Second Letter to by Darling, of The Prince of Gems

To my Darling,

While the battle was not as dire at this forum, morale was low after battle. Spring has barely touched the frozen forests of the Njordr, and even while I took part in yelling at trees to wake them, my mornings are still spent huddled under a cloak.

But you were on my mind, as often you are, when I remembered a story I read while at House Delacroix. It was tucked away between two tomes of great history: a small novella that told the tale of the Prince of the Gems. I told it to my comrades, but I do not believe I have shared it with you.

Please, allow me to correct that atrocious mistake!

A long long time ago, in the realm before the Witch Kings and presumably when malefic were more bountiful: There lived a Prince. He was coined the Prince of Gems because that was all he wished for. He would tax his people to find them across the land, he would send all laborers deep into the Earth, and he would slay any who dared to touch his growing horde.

But, eventually, his cruelty rose higher than his people could tolerate. Using great spells and knowledge they created a trap that would twist the Prince’s form into a beautiful blue diamond. The people then, insidiously, set it in a crown and presented it to him as a gift.

And once he put the crown on he was devoured by the stone, trapped inside it. And once he was caught the people of the town had a great parade all the way to the dock, where they then took a ship and cast him into the ocean. And the story goes that he is still down there, in the permanent darkness of the ocean in purgatory where he is with his own true love: Greed.

It is a story to trick nobility into kindness and to give to others, even if they have rights to the gold of their people.

NOW I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE STORY ENDS THERE. How could it? A love of greed is not love enough!

And, so much like I did to the book in the library, I added an Epilogue to the tale for my comrades, to cheer them up! Love can fix any curse, and it can save this Prince from their purgatory. I amended the story with a caveat that, if the Prince found love in anything other than greed, that he would be transformed back into his human form.

So while he suffered for his crimes for many decades at the bottom of the ocean, one day a creature of the deep oceans stumbled upon the crown. She was beautiful, with eyes that sparkled like pearls and hair that even in the deepest dark shone like silver. It took only a moment for him to stare upon her until he fell in love.

And so when he turned back into his human form he was able to spend the rest of his life with her, drowning under the sea with his true love. He truly did love her until the day he died.

A romantic ending to such a tale!!! I told this to my comrade Silvester and while he was not a romantic like you or I and missed the simple beauty of unearthly love, he did seem to fare a little better after the tale, and, even better, it inspired my Lady to sing a sonnet of love!

So we together shared two songs of Romance to the people of House Valerian.

Alas, my candle grows weak this evening and I do not have another to spare: While we did just fortify ourselves in a more permanent residence of Fort Hrafnikastli, there is much to still do before I can waste two candles in one evening.

But, know this. I miss the sunrises in Capacionne. The moment at dawn when the sun would hit the hills, when the soft light purple would touch the dew covered flowers? I knew that Berceau de Artère was a wealthy land, but I thought it was in the gold of the pockets. I would pay any amount to be there again: riding our horses through what appeared to be fields of gem and precious stones. I remember that moment fondly when we first slipped from the castle away from prying eyes. It is because it is the moment I fell in love.

And I hope that if I am to die on this battlefield, my last moments are filled with thoughts of that moment, when the sun hit your face and I knew bliss had found me.

With all my heart,

Lorelei

First Letter to by Darling, of Lucian Greenfield’s Love

To my Darling,

I know it has been several weeks since we last departed, but I still feel the heat of your palm in my hand as we said our goodbyes. I was told that time dulls all pain, but still I feel the ache in my heart at not seeing your smile as the sun rises on our morning rides together.

Please allow me a moment to distract myself from my own heavy heart and write of other love that I have found between the clashing of swords as I fight for my Lady. While you will not get my letters till I return and read them to you myself, I do not want to forget what I have witnessed here. Even in the North, where the ice is the heaviest and winters the most frigid, love blossoms under the lack of light!

The first tale I weave is one that I have heard of my companion Lucian Greenfield. He is a quiet fellow in my company, though after pestering him with questions I hear of his true love Angela! And while their love is one of courtship and devotion, even producing a child named Peter as a symbol of their affection, it was…Well…I am to be bold, if I am going to write of it I will need to add a stroke of poetic liberty. I wanted to transform the tale of their meeting to be equivalent to that of the power I felt in his words and the love beating in his heart!

~ They met when their carriage was attacked by BANDITS. Two individuals connected by not a strand of fate, but by the will to survive! Individually traveling in a merchant’s carriage, not even names shared between them before the first bolt of an arrow of fire was launched at them! The door was lit aflame and the two of them jumped into action. It was at the edge of a cliff, the horses threatening to pull the carriage off the cliff sides if not for the quick wit of Angela (The aforementioned soon-to-be-lover) who opened the opposite door of the carriage and leaned out of it, stopping it from caterwauling off the side!!!!!! But the bandits were just as cunning as they were vile. They had in their sights the ransom payments for such a beautiful woman in her prime with a large dowry, who knows how much she would fetch?!

But Lucian would not allow it! He leapt forward and atop the carriage fought off not one, not two, but THREE bandits with nothing but his love and fists (Obviously he should have used his weapons, there was no time to draw them)! And after he threw them all off the sides, narrowly catching the hand of his beloved (THE FIRST TIME THEY HELD HANDS) before she fell beneath the thunderous spinning wheels of the carriage. And as they looked into each other’s eyes, truly their Souls, for the first time…The Bandits sent a final poisoned arrow flying from their cursed bow and POISONED HIM.

How could death try and steal him, when he had just met his beloved? But perhaps all in the fate of Love. Though she was entranced by his willingness to fight for her, when not a Knight himself, it was their conversation while she nursed him back to help that knitted their lives together in a beautiful tapestry. And who would not be seduced by the passion of the moment followed by caring for another, cleaning the bleeding and festered wound? Because what is one kind of love if not a bond kindled by battle but then softly fed by tender moments of conversation, a smile. A shared joke while pushing through a moment of pain. ~

I miss you, my Beloved. While a story like this one does bring a smile to my face, I truly miss yours.

With all my love and soul,

Lorelei