Katherine of Carpenchia: Episode 6

Heavy, thick silence descended like a headsman's axe on the room. Then a roar of gasps, shrieks, and shouting rose.

"Attention!" called Lady Elfrea, "Everybody, remain calm!"

"Oh!" cried Lirisse, and fainted.

"Of course, those demons," snarled Lady Arabelle, baring her teeth, "they would, now that we've got a brand-new queen in charge. They see a weak spot. And what," she added, directing her attention to the newcomer at the table, "is she doing here?"

"I lived here, remember?" replied Celine, her eyes veritable ice.

"Enough!" shouted Lady Elfrea. "Another voice at this table, and one belonging to our greatest ally, will do some good, as the Lady Lirisse seems to have been taken out of action at the moment. Boy, bring out the map."

The map was brought, a huge thing written on parchment. When tacked down, it took up most of the table.

"We have intelligence," the messenger boy reported eagerly as he fastened the map to the table, "the Avaldorians are planning to pass by Redrock Ridge! Beyond that, their path is unknown at the moment - although it was certain they will head for here, Anrod! The capital!" He seemed very proud of himself for having figured this obvious bit of information out.

Celine nodded, collected in a crisis, as always. "Marigo will aid Carpenchia," she said.

Lady Elfrea sighed. "And doubtless Citia will ally with Avaldor."

"All right," announced Lady Arabelle, "what we need to do is-"

Unnoticed by anyone, Katherine had been thinking quietly in her sear this whole time. Now, she straightened up and called, "Enough, Arabelle! You are not the Queen here; I am."

"And a fine queen you've been," the Lady spat back, "it's your fault we're in this mess; they perceive you as weak!"

"If it is indeed my war, as you make it out to be," replied Katherine quietly, her eyes blazing fire, "then I shall finish it." She cleared her throat and raised her voice to address the council at large. "Redrock Ridge is not on the path Avaldor has historically taken to attack us - they usually go by route of Elflor's Keep. We will make in that direction, fooling them into thinking they will catch us unaware. Then we will swoop in on their path and attack them from behind on Redrock Ridge. I, personally," she took a deep breath, "will lead the charge."

"Katherine!" cried Celine. "No, that's - no! You - you have to stay at -"

"This meeting has been adjourned," Katherine stated, overriding Celine. "We will resume in an hour."

___

Katherine stood in her mother's - no, her bedroom, looking blankly at the trinkets sprawled out on the dresser as she contemplated what she had just done.

A knock sounded at the door. "Come in." Was it Elsie, at last? Where was that girl?

But instead, it was Celine. "Katherine - are you all right?"

"I'm -" Katherine turned back to her dresser. There was no point in lying to Celine. "I'm right in my mind about going personally to war, if that's what you mean. I am not changing that. But - I'm not emotionally all right, no. I just - I'm upset, Celine, I set out to be a good Queen and it seems that everything and everyone is conspiring against me."

Celine was quiet for a while. "Katherine," she said, "this isn't about us, is it?"

"No," said Katherine, turning around. Growing up, it had been a frequent point of gossip among the nobility about which of the two of them was the smarter, the prettier, the more collected, the more worthy. Hint - it wasn't Katherine. "This is not about us."

"Good," Celine said, relieved.

"Celine - you yourself said, not an hour ago, that I have to be a strong leader. And a strong leader I'm being."

"You don't understand," hissed Celine, "I'm scared for you, Katherine, I'm frightened out of my wits. My best friend, who has not but elementary sword training, is going to fight a war she may never come back from. And without consulting me! How do you think I feel?"

"I - I'm sorry, Celine. I don't mean to worry you - but all our problems, my problems, they'll be fixed, you see, if I can just win this war -"

"Yes, they may," replied Celine, "but you're not going about this in a smart way, Katherine! Throwing yourself blindly in danger to prove a point is not a good solution. There are other ways. You can be a plenty good leader from the safety of Anrod."

"But the symbolism, Celine, the symbolism!" Katherine grew more excited with every breath. "It will be stronger if I go into battle, too."

"I'm sorry," she concluded, "but this case is closed. I am going to Redrock Ridge, and you will stay back here to run the country in my absence, with Lady Elfrea as your second-in-command. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preparation to do, generals to talk with." She brushed past her friend and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Celine sighed and stared determinedly at the closed door. If Katherine expected her best friend to let her go to war without so much as a raised finger, she was sorely mistaken.

___

What did you think of this episode? What is Celine's plan? And where are Elsie and Caihanna? 

Hope you enjoyed, and I promise it won't take long for the next episode to be up. :)

Namarië,

Ellie
{on the other side of reality}

Katherine of Carpenchia: Episode 5

ARE YOU PUMPED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO CAIHANNA???

ARE YOU READY TO FIND OUT WHERE HER ADVENTURES WITH ELSIE WILL LEAD???

......well, you're gonna have to wait a little.

Yeah, I know, I'm evil. *grins wickedly*

For now, we'll be switching back to Katherine and Celina's POVs. :) Hope you enjoy!

___

Katherine lay sprawled out on her bed for what felt like the seventh time the past two days. Somehow, being a Queen was a lot more headache-inducing than the romanticized tales advertised.

A knock sounded at the door, and Katherine sat up a bit. At last, Elsie. The girl had been missing for the most of today - although she supposed she was off gathering information. "Come in."

But instead of Elsie, it was Celina who entered, golden curls spilling perfectly over her shoulders and down the front of her evergreen-silk gown. "You must go down to the Council," she said, "the meeting starts in but a few moments!"

Katherine moaned and lay back on her bed. "No."

"Why not?" asked Celina, leaning concernedly over her friend.

Katherine sat bolt upright with the anger that suddenly flooded her. "Because no matter what I do," she spat, "no matter what I say, I am always a mere child to them, a baby not fit to be off her mother's apron strings! Except," and here her voice turned bitter, "her mother is dead, and so they must deal with what they have, no matter how insufficient and tiresome and naive it might be. 'Why cannot the child be just like its mother,' they say, 'as beautiful and wise and clever as its mother - how could such an incompetent and worthless duckling be born of such a swan? Why cannot she be as good a Queen?' - and so they take it upon themselves to shepherd me like I don't know left from right or morn from night, when really I could if they would only listen! Those old idiots, I refuse to go down to them."

"It is your duty," whispered Celina softly, soothingly. "The troubles you speak of will only get worse if you do not attend the meetings of the Council of Ladies. Please, just an hour. I promise it won't be so bad. And if you never give yourself a chance to show them your potential, how will they change their minds? Plus," she added, "Lady Elfrea will be there and in charge of the meeting, and she has always liked you. She will try to make things go as smoothly as possible. Please?"

A long silence. "Fine," Katherine huffed, "but no more than an hour, and expect to be ready to weather a storm of complaining afterwards."

___

The hall where the Council of Ladies met was huge and imposing, with white silk curtains, elaborately-carved furniture, gilded ceilings, and beautiful paintings. The Council of Ladies was the highest council when there was a Queen in charge - just as the Council of Lords was the highest when there was a King. The head of the Council of Ladies was a woman not much older than Illiandra had been, but stern and impressive all the same, with piercing blue eyes and a hooked nose. She ruled over the Council firmly and effectively, but could not always control the arguments the other Ladies got in - especially when Lady Marella was around. Thankfully, Katherine noted, Marella seemed to be absent today. Where could she be? Katherine hoped Caihanna and Elsie had dug up some dirt on her.

Elfrea called the meeting to order. "Here meets the third meeting of the High Council of Ladies of the Realm of Carpenchia under the reign of Queen Katherine i'Fartha Del'Tavinrone II in the Year of the Sea Serpent," she declared. "First order of business - increasing amounts of common folk falling below the poverty line. Would my Queen Katherine like to start the debate with her position on the issue?" 

Katherine nodded fervently. This time, she would show them her stuff. She had a plan all worked out; it had taken hours of work and research this morning, but she was confident and ready to present. "Thank you, Lady Elfrea," she said. "I believe we should ra-"

"What I think," interrupted the Lady Lirisse - a beautiful young maiden, vivacious and pretty, but only as long as she kept her mouth shut - "is that we should raise taxes on the poor!" She adjusted her dark locks with a slender white finger as her high voice announced her position.

"NO," snapped the Lady Arabelle, a middle-aged woman with a harsh voice and a famous temper, "what we need to do is cut funding from the poorhouses."

"I believe the Queen Katherine had something to say," admonished Lady Elfrea, but she was quickly out-shouted.

"No, no, no," exclaimed Lirisse, shaking her head. "If we raise taxes on the poor, it'll give them incentive to work their way up to the top and above the poverty line - where the taxes are much less!"

"Ridiculous," snapped Arabelle, "cutting funding to the poorhouses will take their excuses right out from under them!"

"What I think-" began Lady Roanne. But no one cared.

"No, look-" tried Katherine.

"You know NOTHING of these matters!" snapped Arabelle.

"Nothing!" agreed Lirisse.

"ENOUGH!" yelled Elfrea, tired and cranky. "Let's hear what Lady Roanne has to say, shall we?"

The Council reluctantly conceded.

"I think," said Roanne, pointing to Arabelle and Lirisse, "that you're both wrong."

Screeches went up all around Katherine and the shouting began again, until a young, scrawny messenger boy managed to work his way up to Katherine's chair and yell loud enough to get the attention of the Council.

"I have news," he breathed. "Avaldor - they've declared war!"

___

Namarië,

Ellie
{on the other side of reality}

Katherine of Carpenchia: Episode 4

YESSS IT'S HERE FINALLY.

(sorry it's so short btw, the lack of length is the reason I debated cutting it for a while, but I ended up shooting it anyway because I realized how important it was xD. I hope you enjoy! :) )

___

Elsie and Caihanna stepped quietly through the back servants' halls. Unlike the grand, gilded, arched hallways of the nobility, these corridors were plain, small, whitewashed, and simple. Torches in plain sconces lined the walls, and the smells of fruit pies and roasted duck wafted from the kitchen, where food for the ball was being continuously prepared and pumped out. And even from here, you could hear the distant chattering and music of the evening's event.

Elsie was nervous. She had been nervous quite a lot these past few weeks, she realized, tugging her braids, and it definitely was not good for her health. "Do you really think Lady Marella sent that assassin?" she piped up anxiously.

"Be quiet," hissed Caihanna, "someone could've heard you say that, and then the game would be up. I think it does seem likely, yes."

"What sort of information should we get?" Elsie questioned in a high-pitched voice. She had never done something like this before - oh, how romantic and exciting it seemed in the tales, but how horribly frightening it was in real life!

Caihanna sighed. "Orders, letters, or any documentation linking her to the assassins will be good enough."

"Oh," said Elsie, who was now worried that those items might be stowed away behind secret doors or locked in hidden boxes, but she daren't say anymore, for she feared she was irritating Caihanna, and she so desperately wanted the other girl's approval.

At last, they came to the entry to a great, grand hallway - some of the nobility's quarters and where Lady Marella resided. 

Pausing at the mouth of the hall, Caihanna explained the plan. She hoped Elsie wouldn't mess it all up. "You go inside Lady Marella's room," she instructed, trying to be clear as possible. "It'd better be you than me, because you could have a valid excuse for being in there and all, since you actually work here and I do not. You will attempt to enter quietly, but if anyone is in there or catches you in there you will tell them you are looking for some legal papers your queen leant to Lady Marella to look over prior to the next Council of Ladies meeting, and your mistress would like them back now and sent you to fetch them. If no one is there, look through her desk, vanity, tap the floorboards and walls, listen for a hollow sound - but carefully! and not too loudly. If you find anything, bring it back to me. If you find something you think is a secret compartment that you can't get open, come out and get me and I'll see what I can do about it. I'll stay watch here in the meantime - pretend I am waiting for another of the Marigan maids to meet me or something of the sort. If I see anyone or anything it looks like you can't handle going your way, I will whistle like a nightingale. So be listening. All right? Do you understand?"

Elsie nodded furiously. A solid, concrete plan. Even though she was still terribly scared, having a firm plan with an escape excuse if things went wrong made her feel a bit better.

She went past Caihanna and entered the grand hallway.

Caihanna watched her until she disappeared into Lady Marella's suite.

Then, she found a nook to hide in to keep watch.

No sound came to her ears except that of distant party music and yelling of the cooks in the kitchen. Some novice chef must have messed up one of the pies.

Suddenly, Caihanna felt a presence so close it was nearly on top of her. She gasped, turned around -

And all went black.

___

Welllll that was the fourth episode. What do you think? Comment your thoughts below :)

Namarië,

Ellie
{on the other side of reality}