Here There Be Dragons (Rhiannon)

[Anactoria IV]

Princess Anactoria, schooled as she was in all manners of court and debate, did not like to lose an argument. Alas, there comes a time when even Imperial Princesses are bested in a battle of words. In this case, it might not even had been so bad had the person across the table not been her lord father. Even then the sting of it could have been tempered had her mother been on her side. And even that could have been forgiven if not for one simple fact: They were right. She knew they were in right, and it stung.

"I have met you halfway, Anactoria," her father had said, and he was using his Emperor Voice. It was a sound all together different from his Father Voice. It was voice that he reserved for his court, for his generals, and for criminals on whom he must past sentence. "I have filled these halls with many a woman worthy of your hand, and any number of ones who are not. The least you can do is meet with them."

"We have agreed to delay the celebration of your return," her mother had put in, "at your vague insistence. But these ladies are your guest, and separating yourself form them as long as you have... it is a touch insulting."

What was she to say to that? There was a part of her -- a large part -- that wanted to mingle among her guests every chance she got. Meet with them, break bread with them, throw a ball every night as an excuse to bring them all in one place that she might get to know them. But she had unfinished business... vital unfinished business... from her time away. How could she focus on her own merriment when poor Enide...

Still, she acquiesced her parents, after a fashion. She promised to make herself available to her guest that day. But rather than descending to the Garden, or the Parlor, or even the Banquet Hall, mid-morning found Princess Aanctoria stepping on to one of the observations stands ringing the Practice Yard. She was dressed in her full royal regalia: Her full crown sat atop her head, the gold ovals and diamond fittings glinting noticeable in the sunlight. As did the silver and gold beads in her hair, the bralcests arond her arms, and the long white-and-gold dress she wore

At her heels was her chambermaid, carrying the heavy book she had secured from the library not long before. As the princess to her seat, the young girl handed the book over, and Aanctoria resumed her research, occasionally looking up as men and women came and went training to hone their skills. She had figured this would be were she would run into fewer of her guests, and as such would have more time to continue her preparations and studies. Though she knew some lands trained their woman in the art of combat as much as they did their men, that number was by far in the minority. As she looked around, she only a handful of women about the yard now. Trainees for the City Watch mostly. One or two squires pretending to be boys in search of knighthood --

-- wait, were those pink wings she just saw?

Anactoria blinked, and looked back. She saw the back of a woman with long, curly red hair -- was that a crown atop her head? -- with a pair of small, pink wings growing from her back. She held a practiced sword in one hand, and as her sparing partner came at her, she swung it around easily to defend and attack. It was like an extension of her arm.

Anactoria closed her book, setting down on her lap to watch this woman move. It would be several minutes before she would realize she was staring in a manner that was not very lady-like at all.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon swung her sword perhaps a little more viciously than one should while practicing with a stranger. Her long, unrestrained hair whipped her in the face as she parried the blow coming at her. She twisted deftly to her right, and, with a flick of her sword, unarmed her opponent.

"Thank you for agreeing to spar with me," Rhiannon said to her partner as she tried to catch her breath. "You were a worthy opponent."

The man looked at her with unchecked fear in his eyes. Perhaps it was because of the fangs in her smile, or the crown of horns on her head, or maybe even because she was a woman, but Rhiannon was getting tired of these terrified looks.

She stretched her small wings and gave them an experimental flap. No, it seemed her wings would not be flying her out of this place today.

Why had she come here, where few had even heard of the Dragonet race, anyway? Ah, yes. Because Rhiannon preferred women. And so did the Imperial Princess of Terre de Conte.

But that did little to assuage the sting Rhiannon felt every time someone looked at her with fear in their eyes. She wasn't a monster...! But try telling that to someone who had never seen a Dragonet before.

She felt someone staring at her, again, and turned around to give whoever it was a piece of her mind... and saw the Imperial Princess, in full regalia, looking back at her.

[Anactoria IV]

Anactoria's eyes widened for a fraction of a second when the winged woman suddenly spun to look at her. Its seemed she had the warriors instinct of knowing when someones eyes were on her, and the princess felt foolish for staring so openly.

Nevertheless, she was caught now, and faced a choice. She could look away shyly and pretend that she has not been staring. Or...

Anactoria met the woman's gaze, handed the book in her lap over to her chambermaid, and rose smoothly to her feet. "I believe I will introduce myself to this warrior," she said to her maid. "Please remain here as I do so."

Her chambermaid, looked from her mistress to Rhiannon then back again, her eyes wide with something like fear. "Ah..." she ventured. "Is your highness sure? She doesn't look... I mean she must be some kind of...."

Anactoria turned her eyes to the younger girl. She said nothing, merely allowed this disappointment in her eyes to do all the work for her.

"I'm sorry," the other girl finally squeaked, having never been ale to stand that praticulr look coming from her mistress.

Anactoria descended from the stands to the practice yard itself. She looked rather out of place, so refinely dressed in a place made for the practice of combat. Still, she moved with a sure, gliding stride as though she belonged here, her hem of her dress brushing against the grass, and the hint of her shoes peeking out from them with each step. When she was close enough to speak to Rhiannon, it didn't surprise her that she had to look up slightly to maintain eye contact.

She could see now that it was not a crown on her head, but a right of horns. She eyes swept up to them only for a moment, before retuning to the woman's red eyes, and made it a point not to stare at her fangs.

"I apologize for staring," Anactoria said with a slight smile on her face and in her voice. "It is not often that I see a woman out here, and rarer still to see one so skilled. A chance to see both commanded my attention caused my manners to slip."

She gathered the sides of her dress in her hands, and offered the woman a perfectly executed curtsy. "I am Princess Anactoria Sapphis IV." she introduced herself. "May I have your name?" she asked as she rose from her curtsy.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon was impressed when Anactoria glanced for only a moment at her horns and fangs. She put a hand to her horns thoughtfully. Though she was not normally self-conscious of such things, when faced with such an example of human beauty, she could not help but to feel.... fearsome.

Rhiannon was pulled out of her small reverie by the other woman's apology, and, despite herself, smiled a fanged smile. Anactoria was truly beautiful, in more than one way.

"It is no matter, Princess, and I thank you for your compliment. Fencing is one of my passions, and I pride myself to be one of the best." Rhiannon, too, dropped into a curtsy, though it was not so polished as Anactoria's. "I am Rhiannon Dragonet, Crown Princess of Dragia, land of the dragonet people."

She leaned on her sword and flicked her hair out of her eyes. "What, pray tell, brings you to the practice yard? Surely not many of your guests frequent this place?"

[Anactoria IV]

There was a flash of something very much like guilt in Anactoria's eyes. "That is true enough," she confessed. "It was for that very reason that I came, in fact." Honesty was the best policy, as they say. "I'm afraid I've been a terrible hostess to the many women who have traveled far to see me, and I fear I may become a worse one still before all is said and done. However, you all deserve my full attention, and I find myself...distracted by matters that have cropped during my... absence from the castle."

The imperial princess looked down toward her feet, then back up again. "Now I sound as vague as a palm reader," she chastised herself before looking up at Rhiannon again. "Have you had breakfast yet, Princess Dragonet? If not... and if you are done with your training..." Anactoria felt her cheeks grow warm at her own boldness, "perhaps we could have it together. I'd like to hear more of the land wise enough to train their princesses to fight."

There. Her first invitation of this whole affair. It had been as nerve-racking as she had feared, but that wasn't the worse part.

The worst part was the silence between the question and the answer.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon blinked. And blinked again. Then she smiled brightly. "I have not had breakfast yet, my lady, and it would be my honor to join you," she said, enjoying the blush on the Princess's face, and glad she was the one who had put it there. For maybe Rhiannon had already fallen a little bit in love with this Princess who could ignore her wings and horns. "And please, call me Rhiannon."

The dragonet held out her arm to the other woman, "Shall we?"

Rhiannon blushed herself as the Princess took her arm.

[Anactoria IV]

The practice yard was not what you could call crowded, but there were more than enough people there for what came next. Eyes fell over of the pair of princesses, arm in arm, heading for the far side of the yard. The clever allowed their eyes to slide over them causally, but missed nothing. The shocked and uncouth stared at them openly.

Anactoria felt each pair of eyes. Here we go, she thought.

A squire whispered to page. A page grab the arms of a passing maid. City Watch trainers had to bark at their charges to recapture their attention. Each one would leave by the mid-day to their homes within the city, and tell their friends what they had seen. Those friends well tell their family and friends. And so on, and so on. By sundown, all of Venus will know that Princess Anactoria had entertained the first of her suitors.

That cannot be helped, Anactoria thought, and focused her attention on the woman beside her. "I shall call you Rhiannon," she promised sweetly, "if you will call me Anactoria."

Anactoria paused long enough to wave at her chambermaid, who wasted no time is rushing to her side. "My lady?" she asked when she reached them, quite out of breath, still carrying the heavy book Anactoria had given her, but ever eager to please.

"Princess Dragonet and I will take our breakfast here," said Anactoria, "at the pavilion on the south end of the yard. Please instruct the kitchens to provide my usual." She then looked toward Rhiannon (gods, how tall was this woman?). "Do you have an order in mind for your meal, Rhiannon? Just relay it to Dulcia here, she will see that the kitchens receives it."

The mousy Dulcia looked up at Rhiannon. Her eyes flashed from the woman's fangs, to her horns, then her red eyes. She gulped audibly, clearly frightened, but set her shoulders, determined not to embarrass her princess. "My lady?" she asked, waiting for the food order. She even kept her voice from shaking, and was quite proud of that.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Ignoring the stares of the denizens of the practice yard, Rhiannon smiled with her mouth closed, careful not to show her fangs. "Ham and eggs would be lovely, thank you." She kept her wings closed tight to her back until Dulcia disappeared, then stretched them with a sigh. "I had not realized so few people in Terre de Conte had heard of the dragon people. Their stares are... most tiring. I often wish I looked more human." Rhiannon blushed, realizing she had just revealed her deepest desire to Anactoria inadvertently. Quickly changing the subject, she said, "But there is nothing like breakfast after a spar-- especially when taken with a pretty lady."

[Anactoria IV]

"And just how many 'pretty ladies' have you shared a post-spar breakfast with, Rhiannon?" teased Anactoria, more to but lighten the mood than an genuine attempt at flirting. "Here I was believing I was the frist. I am crushed."

She lifted her free hand to cover her mouth as she gave a slight giggle, but continued to lead them to the aforementioned pavilion. On the way there, the passed a small archery range were a group of scantly armored viera practiced with their long bows. Anactoria stopped just behind them.

"When I was young girl," she confessed to Rhiannon. "I had wished that I looked more like a viera. Those proud tree-dwellers, with their long graceful limbs and tall rabbit-like ears, feet arched so high and daintily that the must were raised heels for balance. Their... casual lack of interest in clothing might have also been of factor."

She cleared her throat before going on and continuing their trek. "I recall actually asking a viera who is part of the city watch if I could be viera when I grew up, for I wished so badly to be one. I was, I must remind you, very young. She gently knelt down so as to look me in the eye and gave me a very valuable pieces of advice:

" 'Never wish to be anything other than who you are, Princess. There are those that run fast, and those that can fight, those that can fly, and those with tall ears. You should find what makes you special, and embrace it. Should the world have a problem with that, then the world is wrong. And a wise woman does conform to a wrong world. A wrong world conforms to her.' "

By now the pair had reache the promised pavilion. Anactoria released Rhiannon's arm and stepped into the shade. She turned to face the drgonet princess, leaning slightly on the table. "You prowess with a sword held my eye, but it was your wings that first caught it. Were you human I might have missed you entirely, and this morning would have been dreadfully boring. For what it is worth anything, I am glad you are exactly as you are."

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon nodded, her eyes wandering over to the viera. "That is good advice indeed." She turned back to the Princess in time to blush at her last comment. "Thank you.... I-- I don't want you to misunderstand me, though. It's not that I'm ashamed to be a dragonet; no, I'm very proud to be one of the dragon people."

Rhiannon stood behind one of the chairs situated in the pavilion. "A wise woman lets the world conform to her... I believe I shall have to remember that. You-- You never conform to the world, do you?" She asked with a raised brow. "You refused to live in a kingdom where you could not be with the one you love. I don't know if I have the courage it takes to do that."

The dragonet princess shook her head, saying, "Enough of this heavy talk-- if my looks didn't scare you off surely my conversation will!" Rhiannon laughed at herself and gestured towards the chair. "Will you sit, Princess?"

[Anactoria IV]

"You are too hard on yourself, Rhiannon," Anactoria said as she took the indicated chair. "Neither your looks or your words have much chance of 'scaring me off'. The former caught my attention, and the latter shows every indication of keeping it."

"Still, maybe a new topic is in order." Anactoria smoothed out her short as she sat, her hands clasped neatly in her lap. "I am curious," she began, "Your skill with a blade. You moved like a natural. Its it customary in your land to teach a princess to fight so? I was taught only the basics of self-defense myself, and even then my father made no secret of the fact that he believed my time might have been better spent on more etiquette or embroidery lessons."

As Anactoria question hung in the air, Dulcia steeped quickly and quietly up on the pavilion, trailed by a pair of kitchen maids each carrying a metallic, covered tray. None of the three women spoke, so as to not interrupt the conversations of the princesses, and placed each tray on the table before Anactoria and Rhiannon.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon smiled at the Princess. "In Dragia, men and women are considered equal. It is a trait we inherited from the Dragons. We like to cater to one's natural talents. So if a young boy is good at sewing, he is trained in that. And if a young girl, say, a princess, is good at swordplay, she is trained in that."

She removed the lid from her tray and inspected her food. "It looks delicious. If you are interested, I could teach you to wield a blade...?" Rhiannon let her question hang as she took several bites of her food.

"Another thing you might find interesting... In Dragia, two women marrying... it is not common, but it is not unheard of. I had no such fight with my parents when I revealed to them my preferences." Rhiannon smiled at the memory. "In fact, I believe they were rather relieved. 'Rhiannon,' my father said, 'no man would be good enough for you, but a woman... that is something else entirely.'"

[Anactoria IV]

Anactoria blinked at Rhiannon's last words, the slice of grapefruit include in her own meal frozen half way to her lips. "How," she said after a moment pause, "fortunate for you! What a progressive land Dragia must be! Pity we have only had passing diplomatic relations with each other. Perhaps when --" Anactoria fell silent, then smiled. "Ah, but now I am putting the cart before the horse."

The imperial princess finally took a tiny bite of grapefruit. "Thank you for your offer to teach me swordplay. However, I will only accept if you can promise not to go easy on me. Few things are so patronizing as combat instructor afraid to bruise a students knuckles from time to time."

Anactoria finished her grapefruit, but paused before moving on to her toast. "I wonder though, Rhiannon... when your father said that... did he have anyone in particular in mind?" she asked carefully.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon looked at the Princess closely before answering her question. "No, I do not believe he did... though he has told me that you make a perfect candidate." She paused to eat some of her eggs before continuing. "I think he'll be happy so long as I do get married."

She smiled at the other woman. "And I should be happy to teach you swordplay. Do not worry, I shall not go easy on you, though I loathe to bruise those knuckles for reasons entirely my own."

[Anactoria IV]

Anactoria attempted to hide the rosy color she could feel spring to her cheek by picking up her glass of orange juice and sipping it thoughtfully.

"I think you worried far to much about your conversational skills before, Rhiannon. You seem to have a knack of knowing just what to say. And here I am, all but silent except for bombarding you with questions. You must think me rather dull. Is there anything you wish to know about me? Or about Venus? After all, if all goes well..."

Anactoria trailed off. She was getting ahead of herself... but she really liked Rhiannon. For the frist time since this whole thing started, she actualy thinks she had a forerunner.