A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 8 - Prim and Proper

The reception of an empire slowly began to drown Melinda in even more political matters than before. It was a miracle that she was still able to find time for other things and manage it quite well at that. She sometimes held reading sessions with Jane, during which they discussed various classics; she took walks in the woods in the early mornings while everyone was still asleep, which helped her soul rest and connect with nature a little; she practised new fighting skills and spells for whenever she would need them; she still wrote some poems, mostly about how torn her soul was, but she would seldom find inspiration to write about something else, not that she cared for them much because they were merely vessels for expressing things which could not be said, as well as a form of entertainment and diversifying her interests; and she also spent time with her daughter whenever she could. Of course, every now and then, some of her time had to be wasted on walking around her study frantically or just standing in her room with her tangled thoughts, and she could not do everything on time, but she was still very proud of herself, knowing just how tight and incredible her schedule was.

Not long after the coronation had happened, something occurred that disturbed the natural order of things. While she was in her stuffy office, with windows closed and curtains drawn, hunched over a pile of papers she had to sign, an envelope appeared next to them, engulfed in purple light. For a moment, she shivered due to its vicinity to her teacup, but it flew away, thus she let out a long sigh of relief. Leaving her quill, which she had been holding with her shaking right hand, right next to the papers, she opened the letter and started to read it to herself without hesitation:

Dear Empress Melinda,

There is a matter that must be discussed at once. We are aware of the fact that You are already overwhelmed with paperwork, and thus might not read this letter for a while, but we do hope that You shall open it as soon as possible and that it has reached You without issue. As the rulers of Eade, which is one of the bigger states of Iuvat, our concerns are, naturally, of great importance to You and Your cronies, or at least that is what we have assumed based on our observations unless we are somehow mistaken. However, there is not much time for us to keep beating around the bush like this, which is why we are going to phrase our needs succinctly. If You intend to make this union last without discord, a meeting with us and the leaders of all the other states must be held at Your royal palace, during which we shall discuss each of our intentions, for this continent has been broken beyond repair, and we must work together to save what is left of it. The term we propose is September 14 at seven o'clock in the evening, and we shall go through with it unless it presents You problems. If it does, please do voice that, and if it does not, respond as You would have otherwise.

Best wishes,

George and Hilde Maguire

At the time she read the letter, it was September 11, and the clock in her office said it was eleven and thirty. She had no qualms with the term they proposed, which prompted her to hastily write a reply shorter than the original letter, which consisted of nothing too important, merely confirming the term, expressing her eagerness when it came to the meeting and politely greeting them. Until that day arrived, life continued as it always had, without any changes in sight. She spent a lot of her time pondering that meeting and preparing herself for it, waiting and waiting for when it would come at last, which seemed like a neverending process, hoping that she would not make any sort of mistake there. 

On September 14, at five in the morning, she got up without thinking, rushing to perform her final preparations for one of the most important meetings in her life. The whole day was stressful and busy and full of her giving orders to her servants and checking up on every aspect of what she had planned, which was why she barely even thought about her daughter, let alone visited her, which made her a bit sad. Two hours before the meeting, when everything was done and all that she had to do was wait, she went to her bedroom, locked it and collapsed onto her bed, closing her eyes for a while with no intention of falling asleep, not even for a few minutes. It was the least she could do for her exhausted mind and body. For a while, everything was far away from her, and only the void was her companion. She smiled, losing herself in that atmosphere for a moment, which lasted until she heard a quiet knock on the door, done by a small hand.