Her father, for it would be hard to think of him as anything else but, reached out and pat her hand.<strong> "Poppet, I'm not the man that lay with your mother.  My blood does not flow in your veins.  But I am the man who taught you the sword.  I am the man who snuck you biscuts that night your mother sent you to bed without dinner.  I am the man that bent you over my knee when you broke my favorite drinking stein.   Whatever else I may be, and for as long as I am able, I will always be your father."<br/></strong><br/>Celes felt tears in her eyes, and despite any discomfort he might have been feeling he rose and gathered her up in his arms.  For a few moments Celes found herself able to do more than just cry in the arms of an old man that would always be her father.  An outsider might have thought it strange to see a naked beauty being comforted in an old man's arms.  But if any servants looked in, they would know better then to think ill of the Vynar father and daughter.<br/><br/>Eventually they both calmed down and retook their chairs.  Her father retook his seat and explained what had happened over the last eight days.  Since Queen Elizabeth, once known as princess Levina d'Tudor, had died without ever producing an heir, the succession of the throne was in doubt.  There had always been rumors that she'd born a child before her coronation, but they had never been proved.  Lord ir'Vynar explained to his daughter that the plan had always been that if no heir came from the queen, that she would abdicate the throne to her illigetimate daughter before she became to old or weak to do so.  To expose Celes as her daughter before that would have put Celes in great danger.  Celes would have become the target for assassins and political machinations far too great for her skill.  Only when Queen Elizabeth was ready to pass the crown to her daughter could the truth become known.<br/><br/>But the plan had failed.  Queen Elizabeth had died suddenly several months before her fortieth birthday.  Far too young, and it was rumored, under mysterious circumstances.  Yet still, the queen could have spoken the truth of the matter on her death bed and made the truth known, but she hadn't.  Lord ir'Vynar believed he knew why also.  If Celes was to step forwards, with no support, and without the queen to back her up throughout the process, she'd be in even greater danger and would not be able to avoid an assassin's blade.  There were too many members of the extended royal family that were ready and waiting, had been preparing for this chance for over a decade.<br/><br/>Queen Elizabeth's cousin Reginald ir'Winton was one of those of royal bloodline that was ready.   Minutes after Queen Elizabeth died, he had his own personal guard seize the gates of Londinium, the ports, and many of the major political centers.  Declaring himself the new king of Britannia, he forced a coronation ceremony the very next day.  His claim was as legitimate as any others, and he became King James the third, protectorate of all the land.  But his claim, while equal to any of Queen Elizabeth's cousins, was nothing compared to a blood descendant of Queen Elizabeth.  Celes should be the rightful queen of all Britannia.<br/><br/>But there were three problems.  First, there was no proof that she was a blood descendant.  Her father, a priest of Shoni had died many years ago.  She would have to find some way to prove that she was the descendant of Queen Elizabeth, proove the she was the blood daughter of the woman who was once known as princess Levina d'Tudor.   The second problem was support.  While Celes of course had the full backing of house Lynar of course, she'd need more, much much more.  Without several noble houses and their troops behind her, all the proof in the world wouldn't matter.  King James would crush her as a rebellion and then his rule would be iron clad.  The third and most complex was time,  there were many nobles who were unhappy with how King James had seized power.  So she had time to sway them to her cause now.  But the longer his rule went on, the less likely any coup would succeed.  Celes's father, lord ir'Vynar guessed that she'd have a year to twenty months at the most.  By the time the kingdom had seen two harvests come in, they would be used to king James, and the people would back him.<br/><br/>Her father also mentioned another problem, one tied to the time issue.  King James was very heavily tied to the church of Metahn.  The pious and religious church was backing him, but also insisting on sweeping changes in the kingdom's 'moral' code.   Women were starting to be treated as second class citizens, good only for breeding soldiers for the king's army.  Nudity was now outlawed in many places in public by the king's decree, including any place in the public areas of the palace, and any place in public where a steeple of one of the churches could be seen.  In addition they were pushing out the worship of the old gods.  Shrines to Obladhai were being mysteriously burned in the night and worship of Shoni was being publicly outcried as vile and sinful.<br/><br/>But her father had a plan.  He'd a piece of land in the noble's quarter in Londinium.  It wasn't a large plot, only big enough for a small house to be built within it's gated walls.  But it had two bedrooms and servants quarters as well as a small stable.  He wanted Celes to go to Londinium, take one of his few remaining servants, and try to rebuild the name House Vynar.  Build an alliance of people who were like minded and would help Celes take down the vile King James before he became too powerful.  Then finally, find the proof that Celes was the blood daughter of Queen Elizabeth.<br/><br/>Her father had a few more pieces of advice as well.  She'd be able to dress in her armor in many places, but members of the church would frown upon it, or worse.  In addition while some places, like the parks, the river, and the poorer areas of town wouldn't frown upon nudity, it would get her kicked out of the upper class areas.  So she'd have to start dressing the part, or at least knowing when to put on aires.  That wasn't to say that she couldn't use nudity or her sensuality as a weapon, but she'd have to decide when and where to use that weapon.  In addition while it was common for nobles to carry their swords at their hips, even in the presence of the king, armor and spiked sheilds were somewhat frowned upon.  So she'd have to be very careful with her dress and what sort of an image she was portraying.   He also mentioned that he hated to say it, but one of the best ways to sway young noblemen to her side might be to use her .... softer... skills of persuasion.   More on that he would not elaborate, simply blushing red and waving it off saying he knew what Shonites did, and while he did not follow that goddess, who was he to criticize?<br/><br/>The last thing he had to say in way of help was to take the picture of the queen back and put it on the mantle again.<strong> "She had a portrait of me."</strong>he said,<strong> "I know not where or where it might be now, but if you find it, she was able to activate it magically.   With that she could see through the eyes of this painting, hear through it's ears, and speak through it's mouth.  She used to watch you some times.  But you never knew."</strong>Celes had spent many years of her childhood thinking that this house was haunted, because at times she could hear a very soft crying and there'd be no one around... the magical picture explained it.<br/><br/><strong>"But now,"</strong>her father said gesturing to a window with a setting sun,<strong>"I've told you as much as I think I can.  You should rest here tonight and leave for Londinium at first light.  But you should pick a servant to go with you.  You'll need help running your house.  Then again, you might choose someone to help you entertain guests?  I can call the staff during our dinner and you can interview and pick one if you like?"</strong><br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body">ok, you have to give me some details on your retainer.  It can be a level one character, male or female (figure default array stats, so nothing insane) young or old, what have you.  They will be utterly loyal to you, and if you choose, you can 'pick' a servant that you know will enjoy sex with Celes.   So give me some details on the servant, what their main focus will be (housekeeping, spying, lore, political knowledge, shopping for you, etc etc etc) and what their two less well trained skills might be.  Give them a name, and if you want, pick a picture for them from somewhere.   Then you can write out any RP you want, feel free to NPC them some, and we can play it out or skip to a few days later as you're getting set up in your home in Londinium, whichever you choose.  </div></div>