Rory eyed the building warily, a flood of annoyance washing over her. Her brothers and the others insisted this was necessary; however, they said so with a very certain sense of dread. The very grand building was at the center of all four realms. It took days to arrive- Rory was convinced that the others intentionally slowed their movements to avoid arriving. She had discussed more efficient ways of transport with the others and had several more ideas to make Thera more efficient. She was determined to preserve the magic of this world while improving things such as communication and transportation. However, she had hoped to do all these things while in Fantamia. She didn't know she had to get permission from someone.
"And you're sure all of this is necessary?" she asked, hoping someone would tell her they could return to the castle.
"Unfortunately, yes," Maximus confirmed, stepping next to his sister.
Rory huffed slightly in annoyance as he placed a hand on the small of her back, urging her towards the door. "How did I not remember there was someone we reported to? I thought the reason there were kings and queens was so each realm made decisions for themselves. You told me not to worry about them."
"Well, I sort of lied because we didn't have time to go through them. We do make decisions for ourselves," Aidan said pointedly as he started to walk with his siblings, holding up his hand slightly, "however, there is a board of sorts. Four people, one from each realm, who oversee all major decisions, they're called The Board of Thera. Considering everything we've done in the past few weeks, they would like an audience with you. There's a lot to explain about Thera, we didn't see any need to go through The Board for what we were doing."
"A group of four?" she clarified with a quirked eyebrow. "How do they make any decisions? I presume it's split quite often."
"There's another, larger council beneath them. They're appointed by various people- the rulers, the people, The Board themselves... very confusing," Aidan explained briefly, rolling his eyes, "but they make the decisions when The Board is split, which happens quite often. Evidently, this made people more concerned with who's on The Council rather than The Board. Thus, we're stuck with four idiots."
"And this place... The...." Rory trailed off, forgetting the name.
"The Tower of Freyr," Maximus finished for her.
"Of course, The Tower of Freyr," Rory repeated breezily as if she hadn't forgotten, waving her hand in dismissal, "is where Freyr himself lived, right?"
"Right."
"And they thought it fitting to place the government here," she said plainly, narrowing her eyes, "did he not detest the government? I swore I read something about that a few days ago. Something about them always watching him?"
"Yes, yes, now let us hope that you get along better with The Board than our dearest Freyr," Aidan commented wryly, seeming more nervous than usual.
"Hm, The Board of Thera, they got creative with that one, I see. Surely it took them days to think a name so clever," she commented with mock amazement as they ushered her faster to the door.
"Please, you think they were smart enough for that, even?" Channing interjects smoothly, stepping in front of them with his typical charming grin. "Keep talking like that, and you'll flatter them enough to hand over the keys to all of Thera."
"And the scorchers work under them, right?"
"Right."
"So, I'm sure I'll get along with them brilliantly."
"Just as well as you got on with me or Eliphas, princess," Malakai commented as he strutted passed them, making her roll her eyes.
The interior of the building was gorgeous. The ceilings went immeasurably high, beautiful stone covering the walls. Countless statues were placed throughout the building. Rory immediately recognized the largest one as Freyr in the middle, his arms spread out and his head held high, his eyes glimmering even as a statue. There were fountains spread out as well, various sculptures in the middle posing in multiple ways. Rory glanced into a few windows as they walked by, seeing some people in a heated conversation while other rooms had people performing various tasks. One place had Therans sparring each other, using their powers. Rory saw powers used that she could never have imagined. The Tower was filled with Therans; almost everyone walking around was wearing formal clothing. There was a large group of people in dark purple robes. Rory remembered from her studies that they were The Council, there were far more members than she realized. Realizing she might have to run ideas passed them in the future, she offered a forced smile as she passed them.
Maximus kept his hand on her back, ushering her through the building. He likely knew if he didn't force her forwards, she would stop to take in every detail of the building. There were various pictures spread around the building, and Rory nearly swore she saw one of her family. There were projections on the walls as well. While she couldn't hear what they were saying due to the loud chatter from people around her, she noticed it looked similar to news networks back on Earth. People shoved newspapers in her face, yelling the words "Extra, extra!" loudly as she passed, making her smile. At least some things don't change. She mused to herself.
They lead her to a room at the back of the building titled "The Board" in bold letters. She turned to her brothers one last time, giving them a pleading look. Maximus' expression didn't change, his blank face unwavering. Aidan, however, had a wide-spread grin on his face as he shot her a thumb's up.
"The longer you wait, the longer we have to actually be here for," Malakai reminded her with a roll of his eyes, breaking the silence. Rory huffed angrily out one last time before facing the door.
"Rory Lucina," she announced in a bright tone, remembering what the others instructed her to do.
The door immediately had a gold shimmer go through it before swinging open. There were four people in simple, dark blue robes. She noted that they were a bit older than her, the youngest one looking to be about her mother's age. There was a lady with bright pink lipstick and green thick, wide-framed glasses that sat on the ridge of her nose, looking at her exceptionally skeptically. There was a man with dull orange eyes, vague orange lines spread on his arms, looking bored. Another woman sat with a warm smile on her face. Her lilac eyes glittered from the light pouring in. Rory quickly noticed the flower petals sprouting from her head instead of hair, the petals cascading down to her shoulders.
Lastly, there was an older man in the middle. His white hair shimmered brilliantly in the light, a twinkle in his eyes that made Rory feel welcomed. Unlike the others, he wore a strange tophat. It was the same color as his robes, shining silver lines dancing across it. He smiled gently at her as he ushered them all in, his hand shaking slightly as he did so.
"Hello, my name is Rory," she said, walking into the room with the others. She held out her hand to introduce herself properly. However, before she could, a shimmering shield was placed in front of their table, the lady in the glasses wiggling her fingers in the air to do so. Rory halted before she could run into it, quirking an eyebrow. "It's almost as if you expect things to get nasty."
"We were told to expect trouble wherever you are," the man with the dull orange eyes told her. Rory assumed they would introduce themselves, but none of them did. "Let's just get started, shall we?"
Rory bowed her head in reluctant agreement. This wasn't exactly going as she pictured.
"Just to clarify..." a lady began, pushing her wide-framed glasses up her nose as she raised a reasonably thick file labeled Rory's name in bold letters. For a moment, she was flattered- Rory hadn't realized they had accomplished enough in such a short time frame to earn a folder all to herself! Her attention was then turned to the lady holding the file again as she cleared her throat. Her hair was twisted up to a perfect bun behind her head, a few strands falling out. Rory got distracted by her bright pink lipstick, thinking about how nearly any other tone would suit her more. "You manipulated a memory which then changed the actual course of events that followed, despite knowing, at least in part, that committing such an action is illegal, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"And then when the scorchers tried to question you, which they are in their lawful right to do, you refused any questioning and even went so far as to threaten them?"
"It was more so coercion, it was much less direct than a plain old threat," she pointed out, completely unabashed.
"Miss. Lucina!"
"Queen..." Rory corrected fiercely, her eyes flashing angrily. Although she wasn't officially coronated yet, she wanted the respect that she would be ruling Fantamia soon. She saw Channing flash her his charming grin from the corner of her eyes. He had told her on their journey that he never got along with the council. Lycrastrals could be volatile creatures and had a history of siding with whoever benefited them the most. While his family was different, it didn't make The Board treat him any differently. "It's Queen to you."
"Right!" the lady with the bright pink lipstick nearly shrieked, huffing out angrily as she set down her file. "As you can see, that is just the beginning of your... adventurous... file. Do you confirm all of this to be true?"
"Obviously, or I would have corrected you further," Rory snarled despite knowing to hold her tongue.
"Rory," Malakai murmured as a warning, flashing her a sharp look. She took a few seconds to collect her anger, reminding herself that she needed to get on their good side; it would be foolish to do otherwise.
"I apologize," Rory began in a lighter tone, offering a fake small smile to The Board, "as you very well know, we have had a long few weeks. However, of course, I should be more respectful, seeing as we are all on the same side here."
The older man in the blue robe straightened up slightly, nodding in agreement. His narrowed eyes were softening at her words. "I agree, the respect in this room should go both ways." Rory nearly broke out into a grin when she noticed his words to be directed at the lady with the pink lipstick who now looked slightly affronted.
"Well, now that we have that out of the way. I would like to get your permission for a few small inventions, nothing like a weapon and nothing dangerous, I can assure you. They're only meant to help Thera and make it a bit more efficient," Rory explained, holding her hand out to Maximus, who handed her a file of her own.
"No Earthly inventions, I hope. This is a world of magic while yours is anything but," the lady commented rudely, which made Rory need to bite her tongue once more, "how could you possibly invent something here that wouldn't... pollute us!"
Rory nodded slightly in understanding, though she would've used different words rather than 'pollute.' "While I see your point, this invention is small enough that it should effect Thera minimally and to our benefit. The last thing I would want is to take away the magic of this world by making it more like Earth."
"All right, then tell us all about this brilliant new invention."
Rory explained her ideas about improving communications. She showed the prototype she created with the help of Eliphas, who simply refused to come with them to face The Board. Not so shockingly, the two have a terrible history. The prototype was a small mirror held by a compact that could be placed in your pocket easily. "The mirror is charmed to your fingerprint only once you activate it. If you need to call someone, you just need to say their full name, and it calls. You get options to pick from on how you want to be notified when someone calls you. When you activate it, you choose whether you want it to heat up, buzz, or numerous other options. Myself, I prefer it heats up. Once you answer, a projection of the person appears in front of you, and when you're done, you just close the mirror."
"How do you link it to other mirrors?" the older man asked her as he fiddled with the mirror.
"If you turn it over, you'll see a small circle on the back. If you wish to connect your mirror to someone, all you need to do is press the backs of the mirrors together. This makes sure that only the people you want contacting you can contact you," Rory said as the man showed the others what she was talking about.
The Board continued asking various questions about the mirror. She explained that it would be the Lucina's who would be responsible for the distributing of the mirrors to begin with, only giving it to those they trusted implicitly amongst the realms. They would be the ones to produce them as well, putting their own money into it. "We plan to give one to each of you, of course. We want to distribute them to those we trust amongst the realms to make communication more efficient."
"And just how did you charm these mirrors? You can only do such magic with the help of a warlock or witch," the lady with the pink lipstick asked knowingly.
"We have a trusted warlock, and he is more than happy to help."
"I wouldn't go that far," Malakai muttered behind her just low enough for her to hear. None of them seemed to hear him, seeming too intrigued by the mirror.
"Can we see you use it? Do you have one linked to it yet?" the man with the dull orange eyes asked.
Rory smirked as she walked over to the table. She took her mirror back and opened it up. The two sides of the compact lay flat as a mist fills the mirror. "Eira Haunani."
After a few moments, a colorful mist swirled from the mirror in a cone shape, the smallest bit ejecting from the mirror. The cloud slipped back into the mirror as Eira's face projected in the air. She appeared confused for a moment before she noticed where Rory was. A sly smile stretched across her face. "Showing off your toys, Rory?"
"I prefer 'inventions' if you don't mind," Rory said, gently flicking her hair over her shoulder. She had gotten the idea of a magical mirror from a particular fairy tale back on Earth, but she felt no reason to inform them of that. The Board looked begrudgingly impressed but clearly wary of not only the new invention but of Rory herself. "All right, I'll call you when we leave, thank you, Eira."
With that, Rory shut the mirror, and the projection of Eira slipped away.
"Why a mirror?" the other lady asked who had barely spoken a word thus far.
"If you're captured, who would expect something like a mirror to be your form of communication? Especially since Thera doesn't seem to have any form of communicating yet, either. And if someone did realize what it was, they wouldn't be able to get into it because it's spelled to your flesh," Rory said, waving the mirror slightly in the air as if to show them once more.
"All right, let's put it to a vote, all in favor?" the older man asked. He and the lady with flower petals for hair next to him raised their hands, both offering Rory an encouraging smile.
"And against?"
The lady with the pink lipstick and the man with dull orange eyes both raised their hands.
The older man huffed out tiredly, nodding as if he expected this.
"And to The Council, it goes."
Later, Rory had been leaving The Tower with a smirk on her face. The Council was able to see Rory and her mirrors almost immediately, much to her surprise. When she showed them what the mirrors could do, the vote was nearly split down the middle again. Luckily, there was an odd number of people on The Council, and the majority was in her favor. She told them she would have the first batch ready by the end of the week and that she would either be back to present the mirrors herself or she would have someone do so for her.
As they approached the doors, Rory noticed the older man from The Board waiting for them. He offered her a gentle smile in which she hesitantly returned, worried that he was going to tell her there was a mistake counting the votes from The Council.
"Sir?" she questioned as they reached him.
"I was hoping to have a word with Rory," he said before pausing and turning to her specifically, "is it all right if I call you Rory?"
"I suppose," Rory granted, unsure of how she would say no to that after he was one of the supporters of her invention. The boys looked at her, waiting to see if she was all right speaking to the man alone. "Wait outside. I won't be long."
They obeyed almost immediately, Malakai being the last to leave, silently telling her to shout if she needed help. She nodded in response, waiting until they were all outside before turning to the older man, looking at him expectantly.
"I regret that we weren't able to formally introduce one another earlier, Armel Grimwald," he introduced, gently placing his hand out for her to shake. Rory gracefully accepted it, shaking his hand lightly.
"Rory Lucina."
"You don't use your full name, Rory?" Grimwald asked inquisitively, narrowing his eyes slightly in wonder.
Rory's mind immediately went to the last girl in Thera who bore that name. "Would you?"
"Fair enough," he admitted with a gentle laugh, holding his hands up as a surrender. Rory grinned slightly at the older man, enjoying the twinkle in his eyes. There was a slight glimmer of darkness in it, making her intrigued. "I was very pleased to hear that your mirrors got approved. I do look forward to getting one of my own. They are quite a bit of brilliance."
"I plan on having the first batch done at the end of the week," she informed him formally.
"And you'll make me aware as soon as you've finished?" Grimwald asked gently, causing her to frown. "Perhaps, even inform me first?"
"I s'pose..." Rory began suspiciously, quirking an eyebrow in question, remaining silent for a few moments, hoping he would explain.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, chuckling once more as he threw his hands up slightly, seeming to realize the tension he created, "you can't blame me for being enthusiastic, now can you?"
"No, I cannot," she nodded, still not believing him, "but I told The Council I would inform all four of you at once, seeing as The Board makes decisions... together."
"Right, right," Grimwald muttered, shaky fingers pressed slightly to his lips as he seemed to be deep in thought, "you know, The Council and The Board... they're full of Therans who don't understand... potential, should I say."
Rory was slightly taken aback but tried her best to hide it, tilting her head with a bit of a forced teasing smile. "Should you?"
"Hm," he hummed noncommittally, pausing for a few moments, "all I mean is, I would hate to see a new young queen put in all her hard work just to see them take it away from her. It's happened in the past, you know."
"Has it?" she asked, not believing a word he said.
"Yes, yes, many times," Grimwald assured her, nodding quickly, "they often try to take things from rulers here, they think they have all the power, it's quite ridiculous, if I do say so myself. I'm on your side, and I think you're quite clever, you know. And I think if we work together, I do believe we can keep true to your rulership. There is just some... awful... history of them undermining the kings or queens. I implore you to place your trust in me, your majesty."
Rory had the urge to ask if inadequate manipulation was also part of this "awful history" of theirs. This man was doing a horrible job of trying to persuade her. She already knew The Board and The Council would seek to undermine her rule. It was why they were there to begin with. Rory read all about the conflict between rulers and them. She had prepared for this before she got here. But now, there was someone on The Board who might give her insider information. She didn't trust this man as far as she could throw him. But she could manage to wring some information from him.
She could tell he would be a big player in all of this, one she hadn't anticipated. He spoke as if he were playing a game, and she was a chess piece that he intended to control. Rory almost looked forward to seeing what he would attempt to do, knowing she wouldn't hesitate to cut him down if need be. She could use someone from The Board to vouch for her when need be, as well. Grimwald seemed knowledgeable, and she could use his wisdom for the war to come. This could work to her benefit heavily.
"Of course, I trust you."