The peace that formerly reigned in Terra Nova has eroded, now little more than a memory. War ravages the continent. Disputes divide kingdoms; ideals divide families. The quest for power consumes absolutely and indiscriminately. None are immune to its allure.
Who will rise and who will fall? Only time—and ambition—will tell.
UPDATES
05.26.2023
2 month character creation hold for all existing members begins 6/5/2023. Ended 8/5/2023.
10.29.2023
Change in how times flows. Was 4 IC seasons, now only 2 IC seasons per 1 OOC year.
5 whole years of Heir Apparent goodness! When I started the site, I knew I was hunkering down for the long haul, but I never could have predicted the numerous twists and turns this roleplay site has seen. Hundreds of plots, characters, and members have come and gone, all leaving marks on the site. I am so very thankful for those who have invested. Because you keep coming back, keep getting on, and keep writing, Heir Apparent has the legacy it does today. Three cheers to us!
Twenty-six. Twenty-six years of age and still unenlightened. If anyone thought that Pietro was indifferent to this fact then they couldn’t have been more wrong. As each year passed the boy became more and more desperate, more and more anxious, and more and dependent on the drug that he’d come upon so many years ago. Not that most people knew that part of course. He had done well at hiding his addiction, or at least he believed he had.
So every day he attended his lessons and he tried so hard to focus and to absorb all the information he could. All of his sisters were already enlightened of course. He admired them for their intelligence and so much more. Yet while most were enlightened by the time they were sixteen to eighteen, Pietro was now ten years beyond that and still nothing.
Finished with his lessons for the day he said goodbye to his instructor who was also growing more and more frustrated with the situation, trying to figure out why Pietro was their one failure. Why couldn’t he get it? Where was that lightbulb moment that everyone else had experienced by now?
Pietro began his walk back home, his hand rubbing against his forearm out of habit, anxious to get back to his room so he could grab the Luxe crystal that he’d left behind. As he was about to reach the front door he came across Calanthe who was just coming out.
“Oh, hey, where are you off to today?” He asked while occasionally glancing at the door, aching for the relief of the drug that would make his troubles seem so small.
Last Edit: May 13, 2023 10:54:08 GMT -5 by Deleted
Calanthe had a lot on her plate these days. She had just put the finishing touches on her enchanted cage, she was working with the Crowned Prince, still had lessons with Uncle Evander, and then she still had to practice her combat even with Clovis gone. And those were just extra-curriculars.
She had finished her regular lessons for the day and had a chance to stop by and change before heading to train some swordplay with some friends. In her rush she didn't register her brother until she had run into him. Something that annoyed her, she should have been paying more attention. Cyrus would have been disappointed she didn't use her instincts.
"Going to do some swordplay, want to come? I could use the company!" The one exception to her focus was her brother. Pietro was just easy to be around, and she didn't feel the pressure she did around others.
Pietro had instinctively clasped Calanthe's upper arms as she ran into him, keeping them both from stumbling more than necessary though he was pretty sure he'd be the one most likely to tumble between the two of them. She quickly invited him along to join her as he let go of her arms and he couldn't help but wonder if she was just trying to be nice.
"Oh, I, uh, don't want to be in the way..." he began but decided that in case her invitation would genuine he'd add, "Would I have to participate or could I watch?" he asked. He knew he should practice more but combat had never been his strong suit. Nor had anything else for that matter.
As Pietro put an arm out to keep them on their feet, she flung her arms around him in a hug, a smile on her face. For a guy who acted like he had no instinct, he certainly had it in his gut for looking after her. Letting go she tilted her head with a raised eyebrow.
"In the way, nonsense." Looping her arm through her brother's she smiled up at him. Pietro might not be enlightened, and he might not have the same athletic abilities, but that didn't mean he got in the way in the slightest. "If you want you can just watch, but none of us are Aunt Calliope out there." Laughing, she wished she was, but she just wasn't. Yet.
Pietro's best trait, so he believed, was the way he was so devoted to his sisters. They all outshined him but 'jealous' was not a term that he associated himself with. 'Beaming with pride' was far more accurate. He encouraged each of them in their various endeavors and was their biggest cheerleader.
He did feel a sense of relief though that Calanthe was trying to force him to participate though he did chuckle with her sentiment on their very skilled Aunt. "Alright then, I could watch," he said, moving his hand to rest on top of hers as she looped it through his arm. He let her guide the way to where they were going and found his thoughts quickly drifting to times they had all spent with their father. If he really was gone then that would mean that he and his sisters were orphans...the title of such a thing made his stomach twist. But surely their father would return. Really could be any day now.
Despite the fact that Calanthe had become enlightened before her brother, she never had thought of him as any lesser. They were on a different path in life, that didn’t mean she didn’t get slightly confused when he preferred to watch rather than participate. Just because he wasn’t enlightened it didn’t mean he couldn’t learn to be an amazing military peacekeeper. Or maybe a politician like dad. ”Maybe you’ll see just how much fun we’re having and join in.”
Laughing she had a skip in her step now that she had her older brother with her. He was always easy to talk to and be around, both having the same questions they weren’t sure would be answered. ”How has your day been the dear brother?”
Pietro chuckled and his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink at her suggestion, "Perhaps, I guess we'll have to see," he said, knowing full well that should he decide to join he would be just as clumsy as he always was. Still, if he could let go out of that, it could be fun. "Not bad, same ole, same ole," he said with a little shrug. "My tutor Jorge is getting sick of me," he said rubbing the back of his neck. "I wouldn't be surprised if he drops me." I wouldn't be the first time it had happened. He'd already had at least seven or eight tutors and hard started to lose count. "Anyway, how has yours been?"
Calanthe laughed and shook her head, pretty sure that meant her brother had no plan to join in. She'd just have to persuade him though, make it not seem obvious either. She was his younger sister, but that didn't mean she was any less his cheerleader then he was for her.
"Jorge is stuck in the past, you should drop him. I've heard Hernacules is taking on a few next season, he's got much more forward thinking." Not everyone learned the same way, and Pietro was brilliant, he just needed to find the way that worked for him. That didn't necessarily mean reading over the same grimoires that others had in the past. "He offered me a spot, surely you could take it if you wanted."
Looking around, she smiled like a cat with a canary. "Just finished a special project, I think I'm getting close to the Blackwood name."
Pietro appreciated his sister's kind words, blaming the instructor than him. Maybe she was right, though that was hard for him to believe, too many years of self-deprecation being cemented into his mind. He had, of course, heard about Hernacules. He was said to be one of the best and if he'd offered Calanthe a spot then he wasn't remotely surprised. She was brilliant.
"Yeah, maybe that would be a better option," he said with an almost shy, grateful smile. His whole face lit up though when she changed the subject.
"Really!?! What's the project!?" he asked enthusiastically.
Calanthe would be glad to give anything to Pietro to help him. Enchanting came to everyone in Arynn Frey eventually. But she of course would try not to do it too obviously. That wouldn't help in the slightest.
"Not so fast! It's top secret. That and my project with the Prince!" Laughing she skipped a little ahead, breaking her arm from her brothers and looking back at him with a laugh. "It's been easier keeping too busy to think about dad." Taking a breath of the fresh air she looked at Pietro.
Pietro was floored and overwhelmingly proud. "Two projects!? And one with the Prince?!" He beamed at her with admiration. "It's not fair to tease me like that, Calanthe," he said with a laugh as she broke away from him, skipping ahead. She was so lovely and he knew that if anyone ever caught her attention romantically that they would be very lucky indeed. He just hoped that no one took away her spark and passion for enchanting, what a shame that would be to all of Arynn Frey.
When she mentioned their father he felt his chest tighten, all that happened on that front flooding through his mind like a wave on the shore. "Good," he said after a second. "I'm glad. You deserve to let go and move forward. Though I'm not surprised. I feel there is very little that could truly hold you back."
With that he smiled and jogged to catch up to her with a grin. "Now please, you simply must give me some kind of hint on your top secret projects. I swear I won't tell a soul," he said as he made a zip and lock motion against his lips.
Calanthe would always push through. Forge forward no matter what or against any odds. It's how she had been taught and it's how she would continue to be. Push down any anxiety or faults and let the rest flourish. Nothing would hold her back, even those she loved or memories that would have been easier to hold onto and wallow in. "Nothing can, except maybe one of those sticky buns Margey made." That cook was one of a kind, that was for sure.
Pausing a step so it was easy for Pietro to catch up, she smiled at her brother and tapped her chin, trying to come up with a good hint. Something that would keep him interested but not enough to give it away. Uncle E had been clear on that, that it wasn't something to share. "Think those collars but better." At least she thought it was better, maybe it wouldn't be seen that way by others, especially anyone or anything that ended up in it.
Pietro's tongue played along his lips at the memory of Margey's sticky buns. If he thought hard enough he could swear he could taste them now. They really had been something worth remembering. He caught up with her, feeling much more at ease than he had been when he'd first run into her and feeling that urge for Luxe start to fade now that he was lost in her presence.
He raised a brow in curiosity and fascination as she gave him a hint. What he was stuck on were not so much the details as the purpose. Up until now, the gifted of Lorendale had not been a threat to them directly and did they really need better slave collars? "Collars for who?" he couldn't help but ask. "Slaves? Gifteds?" he inquired. "Something you intend to help Lorendale with or more of a 'just in case' we might need them?" he asked, unable to help a little shudder at the image of Arynn Frey being invaded the way that Dresmond had. Surely they wouldn't win against all of Arynn Frey's enchantments though... Right?