The New Kingdom

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Beta saw the soldier Billie trying to take part in the fight. Really he wished to do this himself. It was also a knight's honor to fight one on one. If it were unbalanced, chivalry would be dead. "I apologize Billie. I choose to vanquish this man myself. A two on one battle would be unfair. There is no chivalry in that. I apologize my lady."

It was time to fight. Beta lashed out his whip in his right hand and his sword in his left. What most didn't know was that he was ambidextrous. He could hold his own no matter what the hand was. This gave him a superior advantage in battle. Just one of the fine qualities a Captain should have. Beta lashed his whip around the man's Claymore and pulled himself in to slash with his sword. "This is the kingdom of Korr. I will defend my new life!"

 

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“You should have kept the help” Alacasta said right before the fight. The first move of his enemy was to wrap their whip around his claymore and use that to pull themselves in and use the momentum to get him, Alacasta saw this coming and directed the tip of his claymore straight at the enemy and ran forward to impale. If they kept their current path it would be either suicide or a mutual kill if they survived long enough to finish their attack, but no sane enemy would do that but in case his enemy was that crazy he let go of the hilt with his right hand and readied to grab his opponents sword arm, he was strong enough to wield the claymore one handed.​

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His enemy did the wise move of charging as well. It was wise, yet he could also kill himself. It would be a mutual death if Beta continued the same strategy. He then noticed the man preparing to grab him. One who could hold a claymore with just one arm was indeed a worthy opponent. Not many could handle that much weight. Just who was this man really...​

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The time had come, Beta had to do something now. He slid down on the ground. If his opponent didn't dodge, the blade would cut right through his crotch. The whip however and his current velocity would make this a hard task to do. Beta released the grasp of the claymore being the charge was already enough momentum. In case he dodged, the whip would be ready for a slice to the back. ​

 

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Alacasta was at first surprised by his opponent sliding towards him but he did not halt his advance, instead he dug the front of his sword into the ground right in front of his opponent’s blade and faced it so the blade deflected away from him, he let go of the hilt as the blades collided and continued his advance barehanded, an armoured glove was a weapon as well as a safety item. The whip was still a problem but Alacasta was willing to use his arm to shield himself from it and grab it to remove it from the fight, even if it heavily injured him.​

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His opponent deflected the blade. An interesting maneuver. If Beta were any normal man, his blade would have been shot clean away from him and out of his hand. Good thing he had a firm grip. The man new what he was doing after all. Beta wished to try a new technique against him. One that he had yet to try on any man believing it to be too deadly. "I wish not to use this on you, but we are gar to equal in skill. Time to reveal my Demon Lash." Beta took the front of his whip and wrapped it around the hilt of his sword. A strange mechanism aloud him to lock it in place. The end of the whip was now his sword. He reached to his back and grabbed a shield. "A balance of defense, attack, and range. The ultimate technique I have come across." He planted the shield down and lashed at him with the pointed whip at great speed. If it missed, he continued to lash repeatedly. ​

 

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Alacasta was caught off guard at first, his raised his arms up to keep the enemy attacks at bay, and it was all he could do to keep the lashes from hitting his chest plate and helmet. He waited for the for the right moment and grabbed the whip and quickly wrapped it around his arm as best as he could, though it was painful he didn’t let it show as he used the whip to jerk his opponent forward and punched the shield with all his strength and went to headbut his opponent while still wearing his helmet.​

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Beta was not expecting his opponent to grab the whip. He was more amazed that his arm guards could withstand such a deadly force. His hand would surely be bleeding from a grab like that. Another bold move indeed. However, the next move was an unwise one. Something he surely would regret. Preparing for the impact, Beta thrust his shield as the other's head came into contact with it. A loud ding like that of a bell could be heard. The opponent fell to the ground unconscious. Beta threw his shield back on as well as rolled his whip and sheathed his sword. "Billie. Take this man to the prison. The king might want to have a word with him."​

 

Behind Beta there was a young man in fancy clothes clapping as he approached “Well done Captain” he said softly “But shouldn’t you finish the job?” he asked curiously as he stood next to the Captain “Forgive me I should introduce myself” he said as he faced the captain and bowed formally “I am Prince Louise Jeritos Braska”​

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Beta was irritated by the man next to him. "You obviously know nothing of the knight's code. A knight does not take ones life if they are unable to fight back. If he were standing with sword in hand, attacking me, the job would need to be finished. Sparing him is my way of honoring him. He was a worthy fighter. The king can decide what to do with him now." Beta wished to be alone now. He decided to sit back by the Castle entrance and take a nice nap.

 

“I see” Louise said as Beta left, he considered drawing his own blade and finishing the job, but these guards would probably kill him so he decided against it as he headed back to the castle to continue furthering his master plan.​

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That took way longer than it should have...​

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She and Scars reassembled the wagon and Keeva took a sip out of a canteen he brought. She turned around at the broken wheel and sighed.​

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"Does it go with us?"​

"We haven't the time, we went from being ahead of schedule to being way behind."​

"I apologize."​

"Twas not your fault."​

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They both got on a horse each and started driving into the village. There were a lot of people in town already, surprisingly she recognized one of the faces.​

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"Raibeart, would it be trouble for you to head over to the castle first? I will run there and catch up."​

"Something the matter?"​

"No, not at all."​

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Keeva got of the horse and ran over to the crowd, "Alice! Alice Massey!"​

The woman in the crowd turned her head and smiled, "Keeva! How fare thee?"​

Alice had curtseyed at her but Keeva had shaken her head in a manner saying she did not have to, after all Keeva was not dressed formally like Alice was.​

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"I am well, father is getting better. How is your family?"​

"Derrick and Isaac stayed in Lazinth while we came over here."​

"If you need a place to stay you are welcome at the farm."​

"I thank you for the offer, but we are staying with my brother."​

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Derrick was very lucky when he got Alice to marry him. Alice, much like Keeva's mother, was from a very wealthy family. Derrick had asked Alice's father and he approved only because of his successful occupation.​

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"Then I hope you enjoy your time here."​

"Very well, take care Keeva."​

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She ran off and she had reached the castle right as Scars had gotten there.​

"My god, Miss Keeva you did not have to run. Are you well?"​

"Of course I am well! I needed to get here so I ran."​

"Makeshift you are taking work too seriously."​

"Tis Keeva in town, you as well as other kn-"​

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Keeva collapsed to the ground and Scars ran over to her with the canteen of water and put the back of his hand on her forehead, "I will take you back home so you can rest."​

"No! We unload, all we have left is this load for now!"​

"You are too much into this work were you threatened or something?"​

"No!"​

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Keeva closed her eyes as she sat in the shade of the cart, Scars was not letting her work at all. She kept drinking water from the canteen he had given her and was already feeling better. She stood up and Scars walked over to her sighing, "Listen, you are trying to overwork yourself to prove that you can work as hard as a man. You and I know that this is-"​

"You will never step onto my farm again if you so much as even finish the statement you are about to say."​

 

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"I apologize Billie. I choose to vanquish this man myself. A two on one battle would be unfair. There is no chivalry in that. I apologize my lady."

The soldier's eyes widened at the Captain's response. This was definitely not what she expected, she raised up her battle axe in response and wore a well-do-you-not-notice-the-weapon-in-my-hand-that-shows-how-prepared-I-am-for-anything expression when she blurted, "Wh-whoa! With all due respect but sir, did you not just no-" The whip of the Captain lashed out forward to the man's claymore, suddenly drawing him in. Billie, who was situated directly beside this man at that moment, jumped back slightly out of reflex instincts. She helplessly grunted, rolled her eyes and began to get clear of the area in which they fought and starting with that move from Beta, the battle of move number 1 answered by move number 2 between the two men began - with no place for a female base soldier named Billie Craig within it.

The pink haired teenager pouted as she watched the battle going on and felt the feeling of sadness crawl into her soul. Within this one situation - many things already bothered her. One was obviously that she didn't get in with the action even though she was so ready for it and had a real good chance too (she was sure of this). Second was that the battle looked really good which meant this new guy could have been a worthy opponent to get her all psyched up and make her day 100 times better. Finally, third was that such violence was so close to the castle. She got the whole battle thing outside in the lands for the name of their kingdom but something as small as this? And in front of such a majestic, sweet, royal place? It bothered her. How did Captain Beta let this happen so close to the castle? As much as she loved a fight, couldn't they have done it another way?

Then, the captain slammed his shield to the other's head and just like that it was all over. Lost in her trail of thoughts, she didn't realize how quick the battle progressed. "Billie. Take this man to the prison. The king might want to have a word with him." She turned to the captain, swung her battle axe over her shoulder, strapped it back onto herself, nodded and saluted, "Yes'sir! Prison then king." She actually didn't expect the man to fall in this battle. Thought he would have placed a better fight even - maybe this was a bigger deal than she thought and he really had something better to do. Maybe she missed out on something, but nonetheless she rushed over to the unconscious man, grabbed him by the garment by his waist, and hauled him up. She was unable to carry him completely but it did the job.

“Well done Captain, but shouldn’t you finish the job?” suddenly came a man from the castle. She simply looked at the guy in confusion. Now who was he? A prince was what he introduced himself by. Billie's expression showed even more confusion, she didn't know there was another prince around. Sure, the princess from the neighboring land who was to marry their prince but another? Well, okay. She decided not to think to much of it and try her hardest not to think about what he just said about ending this mysterious man's life; so she began to drag the said man towards the prison. She took a mental note to head to the king after and report of what just happen but other than the obvious fight that broke out she then began thinking, 'Just, who is this guy...? And what exactly happened anyway?"

 

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Yvette wandered out into the garden with a pitcher of water. The plants needed to be tended to. It was the princess's favorite place in the palace and would be rather cross with her to find it in shambles should she come to visit her homeland. Everything seemed so quiet with so many of the castle residents gone. She had yet to go into town since the rather large caravan took off, but she was sure it would be just as quiet. Yvette inhaled the sweet smell of flora as she dipped the spout of the pitcher over the dirt. The garden was heavenly--a veritable Eden in their land. With all the damage and destruction that the kingdom had received in the many years of the war, it was a welcoming change of place to every member of the kingdom. They were all allowed to visit the glorious garden of Lazinth.

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She wandered over to the well and lifted the bucket of water, dipping the pitcher inside for more. Yvette smiled sweetly as she brushed her long hair out of the way. A large pair of pruning scissors sat nearby as she snipped all the dead ends of the plants. The skirt of her dress brushed lightly against the ground as she glided across the garden. Yvette hummed softly to herself as she went about watering each and every one of the plants. The laundry would be done drying soon. She would have just enough time to finish the flowers before the summer air finished drying the clothes.

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The queen exited the princess' chambers so that she may changed. Once Kaileigh had finished and joined them in the hall the trio made their way to the dining hall where Abigail took her usual spot at the table and waited to be served.

"How rude of me to not ask if you've eaten already. Still, this presents us time to talk as we've yet to do so."

At the end of her sentence some fruit and a glass of wine was placed before her. Hardly a whole meal but as gluttony was frowned upon it was more than enough for the morning and would easily last until dinner. She ate a grape before speaking once more.

"Thank you for your kind words. We have done our best to keep our kingdom afloat in these troubling times, though I will not deny that it is from luck we have not suffered as much as we could have. I just hope that with this, both kingdoms can find peace." Arranged marriages were hardly something the queen approved of, and perhaps it showed in the last bit of he words that were tainted with a hint of bitterness for the expert ears, but it was far too late to go back on the deal now and it would be unwise to even try given her position. Besides, if it worked out in the end then there was nothing to complain of. She could only hope that her son would find happiness in this, but that could only be an afterthought now.

"What other opinions for you have of the land of Korr?"

 

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"Thank you for your kind words. We have done our best to keep our kingdom afloat in these troubling times, though I will not deny that it is from luck we have not suffered as much as we could have. I just hope that with this, both kingdoms can find peace." The queen spoke while eating away at some fruit. Kaileigh sipped on a glass of wine silently as she listened. "What other opinions for you have of the land of Korr?"

She set the glass down on the table and tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Hm..." Kaileigh thought about it unsure. She really had not seen that much of the kingdom to create an absolute idea of what needed changes. "I have not thought much on the matter, but I will take it into consideration. It would be nice for Korr to have a garden of some sort. In Lazinth, we have a large elaborate garden within the castle walls, that many of our people visit. It is a refreshing place of beauty in a place so destroyed from war." Her voice was crisp and confident as she thought of the Royal Garden in her home kingdom.

Kaileigh's eyes wandered out the window, trying to decide where a good place for said garden to be, when she saw a strange encounter below. She pushed the chair back and stood, moving to the window near her and received a better look outside as a man was being dragged away to the jails far down below. "Queen Abigail, Prince Varion, I hate to impose on you, but I know of the man your men are dragging away. He is in search of a traitor and has already paid a visit to my kingdom." She turned away from the window to face the two of them. "He must not be imprisoned." Her eyes were fierce and powerful. There was no way they would allow him to leave only under her command. She would need the royal family of this kingdom in order to set him free.

 

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“Oooooowwwwwww” Alacasta said as he awoke in his dungeon room “Part one of my brilliant plan has worked, I am now in the castle, excluding this one minor detail called a dungeon I am on track, now to escape, somehow” Alacasta said to himself sarcastically as he examined the room “I have been in here for a few minutes and I am already talking to myself, perfect sign of my mental health” he added as he found nothing but a grate that was tied down “My way out, maybe” he said as he tried to lift the grate leading under the castle, it wouldn’t even budge as he struggled to get it up and he eventually fell backwards when he lost his grip.​

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The candy haired lady shook her head at the failed attempts of the mysterious wanderer that she placed in that prison. He aimlessly talked to himself, he probably didn't even know she was still around. It was kind of weird - the things this man would say. “I have been in here for a few minutes and I am already talking to myself, perfect sign of my mental health” That line made her giggle, so did the first of what he said. Though, his brilliant plan? What was that all about? Before she could conjure some sort of answer to the questions in her mind, she hears him say, My way out, maybe” A sigh escapes her lips and she walked over to his cell, leaned on the metal bars then addressed him, "Look, I don't exactly know why you're here other than Captain Beta told me to but if you're looking for trouble - I can say you're already in a lot of it. But hey, if you're not, then what you're doing - trying to escape - yeah, that's not helping you."

She blankly looks at the man, lets out another sigh and leans back on the railing as she slid down to sit on the cold dungeon floor outside of the man's cell. Only the metal bars that grazed her back separated the wanderer from freedom to do his master plan - whatever it may be. There was a feeling in her gut that told her this guy didn't seem like he belonged or deserved to be in this prison cell. Her conscience made the feeling even worse because though under order, she was the one who placed him in that cell (and possibly caused him some discomfort from dragging him all the way and dumping him there - but in her defense it was because the man's armor was too heavy for her to carry properly). What if she just put an innocent man behind bars? Even just for a second? The thought already caused her to shiver. Too lazy to try and think of what that may be, she turns her head slightly to him and asks, "Why are you here anyway? I actually really don't know. I mean, I'm off to the king to tell him what happened and if you're not so much of a criminal like how you look in your cell right now he'll probably let you free but what's your story?"

 

“I’m not a criminal, I’m hunting one” Alacasta said standing back up, he stretched his arms “I hunt a kinslayer and pretender to the Imperial Throne, and he is here, in this castle” Alacasta said as he walked up to the bars “The man I hunt is cunning, devious and a traitor who cares for nothing but power, he killed his father and attempted to kill his sister to secure the throne, he failed, now he must die” Alacasta said leaning against the bars “And if I fail whatever country he is in will be burnt to the ground by the Empire” he added as he paced around the cell.

 

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The first thing he said totally got her off guard, she tensed up from her relaxed state and sat up almost immediately. There was a criminal on the loose in their kingdom? How did she not know that?! She turned directly to face him and continued to listen in on his tale. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes filled with worry as words escaped the man's lips, The man I hunt is cunning, devious and a traitor who cares for nothing but power, he killed his father and attempted to kill his sister to secure the throne, he failed, now he must die”

She gasps at this. Whoever this criminal was should be put to a stop! Immediately! What a ruthless character this criminal guy was. Then it kind of hit her, since there was that ruthless, cruel guy on the loose she just put the innocent one in jail. Not only the innocent one - but the said guy who would be hunting this guy down and putting an end to the villain. She just gave the solution another unnecessary problem to his main problem. The feeling in her gut turned into an incredibly sour one - guilt. Oh, it felt terrible.

And if I fail whatever country he is in will be burnt to the ground by the Empire”

Billie immediately got up to her feet, grabbed hold of the metal bars, looked directly at the wanderer and fiercely announced, "I'm going to get you out of there ASAP! I don't have the power to do that right now and I might get into trouble if I do let you out right away but I'm going to go talk to someone with authority and get you out, I promise!!" and with a nod, she immediately runs off towards the exit of the prison. Fired up by the increasing guilt inside of her, she began to pick up her pace as fast as she could. By the time she reached the exit, she came to the most sudden halt - almost tripping over herself, made a mad dash back to the guy "I'm also incredibly sorry for putting you there by order in the first place. Please accept my apologies!" she tells the guy in the cell in between pants, then hurries off once again to the exit of the prison. Running as fast as she could to someone who could possibly be of help.

 

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Alacasta watched the female soldier leave “Strange one” he said as he laid down on the floor, he sighed as he looked at his hand and forearms which were bleeding from his fight with the captain “Next time I fight that guy I will cleave him in two, and they better fix my glove and arm guards when I get out” ​

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