Athynae Sarethi: The Making of a Princess, Entries from Athynae's childhood journals Options

[Athynae]

Hey guys, well seeing as Athynae and sometimes Athlain's antics as children have been referenced in Blood on the Moon and each time I have found myself writing the "memory", mostly in an effort to better understand her, I thought I would share some of those blasts from the past with you. The entries will not necessarily be in order, just snapshots from here and there at different ages and occasionally some entries from the PoV of other friends and family just to add some spice. The first entry will be the story of Athynae getting her first journal and why.




I hope you enjoy Athynae's childhood antics, I have sure had fun writing the handful that I have so far. Even better are some of the "memories" from others who know her. Just be cautious while reading with any beverages close as she has a tendency to speak her mind (like you didn't know that) and we all know what that can mean when a child is involved.




"Mama are housecats baby Khajiitt??" While standing next to a family of Khajiit in market square kind of thing.




*Note: It has been pointed out that Athynae seems a bit mature for her age in some of the entries and if I were gauging her by my two eldest children that would be true(quite normal but no less wonderful), however two ideas mingled together in regard to her intelligence and maturity; One- She is her own person and there is no comparing her to anyone on that level; Two- I sort of combined my two youngest children, my daughter who is and always has been an adult (just ask her) and my son who, at the age of two, slipped out the sliding glass door, off of the deck that was 5 feet off the ground (we have no idea how he did it), climbed the fence and went to the neighbor's to help him work on a car, oh, and he only had on a pull-up, my motorcycle goggles and his sister's paten leather dress shoes.




Please do what you do, comment, correct, suggest but most of all I hope you enjoy.





Athynae Serethi- The Making of a Princess…





I dedicate this endeavor to the three people who are responsible for Athynae's existence:




minque for creating her and graciously sharing her with treydog




treydog for making her a part of Athlain's world and subsequently introducing me to her through his story then allowing me to become her writer




and of course




Black Hand who has allowed me to make Seth such an important person in Athynae's life.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

This post has been edited by Athynae: Feb 3 2012, 03:09 AM

[Athynae]

Serene and Athynae are taking a trip together. Serene wants to expand Athynae's understanding of diplomacy...right. At the age of 14 and away from home trouble finds her, did you have a doubt?



Kausha woke me, which was unusual; I was normally up and out by the time the rest of the house exited their bedrooms. Today I was taking a trip with Mother. She had decided that it was time for me to gain a better understanding of diplomacy- in other words, how to hold my tongue and not say the first thing that my brain thought. I could do that if I wanted to; I just didn't want to most of the time. I was looking forward to the trip. Any time I could get with Mother was always a treat and traveling with her, well, that was something else all together after we got past the departure. And this time it was just me; the brats were staying here with Kausha. This was the first time that Mother had chosen to leave Bree for more than a day since she was born; it sort of made me feel a bit special that I was the reason.

We were starting out in Seyda Neen for several reasons, not the least being that Thavere Vedrano lived in the lighthouse there and was one of Mother's oldest and dearest friends. I had seen her a couple of times, but hadn't been around her enough to know her other than through the stories Mother told. I was looking forward to the chance to get to know her better- because if Mother spoke of her the way she did, then she was well worth getting to know.

I brushed and braided my hair, dressed and went downstairs to the dining room. The table was set with simple foods this morning, kwama eggs, fruit and bread with the usual dressings, scrib jelly and syrup of some sort that Cook had been making since before the Emperor was born I think. I had just sat down when Mother and Father came in.

"Good morning. All dressed up and ready to go I see," Father said with a smile behind his words but not on his face. Mother looked like she always did when she wanted me to dress, in her words, more appropriately. I still didn't understand why she was so adamant that I wear something other than my leathers, and until I understood, I would continue to have this discussion with her every time I chose the wrong thing in her eyes.

"Yes, 'dressed up'. I suppose by 'dressed up' your father means you are wearing the new leathers that he just brought you? I don't insist that you wear a dress, but I would like to see you in something other than leather armor occasionally."

I added a mental tally mark to the record I had been keeping for a couple of years; what I had affectionately begun to call "The Multitude of Ways: A guide to how many different ways Mother can tell me she does not like my choice of clothing."

"But we are travelling and you are wearing what you are comfortable in, are you not? So, why can't I be comfortable too?" I could have thrown in the 'that's not fair,' but it wasn't necessary, plus the response to that was always 'life isn't fair.'
.
Mother's eyes rolled upward as she took a moment. There she goes again, counting, silently, as if I didn't know what she was doing.

I finished my last bite of eggs and downed my juice, "Excuse me please? I need to get a couple more things." And as I left the dining room I heard a repeat of the familiar discussion between Mother and Father,
"Why do you insist on supporting her desire to wear armor instead of proper apparel when it is expected?" Her voice was firm but not mean.

"Is that what I am doing my dear? I thought I was supporting my daughter in her desire to be herself and not what the world at large expects her to be."

His tone was the same as always, that soft tone that always took the fire out of Mother. Now they were staring at each other…even without being there I had the timing down to a science as I walked up the stairs. As I stepped into my room, enough seconds had passed that they had smiled at each other and called it a draw with no more words.

Half an hour later Mother exited Father's study at the base of the stairs as I reached the bottom and before she came around the corner she spoke, "Please leave your weapons at least."

"Oops, too late." I whispered to myself as she turned the corner of the stairs and saw that I had my full regimen- my katana strapped to my back, my bow and quiver hanging over my left shoulder and my braids pinned up with two darts.

"Athynae Sarethi- do you really have to make such an affair out of this? We aren't going to battle, we are going on a D-I-P-L-O-M-A-T-I-C journey."

"I know that but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared for the chance that some rogue band could attack." I gave her my wide-eyed 'there you go' look.

Mother clenched her teeth and pursed her lips before she responded, "We will be traveling by strider, and I seriously doubt the possibility of an attack." Her eyes locked with mine, "I appreciate your dedication to the endeavor of being Tamriel's greatest warrior, but you can take a break every now and again."

"I could, but where would the fun be in that? Besides, if we don't leave now we will miss our ride."

Here's the thing you need to understand. Yes, almost every time we went 'out' we argued about how I dressed, but it wasn't because she didn't want me to be myself, it was because somewhere inside of her there was a conflict-on one hand she remembered being my age and how important it was to feel comfortable with who one is, but on the other she was now the Head of Great House Redoran and with that came certain…expectations? She had to at least make it look like she was trying to conform. That's what I think anyway.

Father kissed me on the forehead "Don't be too hard on your mother, my little warrior; enjoy the trip but let her enjoy it some too, please?" And he winked at me.

I exaggerated a huge sigh "OK, fine. I'll do my best to be the best behaved child in Vvardenfell, as long as I can double up on the misbehaving when we get home so I can catch back up. You know how I hate getting behind." And I lowered my head and shuffled myself out the door as Father hugged and kissed Mother through his laughter.

"If it were possible for a man to reproduce without the aid of a female I would absolutely believe I had nothing to do with her, she is yours through and through." Mother whispered as she leaned in to kiss Father, "I had nothing to do with that one." And she pointed toward me with loving accusation if there is such a thing.
"You think that is a reflection of my gene pool? Me? Mr. Calm cool and collected? You are the one that can't sit still, I believe dear, she got more than a fair share of your genes, but I am more than proud to claim her. That fire is something that will take her places." He pulled her close and kissed her again. "Don't be gone too long I might have to hunt you down."

If someone who didn't know heard some of the things that were said about me by my parents- or anyone else for that matter- it would not shine a very kind light on me but I knew there was nothing mean-spirited there, it was all loving jibes, them letting me know they noticed I was different and it was really all right. I hoped that's what it was, anyway.

We arrived in Balmora and the first leg of our journey had begun. We weren't going straight to Seyda Neen as I had thought, but rather we were going to visit Fort Moonmoth. I was quite sure that visiting old friends was not the only reason Mother had for wanting to go there, but I also knew that if she wanted me to know she would tell me, and if she didn't want me to know the work involved in finding out just wasn't worth it at that point. Plus I really wanted to enjoy the time I had with her and not try to make her mad at me. We would bang heads before long whether I tried or not.

I wasn't particularly impressed with Balmora. It was pretty enough I guess but it was Hlaalu country and even though I knew a few Hlaalu that were OK, for the most part I had learned they could not be trusted. A man exiting the Council Club made eye contact with me and I know I probably should have lowered my head, but I wasn't about to let him think he had any power over me. Besides, I did not like the look in his eyes. I scowled and rolled my eyes. He responded by narrowing his eyes at me and patting his short sword. I raised an eyebrow and did a little 'slap the weapon' dance for him- right shoulder, left shoulder, waistband, boot and then I threw in a 'top that' look. At which point Mother caught the man eying me and paid him a glare that ended it all. I watched until Mother turned away and stuck out my tongue at the man and then smiled. Rather childish I know, but it still felt good.

I don't know what it was about Mother, but even if when she was playing her "simple traveler" role, she wasn't often challenged. At least I had never seen it happen, even when we traveled incognito like now. There was something about her that made most think twice about even approaching her, which seemed quite odd to me because she was the most giving, kind person I knew. She and Aunt Baria together were like a "Nice Fest" gone haywire; sometimes it was almost too much kindness.

As we exited Balmora on the road to the fort Mother cleared her throat to get my attention, "You do realize that man you had the stare down with was exiting the local gathering place for the Camonna Tong, right?" She looked at me with both eyebrows raised.

Although my heart took a stutter step, my mouth did not, "So. Is that supposed to scare me? He looked at me with a nasty expression when he came out of that place. I don't think I should act like a scared scrib just cuz I'm not a hundred years old; that's stupid." I meant the stupid part, the other though, well, if I had known that was Camonna Tong territory I might not have been quite so bold. Then again, he was looking down his ugly hooked nose at me so…it would have been the same.

"Sometimes, Athynae, it is better to let things go. Often the expression on someone's face has more to do with what they are thinking about rather than who or what is in their line of sight."
And she softened when she looked at me, that affectionate, exasperated wisdom expression.

"I don't wear what is on my mind on my face. If I did no one would like me because I would always look like I had a mouth full of bitters. I work hard to keep my face from showing how hard I am concentrating, sometimes on a bunch of stuff all at once." And I showed her the 'sucking bitters' look by sucking in my cheeks and crossing my eyes.

"You are rambling," Mother snickered. "It is no secret you never stop thinking about your battle strategies, even while you plan and prepare one of your 'lessons'. " Her face said it before her mouth did, "Didn't think I knew that, did you?" She looked like she had just taken the trophy in some major competition so I couldn't rain on her presumed victory by telling her it didn't matter- that I didn't care whether she knew.

"No! I did not. Have you been eavesdropping on private conversations, Mother? I get in big trouble for that. I think maybe you should be grounded when we return home so you can think about what you have done." And I tried to look all parental.

Neither of us could hold it long; we both started giggling. Mother was on my right side and just barely at the edge of my vision to the left of us I caught the smallest of movements. I didn't think about what I did, but I let Mother get a half step ahead of me and then all at once everything got crammed together except what I did. That was in slow motion.

The stupid bandit stepped into the road behind us and said something like, "What, couldn't afford a full size body guard so you paid half price for half size?" His laugh stopped pretty quick though, cuz as I turned around I pulled a dart from my hair and flipped it. It sank into his shoulder just above his collar bone. I hoped I had hit the right spot, and I did I discovered later.

Then Mother's voice snapped me out of slow motion and back to real time, " Why would I pay more for one with less skill? Seems to me she is doing a fine job." She cut her eyes at me and gave the slightest wink.

The dummy laughed and said "With a dart?" Mother cut off his laughter.

"Don't you mean a poisoned dart?" as she cocked her head to the side. "Now the decision is yours; time is short, so be quick about it. Call off the rest, if there are more, and you might live to see another sunrise. Otherwise you will die here today and your friends will go to Oblivion with you." She was almost whispering.

"I'm dead anyway if this is poisoned." They were glaring at each other.
"I can give you an antidote for the poison, but you must act very quickly or it will be too late. Call them off!" The last came out as a growl and her eyes, I don't know how to describe those. I had never seen that look before or heard that voice. I had done "mean," but I really needed to learn that mean, that could make some with less fortitude pee their britches.

The bandit raised his good arm as if to signal others and then muttered, "Fix this; they will leave." Mother was nonchalant as she moved toward him. I however was not. I pulled my bow, stretched the string and had an arrow nocked and was holding it half pulled by the time she had taken two steps. She reached into her satchel as she was walking toward him and pulled something out, I wasn't sure what because she didn't need an antidote for a dart that wasn't poisoned. I was actually pretty impressed that she thought that fast and I wondered if I had taught her that or if I had inherited it.

When she got to him she reached with one hand and not gently yanked the dart from his shoulder. His arm instantly fell to his side. I did it! I hit the nerve! "Now, don't flinch, take heed, she is better with that than she is at flinging darts." And she tossed her head toward me even as she pulled his hands behind him and tied them securely with the twine in her hand that I hadn't seen until just then. Where did that come from?

"What's wrong? My arm! What are you doing? You aren't stopping the poison. I can't move my arm!" He was screaming like a girl; it was pitiful.

"Poison? Oh, right, well I do hope you will pardon me for stretching the truth a bit, but you were getting ready to rob us or worse. There was no poison; however, the dart clipped a nerve that may or may not heal. It is hit or miss if you will ever use that arm again." She stepped behind him and pushed. "Captain, would you be so kind as to take up the rear to keep our prisoner from escaping?" The air she put on was truly majestic and I didn't skip a beat.

"Certainly, Your Highness, anything you require will be my pleasure Arch Mistress." And I bowed toward her, just because I saw the bandit cutting his eyes at us. His jaw hit the ground at the exchange. I have no idea how Mother and I maintained our ruse the rest of the way to the fort but we did. It was quite funny listening to Mother spin such a yarn for Sera Stupid, about how I had come to be a Captain of the Guard at the tender age of 10 by stopping a siege on Under Skar even before anyone else had been aware and what a well rounded warrior I was, as skilled with one weapon as another.
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[Fawkes]

"What's wrong? My arm! What are you doing? You aren't stopping the poison. I can't move my arm!" He was screaming like a girl; it was pitiful.

"Poison? Oh, right, well I do hope you will pardon me for stretching the truth a bit, but you were getting ready to rob us or worse. There was no poison; however, the dart clipped a nerve that may or may not heal. It is hit or miss if you will ever use that arm again." She stepped behind him and pushed. "Captain, would you be so kind as to take up the rear to keep our prisoner from escaping?" The air she put on was truly majestic and I didn't skip a beat.

"Certainly, Your Highness, anything you require will be my pleasure Arch Mistress." And I bowed toward her, just because I saw the bandit cutting his eyes at us. His jaw hit the ground at the exchange. I have no idea how Mother and I maintained our ruse the rest of the way to the fort but we did. It was quite funny listening to Mother spin such a yarn for Sera Stupid, about how I had come to be a Captain of the Guard at the tender age of 10 by stopping a siege on Under Skar even before anyone else had been aware and what a well rounded warrior I was, as skilled with one weapon as another.[/size]
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Really nicely put, I just love how she puts it "Oh just a small detail you may or may not not lose the ability to use your arm, no biggy really."
Like always, enjoyed it very much, can't wait for more

This post has been edited by Fawkes: May 7 2012, 11:44 AM