A Study in Elvish Royalty (For FrankFly)

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

For now, she had escaped. She had managed to hide from their extremely-watchful eyes for long enough to run away from their presence, down and across the courtyards to the training yards where the young ellons were drilled and made into warriors. A battle could start at any time, and they needed to be ready if their homeland was attacked, even if the odds of such a fight were slim. Things were peaceful now; however, it was never terrible to be cautious.

Of course, she wasn't allowed to train along with the ellons. Some of the elleths had separate training sessions, so they could protect themselves as well (and the ellons' drill were "much too difficult and brutal for a lady", as the drill instructor liked to say)... but she wasn't allowed to attend their sessions either.

Erulissë was an Elvish princess, after all, and Princesses needed to learn to be young ladies and had others to protect herself. (Or at least, that's what her tutor always told her, stubborn old bat.) Why should she care, though? Her parents were the ones who cared all about royalty and that sort of nonsense, and they didn't pay any attention to her whatsoever. Even if she did what they wanted, she doubted that they would start caring.

To be honest, she wasn't even allowed to be down near the training yards without an escort, or one of her guardians, but right now, she threw that rule out the window. She watched in awe as several young ellon sparred with each other, using engraved daggers and bows and martial-arts-like techniques. She was very envious of them, and she'd begged more than one guardian over the years to teach her, but the answers had all been the same: no.

I bet they're worried that I would be the greatest elleth warrior of all, Erulissë thought to herself. She made sure to duck behind the railing whenever the instructor looked her way, so she wouldn't get caught. Then I wouldn't need to be a Princess, and I could fight with the other elleth, and I could beat the ellon too. She was smart after all, and she could certainly learn very well, if she were given the chance.




~~

Translations:
Ellon(s) - male elves
Elleth(s) - female elves

[FrankFly]

Bellethiel was that "stubborn old bat" in question. While she was certainly stubborn, one most likely wouldn't look at the tall, blonde woman's serene, symmetrical face and think "old bat". That beautiful face, now wore a expression that was a combination of concern and annoyance as she moved through the courtyard hastily, although still managing to retain the graceful posture she always had when she moved.

Where was that princess? The tutor had a good idea she knew very well where young Erulissë was off to... The elleth had always expressed interest in learning the art of combat. It was such a pointless desire, too! Was the girl blind to the large number of muscular, well-trained guards that constantly patrolled the halls of the castle? Nothing was ever going to harm her with them around... She, in Bellethiel's opinion, needed to focus on the learning important things... Statecraft, etiquette, and diplomacy; things important to a person who was one day going to be ruling. Running around and swinging a sword would do her no good when she had to make a speech. Bellethiel found her mind going off track. She had to focus on finding the princess at the moment, and assumed that she had probably sneaked her way down to the training grounds.

Of course, there was always the fear that this was not a display of the princess's rebellion... What if she had gotten kidnapped by some skilled, silent intruder? Or worse? As unlikely as this idea was, Bellethiel couldn't rule these things out as being a possibility, and for that reason, hurried her pace. She opened the ornate door that led to the training yard, and began inspecting the area. The ellons were practicing now... Bellethiel desperately hoped there was one, out of place elleth hiding in the area. She began to search.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Since elves moved swiftly and silently, it could be rather easy to sneak up on someone if they were not careful or looking out for strangers. For Erulissë, she was not looking out for herself, which would be quite the mistake if she were a warrior.

She felt very glad that she had finished all of her lessons for the day, even though it was because her tutor had been needed to help some of the littler royals: her cousins, who were small and barely a hundred years old. They needed much more help than she did, especially with etiquette. If she had skipped those, she would be writing lines... and she'd probably only get a scolding for being in the courtyard unattended.

However, when she heard the training hall's doors being opened and closed again, she peeked over to see Bellethiel and almost groaned. Her tutor! Of course! The stuffy old bat would follow her here and probably report this to her parents... not that, that would do much. It would just be a waste of time for all of them. Still, that didn't stop her from hiding.

[FrankFly]

Bellethiel's sharp, grey eyes had caught that little bit of movement by the railing. She was almost completely sure that it had been Erulissë poking her head up. She crossed the courtyard at a leisurely pace, being sure not to step in the way of any of the ellons' training exercises. For her, it was a stroll, but for Erulissë, if she was over there, it would be a death march, her fate coming closer and closer. Bellethiel's expression was a determined, annoyed one... It seemed as if she no longer feared for where Erulissë was, and instead, was deep in thought about what was going to happen to the rebellious young elleth when the tutor got her hands on her.

Yes, she intended to inform the young princess's parents of her behavior, but Bellethiel knew as well as Erulissë that this would probably go ignored by the two. However, Bellethiel viewed this a positive thing, a stark contrast from Erulissë's understanding of it. Her mind decided that the royalty could more easily rule the country without having to worry about their naughty daughter's childish behavior around the castle. On top of that, why was Bellethiel even there if they could be more proactive parents? That was currently beside the point, though. Bellethiel KNEW that Erulissë was just behind that railing, and the tall, graceful tutor did not think that a simply reporting the Elvish princess would be enough to punish the girl for her misdeeds.

Bellethiel stopped just meters from where she thought the princess was hiding.

"Erulissë?" she called in her clear, somewhat severe voice. "Come out here this instant."

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Unfortunately for Erulissë, she did not notice Bellethiel coming towards her, almost like death upon its next victim, but the princess did hear when the elleth called her name. She flinched under the firm tone, knowing that she was going to be in trouble... whatever that would entail.

Carefully, Erulissë moved away from the railing and walked over to her tutor. When she was little, whenever she'd been caught, she'd lower her head or make crocodile tears to try and get out of trouble, and those tactics usually work about half of the time. But now, she knew that would not work, and she had no reason to pretend or weasel her way out of trouble. So she held her head up high and looked her tutor in the eye as she came over.

"Yes, Bellethiel?" Not even as a little elleth, did she ever call her tutor 'tutor' or by any other name than her first name. After all, her parents didn't want her growing up thinking that someone 'beneath' her should have a title, unless they earned it.

[FrankFly]

"Erulissë," Bellethiel said upon seeing the princess. He expression showed relief, but her voice carried a very stern tone. "You have exactly ten seconds to explain why you are down here and what possessed you to believe that coming down here was in any way, shape, or form, a good idea."

The tutor's expression hardened, her grey eyes staring down upon the princess.

"I'll have you know that failure to provide an adequate description will be dealt with swiftly," Bellethiel stated, her eyes drifting over to the guards training in the open, just a small distance away. "Very swiftly."

Bellethiel didn't know what exactly she would do... Well, she DID have a good mind to simply turn the princess's rebellious bottom across her knee and give it a sound spanking. After all, Bellethiel's own mother had made very liberal use of such a practice, and she personally felt that she had turned out to be a very proper woman. If she was wrong, why would she be the princess's primary tutor? Either way, as strong as the desire was, Bellethiel wasn't entirely sure if she was allowed to do so... She was able to punish the princess with penalties such as writing lines or similar punishments, but never before had the physical element ever been introduced. She knew she wouldn't get in trouble for doing so, but would probably be frowned upon for doing so.

Still, Bellethiel was getting ahead of herself! Maybe, Erulissë had a perfectly good reason to be here, backed with sound logic and the like. Maybe SHE, Bellethiel, was the unenlightened one. Maybe.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Of course, Erulissë knew straight away that, if she gave her tutor the honest reason, she would be in trouble quite some time. But, then again, she was already in trouble, so there was no better time to throw caution to the wind than now, eh? Especially when all that was going to happen was written lines, or a letter of apology to her parents, or more studying in her free time. (All of which were boring, but it would be worth it.)

"I wanted to watch the warriors train," she answered honestly, her voice prim and proper. "And I have finished my studies, so you shouldn't be too worried about what I do." Which was partially true: once her studies were over, Erulissë was technically under the supervision of her guardians... which were nowhere in sight.

[FrankFly]

Well, that was certainly a proper answer... Perhaps Bellethiel could spare a little more patience for the princess before resorting to disciplining the young elleth, which seemed to be inevitable.

"Now answer me why you thought that doing such a thing was in any way, shape, or form permissible, Erulissë," the tutor ordered, her voice matching the princess's in elegance, yet also bearing a tone of controlled irritation. "Have I not discussed with you AT LENGTH why such interests are none of your concern, and harmful to your young mind?"

To one ellon, sitting on the ground, catching his breath after an intense sparring session, it looked to him as if the princess and her tutor were having a pleasant, polite conversation. At least, it looked that way from a distant, judging by their postures. There was no way he could feel the tension between the two, nor the silent, unspoken annoyance that Bellethiel was channeling towards the young elleth before her.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

"Yes, you have," Erulissë said softly. "Multiple times..." Still, why did Bellethiel care so much? They both knew that, eventually, the princess would be allowed to do whatever she wanted anyway (or Erulissë saw it that way), so why not allow her to start that now?

"But I'm going to be a Princess someday, and I want to see how my guardians are going to protect me," she continued, which was only partially lying. She did want to see how they were going to protect her... because she also wanted to see if she could point out their weaknesses, so she could exploit them and be able to become a greater warrior then they.

[FrankFly]

"Erulissë," Bellethiel said, her hard, brown eyes locking onto the princess's peepers. "I am afraid that answer is unsatisfactory."

This statement was very grim, but you'd never know that based on the way Bellethiel said it. Her tone was still level and proper. It was as if she had just made a polite comment about how the weather was a bit cool for this time of year. The tutor took a few, graceful steps towards the young princess, her long, white gown trailing her as she moved. She placed a firm hand on the princess's shoulder.

"I am afraid that you are also in quite a bit of trouble, Erulissë," Bellethiel informed the princess, her tone still sickeningly elegant. "Do you know what that means?"

A small smile formed on her thin lips, though her grey eyes carried a rather dangerous look to them.