In a massive ballroom with the night sky painted with incredible detail on the roof and large glass windows with ornate designs that reflected the moonlight and framed by royal purple curtains. In a palace larger than Kings landing and taller than mountains.
Many people gathered dressed in the finest clothing they had. Old men talking in hushed whispers about business or politics, young men and women laughing and talking gently while they looked at members of the opposite sex and occasionally asking for a dance, Wives chatting over wine or the large tables to the side maintaining family connections, gossiping and doing political scheming here and there, Military figures sat austere in the corner playing chess or talking. Serving staff in black suits moved around the various tables offering refreshments where needed.
The most out of place were the dignitaries from the continent who looked a bit funny as their clothing was a bit strange and they didn't seem to know how to Waltz but it was to be expected after all there culture was so far removed from our own. In time the dignitaries were integrated into the various groups mostly out of curiosity on both sides as well as the regents unofficial command to make some progress with them. It's a pity that most of them smelled so strongly of primitive perfume that it made that task very uncomfortable.
Serra had been stunned to many times since coming to this strange and wondrous land. Subtly glancing at the magistrate in front of her she understood she was not the only one. In fact she doubted if anyone from any land would not be shocked by this place. As she mingled with the magistrate and some of the nobles of Britannia she kept her ears open to anything regarding The Prince but it seemed the magistrates desperation had intensified since exploring the city as he simply asked one of the nobles not very tactfully. It was understandable of course he was under quite the pressure. It turns out the Prince is quite young and doesn't attend such gatherings frequently. This could be great if I could seduce him or at least whisper in his ear occasionally. It can also be bad if he has yet to find girls attractive then I would seem a rather pointless gift. I need to make a effort to seem more approachable to a young boy who just lost his parents maybe dress with more soft clothing and less gold and jewelry. Filling that place in his heart should get me decent protection from nobles who won't like a foreign whore so close to the future king.
Stannis was sitting next to Admiral Archer and some other military men playing a strange game called chess it was similar to the Westeros equivalent Cyvasse. He was informed that chess was much older dating back thousands of years ago in a empire in the east and it kept changing forms and names for different peoples till the present day. As he eventually got the hang of it and decided to the admiral about the Prince and his deceased parents in preparation for his audience tomorrow. The admiral seemed to be quite a bit more understanding of there situation as compared to some other nobles who seemed to look at people from the west and east as animals dressed in strange clothes. Despite their noble masks it could be seen through their eyes but few of the others seemed to notice and perhaps Stannis wouldn't of if not for Cersei once showing a similar expression but much more poorly concealed to some small folk and lower nobles. When he met her after she became Queen.
Admiral archer nodded in understanding as he played his move " First you must understand our empire is much more stable in terms of a Sovereigns power and influence. In the seven kingdoms the king has nominal control over the other lands through pacts, marriage, political and economic power or with Targaryens the absolute might of what you call Dragons as a additional factor. But are still trapped in a poor management system, heavily dependent on maesters and poor transportation logistics to keep order this all limits the kings true power in other territorys and without the speed of dragon flight checking on or changing the Seven Kingdoms in near impossible as such you now have a nominal ruler trapped in kings landing who if they made sweeping changes to how the system worked would have to deal with civil war even with dragons it would be pointless."
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Stannis frowned deep in thought but he saw no way for the system to change and no reason to do so after all it had always been that way and the problems of a observer might not be problems to the people involved. The Admiral continued.
"In the empire the sovereign can make changes to every level of society without the need to worry about rebellion because the nobles have no military power and the administrators who handle anything smaller than a city are chosen by the crown. Furthermore all nobles go to the royal academy since a young age and are instructed in the ideas of King, Country and Noblesse to avoid getting a stupid ruler only the best of the academy can inherent previous positions but this can be revoked by the house of lords in the case of incompetence. As such when pertaining to our young prince he has near absolute power in a true sense the only restriction is his age and the trials of rulership that I can't speak to you about. And a very dangerous political mind as he was not educated by maesters in a Castle but a school designed to be a snake pit of intrigue and schemes while cramming the knowledge of everything our nation has into the poor boy." The Admiral showed a bit of pity but if it was for the Prince or his own grandchild who could say.
Stannis made his move on the board then hesitated but eventually asked "How do the nobles have no military power such a thing should lead to chaos, what is the Noblesse you spoke about I've never heard of it and is there anything else I should know about."
The Admiral gave a small smile and handed a glass to Stannis and made his move "Your quiet good I suspected most Nobles from Westeros wouldn't dare admit ignorance and speak so bluntly but it seems I'm wrong. I'm afraid the military power thing is to long to explain but it's a sign of an advancing social structure and a high consolidation of power by the previous kings that built up over time. The Noblesse is the idea that with power comes responsibility in a simple sense it pertains to rulers of any kind you must not abuse your power or you will be thrown down by the people. Oh there is something important that I forgot to tell you the Prince is not blind."
This made Stannis pause as he moved his peace. He drank some form of strange alcohol and clarified." I received reports he wears a blindfold constantly and his guards never corrected any mistaken beliefs."
Checkmate the admiral said and continued" It was most likely the Prince making a show of it as he truly didn't care or a idea to get people to put down their vigilance. The answer to the blindfold is simply that his eyes see to much and so he has to limit them however that is only what I know and I'm not high enough to know everything and I wouldn't tell you if I was." The Admiral gave a smile and continued" Valarias noble familys all used magic extensively and this is reflected in silver hair, unique eye color and unnatural levels of beauty. I believe the main reason for the incest of the Targaryens was probably fear of losing their powers and dragons and as such they lost their powers, dragons and had mental problems passed down magic can only do so much to correct their bloodline. Now remember the Targaryens were only a minor house that fled before the doom the true kings and nobles had all their magic and powers unknown it's highly likely that our royals have similar abilitys simply by meeting the Prince you will understand my theory."
By the end of the evening mist of the guests were prepared to meet the Prince and contemplating if there gifts were worthy of such an encounter. Magistrate Vellore was quite happy with the woman that he had especially if the Prince was young but he also knew he dad to prepare the gold. And so another night of last minute preparing ensued among the guests.