I sum up here a few stories from our facebook page(
www.facebook.com/groups/459356621555452/permalink/475689386588842/ ):
Author:
Adrian MunteanRubolia was a land where the existence of magic was known by all but understood by few and harnessed by fewer. Magic was only available either by achieving a high rank, or by being chosen by the magic itself, for reasons only known to it. As such, only kings, mages and priests were able to cast spells or tap into immense sources of power.
The King of Rubolia was Leonius, who had been reigning in Rubolia since his youth. Now, he was an older man, his shiny grey beard showing both his experience and age. He had no sons to inherit the kingdom, as was the law of the land. His wife had blessed him with only a girl, who was now of the right age to marry. She was a blonde, hazel-eyed hot-head of a young woman. On the day her father said he needed to find a suitor for her, she said that it would be she to choose, not him. Her father trained her, as was tradition, to both be a lady of nobility and a decent fighter.
Malus, the Captain of the Guard kept insisting that it would be an honor for him to marry Evelyn, and that he would make her the queen all of Rubolia would want. He often showed his love and passion by sending flowers and doing all the things suitors often do to court. However, neither Leonius nor Evelyn believed he was the one. Leonius feared that he only wanted to ascend in rank and tap into magic powers, and so believed the suitor would have needed to be of nobility, not military background. Evelyn simply hated his guts. She believed he was an ugly henchman that did not love her, only wanting her to achieve his goals. She had yet to find someone that sparked attraction in her heart, her soulmate. Evelyn knew about magic, but she was never able to feel it, or use it. Her father said that magic will be bestowed to her only when she displayed the traits that pleased the magical forces. Evelyn wasn’t satisfied with this ambiguous answer, but then again, she couldn’t do anything about it.
One evening, the king started feeling ill after a banquet. Not long after, he was dying in his chambers. The kingdom’s first physician said he didn’t find anything wrong about his body, no signs of poison, no signs of illness, no nothing. Barely being able to speak, the king wanted to rest. During the night, the king asked one of the loyal servants to bring Evelyn. She came, and almost cried seeing her father’s state. He raised a hand, as if to say: “Hush, child.” He waved his hand, as if to say that she should come closer. He quietly told her in her ear: “Malus poisoned me. The servant saw him exchange my glass of brandy with another one, but by the time he reached for the glass, I already took a good sip of it. I’m dying, Evelyn, but don’t worry, I know you’ll rule this kingdom. It’s in your blood.” Furious and full of questions, she looked as her father was slowly passing. She immediately grabbed the servant, pummeling him with questions: “Why didn’t you take the glass from his hand? Did you want to see my father dead? Answer me or I’ll have you killed!” “Lady, please, listen to me. I loved your father almost as much as you. I immediately went to grab the glass and was shouting to him. The music was so loud, and nobody paid attention to a poor servant, they all were looking at the musicians. When I reached the king, it was too late, he already sipped from it.” Hearing this, Evelyn retreated to her room, her hair turning red, for reasons unknown, but she believed it was because of her anger.
After her father’s funeral, with no protection whatsoever, she was wed to Malus, who had gained immense popularity. When asked about the red hair, she answered that she had dyed it to resemble a fire of passion for Malus. Evelyn, vowing to take revenge for her father’s murder, concocted a plan of her own. After the wedding party, the couple retreated to their chambers, to consume their newly wed love. Malus, apparently showing husbandly love, embraced Evelyn, softly but firmly grabbing her hips while looking her in the eyes. He said to her: “I love you, and I will do everything I can to be the best husband you deserve.” Replying to him, she said: “I love you too, my husband.” They then pressed their lips against each other, kissing passionately and moving closer and closer to one another. Malus started to guide Evelyn steadily towards their regal bed, while slowly taking off her flax woven night dress. He then proceeded to lift Evelyn up, and guide her feet firmly to surround his waist. Immediately after, he planted her on the bed, face up, with him above her.
That was the moment to strike, while his hands were busy unleashing his masculine pride from his trousers. With a swift and sharp motion, she pulled a very pointy knife from under the corner of the blanket, just as he was taking his manhood out. With bestial ferocity, she put her left hand on his mouth, covering it, while stabbing with a sad and painful force, stemmed from the death of his father. Malus rolled his eyes upward, as his voice lowered to a halt, and he fell sideways, with the knife right between his two balls, his manhood bleeding heavily.
Evelyn quickly got up and opened the chamber door while half naked. Her loyal servant stormed in and closed the door. He gave her the armor, sword and shield of one of the guards. She dressed. Their armor was a green tunic, trousers and shield, with a red cape. Their weapon of choice was a double-edged sword. The shield had runes painted white around its round shape, displaying the magical inheritance of the kingdom. She bade farewell to the servant while hugging him, and then carefully planted the helmet on her head, while her servant helped her hide her flame red locks, so the other guards wouldn’t notice her feminine presence.
She adopted the walk and pace of the guards, only slightly faster, as to not raise any suspicion. The wedding night meant that most of the townsfolk and guards were drunk, so she didn’t have much of a problem opening one of the small gates and absconding into the dead of the night. By dawn, she had already traversed the Forest of Laleia, that bordered the city’s outer walls. When morning came, she decided to take a break. She found a wooden log, at the base of a double-stemmed pine.
Having a time to recollect and reflect, she was thinking that by this time, the guards will have found Malus’s body and declared Evelyn a wanted criminal. She groped around with her feelings, feeling everything, from sadness, to fury, to depression, to boldness. She was spluttering and muttering to herself words that only she knew what they meant. She knew, however, that she must do right by her father, and that she had to clear her name and reclaim the throne.
While sitting there, below that pine branch, ravenous, she saw a blinding little light, descending from the sky. It’s golden rays made it almost impossible to look at. While it descended, the blinding ray gave way to some sort of butterfly that had human legs and hands. It looked almost like one of the fairies Leonius was mentioning when he told Evelyn bed-time stories. It carried in its tiny hands a ring, with runes that Evelyn quickly recognized as identical to the ones on the shield.
Could it have been a magical being, or was it just the delusions of a lost and abandoned Evelyn?
