Her Rightful Place

39: The King

"Right, gents, to business," King Christophe announces brusquely as he strides into the Chamber of Royal Ministers, where his cabinet of ministers has already gathered. "What have we on the to-do list today?"

"Too much, and far too little time in which to accomplish even half of it," the Minister of Internal Affairs moans. "The Princess Mireille has at least half a dozen potential suitors clamoring for our attention. The province of Claethe has experienced some flooding this spring and is requesting relief. We have several cases from citizens demanding your judgment on quarrels of various matters, ranging from ownership of cattle to whether or not the music of the harpsichord is appropriate in worship of the One True God."

"Please refer any and all petitions and cases regarding religious matters to Queen Généviève," the King sighs. He has not had enough coffee this morning to deal with the more trivial matters that befall his lot as ruler of Vyrunia. Following the civil war, he instituted several government reforms allowing the people more say in government and contact with their ruler; while this has had many positive effects--such as no further uprisings or civil wars and better overall government approval ratings--the downsides include his having to address some of the people's petitions personally, no matter how paltry.

Lost in his caffeine-deprived musings, King Christophe fortunately misses the amusement some of his ministers have regarding his leaving religious matters to his wife.

"I suppose we ought to start with the offers for Mireille's hand, though frankly I wish we had never made her return to us public," the King continues in a grumbly fashion that suggests he could be very unpleasant to work with this day. "We have not even had a chance to really celebrate the fact that our only child is essentially back from the dead, let alone get to know her, and already we have political demands to sell her off to the highest bidder."

"A most unfortunate circumstance, Your Majesty. We are all in agreement on this," the Minister of Foreign Affairs assures him wearily. The King's Ministers have heard this lament many times since Mireille's return to the Palace of Roses, and several of them are close to losing patience with their monarch on the subject. "However, as we have previously discussed, we simply cannot afford to offend some of the nations contending for alliances with us through your daughter's marriage, most notably Khandazar and Mordalce--"

A door flies open and slams against the wall, interrupting the Minister of Foreign Affairs in his speech (which most of those present have already memorized anyway, as they have covered the same ground numerous times in the past month). A frazzled courier with disheveled hair and clothes stumbles into the room, trips over one Royal Minister's chair, and tumbles gracelessly to the floor, landing with a thud at the king's feet.

"Quite an entrance," King Christophe remarks dryly. The courier, whose livery is Mordalcean, trembles violently, being used to the way Queen Bêtel treats her subordinates. "Get up, get up. Enough groveling. What tidings from the Mordalcean court?"

"A m-m-message, Your M-Majesty, from His H-H-Highness, P-Prince Xavier," the courier stammers. "He s-s-says it's urgent."

"Well then, hand it over. No sense wasting time." The courier fumbles for a moment before producing the parchment in question from within his sleeve. King Christophe unrolls it with barely concealed disgust for its slightly sweaty condition, but his expression quickly changes to one of grave concern as he peruses the contents.

To His Majesty King Christophe of Vyrunia, long may he rule and govern in peace and cause his people to prosper,

I write to you in haste with rather distasteful news. A meeting between myself and our Royal Advisers this afternoon was interrupted by five emissaries from Khandazar. They came supposedly under orders to strong-arm an invitation from us to the Midsummer's Eve Ball, that they might have equal negotiation privileges for Princess Mireille's hand. No one was harmed in the incident, although a butler's nerves were badly shaken and he has been given some time off to recuperate. We are in the process of enhancing palace security and promise to do everything in our power to ensure that the Midsummer's Eve Ball is safe from interruption by ill-willed parties. However, I think it best you should know of this incident, given the history of Vyrunia's relations with Khandazar and the purported aim of the invaders in this case.