Alter: Lineage

The wind hit just as hard as the low temperatures within seconds of being there. If I'd thought that the Equestrian early morning was cold, then that idea was wiped from my skull almost instantaneously.

"Well..." I muttered, looking around at the storming blizzard we seemed to have landed in. "That woke me up.

I was barely able to see more than ten feet in front of me, eyes stinging from the frozen flakes that slammed into them. The wind's bitter chill found every gap in my clothing it could get through, biting into my skin and chilling me to the core. I tried to look around and get my bearings, but found the practice impossible.

The lack of the sun and the thickness of the snow made divining where I was and what I was standing next to impossible; buildings and roads being nothing more than black blurs buried underneath a mountain of white and a never-ending barrage of snowflakes. I felt a hand on my shoulder, my father's judging from the side of it, as he guided me towards something. I could make out the blurred outlines of people, made just-visible by the glowing aura of the powerful, seemingly-magical torchlight cascading through the snow.

I kept my head down and trusted my father, eyelashes coated in snow and making it nearly impossible to see already. The wind was almost as deafening as it was blinding, hearing it slashing against the tips of my ears in a near-agonising fashion before I made out the sound of a large, wooden door opening. Soon I was inside, we were inside, and the storming snow and biting cold were locked out by the slamming of the large double doors.

I wiped my eyes, getting the rapidly-melting snow out of them, before looking around. The atmosphere of the building we'd entered was very homey. It made comfort wash over me immediately as I looked at the rustic wooden walls, old and worn, but carrying a sense of protection and warmth. The marble floor was coated with thick rugs, stitched together from the pelts of Goddesses' knew how many animals. I spotted the hides of bears, wolves, even several deer and dog by the looks of it.

The aura of home was strengthened by the gentle crackling torches that lined the walls, exuding warmth and illumination throughout the enclosed entrance. I backed up slightly, wanting to turn around and speak to my father, only to bump into Jorunn's larger form, back squeezing against her large breasts.

"Oh," I said, whirling around and looking up at the blonde woman with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Jorunn. Was off in my own world for a second there."

"You're forgiven," she shrugged, moving over to Asta and speaking to her in a hushed tone.

I turned again, spotting my father brushing the snow off himself before it soaked into his cloak, his eyes catching mine and looking at me with a warm smile.

"That was refreshing, wasn't it?" he asked in a joking tone.

"Like a boot to the teeth," I nodded, walking over to him and looking down at the puddles of snow melting around the entrance to the door. "Where are we, exactly?"

"Vorodin Castle," Shining answered, looking around the the wooden walls. "I haven't been here in ages. Think I was about your age, if I'm honest."

"So you've never met the current Queen before?" I asked.

"No, met her mother a few times. One of her cousins, as well," Shining said, sniffling loudly as the cold made his nose run. "It'll be nice to get to know another member of the family line. Try to keep yourself contained, please?"

"Dad, she's fourteen," I said with a tone of disgust in my mouth. "That's about five years younger than I what I usually consider my minimum age."

"Good to hear," he said, the sudden sound of plate armour rattling and footsteps catching our attention.

We all turned around, eyes falling on an older gentleman approaching with a warm smile on his face. He was a large man, just slightly shorter than my father, with wide-set shoulders and a strong jaw. He had a short, well-maintained brown beard and thick, styled hair of the same colour. Both forms of hair were flecked with the grey of age, showing a man in his fourth decade of life. He wore rather old-looking plate armour, well-maintained, for sure, but definitely having been through more than a fair share of scraps. There was fur padding visible through the joint gaps in the armour and a large, bear-fur cloak thrown over his shoulders; designed to be practical for battle as well as warm in the frigid climates.

"Knight-Commander Armour," he announced as he walked over to my father, shaking his hand with a firm grip and a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"And you," Shining smiled. "I've heard great stories."

"Though none as great as yours, I'm afraid," he said with a sigh. "If they were, I imagine we wouldn't have to trouble you with this petty little squabble."

"I'm sure you'd have handled it fine yourself, General," Shining said with a chuckle, gesturing from myself to the larger man. "Richter, this is General Edgar Jensson, the man in charge of defending Helmsheer."

"And doing a poor job of it, if I must be honest," Edgar smirked, offering his hand for me to shake. "Richter! A good name. It's a pleasure to meet you, young man!"

"You too, Edgar," I said, shaking his hand with a firm and powerful gesture.

"Strong hand, just like your father," he said, releasing my grip and turning to Asta and Jorunn. "Valkyries, I thank you for your help in this matter. If you'd like, you may have the remained of the week to rest and recover from your travels? We are more than grateful for your efforts in protecting our homeland."

Asta and Jorunn clapped their hands to their chest in a saluting gesture, bowing their heads quickly, before turning back to us.

"It has been an honour, Knight-Commander," Asta said in a formal tone.

"I'll say the same myself," Shining nodded, watching the two of them take their leave with grace.

"The Valkyries?" I asked in a confused tone, knowing that the reverence with which Shining and Edgar addressed them meant that I was out of the loop. "Who are they?"

"The Valkyries are Helmsheer's elite magic warriors," Shining explained as he turned back to me. "They're the toughest, strongest, and best-trained unit I've ever come across in my life."

"So... the super-women can't handle the attacking army?" I asked.

There was a moment of silence between Edgar and Shining, both of them looking back and forth between each other; a look of apprehension on Edgar's face as he looked at me with his mouth slightly open.

"Richter wasn't raised military," Shining said rather quickly, breaking the silence. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, but not a soldier's head."

"I see," Edgar nodded, falling silent once more.

And I just made myself look like a moron.

"As powerful as they are, the Valkyries are still only human," Shining answered. "You can easily say that they're worth a one hundred men, but one hundred and ten are most likely going to get the better of one of them. So if you have the thirty of them standing to face an army of more than three thousand men, chances are that they'll fall."

"Right," I nodded, trying to keep my face as neutral as possible despite the burning embarrassment of what I'd just come out with.

"I'll do the best I can with them, but we're going to need more than just them to help us win this," Shining finished, turning back to Edgar. "Speaking of more than them; is Queen Juniper ready to meet with us?"

"Yes, she and Elise were in a discussion a few moments ago, but they should be more than ready to see you now," he said, gesturing down the hallway. "If you'll follow me?"

My father and I kept pace with Edgar, my eyes wandering around the hallways we went through, noting a large emphasis on what appeared to be family crests marking the walls, hanging from banners, and even being painted on the wooden doors we walked through. The tight, homey corridors soon expanded out into much larger, more castle-like walkways as we came to the throne room; a large, very storied-looking room made of a mix of ancient wood, old, well-worn stone, and furs lining the wall to keep it warm enough to stay in for long periods of time.

I kept my eyes to the front of the room, spotting the simple wooden throne marked with a shield crest that sat against the wall. On the throne was a barely-pubescent blonde girl with her hair tied back in a thick, singular braid, a simple, fur-edged blue dress, and a crown atop her head that looked almost a little too big for her. Standing next to her was a larger, older woman, but barely more than a teenager herself.

She was garbed in a mix of silver and white, elegant patterns stitched into her well-covering dress, a cloak made from the pelt of a white wolf slung over her slender shoulders. Her skin was pale and smooth, ice-like blue eyes standing out greatly against her snow-white hair, also tied into a single braid that was draped over her shoulder, with the rest of her hair being hidden under a pointed hood that rested neatly on her forehead.

"Knight-Commander Armour-" came the exclamation from the young queen, her voice cracking slightly in the middle of her sentence that lead to a rather embarrassing sound.

She cleared her throat quietly, a shuffle of awkwardness being heard in the gear of the soldiers standing guard as she continued her address.

"Knight-Commander Armour, I offer you the warmest welcomes to our great lands and hope that you enjoy your time in our abode," she said, a cute little smile on her face as she finished speaking.

"Not gonna be easy with a war on, eh?" I joked, wanting to remove some of the formality as I often did.

"Oh... yes, well I suppose not..." Juniper said with a squeak, eyes widening and a heavy blush flowing onto her cheeks.

Yeah, stay the course, Richter. Just keep humiliating and belittling the poor girl who can barely fit into her crown, you fucking asshole.

"Queen Juniper, it's an honour to meet you," Shining said, his loud and strong voice filling the entire room with presence and determination. "My deepest regret stems from the fact this meeting should come from such vile circumstances such as a war between your own people, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to secure victory for the throne and bring peace back to this land."

Juniper's eyes widened in amazement, this clearly being the first time she was on the receiving end of a speech from a ruler and a soldier as experienced and as well-spoken as my father was.

And my first sentence to her was making fun of her greeting.

I hate myself so much.

"Thank you, Knight-Commander!" she exclaimed happily. "I trust that you'll be more than capable of handling this for us!"

"Definitely a more inspiring specimen than the boy," the woman in white said with a roll of her eyes.

"Elise, please. I'm sure Richter meant no-" Edgar began before I cut him off.

"No, let her have that one," I said with a heavy sigh. "I came off as a complete asshole with that and owe Elise an apology."

I turned to face Elise and, with hand on chest, gave a heartfelt apology.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," I admitted. "I only meant what I said to bring in some kind of levity to the situation. I'm terrible at formal address, have no skill or elegance when it comes to delivering awe-inspiring speeches, and fail utterly at proper court proceedings. I just wanted to break the ice with a joke, and I'm deeply sorry if I offended you in any way with it."

"Hm," Elise said with a roll of her eyes, checking the condition of her nails as she continued to speak. "At least he seems a self-aware moron."

"Elise!" Juniper snapped. "He's already apologised for it. There's no need to act like such an..."

"Ice queen?" Elise asked with a wink and a smirk.

I audibly sniggered at that, getting an initially cold glare from Elise before it warmed up slightly and a faint smirk touched the corners of her plump lips.

Unf.

"Getting back on topic..." Juniper said, clearing her throat once again and trying to sound as formal as possible. "Knight-Commander Armour, while I wish with all my heart to roll out the welcome mat and throw a feast in your honour, I must stress that time is truly of the essence here. My armies are struggling against our enemies, who seem to being bolstered by foreign powers. Edgar came to me saying that he has information that may help us turn the tide, but I asked him to refrain from sharing it until your arrival. Edgar?"

The older general stepped forward, taking a piece of parchment out of a pouch on his belt and showing it to my father.

"We've captured several couriers from the enemy forces disguised as civilians, and many of them have been carrying what we assume to be orders," Edgar said as my father unfolded the parchment and read it.

"Coded," he said with a sigh, allowing me a look at the parchment which appeared to be absolute gibberish, with all manner of upper-case and lower-case letters thrown in places they didn't belong, letters with symbols scrawled above them next to the same letter without symbols, and just an overall lack of any proper grammatical or linguistic nuance to it. "Any luck tracking down the cipher?"

"Ahead of the curve, it seems," Edgar smirked.

"This isn't my first time dealing with coded messages. Probably not going to be my last, either," Shining said, handing the parchment back and folding his arms.

"As for our search for the cipher, we've received a report from one of our undercover operatives that a mansion in the residential district of the city is being used as a base of operations for a sect of the enemy forces to send and receive messages from moles and spies in the capital city to discover and send our plans back to their high command," Edgar explained.

"Can't win a war against it, and you can't win a war without it," Shining smirked. "So, are you planning on seizing the mansion?"

"That's what I was planning on asking you," Edgar said, folding the parchment once again and returning it to his belt. "Do you think we should send a squadron to attack the mansion?"

Shining was silent for a long moment, looking between spots on the floor as his mind worked through the possibilities.

"Not enough intelligence to make an informed decision," Shining said, looking up to Juniper. "I need intel on the location, layout, civilian numbers, front doors, back doors, and a whole load of other things before I can decide. Juniper, do you have a war room set up that I can use to do some strategising?"

"O-Of course!" the young queen nodded quickly, turning to Edgar. "General, can you escort Knight-Commander Armour to the room in the west wing we use to discuss plans? Then have bring him whatever he requests?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," Edgar nodded, gesturing for Shining to follow him.

"Richter, do you wanna tag along for the strategy meeting?" Shining asked.

"If you'll allow it-" Elise interrupted, stalking down from the throne and eyeing me up, standing slightly taller than I did myself. "I've a few tasks Richter can perform for Juniper and myself."

"If you've got ways for him to make himself useful, then do so," Shining nodded, smirking at me with a playful wink. "Have fun, kid."

I looked away from my father just as Elise came to a halt behind me, making me turn around to see her as she crossed her arms under her rather-ample bust, jutting her breasts out intentionally to get my attention on them.

"You carry the scent of many a roll in the unmentionable, young man," she said with a cocked eyebrow and a smug smirk. "So while your father's busy with his own work... would you mind slaying something for me?"

I quite liked where this was going...