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| - The boundless, sapphire-blue sky that crowned Tarantia, Jewel of the West, was darkening. Black clouds loomed over the entire breadth of the horizon, their peaks engulfed in the flames of the dying sun. It's blood-red light flooded the marble and limestone capital, casting dark shades in the alleys that ran like veins through the city. From the North, an icy gale rolled over the green plains. It's passage left the kingdom's main artery, the river ..., foaming and furious in it's wake. The tempest howled over the streets of Tarantia, tormenting every curtain and banner it could find, and shaking the suspended wares hanging in the market stalls.
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| abstract
| - The boundless, sapphire-blue sky that crowned Tarantia, Jewel of the West, was darkening. Black clouds loomed over the entire breadth of the horizon, their peaks engulfed in the flames of the dying sun. It's blood-red light flooded the marble and limestone capital, casting dark shades in the alleys that ran like veins through the city. From the North, an icy gale rolled over the green plains. It's passage left the kingdom's main artery, the river ..., foaming and furious in it's wake. The tempest howled over the streets of Tarantia, tormenting every curtain and banner it could find, and shaking the suspended wares hanging in the market stalls. Two watchful figures, standing high on the towering royal palace, were shivering from it's touch. Instinctively the young lady, who was dressed in an elaborate and revealing silken dress, had sought the comfort and warmth of her companion, who's tunic and leather chest armour offered no greater protection from the biting cold. Her lithe figure took shelter under his muscular archer's arm, her own arms wrapped around his waist. The stoic warrior did not respond to the pleasant contact with her soft skin, and kept his attention on the sight before him. “Are you shivering too, Leonder? Is it from the cold, or from concern?” she asked, breaking their contemplative silence. He simply laughed. “Concern?” “By the gods, ” she exclaimed in a sudden outburst of frustration, “have you slept through the entire King's oration? Did you not hear hear the desperation of his royal decree? He must be hoping for the rebellious barons and marauding mercenaries to leave for the Border Kingdom, now that he has sanctioned it's conquest. The Pictish and Cimmerian hordes would be distracted, the king's own forces free to answer the threat of the Nemedians, and the Stygians gathering enemies at the border with Ophir and Zingara. If we have to fight our enemies in our own lands, all is lost.” Leonder slowly nodded in agreement. “Yet why would I be concerned?” A sigh of annoyance and despair escaped her lips, her worries of the past weeks surfacing now that the rumours had been confirmed by the king himself. She had taken the paradise that was Aquilonia for granted, and the sudden rise of trouble had dismayed her. “Has your savage Bossonian mind not grown an ounce of sense, during your stay here in civilisation? If the kingdom falls, so do we.” He looked at her now, their eyes meeting in an understanding fostered over the years. Drusilla, a daughter of a baron, would have no future in a new world order, as her late father had been fiercely loyal to king Conan. By extension, his family has been branded as part of the regime. Indeed, Drusilla had been involved in the matters of the state. Leonder, as her bodyguard and companion, had already thwarted several assassination attempts on her life since the recent trouble began. At last, after a long silence, he spoke. “Aquilonia is doomed by it's own fortune, Drusilla, as it's wealth sparks the desire of lesser nations. It's enemies have everything to gain, and Aquilonia has it all to lose. But the toil of civilisation does not concern me. The winds of change do not set my course.” “Yet it affects me, Leonder. Fate demands me to answer this call-to-arms, and serve the cause of the King. Virtue is needed now, more than ever. In the name of the King, let your iron fist and my velvet glove man the sails through this storm.” She stepped in front on him now, her hands holding his. “Glory awaits in the borderlands!” Leonder licked his lips, and grinned. “Then it is time for this hunter to follow his prey, to new grounds.” Lilla smiled in relieve. She pulled him with her to the rampart, where she backed against the stones of of the bulwark, and embraced him in a lustful kiss. Tarantia, it's image below them, faded from their minds.
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