Lien An's Story

“Miss Lady Lien, your maiden wants to see you.”
A small woman, no older than 20, met Lien An at the door from the ocean. Lien studied the woman, who stood there awkwardly under her gaze. She blinked once…twice…
“You are new?” she finally answered, not what the young servant was expecting.
“Uh…why yes, my lady, I started here only yesterday,” the servant squeaked, obviously nervous.
Lien smiled and nodded “Nice to meet you. Tell Old Chaolin that I will be a moment, I must brush this sand off before she sees,” she began to swipe the sand off her plain white, silver lined short dress. Lien looked up at the servant who bowed and looked at Lien nervously, Lien just laughed “But hush, do not tell her! I will hold you responsible if I get a lecture!” Lien joked, which made the servant giggle and hurry along.
Not even a moment later, Lien’s maiden, Chaolin, came rushing towards her, obviously in a fit. “Miss Lien An! Where have you been?” she scolded, Lien just winced and continued to brush the sand from her dress. The accursed grains, she thought, what was sand but a mess to get you in trouble!
“Look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself into. You must hurry and change, I have packed your suit case, but unless you have anything else I might’ve forgotten you better hurry, your brother has already left…oh you’ll be late!” Old Chaolin kept rambling and pushed Lien through the corridor and into her room.
Lien was confused, “My brother has left? Where? Why are you in such a rush!” she laughed at Chaolin’s squabbling while Lien undressed.
“You haven’t heard? Oh of course not, you’ve been out and…” Chaolin saw Lien’s face, and immediately her voice turned gentle “I’m sorry dear, it’s just that the five kingdoms are sending their children to meet. I’m not too sure why, but it is extremely important, you must understand.”
Lien nodded and slipped on a beautiful golden silk gown while Chaolin gathered the letter and showed it to Li. Li stood and read the letter, a crease forming between her brows “I don’t understand…”
“No time to understand, dear! Hurry, hurry, you will be late!” Old Chaolin pestered, and Lien grabbed the last of her important things; a few pieces of jewellery, a duckling broach, a small family portrait and a small purse, containing a Swiss army knife that she slipped in between her breasts. If she were meeting with strangers, she didn’t want to come unprepared, just to be safe.
Before she could count to ten, Chaolin swept Li onto the carriage and said her goodbyes “Be safe, my dear!”
“You too, my fair maiden! Tell papa and mam—“ a wave of sudden realisation hit Lien, but before Chaolin could come over and comfort her the carriage was leaving.
Lien looked out the window and watched the lush green trees sway gently in the breeze.

The trip was long, but not as long as Lien An had expected. For most of the trip Lien had pulled the window up and was enjoying the cool breeze that pushed against her face. Occasionally she would reach an arm out and brush the tree leaves that would poke the carriage as they ran by. She saw plants and flowers that she had only seen in storybooks, from a long time ago. They were beautiful, but something about this made her felt uneasy, homesick perhaps…nothing but the green grass and the carriage she sat in felt like home. She couldn’t wait to see her little brother again, a familiar face.
Eventually the carriage turned a sharp corner and halted in front of a large gate, beyond the gate lay a beautiful scenery with a gorgeous castle, certainly familiar, but most likely from one of her storybooks, for she had never experienced the outside world. She gazed up in awe and didn’t even notice that the carriage door had opened for her. Quickly she tied on the mask and felt the cool of the thin metal on her face. Old Chaolin had packed this in for her, she pondered on how the maid had got it.
Lien gathered up her cases and stepped, clumsily, outside. Her suitcases were heavier than expected…she hoisted them up and managed to trip on thin air. She caught herself though, and looked around nervously to see if anyone had saw. Almost instantly she found her brother, even with the mask he wore she still recognised the awkward frame of his.
Dragging the cases behind her she ran (or hobbled and tripped) towards him, with a big grin on her face. “Jiji!” she exclaimed, “It…It is you, isn’t it?”. Lien dropped the heavy cases and huffed, What has the old maid put in them, she thought, bricks or dictionaries?

Shifting around, JiHun heard his sister's familiar cry of 'Jiji' as she stumbled out of the carriage. The young woman was always good for a laugh, he thought hugging his sister. Probably the only one he could identify with the mask on. "Lien, I'm glad you're here." A smile lighting up his face as he asked for a servant to come and carry her things.
Even the man seemed to have some trouble with it, which he had to wonder what Chaolin had put in them. Probably a lot of books, he thought sighing. Looking around for a place to rest, he gestured Lien to sit down next to him. He didn't want his sister to wander off, especially in a place so big. Well, actually he was the one with the bad sense of direction, but that was the smaller details.

"What made you come so late? It doesn't matter," he said dismissively, "they don't seem to be do anything yet. So why don't we wait here for a while? Maybe we can see who the other prince and princesses are." Although he doubted it, with the masks on. Who knows who these people were?

Lien embraced her younger brother happily. She watched the servant carry her things, and giggled when even he did not have the muscles to do so "I am stronger than I think!" she laughed, and sat with her brother, nodding vigorously. "Ah yes, the other prince's and princesess' " she smiled and pulled her head closer to her brothers ears "I bet they are all pompus snobs," Li laughed again "Oh but I shouldn't say that, should I? Haha, I don't want to be the cause of a war because I am having a joke!"
The trees felt a gush of wind and blew loudly in the wind. She watched a few people conversing up the road a bit, but doubted that they were royalty "I personally cant wait to see who these other kids are, as long as they're not rude." her silk dress felt light on her skin "But how are you, my dear brother? I'm sorry I was so late, I hope you didn't get lost without me."

As Lien talked, JiHun nodded happily; although having a weird suspicion that someone was watching them. Looking around a little cautiously, he couldn't help but think that the others would be snobs. He was being a little to hypocritical though, but that's how he saw it.

"I hope you didn't get lost without me." Lien said jokingly, blushing fiercely JiHun looked away. His sense of direction was terrible, and his attention span wasn't the best. Then again he was fifteen, but that was no excuse.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on getting lost," but he knew that he probably would. Holding in a laugh he waved his hand, "It's fine you were late. Nothing really important has happened yet. Let's try to pick out who the other royalties are." Eyes hooking on some random people, JiHun decided that the others couldn't have been any older than nineteen. Maybe twenty at best, so they wouldn't look very old, and their voices wouldn't be deep deep. "Man, this is hard....."

"The best way to find out is to be social!" she stood up "We'll probably figure it out pretty quickly anyway, if they're supposed to be like us, brother and sister, they will most likely be together, both male and female." Lien held out her hand to JiHun, "But we must not give too much away, it's better if less people know we are royalty, don't you agree?"
Li looked around at the groups of people making their way into the castle. She wondered what would happen, if the children would meet officially or if it would be a mystery the whole time. Part of Lien was excited about this whole thing, but for the first time in years she felt nervous and uneasy and....shy, but she certainly did not want these feelings to pass onto her brother, as who knows how he would react to the first time Lien had ever been shy.
"I don't think Ive ever been to a party as big as this" she added, just to hint that she wasn't completely sure of things.

Taking his sisters hand, JiHun looked at the crowd of people, stifling a yawn. He wasn't tired, just bored right now. "Yeah, I agree. No one needs to know anything," JiHun said agreeing with his sister before shifting around. Being the youngest had it's ups and downs, one of them being when standing next to Lien was that he was a few inches shorter. His self-esteem low partially due to being small for his age. "So, if anyone asks I'm Avren okay?"
Once when tourists went to their kingdom....before their mother passed, JiHun greeted them expectantly. However, it seemed no one could pronounce his name correctly, and every time they tried they ended up murdering his name.

Fixing his mask, his doe-eyes wandered around, "Who should we talk to first?"

Without replying Lien made her way to the entrance of the castle where a huge crowd of people were chatting, dancing and having a good time. No one noticed her. She felt rather...odd, and small. She wasn't a very tall person, and rather skinny for someone her age, so people easily ignored her while they were enjoying themselves. She then thought of her little brother, younger and smaller than herself, and her arm instinctively went to JiHuns shoulder, making sure that he stood close to her.
"I'm not sure what to do," she admitted. Li saw people drinking alcohol and cringed, she was not used to that vile stuff...the only alcohol Lien had ever drunk was some strange liquid called...ah...what was it called? Wine, she thought, for special occassions. Chaolin always did say that her tastebuds were particular.
"I think...let us explore a bit. Perhaps someone will spark a conversation? And if not, then I don't mind so much...I do not understand why we are here in the first place, our kingdom is in peace," Lien was getting frustrated with the people pushing and shoving past her "We do not have much of an impression to go by, perhaps it is better if we leave without one aswell.".

Smoothing out the creases from the silk clothes, JiHun felt his sister wrap an arm around him protectively. He'd hate to ever admit this, but he felt a little powerless due to his appearance. Sure, his sister looked much more fragile, but if something bad happened. He shook his head wearily, nose sniffing the air, the smell of alcohol lingering around.

"Yeah,it would be best if didn't leave any impression," standing close, sent a glare towards the rude guests that pushed by them. Oh, if only they knew who the two were. They'd have everyone groveling at their feet. That wasn't the type of ing he wanted though, mouth drawn taut, he begN to lead Lien across the floor to a less crowded area.

She felt better when they reached a less crowded area. The room was hot but somehow comforting, it reminded her of something but she wasn't sure what, and that is when she decided that she wouldn't let the rudeness get to her. The castle must've been huge, there was bound to be something interesting she could explore, perhaps there was a music room somewhere...
To lighten up the mood between her and her brother, Lien decided to bring up a topic she had been musing about ever since she heard about this gathering, "Hm...I don't suppose my little Jiji will find a lady he likes while we are here?" she stiffled a laugh "Especially when they find out you are a young prince from Selestia! Oh how you will be such a ladies man, and to think...married so young!" Lien couldn't help but laugh, she knew her brother wouldn't be pleased by her words.

Hearing someone announce that every royal child was to report to the dinning hall, JiHun lead Lien out of the crowded room. Barely able to walk a few feet before someone bumped into him, which in return he'd give a small glare before he could break away from everyone. "Come on Lien, I think everyone is already there," trailing off he looked around. Spotting a servant, he grabbed the man's arm. Paling a little because of the height difference, he quickly looked away. A blush spreading over his face.

"Um, can you please tell us where the dinning hall is?" Smiling, he pointed towards a room at the end of the hallway. Thanking him, he quickly lead his sister to the area. It wasn't like he was afraid that she would get lost, it was more of support because she was better at talking than him. Opening the door, he found a long mahogany table at the center of the room. Spotting his father, the man smiled over and waved for his children to take a seat. Spotting a girl standing alone, he stared at his sister. She was one to always offer help, one thing he silently hated.

"Does anyone know what we're eating," his question more or less directed to everyone in the room. If they could even hear him or not.

"And so the war for peace begins," Abia said quietly so that only her brother could hear her. "I was going to say food, or slain enemies, but you seem to have this situation under control. It must be interesting to see how you handle a real battle." She laughed and proceeded to sit down near her parents. "My apologies for his behaviour. We royals are stuck up horrible people, what stealing from the thieves. What a pity it is.

"But on a lighter note, I am happy to be in the heart of my kingdom to discuss the troubles between us all. I can understand your outburst Lien. And your brother's question was only fair. If I were away from home, I would be certain to make sure that the meat they consumed was strictly from farm animals." She smiled pleasantly at the too siblings. There was a bit of sarcasm in her voice, but most of it was her just saying what she thought. Except for being glad to see all these strangers of course.

"We're only human. We say the worst things sometimes," she finished softly, her voice remaining in a near monotone. Abia looked at her brother and smiled. She had his back, but if he screwed up too bad, there was only so much she could do. She loved Felix and didn't want him to ruin this for himself... or her for that matter.