Damselfly
Well hello there :D
Premise
Had they known Prince Robert would select her to be his bride, Scarlett is sure the King and Queen would never have given him the privilege of choosing his wife. Like most good parents, they had wanted the prince to choose his own path. But like most bad parents, they wanted him to choose that path within the margins that they set forth–to be a good king, to be a good ruler, and most importantly, to choose a good queen.
After months, or perhaps even years, of trying to get Prince Robert to accept a bride, the King and Queen finally came up with the concept of the Princess Ball, where all of the eligible noble ladies of Leosar would be. The prince readily agreed. What twenty-year-old man wouldn’t want a ballroom full of adoring women and sycophants?
And so, the night came. The King and Queen hadn’t been fools. They had vetted every single young lady in the room. Ensured she had good lineage, excellent physical health, an education, that sort of thing. And all of them were, naturally, handsome young women that ranged from daring beauties to ravishing works of art. All dressed in their finest ball gowns, and all eager to be the princess of Leosar, wife of Prince Robert.
What the King and Queen didn’t account for, oddly enough, was their own security for the ball. Nor did they expect a seventeen-year-old gutter kid from the streets of Spiria to steal a ball gown, tie it to her skinny frame, and march into the ball with all the grace of a blind three-legged horse. In the sea of lace and satin and silk, Scarlett was lost in the crowd. Oh, some gave her strange looks, but she was hardly worth the attention when the prize of the night was Prince Robert.
Now, if you’re expecting a tale of, “They saw each other across the room and their eyes met and they knew, right then, that it was love.” You can read another story. Scarlett was barely considered clean, her gown was too large, and her hair was hastily braided and pinned atop her head, with a lot of faith in two pins that she had found on the street. She wasn’t even wearing shoes. It wasn’t love that made the prince come over to Scarlett. And it certainly wasn’t lust. No, the prince saw her, and was intrigued. When he made his way over, it took him all of ten seconds to find out that Scarlett was not a noble lady, and that she definitely wasn’t supposed to be here.
A normal prince would have had her removed. A merciful prince would’ve done the same, but offered her a hot meal and some shoes before having her removed. A kind prince might’ve even offered to dance, as well as the food and shoes. Prince Robert was neither normal, nor merciful, nor kind.
Instead, he leaned in close, and said, “Do you know what would be absolutely hilarious?”
And that’s the story of how, in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by a hundred or more people, Scarlett Burrows got married to the Crown Prince of Quincy.
But if you thought that was the strangest part of this tale, you would be wrong. Two years after the marriage, a plague swept through the kingdom. It claimed nearly a third of the lives in the kingdom, including the king and Queen.
Prince Robert became king Robert. But, unsurprisingly to those who knew him, he didn't take his responsibilities very seriously. And so he was usually off in gambling dens, brothels, or on hunting trips, leaving his wife and queen to attempt to rule in his place. No one really trusted her authority. After all, she was a gutter kid, no matter how much training or education she'd gone through.
That was until news came that Robert had died. He'd gotten drunk, fallen off his horse, and landed poorly, breaking his neck. The kingdom now looked to Queen Scarlett with apprehensive eyes.
That was a year ago. A year since Queen Scarlett was crowned the ruling monarch of Leosar. A year of trying to survive the politics, intrigues, and power struggles within the court. Scarlett is now just twenty years old, and rules a powerful nation. She's smart, smarter than people give her credit for, but she's still wildly inexperienced and often leans on her advisors and council for support.
The Story So Far
The court has gotten wind of troubling news: a sorcerer clan, long thought destroyed, is rumored to be gaining strength in the Dumo mountains. People have long feared sorcerers and what they can do. And with these rumors, they fear an impending attack, or worse, an invasion.
Had they known Prince Robert would select her to be his bride, Scarlett is sure the King and Queen would never have given him the privilege of choosing his wife. Like most good parents, they had wanted the prince to choose his own path. But like most bad parents, they wanted him to choose that path within the margins that they set forth–to be a good king, to be a good ruler, and most importantly, to choose a good queen.
After months, or perhaps even years, of trying to get Prince Robert to accept a bride, the King and Queen finally came up with the concept of the Princess Ball, where all of the eligible noble ladies of Leosar would be. The prince readily agreed. What twenty-year-old man wouldn’t want a ballroom full of adoring women and sycophants?
And so, the night came. The King and Queen hadn’t been fools. They had vetted every single young lady in the room. Ensured she had good lineage, excellent physical health, an education, that sort of thing. And all of them were, naturally, handsome young women that ranged from daring beauties to ravishing works of art. All dressed in their finest ball gowns, and all eager to be the princess of Leosar, wife of Prince Robert.
What the King and Queen didn’t account for, oddly enough, was their own security for the ball. Nor did they expect a seventeen-year-old gutter kid from the streets of Spiria to steal a ball gown, tie it to her skinny frame, and march into the ball with all the grace of a blind three-legged horse. In the sea of lace and satin and silk, Scarlett was lost in the crowd. Oh, some gave her strange looks, but she was hardly worth the attention when the prize of the night was Prince Robert.
Now, if you’re expecting a tale of, “They saw each other across the room and their eyes met and they knew, right then, that it was love.” You can read another story. Scarlett was barely considered clean, her gown was too large, and her hair was hastily braided and pinned atop her head, with a lot of faith in two pins that she had found on the street. She wasn’t even wearing shoes. It wasn’t love that made the prince come over to Scarlett. And it certainly wasn’t lust. No, the prince saw her, and was intrigued. When he made his way over, it took him all of ten seconds to find out that Scarlett was not a noble lady, and that she definitely wasn’t supposed to be here.
A normal prince would have had her removed. A merciful prince would’ve done the same, but offered her a hot meal and some shoes before having her removed. A kind prince might’ve even offered to dance, as well as the food and shoes. Prince Robert was neither normal, nor merciful, nor kind.
Instead, he leaned in close, and said, “Do you know what would be absolutely hilarious?”
And that’s the story of how, in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by a hundred or more people, Scarlett Burrows got married to the Crown Prince of Quincy.
But if you thought that was the strangest part of this tale, you would be wrong. Two years after the marriage, a plague swept through the kingdom. It claimed nearly a third of the lives in the kingdom, including the king and Queen.
Prince Robert became king Robert. But, unsurprisingly to those who knew him, he didn't take his responsibilities very seriously. And so he was usually off in gambling dens, brothels, or on hunting trips, leaving his wife and queen to attempt to rule in his place. No one really trusted her authority. After all, she was a gutter kid, no matter how much training or education she'd gone through.
That was until news came that Robert had died. He'd gotten drunk, fallen off his horse, and landed poorly, breaking his neck. The kingdom now looked to Queen Scarlett with apprehensive eyes.
That was a year ago. A year since Queen Scarlett was crowned the ruling monarch of Leosar. A year of trying to survive the politics, intrigues, and power struggles within the court. Scarlett is now just twenty years old, and rules a powerful nation. She's smart, smarter than people give her credit for, but she's still wildly inexperienced and often leans on her advisors and council for support.
The Story So Far
The court has gotten wind of troubling news: a sorcerer clan, long thought destroyed, is rumored to be gaining strength in the Dumo mountains. People have long feared sorcerers and what they can do. And with these rumors, they fear an impending attack, or worse, an invasion.
