2 The Royal Assembly (1/2)

The audience chamber of the imperial palace was typically used for daily court sessions and was rarely used as a royal assembly. A royal assembly was different as there were summons sent to all members of the nobility across the kingdom regardless of rank or standing.

The audience chamber itself was grand and spacious with banners unfurled around the sides of the walls with the colours and crest of the royal family. The chamber was divided into two sections with the lower court used to house the lesser noble houses such as the barons, marquis and counts while the smaller area in the front of the chamber was used to house the members of high nobility households and the royalty.

The king and queen Isabella were seated on finely crafted golden thrones with sculptures of dragons and phoenix at their feet. The chamber had been in session for quite a few hours, but the arguments and accusations thrown around the chamber left an atmosphere where one could cut the tension with a knife. The king sat bored on his throne with his wife quietly sitting beside him observing the squabbling nobles below.

The king was once a handsome muscular man but no traces of his former self could be seen, he was now portly and overweight with a drink in hand and a decadent smile on his face, a far cry from the man he used to be in his youth.

Where once was a proud and noble son of heavens was now a shadow of a man who indulged in corruption and vice. In the tradition of the Eternia kingdom, once a prince ascended the throne, he would abandon his former name and simply be referred to as 'king'. This symbolized the king was no longer a person but was now the embodiment of the kingdom.

”We need to settle this immediately! This girl is of high nobility and only those with the proper bloodline can afford to raise her!” a nobleman stood up and shouted amongst the crowd. ”And you believe that a mere baron like yourself qualifies? Don't make me laugh,” not to be outdone another man fired back a reply.

Voices continued to rise as each nobleman yelled and continued to shout to make their points known. The atmosphere became more and more heated and some nobles even began to call upon their magic power to seem more intimidating.

Suddenly the door to the chamber was flung open and a woman strode into the room. The unexpected entrance left the court in shock for a moment. The voices quieted in amazement at the idea that a noble would enter the chamber so late and in such a disrespectful manner. ”What do you think you're doing barging into a session like this!” a noblewoman sneered at the lady.

The lady quietly lifted her head and her piercing violet eyes shone as she glanced at the woman who sneered at her. Tendrils of shadows wrapped around her feet as she walked making it appear as though she was gliding across the room.

The woman immediately paled as she realised who she had spoken to and quickly sat down while trying not to draw attention to herself. Her hands started to shake softly, and she quickly apologised and dropped down her head. The noblemen around her shifted slightly to avoid being associated with her.

”Demon!”, ”Monster”, ”Why is the duchess of the north here?” whispers began to quietly spread throughout the chamber.

Elise ignored them as they were not anything that she had not heard before, she stepped deliberately and decisively towards the upper nobility section. She nodded halfheartedly towards the king and some nobles that she knew in passing then sat down on one of the chairs. Elise's territory was located far north of the capital and hence there was little chance of interaction of herself and the majority of the nobles present.

The atmosphere became strange and almost silent as all eyes were looking towards Elise sitting down peacefully.Eventually as the minutes ticked by, the king having lost a bit of his patience stood up.

”My beloved citizens, we have had a great tragedy that befell one of the noble duke houses of our kingdom. The duke and duchess of house Precisily were killed in a terrible fire and left behind their only daughter as the sole head of the house.”