#hedgeknight

[softandwigglybones]

Remember that post about using hedge as a prefix?

it's been on my mind for a while now and i just had to put my thoughts somewhere, to organize them and such. So here is my mind laid bare, let's hope i can force some logic into this.

The basic premise was from the word hedgehog (and also hedge-wizard, though i'm not sure) and how that prefix, hedge, could be used with other words.

now, hedge, on it's own, just means a fence made of plants. basically. not much useful stuff there, though maybe i'll get back to it later.

now onto the words that kicked this off.

hedgehos is, simply, hedge and hog. let's disregard hedge's old meaning and construct a new one that only applies to the prefic. for that, we have to look at what hog is.

a hog, is a synonim for boar or pig. So a big powerful (but clumsy*) creature with a tough hide (hard to damage) *clumsy as in can't control itself much once it begins charging

A hedgehog, on the other hand, is a small beastie. but at the same time i wouldnt say the change of size improved its clumsyness in any way, so still cumsy. but, and this is most important, it doesnt have a tough hide. no, instead it has a thorny pelt. spikes. so a hedgehog is a smaller, weaker, less tough version of a hog that has much greater retaliatory power.

okay, the definition of hedge it beginning to take shape.

now hedge-wizard.

a wizard is, obviosly, a time of spellcaster. what kind depends somewhat on the setting/person, but in general it's someone who studied the arcane for many years (usually holed up in a wizard tower) and acquired immense cosmic power. a wizard may be a bit squishy when it comes to physical might, but they pretty much constantly have some kind of spell running to mitigate this.

but a hedgewizard? well, a hedgewizard didn't have the resources or time to leisurely study for many years. they're usually self-taught from bits and pieces they can piece together about magic. they have only scraps of knowledge of magic compared to a wizard. this forces them to improvise, extrapolate spells from the little they have. and this often leads to more, but less powerful spells. but more importantly, it also leads to having spells for every situation. and also, since hedgewizards often also don't have a wizard tower or a place to stay, they often times have to become wanderers, survivalists, travelers. so their spells also focus on that. So, a hedge wizard is a less powerful but more versatile yet specialized wizard. and since they have so many spells they usually figure out at least a combo or two that is really powerful even if it leaves them hurt too. this they usually use as a last resort when attacked.

You see where this i going yet?

Basically, hedhe- , as a prefix, means a less powerful version of something whose main power is retaliation.

Let's try to apply that to something else. One example i remember from the original post was the concept of a hedge-knight.

Since a knight is someone who is big and strong, wears heavy, protective, full-plate metal armour and carrier some kind of big weapon like a broadsword or a greataxe, a hedge knight would be of a smaller build, carry a smaller weapon (if one at all)(like daggers, or a rapier). However i can't quite decide on the armour. my original idea was just a lighter, less protective one, which would make a hedgeknight basically a version of a rogue. the other idea is to directly borrow from the hog->hedgehog situaton and have a hedgeknight wear some kind of spiky mettalic armout. like the kind you see in videogames where it's called thorn armor or something like that.

next up, hedgeking. but since this is getting kind of long and im getting tired of writing this, i'll shorten it.

a king doesnt have any personal power and is more characterized by what they rule over. a king rules over vast swathes of land and has a strong army and etc. So, naturally, a hedgeking must rule over a much smaller area, not have much immediate power, but once attacked/disrespected have an extremely powerful retaliation.

hmm, that sounds kind of familiar... oh, i know. it the f-ing fey! or fay/faerie/fairy/however you spell it. A hedgeking is a fey, which makes even more sense since fairies are often also connected to nature... such as hedges.

anyway, at this point it got too much to all keep in my head and i got exhausted from thinkning of hedgecreatures.

reblog with some of your ideas or whatever

thanks for coming to my ted talk, thank for your attention, so on and so on

[zugzwangg7]

George Martin is the genius of our times. #grrm #gte $gte #hedgeknight #aknightofthesevenkingdoms. (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPEt1UJ2B8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thestuffedalligator]

Hedge is underused as a prefix for creatures.

Hedgehog: A small animal found in gardens with a similar, if miniature, behaviour as hogs. Hedgewitch: A small magic user found in gardens with a similar, if miniature, behaviour as witches.

We’re sitting on untapped potential for hedgewolf. Hedgewhale. Hedgegod. Hedgeknight. Does any of this make sense or do I just need to go to sleep.

[faery-wizard]

Whoosh!

✳️✨❇️✳️✨❇️

You've been hit with my spell BANISHMENT TO ALTERNATE TUMBLR DIMENSIONS!!

12 notes

🗡️ swiftattacker_03 Follow

death of the corrupt duke in 2024 like to aim reblog to strike

7,345 notes

🪨 hedgeknighted Follow

just beat the knave brother of the king and must now duel Marloth of the kings guard but we stay silly :3

834 notes

⚔️ blades-oath Follow

heroes: This is my blessed sword Icethorn it was forged in the frost of the mountain Rothynn and quenched in the blood of the giants

mercenaries: this is helmsplitter it splits helms

[racefortheironthrone]

how liquid is a tournament prize of "forty thousand golden dragons to the champion" going to be? even if it comes in the form of gold plate and not an actual sack of coins, would it be easily transportable to anyone who doesn't already have guards and a retinue to take care of it? that is, i wondered if a hedgeknight champion would practically be able to claim all of their prize

So this is something where GRRM made something of a mistake due to his issues with math - not only is Sandor's prize a ludicrous amount of money, 40,000 dragons should weigh approximately 720 pounds, which is more than a draft horse can carry.

IIRC, Sandor's prize seems to have been given out in currency as opposed to plate, which makes it a bit too liquid - hence the ease with which he's robbed by the Brotherhood or Anguy is conned out of it by unscrupulous vendors.

[promptthebear]

🐰 Edmund Pevensie #40 please

Edmund Pevensie x Reader

Prompt: I’m annoyed, to say it mildly.

CW: none I think??? Written in second person, reader is referred to as “you”. F!Reader, but any physical description is left ambiguous. This is just a little angsty with some possibly unrequited pining. If that’s your thing, enjoy!

The night of your engagement party had finally arrived, and Edmund could not have been more miserable, mostly because he wasn’t the one you were getting engaged to.

You’d met Edmund almost five years ago, when your family had taken up residence in one of the smaller castles on the mainland. Your father, a knight in service to Peter, had been promoted after saving the High King’s life from a band of travelling outlaws while on a hunting trip. The incident had cost your father an eye, but gained him a lordship and a comanding position within Peter’s army.

Since then, you and your family had attended all manner of feasts and other events at Cair Paravel, and from the moment he’d first set eyes on you, Edmund had known he loved you.

Unfortunately for Edmund, there were several other young men in the kingdom who felt the same way he did. You’d had no shortage of suitors since coming of age, the last of which now held you in his arms as the two of you danced across the shimmering ballroom. He was a hedgeknight, not unlike your own father had been, handsome in a simple sort of way and with such a placid nature, no man could speak ill of him. Which was part of the problem.

Being able to openly voice his displeasure about the man who’d stolen you away would have only helped lessen the sting on Edmund’s part. However, doing so would only have made him seem spiteful in front of his subjects, since the poor fellow had done nothing so awful as to warrant the Kings wrath. In truth, Emund had to admit there was nothing wrong with the man at all, save for the fact that you were marrying him and not Edmund.

In the end, hed put on a brave face, hugged you and kissed your cheeks at the private announcement and acted as though he was just as happy for you as the rest of his family. He’d been able to keep the facade going for several months after, always greeting you and your fiance with the same kingly smile. However, Edmund was only human and by the time the party came around, he was no longer able to hold the mask in place.

Rather than openly sulk and ruin your evening, Edmund instead chose to hide in the corner and lick his emotional wounds over a glass of wine...or six. He was working on glass seven when Lucy finally found him, and decided to greet her older brother by soundly cuffing him around the ear.

“Hey!” Edmund yelped, turning to glare at his sister while rubbing at the side of his head with his free hand “What the hell was that for?”

Lucy shrugged, took a sip from her own glass and fixed her gaze to where you and your soon to be husband were dancing. The two of you were off in your own little world, aware of nothing but each other and the music that carried you as you waltzed effortlessly across the room.

“She looks absolutely radiant” Lucy said, nodding in your general direction “Though of course, happiness will do that to a person.”

Edmund made a vague noise in response, already far too occupied in his brooding to give her a real answer. His dark eyes watched you from beneath a creased brow, the single member of the most captive audience you’d ever had.

What Lucy said was true, you were so beautiful tonight it took Edmund’s breath away each time he caught sight of your face. Your flushed cheeks and bright eyes were nothing short of perfection, and you were aglow with the kind of shine only new love could bring to a woman.

For a moment, he allowed himself an indulgenced and imagined he was the one holding you instead. That he was the one making you laugh, that you were smiling at him and whispering in his ear, that he was the one with a hand at your waist while the other brushed an errant curl from your eyes and leaned in to place a chaste kiss against your lips. His gut roiled with a sickening combination of envy and rage, and he took another sip of wine to try to quell it. His jaw hurt from clenching and the fingers on his sword hand were beginning to twitch. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take this, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to last one more month until your wedding.

It was another sharp, quick blow to the ear that brought Edmund out of his stupor. With a yelp, he turned and whirled on Lucy, who was gazing innocently at the dance floor as if she hadn’t so much as moved a muscle.

“Lu! Gods, must you keep doing that?!”

“Yes,” came the reply, cheerful as always “Or at least until you stop moping about like you missed the last sweet in the box.”

“I am not!” Edmund said, moping.

“Yes, you are. Your best friend is getting married to a man who’s madly in love with her and will bring her years of joy. You should be celebrating with the rest of the kingdom, not standing here tripping over your own chin.”

“Lucy, I am not-”

From the corner of his eye, Edmund saw a few curious stares turn in his general direction, and it was then that he realized somehow that his voice had risen to an almost shout. Clearing his throat, he took another sip of wine and cast his eyes sheepishly at the floor.

“Lucy-” he said, softer but not any less irate than before “For the last time, I am happy for her. I just don’t feel much like dancing tonight, is all.”

“Because you’re upset.”

Edmund fought back the impulse to walk over to the nearest suit of arms, open the chestpiece and scream into it.

“I am not upset” he could barely get the words around his clenched teeth “I’m annoyed to say it mildly, but that has more to do with present company and not with my best friend’s upcoming marriage.”

“Then why did she tell me you two haven’t spoken since you found out about the engagement?”

The sound Edmund made was one Lucy had heard before, usually when he was sparring in the training yard and someone poked him in the gut with a sword hilt. It hadn’t been her intention to ambush him just now, rather she wanted to knock him off balance a bit and get him to a place where he could name what was bothering him so much instead of just stewing in it. Unfortunately, it seemed Ed would need a little bit more help with that than she had anticipated.

“Does she know you love her?”

Edmund shook his head, and took another healthy sip of wine to steel his nerves. He’d never said that aloud to anyone before, not even himself least of all Lucy. But as always, his sister was more aware of things than he gave her credit for.

“I never-”

He stopped and froze, still as a statue. Lucy considered cuffing him around the ear again, but held back when she realized the reason Edmund was seemingly paralyzed. The music had petered off, the orchestra were tuning their instruments to prepare for the next dance and you had left your bethrothed, and were walking right over to where Edmund was standing.

In mere seconds, you were right in front of them, beaming widely and flushed from dancing. From the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Edmund’s grip on his cup go white knuckled and a telltale flush start to rise along the side of his neck.

“Edmund!” you gushed, oblivious to your friend’s discomfort as you reached for his arm “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you to come and ask me to dance.”

“Ser Alaric?”

The mention of your fiance’s name did not seem to phase you. Instead, you reached for Edmund’s wine goblet, and gently extracted it from his grip.

“He’s taking a break right now, and besides, he’ll have the rest of his life to dance with me. I want you now. Please?”

Edmund’s eyes flicked nervously from where you had caught a handful of his shirt sleeve, the pleading look on your face, and his glass now in Lucy’s clutches. A lifetime seemed to pass, during which Edmund felt himself age a year for each one of his frantic heartbeats. It was only when he felt Lucy gently pushing at his back that he relented.

“Alright” he said, the flush now spread to his cheeks “But only for a song or two, I really shouldn’t be stealing you from your-”

“Fantastic! Thank you, I’ve been looking forward to this all night. Good to see you too, Lu!””

Lucy gave the two of you a brief wave, and hid her smirk behind the rim of her glass. This couldn’t have gone better than if she’d planned it herself. With one last, helpless look over his shoulder, Edmund allowed himself to be pulled towards the dance floor, your hand in his. Lucy could hear the orchestra playing the opening bars of what was sure to be a slow, intimate waltz. It seemed to be the sort where you could hold your partner extra close and talk in hushed voices.

The panicked look on Edmund’s face told her that he knew what was coming, and that he would give his entire claim to the kigndom to anyone who would save him from his current predicament. Painful as it might be, however, Lucy knew that confronting things was the only way her brother would get any kind of closure about this. For better or for worse, the two of you were going to sort this out, she would make absolute certain of that.

[agentrouka-blog]

In her last dance chapter Dany fails to make a hat out of grass to protect herself from the sun. We all know george doesn't write random scenes, everything even little details like that have a meaning. What do you thinknis he is trying to say with that scene in the book?

Hi anon!

I already made a post about that subject here. :)

Basically, her failed grass hat is a mirror to Tyrion meeting Aegon "Young Griff" who is wearing a straw hat at the time.

Both are a reference to the Dunk and Egg tales, which depict their mutual ancestor king Aegon V Targaryen as a child, travelling incognito with Ser Duncan "Dunk" the Tall as his squire, wearing a floppy straw hat in "The Sword Sword".

Aegon and Dany represent the early promise and eventual dark failure of "Egg", who began so sweetly and in the end collapsed into everything that made House Targaryen villainous.

(But also seriously. GRRM introduces Young Griff with a straw hat and a hedgeknight named Du(c)k whom he later names his kingsguard. He travels on a poleboat with orphans of the Greenblood, with dyed hair. Both have Dornish mothers and their dad's are Rhaegar and Maekar who both died in battle against rebels. Could the Egg references with Young Griff be any more blatant? And people speculate that he's a Blackfyre.)

[alannybunnue]

So just an idea, the reader was initially betrothed to Aerion at Ashford right? At the time Aerion was extremely low in the line of succession so Maekar betrothed him to the reader who was the sole heiress of her house. A decent enough political match for a second son of a fourth son.

But then he got exiled after Ashford and Duncan stole his woman.

So not only has he lost out in his bride, he lost her lands too to a bloody lowborn hedgeknight.

Well, Duncan did impregnate her. (Not consensually tho-)

Her father would demand him to marry her to low down their shame, which mf proudly agreed.

So being the heiress of her house, Duncan gained the lands on their name. A win-win isn't it?

While Aerion was in exile for around a decade, so...that baby that he saw wasn't their first born....

[hopelesschatter]

Another day, another Burrows & Badgers mini Nate, the Wanderer Mouse Hedge Knight Absolutely love painting the Burrows & Badgers Minis, @oathsworn_michael makes some amazing minis Think I need to get some more in... Painted with @monument_hobbies Pro Acryl Range and oil wash. #miniaturepainting #hobbypainting #miniaturepaintings #nonstopwargaming #paintingwarhammer #miniaturepaintingart #tabletopgaming #hobbylove #instagram #instadaily #dailyphoto #monumenthobbies #proacryl #proacrylpaint #oathswornminiatures #burrowsandbadgers #mouse #hedgeknight #natethewanderer #tabletoptime #tabletopminiatures #tabletopmini #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming https://www.instagram.com/p/CdyBAkqt_K9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[manfrommars2049]

Hedgeknight Hobrick by Wes Fraser via ImaginaryArmor

[aesnawan]

I promised more Knight!AU so here it goes! In this world magic is vanishing; magical creatures are being hunted and retreating to wild unexplored areas. There aren't many known humans who can do magic anymore and people are afraid of those who can. Din is Knight that finds a little baby elf while traveling to join his clan. The baby is dying and Din needs to take him to the source of magic, deep into the wild area.

Besides Din and his armour that a derailed a bit, I also drew Mage!Luke and HedgeKnight!Boba. My favourite thing is that I turned R2 into a bloodhound 👀

I'm not entirely happy with the sketches (that's why they are kind of unfinished?) and I'll probably redraw the characters later, but really wanted to post something, so 🤷 What do you guys think? And what adventures do you think the characters could get into? If any of my writer friends want to write about the AU, I would love to illustrate it!

[dailyadventureprompts]

Your New Glory from Old Roots prompt got me thinking about running a tourney for my players and I was curious if you planned on penning a prompt for the tourney itself? I'm trying to come up with some ideas on how to involve the entire party, not just the martial classes, without defaulting to a, "magic duel" entry for the magic users in the party.

Adventure: Tourney, Treachery, and Tumult 

For all the banners, the pageantry, the claims at chivalric honor, make no mistake: this is bloodsport, a sacrifice of pain and victory to the pagan gods of war. The whole duchy’s been poured into those stands out there for days, baking in the heat, watching the bouts, praying for something they can’t even name... is it any wonder that something would answer their call? 

Adventure Hooks

While the tournament and its various offshoots provide grand spectacle and entertainment to the citizens of the realm, those of power and privilege use this gathering of warriors to scout for promising new agents. Duchess Sahvrinna in particular has invested heavily in this years festivities, and has organized her own secondary tourney where warriors face down dangerous beasts in a hedge maze arena specially built for the occasion. Rumor is that she seeks hunters of mythic skill to hunt some great beast plaguing her lands, so performing well in this savage bout is likely to earn her attention. 

There are many distractions on the fairgrounds, from feasting tents to drinking contests to an endless variety of carnival games. These distractions provide ample oppertunity to quick fingered scoundrels, player and NPC alike, so players better watch their coin purses lest they be cheated of some of their tournament winnings. 

Prospero Sapphlaire, court mage the realm’s greatest family has been performing for the masses, wowing them with pyrotechnics and wonderous conjuring's over the past several days. When Prospero’s late night partying gets perhaps a bit too “fantastical”, the organizers search for a mage capable of putting on a similar show while the great Sapphlaire sleeps off his pixiedust hangover. If a partymember steps up to the challenge, they may receive an invitation from the court mage himself, sober now and glad to have someone to commiserate with about being force to use their wonderous power to amuse the lowborn.  

The Party’s warriors perform well in the preliminaries for the tournament of arms, but each suffers a crushing defeat at the hands of a hedge knight with a scorpion on his shield. This loss smarts doubly, firstly for the fact that the victor of arms would have had a wish granted by the prestigious Duke Hull, secondly because their loss sees them waking up hours later in the infirmary tent with strange discolored wounds, victims of something far stranger than just a sound beating. 

Setup: The Knight with the scorpion shield is a man by the name of Krel, who’s family were once bannermen to the Hull family, but were gravely dishonored when their patron ( Krel’s father) attacked the Duke in a drunken rage. Just a boy at the time, Krel’s family were stripped of their rank ( and their name, Ferant) and sent to die in infamy. Krel has nursed the grudge ever since, and has set his life to avenging himself on the Hull Family. 

To this end, Krel has had dealings with an outlaw mage, who has granted the hedgeknight a cursed shield to give him an unfair edge in combat. While it does not detect as magical, the shield summons phantasmal scorpions whenever it is struck, which cling to the shield invisibly or scuttle about on the ground for the duration of the fight. All it takes to fell an opponent with ghostly stings is for the hedgeknight to wait a few minutes into the fight and land a solid sheildbash, a simplicity Krel plans to use to fill the arena with scorpions in the final battle, then use them to overwhelm the duke and his guards when he comes to bestow the final honor.   Helpless before this invisible threat, Krel can take his revenge... something the party will inadvertently end up stopping as they investigate why they were so unfairly knocked out of the tournament. 

Challenges & Complications: 

After a tough fight with a dwarven bezerker who simply refused to succumb to poison, the party has the opportunity to follow Krel to his magical supplier, a pallid and thoroughly sinister mage by the name of Darmeris Nerium, who operates a shady little tend selling black-market magics to the tourneyers.  Overtaking the mage may prove challenging, but doing so will let them know just what Krel’s got up his sleeves. 

Duke Hephaestus Hull has been feeling ill of late, and has been letting his rakish son Atrell perform more and more of the duke’s ceremonial duties. Presiding over the Tournament of arms is just once such occasion, which will frustrate Krel and may end up with the final battle turning into a hostage situation. Atrell is tremendously hard to get ahold of on tourney day however ( even to warn of his potential assassination) as he’s currently shacked up with last year’s champion, Zachariah. The two have been lovers since Zachariah won the tournament three years ago, and the younger Atrell delights to no end in distracting his boyfriend from the stresses of defending the title.  

Art Source

[janiedean]

Big name knights in Westeros: Perpetuators and tools to maintain the power of the strongest not of those who're just. Hedgeknights like Dunk or those Brienne meets on her journey: Rough, yet kind, helpful fighters

I mean... yes which is a pretty clear message but has fandom grasped that not really

[darth-salem-emperor-of-earth]

Here is my next entry for Day 4 of @naruto-fantasy-week​! I went with the prompt “Japanese Folklore” because I wanted to do something with the conflict between the Sun Goddess and Moon God and how their bloodlines influenced imperial monarchies from opposite kingdoms and what would it take to bring two opposing nations together (albeit begrudgingly). I had to prevent this idea from running away with me and focused on a small section in Itachi and Sakura’s courtship. That way, I could actually finish the little fic in time. XD 

Fanfic title comes from the song “Sun and Moon” from the Broadway musical “Miss Saigon”. And yes, I was not trying to be creative with kingdom names. I just went with good ole “Solar” and “Lunar” because the names worked. XD

Summary: With the bloodline of the Sun goddess running through their veins, the Uchiha dynasty had reigned over the land for endless decades. But their power has waned, the populace no longer adores them like they used to, and opposing kingdoms watch and wait for their decline. Now, the imperial family is desperate and the only way to cement their power is to marry one of the imperial sons off to someone who has the bloodline of the Moon God, the brother and foe of the Sun Goddess. Naruto Fantasy Week, Day 4. Prompt: Japanese Folklore. [Itachi x Sakura] 

Text:

Flashback

Thoughts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Love, that is all the earth to lovers—love, that mocks time and space,

Love, that is day and night—love, that is sun and moon and stars,

Love, that is crimson, sumptuous, sick with perfume,

No other words but words of love, no other thought but love.”

 — Walt Whitman, The Mystic Trumpeter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The midday heat continued to beat down on the guards and servants who attended to their duties in the open foyer, where a cooling, welcoming breeze managed to infiltrate the open windows and doors and alleviated some of the humidity plaguing its working inhabitants. Sakura could already feel her inner layers soaked with sweat, cleaving to her body like a sticky second skin. Small tendrils of her hair plastered to the back of her neck and along the outline of her forehead, also damp from perspiration. Her chief lady-in-waiting, Ino, already had to reapply her blush and lipstick, knowing how much Emperor Fugaku, ruler of the Solar Kingdom, would judge the Crown Princess of the Lunar Kingdom, for simply sweating on a hot summer day after he kept her waiting for over a half hour. 

The princess sensed the reason for the delay and inwardly, Sakura was fuming at the blatant disrespect the Emperor, even now, was showing her. It was well known the Uchihas boasted having the blood of the Sun Goddess flowing in their veins, granting them divine rule over their subjects and they always looked down scornfully at those who were heralded to be descendants of the Moon God, the brother and rival of their precious Sun Goddess. But the last few decades, mayhap century, was not kind to the Uchiha rulers, as many of the Uchiha men (and sometimes, women) who succumbed to the unspoken but well known disease called ‘Mangekyō Madness’, reducing the afflicted into a bitter, paranoid mess cursed with blindness and rife with contempt for other clans, especially the so-called inferior ones. Everyone around them became an enemy to vanquish or subdue and usually, there was no cure or chance to regain sanity if the healers hadn’t taken steps previously to mitigate the effects of the illness. There were rumors this madness struck the Uchihas because of a crime one of their ancestors committed, Uchiha Madara, when he almost successfully wiped out the Senju clan to expand his kingdom’s territory. The Senju clan never forgot nor forgave the Uchihas for that massacre, especially since emperors after Madara vehemently denied the Uchihas were a part of such carnage and that Madara acted alone and was considered a ‘blight on Uchiha sun’. 

And thus, the imperial prestige slowly declined and now, Emperor Fugaku faced a dilemma: an unhappy, discontent populace, and watchful neighboring nations who were sharpening their weapons and honing their political strategy to see how much longer the Uchiha dynasty would last. Fugaku needed a strong alliance, once cemented by the bonds of marriage. So he begrudgingly entered negotiations with the Emperor of the Lunar Kingdom, Sakura’s uncle. Both parties agreed Sakura, the uncontested heir of her uncle’s great country, would marry one of the Emperor’s sons when she came of age. Such a celestial marriage would not only bring two mighty, prospering nations together but also join two royal bloodlines blessed by divinity. 

Sakura was thirteen when she caught wind of these negotiations and decided it would be her that decides which Solar prince she’d marry, not her uncle or her future father-in-law. And when the imperial family from the Solar Kingdom arrived a few months after her fourteenth nameday, Sakura began to enact her plan. 

Many of her entourage believed she would pursue the younger son, who was her age, but even though he was cannily pretty (most Uchiha were), Sakura cared not for his cold stares and the way he ignored everyone else if conversing with them was beneath him. He treated her best friend Ino brusquely when she tried to engage in several casual conversations to learn more about his character for Princess Sakura’s sake. Her final report on the second prince was less than glowing. There was that and the fact Ino swore to the Moon God that she witnessed him whispering in Karin’s ear, a medical apprentice who served the Uchiha family, and the girl kept blushing and smirking, taking the chance to suggestively stroke the young prince’s arm before he brushed her off to resume training. Even if there was nothing going on between them, Sakura sensed any relationship with him was doomed to fail. So she focused her attention on the older brother, Itachi.

Sakura smiled to herself as she recalled the first time she and Itachi encountered one another. It was a formal setting, a simple tea ceremony and later, a meeting for her uncle, Itachi’s father, and the ambassadors to discuss treaties and politics. Sakura found herself seated next to Itachi, the Crown Prince. Their discussion was, at first, cordial, ranging from her inquiring about how his stay in the Lunar Kingdom was faring and him saying he was enjoying the various landscapes he saw during his sojourn. Eventually, she learned he suffered from an unknown but not fatal physical ailment, which left him exhausted and tired often. In light of this information,  Sakura then recommended several teas with medicinal properties that would help boost his strength and energy if he drank them regularly. Three days later, Itachi returned to her to thank her personally for her sage advice, saying the teas she suggested were already showing some promise, and asked if she wanted to take a walk around the royal gardens and give him a tour. With a pleased grin on her face, Sakura whole-heartedly accepted, relieved to see Itachi was nothing like his younger brother, for simply being around the Solar heir put her nerves at rest and she soon found how easy and relaxing it was to talk to Itachi.

By the time Itachi had to return home, they already agreed to exchange letters to one another to continue their budding friendship. For four years they secretly exchanged letters back and forth, the friendship slowly melting into a clandestine romance, to the point they both vowed the moment Sakura entered the Solar Kingdom and stepped on soil from the imperial castle, the two of them would wed in secret. They couldn’t take a chance to leave the decision of Sakura’s groom up to Emperor Fugaku, for he was more partial in giving his second son, the spare, to the Lunar Princess because he believed his heir deserved a far more rewarding match. And to quell the rumors that Sasuke no longer had eyes for the noble girls his father tried to parade in front of him and was far more interested in a wandering, compassionate hedgeknight who often rescued or offered his services to the commonfolk amidst the Uchiha lands. He possessed eyes like the ocean blue and hair the color of the golden sun itself and Emperor Fugaku refused to let him on Uchiha grounds.

Within her first week in the Solar Kingdom, Sakura and Itachi were wed, their only other witnesses besides the presences of the Sun Goddess and the Moon God, the imperial family’s kannushi (who was entrusted to bless and formally bind the lovers together in a legal marriage), were Sakura’s chief lady-in-waiting and best friend, Ino, and Itachi’s cousin and confidante, Shisui. Her wedding night with Itachi was pure bliss and now that they were officially husband and wife, they had planned to break the news to the emperor tomorrow morning. 

Itachi went in first, knowing best how to pacify his father’s rage once he realized his original schemes were thwarted. He was also prepared to carefully explain to Emperor Fugaku why this matrimonial choice would suit all parties–Fugaku in particular. From her previous encounters with that rigid, unyielding ruler, Sakura suspected her father-in-law was the type of man who didn’t appreciate when events didn’t go his way or would balk at the idea of admitting that he made a mistake either in his reign or on his judgment. 

The doors leading inside the palace burst open and Itachi smoothly strolled out, the force of his gait causing his dark ponytail to swing around and collide with his left shoulder before resting there. Itachi’s expression remained stolid but the concern and disappointment marked in his obsidian eyes carried enough emotion and information for Sakura to surmise that Itachi’s conversation with his father did not go well at all. 

“Sakura, I am so sorry to have kept you waiting,” he apologized, grasping both of her hands to kiss them, his gaze never leaving hers. Sakura’s ire at her father-in-law steadily ebbed away, savoring Itachi’s touch and sweetness in their private, intimate moment together. “My father refused to come and greet you as my wife, and declared we are to be banished for a few months for marrying without his permission. He also rebuked me for falling prey to your wily charms.” He spoke the last part wryly and Sakura tossed her head back to laugh at the absurd accusation. Of course Fugaku would lay the blame squarely at her feet, for not falling in line and waiting to wed his second son simply so the Solar Emperor could feel far more superior over her and the Lunar Emperor. He may be hailed as a fierce warrior and shrewd monarch, but he also was such a petty man. 

“Banishment away from your father and all those prying, sneering nobles at court, where we can be left alone to our own devices?” Sakura mused drolly out loud, leaning in to plant a loving kiss on her husband’s cheek. “Are you sure the Emperor is punishing us?”

A half-smile spread itself across Itachi’s pale features, his eyes alight at her good humor. “He thinks you will be aghast to be away from such a pinnacle of power and influence and hopes when we return, you’ll be more of a demure, modest wife who will listen to his orders next time.” Both he and Sakura chuckled, imagining Fugaku’s future disappointment that his daughter-in-law was not so easily cowed.. “But we know that will never betide.”

“Of course not,” Sakura agreed, wrapping her hand around his as they sauntered out of the outside foyer and to the guest wings to pack all of Sakura’s effects before they started their journey to Itachi’s estates for their temporary exile. “If I was, then the Sun Goddess would never agree to our match during our covert marriage ceremony nor would have the Moon God made his presence known as well.” 

“I, the Moon God, father of the great lineage belonging to the Lunar Kingdom, come before you all today to bless this joining between a man of the Sun and a woman of the Moon. Do not forget the courage and willpower you had to make this moment possible, you shall need when the crowns sit on both of your heads.”

“I, Amatersau, the famed Sun Goddess, mother of the grand lineage from the Solar Kingdom, am here before you all today to also bless this joining betwixt two mortals, one of the Sun and one of the Moon. Bring back the prestige to my royal line and let the next generation of Uchiha men and women be stronger than ever!”

The words of both sibling deities still echoed in Sakura’s mind, a wish they claimed that only a couple of their caliber would bring to fruition. The Moon God and his sister, the Sun Goddess, a pair that was always at odds with each other since the dawn of time, somehow had their goals aligned when it came to influencing and blessing the union of two mortals who carried their divine blood. Albeit Itachi and Sakura truly didn’t need the blessing of two deities to know the true power and love of their union, despite how awe-inspiring it was to hear the loud, imposing voices of both the Sun Goddess and the Moon God all around them. Even if no one outside their small matrimonial ceremony believed their account, the future for the two of them seemed fortuitous indeed.

“Are you ready to go to your new home, my beloved wife?” Itachi’s face softened as he spoke. Those kind, mesmerizing eyes of his often took on a subtle but nonetheless elated luster whenever he continued to refer to her as his wife, and right now was no exception. Sakura’s heart swelled up with a mixture of pride, joy, and love towards him. They were indeed fortunate and blessed to have found each other even under the shadow of an arranged marriage.

“Yes, darling husband, I am,” she replied, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze. After all, a several month banishment with simply Itachi and her together, managing their estates, while devoid of haughty in-laws and other Solar nobles, sounded like the perfect honeymoon.

[hyperionshipping]

AHAHA

Henry I'm gonna fucking punch you in yer lower back dude

Open carry for alcohol

Jackolope.... THURSTON HEHEHE

Gold scales... hedgeknights...

👀👀👀

N....new Baroness?

Oh.

Hng. Henry you don't have a place to stay anymore huh?

HER TEARS COME OUTTA BUKVAR

SWEATING IS AN EMOTION

2 cigars per customer

Damn he's in jail

[agilneanrose]

“Why don’t you take the girls and go to Jaxson..”

My hedgeknight brother..I am sure he would welcome all of us in his tent.