Chapter 4: In The Library

Her father was waiting for her when she made her way into the castle.

"You're cutting it a tad fine," he said in a lazy voice.

Instead of replying, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hello daddy."

"Hello Kumari." Her father was not one for breaking with tradition. Today was her Commencement day and as such she would be addressed by her title, even if his eyes did shimmer with pride.

"They're waiting?"

"Yes Kumari. They're in the library."

Bae smiled. Her father was as always looking out for her. By placing the delegates in her favourite room in the castle he was hoping to put her at ease. Of course, the Commencement itself would not take place in the library but it was the perfect place to greet the delegates.

"Your advisers are waiting in the study to talk you through who has come."

She nodded. The last thing she wanted was another lesson from her advisors but if it resulted in her getting the names of the visiting delegates right, it was worth her frustration.

They walked through the palace in silence until they reached the door to the study.

"You'll make a wonderful Queen." Her father's words took her by surprise. "Trust the magic."

Entering the study, she found her seven advisors waiting impatiently for her. Her Chief Advisor, Adelaide, was pacing the length of the room while the other six sat at the circular table, all with tapping limbs. Some were tapping a foot on the floor, other's their fingers on the table; not one was able to sit still.

When they saw her enter the room, their movements stopped and they all got to their feet before bowing deeply.

"Kumari," they said as one.

She shook off their greeting and invited them to sit back down. Adelaide was hesitant but she took her seat opposite the Kumari.

"We don't have much time," Adelaide began, another sibling who had been able to put her grief aside in the name of duty. Perhaps they all believed that they would be able to grieve tomorrow when the Commencement was over with, except Bae knew better. Tomorrow they would begin planning for her tour of the Realm. Where Kael had the ways of the Canku about him, Adelaide was everything that was Laoshian. The Canku tribe were warriors, famous for their brutality and cunning while the Laoshian tribe were academics, passing down knowledge from one generation to the next. If there was something to be known, the Laoshian advisor would know it.

Laoshi was another of the tribe lands that Bae was eager to visit. She'd heard rumours of their endless libraries and could not wait to see them for herself. Laoshi was said to be completely different to Kumai, where Kumai was forest upon forest with the Kumaian Ren living in treehouses, Laoshi was a city where the buildings were as tall as the highest tree in the realm.

When Adelaide had been fifteen she had been sent away to Laoshi for her final training and had not returned until last year when she had turned eighteen, ready to take up her role as the Chief Advisor to the Kumari. Bae being only fourteen when her sister left, had been incredibly envious. She had desperately wanted to go with her but her place was within the protective walls of the palace.

"Tell me who has come," Bae asked in her most authoritative voice, although she believed it significantly lacking. She was not her mother.

Adelaide being the Chief Advisor, was the first to speak. "As you know, there are three delegates from each tribe."

Bae did not respond other than with a nod of her head.

"First there are those from Canku," one of the other advisors said.

Recognising him as the advisor from the Cankurian tribe, Bae almost let out a sigh. The order of the realm must never be broken, she knew that, but she really wished they could at least change up the order in which they talked about the tribes. Why must Canku always come first and Wenhe always last?

"They have sent one of the Princes, Armel and two Cankurian Generals; General Zhanshi and General Jeonsa."

"Prince Armel, General Zhanshi, General Jeonsa..." Bae said under her breath as she tried to memorise the names.

"The prince is a piece of work," Adelaide said, much to the annoyance of the Cankurian advisor. "The delegates from Laoshi are far more amenable." Bae noticed the slight bias her sister held towards her own bloodline.

They continued on naming the various delegates before finally she was allowed to make her way into the library.