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!
It was early afternoon, and after coming back from another uneventful patrol, Ber had decided to listen to his stomach and head to the mess hall for lunch. Having learned from last time, he skirted around most of the training grounds, lest he be drawn into another disastrous drill session, but thankfully, no one saw fit to stop him from continuing on his way.
Even without all the deployed soldiers returning home and the new ones enlisting, Nevermere’s military was large enough that Ber had long since grown accustomed to not recognizing every single face he passed in the halls of the military wing. It was easier to simply keep a lookout for the ones he did know, particularly the ones whose company he would rather avoid, but though the soldier recognized her almost almost immediately, Temperance Towers was one of the last people he would have expected to see wandering around the military wing. The sight of her had him doing a double take, dark eyes narrowed as he confirmed that the familiar witch was in fact the apothecary with whom he regularly ate dinner.
“Temperance?” Ber called out, deviating from his path to approach her. “Is everything okay? What are you doing here?”
Constance Towers was one of many drill instructors in the military, and she took her job very seriously. Things had begun to ramp up as of late, and after Temperance's talk with Zevran, she knew very well why. Because of that, Constance hadn't been home often. Not only had she been unable to come over and have lunch or dinner with Temperance like they used to, but she hadn't been going back to their parents very often, either. Gustav and Taesa were concerned that Constance was overworking herself, and a few days prior had insisted that Temperance visit her.
Temperance had brewed a few potions for her sister and visited her at the castle. It wasn't a place Temperance had been very often since her mandatory training was done, but the little apothecary still found it to be beautiful. She settled in for a nice little lunch with her sister and visited for a couple of hours, and insisted on seeing herself out when Constance had to leave for her next appointment.
There were still a few things left in her bag, she'd brought to drop off with Ber. The problem was finding him. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Berengar Stormcrest?" She said. The random soldier she'd asked paused, looking at her.
"I dunno where he is, ma'am," the girl said, and Temperance only smiled.
"Oh, that's okay, dear. Thank you anyway." She said, turning. She began to walk somewhat aimlessly, her green dress scraping the floor as she walked around the military wing. She'd been doing so for a little while - maybe forty-five minutes or so - before she heard her name called. Turning in the direction the sound had come from, she smiled widely. "Berengar!" As the young man approached her, she lifted her hands to assure him. "No, no, everything is fine. Don't you worry. I was here to visit Constance, but I thought I'd bring you some things while I was going to be here."
She laughed then, more at herself than anything. "This place is huge. I nearly got lost trying to find you. How's your day going?"
Though she was quick to reassure him, Ber still glanced quickly over Temperance as he drew near and found that everything did appear to be fine. By the time she finished explaining her presence a few moments later, he was also smiling, even as he ushered them to the side so they wouldn’t get in anyone’s way. Something told him he wouldn’t be making it to the mess hall anytime soon, but he could hardly complain, especially if Temperance had come bearing gifts. He wondered if it was food; Melody enjoyed her baked goods, as did Ber.
“And how is… Lieutenant Towers?” He asked, more out of consideration for Temperance than than genuine interest in her sister’s well-being. It felt a little strange and oddly formal to call her by her rank in response to his companion’s informality, and he had paused for a moment to consider how he ought to address her. Outside of the military wing, she may have been Constance to Temperance and Towers to him, but here, where there was a wandering Woodwick and countless others who would insist on proper titles, Temperance’s sister could only go by one name. “Did you have a nice visit?”
Her awe at the scale of the military wing had him chuckling and glancing around too, as if he didn’t walk through these halls every day. “Nearly got lost?” He teased. “I don’t know, Temperance, you looked pretty lost a moment ago.” Attempting to find a single person in this part of the castle sounded exceedingly difficult, especially if neither party had the authority of an officer or an office where they could easily be found. “You found me eventually though.” Or perhaps more accurately, he had found her. Not that anyone was keeping score.
With a shrug, Ber changed the subject and answered her question. “My day’s not bad. Was on patrol this morning but nothing interesting happened.” When a thought struck him, he glanced around and asked, “I… don’t suppose you brought Artos with you today?” He wouldn’t have expected her to - the military wing was hardly the best place for a puppy, even a well-trained one - but he would never turn down the opportunity to spend time with his favorite dog.
As she was pulled to the side to be out of the way, Temperance was still looking around. She noted that most of the people held neutral expressions. They only seemed to greet those other soldiers they knew, but any superiors that passed were promptly nodded to or greeted by everyone. She wondered if she'd end up seeing Lieutenant Woodwick - as far as she knew, his work with Thomas was done. But it was always fun seeing Ber's reaction to the man. "Oh, she's the same as always. Overworking herself, but I suppose I would be worried if she suddenly stopped." She said with a smile. "But our visit was quite nice. I have missed her."
A soldier of two glanced toward them as the two spoke off to the side, and with a wide grin Temperance waved at them excitedly. Some of them just gave her a funny look, others smiled and waved back awkwardly. Temperance might not be the kind of person who went out very often, but she was a people-person, through and through. "I was not lost," she disagreed, holding up a finger. "You simply were not found. It's not the same thing, but as you said, I found you eventually! Or...well, let's be quite honest. You found me very much by accident. But no matter, eventually the end result would have been the same."
She was glad to hear that his work for the day had been easy enough, but frowned when he asked if she'd brought Artos. A false look of irritation covered her features and she placed her hands on her hips. "Is my presence not quite enough?" She huffed, but the put-on faded very quickly and her arms fell back to her sides. "No, I was afraid he might be a little overstimulated by all of the people. Or he would become a distraction, rather," she grinned. It was too difficult for people not to pet the overly-friendly, adorable puppy. "So he went to work with Thomas."
It was a strange reminder that he younger days, when she was closer to Ber's age, were far behind her. She hardly remembered any part of the military wing. Though she spent considerably less time here than others because she went home every day instead of staying in the barracks, she felt it should still be more familiar to her than it was. Now, much of the time spent in her mandatory six was just a blur. "Where were you going? I don't want to keep you, we can walk and talk. I have some time."
Bex was making her way from her office to the training area where she was going to meet a handful of paired soldiers for some exercises in which she intended them all to be so sore and tired by the time they were done that getting out of bed the next morning would be a challenge both physically and mentally.
As she walked she happened by a pair of people who she recognized. A brief glance in their direction was met by an enthusiastic wave from the woman which only further caught her attention. Her steps slowed and she moved towards the pair with a furrowed brow. Stopping in front of them she looked Temperance up and down with a serious and confused expression. She was studying her clothing with much scrutiny. "Lieutenant Towers, I thought you were on duty today," she said seriously, mistaking the woman for her older sister.
Even in the military wing, Temperance was her typical very friendly self. With some combination of mild embarrassment and exasperated fondness, Ber watched as she waved at every passing soldier. She seemed not to notice - or perhaps she simply didn’t care about - the lukewarm reception her efforts had, but he couldn’t help but feel as uncertain as most of the others when it came to reacting to her enthusiastic greeting. It wasn’t a problem, per se, but such amiability was one thing on a street full of strangers and quite another in the halls of his workplace, where they could run into people he knew.
When Temperance turned her full attention back to him, he was somewhat relieved, though Ber argument had his eyebrows climbing up his forehead. “Eventually, yes, you would have found me,” He agreed, amusement evident in both his tone and the smile on his lips. “When Thom came to ask me why you didn’t come home this evening because you’d spent all day lost in the military wing.” Nevertheless, he was pleasantly surprised to see her here, even if it was without Artos. She put her hands on her hips in mock offense, and after seasons of facing this accusation, Ber was now quick to put on his own fake indignation. “Come on, Temperance, do you really think I’d pick Artos over you?” Dropping the act just as fast as she did, he nodded his understanding at her explanation. “He’s definitely distracting, so I guess that’s for the best. And I was just about to head to the mess hall for some lunch, but you really don’t—”
Ber had caught sight of Brekker walking toward them with an expression that seemed borderline displeased - or rather, was at least serious enough to have him second guessing whether he’d somehow broken some sort or rule by standing here and talking. Automatically, he straightened up and opened his mouth to greet the officer, but the words died in his throat when she addressed Temperance instead. Oh. A whole new kind of trepidation, one accompanied by a wealth of awkward discomfort, replaced the previous apprehension, and the soldier glanced hesitantly between the two witches. “Lieutenant Brekker, that’s uh—“ He cleared his throat. “Um, this is Lieutenant Towers’ sister, Temperance Towers, ma’am.” A slight pause before he finished the introduction he never could have expected needing to make. “Temperance, this is Lieutenant Brekker. She works with the paired soldiers.” She was also the reason he was late to dinner that one day, which he knew Temperance knew.
But he wasn’t about to mention that. Not with Brekker around.
When a woman disrupted her little chat with Berengar, Temperance turned to give the woman a polite smile but as the woman spoke, that polite smile grew into a toothier grin that she couldn't quite hide.
Temperance, Constance, and their mother Taesa, all looked rather similar. Temperance was by far the most different of the three of them, if for only one reason - their height. Constance and Taesa were much closer to six feet, while Temperance was just two inches over five feet tall. That height difference wasn't necessarily a reason someone couldn't mistake them, though. Temperance couldn't imagine that many people had ever seen Constance outside of her uniform, especially those she worked alongside. If she had her hair down, her boots off, a dress on, maybe if she was leaning down a little, the sisters could easily be mistaken.
But it was still amusing.
"It's great to meet you, Lieutenant Brekker," Temperance said, giving the woman a proper curtsy. "My sister is very much at work, I assure you. I think she'd rather die of exhaustion than miss a day. I just came to bring her a few potions I made for her, and thought I'd speak with Berengar while I was here. I hope that's alright?" She reached into the bag over her shoulder, pulling out something wrapped in a cloth. "I brought these for him, would you like one? It's a blueberry muffin."
There were still a few more in her bag, along with a couple of other wrapped goodies sent along with her by Melody, but Constance had rejected any such goodies. "Working with the paired soldiers must be extremely challenging. Are you a paired witch yourself?"
Discomfort crept up her chest, clawing at her insides as if trying to escape, as Berengar corrected her. This was not, in fact, the solider she thought it to be which now had every word that Bex might have said get caught in her throat as she simply stared at the two with a blank expression not unlike a cold, lifeless doll in a china shop.
As the woman curtsied to her, Bex felt even more uncomfortable as she felt the heat in her ears turning them into a sudden shade of pink. "Oh, uh, no thank you," she turned down the offer of a muffin. She had nothing against muffins of course and blueberry was a particularly good flavor but she felt too odd in accepting food from this woman.
"I was. Until recently," she answered the woman's question, folding her hands behind her back and clasping one wrist with her fingers of the other hand. "He killed himself." It was said so bluntly that it was likely to throw them off but Bex had never been good at expressing emotions.
Naturally, Temperance seemed entirely unfazed by the mistake that had both Ber and Brekker standing in silent discomfort beside her. For his part, the soldier had decided that looking at the apothecary and watching the lieutenant out of the corner of his eye was the preferable course of action - Temperance was talking anyway - so he couldn’t help the anticipation growing in his chest as she reached into her bag. Though she had mentioned gifts for him, she hadn’t yet elaborated on what they were, and perhaps Melody had— Yes.
Eyes landed on the blueberry muffin she offered to Brekker, which the lieutenant declined, and had the officer not been standing right there, the soldier might have made some quip about one for him, too. Alas, she was, so he had to content himself with simply standing there, still straight and with his hands behind his back, and let Temperance make conversation with Brekker. To him, the answer to her question seemed obvious. If she trained paired soldiers, the lieutenant had to have been a paired witch herself because—
Oh. The abrupt admission had Ber glancing over at Brekker in muted shock. That was… unfortunate. Prior to this, the soldier had spoken with Brekker once, and that exchange had been little more than following orders. He didn’t know her, and he couldn’t for the life of him have identified who her werewolf had been. He knew, however, that the witch and the werewolf of each pair were necessarily close to each other, so that such a loss and in such a way must have been devastating. An awkward silence on his end stretched on. Not quite sure what to say but feeling compelled to say something all the same, he finally landed on, “That’s rough, ma’am.”
When Bex rejected the offered muffin, Temperance nodded and then turned, placing it instead in front of Ber. "Would you like it, then, Berengar?" She asked. Afterall, they had all been brought for him in the first place.
If he didn't take the muffin, she'd place it back into her bag to handover with the rest of it later. Either way, she'd return her attention to Bex. The woman's words indeed came abruptly, so much so that her now free hand came to her chest and she gasped somewhat. "I'm so sorry to have brought it up, Lieutenant. I cannot possibly imagine how difficult that must be for you."
Another soldier gone. Well, the soldiers came and went, or so many would say. Soldiers died. That was part of their job. An occupational hazard. But dying in the midst of battle or war was one thing, and fighting that war in ones head was another thing entirely. That was part of why Temperance was looking into this new potion of hers. "Do you mind talking about him? I don't wish to be insensitive of course, but if you could tell me a little bit about him and, perhaps why you think he did what he did, it might be helpful. To us both."
Idly, she reached out to pat Ber's arm. "It may help Berengar as well. We had a discussion not long ago about whether or not he was interesting in becoming a paired soldier, and I felt as if he should seek out advice from someone who had been on both sides."
As soon as the apologies were spoken Bex fully began to feel the discomfort of the interaction. She always forgot that this information was usually followed by pity. It made her stomach turn and her shoulders tighten. She hated the attention. She actually took an unconscious half step back as the woman asked if she'd actually talk more about it and she was about to outright deny such a thing. She had no interest in diving into that subject.
But then she also mentioned Berengar and how talking about it would help them. It caught her curiosity at least. She had actually been keeping an eye on this young man, wondering if he might be a good fit for being paired. So find that he might be interested as well...well she didn't want to do anything that might discourage him from taking such a path. "I'm not entirely sure how it would help, but I suppose I could attempt to offer some...insight." She felt terribly uncomfortable but was attempting not to let it show. She was usually pretty good at hiding that but today she wasn't so sure it was entirely successful.
"Should we schedule a meeting or..." she wondered if they wanted to do it right now.
Without thinking, Ber nodded and took the offered muffin. Only when he had it in his hands did she stop to question whether he ought to actually eat it here in front of her. If it were Woodwick instead of Brekker, the sight of Ber simply holding a muffin this far from the mess hall would have him cleaning the floors for the next week to ensure that no crumbs were left behind. For better or for worse, he didn’t know this lieutenant as well as he did the other one, but he thought maybe it was better safe than sorry. Unfortunately, that left him with little else to do other than stand there and awkwardly hold the baked good, for Temperance had turned her attention back to Brekker.
If escape was not an option, Ber was content to let it stay that way because that meant Brekker’s attention would be directed back at Temperance - and the young man by their sides would hopefully be entirely forgotten about. To facilitate this, he tilted his head slightly downward and directed his gaze downward at the muffin he held in his hands. He was in the middle of counting the visible blueberries on its surface when the sound of his name and the touch to his arm had his eyes flicking upward again. As Temperance continued speaking, he froze as embarrassment coiled in his gut.
Brekker didn’t make things any better. The embarrassment turned to faint horror at the thought of having an actual meeting to discuss this, both because it implied that he would be expected to ask questions - he couldn’t think of any - and because it meant that this incredibly uncomfortable interaction would have to be repeated. “Uh, I don’t think an appointment will be necessary, ma’am,” Ber said, glancing at Temperance and silently willing her to agree. “I think Temperance just had a few quick questions.” His tone rose slightly at the end, though whether it was in search of confirmation of his statement or of agreement to his suggestion was up for debate.
Last Edit: Mar 14, 2023 20:37:49 GMT -5 by Deleted
"A meeting? Oh, no," Temperance waved the idea of it off with a smile. It hadn't been because of Ber's obvious disapproval, necessarily, but she had certainly taken that into account. She could tell that both he and the lieutenant felt very uncomfortable, so she didn't want to push, but simply saying goodbye and walking away now also seemed awkward. Plus, Temperance just wasn't one to give up on someone quite so quickly. "I wouldn't want to waste that much of your time, Lieutenant. Berengar's choices are his own, of course. Should he continue to be interested, I'm sure he could make such an appointment."
Cheery as ever, she adjusted the bag over her shoulder and continued. "If you do have the time for a few pointed questions," she followed up behind Ber's statement, "that would be wonderful. My main concern is whether or not you feel that it was your work in the military that put your partner in that unfortunate headspace, or if you think it was more outside circumstances. Or perhaps a mixture of both?" Her question was neither accusatory or loaded. She blinked up at Brekker with a neutral face, save for the slightest, polite smile tugging her lips upward. There was empathy in her tone, though. Just because she was studying this rather grim topic didn't mean that she just disregarded the feelings of those she studied.
Bex's gaze full upon Berengar once more. She could see him with the paired soldiers, paired up with a witch who could control the monstrous curse that resided, waiting, prowling, just beneath the surface. It had been the most clever of curses, a true type of revenge. It was being underutilized as such. Bex believed so anyway. She had felt that way for quite a while. It was the witches who had always held real power in Nevermere yet it was men who continued to reign and rule over them, men who were expected to leave while the women did their magic in order to benefit and protect them. If you asked Bex, it ought to be the King's Witch who ruled over the King. Lineage be damned. A ruler ought to be there because they earned it. Not because they inherited it.
Her eyes had grown deep and darker as her thoughts wandered, a look which had historically made others quite uncomfortable, even unnerved. It was Temperance's line of questioning that brought her back to the present. "No," she answered rather bluntly. "It had nothing at all to do with being a paired solider, nor even being in the military that lead to his death." She spoke with such certainty in this matter though there hadn't been any such detail noted surrounding the details of Maximo's death or anything he had left behind. She knew him well enough to know. Or perhaps there were other reasons as well.
Trying to disappear through sheer force of will had never worked for him before, so it was hardly surprising that it didn’t work now. Still, that didn’t stop him from silently wishing for the impossible to happen as he stood there, keenly aware of the weight of Brekker’s gaze on him. It was disconcerting.
Temperance agreed that a meeting was unnecessary, but Ber’s quiet relief was short-lived. Her question had him momentarily forgetting about the lieutenant’s attention as he blinked at the other witch. Had she really— Did she really just ask Brekker why she thought her partner had killed himself? Ber knew he was far from the best when it came to dealing with emotionally charged conversations, but even he would have hesitated before asking someone a question like that.
Brekker didn’t seem to mind, however. Her response was blunt and to the point, and Ber hadn’t realized that he’d had any interest the answer until he felt something like relief. He hadn’t really thought that being a soldier had driven another man to suicide - or that even if it had, that his death would have any impact on whether Ber lived or died - but still… It was good to know.