City of IF

[Banthanar]

A...Prologue?
The silence would have been bone-chilling, if she had been paying the slightest bit of attention. But Kaira had no intention of slowing, let alone taking in the oddities around her. The voice of Grand Marshal Todd was still ringing in her ears.
"-never to return to Lon again. And if I would have my way, you would be banished from Indego entirely! But, for now, you are banished from Lon. Returning here at any given point in time, is of course, death. Take the girl to the city gates so that the people can see her humiliation."
Of course, this would never have been any reason to do what she did. The thought of running away didn't even occur to her until she heard Grand Marshall Todd whisper something to a member of the Guard.
"Make sure the noose is ready. We'll make short work of her. Go, quickly, before the crowd thickens too much."
At this, Kaira started. So they planned to assassinate her! This of course simply could not take place. She began to rack her brains of anything she could do to prevent the inevitable catastrophe. She then remembered something her mother Hizorpa whispered to her on her death bed.
Clinging to her daughter's hands as if she were clinging to life itself, Hizorpa whispered, "Don't be afraid Kaira. And don't feel sad. I am always with you, and always will I be. Forever. Just remember, if you are ever in danger, you must call my name. Oh, sweet child, how I love you so."
Kaira held her mother's hands for a half hour after this, sobbing, until Hizorpa breathed for the last time.
Being led to an execution seemed proper enough call for help, Kaira thought. She suddenly bit the hand of the guard that held her. The moment he released her, she cried, "Hizorpa!" Nothing happened. "Hizorpa! Mala!! Please!" Kaira called for her mother in the native tongue just as she did when she was a child. "Mala!!"
The guard grabbed her once more, but could not contain her. She realized her mother only meant those words as comfort, but now she had an escape and must make for it. She shoved the guard back and screamed with rage. Suddenly, the world around her froze then began to speed up and swirl around her. She could hear cries from the citizens around her encircling her like a giant vortex. She heard Todd distinctly.
"Damn! She's using a transfer spell! Bind her before she gets out!"
But they were too late. She was picked up and thrown to the wind like a leaf in the autumn breeze. When she dropped to the ground of the forest, she didn't waste a second. She ran as fast as she could run, for even if she didn't know where she was she knew that the more she ran, the further she was from Todd and from Lon itself.[/i]

[Banthanar]

Just so everyone is aware, I am best at short stories...so I will probably not post things in chapters, but snippets. Thanks!
Banthanar

[DeadManWalking]

cool idea.

There are a few rough spots.

I WOULD talk about corrections and stuff.

But i'm too tired.

I'll be waiting for the first chappie.

[Phantomfan]

Heh...

I f5 dmw- this is a very cool idea.

And I can't wait to see more of it- so waiting for the first chapter/segment/snippet!!

[Banthanar]

Part 1: Lady Hizorpa
Hizorpa sat in the back of the tavern, away from the peeling eyes and the heartless stares. She was glad she had stolen a servant's tunic and shawl. It would be harder to recognize her that way. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her very pregnant belly. The little one was kicking unusually hard today.
“Settle down, my dear,” she whispered to the unborn child. The child kept drawing her attention away from an unsettling conversation she had been listening to. An old crone and the tavern wench had settled down at a table not far from Hizorpa, and were discussing, in fact, Hizorpa.
“They say she plans to run away with the child after it's birth out of shame,” the crone said quietly. “After all, her engagement is off, obviously. What kind of man would marry such a slut?”
The wench flinched at the word “slut”. “I don't see any reason why not. Consider his position: If the child is a boy, he has an heir to the throne already. If it is a girl, he can always marry her off to some Farian Prince and re-unite the kingdoms. There would be no need for sex at all. His whole life could be based off of those politics the royals love so much. A shame to be rid of such earthly pleasures, to be sure, but if I know anything about royals, it is that they very seldom entertain their wives after the heir is born, anyway. Which brings them straight to me. And I, being a nobly generous person, am perfectly willing to comfort those men in their time of earthly needs.”
“Ah, but what you do not realize is that if the child is indeed a boy, the real father could come forth and demand rights to which he is quite entitled. And what if the father is no more than a common servant, or a lower class, such as us. Then a civil war would begin and tear this kingdom limb from limb. A needless war will begin all because this bratty princess couldn't control herself. I've seen my fair share of war, my dear, and let me tell you, if there was a such thing as a Golden Era, this would be it. I am NOT willing to give up my peace and security over a royal bed-party,” the crone said.
Hizorpa clenched her fists and grinded her teeth together. Slut, was she? She never considered how slutty it was to be raped by the Earl of Enton on his visit to the kingdom. Her father decided that she would be a nice welcome to the kingdom gift. Hizorpa cursed her father's name under her breath. Slut? If so, then only through one bastard's gift to another.
The wench stood. “Well, let us hope then, that she drowns the thing and is done with it. Perhaps she can throw herself in after, ensuring no further repercussions of her actions. I'm afraid I have a call-” At this point a man sauntered over and placed his arm around her waist. “-so I must go. Peace be with you, old woman.” She directed the man to the stairs, and had to continuously slap him to get him to stop undressing her and wait until they got upstairs.
Hizorpa rose and, after making sure her shawl was tightly fastened, quickly left the tavern. She hastened back to the palace, maneuvering her way through the tightly packed streets of the outer village. As she walked she was thinking about those women. What right did they have to contradict her without any knowledge of facts? She did, however, give them credit for knowing more than she thought they would know of politics and the goings-on of royalty. Perhaps the lower class was smarter than given credit for. Even so, those women (if they can be considered women, for all Hizorpa saw was a knotted old being very close to death, and a product for men's satisfactions) had no right to condemn her like they did. If they only knew of the vileness that entailed the process of creating the child inside her...the body odor of the Earl the way his breath smelled on her face, a mixture of too much alcohol and cigars. And his mannerisms, too brusque and harsh. He would slap her until she screamed, which he took for screams of pleasure, when there was absolutely no pleasure to be had.
When he was done, he just got up, called her a dirty name, “Prishka!”, and left her laying there. Not long after, she discovered she was carrying his child. Not that she really considered it his child so much as her own. He had everything and nothing to do with it, all at once. When her father found out that she was pregnant, however, he slapped her, knocking her to the floor, and yelling at her for being too soft. She brought this on herself for allowing herself to get pregnant. The ridiculousness of the entire thing was too overwhelming for Hizorpa, and she fled to her room in tears. She slammed the door in her bed-servant's face. The bed-servant merely walked away, muttering something under her breath about “spoiled little girls”. She ran to her bed and threw herself upon it, sobbing bitterly.
'How dare those women judge me?' Hizorpa asked herself bitterly.
As she entered the palace gates, she shed the tunic and shawl to reveal her utterly degrading royal attire beneath it. She gave the guard a piece of money, obviously larger than he gets for payment, and put a finger to her lips. He nodded and stared the other direction.
Hiporza had been waiting and saving for this day. She walked straight to her room, shut the door behind her, and stepped to her bed. She yanked on a cord that pulled the satin protectors around her bed. Then she ruffled up the bedspread and shoved two satin pillows under the covers. A juvenile thing, but she didn't have much time, and she had to create the illusion that she was asleep. Then she hurried to her closet and pulled out a bag that had been shoved far into the nether regions of the place, dusted it off, and put the strap on her shoulder. Putting her hand to her mouth, Hiporza blew a kiss to her bedroom. Her own solitary fortress, her best friend for all these years. It was time to say goodbye.
She climbed down a servant stairwell and snuck through a narrow passage in the washing room. Before long, she was running down an alley (as fast as a pregnant woman can run...it was more like a hastened waddle.) People watched her curiously as she went along, but before they realized who it was that was running from the village, she was gone.

[Banthanar]

To clear up any confusion, this is the beginning of the backstory, before the prologueness was happening...enjoy!

[DeadManWalking]

COOL!!!!!!

ummm...

not much else to say?

OOOH!

they had cigars back then?

[Banthanar]

who says it was back then? im gonna try for alternate perceptive, instead of historical...or at least try lol

[Banthanar]

Part 2: Banthar
“Where is she?!”, the King shouted. “Where?!”
The servants and staff, who were all called together to the throne room, could only bow their heads, for they knew nothing. The King threw things about the room in a rage. He then threw himself onto the throne and put his head in his hands.
“How did I rear such a disappointment? How?!” He suddenly stood and glared at them all. “You are all worthless. How does a princess go missing? If there is nothing to be said from you, then you are worth nothing more to me, and you will all be executed. Is this clear?”
One girl, a scullery maid, begin to sob inconsolably. Others looked at each other as if this were a joke. Suddenly, a man stepped forward. It was the guard at the gates.
“Your Majesty, I know where she has gone.”

Hizorpa lay on her bed of straw in the lean-to she had constructed, clutching her newly born daughter. She had decided to name her Kaira, after her own nursery maid from years back. She was beginning to drift into sleep when a shadow passed over her. She looked up to see a young man standing over her, with a knife in his hand.
He was well built, with lightly tanned skin and a lightly muscled frame. He had shoulder length brown hair, with a sparkle of blond laced within. He reached over, as if to touch the baby.
“Get away!”, Hizorpa cried. The boy backed away, then stepped forward again.
“I know who you are”, he said.
“What?”
“I know who you are.”
Hizorpa looked at him with a puzzled expression. How could he possibly know? Who was he?
“I know who you are, and I know why you're here in my forest.”
“Your forest?”
The boy stepped closer. “This is my forest, and I don't let anyone trespass without just cause.”
Hizorpa sat up, clutching Kaira closer to her. “I'm sorry, but you just don't own a forest. You have no right to order me away.”
“Did I ask you to leave, Princess?”
Hizorpa started. “How--”
“The princess ran away from home. I've never seen you before.”
“That doesn't mean--”
“The princess was pregnant. You gave birth not long ago.”
“Even so--”
“Your robes, although tattered, were once regal. You are Princess Hizorpa.”
Hizorpa stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. What was she to do now? She had been found out!
“Listen, boy. You know nothing. I suggest you leave before my father finds you standing over me, blade in hand.”
He laughed. “First of all, my name is Banthar. Call me Ban. Second, I'm not as naive as you think I am.”
Hizorpa frowned. She recognized his name. Ban noticed her, trying to think.
“You don't even remember. Of course not. You were so young, I was younger still.”
“What are you talking about?”
Then Hizorpa remembered. Kaira, her nursemaid, had a young son, who would come with his mother and spend the day with her. Hizorpa and he used to play games of make-believe often.
“Banthar...”
Ban nodded. “Yes. After all these years, two friends reunited.”
Hizorpa shook her head. “Not friends. We were once playmates. Never friends. How could I befriend a servant's child?”
Ban stood straighter. “Well, if that's the way you feel about it, I won't help you.”
“Help? What are you talking about?”
He kneeled beside her. “Your father is on his way here with the whole damn militia, ready to track you down.”
Hizorpa gave a shout. “What?!”
“See? I knew you were bluffing earlier.”
Hizorpa slapped him. “How dare you tease me like that?”
Ban stepped back, rubbing his face. “I wasn't teasing. He's at the wood's edge as we speak. I just wanted to have a moment of satisfaction first.”
Hizorpa got up slowly, still holding Kaira in her arms. “I have to leave.”
“That's why I'm here. Gather your things and follow me. I can hide you.”
Hizorpa looked at him. “Why do you want to help me?”
Ban put his hand on her shoulder. “Because you hate royalty just as much as I do, and, being that we were playmates once, I feel a certain bond to you. Now, whether that is just pity, or something more, I can't tell.” He grinned.
“Oh, will you not make jokes at a time like this?” Hizorpa began to gather her things. Ban helped her. She was ready to leave in only a few minutes.
As soon as Hizorpa was a small ways away, Ban brought out a small bag. He opened it, reached inside, and pulled out a fiery red stone. He held his palm flat, with the stone in the center, and began to hum. The stone glowed and flew from his hand. It circled the lean-to, spinning faster and faster. The lean-to began to smoke, then it burst into flames. In a matter of seconds, it was gone. The stone flew back to Ban, and he dropped it back into the bag.
Suddenly, there were voices heard in the distance, but Hizorpa didn't pay attention to them. “How did you...?”
Ban grabbed her hand and said, “I learned the art of Mages after I left the palace, but now there's no time to explain the rest. We have to run.”
Hizorpa cried, “I can't run!”
“Yes, you can. As long as you have hold of my hand, you can run. Trust me.”
Hizorpa swallowed and tightened her grip on his hand. In a moment, they were off, dashing through the trees like bats in the night time.

When the King and his men reached the spot where the lean-to once sat, and discovered it gone, he took out his sword and ran it through the guard. He then screamed in anger, which echoed through the woods. There was no finding Hizorpa now.

[DeadManWalking]

Very nice.

I although, why name him Banthar when you could name him Banthanar?

[Banthanar]

Because Banthanar comes later. You'll see. It will all tie together in the end, trust me.