Before - Legends "Legends of the Force"(epic drama with OCs), book 1, 32 Chapters, FIN

WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: She is half-human and half-feline. That means she is moody and complicated, right?

Darth_Furio & Cowgirl Jedi 1701: What can I say? In the original text I left all of this out. This time, I took it in for the fun of it!

 

Surprise! It is indeed an update DarthUncle, Kahara, Darth_Furio, earlybird-obi-wan, Darth Gangrenous, WarmNyota_SweetAyesha and DARTH_MU


(STILL CHAPTER 26!)



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The new guard names itself after some legendary Elfin knights: Fianna. Each of them gets their hair cut short, but from their necks dangles a small braid. Itis composed of a long strand of intricately woven hair typically worn across the right shoulder.

I am tempted to cut those silly hair pieces off with a pair of scissors, but Èleos tells me that the braidsareto be the sign of their peaceful brotherhood.

“Why not a round table?” I ask him one night after family dinner.

“A table? Are we meant to carry around an entire table all the time?” He laughs out loud. “We need no symbol to show that we are equals to one another.”

“How can you be equal to your men as the captain of the guard?” I muse and put my chin into one of my palms.

His lips form a loveable smile. “In an act of democracy the lads voted me as their spokesperson and leader.”

“Democracy,” I echo. “This is something that your father chatted you up to do, is it not?”

“Déchiré, je suis un homme partagé.” He gets up from his chair and walks up to my seat of honour. “I am a man split in two halves. Dad is a human from Amnion and my mother was Ophidiae. Half of me is servant and the other one will remain to be a princely lord forever. There is a light side and a dark side in my chest. All I can do really, is to be a good example to the realm.”

This is not an answer to my question, but I respect the honesty of his words anyway. He accepts the truth that even a member of a ruling family has to learn about servitude.

With slanted eyes I watch the nineteen year old walk away, knowing he is due for his night watch.

I push away from the table and saunter towards a nearby window, where I make myself comfortable in its sill.

My cursed step-brother will never be able to possess the same humility as Èleos. I suppose, it is a genetic defect the son of a Force bender is born with.

Down in the yard, my cat eyes make out shades of grey moving in the dark.

With their hooded robes, made out of sheep wool, the Fianna look rather harmless. But I am fully aware of their strength in the Force. I also do not underestimate them as fighters, especially not Valiant Ankoù. In so far he has not tried to approach his cousin Luçien at all. But the secret service might be wrong about that.

I simply do not trust a male that shares the same blood line as my step-mother Flor.

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The next morning I watch Luçien´s cousin spar with the others. He is un animal de luxure. The heat of the desert sand radiates from each of his elegant movements, making me sweat. And I seldom sweat. This annoys me.

“Anything in particular you like?” jokes Misera straight into my ear.

“I hate the very sight of this one,” I counter immediately and fight the instinct to ram my confidante into the next wall.

“This is why you are gazing at him since an hour,” she chuckles. “Honestly, get things sorted out with Valiant, before anybody else gets seriously hurt.Cats' mating behaviour can be annoying and irritating.”

My cheeks are on fire.

This is not the kind of talk that I want. Proestrus, estrus, interestrus and anestrus – all those phases of mating are subjects a Lidérc mother would address to her teenage daughter.

With almost thirty am too old for such things, a spinster really. Besides, I have steeled myself to be a warrior for House Tjiehenet and its precious snake-spawn. I have neither the time nor the mind set to attempt the things that Misera speaks about so carelessly.

“I was like you once,” she says out of the blue. “But Narthex taught me that there is more in life than duty.”

Her affair with the master valet is one of the best kept secrets within the royal household since decades. Of course everybody knows about it, even the inhabitants of the Holy Isle, but outsiders would not. All loyal to House Tjiehenet keep their tongue in check.

“I am nothing like you,” I snarl.

Misera looks amused. “So it is true.”

With my jaw open wide I hiss at her, an ugly and deep tone. It is none of her business. Nor is it anybody else's. The choice was forced upon me by Luçien and Alezan ages ago. And I have found ways to live with my solitude.

 

Oy vey, Isa! You know you're hot for the dude! Give it up and just kriff him already!

 

Nice chat with Eleos showing his willing leadership of the Knights and openness about his complex nature. Misera is also forthright in what she knows and advises.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I know, right?

 

a relative of Lucien, interesting

 

Well, I for one agree that it is good to see some physical passion from Isabeau, instead of only a motherly love and pride for the snakespawn; if Eleos chose him, I'd think she could do worse. If the lad/guy agrees at least (no angst and weird/tragic pining love/love denied stuff, I trust!).

Eleos by the way is a sweet boy, trying to become a wise adult. Commendable, though not, despite expectations, boring

 

@DarthUncle, @Kahara, @Darth_Furio, @earlybird-obi-wan, @Darth Gangrenous, @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha, @Cowgirl Jedi 1701
and @DARTH_MU here is another quick update before I am off to bed. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Chapter 27:

Éleos is still not willing to speak of the details of his quest. It occurs to me though that he has been blessed by the Force itself. The special glow that he has all around him since childhood days has intensified. He is serene, well-balanced and more self-assured than ever. His paladins look up to him as if he is some sort of master of the Force now.

To the royal household the existence of the Fianna brings a new pace of life along. The dark corners of the midwinter castle seem more friendly and trustful.

True, the Shesha has been an efficient guard for countless centuries, but the enemies of the House of Tjiehenet have increased in numbers the past decades. Éleos offers new ways of protection and security.

I remain restless anyway. There are distant whispers in my mind, trying to reach me from the future. There will be confrontations with schisms regarding the interpretation of the Code that those brave paladins in my midst try to live by.

Sometimes a new thinking will become fashionable amongst a minority within their ranks. There will be century long wars about it. And then there will be a menace, a phantom menace.

“Listen, Isa!” Éleos offers one morning after a meditation circle with his lads. “There is no inherent evil in viewing the Force.”

I cannot hold back my cynicism, when I answer him. “Even Lulu, the greatest assassin ever alive in this star system, claims that what others call the light side is actually just the Force itself.”

“Which is inherently good. Your step brother is a philosopher,” the nineteen year old prince claims. “Isa, what others call the dark side is a perversion of the Force, twisted by those who used it.”

On that I finally have to agree.

While I watched Éleos and his many siblings grow up, I have seen with my own eyes that the potential for the light side and dark one resides in the Force user, not the Force itself.

“And, my dear nanny, since there is no dark side, there are no dark side actions or Force techniques.”

Having seen so much evil spring from the so-called good intentions that Luçien has, that I have trouble to agree on that thesis. “So you want me to believe, Éleos, that in effect any action, good or evil, could in principle be performed without risk as long as the intent was not evil.”

He beams from one ear to the other. “This is what we solemnly agree on.”

I roll my eyes and walk off the plaza, where the grey clad paladin circle still sits cross-legged on the stone floor.

They all give Luçien an excuse for doing things the way he does them. The end goal, with good intentions, justifies his means. Embracing him as a brother in the Force is foolish and so is letting him do his own bidding.

But there is more to upset me at present.

Rumours of a serial killer in the icy mountain chains of the North-West has come to my ears. His prey are novices of beanmna feasa. The circumstances of their deaths are cruel beyond any means. Only one person could be so bold.

I can watch my step-brothers actions within the royal household, but I dare not to send any spies after him, when he is gone for errants.

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To have Heulwen getting whinny is a rare thing. Normally the three sun years old girl is good natured. Now she has put her small six fingered hands on her hips, her eyes coloured with anger.

“But it was only yesterday that we had the feast of Imbolc,” the girl protests feverishly. Her hands are flying around like mad birds. “Why do we need to return to Cunabula today? There is still snow all around the castle. Can I not stay behind? I take care of everything, even of the husans.”

I grant her an amused look, knowing that she is not utterly fond of horses. She is so afraid of them, that she is not even able to call them by their real name. Instead she refers to them as husans.

Actually, I suspect it is a sign of her trauma that she gotten when her mother died next to her.

From the Shesha I know that Luçien had been on horseback when entering the castle that fateful day.

Something unbelievable must have taken place in the large forest territory of Ceilonwyn. Ever since a large crack seems to be in Luçien´s soul. But I could not care less. Due to him I have lost many beloved ones. The annoying part is that I cannot forget about them. This is against ´The Way´, the law of the desert.

The House Riwalan and its tribal members had lived in the present. Everything else had been regarded as sin too great to mention.

Pondering, I gaze down on Heulwen. “And how do you intend to deal with the stables and all the thirty horses we have there?” I ask her.

All eyes at the table are pinned on the girl. She has been a sunbeam for the entire royal household the past years. Even Daná is fond of her little niece.

Heulwen mashes up her breakfast egg beyond recognition in the meantime. “Malm and stable grooms will help me do deal with the husans, Isa.”

“And the rest of the castle?” I lean on one of my elbows.

“You can leave Mollita here to do the cooking for me. Her pancakes are always so nice. Hot chocolate I can do myself.” Heulwen beams. “Jam pots are in the pantry.”

This is not the first occasion that Heulwen is reminding me of her far away aunt Grianán. They share the same grate chocolate addiction.

“This is all you need?”

While I ask this, I can imagine Heulwen sitting inside the shelf – bare food, her hair a total mess and her mouth smeared with raspberry jam. She is a wild forest child after all.

“I do not need much.” Her tiny nose wrinkles. “I can also do the laundry myself.”

“Can you now?” I muse, trying my best not to burst out in laughter. “And what about the duvets?”

Heulwen thinks very hard. Her small face is but a mask of concern. Then her smile returns. “I could send it to you through the porta nigra.”

“What am I supposed to do with your dirty laundry? Why me?”

Her smile is as sweet as honey. “Lulu has said to grandfather that you love washing the dirty laundry of other people.”

“Indeed?!?” I give my step-brother a very long and hard look.

“This is why I ask you to do it for me, Isa.” Heulwen claps her hands together, glowing with excitement. “And because you are my nanny, you like me more than everybody else.”

My eyes are fixed on Luçien. “Vicomte,” I stress. “Is there more dirty laundry coming from you perhaps? I could wash the nappies of your sons. Sionnach has such tender hands. And once I am at it...”

He shakes his head, his face as usually hidden behind his war mask. “This is too kind, Holy Consort,” he replies with the same amount of acid in his tone. “But I am able to deal with my own amount of dirt.”

Heulwen jumps up from her chair. “May I stay here now?”

“Ask me again in ten or fifteen sun years.”

“But the castle cannot take care of itself.”

“We are all going back to Cunabula,” I sigh.

“But you could reign from here. You and grandfather have this huge double throne in the Great Hall.”

“We travel this afternoon.”

“But then I cannot...” Heulwen starts, but a warning glance from my step-brother makes her close her mouth abruptly. She goes on mashing her egg.

Do Luçien and my protégé share a secret? What is it and how long has this been going on? I will not tolerate it.

One by one the other family members rise and leave the morning room rather hastily.

I feel like using the pair of daggers that I wear in my boots.

Sunbeams dance over the wooden floor planks. They give all those Elfin knot-work border designs a life on their own. I close my eyes for it makes me dizzy looking at the ancient craftsmanship. If I am not careful a gateway to the future will open.

I jump on the table, kicking the dirty dishes and cutlery aside.

My step-brother does not move at all and stares at me unblinkingly.

In slow motion I kneel down, lean on my outstretched claws and arch my back as only a being of felidea origin can. “How do you want to deal with my dirty laundry, while you are bathing in your own filth?” I purr. “An Empire of dirt built up within thirteen years. Not bad at the age of thirty. What comes next?”

His tortured look rests on me. “When will you ever learn that I am no danger to you?”

“But to the children.” I take his butter knife and ram it deep into the table. “My children.”

To claw his eyes out would be all to easy. With me he is as tame as little kitten. But the horrors he can unleash to a gifted child like my Grianán are the real thread. She does not fit into his view of the universe.

I get off the table again, keen on leaving my deadly arch foe.

Luçien tries to follows me when I go outside, but due to Éleos and one of his fellow paladins he does not dare to prolong our argument. I leave him standing in the gangway.

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(To be continued!)

 

Interesting philosophic debate with Eleos, that sort of continues into the breakfast scene, though we only notice that when sweet Heulwen seems to reveal dark edges and secrets lurking behind her innocent desires. Lucien should talk/think less about Isabeau, and more with her, should have started out that way and never stopped. But, then he wouldn't be the so very misunderstood hero of his saga. And Isa would likely be both happier and more knowledgeable too. Oh, well.

 

Terrific conversations with Eleos and Lucien. The tension and the suspicion are strong in the latter case. You can feel Isa's protectiveness of Grianan and also of Heulwen.

 

Nice conversations. Lucien uses the Force dark and light. Isa should talk him out of the dark part

 

DarthUncle: Èleos is full of Force philosophies and Heulween, well, that would be spoilers...

WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: Then I wrote it the right way. I hope new ideas with the old text version will happen soon...

earlybird-obi-wan: Darkness and light belong together. The balance is important!

 

An urgent update is needed around here, DarthUncle, Kahara, Darth_Furio, WarmNyota_SweetAyesha & Cowgirl Jedi 1701:


(Still Chapter 27!)

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There is no logic in love or hate. A maelstrom rages inside me, ignited by at least one person carrying the family name Ankoù.

At night I walk the castle grounds like a restless spirit.

My days are filled with ruling a planet that has grown on me.

By the old Elfin tradition of the North-West I receive petitioners in the throne room. It is expected of me that I make wise decisions. But I am not on my own. I have help for which I am grateful. Agathos sits on a much smaller throne to my left side, while Narthex rules the household with the confidentiality of his office.

The three of us are a good team. If it was not for my step-brother, there would only be harmony in the halls of Dún Barr. He is like the evil magician in fairy-tales, a constant disturbance. His view on justice does not equal mine. He barely can contain himself when I make my decisions after a hearing known. My title forbids him to oppose me openly, but I hate his bragging during family meals.

“Enough!” I spit out one evening and scatter the contains my soup board all over the table. “I will not be questioned by a being that carries the title 'Henchman of Death'. Don’t ridicule yourself!”

His eyes are as round as twin moons. “Oberour ar maro?” he echoesin the language of his mother.

The tribe of Flor had different roots than the one of Alezan. They have their own language and traditions, but managed to merge in with the rest of the city folk. Apart from one thing. When it is about religious matters, any Goañv can be unbearably pious. Their lot wants the religious texts to be followed word by word.

With my back stiff and my hands still resting on the table, I state, “It is neither Sodalith or Calme, who are the moral compass on Draconis. The Great Snake Ischtár is worshipped around here, Mother Earth herself. One of her daughters made me Holy Consort on her death-bed.” I point at him in utter disgust. “You are but a visitor on this world. And you certainly have no say in any decision that I make for the royal House Tjiehenet.”

My step-brother looks stricken. I cannot see his face beneath the war mask, but his shoulders speak a clear language.

“You are overworked. Do me the favour and go on a long holiday!” My fingernails make a loud noise while scratching over porcelain. “Come back when you have learned to stay silent and can bear the fact that I am the keeper around here.”

The rest of the family glares at me in uncomfortable silence.

I neatly fold my napkin and leave the room. In the door frame I pause. “Send me somebody reasonable to spare with. Misera is on a mission.”

Not looking back I head straight to the training hall, keen to steam off in a more reasonable way. I hate myself for exploding like this at cosy family dinners, but I begin to loathe the very sight of Luçien.

I start to make some push-ups. But not for long.

The door opens.

“Finally,” I breathe.

Valiant closes the door soundlessly.

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(To be continued!)

 

Well, be careful what you wish for huh?

Agathos, Narthex, and Isabeau definitely sound a wonderful triumvirate with Lucien sounding a sour, discordant note although even at those times he is being genuine and sincere and reaching out to Isa, she is totally closed off, and every one else is caught in the middle.

 

Ooh, ooh, ooh! Now it looks like we're getting somewhere. Go for it, Isa. Go on and have yourself a nice, sweaty workout. (If you know what I mean?)

 

I use a punching bag the work out stress.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of a wrestling match.

 

Of course, it is still possible that Isa is only reasonable in her own mind, thinking of unreliable narrators and all, but yeah, same goes for Lucien but double: he too needs to listen to outside opinion to help balance his own. As usual, a lot of anger in Isa, but she knows it and has beings around her that ground her and cushion it.

AzureAngel2, if ever you feel like a pause from the great tragedy of Nagina, I wouldn't be averse to seeing a third person read of one of the wise decision she has to give the petitioners

Short and powerful, in Isa's spirit

bulls-eye

 

Isa has her isues with Lucien like he has with her

 

WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: You are a very good observer. The dark side cannot hide from you at all.

Cowgirl Jedi 1701& Darth_Furio: You gave me a jolly good idea for the next scene to come up. This one will finally close the gap between the new ideas & the old original text. Thank you.

DarthUncle: Your wish usually is my command!

earlybird-obi-wan: This is why the next update will not be about him.

 

Wrestling match, huh Good for her/them.

 

DarthUncle: Sorry, no grain of concentration left in my poor brain at present to make any text work. And if I really want to catch that early train, I am better off to bed soon.

 

Okay, I tried today, despite all the sorrow and hurt, @DarthUncle, @Cowgirl Jedi 1701, @Darth_Furio, @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha, @Chyntuck & @Darth Gangrenous:


(Still Chapter 27!)

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The young Ankoù clan member is dressed in his breeches only. His hair, even his stupid little braid, is pinned up with a black ribbon. I stare at his naked torso, wondering if I should be outraged or not. Luçien was always the pious one.

“Is it wise to make yourself so vulnerable to me?” I ask instead in a mocking tone of voice, encircling Valiant like a hungry lioness a hurt eopie calf.

He shrugs. “I need to be as free as the desert wind when I fight. Amour and desert robes hinder me. I am of Clan Goañv, like my aunt Flor. My mother and she were sisters as you might know.”

“All that I know is that you might die tonight,” I say throatily. “You should at least defend yourself with a weapon.”

A meek smile spreads over his handsome face. “I am one with the Force the Force is with me.”

“Leave that bantha poodoo out of the training salle!” I snarl, hating him more than ever.

“Be assured that I will not use any Force tricks, milady!” he promises, something like hurt written in his slanted cat eyes.

“You better!” I hiss and attack him with a vicious capoeira trick. But he is not there when I reach him. “Mince alors! I am not interesting in dancing with you, garçon!”

My cursing does not seem to annoy him. Nor does the fact that I call him ´boy´. He bows towards me. “I simply listen to the Living Force and be one with its natural flow!”

“You Midi-chlorian infected freak!” I howl, swinging my claws one more in attack modus.

Valiant escapes my third attack with the same easiness as before. “The Midi-Chlorians create life itself in this universe. None of us can escape them. Each of us deals differently with them though. There is more than one philosophy.”

“I am so not interested in philosophy. Narthex and Agathos are full of that,” I pant, feeling like an old woman which makes me even more furious. “Shut the freck up and fight!”

He does, so do I.

But the more aggressive I get, the more peaceful he counteracts.

After half an hour I start stumbling through the room like a drunkard.

“We can stop, if you wish!” he suggests with great concern written all over his face.

“What I wish for is your death, Goañv scum!”

Suddenly, Valiant kneels in front of me and exposes his throat in absolute trust. “I was trained by the same brotherhood as my blood cousin.”

And just like that he closes his eyes.

Indecisive, I loom above him. Perhaps I should hear him out before I kill him off.

“But fate allowed me pass on to Ostal Blanc. Under the guidance of Honoured Madame Yeotenn I became a beaton, a Force healer.”

“Liar, only woman can be trained!”

My fingernails leave ugly red marks on his chest. He does not even wince.

Then there is a blue, familiar glow.

“Incroyable!” I stare down at Valiant who heals himself. Unbelievable!

His eyes snap open. The intensity of their stare makes me step back.

“Calme said to her Mother Sodalith, ´Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offences.´ And so the moon goddess, touched by the wisdom of her only daughter, allowed males into the House of Healing. Not as paying costumers, but as healers.”

I hear each of his words, but my brain is not able to process their meaning.

“Milady, let go of your hatred, before it is too late for you to turn back. There is love and light despite all the darkness that you have experienced in your life.”

“Enough!” I breathe.

He gets up. “Lucien is not the villain you think him to be.”

“I do not want to hear this!” I argue, turning my face away. My feet remain rooted to the ground.

“He is a product of our grandfather, Châtiment Goañv.”

“We are all a product of our daily decisions,” I counter. “Do not blame some old man for what my step-brother has become!”

I am appalled as Valiant places his slender fingers on my shoulders. “You both need healing, Luc and you. This is why old Minou has sent me.”

“Èleos summoned you,” I say stubbornly.

“It was the Force. It spoke through Sionnach and Minou. Eli just listened and acted straight away.”

Tears smart from my eyes. “I do not need healing!”

“You are in denial, just as Lucien is! But you are more open for the reality of the Force than he is. I can see that in the children you helped to raise.”

Weakly, I try to push him away with both hands. He smells too good to be true after our fight. “You better go!”

He kisses my brow and I shiver like a palm tree leave in the wind. “Not before I healed you, milady!”

“Non!” I protest in one last attempt to chase Valiant off.

One of his hands wanders off into areas that were never touched like this before. “No attachment. I promise. Just a blessing of the Living Force! To show you the beauty of the moment.”

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(To be continued!)