13 1.13

When I reached the doors of the throne room, it was an absolute mess. Through a crack in the door, I could see courtiers trying to push their way through to the throne. Questions and curses alike were flying every which way, and it was an absolute hailstorm of frantic questions. How had the throne room become so… chaotic?

I nodded to Patrina for her to announce my arrival. She dipped her head and as the guards opened the door, hollered over the clamor, "Make way for Her Royal Highness, Tsesarevna Yulia Krysovenko!" The crowd parted quickly as I walked through.

When I reached Tsarevich Adrian, I noticed how the throne behind him glimmered in the light, beckoning me to it. No. I wasn't crowned yet, so I couldn't just sit on the throne. Besides, Papa's funeral hasn't even begun yet. I shook my head and tried my best to ignore the throne, and instead, stood at the foot of the throne as Adrian did. I raised a hand to command silence, and to my absolute relief, the throne room did fall silent.

I took a deep breath and called, "I was told that you have questions for me. Before you ask your questions, allow me to speak." I swallowed and barrelled on, "My father, as far as I know, was not assassinated by anyone. I might press investigations if anything suspicious turns up, but for now, the physicians have stated that Father had died from a heart attack, nothing more. His funeral will be held sometime during the next week, and I will not have any sort of coronation ceremonies held before then. I understand that some of you did not like my father when he was still alive."

A great deal of shouting arose at that and I clapped my hands twice to call for order. The hubbub quickly died down.

"Even though he was a tyrannical king, he's still my father and I am his immediate kin. I hope you understand why I refuse to take the crown and the throne for now. It is not because I do not wish to take the throne, but as his daughter, I have a certain filial duty that I must fulfill out of respect for him." I paused and continued, "Now, if you've any questions for me, please stand in a line and I'll answer your questions one by one."

There was an immediate lull in the atmosphere. No one moved or spoke for a while. Then, one of the courtiers from the back pushed her way to the front. She wore plated armor and looked to be rather agile on her feet. She bowed and straightened up, gripping her saber sheath.

"Greetings, Your Royal Highness. I'm Commander Galina Skeylanovich of the Regnistals. During His Royal Majesty's reign, he had not paid the Regnistals what we were promised. Will that be rectified when you take the throne, Tsesarevna Krysovenko?"

I nodded calmly, but I fumed angrily inside. He had not paid the Regnistals their dues? My good gosh, he was more tyrannical than I thought.

"I will make sure any delayed payments are rectified, Commander Skeylanovich. Don't worry." I smiled at her and I thought I saw her swallow hard, but I thought nothing of it and brushed it down to her nervousness and shrugged it off. She bowed in thanks and touched the floor at my feet, before backing off.

A man took her place, and I recognized him as Papa's Thaindaer. Oh, dear. "A very merry day to you, Your Royal Highness. I am Thaindaer Davydov Yurievich, of His Royal Majesty's Office. Will you be switching out the staff of your office when you ascend the throne, good Tsesarevna?"

I stared stonily at him. What sort of question was that?

"What do you mean, Thaindaer Yurievich?" I raised an eyebrow at him and he gulped.

"I-I mean to ask if the same people who were in His Royal Majesty's Office would still continue to stay in office during your reign, Your Royal Highness." The Thaindaer stammered.

"I haven't taken the throne yet, and already I'm receiving this sort of questions. I will switch the staff out as I see fit. Why?" I stared daggers at him. "The answer is not important to you, because I am merely removing people from their designated office, not beheading them." I leaned forward and continued, "Now, if I were ordering people to be beheaded, you might have to take notice." I reached out and landed a hand on his shoulder, and his eyes widened in fright. "But you don't need to worry for now. No one's dying yet."

"Th-thank you, Your Royal Highness." The Thaindaer whispered and hurriedly backed away. I chuckled to myself and shared a smile with Adrian. The courtiers could be so hilarious at times, thinking that I'm out to get them when I hadn't even known of their existence.

I raised a finger. "Are there any more questions? If not, I will take my leave of you."

The courtiers looked at one another and a 'no' was murmured through the room. I gestured for Commander Skeylanovich to walk with me as I exited the room. I whispered my thanks to Adrian for helping hold the hounding courtiers off before I got to the throne room, and he hugged me before shooing me out jokingly.

As I walked to the Spring Gardens with Commander Skeylanovich, I asked, "Are there any other issues with the Regnistals that you would like to tell me? You seemed to have something else to say back in the throne room, Commander."

She stayed quiet for a few seconds before replying slowly, "The Regnistals' armor are mostly outdated and need to replaced. They work fine and have stopped a whole lot of blades and arrows, but leather armor isn't—" she tapped her plated armor— "as durable as plated armor is. You can't cut through metal with most swords, unlike leather. And unlike leather, you need a very well-fired and well-placed arrow to be able to pierce plated armor. I know that the Regnistals would appreciate having better equipment than they already do, Your Royal Highness—"

I raised a hand and cut her off. "Just 'Your Highness' is fine, Commander. As for the armor… I was planning a visit to the barracks to see what I can do to improve the Regnistals' military capability. Would that be alright?"

Commander Skeylanovich turned to me and bowed. "Yes, Your R—Your Highness, that would be perfect. Thank you very much."

I smiled and walked on towards the Spring Gardens. The cherry blossoms would supposedly be in bloom by now, and I wanted to see the beautiful flowers. Commander Skeylanovich followed closely behind me as I walked through the Spring Garden gates.

I turned to her. "How do you like your flowers, Commander?"

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I see no use for flowers, Your Highness. They are beautiful, most certainly, but you can't wave a flower in your enemy's face and hope they surrender."

I nodded to myself. Commander Skeylanovich was practical, and I loved practical. Made things done more efficiently most of the time.

"I love black bacarra roses. A nice mix of a color associated with death and a color associated with love. I find it ironic that Nature had chosen to mix these two colors together, really." I stopped to smell a gardenia flower. Peering at the petals, I asked, 'What weapon do you favor, Commander?"

I glanced back in time to see her pat her sheath fondly. "I love the Heclecian saber. Just like the Aesfomlaerean saber, but with a notch near the end. Perfect for hooking weapons away by the blades, really."

I nodded in agreement. Hecleca was a country in another continent, Cetrea, and they were excellent at weapons-building. Every now and then, a few tradesmen and merchants would travel to our lands and display their wares, and each time, they had new and wonderful weapons on display.

I bent down to pick up a branch that had fallen off a nearby tree and hurled it into the distant trees. "I still prefer the Aesfomlaerean saber, Commander. Perfectly weighed and the length is just right. I tried the Heclecian saber before and found it a bit too heavy for my liking. Nearly sprained my wrist trying it out, too."

Commander Skeylanovich chuckled. "Their sabers do take some getting used to, I admit. My mother refused to let me hold a blade until she was convinced I knew what I was doing."

I raised my eyebrows. "Who's your mother? Is she in the court?"

She shook her head and squinted into the distance. "I wish she was. She's under the ground now." She turned away and I heard her sniffle. She raised a hand before she turned back around.

"They killed her." She gritted her teeth and looked away.

I stepped closer. "Who did, Galina?" I asked softly.

She turned her head to look slowly at me. "The Thyrasians, of course. They beheaded her right in front of my eyes. The last expression on her face was just—" She took a deep breath— "agony. Total agony."

I could understand how she felt somewhat. Papa wasn't the best father but he was still my father. I placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

She looked at me right in the eyes. "Are you? Or do you just say that for the sake of sounding apologetic?"

"Commander, my father just died. I couldn't feign sounding apologetic even if I tried."

Commander Skeylanovich blushed and seemed to find the grass rather interesting. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I just… my mother didn't have to die like that, you know? She was a good woman and mother—took good care of her children and husband."

I nodded. "I understand, Galina." She squinted at me and looked away, red in the cheeks. I raised my eyebrow. Was she blushing?

"Are you shy, Galina?" I tilted her chin towards me and stared into her eyes. When whoever said that eyes are the windows of the soul, they weren't messing around. I could see the respect she had for me, but I could see her fear too… and something else.

She gave a small smile and two cute dimples appeared. "Who wouldn't be in your presence, Your Highness? You don't put anyone down and you're great at talking to people," she shrugged and chuckled when I started blushing instead.

I smiled bashfully, "Now, now, stop flattering me—it won't get you anywhere, Galina."

She nodded knowingly. "Time will tell, Tsesarevna, time will tell," she smiled back, glancing up at the sky. "Your Highness… I have to take my leave and make for the barracks now, but it was lovely chatting with you. Thank you for your time." she bowed and made to leave, but I put a hand on her elbow.

"No, thank you for your time, Commander. I understand you're busy, but thank you for walking with me," I corrected her, "How would you like to join me for dinner? I'll save a seat for you on my left if you're coming."

Commander Skeylanovich blushed again and curtsied. "That is very thoughtful of you, Your Highness. I'll be there." She curtsied again and left the Garden hurriedly, her plated armor clinking as she went.