Syllvia: The Eldest

While it was true that, as the first child of Camilla's first husband, Syllvia would most likely be the one to inherit the throne should she die or abdicate it, it was also true that she was the one unquestionably in the best physical shape of them all, which would certainly please the Dragon Prince. Though that might cause other issues, Camilla mused, as Syllvia plainly wanted to be a knight instead of a princess.

Even since she had been able to walk, Syllvia had taken a weapon in hand. Always training for battle despite all attempts to make her more properly lady-like, always admiring of her father's feats of strength and bravery on the fields of battle and vowing to surpass them after his tragic fall.

Camilla suspected, given all of that, Syllvia would not easily accept the responsibility that her mother was about to ask of her... but she still had to ask. If, somehow, she accepted, then at least the Queen could be certain her daughter would not die, childless, on some muddy battlefield at the nation's borders.

Not even an hour after she had sent one of her guards to find Syllvia, Camilla looked up from where she sat as the large doors to the chamber opened to allow the guard to reenter along with her daughter.

Syllvia was a tall, broad-shouldered woman with her short blonde hair cut close around her ears so that it could fit in her helmet when she elected to wear it. The heavy but simple steel armor she wore was unadorned, as was the tradition for those who had not yet partaken in actual combat outside of the occasional tournament. It also hid most of her figure, which Camilla knew was not unlike her own in terms of bustiness and roundness of hip. "You summoned me, Mother?" Syllvia asked, her ice blue eyes flashing with annoyance and her thick red lips twisted down in a serious scowl.

"I am sorry to interrupt your training," Camilla said, "but an important event has come to pass and it requires that, as my eldest daughter, I ask if you will be willing to take the responsibility that is to come."

Syllvia's scowl faded to a look of concern and, from what Camilla knew it meant when she shuffled ever so slightly from foot-to-foot, nervousness. "Mother?" she asked, "Is something wrong? Are you feeling... well?"

"I am in fine health," the Queen replied with as warm a smile as she could manage in the situation, "So fear not. I shall not be forcing the crown upon you this day. However... the duty I will require one of you children to undertake may be as just as important to the future of the kingdom. And as the eldest, and strongest, of all of them, I have decided to ask if you will be the one to do so first."

Syllvia's eyes lit up with an eager curiousness as she asked, "Could this be... a quest?"

Internally, Syllvia tried to keep her eagerness down, trying to remain professional as a true knight would even as a lifelong dream that what she wished to be was potentially on the cusp of being validated.

"Of a sort," Camilla said, her tone of voice alerting Syllvia that the Queen probably had something else in mind.

Syllvia's concern grew as her mother nodded to the two guards, who swiftly left to stand outside, leaving mother and daughter alone to continue their conversation. When Camilla did resume, Syllvia was caught utterly off guard at her mother's next question.

"Daughter, in all your time around the men as you have trained and gotten to know them, have you ever... KNOWN any of them?"

Syllvia sputtered, her face turning red in embarrassment, "M-MOTHER!"

"I am not... comfortable asking this either," Camilla said, her own cheeks tinting slightly crimson as well, "but I would not ask were it not important."

"I... have not," Syllvia finally replied, "It would seem most men prefer softer women they can easily pull into their laps or who's interests are in poetry and music. And even then, if a man does show interest in me, he'll have to prove himself worthy of me first."

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them before Syllvia added, "But why is knowledge of my sex life, or lack thereof in this case, so important Mother?"

The blonde haired daughter's eyes widened and she further stated, a note of panic in her voice, "It could not be... an arranged marriage?!"

"Not... exactly," Camilla replied, licking her lips nervously, "It is time I told you, daughter, one of the greatest secrets this kingdom has. And it involves our allies, the dragons."

The Queen then told Syllvia exactly what was happening, what would be expected of her should she accept, and if she did not that Camilla would then have to start asking her younger sisters instead... or simply command one if none agreed to go willingly.

The silence returned, going from uncomfortable to outright stifling. Syllvia's eyes had gone wide and her face turned red once more as she considered that, instead of a knight that could slay a dragon, her mother was asking her to become a princess that laid a dragon.

Camilla bit her lower lip, worried about who to ask next should Syllvia refused... and also worried about what it meant if she accepted.