“Okay, what the hell are you talking about?” Cecilia

That came out a little harsher than I expected.  Oops!  His grin only widened and said another few words I wasn’t expecting.

“Nothing you need to worry about milady.” Gabriel

Alright, deserved the harsh tone.  After he said those words, he promptly crossed his arms in front of his head and used them as a rest for his entire head on the wooden table.  I just stare at him for few seconds before going to poke him.  Yup, he’s asleep.  I look questioningly at dad who currently has a helpless expression on.

“His name is Gabriel, he’s you minister of affairs, which means he “finds the best ways to shut the nobility the hell up,” as he would most likely define it.  The kid deserves some rest, hasn’t slept for three days straight trying to figure out a way for you to get the nobility’s approval and survive.” Dad

Three days?!  I immediately retract my hand from poking his cheek anymore.  Also, why is this kid so young and sitting on the council?  If he were a Beast-Kin at fifteen, I would understand, but this one is just an Erian pureblood.  They don’t mature as quickly as most other races once they hit puberty, and maintain a constant rate of maturation, despite being half North-Kin.  North-Kin hit puberty in different stages, all depending on their muscle mass and physical capability.  Plains-Kin are the shortest lived of the races, but damn do they make it count.  Their mental acuity is out of this world and they pick concepts up the fastest out of all the races.  It’s not that the others are slow, the Plains-Kin just have a freakish amount of mental potential.  

Doesn’t mean they all live up to said potential.

“So, you’re to be our new Queen, eh?” Stone-Kin

The first one to start not inspecting me was the Stone-Kin.

“That would be correct, my name is Cecilia, as you already know, no doubt.” Cecilia

I give him a nod of the head while he gives me a standard Erian greeting for one's liege, which consists of simply bowing the head while extending both of your hands in front of you.  While doing so he begins giving his introduction.

“Minister Tor, milady.  I also act as representative for the Dwarvish, or Stone-Kin as you would call it, Confederation.  If you need something official done in the kingdom, I am your man.” Tor

Next up was the man in all black, who had also given a customary greeting.

“Spymaster.” Spymaster

And that was it.  I know that people like him don’t like to say much and have even less known about them, so I let it slide.  Next up was the Grand General….

And nothing.  We just stood there, staring at one another.  I didn’t have that weird feeling that I did with Gabriel, rather he just stood there, scowling at me.  I then started feeling coy and waved at him, and again he didn’t respond, his eyes didn’t even move.  At this point, I started feeling worried, but dad just came out of nowhere and jabbed the base of his cane into Saran’s loosely covered foot, causing the huge man to yowl and started shouting bloody murder at my father, who himself was yelling at Saran about being useless except when it came to fighting.  This continued for a few minutes before a familiar and annoyed voice came from behind me.

“Oi, you schmucks!” Gabriel

Everyone turned around to a pissed off looking Gabriel.

“Saran, if you don’t stop acting like a child, I will agree to a certain countesses requests for further ‘martial training.’”  Gabriel

The terrifying beast that looked like he could kill everyone in the room’s expression froze and starts speaking in obvious fear.

“You wouldn’t.” Saran

Gabriel then pulls out a letter with a noble’s crest on it as well as a stamper that has the general’s seal on it.  He then grabbed a purple candle out of another one of his endless pockets and held it’s wick near a lit candle on the table.  His expression was steely and no nonsense.

“Try me.” Gabriel

His gaze then shifted to my father.

“And you, I know it’s just the six of us, but we need to make sure your last few months of rule are the brightest they have ever been.  People will claim you made this decision in some delirious fit and won’t hesitate to discredit and assassinate her majesty if they aren’t sure this is for the best.  The nobility might not like you, but all the families have at least someone who understands why they don’t piss off commoners.  Make it so that by pissing on your memory for these last few months, they are pissing on every goddamn commoners head to the point where noone can take even an insulting joke thrown at you.” Gabriel

He then turns to me.

“And you, no matter what happens, if you marry the count... Count of…. Duke of Ergen’s son, I... will…. maasdfhklnvick….” Gabriel

And like that, he passed out again.  As silent as a dead body.  And unmoving.  And very pale.  Is he actually dead?  Probably not, but a girl can dream.

The hell did that come from?  Also, why is my Beast side starting to get really, really hungry for red meat?  I’ll have to consult the journal, but for now, I should get back to this meeting.  

Saran still looks pale and dad seems a little guilty looking.  Seriously, where did dad find that kid?  I mean, he just blackmailed the most dangerous man in the kingdom and his boss, and somehow doesn’t already have absolute power in Eria.  Still, gotta respect him.  Anyone who can make The Scourge of Dar go pale is a hero in his own right.  Still, did he just give dad a lecture?  Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?  Then again, dad wouldn’t take a worthless yes-man as his advisor, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

Saran then goes ahead and kneels in front of me!  Seriously, why is he so afraid of a single countess?!  This man butchered an entire island full of ex-soldiers and mercenaries who turned bandit.  Those guys were fearless!  Hell, an entire nation's navy was being pressured by those guys!  And Saran just said “fuck it” and took a goddamn dingy!

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Anyways,

“Ah, sorry about my rudeness milady, I am Saran, the Grand General and Admiral.  I watch over all things regarding the military, with the exception of the Ranger’s Pact and Adventuring-Mercenaries Guild.  The Mercenaries guild will report through Executive Joshua and you’ve no doubt met Master Y’mar.  They act independently of us, but still require my or your sanction.  If Y’sar’s praises of your skill in combat are true, then it will no doubt be an honor to serve under you.” Saran

Dad looks surprised and glares at Saran.

“I thought none of us were to get status updates on my daughter?” Dad

Saran looks a little sheepish.

“Well, you seeee, I may have forgotten what her name wassss.” Saran

“Hahh~, why am I even surprised.  Anyways, Cecilia, you should get a rest and get properly dressed.  Come with me, a servant girl will no doubt have your bath already drawn, and no offense, but you smell rank, and slightly bloody...  I would ask how, but you always were a tomboy...” Dad

The last part dad groaned beneath his breath, but my hearing is shared between a Wolf-Kin and a Wood-Kin, both notorious for their auditory capabilities; and something very few purebloods want to admit to, is that, in some cases, mixed bloods get the compounded effect of a bloodline’s positive attributes.  And the thing is, I seem to have gotten all the positive attributes, even a Serpent-Kin’s resistance to most reptilian poisons that not even all Serpent-Kin get!

Got the short end of the stick when a certain assassination attempt backfired and hit me instead of Talia, but God do I wish it had actually worked.  Don’t remember what happened to the snake though, but then again, I don’t think I want to remember a lot of the things that happened that day.

*shivers*

The stories…

We say our goodbyes and go out of the doorway, following a path back into the first ring, pretty much anything regarding the daily life of the royalty exists in the first ring.  We enter and dad parts along the way saying that he needs to go back to rest, he gets tired easily, which isn’t surprising.  Honestly, it’s more surprising that he can still walk.  

Right now I’m standing in the middle of the gardens with only the one Royal Guard.  He’s a big man, but not in stature.  While he may stand just as tall as me, around 5’5”[mixed-bloods have trouble with bloodlines screwing up their growth patterns.]  What really set him apart, though, were his muscles.  The man’s pauldrons were large, and I doubt a man with much fat could make it into the Royal Guard with my dad and Saran in charge of things, though Saran’s sphere of influence is kept mostly to the standard military to prevent a coup.  

I decide to finally ask the man for directions.

“Uhm, sir, could you point me in the direction of the baths?  Been awhile since I was last here and I can’t remember the way.” Cecilia

He just points in the direction we need to go, which is towards a building that is unconnected to the main spire of the palace.  The spire is mostly for show nowadays, but apparently the construction is Eldar-Kin.  Wouldn’t surprise me, the damn thing looks like it was built yesterday!  

I nod at the stumpy, overly-buff guard, taking a second to memorize more about him.  Some nobles have been killed rather easily just because they couldn’t tell their guards apart from assassins.  Anyways, the guy is obviously part Stone-Kin with a beard like that.  Don’t ask me, but it’s just one of those things that Stone-Kin do on instinct, they feel incomplete without them.  Kind of like a shaved Beast-Kin, or a lizard type Beast-Kin with hair.  Still don’t know what their always on about though, I feel right and cozy like I am now.

But then again, those lizard types always do go on about their… what did they always call it?  Woman-scaping?  Hell if I know, but the female Rangers who were reptilian always tried to shave me in the bath house...

*shivers*

So many scales…  bodies shouldn’t contort like that… the Croc-Kin didn’t even look like a woman!!  

Of course, none of this showed on my expression.  Training with a provocateur for five goddamn years had some positive effects, at least.  So, after giving my bodyguard a nod in thanks, we make for the building.  It’s an extension of the palace, connected through a thin corridor.  The buildings in each ring make different symbol in Old Erian, which was a language based on sigils and runes.  The sigil that the palace makes up translate to “Greatness through Vigilance.”  

Two words that have never been disgraced more in recent generations.  The motto doesn’t belong to my family, it actually belongs to the family my great-great grandfather usurped.  How the hell else do you think none-Erians took the throne?  My grandfather was a pure blooded Wood-Kin!  Though it’s probably for the best that the relatives are dead, I hear it wasn’t going too well, and that dad was the only sane one.  Something about most of his relatives being inbred, incestuous shits and dwarves who frequented brothels with their mercenary buddies.  Had no idea what he was talking about, but hey, i haven’t really spent much time looking up the family history.  The Eria dad rules and the Eria grandpa ruled are wildly different, even our stance on war is different.  Though, yet again, stories for later.

We enter the doorway, which has carvings of a dead dragon and what looks like some sort of hero standing over it.  I open the door and look back at the guard for continued advice.  He gets the message immediately and points at a wall… okay, I get that this place has a couple secret passageways, but come on!  There is no way that they fit one in the small space between the walls.  But then it hits me!

The wall is covered in a series of sigils written in the old tongue, the runes for different toiletries and such adorning them.  I forgot about these things!  I always loved the beautiful designs the starstone made when mom activated the sigils.  Mom never let me activate them when she was teaching me the old tongue, not that I blame her.  I was a bit ditzy as a kid, so knowing me, I would most likely have kept turning the damn thing on and off again in a frenzy of giggles.

Now that I think about it, nobody besides the guard is actually here, and there aren’t that many people here….

Time to indulge in the pleasures of a little girl, I still have a few weeks left before my 16th birthday after all.

I immediately turn it on, the nightstone and starstone immediately reacting to cause a flurry of soothing, white light to race down the hall.  Then I turn it off, and on, and off, and on, and off….

“Hehehehehehi” Cecilia

*********************

Gabriel POV:

I wake up from my slumber and look around the room groggily.  Looks like the meeting concluded while I was asleep, damn.  I really need to get some goddamn sleep, or as Underling number two would probably put, “to get laid.”  Hmph, as if some pretty woman would even be interested in my crippled ass.

As I think that, I shift my stumps over the side of the chair and start strapping myself in.  The leather harness for my false legs wrapping tightly around my thighs.  Hahh~, then again, one noble did say that with power comes pussy, but then again, he was murdered by three of his harem mates when he was still just 24.  Seriously, what idiot takes three members of the same High-Beast race as concubines?  They wouldn't exactly care if they were all from different races, but the instant you pick more than one, it’s all downhill from there.

I pick my cane up from it’s resting place on the leg of the table.  Really though, did they have to make this entire semicircle from the same piece of wood?  I know that some of the trees in Wood-Kin lands get big, but this is just ridiculous!  The thing is large than a common room back in my home town and it’s just a quarter of the tree’s circumference!  

While I think such thoughts to myself I twist the head of my cane to the setting so that it’s inbuilt flute makes the high pitch noise associated with following.  Quickly raising the hole to my lips I blow air through it, and can almost hear the running of my good ol’ companion Vanar.  I seriously don’t get why everyone in the palace is always raving about naming their companions in Eldar, I honestly prefer the stronger feeling of a name spoken in the old tongue.  Vanar means hunter, quite an appropriate name for one of the biggest Wargs I’ve ever seen, if you ask me.

I make my way through the hall as my metallic reminders clink and wheeze as they accommodate my weight.  I should really get new legs, these ones are getting uncomfortable.  Did I gain weight, or is it just growth in general?  Hahh~, not like it matters in the long run.

With some difficulty I manage to get through the door, the feet of my legs must be wearing down from the constant use, since I seem to be sliding all over the place when putting any actual exertion on them.  I then exit just in time for Vanar to show up and stand expectantly for a rub on the back of his head, right behind the right ear, just where he likes it.  Domestication is a constant process, after all.  If I fall behind on teaching him such lessons, well…

Might need some new staff in case some ditz decides he’s just some cute pup.  Saran nearly lost his good hand when he did that, though I’ve managed to get Vanar better trained since then.  I do as he bid, but did remember to bump him on the snout for acting like he deserved good treatment.  I’m the alpha in this relationship, not him.  If he thinks he’s the alpha, things will get bad.  Beasts are just like children in a sense, give ‘em an inch they take a mile.  

I turn towards Arafael’s Spire, a bit of a stupid name if you ask me.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, nobody with enough knowledge in even the basics of history wouldn’t respect the Eldar and their names; but this spire is Erian now, it is inside of the Erian Royal Palace and we own it and are currently translating it.  Why not give it a new name?  Ah hell, no use crying over something that barely concerns me.

I know my job, fuck over the nobility that fucks over the commoners.  Fuck over the commoners that fuck over the other commoners.  And in the end, hopefully find a wife that doesn’t mind her husband not having legs.  

As if those exist.  I got the feeling that would simply be a relationship based on pity, not a household to raise a few kids in.  I mean, it’s not like I’m all that bad looking, pretty average, so maybe…

I continued my internal ramblings about the hopeful scenarios in which I actually find a person to get into a relationship with.  I passed through the the Elder-Wood, steel reinforced and water essence treated doorway into the first ring of the palace, going towards my room.  I sleep near to the bathing area, a personal preference.  I honestly prefer sleeping in a wet place, come winter.  It’s only ever a problem in the summer, when the humidity is enough to make me want to destroy the damn area, but that’s only on particularly hot days.  The sound of the water alone is enough for me to sleep soundly there, bar the overly comfortable beds and silky blankets.

On my way I see the passageway towards the bathing house flickering on and off with light, a certain woman’s inane giggling accompanying it.

…

Hahhh~...

Why does my boss have to be both unbelievably hot and cute at the same time?  Please God, tell me this at least?