Two hours later the Erst ambassador arrived at the palace. I had him taken to the throne room and met him there. He was a balding middle-age man of patrician bearing, and when he saw me he got down on one knee and placed his right hand over his heart.

"Your grace," he said to me, acknowledging my royalty.

"There's no need for that, officially I'm not even the queen yet, I'm still to be coronated."

"I am Frederick Bornheim, Erst kingdom ambassador to the kingdom of Aseron, I have come seeking an audience with the queen regarding future relations between our kingdoms."

"Let's talk in my study, this room doesn't exactly lend itself to candor. Follow me."

I led him to my study where, before we took our seats, he took a moment to look out of the window at Myra and the chicks.

"I've never seen one up close before."

"Most people haven't, their reaction is always the same as yours."

"You realize that with a phoenix under your control you are most likely the most powerful ruler in the realm."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"If possible I'd prefer not to use her as part of any offensive action; I don't want people thinking of me as some sort of genocidal tyrant."

"That is an admirable sentiment, however it would seem a waste to be in possession of such enormous power and never use it."

"I didn't say I would never use her, she would be a last resort, and if it came to that I would not hesitate to have her reduce to ashes whomever it is that has chosen to get belligerent with us."

"That's a frightening thought."

I allowed for a moment of silence so that Ambassador Bornheim could grasp the full seriousness of my words.

"Moving on, ambassador, why don't we get to the reason for your visit; you wouldn't have been so keen to meet with me unless there was something specific that you wished to discuss."

"Our kingdoms share a wide range of interests, all of which I'd hoped to discuss with you."

"I haven't fully assembled my court yet, so there's only so much that I can discuss."

"I'm fine with us having a discussion that is much narrower in scope."

"If I were to guess I'd say that the issue that you're most interested in resolving is that of the Aseron refugees in your kingdom, correct?"

"You certainly don't beat about the bush."

"No, I don't. I have every intention of making sure that every citizen of Aseron returns to the kingdom, but before I can start doing that there are some things that I need to address first, so I would ask that you be patient and trust that I'm not indifferent to your concerns."

"As long as you appreciate the need for us to arrive at a resolution to this issue."

We decided to leave our discussion there and Ambassador Bornheim left the palace to return to his embassy.