Caged Bird

Syndi, the youngest sister of the late Queen Eioldth, arrives in Westmark with her parents, the King and Queen of the Losasidhe Elves.

18.

Caged Bird

 

 

Although she had never seen it before in her life, Princess Syndi of the Losasidhe Elves was extremely glad to see the grey walls of Westmark.  

She longed to slip away from her royal parents and simply walk about the city, for she had never been in anything as big as a large town - aside from the Losasidhe capital, of course.    In fact, she had seen very few humans and no Orcs or Halflings that she could recall.    Now they were all about, milling around and staring as the regal convoy pulled wearily through the gates.    Trumpets sounded from the walls to alert everyone in town that they had arrived.

Syndi found herself completely ignoring her mother’s typical instructions on proper protocol and manners as they awaited a greeting from the Duke and Duchess.

She’d never seen a Dark Elf before, but knew that Eleazar and Aurei Dullerm had been extremely close friends to her sister Eioldth.

The thought of her late sister made the Losasidhe girl ache in her chest.    Syndi had not known her older sister extremely well, due to the great difference in age.    She was the youngest of all of the children of King Eiolmoel and was named after her mother, Queen Synthaeia.   Of course her parents had clung to her a bit more than all of her sisters.  Syndi had been instructed in every possible courtly art and skill that her parents felt was important for the youngest daughter of the King to possess.

“Are you listening to me, nin yenda?”   The Queen asked her, annoyed at her disrespect.    It was always evident when her mother slipped back into the Losasidhe’s native tongue - Faesidhe- when referring to ‘my daughter’.

“Yes, mother.”   Syndi responded with a slight sigh.

“No, you are not!    You have never met the Dark Elves, and I do not want you to be uneasy in your reaction to them.”

“Are they not our allies?”   She asked her mother, though she knew that they were.

“Yes, of course they are our allies.   They are not like those who dwell underground.    You know this, nin yenda!”

“Yes, so why are you instructing me on them, mother?    I know that their skin is black and their eyes glow red.    I shall not stare at them in horror.”

“Your facial features may betray a reaction that you don’t realize.   This is our first visit to Westmark.    One cannot see the future in a civil war, but it is evident by the refugees that fill the streets around our coach that the people are placing their hope in the Dullerms.    They are -in effect- the rulers of the western half of Northmarch, as well as the Faesidhe forest.”

“I know this as well, mother.”

“Then you will realize that they will soon be very powerful rulers of this area and we cannot offend them by less than a gracious first meeting.”

“If you think I am not able to handle this meeting, perhaps I should just conceal myself in this carriage.”

 

Her sarcasm was not lost on her mother, and the King, who had listened to their exchange, smiled slightly at his daughter’s reply.  

“Let us stop arguing and worrying about trivial things.”   He said to both of them as a ducal guard (from the design on his surcoat) came up to the carriage door.    The coach stopped and he bowed respectfully.

“Your Royal Highness, I have been sent by General Luca to welcome you to Westmark and to escort you to the Ducal Keep.”

“Thank you.   Tell me; are the Duke and Duchess away?”

“Yes, sire, they and their children are away on very urgent business.    General Luca will explain in full when he meets with you.”

 

They were led through the busy streets by the ducal guard and Syndi’s parents speculated about the Dullerm’s business as they wove past hundreds of displaced people.     Syndi sighed and rubbed her eyes, tired from weeks of riding in the coach.

They had set out as soon as they had received the grim news that Eioldth had died in a coup attempt.    The snow had come very early in the mountains and the going had been slow.    They had been greatly delayed by the destruction of the Gorge Bridge, which had forced them to take a winding, easterly route.

The King had wanted to see his daughter’s grave - in spite of the dangers that his scouts warned him about in King’s Reach.    But they had diverted at the passionate insistence of the captain of the King’s troop when two of their scouts had not returned from reconnaissance around the Northmarch capital.

So they had travelled west on the Dwarven Highway instead, and then turned southward on a very poor connecting road until they finally crossed over into land controlled by Westmark and Dullerm.   

Three times during the journey across country had they been ambushed by small units of Earl Redburr’s forces, but the Losasidhe elite archers had driven the humans off and their convoy had evaded them.  

Syndi was tired of the ride and of many days living in fear of a better organized ambush by the Earl’s army.   Yet all her parents could do was talk of courtly protocol and ponder the political strategies that the Duke and Duchess were using in this crisis.

It all seemed very ridiculous to the young Losasidhe girl.    She was at the age when most young women of Faesidhe ancestry begin marrying and leaving their parent’s house.   She would be 100 years old in two years, and that was the traditional age of adulthood of the Faesidhe race.  

 

***

They met with General Luca for nearly an hour in one of the banqueting halls of the Ducal Keep.   He was very forthcoming with information and candid about what had happened within Northmarch.   Finally, talk turned to strategies and Syndi risked a frown of disapproval from her mother by asking if she could be excused to get some air and stretch her legs.

Her mother sighed softly when her father gave his consent, but the Elven girl did not care and hurried -respectfully, so as to not upset her mother- from the hall.    A servant led her to her guest quarters, but Syndi stopped her before she left her room.

“I would like to see the city, but I don’t really want to trudge around the snow and mud looking like a princess in this dress.    I have an unusual request - could you find me something that would be worn by just a normal woman in this city?   I would prefer pants and boots that would be useful in mud.   If it isn’t too much trouble, that is.”

The servant girl seemed almost delighted to assist her and within a quarter of an hour brought her some rather plain, but warm brown leather boots that went just past her knees, along with a green tunic and pants, as well as a hooded cloak.  

“You’ll fit in wonderfully wearing this”, the girl assured her, “There are many Elves among the refugees.”

“Thank you!”   Syndi smiled happily, “These are just what I had in mind.”

***

In a short time, the Losasidhe girl was happily strolling through the crowded streets of the city, fascinated by all the sights around her.

She had never seen such a diversity of races before.    Humans and Elves of course, as well as the little Halflings.    She was familiar with Dwarves, for they were her people’s neighbors in the mountains of the north and they had a very friendly relationship with them.

Yet it was the Orcs and Goblin races that surprised her - as well as troubled her- the most.  

Syndi knew of her older sister’s Orc honor guard, but she had never actually seen an Orc or Goblin.     Once an insane Ogre had hunted in the mountains of her people’s home and the Losasidhe Rangers had tracked him and killed him.   His corpse was the only Ogre she had ever seen.    

Yet in Westmark, Orcs and Goblinoids seemed almost as numerous as the Elven and Dwarven refugees.    She saw a few Ogres and even a couple of Bugbears when she glanced into the large courtyard between the Muddy Boot Inn and the Ducal Keep.  

They all accepted their situation as refugees, though it seemed that there were guards all around the Goblinoids.

As she stared at the lot of them milling around in the courtyard, she heard the crunch of snow from someone coming up behind her.

Turning around, she was momentarily alarmed to see a tall Orc lady wearing plate armor, standing respectfully behind her.    The Orc lady smiled a surprisingly pretty grin in spite of dainty little tusks that protruded from her bottom jaw.

“Pardon me, Your Highness, I did not mean to alarm you.”   Her voice was intelligent and quite pleasant, which perplexed her, for she thought that all Orcs were uncivilized brutes.

“That’s alright.”   Syndi answered uneasily, “I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.”

“I’m Lieutenant Lysa, Your Highness.   I am second in command of The Queen’s Honor Guard.    Your sister’s Honor Guard:   Queen Eioldth, may Yesh bless her soul.”

“Oh!   You are one of Eioldth’s Orc guards!”   Syndi said as the uneasiness drained from her, “I am very glad to meet you, Lieutenant.    I have heard marvelous things about your Guards.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.    We all regret her loss, though I’m certain it doesn’t compare to your pain.”

“Actually, Lieutenant, I did not know my sister very well.    It is something that saddens me now that I will never get that chance.”

The Orc bowed her head reverently and stood quietly to give Syndi time to reflect on her loss.

“Lieutenant, did my parents send you to find me?”   She asked at last.

“They were alarmed to find that you had left without telling them.    General Luca asked me to locate you.”

“Oh.   I just wanted to see this city.   I have felt like a dog on a leash throughout the journey here.  It was nice to finally have time away from them.”  

“I was ordered to find you, Your Highness, and I have achieved this goal.    If you would like some time alone, I will certainly respect that.   May I tell your parents that you were sightseeing?”

“Sure, they will probably order you to come and retrieve me then.”

The Orc lady smiled, “Well, if they do, I think I will begin looking for you on the east end of town and will finish up on this side, coming down this street last.    It will take about an hour to wrap up my search here.”

Syndi understood her meaning and found that she really liked this Orc lady.   She seemed to be kind and empathetic to her situation.

“Thank you, Lieutenant Lysa.    I can see why my sister was so proud of her honor guard.”  

“You are welcome, Your Highness.   Enjoy your time alone.”  The Orc lady bowed respectfully and then turned and hurried off into the crowd.

Reviews

[Elina]

"Yet all her parents could do is talk of courtly protocol..." The "is" should be "was."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina, I will fix that.