Dawn of Dusk

Princess Mirtar was seldom disturbed during her studies. Between her studies and her intelligence gathering, most of her time was taken. Early in her life she had shown great interest in palace intrigues in her own kingdom and in those of other kingdoms as well. She had constructed her intelligence network from early visits to other kingdoms. She had recruited her first spy when she was eleven; it was easy.

She was beautiful. Her hair was dark brown with natural strands of gold mixed in. It flowed from her head like waves on the sea. It acted as if it was almost alive and no man who looked upon her hair could easily look away. Her eyes were blue, the color of the calm sea in the summertime with flecks of silver-gray that made them sparkle. She had high cheek bones on a round face that went down to a small chin that made her seem dainty. Her nose was small and seemed designed to bring attention to her lips which were full and naturally red. Her lips were bottom heavy with a very pronounced cupid’s bow and a deep philtrum. Men talking to her often found themselves watching her lips move as she spoke. She had a perfect hour-glass figure and kept herself toned and healthy by learning the art of self-defense with a short sword and dagger that her father had given her at age eleven along with eight years of intense training. She stood as tall as most men, do to her exceptionally long legs. The overall image she presented was like the statues of the goddesses in the temple. He mother pretended not to know anything about her martial arts training; but was also pleased her daughter could defend herself.

All the palace women in every kingdom and duchy loved her, they wanted her to marry their young heir if he was good and kind, or they wanted her to avoid him if he wasn’t. By the time she was fifteen, she had a source of information in every major kingdom of men in the world.

Usually when her father sent for her, she was waiting for the page when he came for her. Today she had been caught totally by surprise. She waited for a few minutes in the ante chamber and then was called in to meet with her father and mother.

Her parents were a matched set. They even seemed to think the same thoughts. She felt that their way of running a kingdom was without a doubt the most efficient and orderly way it could be done. They did everything together. They seldom spent more than an hour or two each day away from each other. They loved one another, and it showed.

At nearly sixty, they both had dark hair but sprinkled heavily with gray. Both had aged gracefully with few lines or wrinkles. Her father’s green eyes and gotten somewhat paler over the years but were once as bright as emeralds he had put on some weight in his older years but still looked mostly fit. Her mother had once had blue-black hair and blue eyes similar to her daughter but they were almond shaped. She too had put on some weight but was still shapely and attractive.

As she entered the room she curtsied deeply, still wondering why she had been summoned. Her mother beckoned her to come and sit in a chair facing the two of them. They were not in the throne room but in a study off of their bedroom suite.

She sat and folded her hands in front of her to control her shaking. Her father smiled at her and her mother gave her a pat on the hands, as if to say, “don’t worry.”

“Father, Mother, how may I serve you?”

“Continue being the perfect daughter you have been for the rest of your life,” her father chuckled.

“Father, I know that you didn’t bring me in here to tell me that. Why am I here?”

“You really are nervous aren’t you my dear. There is no need, we love you and want the best for you.”

“Thank-you.”

Mirtar decided to wait them out. She straightened the wrinkles out of her dress and waited with her head down and her hands held in her lap. Occasionally she would glance at them without raising her head and was slightly annoyed that they were giving her no signs or signals.

King Montrosal studied his daughter. She had curly, dark brown hair and almond shaped blue eyes with the longest eyelashes he’d ever seen. With her high cheekbones and her small nose she had an exotic beauty about her. Usually she looked very self assured. Her nervousness indicated to him that either she new why she had been called in to talk today and didn’t want to discuss it, or she didn’t know. He guessed the latter and pushed to see if he was right.

“I am somewhat surprised that you don’t already know why we asked you in here today.” Her cheeks reddened. “Maybe we have plugged our leaks sufficiently to keep you from knowing everything that goes on here before it is announced. We have been trying to do that you know. We don’t mind you knowing these things, after all one day you will rule here. It bothers me that anyone, even you, could find out things that are supposed to be secrets as easily as you do.”

At that she smiled and relaxed a little. Well, I can make an educated guess. Has it to do with my marriage covenant with Borrial in Karrondor?”

“Good guess Mirtar; we don’t want you becoming the wife of this man. It is my personal opinion that the man is a vile, narcissistic, self centered, egotistical, power grabbing, sadist. I truly believe that he is going to be the source of much suffering for his people, and possibly the all of the people of the world.”

“No need to mince your words father,” she said. “I agree however, I don’t feel that it is necessary to buy out of the contract for two reasons. First, Borrial has his sights on another bride. As we speak he is entertaining the King of Fulsimter. His daughter, Lymar it is reported, would do anything and agree to almost anything to become his queen.

“I’m convinced however, that Borrial hates educated women. He wants to marry Lymar because he thinks she is ignorant; I know her well and she is far from it. I am not desperate to become a queen like Lymar is and both of us know it. He also knows that I despise him much more than he despises me.

I think that if we just wait a bit, he will come to us and try to ransom my dowry. He would need to come up with 500 bekars of gold minimum.”

Her parents nodded and appeared satisfied. This was how they were training her to run the kingdom. They would invite her in and ask her to “enlighten” them on a certain situation or another. She would show them both her ability to keep abreast of the situation, her reasoning ability and her problem solving skills.

They felt she had accurately evaluated the situation and were pleased with her recommendations. As they began to rise she spoke again, sitting them quickly back into their seats.

“Now there is the issue of who I really should marry.” She paused for effect. “As I see it, since I am the only heir, it is not necessary for me to marry a prince; we are at peace with all other nations. So as I see it, I in fact have the luxury of being fairly selective when it comes to a husband. Especially since at the present time, we have good foreign relations with every government except Drathmire and I don’t think you will ask me to marry a gnome or a goblin. As I see it, this means I can actually marry for love as long as the man I choose to marry is not an incompetent fool or evil and I doubt that I could love someone like that anyway.”

Her father and mother looked at each other. They were amazed that she had thought this through. The fact of the matter was they were getting discreet inquiries on the availability of their daughter, mostly from kings with more than one son. She probably knew which had asked and which hadn’t.

“The long and short of it is that I am interested in someone. I just don’t know if he is interested in me.”

Mirtar folded her arms in front of her as if to dare them to ask her who this mystery man was. They sat there quietly for a few moments and her father spoke.

“Is this some kind of a test? You pique our interest and then leave us hanging over this emotional cliff. Do you expect us to ask, or don’t you want us to know yet? I get the feeling that you are dying to tell someone.”

Her mother said, “We don’t want you to tell us if you would rather keep things private. If this is something that we can help you with, then we want to do it. Your happiness is important to us.”

She smiled at them, “Father, Mother, I know that you would like to help me. I am dying to tell you, but, I must have your promise that you will do nothing about it. I have to be allowed to handle this in my own way in my own time. I want your promise that there will be no letters, no messengers, no hastily arranged visits, nothing. If I am to develop a relationship with this man, then I want to do it on my own. I have to know that he loves me, Mirtar, not the Princess of Artermador. I want to enjoy a relationship like I have seen you have. I may not ever get it, but, I can look for it, and hope for it. Do I have your promise?”

Both parents spoke at the same time.

“What ever makes you happy dear, you have my promise.”

“I promise not to do anything as much as a mother can promise; I want you to have a marriage like this one too.”

“The man I think would make me the perfect husband, a good king and a wise diplomat, but mostly a perfect husband, is Borrial’s twin, the Duke of Cryarlac, Guardian of the East, Vistyral.”

Both of her parent’s mouths dropped open. They had just been discussing how wonderful it would have been if Vistyral had been born first.

“When we have visited there, or we have had them here, he was always the one who would ask what I would like to do and then try to accommodate me. Borrial made his life miserable when they were younger but he never got bitter. He remained, to the last time I saw him, a warm and generous person.

He never made any advances to me. I believe he didn’t because I was promised to his brother and his honor kept him from saying or doing anything. I have always felt however, that he cares for me in a romantic way in the chance to steady me when we were walking on a narrow path, or offering me his hand to help me out of a carriage and holding it just a little longer than was needed.

“His skills in diplomacy are excellent. He single handedly brought about the truce with the Dwarves and has made both his Dukedom (thereby Karrondor) and the Dwarven kingdom richer. He has presently been sent to negotiate with the Elves, and I understand he is negotiating for the kingdom of Karrondor, not for the Duchy of Cryarlac. He is doing Borrial’s work for him which means that Lamercal trusts his diplomacy skills more than Borrial’s. He can organize himself to do these diplomatic missions, as well as running the most influential and wealthy Duchy in Karrondor without any logistical problems. Three fifths of Karrondor’s income comes from Cryarlac today. When Mastral was the duke, only three eighths of Karrondor’s income came from there, and much effort and expense was wasted in his cold war with the Dwarves.

He has no prisons. He punishes criminals when they are found guilty with an appropriate punishment on the spot. Repeat criminals in Cryarlac are almost non-existent. That way he doesn’t tie up his revenues furnishing the criminals with room and board that came from the taxes of the good people the criminals victimize. He settles disputes between his lords with tact and wisdom. He has the second largest army in the kingdom. Only Karron itself has a larger army and most of the army of Karron is made up of palace guards, those are mostly for show. Vistyral’s army is by far the most prepared, seasoned, and equipped. There are rumors that he has armor for all his foot soldiers of Dwarven steel and that his mounted soldiers all wear Elven chain mail. It is said, that he can field almost 20,000 foot soldiers and 4500 on horseback and he commands them himself, as “Guardian of the East;” which means he is a general to Lamercal.”

“What is he planning to do with all those soldiers my dear?” Montrosal asked.

“This is what is so amazing father; he has come up with a totally new type of army. His officer corps and his senior non commissioned soldiers work full time in military matters guarding his fortress called “Stronghold” and in training and in patrolling the frontier and the rivers. Those men total about 1000, twice each month all able bodied men come to the fortress for the day and train. They earn their normal daily wage plus two percent more.”

“When is the last time you spoke to him my dear? Maybe he has found someone he is interested in. It wouldn’t be surprising; with all you have told us about him he must be the most eligible bachelor in the world.”

“I know I sound like a silly girl, Mother. Believe me; I have had feelings for Vistyral for some time. For almost seven years I have thought about no one else. I found out what type of woman he would like for a wife, I have followed his time with Mastral as a squire and his surprising elevation to the Duchy of Cryarlac.

I always thought that Borrial wouldn’t want me, but I have hoped that I would be someone that his brother would want as a wife, and more importantly, could fall in love with. I’m not talking about my title, or my wealth, or my status of heir and future queen. I’m talking about a woman who knows what is going on in the world; someone who knows how to negotiate, trade, and barter. I have hoped that he would want someone to stand by his side and support him in all things and receive support from him; a friend, a confidant, and, and, and, well a lover too.” She blushed mightily. “I’m nineteen; I can think about those things can’t I?”

“Yes dear, as long as you only think about them for now.”

Her father had been listening intently to her and watching her as she spoke about Vistyral. Finally he spoke. “My dear, what do you want from us? There is nothing I want more for you in your life than for you to be happy. If this man will make you happy and you have been “in love” with him since you were twelve, I think that we should do something.”

“No, Father, you promised that you wouldn’t do anything. He has just gone to Arborlea and will probably be there for some time. The day after his brother ransoms my dowry would not be the most opportune time to talk to him. Shortly there after, there should be signing ceremonies from his treaties with the Elves and then shortly after that there will probably be a royal marriage in Karrondor and probably not long after that, a funeral.”

Vertimar scolded her. “Shame on you for talking like that, King Lamercal is a wonderful man.”

“You also know that he is dying, or should know. He is holding on just to see Borrial married. My sources say its true and I believe them.”

“Tell me my dear, this group of, ah; what’s the word I’m looking for...”

“Spies, Father I call them spies.”

“Yes, your spies, did you start recruiting them to keep track of Vistyral?

“No, but you would be amazed at how many people are willing to spy for a sweet cute noble girl who says she might be interested in the local prince or duke. I had them lined up. Once I saw who would give me good information and had a source to verify what I learned, I cut back to only two per kingdom or Duchy. I don’t pay them; they do it because they like me.”

“Just don’t expect things to remain the same after you marry. The sources might dry up in a hurry when they find out their young prince is out of the running.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. They all like me and they enjoy talking with me.”