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usnatarchives · 3 years

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Mary McLeod Bethone with National Youth Administration youth, image here.

Mary McLeod Bethune to Return to Capitol Hill (as an impressive addition to Statuary Hall)

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

We continue our celebration of Black History Month (Feb) and Women's History Month (March) with Civil Rights icon and DC power broker extraordinaire Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955).

Dr. Bethune will soon join the Old Boys Club on Capitol Hill (90 of the 100 statues there are of men), as an impressive 3 ton, 11 foot statue in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Created by sculptor Nilda Comas, the statue's pedestal reads: “Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it may be a diamond in the rough.” Women’s History Month bonus! Comas will be the first Latina artist to have a sculpture in the National Statuary Hall.

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was born in South Carolina in 1875, the 15th of 17 children to former slaves Samuel and Patsy McLeod. She was a passionate educator, community organizer, presidential advisor, Civil Rights and women's rights activist, decades-long public servant (60 years), and patriot, in addition to mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her long list of achievements include:

1st Black woman to lead a federal agency.

1st Black women with a university founded in her name.

Founder of the National Council of Negro Women to advocate for and advance rights for Black women, their families and communities.

Leader of FDR's unofficial "Black Cabinet." Used this position to creating jobs for Blacks in the federal government and New Deal agencies.

As Director of Negro Affairs, she was the highest paid Black government employee in 1939—with a $5,000 salary (equivalent to $100,000 today.

VP of the NAACP in 1940, a position she held for the rest of her life.

Helped establish the Women’s Army Corps (1942) and ensured it was racially integrated.

Archivist and chronicler of Black women's history.

Bethune was the only Black woman at the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945.

Despite the attitude of some employers in refusing to hire Negros to perform needed, skilled services, and despite the denial of the same opportunities and courtesies to our youth in the armed forces of our country, we must not fail America and as Americans, we must not let America fail us.

Her life was celebrated with a memorial statue in Washington DC in 1974, and a stamp in 1985.

“We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.”

Bethune and Hoover President Hoover invited her to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, and then appointed her to a commission to plan a “National Memorial Building” in DC “as a tribute to the Negro’s contribution to the achievements of America.” Congress did not back the project and private fundraising also failed. More than 80 years later, this vision became reality when the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in DC.

Bethune and FDR In 1935, President Roosevelt invited her to DC to serve as a Special Advisor to the National Youth Administration, and then named her National Youth Association Director of Negro Affairs, making her the first Black woman to lead a federal agency. During World War II she advocated for African American women to be allowed to serve in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WACS) and Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES).

Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt

None of us certainly can say that as yet we have perfect democracy, nor even the democracy that Abraham Lincoln and others of our great men envisioned. But I for one am proud that our country could produce a Mrs. Bethune. Your achievements are a tribute to our nation even more a tribute to your own individual spirit and effort. Eleanor Roosevelt.

Portrait of Mary McLeod Bethune, NARA ID 559194. From the Harmon Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation for African art. More online.

Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt and others at the opening of Midway Hall, "one of two residence halls built by the Public Buildings Administration of Federal Works Agency for Negro government girls..." May 1943, NARA ID 533032.

Eleanor Roosevelt receives Mary McLeod Bethune Human Rights Award from Dorothy Height, National Council of Negro Women President, 11/12/1960, NARA ID 196283.

In her last will and testament from 1955, Dr. Bethune wrote:

I leave you hope. The Negro’s growth will be great in the years to come. Yesterday our ancestors endured the degradation of slavery, yet they retained their dignity. Today, we direct our strength toward winning a more abundant and secure life. Tomorrow, a new Negro, unhindered by race taboos and shackles, will benefit from more than 330 years of ceaseless struggle. Theirs will be a better world. This I believe with all my heart. Correspondence Between Harry S. Truman and Mary McLeod Bethune, Truman Library,

See also:

Before Kamala: Black Women in Presidential Administrations, Rediscovering Black History

Official Personnel Folder for Mary McLeod Bethune, NARA ID 158329664.

Mary Bethune: Adviser to Presidents, Hoover Heads blog

Providing a New Deal for Young Black Women: Mary McLeod Bethune and the Negro Affairs Division of the National Youth Association, Rediscovering Black History.

Featured NARA public program: Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All

Mustering Out: the Navy’s First Black Yeowomen, Rediscovering Black History

See also: The original 19th Amendment, now on view in the exhibit Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote, through April 10th.

#BLM #black lives matter #black history #women's history month #sayitloud #rediscoveringblackhistory #civil rights #fdr library #eleanor roosevelt #dorothyheight #national council of negro women

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minnesotadruids · 3 years

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What happens to the older druids as time goes on? Do they ascend in rank because they are older or does your rank depend on the work you have done? Generally are senior members given any particular respect?

In the Reformed Druid (RDNA) movement, with all the ranks, and particularly the higher orders of the priesthood shall be "...to honor achievement rather than tenure." A good elder would be one who has strived for or made efforts in the continuity of the Reform (to help the tradition continue or evolve as-needed), rather than for recognition.

On rare occasion we have had elders expecting automatic respect for being an elder but who demonstrated poor conduct. In those cases they certainly would have needed to earn the respect from the community. Many of our elders are individuals of excellent conduct as well as of notable contributions which makes them all the more of a blessing to the order.

Deborah and David Frangquist (AKA David the Chronicler) have been involved in Reformed Druidry since the early days of the movement. David wasn't one of the original founders, but in its first year he made a series of definitive contributions and continued sculpting the order into what it is today. He was the first Reformed Druid to complete an All-Night Vigil before being ordained to the priesthood in 1964, which served as the inception of that particular tradition.

Deborah was not the first woman in the Reformed Druid movement to be ordained to the priesthood, but she was the first woman in the RDNA to complete the All-Night Vigil. This is significant because while the RDNA was founded at Carleton College in 1963, the women had a strict curfew and had to be in their dormitories by 11:15 PM, and they had a door monitor to keep them from leaving, and for letting in latecomers or those who had valid reasons to enter later. Long story short, Deborah was able to sign herself out indicating she was overnighting elsewhere, the monitor just didn't know it would be to the woods.

Deborah and Dave have continued to answer their callings to serve the Reformed Druid community across the decades. They have so much dedication. In their travels they are even prepared and willing to meet with fellow druids and offer guidance when help is needed. They are probably also the kindest couple in the entire Reformed Druid movement. Their honors and respect are well-earned.

With all this in mind, there is a rank within the Reformed Druid movement reserved for elders and others. The Tenth Order, the Order of Danu, is generally reserved for any Reformed Druid who passes away, and is ordained by Danu herself upon passing. It is considered a higher order of the RDNA priesthood, though currently there are no living Reformed Druid priests in that order, though that may change in the future as it would be under the jurisdiction of the Council of Llyr in the RDNA, but I digress.

#RDNA #Reformed #Druids #North America #druidry #druidism #elders #rank #ranks #tenure #achievement #honors #honours #respect #earned #paganism #pagan #priesthood

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dwellordream · 3 years

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“…The use of the wafer, the Host, outside the context of the celebration of the Eucharist did not become part of the practice of the Western Catholic Church until the fourteenth century. From then on, though, the custom developed of holding separate services, known as the ‘Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament’, in which a previously consecrated Host was displayed on the altar in a vessel called a monstrance. This enabled Christians to spend more time gazing at the Host, and praying and meditating in front of it, than was possible or permitted during the Mass. There might be hymns, prayers and readings to assist worshippers, and the service of Exposition commonly ended with a priest blessing the people with the Host enclosed in the monstrance. This ceremony became known as Benediction.

The details of Mary’s personal arrangements for worship are still rather uncertain, despite some fragments of evidence given by chroniclers and ambassadors, who were not apparently experts in formal Christian worship or liturgy. It does seem, however, that, during the period between her mother’s death in 1536 and her accession to the throne, she was rarely if ever without the wherewithal for Catholic worship, including the Mass and other Eucharistic devotions. The houses in which she lived had private chapels, she employed chaplains of a similar persuasion to herself, and she thus participated in the kind of ‘privatized’ devotion which until then had been traditional among the upper classes of England and other countries. Once she became Queen, observers sometimes remarked that she took this devotion further than many of her devout contemporaries.

…It would be very easy to see an attachment to Ludolf and Thomas’s books as an example of what tends today to be called ‘traditional’ religion. Both texts are ‘medieval’ in date, an anachronistic concept which is of little use in understanding the religious life of Mary and her contemporaries. Looking forward, though, it is clear that the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Ignatius of Loyola, a friend of Pole, was deeply influenced, in particular, by Ludolf’s Life of Christ, which he read when he was recovering in his family castle of Loyola, in 1521, from wounds acquired in Charles V’s army while defending Navarre against the French.

Thus Mary, far from being out of touch with the forthcoming Catholic ‘Counter Reformation’, was at least indirectly influenced by one of its founding texts. Ignatius’s ‘Spiritual Exercises’, which are a major inspiration of the order he founded and of innumerable retreat houses to this day, copied and developed, from his own experience, the vivid imagining of Christ’s life and death, as described in the Gospels, which are characteristic of Ludolf and Thomas’s works. Given what is now known of Mary’s religious life, it seems clear that she was convinced that she had a personal relationship with her Saviour Jesus Christ, such as the reformers and evangelicals of her own time, and of subsequent centuries, have generally claimed for themselves. This is the perspective from which her excellent Renaissance humanist credentials should be viewed

…As a young adult in the 1540s, Mary made a more notable contribution to religious development in England through her association with her father’s last Queen, Catherine Parr. Despite coming from conventional gentry stock of no great academic distinction, Catherine seems to have taken to the humanistic atmosphere of her new husband’s court with enthusiasm. Notably, in 1545, she produced a devotional work entitled ‘Prayers or medytacions wherin the mynde is styrred patiently to sufre al afflictions here’. Intended for distribution among her ladies, the book contained prayers from various sources, including the executed bishop of Rochester, John Fisher. The ‘meditations’ referred to in the title came from the Imitation of Christ of Thomas à Kempis. It has often been suggested that Catherine Parr and her circle showed evangelical sympathies which heralded the reforming zeal of Edward VI and his advisers, but whatever the truth of that, in the main her devotional collection represented a certain kind of mainstream Catholic spirituality.

In this, Mary herself was deeply involved. Catherine seems to have regarded her stepdaughter as an academic mentor, and it was at this time that Mary undertook an important project, the translation from Latin into English of Erasmus’s ‘Paraphrase’ of St John’s Gospel. The Dutch humanist’s lengthy paraphrases of, or commentaries on, the New Testament were all to be thus translated and, although she had to drop out of the project, apparently because of ill-health, Mary’s initial participation involved her directly in work on a text which would be much favoured in the following reign. On the advice of Cranmer and others, the Erasmus Paraphrases in English were ordered by Edward’s government to be placed in all parish churches. Like their author, they both predated and cut across the growing denominational divisions of sixteenth-century Europe.

Thus it appears that, up until her accession to the throne in 1553, Mary represented both a kind of Catholic humanism which contained the values of the previous generation, and the influence of what happened at the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1552, which affected both Catholics and Protestants. Significantly, when Queen herself, Mary immediately took into her own library a large number of Catherine Parr’s books, and continued thereafter to be a strong patron of Christian humanist publication. It is certainly arguable that, until July 1553, Mary showed no sign of special devotion to the Papacy or to traditional activities of which her father had come to disapprove, such as pilgrimages to shrines and the veneration of saints’ relics. The Christian humanist circle in which she was brought up, which was greatly influenced by Erasmus and Vives, had little use for such things. It remained to be seen whether her own ideas would be put into practice, now that her ‘good cousin’ Pole had arrived to advise her.”

- John Edwards, “Battle for England’s Soul.” in Mary I

#mary i of england #mary i #john edwards #tudor #renaissance #history #religion

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thepastisalreadywritten · 2 years

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SAINT OF THE DAY (October 6)

On October 6, the Catholic Church commemorates St. Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian Order of monks, who remain notable for their strictly traditional and austere rule of contemplative life.

Born in 1030, Bruno is said to have belonged to a prominent family in the city of Cologne.

Little is known of his early years, except that he studied theology in the present-day French city of Reims before returning to his native land, where he was most likely ordained a priest in approximately 1055.

Returning to Reims the following year, he soon became head of the school he had attended there, after its director Heriman left to enter consecrated religious life in 1057.

Bruno led and taught at the school for nearly two decades, acquiring an excellent reputation as a philosopher and theologian, until he was named chancellor of the local diocese in 1075.

Bruno's time as chancellor coincided with an uproar in Reims over the behavior of its new bishop Manasses de Gournai.

Suspended by the decision of a local council, the bishop appealed to Rome while attacking and robbing the houses of his opponents.

Bruno left the diocese during this period, though he was considered as a possible successor to Manasses after the bishop's final deposition in 1080.

The chancellor, however, was not interested in leading the Church of Reims. Bruno and two of his friends had resolved to renounce their worldly goods and positions and enter religious life.

Inspired by a dream to seek guidance from the bishop later canonized as Saint Hugh of Grenoble, Bruno settled in the Chartreuse Mountains in 1084, joined by a small group of scholars looking to become monks.

In 1088, one of Bruno's former students was elected as Pope Urban II.

Six years into his life as an alpine monk, Bruno was called to leave his remote monastery to assist the Pope in his struggle against a rival papal claimant as well as the hostile Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.

Bruno served as a close adviser to the Pope during a critical period of reform. Around this time, he also rejected another chance to become a bishop, this time in the Italian region of Calabria.

While he obtained the Pope's permission to return to monastic life, Bruno was required to remain in Italy to help the Pope periodically, rather than returning to his monastery in France.

During the 1090s, Bruno befriended Count Roger of Sicily and Calabria, who granted land to his group of monks and enabled the founding of a major monastery in 1095.

The monks were known, then as now, for their strict practice of asceticism, poverty, and prayer; and for their unique organizational form, combining the solitary life of hermits with the collective life of more conventional monks.

St. Bruno died on 6 October 1101, after making a notable profession of faith that was preserved for posterity.

In this final testimony, he gave particular emphasis to the doctrine of Christ's Eucharistic presence, which had already begun to be questioned in parts of the Western Church.

“I believe,” he attested, “in the sacraments that the Church believes and holds in reverence, and especially that what has been consecrated on the altar is the true Flesh and the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we receive for the forgiveness of our sins and in the hope of eternal salvation.”

Veneration of St. Bruno was given formal approval in 1514 and extended throughout the Latin Rite in 1623.

More recently, his Carthusian Order was the subject of the 2006 documentary film “Into Great Silence,” chronicling the life of monks in the Grand Chartreuse monastery.

#Saint of the Day #Saint Bruno of Cologne #Carthusian Order

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historical-babes · 5 years

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Zitkala-Sa (1876-1938).

Yankton Dakota writer.

She was also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, her missionary-given and later married name. She was a Yankton Dakota Sioux writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity and the pull between the majority culture she was educated within and her Dakota Sioux culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking readership, and she has been noted as one of the most influential Native American activists of the 20th century.

For two years she taught at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, in Pennsylvania, but she was uncomfortable with the school’s harsh discipline and its curriculum, which was devised to teach Euro-American ways and history, thus eradicating students’ Native American cultural identities.

While at Carlisle, she published several short stories and autobiographical essays in The Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s Monthly under her name Zitkala-Sa. The pieces’ themes derived from her struggle to retain her cultural identity amid pressure to adapt to the dominant American culture.

In 1902, she became a correspondent for the Society of the American Indians, the first reform organization to be administered entirely by Native Americans.

In 1916 she became the secretary of the Society of the American Indian, and she and her husband moved to Washington, D.C., where she served as a liaison between the society and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

She was co-founder of the National Council of American Indians in 1926, which was established to lobby for Native people’s right to United States citizenship and other civil rights they had long been denied. She advocated citizenship rights, better educational opportunities, improved health care, and cultural recognition and preservation. Her investigation of land swindles perpetrated against Native Americans resulted in her appointment as an adviser to the U.S. government’s Meriam Commission of 1928, the findings of which eventually led to several important reforms. Zitkala-Ša served as the council’s president until her death in 1938.

Working with American musician William F. Hanson, Zitkala-Ša wrote the libretto and songs for The Sun Dance Opera, (1913), the first American Indian opera. It was composed in romantic musical style, and based on Sioux and Ute cultural themes.

She was married to Raymond Bonnin and had a son with him.

Famous works:

Old Indian Legends

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badass-at-fandoming · 3 years

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Vampire: the Masquerade - San Andreas Nights

Played: April 14, 2019 - March, 14, 2021; April 1921 - July 1999

"Everything you just said to me was upsetting."

Long time followers might remember me chatting about a mega-long Vampire chronicle, San Andreas Nights. Shockingly, we finished our tale in March. For fun, I thought I'd make a short wrap up post. Feel free to ask me particulars, but below is a general overview about characters and the state we left the world in.

Player Character Fates:

Enzo Bonpensiero - dragged to hell

Archie Bonpensiero - killed by were-bears

Cassandra Bonpensiero - LA Anarch Noddist, private domain, 6th Gen Samedi

Anna Bonpensiero - LA Anarch Baron, 10th Gen Brujah

Nathan Bonpensiero - LA Prince, 4th Gen Malkavian

Lupita Knight - killed by Grove Street hunters

Wally the Walrus - LA Anarch Baron, 9th Gen Nosferatu

Gangrel Pete - killed by were-bears

Shoto the Silent - Bodyguard to Lucien LaCroix, 8th Gen Brujah

Tony Bagels - LA Anarch Baron, 6th Gen Gangrel

The State of the World:

Gehenna: Well. That happened.

Camarilla: gone! The Cult of Mithras, including LaCroix, Divia, Mithras, Marcus Vitel, Enzo, Nathan, Gratiano de Veronese, and Fiorenza Savona, successfully manipulated Gehenna to utterly decimate the Camarilla. The Inner Circle is dead; Karsh is dead.

The Convention of New York: a convention is going to meet in New York and all Kindred are invited, no matter allegiance, to establish a new organization.

Sabbat and Anarchs: So there are like...nominally Sabbat and Anarch, but they're lacking the Camarilla to define themselves against.

Los Angeles: Still standing. The political situation in LA is temporary until the LA Kindred decide if they want to join whatever organization is birthed in New York. As of now, we have Barons like the Anarchs, set universal rules, and the Barons form a council who elects a "Prince" to deal with big attacks (sorta like a Sheriff).

the Baali: On Lazarus' orders, the Baali tried to release a massive disease-filled eyeball demon in Northern Canada, as a ploy to create chaos and decimate Kindred numbers. Ex-Justicar Xavier formed a Gather of Gangrel, including Tony Bagels, Ramona, and Lazlo, to tell the Baali to Stop That. And they did! With a little help from napalm lol

The Wall of Flesh: not actually the Tzimsce Eldest, but the Eye of Hazimel warped by Sascha Vykos, on orders from LaCroix. In the chaos, Divia was able to eat Nikolai the Tremere, Lodin, and other dedicated Camarilla elite.

Nosferatu: Fulfilling the Nosferatu's greatest fear, Baba Yaga rose and went on a rampage from Russia to Germany. Wally, Roland, and Nosferatu himself (!!!) led the charge to defeat her and were met with great success.

The Week of Nightmares: happened! Zapathasura rose and, fulfilling the Prophecy of the Broken Soldier, Nathan, Dracula, and Nick Knight fought him. After an intense battle, Dracula realized that they had to "heal" the Solider by becoming one. Dracula diablerized Nick, and Nathan used Mouth of Madness to convince Dracula that Nathan was the true Soldier. Dracula flesh-crafted his own heart out of his chest and offered it to Nathan. Wielding the Sword of Troile, Nathan destroyed Zapathasura. This, unfortunately, triggered a kill-frenzy for the Ravnos Clan. Very few managed to survive, but the Clan does still live.

The Plan for the Dead: The Giovanni attempted to make a permanent open portal to the Shadowlands. Unbeknowst to them, Lazarus and Enzo had tampered with the golden scarab essential to the ritual. Instead, a portal opened directly to Cappadocius, who pushed Augustus Giovanni into hell. As an after-shock of this botched ritual, necromancers everywhere had ghosts attack them and attempt to also drag them to hell. Most, like Enzo, succumbed. This massive loss of necromancers will trigger the formation of the Hecata Clan.

The Tremere: In a bid to rid themselves of their Clan Curse, Timmy the Evil summoned the founders of the Clan and performed a spell. This spell made Tremere resistant to blood bonds and unable to form them, but also dragged Timmy and the founders to hell. Oops.

Divia of Rome: Went into the Abyss in order to diablerize the Lasombra Antediluvian

Followers of Set: They awakened Set and invited him to bring hell to Earth. He, however, said he was already in hell and made it just how he likes it, so why not join him in Duat? Set forced all of his blood to kill themselves and join him in Duat.

Malkav's Dream: After receiving a distress signal via Anatole, Cassandra, Anna, and Smiling Jack raced to rescue Beckett, Matilda, Afifa the Last Daughter of Eve, and her child in Cairo. Nathan and Cassandra both received dreams from Camilla Banes, the only surviving member of the Camarilla Inner Circle, during which she instructed them to meet her at the Sphinx with the Last Daughter. When they arrived, Camilla identified Matilda as the true Last Daughter and led them to a very out-of-place English cottage full of Malkavian Elders. The Malkavians joined together to create a global mass illusion that all the disasters of the previous month were man-made and/or natural disasters; thus, restoring Masquerade. The ritual was sealed with Matilda's blood.

Our DM described this Gehenna as a soft reboot of the Vampire world, and damn, he wasn't kidding! So many twists, so many turns; many a tear, many a triumph. I wasn't expecting Cassandra to survive, but, bless her and keep her, she did.

#vampire the masquerade #vtm #original characters #san andreas nights #enzo bonpensiero #archie bonpensiero #cassandra bonpensiero #anna bonpensiero #nathan bonpensiero #lupita knight #wally the walrus #gangrel pete #shoto the silent #tony bagels #so many people got dragged to the hell dimension damn #text post #my vtm nonsense

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maximumphilosopheranchor · 3 years

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From its founding, the kingdom of Castile and its society originated, evolved, organized, and defined itself within that militantly Christian ideational context, and as dedicated in the first instance to peninsular reconquest. Nobles were defined by owning horses and armor; Castilian peasants were relatively free to take advantage of moving frontiers and expected to defend themselves along them; and kings enjoyed combined civil, military, and religious authority. Kings were chief justices, civil administrators, and above all war leaders of the armed host. They were God’s champions against an enemy whom medieval Spanish Christians tended to identify with the forces of Antichrist. (..) Accordingly, the war defining Spanish society was a holy war of universal importance. Against infidel and demons Isabel’s predecessors had raised the banner of Santiago Matamoros, Saint James the Moorslayer. It was said that Santiago, the patron saint of Spain, had appeared miraculously during more than one battle to ensure Christian victory. And, as Castilians advanced into Andalusia, they unfurled beside Santiago’s standard that of Holy Mary, Protectress of the Armies. Seldom was it remembered that Christian advance was largely a conquest of space, that war, waged only sporadically against Muslims, had allowed communities to form, towns to grow, and a complex relationship between Christians and Muslims to evolve. That Christians sometimes fought Christians as well as Moors or made alliances across religious lines is revealed in epic poetry and those popular ballads known as romances. The actions and values of Rodrigo de Vivar, El Cid, are at once entrancing to latter-day readers and jarring to their preconceptions, for in the Poema del Cid he does not behave as we expect of an epic hero. Although a Christian considering himself a loyal vassal of the king of Castile, El Cid hires out as military chief to Muslim lords. He takes Valencia as his own domain, and, says the poet, he leads his men in exploits both highly valorous and part of a day’s work “to obtain one’s bread,” “ganarse el pan”. Wealth, as Rodrigo says to his wife Jimena, “marvelous and grand wealth, is what comes to us” through warfare; and it is to be spent on dowering their daughters, that is, on aggrandizing family and enhancing lineage. (They had no sons.) Like El Cid, later nobles maintained private armies and expected subsidy for them from the king, yet on occasion allied with Muslims and saw no disloyalty in accruing as much independent power of their own as possible. For Isabel herself, however troublesome her nobles, El Cid nonetheless exemplified heroism; he belonged to Spain’s pantheon. Isabel had encountered his statue set among those of kings in the great hall at Segovia. She would honor the town of Vivar as his birthplace and, in referring to Valencia, which he had governed, take obvious pleasure in speaking of it as “Valencia del Cid.” And, like his daughters, she too came into an inheritance in the absence of a male heir. El Cid was for her a romantic hero, a chivalric figure of strong character. Those qualities endeared him to her, but, as the history she knew related, a ruler of Spain had specific obligations to fulfill. And history as she knew came down to her principally as filtered through earlier court chronicles that in turn built on their predecessors. Castilians of Isabel’s day tended not to recall that El Cid’s king, Alfonso VI, who gained Toledo in 1085, did so not by waging war but through peaceful transfer from his erstwhile Muslim ally, al-Qadir, who found Christian control preferable to that by internal enemies. Nor, as one scholar observes, did Alonso make major changes: “The new pobladores came to bath in the old Muslim public baths, and to bake their bread in the old ovens.” Still, it was no part of the accepted historical canon that under Christian domination Toledo remained a city culturally and religiously mixed. It was from Toledo that Isabel’s birthplace, Madrigal, was established permanently, on a site repeatedly occupied and destroyed alternately by Muslims and Christians. Its eleventh-century founders received a royal charter, built a church dedicated to Holy Mary on the foundation of an old Muslim fortress, and organized a governing council. On this new frontier between the Duero and Tajo Rivers, Madrigal and other places were relatively self-governing and had fewer priests, monks, and lords than to the north. Even so, in common with northern places, the more powerful inhabitants soon came to dominate the towns and their councils. And settling before long in Madrigal, as in Arévalo, were Muslims and Jews. Nonetheless and as we have seen, those towns remembered their origins as wholly military, carved out in the armed combat attendant upon regaining Spain. Although remembered otherwise, some Christians lived alongside Muslims and Jews, who, while themselves not always living in segregated enclaves, were legally considered members of largely self-governing religiously defined communities retaining their own laws and customs, and were considered directly subject to royal authority. Perception of social arrangements diverged appreciably from the complex reality. So Murcia at Isabel’s birth and other places had both Muslim slaves and Muslim communities. El Cid, who fought both for and against Muslims, in the poem both borrows money from Jews and prides himself on cheating them. German travelers in Isabel’s youth also reported that large stretches of the meseta were inhabited by infieles, infidels – that is, people seeming to them not Christianized. From the outset, a gap yawned between the perception of Castile as a militantly advancing Christian frontier and the reality of Castile as a land where at least three cultures lived.

Peggy K. Liss, Isabel the Queen: Life and Times

#Peggy K. Liss #non-fiction #Castile #Isabel I of Castile #El Cid #Madrigal de los Altos Torres

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orthodoxydaily · 3 years

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Icon, Saint&Reading: Sat., Mar. 27, 2021

Commemorated on March 14_by the new calendar

Venerable Benedict of Nursia, abbot (543)

The Monk Benedict, founder of the western monastic order of the Benedictines, was born in the Italian city of Nursia in the year 480. At 14 years of age the saint was sent off by his parents for studies at Rome, but vexed at the immorality there surrounding him, he decided to devote himself to a different sort of life. At first Saint Benedict settled near the church of the holy Apostle Peter in the village of Effedum, but news about his ascetic life compelled him to go farther into the mountains. There he encountered the hermit Romanus, who tonsured him into monasticism and directed him to a remote cave for a domicile. From time to time the hermit would bring the saint food. For three years in total solitude the saint waged an harsh struggle with temptations and conquered them. People soon began to gather to him, thirsting to live under his guidance. The number of disciples grew so much, that the saint divided them into twelve communities. Each community was comprised of twelve monks and was a separate skete-monastery. And to each skete the saint gave an hegumen-abbot from among his experienced disciples. With the Monk Benedict remained only the new-made monks for instruction. The strict monastic-rule, established by Saint Benedict for the monks, was not taken to heart by everyone, and the monk more than once became the victim of abuse and vexation.

Finally he settled in Campagna and on Mount Cassino he founded the Monte Cassino monastery, which for a long time was a centre of theological education for the Western Church. At the monastery was created a remarkable library. And at this monastery the Monk Benedict wrote his ustav-rule, based on the experience of life of the Eastern wilderness-dwellers and the precepts of the Monk John Cassian the Roman (Comm. 29 February). The monastic-rule was accepted afterwards by many of the Western monasteries (by the year 1595 it had come out in more than 100 editions). The rule prescribed for monks an absolute renunciation of personal possessions, unconditional obedience and constant work. It was considered the duty of older monks to teach children and to copy out ancient manuscripts. This helped to preserve many memorable writings, belonging to the first centuries of Christianity. Every new postulant was required to live as a novice-obedient over the course of a year, to learn the monastic rule and to become acclimated to monastic life. Every deed required a blessing. The head of this common-life monastery is the hegumen-abbot, having all the fulness of power. He discerns, teaches and explains. The hegumen solicits the advice of the elders and the experienced brethren, but he personally makes the decision. The fulfilling of the monastic-rule is strictly binding for everyone and is regarded as an important step, nigh to perfection. Saint Benedict was vouchsafed of the Lord the gift of foresight and wonderworking. He healed many by his prayers. The monk foretold his end beforehand. The sister of Saint Benedict, Saint Scholastica, likewise became famed for her strict ascetic life and was ennumerated to the ranks of the Saints.

ICON: The Theodorov (Feodorov) - Kostroma

Commemorated on March 14, August 16_ by the new calendar

The Theodorov (Feodorov) - Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God was written by the Evangelist Luke and is close in iconography to the Vladmir Icon of the Mother of God. This icon received its name from GreatPrince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (+ 1246), the father of Saint Alexander Nevsky, and who received in holy Baptism the name Theodore (Feodor) – in honour of Saint Theodore Stratelates. It was found, according to tradition, by his elder brother, Saint Yurii Vsevolodovich (+ 1238, Comm. 4 February), in an old wooden chaplet near the old city of Gorodets – later on at this spot was built the Gorodetsk Theodorov monastery. Prince Yaroslav-Theodore became the GreatPrince of Vladimir after his brother Saint Yurii perished in battle with the Tatar-Mongols at the Sita River, and subsequently in the year 1239, he solemnly transferred the relics of his brother from Rostov to the Vladimir Uspenie (Dormition) cathedral. And with this same icon inherited from his brother, he blessed his own son, Saint Alexander Nevsky, who that very year entered into marriage with the daughter of the Polovetsian prince Briacheslav.

Yaroslav-Theodore left behind in Russian history a remarkable memory of himself. He continued with the glorious traditions of his uncle – Saint Andrei Bogoliubsky (Comm. 4 July), and of his father – Vsevolod III Big-Nest ("Bol'shoe Gnezdo"), and he was thus connected to almost all of the significant events in the history of Rus' in the first half of the XIII Century. He inherited the legacy of Rus', burnt and hacked apart in the years 1237-1238 by the Tatar-Mongols. He raised it up from the ashes, rebuilt and embellished the cities, the holy monasteries and the churches. He restored cities along the Volga devastated by the enemy: Kashin, Uglich, Yaroslavl', Kostroma, Gorodets. The church of Theodore Stratelates at Kostroma and the Theodorov monastery near Gorodets were founded by him in honour of his patron saint. For all of eight years he stood at the helm as greatprince, but during this while he had to guide the land through a singularly difficult path for these times – maintaining a military-political balance with the Golden Horde to the East, while mounting an active opposition to Catholic Europe in the West. His closest companion was his son, Saint Alexander Nevsky, who also continued his governing policy. The wonderworking Theodorov Icon of the Mother of God – with the blessing of his father – was constantly with Saint Alexander, and it was his prayer-icon. After his death (Saint Alexander Nevsky died on 14 November 1263 in Gorodets, at the monastery founded by his father), the icon was taken by his younger brother Vasilii. Vasilii Yaroslavich was the "little-est", that is, he was the youngest (eighth) son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In 1246 after the death of his father, (prince Yaroslav was poisoned in the capital city of Mongolia – Karakorum), when he was but five years old, he became prince of the Kostroma appanage-holding – the least important in the domains of his father. But in the year 1272 God destined for him to become GreatPrince of Vladimir. His four years as greatprince (1272-1276) were filled with the typical for these times princely fratricidal quarrels. For several years he waged war against Novgorod with an unruly nephew Dimitrii Alexandrovich. In becoming greatprince, however, Vasilii did not journey off to Vladimir, but remained under the protection of the wonderworking icon at Kostroma, regarding this place more hopeful in case of new outbreaks of strife. He had occasion also to defend Rus' against external enemies. In 1272, during the course of a Tatar incursion, a Russian army came forth from Kostroma to engage them. On the example of his grandfather, Saint Andrei Bogoliubsky – who took with him on military campaigns the wonderworking Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, – prince Vasilii went off into battle with the wonderworking Theodorov Icon. Bright rays shot out from the holy image, striking the enemy; the Tatars were routed and expelled from the Russian land. The chronicles relate, the GreatPrince Vasilii had an especial love for the Church and the clergy. After the martyr's death of the Vladimir bishop Mitrophan during the storming of Vladimir by Tatars on 4 February 1238, the Vladimir diocese had for a long period of years remained as though widowed. This grieved GreatPrince Vasilii. With his help in 1274 there was constructed in Vladimir the large Cathedral church. This was apparently in connection with the consecration as bishop of Vladimir of Sainted Serapion (+ 1275, Comm. 12 July) – who was an hegumen from Pechersk; this was presided over by Metropolitan Kirill III (+ 1282) and a sobor-council of Russian hierarchs. The purpose of the council's actions was quite extensive – this was the first Sobor in the Russian Church since the time of the Mongol invasion. Many a problem and disorder had arisen in church life, but the Russian Church was just barely beginning to recover from the woe that had befallen it. A chief task for it was the rebirth of Russian churchly literacy, and the restoration of the tradition of the ancient Russian "princely order". Without books the salvific activity of the Church would be well nigh impossible: they were needed for the Divine-services, and for preaching, for cell meditation by monks, and for at-home reading by believers. With the efforts of Metropolitan Kirill together with the Russian bishops and monk-scholars, this task, – the most important for the subsequent Christian enlightenment of Rus', was successfully undertaken. The Sobor adopted a new redaction of the essential books – the fundamental canonical codex of Orthodox churchly life. In the year 1276 prince Vasilii finished his life's journey, the most important steps along the way of which were beneathe the overshadowing blessing of the Theodorov Icon of the Mother of God. He died at Kostroma and there also found the place of his final rest. The holy icon has been from that time in the Kostroma cathedral of Saint Theodore Stratelates. Renewed interest in the Theodorov Icon of the Mother of God and the wide spreading about of its veneration throughout all Russia is connected with events of the beginning of the XVII Century – with the cessation of the Time of Troubles. In the year 1613 the wonderworking Theodorov Icon from the Kostroma cathedral was used in blessing the selection of Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar. In memory of this historic event there was established under 14 March the general commemoration of the Theodorovsk Icon of the Mother of God. Numerous copies were made from the Kostroma Theodorovsk Icon, and one of the first was commissioned and brought to Moscow by the mother of tsar Mikhail – the nun Martha. From the second half of the XVII Century, various copies of the Theodorov Icon received an enlargement with vignettes, depicting events from the history of the wonderworking icon. In the year 1670 the monk-deacon Longin from the Kostroma Ipat'ev monastery wrote the "Narrative concerning the manifestations and miracles of the Theodorov Icon of the Mother of God in Kostroma". Not all the things contained in its information co-incides with things previously stated, reflecting the people's memory as regarding chronology and laws. The Theodorov Icon is two-sided. On the reverse side – is the image of the holy GreatMartyress Paraskeva, depicted in the splendid attire of a princess. It is conjectured, that the image of Paraskeva on the reverse of the icon is connected with the spouse of Saint Alexander Nevsky

John 5:24-30 (

24 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth-those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

#orthodoxy #orthodox christianity #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscriptures #gospel #sacred texts #icon #sacredart

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despressolattes · 3 years

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THE HEARTBREAK PRINCESS » CHAPTER ONE

THE HEARTBREAK PRINCESS MASTERLIST

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Lorelai smacked into the royal blue matts, the cushions within them doing little to nothing to soften her fall. She huffed, her abdomen aching from the aftermath of a punch she hadn't blocked. The sound of her body colliding against the surface echoed throughout her training room of the Kastilyo.

She saw stars, but not from the blow. Instead, her eyes now faced the ceiling, the rose golden stars that adorned the top of the high walls in her view. She groaned as she sat up, rubbing her head comfortingly. Her vision moved itself from the stars and trim of the walls right before they met the ceiling, and could now see her own tousled state in the mirror in front of her. The wall parallel to the door was one giant mirror, adorned with the same opulent design as the top of the walls.

The Kastilyo was what the Kingdom of Estrelya called their castle. The original designers had been careful and thorough when creating the five story building fit for royals.

Amira stood in front of her, moving on the balls of her feet swiftly, maintaining her stance with her fists protectively placed in front of her chin. She watched as the princess leaned back onto the mat, letting her dark brown hair bunch up just above her shoulders as she laid there silently.

"Giving up already?" Amira questioned, dropping her stance when she got no response.

Instead, all she heard was heavy breathing as Lorelai caught her breath.

Amira stood there with her hands on her hips. "You're the one who asked for sparring sessions, Lor."

Lorelai let out a groan, pulling herself to sit up. She moved her hair out of her face, practically slicking it back from her sweat-stained forehead. She looked up at the royal guard in front of her, looking posed.

It was a year ago that Amira had made it to the official ranks, setting the record for the Kingdom of Estrelya 's youngest member of the Royal Guard. Standing at a heaping five-foot-one, she wasn't that much shorter than the princess laying in front of her.

Despite being a mere nineteen years old, she was acknowledged as one of the strongest guards in the kingdom. She had begun her apprenticeship at the age of fifteen, skipped the status of Official Guard, and went straight to Royal Guard at the age of eighteen. It wasn't long before she scaled the ranks once again, entering a special assignment as the Princess' personal guard and attendant.

Now, she was practically beating up the princess she swore to protect—all with good intentions, though. Lorelai had requested private sparring sessions with Amira.

Amira turned to grab a water bottle from its spot near the mirror. As she stood up facing the mirror, she fixed her silken maroon hijab that was on her head.

Lorelai sat there, wondering how Amira managed to look flawless after a sparring match whilst her own hair was frizzy and untamed. Instead of answering Amira's question, she let out the one thing that had been on her mind the entire time they spared.

"I think Mom's still upset with me," Lorelai sighed, huffing breaths in and out.

"What for?" Amira asked her, turning around and taking a seat across from Lorelai on the mats.

"She had Taylor introduce me to a few more suitable candidates," the words fell off her lips mockingly, mimicking the posh accent the Royal Secretary had when she spoke. "And in person this time! I told them all it was nice to meet them, but I wasn't interested."

Amira chuckled.

"You know she's not going to give up trying to introduce you to a nice boy," Amira sighed. "Might as well humor her, let just one court you before rejecting them."

"Why get their hopes up?"

Amira bit her lip and gave her a defeated look, knowing that Lorelai had a point there. She pressed on the floor and stood up. "I'm gonna go shower if you're done for the day. Princess Daniella and Princess Kavina are supposed to be arriving today."

Lorelai gave her two thumbs up before allowing her body to fall backwards once again. Amira chuckled as she walked out of the room. Lorelai stared at the ceiling of the training room, attempting to catch her breath as she contemplated her ancestry.

"That's a good idea," Lorelai whispered to herself, pushing herself off from the ground yet again. "If I stay in all of this sweat, my eczema is gonna scream at me for it later."

Not to mention my friends are arriving soon.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Lorelai glanced at herself in the full body mirror that hung from her walls, not flat against it as her room was built in a circle, with a cone roof. She believed her tower-like room might have been one of the few things that made her feel like those damsel in distress princesses from a fairytale—the way it felt like she was in some tower. Only she wasn't the one who was locked away, kept hidden from the outside world. No, not her. She swayed side to side, fumbling with the satin material of her brown sundress.

The loud sound she heard next was one she found hard to describe. It wasn't as if the word "shimmer" made a sound, but it was the only adjective that clouded her mind when she heard it. A loud, echoing, shimmer that would ring throughout the Kastilyo.

The sound of the Estrelya Portal Dock being in use. There were six Royal Portal Docks in their land—one in each of the six kingdoms. To use, however, the receiving portal would have to have its Master Key inserted and turned to the correct number on the portal's dial that corresponded with the portal that was dispatching.

The Estrelya Portal Dock was 1.

Royal Portal Docks weren't the only form of Portal Docks that existed. Smaller versions of them existed that could only be used for small distances within kingdoms, able to move from city to city, or from different neighborhoods. Because of its short range, they didn't need a Master Key to operate.

Excitedly, she skipped over to one of her many windows, pulling back its heavy curtains to look up at the bright azure sky. Her bedroom, thanks to its tower-like structure and position on the fifth and final floor, gave her a 360-degree view of the Kastilyo's surroundings. A faint pink light shot up into the sky from just past the gardens in the back of the Kastilyo—another indicator that the portal's Master Key had been inserted.

She ran out of her room quickly, breaking out into a slow jog. She descended the small spiral set of steps that had led up to her bedroom door, but she paused at the last step. There, at the end of the royal quarter's hallway right before her bedroom hung a large portrait that was just a bit bigger than a door.

Her eyes scanned over the painted portrait. They roamed over a familiar pair of golden eyes that was so evidently not those of a human's. The man, if they could really call him that, had sharp and long pupils that could only resemble a cat. Despite his young facial features, he had long, white hair, and he was standing straight up with a beaming smile on his face. He was in front of the Kastilyo, it's exterior unmistakable. He was clad in a black robe with rose gold hems, signature to Estrelya. That painting had been in the castle for eons, a reminder of the era when magic still roamed the land. The Mage of Estrelya, as history would come to know him, a hero in history books that became more of a folklore than anything else. It was hard to believe in something people couldn't see. But for her, staring at the portrait made Lorelai feel a deep sense of connection, as if there was some personal bond between her and the one depicted

Despite being talked about in books and in school, aspects of him became more of a folklore. People found it hard to believe in the things he had done. It was hard to believe in something that one couldn't see—but the Portal Docks were standing proof that magic once roamed. The last remnant of it. The sole reminder.

There was no longer street entertainment from Mages filling up festivals and events, there was no more barrier surrounding castles, there were no longer magical potions to help with ailments and surgeries. There was no Mages helping with military efforts, helping with construction—there were no Mages. All because of built up prejudice and a mindset that they had an unfair advantage in life. All because some man in power liked being the one to hold it.

She walked towards it, clenching her fists tight, feeling a slight pain in her palm as her long nails dug into them. She stopped right in front of it, letting her fingers trail down the carved wooden frame around the canvas portrait.

Do I have time to go and... she wondered.

"Lorelai."

Snapping her head around, her entire body turned to face the voice. Amira stood at the end of the hallway in a new outfit from the one she wore during training. She wore the uniform of a Royal Guard in the royal colors of the Kingdom of Estrelya: black and rose gold, with an embroidered rose gold star on the biceps of her long sleeves. The star on her biceps had twelve points with a frilly design, six of the points pointed straight and six curved in a wave matter, and it was known as the royal symbol, or the Estrelya Star.

The broach that fastened the top of her shirt signified her ranking by what kind of star she had.

There were four guard rankings at the Kastilyo. A three pointed star symbolized an apprentice. A five pointed star was an official guard. A ten pointed star, similar to the royal symbol but with straight points, five longer and five smaller meant it was a member of the Royal Guard. Almost the same as the star for the Royal Guard, Special Assignment Royal Guards had one small adjustment in their broaches: a sword would pierce through the star.

Amira proudly wore the highest of the stars on her broach.

The hijab upon her head was black with rose gold trimmings as well, everything about her outfit screaming professional and elite. Amira looked badass in her uniform, and Lorelai was never quite able to get over how in awe she always was with her.

She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and said, "Callen's arriving."

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

They walked briskly down the Glass Corridor, which was located at the very end of the west wing of the Kastilyo's second floor. It stretched from both ends of the front and back of the Kastilyo. Since it jutted out further than the main walls of the house, it had a small ceiling that was also made of glass.

From the Glass Corridor, Lorelai was able to see the Estrelya Portal Dock. It was built large enough to look like a door to nowhere when it wasn't on. Painted black with rose gold hems and frills, it also had a small ottoman sized control panel right next to it. On that panel was a circle dial that ranged from numbers 2-6 with a slot in the middle of the golden Master Key. Now that the key was inserted, the portal no longer looked like a door to nowhere. Instead, a pink glow formed inside of its empty space and shot up into the sky, fading the further up it went. The entire dock was on a white circular platform that had five small steps leading up to it.

Getting to the courtyard, the two briskly walked from the courtyard, out to the garden, around the side of the castle towards the Portal Dock. Lorelai couldn't help but notice how official everything felt—and yet there she was, in a simple brown sundress.

Guards lined up by the portal, her parents already waiting at the end of the string of guards, her mother's right hand woman, and a few other members of the royal cabinet. Sakura Icis, the Head of the Royal Guard and Chief Advisor to the Crown, stood at the end of the string of guards, closest to Queen Amor herself.

Queen Amor and King Jeune Bituin were clad in royal attire. Queen Amor in a rose gold dress with black lace and flourished hemlines, her crown sitting upon her curled black hair. King Jeune in a black long sleeve shirt and slacks with a rose gold tailcoat over the ensemble, his own crown upon his gelled back black hair.

Gorgeous and poised, like always, Lorelai believed. She saw the way the sunlight hit her parents' crowns, the reflection almost blinding. The King and Queen were truly breathtaking in every way to Lorelai.

As Lorelai looked around at those who had gathered, she realized she was the only one not formally dressed. She tried to reassure herself that there was no reason to have gotten all dolled up just to greet her childhood friends at the portal, but there was no mistaking that she stood out like a sore thumb.

A few aides materialized first, carrying suitcases with the Kingdom of Callen's royal emblem on them: a pastel purple colored outline of a mountain with what is meant to be a laelia orchid growing on top of it. The mountain represented the Callen Mountain, which their castle was built upon. The entire emblem was encircled in a thin, pastel purple line.

The first of the royal family to materialize out of the portal was Princess Daniella Laelia. The smile on Lorelai's face widened, as did her eyes, as she looked at the princess. Daniella had been one of her best friends all her life, but standing before her, Daniella looked almost completely different.

Her typically long blonde hair was now colored a dark blue. Her attire made Lorelai feel less out of place, as she was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, obviously not caring much for appearances. All she had to do was walk through a door, for crying out loud.

She threw up a peace sign with her fingers upon seeing Lorelai, making her way down the stairway to embrace her friend.

"Oh, my! Your hair!" exclaimed Lorelai, reaching to touch it. As she moved it, she realized she also had an undercut. "Damn! Your hair!"

Daniella laughed, motioning to the portal with her head as she said, "They're not exactly happy about it since it's 'right before the Ball,' but I really couldn't care less."

The Three Queens' Ball, an event held once every decade in honor of the alliance formed between Estrelya , Callen, and Chandrama, signed into place by three queens eons ago: Minorin of Estrelya, Azalea of Callen, and Riya of Chandrama.

It was the Kingdom of Estrelya's turn to host it at the Kastilyo, though the other two kingdoms were planned to arrive early enough to help with the arrangements.

The princesses and prince had been small children during the last time the Ball occurred; though, the only thing that seven year old Lorelai really remembered from the event was that it was long, loud, there was lots of food, and lots of traffic in the capital city.

The Ball itself was a national holiday in all three Kingdoms. For those who were able to make the journey to the host kingdom were able to attend, admittance free to all of their citizens. Local business owners were even able to request petitions to open booths along the passageway leading to the castles. The Ball always left the castle cities bustling with tourists, traffic filled streets, and every form of lodging fully booked. Despite the actual ball only being a day event, the month before and after was full of celebration. Those who traveled far made vacations out of the Holiday, so the castle cities stayed busy for quite some time.

Daniella linked an arm around Lorelai's, and turned to face the portal, watching as everyone else came out.

Out came Queen Adalaide and King Barry Laelia, walking down the steps hand in hand, King Barry slightly ahead of Queen Adalaide, helping her on their way down. Like Lorelai's parents, they were clad in their royal outfits, almost identical to Amor and Jeune's, but instead, in the lavender and silver of their own kingdoms.

Like her daughter—or at least until yesterday— Queen Adalaide had light blonde hair, while her husband's was a dark brown; it could be mistaken for black depending on the lighting. Standing next to each other, they looked as if they were day and night.

Lorelai couldn't help but think about how beautiful they were together.

The guards in the line had bowed down their heads for them as they walked over, and Amor stepped forward with a smile, arms open to embrace Adalaide. King Barry and Lorelai's own father stood off to the side with one another, pleasant smiles on their faces as they spoke in soft tones together.

"Thanks for the help, Dani," grumbled a voice from the top of the dock.

Attentions moved to the last person to exit the portal—the crowned prince himself, Elijah Laelia. He was a stark contrast to his baby sister in the same way their father contrasted their mother. His hair was short and black with onyx eyes, which put him aside from his sister and parents who all bore grey-blue ones.

The only similarity between the two siblings was their complexions: both of a light, warm beige. They didn't look like one another around the face, either. Elijah had inherited their father's high cheekbones with a rounded face, while Daniella's was more sculpted like their mother's.

He was clad in a black button up shirt with lavender buttons, unbuttoned to reveal a silver silky undershirt. His family's symbol was embroidered on the pocket over his right chest.

It didn't go unnoticed to Lorelai that Elijah tended to tie in his kingdom's royal colors into all of his outfits even when he wasn't dressed up, from the silver to the lavender in his attire, to the embroidery on his pocket. It was so very formal of him for a nineteen year old.

Lorelai almost never wore her family's royal colors outside of official events and meetings, despite how much she liked the colors black and rose gold together. Nor did she have the Kingdom of Estrelya's rose gold star embroidered on any of her casual clothes.

But she knew that in Elijah's defense, not that she would ever come to his defense, that this was just an example of how he oftentimes tried too hard to appear to be a perfect prince.

Elijah was carrying a few bags left behind by the aides when they descended the steps. The way he was glaring at his sister, one could only presume it was her bags.

"What a gentleman," Daniella teased him, staying stuck in her spot as Elijah wobbled down the stairs and across the path towards them. "Thanks, Eli."

He put them down with a huff and rolled his eyes. He merely nodded his head in Lorelai's direction, and the Princess responded in the same manner. Without exchanging any words with one another, Elijah's attention refocused on the two kings, making his way from the Princesses towards their fathers.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The arrival of the royals from the Kingdom of Chandrama happened only a few moments after Callen's. Their arrival was almost identical, with the only difference being the emblem on their suitcases. It showcased a golden full moon, which had white craters worked into its design, and a frilly letter C in the middle in white.

Lorelai and Amira had been ordered by Queen Amor to go to the kitchen and see if the meals being prepared were ready, and to meet in the garden for lunch. Lorelai had been disappointed that she had to miss the arrival of the crowned princess of Chandrama, and the last member of her Princess Trio: Kavina Chandra.

"The meal?" Prim Keirnan glanced behind herself. The Royal Chef, with her unruly red hair that was up attempting to stay in its hairnet, stopped paying attention to the steak she was searing in front of her. "I already had it sent to the garden dining table, love!"

"Oh, alright, thank you!" Lorelai smiled, turning abruptly on her heels, Amira in tow.

She glanced down at her dress and back to Amira's guard attire, a frown forming on her lips.

"Amira," Lorelai called, snapping her head in her guard's direction.

"Lorelai?" she responded, raising an eyebrow up at her.

"Am I underdressed?" Lorelai questioned, grabbing fistfulls of her dress and then letting it fall back down into place.

"As the crown princess of Estrelya greeting two allied kingdoms? Yes," nodded Amira, and Lorelai cringed. Then, she added, "But as a teenage girl waiting for her friends to come over? Nah." There was a small pause, in which Lorelai smiled at the response. "If only you could be a mere teenage girl."

Lorelai frowned again and used her elbow to softly nudge Amira, sticking her tongue out at her.

The two of them made their way to the second floor of the Kastilyo, well on their way to the exit out to the courtyard and garden. Their strides were quick paced, the clicks of their shoes echoing against whatever fancy material the Kastilyo floors were made of.

The two made it to the top of the staircase, reentering the Glass Corridor section of the large castle.

"Hey, Heartbreak Princess! Amira!"

The voice came from the other end of the Glass Corridor, and the two of them halted. They stared at the newcomer, waiting for them as they approached.

Actually, Amira stared at them, but Lorelai shot an icy glare in their direction, crossing her arms over her chest at the sound of a nickname that she found ridiculous. She wasn't a heartbreaker.

Amira bowed her head in respect, and Lorelai tore her attention away.

"Prince," Amira greeted, pulling her head back up.

"Elijah," Lorelai acknowledged him, but she didn't turn her head back in his direction.

Elijah looked away as well, and a stagnant silence fell over them.

Amira glanced between the two of them, letting out an undetectable sigh when she realized the two of them rather stare than say something.

"Heading to the garden, Prince Elijah?" Amira questioned him.

"Yes, ma'am," he responded with a nod.

"Good, you can accompany us," Amira said with a smirk, ignoring the glare Lorelai was shooting her. "Chef Prim said the food was already brought out."

"Wonderful," Elijah said politely.

The three of them resumed their walk, exiting the Glass Corridor and entering the same hallway that connected to the grand entrance and the entrance to the courtyard. They were met with the romantic architecture of the Kastilyo, with rose gold curtains and long, frilly windows with white gold trims, a white paint coating the interior. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling every few feet.

Outside of the grand entrance, which had been left open with guards standing on both sides, inside and outside, they could hear murmuring and see the flashing flight of cameras. Lorelai glanced at Elijah, who already had his eyes on her.

"Should we?" he asked, turning his head towards the door, as if to point at it.

She wasn't surprised with the change in atmosphere. She oftentimes let Elijah's attitude towards her dictate the attitude she would give back. He had his moments where he acted like one of her closest friends, but there were other days where he hardly even looked in her direction. She willing danced to his beat, though, deciding just going with it was easier than questioning why he did the things he did.

Like why did he insist of dressing the way he did? Why did he insist on talking so proper even if they were in a casual setting? Why did he insist on never dropping his guard?

"Might as well," she shrugged, a small smile on her face as she spoke.

Amira watched from behind as the prince and princess stepped into the opening of the Kastilyo's door, and just like that, the voices intensified into enthusiastic shouts.

There was a small group, likely tourists, standing outside of the gates, more guards stationed in front to keep people from attempting to enter or scale the fences. Still, there were people who liked to take photos in front of the Kastilyo, and others who kept up with the royal news and knew that the Callen and Chandrama royalty would be teleporting in. Most of them had probably seen the pink lights anyways.

Despite being behind a gate that was at the end of a path, they could make out the faces of the prince and princess.

As they were taught to, the pair stepped a few steps past the entrance and onto the entry steps, their best smiles plastered on their faces. Elijah bowed while Lorelai curtsied, the two of them waving before retreating back into the Kastilyo. The crowd cheered as they snapped photos of the two royals.

"We'll be getting more of that than usual this month," Elijah stated, smoothing out his shirt as they walked further through the main hallway, making a right at the entryway that led to the courtyard.

"Ah yes, your fangirls will be lined up outside the walls of my house like they always do during your visits," Lorelai teased him, falling out of her standoffish attitude from the staircase and right into her playful banner.

"At least I'm not breaking hearts left and right, hm, Heartbreak Princess?"

There was the nickname again. Elijah had given it to her when she was fifteen and he was seventeen after witnessing her reject the son of some aristocrat who had found themselves invited to Daniella's fifteenth birthday party over in Callen.

"Oh please, no one should be heartbroken over me not being interested."

"You'd be surprised," Elijah muttered in a whisper.

Lorelai snapped her head in his direction, sure he had said something but hadn't caught it.

Louder, he added, "You know how many girls in the kingdom would kill to be in your position, Lor?" Lor? "Constantly getting asked on dates by cute men—"

"If you think they're so cute, why don't you ask them out, Prince?" Amira cut him off, her tone monotonous even if she was poking fun at him.

Lorelai's hand went up to her mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh, but she failed miserably. Elijah's cheeks heated up as he glared over at the guard, but he couldn't get mad at her. He, like the princesses, had formed a friendship with Amira over her years of employment at the castle, especially since the two of them were the same age.

"Back to what I was saying," Elijah grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, choosing to ignore Amira's comment. "You get asked out all the time, and you get to hang out with me. You're living the dream life for most girls in our kingdoms."

Amira scoffed out a laugh before covering her mouth, better than the Princess at silencing her humor. Lorelai just looked at him as if he said the most ridiculous thing ever, her mouth ajar but lips curled up in a smile.

"You're unbelievable!" Lorelai chuckled, shaking her head. "Most girls in our kingdoms may have a little crush on you, but your ego is why you're single."

"Or because I choose to be."

"Oh, so you're lecturing me about rejecting people, yet claim to be rejecting most girls in our kingdoms?" she mocked him, using air quotes about the words he spoke. "Are you sure you're not the Heartbreak Prince?"

"Shut up."

"That's what I thought."

They made it across the courtyard towards the entrance to the gardens. Tropical plants entered their view, and the sound of a miniature waterfall pouring water into a small pond somewhere thin the greenery could be heard from all around.

Their banter ended as they got to the dining tables that were out in the garden. Enough tables and chairs were set up to seat not only the royal families, but their attendants that had arrived, and Estrelya 's royal cabinet as well. Upon the tables were white table clothes and trays of appetizers, made for a nice light lunch. Kavina was sitting with Daniella at a table with three seats available.

Lorelai squealed at the sight of her friend—and mentally sighed in relief when she saw that even Kavina hadn't dressed up, wearing a dark green shirt that complimented her darker complexion and ripped loose jeans, her wavy hair up in a bun. She ran over, hugging the other princess.

Amira and Elijah looked at each other at the sight in front of them before shaking their heads and heading over to take the other two free seats. Lorelai couldn't help but smile, excited for the planning and preparing for the Ball that would be approaching, and for the time she'd be able to spend as a mere teenage girl with her friends.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: welcome to book one of the original series I've been working on for the past year! I currently have 10 of the chapters written, but I want to know your guys' thoughts before bringing in the rest of the chapters I have ready!

also available on my wattpad

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@yaskna @mariishat @misssugarless @drarrylov3r @luluwiie@laudthingcat @walecznypisarz @bubblywriter0 @superhermit@chloflower-blog @dummies-world

#the heartbreak princess #despressolattes; the heartbreak princess #founders' council chronicles #young adult fantasy #young adult fiction #young adult romance #teen romance #teen fiction #teen fantasy #despressolattes; original seriews #original series #depressolattes; original works

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