(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/anIrishlad/Moonampstarnight2TrappistAbbey-Lafayette051_zps197e97bd.jpg)<br/><br/>A gentle, pleasantly cool early summer's night was folded over the fortress city of Fellissa, capital of Ahremberg and the seat of power for House Kaysser. Homes, shops, smithies, stables, stock pens, warehouse, inns and taverns were squished together, within the thick walls and tall towers of the city. The defenses were build in half circles, the first one around the imposing royal palace, the second surrounding the oldest and largest homes of the nobility, the third around the old city and forth around the new city. The beginning and end of each wall was anchored against the sheer sides of the Temple Mount, a lone mountain in a land of rivers and farms, plains and forest.<br/><br/>Few stirred this night, as the hour approached midnight and the full moon seemed to hang low in the sky. Guards stood their stations upon the walls, as members of the Watch patrolled the streets. A handful of priests or priestess, along with some of their acolytes held prayer in the temples, which were build into the sides of the mountain. The only other people awake, where to be found in the Queen's Solar, a modest and separate manor behind the palace. A few servants bustled away the dishes from the late supper, Queen Alveena had been having in private with her son, Prince Randolf. It had been a light meal, for it was the Prince's sixteenth birthday, when he would come into his majority and enter into the grand game of his class and it would not do for him to enter a world plotting to kill him, feeling sleepy and full from a filling meal, suited for one of royal blood.<br/><br/>He stood there, in the small dinning hall of his mother, watching the candle burn down towards the hour mark and sipping from a silver goblet, filled with a spiced wine, to keep from pacing. The flickering flame cast dancing shadows over his face, which seemed to hide in the shallow pockmarks under his eyes. Energy and excitement coursed through his veins, as the waxed slowly melted towards midnight, when he would finally be accepted as a man and set upon his journey to claim kingship, from the grasping hands of his brother. Each drop of the melted wax, brought him closer to casting aside the black and yellow doublet, with his mother's leaping doe and take up the mantle of his father, embracing the snarling hound, which had been chosen for his sigil.<br/><br/>"My son" said Alveena, her voice low but plainly choked with emotion, as she walked around to stand before Randolf, "It is time for you to go."<br/><br/>She reached out and gently took his goblet, setting it aside before drawing her last son into a tight embrace. While she loved all the children that her husband sired and had a greater affection for those she bore herself, he had a special place in her heart. Sure, he had a few younger brothers and they were still her sons but she couldn't help but feel like he was the last. After he had been born, King Volbrecht and been unable to get her with child again and then her monthly bleeding had stopped. A sudden wave of sorrow filled her heart and she squeezed the strong body of her son harder, not wanting him to die, afraid to let go but at last, she did and stepped back, looking up at him with a tear in her gray eyes.<br/><br/>"Mother...I.." Randolf stopped, his tongue fumbling for the first time in his life, as conflicting emotions clashed, "I will make you proud."<br/><br/>Smiling, the young man grasped the belt around his waist and unbuckled it, taking the sheathed sword and dagger from his hip. He held them out, returning the sword his own mother had worn, when she had been his father's Companion. He would have held onto the blade but it was custom for a prince to leave behind everything of his childhood. Just like the new clothes waiting for him atop Temple Mount, new arms and armor, even boots, would be there too or stored in the suite that was had been readied for him in the palace.  The queen let out a single sob, taking the sword, sheath and belt in his hands, as he bowed before her. Straightening up, he kissed his mother's cheek and half raced out of the room, following a lighted path from the Solar, leading up the mountain, to the Temple of All Gods.<br/><br/>The temple was a strange affair. Located at the top of Temple Mount, it was carved into the stone, just under the peak. Unlike other temples, which had rooms and chambers, passages and stairs, alters and recesses, the Temple of All Gods was but a single space. One large room, supported by pillars, with an opening to the sky in the ceiling, over a massive bath in the middle. The walls and columns were carved with the images and symbols of the gods. Not often used, it was a special, holy place, reserved for those that cared for it and the royal family. It was lit only by the brilliance of the moon or the rays of the sun, no lamps or torches were allowed.<br/><br/>As her son left, Queen Alveena buckled the belt around her waist. It felt good to wear a sword again. It had been far to many years since she had been at her husband's side in battle. The steel and worn leather seemed out of place, worn over a fine gown of purple silk  but not out place on the woman. It seemed to naturally fit, like it was a part of her and she caressed the hilt, to calm herself, as she looked down at the ring on her right pinky finger. It was a simple band of steel, with a single word etched into an otherwise smooth surface. Honor. It was the ring only a handful of women ever wore, the symbol of a retired member of the Sisterhood.<br/><br/>Gathering her pride, wiping away the tear and running a hand through her graying but still mostly blonde hair, she drew in a deep breath. With the confidence only a Queen could have, she strode from the dinning room, heading down towards her reception hall. There she would find a score of young women, some of the very best the Sisterhood had to offer. From who's ranks, she would choose those to protect, befriend, advise and even love her son, for the rest of his life, long may it be.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>(want to know more? Please see the OOC Page (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=170072.0))