The door to the queen's library slowly creaks open. ?nnywella looks up, seeing Colaus holding a letter; over his shoulder Romyll can be seen entering the vestibule.

  “What in the name of Our Lady was that about?” asks Colaus, having passed a furious Romyll in the hall.

  “A clash of honor and kindness.” ?nnywella responds wryly; it was not Colaus’s business to know the details of the discussion; she keeps her answer honest but vague.

  “I could hear the two of you yelling from halfway down the hall.” He responds. He could easily make out the voices, even though they had muffled most of what they were saying.

  “Just the hall? I was hoping the entire castle could hear us.” She rolls her eyes. “Some days I agree with Gyrshke.”

  Colaus ignores the statement. Tapping the letter with his finger. “A response from Drewer and his advisors.”

  “Excellent; open it.” ?nnywella had been excited for this response; she knew they would not decline, but she was interested to see how her first foray into diplomacy would go.

  Colaus makes his way over to the small desk nestled between the bookshelves against the south wall. Taking a letter opener, he slices the top of the envelope open, removing and unfolding the letter. He reads the letter aloud.

  ?nnywella takes a deep drag on her cigarette, blowing the smoke through her nose. “Awfully late, don’t you think?”

  “I agree, well into winter.” Colaus responds.

  “To make it more difficult to bring troops? I assume they understood what was being implied in our first letter.” She scrunches her nose.

  “I don’t know what else it could be. Military reasons are the only option that seems reasonable.” Colaus pauses and taps his thumb against the black-oak desk. “Unless they are trying to see how you rule?”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “What do they think I’m going to turn out akin to, Anneliese II [1] or Anneliese III? having an awful reign because of being unwed?” Her argument with Romyll is already beginning to make her self-conscious of how those under and around her perceive her.

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” He stops, and his voice gets softer and more concerned; clearly Romyll had gotten to her. “Do you want me to come back later? You shouldn't write letters or make decisions while you're clearly irritated.”

  ?nnywella takes a long, sharp breath, then sighs. “I am fine. We should just say that date is perfectly acceptable.”

  Colaus pulls everything he needs to write from the desk; filling the pen, he begins to draft the letter. “How many will you be bringing with you?”

  “Five—you, Konstanze, Awenela, Franheska, and Mina, as well as my guard—fifteen in total.” ?nnywella taps her cigarette in the ashtray.

  “Tell them they are going to need to make more space for Fran’s hat.” Says Enlynn, smiling at the chuckles this got from the others.

  “Verily, a good suggestion.” responds ?nnywella with a snort.

  Colaus sets his pen down and reads the letter aloud. After ?nnywella approved, Colaus sealed the letter with wax in an envelope, ready to send it.

  Footnotes

  [1] Av?cyn Anneliese Herst II (28/02/0305EotG-12/08/0330EotG) ruled from 0325EotG to 0330EotG. During her reign, she served mainly as a figurehead, as her brother, Tyes Herst IV (14/05/0307EotG-02/02/0347EotG) was the person truly in charge.

  During her brief reign, she was known as “The Harlot of the Crown” or “The Herst Harlot.” These names arose from rumors of her sleeping with many noblemen who visited Herst Castle; these names have since been expunged from the public record, but the Herst family and appointed scholars still have access to private records.

  There is an ongoing debate between historians and scholars on why she was doing this: most say her promiscuity was simply the result of alleged abuse or lack of attention from her father, Melhan Herst II (17/01/0289EotG-23/09/0325EotG); while others say that she was a political genius who was simply trying to birth the bastard child who would benefit the kingdom the most, they commonly cite her well-documented tolerance to herbal abortifacients as evidence.

  She died on 12/08/0330EotG from either convulsions or gastrointestinal bleeding four hours after ingesting a double dose (calculated to her tolerance) of the mountain herb sywen—against the advice of her personal apothecary, Viola Rozena Blumavar (19/04/0308EotG-09/06/0376EotG). Her brother believed this was a suicide because of infertility caused by the abuse of herbal abortifacients.