[center][h3]Vanjanan Royal Palace, Outskirts of Heligastaden[/h3][/center]

The throne room of the King was like nothing Helmi had ever seen. Its ceiling reached so high that she could imagine a cloud forming inside the room, and there was enough gold to provide for an entire town for years. Before the war, she would have seen it as a waste, but the savior of the North knew what he was doing. He would never waste anything, so there was surely some reason for his extravagance. Likely to impress diplomats, something he seemed to be quite obsessed with despite withholding the Vanjanan Elan.

"Your Majesty!" She said, curtsying in her dress uniform. It was essentially a normal Airborne Corps uniform, but with significantly more gold highlights, not to mention her many medals.

"Ah, Miss Lisbet." Responded the King from his throne, his white royal robe tucked behind him. "What a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, your majesty! It is an unspeakable honor to speak with you, liberator of Nordsted, king of the one and only Holy Empire, chosen of the Goddess!"

Kalle chuckled quietly at the titles, standing up from his throne and walking towards Helmi. She stared at him like he was from another world, which wasn't far from the truth. At least, the Church's truth. [i]Being[/i] the Church, Kalle had little opposition to the idea. Once he was quite close to her, he stopped, letting her continue to stare in silence. She was obviously in suspense, wondering what he had summoned her for. 

He was surprisingly thin, nothing like his portrait that was painted just five years ago. Back then, he had been quite heavy, though nobody ever had the courage to admit it. Apparently he had decided to lose weight, which would have made sense simply for appearance reasons, but he had obviously gone too far. Instead of the... [i]round[/i] man he had been, he was now as thin as a twig. After quite a while, he finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"What? Did the titles tire you out?" He said slowly, obviously tired despite having done barely anything for the whole day.

"Y-your majesty?" Said Helmi, her face twisting into a look of confusion.

"Tell me." He said, quickly turning to face towards one of the many windows in the room. "You are a Soldat av Stjärnan Ljus, are you not?"

Thinking she knew what he was building up towards, she chose to voice her suspicions, hoping to gain respect by not playing dumb and letting him tell her. While Kalle was an arrogant and self-absorbed man, she had been told that he valued foresight.

"Yes, would you rather me refer to you as Chosen of the Goddess, your majesty?"

The King smiled broadly, turning back towards Helmi to look her in the eye. 

[i]I must have done something right.[/i] She thought, returning the stare of the King.

"That comment just earned you the right to call me whatever you wish, Miss Lisbet. Mathias did not recommend you lightly, I shall reward him for this. Now, on to business."

"Business, your majesty?"

"Yes, tell me, which is the more valuable life? That of a King, that of a soldier, that of a factory worker or that of a peasant?"

"The King, obviously. Without the King, the nation would fall apart."

"Yes, but without the soldier, the nation would succumb to its foes. Without the factory worker, the soldier would have no rifle. Without the peasant, the factory worker would have no food."

"The King is still at the top of the pyramid, is he not? Would he not be more important?"

"What pyramid? The dynamics of a nation cannot be expressed though height, width, and length. If any one of those four is taken away, the nation falls. Your pyramid analogy is flawed for other reasons as well, I mean, the bottom of the pyramid supports the top, but that's no important right now. What is important is that you learn that all of the classes are equal."

"Then why do the peasants and factory workers have so little while the King has so much? Would that not imply that the King is more important?"

Immediately after she had spoken, she knew she had made a grave mistake. It sounded like she had accused the King of greed, something that could earn her countless punishments. Accusing an entrepreneur of greed was one thing, but accusing the Chosen of the Goddess? The Church would have her head if the King did not choose to punish her himself!

"There is only one King." He said, not even showing a tiny bit of offense. "There are millions of factory workers and peasents. I said the classes were equal, not the people."

Even as he spoke, she sensed a "however' coming, but it never came. The King briefly looked down at the floor as if sad, but regained his usual posture before anyone but her could notice. It was so strange, everyone had said that the King was arrogant and cruel, this man had made a joke about his abundance of titles. At this point, she didn't know which was the real King.

"That... that [i]does[/i] make sense. But why did you summon me here? Surely it was not to discuss such things as the worth of different people."

"No, it was not. I need to know one thing."

"I don't know much about things other than machinery, but I'll try my best to answer your majesty."

"It is about you, Miss Lisbet... erm... would you be so kind to return the favor? Of me letting you call me what you wish, I mean. Titles only get in the way of communication."

"You didn't need to ask, your majesty. I am but a soldier, you already had the right."

"Perhaps, but I hate to be called by my given name without having given permission, I can only assume the same would go for most."

[i]He's right,[/i] She thought. [i]I wouldn't have liked it if he ignored my title without asking.[/i]

"So, Helmi, would you do anything for the Goddess? Even give your life? Even abandon your hopes and dreams to serve good?"

"Of course, your highness."

"What if... what if the Goddess was flawed? What if she was not the perfect being the Church says she is?"

The question was asked in an almost mournful tone, which caught Helmi completely off guard. The King was never said to show any emotion but pride, and yet here he was, clearly sad about something. What was more, he blamed it on the Goddess, and the Goddess never interferes with mortal affairs on a level personal enough to cause sadness for one of her followers.

"Something doesn't have to be good to be perfect, if things did, then nothing would be good. That's what my mother always said."

[i]Oops.[/i] She thought, immediately realizing that adding 'Expect for you" would have been a much better choice. From what she had heard, the King didn't like being called imperfect. Surprising her again, the King [i]teared up[/i], somehow touched by her comment. Nothing that was said about the King was true, he wasn't arrogance incarnate, he was a person. A person who felt sadness and happiness, excitement and boredom, maybe even love.

"A yes would have earned you my trust, a no would have earned you my respect, but that... that earned you both. Captain, you may go now."

"With all due respect, I must correct you. My rank is Machinist-"

"Not anymore it isn't. I'm giving you command of the royal dreadnought. Use it as you see fit, as I said, I trust and respect you."

"The royal dreadnought?! Your majesty, why?"

"Do you not feel comfortable with it?"

"No! It's just... how can [i]you[/i] feel comfortable with it?"

"It is what my heart told me to do, and my heart is the only part of me I trust. The Goddess speaks through it, and she says that you are worthy of this command. You said you would obey the Goddess, did you not."

"Yes I did, your majesty."

"Then go and get ready to speak to your new crew. They'll be looking forward to being under the command of the legendary Helmi Lisbet."