~.✧ Ethira ✧.~ [COMPLETE]

~.✧ twenty-two ✧.~

Brikenfolt officially declared reciprocal war on Ethira and Austora the night after the gala.

The air about the palace was buzzing over the next few days, and not in a good way. In the way that made my stomach sink with hollowness yet jitter with simultaneous tension.

Varien enacted a volunteer draft, explaining that we needed every ounce of manpower Ethira had to defend itself with. Mirellia headed the draft, taking on her queenly authority once again. Not that she ever lost it, exactly, but the demand for her expertise made her presence grow even larger.

I found myself surprised. Not only for the way Varien took on his role as Ethira's king even more than before, never letting a single detail slip and commanding yet cooperating with perfect leadership, but for the way I was taking on my role. I was by no means complete in my queenly education; I knew I never would be as this position was one you never stopped growing better in. But despite this, I knew enough that my ideas could be heard.

Varien held advisory meetings twice a day: once in the morning before lunch and once in the evening after dinner. I attended every one and I was learning to voice my opinions on the issues the war was dragging to the forefront. Not every advisor appreciated my every idea, but seeing the way Varien's eyes sparkled with overwhelming pride in me made it worth it. And I was helping. I was learning I was built to help people and I was finally getting to do that.

Plans were accumulating at a rapid rate. Despite Brikenfolt's official declaration, they had yet to strike. I'd seen this tactic of theirs before; they waited, letting the silence before the storm brew and then they struck the deadliest blow. The week before Kes and I were nearly kidnapped had been just this quiet.

With this, we had little idea of how exactly to enact our military. So, in communication with Austora, we developed an offensive plan, a plan very different from how we'd simply been defending against them before.

And I was completely for it. I was tired of being beaten by Brikenfolt. I had been for the past four years. It was time for them to taste a little of their own medicine.

The idea was to keep the war at the border. This not only ensured better security for the civilians of Ethira—so we could catch Brikenfolt on their entrance and not in the middle of their destructive path—but it gave us the ability to enter their lands if given the opportunity to push back their lines. Austora would use the same tactic on their border with Brikenfolt and my father was even sending some troops to aid our border once theirs was secure.

Despite the fear that this war was inducing in all of our minds, the plans and the beginnings of their enactment made the fringes of hope lining my heart swell into something bigger. Something more substantial. Something I could truly grab onto.

Advisory meetings were always held in the Advisory Hall on the ground floor. It was one of the smaller halls as it was only intended for the King's Advisory Panel and those he invited to meetings, but it lacked little in grandeur. Not only were the ceilings and walls decorated with the same intricate detail as the Grand Hall but it held a long, black stone table with velvet-upholstered chairs for the panel. A throne had once sat at the end for the king but Varien had replaced it for a chair identical to the rest, saying he felt too superior. He didn't want his panel to be afraid to speak their minds to him and if they were constantly reminded of his position, he feared it would only lead to unproductive conversation.