The Lady Upon the Stool

[ncarr 2806]

 

 

The Queen-Mother and her ladies atop the Hand of Horen

 

Please do not metagame any of this information.

 

---

 

 

Adela sat adjacent to her son, a man rounding the table to ensure the Queen did not flee. Her features laced with worry as she exchanged glances around the room - its crowd seemingly ever-growing as Veletzian and Aaunic men alike hastily made their way in… 

 

‘I am sorry Adela.’

 

A voice stuck in the Queen-Mother’s ears, one of her ally. At that her own son announced, 

 

‘We hereby arrest thee, for conspiring against the crown, Adela Alstion.’ 

 

These words stung, her eyes befalling her son’s face - gazing upon him as if he were an infant still. Within her mind, now a racing and almost unintelligible place, she thought fondly of the times they’d shared as she knew this to be among the last times she’d lay eyes upon her son. 

 

–

 

Thrown into this life of palatial politics and international diplomacy via an advantageous match between herself and Crown Prince Henry, Adela did not excel in her new station. However, her strengths lay with a different station she later took up - the station of her motherhood to her pair of children. She prided herself as a doting and accepting mother, encouraging her children’s faults and guiding them to her believed greatness. 

 

Adela thought fondly of her children, even her son, holding them higher in regard than any other to have walked their mortal plane. 

 

However, she’d never expected this. She’d never expected to be stabbed in the back - the knife’s wielder being her own son no less. Still, she loved him - offering him naught but a complacent smile and as she followed the men to her chambers. Chambers she had thought, previously, to be far too large but now felt like no more than a small cell fit only for a common criminal. 

 

Accompanying her was only her lady-in-wait, who - by God’s grace - managed to deliver a singular letter from the Queen-Mother’s confines; a letter to her daughter. Little did she know, she had supporters within the court still..

 

—

 

Gossip and hearsay had murmured to the ear of Olive Victoire, and like wind upon the sea, the girl naturally found herself in presence of her cousin, King Edmund II.

 

“S'il vous plaît” Olive begged, “Let me attend to my aunt.” 

 

To her dismay, she was brutally declined. 

 

“You may attend to me now,” claimed the King, though tears flooded the eyes of the young girl, and she fell upon her knees. The only family that Olive knew was Ser Gawyn and her aunt, Adela; the forsaken Queen Mother. 

 

This. This moment had crippled Olive Victoire. She felt no motherly love, nor parental guidance. Her mind was engulfed in a flame of melancholy, and it would burn her to the ground. However, Olive of High Peak arose from her ashes, and found that she was alone once more. No King, no guard, but silence and the watchful eye of God. She found herself sitting upon a stool, her eyes wandering over the vast landscape of the balcony. 

 

There was an idea. 

 

Olive Victoire picked up her stool, moving it to the balcony and standing upon it. Her body leaned over toward the ground, and a fall was sure to be expected. Instead, Olive decided there was a purpose for her, and there she went. . . Gathering stools. 

 

With each stool was a new found courage, but she still shook with fear. As she climbed the rungs of the stool, one placed atop another, she found herself ascending higher and higher. Almost as high as the Seven Skies, but if she fell she’d find another way to the afterlife. The stools teetered and lurched as she continued to stack them. Eventually, the girl clambered onto the highest peak of the Hand of Horen. 

 

“Auntie.” Olive Victoire of High Peak saw her kin, her blood, Adela of High Peak. Olive’s sword unfurled from her tabard, and she approached the woman. She didn’t intend to commit murder this day, but the tip of her sword fell into the soil as she knelt before Adela. The subtle indication to show servitude to her kin called down upon her mind and sword. 

 

Eventually, the wind hurled and grabbed at their garb as they began their descent. Each stool wavered and yearned to follow the wind’s guide, but Olive ensured a safe journey. Both of them reached the stairs, and eventually they whisked quietly through the dark halls, only to see the moon illuminate upon the Silver Sea. 

 

There the sea stood, its waves curling and beckoning for the two to join the waters. This was a journey unknown, but a journey they had resolved. The Silver Sea tickled the sand, and made soft murmurs as if to say that freedom was here at last. 

 

—

 

Finally the Queen Mother had found herself free from her confines. Surely they were to be after her, surely when they’d heard of her freedom she’d be painted as an evil and conniving villain who’d spent her days scheming from atop her ivory tower. Though she knew she was none of those, she was simply the mother to a boy. In another life, one she much preferred, she lived a common life with her pair of children and her husband. A life of eternal freedom.

 

---

 

Spoiler

many thanks to @clonky for helping write the post. i love u :333 [we're lovers]

 

[veganwalmart 1059]

"This injustice shall not go unpunished," declared Melina of High Peak to her niece, the Lady of Alba. "Your mother will be returned to you in time, or the world will burn."

[subatomic 1497]

Spoiler

nicely written post 

 

[Kholibrii 1211]

Having just left the Haenseti City of Valdev, where her father and the King of Hanseti-Ruska refused to march upon Aaun, Princess Eirene Daria muttered prayers that both the Queen Mother and Princess Aleksandra Milena would be seen free from the treacherous hands of the Stassion and Veletzian men.

[Captain Crow 63]

Sarrah Crowe would curse when she heard the news, then says "This will not go unpunished, I'm sure of it. Ave Aaun, Ave Stassion, and may they both reign forever."

[ErosTea 1084]

Charlotte Henrietta, during a routine checkup on the Queen Mother, ordered the guards stationed at the Queen Mother's door to let her in. Upon her entrance she found the room vacant--as if the wind had swooped in and taken her niece-in-law away. There was an open chest with missing jewels, a half eaten loaf of bread, and a stool facing freedom, though everything else had been left almost untouched. 

 

Her heart pounded in her chest, but not because she had failed at some internal duty toward the King's justice, but because a small part of her was proud that the Queen Mother had chosen her own path, whether it was at the bottom of the watry rocks below or somewhere in the wilderness, she was strong. She turned around and headed outside of the room, closing the doors carefully behind her. She'd whisper to Baldrick to find the body and signed the lorraine. "GOD be with her, wherever she may be."

[clonky 1976]

Olive Victoire of High Peak found herself dithering, her mind a swirl of what transpired. Perhaps she was frightened for her life, for she would soon be found to be the culprit of the stools. But, she didn't quite feel a discernable way, all she knew is there was no regret to be had. Kin is kin, blood is blood, and she would sacrifice her life for whom she considered family. 

[zuziee 4004]

Marlene of Merryweather spent the night praying at the edge of the bed she shared which felt oddly cold despite the room being so warm. 

[Orphvius 482]

A Lady in Wait gnawed upon her knuckle in agitation...

[ErikAzog 3575]

Knew not of the status of the Queen Mother, but after hearing so much on the matters of Aaun on this day, he could not help but pray for their survival. For what child would imprison their own mother. "Surely we all know who really had them arrested." said the King of Balian, as he rode back to his tropical homeland away from the biting cold.

[ncarr 2806]

1 minute ago, Orphvius said:

A Lady in Wait gnawed upon her knuckle in agitation...

 

Amidst her escape, Adela spared a glance toward her lady-in-wait, her first lady-in-wait. Her heart filled with sadness, a fear washing over her that'd she'd not see the woman that'd become among her closest confidants again. 

[ydegirl 2357]

News of Adela's escape quickly traveled to the floodplains. The wind blew a gentle song into the Baroness of Virdain's ears as she stared out her bedroom window. Amelia would never publicly admit her sympathies for the Queen-Mother of Aaun, but how could she not have sympathies? Adela had shown herself to be a kind woman. . . As the night slowly came to a halt, and it seemed everything but the water had gone to sleep, the Baroness lit a candle, placing it at the side of her bed. The moon shone through the Chateau de Cors-Midden, illuminating the white manor.

 

"Travel Safely, Adela."

[mojanghunter 566]

As the news of Adela’s escape spread amongst the men of the Stassion Company, as it was bound to, word eventually reached the ears of Lieutenant Henri Frederic de Falstaff. “Interesting…” was all the man had to say. 

[neii 130]

3 hours ago, liz said:

"This injustice shall not go unpunished," declared Melina of High Peak to her niece, the Lady of Alba. "Your mother will be returned to you in time, or the world will burn."

Within the confines of her chambers within Valdev, Mary contemplated the veracity of her aunt's solemn assurances. She knelt reverently by her bedside, entreating the Almighty for the secure and cherished reunion with her beloved mother. "May your words prove prophetic, dear aunt," she murmured with a pensive sigh.