Chapter 6 Be Our Guests

"The highest security will be needed present at this council. Adoria, you will be with me at all times during the meetings as personal guard."

"Are you sure, your majesty? I am honoured, but-"

"I am certain, Adoria. Do not doubt yourself. Now. Prim, would you be so kind as to tell me who is with who?"

The captain of the knights rose, her voice with a commanding authority.

"Yes, your majesty. With pleasure."

"Lady Marina will be accompanied by Vis. Manus will be with King Enji. Finally, Sal will accompany Luo. In the meantime, all who have been named shall undergo additional training to ensure they are kept in the best of body and mind before such an important duty."

"Extra training? But I'm always with Vis! You can't just pry him away from me!"

A complaint like this was not what I had expected from Uli, though I felt as though I was not in a position to judge given some of my decisions for the upcoming council. Still though, she deserved an explanation.

"Uli, please calm yourself. It is because you are always together that he is able to fulfil this great honour. There is no one more knowledgeable and passionate on the events in Aqua than yourself. Therefore, it only made sense that the capable knight given this position was the one who could be found by your side more often than not."

Though she voiced no further complaints, I could tell that Uli was not as satisfied with that as I had hoped. Dahlia gave me a small smile as I began to speak again.

"I understand we have not been acquainted for long, all of you and I. However, I am certain we are all of the belief that this council must simply be perfect. We are presenting a new leader, and in turn a new system to the world. As such, first impressions are as important as they come! If we do not leave good ones, they may become last impressions instead!"

That line was something Dahlia had mentioned to me. They were in no way my own, though I was beginning to fear the weight of them. This would be my first meeting with other leaders. My first interaction with other nations in general, even. I had only heard stories. I had not set foot even in Port Terra, let alone the rest of the world!

Dahlia was subtly holding back laughter; I could tell these things by now. No doubt lay in my mind that she had recognised her borrowed words. It was no surprise that she would find this amusing. It was often not intentional that I had made her laugh despite it happening rather frequently. Some things I said to her seemed to amuse her to no end.

Despite the laughter that the former queen had been supressing, my speech had been met with hearty cheers and proud salutes across the hall. At the very least, I knew I was not the only one who was passionate about making this council a success. My own future may be dependent on it, so the first impression would be just as important as I had made it sound.

As always, Adoria was a presence of vocal support though she was certainly not the only one. I had not been expecting things to go quite so well with my talk.

"Failure is not an option!"

Deciding on one more snappy shout before the council was dismissed from this morning's meeting, I could not help but feel a well of satisfaction rise within me.

The busy errands of the day were not to end there, however. Next, I would be addressing the ones who clean the palace. They would need to know how to arrange and decorate the rooms of the other travelling royals, of course.

"Where is Anna?" I questioned another maid who happened to pass by.

That same shy maid who had reluctantly approached me on the days before my coronation just so happened to have been the head maid within the Earthen Palace. At this moment, I found myself in great need of her.

It was not long before our paths met, so our planning began. It was not easy to give what was essentially a lecture to a group of maids and butlers, but it had to be done in order to make sure that everything about the upcoming council was handled with care and precision.

I would not tolerate any missteps. Quite simply, I could not afford to. In these days, leading up to the council, I am afraid I became more aggressive and demanding. Such qualities may not be out of place seen upon a Queen, but they should not have been to the lengths I had gone during this time. No Earthen Mother should have been acting like that, I could not help but feel.

Be that as it may, the time was becoming closer and closer. It felt as if I was running out of time. I had very specifically left time for certain things. Personal desires, perhaps unfitting of a new Queen when she should be thinking of her nation but needs all the same. Before the council came, I would see to it that I met with Gaius and Lami again. I could not simply go with only writing to them for so long. Bringing them here was not so much a choice rather than something I felt as if I needed to go on.

Dwelling and pondering on this again, those same questions as always rose back to me. They simply would not leave me alone. Was I really worthy of my title? Did The Great Oak make a mistake?

Questions that I should not be pondering over so much. Whatever the case happened to be, the simple fact was that I now was the ruler and therefore the logical course of action would simply be to help shape this nation into greatness as well as I could.

To my surprise, it was not Adoria or Dahlia who found me in this pondering state but Uli. Her blue bob of hair was enough to catch my attention as she passed by before she began to speak.

"Your Majesty...are you alright?"

At that moment, it was as if something had clicked inside my brain.

Shaking my head, I offered Uli a friendly smile.

"I am quite alright. Uli, you are an expert of The Great Ocean. Would you happen to know anything about Grand Lady Marina?"

"Oh, well of course your majesty! What do you need to know? I got to meet her once a few years ago it was so exciting and Atlantis was so beautiful and the boats oh my gosh!"

Amidst the haste and rush to prepare the Palace for the council, Uli was like a light at the end of the tunnel. I had been so foolish.

It was no use simply delegating all my preparations for the other leaders to my subjects and servants. Given that I would be talking to these people as well, it would only be natural I try to learn about them beforehand! It was simply necessary to discover as much as I could about each of them. Luckily for myself, no one was a bigger expert on Aqua than our very own Uli.

"You do not say, Uli? Please tell me what she is like, if you would."

"Oh I'd love to, your majesty!"

Without breaking my silence, I simply offered another smile to Uli and let her continue. For once, the ramblings did not seem to irritate me and I found myself hanging on to every word.

"She's very beautiful, Lady Marina! What I learned was that because of how the culture is in Aqua, she really doesn't care much about the delicate stuff with royalty, just how capable you are! You gotta show her that you're strong!"

"Strong, you say? Should I be joining the Earthen Knights in their training drills then?"

"No, of course not your majesty! What I mean is that you gotta show her you have strong spirit! Determination, those kinds of qualities!"

At that I failed in suppressing a small chuckle, though I had tried very hard not to sound like Dahlia as I did so.

"Uli, is there anything else pertinent about Lady Marina that I should know? Must I address her in a certain way?"

"Well, her highness Dahlia used to simply call her by her name, but I don't know if that would be the best idea for a new ruler…"

"I see…Lady Marina shall suffice, then."

Hours passed as we talked. Chatting away, the sun descended, and night fell, leaving us with the moonlight shining in from the window. I had not realised how long it had taken to discuss something as simple as this with Uli, but I could not feel as if I had deepened my connection with her.

It was as if I had finally made another friend. Of everyone within the palace, I could only truly consider Adoria a friend rather than someone who was my servant or an employee.

Were feelings like this the right ones to bear as a Queen, however? I knew I was not to let personal feelings interrupt as much as I was able to help it, but I did not know the correct move here.

Regardless of what the correct move may have been, the information I had gained was to be essential. That much was a necessity, gaining all the information I could on Lady Marina. The more I knew about these people coming to the palace in the coming weeks, the better. Even just one ally or friend in power of another of the four nations could mean the difference between disaster and survival for me when I was to introduce myself.

Though it was late, I still sought information on the other leaders of the four nations and there were no experts to the extent that Uli was on Aqua regarding Ventus and Ignis. As much as I hated to admit it, the most logical course of action was to seek out Dahlia as the former Earthen Mother.

Despite the time of night, I found myself quickly being invited in by her majesty when I asked to chat.

"You want to know about the other rulers, you say?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"As I have told you many times, just Dahlia will do. You are my Queen now, after all. Though, I am surprised you did not ask sooner."

"Why did you not simply tell me?"

That laugh was present again. Perhaps if I had been more secure in myself, I might have found the sound endearing, but as it was I could only hear it as a mockery of my inexperience and naivety.

"The answer is simple, Miss Sylvari. You know it already, do you not?"

Looking down, I slowly shook my head. With weeks to go before the Council of Four Nations, questions like these did not fill me with confidence. There was still so much I had to learn. It was not certain that I would ever have a grasp on it.

"Not everything will come to you without you doing anything. Even if you are the Queen, you must still have the drive and ambition to seek out knowledge yourself."

This statement had only served to confuse me further as I saw it.

"But then why would you-"

"Miss Sylvari. Accepting that you may need help from others is also a large part of growing not simply as a Queen, or a ruler, but as a person. There is no shame in seeking assistance from another."

"Well, your maj-Dahlia, I know that already, but I fail to see how that changes much. Regardless, may we get to the topic at hand?"

"Of course, of course. Who would you like to know of first? King Enji or Council Leader Luo. Both of them are quite interesting people you are soon to be acquainted with."

"I would like to hear of King Enji, first. Given the proximity of Ignis to Terra, it may be more helpful to gain his trust and friendship than Luo's."

"Well, the first thing you should know about the King of Ignis is that he very much fitting of being the ruler of the land of fire."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that he is a hot-headed fool who needs to learn to calm down before he speaks."

Dahlia's expression twisted into from a gentle smile into one of frustration as she began to complain about the King.

"Not only is he a hot-headed fool, but he is far too stubborn! Once he is set on something, he will have no mind of flexibility or adaptation, only his way will stand!"

It was the first time I had heard Dahlia angry. It was frightening, the way her calm demeanour quickly slipped away revealing this passionate rage hiding underneath. I had not known what they clashed over, but I decided it would be best to avoid bringing that question up.

"Stubborn…and hot headed. Very well, I suppose that means I should be careful with my words around King Enji. What of Luo?"

Taking a sip of the tea she had brewed for us, Dahlia seemed as if she had snapped back to her cool and collected usual self within just a few moments.

"Luo, I cannot help you with as I did with Enji."

I did not know if I would have counted that rage as aiding me, but I dared not speak my mind in front of Dahlia after that.

"Why not?"

"Quite simply, I found him hard to read. I met with him only a few times, but he would always strike me as uncaring, aloof. I was unsure what someone like him was doing as the leader of Ventus, but he had gained many admirers and helpers who travelled with him."

I would have to be careful to keep notes of all of this information in my head. Any amount of it could potentially be incredibly helpful in even just swaying another royal leader into liking or supporting me.

Though the questions continued for much of the night, I did not find myself with much information on anyone who was not Marina after all was said and done. I hoped the very little I had learned would prove to be valuable.

Thanking Dahlia for her time, I excused myself and exited to my chamber. Before writing the usual letters to Lami and Gaius, I made sure to write an agenda of what the next day's plan would be. From what I had learned, the best chance I had at gaining allies was befriending Lady Marina with the help of Uli. In order to do so, I began to brainstorm which issues Terra could aid Aqua with and how I could make them feasible.

Scratching away at the parchment, it was not until the sun rose that I found myself able to rest. Without having had much sleep, this next day would be just as tough to manage as all the others.

I did not even have time to write my personal letters.

I missed them.