Regiphobia

The Advisor

Arial had just made it back to her room after another day of stress, planning, and work. She'd been absolutely swamped since the date of King Gabriel's wedding was changed, seeing as Goda had invited her and she wanted to be there for him. She'd had to move that trip, but now the wedding was overlapping with a meeting she was supposed to have with the current king of the United Realms of America, which was only on that day because it was the only one in quite a while that he, the emperor of the Confederacy, and she were all available to talk.

Now, of course, she had to reschedule that, which was a hassle in itself, and that meant most of her plan for the next month had to be scrapped entirely or rewritten. So she hadn't had a free minute to read over the letter she'd received two mornings ago.

Arial sat down at her desk to tear it open, but then there was a knock on her door. She would have groaned if she could speak, but she was still out of luck. She stood, putting on her most pleasant smile, and walked over to open it. On the other side was her royal advisor, Liam.

"Your Majesty, may I come in?" he asked, smiling lightly back at her. She really didn't want to see him just then, but if he was coming to her now, it was probably important.

'What is it?' she signed, not yet moving out of the doorway.

"Well, my lady," Liam started, a touch of red on his cheeks that she incorrectly assumed was from the amount of time he'd had to spend outside in the last day, "I was hoping to speak with you. Not about any matter in particular, just- a normal conversation?"

Arial, being as oblivious as she was in the ways of love, just signed, 'I'm sorry, I've got too much on my hands right now.'

Liam's smile faltered, and he dropped his head, "I see, my apologies, Your Majesty- Perhaps another time- I'll be on my way."

Liam turned and walked off quickly. A slightly confused expression crossed Arial's face for a moment before she shut the door and walked back to her desk, finally able to pick up the letter. It was very plain, the only thing on it being her address and the return address, with Jose's name printed neatly in that corner. She smiled a bit wider, running her thumb over it for a moment before flipping it over and carefully opening the sealed envelope. She pulled out the paper, unfolding it.

Arial,

Thanks for the offer, but I doubt I'll ever be able to come see you, with my work here and all. I'll see if I can get in the group set to be with you when the wedding comes around, so I can translate.

My brother and I were born in Spain. We've lived here since we were ten. Am I correct in assuming you've lived in the palace your whole life?

-José

She sighed. That was a slight disappointment. Even if her schedule was too full anyway, it would've been nice to spend time with Jose. Too bad, she supposed. She sighed, pulling out a sheet of paper from her drawer. She grabbed her pen and started writing.

Dear José,

It's a shame you can't come over. I miss talking with you already. Or, well, signing, on my part! What was living in Spain like? I've never had the chance to go. Yes, I've lived here my entire life. I've only recently started visiting our allies, and I can't wait to see more of the world. I'll see you in a month. Stay safe!

Love, Arial.

She set it down so the ink could dry, standing up and pacing for a moment while she thought.

Meanwhile, out in the hall, Liam was internally chastising himself for doing that so poorly. All he'd wanted to do was spend time with the queen, but of course he'd had to ask right when she was trying to relax. Of course, he didn't just want to spend time with her because she was the queen, that'd be a dick move, he wanted to hang out with her for dozens of reasons! It was good for an advisor to know the one he was advising, right? Plus, Arial was sweet, and she seemed very kind, and-

Alright. Maybe Liam had a crush on the queen. A big one. And maybe he noticed that she kept receiving letters from and sending letters to some guy she met overseas named José. Some guy she met, what, a week or two ago?

He totally wasn't jealous at all, if that wasn't clear.

He ended up back in his room, leaning against the door with a sigh. What did that- that guard with practically nothing to his name have over him, her advisor and friend since they were kids? He just shook his head, going over to his desk and taking a seat. Was he being a jerk, being jealous of this guy his friend and boss was totally flirting with? Should he just be happy for her?

Well, he didn't feel that way, so he assumed the answer was no. He just looked over at a picture framed neatly on his desk. On it was the four of them. Angelica was taking the picture, a bright smile on the girl's face. Arial had been holding his hand to drag him into the picture at the time, her blue eyes gorgeously accentuated by the dress she was wearing. Behind the three of them, Jacob had been standing.

He looked much more like his mother than his father. Light brown eyes, darker brown hair, but just as pale as his siblings. He'd had a rather blank expression on his face, but Liam could remember how mere moments after, Arial had signed something or other to him and he'd cracked a small smile. That had been... what, five years ago? Liam could still remember how pretty he'd thought her smile was that afternoon.

He groaned, taking a seat and just sighing.

Arial had just been trying to relax after how long she'd been working. She sat down on her bed, finally laying down for the first time since early that morning. She sighed, shutting her eyes. Silence closed in around her. It was less than a minute before she sat up, walking to her bathroom and turning on the water in the sink. That was something, at least.

She shut her eyes and tried to listen to that. She took in a few breaths, then shut the water off. She grabbed the now dry paper, folding it up and slipping it in an envelope. She wrote out the two addresses and walked to her door.

She walked out of her room, putting back on that regal smile as she closed up the envelope. She started to the staircase so she could walk down to the mailroom. It was always so busy and loud there.

She took her time, but it was as if she didn't even have footsteps. She made it down to the mailroom. Pushing the door open, she tried not to interrupt things.

However, as soon as she was noticed, everyone paused their work to bow or curtsy, to which she gave a small nod. She was a touch embarrassed, but she knew it was what they were supposed to do. She'd never cared if they hadn't, but other people seemed to.

She walked to an outgoing mail box that was reserved for her, which she'd never exactly understood. Of course, she occasionally had very important letters to send, but why should her personal life get priority over other people's? It never seemed quite right to her. She would do something about it as soon as she had a bit more free time, she told herself.

For now, she set in her mail and made her way out. Back up the stairs. Straight to her office. She had what felt like a mountain of paperwork to sort through, and she wasn't exactly excited for it.

She wondered idly, as she started setting up to work, how Goda was handling his father's execution.

The answer, it turned out, was not very well. Witnessing a death like that of someone who, even though he was a terrible person, had been the only person who was in Goda's life since the beginning... It felt so wrong, but he was so relieved. The conflicting feelings were slowly driving him mad.

Luckily, Juan had still been by his side as long as he could. Supporting him, smiling at him, telling him he was allowed to be confused, he was allowed to feel how he felt. Telling him he was worth something. It helped, more than Goda would ever be able to put into words.

However, every yang seemed to have its yin for him, and every scale must be balanced. He saw as the little mistakes started to pile up, and he could only watch helplessly as Gabriel's annoyance turned to anger turned to rage. He had to sit in the passenger's seat of his own life while Gabe steered him into a spiral of fear. Fear of what little mistake was going to set the other off this time.