ADONIA | #Historical | RomePi™

Un ɬ 1 (BWWM)

ÉTIENNE

"Why is my presence required for this charade?" He expressed his sincere displeasure at being summoned for such a mundane task.

The Duke had no affiliation with the workings of the royals irrespective of the fact that he was of the lineage of said family. In his opinion, his attentions were better suited to the pursuits of leisure. Welcoming foreigners to their shores seemed to be a gross miscarriage of justice in his opinion, especially when those guests were Moors.

It bothered him to no end that his father actually decided to welcome such lewd and unrefined people to their kingdom. Was he expected to kiss their so-called royal asses and risk smearing darkness upon his person as he extended his hand? That was something he was in no way prepared to do.

Regardless of his father's desire to acquire natural resources in their lands, it was nowhere near in his best interest to interact in matters of business with such savages. If he'd had his way, he would promptly discharge them and send them packing back to the jungles from wince they came.

Consequences be damned.

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ADONIA

The rocking of the vast ship soon vanquished the joy she once felt upon hearing that she was to embark on a journey.

Overwhelmed by the promise of intrigue as she boarded a grand vessel for the first time, her heartbeat was so loud she was sure everyone heard it.

Crown Prince Njeko and Prince Nju were instructed to guide their youngest sibling along with them as part of the envoy. It still surprised her to believe that her father allowed her, a mere girl, to tag along on such an arduous adventure. There was no comparison between the lengthy journey and the trips she had taken aboard the local boats used by the fishermen in her village.

Though she was never to mar her royal hands, the princess often pleaded with her father to permit her to watch the fishermen work. On several occasions, she even convinced them to approve her boarding of the tiny fishing vessels. Her father held no fear that anyone would cause harm to befall his youngest child, yet, he always sent at least six soldiers, a governess, and two maidens to protect his daughter's honor.

The young princess had never been afraid of the small rocking boat nor was she afraid of the fish that were pulled from the sea. Always as curious as a wild feline, she watched intently learning their trade.

Adonia learned well how to fish by the time she was eight years old. The menfolk would always carefully bait her hook, but she insisted on casting it out as they fished on the other side with their great nets. During these adventures, three of her many handlers kept her busy and secure.

By the time she was twelve, the princess had learned how to hunt with a spear as well as how to trap different types of bushmeat. Instead of avoiding the things that many young royal ladies feared, Princess Adonia found great joy in learning whatever she was fortunate enough to pick up from her people.

The trades she mastered over time were meant to keep her busy as well as entertained. However, the young princess had no idea that her unofficial education would one day become her undoing among her subjects.

As she came closer to the appropriate age for marriage, the king's indulgence of his daughter's unconventional education made her appear to be quite different from the six older princesses who were sent out to other families prepared to marry their sons.

The people's inability to accept that the youngest princess had freely worked as a commoner throughout much of her youth left many to speculate that something was quite wrong with the girl. It was difficult for them to understand why a princess would stain herself with the labor of commoners.

Their collective whispers rumored that the royal family was hiding something nefarious concerning Princess Adonia. Surely the royal family would never allow one of such an upper level of society to exist in such a lowly manner. Word had reached far and wide that the young princess was more like a boy than a girl and that his feminine manners were those the family had toiled to hide behind such uncommon behavior. Even though she was a rare beauty blessed to sing like an angel, others insisted her spirit had been sent to this place before as a man and that was the reason she took such great pleasure in men's work.

When their superstitious conversations regarding his youngest child made it back to his ears, the king accepted that she might be in danger should she remain in the kingdom. Because she would never be well received by the men in their village or the villages surrounding them, it was determined that she was to travel with her brothers as part of the Curianese envoy to Argenté.

King Njeke Curi feared his daughter would be ostracized in the community so he sought to create an opportunity for her in a wealthy opulent world where she could learn to her heart's content.

After a heated round of admonishments for disobeying his command, the king informed his daughter that she was to take a journey abroad. He was quite shocked to find that she eagerly accepted his decision and was truly excited by the prospect of learning all that the new world had to offer.

He reminded her that the world of the white faces was quite different from their home and at times... unbelievably dangerous. Should she follow her father's carefully detailed words of wisdom, Princess Adonia was convinced she would be exposed to art and treasure unlike any she had ever known. Her father used his daughter's weakness for knowledge against her in a way as he encouraged his child to learn much on behalf of her people.

In the same breath, he warned that should she make a misstep or neglect to follow strict protocol, her life might be over in the blink of an eye.

Princess Adonia heard the words spoken by her father, the king, but the only thing that seemed to register in her mind was the news that she was granted the opportunity to travel to one of the most beautiful places in the modern world.

Visions of splendiferous works of art as well as resplendent events were fed into her imagination lighting up the young princess's mahogany-brown eyes.

In all her musings, it never occurred to her that she might never see her home or her people again.

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