, before beginning to meticulous water every flower in the forest in order, roses first. By the shadow of the War of the Two Emperors, they halted.

 

"Those lives are not yours to take."

 

"I have taken nothing."

 

"You took Petra from me, from us, from everyone!

 

"I have taken nothing, only given something."

 

"What? Your mercy?" 

 

"Yes, my mercy."

 

"Why?! What makes you think you're the one who can grant mercy?!"

 

"It is my duty to do so."

 

"Your duty?! I was her uncle! It was my duty to protect her!"

 

"Then you failed."

 

The war within raged on.

[crazedpudding 2120]

Eleanora Amador awaited Petra @sarahbarah in the Seven Skies with a sad, gentle smile, and a handkerchief in her outstretched arms, as she always had. "We can finally rest here, my dearest friend. We are finally at peace."

 

Klara Elizaveta choked with the news of her favorite aunt's death, the news far outweighing any gossip that could ever grip her. The girl, soon to be a woman, clutched the mysterious plush skunk tightly as she sobbed. Throughout the Barclay keep in Freimark, her sobs could be heard. Eventually, it became quiet. Her favorite aunt was dead. With cramping limbs and swimming eyes, the young princess took up mourning clothes once again, like she had for her uncle. 

[Herod 802]

Kaustantin lividly recalled the day Franz had made him a man who’s days are numbered.

 

Rising out of his empty bed, the melancholic former Palatine couldn’t wash his face before memories flooded his mind. He must’ve made the Prinzenas Royale waste her emotions a thousand times onto him from the time he was a boy. A solemn frown appeared on his face, stableness was never a principle for himself, even as the right hand man. He couldn’t understand how Petra could live with everything she had, how she didn’t flinch when she whisked a dead child from the womb of his wife. He gave up onto it all, when Petra didn’t. 

 

”Many are born luckier than others, ea’hm lucky enough to be born when ea let go of it all.”

 

Kaustantin Baruch mourned for the life of Petra for all his days.

[Rudi 1736]

As if the torture of losing his youngest wasn't enough, Heinrik Karl laid awake in silence, next to him his beloved wife @Mady.

 

Memories flashed before his eyes, where Petra gently had grasped his finger to greet him right after she was born. How proud he, was she carried the name of his chosen patron saint. Saint Emma. When she gifted him his cherished mug. When she asked him to marry the man she loved so much. The first time she announced her carrying a child herself. And when she smiled at him for a last time.

 

The world would move on. It had to move on. But Heinrik Karl would not.

[erictafoya 2308]

In his cold and empty bedroom, Andrik could not believe the news himself. At least, not until he was told directly by his last remaining brother, @Xarkly. It felt colder outside, seemed darker, and nothing seemed to make the Prince smile. Not even his children, who he loved dearly. First it was his brother that was taken from him, then his wife left him, and now his elder sister, the one who had raised him and his twin Anaastasya@shay, had died. 

 

Many questions would be spinning inside his own head. Was God testing him? Would something else occur? Was he the next Crow to fall? Only one thing was certain... Andrik kept his head up and continued forward. Just like the Oracle told him. He had to live.

 

... Meanwhile, on the same night, a lonely man sat alone in an abandoned inn. So many horrible memories made in this place, and yet it was the last place he had a memory with her. The two had grown far apart throughout the many years. Despite their love being lost long ago, the strange man still held feelings for her throughout the decades... Now he had nothing. His family? Gone. His friends? Abandoned. The love of his life? Killed. There was nothing left for the man. The man broke into the dusty and cold rooms of the inn, taking a single stool with him. He took his dagger and stabbed it into his own heart, ending his lonely life quickly. Oleksandr? Dead.

 

As Petra Emma entered the seven skies, she would be introduced in a familiar setting from a distant memory. It was the library, long before it's many changes back when times were much simpler and happier for the child. A tall figure could be seen with a selection of many books. His hair was brown, his voice was deep, and he sat with utmost pride. As he turned his face, the first things that could be noticed were his charming white smile, his passionate emerald eyes, and his greased-up hair. There would be no mistake, it was Igor. The deceased Speaker stood up and dipped his head to Petra, as he always had in the past. As the woman stepped closer, he patted her head, and the two shared a long embrace. "It's good to finally see you again, Princess..." As the student and mentor shared a seat, Igor said "We have much to go over, so many lessons I've got to teach you! Let's begin, shall we?"

[Eryane 3629]

A Haeseni Queen of a time long ago ponders the reoccurring sadness endured by the ill-fated Barbanov princesses, destined for misfortune from birth. It seemed to be an endless cycle, as she watched on from the seven skies in sorrow.