“Queen Illa, please, I haven’t heard any updates on my daughter yet. No one will speak to me about her, or even about the team that was sent in to find her.” Queen Illa sighed. It was Arnold, again, barging into her office, again, to ask about his daughter and the company sent to find her. Again. He had asked for an update every day since they were sent out, and today especially was the second time he came in. It wasn’t even lunch time.

“If you haven’t gotten updates from them, then what makes you think I have anything to share?” Her voice showed in exasperation by now. She was completely swamped with work and yet here he was. Doesn't Arnold have anything better to do? Like his own work? But her attention was completely on the mess of papers in front of her. Repairing the docks was expensive and she didn't even want to think of Dawic. It was best to abandon it. Not to mention the preparation for the Midsummer Ball needed every attention she could spare on it.

Arnold paced around her office with his nails in his mouth. His other hand traced over a silver locket, intricately carved with a wide branching tree. It had Seila's portrait in it. He had shown it to her earlier in attempt to appeal to her motherhood but it did him no good. She still had no information to give to him. “Queen Illa, please. You may not care about your chil--”

Queen Illa slammed the pen on the desk and her temper lashed out in the form of a small gust of wind flipping over some stray papers. She glared at him. How dare he. Arnold stopped in his tracks as he realized what he was about to say to the Queen. “I’m so sorry—I-I didn’t mean...”

“Secretary of State Arnold,” the Queen emphasized his title to interrupt. She was quite angry at him to do so. Especially since she hardly ever refers to her council by their Lord title. He was already cowering in regret at her raised voice. “The team sent to retrieve your daughter is the best team we have. I have been assured they will find her,” she forced out through her clenched teeth.

“But it’s already been a few days. Shouldn’t we have at least received word that they’ve crossed the border by now? It certainly takes less time to get into Obraria. We're pretty close to the border.” Arnold suddenly gasped. “What if they’ve been compromised?”

Queen Illa finally gave up on what she was attempting to read on her desk and leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. She'll never get any work done. “If they are, of which I haven’t heard of such a situation from the Lord Marshal, then I will personally step in and do everything in my power to negotiate Seila back, as well as the team that was captured.”

Arnold paced around the room some more, as if even the personal promise of the Queen wasn’t enough to calm him down. She gritted her teeth in preparation of a comeback. “But what if--”

“Arnold, I don’t have the answers you're looking for,” Queen Illa said, a little more gently in volume this time but still stern and final. Her face softened as Arnold turned to face her. Devastation slowly dawned on his face as her words sunk in. He drew in a shaky breath but pressed his lips close together so as to not let his voice out and drifted towards the window.

She knew the feeling. The thought that his child may never come home. Illa knew the feeling. Her heart ached at what Arnold was going through. She sympathized with him, definitely. But the man was just so pushy she had lost her patience and was trying to say anything that would get him out of her office. Illa had felt only a little mean. He was the one who brought up her dead children first.

She took a deep breath, and stood next to him. They both gazed over the bustling capitol. It was a calming view, to be sure. The glistening bay. The gardeners tending to the flowers. The carriages arriving, hour after hour. Noticing the slow wear and tear on the centuries old buildings. “We’ll find her,” She whispered as she put a hand on his shoulder. “I promise.”

Arnold turned to her and searched her eyes. For what, she didn’t know. Hope? Truth? Finally he exhaled, rubbed his temples, and said, “I hope you’re right. I really do.”

Illa patted his shoulders in comfort and he turned to leave. The door opened to Lord Marshal, who patiently leaned against the wall. Illa didn’t know how long she had been standing there. “If I may?” she asked.

“Come in,” Queen Illa said, motioning towards the sofas. She poured some barley tea for them, and dropped a few ice cubes in each cup.

“Lord Marshal, once you’re done, might I have a word with you?” Arnold asked. No doubt to ask her as well about Seila and the company. She internally sighed. The man didn’t hear a word she said.

Lord Marshal nodded before closing the door rather rapidly. Once safely shut, Illa heaved a heavy groan and collapsed into her sofa. “Oh, poor Arnold. I know he’s worried about his kid but he’s asked me every day for an update that I just don’t have. I'm thinking of publicly sending Quince to Obraria to get a read on the situation. He'll have more diplomatic authority than a couple of spies or our Ambassador situated there.”

Eris sat in the seat right across from her and spread out some papers on the coffee table. “That sounds like a good idea. I don’t have any news for Arnold either. I’ve been too busy trying to finish setting up the company that’s going after the Master Earth Elemental to even look at updates from my generals.”

“Which is why you’re here?” Illa asked. She sat up to a more proper sitting position to work strategy with Eris.

“Yes. Here is who is going to fight the Master Earth Elemental.” Eris handed her one paper. “And here is who’s going to warn our Lacrussian allies near the border.” Eris handed her another paper. "I've also already sent word to Navy General Luena to be on lookout for the Master Water Elemental in our waters." At a glance both lists seemed rather short, but the diplomatic company even more so. It did make a bit of sense. They don’t need a huge company to give an update to an allied country, especially one that’s going to go through those tight mountains. It was better to keep the company small, as guards, for speed.

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Illa turned to the first list. “And you're sure this company is filled with plenty of skilled fighters?” She asked. She continued to read over the list in an attempt to see if she recognized any names.

“Yes. My generals and commanders helped me with this list. I’m still upset that one of our best elementalist is on the Deities’ quest, but it can’t be helped.” Eris rolled her eyes at the thought.

“That Kael fellow, was it? He was the one mentioned before, right?” Eris nodded and she continued. “What makes him so special?”

“He’s an earth elementalist, so he’s already in tune with the element he’s up against. But none can match his precision, that which is down to a fly. If this Master Elemental is as big as the reports say, there’s bound to be a few cracks and crevices that only he can pinpoint and destroy. He should be able to dismantle it without a large fight or heavy casualties. There ware some other precise folks in this company, but none are as skilled as him.”

“I suppose the current company will have to make do then.” Illa continued to scan through the documents. She couldn’t get over how it was such a short list though. Only 30 people were in the company sent after the Master Elemental. A normal company was well over 50, and sometimes over a hundred. “And we still have plenty of recruits left for a few more companies, right?” she asked, hopefully.

Eris deeply sighed. She must have weighed this thought against her conscience heavily. Illa already didn’t like the answer she was going toward. “Technically we do, but if we were to encounter a disaster as big as a Master Elemental again, I’m not sure the reserve we have at the moment is up to skill. We would suffer many casualties.”

Illa frowned and placed the papers on the table in front of her to see them all together. It would be difficult for the soldiers left behind to keep the city still in shape. She couldn't trust the guards to do their job. No doubt they would first demand additional compensation, and then fail at the task. If only there were more elementalists. There had been a decline in them for a while now, but only in the recent past decade it become a problem. Older soldiers need to be replenished and she couldn't help but notice more and more of them need to hold physical weaponry. “Then I hope this Master Earth Elemental is the only one we’ll encounter, and the Master Water Elemental stays away. Thank you, Eris.”

Eris formally bowed to the Queen, grabbed her papers, and left all in a swift motion. She didn't need to give her such an update, but Illa appreciated it all the same. Eris knew exactly what she liked to be kept up to date on in regards to their military. It wasn't much, but what she did want to know, the Lord Marshal was sure to be thorough.

Illa waited on the sofa after Eris left, hoping no one else would come in. She continued to review the papers Eris gave her. The clock ticked on in the silence as she casually sipped of her barley tea. No one else came in after Eris, and Illa was sure she was safe to continue her work in silence at her desk.

What Arnold had pointed out did worry her, to a point. There has been plenty of time for the agents sent out to arrive in Obraria and send a report. They technically didn’t need to, but it was still customary to report back to the general who sent out the company once they had arrived at the designated location. Given the situation, the report would have eventually made its way to her. And it wasn’t in her pile of papers.

The first place the company would go would be the capital, which she knew for a fact sold plenty of paper and ink. If Seila wasn’t there, she could be anywhere in that country, a land overflowing with forests. The assigned agents would have had an extremely difficult time searching it. They must be given time to search if that was the case, though she didn’t know how long she would need to give them before stepping in herself. Quince would have to be their best bet. Once settled, they could have consistent contact with her and Eris.

Illa sighed and got up to get a more clear view of the city through the windows. Her people may not completely love her, but she still tries to do her best. One thing Illa was still unsure about was why would they steal a child? Seila has nothing to do with the two country’s relationship, and she was sure Arnold’s opinions of Obraria were quite neutral. He never made any extreme decisions, much to Eris’ dismay. To target Arnold and Seila made no sense. No matter how much she wracked her brain she couldn’t think of a connection.

Deities forgive her for the thought, but Eris has children as well, though older than Seila. Perhaps the Obrarians wanted someone younger, and therefore easier to steal? They must be trying to leverage for someone, or get back at someone, Illa just couldn’t figure out who.

Illa sighed. Quince is going to hate her. They have plenty of work here, but she was about to send them to a territory on the brink of war. She opened the door, where her 2 guards stationed themselves on either side. "One of you bring me Lord Chancellor Quince."

"At once, Your Majesty."

It was only a short while before the door opened. Quince strode in, eyebrows furrowed. No doubt running through the thousands of possibilities of what she could have called them for. She motioned for him to take one of the seats in front of her desk, and they obliged. "I need to you go into Obraria, and find Seila."

Quince's face blanked. He even blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. For a second, I thought you told me to go into enemy territory and look for a missing child we have no location on."

"I did."

They stared for a few more moments. "You're not joking, are you? Why would you have me do such a thing? Do you know how much work I have? With the Midsummer Ball, and the docks, and the guards, and the Master Elementals?"

"I do. My spies haven't reported back to me, and I need someone with more power behind their name than an Ambassador."

Quince rubbed their temples. "Ambassador Miguel is a very friendly, and ambitious man. I have no doubts that he would find any way he could to accomplish any missions you would give him."

"You know how Emperor Sopros is. He has ignored all of my Ambassadors I have put forth for as long as I've been Queen. He will ignore this one as well, especially since he's now stolen a child of Listhua." Illa took her hand in Quince's. "You are the only one I trust to accomplish this. The Emperor will not be able to harm a single thread of your golden hair on your pretty little head. You can get an audience with him where Ambassador Miguel could not."

Quince was silent as they thought. They stared at their clasped hands, then glanced up at her. She was sure this upset them. "I know you hate to have your plans interrupted, but I trust you to get to the bottom of this."

"So Arnold can get out of your hair?" Quince snorted when they saw her surprise. "Don't act so surprise. I heard the servants whispering their awe at how many times he's visited your office these past few days."

Illa hung her head. "Fine, yes, ok. It's mostly to get Arnold to stop bothering me. But it's his right to worry as a parent. I can't help but feel..."

"I know. You have a soft heart. Arnold knows just how to push your buttons." They smiled as they placed their hand over hers. "Alright. I'll go to Obraria to find his missing child. But you owe for me this one."

"Thank you, Quince. Do let me know once you've arrived. Maybe then Arnold will calm down if he knew you went there yourself."

"*Knowing him*, he would incessantly send me letters the entire time I'm away."