King Alarico smiled to himself as he stood in the waiting hall of the Opal Palace. He really did admire the architecture of Opheil, it was so pure and romantic looking. The total opposite of Kearlye. Comparing his barren, almost dead, country to the luscious paradise that was Opheil ( )ought a grimace to his face. He had truly wanted to annex Opheil peacefully into the empire, but Ophelia was as stubborn as Bellum.
One of the king's aids, Mateo, raised an eye( )ow at his lord's grimace, and cocked his head to the side. "Your majesty, is something wrong?"
"Ah, no, it's nothing. Thank you for asking though, Mateo." Alarico smiled at his aid, to reassure him. Mateo had been by the king's side for as long as either of them could remember, and would get into trouble in their younger days. Mateo put his hand on Alarico's shoulder, giving a light squeeze of reassurance.
Bellum watched the two interact from the wall she was leaning against. She held no worries of the Opalians attacking them here, and was relatively relaxed. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword as she glanced at the door, hearing footsteps coming near. She stood straight and walked over to Alarico and Mateo as one of the royal guard entered, Solomon if she remembered correctly, and leveled them all with a rather cold stare. Unsurprising from a Midlander.
"The queen has agreed to speak with you, please, follow me." Solomon didn't give the Kearlians time to respond before turning around and walking to one of the meeting rooms. He opened the door to it, allowing the three to enter the room where Ophelia was sitting at a table, tea cup in her hand. Beside her was Achilla on one side, and High Mage Tania on the other. Solomon gave a small nod to the female trio, before giving a small smile to his wife where she sat in the corner, quill at the ready, before closing the door reluctantly. "Hopefully Achilla and Bellum don't destroy the place..."
Ophelia set her cup down on the small plate in her lap, before waving towards the seat across from her. "Please, King Alarico, have a seat. I assume you wish to get started on whatever you came to speak to me for as soon as possible?"
Alarico frowned at Ophelia's haste. He nodded before sitting down, as a maid hurried over to prepare his cup. "Thank you, milady. May I learn your name?" The king watched the maid curiously. She was quite beautiful, with amethyst eyes being complimented wonderfully by the sky blue maid's dress she wore. The maid glanced at Ophelia for approval to speak to the King of Kearlye, which she gave witha small wave of her hand.
"It's all right to speak, he won't bite you while I'm here, I assure you."
At Ophelia's approval, the maid turned to Alarico and bowed her head. "I am Isabella DeFer, Wife of Vincento DeFer, Your Majesty."
"She makes the best cups of tea in the kingdom, and is one of my personal handmaidens." Ophelia smiled as she took another sip from her cup, and watched Alarico from over the rim.
"I see." Alarico paused at the look, before giving a small nod to Isabella. "Thank you, milady, for your name and for the tea." He gave a smile as he took the finished cup of tea and took a sip. He looked a little surprised, before a soft smile spread across his face. "You were right Ophelia, this is the best cup of tea I've ever had."
"Not like you Kearlians have much tea in general either," Achilla mumbled under her ( )eath, eliciting a smack on the arm from Tania.
"Excuse General Achilla's manners, Your Majesty, she is used to being much more, ah, casual with others." Tania smiled sheepishly, before sending a worried glance at the glaring Bellum.
"More like not using formalities at all." Adelaide chuckled as she doodled on the sides of her scroll in between the conversation. Achilla whipped around and growled at the historian, which ( )ought a giggle out of the mage. "Achilla, you're turning black again~!"
"I'll show you black you little-"
"Achilla, we have guests." Ophelia glared at Achilla, and the sharp bite in her tone froze the general in place. "And Adelaide, do keep your remarks to yourself if you can for me, please?" The queen smiled at her two friends as they nodded, before turning back to face Alarico once more.
"So, what is it you wish to speak to me about?"
King Alarico stared at Ophelia for a moment, before sighing and setting his tea down on the table. Mateo and Bellum placed a hand on each of his shoulders, as he hung his head slightly, looking down at his hands in his lap, as if trying to find the words he wanted to say. The long pause caused the Opalians to stare quizzically at him, before the king looked back up.
"I want to ask you to surrender, one last time, Ophelia."
Isabella belongs to @Viva-la-Luna |
