Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

"It's stupid and I don't see the point of it! Why do I have to look at some smelly horse? You know that I don't even like horses," the girl whined to her tutor, pouting in a way that made the woman frown.

"Valeria, stop doing that with your mouth, I don't know how many times I've said it but it isn't attractive and you'll get all these lines around your mouth..." Ulyna began in reprimand.

"What like all those wrinkles that you have?" the child sneered, sticking her tongue out at her. "I'm nicer looking than you anyway so I doubt it." She couldn't deny that she enjoyed doing this to the woman, winding her up, especially when that vein started jumping just above her eyebrow when she was really angry but trying not to explode.

"Valeria Paige Burhan, you will remember your manners," Ulyna ordered in clipped tones. Valeria made a face; she hated having her middle name thrown about. She didn't know what had possessed her parents to give her her grandmother's name. Bloody suck-ups! She wasn't even high enough in line for it to be worth a damn. Still, she plastered a sweet smile on her face and batted her eyelashes at her, trying to appear pretty and innocent.

"Of course, Ulyna, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have been rude," she wheedled, watching her tutor turn her gaze skywards.

"You're always able to be a lady when it suits you. I suppose that that's something at least. Now please, come along. These people have come all the way from Andaris with this horse and they have to be greeted. Your grandparents are going to be there so I'm sure that you'll be on your best behaviour!"

"Oh goody," she muttered. The old farts were going to be there. They seemed ridiculously old to the ten arc old and she didn't think it was a joy to be in their presence. It meant that she had to act all lady-like. Some of it was all right - she enjoyed getting dressed up prettily - but she didn't like having to act as stuffy as her elders. "Yes, Ulyna, I'll be good. Now can you explain the horse thing again?"

As they headed towards the main doors, her tutor explained the purpose of the visit (again) and she felt her eyes glaze over (again) although she smiled and nodded as if she was listening to every word. Once they reached their destination, the tutor hovered anxiously beside Valeria, positioning her behind and to one side of her grandparents. With that done, she noticed that no one else had been roped into this. Her brothers had probably had the opportunity to run off and do something fun. Being a lady wasn't fair at all.

They stepped through the doors, moving down the steps while her elders moved ahead. They were going through some formulaic nonsense, spouting things that they didn't mean at all. However, Valeria was drawn to the men themselves. There were some guards with them bearing Burhan's sigil but the visitors were from Andaris. They were almost like foreigners from a different country, an exotic sight that she didn't often see. These visitors were even more exotic than usual. Their skin was so dark and they were so big! One was a fully grown man while the other seemed to be his son and she didn't think that he could be that many arcs older than her. Still, he already bore some of the strong look of the man mounted on the horse beside him. Her mouth hung open.

She smoothed down the folds of her soft blue dress, watching as her elders wrapped up their politicking, murmured something about hospitality and then went back into the house. Well, that seemed to be that. All the fuss, including having her hair curled, for what was only a few bits of silliness. The child wasn't happy. The men would be treated with respect but they weren't nobility, only their representatives, so they could be dealt with by servants. However, Ulyna thought that she might like to pet the new horse. She knew that Valeria didn't like horses. This was just one of her bloody tests. She couldn't kick off in front of strangers though and they both knew it.

Steeling herself, she approached the men cautiously, smiling prettily at the guards before she drew closer to the mounts, gazing up at the biggest man with wide blue eyes. "Excuse me, but can I pet the horse? Is it okay to just... touch it? Will it bite?" she asked softly.

The girl wished the horse was a biter. If he'd said that she needed to be wary then she would have had a great opportunity to back off, Ulyna be damned. But no, it had to be nice. She resisted the urge to huff and roll her eyes, instead maintaining the sweet smile as the man's son stepped forward. The child groaned inwardly. Was she going to be stuck with the infernal beast? Sure, she was curious about these exotic men, curious about what gossip she could glean about Andaris but she didn't want anything to do with the stupid animal.

"Hello," she murmured to Torqin, suddenly shy as she found herself at a loss of what to do. She gave an awkward little waggle of her fingers, wondering what that was meant to achieve when he was mere feet from her. Waving at someone only made sense when they were far off, not up close. However, she didn't know his name and he was basically a servant in any case so she had no notion of how to greet him. How was she supposed to talk with him? How did ladies react in this sort of situation? She wasn't even a proper lady so how could she know? It was even weirder because she was being introduced to a horse like it was a person. This was just too strange.

Then the colt bowed and her mouth dropped open anew.

Stinky beasts weren't meant to be clever enough to do things like that, especially not when they were horse-shaped. It was definitely bowing though. Was she meant to curtsy in response? To a horse? She didn't know but she did realise belatedly that she had her mouth wide open, something that Ulyna told her was common and uncouth. Admittedly, she could see her point about it; it was like she was giving a Jacadon space to fly in.

"Oh! It does tricks!" Valeria gasped out, neither caring nor noticing that she was stating the obvious. "So it isn't a big stupid beast after all. Even if it looks it."

"Valeria!" her tutor hissed, the disapproval quiet but clear. She shot a quick glance back at the woman, noting the firm and unhappy press of her lips. What? The last bit had just slipped out. She was allowed have opinions, wasn't she? Oh wait, no, she wasn't. Ladies who thought too much and let their mouths run away with them weren't very good sorts and nobody thought they were cute or pretty, even if they were only little girls. So she'd been told and she was pretty. Everyone should think she was pretty and she didn't want to jeopardise that by saying the wrong things in front of people.

"Sorry, horse," she mumbled, reaching out to give it a tentative rub on the nose, drawing her hand back again, fingers twitching nervously. She went in for another careful pet.

When Torqin addressed her as 'your grace', the little blonde's head whipped around, expecting her grandmother to be right behind her but there was no one but Ulyna. Her brows tugged together in puzzlement, her tutor subtly gesturing that the girl should smooth her forehead. Wrinkles again. The child rolled her eyes before turning her gaze back to the dark-skinned men, pupils huge and rimmed in silvery blue.

"You called me 'your grace' but... I'm not a duchess - that's my grandmother," she explained softly. Although she liked the sound of it. Oh she did like the title but that was because of the deference that was always shown to her grandmother, to her grandfather, the duke. They'd both reached a level where they could technically do what they liked; no one could tell them what to do because they were too high for them. Of course, they chose to be all political about it and stuffy but if she was duchess-

She would never be duchess; there was no point in dreaming about it.

She sighed softly, drawing her hand away from the colt and absently rubbing her hand on her dress.

"I could come with you," she mused, glancing back at her tutor. If she went with these men then she might hear about Andaris and it would give her longer to wear her nice clothing, give them a proper airing. It also meant that Ulyna couldn't chastise her for awhile, not while they were in company, although she'd shown that she still had her ways. Well... Valeria might just have a way to get rid of her for awhile.

The blonde beamed, a new excited gleam in her gaze as honey tones flashed through it, something that hadn't occurred over the horse. "Oh I'd love to! Ulyna, you can tell everyone where I'm going. Bye!" she announced, definite glee in her features as she went to march off, not seeing how the woman's face blanched.

"Wait, my lady! I'll send one of the guards, I'm sure that's more proper," the woman responded, grasping her skirts so she could trot after the child as her shock subsided.

The Senlin heiress turned a sweet, innocent face her way, blinking in feigned bewilderment that was definitely overdone, especially when the corners of her mouth were twitching to rise; she wasn't that good of an actress. "Do you want them to think something's wrong by having a guard barge in? Guards don't usually go into the house to say where members of the household have gone, not unless they've gone in a bad way," the child remarked. "They can look after me if I need it but... I definitely don't need you. Except to tell my mother where I've gone, of course. I don't need a tutor in the stables, not one like you. You handle ladies, not horses."

Their was the jumping vein and a look that seemed to suggest that the child before her was no lady but a beast. The woman curtsied woodenly.

"Of course, m'lady. As you say," she murmured before turning and marching back towards the house. Oh she was going to talk to her mother all right, she didn't doubt that but it would likely be another talk about what a spirited, impertinent little brat she could be. The blonde didn't care. She was basically ready to start skipping. Not that she would in front of these men. Little girls skipped and she wasn't that little anymore. She was quite grown up for her age. She knew how to swear and everything!

She turned her attention back to the men with a bright smile. "We're off to the stables then! Off we go, she won't be back!" she assured them, clasping her hands together and leaving them to bounce against the front of her dress as she walked. "So... what news of Andaris? You're from the Barony that the capital's in, aren't you?" she questioned eagerly, her eyes dancing with honeyed browns as they swivelled between the two strangers.

"Have you always lived there?" the child added, thinking she was very clever for not asking directly where they'd originated from to have such dark skin.