26一 a strom this way comes

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I could set this world on fire and call it rain.

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THE PALACE WAS BUZZING WITH ACTIVITY for the first time in months, years even. Servants were flitting about from place to place, miscellaneous items in their hands and cleaning supplies in tow. Attendants and civil workers moved paperwork from office to office, making sure everything was up to par without any room of error in their work. Athanasia would have thought that the Emperor was in the middle of organizing an important political event had she not known any better.

All of the paperwork was moved into the Sapphire Palace after it was reviewed. The places that the maids were cleaning were the ones only one person frequented. Everyone was doing these things without being given orders from the Emperor. (Idly, she wondered if the servants would have gone to such lengths for her.)

It was barely four days ago that Felix, during his guard duty over her, informed her of the reason behind the current fervor of life bursting out of the palace workers一 "A border outpost sent word that His Highness has passed through. It'll be just a few days before he returns." The Captain of the Royal Guard had told her those things with such a bright and sincere happiness, as if he couldn't wait to see the young heir of his nation in the flesh once more.

She hadn't known how to respond to that in that given moment. And so she smiled and said "I can't wait!" Lily had looked at her strangely then, but her maid had closed her eyes and looked away, avoiding her gaze.

Today, she didn't know how to feel. Because late last night, with the stars as his watchers, her brother had arrived to the palace's gates. She'd heard the guards talking, teasing the ones who were on the night watch for the way they had expressed their excitement before His Highness. They poke fun at the way they had cheered when faced with the star crest of the heir and at the embarrassment of their colleagues when the Prince had merrily laughed at their display.

After handing over his horse to the stables, she'd heard her brother had given stern instructions to the head of guard he'd taken with him and then, followed closely behind by his two personal guards, had holed up in his Sapphire Palace since then. Not that she could blame him. The journey home had most likely been a difficult one and some rest was definitely in order.

That aside, she wasn't prepared for the banquet dinner of tonight. Her father had decided that, in honor of his heir being back home once more, a celebratory dinner was in order. She had an inkling that her brother had heard of this news sometime around mid-day, given that she was announced during breakfast and she hadn't seen her father for afternoon tea, gone as he was to see her brother. (She wasn't pouting, really. And the hurt in her chest was because she'd slept wrong last night, honest.)

It was weird, she decided suddenly. It was weird to have her daily routine so thoroughly mangled and ruined. She wondered if this was how her brother had felt when she w̶a̶s̶ ̶b̶o̶r̶n̶ came to the imperial palace for the first time.

"Is something wrong Your Highness?" Every asked as she fixed her dress in place, making sure not a strand was out of place. Not waiting for an answer, the lady moved on to fixing the little gems in her hair in place.

Two hours ago her tutor in royal étiquette had burst into the room, chased away the maids that the young princess had conned into giving her more sweets, and set about preparing her for the banquet dinner with frightening vigour. "I must be this early if I want everything to look perfect."一 had been her tutor's argument for why she was even here in the first place. Athanasia hadn't seen fit to argue with her. She knew when to pick her battles, and this one would be held in vain.

"Just nerves, I guess." She finally deigned to answer. The partial lie slipped easily from her, and it disgusted her. The lack of resistance she had when she spoke untruths was becoming far too familiar.

The older lady patted her small shoulders. "There is nothing to worry about." Sunrise yellow eyes looked at her from there reflection in the mirror. The woman they belonged to smiled reassuringly, ever so kind to her. (She didn't feel like she deserved it.) "There might be some politicking going around, though that is to be expected given the company entertained tonight." The end of that sentence was added a bit ruefully, but the woman carried on undeterred, "As long as you stick by my side, everything should be fine. It won't matter that you're part of the imperial family since you're still a child who hasn't debuted in high society."

That reassured her somewhat. People won't be able to approach her as long as she kept by her chaperone's side. And since her father was going to be present and close by, that meant that Lady Every would have to take her responsibilities seriously.

She felt a bit disappointed that Lily wouldn't be able to join her as a chaperone and will only be coming as her caretaker and maid, but she supposed rules were rules. As she had yet to have her debut in high society, it was basically law that her etiquette tutor would join her in any social events she had to attend. To oversee and correct一 or whatever that meant.

"Are you ready Your Highness?"

Looking behind her at her tutor, Athanasia let out a large breath of air. Trying her best to relax her muscles, she closed her eyes and turned to grasp her escort's hand.

Time to face the music.

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IT WAS ALL THE SAME AS HE REMEMBERED it. The long and tall hallways, chandeliers drooping with glittering crystals and windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling. The carpets on the wooden floors were new, however. A deeper shade of red than the one he held in his memories. More burgundy than carmine.

As he reached the end of the hallway, the guards, with their shining sigil of the sun, bowed to the waist. They kept quiet however, not offering any greetings, given how well-versed they were to the wishes of their rulers. It was refreshing, after so long, to finally be around people who knew what his expectations were in regards to imperial etiquette. As happy as he was with this change, he knew soon he'll have to adhere to the rules he so disliked.

Giving the sign to the guards so that they can announce his arrival, his two escort knights closed rank behind him. Ever the overprotective ones, those two. He was lucky he'd managed to convince his faithful companion to stay behind. Goddess knew what mayhem he would have willingly caused.

"Announcing, the Shining Star of Sapphire, His Imperial Highness Athanasius de Alger Obelia!"

(He was glad that entry announcements only contained his highest ranked titles, otherwise he would have grown bored by the time he finally got to enter the room.)

Donning a mask of indifference, the teenage prince confidently walked through the now open doors, passing his sights over everyone present and surpressing a laugh at the image. It would seem that his father decided to invite both the important people in each faction and the ones that Gregory decided to bitch to him about. If anything, what was to happen after the official proceedings was going to be interesting.

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SHE STARED AT HER BROTHER, HIS FACE familiar yet not. He looked different from two years ago, but he was still undoubtedly her older brother. He'd lost some of the youthful baby fat, though some of it still clung to the edges of his face, there to stay until some years later. He'd taken to styling his hair differently, no longer mimicking their father as it was now parted to the side, his bangs covering his right eye, giving him a mysterious air. He'd gotten taller, his shoulders broader and he lost that lanky quality that was so present before.

It seemed that her brother had matured, growing to resemble Claude much more than before. While they did not look identical, given that Athan took in some very obvious ways after his mother and that their father was much older, the fact that he appeared to be nearly indistinguishable from the portraits depicting the emperor in his youth did thread closely to uncanny valley territory.

"His Highness has grown quite a bit while he was away, didn't he Princess?" Every spoke from her left, looking down at her in kindness.

She smiled blindingly at her tutor. "He's almost just as handsome as papa!" She said, causing the older woman to laugh.

(She didn't have the heart to tell her that she didn't want him here, that just looking at him brought dark and uncomfortable feelings in her heart. How could she tell her? When all Every saw was a darling child that shouldn't be able to understand and express these feelings in such a way?)

"Let's go say hi Every!" She grabbed onto her tutor's hand and tried to drag her towards where she could see her brother and father talking.

(What was this emotion that made her burn inside? It felt like flames crawling up her throat. It hurts.)

"You mustn't, My Princess." The lavender haired woman chastised, the grip on her hand firm as she held her in place. "It would not be proper to intervene in the emperor's private conversation." Perhaps seeing her pout at that, the woman elaborated. "It would reflect poorly upon you, My Princess. I know you only wish to greet your brother, but others will not see it like that."

Cowed, and a tad petulant, Athanasia conceded to her tutor's argument. Seeing as she had no other reason to remain where she was, she complained about her feet hurting, hoping for a reprieve from bring watched by so many strange people.

"Perhaps it's the shoes. They are new..." Was all the the woman accompanying her muttered before leading her to sit on one of the many a chaise littered around the area, partially hidden behind a burgundy curtain. What her tutor had obviously overlooked was the person already occupying the space, leaning against the wall, surveying the entirety of the room.

"Oh!" Every exclaimed pleasantly, and she would have been fooled into thinking the older woman was happy to see this person一 had it not been for the slight tightening of her grip on her hand. "Lady Aaima! Forgive me for intruding, but the princess is rather tired and this place is the only one that's relatively empty."

And, without so much as a "by your will", her tutor ushered her to sit, not even two meters away from the woman that she'd just steamrolled. Chancing a glance at the foreign person, Athanasia had to stop herself from gasping in awe. The woman, much shorter than the one currently chaperoning her, had an hourglass figure, beautifully complimented by her olive skin tone and toned muscles. The dress she was wearing was distantly reminiscent of the clothes her father enjoyed lounging in, in tones of blue and red and golden bracelets and chains flattering the lines of her body.

Her face, angular and sharp, unnerved her however. It was those eyes. Golden like the midmorning's sun and keen like a predator's. Her hair, cut short above her ears, fell across her high cheekbones like raven's feathers, giving her a distinct avian feel.

She was beautiful, undoubtedly. But this woman was dangerous. A different kind of dangerous from Lady Cassiopeia. Whereas the Lady of Banafrit was a snake hidden in the tall grass, this woman 一Lady Aaima, was it?一 felt like a seasoned warrior. Like Felix. But that couldn't be right, no matter how much she thought about it. Felix was captain of the imperial guard, The Golden Lions were his to command as per the emperor's wishes. He was one of the Empire's generals and always present at any important meeting about the integrity of the nation's borders.

How could this woman, so small and unassuming, exude the same air as someone so obviously capable in combat?

Noticing her stare, the red haired woman smirked, before her piercing stare pinned Every in place. "I believe a proper introduction is in order? Otherwise it would be terribly rude of me."

Was... Was this woman pulling rank on her tutor? Judging by the sour look that crossed the Lady Fallis' face, she was quite confident it was so. This just keep getting more and more bizarre...

"Very well." The agreement sounded like it was forcefully pulled from her and the shorter noblewoman(?) clearly knew how this made her taller counterpart feel. "Your Highness, Princess Athanasia de Alger Obelia, this one introduces to your grace Lady Aaima Raed, Grand General and a member of the High Council of Xekch, here in the Empire on oficial business."

...

'General?!' Trying her best at appearing nonchalant, Athanasia smiled, even though it came out as more of a grimace than anything. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, General Raed." This woman, this tiny woman, was a general? She could already feel herself going faint.

The foreign dignitary smiled at her. Wolfish and unrepentant. "The pleasure is all mine, dear Princess." Nodding at the both of them, she snatched a glass of wine from the tray of a passing servant and spoke, "If you'll excuse me Yours Highness, I have to go find my brother. I believe I last saw him speaking with His Highness."

Vaguely feeling like she was snubbed, to her face no less, Athanasia echoes out, "Enjoy the rest of the evening."

She didn't know what to make of this. She knew, somewhat peripherally, that Obelia has been in treaty negotiations with Xekch for some time already. But the roundabout name-dropping of her brother made her uneasy.

Just what kind of power base had her brother built? And just how far-reaching was it?

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No-one wearing a crown comes in the name of peace.

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It's been a while huh?

Quick update, I had my first bacalaureate mock exams this month and I completely flunked them 😍

Cried myself for like 3 days straight. Nearly fell into depression again, but that's life I guess. I'm apparently made of much thicker stuff than I thought, given that I'm now motivated to fix that fuck up and do better in the next session of mock exams.

Either way, I started writing again and I genuinely had to remember what my writing style was like, so this chapter might feel a bit off. I'm still shaking the rust off.

I'm thinking of making a digital map of the world I've created. Thoughts?

See you next time!