Elise Feltum's Story

Elise grabbed the second to biggest hammer, and pounded at the hot metal. This would be her 4th lance, and she wanted to try something new. She was going to put a serpent pattern on the blade, but that wouldn't be until the metal was shaped. When nobody was around, Elise would always set charcoal on the fireplace and work in her makeshift blacksmith workshop. Blacksmithing was almost like meditation for Elise, and there was something that she definetely needed to think about.

There was a rumor going around that Elise and her sisters would be taken with 5 of the best knights in Taramount to a place where their curses could be banished. Elise doubted the rumors, they were so far-fetched. But still, it would be nice if they were true. Go on an adventure around Taramount and finally see the outside world, meet a heroic knight who would probably be full of stories and tales, and most importantly, finally get rid of her curse after 17 years of being the most obedient person in the world. Elise considered her curse the worst. She felt that all of her sisters could control their curses, but Elise had no control over hers. (sure, Oriana couldn't talk, but she had her notepad, so she still had a way to communicate)

If the rumors were true and the knights were coming, Elise sure hoped that they wouldn't be there soon. She was a sweaty mess from all the hard work she had done on her lance, and she needed some time to freshen up, and maybe pack while she was at it.

And so the rumors were true.

Elise put the glowing blade back down next to the fire place, so that it could cool, and put her supplies away.
After Elise bathed, she went to the large room and looked at the clothes she had. Normally, Elise would have worn her regular dress, but Elise said it would be a long journey, so Elise took it as an oppurtunity to finally have some freedom in the way she dressed. She wore her short, red hunting dress that with short pants underneath and black tights. Then, Elise grabbed her white armor that she kept on top of her dresser, and her favorite lance. Elise had a hard time picking out a sword, so she just picked at random. She ended up picking her first sword, a long grey blade with a jewel encrusted handle. She grabbed a leather knapsack, and packed some things. a small, sturdy stone to sharpen her weapons, (and the knights' as well) a book that she was reading, small ribbons to tie her hair back, a couple of short and long dresses, bars of soap, and other essentials. Then, Elise had another thought. She hurried down to the cellar, leaving her knapsack on her bed, and grabbed a 2 bottles of whiskey. She thought that since she was old enough, she could finally have a small taste of them while on her adventure. After all, once her curse was lifted, she needed a way to celebrate.

She rushed back the room and put the bottles deep in her bag. When she was done packing, she carried her knapsack out with her into the hallway, and looked for Scarny.
"Scarny? you there somewhere?" she called.

Scarny just finished making plans for a special harness so Ariel wouldn't use to much strength holding on. She heard her name being called. She walked down the hall and walked up to Elise. "Yes sister? Are you done packing? Give me your bag. Now would you help Ariel prepare herself for meeting the knights and the flight. Don't touch Lenny though she likes to do that." She stopped to let her sister say any last concerns.

Della frowned. She had been in hiding as soon as Scarny came in, because there were chances that Scarny would be yelling at her for one of her pranks, but instead, it turned out that it was because they were actually leaving and the curse would hopefully vanish.
She hoped so, it was infuriating that whenever she expressed too much emotion, the things around her caught fire. And it was too hard to control, since she just naturally showed a lot of emotion. As she thought that, the cloth handkerchief on her dresser started burning. She scowled blackly and crumpled it into a slightly smoking ball. And the fires never hurt her, no, but they hurt her sisters.
Della looked at her stuff. She quickly changed into a pale grey shirt and black breeches, her bird amulet already around her neck. She stuffed her feet into her black boots as she bagan packing. A couple of changes of clothes, items needed to care for her falcon, a few hair ties, her smallest harp, and one book.
"Elise, are you excited?" Dell asked. Elise's curse was like Dell's, where she had no control over it.

((Double post, sorry))

Jericho signed and waited for a little while as he lied back onto Iesha who had lazily dropped her body and stayed lied down like a graceful cat. Jericho went back to watching the clouds but then he over hear a guard telling one of the knights who seemed very young, to go into the castle and wait until one of the princesses came to him.
"Hey," Jericho startled the guard who had taken a few steps away from Iesha, "shouldn't I do the same?"
"You are the escort of the eldest princess, you will wait for her here," the guard had a shaking voice so Jericho decided to let him keep his stupid rule about him having to wait. . .

Five minutes later. . . Jericho was dying of boredom and Iesha started to yawn, "Alright, I'm going to get whoever the eldest sister is because I've had enough of waiting. This isn't some sort of children's day-off trip and I am not a patient servant."
Jericho got off Iesha who snorted at the guard that was trying to protest and then he went through the door and across the halls. He had been inside of the castle only once and that was when the king had named him one of his valiant knights, he had never been to wherever the princess' rooms were so he just turned right and left until he found five girls all together will small luggage. Jericho found his manners and bowed politely.
"Excuse me your highness's," he spoke gently and sensually like he would do with every woman he met, "Your. . . um. . .chariots await."
If Iesha was here to hear this she would have ripped my head off, thought Jericho.

"Yes sister? Are you done packing? Give me your bag. Now would you help Ariel prepare herself for meeting the knights and the flight. Don't touch Lenny though she likes to do that."

At Scarny's response of "Give me your bag", Elise's eyes turned a pale green, a sign that her curse was in effect, and she instantly handed the bag to Scarny. The next part of the sentence Scarny didn't say in a question, so Elise's eyes turned green once again, and she started to organize the insides of Ariel's backpack. When Elise said to not touch Lenny, Elise's eyes turned green once again, but she kept organizing. Now she knew that she was not allowed to touch Lenny, EVER.

Of course, Elise loved Scarny, but she felt that Scarny was always the one who was affecting her curse. She was just naturally strict over her sisters. It wasn't a bad thing, but it seemed to annoy Elise more than anyone else.
"Elise, are you excited?", she could hear Della say.
"yes Della, definetely more excited than any girl in the world. What about you?"

Soon, there was a burly guy in the room who said gently, "Excuse me your highness's, Your. . . um. . .chariots await."
Elise was done organizing Ariel's bag, and she put it on her bed. Elise answered the man.
"Wait, the knights are here? are you a knight yourself? Do you know how long the trip is gonna take? sorry sir....i have so many questions!"
Elise laughed after she said this.

Scarny finished looking through Elise and Ariel's bags. She ignored the whiskey in Elise's. When she turned around there was a man taller than her. She curtsied as she knew she should. When he mentioned there rides she got curious. "Excuse me but how do we know you are someone we should follow? You could be leading us to out death?" She stepped out of the shadows in the room and into the shadowed hallway. "Elise I need you to take care of your sisters. When they are ready could you please take then to the dining room for a snack and to meet the knights? Thank you." She closed the door so her and the knight where in the hallway. "Well explain yourself or I will call the guards.

Before she left, Scarny had told Elise to take care of her sisters. Elise's eyes turned green when she said this, but the next part was a question, so the curse didn't have THAT much of an effect. Ariel left out of the room, and Elise was alone with her two sisters. Elise didn't like to pick favorites, but she felt like she understood Oriana and Della the most. Elise knew what it was like to not speak, and she loved Della's crazy and rambunctious personality. She just wished Della could show it more often.

She looked at the fireplace one more time, realizing that she wouldn't be able to make any new swords or anything in a while. Then, Elise made her way to the door, and said to her sisters, "okay, when you both are ready, we can make our way down to the dining room."
Elise waited out in the hallway.

Finn
"Well that was quick", Finn thought to himself. As the girl offered her hand, Finn got down on his one knee, and said,
"My name is Finn McDrake, general of the Taramount army. Pleased to make your aquaintance, m'lady."
Ariel's face seemed to be pale, but when she laughed, her cheeks turned a rosy color.
"Princess, is there anything you would like to do before we go?" Finn asked. He was considering whether or not to ask her about her curse, but he realized it would probably be rude, so he refrained from asking her anything. He figured he would find out later.

Elise
As Elise waited out in the hallway, she decided to take her eye off of her sisters for one second, just to see who was in the dining room.
She crept silently down the stairs, and slightly opened the door to the dining room, so that only her eyes were peeking out. She could see a knight with blonde hair, a knight with whitish hair, and a knight with red hair who at the moment was talking to Ariel. Elise waved to Ariel, hoping that she could see her. Elise wondered if the girls would stay near each other, or if they would travel seperately.

Ariel smiled at his questions comming fro
His eyes. "My curse is but a horrible sickness. My little friend Lenny over there keeps me somewhat well. I would like something to eat first. Also my saddle needs put onto your dragon." She paused and looked over at her sister then at the ground. "I am to weak to just hold on. I hope your dragons or you don't mind." She stopped to hear his thoughts.

A surf pointed atelise and Lance walked over to her. He knelt at her and offers to take her hand. "I am Lance I have been informed I shall be your knight in shining armor." He chuckled then got seriouse again. "And your name my fair maiden?" He asked her politely.

Finn
"My curse is but a horrible sickness. My little friend Lenny over there keeps me somewhat well. I would like something to eat first. Also my saddle needs put onto your dragon." Finn was surprised that she knew what he was thinking. He was also extremely relieved. He was preparing for something much MUCH worse.
Finn nodded and said, "Okay, Princess. I will wait here and take your saddle while you get something to eat."
The princess seemed to be looking at somebody else, then turned back her attention to Finn.
"I am to weak to just hold on. I hope your dragons or you don't mind." Finn started to see Ariel bearing a lot of resemblence to his own sister, Bonnibel. Bonnibel was sick just like Ariel, and Finn remembered having to take care of her when he was little. He couldn't help but feel bad about Ariel's condition.
"Don't worry, I won't mind at all. I doubt Regina will either. Why, she's the calmest dragon in all of Taramount!" he said with a smile.

Elise
A serf saw Elise by the door and started motioning for white-haired knight to come towards her. Eli silently gave the 'no' motion to the serf, but the serf did not see. Eli just hoped Della and Oriana remembered to come down to the dining room. Then again, Scarny had told Eli to take care of the two, and with her curse and all, Eli didn't have that much of a choice.

The white-haired knight came closer, so Eli went into the dining room, silently closed the door behind her, and leaned on it. She took a closer look at the knight. He was a couple inches taller than Eli, he looked like a dragon, and he had such a serious glare that Eli couldn't help but cringe on the inside.
Great, an axe murderer.

He knelt in front of Eli and took her hand. "I am Lance I have been informed I shall be your knight in shining armor.", he chuckled after saying this. Elise chuckled as well, but it sounded more like a 'panic panic panic panic' kind of chuckle. So his name was lance, just like the weapon she was holding. What a coincedence.
"And your name my fair maiden?" He asked her politely.
"oh uhhhhh......my name's Elise. You could call me Eli.....uhhhh...yes...Eli." She said awkwardly. She tried to make the best smile she could. It turned out to be a cheesy grin. She felt terrible, the guy was just trying to be polite and yet with the way she was acting, she felt like a freak.
"ummm...if you'll excuse me for a sec. Ummm...Scarny told me to go do something and I think....I think now's probably the best time to do it...so you can wait here or something, and i'll be right back."
Elise silently slipped through the door and shut it behind her. When the door was all the way closed, she sat on the stairs for a couple of seconds and buried her head in her hands. Then, she made her way up the staircase and called to Della and Oriana.
"Alright girls, i'm leaving. Remember to come downstairs when you're ready. Hope both of you have a safe trip!"
Then, Elise went back downstairs, her knapsack on her back, her lance in her hand, her sword in its sheath around her waist. She came right to the door, and took a deep breath.
"Adventure, traveling, dragons, fun, just like the books." Elise thought to herself before opening the door and standing right next to Lance. This time, she was calm and was not nervous. "Alright, Sir Lance, i'm ready." she said with a nice smile.

Scarny stretched her hand towards the dragon. Most animals liked her considering she was technically part troll and trolls screamed gentle. "Scarny." she whispered. "My name is Scarny. First daughter of the king. Second child of his first love and first wife. Protector of my sister." As she said the last part her hand tightened on the now and arrows. "Well we can leave  once the others arrive down here. Would you like to wait down here or on this magnificent creature?"

Lance waited for the princess and placed food in a sack of supplies he was given. When the princess arrived  he headed for the dragon yard. Once there he saw another girl and man standing next to a dragon. He placed all the supplies on his dragon slightly smaller than the others. Then turned to the princess. S

Della laughed. "You're probably most excited out of us all." She knew how annoying Elise found her curse. As an afterthought, Dell grabbed her bag of tricks and went outside instead of to the dining room. Sure, Scarny'd yell at her, but Dell could "accidentally" lose control and start a few fires, which ought to get things settled down.
"Caelus!" She called gently, standing in the courtyard. The falcon flew down from the tree, his beak lightly covered in blood. Dell made a slight face. "Out hunting?" She fished out a handkerchief and the ordinarily savage bird submitted to having the blood wiped off. He probably only loved Dell.
She watched the other knights and her sisters, hoping that they'd actually be cured. After all, they were all controlled by them. She wondered idly if she'd a knight assigned to her, and then shook off the thought.

Elise
As Elise followed Lance into the dragon yard, her jaw dropped when she saw all the large and beautiful dragons. They looked just like what she had pictured them to be. Goodness, these knights got the best kind of creatures in the world, and all Elise had was a pegasus.

"Well we can leave once the others arrive down here. Would you like to wait down......" Eli could hear Scarny say to her knight. Elise would have to stay with this guy until the other girls came. She tried to strike a casual conversation with Lance.

"Sooooo ummm...Sir Lance, this is your dragon, right?" Eli said, pointing to the dragon beside her. "Oh yeah, right...almost forgot!" She suddenly exclaimed. She put her three fingers by her lips to create a loud whistling sound, and down came her pegasus, Saat-Suki.

"This is my pegasus, Saat-Suki." She said, gently stroking Saat-Suki's hair.
"If you want, I can either ride with you or i'll just stay on my pegasus. I don't know which one you prefer, y'know since your taking me to the place thing...." she said. "Saat-Suki's pretty fast, so i think she'll be able to keep up with your dragon."

Finn
"Nice to meet you sire.", the small manican named Lenny said as he streched his hand out.
"Nice to meet you as well, Lenny! How are you?" Finn said, taking his thumb and pointer finger and gently shaking the small manican's hand.
Finn took a seat next to Ariel as he waited for her. It seemed as if there was only one knight waiting. Finn counted in his head; there were 5 princesses, and 4 knights had already showed up, so that would mean that there would only be one knight left.

{OK in your next post every knight and his rider must be on the dragon and taking off.}

Lance scratched the back of his neck then looked at the flying horse. "Ug . . . Well if I don't keep you with me at all times I will get beheaded. So we better ride my dragon. Would you like to get up there so we know you are fastened properly?" He looked into the sky. It was about midnight they should have left already. He helped her on the got on himself. He fastened them both in and got ready to fly. "Hang on to his spike. If you get uncomfy  you can grab anything except the bags." He whispered to the dragon and they were in the air flying. 

Finn
When Ariel fell, Finn almost had a heart attack as he ran up to her.
"ARIEL!!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!", but Ariel picked herself up off of the ground right before Finn had a chance to help her. Everyone was gathered around Ariel, as she got up.
"Thank you sister I am find so is Lenny. Finn are you coming?"
"I'm coming Ariel." Finn followed her outside into the yard, making sure she didn't slip again. For being sick, Ariel sure was strong. Finn remembered that when Bonnibel fell, she couldn't even get back up.

"Which do you think is Finns,Lenny?" Finn silently chuckled as he listened to Lenny and Ariels conversation about which dragon was his. After Lenny replied to Ariel, finn said, "my dragon is the green one on the right. The one next to the tree.....and is currently sleeping right now". Finn sighed after he said this, but he wasn't annoyed. "Follow me, m'lady". He motioned for Ariel and Lenny to follow him as he made his way over to the sleeping dragon. When he was right by Regina, he softly whispered, "wake up, girl. It's time to get up". Regina slowly opened her eyes, and as Finn untied the reigns from the tree, the dragon slowly started to stand up.

"So Ariel, Lenny, this is Regina. From your father's letter, we are to travel on her by night, and rest during daylight." Finn started to put the saddle on Regina, and put on the part where Lenny was to sit. He put the supplies near where he would sit, where they would be close the reigns. He made sure everything was secure, then turned to Ariel.

"Alright, here we go!" he said, as he helped Ariel up unto her saddle. Finn checked to make sure everything was okay, and then said, "Regina, FLIGHT. FORWARD." And Regina smoothly lifted herself up into the air. Pretty soon, the were cruising high above the kingdom.

Elise
"Ug . . . Well if I don't keep you with me at all times I will get beheaded...."
Beheaded? that was knew.
"... So we better ride my dragon. Would you like to get up there so we know you are fastened properly?"
Elise nodded, and although she kinda knew what to do, Lance helped her anyway. Elise didn't mind though. She was just gonna have to get used to not doing everything herself.
Lance fastened them both in, and then said,
"Hang on to his spike...."
Elise's eyes turned green again, and she instantly grabbed the spike in front of her. Of course, she couldn't let go.
"... If you get uncomfy you can grab anything except the bags."
Before she knew it, the dragon was off the ground and flying. Elise could feel the rush of the wind in her hair, and could see the stars passing before her. Elise wanted to spread her hands out and feel the breeze, but she couldn't. She looked back to make sure Saat-Suki was following, and sure enough, she was right behind the dragon.
"WOOOHOOOO!!!" Eli cried out into the night. Flying was a wonderful feeling.

When Eli's emotions started to calm down, she decided to talk to Lance a little bit. There was something she needed to find out first.
"Nice ride you got here Sir Lance, if i must say so myself!" She chuckled a little. She wasn't lying, it was much more fun then flying a winged horse.
"So ummmmm.....I just wanna know Sir Lance.....since you didn't adress this earlier....ummmm....do you know about my curse?" Eli asked a little bit nervously. She honestly hoped that he already knew, because she didn't want to tell him herself. She always felt nervous talking about her curse to strangers, like they would use it against her.

Ariel loved the flight. Lenny was fast asleep. She leaned towards Finn. "I've never flown before. Lenny has but it was when he was being brought to me." She smiled at him then looked below as the lights faded behind them. She knew then that it was really happening. They were going make her healthy. She slipped her arms around Finn. She knew her Scarny would disagree but she didn't care. "Thank You for giving me life." She whispered. 

Lance smiled as she enjoyed the flight. Then she began to talk about the curse. He swallowed hard then shook his head. He also added an afterthought. "You don't have to tell me. If you don't want."  He saw the others behind him. He pulled out the map and told the dragon some last minute details and where they would set up camp. 

Finn
Finn could feel the princess slipping her arms around him. Was she scared about falling? Finn started to wonder, and then he heard her say,
"Thank You for giving me life.", she said.
"Anytime, m'lady", he whispered. He took his one hand off of the reigns and gently touched one of her hands. The town down below turned to green forest and plains. He watched Lance's dragon. Lance seemed to know where they were going to set up camp.

Eli
Surprisingly, Lance shook his head. Eli started to drift off into space, until suddenly she heard Lance say,
"You don't have to tell me. If you don't want." Eli's eyes widened. He had past the test. Eli still didn't tell him her curse, though. She figured he would find out when they set up camp, which as she heard Lance talking to the dragon, she knew was coming up soon. Her arms were starting to ache from holding the spike.

Eli started to feel bad. She never felt like this journey was a team effort, but just about the princesses.Eli started to think of a list of questions (which seemed to go on and on, since Eli considered knights adventurers) and then, she finally decided to ask a question in which maybe she could figure out Lance's personality, since, in Eli's mind, he didn't seem to have one.

"Sir Lance..." she began to ask, "sorry for all the questions, but ummmm...when did you start your training? y'know, as a knight?"