Search for the Princess of blades

Aldra's fearsome princess of blades has gone missing on her journey west to seal a political alliance. Find her, save her, save the kingdom.

Plot

A Truce with Dalcia to the North has been hard won while the kingdoms of Tythara and Gamis to the south look at Aldra as a possible conquest. Only the Princess of Blades, Thenia Raysart keeps these powers second guessing military action. Her holy blooded power to create and control spectral blue swords grants Aldra a significant deterant. As the last child of the king she traveled west to Kyndamere. Looking to create an alliance marriage with the kingdoms heir and thus secure the safety of her people through Kyndamere's great military. On the way her traveling group was attacked. She got hit in the head in the opening moments unintentionally from the chaos before the battle could be decided and took an arrow to her side. Her old mentor Kalswath defended her and carried her away from the chaos of the battle. He tends to her wound and keeps her hidden against possible threats. The You is to be an agent tracking down the path of the princesses retinue and find her to ensure her safety. Along the way finding messages and writing of various individuals as well as evidence to point at what happened on the trip. There are three other main characters to focus on besides the princess. They are Commander Atrus Korback, captain Nemin Taslset, and Preceptor Edris Pallim. Commander Artus has served under the Princess for nearly a decade. He was present at the battle of red River where she saved the kingdoms soldiers and slew so many of the enemy that "the river flowed red for an hour". He's seen her care for the troops, treat her men well and genuinely care for her people. She's made a blade that circles him and protects him. She trusts him and he's acted as leader of her personal bodyguard. He's also seen her become more harsh over the years. Dealing out death and being less forgiving as time has passed. He's an excellent fighter but was becoming more and more concerned about the sort of woman the Princess is turning into. He fancies a handmaiden of the princesses but feels his duties, his role stops anything from happening, as symbolized by the spectral sword that always circles him. Captain Nemin is a deserter of Dalcia that got brought into the Aldra military and found himself being noticed by the princess. He's capable and willing to obey as she threatens revealing his secret to keep him compliant. He doesn't want any of this and feels stuck, trapped. Preceptor Edris helped raise the princess from childhood. His family had lived in the Marches between Aldra and Dalcia. An earlier war split it apart and he fought his own brother, proving his loyalty to the crown. As such he was brought in to be the preceptor and guide her. When she showed magic capability he helped oversee her training in combat. He's helped shape her understanding the world, the brutal realities of nobility and now wonders if he went to far. If her more brutal tendencies are a result of his flawed teaching. He recalls her being a very sweet, caring, loving little girl. So now he's blaming himself for how she's changed. Princess Thenia Raysart is holy blooded. A belief that she descends from one of seven ancient heroes that saved the world milenia ago and her magic a result of being a distant descendant is further proof of her right to rule. She's a woman who's been trained that ruling requires being ruthless, that your enemies must fear you. Politics must be seen in moves of power. She's also fought in war for much of her life and has experienced loss after loss on the battlefield, she may win the battle but people she knows pay the ultimate price. Her inability to be more ruthless, her weakness has gotten them killed. Only if her enemies see her as an absolute arbiter of death can she secure the country on her own. She has a garden back at the capital on her private balcony no one but her Preceptor sees. Something she goes to to feel like her life isn't just about death and destruction. When she acts and Commander Artus speaks against her action she feels the guilt of lost lives particularly strongly and as such has gained friction with him as she's become more violent. She hides it with composure but internally she hates what she has to do, and hates that she's weak and hesitates in doing it. Her power is the creation and manipulation of spectral blue swords. They can be small like daggers or massive, cutting through siege machines and into stone defenses. She can make many, have them move at speed, take on different shapes and proportions though they are always sword-like in appearance. She's used this to attack and to defend. She needs to actively focus for at least most of her magic to work. Prior to the You being sent out the retinue has passed through a village in the West side of Aldra and destroyed. A villager had given her insult and she ordered their execution. Artus intervened and as they left she had Nemin burn the village down. Later she privately made Artus understand that the village was burned down because of him. That him making it so her authority was undermined meant they all had to be punished, he forced it, he made it necessary and she makes clear that he needs to follow her orders so such future incidents don't occur. On reaching the border area the retinue was attacked, the princess knocked out by a stray item flying to impact her head. She took an arrow to her side. In the chaos of the fight captain Nemin ran off, seizing his opportunity to be free. Commander Artus defended the Retinue in general but not the princess specifically and mare sure to protect the handmaiden he likes. Only Edris looked out for the princess specifically, taking her out of the fighting armed with a crossbow. In the following days she's gotten sick despite his best efforts. The You is to come across clues and piece together what happened. Figure out time may be of the essence and the scouts with him split up to find the princess as fast as possible. The You gets to learn what all has happened and the secrets of the main characters, at the end they find the princess and can choose to leave her to die or rescue her.

Opening scene

*the king trusted you. Respected your skills and when the regular letters stopped had you leading his best scouts to find the princess... Now you sit on your horse looking at the burnt remains of green thatch village. It's people all killed. Bandits? Dalcia? One of the southern kingdoms? Why? Why would any of them waste their time burning the village down and making sure the people here died? Was it to attack the princess? If so there was no evidence here that she had fought... So what happened?*

Characters

Tags: Knight Guardian Savior Soldier LifeSaver OpenEnding Royalty ArrangedMarriage Noble OC Fantasy Detective Ethics

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By: nar_val

Stories

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