Rowena' Suitors

Morning came and the accommodations of the late Alfred were once again inhabited by suitors who would not respect the mourning period. Not for Alfred's widow, not for Alfred's daughter. Had Tigris been well, he would have driven them out of the palace completely and declared them outlaws. What did any of them have to fear? Tigris was ill, Falco was away from Aether and Eithne would let them do as they pleased.

Since Taurus' killing of Hannibal, the man who became Rowena's bridegroom, Rowena's suitors had been reduced to seven. There was the impoverished minor noble Ashurbanipal, the poor Hammurabi, the rich foreign prince Chun, the ambitious noble dwarf Ramses, the wealthy and arrogant noble Alexander and then there were Minos and the soldier Cyrus, only courting Rowena for their own amusement. Of the seven the most important were Ashurbanipal and Hammurabi.

Ashurbanipal was one and forty twelvemonths of age. Once he had been an attractive fellow, but he had aged prematurely and looked closer to sixty. He stood at a height of six feet and two inches, was average in build, had a chin that looked larger than the rest of his head, had short white hair and eyes as black as the night sky. He was dressed in black, no matter how impractical it was to be dressed in such a colour in the heat, with a black, knee-length tunic and cloak comprising his attire while a dagger hung at his left side. Long ago Ashurbanipal had murdered his fiancée and as punishment Menes had stripped him of his land and fortune with a warning that another murder would mean Ashurbanipal's execution. He had every intention to kill Rowena after the wedding and take his portion of her family's wealth and was even upfront about it to the other suitors.

Hammurabi was three and thirty twelvemonths old and stood at a height of six feet and an inch. He was an athletic, good-looking individual with light skin, long black hair that he kept in a ponytail and eyes blue as the Sea. His attire consisted of a red, knee-length tunic alone while a sword hung at his left side. He was a poor man, a peasant to be precise and a hunter by profession, but he did not hunt for food. He hunted for pleasure and to make himself a hero worshipped by the populace, a populace who viewed nature as a terrifying locus, wanting to live in harmony with it, but realizing it could kill them if they were not careful. Hammurabi viewed himself as the comeliest man on Aether and so he desired the only woman who he viewed as comely as himself, a woman who could be his greatest trophy yet, a woman whose wealth could elevate him to the lifestyle he most desired: he desired Rowena.

The two were sitting together playing chaturanga, both having lost many pieces to the point they only had their kings and foot-soldiers remaining. When Minos arrived on the scene, they both looked up as he looked quite happy and yet at the same time unhappy. Never before had they seen him with such an expression upon his scarred countenance. It was quite intriguing.

"How now, Minos?" inquired Ashurbanipal.

Minos did not answer, he merely stared at the chaturanga board. Chuckling, he commented: "Oh, my... On our way to another stalemate, are we? Ha, ha. Some chaturanga players you are. Lose every time except for when you are playing against each other."

In a flash Hammurabi grabbed Minos by the tunic and pulled him in close, his eyes narrowed as he asked: "Do you have anything important to say or are you just here to annoy us?"

Minos enjoyed annoying Ashurbanipal and Hammurabi. It was quite easy. Chuckling, Minos said: "Yes... Falco has returned."

Loosening his grip on Minos' tunic, Hammurabi asked, his tone nervous: "What? When?"

"Oh, yesterday." Minos replied with a shrug.

"WHAT?" Hammurabi leapt up from his seat, flinging the chaturanga board from the table that he and Ashurbanipal had been sitting at before loudly inquiring: "FALCO RETURNED YESTERDAY AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?"

Minos was very nonchalant in his answer. Anyone else would have been terrified of Hammurabi's temper, even the other suitors, be they for Rowena or her stepmother, were taken aback, but Minos just said "Yes" as if he was asked if the wine was good.

"Why are you only telling us this now, Minos?" Ashurbanipal inquired as he scratched his forehead.

"Oh, little things like the fact that I hate you all and want to see you die horribly." Minos answered, now pouring him a goblet of wine. "Taurus has spoken to me of what he intends to do when he becomes the Divine Deucalion and bringing back the sacrifices is, of course, one of those things. I told him that I have some people in mind for being gored to death by the Sacred Bull and I feel you should all know, that I mean you. All of you! Ashurbanipal, Hammurabi, Chun, Ramses, Alexander, Cyrus, Hannibal... Wait..." Minos quickly looked around, before asking: "Where is Hannibal?" Then he nonchalantly uttered: "Oh, right. Taurus killed him before he and Rowena had even been pronounced man and wife." He then took a sip of his wine and commented: "Quite good, nice to have something other than the cheap stuff for a change... On the other hand, people always serve me the cheap stuff when I am begging them for money to pay off my gambling debts. By the way, would anyone be willing to spare some coins? Hoe-shaped, knife-shaped, I'm not particular, only as long as I can pay off my gambling debts." Taking another sip of wine, Minos then asked: "Now where was I?" He then took a quick look around. "Oh, right. Me hating you all. I hate all of you courting Bertha as well. Wang... By the Earth Bull! What a stupid name you've got! Who named you? Whatever, carrying on with the rest of you. Gilgamesh, Sei, Hamilcar, Pyrrhus, Mithridates, Caesar, I hate you all and have you marked for death as well! When Taurus becomes the Divine Deucalion or me, which would be even better, you will all be put in the bull pit one at a time and..." Turning around, Minos found himself facing the entrance of Rowena and her stepmother Bertha's abode. There, stood Falco wearing a bronze chest plate and carrying a sword with Rowena armed with a javelin, Frumentius, Alboin armed with a club and Kenneth by his side. Without missing a beat, Minos raised his goblet and exclaimed: "Good morning! Rowena, I must say that you look radiant! And Falco, I must say you are a pillar of regality! Is that a word? I'm pretty sure that is a word. Am I using it correctly? I think I am. Anyway, I was just leaving." Proceeding to leave with the wine goblet in hand, Minos was about to take another sip of wine when he felt the goblet pulled out of his hand by Rowena herself. Sighing, Minos looked to the daughter of Alfred and inquired: "Can I leave the goblet but finish the wine?" When Rowena shook her head, Minos proceeded to grumble to himself as he made his exit.

Taking several steps forward, Rowena placed the goblet on the table that the chaturanga board had been on. Then taking a moment to look at each of her suitors, from the scowling Ashurbanipal to the ever-expressionless Cyrus, she uttered: "Gentlemen, and I am using the term loosely, I wish to inform you that your courtship is finished. I have chosen whom I shall wed and it shall be someone I grew up alongside, someone I adore. My lord and husband shall be my greatest compeer: Falco, Crown Prince and Regent of Aether."

Falco stepped forward next, ignoring all the suitors save for Ashurbanipal and Hammurabi, the former still scowling while the latter merely rolled his eyes. Hammurabi did not believe in adoration, love or whatever word one chose to use even though there was a Goddess of Love, something that Falco and Rowena both considered to be nothing short of moronic. Taking a moment to clear his throat, Falco said to the suitors: "As Rowena just said, I am the Regent of Aether while my father is ill. Now, three months have not passed since Alfred's murder and you men, be you suitors of Rowena or her stepmother Bertha, are in violation of the Laws of Courtship, as well as the Laws of Hospitality, for all intents and purposes taking over, making yourselves masters of the abode. Now, I feel I should remind you all, that these accommodations are part of the palace that is the home of the Royal Family... my family. I will give you all the chance to leave now and return to your own abodes be they here in the palace or somewhere else on Aether before things turn violent. Otherwise, I have nothing more to say, but get out and leave my fiancée's abode."

Ashurbanipal chuckled in response, saying: "What? You think you can come here an made commands just because you are the crown prince, the regent and you, this girl and your friends come armed and you bring that?" He pointed at Kenneth, whose response was to hiss at impoverished noble. "Should have brought your father's tiger, boy!"

"Give him a moment, he might come." Commented Frumentius, his eyes half-closed and his tone flat. He was already preparing to fire an arrow, aiming it at Hammurabi.

"You think you can alarm us?" Hammurabi inquired, a smug expression upon his countenance. "We have you out—" The suitor looked to his right as Caesar, the five and fifty twelvemonth old court musician, walked past him, making his way out of the abode completely. He was soon followed by Sei, Mithridates, Alexander, Cyrus and Ramses. Sei and Mithridates were both old, being seven and a hundred and two and seventy respectively, so Hammurabi could understand why they left, but Alexander, Cyrus and Ramses were all young and strong. What reason did they have to leave?

"Cowards! Cowards!" cried Ashurbanipal, as the rest of the suitors proceeded to leave. "What? Do you fear some boys, a girl and a mere cat?"

None of the other suitors looked back to respond. They all departed silently, more than a few hanging their heads in shame, leaving Ashurbanipal and Hammurabi alone to fight Falco and the others if they so chose. Ashurbanipal proceeded to close his eyes, cover his ears and begin muttering incoherently while Hammurabi's countenance took on a frustrated expression.