The World of Rhune

Trei stood beside his parents, rubbing his hands in anticipation. The five ships were easily visible from where he stood. He gave those five to ten minutes until they arrived. The wharf was crowded with the people coming to see the young Prince and Princess of Cancri arrive. The cobbled street was kept clear though, guards standing at regular intervals at the sides of the street. Seats had been set up for his family. His parents sat relaxed in their own chairs, he was to their right and his sisters to the left, though they were no longer in their seats, instead running around playing a game. A little ways away stood three Cavalli Volanti and four white imperial horses. It had been decided to be better if they used horses, not knowing whether or not their guests could ride the Cavalli Volanti. Another handful of imperial horses stood nearby, in case the Prince and Princess’ guards wished to ride alongside them. Trei kept running his hand through his hair though it was already perfect, moving his crown when he thought it wasn’t on correctly. He smoothed out the satin, gold tunic with the Andato insignia on it in black.

He stood up, which was followed by, “Trei, calm down. They’ll be here in mere minutes,” His mother called. “Yes, I know that,” Trei replied. He debated about going to play with Gracie and Hailey. They were both dressed in gold cotton, summer dresses. Their tiaras, like his crown had only black obsidian ovals as precious stones on it. Each of the tiaras had a large black one at the tip of the tiara and smaller ones around, the rest was the golden metal twisted into intricate designs. Gracie’s was lopsided on her golden, curl covered head, having slipped as she was playing, but Hailey’s was perfect on her straight, motley of browns, hair. He decided against going to them, in the chance him mother would realize they’re were out of their chairs and make them sit down again.

He turned towards the horses and walked to them. The handlers bowed to him, but he merely waved them off. Before going to his precious Cavalli Volanti he went to one of the imperial horses. They were magnificent beasts, surely. Bred to be white coated with a matching white mane. These were not Andato’s war horses at all, where white was looked upon as a bad thing. They were daintier, with the build more for their easy lope and jumping ability. They were not as fast as the crown’s messenger horses, but had the stamina that could best nearly any horse. They were of a kind disposition too, perfect for guests, rarely ever getting spooked or bolting. He stroked one of their muzzles and blew into its nose, getting a blow of air into his own face. He turned to the Cavalli Volanti he had chosen for himself today, his personal favorite from the herd.

A rather large winged horse, but it had a graceful look in proportions, with a hide like gold and a black mane, with magnificent, matching black wings, longer than most of the Cavalli Volanti of its size. As he went up to his flying horse, Krenari, and got a huff of air into his face before he did the same to Krenari. They were good friends, Trei really being the only one that ever rode him. Most couldn’t, and the few that could knew he was usually reserved for the Prince or they chose not to deal with him. He was a high spirited creature, and did not like to listen. Trei had, however, learned to work with Krenari and they had formed a sort of partnership. Trei already knew he would take Krenari with him on the trip, along with his personal pack of howlers he had raised. He rubbed behind Krenari’s ears and along his neck. He gave a huff of contentment and pushed his muzzle into Trei’s face.

“Hello, Krenari,” Trei whispered as he rubbed the winged horse’s muzzle. Krenari gave a quite whicker in response; Trei always liked that Krenari seemed to talk back to him. “Are you excited to go a trip,” Trei asked him. Krenari gave a whinny and pulled his muzzle out of Trei’s hands, moving his head up and down. Trei gave a light laugh, “I guess you are.” Krenari attention turned towards the boats, he spread his wings the tiniest of bits in reaction. Trei looked, the first of the two ships were tying down to a set of docks.

Trei gave Krenari one last rub and headed back to his seat with his parents. Queen Beth beckoned for Gracie and Hailey to take their own seats. They went obligingly, though Gracie’s crown was still lopsided atop her head. He turned his attention back to the two ships, the other three trailing behind slightly, he guessed that it was because it was more important to get the young monarchs off before whatever cargo they had brought.

The Cancrinian sailors were an able bodied lot, much more so than Andato’s own navy. But that was common enough; Andato excelled in Cavalry not the Navy. However, Cancri was well known for the navy, even though only half of their land, compared to Andato’s exposed three quarters, was exposed to water. They tied down with what Trei thought to be record speed. Everyone on the wharf almost seemed to hum with anticipation, it was still loud though, the talk of everyone on the wharf made an inviting buzz. The handlers straightened the equines in to perfect lines, and each stood at attention with their assigned creature.

Trei looked at one of the ships, he thought he could see Princess Hannah. A girl with long blonde hair who was talking to a boy, taller than herself, with matching blonde hair with a tint of light brown, seemed to fit a description he had heard of the Princess. His thoughts drifted to what the siblings would be like. He wondered how Princess Hannah’s older brother takes the fact that his younger sister would rule instead of him. It seemed a little odd to him, actually, in Andato it was always the oldest heir that received the crown. In Cancri the eldest daughter received the crown, the opposite of Xirra. Trei actually grinned a little at the thought of a Princess Hannah meeting one of the princes from Xirra. The women there were treated very poorly, like objects of men more than a person. In Cancri, he knew the women were raised to be strong women. The meeting of the two different cultures it was actually something Trei found himself looking forward to.