Royal meeting(3)

I should also mention that I activated the inscriptions when we came across them so a good half the castle was now practically radiant. It was clear the old man was purposefully taking me on the long route to the throne room specifically for this reason. It was not really something I minded since it earned me some good will but was also not really necessary on his part as I would have likely done so at some point anyways. It also left us with the awkward situation where only one side of the castle was active creating a odd sort of dissonance.-

The best way I can explain it was like those before and after pictures that most sales pitches for cleaning products used. 'Aura scrubber, get yours today!' I thought with a chuckle. Still I suppose it came as little surprise that the last inscription I got led to was the one right outside the throne room. After I activated it I could hear gasps of surprise from the other side of the huge wooden doors that told me that it wasn't just the queen in there.-

The old man pushed open the door at this point as there was no reason to announce our arrival at this point given the situation. The throne room was surprisingly cozy unlike the sprawling extravagant chamber I was expecting. Not to say it wasn't a large room but it was more long than wide with crystal chandeliers for lighting and a literal row of knights on the side of the rich red carpet that ended at the raised area that held a single golden chair that had a woman sitting in it. Contrary to what the name kingdom might have you believe Rota was in fact matriarchal in terms of rulers.-

The "king" of the country was not really in charge of anything at all and was mostly just the husband of the queen who was needed solely to produce heirs to the throne. At the moment however there was no king of Rota as the queen was only twenty five and not in serious need of an heir. Speaking of the queen she was a blonde with smooth wavy hair that went down to the bottom of her back. She had soft but noble features, high cheekbones, sharp jawline, narrow nose and smooth skin. -

Her eyes were emerald green and she was at the moment wearing a lilac silk dress with jeweled patterning on the center of her chest and a golden crown on her head that I immediately identified as a conduit weapon. "I have brought Sir Drake as you missed your majesty." the old man said with a bow. "From the looks of things you did more than just bring him here from the tailor Walden." the queen said with a smile while the old man just looked embarrassed. "I let me enthusiasm get the best of me , I apologize" the old man said sincerely.-

"You need not apologize to me, I can understand how you feel. In fact I was actually going to bring it up to Sir Drake as a part of this meeting." the queen said with a giggle. "Ah! It seems this old man has done something unnecessary then, I'll endeavor not to repeat this mistake." the old man said bowing again before excusing himself. "Now then Sir Drake please approach the throne so we may speak in a more comfortable manner." the queen said and I had no reason to not listen.-

Once I got to the bottom of the short two steps of the raised area I stopped and bowed my head respectfully but not in a way to emphasize fealty. A citizen of the kingdom would be expected to bend a knee but I was an outsider and had no need to butter up the queen with such an act. Proper etiquette however was that I bow my head to the ruler of the country respectfully so that was what I did briefly before looking up to meet her eyes. "Rather bold of you to match the gaze of royalty in their own castle." she said with a raised eyebrow.-

I shook my head "You have only half my gaze at the moment." I pointed out while tapping my eyepatch. "Oh? Well in that case why not take that thing off and test if your full gaze can match my own?" she challenged and I smiled before doing just that. Nothing changed when I removed my eyepatch but the moment I opened my eye the air grew heavy as my presence turned draconic as my energy began to get used by my dragon eye. The queen stiffened in her throne as we fully matched gazes and she probably didn't even realize that she stopped breathing.-

She ended up looking away first unable to withstand the pressure my eye put on her and I closed and covered it back up. "No need to feel disheartened because of failing to match my gaze, I have met few who can withstand it much less match it." I said reassuringly. "The sky lord's blessing is truly a ferocious thing and I feel no shame at not measuring up to it. Still that was not why I wished to have you brought before me like this."-

"Rota while not the most advanced place is still fairly well connected to the happening of the rest of the world, at least the places with access to the pokenet that is. Amongst those pieces of news was the information on a young man who took the Hoenn region by storm in a manner that reads like something out of a storybook. The first variant team of pokemon, a meteoric rise to power, no less than five abilities and a standing feud with the Joy clan where they were they ones in the wrong. The less spoken about your activities in regards to the criminal side of the world in that region the better."-

"You can imagine my surprise to learn that such a figure who to the last known reports was in the criminal region of Orre showed up in my kingdom. Can you explain why that is?" She said with a serious question at the end. "Orre lacks access to the pokenet and I needed to send a message to my friends in Hoenn letting them know I was going to be entering a Celebi forest soon just in case I appeared at a much later date than I entered." I said honestly.-

"A Celebi forest? Orre has such a thing, this is news to me as I was under the impression the region was an inhospitable desert?" she questioned in surprise. "That's not entirely inaccurate as most of the region is indeed desert land but to the far north the lands have greenery and of course the Celebi forest that my investigation of the region has taken me to." I explained calmly.

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