A STATEMENT ON THE EMPRESSES CONDITION

[kuerbis 3802]

Issued and averred by the office of the

IMPERIAL CROWN

 

Penned by the hands of a dutiful Scribe
 

 

✠ HEED, LEAL SONS OF HOREN;

 

It is with the greatest sorrow, We make it known to the Realm that Our good Empress Valentiná has taken seriously ill the year preceding this one. 

 

With her unknown affliction gradually worsening over time, it appears that Her Imperial Majesty has fallen into a coma. She remains under the constant watch of the best physicians our Imperium has to offer. The Lady Physician Andromede Royce confirms that Her Majesty’s current condition appears stable, though there seems to be no sign of her awakening for the foreseeable future. 

 

The Imperial Family asks that the citizens and well-wishers of Our Holy Imperium include Her Imperial Majesty in their prayers, so that she might soon walk the streets of Rittersburg once more.

 

 

Spoiler

 

In her comatose delirium, that Empress was most often lost to a strange veil of darkness. It was not necessarily uncomfortable; though she could not hear or see, the dark had a weightlessness to it, one that lifted every bit of burden from Valentiná’s shoulder. In the twilight of those passing days, the Empress became only a woman lulled by a deep and heavy sleep. Silence had settled over her chambers. The physicians still worked tirelessly in search of a remedy, a solution that might rouse her once more. The city below the palatial hill was still bustling with life, though a certain absence surely was felt by some of the courtiers Valentiná had been closer with. Family members came and went; it mattered very little for she never felt their presence; though in the same vein, she never felt their absence either. At times, fever held a tight clutch upon Valentiná’s brow. It was Andromede, who most often exchanged the warm cloth upon her brow for a fresh, cool one.

 

On the fifth day of her fever, Valentiná started dreaming...

The darkness that had enveloped her for the better part of a week grew distant, almost as distant as those sandy shores of Asturias. In that marbled coastal city, the Empress found herself again, though not as a Consort of Man, and not as a mother or a wife. It was the innocence of youth that possessed her now. Large green eyes of green stared wistfully at the open sea as her temple rested against the frame of that open window. Life in Asturias had been lonesome for Valentiná, during her earliest days. Music had once rung in these halls, her sisters and mother often did practise together. The music faded with the death of her mother; a death that left an absence that would not stop bothering the Asturians. The concept of death was still foreign to Valentiná during those simple days; she merely thought her mother and father had taken one of their vessels out for a long trip - a trip that never seemed to end. In the lonely silence of those days, she felt her first bout of melancholy. She had stopped running down the halls, ceased bombarding her stern tutor with questions, no more did she flick spoonfuls of her dinner at a servant she felt was particularly mean to her. That melancholy was interrupted with the evacuation of the continent. When the Asturian fleet reached their outpost on Kalldur, Valentiná felt but a bit of joy upon her reunion with her beloved father. 

 

Now as an adult, she could only wonder if he ever resented himself for abandoning her. Or perhaps, he resented her, for the similarities she shared with her late mother?

That bit of joy reignited the spark of her early childhood, soon to be much enhanced by the approach of the Imperial Fleet. Among them was one presence that was, at first, most bothersome to Valentiná. A young boy with an ego almost three times his size. That boy, of course, was none other than Marcus Tiberias, a young prince and oldest grandson of the then-reigning Emperor. His apparently dominant presence upon her turf presented Valentiná with great ire, for which she only found one solution: A duel. Assuredly this was just something the little Asturian had read about in a novel before. Since they had no weapons, the duel was held with fisticuffs; and though she had torn several buttons off his sleeve, their fight ended promptly with tears as he tore off her veil, and with it, a considerable amount of hair. From their little rivalry soon grew a simple friendship as they dug in the sand and built statues of wet clay. 

 

This friendship was one, though eventually marred by the sting of betrayal and bitterness, that would, despite its faults, endure a lifetime.

 

The white walls of Asturias faded to the gray ones of Rittersburg; a closer destination, though this too, seemed to be a Rittersburg of the past. Valentiná’s family had made a name for themselves as architects; her father’s spirit and soul entwined with the make of that beloved city. It had been a quiet evening in the manor that the family had occupied, close to the palace hill. A princess of Horen found herself among them, a known face to Valentiná, Joan was a permanent presence in their home and too, in their hearts. It was on that quiet autumn night when the rain tapped gently against the stained glass of her father’s manor, when Joan and her sat side by side on that sofa in their lounge. The princess, a little older than that Asturian, carefully weaved the younger girl’s hair into a braid. As she finally tied her hair off, Joan gently lifted it upon the Asturian‘s shoulder. The Princess offered a mirror to the girl and as Valentiná held it up to her face, a smile graced her tanned features. Joan looked very beautiful in that reflection, she thought. 

 

Even decades later, that memory held true in her heart; a love unfaded and unadulterated; one of pure and earnest regard for a girl she had known all her life - though Valentiná was too prideful to ever admit that to herself.

 

Seasons seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Those autumn winds  soon gave way to a cold winter; and thereafter a mild spring. The sun shone gently upon the gardens outside of Salia hall. Valentiná, now around twelve years old, sat under an ivy-covered arbor for what she believed to be a rather sophisticated tea gathering with close friends. They shared the most intriguing gossip among girlish laughter. Joan and Marcella, the imperial sisters, had just told the funniest story Valentiná had ever heard - though what exactly that story entailed, she could not recall. The exuberant atmosphere that afternoon gave way to a more austere one, as a slouching figure approached their table. Even then, in his youth, the boy who would one day be known as Caius II, was a devoted follower of the true faith, often stripping himself of the many earthly delights others indulge in without a second thought. In a way, his self-discipline inspired Valentiná - though in most other ways, it annoyed her. They had been neighbors most of their lives. Why then, was he now so stern with himself? Where had the days gone, when he’d thrown stones through her father’s stained glass windows just to get her into trouble? A quiet sense of woe spread in the pit of Valentiná’s stomach; the gentle dread, a sure feeling that the future would be uncharted land and that things might not always be as they currently seem now.

 

Uncharted indeed, was the day when her guardian, Emperor Tiberias took her out into the city to help with one matter or the other. The old Imperator and his sole ward somehow ended up in the bustling tavern by the square, where a strange figure drew the little Asturian‘s attention. Erika, was her name, a noble woman from a fallen kingdom Valentiná had heard of, though never known herself. Whilst that woman appeared most ireful with that Emperor, she spoke kindly to young Valentiná. A gentle smile drew itself across her wrinkled countenance as she extended her worn palm for the girl‘s across the green-clad table; soon enough, Erika uttered to Valentiná, her future and her fortune. The girl, though attentive, appeared most displeased at what the Lady Kortevich had to tell her, for there seemed to be no glory nor great achievements in her future, but the mere comfort of her family. 

 

The world went dark again; time had passed now. It had been many seasons since Lady Kortevich read Valentiná her own fortune. Since then, the Asturian had become Lady Chamberlain - perhaps out of spite, to prove that wise woman wrong. Spite was a powerful thing, something to drive one‘s ambitions. Her spite had worked, or at least, so Valentiná believed. Emperor Hadrian certainly seemed to think so. It was the eve of the Coming of Age of Willem van Aert and one of the few times Valentiná went to Blackvale. Shortly before her departure for home, the Emperor stopped Lady Valentiná on the bridge of Blackvale. The young woman had long learned to dread the Emperor’s approach; he was, after all, known for his cruelty. 

 

When Hadrian bade her to rise and informed her that she would betrothe his son, Valentiná felt the tear of anxiety upon her very being. She would be Empress; that weight was one heavy upon the young woman’s shoulders. 

 

The princely engagement lasted a brief two years. Not even a year had passed after the wedding, when Valentiná held her eldest son in her arms for the first time. Caius had been a fussy baby, crying more often than not. He would grow up to be a melancholic child, and soon a moody teenager. His virtues hardly, if ever, inspired pride upon the Asturian. A gentle frown settled upon her countenance, ever-growing as she watched that Heirling stray further from her ideal picture of an Imperial Heir with every passing year. 

 

Caius, whatever shall become of you? 

 

This was a question, most often on her mind. These years, with Marcus’ bastard around, things would not become easier, for Valentiná’s ire and impatience with her oldest was ever-growing the less ideal he presented himself. 

 

Your father betrayed me, and you disappointed me. 

Can I ever forgive either of these things? Have I forgiven you already?

 

With that simple thought on her mind, Valentiná found herself back in that calm darkness.

There would be no more dreams for the coming days, though her fever spiked time and time again, making the physicians scurry around her with grave concern. 

 

What would the future hold for this Empress of Man?

 

 

 

 

 

AVE IMPERIUM!

 

---

 

 

H V M A N I T A S    I N V I C T A

“Für Gott und Kaiser,”
 

HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, Marcus I of the House Horen, by the Grace of GOD, 

Sanctus Imperator Mundi, Emperor of Azuras and of all Mankind, Forever August,

King of Burgundy, Oren, Renatus, Marna, Curon, Kaedrin, Salvus, Seventis, Santegia, Mardon, Vandoria and the Westerlands, Duke of the Crownlands, Avar, Cascadia, Aenus, Erochland, Grense, Helena, Istria, Kingston, Krajia, Middelan, Reutov and Sunholdt, Count of Ager, Cantal, Carolustadt, Felsen and Rittersberg, Baron of Dragonspeak and Senntisten, Patriarch of House Horen, Dynast of All Dragonsblood, Captain-General of the Church, Defender of the Faith, Protector of All Men, Heartlanders, etcetera.

 

NON DVCOR, DVCO

 

Spoiler

OOC: 

Hii!
 

So I will be on vacation for the next 10 days and after that, I’ll be out celebrating my birthday, so I’d expect to be back within 2 weeks or so. For that reason, and to get an eventline that the Imperial Courts have been working on for a few weeks started, I’ve decided to put my character out of commission for the time I’ll be gone for, as it relates to the eventline. :)
 

Additionally, I’ll delete discord off my phone while I am gone, so if you need me urgently, I won't be there. @sarahbarah, @milkyi and @zuziee will be in charge of the Celosian Courts while I am gone and I have full confidence that everything will be handled smoothly. 

 

Should anything horrible, awful that might genuinely require my attention happen, please let @sarahbarah know because she’s able to get a hold of me. This doesn’t include ‘Hey - I need to meet with you IRP’ messages btw! For any non urgent things, you can message me on Discord (under __lena.__) and I’ll get back to you when I’m around again.
 

Once I am back, we are starting this eventline properly. I hope many people will engage and have fun. In addition, there are some court reforms planned to come out in mid - late may. For June and July, we also have a few things cooking and I am excited to share more info about them with you upon my return. 

In any case, I hope you guys have fun RP in the meantime and I hope we’ll see each other again in a few weeks when I’m back! <3

 

 

[trinn 5128]

Joan seldom found herself so frozen, as when she was beside the bed of the ailing Empress. She had made a habit of fidgeting, so often moving and reaching for something beyond herself; but Valentina's hand was limp upon that bed, and she was herself transfixed in a mirrored stillness. 

 

In my memory, we are girls again. A girlhood lost to us save in some recollecting dream. 

 

And there is naught but us, and the wind of the ocean upon your father's ship, and we are gleeful.

 

Had I a wish, perhaps I would take us back there, and urge us never sail home.