The World of Rhune

Mae blinked wearily as the sun came up, marking the end of her night watch. She didn’t have a shift tonight; she’d be able to rest later. She looked up as Rufus came out of his room to relieve her, but it was time to start watching the three princesses. She stepped outside of Ivy’s room and watched as Haazar stepped outside of his own room, waved wearily (earning a glare from Mae) and stepped infront of Beoa’s room. Zepher came five minutes later, a white bandage wrapped around his jaw and a small one at a throat. Mae nearly laughed but turned it into an easy cough, though it didn’t fool the guardians in the hall. She heard the creak of a door, and watched Klea walk out into the hall with a couple maids, all-yawning delicately. Within half an hour all the princesses were up, and Mae was watching their food sampled, and the princesses themselves eating it. It went like that all day, Mae shadowing the girls as they went about their various activities. By the end, she was tired like always, but the girls had had an okay day. By the end though, the King summoned her once again. When he was finally freed to see her, and hour after his calling, he spoke up back infront of his roaring hearth. This time Mae would not be surprised if the flames didn’t lick and consume the man’s beard. “Mae, I’ve chosen who you are to go with, since I did very much enjoy toying around with your, erm, suggestion. I think Zepher is to go with you, he’s near as perfect for the role as you are, being a generally more cheery guardian than the rest of you stony ones.” Mae made no move to wince or change her expression at the criticism, proving further the king’s point. “Therefore I wish for Zepher to go with you. On the contrary, Haazar had tipped Zepher about wishing to come and I think to throw any trails off Zepher accompanies you there, you three meet up. The more ears and eyes the better, and then you part with Haazar back to Folic trailing Zepher with the young madam whom you are to escort back to me personally. Understood now, guardian Mae?” the King’s dark eyes trained on her, and Mae nodded and bowed. “Of course, you’re majesty. As you wish,” Mae inwardly sighed at the announcement of Haazar’s name, but she was happy enough. He was so much better company than most. “Oh and Guardian Mae, I want you to leave the day after tomorrow at the latest. You shall have to travel to Sien-ra first to pick up your new object and get a lot of gossip for me, any weak points of those monarchs. Uh, it pains me to say their names, so go forth and prepare Guardian Mae, I wish you the best of luck.” The king stood up and left, his own personal guardians forming a diamond around him and pages scurrying to tell the next person to take the king’s presence of his due arrival. Mae stayed planted in her spot, stomaching her big mission that had such little description. She had two weeks to be in Ralea, it would take a week’s time to journey there with no stops but a day in Dras-Terra and again in Sien-ra. She had just under a week of travel time to the port, and it took only two to get there. She had four days extra with Zepher she reminded herself. Mae quickly glided from the room after the thought. It would be time to shadow Beoa and her sisters.

“Look who decided to show, you’re new favoritism get to your head?” Haazar muttered to her, his eyes glancing routinely around the room. Mae shrugged, she didn’t feel like answering. She watched as Beoa and Ivy played some little game with metal figures and Klea was curled up with a leather-bound volume complete with gold inlays. Mae rolled her shoulders at focused her ears mostly on the game the little girls were playing. “And then Savannah trots over to Gitchi.” Beoa made a little dog figure move to a girl Ivy was holding, and in a squeaky voice Ivy spoke up, “Oh, hello little doggie, what is your name? Oh, I don’t understand ‘woof woof’ do you speak my language?” Beoa giggled, “And pretend Savannah had a wish to speak Gitchi’s language from her magical puppy fairy, and could speak to her.” “Bippidi Bopidi Boo” Haazar said under his mouth, barely smiling. Zepher read his lips and smiled from across the room, Mae rolled her eyes. She turned her eyes to the window, looking down at the sole path into the castle, and saw only a messenger carriage rattling down the icy roads. She glanced around to the frozen cliff again and sighed at its peaceful deathliness that shrouded the drop. “No Ivy! You can’t go to the ball! You’re supposed to take Savannah with you! Noo!” Beoa shrieked, thoroughly upset. Ivy raced her doll away from Beoa’s puppy, smiling slightly at her sibling’s petty distress as Beoa was fumbling with her shorter arm to catch Ivy. “Princesses, that’s enough. Why don’t you start a new game? Being mean to each other and shrieking is not an okay behavior by girls of your age and rank,” Mae said coolly, and the girls stared at her silently. “Yes, Beoa, you apologize for shrieking and Ivy please apologize for the unfair behavior that caused your younger sister distress.” Haazar spoke up, and Mae caught Klea rolling her eyes and looking at the sundial by the window. The girls resumed a different game like nothing had happened. “Haazar, why is Klea checking to clock so often?” Mae asked, her eyes trained on the teenaged girl. “I don’t know, if you had to live with those two all the time, wouldn’t you?” he responded, venturing his own eyes towards Klea who looked at the clock again. “Yes, but that’s not why Klea’s looking at the clock,”.