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username: FluffyBirdie ♕ kalon's name: Amber Loreina ♕ kalon's gender: Female
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Crown princess of Adonvi. Ha, what a title! It made her sound like a pampered princess, lounging in her castle with servants surrounding her, awaiting her command. Like a princess trained to rule, one with her whole life ahead of her and who doesn't understand the meaning of dirt and pain. Amber looked at her fur, caked with dried mud and dust, and laughed to herself. Yeah. Princess who doesn't understand dirt. Right now, she was more like an outcast. "Amber." Her father snapped, and she blinked, returning her attention to him. Or more like the floor, since she wasn't supposed to look up at the king, princess or not. "Were you listening?"
"No." She replied simply, shrugging. "I lost you at 'crown princess of Adonvi'. Maybe use less complicated words, like 'princess'. The crown part is kinda useless, since I'm your only child anyway, and seriously--"
"Amber." She could almost feel his glare. "If you do not want this role, tell me. I'll find someone more suited to take our kingdom back."
"Sorry Dad."
"Humph. You're supposed to call me King or Father." Amber rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn't see. To her, all the formality and etiquette was pointless. Was she not allowed to talk to family like they're family, or speak to normal people without them going 'Your Majesty' this and 'Your Highness' that? Why must being a princess mean more than being a shopkeeper? The royalty were supposed to protect their people, and have them serve out of gratefulness, not because they were forced. "As I was saying, the people now look towards you for hope. We've been under March's control for generations, and I've had my go at fighting back. It's your turn now. Prove you're worthy of your halo."
'My go at fighting back' as in 'making weak attempts at fighting', you mean. Amber thought, but didn't say it out loud. Her father's last sentence almost slipped by her, having heard it so many times before, and when it did register in her mind she rolled her eyes, tired of the saying. Apparently, owning halos were a sign that they were destined for great things, even if it's genetic and could be passed down. Her ancestors likely forgot that little oh-not-so-important tidbit of information, and declared themselves rulers, secretly killing off anyone else with a halo in their new kingdom. Now, only the royal line has the 'privilege' of halos, and so everyone believed they were special and blessed by angels and whatever the local gossip said. Amber personally thought it was a load of garbage. "Of course,
Dad." She replied, bowing before leaving the room.
Once out of the stuffy 'throne room' consisting of a wooden hut and a fancy chair, she wandered the streets of the small town, passing the burnt shells of homes and stores. March's control was obvious in her now small kingdom, where its people suffered heavy taxes and had their homes burnt when they couldn't pay. Strike back at them indeed. She couldn't see how they were supposed to fight off the March kingdom with their well trained soldiers and reinforced walls, especially with everyone barely managing to make a living. Of course, they didn't know her kingdom was still trying to keep it's history up and running, hiding the fact that a king still ruled and that the people of Adonvi were far from defeated. Amber knew that there were groups out there planning and starting attacks all the time, even if the mood of the town always seem to be dark. But still, this city they lived outside of was not the March kingdom's capital; it was once the capital of the Andovi kingdom.
And so even if we manage to claim our capital back, March has heaps more cities, and even more troops. But once we take our city back, everyone would be more determined to fight.Amber drifted to her house, which looked the same as the houses around it. Since they were trying to hide the fact that the royal family were still alive and active, she couldn't have a lavish home, but she didn't mind. She wanted nothing to do with wealth and power, since the image of a ruler in her mind was always a kind and generous one, not the pampered and spoilt princess she thought of earlier. She sat down and opened her notebook, already filled with doodles of what she would do about March once she was officially named the crown princess. She flipped through the pages, wondering what she had thought about already and which plan she could use as her first attempt to tackle the March kingdom. Her annoyance grew with each plan she saw, until she closed the book, almost growling in anger. All of them were so...hopeless. What was she thinking before? That the city can be easily invaded by a band of three? She ripped out a page out of the notebook, before starting to draw her emotions. It always helped her to vent her feelings, and so she drew with a passion, drawing out the appearance of the walls and visible buildings of the March kingdom, and their town on the outside of those towering walls that once were theirs. She sat back, pleased of what she drew, before moving on to her favorite part: destroying it. Amber drew troops on both sides, with the March kingdom specializing in teams of swordsmen and the Adonvi kingdom specializing in archery and assassination. She drew herself, leading a small group and planning to sneak past the walls while the troops were distracted by the archers, and frowned. That was too easy, she needed backup plans. She drew more troops within the enemy kingdom, and envisioned how they would avoid them. It was their old city after all, and no matter how many generations passed, there was no way March can take down the buildings, or change the layout. It was too much work for the offense-focused kingdom. During these drawing moments, Amber thanked the strict rules her kingdom had. Most were annoying, but since the Adonvi kingdom was all about order, the streets were laid out methodically, to make the place easy to navigate, even for strangers, though it was hard to defend. Though it was the reason they lost the city in the first place, she would use this weakness against March in her planning. She drew her group members attacking as she and some specialized others went ahead, towards the castle. She would lead the way, since she knew the layout of the castle like the back of her hand. Hours of pouring over the plans of the castle had paid off, and thus she and the others would take the secret routes straight to the king's chambers. And then they would hold the king hostage, and demand the March kingdom back off and leave this city. It was no longer theirs. She sat back for he second time, admiring her drawing. Maybe she should draw her emotions next time, if it led to such detailed plans.
Filled with a surge of excitement, she bounded out of her house, paper in hand, and went towards where those planning the attacks lived. They moved all the time, even though the March troops knew where they would move. The attacks they've launched on the wall were minor, and the guards have, by now, gotten used to archers surging out of the forest and shooting arrows that didn't even hit their mark. Amber knew why they always missed, even if it meant wasting arrows. The Adonvi hunters had excellent aim, and can shoot down a fly if they so wished. The fake attacks were made so the troops lowered their guard, and also because then they picked on the archers, instead of the townspeople. She was grateful towards them for dedicating themselves towards protecting the people, though she felt sad as well. Some of the raids March troops had against her archers were dreadful, and quite a few had died in the process. She didn't want any more deaths because of their role in protecting her people, especially when it was the royal family's role to protect the citizens.
"Hey! How's things?" She said, approaching one of the archers. He shrugged and waved, grinning.
"Good! I heard you're finally made the official crown princess?" He asked, resuming his task of oiling the bows.
She made a noise of confirmation, before looking towards the small hut where their current base is. "I'll go to the boss now, I have a plan in mind." He nodded, and she headed towards the hut, knocking and then ducking to go through the doorway when the door opened. "Ehvan! I have the sketchy base of a plan, can you call everyone here so we can build on it?" She gave the archer a quick hug, before waiting as he went out and yelled for all the archers to come.
Once everyone was gathered around the small table in the hut, she quickly outlined her plan, showing them the drawing that at first glance seemed to be one huge scribble. "I think we should have three groups, so one distracts on the outside, one distracts on the inside and the last group would head to the castle." An archer suggested, tapping the table.
"We should use flaming arrows! We won't burn the houses, I can promise that." Another said, to everyone's agreement.
"The group that goes in the castle should just be Amber, me and Thomas," Ehvan said, gesturing to another archer. "He's the second best, after me. We'll be able to protect you efficiently."
"Remember our whistling arrows? Using those would confuse the guards!"
"I think the sparkling arrows would be better, the light distracts them."
The discussion continued similarly, with constant improvements on her plans, until they had ran over every possible scenario and the solution for each.
"To Adonvi!" Amber cheered, holding out her paw, palm down.
"To Adonvi!" Everyone echoed.
Her most treasured possession was the people, the heart of her kingdom.
But this was only one city, and Amber had plans for the whole kingdom to be reclaimed.
