On Mount Alyppia

The Visitor

Assuntina sat in the throne room today.
    She hated sitting with the court; clothes pressed and hair coiffed and back straight, sitting primly in her hard backed wooden chair while her father sat in his and listened to merchants and clerks and nobles drone away. She hated sitting here with her mouth shut while people bickered about subjects she was well informed on. But her father insisted she be seen and not heard, so she held her tongue. Most of the time.
    Assuntina let out a discreet sigh and wound a finger around a stray curl. Trading reports didn't usually bore her, but this messenger was new, and he seemed terrified. He stammered, he stuttered, he fidgeted, and after all that it was difficult to try and make out what he was saying. Everyone looked relieved when the man finally ended his report and quickly took his leave, stumbling twice in his too-long, pointy-toed shoes. Thank goodness the things were beginning to dwindle out of fashion. They had been popular for one or two or fifty years too long.
    Assuntina caught her father's eye as the man left, nodding towards the door and pleading with her eyes, "Can I leave?" He nodded, and she stood, making her way out of the room, skirting close to the walls so that no one would notice her leaving. Even in a bright crimson dress, she didn't stand out much against the well dressed gaggle of aristocracy around her. It was because she was trying to be discreet that she was the first to notice the eagle.
    The eagle swept in through an open window, its feathers glistening in a golden sunbeam. It flew up to the room's high ceiling, letting out a mighty caw. It felt like the war cry of a king. The room fell silent, looking up in curious awe.
    Assuntina pushed to the front of the crowd as the eagle descended from the ceiling and landed gracefully in front of her father's throne with a final caw and a sweep of its wings. It tilted its head to the side and in a flash of light, the bird was a man.
    A man in white, with pointed ears and hair white like snow.
    "Prince Victor," the nymph said. "I am Vivalius of Alyppia. I wish to speak to you."

Ah, this cliffhanger...
Hello, small number of people reading this! Thanks for sticking with the story! This is where it gets good, I promise.
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~Mandi