ailaaurie

Chapter 57: Some People Seem to Want and Need a Romantic Relationship

As the heir to the Guevera March, Sebastian not only knew every noble family in their region, but also aristocratic families and ones in influential positions. This included the Zisos family, which currently consisted of two people: Pope Stefanos Zisos, the highest authority in the Church of Belcoy, and his nephew-come-adopted-son, Constantine.

Pope Zisos came from a very modest background and was immensely popular with commoners. He got along well with the ruling elite for his strict s...

Chapter 56: He's a Grown Man

There were fortresses all along the coast, from Anlar to Sur. The fortress at the border between the two regions, which was on a mouth of a river, was jointly overseen by the two marquis families and was a training grounds for new sailors in the Sur navies. Tori was able to watch some training exercises from their ship.

It wasn’t really something that interested her, but Andy was very excited to show her, so she sat through three hours of it as he stood next to her and enthusiasticall...

Chapter 55: Does Your Mom Know Your Plan?

She couldn’t wait to tell Ilyana that she spent her birthday on a boat, cruising King’s Harbor, and gorging on the freshest seafood on the western side of the empire. On the day they scheduled to celebrate her birthday, it was just the O’Tuagh’s and Gueveras left at Moss Hill; allowing for a small, relaxed celebration.

The morning started with a full breakfast and gifts from the family, which were something Tori didn’t expect as she wasn’t at home in Presidio. She received a...

Chapter 54: The Ice Queen from Lycée

Antonia knew exactly what Monica wanted and, though she had no real qualms with Monica and Matthieu-Philippe as in-laws, she had sworn to herself that she would never betroth her children. That was why she had no problem throwing all formality away when she wedged herself between Monica and Tori when the attendant found them, and dragged Monica off.

Who was going to stop her? The Imperial Knights and Guards? Monica already told her escorts not to get between them. Antonia had one object...

Chapter 53: As If The Woman Had Escaped

For the last two days, Tori made a point to avoid Dimitri and Gideon. She knew when they were set to arrive and planned around them. She had more important and interesting things she’d rather do. Her family also seemed to try to keep them away from her by sending them out of Moss Hill, on ‘tours’ of King’s Harbor. Tori could continue her exploration of the city when they were gone.

When she wasn’t doing some work on her Lycée project, she was playing with her little cousins: ...

Aila's Ramblings - 1/14/21

My break is almost over!  It's hard to believe we're back to regularly scheduled updates. 

It was nice just lazing around for a bit.  I cleaned out a closet, put away all the Christmas décor, and worked on some other non-Tori writing stuff.   There are non-writing things to the story I want to work on; such as the map that I haven't touched in a bit.  The last thing I did was mark Lutrae Landing and the ancestral estates of the duchies.  

I also...

Chapter 52: No Reason for Us to be Detained

In his fifteen years of life, he had never faced such a humiliating event. Dimitri stood beside an increasingly frustrated Prince Gideon in a detention cell. They were stopped and detained at the main gatehouse before even entering King’s Field.

From their cell, he could look outside the iron barred window and see dozens of carriages and wagons going in and out, through the large gate of the massive stone wall that surrounded King’s Field. The carriages and wagons had to provide pap...

Chapter 51: There is No Need For You to Marry

The Empress appeared proud of herself for defending her son, but Tori’s mother only looked at her as if she were an idiot.

“I’m not talking about Piers, Monica! I’m talking about Gideon!” Formality was gone. Antonia stalked forward, her arms raised, and hands curled into claws as if ready to throttle her friend. The imperial knights, who noticed just how upset Marquess Antonia Guevera was, seemed to rush forward to try to protect the Empress.

The sound of their ...

Aila's Ramblings & BREAK REMINDER - 12/30/31

Hello!  

Just a big reminder that I will be on 'break' from January 1st to the 16th.  As such, there will be no updates on Royal Road at that time.  However, Patron will have updates on Fridays.  

January 1 - Chapter 51 (RR will have Chapter 50 posted on January 1st, as well.)

January 7 - Chapter 52

January 14 - Chapter 53

January 16 - Resume regularly scheduled updates - Chapter 54 (RR will have chapter 51 posted on January 16th).

This ...

Chapter 50: I'm Sowing Discord

Baron Hart appeared confused and looked from Tori and Kasen, to his daughter and her friends. Alessa was standing stiff with a look of horror on her face. On either side of her, Dimitri and Gideon were at a loss. Tori could almost see the gears in their heads turning as she stood up straight and faced them.

“Your Highness, Mr. Guthry,” Kasen said, without a hint of remorse in his voice. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you coming through on your way to Moss Hill?”

E...

Chapter 49: How Dramatic Could She Make This Inevitable Confrontation

“So...who do you think approached the other first?”

Tori gave him a droll look. “Baron Hart, obviously.”

“Oh? Why is it obvious?” Andy leaned back against the carriage seat, peering out the window, towards the unsuspecting ‘couple’.

Tori sat across from him, also looking out the window as she rested her arm against the sill. “A common working woman busy desperately trying to keep her family business afloat, and a widow with teenage sons, no less, approachin...

Map of Continental Soleil (An Attempt)

So, here is a general map of continental Soleil, which doesn't include any overseas territories outside of this region.  I've posted this up on the website, along with Tori, Piers'/Gideon's, and Axton's family trees.  

Maps & Trees 

The main regions are in yellow with the re...

Chapter 48: Their Story Checked Out

While it would take about two weeks to travel from Horizon to Moss Hill in King’s Harbor, the western most city on the continental empire, they wouldn’t have to navigate around or over any mountains. The road to Anlar was quite smooth and every day, Tori woke up to fields or rolling green hills.

Sometimes, there were forests or lakes, just to keep it interesting. Of course, several days of the same scenery could get boring, especially when she was looking at it from inside of a movi...

Chapter 47: Joke's On You

The consecration of various areas of the delta was an all-day event. After much discussion with the villagers, civil engineers, surveyors, and excavators; three sites were consecrated by the Bishop of Karap. The first site was on the largest of the delta islands, which had yet to start any development.

In the morning, several boats brought Tori, several village leaders, project and construction leads, and the Bishop of Karap’s party, including Brother Cassius and Constantine, to the l...

Chapter 46: So We're Name Dropping

“Why won’t you wear it?” Tori frowned and glared at the open comcry on her desk as Nanny Rey brushed and tied up her hair for the day. “I charged it myself!” She was indignant as Axton seemed to hesitate to answer. Tori narrowed her eyes and her voice lowered. “Do you think it’s going to explode?”

“That...has crossed my mind....” Axton admitted.

Tori drew her lips inward and stifled her growl. When she overheard Gideon and Fabian talking about Axton possibly jo...

Chapter 45: Her Beloved Nanny Abandoned Her

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too.”

“Don’t overwork yourself.” Ilyana stepped back and Tori smiled helplessly as they stood beside one of the many carriages that lined the driveway in front of Lycée. It was the last day to move out of the dorms for the summer and most students, especially the local ones, had already left.

Their rankings were posted two days earlier, at the start of the week, and immediately afterwards, students began to leave. Ilyana an...

Chapter 44: That’s a Stupid Reason to Get Drunk

“You can pack. I can go without you.”

“Senior Kasen told me to watch you.”

“Are you Senior Kasen’s knight or mine?”

“Yours, but you won’t kill me. They will.”

Gideon heard the voices of his brother and Sir Nassaun around the corner and quickened his speed. He came for a family dinner with his parents the night before, but his brother and his godbrother, Sir Axton Nassaun, weren’t at the table.

His mother distractedly told him that they had a...

Aila's Ramblings - 12/18/21

Well, I got nothing done this week and it's cold.  In between work, trying to finish Christmas shopping, and preparing what I need to bake stuff to give out, I've been swamped.  I got maybe two chapters written this week and finished my Christmas cards.  Next week is looking about the same.  I don't feel very efficient, but I know stuff happens.  

Also, I had to look up toys because I'm more out of touch than I realize and didn't know what some of the things the...

Chapter 43: I Was Told There Would Be a Sea Dragon

“Are they bothering the village or construction?” Tori frowned as she sat on a chair in the front of the dining hall during the weekly meeting. She knew that this most recent annoyance was her fault, and it made the irritation she felt worse.

“The visitors have not been able to go to the islands, so they haven’t gotten in the way,” Professor Meyer said from his seat in the front. “However, there have been requests to visit the islands.”

“We have made the precaution...

Chapter 42: Stabbing Someone Was a Very Intimate Act

The room went quiet.

The musicians stopped playing and the chattering of teenagers around the table ceased. Tori could feel the sudden tension fill the room as the restaurant master and a server tried to pull Duke Alvere away from the door that led to the enclosed rooftop dining room.

Axton looked at the clear, tinted liquid in his wine glass and swirled it around. “I mean, it’s not as if you can afford to eat here.”

Tori drew in her lips as a small voice in the back o...

Chapter 41: Having Friends in High Places Was Very Beneficial

“Signs for Lycée?” Tori raised a brow as she stood outside the doors of Lions Gate High Street, speaking to Headmaster Laurent, who just finished putting in his order for an Axton Spring Trench.

The man nodded, enthusiastically. “Yes, where did you have them made? It would be good to have some that say ‘Lycée du Soleil’ for next year's competition.”

“There really isn’t a specific store that makes them,” Tori said. “We arranged for our usual workshop to sew le...

Chapter 40: Let's Not Judge

So as not to disturb the participants, Tori asked Albert if their cheering would be a distraction during the event. The crowds normally cheered when the participant entered and when the event was complete, but were silent during it.

This was Tori’s first ever equestrian competition in both worlds and she followed the first set of participants carefully to try to understand what was going on. Today’s events were the “pairs” and there were two rounds; a sort of coordinated freesty...

Chapter 39: Don’t Embarrass Us  

When they returned to Horizon, the city was decorated with flower garlands draped across its busiest streets and wrapped around light poles. There were many stalls and most streets adjacent to plazas were completely closed to traffic. Axton watched with amusement as Tori sat by the carriage window, peering outside at the brightly lit streets at night with the wonder of a small child.

“It’s your first Spring Festival here, isn’t it?” Axton asked.

Tori didn’t peel her eyes...

Chapter 38: As Naturally as Breathing

Every weekend, whether she was in the delta or not, there was a village meeting in the largest of the dining tents. It started off with statuses on various large and small projects around the camp and on the islands; reviewed problems and what was being done to try to solve them; then, topped off with announcements and calls to action before time was spent taking questions from the villagers.

It was a standard project meeting and, while Tori knew it was important to keep everyone update...

Aila's Ramblings - 12/06/21

As we're approaching chapter 50 (slowly, but surely), I'm figuring out my plans to take a break for two weeks.  I figure after 3 months of writing 5k-6k words almost daily, I should take some time to relax and clear my head.  Maybe do some planning or activities outside of writing Tori and...write other stuff.  

From where I am with finished draft chapters, I estimate that chapter 50 will be around New Years (surprisingly convenient!) and should be around the time when To...

Chapter 37: Because I Want to Live

She really should’ve considered him more. Any position with that much prestige, power, and responsibility also carried a significant burden. As much as Tori didn’t want Gideon to become the crown prince, she also didn’t want to put Piers in a situation that he really didn’t want.

He was her friend. She should’ve thought about this more and she was a bit upset at herself for not having done so.

Piers’ expression didn’t change. He looked at her and seemed to think for ...

Chapter 36: A Strategic Move For His Succession

She had plans, but Tori did to accompany him to parties he was invited to, so she felt obligated to go. She expected him to tell her about an event one of these days. However, she didn’t think he’d inform her the day before.

Tori had looked at him with disbelief. That was cutting it too close. Way too close. She needed to mentally prepare. Yet, she couldn’t go back on her word. She was the one who told him to just tell her when and that’s what he did.

This is your faul...