Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Queens and Princesses

Akina sat at a massive desk in the royal offices, which was filled with reports, requests, demands, excuses, warnings and a plethora of bad news that fell somewhere between those categories, or within all of them. She knew she should be making her way through the reports of prospective grain supplies for the end of the summer, but she was watching her mother with worry.

They were alone, as they had been more and more throughout the last several months since her return, as her mother refused even the closest advisors without explanation. Her mother looked ill, pale with bags under her eyes, her once lustrous dark chestnut hair now a dull, mousy brown, her shoulders thin and tense. Her mother was staring blankly down at the report, looking as if she were fighting the urge to cry, defeat clear on her features.

Akina knew that the world was crumbling down around them, that her mother had inherited so much corruption and so little support that she was a Regent only in name, holding on to a country that wanted to erupt into civil war. Half of the Peers openly neglected any form of relationship with their Regent, the other half did as they wanted, and spent a great deal of time forcing their will on their Queen, pleading their interests and cases and expecting to be given carte blanche simply because they were all the Queen had.

Akina worried for her mother, worried for her health, and worried for Clairval as a result.

She felt as lost as her mother seemed most days, knowing the advice from the Courtiers and cronies that surrounded the court was slanted, but unsure how to break through the court's hold. There were rumours that the Peers that were breaking faith with their Regent had morals and upheld justice and looked after their people, but Akina couldn't fathom where to begin to rebuild their relationships.

She felt the noose of Regency closing in around her neck as quickly as her eighteenth birthday was approaching, when her mother would have no justified reason to deny demands that the Princess Heir marry. And she knew who was at the top of the list, demanding that happen; her mother either didn't care about the man's rumoured personality flaws, or just refused the see through Lord Corvin's flowered, charming words and smiles.

"Maybe we should take a break, mother." Akina said finally, reaching over to lay one hand on the woman's forearm. "How about we take a walk outside for a few minutes? Your roses are close to blooming."

"And this is why you are not ready to be queen." Her mother snapped, eyes cutting Akina's way. "Always attempting to avoid work, looking at the flowers when there are important things that need to be dealt with right here, in front of you. Clairval has no hope when I am no longer Regent."

Akina barely flinched at such hateful words any more, though they still wounded her. She knew they came from her mother's pain and stress. Though she struggled every day to remember the strong, beautiful mother that this woman had been when she was a child, when her father was still around. He had nearly managed to get Clairval united again; the Queen had nearly broken down her stubbornness and agreed to talks, and then he had been gone. Sick and dead so quickly that Akina could barely remember him as anything but strong and healthy. She had been away at boarding school in Invenmers, and had not been allowed back home for the funeral. But the palace was an empty place without his presence.

"Of course, mother." Akina nodded and turned back to her papers, slowly working through them, until a knock sounded at the door and a court herald stepped in on her mother's order of acceptance.

"Princess Mireyana and General Byzan, first advisor to the King of Rulin, have just arrived as ambassadors to Clairval. They are requesting a private audience with her Regency at her earliest convenience and are being settled into their quarters as we speak." The man said, bowing low, a mask of fake-care on his features. "They've been advised that they will need to wait for her Regency's pleasure and send their understanding."