Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Kyrre, and the Final Test Begins
part 2

Kyrre sat up on the edge of the stadium after the proper introductions were made. He didn't know whether the Lady Dragon would also sit with him, but he knew they would start soon. He wanted to at least look at ease.

Fresin, the Council Member on Philli's right stood, and spoke.

"As Princess Rose has already passed the Test of Blood and has been found Fit to Rule, we will now conduct the Test of Faith. People of Green Shade and all the kitsune regions. On this day and this day only, you may question the Council and our decision regarding the Princess Rose. We have already stood for her once. If you doubt us, you may ask of us or those she has standing for her today anything that will satisfy your concerns. The Speakers and the Council will answer the truth. However, you may not address Her Highness directly, and once the sun sets, the Council will vote again. This last vote will be absolute; no one may question it. Please... " Fresin paused, looking at the canopy above. The sun was impossible to see through the leaves anywhere in Green Shade. But Fresin waited, one hand raised. Then, so slightly, but quite obviously, the normal green light in Green Shade had a pink tinge, which started to fade again almost as quickly as it had come. The sunrise and sunset (pink and orange, respectively) each showed in the filtered down light of Green Shade this way. Fresin's hand dropped. "Begin."

And with that, the mumblings that had been going on the entire time quieted. Kyrre waited, as the first few moments passed without anyone rising to the challenge. He didn't spot Estefan anywhere. He supposed the coward was waiting for a dramatic entrance, and would take over the questioning post when he did.

A small kitsune stood. He was old, possibly an Elder to a Council of some kitsune Region, for when he stood, hands moved automatically to help him move from his bench and toward the stage. The man paused on the smooth round stump that was laid in the ground half-way between the stage and the first row of benches. The stump was only a few inches high and smooth as stone from hundreds of years of use in addressing Councils and such.

"I would like to know her heritage." The old kitsune asked, his hands folded together behind his back, and his back bent slightly forward. His tail waved slowly, which looked odd, since it had lost it's thickness, and rather resembled some kind of wolf-tail now, instead.

Kyrre sat up. "What about her heritage can we address for you, Katai elder?" Kyrre responded politely. Katai was their word for honorable, and as he used it, the old kitsune's eyes lit up, and he stood straighter.

"I would know of her parents, and which of those was Royalty, that we would not know the Princess these many years." The elderly kitsune responded.

Kyrre nodded. "Her mother was Lilah. Her father was Blueaecid Arxus, son of Luman, out of wedlock."

The news sent more than a ripple of murmurings throughout the crowd. The elder simply smiled. He nodded his thanks, and turned to head back to his seat. He seemed... pleased with the answer. Kyrre wondered if he knew Arxus, the way he had started smiling when his name was spoken.

The ripples of murmurings were starting to turn into quite a distraction. Kyrre knew that soon, the Council would demand order again, and he looked to them, to see why they had not yet stopped the noise. Newon, on the right end, closest to Kyrre and the Princess, gestured with his eyebrows back to the crowd. Kyrre's breath caught as he saw the multitude of kitsunes in the process of standing or walking down to where a line had already formed behind the Speaking Stump.

Kyrre took a deep, calming breath. Here we go. he thought.

"Has her Blood been verified, then?" asked the first kitsune, a young male with blonde hair. Philli answered quickly; this question was almost an insult to the Council.

"It has."

The next kitsune, a female with fur more brown than red, went next. "Her mother... is she not also kitsune?"

Kyrre responded in part; "No, she was not." But he waited to see if the kitsune would ask the follow-up question.

She did, of course. "What race is she?"

Kyrre looked to Dragon for this; he knew, sort of. But this was her place to say, not his. Plus, it needed to be established that Rose's family was gone except for the Lady Dragon here. He almost hoped she would go into depth with the answer, as well. He was certain that most of the kitsunes in line now wanted to know of Princess Rose's family.