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| Along the Road | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 9 2008, 02:01 AM (69 Views) | |
| Gretel the Great | Jul 9 2008, 02:01 AM Post #1 |
 
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Her long fingers tapped against the open window the carriage as Queen Gretel stared out it and into the field next to her, watching the sheep that grazed there. She wondered if they knew what was happening. Were terrified of becoming the next meal for some group of trolls that were travelling along. It seemed she had spent the last two weeks doing this, moving from one demolished town to the next and trying to pull together what was left and helping her troops run out the last of the beasts from the village before the news of a new attack would reach them and she would be off again. Some of her advisors warned her that she should stay where it was safe but she would immediately send them out of her presence. Her people were in danger and they had always stood by her, even as that worthless Hood stood there and did nothing, and now it was her turn to fight for them. There was no way she would ever hole herself up inside her castle with legions of soldiers between herself and the ones threatening her, whether they be man or troll. Any that expected that of her she had half a mind to throw out of her court completely. In the world she had inherited from her mother, there was little room for that type of attitude. Only the strongest would help her gain control of a kingdom in a whole world set against her. Jasella had been sent out the day before and she waited impatiently for word from them on what progress had been made. It killed the proud woman to ever go to King Wendell for help, after the way he had treated her and her court and subjects, as if they didn't even exist. And for what? A centuries old feud that had split the Second Kingdom in half. But as much as it pained her, Gretel did what she had to to protect those who did honor her status as the true Queen of Second Kingdom. The very same reason she was out now in search of trolls while Red sat up in her castle, pretending that nothing was happening only to come begging for her help once they were right outside her own door. "Venya," She said suddenly, turning her head from the window and towards the woman that sat across from her, maps strewn across her lap. "Please tell me we're closer to finding a pattern in their movements? This chasing after them from town to town is tiring. We have to beat them at some point. Show them that we are smarter than they are and won't let them destroy another of our villages." There were already too many lives upon her head. If she could prevent even one less person from being killed, she had to do it but they seemed to be no closer to cracking the troll's seemingly patternless movements than when they started this goose chase through the country. |
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| Venya Alcott | Jul 9 2008, 10:26 PM Post #2 |
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Venya had not been looking out the window, she was too distracted by the many maps laid out. There were more rolled up next to her and she was studying them. The surrounding land was not something she really wanted to see. It was much easier to analyze when looking at the map rather than actually looking out across the land - when she saw the destruction it only made her enraged and want to march straight into the 3rd Kingdom and start killing people - killing trolls. She looked up from the parchment and shook her head. "No my lady. They attacked here yesterday and here three days ago; before that they spilt here and here - there is no method." She shook her head. She pushed the map off from her lap and looked back up to the queen. She had advised Gretel for many years; there was a certain amount of trust that Venya had that some of the younger advisors and royals didn't. It was with that she gathered all of her sense and said calmly. "I have a plan, a suggestion." She picked up one of the maps and moved across the carriage to sit next to her queen. "Our army, though smaller now is strong - they have managed dessimating the population of trolls when they do attack. Currently the trolls are not in our lands, not en masse. I'm sure they can gather and mount an attack but they will require reinforcements to do any real damange or threaten us. However if reinforcements come we will be in grave danger." She pointed to the thick black line that ran along her kingdom and that of the trolls. "We must call all of our forces and secure the border. It will be a bold move but the only way to ensure the safety of our kingdom." She secretly hoped Wendell would not send troops, just so that her queen could prove her strength - because Venya knew they could win...and if they couldn't would each be willing to die as a martyr. They deserved to prove the 4th Kingdom, to Hood, and everyone else that they were just as bold as their word - that they were warriors and that they would die for a belief and for their land. |
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| Gretel the Great | Jul 9 2008, 11:45 PM Post #3 |
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Gretel could think of no one that she trusted more than Venya and though they didn't always agree on every subject, she always took her opinion into question and weighed it against her own. Together, that was how all their best decisions were made. She knew of no one truer to her except for maybe her daughter as Jasella had grown into her own strong loyalty for the crown that she wore. It was for people like them that she worked so hard, tirelessly. Sometimes to only survive and she liked to believe that in her time as Queen, substantial progress had been made. True, some bridges had had to been burned along the way but other, stronger, bridges had been built in their place. She sat proudly as they spoke of her army, her true crown jewel in her opinion. Gretel doubted there was one stronger in all the Nine Kingdoms and though worn thin, they still managed to take down even the largest of trolls when they threatened them. It was in these moments when it was easy for her pride to get in the way and she told herself that additional aide would never be needed even if they were sent, though her own hidden plans and desires from this mission kept all from calling them all straight back. Gretel was not some silly girl that would run to a man at the first sign of attack and it almost killed her to even seemingly react that way at all but while Red sat up in her castle, Gretel was waiting. Nothing good ever came out of having your people killed and your kingdom ransacked but if it did, she hoped it would be this as she plotted to sweep the centuries old alliance between Hood and White right from beneath their feet. If she could gain his allegiance to her throne, there would be few else that would question it. Though Cinderella could still be a tough sell. "But once they were in place, who will we send to kill the ones that are already here? It will take almost all of my women to guard our border and though they won't be able to come in, they also won't be able to get out and we won't have enough troops left to corral them." She argued, playing devil's advocate. The plan itself sounded sound enough but now they had to hunt for the holes in it to try and cover them up. |
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| Venya Alcott | Jul 10 2008, 11:28 PM Post #4 |
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Venya was studying the map. Her eyes darted up to Gretel. "True." She said not denying anything the queen said. "But just like none will get in, none will exit either. If you cut off the air of any breathing creature it will flail and then flounder and then gasp and then die. With no one to lead the few that are still present they will have no orders and therefore no air - they will either try and run back home - at which point they will fall upon the swords, arrows and spears of our troops guarding our land...or they will make themselves knows in their fear of having no direction. We will then turn the blind eye and let the farmers and towns people they've been terrorizing and killing captures some well earned vengeance of their own." Venya smiled as she glanced sideways with narrowed eyes at her queen. She settled back in the cushioned seat happily with this plan of action, at least it was some sort of plan - they needed one because as of yet they hadn't moved forward with any. Silently both she and the queen were likely thinking the same thing - that it was a temporary act of violence. However as the attacks kept coming they knew that something had to be done. The 'plan' thus far had been defend, but it was time they moved to be the aggressor. There was no guarantee that King White would send troops; they had to count on him not sending reinforcements and that they would need to fend for themselves. She let her own eyes trail out to the raised town. She felt her teeth grind in the back of her head. She wondered how her child was fairing with the king, she hoped for a moment the girl minded her tongue - it would be their undoing if anything would. Jasella knew how to use her mouth, she also knew how to use her appearance, if she did both the receiver was in danger, trouble or both. Though Venya wanted to help her queen prove their worth without the aid of others there was a sliver of her that hoped Jasella was winning them troops. She glanced back at Gretel. The thought of her own child and the destruction they were seeing had the woman hesitant and reluctant to mention it again but necessary all the same. "My queen, won't you entertain the idea of an heir?" She asked. An heir was necessary - Gretel was the last of her line and it would mean trouble if she didn't bring a child to replace her should the queen parish prematurely. |
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| Gretel the Great | Jul 11 2008, 01:59 PM Post #5 |
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Gretel wasn't sure what most other kings and queens would do in this situation, she knew her own mother would be rolling in the grave at the idea of martial law upon the trolls but it seemed to her the best idea. Her subjects were just as strong, if not more so, than her armies. They had the added responsibility of working the land and raising their sheep and fighting off the wolves that threatened their families and livelihood. She was certain that could take on trolls while she watched, doing whatever she could to help them. "I'll send a decree to the Commander at the next town." At least the next standing town, she thought as her eyes went out to the one they were entering. Under her strict surface, anger boiled as she saw the damage that had been done. Gretel loved her land and she loved her people. Some of her methods might not be considered the politically correct way but they were effective and in the people that followed her, they followed her unswervingly for that reason. That she would do anything to protect them and give them power and clout and wealth and general success. And now some trolls had decided that she seemed a nice little target for their raids and they were coming in here and hurting them and she would not stand for it. She would have Globle's head for this, that she was certain of. She had her own ideas for why he was doing it, most consisting of him trying to prove himself as stronger than his idiot brother had been. Some power play on his part at the expense of her people but she would teach him how this game was played and she would make sure it was his last. With or without Wendell's help. Her eyes seemed to lower at Venya's words, the whole subject one that was a point of tension between the two women. "To have an heir, I would need a husband. To have a husband, I would need to find a male that does not annoy me." A trait she was certain at this point did not exist. "So unless I consider marrying, having a child, and then locking him up in a tower, then I'm not seeing that happen anytime soon. And for the record, rulers that put people in towers are not usually remembered in the best light so it is still only my last resort." But not completely ruled out. Glancing out the window, Gretel suddenly called out, "Stop the carriage." Immediately the horses stopped and the wheels rolled to a halt as she reached under her seat and pulled out her sword, stepping out into the demolished city center. Once it was firmly attached to her waist, she stepped out farther, her black boots leaving a trail in the dirt behind her. Unlike the other nobility, Gretel refused to wear the dresses and finery of the feminine gender when not in the public eye. It gave her more room to move and she was more comfortable in general. Kicking open the door to one of the buildings, she held her sword out in front of her as she walked in slowly, searching for any sign of trolls before relaxing and beginning to search the house. In the back room, she found them. It was a small family, the parents holding onto their two children still even as they were piled up on the floor. Kneeling down on one knee, she replaced her sword in its holder and picked up the smallest child, who couldn't have been older than three, and stood up again. "Venya." She announced, never doubting the woman was right behind her. "Help me. We will these four a proper burial." With that, she turned, the lifeless body still in her arms, and walked briskly out of the room. Edited by Gretel the Great, Jul 11 2008, 02:13 PM.
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