Username - Macyduke
Partners name & Link to forum - ABeardedDragon
hereName - Zaria
Gender - Female
Backstory (800) -
Upon entering the court yard, she was greeted by the sight of a black viscet, twirling a sky blue flower as he leaned against a water fountain. He looked up as she approached.
“My princess, for you.” He said offering her the flower.
“Why thank you.” She said as she took the flower; a smile crossing her lips as she admired it’s beautiful hue.
"Anything for you," he smiled with a quick wink. Zaria blushed and turned her head away with a quiet laugh. Alvar picked up his iron helmet, placing it under his arm. He glanced over his shoulder. A figure stood in the shadows cast by the stone walls.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, tilting her head.
"Nothing," he muttered, waving then turning to leave. She held fast his shoulder, gently pulling him back. He sighed, “yes?”
"The truth?" She asked, staring into his eyes, frowning with her ears drooping.
Please don’t shut me out, she thought. He took a deep breath before giving into her unbearable request.
“Do you truly love
him?” He asked.
"Well," she said.
"Well?"
"You know I don't," she looked over his shoulder with a distant, empty stare, "my parents wanted me to marry him."
"Have you ever thought about," he paused. “Leaving him?"
"I can't," she said after a long silence. She couldn't even look at him, knowing how bad it hurt him to hear her say it. Alvar nodded, turning once more and treaded across the gravel path, the crunching sound was the only sound to shatter the silence.
~~~~~~
Hiding her turmoil behind a stoic exterior, Zaria sat idly between her father, over looking the crowd. The question Alvar had asked her yesterday still echoed through her mind. “Have you ever thought about… leaving him?” He had said. She frowned, her ears dropping as she remembered the hurt she’d seen in his eyes when she’d said she couldn’t.
"Alvar," her father said, effectively getting his daughter’s attention. Zaria’s eyes flickered momentarily between her knight in shinning armor and his king, before settling on her father; ears rising.
"Yes, sire," Alvar said, head bowed, eyes on the ground.
"It has come to my attention that you have been trying to steal the princess. This cannot be," the king paused, "I hereby banish you from my kingdom.”
Her mouth opened slightly, stunned by the his words. The prince, wrapped his paw around her’s, smirking. As they looked out at Alvar together, she could feel her heart breaking, face becoming pale. "If I see you here after sunrise,” her father said with quiet venom, "I will have no choice but to force you out.”
~~~~~~
Seizing an opportunity to break away from her gleeful husband, Zaria made her way down to the stables.
“Princess?” Exclaimed a usually timid blue viscet. “Wh-“
“Which is ready to ride?” She cut the stable boy’s question off with one of her own. The other blinked a few times in disbelief before answering.
“None.” He said before glancing out at the setting sun. “Tad late for a ride isn’t it?” She narrowed her eyes at him, as if to ask if he were questioning her authority. “Right away princess.” Said the stable boy, hoping up from the straw he’d been relaxing in to ready a horse. Returning a few minutes later with a white stallion. “I do well under pressure.” He managed, handing her the reins.
“Thank you.” Shortly after mounting her steed, Zaria dug her heels into it’s sides; it whinnied in response before galloping towards the setting sun.
Forgive me, she thought to the horse, petting the it’s neck as she rode,
But I must find him. The dying light only heightening her fear of loosing him in the darkness. As if competing with the stallion, her heart beat began to race. Not sure if she’d be able to forgive herself if she lost him, the pink viscet urged the horse to quicken it’s pace. Unable to stifle her worries until his steed came into view
Be still my beating heart, her thoughts accompanied by a sigh of relief,
it’s not to late! "Alvar!"
No answer.
"Alvar, please wait!"
His horse continued for a moment, then he stopped.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Please come back," Zaria said. Her steed slowed to a stop next to his.
"I can't," he replied, "you know that."
"But they can't fight this war."
"They're on their own now."
"Please," she bit her lip and closed her eyes, turning away, "they're still my family."
Alvar sighed, shifting slightly.
"Anything for you," he paused, and Zaria turn her head towards him, "my princess."
"I'll make him accept you into the kingdom."
"What if he doesn't?"
"I'll leave with you."
"I l-," Alvar shook his head.
"Thank you, Alvar," she whispered, "my prince.”
(797/800)
*Personality
In her father’s eyes, Zaria is the spitting image of what a princess should be, obedient, well mannered, kind, and polite. She seems distant, straight forward, and honest to those who know her strictly as their king’s daughter. To no one’s surprise, she has never done anything her parents told her not to. If she were ever asked why she didn’t go through a rebellious faze, she’d go on to explain why there wasn’t a logical reason to being that what her parents said tended to be seen as law among their people. No matter how frustrated she gets with her situation, Zaria never lets her emotions get the best of her, preferring to bottle up how she feels than tell a soul how upset or unhappy she is unless they know her rather than her mild mannered persona. Her inability to let herself express unfavorable emotions has taught her not only how to manage situations she’s unhappy with, but also how to lie, appear to feel something she doesn’t, and mirror the reactions of those around her. Her skills in deceit rival her distaste in lying to those she knows and those she doesn’t. This often times leaves her feeling isolated even when surrounded by other viscets. If the need to lie wasn’t present, others would probably find her to be opinionated, articulate, strong, kind, and ready for life to be less predictable (not by much though).
When it comes to those she prefers to spend her time with, the more oblivious they are to her position in their kingdom, the better. Although it doesn’t happen often, Zaria likes to make a point of spending time with those who are less fortunate and helping in anyway she can, which has lead her parents to telling her guards to keep a close eye on her so as not to give passes to those who commit petty crimes against them and giving away some of their fortune. Despite this, she does everything she can to give her possessions away to those who need them more than she does, as well as talk to citizens about problems they have in their community as well as the activity that goes on in their everyday lives.
*History
Zaria’s lived in a castle all her life. As a viscetling, she found herself spending most of her time with her maids and instructors, seeing her parents for the most part just at dinner. Rather than bother them, Zaria played games that entailed fallowing in the footsteps of some of the staff members, copying their mannerism and movements to the best of her ability until she either got board or found someone else who was doing something more interesting to pester. By fallowing strangers, Zaria learned a bit about what they did, who they were, and how they came to do what they were doing. She also learned that she preferred to spend time around middle and lower class citizens. Finding their way of speaking, seeing things, and personalities more interesting then those she’d met in upper-class.
As a pre-teen viscet her instructors became more present, teaching her proper etiquette, mannerisms, and how to conduct herself. Outbursts were not uncommon for her when she became frustrated. Throwing tantrums became a regular occurrence when she didn’t want to do something, and stayed that way until Magnolia, one of the older maid, confronted her about it and made an effort to put a stop to them with a way to redirect her anger, refocus, and regain composure. No matter how busy her days were, she always made a point of spending time with the friends she’d made with those she met in the castle when she was younger
Her teen years were filled with learning the beginning of some of her more difficult royal duties. Things she’d learned in the past, such as playing the harp, reading, and writing suddenly became her hobbies, and the games she played as a child slowly faded away. The only thing she really found herself enjoying was learning how to ride horseback. Sometimes while riding she thought about what it’d be like just to escape from her responsibilities for awhile. To ride off for awhile, evading her instructor along with everything else she had to do during the day for an hour or two. Dreams of escaping of riding longer than she had time to gradually died down as her job as the future queen became closer and closer. Her time filled with learning about her relationship with other kingdoms, laws, and parliament. The time she spent with workers became increasingly less frequent during this time but was something she made an effort to prioritized whenever she could none the less.
Her dedication to her role in the kingdom became what she believed to unbreakable by the time she’d passed her late teen years and entered into her early twenties. Life seemed dull, but she couldn’t complain, her parents were spending more time with her after all. Most of their chats revolved around festivals, relations with other kingdoms, ceremonies, and entertainment. For a while she had the relationship she had always wanted with them, minus not being able to voice her opinions if they’d decided something was set and done, and having to maintain the strict obedience they’d grown to expect of her. So when they decided that it was time for her to pick a suitor, she went along with. It wasn’t hard to be somewhat choosy about the viscets she met, especially when it came to the prince her parents repeatedly lead her towards. Not wanting to disappoint her parents, Zaria eventually agreed to starting a relationship with the suitor from a well off kingdom. It wasn’t until her encounters with a certain black viscet, who she vaguely remembered seeing at a knighthood ceremony, became flirtatious did she realize agreeing to start a relationship with the prince had been a bad idea, especially since her relationship with him was quickly moving toward marriage.
Unable to disappoint her parents, Zaria was eventually married to the prince despite her feelings for her knight in shinning armor. At first she avoided him, afraid of loosing her composer upon seeing him, afraid he could see her misery despite knowing that he already knew of it. After a few weeks she found herself unable pretend she was fine without him. To her surprise their relationship, although a little at first given the circumstances, continued to grow. Unable to truly be herself or smile unless she was around him. Deciding that as long as he was in her life, she’d be happy. It wasn’t until her father banished him was her promise to keep him in her life tested. She knew that life without Alvar would be miserable and that her inability to stand up to her parents and take charge of her life was the reason for his banishment. Something snapped and for the first time in years she took charge of her life, chased after him as he left, and convinced him to come back. Returning to the kingdom and giving her father and ultimatum; accept him again, as her prince, or she would leave with him.
*Relationships
Alvar:
She hadn’t noticed him at first, but after a few encounters with the handsome knight started to develop a crush on him. Taken with his charm, wit, and terrible jokes. She’s glad he decided to act on his crush for her, because life before she met him was nothing but dull and filled with tasks that seemed meaningless. She loves the way she sees herself and feels whenever she’s around him. He makes her want to be the person he sees her as. All she wants to do is see him happy and successful. So much so that she’s willing to risk everything just to be with him.
Ancreta:
Zaria was very taken with the rhythm and grace that Ancreta possessed while dancing. After her routine, Zaria couldn’t help but approach the white viscet and ask her to show her how she moved the way she did. Her inability to match the way the now nervous viscet moved didn’t waver her ability to pick up on the other’s kind and genuinely good nature. Although not able to be around her much, Zaria considers the talented dancer a friend, and respects her a great deal for standing up for Alvar when he was banished.
*Precious items
Necklace:
What was originally just a gift she received from her parents when she was a few days old, is now an iconic piece of jewelry she wears on her forehead. Upon growing to big to get the necklace around her neck, her parents bought her a new one. She however refused it, claiming that there were to many memories she had with the item to just get rid of it. Afraid of what they’d think if she told them that it reminded her that it reminded her of all the times her caregivers would slip it below her ears before she went down for breakfast, telling her that she was going to do great things; giving her hope for the future. That however doesn’t excuse sleeping with it on
Harp:
A family heirloom she received when she was old enough to learn how to play. It’s made of solid gold and has been played by her family for generations. This is highly importune to her because it reminds her how hard she had to work to be able to play, and how hard the generations before her had to as well. It reminds her that even the most difficult of times will pass, and nothing she does is ever truly perfect, especially when it comes to playing music. She likes to think about her ancestors struggling with the instillment and about how terrible they must have been when first starting to learn.
*Fear
Coulrophobia- Zaria fears clowns and sometimes jesters. This is because she can’t tell who lies behind excessive make up, wigs, and red noises. She finds being around those who are dressed up as clowns very unnerving in part because social norms don’t seem to apply to them.
*Likes
Flowers
Horseback riding
Playing the harp
festivals
talking with citizens
*Dislikes
Fortune tellers
Supernatural
Spiders
Clowns
Lying
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