Beginnings: The Wedding

September 1, 2009

It began with a wedding.

The wedding itself was not of any great importance. Oh, the joining of Prince Caspen and Lady Allera was a celebrated throughout the land, and foretold as a match that would have a positive impact on the future of their Kingdom for generations to come. And so it did, given the two of them would promptly retreat into privacy to make one thaumaturgical discovery after another, advancing the learning of the realm with a thousand petty works of ingenuity.

But the fourth son of the king and a minor noble from the mountains were, in the end, figures of no great consequence. They had a love-filled marriage and enjoyed their days in peace and prosperity. They never produced a child. Their love was spent on experiments and invention alone.

What they did have, though, was a wedding of no small magnificence! Invitations sent to every Named person of the realm, musicians and performers brought in from across the seven Kingdoms, and the highest royalty of every state in attendance. The dishes and cakes served were works of art, that could bring tears to the eye of the most miserly Clerk. A week long holiday was held in celebration of the event, for the commonfolk to take part in this grand occasion. The High Keeper of the faith himself presided over the ceremony, enshrining the entire event in an atmosphere of peace and calm that was almost unknown to the normally bickering and scheming members of the nobility.

And after the service was held, while the dukes and dames of seven lands danced and drank the night away, and gave toast after toast to the health and future of the royal couple… two figures had scurried away from the bright lights and merriment to find a moment of privacy.

In that dark seclusion, heady on fae wine and strangely becalmed by the magical peace, a man and a woman who hated each other very, very much… made love.

They were rivals at best, archenemies at worst – each considered a hero by their own Kingdom, and a villain by the rest. Their own grievances with each other was a nigh-endless list of betrayal, murder, deceit and damnations. Whenever they clashed, death fell in their wake.

And this night was no exception. Amidst the enforced revelry, their hatred turned to a form of dark passion… for one night only. But that was all it took.

For from that union would come a child. A child of terrible beauty and incredible will. A child with a heritage of not just magic, but majesty – who would not just command the winds of thaumaturgy, but the armies of nations.

A child who, sadly, inherited the best of both parent. No cruelty here, no nature of spite and hatred… no, no such easy weakness. This was a child born of pride, and honor, and determination. Righteous and vengeful and just.

Pure as the shining sun… and just as damned to eternally fall into the cold embrace of the dark.

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