Sibling Rivalry

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With impending war looming overhead Gwyndolynn had decided that it was time to reveal to the realm and to her sister that she was the rightful ruler of Shadowbane and not Ceredith. She hadn't yet decided how she would tell her sister but the best way was probably just to outright tell her. It seemed to promote the greatest benefit to just take her by surprise. Oh how wonderful this all was going to be. Such niceties had been a facade so that she could keep to the shadows and run things from the background. Her sister had onnly been a steward of the throne if you will.

Now that she had allied herself with a few sources that will remain unnamed things were going to change. The welp that had caused all the problems as of late had been claiming herself as an Empress of a kingdom she had no right to rule. Fire began to well within her as the thought of battle excited her. The last time she had even sparred with anyone had been with Akara and Akara had won. But that was a different story for a different day. For now her sights were on somewhere else. Not only were her sights on a small kingdom but so were her allies.

Ravenlock was the #1 ally they had. Too bad this small kingdom she had her sights on hadn't allied themselves with Ravenlock. Shadowbane would be built up far beyond it's former glory and the small kingdom was but a stepping stone in it's wake. Ravenlock had been a great help in this task because of their help this was the reason Gwynn would never turn on them. Despite having used so much energy as of late she could still take on a small kingdom single handed and she knew it. But that would be beneath her. Such lowly peasants who weren't even worth living. She would help eradicate them all. She was growing impatient and it was time for her to reveal to Ceredith her true place in this realm.

Gwynd had began to seek out her sisters location and once she had located her she started off for where she was. Her mind was chaotic at this point that no coherent thoughts could have been dicerned by th ehorrible mess of thoughts raging through her mind. Stepping throoue archway to the armory her eyes came to rest upon Ceredith. A smile curled her pale lips as she gazed upon her sister waiting to be acknowledged by the younger woman.

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Ceredith saw Gwyn standing in the archway smiling at her which in itself is an oddity. It ware to see the woman smile. Something was wrong. But Ceredith couldn't place what it was. She eyed the woman cautiously for a moment before speaking. "What is it Gwyn?" She turned now to face the woman. She had other things to be doing rather than babysitting the woman. Curiosity rose within her as the deafening silence grew between them. She would have to patiently wait for her sister's response because Gwyn? had walled off her mind to any intrusion, and it was quite an effective job.

Ceredith had to take a deep breath as she waited for an answer because fear began to rise within her. She had forgotten just how intimidating her sister could actually be. The shadows had begun to withdraw from her and slink off toward her sister. She tried to draw them back but they didn't response. This only made her fear grow. She knew her sister would never kill her but for some odd reason there was a sign of malice showing in her eyes that Ceredith had never seen there before. She was beginning to get nervous staring into her sister's eyes wondering just what it was that she had to tell her.

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"I have something of great importance to reveal to you sister." A smirk crept across her lips illuminating her pale face. "You have been living a lie sister, as have I." She would remain silent after she finished her sentence knowing just that little tidbit will eat at Ceredith because she wont be able to figure out just what her sister had meant. It was too easy to annoy her younger sister. That's why this would be made so easy because she knew all the buttons to push to send her sister into a state of rage that would hinder the ability she had to think clearly.

Gwyn stepped from the shadows and circled her sister eyeing her intently acting as if she were a cat making ready to pounce on her prey. After circling her sister a few times she stopped in front of her and folded her arms. "Well sister what do you have to say for yourself?" The smirk had not yet left her face as she waited for her sister's response.

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Ceredith grew impatient as she waited for her sister to reveal the news that were of great importance or so Gwyndolynn had said. She always hated when Gwyn had something important to tell her because she would draw it out for as long as possible to try and make herself seem superior. It never worked it only annoyed her greatly but she was humoring her sister to see if it really was important or just some little annoyance that Ceredith would have to deal with. Either way the wait was taking entirely too long. "Are you going to tell me the news or not? I don't have time to play your childish little games that you play to try to make yourself seem superior. Know your place, you are MY underling. I am the monarch here." Oh but how soon that would change. Unknown to Ceredith, Gwyndolynn was in fact the true Monarch of ShadowBane and Ceredith's older sister, not the other way around as it had been led to believe for so long.

"I grow impatient with your games sister. Out with it! Otherwise you should leave, I have business of import that comes first over your antics." But Ceredith had no idea that the news that Gwyndolynn had would change the both of their lives forever. If only she had a hint of what was about to happen to better prepare herself but alas she had not. She had not so much as a clue to what this thing her sister had to tell her could quite possibly be and because of that how would she react? Would she freak out? Would she take it well with her head held high. Only time would tell and it would reveal itself soon enough.

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Gwyndolynn stopped in front of her sister and folded her arms acrossed her chest. "You should know you are not the eldest sister. You found me under false pretenses. See your parents and mine are the same, unlike what you were lead to believe. I had been lost from the mists of Epicurum. Mother and father thought that I was long since dead before you were born. Yet you found me like I knew you would and you brought me home. I regret never having seen mother and father before they died but you can't change everything." Gwyndolynn paused for a moment and examined her sister carefully as if to see if all of this new information was sinking in or not. She then took a few steps to her right and turned on her sister again. "If you haven't figured it out yet sister. I am the true Monarch of Shadowbane, not you. I only let you think you were until I had taken care of some unfinished business. Now that it's taken care of I have decided to reveal the truth to you."

Gwyndolynn was prepared to have incurred Ceredith's wrath. It was inevitable, if she didn't blow now she would later at a more unexpected time but because she knew her all too well she would always be expecting it until it happened. There was no way to avoid it and she was hoping it would come sooner rather than later so she could have it dealt with and over with and move on to other things of importance.

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Her sister's words showed no sign of weakness over the loss of her parents. It was amazing how well this girl had been trained. Ceredith couldn't even push into the edges of her mind because of how well she had closed herself off to the outside world. Sighing Ceredith figured that she had only added to that by not spending any time with her or anyone else spending time with her really. "So you're the true Monarch you say? Well let's just see then shall we? Whoever the dungeon's let unlock them will be the true Monarch for the legend says that 'Whomever unlocks the tombs to Corenn and Malkar shall find a message locked away for centuries for their dearest daughters.' Ceredith almost couldn't help but to laugh because she couldn't believe that Gwyndolynn hadn't figured that out way before her. It was written in several places. Even on the door to the dungeons. Sizing her sister at a quick glance Ceredith turned on her heel and decided that she would lead the way and show Gwyndolynn what she said was truth.

Gwyndolynn hadn't followed immediately she noticed as she turned a rather unexpected corner because she almost missed the right door. She left it open behind her and descended the stairs. The torches lit at her passing and she was then able to see where she had come from but the torches would not light until after she passed so she inevitably was walking into a black hole. Gwyndolynn still hadn't appeared and Ceredith wondered if her sister would follow or not. It was possible that she would just usurp the throne while Ceredith had been walking down to the dungeons but she thought it was the latter. Surprising herself she had realized that she hadn't blown up as was normal for her when something was told to her that she did not like. She lingered on it for a moment aware now of the fact that she had known their was a possibility that she wasn't the true Monarch ever since she had deciphered what was on the door to the dungeons.

"Oh dear sister! Aren't you coming? Don't you want to know for sure that you're the true Monarch? Afterall without any proof you wouldn't be able to take the throne from me!" She was taunting her sister as she lingered in front of the large iron doors. Such large doors, she thought. She never noticed until this moment just how grand these doors were. Much larger on the outside than on the inside. She wondered why that was. At some point she would have to find one of the architects scrolls from when this place was built. Maybe then she could figure out just why they had to be so big for such a small dungeon. Either that, she thought as it dawned on her, it could be a magick in place to hide something else that's there that our parents didn't want anyone to find. Well that would give her something to do if she wasn't going to be the Monarch anymore. She found herself pacing then as she slipped out of her thoughts. She wondered just what would be taking so long but then as she saw a glint of something between the stones she didn't care anymore.

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It took Gwyn longer to reach the large iron doors. But she looked at them as if she hadn't seen them in her entire life. So her gaze would shift to Ceredith and it pierced into her like she knew she would (since these are my characters if an auto or two is in here, don't worry lol I accept my own autos. XD) since the accusing gaze that she fixed Ceredith with was no normal one, powers intertwined in such a gaze. She was furious with her sibling. She had some odd feeling that Ceredith or someone else had planted those doors there in some sort of ruse to keep Gwyndolynn from her throne but it wasn't going to happen. She was going to stay on her course and show them that she was the rightful ruler not Ceredith.

"You act as if you're so smart sister dear. I knew our parents names before you did. Funny how an inscription told you their names and I am much older than you think. I was able to spend time with mother and father before they died. Now you see, you're the youngest and as we all know the eldest is the next in line for the throne. Quit with your childish antics of stalling the inevitable. Come, hand over the crown."

The only problem with taking over what was rightfully hers is that she had imbued that crown with some of her powers so Ceredith had access to some of Gwyn's powers. It was the only way that the land would recognize Ceredith as ruler until she had decided it was time to take over. Now she simple thought that it was a pain and she could have come up with another way. But at least Ceredith only thinks its some simple adornment. If she knew her sister well enough Ceredith might just arrogantly toss the crown to her telling her that she could have the cheap piece of metal or something close to that effect. Either way she just needed to get the crown in order to gain control of her homeland.

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Now she was furious. How dare Gwynn try to tell her that she got to spend time with their parents before they died. There is no way that she had because Gwyndolynn had always been Ceredith's younger sister as long as she could remember. But that's what she had been told so who truly knew if Gwyn was telling the truth. Of course Gwyn knew and she was trying to convince her sister of the side of the story that would get her to her ends. Unfortunately Ceredith was already stubborn enough but now add to the paranoia that had been induced by Gwyn that she was not going to believe anything her sister said for her own safety. "You had better hold your blasphemous tongue before I cut it from you." Even though she hadn't said it loud, it had been just loud enough to hear and that's what made the threat all the more deadly.

If Ceredith was yelling at you, then you knew you were safe and you would not be harmed. But if she was making threats very quietly as if they were idle conversation then you knew to be afraid. When that happened it was because she was angry but she was calm at the same time. Some say that anger helps you fight, others say never fight angry because you make stupid mistakes. Ceredith had come up with her own conclusion to this that went along with the never fight angry because you make stupid mistakes and a calm mind is a clear mind. Having a clear mind allows you to move faster for attacks or dodges and the like.