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rainbowfic2021-02-24 11:27 pm
shadowsong26) wrote in rainbowfic2021-02-24 11:27 pm
Cerise #18, Lapis Lazuli #2
Name: shadowsong26
Story: The Lady's Favor
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Cerise #18. Favorite book/movie, Lapis Lazuli #2. cavort
Supplies and Materials: photography, graffiti (TV Tropes Challenge; with reference to The Tourney; Healing Shiv; and The Beastmaster), eraser (Queen Sela AU), charcoal, novelty beads, yarn
Word Count: 886
Rating: PG
Characters: Sela
Warnings: Don't think so for this one.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. Just under the wire for this challenge, lol. At least one of the tropes is taken. Uh. Much more metaphorically than I planned so I understand if it doesn't really count XD. This takes place...maybe a week or two before she very unexpectedly becomes Queen?
Tournaments were a little bit old-fashioned, and Mama didn’t like them at all, but Papa still made a point of organizing at least two each summer; one early in the season, and one at the very end. It gave the young men an excuse to keep their combat skills up, just in case. And practicing and posturing and confining actual fights to the lists kept them out of trouble. Or that was what Papa said, anyway.
For her part, Sela thought both of them were a little bit right. Even if all the competitors fought in special armor and with blunted weapons, they were dangerous things. Last year, her brother Kemell had broken his arm in the first tournament and that had been very distressing to watch.
But the court was also a little bit calmer for a few days after a tournament. Like the way the world felt settled and fresh and new after even the most awful thunderstorm. Winners and losers alike had something new to brag about and got attention from their peers and--almost as important--the young ladies, as long as they had handled themselves with grace and honor. Especially if they’d made their way into the last few rounds.
Very different from the two or three times she knew of where popular young noblemen had fought duels for some reason or another. That didn’t clear the air at all.
Besides. As dangerous as tournaments were, and as hot and dusty and uncomfortable as it could get, sitting in the royal box all day watching…
It was exciting. Maybe because it was just the right mix of being real and playacting. Because one did need to be very brave and skilled to compete, but nobody was actually trying to hurt anyone else; and then there were all those little theatrical, almost romantic touches with the banners and the favors and the bright and colorful tack for the horses, and seeing how happy the spectators got--or even disappointed, when their favorites lost.
It was, in the end, very difficult to not get caught up in it all, especially when one of her brothers was riding. Even Mama got excited, leaning forward just a little in her seat to watch them ride. (She always said she was just worried one of them would get hurt, but Sela knew better.)
This year, though--this year would be a little bit different.
Sela had just turned fifteen, and that meant she was old enough for serious courtship. And that meant that she was old enough, in some small way, to actually participate in the pageantry of the day. As the King’s only daughter, her interest and her favor carried a special symbolic weight. Already, at least a half a dozen young men, some of them handsome, had approached her, all charm and smiles.
Of course, none of it would go anywhere--part of the playacting, for one thing; and besides it would be at least a year before anything serious happened, even if Papa received and accepted a proposal right here and now.
But it was…it was nice. And flattering. It made her feel special. Being something like the center of attention. Even if they were mostly flirting with her rank (Sela knew she wasn’t very pretty, even if Mama said she just had to grow into it, but she’d seen other girls her age at court and they didn’t have that problem). Some of that was probably just because it was new, but she liked it.
In the interests of fairness, though, her parents had already decided that she would give her favor to one of her brothers, though the four of them refused to tell her which.
It probably wouldn’t be Merill--he always went to Mama, of course, being the oldest and the heir. He couldn’t favor one lady unless he was ready to get engaged, and he was still deciding.
She hoped it would be Deshir--he was the best rider, and her favorite to watch. He wasn’t as strong as Merill or as quick as Andir or as determined as Kemell, but put him on his horse and it was like the two of them became one being.
Andir was probably likeliest, though--if only because her third brother was an incorrigible flirt, and would probably score more points with his lady friends by being sweet to his baby sister, rather than fueling any rivalries among them.
Or maybe Kemell--he had always loved tournaments, even before he was old enough to compete, and he was bursting to get started, after missing most of last season because of his arm. But because he was usually quiet and sullen and almost rude to everyone outside the family, he didn’t have any lady friends to ask for favors.
Well, she’d find out tomorrow. And even if it was only one of her brothers, she’d still feel pretty and important and a part of all the excitement. She was very much looking forward to whichever one of them rode up to her and asked.
So, yes. Tournaments were a little old-fashioned, and Mama was right that they were dangerous and probably not really a good thing.
But Sela would be lying if she didn’t admit that she loved them, all the same.
Story: The Lady's Favor
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Cerise #18. Favorite book/movie, Lapis Lazuli #2. cavort
Supplies and Materials: photography, graffiti (TV Tropes Challenge; with reference to The Tourney; Healing Shiv; and The Beastmaster), eraser (Queen Sela AU), charcoal, novelty beads, yarn
Word Count: 886
Rating: PG
Characters: Sela
Warnings: Don't think so for this one.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. Just under the wire for this challenge, lol. At least one of the tropes is taken. Uh. Much more metaphorically than I planned so I understand if it doesn't really count XD. This takes place...maybe a week or two before she very unexpectedly becomes Queen?
Tournaments were a little bit old-fashioned, and Mama didn’t like them at all, but Papa still made a point of organizing at least two each summer; one early in the season, and one at the very end. It gave the young men an excuse to keep their combat skills up, just in case. And practicing and posturing and confining actual fights to the lists kept them out of trouble. Or that was what Papa said, anyway.
For her part, Sela thought both of them were a little bit right. Even if all the competitors fought in special armor and with blunted weapons, they were dangerous things. Last year, her brother Kemell had broken his arm in the first tournament and that had been very distressing to watch.
But the court was also a little bit calmer for a few days after a tournament. Like the way the world felt settled and fresh and new after even the most awful thunderstorm. Winners and losers alike had something new to brag about and got attention from their peers and--almost as important--the young ladies, as long as they had handled themselves with grace and honor. Especially if they’d made their way into the last few rounds.
Very different from the two or three times she knew of where popular young noblemen had fought duels for some reason or another. That didn’t clear the air at all.
Besides. As dangerous as tournaments were, and as hot and dusty and uncomfortable as it could get, sitting in the royal box all day watching…
It was exciting. Maybe because it was just the right mix of being real and playacting. Because one did need to be very brave and skilled to compete, but nobody was actually trying to hurt anyone else; and then there were all those little theatrical, almost romantic touches with the banners and the favors and the bright and colorful tack for the horses, and seeing how happy the spectators got--or even disappointed, when their favorites lost.
It was, in the end, very difficult to not get caught up in it all, especially when one of her brothers was riding. Even Mama got excited, leaning forward just a little in her seat to watch them ride. (She always said she was just worried one of them would get hurt, but Sela knew better.)
This year, though--this year would be a little bit different.
Sela had just turned fifteen, and that meant she was old enough for serious courtship. And that meant that she was old enough, in some small way, to actually participate in the pageantry of the day. As the King’s only daughter, her interest and her favor carried a special symbolic weight. Already, at least a half a dozen young men, some of them handsome, had approached her, all charm and smiles.
Of course, none of it would go anywhere--part of the playacting, for one thing; and besides it would be at least a year before anything serious happened, even if Papa received and accepted a proposal right here and now.
But it was…it was nice. And flattering. It made her feel special. Being something like the center of attention. Even if they were mostly flirting with her rank (Sela knew she wasn’t very pretty, even if Mama said she just had to grow into it, but she’d seen other girls her age at court and they didn’t have that problem). Some of that was probably just because it was new, but she liked it.
In the interests of fairness, though, her parents had already decided that she would give her favor to one of her brothers, though the four of them refused to tell her which.
It probably wouldn’t be Merill--he always went to Mama, of course, being the oldest and the heir. He couldn’t favor one lady unless he was ready to get engaged, and he was still deciding.
She hoped it would be Deshir--he was the best rider, and her favorite to watch. He wasn’t as strong as Merill or as quick as Andir or as determined as Kemell, but put him on his horse and it was like the two of them became one being.
Andir was probably likeliest, though--if only because her third brother was an incorrigible flirt, and would probably score more points with his lady friends by being sweet to his baby sister, rather than fueling any rivalries among them.
Or maybe Kemell--he had always loved tournaments, even before he was old enough to compete, and he was bursting to get started, after missing most of last season because of his arm. But because he was usually quiet and sullen and almost rude to everyone outside the family, he didn’t have any lady friends to ask for favors.
Well, she’d find out tomorrow. And even if it was only one of her brothers, she’d still feel pretty and important and a part of all the excitement. She was very much looking forward to whichever one of them rode up to her and asked.
So, yes. Tournaments were a little old-fashioned, and Mama was right that they were dangerous and probably not really a good thing.
But Sela would be lying if she didn’t admit that she loved them, all the same.
no subject
no subject
I'm not sure which brother comes up to her--but, uh, this AU has her suddenly and unexpectedly becoming Queen not too long after this event, so...yeah...
no subject
You earned six novelty beads! Here you go:
1. Your greatest fear
2. Stress, Jim's Big Ego: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBQTV1aktg
3. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/0c/fb/9b/0cfb9b65351dd65b7ddf1a39afda302f.jpg
4. loud sneeze
5. "Baby It's You," Jojo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5j0LTWb8J4
6. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a2/b0/15/a2b01576a9be5f86ea04af0367a0735a.jpg
no subject
Thank you!
And yeah, she does! One last really happy memory with her parents and brothers before Everything Changes.