Viva la Vida

It's Only so Good to be the King

Once again, the council found themselves frantically going back and forth between ideas. This and that and this and that, Ralton was slowly losing what little patience he had left with this task. Was it his idea to try and improve kingdom morale? Absolutely not. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind until his advisor, Kizani Alacti, had mentioned it to him. Not only was she his advisor, but also ran whatever position it was that dealt with the kingdom's humane needs. She was better at organizing the social events than he was, so he found it to be a fitting position for her to take up. He generally went right along with whatever she planned, that usually being the occasional outing with Arulet or the quick public speech, but this was just testing his limits. She had suggested some sort of large event, and he had brought the idea to his council, high ranking members of the nobility and his own officials. At first, they had gone back and forth amongst each other on the usual events. Speeches, balls, all the usual things he did, and yet Kizani shot down each and every one. And then spoke the attorney. A festival, he had suggested, the kind that didn't stop for days on end. Kizani ate that suggestion right up, immediately taking to it as though it were a royal meal and she had not been fed in days. The council launched itself into discussion about random events to scatter throughout the days, a schedule to define those events, costs of hire, and so on and so forth. He didn't even see the purpose of being here. Arulet, he noticed, looked bored as well. Why she had finally decided to show up now of all times baffled him, but he didn't bother to question her. If she wanted to busy herself with these trivial matters, so be it.

"Sir? Sir. Ralton!" Kizani hissed quietly, gaining his attention. "I've been compiling ideas as these idiots have babbled back and forth. Here's the schedule I've managed to devise." She showed him a piece of paper, multiple events listed for each day. Nothing exactly spoke to him until he saw the final event of the last day.

"A masquerade? Kizani...what would be the point?" he gave her a quizzical look, his violet eyes searching her own fuchsia ones for an answer. This festival thing was supposed to be to increase kingdom morale, so what was the point of throwing a party amongst the rich?

"Not just any masquerade. This one is open to any who can pass themselves off as well dressed and well behaved. There is no set guest list, though if you would like for me to arrange for some officials from neighboring kingdoms to attend, I could do that," she offered. He took this into consideration. One aspect about him that made him a good king was his skill in tactics when dealing with other kingdoms and their officials. To invite other officials to see the kingdom, especially if it were to be at the end of such a large festival, could be beneficial, especially to the few unsure of creating an alliance. They would be able to view the kingdom at its best, which could improve Alurn's reputation. He nodded to the Japanese woman.

"Do that. This could be a good opportunity to properly establish alliances with Berolan and Eratania. It'll give them a chance to see the country at it's finest." She nodded and jotted that down on her paper. She turned to one of the maids in the room and requested the paper be put on her desk. The maid of course carefully took the parchment and left the room.

Little did either the king or the advisor know, that list was going to be copied by the maid, and the copy sent from the queen's hands directly to the leader of the revolution.