Cycles of the Moon

A caravan rolled along the country road. Carriages with great embroidery sat in the middle as a guard detail of knights in incredibly flamboyant armor rode their horses along the carriages, their eyes vigilant and undisturbed. A total of three carriages wheeled along the road. Six guards were assigned to the front, four to the back, and two to the middle. Behind the string of carriages was a minor supply line only two wagons long and the front held a large collection of knights.

The middle rear carriage held only two women. Both women were young, yet they wore fine armor that looked as though it only was to fit upon a high ranking commander or a distinguished warrior.

On one end was a woman with long white hair and winter gray eyes, her face held a mixture of soft and well defined features which was much like her armor, a polished white plate armor with chain mail to link the plates with a symbol of the full moon that sat at the center of the chest plate. It even matched the long sword which was leaning against the seat with a white handle holding a moonstone in the middle and a black pommel made of onyx.

The second woman wore light plate armor which held the insignia of a bird dressed in flames rising to the sun on the chest plate. The armor was shining and well polished, as though it were repaired regularly. Nicks and scratches could be seen, but the armor held its polished and refined look. What would truly draw the eye more than the armor the woman was wearing, however, would be a long sword held on her lap with the sheathe decorated in dancing and tangling oranges and reds. The hilt of the sword held a fire opal and the guard was designed to be wings of fire. The blade showed no signs of wear unlike the armor though, yet the blade had seen battle despite its elegant design and lack of scars.

In spite the royal nature of her surprisingly well used armor, she sat quite sloppily compared to her partner. Actually, she wasn’t sitting at all. She was slouched into her seat with her chin on her chest and her feet leaning on the wall. Golden hair flowed down the seat of the other end of the carriage. This contrasted greatly with the other one with hands neatly folded in her lap as she scanned the countryside vigilantly while also looking back to the other who had begun discovering a new position in the carriage.

“Ellen, I swear, you’re not making the trip faster for either of us this way,” the white-haired woman spoke to the other in showy ceremonial armor. Ellen pouted slightly before pulling her feet down and sitting upright. Yet that pout faded quite swiftly into a smile.

“Oh come on, are you that nervous about seeing your family after four years? You always stiffen up when you’re nervous. Where’s the Luna I know?”

Luna responded by sighing then looked Ellen dead in the eye and said, “Probably not as nervous as you are. After all, you went through great lengths to pick out dresses. When was the last time I saw you taking the initiative to a tailor? Normally I have to manage your clothes.”

Ellen gleamed with joy and a light touch of pink could be seen on her cheeks. “Oh, well I need to take some initiative. It’s been four years since I last saw him. Besides, it gave me some good time with my mother. She seemed quite intrigued by me taking an interest in fashion for once.”

Indeed, Ellen was very much not like most ladies of nobility. Luna had seen that first hand when she first attended a party with Ellen. It was usually one of two extremes at those stuffy parties. Luna would be babysitting her liege the entire night or Ellen would be a sort of fascination. It really depended on who was attending. Typically, the more attendees from the military occupations, the better Ellen fared.

As Luna was lost in thought, Ellen took the opportunity to look out the window. For Luna the time gap may be four years, but it felt longer. In all honesty, Ellen looked forward to this family tradition every four years. It was akin to a month long vacation away from Zeikan and everything else surrounding it.

Four days into the journey, and the caravan was nearing the destination. The Mountains in the distance to the west stood tall and would drape the countryside into twilight much sooner than most other places in the empire. As such, the name of the mountain range was officially the Twilight Mountains. Aside from a small section more northwards where the range ended, this effect wasn’t felt.

“Every four years for a full cycle of the moon, it must be quite a bargain. Most others of your position would have to give up their home for most of their lifetime,” Ellen commented out of nowhere.

Luna looked back to the mountain range with nostalgia for a bit then pulled her head back in and gave a slightly late response to Ellen to say, “I would have given up my old life for you anyway. I believe I did the right thing.”

Ellen felt a tinge of happiness when Luna said that. She counted her retainer to be her closest friend. Ellen did look at the Luna that stood before her now and thought long and hard about the last four years. So much had happened, and Ellen was very happy about where she was. She was a Knight Captain for the Imperial Phoenix Knights and was even going to be assigned as an ambassador to Kirst after this trip. She really wanted to make the next year count, even if that meant breaking a few norms.

Eventually, forest began overtaking the plains and farmland. Warm afternoon sunlight split between trees as the caravan moved through the woods. Ellen remembered a lot of memories from the forest of these mountains, and it brought her joy to look at them after four years.

The carriage came to a steady stop and the faint sounds of voices could be heard. A pair of footsteps passed by the carriage and Ellen peeked out to see who was walking by. Immediately, a figure in a dark cloak and black metal scale armor was seen. Under their hood, Ellen’s eyes met with a pair of bright white glowing irises. The man walked away and to the next carriage. On the back of the cloak was an insignia of the crescent moon.

“Just as their name implies,” Ellen mumbled to herself as she watched the person pass, their footsteps silent compared to the other person walking beside them in heavy robes. The inspection process went smoothly and the caravan rolled through the archway at the entrance of the valley into one of the smallest “cities” in the empire, Luar.

The entire city was situated in a very large valley with a river running through it. At one point of the river, it curved to split the valley in two. A homely atmosphere surrounded Ellen that she had never received from any city she had ever been in before. Buildings were scattered around to the point every single one had a yard. People walked around to enjoy the day just as much as their daily duties called. Both looked out the window eagerly as they were brought further in.

Luna was looking out the window with great intrigue as she took in everything with her gray eyes. Ellen caught sight of this and wondered how homesick her friend must feel. Zeikan, Pheolin’s capital, was an incredibly large city crowded with people. In contrast, Luar was a quiet, small, village with more than enough space to go around.

The heart of the city came and the carriages passed over a bridge with an incredibly calm and clear river. As soon as the bridge was crossed, houses and buildings of highly specialized professions began dotting the landscape in droves. Most structures were wooden and a lot held gardens of some kind. Regularly the buildings were two stories at the highest.

Farther up through the valley was a large three story building which those of Luar simply called The Estate. The Estate was where the leader of the Moon Clan, and therefore Luar, lived. Luna knew the area well enough, but the warrior had never really explored The Estate much. The building itself always seemed confused in architecture, and her times there had often been few and far between.

The Estate was a large manor wrapping around a central courtyard where a ritualistic sparring area and gardens were. Ellen always felt it’s structure was akin to academic buildings she knew of, but a three story manor with most of its area in the back always perplexed Ellen. The whole building just felt confused in the architecture.

The two women walked out of the carriage and turned their heads to the front where knights surrounded an older man and woman dressed in incredibly fancy clothes. The man wore a purple coat embroidered with brilliant orange where the back cape held a symbol of a burning lily under the sun held up by a Pheonix.

The woman dressed in a shining blue dress with blinding yellow embroidery and fancily tied up hair which was the same brilliant gold color as Ellen’s. The footsteps of the knights from the other carriage could be heard and the four knights guarding the carriage escorted a young man merely two years Ellen’s senior who was dressed in a burning orange garment gilded with white.

Three others came by, much younger who looked exhausted from the trip. There was one boy who was barely of adult age with the same garments as the man two years older than Ellen, and a pair of girls who were dressed in white dresses with orange wrapping the dress to give it a pattern. One girl was two years from adulthood and the other hadn’t seen her tenth year.

The oldest of the four walked up to join his parents while the younger middle child sulked behind his brother perfectly under his shadow. The two girls bounced ahead of the rest with youthful enthusiasm while the youngest flung herself at her father who lifted her up to his shoulders.

Ellen walked up with Luna and took her place at the left side of the adults with the children sitting in the middle and the eldest son to the right. Soon enough, three men walked out of the doors of the estate and both sides gave a deep bow. In the middle was a white robed and white-haired man in his early middle ages with a kind smile while to his right was another man who looked eerily similar to him and held a slender face very similar to Luna’s. At the left was a young man around Luna and Ellen’s age who was wearing a set of white armor the same as Luna’s.

“Welcome, Your Majesties. It’s a pleasure to see you all after four years,” the white haired man welcomed with a warm charismatic smile.

“It is an honor, Master Neram. We thank you for your hospitality as always,” thanked the man in the purple and orange robes. The two parties entered the Estate and walked through the central gardens towards the back where a large dining hall sat with an entire meal in the midst of being placed out.

Ellen and Luna took a seat close to the older man in black robes who had stood to the right of Neram with Luna sitting right beside him. Varin and his wife took a seat near Neram with their eldest son sitting beside his father. The middle son and the two younger daughters sat near Ellen and Luna, with the youngest sitting next to Ellen pulling on her sister’s clothing. Ellen hoisted the young nine year old up to her lap and the child began humming happily.

Wine was distributed across the table, but only the middle child and the youngest refused any offers of alcohol or didn’t receive it. Instead, a cup of spring water was poured for Ellen’s younger brother and her sister sitting in her lap took a cup of fresh cider and downed it in seven seconds flat before pouring herself another. Ellen took the red wine in her glass and gave a meager sip before setting it down.

“Ellen, it tastes gross, how can you adults stand it?”

“You’ll understand when you get older, Lilian. Just don’t drink too much, or it will hinder you.”

“I’m not going to drink any though…” Lilian said before taking a large chug of her freshly pressed apple cider.

Ellen looked over to the conversation between her father and Neram. The two had big hearty smiles on their faces, and they were very engrossed in talking about their own childhood. Ellen smiled looking at their friendship, and she wondered if her father mirrored herself once she reached his age. Especially considering her relationship with Neram’s niece who was sitting by her right now.

She noticed that Luna hadn’t even spoken a word to the gloomy looking man she had sat next to, so Ellen bent her head over and set her sister down who happily sat next to Ellen and began scooting her chair even closer.

“Master Nephri, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I trust your life has fared well,” Ellen started towards Nephri. Luna looked towards Ellen curiously and then a little nervous when Nephri placed his glass down with no visible fraction of wine gone and turned to Ellen.

“Quite well, Princess Ellen. I see you’ve made quite a name for yourself since I last saw you. Why, rising the ranks of the military to become a Captain is no small feat. Grand Councilor Arthur is quite strict on making sure the command remains a meritocracy based on ability. Enough about that though, how’s my daughter, Luna, been doing in your care?”

Ellen eyed Luna and gave a wide grin and began speaking slightly louder. “Luna’s such a delight. She’s such an amazing subordinate that I don’t know what I’d do without her. Every major achievement you may hear of me, I can say that Luna has always been a major influence.”

Luna darted her eyes straight to Ellen then back to her father who gave a rather thoughtful look to Ellen with a slight smile on his face and responded with, “It’s great to know she’s been doing well. We all have high hopes, but I’m pleased to know she’s happy under your care.”

Ellen watched with glee as Luna fiddled with embarrassment at such words of praise. Yet, as Ellen looked around Nephri she noticed the absence of someone very important.

“Where’s Everin?”

Nephri paused unnaturally. His eyes suddenly became very thoughtful and his expression hardening from the softness it had held with his light smile. “Ah, he’s out on a mission. Apologies, I can’t say more than that.”

Ellen’s face fell with a little disappointment as she acknowledged Nephri’s sentence with a simple, “I see.”

“He should return before tomorrow’s sun rises, if not I will look for him myself,” Nephri stated simply. “A lot happened in the last five years. I shall not discuss it here, but Luna’s not alone in developing an intense work ethic.”

Ellen nodded and took a moderate sip of her wine. Almost immediately after, a loud thump was heard in the dining hall. The thump of a body hitting the floor.

Everyone’s attention immediately turned to the source of the sound, and Luna’s hand shot to her sword instinctively with great speed. Her father also had an aware look as though he were ready to spring into action. Everyone’s alertness proved to be completely unnecessary, however. On the other side of the table, Ellen’s younger brother shook his head and held up an empty wine glass at Jennifer’s seat.

“Well, that was certainly surprising,” Neram quipped with his usual smile. Jacob gave a sigh in response to Neram’s light response of his daughter collapsing drunk.

“I’ll bring her to her room,” Ellen volunteered as she stood up and walked around the table. The princess bent over and scooped her younger sibling up like it was nothing, that’s when Jennifer gave an irritated groan and Neram chuckled a little. “Luna, can you help me a little?”

Luna assisted in getting Jennifer in a comfortable position on Ellen’s back where she wouldn’t slip off. It wouldn’t do to have the drunk, and barely underage, princess. The youngest, who had practically been sitting in Ellen’s lap naturally followed, ready to be done with the boring adult talk since she finished her food.

The young child followed in her sister’s footsteps closely, and Luna was ahead, guiding them through the mansion she had spent most of her childhood with.

Upon arriving at the guest room, Jennifer was quietly placed on a bed and tucked in. Immediately, the younger princess cuddled into the soft fabric with a sigh of drunken pleasure.

“I think I’ll follow suit. Come on Lilian, let’s go to bed.”

The youngest of the royal siblings cheered and dived into a random bed. Once Ellen undressed to her tunic and trousers, she opened the covers and the two snuggled up together. Luna walked over to the lantern and dialed it off. Leaving the room shortly after.

“I’ll be visiting my mother in the morning, so don’t oversleep,” Luna said softly before leaving.

“That will be a tall order,” Ellen said as she rubbed her cheek against Lilian’s. “This little creature will add more temptation to enjoy a lazy morning.”

Luna smiled and shook her head in unconvincing disapproval before opening the door and leaving. As soon as she left, she looked around and focused on her vision. Suddenly, the world was filled with a bright white glow, and faint wisps of string danced in the air along the hallway with a pure white color. Just as quickly as it came, it was gone and her eyes returned to their normal winter grey. She then quietly began walking to her room, ready to sleep the night away so she could go see the rest of her family tomorrow.