Post by Círdan on Jul 12, 2007 21:59:13 GMT -5
Prologue
The sun was setting. Lord Valen stood with his hands folded behind his back. His Crimson robes decorated with Gold Lining twisting and contorting into majestic patterns and symbols. It fell to the marble stone on which two heavy and extremely well polished boots sat. He gazed over the horizon, and for a few moments he thought he would lose himself. He dreamed of a land far over the pink shaded horizon… one far away from politics and the world. But he could not go there now… and he wondered if he ever would.
He sighed heavily, letting the days problems flow from his mind with each breath. He closed his eyes and hummed a tune he had heard from his wedding last year. It was a slow one and borught back many good memories. For a moment he smiled, a rare occurrence in Valen’s world. Then, just 365 days ago, it seemed that life was perfect, and now he had doubled over, and his life was in chaos. The sun was dipping into it’s own sea of pink and orange and purple, pink clouds skimmed over the inky blue sky above. The stars were now starting to show themselves. It was a beautiful night, and it should have been celebrated with happiness, but Valens quarters were dark, and the only talking that took place was the ghosts of whispers flowing from the servants quarters.
Valen strode over to his mirror…. He hated this object perhaps the most of all things in the world. For when he looked into it, he saw a weary, selfish, corrupt man who once had everything. His gaze declined to a large silver bowl filled with holy water. He splashed a generous amount of water on his face, reviving his energy to some degree, and getting his robes wet. He cursed to himself while trying to scrub the water into the fabric so it would disappear. The ripples in the bowl obscured the reflection of himself, but after a time of intense and vigorous efforts to remove the liquid stain, it evened out… and Valens saw himself again. He stared deeply into the water… and a tear began to form in his eye. It ran down his cheek, leaving a trail of liquid on his face. It condensed on his chin, then slowly dropped to the water, creating more ripples to disrupt his vision.
Angrily, he took the bowl and flung it at a portrait of himself. The portrait showed a young man, smiling with a beautiful bride. They were dressed elegantly, gold jewelry curved around every ligament. A green pasture was before him, and the sun was cradled between two snowy peaks in the background.
The bowl shattered into a thousand pieces, the water inflicting much damage upon the former beautiful image. The water drizzled down, collecting the paint as it did. The colors mixed together to form a blood red hue. Blood ran from their eyes, and they smiled. The great grin of the lovely maiden beside the great groom had vanished in a whirl of a thousand colors. Valens sank to his knees, raising his hands, and cursing to the world. He could no longer taste the salt like taste of tears, because he could not concentrate on it with the noise of his sobbing.
He pulled a dagger from his waist. Tears began to stain the silver polished steel of the sheath. His head declined, he drew the blade slowly. His hands trembling with every sob, he drew it completely, and stared at his contorted image in the blades perfect image. A shell of his former self stared back at him. “I died exactly one year ago. I am Lord Valens. But Lucius Valens died with Lorain Valens…. This very night, One year ago.” He grasped the blade with both his hands, and sank deeper to the floor. He curled himself in his cape, and his shell died. Lord Valens, was no more.
More to come!