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edenfalling"For Want of a Nail" is a sideways attempt at telling a story I've wanted to write for, oh, years now. It's set in Firsthome in the year 1124 FF (from the founding of Estara), which is, if I have done my math correctly, 1598 years before Ekanu is born. The basic idea is that as the Estarin Empire was expanding, the three great kingdoms of southern Estaria (or Shosinqué) made an alliance with each other. Ban Icammeron, the king of Ionniqué (the biggest of the three kingdoms) also made an alliance with some of the Toramen, a nomadic people of the northern and central Kaitaru desert.
Then it all went very wrong. Ammerdan Correntésse, Ban's best friend and lord martial, had an affair with his wife, Efraika el'Vikato; they were discovered and publicly denounced. The alliance with the Toramen fell apart, the alliance among the kingdoms was strained, and a year later, the great battle against the Estarin legions (at Cesvalla) was lost.
But I have never figured out how to write the full story, partly because it's a romance and I suck at romances, and partly because I've never been sure how to mitigate the glaring Arthurian overtones. The following ficlet is still not the full story. It's just a conversation between Efraika and Ammerdan on the first day of their exile.
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For Want of a Nail
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"This is entirely your fault," Efraika said as she pushed back her veil. She examined the gailten-hair tent with distaste -- the fabric was coarse and stained, and the whole edifice was so small, not even a quarter the size of her old tent in her father's camp.
Ammerdan dropped the tent flap behind them and sank to the stony ground in a graceful crouch. "Of course, my lady. However, if you'll forgive your poor bewildered servant his impertinence, would you mind explaining the reasoning behind your impeccably correct conclusion?"
Efraika deepened her scowl, trying to maintain her righteous outrage. "You were the one who dazzled me in the bridal games. You were the one who always looked sidelong at me during Ban's councils. You were the one who said 'no, no, no, no, never' and then stopped me and said 'yes' when I agreed to leave your rooms. You were the one who forgot to lock your door. And you were the one who insulted Lord Sulosse all those years ago, and then again last sixday so he accused us of adultery in open court instead of trying to blackmail us." She crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at her lover. "This tent, this exile, this shame -- entirely your fault."
Ammerdan laughed.
Efraika sighed and lowered herself to the stones, crossing her legs and tucking her feet neatly up onto her thighs. "Oh, you. What did I ever see in you? Ban never mocked me. He respected me, listened to me. All you're good for is swords at dawn and kisses at dusk."
"And swift escapes at midnight," Ammerdan added. "I think my skills in that respect are frequently underrated."
Now Efraika laughed, as he had meant her to. "With reason," she said. "You know the guard saw us; he simply held his tongue. Ban's orders, mark my words. He didn't want us dead."
Ammerdan shifted, seriousness bleeding through his bemusement at their rapidly upended fortunes. "Friendship or policy, do you think?"
Efraika had had long hours to consider that question as they rode south toward her father's range, hoping to outpace whatever pursuit Ban would be compelled to order. "Both," she said now. "He loves you. He always has. He doesn't love me, not like he loved Élurie, but he likes me and he knows hurting me would hurt you. So that's friendship. As for policy -- think, man! If Ban lets Sulosse and his cronies dictate his judgment without a trial, he looks weak. And he doesn't need the trouble my father and your brothers would raise at our execution. If we flee, that's an admission of guilt that removes your family's justification to rebel, and my father will welcome me home and let the insult go in return for your arm and mind at his side in battle."
"Fair points," Ammerdan conceded. "But you assume I'll join your people." Left unspoken was the knowledge that Efraika's marriage to Ban had been as much a peace treaty as a way for Ban to father an heir. With that alliance broken, there was no telling when her father might decide to raid north again -- he wouldn't retaliate for her exile, but there were countless other justifications for war.
Efraika shrugged. "It would be simplest. But if you hold to your old oaths -- which is foolish, but admirable in a way -- we can journey onward. There are always wars in Bahur-Semrin, and your service there can have no effect on Ban's fate whatsoever."
Ammerdan dropped his head and stared at the stones scattered about his feet. "I hate this. I hate leaving him to face the Estarins alone. How can he corral three dozen men like Sulosse into joining their levies and vassals into a proper army? How can he train men used to single combat and honor games to face the legions? It took my father and me half my life to make our own people face the true nature of war, and we had far more power over them than Ban does over the other lords of Ionniqué, let alone over the kings of Aholinne and Daloroisse." He laid his hand on the ground, dug his fingers into the dry, hard-packed earth. "My land is so nearly lost, Efraika. I should be there at the end."
Efraika uncrossed her legs and moved toward her lover, wrapped her arm around his waist, rested her head on his shoulder. "I know," she said. "But fate makes fools of us all, Ammerdan. All we can do is accept what we're given."
He said nothing, but his hand left the ground and crept around her own waist, drawing her close in the dim twilight of the tent. They sat together in silence, remembering.
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Inspired by the 7/20/09![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
15_minute_fic word #116: banished
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On a completely different topic, I have been watching episodes of Heroes season 3 here on Hulu. It's odd to jump in without having seen seasons 1 and 2, and oh my gosh, it can be melodramatic and tacky and argh the pacing and the way the jump cuts make it impossible to place various storylines in proper temporal relation to each other! *tears hair out in frustration* But it's addictive nonetheless, and it's not above being knowingly silly, and sometimes it manages real pathos and tension and empathy for the characters and for humanity in general. So on balance, I think I like it. Mostly.
*checks to see if her internet connection is currently stable enough to stream "Dying of the Light"*
Then it all went very wrong. Ammerdan Correntésse, Ban's best friend and lord martial, had an affair with his wife, Efraika el'Vikato; they were discovered and publicly denounced. The alliance with the Toramen fell apart, the alliance among the kingdoms was strained, and a year later, the great battle against the Estarin legions (at Cesvalla) was lost.
But I have never figured out how to write the full story, partly because it's a romance and I suck at romances, and partly because I've never been sure how to mitigate the glaring Arthurian overtones. The following ficlet is still not the full story. It's just a conversation between Efraika and Ammerdan on the first day of their exile.
---------------------------------------------
For Want of a Nail
---------------------------------------------
"This is entirely your fault," Efraika said as she pushed back her veil. She examined the gailten-hair tent with distaste -- the fabric was coarse and stained, and the whole edifice was so small, not even a quarter the size of her old tent in her father's camp.
Ammerdan dropped the tent flap behind them and sank to the stony ground in a graceful crouch. "Of course, my lady. However, if you'll forgive your poor bewildered servant his impertinence, would you mind explaining the reasoning behind your impeccably correct conclusion?"
Efraika deepened her scowl, trying to maintain her righteous outrage. "You were the one who dazzled me in the bridal games. You were the one who always looked sidelong at me during Ban's councils. You were the one who said 'no, no, no, no, never' and then stopped me and said 'yes' when I agreed to leave your rooms. You were the one who forgot to lock your door. And you were the one who insulted Lord Sulosse all those years ago, and then again last sixday so he accused us of adultery in open court instead of trying to blackmail us." She crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at her lover. "This tent, this exile, this shame -- entirely your fault."
Ammerdan laughed.
Efraika sighed and lowered herself to the stones, crossing her legs and tucking her feet neatly up onto her thighs. "Oh, you. What did I ever see in you? Ban never mocked me. He respected me, listened to me. All you're good for is swords at dawn and kisses at dusk."
"And swift escapes at midnight," Ammerdan added. "I think my skills in that respect are frequently underrated."
Now Efraika laughed, as he had meant her to. "With reason," she said. "You know the guard saw us; he simply held his tongue. Ban's orders, mark my words. He didn't want us dead."
Ammerdan shifted, seriousness bleeding through his bemusement at their rapidly upended fortunes. "Friendship or policy, do you think?"
Efraika had had long hours to consider that question as they rode south toward her father's range, hoping to outpace whatever pursuit Ban would be compelled to order. "Both," she said now. "He loves you. He always has. He doesn't love me, not like he loved Élurie, but he likes me and he knows hurting me would hurt you. So that's friendship. As for policy -- think, man! If Ban lets Sulosse and his cronies dictate his judgment without a trial, he looks weak. And he doesn't need the trouble my father and your brothers would raise at our execution. If we flee, that's an admission of guilt that removes your family's justification to rebel, and my father will welcome me home and let the insult go in return for your arm and mind at his side in battle."
"Fair points," Ammerdan conceded. "But you assume I'll join your people." Left unspoken was the knowledge that Efraika's marriage to Ban had been as much a peace treaty as a way for Ban to father an heir. With that alliance broken, there was no telling when her father might decide to raid north again -- he wouldn't retaliate for her exile, but there were countless other justifications for war.
Efraika shrugged. "It would be simplest. But if you hold to your old oaths -- which is foolish, but admirable in a way -- we can journey onward. There are always wars in Bahur-Semrin, and your service there can have no effect on Ban's fate whatsoever."
Ammerdan dropped his head and stared at the stones scattered about his feet. "I hate this. I hate leaving him to face the Estarins alone. How can he corral three dozen men like Sulosse into joining their levies and vassals into a proper army? How can he train men used to single combat and honor games to face the legions? It took my father and me half my life to make our own people face the true nature of war, and we had far more power over them than Ban does over the other lords of Ionniqué, let alone over the kings of Aholinne and Daloroisse." He laid his hand on the ground, dug his fingers into the dry, hard-packed earth. "My land is so nearly lost, Efraika. I should be there at the end."
Efraika uncrossed her legs and moved toward her lover, wrapped her arm around his waist, rested her head on his shoulder. "I know," she said. "But fate makes fools of us all, Ammerdan. All we can do is accept what we're given."
He said nothing, but his hand left the ground and crept around her own waist, drawing her close in the dim twilight of the tent. They sat together in silence, remembering.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 7/20/09
15_minute_fic word #116: banished---------------------------------------------
On a completely different topic, I have been watching episodes of Heroes season 3 here on Hulu. It's odd to jump in without having seen seasons 1 and 2, and oh my gosh, it can be melodramatic and tacky and argh the pacing and the way the jump cuts make it impossible to place various storylines in proper temporal relation to each other! *tears hair out in frustration* But it's addictive nonetheless, and it's not above being knowingly silly, and sometimes it manages real pathos and tension and empathy for the characters and for humanity in general. So on balance, I think I like it. Mostly.
*checks to see if her internet connection is currently stable enough to stream "Dying of the Light"*
