12 12: The Throne Room

By the time Amaris and Ivailo had arrived back at the patio, the servants had arranged many strange-looking foods, some Amaris recognised but many she did not, on many elaborate plates that looked as if they had been wrought out of pure gold. Then again, given all the excessive displays of wealth, she would not be entirely surprised if they were. The entire atmosphere was magical. She was once a barmaid, daughter of the former emperor, and now she was a resident of Craester Castle, the voice of the people, and was currently sitting across from the current emperor having a picnic on the patio of the castle grounds. To be honest, it was taking a long time to sink in.

"What are these?" She asked, pointing to a tray filled with what looked like pieces of bread with pieces of meat in between two of them.

"Those, we call sandwiches, and these," Ivailo said, pointing to a tray filled with a golden-coloured, rock-shaped pieces. "We call these honey cakes."

"It all looks very delicious. I am excited to try these interesting dishes." Amaris exclaimed.

"I do not suppose that you had anything like this at The Bitterhead Inn, did you?"

"No, it was mostly light porridge once a day, if that."

"How are you coping with adjusting to life in the palace?" Ivailo asked, empathising with Amaris. I still remember the taste of the light broth that the cooks made to feed us, he thought, as he picked up a sandwich. He motioned for the servants to come and and fill their empty goblets.

"Well, especially since I have two excellent teachers." Amaris responded, slightly startled by the movement of the servants as they poured water into the goblets.

"I am glad that you are settling in well. Have you run into any issues?"

"Other than not knowing what a fork is or how to use it?" She let out a soft laugh, as if not being acquainted with the ways of the rich was something funny. "No. All the people I have met have been nothing but lovely to me, even letting me have some of their old garments."

"I am glad that the people you have met have been kind to you. From here on out, things will not be so easy for you."

"So I have heard, but I think I can meet the challenge." Amaris responded, trying to sound confident.

"I admire your confidence, Amaris. But I still want you to be careful. Your peers might be just as powerful politically as you, but you do not have the trust of the public that they do."

"If you did not think that I could hold my own against such people, why did you offer the job to me?" Amaris asked.

"To that, I do not have an answer that does not incriminate myself." Ivailo said. It was not long before they had finished the meal of sandwiches and honey cakes. A servant came and whispered in Ivailo's ear, gently reminding him of the time. "Are you ready to meet the rest of the high council?" He asked, nervous on behalf of Amaris.

"As ready as I will ever be." Amaris said, confidence exuding from every ounce of her being. She looked like and sounded a queen, both in what she was wearing and how she carried herself. I made an excellent choice in choosing her to be the Lady of the people, Ivailo realised; I just hope that the lords of the high council don't destroy her, because I don't want to lose her.

The pair rose from their little picnic on the patio as the servants cleared the dishes away. Ivailo took Amaris's hand, rough with many years of work scrubbing floors, and lead her back into the castle. The paintings of portraits that adorned the hallways and had been Ivailo's only companions as he had ventured so many times, both as a slave and now as an emperor, now seemed to leer at him, criticising his choice for the Lady of the people and subsequently his choice of companion, not liking that he had chosen outside of his own race and rather chose a member of a race that used to be his oppressor. Amaris seemed to either not notice the criticism, or chose not to care what an inanimate object thought and felt.

Maybe that is why he liked her so much. No matter whether the opinion was popular, Amaris said exactly what she thought and did not care if speaking her truth got her in trouble. It was certainly refreshing, especially since the lords liked to voice the popular opinion, because that would get them the best results and further their personal agendas, potentially to the detriment of the crown. Amaris was not like that, but she also wasn't like his sisters, who told him everything they thought he wanted to hear. While he loved his sisters, he wished they spoke the truth of their opinions more openly. Whatever the rest of the high council thought of her, Amaris was the change that was needed. He was sure of it.

Within what had seemed like only a few moments, Amaris had been transported between a between a beautiful garden, a grand hall, and now she was standing in front of an enormous set of wooden doors, carved with what looked to be scenes of battles. Anticipation rose in her chest. They had passed this set of doors when Ivailo had first shown Amaris the castle, but they had not gone into the room. Now, she was going to see the famous throne room of Craester Castle, the original antechamber that had stood since the very founding of Acad.

As if they could feel her excitement at seeing the oldest room in all of Acad, the heavy doors swung open. The room beyond was so much more impressive than Amaris ever imagined that a room could ever be. It made the entirety of The Bitterhead Inn, with all of its many rooms and nooks and crannies, look as if the inn was little more than a cottage in the middle of town where a wealthy merchant might own. The ceiling was taller than any tree that she had ever seen, and elaborate columns of the purest white marble supported the roof. More impressive than the room's size was how light filled the chasm. It was as if thousands of candles were working hard to create a second sun, just to light the space.

At the far end of the room, an extremely long walk from where they stood, was a tall dais, easily the height of a werewolf, maybe even twice that height. As the pair neared the dais, Amaris saw that not only was the structure impressive, but it was so elaborately carved with many figures that she was not sure that she was seeing one scene, but multiple scenes of a feast, their edges blurring so that there was a seamless transition between one scene and another, like looking at what she might imagine a painting of a piece of theater might look like. Ivailo lead her up a small flight of stairs on the right side of the dais, and when Amaris reached the top, she noticed that she and Ivailo were not alone.

On top of the dais stood Ladies Lyra and Kafei, and three strange men that must have been the lords of the high court. Trying to be respectful, Amaris curtsied towards the lords, who looked at her with a disgusted look that she might have been the servant that collected their waste and gotten more respect. No matter, she thought, trying to shake the looks off as she repeated the gesture towards Lady Lyra and Lady Kafei, who repeated the gesture. Ivailo walked up to a much smaller platform, on top of which stood the throne of the emperor of Acad.

The throne was so massive that Amaris was confused why she did not see it in all of its glory when she had stood at the entrance to this massive cavern of a chamber. It was wrought out of a delicate balance of an enormous oak tree that clambered up the wall and iron inlay shaped into many insects and leaves, as if it was completely normal for a butterfly to be made of iron.

"Miss Amaris." Ivailo called, drawing her out of her awe-induced trance. "Please step forward and kneel." Amaris obeyed, feeling her knees hit the corner of the mini-dais. "Do you willingly accept the title of The Lady Of The People, its duties and responsibilities?" The question was so loaded, and yet the answer came so easily to Amaris.

"Yes."

"Then I pronounce you a member of the high council." Ivailo said as he tapped Amaris on each shoulder with his right hand before offering it to her so she could kiss the ring on his fourth finger. "Rise, Lady Amaris Willow, The Lady Of The People." Amaris obeyed, overcome with emotion to put up any type of fight. She was now, officially, a member of the high council, with more power than she could have ever dreamed of as a child.

"Congratulations, Lady Amaris." Lady Kafei said as she approached. "And welcome to the lion's den. Let me introduce you to the lords of the high council. This is Lord Arhein Wyett." Lady Kafei pointed to a short, stout man. "The lord of Finances. This," she pointed to the tall, well-built werewolf to the right of Lord Arhein. "This is Lord Brass Errol, the Lord of spies. And this," Lady Kafei turned to the portly man on the left of Lord Arhein's left. "This is Lord Wolfram Mortas, Lord of Infrastructure."

"Thank you, Lady Kafei, and I am sure that the court is not as bad as that, whatever a lion's den is." Amaris then turned back to the lords. "And it is lovely to meet you three. I look forward to working with you to make Acad an even better place to live."

"Are you sure that Lady Amaris is really fit for the title of the Lady of the people?" Lord Arhein asked, malice dripping from his words. "I mean, she doesn't even know what a lion's den is."

"I am not changing my mind, especially not now that I have knighted her." Ivailo said, sounding like he was both exasperated that someone would question his judgement and tired of whatever bullshit Lord Arhein was trying to pull. "You all are dismissed, and we will have a meeting in an hour." He turned to Amaris. "Practice your letters," He whispered. "You will need them when the council meets."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Amaris curtsied and left the room, heading back to her own chambers. When she got to the rose-covered door, she opened it, entered the room and flopped down on the bed, feeling utterly exhausted from the day's events and daunted by the prospect of having her first high council meeting in less than an hour, not to mention the flurry of feelings that she felt every time Ivailo touched her. Before she had a chance to truly decompress and start shifting through the tornado of emotions that she was going through, Kenia walked into the room.

"Oh, excuse me Milady, I did not realise that you were back from gallivanting with his majesty." The ladies maid said, curtseying deeply.

"That is okay, Kenia. His majesty has officially announced that I am Lady Amaris Willow, Lady Of The People, and has given the high council an hour's reprieve before we have my first meeting."

"That is excellent news, Milady. Has his majesty given you any pointers on the meeting?"

"Only that I should practice my letters before the meeting." Amaris sighed, exhausted. "Do you think you could help me?"

"Milady, it would be my honour and privilege." Kenia said, grabbing the pile of papers with the alphabet printed on them and walking over to the bed. "Milady, may I sit?"